Fox Life

After the movie, Iris wanted to spend a bit more time with her friends, but they were being so awkward that she could only call it off. Maybe if they had a bit more time to think it over they'd grow more comfortable with the idea?     

It was unlikely, but who knew. Maybe.     

They said their goodbyes, with Luca going all red when Kyro smiled at her, and promised to meet up some other time. The two had classes the next couple days, but after that, they'd be free.     

On the way home, Kyro didn't forget to poke fun at how her friends treated him like something else than another human. "Am I really that intimidating?" he wondered aloud.     

"Clearly not, or the fox would have run away from home," Iris joked.     

"It did that once, didn't it?" Kyro said with a short glance her way as he drove.     

Iris looked away, not really wanting to remember that event. It had been a misunderstanding on her part. If not for the disappointment of being abandoned and to some child to top it, why would she have ever wanted to get away from him?     

"Never speak of that again," she ordered him, turning around. "It never happened."     

"How so?"     

"I just decided that, and so it didn't. Delete it."     

He shook his head with a laugh, but didn't say anything in reply. Iris huffed, knowing he didn't agree. Well, at least they weren't speaking about it anymore. Or some other things. There had been quite a few moments when she had utterly embarrassed herself by trying to act like a fox.     

The next day, their first target was the university then her old apartment. When she entered the familiar school grounds, nostalgia drowned Iris like a tidal wave. Wherever she looked, there were memories springing up.     

She'd entered that auditorium by accident when she wasn't paying attention; there was the cafeteria where she'd been treated by Luca when she'd helped her pass a class; and in that corner was the information center which had been so unhelpful that asking random students about her problem would have yielded more results.     

In reality, Iris didn't know who she should contact about her problem, so she went through a couple offices before she got pointed in the right direction. Apparently, the study coordinator was going to address her problem.     

And it was a big problem. The exam period was over, and the teachers could neither use the old exams from almost half a year ago nor wanted to make new ones just for her. On top of that, she was counted as having dropped out of her course.     

If she wanted to go through with the exam, she'd have to retake the last semester and pay tuition by herself this time. It was an astronomical sum, but worse than that, she'd have to stay in UK from February to the end of June.     

There might have been some exemption done for her if she'd been hospitalized or something like that, but it wasn't the case. For all anyone knew, she had just left the course because she was lazy and now returned like a prideful miss to demand the whole university to go out of its way just to accommodate her.     

To say that the study coordinator didn't have a good opinion of her would have been an understatement. Before, Iris had talked to the woman maybe once or twice so she couldn't have formed an image of her, which left only her leaving to have worked its magic.     

On that train of though, Iris realized that Kyro's presence might not be doing her any favors either. Did the coordinator know the rumors as well? If so, no wonder why she was being so cold and unrelenting.     

When they returned to the car, having achieved nothing, Iris stared daggers into the dashboard. What was she to do now? Staying here for half a year was an unattractive option, but leaving without an education didn't sound great either. She didn't want to be a freeloader for the rest of her life. But what could she do without a diploma?     

"Do you want my help?" Kyro asked. He was looking at her with unreadable eyes, his face lacking the internal struggle obvious on hers.     

"You think you could do something?" It sounded like something from a novel.     

He shrugged. "Maybe. Money does run the world."     

It was tempting, but Iris didn't know if she wanted to achieve her goals through the use of such methods. Wouldn't that mean that she would end up passing her exams with outside help which would instantly tell everyone that she couldn't do it by herself?     

Being a loafer wasn't the same as being seen as too stupid to even get an education.     

"I feel like that'd be cheating... If you make it that I can take the exams right away, I'm sure some teachers will be influenced to go easy on me to gain favor from the dean or even you…"     

"Since when were you so concerned about appearances?" Kyro started the car as he asked that. "I didn't know you cared that much about what people thought about you."     

"I…" She'd never cared about her image. It was useless to her before, but now… Wouldn't she be embarrassing Kyro if someone found out that he actually had to help her finish her degree? "I'll try to visit all the professors tomorrow. Maybe they'll see me in a kinder light."     

With that being the last on the topic, they went to a nearby place to have lunch. It was one o'clock, just the right time to grab a bite before going to her old place.     

They chose seats far in the back so they wouldn't be seen through the windows. It was a minor consideration, but it made Iris feel a little better. There was no need to advertise herself for all to see when there was no need for it.     

With friends, she had to act like everything was normal, but when it was just the two of them, it was unnecessary. Although they hadn't met any trouble yet, it was better to show some cautiousness. Even if just a little bit.     

While waiting for the food to arrive, Iris excused herself to the bathroom. In a few minutes, she came out, and froze. Her feet rooted themselves to the ground when her eyes landed on Kyro surrounded by three uniformed men.     

They weren't talking in loud voices, but the whole roomful of people was staring at them. In that regard, Iris didn't seem out of place.     

The next moment though, Kyro caught her eye and shifted his gaze to the door. It took her a moment to realize he meant for her to run. As she started to move, one of the policemen noticed that the person he was speaking to wasn't looking at him and turned around.     

Iris met the officer's startled gaze, saw him open his mouth to cry out, and bolted through the door outside. Without wasting a second to think about where she was going, she ran away as fast as she could.     

The only thing that mattered to her at that moment was to get as far away from that place as possible.