Friday November 4th, 2018

  Now, normally Hinata isn’t one to show so much emotion in public. Even in private she can be reserved. Unlike her lovable and cheerful fellow heiress. But at this moment, her own joy at the sight of what she witnessed, mixed with her political training in how to twist the knife makes her speak with overflowing cheer. Not a normal lesson that people take, but one that she is happy to follow now.

  “Dorimer! How’d our flower treat you?” Hinata says happily with a skip in her step. With her arm wrapped around Helo’s, and her body slightly leaning into his own. She smiles at the resentful and disheveled Light Elf.

  “Did you wake up late? You don’t look so good.” She asks sweetly in a voice that intentionally carries to the entire arena. “I hope you didn’t spend to much on all the people you sent to attack our home?”

  Hinata’s sweet voice is like a knife twisting in Dorimer’s gut each time she speaks. In a normal situation it might seem cruel. But everyone at the school knows about how Dorimer coveted the Wolf-Kin and Kitsune. So, instead this is like free grade A drama.

  “RHAHHH!” Dorimer finally loses it and lunges forward to attack Hinata while she is patiently waiting in line with Helo. Letting his anger guide him Dorimer lunges forward with a light enhanced attack.

  Helo is about to react. He wants to step in front of Hinata, but Hinata’s arm around his own holds him in place. Just as Dorimer is about to reach them, Mrs. Greenleaf appears in the heir’s way. Mrs. Greenleaf is a short woman with an attractive face, green hair and eyes, and a curvy body. Now she is wearing a fitting green dress with one of the school’s blazers over top.

  Grabbing his punching fist, she flips Dorimer over her hip and slams him back first into the ground.

  Looking down at the stunned student Mrs. Greenleaf tuts at Dorimer. “Tc. Tc. Tc. Mr. Starhaven, there is no fighting once someone reaches the arena.” Seeing Dorimer continue to fight, Mrs. Greenleaf snaps her fingers, and a powder appears above her wedding ring within her palm. “Whhhh.” Blowing lightly the teacher sends the powder into Dorimer’s face, knocking him out instantly.

  Standing up straight Mrs. Greenleaf looks around the stunned arena. Looking back at the next person in line she smiles. “So dear, were you next?”

  In forums and social media accounts all over the school, students post the videos of Dorimer getting handled by their alchemy teacher. Only Dorimer embarrassing himself as the heir to the Starhaven Clan, quickly becomes old news.

  In an extremely detailed and zoomed in video someone posts on their social media.

  @JustTryingToPass: I don’t know about you all, but I’m jealous that it isn’t me.

  (In the video posted with the comment, it shows as Mrs. Greenglass appearing in front of two attractive students that look like a nice couple. You can see as the male tries to step in front of the female and she stops him.

  Then the teacher appears. Mrs. Greenleaf might not be as physically fit as a more popular fighting professor. But she makes up for it by being THICK. The video slows down to show Dorimer slamming into Mrs. Greenleaf’s hips and the rippling effect it causes around her. Then showing Dorimer rolling his way around her body and slamming the ground with an equal ripple to her chest.)

  The post quickly blows up and soon it is reposted from different angles with many in the male student population becoming jealous of Dorimer, even some of the female students.

  While Dorimer was taken from the floor of the arena by his party, the line moved on. Even for the heir to one of the sixteen clans, the sanctity of lines is eternal. Helo and Hinata wait patiently as people quickly move forward.

  It was funny for Helo to see more than a few people get nervous as they take their plants from their rings. He assumes those plants must have been stolen and they are worried about pulling a Dorimer.

  When they get to the front of the line, Hinata steps forward and pulls their flower from her ring. The flower is about as tall as Helo’s arm and blooms with massive purple petals. The stem is thick and filled with energy, that energy radiates outward from the petals.

  Mrs. Greenleaf smiles as she sees the flower.

  “Hinata and Alli’s party. First-year.” Hinata says succinctly as she sets the flower down.

  Mrs. Greenleaf doesn’t respond as she examines the flower. “Mhm.” Humming to herself she studies the petals, stem and every other part. “This is well done. This must be… sixth generation?”

