Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World Chapter 342: Arc 5, - 36: Eye of the Beholder

"Hey."

Tiffany turned around and felt a smile grow. "Greetings, young adventuring detective. It pleases the Child of Void to see thy presence once more."

"What d’you an young? We’re the sa age," Fuko crossed her arms.

"Tis true. Nonetheless, does thou beseech my company?" she laid a hand on her chest and looked away with a pose.

"...I can leave right now without saying goodbye-"

"W-w-wait!" Tiffany was quick to turn with a bubbled eye.

Fuko smirked, "Too easy."

The blonde cleared her throat, "Apologies. So, tis true then? Thou wished to be with one as exalted as I on this fair day?" she laughed. "What about thy companions?"

"Well, they should be heading off soon enough once their business is done here. I’m staying behind. Wanna, hang out?" she shrugged indifferently.

"Unquestionably! Where does thou desire to hang?"

"Uh, I don’t know," Fuko’s nose scrunched. "There’s still places in the school, isn’t there?"

"Yet another tour?" Tiffany raised a brow.

"It doesn’t have to be a ’tour’, you can just show around and we can talk and stuff. I haven’t seen your room yet, right?"

"Why does thou have a sudden fascination of mine bedchambers?" the blonde’s cheeks went a bit rosy.

"T-that’s not what I ant," the brunette glanced down in a hurry, apparently examining the grass.

"Huh? Pray tell, what does thou believe I ant!?" Tiffany narrowed her one eye and shied away.

"What?" Fuko swished her head up. "I don’t think you ant anything- I an, that you ant that I an, that I ant having an- Wait, I an that- Ugh! You said that you’d invite to your room so other ti!"

Tiffany’s voice cracked, "That is, what I assud. I rely posed an inquiry..." she flicked one of the curling blonde locks framing her face and returned to her poised self.

Fuko massaged her cheeks to make sure there was no reddening, "It’s just your dorm room, don’t make it such a big deal."

"Apologies," the blonde sighed.

Fuko took a look around. Students still lingered about their graduation location; a couple of teachers were around, but the headmaster as well as the Grand Alderman had departed from the vicinity.

School staff and student volunteers were rearranging all the chairs and putting away equipnt left up on the stage. Most of them were older students.

So of them stacked the chairs high and sat on the tallest stack, only to compete by trying to build a higher stack. Two boys battled each other with a chair each till a teacher ca by and seed to scold them.

To the side of the stage, graduates and other students would pay at the booth and pose at a cara manned by a student. "Is that the photography club?" Fuko pointed.

"Indeed. Tis their venture."

"You wanna go take one?" Fuko queried.

Tiffany pursed her lips, "For thou wish to keep a morandum of I? Hah! I notice the appeal," she giggled vivaciously. "Is it not pleasanter that thou cherish mine mory in the ti we devote?"

Fuko’s eyes glazed over, "What’re you hiding? What’s wrong with a picture?"

"Hiding? Hmph, to suggest such a thing... Nay, I conceal naught. However..." Tiffany slumped a smidgen. "They run for a fee of seven silver..."

"That’s it? I can pay it," Fuko cocked her head.

Tiffany scoffed, "I cannot implore thou to do such an act!"

"I really don’t mind," Fuko walked towards the table of the booth. "You want one, or not?" she looked back.

"I..." guilt drifted across Tiffany’s face, "If, thou truly do not mind..." she shuffled behind.

The brunette faced her as they walked, "What, you don’t get an allowance or sothing?"

"Indeed I do, however tis forty-five silver per week... Seven silver is just about enough to encompass two days’ worth of als from dawn to dusk."

"Let guess, the rest goes towards your fashion sense?"

"Hmph! Must I not accessorize myself in tasteful apparels and ornants to display one’s exceptional potentialities? I am Stella Vespertillio, the Child of Void within the Sea of Stars!

If mine appearance is anything but otherworldly, HAH! Tis would be an affront, nay an atrocity towards the void from whence I ca," she huffed.

Fuko stopped and stared... Seeing that the other students were nearby, she opened her mouth, "Tiffany."

"Halt! At once you wicked brute!" Tiffany leaned in hushed through her teeth.

"Then co on, let’s get a photo—hell, we’ll get two," Fuko walked towards the booth.

"I-if thou insists..."

_

Following the line, the two stepped onto the little platform in front of the cara. "A mont," Tiffany stopped the student operating the cara for a second and quickly took off her robes, "Does thou wish to be seen in these garbs?"

