Present time
Tsugi strolled through the dark streets that are dimly lit by street lamps, heading up the grassy hill to the wisteria tree. The crescent moon peeked from behind the clouds, shining brightly over it, casting a dark shadow under the tree as the soft wind blew the purple flowers that swayed and danced like a pair of star crossed lovers in the night.
A wistful smile crossed Tsugi’s lips when he approached the tree. Grass had grown over the graves and blended them into the flat ground.
“I’ve returned from my first big mission.” He smiled and set the satchel down, pulling out goblets and a bottle of ale. “I’d say it was mostly a success. I didn’t arrive on time and lost three…” Tsugi took a deep breath and sighed shakily. “...but at least I saved the rest.”
He filled each cup and placed it on top of their graves. He knew that they wouldn’t come, but he still wanted to do it anyway. There was only one day a year where the spirits could cross over and that day was still a few months away on the day of the dead. Still, he sat by the tree and talked to them like they were still there. He laughed and joked, talking about his journey with Ruzo and Lugo. He talked animatedly about how he had met someone interesting.
“I don’t know what it is about him, but he seems like a good person.” Tsugi smiled softly to himself. “Although he can be annoying, because he’s always on my case about everything and always trying to make me laugh. Sometimes I wish he would just mind his own business.” Tsugi propped his leg up and rested his arm on his knee. “Yeah, I know, laughter isn’t a bad thing and I already know you would kick my butt for being so down.” He chuckled slightly.
“So you do know how to laugh!” Lugo walked up the hill toward Tsugi, making him wipe the smile off his face. “Why do you always do that?”
“What?” Tsugi sighed and leaned his head back on the tree.
“What’s so bad about smiling and laughing? You smile and laugh just fine and then as soon as I say anything, you stop like you don’t want anyone to see you smile.” Lugo sat down next to Tsugi, leaning against the tree. “What are you doing here?”
“Visiting.”
“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.” Lugo quickly stood up and looked around, until he noticed the filled cups on the ground. He walked over and placed a hand over his chest, bowing politely. “Nice to meet you, Tsugi’s family. I am Lugo. I hope we will become great friends, and don’t worry…I’ll make sure to make him smile more.”
“How would you know what they want?” Tsugi crossed his arms on his chest.
“I’m sure they loved you, so why wouldn’t they wish for you to be happy? No family loves you and wishes for you to be miserable.”
“Well in that case, you can leave, cause you’re making me miserable.”
Lugo gasped exaggeratedly, splaying his fingers on his chest as if he was offended. “I do not. It’s my job to fill your everyday life with laughter and noise.” He chuckled and sat beside Tsugi.
“You assigned yourself that job, no one gave it to you.”
“So what if I gave it to myself. It’s just what you need, you just don’t know it yet.” Lugo smiled at Tsugi showing the whites of his teeth.
***
SMACK, SMACK
Tsugi hands quickly grasped and rubbed at the sharp radiating pain on the top of his head. "Lugo, Tsugi! Stop messing around!" Master Othera walked away holding a long wooden stick behind his back.
It's been two months since Tsugi brought Lugo to the orphanage, and they were still in the middle of weapons training class. They were sparring monotonously which bored Lugo so he began to swing out of sync, which in turn caused Tsugi to block and incurred another smack atop their heads.
"Go hold stances over there instead. And while you're at it, control your aura as well."
Lugo and Tsugi did as they were told, though Tsugi scowled and grumbled the whole time he ambled over to the wall. Lugo on the other hand, just chuckled quietly to himself, causing Tsugi to pout and glare at Lugo. Tsugi was upset that he too had gotten in trouble, when he wasn’t even the one that started it.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“Stop laughing.” Tsugi hissed. “You’ll get us into more trouble.”
“What? Admit it, you know my way was more fun than this boring stuff.”
“Tree!” Master Othera yelled over to Tsugi and Lugo.
“Yes Master!” They said simultaneously and switched position to balance on one leg with their arms and free leg in the air.
“Messing around again darlin’s?” Jenene walked by with an armful of parchments. “Do I need to separate you two? I feel like every time you two are together, you are just the biggest troublemakers.”
“No Master Jenene.” They both said in unison. Tsugi was abashed, surprised by what had come out of his mouth, as was Jenene and Lugo. They both turned to look at Tsugi, whose face was as red as a strawberry.
“Uh…I mean, Lugo is still new here, I’m not sure if he would feel very comfortable around anyone else. So, I should stay with him in the meantime.”
