Shizuo rummaged through his black backpack that sat atop his desk, making a last minute check to make sure he had everything he needed for his first day back. Even though he didn't expect much work to be done in class, he had set aside an array of spare writing utensils and supplies, partially in preparation for the eventual event that a friend or acquaintance forgot some. It always happened. Seeing as all was set, Shizuo popped an aPod, a small, wireless in-ear headphone made by Arrow Inc, into his left ear and started his walk to class. Some of his friends had met up for breakfast, but Shizuo decided not to join today. During the school year, going to breakfast before class was situational for Shizuo, like if he wanted to study for a test with friends or discuss something important with them. Otherwise, the majority of students ate their "breakfast" at their first break after second period, which wasn't too long of a wait for food. Light snacks usually held Shizuo over between classes, to which he almost always brought extra to share with friends.
As Shizuo approached his first class, a small group of students stood outside of it, making it apparent their professor had yet to arrive. Keita and Kane stood besides each other on the opposite side of the hall from the door. Knowing the two, few words were probably exchanged, so Shizuo decided to join them, despite being acquainted with the other students present.
"Yo! What's up, guys?" Shizuo said as he approached the two. Kane, whose arms were crossed, raised two of his claws, that would be recognized as his index and middle fingers if he had them, to acknowledge Shizuo's approach.
"Hey," Kane replied shortly. Keita wordlessly acknowledged Shizuo with a slight head nod and eye contact.
"No breakfast with the others for you guys?" Shizuo asked, gripping the left strap of his bag with his left hand and leaning to the right, pocketing his other hand.
"Nah, wasn't too hungry," Kane said lowly, "They serve the good stuff at break anyways."
"True, true," Shizuo let out a light chuckle, "So you guys excited for CL-9 this year? I'm looking forward to all the new missions we can finally take."
"Same," Kane replied, "Time to finally do some real stuff at this school. Or so I hope."
Keita looked past Shizuo and at the door of the classroom, his many thoughts swirling as they often did, "I agree. I've long since grown weary of playing fetch or exterminator of pesky monsters for forgetful and weak humans."
"Yeah. What he said," Kane added.
Shizuo, who was used to Keita's dissenting outlook on matters, just shook his head with a grin, "That's definitely one way to look at it. What are you trying to do anyways, kill a dragon or something?"
"A dragon would be nice, but most of them have already been hunted to extinction on Earth as it is," Keita commented, "Besides, it would almost be a shame to be the ender of such a beast. Any who have survived thus far have my respect, in the least."
Shizuo's grin eased into a light smile, "I can second that, man."
"What's good guys?!" Riku's familiar voice echoed down the hall. Students turned to see Riku, who was well-known throughout the school as a member of the wrestling and track teams, but turned away as he made it apparent he was talking to Shizuo. Shizuo, though mostly known throughout the school for his general charisma and involvement in ASB, was also on the swim team. After being taken in by his father to be raised in Southern California, he quickly grew to love water in all of its forms, despite being a manipulator of fire.
Riku was accompanied by the rest of Shizuo's close friends, girlfriend, and his sister, who had luckily managed to slip into their CL-9 class over the other. Shizuo turned to and welcomed Riku with a bro handshake, glad to see the rest of his friends arrive.
"Professor Cloud was right behind us, so let's make sure we get good seats!" Riku stepped back to look at the rest of the group that had formed a circle in the middle of the hall, "Where are you guys trying to sit?"
Keita, Kane, and Falen all simultaneously responded with, "The back."
The rest of the group laughed lightly at the three's reply.
"Why am I not surprised," Iris said with a joking eye roll, "You three are always so gloomy!"
"How about this as a compromise?" Shizuo spoke up, seeing a conflict in interest rising, "We can claim the back corner next to the window. Those who want to sit in the back can while the rest of us fill in the seats in front of them."
Faith skipped up to Shizuo and hugged his side, "Oh you're so smart, Shizuo! I love it!"
