'Please don't! Not you!'

She didn't immediately move, choosing a wait-and-see attitude for the moment. As for our small group, there was a lull in the discussion. Everyone was thinking about the same thing.

("What now? Is no one going to talk? Should I say something?")

That was awkward teenagers for you. I wasn't such a great talker in the first place. Aginaci was hopeless and the two newcomers weren't so good at socializing either. Our savior came in the form of Kit.

"Why so silent, everyone? Oh, I know. What sort of things do you do in your free time?"

He was kind of an unusual mix too. He was very sociable but wasn't so good with words. Fortunately, this was compensated for by his bright personality. Dukun responded first, with a relaxed expression and a small grin.

"I like nature. I enjoy taking walks in forests and parks."

"That's a quiet hobby. What about you, Jeon?"

"I usually spend my free time training my body."

"Training? For sports?"

"You could say that."

"What kind of sports?"

"Martial arts."

"That's cool! You must be very strong?"

("Maybe I should ask him for a spar?")

"No, I'm still far from being anything good."

("That's a shame. Well, I don't think a normal human being could do anything against me anyway.")

'You would be surprised. You just didn't get he was being modest.'

Maybe because the exchange between Kit and Dukun made the latter feel uncomfortable, he switched the focus elsewhere.

"What about you, Aginaci?"

("What should I say? I never did much in my free time. At most, talking with some of the other women.")

"I… like learning new things."

"You're the studious type, I see. I'll come to you when there's something I don't understand, then."

"Huh… Well…"

'Out of everything, you had to say that. Rest in peace, Aginaci.'

In her desperation, she turned to me.

"And you, Wren?"

"I like sports too. And Gaming."

"What sort of sports?"

"You like gaming? Me too!"

Jeon and Kit spoke at the same time. They looked at one another and Jeon excused himself first.

"My bad. Go ahead."

He was a very straight person. This was why I wanted to be close to him.

"Thanks. So, what games do you play?"

"A bit of everything. FPS, RPG, RTS. What about you?"

"I'm totally into MMORPGs! Do you know GG14?"

"Of course. I heard it's pretty good, right?"

"Yeah, man! It's the best! Why don't you join me? I'll carry your ass!"

"I wish I could but my computer is a hand down from my father. It's not good enough to run the game."

"Darn it. Too bad. Any chance you're going to upgrade soon?"

"Probably not."

'This is the last of my worries these days.'

Kit sighed in regret and Jeon took the opportunity to ask again.

"What sort of sports do you play?"

"I played football and basketball a lot. But I like badminton the most."

("Nothing related to martial arts. Well, that's normal, I guess.")

Here was my chance.

"But I've always been interested in martial arts. What kind of martial arts do you practice?"

"You could call it mixed martial arts. It's sort of my own style."

"Wow, you're good enough to create your own style? That's amazing."

"It's not that great."

("I can't really tell the truth.")

"Can I ask for a favor? Would you be okay to teach me? I think I would be at ease if it's with a friend."

("Just like that? Weird guy. It's normally forbidden to teach just anyone but it doesn't matter now, right?")

"Well, I'll need to check how suited you are for it. It's also going to be quite harsh. Still willing?"

"Yep, that's fine. Sports are meant to be harsh."

"Good spirit. I'm busy today but we can start tomorrow after school."

"Nice. Oh, wait. Aginaci, are you interested in learning martial arts?"

("Martial arts? Fighting? He wants me, a woman, to learn how to fight? How strange. Why would he want that?"

I kept signaling her with my eyes and facial expressions to accept and she hesitated.

("He wants me to do this. Should I say yes? Now that I think about it, if I were stronger, I could have avoided so many problems in my life. It might be a good idea. Perhaps it's normal for women to be strong here.")

"Yes, I'm interested."

"Jeon, could she participate too?"

"Sure, that's fine."

"Nice! Thanks."

"No problem."

I turned toward the other two, not because I sincerely wanted to invite them but because it was normal to try to include them. I knew their answer from the start, anyway.

"What about you two? Interested?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"Same here."

"Okay."

There was another lull in the discussion and the next class started in the meanwhile. On the last recess before lunch, we got back together and talked some more. She chose this moment to attack. Her melodious voice rang behind us.

"Hi there. What are you all chatting about?"

And there she was, the personification of trouble. Her black eyes seemed to suck people in like a black hole. Her long black hair matched well with her light clothes. Even though it was still summer, her blue mini-shorts and white tops exposed too much of her voluptuous forms to the world. She had a seductive smile on her lips and sported a playful expression.

All the boys in our group reacted in similar ways. They either blushed lightly, glanced at her body, or were left speechless. I knew everything already but I didn't fare much better than the rest, to my regret. And our dumbfounded looks pleased her very much.

("Hehehe. Look at them. Even those scary guys are left breathless. You can stare as much as you want, it's free. Whoops, I shouldn't forget what my instincts are telling me. They're all too dangerous for my taste. Except you, Wren. Hehehe. In this class full of weirdly threatening people, you're a sheep waiting to be devoured by me. Just you wait.")

'I'm good, thank you!'