Both parties looked at each other in silence. Miyo and Kaiyo seemed to be distracted, as they focused on the air above them more than the kids sitting in front of them.

"Say... is that Trigram?"

"Without a doubt, but... he's blue?"

"Who the hell are you two now, huh?!"

Fudo put his arm around the girl that was still burying her face in his belly. He didn't see what they were looking at, but from the previous events, he very well knew what it was. The two women didn't seem to pay attention to him in any way, though.

"So... Ironskin's esper is Trigram? After eleven years, we find him again, and then it's in a place like this... and he even got a makeover."

"No... that boy with the funny cat T-shirt is Ironskin, and he's the only Noes here. Trigram's host is that blue-haired kid."

"So, the one we're looking for doesn't even have an esper, and we randomly bumped into a blue Trigram? Wait, does the kid that thinks he's too cool for a shirt have an esper too?"

The two boys looked up at Miyo and Kaiyo, who still didn't pay any attention to them. While Isamu stared at them with a face that showed how little he could comprehend what was going on, Fudo was nearly erupting.

"Again, this esper, Noes shit! Are you here to kill Aiko and her ghost too?! Do you turn grey when I beat your asses too?!"

"Aha! I knew there was a Yami in here!"

"Did you say, turn grey? Does that mean you fought a level zero Yami...with three people, two of those have espers...and you still look like you nearly died?!"

Miyo turned around with her hands on her hips and a proud look on her face since she again guessed right. Kaiyo, who was rather calm the entire time, suddenly burst out into laughter.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about. If you mean the ghosts when you say esper, then there's only one of them."

Isamu said while pointing up to the orb that was floating a little higher above Aiko's head. The red apple-sized orb changed its color and size since the last time they saw it. The red color was replaced with a bright light-blue, and the size was less matched with an apple and more like a football.

"Wait, you can see it?"

"You can't? I thought that we were able to see them now because we were both trapped in that lion's cave as well."

"Oho~! Seems like someone grew an esper just recently! Lemme see, lemme see!"

Miyo slowly walked up to Isamu and sat down in front of him with a smile. Isamu looked back at her and then at his body that was just barely covered by Fudo's jacket. He quickly started to blush and pulled the jacket to cover every part that was still exposed, but Miyo grabbed his hands and instead took the jacket off entirely.

"Don't cover yourself! You're blocking my view!"

"C-could I ask you to not stare at me like that?!"

"No need to get embarrassed. I'm not into younger people. Furthermore, I have a girlfriend, so you wouldn't have a chance anyway~."

"I-is that so..."

Fudo glanced over to the two a few times since he was unbelievably wary of Miyo and Kaiyo, but at the moment his attention was all set on Kaiyo, who already calmed down, but still looked down at him with her hands covering her mouth and a provocative look in her eyes.

"Well, it's still hilarious how beat up you all look, but when Trigram was the only esper you had for some time, then it might be more of a surprise that you survived... Miyo, do you already know what the boy's esper is? I'd like to get out of her as soon as possible. That other boy is staring at me."

"Your boy is called Fudo Enatsu, the one in front of me is Isamu Chiba, and that girl is Aiko Shina. Maybe they'll respond better when we call them by their names!"

"Wait, do we know you?"

Aiko suddenly stood up and looked at Miyo, who looked up at her with a smirk, and silently shook her head.

"You don't know us, but I know everyone...when I see them, that is!"

She slowly put her hand against Isamu's chest while they both started to glow. From that same glow appeared a picture of a yellow heart which was visible to all of them.

"There we go! See and behold, Isamu Chiba's esper! It's called Lion's pride, but I have no idea what it is!"

"Why do you sound so excited while saying that?"

"Well, it's practically Lionheart, but evolved!"

"You mean that condition-bound esp-."

"CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHY MY HEART IS YELLOW?!"

As the two women were concentrating only on each other again, Fudo, Aiko, and most of all Isamu looked at the glowing picture with shocked eyes. Fudo and Aiko just looked surprised, but Isamu started to shiver at the sight of the yellow heart that appeared as soon as the woman touched his chest.

