All aboard the Friend Ship

Aura then turned to look at him due to the sincerity in his voice; his constant smile had also deteriorated.

"... We can be friends." She answered grudgingly. Fenix regained his smile then he threw his arms around her knocking her over.

"Thank you!" Aura pushed him away angrily.

"That's enough hugging for now." She complained. Fenix laughed, nuzzling his cheek against hers.

"I've never had a friend before," he commented cheerily.

"I can see why!" Aura remarked resisting him more forcefully.

One month went by fairly quickly and even with Aura's resistance the two quickly had become good friends.

"Good morning sweetie!" Fenix called standing in the hallway after seeing Aura leaving her room.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, you insufferable imbecile?" Fenix laughed and counted on his fingers.

"It's been about...hmm... twenty-six times now." He answered and Aura glared putting her face close to his.

"And you still dare to show me such insolence?" Fenix stared into Aura's eyes with a sheepish smile, holding back laughter. Sighing and resigning herself from further argument Aura turned from him and began walking to class.

"You look pretty today." Aura swung at him but Fenix nimbly leaped out of reach. "Ha-ha."

"Cease your empty flattery and also go to hell!" Aura hissed.

"That must be your favorite phrase," Fenix remarked making eye contact. Aura looked from him.

"It is when I'm speaking with you." Aura clarified and Fenix gripped at his heart with a fake hurt expression.

"Ouch, so harsh." They entered class together, Even though it has been 1 month the other classmates still found it hard to believe that Aura was socializing with someone. "Aura, I had the weirdest dream, want to hear it?" Aura didn't respond but since she hadn't said no, Fenix continued, "I dreamt that you finally hugged me." Aura blushed lightly.

"That'll never happen." She remarked shyly. Although the thought of doing so did not actually bother her.

"And then soon after that we were naked and you were saying stuff like yes!~ harder Fen-." Fenix began adding but then Aura interrupted saying

"WHAT KIND OF DREAM WAS THIS?!" Her reaction made Fenix laugh, then he gently pats Aura's head.

"I'm joking, I'm joking" He reassured. Aura slapped his hand away and looked down at her desk.

"Yeah, you better be." She replied rubbing her cheeks to erase the blushing. Soon Ms. Emerald had entered the classroom.

"Good morning... you detestable wastes of space." Many students took her greeting as their cue to leave. Once the fearful ones had left Ms. Emerald passed out the graded homework papers from the day before.

"Good job as always Aura... but don't think that being able to regurgitate information onto a worthless sheet of paper, accurately, makes you any less of a lowly worm than the rest of the filth in this... bitch." Aura had long learned to ignore Ms. Emerald at times like this but sometimes it was very difficult. Afterward, she handed Fenix his homework.

"Remarkable work... I will spare you the necessary criticism due to a lowly human since I find you quite attractive." Ms. Emerald said a little kinder than she had towards her other students. Fenix smiled and saluted her saying.

"Thank you, ma'am." Once Emerald was far enough away Fenix tossed the paper into the trash and whispered coldly, "That's one creepy woman." Aura chuckled a little at his behavior.

At 4 o'clock it was once again time for sparring practice in MA Combat Class.

"Now who wants to go first?" Cleaver asked pacing from one side of the room to the other. Both Aura and Fenix raised their hands in unison and then turned to smirk at each other cockily. "Ah, so it's the usual duo. The rest of you need to get more enthusiastic. Why are you so scared to fight one another?" Cleaver remarked then he sighed deeply after hearing no response to his question. He gestured for Aura and Fenix to stand on the field by pointing.

Fenix loosened his tie then stuffed the end into his vest, afterward rolling up his sleeves. Aura repeated the usual process of removing most of her clothing and then getting into the correct position. Fenix rolled his shoulders while he walked to the opposite side of the field. "And...Begin!" Cleaver stated and with that, they both lunged at each other. The resulting shockwave pushed the other students back, only cleaver stood firm. Although Aura struck first, her assault was easily evaded and even her surprise lower attack was gracefully dodged by Fenix flipping away just barely avoiding getting hit; he then quickly countered with a mid-kick to her side. Aura almost didn't put up her guard in time to deflect it. The match continued for 10 minutes before Cleaver yelled. "Time is up, it's a tie. Both Aura and Fenix scored 0 points." The two competitors stood face to face both panting heavily but still wearing pleased expressions.

"That was fun," Fenix said with a smile then he straightened up, standing as if he was never tired at all, and neatened his clothes. Aura wiped the sweat from her forehead then quickly got dressed. As she walked out of the room, Fenix slowly tailed her with his arms folded behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.

"Alright, who's next?" The other students seemed more carefree at volunteering now that the strongest competitors were out of the picture.

"Aura, can I hang out in your room until next period?" Aura waited a few seconds before answering this question.

"... There won't be much to do." She stated, looking down and watching her feet as she slowly paced down the hallway.

"Yeah. But your room is closed and as long as I'm with you I won't be bored." Fenix started with a wide grin. Aura blushed lightly, bowing her head lower and letting her hair cover her face to avoid being noticed.

"Alright... just don't make a mess or anything." Fenix came up behind Aura and hugged her shoulders.

"Thank you." He whispered then had to react within a split second to avoid Aura's flustered attack.

"I've told you many times, no touching!" She slapped her hands against her face then seeing her room door in view began running towards it.

"I can't help it; you're just so fun to hug!" Fenix argued back teasingly.

"Silence!" Aura screamed in response Fenix added,

"You're so warm."

"Silence," she repeated, seeming to be having trouble getting her key into its hole due to her uneasiness.

"And really soft." At that moment, Fenix was once again close behind her, and his cheek lightly brushed against Aura's. There was a soft sizzling noise and Aura jolted screaming from the burn. She touched her cheek after recoiling in pain and Fenix stared at her with a face that looked like he was the one really in pain. "I... I'm sorry." He whispered, he was trembling as he spoke. Aura felt her regenerative powers taking over and repairing her slightly singed flesh.

"It's alright... I know you didn't mean to." She replied... but Fenix shook his head, unlike usual his smile wasn't returning.

"I thought I was getting better at controlling myself but... I hurt you... I even burned ... my only friend. Even though I like you so much I still-" Aura then slapped him cutting him off mid-sentence.

"We're friends right?! Do you know what that means?" Fenix shook his head as to say 'no' so Aura continued. "It means as long as I'm alive, I'll always forgive you no matter what happens... Anyway... you did not hurt me on purpose, so there's no need to torture yourself!" Fenix's face reddened slightly and he smiled a sincere smile for the first time in a month.

"Thanks, Aura..." He said softly, still maintaining that smile. Aura then forcefully grabbed his hand. Due to his surprise, Fenix's temperature rose sharply and although holding his hand was extremely painful, Aura endured, refusing to let go or complain, for his sake.