The Simulacrum ~Chapter 27~ Part 3

I was right in the middle of finishing up my comprehensive and airtight explanation as Admin to cover my conspicuous absence from the Hub over the past few days when I was interrupted by a guitar solo. I blinked in surprise as I took my headset off and reached out towards my phone without paying much attention to the caller ID.

"Hello? Leonard speaking."

"Leo, please let us in," ca the answer from a familiar voice, and I couldn't help but frown at the request.

"Class rep? What do you an 'let us in'? Where are you?"

"In front of your front door," she answered in a decidedly impatient voice. "We've been banging on the door for minutes now."

"Really?" I mumbled as I turned off the power tal song still blaring from my headphones and sneakily checked the ti. It was a little after 8 AM at the mont, but it was still fairly dark outside, so I didn't notice it was morning already. Anyways, I told her, "Weird, I didn't hear you. I'll be down with you in a mont." I put down the phone before she could answer and I quickly finished up my excuse on the Hub, sent it, then I imdiately logged out, locked up my machine, and hid away my written notes.

Once I was sure all the incriminating evidence was out of sight, I quickly checked to see if I was in a presentable condition, then I exited my room, skipped down the stairs, and opened the front door in quick succession.

"Hi—" I began my welco with a bright smile, which then turned into a surprised one as I finished, "Angie is here too?"

In retrospect, the class rep was talking in plural on the phone, but I wasn't expecting Angie to be the one with her. They were both dressed casually, which in Angie's case consisted of a gray turtleneck sweater with so kind of woven pattern on the chest under a light jacket, jeans, and a beanie, while the class rep was dressed in a white long coat that didn't let see the rest of her clothes, a plaid scarf plus a pair of white mufflers on her head. More importantly though, they were followed by two floating eyeballs similar to the ones I dispatched the day before, except these were blue. Lovely.

"Hi, Leo," Angie returned the greeting with a smile considerably more upbeat than what I expected under the circumstances. "Are you all right? How are your injuries?"

"I'm fine, fit as a fiddle," I answered while checking her over. "How about you? I was told you were under house arrest."

"I…" she began, but then the class rep cut her off.

"I convinced my grandfather to put her under my custody. Now, would you please let us in? It's cold out here."

"Sure," I began, but then I frowned and raised my hand to stop them on their tracks. There was sothing I thought about yesterday after I dispelled all the surveillance, but I didn't have the opportunity to try it because, well, I already dispelled all the surveillance. I wanted to try it right away, but then I reflected on Judy's words from the day before, and I decided to be a little less overt. As such, I told them, "One at a ti."

The two girls looked at funny, but then the class rep stepped forward, followed by the blue eyeball floating a little over and behind her head. I waited for it to get closer, then as she crossed the doorstep, I casually extended a hand as if welcoming her in. From that hand, I extended my Phantom Limb, and with a quick and nimble lash, it sliced right through the magical eyeball. To my deepest satisfaction, the effect was exactly the sa as if I did it with my fingers. I'm not going to lie, as skeptical as I was about this phantom limb, it was slowly turning around. This thing was handy.

Anyways, I did the exact sa thing with Angie and her unwanted stalker, and then I closed the door behind them.

"What was that about?" asked the celestial girl as she took off her beany, her long auburn hair falling freely on her shoulders instead of her usual, tidy ponytail. This look suited her as well, though I couldn't help but wonder: the princess started to wear her hair in its natural waves instead of her drills, and now it was Angie who changed her hair. Maybe it was significant? I an, their hair was significant to begin with, so changing it should be that too. Speaking of which, I glanced over to the class rep, and after she removed her muffled, I noticed that her long forelock was also left unbraided and she simply tucked it behind her ear. Yup, three for three, definitely not a coincidence.

Anyways, I shelved this under 'write this down in the notes later' while I shrugged my shoulder and told Angie, "Just a bit of precaution, nothing for you to worry about."

She still looked at funny, but at the end of the day she shrugged her shoulders as well with a nonchalant 'If you say so' and she put her coat on the hanger. In the anti, the class rep peeked at over her foggy glasses, as if waiting for to say sothing, so after a little thinking I decided to bite and ask, "So, what do I owe the pleasure of your early visit?"

"I'm glad you asked," Alia huffed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Do you know how much paperwork I had to fill out to cover your back?! Do you have any idea how many people I had to lie to about the Chira?! And when you finally wake up, you couldn't even bother to call !"

