Chapter Text
It was that time of the year in Easton academy where the otherwise separate dorms would have their classes fused together, creating classes filled with a mixture of students from all the three dorms. It was only for a week and created in attempt to have the students socialize with and learn from people outside their given dorm.
Most students looked forward to the program as it was exciting and a chance to get more friends, however, for Finn Ames it only meant more trouble. He didn’t have too many friends in the first place, and a new class only meant he’d be alone once again. And even worse than that, there was a chance he might become a victim of bullying (yet again.) Finn absolutely dreaded the thought of more people coming to pick on him, though, the bullying had stopped since he had become friends with Mash and the group.
Finn let out a sigh as he went through the hallways. Today was Friday and the last class of the day had just ended. Everyone was gathered around the pinboard outside the classroom, searching for their name on which class they’d be put in next week. as much as Finn detested the idea of being put in a new class, he couldn’t help but feel a bit curious. The freckled boy walked up to the crowd, standing on his toes to get a glimpse at the schedules but to no avail due to it being so crowded. Finn resorted to trying to sneak his way in through the side which proved effective as he just barely made it through the thick barrage of people. Despite being squeezed by people left and right, Finn persisted, quickly glancing at each schedule, scanning for his own name. And that is when he sees it. Finn Ames, in class 1X.
Just as he starts making his way towards the names of the other students in his class, a student beside him pushes at him, ejecting Finn from the crowd. Finn stumbles, quickly regaining his balance and sighs. “Guess I’ll just head to my dorm then. I’ll see my new classmates on Monday anyways” he thought as he trudged through the hallway.
The weekend ended way too quickly for Finn’s liking. He hadn’t gotten too much sleep due to nervousness unlike Mash who dozed off right as his head hit the pillow. Not having anything else to do, Finn decided to just go to class early. He let out a shaky sigh, begrudgingly making his way towards his classroom, textbooks in hand. First class should be magic history which isn’t too bad. Finn opened the classroom door, it was completely empty save for a single student, slumped over their desk. They wore an orca dorm robe, but their hood had been pulled over their head, rendering Finn from recognizing them.
“Are they sleeping...?” Finn carefully treaded over towards the back of the classroom, being as quiet as possible to avoid waking up said student. He slowly put his books down on his table before sitting down on his seat.
This was unexpected… Finn hadn’t expected there to be anyone else this early. there was still half an hour left till class was starting which meant that even the hallways were mostly empty. Finn opened up his textbook, might as well revise a bit on past topics. Finn wasn’t exactly bad at magic history, but it wasn’t one of his strongest subjects either. But then again, Finn is also infamously known as one of the lowest ranking students in Easton, a fact that definitely isn’t helping his already low self-esteem.
As time passed, students started entering the classroom. Finn didn’t recognize any of them, just his luck. Soon enough the whole class had gathered, and the teacher started the lesson.
Finn tried his best to focus on the teacher words, taking notes whenever he heard something that sounded slightly important. However, he couldn’t help but occasionally glance around, taking in his class for the week. At least no problematic people (or at least what he knew of) had been put in his class. That’s when something caught his eye, the early student from this morning… is still sleeping...?
The orca student was still slumped over their desk, their back rising and falling slowly as they snoozed through the class. Weren’t orca students supposed to be obsessed with studying.? Who the heck was this guy, just sleeping carelessly through the lesson?
Finn shook his head, forcing himself to return his focus towards the teacher. He couldn’t spend the whole class staring at weirdos. Besides, he had learned to not judge a book by its cover from Mash.
About an hour later, the bell rang, dismissing the class. Finn quickly packed his things; he didn’t want to be late for his next class. Just as he was about to head out the door he turned his head, checking the classroom one last time to see if he had forgotten anything, only to spot the orca student… still sleeping?! Had they not heard the bell ring??
Finn sighed; he’d feel bad if he just left them here. He walked over to where the slumbering student sat, swallowing nervously before softly poking at their shoulder.
“Umm.. sorry, but class has..ended..”
The student doesn’t respond to which Finn only pokes a little harder.
