CHAPTER EIGHT

Sebastian's POV

What the hell am I looking at right now? No seriously, what is this? I stand still in the cheering crowd. The crowd that is surrounding Cora, yes Cora and that dweeb, Konosuke. From what I can tell, they are about to fight. "Excuse me." I say trying quite literally to get to the front. With another wave of cheering, I get pushed to the sidelines.

I can't even here what they're saying but why does Konosuke have a nosebleed? And he's ignoring it so casually... "Over here Sebastian!" Blair shouts as the crowd spreads out leaving a large space in the middle. I quickly walk to her, "Blair- "I know. I'm sorry, I couldn't stop her." Blair says cutting me off. I raise my brows in confusion, "Stop her? You mean Cora?" Why would Cora need stopping, I'm more worried about what that incorrigible dweeb is up to. "Yeah, she kind of punched him." Blair barely makes eye contact while saying it. At this point, I'm speechless and the crowd keeps cheering.

I can see the view clearly now, Konosuke and Cora slowly circle each other. There's no stopping this now, so much for being inconspicuous. "Okay." I say turning my complete attention to the battle. "Wait, you're not going to stop them?!" Blair exclaims. "The same way you tried to?"

"Well…they might listen to you." She shrugs. "Let's just watch." I say. "Look, I know Cora's great and all though I've never seen her fight, but Konosuke has been training since he was five! I don't think she can handle him." Blair says fast. "So has she." I say lowly but Blair hears anyway. "What do you mean?" She managed to punch him and I know she has experience. "Hey Sebastian!" I don't think she's weaker than him. "Fine, suit yourself…" Blair mumbles.

Konosuke lungs for Cora, which kind of seems stupid to me. He's underestimating her. "Hm, bad move, it's so obvious." Kian says suddenly appearing next to me. I flinch back while Cora dodges Konosuke. What is up with this guy and appearing out of nowhere? He has like zero presence. I clear my throat and turn my attention back to the match.

Konosuke tries the same move again and Cora barely manages to side step, getting pushed slightly.  Same move twice? Has this guy really been here for over ten years? I don't think he's qualified but who am I anyway...…. 

"He's letting his emotions get to him, a fatal flaw. He's making stupid decisions because of it." Kian says putting his hand on his chin. Not a single moment has he looked at me which makes me wonder if he's speaking to himself. "I think he's stupid enough on his own." I say. "Fair point." Kian nods. And I thought they were friends. 

Whatever Kian says proves to be true because Konosuke's face takes on a whole new form of anger. I don't understand why he's so upset because even a toddler can dodge his moves. The crowd only motivates the violence by cheering. A crowd of bloodthirsty teens, priceless. Konosuke actually does a smart move and throws a punch which Cora catches. He then uses the opportunity to trip her and she lands on her, well, you know.

The crowd goes wild as some Spartan like kids shout 'Finish her!' Konosuke says something which comes out incoherent to pretty much everyone. "I think she's pissed." Kian says holding a camera. When did he get a camera? The next thing happens in a matter of seconds and kind of freaks me out. Cora gets on her feet and throws a punch which Konosuke unfortunately, doesn't catch. But he's only taken off guard for a second and pulls out a shiny thing which I identify to be a knife. Before he can use it, Cora side steps and pulls his wrists forward making him land on his face. She's gets on top him and puts his hands behind his back before kicking the knife away.

Absolute Micdrop. For the first time, the crowd is silent. I don't think any of them even saw him pull out a knife. "Ugh." Konosuke groans. "Now that's Spartan like." I mumble before noticing Kian who is also speechless. I feel Blair's shaky hand on my arm, "Did you teach her that?" For some reason, I laugh. 

"Not at all." It's all her, I knew I was right. The crowd looks at each other before cheering. In that moment, I end up making eye contact with Cora whose eyes are wide in shock. But involuntarily, I find myself smiling.

