DUELLING BEGAN ONCE more as we were all summoned by Coach to the sports hall after school. Cait, Theo, Christian, Adelina and I all clumped up together, though I graciously shared few words with Theo and mainly chatted away with the girls. Adelina was the only one among us who admitted to having trained over the summer, which was expected. Her entire family was filled with duellists. Of course she'd have trained.

Coach Penderson crossed his arms as he studied us. "I hope you haven't forgotten everything I'd taught you last year."

Christian said, with clear sarcasm in his voice, "We dare not, Coach. We'd never do such a thing."

Coach snorted. "Yeah, sure. Get stretching, then, and show me what you've retained over the holidays. It better be a lot."

Caitlyn and I exchanged a glance, but neither of us said anything as we began with our stretching and warm-up routine. It was relatively simple, nothing that really tired anyone out.

So we got over that quickly, and Coach began to work on our technique. I was paired with Adelina, and we were instructed to predict each other's footing and respond to it immediately. It was one of those things that few people actually managed to adapt into actual combat, but it somehow helped.

"Oh, fuck off," I growled as Adelina managed to feint left before darting right again. "How do you keep doing this?"

Adelina smirked. "I'm just better, what else can I say?"

I glared at her. She grinned back like a goddamned Cheshire Cat. With a roll of my eyes, I said, "Let's try that again."

"Alright, if you say so."

Five seconds later, she'd managed to dupe me again. But by now I was starting to get numb to it, so we simply continued again and again and again until I finally managed to predict her a couple times—she had a tell, I finally decided. Whichever side she was planning to duck to, her hand gave a little twitch. Once I noticed that, I could tell where she was going to go.

I was a bit harder to guess for Adelina. Problem was that she was far faster than me, and even when I could dupe her, she could quickly adjust so that I had no openings. But I was still managing to get her, which was all Coach cared about anyways.

I only had a single match against Christian that session. I lost, but it was far closer than I'd ever thought it'd be. Coach called us all together again at the end of the session, and said, "I'm considering recruiting two or three more people into the Club."

I snapped up. "Audrey. Audrey Chan. She's really good, you should definitely bring her in."

Cait raised her hand. "Tom Wyatt is actually really good too, he's just always too lazy during class to showcase his full ability."

"Not Tom Wyatt," Coach said with a shake of his head. "Like you said, too lazy. And he never takes anything seriously. It won't work."

"You could try...?"

"I'd prefer not to take any risks."

Coach wasn't much of a risk taker anyways. I'd noticed that. Which was why it still surprised me that he'd picked me out of a sea of people who were more or less my skill level, or even better. It showed how much he trusted Adelina. Or maybe I was here as Adelina's emotional support baggage, since I assumed Adelina's brothers would have told Coach about how competitive she was.

But that just seemed like a waste of space all around. So I assumed I had at least something to recommend myself with, and putting that with Adelina's support, Coach had decided I was the person to go with last year. It made sense.

Audrey was one of the few people I could think of who most definitely deserved to be in the Duellers' Club. She was faster and stronger than me, and that made up for her greener skills and technique. Besides, that could be taught quickly. Physical strength could not be gained in such a short amount of time, which was my problem half the time.

That, and the fact that I hadn't stepped foot in the school gym since about Michaelmas of last year.

Really, you couldn't blame me. That place was mostly filled with sweaty boys who smelt like absolute shit and liked to hog the speakers playing some horrendous songs that threatened to blow my eardrums out. I'd much rather work out in my dorm, but that usually meant the exercise I did was quite light and simple. Which was honestly fine, since I got enough exercise every week, but also wouldn't help much with my current dilemma.

But at the same time, duelling was not a path I wanted to pursue as any kind of career. It was a hobby and nothing more than that. I didn't mind being the worst out of the most elite group of duellists in the year. That was fine by me.

So, I simply didn't care much at all.

Adelina tilted her head. "Honestly, sir, anyone in our Advanced Combat class could probably make it with a bit more training." Our class hadn't changed at all this year. It was all the same people. And Adelina was correct in her statement. Everyone was really fucking good in our class.