"Right," Angie agreed while crossing her own arms to mirror the class rep's pose. "You didn't even tell there would be a gathering today! I only learned about it because Josh told on the phone!"

"Okay, okay!" I raised my hands defensively in the face of their combined assault. "First off, I sent you a text ssage. You told you were busy, so I didn't call you back." The class rep huffed at my reply, an unusual reaction from her for sure, but I ignored it for the ti being and turned to the other girl. "As for you, as far as I knew, you were under house arrest, so of course I wouldn't invite you openly like that."

"Openly?" Ammy asked with a raised brow, and since her glasses finally cleared up, I could see the suspicious glint in her eyes. "What do you an by that?"

"Well, I would've smuggled her out without prior notice, obviously," I told her with a wink, which made both of them freeze up for a mont. "What?"

"Do you have any idea how much trouble that would have caused?!" the class rep finally burst out. "If you did that, we would be lucky if we would be only put under twenty-four-seven surveillance! Do you want to live with a scrying spell over your head and your house filled with recorder orbs for the rest of your life!?"

I gave her a long, hard look, but since she seed to be entirely serious, I tentatively asked, "Was that a trick question?"

"No!" she yelled, startling both and Angie in the process. In the end, her shoulders slouched like she just gave up on sothing, then she looked back up and readjusted her glasses before she told , "Seriously, Leo, you need to lay low."

"Please elaborate," I told her as I gestured for them to follow to the living room.

"First off, if soone other than tries to contact you from the School, don't answer," Ammie began speaking with gusto. "Next, stay indoors and don't wander outside, especially not after dark. We don't know how many allies the Abyssals left behind, so you might be in danger. And if we are at Abyssals," She paused as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "Don't go out to look for Neige." She might've misunderstood my expression at the ti, as she once again stressed, "I'm serious. She is on the top of the most wanted list of the School right now. If you tried to look for her, even if you found her, you would just lead others to her at the sa ti, and it would also make things more difficult for you too. Just give a few more days, and I should be able to convince my grandfather to let handle her as well, then we can work sothing out."

"Well, I would like to promise that, but there is a tiny little problem with—"

"Leo," she interrupted as she gestured to Angie. "We both think this is for the best. Promise us you won't look for Neige. Now."

"Yes, this is important," Angie agreed while nodding several tis. I looked at the two concerned girls in turn, then I groaned aloud.

"You know what? Fine," I put a hand on my heart and raised the other like I was taking an oath, and then I told them, "I hereby solemnly promise that I will, under no circumstances, go outside and look for Snowy. Are you happy now?"

"Good enough," the class rep stated, though based on her expression, she was still far from satisfied with my answer.

"All right. So, rember that tiny little problem with your request that you didn't let explain?" The two of them shared a aningful glance between them, but before they could say anything, as per the unwritten rules of codic timing, I could hear a door open on the first floor, so I turned towards the stairs and yelled, "Good morning!"

I could hear the sound of soft steps approaching, and a mont later Snowy ca into view at the top of the stairwell.

"Goo mowning," she replied as she stifled a yawn, then she began rubbing one of her eyes with the long sleeve of my oversized shirt, which reached down below her knees to the point it looked like so kind of malford gown. That, combined with her bed hair, made her look pretty comical, though I obviously didn't laugh at her. Only smiled. She was still a little groggy, as she didn't register the two flabbergasted girls behind and simply asked, "Weers de toiled?"

"Second door on the left, the paper's in the holder on the wall."

"Thank yuu," Snowy muttered while she pattered away in a pair of never-used kitten-slippers that were about five sizes too big for her. None of us said anything until we could hear the door closing behind her, at which point the class rep turned towards with chanical motions.

"What was that?"

Her voice so flat it would've given my dear assistant a run for her money.

"Snowy, obviously?" I answered with my most innocent smile.

"But you said—" she began, but then Angie interrupted her.

"I get it!" she exclaid as she did that thing where you drop your closed fist into your open palm. "You said you won't look for her because you already found her! I see what you did there."

"Thank you, thank you. It's nice to have a perceptive audience," I tried to pass it off as a joke, but then Alia slowly closed in on .

"Leoooo…" She growled in a low voice as she reached out to my shirt and pulled down to her eye level. "Are you doing this on purpose? Do you want to make my life more difficult? Are you an assassin hired to kill by burying under a mountain of paperwork?!"

