As Astra came down the stairs, Oz was adjusting his pants while he and Vance glared at each other.
"Niichan, Vance, please stop getting into a fight every morning".
"He started it!"
"Hou, you still got quite a mouth on you".
Astra, despite being the youngest, could not help but sigh at tthe two of them.
Vance had zero idea or ability how to be a father, and used only his vague knowledge, strict behavior, and spankings as a guideline.
Oz had even more severe distrust then Astra of others, and especially adults who claimed they would take care of them. He remembered being abandoned by their parents, he remembered being neglected at the orphanage, and he remembered being treated as lab rats, not even humans, at The Institute. Not only that, but he often saw the futures in which they got betrayed by people they trusted.
Even if he had not seen any such futures with Vance, his deep rooted distrust was far too strong. But also...Oz was far too tense. He would often verbally lash out at Vance as a result, and Vance would try to educate him, but as he didn't really know how, he used corperal punishment as it was the only real method he seemed to know. At least for scoldings.
If it was to get them to go along with something ahead of time, he learned food bribery was highly effective. Not only that, but presents too. Even if a number of them had hidden meanings. As it turned out, Vance was very worried for them, and had taken various measures.
Regarding their clothes from that mysterious donor, not only would they transform into a sort of homemade superhero outfit if their full abilities were unlocked, but also they were completely bulletproof in either form, and were even resistant to energy weapons. Blades were still dangerous though, but the clothes had self repairing qualities.
However, Vance had made a few additions. For one thing, every single piece of clothing, including their underwear, had GPS locators in them. Vance also got them both the most secure cell phone in existence right now, that was not made by The Institute or any of its affiliates. They had special GPS trackers as well, but like the trackers in their clothes, operated on a special secret system that would make it so that only Vance could track them. Its possible it didn't even really use a GPS system apparently, but something similar.
The phones also could easily reach him or the authorities in case of an emergency, and the numbers of many of his cop friends were programmed into them. Not only that, but they doubled as tasers. Which was a bit redundant, since he had also given them both the top of the line stun batons that could be easily collapsed and hidden on one's body. This was an additional method of self protection, along with their psychic abilities.
And as if that was not enough, they both also were given a very special emergency beacon. it was a device dedicated to sending out an emergency signal in case one was in trouble. It would guarentee that Vance and the authorities would get it if pressed. Even normal jamming technology could not block it.
And then, there were the portable compact emergency kits. Anti-toxins, emergency bandages, stim packs, sunscreen, gas masks, and even incredibly densely packed Hazmat suits were inside. The kit was only half the size of Astra's head, and they each had one, but it was loaded with the latest in medical supplies and technology. It was probably better then a military grade one.
Honestly, Astra was scared he might actually get smothered to death from this level of treatment. Oz naturally was distrusting, not sure how to trust such actions that defied all his previous experiences. But most of all...Vance had decided on something else as well that Oz was picking a fight over.
"Why do we need to go to school?!"
"To meet kids your own age and become full fledged members of society".
"Haaaa? This place is likely just like the Institute!"
"No, they have no connections. Not even a serious rivalry".
"And how will we explain these damned collars?"
"Parting gift from your mother before she died. Now stop arguing. You are going to school, and I think you will want the ability to sit".
"Pervert! You enjoy stripping young boys and spanking them!"
"Alright, you asked for it".
Astra took out an air horn, and used it right in front of them both, stopping the fight.
"Vance, learn a better way to scold Niichan. Niichan, stop being so stubborn. And both of you, stop fighting!"
"Tsk".
"A-astra, but he..."
Astra picked up Oz's backpack using telekinesis, and threw it to Oz.
"Hou, at least one of you seems to understand the importance of school".
"I dont trust the school either, but...I have seen some of your school memories. It seems like hell, but...I have been through hell already, and there are some moments I saw that were redeemable".
"...wait, you saw my school days?"
"You kept an old sports trophy for baseball in the closet, as well as some other things. Including quite an old love letter".
Hearing that, Vance glared at Astra.
