Chapter Text
Sinegard Academy was the most prestigious high school in all of Nikan, and every single day Rin had to be reminded how Speerly trash like her was lucky to get in. The boarding agent had asked her if she had the right ticket when she went to board the plane to Sinegard, the admissions officer did a double take when he saw her test scores and then at her. For phoenix’s sake, she didn’t cheat on the damn Keju! How would she have? Would she have seduced the proctor and stolen the answers? She wasn’t the prettiest girl out there, no matter how much her cousin Altan would insist she was still beautiful. She twisted a stray strand of hair around her finger as she took a deep breath in and straightened her shoulders. She couldn’t let herself be intimidated by the Singardieans. The words Hanelai had given her a week ago echoed through her mind,
Do not give them a reason to think you are weak, you are ALWAYS strong my dear.
Rin shifted her tote bag from her right arm to her left, and began walking towards the steps up to the doorway, where there was already a considerable amount of people for freshmen orientation. Rin shouldn’t have been surprised when she saw the pale white skin and silky skin almost all of them had seemed to possess. She would stick out like a sore thumb, the only Speerly in Sinegard. Altan had just graduated last year and he had gone on to the second division of the Nikiara army this year.
“Venka, I think they made a few mistakes with the acceptances this year!” Rin’s head snapped up as she saw who made that snide comment, and her eyes slightly widened as she saw the boy at the top of the stairs. He was the prettiest boy she had ever seen, with porcelain white skin and thick glossy hair. His brown eyes were sharp as they assessed Rin, with her shabby t-shirt and scuffed converse, and him in a pristine designer hoodie. Nobody was allowed to be that beautiful, especially somebody as smug as him.
"I think you’re right Nezha, how can someone as dark as her handle being out in public?” The girl next to him, who Rin presumed to be Venka, snickered. Rin rolled her eyes as she walked up the stairs. She didn’t expect the comments about her skin to start before orientation would even start, but it wasn’t surprising. Even though Speer had been under the Nikara’s occupation for 50 years, the Nikarians still thought of the Speerlys as uneducated animals incapable of advanced thinking.
No matter what they did, they’d never be enough for the Nikarians.
“Hey, you, are you lost?” Rin pretended not to hear, as she tapped her foot against the floor as she leaned against the wall. She closed her eyes as she tried to remember all the calming techniques her therapist, Feyrik, had taught her.
“I asked you a question! Are you sure you can understand what I’m saying?” Laughter followed that question, with more people walking over to the wall to see what all the commotion was about. Rin took another deep breath in, clenching and unclenching her fists as she slowly blinked. She couldn’t let this boy get to her, no matter what. She couldn’t lose her temper in front of all these people, she couldn’t let them see her as crazy, they couldn’t see her as the crazy bitch she was known as back home.
“No wonder the Speerlys almost got massacred, they’re too dimwitted to even do anything! I bet her whore mother almost killed herself from seeing her ugly face.” Roaring laughter ensued, and Rin’s eyes narrowed as her knuckles went white.
Nobody talked about her mother like that.
Rin dropped her tote bag to the ground and rolled her sleeves up, snickers rang out, probably expecting her to run away in shame.
Rin wasn’t one to run.
There was a reason why she had gained the reputation of a angry bitch back home.
“Fuck you.” Rin stalked up to Nezha and swung her fist hard as it connected with his jaw, her vision red as his head snapped back, utter shock in his eyes. He wiped at his mouth, and his lazy expression turned to a sneer as he looked at the blood on his fingers.
"You bitch.” He backhanded Rin and she fell to the ground, various gasps coming from the crowd, Venka glaring daggers at Rin.
How dare he slap me.
Rin couldn’t hear anything except the pounding of blood in her ears as she looked up at Nezha’s gloating face.
Rin threw herself at Nezha’s torso and he let out a surprised grunt as he hit the ground, not expecting Rin to retaliate again. She grabbed at Nezha’s hair and pulled it back as she whispered in his ear, “I’ll make you regret that asshole.”
He grabbed her hands and flipped them over onto the cold hard concrete as the crowd held their breath, not knowing what was going to happen next. They glared at each other, waiting to see who’d make the next move.
“Break it up! Break it up! What are you two even doing, and oh god, is that Yin Nezha!? Get up!” A senior cut through the crowd as he ran towards the two, the annoyance clear on his face. He shoved Nezha off of Rin as he rolled his eyes and grabbed them both by the arms.
“Everyone scram! You all have better things to do than to watch these two fight all day!” The senior barked at the crowd, and they all slowly dispersed, leaving only Venka standing there, her arms crossed against her chest.
“You too Venka.” Venka rolled her eyes as she turned around and stalked off, her hair flowing behind her. Rin suppressed a shudder as looked up at the senior, she couldn’t be expelled. She couldn’t do that to her mother, she couldn’t bear the look on Altan’s face if he had ever found out. Nezha looked furious, his eyes narrow as he looked straight at Rin, as if it was HER fault for the mess they were in.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t take the both of you to Headmaster Jima right now.” The senior grumbled as his grip on their arms tightened.
“This bitch just came up to me and punched me for no reason!”
“You called my mother a whore and fucking insulted me asshole.”
The senior smirked as he looked between the two of them, “You don’t insult mothers Nezha. I thought you’d know better than to do that.” He dropped their arms and walked away, snickering. Rin slouched and glared at Nezha, she’d destroy him.
Fang Runin would annihilate him, if it was the last thing she would ever do.
She was a mud skinned Speerly bitch after all.