I remember something my master told me once, after a long day of hard training…
"We, as living beings, were not made to shoulder all of our burdens alone. If you don't believe me, look only to nature. Watch as a mother bear hunts to feed her young, how a group of beavers must work together to build a dam, in fact, even the earth can not form a river without the water to work its way through the stone. Just as nature relies on the assistance of others, so do we.
"When we are faced with tasks that are greater than us, many times our instinct is to charge head-on towards it on our own, but oftentimes the walls that tower over us are not so easily scaled. What we often forget is that we are not alone, and such walls stand no match when many stand against it to break it down. When we cannot overcome a trial alone, we stand together against all odds. Always remember, Judas; helping each other when we need companionship is the way we tiny beings survive in this world."
...Master Himura, a warrior unparalleled in skill and wisdom. The man that took me in when I was young and gave me the strength to stand on my own, to hold a sword to what confronts me…
"Make way! Make way! Motion sickness setting in, clear the blast zone!"
"Oh gods, don't-! The trash can! Trash can, dammit!"
"*Hurgh*!"
...The man who I'm absolutely going to kill the next time I see him.
Just a week ago, I was living a quiet, peaceful life at my master's estate, my days spent training my swordsmanship and relaxing with the people I hold closest in my life, not wanting for much of anything. Next thing I know, master Himura comes to me, saying that I'd been accepted to Haven Academy on a letter of recommendation and that I'd be moving to Mistral next week to begin classes. Now, one week later, I'm still at a loss as to what the point of even coming here is. My master is a former huntsman; anything I'm going to learn here could have absolutely been taught to me by him at the estate...maybe not everything, but damn near anything!
Yet, here I am, sitting in a crowded airship, giving myself as wide a berth as possible (not very wide), sulking as I'm being subjected to all the sounds of loud chatter, some kid puking his guts out into a trash can, and worst of all…
"Bro, this is gonna be the best! Haven's gonna be full of hot girls with smokin' bods!"
"Damn straight, too bad they're all out of your league though, man!"
Shut up…
"We might end up having to room with some boys, right? Oooh, I hope I get set up with a cutie or two~!"
"Ohmygod, I can't! That would be such a dream, I might just pass out if that happened!"
Shut up…!
"Hey, once we get done moving in, you wanna get dinner? My treat!"
"That sounds really fun! Maybe we can spend some time together afterwards, hmm~?"
God, shut the hell up! It's one thing that I have to put up with my personal space being invaded by people I've never met before, having to be within earshot of all these goddamn teenagers letting their hormones run wild and having to watch them putting their hands all over each other is the last box to check that confirms I'm in my own personal hell. Oh, hell, it's only gonna get worse living on campus, isn't it? Will I be seeing this every time I turn a corner, or step through a door? Is my day-to-day life going to be plagued with the task of avoiding PDA wherever I step?!
...I want to die right now.
"Hey man, you doing okay? Breathe for me, bud."
I'm drawn out of my melancholy by a new voice. It's so close I think for a second that it's addressing me, but when I look up, the voice's owner is stepping towards the kid that was just puking into the trash. He looks up to the newcomer, bleary eyed and with barely enough energy to form a response. "No, this metal deathtrap is tryna squeeze all the life out of me."
"Looks like it's winning." is the response he gets. The new kid then reaches into his bag and pulls out a can that looks like he got out of a vending machine or something. "Here, drink this. I don't have any medicine, sadly, but sipping on a carbonated drink can help curb the nausea." The kid accepts it gracefully, and the two share a few more words before I'm tuned out again. I turn around to gaze out the window, idly watching as the kingdom of Mistral sprawls out below me.
I should be excited about this, honestly...Mistral was always one of my favorite places when I would visit with my master, and now I'm going to be living here for the next four years. That should be exciting, shouldn't it? Putting that aside, my contact with people my own age has been somewhat limited, only having two really close friends back home, and my only peers at the Himura estate being my younger sister, who seemed to only be able to respond to anything I say with thinly veiled sarcasm, and my master's daughter, but she and I...never got along all that well. Now, I was going to live in a place where I'd be around people my age all the time, so shouldn't I be excited at the prospect to make new connections? Yet, it seems my misgivings about this situation are overshadowing all the things I should be optimistic about.
