Puck nervously fidgeted in his seat as he sat across from Cid.The second year Cid had a large, muscled body and was tall– very intimidating indeed. Puck looked up nervously and the big guy smiled at him. "Don't be so nervous, man. You said you needed some help? Let's hear it bro."
Puck swallowed.
"I-I got a partner…" Puck trailed off. Cid patiently waited until he continued on with a big smile on his face. "A-and she's really amazing. My…my last partner– she left me because I was neglectful. H-how do I stop that from happening again…?"
Cid leaned back in his chair and made an appreciative sound. "If that's what's troubling you, bro, you don't even need to worry. The fact that you're asking me that question means you're halfway there, already."
Puck's nervousness faded gradually as he got more comfortable being around Cid. The guy was intimidating, but he was caring and kind. Kind of like a big bear.
"R-really?"
"Yep! Asking that question means you care a lot about what your partner thinks and that's super important! The second most important thing is…" Puck leaned forward as he attentively listened to Cid's advice. "The second most important thing is undestanding your partner! And to understand each other you need good communication! So your next step is to start talking to your partner." Puck was slightly dissapointed by the answer as he looked at the table defeated as he said; "I-I'm not good at…t-talking..."
"But you're honest!" Cid made large motions with his hands. "Bro, the most important thing is that your partner can understand you and you can understand your partner. Whether or not you're good at conversation doesn't matter. All you have to do is get her to talk about how she feels, and you talk about how you feel." Cid reassured him.
"Yep! That's how this big lug won me over." Cistelle came out of nowhere and put her arms around Cid's shoulders. Cid shrugged her arms off his shoulders as he flushed. "Cis, n-not in public…"
Cistelle gave Cid a strange look. "It's weird how shy you can be in public, even after what you do to me every night." Cid flushed bright red. "It's weird how you can say stuff like that in public without being shy about it!"
Puck watched the exchange between the two from the side. Even in that short conversation Cid and Cis had shared their feelings with each other. Puck got a better understanding of what Cid had explained to him.
__
Renne felt a bit confused as she walked to class. She was confused by herself. After Golden had told her off she had felt –for lack of a better word– like sh^t.
And Puck found ways to annoy her to no end. His timidness, his uncanny innocence… All of it annoyed her. PUCK annoyed her.
So then why had she felt so at ease and relaxed when he started talking to her about consors out of the blue? She should've been livid– instead she'd felt calm.
It confused her.
It also didn't help that Puck hadn't given her any information about the 9.7 slut she could exploit…
Renne sighed. Had she made a mistake partnering up with him, after all?
"H-Hey!" Puck suddenly appeared next to her, holding another flower. How long would he keep doing that, for? He'd been giving her sweet smelling flowers every day for a week.
"Hi, Puck." Renne greeted him without looking at him, but she did take the flower. It was the least she could do. Puck fidgeted a bit before asking her a question he'd never asked before. "H-how do…how do you feel?"
Renne's eyes widened as her eyebrows shot up. When was the last time anyone had asked her that question? Years. Ever since Golden got his hands on her. Renne's face fell as she remembered Golden.
How DID she feel? Even though it was such a simple question, after not having to answer it for years she didn't know how to give an appropriate answer.
"I…I'm…" Renne struggled. Puck looked a bit worried. She had to answer quickly.
"I'm fine." Puck stared at her without saying anything. "What's that look for?"
"Ah! Uh…" Puck realized he'd been staring and tried to think of what to say. "A-are you really fine?"
Renne just frowned at him and walked away.
Puck looked a bit disappointedly at himself. Had he done something wrong?
__
Glade and Adalaene were walking to class together when they suddenly came face to face with the director of the academy– Irina Yeklov. Glade and Adalaene gave a short salute.
"At ease." The director watched the two of them attentively, trying to figure something out. She looked especially hard at Glade. "Your performances during the obstacle course race were impressive. Especially you." She pointed at Glade."I watched the footage back. You used force circulation, didn't you? I'm curious where you learned it."
"I just learned it myself."
"What?" Irina Yeklov glared at him. She thought he was lying. Force circulation was an esoteric art not many could pull off. It required a dedicated teacher and time to master.
