Pride x Familiar (5 page)

It wasn’t over until I’d dry retched a few
times.

I heard footsteps and the voice of a girl I
knew.

“Haruka? Haruka—ah she’s in here.”

Reaching up I pulled at the paper in the
dispenser, hurriedly wiped my mouth, then flushed the toilet.

I looked up at Siobhan.

The blonde girl returned my look before reaching
down. She picked me up easily enough and sat me down on the toilet
seat. Needless to say she lowered the seat cover first.

“Haruka, look at me. How do you feel?”

“Sick….”

“Is it something you ate? Something you might
have drunk last night? Where does it hurt?”

I shook my head, then pressed down on my
sizeable chest. “Here….”

“What does she mean?” I recognized that voice as
Alistair’s. “Is it chest pains? She can’t possibly be having a
heart attack. She’s one of us.”

Siobhan was studying me intently. “Haruka? Is
it…heartache?”

The pain in my chest grew and I nodded
furtively.

She sighed and asked, “He’s the Caelum you spoke
of…isn’t he?”

I nodded fitfully.

Alistair whispered softly, “Oh my gods. But—but
Haruka you said he couldn’t be an Aventis. You said all his tests
were negative.”

Siobhan caught my gaze with hers. “You didn’t
know, did you?”

I shook my head. My throat burned. “I didn’t
know…I didn’t know…he was a Familiar.”

Siobhan sighed again. “Let’s get you cleaned up
and back into class. Or do you want to go to the nurse’s
office?”

I looked down at the tiling and gave her
question serious thought. “Maybe I’ll…maybe I’ll lie down for a
little while.”

Siobhan nodded. “Okay. I’ll walk with you.” She
turned and addressed Alistair. “Tell Ms. Fauntine I’m taking Haruka
to the nurse’s office.”

As I washed my face at the hand basin, and
rinsed out my mouth, I realized what a fool I’d made of myself. No
doubt Caelum was thinking I’d rushed out dramatically just to grab
his attention.

I felt ashamed, and I felt scared.

Not once since attending the Academy on my first
day, had I ever felt so scared about walking into my classroom.

I looked at Siobhan’s reflection in the
mirror.

“I’ve changed my mind. I’ll go back to
class.”

I would have to do so eventually.

I would have to face him eventually.

I dried my face, brushed out my hair with my
fingers, then steeled my back.

I walked out of the girls’ toilets, down the
corridor and then back into my classroom.

I forced myself not to ponder whether Caelum
paid any attention to me as I stepped into the room.

But when I sat down, I used the small mirror in
my pocket makeup kit to peek his way.

He was busy working on his smart desk with pen
stylus in hand.

I snapped the kit shut with a soft click.

#

(Caelum)

Lunch break came around quickly enough.

There were fewer classes today since it was the
opening day of the school year.

The opening ceremony had been held during the
period normally assigned to morning homeroom. After the one hour
ceremony all the new Familiars attending the academy were summoned
to the Principal’s office. That was the reason why I was late
introducing myself to my classmates.

At the Principal’s office, I stood with a half
dozen other Familiars – two girls and four boys – and listened to
the Principal’s stern lecture.

I didn’t have much of an opportunity to study my
companions who appeared to be first year high-schoolers.

Instead, our Principal occupied almost all my
attention.

Lavinia Mason was a tall, slender woman whom I
would describe as
handsome
rather than
attractive
.
She had a piercing stare that I had trouble meeting. Her business
suit which comprised a skirt rather than pants was charcoal grey
and crisp. In short, her attire looked brand new. I will admit that
while she wasn’t attractive, she had the slender physique of a
runway model and her legs were nothing short of stunning.

But her tone was cold, and I was distinctly
aware that she had no love for Familiars like us. It didn’t
surprise me, and I could see she was being tolerant of our kind. By
the same token, I didn’t exactly have fond feelings for the
Aventis, so our tolerance was mutual.

