//------------------------------//
// 10,876th time 
// Story: The Empty Box and the Zeroth Trixie 
// by abcd_z 
//------------------------------//

It's 'March 2nd'. It's supposed to be 'March 2nd' today.

Why am I confirming today's date?

…Probably because the sky's still cloudy, even though it's already March. That's almost certainly it. I'm a bit melancholic because of the weather; lately, the blue sky has been hiding behind the clouds.

Geez, I wonder when the weather will finally clear up.


I'm in my classroom before school starts, staring out the window, just idly thinking about nothing of import.

I guess I'm having these thoughts because I'm feeling unwell. No, I don't feel bad. I feel how I've always felt. I'm just…uncomfortable. I can't explain it, but it feels like I'm suddenly the only one without a shadow. It's more like the 'something's imperceptibly wrong' kind of uncomfortable.

…Odd. I can't come up with a reason. Nothing unusual happened yesterday, I ate breakfast this morning, I listened to the new album of my favorite artist on the train, and my horoscope I happened to read indicated "average luck" for today.

I decide not to wrack my brain any further thinking about it, and took a candy bar from my bag. Today's junk food is Snickers. I take a bite. No matter how many I eat, I never get tired of that taste.

"Another candy bar today?" a female voice asks me.  "You really can't get enough of those, can you? If you keep eating junk food all the time, your blood will turn junk-food colored, you know?"

"…err, what color is that?"

"Who knows!"

The girl kidding around with me is my classmate Princess Cadence. Her tri-colored hair (white, purple, and pink) is somewhere between long and quite long, and it's bound in a ponytail high up on the back of her head. Cadence changes her hairstyle all the time, but she seems to like her current choice. At least, I think so—I feel like Cadance has recently been sticking with just this style.

She casually grabs the seat beside me. She starts doing her makeup with the help of her blue hand mirror. She's also making use of a tool that I, as a guy, don't know very well. I wish she'd put this much effort into everything, and not just into doing her makeup.

"Come to think of it," I say, "you have a lot of blue stuff, don't you?"

"Oh yeah, I like blue... Ooh, right, Spikey! Isn't there something different about me today? Isn't there?" Cadence suddenly says, looking at me with sparkling eyes.

"Hm…?"

How should I know? There's no way I could respond if you ask me that all of a sudden.

"I'll give you a hint! My best feature has changed!"

"Eh?"

I instinctively look at her chest.

"Whoah, hey! Why my breasts?!"

Well, because you're always boasting that you finally crossed into D-cup territory, so I was sure…

"Of course my eyes are my best feature! And anyway, breasts don't just suddenly get bigger! Or is that what you'd like?! You closet perv! You titty maniac!"

"…Sorry."

There's no way I could have known about a self-proclaimed best feature like that, but I'll just apologize for now.

"…So?"

Cadence looks expectantly into my eyes. I have to admit her eyes are quite large. I feel a bit bashful as I realize this.

"…I think your face looks the same as always…?" I say, not really looking at her face.

"Eh? What? My face looks cute as always, you said?"

"No, I didn't."

"Say it!"

I am being compelled.

"To tell you the truth," she said, "I'm using mascara today. How is it? How is it?"

I don't see any difference. I can't distinguish between how she looked yesterday and how she looks today.

"……no, there's really no way I could judge something like that," I tell her with utter honesty—and fail her test.

"'Something like that'…you say?!"

She hits me.

"Ow…"

"Tch! What a boring rascal you are!" she says in a forced voice, but…Aah, she might really be a bit angry. Cadence pretends to spit at me and walks off to show off her mascara-covered face to some of our other classmates.

I exhaled sharply in relief once she left.  Cadence may be funny, but I can't cope with her temper.

"Done with your lovers' quarrel?"

The first thing I see when I turn are three piercings in a right ear. There's only one person in my school with such piercings.

"…Blueblood. That was nothing like a lover's quarrel. How the heck did you come to that conclusion?"

