Everyone in the room had heard the two teenagers call each other by thier first name, and judging by their slow and awkward movement, it was pretty obvious that this wasn’t the first time those two had met. Slo9wly the two of them inched forward towards each other, and when Agryu was around a metre or so away he stopped.
Now, the real question on everyone’s minds was the connection between Gary and Xin, and this was true for both groups.
“Hey.” Ian gave Izzy a nudge. “From the way he behaves, Gary seems to be head over heels for her. I hope you didn’t have the hots for him yourself because their feelings might actually be mutual.”
Izzy didn't say anything to that. Honestly, she wasn’t sure herself about what her true feelings were with regard to the green haired teenager. She still remembered how she had schemed against him to increase her chances to make it into the AFA. He might have forgiven her for it, but she still felt bad. On top of that, they had made it out of the facility together, but everything that had happened inside had made their relationship more than complicated.
The one thing Izzy did know, was seeing him act like a lovestruck fool did annoy her.
“Hey, Xin.” Ryan, the blonde haired spiky boy, nodded his head towards Gary. “Who exactly is Greeny over there to you? Is he your boyfriend or something?”
When this question was asked, the two of them looked at each other. Neither one was sure how to answer it. Both of their faces lit up bright red and Gary was struggling to control his heart as always. Any second now he could end up transforming.
Ryan had merely asked it as a joke, yet seeing their reaction and neither one refuting it, he was more than just a bit shocked.
‘No way… are they really a thing? How is that possible? Is this really the same Xin who won't slow down for anyone? I mean, she rejected me… four times!’
Gary and Xin had been unable to properly date, or get to know each other very well due to the circumstances back in Slough. Nevertheless, the green haired teenager had made it clear how he felt towards her, and she hadn’t completely denied him. On top of that, Xin was also thankful for him saving her.
Still, those feeling were something she hadn’t really processed herself yet. They were something she had thought would be in the past. Her immediate goal was to go through the AFA and become a well known AFC fighter, so she could live her life how she wanted.
“How did you manage to get in?” Xin asked eventually. “I mean, you weren’t an Altered the last time we met, right?”
“Ah!” Gary scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with a good excuse. “I was sponsored by a… company. You know how I was always into fighting? They saw potential in me, and so they helped me apply for the AFA. Well, one thing led to another, and so I ended up here. It was just a stroke of luck really.”
There was a pause and an awkward moment between the two of them. Gary had played this moment many times in his head. The reason for him coming to the AFA wasn’t completely because of Xin, but it’s not like she had nothing to do with that, either.
The last time he had met Jayden, Xin’s brother, he had advised him to join the AFA and to go chasing after her. Now that she was before him, he was questioning if that was really the best thing.
“I’m happy to see you're doing well.” Gary blurted out. “It can’t have been easy to make it through, but you got to this place all with your own power. It's… good to see you again.”
A large clap was heard from Eddy as he didn’t want to continue watching this teen drama catch-up. There would be time for that later. Besides, he had noticed a particular student, Ryan, mumbling profanities under his breath as he was trying to murder his fellow student with his eyes. However, that wasn’t the worst setting for why he had called the students to this place.
“These students here are the current top of the top the AFA has to offer. Me and the other teachers have given them our blessings to have their debut match in the AFC in the near future. Before that, though, they'll be showing you guys what it means to be the top dog in the real AFA.”
Seeing the smirk on Eddy’s face, Izzy quickly figured out the meaning behind his words. “Are you telling us to fight them? On our very first day?”
The others looked towards Eddy, semi-frightened. Even Sty, who had acted cocky and confident now showed unease on his face.
“I see that your file wasn’t lying when it described you as a smart cookie,” Eddy commented with a light chuckle at their overexaggerated reaction. “Just because you have made it through to the AFA, it's important to know that you can't take it easy, and this sparring match will be good for you to remind you that there’s always someone stronger than you.”
Looking across from each other, they reached looked at their opponents. It was hard to tell how strong the others were, but they had the advantage of attending the academy for some time already.
“Ryan, would you mind?” Eddy asked.
Still, with a new wave of energy inside him, Ryan nodded and walked past the others. He stared at Gary, who was unaware of why this certain individual had suddenly started to point his anger toward him.
Then, stopping in front of the black bag that they were all standing in front of earlier. He readied his fist, threw it out and a loud bang was heard hitting the bag, it swung widely back in the air, and up. There was no trouble at all for the student as it was seen swinging back down and swinging in place.
For the others who had tried to hit the bag earlier, they gulped. The difference between the performance of their groups was evident.
“Don’t worry.” Eddy added. “You will not be fighting today. Just like with any match, you’re given a certain amount of preparation time. In your case, you have today and tomorrow to prepare as you see fit. Feel free to use the training facilities or rest during that free time.
“The day after tomorrow, though, you’ll have to challenge one of these five.”
Gary’s mind went blank for a second.
“Sir… did you just say we have two days until our match?”
Eddy nodded, and the other students with Xin started to smile. They thought that Gary feared that it would be impossible to catch up in such a short period of time. Xin thought it was unfair, but she herself had been forced to challenge the future AFC fighters and that experience had been both humiliating and encouraging.
However, the Werewolf was worried for an entirely different reason. After all, he would have to fight during the day of the full moon…
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