After an incident in Aimee's first year, she had chosen Makoto as her same-year protege, partially because she did not know anyone else. Back then, most knew Makoto as a pink-haired brat always snickering like she'd just finished making a dirty joke; three years hadn't changed it much.
Some thought Makoto developed her cynicism after her mother's death, but Aimee didn't put much stock in that. She liked that she was never unaware where someone stood with Makoto: physically or otherwise. Her sexual attitude would've bothered Aimee more if it came from someone whose lips worked properly around women she liked: let alone her hands.
But over time, Makoto's perceived reputation had hardened calluses in to her only Aimee tended to see unfolded. Opinions came from her mind already defensive, and she had reverse-engineered a conceitedness from spouting just the opposite of popular opinion. Whether she even had much confidence Aimee did not know: only that few on campus even mentioned Makoto. She knew from her own public embarrassments that most people did not remember others, and let these dots of the universe blend in the whites of their lives.
Makoto also had an orchestra that usually blew their foes' heads up, if Aimee & Rider's speed didn't slice it off first. Though Mia knew why, she still felt useful when they let her solo fire Revenants, as Worldwide gave her immunity, and Aimee & Makoto credited every kill to her.
Aimee finished scanning on a Sunday street.
"Done." she chimed, and Mia nodded as the three stepped off. "Last one before swap week."
"Yep. Middle of September, too." yawned Makoto, eyes pointing to Aimee. "Jeez. Amazing how time flies, right?"
"I suppose." said Mia. "Er, but - thank you, Aimee. And Makoto."
"Sure thing." said Aimee.
"Super nice president." chimed Makoto. "Sure loves helping students out, right?"
"That's me."
Aimee rolled her eyes at Mia, who laughed but kept her gaze on Makoto to ensure she didn't take the opportunity to look lower than her face. Unbeknownst to Mia, Makoto had stopped once Aimee caught her and gave her a look that nearly singed her skin; she figured it was Aimee's right anyhow.
"Hey, Mia." Makoto grinned as Aimee glanced over. "Iiii was thinking about something."
"...yes?" said Mia.
"So, I was thinking, and I wanted to ask you, if you'd ever, ever be interested -"
" - uh - we should go get dinner -" panted Aimee - " - uh - Mia, do you - dinner?"
"Er, I suppose." nodded Mia. "What were you going to ask, Makoto?"
"…uh. I was gonna ask… Didn't Worldwide's fire used to be red?"
"They - she got stronger." said Aimee. "But - but yeah, uh - dinner. Should get something to eat. Don't want to, uh, bother Luna."
"I'm not hungry." said Makoto.
"I am." said Mia.
"…u-uh." said Aimee. "Just me and Mia, then. That alright?"
Mia nodded, grateful to see Makoto leave. "What should we get?"
"Let me, um, check what's nearby." said Aimee, checking her phone. "In the mood for anything?"
"Whatever's closest." laughed Mia.
'I still haven't fucking asked her out - it's fucking September!' thought Aimee. 'Of course Makoto - fuck. Need to just fucking do it.'
"Um, does this work?" said Aimee, showing her phone.
"It says it's expensive."
Aimee nervously laughed, trying not to think of how she'd ask Mia out. "U-Um, yeah, but - don't worry. I can pay. Still make $2,000 a month."
"Er, if that's alright." nodded Mia. "I can pay back once I-I have my paycheck."
"You - you don't have to do that, um. My treat, r-right?"
Mia smiled as they set off, and Aimee held the door open for her once they came to the Russian restaurant.
Once they were seated, Mia asked Aimee if it was alright to order steak, and they spoke about their poor salaries until their meals came. Her confidence around Mia had been growing recently, but as she often did, she reacted to positive developments with anxiety. Even if her & Mia did date, she knew these issues would persist. Her teenage years had given her a persistent superstition of jinxing the good out of her life.
Eventually they finished, and Aimee still hadn't asked by the time they walked out, and now there were people blocking her question, so she later lied to Makoto, telling her Mia had asked for time to think it over.
++++
The next Monday, the prodigal pair separated at the arena. Sylvia stepped up beside Mia in the first-year line, the second-years ahead with tablets readied.
"Really hope I don't get Matoi." she winced.
"Why?" whispered Mia. Matoi was the black-haired, thick-eyebrowed Japanese woman she'd seen on her first day.
"Samuel's her protege." said Sylvia. "Guy looks like those old photos from like, the wars and stuff."
"The thousand-yard stare?"
"Yeah, that's it." laughed Sylvia, and the door opened up behind -
- to Samuel's thousand-yard stare as Matoi dragged him in by his neck, two inches wider in two weeks with her.
"Come along, pig!" she shouted. "See who'll fucking take care of you for the week!"