  “Seventh actually.” Hinata answers, she is surprised that her teacher can tell how many times they germinated and raised a new flower from the initial seed.

  “Well good job. The stem is full of life energy; the petals have a calming effect. With another few hundred iterations this could turn into a potent natural treasure.” Mrs. Greenleaf smiles at the two of them.

  “But that isn’t your fault, creating natural treasures takes time and effort. Right now to keep it alive and let it germinate properly; it would require assistance of a high-level botanist or…” She gestures with her hand to Hinata. “A dryad.”

  “I would like to give you full marks.” Mrs. Greenleaf looks sad. “But I can tell from how the leaves are changing.” She points to the leaves on the stem of the flower. Where the stem lets energy flow upward, the leaves are starting to gather energy themselves, not pass energy to the stem.

  “Something happened in the pervious iteration. Someone wanted to try something different or had a change of mindset while they were coaxing the flower through its growth.” Mrs. Greenleaf looks at Hinata as she speaks.

  “Yeah… with all the fighting, we had some issues…” Hinata looks away as her worry for Arisah rises. Due to Arisah’s change in personality, her flowers were getting affected. It is probably why all the plants in the Greenhouse came alive when they were attacked.

  “Well. It is no matter.” She waves away her concern. Mrs. Greenleaf has worked with Dryad’s before. She has an idea about what is happening. But she isn’t going to press. If Hinata wants to keep her problem in house, then that is her right.

  “I’ll give you a ninety-five out of one-hundred.” She smiles at Hinata and Helo. “So far you have the highest ranking of first-year students.”

  Saying thank you, Helo and Hinata make their way out of the arena and into the streets of the town. Helo turns to head back to the mansion, but Hinata stops him. Blushing slightly, she pushes a strand of hair out of her face. Looking up with large eyes she says. “Helo-Kun. I was kinda hoped we could go get breakfast.”

  Looking into Hinata’s green eyes Helo struggles to say anything but yes. “Ah… Yeah.” He turns toward the center of town. Walking with Hinata on his arm feels a lot different than it did while walking into town.

  It was like two friends on their way to turn in a project. Now it feels like two people on a date. Not sure what to say or how to react, Helo just soldiers on.

  Beside Helo, Hinata smiles happily. She has made her interest in Helo clear. But she is also aware that they are young, and Helo’s childhood wasn’t normal. Hinata had been told that she would be getting married at eighteen since she was a child. Helo never even considered relationships until she and Alli thrust themselves upon him.

  So, humming happily, Hinata is content with the amount of progress that she made today. Walking alone, arm in arm through the town, also shows to other people that he is taken.

  Their breakfast is a quiet but comfortable affair. With all the school points that they have earned through their field trips, classes, and two challenges they are flush with school points. The two of them find a comfortable diner and order an assortment of good food.

  They don’t speak much, but over time Helo finds himself more comfortable with the situation. At the same time Hinata is happy with the progress she is making. While paying for the meal Hinata holds out her hand to stop Helo.

  Not really understanding the significance of paying for a woman’s meal Helo just shrugs. “Can you order the same meal six-times, and bring it out to go please?” Hinata asks the server. The man that served them was glaring at Helo for allowing Hinata to pay. But his glare quickly turns to shock as Hinata makes her request. Then joy as she pays for the seven meals for two and leaves a large tip.

  It doesn’t seem like much to the two of them, but for their server, the tip was more than his party made in the week before. Trying to contain his joy to save his dignity. He waits for the door to the kitchen to close before his “WHOOOOOP!” can be heard through the restaurant.

  On their walk back home, conversation flows like it did on their walk into town, showing just how comfortable Helo settled into the ‘date’. “So, how are we going to get all that fixed?” Helo asks as they approach the mansion.

  The gate is seared through, the magic and metal cut. The lawn around their wall was destroyed to stop any Dryad shenanigans, and the wall in multiple places is scorched. Not to mention the damage that Alli did with her explosion to their neighbors’ yards.

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  Hinata just shrugs. “Not my problem. If the school wanted to keep their roads clean, they shouldn’t allow people to attack the property of nobles that come to their school. I’m sure the school is already aware of this, so they will be fixing everything, soon. Or they will be getting a lawsuit.” Hinata smiles at the idea of reaching into the coffers of the richest city in the Awakened world and digging out piles of money.

