Chapter Eleven

Kyle Cromwell

The young man named Kyle eyed Shin-ju over his shoulder. He had a sneer on his face, as if not a bit worried that his back was turned to the Nomad boy and was vulnerable to attack. When Kyle was sure that he had Shin-ju's full attention, he turned to look down at Ayame again.

Slowly, moving in a ghostlike manner, Kyle grasped Ayame's arm with one hand and brushed his fingertips against her cheek. The girl let loose a quiet, scared whimper and shirked from his touch.

Shin-ju saw this—and clenched his fists in anger.

"Be still," the tall youth's deep voice warned him from behind.

Shin-ju didn't turn around to face the tall young man standing behind him. His attire came to the Nomad boy's mind—his suit had large, billowing sleeves that hid his hands. There was no telling what sort of weapons he had hidden underneath.

"It would be wise to listen to Arakawa, Shin-ju Yang," the red-haired girl, who called herself Zeta, concurred. "Our Master, Balthesar Yeary, did not appoint Kyle as our leader by picking his name out of a hat. All of Master Yeary's apprentices, the three of us included, are often pitted against each other in Shadow Art fighting matches…"

Out of the corner of his eye, a tense Shin-ju watched Zeta motion towards Kyle with one of her hands.

"…and Kyle, here," Zeta finished, "has never lost a battle."

"And yet, Master Yeary seems to think that you, who had just lost to some stick-wielding fool this afternoon, are more important than I am, Shin-ju Yang," Kyle finally spoke, his eyes still on Ayame's trembling face. "Isn't that right, Zeta?"

To Shin-ju's bewilderment, Zeta seemed to be caught unawares by Kyle's statement. "Well, I…" she tried to reply.

"He does," Kyle interjected, keeping his grasp on Ayame's arm while turning to face Shin-ju. "I'll tell you of Balthesar Yeary's instructions to us, Shin-ju Yang. He instructed us to find you and extend his invitation to join Assassin Nation. In the event of your acceptance, I was to immediately refer to you as my superior. If you refused, we would take our leave of you, only to extend the invitation again at a later date…"

Kyle's grip on Ayame's arm tightened, making the girl yelp and try in vain to wrench herself free. Shin-ju tensed up again, but knew that he was in no position to try anything foolhardy. He simply held Kyle's stare as the red-haired young man continued his spiel.

"…but this is different," Kyle finished coldly. "I've decided I just don't like you."

Shin-ju sensed Zeta fidgeting uncomfortably to the side—something was wrong, and even Kyle's subordinates thought so.

"Seeing you," Kyle accosted Shin-ju heatedly, "and seeing your skin and seeing you go unpunished for your Dune War crimes… all is not right with the world, Shin-ju Yang, when Nomads are allowed to roam and mingle with Normans. Not here. Not in the Academy. Not in the Norman Realms. You do not belong here."

Zeta cleared her throat to interject, as though they had planned her to say something at this juncture of the 'interview,' but Kyle continued before she could say a word.

"Are you happy now?" Kyle challenged loudly. "Kill all those kids… all those innocents, all those Knights, for WHAT?"

"Kyle!" Zeta interjected.

Kyle spied Zeta a few steps from his side. Then he sighed, closing his eyes briefly before turning back to Shin-ju.

"You refused," Kyle declared. "I'll tell our Master that you refused his invitation, so we'll come back and ask you again another day. Until then, Shin-ju Yang, think of the thousands you've killed in the Wars. Feel the desolation and pain that you've created in the hearts of survivors… and ponder the judgment that you know you deserve."

Kyle let go of Ayame's arm, and the girl quickly backed away from him and ran through the woods in the direction of her dormitory compound.

Shin-ju quickly turned to run after Ayame when a glint of sunlight reflected into his eyes—and froze as he felt the cold blade of an Assassin Dagger pressed against his throat.

"…And one more thing," Kyle whispered while keeping Shin-ju at deadly knifepoint.

"Keep your filthy Nomad paws off of her."

Shin-ju stared helplessly into Kyle's eyes. Everything that had transpired in the past few minutes for him was a daze—he didn't know who these three were, and he didn't know what this Balthesar Yeary wanted from him so badly. Stereotypical hate speech about Nomads was something he had gotten used to, but to be held at knifepoint over such—all of a sudden Shin-ju felt like he was wandering in the Desert again, without the assurance of someone's protection.

