[Flashback]

On a sunny day, under the canopy of clouds. Two teenagers were hopping like kids while their hands were intertwined like the epiphytes securing their roots. They were mimicking the grasshoppers amusing in the grass. They soaked their feet in the flowing canal and even competed on bouncing rocks.

"Spasha."

"Sehiro."

Their smiled filled names carried through their soft breaths. It was world that solely belonged to them, with blossom memories. Little did they knew, the same gleeful laughter, the cheerful colors would be deprived out of their lives.

[Flashback ends]

"Alright class, I got your notes. Hand them to your back seat one by one." Hiroshi sensei announced passing the notes to all the front rows. All students transferred the notes to the rows behind them so they would be distributed among the whole class.

There was just one teeny tiny, itty bitty measly problem. Sehiro's seat was directly behind Spasha.

And the battle of death eaters begun.

Sehiro waited for his notes to be delivered but when they didn't, he looked up front and just as he suspected, Spasha was hording all the notes. She seemed to be reading them like a scholar. Perhaps it was the first time, she ever read something with such a serious expression.

But that was the wrong time to be a Scholar without a degree.

Sehiro leaned forward and made the sound to clear his throat. That should do the trick, shouldn't it?

It did the trick, the trick to make Spasha close her ears all together.

Well, the battle was on.

"Pass me the notes." Sehiro whispered. Spasha couldn't pretend to ignore him, if he asked directly, right?

"What? I suddenly can't seem to hear." And Spasha did exactly that.

"Not my fault you haven't cleaned your ears." Sehiro clicked his teeth.

"In case somebody forgot, my brother is a doctor. Sanitation is like a ritual in our house."

"Tch. No wonder you are bitter like medicine."

"Says the doppelganger of Umbridge."

The whole class could feel the chill air as if they were suddenly in the northern coast. The thunder of their bickering didn't end there and the class was even ready to place their bets on contestants.

"I believe students are waiting for their notes?" Sehiro argued, his voice getting higher by the minute.

"I believe, I didn't hear any politeness?" Spasha reminded him of the place and situation.

Sehiro mewled a groan and said, "Princess Spasha, the direct descent of house of Godric, and the mighty member of the Gryffins, would you grace me with the notes our teacher provided?"

Spasha twitched a smile and nodded, "You didn't add 'please'"

With gritted teeth, Sehiro added, "Please?"

"Okay." And Spasha scored the round.

. . .

The department of archeology was holding an interesting session that regaled many students. There were all sorts of artifacts, from old stone tablets to baked coins, from skulls to bones. But there was a particular relic which moved many viewers to tears.

It was a letter. More precisely, a letter of love and care from a sister to her brother, who went out in the war to defend his country.

Spasha stood there in front of the glass case which enclosed the yellow pages of that fading ink.

She couldn't exactly read the contents of it but the archeology department were kind enough to paste the translated version of their research as well.

The letter stated the worries of sister, who felt helpless and useless while sending her brother to his death. Serving the country was a noble thing, but it takes a big heart to let the person go; who's their only family and only hope of life.

There was no doubt there was tragedy to the story, because after the brother was gone, the sister was wed off to a despicable excuse of a human. He didn't even let the sister see the ashes of her brother who nobly laid his life for the country of that bastard.

"What a lousy brother, couldn't even protect his sister."

Spasha heard people curse the brother. Why was it that he was receiving more accusation than that tyrant husband?

"Yeah, he should have made sure that sister was safe. I bet he went to die in the battlefield to get rid of her."

Would it be possible to do something like this? The way Spasha had lived, she would believe it might be the case. After all, in her own family, the blood was thinner than the water.

"I could totally see the brother making big chunk by selling the sister to the tyrant. How else do you think he got the post at the military?"

The more people read, the more cynical their remarks became. They threw words like rocks on the man who died protecting the long dead ancestors of these very people.

Spasha was standing in the middle of it all, hearing all the nonsense shaping into words.

Pathetic. Humans are so pathetic. She stared at the letter, that was barely holding on and could see in each strokes the love that was present between the two siblings.

That's how family is supposed to be, different bodies but same minds. With stern yet distant voice, she carried,

"Not seeing is a flower, so make sure the flower isn't dead."

Seeing the solemn look on the otherwise cheerful Spasha, did make the sweat ran down their spine. They scrammed away, not daring to meet her eyes.

Spasha heaved a sigh but that was not enough to dissipate the flashback she got from the whole ordeal. She lives with strangers after all, the strangers with simply the same veins.

"What an admirable brother..."

Spasha heard a familiar voice and turned around as quickly as the voice squandered.

