Back in the New York of Midgard, Mukuro Tucker was once again falling asleep on his desk. His classroom was empty, and he finally found a moment of silence to himself to exist in peace, free of all the troubles of his routine.
And so, his head slammed down onto the wood, exploding out a clatter. Neither the sound nor the impact woke him, leaving him to sleep in still silence.
Until his door was swung open.
In an instant, he was brought to awake into alertness, only to ease his heart as he set his eyes on the most lovely woman he had ever seen. Sophia Tucker, a woman famed for her strength and the position of Paladin it brought. Although to him, all of that was meaningless compared to what she was to him. His wife.
Now relieved, he smiled at her and let his head fall onto the desk once again.
Sophia Tucker couldn't help but smile at her resting husband. She was a beautiful woman, with verdant eyes and golden blonde hair in a bob cut, and while she normally appeared on television and on the news wearing some sort of battle armor, now she only wore plain and simple clothes.
Her sweet voice uttered, "You're so cute when you're asleep."
"Sophia..." he groaned out as he now found himself unable to shut his eyes. "I'm a grown man, you shouldn't be calling me cute."
"That fact that you think like that makes you even cuter!" she giggled, throwing herself onto his still-resting body. She took in a deep breath of his head of black hair and smiled. "What made you tired today, Mu?"
Mukuro groaned once again. Sophia stood back and gave him some space while he finally brought himself to sit up. He locked eyes with her again and explained. "I had to tell the students about the inter-branch competition. Well, most of them about the battles but I still had to inform them directly. Then everyone got into a loud argument about who should participate in the stage of the group battle."
Sophia smiled. "Obviously. That's what everyone wants to participate in!" she exclaimed as she thought back on her own memories of the event. "Sure, they don't make such a big deal out of it nowadays, but back in my day, it was like the whole world was watching!"
"...You're still a bit too young to use the phrase 'back in my day' though."
A sigh left her lips. To change the subject of aging, she spoke again. "Speaking of the competition, I saw some kids from Houston when I got here. I didn't see any of the teachers, but they're probably here anyway."
"You're kidding, right?" Mukuro responded.
"Nope."
Mukuro immediately got up and reached for his phone. "Then those teachers are definitely here, and that's not good. Go lock the door."
"Huh? Why? It's not like we're in danger," she said with a chuckle.
He nodded as he dialed numbers and raised the telephone to his head. "But it's even worse. They're annoying."
Sophia Tucker was quick to understand. She reached for the open door but at that same second, a man came from nowhere with a grand smile full of fake, metallic teeth. Gold and silver were scattered over his ivory grin as he held the door open for himself and stared at Sophia.
"This is Tucker's class, ain't it?" the man asked.
The next sound to be heard was a loud groan from Mukuro's lips. "Goddammit," he muttered out.
"Mukuro Tucker! How are ya, man?!" the man cried out as he turned to the side and met his fellow teacher with his wide grin. He rushed over to Mukuro with Sophia following behind him after shutting the door. She kept herself quiet in confusion of what was to come.
And now, Mukuro took in a deep breath and summoned his strength in order to look the man named Ulysses Frasier in the eye. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Ulysses Frasier was a tall, pale man dressed in a tank top and black jeans. He may have been skinny, but the muscle that remained on his body proved his strength.
Between his plated teeth and buzz cut, he looked nothing like what one would imagine when thinking of a teacher, but his intelligence and magical skills made him more than qualified for his position. And for that, Mukuro couldn't help but have a slight margin of respect for Ulysses despite the troubles he brought with him in each meeting.
"Me and my class are just taking a field trip to prepare for the coming events," he told Mukuro as he sat down in front of him. "They're strong kids, so they have to see the world to grow."
Mukuro ran his fingers through his pitch-black hair and stared. "My students, by contrast, choose to fight the world. Can you leave us alone now?"
"Ah, right!" Ulysses laughed, turning and meeting Sophia with his gaze once again. "You two are lovers!"
"We're married," Sophia told him, her back pressed against the blackboard and her arms crossed over her chest.
