ISLA NEWTON'S POV:
Eh?
How did I end up here?
In his arms?
I remember going to the supermarket earlier…so why am I here?
Recently, I caught a cold from one of my classmates in 1-B. The cold was horrible, but I needed to save CMP for the month. Because I overspent the previous month, I need to keep track of everything I buy this month, or I might just end up with no meals at all! Hahaha!!
Last month, we were really living the high school life of our dreams. Shopping without a care in the world—isn't that what every girl dreams of? Especially because of this school that has sooo many cute outfits, spending money becomes a temptation we struggle to give in to.
"Isla, want to go eat in the new cafe today?"
"Sure!!"
Rejecting classmates' offers to go out together becomes a daily struggle, too. I'm probably too kind for my own good. But I like that side of me. The kind and sweet me is nice. Being popular feels…nice too!!
People tell me that I have the charisma to attract people. They say I have the power to control them if needed. ButI believe that if I understand people well enough, I won't need to control them.
However, just this morning…
"Hey, Isla, how much CMP did you get this month?" Tristan asked.
"I got 5382 CMP this month. How about you guys?" I sighed.
"Ehhh…I only got 592 CMP this month…" Marianne pouted.
"Sigh, I got 4812 CMP this month," Tristan sighed.
"Isla, you probably got the highest CMP in our class. You should contribute more to our Volunteer Pooling System then."
"Now, now, Marianne, don't pressure Isla into doing this."
Tristan glanced at me.
"It's okay, Tristan." I shook my head. "Since our CMP this month is quite low, I'll donate around 50% of this month's CMP. After all, I created this system to help our classmates with lower CMP, right?" I smiled.
"Isla, you're too nice…" Tristan muttered.
"That's our Isla for you!!" Marianne blew raspberries at Tristan.
"Hahaha!!"
Sigh, I've done it again. I'm too kind for my own good. I don't even know how to reject people. How am I going to survive this month? With barely enough CMP to survive this month, how am I going to buy medicine for myself later? I'm only left with 12,500 CMP, including the 50% of this month's given CMP, 2691, that'd be 15,191 CMP in total. Just enough for the month and not getting expelled for going under 150 CMP.
"Achoo!" I sneezed.
"Isla, are you okay?" Marianne had a look of worry written all over her face. She frowned slightly as she looked at me.
"Mm, I'm fine, don't worry about me. I think I just caught a small cold. I'll probably make some porridge for myself after school," I waved it off.
What should I do?
I don't think I even have enough CMP to buy the ingredients for porridge. I'll probably have to buy a bento box again.
That was what happened this morning.
So why?
When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the floor.
"Are you okay? Can you stand?" A blurry figure was calling out to me. Ah, the courageous knight from my dreams has come for me!
Everything looked…wrong. They…everyone…looked blurry and upside down. I opened my mouth to mumble something about being able to stand, but nothing came out. My throat felt hoarse.
Is this the consequence of not taking care of my fever for a few days?
"Huh?" I managed to cough out. "An angel? Thanks…for saving…" My vision went blurry again. Am I going to see darkness again? I felt cold…too cold. It was freezing even though it really wasn't. It was summer, not winter.
"You're burning up." He could probably feel me. After all, my forehead was plastered against his bare skin. Wait, bare skin? No, I'm probably hallucinating again. He can't be just wearing a towel. Cold sweat trickled down my forehead again.
"You're…warm…" I smiled at him as I snuggled up closer to his body. Is this the end? Am I seeing things?
"Yeah, I'm warm." He looked down at me slightly. Then I saw something of his that caught my eye. His white hair and striking violet eyes. He looked like an angel sent down from heaven to pick up my cold, dead body, ready to send me to heaven.
"Angel, who are you? What's your name?" I hugged him tightly. "Don't leave me…"
"Don't worry, I won't leave you." I can remember those words clearly. His pace quickened slightly after that. Was I in trouble? "I'm ******* from class 1-D." I could see his lips moving, but couldn't hear his name.
I was too ill to remember. I only remember telling myself to remember which class he was from before the world turned upside down again…
"You're awake, Isla!" A bright, cheery voice awoke me.
I rubbed my eyes and muttered, "Where's he?"
"Oh, him? The guy who carried you here?" The nurse asked.
I nodded.
"Oh, he left already," She laughed. " He didn't want to leave his name and class down, but he did pay for all your medical expenses and even left a…" She scratched her head. "A small sum of CMP for you?"
I immediately opened my student ID card and checked my CMP.
"Your CMP balance is now: 20, 191"
"WHAT?!!!" I nearly jumped out of my bed. "How is this small???"
