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Sora didn't get much sleep last night, but she still rose early for her test.
They stood in front of each other, she in her training clothes and he in his regular dark outfit.
Her eyes were tired, having cried for a very long time. His eyes were somber and still, like twin headstones standing near each other.
"The training," he said in a grave voice, "will commence."
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For several days, she stood on one leg, hour after hour.
He stayed with her during it all. Silent.
Only on the third day did he say something to her that was not an instruction.
Her leg was shaking terribly. She had a permanent frown on her face as she attempted to block out the strain and the fatigue. He had been standing over by the wall, unable to relax as he saw her in pain. When the faintest of whimpers accidently slipped out of her mouth, his resolve faltered.
He walked over to her.
"You don't have to continue," he murmured at her back, a hand reaching up to touch her, but it merely hovered. "You are free to stop at any time."
She tried to turn her head to look at him without losing her balance, but it was futile. She caught the underlining plea to his words and that brought out a deeper frown on her face.
Wasn't this his training regimen? She couldn't fathom his words.
"If I do," she said with some strain to her voice, "I won't be able to go."
"What's wrong with that?"
She really wished she could see his face right now. Why doesn't he want to go? Is it really the fact that he has so many enemies over there? Layla had called him a coward, but Sora had never really seen him as one.
Then again, she hadn't seen him as 'The God of Death' either…
"People are counting on me going," she said with an air of finality.
He let out a breath in irritation, but said nothing else to that. He walked back over to the wall and resumed the silence.
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The fifth day of training, she was exhausted.
She tried to see him through the strong flow of water pouring on her, but she could only make out a blur of black and silver. Why is he making me do this? She couldn't see the reason for it; couldn't find anything that would explain all of the hours of standing, balancing, and posing.
Is he trying to break me, like he did May?
Her eyes teared up and the hurt streamed down her face as she recalled the way he had held her at night and the way he comforted her when she was worried about her job at the pizzeria.
She couldn't understand him.
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His arms were folded as he watched her.
He stayed standing, oblivious to the tears on her face for the water masked it well. However, her sad expression made his hands fist.
"Only a demon can raise an angel," Alen barked at a much younger Leon. "Easing up on her," his instructor pointed to his sister nearly passed out on the ground as she caught her breath, "will be hurting her chances at true stardom!"
His eyes glowered in memory. How he hated Alen for training his sister.
Ken started yelling at Leon for his treatment of Sora. The Frenchman stayed looking at the teen in question, seeing how tired and worn out she looked beneath the heavy weight of the water.
…How he hated himself for training her…
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She lay on her bed, trying to catch some rest before tomorrow.
I thought the training was it.
Sarah came by to tell her that Leon had one more part of the test for her to do tomorrow morning. Sora wanted to cry again when she heard that, her legs unbearably stinging from the strain they went through.
She rolled onto her side, her hand coming up to clutch her pillow.
Will he destroy me tomorrow, seeing that I had survived his training?
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The next morning, she was up on one platform while he was on the other.
Her friends were down below, watching to see if she'd pass or not. But she did not look down at them. Once she entered the practice room, her eyes stayed on Leon's form. Likewise, his gaze stayed on her, talking only to her as they had discussed the test needing to be without the net, seeing as the actual festival wouldn't have one. Her eyes had narrowed at the request.
Now, she was holding the trapeze bar, waiting for him to say what he wanted her to do.
"A somersault backflip layout," his voice, with its timbre and smooth tone, echoed into the room.
She felt her head nod as her friends wondered aloud at the simplicity of the move for such a high staked test. She really didn't care anymore; she just wanted to get it over with.
She jumped off of the platform, slowly building her momentum.
Her eyes watched as Leon swung from his knees, his long silver hair moving back and forth with his swings. She remembered his moonlit form, how she had reveled in the sight he made and wanted to touch and kiss him for as long as she could.
She remembered his face as he told May off after hurting her, and the superior way he held himself.
They were swinging in sync now, she idly registered that she was seconds away from doing the layout and winning her position as his partner for the International Circus Festival.
Three seconds.
Two.
One…
Her hands tightly gripped the bar, missing the moment.
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Her friends were abuzz with noise. Sora stood still on the platform with the swing still in her hands. She didn't seem to be registering any of their voices.
Leon could hear them talking, saying that she had held on because of fear.
That may be a part of it, however…
He had seen the look on her face as she continued to hold the bar. It was not the face of a person afraid to let go or not confident enough to do the maneuver.
Revulsion had been on her face.
She held on because she was rejecting him as a partner…he wouldn't be surprised if she was rejecting him on principle and her own conscience.
His eyes were blank, masking the turmoil her action created.
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