He laughed again. "I forgot Paladins could get married! Well, that's good for you, Mukuro! You have a whole Paladin as your personal bodyguard. Guess I shouldn't let insults fly or anything!"
This time, it was a sigh that Mukuro exhaled. "I believe I asked you a question. On whether or not you could disappear as easily as you appeared."
Another laugh. "Right, right, right, well... I came here because I just wanted to let you know that, uh... Saying it simply, Keith Miller will be participating in this year's branch royale."
Mukuro's eyes widened. "You're lying. Only first-year students can participate in that, and he's a third-year."
Ulysses smiled. "We submitted an application to the school board to let him play this year. For educational purposes, of course. They accepted it, making him the first exception of his kind in the school battles."
A shudder ran down Mukuro's spine as thin beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. Keith Miller was a student known only to him by a grave reputation. That of a monster's.
Mukuro knew what his students were capable of, he knew the extent of their strength. Alexander Lane, for example, was a Demon-Born. 75 percent human and capable of things Mukuro wouldn't have dreamt of.
But from what he had heard of this Kieth Miller, not even Alexander would be able to stop him. Hell, Keith would probably end up killing some random weakling from the San Franciso Branch on accident.
He swallowed his dry saliva.
"Keith is a very talented fighter and magician, as you know. So naturally, he's very interested in a challenge and very interested in the talented students you have here. Like that Devil."
Mukuro clenched his jaw. "Don't call him that."
Ulysses grinned that same toothy grin from before, letting his silver and gold teeth glimmer in the incoming sunlight from the window. "I apologize. The Demon-Born, Alexander Lane. I hear he's strong. But that reputation only comes from killing demons, right? His own kind."
He spat out a breath and stood up. With his lips still spread apart with his curling smile, he extended and raised his arm at the seated Mukuro. "Y'see that?" he chuckled out. "The hairs on my arm are standing up. And y'know why?" He retracted his arm.
"Excitement."
That was what he whispered out. "I'm imagining the battle in my head right now," he said as he sat back down and raised his boots onto Mukuro's desk. "I'll tell you what, it'll be one to remember. I'm just hoping your students don't turn out to be push-overs."
Mukuro stared. "Feet off the desk."
Ulysses Frasier did as told for once and lowered his feet. Once again he brought himself to his feet and looked down at his fellow teacher. "Ya gotta keep in mind; none of this is personal for me. It's entertainment. I made sure my students can entertain you with their abilities, and I'm only praying you did the same."
He clicked his teeth as he nodded and winked at Sophia. "Mister and Missus Tucker, I hope the rest of your day is swell."
And just like his unexpected and unsettling appearance, Ulysses walked away with silence in his footsteps.
- - - - -
Gabriel and Anastasia were walking to the vending machine.
They walked in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts and ideas of the coming competition.
A plan was necessary, to say the least. They were in the middle of a war, silently waiting for the next battle, but up until then, this was the largest conflict they would deal with. This was what they could focus on, distract themselves with.
Still, they stopped in their tracks as they noticed the other pair of people standing nearby the machine. The first, a plain-looking girl with long, brown hair. And the second, a tall, heavily muscular young man. He wore a tight shirt that defined his muscles and cargo shorts that reached his knees. They were both tanned, as if they had spent hours each day in the sun.
The tall boy pulled a soda can from the machine and began to drink without noticing Gabriel and Anastasia. After he took a single gulp, he spoke. "I'm looking for a Hispanic-looking kid who doesn't have a Hispanic-sounding name."
Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows. "Huh?"
He finally turned his head to them. "Alexander Lane. I know he's a New York student. You know him?"
Before either of them could respond, he went back to gulping down his soda with each passing second. And Anastasia began to understand. "You're from the Houston branch, aren't you?"
In a matter of seconds, the can was empty. He brought it down from his lips and stared at the bright red metal. With a smile, he crushed the soda can in his palm. "Ya got that right," he said facing them again. "And it's not just us. We got all the kids chosen to participate in the school battle are already here, scouting out the area." His smile widened as his eyes met Gabriel's. "And finding out who our most dangerous opponents are."
