Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 318: Arc 5, - 12: Class of Aces

"Oh finally, I was convinced you were a myth at this point," Stella replied.

"What do you mean by mystery name?" the brunette crossed her arms.

"Your name, it’s been on our class list since 1st year. But nobody knew a Fumeko Namora, they were just somebody apparently in our class and studied with us for eleven years."

"Well..." Fumeko pouted and glanced away, "I was homeschooled, but I guess I was still in the system..."

"Ahem," Stella cleared her throat and wiped away her surprise, "So that be the truth. Why such an inapt fate?" she stood bolder.

Fumeko rolled her eyes hearing her voice, "You’ll have to ask my dad on that one. Apparently he was too scared and paranoid—his words," she glanced back to her.

"Father..." Stella pondered about the man she saw with her earlier. "Namora... Such name bears some recollection in my mind, however-"

"Greatest detective in Burnetrout, Kazuo Namora," Fumeko replied.

"Ah, I see." Stella picked up her picket sign and checked the large clock on the school building. "Thou deems thyself overshadowed by his talent and are disconcerted of bearing the name."

"What!?" she shouted back with her eyes widened and brows furrowed. "For your information, I’ve done a lot of things too in the past half a year!

Heard of the Velatos Case in Kria? Or the rogue battalion in Hartamat? Or the rebellion in Tamara Palace? Or the Last Stand of Trailon—which took them out of the war? Guess who was vital in all of that!?"

Stella recoiled her head back as Fumeko encroached on her personal space. Onlookers glanced in the direction and a few students approached in concern, "A-all is well!" Stella said loudly with a nervous smile.

Fumeko’s eyes shifted around... She backed away slowly, but her leer on the blonde remained. The people around took a few more cursory glances, then decided not to intervene.

In fact, the students especially were quick to turn the other way. "Scream-Freak’s pissed off another one," Fumeko could catch someone talking faintly behind her as they passed.

"Thou were a part of all those events...? Velatos... Was it not some maiden by the title of Thundering Blade?" Stella pondered aloud.

"She didn’t do it alone...!" Fumeko grumbled. "I was helping her too. I’m the adventuring detective, you got that? I, I," her words stumbled as she thought of her being outshined by her father...

"Hmph," Stella triumphantly smiled. "Thou hath been heard by the void and thus, shalt thy name and thy deeds be remembered by I. You needn’t fret."

The brunette broke out of it. "Yeah... you better remember..."

Stella looked to the clock and back to her, "Does thou wish to accompany my brilliant self on the tour? I shalt be delighted to show the adventuring detective through the halls she has never before witnessed."

In spite of her over-the-top performance, Fumeko could glean her words to be earnest. The brunette shied away just a smidgen, "Yeah, yeah, whatever; I already said I’ll take your tour."

"So may it be~! Come, come, my entourage waits for my void-blessed guidance," Stella pointed to the group of children who their parents made line up by the fountain—they were all no older than six or seven.

_

"This way! Come now, do not meander behind," Stella guided with a picket fence held up, explaining in her way the faculties and buildings.

To which the kids would scratch their heads—the few that paid attention anyways. "You’re showing me all the same places again," Fumeko spoke in between.

Both her and Stella were upfront while the kids followed behind. "I know thy eyes have gleaned what thou intended to glean my observant detective, however they have yet to do so," she replied.

"You realize only about three of them are paying attention, right?" Fumeko crossed her arms. The children following were talking and making loud noises between themselves.

"Children are inclined to be insolent, tis nature. However, my experience is substantial," Stella swiftly turned around and leaned herself lower.

The parents followed a separate guide by the side, another student to which Fumeko took notice. Stella took a breath and yelled, "Hey! Pay attention!"

As she shouted, ripples of sound travelled, in hues of translucent white, over the children in the barely ordered line. The sound was much louder than her initial exclamation and carried the same weight till the reverberation petered out.

Some of the kids shook and jolted, one or two shouted from the sudden echo around them. Nevertheless, they all straightened up and lined up properly behind her.

Stella scoffed and turned back around before marching forward. One kid ran out of the line and made a dash towards his mother in the separate line. "Hey!" Stella called out, but the kid already was off.

The mother looked surprised as the kid held her hand and hid behind her leg. The other kids contemplated doing the same... but followed the lady instead.

"Figured you had an affinity. Thought it could’ve been the Sun in your eye when you said your name," the brunette uttered walking beside.

"Indeed. Ah, so my classified endowment has been discovered. What pity; it may have dazed you, had I revealed it later. Indeed, tis my gift from the void," she proclaimed with a hand to her chest.

Fumeko’s glazed over eyes followed the blonde; then to her chest... Her jaded gaze turned into a glare before she eyed back up to the science fair going on. "Yeah, I would’ve been surprised, even though I suspected it..." she sassed.

Soon enough, the kids would run to the experiments and booths going on, halfway through Stella’s tour. By that point, many of them stuck to their parents and getting them back in line to complete it was... a near-impossible task.