"...and I think you need a lesson in not snooping into an adult's private things".
Astra gulped, and soon his bottom became as sore as Oz's.
----------------------------------------
Vance made sure to drive them both there. He had made sure to set everything up ahead of time, and quizzed the two boys a bit to make sure they had a rough knowledge. In truth, they actually seemed far better educated then Vance had realized. It seemed that, while undergoing experiments with all those scientists, when power enhancing drugs were used on them, they had forcibly learned some things from them.
As such, they possessed more information then kids normally would their age, but it was fragmented and incomplete. They would probably be seen as smart or weirdly intelligent kids, or just having an odd array of knowledge. Especially in science. But school would still be good for them, and it would round out their knowledge base.
And most importantly, and Vance's main goal for them, was to make friends their own age.
That was the real priority there. The thing they desperately needed the most was human connection, and while Vance wasn't truly aware how substandard his parenting skills were, he understood that he was not the best one to give them that. He would be their guardian, their protector. But someone with better social skills then him would be their bridge to the real world. He would just make sure that bridge was safe.
Even if Oz was going to be kicking and screaming and rebelling against him every five seconds, even if he had to make his rear red a number of times, Vance would gladly put himself between Oz and a bullet if necessary. He just wanted to get Oz to temper his emotions, at least a little. And to stop calling him a perv, it was honestly hurting Vance's feelings a bit.
"Now, do at least try to behave okay?"
"Why are you looking at me?!"
"Because you are almost certainly going to pick a fight with your teacher, Oz".
The rebellious boy looked away, as if refusing to acknowledge the point at all.
Either way, it was pretty clear why Vance picked this school in particular as well from a mere glance. It might not be the most wealthy, but it was a decent school. No special security systems of any kind, and yet there was three things that could be seen in either direction. Large buildings, and everyone knew what they were.
Down the block and taking a left was a large police HQ building. That was where Vance used to work, and it was certainly a crime deterrant.
Just down the road in the other direction was a large fire station, ready to respond to any emergency.
And down the other route of the T-intersection in front of the school, right at the end, there was a large hospital.
They had all been built after the school had been made, but as a result, one would be sure that if anything happened there, police, rescue services, and medical aid were ridiculously close. It might just very well be the safest school in the city as a result.
"This is...very much ridiculous".
"Well, its near the center of the city, so it kind of makes sense right?"
"Now, make sure you take my hands so we dont get separated on the way in".
"No way! We are not showing up on our first day of school holding hands with you!"
"Id rather not get bullied on day one".
Saying that, Oz and Astra went ahead and entered the school. They were absolutely nervous, but given what they had gone through, that was basically a given.
----------------------------------------
"Alright class, this is our new student, Oz Alzo".
Oz stood in front of the class as the teacher introduced him. She seemed a bit strained as well, perhaps because it was so sudden or the fact Vance came in and met with her to make sure she would promise to help and protect them. He seemed pretty calm and collected, as he really didn't pay much attention to the students who were making a fuss. And yet...
Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!
Internally, he was in distress. After all, he had come to realize something.
He had no idea how to talk to kids his own age.
"I am Oz. Please just call me Oz" he managed to say, not wanting to use Vance's last name as much as possible.
"And I am Astra! It is a pleasure to meet everyone!"
Astra introduced himself next, but...
"Hold on, Astra-kun. you should be in your own class".
"Eh? I cant be in the same class as Niichan? I am really worried, its hard for him to be honest and open with people, so I think it might be better if I am here so people dont accidentally misunderstand him you know?"
"...Astra".
Oz said his brother's name in an irritated voice.
"...ahahahaha. Forget you heard anything!" Astra said, as his brother headlocked him and drilled his fist into Astra's skull. Once he felt thoroughly satisfied, he released him, pushing him out the door and then closing it.
Normally Oz would be more then happy to keep Astra with him twenty four seven. However, between that comment, and the fact they were trying to blend in, made it a bit difficult. Not only that, but...Oz also wanted Astra to make friends his own age. So he decided to give his brother a little push.
