"You'll never beat me, May!" Platina screamed at the top of her lungs, tenacity blazing in her eyes.
"You're wrong! This is over!" May yelled back.
"Game!" Declared the announcer in his booming voice. "The winner is...Platina!"
"Yes!" Tina jumped up excitedly.
"Gaaah…" May groaned and let her body fall to the table. "I always think I'm great at this game, 'till I play with another person."
"Don't feel too bad, I'm the best at Super Clash Brothers." Platina beamed a gleeful smile.
"You guys haven't even touched your food yet." Bolin pointed out through a mouth stuffed full of his own food.
"Some things are more important than eating, dummy." Arslan sighed as she flipped her scroll open. "I call playing next winner."
May, Bolin, Platina, and Arslan sat at their usual lunch table, all of them laughing and talking cheerfully with each other. Two days have passed since Team PLTM fought Coal Augite. Lukas and Platina haven't talked since that night.
"Hey, guys," Nadir greeted them as he set his tray down. He looked around the table. "Where's Reese?" He asked.
"Well, you know that Vytal Festival in Vale that's coming up soon? She's training for that." Bolin answered. "Thought it was kinda weird she'd skip lunch for that, but maybe she's onto something, because honestly, we should be doing the same."
"Oh, come on, we're like, the best of the best." Arslan boasted.
"Hey, just cause you're ranked third in the sparring class, doesn't give you a right to brag." Her friend shot her an annoyed look.
"God, someday I'll beat you May." She said, ignoring Bolin's comment.
"Yeah, keep dreaming." May laughed.
"The winner is...Platina!"
"Yes! Hehe…" Tina giggled as she kicked her legs and hugged her scroll. May slouched over and began pouting.
"Speaking of the Vytal Festival, did you hear that guy from Team SSSN snuck onto a boat to Vale?" Bolin added.
"Are you serious?" Nadir asked as he stuffed his mouth with noodles.
"Yeah, lots of crazy stuff happening at school recently." He continued. "Like that thing that happened with you guys and Lukas. What was with that?"
Tina and May exchanged a look of uncertainty with each other. "Well, it's hard to explain," May admitted.
"Lukas...has had it rough." Platina continued. "May and I are trying to see things from his point of view, but..."
"It's a little difficult when he doesn't want much to do with us." May finished.
Arslan rested her head on her hand. "Well, if that's his choice; not much you can do to change it. The most you guys can do is wait for him to come to you when he's ready."
"If nothing else, at least you three all get along. Reese keeps making a mess of our room, Arslan is practically gassing the place with incense; not to mention she established a quiet time for her meditation, and to top it all off - Nadir won't man up and help me get them to stop." Bolin pointed out as he took a piece of sushi and bit into it.
"Three...wait, where's Tiffany?" Platina glanced up from her scroll and asked. Everyone looked around the table as they realized she hadn't shown up yet.
"I don't know…" Answered May.
Tiffany gently opened the door to the library and stepped inside. She felt small compared to the size of the massive room. Tall bookshelves that were at least twice her height lined the walls. A group of desks with computers were neatly tucked away together in the back of the room. She began striding towards them. Her soft footsteps echoed through the empty room that seemed void of life.
Lukas sat hunched over a computer screen with a journal open next to him. He didn't hear Tiffany glide behind him. He clicked a link and his computer went blank for a second. He stared at the white screen, and a pair of soft, emerald eyes stared back.
"Yes?" He gave her an uninterested glance.
"How are you?" She asked, holding her arm and avoiding eye contact.
"Frustrated." He answered, "Why?"
"I want to help." She replied. "We want to help."
Lukas spun around in the chair and glared at her. His gaze pierced her eyes and made her freeze up.
"You and the others just need to stay out of it. I don't need your help." He coldly brushed her off. His focus shifted back to the monitor.
