Thankfully for the stressed-out quartet, the remainder of the night was peaceful and they got a good night’s sleep for once.

Shouri was the first to rise, as usual. Though rise was strictly in the metaphorical sense, as he had now three lovely ladies huddled around him. Today the girl he held was Taika – he figured she needed the attention right now given the heavy nature of the prior day’s conversation.

Rebecca had claimed his back as her domain, nestled up next to him as close as she could muster. The vixens had spent most of the night utilizing their long fluffy tails to fight for possession of Shouri’s legs. He would have protested the additional warmth if it wasn’t for the heat resistance Rebecca provided.

Lastly, and certainly not least, Pacifica had claimed Taika’s back, hugging her from behind.

Somehow, they had managed to make it work despite the state of the group's varying relationships.

“I’ll follow you straight into hell if that’s what you want.”

“I decided I’m gonna stick with you until you’re sick of me.”

Taika and Pacifica were so loyal to him, they both had made that abundantly clear. He had a sneaking suspicion Rebecca might have similar feelings in the future, especially given her history. But what did he do to earn this?

He just treated them like people, like friends... perhaps something more.

Was that all it took?

He didn’t have a good track record with this sort of thing. He wouldn’t have much longer to dwell on that as the girls in question began to stir.

Pacifica seemed to be in most in sync with his sleep schedule as she was usually the first of the trio of Resonators to rise. She sat up and muffled a yawn to not wake the others.

Rebecca was most likely a light sleeper, as any commotion or real movement caused her to wake up – just like this morning, where she gripped the back of his shirt and resumed wrapping her tail around his legs.

Finally, there was Taika. She wasn’t a heavy sleeper, but she was a late riser. Perhaps though, she was merely pretending? She wore a serene smile on her face; pleased to be the one in Shouri’s arms this morning.

At any rate, the room was awake so they shuffled around before Pacifica and Shouri left to grab breakfast for them all.

“You okay Sho?” Pacifica asked as they crossed the courtyard to Building B.

The usual entourage of nature element Resonators were on the prowl, maintaining the lawn. Shouri briefly wondered how much the various MA Offices around the world paid in labor costs. He refocused himself to address Pacifica's inquiry “Just a little on edge,” he admitted.

“Yeah. We could use a real vacay, huh?” The otter let out a tired sigh.

Arriving at the second building on the property they ignored the usual casting range and made their way into the attached cafeteria to grab breakfast for the hungry foxes that awaited their return.

Though their morning would be interrupted in an unusual way.

“Woah!”

Now normally Shouri and Pacifica would ignore a random exclamation out of nowhere like that. However, they were barred from leaving by another Maestro. He was a plain thing, average in all respects. Average build for one in their mid-teens, plain-looking clothes, just generally someone who didn’t stand out from the crowd.

“You’re Shouri Tomoshibi, right?!”

Immediately the accused in question was on the defensive: “And what if I am?” Shouri asked, his hand reflexively dropping to Pacifica’s tuner on his side.

“I saw the news story about the boat and your cool Resonators, I’m just shocked you’re here!” the younger boy exclaimed. He was a bit shorter than Shouri and Pacifica, with scruffy hair, clothes ever so slightly worn, and of course a tuner at his waist. Though he was bright-eyed and naïve, Pacifica figured he probably just started out as a Maestro.

Sure enough, there was a Resonator standing behind him, and a rare one at that. A bright lion-man, a little bit on the younger side, but probably a little bit older than Pacifica or Shouri.

“I’m Vince, and this is my Resonator, Cecil, he’s an Albright,” the boy said, unable to hide his boastful tone. The Resonator in question remained quiet. There was something about this lion-man that felt off to Pacifica, but she couldn’t quite pin down what it was.

Either way, she didn’t understand the significance of the Albright name Vince was seemingly so proud of. Shouri did but cared not. “Interesting,” he commented.

“Ah, I’m sorry I just thought you and your Resonators were cool.” Vince laughed sheepishly. “I kinda wanted to see them in action if you wouldn’t mind,” came the request

Shouri looked to the girl by his side, who could only offer a shrug. “Well, I kinda wanted to eat breakfast.” He looked at the two takeout containers he held, which were rapidly cooling.

Vince noticeably wilted. “Ah, right. I guess I shouldn’t have just grabbed you out of the blue like that.”

And Shouri fell for the bait. “Er, well if you wanted, we were going to run some drills today.” Pacifica shot a sidelong glance at her Maestro.

“Really?!” Vince lit up like a light bulb. “That would be so cool!”

“S-sure, we’ll be here at like uh...” Shouri checked Pacifica’s tuner. “Like noon maybe?”