  Moving on they both step into their property. This time Hinata looks less nonchalant. She glares at the destroyed yard and mansion like it personally offended her. In a sterner voice she says. “They will be dealing with that too.” While pointing at the broken mansion.

  “But I will be having Arisah remake the garden exactly how it was.” Hinata says while following Helo over the destroyed ground. Helo holds out a hand to help Hinata from a crater and she smiles at him.

  While pulling her up he asks. “Didn’t she want to change the garden? So why have her make it exactly how it was?”

  Hinata turns to Helo and smiles evilly. “Two reasons. First, she needs time to fix herself. So, she can remake the garden while letting her new high settle. Second, I was going to help her change the garden to learn how to tap into my Dryad heritage. But I don’t want to help her while she is being punished and flushing her system of all the sentient vitality.”

  Helo nods slowly at Hinata’s words. What she is saying sounds nice, but he also realizes that Hinata emphasized the word ‘Punished’ and thinks that she is going to enjoy watching Arisah struggle, maybe a little too much.

  “HOW DARE YOU!” Alli comes barreling from the caved wall. “YOU LEFT WITHO…”

  While Alli is charging them Hinata nudges Helo and holds out her hands. Rolling his eyes Helo understands what Hinata wants. Dropping the steaming food into Hinata’s hands, Alli comes skidding to a stop.

  The excitable Wolf-Kin looks between the two of them. Before giving a small sniff. “Sm. Sm. Smmmm. Haaaaaaa…” The small sniff turns into a long sigh. “I forgive you.” Alli says while taking the bag and turning back to the knocked down wall.

  Daintily stepping over the destroyed wall and into the torn apart living area Alli holds the bag of food over her head. All around her the rest of the party sits on broken and dirty couches, as the nice and elegant table the Kristin brought sits between them. “I HAVE BROUGHT SUSTANCANCE!”

  Breakfast with the party is a nice affair. Hinata and Helo sit off to the side. The two heiresses usually sit next to Helo, but this time is different. Helo and Hinata are slightly leaning toward one another. This shows just how much their small breakfast date grew their relationship.

  The rest of the party eats like starving animals as different dishes pass around the table. While dinner comes to an end Alli stands up with are tablet in hand and attempts to turn on the wall screen.

  Thankfully the wall that collapsed isn’t the wall that has the screen enchantment in it. But the wall that does have the screen has a crack running through it. Pouting at the screen Alli turns to Helo. “HELLOOOOOOO. Fix it!” Alli pouts cutely and throws herself into his lap.

  Rolling his eyes Helo stands up with Alli still latched onto him and dumps her into Hinata’s lap.

  Using a mix of his aura, and supernatural senses, Helo attempts to see if there is a way to get the TV working. At first glance everything is far beyond his own skill to fix. Tracing the enchantments that line where the screen is supposed to be, the crack through the wall splits the enchantment and stops the circuit of mana.

  Pulling free his stylus Helo quickly creates a simple bridge to let the energy flow. Using a piece of mana conductive metal, Helo bridges the crack in the wall. Turning back to Alli he says. “Try it.”

  Holding up her tablet Alli attempts to turn the screen on. With great cheering from the party the screen flickers to life. The image quality is poor, the screen randomly freezes, and there is a massive crack in the middle, but the sound quality is still great. So, the party can still listen and kind of watch, as the school broadcasts the challenge.

  After a while of watching Mrs. Greenleaf judge flowers, most of the party quickly gets bored. Standing up Aiko says. “I am going to go check on the food I had marinating.”

  Not paying attention Helo doesn’t react. Instead, he focuses on the three teenagers on the other side of the room.

  Rocco and Cody are around Rurgrim’s tablet snickering to one another. Getting up Helo goes to look. Hinata, noticing Helo’s interest speaks up. “Hey. What are you three up too?”

  Rurgrim looks up suspiciously fast. “Notin.” He says in a neutral and obviously suspicious voice.

