Alex sighed and let Kiros go. He was in some kind of pain, and she didn't want to intrude on his feelings.

And then she had nothing to do. Her classes were over, and she didn't feel like looking over her books.

I guess I'll go work off some frustration with Madoka, then.

She turned abruptly and reversed her direction.

******

This room was one of the more secluded ones. The walls were painted plain white, which revealed many faint red stains, like dripping blood. The woman standing there with Alex wore nothing but thigh-high black stockings and a black silk ribbon that barely covered her nipples.

Her name was Madoka Mido. In addition to possessing a voracious sexual appetite, she was openly bisexual. It was rumored that she never went back to her room before twelve at night.

She stood with hands on her hips, displaying her toned, tanned body to Alex and anyone who cared to look through the glass observation windows. The latter didn't look very comfortable being in front of her.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Alex?"

Alex sighed.

"Yeah, I am. I... I just need someone else now. I'd do it myself, but it just doesn't feel like the real thing. Besides, I'm feeling worked up because I got forced into a date tonight."

"Oh?" The woman narrowed her eyes, her tongue playing over her lips. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"His name is Kiros."

"Oh, Kiros... Yes, he's delicious all right. Come on, let me join in, will you?"

Madoka shot Alex a look of unabashed lust, and the latter's face turned pink with embarassment.

"Miss Madoka... please..."

"Fair enough. Take off your clothes, then. You know how it is."

"Must we? I don't think it'll be as messy as last time..."

"Look, if you go back with all those stains on your blouse and skirt, people will know what we've been doing here. Then you're going to get in big trouble again, and so will I. We shouldn't even be together at all, let alone doing this kind of thing. Besides, I don't have any spare clothes and I don't wear anything you'd be caught dead in."

It seemed impossible for Alex's face to flush any redder, yet it did.

"But Miss Madoka... what if someone sees us?"

"Let them go ahead and look then. I'll teach them how to do it right."

"But we'll be almost naked..."

There was a disconcerting sensation of sliced time, and suddenly Madoka was in Alex's face, holding the girl's hot face up by the chin. Alex's lips quivered as Madoka fixed her with eyes that were suddenly as piercing as a thermic lance.

"Listen, dearie. I'm going to give you a good time, so you'd better give me one too, all right? I like seeing you that way and you know I'm the only one who'll do this for you."

Alex looked down. She'd come all this way. She couldn't just go back now.

"...All right."

There was a brief, uncomfortable silence as Alex doffed her clothes and folded them up in the corner of the room. Finally, she spoke up

"Could w-we start now, M-Miss Mid-do?"

"Always so eager, eh? Fair enough. Get ready!"

Madoka's stance changed. Now she was all business. She leaned forward, one hand on a bent knee, the other behind her. Alex gulped, blinking her embarassment and nervousness aside, and called a piece of cardboard to her side with her telekinetic power, holding it in front of her like a makeshift shield.

Madoka grinned, and flung her hand forward. A trio of small crimson pellets shot forth. Alex shifted and the cardboard followed, turning the pellets into a trio of red stains.

"Very good, Alex. Looks like you've been paying attention. But paying attention where? To my body?"

"Mi-"

Before Alex could complete her sentence, there was that feeling of sliced time again. Madoka had suddenly shifted position in the blink of an eye, and Alex's shield couldn't prevent a paintball from splashing against her shoulder.

Madoka laughed, a teasing, slight mockery, as she chided her pupil.

"Focus, dear, focus. Or is the date tonight getting you hot and bothered?"

To her credit, Alex fought back the heat that suffused her face with the mention of the date and managed to deflect the next volley, which came from above. But Madoka was relentless, and she could move with incredible speed and agility, so much so that it almost seemed to Alex that she was being attacked by four or five people at once. The marks on Alex's flesh slowly increased, until finally, after a good thirty minutes of this, Alex dropped the shield, now painted a uniform red, and raised a hand in surrender.

"What? Tired already? What a shame..."

Madoka swept her hair back, pulling the strands stuck on her face back, thrusting her ample chest forward. Producing a small black band out of nowhere, she tied her flowing hair into a ponytail, then stepped forward to the kneeling Alex.

"I must say, you have gotten better. But your right side's a little weak, and you got hit a lot on your feet. Don't always rely on your shield. You have to move too."

"Yes, Miss Mido."

"Oh yeah, one more thing..."

"Yes?"

"Get more exciting underwear, will you? Plain white cotton just doesn't turn me on any more. Or better yet, don't wear any at all."

Alex blushed again, and Madoka laughed again, clapping her student on the back.

"You're adorable, you know that? Anyways, shower time. And I'd better send one of the cleaners to take care of this place. Come on, follow me."

As Alex meekly complied, she couldn't suppress the part inside her which had taken a guilty pleasure in Madoka's teasing.

"Aww, no," Chrysalis looked down in dismay at the burnt ruins of the crane. I pushed a little too hard, I guess, she thought. Bah, well. Now's a good time to wander. 'snot like I have anything I have that I can't carry, she fingered the rubix cube hanging from a clip in the belt of her uniform.
Well, then, she mused as she looked around, Guess I'll knock around, and see who's here.