Cora's POV

I can't believe my eyes. Sebastian is smiling, smiling at me. What is he even doing here? Don't tell me he watched the entire battle because that would be embarrassing. I didn't finish it fast enough. "Ugh, could you get off me now?" Konosuke groans under me. "Oh." I completely forgot this guy was around. I stand up and offer my hand to Konosuke who rejects it. "No thanks." He limps away before I can say anything and the crowd parts letting him pass. I think I let my temper get the best of me, I can already imagine the lecture Sebastian is going to give me.

"Okay, show's over everybody!"Kian shouts. "For videos of the battle, contact me on my business line!" The crowd quickly disperses, losing interest in the matter. "Hey, wait come back!" Kian says running towards some group. "What a strange guy." I say looking at his running figure. "Cora." I flinch because I recognize the voice immediately. I turn to look at him, he's not smiling anymore. I shift my gaze to my feet which suddenly look interesting. "Good job."

"Pardon me?" I say looking up. What did I just hear? "I said, good job. T-that was amazing." Sebastian smiles. Oh gosh, I must have lived this long to witness this beautiful smile. I knew it, handsome guys are the best! I gape at him; I can't believe Sebastian Leone just complimented me. "That isn't the reaction I was going for." Sebastian says patting my head and messing up my hair.

 "D-do…I…I thought you'd be upset."

"That was the plan but then I saw you out there, god Cora, you wiped the floor with him which was fun to watch." My heart flutters at that as I feel a blush creep up my face. "O-of course I did." I say looking away. What's wrong with me? Since when did it become so hot here? I suddenly become more aware of the small distance between our chests and the fact that he doesn't plan on moving.

Someone clears their throat making me take an automatic step back. I turn to see Blair's worried eyes. Before I can say anything, she crushes me in a hug and all I can see is her red hair. I hesitantly hug her back, still a little bit confused. "I'm so sorry." She whispers after some time. "I got you into this mess."

I slowly pat her back, "Um?"

"I'm so sorry for not trusting your abilities either," she adds. "It's cool…could you let go of me now. I can't breathe." I gasp. She immediately loosens her grip and gives me an apologetic smile. "I hope I wasn't interrupting." Blair whispers in my ear. "I-interrupt w-what?" I reply flustered. Honestly, there must be something wrong with this girl. In fact, there must be something wrong with everyone! "Look at you shoot your shot." Blair teases. "Shut up." I deadpan looking away. 

The entire time Sebastian looks between us confused. That was a close one, I hate awkward situations. "Um, can we like leave this place now or something?"" Sebastian asks rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, let's go home." Blair says while linking our arms.

******

"And then you won't believe what happened next…" Blair was narrating the battle to Nico and Alex in the living room as they held the same expression on their faces. I sigh from the kitchen as I get myself a glass of water. "Looks like you found your number one fan." Sebastian says doing the same. "Fan you say. I don't know how I feel about somebody advertising t-shirts with my name on them." I reply.

Sebastian burst out laughing and leans against the counter. "Even if it was me?" He asks raising a brow. "Worse." He puts his hand to his chest. "I'll take offence." I roll my eyes and drink my water. It's funny imagining a good-looking guy like Sebastian advertising t-shirts by the side of a road. "Good job." He says after some time. "You already said that." I say tilting my head to the side. "I know. But it's still not enough; the world requires more of you if you want to survive in this place." He suddenly says seriously.

That's more like him. Aren't you supposed to be telling this to the guy who lost?" I joke. He simply stares at me with a blank face as if trying to figure me out. I look away feeling uncomfortable. "I don't give a shit about Konosuke." Sebastian sighs. I laugh awkwardly thinking of a topic to bring up. "Oh yes, what were you doing there?" I ask. "I was on my way back from a briefing with Alistair." He waves off. It's probably about the Camp Rose matter but I don't understand why he looks so irritated by it. Anyway he looked irritated the first time I met Alistair too. Must be some sort of boy problem…

I nod slowly letting my mind drift off. "Tomorrow." I look at Sebastian. "What?"