He was naïve, powerless, and vulnerable again.

"Kyle."

Arakawa's deep voice sounded once more. Shin-ju realized without a doubt that whatever these three had planned for him, Kyle had gone out of line in its delivery.

As if finally prodded out of his own interests, Kyle slowly lowered the Assassin Dagger from Shin-ju's neck. He took a step away, allowing Shin-ju to stalk quietly away from the three. The Nomad boy threw cautious glances at them before turning around and running towards the woods in the direction where Ayame had disappeared.

Left behind, the three stood under the whispering blanket of leaves over their heads.

As Shin-ju's form disappeared among the trees, Arakawa eyed the form of Kyle, who remained staring in the distance with a look filled with loathing.

It was an open secret in Assassin Nation that Arakawa did not like Kyle as his superior, knowing that he himself held more loyalty to Balthesar Yeary than Kyle did, and therefore felt he deserved to be the leader. However, Arakawa restrained his emotions at his Master's order—and while he was waiting for his opportunity to face Kyle in battle once more, he knew that he could not hope to defeat Assassin Nation's leader in one-on-one combat just yet.

Zeta, on the other hand, never wanted the leadership. It was enough gratification for her to know that Balthesar Yeary found her to be his third-best apprentice. She had since then resolved to serve the Shadow Arts scholar in any way he requested. Thus, between herself and Arakawa, it was she who was unsettled more by Kyle's disregard for their Master's orders.

"I don't recall Master Yeary giving us the authority to draw our weapons," Zeta intoned quietly, walking over to Kyle's side. "And that was not what Master Yeary instructed you to tell him…"

Kyle did not answer. He did not move. Even his hateful eyes refused to blink.

"…Kyle?"

•••

It was the afternoon of Thursday, July 29th, six days after the incident with Assassin Nation. Since then Shin-ju had spent his days watching his back for the next visit from Balthesar Yeary's three shady apprentices, waiting for the Shadow Arts scholar's "invitation" to be extended to him again. It didn't come in the past six days, even though Shin-ju had seen Kyle, Arakawa, and Zeta twice more in Tournament formations.

Everyone who wanted to join the Tournament of Young Champions had to participate in a series of random sparring rounds, which was intended to narrow the number of Tournament candidates from almost a hundred to a mere sixteen. The panel of judges, composed of selected high-ranking officials in the Prontera Chivalry and Cavalry, were to choose which among the candidates to allow entry into the Tournament based on fighting prowess and combat intelligence.

Needless to say, Kyle, Arakawa, and Zeta each performed very well, not losing a single sparring match. They kept a low profile throughout the process, quietly showing their proficiency in their special fighting art without showing its true power. Shin-ju performed reasonably well himself, but he suffered another close defeat to the talented Kali practitioner, Teabo Sheppard—whom he had the bad fortune to be paired with on his very first sparring match.

Shin-ju had cause to worry—that loss could have spelled the difference between entering the Tournament and being disqualified. There was no way of knowing until tomorrow, July 30th—when the Tournament authorities would post the chosen sixteen on the Academy bulletin boards.

The uncertainty regarding Assassin Nation's next visit and the tension of waiting for the elimination results compounded onto Shin-ju's biggest worry yet—Ayame.

When Shin-ju reached Ayame's dormitory compound after the brush with Assassin Nation six days ago, he was stopped at the gate by the groundskeeper and told that boys weren't allowed on the premises. When he asked, rather urgently, to see Ayame, the groundskeeper left Shin-ju at the gate to fetch the girl—only to return with the message that Ayame didn't want to see anyone at that time. Subsequent requests were similarly refused.

Shin-ju hadn't seen Ayame since then. And now, at the picnic table where he, Ayame, and Joanne regularly met, the thought of her hounded his mind even as he helped Joanne with her Physics homework.

•••

"Is something wrong, Shin-ju?" Joanne asked, worried by the burdened look in Shin-ju's eyes. "You're not yourself today."

Shin-ju sighed as he drew a box around the solution set of the Physics problem he was solving. "Sorry, Joie," he answered, handing the notebook back to the girl. "I guess I just have a lot on my mind right now."

Joanne's eyes shifted between Shin-ju and the neat solution procedure scribbled on her notebook page. Despite having 'a lot on his mind,' the Nomad boy still managed to solve a particularly tough Physics problem for her. For a moment, she wondered if Shin-ju wasomniscient.

