A familiar face appeared from a nearby alley, his face as unfazed as ever.
"Vino. We meet again." Ashra spoke.
Vino's face contorted, turning into one of pure wrath and fury.
"I WILL KILL YOU!" Vino dropped the buttons and began running at Ashra, almost pulling his sword out of the void.
Ashra pulled out a thin blade and held it out.
'Damn! Im powerless without my sword!'
Vino slowed down and calmed himself. He didn't need to get himself stabbed at the beginning of the induction.
"Ashra. What do you want?" Vino furrowed his brows and looked Ashra in the eyes.
"I want a button." Ashra didn't look angry or upset. He looked like he had no emotion yet again. Just like the first time they met.
Rina was grinding her teeth while picking up some of the buttons. She hated the sight of Ashra. Benna put her hand on Rina's shoulder. and she calmed down quickly.
Rina stood up and flicked the number 68 towards Ashra.
He caught it swiftly and took off towards the Q sector.
"Rina! Why? What the hell!" Vino looked at her like she was the villain in the scenario.
Rina met his eyes and looked down in shame. She began picking up buttons again and eventually finished picking up about 300 total buttons before the area was cleaned out. Benna had about 100 and Vino had about 10.
There was no talking as the three of them made their way to their sector. They passed out a button here or there to people who looked desperate.
It was a good idea to make friends during this period. When they arrived at the gate once again, they assembled a group of over 200 people who immediately began running to their rooms, not knowing when the challenge would end.
Vino grabbed a number and put it in his pocket. He then looked at Benna and motioned for the buttons.
"You already picked one?" Benna and Rina nodded slightly.
Vino handed Rina an extra button, "For Anne."
He got the rest of the buttons from Rina, and they went to their rooms.
Vino went back out to the gate and left the buttons out for anyone running by to grab. He didn't plan on gatekeeping the rooms. It wasn't right.
"Why is he acting like nothing happened?" Vino gripped his hands, his fingernails digging into his palm. He was holding in many emotions.
***
Adrien made his way to the A sector and looked around. "I think that there might be a few buttons left.
The pink-haired man tapped on his shoulder and made Adrian jump backwards, landing on a rooftop.
"What the hell do you want?" Adrien was grinding his teeth together.
"Here!" The pink-haired man flicked a few buttons at him.
"A-1, B-1, C-1, D-1..." The list shocked Adrien.
"Take these back!" Adrien threw the other buttons back, keeping A-1.
The pink-haired man smiled and started walking to the A sector.
Adrien balled up his fist and ran at the man, landing a solid hit and sending him flying.
"Adrien~! Why did you hit me?" The man rotated his head around and smiled before standing back up.
"I would have killed you right here if we could use our marks." The pink-haired man continued walking, and eventually everyone made it to their rooms.
"And that is time!" The man's voice could be heard from all around. "Anyone that is left outside, come to the center area!"
The remaining people outside began walking towards the center. The man waited until around a thousand people got gathered there.
"Now this year, we are a little less strict on housing so you can go and find a place to stay with someone. All you need to do is touch their button. Break anything, and you are dead." Some of the students that planned on using brute force sighed.
"Using marks is not allowed on the campus. But in certain areas it is okay. Ten minutes, and then we will commence with our day." The man set a timer and then faded. The crowd was baffled and started panicking. 10 minutes to get to a room was not impossible, but to convince your roommate was.
Doors all around began having people beating and pleading to let them in, but that was a death sentence.
Vino, Adrien, Rina, Galena, and Benna. They all looked down and kept the doors closed. It felt horrible, but the living space was already small, and the chance of them being a bad person was more than 50%.
Anne was asleep on the floor of her room, now in human form, completely oblivious to the outside pleads.
The longest 10 minutes of their lives happened just then. Vino was sitting with his head lowered. The outside was silenced.
Ahem!
The man from before finally cleared his throat. Getting ready to talk once more.
"Congratulations to those who survived today. It's truly a good thing. Remember, its ok to practice in your rooms, but destroy so much as a lamp and you will be in trouble."
Vino immediately took the sword out and gripped it hard. He contemplated for a second and held it to his neck.
Vino had a tear fall from his eye. "This isn't the place I thought it would be!"
He put the sword away and decided to lie down on the bed that he had.
His hands were shaking. He kept thinking about how he had acted towards Rina and how he acted towards himself now. He had just held a sword to his throat and acted like it was fine.
"Damnit!" He grabbed the cover under him and rolled himself up in it.
"Are you ok?" Frags had asked Vino. "I know I am not a lot of help, but I do try."
Frags brought Vino into the past and gave him a hug. Vino felt the warmth even though it wasn't real.
"I feel like I am older than you sometimes." Frags sighed. "You need to begin finding methods to temper your soul and fast. You have a weak body and your powers are a little unknown at the moment."
"I want to but-" Vino was cut off.
"But you want to apologize to her. You also want it to all come easy. It wont." Frags cleared his throat and began mimicking someone.
"True strength lies in the tempering of the soul. Only through forging our inner essence do we become unbreakable." Frags made his voice sound deep, but it just sounded funny, causing Vino to laugh a bit.
"Thank you. I know you can't help much, but it's a good thing that you try!" Vino smiled and stood up from his bed. "I think I should apologize. She is just across from my room. I just hope she isn't mad."
"It is better the sooner you can apologize."
Vino was about to exit his room when Frags warned him.
"You cannot undo your mistakes. So don't ever think that you can."
Vino shook his head, and he left his room. He started walking towards Rina's room, each step feeling heavier and heavier.
He knocked on the door, "Rina? It's me, Vino."
"Come in. I unlocked it already." Rina sounded monotone. Vino walked in. the room was almost Identical to his. He continued and saw the same desk and bed as his room.
On the bed, Rina looked lost, like she had been holding in some feelings for some time.
"Hey Vino?" Rina asked, grabbing onto his shirt. She sunk her head into his chest. "Do you hate me?"
Vino looked down and grabbed her tighter. "No. It isn't like that. I am sorry I got so worked up earlier."
"That isn't what I am talking about!" Tears began pouring, and she was sniffling hard.
"Don't you hate me? For not defending you at all. I almost killed you, and then I thought it would be fun to walk you around." Rina gripped his shirt tighter. "I actually thought at some point that I liked you better this way. You never wanted to talk before, and I just kept on. Now, we hang out more than we ever have."
'So frags and her never really got close. Would it really be okay to become friends?'
Vino was contemplating if it was really ok to be taking Frags' place once again.
"I hate myself." Rina kept crying.
Vino tried to console her by holding her, but he felt he needed to say something. "Rina. Don't hate yourself. I wanted all of this, so its ok. I hate myself too. But we can't just live on hating ourselves." Vino stopped to see her reaction, but she was still crying.
"..." Vino didn't know what to say. He had never dealt with something like this before.
"Rina I-" Vino was genuinely stumped. He didn't have time to think, so he spoke his feelings.
"I am sorry. It's my fault you feel like this. If I just died that day I-" Vino was interrupted by crying.
"No! Anything but that! Please don't say that!" Rina began beating softly on his chest. "I don't know how I would've lived with myself."