Friday Spring Quarter 2016 Week 2

“Training? Oh yeah, we have Monday off next week. Sure, I’ll go,” I said.

“You always can refuse if you wish. Darryl has done so many times. It does put one at a disadvantage though,” Tess said.

“I don’t know about that, Tess,” I disagreed.

She updated me about training at facility during our long weekend. After a few more words with her, I entered the student lounge.

“How about this? Let’s change the value here,” Zhuyu discussed with Kisai.

“Nah, won’t work. Come on, what are you thinking? Change this right here,” Kisai said, pointing at a piece of paper.

Whoa, they were actually focused on schoolwork. And Shan was completing homework too? What madness inflicted the three men? If that wasn’t strange enough, Jacque read a book. He wasn’t utilizing it as a temporary pillow for once.

“Hey Tomo, you done with classes?” Kisai noticed me.

“Almost, just one more. What are you guys working on?” I peered at the piece of paper.

“Some physics stuff connected to Long’s vector powers. I can use it to set up an attack with my magic,” Kisai replied.

I saw matrices along with equations at the top. There were vector symbols on top of Greek letters too. Shan’s work contained equations with waves in a diagram. I hoped Jacque’s material might be easier on the eyes. However, it was in small font with author annotations on half of the page.

“You guys… are really motivated,” I commented.

“Yep,” Jacque responded, pulling out a notebook.

Were their midterms coming up? That was the only possible explanation. Zhuyu and Kisai weren’t working on anything school related though. The heroes played the role of fools, but were actually capable of getting their shit together when it mattered. They proved it to me right now.

“Tess told you about the training session over the weekend, right?” Zhuyu inquired, marking the paper with his pen.

“Yeah, she said it would take up Saturday and most of Sunday. Are we going on some kind of trip?” I nodded.

“Something like that. It won’t be exactly fun,” Zhuyu said.

“I thought so. When is training with her ever fun?” I sighed, already accepting the fact this weekend training session would result in soreness.

“It can be. If Tess is teaching you new stuff, it’s pretty cool,” Zhuyu remarked.

“Do you even believe what you just said?” I questioned him.

“I said it can be cool, not all the time of course,” Zhuyu responded.

Only from you, Zhuyu. I recalled my winter break lectures. Damn, those were dark times, but useful. If the Gatekeeper hadn’t taught me the material, I still would struggle in mastering the basics of Zhuyu and Shan’s power.

“Quick question, do the other heroes have ultimate weapons?” I inquired.

“Sort of. Their weapons aren’t key for lifting the seals off their powers. The only reason we want our weapons back is to break the seal Tess placed after the final battle,” Zhuyu answered, nodding as Kisai circled two things on the page.

Artifacts were their method of lifting seals then. It was only a guess but plausible. Mirei was a source of information, but was it a good idea to ask her?

“Shan, what’s this about Ichaival not showing up for some training sessions?” I questioned.

“Well, you know Darryl… actually, guess not. He sometimes just doesn’t want to do anything. Tess punishes him later for it. I skipped a few and I rather not do it again,” Shan answered with a fearful expression on his face.

“Don’t scare her. Its fine, you can totally just not go. Tess doesn’t care,” Kisai disagreed.

“It’s pretty bad. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was sick one day and I still went. That was on top of Feng’s training too,” Zhuyu collaborated Shan’s statement.

I pulled out my chemistry book and read, doing work like everyone else. This serious and attentive atmosphere bothered me. This wasn’t the first time I saw them do schoolwork, but there was always a conversation going on. Today, it was just Kisai and Zhuyu discussing actual serious matters. Shan and Jacque remained silent. The only sound coming from them was clacking of keyboards.

Half an hour later, Shan headed to class. Kisai did the same, leaving only Jacque and Zhuyu here. I still didn’t have class yet and finally finished the assigned reading for next week. With the upcoming training session, I would prefer to complete any upcoming assignments. Jacque heaved a sigh of relief, closing his laptop screen, and took off his glasses. He rubbed his eyes and placed his head on the table.

“That should do it. Okay, time to go home,” Zhuyu muttered, putting his notes into a folder.

“Zhuyu, I have a question for you about your old powers,” I stopped him.

“What about them?” the man blinked.

“From the archived videos and that battle between you and Ichaival, you were as strong as Kisai or Shan. Why did you switch?” I asked.

“It was time to finally do something with all the math I learned. I talked to Tess and Feng about it. They agreed it was a good idea. Get a good night’s sleep, Tomo. You’ll need it,” Zhuyu replied and departed.

Jacque’s stretched, wearing his glasses again. He glanced at the spot Zhuyu sat in and then up at the clock. He sighed, reaching into his backpack and pulled out a bag of chips.

“When did Long leave?” Jacque inquired, opening up his bag.

“Ten minutes ago. Jacque, what the hell did you do last night?” I questioned.

“Read manga and procrastinated. It was already two in the morning. That’s about how things usually go,” Jacque answered.

“How have you not learned yet?” I stared at the man.

“I don’t know, it’s just the way I am. I’ll be back, gonna fill up my bottle,” Jacque responded, swinging his red water bottle around.

I wondered how the training session would work tomorrow. Knowing Tess, she would split us up into teams.

“You know anything about this training thing tomorrow?” Jacque asked.

“Not really. Everyone is being vague,” I replied.

“There goes all my free time,” Jacque lamented.

“Jacque, were you even planning on anything productive?” I stared at the artist with skepticism.

“You got me there, Tomo. I really wanted to play video games. Actually, I was gonna work on my project too,” Jacque admitted.

I headed to class a few more minutes later. Would anyone from Lilith’s side attend? They should since all the teams were mixed now. No use in thinking about it so much. I predicted Tess would arrive at my house with a breakfast meal and that would mark the start of my morning tomorrow.

Saturday Spring Quarter 2016 Week 2

Rain pelted my room window. I opened my eyes and expected the Gatekeeper. However, no one was there. I suppressed a yawn, raising my blinds.

Downstairs, Mom stood by the window, staring outside. She held a flower pot in her left hand and a pair of gloves in her right.

“What are you doing, Mom?” I asked.

“Good morning, Yuki! It’s such a shame it isn’t nicer today. I really hoped to be able to plant this today. I saw there’s supposed to be a thunderstorm later. I’ll have to wait,” Mom answered.

“I’m heading out in an hour. I’ll be back by dinnertime,” I informed her.

“Have fun! Don’t do anything that would worry me, okay?” Mom grinned and headed towards the garage.

I checked my phone, reading Tess’ message. Everyone would meet at the Crossroads. After eating breakfast and preparing myself, I inserted my key into the doorknob and turned it.