"Alrighty, everyone. Listen up!" Nina suddenly demanded, slamming a paper against the lockers.
The sudden loud noise caused everyone to jump.
"Jeez Nina, I don't think that was loud enough," Sharnid remarked sarcastically, "can you do it again? Lyra's back there snoring away."
"Hey!"
It was early morning - on a weekend. Everyone was gathered in the training dojo due to receiving a phone call from Nina early morning - not something they really appreciated. Even Layfon had a hint of disapproval, which he tried to insist that it was nothing and it had to be important if Nina called them that early.
"You guys are ridiculous. It's a quarter to ten," Nina pointed to the clock, "it's not even that early."
"It's the weekend, therefore it's early," Sharnid replied. The rest nodded their heads in agreement.
Nina just shook her head, mumbling something along the lines of lazy bums.
"So, what did you need to tell us, captain?" Lafon suddenly asked, deciding to get back on track.
Nina looked at them, her expression serious. "The next set of platoon matches has been assigned and we're part of it. We'll be fighting the tenth platoon."
Sharnid then let out a whistle, "well that changes everything," he remarked.
Nina nodded her head, "they initially dropped in ranking, but they've recruited some pretty powerful fighters. We need to start working right away, especially because of missing so much time." Suddenly a dark aura started to appear above Nina, "I've also heard that students are doubting that we'll be able to handle this platoon match as well. We cannot let that happen!"
Nina punched the locker again, so quickly that Lyra jumped, obviously not expecting that.
"Good job, I told you Lyra needed that," Sharnid remarked.
"I am wide awake, thank you very much," Lyra huffed, crossing her arms.
"Lyra, you'll be working with Harley on updating your dite," Nina went on, completely ignoring the comments, "meanwhile the rest of us will work on combat training. Layfon, you'll be the target. Sharnid and I will work on sneaking up on you and Felli will be guiding us," she concluded.
"Aww... why does Lyra-chan get special treatment?" Sharnid frowned. He was obviously joking, trying not to let the tense mood freak them out so much, but Nina was still serious.
"She doesn't," she replied. The way Nina said that, made Lyra a little concern, "so far, every match we've been in resulted in Lyra's DITE being damaged and needing repair. If this is to continue, then there is no way that we'll be able to go on, especially when it comes time to fight the first platoon. Harley, you and Lyra both better work on it. I don't want any mishaps like the first platoon match. Got it?"
The dark aura was back when she looked at both of them, causing both to tense and straighten up, "yes ma'am!"
"Good. Be outside in three minutes now," she ordered everyone, leaving the changing room.
"Oh! Captain I have work today!" Lyra suddenly started, remembering.
"Then hurry out here so you can leave in time," Nina replied.
Lyra blinked, "well she's serious."
"Looks like we're gonna be busting our asses for a while," Harley sighed.
"I mean, it's understandable. I have heard good things about the tenth platoon," Layfon remarked.
"They're an interesting group I'll tell you that," Sharnid randomly remarked. Lyra glanced over to see him staring off as if reminiscing. However, he quickly shook his head, "Then again, I mean we have the invincible combo of Layfon and Lyra so I wouldn't be too concerned," he remarked.
"Eh..." Both Lyra and Layfon glanced at one another.
Sharnid noticed the look of uneasiness the two gave. "Well, considering Lyra doesn't break her DITE and Layfon actually tries."
"Uh huh..." The two nodded, though Lyra was pouting.
Both knew what the other was thinking. While they did come in with better skill sets, considering they trained in Grendan, that wasn't the only thing that could be counted on to make sure they won, especially considering Nina refused to hide behind them. Thankfully, the group was getting better at working as a team and not running off on their own.
"Better hurry outside before the Captain gets angry," Felli suddenly spoke. The group turned to see she was already changed and heading out.
"Well, if Felli's already ready to go, we better as well," Sharnid remarked.
The rest nodded and followed in pursuit.
-x-
"Alright then, let's get to work," Harley decided. Lyra nodded, restoring her dite and allowing Harley to hook up the different wires to take multiple readings. The two were set up in the training hall where the rest were working. They were on the opposite side of the rest to prevent any stray attacks from hitting them. It was also so they could do their own experiments without disturbing the group.
