Really nice guy who hates only you.

Set between them being back at the school, and when Rose and Dimitri start to get along.
Also, yes, that was Abe in the previous chapter :3

People called him a God. I called him an asshole.

Guardian Dimitri Belikov. I hated him as much as I hated my mother. No, it was more than that, it was more than I hated Kirova. He was the one to bring Lissa back to the academy and put her life in danger again. He brought me back too, and now I had to walk on eggshells just to stay by Lissa's side.

Everyone praised him. Teachers and guardians acted like he was the second coming, and novices worshipped the ground he walked on.

"He's such an amazing teacher."

"Such a cool guy."

It was all lies. Belikov was a dick, and nothing else.

He kept sitting in on Stan's class, faking kindness to the other novices when they approached him. They asked for tips or demonstrations, and Belikov would gladly follow through. All with that stupid polite smile.

Everyone said he was such a nice guy.

I knew different; I got to experience his true self every morning and afternoon, being pushed to the limit with little care for how exhausted I was. He was nothing but a cruel drill sergeant with a grudge against me. It was fine, I hated him too.

Lissa was quick to come around to him, acting like she had forgotten who was the reason for why we were back. What could possibly happen to her with Dimitri Belikov there to protect her? She was too trusting.

It made me hate him more.

I tried to be nice to the guy, offering a few jokes and attempting to start a conversation, but he ignored me each time. I never got a smile from him.

Sometimes he would be almost human, asking if I was okay after being pulled into Lissa's head. If I had a question about a move or technique he would explain it in a way that was easy to follow—definitely a better teacher than Stan.

He was still never the same around me as he was with others.

While Dimitri didn't rush to talk to people, he still showed a certain amount of respect towards them, offering that damn smile, and never a hint of an order in his tone. When he called me out, it was always harsh. It was obvious he hated me, just by how different he was around me.

I kept trying to break the ice. Dimitri made an assumption about me the night he found us in Portland and nothing I did changed it. It felt like fighting a losing battle, leaving me more agitated than anything else.

A month since returning, and I still hadn't made it far. After another training session where Dimitri was less than kind and didn't humour any of the conversations I tried, I stormed away from the gym with more than my knuckles sore. I was doing so much better than before, and still, I received blank stares and barely a nod of his head in approval.

I was lost in my anger and didn't notice Lissa until her hand caught my wrist. "Hello? Rose? You in there?" she giggled, a little out of breath from chasing me. "Where are you even running to?"

I blinked, searching the building around us only to realise I was on the opposite side of the school. "I don't know," I muttered, rubbing my forehead.

"What's on your mind?" When I didn't respond, Lissa poked my side, "Come on, I can't just peek inside like you can. Tell me what's wrong."

She poked me again, and I relented. "Dimitri hates me."

"Guardian Belikov? Why would you think that?"

"Because he's nice to everyone else, but always a dick to me." The complaint felt childish saying it out loud, but the words cut deeper than I had realised. It really bugged me that he hated me so much.

"Oh," Lissa replied, lips pressed together in thought, "I don't think he hates you at all."

I snorted. "Anyone with eyes can see he hates me. He treats me differently–"

"That's not a bad thing," she cut me off, "Guardian Belikov is just polite to people, but I think it's just him being formal. When I've seen him interact with you, he seems relaxed."

"Relaxed?" The idea he relaxed around me seemed stupid at first, but when I considered it, it wasn't completely wrong.

When he visited the classes, his back was always stiff, eyes alert as they took in everything even when he wasn't on duty. When we had our training, he was always reclined on the mats with a book and music playing.

Maybe Lissa was right…

I quickly shrugged it off. "I don't think so. Dimitri wants to be doing these training sessions about as much as I do. I'm just the wild girl he has to babysit."

"I doubt he sees it that way. Don't you think if he hated you that much, he would have stopped trying by now?"

That logic was harder to argue. Sure, Dimitri didn't want me kicked out, but he could have stopped the training if he didn't want to be around me.

"Maybe he doesn't act the same around you because he feels like he doesn't have to," Lissa offered. "Just give it some time, and I'm sure you'll see it too."