"Easy there, easy…" I spoke while I grabbed her hands and gently peeled them off my clothes. "You are waaaay too high-strung. You are not even acting like yourself anymore."

"And whose fault is that?" she retorted in a hiss.

"Guys, don't fight!" Angie interjected in a hurry. "Ammy, look at the bright side! This ans Neige is all right, and we don't have to look for her! Leo is all right too! Everyone is all right!"

"Yeah, listen to her," I agreed with the enthusiastic Celestial. "Everyone is fine and safe. What else could you ask for?"

Alia gave a withering look in return, but after a while she simply walked over to the couch while murmuring, "A good night's sleep, for a start."

"Huh," I chuckled as I watched her sit down. "That seems to be a common problem nowadays."

In the anti, the other girl ca to my side and asked, "Hey, Leo? How did you find Snowy?"

"I have my ways," I answered off-handedly.

"Oh, co on, don't be a tease!" The overly spirited celestial poked in the side, but my lips remained sealed, so she just puffed her cheeks and grumbled, "Fine, keep your secrets. … But can you at least tell if you have any snacks?"

I glanced at her, and she flashed a toothy smile that made chuckle again.

"The cookies are in the big cupboard on the left. You can find so instant cocoa in the drawers of the large cabinet. Milk's in the fridge."

"Yay," she exclaid with her usual childlike enthusiasm, and she headed right for the kitchen, only to stop midway and ask, "Ammy, do you want anything? Leo's treat!"

While the two of them discusses what to plunder from my pantry, I noticed a series of knocks coming from the main entrance. I walked over, and to my sincerest surprise, I found the princess standing on my front porch. She was also very red. I an, not in the usual, embarrassed way, but in that she wore a bright red pea-coat, red boots, and red mufflers. Hell, on closer look, she even had so lipstick and even so eyeliner on. The mont our eyes t she bead a brilliant smile and greeted with a passionate "Good morning, Leo!"

"Um… yeah," I answered in a daze. "You are early."

"Yes," she confird while still smiling. "linda told that in a new relationship, it's best to start the day by greeting the one you love with all your heart in the morning! Did you like it?"

"I sure did," I told her with a smile while I gestured for her to enter. "Co in, it's cold outside."

Elly let out a satisfied giggle as she ca in. Once she was beside , I suddenly recalled one of my entries in my 'OTT' file. I did a lot of research on how to do it properly, and this was a good opportunity to put the theory into practice, so I waited for her to take off her outerwear while I positioned myself beside her, then I softly said, "By the way, Elly?"

She tensed up for a mont, probably because I called her by na, and then when she turned back to , I used one hand to lightly raise her chin as I leaned closer so that our faces were in line, then I planted a quick kiss on her lips. It was a chaste one, but for so reason I could still feel my cheeks burning. My reaction was still nothing compared to hers, as she just locked up with a deer-in-a-headlight stare, so I added, "Good morning to you too."

For a mont I really didn't know what kind of reaction she would give to , but then her lips slowly parted into a familiar dopey smile, and even though her face was exactly the deep shade of crimson I expected, she still gave a giant hug while muttering sothing about how 'it worked'.

"Oh, what do we have here?" ca an intrigued question from inside, and when I glanced over my shoulder, I saw Angie peeking around the corner. At the sa ti, the princess stiffened for a mont, then she let go of my waist and cleared her throat before she casually said, "O-Oh? He-hello Angie. I-I wasn't expecting to see you… here…"

I was honestly impressed. Sure, she stuttered, her face was red as a tomato and her smile was more than a little strained, but she managed to say all that without any cutesy exclamations or running away. My princess has co a long way, didn't she?

Anyways, Elly quickly peeled herself out of the rest of her winter wear and placed them onto the hanger, where she quietly noted she should've realized others were around by the number of coats already on it. As a fellow victim of hindsight, I empathized with her a lot, and after she got ready, I offered her my arm. At first she didn't seem to know what I was doing, but then the proverbial lightbulb finally lit up over her head and she imdiately clamped onto . Like that, we entered into the living room, much to the apparent joy of a certain Celestial with an entire cookie jar in one hand.

"See, I told you!" she exclaid from beside Alia while gesturing towards us with her free hand.

"Well, I'll be damned," the girl with the glasses whispered in a low voice.

