This week marked the start of water magic again. This was Momo's favorite subject. She was awesomely great at it, beating even Alexi at getting through the exercises. Ro was, as usual, third in completing the exercises. Angelique was fourth and Aerie was fifth. The rest of the class competed with one another, not able to keep up with the top five.
As she went through her exercises, Ro found Alexi frequently watching her, the same with Professor Drakkon. The first made her confused, the latter embarrassed. Angelique, furious about coming in behind Ro and irritated about not being the center of attention, began to increase the level of her nastiness towards Ro. During lunch on Monday she started a rumor that the Nug was trading sexual favors for points with anyone who would do it. Ro just shrugged it off but when she noticed Sarge was looking at her with more disgust during combat practice, she began to feel uncomfortable about it.
When Laine arrived at practice, his face was stormy. Ro looked at him wondering if he had heard the rumor. He walked straight up to her and grabbed around the waist; one hand splayed across her lower back. Heat radiated from where touched her. With the other hand he tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. Ro felt her body warm as her pulse raced.
"Laine, what are you doing?" She asked in a strained voice. He looked into her face. The slight smile playing across his lips never reached his yellow tinted eyes.
"You know, I can give points too." He told her in a low voice. She felt ice cold shock lance down her spine. He had heard the rumor. "What will you do for them?" Anger flashed in his eyes as he stared into her shocked face.
"N-nothing." She stuttered. Then she felt the heat of fury well up inside her. "How could you think I'd do that? Get the Other off me!" She pushed on his chest with all her strength. He was able to hold her still with just his one arm. His eyes narrowed dangerously.
"What? You'll only do that for Ky?" His low voice had a menacing growl to it. Ro froze in her struggling as she felt a blush creep into her cheeks. She raised her hand to slap him. He caught her wrist and she felt his long nails dig into her flesh.
"Not even for him. I would never do that!" She spat out in fury. Laine's eyes searched hers for a long moment. Then abruptly he released her, and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face.
"Good, then that's cleared up." He was surprised at the amount of relief he felt.
"That was a test?" Ro asked in disbelief. Laine's eyes went hard.
"No matter how pretty you are, you can't give me back the hours I've spent with you. I didn't want to find out that I was wasting my time on some human whore." There was such animosity in his face that Ro took a step back, scared. Realization suddenly dawned on her.
"Can you see me?" she asked tentatively and took another step back. He looked at her as if she were stupid and followed her.
"Of course. I've always been able to see you." He reached out and gently caressed her cheek. "So lovely which is quite surprising given that you are only a human." She slapped his hand away.
"I don't like to be touched." She said coolly.
Laine frowned, then his expression quickly changed back to his usual somber seriousness as he ignored her comment. "Starting today we will be working on finding opening in your opponents. As you dodge, I will occasionally let my guard down. When I do, I want you to attack me as fast as you can." Ro was confused at the fast switch in topics and took a moment to process what he said. At last she spoke.
"What if I hurt you?" Laine chuckled smugly.
"You won't be able to. But I want you to fight like you could. You should be always fighting to kill." His eyes turned serious. "It's pointless if you're doing otherwise."
"Alright." She replied with determination. They began practice.
At first Ro was terrible at finding the openings but gradually she got better as time went on. When practice ended, she felt exhausted but more confident. Laine had even complimented her speed. She went to bed feeling good.
By the beginning of regular classes the next day, the rumor of the Nug prostituting herself for points had run all the way around the school, which meant that Ky had heard.
During magic practice, Ky was talking to Ro about her next assignment when Angelique spoke up.
"Professor," She said, "The Nug doesn't need your help to get more points. I am sure you've heard that she uses other methods. It's not fair that you spend so much time with her. I am ready for my next assignment now. Please give some attention to me as well." Her voice was haughty, and she sounded sure of her rightness. She smiled in her most charming way as the whole class froze in disbelief. The faint snap of the curtains flapping in the wind beside the open windows could be heard. Ro looked up at Ky, surprise on her face. She watched as his face as Ky blinked and his jaw worked. His red eyes narrowed and got harder. The air around him seemed to chill.
"Hey Angelique, why don't you shut your stupid lying mouth?" Alexi called half-rising from his chair in anger. Angelique's smile faltered slightly as she glanced at him. She seemed a little confused by his outburst. Ky's eyes flicked to Alexi, silencing him with a look. Alexi's face returned to his usual smirk as Ky stiffly straightened. He plastered on his smile, although this time it never reached his eyes. Slowly, he turned to face Angelique.
"Angelique were you the start of that rumor?" He asked patiently.
"What?!! No! Someone saw-" Angelique began but he continued over her in his most pleasant voice.
"It seemed like you. It was dumb and thoroughly unbelievable." Angelique's mouth opened and closed. She couldn't tell if he were calling her dumb. "No one who has seen the Nug would believe anyone would trade her points for sexual favors." Ro nodded, agreeing with this statement. Angelique flushed. "But more importantly, I don't spend much time working with you because I don't like you."
"You can't say that to a student-" Angelique began in confused outrage. Her insult to the Nug was backfiring. Ky went on smiling mildly.
"You are abhorrent, and your attitude is repugnant. If I could get away with not spending any of my time on you, I would. But I am your teacher, so I am forced to help you. Now, I will get to you after I've finished explaining the Nug's next assignment. Wait patiently." He turned back Ro and his fake smile fell replaced by real irritation.
Ro watched Angelique. She sat, frozen in shock. All color had drained from her face. After a minute tears began to well up in her eyes. Ro felt bad for her. Angelique suddenly stood and ran from the room. Ky watched her go. "I guess I'll help her later then." He said not in the least remorseful. He finished explaining the assignment to Ro, then moved away to help someone else.
Ro whipped through three more exercises before lunch. Then she, Aerie and Momo went to their usual spot for lunch. They ate quietly, all thinking about Ky's tirade.
"That was ridiculous!" Aerie exclaimed abruptly. "Did she really think she could get away with saying something like that during class and to the teacher no less. She got what she deserved."
"I don't know. It was really harsh. She's not hurting me at all. I felt kind of bad for her." Ro said. Aerie gave her a look, that wondered if she were crazy.
"She's trying to hurt you. Even if she's not successful, it's still the thought that counts." Aerie retorted.
"But she was right, that Ky spends a disproportionate amount of time with Ro." Momo pointed out. Ro looked down and blushed. Aerie glanced at Momo in disbelief.
"Is that Ro's fault?" She asked defensively.
"Well its natural for others to get jealous especially if its someone like Angelique, who is used to being the center of attention. He usually asks to speak with Ro privately at least once a week." Ro blushed harder.
"This isn't worth arguing over." Said the red-faced Ro, interrupting the argument.
"Whatever, the bitch got what she deserved." Aerie said getting the last word while Momo and Ro exchanged looks. They ended lunch by talking about combat practice. Aerie had a lot of positive things to say about her half-human sparring partner Brawn. Ro began to wonder if Aerie didn't have a crush on him. He was attractive.
The rest of the magic classes ended uneventfully. Angelique never returned. Ro wondered if she were still crying.