Chapter 11: About a Certain Transfer Student – Part 4
"Uwah…"
If someone were to ask me about my occupations lately, I would probably answer boring expected things. Playing videogames, watching animes, playing videogames again, reading, going to school, and asking myself existentials questions about vampires. Yes, boring expected things.
For instance, that Monday afternoon, I was asking myself another of those questions: would a 18+ meters fall actually kill a vampire?
"Hey, do you think she will…?"
"P-Probably not. She… isn't moving, right? Then it must be fine… right?"
"Hey! Can someone call a teacher? This isn't funny!"
The red-headed girl standing on the edge of the roof was stirring up all kinds of emotions in the crowd under her, the most important of which was fear. On her very first day of school, Iovanna Domenica Cassini A-Lua was about to kill herself and it was maybe all my fault…
That being said…
"... What is she doing exactly?"
I wasn't especially worried about her. I mean, she was a vampire, she could probably break a few bones and be okay. In fact, I noticed that only a few students were actually worried about her – mostly first years going by the red color of their uniforms – meaning that, yes, Iovanna wasn't truly in danger.
However, the hysteria she was causing amongst my fellow first year students wasn't exactly pleasant. Slowly, the more I thought about it, the more I grew as worried as them.
I mean, it was just like watching a car accident while going back from school – most of the time, I would not be really interested beyond, you know, that morbid curiosity people have towards dramatic events. On the other hand, I would probably feel unbelievably guilty if I was the cause of said accident or if I was the only one who could help and, sadly, I felt like it was the case here.
Even though I knew Iovanna wouldn't die even if she jumped, the idea of her jumping in the first place quickly became unbearable to me. I had to do something about her and quick.
And so, I ran. I ran through the corridors and up the stairs. I needed to reach the roof as soon as possible. I needed to make her stop before it was… well not too late since she would probably be fine herself, but I am pretty sure she would have traumatized those other students…? Wait…
"This… doesn't make sense…"
Most people in this school came here willingly or were already here since middle-school. Why would they be worried about seeing a bit of blood? Sure, someone falling flat on the paved ground would probably be gruesome to look at but… THIS was the school that desensitized me enough to make me dissect uncanny beasts' corpses every Monday and only think of it as a slightly disturbing chore!
What about those who were doing this for years? Would they really be worried about a bit of blood and viscera? Sure, there were bound to be people who, like me, only joined around highschool but they couldn't be so many. Maybe they were actually afraid of something else?
I shook my head.
"Whatever. There is no need to think about that now. I need to stop her for now…"
With my mind calmer, I made my way toward the roof but this time, I walked. Quickly, but I walked. Yeah, even I think I can be a bit cruel at times.
On the way, I met a few students. Some looked as worried as the one on ground level while looking at the girl on the roof using the hallways' window. Except, this was the third year's floor, they should know better than getting excited over something like this. Well, maybe those didn't know Iovanna was a vampire, but none of them were trying to stop her even though she was just one floor above them. In fact…
"Don't go, this is pointless."
"*chuckles* Man, getting affected by something like this. What are you, a noob? *chuckles*"
"Why you!"
They were stopping those who wished to help her. In front of the stairs leading to the roof, a group of third year students was sitting while making fun of everyone that tried to go up and meet Iovanna.
"I'm telling you, if you got affected by something like this even though you are a second year, you are pretty much a failure," said one of the guys.
"Yeah, just go back home and leave at that 'kay?" chimed another.
The third one just laughed while the only girl amongst them stayed silent. Two gray uniforms, one red, and one black – it meant that amongst them were 2 third year, and one first and second year in that order. Quite the line up to defend a simple stair.
"*Sigh*"
I turned back. This convinced me that whatever Iovanna was up to, it was none of my business and probably wasn't dangerous for anyone. And here I ran in the stairs for her. I felt a bit stupid.
That's when a familiar figure passed me. A slender girl with pale pink hair and always frightened cyan eyes – it was… yes, it was Io Atols, from my class. She slowly approached the staircase and stopped in front of the 4 students posted there.
"Hm? What do you want?"
"E-Eeek!!!"
As usual, she was terrified whenever someone talked to her. I heard it was the downside of her uncanny ability – she gained what some described as madness by fear.
What was she doing, going straight to menacing-looking upperclassmen when she was about to have a heart attack whenever one of her own classmates talked to her? The sheer ridiculousness of the situation made me stop without me realizing.
"The hell? I didn't do anything to you. Are you trying to frame me or something'?"
The third year boy took a step forward. The worst possible move he could take. Unsurprisingly, Io let out a small and back tracked so fast that she fell on the ground, rear first.
"D-Don't hit me please. I… I am sorry… I won't do it again… I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry."
"The hell is wrong with her?"
Well, I want to ask the same question…
"Hey, I think I recognize her! That's her, you know, the Antechamber girl! The one who is afraid of everything!" said the first year.
"Ah! That Curse-Eaten girl! I see now! Now, can't even give your name, missy?"
"I… I am sorry," said Io, covering her head as if she was protecting it from invisible blows.
"..."
To be honest, I couldn't exactly understand her state. I just knew the theory behind it.
Long story short, exposure to the uncanny in any form generally had the side effect of warping the mind in increasingly deep ways. That is why, even though EA was a garbage pile in comparison to other schools, you needed to at least have a great resistance to that mind twisting effect to enroll.
