"Kill?" Hana gave her a startled gaze. "For what?" But the answer was already present in Rina's eyes. The hidden gleam of vengeance and anger. A 12 year old that was asking to learn the art of murder.
"Revenge," Hana muttered. "Why not?" In her mind, the small figure of Rina overlapped with someone else, someone she use to see in the mirror. This girl reminded her of her younger self. How . . . nostalgic. Was this how her mentor saw her the first time they met?
"You won't regret it?" She finally probed.
"No." The quick answer was extremely decisive.
"Then, never look back." Hana smiled. She held out her hand. "Then let me officially introduce myself. My name is Hana, an assassin from another world. I'll be your mentor/substitute elder sister from now on." This was almost the exact same line her mentor had first said to her and the same line she repeated to every recruit she had trained. To think that she would train another person again in her new life as well.
Rina clasped her hand firmly, a understanding passing between them.
"Well then, tell me what's going on with these." Hana pointed at the yellow ears on Rina's head.
"This is my ability," Rina said, clenching her paws. "I cannot control it. It has only showed up 2 times in my entire life. This is the third. Everytime, it vanishes after a few hours."
Hana frowned. No matter how I look, it looks like Leone's teigu from Akame ga Kill. So cute! A real life mini - Leone ah! She coughed, calming her inner excitenment.
'System, do you know something about this?'
[System is currently undergoing update]
Hana blinked at the tiny flashing red letters. What's this? Update! This damn system didn't mention anything!
But it seems like she could still use her abilities. Thank goodness. Whatever, she could wait.
"Rina, get some rest. Let's start tomorrow."
******
Two days later, Hana watched as Rina ran laps around the courtyard. She had told her to build up her stamina first before anything. Body training was especially important. The dorm's territory was actually very large and suitable for training.
In fact, everyone was practicing these days. Song Qi and Renae both had their own routines. Since school would begin soon, everyone was shoring up for the oncoming year.
"Hana, there's someone who needs to see you." Renae's yell echoed loudly from her balcony. Hana gestured at Rina to continue and went to see the door.
A girl the same age as her waited patiently at the door with a suitcase in hand. Her red eyes shifting akwardly as Hana stared at her. The most striking thing about her was the hair. Unblemished and pure as white snow. Hmm, she looked somewhat familiar.
"Can I help you?" Hana finally regained herself.
The girl clenched her hands. "Hello, my name is Aria Xie. I'm a freshman A.S. Academy's combat department. I would like to join this dorm's team!"
"Team?" Hana gave her a puzzled look. "What team?"
Now it was Aria's turn to look confused. "Aren't you the dorm leader?"
"Hey! Is this a newcomer!" Renae grinned as she swung an arm around Hana's shoulders. "You want to enter our dorm team right?"
"Renae, what is going on?"
Renae widened her eyes. "You don't know? Hana, you're the dorm leader!" She worried for the future of their dorm. Hana didn't seemed to care much about school-life.
"Our school allows its students to divide themselves up into unofficial factions through the dorm system. It's a way to build up rapport between students and we take advantage of it to form connections that will benefit us in the future. The school also allocates certain resources by dorm as well. Please tell me you know this?"
Just looking at Hana blank face, Renae could tell she didn't.
"Anyway, it's common among students to challenge each other for resources. Every dorm as a team that represents them. Teams have the options of challenging each other for resources. However, many challenges are done more for prestige and fame."
"This sounds troublesome."
"Well, the school encourages it. Apparently competition allows the students to grow." Renae shrugged and glanced at Aria. "Anyway, I'm surprised that you want to join us. Our dorm is relatively unknown and made up of freshman."
"In addition, as a member of the Xie family, there's even less of a reason for you to join Bluewing." Renae summarized.
The Xie family was one of the top families and was unparalleled in influence. They controlled their own dorm faction on campus, so it was strange for someone like Aria to show up on their doorstep. Even if she was from a side branch, it was still peculiar.
Aria glared at her. "That's none of your business! I want to join this dorm!"
"Oh," Hana finally matched her face.
This was the girl she bumped into the first time she came to the dorm! The one that stormed off without a word.
"Why do you want to join?" If Hana had to live with this girl, she wanted to make sure it wouldn't lead to conflict.
"All the other dorms don't allow freshman to be on their active teams. I need to join a new dorm in order to do so." Aria huffed.
"Oh, I guess that's fine if you can get along with everyone else." Hana muttered. It seemed like this girl has here for fame or something along those lines. She outlined the expectations that she told Song Qi and Renae. "If you're fine with that, then it's ok with me."
Aria agreed instantly and moved in. And with that, the dorm's residents increased by one.
"Will this be ok?" Renae asked as they wanted the girl march up the stairs. Although she didn't mind increasing the number of dormmates, this Aria seemed a little arrogant. She rolled her eyes. A member of the Xie family through and through.
"It should be fine," Hana shrugged. More people in the dorm was also a good thing. It meant she could leave the bakery for them to manage while she did her own things.
Ring! The doorbell rang again. Another visitor? Hana sighed as she went to the door again.
"Hello Hana, we finally meet!" The boy outside gave her a dazzling grin. "You can call me Lance."