The truth is, my master told me something when I pressed him about why I was being sent to Haven…
"I can teach you all I know about how to hold a sword, to strike with it, to use it to carve your path in life. I've come to the realization, however, that I cannot teach you how to navigate that path once you've carved it. That's the reason I'm sending you to Haven, Judas; this is the only way I can think to help you grow."
...Help me grow, huh?
Even then, I shouldn't be here. Not here, and definitely not now. I was supposed to be going to Beacon two years from now. We made a promise, and I was forced to break it...
"Yo, this seat taken?"
My musings are again broken by the kid from before, and I turn to look at him and take his appearance in. Still looking a tad boyish in the face, yet I'd be lying if I said he wasn't good looking, with a head of messy-looking dark red hair tamed a bit by a black hairband, and similarly-colored eyes. He dresses rather modestly, with a white jacket over a black hooded sweatshirt, rounded out with a pair of red jeans and white boots that come up to just below his knees. I'm a bit confused as to why he's approaching me...but, looks like now is a good time to try and make some progress in the "making new connections" department. "Nah, go ahead."
"Awesome!" He says as he takes the seat next to me. "By the way, you want some gum?"
"Uh...sure." I respond, holding out my hand as he starts to dig into his pocket. After a second, he stops moving and looks at me slightly surprised. "Uh...looks like I'm out, actually." We hold eye contact for a good five seconds, my hand still outstretched, before he smiles again and takes my hand. "Name's Reading Magro. Who knows how much we'll actually be seeing each other once classes start, but it's nice to meet you anyways!"
His face is bright and inviting, and I can't help but crack a little smile myself at that. "Judas Arany. Let's get along, yeah?"
"Absolutely!" He smiles that bright smile again, letting go of my hand and relaxing into his seat a bit. "So, you come from one of the combat schools? Most of the other people I've talked to here said they did." It's a reasonable question, and he didn't ask in an accusatory manner, but I couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed at being a "special" case. "No, actually…" I begin hesitantly. "I actually trained with my master for several years, and he got me in on a letter of recommendation."
"Woah, recommendation? Who'd he have to butter up to get one of those?"
It's a question that might have come off as rude, even though he obviously asked without any sort of snark or malice. Still, rather than get offended, it drew my mind to what had been left unsaid about my current circumstance. Master Himura didn't actually say where or from whom he'd gotten a letter of recommendation, and I hadn't even questioned the acquisition in favor of being indignant that I was being sent away from home on such short notice without any sort of word or agreement. "I...don't know, actually. I suppose he must have written it himself?"
Reading gave a low whistle at that. "Damn, dude. The guy's either a real big shot or just really good at forging stuff like that."
"H-He wouldn't need to forge anything…"
He laughs a bit at that. "I believe it, man, just giving you a hard time!" He turns to gaze out the window from his seat. "Truth is, I didn't attend a combat school, either. Ever since I was little, me and my folks have always been on the road, travelling from place to place. Only experience I got is what I managed to teach myself."
Something in the back of my mind prodded me that he may be lying. Is that a bad thing to assume about someone you just met? He seems like a nice guy, but maybe trusting a stranger to be telling the truth about themselves isn't the best thing to do, especially since it seems that everyone here seems to want to play up their abilities in order to make connections and have an early upper hand. "That's...impressive, Reading." I start hesitantly. "You must have a real talent for fighting if you landed a spot at Haven only learning from yourself."
Reading looks at me oddly, like he could tell I was trying to be discreet. "Sure, but it can't be all that great. It didn't land me a spot at Beacon or anything."
...Is that usually how people try to play themselves up? He actually looks a little confused...maybe I'm overthinking this?
My musings are interrupted as the airship lurches slightly, and the sensation of movement slowly comes to a halt. "Oh, looks like we're landing." Reading says as he stands up from his seat. Just as I think he's about to walk away, he stops and turns back to me. "Yo, you wanna check out the campus before the opening ceremony? I could use the company!"
Yeah, I'm definitely overthinking these things. Even if I was taught to be wary of people, I don't sense any negative intent from this guy. Looks like he's just a friendly face...and, fortunately, my first new connection here.
Maybe coming to Haven wasn't going to be so bad.
"Yeah, let's go."
