Quinton watched from across the cafeteria as his sister queued for dinner. While they could have returned home and had a better meal outside, the Orniter twins mostly ate at the school as a way to save money. Aside from them, most of the other students that were there were those we stayed in the dormitory as they either had no home or were from outside Aleynonlia. The cafeteria was surprisingly busy for the time of night. Most of his classmates who ate there had already retreated to their dormitories, while others left the school grounds to partake in the city's nightlife. Yet, there were still strands of students moving in and out of the place. Chatter rising around the tables.

A girl with long, neatly combed brunette hair, approached his table. She walked with a straight, lacy gait, squeezed into a fitting black dress straddled by a dark green shawl that enhanced her water teal eyes. Her dress shoes were bright red to go with her lips. Her face was smooth and blemish free in a way that shone a natural beauty unmarked by deep or prolonged make-up. Quinton thumped his chest once to give him strength.

“It'll get really creepy soon,” Shjacky Loyard sat down beside him with her tray of food, brushing a strand of brown out of her face. “You, always staring at your sister, yeah?”

He choked slightly. “I-I'm just watching over her.”

“Yes, I know. But not everyone will know that. They'll think you're a creep, and that you and your sister have a thing.” Shjacky took a bite from her omelette. Her face twisted into inscrutability. “Not bad for school food... I think.”

When a pair of students neared his sister, he began to get to his feet but was stopped by Shjacky who pulled him back down by the arm.

“Calm down,” she told him. The students passed his sister without any commotion. “Geez, I'm starting to think that you really do have thing with Lua.”

“We do have a thing,” Quinton answered. “She's my sister, I'm her brother. I'm supposed to be watching over her.”

“Not literally, yeah?”

“Eh.” He ate from his plate, chewing unconsciously. “Well, whatever.”

He never minded what people said about him. He knew many who could not get along even a quarter as well with their siblings as he did. It took a certain level of maturity and understanding from both parts, yet retaining the childishness they grew up with. He was very proud of his sister for being all of those things.

As he watched, two students from Class A which he recognized as Philla and Dolf approached the line. Instinctively, he stood up. Shjacky did not stop him that time and even got up with him. They moved quickly as Philla and Dolf got to Lua.

They heard the thin hume Dolf say as they approached, “…you should just head home. There's enough of your type around here.” They heard Dolf say as they approached.

Philla, a thick muscled human girl added, “Come on, chop chop. You're in the way.”

She laid her hand on Lua's shoulder and shoved the girl back a step with her strength. When Lua refused to move further, Philla scrunched her face, annoyed, and reached out to push again. Quinton stretched and with a vice grip, caught Philla's wrist before the latter could make contact.

He growled, “My sister may be too kind to fight back, but if you lay a hand on her again, I'll cut that arm of yours off.”

“Brother!”

Dolf laughed, noticing him unarmed. “With what? Your finger?”

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“Yes,” Quinton replied without inflection, grazing Dolf with a cold stare.

He could feel the shiver than ran down Philla's arm, and could see Dolf's eyes flicker with uncertainty.

“Now, now!” Shjacky clapped her hands for attention as she finally joined. “Let's not start anything in school. We don't really want to be expelled or anything.”

“Tsk!” Philla snapped and drew her hand back once Quinton released her. “Let's go, Dolf.”

“Before that,” Shjacky added as the pair turned to leave. “Why not have a little bet?”

Lua worriedly exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

“What? It's just a little fun thing.”

Dolf snapped a question. “What's the bet?”

“Fufufu,” Shjacky laughed her conniving laughter which sent a shadow of forebode down Quinton's spine. “We'll be having our inter-class combat training tomorrow. Why don't you two duel Quinton here during the two on two training, and if you win, these lovely siblings will stop eating dinner here.”

“H-hey...” Lua muttered. “Let's not get hasty or anything.”

Philla ignored Lua and continued, “What if we lose?”

Quinton finished, “You leave us alone.”