“..hey.. class is over.!”
This time, the student moves, slowly sitting upright. Finn tries to get a peak under their hood, wanting to see who the student could be, which he finds out soon enough. Finn’s eyes widen in terror as their hood slips off, revealing one of the last people he’d want to be in class with, Carpaccio Luo-Yang.
Finn silently cried, mentally slapping himself a thousand times for meddling in other’s business. He should have just let the guy continue sleeping.
“Finn.” Carpaccio stared up at him, his usual unreadable, blank stare in full play.
“I-I-I’M SORRY FOR WAKING YOU! PLEASE DON’T HURT ME” Finn screamed, jumping into a defensive position. Tears were already welling up in his eyes from fear. This was absolutely horrific! Why did he had to be put in the same class as Carpaccio!? This was worse than anything he could have ever imagined!
“So noisy..” Carpaccio let out a sigh before standing up. To Finn’s surprise, Carpaccio just walked past him, making his way into the hallway without saying anything else.
Now Finn stood in the empty classroom, overcoming the shock and terror of what he had just experienced.
Right.. back then Carpaccio had a reason for attacking him. But still, it was an exam for god’s sake, there was absolutely no need to go that far. Finn had been rushed to the infirmary afterwards, he had suffered a large amount of blood loss, and had countless puncture wounds in his body from the damage he had taken. Thank God the doctors and nurses deployed were skilled at healing magic.
However, now they were just regular classmates and violence during school hours is absolutely prohibited. But then again, Carpaccio was known to be quite the rebel since the school let him get away with a lot of things mostly unscathed due to being a master cane wielder. Finn sighed, the two were already on bad terms and he had probably just worsened it by bothering the guy. Guess he’d just have to avoid him at all costs for the rest of the week. Well, no use sulking over spilled milk. Finn made his way out into the hallway, checking his schedule to see which class he’d have next. Potions class? Finn sighed; he really disliked this subject since he tended to mess up the recipes quite often.
Finn walked through the crowded hallway; everyone was on their way to their next class too. This was why Finn liked to leave early, to avoid the large crowd. After squeezing through the thick mass of people, Finn finally got to his next classroom. He let out a sigh of relief as he opened the door. He wasn’t exactly late, but the class was already filled to the brim which meant that he wouldn’t be getting a seat at the back of the class like he preferred. He looked around the classroom, scanning for a place to sit when he spotted an empty seat! All the way at the front… Finn swallowed nervously and was just about to make his way towards the seat when he saw the student who he was going to be sharing a desk with. The only available seat was… NEXT TO CARPACCIO?! Right... they were the last two to leave the classroom. Finn’s plan to distance himself from the burgundy haired boy was shattered before it had begun. He walked over to the desk, sweating profusely as he sat down.
Just when Finn thought the day couldn’t get any worse, the teacher announced they’d be working in pairs, with the person they were sitting beside…
Finn screamed internally, crying, and silently cursing the teacher for coming up with such a horrid idea. Great, just great, he had planned to just get it over with, no need for small talk, right? But now they were supposed to be working together?!
The teacher instructed how they were going to be making a simple compound, one that acted as a base for a lot of potions. Finn calmed down slightly. That’s not too hard, I probably won’t mess up (emphasis on probably). After they got in their lab coats and safety glasses, the class headed off towards the brewing stations at the back of the classroom. Since they were working in pairs, they’d be sharing a station. Finn sighed, adjusting his safety glasses before making his way towards the station where Carpaccio was already standing.
Carpaccio opened his mouth like he was about to say something, before shutting it again. Handing Finn, a measuring cup before walking off to collect the ingredients for the compound. Finn’s eye twitched. WE’RE THEY JUST GOING TO BE WORKING IN SILENCE THE WHOLE CLASS?! He let out another sigh before he looked up at the whiteboard for instructions. 150 mL of water? Oh right, that must be why Carpaccio had given him the measuring cup! He hurrily went over to the sink, trying his best to pour the exact amount into the cup. When he turned around, Carpaccio was already back at the station which made Finn quickly rush back.