"Ada used to hit me with her soul force all the time when we were kids. I guess I kind of picked up on it." Director Yeklov glared at him. "What?" That was such a ridiculous explanation. But still, she couldn't tell whether or not the boy was lying, so she let it go for now. She would learn his secrets in time. "Fine, then." Director Yeklov moved past them. "I expect great things from you. Don't forget our promise."
Ada glared at the woman's back as she walked away. "Why does she seem so stuck-up whenever I see her?" Glade chuckled a bit and squeezed her hand. "Probably because she's the director of the academy." Ada glared at him and dug her nails into his palm. "Ow. OW! I'm sorry!"
"Hmph." Ada looked behind them at a trio of males who had been following them ever since they left the dormitories. "Hey, Glade… Who are those guys?"
"Don't pay them any mind. They asked me to teach them some stuff and I agreed. Ever since they've been following me everywhere and calling me 'teach'." Glade had an amused expression as he described his strange relationship with his classmates. Ada thought it was very strange. "Seriously?"
"Seriously."
__
Golden entered a classroom. It wasn't his own.
He'd seen Renne interact with some green-haired side character– 'Puck'. After looking into it a bit Golden had figured out that it was someone the irregular pair liked quite a lot. After he found that out he decided 'Puck' would make a example. People shouldn't touch what was his.
Golden found him sitting in the back corner of the classroom at his desk. He looked quite pathetic. Skinny, a dull face and his hair was an ugly shade of dark green that made him feel sick to his stomach. A truly disgusting side-character. Renne shouldn't be around something like that.
"Oi. Look at me, you sea cucumber." Puck's hair reminded Golden of a sea cucumber, so that's what Puck was called from now on– Sea cucumber. A very fitting name.
"W-wha…?" Sea cucumber looked up was faced with the handsome and tall Golden. "E-eh…?"
Golden smashed his fist into Sea cucumber's desk and he was frightened. Sea cucumber had a truly pathetic and terrified look on his face as Golden lifted his fist from the now broken desk.
"I see you've been hanging around Renne for a bit, haven't you? You stinking cucumber." Golden smacked sea cucumber in the face with his palm, leaving a red mark. That hit felt very good. He'd been so stressed because of the irregular pair recently... He finally found some stress relief.
Tears filled Sea cucumber's eyes as other students started snickering or just watched everything happen.
Even though there were some who felt what Golden was doing was wrong, they wouldn't try to stop it. What if Golden decided to pick on them next? And the academy wouldn't take action because of Golden's powerful family. They were big sponsors of DUST academy, granting Golden some leeway to do what he wanted. The academy wouldn't take action unless Golden killed another student.
"Oi. Say something, you cucumber." Golden grabbed Sea cucumber's collar and hit him again. "Who is Renne to you? Huh?" Sea cucumber blinked his teary eyes and sputtered out some nonsense. "S…SH-Gre..S-ghs!" Golden was genuinely confused by the gibberish. "What the hell did you just say? Speak english!" Golden smacked him again. Sea cucumber's tears were rolling down his cheeks.
"She's my p-partner!"
Huh? Golden was stunned.
"...Seriously?" He asked Sea cucumber. Sea cucumber quickly nodded yes.
"Stop lying! There's no way Renne would partner with someone like you!" Golden prepared to smack him again. "I-I'm…not! Honest! I-I'm being...honest!"
"Tch." Golden smacked him one more time for good measure before dropping him to the ground.
"G-Golden...?" Renne stood in the doorway of the classroom and took in the scene. Puck was clutching his cheeks from pain as tears rolled down his cheeks. Golden was standing over him with an innocent expression.
Puck's face lit up as he saw Renne standing in the doorway. "R-Renne...!" Puck thought she would help him, just like she had done with the three bullies from before. But reality was much harsher.
"Golden? What are you doing here? Did you do this for... me?" Renne smiled and gleefully traipsed towards Golden. Renne couldn't be more wrong. Golden hadn't done it for her. He had done it for himself.
Knowing he was forced to breathe the same air as someone as miserable as Puck was bad enough. There's no way he could overlook his ex-partner partnering up with a Sea cucumber!
Puck suffered a lot of psychological damage as he watched Renne give all her attention to Golden. Renne only spared him a quick glace before focusing her attention back on Golden.
