It was 9:30 in the morning, Physical Education class had just ended for Lyudmila Alexeyev. The prickly heat of the sun pierced her skin, flushing her face a healthy rosy red. Sweat drenched her P.E. clothes, molding the material to her curves.
Her thoughts wandering on her the humdrum order her life had been taking recently, she headed for the benches, grabbing a towel from her open sport bag where a half-empty water bottle protruded. She swabbed at the perspiration trickling down her face, neck and arms.
Her simple enough actions drew attention from the male populace in the track field, her shirt and running shorts stretching here and there over assets the female half were now glaring over in envy. Both she disregarded, draping the towel over one shoulder, picked up her bag and passed by them.
She was mere steps away form the female corner of the changing rooms when a sudden movement from one corner of her eye made her swing out the sturdy sport bag. It came in direct contact with a loud 'thud' as it smacked center on a face. Her bag slid, revealing features with a bloody nose and a cut lip.
Lyudmila sighed in exasperation when she recognized him. He was... what's-his-name again?
May as well pick one.
"Damn, Artem. When will you learn?" She growled at his scowling, if a little bloody, face. "You can never sneak up on me." She was in no mood to be dealing with him now.
"Andrew." He corrected, dabbing a finger at his injured lower lip. "The name is Andrew. When will you remember that? I've been going after you, like what, since the first year?"
Lyudmila tsked. "Whatever. Why bother remember when I don't have time for your antics?" She drawled in disinterest.
The stubborn fool didn't seem to get the message across as he swiped a hand at his nose, smearing the blood across his cheek. He had the look of a little boy denied what he wanted. "I was this close, THIS CLOSE--" He insisted, holding up his forefinger and thumb about an inch apart in front her face. "Just accept my challenge and we'll see if you can still beat me. Come one." He demanded.
In a quick reflex, Lyudmila's arm stretched to one side and just as quickly swung the other way in his direction. One end of her sport bag caught him in the jaw, sending him flying some distance.
He remained down for the count.
"Ha!" She scoffed, not even looking where he had landed. "You're light years too early to be challenging me, Arkady."
With that, she pushed the washroom door and went in after what was the most repeated routing of her days in HADES aside for her usual morning work-out.
Her school life was missing a few perks.
Minutes later, after a quick shower and drying herself with an extra towel, Lyudmila was already combing out her short blonde hair before her light brown gaze fell on a figure clad entirely in black opposite from her. She would have thought nothing of it until the figure moved slightly and her interest fell on the sheathed sword held by one hand.
Lyudmila stopped in the process of pulling the brush through her damp hair to quietly admire the stranger's elegant grace in her careful movements of fixing her uniform, an upbringing that sorely lacked in many of the current generation.
Long silky jet black hair so straight, not a tangle in sight, impassive pale eyes, and the black uniform contrasted greatly against creamy white skin. So deathly white. Like a ghost.
I wonder if shooting her, if she is an apparition, would prove supernatural existence? Lyudmila thought in amusement. Of course, she would be proven wrong if the victim started bleeding.
Interest, and mostly curiosity, piqued, she found herself calling out, to the other girl. She could guess they were about the same age, or somewhere close in between. There really was no telling though unless she asked straight out.
"Hey, you done with class or doing work out too?" Lyudmila asked, seeing as the other girl made no move to change into another outfit.
She could have been in one of the showers earlier when Lyudmila arrived and the girl would have emerged just as she entered one, but Lyudmila couldn't recall having heard running water when she came in.
Besides, the girl's hair was obviously dry.
She decided to change tactic when no response was forthcoming.
"Are you new here? I haven't seen you around campus. A transferee, maybe?" She guessed conversationally but her intentions were received with the same cold silence. Worse, the girl, probably done with whatever sent her to the washroom, turned her back on Lyudmila and went for the door.
Just like that, she was leaving.
Frowning at the show of rudeness, Lyudmila strode after the girl and in a move to stop her, had her grasp swiped away by the hilt of the sword used to deflect her hand.