Of course, that same reasoning was why Astra was okay with separating too.
The two brothers were very much in sync.
Oz ended up taking a seat in the back of the class, by the window. The boy in front of him kept fidgeting and looking back at him nervously, and seemed a bit familiar. The boy to his side however, seemed just fine, and he worked peacefully on the laptop he had out. Oz was kind of curious, but it looked like he was writing a program, and Oz didn't understand half of what was written on the screen. As he tried, a message from the city administrative AI came in via the databoard in front of the class. It was essentially the digital version of a blackboard.
"Good morning students! I am the City Administrative AI, Vero! Its time for school to start, but if I may recommend, try doing some warm up stretches! Doing so will help invigorate the brain as well as the body, and might lead to a more productive day!"
The avatar icon for the city administrator, a young boy with rainbow hair, blue short sleeve jacket, white T shirt, black shorts, and blue shoes appeared on the databoard in front of the class. The teacher had all the students go along with it, and it seemed this was just a normal part of the school day. It only took a minute or two, and after they were done, the teacher began lessons.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Shortly after the morning lessons were over, and the teacher took a break, countless students swarmed Oz. For a moment he thought they might attack, but he glimpsed at their minds and saw that they were full of curiosity, not malice.
"Hey hey, is that your natural hair color?!"
"Your red eyes are so pretty!"
"You look like that protagonist from Magical Boys: Ranger Force!"
"Is that the MediMonitor bracelet 2000b?! I thought it wasn't even on the market yet! And your brother had one just like it!"
Oz was not sure how to respond as the stream of questtions came forward. At this point, one girl pushed inbetween them and made them space out.
"Hey, he cant answer everything at once! That said, sorry Oz, but they wont settle down until you answer them".
"Ah...thanks for helping at least. Well, yes. This is my natural hair color. Natural eye color too. Was told it was something albino syndrome or whatever. I never watched or read that Magical Boys stuff though. And yes. Unfortunately im staying with a strict annoying old man who absolutely does tons of unnecessary things, and he seems to be overly paranoid about everything".
"Is that why you have the Galops 7Z? Pretty sure that is one of the most secure phone models in the world, maybe even the most secure. It also comes equipped with an emergency beacon built into it, in case of emergency".
"Yeah. He is an exceedingly frustrating and stubborn idiotic old man".
As Oz said that, he took out his lunch box as it was time for lunch. It was a really nice lunchbox, complete with temperature preservation technology and a battery life that would last it about a week without being charged. As such, Oz's egg and ham sandwich was still toasty and warm, and his yogurt was refrigerated at a nice cool level.
"Thats one amazing lunchbox. Ah, my name is Sally Sparrow by the way. I am the class president".
"Mhm. Nice to meet you".
Another boy with a baseball cap came up, he had been the one to ask about his hair earlier.
"My name is Akane Akasora, nice to meetcha!"
Another boy who was the one who sat next to Oz normally, and had a laptop out, nodded towards him.
"My name is Makoto Hajime, pleasure".
And then the boy who sat in front of Oz, who had been fidfeting for awhile now, turned back towards him.
"By any chance, Alzo-kun..."
"Just Oz is fine".
"R-right...by any chance, does that mean your father or guardian or whatever...is Vance Alzo?"
"Yeah...wait a second".
A lot had been happening, so Oz didn't realize it at first, but when he got a look at the boy, he finally figured out why he was so familiar. He was the very same boy from the case that occured over a week ago.
"What a small world! Anyways, I heard we only were found because he was the one who figured out my location! I really just wanted to thank him myself!"
I mean, it was mainly me and Astra, but...I cant actually say that. Stupid Vance taking all the credit!
"By the way, I was curious. What is with the chokers?"
Hearing that, Oz reflexively covered it. In trutth, he had been spending all day telepathically implanting ideas that it was normal and not to ask about it, that it might be a sensitive topic, but apparently the boy was not affected. Then again, he was a fairly powerful psionic himself, so perhaps that was why.
