Reito awoke to an empty dorm, although surprisingly, it was a lot cleaner than usual. His weights and controllers that were usually littering his floor had been organized, bedside, and it smelled of citrus, which he thought was most likely Shizuka's doing.

Guess my style of feng shui made her miffed enough to wanna clean the place, he snarked, getting up. Guess I should thank her...although now, it smells like some newlywed's place or somethin'. Stretching his arms over his head, he leaned to the side, if a bit too much, and ended up on the floor. If that wasn't enough, sunlight flared in his face. He squinted to see past it, only to give up and cover his face as the chatter of students making their way to school entered his dorm, which he clicked his tongue to.

"Ugh...not the best start, please don't let this be an omen for things to come." He said while taking his cellphone out to read a message from Shizuka. "Lets see... 'Mornin', Rei! I woke up a bit late so I can't hang out on the way to school. I'm not too worried though, I doubt Evie will let you stay a recluse, so chances are, you'll be at Kita today for sure. Later!'...So she left me to my doom." Reluctantly getting dressed, he made his way outside and down the stairs with his arms behind his head.

Still, Shion really knows her stuff. Even a simple mild curry dish seems like a five star meal when she makes it, he thought, heading onto the streetway in front of the Kita complex, which was accompanied only by the rustle of trees and the smell of fresh greenery and morning dew. He was almost running late, so everyone living in the complex had made their way to Kita already.

A small silhouette appeared in one of the tree's branches, staring at him through the leaves behind him, when he walked a bit further, it jumped out towards him.

"TOOOCCHHHIIIII!"

Reito sighed with closed eyes. Havin' to deal with her this early...did I kick puppies in a past life or somethin'...? As he turned to address her, he opened his eyes. "That's me I guess...whaddy-YEEESSHH!"

His eyes opened to a flying kick, clad in electricity. He leaned back to dodge it,and would have barely just kept his balance, if not for the gust the attack generated knocking him to the ground. The silhouette, now revealed to be the Student Council member he'd met yesterday, landed on the ground in perfect form, skidding on the pavement "Nicely done! Considering those are your reflexes from having just woken up, not too shabby!"

"....What ever happened to a normal "good mornin'", are ya tryin' to kill me?!"

"Relax, it's a pretty normal greeting. A kick like that wouldn't kill you anyways...although, it'd possibly paralyze you for a few seconds," she explained, dismissing his concern with a hand wave.

"...What exactly is your definition of' 'normal'?...Bah, forget it, lets just go."

"Oh yeah, hold up a sec! We were having so much fun last night, I forgot to give you this," she reached into her dogi to retrieve a small, circular object the size of a flash drive.

"What's this? It's not gonna shock me when I take it...will it?" He slowly reached out to accept her gift, his eyes darting to the hers and the object every split second.

She waved her hand back and forth to dismiss the notion. "No, no, nothing like that, this is your Status Projector, or S.P. for short, courtesy of Meichi Inc. Since you didn't stay for the full orientation, you missed out on getting one. Should anyone do that, it's a Student Council member's job to give them out."

He took it and examined it closely while prodding at it. Eventually, he hit a button by accident that made a projection shoot out from the base. "That's instant!" He jumped back.

A blue holographic screen was in front of his eyes, the interface was sleek and futuristic, reminding him of a manga he'd read. It displayed a multitude of things, such as his full name, and a section that contained "battle stats". The thing that grabbed Reito's attention the most however, was his ranking.

"Number Four in Gold??!!" He exclaimed, slack jawed with his eyes wide.

"Come on now, that's hardly surprising, considering what you've just been through. The bigger the win, the more you rank up, obviously. Although, it gets harder the higher up in the Academies you are," she explained.

"Woah! I'm almost at Azuma with Shion! The way things are goin', I'll be King in no time!" He proclaimed with a confident grin.

She wore a worried look for a split second before she snapped back into her usual peppy state of being. "That's the spirit, now pick up the pace, Kita's not gonna wait forever!" She grabbed his arm and started running ahead.

"H-Hey, slow down, whatever happened to a relaxin' walk?!"

