A Slytherin Without Ambition
9.
Akira is a model, but when she's angry, her face twists into something ugly. Ruuko is reminded of her mother, the way her face warped when she cried and she was always crying. They have the official duel Akira has declared, while Hitoe recuperates in the Hospital Wing. Tama, with her own assertion, stands behind Ruuko. Iona, a smirk on her lips, stands behind Akira.
Tama yells encouragements that has Ruuko's blood pounding in her ears. Iona does nothing at all. Not even when Akira falls to her knees and burst into tears and Ruuko lowers her wand. Not until after Tama grumbles that the show was over, and Ruuko's head spins as the adrenaline leaks out. Not even when she takes in the chaotic stage, the bruising and the blood: both their blood.
She's dropped the shields, the defence, early on and never put it back.
'An all-out fight,' Iona says, looking satisfied. She ignores Akira reaching for her, ignores the muttering of the crowd.