However, no matter how strong your resistance is, you are always at risk to suffer permanent damage, even crippling you forever. The worst part is that you might not even understand that you are going mad until it is too late – your mind and maybe body would have been Curse-Eaten.
As for myself, I only have a great resistance to the uncanny. No uncanny abilities, no uncanny traits, just really good resistance. Sadly, people who are as resistant as me are notorious for going mad in the less obvious way which is arguably way more dangerous than having a low resistance. That being said, it is way better than having a low resistance and an uncanny ability. Worse still if you can't control it.
That was Io's situation according to the rumor. She apparently had a quite powerful uncanny ability but not a great resistance or even a way to stop her power.
The result… was this…
A teenage girl unable to see anything as something else than a mortal threat. I heard that she wasn't expected to live too long. I think I felt pity for her, but I wasn't sure it was the proper feeling to have. What I was sure about though, was that she made me quite uncomfortable.
"Hey, get up," said one of the guys.
"Eeek! I am sorry! I am sorry! Leave me alone please! I didn't do anything wrong! I—"
"Didn't you hear him? Get up!" yelled another, a cruel smile on his face.
"Eeek!!!"
The pink-haired girl's eyes were now clouded behind big tears.
"*Hiccup* I… I am sorry… *sob* I am sorry… *sniffle* P-Please… leave me… alone…"
"Oh come on, she is crying now? How much of a wimp is she?"
"Not her fault, she isn't right in the head, remember?"
"What are they thinking, allowing Curse-Eaten to attend this school? Not to talk about that sh*tty bat hypnotizing people."
"Tch! Hey! I haven't done anything yet for you to cry about but if you don't scram quickly, I might just! Chop chop! Go back home!"
The upperclassman took Io's wrist and… *sigh* This was getting hard to watch.
"Excuse me, could you leave her alone, please?"
This, you see, is a flag. In visual novels, those kinds of moments are generally there to make you shine as the protagonist and gain some affection from the heroine. You press some button, read some dialogue and by the end of it, you are a hero. However in real life…
"What? Who called you?"
… Yeah, in real life, this is usually a death flag.
"Stop bothering her, please. Can't you see you scare her?"
"Ha? Who are you anyway? We didn't do anything wrong, she is just getting scared on her own! You saw it, didn't you?"
The upperclassman question echoed through the hallway and was only replied by silent and hesitant nods.
"See? Now stay quiet and mind your business, first year."
"All I see is that everyone here is your little lap dog…"
It escaped me. I think you know it by now, but in situations I feel in danger I often act calmly. However, this is only a facade as what is really going on is that I think too quickly about too many things. The result of that is often thoughtless comments like these…
"Wait…"
The boy left Io alone and walked towards me. Task accomplished… sadly.
"Are you saying I am bullying her? That's a big accusation here. Are you sure you can back it up? You know what happens when you falsely accuse someone here, right?"
I… had no idea of what he was talking about. What? Was he implying he would do something to me if I kept up? Hm… Given his apparent status, backing off at that point would have been the best move. He could ruin my school-life after all! All I wished for was not too boring but safe days of school. Io wasn't even my friend, it was her fault if she was in this situation to begin with. There was no reason for me to—
"Oh? Bullying? I never talked about that though? Are you saying that you were doing all of this with the bullying in mind? What a confession!"
… Hahahaha… ha~...
You know, I want people to remember… that I like my life… and chicken. Chicken is tasty.
"Hmph! Whatever, you are worth my time," he said, turning around.
"Oh..."
The boy simply walked until he reached the stairs and sat there in silence. I… was safe. I was safe, right? I still can't believe I wasn't hurt. Unbelievable. Maybe I should have played lotto instead. That's like 10 years of luck burned in one sitting.
"*sob**sniffle* I… am… sorry…*sniffle* forgive me…*sniffle*"
The pink-haired girl's sobs brought me back to reality. I took that gamble to save her in the first place so I needed to see it to the end. Okay, actually, I just helped her because I thought I couldn't justify not doing anything if asked about it later, but you can't expect a socially awkward teenage girl to put herself in danger for a stranger. I am not sure you realize this, but I can even say hello to my neighbor if they aren't looking at me!
Urgh, anyway, I had one last thing to do.
"I-Io?" I said, crouching close to her. "Io, everything is okay now. You can— Aaaaaaaargh!!? My eyes!!!"
I rolled on the ground in pain. My eyes were burning as if a mystical fire was eating them away. At first, I suspected the girl of the stair sitting group to have thrown a fire spell at me – she had the two tone eye color characteristic of witches after all. But it was just a coping mechanism. I knew who threw fire at my eyes. I was careless. I should have ran away. Just like my aggressor did.
Blinded, I could still hear their mocking voices despite the almost deafening pain.
"Hahahaha, that is what you get from playing at being a superhero!!!"
"You *laugh* can't be serious *laugh*. This is too much! *laugh*"
"Heh… hehe…"
"*laugh*Boy, nice thing that she took it for you, right, Galeotto?"
"*laugh* You said it!"
… The name is Dawn Riftwalker. Sixteen. First year student at Eve's Anathema and a really, really, stupid girl. I tried helping one of my classmates from bullies but I ended up having my eyes burned at the end. Yeah, you see, it never occurred to me that trying to touch her after all the stress she went through would lead her to gas me and run away. Karma I guess.
Aaah… Teargas is so painful.
I want to die so badly…
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