Chapter 456.1 – Meggie – I taught her well (2/3) |
Emma puffed her cheeks out and crossed her arms. "That's not nice to tease, Meggie!"
Perry hid his smile and took a step back, shaking his head. He brushed a strand of his blonde hair behind his ear and said, "This is what you signed up for by being friends with her, Emma."
"Perrrry!"
Meggie laughed and then turned back towards the campus. "Come on you two. We're still early, but I've got a feeling it'll be less drama if we head out now instead of later."
...Although Meggie lowkey wanted there to be drama. She was feeling... well, to quote something her dad once said, 'in the mood to throw hands with the heaven and earth.'
...In hindsight, Dad was super extra, wasn't he?
Perry nodded and then took a position off to the right behind Emma. Meanwhile, Emma walked next to Meggie, clinging to Meggie's sleeve.
Meggie smiled and kept walking. Then she glanced at Perry and said, "Are you sure you wanna follow us around, Perry? This is mostly a girl drama thing. If you're around..."
Perry blinked as Meggie trailed off. "If I'm around, what?"
A cute smile. A slightly pudgy face sure to be handsome in a few years. Sparkling peridot eyes with that cool symbol in one iris. Blonde hair that completely stuck out among the mostly dark Japanese hair of their peers. And, though not too tall, still taller than the average girl at the academy.
Not Meggie though, of course. Dad and Mom made sure she was up to spec when she was created... born... brought into this reality. And she was growing more now recently too.
...She sliiightly dreaded that fact considering that she'd heard terrifying things about periods and stuff. But it'd be a problem for later.
Anyway. To the main point...
Meggie stared at Perry and then realized that it was DEFINITELY not a good idea having this riajuu bishounen guy around for what came next. "Actually... yeah, no. You're not allowed to be around."
Perry blinked. "Wait, why?"
Meggie pulled Emma closer and shooed Perry away. "Too long to explain. Go head off to class first or something."
Just like in a game, it would be best for that guy to draw aggro somewhere else by heading off before they entered.
Even though Perry was pretty much just a knock-off wannabe compared to Meggie's dad, he was still pretty cool by the average girl's standards. That meant that if he was off somewhere alone, a majority of the more problematic girls would be gone.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
...Meggie was still bad at this 'conflict resolution' thing. Mostly because her mom and dad's definition of 'conflict resolution' was usually either an erasure of three generations' worth of bloodlines or a complete karmic rewrite of the person who bothered them.
...Hm. Maybe if Meggie-
Nah. Dad would kill her, and Mom would scold her for a day straight about setting a bad example for little Rory.
Emma nodded, a mixed emotion on her face. "Meggie's right, Perry. Um... can you just... go first?"
Perry frowned. He looked between Meggie and Emma for a while, but then he let out a soft sigh. "Fine." He put on a faint but determined smile. "I'll trust you, Emma. And you too, Meggie."
Meggie waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah. Just head off already, Pretty Boy, before I smack your irritatingly cute face."
Perry blinked. "Irritatingly cute...?" It looked like the gears in his head were stuck for a bit before he shook his head and laughed. "You're.. definitely something else, Meggie."
"And definitely not interested in you." Meggie casually reached out with her foot and shoved him forward with a soft roundhouse. "Now get."
Perry laughed again and started walking. "Fine, fine. I'll see you two later then." He smiled and waved at Meggie and Emma before heading off up ahead.
'There goes one problem. Now...' Meggie shifted her gaze to Emma, who was still clinging to Meggie's sleeve. "Ready to go, Em?"
Emma took a deep breath and then nodded. Putting on a determined smile, she said, "Let's... let's do this, Meggie."
Meggie blinked.
Emma tilted her head. "What's wrong, Meggie?"
"...Nothing." Meggie reached out and poked Emma's cheek. "You're just too cute."
"C-Cute? M-M-Me too? B-But... um...!"
Meggie laughed and then shifted Emma in front of her, draping her arms around Emma's shoulders. "Anyway, let's get going."
"E-E-Eh?! M-M-Meggie?! Th-th-this is...!"
"It's the easiest way to keep you safe." Meggie shrugged, still draping her arms around Emma's shoulders. "If you're in front of me like this, it'll be easier to protect you if someone tries something."
Emma covered her bright red face and slowly walked forward. "But it's so embarrassing..."
"Get used to it~" Meggie teased and let Emma lead the way while she kept her eyes on the surroundings.
Since it was early, there weren't too many other kids around. For the most part, it was just the high schoolers around Rin nee-chan's age milling about in prep for morning classes. The younger students weren't out yet. Probably because most of them were dropped off.
So that was good.
Although a few of the high schoolers glanced at Meggie and Emma, they just chuckled and let them pass without issue.
