The next morning, Shin was the first to wake up. Partly due to his lifestyle back at home, the sunlight falling directly on his eyes from the wide open space out the window helped break his sleep. With a yawn and stretch, he slowly reached for the pillow behind him and threw it at Diavolo’s face.

“Hey Diav, get up! We’re going for a walk! I mean...run!”

Beginning with an understandable grunt of displeasure, Diavolo replied, “What, it’s not even six yet! I thought we were getting late for school!”

Yes, this was their first day in this new school. Classes in Twinsoul Academy begun at 9am, however students are addressed to be present at around 8am for any necessary tasks due. And only for the first day, every year, all students and staff must be there by an hour earlier, at 7am. This is to prepare, promotional documents, personnel recruitment etc for new students.

“Who cares about the school?! This has been our daily routine! Don’t slack off!” he said as he switched to a jersey.

“That was back there! We don’t have to run through the forest to catch our own breakfast here!”

“No excuses! We’re rivals, aren’t we? What’ll you do once I surpass you, huh?”

“Yeah, yeah whatever. Good luck with that,” and he waved his hand in a ‘shoo-shoo’ manner whilst covering his head with his blanket again.

“Tch! Fine, see if I care!” Shin said annoyed as he left the room.

“I’m sorry for doing this, Shin. We won’t be training together. Not until the day you too have experienced the same energy as I have…”

Shin made his way to the city park. Jogging, he contemplated on his past experiences; his memories with his best friend, Diavolo.

Diavolo moved to Cosmic Island at the age of 5. After a coincidental encounter, the two quickly became friends. Two open-hearted children who loved adventure and moving around a lot. It wasn’t difficult to imagine how they came out to be best friends.

Although, what differentiated between the two was that Diavolo seemed to have a knack for practical skills and abilities. When it came to fighting, techniques that Shin may spend weeks to months developing and mastering, Diavolo would end up replicating it without any problem simply after a couple of demonstrations. Some people may call it talent. Yes, Diavolo was talented in these areas.

Of course, this would give rise to frustration in Shin. There were times when he thought he’d never catch up to where Diavolo stood. But envy and hatred weren’t elements of the bond these two had. Even if Diavolo had no problem copying them, it was Shin who had developed them. Diavolo would have never come up with such creative ideas on his own and thus was always impressed by Shin’s work. This always pulled Shin back up.

However after a dreadful incident on that island, things changed and Diavolo’s lively personality was replaced by a solemn and gloomy attitude. Even after months, when a person is expected to be at least partially healed, his new character sustained. He would often hide it by putting up a front, but it never fooled Shin.

Soon enough, he started to see things as a burden. He would desperately practise alone, leaving Shin and Yukio together. And after he was done; after he realized that the island could not provide for his further improvement, he turned into the slacker he currently was.

“I won’t stand this! I’ll show you that you’re not the only tough guy around here! I’ll surpass you and then knock some sense into you! I’ll make you realise that you’re not alone! You don’t have to shoulder the entire burden! You’re my best friend and my rival, and I will not watch you break apart like this!”

He arrived at the park. Exhausted, he bought a can of soda from the nearby vending machine and sat on a bench.

“I will make sure you recover from your loss 5 years ago…”

“There you are, Shin! I finally found you!” a girl came running and panting.

“Huh? Ah, Hannah! What’s up!”

“Don’t ‘what’s up’ me! Stanley told me you went out for a walk, but do you even know your way? What if you got lost again?”

“Ah, relax. I already knew this route from the ride you gave yesterday. We grew up in a way where we don’t get lost in the same place twice. But rather, did you seriously run all the way here? You’re sweating all over!”

“Of course I did, dummy! *pant*”

“But...you could’ve just used your car, you know…”

“Eh?” and immediately, Hannah’s already red face turned even redder.

“Hehe! Hannah is such a nice person. You seem to help people out on the goodness of your heart. And even after that, you make sure the people you helped are still doing well like it’s your own responsibility. You could’ve easily left us after I was brought to the hospital, or even after I regained consciousness, but you didn’t. You even went as far to let people you’ve only met to stay at your house. I really respect you,” he said and gave a very gentle smile.

Hannah was left speechless and embarrassed. She simply stood there blushing and staring at the ground with her hands held together.

