KNOCK, KNOCK (BL)

Chapter 5

Kite is an S-class? I wonder if Nevéir is also an S-class? But given the fact na sinabi nya na he's there to fetch me, he might be one. That make sense now.

"You don't know that he's an S-class?" Natasha asked, habang pilit na pinapaupo ng maayos si Bailey. Binitawan na rin naman nito ang mukha ko kaya napahinga na ako ng maluwag. Pakiramdam ko ay namanhid ang mukha ko sa pagkakahawak nya.

"Hindi ko alam, we just met yesterday."

Yung lang ang naging sagot ko saka sininghot ang amoy ng lemon pie. Ah..finally, a food that I can eat without crying internally. I wonder why didn't eat it? At bakit sa akin nya binigay? He could give it to any of his friends.

Does he have friends?

"You're lying."

"No I'm not" Hindi na rin sya muling nagtanong pa about doon kaya napahinga ako ng maluwag. Kung muli pa syang magtatanong ay sigurado ako na wala akong masasagot sa kanya because aside from his name, wala na akong ibang alam tungkol kay Kite.

I excitedly cut a slice before eating it. I almost cry out in joy. Ofcourse I gave them half of the pie, pero tumanggi si Natasha. Only Bailey and Warner accepted the pie. Matapos kumain ng lunch sa cafeteria ay bumalik na rin kami kaagad sa room para sa susunod na klase. While on the way, they keep on talking about themselves; what abilities they have and the place they came from. Apparently, Natasha is a noble from another continent. I thought there's only one city on the lower city, but I guess mali rin ang nalalaman ko. Should I study about this place? She's a harpy (half human, half bird). She can summon and order the birds around and can even become a bird herself. Warner on the other hand came from the city near the Academy. His parents are business men that sold textiles. Telekinesis naman ang ability na meron sya, which sounded cool. While Bailey came from a small village in the mountain. Hindi nya sinabi kung saang lugar, maybe in this area too? Bailey came from the clan of Earth controllers pero she can only control stones.

I didn't talk about myself kasi hindi ko rin alam kung paano ko ipapakilala ang sarili ko. Should I tell them na aside from being a trouble maker ay palamunin lang din ako sa bahay ng tita ko, ngayon ay broke at homeless ako kasi pinatapon nya na ako dito? That doesn't sound good for me.

After our class ay dumiretso kami sa sinasabi ni Bailey na Bulletin, kung saan pwedeng tumanggap ng mga errands. There are also some students na nakatayo sa harapan ng Bulletin, the flyers are not that much. Most errands ay simple lang, like book sorting in the library, cleaning magic tools at the training room or dish washing at the cafeteria. Syempre, nakadepende din ang compensation sa bigat ng gagawin. Such simple errands ay minimum of 5 silver coins na. 5 silver coins can only support me for 2 days, even 1 day at that kung bibili pa ako ng pagkain sa cafeteria.

"There's not much errand na pupwede tayo. Yung ibang errand, they're not errand at all! Some even want high level mages kahit na simple lang naman yung pinapagawa!" Bailey

Should I just take the small errands?

"Oh? Evan it's you."

Napatingin kami sa lugar na pinanggalingan ng boses. To my surprise it's Nevéir. As usual ay nakaguhit ang magaang ngiti sa labi nito. He's with 2 people, a green haired girl and a bald guy.

"Hello" Sabi ko sabay tango rito. May sinabi sya sa mga kasama, ilang saglit lang ay lumakad ito papunta sa pwesto namin sa may bulletin.

"Hindi na kita nasamahan the other day. I was sent for an errand by the headmaster. Did Kite accompany you?"

He ask in a kind manner, like his usual attitude to me. Sinagot ko naman iyon ng tango.

"You're here to accept some errands?" Hindi pa rin nawawala ang ngiti nito sa labi habang pinapasadahan ng tingin ang bulletin board..maging ang mga kasama ko na pinapanuod ang bawat kilos at galaw ni Nevéir.

"Yes, I'm here with my classmates."

He smiled in their direction, talk to me a bit before bidding goodbye. He..still looks so dashing. Napabuntong hininga ako.

"Hindi na ako magtataka kung maliban kay Kite at Nevéir ay may kilala ka pang ibang S-class."

Watner said while taking out a flyer from the bulletin. Tumango tango naman si Natasha sa sinabi nito.

"Wala na, I only know Kite and Nevéir. Atleast something about them. They escorted me here in the Academy you know."

Sinilip ko ang flyer na hawak ni Warner. It's the book sorting in the libary. Naghahanap iyon ng limang tao. The compensation is not bad 7 silver coins per individual. Bailey talk to a few student near the bulletin, kung sino pa ang gustong sumama sa book sorting na gagawin. A girl named Madie then came with us. She's a sophomore, meaning she's ahead us since we're freshmen.

I was wondering kung bakit kailangan ng maraming students for book sorting, then I realized na hindi kakayanin ng ilan lang dahil sa sobrang laki ng library. We started sorting the books at 5 and now it's 7 and we're still working. Habang nag aayos sa pinakamataas na shelf ay hindi inaasahan na ma outbalance ang hagdan na pinapatungan ko. I..fell miserably on the floor with a loud thud. Nalaglag din ang iilang mga libro sa kaaayos ko lang na shelf. Mabuti nalang ay nasa ibang ile nag aayos ang mga kasama ko because that would be an embarrassing sight.

"Ouch!"

A big dusty book fell on my forehead. Inis na tiningnan ko ito. It's a book with a brown leather cover, it's edges are already eaten by termites. Masakit din sa ilong ang alikabok na hatid nito. Walang label sa cover nito kaya naman ay binuksan ko ang unang pahina. There's no content. Sinubukan ko pang buksan ang mga susunod na pahina pero ganun pa rin. Walang laman. I got frustrated. Tumayo na ako at handa nang i hand over sa librarian ang libro nang bigl itong dumulas sa kamay ko.

The book opened in a random page. Hindi ko sana papansinin iyon pero naagaw ang atensyon ko ng mga katagang unti unting lumabas sa pahina.

'You can't escape your faith. You are bound to die.'

Mabilis ko iyong dinampot at naglakad papunta sa desk ng librarian. This book is giving me creeps. In the corner of my eyes I saw a shadow or a smoke maybe that slipped away from the book I'm holding. We got out from the library at exactly 8 PM. Natanggap din namin kaagad ang compensation kaya naman ay medyo maluwag na ang paghinga ko. I'll just try to spend this money bit-by-bit at kung maubos man kaagad, siguro ay pwede akong tumanggap ng errand ulit.

Malapit na ako sa gate nang dormitory nang makita ko si Kite na nakasandal sa poste ng gate. For some reason he is glaring at me like I betrayed him or something.

"..Kite?"

"What did you brought along with you?"

"Huh?"

Naguguluhang tanong ko sa kanya. I didn't brought someone with me, if that's what he wanted to know.

"Someone's been behind you since you left for the library?" Seryosong sabi nya. Napakamot ako ng ulo kasi..why would he know that I just came from the library?

"I'm not stalking you, get a grip of yourself. Madadaanan muna ang library bago makapunta sa dormitory. So what's that thing that you brought with you?"

Nilingon ko ang lugar na tinititigan nya. From across where I'm standing, next to the street lamp is a small hairless chicken--no, a chick with a glowering red eyes.
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To be continued...