When the tour finally got over, we had ridden down the elevator to the ground floor. Throughout the ride, I did my best to suppress my amusement. I had led her there, handing her the ID that had been given to me during the briefing. She had cooled down significantly, the red embarrassment draining from her face within a few minutes of her explosion. She looked at me measuredly, and without a word, grabbed her suitcases and stalked into her room, almost slamming the door shut behind her. I could only smile, slightly confused. "I'll pick you up for dinner at eight! Wash up, will you?" I had called out as I heard footsteps tapping away.

It was only later, at my dorm that I finally let myself break down laughing. That was hilarious. It had been so easy to get a rise out of her! She's hot tempered for sure. But she surprised me. She was... different. "Aisa Farrow- you're not what I expected at all..." I thought out loud, sinking into the soft mattress of my bed. This was getting interesting.

***

At precisely eight in the evening, I rapped on the wood of her door. "Miss Farrow, it's dinnertime. You must be starving, since we skipped lunch today. Would you perhaps like to join me so we can eat?"

The door clicked open, revealing her, fully dressed and ready to go. She wore her uniform; a dark pink skirt reaching just above her knees, edged with a black and white pattern, a fitted white collared shirt under a light pink blazer, and a tie. Her blonde hair was simply put up in a neat ponytail, and besides a thin coat of lip gloss, she didn't appear to be wearing any makeup. She also seemed to have calmed down significantly, smiling slightly as she looked up at me.

"Ah... Raiker. Thank you for showing me around. I apologise for my behavior earlier... From what I remember, the cafeteria is in a different building, correct?"

I acknowledged her apology with a slight incline of my head, and then proceeded to respond.

"Yes, Miss Farrow. It is right beside this one."

"Please call me Aisa. I would prefer if you didn't act quite so unfamiliar around me." She sounded almost shy.

Ha. We both felt the stiffness and stuffiness of our conversations. I very much preferred her when she was showing emotions, though. Even when it was anger at me. She feels more like a person than a condescending rock. Not that it matters. Sadly, she will remain a condescending rock, just like the rest of them. I let out a soft, barely audible sigh, and nodded.

"Very well... Aisa. If that is your wish."

I led her out through the befuddling maze of straight hallways leading this way and that, finally reaching the enormous dining hall. A long buffet stretched out along one wall, the rich delicacies giving off a delicious aroma. It was split into three sections; appetizers, main courses, and desserts. Servers in white aprons stood behind the buffet, heaping generous portions of food onto each Superior's plate. But of course, everybody in the hall was only there by obligation, merely picking at the food with the fear of putting on weight. They didn't know how privileged they were at all. My stomach churned with hate and disgust. All of that food could keep an Inferior town fed for days, months even! But it was going to be thrown away instead. Aisa tapped on my forearm, pulling me away from my ever-distracting thoughts and back into the crowded hall.

"Where should we sit?" She asked, scrutinizing the area.

I scanned around for empty tables, my eyes landing on a set of familiar faces. "Wait here," I told her firmly, pointing at the end of the buffet "I'll be right back."

***

"Ashe. Hello." I sat down in front of him, as was customary. He looked up from his food, hurriedly swallowing his bite.

"Mr. D-Denlow! Sir! Uh, hello! I didn't expect to see you!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I had to keep my calm as much as he needed to keep his voice down. I gave him an irritated stare, hoping he'd get the hint.

He did, his cheeks turning an embarrassed pink as he looked back down at his meal, mumbling an apology.

"I need to know: did you receive any data? I don't have any contact with them right now, considering my... social standing." I asked, my voice little more than a whisper. "We decided not to, because it might put our operation at risk."

"W-well, not... not yet. But you know about Fatima, right? She's your direct help here. You can ask her for messages. I'm just your technical help." his volume had also thankfully reduced, his hand trembling as he tried scooping up some more stew. It spilled out of his plate on accident, causing him to look up at me cautiously. I reached for a napkin, sighing. He flinched when my hand got near him, shifting in his seat. I suppose he had seen me training earlier in the summer- I'm scary like that. But again, he had always been this way, despite being four years senior to me.

Ashe was one of our agents. He was twenty three, old enough to be considered eligible for a wife. Although, he passed for twenty. Like the most of us, he had become part of the Libra Proelia for his own personal prejudices against this system. We had him and a couple others here in the Superiot on their own missions, and Ashe was our informer. I was, however far above him in rank, both in the hierarchy and in the rebel group

I nodded, standing up.

"You know that you don't have to be so frightened of me, right? I'm not going to harm you"

He meekly bobbed his head. "Yes, sir... I'm sorry"

I sighed. "Alright then. Do you at least know of any empty seats?"

***

I had used my ID to save the two seats for us, swiping it against the reader. It was the key to literally everything in here.

