"...Do you expect us to reveal our Venma just because of this?" Jason asked.
Raidou had scheduled another meeting that evening, officially bringing Liam into the fold. After he apologized profusely to the others and explained a few specifics of his ability, Jason had replied with a scowl:
"Just great. Now there are two Denied people in this classroom. Anyone else want to speak up?"
Raidou put a hand to his forehead. "Jason, no one's asking anyone to reveal their Venma. You're just taking a shot at Liam for no reason."
There was silence, until the grey-skinned Nelly Point stood up and rose a black-gloved hand.
"I know what it's like to have your Venma revealed like that," she said. Or rather, muttered. Her voice was so quiet that almost everyone struggled to hear her.
"I am... also a Denied."
Everyone stared at her in shock. Especially Jason, who had never expected someone to actually do what he had asked.
"My Venma is... Molten, and... well... it's the reason I always wear these gloves."
Expressions of confusion spread out across the room, but Liam's eyes widened in realization. A few more people looked at her gloves, thought it over, then stared at her with shock that bordered on horror.
Nelly looked down, shuddering for a moment, then sat down. Then she covered her face with her hands.
"Um... I know this might be a bit forward," Steve said as he leaned back away from Nelly. "But, can you guarantee that... state you entered is something that only happens when you push yourself?"
Liam nodded, though his expression hardened. "Yes, I can. It's likely something that only occurs when I push myself to a certain limit. As for what caused that transformation, it could very likely be the—"
"Enough, PaxWiki," Lee said from his seat. "Don't go rambling about the causes. Just explain the terminology."
Liam's ears turned crimson as he coughed into his fist and looked away. "R-right. Well, Po called it 'a wild state', and in addition to Jay's 'instinctual' description, I decided to call that state 'Primal'."
"So what?" Jason scowled. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Liam frowned. "What I'm saying is the moment it seems like I'm going Primal, either leave immediately or stop me."
"HA!" Jason laughed. "As if I would be scared of anything you could do—"
"I don't care about your attitude," Liam cut in coldly. "I'm trying to make sure I and everyone else don't get hurt just because my mind went blank."
Jason smirked, but before he could say anything, Jay cut in, his hood off.
"Jason, I've been wondering. Why go out of your way to clearly antagonize someone you call 'dangerous'? Do you somehow think you can push him far enough to make him go crazy and beat you? The only thing you'd prove if you managed that would be your threat level, and possibly... Liam's lack of control."
Lee sighed as he looked back at Jason. "Why do you have to be such a jerk all the time? I sincerely doubt you would be willing to put yourself in such danger. Besides..."
Lee took off his shades and gave Jason a once-over. "I'm pretty sure you said you couldn't handle that yesterday. And personally, I don't see the kind of strength in you to be able to manage more than a minute against Kazumi if he was holding back that much."
Jason gritted his teeth and glared at Lee. "I don't remember asking for your opinion."
"Yet it is perhaps the most accurate one you'll get," Lee replied as he put his shades back on. "Kazumi would just call you weak, and Jay would give a hundred word essay on what exactly is up with your physical features."
"Tch." Jason stood, then walked out. Nobody tried to stop him as he threw one last glare at Liam and Raidou before leaving.
Jay turned to the class. "Well, him aside, Raidou and I came up with a little solution to figure out our entire class's combat prowess, and it includes a class ranking."
"Wait, what?" Liam flinched as he looked at Jay.
"Currently, the three estimated to be at the top are Kazumi, Lee, and this guy."
"HUH—!" Nanami slapped a hand over his mouth, avoiding looks from those beside him.
Jay jabbed a thumb in Liam's direction as he finished, then patted Raidou on the shoulder before pulling his hood on and turning to walk away.
"No, no." Raidou smiled as he grabbed Jay by the hoodie.
As Liam walked back to his seat, Raidou pulled Jay up to the teacher's podium.
"You are the class representative, so you have to explain it to us. I'm just your assistant."
Ugh... Jay thought as the crushing weight of responsibility intensified.
****
Half an hour later...
"Hey. You're Jay Ares, right? The Hunter Class's current representative."
Jay looked up from the burger he was about to munch on and made eye contact with a grey-haired boy in glasses.
"...And you are?"
The boy smiled. "My name's Fohl Nol. I'm the Hero Class's current representative."
Jay nodded, then took a large bite out of his burger. Fohl waited for him to swallow, then continued.