"I don't know, but he left a small note for you." She handed me a small sticky note.
It read:
Isla, by the time you read this note, I would have already left, so don't come find me. Use the CMP I've given you well, and take better care of yourself from now on. The nurse will teach you how to medicate yourself when you go home, so listen to her. Get well soon, and I wish you all the best in leading your class.
My angel, just who are you?
ALISTAIR NIGHTFALL'S POV:
"Take care of her for me," I told the nurse there before I left.
"Of course! Boy, you'd better put on this towel. It's cold outside." She threw me a towel.
I caught it with one hand and thanked her.
It was freezing outside.
"Who was she?" A voice came from my right. Standing right outside the hospital, I turned to see Kaori leaning against the wall.
"Isla Newton from class 1-B," I replied.
"Are you two friends?" She asked.
"No, we've only met once, just briefly that day. She seemed…nice," I muttered.
"It's rare to see you take the initiative to help someone out with no ulterior motives," She smirked.
"My motives aren't ulterior. Everything I do has a purpose that will help me in the future. I have already calculated that much. I only helped Isla get medical help today because she was in critical condition and required my immediate attention." I stated clearly.
I am only telling Kaori this because even if she knew, she can't tell anyone about it, nor can she disobey me. I have already checked her threads of fate.
"I see…" She tilted her head and arched an eyebrow, a playful smile twitched at her lips. "So, my encounter with you has a purpose?"
"Of course. My encounter with you was simply planned ahead of time by the gods, but reading too much into it will only break my mind, so I only knew that I would meet you around a certain time. And from there, I would plan what I'd do with you."
I can indeed see the threads of fate, but if I look too deeply into them or look for too long, it will damage my mind. But Kaori's sole purpose in my life isn't just to be used as a mere pawn. Her purpose was to be there to take care of Ella when my mind finally breaks one day. That's why she needs to know just a little of my secrets. Maybe to tell Ella in the future.
"Is that so?" Her playful smile was still there. "I'm glad to be of use to you." She wrapped my hand around my shoulder as she supported me back to the dorm. "Ever since that accident, I had no idea what my purpose in life was. Thanks for giving me…a purpose to live," She winked.
"..."
"You're not Big Sis, are you?"
"You must be tired." She placed me on my bed and helped me put on my shirt. "You used quite a bit of astralis to heal Isla when you had a low supply of astralis left."
"How?" My eyes widened slightly.
A small laugh escaped her. "I'm your Big Sis. Of course, I know many things about you." She handed me my blindfold.
Luckily, my blindfold was nearby. A few more minutes and I would've lost control.
"It's been so long since I've seen you like this." She stroked my head lightly, like how Mom would. "Now go to sleep," She sang. "You did great today. Your Big Sis is glad…"
Her voice trailed off as I lost consciousness…
~~~~~~~~~~
"Let go of me, Tristan!!" Someone yelled from outside the classroom.
Everyone in Class 1-D stopped in their tracks.
"What's going on?"
"What's happening?"
"What's happening so early in the morning?" Crystal asked, putting down her book slightly.
"I have no idea," I answered her.
"Hey, doesn't that look like Isla from 1-B?" Frederick stood up from his seat.
"Yeah! Why is she coming to our class? I thought we had an alliance with them." Pax stood up too. "Is she mad at us or something?"
"But what the hell did we do to infuriate her? Isn't she the supposed angel of 1-B?" Tank frowned.
"I heard that she was sick for three days straight and went to the hospital," Others chimed in. "Maybe the fever has messed with her mind?"
As Isla slowly dragged herself to our class, with two classmates clinging to her arm, trying to hold her back, we could hear the girl shout, "Isla, you can't just storm into another classroom demanding to see this angel! He's probably not even real! Your fever was really high that day! You might have just seen wrong—"
"I know what I saw, Marianne!! I saw him really clearly. He had that striking white hair and beautiful violet eyes!!! And he told me he was from 1-D! There's an angel in 1-D, and I'm going to find him somehow, no matter what you say!!!!" Isla shot back. "Now let go of me, the two of you! I want to thank the angel for saving me. Now let go!!" She tried kicking the two of them.
Sigh, this is bad. I only told her my name and class that day because I thought she wouldn't remember because of her high fever. Who knew she would engrave my class so deeply in her mind? I thought I also wrote it clearly on the sticky note, not to find me? I'm truly lucky that she forgot my name, or else I would never hear the end of it from Crystal about meddling with other classes. Sigh.
