Chapter 4

The girls from earlier walk past us while scowling me as they see me tugging at the bastards hair. I release his hair and sit back down, the smile on my face entirely going away. He frowns and sticks his hand across the table trying to grab some of my ribs. I immedietly grab a fork off the side of my dish and stab his hand.

"OW! What was that for?!" He ehins while gently brushing his hand.

"Never reach for my food if you wish to keep all fingers and jands intact." I says while finishing up my last bite. He begins pounting and I entirely ignore it while finishing up.

"The bell will ring soon, we better go wash our hands." I say while getting up and handing him his red tupper wear container.

"Thanks." I say before heading off into the restroom. I press the button down and immedietly, cold water is released from the faucet. I wince at the coldness before getting used to it and soaping my hands. I splash some of the cold water onto my face and look at myself in the mirror.

"I need to find a way out of the agency." I tell myself while staring into my own eyes. I nod my head and dry off my hands and face before heading back out. I walk back over to the table to grab my bag and head to art class.

Reggie tags along, but he is suprisingly quiet. We get into the class and the teacher is preparing a paper and some pencils on everyones desk. I take my seat slouching just a bit while staring up at the board.

"Until next Friday, everyone will be choosing a partner to sketch out and draw. Skill and technique will both count towards your grade. Skill being 10% and technique being 90%." I mumble while reading the board. Just great, a partner project. The bell suddenly rings making everyone shuffle to their sheets.

"Alright, the rest of this week and next week will be pretty easy. Just read the boatd and get to work." He says while starting to put in grades on his computer." I sit silently sighing while looking at everyone around the class communicating. Can I just do myself?

When I turn back to look forward, a familiar face pops into my view.

"Lets be partners." Reggie says while smiling.

"No." I say while rolling my eyes.

"Why are you hanging around me Reggie?" I ask while folding my arms and leaning forward into the table.

"Because your cool." He replies.

"Real reasons please." I say while getting annoyed. Why does he tag along whenever he wants?

"I just want to get to know you better." He says with a straight face.

"Please be my partner?" He asks me sincerely. I break out laughing and press my palms to the table.

"Did you actually just ask for my consent to be my partner?!" He squints scowling me and pouting.

"The ol'might Reggie asking for consent. This'll go down in history!" I say laughing at him.

"Fine fine, we can be partners, BUT only because its required." I say holding up a finger.

"Nah, you just cant resist drawing this." He says while smiling. I scowl at him while begining to sketch out shapes for his facial features.

He doesnt smile but just looks straight out of a window at the edge of the classroom. He seems to be peaceful, entirely opposite from his crazy nature. I draw very light circles for his vertical beauty marks near his eye.

I stop drawing when I notice the dark circles under his eyes.

"Hey, have you been sleeping well recently?" I ask motioning towards his eyes. He looks at me and rubs his eyes.

"Oh, just been training a lot recently." He says while smiling at me.

"Dont overdo it, your ugly enough as it is." I say while laughing gently.

"You know, your pretty kind once you put your wall down." He says while looking down at the sketch i have of him so far.

"Mhm. . ." Is all I reply with as I continue to sketch out his face until the bell rings.

"Hey, today is the first day you start your training." Reggie says packing up his things next to me.

"Oh, that. Alright." I say while slinging my backpack on. With that, I leave the school through the back. I walk down the alley way with my hands in my pockets and my earbuds in my ears.

Suddenly, I hear a clatter from come from behind me. I instantly stop and take a look to see a stray dog eating from the trash can. I crouch down and pull out some snacks I packed for school. I extend my arm with them in hand and click my tongue for the dog to come over. It suddenly runs off and in the corner of my eye, I see someone familiar walk past a building. The opposite direction the dog ran. Who was that. . . I quietly stand up and race after them peeking around the corner to see him.

"Jacob?!" I say fully stepping out from behind the corner of the building. Suddenly, I feel something pointy press against my back as someone whispers into my ear.

"Gotcha." A girl says. I quickly pull away and turn around to see two of the girls from earlier. I look back to see my brother forming into the third girl.

