Kyra had left the dormitories and was heading towards a place known as the Shopping District for some supplies. As the name implied, it was an area for the students to buy daily necessities or leisure items. There were other districts as shown on her ID. She would have to visit them some other time as Kyra’s goal was to locate the pharmacy in the Shopping District.

Before she left, she had checked on Rena. Her temperature did not rise which was a good thing. But it appeared that she had difficulty breathing and was occasionally spitting out blood. Even with limited medical knowledge, Kyra could tell that it was nothing life threatening. However, she decided to get some medicine to ease Rena’s pain. Hence, the trip to the pharmacy.

Additionally, it was a good way to explore some of the Academy’s facilities. If possible, Kyra would like to visit the School Building later. She wanted to scout ahead and familiarize herself with the area.

It was a ten-minute walk to the Shopping District. The District had a rather antique feel to it. It had a walkway in the middle with various shops on both sides of the walkway. It was like something out from a classic movie. Kyra admitted that the place had a certain warm vibe to it. It was comforting to even stand around here.

Kyra spotted the pharmacy and went inside. There were shelves upon shelves of various kinds of medicine, ranging from tablets to fluid types. All kinds to keep one’s vitality up.

She managed to find painkillers but she still needed something else stronger for Rena. She was just about to move away from the shelf when someone bumped into her, causing Kyra to drop her painkillers. However, the other person wasn’t as lucky as she was carrying small glass bottles of medicine. They went falling and shattered into the pieces. The liquid splattered all over the floor and onto their legs.

“Well then, that’s unfortunate,” Kyra said.

“Err… I’m very sorry about that.”

“Nah. It’s my-” Kyra stopped when she got a good look at the other. She recognized her from earlier. More notably, the semi-automatic rifle she was had slung on her back. To be precise, she was the one who threw the flashbang in her face during the entrance exam.

The girl’s face paled when she too recognized Kyra.

“Eep!! I didn’t mean to bump into or blind you. I er….er….”

Kyra watched as the girl panicked and blubbered with her words.

She gave a slightly different vibe from when she was in battle previously. Although she may seem timid, she was decisive and focused during their fight.

Kyra sighed and reassured the girl, “It’s alright. I’m not mad or anything. I’m not gonna kill you over such a little thing. I will kill you only if you are my target or if you fuck with me.”

The girl shuddered at that statement. She had heard of the Fukagi Family and their exploits. They were considered to be the top assassin family in this city. She had no doubt that the Fukagi standing in front of her meant every word. Although, it may seem threatening to others but to Kyra, it was just a matter of fact.

A pharmacist came over to clean the mess up. The two grabbed what they needed and paid for their items, hastily trying to leave before they get into trouble. The girl became unsettled when she had to pay for the broken medicine as she did not have enough money to pay for everything. Seeing as it was kind of her fault, Kyra offered to pay for her.  The girl then would not stop thanking Kyra.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to pay me back,” Kyra told her.

“But-but I can’t do that.”

“Really. I’m fine with it,” Kyra firmly reassured her in hopes that this will end the topic and they can move on. Unfortunately, the girl seemed really pressed to pay her back by any means.

“No. I can’t do that. At least let me-”

“Okay! How about you treat me to a bun? I saw a bakery earlier. We should head there.”

Kyra clapped her hands to snap her back to reality. Though she may have sounded a tad irritated as the girl lowered head and agreed silently.

 For some reason, they sat on a bench outside after buying buns. Their weapons placed beside them. Kyra didn’t know what to say and the girl didn’t too. Silence and awkwardness between the two filled the air. Kyra just did not know what to do in this situation. Both tried to kill each other not too long ago. Now, they are sitting beside each other with a steaming char siew bun in hand.

Kyra took a whiff of the bun. The aroma from the bun was making her mouth water. Without further ado, she took a bite. Mixture of oil and the juicy meat seeped in her mouth. While it was hot, Kyra took no time in finishing her bun. In contrast, the girl took her time in chewing her steaming bun, savoring each bite. Kyra sat idly while waiting for the girl to finish.

Maybe I should tell the cooks to make this back home. Oh, I should buy some for Rena too.

“Thanks for the treat,” Kyra said as the girl had her last bite.

“Mmmm. It’s nothing.” The girl shook her head.

“So, what’s your name?”

“It’s Aimi.”

“Just Aimi?”

“Just Aimi,” The girl responded with a hint of sadness.

“Well, I’m Kyra…. Just Kyra.”

Aimi smiled at Kyra sheepishly, “You know, I wasn’t expecting a person of your stature to be in this Academy. You might make graduation harder than it already is.”

Kyra chuckled lightly, “I don’t think my reputation is that high up. Even my sister is more infamous than me.”

“Is that so….?” Aimi seemed to think about what she just said.

“Why did you come to this Academy? To me, it didn’t seem that you needed to come here. You could have done fine outside.” Kyra asked. She was curious as to why Aimi enrolled here. For Kyra, it was because of family obligations but she wanted to know about others. Kyra spoke the truth when she thought that Aimi didn’t need to come to this Academy. She personally felt that one can accomplish the same thing or more in the city. Aimi had the skills to be a good hitman or bodyguard. What the Academy offered, the city offered more in terms of violence and blood.  Hence, her conclusion of one will learn more outside of the Academy.  However, having said that, knowledge is still knowledge. There’s always room to learn more no matter how stuck up she was.

