When Momo got back to the room she found Ro was indeed there. She had seated herself on the floor with Brawn and Aerie. She was watching the other two. Her head swiveled, and she saw Momo. Closing her eyes, she popped herself into both Aerie and Brawn's minds, telling them that Momo was back. Then popped back out and stood. The other two slowly blinked open their eyes.
"Sustenance!" cried Aerie with glee as Momo dropped the bag into the middle of the three of them.
Aerie quickly selected a sandwich for herself. Brawn politely offered it to Ro.
"Which one do you want?" Ro asked Momo who had taken a seat at her desk. "There's ham, turkey, and roast beef left."
"Roast beef." Momo said quietly, "If no one else wants it."
"I'm good." Brawn said as Ro looked at him. She tossed Momo the roast beef sandwich. She grabbed the ham.
"Are you alright with Turkey?" Ro asked Brawn.
"Yep." He said with a smile. "I liked them all, so it didn't matter to me." He took the proffered sandwich. They all began eating.
"What took you so long?" Aerie asked around a mouthful of food.
"Well, I actually wanted to bring that up." Momo said putting her sandwich aside. "I ran into Shiki." Ro only shrugged, not understanding why that was important. Momo received the shocked reactions she expected from Brawn and Aerie.
"Shiki? What was he doing around here?" Aerie asked puzzled.
"He was asking questions about Professor Arzandia." Momo answered with a look of significance. Aerie's eyes narrowed. Brawn looked as confused as Ro felt.
"Why's that bad? What's going on?" Ro asked looking between her two friends.
"It means you need to stop wearing that necklace and give it back." Aerie told her darkly.
"Necklace?" Brawn asked. Ro pulled it out from under her shirt. His face registered stunned amazement.
"Professor Arzandia gave you that? Our teacher?" He asked.
"Yeah it's for protection." Ro said defensively, wrapping her fingers around the pendant.
"Don't do that." Momo told her. Ro released the pendant with a questioning look.
"That seems a little extreme." Brawn stated to the room. Ro frowned.
"He said there were no strings attached and that he was just doing his job." She said.
"Ro, we didn't tell you this but ordinarily when jewelry like that is given, it signifies the start of a courtship. By accepting the jewelry made with the male's magic, the female is agreeing to accept his attentions. It warns other males away by proclaiming that the woman is already with someone. It also provides a connection between the male and female so that if the female holds the stone with heightened emotions the male will know she is in trouble." Aerie said hesitatingly, feeling guilty for not telling Ro sooner. Ro blushed very deeply.
"But he didn't mean it like that."
"That's why we didn't tell you." Momo interjected with a blush as well.
"But that's what that necklace means to us magical creatures. To us it means that Ky cares about you." Aerie said. Ro looked down at the necklace in amazement. "Which is why you have to give it back. If Rin finds out you're wearing it, you may be caught up in a very dangerous sibling rivalry." Ro paled.
"He's already asking questions about why Ky has changed." Momo stated. "If he sees you with that, he will assume you're the reason. He may even hurt you to get to Ky."
"But Laine's seen it before, so this Rin probably already knows about it, right?"
"Laine?" asked Brawn confused.
"He's her combat tutor." Aerie told him. Ro was still waiting for an answer from someone.
"Well, it's possible Laine didn't tell Rin."
"Top six Laine? She is being tutored by the Laine of the top six?" Brawn said in amazement, "No wonder she got so much better."
"Wait," Ro said realizing something. "Brawn is a half-human. How come he knows about all this stuff?"
"Oh, my family are the blacksmiths that make the finest weapons in the magical world. I grew up knowing about all of this."
"But if you are going to be a blacksmith, why are you here?" Ro asked
"Creatures are greedy and will try to get away with anything they can. We have to be strong to defend ourselves." He said puffing out his chest. Aerie and Ro laughed at him lightening the mood.
"I want to talk to Laine about what's going on. I'll wait after combat training with you on Monday, Ro." Momo said frowning.
"I don't think I'll be there." She said trying to remember what Laine said. "Starting tomorrow I will be doing all of my combat training solely with him." The room got quiet as the three others processed that news.
"So, he's making you spend four hours alone with him every day. Doesn't that strike you as a little off?" Aerie asked.
"Firstly, he's not making me do anything. He asked, and I said yes, sort of. Secondly, I think you are reading way too much into things. First with our Professor and now with Laine."
"Whatever, I'll find out tomorrow when I go with you to meet him. I want to ask him about this Ky investigation too." Aerie said with annoyance.
"We'll both go." Momo corrected her.
"Uh, sure. I'm meeting him at nine outside of the girl's locker room." Ro told them, not sure it was worth fighting over. The finished eating in silence. Each person lost in their own thoughts.
After they finished, they started talking about a girly drama and Brawn excused himself saying that if he stayed his masculinity would be called into question if he stayed . Within a half hour, the girls were back to their jovial selves. They went to bed early knowing they had to be up the next morning.