Yawn

Caitlyn stretched her left arm up and covered her mouth with her right. She glanced up at the clock that hung over the glass screens of her homeroom. Class was going to be starting in a few minutes.

‘I don’t like Mondays,’ she thought. 

Turning her palm, she stared at the black emblem that was tattooed into the skin. It was shaped like a bird with a ring of intricate designs and symbols around it. As she looked at it, it pulsed, sending a wave through her hand.

‘I wish I could let Karion out during class,’ she sighed. ‘But the Academy doesn’t allow spirit beasts to be let loose during classes.’

During the tournament, she didn’t have as much time as she usually did to practice with her spirit beast or just play with it. One of the rules for the tournament explicitly stated that spirit beasts weren’t allowed during the rounds. They said it was to keep the tournament focused on the person’s skills.

‘I wonder when we’ll be able to fight with our spirit beast in an actual battle. It’s just been simple drills and skirmishes so far.’

There was a small commotion that caught Caitlyn’s attention. Glancing towards one of the two entrances into the classroom, she saw Yuna entering the one closest to the front of the room. Yuna always seemed to manage to attract attention no matter how quietly she tried to enter the class. 

‘I guess it’s a side effect of being the most popular in the class. For reasons I don’t really know.’ Caitlyn frowned. ‘I don’t think I’ve really seen her speak to anyone other than Yuki.’

 

Thinking of Yuki, she scanned around the classroom. 

‘I don’t know why I bothered looking. If she was here, I would have noticed,’ she thought. ‘Where is she?’

“Hi, Caitlyn,” Yuna said as she walked up to Caitlyn’s seat. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” she replied. “A little tired.”

“Me too,” Yuna smiled. “The orientation?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know it would be that long,” Caitlyn sighed. “I thought orientations were supposed to be a few hours at most. Not the whole day.”

During the weekend, the Libra Taskforce had contacted her and notified her about a mandatory orientation for trainees. It was early in the day, the sun barely starting to rise. When she arrived at the designated location, she found that everyone that was at the orientation with her were adults that varied from fresh and young boys to middle aged women. The relief Caitlyn had felt when she found Yuna there as well was immeasurable.

For most of the orientation, the two of them stuck together. They listened to the presentation, making little quips that they whispered to each other, and did a few training exercises together. During the few breaks they had, they chatted. It turned out that Yuna did talk quite a bit as long as it was with someone she was comfortable with. She also seemed quite innocent for someone that was seventeen going on eighteen. She didn’t even seem to know that she was popular at the Academy.

‘But she’s actually pretty nice. I misjudged her,’ Caitlyn thought. ‘And she’s just friends with Yuki. Atleast, that’s what I picked up.’

“We’re going to be pretty busy soon,” Yuna said with a little sigh. “I’m not sure if I’m ready for that again.”

“Again?” Caitlyn repeated.

Yuna sat down in a desk that was empty and crossed her legs, her skirt lifting slightly to reveal her thigh. Caitlyn noticed a few boys staring and gave them a glare. They averted their gazes quickly.

“What’s wrong?” Yuna asked her, noticing her expression.

“Hmm? Nothing,” Caitlyn replied with a shake of her head. “You said again?”

“Oh, um, yes. I spent that last couple weeks just training nonstop for the tournament,” Yuna said. “So I barely had a few days of rest.”

“Yeah, I understand. I feel the same. But we have a month before the training camp begins so that’s our rest.”

“I know, I know.”

Caitlyn looked at the clock again. The bell to signify the start of the school day should be ringing any second.

‘Where’s Yuki?’ she thought. ‘She’s normally here a minute or two before the bell rings.’

The room suddenly fell silent. Caitlyn looked around, confused. Following the gazes of nearly everyone in the classroom, her eyes traveled to the entrance that Yuna had entered through. 

‘Who’s…?’

A girl stood at the doorway, an elf based on the body structure. Caitlyn couldn’t see her ears because of the her neatly brushed neck-length brown hair. Her eyes were a shimmering grey that looked like crystals in the sunlight. 

‘She’s pretty. And I think I’ve seen her before.’ Caitlyn squinted. ‘Is that…?’

“Yuki?” Yuna whispered beside Caitlyn. 

‘That’s Yuki?’ Caitlyn thought, giving a quick look towards Yuna. Then her gaze went back to the girl who started to make her way towards them. ‘That’s Yuki?’

---

 

‘Why isn’t Yuki’s disguise on?’ Yuna thought. Her mind raced. ‘There’s no way he forgot to put it on today. So why isn’t it on?’

Yuki walked up to her and Caitlyn, seemingly ignoring the stares from the people around him. The clothes he wore seemed quite loose and plain. But it didn’t seem to matter as he attracted attention anyway. 

‘It’s not like he can cover his face. That would probably attract attention as well,’ she thought.

“Hello, Yuna,” Yuki greeted. “Caitlyn.”

“Hi Yuki. What happened?” Yuna asked. 

“With my appearance?”

“Yeah.”

“I talked with Selene. She said that it’s fine for me to come out now,” he replied. “So I’ll be going to class like this now. I didn’t think that it would attract so much attention. New looking students must be quite a big attraction.”

“It seems so,” Yuna nodded.

“I don’t think it’s that,” Caitlyn muttered next to her. 

“Hmm?” 

“Nothing. Yuki, were you always an elf?” she asked.

“Yes. Selene disguised as a human for fun,” he said. “She wanted to do a little experiment to see how people would react to a human. So after my little announcements at the tournament, she said that I can go back to being an elf.”

“Oh. That explains why you’re so strong.”

“Maybe. Humans are relatively weak.”

“How was your weekend?” Yuna asked.

“It was fine,” he replied. “I didn’t do anything really exciting. How about you?”

“Orientation for the Libra Taskforce,” she answered. “It took quite a long time.”

“I see.” The bell rang and Mabel walked into the classroom. “Let’s go to our seats.”

He walked over to his desk, Yuna following him. Caitlyn stayed where she was already sitting. 

“Everyone’s been quite busy the last couple of days,” Yuki whispered. “We learned some new information that I’ll inform you on later. But just be prepared for a call in the future. We might need to do some work.”

“Got it,” Yuna nodded. She paused for a bit. "Um, small question. Are you still a guy?"

"I'm whatever you want me to be," he said. "I don't care at this point. If you want to use he because it's more comfortable for you, then go ahead and use it."

"I see. Okay."

“Yuki?” Mabel said, her voice confused. “Is that you? What happened?”