His question didn't seem to reach her as she dragged him off, heading towards the sounds of horn honks and traffic lights coming from the more Central part of the City.

They arrived at the gates of Kita Academy. Evie, with Reito in tow, walked into the area while multiple death stares were being sent towards the boy.

[It's him again, some nerve he has coming back after he cheated the Glutton out of a win.]

[And the Fulgur Shade is hanging all over him, what the hell makes him so special?]

[Probably blackmailed her, either way, dude's the worst.]

Reito began to narrow his eyes, wishing he could get out of being the topic of discussion.

"Graaagh, lemme go already!" He exclaimed, pulling away from Evie's grip.

She brought her hand to her mouth and donned a mischievous grin. "I see~ This is the first time you've been so close to a girl other than Shizu, and now you're getting embarrassed, how cute~" she teased.

"That's not it at all, get real!

He slowly followed after the girl to his class, all while dreading future events.

If it means dealin' with people like her, on top of everyone hatin' my guts, maybe this ain't such a good idea after all. Man, what did I get myself into?

They trekked on, amongst other students who, judging by their piercing gazes, weren't too pleased with Reito either. Even so, the boy kept a guise of stoicism. He wondered if they could get ther any faster, and as if his wish was granted, they arrived at the Class Three door.

"This is my stop, sayonara," He said his goodbyes, walking in front of her and throwing his hand to the side while holding up two fingers.

Sayonara! I'm in Class Five, but when lunch comes, I'll be sure to stop by, so don't run off!" She asked of him before running off, fading into a crowd of students

"Yeah, yeah." She acts like I've got a say in that matter. Either way, I feel like I'd get dragged into it whether I want to or not, he figured, as if accepting that it would turn out that way.

He stepped into the classroom. There had been conversation going on before he arrived, but when he did, every voice went silent, sending a chill down his spine as he took the spot that he'd made his own last week. Alright, let's get this over with. Hmm? Wait a second, what's-?

The faint smell of something burning hit his nose and he began to feel hot all of a sudden. Thinking it was strange, he looked around, finally noticing dim flames at his feet, swelling up along the floor, which began to grow larger, slowly wrapping around the perimeter of the classroom.

Reito got up from his seat, understandably shocked and panicked. "OI! THE BUILDIN'S CATCHIN' ON FIRE, SOMEONE DO SOMETHIN'!"

What was odd about the situation, was that the other students around him didn't seem to be alarmed at all by what was happening. Some put their phones away, and sat up straight, as if they were expecting something.

[Hey, pipe down. This should be the least of your worries, cheater.]

[Yeah, you didn't get to see him a week ago, so you'd better get ready.]

Reito, still panicking, although a bit less so, raised an eyebrow to the statements. "What the hell are ya talkin' about, you wanna sit here and die?! No way in hell! Not me, later!" He exclaimed, making his way out of the classroom.

When he reached the door, a pillar of flames rose up, stopping him in his tracks while he fell onto his back from stopping. What's with these people, so calm when somethin' like this is goin' on?! He thought while covering his face with his arms, trying to shield himself from the flames.

A few seconds after that, an opening began to form in the pillar that blocked the door. Through it, an unfamiliar figure strolled through it casually.

He was rather tall with spiky hair, with a yellow and red tint on it, and he wore an unbuttoned lab coat.

"As usual, my entrance is flawless. Whaddya guys think, pretty cool huh?" he said, running his hand through his hair like a model preparing for a shoot, the other holding onto a body pillow with a picture of a green haired girl on it.

The room became silent, if this had been outside, there's no doubt that a tumbleweed would roll by. The class responded shortly afterward in unison.

[So lame!]

He waved his hands, making his lab coat flair out and reveal a green graphic T-shirt that had the same character on it who was printed on his body pillow. Beside the image, was white font diagonally across the shirt that read "Mari-chan loves you."the flames wrapping around the room began to subside. "Meh, like always, you all have no sense of flair. Although, I am ahead of my time, so maybe in another ten or so years, you'll understand," he nodded, a hand on his hip."

