One Way or Another

The guy smiled, emboldened by his own provocations.

"Know your place, you lowly vagrant," he sneered.

Aena only calmly stalked up to him until they were face to face.

"Why should I care about an arrogant bastard who doesn't even have common sense?"

"What?" he said with a dumb expression.

"I mean," Aena said, taking a step closer. "Only an idiot would pick a fight he can't win."

It took a few seconds for the words to register in the guy's head, and once he realized what she was insinuating, he turned a shade of beet red.

Aena saw him visibly trembling with anger. Aena smiled. If someone attacked her, she wasn't afraid to retaliate. Her words might seem spontaneous, but she had already planned everything out long before. Since this was the first outright bullying since the start of the semester, if she backed down, it would only get worse from that point on out.

Even if this guy was from a powerful family, they couldn't do anything while she was studying in the academy. He himself was the kind that was strong towards the weak, and weak towards the strong. Honestly, he didn't seem to be much of a threat based off of the temperament she had gleaned from him.

Even if she couldn't publicly retaliate, if someone messed with her, they would pay the tithe, one way or another. Only she would know when and how.

Although Aena knew an altercation like this was not in her favor, she couldn't help but feel exhilarated, beating someone who wanted to do the same to her. Her heartbeat sped up in anticipation.

"You bitch!" he shouted, before forcefully grabbing her arm.

Aena smiled. This wasn't outside of her expectations—in fact, it made it even easier.

Before either Aena or the guy could take any action, a chilling aura suddenly fell over them, making it hard to move. Her blood went cold, and the excited chanting of the classroom fell at an astounding speed.

Aena meekly turned her head towards the entrance of the classroom. She expected to see an infuriated Instructor Rutherfield, but reality had another surprise in store.

Cassidy.

The girl had just entered and instantly spotted the scene taking place. There she stood, unmoving. She was staring straight at them, or more specifically, the hand latched onto Aena's arm. No one moved.

She looked back up towards them, and Aena could see the murderous glint in her eyes.

Aena felt her legs go weak. She didn't know exactly why or how, but that girl was giving off a vicious vibe.

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her," Cassidy whispered.

Her voice was quiet, but amid the silence, it sounded like an imperial order, spreading to every corner of the room.

The boy quickly released his grip and stepped back, fear apparent on his face as his lips sealed tightly shut.

Everyone could only watch in silence as Cassidy slowly stepped her way down the aisle. Every second stretched into an eternity. She shot a death glare at the boy whose lackeys had long since abandoned him, and he quickly scampered away like a dog with its tail behind its legs.

She looked Aena up and down. Aena squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Sit down," she finally said.

Not wanting to provoke the riled beast any further, she obeyed. Emmy did the same, relief visible on her face that everything had somewhat turned out alright.

To Aena's disbelief, Cassidy elegantly followed by taking a seat next to her. Cassidy generally sat in the same vicinity as both of them sat in the back, but hadn't broken this habit once. Aena felt uncomfortable but she didn't dare object. Cassidy soon lost the venom in her being she had shown before, and awkward chattering resumed across the room.

Lance looked momentarily disappointed, but the drama group still continued to happily chomp away at their popcorn—it was still a pretty good show that was displayed. One of the major layers of their grade had made a move in the end.

Aena resumed her conversation with Emmy, but even with Emmy's vivacious character, she felt especially stiff. She felt like Cassidy's eyes were glued to the back of her head, but whenever she turned, Cassidy was busy browsing her tablet. Aena felt constrained by a pressure even though the conflict had been mediated.

A short while later Instructor Rutherfield came in and began teaching his lesson, but the atmosphere was strangely stifled. Instructor Rutherfield must have noticed the lack of liveliness, but he probably chose not to bother with it. His indifference was perennial.

Today's class focused on a history lesson about the growth of mutant beasts which Aena would normally be interested in due to her lack of conventional education, but most of it flew over her head. While her hand diligently recorded the writing on the board, she barely heard what he was saying.

Cassidy was still beside her taking notes, and she seemed perfectly relaxed contrary to Aena's uneasiness.

"That concludes today's lesson. I advise all of you to continue independent study on your own. Take note, It will most definitely appear on many tests," Instructor Rutherfield said.

After a torturous two hours, Instructor Rutherfiled finally snapped his lecture book shut. Aena let out a deep sigh and stretched her aching limbs. It was break time at last.

She looked towards the guy who had bothered her earlier, and thankfully he didn't seem eager to confront her again. 'He's probably too scared by my provocations I guess?" Aena thought. What she didn't realize was that it was entirely due to the menacing girl next to her who scared the guy so thoroughly he was probably praying to whatever gods he worshipped for divine protection.

They now had an hour of free time, and many students chose to spend that time differently. While they were allowed to leave, most chose not to as it was only a relatively short interval, which didn't give them much time to make an excursion.

The studious students chose to review their notes or work on homework, while another group opted to converse casually or relax until their next class.

Unfortunately for Aena, she didn't have the luxury of unwinding. She still needed lecture notes for all the classes she had missed. She could ask the instructors directly, but most had some degree of free speaking within their lectures, so any recorded notes wouldn't encompass the full scope of the lesson.

She had no choice but to ask her classmates. She still didn't really have any friends, so she had to just try her luck and hope for the best by asking a few acquaintances. One security she did have was Emmy, who Aena knew would definitely be willing to lend her notes.

She tapped the girl lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey," Aena said. "Could I borrow your notes from the last few classes?"

"Sure!" Emmy chirped, happy to be of need. "Of course," Emmy quickly understood and began pulling up the files on her tablet. She sent them to Aena which she immediately checked. The girl's writing was neat and succinct, clearly omitting some portions Emmy apparently had deemed unnecessary to record. Maybe a memory sponge like Emmy didn't need to jot down everything, but for Aena…

Well, she could only hope for the best on the next exam.

"Thanks," Aena said with a weak smile.

Emmy took the general class and mutant physiology with Aena, so she didn't need to worry anymore about those classes, but she still had the other classes she needed notes for.

Aena was already dreading getting those. She was contemplating who to ask when "that" person came to mind. Cassidy took three other classes with her, but frankly speaking, that was who Aena wanted to ask the least—she didn't want to antagonize her even more.

Aena glanced to the side. But she was right there…

Cassidy suddenly looked up into her eyes. Startled, Aena's eyes went wide before she instinctively moved her eyes back to her own screen. She pretended to be engrossed in Emmy's notes while she tried to calm the rapid thumping in her chest.

Cassidy continued to look at her.

"You need something?" she finally asked.