A myriad of doors. A bunch of students. A disturbing amount of stares. Mary couldn’t remember a time when she’d garnered this much attention just for existing. Her whole life had been spent in the background of every picture, as an afterthought. What she didn’t realise, however, was that the attention was directed towards the boy that she was following.

Rai’d grown used to it by now. Seeing as he’d done a few small things that people might have taken note of, it made sense that there would be people interested in him. But the one thing that Rai couldn’t stand was that they never actually spoke to him. The students that ogled him were the ones that kept to themselves. Just once, he wished that he was able to blend into the crowd.

West Ground

They’d arrived.

Rai didn’t give Mary any warning, so when they entered the ground to see a spar occurring, it gave her quite a fright.

The vice-principal made a spectacle of Rai’s entrance, “Fashionably late, I see. It’s good to see you up and about again young man.” In a rare moment that Rai wanted to capture for the rest of his life, Joey smiled at him, “Are you able to fight?” Some of the students who weren’t engrossed in the spar shifted their attention to the entrance. Many of them seemed glad to see Rai, but some were... less than happy.

Rai thought about it, “I’m not sure. I think I should avoid fighting for a little longer, so I’ll just give advice like last time!” The students who’d taken note of his entry breathed a collective sigh of relief. If Rai was the one giving them advice, then they might be able to pass the exam at the end of the week. Joey simply nodded in affirmation.

The other students wanted to know who the newcomer was, so they waited for Joey to ask Rai about her. There was no way that he would just completely brush over a new person in his class just like that.

Joey turned back to watch the spar that was going on. Rai saw that George was fighting, and he looked like he was concentrating hard.

Silence. Other than the sound of wood slamming against wood.

The students were dumbfounded, shifting their gazes between Mary and Joey constantly.

Rai sighed, “Her name is Mary. She’s shy so don’t overwhelm her.” He sounded serious.

The students nodded, making sure to listen to Rai’s words.

Sin noticed Rai from the rest area. She was sitting with Tullian, “Rai! Come and sit next to me!” She shouted from where they were.

The rest of the students returned their attention to the spar as Rai walked over to Sin and Tullian. Mary diligently followed.

Rai sat down. He indicated for Mary to sit next to him. She started shaking, “It’s fine, sit with us!” Rai smiled at her. Mary softly nodded. She took a deep breath, and sat down.

Rai started watching the spar when Sin tapped him on the shoulder, “Who’s that?” She pointed at the blonde girl.

Rai didn’t take his eyes off the spar, “Her name is Mary. She’s been through a lot, so I’m gonna take care of her for a little bit.”

Sin felt like he was leaving out a lot of information, but he was too dense to realise it. She thought about how to best siphon information from a rock, “How’d you meet her?”

“Rodrick’s office. The Daem family left her here.”

Sin stared at him, “You realise you’re leaving out like all of the information right? The Daem family? Rodrick’s office? Is that why the headmaster called for you?”

Rai wanted to explain in detail, but he didn’t fully understand it himself, “It’s confusing to me too. I don’t know why that guy left her here. I don’t know much about her. I just know that she needs help, so I’m helping her for now. I'll explain what happened in detail when we get time.”

Sin sighed, “Okay. I hear you.”

Rai started fidgeting with his seals, “Rodrick asked me if I could host her at the penthouse.”

Sin felt like she’d just gotten smacked with a brick, “Huh?” She facepalmed, “You should really ask me about that kind of decision before you make it.”

Rai rolled his eyes.

Mary felt a tightness in her chest. She felt like she’d caused the girl in front of her to get mad. “I’m... sorry...”

Sin crouched right in front of her. She glared at Mary with a scary face. Mary yelped and jumped backwards in her seat, “No. I’m happy to have you. I just want Rai to know that for decisions like this, we have to discuss it with each other. He can’t go and make them by himself when it will affect both of us. Got it?”

Mary rapidly nodded.

Rai yanked Sin back around to her seat, “You done acting like a bandit?” He stared at her, “I told him that I wouldn’t.”

Sin stared back at him, then started sweating, “Oh... really?”

Rai nodded, “I told him what you just told me. He said that he’ll sort out the documents by the end of the day, so I’ll take her back to his office after the lesson.”

