Chapter 42. The First Fight?
Erza let out a curse as she heard that familiar deep rumble. It set her soul on fire every time. She looked around as she saw the crimson display of mana wrap protectively around her. Gavin's body visibly trembled as he held onto Bradley's arm.
Oh shit. This was what she didn't want to happen.
She pulled him back from the bullies as she cupped his cheek and made him look at her. She sucked in her breath as her fear was confirmed. His eyes were blood-red. There was unholy fury etched across his face as he glanced between Bradley and her.
"Do not lose control here. Not here and not now." She whispered to him and forced his gaze to meet hers. She was afraid something like this would happen and end up with people getting hurt. She could kill those fools for forcing this side of him out. Her male could be a frightening beast when riled, and boy, did these fools rile him up.
Bradley was stunned stupid when he looked into those red eyes. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. It was like he locked eyes with death itself. The effect ended when the woman pulled the boy back away and forced his gaze to leave. With a simple touch from her that mana faded in the hallway.
The heat vanished from the hallway as the bronze eye closed. Gavin's mana subsided as he turned away from Bradley and released his arm.
Bradley retracted his arm and looked down to see a light bruise had already formed on his skin from where the kid grabbed him. What kind of monster walked among them? His hand trembled slightly as his men laughed behind them, oblivious to the threat in front of them.
"Yeah, talk some sense into the kid. Bradley's a third-year student. You have no chance of beating him." Bradley's head snapped up to look at his lacky.
Bradley felt like strangling the man over his obvious cluelessness. He didn't feel the power that the kid had. He wasn't a normal first year student. Bradley gritted his teeth and sneered derisively at the couple. "Come on you guys, the trash isn't worth it," he said as he called out to his men. Gavin's head snapped back in anger as he took a step forward while Bradley and his group walked past them without another word.
Erza let out a shaky breath as she punched Gavin's shoulder to get his attention. He snapped back and at least had the decency to look sheepish as he quickly cowered under her withering glare. "You can't just go around ripping people's spines out because they say something you don't like towards me." Erza narrowed her gaze and crossed her arms over her chest.
He really needed to get those urges and that rage under control. Ever since he first shifted, he's been prone to anger and lashing out when someone says anything towards me or threatens me. She realized suddenly as she thought back to the months since his first shift at the studio.
Gavin sighed; he felt his heart thundering in his chest. He longed to lash out and beat those guys down until they begged for mercy. He wanted nothing more than to teach them a lesson about reaching for another male's female.
But Erza was right. He couldn't lash out just because someone started the fight or talked rudely towards his mate. He closed his eyes again. He focused on the breathing techniques Erza taught him when she helped him learn to shift.
The instinct and desire he had to chase after them went away as she reached up to cup his cheek. "That's it, baby. Relax and focus on me." She felt his tension ease up under her touch.
"Come on, let's get up to your room." She pointed towards the elevator line. There was a line at the elevator, and it took them a few trips up and down for it to be their turn to take it. The door dinged, opened, and they stepped inside with a handful of other students. They hit their floor and Gavin reached over to slap the number three. No one got off on the second floor, so the doors opened on the third, and they were the only ones that got off.
As they pushed and excused their way out of the elevator, they stepped out into a busy and extremely chaotic hallway. People were shouting back and forth, moving bags and possessions in and out of dorms. It was pure chaos, and Gavin was grinning from the excitement of it. The stress and tension from the encounter fading away.
Erza just sighed as she followed Gavin while he searched for his room number. It was about six rooms down to the right after they got out of the elevator. Gavin opened the door and saw a young-looking blond man inside. He had dark olive-toned skin and bright blonde hair that was short, not quite like a buzz cut. He was lounging on a small couch in the center of the room. A hallway led down to a series of other doors towards the back of the living room.
"Holy cow. This is nicer than I expected." Gavin was completely stunned as he looked around.
His roommate stood up and laughed as he walked over. "Yeah, I had the same reaction when I first walked in earlier. You must be Gavin. The name is Jackson, Jackson Smith." Jackson held his hand out to Gavin. The boy appeared to be genuine and welcoming to Gavin.
Gavin dropped one of his bags and shook his hand, making the introductions. "Hey, nice to meet you, Jackson. Yeah, my name is Gavin, and this vixen is my girlfriend, Erza O'Malley," he said and hooked his thumb over his shoulder to introduce her.
She bristled at his comment and glared at him. She walked over and smacked him on the back of his head. "Behave yourself," she said sharply. Gavin let out a feigned yelp and rubbed the back of his head, acting like he was hurt.
