Chapter Four- Magic

Jaden saw stares and heard whispers as he headed into the school the next day. He smiled as he passed. He felt no embarrassment as he suspected; indeed he felt pride in standing out from everyone. He was different and should stand out. He saw Mindy and Jasmine, their eyes locked on his ears. He made both twitch and heard gasps and small squeals from both of them and grinned at it. School was suddenly more interesting now that he was half-fox visually.

"Alexis, Jaden is cuter than I thought he'd be with fox ears," Mindy sighed as the brunette headed inside.

"I agree," Jasmine added. "You still interested in him?"

"Of course," Alexis said. "But don't you dare say anything about that."

"Our lips are still sealed."

Chazz followed his fellow students inside, an impassive look on his face as he focused on Jaden. The brunette seemed to be enjoying all the attention and Chazz felt his upper lip curl into a sneer. He hadn't been present when Jaden first revealed his ears as he had sulked in his room over being cheated out of his return to Obelisk. His PDA chimed with Crowler's school wide message and read it, so he wasn't shocked when Jaden entered the cafeteria for dinner. He had stared like the others, but noticed that Jaden didn't seemed bothered by any of them. He caught up with Jaden as they stopped outside of Spells class.

Jaden turned and flashed his trademark grin. "Morning, Chazz!"

Chazz huffed as he stepped closer to the half-fox, eyeing the ears intently. They were furry with red fur but the tips were black. They looked soft and he was visited by an urge to feel them.

"You can touch them if you want," Jaden said as if reading Chazz's mind.

Chazz stepped back. "As if," he scoffed. "Just making sure they're real."

"Oh, they're really all right," Jaden confirmed as they entered the room. He sat between Syrus and Alexis, pleased with all the attention he was getting. It was nice to be looked at for something other than his jacket color, grades, or dueling skills, the latter not such a bad thing. He sat there bored with the teacher's lecture and amused himself by levitating his pencil a little off the surface. He raised and lowered it before putting it in his hand. He smiled slightly. That's one small thing. Two more times before stopping for the day.

Syrus saw Jaden levitate his pencil before holding it and twiddling it. it was clear that, despite his ears and magic, Jaden's academic interest was still the same. He, himself, had felt the beginnings of wanting to actually learn and rightfully earn his place in Obelisk Blue next year. The year had just started and he was ready to learn and make his brother proud of him.

Jaden yawned as they headed back to Slifer for lunch. The novelty of the stares had worn off and school was back to being boring. He noticed that people had continued to stare after the initial looks and he thought he saw some girls admiring his ears. Some people had come up to him to feel or scratch behind his ears. He loved having them scratched, particularly if he had been about the scratch due to an itch.

He looked at his lunch and felt like something else, like more fish and bigger than what he usually got. Hmm, could I change my food? This might eat up my two remaining chances, but I gotta know what I can really do. He focused on his fish and imagined the size he'd like them to be; it paid off as the fish changed size. He focused on his soup and the bowl filled with small fish like what he previously had. He felt a bit dizzy afterwards, but pushed it aside as he dug into his lunch, delighted in being able to change it. I might be able to eventually change Slifer's meal choices once I'm stronger. No more lousy meals for Slifer while I'm here.

"In the mood for fish huh, Ja?" Syrus asked as they headed back to school.

"Sure did and it was delicious."

"Of course it was," Bastion spoke up as he fell into step beside them as they passed Ra. "A fox's favorite food is fish as well as nuts, berries, and insects."

Jaden made a disgusted face. "No way am I eating bugs."

"No kidding," Syrus put in. "So Ja, gonna do the same thing with dinner tonight?"

"Probably not. I think I've already used up my three magic uses for today."

"You could still try,' Bastion pointed out. "Magic is like dueling: The more you use it, the stronger it will get and not require as much energy."

"Yeah," Jaden said slowly. "It is like dueling. I seem to improve with each duel I play."

Syrus nodded, mind racing. He needed to duel more often so he could improve and win more often. I shouldn't be afraid to lose as I can take what I learned from losing to improve my skills.

The afternoon passed in a slow drag for Jaden. He felt like he had too much energy to sit still and expended some of it by increasing the size of objects that wouldn't attract too much attention. He still had extra energy when classes ended for the day and he mentioned it to his friends. "I need something to get rid of it."

"Offer to change the dorm's dinner tonight," Syrus suggested. "Ask what they'd like and pick one. I'd personally would like some curry."

"Having steak instead of fish would be enough for me," Hassleberry said.

The idea of using his magic to give his dorm mates a better dinner for once appealed to him and spent the rest of the afternoon explaining his magic and polling what they'd like for dinner. He received not only dinner ideas but wistful longing for ice cream. He slipped into Slifer's cafeteria and turned the fish into steak, the most popular poll item but did keep some fish for himself. He further used his magic to conjure ice cream in the freezer. He staggered, slightly dizzy, as he left and met up with his roommates.

"You okay?" Syrus asked, seeing Jaden had a hand to his temple.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy. Well, there's steak for dinner and ice cream for dessert."

"You made ice cream out of thin air?" Hassleberry gasped as Jaden sat on his bunk.

"Uh-huh. I think that's why I'm dizzy. I never made something out of nothing before."

Dinner that night was an appreciative affair. Students cheered and thanked Jaden for the steak. He, in turn, accepted their thanks and pointed out that he would need to recover his powers for a little bit.

"Of course," one student called. "But maybe tartar sauce or something for our usual food."

Jaden grinned at that. "I think I can do that."

The Slifer dorm gave big cheers when they found out about the ice cream. Each student got a dish of vanilla or chocolate ice cream and there was much talking and smiles all around. Jaden beamed at the happy faces and wanted to keep making them happy. But there's only so much I can do right now as my magic is still new. I know there are some things I can't do. I can't improve their dueling skills or conjure up cards. I can't do either for myself and I'm fine with that.

"Ah," Syrus sighed as he laid flat on his bed. "Ja that was the best dinner we've ever had at Slifer."

"I'll say," Hassleberry put in.

"Do you plan to make condiments for our usual meals?"

"Yeah. I was thinking tartar sauce and soy sauce."

"Mm. Sounds great," Syrus said.

"Sure does," Hassleberry agreed. "But are you sure you can manage it?"

"I believe so. Bastion said magic is like dueling. It gets stronger the more I use it."

"Makes sense." Hassleberry stretched out on his bed and drifted off to sleep, happy that he hadn't pranked and been pranked in turn. Having a half-fox for a friend is pretty cool, especially with what he can do.