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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 3: It's like High-School (Without Musical)! (3)

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius (FFN)

The start of these beginning days at Prism Uni proved to be fairly normal, considering the new disposition I had to get accustomed to.

While Miles was still fairly eccentric with his 'main priority' when people were around, he surprised me when he turned into someone more manageable to deal with once we were away from public sight. When I first took notice of this unexpected mood swing, I decided to inquire about while we were setting up the content of our bags in the proper placements within the room.

The answer was surprising, but I could see some logic behind this behavioral stunt.

The Cat Prime was 'flexing' this confident posture to gain the attention of the young women that were studying there, maybe even gain some date out of it since 'chicks dig confident guys'. This wasn't a bad idea, as I have heard of former classmates getting into a relationship by appearing to be confident in various instances where their fiances were around. But perhaps he was taking this piece of advice a tad bit in the wrong direction, as the only thing that his attitude would spell out to others is that he was terribly arrogant and quite vainglorious.

Of course this wasn't the case, as the guy had been very friendly and not as rude as his giddiness would suggest. However, one view was the truth of what a person truly was, and another was the public image that other people created from these interactions and sights. And I couldn't blame him for being this fascinated by the girls here in this college. There were more than just a couple that were capable of making a poor guy head over heels for them with how gorgeous and sexy they all looked.

We ended up striking a conversation with Shin as well, doing so while immersed in concluding the 'preparations' for our temporary home for a year or two. The White Tiger Prime proved to be very meticulous in pointing out that it was best for the three of us to try and get a flat before the end of our second year here, mostly because of the issue presented by the curfew.

If we were to try and find a part-time job during our stay here at Prism, there was a high chance that it would be mandatory to apply for the late shifts because of the tight schedule pushed by the school week for the daytime.

It was a gloomy realization that I had just barely thought about since my mind had been mostly fixed over the importance of making a good appearance for the first few days. Yet I wasn't incredibly bothered by the instance for some good reasons.

I had some general plans to finish a large number of the first-years subjects before the end of the year, enough to free my workload enough to keep up with any job prospect that could happen by my second year at the Uni.

With I moved out of California, I deprived of the opportunity of keeping my previous job as a junior technician at a supermarkets close to home. It had been a temporary situation anyway, but now I was deprived of increasing my currently-limited amount of money at my disposal.

So while I could manage to handle my savings for a full year, there was a legitimate worry in the form of securing some job because of the fact that this was Prism.

The city was blossoming with new activities and openings in old ones, but those were swarmed by newly-qualified Primes that were patiently waiting to get in some well-paid position that best represented their qualifications.

So yes, it was going to be quite the tough situation to face about in the next year, yet I was confident enough that some work would still pop up for me to take and get some coin out of it in the long-term planning. Still, my conversation with Miles and Shin allowed me to learn more about them.

The former stated that he had been living in one of the minor cities near Prism ever since he could walk, and that this wasn't the first time he had been in the capital.

The latter provided some fascinating details about where he came from.

Shin was born in a traditional Japanese household where his father was usually busy going oversea for business trips, leaving him and his younger sister to live under the care of their mother.

He was also particularly careful with his words while he was mentioning both of his parents.

Not only did the White Tiger Prime blatantly ignore some of the questions about what kinds of people they were, he was also swift in shifting the conversation to the fact that he had known Hope for several years now. This was because her parents were friends with his.

The youngest of the trio was also very reserved when describing the 'uneasy terms' he had to leave his home with for the sake of having a chance to study there instead of taking in the duties of heir to the family.

But what actually surprised me was the fact that there was actually a family of Primes that lived by the rules of ancient Japan.

Many traditions from the older Earth had gone mostly extinct after the conclusion of the War and it was odd that someone would stick by those life's laws, especially if the people in question were Primes.

Yet the most curious fact was about why Shin was so nervous about giving out even a little more about his family, almost making it appear that some unpleasant predicament had happened before he had left for Prism.

In the end, I didn't press him for more info about this as I felt that would have been quite the dumb move from my part to try with someone I had been friends with after just so little time.

After we were done with preparing our room and after everything in our bags had been carefully put in the proper sections of the place, we decided to meet up with Hope to spend lunch with her.

It would be an understatement to say how relieved she looked when she spotted us entering the little restaurant we had agreed to go for lunch & dinner. She almost rushed over just to greet us.