"I didn't do this for you!" Golden left the classroom quickly and Renne followed him, leaving a humiliated and defeated Puck on the ground.
__
"Bro! What happened?" Cid entered the infirmary and inspected Puck's condition. Puck's face was swollen and bruised. But Cid suspected more damage had been done inside of Puck than was shown on the outside.
Puck looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. Cid knew what happened. Whenever the freshmen stirred up some trouble the upperclassmen liked to talk about it. It was only a matter of time before Cid heard of what happened. Cid squeezed Puck's shoulder reassuringly. "Want to talk about it?"
"..." Puck refused to answer and still did not meet Cid's eyes. Cid sighed. He wanted to know how Puck felt, but he wouldn't pry. Whether he wanted to confide in others or not was entirely Puck's choice. Instead of prying Cid gave Puck another reassuring shoulder squeeze and left the infirmary.
__
"Line up! Present your forearms!" To prepare for the joint class about close-quarters combat an instructor was attaching soul force inhibitors to each of the students' forearms. This class was purely focused on technique. Because of that the use of soul force was inhibited. It also prevented major injuries from occurring.
Glade looked around the field and when he couldn't find Puck anywhere he asked Roid. "Have you seen Puck anywhere? The guy with green hair that hangs out with me a lot." Roid stiffly looked down at the ground. "Err…Teach, You don't know what happened...?"
Glade frowned. "What happened?" Because of Glade's status as an irregular and low soul force, people usually didn't approach him unless they needed something from him. Because of this gossip and rumours never reached him.
Roid explained what Golden had done to Puck. Glade's expression didn't change at all while Loid explained what had happened, but Loid could feel angry waves radiating from Glade by the end of the story. Glade was a person who remained stoic even when he was angry– but his rage was clearly intense.
"I see." Glade turned and looked at Golden, who looked back and smirked at him. An intense expression overcame Glade's face for a short moment. Golden looked away.
The instructor finished attaching soul force inhibitors to the students and shouted across the entire field. "Alright, you maggots! I'm going to be assigning you your partners!" The instructor pointed at Glade. "You! With him!" Golden smirked as he was pointed at. Numerous students started whispering. Why would they pair the irregular 1.8 with rank 2 in the academy? Something was off. And why wasn't the irregular 1.8 refusing?!
The instructor silenced the students across the field with a great shout and continued to explain the rules. "This is how it's going to work! You enter the arena and you two get three rounds– best of three! You knock your opponent down? You win a round! You force your opponent to surrender? You win a round! You make your opponent incapable to continue fighting? You win it all! If you want to break some bones– make them clean breaks! Don't make the paramedics work overtime today! Got it?!"
Adalaene sent Glade a worried look across the field but Glade just looked at her with a determined expression before he entered the arena.
__
Perfect! Everything was going perfectly! All according to plan! He'd finally get to show that incompetent 1.8 how inferior he was. Golden remembered the look on that mongrel's face after he and the EX-rank crossed the obstacle course finish line before he did. Absolutely inexcusable! That damn cheater!
But this time would be different. It had been so simple. He just paid a visit to some of the instructors and lightly 'instructed' them to do certain things. Golden flicked his wrist and felt the soul force inhibitor loosely wiggle– it was faulty and fragile. Perfect! It would break off from the slightest impact!
Golden couldn't keep himself from smirking as he watched the incompetent bastard stand across from him on the other side of the arena. Golden toy with him a bit during the first round without using any of his soul force. Then he would let the incompentent 1.8 'hit' him once, and his soul force inhibitor would fly off. The instructor would conveniently go on a 'bathroom break' when that happened and then Golden would use his soul force in 'self-defence'.
Glade glared at Golden across the arena and Golden snickered. He couldn't wait to humiliate that mongrel in front of everybody!
"Positions!" The instructor prepared to start the first round. "...Start!"
Golden expected the mongrel to rush at him immediately but instead he started circling Golden slowly. How unfortunate. If he'd rushed at him Golden could have put his face in the sand within seconds!
__
"Are you worried?" Yue asked Adalaene the question. "Not really." Adalaene shook her head at her. "Glade can't lose if there's no soul force involved."
