Following Saturday's difficulties, Sunday turns into everyone coming over to our room to hang out, since everyone else splits their room with a roommate. Also, we have the projector TV. To our surprise, even Runa, Finn, and a couple guys from our dorm floor that Ken met last weekend come.

With all nine of us piled up on the beds, desk chairs, and even the floor, we lounge around, watch movies, and chat for most of the day, until a building monitor shows up, quoting rumors of possible inappropriate behavior between men and women in our room.

To that, we all just look around at each other and shrug. With an exasperated sigh, he leaves us alone and we return to our movie. It's a surprisingly nice time. Not needing to worry constantly, and just getting to relax with friends.

There is a point when Lucy, Amari, Ken, and Jen all break off to go talk, and I can't help but worry that it's something about me, after what happened yesterday. No, why would they talk about me in secret? I don't know, but I do my best not to dwell on it, and just enjoy the break.

When Monday morning arrives, so does Leona Vicca. The moment she steps in the door, a hush falls over the room, and everyone moves to give her a wide berth. When she sits down and begins unloading her bag, conversations pick up again, but more subdued than before.

I turn to look over at everyone, and they all give me thumbs up. With shaking, nervous energy, I approach her. She's only one desk up from me, diagonally. “U-umm?” I try to get her attention, and the entire class goes silent again.

“Whatever it is, I'm not interested,” she sighs without even a glance in my direction.

“I-I'm sorry, it's pretty important.”

That gets her to glance my way, but she just sneers and parrots, “Important?” like she can't believe anything I saw would be important. She sticks her hands up mockingly. “Ooh, miss big bad psion saves you from a school bully, it's so important to thank her...” Is she... mocking me, or herself...?

I shake my head. “Uhh, well, yes, thank you for that. But there's something completely unrelated I need to talk to you about.”

Now I actually have her attention. “Completely unrelated? Then why are you coming to me? I'm a scary ass tier seven psion, you know.” Again, her tone sounds weirdly self-deprecating, but-

T-tier SEVEN?! I gulp anxiously, whole body going stiff. No, now isn't the time to piss myself in terror!

Clenching my chattering teeth, I force out the words, “B-because I n-need t-t-to talk t-to you.”

Vicca whistles appreciatively. “Guess those rumors about balls of steel are true.” Hearing those words from the murderous psion monster, of all people, and in front of my entire class, it feels like my whole face catches fire in an instant. I think I stop breathing entirely.

“Haha,” Vicca chuckles, “cute response.” Leaning her tall, deadly frame onto the back of her chair, “Soo, what do you want to talk about?” she practically purrs.

I have to squeeze my eyes shut to keep from crying. “S-somewhere else?”

“Ooh, how demanding...”

I can't go much further, my whole body is locking up...

Then without warning, an arm slides around my waist and picks me right up off the ground. With a surprised squeak, my eyes fly open to see that Vicca just scooped me up under one arm. There are surprised sounds from much of the room, and I flail my arms and legs, but she doesn't even notice.

“S-Sei!” Ken and Jen call, but they can't take a single step toward her.

Ignoring all of this, Vicca walks right out of the room with me hanging from one arm. She stops in the hall outside the door and asks, “Here?” There are still tons of people from both C and D staring at us through the open doors. In my mortified state, all I can do is shake my head silently.

“So picky...” she complains under her breath. With a sigh, she marches into class D, ignoring all the looks from everyone gathered. She uses her free hand to swipe the window open.

Wait, she isn't-

She jumps out the window. This is the fourth floor! Apparently, that doesn't matter. Just before we crash into the ground, a flare of deep maroon rolls out, and we just... stop falling.

After a moment, gravity suddenly reasserts itself, and she touches down lightly in the grass. With a flick of her wrist, I spin back up to my feet, landing and staggering a few steps before I find my balance.

“Better?” she asks, but now everyone from class D is staring down at us from the windows. Where can I just talk to her alone? Preferably without her murdering me?! Easily following my gaze to the people still watching, she chuckles, “So that's how it is.”

Her eyes flare, brilliant, mesmerizingly terrible indigo spilling over. She raises one foot, still dyeing reality in her colors. Then it comes down, and I flinch as the world moves for her. All at once, we're skimming across the ground horizontally, the school building rapidly receding into the distance.

I brace myself and pull in my legs, eyes flashing up to Vicca, expression unchanging, like she's utterly unconcerned by this. The instant my feet touch the grass again, I'm sent into a crashing tumble. The best I can do is curl into a ball, trying to protect myself as I roll, and roll, and roll, and roll, and roll.....

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“Ugh... kughh...” I cough and groan when I eventually come to a stop near the edge of campus. I hurt everywhere...

When I hear Vicca's voice, I flinch on reflex, drawing my arms in to protect myself. But what I hear comes as a complete surprise.

“Shit. I-I'm sorry, that was not supposed to happen.” All trace of that cocky, joking woman from earlier are gone. She actually sounds really shaken up. “Come on, we have to get you to the infirmary.”

She picks me up again, but it's gentle this time, her arms coiling under my back to draw me up into a careful princess carry. I don't even care. With another groan, I wiggle my arms and legs to confirm that they aren't broken. It hurts when I breathe though, I didn't crack a rib, did I?