The other side of the gym had been set up with multiple pillars allowing the group to hide among them while sneaking up on Layfon, who was waiting. He didn't seem that concerned. Oh how Lyra wished she could be there. She would love to go up against Layfon, but that only happened in their martial arts class or when they arrived to training early.
"Okay, so Lyra," Harley started, Lyra turned her attention back to him.
"Sorry. You have my full undivided attention!" she announced.
Harley just shook his head, "I'm thinking right now we'll run some diagnostic tests and see where your dite is being affected now. I know we've done this many times, but I don't think we've done a full scale test since the last adjustments were made."
"Right. Just tell me what to do and I'll get right on it," Lyra replied.
Harley nodded, "let's start with the gentle stream at level one and go from there."
Lyra then began to focus her kei into her dite at the level Harley had said. Usually he would make decisions and start working with Lyra having no idea what he's saying, but the more she's worked with him, the better she was beginning to understand. They initially started out with gentle streams and then she began to increase at certain intervals. Harley had her do multiple tests. At one point he even had her do a set of attacks towards certain targets. Lyra just patiently followed, though she was curious to see what he was trying to get at now.
Now he was just putting in the last of his numbers and coming to some conclusion.
Lyra just read them over his shoulder. That was still something she did not understand. The readings. They were all over the place, but they were different from last time.
"In the beginning, you kept a limit on how much you would use, but now you've started to go all out," Harley started, "the way you're combining your dite and kei, it's either all or nothing."
Lyra blinked, "wait... that can't be right."
"No, I mean, I made your dite based off of conductivity. That made it lighter, but not as durable. You actually use your kei to make the impact stronger."
"Yeah..." Lyra nodded her head. In other words, Harley believed she would be more of the type to fight from a distance and only do up close fighting if necessary when in fact it was the opposite case. That made her feel slightly better that it wasn't only her fault.
"Personally, I think we may have to change your weapon," Harley concluded.
Lyra frowned, "is that really the only option? I mean I'm so used to the sword now. And especially with the platoon match coming up, it wouldn't be wise to change weapons, no?"
Harley shook his head, "absolutely not a good idea. I'll do some research and try and incorporate the material of other types in to see how that goes, but perhaps in the long run we should work on switching if we can't get this to work," he offered.
Lyra shrugged, "well whatever helps me be at my best. I'm not going to argue."
Harley nodded his head.
"Alrighty, I'm going to wrap things up here and take it back to the lab to work on now," Harkey decided.
Lyra nodded her head, "sounds good. Let me know when we need to meet up again."
Harley nodded his head.
Heading back to the changing room, Lyra waited until the others had gone to shower before opening her locker and placing her glasses in the bag in a hidden spot before beginning to change. After all, she really didn't need to shower so she could wait until later. However, she still had to be alert when changing as well.
Lyra made sure to keep her glasses with her at all times, knowing exactly what Sharnid would be planning. It was only when showering that she took them off and she always made sure to wait now so that no one would see where she placed them. She didn't even trust the others to keep an eye for her, considering how they didn't help last time. She needed to show that they couldn't just get away with not helping her.
No... Lyra was formulating a plan to get back at them. The only problem was, these were Layfon and Nina. While she may figure out a way to get Nina, there was no way she was going to be able to fool Layfon. Plus she was terrified to try anything on Nina.
Then there was Sharnid as well. While he made up in a way by paying for lunch, he still got away with way too many pranks for her liking. Though it would be difficult and she would definitely need help. The problem was, who to ask. Lyra knew the platoon members would not want to be involved, not only that, she couldn't see them actually helping her. The other problem was, Lyra didn't really know anyone else from Sharnid's group of friends.
Lyra had just finished changing and put her glasses back on when the rest started to come back from the shower.
"You never went to shower?" It was Layfon who came back first, drying his hair with a towel. The rest followed after him.
Lyra shook her head, "I didn't really work up a sweat or anything so I figured I would after work," she explained.
