Mother of Pearl: A Floyd Leech x OC Fanfiction

Chapter 12

We walked down the hall. Grim, Riddle, and Cater led the way and Yuu and I sandwiched Riddle in the middle. I glared at the back of Ruggie's head as we kept walking down the corridors.

"Ease up a bit on the eyes Viv," Yuu whispered to me.

"No," was my short reply.

"Man, I smell something burning," Ruggie turned around to look me in the eyes. "Oh wait, it's just the back of my head. Shishishi!"

"If only I could cast fireball. I'd show you burning," I grumbled.

"For a human, you sure are feisty. I still can't believe Leona didn't mention that someone else came through the doors from another world. Of course, I do remember he wasn't happy to be called by the Headmaster so early in the morning," Ruggie rambled.

"Your point?"

He slowed his pace, "I'm just saying that it is amazing that another magicless human made their way into this school."

I raised me eyebrow, "Excuse you? I have magic."

"Oh? Well good for you," Ruggie reached out a hand like he was going to pat my head. I swatted him away and took a few steps back.

We stopped at an intersection of hallways. We surrounded Ruggie. It looked like a mugging to anyone on the outside. There was a moment of silence as each side pondered their next move.

"With my 'Off-With-Your-Head'..." Riddle's mumbling broke the silence first.

"Oh yeah~? Are you sure it's safe to do that without your magic pen Riddle?" Ruggie teased.

"Eh?!" Riddle paused and checked his person. "I don't have my magic pen!"

"Hey Cater, my pen is gone too!" Grim looked to see his jewel pendant gone.

"No way!" Cater searched for his too. "Seriously?!"

"Shishishi! You're all a bunch of rich kids huh?" Ruggie held up his trophies. Two magic pens and one magic collar nestled between his fingers. "You were all wide open!"

"You little thief!" I yelled. My hand shot up to my ear with the expectation for my pen to be missing, but I found it among my braids. "Huh?"

"You weren't so open, runt," Ruggie started, "but you can't even use it, so I have nothing to worry about!"

"Oh, I'm gonna throttle him," I rolled up my sleeves. Yuu grabbed my arm to hold me back.

"Fyna?!" Grim made a cat-like interjection. "When did he use magic to steal our magic pens?!"

"Didn't need to~. No magic needed to steal from you guys," Ruggie gloated. "The runt already made it clear that I'm going to get attacked if I stay here, so I'll be off~! Bye-bye!" Ruggie ran off.

"Ah! Wait!!!" Grim called out.

"If you don't stop this instant it's off with your head!" Riddle threatened. Ruggie kept running regardless. "OFF WITH-,"

"Wait a sec Riddle! You're still recovering from Blot so don't over do it!" Cater stopped him.

I ran after the bandit with Yuu and Grim. As we ran, Ace and Deuce came around the corner.

"Ah! Ace! Deuce! Perfect timing!" Cater called as he ran up.

Ace looked at us with a scrunched brow. "Eh? What's going on? Why such the rush?"

"The culprit behind the injury cases and the one who stole our magic pens ran away!" Riddle's face was the same shade as his hair. Veins popped out of his forehead. "You all go and capture Ruggie Bucchi right now! You know what will happen if you don't, UNDERSTAND?!"

I now know why they were terrified of him.

"But this got nothing to do with us!" Ace protested.

"You two got this! I believe in you!" Yuu cheered.

"I'll help you guys! I still have my magic pen. Plus, I want to stick it to that punk!" I bared my gloved fist for emphasis.

"But, your magic level is..." Deuce grimaced.

"Huh?" I snarled. "Do you think I haven't been practicing?!"

"N-no I-,"

"Just shut it and start running!" Ace pulled Deuce's collar. The three of us ran through the halls after Ruggie. Yuu and the others followed a length behind.

I imitated how Ace and Deuce flicked their pens to send a blast of magic aimed at Ruggie. Theirs made bright blasts on Ruggie's perimeters. On my fourth try, I managed to send a similar arrow of light at Ruggie's back. It crackled and popped like a small firecracker right over his left shoulder. Ruggie turned around with a jolt. Wide eyes looked back at us, but they went back to being a cheeky glare. We kept running without gaining an inch.

He's a speedy bugger, I'll give him that. I huffed in my head. We ran through a corridor with an open balcony to the outside. Ruggie cut to the right towards the railing. He leapt over the rails from the second story to the path below.

"What? How?!" Deuce yelled when he ran up to the railing.

"There's a stairwell around the corner, but at this pace we're going to lose him!" Ace clicked his tongue.

I peered over the rails at a patch of bushes below. "I'm gonna jump."

"Ehhh?!" Ace reacted. "Are you CRAZY?!"

"You take the stairs then! While you're at it, you can explain to Riddle how you let him get away with their magic pens!" I yelled at him as I backed away. I ran at the railings and hurdled over them. I flailed my arms and legs a bit as I fell.

"VIV!" Deuce called down. He and Ace ran from the balcony to the stairs around the corner. I landed in the middle of the shrubs when Ruggie made a quick turn down a path in the opposite direction. I scrambled to get off the bush and followed. Leaves decorated my head and shoulders.

Well, that was a rush. Never doing it again though.

I rolled my head around as I ran after Ruggie. I heard footsteps get louder behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see that Ace and Deuce were gaining again. I sighed. I looked ahead of me again and my face slammed into something firm, yet soft. I stumbled backwards and quickly yelled my apologies, "I'm sorry! In a hurry! Emergency! So sorry!"

"It's Leafy Sea Dragon~!" a familiar chirpy voice cooed.

I craned my neck up and took a step back. The wild Octavinelle twin towered over me with a sharp tooth grin. Time seemed to stop as we stared at each other.

"Dang he's tall," I clapped both my hands over my mouth the instant I said it.

Did I just say that out loud?! Noo! That was supposed to be a thought blurb!! Ahh, I'm going to die! If not by him, from my embarrassment! Tell my mother I lover her! Agh!

He brought a hand towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for the worst. "Heehee~," he giggled. I peaked with one eye and saw him pull a leaf from my head. "I'm tall like a tree~."

My head went blank. "Huh..."

"Viv! Come on!" Ace yelled as he and Deuce ran past.

"Ah! I'm coming!" I ran around the upperclassman and yelled over my shoulder, "Sorry again for running into you!"