“Beep! Beep! Beep!” came a high-pitched chiming. “Beep! Beep! Beep!” the sound came again, this time louder than before. Slowly, Ferain’s eyes opened to see Anita kneeling on the floor beside the bed, her arms crossed on the edge of it, and her chin resting atop them. She smiled and tilted her head a bit. “Morning, sleepy.”
“We have alarm clocks.” Ferain murmured groggily, trying to fight the oncoming yawn that would without a doubt escape soon enough.
“It’s more fun this way.” Anita said, grinning. “Beep! Be- Ah!” Anita yelped as a pillow hit her in the face.
“Snooze.” Fera grumbled, turning over and pulling the sheets over her head.
“A few more minutes, but that’s all. We have to get ready for school.”
“Why does it matter? A bunch of kids are gone for the cross-school event anyway. Might as well just stay home.”
“You know, I might agree with you,” started Anita. “However, a certain student already skipped a bunch at the start of the year and that certain girl probably shouldn’t miss any more days. Besides, it’s already September. Just a little more to go and we get to go back home. Soooo, that means you have to get up. I’ll go start breakfast, so hurry and wake up.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Fera said, waving a hand after sticking it out from under the sheets.
Once she heard the door close behind Anita, Fera poked her head out and yawned. Minutes later, she had some recorded music of Anita’s playing through a speaker on the dresser while she grabbed herself a uniform that was already folded up on the edge of the bed. She pulled off the shirt and shorts she wore to bed, leaving her in a pair of black underwear. After pulling on a bra, she followed it up with her skirt and long-sleeved shirt. Once the ribbon was tied under the collar of her button-up, she looked at herself in the mirror to examine her hair. Over the months, her fringe had grown mostly down over her right eye, though some of it still covered her left one, and her hair had grown further down towards her shoulders. It was still short and uneven after having been burned away the previous year, but it was nice to see it coming in again. She smiled at the sight before lifting up some of her bangs with a couple of fingers, revealing her right eye fully.
“Maybe I’ll cut it again. I kinda liked the shorter style.” she muttered.
Ferain let her hair fall again and reached for a ribbon from the dresser beside the mirror. She tied the back of her hair into as much of a tail as she could, given the length. Her final touches were a pair of black tights and her blue earring, which swayed after putting it in. She gave her head a small shake just to make it swing more and giggled. There was no real reason behind it, just that she was happy and it made her want to move. While humming along with the soft guitar playing, she clasped one of the black bracers Senna had given her around her right wrist, which she didn’t bother to bandage that morning. Sometimes, she didn’t really think it was necessary to hide the scars. Besides, it was getting cold outside now and most of the students were swapping over to the winter uniforms, herself included. She didn’t wear her jacket yet, but she did swap shirts already, which hid most of her arm on its own.
Once the rest of her morning routine was finished, she met Anita in the dining room where some eggs and white rice awaited her. It was a simple breakfast, especially since the rice was some leftovers from the night before. The pair of them talked a little while eating, but every now and then, Ferain’s attention drifted towards the door of their apartment. Despite it being a whole year, it was still an odd change she still hadn’t gotten used to. Mornings always had a chance of being met with somebody showing up at their door. Mana took on that role early on in the year, and after meeting Yarin and Lilipa, her smaller friend was a constant bother, even more so once Yarin started looking into Kiko’s whereabouts more regularly. All this year, it was just her and Anita, which wasn’t bad, but it was a sort of quiet that she strangely enough didn’t want.
“Have you heard from Lili at all?” asked Anita, catching Fera’s drifting attention. She was probably able to read what she was thinking like an open book.
“I have.” Fera said quietly, turning her gaze back to her partner. “She texts me all the time, but it’s never a lot at once.”
“Did she mention when she’s coming back?” asked Anita.
“I don’t think she is. She said her parents are skeptical about sending her back. They think it’s dangerous here.”
Anita scoffed at this. “Like it’s any safer over there. Have they even bothered to check the news lately? I would even go as far to say that last year here was safer than it is back home right now. If safety was their concern, she should’ve been here since the day school started back up.”