“Umm…. well, I guess it’s because of Ned. He wanted to come here to become stronger and I sort of followed him. But deep down, I too want to become stronger without having to rely on others.”

“Ned?”

“Oh, Ned is Boomer. The one with the grenade launcher. I actually came here to buy ointments for his burns.”

“Right. Him. I heard you two gave a lot of trouble to my friends.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Well, it’s not me that you need to be worried about. Rena might blast holes in the two of you when she sees either of you.”

Aimi laughed softly, “Then, I had better watch my back.”  She stood up and took a deep breath and let it out. She smiled at Kyra and said, “I best get back to Ned soon.”

“I hope to see you again soon.” She picked up her rifle and walked a distance away, before waving goodbye. Kyra didn’t wave back but watched her leave, not in the direction of the dormitory though. She felt that it would not be very cool of her if she did that. She too, had to hurry back to the dorm. She stood up and left the entertainment district, not before buying more char siew buns.

When she reached the dormitory’s lift lobby, she saw a person with his hands on his hips who seemed to be analyzing the mess that happened earlier in the day. Kyra’s senses told her that this was yet another annoying person. She lowered her presence and walked calmly towards the lift.

“Hey, you! Yeah, you there!” The person called out to her. Kyra immediately regretted not taking the side stairs that was not in the lift lobby. It was located at one of the ends of the building. Kyra had deemed it too far and now she was about to be stuck in another conversation.

Kyra turned around to see him, smiling at her. It was a smile that was meant to put people at ease which irked Kyra a lot. She could already tell that he had ulterior motives with her.

He offered a hand to her. “My name is Everett, the vice council president. Of course, you don’t need to introduce yourself. I already know who you are, Miss Kyra.”

Kyra could feel her veins pulsating in her forehead. She observed Everett even closely. He had a classy look to him due to the formal uniform he was wearing. He had also mentioned that he was the vice council president. Having dealt with the president earlier, Kyra really didn’t want to interact with yet council member.

“Ha ha ha. No need to be hostile. I want to be your friend,” Everett said truthfully when he noticed how Kyra was tensed up.

Your friend? What’s this idiot scheming about? Kyra had no interest making friends with him. However, having an established connection with someone on the Academy’s Council could prove useful in the future. It’s just that she would have much preferred anyone else but him. Kyra decided to play it cool and first find out what Everett wanted from her.

“And what do you want? Other than being my friend,” Kyra asked.

“What I want is simple,” Everett smiled devilishly. “I want you to join me in overthrowing the Student Council and this Academy.”

Kyra stifled her laughter and put on a poker face. “And if I refuse?”

“You won’t refuse me. For various reasons, the Student Council President has started keeping tabs on you since you first entered, even the higher ups at the Academy. You will want to work with me.”

“Well, I like to think it’s because of how annoying us Fukagis can be.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Everett gestured at the broken glass, from the fight Kyra had earlier, at his feet. “But you’ll have to be naïve to think that. There has been a lot of chatter about you. And I mean a lot.”

That was troubling to hear. However, it wasn’t surprising to say the least. She wasn’t bragging or anything but her family name holds a lot of power in the city.

“I’ll think about it. I have places to be,” Kyra decided not to give a direct answer. This required both careful thinking and planning. She could not just say yes and dragged herself into a full-blown conflict.

“Of course, no one’s stopping you. But I wish that you will reach to a satisfying answer. Even if you don’t join me, you will still be the President’s downfall. I see it in your eyes. Of how much you want to kill her. And I can’t wait to see it happen,” Everett tapped his watch. “Just a matter of time.”

Kyra’s left thumb twitched and proceeded to fiddle with her katana’s sword hilt. She found Everett to be getting on her nerves at each passing second.  It was as good a time as any to leave. She didn’t want to leave Rena alone any longer. Kyra walked past Everett without saying anything.

Everett smiled and bowed, “Have a pleasant evening, princess.”

Rena was still sleeping when Kyra returned to the dormitory. She went to prepare another glass of water and laid down the medicine. Kyra gently touched her shoulder and shook her awake. Rena’s brown eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Argh…. My head hurts,” Rena closed her eyes again and pulled herself up.

“I got you some painkillers by the way.”

Rena took some and drank it down with the glass of water. Rena slammed down the glass on the table and let out a refreshing shout.

Rena looked at Kyra and asked, “So, which room do you want to take? There are two rooms. I’ll give you first dibs.”

Kyra looked at the doors of the rooms. They were beside each other. So, that meant the rooms were parallel to each other. Quite frankly, she didn’t really bother which room she got.

In the end, she took the room on the left. Kyra carried her stuff in to unpack. She had wanted to help Rena move in but she had declined, insisting that she troubled Kyra enough.

Kyra’s room was spacious. There was a work table, cupboard and obviously, a bed. It took about thirty minutes to unload everything she had. The last item she took out was a Nexmor in a jar. This particular Nexmor did not have any filament so that in the event of someone taking it, they were unable to reproduce it. One could say that the flower served as a decoration for her room or something to remind her of her home. Additionally, Kyra had seeds, that she had already kept hidden, for growth into her calling cards.

Once Kyra was done with assembling the room into her own functioning safe room, she took out all of her clothing and headed straight to bed.