Shin too, blushed a little after realising this, “Haha, I guess that would embarrass you, right? Sorry about that! Here, have a seat and rest a little. I’ll go buy us some ice-cream,” he said as he walked away, to which Hannah only gave a quiet nod.

Sitting down, Hannah gently held her chest as it throbbed. It was the first time a boy had said that to her and a new feeling emerged. It wasn’t love, no no, but was definitely a feeling of attachment. She felt like she was understood and accepted. It wasn’t just a mere complement but an approval; words coming from one’s heart. Moreover, having someone who she barely knew understand such a delicate part of her so easily only added to the feeling.

“Calm down, me! He only complimented me! There’s no need to get so flustered like this! Act natural, act natural!” she tried to calm herself.

“Yo~, I’m back! Do you like chocolate or strawberry? I didn’t know which was your favorite so I bought the most common ones. I’m okay with either by the way.”

Returning with ice-cream in his hands, Shin saw that Hannah had mostly returned to her original state. Sweat gone and a pale face with slight rosy cheeks, she sat on the bench in a dignified posture.

“Sheesh, you’re so lousy at choosing a girl’s flavor preference! I like butterscotch!” she nagged, pouted and turned away.

Hannah was actually quite happy. But after her newly awakened feelings, she felt like a wall had been broken. She felt like she and Shin were a step closer to each other and that it would be okay if she acted a little childish and messed around with him.

“Um...well...uh...sorry…” he felt like he failed a man-test.

“But since you volunteered to give me something in the first place, I’ll look over it this time! Chocolate will do!” and she smiled.

They ate and conversed, “So why go out jogging so early?” she casually asked.

“It’s a habit...would probably be a lie if I said it. Well, partly. I actually want to surpass someone and I train myself accordingly to stay fit.”

“Surpassing someone, huh… It’s Diavolo, isn’t it? He doesn’t seem too interested though…”

“That’s right. Training together was like our daily routine. He’s actually an incredible guy! He has a talent for physical activities. I always had to try my best to keep up. But for personal reasons, he’s stopped training. I don’t like that. While he lazes around, I’m planning on getting stronger and stronger, until the day comes when I can beat some sense into him and bring him back like how he originally was!”

“Hmm, I guess they too have some stuff they need to deal with. Excluding the Stone of Eclipse, Shin seems to have a more personal reason for improving himself. He has a proper drive. It’s just like Grandpa said…”

The previous night, William described that the Cosmic Island village chief and he were old friends. He knew that the chief had the power of foresight and that if he sent them out, there was valid reason for it. And if it was Derdalf as their first destination, the chief probably believed he could be of assistance.

As such, he told Hannah to test the three. No details were specified. In a way, testing the boys could also be seen as a test for Hannah herself. She is an heir to the Rose household and as a leader, must know her people and conduct appropriate measures in different scenarios.

Unlike many other powerful and influential households, the Rose didn't follow patriarchy. Hence Hannah had a huge responsibility for her future. Additionally, she too wanted to become a person who can maintain order and peace in, at the very least, her own city, on a personal level.

“But the question is… how do I test him?” she thought and stared at his face.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Shin, hearing no response, asked her.

“N-no, it’s nothing! It’s nothing! I was just wondering about how close you guys are. I think it’s very nice that you’re able to dedicate yourself for the sake of your friend like that.”

“Hehe, thanks! I really do love those guys! They’re the closest friends I have!” he said with a wide innocent grin.

“T-thank goodness! I almost thought I’d get caught! Glad I was able to answer him correctly or it would’ve made things so awkward! But even so…” she thought as she looked at him, “That unrestrained smile is...cute. He really is a nice guy,” and she blushed.

*Teet-teet* *teet-teet* went the alarm on Hannah’s wristwatch.

“Oh no, it’s almost 7! I must not be late on the first day!” she shrieked and stood up.

“Oh crap! We better run then...and fast!” he said quickly turned to begin running.

It was then when an idea struck Hannah, “That’s it! This should be a good trial! Maybe not a test of strength or reflexes, but speed should also be an important factor!”

“Hey Shin, what do you say we race back home?” she challenged him with a grin.

“Oh? I’m up for it. But you sure you can keep up? I used to be the top hunter back home so I’d rather not underestimate me if I was you,” he returned a grin.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see. So you accept?”

