Bruno passed me a cigarette outside of Edo High. We loitered in the parking lot near Bruno’s bike, decked out in our Brass King’s colors. The big guy checked his phone, a sweet piece of tech, multiple times more expensive than my cheap flip phone. I took a long drag, letting the nicotine help soothe my fading hangover as I stared at a school that wasn’t my own.

If I’d thought that Ridna High was a piece of trash, man, Edo High was a pure disgrace to the idea of public education. Halfway between the Rust Docks and Uptown, you wouldn’t think any money went to this school. I counted three broken windows dotting the school only haphazardly covered with pieces of cardboard and duct tape. Trash littered the overgrown grass around the prison-like building.

Bruno typed frantically on his phone, his cigarette drooping low enough to almost fall from his lips. I sighed. “What’s taking so long?”

“Can you believe it?! Suzaki is scared to leave class, they have a quiz and he’s scared of the teacher!” Bruno yelled at the phone as if it were to blame for the meek boy’s fear. I ashed my cigarette.

“Dumb reason. A quiz at this place can’t be worth that much, why’s he even care about something like that?” I squinted and tilted my head. Something didn’t add up. “Suppose we could leave him if he don’t wanna come.”

“No! He’s always like this, it’s not good for him. Probably has his nerves all worked up for no reason, since I told him you were coming. But we’re his friends, he shouldn’t feel this way around us!”

“You’re his friend.” I fixed his statement for him. I barely knew the kid. Sure, he patched me up a few times. But that didn’t mean we were close. Sitting around waiting was starting to drag, if I wanted to loiter around a school all day, I’d have just gone to Ridna High. At least it wouldn’t smell like piss. “Fine, fuck it. Ya want him to come, right?”

“Of course! We need him! It is absolutely vital.”

Well, that was that then. I folded my hands behind my head, mind made up. This wasn’t my school. I didn’t have to care at all. I stalked towards the door.

“Wait—Luca, what are you doing?” Bruno asked.

No point in responding to that. He shoved his phone away and followed. Poor magnet locks sealed the school in, I was well familiar with the type since my middle school used the same shoddy things. I knew the trick to get them open. With an absent mind, I gave them a firm kick—forcing past the lock and causing the heavy steel doors to clang against either side of the now open main entryway. A reedy administrator instantly shot up from his desk.

“What—what is this!?” the man yelled, squinting at me and taking me and Bruno in. “Young man put that cigarette out right now!” I ignored the guy, walking right past and into the halls of this foreign school. Everything was secondhand, posters to lockers, the whole place reeked of sweat and cheap air fresheners. Didn’t see any windows, and doubted anyone did much learning at this place.

Bruno let out a laugh at the guy, trailing behind me as the useless administrator had no choice but to follow us. He nervously kept wringing his hands and trying to stop me, but I tuned him out. Each time I’d pause at a door to a class, peering in and looking for Suzaki. I wandered past a teacher in an empty room, openly drinking a bottle of booze. Kids in another, gambling at their desks. While sure, I’d have done the same thing, the fact that Suzaki went here of all places really started to tick me off.

It was rare that I felt privileged about something in my life, but compared to this place, Ridna High was an immortals-damned gem. Call it luck. But, as I looked over these awful stained halls, I just kept picturing Alex forced to go to a place like this. Both guilt and the idea of my little brother’s future squandered away since this city was selective in what it cared about hit me the wrong way.

We were going to pull Suzaki out of here. Unlike me, he had natural talent. Even without schooling, any clinic would hire him for the pure utility of his Soul Ability. As was often the case for those with a Dao that lent to a healing path, there was an inherent value to him. Cultivators weren’t meant to waste time and minds on worthless education of this standard.

Eventually, I found his room, 3-B. A class stuffed with freshmen and an oversized teacher sweating in the stuffy room with no air conditioning. The teacher scribbled mathematics on the chalkboard. Bruno gave a big grin as he spotted Suzaki, the boy’s head ducked low and scribbling notes on a sheet of paper.

At some point, we’d attracted two more of this school’s staff, who yapped like angry dogs at our heels. Telling us to get out, that they’d call the Sects, yada, yada. All of it was a bluff and I wasn’t folding.

