"Hirune Justicia Quixote?" A strict and unfamiliar voice called out.
She grumbled a bit, her half silver half black hair all over the place covering her droopy hazel eyes. She moved her head in an attempt to crack her neck, then raised her head slightly to take in her surroundings.
"Is Hirune Justicia Quixote here?" The same voice called out sounding quite impatient, this call fully woke her up as she realized she was in class.
She blurted out 'presente' instead of present as she jolted up in her seat, her desk making a loud thud as it went into the air and back down with her.
The substitute teacher scratched something off the clipboard and kept on calling out names as Hirune took in long breathes, looking around to be sure that she didn't make a fool of herself, said thoughts were short lasting though as her classmate Kala suddenly flew into the room through the window. The windowsill shattering seemingly as easily as the actual glass itself.
"Present!" Kala called out as she stood up from the floor then continued to speak, "Also I'm leaving and taking Hirune with me, there's an important matter we both must attend to! I already messaged the school about it with the reasoning."
Kala swiftly slid through the tight gaps between the desks, her zip up hoodie, skirt, and silver loop earrings swaying all over the place as she hurdled over Hirune's desk and yanked her along. Both of them landing on the floor as Kala's Denim blue hair made Hirune sneeze as it tickled her nose, then Kala grabbed Hirune and jumped out of the other perfectly intact window with her.
Hirune slowly got up as she checked herself for cuts before looking at an extremely cut up Kala, "Seriously? We couldn't have taken the window you came in from?"
Kala groaned as she got up, seemingly not having heard Hirune she simply stated, "Merry Christmas! Well, I'm a bit late but eh, close enough. We're going to hang out; you can do whatever and get whatever you want! I don't know what to actually call this so, yeah..."
Hirune stared at her for a moment before shrugging, "I mean I don't really need anything-"
"We can get lots and lots of food," Kala said with a smirk.
"Count me in," Hirune responded as she started following behind Kala as she sang a song about a donkey that's a savanna dweller (if you know you know). Kala sighed exasperatedly, she had to somehow deal with Hirune for the next twenty-four hours; or at least until her boss came around and Hirune's childish singing wasn't helping her put up with this excruciatingly painful task.
Nearly as soon as they left the school grounds people started staring at them in fear and disgust as both of them were seen as monster, why were they seen as monsters though? Well, that's something they weren't very sure of themselves, something that was shared among everyone, yet kept hidden from them. There were stories, better said rumors, that they were the reincarnations of two of the most devastating beings in all of history.
Hirune nearly perfectly matched the description of the cruel ancient witch known as Namulenza, the half-moon hair that seemed to shine in the sunlight, her purple eyes nearly as 'malevolent' as the tales of her in children's books to make them go to bed. They both also had an awfully strong sense of half-witted justice, a sort of delusion that nearly brought an end to Triste during the ancient witch's time. Said disaster being that one day she found herself having to face off against someone with opposite ideals as her, someone who brought upon the truth of her twisted justice, something that brought her so much disdain that she nearly lifted the entire city of Triste and chucked it at her opposer, yet she chose to use a nearby country instead as it seemed more efficient.
As for Kala it was more simplistic, something they were fully convinced was true ever since she was born. They thought she was a monster, a little cradle washing up on the shore, both a blessing and a curse in disguise for the lonesome little seaside couple that was infertile. They cherished their little shark girl no matter what society thought of them, raising her up to be a nice and respectable girl, someone who'd they always be proud of, then suddenly one day when she was eight, she woke up to the horrid smell of blood. As she looked around the house for her parents, she found herself alone for the next couple days, eating these leftovers left in the fridge as she waited for her parents to come back. Yet on the 17th day, she found herself crying as she stared at the face of what she'd been eating for the past 16 days, her 8-year-old brain barely comprehending the thought that she'd been eating her parents' limbs cut into stake-like chunks on a silver platter. This made them think she was the reincarnation of Voreiosa or Scybdis.
Voreiosa being yet another ancient witch, similar to Namulenza just that instead of bringing existential thread to an entire continent, she brought terror to the oceans. There were many stories written after all of the voyages she sank due to one simple factor; she always made sure to leave at least one crewmate alive so that they could tell the tale. Each time it was the same, they all reported seeing a dingy boat sinking with a hopeless hooded girl in it which they rescued. Once she got on their boat, she thanked them nonstop, asking what she could do to make it up to them, each sailor reporting their captains asking for varying favors. Then depending on how simple, difficult, or disrespectful the favor was, she would use a different sea-monster to sink the crew. There were only five reports that mentioned the Scybdis, something that lacks much description since nearly every time it was used, it was foggy and dark, all that's known of the Scybdis being that it didn't leave any traces of the ship reck or its presence behind.
All of this caused the townspeople to treat the two girls as if they were wild animals. They didn't seem to care though, as that didn't stop them from living their lives to the fullest, in fact, that was the exact reason why their peers and teachers didn't hate them, because in their eyes they were just two girls that were put against the world for no good reason.
