The kids are all bunking in Yukki's room, who's uncomfortable with all the extra baggage. "This will be the longest three days ever." Yukki says.
He wakes them all up, "get up guys, we've gotta get to class." Yukki says.
Rika groans and rolls over. "It's like six in the morning leave me be!" She shouts.
Yukki shakes her. "If you wanna get away with this you've gotta pretend you belong!"
The others wake up, Nanami taking the bathroom from everyone else first. Yukki groans since Rika distracted him he didn't make it first.
Kaito yawns and just leaves, Dante following him. Yukki shakes his head. "Knew I shouldn't have assumed I could control them."
After a few hours the kids have all, split up into different portions of the school. Dante and Kaito using the training hall with occasional visits from Nanami, who herself was using the school's library and lab, and Toni and Rika who were just going around school, simply put bothering people.
The floating carriages of Arsaw Academy had barely touched down before Toni decided he was in love.
Or at least, something dangerously close to it.
He spotted her while crossing the outer courtyard — right as Rika was complaining about the lack of decent coffee in the Empire. She sat beneath a spiraling crystal-bark tree, surrounded by a lazy glow of afternoon magic and ink-smudged notebooks. She was scribbling into a leather-bound grimoire and humming softly to herself.
Toni nearly tripped over a stone.
"Stars above," he muttered, stopping dead in his tracks.
Rika turned. "What?"
"Her." He tilted his head ever-so-subtly in the girls direction. "That is... that's her. I don't know who she is, but I know she's her."
Rika blinked. "You've been here for five minutes and already you're in a life-altering crush."
"That right friend," Toni said, adjusting his guitar case. "This is destiny."
Rika squinted toward the tree. "She looks like she donates to charity and owns at least one enchanted journal with pressed flower petals."
"Exactly," Toni said dreamily.
He watched as the girl, pushed a strand of soft golden hair behind her ear and giggled at something she'd written. The sound carried on a whisper of magic from the orchard nearby. Toni was sure it was the sound of angels practicing minor harmonies.
"Alright," Rika said, sighing. "What's the plan, Romeo?"
Toni blinked. "Plan?"
"You're not just going to walk up and improvise a ballad at her, are you?"
"I was literally thinking that."
Rika groaned and took his arm, dragging him back into the shade of a hedge enchanted to smell like lemon-mint. "Okay. No. We're going to think this through. What do we know?"
Toni poked his head around the hedge to spy again. "She's studying rune theory, I think. Those diagrams aren't from first-year elemental classes. That's advanced patternwork."
"She might be a third-year then," Rika said. "Meaning if you approach her like some clueless new kid with a guitar, she'll evaporate you on the spot."
Toni began thinking. "So what, do you have in mind friend?"
Rika smirked. "We need subtlety. Mystery."
"I have none of those."
"Which is why I'm handling this. You're going to bump into her, accidentally, on the stairs up to the east tower. That's the long route to Spell Composition class, so most upperclass students take it slow. I'll lead the way, create the opening. You follow up." Rika explains.
Toni rubbed the back of his neck. "And then what? Introduce myself and...?"
"Say something non-threatening and charming. Mention music. Ask what she's reading."
"You really think this could work?"
Rika smirked. "It has to. You already wrote two lyrics about her in your head, didn't you?"
Toni looked with a sly smile. "Maybe three."
She sighed and shoved him forward. "Alright, lover boy. Let's go make you a legend, or a disaster worth writing songs about."
The east tower staircase spiraled up through a glass-and-gold atrium, the walls humming softly with magical energy. It was quiet, peaceful — the perfect place for a totally accidental run-in with a beautiful stranger.
Rika led the way, walking just a few steps ahead as planned. Toni trailed behind, hands sweaty on his guitar case, heart thudding like a badly tuned war drum.
"Okay," Rika whispered, pausing at the top of the stair. "She's right behind us. You're going to turn around, 'bump' into her, say something witty and nonchalant, and—"
Toni was already turning when he tripped over his own foot.
Time slowed. His boot snagged on the edge of the step. His guitar case swung out like a battering ram.
"NONCHALANT!" Rika screamed uselessly.
There was a muffled whump as Toni's shoulder hit the wall, his guitar case popped open, and the entire instrument slipped out… right onto the stairs.
It slid dramatically down two steps and came to a screeching halt at the girls feet.
She blinked.
Toni froze in a tangle of limbs and regret. "…Hi."
She looked from the guitar, to Toni, then back to the guitar.
"…Is this part of the plan?" she asked, biting back a smile.
Rika slowly walked past him, shaking her head and whispering, "You're on your own, Romeo."
Toni picked himself up, somehow managing to look both sheepish and like he meant to fall all along.
"Yeah, that was my signature move," he said. "It's called the 'Falling Flat Minor.' Very rare technique. Almost no one survives it."
The girl laughed, and picked up the guitar, handling it carefully.
"It's a nice instrument," she said, handing it back. "You play?"
Toni took it, brushing his hair back and straightening his jacket like a man trying to salvage both his pride and his spine. "Yeah. Mostly old bard ballads and some Empire blues. I've got a few originals too. Nothing crazy, just real strings."
"That's cool," she said, clearly amused. "You new here?"
"Day two," Toni said. "So far I've only gotten lost three times, nearly got hexed by a vending sprite, and now I've fallen in front of you. I'm off to a great start."
The girl tilted her head, smiling. "Well, you've made an impression."
Toni blinked. "Wait, really?"
"I mean, most guys try to act all mysterious and brooding," she said. "You just sort of exploded down the stairs."
Toni chuckled. "Exploding is one of my stronger qualities."
She offered her hand. "I'm Celina. Third-year spellcrafter."
"Toni. First-year."
Their fingers brushed. A small spark jumped — literal, this time, as her ring let off a harmless pop of static enchantment. She blushed.
"Oops, sorry. Protective ward. Forgot it was active."
"Don't worry," Toni said, flashing a crooked grin. "My heart was already short-circuited."
Celina laughed again, and this time it wasn't out of politeness. "You're actually kind of funny."
Rika leaned over the railing from the floor above, arms crossed, eyebrows raised. "Kind of funny? He almost died for this meet."
Celina looked up at her. "Well, next time he should throw in a backflip."
Toni nodded solemnly. "I'll add it to the choreography."
"Good," Celina said, stepping past him toward her next class. "See you around, Guitar Guy."
As she disappeared around the corner, Toni stood frozen on the stair, a stunned grin spreading across his face.
Rika came down to his level and clapped him on the shoulder. "So... was that part of the plan, or did you just instinctively choose chaos?"
Toni shrugged. "A little of both. But hey, she smiled."
Stood behind him was Yukki, "what're you doing!?" He shouted.
Strartled Toni and Rika turn around, "Do not bother her, do you know who she is?!" Yukki shouts.
They shrug. "I just thought she was pretty friend."
Yukki squeezes the bridge of his nose. "She's a general's daughter, meaning don't bother her, especially if you're not even in the empire!" He yells.
Rika playfully punches Yukki's arm. "Relax golden boy, it's just a crush no harm done."
Yukki smiles. "Yeah you're right, the last innocent crush, just got launched a galaxy away." He says smiling.
Toni gulps, "I forget the kinda monsters you empire folk have."