"I believe it to be time for a more private tour," Stella gave up trying to gather them all.

"Isn’t it your tour? You sure you wanna leave these brats to their whims?" Fumeko queried.

"Fortunately, their guardians are present. There should be no qualms. Come now, does thou not wish to see what has yet to be seen?" Stella offered her hand.

Fumeko looked to the fishnet glove of sparkly rhinestones and noticed the peach palm beneath—her nails painted black. "I’m not taking your hand, but let’s go," she kept her arms crossed, but couldn’t quit staring at the blonde’s confident smile.

That smile turned smug as Stella took her hand away, "Fret not, no hands need to be held." She strode forward towards the school building.

"You’re the only one thinking about it," Fumeko sighed and followed behind.

_

"And this, is our class," Stella opened up the closed dark wood doors. The halls were polished and the corridor lit with lamps, despite the windows being open. Some students walked the empty halls.

"Our class?" Fumeko queried and stepped inside.

A blackboard reflected the light coming off the three windows on the other side of the room. Chalk and chalk dust trailed along the board’s shelf.

The teacher’s desk by the side had a wheeled-chair and empty binders and folders arranged to collect dust. "Tis where we’d gather and instructors arrive to enlighten us on the topics of their expertise.

Often times, we’d depart for particular subjects to the other structures or classes. This however, persists to be the true domain for the twenty-six learners of the Class of Aces."

"I only count twenty-five," Fumeko surveyed across the room and counted the wooden tables and desks set to face the board, before another set of doors sat at the back of it all.

"Well, a constant absentee was among us."

"Right..." Fumeko glanced to the pinboard of torn down paper and projects at the back of the class. "Also, Class of Aces?"

She laughed boisterously, "Indeed, indeed. Tis-"

"Normal explanation please..." Fumeko tightened her lips.

Stella stuttered to a halt... She raised her chin and crossed her arms, "Fine," she huffed. "The Class of Aces was the best out of the entire year.

When we were starting out as the batch of 969, there were five classes in total—Class Bat, Class Cat, Class Duck and Class Eagle. There was no real sorting, it was just separating numbers.

Batch 971 had an extra class after more students enrolled, so there was Class Frog. But the Class of Aces are for the handpicked students by the academy’s administration.

It could be because of good grades in the entrance exam or, I don’t know the proper criteria actually—prodigies maybe."

"It could be scouting potential," Fumeko theorized.

"That kind of stuff’s up in the air, you’d have to ask the school itself. Either way, all eleven years, every batch has its Class of Aces. Which means, the Class of Aces Year 10, will be taking this class over since we’re done and become the new Class of Aces Year 11."

"So, this was our class."

"Tis indeed."

Fumeko took steps in and ran her finger over the dust-ridden desks. Scrawled upon them were rather vulgar drawings. Her finger would pass over the scratch marks of scissors and compasses.

By the scrunched up paper poking out a desk, the three distinct tables in closer proximity compared to the others, the chalk on the wall making a heart with two letters in it, the bookish smell, the wrappers of food stuffed into the desk...

She pieced together memories of a normal school life had by the Class of Aces. Red string connected together relationships, boring subjects, class parties and friends arguing, having fun and sneaking in prohibited things like playing cards and food.

Nothing in overt detail, but enough for her to sigh, "Would’ve been nice to go here," she lastly saw the cleared out bookshelves by the side.

Stella cocked her head, "It was not that astounding."

"But it’s an experience you won’t really get to feel again," the brunette paused over a particular desk, with dots of black nail polish on it, a sparkly white rhinestone jammed into a small gap and multiple bats drawn with red pen.

"I suppose tis true."

Fumeko looked to Stella at the entrance and realized the table she stood by was furthest from the front and from the other desks—right by the second set of doors of the classroom. "Not a lot of friends?"

Stella laughed vivaciously, "What blasphemy to utter in such a way! I chose no companion, for the void willed it so~ I shalt absolve thee this once; for thou does not know the devastation of being with a powerful life form such as I," she proclaimed.

"Well that was an easy case to solve," Fumeko muttered under her breath.

"Come, come, we shan’t be taking too long," she ushered Fumeko out the class and shut the doors. They turned and walked down the corridor.

"Where’re we going now?"

"Perhaps where the instructors gather?"

A tall man in winter garments walked by and squinted through his glasses at the two girls... "Ms Namora?"

Fumeko glanced in the direction of the voice to see a man with short greying hair and square face, "Mr Greene?" her face twisted. "Wait, what?"

"I didn’t know you’d be present," Mr Greene replied with a smile. "Oh and Ms Wells as well; are you showing her around?"

Fumeko’s twisted face turned to ’Stella’, "Ms Wells?" she leered.

Stella pouted, "Must you invoke my primordial name so blatantly?" like an angry puppy she scowled to Mr Greene.