It was early in the morning, the sun had yet risen, and the campus grounds were silent. Street lamps illuminated the stone pathways while guards paced the perimeter of the academy.
Zephyr was fast asleep on his soft dorm bed, arms and legs lying close to his body. If anyone saw his sleeping position, they would undoubtedly be confused. He was as straight as an arrow, unmoving even the slightest. Back at home, Zephyr's bed was quite small, forcing him to always sleep in perfect position or risk rolling off onto the floor.
A few moments later, there was a soft knock on his door. Zephyr's fingers twitched slightly.
The knocking stopped after a few seconds but it was replaced by louder knocking. This time, Zephyr felt his entire face tense.
Similarly after a few seconds, the knocking stopped as he felt his face relax once more.
Finally, the knocking had turned into aggressive pounding.
Zephyr's entire body jolted up as his eyes shot open.
'Who in the hell is pounding on my door at this hour!'
Swinging his legs off the bed, he made his way to the door, grumbling under his breath. He unlocked it and opened it just enough to peek through the crack, his eyes still half-closed with sleep.
To his surprise, a familiar beauty stood on the other side twirling her black hair with her fingers. Nia was dressed in her uniform, looking as if she had been up for hours.
"Good morning," she said, her voice steady.
Zephyr glanced at the clock hung up on the wall.
'Its 4 a.m…'
"Good night."
As he began to close the door, Nia stuck her foot in between the crevice forcing the door to stay open.
"What do you think you're doing Miss Sterling? I would like to kindly inform you that disturbing people during their sleep isn't a nice hobby," Zephyr said with an irritated smile.
He glanced at her hands which appeared to be holding something.
"You told me to come before class to fulfill our agreement."
He blinked a few times, trying to recall what she was talking about. Then it hit him.
Nia held up a collar and leash as she raised a brow.
"So are you going to let me in?"
After a long sigh, he opened the door wider allowing her to step inside.
Closing the door behind her, he turned towards the eccentric girl.
"Although I agreed for you to come before class, I didn't mean to come this early. The sun hasn't even risen yet!"
Nia began to look around his room, ignoring his comment.
"You keep your room rather tidy I see."
Zephyr scratched his head tiredly as he made his way towards her.
"What were you thinking when pounding so loudly on my door? What if I had a roommate?"
Nia gave him a confused look.
"Roommate? I don't have a roommate either so I just assumed you didn't have one."
Oh right he almost forgot. This girl was from the galactic heartland. There was no way she didn't receive preferential treatment.
"Ordinary students like myself usually have roommates. Besides, just because I coincidentally have my own room doesn't make it okay to come knocking so late," Zephyr pointed out sighing quietly.
Nia sat comfortably on his bed, her gaze fixed on him.
"I see."
'I see.'
Zephyr's eye twitched. She wasn't remorseful at all.
Still, the sight of a beautiful girl sitting on his bed made him advert his gaze. He was still a healthy teenage boy after all.
Taking a seat on the floor in front of Nia, Zephyr asked:
"Why did you come so early?"
She crossed her legs giving him a strange look.
"You want me to wear a collar and walk around when everyone is watching? I didn't know you had such a sadistic side."
Zephyr didn't know how to respond to her remark.
Seeing his reaction, Nia revealed a small smile.
"I'm joking. Although it's true being watched by people would be humiliating, I have observers that occasionally report back to my family. They only keep a light watch, so anything that goes on in a planet typically doesn't get monitored, but it wouldn't hurt to be safe."
'Observers…'
Suddenly he was worried. What was he about to do to one of their family's daughters?
She handed him the collar and leash.
"Put it on for me and we can get going."
Zephyr took the black collar hesitantly, quietly marveling at its high quality. It was made from real leather much to his surprise.
Quickly unfastening the collar, he walked up towards her and slowly wrapped it around her neck. For a moment, Zephyr couldn't help but notice the contrast between the cool leather and her warm pale skin.
'What the hell am I thinking about!'
He bit his tongue in an attempt to get his mind out of the gutter.
For whatever reason, he felt like he was doing something incredibly immoral, but seeing Nia's indifferent expression, Zephyr continued to gently tighten the collar around her before attaching the leash.
Nia stood up, adjusting the collar slightly before looking at him calmly.
