“So football is just full contact and not a blood sport? Nobody is supposed to die.” Kyrion said as he placed a book about the sport into his backpack. Something he’d been urged to use by Kilo.

“Correct. This isn’t hockey, where people are moving around on blades going around twenty miles an hour and colliding with dangerous levels of force. Even then it isn't a bloodsport.” Issac stated.

“Well that makes things safer.”

“Not by much.” Issac shook his head.

“I’m just here to observe training and the energy drink known as Bluice.”

“Bluice?”

“It’s an electrolyte filled beverage with extract from a fruit that can provide healing, and increase overall stamina.”

“I see.”

“No you hear. Now go, two sets of two hundred one armed pushups. First set left arm, second set right arm.”

“Are you trying to break me?” Issac asked.

“Yes. But seriously. You haven’t been able to push yourself since you left the dungeon. Unless you want to spar against me when I’m not holding back.”

“This is probably less likely to end with broken bones.” Issac got to doing the push-ups.

“I don’t just break bones. But I see the point. So what is a quarterback and can it be fixed?”

Issac groaned and began to explain the basics of roles and positions to the strange alien.

“I see. So you work hard, to the degree to make it to the touch of downs. Where you leap headfirst on occasions when surrounded. Is it made of feathers?”

“No, why would it?”

“Geese. Why is it called the touch down then?”

“When you land somewhere while flying, it's called touching down or a touchdown. The goal is touchdown in the landing zone.”

“Oh so you're pretending to be birds. Makes sense.”

“Sure.” Issac was moments away from giving up.

“I think I'm ready to do the bare minimum without asking anything else dumb.”

“You better not start asking why we don’t knock all our opponents unconscious or use magic.”

“You don’t have the magic. Not all of you anyhow and this is a test of huma ability not superhuman. This isn’t, Super Ball. Still don’t get why you call Football that and not Soccer since you're socking each other constantly. While you call the game worldwide known as Football, which constantly uses feet, Soccer.”

“Propaganda, politics, miscommunication, pride, it could be a number of things, the most common thing is that the name originates from a class of games that were played on foot, and not on horses.”

“So, Lacrosse, Soccer, Baseball, Football, Golf, Rugby, all of it is football.”

“By those old rules.”

“I can accept that. If we call them all football then there will be no issue.

“You left out basketball.”

“Isn’t that air ball?”

“I was under the impression that basketball players flew. How else do humans slam balls through baskets ten feet high? No offense but most of you are kind of short.”

“Can you jump 4 feet?”

“I can jump through the roof and possibly to the clouds with just leg strength, but I'm an abnormality.”

“At least you're aware.”

“Of course.”

“Have you seen Basketball on T.V?”

“No. Is that the magic screen that shows either real life events or those car tons? I’ve seen them when I pass by stores.” Kyrion nodded.

“Do you not have a T.V at your house?”

“Uhh…I don’t want to talk about it.” Kyrion had managed to dodge recalling the incident before. When he’d been left home alone for two hours while Mr.Gram was at a meeting, Kilo went with Madame President and he wasn’t allowed to go with them. Kyrion couldn’t discern real from fake unless he was watching a cartoon.

“You don’t have to.” Issac said as he switched arms, sweat falling to the turf.

“Why wouldn’t he want his best friend with him while out with his girlfriend?” Kyrion asked with crossed arms.

Issac sighed, “Would you want your cousin around while you were on a date with someone you love?”

Kyrion imagined having dinner with Lin and any romance that could have existed being eliminated by the annoying kid who tagged along. “But I'd be an awesome wingman. And quiet too.”

“But…”

“You're right… It’s not his fault.”

----------------------------------------

Two days prior, Kyrion was bored, home alone with nothing to do, and orders not to leave the house under any circumstances.

“Such a dumb rule, you fly through one skyscraper by accident and all of a sudden you get your wings revoked.” Kyrion crossed both of his arms as he sat in front of the blank black screen.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Would you like to turn on the T.V?” Gover the robotic assistant asked.

“Yes, turn on the magic box. I require entertainment.”

Gover’s robotic red eyes disappeared for a brief moment as the TV turned on.

“Today we begin the all day anniversary marathon of The Hill’s. All weekend long all day and night. ”

Kyrion didn’t know much about TV and didn’t care what he watched and tucked in as he was going to be there for a long time.

Kyrion watched the show for around an hour before his heart broke, as the self-made millionaire male lead was diagnosed with a terminal disease, and while hospitalized, some private eye approached him with experience claiming that his current was cheating on him.

