Damnit! I knew that was the wrong move. Kai thought to himself. He stared at her, perplexed.
From behind him, a young blond with blue eyes standing 6'4" stepped to his side. The boy was two inches taller than Kai. "Permission to give it a try, Sir?"
Kai's eyes remained on the girl after a quick side-glace to see who stood up to help, "permission granted." He returned to the front of the class, glancing at the girl every so often.
In the corner, the sobbing got louder as Blaine approached. Soon he was squatting down in front of a tangle of green. The only sign there was a person under there was the sounds she was making.
Suddenly, Lana heard a male voice singing softly. She didn't recognize the song. She didn't have much exposure to such things growing up but she liked it. It calmed her down. With trembling hands, she reached up. Blaine could hear her faintly say "wither". In the next moment, he saw a cute but red and puffy face.
He smiled brightly at her blinking eyes as she tried to make sense of why there was a beautifully angelic boy her age kneeling in front of her. "My name's Blaine, what's yours?"
Stunned, "Lana," she stammered out.
Blaine decided to sit on the ground in front of her, crossing his legs. "May I ask your ability? These vines are pretty cool!" He continued to talk to her in a calm, measured way to not alarm her, like he was talking to a wild animal he didn't want to get bitten by.
"Um," Lana shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs. The angel was speaking to her. She didn't want to look like more of an idiot than she already did. "It's plants. It's a very confusing ability. I'm still learning."
Blaine looked at her watch which displayed the number 5 as did his.
"What's your ability," she asked, as she noticed him glance at her watch.
He chuckled. "Well, normally I'd try to impress a girl by showing her own ability but I can't seem to copy yours. I hear incoherent murmurings but that's it."
Lana chuckled, "you hear the trees trying to talk to you."
Blaines eyes went wide, "you can speak to trees? I bet that's wild!" His face lit up at the thought.
Lana had a small smile on her face but it never reached her eyes. "The trees saved my life more times than I can count… Mine and my brothers."
Blaine's expression suddenly went from wonder to concern. What has this girl been through.
"Is your brother in this school?"
She nodded, "we had all of our other classes together so far. This is the first time they split us up. We are not in the same clubs."
Blaine sighed, a small bit of understanding. "Your twin?"
She nodded again.
"The issue we have is this is a beast weapons class."
Lana nodded again.
Hesitatingly, "and you're afraid of.. beast.. weapons…?"
Lana nodded again.
"And… the teacher?"
Lana nodded again with tears in her eyes.
"This class is mandatory. For a month."
Lana nodded again as the tears fell from her eyes.
"Are you willing to tell the teacher why?"
She shook her head. Vines started to climb up her legs.
"Wait!"
The vines paused their weaving process.
"Can you tell me?"
Lana gulped. She leaned forward, "are you willing to tell me who this is?" as she pointed to his head where she saw a second aura.
Complete shock filled his face. What do I do? How does she know about you?
Kyle: She can't know. Grandmother will kill us!
Blaine: Want me to kill her?
Kyle: No. I like her.
Blaine: We can't use her ability.
Kyle: I don't care. She's special.
Lana stared blankly as the angelic boy in front of her seemed to be taking some time to think about whether he should share this information with her.
They heard footsteps approach and she pulled her feet in closer as she noticed the teacher approach.
Kai saw her movement and stopped in his tracks. He looked to Blaine for an answer as to what he should do since Blaine clearly got her out of her…cocoon? Kai had never seen such a thing. Is her ability to act like an insect?
Blaine snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head, "she's afraid of you and beast weapons. We haven't gotten to the reason yet."
Barely above a whisper, "he reminds me of a man who killed … someone… His energy."
Blaine relayed what she said to Kai while her eyes never left him.
Lana watched as Kai reduced his aura. Her pulse slowly returned to normal.
Kai and Blaine could both see the relief on her face. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths and she was calm enough to sit up.
Kai looked at her uniform for a name, "Plantwell, this is a beast weapons class. It's a requirement for you to know how to use a beast weapon."
She looked straight at him, "then I fail."
"What are you going to do if your MC runs out. It happens to everyone."
"Then I die."
Kai looked at her, flabbergasted. "You'd rather die than use a beast weapon."
"I'll die if I use one so what's the difference."
Kai clicked his tongue then berated himself for his unprofessionalism and loss of military bearing.
"How about martial arts? Will that kill you?"
Lana stood up and looked at Kai. "No, I don't think it will."
"You'll need a partner. Everyone else is learning about their beast weapons."
"I'll help her, Sir. I grew up with martial arts and using a sword. I'll look at the techniques you have and incorporate them into my personal training if you wish. What would you like her to learn first?"
Kai looked at Blaine for a moment, "basic kicks to start off. I'd like to see if she has any talent first. With this level of fear, I'll need to put her in for counseling as well as a potential transfer to a non-combat role."
With Kai standing by, Blaine looked at Lana, "do you have experience with kicks? I'd like to see what you can do before deciding what to teach you. He wants a basic kick. Can you do that?"
"I don't know names of kicks… Can I just show you some kicks?"
Blaine shrugged and she twisted her body to the side and kicked him in the shin with the side of her right foot, then in the thigh, then in the head in rapid succession.
When she kicked him in the head, there was a very loud sound that echoed in the room. With the sound of the first impact, those nearby stopped to look. By the second impact, the rest had stopped. Not only had Blaine remained standing despite a pained expression on his face, but these were clearly strong kicks.
On the third kick, there was a ripping sound. Lana's pants were not built for her flexibility. Lana dropped her leg and crossed it, placing her hand in front of her in case the rip was frontal. However, Blaine saw her bright pink undies before her leg was dropped. Her face turned bright red while his turned into a bright smile.