112: Sister Greeting

After the initial rush ended, Roxanne and Angelica stood off to the side and leaned against a building beside the festival area. Fanning herself, even as they already stood in the shade, Roxanne shook her head with a faint smile teasing at the corners of her lips. “I didn’t expect there’d be such an exuberant turnout...”

“You’re famous, don’t you remember when we swarmed the guests during our time as students?” Angelica smiled, her gaze deepening as memories of jostling through crowds from the past flashed before her eyes. “And you’re... just lovely, you know? With a personality like yours, who wouldn’t want to come talk to you?”

Roxanne shook her head. With warmth tingling her cheeks, she leaned over, resting her head on Angelica’s shoulder. “You have a way with words. A silver tongue. You speak nothing but the sweetest of words with me.”

“Emphasize the last part a little more, since I’m not doing it with anyone else,” Angelica reached up, playing with Roxanne’s hair. “Are you sure you want to be doing this in public though?”

“See, some more sweet words. Also, I don’t care, people will think what they think. If they thought we were dating they’ll keep thinking that. If they thought we were just friends... well, I’m sure they’ll somehow justify this as an action between friends,” Roxanne teased, looking towards the knee-height bushes in front of them. “Let me just spend some time with you... I miss you...”

“I miss you too,” Angelica’s gaze softened as Roxanne’s weariness came leaking through her words. “We can spend as long as you want here, okay?”

---

“I should probably go see her, yeah...?” Nyssa paused, having seen Angelica and Roxanne through a crack between a couple rows of booths. She held hands with Celeste as they kept walking, perusing the prizes given at each booth.

“You probably should, it’s not good to ignore your sister,” Celeste squeezed Nyssa’s hand. “Even if you are shy, it'll probably make her day if you go see her.”

“She does have Angelica though... like... you know, I’m sure she’s already pretty happy with that...” Nyssa mumbled, only for Celeste to turn at the intersection. “Wai... wait where are you dragging me-”

“To your sister, obviously,” Celeste rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so shy, come on.”

Dragging out one long “Fineeeeeee,” Nyssa followed along, ignoring the gazes congregating on them as they walked up to Roxanne and Angelica. As for Roxanne and Angelica, having been looking at the ground and the bushes, they looked up in surprise once the two girls appeared in their vision.

“Hi Roxanne...” Nyssa looked around left and right. Her hands clammed up as the gazes now bothered her, crawling all over her back and shoulders. “How are you? You gave a pretty good talk. Good job... it was like... pretty cool, and uh... probably better than Slade’s, yeah. I bet it was really good.”

“You didn’t listen did you?” Roxanne teased, reaching out and ruffling Nyssa’s hair. “It’s okay. It’s not very relevant to you right now anyway.”

“I didn’t,” Nyssa stood up straight and saluted with a proud expression. “In fact, I fell asleep three separate times.”

“Uh huh, you’re truly a lost cause... ” Roxanne shook her head before a sweet voice came bursting out of her mouth. Swooping forward and enveloping Nyssa in a hug, she trapped her sister and began squeezing the air out of her lungs. “Thanks for coming to see me though~ I was just thinking that even though so many students came to see me, a little lovely kitty had never come by to pay me a visit. Oh I missed you dearly~ come on, return your sister’s hug!”

“I-... I-... c-can’t...” Nyssa choked out with her arms pinned to her sides. “... p-please... save me, Ange...”

Feigning death, she sprung back to life and hid behind Celeste the moment Roxanne released her. Her girlfriend may have been wonderful in many ways, but above all, she served as a great human shield against the hurricane named Roxanne.

Her peace though, didn’t last long as a flash of green sprang out from Roxanne. All of Roxanne’s summons came out of her in their mini forms, surrounding Nyssa like a pack of excited babies.

As Nyssa got mobbed by a mini-dragon, and a plethora of other miniature green creatures, murmurs burst out from the nearby students. Hushed whispers traveled like fire as people stopped in the tracks, creating a traffic jam, and, consequently, a crowd.

“What the hell...? They have mini forms?”

“Did you see that Roxanne hugged her??”

“Which one?!”

“The one with white hair, the new student in Class Zero.”

“Crazy... and she’s so favored by the summons. Aren’t they famous for hating everyone but Roxanne?”

“Yeah! I asked to see them earlier, and Roxanne could only apologize and say that they didn’t want to see me...”

“Maybe because she’s her sister? Could it be her?”

“Trueeeeee...” “You’re so real for that...” “Maybe...”

“Well, it might be because she has transformation powers, right? People with transformation powers are often favored by other people’s summons.”

“Ohh, that’s why you’re a top student. That’s a genius observation.”

“I still think it might be her sister...”

“I mean, that’s not an impossibility, but they also don’t look like each other at all.”

“All the people in the Ravenstein family are adopted! You should know this by now.”

“Well, I was just saying!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE JUST SAYING! By that logic I could be the one who’s Roxanne’s younger sibling.”

“Ohhh... are you?”

“... No, obviously not, dumbass.”

As their conversation, along with many others continued, the “is that girl Roxanne’s younger sister?” murmurs died down. With Roxanne reaching over and patting Celeste, first on the shoulder, then the head, the whispers died out like a candle.

“Thanks for bringing her over,” Roxanne thanked, returning Nyssa’s glare with a playful glare of her own. “I’d say you’re the perfect younger sister because you’re so polite and composed, but... you know, Nyssa’s too cute so you can’t have that position. I’m glad you’re so caring to her though. Remember that we’re family, if you ever need help, Angelica and I are here for you like a pair of older sisters.”

“I’m your teacher too, so I’m already here for you,” Angelica stuck in a comment from the side. “I’m already here for her on every level.”

“Ohohoh you’re just so cool like that,” Roxanne pressed a finger against Angelica’s lips. “You get what I mean though. Call me up whenever, okay? Nyssa and Angelica both have my contact info. So don’t hesitate.”

“Thank you...” Celeste trailed off, her face blank and confused as she got caught between the three way bantering of Angelica, Roxanne, and Nyssa. “I’ll... make sure to keep that in mind.”