"...its a bit of a sore subject, our mom gave them to us as a bit of a joke...but they were the last things she ever gave us before she died, so..."
"So you wear them all the time and treasure them greatly. I thought so. I do the same thing with my father's ring".
Saying that, Sally took out a chain from around her neck that was hidden under her shirt, and there was a wedding ring connected to it.
"...I didn't quite lose anyone, but this laptop was given to me by my father. He is in space now, helping organize and construct cities on the moon. Its unclear when we will have the chance to talk, so I carry it with me always so when we can, I can talk with him".
"That is pretty cool though, building lunar cities. I think its near the ten year anniversary of tthe first one being fully established, right?"
Through various trades and policy changes, the moon ended up being under the control of the Unified World Council, the successor to the United Nations after World War 3. They decided that, to remain fully neutral, they would establish the world government on the moon, and now that was where they operated from. They had top of the line hardware and could transmit in real time, but naturally capacity was limited, so the time where civilian traffic was allowed was limited, and not everyone could use it at once. The basic things like internet was fine, but full on live calls and streaming was another issue.
As everyone enjoyed their lunches, Oz was finding himself a bit more relaxed around them. Not relaxed, but a bit closer to it. He also discovered in his lunch, there was a homemade pudding in there, with a cat face drawn on the top that looked very adorable and cute. Oz, caught off guard, went sparkly eyed at it...but then he realized who made it.
Vance was a tall, muscular cyborg that was very strict about things. It wasn't like he had them adhere to a minute by minute schedule or anything, just to behave and do things properly and such. However, given his behavior and attitude, Oz was now trying to imagine such a person standing in a kitchen, making pudding with such adorable details on it. Such an image broke Oz's brain, as he found himself unable to comprehend this possibility at all. He ended up eating quietly to himself, as his brain turned and oiled trying to process the mental image he was just forced to consider.
To Oz, there was no way Vance could ever be so considerate, or capable of such emotionally moving detail.
!!!!
Oz quickly realized something, and wiped away his eyes before anyone noticed.
The pudding is really good...homemade pudding, so soft and wonderful...to think that bastard would try to embarass me by making me cry tears of joy during class!
In a typical Oz like fashion, even when happy at something Vance did, he took the stance that Vance had done something wrong and had some level of malice in it. Though even Oz felt like his own stance was not really believable.
Either way, Oz decided to power through the lunch, and the day.
----------------------------------------
After lunch eventually came gym, which was interesting in its own right. For one thing, it was dodgeball. They had seen a number of things about dodgeball on TV, it was popular sport for gym class featured episodes in anime, and Vance had gotten them an entire library of digitally downloaded manga, comics, novels, books, light novels, web novels, and countless other forms on various devices. As such, Oz was familiar with it.
However, he was experiencing a bit of an issue.
"Eh? How did the ball turn like that?!"
Whenever someone on the opposing team tried to target him, he reflexively defended himself telekinetically. This caused the ball to divert course and head off in a different direction. It probably wasn't fair, but it was quite interesting all the same.
But it was also reflexive, so he couldn't actually stop himself from doing it either.
Thankfully, it was barely noticeable most of the time, so really people were more confused then anything else. But because they were all elementary schoolers, that didn't really last all that long.
"Hmmm...calculating the trajectories, something is definentely off" Makoto muttered next to Oz. "Could some of the balls be defective? They shouldn't change trajectories like that though".
Makoto adjusted his glasses, as he dodged while analyzing the situation.
Eeeeep! This is no good, no good at all!
----------------------------------------
At the same time as this disaster, Astra's class was dealing with art.
"Astra, you okay?"
"Yeah...these brushes are really amazing" Astra mentioned to the teacher, who saw him crying. "Sorry, its my first time doing art since mommy died, so...she used to love it..."
"Ah, its fine. Well, uhh...to explain a little, these brushes were donated to us by a local artist named Sergio. You seem to keep switching, are they too difficult to use or something?"
"I haven't found one that fits my hand as well..."
Sergio huh? Well, we will have to deal with him later.
