March 6th,
5:12 PM.
Mr. Drum looked around. When everyone picked their weapons, he finally decided to start.
"Alright, everyone. We will be starting soon. I have here two pieces of paper, both folded, and both with a letter on it. Team leaders of team A and team C, please come forward and pick one."
Ed came forward as team A's leader, and picked one of the two papers.
"Please don't open that yet. Anyway, team C? Who's your leader?"
Matt pushed Jinn a bit from the back.
"That's you. Get going, Mr. Samurai."
"I'm not a... Alright."
Jinn put his hand on the only piece of paper left. This system... Was pretty trash. Team A basically decided who team C is up against as well... Who thought of this, anyway?!
"Please open the papers."
Jinn unfolded the paper, and looked down. Team B. An image of Oliver flashed through Jinn's head.
He couldn't help but cover his mouth.
Why? That's easy to answer. It's because he's grinning.
A grin so evil and wicked, it could even give nightmares to serial killers. It was unfortunate he had to cover it, since he thought it was so beautiful, but his classmates shouldn't see that part of Jinn. Yet.
Jinn calmed himself down, and went over to his group.
"Looks like we're up against team B."
Chloe gasped.
"Wait, really?! Heh, I've been waiting to get some revenge on Andrew since he beat me in training that one time!"
"Wasn't that... Months ago?"
"Well, yes... But still! I've gotta beat him!"
"Wait, guys... How do these usually work? Do we all go in at once?"
"Nope. The leaders usually just rock-paper-scissors, then the winning team chooses who fights who. One versus one. Loser goes on the bench, winner continues 'till he fails."
"Ah, so... One guy can wipe everyone out?"
"Yup, if you're him."
Chloe literally had a question mark on her face, as she asked "Him...?"
"Huh? Oh, my bad. It means, uh, basically just... The best, I guess..."
Jinn then added to Chloe's question.
"Isn't that a videogame term?"
"Well, yes..."
"You have superpowers and play videogames?"
"...Yes."
All three started laughing again. Except, Jinn's laugh had a meaning other than just joy.
Relief.
His cover wasn't blown. He was safe, for now. It would be extremely unfortunate if his friends found out about his twisted side.
Now, please allow me to add some stuff to what I explained last time. About Jinn, obviously.
You see, Jinn is a bit bipolar. By a bit, I mean it wasn't full on bipolarity. He just has sudden and powerful mood changes.
But, it's still just Jinn. He knows what he's doing, and he's doing everything consciously.
Everything up to this point wasn't fake. His fear and anger for his mother's life, his surprise at his Agily, his feeling for Chloe.
All of those were real. But there was something overshadowing these.
Boredom, once again. He was very bored. Since I've already explained once, I'll save you the trouble, and cut to the chase.
For Jinn, having something interesting going on was way better than just having a girlfriend or anything like that.
And he found out that he found the concept of other's suffering very interesting. But this wasn't always the case.
For example, when his mom was suffering, he was feeling sadness, and not the feeling he got when he saw strangers suffer. You get my point?
He also had a theory that if he saw Chloe suffer, it would probably be the same. Not happiness, but the opposite.
What this meant? Simple. Protect your close ones, and hurt everyone who doesn't fit the norm.
The term of "wolf" was really befitting for Jinn.
When the three finally stopped laughing, Mr. Drum called the first match of the day... Team A versus Team D.
The two leaders went and played rock-paper-scissors, and the winner was team D.
Mr. Drum then announced, "The first match, is team D's leader, Nicole, versus team A's Emily. Please, get in positions."
The two girls are actually pretty good friends, but they wanted to fight each other, to prove who was cooler.
"Get ready... Draw your weapons... Begin!"
I'll try to keep everything short, but descriptive.
Emily started running first, towards Nicole. She had a straight sword, one that was not as long as a katana but not as short as a knife. Just somewhere in-between.
She then went in for a vertical slashing attack, but Nicole parried it and redirected it into the ground with her weapon, which happened to be a spear.
"Damn it..."
Emily jumped back, then readied herself.
Nicole started spinning her spear around, and a strong wind current started to pick up around it.
"C'mon now, Em. We're allowed to go all out here, y'know?"
"Gosh, I've always hated that nickname..."
Emily starts sprinting towards Nicole, while grabbing her sword and running her fingers across it. Then, water started pouring out of it. She goes for a piercing attack, straight towards Nicole's stomach.
Nicole suddenly stops her spin, the redirects the wind towards the water-infused sword.
The two weapons infused with elements clash, and...
"The winner of the match... Is Nicole, by knocking her opponent's weapon out of her hand!"
