Professor Gemstone in the snake pit. part 6 (47)

Alan sighed.

Lina glanced at him, lips pinched but otherwise impassive. He admired her ability to remain seemingly unphased by the events in their lives. No matter what happened, she would still get up lazily in the morning, take the time to comb her pale blond hair into that half bun while listening to her favorite piece of piano.

The Grace of Necromancer actually fit her, if only for the gloomy image she gave to anyone who met her. Alan had been her first friend. And Leo completed their little trio.

Except that stupid 'hero' was not here.

Worse than that, Alan and Lina hadn't seen him in three days.

"Stop tapping your fingers on the table," Lina interjected in his thoughts. "I'm reading."

"I wish I could just send him a message!" Alan took it as its chance to air his grievances.

"No such luck. If you find me something to charge my own phone with, I wouldn't say no."

"Try asking Sandra, she might know how. Alchemy sure sounds convenient."

Lina hummed. Alan knew they were both preoccupied by this situation. Everytime they saw Leo, it was in the dorms or to eat, and he was distant, never speaking to them more than a few words. It was worrying.

Alan wanted to blame his new friend, that Ymel person, but he also didn't want to have his head torn off his neck. Because treason and all, no freedom of expression.

That's what he knew : Leo had gotten friendly with the crown prince of Luversten, and now Alan felt something wrong.

"Don't get me wrong," he mumbled, "that Ymel sounds like a nice guy..."

"Trust me, Alan," Lina sighed, closing her book as she abandoned the idea of reading anything with Alan brooding right there, "I know. It would be more reassuring if we could actually meet him."

"Right?"

"I said I know, stop screaming."

"Hum..."

They both looked up to meet Hiro's gaze. Hiro, the reserved boy who had a good mind but otherwise no friend and seemingly no interest for such meetings, asked awkwardly, hiding behind the black bangs covering his eyes.

"Have you seen Yuga around here?"

"Huh?"

"Yuga?"

That troublemaker?

Alan and Lina exchanged a glance.

"Why would he be in the library?" Yuga would never enter a library out of his own free will.

Hiro brushed his hair with his hand, fidgeting with the heym of his shirt.

"I thought... Nevermind. I need to find that idiot before he create a new diplomatic incident."

Alan's eyebrows climbed up to his hairline.

"Excuse me, a diplomatic incident?" he might have misheard.

"It's not farfetched if it's Yuga," the news rolled off on Lina like water on a duck's back.

"At least be surprised a bit! Hiro, explain."

The boy turned away. It was obvious he would rather he weren't talking to them, or searching for Yuga. Hiro liked to be left alone.

"He fought with Onyx. Lucas asked me to find him and bring him back to apologize."

Alan facepalmed.

"Where is Leo when you need him..."

"You're mixing issues," Lina told him calmly, "Yuga doesn't get along even with Leo."

"But he might've been able to curve Onyx' anger. Where's Onyx now?"

"In the courtyard behind the training hall. Kai's with him."

"Kai?! That's... Such an unhealthy combinations! What's Kai even hoping to achieve!"

Hiro shook his head, only relying this:

"I don't know, but Hymei told Lucas to let him be... Apparently, Kai knows what he's doing. Or so she said. Now, I'll be going."

Hiro didn't waste another second before ridding himself of their presence. It was no wonder, Hiro was an introvert while Alan was a flourishing extravert. Alan didn't worry too much about it.

"Wait!" he still called after the boy. "Did you happen to cross paths with Leo by any chance?"

Just before leaving the library, Hiro ceased his fast-walking.

"Leo? Let me think... Ah yes, here, I'll tell you about it..."

***

"You okay over there?"

Kai had stood, back against a wall and arms crossed over his chest, while Yuga clashed with Onyx. After the troublemaker left angrily in whatever direction, only Onyx had been left, fallen to the ground, gritting his teeth and distorting his wounded features with a helpless sort of vexation.

Onyx whipped his head toward him, taken aback. His somewhat regulated his expression with mixed results, turning more wary when he recognized him.

"You... What are you still doing here? The show is over."

Kai straightened and walked in the younger boy's direction, at a casual pace.

"Is that so? Then why are you still on the ground?" he questioned blankly.

Onyx flinched at the words.

True to those, just like the last time Kai had directly confronted him, Onyx sat on the ground, dominated by others. Kai observed in silence Onyx' struggle as he debated what to retort with himself.

He had lived that too, he thought bemusedly.

Carefully, he asked.

"Want a hand?"

Onyx raised his head toward Kai again, with surprise but agressivity in his gaze.

"Why have you been following me around! I have enough of you mocking me! What did I do to you!" he blurted out angrily. "Stop talking to me, you're annoying!"

Kai... He strangely didn't feel offended by such words. He hummed.

"You think I'm mocking you?" He repeated slowly.

He crouched to the ground, and held his hand out. He meet Onyx' gaze at the same level, this time.

"Aren't you mocking yourself here?"

Kai... What do you think you're doing?

Onyx didn't answer. He stared at Kai with stunned features. Kai didn't move. He didn't look away. But this wasn't a battle of will. Not like last time.

In the end, Onyx batted his hand away violently.

"What do you know?" he fumed.

He stood up, patting the dust off his clothes, and threw him another heated glare.

"Weapons are not allowed to be brought out of the training hall," he remarked unnerved.

He was staring at Kai's wooden bokken saber, the one he had been holding on to all this time. Kai smirked a bit.

"Don't concern yourself over that. It's not one of yours. My friend made it for me."

Onyx tsk'ed and left without another word. Kai watched him go, knowing when to quit. He sighed with a small exasperated smile.

"Well... Not yet there, aren't we?"

Later during the night, he found a letter adressed to his name in his bed, with only a few words and a name.

'Be careful with your own actions, boy.'

Signed Professor E. Gemstone.

He smiled.

"I swear I am, prof."

Three days, huh?