Rising Shards

Ko watched as her sister stretched her injured leg forward, looking like she wanted to sit anywhere but the desk she was in.

“How’s the leg feeling?” Ko asked.

“It’s mostly healed up.” Kai said. She had hurt it in the big skirmish where Kalei had gotten taken by Ovie Chirhart and friends.

“I know that, but like right now?”

“Feeling kind of stiff and sore.” Kai said. “Not looking forward to this.”

“Yeah, me too,” Ko said. “But if I pass this, I get a kiss.”

Kai rolled her eyes. “Just to be clear, it’s not just for a kiss, right?”

“Yes, I actually really like her too,” Ko said. She and Lillia had agreed that if Ko passed her finals, the two would have their first kiss. “And because I really like her, I want to kiss her.”

“As long as liking her takes priority.” Kai said.

“You’re not even into this romance stuff, I hate that you actually have good advice.” Ko said.

“Maybe it’s because I’m not into it that I’m like. Wise about it or something.” Kai said. “I know my sister is a dumbass, so maybe I just see your past mistakes and go all like, ‘oh, don’t want you to do that again.’”

“Wish you could have used that future sight to keep us out of the loser exams,” Ko said. “How did I end up here, anyways?”

“Because we’re both pretty stupid and bad at school?” Kai said. “And this isn’t the loser exams, it’s like a ‘we think you might royally bone this up given how badly you’ve done so far so have some extra help on your finals’ kind of deal.”

“Again, why me? I had Lillia help me study!”

“She helped you at the end of the semester,” Kai said. “When we were both stupid as hell for that first ninety percent of it.”

“True, true,” Ko looked around the classroom, seeing a mix of other students in the ‘needing extra help on finals’ crew as well as some students caught in the back and forth between Rising Shards and Wildfire Hearts. “How the hell are we here and not Iris and Maia? I’m at least smarter than Iris Arco.”

“Are you?” Kai asked.

“Yes!” Ko said. “And don’t tell me she’s some secret genius or something, I don’t buy it.”

“It’s not good to be so heated right before the test,” Kai said. “Chill out a bit.”

Latte, seated a few desks away, perked up at their conversation and joined them.

“You know what always gets me relaxed?” Latte asked, holding up her thermos.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say coffee.” Ko said.

“How’d you know?” Latte said. “Would you like a sip?”

“I’m good.” Ko said.

“I’ll take a sip,” Kai said.

Latte gave Kai a paper cup filled with coffee.

“Thanks, bud!”

“You may be wondering my selection process,” Latte said. “Some I grant the privilege of enjoying my coffee, and others I deny.”

“I really don’t wonder about that,” Ko said.

“Well, you should,” Latte said.

“So what’s your selection process?” Kai asked.

“She doesn’t even know.” Roux said. “Latte, give me a sip.”

“No.” Latte said.

“See?” Roux said.

“Why is everyone coming over here?” Ko asked.

“Because I go where the action is,” Roux said. “And as of right now, in this very classroom, the action is making fun of Latte.”

“Now you’re definitely not getting coffee from me,” Latte said.

“You’re missing out, it’s delicious.” Kai said.

As Latte and Roux debated if Latte had an actual process for deciding who gets her coffee or not, the love trio sat down nearby.

“Did all three of you really need the loser exam?” Ko asked.

“Rain’s here because of the raiding,” KJ said. “I probably don’t even need to explain that, as we were all so shaken by the heartrending loss of Rain, which was mercifully fairly short lived overall.”

“Uh…huh.” Ko said. “But you two weren’t raided, so…?”

“KJ needs the remedial exam, while I am only here to support Rain.” Amara said. “Alright, I’m here to support KJ as well.”

“Is that allowed?” Ko asked.

“I will be taking my leave as soon as the exam starts. But I am allowed to sit with my favorite people to offer my support prior to test time.”

“You’re too sweet, Amara,” Rain said.

“I’m surprised our new enemy isn’t here,” KJ said.

“Your new what now?” Ko asked.

“Have you heard of that girl named Chumbler?” Amara asked. “She made a fool of Rain, and all of us really, so Rain enacted a longstanding Novu tradition and declared her our enemy.”

“Huh,” Ko said. “Now I kinda wish she was here to see you guys fight.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t sully a classroom with our rivalry with Chomper like that.” Rain said. “But I would perhaps make her test taking more difficult as a bit of revenge. Mainly utilizing my mind powers to influence her to write incorrect answers or just have a headache.”

“Remind me not to end up on your enemy list.” Ko said, hoping Rain would keep that power to herself.

When it was finally time to start the test, Ko was ready, partially just to shut everyone up around her. But mainly because this test had a lot more on the line than a passing grade. She thought about all the extra time Lillia put in tutoring her, how cute she looked explaining concepts, and then explaining them again because Ko was too busy staring. The kiss was the big reward, but Ko did feel like she owed Lillia a passing grade for all the hard work she did.