“Yeah! Yeah! I’ll be here! Thank you!” Vince bounced with excitement.

“R-right, see you then.” Shouri turned and tried to rush away.

“See you then!” Vince shouted even louder.

When they were out of earshot, Pacifica decided to ask: “Why did you humor him?”

“I dunno, the kid seemed pretty genuine to me,” Shouri muttered. “I didn’t have it in me to crush his dreams.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that.” Pacifica glanced back at building B before they turned the corner around the main MA office building.

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

“An Albright huh?” Rebecca asked after hearing the story from Shouri and Pacifica.

“You know of them?” Pacifica inquired of her fellow Resonator.

The fire Resonator nodded. “Sure. They’re the Solar noble clan, just like the Renards are the Fire noble clan.”

“Noble clans?” Taika raised a brow before shoving some toast in her mouth.

“There’s a bunch of clans of each element that are considered more prestigious for one reason or another. Usually battle merit,” Shouri told the lunar Resonator.

“My clan just has had a bunch of really good showings in tournaments, hunts, the whole gambit of battling really,” Rebecca explained.

Shouri nodded in the affirmative. “The Albright clan’s claim to fame is supposedly they’re the descendants of Armando of the Noble Swords.”

“Oh! He’s the guy that made the slashing attribute, right?!” Pacifica exclaimed, actually knowing that little bit of trivia.

“Yeah, he’s a famous war general who fought to free Resonators from the tyranny of the Naturals in the late seventh century,” Shouri told the group. Taika exhaled sharply out of her nostrils, her lips descending sharply. She lowered her head and slowed her eating.

Something else seemed to be bothering Shouri as well, which the ever-perceptive Pacifica picked up on. “What’s up Sho?” She laid a hand on his shoulder.

“He wasn’t dressed that well off. In fact... he seemed a bit on the poorer side.” He recalled Vince’s general demeanor. “I wonder how he got Cecil.”

“What do you mean?” Pacifica asked.

“Albrights are expensive, just like Renards.” Rebecca chimed in. “Not uncommon for them to go for three to five grand.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“You’re pretty familiar with that.” Pacifica chuckled nervously; uncomfortable with the idea.

Rebecca folded her ears back. “Yeah, I was traded for an Albright once, got to listen to our Maestros compare values for like two hours.” She hugged herself tightly, looking away bitterly.

Between Taika and Rebecca’s rapidly fouling moods, poor Pacifica had the challenge of trying to keep the group upbeat. “Ah! Well, he seemed like a really nice kid, he thought we were cool from what he saw on television,” Pacifica added.

Rebecca tried to smile, but it seemed more pained than anything. “He’s probably trying to be a collector.” She couldn’t help the nihilism – she had seen it all before.

Shouri sighed. It was certainly not his intention to bring his vixens down. “None of that matters; we’re together now and nobody is getting sold, traded, or otherwise,” he declared firmly. “If anything, we’re a family.”

Both Rebecca and Taika looked to their Maestro. His genuine words pulled them out of their funk in an instant. The two foxes lit up.

“Sho!”

“Shouri!”

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

Noontime rolled around and with it, the quartet made their way down to building B. Just like the lawn crews seemingly employed by every decent sized MA Office, this one had a casting range that needed constant care. Maintenence was no joke - as a few of the lanes were down for repairs, despite how packed the range was today. A Maestro repairman directed the Resonators under him in removing some faulty paneling.

As much as Shouri wanted to observe the repair crew work, he focused himself on his eager trio. “Ok, let’s get started,” he said, thankful he was able to get booth.

“Who’s going first?” Pacifica asked, cracking her knuckles – she was raring to go.

“I haven’t gotten any real time with Rebecca – so the focus will be her today,” he informed the squad.

Taika and Pacifica both pouted. “Relax, we’re all gonna practice today. I just need to calibrate with Rebecca. It’s important to do since she has so much experience,” he told them. Begrudgingly, the two senior Resonators sat down on the bench, forced to watch Shouri work with the third wheel of the group.

The fire Resonator herself stiffened, uncertain of what protocol was here. She hadn’t ever done this “calibration” thing with her previous Maestros. They either refused to let her fight or assumed her power level and treated her accordingly.

“Icarus’ ala first please, try not to force it,” Shouri instructed. Rebecca raised a brow. “Let it burn naturally,” he added.

Simple enough, Rebecca decided with a nod. Closing her eyes, she focused on her inner fire and ad-Lib. From her heels, a small fire erupted, blazing in the shape of wings.