Sehiro read the whole letter and one could tell, he was moved by the love between the siblings.

"What are you doing here?" Spasha clicked her tongue, pretending to be annoyed.

"Incase somebody forgot, I came to remind her that our next class will be in the computer lab." Sehiro relayed without batting an eye.

"Computer lab? I thought they were replacing the computers?" Spasha said more to herself than the boy next to her.

Sehiro shrugged his shoulders and walked away. He relayed the message, he had no other reason to stand next to her former best friend and chat.

Maybe it was because of the letter she had just read, but seeing Sehiro's back that way, made her feel, suddenly so alone.

Never indulge in a dream, that it costs you, yourself.

. . .

After the lunch break, as directed by Sehiro, Spasha headed to the Computer lab. She didn't need to bring any notebooks since most of the notes were already in their computers. So, she strolled towards her destination leisurely. She opened the door to the lab and was ready to greet the class.

Except the class was empty. More or less.

"Did I come too early?" She looked at the clock right above the window. The clock seemed to be working fine. Just as she was about to return, there was clamor of papers falling on the ground.

"Miss Onishi, what brings you here?" Behind the freshly created cluster of papers was standing a woman with glasses high on her nose.

"Pasokon Sensei?" Spasha quickly picked up her pace and started collecting the papers on the ground. After all, that person was their Computer teacher.

"Sensei, the class?" Spasha asked. Looking at the mess in the lab, it was unlikely they could hold the class in the lab.

"Oh, so you came up as volunteer. Good child." Pasokon Sensei gleamed. It had been two weeks already and with the replacement of new computers, some of the date was lost. And Pasokon sensei had to spent even her weekends recreating the logs. She had to gather all the paper from the ancient times to fill the records.

The school didn't pay her enough for her services.

"Sensei, I would love to help but I have a class." No matter how much she pitied Pasokon sensei. She still had her own classes to attend.

"What class? I already told Sehiro that there won't be any class after lunch."

That spawn of the Voldermot! How dare he lied?!

"Now that you're here, come help me."

And Sehiro took that round. The score was now 1:1.

. . .

The next day.

Sehiro was sitting in the cafeteria and enjoying the meal delightfully. The atmosphere  was pleasant that some even claimed to have spotted happy flowers circling around him.

It wasn't hard to guess his cheery demeanor. After all, there was only one thing or rather one person responsible for all of his moods – Spasha Onishi.

Content with having defeated her yesterday, he was slurping down the Udon with his eyes closed. The flavor were chewy and rich and rubbery – wait? Rubbery? When Sehiro opened his eyes, he saw the tail of rubber lizard sticking to his mouth.

"GAHHHHHH!!!!"

Spasha 2, Sehiro 1

. . .

After the labor of some days, the computer lab was finally set up and good to run. The credit goes to the forced volunteer of the club, Spasha Onishi. She was returning to the washroom to wash her hands after dusting the computer lab.

The warm water was soothing for her aching finger. If this wasn't the school, she seriously considered taking a dip to relax. But that needed to wait, till she reached home.

Aside from the sound of the water running, Spasha heard a tiny screech. Startled, she looked at the direction of the noise, only to be shocked and fall back.

There were ominous writings on the mirror.

Like the blood had been smeared at her reflection, trickling down through the sharp mirror. It was a scene one had seen many times in the horror movies but when it happened in real life, it did make the person lose their souls.

The moment of dread didn't last for long when Spasha recognized the handwriting.

"Tch. Stupid Sehiro."

That was the revenge against the rubber lizard? how did he even get into the women washroom? Spahsa couldn't careless about the process.

She walked over and started wiping the mirror clean. If Sehiro got caught, she would also be dragged down by Kondo Sensei and she already promised to be on her best behavior. At least in school. 

While she was wiping, the whiff of the content gave her a familiar scent.

Oh No! it can't be!

 the moment she realized that the pigment that was used on the mirror was her own lipstick, she threw away her reasons for revenge.

"SEHIRO!!!"

. . .

The outside world looked so carefree and distant. The wind didn't stop flirting with the leaves and the sun didn't stop kissing the land. But it felt all to bitter to the young lad who was stuck inside the school building for his punishment.

Spasha would have forgiven him, if he had just used a paint. But not in the million years, not even when he was going to growl and beg would Spasha forgive Sehiro for using her limited edition Hermoine flavored lipstick set.

That was an offense even the Wizengamot wouldn't forgive.

And thus, Sehiro was punished with extra classes after school.

"I should have gone with the paint." Sehiro grumbled and unwillingly kept doing his work. Luckily it was the last day of the punishment, he could go back home and relax for the weekend.

