A boring school day.

  Like always, Meggie sat slumped in her seat, stifling a yawn as her teacher prattled on about whatever they were learning that day.

  It wasn't very interesting, complicated, or useful.

  After all, compared to trying to comprehend the fundamental ws of existence, how could Meggie be bothered trying to pay attention to something as boring as basic syntax of a random nguage? Especially when she was already fluent in all the nguages in this world?

  ...Though that was mostly because there were a lot of games that weren't transted.

  Meggie couldn't be bothered to wait for a transtion or official release, so she just picked up the nguages so she could py them without waiting for someone else.

  But in any case, an ordinary school day.

  And then Meggie felt a vibration in her pocket. Frowning, Meggie pulled out her phone to discreetly take a look.

  It was a selfie of Betty, holding Aurora in her arms. Aurora waved her chubby hands in the picture, and John stood nearby, smiling with a strained smile. From how he was close to Aurora, it looked like he was paranoid Betty might drop her.

  ...Meggie wasn't jealous. She definitely wasn't jealous that Betty nee-chan was spending time with both Dad and Rory. Definitely not jealous at all. Especially not jealous at how cute and squishy Rory looked in the picture and how nice it would feel to cradle her baby sister in her arms...

  Emma was seated beside Meggie. So when she noticed Meggie pull out her phone, Emma gnced over. And when she saw the picture, Emma let out a small gasp. "She's adorable!" She whispered.

  "She is." Meggie sighed.

  "Ahem." The teacher looked over, staring disapprovingly at the phone.

  Meggie expertly hides her phone in an instant, making it look like she was just slouching the entire time. "Yes, Miss Lei?"

  Miss Lei was a middle-aged woman with curly brown hair and blue eyes. Stern face, harsh eyes... the sort to take no nonsense at all in her css. Even so, she was shocked and had to do a double take at the clearly nonexistent phone in Meggie's hand.

  Meggie resisted the urge to smirk. Instead, she carefully schooled her expression and tilted her head. "Miss Lei? What is it?"

  After a few moments, it seemed like Miss Lei decided she had been hallucinating things. The teacher shook her head and said, "Nothing. But pay more attention in css, Miss Smith."

  "Of course, Miss Lei." Meggie smiled and nodded along, pying the role of the perfect student. All while inside she was screaming from boredom.

  People stared. Some were in shock. Others were mocking her. But...

  Meggie gnced over at Tsuki, seated across the room.

  Tsuki wasn't paying attention at all, too engrossed in hushed whispered conversations with her 'new friends.'

  Meggie resisted the urge to click her tongue. Honestly, she should have expected this. How many times in the Three Realms did she see lifelong sworn brothers betray each other for seemingly no reason? It was expecting far too much of a young girl like Tsuki to really care for her. To expect her to keep her promises. Even so... it still hurt.

  A soft tap on the shoulder. Then a note slid over on the table.

  Meggie gnced over and saw Emma giving a soft smile.

  Emma nodded to the note and then looked up at Meggie patiently.

  Meggie frowned and then read the note.

  *Are you okay, Meggie? You seem upset.*

  Meggie sighed and then scribbled a note back. *Just life. Thanks.*

  Emma read the note and then nodded. She paused and then scribbled a bit more. *Okay. Do you want to do something fun after school? We can do something with Peri!*

  Meggie looked up and hesitated, gncing at Tsuki. Then she thoughtfully wrote on the note. *Hey, Emma. How do you know if you're close to someone?*

  Emma paused and the wrote on the note. *Isn't that just when you get along? And like share things?*

  Meggie stared at Tsuki and muttered, "I thought so. But it looks like that might be enough."

  Emma followed Meggie's gaze. And then she huffed and puffed up her chest. Leaning over to Meggie, she whispered, "Don't worry, Meggie. I'll be here forever!"

  Meggie smiled and patted Emma's head. "You're cute, Emma. I appreciate it."