“U-um.. I got the water..”
Carpaccio turned around, facing Finn. “150 mL?”
“Yes..”
Carpaccio immediately snatched the cup from Finn’s hands, pouring it into the mixing bowl and then it was back to silence. Finn didn’t want to bother Carpaccio, but he didn’t want to let him do everything on his own either. This was a group assignment damnit!
“Um, is there anything else I can do..?”
“no.”
Finn jerked. Crying silently for asking. Why did he have to be so intimidating?!
“This is a simple compound, it’s not that hard.”
Of course, it’s easy for Carpaccio to say. After all, he is the top continuing student. Finn sighed yet again. It was only the second class of the day and he already wanted to retreat back to his room and sleep.
Finn didn’t have anything else to do so he just resorted to watching while Carpaccio was stirring the compound. Not much was happening, it had turned a strange green colour, probably due to whatever Carpaccio had put in. And so, the rest of the time in class consisted of silence between the two boys.
After around 30 minutes of stirring the pot, the compound suddenly turned purple, signalling it was done. Carpaccio poured the liquid into a glass bottle before slapping a label with their name on it and handing it to the teacher. Finn felt kind of bad; he hadn’t even done anything and yet he was taking credit for the work. But then again, Carpaccio had kind of insisted on doing it alone.
As he was deep in his thoughts, another student walked up, about to hand their work over to the teacher too. However, just as they passed their station, the student tripped over their step.
“Watch out!”
Finn couldn’t even react before student had tumbled down onto the floor, throwing their bottle up into the air. It was as if everything went in slow motion. Finn’s eyes widened as he tried to take a step back and instead bumped into Carpaccio behind him, and before he knew. They were both soaked in the compound, or at least what should have been the compound. Expect it was a suspicious blue colour.
“I-I’m so sorry!” The student immediately rushed up to their feet, apologizing profusely. Finn looked down at his soaked uniform. He had just washed it yesterday…
“Ah… I-It’s alright..” even in situations like these, Finn couldn’t help but remain friendly and polite. However, the same couldn’t be said for the boy behind him.
“Watch where you’re going.” Carpaccio shot a nasty glare at the student. He looked as he was just about to pull his dagger out.
“S-SORRY!” The student immediately rushed off, not wanting to face Carpaccio’s wrath.
Carpaccio sighed in annoyance before reaching his hands up to squeeze the liquid out of his hair.
“That weakling even managed to mess up the recipe.”
Finn didn’t reply, he simply looked down at his feet. Now he had to skip lunch to take a shower.
The rest of the day went by way too slowly for Finn’s liking. After the potion incident, Finn had rushed to the dormitory washroom and taken a quick shower before slipping on a spare uniform. Luckily, he was quick enough to still have some time for lunch. As the last bell of the day rang, Finn was completely exhausted. He couldn’t believe that he’d have to deal with this for the rest of the week.
He made his way back to his shared room with Mash. Like always, the door had been ripped off its hinges due to his roommate’s tendency to forget whether to push or pull. Finn sighed for the hundredth time today before entering the room.
“Oh. Hey Finn.” Mash stopped in the middle of a push-up. He was amidst his usual training.
“Hey Mash…”
Mash got up from the floor and walked over to Finn.
“You look pretty out of it. What happened?”
That was when Finn snapped. He fell down to his knees and gripped tightly at his hair.
“MASH PLEASE HELP MEEE” The freckled boy cried out at his roommate. Tears streaming down his face.
“IT’S TERRIBLE. I’VE BEEN PUT IN THE SAME CLASS AS CARPACCIO!!” he sobbed.
“Who is that.”
Finn lifted his head up, staring at Mash in disbelief. “Um.. you don’t remember him?”
“Not really.”
“It’s the guy you beat with a tennis racket during the divine visionary candidate exam…”
Mash thought for a moment, really working his brain to remember who Finn was talking about. Suddenly, he jerked up. Finn could envision a light bulb lighting up above Mash’s head as he remembered Carpaccio.