My friend Prince Blueblood just sneers at my objection. Yeah, he's arrogant as always. Well, I guess it would be weird if someone like Prince Blueblood were to abase himself. After all, he chooses to wear such extreme accessories and doesn't just ignore the school rules, but instead deliberately flaunts his violation of those rules.

"But did you really not notice the mascara? Even I noticed the difference. And I'm absolutely, completely uninterested in her."

"…Seriously?"

They are neighbors and have been childhood friends since kindergarten. That he isn't interested in her is undoubtedly a lie. That being said, overlooking something that even Blueblood noticed might be a small problem. After all, he's totally uninterested in others and doesn't even seem to look at people.

"…But, y'know."

I have the feeling that she applied that mascara yesterday as well.

"I see, I got it, Spike. So you told the bitch 'I'm not interested in you.' I agree with you. I'll adopt the same position. But I'll do it more bluntly."

"You malicious class president!" Cadence yelled from across the room.  "I can hear you quite clearly!"

Blueblood ignores the sharp-eared girl and keeps talking.

"Spike, let's not talk about that irrelevant chick anymore—did you know that a transfer student's arriving today?"

"A transfer student?"

I'll confirm this again—it's 'March 2nd' today. Why would someone transfer in so late in the school year?

"A transfer student?! Really?!"

As expected, Cadence has heard us talking, and raises her voice to ask a question.

"Cadence, I'm not talking to you. Don't come butting in from over there. Oh, and don't come closer, either! That desperately made-up face of yours isn't good for my mental health."

"W-What—?! You're one to talk, Blueblood! You should start fixing that dishonest personality of yours ASAP. Maybe we should hang you upside-down for 24 hours so some blood can finally get to your brain! Maybe you'll finally be able to say something of value after that."

In order to interrupt their mutual abuse-fest, I raise my voice a bit and return to the original topic.

"A transfer student, right? I think I heard something about that."

Blueblood closes his mouth on cue and glares at me.

"…Who told you that?" he asks with a serious look.

"Eh? Why do you want to know?"

"Don't answer a question with a question."

"Err…who was it again? Weren't you the one who told me?"

"Impossible. I only heard about it just now when I went to the staff room. There shouldn't have been an opportunity for you to find out."

"Really?"

"This kind of rumor immediately spreads everywhere. But apparently even this babbler, Cadence, didn't know about it."

Blueblood's probably right, considering Cadence's reaction just now. And not just her; no one in first year class 1-6 seems to have known.

"That's why I concluded that the information was kept secret until today, the day of the transfer. But if so, how did you find out?"

"…Err?"

I wonder.

"Well, whatever. But isn't it weird, Spike? Why would someone transfer in at this point in the school year? There are probably special circumstances involved. For example, could she be some company chairman's problem child who was expelled from a bunch of other schools? If that were the case, it'd make sense that the information was hidden."

"Blueblood, it's not good to be speculating about the transfer student like that; it's just prejudice on your part. I mean, she's already in a suspicious position even without your 'help.' Also, everyone's listening on the sly."

The rest of the students, who have indeed been surreptitiously listening to our conversation, smile awkwardly.

"Ah? Why should I care?"

I let out a sigh at Blueblood's high-handed attitude just as the bell rings. My classmates scurry back to their seats.

Cadence, who sits next to the window, opens it and leans out. Apparently she wants to see the transfer student as soon as possible.

"Ooh!"

She raises her voice—she's probably spotted someone who looks like the transfer student. After letting out that "Ooh," Cadence then sits back in her seat with a frozen expression, even though she was so cheerful just moments ago before she looked out the window.

I wonder what's wrong.

Cadence smiles and murmurs 'this is amazing!' Everyone probably wants to know what's up, but Cheerilee enters the room at this point. The silhouette of a girl can be seen behind the cloudy glass of the classroom door. It has to be the transfer student. After looking around the classroom, Cheerilee realizes that everyone is wondering about the person behind the door, and quickly calls her in.

The silhouette behind the cloudy glass moves.

And then I see—her.


In an instant—

The scenery changes at once, as if I had been pushed off a cliff.