“This can’t be true.”

Later in the episode, it is revealed that the wife had been meeting up with her long-lost twin brother. He’d gone missing during an attack on their home during the war when they were children. The two had hugged when the reveal was complete. The thirty-minute mark had him rubbing his eyes.

“See I knew..”

Just then as though divine prominence the

“Hilda, so it was true.” The male lead seemingly fainted from a broken heart.

“Edward!” The lady ran towards her husband and the episode ended.

“It can’t end like this. Eddy can’t die! You can’t end like this!”

The start of the next episode kicked off with a scene that showed Sara Dutch, the daughter of a wealthy family and also, Eddy’s ex-fiance. It showed her hiring a man resembling the supposed twin brother. The hiring took place in the office room in a mansion with various rooms that he didn’t get to see, yet it looked somewhat familiar.

“So he wasn’t her brother? This was a set up? Where is Sara Dutch, Grover?”

“One second…. In a hospital. Lung cancer.”

“What?”

“This show was made 60 years ago. Apparently smoking was quite common with the fleshy people and the side effects were not common knowledge.”

“Oh. So this happened a long time ago.”

“Affirmative.”

“I must know what happens next!”

“Would you like some popcorn?”

“Sure.”

Grover shook for a moment as a popping sound occurred in his stomach, before the theme ended Kyrion had a tub of hot popcorn and proceeded to watch as the scene cut to Edward laying back in a hospital bed, while Hilda was being kept away on orders from Ed’s stepmother, Victoria.

Kyrion grumbled a bit, as the episode went on and on until the next twist happened when Sara tried to convince a dazed Ed to sign a new will that would give everything he owns to his stepmother to prevent his wife from receiving anything. But, the supposed brother overheard this conversation and decided to bide his time a little.

At the end of the episode, it is revealed that the hired mana is Hildia’s missing brother Eldair, and while searching for leads, Sara and Victoria catch wind of him, hiring him to play a part in this farce. Which he’d accepted as a means to an end, using the resources he had at his disposal, as a secret real estate mogul, he called up some favors that were yet to be revealed.

Kyrion inhaled a handful of popcorn causing a kernel to fall into the wrong pipe resulting in an accident that caused Kyrion to reflexively cough crushing the kernel into shards and sending a wave of destructive wind forward, suffice it today, the T.V, wall, and a good portion of the kitchen wall to the outside were gone.”

The wall was fixed, the debris cleaned and the kitchen was mostly fixed aside from the highly damaged handmade kitchen tools. He did his best at repairing them but he lacked the knowledge of how they worked due to being mostly electronic.

----------------------------------------

“Two hundred!” Issac grunted as he finished the second set.

“Really? That fast?” Kyrion eyed Issac carefully before nodding in confirmation.

“Fast would be relative. Though you seemed to fade out for a moment.”

“Is that so?” Kyrion nodded in acceptance.

“You did, didn't you?”

“Where does one buy a T.V? The box I made doesn’t work properly.”

“You made a T.V?”

Karl seemed to tighten their connection. “If you buy two I can teach you how to make them.”

“I need two of the T.V’s”

“Do you have an allowance or something?”

“I provide goods to a candy maker.” Kyrion whispered it quietly.

“Candy maker? Why did you say it like that? It makes you sound like you're doing something illegal.”

“Well, thats because it's magical candy.”

“That sounds alot like a euphemism for drugs.”

“Drugs are good for you, and this is good for you, balances out. Just don’t eat too much.” Kyrion pulled out a bag of packaged fruit snacks with various out-of-the-world imagery, including a man in a suit with a goat head, red cloak, and a top hat that didn’t quite fit right.

“Kyrion…Do you truly see nothing wrong with the packaging?”

Kyrion took out a brown bear-shaped gummy and examined it. “No. Here you go.”

“Kyrion, I'm not going to eat your strange gummy. It could be an edible for all I know”

“Payment for the T.V. give it to someone else then. It should awaken earth mana in a normal human.”

“Right. Sometimes I forget your magical entity that totally is pretending to be human.”

“I am human. Probably. Just not from this world. Though avoid telling Mira.”

“Why?”

Mira seemed to be approaching the duo with an irritated-looking Kilo.

“What are you two doing?” Mira asked.

“Superhero training. He just did two hundred one handed pushups.”

“Eight hundred.”

“No. I said 200 with each hand.”

