Diamond's POV

"To get straight to the point, it seems Ms. Lund is holding back on her own semblance, and that is causing her to overexert herself," Professor Tacitus starts.

After class, the professor called us down to the arena floor to have a chat with us. Once all the students had left, he started his lecture. Most of what he says doesn't look like a surprise to Maria, but it's definitely all news to me.

"I have seen many, many students who are too rash, or reckless, or untactful, or whatever adjective you may prescribe them, overuse their semblances and drain their aura, but I have only seen a situation like this once, with Mr. Canis, the student you met earlier," he continues

Ah, he means the one who set me on fire.

"He was a strange case. There was a time when he would set nearly anything on fire just because he was bored, and his anger management was abhorred, something that led to even more things being set on fire, but something happened that made him distrust his own ability, and he simply stopped using it, but he was so used to using it, his semblance often triggered without him even wanting it too. Trying to hold back that much energy is never productive, or healthy, so I helped him regain his control, and his trust in himself." Tacitus pauses here, as if remembering the details of the other guy's situation, before finally turning his attention to Maria.

"With you, It seems much the same way, so why do you choose to hold back your semblance?

Maria considers this for a moment with a pained look on her face, then she glances at me. After I give her a reassuring nod, she starts to explain, "Well, my semblance is just more difficult to control without my gauntlets…" she says, then with another look towards me, tells him, "there's a tool in them that I use to limit my power so it's easier to manipulate."

After I hear that, I realize where her pained expression is coming from. She lied to me about her semblance, and what her gauntlets do to help her with it.

"The truth is, I'm scared of how much I can do without the gauntlets on," She adds.

"Nonsense!" Tacitus responds, "A semblance is something to be proud of! Something to train and hone, something used to help, not something to be afraid of. You should not have any fear of losing control, your semblance is yours, it listens to you, cooperates with you, and fights with you, not against you. I can tell you have a powerful semblance Ms. Lund, but your spirit is just as strong, and I know that with the right training and encouragement, you will be able to fine-tune your ability to the finest detail."

The professor checks the clock, "Now, there is another matter I must attend to. Mr. Rose, if you would please accompany to her dorm, I understand you share one, so that shouldn't be a problem, and watch over her for the next little while. She will most likely just be feeling faint for a certain period of time, but otherwise, she should be fine. Ms. Lund, don't hesitate to come find me if you ever need any additional assistance."

After leading us out of the classroom, Tacitus proceeds down one of the hallways and steps out of sight, and Maria and I walk in the opposite direction, back to our dorms. After a long stretch of silence, Maria finally speaks up, "You're mad at me aren't you?"

I prepare to tell her just how mad I am, but as I look at her downcast face, I soften up, "No, I could never stay mad at you."

She cheers up when she hears this, and even looks up towards me, "Really?" she asks.

I sigh, "Yes, but don't think you're out of the woods yet. I want to hear the full story."

When we finally make it back to our room, no one else is there. I suppose Natalie went elsewhere and Donovan is still in another class, after all, I didn't see him in ours.

I plop down on one of the lower bunks, Maria's bed, and she sits down next to me, "Alright, tell me everything."

Maria hesitates several moments, and I give her time to think, but after a while, she starts to explain, "My semblance lets me control energy, but it isn't like most people's. Normally, a person's aura works like a battery, but my semblance makes me more like a conduit. I take the energy from other things and transform it into something I can use. When I have my gauntlets, I can only use my own energy, but when I don't have that limitation, it's overwhelming. When I was in class, I got tired so easily because I was trying to focus on replicating the effect of the gadget in my gauntlets, but even then I still used some outside energy, that's why the pressure was so strong. When I finally managed to stop, I'd already drained my own aura."

I consider her words for a long time, trying to wrap my head around them, then I get an idea, "Alright, so that plant over there, use your semblance to take its energy."

Maria acts like she wants to protest, but she listens to me anyway. I watch remove her gauntlets again, then after a moment, the large potted plant sitting across the room starts to wilt and dry up before my eyes.

