"Woah, for real!?" Exclaimed Taayin, standing up suddenly as Kumar made the announcement.

"Yes, for real...though I should tell you that the two from this Level Q class have already been picked, so don't get too excited," Replied Kumar with a sigh.

Oh?

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, instructor," Chimed in Mitchell impatiently, "Who's it gonna be?"

"Fine, I'll tell you, but before I do that...if anyone's unhappy that they were picked, don't take it up with me, my sis-...I mean, the director of the X-Warrior Zone picked them, so complain to her if you don't like it," He remarked, before answering, "So, yeah, the two that were picked are...Kilzachs Light and Katie Cummins."

She picked me, huh? Wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm definitely not. I just hope she isn't expecting me to use my Anomaly powers, because I won't...probably. And I'm guessing she picked Katie because of her Manifestation Overdrive, which as far as I know, no one else has been able to consistently pull off yet.

"Me?" Responded Katie with a hint of skepticism in her typically-blank voice and expression.

"You're both free to refuse, of course, in which case I'll have to find replacements...which would be a waste of my time and effort, so you better not refuse," Replied Kumar with narrowed eyes.

"Congrats, guys, this is pretty cool," Said Mitchell, leaning back and reaching over to pat my shoulder, which I dodged.

"Uh...thanks, I guess."

"What he said," Added Katie, who seemed unsure of what to do.

"Anyway, you don't have to decide right away, you have till the end of the day...but again, I'd rather you didn't refuse," Stated Kumar with a frown, "Well, anyway...let's get started with today's class now, shall we?"

...

...

"What are you going to do?" Asked Katie, as we headed for the staff room.

It was the end of the day now, and we were going to the staff room to give Kumar our final decisions regarding our nominations for the X-Warrior Championship.

"Oh, I decided to just go for it...I don't have a great reputation among the X-Warriors, so if I can finish the tournament in a strong position...well, that'll really rub their faces in it, you know?" I answered.

"You're quite harsh on people who get on your bad side, aren't you?" She inquired.

"Am I? I don't really think of it that way, I treat people the way they treat me...if someone's nice to me, I'll be civil and polite, but if someone's a dick to me, I won't mince words, and if push comes to shove, I won't hesitate to shove," I replied with a shrug.

"I think strangling and breaking an arm are a bit more extreme than shoving," She responded pointedly.

"Huh, I can't tell if you're saying that in a joking way or in a more serious way...you'd be an amazing poker player," I remarked.

"Thanks...I think?" She replied uncertainly.

"You know, you should talk more often like this...well, not that I'm one to talk, I guess."

"You used to be quiet, but you're fairly talkative now, at least compared to how you were before," She responded, glancing at me.

Wait, really? I am?

"Maybe...but I don't think that's entirely the case. Yeah, I suppose that I am speaking more now than I used to, but a big part of that is the fact that I'm spoken to a lot more than before...I don't really initiate that many conversations myself though," I pointed out, after thinking about it for a moment.

"Hm...you may be right," She replied, as we reached the staff room and knocked on the door, before walking in.

Kumar looked up as we approached him...

"Oh, it's you two...so, have you decided?"

"Yeah, I'm in," I replied with a thumbs up.

"I'll participate too," Said Katie affirmatively.

"Great, I'm locking that in...which means after this, it'll be too late to change your minds, so don't bother, 'kay? Alright, I've sent the confirmed to the director, you'll both recieve details about it later. You can go now."

Alright, there's no going back now...this should be interesting...

...

...

It was the next day, and I was currently at the Marijuana cafe in the entertainment district with some of my classmates, specifically, Mitchell, Suri, Seila, Kiran, Taayin and Lin. Everyone else was either busy or not invited. And who's in the latter category should be obvious.

So, why were we here? To celebrate 6/9. Normally, I'd have taken a raincheck, but my sister had been at my place yesterday when Mitchell messaged me to see if I could go...and my sister insisted that I should go, or else, she'd tell everyone that today's my birthday. I really didn't like the sound of that, so I messaged back and said that I could go. And now, here I am.