“You got it!”

“Great! First to grab a hold on the main entrance gate wins! 3...2...1...GO!”

And they were off! It started with Shin taking the lead. Many people were staring at them as they sprinted through the city.

“Hahah! I told you I’m fast, didn’t I? What do you say the loser buys the winner ice-cream, eh?” he yelled and continued down his course.

“Oh? Not bad,” she mumbled, “I suppose you can give me a little challenge. Well now, I think I should kick it up a notch!”

And so she did. She accelerated her way through and was eventually neck and neck with Shin. “So what were you saying back then? You’ll buy me ice-cream again? I’ll look forward to it!” and she ran past Shin, steadily increasing the distance between them.

The initially confident Shin was simply startled. It didn’t seem like Hannah had increased her stepping rate all that much. However, her each footstep seemed to be covering a much larger distance. Did she subtly bind jumping into her running? If so, that was a great skill. Jumping requires much more force than running. Moreover, people have a habituated way of running. To fuse the two without facing problems requires great practice and precision.

But that was not it. It didn’t look like her footsteps had any increase in force either. It almost seemed like the wind itself carried her a little further on every step. “Hehe, interesting…” he muttered and began stampeding ahead.

But he couldn’t close in for long. Hannah seemed to have grasped on Shin’s speed limit and purposely ran to maintain a specific distance from him.

“This should be enough. If I go any further, it might hurt his pride,” she thought.

But Shin could not be fooled. He knew too well when a person was holding back for his sake. He had been shown pity like this several times by Diavolo. He knew that when a person with more ability than him was maintaining a certain gap, it can only mean this one thing.

To make things worse, they were almost back home. Only a couple of turns and they would be on their final stretch.

“Hey what happened to all that confidence you had earlier? You were underestimating me back then weren't you? I guess you're not so tough after all!” she provoked him. Because of this, the tension got the better of Shin and he couldn't think straight.

“Tch! Cocky girl! But still… I can't believe I'm losing my first challenge in a new place! That too, to a girl! This can't be happening! This just can't! I guess… I really am just a weakling…”

Shin pressed his eyelids together out of frustration. Skill wise, only two people had defeated him back home. Excluding the adults, he only believed himself to be inferior to Diavolo and a neighborhood older brother they looked up to. Although Shin was aware of the fact that there would be people far better than him outside the island, he didn't expect it to be so soon. And this, regardless of what Hannah did, hurt his pride.

However, closing his eyes in desperation caused a dreadful memory to resurface. Diavolo was not the only one on whom the event was engraved into. Trees burning, explosions here and there, blood splattering and people hopelessly running and screaming. A scene which would not only mentally affect a 12 year old boy, but even adults.

Utter despair clouded his heart and a particular scene finally popped up. Diavolo, screaming his lungs out while Shin was standing some distance behind him, completely unable to make a move. A cry that must never come out of a child.

“Ku! That's right! I can't give up now! If I do, everything I've worked for, everything, will be for nothing! I made a promise!” and he clenched his fists, “That I was going to support him!” he took a deep breath, “And I am definitely…” he opened his eyes wide, “GOING TO KEEP IT!!!”

Within the next heartbeat, he started to feel great energy welling up inside him. A tingling feeling coursed over his skin and gusts of wind enveloped his body. Primarily covering his legs, the wind caused Shin to accelerate at a monstrous rate!

However, he couldn't control it! He was swaying between ‘aw yes!’ and ‘oh shit!’. This power felt too good, but if he didn't stop, somebody would get hurt.

“LOOK OUT!” he shouted as he closed in on Hannah.

“Huh?” before she could turn around and look properly, *boom* they crashed into each other and fell.

Hannah fell face up and Shin fell on top of her. He tried to get up, squinting and trying to regain his trembling and faded vision.

“Ow! Really sorry about that. You’re not hurt are you?” he asked, but then, “Eh?” he felt something soft under his hand.

“Don’t tell me...this must be!” opening his eyes, he saw exactly what he had thought; Shin had grabbed onto one of Hannah’s breasts.

Hannah was flushed red. She did not know whether she should scream or to slap and kick him away. Such a dignified character as her having such an impure contact was beyond her imagination. As such, she could sense and think, but couldn’t react.