Every time Astra picked up a brush, a strong emotional wave hit him. That was because there was psychic residue on all the brushes and some other materials that were donated. And as it turned out, this artist was not as benevolent as people might think.
This guy is a psychopath. Thats the fifth brush from someone he has killed! And all these other crimes!
Art was tied to passion, so psychic readings on art and art supplies that were used were pretty common. And with Astra's inherent abilities, even if not at full power at the moment, he was getting readings easily from these supplies.
Astra endured such visions, and finally made it to the end of art class. In the end, he somehow even managed to make a very basic painting of a cat. Well, it was an art class for seven year olds, so it was more or less expected. He based it off of the basic cat image on his pudding, which was a mental shock he was also still recovering from.
I knew Vance did his best to try and find ways to make kids, and now us, feel better around him. But homemade pudding...with such a cute drawing on it. I dont think I can imagine him in a kitchen, wearing an apron, making that. What sort of monster is he?!
The Cute Cat Pudding would be an event that would keep both Astra and Oz in shock for some time.
After that, their class had a course in computers and technology. It was a basic course for a seven year old, to just help them introduce themselves to this sort of thing, but it was considered part of their education as well. After all, technology was a major part of this world. That said, since the skills were a bit specialized, this wasn't actually a class you could fail. It was impossible to be held back or anything because of this class, and the teachers were even a bit more lenient to those who decided to sleep during the class.
Apparently this class would sometimes be held after gym, so it was probably to accommodate those who wore themselves out too much as well.
Astra however, found himself far more relaxed and enjoying it more. After all, it seemed these computers, even though they were bought used, had no real trace of psychic energy on them. Or at least the one Astra was using didn't. There wasn't any real emotional level, and instead Astra found himself picking up the skills of the class quite quickly.
"Oh, you might be a natural at this...even too good".
"Eh?"
"You are already at the raw coding level...it looks like of similar to the IT guy's work that helped clear and set up all the computers actually".
"Oh...maybe its because he did that, and I picked up on it tthen when I was looking at it witthout realizing...hahaha".
"Yeah, that makes sense".
In truth, Astra's power had just activated without him realizing, and he ended up gleaming some technical information. That said, it seemed to be something unconscious, as when Astra tried to consciously focus on it, it became a bit more difficult.
Okay...now I need to do well here so they dont realize I was just using psychometry. Thats kind of annoying, but whatever.
Astra felt that way, as he continued to do the class.
Once it was over, they had some more normal afternoon classes. Astra had fielded some questions similar to Oz, but he was able to get through it somehow. Unlike Oz though, who was far more awkward and indirect, Astra was making friends with many classmates. And yet, he could feel it. Glares, and negative stares. The attention he was getting seemed to be brewing jealousy in some of his classmates.
But compared to the malice and indifference of The Institute, such feelings didn't break his smile. He was worried and scared, but the stress from the first day of school helped keep his expressions in check.
Among the ones who got closest to him, was a boy named Aori Valrance. He was an extremely friendly boy full of good will, who seemed to not understand the concept of personal space, boundaries, or barriers.
While in the middle of the crowd, suddenly someone took advantage and had an impulse, and pulled Astra's shorts and underwear down. Astra was quick to fix it, flustered, but Aori already zoomed in.
"Oh, thats the kind of underwear you wear? I had you as a briefs person, but as it turns out, you are a boxers! I am the same!"
And then Aori showed off his own boxers just like that as Astra fixed his own shorts. In that instant, the focus that had been on Astra went to Aori, and Astra felt very gratefful for him. He got way too close to Astra's underwear, but he gave off nothing but good vibes. Even when Astra focused his telepathy on him to really dig deep down, there was truly not a single trace of malice or bad intentions there, he just wanted to help people.
That said, his help was not always passive, and it seemed he got in lots of trouble as well.
His thoughts are....very warm and welcoming.
That was Aori's overall aura that Astra could sense.
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Oz was dealing with his own problems.
"Seriously, I knew there were some risks, but this is just mean".
"Mhm...yeah".