Sin stared at him even harder, “I see... Thank you for being so considerate. I’m sorry I didn’t have faith in you.”

Rai waved away her worry, “It’s fine, I wouldn’t have thought about it properly if this was before the whole fight.”

Sin was impressed at Rai’s maturity. He grew a lot from that fight with Pico. She blew a raspberry at him.

They both giggled.

Tullian completely ignored the people bickering beside him. The only thing he could concentrate on was George’s fight. After Tullian smoked him in their initial spar where George was allowed to use magic, he didn't expect to see this much improvement.

Rai leaned in towards Sin, then whispered, adding a final note. “She’s hurt, so be extra nice to her okay?”

Sin smiled and nodded, throwing away her thug-like persona. She put on a serious face as she whispered to Rai, “Alright.” Sin turned to Mary, then triumphantly declared, “We’ll be your new friends. I’m Sindyl! Nice to meet you!”

Mary timidly fidgeted with the blonde curls that draped on the side of her face, “Thank you.” She was quiet, but Rai and Sin heard her. They smiled at each other.

The light shined off of Mary’s hairclip, and bounced into Sin's face. She was amazed, “That’s a beautiful hairclip! Where did you get it?”

Mary was stunned for a second. She didn’t realise it, but she was smiling, ever so slightly, “It was my mother’s.”

“It’s beautiful.” Sin only just took a proper look at Mary now. She didn’t pick up on it before, but it looked like Mary was wearing Rai’s uniform. It was comical how loose it fit her. Sin’s heart tightened as she saw the side of Mary’s face. Signs of makeup covering bruised skin, and swelling in her neck around the shoulders.

She was hurt, just like Rai said. All Sin wanted to do was comfort the girl, but it wasn’t so simple. Sin didn’t realise just how much hurt Mary must’ve gone through to be in that state. Fucking nobles. They're such awful pieces of trash!

Claps and cheers came from the group of students stood near the sparring ring. The fight was over. Rai wasn’t all that interested, but Sin was keeping up with it until Rai came and she wanted to know who won.

She saw from the corner of her eye that Tullian had stood up. Sin’s gaze shifted from the crowd to the giant beastman standing next to her. Is he... smiling?

Tullian’s heart was pounding. I want to fight him. I WANT TO FIGHT HIM! George’s performance blew Tullian away. The only thing within Tullian right now was a carnal desire. The desire to hunt.

George was panting in the middle of the ring. The student he’d just defeated was curled up on the floor, gripping his abdomen in pain. George finally won. He’d improved to the point that he wasn’t getting smacked around in class all the time. “AAAAARRRGH!!” He released his frustration with a roar.

The class became silent in response.

Joey smirked. He could tell. George has grown much stronger in the last month. His physical abilities are now second only to the other four- no, five monsters in the class. I forgot about that girl... she’s so sweet most of the time but when it comes to battle, she’s like a rabid animal. A shiver ran down his spine. At least she’s not here today.

George’s feral gaze flew in one direction. He pointed at Tullian, “You. You’re next!”

Tullian returned his gaze with a fierce aura of his own. The entire class could feel the tension between the two of them.

Rai noticed Tullian getting excited for a good fight, “You’re gonna have to wait you know. He’s knackered after that one.”

Sin pinched Rai, which prompted him to squeal. She strangely found it to be cute, “Don’t burst his bubble like that, he’s been looking forward to this.”

Rai pinched her back, prompting a squeal from her. He also found it cute, “Look at him, he’s so focused on George that he didn’t even hear me.”

Sin did as he said, “... So he is.”

Mary kept glancing over at them to see what was going on. She was too uncomfortable just looking at people for an extended period of time.

Joey clapped his hands together, breaking the tension, “If you two wish to fight, then you may fight. Feedback will be given at the end of class.” He snapped his fingers. Flowers and tiny bushes formed at George’s feet. What was exemplary about this was that George was stood on sand, so no one quite understood how flowers were growing there. After a few moments, George felt his fatigue drift into nothingness. In fact, he felt like he was more energetic than before.

Joey continued, “Tullian, come.”

Tullian grinned at Joey. He glanced at George, who was already looking at him, “You ready?”

George smirked, “Obviously.”