"Jacob! Oh Jacob!" She says in a whiny voice.

"Pathetic." One of them says. I clench my fists and let flames engulf them.

"Get away from me." I say while lowering my stance.

"Dont worry, were not gonna hurt you." One of the girls say while twisting the point of a blade against her finger rip.

"Just gonna rough you up a bit." She says before jumping towards me. I dodge to the side but knock into the side of a building hurting my shoulder.

"Narrow path Hazel." One says while smiling. I feel a tug againdt my hair as one of them pulls me to the ground and sits on me. I grab her arms tightly and ignite flames from the palms of my hands.

"Your flames won't hurt me, I just absorb it." I try pushing her off but the other girls join in and pull my hair out.

"Lets cut up this long hair of yours." One says while slowly slicing off chunks of my hair.

"Let go!" I grunt while kicking one of the girls off of me.

"I think thats enough." One of the girls says giggling while twirling her finger in her hair. I hold out my hands creating flames and start throwing them forward but the girls dissapear into thin air. Ugh!!! FUCK! I quickly pull out my phone to see a huge chunk of my hair cut to my shoulder.

"Fucking bitches. . ." I say while checking the time.

"Shit! Im gonna be late!" I quickly pick up my bag and pull my hoodie over my head to cover my oddly cut hair. I race back to my house to get ready to head to the agency.

"What happened?!" My mom asks dropping silverware as she looks at my hair.

"Long story, can you fix it please before I go?" I ask handing her scissors and sitting on the dining room seat. She cuts my hair into a bob and I immedietly jump up when she is finished. I grab my phone and jacket slinging it back on while racing outside towards the agency. I look up at the large building remembering all the times i went here with my father and brother.

"Hazel?" A girl comes up from behind me smiling. She had a dark skin tone and her eyes are almost entirely gray.

"Yes." I say.

"Hello, im Rivera. We are currently practicing on the field. First you need to get changed and then we will head out with them." She says leading me into the building.

"Dont mind me asking but, are you blind?" I ask. She stops at the locker feeling around for the name.

"Yes, this ones yours." She replies while sitting down on the bench as I open the locker and pull out the black leather onesie. I turn away from her and begin undressing to put this one on.

"How did you know it was me then?" I ask trying not to sound nosy. She holds out her showing water droplets slowly come from her skin.

"The body is made up of around 75% water. I can sense it. In our body, we have our powers and genes racing everywhere, so through the water, I can sense your BMI, age, height, and power." She smiles.

"Wow, thats really cool." I say astonished. To have that much control of your power. . . Its incredible.

"Alright, im ready." I say after zipping up the top half of the onsie.

"Alright, this way." She says standing up and heading through a back entrance to a field in the middle of the building. Multiple people are training with partners while others are practicing solo. Reggie jogs up to me.

"Hey, your late. Whats happened to your hair?" He asks.

"Yeah, had some stuff to deal with." I say. I pull at the outfit im wearing gently as it squeezes against my skin. I see a grown man with long hair hanging down his shoulders walk up to me.

"Ah, Hazel, nice to have you here." He says while smiling and waving at me. I nod my head and Rivera walks off along with Reggie. The two start practicing in combat and Rivera beats Reggie to a pulp numerous times. That girls has got some skills.

"Im Azazael. Ill be your instructor from now on. Today we will be doing 1 on 1 combat. Let me see how well you can harness your power." He says.

"I already can harness it easily though." I reply holding out my hand and letting a flame easily appear in the palm.

"If you can eadily harness your power then make a small flame appear on each finger tip switching them around. Only one finger may be lit at a time." He says while smiling. I hold my hand out more and try to light one finger tip aflame. A large flame bursts from my palm making my ears turn red.

"Harnessing your power means controlling it. Being able to know what you want to do and to do it. You cant just catch fire and fight. You gotta worry about the things around you like civilians and buildings." He says while holding his hands out. Lights shoot from his finger tips and switch colors and which fingertips show light.