"Mm, well… thanks anyway, Shin-ju!" she said cheerily, closing the notebook and stuffing it into her schoolbag. "I'll look your notes over tonight and see if I can solve the other problems myself. Hah. Good luck."

Shin-ju laughed quietly at her as they both eased back and faced the football fields. For a moment, they stared quietly as other Novices played games of football in the distance. A cold wind blew over the fields, making the trees rustle. It unnerved Shin-ju somewhat—it reminded him of the sights and sounds during Assassin Nation's "visit" six days ago.

Joanne knew she had to say something.

"So, uh…" she began awkwardly. "A zenny for your thoughts?"

She heard Shin-ju sigh again.

"I'm just worried about Yami," the Nomad boy answered, staring off into the distance. "I haven't seen her for six days. I've been working by myself on the schoolpaper since last week, and we're falling behind schedule… and it's not like her to just abandonthe Visor like that. I don't know why, but I've always thought the Visor was a lifelineof some sort for her, but now… Now it's not going anywhere, and she's nowhere to be found."

Joanne was staring at him. "Did, uh… did something happen?"

She saw him nod half-consciously. "Yeah, but…" he began dreamily. "…But I don't understand it either. I can't explain it. There's still so much I don't know."

Joanne bit her lip. She was worried about Ayame's absence too, but was gloomy at the same time, knowing that Shin-ju seemed to be more concerned about Ayame than her.

"'Kay," she whispered quietly, looking away from Shin-ju and staring off towards the ends of the football fields.

At that, Shin-ju glanced at Joanne. He smiled. In thinking about what happened six days ago, he remembered what Ayame had told him about Joanne. He decided to bring it up to lighten the mood a bit.

"So," Shin-ju piped up. "How's Joie's boy?"

Joanne shot him a clueless, wide-eyed look. "Huh?" she asked.

"Y'know," Shin-ju prodded with a friendly smile. "Your boy from gym glass?"

Joanne opened her mouth, as though she was about to laugh out loud, but no sound came out. "Y-you…" she stammered, reddening. "Yami told you?"

"Yeah," Shin-ju laughed. "So how is he?"

Joanne shied away from Shin-ju's stare and turned her gaze to the football fields. "He's still there," she began playing her ruse, all the while keeping a big smile on her face. "And I'm still crushing over him like crazy. He's such a dreamboat."

Shin-ju nodded. "You should tell him you like him."

"Yeah… that's what Yami told me to do, too."

"Really," he commented, raising an eyebrow. "What else did she tell you?"

Joanne turned her eyes upward and remembered what Ayame had told her to do.

•••

"Well, step to it, girl!" Ayame told her with a smile. "Tell him you like him! Ask him to hang out with you! Maybe the two of you could even play a few games of WordTwist to break the ice!"

•••

"Tell him I like him, and ask him to hang out with me sometime," Joanne answered, leaving out the 'WordTwist' portion of Ayame's advice.

Shin-ju nodded again. "Sounds like a good idea," he said.

"Yeah, but… it's not that simple."

The Nomad boy frowned. "Why not?" he asked. "All you gotta do is talk to him…"

"No, no, that's not what I mean," Joanne said, turning her eyes in his direction. "It's not that simple."

A moment passed before Shin-ju shook his head. "I don't think I'm following, Joie."

Joanne smiled sweetly. This was her chance to move things in a better direction.

"There's this other guy," Joanne confided.

"Wow," he laughed quietly. "So they come in twos now."

"Ooh, stop teasing, Shin-ju," she giggled. "He's just a friend."

"Okay," Shin-ju ventured. "So what's this friend like?"

"He's okay, I guess," Joanne answered. "He's just not as sporty, or smart, or sweet as my gym class dreamboat… he's more of a nobody. Kinda like me, huh…"

Shin-ju raised his eyebrow at Joanne's self-depreciating quip.

"Well, yeah…" she continued, running her fingers through her short blonde hair. "He's more average than anything else… but there's one thing he does that the guy from gym class doesn't do."

"…And what's that?"

Joanne smiled sweetly as she prepared to tell the truth beyond the ruse she was playing. It made her feel better to finally be able to say what she liked about Shin-ju, even if it was under the guise of an unknown 'nobody' friend. She half-closed her eyes as she continued.