"Reason I picked you guys over them," Coach began, "is because you either had more technique, are more skilled, or showed more potential." I was probably the first and the last two factors. "I'll think about it. Try not to mention this to anyone, yeah? I want to see everyone's actual level. How they actually perform on a daily basis."

None of us would say anything because we were a team. The Duellers' Club operated on a simple rule: if one person failed, everyone else failed. Having one person win the championship while someone else got dead last was not something to be proud of. That was not a success. Besides, we wanted to win overall. With every student. On average.

We could not, unfortunately, rely on Christian and Adelina to carry us through the entire thing.

If we could, I'd have stopped training myself nearly as hard as I was years ago. At the end of the day, why would you want to work harder to achieve the same results as you could if you didn't?

Humans were lazy by nature. No one wanted to work hard if they could choose not to. It was in our blood, carved in our DNA.

Thus, whoever got in would have to do so with their own skills. There would be no help from us pre existing members. It wasn't like we could help much even if we wanted to anyways. It was a bit out of our power.

And with that we were dismissed from the club, heading on our respective ways back to house. It was the end of the day, so all that was left was meals and prep. I didn't have any prep tonight, which was nice enough.

It was a Tuesday though, so per our previous agreement, I'd be meeting Theo for a tutoring session tonight. I didn't mind it that much. Since the workload was still relatively manageable, most of our sessions were rather chill. We sat around and talked about the latest things we'd learnt in class, what we did and didn't understand, occasionally exchanged some gossip (usually I acquired this through extortion), and then we left.

It was still awkward, but both of us were far more comfortable around the other than when we'd originally started our sessions. And thankfully, no one had noticed either of us being missing every Tuesday night yet. They probably thought we had some kind of activity.

I'd never been more grateful that most of the girls in my house were not nosy people. Because this really was a bit difficult to explain, the more that I think about it.

Which was why I stopped thinking about it.

That was always the way to work things.

We were still learning about the Jeruvian Laws, though we were not focusing on its impact on later history. Theo wasn't finding much difficulty there. If he was I'd be concerned, because it was honestly one of the easiest parts of the entire curriculum.

So now I was testing him on it, since that helped me too. "Which of the Jeruvian Laws was listed and used during the Trial of Harranosha Fowren in 1645?"

"The second one." He tilted his head. "And then in the second trial in 1646, the first one was used instead."

"That is correct." I scrolled down my notes. "The most well known case of the third law?"

"Lord Gatwick in 1752."

"Correct again. You memorise shit really fast."

"There's a reason I get good grades."

"Narcissist."

"You initiated the conversation."

"Not for you to praise yourself, thank you very much."

"I might as well," he shrugged, "you were praising me anyways."

I had not realised that Theodore Yu was such a narcissistic person before this, but now I did. He was proud, very proud of his academic achievements. They were his reputation, his personality and everything in between. I always thought he was one of those people who looked cold and unapproachable on the surface but was nice underneath, but no, that was who he was. Someone who wore his achievements on his sleeves, who showed it off without much successful subtly (though not without attempts).

At least he tried to hide it, I supposed, even if he always did a very shitty job at it.

Though sometimes it felt even worse and more humiliating.

But despite this he was still a fairly nice person to be around, if I ignore our past differences, which I rarely ever did. But I prided myself on being fair (not really), so I was still willing to admit it.

I shut my eyes in exasperation, and instead said, "Right. If you're done with that, could we move onto something else instead?"

"Go ahead," he said, spreading his arms. "Or do you want me to quiz you on artefacts now?"

"Please do." That was the deal anyways.

He didn't even need to glance at his notes or textbook. With a snap of his fingers, he began, "When was the Heart of Yolanda made?" The Heart of Yolanda was an enchanted necklace artefact that bestowed its wearer with the ability to breath in water for prolonged periods of time.

I blinked. "1781. In America."

"Correct. The Durnford Axe."

