"Luck?" It was a small voice, almost a whisper.
Layla was standing beside him, her eyes wide in shock as she glanced at the phantom embracing him, the phantom glanced back at her, Luck could sense that it was curious.
Then it glanced at Arlder who was now walking towards them with a wide smile on his face.
'Familiarity? does it know Arlder?'
"Leave." Luck ordered and the phantom vanished slowly, ruffling Luck's hair before it disappeared.
"So you followed me again." Luck sighed. He had a lot of explaining to do but what was on my his was why Arlder didn't stop her from following them.
Arlder definitely caught on to it but he didn't stop her, in fact he was pretty sure that both of them watched the fight together from the top of the roof while they struggled against that beast. He turned to glare at Arlder who was now looking towards Ella.
'He's probably scheming again.'
He had been subject to a lot of Arlder's devious plans in the past and almost never figured out what he was planning until it was too late.
'What is he up to this time?'
The mist suddenly cleard, the moon in full view. Luck stared at the moon and the moon stared back almost as if baiting him, tempting him to let loose.
Arlder picked Ella up who was perfectly capable of walking on her own in his arms and walked towards us.
He could tell that she had a lot of questions for him but she seemed to be battling something else at this point, cheeks red as she shuffled around telling Arlder to drop her, only to get a laugh in response.
"You guys did well, that phantom couldn't be defeated by some full time venators. Although they were weak, this is still quite an accomplishment."
Everyone remained quiet.
Luck was already beginning to feel the hunger contractions rolling in. "Arlder, I'm hungry."
"Then let's all get something to eat!"
••
Luck's alarm clock blared loudly just as the clock hit 8 but he was already up and getting ready. He picked up his clothes which he had washed the night before from the chair next to his window and dressed up finishing his dressing with his long academy coat which looked far too good for a school uniform.
The trek to school was largely uneventful, stopping only to get a quick breakfast at a Ramen shop.
He had gotten his school ID from Ayra just yesterday and it was far more convenient than when they had to run checks to confirm his studentship, now all he had to do was scan his ID card and the free meals would roll in soon after.
As he walked down the path that led to school he came across Cosmo who was walking in the opposite direction.
And that was not the only strange thing, he was in shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt, obviously he had no intention of going to school today.
'Well, it's obviously not my business.'
Deciding to just simply walk by he looked ahead of him trying to avoid any form of eye contact, a conversation was the last thing he wanted now.
His technique seemed to be quiet working well. Cosmo had already gone by him and Luck breathed out a sign of relief.
"Hey, you're Luck aren't you?" An ecstatic voice came.
He had celebrated way too soon.
He could just say no but he would look awkward the next time they met in class plus he was in the academy coat so his lie would be caught way too easily, he had no choice.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"You know there is no school today right?"
"What do you mean, I thought we had school from Monday down to Friday?"
"Well no, actually yes. Well it's technically true but to some extent."
Luck watched him babble, each word he said confusing him even more.
"Okay, I'll see for myself."
"What he's trying to say is that todays classes have been canceled, classes get canceled sometimes." Someone said from behind them, it was Layla again.
"No I wasn't following you, Mr Alder asked me to come fetch you." She said as if predicting the question that would follow.
Luck looked at her a bit skeptical, he wondered if Arlder was planning on sending him on another one of those missions again after all It wasn't really above him to do so.
Arlder seemed to have more fun watching other people battle phantoms than fighting them himself.
"Is it important?"
"Yes."
"Well I gotta go, take care guys." Cosmo said just before he zoomed into the air.
'That must be fun. Maybe I should… Nope not again.'
•••
Layla led him to probably the most good looking Ramen restaurant he had ever seen. It was far better than the shack he ate breakfast at this morning but the question, was were they just as good?
Arlder sat comfortably on a very comfy looking chair his white hair styled in a more, what would Luck call it, in a more 'free' looking way.
The blue highlights at the tips of his hair gave it a bit more character.
Few people would believe that that was his hair's natural colour but it was actually one of the Moon Clan's many quirks.
"Ahh, welcome to the holy grail of Ramen Luck! I've been waiting for you."
"This place is amazing! Do we really get to eat for free here?"
"Umm , no."
"Wait, what?"
"Our student ID can only go so far, not everywhere on the island is accessible to us for free. After all we have our allowance." Layla cut in as she took her seat opposite Arlda.
"Wait what allowance, and why am I only hearing about this now?"
"Well that is exactly why I called you today. First of all your allow-."
"Good evening sir, what will you be having this fine morning?" A waiter walked up to them a notepad in hand and a frown in place of the smile he was supposed to be wearing.
"I'll have dish number 7, it's some how difficult to pronounce the last part." Layla confessed as she dropped the menu. She must have grabbed it while Arlder was speaking.
"Let me have a look at that." Luck said as he picked up the menu.
"Hey I wasn't done with that!" Arlda interjected he and Luck both grabbed the menu each person holding on to one cover as they skimmed through.
"So?" The waiter said getting impatient, apparently the 30 seconds he had spent here was already far too much time wasted.
"Come on spit it out you're wasting my time."
"Number 4!" They both said simultaneously placing down the menu.
"Hey we actually said that at the same time, didn't we?" They said simultaneously again.
Luck then began to quickly race through his memories trying to remember the word he had to say at this point. That one magic word that would guarantee him a free drink.
"Jinx!" Arlder said first, Luck sunk deep into the chair defeated. " I guess you owe me a soda." Arlder said laughing merrily at his victory.
This was not the first time they had this competition and each time it ever happened Luck always lost.
Layla stared at the two of them baffled at their behavior. One of them although relatively young was their teacher and the second one seemed to have mood swings anytime he used his enigma.
'Truly a unique pair.' she thought to herself.