Ch 1.14: Results


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Waine fell to ground clutching his windpipe, his sword careened off towards the crowd, momentum still carrying it from ina’s final gambit. Her stomach dropped for a moment as she imagined the heavy metal object crashing into someone’s skull, but it instead gently arced over to Tira, who caught the grip with her free hand. “ina has dealt a would-be lethal blow. I dere her the victor.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The crowd of students broke their silence, cheering as ina pushed herself up into a sitting situation. “Fuck you, Ferris!” she heard from one, “Yeah, get him, Panties!” she heard from another.” <i><span style="font-weight:400">Panties?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Shit!” she said, covering herself with her hands and closing her legs. The duel was won, but it still wasn’t a wless victory. She looked over to where she’d dropped her skirt, but saw a figure running to her with the discarded garment in hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For a brief moment she saw the girl’s uniform and thought it was Prisma. But no, Prisma was over by Waine, who was writhing on the ground clutching his throat. The new girl that Waine had dered part of of his crew was the one running to ina with her skirt. “Here,” she said, draping the fabric over ina’s legs. It was the first time ina had been up close with her, but the girl refused to meet ina’s gaze, instead staring off to side with an apple red face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Thanks,” ina said, wrapping the skirt around her as best she could, though there was no way to put it on without standing. The girl looked familiar, in very faint way, but ina couldn’t remember from where. She really was cute, a mess of ck hair framing her round face, a longer skirt than most girls at the school being both endearing and intriguing, only making what was underneath that much more enticing. But what really drew ina’s eyes was the girl’s chest, struggling to be contained by her shirt andpletely filling out the uniform jacket in a way even ina herself couldn’t match.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I— I really should go help Waine; he might be seriously hurt.” The girl bit her lip before turning around and running off, waving. “Sorry, I’ll— I’ll see youter!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No pictures, you shits!” ina heard Tira shouting as she walked up behind her. “Here,” Tira said as she opened up ina’s jacket and used it to cover her backside. “Stand up and cover yourself.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina did so, managing a decent enough job of keeping what modesty she had left intact. “The portraits,” she said as she finished, looking back at Tira.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tira put ina’s jacket on for her, nodding. “Ya, we deal with that now. Alright everyone, duel’s over, ss actually dismissed!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The crowd started to trickle away as Tira strode forward, ina following behind. “Can’t breathe,” she heard Waine croaking out. He was stillying on the ground, his group surrounding him, the original group at least, the new girl already gone. “Can’t breathe!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You’re fine, Waine.” Prisma said, arms crossed. “Carline said so. Get on your feet.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“The Forsythe girl?” Waine coughed out as he stood up, legs wobbling. “Where is she?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ran off,” Ivis said, pointing back to the castle. “Said she needed to shower or something.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nughed. “Probably can’t stand outside for two hours without soaking through her uniform in sweat.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ya,” Daly said. “Not even sure why you grabbed her for the team.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It’s because-”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Enough,” Tira said, stopping behind the group. “You lost, Ferris.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Waine nced back, eyes narrowing. “Fuck you. The duel should have been called a tie and you know it. You’re just a biased referee.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tira closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She pulled her coiled whip of of her waist, letting the length of it unwind and fall to the ground, her voice quavering with suppressed rage. “You. Lost. You were right to refuse to duel me outright, but this was a fair fight. Pay up, or I’ll let you experience first-hand what you already know I’m capable of.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Waine stared up at her, eyes shaking. “Fine, I’ll delete the portraits of her from my crystal.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No,” Tira said. “Your cronies too. We agreed all of them.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Waine gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, taking a step forward and ring his nostrils. Tira cocked her head. “Fine,” Waine said. “You four, delete the pictures.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“But—” Ivis went to protest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I said delete them,” Waine said, pulling his device out of his jacket. ina stood by while Ivis, Daly, and N took there''s out as well, observing them tap and swipe across the crystal disys. One by one the portraits of ina appeared and disappeared from the screens, until Tira took each one for a final inspection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“What about you,” Tira asked Prisma as she hand back N’s portrait crystal. “And what about that other girl you mentioned?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisma turned from the forest to Tira. “Carline wasn’t there, so she never had any pictures. I had some, but I deleted them already.” She took her crystal out and handed it over to Tira for inspection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tira went through the device, swiping for far longer, going through a swath ofndscape pictures and images of Prisma and what ina presumed was an older sister. “If you’re lying about this, I’ll have your head, Fireguard. Why would you have already deleted them?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisma pursed her lips and snatched the crystal back. “I’m not lying!” She tucked it back into her jacket, turning back to the forest. “I just… I just deleted them, okay?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I believe her,” ina said. Prisma jerked her head, locking eyes with ina for just a moment before looking down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Fine,” Tira said, walking back towards the school. “This is officially over. If any of those portraits ever make it out, you’re all going to regret it.