[No disrespect Mr.Banner, but it's not so much the entrance itself, it's what you're wearing, and for that matter, what you're hauling.]

[Yeah, you're always wearing merch from that weird show you like, it kills any sense of coolness you would've had once we see it.]

He stepped back, offended by the comments. "How...how dare you! Don't you have any compassion!? I'm so sorry Mari-chan, they just don't understand how sensitive you are~~!" He apologized to the pillow he was holding, rubbing his cheek on it affectionately. Stopping abruptly, he noticed Reito on the floor, blinking rapidly and shoved his pillow in front of him. "Hey, new kid, you don't think that my love's lame, do you?"

He had still been calming himself from when the room was set ablaze. "...Wha-, but you just-, huh?" He stammered, looking every which way.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that, should've introduced myself. I'm Kita Academy's Class Three Homeroom teacher, Neigh Banner! And this lovely lady accompanying me is Mari-chan~~" He posed, holding the pillow up. "Isn't she adorable~~?"

Reito took a closer look at the pillow, he could've sworn he'd seen the character on it somewhere before. Then it came to him, it was a character from a magical girl anime he remembered watching on T.V. "...Is that...Mariko from Magical Crusaders? You watch that stuff?"

"Of course! The moment I first sat down to watch an episode, she caught my eye! After that, every piece of merch with her face on it had to be mine!" Neigh proclaimed

Lame as hell! But he wears that stuff with pretty much no shame! no way in hell I'd even think of doin somethin' like that, it attracts too much unwanted attention! He thought.

"Just roll with it, Usodachi... That's just how Mr.Banner is..."

"Trust us, it's a hassle to do much else..."

"Is that it...? W-Well, I guess as long as you like it, then it's cool, Teach." He said, getting up to better greet Neigh. "Anyway, I'm-"

"Already aware, Reito Usodachi, right?"

Reito raised an eyebrow.

"Surprised? I wouldn't be if I were you. From what I've heard, you've become pretty infamous in the short time you've been here, and in such a short time too, very odd indeed," the teacher stated while stroking his chin.

"That's pretty on the nose, I guess everyone really is against me at this school huh? Now that I think about it, why weren't ya teachin' last week? The guy who was here instead just waved us off with independent study."

"Oh, that. You see, my Path that you got a demo of a second ago, Burnout, has a brutal effect on my body whenever I overuse it," he said while holding up his darkish burnt hands, "I've got to take a week off of my posts every week and a half to treat the burns that using it gives me. Guess you could say it's like I overheat! Ba Dum Tss!" He joked, imitating a rimshot.

".............."

Yet, he uses it to set up some pointless grandiose entrance... And was that a joke? Terrible! Reito thought. "So you're a Flame human."

"Yepperoni! On top o' that, besides being a teacher, I'm the head of The Academy's Science/Mechanical Division," Neigh threw up a victory sign.

"A Science Division?" Reito tilted his head

Neigh sighed, dropping his head into his palm. "Come on now, put two and two together, kid. Haven't you ever noticed a student carrying around a weird weapon or object that's made for them specifically?"

"Thinking back, the boy remembered the red hilt that Shizuka carried around, as well as Chikara's compact, suitcase-like shorts. He's the one who made 'em? He pointed towards his teacher. "So you're-"

Neigh jabbed his thumb to his chest, donning a triumphant smile. "Right on the money! You're looking at the guy in charge of the creation and distribution of 'em, Neigh Atlas Banner! So if you ever need something that can help you bring out the best in your Path, I'm your man! but until then," he walked by Reito, heading to the podium in the front of the class, "get ready you lot, I'm back in business, so let's get it on!" He proclaimed with a cocky grin.

Depite his insane entrance, the class just accepted it.

"Yes Mr.Banner!"

Neigh looked at Reito. "Well, what are you waiting on, an invitation? Get up to your seat already," he said, shooing him.

Now, genuinely stumped, he nodded his head and made his way to the seat he had sat in before the whole fiasco started. An annoyin' kunoichi, to a hot blooded musclebound Meat Tank. And now all of a sudden, an eccentric otaku teacher with an ability any arsonist would drool over. There was only one conclusion he could come to after his experiences. THIS PLACE IS INSANE! PATHOS OR NOT, HOW DOES ANYONE DO THIS!?

