Turning around, Kio sees a short, brunette girl standing behind him, with bright green eyes that were gleaming with curiosity. She had a cute button nose and was wearing a light blue dress that fit her well. The only problem with her was the large red flag that waved in the air above her head. On the flag was a picture of a porcupine that was being hit with a golf club. It seemed that the girl had thought that the porcupine would be better off dead when it had protected itself against her dog. Of course, the girl was only seven when she did it, but that didn't matter to Kio.
"Wait... there is an upstairs?" Toby asks as he looks back at his confused. After studying the map for a bit, realization dawns on his face.
"Haha, I'm taking that as a no, you haven't checked upstairs yet. My name is Catherine, but you can call me Catty for short. I'd be happy to show you the way to the stairs if you want," Catty says as she slings a backpack over her shoulder and motions toward the door.
"Sure, that'd be great, right Kio?" Toby asks as he turns to Kio who is trying not to snap the girl's neck right then and there. Forcing himself to look away from the image of Catty swinging a hole in one against a porcupine replaying itself on the red flag, Kio calms himself down enough to answer.
"Yeah, that would be awesome," Kio says as he looks away from Catty and stares at the floor, giving Toby the wrong impression.
'Oh, does Kio like this girl?' Toby thinks as a smile forms on his face. Picking up his backpack, Toby and Kio follow the girl out of the library and towards the flight of stairs she was talking about.
"So what are your powers, mine is speed, and I can run up to forty miles per hour at the moment, but only for a short period of time? My mom said that if I get better at it, I might be able to beat my dad, who can run as fast as two hundred miles per hour. He only finished two years at this academy though, and I plan on doing all four, so I can pass him and become one of the people that fight against the enemy," Catty says as she flashes over from one side of the boys to the other in a demonstration. No one paid much attention to her, because using their powers was permitted on Academy grounds, as long as they didn't use them against other people, or cause damage to the buildings.
"Oh man, that is so cool! I have the ability to clone myself, but at the moment I can only do it once, and the clone doesn't last for long. Kio here has the ability to camouflage himself to match his surroundings, and if he gets better he might be able to camouflage himself as other people. At least, that's what I think anyway," Toby says as he turns to Kio and looks at him curiously. "Will you be able to do that?"
"I've actually never thought that far ahead, and my parents died when I was still young, so I can't ask them," Kio says as he thinks about his camouflage power. Since he was changing how his body appeared to others, then why couldn't he change it to look like someone else. At the moment he could only change his appearance, but could he also increase his abilities power and be able to change how tall and fit he was. 'I'll have to ask Willa about that later. It might be helpful for me to know," Kio thinks as he turns his attention back to the conversation Toby and Catty were having.
"What class are you in?" Toby asks as he pulls out his sheet and shows it to Catty. Pulling her own out, Catty shows that she is in the class right next to them.
"I'm in class T-1, so are two classes should have practice battles against each other from time to time. You know what those are right?" Catty asks, but Toby shakes his head no, "Oh, well my dad told me about them. He said that since there are thirty-three classes this year it may be a bit different, but on most occasions, the two classes next to each other would group up for mock battles. At the end of the year, there will be a building-wide exam, and the class that scores the most points will be given a prize," Catty continues to talk about the things her dad had told her, but Kio had stopped listening as he had just found the perfect place to attack people.
The room they were walking through at the moment was close to the garden that Kio and Toby had passed earlier, and when he was looking around Kio noticed that there was a blind spot from the cameras in the area. If he wanted to, Kio could kill Catty right now, and the only person who would know he had done it would be Toby, but he decided to wait. Kio wanted to get more information on the powers of more people in the school before making a move.
'I wish there was a way to figure out what power everyone has in this school,' Kio thinks as the three of them reach the stairs and head up to the second floor. The second floor was much different than the first floor, as all that could be seen were large classrooms, that had dorms at the back of them. Students were already inside their classrooms, talking and getting to know one another. Walking down the hallway, Kio makes note of everyone he sees that is using their power at the moment.
"You know, there is actually another set of stairs that goes up to the roof, and I've heard that there are no cameras up there. A lot of people supposedly use it as a secret meeting spot to confess their love for each other under the stars. Oh, how I would like to be confessed to there," Catty sighs as a dreamy look crosses her face.
