Marianne.
Even until now, that name still haunted me. While I did read a few articles talking about how she'd been removed from the position of the future Matriarch, what she'd done in the past still lingered.
All her machinations. Her manipulations. The deliberate isolation, her attempts at being a white knight...
For my own sake. She said.
Though, now that she already lost her reach, I thought I could finally forget about her. But hearing the name 'Auclait' still makes me shiver for some reason.
"Remember something?" Anathasia's voice suddenly cut off my thoughts, gently stirring on my lap as she shifted, now looking at me instead of the TV.
I paused, then smiled at her as my hand slowly drifted to her hair, stroking her white silky locks.
"Yeah..." I trailed off, still caressing her hair.
"It's nothing, don't worry."
My hand drifted to her cheek, pinching it gently.
"Your cheek's pretty squishy... did you get fatter—"
Her hand shot out, grabbing my jaw, nails glinting menacingly.
"Yeah?" she smiled, sitting up as she tilted her head. "Try finishing that. See what happens."
I immediately recoiled, hands raised in surrender.
...Was I too insensitive?
"Okay, okay, my bad. I didn't know you still cared about that—"
"Obviously I still do," she cut in, her grip tightening briefly before she let go, flicking my forehead for emphasis.
Anathasia pulled away, settling into the other end of the couch with her arms crossed, visibly annoyed.
"Outer God or not," she said, "I'm still a girl. Understand?"
I nodded, deciding it was best not to push my luck.
Satisfied, her shoulders relaxed as she turned back to the TV.
---
The next few weeks passed in a flash, Anathasia present in almost every waking moment. At the very least, she made a few friends during the rare moments she wasn't beside me.
Exam week came and went. By March, we were preparing to submit our final requirements. Most of which turned out to be overdue activities and missed curricular submissions.
Despite me reminding her every single time, Anathasia somehow still managed to become that kind of student.
And so, during the final days of our first year,
She dragged me along across campus, trying to catch professors she hadn't submitted work to.
"I literally reminded you, like, a million times," I muttered, running a hand through my hair.
Anathasia kept her head down as we walked through the hallways.
"I did do a few of them..."
"A few?" I sighed, gently shaking my head as I reached out and pinched her cheek.
"You mean half of one out of seven. In three weeks?"
She winced but didn't pull away.
A few classmates passed by, waving at her, and then at me. I smiled back. Anathasia forced one of her own, my fingers still pinching her cheek.
I eventually let go and pulled out the coursework she was supposed to submit, most of which I had ended up doing for her.
Because apparently, using her powers to make things easier was "unfair."
Unfair to everyone else.
Which, frankly, felt unreasonable and stubborn. Especially considering she was on the verge of failing three major courses.
"Either way," I sighed, "let's just try finishing everything within this week, okay?"
She nodded, still quiet.
"Mom and Dad actually asked if we could visit. You in—"
"YES."
Anathasia answered immediately, cutting me off before I could finish.
I paused, caught off guard by her sudden enthusiasm.
"That's... a lot of excitement…"
As we walked, I found myself glancing at her from time to time. It was a little jarring how quickly her moods shifted.
...Maybe that was just part of who she was.
Eventually, we reached the office of the second professor she was on the verge of failing.
Professor Ethan Wang.
I knocked on the door gently, three times, before pushing it open with a soft creak.
"Good afternoon, sir," I said.
"We wanted to ask about the final submission for the fourth activity..."
At the desk near the window sat Professor Wang, our demo teaching professor.
The same one who had nearly made Anathasia cry after her last demo teaching presentation.
As we entered, Anathasia lingered behind me, practically using me as a shield.
Professor Wang lifted his head, his eyes meeting mine before a small smile tugged at his lips.
"Ah, Mr. Abe," he said. "Is this regarding the last lesson plan activity I assigned?"
He slid the papers on his desk aside.
"If I'm not mistaken, didn't you submit yours already?"
I nodded, stepping closer to his desk before handing him Anathasia's folder.
Well. Mine. But under her name.
"It's for Anathasia Dunaleff," I replied.
Professor Wang accepted the folder, flipping through it briefly before placing it atop a stack of other submissions.
"Miss Dunaleff's, hm..."
His gaze lingered on me for a moment before shifting past my shoulder, toward Anathasia.
The smile on his face widened, just slightly.
"I see," he said.
"Quite a pair, I'd say."
He paused, then began rearranging the stacks of paper on his desk.
"Youth indeed..." he murmured, nodding faintly as he set them down.
"Well, with Mr. Abe here, I doubt this will be much of an issue. Not that I have any say in the matter, of course."
Anathasia's grip on my arm tightened.
Not because she was intimidated,
She simply didn't like him.
"Ahem," I said. "We'll be excusing ourselves. Have a good day, Professor."
I dipped my head briefly before turning to leave.
The moment we were back in the hallway, Anathasia let out a shaky breath.
"Phew... I really don't like that professor after all."
"What? He's nice—"
"To you," she shot back. "That's because he favors you for some reason."
I fell silent.
...To be fair, it did feel like that, to an extent.
"I don't know what you did," she continued, "but wasn't he the one who kept kicking you out of class back then?"
I paused, trying to recall anything I'd done to earn his approval. Finding nothing, I shrugged.
"I dunno," I said. "I just did what he asked. Submitted on time. Figured out how he worked, his ideals, how he saw things. Then made sure I delivered exactly what he wanted."
I shrugged again.
"He doesn't like mediocrity, but he doesn't like perfection either. So I figured staying somewhere in the middle was best—"
I glanced to my side.
Anathasia had stopped walking.
Her eyes were wide.
"What?" I asked, brow furrowing.
"Are you really eighteen?" she said. Then shook her head. "No—are you actually a student?"
"The hell does that mean?"
She looked straight at me as we walked, her voice tinged with disbelief.
"You basically just said you were psychoanalyzing our professor," she said.
"Aren't we English majors?"
I shifted the folders in my hand, shrugging.
"Doesn't everyone do that subconsciously...?"
Anathasia's lips parted to argue, then closed as if coming to some sort of realization.
"Something wrong...?" I tilted my head slightly, watching as she continued, arms crossed in thought.
---
By the end of the day, we somehow managed to get two major courses out of the three courses she was about to fail on done. Though, the second one was—
"Didn't I already tell you that SUBMISSIONS. MUST. BE. ON. TIME??" Miss De la Vega snapped, but before begrudgingly accepting Anathasia's submission.
"Points will be deducted," she added, setting the folder down on her desk. "There will not be a next time."
Though, that's that.
"Why did I get scolded as well..." I muttered, walking out of the campus gate with Anathasia on my side.
"Sorry... I'll submit my activities on time in the future..."
I shot her a sharp glance.
"That's what you always say..."