"Guess not," Fuko did the sa as they both put their robes beside the platform and posed in their uniforms beneath.

Tiffany stood with one leg forward, one back. She posed with a few fingers over her eyepatch on the left eye while keeping the majority of her face in view. She angled a chin a little high and gave a vibrant grin... Then her eye looked to Fuko on her right...

Fuko stood straight and stared at the cara with a, sorta smile?

"Another mont..." Tiffany paused again.

"What is it?" the brunette turned.

"Why does thou appear with such stiffness?" Tiffany adjusted Fuko’s shoulders a bit. "Tis as if thou art striking a pose for a card of identities."

"Besides my ID, this is how I posed with my dad for photos," Fuko grumbled.

"Eugh, assu a livelier posture. Has thou not perceived a tabloid in thy existence?"

"Hey, there’s other people waiting ya know," the girl behind the cara hollered over.

"Apologies," Tiffany took her pose once more. "Just, give a natural smile and pose a little, it’s not that hard," she quickly spoke.

Fuko forced a smile and her brows furrowed a little as the blonde posed. "FLASH!"

"What was that?" Tiffany looked to the other in concern.

"Why’re you so worried?" Fuko fluttered her eyelids to recover from the bright flash.

"Don’t you want your money’s worth?" Tiffany retorted.

"Okay, next in line-"

"Hold on, I paid for four photos," Fuko glared to the photographer. The photographer sighed and looked through her lens again.

"Why don’t you try rembering so funny mory," Tiffany suggested as she took her pose again.

There were a myriad to choose from- How many tis had she truly laughed since she got to Burnetrout...? She was sure she had snickered and smiled, but so many more recent monts were... morose.

"FLASH!" There was a soft smile on Fuko, but nothing more. "We’re just supposed to be having fun, right?" Fuko pondered aloud.

"I’d say so," the blonde gave a ek smile.

"Then, I guess we’re just having fun Stella," Fuko loosened up a bit and got closer to Tiffany before she smiled haughtily.

"Hah! Indeed," Tiffany posed once more, this ti her chin lower and with a brighter smile. "FLASH!"

Fuko noticed how Tiffany had her fingers over her eyepatch—two fingers and a thumb out, hovering above. Fuko mimicked the pose with her right hand and angled it sideways.

The brunette stepped ahead with her middle finger poking next to her temple and thumb pointing to the corner of her lip—she leaned with a smile.

Noticing this, Tiffany stepped ahead and tried to pose better.

Fuko placed her left leg further forward.

Tiffany pushed into the brunette slightly.

The brunette pushed back and leaned further with a bright arrogant grin. Both their shoulders knocked into each other. Tiffany gave a chuckle with her pose. A ripple of transparent white waved up Tiffany’s eye, while shadows glimred in Fuko’s eyes.

"FLASH!"

Tiffany stumbled forward!

Fuko hopped down and pushed the blonde back onto the platform by her shoulders.

"Okay, next," the photographer called.

"How do we get the photos?" Fuko turned.

"You can co get them in a week or give us your address, we’ll mail it to you. Now, next!" she responded.

Fuko and Tiffany stepped away, with subtle laughter under their breaths. Tiffany took both their robes and walked away with Fuko in tow.

"Where’s the Sun?" Fuko groaned and swivelled her head facing the sky. She rubbed her eyes and adjusted from the several cara flashes.

"Heyyy, you’re mystery na, right?"

Fuko faced up to a girl in academic robes and furrowed her brows. She had dium-length light brown hair and face adorned in light makeup. "Yeah..."

Only now did the brunette realize two more girls standing right next to the one that spoke—all in graduation attire. "Julia," the girl that spoke introduced.

"Fuko Namora," as Fuko introduced herself, she noticed Tiffany go silent next to her. The blonde had beco rather bashful and averted the gaze of the three girls.

"That definitely sounds Luxinorian," the girl on the right with a pixie cut and freckles replied. "Hi, Lacey," she reached her hand out, which Fuko shook cautiously.

"So, studying from abroad or sothing?" the last girl, with long black hair and a few streaks of pink approached and faintly brushed against Fuko’s free arm. "Tilly by the way."

"No, it’s a bit complicated..." Fuko replied as she was slowly nudged away from Tiffany.

"Oh, you gotta tell us all about it. You’re a bit of a celebrity in our class," Julia continued as Lacey slowly eclipsed Tiffany. Their bright smiles continued as they practically started shifting Fuko away.

Fuko narrowed her eyes as she was forced to walk along, "Uh, so other ti..."

