“You didn’t have to hit him that hard, you know.”

It had been two days since her cousin paid her a visit, and Ara was at the patio drinking her morning tea as she looked at the small crater that still decorated her backyard from when her Warrior had stomped on the Water Element’s body. Said Warrior stood behind his Master quietly, his eyes instead fixated on the pocket knife that was still there.

“You told me to do it, Master,” the Warrior reasoned as Ara continued to sip her tea. He didn’t know if it was because of the hot steam from the cup or not, but he saw how his Master’s cheeks had flushed pink at his words. She was really strange.

“Yeah, but…” Ara turned to look up at her Warrior, her face slightly red with embarrassment. He did have a point. “You probably broke some of his ribs, and that would definitely take a long time to heal,” the blonde Warrior raised a curious eyebrow. “And I know B.M would definitely not care about that.”

The Warrior tilted his head slightly in confusion. Why would she care about that? He wasn’t her Warrior, and it was natural that Dealers didn’t need to involve themselves with the wellbeing of their Warriors, cause they healed faster than average. The Warrior thought about it for a while before hesitantly voicing out his thoughts, his words cautious to not risk offending his master. Although a very tiny part of him believed that she was a little different from other Dealers.

“Master, why would you…care?”

Ara stopped sliding open the patio door halfway, her Warrior’s question clouding her thoughts. Why did she feel concerned? Maybe it was because she knew what it felt like to be mistreated and discriminated against, to be laughed at, to be treated like a slave. She knew how much it hurt to be treated like dirt, and she didn’t really want anyone to feel that way.

“Because I know how its like to be treated as if you’re nothing.”

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

“Ara!”

Said girl turned her head to see Yuna running towards her. They both just had their breaks, and had agreed to train on their own afterwards. Yuna had then ran off, saying something about ‘not getting into each other’s way’. They had different ranked cards after all, and Yuna had told her about how their Warriors’ elements were different and thus needed different training grounds. Ara simply nodded before she left with her Warrior for the same sitting area she was at with Jackson.

Ara would say that training had been fruitful, but she was sure if Miss Dylan or Jackson saw the way she was talking with her Warrior, they would definitely scream their heads off. She had spent the time learning more about her Warrior's abilities and weaknesses, and worked on instructing him to perform small scale attacks for demonstration.

The problem was that she hadn’t heeded Jackson’s words to be firmer and more authoritative, but instead talked to her Warrior rather…less authoritatively. Much like how a friend would ask another for a favour, now that Ara thought about it. She knew it was wrong and the part of her that was craving recognition was screaming at her to train properly, but she just…couldn’t bring herself to do it. The past few days she had spent with her Warrior had been rather peaceful and enjoyable. She herself thoroughly enjoyed his company and little expressions, even though he was still very on guard about himself. She knew Warriors had emotions too, and sometimes wondered what it would be like if they were…friends.

“Hey Yuna.”

“Was training fun? My Warrior and I had a blast! She perfected all her moves,” Yuna spoke giddily while talking about her training experience. Ara simply smiled at her enthusiasm.

“Yeah, it was…enjoyable,” Ara said as she turned to her warrior that was walking silently beside her. After their training, she didn’t really have the heart to have him return to his card, so she opted to have him walk with her. It was less lonely that way anyway, and the silence was better than having to think about what her peers were talking about her.

“Why do you still have him here though? You might get weird looks,” Yuna whispered as she glanced at the students passing by, some talking amongst themselves while sparing a few glances towards their direction.

Ara’s nameless warrior looked at his Master with the same question popping in his mind, although he hadn’t said anything. He would admit that the past few days had been rather pleasant, sharing normal conversations with his Master that seemed slightly better than his past ones. He was still confused about her actions and had his guard up, but he couldn’t deny that his mindset about his new Master was slowly changing.

¤ • ¤ • ¤

“Hey, do you want one?”

The blonde Warrior looked at the cookie his Master had offered him. His Master had just finished her lessons, and had summoned him once she got home. Exhausted from the events of the day, Ara had plopped herself down at the kitchen island and grabbed the plate of cookies she had bought the other day. Seeing how her Warrior was just standing at the hallway and looking at her, she then picked up a piece and brought it up to him.

The boy was puzzled, to say the least. Was his Master giving him a choice? Something that he hadn’t experienced for a while? He couldn’t decipher the underlying meaning behind her smile. Was this a trick? Was she testing him? At those thoughts, his Master’s smile suddenly looked threatening. But upon thinking about the way she had treated him up till now, her smile also looked friendly. The blonde was in a serious dilemma, and he was keeping his Master waiting.

Ara had just simply thought of offering her Warrior a cookie, feeling awkward about how he always just stood there and awaited her orders like a robot. She realised she didn’t really liked to be thought of as someone who would gobble him up once he did something ‘wrong’, and her heart felt strangely light at the thought of being on friendly terms with him.

Seeing as how her Warrior seemed to be having an internal battle with himself, she decided to let him be. She had a lot of patience for him, but her arm was getting tired. So Ara just put the last cookie back on the plate.

“Well, if you ever make up your mind, you can always take it.”

Ara had then went to wash up, and when she came back down to get a glass of water, the cookie was gone.

¤ • ¤ • ¤ 

“You know, I’ve actually never seen your Warrior before. Why don’t you show me?” Ara knew Yuna was a good friend, but she didn’t want to expose her thoughts to her right now. She still didn’t know if Yuna would judge her or not for her actions.