She watched as Shin’s large, strong hands and the weight of his arm pressed onto her small yet supple bosom. She saw how her skirt was partially flipped up and a portion of her panties could be seen. She stared at how their waists were so near to each other and finally, at how Shin was staring down at her defenseless body.

Whether it was due to exhaustion or surprise, she didn’t know, but her muscles were as stiff as getting a cramp. In mere milliseconds she took in and processed all this data and the thought that she couldn’t do anything about it was too much and her brain was about to explode!

“Ah s-s-s-sorry!” Shin panicked and scurried back to a comfortable distance, “I didn’t do that! I mean, I did do that, but I couldn’t control myself! I mean, I couldn’t control my running, not my urge to grab your breasts! I mean, I didn’t have the urge to touch them in the first place! I mean, uh...um...well…” he stammered as he also turned red.

With Shin off of her, Hannah’s mental state stabilized and she was able to move again. Getting up, she kept her arms crossed over her chest. She stood up and kept her eyes fixed at the ground with a very gloomy look on her face. Wiping off the dust from her clothes she started walking towards the gate, which was basically around 3 meters away from her at the time.

Not getting any reply from the silent Hannah, his suspense only grew, “H-Hannah?”

She then slowly raised her hand and touched the gate, “Get me…” she faintly said, “butterscotch next time,” and pushed the gate open.

“Eh?” it took awhile for the confused Shin to figure it out, “EEEHHH?! Not fair! That’s against the rules!” he stood up and started to flail his arms around.

*teet-teet* *teet-teet* resounded the 7am alarm.

“If you don’t hurry, we’ll be late,” she said in a monotone, ignoring anything Shin spoke about the race they just had, and continued to walk inwards. Shin had no choice but to accept defeat and so followed her in, crying. “Aw, I was definitely about to win it, too,” he mumbled.

Having events already taking a flow, Hannah didn’t care much about the last occurrence anymore. Rather, she thought of more important matters at hand.

“That was definitely...Gas Attribute. There’s no mistaking it. Was he hiding it all this time?” she thought as she looked at Shin’s clueless face, “Nope. He doesn’t seem like he’s realised it yet. Moreover, he doesn’t seem like he can control it. But if that’s the case, this is even more puzzling! I’ve never seen someone who could use their Material Natura without having any training in basic Natura control!”

Hannah recollected her memories. The conversation she had with William started to slowly make sense to her. She too started to think like her grandfather, in the sense that perhaps, the chief really did send them out for a valid reason. It would be a waste if their innate powers weren't honed properly. They would be greatly limited and restrained if they were to stay in such a small place for their entire lives.

Entering the dining hall, the two found that Diavolo, Yukio and Marvin were basically done with their breakfast.

“Well, well, it seems that the early bird wasn’t able to catch the worm first today,” taunted Diavolo as he took a sip of juice.

“Hehe! Sorry, lost track of time!” he replied in a cheerful unapologetic tone.

“More importantly!” Marvin shouted, standing up and slamming his hands on the table, “Sis, you aren’t forgetting something, are you?!”

“Oh, that’s right! Sorry, guys but could you go on ahead? You see, since my parents aren’t home and Grandpa is getting old, I need to be introduced as Marvin’s guardian and stuff.”

“Say no more! Rest assured and do what you have to. We just have to submit the forms, right? No problem! And besides, if we get lost we can just ask the students for directions, can't we?”

“Well that is what worries me the most,” Hannah thought, but instantly switched from her glum look to a cheerful smile, “Yeah, you're right!”

Reaching their destination, the three boys stood in front of the main entrance of Twinsoul Academy.

“Whoooaaa! So this is what the real thing looks like!” said the amazed Yukio who had never seen such a large public school before.

The building was huge, but simple looking. It was two-winged and four storeys high. Had a large field in front of it and, even if the three couldn't see it, there was also a similarly sized rear field. The most prominent feature was probably the artistic, golden-lined clock in the top-center of the building, which was under the statue of two Griffins that seemed to be leaping at each other.

“I really think we should get used to seeing grand stuff like this…” commented Diavolo with heavy eyes.

“She said that the registration approval booth should be somewhere in the front, just outside the building…” said Shin, “I wonder if it's that one,” and he started walking, followed by the other two.