First, I hear a sound. The sound of the scenery being ripped away. Forcefully, violently, one image after another is thrust into my mind. Over and over, similar bits of scenery appear. I feel as if my consciousness is about to be blown away, but it's then pulled back and firmly fixed in place, as if it were forcibly crammed into a little metallic box. Déjà vu. Déjà vu.

"I am Trixie Lulamoon." I heard you.

"I'm Trixie Lulamoon." I heard you.

"I'm Trixie Lulamoon." Enough, I heard you already!

I reject the massive amount of information that's trying to pierce my consciousness. I mean, there's no way all this could fit. My brain would overload. I can't process it all.

"Ah…"

What,

What incomprehensible things—am I…?


I realize that my thoughts are becoming completely jumbled, and forcibly shut down my brain—and then I return.


Eh? What was I just thinking about?

Having lost my train of thought, I face the front of the room and look at her again. I look at the transfer student, Trixie Lulamoon, whose name I don't know yet.

"Trixie Lulamoon."  The transfer student murmurs her name in a low voice, as if she doesn't care whether we can understand her.

Trixie steps off the platform.

Her extremely simple self-introduction spawns a rush of chatter in the classroom.

She doesn't care one bit about her bewildered classmates, and starts walking.

Towards me.

Looking directly at my face.

She sits down naturally in the empty seat beside mine, almost as if this seat had been prepared for her from the start.

Trixie scowls at me suspiciously as I watch her silently, like a deer caught in headlights.

…I guess I should say something.

"……Err, I'm pleased to meet you."

Her frown, however, does not change one bit.

"That's all?"

"Eh…?"

"I asked if that was all."

Was there something else to say? Even if you say so, I can't think of anything. After all, this is the first time we've met.


But the atmosphere forces me to say something.

"……Err, your uniform. Is that uniform from your previous school?"

Trixie does not react to my frantic words in any way and just keeps staring at me.

"…Eh, well?"

Seeing my confusion, Trixie lets out a sigh for some reason and smiles. Her smile seems to demonstrate amazement at a shallow-witted child.

"I'll tell you something good, Spike."

…Eh? I didn't tell her my name yet.

But that thought is a mere trifle. Trixie says something to me that makes me sit completely still for a full five seconds.

"Fluttershy is wearing light blue panties today."


✵


Fluttershy's basic attire during P.E. is her regular uniform rather than a gym outfit.

Today, she is once again watching the boys play soccer. She's wearing her uniform like normal while remaining as expressionless as an ornament.

The white legs that peek out from Flutteryshy's skirt are so thin, they seem as if they could snap at any moment.

And I, for some reason, am sleeping with my head on her lap.

Ah, yeah. I don't have a clue anymore about what's going on, either. While I'm certainly feeling a sensation of bliss, I can't really enjoy it since I'm desperately trying to stop my nosebleed with a tissue. Things wouldn't go well if I failed.

By the way, I can remember how I ended up this way. Because Trixie's actions had left me all confused, I let a soccer ball hit me right in the face during gym class and got a nosebleed. Fluttershy was worried about me and for some reason, let me rest my head on her lap.

Fluttershy's legs aren't soft at all; to be honest, lying on them actually hurts my head a bit.

I wonder why she cares for me that way. I look up at Fluttershy, but her expressionless face tells me nothing.

But I am happy.

Very, very happy.

Trixie's comment about 'panties' surprised me, and not just due to its abruptness and lack of context. What I mean is, Trixie said 'I'll tell you something good.' Basically, she declared that information about Fluttershy was something I would like to know.

I haven't even told Cadence or Blueblood about my crush on Fluttershy. So there is no way Trixie, who I met for the first time today, could know about it. Nevertheless, she still said what she said.

"…Say, Fluttershy."

"What is it?"

Fluttershy answers quietly. Her voice is like that of a little bird's, which dovetails nicely with her small body and delicate appearance.

"Today, um, did Trixie talk to you?"

"…The transfer student?…No."

"You two aren't otherwise acquainted, right?"

Fluttershy shakes her head.

"Did she do something suspicious to you?" I continue.

She thinks for a moment and then shakes her head. Her slightly wavy hair sways.

