Chapter 148- a Father And Mother (Part 1)
Rin left the cafe and went back to the training area where he found Elise and Sorophi waiting for him. The little girl was oddly calm even though she was with Elise and not Rin. Her eyes even looked a little bit interested when she gazed at Elise.
Rin was quite impressed at her attitude.
"You didn't take long," Elise said when she saw him.
"Yeah, the conversation was short. I will tell you what happened later."
"Nh…" Nodding her head, Elise didn't pursue the matter any further.
Then, she looked at Sorophi and continued.
"She said she's hungry."
"Oh? It's already time for lunch so we might as well go to a good restaurant. What do you think, Sorophi?"
He bent down and tried to act friendly as he patted her on the head. Just imagining himself doing this to someone that's technically older than him in age made him realize how bizarre it was. But, for better or worse, no one knew who this girl was and would merely question her presence there.
Rin and Elise would use the excuse 'She's the daughter of one of the professors and was here to watch the training'. Although the excuse might sound half-assed, no one dared to question it in front of Rin and especially Elise. She was simply too scary and too beautiful for them to make a proper conversation with her.
The three then turned around to leave. However, before Rin could even take one step, he heard a sudden whisper in his ear from Elise. Her melodic, divine voice almost made him flinch. Just her presence so close to him was mind-boggling. However, Elise didn't seem to notice the consequences of this casual move from her.
"When you left, Sorophi wanted to face one of the students too."
"Wait, what?" Rin blinked a few times as he looked at Elise.
"Didn't she get the…"
"Wrong number? Yes, she did and it seems that made her even angrier that she wasn't going to fight anyone. She kept nudging me to let her fight. She even threatened to run away if I don't let her do that."
"So, what did the professor do?"
"He could only… accept," Elise said with an incomprehensible look.
"He did?!"
"Yes, apparently, his position is lower than that of hers so he could only oblige."
'How is this even allowed?!' Rin could only facepalm while secretly looking at Sorophi who was holding his hand and walking idly.
"And? What happened after that?" He asked.
"..." Opening her mouth, Elise explained.
******
Before Rin came back, Elise looked at Sorophi with an exasperated look.
"Why do you want to fight someone?" She asked.
"Because it's fun." She said.
"You are way stronger than anyone present here. You will only harm them one-sidedly."
"I want to fight!" Sorophi shook her head and kept stubbornly asking for it. For some reason, her mind was hell on bent on doing this.
Donnie, who was standing beside her, shook his head as if he was experiencing the biggest headache of his lifetime.
"I want to fight." Sorophi, knowing that Donnie seemed to be wavering, quickly cornered him with her strong gaze.
"But, it's against Miss. Emilia's orders?" He tried to reason with her, making sure his voice wasn't being raised. Just a small offense against someone as important as Sorophi would end up with him either dead or kicked out of the academy by the administration.
"No! Emi has nothing to do with this! I want to fight!" Pouting and glaring at Donnie, he felt as if a thousand knives pierced his body. Breaking a sweat, he tried to keep his composure.
"Miss. Sorophi ne-
"No!" Crossing her arms, her aura started leaking making Elise and Donnie flinch. The latter felt as if she was now stuck between two giant problems. Not only did he not have time to call Emilia, but she is also extremely busy with other things so calling her here is like admitting that he had failed in delivering her request. Not to mention that if She came here, there is no guarantee that the fight that occurred between her and Silika won't be repeated, perhaps even more intense than before.
'Dammit!'
Cursing under his breath, finally gave up and nodded his head.
"I understand. You can fight one of the students. But, if one of them refuses or all of them refuse, you will have to accept that, Miss. Sorophi." He said.
"Oh, and also. Please, don't harm them at all. No breaking bones or any heavy injuries. I hope you understand that or Miss. Emilia will never allow you to come down here ever again." Donnie gave her a respectful warning that could even pass as him begging her to not harm or kill his student.
Rubbing her small chin, Sorophi seemed to be thinking about it for a moment before she finally nodded her head.
"I understand. Sorophi will not harm them."
"Good. I hope you keep your word." He said.
Elise, on the other hand, was looking at them with a frown. Even if Sorophi did nothing to a student, she could only imagine the worse happening. Sorophi was simply too strong that a mere move from her could probably erase a student off the face of the world. It didn't even need to be intentional. It was akin to a giant bear trying to deal with a thin sheet of glass and trying not to break it into pieces.
It was simply hard not to make a small mistake and end up crushing that sheet of glass.
But, she simply can't change the mind of a stubborn person like Sorophi. Her attitude was exactly like that of a child and children would never accept something that they don't like except if you force them to.
However, the last thing Elise was capable of was forcing Sorophi to listen to her.
After that, Donnie turned around and walked to where he was standing before and then said as he looked at every student.
"Listen, it seems the small girl there wants to try and spar with one of you. Does anyone care to entertain her?"
"Oh?" Weird sounds of confusion echoed between the students. They all quickly looked at Sorophi. In their eyes, they could only see a small, harmless girl. They also couldn't sense any kind of aura around her so they assumed that she was still not awakened yet. Because of the sheer strength difference between them and Sorophi, they could not even feel her crushing pressure at all.
Some even sneered and said mockingly.
"Who would want to fight a small girl? Should we use a lollipop as a weapon? Hahahaha!"
"Man! Maybe a cup of milk would be enough to make her fall asleep!"
"Hey! Don't mock a small girl! Fine, I will do it!" One of them said as he tried to hold his laughter.
Donnie nodded but then quickly said.
"Let me warn you. She is by no means weak. Don't underestimate her power!" He said.
"Yes, yes, professor! I will make sure to be careful."
'Not to break her that is.' He thought as he licked his lips.
Sorophi also stepped up and stood in front of him.
"On my… mark." Trying to hide his nervousness, Donnie said.
He was already ready to move and try to save the boy before he ends up dead or crippled.
'If I lose my job because of this, I'm going to retire and live on an island alone with my wife.'
The moment he said so, the boy chuckled.
"Come on, little girl, attack me."
"..." Sorophi didn't say anything back and merely looked at him.
"What? Are you scared? Don't worry, I won't harm you." He added.
Finally, the little girl started moving, she walked slowly toward the student with Silika in her hand.
"Yes. Good job, be careful not to stumble on your legs. One step at a time." He continued encouraging her, under the muffled laughs of his peers. They all enjoyed the show as if it was some kind of comedy play.
Elise was the only one who had a grave face, ready to see a human turn into a bloody lump of flesh in a split second.
Eventually, Sorophi reached the boy and looked up at him. The latter also looked at her but at that moment, when he saw that pair of eyes she had, he felt a chill run down his spine. His smile disappeared. But, he still didn't realize why he was feeling this weird dread and instead shook those thoughts away.
"G-Good that you were able to reach me. Now, try to punch me." He forced himself to smile again."
Sorophi nodded her head and extended her arm forward.
*BANG*
Her small hand made contact with his abdomen.
"Blurgh!"
(A//n: oof! Poor boy, he is in great trouble :) )
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