"You?"

Dean said with eyes widened, even as he clutched his chest and Hermit’s eyes deactivated.

His body still felt stiff, from his back to his ribs to his chest, after the compiled damage of the spar and this jump fest.

"Twice in one day...," Ymir responded, raising both her eyebrows.

’Yeah, are you stalking me,’ Dean thought but didn’t dare express. At least not right now. Not when he couldn’t feel his legs.

He looked to his side, the creature that had compromised his vision was dissipating and it was actually like a sea star.

"T-thank Y-you," Dean managed even as Ymir still stared at him without replying.

Her claws were glowing, even as her blue eyes shone continuously.

Moving closer, Ymir was now standing and hovering above Dean like a force waiting to consume him.

"This was just five against one," Ymir said casually. No sympathy in her voice.

"What?" Dean blinked as his breathing hitched.

"Five," Ymir repeated. Gesturing at the three on the ground. "Two ran when they saw me."

Five? He was jumped by five guys.

"You know I was blind sided right?" Dean retorted quickly. What did these people think he was? The honoured one? Superman?

And what exactly did she mean by "Just". This was the Art of jumping and he had just got a first hand class.

Looking around, Dean tried getting up since this girl was belittling his beat down. At least save some face, since five versus one was child’s play in her eyes.

But the more he tried, the harder it was. His legs were still disgracing him even now. His chest? That felt like it was blown through and through.

Without any warning, Ymir crouched down slowly and raised Dean’s chin as if she was inspecting his injuries.

Dean froze for a second as her touch and scent flooded his mind. But he regained composure just as quickly.

"What are you doing?"

Her gaze was cold like he’d disappointed her or more like she expected a lot more from him.

Still holding up his chin, she leaned in non-chalantly and gave him a little kiss on his cheek.

Her lips brushed him coldly and immediately Dean felt an unexpected warmth racing through his body.

All the tension in his joints, the gut-wrenching pain and the instability in his muscles. All of it suddenly disappeared.

Dean felt brand new, like a car which got a new engine installed and some body work done.

Raising her face, her ocean blue eyes met his as she spoke.

"Don’t get used to this..." she held back a sly smirk. "Next time,....you have to earn it."

Without saying anything further, Ymir walked away leaving Dean in a whirlwind of thoughts.

What exactly did she mean? Was she talking about the peck or the healing? Wait.. did she just kiss him?

Dean couldn’t ask her any of this now, since she left before he got a chance to.

Dean stood. And looked at the three unconscious and bleeding attackers but he didn’t recognise any of them.

These were faces he had never seen before, they had to be sophomores which meant this was personal.

Someone named Vanessa sent them. That’s what the guy had said. Special delivery from Vanessa. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

But who the hell was Vanessa?

Tapping his pockets, his eyes narrowed as he looked around and after sometime, he found what he was looking for.

The two notes of fifty quids that he held out before being attacked.

He picked them up with a lingering question still on his mind.

’Why are these women stalking me?’

<><><>

Dean arrived at the cafeteria, looking forward to seeing Astrea again. Or was it Ymir? Either of them would do at this point.

He was getting blindsided in more ways than one and had to admit, he didn’t know much at this point.

But neither woman was there. Though he expected Astrea here, probably studying, researching or with a glass of blood or something.

He frowned. Grabbed a tray, got some food and paid. Buying 50 quids worth of meat and bread. The standard for a world still trying to get its footing.

He also noticed a board at the back of where he was getting food. It was some kind of rankings.

Reading through, he realized that the top ten students from each class, got free meals. Everyone else had to pay.

Talk about motivation. The academy wasn’t running a charity. It provided accommodation and if you wanted perks, then you had to earn them.

While Dean ate, his mind still pondered why he was attacked. Whose ego had been bruised recently.

There was Marcus but he was in a werewolf pack. Same as Ymir’s. It didn’t make sense for her to hurt her pack mates for him.

Or would she? "Nah.." he dropped that thought.

There was also Rogue, but he didn’t believe Rogue was the kind of guy that would want others to do his dirty laundry.

At least not until he became actually relevant in here. And also the name they called was a Vanessa.

Don’t tell me, Rogue is a tom boy? He does look like a Vanessa. Dean joked inwardly before he mentally slapped himself to get serious.

If it wasn’t for Ymir, he wouldn’t even have lips to eat right now.

Immediately, another thought flashed in his mind. What about that girl? The one he used to get one over Rogue.

She was new. He hadn’t seen her before. Probably a sophomore right?

Dean shook his head, he wasn’t sure of anything. All these were assumptions.

And he had to know who was out for his ass. He didn’t expect Ymir to be there all the time.

If there was something he believed in. Knowing his enemies was as important as knowing himself.

"Vanessa. Vanessa," he whispered even as he ate in the rowdy cafeteria filled with students who were just chatting, eating and minding their business.

Dean was done eating and dropped off the tray.

Taking an open area where different students cluster this time. ’The more visible the better,’ he thought.

After a few minutes he arrived at the Dorm, yawning as he approached the door but just a few centimetres away.

He sensed someone inside. Dean stopped dead in his tracks and moved cautiously, he wasn’t going to be caught lacking again.