“Oh. That’s not good. Is he bothering you?”
“Um.. well, no… but he’s really frightening!”
Finn shuddered at the memory of the glare he had shot at the student who spilled the compound on them earlier.
“Well, if he’s bothering you just come find me. I’ll knock some sense into him”
Finn looked back up at Mash, only to see he had remoulded the iron wand back into the same tennis racket from back then. Menacingly tapping it against his palm.
“THAT’S NOT NECESSARY MASH!”
Finn quickly stood up, attempting to grab the tennis racket from his hand to no avail due to the ravenettes insane grip strength of 600 kg.
Finn gave up and lowered his head in defeat. “I’ll tell you if anything happens. Please just promise me you won’t fight him again”
“’kay”.
For some reason, Finn felt a lot more tired than usual. They hadn’t even had dinner yet, but he just wanted to go to bed now. He could barely stay awake, his eyelids heavy like never before.
“I think I’m gonna go to bed early today..” Finn sighed. Maybe it was just due to all the events that happened today.
“What about dinner?
“You can eat without me today. I’m really tired…”
Mash nodded briefly before picking up his dumbbells. Right, Finn had disturbed Mash during his training.
Finn slowly walked over to his bed. Did his body always feel this heavy when he was sleepy? Whatever. Finn was so tired he couldn’t even think, and not long after he laid down, he fell asleep.
And like that, the first day of the class switching program had come to an end.
The next day, Finn woke up feeling insanely groggy. He had slept for what, Finn glanced up at the clock; 16 HOURS?! He hastily sat up from his bed, rubbing his eyes before checking to see if his eyes were deceiving him. No, he had really slept from yesterday afternoon till this morning. A whopping 16 hours. He must have been really exhausted huh.. Finn turned his head to look at Mash, the boy was still fast asleep. Well, might as well get ready for school then.
Finn got up from the bed and started putting on his uniform. For some reason his dress shirt felt tighter than usual. Had he gotten taller recently...? he unbuttoned a few buttons to slip it on easier and it barely worked. His robe didn’t feel as oversized as it usually was either. Strange.
After having dressed, he headed out the door, making his way towards the dormitory’s shared washroom. The hallway was completely empty which made sense since it was quite early in the morning. He went inside with his toothbrush and facewash, yawning from too much sleep. Finn unloaded his stuff on the sink before lifting his head to look into the mirror.
A loud scream echoed throughout the adler dorm.
“W-WHAT THE HELL?!”
Finn took a step backwards. In the mirror, he had been met with the reflection of none other than Carpaccio Luo-Yang.
His first thought was that this must be a dream and immediately shot his hand up to pinch at his cheek. It didn’t hurt. Finn let out a sigh of relief.
“What am I thinking? Of course, it’s a dream.” Finn didn’t know what he’d do if he actually woke up as Carpaccio one day. “Well, whatever. If it’s a dream i’ll just have to wait till I wake up I guess?” Finn thought before making his way back to his room.
He opened his door. Mash was still asleep. Could he even wake sleeping people up in a dream? Finn went over and poked at his cheek.
“Mash. Wake up” This would be quite a boring dream if he didn’t have anyone to talk to so might as well wake him up..?
Mash groaned and turned before he slowly began waking up, his eyes fluttering open. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before turning his head towards Finn. Suddenly, Mash’s jaw dropped, his eyes wide open.
“What are you doing here?” Mash looked around the room, obviously searching for something, or someone.
“What do you mean? This is our room.” Maybe Mash in his dream had amnesia or something?
“No, Finn is my roommate. I’ll ask you one last time, what are you doing here?” Mash’s gaze got serious all of a sudden, glaring at him.
“W-what are you talking about? I’m Finn!” Finn was confused until he suddenly remembered that he had turned into Carpaccio in this dream.
“Oh right.. Uhh i’ve turned into Carpaccio hehe…”
“Well this is a dream so it’s okay Mash, no need to be scared” What the heck was he doing? explaining to dream Mash that he was in a dream.
Mash stared silently at him before opening his mouth. “This isn’t a dream.”
