Hiromi and Meifeng quietly sit in the backseat of the cab while the brunette routinely attempts to accurately read their cab driver aura.
As the silver haired woman watches her pupil's numerous tries, she was suddenly remind of her childhood.
An eight year old Meifeng repeatedly kicks her legs forward then backwards as she waits for her handler to return with some ice cream.
A group of three girls around the same age suddenly approach the silver haired girl, which causes her grey eyes to peer up at them.
"You're that freak girl in our class, aren't you?" One of them speaks up once she recognizes them as her classmates.
Meifeng remained silent since she was quite use to being called a freak because of her special ability. However, her silence did not settle well with the group of girls as their leader speaks up.
"No one will ever want to be friends with a freak like you." She declares as the other two nod their head in agreement.
Meifeng sweeps her gaze from left to right before she points to each one and discloses, "You're going to say "Everyone wishes that you disappear." "You're going to say "Yeah, she's right! Disappear!" "And you are going to agree with them."
Her accurate prediction totally scares the girls as they shriek and quickly run away from the silver haired girl.
"Lady Meifeng," The voice of her handler rings in her ears, as she directs her head in the direction of her name.
"Did you do something to those girls?" He questions before he hands her the ice cream cone.
She simply shakes her head left and right, licks the vanilla flavored dessert, and claims, "They thought that they could bully me so I just scared them a little."
A small smile stretches across his face at her claim, "You really do have a thick skin, Lady Meifeng."
"If you think so," The little girl mutters as she focuses on her ice cream when a bump in the road arouses her from her flashback.
Meifang slightly shakes her head when she overhears Hiromi happily exclaims, "I think I'm getting the hang of this."
A small smile materializes across her face at the excitement from her student compared to her stroll down memory lane.
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Archimedes squints her eyes in order to get a better look at the two individuals that appear to be in the midst of an intense battle.
'Is that a man…on a tiger?' She inwardly questions until she watches as the man swings his sword at what appears to be shadows that resemble birds.
The raven haired teen observes the fight in awe as the warrior manages to rid the birds from around him once his sword connects to their bodies.
A loud fierce roar erupts from the tiger while the fighter sheathes his sword in the sling before his sights were now on the strange child in his realm.
"You…" His voice booms, which immediately snaps Archimedes out of her daze state only to realize that she is lock in his sights.
The tiger easily covers the distance that initial separates them from each other while the warrior questions, "Why are you here, child?"
For once in her seventeen years of living on earth has she ever been rendered speechless, which actually took a lot from a usually sassy individual.
"I wonder how an insolent child with no willpower ever made it to my domain." He utters once he gave her the once over.
"You seem to lack a sense of charity as well…" The warrior adds before he challenges, "So why are you here, child?"
The raven haired teen eventually gathers her wits about herself in order to respond to the very rude man in front of her.
"You have no right to judge me or my character without so much as a conversation or ifvyou are aware of my past actions! You may be a strong warrior but you have no couth about yourself."
The warrior unexpectedly bursts in to a fit of laughter at the accusation, "Oi…I see that you have a little fire in you, child."
"Since you were able to at least show a little determination, care to compete in a small challenge?" He proposes to the raven haired girl.
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"I think this should be good enough for today." Kai suddenly mentions to the group of boys, who eventually brings their respective training regiments to an end.
"Good practice." He compliments them as it earns a small smile on their faces before he purposely mentions, "We will do our mile run in the morning."
"Ah…come on!" Max dramatically grumbles at the announcement while Rei merely shakes his head with the same smile on his face.
Takao simply passes by them, climbs up on the wooden platform, and ventures inside of his childhood home.
"At least he managed to complete his task." The raven haired teen points out once the bluenette disappears inside of his home.
"So it really is that bad, huh?" A masculine voice unexpectedly chimes in, which earns the attention of the three young men.
"Hiro-san," The three of them recognizes the older Kinoyama of the two brothers' stand off to the side with his arms in front of his chest.
"How has he been doing in his training?" He inquisitively inquires once he cuts his sights on to the bey dishes in the backyard.
Max unknowingly clutches his Draciel before he discloses, "His attack style has become…aggressive. He even managed to cause a couple of chips in Draciel."
"Let us see." Kai orders once Hiro approaches the group right before the boy lifts the blade for everyone to see.
"It looks your attack and defensive ring took a really good beating." Kenny surmises after he briefly glances over it. "Can I take a closer look at it?"