"Shall we go?"
"Actually, can you step out for a bit?" Zephyr asked while holding the leash towards her. "I still haven't changed."
She stared at him for a moment and said:
"Just change now then."
"Please just leave."
***
Two students had left the dorms in the darkness of the early morning. Although that in itself was strange, if one looked closer, they would notice a collar carefully wrapped around the neck of one of them. If one really decided to pay attention, they would also notice that the other was leading the other with a leash.
With each step Zephyr took, he felt increasingly self-conscious. What was he thinking when he told her to wear a collar and leash? If it was possible he would've slugged his past self at the very second he suggested such a preposterous condition.
He took a tentative glance at Nia whose expression remained unchanged. Zephyr couldn't help but notice how long her lashes were at a closer look.
'Stop staring!'
Mentally slapping himself, Zephyr forced himself to look ahead.
"Where do you want to go?" he asked.
Nia placed hand on her chin for a moment before turning towards him.
"We can simply walk around campus for a while. If there's something you want to see or do, we can check it out before coming back to the dorms."
He nodded, leading the way through the dimly lit pathways. The campus was eerily quiet, the only sounds being their footsteps and the occasional rustle of leaves in the early morning breeze.
Now that his mind was a little more clear, Zephyr couldn't help but feel the absurdity of the situation pressing down on him. Even though he was the one who suggested it, here he was, walking through campus with Nia Sterling, who was wearing a collar and leash like some sort of pet.
It was safe to say he would have some interesting stories to tell in the future.
"The pilot training hall is the closest building to us. Come to think of it, I've never seen you there once."
Zephyr scratched the back of his head a little embarrassed.
"I've been restricted from taking mech piloting courses right now. Although I would love to join everyone in training, my grades need to improve first."
Because he skipped two weeks of class, Zephyr was even more behind now.
"Why are your grades like that then? Simply study more."
"What do you think I've been doing?" Zephyr said, exasperatedly.
"Then–"
"I've only taken virtual courses all my life. Not the prestigious ones either."
Zephyr coiled the leash around his hand a few times as the pair took a turn around the corner.
"Prior to our duel, I spent most of my day studying. It's not like I want to consistently rank at the bottom," he added, his tone glum.
Nia paused for a moment to digest his words.
"Were you telling the truth when you said you came from an ordinary background?"
"That's what I've been saying haven't I?"
"I assumed…well, I guess I shouldn't have assumed. Sorry."
Zephyr glanced at her, surprised by her sudden apology.
"Apology accepted."
They continued walking in silence for a while until the pilot training hall came into view. The building was modern and rectangular, with glass surrounding the entire second floor. If Zephyr had to describe it, the facility was more long than tall, stretching horizontally about as much as his dorm was tall.
The rooms were dim, but as soon as they approached, the automatic doors slid open while lights immediately illuminated the entire floor.
An empty reception desk greeted them, as Zephyr took a whiff of the training hall's sterilized air.
"Besides a gym, there's an indoor track, pool, and shooting range. There are also several sparring rooms for hand to hand combat practice," Nia quickly explained.
Looking around, the building was practically new. This was what his rich classmates got to enjoy every day?
His only thought was:
'What a waste!'
Such fine facilities were wasted on them.
Nia tugged at her collar lightly gesturing for him to follow.
The pair wandered deeper into the facility, passing by rows of modern training equipment, each costing at least several tens of thousands Republic credits. The air was filled with the subtle scent of citrus, as he noticed the low hum of a cleaning bot beginning its patrol.
"In that direction is the pool," Nia pointed to a hallway offshooting to the right. "And on the other side are the sparring rooms. Upstairs is where the track is, while the shooting range is in the basement."
"Are we allowed to use these facilities outside of class time?"
"Supposedly you are, but I've only seen students in upper years use them other than myself," Nia replied.
"Why's that?"
"I overheard that some upperclassmen scale back on academics significantly and focus more on combat training and tactics. Rather than graduating from academic credits, they bet everything on combat training so they can maintain their high ranking during duels."
Zephyr blinked, a bit surprised.
There were actually people who willingly chose the harder path for themselves. In his case, he had no other option.
"This academy's academic sector is quite simple though. I don't understand how those in our own year aren't capable of sparing extra time to train themselves."