My being eternally grateful for the existence of clean oxygen after being stuck in a crowded airship for the better part of an hour may have been influencing my perception, but even still, Haven's campus was rather impressive. Since landing, Reading and I had wandered around campus, admiring the ornate, authentic Mistralian design of the architecture that made me feel like I'd never left the Himura estate, in a way. At the moment, we'd already checked out two of the facilities on campus that interested us both personally, Reading dragging me over to the library to browse their selection for a bit and then heading to the training rooms at my insistence (They have AI-assisted training programs! Is that standard issue?). Currently, we found ourselves walking back towards the quad at the center of campus mulling over where to go next.
"Actually, how long do we have until the welcome ceremony starts?" I asked, breaking Reading from his train of thought. "Oh, what time is it?" he responded as he pulled out his scroll. "Hmmm...looks like we've got another forty-five minutes or so to ourselves. Maybe the dining hall is open? I'm feeling pretty starved." I didn't have any reason to object, and I'm feeling a bit hungry myself, so I nodded in agreement and he checked his directory to see where we needed to go.
The time we spent earlier was filled with idle conversation, with a book I'd previously read catching Reading's eye in the library and later with him questioning my training regimine as I browsed a screen listing the training room functions, but as of now we'd settled back into an amicable silence. I was perfectly content to let it stay that way, but as we walked, my mind drifted back to our conversation on the airship, and from that I became curious…
"Hey, Reading, can I ask you something?"
Said boy glanced at me. "Sure, what's up?" I instinctively scratched the back of my head, unsure if I was treading into territory I shouldn't be discussing, but I pressed on anyway. "If it's not too personal of a question, why did you decide to come here? What made you want to be a huntsman?"
Reading held eye contact with me for about five seconds before looking back ahead, unbothered. "Actually, I don't particularly want to be a huntsman."
...Huh?
"Y-You don't?!"
"Nah, not really." He spoke as nonchalantly as can be, seemingly not able to comprehend how odd that sounds. While I was still gawking at him, trying to process this new information, he turned back to me and continued, "This whole thing is kinda...broadening my horizons, you know? I practiced my aim with a rifle because I thought it was fun, and I didn't really feel like falling in with the family tradition, so using my aim to make some cash seemed like the logical step to take."
Once he was done, he finally seemed to notice how awe-struck I was by that explanation. "...Is it that unbelievable?"
"Kind of, yeah." I responded, unable to comprehend how he didn't realize how he sounded right now. "Being a huntsman is a dangerous profession, there's no shortage of stories about ones that go out on missions and never come back. Putting that aside, don't you think four years is a large time investment for something you don't have your whole heart into?"
To my continued shock, Reading didn't react in the slightest, only looking back ahead and throwing his hands behind his head. "Oh, please, I got all the time in the world! Besides, staying in one place and settling into a routine will be a new experience for me, since me and my folks were always travelling."
"Still, it's strange that you're so nonchalant about all this…"
"Oh, is it? Okay, then…"
Reading ran ahead of me and stood directly in my path. "If that's the case, enlighten me. What brings you here?"
Oh. Why didn't I expect this to turn back around on me? My younger sister has such a knack for these things I ought to be prepared for this to happen…
"...Well, I only got told I was coming after I'd already been accepted. Barely a week ago, actually…" My impromptu companion-turned-interrogator seemed surprised by that answer, but didn't say anything, prompting me to continue. "Even then, I guess I always kind of knew I'd end up here, or Beacon, or somewhere eventually, what with learning how to fight with a sword and all that. Still, I thought I was going to have to wait a couple more years before the prospect was even open to me, yet here I am, a whole two years younger than everyone around me…"
I turned away from Reading, slightly embarrassed at opening up like this. "It's not like I don't want to be here, but I guess I'm just feeling a bit uncertain about everything. On top of it all happening so fast, I just...I hope I'm not going to get left behind by anyone, or end up holding them back. I just hope that I'm actually good enough to be here right now, and that I don't screw it up for myself, or for the people expecting things from me here."
…
"Wow, you really are taking this seriously."
"Are you saying you're not?!"
Reading just rocked his head back and laughed. Gods, his devil-may-care attitude may just be his best and equally worst trait. "Nah, nah, I get it. For the record though," He looked back at me, straight in the eyes, and I only barely noticed the two inches he had over me. "If you think you'll be holding anyone back since most of the people here have trained for a couple years longer than you, you're definitely wrong. After all, your master thought you were good enough to write you that recommendation, and it got you in!" The redhead walked back to my side and threw an arm around my neck. "You'll be fine here, Judy. I know it."
