Belligerent (Vicara)

by B. N. Mauldin

  For some reason that made Kenichi smile. No further comments were made as that was when the professor decided to enter the classroom and everyone directed their attention to her as she welcomed them to her class and began to go over her expectations for that year’s lessons. Ryan knew he would hate his literature class when the professor told them to have the entirety of The Moonstone read by Wednesday and a paper noting their thoughts of the novel written by Thursday. However, he was glad that the workload seemed to distract his classmates from trying to cause each other harm. At the end of class, they left the room without any further incidents.

  Aria and Daylan were waiting to walk with him to their second class which was history. The class seemed like it would be dull since the teacher was monotone and placed a huge emphasis on knowing the dates of every little event, but it also seemed as if it would be the class which required the least amount of work.

  No one was waiting to walk with him to his third class, but when he entered the classroom, he found Mackenzie already settled into a corner desk with an empty seat next to her. Despite only having Mackenzie for company, Ryan decided that he would probably like his algebra class. He had never been horrible at math, and the teacher, while she flew through the lessons, explained everything very clearly.

  He was a little surprised when after their math class ended, Mackenzie did walk with him to their fourth course where Aria also joined them. For the fine arts requirement, he had been placed in the orchestra course which made Ryan wonder how Shifter had known that he had taught himself how to play the guitar back when he had lived with his sister.

  After their general classes, fifth through eighth years headed to their specialty classes for an hour. Despite the fact that he had convinced himself that he wouldn’t place complete trust in his team, nor rely on them, when Ryan entered the building designated for the transportation and technology specialists, he found himself a little nervous. Logan, who had grabbed him after orchestra and showed him the way to his next classes, gave him an encouraging nod before heading upstairs to where the tech specialists studied. Ryan found himself in a hallway with thirty-nine other transportation specialists and none of his teammates. He noticed everyone was staring at him, and like in all his classes so far, nobody made an attempt to hide it.

  He was relieved when a teacher finally walked in. “Fifth and sixth years, head to the classroom. Seventh and eighth years put on your coveralls and grab a station in the garage. Professor Summer will be here shortly.”

  Half of the students headed in one direction, while the other half went the opposite way. Ryan tried to figure out which of the students looked closer to his age and was saved when a girl approached him.

  “This way,” she said. “You're Ryan, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I'm Eloise. I'm a fifth year too. I bet we're going out on the track today. Nothin’ better.”

  “The track?”

  She nodded. “We get to race out there!” Eloise was a bundle of energy with pixie cut hair and dimples. Ryan was immediately reminded of Alex. “Is there a problem?”

  “What?”

  “You're staring at me,” she said.

  “Sorry. You remind me of someone.”

  Grinning, she said, “I hope it's someone you like.”

  “Yeah.”

  “That's good.”

  “Quickly, students,” the teacher said and herded them forward.

  “That's Professor Wright,” Eloise whispered as they took their seats in the classroom.

  Professor Wright was a woman in her mid-forties who walked with an unusually quick pace and spoke just as rapidly as she walked.

  “Fifth years, this is your first year where your main focus is on your specialty instead of your general classes. You're going to learn what it really means to be a transportation specialist. There are going to be a lot more hours spent in the garage and a lot more hours spent on the driving courses and racing tracks. Sixth years, I'm sure you've all been made aware that this is your most important year at this academy. This may very well be the main factor in whether your team will qualify for Vicara.” The nine other fifth years cheered and Ryan laughed along with them. “Yes, yes, very exciting,” the professor continued. “The schedule for this week is that the seventh and eighth years are getting the garage which means you guys will have very little book work. Though I do encourage you to look at your syllabus and start on next week's reading.”

  “Professor Wright, you haven't handed out copies of the syllabus yet,” one of the students said.