"We’ve already graduated, what other ti is there?" Tilly chatted.

"Well, Stella-"

"Oh her?" Julia interrupted Fuko. "Don’t worry about Scream-Freak, she likes being alone."

"I don’t-"

"Plus, she’s a bit," Lacey leaned in close and hushed before she circled a finger next to her head.

"She ans a loon," Tilly added. "More importantly, she’s like scary. She talks to herself and yells a bunch of weird shit."

"Seriously, she might kill you," Julia continued.

Fuko wrenched free from the lot and glared daggers, "I’ll take my chances."

Julia simply humd and their smiles only slightly lowered. "Suit yourself," Julia shrugged and watched Fuko walk away, before they themselves rolled their eyes in disgust and walked off.

Tiffany cleared her throat and stood tall, "Ah, thou hath returned."

"D’you know those girls?" Fuko queried.

"Those future vagrants are from our class, the Class of Aces," she crossed her arms and scowled.

"Asshats..."

Tiffany tried hard to maintain her arrogant stature, "Did they, say anything...?"

"Don’t worry about them," Fuko replied. "Cheer up, we’ve graduated. You don’t need to deal with them anymore."

"I suppose..."

The brunette pouted... Then her eyes lit up, "They stay in the dorms, right?"

Tiffany took a mont to think, "Only one—Tilly. The other two go b-back ho every day."

A sly grin crept up Fuko’s face...

_

"Keep an eye out," Fuko hushed as she looked into a keyhole.

"Understood," Tiffany looked around the, for now, empty dormitory hallway. With the ongoing ceremony and the school sester yet to begin, it was practically empty in here.

"Woosh." Fuko blinked into her room. She looked to the round shag carpeting, the posters of bands on the wall and the scent of cheap perfu. She took a deep breath—there was a lot more to uncover...

Tiffany stood in the hallway, constantly looking both right and left. She opened up her mouth and a soft echo travelled down the right side of the hallway.

She waited for a mont and listened... She knew the coast was clear, then repeated the process on the other side. No one seed to be nearby or approaching at the mont.

...

...

"Woosh." Fuko reappeared, carrying several articles of clothing, ranging from undergarnts to uniforms. "I think I got enough. Let’s hurry."

"Thou needn’t worry, none pass through these halls. Although, this response hardly seems, noble..."

"It’s probably not the best thing we can do, but hey, you get what’s coming to you," Fuko shrugged with the pile in her arms.

Tiffany smirked, "Indeed. I wish I could help with this mischief, I sought to do sothing akin to this for an extensive ti."

"You were just missing an accomplice. And don’t worry about it, call it a favour from a friend," Fuko was more than delighted to blink up onto the ceiling beams and begin hanging all the clothes onto it.

She blinked back down, having arranged her masterpiece along the beam. The brunette proudly looked up with her hands on her hips.

"It would’ve been nice if you went here—properly. We could’ve gotten up to a lot of things," Tiffany said, looking to the back of Fuko.

"Yeah, I wish I could," Fuko sighed.

As the blonde glanced up, her eye widened, "What, in the n-na of the void... You, didn’t..."

Fuko grinned wider, "Found it in her nightstand."

A soft pink phallic toy sat atop the beam at the centre of all the suspended clothes. Fuko looked back to the blonde with an unending grin.

Tiffany let out a chuckle... then she giggled before it turned into laughter, less vivacious and more pleasant and quiet. Fuko couldn’t help but snicker. "Weee, should probably get out of here," the brunette suggested.

"To my room then," Tiffany led and opened the door with her key. Inside, there was enough room for a soft black carpet, but most of the other furniture took up the floor space.

The puffy red and black sheets lied across the bed in the corner; a few pillows and at most a dozen teddy bears lined against the wall along it.

A nightstand, a desk cleared of books and arranged, dozens of posters from fashion magazines across all four walls—a powdery rose-like scent as they walked in, not stuffy but pleasant.

Fuko looked to the large poster of a model with fishnet gloves smoking a cigar, whilst Tiffany shut the door and walked to her overflowing vanity.

Nail polish, compact powder, foundation, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick—there were perhaps ten of each one in different brands and different shades.

There were stickers of stars on her vanity mirror as she looked at herself and sat down on the stool. "Fuko, co hither," Tiffany waved so product in her hand.

Fuko had to barely take four steps to reach the blonde. Tiffany held out a black lipstick-

"Uhh," Fuko recoiled her head. "I, know soone else who might be interested in this kinda stuff..."

"It won’t hurt, you can wipe it off imdiately," she moved the lipstick closer.