A surprising attitude from what I had seen being a fairly-shy young woman with people she wasn't that much attached to, but one that was easily motivated once she explained what had happened after we had left for our rooms.

Her little narration shed some light over how she had spent her time the moment she had reached her dorm room, her first objective being fixing her bed and placing her own things in her side of the place.

The other girl that had been picked to share the room, a Shark Prime, had merely left the room without trying to fix anything about her own side, leaving these chores to a later date instead of freeing herself up of this burden early on.

Silence and boredom had weighed a lot on the Gazelle Prime's head as the awkward development had left her pretty much lonely while she had gone through her tasks, leaving her a little disappointed about whom was going to be her roommate.

Thus, when Shin called her to mention the fact that we were planning to share lunch and dinner together as a group, Hope had been quick to accept the proposal and spend some time with us.

I was also given a partial glimpse of the dark-haired girl's life during this opportunity as she partially mentioned how her sister would have loved how the meat was served in the restaurant. She was as reserved as Shin was with her family, if not worse as she kept the topic of her discussions stuck to the present instead of bringing up other details about her own background.

Once both events were concluded, we decided to make our way back to Uni and straight to our respective rooms to catch some early rest for the big day that waited for us. Sleep came quickly and the next morning I woke up with quite the insufferable development to deal with.

I recall opening my eyes to this partially-familiar ceiling of the dorm room. The recollection of events that occurred slowly entered my mind, but I still recalled fast enough that I wasn't alone anymore.

Miles and Shin were still sleeping as it was still fairly early in the morning and…

Did I just end up getting up way too early?

Yesterday I had overslept, and now I had woken up four hours before lessons started?

I held back from groaning at the infuriating circumstance, knowing how futile it would have been to waste time getting annoyed by this development. Picking up the uniform that had been tailored to best fit my sizes, I walked inside the single bathroom and closed the door behind me.

I let a sigh leave my lips before I went through the usual routine I was most accustomed with.

The cleanup process took me about twenty minutes of serious attention, my thoughts diverted away for the period of time as I carefully prepared myself for what was going to be one of the more important days for my stay here at school.

First impressions were still something that mattered a lot for many teachers and, while many would deny this, I wasn't going to make a poor figure of myself since I was the only human in this University.

Once I was done with the bathroom break, I walked outside with my folded Pjs under my arm and I quickly noticed that Shin was already sitting on his bed, clearly awake. There was still some sleepiness on his face, yet I could distinctly see that there was also some shock at the sight of me coming out of the bathroom.

"You're... already awake?" He asked with a hint of confusion.

I shrugged at his surprised query, knowing well myself that it was a true surprise.

"I just woke up early today," I replied curtly, unwilling to think that I somehow managed to get up before the "Also, I'm already done with the bathroom."

The boy gave a solid nod at my response, glad that I had vacated the place as he slowly got up from his own bed to get his own uniform, smiling a little before closing the door behind himself once he was inside the bathroom.

I turned my attention to the slowly-awakening Miles, approaching him quietly as he started to blink silently at the ceiling.

"Morning."

The Cat Prime glanced to give me a look, staring at me for a long time before displaying a hint of panic on his face.

"Please, tell me that I didn't wake up late-"

"You didn't," I interrupted with a quiet hum, surprised by this misunderstanding. "It's barely 6 and… Shin got inside the bathroom a little while ago."

He eased his posture a little, relief washing upon his face.

"Oh, if that's the case-" The Cat Prime tensed up again and his golden eyes were once more staring at me, this time in shock. "Wait, if it's that early, when you did get up to get yourself ready?"

I frowned. "I… woke up half an hour ago?"

"What? But then how did you deal with the fur and- Oh right."

Miles was so close to face palm as I grinned at his little mistake he had been so close to go with.

"Funny to consider that I don't have to deal with that much maintenance," I smugly mused, enjoying a little the faux-glare coming from him.

"Oh, shut up," He replied smartly before getting up from his bed. "Ladies love finding a well-cared fur and good hair in their possible future boyfriend."

"Well, not everyone can be as handsome as you are, I suppose," I mirthfully 'agreed' to him, causing him to scoff in mock-irritation.