Huh? Was dream Mash in denial that he was just a figment of Finn’s imagination?
“It is! Look-“ Finn reaches his hand up to face and harshly pinches his cheek yet again.
“It doesn’t hur-“
“Ow..” Mash immediately clamps a hand over his cheek, rubbing it.
What.
Finn stares at Mash, his eyes widening as the realization sinks in. He has really become Carpaccio. No wonder the pinch didn’t hurt. Carpaccio’s master cane protects him from all damage… Suddenly, a feeling of doom washes over him. Does this mean that… Carpaccio has become Finn..?
“I… I’ve become Carpaccio, Mash…” The floodgates open and soon enough Finn is sobbing while hugging Mash.
“WHAT DO I DO?? I CAN’T COME TO CLASS LIKE THIS!”
Drool drips down Mash’s chin as he wrecks his brain, trying to understand the situation.
“Uhh.. if you have become that guy, then does that mean that guy has become you?”
“I DON’T KNOW MASH!!” Finn screams. Mash had just woken up, still slightly dazed from the sleep and now he’s sitting here while being embraced by Finn in Carpaccio’s body. As far as he remembers, Carpaccio always has that blank stare on his face, so his current sobbing state was even more of a shocker for Mash.
Mash gently puts his hand on Finn’s head. “Then you should try to find him. Maybe he knows what to do.”
Finn sits up and wipes his tears away with the back of his hand. “I’m just so… scared..”
“Well.. since you’re that guy now, what is there to be scared of..?”
Finn thought for a moment. Mash is right, he has become the very source of his fears. There was no reason to be that frightened anymore. Even if Carpaccio attacked him, Finn wouldn’t feel the pain. He got up from the bed and walked towards the door.
“You’re right Mash. I shouldn’t be scared anymore.” And with that, Finn headed out the door.
As he was walking through the hallway, he suddenly realized that he doesn’t know where Carpaccio’s dorm or the orca dorm in general is. This meant that the only way Finn could find him was by going to class… Finn cried silently before begrudgingly walking towards the classroom on his schedule. The hallway was still empty, thank God he had gotten up early. Finn quickly rushed to the classroom, opening the door before swiftly slipping in. He let out a sigh of relief as he reached his destination.
“Hey.” The oddly familiar voice echoed throughout the empty classroom. Finn immediately whipped his head up to see who it belonged to, only to be met with the sight of… himself..?
Finn stopped in his tracks like a dear caught in the headlights. His mouth agape, unable to form any words.
“You’re Finn right.”
“Finn” got up from his seat and started making his way towards the real Finn.
“It seems my guess was right. The potion from yesterday made us switch bodies.”
Finn jerked up, does this mean..?
“Carpaccio..?”
Carpaccio in Finn’s body nodded. He was wearing the orca dorm robe, though it was slightly too big for him. The pants were even reaching the floor…
Never in his life had Finn been more relieved to see Carpaccio. He had to strain himself to not burst out crying on the spot.
“D-do you know what to do..?”
Carpaccio shook his head before putting a hand up to his chin, thinking for a moment before answering.
“No. But most potions only last up to a week. We’ll just have to wait it out.”
Finn’s eyes widened. He had to stay like this… for a week..? what the hell was he even supposed to do like this?!
“Is there really nothing we can do?!” Finn took a step closer to Carpaccio in desperation. Now that he had become the latter, he slightly loomed over him.”
“Not with what I know of at least.”
Finn slumped down in defeat. What kind of scenario even is this?! The liquid that had been spilled on them was supposed to be a simple compound! How the hell did they manage to turn it into a body switching potion?!
“Then.. what do you suggest we do..?” Finn looked up at Carpaccio, sniffling.
“The best approach would just be to simply live as each other for the duration of the potion’s effect.”
Finn sighed. This was exactly as he feared. he put a hand up to his forehead, he was sweating from the panic.
“Then.. W-we should probably switch clothes right? It’d be weird if we wore uniforms from other dorms..”
