Chapter 7

"No." Crow informed her, his eyes fastened on hers. He nodded down and watched as her gaze fell down to his own extended arm. He didn't make it a habit of carrying his guns to bed, but he wasn't above a small, deadly sharp knife and it was currently pressed right against her thigh, where her femoral artery was. "If I had thought you were actually going to attempt it, I'd have gotten you first." But he hadn't, which was why his dagger was still in its slim sheath. "And…" Since she was pulling away, he lazily tossed said dagger onto his own bed, moving so he was standing. "We fell asleep while studying. I don't remember much after that fifth paragraph you made me reread twice."

"Shit, that's right." Melyssa muttered, closing her eyes as the memory of studying with Crow filtered through her mind. The dance they shared beforehand. The promise of playing Blade together and going to Heimdallr to get away on a free day. "You were on your stomach and…you know what? It doesn't matter."

Sheathing her Cutlass, Melyssa turned and began pulling her clothes out for the day, glancing at the clock. Crow was on his stomach when she fell asleep, so why did they wake up with him right beside her? If he woke up during the night, why didn't he go back to his own bed?

Overthinking it will only cause more harm than good, just let it go, Melyssa, she mentally chastised, pulling her skirt on before removing her pants from beneath and tossed them in her hamper. She'd never gotten dressed so fast in her life and simply pulled her hair up in a high ponytail instead of the usual bun.

If he had woken up, he had no recollection of it. Crow figured things he did either half-awake or totally asleep, he shouldn't be held accountable for because…. Subconscious did what it wanted whether he wanted it or not. Crow did not feel the sense of modesty she did and simply peeled off his shirt from the day before along with his pants, tossing them both into his own hamper. He was wearing the current in-style type men's underwear, stretching his arms over his head before dropping a hand to scratch his bare abdomen.

"Not mad at me, are you, Mel?" He winked at her. "I did say I was a cuddler." Just like Ash had with Monique.

She was used to seeing Crow in his boxer/briefs because the man had no modesty, whatsoever. It wasn't nearly as big of a deal for a man to change in front of a woman as a woman to change in front of a man. Well, almost woman. She was 17, but her birthday was in a few weeks and she would be 18. Not that Crow knew that and she wasn't big on birthdays, so she would keep that little nugget of information to herself. To answer his question, truthfully, yes she was mad at him, but not for waking up in the same bed together.

"You did, I just didn't think we would ever be in that position. I didn't mean to freak out on you." That was as close to an apology as he would get because saying the words 'I'm sorry' to Crow did not set well with her. She went to head toward the door and Crow stopped her, his hand on her elbow pulling her back to turn to face him, staring up into his crimson orbs. "I'm not mad at you, Crow…" Not for this anyway.

"Well, last night you were relaxed and today you're tense, so…"

He knew a big part of that was waking up in an almost stranger's arms, complete with body parts poking at her. Nobody would like being woken up in such a fashion unless it was with a lover and they were not lovers. His mind strayed for a moment or two, considering that possibility and then shook his head, stepping away from her.

"I need caffeine." He was obviously still half-asleep. "I'm sorry, I won't let it happen again. Unless," His mischievous smile appeared. "You want it too."

Her cheeks were on fire again and she could no longer remain eye contact with him. "I…" Melyssa had to snap out of this reverie when it came to Crow and she stepped back, his hand falling from her elbow. "I need to go. I'll see you later."

Grabbing her bag, shoes and Cutlass, Melyssa flew out of the room while hopping to put her shoes on, already having her knee thigh-high stockings on. She grabbed an apple and granola bar from the cafeteria and then made her way to the training rooms in the basement, really needing to get a session in. Melyssa was tense, coiled and knew some training would release that and relax her further. It would hopefully also get Crow off of her mind.

Crow let her go, pretty sure he had lit a fire beneath her pert backside and groaned, closing the door before turning to flop down onto his unused bed. "Goddess…." It came out a curse more than anything as he fisted the top blanket in his hands. What was it about Melyssa that made something in him twinge, something poke at his mind, urging him to… what?

He wished he knew.