  Emma smiled back and looked up with sparkly eyes. "I... I like you too, Meggie!"

  Meggie chuckled and kept patting Emma's head.

  The school bell rang. Miss Lei sighed and dismissed everyone.

  Meggie got up and stretched.

  Emma got up too and started packing up. After that, she held Meggie's hand and said, "Come on, Meggie. Let's get going!"

  Meggie smiled and slipped her bag on. After that, she tucked a hand in her hoodie pocket and nodded. "Alright, Em. Let's go find something to do now that school's out."

  xxx

  Students milled about campus after school ended.

  Meggie casually gnced around the crowd as she walked through the halls with Emma.

  There was a mix of students from early to te teens.

  It reminded Meggie a bit of the sect her mother used to run back in the Three Realms, with disciples from all ages. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be her father's, but considering how her father was... well, how he used to be-

  *thud*

  Meggie blinked and looked up with a bnk look.

  A vaguely familiar young man with red-hair y sprawled on the ground in front of her.

  Meggie took a second to remember him and then said, "You're Ares, right?"

  Ares turned a bright red and jumped to his feet. He pointed at Meggie and stammered. "W-Watch where you're going!"

  Meggie rolled her eyes and said, "I did. You're the idiot who ran into me."

  Ares turned a deeper shade of red and opened his mouth to talk. But then a crowd of girls popped up behind him out of the blue.

  "Apologize to Ares!"

  "Yeah! How dare you bump into our Ares!"

  "Watch where you're looking, you dumb bimbo!"

  Meggie blinked, genuinely taken aback. Then her eyes widened and she said, "Holy crap! This is just like what Dad said! When you bump into a young master NPC, the face spping event just pops up out of nowhere!"

  Ares blinked. "What?"

  The crowd of girls behind him blinked as well, all of them confused by Meggie's words.

  Meggie ughed and started rolling up her sleeves.

  Emma tugged the back of Meggie's shirt. "U-Um. Maybe we should just go, Meggie..."

  Meggie finished rolling up her sleeves and shook her head. "No way, Emma!" She looked at Ares and the crowd of girls with a wide grin, feeling her heart pumping. "Dad always told stories about facespping people and how satisfying it is. I'm not going to run when I've got the perfect chance to try it for myself!"

  "F-F-Face spping?!" Emma gasped, her eyes flitting from Meggie to the others. "A-Aren't you the Headmistress's daughter?! Won't it be bad if you get known as a delinquent?"

  Meggie started to step forward, rubbing her hands together to warm them up. "Don't worry. I'll just bme my dad. Mom will understand."

  "B-Bme it on Mister John? Wait, Meggie!" Emma followed after Meggie.

  Meggie chuckled and raised her hand.

  And then a slight chill filled the air as a cheery voice echoed. "Is someone messing with my imouto~?" Rin walked around the corner in the back, idly spinning a pen in her hand. She giggled and said, "I must be seeing things, right~?"

  Meggie paused, gncing over at Rin. She frowned and opened her mouth to respond.

  And then the crowd of girls screamed. "It's the bloody demon!"

  "She's REAL?!"

  "RUN!"

  "KYAAAA!"

  Meggie froze.

  The crowd of girls suddenly vanished as soon as they appeared. At the same time, Ares stumbled off too, his face suddenly pale.

  And then the hallway was empty, leaving only Rin, Meggie, and Emma.

  Meggie slowly looked at Rin and then pouted. "Riiiin!"

  Rin pouted. "I'm not a bloody demon! And don't look at me like that! It's not my fault!"

  Meggie huffed. But then as she looked at the way Rin was standing, and how the girls reacted... Meggie sighed and said, "Rin..."

  Rin smiled. "Yes, Meggie?"

  "...Have you been binge-reading yandere romance manga recently?"

  Rin froze and instinctively reached towards her phone, giggling. "N-No~ What makes you think that...?"

  Meggie sighed.