"So, how much do you wanna bet Tahno is getting his ass handed to him right now?" Nik tosses a fireball back and forth between his hands as he lies stretched across a sofa as red as his hair and matching eyes. His crossed legs sway back and forth. He's got a devilish grin and gives Noah a side glance.
Noah lies within a long hammock, stretching from the farthest corner to a spot just adjacent to Nik's sofa. He lies quietly with his eyes closed, lightly swaying as he listens to David Bowie. He'd heard Bowie used to be a musical legend in the Old Age, and with a sound like this, it's not hard to see why. Despite blasting the music, which could be easily heard from his headphones, he still hears Nik's question loud and clear thanks to his supersonic hearing. However, he chooses not to answer, much to Nik's annoyance.
"Dude, I know you heard me!" Nik tosses his fireball, no bigger than a tennis ball, at Noah, but before it can even reach him, the flame disintegrates into nothing. "Screw this needing a weapon to amplify our powers shit. What's the point of having these elemental abilities if we still need weapons to use them? Shit!"
Without opening his eyes or altering his steady motion, Noah finally responds. "Has anyone ever told you that you are a very angry man?" He senses Nik's annoyance and smirks.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a fucking freak? At least I'm not a bloodthirsty beast like you."
Noah simply smiles, unfazed in the slightest by his harsh words. If it were anyone else, he'd be offended, but coming from Nik… well, Nik wouldn't be himself if he didn't make comments like that. He's a total ass who likes to act brash and intimidating, but Noah knows just how kind he really is.
"I may be a freak, but at least I don't blow up about every little thing like you. You're such a hothead."
"Well, at least I can actually express emotions, unlike you, who's about as emotional as a rock. I mean, you rarely interact with anyone outside of our little group, keep to yourself in class, show no enthusiasm for class activities, and even with all the fangirls chasing after you, you're still expressionless. The only time you even laugh is when you're making jokes at me, but even I can tell it's as empty as your cold, dead heart. You play at emotions with us sometimes, but in truth, you're practically lifeless."
Even though he knows Nik means well, Noah can't help but feel a tinge of agitation at his words. Agitation because he knows everything Nik just said is completely true. "Well, you'd be lifeless too if you lost your entire family and life in one day, at the hands of monsters like yourself, unable to do a thing. Don't judge me until you can understand how it feels. Emotions bring nothing but pain and bad decisions, so I don't want anything to do with it or anyone. I only tolerate you guys because Tahno asked me to. My body is here, but Noah Gremory died that night and is gone forever." His tone is cold.
"That's just an excuse." Mai walks into the social room and takes a seat on an orange sofa, holding her glass of juice as she does. In her usual, calm tone, she continues, "We've all lost things, we've all got demons, but that's no reason to stop living. Just be honest and admit that you're an antisocial jerk."
Having had enough of her attitude, Noah finally loses his temper. "Listen, what the hell is your problem with me, Mai? What have I ever done to you to make you despise me so much? Actually, you don't even have to answer that question because I already know the answer. You act very stiff and proper so no one would think you have emotions yourself, but your jealousy levels are through the roof, and they have been for quite some time now. You make it seem like there's some competition when there isn't!"
"Oh, so I guess you can show at least one emotion—anger. That's all you are, just a big sack of anger and resentment wrapped up in a bow of guilt because you couldn't save your family. And jealousy? Where would you even get an idea like that? Jealous of what? What do you have that I'd ever want?"
"Lili." Noah answers abruptly and matter-of-factly, causing everyone in the room to freeze, including Gunther, who has just walked in with his pet bunny, Tooru. "You're jealous of our relationship, right?"
Mai is silent, her face dark as she grips her glass. "What? What are you even talking about? I'm not jealous of anything. Lili's a big girl and can make her own decisions, so it's none of my business what she does. Though hooking up here and there is hardly something I'd call a relationship, but whatever." Mai looks away with a neutral expression and falls silent, hoping to end the conversation.
"Silent now, aren't we? You didn't deny it, just deflected, which means it's obviously true. I don't know how many times I've made it clear to everyone, including Lili, but no, I'm not 'with' Lili, and so in the dating sense, we are not in a relationship. It's exactly as you said—we hook up now and then, but that's not for my benefit. I'm doing it for Lili's sake, to help her overcome her past trauma and gain confidence. That's the only reason, not for myself." Mai looks at him once again, fire in her eyes.
"You're 'helping' her? Please, that's such a lame excuse. No guy would have sex with a girl if it didn't benefit him in some way. Guys are selfish and shallow like that, only seeing girls as objects. That's why I…" She trails off, deciding not to finish the sentence. Noah doesn't let her off the hook, though.
"Only like girls?" Mai looks at Noah with eyes full of fire, so much so that he thinks she may seriously attack him, but he doesn't stop. "That's what you were going to say, right? Or is it just Lili you like?"
"…up." Mai whispers under her breath, and Noah hears it. However, he presses on, hoping to get a rise out of her and make her admit what he's suspected for quite some time, even if she doesn't accept it.
"Hey, it's okay to be gay. Nik's the gayest guy in this school, but people don't treat him differently."