'Haha, I knew it. Kio definitely has at least some interest in Catty. I mean look at the way he is listening so intently right now,' Toby thinks as he notices that Kio has his undived attention focused on Catty.
'Hmm, an area with no cameras... That would also work as a great place to get rid of someone. Sadly, once someone dies from up there, the academy will probably shut the roof down. It'd be better if I could get two people at once when I use that plan,' Kio thinks as the group reaches the classrooms and part ways.
Walking into the classroom, Kio looks around the room and marks out everyone that has a red flag above their head. At the moment he only sees three, with one being above a boy with light blue hair, one being above a boy with dark red hair, and the last one being above a scrawny looking girl with glasses.
'So ten percent of the students in this class must die...' Kio thinks as he and Toby find seats and sit down next to each other. Being deep in thought, Kio doesn't realize someone is calling out to him until he feels a tap on his shoulder.
"Oi, did you not hear me? I told you to move, you're in my seat," A tall boy with white hair and colorless eyes says as he grabs Kio's shoulder and tries to shove him out of the seat. Unfortunately for him, Kio is a lot heavier than he looks as he has multiple spikes hidden in his body, that way twenty pounds each. If Kio was to step on a scale, it would weigh him at around three hundred and thirty pounds. However, when other people looked at him, Kio looked like he only weighed one hundred and thirty pounds.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Kio asks as he stands up and menacingly glares at the boy. The boy blinks for a second in confusion before backing down.
"No... I didn't say anything," The boy says as he turns around walks up to another student who is wearing glasses and reading a book.
"Damn, I can't believe you just stood up to Louis Clark. He is the heir of the Clark Empire, and his family is renowned for their power to tell the future. They say that Louis's father has the ability to see up to a month in advance, but it doesn't always happen as he foretells. I heard that Louis can manage to see ahead at least one day, but at the moment his visions are a lot hazier than his father," Toby says, catching Kio's interest with the information.
'Hmm, even though he isn't one of my targets, I might need to take him out before anyone else. His power might give me away if he sees me killing someone in his visions,' Kio thinks before turning back to look at Toby. "Do you know anyone else's power in this classroom?" Kio asks, planning on getting as much information out of Toby as possible.
"Not much, I know that the boy with blue hair's name is Forsin and his power is fire, and the boy with red hair is called Issac and his power is ice. It's a bit confusing at first, because of their hair color, but there was a huge fight between their two families a few years ago, and they made the news. I think it happened at a banquet that the Clark family was hosting, and someone mistook them for each other, because of the hair color. I'm not sure how accurate that part is though," Toby says as he looks around the room for anyone else he recognizes.
"Humans are truly idiots..." Kio mutters as he looks at the two boys, trying to figure out the best way to take care of them based on their powers. 'I need more information,' Kio thinks as he begins to study the other people in the room.
"Ahem, take your seats now," A deep voice says from the doorway as a young man walks in with a briefcase in his hand. As he sets it down on the desk at the front, all the students in the class find their seats and sit down. "That's better, now I don't have much to tell you, just that my name is Scott, and I am your teacher for the year. My ability is the power to control metal substances, and I attended all four years of this Academy. Tomorrow we will be starting on training, but today is just for you to get to know one another. Um... Yeah, that's all I have to tell you. Go ahead and put your stuff in your rooms, and then do whatever you want until dinner time," Scott says before sitting down in the chair behind the desk so he can answer any questions people have for him.
After a few awkward seconds, students begin to pick up their stuff and talk to one another again. Most of them head towards the dorms to check them out, but Kio notices that Louis is leaving the room and heading towards the stairs.
"Hey, where are you going?" Toby asks as he notices that Kio is standing up and leaving the room as well. Turning around Kio tries to think of something that he could use as an alibi when the teachers find Louis's body.
"Um... I'm heading to the library, I think I forgot something there," Kio says before dashing out of the room and after Louis. When he is sure no one is looking at him, Kio activates his camouflage and fades away into his surroundings. Quietly stalking the first person who will be his prey down the hallway.