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The bell rang, cutting through the murmur of the classrooms.
Chairs scraped, backpacks zipped shut, conversations resumed as if they had been paused the whole time.
Hugo didn’t move right away. He finished closing his notebook with absurd care, aligning the corners perfectly as if it mattered.
Beside him, Loki was already standing, waiting.
“Are you going to practice?” Hugo asked, still not looking at him.
“Obviously.” He replied, relaxed.
Vivian finally looked up when he heard him.
“Aren’t you going to study for tomorrow’s Biology exam?” Julian adjusted the strap of his bag over his shoulder.
“No need.” He said, pulling his soccer ball out of his bag. “I already have the entire syllabus memorized.” Hugo watched him in silence for a second.
“If that’s the case, what are the parts of the central nervous system?” Loki didn’t respond to the sudden question. “Just as I thought.”
“I do know it!” He argued, frowning slightly.
“Then say it.”
There was another silence from the dark-skinned teenager.
Hugo packed his things into his backpack, then closed it.
“We’re not going to practice.”
“Hm?” He raised an eyebrow at that.
“We’re staying to study.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“It is.” He corrected him. “Your goal is to get the highest grade.” Julian stared at him.
“And yours?”
“The second highest.” There was no doubt in his voice.
Loki let out a sigh, then turned on his heel.
He tossed the ball upward, catching it on his head and keeping it there with his balance.
“Fine, but don’t think I’m going to sit around all afternoon.”
“Understood.”
The school’s small stadium was almost empty at that hour. The sun was setting slowly, bathing everything in a warm tone.
Julian tossed his backpack onto the ground and dropped the soccer ball in front of him.
“Then start.” He said. Vivian sat down on a bench, his notebook open.
“Central nervous system.” Loki lifted the ball with his foot, spun it, and caught it with the top of his foot.
“Brain and spinal cord.”
“Break down the brain.” The ball went up, fell, and went up again. Loki kept repeating the motion until the ball reached his head. Hugo watched him closely.
“Cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem.”
“Functions of the cerebellum.” The other teenager smiled faintly, focused on not letting the ball drop as he started doing keep-ups.
“Motor coordination, balance, and precision.”
“Practical example.”
“What I’m doing right now.” He replied with a smug tone, lifting the ball once more with his instep before heading it.
“Acceptable.”
The afternoon went on like that. Complex questions, simple answers, and minimal corrections.
“Somatic nervous system.”
“Voluntary control of movement.”
“Autonomic.”
“Involuntary functions.” Once again, he stopped the ball in front of him, then began kicking it against a wall repeatedly each time it bounced back.
“Division.”
“Sympathetic and parasympathetic.”
“Difference.” The ball almost slipped away, but Loki recovered it with his thigh. Vivian smiled slightly as he watched him—Loki was truly a god at football at just 15 years old.
“The sympathetic tenses the body, and the parasympathetic relaxes it.”
“Example.”
“When you run and when you rest afterward.” Hugo nodded slightly.
“Correct.”
There was a moment when neither of them spoke, the only sound being the ball.
Until it stopped.
Loki held the ball still, pinning it under the sole of his foot.
“.. You don’t have to do this.” He said suddenly.
The redhead didn’t look up when he heard him, staying focused on his notebook.
“Yes, I do.”
“I already told you I can handle it on my own, Hugo.”
“It’s not about whether you can.” He closed his notebook. “It’s about ensuring the result.”
“Why do you care so much?”
Hugo looked at him directly this time.
“Because you have to be the best.”
It didn’t sound like a compliment—it sounded like a rule.
Like something inevitable.
Something that had to be fulfilled.
Like the «inexorable fate» spoken of in some Greek tragedies.
Julian smiled when he heard it, moving the ball again.
“.. Then make sure you keep up with me and don’t fall behind. I can’t stand slow people like the turtles from those stories.” He let out a laugh.
“It’s not about speed, it’s about coherence.” He said, staring directly at him. “The world works better when every piece occupies its proper place.
And yours.. is above everyone else.” Julian placed his hands on his hips, smiling even wider as he listened to Hugo.
“Oh, really? Then you’d better not mess it up.” He glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “Because I’m not coming down for anyone.”
Hugo held his gaze for another second. Then, a slight curve appeared on his lips.
“It’s not something I can mess up.
It’s already decided, and I’ll make sure it stays that way.”
The days passed.
The exams were handed back during the last class of the day.
“What did you get?” Vivian asked bluntly, leaning against the classroom window.
Loki didn’t answer—he simply pulled the folded paper from his backpack and showed it to him.
19.
“The highest in the class.” He said.
Hugo nodded, then took out his own.
18.
“The second highest.” They looked at each other—it was no surprise. Everything had been calculated from the start. “As expected.”
Loki let out a small nasal laugh.
“The plan worked out well.” He glanced at him. “I guess you really are useful as the second.”
“And I’ll continue to be.” He put his paper away carefully. “I know that with my performance, you’ll be able to shine even more.”
Loki watched him for a second longer, then broke into a wide grin.
“Then don’t fall behind.
I need a mirror that reflects my light well.”
Hugo didn’t respond.
But he didn’t deny it either.