Carpaccio cocked his head, thinking for a moment before nodding and starting to take off his clothes. Finn noticed that he hadn’t worn his usual jewellery today. That just makes it easier for him. Finn started undressing too, slipping off his robe and tie before moving onto his shirt.
“Um… d-do we.. switch.. pants too..?” Finn didn’t know how he felt. Completely undressing in front of Carpaccio or well… himself.
“Of course. We wear different sizes of clothing.” Finn sighed in defeat. Carefully unbuckling his pants.
The two managed to switch clothes before other students started coming in. The two ended up sitting together in the back of the class. Wanting to avoid as much attention as possible. There wasn’t much of a difference except that Carpaccio now looked neater, having all his buttons buttoned up and Finn, the opposite, the first few buttons unbuttoned, slightly showing off his collarbone. Finn blushed in embarrassment at the sight. He looked like a wannabe delinquent. Carpaccio had a good face and an okay build so the way he wore his uniform looked natural on him, but now that he had become Finn it just looked ridiculous.
“Um.. could you.. button up..?” Finn turned towards Carpaccio his brows furrowing in disgust.
“Why. It’s comfortable.” Carpaccio replied without a blink. This was too weird, seeing himself acting like that and wearing his uniform so sluggishly…
Finn sighed, slumping his head over the desk. What had he done to deserve this..? Despite Finn’s life being filled with his own share of troubles, he still quite enjoyed it. He didn’t want to live like someone else! Let alone the possibly scariest guy in their school. And worse of all, Carpaccio seemed so unfazed, like this was a regular occurrence!
Suddenly Finn was snapped out of his thoughts when the teacher called his name.
“Ames.”
Finn was about to stand up to reply when he instantly remembered that he was now Carpaccio. He turned his head to look at Carpaccio. It seems he had forgotten too since he just sat back in his chair staring out into nothing.
“Finn Ames!”
Finn panicked and slightly nudged Carpaccio with the tip of his elbow. Carpaccio turned to look at him as if saying “What?”, to which Finn carefully motioned to answer the teacher. Carpaccio stared at him as if he was stupid for a few seconds until Finn saw his eyes widen in realization. He quickly stood up. “Yes?”
The teacher let out a sigh. “Where are your thoughts at? Anyways, can you answer this question?”
Carpaccio squinted his eyes, reading the question on the whiteboard from the back of the class before answering flawlessly. Finn saw his teachers’ eyes widen at the answer. Of course, there was no usual stammering or stumbling over his words like most other days. Finn sighed, now he just had to hope the teacher didn’t pick him to answer a question. It would definitely cause suspicion if the usual cold and unbothered Carpaccio started stuttering in nervousness while answering a simple question.
Luckily for Finn, the teacher seemed to move on from their desk after that, returning her attention towards the whiteboard. A painful hour later, class finally ended. Finn let out an inaudible sigh as he walked out the classroom. There were still 3 more classes left for the day, just his luck…
Just as Finn was about to move on to the next classroom, he was stopped by someone gripping the sleeve of his robe. He turned around and saw it was Carpaccio… in Finn’s own body. God, he’d never get used to this.
“We should stay together as much as possible so we can keep an eye on each other.”
“Huh? Oh.. a-are you sure that’s a good idea..? Won’t it be weird if we suddenly become close? I mean… it’s not like we’re on the best terms…” Finn gripped at his arm, looking down at his feet.
Carpaccio looked at him with an obvious question mark above his head. “What do you mean?”
Finn looked back up at Carpaccio before replying in an unsure tone. “Umm.. I mean, you.. kind of said you hated me during the exam so I just assumed…”
Carpaccio’s face remained indifferent. He put his hand up to his chin as if to think for a bit before turning his gaze back at Finn.
“Didn’t I apologize?”
“A-ah… that’s true but.. I.. kind of assumed it was just out of politeness…”
Carpaccio frowned upon hearing those words. He crossed his arms, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again to look at Finn.
“No. I was sincere.”
