"Dang, I never been to this part of the school before..." I muttered under my breath getting off the sky-train.

Yes, the school was so large that in order to get from class to class, the students used the on campus sky-train that wrapped its way around the school. I had stepped off at the central station for no reason, after all it was the weekend and I had nothing better to do. So, I figured I was going to explore a little of the school on my own. Since Rumble slept in, and Isa was practicing close quarter combat with Kuro, I was basically on my own. Dang, that's live action I am missing on... But the first time impression of the heart of IIMT completely made up for it.
Out in the viewing distance was a giant ancient Roma style arena, towering about 20 stories and stretching hundreds of meters across.

"What's that arena in the distance?" I asked Rin, nodding my chin at the Arena.

"That's The 1st Arena! It says from my search results that the arena is reserved for only the top students for training, and is open to the public during the annual tournament in the summer."

"Huh, I see..." I stepped out the station and into the sun.

I spent about the next 20 minutes walking in a straight line towards the arena. By the time I got there, there were only a few bystanders and couple of food stands set up. One interesting thing I picked up however, was the fact that all students were still wearing their uniforms, I guess their dress code applies whenever they were on campus, regardless of the day.

"OMG KARD! Is that Takoyaki!?" Rin's hologram figure pointed. Several in front of me was a Takoyaki stand and seemed to be the only busy shop around. I had Takoyaki several times before, and just like steak, the quality varied store to store. Overall they are pretty expensive, but the good ones are worth it.

"Yeah I see it. Now just be quiet." I said, as I began to make my way over to the stand with Rin non-stop chanting 'Takoyaki'.

"Ay, how's the math homework coming along? You gottem done?" My ear caught wind of several students talking to the side. I turned and glanced at them for a moment. At first it appeared there was only 4 of them, with the shortest member of the group being the same height as me. But when one of them slightly shifted aside, I managed to catch a glimpse of a short scrawny kid in uniform trapped in their shadows.

"Takoyaki, Takoyaki, Takoyaki~ Kard? Why are we stopping?"

Ignoring Rin, I planted myself on spot and listened in on their conversation.

"If we get caught, we will all be in big trouble!" the scrawny kid protested.

"Right. But you're ok if we let her know..." The short one with the black hair said.

"Leave her out of this! She has nothing to do with this!" the scrawny kid edged further back.

"Aren't you little prince charming? You should confess to her now then. If you're too scared, we can lend you a hand..." the 2nd guy snickered.

"No...No thank you..." the poor guy fell back on his bum, as the 4 of them closed in on him like prey.

"I bet this kid wrote love letters! Let's search his bag!" the biggest in the group was a small giant in his own right. Standing about half a head taller than Rumble.

"Great idea!" the fourth guy with a sneer.

"No, please!..." the scrawny kid shuffled back on his bottom, as he held onto his back pack with his dear life.

"Then I guess we have no choice but to tell her..." the first guy threatened again.

The poor little guy froze, as the first guy snatched away his backpack like taking candy from a baby. Then he unzipped it and dug around for a bit, until he found what looked to be an envelope.

"Oh there really is a letter! Let's see, let's see!" He let out a hysterical laugh as he bared his teeth open like a hyena. Once he tore open the top of the envelope and took out the letter, he tossed the rest to the ground, along with the backpack and began reading from it:

"Dear vice student council president...You are the most beautiful person I ever know and always will be..."

"WE GOT A CHARMER HERE!" exclaimed the 2nd guy.

The poor kid attempted to stop the short from reading further by grabbing hold of his leg, which the guy simply shook him off and read with a louder voice then before:

"Ever since I meet you, you taught me what is like to be in love..."

"Gross!" interrupted the 2nd guy.

"Is there anything original?" asked the 4th guy.

At this point, the kid just curled up in a ball and seemed to want everyone to forget about his existence.

"Oh here! Check this out," the 1st guy cleared his throat and continue, "I know for a fact that we are different species, and humans and elementals usually don't end up well, but I am sure if there is love we can overcome all..."

His hysterical laugh from a moment ago evaporated, and was then replaced with a feral glare. In less than a blink of an eye he tore the letter into a million shreds, as all the pieces scattered and fell onto the ground like snowflakes.

"Humans? Elementals? Your kind only survived under our ancestor's mercy. If it weren't for that, you wouldn't even be alive!" he spat then added:

"Underling."

In most situations similar to this, I would have just passed on as part of life, since bad things happen all the time, and it's impossible with one man's power to fix all of them. But this was different. This was more than just an unfair act, this was personal. Seeing his feelings for one trampled was almost seeing a mirror of me and Illyria.

