A young man with vibrant turquoise hair was in a state of increasing nervousness as he sifted through his crammed backpack with scrolls and books. He wore a gray student robe, and a colorful flower earring on his left ear. His deep pink eyes betrayed his anxiety as he frantically searched for whatever he had forgotten, praying to find it.

He only noticed someone approaching because they called his name.

"WOLTZ!" and Woltz turned to the person's direction.

It was none other than...

“MINE!” Woltz smiled widely, but Mine wasn't.

“I WANT TO KILL YOU!!" Mine took a stance like one of the King of Fighters characters and ran towards Woltz, who couldn't move because his shoe skidded on the smooth floor.

"HAVE MERCY!!" Woltz desperately apologized.

"HOW COULD YOU IGNORE ME?!!!" Mine kept shaking his friend.

"FORGIVE ME!!”

That seemed to have touched Mine's kind heart, who let go of Woltz's hair.

“...” Mine crossed his arms. “I will forgive you this time. Next time I'll make you bald,” he threatened, but Woltz seemed to have only heard the first sentence and gave his friend a hug, who was taken by surprise.

“I missed you so much!” Woltz hugged Mine even more, and Mine - even though he was still grumpy - hugged him back with the same intensity.

Despite the comedy movie-like reunion moment, the first bell rang, and they quickly started packing Woltz's things.

“You need to hurry," Mine advised.

"I'm doing my best," Woltz complained. "Ah! Let's have lunch together!!" he grinned joyfully.

“If you didn't invite me, I was going to drag you anyway,” Mine laughed. 

The last bell.

"Shit, it's the third bell!" Woltz took a scroll from the pockets and glued one of them into a teddy bear plush.

The small, fuzzy plush turned into a big bear with stitches. Mine laughed as his friend was carried by the bear who ran much faster than him.

***

Woltz placed the now teddy bear pendant inside the backpack again. The classroom was noisy, and he hadn't seen it this crowded in a long time, but what caught his attention wasn't even the fact that the room was full, but rather the conversation among his classmates in the row from behind.

"Have you heard about the Wishing Well?" a blond, cheerful blond girl asked her friend.

"Huh?" her friend asked, confused.

"They're saying there's a Wishing Well nearby the main building," she whispered but loud enough for the others to hear. "I made a wish, and my wand was fixed!"

A snobbish student approached the pair and, just like Draco Malfoy, he raised his eyebrows and snorted in disapproval.

"You have no ambition!" the student mocked. "I wished for a teacher to not give us tests, and Mrs. Blanche vanished!"

"That's... creepy," the blond girl said.

"Professor Ajal is looking for her everywhere and has even left me as his monitor,” and he displayed the brooch on his chest. “She's one of the missing people since the well appeared."

“Silence,” a soft, deep voice resounded in the room, interrupting the conversation.

Woltz raised his head to see the origin of that velvety voice, and the teacher appeared wearing a tight long-sleeved black shirt and brown pants. The teacher put on his thin glasses and took a piece of chalk, sliding it on the blackboard. He drew a shape that looked like a circle and added small writings around it. 

When he finished drawing whatever he was drawing, the strangely shaped symbol glowed, and a creature fell out from the portal opened. Everybody gasped, and some panicked, but the teacher calmly posed.

“It's just an imp,” the teacher said, and the imp growled. “My name is Addai Lee-Hobb. I believe we will see each other in many classes as I will be your new teacher of the Demonic Creatures and Miasma subject,” he said, and the imp followed his route in front of the board.

“Wow…” Woltz awed in a low voice.

“Imps are the lowest level demons in hell,” Addai began and levitated the imp, placing it on the table. “We use its essence for many potions and spells. Its horns are excellent materials for harder-bodied wands, whose holders are limited because the instrument is unpredictable-”

But before he could continue the explanations, a student asked a question with a mocking tone.

"Teacher, have you heard about the Wishing Well?"

“It's a fairy tale. Forget about it and focus on class”, he said, short and thick.

"Teacher Addai, I saw in Mr. Oliver's textbook that Imps were used as slaves by humans… is it true?" a student asked.

“Finally a decent question,” Addai said and Woltz's eyes widened briefly. "Precisely. Their contracts are valuable because they can earn chaos trophies with his doings," and the Imp posed proudly.

"It sounds… sloppy…" Woltz muttered, but Addai heard that.

