My Bothersome Life

Facing the Consequences

Lush greens surrounded me from every corner. The soft grass cushioned me during my sleep as I tried to get up to face a brand-new day. I knew I fainted from exhaustion as my vision swirled and twisted, distorting the wild forest into a fantastical dream.

My heart still pounded rapidly like it was about to budge out of my chest as the memories poured in from yesterday's events. It was strange how the aftereffects were so intense this round as I lightly touched the scar on my neck.

I looked up into the sky to find hexagonal shapes surrounding the limit of the trees as if it was a dome that encased the forest. I guessed it was only due to the blazing sunlight that forced its way through that I was able to notice the pattern.

It explained why nobody found me yet with the thin layer of mana that was well-built on the defensive side. The dimensional shield on top of me, was one of the most splendid examples of its existence to the point even Luke wouldn't be aware of its existence.

Luckily, once you noticed the shield, it was easy to break it from the inside with just a sharp object. Maybe it was just a fluke that I grabbed a dagger with me from the church when I was running away.

I ran towards the entrance of the forest where the border of the shield was spelled to end. The worn-out dagger was stabbed into the transparent pattern with my lack of energy that growled for more food. The shield shattered like glass with no sound to be heard as it soon vanished into thin air.

The dimensional shield was made to hide mana from the other districts. Anything that occurred inside the shield would remain inside the shield. Once the shield was broken, everything would go back to normal and nobody would see anything that had happened within the barrier.

The two realms joined together to recreate the original landscape like the missing puzzle piece finally found. A crowd consisted of police, teachers and other authorities frantically searched for a girl with wavy red hair and bright jeweled orange eyes wearing a fancy school uniform.

Some shouted out my name while others simply handed out posters to the people in the neighborhood. My picture in the poster was one of the yearly photos that was taken to be placed in the yearbook. The neat and tidy appearance of me in the photo made my current appearance almost unrecognizable in comparison.

Maybe since Luke started off his day by tidying my appearance, he was the first to notice me with worry plastered all over his face. "Rika! We found her! She's right over here!" Luke handed me a small blanket for comfort.

The relief washed over the crowd of people who gathered in search of me. But, soon replaced with pity and sorrow with my disorderly appearance.

My clothes were tattered to the point it revealed shoulders and waist riddled with scratches oozing tiny drops of blood that didn't turn into scars yet. Dry blood mixed with the current pool of crimson red spilled from my forehead due to the deep wound. My rusty dagger painted with maroon showed the blood was recent.

My neck had one long gash from the scythe tightly pressed against my neck by the girl who was not present. Maybe my eyes looked just as dead as my lack of energy as I faltered with every single step.

"I'm ok," I tried to smile to lighten the mood.

I quickly put the dagger behind my back to hide it from the people who haven't seen it yet. There was no need to cause more trouble when I was in trouble already. Although, it seemed that Luke noticed it instantly with his eyes narrowing at the direction of the dagger.

However, Luke stayed silent as he escorted me into the car while thanking everyone with the search. On our way to the hotel, we didn't speak a single word to one another. I guessed the lecture was going to start once we entered the hotel room.

Once we entered our rooms, before Luke could say anything, I calmly said, "Let me shower and change and then we can talk."

Before he could respond, I went to my room to put my clothes off. My clothes that once dazzled in its silky material was dirty with blood and was ripped apart very badly. There was no display of its former splendor as it crumbled apart as soon as it was separated from my body.

Once the water reached my wounds when I stepped into the tub, I cried from the pain as I tried to make sure each one was disinfected. I had to cover my mouth to prevent me from screaming to properly get rid of the dry blood when it overlapped with the newly formed scars.

In my closet, there were clothes that I brought from the first district all neatly organized. I was glad that I brought them, thinking I could wear them while sightseeing in the third district. I changed into a long dress with long sleeves that would help cover my wounds.

When I stepped into the living room, Luke was waiting for me while reading a book. I knew he was waiting for me to explain what had happened last night. However, it wasn't something I wanted to talk about, for one, it was very traumatic, and two, I knew there would be consequences if I told the whole story, especially with me using mana.

"What happened with the points?" I asked Luke instead. Today was supposed to be the last day of teaching. I slowly walked towards him to hide that I was limping. Since I had already disinfected most of the wounds, if I walked slowly, I would be still able to teach normally.

"Today's the last day anyways. From what I remember, we could still go and teach as it's still eight in the morning-"

Luke interrupted me as I tried to finish my sentence, "You're limping Rika, with scars, bruises and scratches all over your body."

His forehead furrowed with a mix of worry and solemness as he continued, "You're not going to tell me what happened Rika?"

"Well- nothing much happened." I hesitatingly answered and it was the truth. It was nothing compared to the girl who got stabbed by the dagger in the arm by her own sister or the other twin who was collapsed unconscious under the church building that was on fire.

All that I had were scars, scratches and bruises, but no broken bones. However, Luke looked very disappointed and had a hint of looking betrayed in his eyes as he glanced at my neck, my forehead and my feet bruised purple from all that running.

"It'll heal," I faintly whispered.

"We're going back to the first district." Luke finally said after a long stare at my wounds.

"So go and change into another outfit more fitting," Luke gritted his teeth.

Luke went into his room and loudly slammed the door behind him. I wondered what made him so mad? He usually didn't lose his temper.

But, thankfully Luke was back to his usual, calm self when we sat down on the couch across from the dean. It was the second time we were ever here. The first time was when Shelly and I went into the second district without permission and got in trouble. Today, I imagined to be in a similar situation.

The dean started speaking when we looked like we were settled in, "The school already knows you ran into trouble in the third district, but we still wish to hear the explanation from you Ms. Shane."

The dean took a quick glance at the wounds that were hard to cover with the school uniform from our school. The short skirt and summer blouse that had short sleeves couldn't cover as much as the long dress I wore before.

"I would imagine you would have to tell me everything honestly, or else there would be consequences for you and your partner." He seemed to peer into my soul.

If that was the way they were going to do it, I had nothing to hide. I was going to get in trouble in one way or another at this point anyways. I honestly told them the entire story, making sure I wasn't leaving anything out.

Both the dean and Luke frowned at some parts that even I would find pretty grotesque. When I finally finished my story, I asked, "Are we still getting the points from this mission? Technically none of this was MY fault-"

Before I could continue, I felt a piecing jab from Luke, which meant 'don't continue'.

"Sometimes, there are exceptions, and if the school finds everything that you have said to be true after our investigations, there will be no punishment for at least THIS time." The dean arrogantly answered.

Maybe that was the signal we could go now as Luke dragged me out of the dean's office immediately.