"So, guys, how about we play-?" Mitchell began to suggest with a stoned grin.

"How about we don't? I'd prefer to just chill," I interrupted in objection.

Suri, Kiran and Seila voiced their agreements, while the rest seemed indifferent either way.

"Aw, man, you're no fun sometimes," He grumbled, as he took a deep puff and exhaled slowly, "You know, we should decide which days we want to celebrate, that way, everyone will be able to make sure they're free on those days ahead of time!"

He says that like it's a given that we'll all continue to be in touch indefinitely...well, I guess I don't have a reason to burst his bubble, so I won't mention that...

"When you say everyone...if you mean 'everyone' everyone, then I'm definitely out," I replied, as he passed the joint to me.

"I second that," Chimed in Suri in agreement.

"Uh, right...anyway, I think we should definitely celebrate today! Oh, and also the 20th of April, as in 4/20!" He suggested.

"That's inconsistent," I pointed out, "Today is 6/9 in a day-month format, while the 20th of April is 4/20 in a month-day format...an easy fix would be to consider the 9th of June as 6/9-."

"Don't sweat the details! Okay, so we've got the 20th of April and the 6th of September...what else? Oh, I know, what about birthdays?" He suddenly suggested, "Mine's the 1st of December, what about you guys?"

Somehow, he managed to bring up the one subject that I'd have liked to avoid...since, you know, today's my birthday.

"Um, 7th of March," Answered Seila, raising her hand slightly.

"Mine's on the 2nd of April...I literally missed being born on April's Fools days by like, three hours," Sighed Lin wistfully.

"14th of June," Replied Suri, taking a puff.

"30th of November," Said Kiran, his eyes closed as he sunk himself into a beanbag with a contented look on his face.

Mitchell was taking down each date with a nod...hopefully, if I just keep quiet, he'll overlook the fact that I didn't mention my birthday. Yeah, that's not imposs-.

"What about you, Kilzachs?" He asked, turning his attention to me.

...never mind.

Okay, now what? Lying about something like this is stupid, but telling the truth means revealing that today's my birthday. Ugh, fine, guess I'll just rip off the band-aid...

"...6th of September," I replied with a reluctant sigh.

"Alright, I've got all your birth dates, so-...wait, hold on...what!? Today's your birthday!? Your birthday is sixty-nine!? Dude, you're so lucky, that's like-...wait, why didn't you tell us?"

...which question do I answer first? Wait, if I just answer the last question, he might forget about the previous questions...but the last question is the hardest one! Well, then again, I suppose that it is better than answering all of them. Hm, now then, how should I answer...?

"You didn't ask," I responded with a shrug.

"Man, I'm so jealous...my birth date is so innocuous, but yours is sixty-nine...first off, nice. Second, if I were you, I'd be constantly going on about the fact that my birthday is sixty-nine!" Exclaimed Mitchell with a frown, as he took a swig of beer, "Seriously, it's wasted on you. Oh, and uh...happy birthday, man."

"Thanks, I guess...," I replied awkwardly...I'm not used to people saying that to me besides my sister.

The others then wished me happy birthday too, to which I responded with the same level of awkwardness.

"Hey, I've got an idea! This place has a wide selection of sweets on the menu...including cakes. Let's order one and then, like, sing happy birthday and stuff!" Suggested Lin with a clap, after skimming through the menu.

"Now there's a good idea! Let's do it!" Agreed Mitchell, as the others voiced their approval too.

Okay, this is half-horrifying...oh, only half because of the cake part, that part I like...the singing, on the other hand, I could do without. I mean, what am I supposed to do while they sing? Just sit and stare at them? That sounds awkward as hell. Yeah, maybe I can convince them to not do this...

"Hey, uh, you guys really don't have to-," I began.

"Nah, this is happening, it's too late to back out now!" Interrupted Lin with a grin, as Mitchell high-fived her.

...fine, I relent. I suppose something like this isn't bad once in a while. Well, if there's no way out of it, I guess that I might as well play along...

"Alright, fine," I sighed, giving in, before adding with a slight smile, "But only if I get to pick the cake, and only if you're paying."

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP