Chapter 2

Niko Sensei set his hand on Rei's shoulder, sending a wave of terror through her body as he steered her towards the door of the Academy's large cafeteria. The door clicked open, letting out a flickering warm light and the semi-civilized smell of some kind of cooking meat. Was it a holiday?

"Go." Niko Sensei shoved her forwards, making her stumble on trembling legs, and she managed to right herself just before she would have crashed into the nearest table. A few students looked up, but most saw nothing of interest in the exchange. Sayoko, all the way on the other side of the room, smirked.

There was a marked divide between the students in the cafeteria, and there was no question as to what side Rei belonged. The students to the left were training to be Shinobi by choice, or they were from noble families, or they were rich, or some combination of the three. The students to the right were orphans who had been rescued from the streets, the children of the clans who had defected from the Mist, or children who had been sold to the Academy.

Rei turned to the right and sat down carefully next to Risa, a pale thirteen-year-old with straw-colored hair and haunted dark eyes. Rei didn't know where Risa had come from or what her past had been like, and she didn't ask. The past didn't matter. They were at the Academy now, training to be soldiers for the Blood Mist Village.

Risa's long sleeves were designed to fit tight to her skin, but they hung loosely from her wrists with an inch to spare. She gave Rei a weak smile. "They caught you this time."

"Yeah. What's for supper?"

Risa's bony shoulders rose and fell, the motion barely discernible. "Something better than usual, I think." She lowered her voice, glancing around carefully before asking, "Niko Sensei… did he…?"

"No." Rei's answer was clipped and uncomfortable goosebumps rose on her skin. "I don't think he's into that."

"He's definitely into Hina Sensei," Risa said, shooting a quick look at the sensei table at the front of the room, closest to the kitchen. Niko Sensei was leaning close to Hina Sensei, whispering something to her, and she giggled, blushing a faint pink. When Risa looked away quickly, clenching her fists in her lap, Rei panned the sensei table. Zane Sensei was looking at them.

Or, more accurately, he was looking at Risa.

"Who's on monitoring duty tonight?" Rei asked.

Risa didn't reply, which gave Rei her answer. Rei had only been staying in the barracks for two weeks, so she hadn't been around for Zane Sensei's last night on duty. But she had a feeling that she knew what those nights were like for Risa.

"What are you gonna do?"

"What can I do?" Risa hissed, finally looking Rei in the face. "He's a sensei. I'm an Uneda. I don't have a choice."

They sat in silence until the food was ready. They collected their small portions of an unidentifiable meat and porridge mixture and returned to their seats without a word. A few other students were trickling in, all of them immediately dividing onto their respective sides of the cafeteria.

Rei snuck a few glances at Risa, who was poking at her food rather than putting anything in her mouth. A few Uneda children had been at the orphanage, too. The clan had defected from the Mist like ten years ago and was brutally defeated. As punishment, each family had to offer a child to the Academy to train as a Shinobi. It was unfortunate that Risa was a girl. The boys generally fared better than the girls, but not always. There were many sallow boys at the Academy, too.

"There are ten minutes remaining for mealtime," Zane Sensei announced, standing and moving to the front door of the cafeteria. Rei reached over and took Risa's limp hand.

"Just look over at me whenever you need to."