[START OF URASARIA ACADEMY: YEAR TWO]
[ARC 6: IT BLEW IN FROM THE EAST]
Over the summer, Marisa continued letting Mia lead their contracts and hunt with any other pair she chose: mostly Jeanne & Nuiko or Matoi & Samuel. Jeanne had been tested over the summer and found, to Kirihara's closed ears, that her comas had been caused by her use of marijuana fertilized by Dream. As for Matoi, her ambition had been climbing high enough lately that even Samuel had trouble keeping up with her.
Her & Mia were walking back in to Urasaria when Matoi's tablet vibrated. She looked over to an exhausted Mia, who shook her head, and rushed back out alone. Mia returned to the home that would soon be only her own, and slammed face-first on to the couch.
Marisa came out of her room up the hall, then realized she had left her soda next to her bed. Aiming at the open can, a strand erupted from her palm and grabbed it -
- and she frowned as it spilled in midair.
Throwing it back, she walked in to the living room.
"…I need a long, long bath…" mumbled Mia, fire scarabs drying her hair.
"Uh, we only have a shower." Marisa leaned against the wall, Boudoir's frills forming her seat beside the couch.
"…I know, I'll have to go over to Aimee's…" muttered Mia, rolling over with her eyes closed. "…she did say her bathtub could fit two people…"
Recently, Mia had been speaking a little too openly on her relationship; Aimee would be off-campus most of the year, organizing her own private agency, and Mia seemed keen on wringing enough sex to last until graduation.
Marisa just coughed. "So, class starting back up in a few weeks, huh?"
Mia nodded and sat up. "I- yes. I wanted to ask you - would it be alright if my protege moved in with me?"
"Sure thing, Mia-Mia." Marisa smiled. Once the fourth-years graduated, she'd be moving up to rank #10 & a mansion. "I wanted to talk to you about that, too. Like, I just want to make sure that you don't let what happened with, um, Julia…"
"Has she been feeling any better?"
"I checked up on her, but she's still - I dunno." said Marisa. "Like, she just never lets herself get close with anyone, so. There's not much I can really do."
"I suppose."
"Um. And it's okay if you make mistakes, too." said Marisa. "I mean, even if your protege makes mistakes, don't - just remember you used to be like that, too."
Mia nodded. "I will."
"Cool. I just don't, like, want you ending up how my mentor was. He just…" She sighed, motioning to sit down on the couch.
Mia's brow rose quite homosexually. "I'm surprised you had a male mentor."
Marisa laughed. "I know, right? But he was just - ugh. Like, he never yelled at me or anything, but he was just that same kind of perfectionist Matoi is." (Mia winced.) "Yeah. I mean, I like her now, but still. She doesn't use it as an excuse to be a dick."
'Usually,' thought Mia, then added: "She may be president next year."
Marisa winced. "Do the staff really deserve that?"
"Yes."
The two laughed.
"Uh, the ratings don't close until April 30th though, so." chimed Marisa. "Still got another year to go."
"Are you going to try for it?" said Mia.
Marisa shrugged. "I didn't think I would until you mentioned that bathtub."
++++++
Serena Kunst hated how people stared at her, for she could not tell the ideas behind their eyes. Children, especially, looked at her too curiously. She was a 19-year-old, androgynous, black-haired woman, who wore spiked boots & a spiked leather jacket, and was thankful that puberty had paused her height at 5'3".
Walking down the hall with the other new first-years, she felt uneasy whenever a man looked at her like he might approach her. While men her age usually shared her interests of videogames & anime, she never felt fully comfortable around them -- but then again, she often felt uncomfortable around other women, too. Their presence gave her a disquieting worry that they could tell her thoughts, picking over the same facial features that seemed to her permanently expanded in glass.
She entered the arena with the rest of the first-year's, and Hirogane counted down the row just as he had the year prior.
"…whatever." In bored order, he relayed his role as Urasaria's primary medic and their's as protégés. "I'll assume you all broke the law and tested your Revenant out before, so -"
" - uh, I didn't!" she shouted. "Um, I know that sounds like a joke, but I dunno how to test mine without hurting people." She saw the others' eyes on her & tensed.
Hirogane wasn't paid enough for a real reply. "What's your name?"
"Serena Kunst."
The second-years' eyes went over to Mia, who was holding her new tablet, and she drew up with a smile. "We'll train it together, then."
Hirogane continued his explanation as the new mentor & new protege went off to the side. Serena looked back to see if anyone was still staring and felt relieved. Mia looked back to the second-years, as well; she had been surprised at Jeanne's presence, and disappointed by Kirihara's.
"I'm Mia Schultz. Swarm, rank #37." chimed Mia, drawing near the wall with her. "Nice to meet you."
"Oh - shit, I've seen you on the news before." said Serena. "Did you really kill a dog?"
She realized a second later she shouldn't have asked, but most of her socializing had been through the internet: it was her habit to struggle face-to-face.
"Er, I have never harmed an animal." said Mia. "That was a tactic I used to lure a serial killer out -- it was his dog."
"Oh. Um, sorry, I had to ask. That makes sense."