This guy is incredibly nice, even though we just met. Maybe it's a stroke of luck we met. "Hah...thanks-"
Wait.
"Judy?"
"Alright, let's get going to the mess hall! I wanna get some grub before we're stuck in the main hall for gods-know how long." Without even acknowledging my question, Reading just started walking and taking me with him. "Don't ignore me, damnit! What the hell kind of nickname is that?! It makes me sound like an old lady!"
"Huh? Don't know what you're talking about, Judy."
"Wha-don't call me that!"
He looks at me. "What, a guy can't give his friend a nickname?"
"That's not-pick a different one!
"Hmm, nah, I like-oof!"
Neither of us were looking where we were going while we argued, so we ended up bumping into someone…
...namely, the biggest guy I think I've ever seen in person.
This gargantuan stood a good several inches above the both of us, with a muscle mass that far outclassed either of us, large, dark-skinned arms accentuated by the sleeveless white vest they wore. After what felt like an eternity, the large person finally turned around, revealing a finely crafted face with fiery-colored eyes, topped with a head of spiky black hair, and a full view of his outfit: the white vest sat open, showing off the dark red leotard that covered his top half up to his collarbones (likely with straps over the shoulders) and went all the way down to his feet, where a pair of black low-top boots sat.
Said finely crafted face was set in a way that looked like this person was about to kill us.
"U-uh…" Reading finally croaked out. "H-hey there...sorry for bumping into ya…"
"Y-yeah, sorry. We should've been watching where we were walking…" I supplied.
For what felt like another eternity, we stood, feet planted firmly in place as we stared up at what may have been the figure of our imposing demise, and they just stared back at us with a stern face, threatening to shift at any moment.
Finally, he...squeaked…?
"U-U-Um…!" a deep, masculine voice started. "N-No, don't worry about it! I-I, you see, I'm kind of big, right? S-So, I kind of end up being an obstacle for people, at least that's what all the old folk at my village would say…" The giant man clasped his hands together and fidgeted in place, trying now to avoid eye contact with either of us, glancing here and there while squirming in place slightly. This is an...interesting development, to say the least. I never would've expected someone with this much body mass to look like any miniscule amount of attention they were given would result in a near nervous breakdown.
Or to be any amount of timid, for that matter.
I broke my gaze away from the giant ball of nerves in front of me to glance at Reading, who seemed to be equally as confused as I was. Though, he managed to shake it off much more quickly than me, as he settled back into a relaxed stance and spoke up. "Oh, don't worry about that, man. Let's just call it even, yeah?"
"U-Uh, sure…"
Another awkward silence followed, and Reading extended his hand out to our new encounter, who flinched at the motion (he could probably bench both of our weights combined and an outstretched hand makes him flinch?!). "My name's Reading. What's yours?"
The man addressed scrutinized the appendage for a good five seconds before slightly relaxing and shaking Reading's hand. "Ah…Eth...my name's Eth. N-Nice to meet you…?" Honestly, I feel a bit bad for the guy. He's obviously not used to social interaction, and while he seems to be visibly way more out of his comfort zone than I'm willing to show, I can definitely relate to his anxiety. "No need to be nervous, bud," Reading started, "You can hang with us! How's that sound?"
"Ah, that sounds great!" Eth seemed to catch himself after his mood jumped and he pulled back a bit. "I-If you'll have me, of course…" Reading only shrugged in response. "Wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to. Oh, you cool with this, Judy?" he addressed me again, and still with that god-awful nickname…
"Don't introduce me like that!" I walk over to Eth and extend my hand. "My name's Judas. Maybe you should come along with us? You look like you could use some friends." Eth's face brightens a bit at the gesture, shaking my hand in response. Sure enough, I can feel myself smiling as well.
"Announcement to all first-years: The opening ceremony will begin in thirty minutes. Please conclude any business you are attending to and make your way to the grand hall. Thank you."
The announcement over the intercom shook the three of us from our little moment, and reminded us just how much time we actually had.
"So, uh, me and Judy were gonna head to the mess hall to see if we could grab something to eat. You game?"