"Everyone," Isla dragged her body forward with the two human weights still clinging to her ankles and stood at the small podium where Ms Seraphine usually stood. "I am Isla Newton from Class 1-B. Um, how should I put this…uh. Has anyone seen the angel in Class 1-D? I'm looking for him to thank him for saving me."
"Uh, sorry to interrupt you, Isla, but I don't think we have an angel in our class," Liam said, scratching his head. "Could you be more specific?"
"Uh, he had this white hair and violet eyes and, um, he looked really muscular and cool," Isla tried to describe me last night.
This is so embarrassing.
"Isla, are you sure you're not talking about Liam?" Annabelle raised her hand. "I'm sure he looks the closest to what you call an 'angel'. Besides, we don't have anyone with white hair in this class. That hair colour is really rare. Only House Nightfall of the main branch carries that unique hair colour, and no one here is from the main branch."
I sighed in relief.
Annabelle really saved me there.
Isla took one look at Liam and scoffed, "Sorry for being blunt, but that angel definitely looks much better than Liam. His physique and looks are off charts. I have never seen anyone as angelic as him."
From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Liam looking as though arrows had struck him from all sides. Haha, this is getting interesting.
"His voice, it sounded really nice, too, like an angel." Isla looked up at the sky, fantasising about my voice.
Does my voice really sound nice?
I think it sounds like an average person.
"Isla, we should go now. Class is starting," Marianne tugged at her sleeve.
Isla glanced at the clock and sighed, "I'll be going now, but if you do see this angel, please tell me, thanks! And sorry, Liam." She gave him an apologetic look as she returned to her normal, cheery self.
"Don't worry about it," Liam managed to croak while being comforted by Remi.
Liam's probably the most attractive guy in our class, so he probably hasn't been 'rejected' this badly before.
"That was…something," Crystal muttered.
"Yeah. What in the world happened between Isla and her 'angel'?"
"That's something I'd like to know too."
"So which club did you choose to join?" I asked her. Auditions start in a week from now, and I need to polish up my acting skills a little. Reading could help me enhance my skills a little, but it would be useless if I don't start practising.
"Yes. I've chosen the Tennis Club. How about you?"
"Wow, I didn't know you played tennis. I plan on joining the Entertainment Club."
"I didn't know you could act," Crystal scoffed.
"Hey, you should be nicer to me, especially since we're working together now."
"..."
Sigh, she ignored me again.
"So? Have you thought about my idea?" I asked. "When are you going to use it? You do realise that our class is in the worst state compared to the other four classes, right? We need someone to step up to be the leader of our class."
"I know that." She rolled her eyes. "But why did you ask me and not Liam? I mean, he looks more like a leader than I do."
"Liam might be the central figure in our class, but he doesn't have what it takes to hold our class together. I'm sure he would willingly step up to be the leader, even if it meant that he would be the target of the other classes, but his leadership skills…might be something else. Besides, you forced me into it, remember?"
"..." She didn't look convinced.
"Didn't you say that you wanted to be the leader of our class just the other day? And I'm going to have to help you? Why are you hesitating now, then? Is it because of the sacrifice?"
"Of course not! I'm not hesitating, I'm just thinking," Crystal replied. "Just give me a little more time."
"..."
~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, Big Sis, why are you here every day?" I asked as I ate Kaori's food. "This is yummy. You should cook more often for me."
"Haha, I'm glad you like it," she laughed as she watched me eat. "I prepared lunch for you tomorrow, too."
"Are you sure it can last so many hours?"
"Don't worry, I added some restoration astralis inside. It won't go bad," She chirped.
"More importantly, why are you avoiding my question?"
"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Must I have a reason to talk to my cute little brother?" Her voice had a playful, melodic tone to it. She was teasing me like always, but somehow, this felt a little warmer. More family-like.
"You should,"
She gasped dramatically.
"How mean!" She turned away with a small huff, arms crossing. Big Sis then turned her head back slightly to see my reaction.
"You're not going to fool me twice."
"Aw," She pouted slightly. "The reason I come every now and then—"
"You mean every day," I corrected her.
"Sorry," She winked. "Every day," She corrected herself. "Is because I have a tooooooon of things to tell you now that you're in the same school as me!" She waved her hands in the air. "You will be having the same experiences as me, and I have only one year to relate with you, so I must treasure every moment I have."
"I see…" I murmured in between big bites.
"Also, I wanted to ask you one more thing." Big Sis poked my shoulder.
"What?"
"Have you heard of…" Her lips curled into that familiar 'I know it all' evil smile.
"The angel in class 1-D?"
I immediately averted my gaze.