Only a single door until we met with Suzaki. I kicked this one open too, pausing afterward to take a nice long drag of my cigarette. I looked at Suzaki. The kid went pale, receding further into his seat. As if he could hide in plain sight. We walked in, with Bruno erupted into a fit of laughter, quite pleased with how this was panning out. The teacher paused chalk pointed at me with a dumb expression on his face.

“What are you doing here—you’re in the wrong uniform—oh,” he added, looking at the trio of angry and confused faces of school staff peeking in behind me. Yeah, I brought my fans, big guy.

I exhaled a nice plume of smoke, taking in the rest of the freshman. Their expressions ranged from amused to shocked at our sudden interruption. I jabbed a finger at Suzaki. “C’mon. I’m sick of waiting, Bruno wants ya to tag along, so we’re taking ya. Grab your crap. Ya are having a sick day.” I gave a side look at the teacher, still holding his chalk at me. “Don’t got a problem with that, do ya?”

“He—He has a quiz today!” The man said lamely, face a nice cherry red.

“So? Sick day.”

Suzaki already began to stuff his things away, despite trying to avoid the stares of his peers the kid looked almost relieved. The teacher looked at me in shock, unable to conjure a response for a while. I didn’t care for quizzes, and Suzaki sure as hell shouldn’t have. Unlike me, his Soul Seed was worth a fucking premium. Staying here dragged him down and wasted his time. Something that it seemed we’d have to help him learn. Suzaki had an issue knowing his self-worth. “You can’t take my student!” The teacher declared, quieting the whispers that’d started.

“I can’t? Who’s gonna stop me?” I asked, flicking my cigarette and watching the ash settle on the tacky light gray floor.

“I—I know that uniform! The both of you! You go to Ridna High, I’ll contact your administration, young man!” He began to smile as if he’d found a weak point. I frowned, not happy with his tone.

“Oooooh—I didn’t know we’d get to punch a teacher today after all!” Bruno cracked his knuckles, the psycho going giddy, happy he might get to indulge his vice. I sighed, waving him off.

“Mind your business asshole,” I told the teacher, as Suzaki finally got up with all his crap. He didn’t look at either of us but joined us at the front of the class.

But he wasn’t done. The teacher returned his attention to Suzaki. “You’re useless, Tsumibito. Go figure you have friends like this—I was going to fail you anyway! Just like your brother, your family is trash and I’ve been waiting to get you kicked out of this school!”

“Watch your fucking tone. Say what ya want to me, threaten me how ya like, but ya keep your words to yourself about Suzaki.” I snarled, a couple of seconds away from letting Bruno punch the bastard.

“I knew the moment he walked into my class. I saw his last name, and I knew. Pathetic kid. Nothing but trouble like his immortals-damned brother. Get the hell out of here!” The teacher screamed—throwing a piece of chalk at Suzaki.

“S-sorry,” Suzaki gave a quick nod to the teacher. I ruffled his hair and threw my arm over his shoulder, giving him some assurance that he’d made the right decision. We’d see about getting him out of this shit hole if he actually cared about school. Bruno let out a disgruntled complaint, unhappy he didn’t get to fight the teacher, before flicking his half-burnt cigarette into the classroom behind us.

“We’ll be leaving now,” I said to the three administrators, snorting at their complaints. Still, nobody stopped us from our exit.

— ♤ - ♥ - ♧ - ♦ —

The Seibyu Markets were the most popular and cramped part of New Valentine. While we called them the markets, in truth they were more like a bazaar for the high class tucked within the famous Lantern District. This district bordered the Sects whose loft estates and compounds spanned outward from the western part of New Valentine. Making it the best place for disciples with some downtime to have fun. Proper delinquents like ourselves were expected to mind our business, or risk pissing off the Sects, which in turn meant pissing off the Segreto Family.

Only in Seaside or here did we have those kinda rules.

But Bruno insisted. I could scarcely imagine what he even wanted from this place, in my mind, it was a boring part of town. I didn’t have a single spirit chip to my name, and everything there was way overpriced. We couldn’t stir up trouble, either. But I’d made my agreement, and contented myself in the fact I’d get to know the big guy a little better. With an added objective of talking Suzaki through his crap school.