“Yeah, maybe. I mean, it is safer here, but still… I can understand it a bit. It’s a parent’s job to worry, right? That’s what normal parents do anyway. Either way, there’s not much we can do, is there? At the end of the day, it’s up to her parents to sort it out, and herself.”
“Hmm.” came Anita. “Still, I surprisingly miss her.”
Fera giggled. “I’m not surprised at all. You need to admit it eventually, Anita. You really liked her, didn’t you?”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Hirigaya.” said Anita.
Ferain shook her head and rose from her seat. “All set. You?”
“Yeah. Here.” Anita handed Ferain her plate, who then went to the kitchen to clean up while Anita got their bags moved to the doorway.
They both slid into their boots and were off to school within fifteen or so minutes, joining the crowds of others making their way as well. During their trek, Ferain didn’t see Maple or Victor either, which was unfortunately becoming more common as the days went on. It was because of their relationship, she knew that. She was happy for them, and she didn’t really mind the fact that they wanted to spend more private time together. Still, it didn’t stop her from feeling a bit more lonely during her morning journey through the district. She squeezed Anita’s hand harder with her own and looked towards the ground while walking. Anita squeezed back but didn’t say anything. She didn’t even look in Fera’s direction, and she didn’t have to. Just that simple gesture spoke clearly enough that she knew Anita was there for her. It made her remember that she wasn’t alone anymore, even if her other friends were off doing their own things at the moment, and living their own lives.
While crossing the checkpoint into District-A, she noticed a teacher greeting students on the other side. This particular teacher, however, made her eyes narrow sharply with anger and annoyance.
“Morning, Hirigaya, Caswell.” said Seven Itani, with his slippery, hissing tone of voice. “Good to see you showed up, Ferain, and on time at that.”
“Happy to be here.” Ferain growled back, stepping past him and pulling Anita behind her.
“Hirigaya,” Itani called out. “I hope you’re ready for morning lessons. We’re getting closer to the end of the year now so we’re going to be stepping things up a bit. I just thought it would be fair to warn you. Your games and disobedience won’t be tolerated any longer.”
Ferain ignored him as she shook her head, continuing along the walkways towards the main building of the school.
“That guy really is a jerk.” said Anita, looking back at him over her shoulder.
“He’s beyond that.” said Fera, snarling out the words. “It doesn’t matter though. I have to ignore him or he’ll get under my skin too much.”
“Sounds like a good plan.” said Anita as they reached the entrance to the school. Anita pulled Fera close suddenly and kissed her on the cheek. “Well, Hirigaya, this is as far as I can go.”
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” asked Fera. “Some secret lover or something?” she asked, grinning and moving her lips closer to Anita’s.
“Nothing as fun as that.” said Anita, following up the words with a quick, soft peck. “I need to meet a friend in the library really fast. He let me borrow some notes and I need to give them back. See you at lunch?”
“Of course.” said Fera, before letting Anita’s hands glide out of her own. “Love you.”
“I know.” Anita said as she danced away.
She started walking towards the central staircase and began leaping up them, two steps at a time. Fera watched as Anita vanished from sight, and then sighed as she recalled the look on Itani’s face moments earlier, knowing that she would soon be facing him again in a matter of minutes. She turned her gaze towards the large arena-like building that awaited at the end of one of the several concrete pathways that circled the school. Itani’s word of warning wasn’t exactly unexpected, seeing as he had told them to meet in the gym instead of the classroom this morning. That could only mean that she, as well as her other classmates, would soon be getting a lot more physical in their remaining lessons.
They were part way through September, which meant they only had to finish this month and then survive November and they would be free of him at last. As she walked along the path towards the gym, she thought back on her time with him throughout the year, from the very beginning to now. She would also occasionally glance down at her scarred right hand, recalling the way that power felt, and how much she really wanted to let it all go at the one thing she had been focused on at the time. Itani had helped her make that power a more normal occurrence, not just a trick she could occasionally pull out by accident. His methods were harsh, but they got results, even if she thought the cost might’ve been too high. Still, was it really right for her to rebel so much against his way of teaching without any of the other students having the chance to decide for themselves?
