𝙎𝘼𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙉 ✮ 𝘯. 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘧𝘧

{𝟎𝟑} - 𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝

Red Room Academy

Russia

February 2001

"SIT down."

Reluctantly, Semna obeyed. She forced herself to move in front of the desk and take a seat on the disgusting couch, and not wanting Madame B to notice her shakiness, she sat on top of her hands and lowered her head. She wouldn't have been so nervous if not for the lack of knowledge for her being there. She had beaten Arina, right? She saw them take her away after the fight was over. Semna had won. But the sheer force they had used to take her down a single hallway unnerved her. Whatever her reason for being here, it obviously wasn't going to be ideal if they had taken her to the Madame's very own office. After all, it had been stupid to believe one win would take their eyes away from her. No matter what she did, she would always be a target.

Her eyes ran up and down her thighs, studying the torn patches and warily thin fabric of her uniform. It barely fit anymore, as she had been wearing the same suit around the Academy since she was fourteen, and had grown quite a bit since then. But they had refused to make her a new one, so she began to alter it herself as the years went on, as she got taller and more muscular. It was a little, silly thing that somehow made Semna appreciate the uniform more, instead of hate it. It felt like it was truly hers.

Madame B had been arranging papers on her desk for several minutes, when suddenly, she stopped. Semna raised her head and met her eyes, that somehow looked...softer? Pleased? Proud? "Do you know why I brought you in here, Semnadtsat' ?"

"N-no, Madame." It was the truth; Semna was baffled, to say the least. Even Natalia, who was easily one of the Madame's favorites, had never been sent to her office. She wasn't sure that anybody had been in here before now.

The Madame only hummed as she ran a finger along her lips. Silently, she stood up and walked to the windows, gazing out upon the scenery, the outside light casting a shadow on the floor behind her. Semna quietly sighed; it's like she wanted her to panic, as if it wasn't enough to get dragged in there in the first place. Though she shouldn't have expected Madame B to be transparent with her. Even in training sessions, the woman kept a lot of her thoughts to herself, and often, the girls spoke more than she did. It was a technique that kept them on their toes at all times, wanting to be perfect in every way, though they could never be sure about their success rate. And here she was doing it to Semna, whether she realized it or not.

Finally, Madame B turned around, the soft smile on her face returning. She walked back over, every click of her heels like the echoing reverberation of a bell in Semna's ears. "Would you like some water, dear?"

Semna shifted uncomfortably. "Y...yes, please." She watched as the water was poured into the glass, then handed to her far too casually. The more they danced around the conversation, the more Semna started to relax, yet still continued to keep her guard up.

"I was very...impressed with your performance in there, Semnadtsat'," Madame B spoke up. Somehow, Semna thought, she actually sounded genuine. "I have never seen that kind of fight in you. That kind of fire."

"Thank you, Madame."

"However," she continued, shuffling to sit back behind her desk, "it was still very sloppy. Silly, immature, sloppiness."

Semna turned her head and pretended to study the bookshelves, biting her tongue to keep from lashing out. Had she really been forced in here to be critiqued on how she killed someone? Sure, it had been sloppy, but nevertheless, it was efficient. Semna was still breathing, Arina was not. She couldn't understand why it wasn't that simple to everybody else.