We pulled up to the Lantern District, past the rice-paper windowed buildings, elaborate wooden structures, and their kawara tiled roofs. The place smelled faintly of nature—flooded with more vegetation than any district in this city had a right to be. But once we hit the actual market the naturalistic old-japan-styled structures gave way to modern stalls intended to maximize space.

Suzaki and Bruno led ahead, both distracted. Bruno kept shifting his attention around by the second, looking for something. He’d described this place as ‘a lot of fun,’ and kept telling Suzaki how ‘good it was he was here.’ The fact he refused to explain further left me uneasy. Suzaki kept his lips tight, not revealing his suspicions.

I tucked my hands in my pockets, eyes glazed over and not even taking in the stalls and storefronts packed to the brim with trinkets. Unreal to think how much money flowed through here. Yet it was casually thrown around, people obsessed with spending and finding deals.

I got a bit antsy, trying to initiate a conversation with Suzaki again. “Say, why are ya in the Brass Kings anyway? Don’t seem like it’s your sorta fit.” I said, doing my best to ignore Bruno as the big guy peered past the murky glass of a restaurant.

“M-my brother is an important part of the gang,” Suzaki answered growing more nervous by the second. I didn’t get why. We weren’t liable to walk into Crimson Eagles in the middle of the day here. Let alone get into a fistfight. This was a place for Sects and the rich, not violent street brawls.

I spat on the ground, kicking at the dirt. “If my lil bro wanted to join the Brass Kings, I’d beat the idiot to a pulp til he thought better. He’s got prospects. Ya do too, Zaki. Your Soul Seed heals. Do ya know how valuable that is? Hell, a minor sect would snap ya up in an instant if ya went and took a trial for them.”

“I-I don’t want to join a sect. They don’t let you take your family, and well… What would everyone else do without me? Kayson needs me—Bruno, and Eve.” He paused, wringing his hands together and finally meeting my eyes. “And… Well, you do too, now.”

“Well, I know that. But they don’t got your best interests at heart, ya know? Kayson knows ya can heal but is healing for a bunch of no-good delinquents the best for a guy like ya? He’s interested in his own interests, kid.”

“And you think a Sect isn’t?” He had a point. I gave him that. I didn’t trust those rat bastards any further than they could be thrown. “A-and you’re wrong, they do care. You haven’t been around long enough to see it yet. But we really do, we care for each other. Look out for one another.”

I sighed. He didn’t know what he was talking about, this might not be a normal squad in the gang. But unless you were family, no one looked after your best interest. Once you outlived your usefulness, they would throw you aside. That was the rules of this city, of the Brass Kings. To pretend otherwise was asking for trouble. “This is a gang.” I watched Bruno as he peeked into a tea house window. “Ya shouldn’t ever forget that.”

“Then why are you in the B-brass Kings?”

“Earns money, sometimes. Protection, other times. Fun too. Best way to pass the time and makes me a stronger cultivator while I’m at it. Not like I’d get that from a school. And that last bit there—school aint going to teach ya nothing worthwhile, pipsqueak. You’re better than them. Hell, I aint going to lie, truth is you’re better than the lot of us.”

Suzaki looked at me too long for comfort. Especially for a kid that normally refused to look anywhere near me. I shuffled in place, the chatter of the markets not easing the tension. “I sincerely hope you can find more than that from this gang.”

I scowled at him. Felt like my headache from the morning was coming back after spending the last hour in this market filled with rich assholes. “What are we even doing here, Bruno? We aint even gone into a shop. If ya wanted to take a walk, plenty of better places!” Bruno half-turned, still looking into the tea shop. He held up a single finger to shut me up. That pissed me off. So I walked up to give the big guy a piece of my mind.

As I reached him, a body crashed through the window. Glass flew at the two of us in a thousand deadly shards. I didn’t have time to think, dashing forward behind Bruno and slamming my palm into his back. My heart beating miles a minute, everything slowing to a crawl. I dragged my Soul Seed out, letting that sweet rush of power flow through the Soul Roots weaved through my body. There was a bright flash of blue from where my hand slammed on the big guy’s back.