Meanwhile, some distance away from the booth, were three boys sitting casually in front of the building entrance.

One of them was very muscular, bald and was cracking his knuckles and glaring at almost anybody who walked near them.

The one in the middle had short bleached hair, tan skin, three ear piercings on one ear and had a bored expression on his face.

The third had moderately long blonde hair, a pretty and fair face, had ball earrings and was reading a magazine.

“Hey look, Claude Bro! New faces! Looks like they’re heading for the admission booth,” said the bald one.

“Oh? Rookies, huh? Let’s give them a warm welcome, shall we?” replied the bleached haired boy, “Hey, Nic!”

“Yup?” replied the blonde one as he blew up his bubble gum and it popped.

“Do the usual.”

“At your beck and call, Bro,” he said and stood up, “After all, I’m the only one who is capable of this task.”

“Are you implying something, ya shitty neuter?!” growled the bald one.

“Of course not! Why? Did I strike a nerve or something, baldy?” he taunted, “I suppose you are very much aware of your uselessness if you react to a simple statement like that. It’s okay, keep cracking your knuckles like you always do. That’s what you’re best at after all.”

“Why, you! Bro, let me handle this! I, Garth, as your right-hand-man shall bring you results!”

“Hmph! Self-proclaimed right-hand-man you mean.”

“Grr, you wanna go at it, asshole?!” and he was about to grab his collar.

“Enough! No internal strife! Garth, sit down! And Nic, stop bothering him and get on with it! Before those guys finish their work!”

The three boys made their way through the crowd of students that entered the building before the next bell. As they were about to reach the booth, they bumped into a blonde boy, thus dropping the forms Shin was carrying.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” he apologized.

“Nah it’s fine,” Shin replied and he bent to pick them up.

“I really apologize, man. Here, let me help you out,” and he squatted to get the forms.

“Yeah, thanks!”

“Hehe! Gotcha!” he put a slightly evil grin on his face.

But then, instantly, Diavolo’s instincts kicked in and noticed something was wrong. Just as the boy was about to make contact with the papers, he grabbed his wrist. He was left surprised and confused.

“It’s okay. It wouldn’t be right to trouble you for a mere mistake like this. We’ll take care of it,” Diavolo said smiling. Smiling, and yet, it made the blonde boy feel somewhat uneasy.

“N-no, it’s my fault in the first place. Helping out is the least I should do,” he timidly insisted.

“Like I said, we don’t need your help for something as trivial as this…” and he tightened his grip to the point where blood would stop flowing into the boy’s hand, “...okay?” which sent shivers down his spine.

“U-uh, okay,” he finally surrendered. Diavolo let his arm go after confirming.

“Man, stop scaring people right after we meet them! He was just being nice!” said Shin as he finished taking the forms, “I’m sorry about that, um…”

“Ah, I’m Nicolas. Nicolas Heatpik,” the blonde boy introduced, standing up.

“The name’s Shin! Nice to meet you!” he held out his hand for a shake.

“Likewise,” he received Shin’s greeting of shaking hands and, “Well then, I’ll be off now. Sorry again for the trouble!” he walked away.

After waving goodbye until he was sure Nicolas was well behind the crowd, “Dude, you really should stop doing that,” Shin told Diavolo.

“Leave it be. I don’t want people thinking we’re a bunch of spoilt kids who needs help picking up a few papers. Moreover, just three of them. If he was being generous in wanting to help, you should’ve been nice and declined, you lazy musclebrain.”

“Even so…” Shin scratched his head.

“That person...was strong,” said Yukio.

The two caught off guard by the sudden intervening of the quiet Yukio replied with, “Hm?”

“But not stronger than Diavolo, I think,” he continued.

“I appreciate the compliment, but on what basis are you saying that, Yukio?”

“Well, at first I thought it was just my imagination but, I don’t see anybody here as strong as you two really. Till now, only Hannah and Nicolas were the only exceptions.”

“Hey, are you saying that guy was weaker than Diav, but stronger than me, Yu?” Shin said irritated a little.

“Basically, yes. But, today you too seem completely different. Although it has died down a lot now, I was honestly surprised when you returned with Hannah back then.”