I made my way through the plethora of filled tables, back to where I told Aisa to wait. And what did I see? She was sitting with some blonde fool at his table, chatting away to glory. As I got closer, I started noticing little things. Intertwined fingers. Barely suppressed smiles. God, she looked beautiful when she smiled. Her face was lit up by happiness. A sudden pang went through me, but it was quickly overcome by annoyance. Who was this boy, anyway? He tossed his head, and I got a glimpse of his face. Zander Perin. Zander freaking Perin. They know each other?! Well that complicates things. Aisa's wandering eyes caught mine, and much to my surprise, she waved me over. "Raiker, would you please come here? I want you to meet my childhood friend, Zander." She looked so happy at the thought of me meeting Zander that I couldn't say no. Reluctantly I walked over to their table, and spotted a pretty brown haired, brown-skinned girl sitting next to him.

She sighed, looking irritated. She looked up at me, her gaze striking. She raised one eyebrow, tilting her head. I acknowledged her with a nod. Fatima seemed to have settled in nicely. Sitting down at the very edge of the seat, I gave them a thin smile. I wanted nothing to do with Zander. Sadly, I couldn't make that clear, for the fear of jeopardizing everything.

"Yes, we've met before. Zander Perin, right? Third year student, very popular among the ladies- and gentlemen here."

He pursed his lips, looking more than a little miffed, but also a bit smug. "I would like to believe so, yes. You're Raiker D-" He was immediately interrupted by Fatima, who placed a hand on his bicep, her fingernails digging into his skin. "We shouldn't keep them longer, Zander," she said hastily. "There's hardly fifteen minutes left for dinner and Miss Farrow doesn't seem to have eaten yet."

"That's right! We should get going now, Aisa," I looked down at her meaningfully, urgency in my eyes. Confused, she got up awkwardly.

"I suppose we should. I hope to see you again, Zander" She smiled at him, albeit a little sadly. He responded with a curt nod, but there was something different in the way he carried himself now. It was almost... stiffer. His eyes glittered as they met mine, his menace and jealousy hardly contained. Then Aisa turned around and followed me out.

***

"So. You know our lovely Zander Perin?" I asked Aisa, trying to keep the irritation out of my tone. We had seated ourselves, placing steaming plates full of caviar carbonara and fried fish down in front of us. She carefully cut up pieces of the fish, placing one into her mouth. Her eyes went wide with amazement as she savoured the taste of the delicacy. Then, she collected herself, and replied with a nod.

"He was my childhood bes-" She immediately stopped, correcting herself. Of course. She probably doesn't want anyone to associate him with her. But he was of a high position too... why was she hiding from the fact? "We were... well acquainted when we were younger, but we were separated when he had to go to the Superiot. This is my first time seeing him physically in about three years."

"Oh? And why is that?"

She hesitated, looking at me. "He, well, prefers to stay here, instead of with family."

A weakness! He doesn't have a good relationship with somebody in his family... This was incredibly useful information. It might come in handy later... I took a mental note of it, with the plan of researching it later

Aisa was turning out to be more useful than I thought.

"Right. You doing okay there? You seem to be eating a bit fast."

Aisa had begun shovelling the food into her mouth with as much dignity as she could muster. The poor girl must have been starving.

"Uh, yeah. S-sorry" She stuttered, polishing her plate off. "It's the most I've eaten for a while." What did she mean? Before I could question it, though, she looked up at me for a moment, her hesitance overcome by her curiosity.

"Did you need something?" I asked her, looking at her inquiringly. Her eyes looked me up and down, analyzing me. Oh shit. She seemed to suspect me of something.

"Well..." she started, twirling a strand of her golden hair around her finger, looking away for a moment. "I was just wondering... you've always called me Miss Farrow earlier, but I never quite learned your surname." A jolt of surprise, and relief, went through me. I never expected her to be smart enough or observant enough to think of that. Easy question, though.

"It's Dein." I replied, regaining my composure and flashing her a smile.

She raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah. "But I'd prefer it if you didn't call me by that."

She nodded, ignoring my antics, although retreating into her own mind for a moment. Good. She bought it. Aisa shook her head, breaking out of her thoughts again. "Of course. Should we go now, Raiker? The cafeteria seems to be emptying out."

"Right! We should. Let's get out of here, yeah?"

She got up, completely forgetting her dirty plate, and began walking away. I could only glare secretly. Spoiled brat. I picked up both our plates and walked over to the kitchen. I caught a glimpse of one of their tattooed wrists as they attended to me with their eyes averted. A single 'I', the stem of it almost choked by a hand. The symbol of Inferiority, of their status as menial workers. I smiled at them, handing them the plates. It wasn't necessary at all, but it's the bare minimum of what I could do for the staff working their asses off- for now, at least. Aisa's hands went to her mouth when I returned.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know we had to do that!"

"You don't. Let's just go back." I said, sighing slightly.

She tagged along wordlessly, suddenly subdued. At least she had the courtesy to apologise.