Linked Together II / Shina Oryn

Since that day, I had avoided open spaces. Whenever my classes or other tutoring sessions ended for the afternoon, I would flee straight to my room. I had no choice but to attend dinner at the dining hall each evening, but aside from that brief excursion, I refused to leave the confines of my personal chamber.

Or at least that had been true until today. No matter how much I insisted to myself that I needed to, I couldn’t spend another second in there. It had become an underwater prison, a place for the guilty to drown in their misery until they ran out of air, suffocated, and died. And, weak as I was, I couldn’t handle the asphyxiation any longer. It only took two weeks for yet another room of mine to transform into such a place.

Classes at Fordin Academy ran six days of the week, and today was our day off. Most students spent their free days in town or somewhere on campus where they could have a carefree time with their friends. Only particularly diligent students (or those on the verge of failing) chose to spend their scarce leisure time at the academy’s library.

That was why I chose this place. The library was a massive, multi-story complex with tens of thousands of books adorning its walls. While it was usually buzzing with students during the week, it wasn’t difficult to slip into a vacant area within such a vast space on our one-day weekend.

Feeling a little tired, I stretched my arms and yawned. I had been loitering here for at least two hours doing nothing in particular. If I wanted to be productive, I would go to the open training yard and get some exercise, but the likelihood of running into Vandan there eliminated that option.

Alright. It’s been long enough.

Letting out a sigh, I stood from my chair and slinked my way out of the library. I had long since memorized the routes between my dorm room and every location on campus I needed to frequent, so I traced the proper path without a single conscious directive from my brain.

A dozen or so seconds after my departure, the sudden sound of a door being kicked open erupted from the library entrance behind me. For some reason, I darted into a side hallway to conceal myself. I had no reason to hide, yet I felt the urge to.

I’m pretty damn screwed up, huh? Despite my mental protests, I remained stationary against the wall, waiting for the approaching footsteps to pass through the main hall so I could proceed unnoticed.

A few moments later, a floating pile of books drifted across my view. Blinking several times to ensure I wasn’t seeing things, I finally noticed there was indeed a small body hauling the mountain of tomes. Trying their best to carry a stack nearly as tall as they were, the student waddled past me.

Once they shuffled far enough ahead, I spotted a pair of black tails bobbing up and down from their head in rhythm with each step they took. Although I hadn’t spoken with her since my first day in this world, I knew this person.

Maybe I should help her. I responded to my own thought by shaking my head as her back disappeared around the corner. If I just pop up, it’ll startle her, and she’ll drop the books. Plus, she’s handling it already. I’d just be bothering her. She might even be insulted if I offered, since—

“Wahhhh!”

A thud resounded past the corner.

Crap. I’m an idiot. I rushed out of the side corridor and spotted a prone Shina surrounded by a graveyard of library books.

“Are you alright?”

Shina sat up and turned to me, her eyes widening as I entered her vision.

“Everett? Wh-where did you come from?”

“Library, like you,” I said, crouching to collect the fallen books. “Let me carry half of these. And you didn’t answer my question.”

As I loaded the fourth book into my arms, I froze. The moment things went wrong, I stopped overthinking and jumped in to help without hesitation, but my mind had now caught up. Was I too forceful? “Let me”? And I lectured her about her reply!? What’s wrong with me? What if she—

“I’m okay. Thank you.” Her response was quiet, but I could tell her appreciation was genuine. Taking a moment to dust off the red skirt of her uniform and straighten the short capelet draped over her shoulders, she started gathering books as well.

“I was taking these to my room. I-if you’re sure you don’t mind helping me carry them…” Shina trailed off as I grabbed the final book.

“It’s fine. Lead the way.” I had no idea if I was being overbearing, but I couldn’t just let her be if she needed help.

Shina nodded timidly, then set off toward the student dorms. I followed, careful to keep my stack of books steady to avoid another disaster.

As far as I knew, there were no strict rules governing how rooms were assigned, but the faculty tended to place students of the same year and gender near each other. Even if it wasn’t against the rules, entering a hall full of girls’ rooms as a boy felt like I was breaking some sort of unspoken taboo.

Praying I wouldn’t be spotted by anyone and thought of as a creep, I asked Shina, “So, uh, which one is it?”

“216,” she replied, pointing her head toward it as best she could.

I was at least able to read numerals by now, so I had no trouble spotting it. As we approached, Shina set down her books and unlocked the door.

“Set them on the bed, please,” she said, inviting me in.

I did as I was told, and she was close behind me to do the same with her stack. Once she plopped them down…

“…”

“…”

“…”

This is awkward. Not sure how to proceed, I bowed my head slightly as a farewell and started toward the door without a word.

“Hey,” she called out to my back. “Can I ask you a question?”

I turned around. “S-sure, I guess.”

“Um, I’m a little… confused about you.”

“I’m not really sure what that means.”

“People have been saying weird things about you. Like that you’re dismissive, or scary. Or that you don’t care about being an Inheritor, and you don’t seem like you’ll help us out.” Shina’s usual stammering and shyness had, for one reason or another, grown faint.

“Well—” I started to mutter a response, but she wasn’t done.

“But I know that’s not true! You helped us out in our first fight together, even though you barely knew anything. And you helped me out just now too. I don’t get it. Why is everyone so wrong about you?”

I was taken aback, though whether it was because of her question or the conviction with which she delivered it, I wasn’t sure.

There were a number of reasons I could give her. My confrontation with Vandan was a big one, but it wasn’t as though I’d built a solid reputation with my classmates on a personal level, either. People were eager to get to know me in the first few days, but I wasn’t good at reciprocating, so most lost interest quickly. Now, I was sure they all saw me as that weird, quiet kid sitting in the back of the class—because, ultimately, I was. So if I wanted to respond with the same level of earnestness she offered me…

“I’m just… not good at talking to people,” I admitted. It was the most honest answer I could think of.

Shina blinked a few times, her expression unchanging.

“Do you have any friends?” she then asked, unprompted.

Agh! Why would you ask that!? I have feelings, you know!

“… No.”

Can I leave now? Or are you gonna keep shooting a man while he’s down? I can only take—

“I’m the same way. I’m not very good at talking… or making friends,” she said, cutting off my internal sarcastic retorts as her gaze drifted down. “Mara’s nice to me and all, but she’s nice to everyone. I can’t really say I’ve ever had ‘friends’ before, other than maybe my sisters…”

I knew I should say something, but I couldn’t think of anything substantive to respond with.

“So, um,” she continued, her eyes raising again to meet mine. “Since neither of us have any, d-do you… wanna be friends? So we can practice talking and stuff…”

I might not have had any, but I was fairly certain this was not how making friends was supposed to work. There was a process to it, and it happened naturally. It wasn’t the kind of thing you asked about to make official, either.

It was definitely wrong. And yet…

Maybe it was the spark I saw in her eyes: a wisp of longing, but also of passion. Or maybe it was the parts of myself I saw in her, the desperation and loneliness that clawed at our hearts, killing us more with the passing of each day. Or maybe it was simply the sincerity of her plea, a request purer than any I had heard in my life.

“I don’t know if I’ll do a good job, but I’ll try my best,” I said.

“Um, is that a ‘yes’?”

“Y-yeah. Let’s be friends.”

And thus marked the peculiar beginning of my friendship with the great mage and Inheritor, Shina Oryn.