Battle Academy!
Once Kaito boarded the bus and was out of sight, two figures, one blue-haired and one pink-haired landed in front of Jiro.
"Greetings sir!" they both saluted.
But a cold hmph, was all they received in response.
"Let's get investigating tell me what has the League so stumped they decided to recruit a fossil like me."
Tian Yu coughed to clear his throat, "Sir, remember 10 years ago, you broke the rules of the League and used the powers of a Legendary to interfere with mortal affairs."
Jiro's eyes turned into fiery slits, "Yes, and do you still remember the taste of dirt after I knocked you to the ground, or shall I remind you?"
"Noonono sir that's not what I was trying-" Luckily Mei Xin cut in,
"Sir, what my brother was saying, is that this incident took place on the same date and time as yours, which is what led to this investigation being stalled for so long, until my brother and I pushed for a possible connection as 2 rule breakers is rare, let alone on the same date and time."
"Hohhh?" Jiro scratched his beard, "Same date and time you say…now I'm curious where exactly did this altercation transpire?"
"Shrouded Spire in the Forbidden Woods of the Eastern Region's border."
~
On the bus,
There was rambunctious chatter filling the bus, Kaito wasn't exactly used to it, sure he had interacted with others his age at the village school Jiro brought him to, but the bustling city was a far cry from that.
"Hi!"
Kaito kept aimlessly looking around for a seat,
"Helllllo!!! Over here!" an auburn-haired guy waved, Kaito turned to look behind him, thinking he was blocking somebody's way.
The kid burst out laughing, "I mean you, bro!"
!!!
"Me?" Kaito astonished pointed at himself, he had never met the kid in his life, and yet he took such initiative to call him out?
Kaito cautiously walked over, "Err hi, is this seat taken."
The boy continued laughing, "Of course! Why else would I call you over?"
"The name's Elliot, Elliot Winslow, what's yours?" Elliot offered Kaito his hand,
"Kaito."
"..."
"..."
"...that's it?" Elliot asked with a puzzled expression.
"What's it?" Kaito responded, puzzled and worried if he had said something offensive,
"No, it's just unusual to withhold your family name, unless you've had a falling out or are ashamed, oops, sorry if I've offended you by prying." Elliot rushed to cover his mouth, afraid his action might have offended his new friend.
"No no, it's fine, I wasn't trying to hide it or anything, it's just…I don't know my family name, my parents passed away when I was born."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Elliot felt terrible for his social blunder, "Here."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a weird blueish sweet,
"This is a chuckleberry dipped in chocolate, my mom makes them for me all the time and packs extra for me, better eat them before they go bad!"
Elliot pulled another one out of his pocket and popped it right into his mouth with the precision and accuracy of a trained expert.
Kaito followed along, the moment the sweet touched his tongue, a tingling feeling spread from his mouth to his hand and right into his funny bone, Kaito, caught by surprise, involuntarily let out a chuckle, as if he had been tickled.
"Fantastic isn't it, they release a mild amount of Lightning Qi that produces a mild tickle and you can even do this if you know how to control it-"
Elliot channelled the Qi into his fingers, and gently tapped Kaito, causing the Qi to enter him and create a small static charge that caused his hair to stand.
"Haha," Elliot burst out laughing at Kaito's raised hair, "You look kinda like a clown."
The familiarity and ease with which Elliot spoke, made Kaito feel welcomed, "Heh, takes one to know one!"
Kaito put his training into practice, and directed both his and the Lightning Qi Elliot had inflicted and redirected them back at him, causing his hair to puff up twice as much!
The two boys laughed and continued playing pranks on one another, eventually, they started bouncing around a tier 1 electroball, until…
"And Elliot takes the smash for the win!" Elliot announced before spiking the electro ball as hard as he could, so hard that Kaito dodged it on instinct instead of returning the serve.
The spark flies past him and almost hits the person sitting at the next bench but…
"Hmph, boys." a petite voice from the seat in front of them sounded out, she made a snap with her fingers, and before the electro ball could hit the unsuspecting student, it stopped, inches from his face,
"Whoa cool, she's a mentalist, I've never met one before, they're incredibly rare." Elliot gasped in awe, but not for long, as with a small circular gesture using her index finger, the electro ball flew back and hit Elliot square in the face, causing him to have a mini spasm.
His reaction elicited a chuckle from the entire bus.
Even Kaito chuckle chuckled slightly at his friend's misfortune.
"OW!" Elliot yelped, "Why'd you do that for!"
"To teach you a lesson about behaving in a public space," the young girl humph, "Really now, as a baron's son you really ought to consider the proper time and place for tomfoolery."
"Ya? But did you have to aim for my face? With your level of control, it could have easily hit anywhere else! Why did you do that…"
Elliot leaned over the chair to berate-
"Yue, I am Lian Yue." she turned to meet Elliot, who was stunned silent.
Lian Yue was a demure and reserved girl, she had raven black hair, that cascaded down her back, and her voice was gentle and elegant. She possessed a reserved type of charm, the one that made people feel inferior just through her presence alone, and yet her way with words helped accentuate her loftiness.
"Lian? That's an Eastern name, I hear the East likes to keep to themselves and mostly live in remote locations, so you must have come a long way to reach the central region, and despite that, you're familiar with my Western aristocracy?" Elliot pivoted from scolding to being curious about this seemingly peculiar stranger.