Adalaene had been surprised when Yue approached her. Yue was the only real female friend she'd made so far.
Yue was in the A-class just like Adalaene and ranked 5th. She was a low A-rank, and even more surprisingly she was from eastern descent. The easterners had been nearly wiped out by reapers when they first appeared. Yue's family escaped and built a technological empire using the knowledge of reapers they had learned from their attacks. Yue's family was now one of the only major branches with eastern roots.
Yue flipped her dark purple hair over her shoulder. "You think so? People like me and Golden get tutored pretty early in martial arts. I don't think he'd lose to someone like Glade."
Adalaene grinned at her. "Wanna bet? If Glade beats Golden you get me the deluxe pancake set from Café Séléne."
Yue smirked at her. "Deal. But if I win and Glade doesn't beat Golden I'm the one that gets to nurse him back to health in the infirmary."
"...What?"
"I'm kidding! S-stop looking at me like that! It's scary!"
"...Then don't joke like that." Adalaene and Yue turned their attention back to the match. Glade and Golden were slowly circling each other. Yue frowned at Glade's stance. "Is that…?"
Golden was getting tired of this useless circling. If the mongrel wasn't going to attack then he would instead! He would end it one strike!
Golden rushed forward and aimed a precise set of punches at Glade's solaris plexus. If those punches hit their mark Glade would be coughing on the ground trying to breathe. But that's not what happened.
Yue's suspicions were confirmed when Glade kicked Golden with a series of well placed kicks to his legs and side. "Taekwondo…!" Taekwondo was a flashy, but fluid martial art using your legs. Well, it was supposed to be flashy, but based on how Yue had just seen Glade kick… "ITF Taekwondo!" ITF Taekwondo was less flashy than regular Taekwondo, but it was much more practical and was a martial art that aimed at breaking down the opponent.
Yue turned to Adalaene and shook her shoulders fervently. "HOW DOES HE KNOW ITF TAEKWONDO?! HUH?!" After many generations Taekwondo was considered a lost martial art. Old martial arts such as Karate, Muay Tai and Taekwondo had slowly faded out of existence in favor of more modern martial arts such as boxing and Judo, as they were more applicable when piloting a consor.
"Holy sh^t. Calm down. I know it too. I'll tell you about it later so let's focus on the match first."
Golden went down on one knee, grunting. How had the 1.8 done that? He kicked him! His kicks were so fast Golden was not able to react in time! Golden stood up and glared at Glade.
Glade waved his fingers as if to say 'come at me'. He was taunting Golden!
How dare he!
Golden rushed at him with a box guard. Golden assaulted Glade with a combination of knee kicks and punches. Glade avoided the kicks and blocked the punches. Golden went for a one-two combination. Glade doged the first the strike and prepared to block the second. But the second punch was a feint! Golden kicked Glade's shin and Glade lost his balance.
"Ha! This round is mine, you mongrel!"
Or was it?
Glade twisted in the air and landed on his feet. He kicked Golden's foot and he fell forwards. And as Golden tried to regain his balance Glade followed up with Taekwondo's signature move: "The back kick!" Yue excitedly exclaimed.
Golden noticed the back kick and guarded against it, but it was too late. Glade's back kick blew past his guard and straight into his face. Golden was blown back and fell on his back. The only reason he wasn't completely knocked out was because his guard had blocked some of the damage.
The instructor shouted; "First round!"
"Huh?" Golden couldn't fully process what had happened. Did he just lose the first round? Impossible!
Golden stood up unsteadily and saw a red droplet fall to the ground.
Was that… blood? My blood?!
Golden's nose was bleeding. He clenched it instinctually to stop the bleeding and felt a large bump.
"It's broken! You vile bastard!" Golden spit venomous insults at Glade while he stopped the bleeding. "I'll kill you!" Golden glanced at the instructor. The instructor nodded at him.
"Second round!"
Golden didn't bother circling this time. He'd just crush him!
Glade did the same as last time, striking at Golden's side- exactly what Golden wanted! Golden caught his leg and was about to break it.
Taekwondo had a fatal weakness: If you caught the opponent's leg they couldn't fight back. Taekwondo is a flashy, useless martial art that could only be used against amateurs. But that wasn't true! When your opponent caught your leg it opened the doorway to the second most powerful kick in Taekwondo: The Side Kick!