Finn could feel sweat forming on his skin. He hadn’t expected Carpaccio to admit it like that. Finn could understand if Carpaccio despised him, after all, he is one of the lowest ranking students in their school. However, what he couldn’t understand is why the burgundy haired boy even felt the need to apologize. The two were on completely different levels! Both academically and skill wise. Could it be that he felt guilty...? No. This is Carpaccio we’re talking about.
“Oh… um.. thanks..?”
Carpaccio nodded in response, turning around before making his way towards the next classroom. Finn hurrily followed along.
After the events at the divine visionary candidate exam, Carpaccio had gone around school, apologizing to everyone he hurt. After experiencing pain for the first time, he realized just what he had put countless others through. A few students had fled at the sight of him so there were some he wasn’t able to apologize to. However, he ended up making amends with a lot of others, like the third year, Max Land. One of the last people on his list was Finn Ames. They hadn’t seen each other since the exam which made sense since they were in different dorms, but this just meant Carpaccio had to go through the trouble of memorizing his schedule, so he’d have a chance to apologize.
Carpaccio had waited outside Finn’s classroom. When the boy finally came out the door, Carpaccio walked up to him, bowing down before formally apologizing for his misdeeds. Finn had stumbled over his words, panicking from the sudden apology a few seconds before collecting himself and replying.
“Oh.. I-it’s alright..”
Alright? It’s alright? Was Finn naïve or just plain stupid? Carpaccio had stabbed him like 6 times and had insulted him like his life depended on it. Carpaccio stood there dumbfounded. He knew Finn was a coward who didn’t dare talk back to people, but he had at least expected some backlash. Before Carpaccio could open his mouth again, Finn had rushed off, saying he had to get to his next class.
Since then, Carpaccio had taken it upon himself to observe Finn just like he did with Max. For some reason, he started feeling excited and happy whenever he saw Finn in the hallways. Whenever he saw him laughing with his friends, Carpaccio would feel a sting of jealousy in his heart. And to top it off, he also felt the need to hide from him, resorting to observing him from afar. Not too soon after, he confessed to Max about it to which the boy replied that he was in love. Love? Now that’s an emotion he’s definitely unfamiliar with. He didn’t see the appeal in bonding with other people, especially not in that manner. When asked what his preferred type of opposite sex is, Carpaccio always answered that he didn’t know and didn’t care. Was this because he cared for boys instead? No. He really didn’t care about anyone. Whether it’s male or female, they’re all weaklings to him. So why was he feeling like this towards Finn?
Carpaccio had put the thought on hold for a bit to clear his mind. Then one day after school, he saw people crowding the bulletin board and made a mental note to check it out later which he did. His eyes widened and the speed of his heartbeat immediately increased as he saw the assigned classes for next week. He was going to be in the same class as Finn.
That night, Carpaccio couldn’t sleep from excitement. His hands were trembling the rest of the day which rendered him unable to work on any of his research which he usually did when he couldn’t sleep. He laid in his bed, wide awake and stared up into the ceiling, imagining how the next week would go.
When the sun rose, Carpaccio had immediately gotten dressed and rushed towards his classroom. He wanted to see Finn as soon as possible. However, as soon as he reached the classroom and plopped down on his seat, exhaustion took over from the previous night, and soon enough he fell asleep on his desk. He had awoken to someone poking at him and to his happiest surprise, it was Finn. Carpaccio didn’t know how to react; his mind was going haywire. He didn’t have a wide array of facial expressions, his blank stare one of his biggest trademarks which was exactly what he did. This seemed to frighten him as he started begging for mercy before Carpaccio had even said anything. For some reason, his chest ached at the sight of Finn fearing him for his life. Wanting to get out of the situation, Carpaccio stood up and muttered a few words before disappearing into the hallway.
The next class had been potions class where he had paired up with Finn to create a compound for potions. He mentally thanked and hugged the teacher for coming up with this. As they got to their station, Carpaccio suddenly got the insane idea to do the whole assignment on his own, as to show how capable he was in front of Finn. They had indeed finished quicker than the rest of the class, and just as Carpaccio had mustered up enough courage to say something, a student had ruined the moment by dropping their potion on the two.
