CH 54

Academy Ghost Commotion (2)

“Senior?”

“Yes, Bree.”

He looked at my face with his light magic, confirmed that it was me once again, and smiled slightly. Why does senior always appear whenever I sing the school anthem? I was relieved by senior’s appearance but I became alarmed again. If we’re talking about Senior Jimbo, then he should have cricket training with Leto right now.

So that means he was not supposed to be here. I could feel my limbs convulsing. When I couldn’t open my stiff mouth, Senior Jimbo waved his hand in front of my face in confusion.

“Bree?”

“……W-Who are you?”

“What?”

Senior Jimbo stood in daze, then burst into laughter. Then, he raised his hand before me and gently ruffled my hair. Judging by the evident hand gesture, it must be a living person……Is he really Senior Jimbo? At the sound of the students’ voices downstairs, I blinked and looked around. 

“You came with someone.”

“S-Senior. Is your training over?”

“Just now. Oh, did I smell sweaty? I already washed up…”

He removed his hand from my head, brought it to his nose and sniffed it.

“Why are you here?”

“Oh, I’ve lost something……I think I dropped it somewhere here, but I didn’t have time due to the training, so I’m only looking for it now.”

It really was senior. When it was confirmed, I let out a sigh of relief. I heard the voices of the students fading away.

Perhaps frightened, the students must have made their way out and left the library. After being left alone, I watched senior who was still sniffing and checking his body odour. But wouldn’t it be scary to search in this dark place alone? I hesitated before opening my mouth since I’ve received plenty of help from senior. 

“Can I help you?”

When I took a step closer, senior took a step back. Huh?

The situation was strange, when I took another step forward, senior took two more steps backwards. What? Was he avoiding me?

When I stared at senior, he scratched his head and looked away.

“You said I smelled like sweat……”

He cared about that. 

“No, you don’t!”

“It’s late. You must be scared, so just go ahead now. You don’t like scary things.”

“How did you know?”

“You sing the school anthem whenever you’re scared, so how can I not know?”

“Aren’t you scared, senior?”

“Not at all……You’re very timid.”

“The scariest thing in the world is the dentist and ghosts. In the past, my parents tricked me into buying five apple pies, but then they took me to the dentist, so I cried a lot. But, this is a little less scary than the dentist.”

“Really?”

Senior paused at the end of his sentence and glanced at me.

“Then, can you help me?”

I was puzzled by his sudden change of mind but nodded my head. I had nothing better to do anyway.

“What did you lose?”

“……A small pocket watch.”

“Alright. Let’s find it together.”

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Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks.

It was a small pocket watch with a picture of a flower engraved on it. Senior Jimbo said he had left it in a book during the day, so he stopped by the study room but it seemed to have disappeared.

“If it’s a pocket watch, we can easily find it.”

It took a long time.

I looked for the pocket watch while luminating the candle on the floor of the study room, but strangely, I couldn’t find it. No matter how small the pocket watch is, it shouldn’t be this hard to find it.

I asked several times if he had dropped it in the library, but senior replied with a confident tone each time. It was true that he lost it here. I thought that it must be a valuable item to senior so I looked around for it carefully, but I don’t think even the metal chain could be seen. 

It was late at night. If I went on, Leto might be waiting. Senior also noticed this, so he raised his bent back and approached me.

“It’s late. Thank you for looking for it with me today.”

“Senior……Are you going to keep looking for it?”

“No. If it’s too late at night, the dorm might close. I’ll come back after tomorrow’s training.”

Senior sighed deeply. Seeing the senior troubled for the first time made me uncomfortable.

“Shall I look with you tomorrow, too?”

At my words, senior seemed surprised and did not say anything.

“Thanks to senior, my ranking went up……”

“Will you?”

Senior really didn’t refuse. It would have been awkward and embarrassing if he refused, so I smiled and nodded.

“It’s late. I’ll take you back, it’s near anyway.”

Senior put on his jacket he had taken off and opened the door. Senior and I went out of the library quietly so we wouldn’t be caught, and faced the darkness. The students were gone, and the field was empty. The lights in the dormitory were also turning off one by one. As we walked quietly without saying anything, I wondered if I had ever walked like this with senior before.

It was awkward, so I tried to say something, but my body stumbled because I didn’t notice the stone in front of me.

“Uh?”

Taken aback, senior tried to help me, but I was faster. In an instant, I stretched my arms out on both sides and laughed contentedly after I got my balance.

“Haha, I didn’t fall!”