Seeing the two with their still confused looks, Yukio continued, “I’ve never said this before but, I can see this...energy like thing enveloping the people I come across. Normally, when you train, you did get stronger, but today, you made an extra leap. At first I thought Diavolo was the only special one, but now that you too have that energy around you, I’d say you’ve unlocked a completely new stage.”

In that instant, Diavolo opened his eyes wide. Without uttering a single word, he stood right in front of Shin and grabbed him by shoulders.

“What? What is it?” asked the creeped out Shin. Diavolo didn’t reply and simply stared intently into his face. “Dude, let go! You’re creeping me out!” Focusing for a few more seconds, he noticed a very faint white mist flowing around Shin’s body.

Having confirmed this, he let go and took a step back with a completely dumbfounded face, “He’s right… Just where did you learn this, Shin?” he asked.

“What do you mean? I have absolutely no idea what you’ve been talking about till now! What energy?” he asked in a completely clueless manner.

He was telling the truth. They’ve been together for so long and the two, especially Diavolo, was sure that he wasn’t lying. Shin genuinely didn’t know what was going on. Yet still, he seemed to have used this energy quite recently even if he hadn’t done it once back home.

But Diavolo just had to know. After all, he was the only one among the three, perhaps even in the whole island, who could use it. He had discovered it shortly after the disastrous incident five years ago. He initially thought there was something wrong with him, but after a few tests he did on his own, he concluded that this was none other than his own powers.

He wanted to ask somebody about it, but after a little investigation, he found that nobody else seemed to be using anything like this strange power. Since he was not originally a resident of the island, he assumed that maybe the world outside has more people like him. He was different from everybody in the island, so he shut himself up and decided not to talk to anyone about it. He experimented on it more on his own, until he could no longer find any further advancements.

He assumed that Shin, a birth resident of Cosmic, was fated to never use the power. That was why, when he saw him carrying that aura, it really astonished him. More questions popped up than answers and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

So he asked, “But Shin, well how do I put this? Have you recently experienced a point where you suddenly got a burst of—”

*Ding-dong* 【Attention everyone! It is 7:45 am. Please finish all your necessary work and return to your respective classes! I repeat! Please return to your respective classes!】 *ding-dong*

“Oh, this is bad! Save it for later, guys! We really need to go!” Shin said as he ran to the booth. The other two had no other choice but to follow along.

“So how did it go?” asked Claude.

“Sorry…” Nicolas apologized with a disappointed look.

“Hah! See, what did I tell ya, Bro! He’s no good! You should’ve let me hand—”

“Shut up! Let him speak!” he ordered and turned to Nicolas, “Tell me what happened. It’s very rare of you to fail in this task, Nic.”

“Yes, of course!” and he explained everything.

“I see…” Claude said sitting with a sly thinking pose, “We’ll just have to wait and see. If they’re in Sector-A, then there’s nothing we can do, although I highly doubt that. But if they’re in Sector-B, then we can take care of them there.”

It was slightly past 8am. After a few roundabout turns in a large school building, the trio finally arrived at their classroom. A total of 30 seats, 5 columns and 6 rows filled the room. The door was on the rear end and the rear field could be seen through the array of windows on the other side of the entrance.

The teacher wasn't here yet, and everybody else was chatting amongst their own respective groups. The three boys scanned the room for any familiar faces, or perhaps some empty seats, when suddenly…

“Well, well, well! Look what the cat dragged in! Seems like I get to have my fun after all! Bro, you don't mind, do you?” said a bald young man cracking his knuckles.

“Do as you please,” replied a bleached haired boy, leaning unenthusiastically against his chair.

The three simply stood there confused as to what the commotion was about.

“Alright fags! I'm about to chew you up and spit you out! Get ready!”

“Uh, do we know you?” asked Shin.

“That line actually makes him sound gay, though,” thought Yukio, smiling.

“Yo, Shin!” Nicolas greeted in a cheery tone.

“Ah, Nicolas! You're here too! This is so—”

“Shut your trap, insect! Nobody messes with us and you're going to find out the hard way!”

“Huh?”

By now, the whole class had stopped whatever they were doing and looked at the spectacle. Diavolo glanced around as he heard the side comments “Oh, no!” “Here we go again.” “Are they transfer students?” “I feel sorry for them…” and the like.

This definitely didn't look good for the trio. Something as simple as school life was much different here than it was back home. Who knows which wrong move could get them blacklisted, or worse, expelled.