"One, two," Rean was practicing his own 'sword dance', focusing on his strength at the moment when Melyssa came in. He wore black loose pants and no shirt, a bandana around his head to catch sweat as he focused on each precise move. "Three, four…"

He didn't notice her. He was completely focused and concentrated on his training, his footwork almost mesmerizing. Melyssa did not want to bother her Instructor, so she stepped back out silently and checked the other training room, not seeing anyone occupying it. There were four in total, thankfully, so she set her stuff down, practically swallowed her food and began her training.

"Melyssa, wait up!" Juna jogged to meet her friend's fast walking on the way to campus from the dorms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Melyssa was usually a master at hiding her emotions, but today wasn't a good day for that. "I'm just tired. I studied a lot for the test last night." Blatant lie. It did NOT help matters to walk in on her Instructor, shirtless either, right after dealing with her morning fiasco with Crow. Training seemed to be the only thing that cleared her mind of all distractions and now she had to step away from it to attend classes.

Juna wasn't sure if she believed Melyssa, eyeballing her almost shrewdly and shrugged. "If you need to talk about anything, you know I'm here, right?"

"Yeah, thanks. So, did you get any studying done?"

"Ugh, I feel like my head is going to explode with all the stuff we have to remember." Juna groaned, rubbing her temples with her fingertips. "I thought being a second year would be easier, but no such luck."

Sometimes, Melyssa had to remind herself she was only a first year in a class FULL of second years. She was the only first year who acclimated well with the ARCUS II unit in the entire school. "Yeah, but hopefully, it'll pay off once the testing is done."

"Goddess, I hope so."

Testing was over with and the scores would be posted in the next couple of days. Tomorrow was a free day, but today, just as Instructor Rean promised, it was time to finally start Combat Link training. Everyone in the class was used to it because they'd gone through it during their first year. So naturally, all the attention was focused on Melyssa, who had NO idea what Combat Link training was. It was a refresher for everyone else in the class and, quite frankly, she was a little on edge about it. They were on the outskirts of Leeves, where they could find monsters to attack and practice on. Not only that, but Principal Le Guin had instructed Rean to take Class VII: Special Operations off the campus grounds for practice because coming up they would going out on their first field study.

"Okay Melyssa, why don't you try linking with…Crow. Since he looks ready to fall asleep from boredom." Instructor Rean announced, gesturing both of them forward and pointed over at the group of monsters they had to vanquish for the Principal. "Remember, complete trust is needed to form a link with your partner. Are you two ready to do this?"

"Yes, Instructor."

"Born ready."

"Good, we'll leave it to you then and if you need help, I'll jump in. I want to see how you two perform together, though." This would be a cakewalk since they were roommates, which was also why Rean had selected them. Or rather, he had selected Crow for this exercise with Melyssa, eyes narrowed slightly.

Unsheathing her Cutlass, the ARCUS II glowed as blue circles formed beneath them from it, initiating the combat link. Melyssa hadn't seen much of Crow since the morning they woke up together in bed and nearly cut each other down. She couldn't focus on that right now, or their past, or anything except the monsters in front of them. So far, she had linked well with Juna, Kurt, Altina and Instructor Rean, and now it was time for a true test with Crow. Ash would probably be next if this went well. Crow had linked up before and knew there were certain things that made it possible.

He frowned when nothing really happened, glancing at her. "You sure you're doing it right?" He asked flatly, already knowing she was, his eyes taking in the blue circles beneath them.

"Let's… try again." Rean said after a moment, knowing one of the reasons Links failed were due to not having a strong enough bond. Given that neither Crow nor Melyssa had said anything negative about the other… He figured they had at the very least made it to the friendly stage.

They were definitely friendly, but the problem with combat linking with Crow was simple. Melyssa didn't trust him. She wasn't stupid and understood what it took to be able to link with another person. It was about trust and she didn't have that with him. The ARCUS II apparently could read that much and that deep about a person. She was able to link with everyone else in the class, besides Ash, and that was only because she hadn't tried yet. Crow was practically a master at combat linking, so it all rested with her.

Goddess, I have to make this work, please just WORK, Melyssa silently prayed, closing her eyes briefly to try to find some kind of trust for him deep down inside.

"There! There we go, it's working!"