However, the next day, Carpaccio found himself wanting to thank the student a million times for their favour. The potion they had dropped that was supposed to be the simple compound had turned out to be a body switching potion. Only God knows how they messed up so bad.
When Carpaccio had looked himself in the mirror, he was met with the sight of the exact person he longed to see, Finn. He instantly figured out what the potion that had been dropped on them had been. To be honest, making an antidote was way too easy, especially for the likes of Carpaccio. However, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and he was going to make the best of it. Besides, the potions effect would only last for a week before they reverted to their original bodies.
And that brings us to now. The two sat in class listening to the teacher blabbering about their current topic. Carpaccio didn’t actually need to come to class. His grades were always at the top, and due to his extraordinary magic abilities, all his absences were pardoned. He much preferred holing himself up in the shared dormitory lab, working on his research, but he wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity to be classmates with Finn.
As the last class of the day ended, Finn dragged himself out of the room, even more exhausted than the day before. Just as he was about to make his way towards his room, another tug came from his sleeve.
“Finn. Come to my room.”
Finn’s eyes widened. What could Carpaccio want now...? But that wasn’t the most important thing right now. If they were going to act as each other, they should call each other by their names, right?
“Um… you should probably call me Carpaccio now..”
Carpaccio stared at him, a blank look on his face. That really looks unnatural on Finn’s face.
“Right. Fi- Carpaccio. Come to my room. I don’t have a roommate and it’ll be better for us to stick together even outside school. At least for the rest of the week”
Finn sighed. To his dismay, Carpaccio was right. It’d be too strange if Finn went back to his own room in Carpaccio’s body.
“Okay… then.. can I go pack first?”
Carpaccio nodded. “My room number is 1102. Come find me when you’re done.” And with that, Carpaccio went ahead. Suddenly it hit him, wouldn’t letting Carpaccio go alone draw even more attention? To the other student it’d just look like an unauthorised adler student was waltzing into the orca dorm. Finn quickly turned around, about to yell at Carpaccio to come back, but by then, the boy was already far out of sight.
Finn slumped down in defeat. He couldn’t even imagine the weird looks Carpaccio was getting right now.
“I should probably get going then…” Finn straightened his posture back up before heading towards his room. He tried to be as sneaky as possible, avoiding any students or teachers that’d come his way which was quite literally impossible, given that he was wearing the striking olive-green orca robe. When he finally arrived in front of his room, the door had been ripped off its hinges. Again…
“Mash.. I’m back”
The ravenette was sitting in the middle of the room, doing the invisible chair while munching on a creampuff and reading a book on how to build muscles. He turned his head to look at the source of the voice and his eyes widened for a split second before he calmed back down, remembering that it was just Finn.
“Did you find out anything?”
“Well.. Carpaccio said it’d only last a week. But to avoid suspicion I’m going to be staying at his room…” Finn sighed sulkily. His face painted with exhaustion.
“Oh.. okay. Have fun.”
“WHAT PART OF THIS IS FUN?!” Finn cried out. He reached up to pull at his now wild burgundy locks of hair.
“I mean. You could become friends.”
Finn stopped up. Friends? With Carpaccio? Yeah sure, when pigs fly.
“Mash do you even remember what happened at the divine visionary exam?!”
“Yeah. But he apologized, didn’t he? That must mean he wants to be friends.”
Mash had a point. Apologizing was quite out of character of Carpaccio. We’re talking about the same boy who ruthlessly stabs people left and right as he pleases and calls everyone he meets “weakling”. But then again, maybe he just wanted to turn over a new leaf? But that doesn’t necessarily mean he wants to be friends..
Finn sighed before walking over to his desk. Grabbing various things, he’d need for the rest of the week. “You’re right. I guess people have been saying he’s changed..”
Mash nodded before waving Finn off. He was a little down that his roommate and best friend would be gone the rest of the week. Finn was quite shy though and didn’t have many friends in the first place, so he supported him “befriending” others, even if the others were his old enemies.