He knew what Shjacky was doing. Always going off on her own pace, dragging people into her games. She had never once asked him what he wanted, just forcing what she thought was best. It's what he thought was the best and worst about her. But at that moment, he was thankful.

Dolf huffed. “Sure! Class A versus Class C. It'll be cake.”

Classes A, B, and C. Students were assigned to them by their compatibility and scores during the entrance exams. Those who traditionally scored the highest were assigned to Class A. Despite that, most of the assignments seemed to have been based off the objective tests, which was agreed to be the hardest possible. Throughout the years, the students were allowed to retake the entrance exams to be reassigned with different scores, as one of their classmates did the year before. The general consensus in school weren't much of a secret. Class A was stronger than Class B, and the both of them were leagues above C. Or so it was supposedly ranked.

With that in mind, Quinton stepped up and announced, “I'm in.”

There were varying looks of shock and surprise from everyone. Lua looked uncomfortable at the notion of her brother fighting. Dolf and Shilla were confused at his confident. Even Shjacky was amazed at the speed in which he agreed to her plan.

But he knew his skills. He knew what he can and cannot do. And he knew the system. The way their classes were ranked may have their strengths taken into consideration, but that was not the only thing to be marked. Intellect, wisdom, dexterity, endurance, agility, creativity, and sociability. Against two hot-headed, violence prone individuals like Dolf and Shilla, he was more than confident of his capabilities to fight them.

“Fine!” Dolf finally replied. “During the two-on-twos, you and one of your other lacks against me and Shilla. If it means never having to see your two mugs here again, I'd be more than happy to feed your asses for free.”

Shilla then stepped back, and with two rude gestures from them, they stepped out of the line and headed out of the cafeteria. Quinton hoped he had managed to make them lose their appetite and a darker part of him hoped they would accidentally lock themselves in their room and starve to death.

“Pretty awesome of you,” Shjacky said, putting an arm around him. He blushed slightly, uncomfortable at the close contact.

“Yeah,” Lua folded her arms disapprovingly, her tone oozing with sarcasm. “Very 'awesome'.”

“You couldn't expect me to stand by and not do anything.”

“Something, sure. But picking a fight for my 'honour'? Very post war age of you.”

Shjacky let him go and patted Lua on the head as one would with a baby sister. “Well, what's done is done. Now we have to figure out who will be his dance partner for tomorrow, yeah?”

“Isn't it obvious?” Lua stated. “Of course his partner will be me!”

“Me!”

The two girls crossed glares. “I'm his sister, and the best fighter of the class.”

“Well I'm his best friend. We have great chemistry and teamwork. And I'm...” She stroke a sensual pose, hands to a waist and hips to the side. She gave a thin smile and wisped, “...stylish!”

“You're saying I'm not stylish? I have styles in spades!” She twirled on her feet and tried to copy Shjacky's pose, only to trip slightly on her spin and ending up with a forced grin of a smile. “See? Stylish.”

“Actually,” he interrupted. “I was thinking of asking Shichi.”

“What?”

“Why?” the two exclaimed.

“He's got combat experience, and he knows how to fight at range and cover backs.”

Lua exclaimed, “I can cover backs!”

“No, sis. You're more of a... very accurate cannon. And Shjacky...” He looked to her uncertainly. “Straightforward fights aren't really your thing.”

The latter shrugged with a understanding smile. “I get that. Also, a good win like this might help Shichi with his image problems.”

Lua was noticeably upset, but sighed in defeat. “Fine. Sure. I'll ignore that offhanded insult about me being a cannon, as long as you win.”

He muttered under his breath, “It wasn't offhanded.”

“What did you say!” she exclaimed.

She jumped on his back, pretending to choke him for his offence. She laughed, and Shjacky laughed, and he faked choking as he half-heartedly tried to throw her off his back. Those were the days he wanted to protect. The casual, soft-toned lazy days where his sister smiled throughout, even if it meant riding on his back for the rest of their lives.