"Oh, no kidding? I was trying to find my way there but got lost…"
I cross my arms and consider how I want to use the time I have left. "Actually, you two go on ahead. I'd rather be early to the ceremony than risk losing track of time." Reading gave me a flat look in response. "Laaaame. Well, whatever, save us a couple seats, yeah?" he says as he and Eth start heading in the direction of the mess hall.
I shout an affirmation after them as I make my way back to the grand hall.
As it turns out, I wasn't the only one who'd rather be early, seeing as the grand hall was nearly packed by the time I got inside. Though, thinking back, I actually didn't see all that many students wandering campus while I was with Reading. I guess most of the other first-years came here immediately. But, damn, the volume of people in here makes it seem like I won't be able to find a space where I won't get people crowding around me. Guess I'll just have to wade through until I find a suitable spot…
"Oh, looks like I couldn't beat the crowd…"
Just as I was about to move, I spared a glance to the person that spoke up behind me, but was surprised to find nobody there. It probably shouldn't strike me as odd, but the placement of their voice suggested they were rather close. Whoever spoke up had to be pretty fast to have moved entirely from their spot within my earshot in the short amount of time after I heard them.
I shrugged it off and started heading into the crowd, and for the second time today, walked into a solid surface without looking where I was walking. Looking ahead again, I was shocked to see that there was no visible barrier keeping me from going forward, though while examining the space in front of me I registered a couple of students walking directly in front of me that I would have run into if I'd moved forward.
"You should pay more attention to the crowd. That's the only way you're gonna avoid bumping into someone in this room."
I recognized the voice as the one from before, and turned around to get a look at them. Before me was a male wolf faunus, ears perched on his head of gray hair and going through the hood of his sleeveless black sweatshirt, unzipped slightly and showing the white shirt underneath. A pair of gray jeans and black combat boots rounded out his outfit. With the way he stood with both hands in his jacket pockets, the amusement in his onyx eyes and the lazy smirk on his youthful face, it was clear to me that he was responsible for the invisible wall that kept me from moving forward. Also that he thought it was rather funny.
Good first impression, really.
Done with assessing this newcomer, I turn back to the space in front of me and feel around for the wall, finding that it disappeared. I looked back to the faunus."Did you do that?" I asked, not bothering to hide my annoyance. He only laughed. "My semblance. For the record, I was going to tap your shoulder or something, but that? That ended up being way funnier." I feel my face twist into an annoyed frown. "Glad I could amuse you." I say sarcastically. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" I turn away from him and begin to make my way forward, but stop when I notice a light sheen in front of me. It's gone as soon as I notice it, but when I reach a hand out to examine it, there's another invisible wall there.
"Excellent!" The boy behind me speaks up. "Just as I thought, you're awfully perceptive. I had my assumptions when you turned to look at me after I spoke up, but now you've figured out how to see my walls after only running into one of them!" My irritation with this guy was nearing new heights. "So, what do you want? Why are you screwing with me like this?" The guy only shrugged, "Just sizing you up. I think you're the first person here to catch my interest and live up to my expectations." He pulled his hood down and extended his hand to me. "The name's Flynt Blanc. Maybe you're interested in forming an alliance of sorts?"
This guy intentionally gets on my nerves, then turns around and asks if I want to team up with him. Is he for real?
I respond curtly, turning away from him and facing where the invisible wall currently stood. "Pass. Throw down your wall." Even while I put all my concentration of keeping my cool and to not look at this Flynt person, I can practically feel him pouting behind me. "You didn't even consider…" He says despondently, and I stubbornly stay silent. "Just think about it. It's not like you wouldn't benefit from it, too. You seem like you'll go far in this place, and I have every intention of reaching those same heights. It would only benefit us both if we stuck together and helped each other out, don't you think?"
"You're only making a worse case for yourself." I respond. "Besides, I doubt you need anyone's help. You moved out of my sight faster than almost anyone in this room would have been able to, and concealed your presence from me until you wanted me to notice you." I turn back to him, glaring. "You're more capable than you want anyone to believe, and that's all I need to see out of you to know I shouldn't trust you." Flynt stands silently, a little shocked from my words, and I turn back to see the tell-tale sheen of his semblance wall gone. Wasting no time, I begin wading my way through the crowd of students, looking for a place where I'll have enough space to myself until the ceremony ends.
