Underneath the Silhouette-Chapter 96: Beyond the Sign

Trixtan’s forehead creased, a flicker of genuine surprise on his face, as he leaned towards the fuming teenage boy. "Pfft—what the heck’s with that appearance?" Trixtan exclaimed, unable to contain his laughter, pointing at Shade. "How did you turn even smaller than the last time I saw you?" He didn’t control his laughter at all; in fact, he reveled in it, even laying his head on the long table, shaking with mirth.

Everyone in the classroom could practically see the flames through Shade’s eyes, a simmering, inner inferno. They slowly backed off, walking away from the angry young man, creating a wide space around him.

Everyone, that is, except for Trix, who continued laughing and teasing Shade, impervious to the dance. "You sure do love me, don’t you, my little friend?" Trix said, still chuckling, as he pulled up a chair and sat right beside Shade, practically inviting disaster. "You’re making me enjoy my life better now, honestly." His words, delivered with a delight smirk, only fueled Shade’s boiling anger further.

Despite all the commotion, the laughter, and the looming threat of Shade’s rage, Eirin’s mind was greatly disturbed by the fact that she had forgotten her promise to her friend. She tried her hardest simply surviving and adapting in this new, fantastical surrounding, that she hadn’t had enough time to think about the people she had left behind.

Her grandmother, her best friend’s family, and Bright Goodwin. Eirin wondered, with a heavy heart, how she would communicate with them again. Would her message still reach them, even now, despite how late it had become? The thought of them, worried and waiting, was a fresh pang of guilt.

Seeing how completely distracted the teenage girl was, her mind clearly elsewhere, annoyed Shade Cromwell even further. ’She’s not even paying attention to me,’ he thought, his irritation spiking.

Before Shade could unleash his complaints to get her attention, Mr. Blade entered the room, suppressing his own laughter, through a broad, amused grin still stretched across his face as his gaze landed on Shade.

"Everyone, listen to me," Mr. Blade announced, his voice carrying authority, despite his barely concealed mirth. He clapped his hands once, instantly getting everyone’s attention. "Please, do not bother Shade about his appearance any more than this." He delivered the instruction with a wide, almost triumphant smile, stretching from ear to ear, an expression so unbelievable and contradictory that it left the other students blinking in confusion.

Shade’s face turned a furious, mottled red. He let out a frustrated growl, shoving his chair back with a scrape, and ran out of the room, unable to bear the humiliation any longer. freeweɓnovel-cøm

"He’s such a drama queen," Trix giggled, unconcerned, shrugging his shoulders as Shade disappeared.

The whole time, Eirin’s mind was distracted, preoccupied with her personal worries and the unsettling realization of her forgotten connections. It didn’t take long until the lunch break arrived, a welcome reprieve, with Eirin preparing herself for her next training session.

Before heading to her training, Eirin first decided to check Miss Welkin’s office, hoping to find her. But she wasn’t around. Her body, as if possessed by some independent will, or perhaps simply driven by a deeply ingrained habit, began searching for Shade Cromwell soon after.

It was as if she had totally forgotten about the letter for Bright and the weighty conversation that surrounded it. Her ingrained routine, the everyday training sessions with Shade, took over. Eirin found herself becoming a slave to these new habits, subconsciously searching for the training partner she’d been with for more than a week.

Eirin’s forehead creased, her gaze sweeping through the various common areas and hallways, trying to locating the fuming teenage boy, but he was nowhere to be found. Eventually, Eirin reached the farthest part of the second building, a rarely used section of the Academy.

The teenage girl looked around the deserted hallways. The only time students typically visited the second building was during their temporary magic and crafts lessons, as the main laboratory in the primary building was undergoing repairs—because of Shade Cromwell’s former actions.

The silence was almost unnerving.

The tranquility in the building, with no other students around, caused Eirin to keep walking, her footsteps echoing faintly in the stillness. If there was a place Shade Cromwell would run off to, she reasoned, it would probably be somewhere quiet and completely out of people’s sight, a place where he could brood in peace. That’s what Eirin thought as she continued walking, her intuition guiding her.

As Eirin walked down the empty hallway, her eyes snagged on a prominent "DO NOT ENTER" sign affixed to a door at the very end of the hallway. A small, knowing smirk touched her lips.

Shade Cromwell’s defiant face immediately flashed through Eirin’s mind. She knew, with absolute certainty, that he wouldn’t listen to any warnings, and she wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if she found him here, behind that very door.

Eirin reached out and pushed the door open, a soft creak breaking the silence. To her surprise, it wasn’t only Shade Cromwell who was there. The whole "gang" was present, well, everyone except for Coleen. Link, Calixta, and even Trixtan were lounging around, a surprising gathering.