"That or you just don't trust any of us and were guarding your glasses," Sharnid remarked. His voice was slightly muffled due to him holding a hair tie in his mouth while setting his hair. That was when an idea started to form in Lyra's mind.
Lyra just shrugged, "think whatever you'd like. I'm heading out now to grab food and then work," she announced.
"See ya," they all called, as she headed out.
Lyra let out a sigh, heading outside. She shivered a bit, as she zipped up her jacket. It was chilly out now. Lyra liked the weather, but she had forgotten due to being in the gym for so long.
It was past noon when the group finished. Lyra figured it was pointless to head back to her dorm. She had work a little later. Instead, Lyra decided that she would just grab food and eat on the way there.
Lyra's initial plan had been to sleep in and get up when it was time to head to work, but that obviously didn't happen. She hadn't eaten much either assuming this was going to be a quick meeting, but she should have learned by now that once Nina gets worked up, she will take advantage of all the time they have, especially since this was her method of preparing for any attacks towards Zuellini.
Lyra was actually thankful for the upcoming platoon match, as it would get her mind off of recent events. Nina was right to say that there was nothing they could do at the moment, but it was still difficult to get her mind off of it. Now, she had an excuse.
"Oi, watch where you're going." Lyra jumped hearing the voice. She looked up only to realize she almost ran into Gorneo Luckens who had stopped at the intersection knowing she would most likely continue to walk.
"Oh, hi there! Sorry about that," she apologized.
"I thought those glasses were supposed to help you see better," he muttered, shaking her head.
Lyra shrugged, "eh, they only work if I'm focusing on where I'm going." Lyra really wasn't sure what happened there. She was looking up, but she was not paying attention to where she was walking at all.
"Which you obviously weren't. That's the second time now," Gorneo remarked with a frown.
Lyra gave a nervous laugh, "what can I say? I just got the announcement that the next platoon matches have been set so now I'm busy thinking of what to expect."
Gorneo shook his head, "and there's always an excuse."
Lyra wasn't sure how to take that response. In fact she was surprised they were still talking to one another. They hadn't talked much since debriefing the President on what happened.
"I see your captain has you already training with the upcoming matches announced," Gorneo remarked, gesturing towards her handbag which held her training uniform.
Lyra nodded her head, "yup. Doesn't hurt to start right away."
Gorneo nodded, "never said it was. I'm heading to meet my group now. Though I'd watch out with that group. Something seems off about them," he warned.
Lyra blinked, "how so?"
"The tenth platoon has a history and things have just been going downhill for them and they're just digging themselves a deeper grave." Lyra nodded her head slowly. Just what did he mean by that? Why would he say that?
"Though, speaking of training, I wanted to ask you," he suddenly started again.
Lyra blinked, "about..."
"Your skills. According to your files, you were a biology student before wanting to transfer-"
"Wait, you read my files?" Lyra interrupted him.
"Well, I was offered considering the skillset you were coming in with and from the city as well," he replied as if that was the most obvious thing. Lyra still would have been curious had she not remembered this was Gorneo Luckens she was talking to and she nodded her head slowly.
"Okay, now I see where this is going." Boy, was she getting dense.
Gorneo nodded, "based on how you fought in Minerva I have to ask, there's no way you could have not learned from the Luckens' school."
Lyra thought for a second, "considering you're on my list of people-I-need-to-beat-in-match-one-day, I'll just say that you're brother did give me a lot of advice and tips."
Gorneo just stared at her thoughtfully. It was obvious that he wasn't sure how to respond at first, but then shook his head, "there's no way you got all that out for free."
Lyra shrugged, "apparently he was just curious to find out something. I don't know what, but I took advantage of that and he seemed to be satisfied. Well... at least I think so considering I managed to get a compliment out of him near the end."
Gorneo nodded his head, "I still find it weird," he remarked and then shook his head, "sorry I don't mean to hold you up."
Lyra shook her head, "you're fine! I still have time before work."
Gorneo nodded, "I need to get going and meet up with the group. See you around," he waved, dismissing himself.
