A Welcoming Group

Swish

The familiar sound of Haruto being swung is heard as Lila practices her levitation spells.

“I’m getting better at this.” Lila says.

She looks at the floating spell book in front of her as she gently guides it to the top of a table. Haruto concentrates, feeling comfort with his connection with Lila.

“Thanks Haruto. My concentration has gotten better. I think yours has too.”

Haruto wiggles as he looks at her nice smile.

“Yesterday and today must have been a ride for you. Becoming a hope enhancer, helping with my midterm, being repaired and fighting despair.”

Haruto’s eyes express happiness.

“Telepathia.”

Haruto hears the familiar incantation but now with a warmer feeling to his body.

“Hey Haruto, how are you feeling after the past day and a half?”

“It’s been excellent so far Lila. You’ve given me quite the adventure and more excitement than my previous life.”

Lila hugs Haruto close to her cheek.

“I hope Taro is alright though. I just can’t believe a student could use despair like that.” Haruto says.

“Whoever that guy was, we stopped him.” Lila adds.

“What will happen to him?” Haruto asks.

“Most likely, he’ll be expelled for trying to kill Taro and us. As for his magic use, he’ll be marked for life to never use it again.”

“Marked?” Haruto asks in confusion.

“It’s an ultimate punishment here. If you try to hurt or kill anyone, you’ll be marked with a symbol of damaged wings on your arm.”

“Why that?”

“That means you have fallen off a path of true hope and damaged yourself..”

“Oh.” Haruto expresses.

“Not sure what is the ritual involved, but if that mark goes on one of your arms, you can never use magic ever again.”

“What’s wrong Lila?” Haruto sees Lila’s eyes, full of worry.

“I’m just scared. What would happen to us if we got caught?”

“You did nothing wrong to get marked in the future. Besides, I signed up for this and I’m with you all the way.”

Lila stares at Haruto as she rubs the side of Haruto’s form with her thumb.

“You’re a good friend Haruto.”

“Thanks Lila. Besides, I’ll stand my ground and talk to defend you if you ever get caught.”

Lila smiles as she hears him.

Knock Knock

“Who is it?”

“Hey Lila, are you and Stickman here?”

Lila and Haruto immediately recognize that voice. Having Haruto in hand, Lila gets up and gets the door. She immediately sees Taro, with his tail wiggling and his arms fully bandaged, along with a new face beside him.

“Taro, you got healed that fast?!” Lila hugs him.

“No, I still need a few days of healing. I snuck out with a new friend I want all of you to meet.”

Haruto looks and sees his favorite fantasy race known for beauty, an elf. Although, she looks very shy.

“Hello, nice to meet you.” Mia extends her arm for a handshake, with Lila accepting.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Mia. Taro told me how inviting you are, no matter how anyone looks.”

Lila looks in confusion.

“Why would anyone’s appearance matter? You look like a pretty girl.”

Mia’s eyes widen hearing Lila’s claims.

“Taro’s right, you’re such a nice friend.”

Mia goes to hug Lila as they all enter her room.

“Tell me Taro, how did you two meet?” Lila asks.

“I was just lying down and she assisted with my bandaged arms. We had a nice talk and I thought I might as well make our friend group bigger.”

Taro smiles as he sees Mia happy.

“Oh right, Mia, meet Haruto here. Nickname for him is Stickman.”

Mia stares in confusion as Taro and Lila present her to Lila’s wand.

“Uh, you drew eyes on your wand?”

Haruto blinks, surprising Mia.

“Wait, it’s alive?!”

Lila and Taro chuckles.

“It’s alright Mia, a person named Haruto is in my wand and he has helped me conduct spells way better. He’s such a nice guy.”

Lila hands Haruto to Mia.

“You can talk to him telepathically, I’m sure the spell I conducted is still going with him.” Lila tells Mia.

Mia looks at Haruto, and thinks of something to say.

“Hello?”

“Hi, nice to meet you.”

“Eeep!” Mia nearly drops Haruto after hearing his voice.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t expect to hear a human voice.”

“No, it’s okay. You don’t have to be nervous around me. We’re all friends here.” Haruto expressed his eyes happily.

“Thank you Haruto. You’re a very sweet guy.”

“Thanks. Tell me Mia, why would we be worried about appearances?”

Mia has her hair covering her left eye.

“It’s my mark that has me shunned by my kind. It signals that I’m bad luck.”

Haruto sees Mia’s covered eye, curious about what she’s hiding.

“Hmm, I swear the guys and girls of this world need to stop doing this. Tell me Mia, has that mark caused any issues.”

“Y…yes. Other elves avoid me and I’ve been clumsy.”

“Your clumsiness, is it because of your mark?”

Mia’s uncovered eye begins to form tears.

“Yes.”

“Mia, I think it’s because of the other elves' judgments that’s causing it, not your mark.”

Mia looks confused.

“What do you mean?”

“I think your mark is something normal that the elves overreacted to. You being clumsy is from the stress and it’s very understandable.”

Mia rubs her only shown eye.

“You think so Haruto?”

“Back in my world, everyone judged me and it affected how I acted and did in school. That’s called social anxiety where I’m from and I think the other elves made you develop it.”

Mia’s eyes widen open hearing this.

“Look, I’m not sure if your mark is really causing bad luck since I’m still new to this world, but your clumsiness is from the anxiety of everyone else.”

Mia rubs under her covered eye.

“Don’t let that consume you or it’ll take control of you. You are a pretty girl Mia, don’t listen to those who mock or criticize you for no reason.”

Mia smiles.

“I can see why Taro finds you easy to talk to. You are a fantastic friend. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your group.”

“No problem Mia. We decide to look out for each other and help whenever one of us is in trouble.”

Mia hands Haruto back to Lila.

“I’ve never been around friends like you, it’s so comforting.”

Taro wraps his arm around Mia, making her blush:

“You can thank Lila and Stickman here for their generosity. We’ll go against anything, whether not full of despair, like that guy that attacked me.”

Mia looks straight into Taro’s eyes.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you Taro, what happened to you earlier with that student full of despair?”

“Here, let’s sit and we’ll tell you. But I can say that these two saved my life.”

Mia looks at Lila and Haruto in admiration. She finally finds friends that accept her, no matter what. The wand duo begins to tell Mia what they have triumphed over the last day and a half.