“Hey, Levi,” Aida hissed. Levi was humming as he waited for his breakfast tray. He raised an eyebrow, inviting her to speak. “Can you, please, concisely explain the thought process behind having a robust mana resistance?”
Levi sighed, lowering his voice. “I already told you, you just do it.”
“If that’s the best you can do, I’m going to ask Ezra to explain it to me,” Aida whispered fiercely. Levi’s lips curled down at her threat. Aida thrust out her hand. “Here, try it again.”
Levi reluctantly reached out his own hand, placing a fingertip on her palm. His eyes widened. “What did you do?”
“Shower thoughts.” When Levi continued to look at her expectantly, Aida huffed out a breath. “Shouldn’t you be the one explaining how this is done?”
Levi sniffed. “But the student explaining it is part of the learning experience.” Aida stared icily at him. It was only when she made a move to go place her breakfast order did he catch her arm and explain.
“The fundamental thought behind Mana Resistance is distrust,” Levi said quietly. His mouth was next to her ear, a puff of warmth brushing over her cheek. “You don’t trust whoever is trying to break through your guard.” Releasing her arm, he leaned back. His gaze was intense, willing her to tell him what she had done.
Aida chewed inside her lip. She was off-kilter. Her epiphany with the water bubble last night seemed to correlate with Levi’s explanation, but she was reluctant to give him more details about her - details he might decide to use against her later.
It wasn’t necessarily the creation of the Aida bubble that made her realize how to activate the passive Mana Resistance. It was the shape of the watery outline, a layer of water thin enough to capture each nook and cranny of her face, individual tubes of water shaped to her strands of hair, giving Aida the impression of armor. Armor perfectly shaped to her body, protecting her from incoming attacks. With the image of a shell underneath her skin, protecting her from any foreign mana attempting to penetrate and take over her own mana, Aida had felt a flash of understanding illuminate her tired mind, giving her a second wind.
A shield that could protect her from the world’s bullshit? What a wonderful idea.
“Please, let me bask in my distrust of you,” Aida said sweetly. “I would like to savor this victory in peace.”
Pirouetting on her toe, Aida fairly skipped to the ordering line.
“You’re in a good mood this morning.”
Glancing behind her, Aida couldn’t contain her smile. “Dev, good morning. How do you do?” It was so nice to talk to someone in Pritchard’s group without first being assaulted by malicious mana.
After exchanging pleasantries, Dev turned the conversation to today’s matches. “You’re fighting my cousin today, correct?”
“I suppose so,” Aida said noncommittally.
“Please do your best today as well. Your victory over Levan yesterday was good, but I’d consider it a personal favor if you managed to at least score a point on Lara.”
Aida eyed Dev cautiously. More politics. “I’ll certainly do my best, but I imagine Lara would be prepared for whatever I do.”
Fortunately, the counter attendant called for Aida just then, putting an end to their conversation. Aida nodded at Dev after she placed her order.
She retreated to the water pitchers, pre-filling her cup so she could have something to sip on, and make it clear she wasn’t in the mood to continue any conversations. After collecting her breakfast tray, Aida escaped to a corner booth, huddling herself in there to be alone with her thoughts. She began shoveling food into her mouth, so that she could have an excuse to dodge Sue when she inevitably tried to join her for breakfast. Unfortunately, she wasn’t that lucky.
Ezra slipped into the seat across from her wordlessly. Aida glanced at him, but other than briefly meeting her eye, Ezra said nothing. He began eating his rice. Slowly. One small mouthful at a time. Thoroughly chewing every bite. Delays in his chewing as he picked at his side dishes. She was suddenly very embarrassed for him to see her eating like an animal. Reaching for the cloth napkin on her tray, she wiped her mouth, trying to match his dignity.
“You seem particularly tense today,” Ezra finally said, as Aida began fidgeting with her chopsticks. “I would have expected you would be more relaxed after yesterday’s victory.”
Aida didn’t know what to say - what could she say? Ezra must be smart enough to notice the difference. But if he did, then he would have known much earlier, since she had the deepest conversations with him. And as someone who had all the luxuries available to him, why would he be so kind to her?
Stolen story; please report.
It was this last question burning in her mind that made her finally blurt out her thought. Ezra paused, a small chunk of fish suspended in his chopsticks. He carefully set the morsel back down, returning it to where it had been torn from its body. Ezra’s lashes were long, only showing a sliver of the gray storm brewing underneath them as he thought. He finally raised his eyes, meeting hers.
“I don’t know,” Ezra said slowly. His irises rippled like mercury. “I don’t think I’ve been especially kind to you. I certainly haven’t gone out of my way to be cruel to you either.”
“Why have you been helping me so much?” Aida asked, trying another approach. Ezra’s response was honest, but didn’t answer what she was really asking.
Ezra’s response this time was quicker, though equally unsatisfying. “Because I could. It was never any trouble.”
