A new year at Nine Petal Academy means a new crop of students, including a boy who can't control his magic, a thief, an angel, and even a suit of armor? Adela, Lei, and their friends are tasked with welcoming the new class of first years and helping...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I sighed and curled myself up into a ball within the closet of the hotel room I had snuck into. Hopefully, those guys wouldn't find me here. They didn't put their luggage in here, so I saw no reason for why they would open it, to begin with.
I closed my eyes and dozed off.
"Hey, there," a voice called out.
I opened my eyes and saw a blond boy grinning at me. The first rays of sunlight started pouring into the room via the window I had used to sneak in.
I pushed myself up. "How did you know I was there?" I asked, trying not to raise my voice. The blue-haired boy was still fast asleep, while the other two were nowhere to be seen. Hopefully, he wasn't calling security on me.
He entered the closet and closed the door behind him. "I woke up earlier to go on my daily jog and heard metal clattering in here. I chose to ignore it, but there it was again when I returned. Traced it back to here."
I sighed. The guy turned out more perceptive than I expected.
"I'll be going now," I said, raising my hand. The blond boy grabbed my hand before I could snap my fingers. "Wait, don't go! Come with us!" He looked straight at me with his crimson eyes.
"Huh?"
He turned away and grumbled. "Wait, I'm not even sure if he or she is fifteen."
"I-I am, but what about it? Why does my age matter to you?"
The boy grinned. "Great! Then you can come with us to Nine Petal."
What was up with this guy?
"Nine Petal? The famous Kyuu Seishinian academy?" I asked, tilting my head.
He nodded. "Yup! The one and only!"
I pulled my hand away from his grasp. "Why do you want me to accompany you?"
"You said that you had no place to go. That'll change if you get admitted to Nine Petal."
I lowered my head. "Would they even admit someone like me?"
"They've probably had several weird individuals go there in the past. Or at least ones who've tried."
I looked up at him. "Y-you think I'm weird?"
He scratched his cheek and chuckled. "Well, you are wearing that armor. If you're only worried about your face, you would've worn a mask."
I lowered my head. "Right." I couldn't remove this armor. At least not with people around. If I did, the world would be thrown into a loop.
"Do you have a body image problem?"
I snickered weakly. "That's one way of putting it."
"Wish I could see your face, but it's fine. Hopefully, you'll open up more."