"Around 1364. Exact date unknown. In England. It was part of the Royal Collection for many years, though no one was aware of its true use until much later."

"The Tanaka Katana."

"God, I hate that one. It's so stereotypical and stupid. 1833. In Japan, quite obviously."

"!834, actually. The plans for it began in 1833, but the actual katana was crafted the year afterwards."

"They're not going to deduct a mark for that, right?"

"They might," Theo said somberly. "The exam board is quite specific about this kind of stuff. It's 1834. It's better to be safe than sorry, you know."

"Of course, of course. 1834 it is." I kept that in mind. I'd have to change it on my notes, since it seemed I'd copied down the wrong date. No matter.

"Right, uh, what else is there? Oh, who created the Lei Yu Dao?"

"Bo Wei. In the Northern Song Dynasty. Though it was kept in his personal collection for many years until it was looted when the dynasty fell."

"Good, good. See, you're not all that bad at artefacts anyways."

"I'm usually decent with it. Until the exams. That's when I mess up."

"Well, I can't help you take your exams, can I?"

"But you can help me make sure I'd be prepared for exams. The same way I'm helping you with that."

He sighed, slumping in the wooden chair. "This was a fucking stupid idea in the first place. I don't know why I agreed with it."

"Well, it's too late to back out now." I pinned him with my eyes, extinguishing and relighting the magical flame in my palm. "It's far, far, far too late to back out now, Theodore Yu."

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. "I didn't notice. Don't worry, I won't back out of the deal. I'm a man of my words."

"I was not aware of that," I deadpanned. "What shocking news. Call the campus newsletter, they have to know about this. Theodore Yu keeps to his promises, huzzah! A cause for celebration all across Bridewater."

"No," he mused, "just the school, I think. Not the entirety of the city. Just the school."

"You're overstating your relevancy."

"Oh, more people know me than you at any rate."

"Just the boys, I think. I don't think half of Lok or Sorren knows who you are."

"Like I give a shit."

"Oh really."

He grimaced. "Fine. It's slightly annoying. But still more relevant than you."

"That's true enough," I agreed. "But then again you have one extra year on me. So really, the two of us cannot be compared on a fair basis."

"Fuck fairness."

I raised my hand. "We're getting off-track here. Can we get back on business? If you want to exchange snarky comments, we can do that on social media. Not right now. My time is actually precious."

"Oh, what are you in such a rush for? What, a one hour shower?"

"Actually, if you add in my full skincare routine and blowdrying my hair, yeah, it pretty much takes an hour."

Now he looked horrified. "What the fuck? That is such a waste of water."

"I'm not showering the whole time."

"A waste of time and energy, then. Do you have nothing else to do except taking ridiculously and unnecessarily long showers?"

"They're necessary," I growled. "Trust me. If you were female and didn't have a dick, you'd realise how necessary they are."

"I don't think I would."

"You would, trust me. For starters, my hair takes at least twice or more the time it takes for you to wash yours."

"Cut it short, then."

"I don't want to."

"Then suffer the consequences."

"Thank you, I'm not complaining about it. You're the one who brought it up in the first place."

His ensuing eye roll said all I needed to know about his particular feelings on that subject.

I didn't pay it any mind. Theodore Yu was someone who said a great deal more than he actually felt, which was something I'd laugh at if I was told a mere few weeks ago. But he was what we'd call dao zi zhui dou fu xin. The mouth of a knife and the heart of tofu. Or, in more western terms, looks like they could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll.

Which was, funny enough, what some of my friends had labelled me in the past. But I rather thought that I was slightly, just slightly, more deadly than Theodore Yu.

Or so I wished.

We got back onto studying after that, and ended up discussing some other subjects alongside it. Namely Maths and Human Sciences, neither of which were subjects particularly up my alley. Of which Theo were gods at as well, because why wouldn't he be? Theodore Yu wasn't human and I'd learnt that fact last year already. It was nothing to be surprised about, but sometimes I forgot.

