A/N: Ion and Sync! YAY!


Tear quickly found out just how nice Natalia could be. Underneath the mean, bratty, rich-kid exterior, she was very gentle and kind, often expressing concern for others but never showing it.

A lot of people didn't seem to understand how Tear could stand to be around Natalia, but they never stopped to ask, so Tear never gave an answer. Added to the fact that Luke and Asch also hung around with them a lot, they became a tight-knit group, and it became common to see the four of them around together.

One day, they were in their Fonic Artes lessons. Jade Curtiss, the teacher, finished writing up the explanation on the board.

"Alright then, everyone will be in pairs to practice this," he said. Everyone began to move towards their friends, grinning. "And I will be deciding the pairs," he finished, and everyone groaned before moving back to their seats.

As Jade began sorting out pairs, Tear found herself hoping that she be put with Natalia, Luke or even Asch.

"Mystearica, you go with...Ion."

Tear would have face palmed if it had been at all acceptable. Looking around, she tried to figure out who her partner was and caught a green haired and eyed boys' gaze. He smiled, giving a little wave, and she waved back.

"Alright everyone, get into your pairs," Jade said, and everyone stood up, heading for the person they had been paired with.

Tear joined Ion, sitting down beside him hesitantly. "Um, nice to meet you. I'm Tear," she said, holding out a hand.

"Ion," the boy replied with a smile, shaking.

"Alright everyone, go outside and practice this. I'll come and check on you in half an hour, and I don't want to find you ripping each other's throats out or slacking off."

Everyone filed out with the ominous warning, heading out into the grounds. Tear and Ion found a secluded area, sitting down.

"Do you know how to do it?" Tear asked hesitantly.

Ion nodded. "I've done it before, so don't worry. Here, I'll show you how," he offered, before coaching her through the incantation and runes. Finally Tear managed to pull it off, causing a large explosion, and he clapped.

"You really got the hang of that fast!" he said.

"Thanks to you," Tear replied with a smile, and Ion returned it. They sat down again, facing each other under the shade.

"So, Tear, why did you join our school?" Ion asked.

Tear blushed. "Well, um, my brother works here, and he said it would probably be good if I learnt how to fight here."

"Wow. Who is your brother?"

"Van..."

"Oh, Master Van? He's my dorm master!" Ion said with a smile.

"Really? You're in Daath?" Tear asked, surprised.

"Mm hmm!"

"How is it?"

Ion frowned. "Well...It's alright. But Master Van really pushes hard. He wants us to be able to fight the best we can." His face fell. "I think I'm a bit of a disappointment to him, to be honest. I'm not a very good fighter, though I'm pretty good with Fonic Artes. My twin, Sync, is a really good fighter and Fonic Artes user though, and we won't be apart, so he puts up with me."

Tear sighed. That sounded a lot like her brother. Intent on having an army of perfect fighters, and anyone else was useless. She just wondered who he wanted to fight.

"Well, I don't think you're useless. I've never met someone so good at Fonic Artes," Tear said with a smile.

Ion looked at her. "Really? Thank you," he said happily.

Tear glanced up at the large clock in the centre of the grounds. "Who do you sit with for lunch?" she asked.

"It's just Sync and I, usually."

Tear considered. "Why don't you come sit with us today? I'm sure the others won't mind. Natalia acts mean, but she's really soft."

Ion smiled. "Okay. Thank you."

"Are you two finished talking?" a voice asked behind them and they jumped, seeing Jade standing there. He gave a closed eye smile that was anything but pleasant. "I hope you're ready for the exam at the end of this lesson," he said quietly.

They gulped. "Y-Yes sir..." they replied together, watching him stride off to the next pair of chatting students.

"He's freaky," Tear murmured, and Ion giggled.


"Tear! Over here!" Luke called as they entered the cafeteria. Tear smiled, giving a little wave, and turned to the two green haired boys behind her.

"Why do I have to do this?" grumbled Sync, arms folded. Although they were similar, his hair was a different style from Ion's, so it was easy to tell them apart.

"You don't have to," Ion soothed. Sync glanced at him.

"Then why are we?"

"I wanted to try sitting with them today. If you don't want to, we won't, though," he said.

Sync looked at him a moment, eyes flickering to Tear, then sighed. "Fine. But if I don't like them, I'm leaving," he said shortly, before striding ahead. Tear and Ion shared a glance, before smiling and following.

Tear took her seat next to Natalia and across from Luke. "Guys, these are Ion and Sync. I said they could sit with us today, if that's okay?" she said, motioning to the twins.

Luke and Asch appeared apprehensive, eyeing them hesitantly. Ion smiled gently, and Sync turned away with his arms folded.

"...I guess," Luke replied finally, watching them sit down. Everyone started eating, Ion comfortably chatting with Tear and Natalia while Sync pretty much ignored them, only joining in when Ion prompted him to. The red headed twins didn't move their gaze from the green haired twins, and Tear wondered why they were suddenly so on guard.