Lian Yue rolled her soft brown eyes, "Unlike some people, I do my research, it is only proper etiquette when engaging with a culture different from one's own that proper thought and consideration be taken before carelessly making remarks."
She gave Elliot a side eye that would have killed if it could.
Elliot defended himself, "What did I do wrong???"
Lian Yue shakes her head in disappointment, slowly, causing her perfect hair to sway along, "Your information is sorely outdated, the Eastern people were a reclusive bunch…almost 1000 years ago!"
"Since, then we have expanded our sphere of influence, balancing between our culture and heritage, and the rapidly transforming world of today more Eastern people live outside the East than in it!"
Elliot raised his hands in defeat, "Okay okay, I'm sorry, I guess even with all that the Eastern people haven't ventured towards the West, because you're the first Easterner I've met."
Lain Yue stuck her head up to the side and gave Elliot the cold shoulder,
"Naturally, the West and East are so far apart, and the Westerners all head towards the Central Continent anyways, so what logical reason could possess us Easterners to undertake such an enormous toll?"
"*Sigh*" Elliot slumped back into his chair, "Fine, I give up, you win, I was ignorant okay? Sheesh I was just trying to make convo considering you're like, the prettiest girl I've ever met."
Suddenly Lian Yue's face turned beet red, as she fiddled with her hair, "W-w-w-what n-n-nonsense are you saying! H-h-hhh-how can you just confess to sss-someone you just met…"
This time Elliot was the one who was incensed, "Huh? Confess? What are you talking about? In the West we just speak our minds, I admit you're very pretty, but you're not my type, frankly, I like women with a big b-"
Elliot was met with a swift blow to the head from an invisible source, but before he passed out noticed the fuming face of Lian Yue, as his head tumbled to the floor,
"Big b-old personality."
"Oh." Lian Yue moved toward Kaito's seat, "Can you help me get him up? I got carried away and used all my Qi to knock him out so I'm feeling kinda tired as well."
"No worries," Kaito smiled, feeling like he was on cloud 9 he thought to himself, "What an interesting group of friends I've already made on my first day! School is going to be so fun, I don't know what Gramps was worried about!"
Kaito bent down and carried the unconscious Elliot,
"I'm Kaito btw," he gave a beaming smile to Lian Yue, "I know you probably overheard our introductions, but my grandpa always thought me to be polite and cordial towards women."
Lian Yue chuckled gently, "I see, he must be very wise indeed."
"Hehe," Kaito plopped the still drooling Elliot on the bench, "Well my grampa did mention he was from the East, but that was a loooooong time ago."
"Oh!" Lian Yue perked up, "But your name sounds so Northern?"
"Yeap! I was born in the North and my Grampa moved there, oh ya, he's not my real grandpa, but he's the one who's been taking care of me ever since my parents passed, and he took care of my dad before that too. He's just a friendly old man who takes care of orphaned kids…well when he feels like it."
"!!!" Lian Yue slapped herself on the forehead, "Argh! I forgot he mentioned to Elliot that he was an orphan, how could I be so insensitive and make the same mistake as that loud idiot."
"Here," she offered him a dought sweet that had powdered sugar covering it from head to toe and soft creamy filling, "It's called muah chee (1), it's a traditional sweet from my country, I hope you enjoy it."
"Thanks!" Kaito happily accepted, "But where did you store this?"
Lian Yue wore a traditional ornamental style dress, she was wrapped tightly, especially around her waist, leaving no room for pockets.
"Well…" Lian Yue looked conflicted, on the one hand, she wanted to be closer to Kaito and Elliot, as they seemed like nice people, but that was just on the surface, who knew about what lay beneath?
"Well compared to the other students who have been keeping a distance from me because of my clothing, appearance and demeanour, I guess they're trustworthy…and the idiot is asleep…but…Kaito has such a poor background, would he have alternative ideas if he found out I have a-"
"Oh!" Kaito slammed his fist into his palms, a realization struck him, "You must have a spatial storage ri-!"
Suddenly, his mouth was met with an invisible force that shut him up!
"Shhhh! You moron! You're not supposed to let this kind of thing slip out so easily! Do you know how many people covet such an item?" Lian Yue double-checked around to ensure no one overheard, thankfully everyone was wrapped up in their conversations, allowing Lian Yue to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Why oh why did I get stuck with utter morons?" Lian Yue sighed, "Yes, you're right, I possess a spatial storage device, but it's not a ring."
"Ooo," Kaito was fascinated, "Then where is it?"
"I'm not telling you!? Even if I trusted you I still wouldn't tell you now that I know you're a massive blubber mouth!"
Kaito gave a silly grin in response, "C'mon! I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."
"No mean no and I, wait," Lian Yue finally processed what Kaito said, "What do you mean yours?"
Kaito looked left and right cautiously before raising his right hand and focusing, slowly on his middle-finger, and a ring started to appear turning from translucent to solid.
"Hehe, pretty cool right, gramps said these are incredibly rare and not something to show others lightly but since you have one I figure why not."
Lian Yue's mouth was agape,
"How does he have a storage ring!?" She thought to herself, "And one with such intricate detail, to create a ring with the correct patterns and inlays to house spatial qi is already an amazing feat, to do that with such an ostentatious design requires a grandmaster level skill set and an even more ridiculous pile of money!"
She stared at Kaito who was too distracted by his ring to notice,
"Who exactly is he?"
(1) It's not a spelling mistake, that's the Chinese name for their version of mochi, similar but different.