"Why are you asking about this...?" she asks and inclines her head.

"Ah, no…if nothing happened, that's fine."

I shift my sight to the field. Trixie stands alone in the center of the schoolyard with a daunting pose, showing no interest in the ball or the girls swarming after it. When the ball rolls casually toward her, she weakly kicks it back.…Err, did she just kick it to a girl on the other team?

"Mmhh."

I might have been reading too much into what she said, thinking that Trixie noticed my feelings for Fluttershy.

Trixie had quite an impact on me because of her appearance and attitude. Yeah, I merely read too much into her comment because it was made so abruptly by a person with remarkable presence. That's logic anyone could agree with.

And yet—why can't I believe that?

Trixie fixes her gaze on me, not looking away for a moment.

Staring straight into my eyes, she boldly lifts the corner of her mouth. Although class has not yet ended, she starts walking toward me.

Before I know it, I stand up. I've abandoned the privilege of sleeping on Fluttershy's lap, which is supposed to be the source of my utmost happiness. My entire body shudders. It's not hyperbole—I really am shuddering from head to toe.

Fluttershy, who seems to have noticed Trixie as well, tenses up anxiously and stands up next to me.

With a daring smile, Trixie points at me…no, at Fluttershy.

Just then, there's a sudden gust of wind—a completely random gust. A gust no one could possibly have foreseen.

This sudden gust lifts Fluttershy's skirt.

"~~~!!"

Fluttershy immediately pushes her skirt down, but only in front. I am standing behind her. Right after the gust passes, Fluttershy turns around and looks at me. She is indeed expressionless as always, but her cheeks seem a little red.

She silently forms the words "did you see them?" with her mouth. Actually, she might actually have spoken out loud, but I can't hear her low voice. I shake my head frantically. I guess that my frantic reaction clearly indicates that I've indeed seen her panties. But Fluttershy doesn't respond and instead casts her eyes downward.

By this point, Trixie is standing right next to me.

I get a glimpse of her expression.

"Aah—"

I realize why I am trembling so hard—I understood Trixie's expression. It reflects a feeling that has never in my life been aimed at me until now.

—Hostility.

Why? Why is there hostility directed at someone like me?

Trixie raises the corner of her mouth and scowls at me. While I am still shaking but otherwise paralyzed, she places her hand on my shoulder and puts her lips to my ear.

"They were light blue, weren't they?"

Trixie knows everything. My affection towards Fluttershy, that a sudden gust would expose her panties, she knew it all.

Trixie's statement this morning wasn't some kind of joke. It was a—threat to insinuate that she knows me perfectly, that she has grasped my way of thinking, that she's in control of me.

"Spike, you should have recalled it by now, right?"

Trixie observes me while I stand petrified. We stay like this for a few moments, but when I stay silent, she lets out a sigh and drops her gaze to the ground.

She murmurs her complaint: "So it's useless, even though I went this far…I see, you're even one level duller today."

"If you've forgotten," she continues in a louder voice, "remember it now. My name's 'Beatrix.'"

…'Beatrix'? No, err…you're 'Trixie Lulamoon', aren't you?

"I-Is that your pen name or something?"

"Shut up."

She scowls at me, not even trying to hide her irritation.

"Well then. You aren't challenging at all like this, but in that case I'll act at my own convenience," Trixie says and turns her back to me.

"Ah, wait…"

I instinctively stop her. She turns around, appearing stressed out. I can't help but wince at the sight of her frown.

I'm not sure. But judging from Trixie's attitude, maybe—

"Could it be that we've met in the past?"

Hearing these words, Trixie raises the corner of her mouth.

"Yeah, we were lovers in our previous life. Oh mine beloved Hathaway, how miserable thy current state! Thou wert not so lily-livered when thou cameth to save me, princess of thine enemy's land."

"………Umm, what?"

I am at a loss for words. Trixie seems satisfied after seeing my confused state. For the first time today, she displays what seems like a genuine smile.

"I'm joking."


✵


The next day, I saw Trixie Lulamoon's corpse.