They never explicitly told anybody, especially her, but she noticed a slight change in the class’s nature when she started acting more disobediently towards the professor. She would refuse him or ignore him more often than not, and as a result, she began noticing the other students picking up that habit. She didn’t know if it was their own choice, or if they saw her, his favorite, now defying him, so they just tagged along, not really knowing fully what they were declining. Like Anita had said before, the students were rightfully scared of whatever was coming. Maybe it wasn’t right for her and her attitude to inherently sway the minds of her fellow students away from something that might come to save their lives. Yes, Ferain paid a lot for this power, but it was power nevertheless. She could now protect herself and her friends from any threat, she was sure of it. They all deserved the same choice that she made at the start of the year.
As Ferain neared the gym, she pondered about whether she should just lay low for the rest of the year, and maybe even behave enough so the other students don’t get so put off from actually learning something. She didn’t know if Itani would be back the next year, but if he wasn’t, this might be their last chance to truly learn how to defend themselves before they had to fight something real, something that wouldn’t hold back for fear of their safety. Ferain entered the gym, taking note of the several other students that shared this class with her. Marrow and his girlfriend Mio Kana were sitting on some of the lower bleachers in the audience, partially surrounded by a handful of other familiar faces. She started walking towards her own secluded spot, away from the others, when Marrow called out to her.
“Prodigy! Come over here really fast.” he said, after getting her attention.
Ferain approached nervously and gave an odd, anxious smile to both of them. Marrow’s bone-colored eyes never really looked pleased or happy, and it matched the usual expression he wore, which only changed when he was spending time with the beautiful pale-skinned girl sitting beside him. She had long locks of onyx black hair, and her deep scarlet eyes had an odd way of seeming kindly and welcoming, unlike Yarin’s, which had always been cold and distant, despite sharing a similar color.
“M-morning.” she muttered, not exactly knowing what they wanted, or if she was in some sort of trouble or not.
“You seem tense.” said Mio, in a sweet, friendly tone. It was a far cry different from the cries of pain that still haunted Ferain’s memory whenever she saw this girl, who at one point, had nearly been an unfortunate victim of Ferain’s anger some time ago.
“Sorry.” Fera said softly. “All this time and I’m still not quite used to people greeting me.”
“Especially if it's us.” interjected Marrow, who gave his own sort of attempt at a friendly grin, though it didn’t really suit him. There was a time, probably at the very start of the previous year, when a smile was quite frequently found on his person. Now, however, after everything that happened, it didn’t seem comfortable for him to look happy.
“I… I wasn’t going to say that.” said Fera, grinning timidly. “Can I help you with anything?”
“You didn’t hide them this morning,” said Marrow, seemingly ignoring her question.
“Hmm?” Fera hummed, following his gaze to her partially revealed hand as it barely protruded from her long sleeve.
“Your scars,” said Mio. “I haven’t seen them before.”
“Truth be told, I’m not quite fond of sharing them.” Fera said. “I just didn’t want to deal with wrapping it up today. Sorry to sound rude, but seriously, is there anything you need?”
“No, not really.” Mio said, before looking expectantly at her unexpected partner.
“Right.” Marrow said, sounding embarrassed. Fera even noticed his cheeks turning slightly red. “We–”
“We?” Mio interrupted.
“I…” Marrow corrected. “I wanted you to sit with us.”
Fera’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? You did?”
“You always look a bit lonely.” Mio said, filling the silence that Marrow let momentarily linger. “You always take on the brunt of Itani’s lessons and then you separate yourself from the rest of us. I don’t think it’s fair for you to do that, and neither does Marrow.”
“I appreciate that, really,” said Ferain, eyeing them both in turn. “However, I don’t agree. You especially, I… I almost really hurt you.” She then eyed Marrow with a deeply pained look behind her gleaming golden irises. “I still feel partially responsible for Copper as well, and I said some hurtful things to you in the past. Again, I appreciate the sentiment, but for at least this class, I think it’s best if I’m just left alone.”
