The blue-eyed raven (Rivamika fanfiction)

CHAPTER 36

I eyed them with a serious expression, watching if they were really listening. And to my surprise, every one of them looked concentrated, nodding and sinking in my words. Hanji was grinning, Isabelle was poking me and Levi looked a little taken back by my speech. I took the opportunity to stretch my hand in the middle of the circle, eyes lost in his and gazes locked as I said: ''We need to do this together.''

An awkward silence spread around us, despite the whole yelling thing, coming from the stands. I waited for anyone to say anything, while I still looked directly at Levi. He was giving me back a look I couldn't really decipher, and even though, I tried hard to look beyond it, a poke made me lose my track. I looked to the side, meeting with Isabelle's huge eyes. She had a large grin spread to her cheeks as she put her hand across mine, so her warm energy embraced my iron hand. She didn't say anything, she just nodded and I soon felt another hand place itself on top of Isabelle's. I looked to the other side, where Marco was smiling at me, his freckles visible up close.

Abruptly after the three of us had our hands locked together, more followed. Teammates quickly yanked their hands in the middle and the last to put it was Levi. But doing so, his hand lowered itself in a flash, so barely anyone even noticed how he dragged it under my fingers. But I sure felt it – a single brush of his warm skin made the electricity travel up and down my body, making my fingers twitch. I looked up in surprise, finding his look way more mysterious than before – but there was something in the way his blue-ocean sparkled, that made me desperate to know.

I haven't felt this way in this last two months, and just knowing, he did this on purpose, made my heartbeat increase its rhythm. Maybe that's a sign – to just let things sort in their own way.

''One, two, three,'' eventually Isabelle started whispering the count down and they all joined in moving their hands up and down, except the two of us. We only raised our hands when they screamed 'together', laughing and finally breaking the circle. I stayed looking at Levi, but my senses eventually came back when the music started playing, announcing the start of the championship. I quickly turned around and walked to the benches, sitting down with a sigh.

I'll be stuck here for a while.

After they looked through our files, judges quickly knew our background on wrestling. And seeing my file made them quite surprised, so I was placed to wrestle at the end of the first round in my weight class, which I shared with Isabelle and Annie. Petra was a little shorter and skinnier than the three of us, so she was in the different class, but that didn't meant, we won't cheer for her.

I watched as one of the first wrestlers walked to their mats and met with their opponents – it was better than to look around and think of nothing. Watching others fight before my turn gave me a privilege to study them. I could easily observe their attacks, their strategies and when it was my time to fight, it was easier to break them. I also concentrated on the surroundings: I have seen some familiar faces and some fresh meat and the number of those was quite large. There were six mats in the stadium – three for three boy weight classes and else for other three girl weight classes. All was set quite perfectly, now all I had to do was study my opponents till it's my turn to wrestle.

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''Come one Izzy, you can do it!'' I looked up, seeing how Petra pushed the other girl towards the mats. Isabelle was grinning, but even though, I could see her face getting paler every second.

She was quite nervous.

Till now, all I did was sit on the stupid bench and watch others wrestle in front of me. The championship was still at the beginning, and not many people have fought, when the first of our teammates – Marco, was summoned to wrestle.