She left her pig with the first-years as she went to the second, Mia wincing away from her gaze.
"…uh. Okay." shrugged Marisa. "Is everyone here?"
The redhead Mia had seen at prison passed by her, coughing as she came in to the second-year line and glanced at Matoi's collarbones.
"Make sure you tell Grant you're a lesbian if you get him." whispered Sylvia. "Metal arms."
Lips pinched, Mia nodded as Marisa counted the line.
"Okay." said Marisa. "I have Kirihara -"
" - that's me." grunted one of the women, shoving her way out of the line, spiked sanguine hair. "Let's go."
Marisa led her along. The next second-year was an orange-haired woman, tattered sweater & sweatpants, ponytail messy and eyes drooping.
"…uh. Right." she mumbled, arms close as she checked her tablet. "…Mia, um - Mia Schultz?"
Mia stepped forward.
"Sweet." mumbled the woman. "Uh. Let's go home."
"What?"
The woman started to walk out as the second-years spoke, and Mia heard Matoi speak a doomed man's name as she followed her new mentor.
"Sorry." mumbled the woman. "Just sleepy. Uh, I'm Jeanne. Nice to meet you."
"Er - it's nice to meet you as well, but shouldn't we be training?"
Jeanne's head shook like a sloth as they came out to the main hall. "Not right now."
"Then why are we going to your house?"
Anxiety rose up in Jeanne. She had depression and a bad habit of taking people's words like text without any emotion. "Sorry. Just need to take a nap. Uh. You can have some of my tea, if you want."
They came out to the street. "We'll - we'll be training eventually, correct?" said Mia.
"Yeah. Sorry, my… Revenant -" - Jeanne yawned - " - makes me really tired… We'll train. After I nap."
Comprehending none of it, Mia nodded. They came up to one bizarrely lush lawn and came through the home's door to a dark room. She searched for the light switch -
" - wait -" panted Jeanne - " - let me do that - don't touch anything!"
- with the speed of an addict, she threw her hand against the wall, flicking a single switch and the lights on; one of a pair.
Mia closed her eyes. "Do I want to know what the second switch is for?"
"If staff shows up." mumbled Jeanne, sloth again as they went to the kitchen. She filled a tea kettle with water as they spoke. "Sorry if I scared you."
"You're very odd for a woman so tired." chimed Mia, and Jeanne laughed, unable to worsen that one.
"Yeah. Just gotta wait until I can use Dream again. Going to make some peppermint tea. And nap."
"I can boil it for you." chimed Mia, and Jeanne smiled as she handed the kettle to Mia. A swarm of scarabs set it bubbling, and Jeanne started on her tea.
"Neat. Guess you heat stuff up."
Mia nodded. For now, she'd resolved to wait another month before a potential swap. "Er, in a way."
The two sat at the table.
"Yeah." said Jeanne. "Sorry I can't train, right now. Just - um. Been pretty tired recently."
"Is it from the weed?"
Jeanne laughed, head shaking. "No. Uh. Guess you smelled it, though."
"From the moment I walked in." grinned Mia. "You might as well have blown it in my face."
"I guess it's obvious." The two laughed. "That's what the second switch is for. I've got a grow in the back. Flick that, and it all gets destroyed."
"They don't notice the, er, energy use? said Mia.
"Sometimes. But I have my ways." said Jeanne, starting a slow sip at her tea. "Yeah. Uh... Not gonna tell you what Dream does yet, though. Even if you did help me with my tea." She winked. "But you can head out... or, um. Whatever. I'll come get you once I wake up... and we'll train."
===
An hour later, Jeanne had awoken, and the two stepped up to one door in the second-year building. A plaque beside read 'FOR USE BY: JEANNE BELMONT - DREAMER'.
"Try not to get too surprised." said Jeanne, unlocking the door -
- to a room where the walls flowed like static water. Jeanne stepped over a floor of the same, laughing at Mia's expression as she turned. "It's safe to walk on."
"I - alright." nodded Mia, taking a step inside, careful as the two separated. "Is this part of your Revenant?"
"Kinda." Jeanne winked. She'd made it back when she was three-star, but liked it as a sign of her gone-motivation. "Um. Okay. So. We're gonna, um, duel, but. I just want you to try to hit me once."
"Alright."
"Yeah. Um. My Revenant doesn't really have a nonlethal option, so. Yeah. Don't want you getting hurt. Just me." She winked and Mia laughed.
"Alright."
"Dream." said Jeanne. A spraycan appeared in her hand. "Okay. Ready?"
"Ready."