“You’re stupid for believing that.” Marrow spat. “Come on, moron, just take a seat. It’s not like we’ll be sitting for long anyway. Once that asshole gets here, I’m sure we’ll be up and jumping around like his personal little monkeys.”
Ferain thought for a moment, opened her mouth to speak, and then second-guessed her words before actually saying anything. “Look, I know I’ve been sort of… aggressive in this class, specifically against Itani, but… I think he might actually be able to teach you all something if you let him.”
“The first half of the year you might as well have been shining his boots, and then you turn your colors and start arguing with him left and right. Now you’re telling us to trust him.” came an incredulous tone from Marrow.
“Not trust… just… you know… I just think he might be of use. The other teachers don’t really teach us how to fully use our powers unless we sign up for a particular combat class. The lvl-studies classes are just to give us a basic understanding, but that isn’t a thing in other nations. I just think that for this last bit of the school year, at least this month, maybe you can actually listen to what he has to say.” Fera said. She touched her earring with her fingers and twirled it a bit between them. “I’ll even stop getting in the way for a while. I was doing it out of spite but at the same time, I’ve been robbing you all of an opportunity to learn something useful. He’s an asshole, like you said, but he did teach me how to get stronger.”
The two people in front of her both looked at one another before Marrow eyed her with a set of eyes that were full of anger and disbelief. “You think I’ve been going against him for this long because of you? You’re a part of it, Prodigy, I won’t lie, but mostly, I just can't stomach his methods. I might’ve been an asshole myself, but I’m nowhere near as bad as him. The things he does are sick, and it’s not right. In fact, I already had a plan for today to start getting rid of him.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“What are you–” Fera started, but she never had the chance to finish. There was a ray of sunshine cast into the gym as the doors swung open, and when they closed, a heavy thud echoed throughout the expansive amount of space. She looked over with contempt in her eyes that wasn’t exactly voluntary. Despite her desire to stay out of his way from now on, just the sight of Seven Itani was enough to cause her blood to boil.
“Speak of the devil.” said Marrow, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms.
As Itani approached the space in front of the bleachers where his students were currently gathered, the remaining ones that were standing found their seats. Ferain was the only outlier until Mio grabbed her arm and pulled her into a seat beside her. Itani, with his fine suit and his smug, conniving expression, stood in front of the waiting class in silence. It was as if he was waiting until even their breathing ceased to start speaking. Only when the morning bell played out its melody over the speakers did he finally decide to open his mouth.
“Morning, class, today is going to be the start of something new in our lesson plan. From this point to the end of the year, we will be meeting here instead of the classroom. I already… persuaded… the headmaster into granting me the permission of using the gym as I see fit.” The mention of her father only served to anger Ferain further, knowing full well that he used his position to leverage Guji into compliance. “Shockingly, there may somehow be a few of you that do not know what this new schedule will consist of. For those unfortunately blessed with lackluster intelligence, I will spell it out. From this point on, we will be having matches, and from this point on, we will not be holding back near as much as before.”
“Any more of this and you’ll kill us.” came a voice from beside Ferain, and unfortunately, she knew it. Marrow rose from his seat and glowered at the older man ahead of him, who only seemed partially amused by the challenge. “We can’t handle any more of this. I don’t know about the rest of you,” he said, looking back at his classmates. “But I’m getting tired of being pushed around every morning. I don’t care how strong you think you’re making us, but I’ve had enough.”
Marrow leapt over the barricade and stood face to face with Itani. Ferain was about to rise from her seat as a frightful, concerned expression appeared on her face. Mio, however, stopped her by once again grabbing her arm and giving a slow shake of her head.
Marrow, unflinching, straightened his back as his eyes began to glow bright white. “I challenge you to a fight, Professor. If I win, which I should if your lessons have been worth a damn, I want you to leave. We will obviously not need you anymore if I can beat you in a fight, right?”