Gabriel couldn't help but smile. He had finally reached enough strength to be noted around the continent and by the Association. The Houston branch itself of the North American Academy had their eyes peeled on him.
Or so he thought, until Keith shrugged. "We haven't found who we're looking for yet, though," he said as he let out a sigh.
Gabriel's smile disappeared instantly.
"So I'm gonna ask you two again. Where is Alexander Lane?"
The girl beside Keith laughed. "You're a bit too excited, aren't you, Keith?" she asked, her giggle immediately shattering the dense facade of tension between the two boys. She looked up and stared at him, saying, "You seem to be forgetting who he is. A Demon-Born. Whatever he did, it doesn't matter."
"Well, yeah, Dolores, but I know he's strong. He killed one of the Princes of Hell. He got on the news for that."
She looked down, letting her gaze fall to Gabriel and Anastasia. "It must be terrible being in the same classes as him, right?" she asked them. "A filthy, vile pretend-human is calling himself a magician amongst you..." She shuddered to herself.
"I'm just thankful we don't have any of his kind in Houston."
Anastasia grit her teeth. Enraged, she still plastered a smile onto her face and broke past any feeling and any thought that told her to smack that girl Dolores right where she stood. But in the end, there wasn't a need to break into a fight just because of an insult. Alexander himself would've laughed in the face of those words, anyway.
"You have a real punchable face, you know that?" Anastasia uttered.
The girl laughed immediately.
Anastasia pressed her lips shut. She hadn't intended on saying that aloud, but those words simply slipped from her mouth.
"Relax, girl. I'm not here to fight you. I know you only think I'm punchable because I'm more beautiful than you. And that's okay. I'm sure you have a great personality."
Anastasia desperately wanted to be the bigger person. But there was literally no reason to. In fact, everything in her mind of reason was pushing her to fight, to teach this girl a lesson.
Keith cleared his throat. "On that note..." he uttered. "I, on the other hand, am here to fight."
"Huh?" Gabriel and Anastasia said in unison.
"I can't help it," Keith told them as he began to stretch. "I'm a fighter. And I have the feeling you are, too."
"You don't even know me, dude. And I don't know you."
Keith smirked. "I don't have to know you. I'm Keith Miller, 19 years old. Houston Academy, Year 3. Now that you know me, the introduction's over. Get ready to fight," he told Gabriel as he clenched his fists and raised them.
"No, I think I'm good."
"Wait, huh?" Keith asked, dropping his arms and letting them flop at his sides.
Gabriel crossed his arms. "If you wanna fight me, you'll have to wait until the battle to get your ass kicked."
Keith's lips remained curled in his smile as he slowly nodded. Right now, he invested every single fiber of feeling into hope- the hopes that Gabriel could back that statement up.
And so, he took in a deep breath and brought up a new question.
"What is your dream in life?"
Gabriel spat out a sigh. "Dream?"
"You know, ambition. You're here at school working towards something you want. What is it?"
Gabriel paused. He knew what it was, but... What would saying it right now prove to anyone?
"Don't be shy."
Another sigh left his lips. "I want to become a Paladin. I want to become strong enough to surpass my uncle Charles."
Keith closed his eyes and began to think. That's what it looked like, at least.
Meanwhile, the girl finally spoke to Gabriel as she let out a gasp from her rosy lips. "Paladin? Charles? Don't tell me your uncle is Charles Archibald!"
From there Gabriel couldn't help but smile. "He is," he said with pride, the corners of his lips curling into a smirk as he spoke. "And like I said... I'm gonna surpass him."
Dolores turned to Keith and started smacking him on his muscular arms. "Don't you see what this means, Keith? This kid is the Gabriel Archibald!"
"Shut up, Dolores, I'm thinking."
Just a second later, Keith opened his eyes. His large, green eyes laid their gaze upon Gabriel and only Gabriel. "Well, well, well..." he spat out. "You're as boring as I expected. Not worthy."
"Huh?" Gabriel asked again.