"T-THAT'S NOT REALLY MY HEART, RIGHT?!"

"Oh yes, it is! Be proud, that's a really ra-."

"HOW CAN I BE PROUD?! A HEART SHOULD NOT HAVE THAT COLOR!"

"If you won't shut up and let Miyo finish, then I'll silence you with force, you damn brat!"

Visibly annoyed, Kaiyo grabbed the handle of the sword that was strapped to her back, but she quickly let loose as she saw the stare that Miyo was giving her.

"Please excuse her. She's tending to get a little aggressive when she's annoyed. First off, I'd like to apologize for our rude entrance. My name is Miyoko Noguchi, and my friend is called Kaiyo Kido. We're something you could call professional espers. Our job is to handle problems involved with espers."

"So, like that man that we killed?"

"Fufu! Why are you telling them?!"

"Well... that Kaiyo gal is threatening us with a sword... I think they've got a few more problems than we do."

"Ok, first, I didn't allow you to call me by my first name! Second, by man, you probably mean that person that you mentioned before, right? That man who turned grey?"

"So you know something about him?! Was he sent by you?!"

"You'll shut up, you damn brat. We have two tours here. Either you sit down and play the obedient little puppy while listening to us, or you'll continue playing the big man and die where you stand. You'll now join us or become the first target."

As the woman put her hand on the sword handle once more, this time pulled the sword out, so the blade was just barely visible, a dark aura spread through the alley. As the aura started wrapping around the walls around and even the floor beneath them, the three all looked at Kaiyo while silenced in shock.

"They're silent now, Miyo. You can go now."

"Thank you, my dear Queen Arthur! So, you three are now part of our System! You two are because you have espers, and Fudo, you are because you know too much about espers... also I'd like to have you all three with me, because you three are all special in your own way, and because you're all orphans! You're kinda like starter pokemon!"

"That's...not the reason. Miyo, these are recruits, so please don't call them pokemon."

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Ok, ok, I'll teach them correctly, but first, do you all agree with joining us?"

"Do we... have any options besides join or die?"

Aiko looked around between Miyo and Kaiyo. Her eyes were still full of fear of the aura that Kaiyo emitted. As Kaiyo noticed, she quickly let go of the handle and let the sword fall back into the sheath.

"It's our job, so no. We either have to make you join our fraction or make you unable to join any other. Even if it's just Trigram and an unknown evolution of Lionheart, we can't allow our side to shrink while our enemies grow."

"I'll join you!"

Suddenly, Isamu stood up and also looked around between the two women. He was obviously nervous and didn't even look Kaiyo in the eyes, but his voice was determined. As he was standing, Fudo also raised his hand slightly.

"I'll answer on behalf of all of us when I say we'll join you...I guess, but I'll only join when I'm able to stay around Aishi."

"Huh? You think you have the right to make any demands you bra-."

"Yes, you will stay with her!"

Miyo jumped up and pushed Kaiyo, who was visibly angered by Fudo's demand, back. She gave her a serious look while leaning towards her and stared her into her eyes.

"Kaiyo, I'm the leader, just let me do this...ok?"

"U...understood..."

"Alright then! Since you all decided to join us, I'll just take the freedom and take you into our division! Also... can I call you Fufu too? That name's too cute to not use."

"Uh... you're... my boss now, right? I guess...you can decide that yourself?"

"Is that really important right now?"

Kaiyo asked as she looked down at Miyo with an annoyed face.

"I agree! There have to be more things you should tell us! I mean... after all, you're about to rip us out of our lives just because we have these ghosts- I mean espers, and you didn't tell us a thing about them."

Aiko added as she looked up to the two. The women looked at each other with the same doubtful face before Kaiyo reached up and grabbed the orb flying above her head.

"Did you... get Trigram without knowing a thing about espers? Normally all the ways of getting an esper include killing and people actively hunt to get espers."

"But, didn't I get an esper? I didn't kill anyone."