"Now that I'm back in the fray, and we seem to have gotten some fresh meat, Mari-chan and I'll give you all a bit of a refresher course, so clean the gunk outta your ears and listen up! Especially you, new kid," Neigh communicated, singling Reito out.

He responded with an awkwardly raised hand. "S-sure, I guess, explain away, Teach."

"Tch, a review, all because of one bastard, why the hell did Usodachi have to show up?"

"If he knew what was good for him, he should've just skipped."

"I'm the talk of the town as always...great, thanks Teach," Reito mumbled, regretting his current position.

"Alright, alright, quit your murmuring," Neigh asked of his class, bringing up a hologram screen with a map of the city behind him. "Now, can anyone tell me why the Academies were originally established?"

A student promptly spoke up.

"It's because of the Ono Family and Pathos centric disasters, right?"

Neigh pointed forward exaggeratedly. "Correctamundo! The disasters were one thing, disruptive events caused by Pathos who had just awakened an ability, like earthquakes, floods, and general destruction. Some of them were done out of ignorance and inexperience. But the Onos were a different beast. They were a pretty big deal a couple years back, a familial clan of cold blooded assassins who'd do anything for money and used their Paths to complete personal mission after mission. If that wasn't enough, they even had Yakuza ties.

...All of this is because of Shion's folks too? I mean, I know she tries to lay low because they were a problem in the past...but I didn't think this place was a result of it. Reito thought.

"Keep in mind, this is when Pathos just started popping up, so a lotta protection forces were expended on quelling them. So to make sure a large crime group like that doesn't rise up again, the Japanese Government gave the King headway to build the City, so you guys can learn to properly use their abilities and be steered in the right direction, morally, of course. Which brings us to my next point. Hey, get up here," he demanded, pointing Reito's way.

He looked around then pointed to himself. "Huh, me?"

"No, the guy inside you, Doppio. Of course I meant you, and be quick about it," Neigh half joked.

Reito groaned and made his way down to the front podium while the rest of the class stared daggers at him. The Neighbor sat his pillow against the wall.

"We'll be apart for one brief second Mari-chan, sorry, it'll be a pain for me too," he said, petting the top of it before he turned back to Reito while reaching under his lab coat, "alright kid, do me a solid."

"This'll be good, it's one of his best lessons."

"And pretty funny too, can't wait to see the look on Usodachi's face!"

Reito raised an eyebrow. Best lesson? What are they talkin' about...? "What kinda favor?" He asked.

Neigh brought out a pistol, cocked it and placed it into Reito's hand. "I need you to dome me, preferably, right between the eyes," he asked of him, pointing at the bridge of his nose. "Easy, right?"

".......Huuuuuhh?!" He exclaimed, stepping back and dropping the gun.

The class groaned.

"What's the problem, just do it."

"Yeah, go on ahead and dome him already so we can move on."

"Is everybody in this school crazy or somethin'?! You're askin' me to take a guy's life, who wouldn't do a double take at bein' asked that?!"

"Don't think too hard about it," Neigh reassured him while raising one finger in a "come on" gesture, "just close your eyes and let it rip!"

Reito shook, scared of what would happen if he did just that. But considering Neigh asked him to shoot him, he began to think it would be okay. He had watched a lot of anime and remembered wise mentor characters who would do similar showcases, if not with a bullet, with some other weapon, and they'd swat it away like it was nothing. So he picked the pistol off of the ground and raised it in front of his teacher's face, slowly pressing the trigger,still a little jittery.

"Okay...fine! Since everyone's on my back, drop dead!" he shouted, closing his eyes and finally pulling the trigger.

The bullet hit the scientist square in the face, making him fall back onto the ground with a thud.

Reito started sweating bullets. Deflect it? Yeah right! This guy's a bigger nerd than I am! He concluded, thinking there was no Neigh didn't die. I killed him, but he asked me to! Wait, does that mean I assisted in suicide?! I could go to jail for this, and to top it off, there's tons of witnesses! Damn it, Teach-!