"Precisely, Mr. Woltz," Addai chuckled lowly and the students widened their eyes. "It's just to simplify the things. Chaos Trophies are Hell's points, just like Heaven's purity points. Once you have a certain number of points, the hierarchy can increase or decrease," he explained calmly and the students were mesmerized by the calm tone in his voice.

“Oh…” Woltz said softly.

“So, I need you to pay attention to his posture,” Addai waved at the Imp, who jumped off the table and struck yet another proud pose. “This dirty bag of bones isn’t here for entertainment.”

***

As agreed with his friend, Woltz met Mine after class. They went to look for a place to have lunch... but along the way, they stopped from one store to another.  The Commercial Center was quite empty and perfect for a stroll. The streets were clean, and the wind was perfect, just like the sun (which was shy earlier but became shinier as the morning progressed).

Stomachs rumbling, hazy vision... yeah, it was time for lunch.

The duo looked for a nice place, but everywhere was full. After a long walk, they found a perfect food stall at the Open-Air Food Court nearby the shopping gallery. Most of the students used to stop by for snacks and meals due to its proximity to the Magical Center, where books and magic items were sold at affordable prices.

Having devoured their lunch, they then enjoyed a cupcake for dessert.

"How was your first day?" Mine asked excitedly.

"Man, I'm beat. The first couple classes of Demonic Creatures and Miasma were formidable," Woltz confessed. "Ah, and there's a weird gossip about a Wishing Well, or something like that."

Mine looked at him, confused, and it seemed to be the first time he had heard such a rumor. Okay, yes, he heard his students comment something like that, but he thought it was nonsense.

"They say that it's behind the main administration building and it conceives people's wishes," Woltz explained. "But it's too strange because there's nothing behind it!"

“…” Mine became thoughtful, glancing at the back of his hand, and looked at Woltz again. “There’s nothing strange there, and Soleil didn’t tell me anything so…”

"If Soleil didn't do a thing, then we don't need to worry," Woltz grinned, relaxed. "If you didn't glow, then it's all okay."

“... yes...” Mine looked thoughtful and scratched his hand.

"Ah!! I heard you're teacher Addai's tutor!" and a wide smile appeared on Woltz's face while Mine looked like a priest who heard some name from a demonic entity. "You're so lucky… I would die to have that man following my instructions... Those eyes... those moles..." 

Mine had never heard such dirty things in his ear – not even his customers at the Pub told him that – and even worse about the nameless... and Woltz, logically, noticed this and smiled a little.

"Hehe~"

"Don't 'hehe' me!" Mine fumed.

"But I want to~," Woltz grinned shamelessly.

"Enough," Mine interrupted, eyes trailing something (or someone) in the background.

"C'mon, he was a sweetie with us today. He even gave me a bottle of elixir."

"It's the bare minimum a teacher could do to their students," and Mine turned his head to the side, facing someone. "What the Hell are you doing here?!" he scowled at the person who had just sat on the table beside them.

The person barely sat down, and his attention was completely focused on Mine, who was still staring at him in disbelief at such a coincidence. Addai! Yes, him! 

Again, the Western movie scene. Their gaze locked on each other, the hands in a "??" position, and, that time, there was a 'tumbleweed' running around - actually, it was a plastic bag. Both exchanged the same "What are you doing here?" look.

 "Ah, hi Woltz," Addai waved.

Sheeesh, Woltz started wondering if Addai had heard their talking. He wanted to bury his head (maybe in a manhole nearby), but kept his cool and waved back.

"Go away, shoo shoo" Mine waved, and Addai threw a wrinkled napkin on his forehead.

"Don't 'shoo shoo' me," Addai grumbled. "You leave so I can have my lunch in peace."

"You-!" Mine fummed, and Woltz held his arm with a charged wrinkled napkin.

Woltz grinned worriedly and gently pulled his friend away from the teacher. "S-see you, teacher Addai."

Mine and Addai just snorted at each other and Woltz sighed in relief. Two tragedies were avoided and Woltz's reputation remained unblemished!

***

When Woltz took the teleport express back to the university, Mine was waiting for his train to arrive, but there was no sign of it either in the app, nor on the timetable screen... so the solution was to walk home. Well, a Wishing Well could be handy.

On the way home, he found a bookshop that had a second-hand section. He decided to enter. He had nothing to lose anyway.

Mine walked along the shelves, and a lady approached, indicating the most intriguing books before heading to the main counter. Her gray hair told that once there were vibrant colors on its strands, which matched her half-transparent reddish horns on the forehead.

Then, the doorbell rang a few times, reporting someone had entered the shop.