To this, Itani simply smiled. The older man didn’t move a muscle, he didn’t even blink. It took only the slightest fraction of a second for Marrow to be swept off of his feet and thrown aside. Purely on instinct and reaction, Ferain blinked. She was gone from her seat and appeared a dozen feet away on the court, using her left hand to stop Marrow as both of them slid back a few extra feet along the slick flooring. Her right hand was covered in electricity as it dug deeply into the wood, causing them to slow down much sooner than they would have normally. Long scorched grooves were left in their path from her nails, and when they did finally come to a stop, her glowing eyes peered through the shadow cast by her hair to glare wickedly at her teacher.
“Marrow!” Mio called out, moving to hop over the barricade, but before she could, a small metal sphere flew down past her reaching hand. It crashed into the ground and created a small crater where it landed, causing her to stop instantly. The smiling professor returned Fera’s glance, though his was one of pleasure in place of uncontained fury.
“Are you okay?” Fera asked Marrow.
“My arm.” Marrow hissed, gripping his left arm tightly. “Shit. I think it’s broken.” His words sounded pained and shaky, as if he was struggling to fight back the tears caused by immense levels of pain. Fera placed a hand on the already swelling and purpling area of flesh.
“This might sting, just to warn you.” she said before allowing green and white electricity to glow around his damaged limb. “It won’t fix it entirely, and not immediately. It should help it along though.” Fera then rose and stepped over Marrow’s curled up figure. As she started walking towards Itani, her body became engulfed in electricity. “You’ve gone too far.” she said.
“Have I?” he asked, and just as Ferain was about to launch at him, she let out a loud scream of her own as something struck her leg. She was swept off of her feet and then hit in the back by something powerful, which sent her into the flooring of the gym.
Ferain panted heavily as pain coursed through her body. Her blue lightning shifted into a more emerald hue as she tried healing herself, but as she felt her pain waning, the force against her grew stronger. “Ahhhhh!” she howled painfully as cracks began to form in the ground beneath her. Through tear-filled eyes, she glared murderously up at the man who was still standing in the same place, his hands stuffed in his pockets, and his expression still jovial and unsurprised. He gave a small tilt of his head and the scream that Ferain let out in response as she was pushed further into the ground was unlike any other she’d ever released. It was as if the very air around her was trying to flatten her completely, and with every passing millisecond, it only got worse. Breathing was becoming nearly impossible, and through one blurry eye, she managed to see that all of the other students were being pressed into their chairs so that they were unable to help. Honestly, Ferain doubted they would even if they could move.
Finally, as Itani gave another tilt in the other direction, the pressure let up just enough so that she could take in a sharp gasp of oxygen, relieving her of the fate of fainting from a lack of air.
“I am going to talk for a while, and I expect you all to listen. I am going to be honest with you, as I always have been. I am not going to feed into the delusions that your teachers, and your headmaster, have been shoveling down your tiny, disobedient throats.” came a much more aggressive voice from Itani, one that Ferain had hardly ever heard, with a few training sessions being the only exceptions. “Listen up and listen well, because I will not be repeating myself. November starts exams, and then there will be preparations for your end of year activities. That means that this month will be your last month of real training for the year, and quite possibly, your lives.”
Ferain was panting heavily from pain as her powers fizzled and flickered away. She could only manage to open one eye, and the screaming agony in her brain was begging for the release that unconsciousness would bring. She saw Itani looking at her, and surprisingly, the expression she saw was one of disappointment, as if he regretted that it had come to this between them.
“The truth is, none of you can touch me. It is a sad truth, and do you know why? It’s because you will soon be facing much worse than me. Your beloved academy might tell you that all will get better, that you need not be concerned with what’s happening back home, and that you should just focus on your studies. The headmaster might want you all to have the chance of being normal… of being human, but that’s simply not possible. You are not human, none of us are. We don’t get to choose. We get strong… or we die. We allow ourselves to be used… or we die. It is not luxurious, but it is simple. We do as we’re told, and we must be prepared for it, or we die. The conflict outside of this island is not getting better. Governor Moon had hoped his election would ease the coming tides but it has not. If anything, the rogues have become even more driven, more focused.”
Itani stopped for a second and glared at each student in turn, as if trying to imprint what he was saying into their very minds with how serious his gaze was.