"I know that you think I don't get it," Tiffany spoke softly, "the pampered rich kid wouldn't know anything...and you'd be right thinking that. Growing up as I did was easy." She pulled out a chair and sat down.
"But I understand that it's not like that for everybody." She continued, "Look, I know that you can catch Coal. You're strong...but together we can stop him faster; if you would just let us help."
Lukas closed his eyes and shook his head.
"There isn't anything you gain from it."
"That's not what matters. I became a Huntress for a reason. I want to help people." Her eyes connected with his and she managed a smile. "Especially my friends."
Lukas bit his thumb as he began thinking. He turned his monitor towards her. The screen displayed an article of Mistral's crime syndicates.
"I did a little bit of digging on the people Coal was with." He explained. "Turns out it's not just any typical group of thugs I'm dealing with. They're all members of Anima's Mafia; an organization called Yokai. Seems like they've been hitting a couple of places recently and making off with weapons and Dust. I imagine that 'Lazurite' guy is a higher ranking member, maybe Lieutenant or something."
"We're dealing with the Mafia?" Tiffany shot a worried glance at her teammate.
"Just means we'll have to be a little more careful with them." He wiped his eye with the back of his hand.
"You're way too calm about that discovery." She stared at him with a faint look of amazement.
The school bell went off outside the library. Tiffany turned to head out, but stopped after just a few strides. A quick glance back showed that Lukas was still sitting at the computer screen. She sighed and approached him again.
"Hey," she captured his attention, and in her bossy voice she said, "we should get to class."
"You can go on ahead," he said, "I'll catch-"
"I am not going anywhere without you," She sharply cut him off, "so you'd best come on." She placed her hands on her hips and flared her shoulders with a prissy attitude.
"Alright," he sighed and turned off the computer.
He got up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He stood unmoving for a second, then he closed his eyes and began marching out of the library. Tiffany quickly followed behind him. For a while, they walked in silence. The other students in the halls bustled past the two as they headed for class.
"My brother isn't an ordinary enemy." Lukas spoke up. "It's not like we're fighting some student or a random criminal. He's…" He stopped and brought a hand to his mouth to yawn. "Sorry. He's more skilled with a sword than I am, and he can somehow keep up with my Semblance. He's-"
"Listen, Lukas, I really don't want to hear you complaining anymore - no offense." Tiffany shrugged off his comments. "You won't change our minds." They began to approach the classroom.
"It's just-"
"Lukas, don't worry." She repeated as she turned to him.
She reached out to him, and Lukas tensed up in response. He felt as though he had to step away, but Tiffany placed her hand on his shoulder. Her hand was soft, and when he looked at her face, he found that she had a sincere, caring expression. He felt his body naturally relax.
"We're ready to shoulder your burdens."
She turned and left him where he stood. He watched her enter the classroom without a word. He looked down for a second, sighed, and waltzed to the door. Another student approached the door at the same time he did and held it open. He looked at him for a second. Short stature, darker skin, pink hair that was shaved at the sides. He seemed familiar, but he struggled for a name.
As Lukas passed and entered the room, he threw a louring glance Nadir's way. Though it only lasted for just a second, Nadir felt he was meant to see it and put his head down in response.
"I wouldn't worry about him." Arslan said as she came up from behind him.
"Oh, him? No, no, I'm actually worried about this test." He laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever big guy." Arslan patted him on the back.
The bell rang mere seconds after they entered. Arslan led him through Professor Luna's room and they both scooted passed Team PLTM to take their seats next to Bolin. Right away, Nadir noticed an empty seat between Platina and himself, where Reese would normally sit.
"She's late." He thought to himself, "I wonder what she's doing? Eh, she'll be here soon." He figured.
As the class went on, the empty space seemed to grow larger and Reese's absence began to bother him more and more.
"Hey, where are you?" He texted her on his Scroll under his desk.
He waited the entire class period, but he didn't receive a reply. Before he knew it, the class was over. Bolin, Arslan, and Nadir left the room and began to go to their next class.