"I'm on patrol tomorrow, you should join me." Sebastian says again. "Um…okay." I answer.  I sure am getting busier by the day. "Hey Sebastian! Stop hogging Cora to yourself, come join us." Alex shouts. "Stop screaming, will you?" Sebastian grumbles. I think I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Alistair POV

This is bullshit. You're telling me all these highly trained field agents can't find a single lead on some nefarious band of rejects? We clearly need to rearrange our standards. I click my tongue as I receive the same report for the 10th time. "Sir, the trail was a dead-end, nothing goes beyond- "That will be all," I wave off. This kid will just ruin my already bad mood. Speaking of the kid, I notice he barely looks up as he speaks. He lacks confidence, completely the opposite that one. The boy looks fifteen, quite an achievement that he's been past the borders.

"Hey kid, what's your name?"

"Huh…um…Timothy." He says looking up then down quickly. Hm, I know potential when I see it, I look up his file. "Thank you for the report, you may leave." I say turning my chair to the windows. I wait until I hear the door close before sighing. I'm so sick and tired of that Rebellion and their mind games. It's like every time we get closer, they're always one step ahead. It pisses me off, is there a genius over there? It's either that or....god I don't even want to think of that possibility. 

A spy is the last thing I want but I know it's probably the case. A spy who has been among us for at least ten years. But who does he or she work for? The Rebellion or the ones called 'The Fifth Order'; I can't seem to figure that out too. I swear when I find the conniving bastard…

I hear a knock on my door. Who is it now? I thought I told Naja no more reports for the rest of the day. However, the moment the person opens the door without waiting for my response, I know which brat to expect. I turn my seat to the front.

"Sebastian, it's common courtesy to wait for a response." I say picking up a random file from my desk. It occurs to me though, that no matter how many times I say that, he'll probably never change. And I'll never do anything about it. It's no wonder that people accuse me of favoring him. "Sorry."He says not sounding sorry. "I have a question, well it's more of a request." Now, that's strange. This kid usually just goes ahead and does whatever he pleases. It must be something big, that's why he's appearing so humble…I think. I open the monthly report from Camp Blaze, as usual, it's perfect.

"Hurry it up." I state. When he doesn't speak, I look up at him. Sebastian is looking at anything else but me and is that a hint of a blush I see? "Can I take Cora to the borders tomorrow?" He says slowly. "What?"

"I mean you said no one goes to the borders without authorization to protect them…but I have access and she'll be with me…so I thought…I mean…this was a bad idea." Sebastian explains flustered. Whoa, this kid actually has feelings. Although I have mixed feeling that this is over that new kid. I still haven't found anything on her past but that's no reason to stop Sebastian from speaking to her. Especially if he likes her this much. Maybe she encountered a metamorphosis that shocked her and that's why she lost her memories. It's happened before in the past. 

"Do what you want, I suppose." I say shrugging. "But just know, first loves almost never work out."

"F-first l-love?!" Sebastian exclaims his voice a pitch higher. I give him a blank stare, "I'm giving you friendly advice, take it."

"There's nothing friendly about you and I've basically known her for days."

"A person can be in love in a single day."

"Not me." Sebastian scoffs regaining his composure. "Suit yourself." I reply standing up. "I'm being serious."

"Okay."

"No, seriously, it's not like that. It's purely educational." Then why are you defending yourself so much? I almost say.

"Right. Enjoy your date, now get out. I'm busy."

"It's not…ugh whatever." Sebastian leaves the room and I remain alone. At least that little discussion lifted my mood a little. I honestly don't need any disparaging thoughts to plague my mind right now. "I guess I have some time." I close the curtains and lock the door. The room becomes a little dark and I take my seat. I know it was a bad idea to bring it to the office but it's not like anyone else knows of its existence.

 I pull out a key from my pocket and unlock one of the drawers. There's only one item though usually none because I keep the book in a much safer place. The brown leather book is basically on life support. When I discovered it, it took me time to rebind it and carefully open the pages that were stuck together. But in the end, it was worth it. After all, this book is the key. It is the fountain of knowledge that will lead to a better future. I'll make sure of that.

I gently lift the book and place it on my desk. It's just as it's always been. "Now then, Edmond Wesley. What was going on in that genius brain of yours?"