The next few days had been fun.

After establishing some sort of friendship with each other, Sehun had been a little more expressive, although some of his actions and words still mimicked those of an enslaved warrior. Ara couldn’t blame him though, since he did develop these mannerisms and had used them for so long that he wasn’t accustomed to the change in lifestyle.

Despite that, Ara still tried her best to make him feel included, starting from asking about his day to asking him for his opinions on things. The blonde had been a little hesitant at first, but he was improving, and he appreciated Ara’s efforts.

Ara had decided to take the Monday off, since she still wasn't ready to face her schoolmates just yet. She knew she was being a coward, and Yuna would surely worry about her, but she rather spend her time getting to know her new friend rather than be tortured by the endless gossips about her. She just hoped that her aunt and uncle never found out.

Sehun was the one who convinced her to go back to school the next day.

"Sehun, could I not go for just one more day?

The boy shook his head in response, ignoring the pleasant feeling of his name on her tongue. His hands were currently clasping onto her shoulders, his head lowered so that he could see her at eye level. Her doe eyes stared back.

"As much as I dislike that place as well, this is for your sake. You need to get over it," Sehun said, concern in his voice. Which felt a little strange, since he never felt concerned over his Master before. It was all so new.

Seeing as how she was still a bit hesitant, Sehun then mustered up the courage to voice out the suggestion that he had in his mind for a while. "I'll walk you."

A smile then appeared on Ara's face, appreciating the gesture. "Alright."

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

“Ara! Where were you yesterday? I was so worried! Are you okay?” here came Yuna’s non-stop worrying, but Ara appreciated the concern. She gave her friend an assuring smile.

“I’m alright. I just needed time to myself, that’s all.”

Yuna still looked a bit sceptical, but she decided to drop it. “That’s good,” Yuna took a glance to the side and saw Sehun standing beside her friend. She looked a little surprised, since Ara never walked around with her Warrior in the morning. Seeing Ara so relaxed, however, Yuna didn’t question her decision. The Warrior wasn’t hers, after all.

After her first lesson, it was time for her training class. Ara noticed all the weird looks she received when she headed towards her little space in the corner with Sehun following beside her, and she surely heard their whispers as well. She decided to ignore it though, because all that mattered was that Sehun was beside her.

“Hey! Glad to have you back,” Ara whipped her head around to see Jackson running towards her. He still had his friendly smile on, and for a moment, Ara thought that it was because he didn’t mind the whole fiasco between her and her cousin. She returned the smile.

“Hey.”

“Let’s continue with the basics, shall we?”

Jackson had then proceeded to tell her about the importance of reprimanding disobedient Warriors. The whole time he was talking, Ara became increasingly uncomfortable about the content of his words, and she peeked at Sehun who stood beside her quietly. His expression was blank, but she could tell his fury from the way he gripped onto his folded arms.

“Now, pretend he did something wrong. Teach him his place,” Ara squirmed at Jackson’s choice of words, and tried to worm her way out.

“But he didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know. But just pretend, okay?”

“I can’t pretend when he has done absolutely nothing to offend me.”

This went by back and forth for a while, and Ara could tell that the usually chirpy boy was beginning to run out of patience. She didn’t know when it would stop, but she just refused to do whatever Jackson had said. The conversation was cut off when Sehun interrupted.

“Just do it, Ara. It’s getting tiresome.”

Ara gave Sehun a weird look once he said that. If she hadn’t known better, she would have been surprised that he said that. But after all the time they spent together, she knew that Sehun had the belief that she would never do that even if he asked her to. She gave a small, knowing smile.

He’s getting cheeky.

One could see the absolute shock on Jackson’s face, before he realised the opportunity. “He just called you by first name! Now that’s wrong, and you have no excuse not to reprimand him now,” Jackson said with a victorious smile on his face.

“I don’t get how calling me by my name means any type of offence,” Ara tried not to laugh at Jackson’s incredulous expression. He looked at her like she sprouted an extra head. “Its not against the rules. Right, Sehun?”

“Not that I know of.”

“But-what-you-” Jackson was at a lost of words. It was like he lost all ability to speak as he raised an accusing finger at both of them. Ara wanted to laugh, but she felt bad. She noticed the completely amused expression on Sehun’s face, and she bit down on her tongue so as to refrain from laughing out loud.