Arslan, who was leading the way, sighed and turned to face the two boys. "Have either of you guys seen Reese?"
"I was wondering where she was, but I haven't heard from her since before lunch." Nadir answered.
"Maybe...she's still training for the Vytal Festival?" Bolin suggested.
"She shouldn't be skipping class for that. Nadir," Arslan snapped her attention to Nadir, "go grab Reese for me, will ya?"
"Huh? Why do I have to do it?" He questioned.
"Uh, because I'm the leader." Arslan raised an eyebrow. "Which means what I say goes. So as an executive order, I command you to go get Reese." She said in an almost teasing tone.
"Alright, alright, I'm going." Nadir caved in despairingly.
"She was in the gym, last I checked." Bolin grabbed him by the shoulder suddenly. "You'll learn really quickly that you can't win with her." He whispered. He approached Arslan and gave a short wave to Nadir.
"We'll cover for you, okay?" Arslan turned and marched to the next class.
Left behind, Nadir let out an exasperated sigh. "The gym, huh?" He thought to himself.
He turned and began marching to the other side of the school. On his way, he looked at a case full of awards with banners on either side of the hall. The banners had Haven's symbol on them. A sudden thought came to his mind. He pulled out his scroll and opened up his text messages. Towards the top, above his mom and dad, was an unread message from Akhar Shiko. He tapped on it to open it up.
"Don't let me down, bro. Getting you in there wasn't easy, so you better make mom and dad proud." It read.
He smiled and began to reply. "Don't worry, I will. See ya later." He sent.
He looked up and realized he was already at the entrance of the gym. He put away his scroll and pushed open the door. The gym was a large room with a tan floor and white walls with a large Haven banner at the end of it. There was a grunting sound that faintly resounded through the room.
He gazed across the way and saw Reese. She was zipping in between three humanoid figures that surrounded her. She threw her hoverboard out from under her feet at one of the dummies. She turned and kicked off of another dummy and into the air. Her board spun around and came back to her, and she transformed it into the dual pistols and lit up the third dummy with a flurry of Dust. She landed on one knee with her head low. Nadir approached the green-haired girl in an almost cautious manner. As he drew nearer, he noticed that she was sweating and breathing hard.
"Hey," he started. Reese looked up at him through her hair. "You look exhausted."
"Yeah…" she panted, "yeah, kinda." She fell on her butt and held herself up.
"You know you missed class, right?" Nadir asked. He sat down and crossed his legs.
"Did I…? I didn't even notice…" She managed through heavy breaths and wiped her brow. She groaned and lied down.
"So, um…" Nadir scratched his head as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say. "What's up?" He gave up on saying anything complicated.
"Oh, not much. Just training, ya know."
"Yeah, well uh...don't you think you're pushing it a little?" He asked.
Reese sighed and sat back up. "If I don't push myself I can't get stronger, can I?"
Nadir nodded silently. He guessed that he hadn't expected any real big reason.
"Back at the docks...Tina got hurt." She continued. She had a flashback to when Lukas' explosion was redirected towards Platina. "I didn't do a whole lot back then, so if I'm being honest, I'm kinda feeling like a loser." She finished and looked away from Nadir.
Nadir nodded again. "Yeah, I definitely understand that."
Reese chuckled, "I figured you'd say something like that."
"Ouch." Nadir pretended he was hurt. He paused for a moment. "In all seriousness, I do know how you feel. So if you ever need to talk to someone about it, I'll be there."
The two exchanged stares for a moment. Suddenly, Reese let a snort escape her, and soon it became a fit of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Nadir asked with a little dismay in his voice.
"Ah, nothing," Reese placed a hand on her knee and pushed herself up. "I just think it's kinda cute how you're trying to comfort me."
She looked away, and for a while it seemed like she was lost in a sea of thought.