Lyra watched him leave. Was that it? She felt there was more that he wanted to talk about, but he just cut it off there. Maybe he didn't like how Lyra responded? Or he was just awkward. After all, the two had rarely ever talked before and to suddenly bring up the subject, she could understand.
But what Lyra said was true. Considering he was Savaris's brother and he was a captain here, she was planning to beat him. That was a goal. Him and Vance was the other.
Afterwards, Lyra finally bought her lunch and headed straight to work where she began to work right away. There were no Nina nor Layfon to keep her company so Lyra found herself humming and working.
Her mind began to wander back to her conversation she had with the President when they came back.
He knew about the men. He also knew about the Haikizoku now. Yet, he had not made a decision on what they should all be doing. She was so sure that the President would be calling Lyra in to talk more, but perhaps he was waiting.
Lyra shook her head. She had agreed with herself she wouldn't ponder too much that was happening. Right now she needed to relax a little and put her focus on the platoon match. Gorneo randomly warned her to watch out for them. Lyra wondered what he could have meant by that. After all, she had seen one match on the television of them and they didn't seem that bad. In fact, Lyra was confident that if she was matched up against the blonde haired girl, she'd have no problem. As for their captain, Lyra would just have to be aware of the projectiles he shot out from his dite.
Lyra just shrugged, whatever it was she decided to just work quickly and get her area cleaned so she could get off early in time for dinner.
That was her plan and as soon as her area was inspected and they were given the approval, she was off.
She let out a yawn, stretching. Finally, she was getting off at a decent time. She was thinking a bath might be in store to relax and then homework afterwards. It wasn't that late in the day though so the bath could wait. The sun was coming to the point where it was beginning to lower and a few street lights had turned on, but she still felt it was safe enough to walk rather than take the tram home. She felt a small rumble come from her abdominal area. Food would be necessary as well. Maybe she should order out and bring food home for the girls back in her suite as well? They did do that often, especially Reina, who had made it her mission to get the girls to get along so that they had a warm home like environment.
It was helpful to Lyra, who had initially kept herself locked in her room, afraid to socialize due not many talking at the time, but that was also during the time Reina was working on a major project and all of her focus was towards that.
Lyra then let out a sigh, looking around. Up ahead a group of students were walking, talking and laughing with one another. It was a fairly large group, however at the next intersection they all began to split off, leaving a single long strawberry blond haired person. Lyra instantly recognized the sniper. In fact, with how they were speaking, she was sure it was his voice she recognized in there, which made her wonder just why was she able to distinguish his voice so easily.
Lyra instantly shook her head and decided why not catch up with him
"Hey! For once, I found you!" Lyra called out. Luckily he wasn't that zoned out, as he heard her and instantly stopped in his tracks, turning around. His expression had changed by the time she made eye contact with him to his usual 'gallant' expression, however Lyra was pretty sure there was an actual serious look on his face. It wasn't the type of serious he got when in battle or something, even though he was still carefree looking then, but more so, he seemed to be thinking of something at Lyra's level of intensity, which was also something Sharnid had started to use as a ranking system ranging from Layfon to Lyra to Nina.
"Well, well, if it isn't Lyra. Fancy seeing you out and about on the streets at this time," Sharnid remarked as the two started to walk together.
Lyra shrugged, "well today is a lighter day for me usually and I figured, with the weather so nice, why not walk home rather than take the tram?"
"Fair enough," Sharnid nodded his head, "or perhaps it was because you knew I would be passing by this way?"
At that Lyra scoffed, "please. I'm not a stalker like you."
Sharnid then laughed, shaking his head. "Oh Lyra...Speaking of stalking, was that the Captain of the fifth platoon I saw you with earlier?" he suddenly asked.
Lyra blinked, "what do you mean speaking of stalking? So now you're admitting to stalking me?"
"Of course not. I just knew you would assume that, which is why I said it," he replied, "besides, it's not my fault if you suddenly meet up with the captain a little off from the training grounds. I just happened to be going in the same direction," he remarked with an innocent smile, "I'm more concerned if there's something going on here, especially with how you both acted in Minerva," he added, obviously suspicious.