I turn back to Maria, "That didn't seem too difficult."

"You don't understand, the plant isn't supposed to die. I'm trying to use the plant's energy, not drain it completely," Maria corrects, looking dejected, "Besides, it's isolated, the only other source of energy in the room is you…"

After another moment of consideration, I make a quick decision, "Alright, try it on me then."

Maria looks at me like I'm a madman, but I stop her before she can object, "Don't worry Maria, I'll be okay. All you have to do is focus and, you know, not completely drain me."

Seeing how serious I am, she dons a look of resignation, "Okay, I'll try."

"Alright, so all you have to is just borrow some energy from me, then expend it by...I don't know, using a burst of it to close that closet door over there," I tell her.

I close my eyes and ready myself, waiting for the feeling of losing energy, but it never comes. I open them again to see Maria's brow furrowed in concentration and tears starting to slip out of her closed eyes. I reach up and place my hand on her cheek, using my thumb to wipe away the moisture gathering there. At my touch, she looks up at me and breaks down even further.

She starts to sputter out excuses, "I can't try it on you, Diamond, I can't. I'm not good enough with my ability, I'll just end up hurting you and then…"

I use my other hand to grab her by the shoulder, "Hey, you're not going to hurt me. I'm still fine. See?"

I smile at her and she begins to calm down, "It's okay, if you don't think you're ready, you don't have to use it on a person yet."

She looks away from me, still looking upset, "It's not just about trying it on a person, it's trying it on you that I'm afraid of. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I ever got you hurt."

I lift her chin so she's facing me again and I give her the most reassuring smile I can, not sure what else to say. I sit there for a second, staring into her eyes, then looking at the way her nose curves, continuing to move my gaze downward until I catch sight of her rounded lips, partially open from looking up at me. All of a sudden I'm back at the hospital bed, on the day Maria was hurt and I was sat by her side, then Yang burst in right at the wrong moment. I don't want this time to end the same, so this time, I take the opportunity, and I lean in.

The next thing that happens is Donovan bursts into the room. The noise startles the both of us and we jump away from each other, and partially off the bed. Unfortunately, due to my height, I actually hit the top bunk in the process.

What I want to say is, "Oh, for fuck's sake, Donovan!" but what comes out of my mouth is, "Hey Donovan, what's up?" I lean forward and start to massage the lump forming on the back of my skull. Recovering from the surprise, Maria sits back up and inches her way closer to me until we're sitting side by side again.

"What the hell were you two just doing in here?" Donovan asks, apparently not believing what he nearly saw.

"Nevermind that," I say, ignoring my own irritation and changing the subject, "Why the hell did you barge in here so suddenly?"

Donovan takes a deep breath, "We may have a small problem."

I sigh, "What exactly is your definition of small?"

"Well, I kind of pissed off some pretty tough dudes," he tells me.

"Of course you did," I respond sarcastically, "Who exactly was it?"

"Where did that little shit go?" Someone shouts from the corridor outside our dorm.

"Was that…Cardin Winchester?" I ask slowly.

"Possibly," Is all he says in response.

"Oh for fucks sakes, let's get this over with," I say with a resigned determination.

As I ready my weapon, which I'll most likely need, Donovan tells me the rest of the rest of the story. Normally, when faced with a bully like Cardin, Donovan would simply shrug it off and say whatever he had to just to get them to piss off to somewhere else, but when Cardin decided to pick on someone else instead, Donovan got the bright idea to step in. Of course, this situation got out of hand very fast and eventually came to this.

We walk down the hall towards the sound of obscenities being shouted to confront the problem head-on. Soon enough, we turn a corner and see none other than Cardin himself and his lesser-known teammates.

"There he is," Cardin says, "Let's teach that little shit a lesson."

I simply hold up a hand, "Hold on a second there, big guy. Why don't we take a moment to talk this out a little bit? You know, team leader to team leader."

"Ha, this little punk went and got mommy to protect him," Cardin growls.