The blonde hands over his precious blade to their Technician, who stashes it inside of his laptop bag for further inspection.
"I'll pay for the parts as well as the repairs." Hiro quickly mentions, which earns a "thank you" from Max.
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Audrey reveals her mission to the deity, which sparks her attention and earns her a bit beast but instead she ends up with a rare fish.
"I think you will do well on your journey." The goddess confesses before she releases the dirty blonde back to the temple.
'What the heck?' She thinks once she eventually reappears right back in front of the pond with the Koi fishes.
Audrey suddenly overhears her teacher loudly and repeatedly shouts out her name, "Audrey!"
"I'm over here!' She yells out her response while she waves her hand in order to capture the purple haired woman's attention.
Lanying barrels into her as she tightly wraps her arms around her student and slightly cries out, "I'm so glad you are alright."
"Uhm Lanying," She incoherently muttered since her face was pressed against her chest when she felt her body almost being crushed.
The dirty blonde merely wraps her arms around her teacher and gently squeezes her as a physical response.
The purple haired woman separates herself from the teen as she slowly scans her body to check and see if she was alright. "You look fine."
"Nothing bad happened." She remarks with a shake of her head while she inwardly considers, 'For some reason, I do feel a bit strange.'
"I have given you one of my blessings child of fortune.'
Lanying notices a light emits from the empty blade once Audrey fishes it out of her pocket. "Oh…you found a bit beast?"
She watches as the teen starts to do what she assumes was a victory dance. "Congratulations Aud!"
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Wenling rounded around the exact same corner, which led her to the alternative world only to come face with a regular hallway.
'So I guess…I made it back.' She determines after she notices the hallway with the familiar ornaments and decorations.
"Wenling," Lin loudly yells out while she frantically searches for her pupil among the crowd of tourists. "You better stop hiding!"
Her forest green eyes behold the once empty blade, which now has a chip in the center of the ring. 'Wait till I show the other girls.'
A smirk stretches across her face at the thought right before her teacher eventually locates her and exasperates, "There you are,"
"Where did you go? You had me scared." The goldenrod blonde wildly questions the young woman in front of her after she places her hands against her shoulders.
The brunette peeks up from underneath her bang and jokingly assumes, "I don't think you would believe me even if I told you."
She then slightly tilts her head to the right and discloses, "Have I ever told you about myself?"
An expression of shock displays on her face after she hears what her pupil just ask as she shakes her head and admits, "No".
"I was born and adopted in to the royal family that governs over the China prefecture. My childhood was pretty much sheltered and centered around a royal upbringing. As much as I hated being a bird trapped in a cage, I was pretty ungrateful for the life that I lived."
"Ungrateful?" Lin repeats while she continues to listen to Wenling divulge more about herself.
"However, I know see that I should've at least been a bit more appreciative. I had clothes on my back, food in my belly and a warm bed to lay my head down on. Now I'm starting to understand my purpose in life a bit more."
'She really has matured over the course of her training.' Lin inwardly deems as she nods her head at the brunette.
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"Hey, Meifeng," Hiromi breaks the silence between the two, which earns the older woman's attention.
"There's the temple!" She happily announces once the sight of their temple enters in the line of their vision.
The cab driver speedily pedals over a bridge before he finally stops a good distance from in front of a flight of stone stairs.
"Thank you for your services." The pair graciously thanks their driver after they pay their fee, which earns a blush from the male driver. "The pleasure was all mine, ladies."
The pair then directs their sights on the temple that sits at the top of a mile long staircase when Hiromi reaches out, tugs her sensei's sleeve, and softly whispers, "He will ask you for your number."
"Oh…that's what you think?" Meifeng alleges until they overhear the driver call for their attention. "Pardon me but I couldn't help but be mesmerized by your beauty, may I please have your number?"
A smile stretched across the brunette's face at her predicted results while the silver hair woman reacted with a blush that dusted her cheeks.
"I guess that was a first for you, eh Meifeng?" Hiromi quips once her teacher returns to her side right before they ascend the steps.
The older woman shakes her head a "no" when she reveals, "Although, I must admit it has been a while."
'I wonder if sensei has ever been in love?' She then wonders from the cryptic response from the woman off to her right.
Hiromi accidently misses a step as an arm shoots forward and fixes her upright. "You were distracted again."
"My bad…" She apologizes with her eyes hone in on the opposite side of her, which leads Meifeng to predict that something was on her pupil's mind.
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Author's Note:
04.29.17 Major editing revisions