Her gaze danced with amusement as her grin widened, clearly enjoying every second. "Do you know him? I mean, surely you do know him, right? He's in your class, 1-D! He's that guy with striking white hair, beautiful violet eyes, and a really toned physique. Apparently, he looks really hot, you know?" Kaori poked fun at me.
"So? Does my cute little brother know him?" She grabbed my face and stretched my cheeks hard.
"Owww, stop it!"
"Then tell me if you know him!"
"Noo! I don't know him!! Now let go of me!!!"
I think I said it too calmly because Big Sis wasn't done with me until she got the reaction she wanted.
"Liar." She pinched my cheeks harder.
"I really don't know him!!" I wailed.
I think I did that, but maybe I didn't say it sincerely enough, because…
"No, you know him, you little liar!!! You know him really well!!"
"Could you let go of my cheeks first? I can't talk like this!"
Big Sis finally let go of my cheeks. Ugh, they feel so sore. I should put an ice pack on them later.
"Spit it out." Big Sis placed her hands on her waist.
"Fine," I groaned. "It was me, okay? That angel was me."
"How can you say that with a straight face?" Big Sis laughed. "Though you look more frustrated than ever today." She studied my face as she patted my head. "That's a good sign," She said quietly.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." She walked towards the kitchen.
"Tell me."
"Nope."
"You definitely said something."
"Nope."
"Damn you."
"Oh my," Big Sis suddenly whipped around to look at me.
"What is it?"
"My little brother said his first bad word." Big Sis looked kind of shocked, but that evil smile of hers remained.
"That's not a bad word," I protested.
"Sure, if you think so." She smirked.
"I'm telling you, it's not a bad word!"
"Sure, I believe you. I believe I already said that," She didn't seem convinced at all!!!
"No!! You don't understand, it's not a bad word."
"Yeah, sure."
'You don't sound convinced at all!!!"
I think I'm having a mental breakdown right now. That woman just gets on my nerves all the time. Ugh, curses. Does she not have anything better to do right now other than play with my head?
"You don't sound like you're losing your temper at all. Give me the reaction I'm waiting for first." Her smile was teasing, borderline mischievous, daring me to respond. "Hm? So?"
"Curses," I grumbled.
"Oh my," She snickered.
"Shut up," I snapped.
"Sigh, don't get annoyed with me this easily, Alistair. Who's your dear Big Sis going to play with then? I will be so bored after leaving this school next year. Think about your poor Big Sis's feelings!" She pouted.
"You can mess around with Isabella next year. Besides, you're already 18. Stop being a freeloader and get a job." I rolled my eyes.
"How mean!" She shot me a look, though it lacked real anger. "I'm definitely not a freeloader! I occasionally do the laundry, the dishes…"
"...and break almost all of them," I continued for her. "Uh-huh. You're 'really' helpful at home. And don't get me started on the laundry. Every time you wash the clothes, they always end up with mysterious blotches of different colours everywhere. There was even a time when my jeans had a giant hole in them."
"Uh…" She looked away sheepishly. "The hole in your jeans looked trendy!" She tried to make up an excuse. "And…and I did try my best doing my part of the chores though…though I'm not very good at it." Her voice faded into a whisper.
"What? I can't hear you."
"..." She refused to respond, clearly sulking in her own way.
"You're just not cut out to do these kinds of things. I pity your future husband for marrying a woman who can't even do the chores right. But I guess he can still appreciate you for the food you make."
I don't think she's good 'wife material' at all. I can imagine her struggling to hide the broken shards of the plate she broke, a few years later, under the bed while trying to comfort her baby. She would make a really good mother, but not so much of a wife, I guess.
"How mean! I'll let you know that this 'unlucky man' who'll marry me in the future might be you. Maybe you'll love my food so much that you won't be able to leave me," She thumped her chest in assurance, her face lit up by a cocky grin. "Just to prove you wrong, I'll make you fall in love with my food and the way I do the chores!"
"In your dreams. You're being delusional again."
"Gasp! How could you? You could've at least said it nicer!" She folded her arms, her pout lingering longer than it should have.
"Sorry, I'm just stating the obvious." I picked at my carrot.
"Alistair Nightfallllll!!!!" She chased me around the room. "You come to me this instant!!! I'm going to kill you!!!!!!"
"Ah. I'm scared." I provoked her.
"Alistairrrrrrr!!!!!!" She pulled out her wand and chanted. "O holy vines of Iscalon, rise from the roots of Aetherion and show your wrath. Bind thee 「Immortal's Judgement」!!!"
"Oh? We're using astralis now?" I waved my wand. "「Shadow Mist」" The shadowy mist swallowed me as I disappeared from her line of sight.
"Alistair Nightfall!!! I'm going to roast you tonight!!"