'Easy for you to say…'
"I'm one of those people though," he sighed.
"Ah–"
Zephyr held up a hand.
"You don't need to say anything. Let's check out the shooting range first."
As they began to make their way down the stairway, he couldn't help but notice the air grow colder the further down they went.
When they finally reached the bottom, the light activated similarly to the floor they were just on.
There were several shooting lanes all equipped with their individual targets. The lanes were then further divided based on factors such as distance, movement, and even simulated wind.
'I wonder how much all of this costs…' Zephyr mused. He had no doubt that the shooting range was probably worth more than his father's entire workshop.
"Should we fire a few clips?" Nia suddenly suggested.
"Are we allowed to?"
She shrugged.
"The entire range is soundproofed. We won't be bothering anybody."
"Then you're on."
Behind the shooting lanes was a wall lined with kinetic firearms. Students could use their IDs to unlock and borrow one for practice. Zephyr scanned the selection for a moment before picking a pistol with a slightly extended barrel. Although he wasn't a stranger to firearms, it had been a while since he practiced using one.
Nia, on the other hand, chose a simple semi-automatic rifle with practiced familiarity.
"Do I still have to hold the leash when I'm shooting?" Zephyr asked, feeling slightly ridiculous at his own question.
The black-haired girl gave him an odd look.
"You were the one who suggested this so why are you asking me?"
'You were the one who insisted on it though?!'
Zephyr forced himself to maintain a blank expression as he handed Nia the leash.
"...I'll hold it after we're done."
Unable to look at her eyes any longer, he turned away and focused on preparing his pistol. After loading the magazine and checking the sights Zephyr smiled to himself in satisfaction.
'Since it's been a while, let's start with an easy lane.'
Walking to one of the lanes furthest to the stairs, Zephyr raised his pistol and took aim. The target was approximately fifteen to twenty meters away unmoving.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly wrapped his finger around the trigger…and fired.
Barely a second later, the sound of a bullet hitting metal rang out.
Learning the first shot had landed on its mark, he unloaded the rest of the magazine with more confidence as shot after shot continued to land successfully.
Soon after, his results appeared on the screen below him. Out of eleven shots, eight of them were dead center while three of them were within a single ring's distance from the center.
'Looks like I've still got it!'
"Nia, how's it going for you?" He called out, turning his head in her direction.
She didn't respond.
Confused, Zephyr walked towards her. Nia was using one of the moving targets much further down the lanes.
As he began to approach her, the first shot rang. Followed by another almost immediately after the first as she continued to fire her rifle, only adjusting her aim slightly in the process. The entire time, Nia's expression remained the same, unchanging.
Zephyr looked down her lane, widening his eyes, stunned.
The target had to at least be 150 to 200 meters away!
Even with such a distance, each time the girl pulled the trigger, a metallic ring confirmed the hit.
Twenty shots later, Nia lowered her rifle and glanced at him.
She beckoned him to come closer as her results began to show on the screen.
All twenty were dead center, each round varying only slightly.
She gave him a smug smile.
"How was your score?"
"Decent, but not nearly as impressive as yours."
Suddenly, Zephyr felt quite relieved their duel was restricted to melee weapons only. He had dodged a bullet, both literally and figuratively so to speak.
"Here," she picked up her leash and handed it back. "Do you have anywhere else you want to go before we head back?"
He placed his chin on his hand pretending to ponder.
"Hmm…although I'm tempted to explore the entire training hall, you did come wake me up at four in the morning."
"For good reason," Nia interrupted.
"Sure, whatever you say," Zephyr was too tired to argue with her. "Let's just take a walk around for a few minutes before heading back. I want to at least get another hour of sleep before class."
***
The two were back at their dorm's entrance as the sun had just begun to barely peek over the horizon. Zephyr leaned towards Nia, gently unfastening the collar around her neck.
Handing both the leash and collar back to the girl, Zephyr showed a small smile.
"Although our circumstances were a bit strange, I had fun."
The eccentric girl stared at the collar for a few moments before meeting his gaze.
A while later, she replied in a neutral tone:
"I'll see you in class later."
"Mhm. I'll see you in class."
Zephyr watched her turn around before making his way back inside his own dorm building.
'I should head inside too.'