The sun shone through the black curtains, hitting Hajime right in the eyes. He rubbed his eyelids before sitting upright. Aveline was still sleeping, her little snores invoking a sense of adoration and protection. Hajime carefully got out of bed. The clock hanging above the door told him that he had about an hour before the next trust-building exercise. He decided to take a shower. After finishing his shower, he found Aveline still sprawled over the bed. One hand on her face, the other hanging next to the bed, almost touching the wooden floor.
Hajime approached her, standing next to her bed, admiring the sleeping beauty, who had a stream of saliva forming a small puddle on her pillow.
I better wake her, he thought.
"Aveline."
The drooling princess didn't respond.
"Aveline wake up. It's time for class."
The drooling princess turned the other way.
He poked her nose.
The drooling princess's snore grew louder yet she still slept.
Hajime chuckled as an idea popped into his head, like a devil whispering into his ear.
"Okay if you don't want to wake up, then I have no choice." he said in louder tone.
Rubbing her cheek with it, drawing circles around her cheek, before settling on her lips, the drooling princess's eyes shot open. A barrage of slaps followed, desperately trying to swat away whatever poked her cheeks like trying to kill that annoying fly.
She caught it, her eyes turning blood red.
"A finger?" the drooling princess said, her grip tightening with each word, her glare intensifying.
"We're late for class so hurry up and get ready." Hajime smiled.
A sigh left the princess' sleepy lips, her grip loosening as the threat in her eyes disappeared. She put on her expressionless mask and headed for the shower.
The princess and her annoying partner walked towards the academy pool. The silence between them was deafening. Other students, who took the same path, either walked slower than them or faster than them, not wanting to be caught up in an international incident.
They arrived at the pool area. Classmates took off their shoes, putting their bags down on the bright green grass that surrounded the pool, the women wearing their bikinis, the men wearing their shorts and bare chests. Hajime followed after Aveline, stepping on the wet grass, inhaling the familiar smell of rain. Both of them took off their shirts, his abs and chest catching the attention of his classmates, her black tankini leaving much to the imagination before her classmates remembered that she was a princess, his eyes were glued to her figure as her eyes were glued to his abs.
"Like what you see?" he teased only to be met with silence.
"I do." A voice chimed in.
"Princess Calantha, morning."
"Cali or Calantha, whichever you like the most." she winked.
"Umm, nice suit." Hajime said, ignoring the previous remark.
A white and blue striped bikini was tightly wrapped around her body, her two arms folded behind her back, her natural pink eyes intently staring at him like a hawk watching a rat.
"Thank you. It's new."
"You look lovely."
"You're not so bad yourself." she said, taking a step closer, taking in his scent before her hand reached for his chest only to be blocked by ice-cold hands.
Aveline grabbed Hajime by his arm and dragged him away, leaving the Calathea flower with a smile that seemed forced, stopping in front of Professor Mayrose, who looked at the scene with sparkling eyes, perhaps she enjoyed watching the drama unfold within a love triangle.
After a few moments, Professor Mayrose cleared her throat and all of the whispers died down.
"Good morning class, today our lesson will geared towards already bonded partners. Today is also the official first lesson on root magic. That's why there are Teacher Assistants here today." she said, gesturing towards the two women behind her.
Professor Mayrose clapped her hands together, "Okay first thing's first, you'll have to get used to the touch of your partner. By that I mean you'll be holding hands for a few minutes."
Hajime could see the annoyance in Aveline's eyes, her poker face was practically screaming 'Get it over with.'
He extended his left hand toward her.
"Your right hand." she said.
He retracted his hands and switched.
"Both hands at the same time." Professor Mayrose chimed in.
Aveline's eyebrow twitched slightly before accepting both of his hands. Her hands felt cold yet soft; Her hands held his hands tight, a little too tight, if Hajime was an ordinary human his hand would've broke by the pressure.
"Both partners should maintain eye contact, and interpret one another's facial and body language," Professor Mayrose said, demonstrating with her assistant, "The goal is to understand one another, to understand what one's partner likes and dislikes, and ultimately, to understand one another's bodies."
Hajime's eyes studied her face, her royal face, a face with perfect symmetry, a face that would be displayed at a museum.
Hajime chuckled because Aveline was gazing at the sky, at the trees, at the birds flying in the distance.
"My eyes are up here." he said.
Her eyes locked onto his, her hands turned colder, arctic cold, the temperature of her home. His body couldn't keep his hands warm, slowly losing their heat, his blood almost freezing in his hand but he didn't let it show, instead, he focused on breathing and trying to understand this woman. He wanted to know why she was hiding herself, why she was acting bland, why she was pretending to be cold yet was capable of warmth.
"Okay that's enough." Professor Mayrose announced.
Aveline let his hands go, her eyebrows were slightly raised, examining his expression.
Hajime shook his hands as he tried to get blood to flow back into his extremity.
"Hands are totally overrated." he chuckled.
Aveline crossed her arms and held a faint smile on her face.
"Okay everyone into the pool." Mayrose said, prompting some students to cannonball into the pool.
The empty grass field made it possible to see two chairs lying underneath the shadow of a tree. Hajime saw Calantha and Brielle sitting there. He searched for Veloria but didn't find her anywhere.
An ice-cold finger touched his ear, breaking him out of his thoughts as he focused on the woman next to him. Following her into the pool, his heart raced because of Aveline, because of Veloria's absence and because he didn't know how to swim.