Aida struggled, trying to come up with the right words to make him answer her uncouth question: Will you abandon me when I can’t deliver? It was true that in her real life, she had drifted apart from her friends. She had been telling herself that it happened because she never made time for them - she never had time for them, in between balancing her jobs, her family, and her general well-being - but the real answer was closer to the fact that her friends never contacted her after they reached certain milestones in their lives. The milestones that acted as benign gatekeepers to social class differences. They never texted her first, and invitations to birthday parties dwindled over the years as the guest lists were steadily pruned to consist of university friends, and then coworker friends. Her texts to them were answered later and later, always with a quick apology mentioning how busy they’d been - as if she wasn’t busy as well - while they would post photos and videos of gatherings with their mutual friends between the usual uploads of fun activities and trips. Eventually the text conversations stopped entirely. The last half dozen speech bubbles were always on the right side of the screen, starkly separated by dates.
“…Aida.” Aida blinked. Ezra was no longer sitting in front of her. Instead, he was in the booth next to her, his shoulders curled over her to shield her from the rest of the cafeteria. He had his own napkin in his hand, holding it up to her face. Reaching her fingers up, Aida felt warm water on her cheeks. She felt the other side of her cheek. Also wet.
“Sorry, I don’t know what’s going on,” Aida said, forcing a laugh. Ignoring Ezra’s napkin, she grabbed her own. “Must be the stress of the matches getting to me. I’m fighting Dev’s cousin later, you know?”
Slowly pulling back, Ezra looked at her with - pity? Aida forced strength into her voice. “Thanks for worrying about me, but I’m fine. I think I should go for a walk to clear my head, get ready for the match.”
Ezra obligingly backed out of the booth, letting Aida out. Quickly dabbing the rest of her tears away, Aida grabbed her tray and scooted out, power walking to the dish drop. Ezra easily kept pace with her. “You should stay and finish eating.”
“I am finished.”
“You don’t have to keep me company.”
“I’m stressed too. I’m fighting in the first match.”
Aida glanced at Ezra. He looked supremely unconcerned.
They walked out of the cafeteria together, drawing stares and whispers from the students. Ezra, despite his longer stride, walked next to her, letting her lead the way. They walked in silence, until they finally lapped the combat arena twice. Aida stopped at the far end of the arena, the furthest away from the cafeteria. Their classmates and spectators were finally beginning to populate the stands. Ezra stopped immediately as well, as if he was attuned to her every thought.
“Thank you,” Aida said, watching the students fill the stands. Ezra didn’t say anything. “Regardless of what happens in the future, thank you. You’re a good friend.”
“…Friend,” Ezra repeated softly. He said it with a slight lilt, almost as if he was asking it as a question. Aida glanced at him. Her eyes were finally dry, her nose clear, her breathing normal. Ezra had a slightly furrowed brow, and was mouthing the word friend gently.
“…We are friends, right?” Ezra looked startled at the question, even a bit panicked. It was as if he had never been in this situation before. Aida suppressed a smile.
“Let me try again.” She turned to face Ezra, then stepped back into the deepest curtsy she could manage, her wrists delicately elevated to mimic holding a long skirt. “Your humble servant offers her most gracious thanks to His Lordship for accompanying her during her time of distress.” Aida held the pose, until Ezra finally laughed.
“Let’s stop doing that. It looks so wrong when you do it.” Ezra had a smile on his face when Aida straightened. He placed his pointer finger on her forehead, gently pushing on it. “I accept your proposal to promote our affiliation to that of ‘friends.’”
Sparkles popped around Ezra, framing him in a sublime aura. Aida smiled, for once not taking issue with the special effects.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
“Aida, are you all right?” Sue asked anxiously when Aida finally approached the group in the stands. Only Levi and Caleb were sitting with Sue this time. “I heard people saying you were crying this morning.”
“Yeah, is everything okay?” Levi’s words carried an accusatory undertone. His eyes were communicating dozens of warnings and accusations. Aida lifted her nose and ignored him as she addressed Sue.
“Yes, I’m fine. I was nervous, since I’m facing Lara today, so I decided to go for a walk after breakfast. Ezra thought he’d be moral support, so he joined me on my walk.”
Sue smiled. “That’s so nice of Ezra. I was worried Levi might have pushed you too hard yesterday.” She glared at Levi as she said the last bit.
“I told you, she woke up this morning and had perfect Mana Resistance!” Levi looked at Aida helplessly, actually having the gall to act like he was an innocent victim.
“Levi did what he had to do,” Aida said coldly. She sat down firmly next to Caleb, keeping him and Sue between her and Levi so she didn’t have to look at him.
“Levi’s method is a bit scummy,” Caleb agreed softly. “But it really does give good results.”
“You’re a kinder person than I am,” Aida muttered darkly. Beyond Caleb, Sue was giving Levi a dirty look. Aida couldn’t help but feel a vicious satisfaction knowing that Levi had damaged his progress with Sue with this latest interaction.