The Fifth Season

CHAPTER FORTY: A MODEL STUDENT

SNOH

                 "Suijin!"

                  Both Cassiel and I turned our gaze to the young man who was attempting to avert his eyes from the scene he was witnessing; almost instinctively, I reached over and pushed Cassiel away from me long enough to put some distance between us.

                 I'm not sure what had gotten into him or why he felt the need to corner me, but I didn't like it. Especially knowing that he had a partner—the king that wouldn't hesitate to chew me out if she saw me in a position like this with someone she held dearly.

                  Suijin looked at me through the silky strands of his amber-colored hair, he nodded towards me in a polite fashion. "A pleasant afternoon to you, Snoh. My apologies for intruding." He looked around the reading area all three of us were standing in, "I was looking for a quiet spot to do some studying but it seems a lot of these areas are being taken up by others and I'd just really prefer some quiet right now." He said with a deep sigh as he began turning his back and heading in the opposite direction of this section.

                  I quickly hurried to stop Suijin from leaving; the last thing I wanted to do was disrupt someone from getting their studies in when I myself knew how important was to focus on enhancing your abilities.

                  That and I wanted to ensure what he saw there with Cassiel and me was cleared up. I had enough rumors going on about me at this academy, I didn't need another one to add to the list.

                  "Wait! Suijin!" I called out.

                  He turned back around slowly, his eyes remained hooded and nonchalant as the day I met him at Enid's birthday event. He didn't seem like the kind of person to show off his emotions immediately when first meeting people; he was reserved in a sense and seemed to open up when he formed a relationship like the one he had with my best friend.

                  "Yes?" He asked me curiously as he waited for me to speak.

                  I nodded and cleared my throat, "I should be apologizing. You were clearly just a student looking to find a comfortable space to review your work... I'm sorry about that." I said to him with a polite head bow.

                  Suijin looked over at Cassiel who was still stuck over by the bookshelf and then back to me in a speedy manner, "It's nothing... if you and your partner just want some alone time—." I quickly cut him off before he could finish that statement.

                  I put my index finger up, "He is NOT my partner. I do not have one at the moment; I have a lot to worry about with being new to magic and all, I don't need to complicate things for the time being." I explained to him seriously.

                 I made sure I was loud enough that Cassiel heard what I was saying in addition to Suijin; I'm not sure how they did things in Fiestras, but Wysteria was a modest nation—one that heavily frowned on outside affairs with people you did not make commitments with.

                  Suijin nodded in agreement, "Well, that makes two of us." He clutched his satchel to the side tightly and again, began walking away from the area. I stopped him once more, reaching out to grab his hand. "I don't mean to impose but if you'd like, we can study together. I have a few texts myself that I need to work on... it would also be nice to get to know you since you're close to Enid and all." I proposed to him.

                  I didn't want to be the one to bother him if he needed his silent time, so if he said no, I wouldn't be upset. But it'd be nice to get to know some more people around this academy outside of the prominent members I've formed some sort of connection with.