"By the way, why do we need to wake up this early?" The Cat Prime inquired with some true irritation over the subject. "While I understand that this is the first day, I don't see how waking up three hours before lessons can't help us with-"

"The place is massive," I interjected with a serious sigh. "And the timetables don't have much info on how to get in the right classrooms for the lectures."

He frowned at this. "Wait, I remember you saying something about reading multiple times the map of the Uni-"

"As I said, this place is massive and we were surely going to deal with some big crowds if we decided to wake up later than now," I pressed on with some insistence. "Plus, we might not share together all the classes."

Before Miles could have commented about this, another voice piped in the discussion.

"I know that Hope has to deal with Maths for the first two hours," Shin intervened as he left the bathroom in that very moment, catching both me and the Cat Prime by surprise at how quick he had been with his routine. "While Frankie and I have 'Last Age of Old Earth.'"

…

"How did you get clean so quickly?" Miles asked loudly, eyes wide open in unexpected shock. "Y-you fur and everything you- you are clean but-"

The White Tiger Prime sported a sheepish expression before nodding back at us. "I-It's a secret."

The fellow Prime seemed ready to pressure more about the subject, clearly interested in the mysterious way the younger student had managed to be this fast with his routine, but I decided to poke at his shoulder.

"You can ask him later," I muttered to Miles, the young man glancing at me quizzically and a little craze-looking by the odd circumstance itself. "You should probably focus on quickly get done with the bathroom stuff and-"

"Yeah, yeah..." The Cat Prime huffed at the fact he couldn't get any answer from that. "But you better tell me how the heck you pulled that one, Shin!"

The door slammed closed, leaving a confused Shin to turn his attention back to me.

"W-Why is he so concerned about-"

"'Ladies love well-cared fur and hair in their future boyfriends'," I quoted Miles before sighing. "He isn't angry or anything, just shocked."

The blond nodded slowly at my response, his green eyes turning to the door with still some uncertainty.

"Do you think that… I'm too young to stay here?" He asked as he glanced back at me. "I know that I'm short and a little younger but-"

"You are doing fine, Shin," I interrupted with a kind smile. "I understand you are a little nervous about being belittled, but I promise you that neither Miles nor I think less about you being a little more younger than us."

A genuine smile appeared on his face and Shin nodded again. "I- I see, thank you."

"You are welcome."

~Change of POV~

A few hours later…

The classroom was almost filled to the brim with old and new students of the various years, everyone having already taken their seats in the various seats by the benches available for them to occupy.

They all looked to be fairly at ease with the situation, if not a little nervous over the fact that this was the first lesson for everyone here at Prism Uni. Most of them were also unaware that the professor that was supposed to be hosting this first lesson was one of the most dreaded teachers in the entire University.

All except a small group that included a certain Tobias 'Toby' Wainwright.

One of the most famous football players in the school, the young man had dark-red hair and vibrant yellow fur; his eyes were a careful green, tempered by years of training, studying and dealing with the shenanigans at school.

The Lion Prime had been facing this topic for two long years now, and it was the only 'First-Year' subject that he hadn't passed yet. The main obstacle was the fact that the teacher himself was incredibly pretentious from his students.

He always demanded double over the limits everyone had, and these would usually see a lot of his students either failing or dropping the subject entirely.

Toby had yet to surrender to the seemingly unreachable requirements that the man responsible for this class had set for everyone to try and achieve, almost dared by the bored stare on the teacher's face to keep going until the very end.

Professor Aken was one of the scariest Primes the young man had ever encountered, truly an imposing figure that had the haunting pair of yellow eyes. With shoulder-length dark hair that mixed well with his beard, the man was rarely approached by any of his students and for good reasons too.

His background was shrouded in utter mystery, no one among the students knew much about this unknown character. The only thing that was sure about this man was that he was incredibly aggressive in his teaching and no lessons was spared by the fact he would target someone to show his impartial capacity as a professor here at Prism.

So when the chattering all around him came to a halt in a mere instant, Toby knew that he had finally arrived. With a calm but guarded pace, Professor Aken proceeded to reach for his desk while giving a silent glance all over the classroom before setting his sight right to a specific spot among the benches.

The Lion Prime carefully trailed the stare back to the man's target, his own attention directed at the lone human that had joined the school just the day before and was currently sitting beside a young-looking White Tiger Prime.

Frankie Parker was quite an anomaly compared to the usual first-year students. Someone that has already caught the attention of the group of people Toby was usually hanging with by just existing within the circumstances that led him here to study of all places.

