Mason nods and walks off towards the school. Melody and Sam look at each other, giving understanding nods. Sam reaches for Melody's shoulder and nudges her.
"You really wrote 5,000 words for him?"
Melody looks back at Sam.
"Yeah, of course. Mason probably has to switch between holding his sword and his pen just to feel like he can do any homework."
She likens a small smile, nudging Sam back.
"He's a total badass with that thing, but when it comes to school, it can only be said that he's hopeless."
She smirks.
"He was always like that."
"Ahah, yeah, I guess that makes sense."
Sam looks off towards where Mason left, only to be met with-
FOOMP
Mason lands on the two of them, gripping their heads closer to his.
Surprise takes both of them, breathing fast by Mason's ears, just as he is in theirs.
"Thank you, guys…"
Mason whispers to them, the gathered heat of their heads together warms him.
"For yesterday."
He finishes. And just as quickly as he surprised them, he speeds off back towards the school building. Racing footsteps tap their ways into the Cursed side's giant doors.
Sam and Melody are left speechless. A rare sight of- no, not even a rare sight, that has never been seen before by Mason. They don't want to ruin the mood, so they remain silent.
That is until,
"Oh no!"
Sam grips his hair at the sides of his head,
"I gotta get them out of his bag!"
Sam is halfway to the school building already, leaving Melody to stare off in pure confusion.
"What the heck?"
She tilts her head. Finally, she shrugs her shoulders and heads to her side of the school and readies herself to begin the day.
Sam is racing into the doors of the school, huffing wildly.
"Jeez! I didn't think he'd…"
Sam is still bewildered by Mason's sudden kind thank-you.
"I gotta get the paper I wrote for him out of his bag!"
Sam admits that he also wrote a 5,000-word essay for Mason to use, sliding it into his bag secretly while they hugged so awkwardly close down in the courtyard. Sam had to struggle to get into the bag, he knew Mason was likely going to hit him for that.
"Dammit!"
Sam copies his friend's signature cursing, bolting past multiple students to get to Mason before he can make it into the classroom.
BWOOMF
Sam pushes through the crowd at the door and falls face-first into the classroom, met with boisterous laughter from everyone, Mason included.
"Geez, buddy, couldn't wait to get in class?"
Mason picks him up, lifting him singlehandedly at his forearm.
"You're still early!"
Mason shoves his friend after getting him upright, pushing at his midsection towards their seats.
Completely breathless, Sam tries to point at Mason's bag but weakly he falls into his chair and can only try to signal with wild eyes at what Mason's about to find. But then, Mr. Gentus slides open the door to the room and calls out.
"Welcome back, class."
He drops his bag down onto his desk at the front of the class, and everyone rushes to their seats.
"I hope everyone had ample time to get their work done, it shouldn't have been too hard."
His words pierce through the air at Mason, with purpose as Mr. Gentus appears to stare the young boy down. Mr. Gentus picks his pen out of his pocket and swings it in a flourish, welcoming the class.
Mason, picking up on Gentus' intent, grins weakly at him, his dead eyes meeting the cocky teacher.
"Oh, I got something for you."
Mason whispers to himself, and beside him, Sam can only force himself to wait and catch his breath so as not to make a scene of ripping up the papers in Mason's bag.
"I'll see them at the front then!"
Mr. Gentus calls out and begins his class, tapping the pen to his desktop.
Sam starts to nervously twiddle his thumbs, waiting for the right time. Mason sits at his desk, digging frustrated nails into the wood of his desk, clearly irked by their teacher. His eyes are lit with enmity and, possibly, a literal fire. You would think so if you were caught in his eye-line.
Mr. Gentus is currently the one with that honor.
He sits at the front of the class, slowly collecting the class's work assignments. 1,000 words typed or written, to be handed to him at the beginning of class. The reason for Mason's daggering eyes isn't this alone though.
Mr. Gentus is also meeting him, clashing swords again with their gazes alone, as students pass by and hand in their works. Breaking away for a moment, Mr. Gentus wears a kind face, nodding slightly to a young blonde schoolgirl in front of him.
"Ah, thank you Ms. Eriza."
His chin touches his thin neck, and his cheeks reach up to his eyes as he raises his head again, peering through slit lids at Mason again. Testing him.
Mason keeps his eyes peeled on Mr. Gentus,
"What do you want here, Gentus."
Mason says his name with the same venomous intent as ever.
"You knew I couldn't handle 5,000 words!? You probably picked up on what kind of student I am in the first few moments of seeing me here…"
Mason plays a game of chess in his head. Mason admittedly places his ability for schoolwork in the lower tiers, the truest slacker. Mason's admission to Masquerade was helped by a few letters and good words spoken by one of the school's strongest students of the time. His strength was made to speak for itself, and again admittedly, Mason knows he must place among the strongest second-years.
Mr. Gentus darts at Mason now too.
"What is it you think I want...Mason."
Mr. Gentus is a powerful Blessed, which affords him this ability to read and speak with others' minds. In most cases, it takes someone incredibly powerful to be able to speak to another's mind, but Mr. Gentus has more than proved he's of an incredible tier.
Mason looks away, realizing this, shocked by the sudden words drilled into his ears. Mason is the first to break eye contact, looking down at his bag on his desk.
"Haaaagh."
Continued in PART THIRTY-FOUR…