Lady Misfortune: Daddy, I'll Be A Righteous Villainess!

Sarah blinks rapidly in surprise at Lady's sudden interjection.

While she understands why she'd be worried, she didn't expect she'd act like she just rose up from the grave. She's even staring at her like she's a ghost. Though she did feel her soul leave her body when she fell, she's far from dead.

"Thank goodness, you're okay! I'm so, so happy!" Lady cried out joyously before jumping out of the bed to pounce on Sarah. 

Before she can do so, Weiss makes haste to stop her. He grabs the blanket and wraps it around Lady before pulling her back. Sarah watches the scene with an incredulous expression, wondering if this is normal to both of them.

"Easy now, hey. You two haven't fully recovered yet," he said with a soft smile while he gently sat her on top of his lap. 

"It's just a hug! Ain't no harm in that, right?" she retorted with a huff and a pout.

"She told me that her whole body is still in pain. You'll hurt her more if you squeeze her so carelessly."

"What?! Is that true, Sarah?!"

Looking at the sitting position they're in, Sarah can't help but feel like she's third-wheeling.

These two really act more like a couple rather than friends. One's a dense idiot and the other's a hopeless romantic. Such a shame it's not official yet.

"That's right. Everything still feels painful," she muttered, averting her gaze. 

Lady offers a look of concern and sympathy. Sarah tries not to pay heed to it but eventually lets out a sigh.

"I'm feeling better, nonetheless. I'll be fine…" she added with her arms crossed, unable to look at her directly for some reason. 

"What about you? Despite how it looks, I know you've had it worse-"

Sarah got abruptly cut off by the banging of the door. They all whisk their heads in its direction and immediately come face-to-face with Fallon.

"Oh, you're awake," he started coolly, making Sarah face-palm.

"Why do all of you keep saying that?" she groaned in annoyance to which Fallon raised a brow.

"Took you long enough. How did it go?" Weiss chimed in, shooting the question right away.   

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be in class?" Lady also piped up, throwing another inquiry.

Fallon gathers an unamused look – he just came back, but everyone's already in the hots for him. He chose not to respond as he found himself a seat first. Once he's settled down, he turns to face Weiss and speaks again. 

"Before we get to your questions, could you please put that moron down first?" he told him flatly, not at all happy to see how he's hogging his cousin. 

"Oh, right," he blurted out before casually placing his friend back to the bed.

"Now then, where do I start? Basically, the faculty staff members are already dealing with it, and the guardians have been called. There will be a meeting later."

"Is it suspension or expulsion?"

"They're yet to discuss that, but judging from the looks of it, it'll probably be much worse than suspension if it's not expulsion – for the SES members who directly assaulted Lady, that is. It's a pain sitting through the entire thing, to be honest. The principal is crazy mad. At any rate, the only thing I'm sure of right now is that they'll all get kicked out of the group."     

Lady stiffens at that.

He's technically saying that their cousins are going to lose their membership in the student council – which could further add more fuel to their scorching hatred towards them. She never wished to make their relationship turn out so bad. But she also can't deny that what they did to her was straight-up atrocious.

"How about Glenn Valentin?" Sarah asked.

"Don't worry about it. What he did to you would be treated as a separate case. I already had it covered," Fallon assured. 

"He'd better be leaving. More so, he should rot in jail."

"You can suggest that if you want. We'll back you up." 

"Oh, but he's still a minor. That's not possible."

"We can make him pay in one way or another."

"I'd love to see him go through the same thing if only I could."

"How 'bout we kidnap him and take him to the woods or a cliff?"

"Sounds brilliant."

"Wanna do it?"

Slightly appalled by the furtive exchange, Lady keeps looking at them back and forth. 

Fallon appears to have just recruited another member in the team to tag along with his and Weiss's schemes. Like them, Sarah happens to be quite the planner too. She's even got the same vibes and air as Maximilian when discussing this kind of topic.

"Hey, ummm…" Lady joined in, a tad bit hesitant. 

"Are you sure about that, guys? Shouldn't we get a break first? I mean, you just had a life-threatening experience, Sarah! Aren't you scared to face him?" 

"Why would I be…?" Sarah questioned, seemingly confused.

"I already told you I'd be fine. Besides, don't you want this too? You're the one he'd been intending to push, after all, and I only tried to shove him away. Between you and me, you should be more-"

"Wait, what did you just say…?" Weiss cut in with a stunned expression.

"She's the one he intended to push? You mean, he's going after her all along?" 

"That fucking asshole…" Fallon hissed through gritted teeth.

"Okay. Forget about kidnapping him. Let's just murder him already."

And things only get worse from that point on.

Whatever it was that Sarah just dropped, it's definitely a bomb. Fallon practically exploded, and Weiss was close to bursting. Before it gets out of control, Lady thinks of something to draw their attention away.

That's when she recalls one of the realizations she had earlier.

Before she was blinded by rage, she was filled with regrets. She thought about everything she had done that had led up to this point – to this convoluted, perilous mess. While she was here trying to follow the plot of the story, the others were doing all sorts of stuff that were just out of character.

This isn't just about not being in control anymore. It's about having no power in the very beginning.   

'I was a fool to think that everything would fall in place as long as I worked hard enough to make it so…' Lady brooded silently before stealing a glance at Sarah.

'Not to mention, she knows all along – that I could just be pretending this whole time. It's true that I don't really hate her, but I don't want her to know that. Why did I have to hide the fact that I was the one behind the advice column, then? I did everything I could to help her in secret while fulfilling my role in this story. Now, it all feels like a total waste. She even got hurt.' 

Maybe it's time for a change of plans.

Witnessing the danger that Sarah had been thrust into was enough. Lady would not be able to bear it if something like that happened again.

And so, with those in mind, she came up with a resolution.

"Sarah, listen…" she called in all seriousness as she stood up from the bed and walked up to her.

"I sincerely apologize for everything."

"What now…?" the other girl breathed out, astonished by how sudden that was.

"Look, none of what happened is your fault. You defended me, you saved me, you protected me – therefore, I know now that you didn't really mean to be mean. That's it. End of the discussion. Don't argue with me again."

"S-Sarah."

"What?"

"SARAH!!!"

"WHAT?!"

Lady pounces then, tackling Sarah in a bone-crushing embrace despite Weiss's warning.

She ends up falling back on the bed, a screech spilling out of her lips. Her first reaction is that of shock – a good kind of shock, albeit. Even though she's just an inch away from getting crushed under her weight, she can't seem to find it in herself to complain. This is the first time, after all. She never got hugged like this before – like she actually matters for once. 

"I'm so sorry for saying all those harsh things to you! I'm so sorry for causing you to be bullied by others too! I'm also so sorry for giving you all my veggies earlier! It's true that I only wanted to get rid of them! I just really hate broccoli and all those greens!"

Lady goes on and on from that moment on. Finding it kind of funny, Sarah burst out with carefree laughter. Weiss and Fallon simply watch them from the side. 

It was then that they all knew something big would change.

--- 

Ever since that day, Lady and Sarah are getting along.

It's the most shocking news to break the whole campus that week – apart from the one regarding the Student Elite Society, of course. No more beef, no more fighting. They started out as any normal friends would, and as days passed by, they got closer and closer. With how well they've been treating each other, nobody would've thought that they used to be mortal nemeses. 

Then, eventually, another huge event has come – Lady's thirteenth birthday.