Davin had been just barely surprised by this development as he didn't care much about this kind of situations, yet he had shown some undeniable interest in seeing what the human was capable of doing and what kind of person he truly was.

Many questions were partially answered by a quick search made by Tiare on her own initiative, thanks to her special info-gathering means. The Feline Prime had been quick to delve over what was publicly-known about the newest addition to Prism Uni with the help provided by her Nano-Zell Spirit, Era.

Then, once she had gotten enough to file a little report, she had been earnest to describe to the rest of the group the various important details that she had found about this curious individual. A young man that hailed from California, Frankie was best known for having won two Surf competitions at the age of 14 and 16.

There were also some recommendations from old teachers from his former highschool about his 'impeccable' knowledge over advanced informatics and logical analysis that were cemented by the digital and physical presence of some official certifications that offered much more details over his prowess he had over both subjects.

Sadly, there was no correlation about Frankie with football and very little about a little effort in getting to play some soccer, which made him quite difficult to see as a possible candidate for their team.

Tiare was also deterred from pursuing a deeper approach over the study about this young man, growing disinterested about the human after finding out that there was nothing about him having any minimal grasp over the topic of Nano-Zell. Which was a quick turn-off for the passionate Nano-Zell researcher as she valued 'true potential' by that specific branch of technology.

The other members of the group showed little curiosity over the young man and so the matter was left forgotten…

Until now.

"Good morning," Professor Aken said with his usual silky voice, drawing a quiet pause to let his first words sink in everyone's mind. "And welcome to the first lecture of this year. A warm welcome to the students that have been studying for so long in my class-"

His yellow eyes returned to glance at the human, the young man shivering in response at the attention he was receiving from those haunting orbs.

"And those that are joining us starting today."

Once again, a pause ensued at that comment and it left many perplexed over the ominous scenario built by the teacher's presence and simple words of 'introduction' to his class. It was what truly made the mysterious man stand out the most among the other teachers, despite the roster of quirkier staff member that were known to everyone at the school.

"The subject that I will host with various lessons, 'Last Age of Old Earth', is the sublimation of the final years of the Galaxy-wide conflict that saw Old Earth becoming the main battleground for the forces of evil facing against the brave group forged by Primes and… Humans," The professor continued smoothly, glancing once again around. "This isn't meant to be considered an 'easy' subject that anyone can pass without giving their best, as I take major concern in preparing my students to the arduous tasks of preserving the memories of those that are no longer here to tell their tales."

It was the same as every year, just a handful of words changing from his usual speech and yet, somehow, it seemed to carry the same weight and importance as it did the first time Toby had heard about this. A strangely mesmerizing explanation that would snare everyone's attention to this creepy Prime's words and thoughts.

"But this year we are also blessed with a unique development that will bring up even more opportunities to retain the beauty and the burden of history itself," The man switched his tone to one of partial intrigue, showing some rare emotion which got many of his older students to frown upon. "Something that I find quite fascinating and worth exploring."

He stood up from his chair, glancing directly at the human for the third time since he had entered the classroom.

"Mr. Parker, can you please stand up?"

It sounded like a question, but the pressing tone was enough to make it clear that it was a demand.

Frankie gulped nervously, but complied to the request as he slowly proceeded to stand up.

"Please, come closer to my desk."

Once again, there was no room to refuse the teacher, and the human made his way down the staircase to the side that led right in front of the teacher's desk. It was a morbid scene to look at.

There was a lack of any major sounds as only the whispering of some distant students managed to slightly distort the silence reigning over the humongous room, leaving the predicament to unravel with such a… unnerving pace. Finally, the human was standing in front of the desk, the teacher nodding as he resumed his speech.

"Mr. Parker, your presence here is quite important to define the context of what will be the general theme of these lessons, especially since your role here will give foundation to the essential bond between Primekind and Humanity," Professor Aken pointed out. "In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but one of your ancestors fought in one of the major battles back during the final battle for Earth, right?"

So this was just because one of the young man's ancestors had fought in that old and mostly forgotten war? But… why?

Why would someone like him be interested in something like that?

Still, the human nodded while trying to keep his nervousness down to a manageable level over the sudden proximity with the intimidating Prime.

"Y-Yes, sir."

