A person often meets their destiny...

NAME: KARELIN, IVAN

"Hey..."

D.O.B: 24 OCTOBER NC-1958

"...yes?"

ETHNICITY: RUSSIAN

"You never told me..."

SEX: MALE

"..."

OCCUPATION: STUDENT

"Your birthday... was last Thursday?"

HEIGHT: 170CM (5'7")

"..."

EYE COLOUR: INDIGO

"..."

ZODIAC: SCORPIO

He nodded.

"...you didn't even bother to tell me!" Not waiting for his answer, Lia punched his arm.

Ivan blinked at the weakness of it. She really wasn't that strong, was she? Even so, he shrugged almost unnoticeably - the anime she had given to him was more than enough, and he hadn't even asked for it. Absentmindedly, he wondered when her birthday was, and what he should give to her when the time came.

Huffing at the lack of reaction, the girl shoved the sheet of paper back into the seventeen- not sixteen -year-old's hands. She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, but after a short while, she turned back curiously and stated, "...you're Russian?"

"Ah... you didn't know?" His last name, after all, was a give-away.

"You expected me to?" She shot back, before rolling her eyes. The motion was useless as Ivan couldn't even see it, but her tone was enough.

Then, there was silence.

The girl fidgeted, becoming increasingly awkward as the quiet dragged out. She stole a glance at Ivan, whose eyes were darker than usual as they stared at the papers he was holding. It must've been tough for him, Lia thought, to be elected as the NEXT to go forward to the Justice Committee right after the Edward shenanigan. A frown crept onto her lips, and she shook her head to clear the subject from her mind.

"Uh, so what's the other one about?"

Blinking for the second time, yet this time in recognition - the male handed Lia the second page, and once she saw it, a weird expression flit across her face.

"Why the hell is my face on this?" She demanded immediately, the horror she felt increasing as she read the information on the sheet.

How'd they even get a photo of her anyway? Though, at least her blindfold was still on.

"The teacher told me..." Ivan began, unsure of what Lia's reaction would be. Taking her silence as a sign to continue, he spoke, "That you were going to become a Hero-in-training."

"'Hero-in-training?'" She echoed with a furrowing of brows. Wasn't that what everyone at the entire Academy was training for?

"You can't control your powers," he stated.

"So?" She retorted with a spontaneous burst of defensiveness.

Ivan's lips tilted downwards and for a split second, Lia wondered what she did to make him upset - but then she noticed his eyebrows were pinched slightly together, as if he were thinking. And he was - or at least, trying to word his next sentence.

"We're... going to be Heroes... together?"

There was no reply.

He peeked timidly at her face.

"There's a 'but'," Lia assumed, moments later.

He nodded.

"-and that's it!" The principal finished, smiling nervously at the girl. The way her mouth twitched as he told her the gist of the situation explained to the man that she was the opposite of 'overjoyed'.

"So let me get this straight," Lia drawled.

"You already sent this-" the Asian shook the profile in her hand, "-to the Justice gang or whatever-"

"Justice Committee," the adult politely interrupted.

"-and you thought it was a good idea even when I can't even- even control my freaking powers?!" Lia fumed, eyes narrowed.

"Actually I-"

"What in the world is a 'Hero-in-training' anyway?!"

"I-"

"What happens if I hurt someone or myself o-or-"

"That's the whole point of 'Hero-in-training', Lia," Principal Massini smoothly replied over the girl's rants.

"Your powers as a Next will be very helpful to them, I'm sure. And you have potential!"

Lia's lips parted but the man went on, "That's why it'd be a good idea to concentrate on making them better, yes?"

"Then how will I do that, sir?" She countered with a voice that made the head of the school inwardly shake his head with a weary sigh.

"Do you know," he started, "That never using your powers makes them go, for lack of any other word... rusty?"

The sixteen-year-old's brows went up disbelievingly. Did it now?

"That's why you'll use your power every day from now on!" The suggestion made both Lia and Ivan, standing beside the sixteen-year-old, stiffen. The way he said it...

"On none other than Ivan!"

Quickly, the pair made noises of protest.

"B-but s-sir!"

"I can't do that!"

"Don't you want to have better control over your powers? This will be a chance for Ivan to get better at his offensive skills as well."

