Am I gonna get that back?
I pointed at my summoner's door, then to the uniform he was wearing, hoping my question got across.
He merely grabbed the hand I was pointing with and pulled me along.
Guess that's a no.
I shook my hand out of his grasp. He turned back and hurriedly gestured for me to follow him, before continuing back the way we came.
What's the rush? Needing to follow a strict schedule?
Knowing I wouldn't get any answers, I matched his pace as we walked through the dorms.
When we stepped out the door, I reflexively shielded my eyes from the sudden assault of sunlight. Only then did I realize it was morning.
Man, moments ago I was staring at a world-eating moon. Now I am experiencing my first morning in another world.
I felt my wrist be grabbed again as my summoner ran for the door across the dirt path.
The heck?
It was hard to remove his grip on my arm since I was being dragged.
What's up with him now?
Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me, causing my summoner to stop. I forced my grip out of his hand and turned to see the source of the new voice.
Another person was wearing a shirt with the same emblem around the breast. The person stood in front of the dorm's entrance in a power pose, arms to his waist. Aside from their arrogant personality, something else about them stood out to me.
Is cheese a valid hair color?
I then shifted my focus from his appearance to the situation.
Did he call out his name? I recalled the few interactions I observed between my summoner and Mr. Blonde.
In the exchanges I remembered, Mr. Blonde referred to my summoner as "Kee-yo-ree", "Kyo-ri", "Caori", and "Kilori". Since it was one person referring to my summoner, I couldn't tell if it was his actual name or a nickname acknowledging an accomplishment. Hearing it from a second person has made me 80% more sure that this was my summoner's name.
The way this person said it sounded derogatory. My summoner didn't appear bothered the previous times I heard him being referred to as this, so perhaps this person is just annoying in general.
Carrying the same annoying tone, Swiss Cheese Blonde rambled a bunch of syllables as he approached us. My summoner stayed put, continuing to stare down the approaching student.
Wait, is this gonna turn into a fight?
School fighting senses tingling, I grabbed my summoner's wrist and tried dragging him to the door at the end of the dirt path, but he shook it off with a single flick of his arm.
Hey! I'm not sure what's going on, but listening to his provocations won't end well!
I grabbed his wrist again, but he avoided my grasp.
Sorry, Mr. Gold Blonde, I tried.
My brown-haired summoner stood a few feet from Cream Cheese Blonde. Both of them stared down at each other, neither compromising their stances. Seeing the two reminded me of the Wild West standoff trope in media, before it escalated into a full-on shootout between the involved parties.
I was tempted to step between them, but there were a few reasons why that was a bad idea. First, if Mr. Golden Blonde's abilities were anything to go by, magic exists in this world. I might get caught in the crossfire trying to stop them. Second, my language barrier. Even if I stepped between them, I couldn't say anything they'd understand.
Actually… maybe I don't need to say anything.
If superpowers exist in this world, then anything I do wouldn't be too unusual. I just wished I had a reference for what was too little and too much.
If things do escalate into a fight, I'll just erect a wall between them and hope that gets my intentions across.
Making things wasn't difficult, I just needed to visualize what I wanted.
Seeing that my summoner wanted a confrontation, I stepped off the dirt path and onto the grass, placing myself perpendicular to the middle of the distance between my summoner and cheese frosting blonde.
Monterey Jack blonde rambled some syllables before turning to face me.
Hey! Don't involve me if you're picking on my summoner!
I prepared a visualization of the brick wall I saw surrounding the school's perimeter, mentally placing my hand on the switch to conjure it. It felt like prepping myself for a video game quick-time event, hovering a finger over a button so that I'd act as soon as possible.
I intended to place the wall between them if I spotted the beginnings of a fight. Even if things get violent, it'd quickly die down if met with a more overwhelming force. The same mentality police use when suppressing protestors getting a bit too violent.
Both parties spoke their syllables, my summoner maintaining calm while String Cheese blonde continued raising his voice, though his tone shifted when he looked at me. It sounded dismissive, so he probably thought little of my presence.
My summoner and Corn Puff Blonde continued speaking like this, before the latter stepped away from the dorm's entrance, ending with him bumping into my summoner's shoulder. I nearly conjured and threw a brick at him, but held off on my impulsively homicidal urge. No need to hospitalize someone on my second day of existence.
I walked to my summoner and gave him my best concerned expression, hoping to get across the words "Are you alright?"
He faced me and spoke more syllables, before looking back at the Carbonara blonde. I guessed those were the equivalent of saying "I'm fine."
The need to conjure a brick wall subsided as the back of the annoying student moved farther from our spot.
That's a relief I guess.
More voices came from behind us. I turned to see a few students in the same uniform.
Several more boys of varying heights emerged from the dorm, walking around us like a mere obstruction.
Suddenly, another appeared at the entrance, calling out what I'm 90% certain was my summoner's name.
My summoner turned and seemed to greet him, with the person who called out running up to us.
They spoke to each other casually as friends would, going back and forth about whatever they were speaking of. Compared to the previous confrontation, seeing this made me feel relieved.
The person in question had short, dark chocolate hair with caramel eyes. He turned to me, saying my summoner's name, likely asking to introduce me.
He said some syllables, tugging below the collar of his shirt.
Dark Chocolate seemed enthusiastic, speaking words of his own before offering an arm to me, silently asking for a handshake.
I complied with his request and gave him a firm handshake.
Glad to know these also exist here.
After that exchange, he ran around us, waving goodbye in our direction. My summoner, or "Kiori", grabbed my arm and followed Dark Chocolate Hair's example, taking me somewhere in the school once more.