By using the opponent's hold on your leg as an anchor and pivot point, it allowed for the twisting of a body and a powerful blow to their skull!
Glade jumped and pivoted, swinging his leg up and prepared to kick Golden in the jaw.
But Golden expected this, too! Even if Golden was a bit of an idiot, he had good fighting instincts.
Golden blocked the side kick with his forearm. A loud crunching sound could be heard. Golden's mouth curled into a sinister smirk as his soul force inhibitor fell off his arm. Golden's eyes started glowing.
Glade tried to get away but Golden was still holding his leg, preventing him from escaping. "You bastard. You plan-"
Golden crushed Glade into the ground before he could finish the sentence. The ground cracked from the force. Glade's skull was buried into the ground and still, he was being crushed. Golden let go of Glade's now broken leg and used soul force to keep Glade pressed to the ground.
Soul force could be applied externally to create pressure similar to an increase in gravity. The more intense one's soul force was the more pressure they could exert.
And Golden possed a soul force strength of 7.4, someone right on the cusp of S-rank!
A few students screamed and others shouted out in rage.
"Kyaaa!"
"That's against the rules!"
"Are you trying to kill him?!"
"Where's the instructor?!!"
But the instructor was on a convenient 'bathroom break' at Golden's behest. Golden shouted to silence the students. "I just did it in self-defence! I couldn't help it!" What a ridiculous excuse!
"Stop!" Adalaene jumped into the arena and screamed at Golden. Golden smirked at her. "Make me."
Adalaene had already been trying to remove her soul force inhibitor. But the entire point of the inhibitor was that it was impossible to remove yourself. She was powerless to stop Golden.
"Just stop!"
"You want me to stop?" Golden's smirk widened and he pointed at the ground. "Then get on your knees and beg. Beg me to be your partner."
Adalaene's eyes shook.
Yes! Golden knew this would work. He'd seen her waver before when he'd said she would kill Glade if she piloted with him. Abusing someone's concern for another was always the best way to manipulate them.
"Hey," Golden startled from the voice that suddenly appeared from behind him. "H-how.. How are you standing?!" Glade was standing in the soul force pressured area, his broken leg cracking and his face was red from blood.
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
Glade looked terrifying covered in his own blood and standing on a broken leg. But that wasn't what terrified Golden.
How is he standing?! Golden was sure that he had not released his soul force. It should have been impossible for Glade to move even a single finger. Even Golden's old tutors, retired consor pilots, could not move when he pressed down on them with his soul force. "H-how…?"
Glade sent him a glare that could inspire fear in even the 3 heavenly generals.
Golden fell backwards on his butt and released his soul force, pissing his own pants. Glade collapsed and Adalaene rushed over to him, catching him before he could fall to the ground. "Glade…?! Glade!"
"Hey! What's happening?!" The instructor returned from his so-called 'bathroom break' and immediately called for emergency paramedics. Glade was carried away and Adalaene stood up, approaching Golden with a fierce look."You…!"
"H-Hiek?!" Golden flinched as she approached. Adalaenes eyes were glowing. How were her eyes glowing with soul force even though she still had a soul force inhibitor on?!
Yue stopped her. "Not worth it. Let's go get those deluxe pancakes I owe you while they fix Glade's broken leg."
"...Fine."
__
Renne decided to skip the joint class about close-quarters combat. She'd never been good at it and she didn't feel like getting sand in her eyes. She decided to pass the time by visiting Puck in the infirmary. She didn't really have a particular reason to go visit him, but...
What was with that look?
Renne remembered the way Puck looked at her after Golden had played with him a bit. What had that look been for? And why did it bother her so much?
Puck didn't matter to her. But in the end, he was still her partner-- even if temporary. She suddenly felt a cold wave of guilt as she stood in front of the infirmary door.
What was this? Why did she feel this way?
Renne entered the infirmary but had to search a bit before she found Puck. Puck saw her...
What was with that look?! And why did it bother her so damn much?!
__
Puck didn't feel any particular way when he saw Renne. He'd had a few hours to think in the infirmary.
