Corty

This was originally posted on/made for April 1st. I fixed it up a little and decided to release it now as it seemed appropriate where the story is at currently. You can skip it, it is not part of the main story at all, just some light fun!

It was a warm day, late into spring. Summer was already knocking on the doors when Ren woke up. She sat up in her bed and stretched with satisfaction. At least until she looked at the clock on her bedside table.

"Damn! I'm late! I am sooooo late!" She screamed out, struggling to climb out from under the soft blanket, flailing around. When she finally managed to put her foot down, she immediately let loose another scream. “Fuuuuuuuhhhuuuuuuuuuck!” She could do nothing but moan and take multiple deep breaths, sucking in air through gritted teeth as she just stepped on a sharp piece of plastic. "Who put this here?!" She groaned, holding her small feet between her palms.

"You did. Also, language!" Her mom's, Anya's voice came in from the door, leaning against the doorframe. "You do know that you only have 10 minutes to dress and be on your way, yes? I told you! Staying up late every night is going to bite you in the buttocks, girl!"

“Ugh… y-you w-were right… mom…” She murmured, lowering her head as her PC still blinked its blue led light, signaling it was only in sleep mode from the previous all-nighter. Her room was messy beyond belief, with clothes and books everywhere and a half-built Death Star Lego set on the ground, the same toy that ushered a critical strike against her feet a moment ago.

"I packed your lunch; it is down in the hallway, next to your bag, already packed. Get ready, and you can still make it! If you get another warning from your teachers, I'll take your PC away!" Anya said, turning away. She could hear her mom banging on her younger brother's door next. "Valen! Wake up!"

Ren quickly got out of her pajamas, threw them onto the floor, and hurriedly dressed up in her school uniform. She wasn't bothering with fixing her messy, white hair, just rushing down as fast as she could, grabbing her bag.

"I'm off!" She shouted, leaving the front door open while her father walked out from the living room with a mug of hot tea.

"Geez, late again?" Xander laughed, watching her daughter jump over the fence, disappearing down the street. "Whoever marries my little girl is going to curse us, you know that?" He said as he closed the door, looking up the stairs right at her wife.

"Tell me about it! Valen isn't any better." She rolled her eyes but still smiled, just like Xendar. Anya was dragging a still half-asleep Valen towards the bathroom, holding him by the hand to get him ready for elementary school in time.

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Down the road, Ren was running in place, standing before a vending machine. She was hurriedly fishing out quarters from the pocket of her skirt, putting them into the slot, grumbling.

"Damn, damn, why is it out of ice coffee? Geez… black tea it is, then!" She moaned, punching it in.

"Late again?" A friendly voice came, and she did not even turn towards the source of it.

"Late for today, early for tomorrow!" Ren answered quickly, grabbing the can and she rushed forward, towards the school. Leinor easily kept up with her when she asked him. "What about you?"

"What do you think?" He asked back, raising his eyebrows. "Who said, 'Come oooon LeiLei, do this 4th dungeon run with me!' Why did I buy Skyrim 2, The Enhanced Co-op Legendary: The Last Edition We Swear by Godd Howard?" He sighed to himself. "What did it lead to? A four-hour marathon because there was no checkpoint inside?! Come ooon…" He grumbled, opening a can that was the last iced coffee inside the machine that he had bought before Ren. "I read it on the forums. There should have been a checkpoint in it, but it is bugged."

"Yet you stayed! That is why I do-" But then she stopped her words and screamed out. "Eh?! Hey! You don't even like coffee! You did that on purpose! Damn it! You!" She screeched, watching him gulping it down, without any mercy.

"I'm starting to like it! Especially because you always make me somehow accompany you in madness! I need the energy to stay sane and awake!" He answered while rolling his eyes.

"Tsk! Okay, okay, It was my fault!" Ren clicked her tongue as they arrived at the middle school they were both students of, just before the warning bell chimed. "Safe! Haaah!" Ren finally stopped rushing as she gasped for air. Leinor leisurely walked up to her, starting to fix the wrongly buttoned uniform of hers.

"Geez, you look like someone roofied you and tossed you into school after they were done with you!" He scolded her.

"Hey, if it's you, I'm in! Let's roleplay!" She grinned, letting him finish fixing it.

"Maybe I am going to spank you really hard one day!" He looked into her eyes. "There. Fixed. On your way!" He flicked his fingers on her forehead as Ren just giggled.

"Meet me at the rooftop at lunch!" She said before rushing off and waving at him as she disappeared. For Leinor's (mis)fortune, they were in different classes.

"Sure." He smiled, watching her disappear, before flinching. "Shoot! I need to hurry, too!" He exclaimed, finally hurrying away to his own classroom.

