Still weighed down by the crushing guilt of accidentally turning someone's beloved fish into paste, Yuna didn't dare set foot near the lake again. Nope. No way. That entire lake was now officially blacklisted in her mental map of the academy.
Instead, she decided to work on her water element training far, far away from any more innocent bystanders (or innocent fish).
Well, she.... She would take responsibility, of course-- but Yuna wisely decidely to wait a week or two for the fish's owner to cool off before approaching him to properly offer compensation.
For now, her new brilliant plan?
Every day, Yuna would churn a small ball of water in her hand, applying pressure to it, trying to make the pressure inside the ball stronger and stronger.
Simple, effective, and—most importantly—guilt-free.
The water ball looked deceptively calm and still on the outside, but if some poor soul ever decided to poke their finger inside, their finger would probably turn into jam.
Note to self: Do not poke own fingers into the murder-water-ball.
To be fair to herself (and she loved being fair to herself), Yuna was quite talented when it came to elemental stuff. Lazy bum she might be, but when she actually paid attention, she improved by leaps and bounds.
A shame, really, that she was naturally the kind of person who, if given the choice between sitting and standing, would sit; if given the choice between sitting and lying down, would absolutely be horizontal.
It wasn't that she couldn't train harder—she simply saw no point in unnecessary suffering.
With the new week approaching, Yuna lazily decided she was too tired to brainstorm fancy names or complicated specialties for her water element.
Deep thinking? Thorough research? Careful consideration? Pfft. To hell with that.
Well, honestly speaking, Yuna had spent a whole week painstakingly reading through books, trying to figure out the perfect specialty for her water element. Her so-called "careful thinking and planning" actually lasted an entire week—which, by her standards, was practically the equivalent of climbing a mountain.
So really, she was working hard!
And after all that blood, sweat, and reading (mostly sweat), no word felt more fitting than 'Domination.'
Not a single one.
And so, on a perfectly average, history-definingly lazy day, Yuna casually churned her water ball in one hand and declared:
"From now on, it'll be called 'Kasa Water'."
Kasa being the umbrella, because she was feeling particularly inspired and a little dramatic.
As if hearing its new name, the ball of water rippled and obediently morphed into the shape of a small umbrella right there in her hand.
A small, satisfied smile tugged at Yuna's lips.
Perfect.
Effortless.
Elegant.
Low maintenance.
Now all she had to do was casually churn a little water ball each day, applying pressure as she felt like it. No need for a special training room, no need for a strict schedule. She could even practice during class—just secretly playing with her umbrella-water-ball while the professors droned on.
Truly, Yuna had found the ultimate lazy girl training method.
And she was very, very pleased with herself.
Come to think of it, Yuna now had two named elements—Fire and, just recently, Water.
Even though she was fairly skilled with Wind, she hadn't gotten around to naming it yet. But there was no rush.
Her plan (if it could even be called that) was to consolidate her water abilities first, then start poking around with Earth before deciding on a named Wind element... and maybe even a named Earth element while she was at it.
Or honestly, whichever came first.
If inspiration struck while she was rolling around in the dirt, then so be it—Earth would get a name first. Yuna wasn't picky.
After all, plans were made to be changed. The only true constant in life was change.
And besides, with exams right around the corner, Yuna didn't exactly have the brain space to deal with naming ceremonies.
She at least needed to cram enough theory into her head to pass. No need to be an overachiever—passing was a perfectly respectable goal, thank you very much.
The following week, Yuna also whipped up a new training schedule for her classmates to help prepare for the exam... though whether it was carefully thought out or just quickly slapped together was a story for another day.
...…..
One week before the exams, the academy finally posted the detailed breakdown of how everything would be conducted.
Yuna, Celeste, and a few of the Heart Class members walked up to the notice board together.
The list was straightforward—at first:
• Rune Mastery Exam
• Summoned Ability Exam
• Individual Ability Exam
Those three were based on individual performance, so far, so good. But then the list continued:
• Class Exam
• Mixed-Class Exam
Yuna's eye twitched. Group assessments? Fine. A bit annoying, but manageable. Then her gaze landed on the last line—and her blood ran cold.
Class Representative Exam.
"…What the hell is a class representative exam?!" Yuna's eyes bulged in horror.
Excuse me??? Wae?? What kind!!! The fuck!
She had a strong, almost primal urge to rip the notice off the board, storm straight into the principal's office, and question the sanity of whoever came up with this nonsense.
Tears welled up in her heart—not because she was shocked, but because she wasn't. At this point, she had experienced so much ridiculousness at the academy that bitterness had dulled into a tired numbness.
Of course the school would spring something like this on her. Why wouldn't they?
"Yuna…" Celeste nudged her gently. "You alright?"
"…Yeah," Yuna replied, dead-eyed and defeated, nodding with all the resignation of someone accepting their grim fate.
Celeste patted her shoulder with the gentleness of a mourner offering condolences.
Behind her, Yuna could hear her classmates whispering with absolutely zero shame:
"Poor Yuna."
"Class rep really doesn't have it easy…"
"My condolences."
"Lighting a candle for mom."
Yuna's melancholy evaporated instantly—overridden by the overwhelming urge to chase them down and beat them up to compensate for the bitterness in heart.