She started towards a door, and knocked on it. Inside, music that had been blaring loudly had faded away, and the distinct sound knuckles contacting wood made sounded intrusive to the silence inbetween. Chrysalis wondered if she should've done that, since whoever inside (namely Kiros) was definitely very... angsty.

Kiros's eyes shot open at the sharp sound of the knock, breaking him away from his thoughts violently. Hish and shot under his pillow and fumbled for the remote control to his stereo system, almost as an instinct in the few adrenalized moments. The next song on the CD had already begun to play by the time he managed to lay his hands upon the control and hit the stop button.

'Probably one of my 'neighbors',' he thought bitterly, as he feet touched the ground by the side of his bed. All he had wanted was a little time to himself to make himself feel better, and when he was almost there someone had to complain. Someone always had to interrupt him.

He growled quietly as he walked to the door, and then opened it a crack, getting ready to tell someone to 'fuck off and die.' However, what he saw wasn't a student from a neighboring dorm, teacher, or member of the student police. It was, instead a, not altogether unattractive, asian girl. One he didn't recognize.

His eyebrows moved up a little bit in shock, and the irritation on his face quickly dissipated. It wasn't every day that he was visited by cute women, and, regardless of who she was, he was going to do his best not to ruin the one time one of them did.

The door swung open the rest of the way with a quick push, and he tried to force a bit of a smile, although it was pretty obvious he still wasn't happy from looking.

"Um... Hi...?" He half said, and half questioned. He would have asked her name but he wasn't sure if he SHOULD know it or not, and he didn't want to insult her by not remembering.

The door, however, bounced back after opening and smacked him in the arm, elliciting a second response of, "Ow! What the hell...?" followed by a mystified stare locked directly upon the offending piece of school, everything else forgotten.

He had NEVER been hit by an inanimate object like that, before.

As the timers for the cake began to beep, he could feel the relief pouring off of the other students. They all preferred the normal teachers to the occasional wandering chef because the wandering chefs more often than not simply repeated what they had already learned, in as boring a way as possible. He retrieved his own cake and packed it up in a smaller version of the tray he had used earlier. He would have to return it tomorrow, but he intended to see the cake finished off before then. Now that the class was over, he headed towards the building which Mr. Hunter had told him to go to.

Brent and Razma stood apart, breathing heavily, weapons still in their hands. Puddles and bits of ice were scattered about; one of Brent's lances had shattered at some point during the fight. "Not bad," said Brent. "I'd say you stand a pretty good chance in that exam." He snapped his half-melted lances and tossed them aside before leaving.

"You definitly got skill yourself. Half those moves you did could be aplied to a halberd anyway." Razma said to Brent as he left. Now he was worn out completely, and decided that maybe its time to call it a day. I just hope things have calmed down at the dorm

A trio of fencers (two girls, and a boy) stepped up to challenge Ripel. The taller girl smiled at Ripel, bowing slightly; a moment later and the other two followed in suit. "Ripel, it's a beautiful day here in the park. How about you sharpen your skills against all three of us?"

He smiled back, though he was a little hesitant. He'd never had fought all three before, and they were relatively close to his own skill level in terms of pure swordsmanship. Still, he'd never back away from a challenge. "You're on."

Moving into a wider area of the park, the trio each drew a wooden broadsword while Ripel took a leather whip in hand. Taking their positions, he noticed the three had taken up a triangular formation around him. Deciding that it would be a bad idea to be attacked from all sides, he quickly dashed ahead to try to catch Bow (who was in front of him) by surprise.

Seeing her prepare to strike, he lashed out with a whip to try to knock her weapon out of her hand. Unsurprisingly, she avoided that attack, but got caught off guard when he jumped and kicked her in the stomach, which sent her back a couple of feet into the ground.

Not waiting to see her go down, Ripel spun around just as he landed to see Sham lunging towards him. Rolling to the side, he effectively avoided the blade, and watched as Sham go past him. Regaining his balance, he used his whip again to grab Sham by the legs and trip him.

That only left one more to go. Where is she? He looked around for Roe, the last member of the of the trio, but caught no sight of her; only a couple bystanders stood watching them.

Suddenly, he felt something jumping down from the treetops above him. Tossing his weapon inside, he turned around just in time to catch the blade with his bare hands. As he held it mere inches from his face he could tell that Roe was blushing. "What's wrong? Why are all your movements slower than usual?"

Her face became even redder, and she avoided his gaze. "Ri...Ripel, Bow-chan wa wanted to know if you'd like to come to our room after this."

"What?!" Okay, so over the years, people of the school have become more...playful, but...she's probably just asking if he could study with them.

"Sham could join in the sex too if you want. We've also got toys."

At that point, Ripels brain just died. Even if he could be cold and uncaring to strangers, there was still a part of him that could be considered normal. It was this part of him that fondly thought of them as friends, and so many thoughts had passed through that that he couldn't think straight. The one thing he would later remember was that he realized how soft the girls were.