"I didn’t co here for a makeover," Fuko groaned.

"Hmph. What happened to having fun? Aren’t you even a little curious?" Tiffany pouted.

Fuko peered at the black lipstick... There was certainly a temptation... "No."

Tiffany sighed and pulled her hand away.

"Oh fine, for your sake," Fuko’s eyes glazed over. "Did you practice on your teddy bears before or sothing?"

Tiffany grabbed Fuko by the chin and held her steady, to which Fuko’s eyes bubbled... Tiffany applied it slowly across the brunette’s lips with a glare, "You’re lucky I don’t smudge this over your eyes."

Fuko barely registered her words, too focused on how delicately the blonde traced along her lips. Her face reddened...

"There," Tiffany moved her chin left, then right. "It actually looks good on you."

Fuko broke out of the trance and peeked at the mirror... Her face scrunched seeing herself wearing black lipstick, "Eghhh, I guess it matches with the uniform..."

"So eyeliner and mascara, then it’ll be complete," Tiffany smiled.

"I... am not into this stuff, but, if you want..." Fuko kept her face where it was.

"Oh just this once. This is," Tiffany’s hand paused as she grabbed her eyeliner... "Will w-we, et again?" she side-eyed Fuko.

"I an," Fuko’s eyes darted away. She hadn’t really thought about it herself. With the case, adventuring, her whole situation—doing so makeup with Tiffany was hardly a priority.

Sa went for the matter of hanging out or seeing her again... "I don’t know," the brunette admitted. "There’s no reason we can’t, right? I know I’m adventuring and all, but I’m just in Dolpool for now."

Tiffany took so comfort in those words, "We’ll see then. I did wanna hear about your adventuring stories."

"No more fancy talk?" Fuko mocked.

"Why? Does thou wish for I to articulate in my true manner for longer? I simply deed it worthy of my ti to speak with thy tongue," Tiffany scoffed with a smile.

"I’ll take normal talk if it’s an option then... But adventuring stories aside, I did have a question."

"Pray tell."

"I’ve heard students call you Scream-Freak. Why is that? Did you do sothing with your affinity...?" Fuko theorized as she asked.

"I..." Tiffany lowered the eyeliner and almost, looked like she was about to jump and run off. Her leg twitched and she gulped... "We, h-haven’t known each other for long..."

Fuko’s eyes softened, "It’s, fine. Sorry I-"

"No," Tiffany waved a hand. "I was g-gonna say, despite that, I d-don’t mind if you know. Ahem! I see not a reason to convey my past to a friend. Most students already know anyway, I’d prefer if you heard it from .

When I was in my s-sixth year, a b-boy pushed against the w-wall," Tiffany shut her lips and poked her cheek before she talked again, "He didn’t hurt , just got very close to ...

He said he liked and wanted to take out. I-I, don’t know if I was flustered or felt intimidated, I d-don’t rember fully. But I know he, ca in close and was about to kiss .

In the panic, I scread... I also, accidentally used a spell. There were so ’friends’ nearby and so of his friends; his friends pretty much blocked mine from interjecting.

Everyone, the entire first and second floor of the academy’s building heard scream. The boy fell back and started breathing erratically—his ears were bleeding.

Before I knew it, dics were in the school and the people around were having mild headaches for the next few hours. The teachers took to the office and asked what happened.

The situation took care of itself, the police asked a few questions over a couple of days, the boy was in the hospital, but I didn’t really get into too much trouble.

As rumours began to spread, I got the news. I had ruptured that boy’s eardrums and made him permanently deaf. After that, everyone sort of, distanced themselves from for safety..."

"The teachers?" Fuko questioned.

"They, looked at like so special kid—not in a good way. When I’d get bullied, even the teachers didn’t really wanna get close to ; the ones that did, just advised to keep my cool..."

"I-"

"It’s fine," Tiffany uttered before Fuko said anything. "Don’t say you’re sorry or sothing. It’s years old now; you asked about the na, so I answered."

"I was gonna say, I think that’s bullshit. You managed to fight off soone and get an affinity that early—that’s aweso! Well, not the making soone permanently deaf part, sorry," Fuko winced.

Tiffany gawked at the brunette...

"Seriously, they called you Scream-Freak for years, for that? That’s stupid; they’re stupid. And the teachers even worse," the brunette continued.

"Hah. You’re, definitely sothing Fuko Namora," she raised her brow in a chuckle and slight concern.

"Blast!"

The sound got them both as rain began drizzling and tapping onto the window.