Chapter Text
Can we get our food now?
As Pomu looked toward the source of the footsteps, his head was violently slammed into the table.
"You damn hybrid, you don’t belong here!" a voice roared.
A large, random student started to pummel Pomu until Juro saved him by tackling the man to the ground. However, the brute quickly recovered, grabbing Juro and throwing him aside effortlessly.
"You are both hybrids and villains!" the man shouted. "Just because it’s two negatives doesn't make it a positive! You are disgusting creatures that shouldn’t have ever been born!"
Pomu rushed over and bashed a chair over the attacker's head. Pomu’s breath hitched in his chest, only able to mutter, "Aw, man..."
He realized his one attempt at going on the offense was over. Now, he was forced to play defense, just like Mr. Rekka had instructed. Pomu started to block and dodge every incoming strike, even grabbing a piece of the shattered table to create some breathing room between them.
"You really are a piece of work, aren't you?" Pomu said, trying to get a good read on his opponent. "I’ve never encountered a brave soul who would be openly racist toward hybrids. Too bad I can’t actually do anything to you."
The man shattered the wooden shield Pomu was using to block. "Come on, you filthy hybrid! Show big Hugo what you look like under there!"
As Hugo reached out to rip the helmet off Pomu's face, Roxie tried to intervene, but she was immediately smacked aside and laid out onto the floor.
Suddenly, a booming voice echoed through the hall: "That’s enough out of you!"
Pomu looked up to see a figure with beautiful, white angelic wings, a sounding staff, and a shield stepping into the fray.
"Celestial Glow!" the newcomer yelled.
Hugo screamed, covering his eyes. Before he could even realize what was happening, he was struck across the face with the shield, knocking him flat onto the ground.
"I am Ansel, a humble follower of the Divine Holy Earth Mother," the winged student announced. "And I will not just stand by and watch this brute attack these people. In the words of the Holy Earth Mother: 'Never judge someone when they are trying to change. Start to love them when they attempt to make a change for the better.'"
Ansel turned back toward Hugo. "Though, honestly, it’s a bit of a shocker that you would blatantly attack them. They were having what I thought was a pleasant conversation, and you came over and "
Hugo struggled to his feet, blindly swinging to strike Ansel.
"Celestial Glow!" Ansel shouted again. As Hugo cried out in agony, Ansel continued calmly, "You should support them through their hardships. I’m honestly surprised you even got into this academy if you couldn't suppress your anger toward hybrids which the Holy Earth Mother tells us to 'make an attempt to love everyone, but if they keep doing wrong, do not waste your time trying.' Now, can someone please take this dude out of here? I don’t know how many times I can flash him before he goes permanently blind."
Mazikee and Soto finally stepped in, slapping a power inhibitor onto Hugo's thick neck. They dragged him out of the building and tossed him unceremoniously onto the front steps.
"Good grief," Mazikee muttered. "You would think this wouldn’t happen within the first week of school, but no."
Ansel helped Pomu into a chair before walking over to pick up Juro. "You okay, Giga? You took quite the beating for your friend. Is there anything I can get you to help you recover?"
Juro groaned, still incredibly annoyed that he couldn't do anything to help Pomu other than watch Hugo get hit with a chair. "Grilled pork chops or bacon with warm syrup would be greatly appreciated."
Ansel looked around the banquet hall. "Yeah, there aren't going to be any pork chops or bacon anytime soon. But your friend kept the damage to a minimum... though some girl got laid out by Hugo."
Juro groaned even louder. "Please don’t tell me it was a Black girl in a red dress."
Ansel sighed, glancing over at Roxie. "Does she have braids with gold charms in her hair? Because if so, yeah, that’s the girl who’s on the floor right now."
Juro put his head in his hands, knowing he was about to get a massive earful from Mimi and Mr. Rekka for letting her get hurt. "I can’t have a normal time here, can I?" he mumbled to himself, slowly standing up.
Meanwhile, Pomu dragged himself over to Roxie. "Hey, Roxie... are you okay? That guy hit you pretty hard. I think he might be kicked out of the school sooner or later, assuming the media doesn't twist the story to make it seem like I started it."
Roxie nodded, brushing off her dress as she stood up. "I am so glad I made sure to add reinforced materials to this dress, because I definitely would have broken a rib or two otherwise. Oh, and you're welcome for the suit! It was a custom order from Dean Rekka. He said something about you and Giga being a liability in case anything happened, so he wanted me to reinforce the fabric. And since someone caught that fight on camera, I can proudly say I’m gonna get a major business deal out of this soon! Hopefully from people in government jobs who want to look sharp but still need protection."
Roxie smiled. Pomu blinked behind his visor, suddenly realizing something. "Roxie... are you just rehearsing your sales pitch to me right now?"
Roxie paused, rubbing her hands together. She placed her hands onto Pomu’s shoulders, staring intently through his helmet as if trying to picture his face. "Maybe~" she giggled, completely failing to take the situation as seriously as she should. "So, would you buy the product if you were interested or had any money?"
Pomu shook his head no. Roxie let out a deep sigh. "It’s fine, not all of them are going to be winners. I guess you really aren't the target audience for this kind of thing. Although... I am curious about those scales of yours. If you lend me a few, I could possibly make you something pretty neat."
She wrapped her pinky around Pomu’s again. "Come sit with me. Hopefully, this time, we won’t get attacked by some muscle-bound psycho."
Pomu nodded, looking back to check on Juro. He saw his friend talking with Ansel while still recovering on the floor
"So, Draco," Roxie paused, rubbing her upper lip. "After everything that happened tonight, are you still willing to be a test dummy for all of my inventions?"
Pomu stayed completely still. He thought about how she had just been put in serious danger and how he could do absolutely nothing about it except play defense because of Mr. Rekka's strict warnings. He thought about losing his favorite cooking shows his only reminders of what normal human life was supposed to be like and how those privileges could be taken away for an unknown amount of time if they caused trouble. He took a deep breath, thinking incredibly hard.
"If it means you’ll be safe... even within Giga's and my presence... then yes. I’ll be your test dummy."
Roxie abruptly stood up from her chair, practically leaped over the table, and threw her arms around him. "Ah! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She hugged him tightly, clinging to him like a koala to a tree.
Pomu tensed up completely, blushing profusely underneath his heavy helmet.
Suddenly, two hands clamped down on Roxie's shoulders. Confused, she looked behind her to find a furious Mimi and an incredibly annoyed Juro. She reluctantly let go of Pomu, only to be immediately scolded by both of them at the same time. They took turns lecturing her for doing something so incredibly reckless, like touching Pomu when he wasn't even wearing his protective armor.
Roxie completely tuned them out, nodding mindlessly while thinking about the hug. Pomu felt so warm when they were pressed up against each other...
"Did you get all of that, Roxie?!" Mimi snapped, breaking her train of thought. "I swear, if you went off into la-la land and tuned us out... Repeat exactly what we just said!"
Roxie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Don’t touch Draco without his armor on because even though my reaction was reasonable, I shouldn’t have done it... But he’s just so cute," she muttered the last few words under her breath.
Mimi’s ears perked up, her eyebrow raising high. "What was that last part, Roxie?" She crossed her arms, looking at her sternly.
"Nothing! I swear it wasn’t anything!"
The tension in the room gradually began to lift. Other students looked around, wondering if they should even stay at the banquet anymore.
"Whatever. Just don’t let me catch you doing something like that again," Mimi sighed.
Roxie grabbed a chair and sat down right next to Pomu. She blinked, and suddenly, a wave of other students began cautiously filtering back to the table, sitting down around them.