Pride x Familiar Read Online Free PDF Page B

my
attention.
    Lavinia Mason was a tall, slender woman whom I
would describe as handsome rather than attractive .
She had a piercing stare that I had trouble meeting. Her business
suit which comprised a skirt rather than pants was charcoal grey
and crisp. In short, her attire looked brand new. I will admit that
while she wasn’t attractive, she had the slender physique of a
runway model and her legs were nothing short of stunning.
    But her tone was cold, and I was distinctly
aware that she had no love for Familiars like us. It didn’t
surprise me, and I could see she was being tolerant of our kind. By
the same token, I didn’t exactly have fond feelings for the
Aventis, so our tolerance was mutual.
    The briefing didn’t take long. Principal Mason
instructed us to download the student handbook for Familiars and to
read the rules and regulations outlined within. I had already
downloaded it to my palm-slate last night, after gaining access to
the academy information network. After reading it, I didn’t find it
that much different from the school handbook at my old school. But
there were rules and rights associated with being a Familiar –
rules that were supposed to protect our kind from acts of
aggression and victimization expressed by Aventis students.
    Mason had said that if we all followed the rules
we could enjoy peaceful lives at the academy.
    I took that with a kilo of salt.
    I wondered how peaceful life would be for a
Familiar bonded to a Fragment and classified as a Special.
    After the briefing, I hurried over to my
assigned homeroom and introduced myself as per the norm for any
transfer student.
    Now, during lunch break, I sat in the donut
shaped cafeteria building at a table on the second level,
overlooking the first level below.
    Caprice sat across the round table, eating from
a meal tray.
    I looked down at the food on my tray and started
picking at it, before I finally managed to eat a few bites. When I
finished eating half the contents on the tray, I went back to
gazing over the Aventis students occupying the cafeteria’s three
levels.
    Resting my chin on a palm, I muttered, “This
morning went well enough. My grand debut at the prestigious Galatea
Academy. Whoopee doo.”
    “It was well within expectations, though the
entrance ceremony was a little tedious.”
    I shifted my eyes in her direction. “So this is
your second year here?”
    “You already know that Caelum. Why are you
asking me again?”
    “Sorry.” I looked away.
    For six of the past seven months I’d been
attending my old school. My status as a Familiar had been kept from
the students. That meant I spent six months playing the part of
being a Regular just like the rest of my classmates. But now
pretend time was over. I couldn’t hide what I was from the Aventis
student body here at Galatea. The handbook clearly stated that was
against the rules.
    I fingered the badges pinned to my blazer’s
breast.
    I had received them a week ago from Arisa who’d
managed my transfer to Galatea Academy.
    In a way, I felt kind of relieved not to be
hiding what I was. But it didn’t make me feel any better about
being a Familiar. Seven months since that fateful day and I
sometimes struggled accepting the card Fate had dealt me. There
were things I could do now that really worried me. Was I
responsible enough to make the best use of my abilities?
    Caprice had stopped eating and was quietly
studying me. I grew a little uncomfortable under her gaze then
realized I was unconsciously stroking my sternum through my
shirt.
    “Stop that,” she said softly. “That wound healed
months ago.”
    “It’s a habit, and I still have a scar—thank you
very much.”
    “I already apologized for that, but triggering
your Awakening was necessary. The best way is a shock to the
system, usually by near fatal wound. Once injected, the Symbiote
bonds quickly to your weakened body, triggering the genetic changes
and healing you at an accelerated rate before it dies and