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...
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"Oh, wait, before that, let me take attendance! Alright, seems that all ten of you are here!"
"T-ten?" Jude asked, glancing at the other eight.
I leaned forward and poked him on the back. The boy jumped as much as Huo had done earlier.
"You hadn't noticed her, did you?" Huo asked.
He shook his head.
I frowned. Was I really that lacking in presence?
"She's the one who gave me the snack bar," Enkai said, pointing at his empty wrapper.
"Oh, I was wondering where you had gotten that," Mira said.
Were Eni and Huo the only ones who noticed me?
"Oh, right. Does anyone have any questions before I pass out the quiz?"
I raised my hand.
"Yes, Tamara?" Mira's sister asked.
'Can the stars be used to help starcrossed lovers?' I signed.
She stared at me for a while.
"Can you understand her?" Mira asked. "She taught us some of those signs during homeroom, so I can make a bit of a guess."
Enkai stared at his hands and tried making some of the signs I had just made. He frowned as he got his fingers crossed.
Mira's sister smiled and held out a hand. 'Not sure how to answer. Star-crossed lovers are said to meet misfortune due to the stars themselves, hence the term.'
I frowned. Why did the system set me up with Robbie if our stars were mismatched? Did it really only want us to produce powerful kids? But I loved him too. If fate was against us, our relationship could be an uphill battle.
"What did she ask?" Ver asked.
Meika smiled. "I think it's a rather personal question." She sighed. "One I wish I knew the answer to... Given my parents were in a similar situation..."
"Now I am curious," Mira said. "Say, how did you learn how to sign?"
"I took it as my foreign language in university. I love books and words, but not all of them come in the form of letters."
I smiled. So, she was like me.
"So, no further questions?" she asked.
Orion and I shook our heads while the rest just stared.
"Okay. In that case, I'll begin." She stepped forward with a small pile of papers. Slowly, she placed three paper-clipped papers down on Nate's desk, then Hikaru, Orion, Mira, Jude, Vermeil, Kanja, Enkai, and finally me.
My eyes peered at the paper. The first question was about my birthday. The answer to that was easy! Jenu seventh!
The next question was what of the twelve-month zodiac signs represented my birthdate. That was also easy, the tragic horsemen twins- Alis and En. Despite being twins, some legends claimed the two were half brothers. With En being part diety. It was for this that En was unnaturally tall, for the spawns of the divine and the mortal were said to be tall! Alis, on the other hand, was the same height as a regular man. One day, Alis got badly wounded while fighting back the desert tribes to the north of their country. En pleaded for the salvation of his brother, even suggesting to give up half of his life for him. A man in a black cloak was then said to appear with a crystal ball in hand, a servant of the death goddess, Nami. The man asked the young En if he truly wished to share half of his life with Alis. En did not hesitate. As a result, the man transformed the pair into stars, for eternity cannot be divided in half. However, they could spend eternity together in the sky above.