Before he could dwell on it more, he heard footsteps in front of him, making him slowly open his eyes. The first thing he saw was the bullet bounce on the ground in front of him with a small clang, then, he looked up, seeing Neigh rising to his feet.

"Yeowch! It gets the point across, yeah, but still leaves a mark," he said, rubbing the mark left on him by the bullet, "see, I'm not dead, and I'm Neigh the friendly ghost, either."

Reito tilted his head to the side and stepped back, grabbing his chest. "How, are ya...alive exactly...?"

"Not like it's anything special," he responded, stooping down to pick up the bullet that was now crushed from hitting his head, "see, anyone here would've survived that. When you become a Pathos, your body undergoes a unique transformation while trying to get used to your ability, your skin and skeletal system get a lot tougher, and you get a bit stronger. Long story short, a normal bullet like this isn't but a minor annoyance to anyone here, even you. Of course, we can still be pierced with something if it's sharp enough, but blunt weapons aren't much of a threat to us, unless it's a part of an ability, or made of some special alloy."

Reito thought about it, and when he looked back, the more truth Neigh's words held. He'd been put through a building first just a few days ago, and all that came from it was a slight sting in his back.

"A punch from another Pathos can hurt like hell as well, and- Well, I don't wanna rattle anyone's brain with any more technical jargon, so I'll just sum it up," he said, taking the gun from him and storing it again, before holding both his hands out triumphantly, "we're pretty much mutants, freaks of nature! Just plain weird as hell, get it?! It'll take a lot more than some weak ass bullet to send any of us packing!"

His proclamation spawned an uproar of laughter from the other students.

"I never get tired of seeing him do that! Ha-ha-ha, what a riot!"

"I know, it's things like this that actually make him seem kinda cool!"

"That's Mr. Banner for ya!"

"You can take a seat, kid, and thanks for your help with the demonstration. Judging by the look on your face," he examined him with a smirk, cupping his chin in his hand, "I think you've got the gist of it."

"...Errr, Couldn't you've used a less hardcore example to show how we're tougher than normal?"

Neigh pondered his question for a bit. "Hmm...yeah, I guess I could've huh...? Well, that's enough of that, back to your seat with you!"

He barely even acknowledged it! Reito noticed, walking back to his seat.

Neigh picked up his pillow once more and proceeded to address his class once more. "Okay, moving on," he segwayed, turning to the map behind him, "There are four schools in the system, built with a rank based progression system in mind, .

"Like a hierarchy sorta thing?" Reito asked.

"Almost exactly like that," he snapped, confirming the answer, "everyone starts out at any of the schools depending on how high you score on Path assessment, but if you weren't there for whatever reason, you just begin at the lowest school. To be promoted to a higher one, you've gotta reach a benchmark rank by the time one of the two Ascension days hits, which is the day you're officially instated into an upper school. The first is for the top 2 in the school, in the middle of the month, and the second, at the end of the month, promoting the top 30.

Reito picked apart the slew of the information in his head. "So the quickest way to move up is to become either the second or best fighter in the school...a pretty tall order."

"Speaking of rankings, it affects alotta things, such as your living conditions. You can start with a small dorm that's serviceable enough for living in, earning around 1000 glint bi-weekly. To be honest, even though Japan switched it out for yen a few years back, I kinda like it. Plus it's fun to say! And to make transactions simple, your student card and S.P. act as credit cards. But after a few hard fought months, you can end up in essentially a penthouse with more money than you know what to do with! And since the Academy and its respective dorms are in different parts of the city, you also get access to a lot more shops and pleasantries! Mari-Chan and I have personally been to a cafe or two over on the Nishi side, and the service was top notch, perfect for a date!" he exclaimed, rubbing his face against his pillow.

"...................." Reito just narrowed his eyes.

"........................."

"Not interested in date spots, huh? I suppose that's fair, I guess we can move on to the last bit, special missions, and matches. Obviously, the best way to get used to something you just got is to use it constantly, and what better way than a good clean fight."