Despite having all of his braincells wanting to devise a revenge plan, he knew he should not act immature anymore. After all, Spahsa had to sacrifice all of her free lectures to clean the computer lab because of him.

"Maybe I went to far?" Sehiro mumbled. The sun was now only giving the shade of orange and soon even that would turn into blue. It felt too strange.

How many days has it been since they fought? Why were they even fighting in the first place? His eyes recollected the memories of the days when all went wrong.

"I shouldn't have made the bet."

If he knew how things would play out, he wouldn't have been so arrogant. And he wouldn't be so miserable now.

"I should apologize to her." Sehiro thought. He braced himself for any sort of outcome. What worse could happen now? I mean, they are already fighting. If Spahsa decided not to be friends with him anymore, it would still be better than picking these meaningless fights.

"Yoshi! I will apologize!" Having made up his mind, Sehiro picked up his pace and quickly finished his punishment assignment.

Just a little after the sun set, he was allowed to go back home. He pulled out his phone to dial Spasha's number but before he could press the button, he received a call instead.

What are the odds that Spasha called him at the same time?

Maybe she was ruminated like him and wanted to make things better again?

With new found hope, Sehiro picked up the call. He heart was beating fast with excitement as if the butterflies in him were jittering for freedom.

But with one sound his heart dropped down and sank somewhere deep.

He ran and ran and ran.

He was hysterical, he was frantic while the alarms were buzzing like crazy in his head. He was praying one thing, almost like a chant.

Please be safe! Please be safe! Please be safe!

He didn't realized how many people he bumped into on his way or how many rules he broke, he just had one direction in his head and wanted to find her.

He reached to an old building that used to be their hang-out spot after classes. The neighborhood was calm and quiet because mostly elderly people resided. The families who's children went off in search for greater opportunities.

Sehrio climbed the stairs, skipping many steps. He reached the rooftop that was supposedly lock But him and Spahsa had their own way of getting in. He pulled away the boxes near the door to reveal a little opening.

Originally, it was small enough for only cats to enter but the two of them had pulled out few bricks here and there to make a second door for them. He quickly crawled and crossed the wall.

The night had engulfed the sky, so he pulled out his phone to turn on the torch.

"Spasha!" He called to the empty sky. The light casted on every nook and cranny to look for the owner of that name.

"Spasha!" he called again, this time louder than before.

"S-Sehiro..." He finally heard the voice he was longing for. It seemed to come from the other side of the roof. He ran towards it. His heart beating fast, but this time, it wasn't because of any thrill but instead, it was thumping with dread.

The sight before him made the sky spun. He felt his throat dry and feet frozen to the ground.

Draped in the fluid red, Spasha was resting down, leaning against the wall, as if collecting last of her strength.

"Spahsa!!"

He dashed forward, scooping her in his arms.

"Spasha!" the fear had strangled him too deep that he couldn't seem to form any other words.

What happened? How did you get here? Why did you get hurt? Who hurt you?

He wasn't sure where the injury was and he was too afraid to carry her through that hole. What if he accidently made the wound cut deeper? He couldn't take any risks.

"Sehiro..." Her voice was feeble and week. It pulled him awake from trepidation and instantly relayed.

"I-I'm going to call your brother."

His hands were trembling as he pulled out his phone. Why was his vision getting all blurry? It was when the droplets fell on the screen of the phone did he realize that it was his own tears. He quickly wiped the tears and dialed the number of Sadaaki Onishi.

But just before the first bell could ring, his phone was snatched away from him and turned off.

"Got you!"

A very jolly declaration came, followed by the ring of laughter.

What?

The same Spahsa that was drenched in blood and couldn't even breathe, got up from her spot and dusted her clothes.

"You should have seen your face." Her voice had all the energy and her movements were very alive. She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe off the red fluid off her face and hands.

"What?"

"This is why paint Is better than lipstick, doesn't it feel real?"

It was just a prank? She was just joking about it?

There was gush of relief that passed over him – She's alright. She's fine. She's not hurt. She's not injured. She's alive.

But his heart was still shaking, trembling in fear of the sight he had witnessed.

"I scared you, didn't I?" Spasha had now wiped herself clean from all the paint she had poured. There were still blotches here and there, she would have to come up with an excuse to hide it from her brother though. But that was the problem for later. Right now, she wanted to celebrate her victory against the enemy.

But instead of the thrill of victory, she was given the cold stare, the chilling voice a thunder came,

"You won." 

He uttered those words and walked away.Spasha saw his back disappearing in the dark.

She had lost.

--------

Sorry for errors and thank you for reading.