"Well, actually, Noah, people are always making fun—"
"If a loser like him can be open about it, then you have nothing to worry about. In fact, I don't think you know how popular you are, especially with the girls. I'm sure they'd love you even more if you just—"
"I said shut up!" Everyone falls silent at her rare moment of rage. "I'm not jealous, I'm not gay, and I'm definitely not in love with Lili. I'm just looking out for her because she's too weak to make it on her own!" Noah puts his hand up, motioning her to stop, but she thinks he's just trying to brush her off. "No, I'm not going to stop now. You clearly wanted to get a rise out of me, so here it is. I'm not like you—I don't need to exert my dominance through pleasure like you do, and the fact that you'd think I'd ever want to do that with her is just disgusting. I just can't stand to see the weak suffer, nothing more!"
As she finishes her rant, the glass in her hand suddenly shatters, crumbling under her icy grip. This abrupt event snaps Mai back to her senses enough to finally notice how uneasy everyone looks and how their glances are looking past her. She turns around to see Lili standing there, holding an empty plate, the muffin on it having long since fallen to the floor during Mai's rant. Mai's eyes go wide. "Lili, I…"
Lili stands there trembling as she says, "I'm… disgusting?" Tears form in her eyes. "I already knew I was weak, but I never thought… I didn't know I was such a burden to you, Mai. I'm sorry. I'm really…" She falls to her knees, and dropping the plate, places her hands over her face as the tears flow harder.
"Way to go, Noah. This is all your fault, you know. You just had to piss her off. Look what you did."
"Me? What the hell are you talking about, Nik? I was just speaking the truth; she's the one who said such screwed-up things. I didn't make her say them, and I even tried to stop her, but she ignored me."
Mai just stands there, her fists trembling as she watches Lili cry on the floor while Gunther tries to comfort her. He attempts to ease the tension. "Who cares whose fault it is, guys? Let's just agree that Lili is hurt and needs our support. Fighting isn't going to help her or us. We just need to sit and talk like—"
"You ass!" Finally losing her composure, Mai charges at Noah so quickly that even he can't avoid her. She tackles him. "You made me say such terrible things that made Lili cry. I'm going to kill you!"
Without hesitation, Mai punches Noah in the face as hard as she can, which would normally shatter someone's head, but only turns Noah's cheek slightly red. Unwilling to give up so easily, she continues punching him with both hands until they start to bleed. She sits over him, breathing heavily as she tries to catch her breath. Noah doesn't fight back; he just lies there with his usual smirk.
"Did that make you feel better? I'm good for about another 1,000 punches, so have your fun. No matter how many times you punch me, though, it's not going to change the truth, and you know it—no matter how much you deny it. It's only going to keep eating away at you until you become broken, cold, angry, resentful, and guilty of all the things you never did. You'll be just… like… me…." Noah expects to see her rage, but he's surprised to see her tears instead, as they begin to fall on his face.
"Ahhh!" Mai cries out in frustration, feeling as exposed as a naked rat. She continues her onslaught of punches as she screams, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!!! Just die already! You—"
"ENOUGH!" With the sound of a loud clang, everyone stops and falls silent as they turn their attention to the other side of the room where the kitchen is. Tahno is standing there with a scary expression. He begins to slam the pan into the wall, with each clang saying, "Drama—clang—drama—clang—drama—clang! Always with the goddamn drama! This is exactly why you guys failed your training this morning. You fucking hate each other!" Tahno drops the pan and joins them in the room. "All this arguing about emotions and jealousy and whatever else that doesn't matter, but not thinking about the real issue. You all almost died tonight. If I hadn't had my fail-safe in place, all five of you would've died. I say five because although you would've been the one to kill them, Noah, you would have been executed afterward without a second thought by the council. Do you guys even get that?"
Noah hasn't seen Tahno this riled up in a while, and he can't help but run with it. "I take it your summons with the council didn't go well. He got his ass handed to him after all, Nik!" Nik doesn't smile or make any gesture, aware that this is not the time for jokes. "Oh, come on, it was your own—"
Tahno grabs Noah by his shirt with both hands and pulls him close. "Listen, you little shit, you're the biggest source of my problems, so don't fucking joke with me because it's not the time." He pushes him back and then pulls out a cigarette. As he lights up, he says, "Thanks to your incompetence, all of you are now under the council's disapproving gaze. This means that you all had better be on your best behavior from now on. Also, they've forbidden Sunday morning training sessions, so instead, you'll have to sit around a campfire and sing cumbia until you can learn to work together. The only battle training they'll allow is mechanical instances to prepare for the Battle of the Elementals, so I'm ordering that you all prepare yourselves because, as punishment for your failures, you will be training with these instances every day after classes until 8 PM. You will do this for the next month, just before the competition starts. As my personal punishment to you, no one will be allowed to attend social events or any other club-sponsored events during this time. Also, excursions are strictly prohibited. So basically, you all are under house arrest until the battle. If you've got issues with this… well, that's too damn bad. Now get to bed." Leaving no room for opposition, Tahno walks out, muttering, "This is why I hate teenagers."