Fortunately, most of the other students here seemed to be in their chosen spots, so finding my way through the crowd was less complicated than I'd feared. Still, the close proximity left me with an ear to other people's conversations, and one in particular stirred my earlier irritation from the airship…
"Wow, you're gonna try to make it to the top of our class? You really must be confident if you're telling us this!"
I look slightly to the right to see a group of three girls talking to a taller guy with slicked back blonde hair. His stance is confident, almost like he's standing above them and satisfied with looking down at them. "Of course, it won't be easy, but that's the entire reason I'm going to do it in the first place. It certainly wouldn't be worth the effort if everyone here was a waste of enrollment places, but surely that's not the case. Everyone here looks as if they've earned their place here...you three especially."
"Oh, wow~! I don't know what to say!"
"You flatter us, really! We're nowhere close to your level, honest!"
Gods, I'm gonna be sick. Tuning their disgusting flirting out of my thoughts, I make to move past them when I see someone walking backwards, preoccupied with their conversation to notice that they've made the space between them and Mr. High-and-Mighty rather narrow. Regardless, I try to squeeze between them with the little space I have, but ultimately I end up bumping his majesty lightly on accident. I utter a quick "Sorry" to him, expecting the matter to be left there.
Until I feel a tug on the hood of my jacket. "Hold it."
I turn around and see the flirty snob holding my hood, and he definitely looks the part of "shitty rich kid". His slicked back blonde hair is a compliment to his smooth and unmarred face, and his ruby red orbs shone with indignation that, from only one accidental bump, spoke volumes about his character. His clothing looked expensive, yet not gaudy, a blue blazer worn over a black button-up shirt with a dark red cravat at the collar, with moderately-sized pauldrons with ornate blue-and-gold designs sitting at his shoulders and gauntlets of the same design and color on his hands. His lower half sported a pair of black slacks that looked like a single tear could cost the average person their house to repair, and a pair of shiny black dress shoes that didn't look particularly good for traversing any terrain that wasn't a ballroom.
If it weren't for the air of confidence about him and his forceful grip on my jacket, I'd think that he was made out of a fine china that would break if I just pushed him over. "May I help you?" I didn't bother to hide my irritation, not that he seemed to care.
"You have the nerve to brush shoulders with me, and all you do is give a half-hearted apology and think you can be on your way?" He gave me a disgusted look. "Give me a proper apology, this instant."
Dammit, if I'd known I was doomed to run into such unsavory characters here, I'd have chosen to stick with Reading and Eth. This clown actually thinks he's in a position to demand a "proper apology" from someone who only brushed past him?
I level him with an unimpressed look. "I might've considered it if you were worth about as much as the clothes you're wearing. Your attitude tells me you're barely on the same level as the dirt on the ground."
"Would you mind repeating that, peasant? I don't believe I heard you correctly."
"You wouldn't, what with your head perched on your imaginary ivory tower."
Behind Mr. hit-me-and-my-daddy-will-sue, the girls he was chatting up scoffed. "Honestly, can you believe the nerve of this guy? Thinking he can talk that way to Carmine Salei?"
"Simply unbelievable! He'll be lucky if he doesn't get burnt to a crisp talking like that!"
Salei? Where have I heard that name…?
"Oh, I remember!" I say out loud, looking back to the prick holding me up. "You're related to that politician in Vale, aren't you? The one pushing for all those prison reforms?" With that, his face turns from an annoyed scowl to a smugly satisfied grin. "Ah, you know who my father is. I'll have you know, I'm Valentin Salei's youngest son, Carmine. Maybe now you'll give me the apology I deserve?"
"No wonder your head is stuck so far up your ass."
Carmine's face is immediately covered with shock and indignant rage. At this point, we're beginning to attract the attention of the students around us, but I can't find it in me to care about the crowd. "The nerve…! I'm going to give you one last chance to apologize before I put you in your place, you cretin!"
"Hey, hey, settle down you two!" I recognize that voice as belonging to that Flynt guy, who walks up to Carmine's outstretched arm, still holding my jacket hood. "It's no good if we're starting fights before our first day's even begun! Just take a breather, it'll be better for your guys' health that way, too~!"
"I don't recall asking you." Carmine spits at him. "This is between me and this upstart, so stay out of it."
"As far as I'm concerned, we're done here." I say firmily. "Let go."