Running on her own feet this time, Vicca flies across the school grounds, back toward the building. I raise a hand weakly. “Please, no doctor...” I mumble. As bad as I hurt, it doesn't feel life threatening. Getting disowned is.

She raises a brow, but says, “Fine.”

Before I know it, we're back at the school, and soon after, the infirmary. There's a clatter of a chair and the startled voice of a woman, before Vicca calls out, her voice dripping with command once more.

“Out, I will be dealing with this myself.” As expected, the doctor runs for the hills. Then she sets me down in a bed and starts searching the room for medical supplies.

She moves through the room like a raging storm, in and out of a dozen different cabinets, then she's back at my bedside with arms full of bandages and ointment.

Then she grabs my torn up jacket and pulls it off, followed an instant later by my vest.

“W-wait!” barely gasp out, but the effort sends me into a fit of hacking coughs.

For her part, Vicca does wait for me to stop coughing, before she responds. “There is no need for modesty, I'm dressing your wounds.”

“That's...” Then I flop back down to show that I've given up. She'll see in a second anyway.

As soon as my shirt comes off, Vicca sees my bra and pauses.

“Wait, you're a girl? Why are you wearing the boy's uniform?” With a groan, I wave for her to keep working. Once she does, I get to explaining. My voice is weak and I have to stop for breathers repeatedly, but I manage to get the basics out as she's cleaning and wrapping up my innumerable bruises, cuts, and scrapes.

“I'm sorry, I misjudged you. You were completely right to say you had something important to discuss. And then I injured you this badly before you could even say it.” Vicca bows down, a hand over her heart. “You have my deepest apologies.”

I'm not happy with what she did, but for a psion to apologize so sincerely...

With a low mewl of pain, I manage to sit up a little to look her in the eye. “I'll forgive you, just please, help me figure out what happened to me and how I can fix it.” I'm more than willing to put aside an accident if it'll get me the only person who might be able to help.

“Of course.” Then she raises her head again. “We'll likely be working together on this for some time. Please, call me Leona.”

“Alright, Leona-san.”

She shakes her head. “Just Leona is fine.” I flush when she says that. Isn't that a little bit...?

“S-sure... Le... Leona...”

After another bow of her head, she continues, “Then I will do the same, Seiko.”

I grimace. “Just Sei is fine.”

Unexpectedly, she argues back. “But Seiko is such a beautiful name.”

“That's why I hate it, I'm supposed to be a man. My name has brought me nothing but trou-” As I'm in the middle of speaking, Leona suddenly slides forward, way inside my personal space, to stare me in the eye. Her nose nearly touches mine, my words cutting off in my throat.

I have no idea how to respond, and just stare in shock, until she draws back again. What was that? She's so weird!

With an unnecessarily serious expression, Leona says, “I'll take your words into consideration... Sei.” She says it slowly, like she's getting a feel for the word on her tongue.

“Haahh...” I feel like she's going to give me a heart attack if this keeps up. And that's if she doesn't kill me by accident first...

She straightens up. “Now, assuming you would like to keep your current condition secret, I would advise against resting in the infirmary in your present state.” I give her a heavy-lidded stare. That's just a fancy way of saying that I'm basically naked because she destroyed my clothes, and I can't let anyone see me like this...

“Fine, what do you suggest?”

She continues in the somewhat formal tone, but doesn't go all the way back to her previous cold manner from earlier. “The safest location would likely be your dorm room. Are you able to walk, or would you like me to carry you there?”

Carry me?!

Back to the dorms?!

I shrug, trying to stay cool. “Let's see.” Sliding over to the edge of the bed, I plant my feet on the floor, grit my teeth against the pain, and push up.

“Guh!” I grunt. Shit, this hurts! Still grinding my teeth together, I take a few shaky breaths. “Yeah, it hurts, but I can walk.” I try to grin when I remember. “A man can take this much.” That's what Dad always said. 'If a man can walk, he's fine.'

“Hmm, I see,” Leona nods at me. Then she walks up and sweeps me off my feet, back into a princess carry.

“Wh-what?!” I gasp, then start coughing again. Ignoring my weak protests between coughs, Leona carries me at her insane speed, all the way across campus, back to the dorm building. Completely ignoring the staff member gawking at us, she heads upstairs as I direct, soon arriving at my room.

Still cradled in her arms, I reach out to tap the reader with a portion of one of my hands that isn't wrapped in bandages, getting it to open. Leona walks us inside, glances between the two beds, and then deposits me in mine.

While I start to stretch out and get as comfortable as I can in my current state, she picks up my fox plushy and admires it with a strange, intense look. “Cute,” she suddenly comments out of nowhere, which just makes me blush at how weird it is coming from her. Miss drop dead gorgeous psion military veteran.

She drops the plushy into my arms, then sends another glance around our room, before looking my way again.

“Hmm... I'll let the teachers know you're resting because you're hurt. I'll be back to speak more later,” she says, sounding all cool and composed again.

“Sure, thanks.” Wait, why am I thanking her, she's the one who injured me!

Turning on her heel, Leona sweeps out of the room. Before she closes the door, she fixes me with a cool look, nods, and says, “See you later, Seiko.” It's only after she's already gone, that I can squeeze my fox plushy to my chest and grumble at the closed door.

“Don't call me that...”