“I hate him already.” Ailith said to Alex as they headed down the hall.

“I think he’s okay.”

“He’s a total jerk.”

“Because he took your knife?”

Ailith halted. “It was my father’s most prized possession.”

“Then there’s nothing you could have done.” He shrugged, “It was bound to be taken away sooner or later if your father owned it. What a bastard, giving a knife to a child.  Anyways, aren’t you from the suburbs?”

Hot temper surged through her and she almost punched him in the face. “Don’t talk about my father like that.” she said quietly. He looked momentarily baffled.

“Uh, sorry.”

 They walked in silence the rest of the tour.

When they finally reached the dorms Amber said to them, “ Evan wants you in the training room after lunch. You know where it is right?”

“Yeah, you pointed it out earlier.” Alex  said.

“Alright, I’m leaving then. See you later.”

“ok.”

The tension in the air multiplied by tenfold after Amber left.

Alex interrupted the silence. “So uh, again sorry about before. I really am. I mean, I thought you were freaking out because you would get in trouble for losing it so I was trying to lighten your mood but if I knew, then I wouldn’t have...” 

Her anger spiked again but she managed to hold it in this time. ‘Stay calm, stay calm. You don’t want to be making enemies on your first day of work.’ “It’s fine.”

“Okay. I was thinking of going to grab some lunch just now. Do you want to come with?”

“No, I’ll pass this time. But thanks.”

“Alright, I guess I’ll see you at training then.”

“Mhm.”

As soon as he left, she collapsed on the bed. ‘An assassin. What even am I doing with my life.’ And to think, she thought she could finally get a chance at a peaceful lifestyle after moving tiers. And Evan. ‘Man, what a jerk.’ She had to get it back. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t. She muttered under her breath, “Well, I should get ready to start training.”

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“FIFTY more! Stop acting like a god's damned child and get back into position.” 

A grown man was crying because of him. Gosh, Ailith thought Evan was a jerk before but words were beyond him now. She tuned him out and continued with her set. ‘198,199,200. Done.’ She slowly exhaled and went to grab a bottle of water.

“Hey, did you finish your set?”

She turned around. Alex. She turned away again.

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

She ignored him.

“Look, if you’re still mad about before…”

She cut him off. “I’m not ok? So can we please drop this?”

Ailith didn’t know whether it was because he sensed the annoyance in her voice but he didn’t continue.

“Sure, I’m glad that you’re not upset anymore. I was worried I made myself an enemy on my first day.”

‘Oh my freaking…’ Thankfully Amber cut in.

“You shouldn’t take such long breaks in between sets.”

Alex replied, “Oh, thanks for the reminder. We’ll get started right away.” She wasn’t sure whether she had heard him wrong but Ailith noticed that he put emphasis on the ‘we’. Amber just nodded and returned to the bench.

As soon as Amber left, he started talking again. “You know, when they first said training I thought they meant like actual training. Not working out. I’m not saying I don’t like it, no, no. Of course it’s hard but I know that it is a crucial step we have to take in order to move on to our next level of training. Personally, I don’t find it too difficult.”

“Uh huh.” Ailith walked towards the treadmill.

“In fact I think they should amp up our training. What do you think?”

“Why don’t you go tell Evan that. He sure seems to find fun in mentally and physically tormenting people.”

He laughed. “You have a peculiar sense of comedy.”

She started the treadmill and began with a light jog.

“So, are you really not going to go home later and sneak out your belongings?”

“No.” She answered, “Why would I do that?” She wouldn’t trust him to keep her secret even if she did decide to go later on and Ailith still had to give Dorrance a visit.

“Well I figured, since you were so attached to your father’s knife, that there might be other things you don’t want to lose.”

“No, nothing.”

“Okay then.”

The awkward atmosphere returned and Alex strode off to ‘have a talk with Evan about the training’ which she could tell did not go very pleasantly. Luckily he stayed away from her the rest of training and didn’t bother her. The rest of the day was gruesome, even more so than Evan’s workout plan. After 3 long hours of working out, Alexander and Ailith were both scurried off to learn the basics of close range combat while Evan and Amber trained on their own. And as weak as Alexander looked, she had to admit, he held on pretty long. She decided that it wouldn’t hurt to try making friends, especially with Xavier now gone and Alex as dim witted as he was, seemed pretty friendly. So she approached him when they were back in their dorms. 

“So, how did you end up here?”

“You mean in this team?”

“yeah.”

He seemed to consider before saying, “I was brought here the same as you did. After I was ranked into a 1sr tier, Clarice gave me the address and told me to show up here.”

“And what do your parents think about you being...an assassin?”

“They don’t really care. To them, all that matters is that I’m going to be bringing home more money.

“Oh.” ‘Stupid, stupid. She shouldn’t have asked.’

“Yeah, but it’s fine. I’m glad that I can help them.”

“I see.”

“But what about you? You seemed sensitive when I mentioned your father earlier. Do they support your decision?”

“Actually, I don’t have parents.”

His face bore an expression that she knew all too well, and despised.

“ I don’t need your pity. I can’t do anything about it.”

“Of course. Right.” He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.” ”Can we start over? I feel like we got off to a bad start.”

“Damn right we did.” she muttered under her breath.

He looked eager.

She only hesitated for a second before she replied. “Yeah, it wouldn’t hurt to have a friend around here.”

He smiled. “Dinner then?”

For the first time in a long while, she smiled back. “Sure.”