"I've been in some tough situations, so I won't give up so easily. I'll bounce back; just like I always do." She walked past Nadir and started heading for the door. He lowered his head and let out a sigh of defeat.
"Still..." Reese stopped for a second and gave her teammate a fleeting glance with a curved, warm smile.
"Thank you."
Lukas walked the empty hall that led to his dorm alone; just as always. He had taken a blade out of his bracer and was tossing it in the air and catching it again.
"Lukas!" He heard a voice behind him and stopped playing with the knife. He turned around to see his Tiffany jogging towards him.
"Did you think about what I said?" She asked when she caught up.
"Yeah, I did," He answered as he shoved the knife back in its slot, "and I guess you're right. All things considered, I think it's our best shot."
"Alright then," Tiffany flashed him a bright smile, "we're all in this together." The two of them continued down the hall in silence.
"Tiffany." Lukas spoke up after a while. Tiffany hummed in response.
"What changed your mind?" He asked.
"Huh?" Tiffany replied.
"You weren't so confident a few nights ago. You're adamant about it now, even after you saw what Coal and the man he called 'Lazurite' can do." Lukas shifted his gaze and analyzed Tiffany for a second. "Why?"
"It wasn't me." She smiled to herself.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Everything that I told you today...about working together and shouldering your burdens...it all came from Platina." She smiled. "She said it all at lunch yesterday. She feels bad about the whole thing, and she wants to make it up to you." She finished and looked up to Lukas.
"Platina, huh…" Lukas sighed.
"That girl...she seems shy and maybe a bit childish at first, but once you get to know her, you start to see that under all of that she has resolve." Tiffany held a certain softness in her voice as she described Tina.
"You should stop writing her off." She snapped at him as they approached their dorm. "If we want to do this, we all have to work together."
As she placed her hand on the door, she could hear voices from the inside. Curious, she opened the door and popped her head into the room. Platina was slamming on a plastic guitar and was concentrating so hard she barely noticed the other two enter the room. May was next to her wailing on a drum set and thrashing her head around; making a mess of her hair. Lukas and Tiffany entered the room to see that they were playing Rock Legends 2 on the TV. They were playing a song called "Demons" to a crowd of virtual people, and May was just ahead of Tina in points.
Lukas shot Tiffany a quizzical look. "I'm not entirely convinced you're right."
Tiffany just gave an awkward smile, shrugged, and said: "I think you'll just have to trust me."
"Save me if I become my demons!" The song finished with one powerful line as Tina and May played their final notes. The noise of the crowd died down and the game cut to a results screen.
"Yes!" May jumped up. "In your face, Tina!" She yelled as she pointed a drumstick at her with a victorious smile.
Platina dropped to her knees and dramatically bellowed, "Noooooo!"
"Ah, well, Platina," Tiffany started as she approached her, "There's a test in Grimm Studies tomorrow, and you haven't studied a day since you've been here."
Platina shot up and placed a hand behind her head. "Oh, well, you see I-I left my book in Professor Myrtle's room...haha, oh well..."
Tiffany gave a short laugh, "I know." She pulled a textbook from the bottom of her stack of school supplies she was carrying and displayed it to her. "That's why I took the liberty of grabbing it for you."
"Oh, wow, would you look at that…" Platina nervously laughed, switching glances between her teammates. "W-what about May? She hasn't studied either!"
May spun the drumstick in her hand and pointed it at Tina again. "Don't just throw me under the bus!"
Tiffany shot Platina a smile that almost seemed sinister. Platina dropped to her hands and knees, and with a single tear in her eye pleaded, "Please don't make me."
Character Notes #6 Nadir Shiko; A Huntsman-in-training who has yet to unlock his Semblance. Nadir isn't particularly proficient in fighting just yet, but he's being pressured by his family to attend the academy, for better or worse. He uses witty humor to avoid serious situations and is overly cautious when it comes to confrontation. He'd much prefer to support his allies than to fight an enemy.