"Goddamn it, Nicole... I almost had you..."
"Maybe if you would finally learn how to use a weapon with longer reach, you'd beat me."
The two shook hands, as to symbolize that they both acknowledged the match as a good one.
"Nah, that'd be way too boring~"
Alright, that was that. Now, I could go over each and every fight of team A and D, but we'd be here all night. So, I'm just gonna summarize it.
Nicole went up against Ed, and almost won again, but she got knocked down by Ed's earth control, so he was able to win. After that, Ed went up against Walter, and won once again.
But then, he lost miserably against Jennifer. Ouch... Y'all should've seen that... Anyway, Patt then was able to take Jennifer down, making team A victorious in the end.
It was now... Time for the main attraction. Team C versus team B.
"Leaders, please come here."
Jinn went first, and then... Ah, lucky him. Looks like a sheep Wandered into the wolf's territory. Dinner time.
"Alright, on the count of three, you both go."
"Right... 'Ey, Oliver. I'm gonna go scissors."
"...Why would I care?"
"Stop talking, you two. Alright, here we go. One, two, three... Shoot!"
Jinn, as he said he would, went scissors. Oliver, however, instead of playing rock, he played... Paper. It was Jinn's win.
"W-Wait a second, what?! No, no! I meant to go rock! I didn't open my hand! I didn't!"
"Team C gets to chose first."
"Don't cry now, dude... Take your loss."
"B-But...!"
"I said, stop crying about it."
Jinn then looked Oliver straight in the eye. All of the light in Jinn's usually alive eye was now gone. The only thing that remained was a green void, one that was unable to be filled up.
Then, he whispered, so that Mr. Drum wouldn't hear.
"Retard."
Jinn turned around, and went back to his team, putting on his best smile.
"Guys, guys! I won! Who should we fight first?"
Oliver fell down to his knees, trying to stop tears from flowing down his face. He then muttered to himself.
"F-Fucking monster... Oh my... God..."
"Everyone, please get in positions. We're about to start. Jinn, who have you decided to go first, from both teams?"
Jinn giggled a bit.
"Me, sir. Versus all three of them."
...Wait, I have to double check. I think I might've... Heard that wrong...
Okay, nah. I didn't.
"W-Wait, Jinn? One versus three? Isn't that completely unfair for you?"
"Sorry, Chloe, Matt. I didn't consult you guys before..."
"Well, it's whatevs."
"But... Are you gonna be fine?"
Jinn went over to Chloe, then patted her on the head. Allow me to repeat some words I said before.
His feelings for Chloe were as real as they could get.
"So... Andrew, huh... I'm gonna go give him nightmares!", said Jinn while putting on his absolute best and most genuine smile.
Chloe couldn't help but smile, then laugh.
"Pfft... Okay then. I trust you, my prince."
Jinn went back to Mr. Drum and team B.
"Uh, Kinko... I mean, it's not like I'll decline your offer, but are you sure?"
"Yes sir. All three, please. Agilys allowed and everything."
"...Your call. Everyone, get in positions!"
Everyone got to where they're supposed to be, then Mr. Drum officially started the match.
"Get ready..."
Jinn didn't flinch.
"Draw your weapons..."
Jinn didn't draw his weapon.
"Begin! One versus three!"
Andrew laughed a bit, then exclaimed.
"C'mon now, Jinny... You really think you can take on all of us? I mean, we're not new to this, y'know..."
Jinn, who was still looking at the ground, mumbled something, and team B couldn't quite hear what he said.
"...First... Time... Pray... Never..."
"Eh? What was that?"
Jinn finally looked up from the ground, and looked Andrew dead in the eye.
The green void was back. And stronger than ever.
"You're first. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be praying you were never born."
"A-Ack!! W-What is everyone waiting for?! Get him! He didn't even unsheathe his weapon yet!"
The three started running towards Jinn. He, however, didn't bother moving at all. His eyes were still fixated on Andrew's.
"Take this, you monster!"
Oliver swung his spear at Jinn, only for it to be reflected into the ground like it was nothing but a stick.
"H-How?!"
"Did he unsheathe?!"
Nope. His weapon, a fake katana, remained sheathed.
Oh, and before you go thinking that he's some anime character who can use a katana really fast, he's not. But...
He is a hybrid who can control objects.
"W-Whatever! Just go again!"
This time, Bund swung his sword at Jinn. Of course, it was still in vain. Jinn took down his katana from his waist, and reflected the sword with it's sheath.
"Sloppier than I thought. At this point, I'll fuck you all up with my sheath."
