“A story? You’re treating my love life like something fictional?” Levi demanded.

“No, it’s a figure of speech,” Aida said smoothly. “I only said it like that because Sue never seemed to show any romantic inclinations when I first spoke with her. But now…”

“Now she likes someone, who isn’t me?” Levi asked shrewdly. “I don’t understand how you’re so optimistic.”

“She’s still wavering,” Aida insisted. “Trust me on this. We just need to get her alone with you, you can be your usual suave self, and then you’ll be a strong competitor for her affections.”

“How are you so certain it will be this simple?” Levi asked, his lower lip jutting out in contention. “Emotions aren’t this easily manipulated.”

Aida fixed him with a beady stare. “I can guarantee that if you don’t go along with my plan, you will have even less of a chance than you think.”

Levi frowned, thinking through her logic before finally acquiescing.

“The most important thing for you to do, Levi Ashet, is that you don’t try to put down your love rivals in front of her - or at all, for that matter,” Aida said authoritatively. “You want to look like the bigger man at all times, so that means you can’t be petty because you have no idea how it will get back to her.”

“Love rivals,” Levi repeated blankly. “How many rivals do I have?”

“Don’t worry about it - it’s better you don’t know so you don’t get tempted to sabotage them in some misguided attempt to make Sue think better of you. I promise you it will always backfire.”

Levi looked at her, exasperated.

“You might think I’m treating you like you’re stupid, but when emotions get involved people do really irrational things,” Aida said defensively. “I just want to make sure you’re aware and you don’t fall victim to short-sightedness.”

“I don’t even know where to start with this ridiculousness,” Levi muttered.

“By the way, when Sue comes back after her match, don’t harass her, okay?” Aida added hurriedly. “Just treat her as normal for now, until I manage to get you two alone.”

“Why do you have to be the one orchestrating these encounters?” Levi asked belligerently. “Surely as long as I stick to your guidelines of ‘don’t be petty, don’t suffocate her,’ I can achieve whatever arbitrary target you’ve laid out.”

“Because it’s not about you, it’s about Sue,” Aida said impatiently. “You can hover around her all you like - I’d call that suffocating, by the way - ultimately she has to be the one to decide she wants to spend time with you. She also is more likely to be less resistant to the idea of spending time with you if I clear the way.”

Levi exhaled, clearly unhappy with leaving the fate of his romance in her hands. “Fine. Do you have any guidelines for how I should behave if I actually get time alone with her?” he asked sarcastically.

“I think you’ll know when it happens,” Aida said wisely. “But act normal, she’s coming back.”

Furious at the unproductive and frustrating conversation, Levi continued to glare at Aida as she waved her hands excitedly at Sue’s return. “Nicely done!”

“Thank you,” Sue said half-heartedly as Aida slid over to make room for her. She dropped into the seat right between Aida and Levi with a sigh.

“At least you’re done for the day,” Aida said encouragingly.

“I suppose so,” Sue said glumly. Her lilac eyes continued to stare straight ahead. Levi and Aida exchanged awkward glances. He arched an eyebrow, almost as if he was asking for permission to talk to Sue. Aida gave a slight shrug, nodding.

“Next star cycle will be different,” Levi said, leaning back casually. “I imagine we’ll all be less friendly.”

“What do you mean?” Aida asked, when Sue didn’t respond.

Levi smirked, slipping right back into his original devil-may-care demeanor. “With how competitive Suelina is, I imagine she’s going to refuse to spend any amount of free time with us while we’re all fighting for our class placements.”

“That’s right!” Sue said, brightening. “I don’t want to see any of you guys next cycle!”

Biting her lip to keep her smile in check, Aida leaned into Sue’s good mood. “Oh good, I was getting sick of looking at Levi’s face.”

“I mean, I guess Levi can stick around,” Sue decided. “He’s Wood, so he’ll be helpful in keeping my mood up.”

“Hey,” Aida objected.

“I’m so happy to be of service,” Levi said courteously. “Please feel free to use me however you best see fit.”

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Aida wrinkled her nose in disgust, but the innuendo seemed to fly right over Sue’s head.

“The only people I don’t want to see are Ezra and Caleb and Dev,” Sue continued darkly.

“We can certainly avoid seeing them next cycle if it makes you feel better,” Aida agreed, suppressing her triumph. Looks like Levi’s event is going to happen next week.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

By the time Aida walked into the combat ring, she was feeling very relaxed. There was a path forward in upholding her end of the bargain with Levi, and just looking at Lyn’s trembling form made Aida confident this last match would be much more straightforward. Don’t let your guard down, though, Aida chided herself.

“Lyn, are you okay?” Aida asked. Lyn was shaking so hard that her knees were knocking together comically. She reached out with her mana senses, wary that the terrified girl was covering for a sneak attack on her.

Lyn’s pulse was racing, and her mana completely disordered. Her muscles were slack, which explained the drastic tremors. Aida could feel sweat oozing out of Lyn’s pores, as well as the excessive pooling of saliva in her mouth, as the girl kept swallowing. “Lyn,” Aida said, alarmed. “It’s okay, it’s only a placement match.”

“I wasn’t afraid,” the girl whispered shrilly, her long blue hair beginning to whip around her. “But after seeing what you did…my family is going to be so upset,” she choked out.

“What…why does it matter?” Aida asked, perplexed. I wasn’t the scary one…

“It didn’t matter that I was ranked below average in the class, but I can’t be in the bottom five,” Lyn wheezed out. “You were supposed to rank last in Water!”

