Walking towards the group, his feet sinking into the cold mud, his eyes scanning around until they found her, he approached Aveline. Her face remained loyal to her common expression. He smiled awkwardly at her.
Professor Mayrose stood on a wooden box, her feet unblemished by the wet dirt.
"Good morning class, today will be our first trust-building exercise of the month." she said, "For those of you that haven't bonded yet, you're free to pair up with someone or watch from the sidelines."
Her eyes darted to the path Hajime took, where the dirt met the cobblestone. Princess Calantha sat on a summer chair, slowly taking sips of her tea as she watched her fellow students.
"Professor Mayrose cleared her throat, "The first exercise will be trust falls."
"Trust falls?" A student couldn't help but ask.
"Yes." she nodded, "There's no better way to show trust than to literally fall and count on someone else."
"But it's muddy." A brunette complained.
"Then you better ask your partner to catch you." she said with a smile, "Please pair up and stand in a line."
The students obeyed her without hesitation. Hajime glanced at Aveline. She didn't even look at him as she moved to stand in the line. He followed after her. A conversation caught his attention.
"Princess Calantha you look stunning today, would you like to be my partner?" Zovian, the Dominalis prince asked.
He was standing before the Princess, his ankles buried in the mud.
"No thank you." she said, coldly turning her head away.
"Come on, it'll be fun." he smiled, "Besides there's no one else worthy of you. I'm the only one that's suited to be your partner."
"Prince Zovian." her voice was as sharp as a blade, "What's more important? What you think, or what I think?"
"Me." he said, giving her a grin.
"You see, there's one thing you and I disagree on."
"And what's that?"
"You think everything is about you, but the reality is it isn't. My opinions and thoughts matter, just as much as yours."
The Dominali prince's smile was as charming as a fox.
"Opinions and thoughts are a dime a dozen, aren't they? Doesn't change the fact that you want to be an Aicte and I'm the only that can help you get there." he said, "We'd be unstoppable."
He took a step forward, a small amount of mud splashed onto her bright pink pants, he reached out for her hair, a frown appeared on her face as she firmly slapped his hand away.
"Do not touch me." she said, "Wearing a glove doesn't give you the right to touch floraliths."
"So that's why."
"What?"
"That's why you haven't bonded." he said, "You've got a lot of issues, don't you?"
"You're a prick."
"Charming." he said, "Will you let your unwarranted disgust of me, prevent you from achieving your goals?"
"Of course not." she said, "But like any other, you'll have to earn it."
"Earn it?"
The chair creaked, as she stood up, her eyes met the ones of the students who were eavesdropping on their conversation.
"There will be a tournament, the winner gets to be my partner. First-years, second-years, and third-years are allowed to participate. Needless to say but the winner will practically be royalty." she said.
She walked away, leaving a prince standing with a scowl on his face, his fists clenched.
"Very well." he spoke in the direction of her back before he walked away.
Professor Mayrose snapped her fingers.
"Begin, first in line, you two."
Hajime's focus shifted to Aveline, her back was towards him, her glossy violet hair was tied into a ponytail. She was barefoot and the mud clung to her soles.
"Should we do it on three or on go?" he asked.
Instead of the usual silence, Aveline answered him with a fall. Dashing forward and quickly stretching his arms, wrapping them around her waist, her head smacked into his chest as he caught her. He heaved a sigh of relief.
"What?" she asked.
Hajime continued to hold her, letting her head rest against his chest.
"You were supposed to tell me before you started falling."
"No." she said.
"Why not?"
"..."
Hajime let go of her waist as she regained her balance.
"I suppose it's my turn." he said before turning his back towards Aveline.
He wasn't that fond of getting dirt in his hair but he wanted to get back at Aveline. With his back to her, he quickly took a step away from Aveline before letting himself fall.
Failing to fall into the mud, his head hit her chest, her squishy boobs cushioned the impact. Her scent was divine. She smelled like a field of flowers.
"Thanks." Hajime said awkwardly as he relished the feeling of heaven.
He heard Aveline mumbled something before he felt gravity once again, he laid in the mud, his hair soaking, as the dirt slid underneath his shirt.
Hajime stood up, with mud all over his back and some in his hair. He turned to face Aveline, who was avoiding his gaze.
"You dropped me." he said.
"..."
"Aveline" he continued.
"Hmph"
"You know what's ironic." he said.
"..."
"We're bonding more when you don't speak to me."
"No." she whispered.
"Okay, class next up is from the rooftop." Professor Mayrose said.
"First up is..." her voice trailed off as she looked at Hajime's muddy clothes, she let out a chuckle, "Hajime."
"Follow me." she said.