Lia faltered, and Ivan fell silent.

"You two should talk about this!" The principal recommended happily, before taking on a thoughtful expression.

"But Lia, why are you so opposed to becoming a Hero? A lot of students here would jump at the chance."

"Then why don't you let them instead of me?" The girl growled, irked. She turned on her heel and exited the office, leaving behind a taken-aback Massini and a confused Ivan.

Ivan exited soon after; going after the girl, the adult concluded.

Thinking back to Lia's question that was more of a comeback than anything else, he sighed. It wasn't just because of Lia's potential as a NEXT that made him submit her profile to the Committee. Or was it? Either way, it just seemed like a good idea. Especially for Ivan, who most likely wanted- no, needed support.

And maybe for herself as well.

The principal twirled once in his chair, before stopping in front of his desk and picking up a pen.

Because, in spite of the girl's vigorous demeanour... wouldn't even she be lonely?

Lia's steps held an uneven rhythm as they trod across the floor. It was only a few minutes later when another rhythm entered her own, filling the spaces her beats couldn't occupy.

Classes were over, or rather, all of the students had been allowed to go home early. There weren't many people left at the academy, just the staff and herself and Ivan. The hallway Lia was walking in was a spectrum of warmth; red, orange and yellow. Light filtered through the windows on Lia's left side and dotted across the floor.

It was only a few minutes later, when she encountered the blond-haired boy once again.

What did he want from her?

She just wanted to be alone.

But the boy knew that, so he kept quiet, giving the girl peace.

Until...

"...why don't you want to become a Hero?"

The silence was broken... but she expected that question.

And because she did, she merely turned her head away from him, and said, "My parents will be proud."

Just a bit hesitant, he tilted his head and asked softly, "...and?"

"They'll be happy for me. And then I'll feel bad."

A moment of quiet took place.

And then- "Why?"

A sigh.

"...because I can't really hate them if they're not the bad people I make them out to be."

Ivan's brows knit together - 'bad people'?

How could Lia hate the people that raised her? Or, why would she want to hate her parents?

He was startled when the girl's head whipped towards him. Something in her covered gaze made the boy fidget, so he avoided it. His eyes trailed over her shoes. They were covered in patterns composed of black and red, but they were also dirty and the soles looked as if they could fall off at any moment. They were small, too. He then glanced at his own brown boots, musing over the fact that his feet seemed to be much more larger compared to hers. Then he blinked, wondering why he was even thinking about feet. Before he could get too deep into the subject, Lia let out a 'tch' sound and continued to walk. Ivan hadn't even noticed they'd stopped.

He returned to her side.

The two went past a man who had cleaning gear attached to his hip, and a mop that looked brand new.

Lia walked on without a second thought, and even though she had seen him just a few seconds ago, he was already faceless in her mind. Forgotten.

Because there were more important things to think about.

"Why... do you..." Ivan wasn't sure if he could ask what he had in mind.

"...hate my parents?" Lia provided understandingly, finishing the question for him.

Carefully, the boy bobbed his head in confirmation.

"Because..."

He waited for her answer. Their footsteps which earlier boomed in the hallway, was now crunching happily upon grass and dirt.

"Because," she repeated slowly, figuring out how to say her next words.

Why did he have to ask such a hard question?

"I-I don't... really... hate them." The last words were whispered out and Ivan barely heard them.

"They just didn't notice," she told him after recovering from her last sentence. It was the simple, blunt tone she always used.

But he caught on to the crack in her voice near the end.

They stepped out of the school grounds.

Breathing in deeply, she raised her head and curtly said, "See you tomorrow Ivan."

"A-ah..." Even before he had murmured that out, she was walking away. Her footsteps slowly faded into background noise, but he could still see her silhouette that suddenly looked lonely.

Watching Lia's figure gradually grow smaller, Ivan was reminded that the people around him had lives too. That they had problems, and a whole lot of things that he probably wasn't aware of. They had feelings. For example, the janitor Lia and himself passed by. His brown eyes looked haggard, and his movements were slow and groggy as he had mopped the floor. His hair was grey, and his skin was a tan colour similar to Lia's own, most likely from being in the sun everyday. Maybe he was working solely for his three children at home because of his wife who left him for another man, or maybe the day just wasn't his because he had to clean up something nasty. Maybe he did have a wife and maybe he met her on the Internet and they eventually fell so deep in love that they flew overseas to meet each other - really, who would know?