"The rules of matches are simple, knock out your opponents by any means necessary, but no killing, we don't need another clan of assassins in the making. Meichi INCs' tech makes environmental generation a sinch, so if you need to, you can choose one to simulate depending on how you fight and what ability you have. If you're going at it and you feel like it's going nowhere for you, yielding is always an option. On top of that, there's a tournament called the Cuatro Clash that takes place every half a year or so that'll give you a chance to shoot up the ranks even faster. There are even special stipulations you can put on 'em, depending on the situation."

Mr. Banner! I've heard some students from the upper schools get to travel on some sort of missions. That true?"

"Ah, yeah, special missions. I usually don't mention 'em because they're more of an upper school thing, but I guess since you guys caught wind of it, I'll enlighten you. If you get high enough in the rankings, you can take up missions that'll have you apprehending criminals. Due to access to the City being restricted to invite only unless you take up an occupation here, there are some Pathos who get here with the intention to overthrow the King and rule through reputation and violence alone."

Like that Lizer guy..., Reito recalled.

"Same goes for the rest of the world, there's plenty of Pathos causing trouble across the globe. So to balance it out, the school trains you guys to apprehend 'em. There's criminals out there with all sorts of Paths, but there's only a couple types, Transformation, which allows your body to change its shape and form. It could be into something like an animal, beit wolf or bear, or a weapon, like a blade or gun. Then, there's Command types, which give you control over something, or in rarer cases, the ability to produce it as well. The rarities usually fit into a sub category, like my Burnout, which we like to call, Natures. Then lastly, Boost type, which can give you a wide variety of abilities that don't fit in the former two classifications, like making your skin harder, or making you super fast."

Boost type, guess I'm one of those. I kinda hated this power before, but the name sounds kinda cool, maybe I jumped the gun when I called it shitty.

"But all men aren't born equal," his teacher added, holding up a finger, "contrary to popular belief, and Paths hammer this in hard. If the types are presented from strongest to weakest, the list goes, Command, Transformation, then Boost, mostly because the former is based on touch or just a meager basic attribute enhancement more often than not, Like Zeno'o's super strength" he explained, turning his back to the class.

Reito slammed his head on the desk in front of him in defeat. ....The weakest type... The weakest, out right worst... What's with my luck?

The students chuckled, looking at Reito and starting to whisper.

"He slammed his head down when Mr.Banner mentioned Boost types..."

"Guess that means the Path he used against Zeno'o is actually one of the weakest! Lucky us, he's no competition with a power like that. That blue energy he used must've been a special poison!"

"Even if you've got a weak type, I'm sure every student can make the best of it. After all, becoming a Pathos hinges on two things, an immense build up of stress, and an extremely strong will," he said, bringing both his hands together in a clap, "put those together, and that's how a Pathos is made. With those two ingredients, anything's possible! ! So keep on keeping on, and try to become the King or Queen! Whaddya hafta say to that, class?!

Every students but Reito put their fists in the air

"You've got it Mr. Banner!"

The class responded in unison.

"Strong will, huh? ...Must be some kinda mistake," Reito mumbled to himself, laying his head into his arms.

"That's the spirit! Now, since you all are pumped up," Neigh started before bringing out a book from behind his desk, "english is up next, and Mari-chan's been super excited about teaching this one. So who's ready?!!"

".................."

"......................."

"Huuh?! You're all silent all of a sudden! Where'd that enthusiasm go?!" He asked, looking around.

"Seriously, you talk about all this exciting stuff, then we go to learning English from a pillow? Super lame."

"Can't we just skip to studying Path Enhancement Theory?"

"No way! I may double as a teacher here, but at my core, I'm a scientist! To us, skipping a step in a formula could be a matter of life or death, so no dice!" He exclaimed, making an X with his arms.

The class sighed.

"Guess he's done being cool Mr. Banner..."

Yeah... maybe this place is too much for me to handle..., Reito began to second guess his decision to attend.

After a round of classes from his new teacher, it was time for the lunch break before Reito knew it.