"I still haven't gotten a proper apology out of-"
"I said let go!"
I turn on my heel and forcefully swat Carmine's hand away from me…
...and watch as it hits the back of another kid's head, the pair of headphones they were wearing flying off and hitting the ground.
Carmine and I stared in shock at the unfortunate collateral of our conflict, while Flynt gave a tired sigh behind us. The world around us stilled as the kid slowly bent down and picked up their headphones, and turned around to face us. Our unsuspecting victim was a boy with long, wild black hair that hung over the right side of his face, leaving only one onyx-colored eye visible.
All we needed was one eye to know he was furious.
"Whoever hit me has five seconds to speak up before I kill all three of you."
I sighed in annoyance and raked a hand through my hair. I glanced over to Carmine, who had composed himself without much effort. "Well, you reap what you sow. Maybe I'll see you around, if you live past today." With that I made to walk off, but to my irritation, Carmine grabbed my by the hood again, holding me in place. "We aren't done. Don't think you can up and leave me with the mess you made."
"I made?"
"Yes, you! It's one thing that you refused to apologize to me properly for bumping into me, but you escalated the conflict and brought another person into it!" This time, it was Carmine who pulled at my hood and twisted me around to face them again. "Now, apologize!"
"Um, to be fair," Flynt spoke up, moving to stand beside me. "It looked to me like you were the one pushing the whole thing on Judas." Carmine glared at him. "I don't recall asking what it looked like to you. Now, move along; this doesn't concern you." Flynt stared back at him for a bit before a lazy smirk found its way on his face. "See, I think it does. Since we're apparently bringing other people into this, now…" He paused and threw an arm around my shoulders, the force from him pulling me in causing me to stagger. "I'm involving myself to help out my new bud!"
"We're not buds!" I retorted at him with all the red hot irritation overflowing in my system, but in response he pulled me in closer to him and whispered to me. "Hey, I'm trying to help you here! Just let me lend you a hand and you can owe me later, 'kay?" He makes it sound so casual when he's trying to rope me into being in his debt… "No, not 'kay', I don't need your-"
My sentence is cut off when Flynt is pulled off of me. I straighten myself out and find the person responsible was Headphones, who now turned to glare at me with his single visible eye. "Your time's up. Since no one fessed up, I'm gonna crack all your heads, and you're first." Oh, hell, how come everybody I've met since entering the grand hall has been so insistent on badgering me? I don't want to get into a fight here, though, so I have to diffuse the situation somehow…
"Listen, I'm sorry about all that-" "Sorry isn't gonna cut it, jackass. Gotta pay the price in broken bones."
Nope, this guy's not going to be talked down...and I'm not sure what it is, whether it's my irritation at the whole situation finally getting to me and clouding my judgement, or if it's the way this guy is stupidly insistent on resorting to violence because of an accident…
But looking at his face and listening to him talk is really starting to piss me off.
"You practice that line in the mirror or something? It sounds exactly like someone who's trying to be cool, even though they don't know what 'cool' really sounds like." My hands find their way to my belt line and sit there at my sides, as I walk as close as I can to Headphones Dumbass and find myself staring up at him. He looks back down at me defiantly, not backing down. "And am I supposed to give a shit what it sounds like?" He responds. "It doesn't need to sound cool, it's exactly what the situation is, and exactly what I'm gonna do to you."
"Sure, I believe it. Especially with those toothpicks you call arms."
"You don't have much to brag about, yourself. Ever think of hitting the weights so you can back up your words, twink?"
"Like I need to. At least I have the advantage of seeing out of both eyes."
For a long moment, we stared each other down. We didn't even realize the students around us were starting to spread out and away from us. I'm fairly certain that sparks would by flying off of us if we could see ourselves.
"You're really starting to piss me off!" We both yelled, but before either of us could land a hit, I was pulled away abruptly, watching as Headphones got pulled back as well.
By...a floating, orange hand?
"Okay, okay, break it up you two!" I look to my right to see an older guy emerge from the crowd, probably faculty, if I had to guess. He was tall and slightly muscular in build, yet was still lean to a certain degree, with tanned skin and tall black hair complimented by the green bandana tied around his forehead and the light stubble on his face. He was dressed rather plainly, with a white t-shirt, black track pants and running shoes, and a green sweatshirt tied around his waist.
