Two weeks had gone by since then and Kenneth was preparing to attend her practice today. During that time, she focused all her time and attention on school as well as working out in order to get stronger.
She was finally starting to see some results and increased her training regiment even more making her incredibly busy. She spent her down time hanging out with Fletcher and Fae and didn't once think about her feelings for Lucien nor about the fact that he was engaged to Sage. Kenneth decided she would bury those feelings and forget about them. Right now her goal was to focus on getting stronger so that she could perform well during the trials. They already started their training for the trials with each participant having a personal trainer (that was usually more experienced in fighting) train them in order to get them to their best shape. Kenneth's trainer was an older girl named Reina, a third year who has experienced the trials before. Though she looked intimidating, she was actually quite nice and easy to get along with, which Kenneth was fortunate about.
Training for the trials was no easy feat and Kenneth often found herself remembering her days as a cadet back in her old world. Though it was nothing compared to those grueling years in the academy, this was no walk in the park either. All of the students participating in the trials trained in the same room each having their particular skill sets judged by their trainers and having their weaknesses or flaws evened out for the trials. Everyone was working hard, the trainers included in getting them ready for this important event. They would be representing the school, so it was important for them to do well.
During this time, a few Ventures would come by and give the students some pointers like things to look out for or ways to improve and luckily for Kenneth, Lucien was never one of the members that were there. On one particular day, Kenneth happened to overhear them talking about how the Captain was away on a mission and wouldn't be back for at least a month. Kenneth was both happy and disappointed by this piece of information since a part of her wanted to see him. Kenneth couldn't help but be disgusted by her own attitude. She couldn't help but wonder if some of Kenneth 1.0's personality was starting to rub off on her. Kenneth knew herself more than anyone and she knew she was never the type to get hung up on something, let alone someone.
"Get it together man, stop being such a girl and get your head in the game." She mumbled to herself.
"Your form is perfect, what are you complaining about?" Reina asked as they were sparring. She thought Kenneth wasn't happy with her form hence the reason for her grumbling but that wasn't what Kenneth was worried about.
Kenneth realizing that she had spoken her thoughts out loud apologized and told her not to worry about it.
Reina stared at Kenneth for a moment and let out a sigh. "Let's take a break." She said as she relaxed her posture.
Kenneth looked up at her, confused. She was fine so why were they stopping?
"You clearly look like you have a lot on your mind and when it comes to martial arts, having a clear mind is important." She told her.
Kenneth realized she had let her feelings get the better of her. They were now affecting the way she fought which was something Kenneth had never experienced before. Man, Kenneth 1.0 is a real piece of work. She thought to herself, now even more sure that this was her doing.
As Reina had suggested, Kenneth sat on the sides getting herself together as she tried some breathing exercises trying to clear all the useless thoughts that were clouding her head. Once she was ready, Reina called her back to practice again. This time with her mind now unperturbed by her worries and concerns, she was in much better shape mentality which reflected on the way she moved physically as well.
Reina let out a low chuckle as she watched Kenneth move with agility and precision, glad to have her back to her old self. Reina didn't hold back either as she matched Kenneth's movements, giving her some pointers here and there. She had been working with Kenneth for the past two weeks now and was slowly starting to get the hang of how Kenneth fought. It was a bit unusual, slightly unorthodox and less elegant and methodical like most people fought here. Though she had a strange way of moving her body at times, Reina couldn't find any faults in her kicks or strikes. Reina could tell Kenneth was a seasoned fighter and had lots of experience.
She couldn't help but wonder who was the person who taught Kenneth how to fight and she had been doing all this time. She was unlike any other Empath she'd ever met and was shocked to learn that Kenneth was only eighteen. But nonetheless, she was glad to have her as a trainee. Reina concluded that Kenneth really only needed to train her muscles and stamina in order to give her strikes more impact and last longer during spars. These were all things Kenneth was already aware of, but she was glad to know she was on the right track.
Kenneth had learned a lot from Reina and had become accustomed to the way they fought in Caüs, mentality telling herself to add certain moves to her repertoire but still keeping the style she was used to.
The practice session had ended and Kenneth went back to her room in order to meet Fletcher. They had agreed that today would be the day they would eat in the dining hall. Entering her room, Fletcher was already ready to go and so Kenneth didn't waste any time and took a quick shower and changed back into her uniform.
The two girls now used to the new school even found shortcuts to get to places a lot faster. They made it to the dining hall earlier this time and didn't have to wait in line. Getting another combo set, the two found a table near the back of the hall and sat down, enjoying their meal.
"So? Tell me how practice has been going!" Fletcher exclaimed as she looked at Kenneth excitedly, anxiously waiting for the details.
Kenneth hadn't said much about what she had been doing since she had a lot on her mind, plus she had just started so there wasn't much to report. Looking at how excited Fletcher was, she couldn't help but smile.
"Well everything is pretty good so far. We are assigned a personal trainer to help us improve in certain areas and better prepare for the trials. We have mostly been doing some sparring and muscle training. Next week, we will learn how to counter so I'm excited about that."
"That's cool. Do you like your trainer?"
"Yeah she's really cool. I learned a lot from her even though it hasn't been that long. Her name is Reina." Kenneth replied.
Fletcher raised her brows. "Reina? Is she in her third year?" She asked.
"Yeah she is…why?" Kenneth asked as she saw the confused look on her face.
"She sounds familiar. What's her last name?"
"Salomé, I think."
"Reina Salomé… I don't know why but her name sounds so familiar, like I heard it somewhere before."