Ara’s plan of diversion worked easily, and Yuna instantly got excited, agreeing with her friend’s statement with a nod of her head. She whipped out her silver card and kissed it, and a female suddenly materialised beside them.

The Warrior had short, deep blue hair, and her sharp eyes were winged with eyeliner. A colourful, cropped long sleeved shirt covered the cropped, black undershirt she had below. She wore a simple pair of high waisted shorts, exposing her toned thighs. Black, knee length boots completed her look, and Ara thought she rocked the ‘expressionless’ look.

“This is Ryujin, my A-rank Warrior,” Yuna introduced with a smile that reached her eyes. Ara noted how she linked her arms with her Warrior then, and for a second, she wondered if they were friends.

Ara heard her Warrior shift behind her, and when she turned to look, the blonde had visibly stiffened.

What was that about?

Ara shrugged it off, and faced Yuna again. “She looks cool. What’s her power?”

Yuna quirked her eyebrows then, and leaned in to whisper to her friend, not wanting other students to hear. Ara leaned in to listen.

“She’s a Spirit warrior. She’s able to cast illusions.”

That was quite a formidable power. No wonder Yuna wanted to keep it hush.

They had continued on their way back to class, and there was just five minutes before class started. The duo took their seats, their Warriors standing behind them. Yuna was telling Ara about a funny story until a new presence interrupted their conversation.

“Ara, was it?” Hyuk asked the chestnut-haired girl. Ara raised a brow, curious as to why he was asking for her. The boy stuffed his hands in his pockets, a fake smile on his face. “Just wanted to say good job on your victory.”

Ara was puzzled. He was congratulating and complimenting her, but his expression said otherwise. Behind him stood his blonde Warrior, still spotting some healing bruises on her collarbone and forearms. Her Warrior’s attacks must have been incredibly strong. She stared emotionlessly from behind her Master.

“Uhm, thanks?” Ara didn’t know what to say. He was obviously bitter, so why was he talking to her?

“Your Warrior is really strong,” Hyuk smirked as he directed his gaze to the nameless Warrior behind Ara. “Jo couldn’t have compared.”

Ara noted how the female bowed her head further down at the comment.

Hyuk then took a step forward so that he could look at the S-ranked Warrior up close. The blonde stared back down at him hard, and Hyuk jabbed the Warrior’s shoulder.

“What are you staring that? Show some respect,” Hyuk said as he directed another jab on his other shoulder.

Who does he think he is talking to him like that?
 

The enraged girl slid her chair back forcefully with a screech, and positioned herself between her Warrior and Hyuk. Hyuk was shorter than the blonde, but Ara still had to strain her neck to see him.

“He’s not yours to tell him what to do.”

The blonde glanced at his Master in front of him, his eyes widening a fraction at the scene of his Master protecting him. The classroom was already half full by now, and all of them had their eyes on the commotion in front of them.

The blonde’s heart couldn’t help but soften a little at his Master’s words. Maybe she wasn’t that bad after all.

“Then teach the boy some manners,” Hyuk replied while gesturing for Ara to take over. She knew what he wanted her to do, and her heart constricted a little. But the whole class was watching them, and if she acted otherwise, she didn’t know what they were going to do.

Hesitantly, Ara turned around. She looked up at the Warrior that she had grown fond of, and seeing how he stared into her eyes with his brown irises made Ara’s chest hurt. She really didn’t want to lay a finger on him, she didn’t want to be like any of her cousins or the other students in the school. Warriors got hurt just like them, and she simply didn’t understand why others couldn’t understand that.

But she was reminded of what she had to go through herself. The discrimination, the agony and the pain of it all came back to her in waves. She wanted to forget about all of it, but the experiences she had played such a big part in her life that her desire to gain recognition overtook her. She had went through it once before when she didn’t have a card, and now that people were noticing her, she didn’t want to drown in that endless hole of self-pity again.

The part of her that had been hurt before screamed at her to do anything she could to fit into her society so that she never had to experience it again. The desire for recognition overcame her real personality, and Ara reluctantly raised her hand. The boy widened his eyes.

She’s just like all the others. I was stupid to have believed her.

The blonde Warrior stared at the ground beside him as a resounding slap was heard, and he was sure his cheek was going to have a mark. He glared at his feet, the memories of him and his Master spending time together playing in his head like a never-ending video. He knew then that all of her actions must have been a lie, a front, just so that it would hurt more when she played his feelings like this. She was even worse than the others.

Ara shut her eyes as soon as she brought her hand down, willing her tears to not flow down her face and give her away. She didn’t want to hit him so hard. Heck, she didn’t want to hit him at all! But she knew that if she didn’t, Hyuk wouldn’t have left her alone. Accompanied by the stares that she was receiving from her classmates, their eyes practically pressuring her to do something, Ara felt her heart break. She felt like a monster.

I’m so, so sorry.

Ara willed herself not to sob right then and there, and kept her voice as steady as she could, hoping it wouldn’t crack with how big the lump in was. “Is that enough?”

She didn’t see his expression, but she knew Hyuk was satisfied with the way he chuckled and retreated his footsteps to go back to his seat. Ara then slumped down in hers, her hair covering her face so that no one could see the mess she was looking like. The blonde returned to his card, and Ara bit down on her lip to stop herself from crying.

Please forgive me.