"Dare not touch me if I were you. If you do, you're life is but an inch away." Warned the strange girl in a low steady voice that would have sent shivers down one's spine, only Lyudmila was starting to be a little incensed. Steely gray eyes rooted her on the spot.
A warning? Or a threat?
Interesting...
This was something different now. She started to grin in anticipation. She, Lyudmila Sergeyivich Alexeyev, never slinked away from a threat. In fact, she liked the challenge it would present.
She let out a low whistle, droning out a single tune, while staring at the girl and then grinned. There was a hint of a dare in her tone when she next spoke, " Easy, girl. Just trying to get to know you, no need to bite my hand off. But if you don't want to..." Lyudmila gave a shrug. "Your loss." She finished, although the look on her face showed she didn't much care.
Taking a step brought her closer to the lockers on the wall where she had dropped her sport bag. "But you know, I thought you looked liked Wednesday from the Addams Family."
Cocking her head to one side, the ends of her short, and still damp, blond hair brushing over her shoulder. Light brown eyes squinted and quickly cleared. "Ah, even more, how about Emily the Strange?" She guffawed, laughing as an image of the girl dressed like the said cartoon character flitted in mind.
Another step and she was a few inches shy at arm's length. "Really, I think you can pass off as Wednesday Addams better though." She contemplated, looking at the top of a dark head and down to the black shoes, starting to circle around the girl on one side. "Just do your hair in two braided tails here," Lyudmila described by holding up her hands on each side of her neck just below the ears. "You have that look about, just like hers." Stopping, she retraced her steps to the other side this time.
Lyudmila knew she was blabbering nonsense. She didn't care though, there was something she wanted to try out. And it required talking, some acting and a little intimidation to start it off.
Intimidation she was good at.
Her glance dropped to the sword. "Of course, your rusty toy would have to go, doesn't fit the image at all." She finished, coming to a stop in front the girl and strategically blocking the door.
Without so much as even a blink, the girl kept her inexpressive eyes steady on Lyudmila a moment longer before turning away. "Whatever you say, ragazza rumoroso."
It would have more impact if Lyudmila knew what she was called. Unfortunately, she didn't, so she let it pass. Just this once.
Silence.
The girl shifted.
Lyudmila didn't move.
And then the girl glared.
A taunting grin, one that looked like she achieved what she first set out, broke out on Lyudmila's mouth. "Nothing to say now?" She tsked twice, and sighed in feigned resignation. "Just when you've started to speak."
"If you're just going to stand there and bark like a dog then I'll be off."
If possible, Lyudmila heard her vein pop. By nature, she was a friendly and sociable person. However, she was willing to do a turnover after this encounter, and specifically only this one time. Lyudmila realized she was seething behind the smile she forced to to maintain on her face. Her pique turned a nosedive to irritation when the girl turned on her heel and detoured around her for the door.
In counteraction, Lyudmila suddenly raised and slammed her foot down one end of a low benches aligned before the lockers stacked against the walls and sent it tilting up almost to standing, yanked something from underneath, positioned and aimed a CheyTac Intervention rifle at the moving girl.
 |
| Suppressed CheyTac M-200 Intervention |
For some reason, the mention of her sword made the girl smile. She halted just beside the door and turned to face Lyudmila, seeing those steely gray eyes land on her gargantuan weapon before they shifted to its user's face.
She knew what had caught the girl's scrutiny. Lyudmila didn't have to check in the mirror to confirm, she knew her eyes had activated as they always did whenever she aimed. Even at a few feet they were an attention-grabbing feature to others with the unusual array of mixed colors. Like rainbows reflected in the irises.
"Shall we see which is faster? My bullet or you?"
Malevolence glittered in the gray orbs as the girl took the challenge, although her sword remained sheathed at her side. If her plan was to avoid the shot, jumping away didn't exactly require the use of a sword after all, unless she had another intention iin mind.