"Why does this situation seem vaguely familiar?" I hear Donovan mutter.

"You're not getting out of this that easily, you little shit," Cardin continues.

"Wow. Original," Donovan mutters again.

"What was that? You got something to say? It doesn't matter what you do now, you're going to get what's coming to you for what you did," Cardin spouts, still obviously infuriated.

"What exactly did you do?" I question Donovan.

"Oh, I totally socked this dude in the face," he answers, his self-satisfaction evident.

I sigh again, "Wonderful."

I turn back to Cardin, "Look, I know you're a little mad, trust me, we all get mad at Donovan sometimes, but isn't there a more professional way to deal with this?"

"Haha, no," Cardin responds, his already thin patience running out, "Get him. Take care of his stupid teammates too."

"I wouldn't exactly do that if I were you," I voice from behind us says, "I don't take kindly to people that like to gang up on lower classmen."

"Go away Canis," Cardin says with obvious disgust, "This little runt did something stupid, and he'll be punished for it."

"Hmph, you were right kid, this situation is pretty familiar," Canis says, stepping in front of us now, "Anyway, Cardin and crew, if you don't want your asses on that floor in the next few seconds, I'd suggest you sit this one out."

"You always were a little teacher's pet Canis. I'll remember this," Cardin says as he backs away.

"I'm sure you will," Canis responds, "They always do. Well, the ones that remain conscious at least."

"So is anyone going to fill me in on who this Canis guy is?" Donovan speaks up after Cardin is out of sight.

"You can just call me Nova," Nova says.

"He's in one of our other classes. Natalie's in it too. He's like a teaching assistant or something," I explain further, "Speaking of which, where is Natalie?"

Donovan shrugs, "Haven't seen her today. She's been real reclusive lately."

Turning my attention back to Nova, I ask, "Why did you help us?"

Nova answers briskly, "Because you're an idiot if you think the three of you second years could have taken the four of them, and you're even more of an idiot if you thought you could get have avoided a fight. Cardin Winchester has no sense of reason." He states the last comment with a hint of disdain in his voice.

"Oh, the three of us can't take him, but you can?" Donovan asks sarcastically.

"Yes," Nova responds as a matter of fact, "Him and his whole team."

When Donovan makes a loud scoffing sound, Nova faces him, "It's never smart to underestimate someone, especially when you've never seen them fight, and they have more experience than you. It only leads to unwarranted confidence, and in Cardin's case, misplaced arrogance."

"But you just underestimated Cardin by thinking you could take them down single-handed," Donovan retorts.

Nova's eyes darken a little, completely contrasting the carefree attitude he possessed in class, "No, I didn't. I've fought much worse than Cardin and his inept teammates."

Thinking Donovan is beginning to agitate the upperclassman, I quickly change the subject, "Why are you here anyway?"

His expression immediately lightens and he adopts a humored look, "Can a student not take a stroll around his school's campus?"

For some reason, even though his expression seems genuine, I still suspect that he's hiding something, especially considering that these dorms are for younger students.

Maria, obviously not picking up on the deceit, takes a more respectful approach, "Thank you for stepping in, Mr. Canis."

Nova first seems surprised at the genuine appreciativeness in her voice, then a smile comes to his face, her sense of formality obviously amusing him. He bows in mock fashion and responds, "You are very welcome, Ms. Lund."

Taken aback by his reply and obviously unsure of how to react, she merely nods.

"Anyway," starts Nova, returning to his standing position, "I've got some other things to get to, so I'll let you get on with whatever you were doing before they showed up," he says, thrusting a thumb in the direction Cardin left, but instead of going the same way to the main campus, he walks deeper into the dorms.

"That guy is a dick," Donovan states simply.

"I agree," a new voice comments.

I spin around, but I don't see the source of the voice, then I feel a tap on my shoulder. I spin around again and still see nothing.

"Hey, up here doofus."

I look up and realize the problem, "Oh, anti-grav girl," I state blankly. The new voice belonged to Luna Garland, the girl from our semblance class. Apparently, she liked walking around campus upside down.