Shizuo wrapped his arm around his girlfriend and pulled her in tight, "Well I am a genius," he said with a quick wink down to her. Faith tip toed and planted a peck on his lips before resting her head on his shoulder. The group of students moved out of the way as Professor Cloud made his way to the door of the classroom, unlocking it with his staff ID card.
Professor Cloud, a younger teacher in his late twenties, was an alumni of the GATE Academy himself. With long and layered naturally gray hair, he stood tall at six-foot, three-inches, with deep blue eyes that carried more experience than one of his age would appear. His demeanor was relaxed and easy-going, but a stricter side to him would show in his encouragement and belief in his students, unafraid to be realistic and honest with them.
"Excuse me," he said politely as he opened the door to the class.
Shizuo and friends were quick to follow in hopes of securing their seats like they had planned. To their luck, they were able to. Professor Cloud approached the large whiteboard at the front of the class, which was really a touchscreen display, and began to write his name with a soft-tipped stylus that acted as a marker. As the rest of the students filed in to find their seats, Shizuo and friends had already made themselves at home back near the window. The desks were configured in four rows with seven seats each. From the window in the second row sat Iris, Faith, then Opal; the third, Keita, Shizuo, and Riku; and in the last, Kane, Falen, and Mizu. A seating chart was not to be put in place for the class, so the friends would switch it up every now and then, but for the most part, this is what they stuck with.
"Good morning class, my name is, as you should know by now, Professor Cloud," the gray-haired adult addressed his students.
"It seems we have a good bit of juniors in this class this year, so that's promising. But to all, congrats on making it into Combat Level 9. With high hopes, I pray you seniors can test into CL-10 at the semester mark, though, much more will be required of you if you wish to make it into the highest prestige amongst students here at GATE."
"Before I let you all introduce yourselves, allow me to let you in on a little bit about me," Professor Cloud stepped to the side to allow his name to be seen more clearly and inhaled slowly. He looked up at his name with an air of solemnity before returning his gaze to the class.
"I'll spare the fun details for now, but don't worry, I usually let them slip later on in the year," he said with a light chuckle, "My name is Kaleo Cloud, but I was born Kaleb Christiansen. I spent my earliest years in the farmlands of Northern California, but due to a series of events, I spent the remainder of my childhood in Hell, taken good care of by a demon who I will leave unnamed for now. I know there are a few units of Hell's history taught in History III, so you seniors might know who, but I wouldn't want to spoil it for our juniors here."
The class whispered between themselves, clearly speculating on who he might've been referencing, but Professor Cloud carried on.
"After spending some time in Hell, I enrolled to this very academy, where I graduated valedictorian and met my current fiancé. Anything other than that, you'll have to find out yourself, or like I said, I might share later. Now, I'll go ahead and call out roll and we can hear a bit about you guys now. I don't really care what you share, just please use your discretion. I don't have any plans for the day, other than hand out the syllabus, but I'll pass them out during your introductions and you can ask about them if you have any questions after. We'll go over them in depth tomorrow, but you guys have seen a million of them by now, so you should know what to expect."
Professor Cloud grabbed a stack of papers from his desk and handed it out to the student who sat in the front row, closest to the door, to take one and pass on. He returned to his desk in the corner near the window, besides the board, and sat down, peeking down at the roll sheet he had sitting there.
"It looks like the first up is... there's a familiar name, Shizuo Akiro!"
Shizuo grinned as he stood up, his spot in the room allowing him to see most of the class without having to turn much.
"Hey guys, I'd be surprised if you didn't know me by now, but I'm Shizuo Akiro! Junior class president, student council, Swim, and a bunch of other stuff. I was born in Japan, but moved to LA after my father, who you guys probably already know is Elias Atwood of Arrow Inc, took me back to raise. I control fire, can shape shift, and have the power of super strength. I spend most of my time on missions or hanging out with my friends, but if you catch me around, I'd be more than happy to hang!"
A light round of applause and cheers rose from the class as Shizuo took his seat, Professor Cloud announcing Falen Asami to be next. With a subtle "Damn," Falen rose from her seat and scanned the class from her seat at the back.
