"And… Twenty-four hours, pay up."
"Aw…"
Tarnisha took two gold coins from her pouch and handed them to Cinderella with a defeated face.
"Wanna double the bet? If Ash lay there for another five hours." Cinderella offered.
"No… I kinda feel bad for her. I'll try and talk," Tarnisha waved the deal away.
In their dorm room, Ashrosaliera lay defeated after returning from the infirmary. Her pillow got residual drool on it, but she didn't even budge, lying on it without a single thought going through her brain.
Zofia lay on the bunk above, intensively reading the material for the school year that's about to start, not minding a bit about Ash.
"Alright, I'll be at the cafeteria with my friends if anyone needs me." Cinderella yawned while putting on her uniform, "Honestly, the school year hasn't been boring with Ash around, heheh~"
Ash's roommates most certainly thought she was dead, cause the only time she saw her leave was to grab some food and water from the cafeteria, then back on her deathbed. This was a new personal record for her. Back when she was placed in F-Class, she only lay for like 22-ish hours.
"Ash? Ashrosaliera?" Tarnisha pulled a chair over and sat beside Ash's bed, trying to call out for her "Ashhhhhh."
The white haired girl didn't respond. Instead, she turned away, facing the wall, trying to ignore Tarnisha's attempt to reach out. But then the beastman girl with round horns and dark curly hair did something surprising, she used her index finger and squished Ash's cheek.
"Psh, psh~" Tarnisha made some cute sounds to go along with her pokings.
Ash looked over in confusion. This seemed like just a random attempt to cheer her up, but it was strange considering how Ash did the same thing just a few nights ago. So she suspected that Tarnisha was awake when she poked her cheeks.
But Tarnisha Smithdottir seemingly was clueless too, tilting her head innocently as they met eyes.
"If you don't wake up, I'll tickle you." Tarnisha said.
"Muuu…" Ashrosaliera turned away, trying to ignore the beastman girl.
"Alright, don't mind if I do!~"
Tarnisha mischievously wiggled her ten fingers like she was about to dig into some donuts. Then, her ten fingers dove down to Ash's waist, locking onto target, and started rubbing all over the place, stimulating Ash's ticklish nerves.
"Ticky ticky ticky~"
"PFFTASPXFAJ STOP! Waa- what are you-Wahahahah?!@#$!"
Ashrosaliera started squirming all over the place, kicking her feet and flinging her arms to defend against Tarnisha's endless onslaught. Yet, it was proven useless because she was so ticklish that even just a finger on any part of her body would get her brain haywire.
"Get up or I'm not letting go!"
"WuhahaWafhafanahca! Okay, I'm up. I'm up. Stop, sdtosdgpstst!"
Ashrosaliera submitted to Tarnisha's attack, she sat up from her bed, hitting her head on the bunk bedframe, but nevertheless, she was up after a whole day of rotting.
Finally achieving her goals, Tarnisha smiled cutely, waving at Ash, "Good evening, Ashrosaliera. Ready for a new day?"
"You could've waited until next morning… It's night and I'm gonna go to sleep anyway," Ash moaned, rubbing her hair.
"Nonsense, we still have plenty of time until curfew! Let's go to the park, I know a spot! Please?" Tarnisha smiled.
"I don't know…" Ash was hesitant, turning her head away.
"Pretty pleaseee?" Tarnisha said threateningly, with her ten fingers in the air.
"..." Ashrosaliera, realizing she was cornered and could not fight back, reluctantly nodded, "Sure."
And so they dressed up, putting on their school uniform over their home-brought white shirt—blazer with an elemental attribute badge, skirt, and necktie—last but not least, the [Fire] necklace that Ash gotta keep with her at all times, but she only needed to be around it, not wearing it.
Ashrosaliera then noticed something on Tarnisha's blazer.
Apart from the fact that the beastman girl was a tad chubby and got a great chest size that got Ash staring, was the fact that she got two badges. One amber color for [Earth] and the other just pitch black.
"Tarnisha, what's your other element?"
"Oh, me?" Tarnisha looked down at her blazer, "It's [Earth] and [Dark]. You're curious? It's basically suction and deletion, nothing to talk about."
"Did you just talk down on the definitive rarest attribute ever?" Ash commented, "How humble."