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina stood for a second to watch Prisma’s nk stare at the ground, then for another to lock eyes with Waine. Waine stared her down for a moment before turning away and walking off himself, the others following him. They all made eye contact with ina as they walked by, save one. “Prisma!” ina called out. The girl continued walking, gaze straight ahead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Come on, ina,” Tira said. ina obeyed, running to catch up. “You did good, really good at the end. I was worried at the start though.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah,” ina replied, catching her breath. “I kinda used too much mana in the beginning.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Your pool must be massive though. For someone with no training, you did quite a lot.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina blushed at the praise. “I guess it isrge. I wouldn’t really know.” <i><span style="font-weight:400">Though it probably has more to do with my ss than natural ability.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m gonna put you in the Advanced Maniption course after all, with the Fireguard girl and me.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Wait, you’re in that course too?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yup. These practical courses are about personal improvement more than anything, and the advanced ones have so few students that its not worth separating the years. I honestly didn’t think you were cut out for it, but the force you exerted at the end… You’re unrefined, but you have the potential and need the dedicated training. You’re also lucky I was there to catch that, or you might have hurt someone that actually mattered.” She smiled back at ina. “We’ll need to work on that performance anxiety for sure though. I can’t have my ymate getting nervous when it really counts, now can I?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina’s heart skipped, and her mouth gaped as Tiraughed and turned back facing ahead. “ytime has to beter though; I’ve gotta meet Calivahn. You’re free the rest of the day, right?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ya, only today though. My schedule’s pretty full the rest of the week too.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, you’ll get a modified one once I put in your course assignment. You’ll have aspect training today of course, and then another round of it on Third Day and Fourth Day. First Day will still be your day with the most free time, but it’s not going to be easy, I promise.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Right,” ina said. She needed it to not be easy. As happy as she was that the portraits weren’t going to be sold, that she’d actually beaten Waine Ferris in singlebat, she knew she had a lot to learn. An external aspect was apparently a favored opponent for her, but against someone like Prisma, or even the boy that could conjure up three dogs there was no way she’dst even a moment with her current ability. “I need to go shower myself, then do lunch probably. Do you, uhm, want to eat together?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tira scrunched her face. “I would, but I’m doing a working lunch with the crone. Watch duty during dinnerter too.” She smiled. “I’ll keep Third Day free for you though, and we can make ns then? Unless you’re busy.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh,” ina said. She thought she’d messed up for a moment, overstepped, but it didn’t seem that was the case. “Yeah, we can do Third Day. I’m, uh, not busy then.” She wasn’t busy any day, really.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Great!’ Tira said, spinning and ruffling ina’s hair. “You get cleaned up and enjoy lunch.” She leaned over, whispering in ina’s ear. “On Third Day, wear something nice under your uniform, but try and let me be the only one to see this time, kay?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tira pulled back, winking at ina. “Later,” she said, stepping onto the cobblestone immediately surrounding the castle, boot heels cking as she walked, a single finger running over a whip tied to a waist that swayed back and forth with each step.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina realized she’d stopped walking and shook her head, rushing back into the academy proper. She made it back to her dorm room, locked her door, and examined her uniform. The jacket was fine of course, having been held by Tira during the duel, but her skirt and shirt were covered in sand. She sighed as she opened the dresser, looking at the scraps of the skirt she couldn’t change into. Winning the duel had been great for maintaining some of her dignity, but it wasn’t like everything was magically fixed. At least she still had a couple extra shirts, since the school expected her to change them every day anyway.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She stripped naked, cing her shirt and underwear next to the dresser while sheid her jacket and skirt on top of it. She wanted to beat the sand off the skirt, but the only way to do that would be to do it on the floor in her room or out on the grounds in her underwear. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That could be fun though… </i><span style="font-weight:400">No, bad idea. She needed to get to the showers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina looked over at her bed, thinking about actually cleaning her uniform in just underwear, about the number of people who’d already seen her in them. Her sheets looked so inviting too, and there was time, right? She had ns for the day, to go back to the orb she’d met, but that would have to be after lunch anyway, and lunch itself was over an hour away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She gave in, diving onto the mattress and crawling under the covers. They’d get a little dirty, but she’d noticed her room was cleaned each day between lunch and dinner anyway. Automatons? Probably, but she didn’t care to think of that right now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina got to work and plunged straight into her own pussy, having neither the time nor the patience to build up slowly. There was enough forey earlier when she’d been frozen in ce in front of her entire year, spread legged after having taken off her own skirt in front of them. There’s no way they’d know, right? That she did it on purpose, that she liked it? She wished they did. The sheets were thrown askew in seconds as she writhed in their luxuriousness. She needed to bare herself anyway, imagine someone was watching her, could see her. Tira? Prisma? It didn’t matter who; ina needed someone to see her like this, <i><span style="font-weight:400">anyone</i><span style="font-weight:400">.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The lock to her room clicked, and the door swung open.