"He… totally… listens to me," she began, a contented look on her face. "And it doesn't even matter what I talk to him about. I mean, I make the klutziest mistakes, I say the weirdest things, I talk about the most boring topics… but he sits by me, and listens to me, and he makes me feel like I'm someone important. It's like, when I'm with him, I forget about the guy from gym class. That's my problem… Who should I go out with?"

When she turned to look at Shin-ju, his gray stare was fixed on her pretty blue eyes.

"Joie," Shin-ju said with a smile, "the answer's right in front of you."

Joanne's heart jumped to her throat. Her eyes widened as the boy continued.

"Go out with your 'nobody' friend," he said matter-of-factly.

Joanne exhaled heartily—for a moment, she thought Shin-ju had seen through her gimmick. "O-oh," she stammered, trying to smile. "You think so?"

"Yeah," Shin-ju said, turning his eyes to the football fields as he explained. "Whoever your boy is, I think he's gotta make you feel important… like you're a real part of his life. He's gotta need your presence, and support…"

He turned back to Joanne with a joking smile on his face. "…And," he said, cueing the word they both knew was coming.

"…Love," they said together, laughing genially afterwards.

"Eww,"Joanne mused, trying to play along.

"Yuck,"Shin-ju concurred. "But seriously, I think that's what we all need these days… someone to need."

Joanne raised an eyebrow at Shin-ju. She found that to be an unexpectedly serious comment.

"It's weird, hearing that from you," she commented. "I've known you for two months now, but I've never seen you need anyone. You're a one-man army wherever you go, Shin-ju."

Shin-ju sighed. "Well, I never wanted to be," he explained, losing the smile on his face. "I think it's just the circumstances I've been in while growing up. I guess I was just forced to get used to doing things on my own."

Joanne nodded quietly, knowing what Shin-ju was talking about. "Gee," she offered, looking up at some dark clouds that were moving over the Academy. "It must've been really tough growing up on your own, huh, Shin-ju…"

Then Shin-ju turned to her with a cheerful smile on his face. "It's okay," he told her. "At least I have friends now, and I always look forward to bumping into you like this every now and then."

Joanne returned the smile, then tried a little levity. "So, say, um… you, uh, wanna bump into each other again next week, same time, same place?" she asked, standing up. "Y'know, we could just hang out and talk. We could even, um…" she reddened a bit, "…play a few games of WordTwist to pass the time."

Shin-ju looked up at her. "Word-what?" he asked.

"WordTwist," she repeated. "It's a game. I'll show you how to play it next week, okay?"

"Uh, sure," Shin-ju answered, watching her as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Where you off to?"

"Back to my dorm," Joanne said, pointing at the dark clouds gathering overhead. "I think it's gonna rain pretty soon, and I don't wanna get sick and miss classes this close to Finals week… how about you?"

Shin-ju looked up at the clouds and sighed.

"I'm a bit tired," he answered. "And I think I have a few minutes to spare. I'll make it to my dorm before the rain gets here."

"Okay," Joanne said. "Sooo… I'll… see you next week?"

He looked at her and smiled. "Sure, Joie," he said. "Thanks a lot."

"Great," Joanne said, turning to leave. "Bye, Shin-ju. And thanks for helping me with homework!"

•••

Joanne stepped onto the stone pathway behind the picnic table and left Shin-ju sitting by himself. She smiled happily, having enjoyed the conversation with Shin-ju. She was able to ask him to hang out and play WordTwist with her, just like Ayame had suggested… now, all she had to do was to tell him that she liked him. She gushed secretly at the thought.

As she raised her face to look ahead, she saw a very familiar face walking in the opposite direction.

It was Ayame.

"Yami!" Joanne said loudly, very surprised. At the picnic table behind her, Shin-ju heard Joanne call Ayame's name, and he quickly turned to look.

Ayame was wearing the Novice uniform, just like Shin-ju and Joanne were on that day, but she wore a large jacket with a hood thrown over her head. It was as though she was trying to hide from someone.

"Yami, where've you been?" Joanne asked excitedly as Ayame came closer.

Ayame smiled half-heartedly at Joanne, raising her hands to squeeze the girl's arms as she met her on the pathwalk. "Hi, Joie," was all she whispered as she passed by.

Joanne watched as Ayame walked off the pathwalk towards the picnic table, where Shin-ju had stood up to look at her.