When Ren arrived at her desk, sitting down and gasping, Isha, who was sitting next to her, just looked at Ren's disheveled figure. She was the school's part idol, part delinquent resident, a mix rare to come across. Her uniform barely could hold her prized weapons back, for most of the boys' delight.

"That was close, girl!" Isha laughed. "Late-night fun? Again?"

"Yep~" Ren nodded, getting out her textbooks. "And you? Why are you here?"

"Because if I miss any more days, I'm out! Trust me, if something happens, I'm off!" Isha sighed, leaning backward while the buttons on her blouse tried to hold on for dear life. "Geez, my little mini bitch, your nightlife is jam-packed, eh?"

"If you call it nightlife." She tilted her head. "I do nothing, just play games, buy mangas, watch anime, and pirate uncensored porn."

"Pft!" Isha choked a little, holding back her laughs. "Geez, I'm still not used to your honesty… What about your boyfriend, huh? That pretty boy? Tons of girls are after him, yet he refuses all of them! Isn't it because you two are dating?"

"Nah, we are just childhood friends." Ren sighed, somewhat even disappointed, as Isha just grinned. She already knew the look in her eyes as it was evident the two of them still did not realize they were in love. Just because of how close they have grown up. "And you? I heard you were going out with someone… and someone from the discipline committee, nonetheless! How did that happen?!"

"Nah, we are just fooling around… and it happened because I was sent to detention. It is funny if you think about it!" Isha waved her hand, sweeping her questions under the rug.

"Hmm… I could do a D&D scenario out of that…" Ren murmured under her breath, but then the bell rang, and their homeroom teacher, Aerthus, arrived. His strict presence quickly shut down every student, especially with the stack of ominous papers in his arms.

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"Uuughhh…" Ren moaned, leaning out of the corridor's window, looking defeated.

"Master!" echoed a soft shout, and soon, freshmen arrived, going by the name of Ariana. She was at the same book club as Ren, joining their group at the start of the new year. "What happened to you?" Ariana asked as she rushed up to her, looking worried, seeing Ren's despondent face.

"Nothing." Ren moaned, "We had a math test right at the first hour… I completely flunked it!"

"Oh… Don't worry, it should not be that bad!" Ariana replied, trying to encourage her as Ren just stroked her head.

"Thanks, but we need to face reality! I suck at adding 1 and 1 together." Ren pursed her lips with a defeated expression.

"True, you did use your phone, even for that, last time." Ariana nodded, remembering it in their previous club session.

"Damn… that was a critical hit!" Ren grabbed onto her face, pinching her cheeks and pulling it apart. "For this, I'll make sure you wipe with your character next time! You are going to reroll a new one!"

"Noooo, please noo~" Ariana moaned.

"You're teasing our little sister once again, huh?" Poli asked as he arrived from nowhere. He was another upperclassman to Ariana, with one arm missing, losing it in an accident years ago. Yet he still was one of the best fencers in the prefecture.

"Not as hard as your girlfriend does it to you," Ren answered immediately, making Poli twitch his mouth.

"Thank god she goes to another school…" He whispered, unable to deny Ren's words.

"Here," Leinor said, walking next to Poli and handing out an iced coffee. Ren quickly let go of Ariana, grabbing it out from the air and gulping it down with haste.

"Thanks! I needed that! This is going to let me forget about that horrible test we had!" She burped loudly and with a satisfied expression. She was completely disregarding how the passing students looked at her.

"You had one too? Damn… we too…!" Poli shared in her devastated attitude. "I fear the day we get it back…"

"Because you are stupid," Leinor commented.

"I'm not stupid!" Poli protested. "I'm just lazy!"

"I wouldn't be proud of that…" Ariana whispered under her nose.

"She is right." Leinor and Ren laughed at the same time, making Poli twitch his mouth once again, but soon, he exclaimed loudly.

"Wait! Isn't that Isha?" He leaned out from the open window, and the rest followed his gaze quickly. They were watching as the red haired goddess of the school was talking with a young man, who stood before her with his arms crossed. It seemed he was lecturing her.

"Is she trying to sneak out? Again?" Ariana asked the rest.

"Probably. But since Zern became part of the student council and the disciplinary committee… she had zero success in her attempts. Her luck has run out!" Poli explained, "Oh… well, there she goes!" He laughed, seeing how Isha was trying to run away, being chased by Zern.

"Heh~ I bet she won't be back for class! She was just as surprised about the test as I was," Ren said, shaking her head while sipping her iced coffee. "But this gave me an idea!"

"Of what?" Leinor questions as he raises his eyebrows.

"A new D&D campaign we could run!"

"Oh? Sounds fun!" Poli exclaimed with eagerness. "You have a name in mind?"

"Sure! I'd call it Mad God!" Ren giggled, looking at her friends with a happy glint in her eyes.