Richard's worried expression made her tear up. It seed like he hadn't heard anything yet, since he was still looking at her with his usual warmth.
"Ciara, hey. Are you okay?" His voice ca again.
At this point, she could t control herself anymore. The sa question her friends had asked, but for so reason, it felt different this ti around.
"No... No, I'm not! I'm scared, Richard. I'm so scared!" She finally broke down, giving in to her tears and worry.
The fear of slowly losing herself. Her anxious feelings of leaving the bonds she had made, or everyone around her looking at her with a different set of eyes. Ciara didn't want to be ostracized!
"What do I do? I don't know... Why is this happening to ? After everything I did. I did nothing wrong, and yet.. everything seems like it's collapsing! I don't... I don't know what to do or where to go anymore!" She cried
Ciara waited for the cliched statents that others would tell her. Words like "I'm sorry", or "it's alright" wouldn't cut it. She didn't know what she expected to hear, or what would actually comfort her. However, she just wanted to calm the storm within her and sought safety.
Without uttering a single word, Richard dropped his book, and in a flash, he was right before her. Before Ciara could react, he embraced her and patted her back.
"E-eh...?" She mumbled in confusion.
"Ciara... Just let it out first. I can wait, I have all night." He finally spoke.
His soothing voice echoed in her ears, and the fact that he didn't imdiately hear her out, but instead noticed that Ciara had been stifling a lot of emotions within herself made her break down even more.
"Uahhhhhhh!!!" She cried, letting out the pain, regret, fear, and gratitude she felt at that mont.
Richard didn't let her go during the whole ti. Even as snot poured on him, and tears fell, he refused to refrain from his embrace. And so, ti passed, with only Roxanne's voice audible within his office.
****************
Finally, after so ti passed, Ciara slowed down, and then completely poured out everything she wanted to.
The aftermath of that was Richard allowing her to seat on one of the chairs facing his desk while he brought his chair, which was originally behind the table, beside her.
Now close to each other, Richard stared hard at her, waiting for her to talk.
And so she began narrating the story from scratch, leading to the incident that just concluded.
"Wow... I see. So that's what happened." Richard mumbled, placing his hand under his chin as he deliberated on the matter.
Ciara kept quiet and observed her teacher and friend. He appeared quite capable, showing worry and analysis at the sa ti.
"This isn't good. Being a Tier 3 ans automatically being promoted to a higher Stage. The Tiers define a Student's class, to begin with, and most students would be happy about this system." Richard began explaining.
"Most tis, students who enter the Institute are Tier 1. It is expected that during their stay in the Institute, they grow considerably. For the Foundation Stage, once a person reaches the Expert class, they should have beco Tier 2. The sa applies to the Advanced and Final Stages. Students should have reached Tier 3 at the end of the Advanced Stage and Tier 4 at the end of the Final Stage."
Ciara listened attentively, basking in Richard's every word.
"It's possible for students not to achieve this and still get promoted, as long as they score considerably well in their exams. However, students in a higher Tier can't remain in a lower class. The situation is dire indeed. Now that you've been exposed, if the higher-ups catch wind of this, your fears may be realized."
Ciara's eyes widened in despair. Was this the end?
"N-no... I don't want that..." Ciara mumbled, hoping for a small glimr of hope.
However, deep within her, she knew all she prayed for was a childish dream. Even though Richard was a teacher, it wasn't as though he held that high of a position in the Southern Magic Institute to help her.
There was nothing either of them could do.
"Ciara. I may not be able to read minds, but I can pretty much guess what's going on in your head." Richard suddenly spoke.
Her eyes widened as she looked at his face. It was expressing a caring smile, full of warmth and understanding.
"Don't worry about it too much, Ciara. I'll take care of it for you." He assured her.
"W-wha-? But how...?!" Ciara stuttered.
It wasn't that she didn't think her friend was capable, but he was rely a horoom lecturer. There was hardly much he could do about it.
However, his eyes sowhat proved to differ. The determination and care he had written on them showed that he knew what he was saying.
"Co now, Ciara. Have I ever lied to you? Just trust ." He answered.
The turbulent storm within her subsided, and after considering it for a mont, Ciara decided to place her faith in Richard. It wasn't as though worry would make anything better.
So far, he had always managed to pull through for her.
Once again, she would place her faith in him.
"T-thank you so much... Truly..." Ciara sobbed.
Richard rely smiled at her and nodded, not saying any more than he already had. Since Ciara, who was usually so strong and confident, sought his help in such a state, how could he not help her?
*************************************
Ciara smacked her lips as she woke up in her room the next morning, feeling sohow refreshed. She didn't know what cause such a change, but her body was lighter than it had been in the past.
"Hmmm... why, I wonder..." She slurred, not entirely grasping everything around her.
"T-ti...?" Ciara's head tilted toward her clock and found out the reason why she had felt so relaxed.
She had overslept!
"Shit!!!" Her loud voice echoed throughout her room.
Quickly bouncing from her bed, she launched herself to the bathroom and hurried to begin her daily schedule of freshening up before class. However, Ciara knew that it didn't matter how much she relaxed. There was no way she was getting to class early.
After all... It was already past noon!
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[A/N]
Hello, dear readers. I know what you're all thinking.
Yeah, isn't this the story about our dear Noir? Why is Ciara taking up most of the space here? I like Ciara, and I'm sure a couple of you do too, but Noir is the protagonist of this story... right?
You're right. He is.
And don't worry. We'll have him soon. Just be patient. The buildup is getting sowhere, I promise.
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