Deku Up! 4

The weather outside stormed a little, as rain pattered against the glass windows. Totta slowly dragged a relatively small book to Deku, and sat on his lap while he caressed Seiene's head and soft fluffy hair.

T : "Story time! Story time, Deku! Read me a story!"

D : "Shhhh. Quiet. Let your brother sleep first if you want a story."

T : "... Hmph..."

Totta placed the book at a corner, and looked over at Seiene. With his eyes half-closed, and struggling to keep his eyelids open, Seiene couldn't respond to Totta's presence at all.

D : "Sweet dreams, Seiene."

He simply snuggled against Deku's hand for a bit after a while, and then turned his head to the left, finally reaching a peaceful, sleeping posture. His tired little eyes drooped to a close, and there was no response when his cheek was poked gently by Totta.

T : "There! He's asleep now. Can we have story time now?"

D : "Don't be so loud! He might wake up." (She sure looks forward to story time...) "... Very well. Let's see what you brought-"

The door opened, and a girl with silver, straight hair stepped into the room.

A : "Deku? Are you there?"

T : (Oh no! That voice! It's that silver-hair girl again!)

D : "Ahh, Aldia. What brings you here?"

T : "No! No! Story time with me! Story time! Story time!"

Totta didn't want the silver-haired student taking up her story time, not even for a moment. When a person's cherished and treasured is robbed from them, they can become irrational and scary, even if they happen to be a child.

D : "Totta, we can have story time in a little bit. Let me handle the important things first, okay?"

A : (He's putting me over her... Yes! This is it!)

T : (She's going to take my seat again! I won't let her!)

Totta pouted at Deku, and walked towards the stone chair Deku made for her. She lied on the seat with her stomach, and simply waited for them to finish, maintaining the pouting face.

D : "Sorry about that. Right then, Aldia, what brings you here?"

A : "Ahh, the... I have a question on, uhm... A certain type of magic. Once again."

D : (Hoo boy. Not again.) "Is it in relation to Ilpoh and Segus again?"

A : "Oh, no, it's..."

Her eyes shifted arpund the room, in suspense. Aldia walked over and whispered into Deku's ear discreetly.

A : "It's about Creeping."

Deku's face paled at the mention of the forbidden magic.

D : "... Seriously? Of all the things to ask about, you- Why would you even need to know about stuff like that?!"

Aldia looked away in an awkward manner.

D : "And shouldn't you be asking someone more experienced, like Madame Leia, or her daughter Miss Lea, Bertund, Mister Lapp, you have so many people to ask THAT- *looks over at Seiene* -ask that about! Why is there a need to ask me?!"

A : "... Because I don't want the teachers to know what I am up to."

D : "What kind of prank are you trying to pull this time? And why something so dangerous?"

A : "... I want to try and infuse a dancing curse with Creeping."

Deku's eyes widened at the mention of 'infuse a curse'.

D : "Infuse an dancing curse? With Creeping? That's insane! Why not just make do with a curse on a piece of chalk, or their chair?!"

A : "I- I want to try it! Who knows, maybe it would turn out to be something new and beneficial!"

D : (... This girl... Unbelievable...) "You've come to the wrong place then. Go ask Bael or something! She's better at the history of Lotz and summoning objects than I am."

A : (No! Don't turn me off!) "I don't want to! She stinks and she has this scary, unstable look on her since the tournament... Please, Deku? You're probably the most reliable person I can think of right now."

D : (For a mere reason like that, she could avoid Bael, who would give her the satisfactory answer she seeks, and come to me instead? What the heck is with this current batch of students?...)

Deku stared at Aldia in absolute disbelief, reminiscing the proactive spirit his batch had and comparing it with Aldia as a stereotype of every student.

D : (... I can't risk Seiene hearing this, and I can't leave Totta alone...) "... Fine. Totta, Aldia! Come outside. We're not letting Seiene hear any of this."

Deku packed up his things - His charcoal that Seiene drew pictures of flowers with, some wooden tablets with classic runes to entertain Totta, and placed them within the bag high on the shelf.

When he ensured that Seiene couldn't reach anything dangerous, he had Aldia open the door, and the three marched out of the room and into the library.

D : "... Right. That bench over that way. We can talk there."

*** ***

The three settled down at the bench for students to sit at, and .

D : "... Before anything, let me bring Totta up to speed. Totta, do you know what Creeping is?"

T : "... Is it how Silvergirl always seems to creep on you and take away my precious story time every time?"

*Cozy's Notes : i cri errytaam mah taam takn awyy*

D : "Wha- How rude, Totta! At least make it an effort to remember Aldia's name!"

A : "It's okay, Deku. She's still young."

D : "... If you don't mind it, then I suppose I won't pursue further. Well, Totta, Creeping is a summoning magic created from Lotz. As such, it is bizarre to begin with. Lotz learnt the technique when he tried to tap color from everyday shapes, which resulted in him actually summoning his affinity object by mistake - A cat."

*Cozy's Notes : PUSSYcat JOKE, GO.*

T : "Ahh. A kitty- !!! He summoned kitties!? He can do that?!"

D : "Yes, he could, and he did. Anything that was shaped like a cat became a portal to summon cats from, whichever shape it was, whichever size it was."

