My holidays were great.

I had plenty of free time, a roughly decent teacher in Taijutsu - Enji had only been able to find me an outsider for Kenjutsu and he was still in the trial phase - and best of all, the sociopath wasn't around.

To tell the truth, I didn't see him anymore except on weekends.

I had five days off out of seven, and the last two days I acted like an infiltrator in enemy territory. It was good training for me, especially when I had to use all of my skills just to keep an eye on him. He had no idea, and it was thrilling.

Surprisingly, the lessons with Mizuki-sensei were the most interesting.

Apparently he had worked for a Maghreb country (he wouldn't tell me which one) and had exchanged information with the Japanese government in exchange for extradition. He liked to tell me about some of his missions and the important life lessons he'd learned, although I sometimes doubted the veracity of his stories because they were so far-fetched.

The only reason I was willing to lend him a semi-listening ear was because he was employed by Sword and Cross, and that prestigious school wasn't going to hire an incompetent coupled with a pathological liar to teach their precious golden goose.

As a matter of fact, I had finally managed to find out how much it cost to go there for a year: it was about half a million, including boarding.

It was a bit more expensive than the Le Rosey institute I'd attended in my last life, but I think that was more due to the monstrous number of armed mercenaries guarding the grounds than anything else.

“Shoto, your package has arrived !”

I put my chakra encyclopedia back on my desk.

The fluorescent blue pages disappeared and the Princess Sarah book returned to its original form. It went unnoticed.

I went to the front door to get the package. Rei smiled fondly at me as I did so. The postman, wide-eyed, was spellbound by her.

“What shall we say to the nice postman who delivered your stuffed animal ?”

I stifled a sigh and forced myself to look the postman straight in the eye. My keen sense of smell easily picked up the scent of sweat beneath the cheap deodorant. I wrinkled my nose helplessly.

Poor people have such smells…

“Thank you”

I turned around and went back to my room.

Sitting on my bed, I ruthlessly opened the box. It was supposed to arrive before my summer vacation, but no matter. I was a patient person.

Among the polystyrene cubes, the top of the half-red, half-white tuft stood out like the broad but thin stripes of a mop.

I released the stuffed animal and lifted it to my face to get a complete view.

There was a large pink nose in the center of the face, and the eyes were two buttons sewn on. The body and limbs were gray and covered with stitching marks, no doubt to create a stylish effect.

It had no toes or hands, but that didn't matter. No one would notice in the dark.

I ran my hand over the mossy hair. It was rough to the touch and the coloring was reversed from mine - red on the right and white on the left - but in the confusion he wouldn't notice.

Satisfied with my purchase, I placed the stuffed animal in one of my drawers.

I left the room, barely looking at the torn pieces of cardboard and transparent cubes that littered the floor and my bed like a thousand thrown confetti.

One of the maids would clean it up.

*

Touya tugged at the collar of his jacket.

The uniform was a bit too tight and the sleeves covered the tops of his hands. He called to a passing employee.

“Excuse me ? My clothes don't fit”

The woman looked up from her notebook and gave him a cold stare. She clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth.

“Where do you think you are ? Go to the main hall right now and don't bother anyone on the way”

She walked away without giving him time to close his mouth. The rudeness of this woman was unparalleled.

Touya tugged at the zipper of his jacket but couldn't get it all the way up. Annoyed, he left it as it was.

He hoped to see Ryota and talk to him about his disrespectful subordinate. And he would also use the opportunity to ask for a uniform in his size.

Hands in his pockets, Touya walked slowly through the corridors of the center.

The entire facility was underground. There were offices on the surface, but the rest was hidden: access was impossible without the entry of the secret code in the elevator.

It gave the place a "government spy" quality that Touya liked.

Apart from the evil woman, Touya saw no one else.

After what seemed like an eternity (the walls were white, so it was impossible to keep one's mind occupied by looking at the decorations), Touya finally arrived at the room he had been told to be in.

He hoped he wasn't too late.

What would his father have done under such circumstances? He would have remained indifferent. He would have been noticed without having to shout.

Finally, Touya hoped he was little late.

He pushed open the doors and stepped inside. His electric blue eyes swept the room in an instant.

Twenty children of varying sizes lined up in four columns of five. All their eyes were on him as he crossed the threshold.

None of them looked surprised by his arrival. There was nothing but disdain and contempt in their eyes.

Touya didn't even bother to look at them.

What was the point ? From now on, they would spend their time watching his back.

“You're late. You know what that means for you, rookie”

His eyes fell on a man in his forties, wearing a black cap and military trousers. A whistle hung around his neck.

He was tall. Muscular too. But not as muscular as his father.

Touya couldn't see his face because the individual hadn't deigned to turn his head to look at him. As rude as the woman in the hallway.

“I'm new”

The man growled.

“Don't re-oh”

The change in tone caused a stir among the students. Some exchanged glances, others rolled their eyes, but no one dared speak.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The man, his hands still crossed behind his back, turned at a forty-five degree angle and took long strides towards Touya.

He analyzed him from top to bottom, as if trying to guess what he would be used for.

“My uniform is too big”

The man arched an eyebrow, ready to rebuff the boy, but pulled himself together at the last second. His mouth was a bitter line.

“... I'll see what I can do”

He moved to the side, gaving Touya a bird's eye view of the other children.

“Go to the back of the group and try to keep up as best you can. If you have a problem, come to me, but don't interrupt the lesson”

Touya followed the instructions to the letter, though not fast enough for the instructor's liking.

The hierarchy had told them to test the waters this week and then adjust their approach to the boy accordingly.

Still, he didn't appreciate having to play favorites. If it wasn't in the Commission's best interest…

*

The day passed quickly.