“Yukio…” Diavolo whispered. Yukio responded by directing his gaze at him. “I have a mountain of questions to ask you about your energy perception and what not, but I'll leave them for another day. Right now, tell me, how would we fare against them?”

“Well, like I said before, if it's the blonde one, you can defeat him. But I suppose the bald one is more or less the same as you. If you get serious, you could perhaps beat him. However, among everyone here, the strongest one would be…” and he turned his gaze to Claude, “the one with the piercings over there. Even if you went all out, you probably wouldn't reach his level right now. Regardless of who wins, the classroom wouldn't definitely remain in one piece.”

Yukio was the type of person who had nothing to hide. He would speak his mind whenever he wished, having absolutely no ill will behind them. A simple and straightforward guy. But it was the first time that his straightforward attitude annoyed Diavolo a little.

“Although, it doesn't seem like he's quite interested in us all that much. Maybe he's using his underlings to test us or something before he decides. You might need a miracle to reason with him… for now at least.”

Diavolo gulped down a lump of saliva as he thought of what he could do. Even if he hated the idea that he was weaker than someone here, he trusted Yukio’s judgements.

“Hey, what are you two whispering about?!” demanded Garth.

“Let me handle this,” whispered Diavolo to Shin as he placed his hand on his shoulder, “Hey, you!” he addressed Claude.

A few seconds of a silent stare-off, Claude finally broke the silence, “What?”

“You bastard! How dare you address Bro so casually! Everyone in here must always look down and show respect when talking to him!”

Ignoring the loudmouth musclehead, Diavolo continued, “I'm pretty sure you're aware of the outcome if a brawl started off, aren't you? And I bet you wouldn't want that to happen either.”

“Oh? What makes you say that?”

“I've been watching you for a while, and it didn't seem like you wouldn't care if the classroom was turned upside down. So then, what would you do?”

In any school, complete vandalism would not be spared. Taking Yukio’s judgment into account, Diavolo assumed that, if Claude was the top dog of the school, even he wouldn't go unpunished if he purposely caused trouble with excessive collateral damage.

“Hehe, you got me there. I guess you're not like the others. Maybe we think alike…”

“And?”

“And, I was thinking of shifting the commotion to the roof.”

“Denied.”

“Hm? And why is that?”

“Because I don't think any of us wants our uniforms to get dirty before we introduce ourselves, do we?”

“Pfft! Kuhehehehehe! Oh, you're quite the comedian I see. Well then, what do you suggest?”

“A simple old fashioned arm wrestling challenge. You and me, how about it?”

“Hehe, don't push your luck,” he repulsed causing Diavolo to get angry, “You're years too early to be facing me. Garth here, should be enough to beat you lot,” he unenthusiastically turned away, “I don't even think you deserve to know my name yet.”

“Kek! You really got told off, huh. Now let's pick up where we left off!” said the tan, bald, muscular, tattooed Garth.

“Tch! Shin, you handle him.”

“Hey, you're talking as if I'm your minion or something.”

Diavolo was just pissed. He couldn't get the outcome he hoped for. He wanted both a challenge and not to cause trouble on the first day. He was hoping he could use a non destructive method, like arm wrestling, and draw out a match until it was time for teachers to appear.

He already got that wish, but his wish for a challenge was thrown out the window. Didn't want to hold out on a match if it wasn't against the strongest. Even if he knew the chances of him succeeding to do so would be slim, he still wanted a shot.

“You got a problem with that?!” he growled.

“Whoa, easy there! Learn to take stuff lightly, man!” Shin said as he started to approach Garth, “Well I was going to intervene anyway if your conversation lasted any longer. I was beginning to fall asleep,” he cracked his knuckles, “Shall we begin, then?”

“The tall guy, huh. Fine by me. You look promising.”

And so it was decided. Shin versus Garth on a one on one, best of three, arm wrestling challenge. The students mumbled as they talked about who could win and lose.

They sat facing each other on opposite sides of a desk. They readied their arms and grasped at each other's palms.

“Just so you know, you have no idea who you're up against,” taunted the confident Garth.

“Neither do you, my friend,” Shin replied.

A fellow classmate with spectacles announced, “Ready? 3...2...1…begi—” *thump* It was over in an instant.

“Eh?” everybody reacted with a poker face.