"Ehehe," Elly giggled at their reaction while holding onto my arm even tighter before she asked in (what I hoped to be) a mock haughty tone, "Just what could you find so hard to believe, if I may ask?"

The other girls looked at each other and then shrugged more or less in unison. However, before they could say anything, a new voice entered the fray as Snowy, dressed in her (washed and dried) clothes from the day before, yet for so inexplicable reason still wearing the oversized pair of kitten-slippers, pattered down the stairs in a hurry.

"S-Sorry I didn't greet you before! Good morning!" she sputtered towards the girls on the sofa without sparing us a single glance. On closer look, I had to conclude she must've been in quite a hurry to get downstairs, as she still had so toothpaste on her chin. After so more apologizing her eyes finally ca our way, and when she noticed my girlfriend, she put on a strained smile and told her, "Um… Good morning, and… congratulations?"

The princess raised her hand to her mouth and let out one of those cheesy laughs stuck-up high-class ladies used in period dramas, so I guess (read: hoped) she was still doing the whole fake haughty shtick.

I was just about to interject, but then soone knocked on my front door. Again.

"Ugh, let go for a mont," I told Elly, and as I disentangled our arms, all of a sudden she started giving an abandoned puppy look. I promptly rolled my eyes and told her, "Don't give that look, I will be back in a mont."

With that, I turned around to answer the door, but I could still catch the mont from the corner of my eye when Angie grabbed hold of her hand and began dragging her towards the couch, probably for an impromptu interrogation session, while the class rep was gesturing for Snowy to do the sa. Anyway, I montarily put the situation in the living room off my mind as I opened the front door once again. There was a fifty-fifty chance by now, so I was prepared, but I still twitched a little when I was face to face with Judy wearing a puffy winter coat and an honest to goodness ushanka with the ear-flaps down.

"Morning, Chief," she stated in her usual voice, as if yesterday's discussion didn't happen. I knew better, of course, so I waited for her to continue, but all she asked was, "Is Eleanor here already?"

"Yes," I answered honestly. "How did you know?"

"I saw her limousine down the street."

"Figures," I muttered, then I stood aside to invite her in. She gave an appreciative nod and entered without a word.

So far things were fairly normal, but then she took her winter hat off and said, "Chief, about yesterday—"

I didn't let her finish, but instead I used the sa motions as with the princess not too long ago to quickly lean down and plant a small peck on her half-open mouth. To my astonishnt, the look on her face was a mirror image of Elly's. … Well, maybe not on the surface level, but functionally. Anyways, I let out a dry cough and simply told her, "I took what you said to heart yesterday, about effort and taking things seriously, and… well, that's my answer." I waited for her to react, but instead she just kept staring at like she was seeing a ghost, so I poked her side with my finger and asked, "Any comnts?"

My question (or the poke, one or the other) finally snapped her out of it, and after she lightly cleared her throat and got her expression back to her baseline, my girlfriend simply stated, "Chief, that was low. You can't just take a girl's first kiss without warning."

"The princess didn't mind," I retorted, which only earned a huff.

"It's because she has low standards," she said before she slightly raised her face and closed her eyes, and told , "Now give it back."

For a second or two I honest to goodness froze in the face of the unexpected situation. I was just about to feel awkward when suddenly a blonde head made its way between the two of us.

"What are you doing?" Elly exclaid, probably voicing the thoughts of the peanut gallery in the back, but then her next words probably only plunged them into even deeper confusion as she told her, "That's not fair! If she is getting a second good morning kiss, I want one too!"

Saying so, she also closed her eyes and puckered her lips in anticipation. And then, as the unwritten rules of codic timing dictate, the door behind opened followed by the words, "I’m letting myself… in?"

It was probably because of the whole commotion that I never noticed the sound of his moped, but when I turned around, I could see a much more presentable Joshua standing in the doorway while cautiously eyeing and the two girls in front of him. After a short while, he scratched the back of his head and sheepishly asked, "Is this the wrong ti?"

I looked at him, then at three in the back, and finally the two girls in front, and I let out the groan to end all groans as I proclaid: "You, get in here already and close the door. You three, stop gawking and get back to the living room. As for you two…" When they realized I was addressing them, my girlfriends stopped puckering their mouths and looked at questioningly. I exhaled, then I simply told them, "Rock paper scissors, best out of three, the winner gets their kiss first. Are we clear? Go!"