"Start!" shouted Jeanne; a spray of blue hit her floor -
- and she fell suddenly in to it, water splashing as she disappeared within; Mia rushed up and stomped where she'd been -
- but frowned to find it like steel again; sword drawn, she slashed at it -
- and sighed again, far more durability than she'd expected as she glanced back. Jeanne was on the other end and smiling, Dream's spraycan drawn. With no time to waste, Mia started her rush forward -
- and the floor launched her up like a trampoline; in to the ceiling her head smashed, Jeanne spraying up as she landed staggering ahead -
- and a spray of blue on the floor made her disappear in to it again; a dozen bricks hit Mia's head, staggering her and shoving her down -
- and she winced as she found the floor sticky, immense grip trapping her there as she grunted & thrashed -
- and shoved herself up just in time to see no Jeanne on the other end again, staggering to the center of the room, avoiding the door where she'd been trapped. Eyes sharp for where Jeanne'd appear next, her scarab swarm covered the floor.
'I - don't need to know where she'll come from.' she thought, and in the next instant -
- she heard a splash of water behind; her scarabs exploded there, and as she heard Jeanne shriek, she sent another volley as she spun -
- just in time to see Jeanne falling to the ground, fingers twitching as she hit the floor -
- and limp in the next -
' - oh fuck I should not have done that -' thought Mia as she panted and rushed over, crouching down, checking Jeanne's pulse. "Jeanne? Jeanne?"
No response but a dulling beat. Wincing and worried, Mia scooped her up and knew her next stop.
"Try not to get too surprised." said Jeanne, unlocking the door -
- to a room where the walls flowed like static water. Jeanne stepped over a floor of the same, laughing at Mia's expression as she turned. "It's safe to walk on."
"I - alright." nodded Mia, taking a step inside, careful as the two separated. "Is this part of your Revenant?"
"Kinda." Jeanne winked. She'd made it back when she was three-star, but liked it as a sign of her gone-motivation. "Um. Okay. So. We're gonna, um, duel, but. I just want you to try to hit me once."
"Alright."
"Yeah. Um. My Revenant doesn't really have a nonlethal option, so. Yeah. Don't want you getting hurt. Just me." She winked and Mia laughed.
"Alright."
"Dream." said Jeanne. A spraycan appeared in her hand. "Okay. Ready?"
"Ready."
"Start!" shouted Jeanne; a spray of blue hit her floor -
- and she fell suddenly in to it, water splashing as she disappeared within; Mia rushed up and stomped where she'd been -
- but frowned to find it like steel again; sword drawn, she slashed at it -
- and sighed again, far more durability than she'd expected as she glanced back. Jeanne was on the other end and smiling, Dream's spraycan drawn. With no time to waste, Mia started her rush forward -
- and the floor launched her up like a trampoline; in to the ceiling her head smashed, Jeanne spraying up as she landed staggering ahead -
- and a spray of blue on the floor made her disappear in to it again; a dozen bricks hit Mia's head, staggering her and shoving her down -
- and she winced as she found the floor sticky, immense grip trapping her there as she grunted & thrashed -
- and shoved herself up just in time to see no Jeanne on the other end again, staggering to the center of the room, avoiding the door where she'd been trapped. Eyes sharp for where Jeanne'd appear next, her scarab swarm covered the floor.
'I - don't need to know where she'll come from.' she thought, and in the next instant -
- she heard a splash of water behind; her scarabs exploded there, and as she heard Jeanne shriek, she sent another volley as she spun -
- just in time to see Jeanne falling to the ground, fingers twitching as she hit the floor -
- and limp in the next -
' - oh fuck I should not have done that -' thought Mia as she panted and rushed over, crouching down, checking Jeanne's pulse. "Jeanne? Jeanne?"
No response but a dulling beat. Wincing and worried, Mia scooped her up and knew her next stop.
===
"She'll be alright." yawned Hirogane, drawing Pulse's tentacle out. "Probably wasn't even you that did it."
"Er, what do you mean?"
"Probably'll tell you when she wakes up. Dream lets her spray properties of one material on to another. Says it puts her in to comas if she uses it too much. Might be here for another month."
Mia frowned. "What should I do for the rest of the week, then?"
Hirogane shrugged. "Can go hunting with Aimee or anyone second-year or up."
Mia nodded. She thought about thanking him for his defense, but wasn't sure if he would even appreciate it. He reminded her of a teacher who never attempted to act like he understood her generation, which was more endearing than those who did.
"Er, what do you mean?"
"Probably'll tell you when she wakes up. Dream lets her spray properties of one material on to another. Says it puts her in to comas if she uses it too much. Might be here for another month."
Mia frowned. "What should I do for the rest of the week, then?"
Hirogane shrugged. "Can go hunting with Aimee or anyone second-year or up."
Mia nodded. She thought about thanking him for his defense, but wasn't sure if he would even appreciate it. He reminded her of a teacher who never attempted to act like he understood her generation, which was more endearing than those who did.
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