Consequences for Interracial Relationship

The next morning, Io, Alet, Flyn, and Fiona head to the orphanage where Alet lives. The owner greets Fiona and she is confused by a tall man with tan hair standing next to her. Fiona explains everything just as planned to adopt Alet so she can live with Flyn’s ‘adopted’ daughter, Io. After they talked inside, the owner agreed. While Flyn and Fiona are still chatting with the owner, Io helps Alet to pack her things.

“Alet… T-this is not right, are you okay if I touch your stuff?” Io’s face is blushing a little as he whispers.

“That’s okay, this is what you want right?” Answer Alet as they walk along a corridor with some doors on both sides.

After they reach Alet’s door, she opens it. Alet takes her suitcase from under her bed. She also asks Io to put her clothes inside it while she packs her other stuff. Meanwhile, one of Alet’s friend pass by her door, she have a little talk with Alet and ask about her furry sister since she never saw a Siluma before. After they done packings, they head back to Flyn and Fiona. After saying goodbye to the owner, they left.

Flyn’s car stopped in front of Io’s apartment. Io and Alet step out of his car.

“Hey, thank you for helping me guys.” Said Io through the window.

“Anytime. But remember, you guys are not official yet so don’t do anything strange. You got me?” Said Fiona.

“Yes mam!”.

After Flyn and Fiona drive away, Io and Alet walks inside. Once they entered, Io remember something that his room only got one king sized bed. After asking Alet her opinion, she is okay if she has to share the bed. But it’s not okay for Io, he don’t want to make other people think something bad about them. Then, he said that he will sleep on the sofa outside.

“Really? Why are you really scared? Hah… you really don't sound like a boy.” Alet started to question Io’s identity.

“It’s- I mean- I- I-” He started to sweat.

“You really can’t be helped. Come on now, be confident with yourself. If you are not okay if we share the bed, I’m the one that is going to sleep on the sofa.” Say Alet with a higher tone.

“No. Okay, okay. We can share the bed.” Io gulps.

Throughout the day, they stayed inside the apartment. In the Blue Light District, malls, casinos, bars are the only entertainment. There are some parks but it’s not the main destination to go out with a bunch of friends or on a date. Once again it's dinner time. This time Io won’t miss his chance to say what he feels toward Alet.

“Alet, there is something I want to say.” Io sound nervous.

“Hmm? What is it?” Asked Alet as she put the food on the table and sat on the chair.

“I-I-” “Come on say it! Why can't I speak!” Io is sweating as he grips his fist on his lap.

“What is it? Why are you shaking?” Alet confused with Io’s expression.

“I- Hmpp… I like you!” After taking a deep breath, Io speak with a shouting voice.

Hearing what he said, Alet was a little surprised because she already knew this moment would happen. A moment of silence inside the room feels louder. A little chatter from next door can be heard.

“Ahaha… you should not shout that loud. See, our neighbors can hear us.” Alet breaks the silence with little chuckles, her face also blushes a little.

“Umm… yeah sorry.” Io sound relieved.

“I kind of already knew this was going to happen. I've overheard your conversation with Flyn at your house.”.

“You did? Well, you must have heard about his vision back then. If you do not agree with it, you don’t have to force yourself.”.

“Hey, why are you always so pessimistic? If you really trust your best friend, you must believe in yourself. And about his vision, I don’t really care about it.”.

“So does that mean a yes?”.

“You already know the answer. Let's eat now, the food is about to get cold.”.

As they started to eat, Io face full of smile. He felt relieved and happy that Alet accepted to be at his side. After they had dinner, they go to sleep.

Morning came, they headed to the university using Io’s motorcycle. After the class is dismissed, they continue to train inside the dueling field. This time, Io will train Alet to fight with her sword.

“Okay, where did we start? Using a dummy or are you going to explain some technique first?” Asked Alet with anticipation.

“Nope, we fight.”

“What?”.

“You heard me, we fight. It’s better to deal with the real thing, you will learn faster. Ready?”.

“Ready.”.

Io starts to strike Alet with his sword. Same as before he moves very fast. An intense sound from their sword striking each other can be heard. Io strikes with powerful force making Alet start to get tired only from blocking his attacks.

“Come on now, find a way to strike back!” Said Io as he continues to swing his sword.

After blocking so many times, Alet sees an opportunity. She can strike back in between his attacks. After gaining enough information, she steps backward and swings her sword. But she wasn’t ready with Io already moving his sword to stab her in her stomach. Alet can feel the sword piercing through her body but thanks to the shield from her uniform, the sword didn’t touch her body and did not damage it. Io pulls out his sword and Alet falls to the ground.

“Hey are you okay?” Io sounds worried and gives his hand.

“Yeah hah, I’m alright.” Says Alet as she grabs his hand.

After Io help her to stand up, they continue their training. But before they started, a tall person with a white cape appeared at the side of the field.

“What are you guys doing?” Asked the man.

“Ah, Principal Shepherd. We just train together.” Answer Alet.

“I see. I also see you hold the key for the field. Are you really just training? Or you want to do something else?” Principal Shepherd asked while staring with a cold stare.

“Yes we did. I asked Io to train me for close combat. So we-”.

“That is not what you only want to do young lady. If you want to continue your journey with him, you have to prove yourself in the Lion Cage.” Principal Shepherd cut Alet’s explanation and left.

“What was that?” Io asked in confusion.

“Principal Shepherd, he is leading this university.”.

“What a cold man, is he always like that?”.

“Yeah. Our relationship is not safe.” Alet shows fear on her face.

“Alet… what happened?”.

“He knows about our relationship. One of the abilities that the Caplas had is to see another person's aura, but that ability didn’t work toward the Silumas.”.

“I see, that’s like Flyn’s vision.”.

“It does. But the relationship between the Silumas and other races is hated by everyone inside the city. He said if we want to keep this relationship, we have to participate in the Lion Cage.”.

“The Lion Cage? I never heard that.”.

“It’s a dueling tournament for everyone with interracial relationships to prove if they can truly bond together. If they fail to defeat their opponent or they fail to win against the leader of every race after defeating everyone that participates, they have to say goodbye to their partner or they get to choose to try again.”.

“Well let’s prove it then.”.

“What is wrong with you? Are you not even worried, even just a little? We are going to fight the adults and the leader themselves, they are like a million times stronger than us.” Alet rise her voice.

“Hey, I just confessed to you last night. If you are really okay to be with me then I shall not worry. I believed that my partner always got my back in any situation.” Io answer calmly.

Seeing Io’s response, Alet's heart starts beating faster than usual. She knows that they just met a couple days ago but now she is really sure that Io really meant it about what he said last night.

“Alet? Are you good?” Io snapping his finger.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m okay. Let's stop our training here.”.

“Oh… so soon… Okay.”.

“Yeah, we are going to the tournament.” Alet says with confidence.