Mia nodded. "It's alright. But, I will be your mentor this year. We'll live in the same house, hunt scum together, and I want you to become strong."
"Okay. I only got my Revenant a few days ago, so…"
"Then we have something in common already." Mia smiled. "I only received my Revenant a few weeks before attending Urasaria. Go ahead and show me your Revenant, Serena."
Serena smiled at her name's mention, and the two crouched down. "Odyssey." A tattoo needle formed in her right hand and she aimed it away. "Um, it's kinda weird. The guy they got it from was Hindu, and for him, it was called like, Ramayana, but I don't go to church, so -"
" - it changes name?"
" - yeah, but, um. They said you would know how the name thing is, right? How you hear it?"
"I do. Continue."
"So, I can write out like, Greek god's names and things like that, and... I guess it'll try to recreate it? It's weird. Um. I didn't really get the chance to practice it."
"And now, you have the chance." chimed Mia, extending her hand. "Perhaps you should… Try writing - 'Zeus' on me."
"Um, that'd probably be a lightning bolt."
"Don't worry about harming me - Hirogane and Saya are very good medics." Mia stifled a smile.
With a confused nod, Serena started her writing on Mia's arm, and as she finished up -
- nothing happened, and she shook her head. "Ugh. Sorry, my handwriting is really messy. I think it has to be neat, too."
"Something to improve already, then." chimed Mia. "Slower."
With a nod, Serena wrote down 'Zeus', and as she finished up -
- a thunderclap cracked outside; Mia turned her eyes up -
- a hole opened up in the ceiling, and a bolt of lightning struck her -
- and the hole closed, leaving building and victim unharmed.
"Wait, what?" said Serena - " - how did you -"
" - ah, it must be a weak bolt." laughed Mia, shaking her head. "Perhaps - ah - Hades is hot, isn't it? Some sort of fire?"
"There was - shit, I tried to cram all these stories in before - uh. Hephaestus is god of volcanoes. Closest I can think of."
"Try that, then. I want you to put your all in to it."
Serena nodded, wrote 'Hephaestus' on Mia's arm -
- a fissure split the ground, and a geyser of lava claimed Mia's body -
- and the fissure closed, leaving building and victim unharmed.
Mia started not containing her laughter at Serena's expression. "I'm - sorry! - aha - is - there a Greek god of ice?"
Serena gripped Mia's wrist, wrote 'Chione' -
- a wind blew up her arms, chilling the air to frigid temperatures, threatening to freeze the woman alive -
- and the wind dispersed, leaving victim unharmed.
"Is - ugh - I mean, they didn't have much - my mom bought it for me - but is this Revenant super weak, or -"
" - no, no -" laughed Mia. "I'm - I'm sorry, but - I wanted to prank you, the only time I would be able to do it. Erase - erase the text from my arms. Your Revenant may be very strong."
Comprehending none of it, Serena wiped the text from Mia's arms, and Mia's head was still shaking. "… ah, I apologize." She smiled. "My Revenant is Worldwide - scarabs that allow power over ice, fire, electricity, and a sword. They give me elemental immunity."
"Oh." Serena laughed. "I was about to get super embarrassed. I would've just kept trying if you asked me to."
"… ah, still." Mia's head shook. "When we're fighting together, I will handle those elements. What other names do you know?"
Serena scratched the back of her neck. She had learned her Greek gods from the videogame Age of Mythology, and spent her highschool years gaming over making friends or good grades. Trying her usual tactic to delay, she said: "Um, I studied a lot, but I can't remember any other ones right now. I think I can write down specific myths, but… the only one I know right now is Zeus cutting open Cronus's stomach."
"Zeus cutting - er, another god's stomach?"
"Close enough." Serena laughed. "Uh, it might hurt a lot, so…"
"Test it."
With a nod, Serena wrote 'Zeus Freeing His Siblings' on Mia's right arm -
- and a gargantuan cut formed on her torso, peeling her stomach open; with a scream of agony, she gestured Saya over as her scarabs chilled the wound -
" - c-calm - g-good -" winced Mia, stumbling back against the wall. Saya was with them now. Blackburn's fog started filling her wound. "S-Serena, this is Saya. Her Revenant allows her to… 'fill' things."
"And what caused this wound?" Saya smiled.
"A G-Greek myth." winced Mia, the wound starting to close. "What was it you wrote?"
"Er, Zeus freeing his siblings. Zeus cut open Cronus's stomach to get his siblings out, after Cronus ate them." said Serena, relevantly.
Saya nodded, smiling to Serena before she left. This friendliness was good, thought Serena: there were no hidden habits or gestures she seemed to be missing here.
Mia stood up. "C-Clearly strong there, although…" She looked to Serena. "How fast can you write?"
"Um, not that much. Maybe a few letters a second, but it's super particular on handwriting."
Mia nodded. "We'll practice that first, then. I want to see if you can write quickly under stress."
"Under stress? What do you mean -"
" - dodge!"
- a fireball erupted from Mia's hand and shot towards Serena -
- and to her pride, her protégé dodged underneath.
"Let's begin."