Touya - who had been nervous, though he had managed to hide it - became more and more satisfied with his results. It was only his first day, and he had beaten all the other children he had been paired with.

He had been delighted to see their surprise, exchanging whispers in low voices when the instructor was too far away to hear.

It just goes to show that you don't have to start training at three years old to be the best.

There was also a whole series of physical exercises that were great fun to play cat and mouse with, but where you weren't allowed to touch anything except the designated structures. You had to jump from one to the other and use your Alter.

Touya might have loved it, but there was this weird birdy kid who beat everyone hands down - even him.

After lunch, they'd play mind games or something. Touya was very good (the teacher was surprised), but the peacock head was better. And the more the day went on, the better Bird's Head became at everything he did.

Touya put it down to experience (he had been training at the center longer and already knew all the exercises, whereas he didn't), but he was still envious.

His father had told him, as a child, that to be number two was to be the first loser.

Touya tried to outdo himself all day long, but to no avail.

He buried his shaking hand in his pocket.

“Let's move on to the last exercise”

There were two sets of ten posts with platforms barely as wide as a man's hand. They led to a slightly larger platform where a golden totem awaited them. The children were divided into two lines: the goal was to finish the race faster than your opponent, grab the totem, and return.

This was one of the rare exercises that didn't require the use of Alter.

Touya watched the other line. The bird was at the back of his group.

Touya mentally counted the pairs of opponents and then slipped into the second to last place. No one paid any attention to him.

His blue eyes shifted from the blond to the concrete floor of the arena.

The students passed by. The two lines were evenly matched. Since there were an odd number of them, it would come down to Touya ond the other.

Touya bent his legs and raised his hand so that the little girl could give him a high five and he could start the relay.

He turned his head and saw that his opponent was two posts behind her. A thin smile stretched his lips.

The sweaty palm hit his.

Touya left like lightning.

He jumped from one platform to the next with ease. He didn't waste a second to think about where to put his next foot because he had already visualized his path to perfection.

He was moving so fast that he could almost feel the wind whipping against his skin. He imagined a cloud of dust being kicked up with every step he took from the speed he was going.

He couldn't hear anyone talking. He imagined it was because his speed shocked them all too much to make a sound.

Confidently, Touya risked a glance at his opponent.

The sparrow had just jumped onto the platform opposite Touya's. In the blink of an eye, he was on the next one. There were only three between him and the totem pole.

Touya lost his smile and redoubled his efforts. He crossed the poles in a fingers' snap.

He looked up.

The bird's fingertips brushed the trophy.

Touya felt the heat in his chest. It was like an angry beast clawing at his stomach, screaming at him to let it out.

His thoughts disappeared.

He wasn't even aware of what he was doing.

His right foot hit the platform. He used the momentum to project himself, hand outstretched, onto the totem pole.

The scarlet-winged child's eyes widened. The totem pole slipped from his grasp. A monstrous weight fell on his shoulder. He staggered to the side. His feet crossed. His shoe landed on the edge of the platform.

He slipped.

Touya saw the panic in his eyes. The boy reached out, hoping to grab something, anything.

He didn't even think about using his wings. The Quirks' ban in this exercise was still too fresh in his mind. Good boy.

Touya watched his fall in slow in slow motion.

He felt nothing.

The bird's back hit the ground. There was a loud crack. A scream escaped his lips. His eyes closed.

Touya, frozen, looked at him with empty eyes. The beast no longer growled.

Then he heard the other children screaming. It was like a cold shower.

The teacher jumped down from the platform and rushed towards the blond. She didn't dare touch him.

“Takami, can you hear me ?”

The boy barely nodded. The instructor sighed in relief.

“Tell me how you feel”

He lifted two weak fingers and tapped his chest.

“Sore... breathing...”

He exhaled like a flat tire.

“It's normal. Take your time. Look me in the eyes”

The training kicked in again and he forced himself to look into her eyes. It was admirable for a kid his age.

“Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out”

The boy matched the teacher's breathing. He wheezed, but was able to swallow large gulps of air. The pain subsided.

Touya jumped down to the bottom of the platform. His ankles burned, but he pretended it was nothing.

“Are you all right? I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to”

The instructor ignored him.

Takami turned his head to Touya. Touya's panicked eyes were glued to the woman's unyielding face.

“I only wanted the totem pole. I hadn't realized it was so close to the void. I slipped and-”

The instructor raised her hand in the universal sign to shut up.

Touya bit the inside of his cheek.

Takami was breathing better now.

“Do you think you can get up ?”

The slit-eyed students, who was staring at Touya curiously, turned to the teacher.

“Yes, I'm... I'm fine”

His back no longer burned. It just hurt a little.

Touya held out his hands in a gesture of goodwill. All they did was ignore him, and that began to worry him.

“I didn't do it on purpose”

The sparrow looked up at him with his little yellow snake eyes, looked down at his hand and then back up at him.

“It's okay”

He took the outstretched hand.

Touya hadn't expected the contact and nearly pushed him to the ground. He felt the eyes of all of the group boring into his neck. He pulled him along.

“Takami, stay at the back of the group until the end of the session. Then you'll go to the infirmary”

The instructor clapped her hands to get everyone back into place. Touya returned to the back of the group, his ears red. He felt as if everyone was staring at him.

Touya did his best not to be noticed. He was still embarrassed by the negative attention he had attracted earlier.

His father wouldn't have given a second's attention to unworthy people. No, to be honest, his father would have been on top of his game as soon as he walked through the doors of the center this morning.

Touya quietly continued his exercises.

From time to time - without him noticing it - his eyes returned to the winged boy. But instead of blond hair, he saw a two-colored tuft.

Because of him, his group had taken second place. No one cared about second place.

His eyes darkened.