Kenneth looked up at her. "Like on one of those gossip channels you subscribe to?" She asked with a smile.
"What? You act like that's all I read." She said with a huff.
"Right, right."
"But you really should read them sometimes. It's not just gossip but you learn a lot about what's going on in the school, like activities, sports and also," She said while leaning her head and whispering.
"You get an insider on what's happening outside too."
This seemed to peek at Kenneth's interest as her eyes opened wide. Fletcher noticed this and a sly smile appeared on her face. She discarded her glass noodles and pulled out her watch.
"I'll send you a link to the page so you can check it out if you want~."
Kenneth acted uninterested as she brushed her off. "You don't have to do that."
"Sure~"
As the two continued to chat, Fae entered the dining hall, followed by Durian, Nikolai and an uncomfortable Wei Chen trailing behind. As if sensing her, Fletcher looked up and enthusiastically waved at Fae calling her over. Fae when seeing Fletcher had a smile of relief on her face as she waved back. She leaned into Durian whispering something in his ears and Durian followed her, an annoyed look on his face.
"Ugh why is he coming too?" Fletcher said with disgust.
"I heard that." Durian growled as he approached the table.
Fletcher rolled her eyes. "That was the whole point, dumbass."
"Ha,ha, you too really get along so well." A soft voice said and the two turned around to see Nikolai smiling at the two, tray in hand.
"We don't!" They said in unison causing the smile on Nikolai's face to grow wider.
Kenneth said nothing as she moved down, quietly observing Nikolai. Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Nikolai turned and caught her staring. He shot her a friendly smile which Kenneth returned with a nod.
Kenneth always felt a little wary whenever Nikolai was around. Though he looked friendly on the surface, she always felt like his smile wasn't genuine. She could never tell what he was thinking which always made her feel uncomfortable. Kenneth could always open up her empathic nodes to see what his true feelings were, but she felt like that was an invasion of privacy so she's never had the chance to do so. Plus a part of her also felt like he was wary of her since he was aware that she was part Empath and could feel and see his emotions hence the reason why he stayed pretty far away from her.
An Empath either needed to be near or needed to have touched a person in order to get an exact feel of their emotions. Although when it came to someone who had a low sense of ego, it was easy to at least see their emotions even from far away. She remembered she could see the emotions of another person back when she was at the library when she first came to, after getting Kenneth 1.0's memories.
Well it wasn't a problem for her since she didn't have any plans of becoming friends with him.
The four others sat down as they joined Kenneth and Fletcher at their table. Fletcher hugged Fae tightly as she nuzzled her head in the crook of Fae's neck, inhaling her scent. No one looked at her weirdly for doing this, one because this was typical behavior for "cat" like animals (remember, Fletcher is a panther) and for two, Fletcher always acted like this when it came to Fae much to Durian's displeasure as he watched the two hugging each other, his expression becoming more and more ugly.
"Ah, my cute cinnamon roll, I missed you so much!"
"You guys literally saw each other yesterday in class." Durian said, the annoyance clear in his voice.
"Yeah? And what's it to you?" Fletcher yelled back.
The two started arguing with each other and didn't stop until Fae told them to get along.
"Whatever." The two said unison again.
At the same time, Wei Chen and Nikolai were having a little argument themselves, well it was mostly Nikolai bugging Wei Chen. Though the boy looked uncomfortable, it wasn't to the point where he could no longer tolerate the teasing, and Nikolai didn't take his jokes too far either.
Their table was lively and Kenneth's started to feel warm at the sight. Back in her old world, Kenneth didn't have people she was close enough with that she could call friends. Of course she was cordial, but for the most part, she kept to herself and it seemed like people had a hard time approaching her. She couldn't help but be grateful to Fletcher because she knew she could never be like this if she had been alone. She was sure it would be a repeat of her old life with her being alone.
"Kenny, your noodles will get soggy if you leave them like that." Fletcher said, bringing her out of her reverie.
Kenneth raised a brow. "Kenny?"
"Yeah, your new nickname. I didn't want you to feel left out since Fae got one and you didn't." She said with a smile.
Kenneth's gaze softened as she felt her heartstrings being pulled once again. She wanted to protest but seeing the happy look on Fletcher's face, she couldn't bring herself to say no.
"Do as you wish."
"Yay!" Fletcher cheered.
"What about us then?" Nikolai asked.
Fletcher looked at the three men as her brows scrunched up trying to find a nickname for them. After a minute had gone by her expression changed.
"Got it!"
Pointing at Durian, "Your name is now big oaf," Durian's nose flared with anger, "Who the hell-"
"Your nickname is Niko and yours is little Wei" She said, a look of satisfaction on her face.
"Hmm I feel like Niko is so boring but I like little Wei." Nikolai said as he looked at Wei Chen, an evil smile on his face.
"Well I couldn't think of anything else that would fit you without offending you." Fletcher said with a shrug.
"Oh~ Maybe Niko is the best then."
"Is it true that we'll be switching partners soon?" Wei Chen asked, speaking to the group for the first time.
The five others turned to look at him as he munched on his food, his cheeks filled with rice.
"Little Wei really does suit him." Fae couldn't help but say.
The four agreed, even Durian.
"I think we are though." Kenneth answered his question.
"That's too bad, I liked having you as a partner." Fletcher said.
Kenneth smiled at her comment. They really worked well together and ended up giving each other a lot of pointers.
"Well I'm fine with anyone as long as it's not the big oaf."
"I feel the same way." Durian growled.
The two continued to argue not knowing that their worst nightmares were going to come true.