Aida’s gaze hardened. “Good luck.”

“Begin!” Professor Bruce cried.

Deciding it might be worth it just to make a statement to the weaker twin, Aida drew on her mana, ready to blow three-quarters of her mana on Ice Blast - before realizing that Lyn was already soaked in her own sweat. Screw it.

Whipping her wand around in front of her to grab it with both hands, Aida focused on the sheen coating Lyn’s body - and noticed with a start that the gem in the base of the wand seemed to provide a clarity she had never noticed before. With her palm brushing the gemstone, she was able to see the outline of mana interactions, instead of focusing to feel the auras with her senses.

With the gem, she could easily see that Lyn’s control was…not at all controlled. Her mana was swirling around her, but not actually directed to do anything. Feeding her own mana through Lyn’s gaps, she was easily able to reach the sweat - but found resistance when she tried to take hold of it. Perplexed, she fed a little more mana in.

“Stop it!” Lyn shrieked, firing a wild mana blast at Aida.

Aida yelped as she dove to the side, losing her concentration. Seeing her chance, Lyn kept up a barrage of mana blasts, shooting with no plan or regard. Bemused, Aida directed mana into her muscles, surging to keep ahead of the profligate blasts of energy.

Slipping between the blasts, Aida rammed Lyn with her shoulder, sending the slim girl flying. With all of her (wasted) efforts so far, she still had about eighty percent of her mana left. Might be easier to just whack her physically.

Lyn was still curled on the ground, wheezing from the tackle. Flipping the wand in her grip so that her thumb was pressed on the gem, Aida approached Lyn. She was clearly in pain, not having expected to be physically struck by a mana-surged Aida. Whatever control she had over her mana had completely dissipated.

Grabbing Lyn by the back of her collar, Aida proceeded to drag Lyn over to the edge of their ring, employing a small amount of surge. “Professor Bruce,” she called, panting. “I don’t think Lyn is feeling too well.”

Bruce cast a critical eye towards them, before waving at the professors on the platforms and making a gesture indicating he would be occupied. Making his way over to Aida and Lyn, he crouched down, bringing Lyn’s face around to face him. “Miss Trippe, are you well? Would you like to forfeit?”

Caramel-colored eyes (the same shade as her sister’s hair) met Bruce’s, pupils dilated in pain. Tears squeezed out as she nodded, choking back a sob.

Inexplicably, instead of feeling relief or happiness, Aida felt a swell of anger. “Wait,” she said, interrupting Professor Bruce before he could make the announcement. “You shouldn’t give up so easily.”

“Miss Loreh—” Bruce started.

“No! She’s not injured, and she still has plenty of mana left in her,” Aida argued. She addressed her next words to Lyn. “If you really were supposed to be ranked above me, say it with your chest. Back up your words. Don’t take the easy way out by forfeiting now, and then being mad at me for not capitulating to what you believe I should be doing.”

Reaching down, Aida grabbed Lyn by the collar, lifting her up to her feet. Lyn stumbled, gasping in fear. Aida pointed her wand at her chest. “Keep fighting me, and make me believe that I should be ranked last.”

Fear continued swirling in Lyn’s expression, and apologies fell out of her mouth. “SHUT UP,” Aida bellowed. “Don’t walk your words back. Believe in what you say, and stand by your words.” Aida’s eyes flashed. “Take responsibility for your life.”

“Miss Loreh!” Professor Bruce stepped between them, blocking Lyn from Aida’s view. “That is enough, we have to respect—“

“Professor Bruce!” Stepping out from behind Bruce, Lyn was still shaking, but less so. Her wand was gripped tightly in her hand. She lifted her trembling chin. “Aida is right. I’ll fight until the end.” She looked into Aida’s eyes, grim acceptance firming her resolve. “At least I can tell my family I did my best.”

Nodding, Aida backed up, her wand held in a ready stance. Hesitating, Professor Bruce looked between the two girls, before backing up as well. “Very well; resume.”

Lyn created water - lots of water. She spread the liquid in a large hemisphere, suspending it around the two of them. She didn’t do anything else, just waited for Aida to make the next move. Touching the gemstone, Aida examined the blue-haired girl. Her own wand was held at the ready, but her eyes seemed to be looking past Aida - as if she was focused on maintaining the bubble. She’s trying to bait me to steal her water, Aida realized. Indeed, she could see that Lyn had a thick layer of mana over the water - enough mana for Aida to lose the fight of attrition if she attempted to hijack it. Fortunately, Lyn’s body looked soft, like she didn’t prioritize physical training. Surging mana through her body, Aida ran at Lyn, all the while keeping her eyes on Lyn’s torso.

Triumphantly, Lyn prepared to dodge Aida’s charge - except she didn’t notice that Aida had sent a mana blast at the foot she primed for the dodge, blasting the earth out from underneath her. All of her weight was suspended in the air, and she crashed down to the ground with a cry, her concentration shattered by the sudden feeling of weightlessness.

Immediately, Aida grasped for control of the water furthest away from them, batting away the scrabbling tendrils of Lyn’s mana as she attempted to regain control. Ice Blast. Feinting a low kick at Lyn crouching on the ground, Aida rolled over her shoulder as her icicles shot past her, slamming into Lyn’s body.

Landing on one knee where Lyn’s body had been just before a second prior, Aida glanced around herself. Did I just accidentally do a gainer?