“No? Two sets, of two hundred with each hand.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t eat these gummies.” Kyrion placed them into a ziplock bag.

Kilo raised an eyebrow that caused Kyrion to look away in embarrassment.

“What happened?”

“He was watching a soap opera and the next thing he knew a remote was jammed into the T.V.” Which was the lie they agreed on telling anyone why Kyrion had to be grounded. It wasn’t serious to either of the people he lived with as the TV was for guests but that made him feel even more guilty.

“You watch Soaps?”

“Yes. They are biographies that you can watch.”

“He seems to think anything that isn’t a cartoon is real.” Kilo added.

“Right…So did someone die?”

“I don’t know. Which is why I'm working to replace the T.V”

“Oh, your first cliffhanger?”

Kyrion’s prosthetic eye seemed to buzz for a moment signaling that he should answer yes.

“Yes…”

“And you're working for Issac?”

“No? I’m helping out the football team as a training physician.”

“How’s that going?”

“Pretty well for someone who doesn't know how football is played. Still think Soccer should be called Kicking ball and Football, Soc’cer, because there are so many ways to soc someone in that game.”

“I still don’t get how so many of you don’t die on the field. I know a guy who could run through a defensive line and keep going.” Kyrion shivered at the thought of Volain charging through a group of practitioners standing in his way. It wouldn’t be pretty.

“What do you mean?”

“No idea.” Kyrion shrugged and eyed the two held hands with suspicion.

“What?”

“You’ve betrayed me Kilo. I will never forgive you. How can you do something so… So…” Kyrion couldn’t find the word in his language as it didn’t properly translate. So gross.”

“Hand holding is gross?” Kilo asked.

“Unsanitary and unnecessary. Do you know how many germs get on your hands in a day? Do you know what it signifies?” Kyion’s face reddened then stopped as everyone gave him a suspicious look.

“What does it signify?” Kilo asked.

“Union, and that you trust each other enough to allow your hands to be in danger of becoming mush.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“From another Earth human…” Kyrion paused and noticed that Mira was raising an eyebrow.

“From another guy I know. His childhood friend apparently squeezes too tight sometimes and fingers can get mushed.” Kyrion corrected.

“Is that so?” Issac crossed both arms and began to do squats in the background.

Mira sighed. “So…if we're earth humans then what other kind of humans are their?”

“Forest humans, sea humans, sand humans, sky humans, and I think there may be a few you can call space humans. I’m sorry.” Kyrion’s lie was so bad that even he cringed.

“Is that so?” Mira crossed both of her arms.

“What are you?”

“I am a forest human, raised with bears.” Kyrion nodded.

“Yeah, they found him eating raw deer in yellow rock a year ago. It took them a while to figure out who he was.” Kilo lied on his behalf.

“And yet he’s smart enough to keep up with the top in our class?”

“Did you hear how he does math? Off his rocker doesn’t even halfway explain it.” Kilo added.

“Yeah. He could be a prodigy.”

“He isn’t a demon summoned through a dark ritual by that fake cult.”

“I can attest to that. I am 100% human. Maybe…”

“Why maybe? I haven’t been directly involved with both parents for a long time so I can’t be certain.”

“O.K I get it, we’ll move on to other matters. What have you and Jin been doing?”

“Building mechs, we finished two and will soon start on a third, shortly.”

“That seems slow for Jin.”

“Lifesize mechs. We have nothing better to do.” Kyrion didn't add when he doesn’t need a ride for some quest. Which meant he could eat slightly different food.

An explosion occurred a few miles south of their current location, the sound loud enough to travel towards them as though amplified before settling and Kyrion was struck with another new headache.

“Kilo, get Jin to the workshop after school. I have a feeling I know who stole my toys earlier.”

“Wait, you made actual mechs? Not models?”

“Jin did most of the work, I did the math, and Kilo got us the workshop. It’s where my other money goes.”

“Other money?”

“Found you! Emergency assembly! If you're on campus, get inside for safety!” Lee yelled as he arrived where the group of four had settled.

“What’s going on?” Mira asked,

While she was distracted, Kyrion erased his presence moved around a corner, and teleported away his senses, his form shifting during the transfer. Before he fully vanished, he caught someone with two coffee cups barely glimpsing his disappearance.

Moca blinked in quick succession as regained her grip on the precious beverages. “What was that about? Who smells that much like flowers? Do I know anyone with hair that is pretty? The face also seemed familiar…Could be a caffeine induced hallucination.”