The mood at the back of the bus took a sudden change. Although there was an unusually tense atmosphere between them, it could have easily been attributed to the nervousness of the upcoming training, or being assigned new partners.
No one had expected such a drastic turn. Taylor, the only other girl in the fireteam, was a quiet girl with her hair in a boy cut, and a face that usually lacked expression. She also had a thin physique, which did not lean towards being very physically strong.
With the level of ease she had displayed in the earlier, awkward silence led one to believe that she might have been an introvert, and that she preferred silence to conversion.
But even if that were not so, suddenly hearing a death threat being given from one of her future partners to another did not land anywhere within anyone's comfort zone or familiar territory. She was startled, and tried to bury herself deeply into the seat where she was sitting.
Wendy was also taken aback by Nero's sudden statement, but then she quickly gathered herself and glared at Henry, whose hand was stuck in Nero's vice grip. No matter how irritating she found his penchant for trying to distract her boyfriend with talks of training and fighting, she also had to admit that he had incredibly sharp instincts. If Nero thought there was an issue, then there was an issue.
Charles, who was slightly shorter than Henry, was visibly shaken by the sudden development, and then angered. He got up and was ready to shout out at Nero, when the boy in question suddenly turned and gave him a look that stilled the anger in his heart, and replaced it with dread.
For some reason, Nero's relaxed yet indifferent face seemed incredibly daunting to him. The accompanying cracking of the bones in Henry's hand also deterred him from acting rashly.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Henry hissed, his face turning absolutely red with anger, or pain. He wanted to scream at Nero, to let the whole bus know what the maniac was doing, but he suspected that would leave him with at least a broken hand.
Perhaps someone else would have made such a decision, but Henry could not. His mind was overwhelmed by the excruciating pain in his hand, and if he weren't already sitting he would have dropped to his knees.
"Let go of my hand you maniac! I'll report you to the army! You'll be sentenced to the cursed zone!"
"You're not listening to me," Nero said, his voice absolutely calm and without the slightest hint of hurry. "I know you two are planning something. I am very strongly recommending that you don't. Just behave nicely, and do your jobs properly. If you do that, everything will be alright. If you don't, well, I've already told you what will happen."
Nero held Henry's gaze for a moment, before letting go of his hand. Nero did not believe for a moment that threats would be enough to keep them in line. But unless their motive was exceptionally strong, he knew what he could do to keep them from acting out.
Henry immediately pulled back his free hand, his fingers contorted and his hand squeezed into an odd shape.
"You've gone mad! I'm reporting you! You're going to be kicked from the base."
"Did you hear the part where I said I'd kill you if you got in my way? Which do you think is the issue? That I can't, or that I won't?"
Henry froze, and suddenly a trace of fear shot into his heart. Nero was genuinely crazy! He was crazy! What had he gotten himself into?
"I wonder, if something happens to you, who will replace you in our team. Will it be your other tall friend from last night? Or the one with green hair?"
Henry and Charles both paled, though they said nothing.
Wendy narrowed her eyes as she picked up on something, and Taylor tried to bury herself even deeper into her seat.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Henry said, clearly struggling to keep his voice contained.
Nero only scoffed.
"Do you think I'm interested in your plans? Henry, I'll let you in on a little secret. I don't care what your plan is. I just don't. So here's what we'll do. I'll avoid interrogating you.
I'll pretend like nothing has happened at all. You, on the other hand, will properly do your jobs as a part of the fireteam.
"Like this, we will spend our month, and then hopefully part ways if the training ends. There won't be trouble for anyone. It'll all be fine. Of course, you might face a little pressure from whoever is giving you orders, but at times like this Henry, you really need to think about yourself. Is it really worth it to risk so much just to listen to a few orders?
"I don't know if you've heard the rumours, but people just can't decide if Sage Haiden is my dad, my granddad or even my great-granddad. Do you really think I'm going to get in any trouble for doing something, Henry? No, no I won't. You know what the great families are like. Not only will I not get in any trouble, but all the blame will be pinned on you."
Henry and Charles paled even further. Since they had been targeting Nero, they really had heard all the rumours about him - not that they had believed any of them. But the confidence in Nero's eyes did not seem a lie. The clear lack of any hesitation in threatening to kill them out right also suddenly made sense. What if the rumours weren't fake? What if there was some truth to it?
Were they just... supposed to mess with Nero if that was the case. Even if Nero didn't end up killing them himself, if he was from a sage family, then it wasn't a stretch to think someone would kill them just to ingratiate themselves to Nero.
Henry's hand began to tremble, though that could have just been because of how badly Nero had squeezed it. He also suddenly felt out of breath, as panic began to grip his mind.
Then, to his absolute horror, Nero actually gave him a cordial smile!
"You see, once you think about it, it's really not worth it. So how about this? Let's just pretend that this exchange never happened. Let's go back to the very beginning, and get to know one another, like a normal team. How does that sound to you?"
Reluctantly, Henry nodded, though he did not speak.
"Excellent. I'll get to you in just a moment. I fear we have been rude to our teammate."
Then, to Taylors absolute horror, Nero turned to look at her, his charming smile and kind eyes a complete mismatch to what she had seen a moment ago.
"Please excuse me, I hope I did not startle you."
Taylor shook her head slightly, and tried to say no, but it came out as a squeak.
"I mean you no harm, I assure you," Nero said, as he sat beside her. "The boys and I just had a small misunderstanding that we needed to clear. It was just a bit of friendly banter, you know how boys are."
She suddenly nodded her head, perhaps a little too eagerly, as if to convey that she did indeed know what boys were like. Nero chuckled.
"I hope we can get past this small hiccup. I look forward to working with you. I am sure we will learn much from one another."
Nero turned away from her, and looked at the rest of them, and began to introduce himself, as if he were meeting them all for the first time. He mentioned some of his strengths, and then encouraged the rest to share a little as well.
But Taylor heard none of it. She could not remove her gaze from Nero, her heart still pounding in her chest. Just moments ago, it was fear that had been gripped at her. But the moment Nero flashed her that charming smile, and spoke so gently with her, that fear melted away, and was replaced by something else.
She did not know what it was, but there was a tingly feeling in her chest, and she found it hard to focus her thoughts. She also felt... hot, for some odd reason. Not the same kind of heat she felt in the scorcher room, but of a different kind she couldn't understand.
Taylor could not help but gulp, as her mind focused on Nero's voice. She was too distracted to hear his words, but she was still focused completely on his voice. Whatever fear she felt was long forgotten.
From the other side of the bus, Wendy gave Taylor a pitying look. She had seen that expression a few times back in school, and the only thing it would lead to was heartbreak. So far, she had never seen Nero return interest in any girl. The only thing he cared about was training.