"Do you not get nauseous or something? Why would you want to walk around on the ceiling?" I ask incredulously.

She simply shrugs, "I get bored, and I like being different."

"So who's this then? Another interesting character from one of your classes?" Donovan asks briskly.

When I look at Maria, her eyes seem to hold the same question...and a hint of something else as well. Sadness? Jealousy? From what? I disregard the observation as simply being my imagination, then start to wonder why Maria doesn't remember her.

"Oh, right. Maria, you must've been asleep when she fought." I address the next part to Maria and Donovan, "This is Luna."

Luna smiles brightly, "Pleased to make your acquaintance," she says in a teasing voice, sticking out her hand. She then realizes she's still upside down and pulls it back.

I look to Maria again and find a slight blush on her cheeks. Was she embarrassed now? Then I remember what I said about her being asleep, and recall the memory of her leaning on my shoulder. My face bursts into red as well.

Donovan turns towards us and scowls, "Fantastic, they're staring at each other again."

That breaks us both out of our stupor as we both try to stammer around an excuse, then both give up as we each fail miserably. I look away for several seconds, then decide to risk another glance. Maria looks like she's trying to burn a hole in her shoes with her eyes, but she slowly begins to look up as well. I catch her eyes and we hold our gazes for a moment. I smile gently, and her face lights up with mine.

"Jesus Christ you two need to bang," Luna says from her spectating position on the ceiling.

"I know right? I keep telling them to get a room, but they're both pansies," Donovan chips in.

"Well we WERE in a room just a second ago, before you ruined everything," I think angrily, "And that's rich coming from you."

I brush aside the thought and shake my head, "Whatever, let's just get back. I've had enough excitement and dealing with bullies for one day."

Donovan yawns in agreement and starts to do just that, "If you say so, boss."

Luna stands up from her seated position, "Yeah, I should probably go too, anti-grav things to do, you know?" She shoots me a wink, then starts falling down the corridor, changing her gravity so that she's essentially flying, leaving Maria and I alone.

Maria turns to go, then hesitates, clearly waiting for me. She looks back and tosses me a quick smile. I walk past her, and she matches her pace to mine so that we walk down the hallway together. Somewhere along the way, we pass Laith, the one who can see the future. He looks at us and actually smiles, which seems incredibly out of character for him. Right as he walks by, he grabs my arm and leans in to whisper in my ear.

"You two are one of the better futures I can see," he says tenderly, "Make it count." Taken aback by his words, I stop in my tracks.

Maria notices the exchange and looks towards me, "Diamond? What did he want?"

Looking at Laith's retreating back, I grow an enormous smile and make a mental note to thank him later.

I turn back to Maria, "Nothing important. Let's go."

When I catch up to her, my heart swells and my confidence surges. With the same smile on my face, I slip my hand into hers. Maria looks down at our entwined hands and says nothing, but lets out a small squeal, which I find incredibly adorable.

My self-esteem bolsters up at my successful move, and I decide to try something else, "Hey, do you wanna take a slight detour?" I ask slowly.

Maria, looking all too eager to prolong this current interaction, but too embarrassed to speak, quickly nods her head, which I also find incredibly adorable. Hell, everything she did was adorable.

"You're adorable." The words are out of my mouth before I can even process them, "I mean…" I start to correct myself, but then I realize that it's too late to turn back now. "Actually, I just mean that."

I resign myself to looking in the opposite direction for a short while, waiting for her response. When I turn back to her again, I see her spare hand is clutching the ends of her uniform skirt and her face redder than a tomato. After several moments of her continuing her staring contest with the floor, she quickly mumbles something unintelligible.

"Wait, what was that?" I ask cautiously.

"You too." she says, "You're adorable too," but she speaks so fast that it all sounds like one word.

After hearing this, a sensation of happiness purer than anything I've ever felt races up my spine and buzzes around my head.

"Well then," I say, now starting to consider a wide variety of things brought about by this new information, "What do you think about lunch with me tomorrow?"