Ayame stopped in front of Shin-ju, looking him in the eye. She inhaled deeply, held her breath for a moment, and exhaled her greeting.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

It took a moment for Shin-ju to answer. "…Sure," he said.

Without another word, Ayame walked past Shin-ju, invisibly beckoning him to follow her. Shin-ju took his backpack from the picnic table and began walking after Ayame, but not before turning and waving goodbye to Joanne.

On the pathwalk, Joanne returned Shin-ju's gesture with a worried smile.

•••

Thunder rumbled overhead. Shin-ju eyes momentarily moved upward, noting the rapidly darkening skies beyond the tree canopy, before lowering to Ayame's form walking beside him. She had taken the path through the woods—the same path they took six days ago—on the way back to her dormitory compound. Shin-ju's senses were on alert for any sign of Assassin Nation, but only the thunder and cold wind accompanied their trek towards the girl's home.

"Sorry about last week," Ayame piped up from under her hood after what seemed to be an eternity for Shin-ju. "Did Kyle and his goons bother you since then?"

She wasn't looking at him, but Shin-ju shook his head anyway. "No," he answered. "You mind telling me what this is all about?"

Ayame sighed heavily, her head still hidden from under her hood. "Kyle… was my first boyfriend."

Shin-ju listened. There had to be more.

"But that's not all," Ayame continued. "He's not jealous of you. It's just that… things happened to us."

"Things…" Shin-ju ventured.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said. "Let it lie that I've been trying to avoid him over the past year. Hell, I even shifted to a course that was based in the Academy Hall furthest from his just to stay away from him."

Shin-ju nodded. That explains why she's so immersed in the Visor,he thought. But what really happened between them?

"Now that he's found me again… I'm scared, Shin-ju," Ayame confessed. "For both of us."

He tried to cheer her up. "I'm not afraid of—"

"Damn it, Shin-ju, please,"she snapped angrily. "No. Not you. Kyle's too dangerous. I know you're a fighter too, but you're no match for him. No one is. Don't you dare kill yourself by playing hero for me. I've already lost Kyle, now I don't wanna lose—"

Ayame bit her lip. She looked down, not missing a step, while Shin-ju eyed her quietly.

"…sorry for swearing," she uttered after a moment.

He shook his head. "It's okay."

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid?"

It took him a moment to answer. "Awright."

Without another word, the two walked the remaining distance to Ayame's dormitory complex. At the gate, Ayame looked up to Shin-ju with disconsolate eyes. "Bye," was all she said.

Shin-ju made a move to clasp Ayame's hand with his own, but the girl walked away too quickly. He watched wordlessly, his hand hanging where he had reached out for her, as Ayame walked through the gate and disappeared into the dormitory complex.

•••

Shin-ju ran back through the woods. A light rain had begun to fall, and judging by the sound of the thunder, Shin-ju knew that a heavy downpour was imminent in minutes. He decided to take a shortcut through the woods towards his dorm—while doing so, he remembered Joanne's words earlier that afternoon. Finals Week was approaching, and now was the worst time to get sick.

His near-weightless steps propelled him through the familiar leaf-covered path as images of the past few days ran through his mind. Assassin Nation was taking part in the Tournament, which meant that if they made it past the elimination battles—which was very likely—then it was also likely that Shin-ju would have to face them if he happened to make it to the final sixteen. He had mixed feelings for the way things were developing for him—Ayame would never want him to join the final sixteen with Kyle and his goons, but he'd be hard-pressed to find money if he didn't.

These things weighed so heavily on Shin-ju's mind that he failed to notice—at the crest of the low ridge he was about to leap off of—a gloved hand rising from the ground and grabbing his ankle.

Shin-ju yelped as he lost his balance, roughly tumbling down the low ridge, rocks and twigs stinging his face as he fell. He landed on the ridge's bottom and rolled onto his side, coughing in pain.

The Nomad boy sorely got up to his elbows and opened an eye—and saw a pair of black boots standing a few paces from his position.

"I warned you," sounded the familiar voice of Kyle Cromwell.

Shin-ju's eyes widened as he recognized the young Assassin, standing over him with his arms crossed in front of his chest. With his body still aching from the fall, Shin-ju looked behind him up at the ridge crest—and saw the form of Arakawa emerging from the ground. And as a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, it silhouetted the lithe form of Zeta Spires, standing on a tree branch high above them.

Shin-ju was trapped.

•••

End of Chapter Eleven