Lyra smirked. "Is that a hint of jealousy I hear in Sharnid's voice?" Lyra asked, teasing.
"It's not so much of jealousy as it is a concern," Sharnid replied, serious.
Lyra raised a brow, looking over at him.
"I mean, what if Lyra-chan was actually passing on all the information and strategies to a fellow Grendan student, especially when that Grendan student already holds a grudge against one of our own," he went on.
Lyra almost tripped, hearing that. And here she thought she could stump him.
"Oh come on! Who do you take me for? Gorneo was a fellow student at Grendan and we were catching up," she insisted. While "catching up" may be a strange way to put it, it was the best way she could think of putting it even though the two had never spoken to one another before.
"Mmm... it still sounds like a date to me," Sharnid spoke up.
Lyra rolled her eyes, "everything sounds like a date to you."
"Who's on a date?" The two jumped, hearing a third person enter the conversation and saw it was Nina coming their way. She was in her casual clothes with her small duffle bag hanging at her side.
"Hiya captain, I was wondering where you might be," Lyra remarked, greeting her.
"Sorry, I'm running late today," she apologized, explaining how she got held back by her roommate.
Lyra shook her head, "no worries. It's not much craziness today, hence why I was able to leave and not wait."
Nina nodded her head, "well that's good. But I'm curious. Who were you guys talking about being on a date?" she asked and suddenly her eyes narrowed, "it's not you two is it?" she asked suspiciously.
Lyra instantly shook her head, "heck no!"
Sharnid made a sudden hissing noise, clutching his chest, "that fast of a response... hit right in the chest.. that was painful, Lyra-chan."
Both looked over at Sharnid, who was slowly crippling to the ground. Nina raised a brow and then shook her head, amused, "well as much as I would like to hear, I have to get going now. I'm already late as it is."
Lyra nodded her head, "see ya later, Captain!" she waved, as Nina hurried off.
"Bye now," Sharnid added, straightening up.
Lyra watched, as he stood up. "Feeling better now?"
"The pain is still there, but I can manage," he replied, patting the left side of his chest.
Lyra shook her head, "you're so dramatic," she remarked, as she started to walk on.
"I would like to call it, entertaining, thank you," he replied, following.
Lyra laughed, "you should have gone into the entertainment department."
"Oh please. You're making me blush," he pretended to shy away.
Lyra shook her head. Come to think of it, she didn't really know Sharnid's reasoning behind joining the military arts. From how Harley said it, there was a lot of hidden potential in Sharnid that he refused to show. It was very similar to Layfon's thought process and for that reason, Nina was trying to push him, but his personality made it difficult for Nina to get through to him.
"Anyways, what are you up to now?" Sharnid asked.
Lyra paused to think for a second. "Umm... not much really. Probably go home and do some homework. I'm getting behind now," she replied.
"Tsk, tsk, Lyra-chan. Shame on you for getting behind," Sharnid pretended to disapprove.
Lyra frowned, "because you're definitely up to date," she replied.
"I sure am," Sharnid chimed, "and that's because I don't have to worry about finances since I've already paid my fees," he replied proudly.
"No fees? But then what about food," Lyra questioned.
Sharnid laughed, "that's what scholarships are for, my dear Lyra-chan."
Suddenly, Sharnid stopped in his tracks, "Hold up," he pulled on Lyra's jacket from the elbow to stop her, "I hear something."
Lyra paused to listen and noticed a slight buzz.
"Ack! Lyra! Watch out!"
Lyra had just registered the scream, but thankfully Sharnid pulled her out of the way just in time to avoid a screaming girl zoom passed them on what seemed like a motorized bicycle. The bicycle went veering down the hill, hitting the curb of the street, which broke its speed and fell over, causing the girl to flip off. The two just stood there, watching it happen and could only blink as it registered.
"Well, that didn't look good," Sharnid remarked. The two hurried down the hill to help the girl. Lyra helped her up and sat her on the curb.
"Are you okay?" she asked the girl, as she helped her with her helmet. Lyra was taken aback when she noticed it was none other than the head of her dorm, Reina. She moved back, as Reina shook her head, straightening herself out.