Everyone had stories; be it heart-warming, shocking, fascinating, bitter, morbid, forlorn...

...sad.

That was how Lia looked, with her lips turned downwards. If Ivan hadn't seen her lips, he could bet he would known anyway - she just... kind of radiated that certain feeling - he wasn't that ignorant.

He could remember faces and mannerisms quite easily, in fact, but it wasn't that useful of a skill, was it?

And sometimes, you know when a person isn't happy. You just know.

As Lia disappeared from Ivan's sight, a frown twisted his features. He turned, and put his hands in the pockets of the Academy's uniform's jacket.

Then, he took a step forward, and then another, and another, and another.

And as he walked, he couldn't deny...

...that a part of him felt as if it were his duty to make her feel the opposite.

The following day, when the bell rang to signal the start of classes, Ivan was surprised to see Principal Massini rushing towards him with Lia following close behind, looking disgruntled.

"Good news!" The adult beamed.

Lia's face made it seem like it wasn't.

"You two got accepted as Heroes! Well for Lia's case, Hero-in-training, but never mind that! I'm so pro-" But how could he be a hero?

"-already got the train ticket bought for you two tonight and-" So soon?

"-for your apartment we've already-" What would Edward think?

Something bonked his head. It didn't hurt much, but it was enough for the boy to quickly jump backwards and raise his hands in front of him to protect his vitals. Lia had to admit to herself that it was pretty impressive he could do that without falling - until in fact he slipped on air suddenly, and landed on his back. A smirk appeared on Lia's face as the boy shakily lifted himself back up.

She opened her mouth, and announced, "I don't regret that."

And as if on second thought, she added, "So stop looking so idiotic, idiot."

For someone calling him an 'idiotic idiot', for once he didn't feel offended.

Because it was like she was trying to comfort him.

"And besides, shouldn't ninja have better reactions than that?" Well, actually, that was wrong, he was currently practicing a style that was going to be a mix of samurai and ninja and possibly sumo. He had to call her out on that (it was an Ivan's/otaku's/weaboo's pride after all).

So he opened her mouth and told her about what he had in mind, oblivious to the slightly adoring blush sprinkled on top of his face.

"Idiot," she scoffed when he finished, surely rolling her eyes beneath her blindfold.

The two had basically forgotten Principal Massini was there, until the adult cleared his throat amusedly.

"As I stated earlier," he coughed into his hand, "I've bought train tickets for you two to travel to Sternbild."

Lia crinkled her nose.

"Aren't we already in Sternbild?"

"Yes, but you two have to meet your sponsors at the Hero's headquarters, Justice Tower. That's quite a bit away from here," he reasoned.

"Oh, and we've already solved the problem with your apartment, right Lia?"

With a thoughtful frown, she nodded.

"...who's our sponsors?" Ivan inquired.

"For you, Ivan, I'm not sure about your sponsors, so to say, but your sponsor company is Helperides Finance." With furrowed brows, Ivan took this in.

"And for you, Lia, well-" Lia found something off with the way the man worded this, so she opened her mouth and asked, "Wait a moment, so I'm not with Ivan?"

"Well, you are, it depends-"

"Then what?"

"...well, as I was about to say... for you, it's more difficult."

"'More difficult?'"

"The details are trivial," the principal decided, waving a hand dismissively at the girl.

"I want to know the details, trivial or not!" The girl stated angrily.

Her statement went gracefully ignored as Massini turned towards Ivan. She missed their brief, quiet conversation. Then, the adult shifted so that he was facing both herself and Ivan.

"It's settled then! You are both to go to the Justice Tower tonight!"

...on the road they took to avoid it.

OMG GUYS SO TELL ME IF YOU FOUND A HINT TO SOMETHING IN THIS CHAPTER. -shot-

I really appreciate you guys reading this story, and I wanna give a shoutout to grey-zebra who is my awesome onee-chan + senpai, LOL. She also has a Tiger and Bunny fic, so check it out!

Uhm, there's not much to say but I hope you guys are pleased with this chapter? I really, really hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone.