In the headmistress's office,
Drumming his fingers on the table, Tenji watched as Maiyu paced about the room.
Her teeth on her black painted fingernail. She had tried her best to calm her thoughts while there was a crowd.
She took glances at Tenji and glared at him, but he seemed not to care and simply flashed a smile her way as a form of countering.
"If you have something to say, you better spill it." He broke the weird silence between them. "I have little patience and the presentation is bound to break whatever this is, if you delay any further."
He looked back down at his watch and calculated they have nothing more than 26 minutes before the presentation begins.
"Screw the presentation!" She spat out in frustration, but when she saw the shocked face on Tenji, she immediately realized her slip.
She was known to be kindhearted, peaceable, and would never blurt out profanities.
On several occasions, Tenji would feel uncomfortable when he blurted out profanities while they were together, but her?
"Who are you?!" He stared down at her.
Maiyu paused in her tracks, her hands dropping to her side. After what he had done to Fiku, she was scared of similar occurrences happening.
Running a background check on Tenji had opened up some secrets that she hadn't intended to immerse herself into and that would include the suppressed dark side inside of him.
"You were meant to control your emotions." She reminded.
Walking back to her seat, she sat across him and held his guilty eyes.
Tenji felt his breath hitch at her words, that was a sensitive topic even he had wished she didn't know of.
"So you know, I have tried my best in doing so. After two years, a little slip shouldn't be a problem." He defended with a shrug of his shoulders.
Maiyu's mouth fell in disbelief, "you're talking about me changing? Have you ever stopped to consider what you're becoming?"
Tenji had a poker face all the while as she spoke, feeling uninterested in her discussion.
Reminding him of how his mother would always treat him like some monster, he was disappointed with Maiyu–she was the one person he thought could understand him.
"I do have one question though," Tenji steered the conversation in another direction.
Leaning forward, he placed his elbows on the table and had his fingers steepled over his nose.
"What was that look you gave earlier?"
Maiyu sweatdropped and looked the other way, she had tried to hide the hurt at that moment, but it looked like he indeed caught on at the time.
"I-I don't kn... know what you mean." She stammered and quickly rushed off her sentence before avoiding any form of eye contact.
Tenji stared for a while, before pulling back his head as he let out a peal of bitter laughter.
Getting to his feet, he slapped his palms on the table and a broad smile spread across his lips.
"Was that from jealousy? Do you have a thing with the dangerous and mysterious guys?"
Maiyu scrunched up her nose and blinked, "did the attention get to your head? Why would I be interested in you?"
'Ouch!' Tenji gulped and pulled his hands away, wondering if he had jumped to conclusions way too fast.
Wiping down his face, his lips drew into a thin line. Embarrassment was obscured by his blank expression. This was the first time he had been rejected and it felt strange.
Maiyu held her breath looking at Tenji, her heartbeat quickening when she thought he had caught on to her deceit. It was nothing more than a fleeting feeling that even she wasn't sure what it meant.
'Keep it hidden and wish for it to go away. Only then could you comfortably reach out to him.' She resolved with a sigh.
"Tenji, I hope you don't have any issue with your moral code?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" He spat, feeling threatened by such denotation.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she rehearsed how she could lay out her claim without verifying that she was indeed jealous.
"You had mentioned to the board that you can't stand an unhealthy relationship." She clarified.
He could tell she was referring to Rumi and couldn't help but wonder if she was putting up an act to throw him off.
Feeling generous with his words, he replied. "I might just have a change of heart."
When he saw a flash of shock in her eyes, he was certain she had lied.
"If that is all, I would like to be excused, the students need my attention." Tenji turned around to leave without giving her a chance to speak.
*****
In the hall,
The students all filed into the large hall, some dashing in at full speed with their magic.
"Make way, losers!!" Dai called out as he pushed others away.
He stomped his feet intentionally to get everyone's attention so they could move before he got there.
He had three friends who served more like his lackeys than acquaintances. They exerted their hold on the weaker students–preferably the juniors.
The others watch helplessly, waiting for the professor's arrival–only they could maintain the order in the hall and bring retribution for the injustice.
"He thinks he's so powerful because of his father's background." A girl made a side remark to her friend.
When Dai turned to his side to look at the girl, he glared at her but was shocked she had returned the favor tenfold.
A girl with black hair in long uneven twin tails. Her red eyes dazzle with the left covered by her bangs.
Her dress is made out of orange and black frills, giving her the appearance of elegant gothic lolita.
Even though she looked incredibly young and had been mistaken most of the time by others, she had just recently clocked the age of 18 years and wasn't going to bow down and accept oppression just because of her stature.
"I'm not scared of you, you rich self-acclaimed brat!" She continued, folding her arms and pushing her bust up.
Dai's minions had wanted to shut her up but were restrained by him; he wanted to know how far anyone could get to criticizing his choices.
"Go on..." He goaded with a chilly voice, giving a twisted smile as he looked down at her 160cm frame with amusement.
"You bully others just because you're a senior. Well, guess what?! The presentation would only determine how much of a low-grade sorcerer you are!" She spat, pushing on his chest.
There was a low murmur among the crowd to the action, if she wasn't so lucky, they had expected an outburst from Dai.
Raising her hands towards the students that were forced to levitate because they didn't possess the counterspell.
Her hot red eyes glowed as she clenched them. Her mana-infused force pulled them safely to their feet.
The victims simply took to their heels in a rush and anywhere away from the ensuing battle.
Dai looked at his minions and he burst out laughing, "so what if you have a few tricks up your sleeves, that doesn't mean a girl would be able to win this round."
The two rivals lock gazes, snarling at each other, the intensity of their shared enmity manifesting as crackling streamers of lightning arching back and forth between their eyes as sparks begin to fly.
"I'm not the one who uses my magic for stupid reasons, so I wouldn't know what you're talking about." She countered.
"Why you..." Dai's hands blazed with black flames.
He had wanted to lurch forward when a hand stopped him by gripping his wrist hard.
He had not thought much about it at first and had struggled to get free before he whipped his head back.
Upon sighting the individual, the color drained from his face. 'Oh fuck!'
*****
A/N
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