Chapter 12: The protagonist and Maxine.

"So? Did you get to Maxine’s part yet?" Daniela asked, her eyes sparkling like she was waiting for a birthday announcement.

It was the third time she’d asked me that question in less than a day. I guess she couldn’t help herself. Ever since I “played” her beloved visual novel the night before, she’d been all intense about getting my thoughts on it.

The first time I tried to play it, I fell asleep halfway through. She was disappointed, of course, but didn’t say much. Just frowned a little and pressed her lips together, like she was forcing herself not to say anything out loud. Still, this morning, before class, I promised her I’d give it another shot. So I did.

And… well.

It was worth it.

I met a very interesting character.

"I have to admit… that girl is awesome," I said, lowering my gaze like I was confessing something embarrassing.

"See?! I knew it! Maxine’s one of my favs. She’s the best—"

"Shh. Don’t you dare spoil anything, dude."

"Oh, right! Sorry, sorry. But seriously, keep going. You’re gonna love her. All the characters are God-tier, I swear."

I rolled my eyes, though deep down I was kind of charmed by her enthusiasm. I wasn’t totally convinced that all the characters were amazing, but yeah… Maxine definitely had something. That blend of strength and gentleness, of distance and warmth. Like she was broken inside, but still kept walking—for others.

"Uh-huh, whatever you say, brat," I muttered. Then I noticed something. Daniela was smiling. But not just any smile. It was… soft. Like something inside her had been relieved.

"What’s that smile for?" I asked.

"Heh… it sounds silly, but… I like that you liked that character."

She shrugged like she was trying to brush it off. But she couldn’t hide it completely. That emotion in her… it was warm. Almost vulnerable.

"I thought you were more of a ‘hot guys only’ kinda girl."

"Hey! I like badass characters too, okay? You think I’m just horny all the time? No way. I’m in it for the story. The story! You hear me?!"

We both laughed. It was a brief moment, nothing flashy, but comfortable. Like a light blanket on a cloudy day.

"What I mean is…" she added after a second, "even if it’s cheesy, I like having something we both enjoy. It makes me feel closer to you. Like we share… a bond."

The word hung in the air. Bond. It had an unexpected weight—nearly invisible, but real.

"A bond? But we’re sisters already. What more do you want?" I asked, trying to sound indifferent, though I couldn’t stop a little smile from creeping up at the corner of my lips.

"There’s no such thing as too many bonds!" she replied dramatically. "What, don’t wanna be closer to me, huh? Huh?"

She stuck out her tongue and wiggled her shoulders with over-the-top flair. Like some goofy anime heroine. But in her eyes, there was a light that wasn’t a joke at all.

And for some reason, that touched me more than I expected.

I smiled. Not because it was funny.

But because I understood.

Because… I felt it too.

Because in that moment, amid silly laughter and Maxine references, I felt there was something between us that hadn’t been there before.

A bond.

One that maybe didn’t need a name.

But it was real.

***

Maxine von Ryu. I still remember the first time I saw her name pop up in the visual novel’s dialogue box. It was one of those absurd coincidences you don’t plan but end up grateful for—I just happened to be awake when her intro appeared. If it’d been like other nights, I probably would’ve missed it entirely. But her entrance caught my attention.

She was Kathryn’s best friend. Or rather, she became her best friend.

The two of them had something in common: they weren’t born noble. But somehow, through effort or plain dumb luck, they managed to climb their way up. And if my memory—which tends to fail like an old flashlight—doesn’t betray me this time, then I can say for sure: she could use Terrestrial Sorcery.

Even though I don’t totally remember what that means, some crumbs of info stuck in my brain. It was… well… earth magic. So, I guess she can do stuff with rocks?

Still, that wasn’t what I liked about her. Her design was easily one of my favorites—props to Yoshikage—and Dani and I both loved her attitude… that edgy aura, like she carried storm clouds taped to her soul. But it wasn’t just that. She also had a sweet side, hidden, even shy. Hard to see, sure. But if you managed to glimpse it… it was worth it. And that made her a thousand times better.

She was a character I genuinely liked. Hell, her scenes were some of the few that didn’t make me sleepy.

I remember a conversation she had with Kathryn where she revealed her parents had forced her to attend Libelling Academy—just like the protagonist.

That made them even closer. It could have been an amazing arc… if they hadn’t pushed her aside later to give more focus to the heroes…

It was a shame that she didn’t get many scenes. She was a side character, with little importance to the story. A sad truth. No matter which route you picked, or what dialogue paths you forced—most of her story remained a mystery.

But that… that was in the past. Now that I’m here, living this story, nothing’s stopping me from getting closer to her. From truly getting to know her.

Then, I thought of my sister. My dear, beloved Daniela.

Why?

Well. Not a single night goes by without me thinking of my family. But today, with Maxine, I realized something. Or rather, remembered something.

A simple thing, maybe even silly—but it wasn’t. Not to me. Not in that moment.

I remembered that Dani and I once said we wished we could know more about Maxine. That it’d be fun if she were real.

Our love for her was a bond. One that could still exist now. Through her, I could stay close to my sister.

It was a way to feel better about myself. To feel like I still had a piece of my family.

With that idea burning in my chest, I fixed my eyes on her. Yeah… I’ll admit it. I probably looked like a total creep. First-class stalker. Super cringe. But I didn’t care! I had to get close to her to preserve my bond with Dani!

Prepare yourself! I’m going to become your best friend!

MUAHAHAHA…

I let out an evil laugh in my head… so cringe… this game is already breaking my brain.

Maxine didn’t say a word. She just stayed quiet while the professor sighed, rubbing his eyes with a “I’m so done with this” expression. Then he gestured for her to sit.

And—what do you know! The only empty seat left was… right next to me. Talk about destiny, huh?