Puck went over the events of what had happened with Golden and felt the only person he could blame was himself. He should have stood up for himself. He shouldn't have cried when people started laughing. He shouldn't have been so... weak.
He was a B-rank. He was fully capable of protecting himself using his soul force if he wanted to-- he just decided not to whenever a stressful situation occurred-- he lacked courage. That's why he'd liked Renne so much. Renne had pulled him out of stressful situations whenever he'd been placed in one. And when he lacked bravery she gave it to him. But Puck knew he couldn't expect her to do it every single time.
Adalaene and Glade were the exact same. Were they truly his friends? Or do they just tolerate him because they know he wouldn't have anyone else to rely on? It was all because he's too weak. Too weak to stand up for himself. Too weak to trust himself.
What hurt the most was when he realized he was too weak to change. After Cid had visited him, he wanted to tell him everything. He wanted to tell Cid how he felt and what he had experienced. But he lacked the courage to open himself up to his feelings and tell Cid.
And how could Puck change if he couldn't even manage to do that?
Renne looked away from his eyes. "Stop looking at me like that. I hate it."
"..."
Renne sat down on the chair next to him. "Say something. Aren't you mad? Don't you ever get mad?"
"No." Puck sounded hollow.
"What?" Renne was surprised by the montone answer. She had expected Puck to be angry at her for following Golden instead of helping him. This monotone and calm version of Puck made her feel uneasy. "What do you mean, 'no'? Shouldn't you be insulting me, or something? Telling me I'm two-faced or a liar? Why are you acting as if nothing happened?"
Puck didn't say anything.
Renne was getting annoyed. The boy who had incessantly bothered her the past two weeks had never been this quiet or calm. Renne knew she was the cause, but she still didn't like it. "You're supposed to be telling me you don't want to be my partner anymore. C'mon, say it. I've just been using you this entire time to get closer to him. You must have known that. You're just a tool to me. Say it. Say you don't want to be my partner anymore!" Renne didn't really understand why she was telling Puck everything. She just wanted to a get a reaction out of him, anything. She wanted him to show he cared about something. To shout, or scream, or cry, or do ANYTHING except sit in that bed and do nothing. She knew how it felt when Golden broke you. She didn't want the same to happen to Puck-- the innocent boy who liked consors enough to squeel about them.
Renne finally managed to pull a reaction out of Puck.
"I... I can't! I can't say it! I can't tell you I don't want to be your partner anymore!"
"Why not?!" Renne didn't understand.
"I just can't! Whenever I speak I stutter and I'm quiet and weak! I don't even have the courage to ask about what your favorite color is, what kind of flowers you like, what your favorite food is or what your name means! I can't ask you about your feelings even when something is clearly wrong! I can't ask you why you decided to partner with me! I can't ask you anything! The only thing I can talk about without stuttering are consors, and I am sure that bothers you a lot! It bothers everyone! I just can't!" Puck was breathing heavily by the time he'd finished his outburst. He'd never spoken so loud before.
Even though it was the reaction Renne had hoped for, she was still surprised by his outburst. "...You just did." She looked at Puck with a wide-eyed expression. "You just told me all of it. Without stuttering. And I could hear every word. I heard you."
Puck calmed down and his eyes shook. "I-I..." Puck didn't know what to say.
"My favorite color is beige. I like snow drops because they don't smell too sweet. I like salty food like chips and burgers and my favorite desert is apple pie." Renne answered all of his questions. "My name is 'Renne' because my ancestors used to be french and my parents thought my hair looked like antlers when I was born."
"Oh... haha." Puck couldn't help but chuckle as she said it. Renne smiled a bit. It was the first time she had ever told someone about herself.
Renne looked a bit embarrassed as she kept going. "I... I like when you talk about consors. I like passionate people, so when you get so excited about them and talk about them for hours on end... I actually don't mind it that much. In fact, I like it."
Puck looked even more embarrassed than Renne as she spoke about it. "A-ah... Oh! T-then..." Puck fidgeted a bit. "Would you like to know about the Ygdrill consor frame...? I-It's my favorite..."
Renne smiled at him. "As long as you don't stutter."
___
The paramedic doctor had a horrified expression as he examined the computer screen in front of him. It displayed x-ray photos of Glade's ruined leg. "These breaks...."