It was more than just rejected love...

It was more than trampled love...

It was unequal love.

"You guys," I clenched my teeth as I walked towards them without having second thoughts, "let him go."

"Ha? Who the hell are you?" answered the 2nd guy.

"Someone who's going to kick your ass."

"Ho? Is there something wrong with your brain?" said the 4th guy.

"Wait guys! Look at his hand!" pointed out the 1st guy.

For the past few months, I hadn't bothered to wear gloves, since it didn't affect me much. Probably that was because most of my social life was structured around the Iron Angel division, where everyone had a part of their body that was robotic, though I was not quite sure about Isa, but my best guess would be yes, due to those abs of steel of hers. But right there, at the crossfire of the situation, never have I felt more aware and ashamed of it. It was then I felt I could no longer contain the beast of wrath inside of me.

"He's got a metal hand!"

"He's one of those robots!"

"What a freak!"

At some point, all their swears and taunts seemed to blend into one big nasty monster, and the only thing I had to fight back with was the beast inside of me; it was the only thing I had left against them.

"YOU BASTARDS..." just as I was about to unleash my fury, a loud clear voice cut through:

"In the name of IIMT student council, cease yourselves! All of you!"

Me, the 4 man gang, and everyone in the square and even the poor guy burying his face against the ground lifted up his head towards the voice.
The owner was one of those stereotypical prince charming from some shoujo anime. He appeared to be around my age and had a tall lean build like mine. He had neck length blond hair and crystal blue eyes. He wore a white cloth suit, cape, pants, and leather boots. As he approached, he pushed away his cape and revealed a slim rapier hanging at his side. The bullies backed away at once, and all the girl within visible range seemed to be...Swooning?

Ok, who the hell is this guy?

"That's enough Wynd." A sweet gentle female voice approached from behind.

"Yes, my lady." Wynd stepped aside, as the new speaker stepped into view.
I recognized her at once, she was the girl I saved at the mall, but only then when she stopped in front of, was I finally able to take in all the details of her:

She had a long loose braid that was as white and innocent like the clouds. Her eyes were large and light grey, but unlike Isa's, they were like a calm and gentle breeze, not a storm. She appeared to be in her early twenties and had a tall, lean and quite developed...The features of her face were so delicately crafted, it seems that the meisters of heaven have taken extra time into crafting it. She wore a different white dress (not uniform) and dress shoes then last time, but none the less elegant.

"I heard the conversation from beginning to start, and whose fault it is obvious." She said with one hand resting on her chest.

"For your offensive and reckless behavior, I hereby in the authority of vice student council president, sentence all 4 of you to bathroom duty for a month!"

The 4 bullies faces turned green, but none of them dared to raise the slightest voice.

"And you human boy." She turned to the kid curled up on the ground, whose expression went from despair to poker face, and to be honest if I was shamed like that in front of my love interest, I wouldn't know how to act as well.

"There is no shame in confessing one's love to another ok?" she smiled heartily, like a mother comforting her child.

Silence.

For a moment nothing happened, next he fell back and I swore I saw dizzying angels floating above his head.

"Poor boy. Wynd, take him to the medical room. I will be fine by myself."

"Understood." Wynd replied, as he walked over to the kid and slung him on his shoulder. Then he briefly bent his knee for a moment, then launched himself and the boy several hundred feet into the air. My eyes followed them all the way falling down, all the way till they disappeared off the edge of the background.

Once they were out of sight, she then turned and faced me. Her smile was gentle and alluring, yet natural and genuine at the same time.

"I appreciate how you defended that human boy, may I ask your name?"

"Kardusenn...Romello." I answered, unable to meet her eyes.

"Kardusenn...what a cool sounding name!" she said with closed eyes and a delightful smile.

"Tha-anks..." I stuttered.

"No need to thank me. And actually I am the one who should say thank you."

"I..." the words were caught in my throat, with my train of thoughts now being now more than train wreck.

"We met at the mall during the terrorist attack, do you remember? You probably don't remember, there were so many you saved..."

In truth, she was the only one I directly saved. As pretty much afterwards the entire terrorist group was mopped up by Isa.

"No, I remember..."

"Then that's good." She flashed a cheerful smile at me, which I couldn't help stop blushing at.

"Umm...I haven't asked your name..."

"Veritas S. Aeolus." She said the name with pride, "you can just call me Veritas."

Q: What would you do if you saw someone bullied in front of you?