EIGHTY

Book in hand, she searches for a nice shady spot further away from the lower grades, which wait in rambunctious groups with their teachers to get picked up. It's too bad that Miss Darahim already left, but it'll be a few minutes longer before Mama comes to pick her up, so she thinks she can squeeze in a couple of pages.

There's a commotion somewhere near, someone's shouting, "Get back here!" She glances up, wondering if maybe she should move; she's not bothering anyone, though, and as long as she keeps to herself they'll leave her alone.

"You!" that same person shouts.

A-and besides, Mama will be here soon, and there are teachers—

"Halt!"

She stands up again. Maybe she should move.

"I said halt!"

Her book falls from her hand, whoops, clumsy her. She stoops to pick it up.

"I'll teach you to mess with me!"

If only that voice—why aren't the teachers doing anything about the fight?

"I mean it, Dummkopf! I'll teach you to take my stuff!"

Oh, she's obviously hearing things—she must be tired from staying up late again, nothing a good night's sleep will fi—

"Miss Malus Dienheim! Mister Matou! Both of you, come with me to the principal's office."

Yep, definitely hearing things—

"I didn't do anything!" a third voice protests.

"He's lying, sir! He stole my book!"

Isn't it funny, that the voice sounds so much like Carol? It must be the German accent, or maybe she really is—

"Miss Malus Dienheim, that is no reason to take matters into your own hands, and Mister Matou, if you truly have not done anything, then you will gladly answer the principal's questions on the matter, correct?"

Her fingers scrabble for her book, sweaty all of a sudden, and then she's moving away, because it's better that she not eavesdrop on such a conversation.

"Ah, Mr. Akurou, I apologize for interrupting, but that is my daughter involved. May I accompany you to the principal's office?"

"That's not fair! It's all Dienheim's fault!"

"Certainly, Mrs. Tachibana, and do not worry, Mister Matou, we will call your parents to join us, as well."

"Elfnein, there you are," Maria's voice reaches her, forcing her steps to cease altogether even though her heart's about to careen right out of her chest.

But it's a good thing; now she can go home and fo—

"Miku?"

"Maria! This is a surprise, but I'm afraid I have to—"

Don't notice, don't notice—

"—E-Elfnein?"

She gasps, high-pitched and scared, but her feet don't move. She's paralyzed, watching Carol dodge someone's grasp and dash towards her.

"Carol!"

"Elfnein!"

"Wait!" Maria calls out just as Carol snags Elfnein's arm.

She has only a moment to stare at Maria before Carol's insistent tugs force her to turn and run with Carol.

"Elfnein!"

It's not Carol calling her anymore—it's Maria.

And—

She doesn't know why, but—

But she follows Carol. There's a commotion erupting behind them and Carol's grip on her hand hurts and it's already hard to breathe, but she keeps her eyes trained on Carol's fluttering hair—she doesn't look back, doesn't try to stop, doesn't do anything.

There's nothing she can do.

a/n:

Hello! This is the end of Arc II.

I'll keep the reflection short (mostly because it is hot as heck here and I want to go cool down). Although some things fell a little flat of my expectations, I'm happy to say that I enjoyed working on this story, and I'm extremely thankful for everyone's support on FFN and AO3. I didn't expect the story become so long, but I think I've learnt a lot over the course of it. Hopefully I will continue to improve as I continue writing this project and others.

As always, please leave a review; I really welcome the readers' thoughts, even one-liners ^^

Heads up, I will be taking a week-long break from this story. I'll be back on the 27th with the first chapter of "Alphabet Soup"!

Once again, thank you to everyone who's read the story :)