Jackson just smiled and laughed at their interaction with each other. "Nice to meet you both," he said with a smile on his face, his gray eyes sparkled.
Gavin shook his head as he looked around their apartment. It had a small-sized kitchen. Nothing fancy, just a microwave and a refrigerator. A few cupboards and countertops, a sink, and a trash can in the corner. The living room had a loveseat couch and one chair.
There was an entertainment system with a flat tv hooked up in the middle that was on some random show Jackson had been watching as they entered.
"If you don't mind, I have already claimed the left room down the hall. The right one is all yours," Jackson informed Gavin as he led the way to show them the rooms. "They both appear to be about the same size, so I just picked one."
Gavin agreed. Both rooms did appear to be about the same size. They had a queen-sized mattress along one wall. A dresser and desk lined the other one. There was even plenty of floor space to walk between everything and not bump into things left and right. Gavin was amazed that he had all this space for the next nine months of classes. I think this is bigger than my room back home.
Erza let out an appreciative sound as she walked around and set the bags she carried on the desk before she took a seat on the bed and looked at Gavin. "This is actually a really cozy room. Much bigger than I expected." She grinned at Gavin.
He nodded as she sat his things down and looked around. He opened a few of the drawers and was glad he had plenty of storage to spare.
"Well, now that you're settled and what not, I'm going to go try meeting a few of the local coeds that are down the hall. See ya later," Jackson said with a laugh and a wink as he left the two of them on their own and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.
"He's a skirt chaser," Erza said, laughing as she shook her head. What kind of shenanigans would Jackson get Gavin into? She watched him open his bags and begin to put some of his things away. She walked over and sat on the edge of his bed watching.
"We still gotta find your room and help you unpack." Gavin said as he put the rest of his clothes away.
Erza nodded. "Yeah, I think that girl, Stephanie, said it was on the same floor as yours." She stood up and grabbed her bags by his door.
"Right, let's get going then." Gavin reached over to take her bags from her. "Here, lemme carry that for you."
Erza smiled as she watched him lead the way through their dorm and into the hallway. Once again it was back into the chaotic sea of excitement as they walked through the students. They found a sign that pointed out which way to go for room numbers. They took a left and Erza's room was a bit farther down.
Erza opened the door and walked in. Her dorm was set up almost identical to Gavin's. Gavin walked in and shut the door behind him. "Guess your roommate isn't here yet." He mused as he walked around.
Erza nodded. "Yeah, looks that way huh?" She walked towards the back and opened the bedroom on the left. Someone had already put their bags and stuff on the bed. "Oh, I guess she's here somewhere."
Gavin walked over and noticed the bags. "Maybe she's out exploring or something." He walked down the hall and opened the door on the right.
Her room was set up the same as the others as Gavin walked in and set her bags on the dresser. Gavin pulled out the pamphlet he got from Stephanie at the parking lot and looked over the bits of information on it. It appeared to have a schedule of things planned for the first day.
The first thing was a welcome ceremony and speech by the principal of the academy that was scheduled to start in about two hours. Then other members of staff would welcome and give introductions, and it would be late enough that nothing else was scheduled after that.
"It doesn't look like there is anything after the welcome ceremony that's gonna start in a couple hours." Gavin handed her the pamphlet that showed the schedule.
"Wanna go find something to eat or walk around?" Erza stood beside Gavin as she read over the information.
"Yeah sure, I could eat." Gavin nodded as he joined Erza and left the dorm. They walked towards the elevator and took it down to the first floor. As the door opened Gavin almost bumped into a familiar face.
Jackson grinned like a kid at Christmas as he held up a piece of paper with a number written on it. "Dude, first day and I already got a chicks number," he said, laughing. "Her name is Helena, and man is she a cutie!" he said enthusiastically as he pulled his phone out and entered her information into it, saving the contact.
Gavin shook his head at the man. "Dude, you're hopeless," he said with a laugh. He might appear dumb, but Jackson's happiness was infectious to be around. "Did you look at the schedule of events that was on the pamphlet they handed out?" he asked him as they stepped out of the elevator.
Jackson looked at Gavin and nodded. "Yeah. Bunch of boring speeches and ceremonies today, then we are free for the evening," he said dejectedly. "Cuz everyone loves sitting at a ceremony for a while listening to different speeches." He hated ceremonies with long-winded speeches.
Gavin felt a bit of a kindred spirit in Jackson. As crazy about the girls as he appeared, Gavin felt the two of them might be more similar than he originally thought. "Yeah, I know. But it might be interesting depending on what they talk about," he said as they walked down the hallway towards the main entrance.
Together the three of them talked amongst themselves as they enjoyed the walk across the campus.