"Not worthy," he repeated.
Keith disappeared into the air and became a blur. The next thing in Gabriel's line of sight was a single closed fist.
'Goddammit.'
Gabriel's forearms flew up to block his face from the incoming strike.
It didn't work. Keith's fist crashed into Gabriel's own hands and knocked him off the ground and into the air.
Gabriel's body didn't stop flying until he caught himself, wrapping himself in wind and magic and bringing himself down back to the ground. If it wasn't for his wind magic he would've crashed into the brick building behind him.
He spat out a heavy breath.
"The fuck are you doing?!" Gabriel shouted out, wincing at the trembling pain that ran through his hands and forearms.
"I told you. You're not worthy."
"What does that even mean?!" Gabriel asked as Keith began to take slow steps towards him.
"Your dream is shit. That means your ideals and values are shit. That makes you, as a person, shit. And when it comes to shit people, you could just say I'm not interested at all. So I'm gonna beat you for wasting my time."
Gabriel couldn't fight his lips from curling into a smile. "You're gonna beat me for wasting your time? You got quite the pair of balls on you, asshole. Stay out of this, Anastasia."
Anastasia's eyes shifted to him. For the past ten seconds, she had her wand aimed at Keith, her magic aimed at Keith. And with it, a condensed orb of lightning ready to release at the speed of light, all aimed at Keith.
"I'll handle this guy on my own. And I'll make sure he understands who's unworthy between us two."
Dolores approached Anastasia and gripped her wrist, lowering her wand as Anastasia called back her magic. "Let the boys have their fun. The two of us can just talk, instead," she said with a seemingly-kind smile.
"That's me being merciful. Something that Kieth isn't."
At the same time, Gabriel's ice-blue eyes glared as the sun glimmered in his vision, as he stared at the hulking figure that approached him with slow, small steps. He forced himself to keep his cool and summoned wind itself into his surroundings, wrapping the small field in his magic.
Gabriel brought his hands together, only letting them touch at his fingertips. 'He's a close ranged fighter,' he told himself, bringing himself to analyze Keith and every fiber of his being. The strength of his muscles, the power of his magic, his breathing, even his gait. 'I need to keep my distance to limit his strengths. By now, he knows I have wind magic, but I'll just surprise him with water. Distance and water... That seems like the key to winning right now.'
Those were the thoughts that echoed in his head.
But before the next thought formed... Keith's hands traced along the ground behind Gabriel. In an instant, he had crossed the gap of ten meters and brought his momentum to zero just to grab Gabriel by the waist.
The pace of Gabriel's thoughts increased. 'He's even faster than before?!'
Keith's arms were already wrapped around Gabriel. He lifted Gabriel off the ground and a foot and a half into the air. "Wow. Your body's even weaker than I expected."
He crashed himself backward and slammed Gabriel into the stone ground, letting the stone erupt and explode with the impact of the blond boy's head.
Gabriel grit his teeth and broke past Keith's grip, flipping up into the air and landing himself down. Blood already cascaded down the center of his forehead, the light river of red dripping down and splitting down his face as it reached his nose.
He forced his head up to find his opponent. But again, Kieth Miller was just a blur.
Keith Miller. He was faster than Liam and stronger than Alexander. And this was all through pure physicality. No spells, no affinity, no tools. Just the trained muscles of the body and the trained mind of magic.
That blur transformed into a familiar fist that exploded the air around Gabriel and pummelled into his forehead yet again.
For just a second, Gabriel lost consciousness. And in that second, he fell back. In the next, he came to, and even while his body began to crash down, he brought his head back up just to look Keith in the eyes.
Keith was smiling, grinning as he extended his palm with a rapid fury and gripped Gabriel's face, just to slam his head into the ground. "You're boring," Kieth told him.
Even through the blood and the pain and the dirt, Gabriel's eyes remained focused on Keith. He bit down on Keith's hand in the struggle. All he could spit out, all he could utter was a simple, hoarse "Screw you."
Keith's grip tightened. "So you're not broken yet, huh?"