  Once Helo reaches the other side of the room, Rurgrim studies him suspiciously while looking between Helo and the heiresses. After a few seconds he nods to himself like some internal judgment found Helo acceptable.

  Slightly tilting his tablet Rurgrim shows off a video that they were watching. A video in slow motion of their alchemy professor. Helo’s eyes go wide, but at the same time he wants to see it through.

  “What are you watching?” Alli asks with squinted eyes.

  “Nothing.” Helo, Rocco and Rurgrim call out. Cody just stands behind them quietly and nods his head.

  At their group consensus Alli leaps to her feet. “Oh, now I got to see this.” Dashing across the room all the teenagers scatter as the heiress approaches.

  Watching all four boys scatter, Alli wants to chase Helo. But she also knows that the only way she catches him is if he lets her. Looking at the other three she chuckles as the short, round, and slow dwarf attempts to catch up to the much taller half-giant. With a dog like laugh, Alli takes off after Rurgrim.

  Helo quickly finds himself back on the couch with Hinata. Only no matter how many times she pokes him in the ribs, he refuses to speak. Bro-Code doesn’t allow snitches.

  Just as Hinata starts to give up on torturing Helo for information a scream comes from down the hall. “DARNIT, I GIVE YOU INCESSANT MONGREL!”

  Hinata starts to laugh as Rurgrim folds. Helo is about to laugh as well but another scream cuts through the house. “WHO ATE MY MEAT!”

  Helo looks up with wide eyes. He has a flashback to the day before when he found Inka, belly bulging lying on the counter. “Shit.” Helo says before he is wrapped in his aura and dashing out of the house.

  A while later most of the party is laughing as they watch Dorimer get bodied on the TV. Everyone at the school turned in their plants and now they are showing replays of the best plants and some funny reactions. Dorimer’s showing happens to be displayed numerous times. To the eternal delight of Alli and Hinata.

  The only two members of the party who are not fully engaged are Helo and Aiko. Aiko wants to hit Helo with a rolling pin, while Helo doesn’t want to get hit. Even with Lelai and Inka laying on the couches with the rest of the party, Aiko leaves them alone.

  She was more than willing to rub mud into Lelai’s spotless fur. But when she learned it was Inka that got into the fridge and ate the marinating meat, she quickly turned her ire to Helo. It only took one pitiful meow from the adorable baby kitten and she gave up.

  Dodging under Aiko’s fifteenth tossed rolling pin, Helo starts to wonder where she gets so many. He hasn’t been giving them back; he has been storing them in his necklace.

  “AHEM.” The entire party freezes as a cough comes from the knocked down wall. They all slowly turn their heads to look at whoever entered their home.

  Standing in the middle of the gaping hole in their wall, is a man. He is wearing a black suit, with his hair slicked back, and briefcase in hand.

  “PTH.” Rurgrim spits. “Lawyers.”

  “Actually.” The man speaks up far more cheerfully than his ominous presence should allow. “I am the school auditor.”

  Everyone hesitantly stares at the man until Hinata stands up. “You all are ridiculous!” She says while looking at her party. “You act like he is Satan himself.”

  “Close enuf.” Rurgrim grumbles. But everyone else stays quiet.

  “What can I do for you mister…?” Hinata says.

  “Oh, my bad. Silly me.” The man smiles cheerfully. “I am Jorm Jormson.”

  “Oh… Well nice to meet you, Mr. Jormson. What can I do for you?” Hinata says.

  The auditor sets his briefcase down on the air and opens it with a “Click.”. Pulling out different pieces of paper he starts to list off what he needs.

  “First. This is for the destroyed plants around your wall.” He looks from the paper to Hinata.

  “Not us.” Hinata casually waves like she is removing whatever is on the paper. To most of her party’s surprise Jorm nods.

  “Yes.” He sets the paper to the left side of his briefcase, still in the air. “And this one is for the plants around your neighbors wall.” This time he looks at Alli.

  Hinata speaks up for Alli. “Self-Defense. I don’t know. Lawyer.”

  “Lawyer?” Jorm asks.

  “You will need to speak to the Kashiwagi Lawyers.” Hinata smiles thinly at Jorm.