The briefing didn’t take long. Principal Mason
instructed us to download the student handbook for Familiars and to
read the rules and regulations outlined within. I had already
downloaded it to my palm-slate last night, after gaining access to
the academy information network. After reading it, I didn’t find it
that much different from the school handbook at my old school. But
there were rules and rights associated with being a Familiar –
rules that were supposed to protect our kind from acts of
aggression and victimization expressed by Aventis students.

Mason had said that if we all followed the rules
we could enjoy
peaceful
lives at the academy.

I took that with a kilo of salt.

I wondered how peaceful life would be for a
Familiar bonded to a Fragment and classified as a Special.

After the briefing, I hurried over to my
assigned homeroom and introduced myself as per the norm for any
transfer student.

Now, during lunch break, I sat in the donut
shaped cafeteria building at a table on the second level,
overlooking the first level below.

Caprice sat across the round table, eating from
a meal tray.

I looked down at the food on my tray and started
picking at it, before I finally managed to eat a few bites. When I
finished eating half the contents on the tray, I went back to
gazing over the Aventis students occupying the cafeteria’s three
levels.

Resting my chin on a palm, I muttered, “This
morning went well enough. My grand debut at the prestigious Galatea
Academy. Whoopee doo.”

“It was well within expectations, though the
entrance ceremony was a little tedious.”

I shifted my eyes in her direction. “So this is
your second year here?”

“You already know that Caelum. Why are you
asking me again?”

“Sorry.” I looked away.

For six of the past seven months I’d been
attending my old school. My status as a Familiar had been kept from
the students. That meant I spent six months playing the part of
being a Regular just like the rest of my classmates. But now
pretend time was over. I couldn’t hide what I was from the Aventis
student body here at Galatea. The handbook clearly stated that was
against the rules.

I fingered the badges pinned to my blazer’s
breast.

I had received them a week ago from Arisa who’d
managed my transfer to Galatea Academy.

In a way, I felt kind of relieved not to be
hiding what I was. But it didn’t make me feel any better about
being a Familiar. Seven months since that fateful day and I
sometimes struggled accepting the card Fate had dealt me. There
were things I could do now that really worried me. Was I
responsible enough to make the best use of my abilities?

Caprice had stopped eating and was quietly
studying me. I grew a little uncomfortable under her gaze then
realized I was unconsciously stroking my sternum through my
shirt.

“Stop that,” she said softly. “That wound healed
months ago.”

“It’s a habit, and I still have a scar—thank you
very much.”

“I already apologized for that, but triggering
your Awakening was necessary. The best way is a shock to the
system, usually by near fatal wound. Once injected, the Symbiote
bonds quickly to your weakened body, triggering the genetic changes
and healing you at an accelerated rate before it dies and is
absorbed into your body.”

“Yes, yes, so you told me before.” I remembered
waking up with my head on her lap. Seeing I was still alive,
Caprice had quickly explained what she had done, and why.

Caprice continued as she had that day seven
months ago. “By bonding you to the Lanfears you gained protection
from the other Prides. And even if we leave that aside, the fact
that you are bonded means they couldn’t fight over you either.”

“Yeah, I know that—I mean I know that
now
. Still, it’s more a branding than a bonding.”

Caprice’s eyes narrowed, then she glanced away.
“Trust you to think of it that way.”

I sighed softly. “I had no idea I was the center
of so much attention.”

“Neither did we,” she said. “However, we should
be thankful those elements in the Raynar Pride have been suitably
reprimanded and suppressed.”

I bit my lower lip. “The Raynars, huh. Closest
cousins to the Lanfears.”

“Cousins, and nothing more.”

I narrowed my eyes as I discretely looked around
at the cafeteria. “You think they’ll make a move on me now that I’m
here? It’s been seven months since I became a Familiar.”

Caprice stopped eating again. “They’d better
not,” she whispered. “Next time, I won’t be so gentle with
them.”

Talk about a cold whisper. I actually had to
refrain a shudder. If what I witnessed almost seven months ago on
the rooftop was ‘gentle’ I’d hate to see what she meant by ‘not so
gentle’.”