"I understand that our respective classes aren't on the best of terms—"
"I'm gonna assume you want to make up because your image has been tarnished?" Jay cut him off. "I understand that the Hero Class members all have a status quo to maintain, and its either dominance, or cooperation."
He looked up from his burger, straight into Fohl's eyes. "So... I hope whatever plan you've come up with to start cooperation is a good one."
Fohl smiled, giving no indication that he had been caught off-guard. "You're definitely sharp. If you understand all that, then you'll definitely like what I have to say."
"...Really?" Jay asked before taking another bite of his burger.
"Yes," Fohl nodded. "To be straightforward, here's what I have in mind..."
Jay listened closely as Fohl explained his plan over the next five minutes. While he talked, Jay finished up his burger, then moved on to the chips on his plate. When Fohl finished, Jy gave his opinion.
"That actually sounds pretty good," Jay said as he pulled on his hoodie strings. "It'll keep both classes sharp while maintaining something better. It'll definitely be a good thing in the long run."
Fohl grinned. "I knew you'd like it. Well then, there's no time like the present. We need to start deciding who goes where."
Jay nodded. "Yeah. We'll have to look out for compatibility issues though..."
"Yeah," Fohl nodded. "It'll be a good thing if their personalities clash a bit, but too much is still a bad thing."
Jay nodded. "You're right there, but if you put two extremely compatible people together, it'll cause too many problems in the long run. It might even mess up the whole plan."
Fohl nodded. "True... then how about these matches?"
The two began to discuss the future of their classmates, one quiet and straightforward, the other more animated and expressive.
****
"I'm kind of surprised you decided to speak up like that," Lisa said.
Nelly entwined her fingers in front of herself, muttering: "Well, I know how it feels to have your Venma exposed without your consent. I just felt bad for Liam."
Ruby jumped to the front, raising her hands with a grin on her face. "Yeah well, you're still a pretty decent person! Even though you look like a ghost."
Hannah grabbed Ruby by the back of her green jacket. "Why we never talked about your loud mouth during the last meeting, I don't know."
"Loudmouth? Me?!"
"Yes," every girl present chorused.
Lisa's old group, along with Nelly and Zoe, were walking to the dormitory area. Elsie turned to Nelly and asked, "How exactly do you feel right now? Personally, I found it surprising that even one Denied was in our class. To find out there were three? Quite the surprise."
Hannah, Ruby, and Lisa all stared at Elsie, and she frowned back.
"What is it?"
Eris waved at her, and when Elsie looked up at her she said, "You promised to be more casual."
Elsie mouthed an 'oh', then cleared her throat. "Right, I apo—I mean, sorry about that."
Zoe chuckled, then sucked in her lips and looked away when Elsie turned to her.
"You," Elsie said, causing Zoe to tremble.
"You need to relax," Elsie said as she reached out and patted Zoe's shoulder. "If not... if you can't, is there a reason why you can't?"
Zoe tapped her fingers together, then nodded. "Y-yeah. People make me anxious... and talking to several people is kind of... heart-pounding."
"That makes no sense," Ruby said from behind Zoe, causing the nervous girl to jump. "Aren't we all friends here?"
"No, you brat," Tiffany grunted from her place a little farther back. "We aren't friends. We're barely proper classmates."
Ruby blinked several times in confusion. "Then why are we all walking to our dorms together?"
Tiffany opened her mouth to retort, then seemed to realize that it would be pointless to argue with Ruby.
"Honestly," Lisa said as she walked over and grabbed both Elsie and Zoe. "You two are so~ cute, but so~ problematic."
"Huh?!" they both exclaimed.
Lisa grinned at them. "And the best way to solve this is a group trip to the mall!"
Hannah chuckled as she checked the time. "It's five-forty, so I guess it's doable."
"Wanna come with us?" Eris asked Nelly. Nelly shuffled her feet and squeezed her hands together, then nodded.
"Whatever." Tiffany rolled her eyes, walking away.
The others looked at her receding back in silence, knowing nothing they would say would stop her.
Later, when the others were gone and Tiffany was on her way to her dorm...
"You were pretty rude to them."
"Screw off, Jade."
Jade Demeter chuckled, her expression soft despite the weight in her gaze. "How rude. You really should try to get closer to them. You definitely need the social interaction, as dull as you are."
Jade laughed and walked away, leaving Tiffany alone on the sidewalk.