Hajime wiped the mud, best he could, from his hair and his uniform, as he followed the teacher. Professor Mayrose's flowing ginger locks were mesmerizing as they bounced with her footsteps. She created a ramp made out of her root mana. It was sturdy yet flexible and plantlike. She stepped on the ramp and walked up to the rooftop. Hajime had to squint his eyes, to avoid the sunlight from blinding him.
The roof's edges were lined with small beds of moss-covered stone, creating a short ledge. Hajime inspected it, the drop wasn't that far. Maybe two stories, he thought.
"Okay Princess Aveline, prepare to catch Hajime." she said, "Hajime stand there."
"Yes Professor." she replied.
"Alright and go!"
Hajime hesitated for a moment before letting his body fall backwards. The world's colors blurred, the only thing in focus was the pale blue sky. A blurry silhouette that resembled Aveline's figure stood out, her arms held out, waiting for him. He couldn't hear anything, except his own heartbeat.
Aveline's body trembled, she squeezed him tight, her heart was beating as fast as his.
"You actually caught me." he said, an orange smell wafted into his nose.
"No." she dropped him in the mud again.
"Ugh."
"Princess Aveline and Hajime, this is supposed to be a trust-building exercise." she said.
"I believe princesses aren't supposed to drop their subjects." Hajime said.
"Not funny." Professor Mayrose sighed, "Princess Aveline come on up."
"Yes Professor." she complied.
The moment Aveline stood on the ledge, she fell but Hajime was prepared, he managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
"It wouldn't have hurt if you waited a second, you know?" he said.
"..."
He set her upright, her small feet touching the muddy soil. She averted her gaze.
The rest of the class had their turn before the Professor spoke up.
"The next one is only for those of you that have done the binding-ritual with your partner." she said.
Hajime touched the side of his neck, his fingers trailing over the purple flower tattoo that symbolized his bond to Aveline. His eyes caught Aveline doing the same.
"This will be the first time you use the mana from your floralith partner, it can be tricky to use it correctly or at all." she said, "You will use the mana to create a root, that will wrap around your partner's waist and lift them into the air until you run out of shared mana. You will have to catch your partner after that."
"All clear?"
"Yes." everyone replied.
This time some other students went first, some didn't even manage to create a root, others couldn't lift their partners up.
"Wow." students exclaimed, as a black-haired princess was raised higher than the rooftop.
"Don't drop me Velor!" Brielle screamed.
"Relax I'll catch you." Velor shouted.
"Miss Royal is getting the royal treatment." Hajime joked.
Aveline shot him a glance.
"What? You don't think it's funny?"
Aveline shook her head.
The sound of air whistling past through their ears before the group heard a thud.
"Oof." the onlookers said.
"Sorry." Velor said as he extended his hand towards her sister, who was lying face first into the mud.
"Sorry?" a muffled voice came from the mud, "Sorry?!"
Brielle quickly got up, her hair was covered in brown, her amethyst eyes narrowed, she tackled her sister into the mud.
"That was for dropping me." she said, leaving Veloria completely buried in the mud.
"Hajime and Aveline, your next." the professor said.
Hajime glanced at Aveline. She sighed before taking off her glasses and handing them to him.
"Don't worry, I won't drop you."
"..."
"By the way, I'm not sure how high up I'll be able to lift you." he said.
Aveline didn't respond.
"Alright you two." Professor Mayrose gestured for them to start.
Hajime took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing his attention within, his blood flowing to every part of his body, reaching the tattoo on his neck. He felt the connection between Aveline and him. He used her mana to create a root, it wrapped around her lithe waist, before growing taller and taking her with it.
"What?" Professor Mayrose voiced out loud, "That's impossible. Not even third-years can lift their Floraliths that high."
It felt like a breeze was washing over his body. Hajime opened his eyes. He looked up, and was met with the sight of Aveline being suspended in mid-air, her face was pale, and her lips were trembling as she desperately held onto the single root.
Aveline was currently higher than Floraire Castle, even higher than the Statue of Sunfloria.
[Host used the Mana from Aveline and the mana from Sakura]
'Isn't this too much?'
[Host gets exponentially stronger with each floralith. Needless to say, she'll die if she touches the ground]
'That's reassuring.'
The root crumbled, and Aveline fell, her screams scared away the birds sitting on nearby trees.
"Hajime!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Time to catch you." he said to himself.
Her hair waving wildly behind her, the wind relentlessly beating her face, her tears rapidly streaming down her cheeks, her arms flailed at the sides of her body.
She clenched her eyes shut, hoping for a quick end, as she felt herself rapidly approach the ground, instead she was met with a pair of strong arms, and her teary-eyed gaze met with a familiar pair of mismatched eyes.