"My name is Falen Asami and I am a junior here at GATE. I'm not going to bother explaining my powers to you in depth, but I can basically make weapons appear from thin air and am probably faster and stronger than you."
Keeping it brief, Falen sat back down before Opal was called next. Opal stood up and looked around the class, smiling politely. It was clear to Shizuo that she didn't want to do this, but was making an effort to appear nice at least.
"Hey, I'm Opal Atwood, daughter of Elias Atwood, which means this guy's my half-brother, unfortunately," she pointed a thumb back at Shizuo with a half laugh shared by some in the class, "Raised in LA, I have control over water, ice, and energy. I'm a transfer junior from STAT, but I'm looking forward to being here!"
As Iris' name was called she rose cheerily and smiled brightly to her classmates.
"Hey guys! I'm Iris Canter and I'm a Blackblood werewolf. You probably don't know what that is, but that's alright! I can control plants, darkness, and some extra stuff with the Blackblood. I spend a lot of time with my friends out shopping and being outdoors as much as I can. Oh, and I'm also a junior here!"
When Riku rose, some of those who were on sports team cheered and hollered, knowing him to deserve the hype.
"What's up, guys? Riku Deleon, Miami born and raised! Wrestling, Track, and student council. I can control earth, like rocks and shit, oops," Riku looked to Professor Cloud apologetically, who just gave him a nod with a small grin, "Uhh, metal, and I've got super speed. I hang with these two a lot," he gestured back to Shizuo and Keita with his head, "but if you catch me around, we can totally kick it!"
Riku began to sit down, but stood right back up, "Oh! And if I haven't invited you already, I'm throwing a party this weekend to kick off this year, so consider yourself invited! Hit me up after for the 'deats!'"
Some of the class picked back up their hollers as he sat down for good this time. After a few students, Kane was called for his introduction. Instead of standing, he remained seated, raising his right claw from the corner of the room.
"Kane Korosu," he said, all eyes on him now. He glared back at the class adversely, "I can make portals and bite hard... and I have claws for hands so... yeah."
The room was silent following Kane's short intro, to which Keita being called next didn't help. Unlike Kane, Keita decided to stand while giving his introduction, though was short with his as well.
"Koto-Keita, just Keita will suffice. I am a demon with control over lightning and wind..." the seniors of the class, who had learned briefly about noble lines of demons in their history class the year prior, exchanged words quietly. Keita caught on to this and addressed it.
"Yes, I hail from the Koto demon nobles of Ventus."
With the addition, Keita took his seat. Keita didn't like to discuss his royal blood with those that are not involved or close to him, but in the moment, he decided to clear the air to ward off any unwanted speculation. He knew that whatever they had learned in class would not have included anything recent, so it was unlikely they would be aware of his short claim to the throne.
Faith was called next and brought back a lighter air with her introduction. She turned back to Shizuo before standing and tapped on his desk excitedly with a bright smile, flashing it to the class as she began to speak.
"What's up, guys? My name is Faith Kurona and I'm a witch with more than just a few tricks up my sleeve! I was born in the Demon Kingdom of Hikuya, but made my move freshman year and have been here ever since, where I've met my amaazing friends and boyfriend!"
Shizuo chuckled as Faith reached a hand down to him, which he grabbed and rubbed as she addressed the class.
"I'll be at the party this weekend, so we could totally catch up if you show up!"
After Faith sat back down, still holding hands with Shizuo, Professor Cloud cleared his throat and spoke to the class.
"I'm not going to pretend that I didn't hear anything about a party this weekend, but for all intents and purpose, if there WERE to be one, I would simply say be safe and have fun." The teacher leaned back in his chair and crossed his arm, a light smirk across his face, "Anyways, continuing on with these..."
Mizu was the last to be called from the group of friends and fixed the collar of his white button-up shirt before rising. His eyes were closed at first as he took in a deep breath to calm his nerves. He was anxious when it came to talking to strangers, but with his friends around, he was luckily eased a bit.