Back to the main events though, Hirune and Kala are in the shopping mall, sitting under a plastic table with an open umbrella on it so the sun doesn't hit them directly as the mall is roofless. Hirune is now wearing a white short dress with a sunflower pattern on it and heart shaped gradient purple sunglasses which Kala just bought for her. They're both taking sips of their boba as they wait for some shrimp and oyster they ordered.
Suddenly a woman flew onto their table her back hitting the umbrellas pole hard. They both stared at her for a moment, "Damn..." Kala said. Hirune stared a little longer, then turned towards where she came from seeing a seemingly random masked man standing there sighing as he stared at their table.
The man approached them, then slid them each 100$, "Leave and don't tell anyone about this."
Kala took the money and stood up, not wanting to get involved, but Hirune stayed there, completely ignoring the money. The man slid her another 100 and repeated his reprimands. She ignored him again and he slid her another 100 before she finally slid them back and spoke, "Does her face look like she wants anything to do with you?" Hirune said looking at the woman's horrified and pained expression.
"Hirune, just take the money and leave," Kala said as she took a step towards her.
"She has a point, this has nothing to do with you," The man said as he slid her a grand.
Hirune finally stood up, grabbed the money, gave it to the woman, then grabbed the man by the face and slammed it into the concrete before repeatedly stomping on it. "Sorry, I'm having a hard time hearing you when you lack so many teeth," she said as she stopped, then she went to check on the woman.
Kala stared for a moment before sighing; she should've expected something similar to this considering Hirune's intense, to say the least, sense of justice. Which Kala was wondering right about now if her actions justify her beliefs, but she didn't care enough to think about it too long. "Come on he's had enough let's go," She grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away with surprising ease.
It was safe to say Hirune was completely out of breath as they walked, as she'd used more energy trying to control her anger towards the man than actually hitting him. Kala noticing that it was getting late offered to go to her place for a bit to catch a breather, which Hirune foolishly accepted.
***
Eventually they reached a double door made of glass in the middle of a ravine, as they walked in, it looked like an extremely luxurious hotel lobby. A chestnut brown carpet sprawled in the middle of the marble floor. To the right of the room was a small desk in the corner of the room that matched the color of the carpet with gold trims in the corners, said desk having a tube next to it that went down, a stack of papers next to a typewriter on the desk itself. To the left of the room was a spiral staircase that led downwards to a 'homier' floor.
This 'homier' floor having a minibar to the right of the large room, the minibar having a glass counter with three stools, multiple shelves and barrels behind it that were stacked and filled to the brim with various liquors. To the right of the room was the least homey part of it, multiple weapons racks filled with various weapons, these racks being right in front of a shooting range and a couple test dummies. Right in the middle of the room there was a living room-like space with two black sofas, a wooden coffee table between these seats and a flatscreen TV, behind said living room there was a door that said 'BEDROOMS', and finally to either side of the weapons area there two were more staircases that went down.
"Okay now that were here," Kala said as she flopped on one of the couches, "You should know the truth soon enough."
"Don't try anything," A cold and mysterious voice said from behind her as her breath hitched. Another person walking up from behind her and going to Kala, giving her a fish, "You can let go of her, she's harmless."
The grip went from aggressive to gentle as the person behind her slowly let go of her and withdrew their knife. Hirune quickly stepped away from the person behind her as she turned around to get a look at her former restrainer, seeing a boy with light colored hair and blue eyes, an opaque white cloud coming out of his nose every time he exhaled. He looked back up at her, dropping his knife on the floor at an arm's length away from him, then raising them to either side of his head, "Is this better?"
Hirune looked at the knife, then at him. "I suppose it is," Hirune said as she looked back at the at the other two strangers. The girl having silky silver hair and bisque yellow eyes, a hole through her chest where her heart is supposed to be. There was something ethereal about her, not just because of the hole through her chest, it was as though the entire atmosphere changed when she walked in. Like the air got heavier, yet it almost instantly went back.
The third unknown specimen was a guy with curly brown hair and green eyes, nothing special about him. He was just juggling glass cups, which as far as Hirune was concerned was a pretty big hazard. Then she saw a drop of liquid drop from the cups, the little stretched orb landing on the floor, then immitted steam. The liquid drop wasn't water; it was part of the cup itself. He instantly stopped and put them back on the counter alongside a twenty-dollar bill.
The silver haired girl cleared her throat as she walked around Kala's sofa and sat next to Kala, Kala tucked her legs in a little and rested her tail on the silver haired girls lap as she yawned and fell asleep. Hirune turned to them, sitting on the other sofa, the blue-eyed guy following her lead keeping a close eye on him.
The silver haired girl then smiled politely as a teacup flew from behind the minibars counter and in front of Hirune, "Have some tea," she said as she interlaced her fingers and rested her shoulders on the arm rest, "We have a lot to talk about little witch."