Page 55 of Interion

Adele shielded her face with her forearms while I kept throwing punches furiously. She wouldn’t drop her guard, but I’d wear her down, even if it was the last thing I did.

I landed a punch to her nose and the class shouted. The blow wasn’t hard enough to break it, but it hurt—blood dripped onto the floor. Unexpectedly, she twisted and caught my nose with her elbow while the class whistled and laughed. Adele grabbed my hands, and I twisted her wrists to break free, then grabbed her arms. She dug her nails into my wrists. We were face to face, barely two inches apart, locked in a stalemate. I tried to pull away, but she wouldn’t let go—every time I pulled, she clung to me and came with me. The smug smile that had vanished before came back in full force. And it was the urge to wipe it off her face that gave me the idea.

Without thinking, I yanked both wrists hard. With a jolt, she followed the movement—her torso lifted off the floor and her face came toward mine. I calculated the exact moment, threw my head back to build momentum, then snapped it forward, slamming my forehead into hers in a violent headbutt.

The impact rattled my teeth, and the world blurred for a few seconds.

I saw Adele go limp and sprawl on the floor. My forehead throbbed painfully, and a trickle of blood ran down, crossing my eye and heading toward my mouth.

“She’s going to fall too!” Adrian shouted.

My vision was fading, and everyone stared at me as if expecting me to collapse.

“Shut up, she's on her feet. Can't you see?” Breno shouted.

Even dazed, I managed to get off Adele and stand up. I reached for my gift through the dizziness, but it was already finishing healing the cuts. While the world spun at a dizzying speed, a small shadow caught my attention beside the mat. When I followed its trail, I found Zion. He had a crooked smile on his lips and his eyes gleamed with approval, but I didn't want to look at him—he was irritating and made me nervous. So I searched for the eyes of the only person I could trust.

“That's my girl!” Breno shouted, and I saw the shadow slither like a viper back to Zion, whose expression had darkened at the comment.

Breno was glowing with joy, which made me smile and taste my own blood. As I took in the pride written all over his face, I realized this was my first victory, something that left me incredibly satisfied, even if it was against one of the weakest members of the class.

Adele was still lying on the mat, so I sat beside her and placed my hands on the sides of her head. I didn't scan for injuries because it was obvious the problem was her skull, which had taken a hard hit. I summoned my gift, applying it to her perfect forehead. After a few seconds, her long lashes fluttered open.

“Hello, loser,” I said softly, then stood up.

“What happened?”

She sat up, massaging her forehead, and looked at Zion and me, still a bit dazed. I didn't want to say it—being that rude went against my nature—but Adele needed a lesson.

“Besides being dumb, are you deaf too?” I mocked, turning and walking off the mat. “You lost.”

Δ

After the fight with Adele, I walked to the glory bench, feeling like an alien among those people. Beside me were Adrian, Hiro, and Naoki, who had beaten Lorena, Ethan, and Anninka.

As soon as I sat down, Naoki shot me a hard, unreadable look, but quickly masked it and turned away. Incredibly, the quartet had left me alone after the fight in the woods and now pretended I didn't exist during classes. It was all very strange—I'd expected more harassment, but they'd miraculously stopped bothering me. Something told me Zion had a hand in the whole thing, and the mysterious car accident story didn't convince me. But regardless of what had happened, I could only be grateful, and I obviously wasn't going to ask anyone about it.

I was enjoying my peace when Aish beat Miverik and walked over to the bench.

“Congratulations, zoozi!” Aish said, sitting down beside me.

I looked around for whoever she was talking to, but there was no one else. After a few seconds, I realized she was looking at me.

“Oh... thank you?” I said uncertainly, having no idea what zoozi meant.

Ampér was the only nation with its own dialect, and although the continental language was the main one taught in schools, the ancient tongue hadn't been forgotten. I was afraid to ask in case it turned out to be some kind of slur. So I kept folding and unfolding the Lemon's invitations in my hand.

The thing was, I didn't know how to interact with anyone who wasn't Breno. I was afraid it might be an ambush. I'd never talked to the Amperian, but I knew she was fierce in fights and quiet the rest of the time. She seemed like the embodiment of discipline and concentration, yet she radiated a sense of summer and calm. Sometimes I caught her looking at me with a curious expression, but I never held her gaze long enough to invite conversation. I was afraid she'd think I was staring her down and didn't want trouble with yet another person. Right now, she wouldn't stop staring at me, which made my cheeks flush.

I didn't know what to do. She was clearly open to talking, but I was nervous and knew that if I let this chance slip away, I might never get another opening. So I decided to ask about the nickname.

“What's zoozi?” I asked, gathering the courage to meet her eyes. Her large onyx eyes held my gaze as she turned toward me, her dozens of braids swaying with the movement. When Aish looked at someone, it was as if she could see right through to their soul, and I felt extremely vulnerable.

“It's an Amperian term. It refers to strong people who hide behind weakness,” she answered calmly. “In Ampér, that's unacceptable, but here, apparently, men like women who pretend to be weak.”

Aish smiled at me—a wide, even smile with large, brilliantly white teeth that stood out against her skin. I frowned, not quite sure if she was complimenting me or insulting me.

“Hmm, so according to Amperian terms, I'm a coward,” I deduced with a nervous laugh.