"Phew! I almost thought you were done for. Good thing your friend saved you in time," she remarked. Looking over at Sharnid, who was studying the bike.
"Hey, this thing is pretty neat. Is this what you engineering folks are working on in there?" he asked, bringing it over to where the girls sat.
Reina nodded her head, "we're almost there. It's just these stupid breaks that keep failing," she muttered, glaring at the bike. She then looked at Lyra, "but you're not hurt, are you?"
Lyra smirked, "I should be asking the one who flipped off the bike. I'm fine."
"Oh, I'm fine! Luckily this helmet and jacket we borrowed from the military arts department helped keep any screws in here from loosening," she remarked, tapping her head.
"I feel you might be too late there," Lyra muttered.
"Oh hush!" Reina snapped.
Lyra shook her head, "well lemme help you get back to the lab then," she offered.
Reina's eyes brightened, "oh thank you so much!"
"Do you guys need any help?" Sharnid asked.
Before Lyra could reply, Reina was already speaking, "we should be fine, thanks! The bike isn't that heavy."
She then went to lift the bike and inspect it herself. Lyra glanced at Sharnid and shrugged. It was obvious Reina did not want his company, which from the looks on Sharnid's face, made him very amused.
"See ya guys, later!" he waved and was off.
"Woo, man. That was quite scary. I thought I would be a goner," Reina remarked, as the two walked up the hill.
"I'll say," Lyra huffed, "you're lucky that was grass you landed in and not a tree or cement right there. That would not have been good-"
"I would like to leave it with, I am thankful that was grass," Reina interrupted her, "jeez, always have to think of the negative alternative, you," she remarked, shaking her head.
Lyra raised a brow, "says the one who nearly collapsed from heart failure when I told them about my mission."
"Oh you're just exaggerating now," Reina replied, silencing Lyra. The two continued on like this until they arrived to the engineering building.
"Welcome," Reina grunted, as she pushed open the two heavy doors, "to my second home!"
She announced, swinging her arms in the air before realizing that she needed to hold the door open so Lyra could get through with the bike.
"Sorry!"
It's okay," Lyra replied before looking around. She nodded, very impressed. This was her first time actually entering the lab. Reina spoke so much about it, commenting on how many changes they were planning to make to the city, transportation in specific.
"Ever since we stocked up. We've been able to process the material and get back to researching conservative methods," Reina explained and then sighed,"it's so sad how few mines we have left."
Lyra nodded her head. They were lucky that one of Minerva's was so close. Considering the city was no longer there to claim it, it allowed Zuellini to restock on sources and so they would be good for quite some time. But it made them wonder. With all that had been going on in the past few years, what if something were to happen and they couldn't get to a mine? After all, filth monsters were constantly evolving due to the environment outside. They were also adapting to the movements of the cities.
Reina was just very vocal about the fact they had such few mines left and thus pushing for more funds to research better methods for the city to function with fewer resources being used up.
The students couldn't just lounge around, just doing work to work and pass their classes. Zuellini was home to many students and had given them such a wonderful opportunity to get up and figure out what to do. Both Nina and Layfon were like that. Even Reina herself mentioned how she wanted to decide herself what she wanted to do without being influenced by her family, hence leaving her home city.
"Well, I'm tired of staring at this place," Reina suddenly announced, causing Lyra to jump. Reina noticed it and couldn't help but laugh.
"You're too funny, Lyra," she shook her head, "but seriously. I'm going to close up lab now. How about we all make dinner at home? Unless you already have plans with that Sharnid man?"
Lyra blinked. That Sharnid man? The way her tone sounded as she said it amused Lyra greatly. Reina was still going on about that. She just shook her head. "Nope. I actually have a pasta dish in mind that I want to make."
Reina's eyes brightened, "and I have the perfect side dish to go with it! Come on, I'm sure the others have already started prepping!" With that, she grabbed Lyra's arm and pulling her along until Lyra managed to pull back and walk on her own.
Lyra just shook her head, as she followed.