“Besides,” she added, “you’re not helpless
anymore.”

Involuntarily I glanced down at my right wrist
where the wide bracelet was hidden under my shirt sleeve.

No, I wasn’t
as
helpless anymore, but
compared to Caprice, I was like a child venturing onto his first
unsteady steps after spending months crawling along the ground.

Thinking I’d better change the subject, I tapped
my chest where the scar lay. “You know this does itch every once in
a while.”

Caprice tightened her fingers on the utensils
she held though her face remained blank. “Caelum, I believe I have
already made amends to the situation.”

“You mean that compensation you paid me?”

Her face was starting to grow a little red.

She knew exactly what I meant by
compensation.

I really enjoyed teasing her.

She was a lovely girl, and I especially enjoyed
trying to pry that emotionless persona off her.

I’d also made up my mind some time ago that she
was one of the few I’d fight to protect.

She was special to me.

No girl had ever stabbed me in the chest, and
then saved me.

You could say she’d left an indelible mark on
me.

I watched her swallow as she looked down at the
table. Her voice was low, but I heard it clearly. “At the time you
said that was all you wanted.”

“And I’m truly happy for them.” I smiled at her.
“I keep them in my top drawer.”

The utensils in her hands trembled, though her
face was perfectly under control. “If you ever tell anyone about
them, I swear I’ll stick another knife into you.”

“Then you’ll have to compensate me with another
pair of your racy black panties.”

Caprice exhaled loudly. It sounded like an angry
whoosh. Amazingly, she was still expressionless. Well, she’d had
plenty of practice being around me for the last six months.

I gave her my customary cheery smile. “Someday,
you’ll have to wear those panties for me again. Until then, I’m
keeping them safe and sound.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

The sound of crashing metal on the ground below
made me look over the edge of the balcony railing we were sitting
beside.

On the first floor of the cafeteria, a girl had
a dropped her food tray on the ground. It didn’t look like an
accident to me since five other girls faced her in a crescent. They
wore the white uniforms of third year seniors. The girl was wearing
the midnight blue blazer of a second year student.

Midnight blue, just like mine.

I narrowed my eyes and focused on the pins
hanging off her blazer’s left breast.

A Familiar of the Sora Pride.

I watched her squat down and patiently pick up
the contents of her tray.

Some of the food she could recover, the majority
she couldn’t.

Her cup had spilled liquid all over the floor
between the tray and one of the angry, white uniformed seniors. The
senior shouted at the girl, demanding to know how the girl was
going to compensate her for her stained uniform.

“Who is that,” I asked, “the girl they’re
bothering?”

“Nobody,” Caprice answered. She went back to
eating.

I swept my gaze over the students seated at the
first level. Most of them were looking away. Nobody was looking to
intervene. It was much the same story on the second and third
levels.

I said, “She’s a Familiar like us.”

“And she’s new here, just like you.”

“So you
do
know who she is.”

Caprice stopped eating. “Her name is Maya
Khayman afil Sora. That means she belongs to the Sora Pride. She’s
a second year student in Class Two Bee.”

“If she’s new, does that mean she was only
recently identified as a Familiar?”

Caprice was quiet for a moment. “No, not
really.”

“Oh?” I murmured. I shifted my attention. “So
who’s the witch in white harassing her? I have to say she does look
familiar.”

Caprice was peering at me. “She’s nobody you
want to get involved with.”

“Oh, why not?”

“She’s from the Ventiss Family.”

I felt my innards freeze as I slowly faced
Caprice. “She’s…she’s a Raynar?”

She nodded ever so faintly. “Yes.”

I swallowed, having lost all my good cheer.
“Ventiss. They’re the Family that—”

“—broke the agreement between the Raynar and
Lanfear Prides and came after you.”

I swallowed again, my mouth unpleasantly dry. “I
didn’t think any of them would be here.” I gave Caprice a hard
look. “Thanks for telling me when I asked you last week.”

“Arisa’s orders. Lie to him, quote end quote.”
Her monotone was unblemished.

“Why?”