There was no quick follow up after that response, the teacher merely taking a seat back to his chair as he glanced thoughtfully at the first-year student.

"Can you please state his name and what made him unique compared to many others?"

Frankie frowned at the two queries in that sentence, but after gulping again he proceeded to answer those.

"He was… Sergeant Edward J. Parker and..." The young man stopped for a moment to ponder well before continuing with his reply. "And I think it was because of his nickname, the 'Grim Maverick'."

Toby had to blink twice before accepting the final bit of that answer, surprised by the unexpected nickname given to someone that was somehow… important.

Once again, there was no clue in their interactions that offered some explanation to what was going on. This looked to be the yearly surprise test that the teacher was known to give to an unsuspecting student, but there was none of the infamous pressure that he would exert against his targets. In fact, there was just something softer, lenient, about the manners the man was using in that specific scene.

"Mr. Parker, while I will forgive you this slight as this is your first day and I'm subjecting you to quite the non-negligible pressure by having you in front of your peers' attention, I will tell you the first rule that my students should know about my class," Professor Aken paused as he glanced to the rest of the classroom. "There is no 'I think' or 'I suppose'. You either know what you are talking about, or you don't. This is the only warning you will get, and any situation of this kind will be reprimanded with a proper grade."

…

"But yes, Mr. Parker, you are indeed correct in saying that Edward J. Parker's nickname had something to do with the importance behind his role during the war, but you are failing to bring up the reason behind such a dreadful nickname," The man continued with a calmer voice. "Of all humans fighting together with Primes, there were just very few that were bestowed with the glorious honor and draining hardship of supporting the Crests in every battle."

Everyone was already starting to connect the dots of the clues dispensed so suddenly by the teacher, the Lion Prime having to ponder deeply about what was happening before drawing his own conclusion over the linear explanation. It seemed like not even Frankie had been aware of the topic itself, the human sporting some surprise at what was slowly unfolding before the class.

"The 'Grim Maverick' was one of the soldiers that fought under the command of the Crest of Death, a rare human among the loyal group of warriors pledging their lives to the holder of such a dangerous power," He finally revealed with quite the fascinated tone before turning his stare back at the rest of the classroom. "And this is why Mr. Parker's presence brings up the main theme of this subject. The never-ending question about the origins of everything and everyone, and how our presence came to exist like it is right now."

Professor Aken stood up from his seat and approached the blackboard behind his desk, stopping just a moment from writing into it to glance at the young man.

"Mr. Parker, you may return to your seat and… please take notice that your intervention is considered appreciated for the topic of our first lesson," The teacher said, stopping from continuing his speech so that Frankie could have returned back to his seat. "Which will be about the first contact and the outbreak of the war upon Earth, the Battle for Lyon."

From there the true lecture began and everyone started to take notes over the next words coming out of the mysterious professor's lips, even the human and the White Tiger Prime beside him. Yet Toby restrained himself from actually giving too much attention at the lesson as the shock born from what had just happened was there to keep him distracted with what the two new students were doing.

Not only did the young man avoid facing the usual brutality that the teacher was known to display before new students, but he also looked far calmer than any other students that had faced the same instance as his.

The Lion Prime was impressed, confused but, most of all, fascinated by what had just happened as this was the first case ever that someone managed to 'survive' the pressure of being around the ominous-looking Prime.

It was a noteworthy sight that proved that there was truly something peculiar about Frankie, and that rekindled once more the interest over the kind of individual this curious fellow was. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was fascination or… maybe there was truly something that couldn't just be explained with such a distant approach.

So instead of silently studying the case as he had done until now, the Lion Prime decided to see by himself what kind of person this Frankie Parker was by planning to interact with him once this lesson was over.

Who knows, maybe this guy had still something that made him much worthier than he had made him to be.

AN

Third chapter and the story now has a betareader. I think I will never tire to say Eternal Kudos to Ant0nius for correcting the mistakes I've left on my quick-writing.

You should seriously consider being a little less neglectful of going back to take notice of your mistakes.

I'm trying but… I kind of have 16+ stories up and running, and my brain is just not prioritizing that 'cause of that.

Still, a lazy approach. Maybe I should punish you.~

Please not.

It wasn't a question~!

*Takes a step back* We can talk this civilly-

Once I'm done teaching you the importance of a well-done job. Now, come here~!

Ahhhh-

*Connection Lost*