As he exited the classroom, Neigh called out to him. "Enjoy lunch, kid. Mari-chan and I wanna make sure you absorb the month and a half worth of knowledge that you missed on your hiatus, so hurry back!" He goofily smiled, bringing his pillow closer to him

Still a bit put off because of the body pillow he was holding, Reito responded with a raised hand and closed eyes while an awkward sweatdrop rolling down his forehead. "S-Sure. Can do, Teach."

Taking a few steps from the classroom door, he was face to face with Evie once again, the hallways swelling with comotion and students making their rounds.

"Hiya, miss me?" She greeted him with a smile.

"As if," he replied with his eyelid hanging low. "So...what now? Are we gonna eat lunch on the roof like we're in some crappy romcom?" He asked.

In response to that question, she put her index finger in the front of his face. "That sounds tempting, but nope! We can eat later! For now, don't you wanna look around the Academy? There's a lot of facilities here that are super cool, y'know," she stated while putting both her hands to the back of her head nonchalantly.

He sighed. "I guess it's fine as long as I get some food in the tank before too long, lead the way," he agreed, reluctantly.

"In that case, let's go! She exclaimed, doing just what he asked.

With the girl guiding him in front, the two ended up in a rather large courtyard filled with many students walking to and fro. A grassy field took up most of it, with a grand looking fountain in the middle of it. On each corner of the field, benches were in place. There was a rather nice social area with tables that sat multiple people. Some conversing, some eating, and others doing both at once. Reito thought he could smell a spring breeze on the wind, but he ignored it as the sounds of flowing water hit his ears.

"Stop one on Tour Guide Evie's Mystical Tour, The Grand Courtyard!" She exclaimed, gesturing toward the area with a smile.

"Great, a social area, my favorite type of place," he snarked with a straight face, his finger trembling a bit before he stuffed his hand into his pocket. Even after all this time, he still wasn't used to being around large crowds, so understandably, he was still uneasy about being in such a place.

She pointed at him and winked. "I knew you'd love it! This is the place where students can relax, although it's mostly used when lunch break hits. It's the primo place for anything social!"

"Well, I guess it might be nice, if I can find a quiet spot to sleep then I guess bummin' it around here wouldn't be so bad," he thought. "Alright, I get the gist of it, where to next?" He asked.

"That's the spirit, Tochi! Next is one of my favorite places~!"

"She's so peppy...I feel drained already," he slumped over, mumbling to himself, "it's like she has some kinda life draining Path..."

Minutes later, they ran into a crowd of students clamouring, shoving, and trying to get ahead of one another. When the two got closer, the scent of bread and jam wafted to their noses and only got stronger the closer and closer they got.

"I'll take 3 sweetbreads!"

"Tough luck buddy, I'll take 5! And could you hurry with that? I wanna be able to enjoy it before class starts again!"

"Hey! Down in front! No cutting!"

"Here we are, the School Snack Store! They sell the tastiest sweetbread around, it's ten times better than regular old convenience store stuff!"

The boy scratched his cheek. "Even if ya say that, seems like a hassle. Especially if lines always devolve into huddles o-... Ah...she's gone," he looked around, unable to find her.

A tap on his shoulder seconds later made him turn around to see she'd popped up behind him, stuffing her mouth with sweetbread. "Mmpphh, mmmphhh! (It's even better than it usually is, lucky me!)" She tried to speak with her mouth full.

"...Dude," he started, looking back and forth between the crowd and her, "how the hell are ya even able to move like that?

She paused, swallowing her food. "Elementary, my dear Tochi! It's all thanks to the power of ninjary! Now that that's outta the way, on to the next stop!" She exclaimed while excitably skipping toward the next destination.

Reito hung his head low. That...just made me even more confused. But I guess I shouldn't expect her to be easy to understand... Wait up!"

They ended up in an area that was a bit different. It was a long hallway, on the left and right were doors next to horizontally long one way glass panes that lead to rooms with a grid-like structure. He took a whiff and smelled almost nothing at all, the air was clear, almost pure, even.

Evie turned toward Reito with arms extended as if she was doing a showcase. "Welcome to the Kita Training Rooms! Here you can spar to your heart's content, y'know what they say, practice makes perfect!" She exclaimed while shadow boxing playfully.