The sensation of movement pulled me out of my thoughts, and the spectral hands that pulled me and my would-be opponent away from each other threw us both down in front of the newcomer, who gave a tired sigh. "Seriously, why does a fight have to break out during the welcome ceremony every year? These kids really know how to get my blood pressure up…" He then looked between the both of us, silently sizing us up. "Anywho, you two are coming with me. Can't have too much excitement before initiation, now!"
With that, Headphones and I were dragged by our collars out of the grand hall. As I was being dragged away, I watched Carmine scoff at the two of us while Flynt gave an apologetic smile and a shrug of his shoulders. We ended up passing Reading and Eth at the entrance, and while they looked reasonably confused, Reading only gave a lazy salute and neither asked any questions.
When we reached our destination, our captor opened a classroom door with his foot and tossed us both inside, one before the other. Walking in and closing the door behind us, he strode over to the desk at the front and took a seat on top of it. "Alright, we're gonna be seeing each other a lot these next few years, so let's get some introductions outta the way. Name's Guiscard Orenstein, and I'm gonna be your combat instructor here. I'm also a guidance counselor, if you're ever in need of one." He looked between the two of us expectantly, waiting for us to introduce ourselves in return. "A-Ah, Judas Arany, sir. Sorry for causing a commotion…" The two of us then glanced over to Headphones...
Who had his eyes closed, his music turned up so loud we could hear it from where we were sitting.
Orenstein made an annoyed grunt, and I saw one of the hands that threw me around earlier swoop in and pull his headphones off, bringing him back to the waking world with all the rage that, at this point, I imagined was ingrained into his identity. The kid made to stand up, but the other spectral hand swooped in and pushed down on his shoulder, holding him down. "Don't go ignoring me now, guy. You're on thin ice as it is. Name?"
Headphones turned back to Orenstein and glared with his one eye like it gave him any sort of power in our predicament. "Shuichi Noriker. Now, my headphones?"
"Yeah, yeah, you'll get them when I'm done." The hand with the headphones flew to Orenstein and handed them to him, and I had figured out by that point that the ghost hands were probably his semblance. Bringing one earphone to his ear, Orenstein listened to about one second of the music blasting out of the headphones before he made a sour face and placed them behind him. "Damn, doesn't that crap stress you out? Doesn't even have any structure…" He cleared his throat and looked back to the both of us.
"Now, here's the breaks; fighting outside of combat training or sparring is absolutely forbidden, and offenders receive a flat punishment of detention time or a type of school service sentence, cleaning out the gutters, wiping the windows, the works." Orenstein picked up a pen from the holder on the desk and twirled it between his fingers. "But, since the year hasn't technically started yet, you two are getting the kid gloves. All you gotta do is spend the next couple hours in here with me, then you'll be released for dinner and bed."
Oh, that's it? "I...was almost expecting expulsion." I said, and the combat teacher barked a laugh in response, turning to me with a warm smile. "Nah, even once classes start, you'd have to hurt someone pretty seriously to get expelled over fighting." He put the pen he was playing with down, and grabbed Shuichi's headphones to try and figure out how to turn them off, or at least lower the volume.
Shuichi grumbled about it the whole time. I almost punched him.
"Anyway," Orenstein said while fiddling with the headphones, "Since we're missing the ceremony, I gotta run you two down on what the rest of today and tomorrow look like. So, I already mentioned dinner and bed once we're done here, and tomorrow, you're gonna be up bright and early for breakfast, followed by initiation." That was the second time I'd heard him mention an "initiation", and I wasn't any more clear on what that actually was. "So, what exactly is this 'initiation'?" I asked.
"Sorry, guy, can't spill the beans. Just be ready for it." Orenstein finally found the power on the headphones and turned them off, placing them back on the desk behind him. "Now, get comfy, you two. We got some time to kill."
The instructor pulled a book from seemingly out of nowhere and began to read. The ghost hand that was holding Shuichi down released its hold on him, and he looked like he was about to make a dive for his headphones before reconsidering, instead stomping over to the back of the classroom and taking a seat. Glaring in his general direction, I stayed at the front of the room on the opposite side from him, taking a seat and folding my arms in front of me to rest my head.
This has been one hell of a day. Hopefully not an omen of things to come, but then again, the next four years can't be as turbulent as today's been, right?
...Right?