All in all, a very good thing.
The less hassle Meggie had to deal with, the better. Not to mention that Emma had already been through a lot, so the faster they went back to a normal schedule the better.
Of course, it looked like Meggie had inherited her dad's knack for troublesome events.
Just as she and Emma rounded the corner to the hall where their homeroom was, a group of girls walked out from the opposite end of the hallway.
Not high schoolers. It would have been better if they were.
Instead, they were girls in Meggie's grade. Six of them, dressed to the nines and acting like complete socialites. The 'mob characters' that Big Sis Betty would say belonged in the background of a visual novel or something.
But this was reality. And those weren't just mob characters. At the front of the group, there was a girl who looked the part of a complete villainess. Dyed crimson hair, blue contacts, a crisp school uniform and skirt along with what looked like a student council armband...
Actually, she looked vaguely familiar.
'Huh. Isn't that girl the one who got in my face earlier?'
Although that girl was wearing different clothes now, Meggie definitely remembered her. Maybe that girl was trying to play the role of a 'proper' school girl?
'Doesn't change her ugly soul though.'
Not that Meggie bothered checking if her soul was actually ugly. There were more productive uses of time and breath, after all.
That villainess wannabe stepped forward and flung a bit of hair to the side with a flick of her wrist. "Hohoho. Well, well." She eyed Emma and then said, "Look what crawled out of the trash."
Emma flinched and averted her gaze.
Meggie instinctively pulled Emma into a tighter hug, resting her head on Emma's shoulder. "It's fine, Em."
Hearing Meggie's whispered words, Emma relaxed a bit.
But Meggie DEFINITELY didn't.
'So she's the bi- witch who hurt Emma.'
Meggie put a calm smile on her face and stared at the wannabe villainess. A casual and carefree expression on the surface.
But inside...
'No killing. No smacking. People here are different from the Three Realms. She'll go squish. I have to remember that. No good. But... Maybe just a poke? They don't need all their limbs, right? You can live without a finger or a wrist or an arm or two...'
Meggie's golden eyes flickered a faint green hue as she took in the other girls in the group. Girls who had clearly followed the wannabe villainess's lead and teamed up with her to hurt Emma.
A fact Meggie was certain of due to Emma's reaction from earlier.
Still, that was fine.
Dogs could bark all they want. And they got one free bite. If they were dumb enough to try again though...
Emma took a deep breath and leaned into Meggie's arms before shifting her gaze away from the villainess and her gaggle of mob characters. "Come on, Meggie. Let's go to class."
Meggie smiled and said, "Sounds good, Em."
That was great. Ignore the pieces of trash that weren't even worth a breath of air.
Meggie quietly applauded Emma's conviction and walked behind Emma as she strode towards their classroom.
At first, Meggie thought that'd be it.
Surely, she thought, that villainess wannabe wouldn't be dumb enough to try and stop them or something, right?
But Meggie underestimated the stupidity... and false confidence that numbers gave to girls.
The wannabe villainess immediately stepped in front of Emma and said, "Mm. I don't think so. Trash should stay in the trash. Right girls?"
"Yeah!"
"Maybe we should throw more food out with the trash this time?"
"Ooh, maybe we can get some of the high school boys to help too~"
Emma trembled from the vicious words.
Meggie's smile grew sharp as she hugged Emma from behind. "Oh?" Her cold voice echoed through the hallway. "Is that so?"
The chill in the air was palpable.
But again, the wannabe villainess either didn't know how to read the room, or she was delusionally confident. Puffing out her chest and tapping her armband, she said, "That's right~ It doesn't matter if you're the headmistress's daughter. I'm in charge of the correctional facilities, and the trash needs to be reformed!"
"Yeah!"
"Correction is necessary to be a model student~"
"She's just a piece of trash anyway, right?"
Emma's expression crumpled.
Meggie's eyes flickered and she slowly swept her gaze across the wannabe villainess and her cadre, memorizing each face while calmly deciding what to do.
Then she noticed a familiar face in the back of the girls.
A cute girl with dirty blonde twin-tails. Eyes that were ACTUALLY blue, not fake contacts like the wannabe villainess. And, although she wore the school uniform, she also wore a cute and fashionable pink ribbon on her blouse.
But what stuck out the most was the white jade pendant she wore with the omega symbol etched on it.
A pendant that Meggie had given out personally to one person. Her first real friend.
'...Tsuki.'
Meggie narrowed her eyes.
Tsuki flinched, guilt and regret running clear across her face.
Meggie didn't want to think the worst of her friend. But considering everything that had occurred since school started...
'If she was involved with this...'
Meggie pursed her lips, a mix of emotions swirling in her chest.
And across the hall, Tsuki seemed to be feeling the same way.