Isamu pointed at the picture of the yellow heart that was still being displayed above them. Miyo slowly made the picture turn into a small page that only had a few words on it.

"I had your esper analyzed... and I found out nothing, lol."

"I never heard a person use lol outside of texting... and if you found nothing, then why did you even say that in the first place?!

"I didn't find out what your esper does because you're the first one that has evolved Lionheart like that, but it's basically the same as Lionheart's condition. Lionheart is an esper that manifests if a Noes fights off an esper host that possesses an esper with lion attribute. Your esper, Lion's pride, is basically the same, but the condition is a little different. It reads that besides needing to fight off the lion esper, you need to protect a member of your pride from a fatal blow."

"That's...a little much... what exactly is a pride?"

"Basically, a lion's harem, but considering the only girl here is Aiko, family counts too... or are you gay?"

Miyo looked at Isamu with a smirk while the paper disappeared. Isamu, who was barely taller than Miyo, started to stare at her with blank eyes as he was suddenly deep in thought.

"No, I... don't think I've ever been in love. I never concentrated on these things, really."

"But, didn't you blush as I sat down in front of you? I mean, only a natural reaction of having a beauty like me that close to you, bu-"

"I was embarrassed! I mean, I'm wearing nothing to cover my body! Anyone would be embarrassed in my place!"

The other three looked at Miyo and Isamu with irritated faces. After a few seconds, Kaiyo walked up to the two, picked Miyo up from below her armpits, and held her in front of herself, which looked as if she was holding a cat.

"This is supposed to be an action fantasy. Why is this starting to sound like the start of a rom-com?"

"I think the tags said romance as well."

"What are you two talking about?"

Aiko asked as she confusedly glanced up to Fudo and Kaiyo.

"Kaiyo, let me down! Let me down! I'll focus on teaching them now!"

"I hope so! Open the library for us all, and then we can start."

As Kaiyo let the woman down and took her hands off her, Miyo started walking towards a wall. Silently standing in front of the wall, Miyo started to give off a slight white glow and gently touched it with a stretched-out hand. Upon the touch, the wall started to make waves and emitted the same glow that Miyo did.

"Now, make your way into my modest little esper. I'll play teacher inside there."

"Do you mean... we walk into the wall?"

"That's like harry potter!"

"Is that really your first thing that comes into mind when you think about running into a wall, Aishi?"

"I just read a lot, ok? There's nothing weird with that."

"Just that we're not going to a magic school, we're going into a library! And, could you please hurry up?"

They all looked onto the wall with both excited and suspicious faces... well, Aiko was the only excited one, but before they had any room to think of what to do, Kaiyo grabbed Fudo and threw him into the wall, where he quickly disappeared into it.

"And there goes the noisy one! You two can go in yourselves.. unless you want to be thrown in too."

"We... can go in ourselves, thank you, Mrs. Kido."

"Oh, you can call me Kaiyo, but don't tell your friend."

"Do you hate Fudo already?"

"Well, let's say he looks like a smaller version of one of my boys... and he's just as annoying as him. I don't dislike him, but he's annoying, and I'm not emotionally bound to him enough that I'd let him call me by my first name."

"Kaiyo! Stop the Smalltalk!"

Miyo, who was still holding her hand against the wall, looked up at Kaiyo while pouting.

"Right... your names were Aiko and Isamu, right? Could you follow the other guy now?"

"We will! Isamu, come!"

"At least let me pick up Fudo's jacket."

Aiko didn't wait for Isamu, as she ran straight after Fudo into the glowing wall, while Isamu grabbed the white jacket that Miyo previously took off his shoulders. He hesitated a little to follow the other two but went into the wall as well.

"I could just take my hand off and run away now, ehehe."

"But they can still leave. That wouldn't do anything... stop fooling around, and just follow us in, ok?"

Kaiyo sighed while crossing her arms in front of her chest before marching into the glow too.

"No humor... unfunny! Unfunny woman! When we're finished, I'll have her buy me ice cream again."

Miyo took her hand off the wall, and as the glow started to fade, she also jumped into it.