'Reinhardt...'
My lips smudge over the words, breaths grew hastier as memories flood in.
Even with a clear-cut strategy, anytime Reinhardt got in my way he'd be a nuisance to my progress. It wasn't just annoying having him steal everything important from me, like that one time where he stole my favorite and most useful blessing without fail.
Or that other time where it seemed as if he knew everything about me and knew exactly what I needed, stealing it right under my nose once again.
He was a fucking cockroach, a monstrous, gleaming one at that, one glowing just enough for me to notice and lively enough to ruin everything.
In my memories that the past me had altered to preserve his sanity, summaries of Reinhardt were filled to the brim with fury, pages upon pages of pure hatred were wasted on that one person.
Even I, who has only personally experienced regression 38 times could feel the pure misery past me wrung out desperately in words and actions.
Rocking in my chair back and forth, the moonlit veil surrounding me dissipated. The fatigue slowly settling in my mind as numerous thoughts flowed endlessly in my mind.
'Should I watch over him?'
The thought of killing him did cross me, but it honestly wasn't that appealing to me overall.
Sure I would be taking revenge for the past where Reinhardt ruined everything I ever built. The thing with that sort of logic however, is that I don't even remember that kind of past.
'Reinhardt at this point in time hasn't done anything. Killing him now when he was only active 6 years into the future wouldn't really be fair.'
And there were many things that even past me didn't know about Reinhardt. Finding out more about him couldn't be harmful when he's just a child.
I mean....He wouldn't chuck a meteor at me as a child right?
With that sort of thought process. I begin to drum my fingers across the wide wood. Class starting as children entered one by one.
The wind blew hard, students took their seats, albeit more reluctant to do so.
Slowly, some noticed Grace sleeping, cold and lights out.
Their glares burned at her, failing to melt her.
In all honesty, just like last time, this class wasn't really as eventful as I thought.
I taught parallel to how it was written in the book, leaving bits of my insight here and there from the crisp insightful summaries my past built with pure effort.
Aside from Grace's snoring reaching me, nothing much happened. Although, Grace sleeping did seem to have an affect on the students.
They relaxed their guard around me, still frightened at the sight of me, but more tolerable towards me. Like shy children finally warming up to their relatives that they met for the first time.
Yet, one child remained steadfast.
"...."
Reinhardt, his expression seemed full of interesting thoughts that I just wished I could yank out of him.
'Not yet.'
I still needed him to think that he was still altering my perception.
That he was still in control of what I could see clearly, like a filter he can turn on whenever.
As the clock ticked, his expression remained stoic, full of thoughts that would stay bottled till the end of the world.
Trrr! Trrr!
The bells soon rang, Reinhardt's emerald eyes fluttered, shrinking before twisting toward the door. His small hand hooked under his bag, and the hood over him shuffled. The breeze slowly dragged it down, revealing his....Stretching green hair?
'What.'
I wasn't surprised that Reinhardt would just leave the instant the bells rang, he was a fucked up asshole according to past me. Plus, his ability alters the perception of others, who wouldn't make use of that kind of ability?
But, I hadn't expected this. Not in a long shot.
'He's a girl????'
Before I knew it, back still turned from the class, my mouth gaped open at the sheer absurdity of the matter.
'That...Makes no sense!'
Although stunned by the sudden revelation. I still needed to do my job as the teacher, so I added some elementary level homework for the rest of the class, warmer towards me than before.
One by one, the students left. leaving me alone with the sleeping Grace.
"....."
I couldn't leave her here, she needed to wake up, otherwise...Ares would hound me one hundred percent.
"...This should be enough."
A small amount of mana travelled from my heart to my gloved hand.
Through the gaps of her arms, I gently press my fingertips against her pale lips, her breaths were steady. Giving me the green light for the next step.
'It should work, it worked on awakeners after all.'
At the far edge of my nails, mana stitched onto me evaporated, a steam of mana hit Grace's nostrils and mouth in an instant, her steady breathing inhaled the smoke.
"...!"
As if shocked by an electrical outlet, Grace's body jerked up in an instant, expression flying into fifty shades of disgust, shock and pure surprise.
"Ha..Ha..."
Sweat pooled down to her chin, dripping steadily to the desk damp with her saliva.
"Uk!"
She gagged, the unbearable smell from the mist must've been too hard to stomach.
Well, even Ender said that it smelled worse than rotted human intestines, so a reaction like this being elicited did make sense.
"..Wh-whjat haopp-Ugk!"
Slurring over her words, the urge of vomiting seemed to heighten at that moment.
"Ugggg!"
"!!!!"
Thud!
Incapable of holding it in any longer. Grace vomited, chunks of disgusting liquid stained my shirt.
"Ah..."
Grace, holding her mouth exclaimed.
"....."
It seemed she was awaiting for some sort of punishment.
Well, she had the wrong idea.
'It's my fault for getting the holy blessing of Intimidation anyway.'
I wouldn't blame someone for my mistakes. My mistakes were my responsibility after all.
Grace's face turned blue as I began to walk away from her, hand reaching out for my bag.
*
At first, she didn't think much of it, there must've been something Eliot must've wanted from his bag, but....When the words she heard before passing out reverberated inside her...
"....!"
She stammered into a panic.
'He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me! Oh God!'
She wanted to run to the very edge of the ever expanding universe, not a single fiber of her being wanted to breathe the same air as Eliot, her history teacher.
Yet. She couldn't do as her heart desired.
'Ah...'
Her breaths hitched as Eliot dug his fingers into his backpack. Each rustle dragging her mind further into despair.
Despite wanting to run, her body had long since been numb, static and full of fear.
Eliot's hand stopped, her fear heightened, peaking as her face paled blue, lips twitched and eyes shut with sweat dragging ropes down her chin.
"Here."
A voice called out to her, one familiar yet feared by her instinct.
Each passing second flew by, but nothing happened, eventually. Grace opened one eye.
"....?"
It was a tall kitchen roll, thick and unused.
"Clean it up."
Eliot lightly threw the roll at Grace, she caught it, still stunned.
Eliot's brows furrowed deeply, forehead creasing as he opened his mouth.
"What's wrong with you? I'm not going to eat you."
With that, he left, taking a piece of paper himself to wipe the disgusting vomit clinging to his clothes.
His strides were large but calm, interestingly enough, they seemed natural too. As if he had always walked like that ever since he was born.
"Oh, by the way."
Grace, about to clean up her mess, twitched at his words, still scared out of her mind.
Soon, she met his eyes, his small, dark pupils shrunk a millimeter more as he chewed over his words in his mind.
Finally, as if done with dragging it any longer, he spoke.
"Your name?"
Eliot already knew her name but asked for reassurance of a thought clouding him.
Grace stammered, her tongue gluing her words at the back of her throat.
"E-Ellie Grace sir."
Ellie avoided his outright analyzing gaze.
"Grace? Is that your surname?"
"Y-yes..."
"I see...It's a beautiful name Ellie."
She nodded at his words. Still stammering.
"Thank y-you."
"...."
Silence soon dominated the room, the kitchen roll in her hand clenched as silence pressed deeper into her, etching its awkwardness into her.
Unable to bear it, she flicked her eyes up.
There was no one there. Eliot, had already left.
Tear.
With not a single soul lingering close to her, she tore a piece of the roll away, throwing it on the floor where a gurgling mesh of trash stained the pristine floor.
Ellie wiped the floor vigorously, her thoughts allured to another crisis.
'Do I...Give this back?'
Tear!
She ripped out another piece of the kitchen roll abandoned by his buyer.
Unsure if the buyer will ever come back.