Maxine walked toward me with a lazy gait. Dropped her notebooks onto the desk with a thud and slumped into the chair.

The gazes that rose from the rest of the classroom were… sharp. Like invisible needles. I felt them too. All of them.

Why were they staring at her like that? What the hell was wrong with them? Couldn’t they see how cool she was?! B******sons of b****...

…I’m so done with censorship.

"... What are you staring at, catgirl?" she asked with a husky, rough, youthful voice—so close it gave me goosebumps.

Is it weird to react like that to a voice?

"Erm… I… nothing. H-hi!"

My hand shot up in a dumb little wave. And I swear I could feel my tail curling from embarrassment.

"...Weird."

"Actually, my name is Ka—"

"Enough talking," the professor cut in, firm. "We’re starting now. You can chat later, got it?"

His scolding didn’t seem to amuse Maxine, who shot me a look somewhere between annoyed and resigned.

"Sorry…"

"What an idiot…" she muttered.

Yeah… I deserved that.

After that, class went on without much incident. But deep inside, I couldn’t stop thinking:

That was my first conversation with Maxine von Ryu.

And honestly… it wasn’t that bad, right?

***

The class was finally over, and not wasting a single second—like, seriously, like some obsessed fangirl chasing her fave idol band—I launched myself at Maxine before she could even twitch a muscle.

Okay, so maybe our last convo wasn’t like, cry-myself-to-sleep awful, but it wasn’t good either. If I’m being real, it was... functional. And girl, I needed to fix that. Get us back on track.

“Hey~! It’s me again!” I chirped, flashing a smile so awkward even my tail didn’t know what the hell to do.

“Again…? What do you want?” she replied, totally deadpan, with that raspy voice that was like... lowkey getting kinda familiar already.

“Oh, like, nothing big! I just… wanna introduce myself? Yeah, that’s it. I’m Kathryn Adelheid,” I said, clasping my fingers together like a cute little angel and trying to sound all sweet and stuff.

“Want me to clap or something?” she shot back, zero interest in her eyes, while slooowly stashing her notebook like I was literally the most unimportant thing in the room.

“Pff, nah~” I laughed, though it came out more like a sigh wrapped in denial. “It’s just... you’re new here, and I thought maybe you’d wanna, like, have a friendly face around?”

I mean, I had to try something, right? That felt way better than going all “OMG I’M YOUR BIGGEST FAN” right off the bat. Gotta keep it chill. Socially acceptable vibes and all.

But Maxine? She was giving straight-up ancient wall energy. Old stone. No cracks. Zero entry.

“Don’t need one,” she said, spitting the words out like they were bitter.

And like, ouch. It kinda stung. Especially ‘cause her lips were super pretty but twisted up like I was some bad taste in her mouth.

Then boom—she just left. Didn’t push me, didn’t look at me, didn’t say excuse me. Just glided past like I was air. Girl disappeared down the hallway like it was nothing.

So obviously, I followed her. Not like, creepy-stalker-level, okay? Just... casually persistent. Something in me was like, no way am I letting her vanish like that. I needed to understand her. Feel closer. Even if I had to walk behind her like some lost puppy.

I watched her head over to the rec area where lunch got served. Lucky for me, I dodged Prince Sparkleface and the childhood friend idiot pretty easily—just had to, y’know, "accidentally" flip their trays over with strategic elegance. Nothing serious. Just a lil’ spill. Enough to send them running off to clean up.

I slipped into line right next to Maxine, trying to sound suuuper casual.

“Heyyy~ Look who it is! What a crazy coincidence, huh?”

She hit me with this look, like, so tired of my existence already.

“...Again.”

“Again!” I echoed, still all cheerful.

“...”

Yeah. Silence. Big, awkward, stab-you-in-the-soul kinda silence. RIP small talk. You tried your best.

I couldn’t let the vibe die like that, so I scrambled for something to say. Anything. Then it hit me—those jerks had fish and some sad potato mush on their trays. And like, food totally brings people together, right? That’s a thing?

“So uh, looks like we’re getting fish today! Do you li-”

“No. But you do, right, kitty?”

“...”

Okay. That felt like shade. But somehow? It didn’t sting. Her voice had this edge... not sharp enough to cut. Just kinda... scratched.

A tough nut, I told myself. But hey, she did glance at me outta the corner of her eye. Tired as hell, sure, but still—a glance! And that was enough to make my tail wag just a teeny bit.

She dropped her tray onto the counter for sides and just… walked off.

“Uh… lost your appetite? Where ya goin’?”

No reply. But like, come on. That was a classic “follow me” move, right? Riiiight?

So that’s how we “walked together.” Except not really. She was like ten steps ahead… or eleven? Maybe thirteen. Actually, I think she sped up. Good thing these legs are long, ‘cause keeping up was a cardio session.

We passed through the main courtyard—where I had to take the long way just to dodge Carlotta–. Then through the library—where I literally slammed my face into a book just so that gremlin Clementine wouldn’t recognize me. Then we kept walkin’... almost runnin’... through a bunch of other halls. And every time I tried to chat, she hit me with one-word answers. Her eyes looked so done. Her steps got sloppier. If she was that tired, why didn’t she just stop?

She was kinda weird. But maybe... that’s what made her cool.

Right before the bell rang, she slipped into the bathroom. And like... even I knew not to follow her in there. I’ve got boundaries, okay?

A few minutes passed.

“...Just leave me alone,” she said when she came out. Her voice was soft but sharp like a dagger made of ice.

“Oh hey~ There you are! Took you forev—wait, scratch that,” I said, backpedaling hard when she hit me with that look. Straight-up murder-eyes.

So yeah, we walked back to class. Potions was up next. But the thing bubbling inside me had nothing to do with magic.