  “Oh!” she twirled around to stare at the desk in front of the classroom. “There they are.” She gathered two stacks of papers in her arms. “Take a copy with your year written on it. Pass the rest. Waste of trees if you ask me, when you can all download them on your tablets,” she said and handed the piles to the closest student. “Sixth years, you guys will get to have some fun today.” That time the ten sixth years cheered. “You guys are going to go racing today.”

  “What will we be racing?” one of the guys asked.

  Professor Wright pretended to think it over. “Hover-bikes?”

  “Yes!” The group hollered.

  “Fifth years, you guys will not be racing today, but you will instead be doing a driving course.”

  “What do we get?” Ryan glanced over at Eloise who had asked the question. She was leaning forward in her seat with all her attention on the professor.

  “Hover-cars, and you will be doing the course forwards and in reverse.”

  Everyone seemed pleased with her answer. Ryan jumped when he felt something poke him in the shoulder, and he whirled around in his seat.

  “Syllabus,” the guy behind him muttered shoving the few remaining packets into his hand. Ryan glanced at the packets in his hand then took one of the ones with a large “5” on the top before passing the rest to Eloise.

  “Let's head out to the tracks and get some driving in before break.”

  Everyone shot up out of their seats and there was a mad dash for the door. “Why is everyone rushing?” Ryan asked Eloise as they jogged along with the rest of the crowd. Even the teacher was running with the group.

  “Everyone wants first pick,” Eloise replied with a laugh as she accelerated. Ryan nearly tripped over his own feet in order to catch up to her.

  *

  From the window of his classroom, Daylan spotted a group of transportation specialists running out to the driving courses. Ryan was with them and Daylan was surprised to see that the guy actually had a smile on his face. He hadn't thought that was possible. Daylan turned his attention back to work. Their first day back to class they were learning how to perform a tonsillectomy.

  The medical concentration at Proserpine Academy was a unique one in the fact that the students, including first years, got to practice firsthand what they were learning. Ten year olds learned how to do stitches and treat burns, and each year they progressed to more complicated procedures until they were learning how to perform minor surgeries at thirteen. They didn't have to fulfill the same requirements that someone going to a normal medical school would because they would never be doctors. Student Belligerents in the medical concentration were only allowed to treat other Belligerents. If they were allowed by their Owners to become doctors after graduation, which almost never happened, they had to go through another program to ensure that they were proficient enough to treat people who weren't Belligerents.

  Daylan took notes on his tablet while watching as his professor demonstrated the surgery on an extremely realistic looking mannequin. After the break, they would each get to practice on a mannequin. The hour passed almost too quickly, and Daylan found himself running the steps of the procedure through his mind as he headed to the villa to grab some food before they had to return to their lessons.

  He was the first one to return, so he pulled some leftovers out of the fridge and began to heat the dishes. He felt a familiar twinge in his forehead and pulled the blister pack of
pills he kept on him at all times out of his pocket before swallowing them down dry despite the fact that he was standing right next to the refrigerator. Eva arrived next dressed in the uniform training gear of a yellow tank top and black shorts and headed straight past him.

  “The others aren't here?” she asked while pouring herself a large glass of water. She gulped half of it down in one go.

  “Not yet,” he replied. “Tough session?”

  “Today is calisthenics. They wanted to see who kept up with their training over break, so they pushed us,” Eva said. “I feel gross.”

  “You look great,” Logan said coming up behind her. “I mean... You can really pull off the sweaty look, or-” Logan's face was turning a deep shade of red.

  “I'm gonna go clean up before lunch,” Eva said looking anywhere but at the two boys.

  Daylan nodded. “Go ahead. I've got things handled in here.”

  Eva darted out of the kitchen, and Logan set out plates on the island. There was no time for proper tea when classes were in session, so they had to settle for rushed leftovers or sandwiches Monday through Thursday.