"Young man! How long!" she cheerfully said.

"Lady Stella!" a velvety, throaty voice greeted her. "Ah, for you," he added, and Mine heard the noise of plastic bags.

"Thank you," and Mine heard bells chimes coming from whatever the lady was holding. "My kitten will love it. She'll be right back once the sun is harsh today."

"Umbra also left. Hopefully, she didn't go venturing on the asphalt," the man said in a worried voice.

"Oh! There she is," she laughed softly, and a soft meow filled Mine's ears.

A cat with shiny black fur walked through the door and began to purr loudly at her owner, who carried her in his arms as her meows intensified before he did so.

"Addai takes good care of you, right?" the lady laughed softly.

Oh no, not him again.

Whoever was working in the fate department that day certainly deserved a raise. Mine had lost count of how many times he'd run into Addai that week alone, and just counting one more encounter made his hair slightly turn red. But what was going on there was… interesting. He didn't know Addai had a cat, much less that he could take care of her or that the cat really liked her owner that much.

"Well, I won't bother you. Feel free sweetie, there are new books today," she perked up.

"Thank you, Ms. Stella. Umbra and I will go home soon, right Umbra?" he smiled, nuzzling his face on the cat.

A sweet and easy smile.

Mine found himself admiring that smile and the surprising dimples that appeared on Addai's cheeks. He had already heard conversations about that teacher's dimples but never took it seriously since he only knew Addai's pout and sullen face.

Oh-oh.

The theory that human beings feel when they are being stared at turns out to be veridic, as Addai casually turned to exactly where Mine was.

"A," Addai voiced.

"A," Mine also voiced.

"We already talked about it but... are you following me?" and that smiley face died as quickly as a butterfly that has been brutally slapped.

"Again with this?" Mine grumbled, then looked at Umbra. "... is this your cat?"

"Yes, her name is Umbra," Addai said with the cat purring in his arms. "Go take a walk," he chuckled, placing the cat on the floor.

“...” Mine stared at the cat, who slowly approached him. “Hi,” he smiled and she meowed, already rubbing against his legs. “You are very friendly, right?” He stroked the cat's ears, which seemed to have found something more interesting on the counter.

"Umbra is adorable," Addai chuckled, looking at his cat asking for treats from Mrs. Stella. "What book did you pick today?" he asked, as his eyes surveyed the book Mine was holding.

"I-it's a literature one," and somehow Mine seemed embarrassed by the question, so much so that his hands began to hide the book's title. "It's very silly... I wanted to read it for a long time, but I didn't have the money to buy it," he laughed softly and embarrassed.

Addai looked at him and his expressions were softer than usual and, not only that, but his pupils - always thin and sharp - were softer and rounder.

"Books are expensive. Don't be embarrassed."

Mine watched this behavior with great curiosity. It was as if Addai was a completely different person. His voice was soft, and that suited him a lot, as well as his serene gaze and dilated pupils that Mine swore were thin.

Those words felt surprisingly warm.

"... maybe," Mine faintly smiled.

"It's going to rain soon, boys," the lady approached and pointed to the sky outside, where dark clouds replaced the blue sky and the bright sun in a matter of seconds. "Ah, let me pack the book for you dear," she smiled.

Addai looked thoughtful for a few seconds as his cat climbed on him again. “If you want a book and can't get it, let me know,” he said and Mine looked at him.

"For real?" Mine asked, confused and happy.

“Hm hm,” Addai nodded, tucking the cat into his coat.

“Who would have thought you being kind,” Mine chuckled softly and before Addai could respond, a thunder startled them.

Drops began to wet the glass door and in the street people ran to take shelter under something or inside a store. Mine looked at the cat snuggled up to Addai and saw that Addai didn't seem to have an umbrella in his hands.

“I brought my umbrella, if you need it... we can just cover Umbra so she doesn't get wet. I don’t mind getting wet.”

“It's okay, she stays inside my coat anyway,” Addai laughed and Umbra meowed in response, already well hidden and just with her head out, observing the outside world.

Addai took his umbrella out of the backpack and opened it, his cheeks slightly blushed because of the lily pattern. Well, it was the only umbrella they were selling so… better than nothing.

"We're matching!" Mine took his green frog-like umbrella out of the backpack, putting the purchased book inside it in exchange. 

"Oh," he voiced.

"No need to be embarrassed, right?" Mine smiled, and Umbra meowed, agreeing.

"Yeah… you're right," Addai smiled.