"My, my, how unsurprising," The girl jeered sarcastically at the last word. "The dog has now bared its teeth."
That was so it! Lyudmila mentally snapped, finger twitching on the trigger. "Eat lead, Gloomy Loony." She muttered and fired.
If she had thought the girl was going to do something else than moving away from the bullet's path, she couldn't have been more wrong. Her counter was unexpected as grabbing the doorknob and pulling the door wide open to cover her. The minuscule projectile embedded itself where a head should have been. Tiny bits of pain flaked off to reveal a metal plate of two and a half inch thick overlapped with a paint style to make look like an ordinary door, which would be made of wood.
For the girl to notice indicated she had been in the academy for some time, or longer. Or she just paid extra attention to structures.
People outside were startled at the sudden opening of one of the female washroom doors, even more so at the sight of Lyudmila with her massive weapon in plain view. A few fled for cover, several scattered about but remained to watch.
"A sniper, eh?" The girl asked from behind her shield.
The perfectly intact door abruptly lifted, pulled aside where the upper hinges came free, and then the bottom part extracted along with what remained of the attached bolts. The door was repositioned to show the girl standing behind it, one arm hidden.
"Shouldn't you be up a tree or a building somewhere, hiding?"
Lyudmila made a a rude noise that sounded like "Tse!" under her breath, cocking her turn bolt and geared up for a second shot.
"Let's see if you can still block this one." She growled.
"Pensi? Bring it on, cane rabbioso." The girl taunted.
"One more f*cking lingo out of you, I'm gonna shoot you for sure!" Lyudmila snapped.
The girl smiled.
Eerie.
And then, coming from between her pale lips, "Vaf-fan-cu-lo." She pronounced distinctly.
No more hesitation, with sights on her target and grip on the rifle, Lyudmila made a quick turn to aim for the water pipes nearest the girl, and took a shot. In a spurt of action she kicked a bench towards the girl's defense just as water sprayed out to provide disruption
The bench was countered by the door falling over it, the girl releasing whatever sort of hold she had on it as she ducked and twisted to avoid the shower, altogether sending a blade flying in Lyudmila's direction. The sharp steel slivered shallow skin and left an angry line of red, eventually dotting as the blood came.
The dagger buried itself on a mirror behind Lyudmila when she avoided it. Glass shattered, scattering into a thousand fragments on the now flooding washroom floor.
Feeling the sting on her cheek, Lyudmila knew the girl had drawn the first blood. Mentally stopping the niggering pain, she opened fire against the girl, resentment making her a tad reckless in her aim.
The girl ran for one side, unmindful of the stupid fools who peered from the door to witness the clash between the two, even as a trail of bullets barely missed their heads after the girl came past them. Even at hasty speed, the girl still held a graceful run.
Fast enough that Lyudmila hardly had the chance to swing her rifle, coming aware halfway through that she had left herself vulnerable standing in the middle of the washroom like that and with no plan whatsoever but just rapidly firing-- like one trigger-happy lunatic. And because of this the girl took the opportunity to draw in. She swiped at the pooling water, creating a cascade to block Lyudmila's amplified extra-ocular perception, breaking her concentration. By the time she regained focus, the tip of a dagger was the next thing she felt against the side of her neck.
Stunned, it took a moment for her to realize the first taste of defeat. It sucked.
Lyudmila felt herself grinning, and then chuckling, feeling the blade tip jabbing against her out skin in consequence, without puncturing, as her body shook. Ow, ow, ow, ow... She winced but couldn't stop herself.
There was pain, she didn't want to comprehend if it came from the pricks or the notion of her first defeat.
Finally, she sighed. "Whew~" She exhaled, straightening her shoulders and lowering her rifle."You're a tough one." Lyudmila admitted, trying a more jovial tune. "What's your name?" She was entirely too cheerful.
A moment's hesitation, then, "Ami."
