Ti
Mayu Iovina
Teldi, Verdi 28, Dami-Zept 54, 2:30 HO
"What is the matter, Cumin?" Mayu noticed Cumin lying down with his tail wrapped around his body. It almost felt like he was pouting. She had struggled to keep him in her room when she left for her lessons. He had been behaving oddly the whole morning. She could not trust him to not get up to mischief if she allowed him to roam the townhome. Mayu gave him a little scratch on his neck. It was his favorite spot. Unable to control himself anymore, he let out a reluctant purr.
"There, there," she said. "I'm sorry for keeping you in. I would let you out if you behaved yourself more, you know!"
Zeno Zemana had said they were allowed to use the ingredients in the kitchen. She planned to make him his favorite fish stew. As she opened her room door to head down to the kitchen, Cumin took the opportunity to dash out. Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Mayu chased after him. Unfortunately for her, Cumin messing up the townhome was the least of her worries. The door to the townhome had been left ajar; either someone must have came back or she had forgotten to close it herself. Regardless, Cumin had noticed it and had dashed out.
Even after empowering herself with kinetic energy drawn from her surroundings, catching the cat proved no easy feat. It was strange, Mayu did not specialize in the Kinetic School of Magic. Her self-enhancement was mediocre at best but she was still moving at a pace that would put a grown man to shame and yet she could barely keep up. Cumin was fast. He was slippery and he took advantage of the fact that Mayu would always slow down right before she caught him out of fear she would hurt him.
Eventually, she lost sight of him somewhere in the arboretum. How can such a white cat hide so well in all this green?! she thought. Mayu frantically looked around in hopes of spotting the white furball. Instead of white fur, she saw white hair.
Carmillia Carbonneau had decided to spend her luncheon alone in the arboretum, away from the hustle and bustle of the dining hall. She was ruminating over the morning’s events. Her thoughts were interrupted by Mayu.
“E-excuse me,” said Mayu. “We met yesterday. I’m a Biro under Zeno Zemana.”
It seems I’ve become jinxed after my enrollment here, thought Carmillia. Everyone seems to love getting in the way of what I want to do.
“Yes, we did,” she said with a smile. “You’re Mayu of House Iovina. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I-I’m looking for my cat!”
Carmillia raised an eyebrow. She did recall seeing two cats when they were at Zeno Zemana’s townhome the day before. One of them must have belonged to the Rettanese girl before her. Great, she thought. My meal is getting interrupted so I can look for a damned cat.
“I haven’t seen him… but we could look him together, if you’d like?” she responded. Please say no.
“Thank you so much! I need to find him before luncheon ends.”
Fuck.
Mayu would skip her lessons if she had to but the best case scenario was to find him before luncheon ended. Forgoing lunch was a small price to pay.
“Is that him, by any chance?” said Carmillia. She pointed behind Mayu.
“Ahhh!!” yelled Mayu.“Cumin!”
Ce putain de chat!
Carmillia was throwing all mannerisms of curses around within her own thoughts. Though she was capable of using general spells from all the common schools due to her childhood education, she had a lower RAS than Mayu and lacked the ability for powerful self-enhancement. Even though it was clear Mayu was not skilled with kinetic magic, she still outpaced Carmillia. Time and time again, she had to chase after Mayu. Time and time again, the kitten would escape after it seemed like they cornered him. It was not normal.
The speed at which the small white monstrosity moved was abnormal. By the third time, Carmillia picked up on the fact that the kitten was somehow drawing kinetic energy from it’s surroundings. She had not noticed the flow of kinetic energy being drawn into the cat because it had been camouflaged under the energy both of the girls had been drawing from themselves.
She had heard of corvids and primates possessing the ability to use the gift but never a cat. It seemed Ersand’Enise was not planning on letting up on it’s surprises any time soon.
“You’re not getting away this time,” said Mayu.
They had managed to chase Cumin out of the arboretum into the merchant dormitories. They were now at the end of an alleyway. Cumin was caught between them and a dead end. There were just a few minutes left before the end of luncheon. It looked like they were going to catch him before classes started after all.
As if mocking her, Cumin turned about and jumped at the wall. The kitten kicked off sides time and time again to ascend and climb over the building.
“W-what?!”
At this point, even Mayu had noticed it. Somehow, Cumin was using kinetic magic. He was not drawing as much as Mayu or Carmillia was but he did not need to. He was small and light. Just a small amount of kinetic energy was more than sufficient when combined with his natural athletic abilities. Did he possess the Gift all along? she thought.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to scale that,” said Carmillia, doing her best to keep her breath in check.
“Luncheon’s almost over,” she continued. “Perhaps we could continue our search for him after classes?”
“I think I’m going to keep looking for him,” said Mayu.
Carmillia paused for a bit. It did not seem like Mayu was intending on giving up the chase. It would not do for her to stop giving aid if that was the case. True, she had done more than enough for someone who was essentially a stranger but it did not sit well with her if she had to be the one to withdraw her aid. Her image had to be maintained.
She snaked a tiny tendril of chemical energy into Mayu’s head.
“He looks like a smart one,” she said. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. If he doesn’t show back up at your townhome once classes are done, I’ll continue helping you search for him.”
“You’re right,” responded Mayu. She felt strangely relaxed after Carmillia’s comforting words. Simultaneously, she felt a growing confidence that Cumin would be fine, despite his out of characteristic behavior.
“Thank you, Carmillia,” she continued. When Zeno Fades-in-Moonlight’s group had shown up to their townhome the day before, they had not talked much beyond simple pleasantries at the time. Now, she was convinced Carmillia was a good person.
While Mayu was appreciating her, Carmillia was inwardly wishing the accursed kitten would get run over by a horse.
“You should go on ahead first,” said Mayu. “I left my books for my arcane lessons back in my townhome.”
No longer out of breath, Carmillia gave a small curtsy before heading off. As annoying as the whole debacle had been, she had discovered a potential pawn.
“Cumin!”
Mayu rushed towards the kitten curled up on her bed. It seemed like he had doubled back to the townhome after escaping them. Cumin purred as she cuddled him. He seemed content and basked in her embrace. It was possible that all he had wanted to do was get some exercise.
“Don’t you ever do that again, okay?”
