Breeding in the Academy: Searching for Freedom (All 9)

Chapter 19

I glanced at Corey who was struggling to stay awake. With my eyes on the road, I spoke. "You should go to sleep."

He shook his head. "I'm fine."

I squeezed his hand. "It's fine. You're injured."

Within moments, he fell asleep. I sighed. A few minutes later, the others rested, and the sounds of snoring filled the car, leaving me to my memories.

I was surrounded by the Toma team in the canteen. Corey was to my left. His head was resting against my shoulder. Raven and Marc were bickering in front of us about their results in the shooting range, and Brandon was to the left, leaning against the wall with a cold and disinterested look in his eyes. Axel was to my right at the table with papers covering the surface while Kevin was face down, snoring loudly. Although we weren't part of the same team, they were the first people to befriend me. Throughout the years, we still maintained as strong friendship even as my rank became higher than theirs.

"That bullet barely broke the line. It doesn't count as a ten." Marc argued.

Raven scowled. "If it was a body, he is be dead. Point do not matter."

Marc glared at the Russian. "Says the guy who was whining about the same topic only five minutes ago."

Raven shrugged. "Men change."

Corey giggled and whispered. "More like a bear."

I smirked. It was true. Raven seemed to be more like a bear than a human sometimes. When Corey first met Raven, he thought that the Russian was actually a bear. Corey argued that it was dark and raven was very hairy and unkempt at that time.

Kevin snorted, making us know that he had woken. "Geez, can't a guy get any sleep around here?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Go to bed. The canteen is not a place to sleep."

Kevin pouted. "But it's soooo far away."

Axel sighed playfully. "Why am I stuck with a bunch of children?"

Brandon smirked. "Because you are one."

Axel's mouth popped open in mock offense before pouting. "Why, I've never been treated like this. The leader should be shown some respect."

I smiled. "Then act like one."

Corey chuckled. "Says the one who is above us."

I pinched his side, making him laugh, but he didn't move. "What? Am I a cushion for you?"

Corey nodded. His arms wrapped around my waist. "Yep, and it's soft too."

I rolled my eyes as the doors to the canteen opened. Several recruits came staggering in. They were both men and women of varying ages. They wore simple trousers and basic t-shirts. The only thing that was different from us who were already established agents were the shirts. The higher rank you were, the more stripes one would have on their sleeve. Those who had completed recruitment and basic training had one stripe. The toma team had two stripes on their sleeves while mine held four stripes.

A girl from the recruit group caught my eye as she kept glancing in our direction. She was older than I, closer to the guys' ages. She had brown hair that was tied in a ponytail. Her face was flushed, but I could tell that the redness in her cheeks wasn't from exercising. Captivating green eyes looked from one guy to another. Her lips were a soft pink and were pressed together to prevent herself from smiling.

"Who's that?" Kevin grumbled as he noticed the girl who seemed enamored with them. He didn't like attention.

A name popped in my mind. I was looking through the names in the recruit group and noticed a girl with excelling marks especially in redirection and pickpocketing. "Kayli. I don't know her last name, but she's doing well in training." I peeked at Marc who was staring at her with interest. "I think she'd like to be introduced to you guys."

Corey leaned back. His eyes were on the girl with a shy smile. "Maybe. She is pretty." He glanced at me. "I notice that you never look at any guys like that."

I was silent as the six pairs of eyes landed on me. I smirked, tapping the scar on my left cheek. "It's because of this. Most guys don't want a flaw on the girl's face."

Brandon frowned. "Maybe you aren't looking in the right place."

I shrugged. "Even if this scar didn't exist, I never thought I'd find someone to love because of other things. My past won't allow it, and I've already accepted it."

Axel looked at me. "You shouldn't let the past dictate your future."

I sighed, looking at the ceiling. "Maybe but it won't be any time soon. I have things I need to do."

"You not talk how you got the sc- scar." Raven spoke in broken English. I smiled. I knew how hard he was working on speaking English. I admired him for that.

I shook my head. "It's something I never talk about."

Corey perked up and pulled me into his arms. "Well, if you don't find anyone, you can live with us. We can be your older brothers and we'll shoot anyone who dares to say anything bad about you."

We chuckled. Corey can be trigger happy sometimes. Ever since they took me under their wings a few years ago, I was glad that they never showed any romantic interest in me. It was comfortable since they were like my older brothers although they sometimes acted younger than me.

"Hello." I turned my head to see the girl named Kayli step towards us. She was beautiful without any outward flaws, but she shyly smiled at me. "I'm Kayli." And that was the beginning of their relationship.

"Sang," a voice brought me out of my memories. Looking into the mirror, I saw Milo who was staring at me in concern. A glance at the others told me that they were still asleep.

"What, Milo?" I whispered.

"I saw Corey touching your cheek." He gulped. "He's not- you know- interested in you, right?"

I snorted, making sure that none of the others woke up. I shook my head. "Definitely wrong."

He sighed in relief. "That's good. I didn't want to beat him up."

I laughed inside. I doubt he could land a punch on Corey even in this condition.

He bit his lip, making me smile since that was also a habit I did when I was nervous. "You got that scar after we were separated. I wonder-" Milo spoke in a hesitating tone. "Will you tell me how you got that scar?"

A/N: Voted fourth to be updated! I hope that you guys like it. I changed a few things so it would flow more smoothly since this is just the 9 blackbourne members. I hope you guys like this version! <3 Azallya