Oliver then quickly thought of a plan, when something caught his eye. He then asked Jinn, "Who?"
"You, of course."
Then, Andrew, who was behind him, jumped, and prepared to swing his axe straight at Jinn's head.
"No... who the fuck do you think you are?!"
But... That didn't happen. Well, something happened... Jinn blocked the attack. But, he was still looking at Oliver...
"H-How in the...?!"
"Ta-da~ As I said... Quite the convenient Agily, no?"
Jinn grinned again. Shivers ran down everyone's spine.
To Oliver it was because of the grin, but to Bund and Andrew... It was because Jinn's katana was floating in the air, and blocking attacks on it's own.
"What... Kind of Agily...?!"
To Oliver, it was only a reminder. A reminder that Jinn was...
"...A monster."
Jinn ran towards Oliver, then put his mouth close to his ear, and whispered.
"Bingo."
Then, his katana, which was still floating, came down and hit Oliver in the head. Hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to knock him or his weapon to the ground.
"Fuck, fuck! It hurts! Why?!"
"...Why? I already said Andrew's first."
Jinn then looked at Andrew, with those dead, green eyes. Andrew then shouted, in hope of saving himself.
"H-Hey!! Mr. Drum! His weapon isn't in his hands! Isn't this cheating?!"
"...Well, it's an Agily. Fair and square. Quite impressive, actually."
Andrew's heart sank. The look on his face... The look of despair, sadness and utter defeat. As he heard a Whoosh! behind him, he almost started crying. His face was pitiful enough to make even the most tough warriors feel pity for the poor bastard.
Then, Jinn's katana hit him over the head. He dropped his axe, then he dropped himself down to the ground.
Of course, it would be bad if Jinn were to hurt these kids too bad, so he held back. A lot.
"Smith Andrew, eliminated."
As I said, Jinn wasn't hitting them that hard. Andrew got up and started walking out of the fighting circle while saying "Ouch ouch ouch ouch..."
Jinn then looked at Chloe, who was surprised, but not necessarily in a bad way. She mouthed a "Thank you." to Jinn. He then responded with a bow, as a knight would to a princess, and the light in his eyes came back, even if only a little.
But...
"You're wide open, asshole!"
Bund jumped from behind him. This time, his katana was flying quite far from him, so he couldn't defend himself with it.
And so, he used his sheath. He grabbed it like a katana, then turned around and defended himself. The light from his eyes was gone, once again.
"Care to try again? You might wanna look out behind you though..."
His katana was coming at Bund, flying in the air.
"Yeah, that's what Oliver was hoping for."
"...What?"
Bund ducked down, and Jinn's own katana hit him in the face.
"Ouch ouch ouch ouch... Jesus, that hurts..."
"Sure does, doesn't it?!"
He was surrounded. Oliver swung his weapon at Jinn's head, and Bund swung at his legs. Ah, this might be it.
Yeah, no actually, this was it. Jinn was controlling his katana right now, which was still flying around him, but he couldn't use it to defend himself.
Neither could he use his Agily. After all, he can only control one object at a time...
Not.
"Chill out."
Jinn put a hand in front of both weapons. They both stopped.
"W-What?!"
"Why isn't it...!"
Then, his katana and sheath both started flying towards Oliver's and Bund's weapons.
Once they made contact, both of them were knocked from their hands, and Jinn grabbed his own weapon, and put it back on his waist.
"And that's game."
As the two weapons hit the ground, Mr. Drum shouted.
"The fight's over! Wander Oliver and Feblo Bund are both eliminated! It's team C- No, rather... Kinko Jinn's victory!"
The second Mr. Drum was done speaking, Jinn's "teammates" came running towards him.
"Yoo... That was nuts dude."
"Jinn! How did you even do that?!"
"I said that I was gonna give that guy nightmares. I wasn't lying."
"Sheesh... Thank you, my charming knight."
"Damn right I'm charming. I impressed even myself there..."
"Are you really charming if you call yourself that...?"
"It doesn't really matter, as long as you see me as charming."
Jesus Christ, get a room... I'm begging you...
"C'mon now, stop flirting. We still gotta beat team A."
Thank you, Matt. I mean it. Thank you.
"My bad, my bad."
While Chloe was questioning whether that was flirting or not again and blushing, the two boys were talking.
"Dude... How'd you even do that shit? I thought you just got your Agily like an hour ago..."
"I did. I guess I'mma quick learner. Check your phone, by the way."
"My phone...?"
Matt checked his pockets, but his phone wasn't in any of them.
"Huh? Where the..."
Jinn then held it up, and chuckled.
"Huuuh..."