“I would not go as far as to call this a war by any means, but it is a resistance that needs to be quelled. As unfortunate as this is, this means that it will be your turn to fight soon enough. Wielders from this academy will be utilized in order to put an end to the rogues and whoever leads them. Why you, you may ask. I will answer. It is you that will be fighting because that is the point of these academies. Guji Hakamura, that snake you call a headmaster, has been misleading you. This is not a place of education, not originally. The governments fund the academies for the sole sake of raising up soldiers to feed into their armies. You may all ‘choose’ a career outside of school once you graduate, but do you really think that’s the end of it? Should any conflict arise, you are to fight, no matter what your trade is or where you are in the world. You can live in denial all you want, but there is no hiding what we are. We are bred to kill, and so, like the weapons we’re intended to be, we will do so.
Guji has forgotten this fact about us, or he deems it beneficial to ignore it entirely. I will not be doing the same thing as him. I was sent here to protect the school, but as of his election, Governor Moon has requested that my directive be training you. Not all of you, but a select few, whichever ones I had been given at the start of my post here. I am doing as I was told, and I am doing it to the best of my ability.”
He glanced over at Ferain, who gritted her teeth and let out a pained growl as the pressure against her body worsened again.
“It would be easier if I didn’t have little splinters in my side the entire way. You have been a lackluster investment, Hirigaya, and I am sorely disappointed.” he said furiously. Ferain screamed again as she felt her bones cracking and tasted blood in her mouth.
“You’re killing her!” somebody in the stands screamed, but another sphere whizzed past their head, silencing them at once.
“So what if I do?” asked Itani.
He looked over at Ferain again, who now had a small trail of blood dribbling from the corner of her clenched mouth. She tried fighting against the pressure, but every time her powers flickered to life, they would vanish just as quickly, and she would be left lying on her stomach, unable to move.
“You all want to stand against me?” he growled angrily. “I am your only lifeline in this entire school. I am the only thing that might actually save your lives some day. What I have given you might just keep you alive into the next year. And you want to stand against me?!”
Itani walked over to Ferain, kneeled down, and grabbed a fistful of her short brown hair. Her head was raised off of the ground and the look she saw in his eyes was enough to send any person running in the opposite direction. But Ferain was not one of them. She glared back with her one good eye, as blood spilled from her mouth and her entire body felt broken.
“You want to know what you’ll be facing out there? I know you’ve seen it, Hirigaya. Do you know why they are worse than me? It’s because I can control it. I can hurt you, or I can not. It is my choice. The rogue wielders out there, the ones killing and blowing up your homes are not capable of such things. They are average people, people that were given the choice your headmaster, your father, is giving all of you. They settled for complacency instead of actual training, and now, all they are are ticking time bombs, that once set off, can’t be contained. I can just break your arm or your leg, but they will blow you up entirely, and take your city with you. It’s a cap on a bottle that can’t be slightly twisted. It is on… or it is off. Do you understand?”
Ferain couldn’t answer properly, so he forced her to nod and then dropped her face into the ground again. He strode back to the front of the class.
“You want me gone, yes? All of you? You wish to settle for your headmaster’s way of doing things, even after knowing the threats you will inevitably be facing? You wish to follow the lead of one rebellious nobody that has had too much leniency?” he asked, sending a passing glance in Fera’s direction. “Fine. I will offer you an ultimatum, a deal.”
Itani let out a loud whistle, and at once, the doors to the gym swung open. The silhouette outlined in the doorway was curvy and seemed to be about as tall as Anita, maybe a little taller. This newcomer walked over to Itani’s side and stopped, putting a pale hand on her hip. She had long, pale blonde hair and eyes that were emerald green. She had a healthy, thick look about her, and just from a single glance, one could tell she was foreign to the Sakura Nation. She wore a uniform that didn’t belong to this school, with a navy blue shirt and a rippled black skirt. Her legs were mostly covered by black knee-high socks, which had ribbons tied near the tops of them, and her feet were protected by a pair of black loafers. The coat she wore over her top was a long white variation with two eagle-bearing badges sewn into the collar. She gave a cocky, passing examination of the room, but remained silent all the while.