Senior’s expression slightly contorted at my words, and then he laughed out loud. Surprised by senior’s clear laughter, I held my breath.

Even though it was unfamiliar, it was good to hear senior laughing like that. His voice was cheerful and cute as he laughed like an innocent boy. When he felt my gaze piercing him, senior hurriedly hid his smile and cleared his throat. He had laughed heartily, but when I looked at him, he seemed embarrassed.

“Do you believe in ghosts?”

I asked out of the blue to alleviate senior’s embarrassment.

“No.”

Senior answered more firmly than ever. It was unexpected. Professor Hartz, a close relative of senior, tried so hard to summon ghosts. Of course, senior was unaware of this.

“I have a question for you, too.”

I listened attentively to senior’s words.

“What is it? I’ll tell you everything!”

“It may be a sensitive issue, but it’s about the 3rd test last time.”

At those words, I realised what senior wanted to ask. He was talking about the day I was unconscious and broke down on the 3rd test. He tried to ask carefully, in case I thought it was a sensitive issue. On the other hand, I responded to senior’s question without hesitation.

“I had a dream about losing my friend.”

Senior tilted his head at my words.

“If you say friend, you mean Leah Arsene?”

“Yes.”

“Is Arsene your childhood friend?”

“No? I first met her this year.”

“Then, did she save your life?”

“Not at all.”

Something didn’t click between us[1]. Senior Jimbo was looking at me with strange eyes, and I tilted my head, not understanding the meaning behind those eyes. Then, senior smiled.

[1] PR/N: Jimbo doesn’t understand why Bree was so nice to Leah/Leto since they only just met and so it didn’t ‘click’ or make sense to him.

“Right, you have a big heart.”

Before I knew it, we arrived in front of the dormitory. Senior said that he was staying in the dormitory at the back, so he had to make a little turn. I felt sorry for making him take an unnecessary stop because of me, but senior replied that it was alright. I wanted to return the favour by finding the item yet I couldn’t do much, senior laughed and ruffled my hair.

“It’s fascinating. You have a big heart.”

I heard senior murmur.

“Have you ever been deeply attached to someone?”

“Not really.”

“Why?”

I asked with the expectation of a simple answer, but senior seemed to be agonising over the answer and couldn’t respond for a long time. Did I hit a sore spot that was hard to talk about?

“You don’t have to answer me.”

“Yeah, there’s actually no reason to it. It’s just that my personality sucks.”

“You have a good personality.”

“……?”

“Really.”

The senior smiled once again at my words.

“You’re funny.”

“What?”

“You’re a funny kid.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“What else would it be if not a compliment?”

I’ve never heard of anything like that before. Because I’ve always been sincere. Even so, I was happy to hear that it was a compliment, so I smiled happily but senior nudged me on the back, telling me to go inside quickly.

“It’s cold. Get inside.”

“You too!”

After saying goodbye to senior, I carefully entered the dormitory. Fortunately, the warden was not at the entrance, so I was able to go upstairs without looking around. I poked my head out the hallway window and watched senior’s back as he made his way to his dormitory. 

My eyes met senior’s, who raised his head as if he felt my gaze. When I smiled brightly and waved my hand, senior waved his hand awkwardly. 

“What are you doing?”

Then, I heard someone’s voice from behind. When I turned my head, Leto, who was standing with his arms folded, was staring at me. Noticing that he was currently angry, I lowered my hand.

“Oh, uh, did you have a good training?”

“You’re late.”

He approached me.

“It’s nothing, I was from the library.”

“Library? You finally want to study now?”

Leto seemed to have misunderstood something. I tried to tell him that I was actually with Senior Jimbo, but for some reason, Leto didn’t like Senior Jimbo. Thinking that it would be better to hide it, I nodded.

Leto then exhaled and turned around.

“I was waiting.”

“Sorry, but I might be late tomorrow as well.”

“…You used to come and cheer for me at first.”

I heard him mumble, but I couldn’t hear him quite properly. When I asked again, Leto glossed over his words and opened the door.

“Tell me if you’ll be late or if something happens. I’m worried.”

“……Oh.”

He was worried. Leto became startled when he saw me standing still, and immediately avoided my gaze. 

“What are you doing, not coming in?”

“Leah, don’t get hurt while training and be careful. If you get hurt, I’ll be upset.”

“Mhmm.”

Leto hummed and nodded quietly at my sudden remark. Why do all the men around me look adorable when they don’t want to reveal their expressions? I smiled and went inside the room.