Farah nodded appreciatively. “That’s good to know, thank you. And yes, I understand. It took me a long time — longer than I care to admit — to open up to Saul, even after we started dating. But once I did it was worth it. It will most likely be worth it with your brother as well. I’m sure of it.”
Aiki nodded a bit as well, yawning and rubbing at his eyes. "I'm sure everything will work out fine… I'm already feeling a little better now that I'm back home. I'll make sure we do everything we can to get you back home." They smiled weakly and got to their feet, starting to root through their sister's closet for her old uniforms so he could give one to Farah. "Here. We'll need to head out soon."
Farah tried to act like every mention of the Otherworld made her want to curl into a ball and cry until she couldn't breathe. She hadn't stopped feeling the pain since Rosalind's hands had shoved her forward to potentially seal her fate. Instead, she buried the feeling deep inside herself – easy work for a Mind fairy – and rose from the bed to follow Aiki across the room to his sister's old closet. When he handed the clothing to her, she took it in her hands and rubbed her fingers against it. "You wear these to school?" she asked curiously. "Every day?"
"Yeah, we do. U-Uh, well… we have several sets of the same thing, but yeah, basically." Aiki laughed nervously. The uniform for the girls consisted of a simple navy skirt, a white blouse or polo, and a blazer to put over it. There was also a tie to be worn with it. The boys' uniform was pretty much the same, but with pants instead of a skirt. "I'll let you get changed, and you can head down for breakfast when you're ready."
"Alright," Farah consented, making sure to not only shut but also lock the door behind Aiki. When this was done, she turned back to the closet and arched her eyebrows at the ensemble. While dresses were a standard and often worn part of her wardrobe at Alfea, Farah Dowling detested skirts.
Aiki and Eiji both changed into their own uniforms and headed downstairs to the kitchen to help their mother make breakfast. Once it was done, the twins sat down at the table to wait for Farah to come down.
Reluctantly, Farah changed into the uniform. While it wasn't exactly perfect, it fit her well enough for the short period of time she intended to be using it. She ran her hands over the material several times to smooth it down, but to her dismay, she didn't see any mirrors in the room to check over her appearance. With a sigh, she resigned herself to how she currently looked and entered the kitchen slowly.
"Um… Do I look alright?" she asked hesitantly.
Aiki and Eiji glanced up in unison again when Farah entered the kitchen. Aiki smiled softly and nodded, getting to his feet with Eiji. "Yeah, you look great. It fits you better than I expected it to. She's a little shorter than you are, after all… anyway, do you want some breakfast?" They asked, already heading over to the stove to serve themself.
"Yes, breakfast would be lovely." Farah smiled, and though she did her best to hide it, she looked extremely uncomfortable. Her fingers repeatedly tugged the hem of her shirt down until she gracefully took a seat at the table.
Aiki nodded a bit and fixed a plate for both himself and Farah. Eiji just served himself. Once Aiki was done with the plates, they brought both of them over to the table and placed one in front of Farah. "We'll be leaving in about 15 minutes, alright? We walk to school usually, but it's not very far."
"Thank you," Farah acknowledged the food gratefully. She began to eat slowly and nodded at his words. "Walking to school… wearing uniforms… First Worlders are incredibly interesting," she murmured. "What else is there to learn?" It was partially addressed to Aiki, partially a rhetorical question for herself.
Aiki laughed softly and started to eat as well. "Yeah, I guess so. It just saves money in gas for the car, and since it's not that far… y'know. Good exercise, too." He and Eiji soon finished eating and cleaned up their plates. "There's plenty of stuff to learn, I guess. I bet you'll pick up a lot of stuff on the way."
"I hope so," Farah replied, following the twins' lead as she finished too. "The lessons we're taught about the First World are nothing like this. Rosalind…" She trailed off with a shake of her head. "Sorry. I shouldn't mention her any more."
"What kind of stuff do you learn about our world?" Eiji asked curiously, throwing his bag over his shoulders and tossing Aiki's to them. "I feel like we don't really do anything especially exceptional." He laughed softly and opened the door to lead the group out.
"Well, the First World is called the 'First' World for a reason. It existed first," Farah explained, following Eiji out the door. "Some of the first fairies – the most powerful fairies to ever exist – found a way to create an entirely new world to exist in, giving us the Otherworld. During my first years at Alfea, the headmistress – my former mentor – filled the heads of myself and others with rumors about the First World, that I now realize were blatant lies. Quite frankly, I'm embarrassed to say what they were."
Eiji and Aiki nodded a bit as she talked, their ears swiveling to listen to everything and be aware while they walked, especially across the street. They occasionally looked over their shoulders to look at Farah while she talked. "Well, I'm sure Aiki says stupider stuff all the time, and I am pretty curious." Eiji snickered as Aiki squawked in protest, whining at their brother.
Farah cracked a smile and laughed at Eiji's comment and Aiki's response. "Well, I don't think these are things First Worlders would like to hear. The lies told by my former headmistress were only created with the intent to scare us."
"Hmm, well… we're not so scary, for the most part." Eiji smiled softly, keeping Aiki away from him with one arm. "I mean, there's gonna be criminals and bad people anywhere, but we're not all bad. I'm sure you'll like some of our teachers and classmates. I know Aiki does~" He teased, to which Aiki flushed red and started protesting again. "S-Shut up about him! God, 'telling you in confidence' doesn't mean anything at all, huh?" "It's good blackmail!"
Farah instantly felt Aiki’s embarrassment. First Worlders don’t even try to hide their feelings, she realized. “Oh?” she questioned aloud, arching her eyebrows curiously.
"Aiki's got a crush on Oukami~" Eiji snickered as Aiki tried to cover his mouth and stop him. "Shut up, Ei! She doesn't even know who he is and it doesn't matter! And anyway, you have a crush on Roka, so…" Now it was Eiji's turn to flush a bit and push at his twin. "You don't know that! I never told you anything about him!"
Farah giggled at the twins. “Well, now I am terribly intrigued. I’d very much like to meet this Oukami and Roka,” she enthused, shooting a wink at Aiki.
Aiki whined and flushed harder, and Eiji just sighed. "Well… Oukami is about our height with dirty blond hair and a Magma type power. Got two fire types, hmm?" He nudged Aiki and they huffed. "Yeah, and Roka is shorter than us with a sort of electricity type power. Although he has some mind control capabilities as well… you might like him. He's not super smart like you, though." Aiki snickered. "He's plenty smart! Just… not so much academically. Or common sense. He's in the nurse's office all the time…" Eiji sighed.
Farah listened intently, imagining the two boys based on their descriptions. “They sound enchanting,” she remarked to both the twins teasingly. “I’d be honored to meet them. How much farther from your school are we?”
Both twins flushed and huffed softly at the teasing, but didn't directly acknowledge it. "Um, we're pretty close now. Just another minute or two." Eiji replied. Soon, they arrived at the school and walked through the door. No one seemed to pay them any mind.
Farah’s eyes darted around, taking in all the sights and details of a First World school. “Where do we go first?” she asked, following the twins lead through the throng of students.