“This is Amara Hill. She is an S-Grade student from Freerider Academy, which is the equivalent to your Level-1. She will be transferring here next year, but was given special permission to remain here for the rest of the year so she could get accustomed to the layout and the scheduling. I’m sure you all know this already, but the other academies are much more compliant with the way things are supposed to be done. This means that I have full confidence that she could kill every one of you right now if I let her, even if all of you attacked her at the same time.” Itani cast a sideways glance at Ferain, who was barely able to keep her head up to see both of them looking her way. “Even you, Hirigaya. I doubt you’d be able to survive. But, you all must be asking yourselves about my deal.”
Itani held out a hand to Amara, which brought all eyes on the young girl. “My deal is simple. You have two options. You can put your faith in Ferain, and I will have her fight Amara here. Should Ferain win, I will do as you all want. I will resign. You will be left to your own devices, and with any luck, your deaths will be painless when that time undoubtedly comes. If she loses, I will provide you all with the same exact private training I gave her at the start of the year. You do not know what that exactly entails, but believe me, Ferain will never forget it, and I suspect that if you survive it, neither will any of you. Or, you could ignore her, do as you’re told, and your training will go as I have currently planned. It will be harder than what you’ve already faced this year, but it will not be lethal. All you have to do is stop interfering with my work. Pay attention, and you may just learn how to keep yourselves alive.” The pressure let up entirely from Ferain’s body and she gasped with relief. “We will not be holding any lessons today. Hirigaya, you and Label will go to the nurse and recover. I want no interactions between you and the rest of the class. It will be their decision, one made without your influence. We will see where their faith is, and how smart they are. Class dismissed.”
Itani turned and began walking towards the door, and everyone who was in their seats were released from whatever was keeping them there. At once, Mio hopped the barricade and ran to Marrow’s side, while Ferain struggled to her hands and knees, coughing up small flecks of blood as her emerald electricity began running through and around her. She glared through her hanging fringe, noticing the new foreign student staring directly at her.
“So, you’re the Lightning Prodigy of Olirian. I’ve heard about you, you know that? Hmm. Not much, are you?”
Ferain gave a smoky snort as lightning flickered behind her eyes, but the girl paid her no further mind, instead deciding to follow Itani out of the gym. She continued watching until the doors were closed and somebody else from the class was kneeling down beside her.
“How are you doing?” asked a boy she never really talked with before. She looked over and saw a short head of brown hair and some light black eyes.
“Fine.” Ferain replied, accepting the boy’s offered hand. He helped Fera to her feet while remaining by her side to act as a sort of support. She tried to take a step on her own, but her left leg almost gave out on her, and there was a terrible pain in her left side near her ribs.
“I’ll help you to Ita’s office.” the boy offered, looking back at Marrow and Mio. Marrow was able to walk on his own so thankfully, Mio didn’t have to support his weight. He wasn’t all that large, but it still might’ve been a struggle for her.
Some time later, Fera was sitting on the edge of a bed as Mr. Ita looked her over. She had her shirt off, but she was still in her bra and everything else. For some reason, despite Ita being a man, she never felt nervous about being dressed this way around him, even while he checked her body so closely to make sure of her condition. It was probably because he was a doctor, so she knew it was purely professional, and if it somehow wasn’t, he did an amazing job of hiding it. Her side was still pretty badly bruised, but she was able to move now, albeit a tad slower than normal.
“Well, Hirigaya, your healing abilities have once again astounded me, I must admit. Normally, when somebody is carried in here, they aren’t walking out on their own. Honestly, without those powers of yours, I’d probably have you sent to a hospital.”
“I guess I should be thankful then.” said Ferain, smiling weakly up at him.