  Kenichi and Clarisse arrived together, having a conversation in rapid Japanese. Daylan guessed from the mannerisms, and from recognizing one out of every ten words, that Clarisse was telling Kenichi about her lesson that day. It had taken Daylan quite a while to figure out exactly what it was that Clarisse's specialty consisted of, but eventually she had explained that it was a unique combination of rhetoric, theatre, psychology, communications and foreign languages. They even delved into writing as a way to better develop the characters that they portrayed on jobs and to improve their vocabularies - and Clarisse seemed to enjoy that part in particular.

  “Konnichiwa!” Clarisse greeted. “Genki?”

  “English,” Daylan reminded her.

  The polyglot savant tended to use a mix of all the languages she knew without always recognizing what she was doing.

  “Oh, right! Good afternoon! How are you?” she repeated in English.

  “Good afternoon,” he said deliberately. “I'm fine. Why are you asking?”

  “You're squinting a bit like when you get one of your headaches.”

  “I already took something for it. Just waiting for it to kick in,” he assured her.

  “Let me help with that,” she offered, moving quickly, she set out the leftovers that they had marked for their tea that day.

  Daylan glanced at Kenichi. “Need a smoke?” he asked. Kenichi always forgot to buy his own cigarettes and bummed off Daylan whenever he could. Daylan was beginning to suspect the only reason Kenichi even bothered smoking was to tick off Mackenzie.

  Kenichi shook his head. “I'm good. Gonna go change. We're climbing after break,” he said before disappearing.

  “We should put a bell on him,” Logan said after Kenichi left. “Retrieval specialists move too quietly.”

  Daylan smirked. “That's kind of their job.”

  Retrieval specialist was, after all, just an agreeable way to say ‘thief.’

  “With a bell, he really would be our kitten like Daylan's always saying,” Clarisse said with a giggle.

  The sound of the front door opening alerted them to the fact that another of their team members had returned, but whoever it was continued straight to their bedroom rather than darting into the kitchen first like the others had.

  “Probably Mackenzie,” Clarisse said. “She received a present from Shifter and had to go pick it up at the office. It was rather large, so I assumed she would want to drop it off in her room as soon as possible.”

  “What did he send her?” Logan asked

  Clarisse puffed her lips. “A bust of Alexander the Great to go along with her collection of famous strategist busts.”

  “And why?”

  “He's trying to appease her, though he knows it's pretty much useless,” she said.

  “I don't hear any crashing noises,” Daylan said.

  “She’s wanted one for a while,” Clarisse said, peeking up at one of the doors.

  Aria entered the kitchen. “Am I the last one back?”

  “Ryan's still not here,” Logan said.

  “Anything fun happen in the lab yet?” Clarisse asked curiously.

  “No, we just watched a demonstration. We'll get to play after break,” Aria said. “But I'll be sure to let you know if anyone causes an explosion or raging chemical fire.”

  “Goody!” Clarisse said, clapping her small hands together once.

  Daylan swore everyone on the team was a pyromaniac, but thankfully only Aria, Logan, and now Ryan tended to use fire in their classes. He could only imagine how much time he would have to spend treating his team if the others were allowed to play with fire on a regular basis. The thought made him shudder internally. He might as well go ahead and order some extra burn creams to keep on hand though, especially since he wasn't sure where Ryan stood as far as fire worship was concerned.

  As he thought of the new kid, Ryan arrived in the kitchen, seemingly in a light mood.

  “How's your first day been so far?” Aria asked him.

  “I got to drive a Zeus at full speed and in reverse.”

  Clarisse smiled “Good day then?”

  “Better than I thought it would be,” Ryan admitted. Daylan gave him a nod of approval. Maybe the kid would prove to be useful after all.

  *

  Mackenzie had instructed Eva to get things back to normal, so that was what she was doing. On Friday, the combat specialist had set her alarm to go off at five in the morning. Once she was awake, she dressed in her training clothes and then headed to Mackenzie's bedroom. Three sharp knocks on the door later, she was greeted by the sight of a surprisingly awake strategist.

  “I'll get the others. You grab the morning snacks,” Mackenzie said.