Eventually though, they began to relax. Ion was nice, and obviously not a threat in their eyes, and Sync didn't seem to do anything that his twin would be unhappy with. Soon they were all happily chatting together, and Tear felt herself relaxing as her friends did.

As the last bell rang for the end of lunch, they stood up.

"Thank you for having us. I enjoyed myself," Ion said politely, bowing.

"So did we. Please, come sit with us any time," Tear replied with a smile. Ion nodded, looking at Sync who humphed.

"...Yeah. Whatever," he muttered, before the two of them walked off.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it," Tear said.

"I don't like people from Daath," growled Asch.

Natalia rolled her eyes, then looked at Tear. "They were really nice, especially Ion. Do you think they'll sit with us again?"

"I hope so."

"Me too. Well, I suppose we better get off to lessons. What do we have?" Natalia asked, looking over her shoulder at the timetable. Tear scanned it, spotting the one she needed.

"Well...I have Short Range Weaponry now..." she murmured.

"Ugh. That means I have Legretta," Natalia sighed. She stood up, waving to them as she headed off to her lesson.

Tear looked at Luke and Asch. "Asch, who do you have?"

"Largo," he replied shortly.

"Same as us," Luke clarified, then stood up. "We should get going. He doesn't like it when people are late."


They ran into the large practice hall just as Large strode through the other door.

"Alright class! Get into your battle positions, now!"

Everyone moved to their preferred area. For Luke and Asch, that was right at the front. For Tear, it was a little behind them and further towards the middle, where she could easily engage the enemy but use her healing artes if necessary.

"Battle stances!"

Everyone got into position, holding their weapons in front of them.

"And...strike!"

Tear lunged with her spear, allowing it to whistle through her grip before she grasped the end. If it had been an enemy, it should have gone right through.

"Return! And...strike!"

This continued on for a while, everyone moving in unison despite doing something different. Largo strode through them all, correcting postures and yelling at them if he felt they weren't putting enough effort in it.

As the end of the session drew near, everyone was panting, covered in sweat.

"Alright! You've practiced your strikes! Now, I need a volunteer to practice against me!"

Nobody offered, tittering nervously.

"If no one offers, I'm going to have to go with default!" Largo bellowed.

A few of the students grimaced, looking at the twins, who appeared resigned, but nobody offered.

"Alright then! Luke, Asch, come at me!"

The two boys sighed, stepping forward and lifting their weapons.

"What's default?" Tear asked the closest person to her, a blonde haired boy who stood at front.

"You don't know?" he asked, surprised.

Tear shook her head. "I'm new here," she explained.

The boy nodded, understanding. "Basically, default is when Largo selects Luke and Asch. He calls it default because they live here, so he feels they should have the best attacks. Then he humiliates them. He keeps going way after he would have stopped with anyone else, but he's merciless and it's painful, so people rarely offer." He glanced at the front, and nudged her. "Look, he's going to start now."

Tear looked at the front, watching as Luke and Asch stood, feet apart and expression grim as they braced themselves for whatever was coming. Largo picked up a staff, stepping towards them.

"Alright boys! Strike!" he snapped. They glanced at each other, closed their eyes, then lunged at him.

He batted their swords away easily with the pole, bringing it around and hitting Luke on his back. He gave a yelp, crashing into Asch and causing them both to fall onto the floor in a heap.

"Again!" Largo snapped, and they stood, retrieving their swords. "Strike!"

It continued for a good five minutes, each time the boys getting more tired, but the strikes from Largo getting heavier. Finally, after sending Asch crashing into Luke and them skidding halfway across the room, he lowered it.

"Alright! Practice your strikes! I'll see you here next lesson!" he ordered. Everyone nodded, quickly leaving, but Tear hurried over to where the boys were picking themselves up.

"Are you guys alright?" she asked, looking worried.

"We're fine," Luke replied with a tight smile, pushing himself up and wobbling slightly as he stood. He picked up his sword, sheathing it as Asch stood next to him and did the same.

The bruises on their arms looked painful, and Tear could only imagine what the ones on their backs looked like.

"How can you let him do that?" she asked quietly.

"Well, someone has to take the beating. We're default because we always offered; if someone else got picked, we'd stand in their place. So he just always makes us go," Luke replied with a shrug, wincing as he did.

"But..."

"Can we go already?" Asch snapped, leaving the room. Tear watched him go, and Luke smiled at her.

"It's okay. He just doesn't like being shown up," he explained, heading out. Tear followed beside him, eyeing him as he limped lightly.

'Doesn't like being shown up? As if. He probably wanted to get out so that I didn't notice he took most of the falls for you,' she thought to herself.


A/N: Awww, Largo's a bully. Poor Lukey! Poor Aschy!

Tear won't stand for that!

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