15: Blocked

The chattering of students fills the room, the excitement palpable in the air.

A bit more than a month has gone by since the old school blew up and we enrolled in Eagle Super Academy. True to my word to Struan, I didn't hurt or kill anyone as none of his conditions for doing so were met.

It is now mid-January, the 23rd to be precise, and today is the first day of the semester.

From the middle of the back row, I watch as the recently empty classroom rapidly fills with students, and with them — anticipation. Struan isn't here yet, but I figure he will be here soon enough. Unlike me, he chose to attend the welcoming ceremony; meanwhile, I ditched in our assigned classroom and took a nap.

By the look of it, the ceremony just wrapped up.

A few familiar faces walk in, that surprisingly, I recognize. I even remember the name of one — Burl! There is also the jellyfish girl, but like usual, her name slipped my mind. Still, she made enough of an impression on me, for me to at least remember her face.

Finally, my boy comes in… but ew, what is that!?

I raise my hand to wave at him to make it easier for him to find me, but I stop short as I see him turned away, looking at something next to him and smiling.

He walks in, chatting it up with a girl.

And I have no idea how to react to that.

I follow them with my eyes until he sits down with the girl, two rows in front of me and to the far right, yet not next to me. There's no way he didn't see me either.

I squint as I watch them, barely believing my eyes.

She is practically swooning over him! Just what did he do in the short period of time I left him alone!?

I don't have much time to stare, as soon after, the great overseer of our classroom walks in… Or should I say, a piece of leather dressed in human clothes.

She strides in, holding her head high, heels clacking loudly on the tiled floor. She is of average build, perhaps even on the shorter side, but her cold and imposing demeanor makes her seem much taller than she actually is. Her harsh buzzcut doesn't help warm the impression, either.

Her weathered appearance, paired with her bony cheeks and thin lips, gives the notion that she has never been handed anything in life on any sort of platter, much less a silver one. If I had to guess, I'd say she was fifty, going on seventy.

The instructor isn't at all what I expected. But…

She looks familiar, really familiar.

… Why does she look so familiar?

I stare at her for a bit, but I can't quite place my finger on it… I want to ask Struan… but he is busy doing — that — over there. I'm also kind enough to want to minimize his frustrations with me.

I analyze her costume…

It's a royal blue, patterned with the refraction of water rippling on the bottom of a pool, but the usual light color is reversed with even deeper shades of blue outlined in gold.

She struts confidently to the center of the room, not even bothering to wear a mask with her costume. Or, perhaps the thick, high-tech goggles on her face suffice?

Nope. Still doesn't ring a bell.

Our instructor — I'm assuming she's our instructor — looks down at a piece of paper, then looks up and scans the room. She repeats this a few times until she seems to reach my name and Struan's.

She looks at me. She looks at Struan. She looks at her paper. She looks at me again. She looks at Struan again. She glances at the dark brown haired girl hanging off Struan's arm, then she looks at me and Struan again.

After a few loops of this, her expression turns into a scowl, and she looks at me and Struan once more before moving down her list.

Well… That doesn't seem good.

I look at Struan to see if he noticed… and nope. Yet, he gets on at me for not remembering people when he can't even see what's in front of him… Admirable focus, just terrible timing.

[Struan, did you notice?]

[...]

[Struan?]

I feel our connection cut off.

THAT PUNK!!!

My classmates shrink from me, and the instructor, noticing this, looks a bit smug.

Is that… Does he… Oh no, he didn't!

Just for a moment, I see a sliver of a smile appear on Struan's face. I'll deal with this later — and I sure won't forget.

Ugh, I force myself to take deep breaths to reign in my radiating hostility.

Is he testing me to make sure I keep my word? Is my boy… finally… being rebellious??

I close my eyes, doing my best not to let him rile me up.

This is going to be one looong semester.

***** ***** *****

Whatever happened during class — it was a blur… and probably really boring like every other first day of school.

I get to the dorms and flop on the bed, staring at the textured ceiling. The room is quite spacious, but I don't have the time to enjoy that with the thoughts ruminating in my mind.

What… just happened?

Me? The victim of chaos rather than the force?

I roll onto my side and grab my phone from the nightstand, searching up the Hero Association's rankings.

HA Rankings:

1. Lightbringer

2. Celerity

3. Someone I don't care about

4. Someone random nobody

5. Torch

6. Cascade

I stop scrolling when I see the same face as our teacher, at least what's exposed of it.

I search her up some more, and there it is: Cascade vs Primordial Sovereign. Of course, it was not just her fighting alone against me, but she was the highlight of that battle among the participating heroes.

Huh. No wonder she looked so familiar.

Taking the initiative to find information… Struan would be so proud of me.

BUT I CAN'T SHARE IT WITH HIM.

How do I not have his phone number? …Well, I guess we never had the need as we could always use his telepathic link no matter the distance…

You know… I'm the one providing him with money for his phone…

… Not that he can't get more money easier than I can…

Argh! I ruffle my hair and flail about on my bed.

I hear my neighbor politely knock on the wall for me to quiet down… So you're telling me, these dorms aren't soundproof at all…

Argh!!!

I bet Struan is having a good time in more ways than one right now.

ARHGH!! I hammer back on the wall with my fist, but I do quiet down.

Well, if he's gonna be like that, then I'm gonna go let off some steam.

Or… you know what? I have a better idea.

There's a Hero Association, but I haven't heard of a Villain Association.

I turn on my livestream.