  Eva was quite happy to be given such an order. She liked hiding out in the kitchen while Mackenzie had the job of waking the others for Friday training. Waking the others was worse than critiquing their fighting styles. Clarisse was the first to arrive in the kitchen and she looked as if she had not bothered to get any sleep at all.

  “Thank you,” she murmured when Eva handed her a cup of tea and a strawberry-chocolate protein bar.

  Aria was the next to arrive and like Clarisse, she had the appearance of someone who had been awake for hours not mere minutes. She climbed onto the stool next to Clarisse and began the usual process of trading half of her cookies and cream bar for half of Clarisse's bar.

  Kenichi and Logan stumbled in around the same time. Kenichi kept his eyes closed while easily navigating his way to a barstool. Eva slid a cup of strong coffee in front of him which he wrapped his hands around but didn't bother to drink yet. Logan bumped into a counter and a trash can, but eventually found his way to a seat where he downed his coffee in three gulps before holding his cup out for more. Daylan arrived a few minutes after them with a pair of large sunglasses covering a good portion of his face. He accepted his coffee silently, but he was alert enough to snatch the chocolate-peanut butter bar away from Kenichi before he could take a bite.

  “Peanuts,” he said, handing the bar to Logan instead then slid Kenichi's almond-chocolate bar over to him.

  Eva should have been more startled, but she was accustomed to Kenichi's close calls. She had thought she had placed the peanut butter bar far enough from his reach that he wouldn't assume it was his. Trust Kenichi to go for the one farthest away.

  Ryan followed Mackenzie into the kitchen. “What's going on?” he asked. “Meeting or something? Why did I need to put on my armor?”

  “Too loud,” Logan complained into his coffee.

  None of them were morning people. Morning was a time for silence, in their collective opinion. Actually, morning was a time for sleeping.

  Keeping her voice soft, Eva explained. “Fridays are for training and group projects. Each team has to log at least three hours on the training courses. What you do with that time is up to you.”


  “And we're up at 5 am for only three hours of training?”

  “Mackenzie's a sadist,” Logan explained. “We'll clock more than three hours before the day is over.”

  Eva held up four flavors of protein bars. “What's your preference then?” She tried her best not to laugh at the face Ryan pulled as he realized what kind of day he was in for.

  Once they were all sufficiently caffeinated, Eva led the way to the training grounds that she had booked for the day. She had gotten one of the smaller gymnasiums where they could do their training indoors, safe from the biting wind that had already started making its presence known. There was also the fear that the first session with Ryan could result in some unresolved feelings being voiced, so Eva wanted them as far from the sands, and their unpleasant memories, as possible.

  Eva kept her guard up during the entire walk to the training grounds. The sun had yet to rise, and there were few light posts around the campus making it easy for anyone to hide in the shadows. Even inside the gymnasium with the doors locked behind them, Eva kept an eye on all the possible entrances to the place.

  “Clarisse, you lead the stretches,” Eva said.

  Clarisse bounded to one end of the gym while everyone else formed a semi-circle around her. Ryan followed everyone else's lead, which Eva and Mackenzie had agreed would be easier than trying to explain every detail to the boy. Clarisse led the stretches with her usual soothing tone. Every so often, she would remind them to breathe or to not tense up. Of course, she had to show off a little doing splits and stretching her leg straight up by her ear. When she took to showing off, only Kenichi could come close to matching her thanks to his retrieval training which required –at times- fitting into tight spaces.

  Eva had found that the team benefited the most when she let each person lead the part of the training that they were best at. After they finished stretching, Aria led them in a series of last man sprints where they lined up single file to run and the person in the back had to race around to the front and take over as the leader. Predictably, Clarisse, Logan and Kenichi were the first three to drop out. They might all be fit, but none of them were runners. Ryan had the endurance part down, but he had trouble keeping speed. Mackenzie had the same problem. Aria and Daylan started off friendly enough, but soon each was trying to outdo the other until finally Eva was the only one keeping pace with them while everyone else leisurely walked their laps.