*Cozy's Notes : Alright, mature audience, put your jokes on how he gets all the pussies riiiiiiiiiiiiiight beneath this.*

                                                                                                                                

T : "... That sounds... Really weird." (... And really amazing at the same time. All the kitties I could hug, anytime I want to?... Even if they run away?...)

As Deku explained, Totta's mind seemed to have drifted off towards some strange, self-benefiting direction.

D : "It's magic from Lotz. I'm not surprised - I can understand where some of his magic could make some form of sense, like Layering simply stacks magic power repeatedly over a single point to increase the strength and potency, but the really bizarre ones like Tonsilfuse, Atradna and Creeping itself are just absolutely weird."

T : "... I don't really read or like Lotz books, because they're quite poorly written..."

A : (This is taking a bit too long...) "Don't worry about it, Totta. Most people don't even know what Lotz is really thinking about. In fact, the only way anybody could know anything was through the various notes and diaries he wrote on his journey about."

D : "Exactly. Now, Totta, listen - It is very important that you don't remember nor learn anything I am going to say later. Listening to get a general idea is fine, but don't you dare perform it. Is that okay?"

T : "... Okay." (All the kitties... I'll make so many kitties, that it'll cover the entire room...)

Totta seems to be in her own dimension of bliss, as Deku and Aldia continued their serious discussion.

D : "... Very well. You were saying, Aldia?"

A : (Look at me...) "I want to use Creeping and Curse Inflict to prank my teacher. I'd probably summon an object, inscribe the Dancing curse, and lob it at the teacher."

D : "Who do you think you are, to simplify the magic this way?... You do realize the flaw in your plan, don't you? You can't have physical contact with your object that's been cursed."

A : (Only at me...) "? What do you mean?"

D : "Well, if you're going to 'lob' the object at the teacher, you would need some way to get your object to travel from your side to the teacher in the first place. Throwing it with your own hand curses yourself with the Dancing curse before you could even pull it off, and smacking the object with a stick just makes the stick, and yourself, dance."

A : (It's working! He's looking at me!) "! I... I didn't know that curses could curse yourself..."

*Cozy's Notes : LIES

LIES AND SLANDER

SHE JUST WANTS TO GET IN YO PANTS, DEKU

RUN*

D : "How else are you going to inflict the curse? You can only inscribe the curse's effects on an object directly, or make it such that contact with the object burns the curse into them."

A : "... Uhm..."

D : "... *sigh* You wouldn't have to face a problem like that if you've went to Bael's side in the first place."

A : (Wha-!? He's driving me away already?! No! I've just had this rare chance to pull him towards myself!) "Wh- why would I benefit from her more? What can she give me that you can't?"

D : "For starters, she knows how to use the Creeping spell herself. For another... Fuegil."

A : "!!!" (Fuegil!? Bael knows the Fuegil arts?!... No... No way...)

Aldia's eyes widening was a clear giveaway that she was genuinely shocked by an unknown truth revelated to her.

D : "You seem to know what I mean by that."

A : "But... Bael knows Fuegil arts?! I... I didn't know..."

D : "... Well, not exactly. She's tried researching and trying to reconstruct the Fuegil arts once. Basic commands like moving an object around at high speeds are what she can manage now, but she'll eventually work out how to control multiple objects at once, and even property distortion if her interest shifts back to the Fuegil arts... Eventually... Probably. You would have gotten everything you needed for your prank from her had you just visited her in the first place."

A : "But... You don't understand! I won't get your attention if I go to her! You won't look at me, and you won't talk to me then! Bael's not YOU!"

Deku's eyes widened, and Totta snapped out of her daydream.

T : "Ah! Deku! You never taught me how to make kitties!"

D : "My attention?! What- What do you mean, my attention?!"

Aldia's face turned flushed suddenly, and she stood from her seat.

A : "I mean to say, I always hate how you're always looking after those two little squirts instead of looking at me! But I... But I also can't hate you for caring over them so tenderly! I... I!!! I! AM!! LEAVING!!!"

Without anything more to say, she left, with her reddened cheeks. The engrossed students around them broke off from their attachment to their books, and stared at her exiting, completely flustered.

D : "... Don't... Don't shout in the library?..." (... How am I supposed to respond to that kind of confession?...)

T : "Did she just call me a squirt?! The next time I see her, I'll pull her hair!"

*** ***

Totta's eyelids fell heavy, as Deku continued reading a copy of Lotz's diary.

D : "The lush green patch on his fingertips were so pristine, and magical. They danced, they moved, they synchronized his movement ever so... Flawlessly. Such wondrous magic, puppetry is. By a simple rearrangement of idols, one can assume and manipulate another... Simply magical. It's different from Magic Enhancing, where a brutish application of magic across the muscles-"

T : "It sounds so boring."

D : "Well, yes, it does, but you wanted me to read and teach you Creeping in the first place. Besides, you haven't actually performed one of Lotz's spells before. His spells really mystify the power and capability of magic, almost enough to have you try it out yourself."

T : "I'm so tired~..."

Totta rested her head against Deku's lap, sleeping sloppily and just relaxing her entire body.

D : (What an ugly posture to sleep in... Then again, children are children, I suppose.)

Deku lifted Totta up with both hands, and set her down gently on the bed catered to her.

D : "... Sweet dreams to you too."