“Oh boy, I was afraid this would happen,” muttered and sighed Diavolo.

“Ehehe… bad habits die hard, right?” Shin said awkwardly scratching his head. He had a habit of going easy on the first round of challenges if he was ever presented with more than one chance to win. Basically, testing his opponent. Although this time, it worked against him.

Claude simply sighed without a word and placed his palm on his face.

Round 2. They readied their arms. The two staring at each other’s faces with hot-blooded eyes. “Sorry for that. This time, I won’t hold back,” said Shin faintly.

“Don’t disappoint me, then,” replied Garth.

“Ready! 3……2……1……begin!!”

And it did! The two starting off with seemingly, a lot of force. One could see just how hard they were trying. They were practically at a stalemate. As they put more and more force, their hands trembled due to the strain.

“Hehe. He’s good,” thought Garth. But with Garth’s focus partly lost, Shin tried giving all of his body force into one last push!

The crowd got excited and huddled closer...and before they knew it, *BAM* Shin won!!! The crowd went “AAAWWW MAAANN!!! He did it! He actually beat Garth! THE Garth!” and there was a round of applause.

“How *huff* do you like that?” Shin said panting.

“Not bad. *huff* But I’m afraid it’s my turn to go all out this time,” replied Garth, panting and wiping a bit of sweat off his face.

It was 1 to 1, a draw so far. But of course, it wasn’t over yet. At last came Round 3! They readied themselves.

“Hey, let’s raise the stakes a bit for this round, okay? Let’s say the one who loses…” and then with an evil accent, Garth said, “…leaves the school…”

However, Shin, unwavered by Garth’s words, replied, “Oh, you seem very confident. Let’s see you back them up!”

“3……2……1……and begin!!!”

*hum* Everyone around felt a faint vibration in the air, as the two opponents gave all their strength into their arm at once. The excited crowd instinctively opened their eyes wide, slowly, to see the outcome of this, perhaps, once in a lifetime showdown. The people at the back were hopping and jumping to get glimpses of all this.

Their hands once again trembled due to the pressure they were exerting. But for some reason, this time, neither hand was even budging an inch. However, if one looked closely enough, which Diavolo was doing, one would see that Shin was on the losing side.

He was giving his all, his face turning red as if he was putting more strength than his body could even provide! On the other hand, Garth was barely even losing a sweat. Weird enough, he wasn’t even squinting his face like the previous round, yet Shin was hanging on an edge.

“What’s wrong? What happened to all that brimming confidence you showed back then?” he said with a smirk on his face.

“Shut up!” was what all Shin could say. After all, Shin was dumbfounded. Because the match where he was giving his all, was simply a match where Garth was holding back. Realising this, frustration once again took ahold of him.

“Is this really happening again? Even my second match is about to end with a loss? Am I really that pathetic?”

Shin grit his teeth. This was not going to be a mere loss. He just accepted a deal where he must drop out if he loses. His high and mighty act was totally unnecessary, was what he thought. He regretted his decision.

“This is boring. It’s about time I finish this,” Garth said yawning and effortlessly, but slowly, began to push Shin’s arm down.

Meanwhile, Diavolo was observing closely at the struggle. He fixed his vision on their arms and focused…focused. And he saw it, “It’s just as Yukio said. He too, uses that energy…”

Claude, who was observing both Diavolo and the face-off, thought, “He sees it too…”

The crowd was going wild! As Shin was about to lose, they went, “SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!...” Only about 40 degrees remained! 30 degrees! 20! 15!—

“HEY! What’s going on here!!” shouted a feminine voice.

To the trio’s surprise, all other students instantly became quiet and ran back to their seats in an organized fashion. The match immediately stopped.

Of course, it was understandable. Although it was earlier than expected, a teacher just had to enter and ruin the climax. Unlike the safely standing two, Shin let off a sigh of relief.

Looking towards the door however, what they saw was completely different, leaving a surprised look on their faces. After all, this wasn’t like the charming and dignified voice they were familiar with. This tone had a much stricter, and slightly scary, essence to it.

Regardless, why had all the students reacted in such a way to her voice was unknown. Although from a powerful family, it seemed strange to respond like a military schedule to her presence. Yes, the source was not a teacher of authority, but Hannah C. Rose.