"I control light which also can control what I choose others to see." Suddenly, he dissapears in front of my eyes and reappears behind me.

"That is what it means to harness your power." He says smiling.

"Everyone line up!" He yells.

"Just find a random spot in the line Hazel." He says while smiling. I do as told and find a spot among the two lines facing each other. I stand directly across from Reggie who makes goofy faces. I shake my head annoyed and look back to the instructor.

"Today we are going to see how well each of you can hold up against another. Everyone will be watching and taking notes." Everyone replies with a yes sir and sits in the grass cross crossed.

"First up is Rivera and Scout." The instructor yells out to all of us making Rivera and Scout both stand.

"Why did I get the blind one?!" Scout whines out.

"Dont underestimate her!" Reggie laughs out.

"Begin!"

Rivera lowers her stance and holds her hand open out to her sides. Water droplers rise from the soil of the ground and surround her. Scout on the other hand is standing still.

"This will be a piece of cake. I might be the only beginner to beat an advanced course trainee." Scout says while kicking off the ground dashing forward. He is fast, faster than a normal being but it seems he can go a lot faster. Rivera continues to stand still until the very moment he slides to the ground aimed for her legs. She flips over him and presses her hand to his head and as she comes down the water droplets shoot down holding him to the ground.

"What is this?!" Scout says whule struggling to try and get up. Rivera holds her fingertips against the ground focusing. How is she still only a trainee?

"Alright, that round was fast. Rivera wins." He says. Already? How am I supposed to take notes from a fight that only-

"You guys just be asking how to take notes on that fight but let me give you a few pointers. Never under estimate or over estimate your opponents. Strength, speed, and powers can always be beat by just observing your opponent. Oh. . . I see.

Rivera doesnt have her sight which leaves her at a disadvantage but she manages to turn it into an advantage in combat. She can sense her opponents like earlier. Not only that but her opponent gave himself a disadvantage by under estimating her. She solely relies on her other senses and power. She really is smart to think of all of that at once. Now i wonder how you could beat that. . .

Throughout the rest of the fights, i observe and study everyones fighting techniques. Rivera beat every opponent she has went up against until it came to Reggie. His eyes pierced through the crowd sending chills down all of our spines. Rivera was handing him his ass earlier, she can easily do it again. Reggie smirks at Rivera. Cold air radiates from his body and suddenly, ice sculptures identical to Reggie appear on the field. What is he trying to do. . .? He walks near each one making careful steps as if they were all planned out.

Riveras eyelids widen and she starts to look everywhere as if she lost him. Oh. . . She can sense the extra bodies on the shield and they have the exact mass of Reggie, he is adding extra things for her to calculate. . . He is purposely giving her extra information hoping she will make a mistake.

Suddenly, she looks straight at him and he stands perfectly still as if he wasnt even breathing. She shoots water straight for him but he silently ducks under it. Just as she shoots multiple water blasts at each of the other figures, he dashes straight for her shooting ice shards onto her feet stopping her from stepping out of the way. She falls onto the ground stunned and searches around frantically for Reggie who has even more bodies of ice on the field.

"Sneaky sneaky Reggie." She says smiling while shaking her head.

"You shoulda struck when you had the chance." She says while melting the ice with water blasts and standing back up. Suddenly, Reggie falls to the ground and I look to see hands made of water gripping his ankles. She places her palms face down and presses the water down against Reggies back who struggles trying to stand up.

"I yield!" He says making the water all fall on him soaking him.

"Plan almost worked Reggie." Rivera laughs gently. Plan. . . Reggie tried tricking Rivera by making more bodies appear on the field to make her focus on trying to find him rather than where he is going. She can sense the water which means she can sense the movement of the water. He gave her more things to focus on to take away certain components like movement of water.

"Before we continue, you guys may think Rivera is unstoppable but she isnt. You dont ignore her weaknesses as to not under estimate her, you acknowledge them. Come on Rivera, me against you." The instructor says. Isnt he at a disadvantage, he only controls light. His power is useless against somehow who cant see.