CHEEP, CHEEP!
“Nh… Morning already…”
Yuffie sat up in her dorm room bed. She looked at the clock and saw it was six in the morning, the same time she would wake up in the village. She got out of bed to wash her face. On her way to the bathroom, she saw the remains of party goods overflowing from the trash can.
“Gaaah!” she shrieked and banged her head against the wall. “Nooooo! My dark past! Let me forget it ever happeeeened!”
The dreaded memory of yesterday ran through her mind. Yuffie had been excited to go to a party for new students and ended up looking like a decorative holiday tree—not good. But after taking a peek into the venue, the radiance singed her eyes, and she couldn’t stand the feeling of being out of place, so she ran back to her room. While everyone was having fun, Yuffie counted the stains on the wall while munching on a salted crescent roll she had bought at the store. Thus were yesterday’s events happily (not) recorded in Yuffie’s Dark History File No. 8975.
“Omigosh, pipe down, will you?! What time do you think it is?!” A girl’s sharp voice came from the other side of the wall she was banging against.
“Eeek! I’m sorry!”
Jumping back, Yuffie knelt on the floor. She’d get mad too if someone started banging on her wall so early in the day. At home, her parents ignored her occasional fits with a “Here we go again.” But this was a student dormitory where other students lived; she shouldn’t cause trouble for others.
I’ll go and give her some burdock as an apology later… From now on, she decided to bash her head on the floor.
“Yuffie? Are you all right?” Friend had come over to her side without her noticing and looked up at her in concern.
“I’m fine, Friend.”
When she stroked his small head, Friend started purring. Cute.
“Class starts today…” Yuffie suddenly remembered and sighed. After the entrance ceremony and the party (which she didn’t attend), today was finally the first day of school. She didn’t know if today’s lessons were theoretical or practical.
“I don’t know if I can handle the practicals so soon…” she bemoaned.
Practicals were classes where they actually used magic to learn. In other words, Yuffie had to show off her healing magic in front of everyone. She’d already made a fool of herself yesterday, but now she had to make a production of her incompetence by taking an hour to heal a cut.
“Ugh… I feel a fever coming on… My stomach hurts, and my head does too… Maybe I should take the day off? I should, right? If I try too hard on the first day of classes, it’ll come back to bite me later on…”
“No, Yuffie, you can’t fake being sick on the first day,” Friend scolded her. “You’re going to master healing magic and become a Saint, right? That’s why you came here, isn’t it?”
“Urk… You’re absolutely right…”
She couldn’t think of anything else to say in response to Friend, who refused to let her indulge her insecurities. Well, technically, since he was an imaginary friend, he was her.
“Don’t worry, Yuffie,” Friend said, rubbing up against her. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. If you learn from the kind teachers here, you’ll improve quickly and be able to use healing magic properly.”
“Yeah… You’re right. You’re so right.”
Friend’s words made her a little more optimistic instead of allowing her to wallow in her negativity. She couldn’t run away from her own lack of skill. Right now, she could only use weak healing magic, but if she worked hard at the Academy, she would definitely be able to use the powerful stuff. To do that, she had to go to class.
Yuffie stood up straight and clenched her fists in front of her. “I’ll do it! I can do this!”
“That’s the spirit!”
“Thank you, Friend. I almost cut class.”
“You’re welcome.”
Yuffie gave him a final pat and tried to reassure herself. “It’s normal to start with lectures, right?! So I should be just fine! Yup, yup!”
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✦ ✦ ✦
“YOUR magic training starts now!”
The practical was intense. They were under a cloudless blue sky in a mountain clearing behind the Academy. The students, including Yuffie, were lined up in a row.
“Just because this is the first class of the new semester doesn’t mean it’ll be easy! Steel yourselves!” a woman named Professor Sharon projected to the class. She stood in front of the other faculty members and seemed to be the one in charge of their first class, which, by the look of things, would be a memorable one. Her striking, long red hair reminded Yuffie of a raging fire. With the way she spoke and the aura she exuded, it was like her hair color embodied her hot-blooded personality.
An air of tension hung heavily over the students.
I-I’m scared… Yuffie shook with fear. She regretted not calling in sick, but it was too late. The spring sunshine wasn’t supposed to be this hot, so maybe it wasn’t just her imagination that her skin burned in pain.
“What did you all come to this school for? Answer me!” Professor Sharon pointed her wand at Lyle, who answered quietly, not showing any sign of agitation.
“To become the strongest offensive magician and the wand of this country.”
Gasps of admiration rang out from the students. Yuffie was about to burst out in applause, but she stopped herself just in time.
“Hmph, a noble sentiment. What about you then?! What did you come to school for?”
SWISH!
Erina was the one she pointed her wand at next, and she also spoke calmly. “To become the best healer and eventually the Saint so that I can save this country from all disasters.”
Admiring oohs and aaahs rose from the students again.
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP.
Their eyes turned to her, and Yuffie gasped. This time, she hadn’t been able to contain herself, and the sound of her clapping echoed much more than she’d intended. She bent her knees without a word and shrank in on herself, trying to make herself less noticeable.
And then she prayed.
Please don’t pick me, please don’t pick me, please don’t pick me…
SWIIIIISH!
God! Why?!
“You there! Why did you come to this school?!”
Yuffie looked around, pretending like she hadn’t heard her.
“Yes, you, the one who was clapping earlier! Don’t act like you didn’t hear me!”
“Eeep! I’m sorry…” She snapped her spine straight, as if a ruler had been thrust into her back.
What if I just…screamed?
On the other hand, this might just be her chance. She’d been given the opportunity to express herself in front of her classmates. If she gave a clever and superb answer like Lyle and Erina’s, everyone would be impressed; Professor Sharon would respect her; she would feel comfortable in class; be able to use healing magic properly; make a hundred friends; graduate from the Academy with excellent grades; become the Saint; and after many accomplishments, be worshipped as the greatest Saint in recorded history; then a full-body statue made of pure gold would be erected in the large square in front of the palace; and she would become a popular spot for people to visit for the next 10,000 years.
“Why are you so quiet? Speak up!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Psyching herself up, Yuffie cried out with all her might, determination blazing in both her eyes!
To become the greatest Saint and help as many people as possible!
“To make…friends…”
What she actually said wasn’t what she was thinking, but her deepest desire. She could have heard a drop of water splashing in the abrupt silence that descended.
This is the end for me… Goodbye, cruel world…
The color drained from Yuffie’s face. She could hear quiet snickers from somewhere, mocking her.
“How. Dare. You?” With veins throbbing at her temples, Professor Sharon stalked right up to her. She then grabbed her roughly by the collar and yanked her close.
“Ack…!”
The woman’s steely gaze could have killed a Black Wolf. “Do you think that was funny?” she snarled.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Yuffie apologized profusely with tears in her eyes. In response, Professor Sharon snorted derisively, like it’d be a waste of time to keep pushing, and released her. She turned on her heels and marched back to stand in front of them. Then she barked out in warning.
“I hope the rest of you aren’t entertaining such foolish thoughts! This is a school for pursuing magic and drilling it into your very cores!”
Her gaze bore into the students, and she further declared, “Boys will focus only on mastering offensive magic, and girls on recovery magic! Toss away any cheap ideals of friendship into the garbage! Is that understood?!”
“Yes, ma’am!” The students shouted in unison. Meanwhile, Yuffie, her soul having left her body thanks to Professor Sharon’s menacing presence, clutched her head in her hands. She felt like she’d made the same mistake as yesterday.
💠🌸💠