Yuuki pretended to sleep while all her new possessions were put in her room. Lots of clothes, shoes, the books she would ‘need’ for her studies, notebooks, quills, a large supply of ink and even some pocket money. She also received four sets of uniforms, two summer and two winter sets. They were white with some blue outlines.

She took a cold shower, dried herself with magic and put on some new clothes. She was about to leave when she heard a knock on the door. She quickly reverted to her cheerful persona.

“Come in!”

The door opened to reveal three priests all dressed in a white robe with gold accents. The one in the center had a small golden ball decorated with jewels in his hands.

“We don’t wish to take up too much of your time, we only have a few questions.” The center figure stepped forward and looked at Yuuki inquisitively. “We are priests of the goddess of truth, so lying is useless.”

“But… you’re not glowy.” Yuuki said, pretending to be confused.

“Excuse me?” 

“Aren’t priests supposed to be glowy? The ones I met before were.”

Their eyes went wide and looked at each other. “Apologies, we will be on our way now.” With that the ‘priests’ hurriedly left.

Yuuki knew for a fact there was no such thing as ‘goddess of truth’. That was something that not many knew however. They were a secretive organisation meant to interrogate certain people. After all, no one would want to lie to a deity. They most likely wanted to investigate her connection to Mystra. What she said should give them enough of a scare to lay off for a while, if not indefinitely.

She lazily walked out of the building and into the middle of a grassy field just outside the dorms. It was late afternoon and the year hadn't started, so no one was there, just Yuuki. She decided to lay down on the grass, looking at the sky. Hours passed by as the Sun slowly set and the air began to get colder. Someone walked out of the building and began approaching her. She didn’t open her eyes, but she knew who it was. A boy her age, short blond hair and blue eyes.

“The bed not good enough?”

“It’s too soft.” She complained. It wasn’t exactly a lie. She hasn’t really slept much in this life, and she asked for her bed in the mansion to be more firm. She was much more used to sleeping on the ground from her previous life and that seemed to carry over somehow. She turned to look at the boy who had a strange look on his face as if he could relate.

“My name’s Arthur, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Lizzie.” She smiled and looked at him. “Are we friends now?”

“Sure, why not.” He talked in a very strange way for a child. Yuuki wanted to investigate to make sure nothing unexpected would happen, but she had her orders. “You should go back to your room. Curfew’s in a few minutes.” He walked back to the dorms.

She stood up and dusted herself off before heading back as well.

--

The weeks before the school year officially started were uneventful. She went to the library to read something just so they would take her off the list of people who would need to learn to read and write. She did not meet with Arthur again, but didn’t feel the need to force it. They were in the same class, so it wouldn’t be an issue.

Summer ended and so the first day of school started with a ceremony welcoming all the new students, giving a speech about the importance of diligence and ‘forging relationships that would last a lifetime’. Yuuki was pretty much the only one listening that did not doze off even a bit. The old principal finished his speech and the new students were led to the building they would spend a good part of their next six years in. They were instructed to sit down and had to listen to another speech about the importance of the next year, during which they would be evaluated and split into four different classes.

The 100 students poured out of the building, chatting with each other. It was so loud, Yuuki actually felt uncomfortable with her enhanced senses. She didn’t show it, but she was trying to inconspicuously break off from the group. She was nearing the edge when she felt a hand tap her shoulder.

She turned around and acted surprised when she saw Arthur walking next to her with a confident smile on his face.

“So, how was the first day?” He asked nonchalantly. Yuuki did notice however a large group of girls staring daggers at her back.

“It was weird. I’m not used to having so many people around me.”

“Yeah, the crowd’s a bit much.” He drifted off in thought a bit. “By the way, I just remembered we haven’t formally introduced ourselves yet. I’m Arthur Pendragon, pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Elizabeth Ashwood. Just call me Lizzie. Elizabeth sounds… strange.”

“I disagree, I think it’s a beautiful name.”

Yuuki had flirted with many people in her past life as part of being a spy. It was not the first time the target started hitting on her first. It was however the first time she was hit on by an 8 year old. And somehow this child was better at it than most of her targets before. She continued walking in silence with a blush that was entirely fake, but it’s not like anyone could tell.

It was noon and the group of students were walking towards the cafeteria.

“Wanna eat next to each other?” Arthur asked. Yuuki knew what was up. The cafeteria was open beforehand as well, but Arthur made sure not to eat at the same times of day as her. He was avoiding her after having met her because he had someone investigate her. Of course, not a lot was found, but it was enough for him to be interested.

“Sure!” She said happily.

They split off due to wanting to eat different things, so they lined up in different places for the buffet. Yuuki simply put a lot of steak on her plate, as always, and headed to the outside balcony of the cafeteria.

She was already eating when Arthur sat down. The young prince looked at the strange fox-kin with interest as she devoured large bite after large bite. She looked at his plate: pasta, tomato sauce and shredded cheese.

“Where’s the meat in yours?”

“I’m a vegetarian.” He said, and began eating.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She said, looking at him with pity. The sight almost made him choke on his food. After swallowing the bite, he replied.

“It’s not a condition.”

“Eh?” He could see her confusion. “But I thought it means you can’t eat meat.”

“No, you choose not to.”

He could almost see the cogs turning in her head. “But… why? It’s so delicious.”

“I don’t want animals to be killed because of me.”

“But they’re just prey.” She looked him in the eyes and he saw, below the cheery attitude a predator. It served as a reminder that this world was full of things that weren’t as they seemed.

He broke eye contact. “Well, maybe I’m not suitable to be a hunter then.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry! I’ll protect you then!” Being promised that by a small girl made him almost burst out in laughter, but seeing the big smile on her face, showing a sharp row of teeth made him reconsider it.

“Yeah, I’ll be in your care.” He returned the smile and went back to eating. Due to the absurd amount of steak Yuuki had on her plate, despite having started sooner, and eating faster, they finished their meals at around the same time. Arthur wondered where all that food was going, and he had a few hopes to say the least. “Do you have any plans for the day?”

“Hmmm… not really. Do you?”

After standing up and stretching a bit Arthur gave his answer. “Why don’t we go for a walk?”