Chapter Five

 

Kuma stood on the end of the seesaw with only a bucket of rocks on the other half. He rapidly cycled from heavy to light and back again. The long board oscillated, quivering up and down as he fought to maintain his position.

Instructor Kaz stood beneath the other end. If the bucket was disturbed too greatly, it would fall on his head. The wide-lipped Kaz had his arms crossed.

"Cycle faster. It's sliding off the end."

Kuma switched between the two modes of his emerald as fast as he could but it strained both his mind and body. Sweat poured from his forehead as he worked. Eventually he could no longer keep up the cycling and he dipped too low on the heavy side, flinging the bucket of rocks into the air. Before they could land on the instructor, he leapt with a spinning kick, knocking it away with his heel and returning to the ground as if nothing had happened. Kuma landed less gracefully than his instructor, then had to dodge a rock that had flown from the bucket.

"You think because you won a duel that you're hot shit? You don't need to train as hard?" asked the instructor as he approached.

The sudden switch in mood confused Kuma. Only five minutes before Kaz had praised his progress. Kuma straightened, sputtering out his answer.

"No, Instructor Kaz."

"Then why did you let the bucket fall?"

Kuma bowed. "I'll work harder."

Instructor Kaz put a finger to Kuma's temple. "Use your brain." Then he poked him hard in the sternum. "And your body. And most importantly learn to control those stones."

Kuma had kept the range of his amber no longer than the length of the seesaw, but when the instructor briefly glanced away, he expanded it, realizing the reason for the change in mood. Five figures stood at the entrance, smirking as they watched Kuma receive verbal abuse.

The overwhelming scents of pungent cologne informed Kuma that the Black Crows sent to the Academy had arrived. It made him feel a little better that the instructor hadn't suddenly decided he was an idiot, but that he was setting the expectations for the newcomers.

"Grab the bucket and come with me."

Kuma hurried to collect it, following behind. When he looked up, he was surprised to see Deacon, the leader of the warehouse raid, standing with the group. His clothes weren't as loud as they'd been in the city, but the silken tracksuit still stuck out compared to the training uniform that Kuma wore.

He didn't recognize the other four Black Crows—two men and two women—but they wore similar clothes and looked fit. They each had a duffle bag at their feet.

"Hey, Kuma. You must be Kazuki," said Deacon, holding out his arm as if he expected a handshake and a shoulder bump.

Instructor Kaz stopped short of the five Black Crows. "I thought they were sending their best?"

Deacon checked back with his mates, letting his hand drop and giving a shoulder shrug.

"We're the fuckin' cream, man."

Instructor Kaz brushed past them, striding quickly towards the Academy grounds. Deacon and the others looked confused.

"Grab your bags and follow," said Kuma as he hurried past.

Deacon jogged next to him with his duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

"What's goin' on? Why's he bein' a dick? I thought we were here to train."

The other Black Crows appeared equally agitated. A few of them were mumbling curses and one of them flipped Instructor Kaz off behind his back.

A host of answers floated into Kuma's mind, none of them helpful. He hadn't decided yet if he liked Deacon, but he reminded himself that it didn't matter. If his father's plan was going to work, the Black Crows had to prove they could integrate. It didn't help that Kaz was skeptical that it could work. He wouldn’t actively sabotage things, but he wasn't going to give them special treatment either.

"He's testing you. Wants to see if you can follow directions."

"For real? I thought we were allies. He ain't my mate," said Deacon.

Kuma slowed his pace, putting his hand out. "You pulled some pretty slick stuff up there on the raid. It was impressive. But if you want to attune to a stone and be able to use it effectively, there's no better teacher than Instructor Kaz. At the beginning of last year, I wouldn't have been able to do anything I did that night. He taught me that. Just like he was working me pretty hard back there. I know our clans do things differently, but I promise you, if you do as he asks, you'll find a wealth of benefits."

Deacon rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll play along. But if this is just a way to humiliate us because we're not your clan, then this whole thing's gonna go down faster than a turd."

"I promise you that he'll treat you the same shitty way he treated us."

Deacon chuckled. "Fine. I get it. He's a hard-ass and we're newbies."

"We should catch up."

