The sounds of children screaming reverberates around the training hall.
"The basics must be drilled into your body so that they can become the pillars of your strength. Without the basics, you will be doing nothing but wasting energy on a losing fight."
—
At school dismissal…
"Mr. Buenavista," Ethan calls after Ryan puts Lily in the car. "Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?" Lucario probes, crossing his arms to the child in front of him.
"Teach… teach me as well," Ethan stutters, trying not to stumble over his words. "Lily told me that you are teaching her martial arts. Can you teach me as well?"
"And why should I teach you?" Lucario continues to grill. "As far as I'm aware, your role is to protect my daughter from bullies and keep her happy. Why should I waste my time teaching you?"
Stepping forward, Ethan fills himself with courage. "I plan on being friends with Lily for as long as possible. I want to learn to fight to better protect her from bullies when we get older. Plus, it will give me a chance to relay any information I have regarding Jeremy and any other person you request of me to monitor without it looking suspicious."
Intrigued, Lucario wonders if Ethan is aware of what he went through when he was a baby. Having Ethan at the house will let him observe him better. Plus, he will be able to be Lily's sparring partner since there isn't anyone at the estate for her to properly practice with. On the other hand, his newly forming fatherly side doesn't want a boy around her all of the time.
"Fine," Lucario agrees, opening the door for him. "I'll inform your mother about this when we get to the estate. I'll have one of my men bring you back to the school after training is over. You still have to do your job of watching that Jeremy kid."
"Thank you, Mr. Buenavista," Ethan graciously replies after he's able to finally take a breath from the intense gaze he was receiving.
"What's going on, Daddy?" Lily asks, noticing that the door is open.
Lucario gestures for Ethan to get inside the car then turns to Lily. "Ethan will be joining you during your training times. He will be your sparring partner once we begin practice matches."
"Really?!" Hopping in her seat with glee, Lily quickly scoots over then pats the seat next to her. "You can sit next to me, Ethan! I'm so happy that you can join me."
Gently smiling, Ethan carefully crawls inside of the car and takes his seat next to Lily. "I'm glad we can still hang out after school."
—
Gritting her teeth, Lily toughs through the arduously repetitive moves. She wants to become stronger. She admires her father who was able to fight all of those people when she got kidnapped and still had enough strength to free her. She acknowledges the limits that her small body puts on her. Even so, she wants to become strong. She wants to be able to save someone, to protect someone, as well as her father has done.
Thirty minutes into the training, Lucario claps his hands. "Let's take a five minute break. Wipe yourself off with a towel and drink some water."
"Lu-Lucario, are you sure you aren't pushing them so hard?" Billy hesitantly asks as he watches the two children breathing so incredibly heavy as if they had just ran a marathon. "Shouldn't you have started with something easier and slowly increased it rather than ramming straight into high intensity?"
"Do you think I want to do this?" Lucario complains through his teeth. "I wanted Lily to grow up nicely. Not become like me and lose her childhood for the sake of getting stronger."
"I don't think she will become exactly like you," Billy comments, pointing at the two laughing children on the bench. "Despite being so worn out, they seem to be enduring it well since they are together. You were alone when you did this, but Lily isn't. She has someone to share her pain with in order to stay the happy child she is."
Witnessing his daughter smiling with joy while being covered in sweat, Lucario scratches the back of his head. This is all still very new to him. He's only had Lily for about a month now. Before that, he's never had any experience with children. He doesn't understand relationships between friends well because despite being close with Billy, Lucario was never able to joke and play with him like a normal kid. Happiness is something that Lucario's only known for a month.
"Let's get started again," Lucario commands while heading back to the center of the training hall.
"Okay," the two kids comply, hopping off of the bench and over to the man in the middle.
—
After training, Lucario tells Ethan to come to his office after he washes up. He still has his clothes from when he was a child, so he lends them to Ethan. Once Ethan arrives at the office, he is greeted with a seriousness that he hasn't experienced before. The feeling is almost like if he is watching a lion locking its eyes on him without even moving.
"Have a seat," Lucario says, breaking the silence and gesturing to the seats around the table in front of his desk.
Doing as he is told, Ethan sits down at one of the chairs that surrounds the coffee table, so Lucario takes the seat directly across from him.
"I spoke with your mother while you were washing up," Lucario starts while crossing his legs and setting his hands in his lap. "She says that you training here with Lily is fine with her since your mother and I have established a working trust with each other. She has even asked if you could stay here on the weekends so that you wouldn't be so lonely at the academy by yourself. I get the final say; however, your opinion on this matter is still needed. So let's start our conversation with that. I will make my decision after you tell me what you think about staying here on the weekends."
Surprised by the suggestion, Ethan looks down at his hands as they fumble with each other. "I don't want to overstay my welcome. I know that, just like every other father, you don't want a boy around your daughter. You only agreed to let me stay next to her as a means of protection. However…"
"Spit it out, child," Lucario demands.
"I would like it if I could stay here on the weekends. I know that I have my task of watching Jeremy, but I don't like the thought of not being able to see Lily on the weekends."
Lucario's eyes narrow as they hone in on the boy who can't stop fidgeting with his fingers. "If I let you stay here, you won't stay here for free. How can you truly convince me to let a random kid stay in my house?"
Pressured with the sudden question, Ethan doesn't want to lose his chance at being able to stay by Lily's side. Ethan jumps up from the chair and slams his hands on the coffee table, genuinely shocking Lucario. "I'll become one of your men! I'll become a loyal subordinate of the Buenavista Family! On the weekends I stay here, you can put me through the training needed to become a member of your organization so that I can serve Lily when she gets older and takes over!"
In disbelief, Lucario can't help but laugh. "You? Become a subordinate of the Buenavista Family? I don't think your mother will agree to that."
"Mom will agree to it! She agrees with everything I ask for since I rarely ask for things."
Lucario rubs his chin as he contemplates what he has been offered. He wants to ask more regarding why that was his first thought, but there are other things that need to be discussed, so he pushes it to the side for now.
"I will discuss this matter with your mother before the weekend to get her thoughts on it. The son of the National Security Chairwoman wanting to become a subordinate of the Buenavista Family in order to stay with the heiress will surely not look well to other people." Lucario takes a breath then swiftly moves on. "This isn't really anything of a discussion, but more of something I'm curious about. What is the earliest memory you have?"
Ethan freezes as soon as he hears the question, and Lucario notices this. Ethan slowly sits back down and resumes fiddling with his fingers. "I remember a lot of bright lights and a lot of people around me. It was really noisy, but I couldn't make out what anyone was saying. Why do you ask?"
"No particular reason. Just curious, like I said," Lucario comments. "The next thing is Jeremy. Tell me anything and everything that you know about him."
"Since both of our parents work in DC, we have met a couple of times before we entered preschool at the academy together. He likes to show off, saying how his parents are the ones who make the rules in the country. He enjoys using his parents' influence to bully other kids. Nobody actually likes him. They just stay around him because it's better to be on his good side than to be bullied by him."
Lucario carefully listens to everything that Ethan says. Eventually, a knock on the door stops their conversation, and Billy appears in the doorway.
"Looks like it's time for you to go back to the dormitory," Lucario concludes, standing from his chair while Ethan does the same. "My men will make sure you get back safely. Your mother will try to kill me if I put you in danger."
As Ethan says his goodbye, he heads over to the door, but suddenly stops to look at Lucario. "I know I said what I said earlier out of desperation, but I do mean it. Lily seems like a good person to work under. I wouldn't mind being her subordinate."