“What? No I’m-OW!”
Tsugi had pretended to lose his footing and kicked Lugo in the leg, hence sending them both tumbling to the ground.
“Why’d you kick me?!” Lugo hissed, rubbing at the throbbing pain on his shin.
“I didn’t kick you, I just lost my balance.” Tsugi lied and quickly got back onto his feet to hold the stance as he looked up at Jenene. “We will work on being better.”
Lugo stood up to hold his stance and whined to Jenene. “Can’t we be in harder classes? It’s so boring.” He rolled his eyes.
“Is that what you think too, Tsugi?” She turned, gazing down at Tsugi.
“Uh…” His eyes shifted side to side. “A little.” He shrugs one shoulder disappointingly, admitting it.
“Alright, follow me.” She turned to walk down the hall. “Othera, I’m taking them with me.” Master Othera waved his hand into the air to acknowledge and turned his attention back to the other students.
Tsugi and Lugo looked at each other, wide eyed in excitement, and swiftly followed behind her. They stood by the desk and waited patiently as she organized all of the paperwork into the files, before leading them down the hall and out the back into a giant open field lined by a forest with giant trees. Tsugi has dealt with this situation so many times that he knew what was going to happen and was well prepared for the incoming attack. Lugo on the other hand, this was his first time, but his fast reflexes allowed him to block in the nick of time and went tumbling across the field with minimal damage.
Lugo looked up between Tsugi and Jenene and smiled excitedly along with Tsugi. They both charged and fought Jenene with powerful punches and whirling kicks. An upward kick caught Lugo in the chin and threw him up into the air before landing on his back and knocking the wind out of him. He choked on his own blood from biting his tongue and quickly sat up to spit out the blood, painting the green bladed grass.
Tsugi caught onto her pattern quickly so he was able to block and dodge with ease. She threw a straight punch at Tsugi’s face and he dodged only to get punched on the back of his head, sending him hurling him toward her as she sent an elbow right into the side of his face. Tsugi stumbled on his feet and shook his head from the daze.
He looked up and saw two Jenene’s standing next to each other. He watched as the Jenene’s morphed into one as his vision slowly came back.
Jenene smirked domineeringly at him, “sweetie, you didn’t honestly think I was that easy to read did you?” She cocked an eyebrow. “If something seems off, go with your gut and expect something else to happen.”
“What happened?” Tsugi shook his head, still a little dizzy from the encounter.
“You two say you’re good with the basics, so why don’t you tell me darlin?” She placed her hands on her hips and shifted her weight onto one leg.
“I don’t know, you were punching me, but then I got hit from behind.” Tsugi rubbed the aching spot on his head that was starting to swell.
“You teleported!” Lugo walked up and stood next to Tsugi.
“Very good Lugo darlin.” She nodded approvingly of Lugo, which caused him to puff up his chest proudly.
“How?” Tsugi continued to rub his head as if it would make the pain go away faster.
“Well, if you were paying attention in magic class, you would know now wouldn’t you darlin?”
“But I thought fire, wind, earth and water were the only types of magic? How do you get teleportation magic from that?”
“No, those are the basic powers. There are many more abilities out there, but they are more rare. Just like you.” She pointed to Tsugi. “You have dark magic.”
“Ooo, ooo! What about me?” Lugo jumped excitedly, raising his hand to get her attention.
She sighed and shook her head. “You two need to go back to basics in magic.”
“No! It’s so boring!” They both exclaimed, slumping their shoulders.
“It may be boring, but it’s the foundation and that’s where everything starts. You skip it and you will be nowhere as good as the others who went through the proper training.”
“Well, you’re the magic instructor anyway, can’t you just teach us?” Lugo begged. “I promise we will listen, it’s just the class is too big and we move too slow. We’re very fast learners, at least this way we can move at our own pace!”
She eyed them and studied them for a minute. “Alright.” She sighed.
“Yes!” They both jumped for joy.
“But!” She held up a finger. “You need to pay attention in all your other classes and not goof off. If you do, this stops immediately and you go back with everyone else. You understand?”
“Yes Master Jenene!” They both bowed deeply.
“Tsugi, don’t you need to prepare for today?”
“I forgot!” Tsugi quickly ran toward the gate, turning briefly to wave. “Thank you!” Lugo wasn’t sure what was happening, but followed Tsugi nonetheless, leaving Jenene standing alone in the field, grinning from ear to ear.