My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 7: Drama on a train (4)

After both of them calmed down, Annie invited Jaster to her booth.

They both sat right across from each other, not saying anything.

Purple jumped out of Jaster’s shoulder and walked toward Annie.

"Krrk?"

"Purpleberry, don’t disturb her!" Jaster quickly dragged the screaming gecko and put it inside his jacket.

Seeing the sight of the two klutz made Annie chuckle.

"You both are so stupid!" Annie rummaged inside her bag.

"What are you doing?"

"KRRK!" Purple tried to get out of Jaster’s jacket, but he kept pushing him inside.

"Purple! Not now!"

"CHAK! CHAK CHAK!!!"

"It’s fine." Annie pulled out a bag full of candy.

"This is jazz candy! It’s a popular snack for your spirit animal." Annie opened the wrapper and revealed a pink glowing candy.

Purple smelled the candy and immediately jumped out of Jaster’s jacket.

"Hey, Purple!"

He took the candy out of Annie’s hands and began chewing on it on the table.

Jaster pinched the bridge of his nose. "I’m so sorry, I haven’t trained him—or her yet!"

"It’s fine. I gave it the candy so we can talk seriously." Annie’s face changed into a more focused one.

Her voice lowered. "So... what do you think we should do about this evidence?"

Annie tapped his phone.

Jaster thought for a while. He had an idea in his mind, but it wasn’t really the best choice.

Jaster scanned Annie’s appearance again, and he finally realized who she looked like.

"Annie... may I ask... are you a part of the Jefferson family?"

Annie was taken back, until she realized Jaster must have heard what the recording said.

She sighed and covered her face with her hands.

"Yes... I didn’t want anyone to know I’m affiliated with them. Especially towards a Boundspire student."

The Jefferson family, or what people back then liked to call them, a legal dynasty. They were pretty famous in the Boundara world for sticking up for justice and arresting powerful criminals.

What Janster liked about them was that they didn’t take bribes, unlike most lawyers on Earth.

Jaster remembered specifically that there was a special quest revolving around the Jefferson family. But... he looked at Annie.

I should get to know one of their daughters first, before taking a step.

"May I ask why you don’t want any of the students at the academy to know?" Jaster tilted his head.

"It’s because back in high school, they would always surround me. Everyone wanted to be my friend. It also didn’t help how the students and the teachers expected highly of me."

Annie was quiet for a moment, until her eyes lit up.

She got up and went through some of her stuff on the shelf.

"What are you doing now...?" Jaster said with an exhausted voice.

"Krrk?" Purple had already finished its candy, leaving a mess on the table.

"Where is it—ah, there it is!"

She took out a medium-sized fish bowl and set it on the table.

"What are you going to do with it?" Jaster tapped the fish bowl.

"I’m going to introduce you to my spirit animal!" Annie smiled at him.

That smile made Jaster’s face flush. He hid it by covering his face with his jacket.

She’s going to show me her spirit animal... since she has a Storm Affinity, it’s probably an animal that’s fast...

The girl’s chest glowed, and something came out from inside her chest.

The glowing particles connected with each other and formed a shape that looked like—

"A turtle?" Janster looked in awe as a medium-sized turtle formed out of the glowing particles.

The turtle dropped into the fish bowl. The water splashed everywhere and made Purpleberry wet.

"CHAA!!"

Purple’s instincts kicked in, and it immediately hid inside Jaster’s jacket.

Jaster’s hair was wet from the splash, but he stared at the beautiful turtle swimming around.

It had a beautiful green shell, shimmering in the water.

"A turtle with a Storm Affinity..."

"I know, right? How lucky am I to get a spirit animal that complements the Affinity."

Unlike Shade, animals that have Storm Affinity often focus more on agility. Most of their skills are speed-based.

But in some rare cases, there are animals that aren’t supposed to have this Affinity, and when they do, they have a chance for their skills to work well together.

Jaster had played with a turtle before in one of his playthroughs. He knew their beginner skills were mostly strength- and defense-based.

But the flaw in their skills was that they were usually super slow and took time to use. So with Storm Affinity, that flaw could easily be erased. Since you would be striking your skills faster.

"You know..." Annie broke the silence, but Jaster kept staring at the turtle.

"I wanted to show you how this turtle saved my life."

Hearing that, Jaster snapped back to reality.

"What? What do you mean this turtle saved you?"

The girl sat down beside Jaster. They were now one foot apart. This made Jaster uncomfortable, so he slid a little to the left.

"Back when I was a kid, I used to rush things. I was emotionally unstable and would get angry often." Annie looked down at her academy skirt.

"I was constantly overstimulated, living in such a fast-paced environment. But everything changed when I got this turtle as my spirit animal."

Annie looked at her turtle with pure love. She picked up the bowl and hugged it.

"I wasn’t expecting to get a turtle, haha." She let out a weak laugh.

Meanwhile, Jaster fiddled with his thumb, not knowing what to do.

"After searching for a reason why I got a turtle, since most people who get it are usually the opposite of me—they live peacefully, likes to take things slowly, and don’t rush stuff."

Annie’s voice slowly started to break. Janster saw her eyes fill with tears.

"And—I took that advice. Maybe I needed to slow down my life... That’s why I wanted to start anew in academy life. But..."

Plop. Plop.

Annie’s tears began falling into the fish bowl.

"Just when I thought I could live peacefully, the curse of having a Jefferson blood still haunts me!"

She rubbed her eyes as more tears streamed down her cheeks.

Janster just sat there awkwardly.

What should I do? Should I offer her a tissue? Should I rub her back?

Jaster had never dealt with someone crying in front of him before. Especially a girl. He had never even talked to them unless it was schoolwork-related.

"It’s okay..." He reached out to pat Annie’s back.

But before he could, Annie pushed his hand away. She looked at him, eyes red, tears staining her cheeks.

"No, it’s not. I do want to live peacefully. BUT!"

Annie stood up and rubbed her face, wiping away the tears.

"I still stand for women’s rights!" She raised her hand and clenched her fist.

"I’ll abandon this peaceful life first. And I’ll fight for my own body!" Annie looked at Jaster, her face full of determination.

She extended her hand, inviting him.

"What do you say? Let’s get rid of Hanjon and that attendant... TOGETHER!"

"Uhh..." Jaster slowly reached out, and she pulled him into a crushing hug.

"Eukh, ANNIE—"

"Krrk!" Purple jumped out, avoiding the crushing boulder.

"Thank you so much, Jaster. Thank you for being on my side when no one else was!"

Great, what have I dragged myself into now...

Jaster thought this would be a normal train ride to the academy. But he didn’t know he would be getting his first friend and helping her expose a drug-addicted man and a greedy train attendant.