Finally, he heard someone giggling, and a sword was pushed into his back and placed under his chin. "See guys, I told you he'd get all flustered like this." It was Sham, as usual. Playing games with his head, as usual. He could even hear the teacher watching over the fight laugh at him. Too bad he didn't get that teacher's name.

"Can you do me a favor? You know, like die?"

Roe blushed and apologized, but Bow smirked, and they withdrew their swords. "Aww...if it makes you feel better, the offer still stands."

Ripel then decided that it would probably be a good idea to just lock himself in his room today.

OOC Edit: Posting who the teacher is in about an hour or less. I need to look over those who already exist.

Ken had left the dorm and was heading to one of the sword training buildings. With his jobs around the school, Ken had finally saved up enough money to buy his own sword. He was perfectly okay with using wooden training weapons with Bearn, but when the magic dummies came out (magically made entities that you can fight against) he didn't want to use some of the downright ancient swords the school supplied.

Granted, he'd once had a sword of his own when he'd been a bandit, but he'd given it up. This memory carried him all the way to Bearn's office. He stopped as he heard two distinct voices within. Ms Bloom, and Bearn.

"Do you think we've done what we have to?" said the distinct melodic voice of Bearn.

"It is difficult to tell. Ken obviously knows what is right and what is wrong, but he seems...unable in a way to choose between them. It's like he's been set of a completely random track where he usually chooses the wrong thing."

"Did you hear what he did to one of the students? Now, I'm all for defending yourself, but if I hadn't stepped in...I'm pretty sure Ken would've killed him right there. Normally, I'd be refusing to teach someone so...dangerous, but he's...unique. I've heard of people being gifted with weapons before, but Ken is beyond that. Not in skill, just that...every moment he exists he is perfectly ready to fight. It scares me."

"We must hold faith. I have no doubt Ken can learn from him mistakes. I don't think that the Oracle will be right. In ten years, he'll be off heroing, just like you did. With what we've been doing, there's no way he'll be that tyrant who sits on a throne of skulls."

Ken paused, ready to knock. But he hesitated. He now knew what his two more important teachers thought of him. He'd believed that they had been training him to be a hero, but now...they were only trying to prevent him from becoming a monster.

Silently, he whispered, "A sword is a piece of art, intended for the most brutal acts of mankind..." This mantra he'd learned hit home now more than ever. Giving him a sword wouldn't be a positive thing like he'd thought. It would just be unshackling another chain.

Ken turned on the spot there, and decided to head back to his dorm. Moros would be training for a bit, and if anything, Ken needed some solitude now.

Jonnas' shift at the front desk passed by normally. Which isn't always a good thing, since it usually involves quite a few idiots. After finally convincing a person that letting a library book be swallowed by a black hole constituted losing it, he was greeted by the bane of all library personnel: the Blank Memory.

"Okay, I'm looking for a book, but I'm not sure who wrote it, what the title is, or who published it. But it's got this red cover, with a picture of-"

"Okay, just... stop right there. I have a question: do you mind people sorting through your brain via telepathy?" The student shook his head no. "Ok, just try to visualize the book in your mind."

After a minute passed, Jon shook his head. "Sorry, but the book you're thinking about taking out isn't here. In fact, I'm not even sure if it's been written."

Yuna and Jess were in the ladies locker room. Before the two became good friends, Jess combed her own hair. Now, Yuna insisted, and Jess had no problem obliging the girl. Oddly enough, their discussion this time was about Jess's hair. They never usually talked about so relevant a topic.

"Should I really get it short?" Jess said to Yuna's suggestion. Yuna shrugged as she took Jess's hair and ran the brush through it again and again. "Well, not short short. I was thinking shoulder length. It'd be pretty cute."

Jess smiled. "I want to be beautiful, not cute. You know how it is, Yuna. Long, luxurious hair is beautiful, and short, well kept hair is cute. Besides, I think I need long hair because it fits with the rest of my body." Yuna nodded, finding Jess's point. "Yeah, you might be right. I'm not sure I can imagine you, with your big boobs and your full hips, having short hair. Now that I think of it, you look a lot more proper with long hair, especially done in a ponytail."

There would be little else to do today. After gym, Jess and Yuna usually went to the fountain on the grounds and played together. Nearly a month ago, Yuna decided that she could become closer to Jess if she could join her in song. Yuna's voice wasn't as great as Jess's, but she found an alternative way to join in.

"I figured since so many video game heroes and whatnot played ocarinas, I should, too." Yuna had said then, and Jess was the first to admit that she had a natural talent for the instrument. Often, Jess noted that Yuna's music had a profound effect on Jess's songs. It didn't seem to have a practical effect, like assisting the forces the water at Jess's command when she sang, but there was definitely something there. Then she felt Yuna fix her hair into a ponytail. "Let's go, Jess. I wonder how many people turned up for our performance this time around?"