The Professor stood there looking down at his student like she was nothing but a toddler.
"Well, for a girl like you who thinks of herself as someone almighty," the Professor continued watching her. The image on the monitor isn't focusing on her face anymore but her whole body. She's clenching her fist like she felt insulted or something. "I can only guess that there's an insecure wench inside."
She raised her head like she refused to get wind up.
"Tell me," said the Professor. "Have you ever had a friend?"
"I don't need one," she said.
The Professor laughed. "But here you are training to be a soldier? A selfish girl like you wanting to protect her country is a bit unbelievable, don't you think?"
We listened, and I still don't get why he's asking weird questions.
"Why should you care?" she said.
"Don't tell me, you really believe that you won't need friends here?" he asked.
"I passed the drafting," she simply said. "I have all the right to be here."
The Professor stopped circling her and stood now in front of the girl.
"Standing like she's standing on top of the food chain. Very arrogant and hard working. Look at those calluses. A bit tyrannical, I can see. You know how to shoot. And the mind, yes. You are quite smart. And you like it here very much."
"I didn't say anything---"
"You dream of becoming a general!" he exclaimed cheerfully like he had just found the last piece to solve the puzzle. "A woman general, huh. Never heard of one before. Are you sure you're capable? You're a little girl. You will remain tiny and weak."
We watched the girl lose it. She pointed the finger at him and said. "You can't tell me what I can and cannot do! Someday, all of you will do as I say."
"Am I seeing tears now?" the Professor asked and laughed out loud.
The girl ran towards the Professor, determined to attack. But when we thought her fist was going to land on his stomach, we watched him crouch and step forward to welcome the girl into his arms.
I held my breath. It's like we watched how interrogators crack the minds of their subjects. Wicked. And not just that, he really did manipulate her to do as he said. I don't know much about psychology but what happened was just a genius display of winding someone up.
"Body language is a potent tool. We had body language before we had speech. Apparently, 80% of what you understand in a conversation is read through the body, not the words," he paused. "A certain Deborah Bull ones said."
He released her, and the girl took a couple of steps away from him. She looked pissed off, unlike the rest of us, who were awed.
"Body language assists the communication process in two ways – your own gestures and body language exhibits your emotions to other people. Secondly, you understand what other people are saying by reading their body language. The communication of nonverbal cues and gestures occurs subconsciously.
"Some of you may think that I was talking, cheating even, since talking isn't one of the silent body languages, right?" he said. "But, watching her make gestures like her power pose, the sort of smiles she did, nervous, confident smiles, name it. And hands and legs gestures, not to mention the way she answered, her tone and pitch helped me realize whenever I am hitting the spot in her thought process. Remember that in a fight, there's always a moment when the opponent, even if well trained, will show you which the dominant parts of their bodies are.
"There are lots of ways to win a fight," the Professor said. 'And if you play your cards well and manage to manipulate your opponent's movement, then how you can lose? Every attack parried. Their every attempt fails,"
"Wow," Minnie said, and I, too, was impressed.
"Sit down, little miss," he told the girl and smiled at her. "So shall we start? Who wants some tricks?"
"I am!" the students roared.
"By the way, I'm Professor Nigel Lopez," he said and started presenting his PowerPoint presentation. "Let's start."
---
As soon as I stepped out of the classroom, I knew I was right that I'd be sure to fail that class. Minnie was laughing at me the whole time. She even branded me as the densest person in the world. I didn't get anything at all.
Why can't we just beat each other down right off the bat? What's with all the theatrics?
"You know that that class is pretty important, right?" Minnie said, walking beside me.
"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving her off. "It's for the 'Fighting stronger opponents' and 'intel-gathering.'"
"If we're really going to graduate and leave this place soon, the skills we're about to learn in that class will be our very key to survival."
"Speak to yourself, Minnie," said I. "I know a lost cause when I see one."
"Go and have your shoulder checked and I'll wait for you in the canteen," she said. "I need to drop by my bunk first."
"Sure."
She turned right, and I continued to the infirmary.
Let's just hope Psychology is the worst subject there is.
----
Today's lunch dessert is a slice of strawberry cake. Minnie and I indulged it in every bite.
"I'd really like to meet the baker," said I. "I bet she's a beautiful woman, and she's angelic."
"I was actually imagining her to look that way and that she has strawberry blonde hair," Minnie nodded. "Oh, I almost forgot. Loki was looking for you a while ago."
"What did he say?" I asked.
"He asked me to tell you that hrmm," she swallowed a mouthful of cake and continued. "He's reserving you as a sparring partner later at five. He mentioned something about our Self defense lesson."
"Aah," I said in delight. "Now there's my jam."
"What jam?" Minnie asked. "Wait a minute! You're actually looking forward to that kind of subject!" She said accusingly.
I shrugged." Well."
"You're a girl. You should be more brains than brawns!" she pointed at me, even. "Leave the brute force to the boys."
"Why don't you take the brains and leave the brawns to me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows suggestively.
Both of us jumped when a boy landed on top of our table. Luckily, I managed to save my cake. Minnie, though, wasn't fast enough.
"Not my cake!" she yelled. I actually saw her tear up. She pulled the boy by the arm and pulled him out of the way. "What's the big idea, dumbass?!"
I grinned.
So, it just takes a crushed cake to bring out your brawns, eh, Minnie Mouse?
"I'm s-sorry," said the boy. "I didn't... I didn't..."
"Get your hands off our prey, bitch," someone said from behind me, and I turned around. Four kids are now standing before us, smirking like they're up to something terrible. They're familiar. They are Ace's new friends. I looked around and found that he was missing.
"They threw him on our table to destroy your strawberry cake," I told Minnie, and as expected, she got angrier. I tried my best not to grin. Is this what Prof Nigel said about making suggestions? Suggestions that can control the subject in question? If it is then, he's received a commendation from me.
"You'll pay for that," she murmured and jumped over the table and attacked. I watched her punch the guy with a swift jab. She then grabbed his hair before stumbling down on the floor. She raised him up. "Did I break your nose now, big guy?"
Professor Nigel. You shouldn't be teaching that lesson to kids. I take everything back.
"Let go of me," the kid said and grabbed her shoulder.
She attacked his left side with a hook. He winced. "You destroyed my strawberry cake." She showed him the crushed cake over a broken plate.
"Guys..." he called for his friends, and I raised a brow. They actually intend to gang up against one girl. One of them grabbed Minnie by her ponytail. Minnie threw the guy on the floor.
I rolled to my toes, just in case.
"Do you need help?!" I asked. And when she managed to free herself from their grasps, she actually dove backward.
Whoa. Minnie's a gymnast! Well, this explains the flexibility.
"No," she said. "Let's run."
I took my strawberry cake with me, and we dashed off.
---
We managed to escape. I enjoyed making Minnie watch me eat my dessert. I didn't know back then that we would be running from those thugs from that moment onwards.
The self-defense lesson was being handled by no other than the sergeant himself. We were all paired up. Just as I was about to ask Minnie to be my sparring partner, Loki appeared before me. He was grinning from ear to ear, and I rolled my eyes. Readily, I put up a defensive stance.