"Oh my, look who’s here in the troublemaker’s den," Trix said, his voice laced with a playful chuckle as he approached Eirin, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Are you in search for Shade? That pipsqueak?"

"Who are you calling a pipsqueak?" Shade appeared from behind a large, ornate closet, his face set in his usual grumpy expression, as he made his way to sit on a plush sofa position just in front of the door where Eirin was standing.

Eirin forced a small, awkward smile, wondering how she should approach him now, how she could possibly ask for the teenage boy’s help once again. In front of her supposed-to-be partner as well, Pierre Blouin.

The teenage girl truly hadn’t expected to meet the others in that place, complicating things further. Who would even expect for Calixta and Pierre to be hanging around Shade Cromwell?

"I’ll just leave for—" Eirin began, already turning to make her escape, feeling like an intruder.

"Why didn’t you guys tell me we’d be meeting here!" A new voice, filled with sulking indignation cut her off. Eirin couldn’t leave after Coleen entered the room, her lower lip pouting in clear displeasure.

Trixtan chuckled, a light, airy sound, as he approached Coleen, effortlessly wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "Now, now, Coco. We’re all here, so why don’t we just relax and have some fun?" He then placed his other hand on Eirin’s shoulder, a friendly gesture, and smiled, his eyes twinkling. "How about it?"

Coleen, flustered from the sudden touch, immediately pushed Trixtan’s arm away, her cheeks flushing a deep red. The unexpected shove caused Trixtan to stumble, pushing Eirin to regain his balance. The teenage girl, caught off guard, lost her own balance, stumbling forward with a gasp.

Eyes wide with shock, everyone in the room gasped as Eirin leaned heavily onto the sofa, her lips accidentally meeting Shade’s in a soft, unexpected collision. The silence that followed was absolute, filled only with the deafening beat of Eirin’s own heart.

As realization slammed into her, Eirin’s wide eyes locked with Shade’s. Just as she started to pull away, his small arm wrapped around her waist, tightening, becoming an unyielding vise.

Before either of them could react, the sofa lurched, then toppled backward, plunging them to the ground. Eirin’s body crashed down, pinning her directly atop Shade.

"Ei!" Coleen’s scream tore through the air, her horror mirroring the impossible sight as her friend’s lips met the rude young man’s in a sickeningly soft thud.

Eirin’s face flared, hotter than a forge, but before she could wrench herself away, the small arm wrapped around her waist spasmed, swelling rapidly, muscles bulging with grotesque speed beneath her palm. Then, dense acrid smoke billowed from Shade’s body, choking the air and freezing every witness in stunned silence.

The teenage girl gagged, coughing violently as she frantically swatted at the suffocating haze. Pressed against the rapidly expanding form below her, Eirin struggled to avoid inhaling the warm, metallic-smelling smoke that poured from him, every breath, threatening to sear her lungs.

"What the heck just happened?!"

Eirin heard her friends’ choked exclamations, still sprawled atop the now-rigid form beneath her, hacking and sputtering.

"Are you done using me as a cushion?" The voice, oddly calm despite the chaos, rumbled beneath her.

The smoke swirled, then cleared, and Eirin’s gaze snapped to Shade. His body was... normal. Unnervingly so. He stared up at her, unruffled. "Enjoying the view from up there, or do you plan to remain my personal paperweight all day?"

"You were the one—" Eirin’s retort died on her lips as he raised both hands, palms up, in an infuriating gesture of innocence, as if he hadn’t just gripped her with a limb that defied physics moment before.

Anger flared, and Eirin’s hand shot out, not toward the floor, but directly at his face. The resounding SMACK! Echoed through the silent room as she scrambled off him, her face a furious, flaming scarlet.

"That hurts!" Shade yelped, though his eyes still held a spark of amusement as he rose, clutching his cheek where the clear imprint of Eirin’s palm bloomed a vivid crimson.

"Wha—what was that!?" Coleen stammered, her finger trembling as she pointed at Shade. "Y-You’re... you’re normal again!" Trix covered Coleen’s eyes after witnessing Shade’s naked appearance. "After... after you two... kissed?!" Coleen finished, despite not seeing anything anymore, her voice a rapid-fire whisper of disbelief.

Trixtan’s eyes gleamed with manic amusement, a wide, excited grin stretching his lips. Link, ever the logical one, rubbed his brow, his expression a mix of bewilderment and sudden, shocking insight.

"Wait... doesn’t that mean... Eirin is Shade’s true love?" he blurted, the implicating hitting him like a bolt from the blue, freezing entire room in a gasp of collective realization.