Shuttered Impulses [HIATUS]

Chapter 12

Mei woke up to the shifting of Senri's nude body. She'd forgotten that he fell asleep without clothes last night. 

"Wake up, Senri. I need to put another layer on you before I go off to class." Mei moved off the bed and made her way towards the bucket. Sludge was still slightly bubbling inside of it. Thankfully it wouldn't go bad over night. 

"Dun' wanna." Came a muffled reply from Senri as he shoved his face into one of the pillows. Mei rolled her eyes as she pulled the sheet from his naked torso. Before he could move she hit his acupoints once again to stop his movements. 

"I've barely got time for this. I'll put this on you and see you when I get back."

She went through the same process of smoothing the liquid on to his entire body before leaving him slightly twitching on the bed. It took her longer than she had though to get ready. 

Today she had settled for brushing her hair out and allowing it to cascade down her body with only two flowered pins near her ears holding back the hair that wanted to fall into her eyes. She'd debated on whether to wear a veil but figured it would distract the others away from her new piercings if she kept her face visible. 

Her ears had two obsidian studs at the top of the cartilage giving Mei a more 'mature' look. They looked very similar to the slight beauty mark beneath her eye that added a bit more sex appeal to Mei. 

Senri was left to his own suffering as Mei pulled a white sheer shawl over her shoulders with her pink nearly white dress trailing behind her. The sleeves hung over her dainty hands, hiding them within the folds. Her face was clean and fresh of any and all make up but that didn't detract from her beauty and grace. 

Sunrise was approaching and bird calls sung through the morning air. Mei loved the smell of mornings. She'd always wondered if anyone else enjoyed different times of day because of the way the air smelled. In the morning it smelt fresh and clean, similar to a mint. Afternoons always bugged her because it made her feel claustrophobic; the smell. They always smelt thick to her and night time seemed to have a relaxing quality to it. Maybe it was the quiet or the smell that danger lurked behind every corner. 

Mei felt that this was quite accurate about the different times having different smells. Her inner monologue was cut off when two boys stepped into her path. 

"We knew that you had a sexy figure but who knew that you had a face that could topple kingdoms?"

"You're right, Shino," the second boy agreed.

They had similar looks but their faces were slightly different. One looked chiseled and manly while the other was more feminine but sported deep purple hair that was currently pulled back in a bun. The original Mei had tried to avoid these two boys at school because they would corner her quite often. Unfortunately for them, Mei was no longer the previous girl who was to frightened to get help or to help herself. 

"May I help you?"

Both the boys smirked as if what she said was a funny joke. Mei narrowed her eyes at the both of them. 

The more 'manly' of the two took a step forward on her right and the feminine one took a step towards her left, trying to cage her in. On closer inspection, Mei could see that there was a growing crowd but no one stepped forward to stop these two. 

Anger bled through Mei. If I kill them, it'll be bad. 

"In two months, I challenge you both to a death match."

Her voice reached people who were standing far enough away that they couldn't see what was taking place. A gasp swept the crowd and whispers began to run a muck. Some students ran off to tell others while some ran to inform a teacher. 

"You think you can beat me," Shino sneered. 

Mei raised an eyebrow, "I said the both of you. Which means it will be me vs both of you at the same time. Since I issued the challenge, you don't need to accept but that does mean that until the time of our match you can't lay a finger on me directly nor indirectly." 

With that she pushed her way past them and headed through the crowd. As she walked through the students, she noticed some brushing against her body even though they could've moved aside. She snorted in disgust. Children.

Her first class for the day was in the Training Grounds where they had a Obstacle Course set up. Some areas helped with dexterity, others with flexibility, and then the last was a mock fighting arena. Inside was a Puppet of your choosing depending on level that had a certain amount of techniques for each Cultivation Level. 

Of course there were the more dull areas that were set up to help with aim, balance, and the distraction section. Mei found the last the most amusing. It was aimed to help Cultivators keep their focus when in battle. 

The teacher for this class was Teacher Naer; a man in his early thirties but looked like a teenager because of his Cultivation level being in the Fourth Stage. His hair was cut short and resembled green grass. Eyes that were pitch black regarded all the students as they waited for his instructions.

"Today I want the girls and boys to mix together into partners. We will be doing mock fights for you to better understand your weakness and strengths. I'll point out now that females are faster than their male counterparts and males have more brute strength. No maiming or killing is allowed. Off you go," he declared as he sat down on a mat used for meditation and watched his class break up. 

Mei just stood there, not bothering with choosing a partner. Most of the males had crowded around her and begun asking to be her partner but she seemed to become deaf. It was beginning to irritate her and by the looks of the other females in the class, she wasn't the only one annoyed. Except they were annoyed with Mei rather than the boys being an annoyance. 

She shrugged off the hateful gazes as well as the lewd looks from the men before she looked at the one boy who seemed hunched in on himself. He stood apart from the group and the females seemed to sneer at him. Mei began walking towards him and the group that crowded her begun to part to allow her passage. 

"Hello. Would you care to be my partner," she asked the skinny boy. He was a bit taller than Mei but instead of having bulk like the other males, was rather lanky. His pale skin clashed with the black/blue hair that hid his face. 

"Are you talking to me," came a hesitant response. He still didn't show his face but Mei didn't care about that. 

"Yes. My name is Mei by the way."

"Okay. My name is Braxus but you can call me Brax or X." 

"I'll do that. Shall we go over there then," Mei pointed towards one of the areas cleared for mock fights among partners. 

Everyone had gone extremely quiet but when Mei began tugging Brax by the hand towards the open area a few guys angrily shouted at him. His hand squeezed in hers but she kept pulling him along. She swept a glare at those who had refused to continue on their way and one look was enough. They immediately averted her eyes and ran to the closest opposite sex to form a pair. 

Brax had an uncanny skill with being able to keep his hair covering and hiding his face. All throughout the lesson Mei had been extremely curious because even when they fought she hadn't caught a glimpse of his face. It was his secret though so she wasn't going to force him to show her. 

A/N: I know I don't write in this book often but it's a story that takes a lot more forethought before writing in my opinion. So I have a hard time in getting chapters out there.