After a while did Jackson seem to snap out of it. His expression had darkened, and suddenly his eyes weren't so friendly anymore.

“No wonder you got trashed by Somin."

He had kept mum about it because of all the times he had spent with Ara, and also because he considered himself to be a nice guy. He thought that Ara was a nice girl, but this interaction dispelled all pleasant thoughts he had about her.

Ara’s expression turned sour then, not expecting Jackson to show his true colours. His friendly front had been nothing but a trick, and she was dumb not to expect that Jackson had changed his views about her. He was nothing but friendly the past few sessions, and Ara admitted that she could see some kind of friendship growing with the way he threw some jokes here and there to help her feel at ease. She felt slightly sad that she had to throw away this friendship, but if he wanted to be a about who she was, then so be it.

“Say, Sehun. Do you want to train?” Ara turned to the blonde who had a dark look on his face, probably from the poke about Somin. Sehun turned to Ara, his face morphing into one of confusion. Ara knew that he couldn’t since he was still taking it easy, but seeing the sly expression on her face, he knew what she was doing, and decided to play along.

“No, you know I can’t.” 

Openly displaying about her Warrior’s ability to make a choice of his own was enough to make Jackson disturbed, and Ara felt like a genius when Jackson’s face indeed turned red with annoyance.

“Alright, just asking.”

Ara only dared to laugh when Jackson had his heels and stomped away, his expression furious and his eyebrows furrowed. Sehun simply giggled, returning the high five that Ara had offered.

This is fun.

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

“The look on his face was priceless!”

Ara continued to laugh as she walked with Sehun along the hallways. Students were giving them weird looks, but they didn’t care.

Yuna had said that she had to leave to do something, thus leaving Ara alone in school. She had apologised for that, feeling sorry that she had to leave her friend alone when she just got back. Ara had reassured her that everything was fine, and Yuna didn’t miss the way she gave a knowing look to her Warrior that was now named Sehun. Yuna felt relieved to leave then, but not before giving Sehun a curious look.

“You can now kiss your training goodbye,” Sehun commented, a bit of amusement lacing his tone. He was honestly a little worried for Ara now that she offended someone, but he didn’t say anything about it.

“Its alright. I can now train using my way,” Ara said with relief, stretching her arms over her head. Sehun smiled at how relaxed the girl was, how she looked so uncaring compared to a few days ago.

“What should we do first when we get home?”

Ara whacked her brain for some bonding activities, leaving her question lingering in the air. She noticed after a while that Sehun had stopped walking, and she turned around to see what he was doing.

Sehun was just standing there, looking out at the field where some kids were training with their warriors. Ara tried to follow the direction his gaze was cast at, not exactly sure what the blonde was looking at. His eyes darted around the field, and then did Ara realise what he was staring at, or rather, who.

A young looking boy was controlling fire in his hands, and Ara knew then that he was a Fire Element. His hair was jet black, with his bangs barely touching his eyes. He hface was blank as he stared at the fireball he had conjured in his hands. Ara thought he looked fairly normal, like any other Fire Element out there. But the longer she stared, the more she understood why Sehun was keeping his eyes on nothing but the Warrior.

The fireball that the Warrior had created was a little brighter than most, but didn’t seem to burn as intensely compared to the blonde female that Hyuk had. The Warrior looked like he was using every bit of his concentration to make it grow bigger though, but his efforts didn’t work.

One thing for sure though, was that the speed that his fireball went at was faster than most Fire Elements, and Ara wondered if that was even possible. She was even more shocked when the Warrior started moving around and slashing at his targets with the swiftest moves she had ever seen. He seemed to be even faster than Sehun!

“That Warrior is amazing!” Ara exclaimed quietly to herself, but she knew Sehun heard it. “He’s an S-rank, right?”

Sehun only quietly nodded in response, his hands shoved into his pockets as he continued observing the graceful Warrior. “He’s pretty special.”

“No doubt,” Ara said as she poked a finger into the unmoving blonde. “But why are you staring at him like that?”

Sehun snapped out of it then, and realised he just made himself look suspicious. He looked at Ara’s curious expression, and just turned his back towards the field and continued walking. Ara pouted when he left her there, and she ran to catch up with him.

“It’s nothing.”

Ara had a hunch that it wasn’t, but didn’t want to pressure him for answers. They just started getting close after all. She had to respect his space, so she just kept quiet.

I haven’t seen him in a while.