After giving it back, Jinn explained.
"Basically, telekinesis. I have telekinesis."
"Dude... That's like... So sick compared to mine..."
"Nah dude, it's not that sick, and I'm sure yours is sick as well, probably even sicker. Actually, I forgot what yours is. So, do you mind-"
The two of them got interrupted by Chloe, who was done self-questioning.
"Can you two stop saying 'sick' so much?"
After both of them responded with a swift "My bad." they redirected their attention towards Mr. Drum, who started talking.
"Alright everyone, gather 'round!"
And so they did.
"Now, listen up. Since we're running short on time, we'll be holding the loser's game first today, and will continue with the winners' tomorrow. Is that okay with everyone?"
After everyone collectively yelled out "Sir, yessir!", the winners were dismissed, while the losers had to finish up the last match.
Team C then split up for a while. The two boys went into the boys' locker room, took a shower- even though Matt didn't really need one- and then they changed.
After reuniting with Chloe outside the Gymnasium, they all high-fived.
"Yo, good job today."
"Yup, yup. You were great."
"Thank you, guys. Really."
"No worries. I mean hell, I ain't complaining. I did jack shit today and still won."
"I was hoping to run around them though..."
"You'll be running plenty tomorrow. We still gotta win against team A."
"Ah, right. I forgot. But can't you just wipe 'em out again?"
"Nope. I'll request a three-on-three. Just for fun."
"So I get to run around three of them? Hell yeah!"
"Sigh... That's gonna be such a hassle. But sure."
"Then it's settled, no? Anyway, I'm going this way, so I'll see y'all tomorrow."
"Ah, wait, me too, me too. Can I tag along?"
"Sure, I don't mind. See ya' later, Matt."
"Cya."
Matt watched as Chloe and Jinn were walking together, and when they took the corner, he finally relaxed and let out a complaint.
"Such a hassle... I'm going that way too... Why'd I have to wait..."
Matt's social energy was already drained for today, that's why he didn't accompany them. Plus, it's them two. They need- no, more like, want- some alone time. And Matt just gave it to them.
"Well... Time to get going I guess. Ah, actually, I should wait for him... Ugh, nevermind, he's 17, he can get home by himself..."
Matt decided not to wait for his brother, and just started walking towards the bus stop. As he was walking, his phone started vibrating. After checking, turns out it was Patt.
"Really dude..."
As he was about to pick up, his phone died.
"C'mon man... That's the third time today..."
As you would have guessed, Matt spends a lot of time on his phone. He wastes all of his battery life on gacha games and stuff like that.
"Well, whatever I guess."
Matt then rubbed his pointer finger and thumb together, then flicked the top right corner of his phone. It then, as usual, came back to life.
"Tickles..."
He then called his brother.
"...Yo. What'd ya' want?"
"Maaatt!! Where are you? Me and my team are in front of A.C.T.P."
"Hmm? I left. I'm goin' home."
"Why's that? Get back here~"
"No shot. Why would I?"
"Didn't you see me messages, dear older brother~?"
"Yeah, by a few seconds or whatever... And no, I didn't. Hold on."
After muting the phone's microphone, he checked his messages. There were 5 on Discord, 3 on WhatsApp and 6 on iMessage. I'll... Read out a few...
[where r u]
[dude respond]
[hellooooooo]
[what a good brother u r]
[get back here n quick lol]
[btw emilys here w me]
After reading that last one, he unmuted his microphone, and asked in a serious voice.
"You for real?"
"Yup, yup~"
Matt then hanged up the phone.
Meanwhile, in front of the A.C.T.P....
"Ehhh? Hello? Matt? Mattey? Matthew?"
"He's not coming is he?", asked Ed, in a tired voice.
"Well... I guess he-"
Patt's phone then went 'Ding!', signaling that he received a message, from none other than his big bro. By a few seconds, according to Matt.
[omw]
"...Nah, he's coming."
"How'd you convince him?"
"Secret~"
After Matt got there, he looked around.
"Hey, wait up... You lying asshole! She's not even here!"
"Relax, relax. She's in the shower."
Matt then suddenly got very relaxed.
"Hmm, the shower, huh? Can't be helped then. We'll wait."
"Look at him, having double personalities~ What do you even need a twin for~?"
"I don't. Go die."
Well, Ed quicky figured out why and how Patt convinced Matt to come back.
I swear, both Matt and Jinn act like two maidens in love... Wait, actually, speaking of Jinn... Where is he? We've been talking about Matt for a while now, haven't we...
Heh.
Well, c'mon... No need to always keep an eye on him...
Let's spice things up a little, no~?