The instructor led them to the Academy grounds. Going by their craned necks, the Black Crows seemed impressed by the structure. Instructor Helena was working with the first years on the obstacle course when they arrived. Kaz made a series of gestures and Helena gathered them up. The entire group headed to the common area in the main building at the top of the stairs. The Black Crows were examining everything with wide-eyed enthusiasm, which put a warmth of pride in Kuma's chest and made him hope that the Academy's strength would impress upon them to be on their best behavior.

The Razor students took their regular places while Instructor Kaz brought the Black Crows to the front of the room. Tick and Camina found Kuma at their table, settling next to him.

"What's this? Are we letting any street rat into the clan now?" asked Camina with a hard expression.

"Black Crows."

The name brought recognition to their faces since he'd told them about the night of the raid. Once everyone had settled, Instructor Kaz stepped forward.

"Good shadows to you all. Today we are going to be joined by members from outside our clan. These three men and two women are members of the Black Crows, a gang that runs a sizable region in the city. In exchange for support of Razor clan priorities, the Academy will be training their members, and some of them may even attune to some stones."

The news was met with shared glances and hard glares. The promise of stones was the prize that made students put up with long hours and hard training in hopes of becoming a famous waku like Brazio. Murmurs turned to comments until Instructor Kaz put his fingers to his lips and made an ear-piercing whistle, silencing them. Kuma saw that his father's choice wasn't being received well, at least within the younger set of the Academy. He hoped Deacon and his mates would overcome their doubts.

"I don't care if you agree or not," said Instructor Kaz. "It has been decided. It's up to you to support the decision as a member of the clan."

The Black Crows in their shiny new clothes looked like members of a band rather than warriors. They checked with each other nervously.

"These five new students will be joining the second years"— a ruckus from Yara and her crew was silenced when Instructor Kaz looked in her direction—"and will be testing for their stones within a couple of weeks. The only thing I ask of you all is to treat them like you would a member of the clan." He looked around the room as if he expected more comments. "Dismissed."

Instructor Kaz gathered the Black Crows around him, and after a brief conversation, which Kuma dared not eavesdrop upon, he sent them away with Instructor Helena.

The meeting ended with Kaz taking the second years, minus the Black Crows, to the sparring room. He set them in lines and had them working through basic fighting maneuvers, which didn't make sense to Kuma since these were skills they'd mastered years before they'd even come to the Academy.

When Instructor Helena returned with the five Black Crows in the training uniforms that everyone wore, they were placed in the lines with the rest of the class. The simple instructions were made clear as Deacon and his mates were placed in a third line. Kuma was on the end of the second row, so he was able to watch the Black Crows struggle with the punches and kicks. The only one that seemed remotely competent was Deacon, though his sour expression suggested that he was unhappy with the direction things were going.

Kaz put Helena in charge of the class, while he attended to the Black Crows, taking them each aside for personal instruction. By the end of the two hours, the newcomers were drenched in sweat and looked no better—and possibly worse—than they had when they first arrived.

"Instructor Helena, please take the other second years to the maze for some amber training. I'll work with our new students to help get them caught up."

As Helena led them from the room, Kuma caught Yara staring at the Black Crows. The plotting intent on her face left Kuma worried that she would try to interfere with them in an attempt to sabotage the integration. After all, she was Brazio's daughter, and while his father had assured him that his brother would follow the clan direction, Yara was much more an agent of chaos. She had no qualms about sticking her nose into places it didn't belong.

As they headed down the stairs, Camina muttered, "Are they serious about this? Tick could punch and kick better when he was six years old."

Tick was opening and closing his jaw, but he was able to control his compulsions long enough to scowl at Camina. "Is that supposed to be a knock on me?"

"My point is that how can we give them stones? They can barely hold their fists correctly and now they're going to be waku? I don't understand." When he looked to her, she held her hands up. "I know. Follow the clan direction, but it doesn't make sense."

"They seemed pretty good up top, or at least Deacon did. I don't recognize the others."

"How are they going to help us against Drops and the Alliance?"

"It'll take time," he countered.

"It'll take years," said Camina.

As they reached the entrance to the maze, Instructor Helena called out, "Shut your traps. Whatever complaints you had about the newcomers, it ends now. I want your complete focus, and I certainly won't allow their bad habits to infect the lot of you. You're only partially worthless, but I'd hate to give up that progress because of a group of know-nothing lighters."

The smirks and laughter from his classmates made Kuma realize that his father's plan wasn't going to be easily accepted by the rest of the clan. Which meant he needed to do everything possible to help the Black Crows acclimate.