Frankly after what I have had to deal with, this is kinda low tier...so much that I missed it when I was looking into the future.
Oz had spent the entire car ride over pushing his powers to the limit while in his non-unlocked mode, trying to anticipate any potential danger or disaster. Naturally, Future Sight was difficult to use proactively like this, and it wasn't always reliable when used this much in his unawakened mode. However, he didn't see any life threatening dangers or potential kidnap threats.
However, at the moment, he was dealing with an issue he hadn't noticed at all. First of all, after gym class, someone had raided his locker and stolen his clothes. They eventually found them, but they had been tossed into the pool and were soaking wet. But as they were, he suddenly got sniped. Not by sniper rifles, but water guns, soaking him head to toe while wearing masks to hide their identity.
However, they were all quickly captured anyways and given a good scolding. Oz was given a tracksuit to change into, and now he was wearing that, except...
When he got to his seat, glue was put there, so now he had that issue. It was high strength glue as well, so it wasn't something he could just free himself from.
In fact, when he had rested his arms on his desk, apparently it had been secretly placed there too, so his arms were also stuck. His shoes as well, they had used quite a bit of glue.
No, perhaps they just spilled a bunch on the floor, because Makoto's shoes were also stuck to the floor. That said, his chair and desk were fine, so he had just taken them off.
"Sorry about this" Sally said, as she was trying to wash the glue off without ripping the clothes. "Most of the students are quite nice, but we have a number of rascals, especially sempais, who love to play pranks on transfer students and show some sort of dominance".
"Aha, I remember when they tried to get me as well" Akane said, as he moved over to Oz's ear. "By the way, they soaked you pretty good...just to know our options, did you take off your underwear as well?"
Oz however, looked out towards the window, as if he wanted to escape reality.
"So you cant just take off the pants then..."
"...no, im wearing some".
"Eh?"
I refuse, absolutely refuse, to acknowledge that idiotic pervert Vance was right in packing spare underwear into my backpack!
"...idiot Vance..."
Akane was able to figure out roughly the situation. Certainly, normally no nine year old would ever admit to having spare underwear just for a first day of school, and so Akane, despite his rowdy and outward nature, knew to keep his mouth shut about what he realized.
That said, everyone saw his boxers when changing into gym clothes, so he didn't want to take off the track suit and reveal that, hence he was staying put while the others used glue remover and carefully separated his rear from the seat.
Once that was done, Astra made sure to pick up his clothes, which had been left to dry, before leaving the school with Astra. Vance, of course, had come to pick them up.
"So I take it things didn't go perfectly?"
Vance said that as the two got in the back seat, unamused.
"I made some friends".
"So did I".
"Thats good. And bullies?"
Oz was wearing a tracksuit, and Astra seemed incredibly worn out mentally.
"I had one so far, maybe more".
"I have probably a dozen".
"That many?!"
"Apparently, my coldness made them think I have some sort of superiority complex, and they really want to take me down".
"Told you spare underwear was necessary".
"Shut up! Pervert Vance! Idiot Vance! Enemy of all children Vance!"
"Oi, do I need to give you a spanking in front of the school?"
Oz went stiff from the threat, and even Astra paused.
"Good. Now I am sure the teachers let it go for today, but try to avoid picking any fights".
"I will have you know, the teacher didn't scold me once!"
"Probably because you already got bullied a lot".
"By the way Vance, we need to make a stop on the way home".
Vance looked back at Astra.
"A stop?"
"Mhm. A serial killer donated art supplies, and it will really help my deal with future psychometry readings in school if I have the closure that he was dealt with already".
"I see. Give me the name and address".
----------------------------------------
Vance, Oz, and Astra saw a news report that a serial killer, whose name was withheld, was discovered and arrested later that night.
It appeared that New Tokyo was now free of one more serial killer, but Oz and Astra continued to suffer unexpected mental damage.
"By the way, I made sure to make plenty of puddings, so you can expect them in your lunches from now on. I even worked on some new designs, such as a bunny, a flower, and others".
That deteriorated Oz and Astra's mental energy.