"Good morning, fellow CL-9 classmates. My name is Mizu Zangetsu and I am from Japan, having been raised in a hidden water temple in the mountains. The location of said temple will remain secret, as I would not want to compromise its integrity, however, it was a beautiful establishment where I learned to harness and control water in all of its forms. I participate in student council occasionally to provide feedback for the school, as well as the swim team, though, that does not start up until spring, so until-"
Falen tugged on the back of Mizu's shirt discreetly so the rest of the class could not see. Mizu got the hint and wrapped up his introduction.
"Uhm... it's a pleasure to be in the same class as everyone here. Thank you for your time and I hope to have a good year learning with you all!"
Mizu bowed his snow white head and promptly seated himself. Mizu scratched the back of his and apologized to Falen for oversharing.
"It's ok, babe. You're still a bit nervous when you speak, but in time, I'm sure you'll get over it," Falen reassured.
"Yeah... hopefully..." he trailed off, clenching his jaws and staring down at his desk.
Kane, who could overhear the couple's brief exchange from a seat over, joined in on comforting Mizu.
"If it makes you feel any better, just imagine everyone as scared rabbits trying to not be eaten. Very empowering."
Mizu, who was used to Kane's dark comments, just nodded his head nervously, "Uh... yeah, maybe I'll... maybe I'll try that some time, Kane."
Kane half smirked as he turned his head back to Professor Cloud, who had rose from his seat to address the class. There wasn't much time left in class, so the remainder of it was spent answering questions on the syllabus from some confused students. Professor Cloud did his best to answer questions, but redirected most of them, reminding them that they'd go over it in its entirety tomorrow. The school's chimes went off, signaling the end of the period, to which Professor Cloud gave his closing words to the class for the day.
"It was a pleasure getting to hear from you all today, I hope you enjoy the rest of your days and I'll see you tomorrow."
With his kind words, the class was dismissed and carried on with the rest of their day of new classes. Shizuo went his way from his friends, as he had AP Calculus next without any of them. They had all decided to meet up at break in the cafeteria, which came quick after just one period of them splitting. Shizuo was last to arrive at the large, circular table that his friends had found. Shizuo grabbed some yogurt and a smoothie before taking a seat next to his sister, who was mid conversation with the other girls. When there was a break in the conversation, Opal turned to greet Shizuo.
"Hey Shizuo! What took you so long?" she asked.
Shizuo slung his backpack off his shoulders and let it slip to the floor after setting his snacks down, "My professor wanted to go over the syllabus today and didn't let us leave until he was done... if you guys get the choice, I don't recommend Profess- I mean, Dr. Strait. He's... just so dry, man..."
"Noted. I have him for fourth period." Keita added from across the table.
"Ok, but like, would that even bother you?" Iris added from the other side of Opal, "Let's be honest!"
The group watched Keita as he formulated his response, to which he just blinked looked to the side. A light laugh shared by most of the group rose at his reaction. Riku, who sat next to Keita, spoke up to Shizuo.
"Hey, I met Ake, one of your mentees, today! We've got pretty much all the same classes, pretty crazy, huh?"
Shizuo began opening his yogurts as he watched Riku, "Yeah, that actually is. How is he? He doing alright?"
Riku nodded with a grin, "Yeah, a little shy guy, but he's alright in my book."
"And what book would that be, exactly?" Opal teased from besides her brother.
Riku just shook his head with a short laugh, "You know what I'm talking about, shut up!"
Faith, who sat between Iris and Riku, gasped in mock surprise and looked up at Shizuo, "Shizuo! You're not going to let Riku talk to your sister like that, are you?"
Shizuo shook his head with a small smirk, "You guys are unbelievable..."
The group went on with the rest of their days, sharing more classes together later on to their delight. They had collectively shared their schedules already in their group chat, so it wasn't much of a surprise to any of them when the time came. Having a few of each other around in their classes made for an easier transition into this new year, and what a year it would turn out to be.