Now we're talkin'! Fightin's one of the few things I give a damn about! This place is perfect! He thought, his eyes lighting up like a kid in a toy store.

"There's a glint in your eye... You're pretty excited, huh?" She teased, shooting him a cat-like grin.

He quickly coughed to deny her observation. "Ahem...just wanna get back into brawlin'. The quicker I improve, the quicker I can become King after all."

Her smile grew a bit. "In that case," a bit of electricity sparked around her middle and index as she raised them, "how'd you feel about going around with me?"

Before he could respond, an all too familiar voice was heard from behind them.

"Tanaka! Usodachi! I've been looking all over for you guys!" Chikara exclaimed, running towards the two.

"Oh! Hiya, Kara! You're on your feet!" She waved.

Turning around, Reito sighed, thinking another hassle had arrived. "Meat Tank, huh? You're up and about now?"

"I can't exactly be down and out forever with my rank on the decline, I got discharged a little late, so I wasn't able to be here right away, but as soon as I was, I bolted here to see you two again. Especially you, Usodachi." Chikara divulged, turning to Reito

Hearing his question, he raised an eyebrow. "...For?"

"Right here, right now, I've made up my mind. From this point on, you and I are rivals," Chikara declared, smirking.

"...Huh?"

"I know it's kind of selfish of me, but, you're good, maybe an even better fighter than I am. Thing is, you'd definitely slack off when it comes down to it, and if I surpassed you at your worst, well, I'd feel like I never got a chance to win," he explained with a serious expression on his face.

"So in other words, you're just bein' a self servin' bastard, huh?" Reito assessed.

Chikara sheepishly scratched his cheek."Well, I can't exactly say you're wrong about that."

Reito chuckled a bit under his breath. The last time they saw each other, Chikara was trying his hardest to beat the daylights out of him, angrier than a raging bull. Not a second passed where Reito didn't think he hated his guts. Chikara had been clouded by anger, all he did was insult Reito. But now, he'd approached him calmly, making a selfish declaration while somehow being respectful all at once, he couldn't do anything but find it comical.

"Y'know, you're kinda funny ...Eh, why not I guess. Just leavin' it at that, though, don't start thinkin' for a second this makes us buddies," he said, raising his fist up to fist bump Chikara's.

"I didn't think for a second you'd agree to that anyway, even though I think of you as such." he said while turning to meet Evie's eyes. "And thank you for the other day, Tanaka. If you hadn't stopped me I'd have let my anger take over."

"A-Okay, Kara," she accepted his gratitude with a thumbs up. "But if you really wanna thank me, just call me Evie already!"

Chikara just laughed. You're right, sorry. Thanks a lot, Tana- Erm...Evie..."

The way Chikara laughed made Reito raise an eyebrow. He goes Gra-ha-ha...? Shion goes Sha-ha-ha, and the half pint goes Hee-hee-hee... It's just supposed to be ha-ha...right? Am I the only one who laughs normal...? Reito wondered.

Not a second later, the three heard a loud noise two training rooms down the hall.

"Who in the hell?!" Reito asked.

"It's nothing to be worried about. Forte probably overshot an attack by a bit again," Chikara explained, rubbing the back of his head.

Evie looked away, furrowing her brows. One of Maestro and Gold's sparring matches...not good. "Hey, Tochi, why don't we just come back another time?" she asked, tugging on her friend's shirt.

"What's with ya all of a sudden? Just a second ago you were stringin' me along for a view of the place, what happened to 'Mystical Tour Guide Evie', huh?"

"Let's just cut it short on the grounds of unexpected interference," She said with a shaky smile.

"How about, no. If those two are strong, then that's even more of a reason to check it out, you comin', Meat Tank?" He asked Chikara.

"I was gonna check 'em anyway, let's go," he said, following his new rival down the hall.

Maybe I should've avoided taking him here. I mean, Maestro may be easy to deal with, but...Gold... she regretted. "Hey, guys! Wait up!" she hurried behind them.