It was quite disheartening to know that the person you disliked so much was also so bloody brilliant at everything he did. Even his idea of "flopping" Theory of Magic and History of Magic would be considered successes in the eyes of a majority of students. Sometimes, when he answered everything I threw at him correctly, I wondered why he needed me to tutor him at all. He seemed to be better at me at both subjects sometimes.

I pinned it down to interest. It seemed that both of us were people who were only brilliant at subjects we were genuinely interested in. For me, that was History and Theory of Magic. For him, that was Artefacts. Sure, we'd do well in most of our other subjects, but never to a level that we ourselves were pleased with. Thus why he felt the need to come to me for help, and why I felt the need to ask him as well.

It was a good exchange.

—

THE TESTS STARTED ramping up at around late October. Everything started to pick up. All the students got back into an academic mindset, all the teachers were back into exam mode, and everyone was starting to freak out as the days to our provisional subject choices for ACMs came closer and closer. It felt like time had gone so quickly. Merely a year or so ago we had nothing to really worry about. We were enjoying our lives with no pressure, surrounded by childhood bliss and innocence.

And then, with a snap of the finger, we were on the verge of adulthood. I was turning sixteen in a matter of months, and everything had gone far too quickly, and no one was ready. Discussions at meals slowly turned from the latest gossip to subject choices, and some more ambitious students (myself included), slowly started bringing in the topics of university and future career choices into the mix.

No one seemed ready. Even those of us who seemed like we were simply weren't. I could put on a calm facade, but it would not stop the fact that was my heart was pumping every time the teachers mentioned subject choices and JCMs exams. They were more than six months away, but I could still practically feel them on my fingertips. It seemed like I'd blink one morning and then we'd be there, in the exam rooms, scribbling and writing away with utmost concentration for one of the most important exams of our lives.

No matter how the teachers told us that the exams were far away, and that we did not have to worry for another month or two, the weight of the pressure was already there. We could all feel it. We all knew it was there.

It was one afternoon after a Maths test when Yunji, James Taylor and I slowly made our way back to house.

Yunji looked physically exhausted, and I had no doubt she felt that way too. She was saying, "I can't believe I studied so much for it only for the test to be that simple. Like, come on. They could at least make it a little bit harder."

James Taylor, who wasn't in our class but had just done the same paper, shrugged. "I'm grateful, honestly. I'd rather study extra for a easy test than study too little for a difficult one. At least we could b sure to get decent grades this way."

Yunji sighed. "But like, it feels like such a waste, you know, all the studying I did."

"Girlie," I interjected, glancing at her. "You've been sleeping late and waking early every day to study for this fucking test. It's not that important. Calm down."

"I know, I know," Yunji said impatiently, "but I really wanted to do good on it, you know."

"It doesn't matter in the long run." But I did study for it a lot too. I even briefly considered putting off one of my tutoring sessions with Theo for it, before realising that one hour less of studying really wouldn't do much harm. And I needed to calm down and stop thinking about tests after tests.

But even I didn't put nearly as much effort into it as Yunji, who even skipped some meals to stay in her dorm for studying. It was ridiculous. Adelina and I both voiced our concerns about it, but it had been ignored. Yunji was fine. Or so she claimed.

I wanted to believe her, I really did, but at the same time...

Something just felt wrong. Her change over the summer, while for the better, seemed unnatural and almost forced. It was never normal when someone grew up so quickly all at once. It didn't make any sense. And some of the changes just seemed odd for Yunji's overall character.

It was... weird. But at the same time, it wasn't my place to pry. Not right now, when it seemed to be only starting.

I knew that the way things usually worked was that you were meant to stop problems before they started. But I'd realised that usually applied only to yourself. You were only helping if the person you wanted to help wanted to be helped. And right now, Yunji was completely against the idea of it. So why would I risk straining our relationship or hurting her pride by helping when she thought she had it handled?

She wasn't an idiot. When it had gone too far, when she realised she couldn't handle it anymore, she'd ask for help. And by then I'd know how to help anyways. The right words to say, the right things to do.

I didn't, not right now.

Sometimes, it turns out that patience is what you need after all.