The fighting continued. Brawn won two of his fights but lost the third to Aerie. Only Aerie, Alexi and Mirran won all three of their fights. Momo won two as well. She lost to her training partner Mirran, but it was a near thing. Ro lost her two remaining matches. Since she couldn't block or attack, both of her opponents closed on her quickly and beat her.
This time after the bell rang Sarge waited with Ro for Laine. Ro was pretending not to be unnerved by the fact that he was glaring at her. At last, unable to take it any longer she asked,
"Is there something wrong?" Sarge started.
"I was just thinking that you improved a lot. Maybe working solely with Laine will be good for you after all."
"What do you mean?" Ro asked puzzled.
"The bet." Ro just looked at Sarge blankly. "The bet between Laine and myself that if you won a match today all of your combat training would be up to him." Ro frowned in thought. Sarge's grimace deepened. "Don't do that. And people say I have a horrifying face." Ro stopped frowning immediately.
"What would have happened if I hadn't won?" She asked with trepidation.
"I would have replaced him with another tutor."
"Why?"
"Your friends came to me about a week ago. They told me that he was physically hurting you to make you improve faster. Being faculty, I had to investigate it. I observed you and determined that his methods would be too harsh if they didn't work. When I spoke with him, he said he was getting results and suggested the bet. I honestly didn't think you could win."
Ro didn't know how to respond to this, so she stood in silence and waited for Laine. She experienced a lot of conflicting thoughts and feelings. Firstly, she was touched that her friends cared so much that they reported it, but she was also irritated that they got involved. Then there was the fact that even Sarge had thought Laine's training method was too extreme. Also, she worried that by wanting to be solely in charge of her training Laine might be displaying possessiveness. But at the same time Ro was happy that he thought her worth the extra time. Then she wondered, if creatures never did anything for free, what his motive was. In the next moment she felt happy again because she thought she'd improve faster this way.
She was saved from this dizzying spiral of thoughts by the arrival of Laine himself. He looked calm and sure as he approached. Sarge stepped forward to him.
"Well, you were right. She won. I give her to you." Laine's hands clenched again, and his face took on a dark aspect as he looked at Ro. Then turning his gaze to Sarge he said,
"Thank you. She'll will be much better when she fights again next month." Sarge grunted and walked off. Laine turned back to Ro.
"Why didn't you tell me about the bet?" She asked coldly. He cocked his head to the side.
"I didn't know if you were the one who complained or if you'd even want to train alone with me."
"So, you decided to manipulate me instead of just asking?" She realized she was angry with him. Surprise flashed across his face.
"Why are you angry?" he asked in confusion
"I don't like feeling used." She snapped at him. Ro could feel her anger getting out of hand, so she closed her eyes and pictured her clear lake. She stared at it and let her anger float away like clouds across the sky reflecting on its surface.
"Would you have wanted to train with only me? Would you have said yes if I asked?" he asked quietly, cutting into her meditation.
"Yes, I would have. I think you are a great teacher and I always train alone when I'm not with you anyway." A pleased expression formed on Laine's face.
"Then we will begin tomorrow. Meet me outside of the locker room at nine." Ro grimaced. It was so early for a Saturday.
***
Back in Momo and Ro's room, Aerie and Brawn were sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at one another. They were practicing the partner meditation and trying to move into the next step toward telepathy while Momo was practicing her earth magic. Momo was trying to sift silica from a bowl of dirt and was concentrating hard when Aerie groaned loudly. In exasperation, Aerie threw herself onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling.
"Sorry." Brawn said shyly, "I am trying. It's just that entering your mind without you picturing me there is hard." Aerie blew out her breath.
"I know. I could barely do it." She ran her hands over her face. "I bet Ro could do it no problem. She is always like that with magic." Brawn frowned thinking about this. It was true that Ro was always in the top three for all of the magic practices but light.
"Are we sure she's really human?" He asked half joking, half serious. Momo and Aerie glanced at each other. They had also wondered the same thing before.
"Yeah she says she is, and she doesn't lie." Aerie said resignedly, "I can't believe I'm being beaten by a human."
"Hey." Brawn said slightly offended. She colored immediately and sat up. She reached a hand over and patted his leg.
"I didn't mean that." She looked at him remorsefully and he relented with a sigh.
"I'm hungry. Want to go get dinner?" he asked changing the subject.
"We were just planning on grabbing sandwiches, so we could eat with Ro." Momo told him. "But it is about time for us to go get them." Aerie looked at her.
"Will you go on the food run today?" she asked glancing significantly at Brawn. Momo sighed and nodded.
"What kind do you guys want?" Brawn looked like he was going to reply but Aerie cut him off.
"Surprise us!" Aerie said quickly wanting to be alone with Brawn already. Momo looked skeptical but grabbed her wallet and left.