Scarlet

I glare straight ahead of me as I walk down the hall in the opposite direction of her towards the cafeteria.

Damn it, no one touches my ears!

“You let that kid touch them before,” Tar says with amusement clear in his voice, but I don’t even stop walking as I answer out loud, “I did that because of the situation. Because if she didn’t shut up, then it would’ve put us in danger. Simple as that. And I won’t be doing it again.”

I shiver as I remember how it felt when she touched them. It was terrible. Why – by all the stars in the sky – are my ears so damned sensitive?!

“I believe it had something to do with your hearing, but I didn’t pay too much attention to that when learning about blood lycans,” Tar explains, raising a couple questions in my mind that can wait till later about his education.

Well regardless of the reason, it’s completely stupid. And I’m really not used to feeling that much anywhere.

“Oh, right, you did mention that your body had rather dull senses before,” Tar mutters, and I nod my head as I continue walking, vaguely noting the footsteps behind me in the process. “If I had to guess, that probably had something to do with your demon side being unawakened for so long. It likely had adverse effects on your body during that time.”

I stop walking this time.

Wait, so that was why?

“Probably.”

Huh. That… makes sense, actually.

After a few seconds pass, I glance behind me – no longer mad at Cynthia for the moment – to find Michael and his team approaching. And immediately after noticing my gaze, Michael raises his hand and shouts, “Hey! Have time for a chat?”

I glance at Emily to find her surprisingly not hiding behind her brother and instead demurely waving at me before looking at Denise to find her waving at me with a grin on her face.

“Not particularly,” I answer while turning around and continuing walking while calling back, “going to get breakfast right now. But you can join me if you want.”

“Cool!” I hear him say as I walk forwards, my hands still in my pants pockets. Then he hurries to catch up to me, walking side by side as Denise goes to my other side and Emily to Michael’s, proving just how wide this hall is in the process.

Well, since Cynthia’s gone, are you going to tell me about whatever it was you were going to tell me about, Tar?

“That… might be a better topic for when you’re alone,” Tar says, sounding both nervous and… afraid?

Huh. This talk can’t be a good one if he’s acting like this.

“Knowing you, I doubt you’ll react too strongly to it, but yes,” Tar says, “it’s not something most humans would react to in a positive light.”

Hmm. Okay.

That’s something that can be dealt with after I get rid of this gnawing hunger in my stomach. Because I really hate this feeling.

We continue walking down the hall with the others talking and me staying mostly quiet, only adding a word here or there when necessary. And once we reach the cafeteria, Michael finally pops the question I’ve been dreading.

“So have you decided whether or not to join our team?” he asks, making me frown as we enter the cafeteria.

“Sorry,” I answer rather quickly with a shake of my head, “still haven’t decided.”

I haven’t had the time to. Not with all the studying, the training, and of course the almost dying.

Mostly the almost dying.

He looks visibly disappointed for a second, and so does Denise. But Emily doesn’t really show much emotion as she’s busy staring at the food at the end of the cafeteria, practically drooling at the mouth.

Huh. Didn’t pay attention before, but is she a foodie?

With her rather small figure, I never would’ve guessed.

We all get our food then sit down in my wonderful little corner of the cafeteria and begin eating. But after helping myself to four plates of food, I give in to curiosity and ask, “I know Michael has nature magic, but what magics do the two of you have?”

Both Emily and Denise look up from their food at me with surprise before sharing a glance. Then Denise smiles and focuses on me again as she says in a proud voice, “Inferno magic.” Meanwhile Emily just quietly answers, “Corruption magic.”

My jaw drops open.

“Excuse me, what?” I ask out loud before realizing that I had just asked that out loud and clapping my hands over my mouth.

Michael bursts into laughter, meanwhile his sister just blushes and focuses on her food.

How did such a shy girl get corruption magic of all things? I wonder what all it does?

I glance at her hair and the highlights in it that are a sickly shade of green. Then I glance at her brother’s hair, which has highlights of a much healthier and vibrant shade of green.

Guess that makes sense then.

Meanwhile… I finally turn to Denise to look at her golden hair.

“Guess your hair didn’t change at all during your reality warp,” I offhandedly state with a raised brow, curious as to what did change, if anything.

That actually makes her blush for some reason.

Why is she blushing?

Michael leans in out of the corner of my eye and adds, “Actually, I’m curious about that too. What did your reality warp do?”

I can’t help but notice Emily covering her mouth and trying – and failing – to hold back a snicker for some reason.

Interesting. Whatever her reality warp is, it must’ve been in a rather embarrassing spot.

Meanwhile, Denise just pointedly looks at her food like it’s the most wonderful thing in the world, making me even more curious as to what it is. But then Emily does something surprising. She actually leans over across the table, careful of the food in the process, and whispers to me, “She got a mark on her navel symbolizing both fire and ice. You should see it some day!”

My eyes widen in surprise before I glance at Denise, who seems to be hiding her blushing face in her hands – likely having guessed what Emily was telling me. Then I glance at Michael who just looks confused, not having heard Emily’s whisper.

I turn my gaze back to Denise with a smirk and tell her, “Ah, I got it. No need to tell me then.”

This just makes her blush even harder.

Okay, this team might not be so bad after all. They're certainly amusing.

But the question is still on the table though.