A new year at Nine Petal Academy means a new crop of students, including a boy who can't control his magic, a thief, an angel, and even a suit of armor? Adela, Lei, and their friends are tasked with welcoming the new class of first years and helping...
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"So Shuai wants to fight us?" I asked as we took our seats in our music class. My feet ached a little from dance class, so it was nice to sit down at last.
Lidia nodded.
Shuai smiled at us from the seat behind us.
"Why didn't you just tell them yourself?" Enkai said as he laughed.
Tammy smiled at him.
"Uh, except you and Nate."
Tammy furrowed her brows.
Shuai smiled. "Don't worry, pretty lady. We will get our chance to dance in the ring later."
She blushed and waved her hand as if telling him to stop in a semi-modest way.
"Do you flirt with every girl?" Huoyin asked, narrowing his eyes.
Shuai winked at Lidia. "Only the cute and beautiful ones."
I sighed. Was he really related to Ling?
Huoyin shot him daggers.
"Uh, Shuai, please don't make Huo mad," Lidia said.
He blinked. "Mad?" He chuckled and turned his olive eyes back to Huoyin. "Wait, are you jealous?"
The redhead blushed. "Shut up! You talk too much!"
Enkai let out a laugh and said, "He's not wrong."
Shuai crossed his arms. "I don't want to hear that from you."
Huoyin grumbled. "Why do I keep getting stuck with noisy classmates?"
I glanced at Carter. He had been unusually silent. Had Enkai been too harsh on him?
"You okay?" I whispered.
Carter nodded, but his eyes remained on his legs.
I leaned closer to him. "You sure?"
He rubbed his right leg. It was then that I noticed old stitch marks. Had he broken it in the past?
"Are you injured? We can go see Koukyuu if so."
He laughed as he glanced at his scars. "No. My legs are okay. Was just massaging them. T-this helps keep them nice and healthy."
Come to think of it, my partner and a few of the others had done something similar.
"So, you don't have a leg that needs constant monitoring?" I asked.
"Nope! B-but, hurting this one did teach me how precious our legs are."
So, he can talk to me a bit better than before. But that stutter remained.
"Hmm, Ms. Key isn't here yet," Aurelius said. "Think something happened to her?"
"Maybe she'll arrive as soon as the bell rings like Mrs. Hirata usually does," Cart said.
"But Ms. Key is usually in class before her students."