Tarnisha chuckled awkwardly, and she then held onto Ashrosaliera's hand. Which made Ash feel a warm sensation throughout her body. Tarnisha's hand was really warm.
"Let's go, we'll miss the special thing I want to tell you if we're late." Tarnisha said, smiling cutely with her brown eyes closed.
Ashrosaliera didn't want to be late for whatever that was and bring the mood down. However, before she took a step, Ash looked over to Zofia on the bunk bed, still reading and focusing.
"Zofia?" Ash spoke.
This caught Zofia Adinberg by surprise, and she turned over to Ash.
"You need something?" Zofia asked, her feline tail raised in suspicion.
"I'm…"
Ash wanted to say something… anything. But fear tightened her throat, so she swallowed her own words. "Never mind, see you tonight."
"See you?" Zofia raised her eyebrows, all confused.
Ash hid her face and sprinted out right afterwards, followed by Tarnisha.
The two of them made their way to the 6th-floor park, where Tarnisha led Ashrosaliera along the stone trail.
"It's almost night already… Why are we here?" Ashrosaliera commented, half confused and half moody.
"That's exactly why we're here! Ooh! Perfect, no one's sitting here!"
Tarnisha smiled happily, her voice seemed to make squeaking sounds like a mouse when she saw an empty park bench near the pond, just a few steps from where she and Tanya had their date last morning.
"Take a seat. We're just in time."
Ash saw what she hadn't noticed before: the sunset of the academy. This bench faced West perfectly.
The artificial sun bled across the sky like it was being brushed through a bright canvas. The horizon glowed with streaks of warm orange melting into dusky lavender. The pond across the stone path mirrored it all, rippling gently whenever a breeze passed.
The orange shone on her nose, on Tarnisha's eyes. Suddenly, Ash felt her shoulders give out. She started breathing through her mouth, each breath longer and deeper than the other, and serenity hit her like a wave from the ocean, as beauty came. This school was just too beautiful, from the plains on the [Water] training grounds to the glacier and snow mountain in the [Ice] training grounds. Now, this?
How did the school faculty manage to bring all of this to life?
"I feel homesick…" Ash blurted out, admiring the scenic view. "I wonder what Mom and Dad are doing."
"Me too… My dad must be closing up shop soon." Tarnisha commented, "He's a blacksmith."
"Tarnisha, can I rest my head on your thigh? I wanna lie down…" Ashrosaliera said casually, eyes still fixed on the horizon, which surprised the beastman.
"Oh… Um? Sure?" Tarnisha panicked, dusting off her skirt and thigh.
Ashrosaliera lay down, and they watched the sunset in silence. Ash was silent because she didn't know what to say, but Tarnisha was quiet because she was busy blushing and being confused.
While watching the sunset, Ashrosaliera suddenly turned her head downwards, her face buried into Tarnisha's fat thigh.
"Eh? What's wrong, Ash?"
"Pfffffffffffffft"
She blew air into it, doing a raspberry and making fart noises.
"KYAAAA?!" Tarnisha shrieked, covering her face from embarrassment.
"Sorry, couldn't hold back, heh~" Ash giggled, turning around and looking up at the beastman girl, "You're cute."
"Thank you?" Tarnisha answered, her voice weakened, "I think you're cute too, Ash. But Zofia told me you weren't nice to her, calling her names and stuff."
"She's right…" Ash sighed, "I don't know what to say, I kind of regretted it, but I don't have the courage to apologize."
That was when a small duckling jumped up on the bench and flew onto Ash's body, standing on her.
"You think I'm pathetic, too, ducky?"
"Quack." Ducky the duck answered.
"Well, I don't know your story, Ash." Tarnisha said, patting Ash on her soft white hair, "But I think Zofia would like to hear an apology, we all would like some closure, right? It'd be in your mind, and it'd be on hers; no one would win here if you keep this up."
"Thanks, mom…" Ash whispered.
"You're welc-" Tarnisha paused, "HUH?!"
"I said thanks a lot."
The duckling then waddled to Ash's face and sat on her nose. As if trying to comfort her, while also getting some warmth from her breath.
"I swear to god if you poop on my face I'll roast your family," Ash whispered.