Ita returned that with his own sort of grim, but positive expression. He then did a final check of her ribs and back before leaning back into his wheeled chair. “Well, all set. I’ve done all I can, and what’s left should be in good hands with your abilities. If I have as much of a grasp on your powers as I suspect, you’ll probably still be a bit sore in the morning, but by tomorrow night, you should be all healed up. That man… I can’t believe he’d do something so… so disgusting.” Ita spat, using a tone that didn’t suit him at all
“It’s fine. I plan on staying out of his way for the rest of the year. If my lucky streak continues, this should be my last visit here, at least for personal reasons.” she said.
“I hope so, for your sake. You’re good to get dressed once you’re ready, just move carefully and try not to twist that side too much.”
“Got it.” she said as he rolled away towards a nearby desk. Ferain grabbed her shirt from the side of the bed and began shrugging it on. As she did, the door creaked open and she heard a familiar squeak that caused her fingers to stop moving. In the time it took her to raise her head, Anita’s arms were already being wrapped around as she was tackled backwards. “Owwww.” Ferain groaned, unable to fully hide the smile on her face, despite the throbbing pain.
“I was so worried about you. The second I heard what happened, I came running here.”
“I’m fine. I’m okay.” Fera said.
Anita sat up so she was straddling Fera’s body and pouted. “What happened to ignoring him?”
“Couldn’t help it.”
“Tsk. You… You’re going to be the death of me, Ferain.”
“I hope not.” Fera said, trying to smile lightly, mostly to lift the grim mood that had hung around her since everything that happened that morning.
“How can you smile like that?” asked Marrow, who was sitting with Mio on a bed across from her.
Both Anita and Ferain glanced at him, but it was Fera who answered, once her partner had climbed off of her. She sat up and gave a somber sort of grin while looking down at the hands she put in her lap.
“I don’t know, I’m just trying to be positive.” Fera answered.
“You look like an idiot to me.” Marrow said sharply. “You’re all beat up and bloody and you’re smiling about it. There’s nothing positive about this.”
Fera sighed. “No, maybe not, but what choice do I have? I’m tired of being angry about everything.” After a second, she looked up at Marrow, making sure to catch his eyes and keep his gaze. “Marrow, I’m not allowed to talk to the others, but you have to for me. I can’t do that fight. You need to convince anyone that might want me to fight to change their mind.”
“You don’t think you’re strong enough?” Marrow said in a disbelieving fashion, which made sense to her.
“It’s not that. Look, the training I did with Itani… it changed me. I’m not worried about being strong enough. I’m worried that if I have to really get serious to win, I might lose myself in it.” Fera shifted her focus to Mio, who was clinging to Marrow’s side. “I almost killed you, and that was just a sparring match. No offense, of course, but I was hardly trying. I haven’t had to really get serious since my training sessions with him. Honestly, I’m afraid. I can’t fight her, because if she’s as powerful as Itani seems to think, there’s a chance I won’t stop until she’s dead.”
There was a short pause, and Marrow seemed disappointed by her request. He undoubtedly wanted Itani gone as much as the rest of them, but there was nothing to be done about it. Fera simply couldn’t take that chance, not unless she absolutely had to, like in life or death situations. “Please, Marrow. I know I don’t deserve the favor, but I can't do it. It’s only one more month. You heard him, next month will mostly be end of the year stuff. We just have a few more weeks to go. It’s not worth it to me.”
“We’ll do it.” said Mio in Marrow’s place. “We won’t make you fight, Ferain, I promise.”
“Thank you. Marrow,” she said quietly, which caused the boy to look into her eyes, though he did so reluctantly. “Really, I can never pay you back for this. Thanks.”
“Tsk. Fine, fine. Enough with the puppy eyes.” he said, finally giving in and crossing his arms over his chest. “We’ll take care of it. I guess there’s nothing to be done anyway.”
Ferain’s adventurous school day ended with a conversation with Guji before heading home with Anita by her side. The talk she shared with her father wasn’t long, nor was it all that important. He primarily wanted to be sure of her safety, which once she proved she was fine, he wasn’t too upset with letting her go a little early. Anita doted on her the rest of the night, before ending the night with her head in her partner’s lap, and some soft music playing from the TV. Even Anita fell asleep while sitting there, her head leaning to one side as she breathed softly, almost in time with the music.