"Ami, huh?" She expected a more classy name. To hear such a short and typical one was a surprise, but it fit her. "I'm Lyudmila."
"And both are about to be in trouble." Came a reprimanding voice from the doorway.
Two heads turned and Lyudmila grimaced at the instructor standing there, hands on hips and silver eyes narrowed at them. They were inside a closed structure with hallways leading in different directions just beyond the door, but there was no ignoring the slight shifting in the air as it disturbed and flicked at the manipulator's hair and attire.
Instructor Sword Play by code wasn't one to be tangled with when pissed. Glass, her ever present shadow, stood leaning against the door frame with an enigmatic look in his eyes despite the smile on his face, his hands flipping several bits of the broken mirror he must have picked up without their noticing.
"Hey, Teach!" Lyudmila greeted. Her eyes turned to Ami who never let her gaze waver from her. Not expecting any assistance from there, she cleared her throat. "We were, er... ah... just... getting to know each other!"
Bouts were known to occur within the campus premises, some were condoned and some that would occasionally break out from small tiffs. Often enough, the staff would turn a blind eye and let the fight ensue. Though there were times, and this was one of them, that they were just not pardoned.
 |
| Glock 21SF Semi-automatic Double Action |
Sheepishly, Lyudmila eased her hand away where she had pressed a semi-automatic glock against Ami's side. She had hidden the pistol underneath hear shirt, tucked at the back of her denim short's waist. It was the reason the knife didn't run her through when she got caught from behind. When she did so, the other girl's blade was removed from her neck as well. They slowly stepped away and glared at each other.
Sword let out an exasperated breath. "Alright, toys away," She ordered, jerked her head to look behind her at the restless audience still hovering outside. "And everyone to your classes. Now."
"You heard the lady." Glass replied, pushing himself away from his position to usher them off. Everyone went without delay.
"Same goes for the two of you." Sword added, eying the two girls who remained glowering at one another.
Ami was the first to break her gaze away. Although slightly drenched from the burst pipe, she walked on with the same regal grace fit for a queen.
Before she could step out the doorway, Lyudmila spoke, "By the way, I'd keep away from tall buildings if I were you. Who knows when a bullet may just come whizzing by." She warned albeit a trifle too sweetly.
Lyudmila was starting to hate Ami's smile. It always seem to intimate another meaning.
She was right, when the answer was only something the other girl, and clearly intentionally, would understand. "Il mio avvertimento stesso per te, piccolo cucciolo abbaiare." And she was gone.
Sword didn't seem to mind the exchange threats, but just gave Lyudmila a pointed look before leaving.
Growling in irritation, Lyudmila ruffled her hair, wiped at the streak of blood on her cheek and glanced down at herself. She was partly drenched herself, rumpled, her hair a mess. Looking around, she spotted her sports bag with her spare change of clothes, and let out a curse.
The bench she had kicked was the one she had absently dropped her bag on, unzipped and open, now on the floor with half the contents floating about and water filling in.
But she was in a rather good mood.
Seems like the proceeding days ahead weren't going to be as dull as she thought. She mentally began counting the many possibilities that could be had as she picked up her soaked items...
*** THE END ***
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Translations:
ragazza rumoroso - noisy girl
Pensi - you think?
cane rabbioso - rabid dog
vaffanculo - f*ck off
Il mio avvertimento stesso per te, piccolo cucciolo abbaiare - My same warning to you, little yapping puppy
*Thank you Google Translate! XD
= = = = =
||Credits:||
Original concept of above story belongs to Markie Steven Jose's fanfic of Ami and Lyudmila. This is a modified version of his work with permission for the revision.
Characters are not mine, they belong to:
• Ami Daeth © Yvonne Claire Manzano
• Lyudmila Sergeyivich Alexeyev © Markie Steven Jose
[A/N] Sorry if the ending seems rushed. The purpose of the revised version was supposed to be a sample of how the original author of this story concept can go about his story as he's still a beginner in fiction writing.
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