Nodding, Melyssa felt the link between them, though it was weaker than the others. Still, it was working enough to dispatch these monsters. "Okay, you ready, Crow?" A few seconds later, they were in the fray and thick of the fight with her slashing and parrying techniques while Crow stuck with his double pistols. They found an opening, went in for the kill…and suddenly, the combat link broke, snapped like a twig, between them while they were still fighting.

"Oh no!"

"It broke?!"

"Instructor!"

"Shit, they're in danger!" Ash growled, swinging his halberd above his head ready to charge in.

"No, let them handle it." Rean ordered, though that was the last thing he wanted to do.

What he truly wanted to do was rush in and save them, but first of all, they had to learn. Second, Crow was a formidable warrior, it was just insulting to his best friend if he came in and 'saved the day'. This was about them having to learn how to trust each other and right now, they needed that trust. Putting others, or more like leaving them, in danger wasn't something Rean was used too and it went against his helpful, concerned nature to sit this one out, but he did, stepping back to watch.

Ash could only stare at Rean like he had lost his mind.

Melyssa ducked just in time before a claw could pierce her side and slashed the enemy, killing it instantly. She couldn't focus on Crow or anyone else; the only thing she could think about was surviving and destroying the enemies coming at her. Crow had his own share to worry about and she had hers. It was surprising that Instructor Rean was allowing them to handle this on their own, but she wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Finally, the last enemy fell with Crow blasting it with his double pistols and Melyssa immediately looked around, making sure that was the last of them. There had to be at least 20 of those bird monsters! Breathing heavily, Melyssa and Crow looked at each other before both putting weapons away as the class joined them.

"Are you okay, Melyssa?!" Juna could not believe Instructor Rean didn't intervene, even if Crow was with their first year student! It was dangerous and reckless, what in Aidios' name was wrong with him?!

"No, I'm not fine, not really." Melyssa was fine health wise, but mentally and emotionally, she was a wreck on the inside. "Crow, I'm sorry. It's my fault this happened and…I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it never happens again."

"Everyone but Armbrust and Brackett, head back." Rean ordered, ignoring the look Juna shot him and steeled himself. "Now." His tone made it an order.

Muttering under her breath, Juna reluctantly stepped away, turning to head back as told. Just as Ash thought, Juna was now thinking the same thing: Rean had lost his mind!

Considering Rean and both new and old class VII had been through worse and other than she was scared, Rean considered this to be a success. Granted, his own heart was beating a furious tattoo in his chest, but… as Crow had pointed out many times, one could learn everything there was from books and practice. However, one would never know truly whether they were made for the battlefield until they actually stepped foot on it. Neither looked injured and Crow seemed amused while Melyssa may have been borderline panic, or she was still dealing with the adrenaline rush.

Ash was thinking the same thing Juna was because their Instructor NEVER did anything like this with them during their first year. He almost felt sorry for Melyssa.

There was a very good reason why Melyssa was on the verge of panicking because she had screwed up that combat link between her and Crow. And it was because she knew the truth of the matter – her trust with Crow didn't exist because of the past. She resented him, which only made trusting him nonexistent. Granted, she hadn't MEANT to do it, but it happened, nevertheless. Instructor Rean didn't look amused compared to Crow and she simply stood there with her arms at her sides, fighting the urge to lower her head. Maybe Instructor Rean would kick her out of Class VII and she could be in a class that had more than just her as a first year. There was no way she could tell the truth, how she truly felt about Crow Armbrust or reveal their past together. Somehow, Melyssa would have to find a way to make a combat link with Crow work, if she even lasted in this class.

"So, there's obviously a lack of trust between the two of you." Rean said finally, not entirely sure on which end it was coming from or maybe some weird combination of the both. "Crow, you already know from experience what it takes for the Combat Link to work and be successful."

"Experience doesn't mean trust." Crow countered after a long moment, sounding a hint amused, a dash arrogant, and a sliver of annoyed. "Trust is usually based on experience with the person you're linking with. We're not very familiar with each other, it happens." He wasn't sure if it was her, him, or both, but… that had failed spectacularly.

"I know just how to get that trust there. You two need experiences, together, to build trust and faith in each other." Rean smiled slightly. "We're going on a field study."