The Burning Rose

Chapter 34: Fractured

"Seriously? This is the girl from those stupid movies you watch?" Kang asked coldly as he folded his arms. "She looks like she barely got into Beacon. She would have been twelve when it happened. No way a kid could take out a monster that had killed pros."

Cinder's head whipped around to the idol. She already hated all of them and wished she could just break their stupid faces!

"I'll have you know I-!"

"Kang, how rude." Jiao said, turning to his band member and wagging his finger at him. "That's no way to treat a lady. I assure you I've reached the subject quite thoroughly and can in fact vouch that it really happened. This girl, Cinder Rose, she's the real deal. A woman who's both young in years and still far stronger than most. I would love to-."

"I don't need you to speak on my behalf! Piss off!" Cinder snapped, stepping away from the singer, glaring daggers at him. It took every inch of her willpower to stop herself from punching him in his face. "If I want your opinion, I'll ask! Don't treat me like one of your fans who can't tell an ass from a head!"

Jiao didn't miss a beat, smiling at her as he took a deep bow.

"My sincere apologies." He said, those he didn't sound sincere. "I didn't mean to offend. Please go on. Say what you were going to say."

Cinder felt her eyebrow twitching as she struggled to hold herself back. Brothers, it was almost worth getting expelled to wipe the stupid smile off his face!

But before she could do anything, Amber let out a loud cough, grabbing everyone's attention.

"So you're the Three Dragons?" She asked the boys. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Amber Alsprings. I'm the leader of team AACE. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now, if it's not too much trouble, could we talk about the assignment and plan for your defense?"

The three band members looked at the girl, clearly impressed by her professionalism. Then the one with the whiny voice, Fai spoke up.

"Cute and smart. Just the way I like 'em!"

Despite his tone, Amber didn't react. She simply smiled at him and continued on like nothing had happened.

"Thank you. I'm glad I'm able to please. Now, do you mind if I use this whiteboard to go over what I was thinking for your protection staffing?" She said as she pushed past the clothing racks and pulled out said board.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Kang asked, looking Amber up and down. He was unimpressed by the girl and wasn't bothering to hide it. In fact, when Jiao had been flirting with Cinder, Kang had been sizing up the whole team. And so far, he hadn't shown a single sign of liking them.

"If anything in the plan isn't to your liking, I'm more than happy to talk it over." Amber replied, taking a dry erase marker and beginning to write on the board. "But first here's my idea. Given that there are four of us, we can assign one guard for each of you. That way, there's someone with you at all times. And any stalker or crazed fan who might get past event security won't be able to do anything."

At this point, Amber had written out the names of her team and the band members on the board and was actively writing numbers above the heads of the band.

"Earlier this morning, I was reading some information on any attempts to break into the back room or back stage. And what or who they were targeting. As such, I've assigned the guard duty accordingly." Amber explained as she began drawing lines between her team and the band.

"First, Fai. You'll have Adam as your guard." Amber said, and immediately the boy opened his mouth to protest. But the dark skinned woman cut him off before he could start. "Out of everyone in the band. You have had the fewest incidences. And the times they have, it's never escalated into something dangerous. So Adam will guard you. Both fast and strong, he's easily the most situational aware of my team, so he'll be able to tell when someone around and get you out of a potential bad situation before it starts."