  “Mhm.” Jorm sets the paper down on the right side of his briefcase, still in mid-air.

  “Your destroyed garden?” He asks.

  “I don’t know. Laywer.” She responds. He sets the paper down to the right.

  “Destroyed Mansion.” He asks.

  “I don’t know. Lawyer.” She responds. He sets the paper down to the right.

  “The destroyed Greenhouse.” He asks.

  “I don’t know. Lawyer.” She responds. He sets the paper down to the right.

  “Mhm.” Jorm nods to himself. “The reported two-hundred-fifty students trapped within your Greenhouse as…” He scans the paper. “What was it called, Bio-Batteries?”

  Hinata looks a little sheepish at his question. “Um, I don’t know… Lawyer. But we will investigate promptly.”

  “Mhmh.” Jorm nods. “Well, it looks like that is all then.” He says while packing up his stuff. “Have a great day.”

  The entire party stares with wide eyes as Jorm leaves. Then those eyes are turned to Hinata. “How did you do that?” Alli asks.

  “It was like staring into a dark abyss, and Hinata was reaching in to save us.” Luna says with stars in her eyes. As the person in the party that takes care of business matters, she wants whatever Hinata has.

  Hinata sheepishly smiles. “I was just doing what my father told me to do. He said, ‘If you get into trouble. Deny. Deny. Deny. Call Troy.’ He is the clan’s Head Lawyer.”

  “Wow… That was amazing.” Luna still stares with awe.

  “So, what is going to happen?” Rocco asks, getting the party back on track.

  “Well. They will contact the lawyers. Then there will be some kind of lengthy discussion that we just dodged. Then they will make some kind of arrangements to get everything cleaned up. The only input I am going to have is to make sure that the flower beds are repaired but not planted.” Hinata says while pulling out her phone to fall her father.

  She scratches her cheek awkwardly. “We also need to deal with Arisah’s Bio-Battery.”

  “YOU FAILED! WORSE YOU MADE ME LOOK LIKE A FAILEURE!” Dorimer shouts from behind his desk. The group of people on the other side of the desk have an array of different reactions.

  Allen looks frustrated but also like a picked dog. He has the kind of personality that makes him a weasel to the boss and lash out at those under him.

  Kumar and Henry both look frustrated. They didn’t want to play a part in whatever game Dorimer was playing. But when they saw the numbers and strength arrayed against them, they knew that if they wanted to get something in the end, they needed to sign up or get lost.

  A few of the other party leaders feel similarly to them. The crafters in the back of the room just want to be left alone. Most of them weren’t offered anything but Dorimer’s continued goodwill. In reality it meant that if they didn’t get on board, they would find their businesses harassed.

  “WELL, NONE OF YOU ARE GETTING ANYTHING!” Dorimer shouts at the group. Do these idiots really expect me to pay up when they couldn’t even get me what I want… and worse. Dorimer doesn’t even want to talk about the embarrassment that happened earlier that day.

  Everyone across the desk now has their anger and frustration directed toward the Light Elf across from them. For most of the crafters they worry that Dorimer is going to take his own anger out on them.

  “GET OUT!” Dorimer shouts at the group. They all shuffle out of the Light Elf’s office.

  Grumbling on their way into the street the crafters start to gather as they walk back toward the crafting district and their homes. “Did you hear about the Brightmoon family. The son of their Dungeon Master just took over the street near his girlfriend’s shop.”

  “Do you think he will take us in as well? Our street is only a few away from his own?” Someone else asks.

  While the crafters gather and discuss their futures. The party leaders all meet back with their party members. “So did you get the money?” “Did you get the resource?” “Why do you look so mad?”

  Questions like these keep popping up as the bruised at battered fighters excitedly ask their leaders for their pay. For some it means new weapons, armor and enchanted gear, for others it means getting affinity or bloodline boosting resources.

  By the time everyone disperses Dorimer has no idea about the storm he just unleashed. He just broke the golden rule of mercenary work, paying out your contract.

  The storm starts out small but, in a few days, the entire school knows that Dorimer skimps out on payment. By the end of next week, the city. By the end of the month, the world knows that the Starhaven clan doesn’t honor their contracts.