Shouri knelt and observed the fires burning. “Hmmm.” He studied the vixen’s ankles, her socks, and shoes. They were the ones provided by the Riva Sranvi MA Office less than a week ago, but they already looked as if they only had another couple of days left in them. His analysis complete, he shook his head. “We could do better,” he commented.

“Excuse me?” Rebecca furrowed her brows, taking exception to his phrasing.

Shouri stood up straight. “Your socks and shoes I mean. They’re worn and not fireproofing you as well, if at all,” he clarified.

“I-It does hurt if I push myself,” the vixen admitted, snuffing her flames to avoid the aforementioned pain.

“Right. It’s one part your control, one part your footwear since your fire comes from there,” he informed her.

“Mhm.”

“Lanciafiamme, Forte”

“W-wait!”

Poor Rebecca was caught off guard by the sudden command. Especially because he didn’t even pull her tuner from his side.

“What...?” Pacifica gasped.

“What?” Taika looked between Shouri and Pacifica, confused.

“He’s... really familiar with her spells,” the otter whispered to Taika.

“Well, Sho’s like that, he probably studied a bunch.”

“No no, I mean I can feel it from him – he’s really comfortable with casting fire element spells. It’s like second nature to him.”

Taika furrowed her brows. Why would he be familiar with fire spells? Maybe because of Damian? That had to be it. Aura probably taught him about fire spells. Heck, she was super knowledgeable about Resonators in general, and that made the most sense.

Rebecca’s willpower finally eroded and she was forced to make the motions to cast the basic fire spell. For her version of her element’s entry-level spell, she thrust her palms outward. A stream of fire erupted forth, spraying out toward the target at the end of the range like a firehouse.

“Hm, Null-attribute, eh?” Shouri noted quietly to himself as he watched the display.

No sooner than her spell finished, another spell hit Rebecca’s ears: “Bolide, Piano.” She squeaked in surprise, her body just moving. Once more she was forced to thrust her palms out, however rather than a stream, a ball of fire shot out and smashed into the already smoldering target.

“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto.”

“Let me breathe!” Rebecca cried out in protest as she cast yet another spell.

This one merely forced her to wave her arm out in front of her. Around the target, a ring of fire sprung up from the ground.

“Have mercy Shouri,” the vixen whimpered.

“You did good, you can relax now.” He patted her head, which earned quiet forgiveness from the fire Resonator.

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP

The four turned to find the Maestro Shouri and Pacifica had encountered earlier – Vince. “So cool!” the young Maestro exclaimed in awe at the spectacle he just witnessed.

“And that’s Vince,” Shouri made the quick introduction for Taika and Rebecca’s edification.

“Oh! She has to be a Renard right?!” Vince let himself into the already cramped booth and began to fawn over the fire Resonator. Rebecca locked up, her heart starting to race as a cold sweat coated her body. Those eyes on her, the ones who saw a name, a lineage.

Shouri intervened, putting himself between his Resonator and Vince. “She’s Rebecca,” he stated firmly. Rebecca grasped her Maestro’s jacket, trembling.

Vince nodded quickly, failing to see the emotional turmoil he had inadvertently caused. “What about your other Resonators?” He pointed to the other girls in the booth.

“Pacifica, we er, met this morning,” the otter said with a small wave.

“Taika,” the Lunar Resonator said simply.

Vince looked over the other vixen in Shouri’s care. “You’re a lunar right?” he stated the obvious.

“I am,” Taika replied quietly, not liking where this was going.

“So cool!” He jumped back and forth, looking over the lunar fox.

She blinked, disarmed. “Che?” she uttered

Vince finally turned his attention to his fellow Maestro. “You have amazing Resonators Shouri! They’re all so super cool!”

“Y-yeah... I think so too,” Shouri chuckled sheepishly. This kid was way too much. He was harmless enough though.

Something was bothering Shouri however: where was Vince’s Resonator? The bright white tuner was proudly attached to Vince’s waist. With a quick look around, he saw Cecil standing up against the wall opposite their booth, with a bitter expression on his face.

“Hey Vince, don’t you think you should go practice spells with your Resonator?” Shouri suggested.

“Oh yeah, you’re right! Good idea!”

And with that, Vince bolted out of the booth without as much as a farewell. However, they were well aware of the other Maestro’s presence from the enthusiastic shouts of various Solar spells a couple of lanes down.

A sigh of relief was shared by Shouri and his trio of girls.

“That boy is too much,” Shouri decided.

“He could power a city with how much energy he has,” Pacifica added.

“As long as he’s not here.” Rebecca was still slightly shaking.

“È un rompiscatole.” Taika nodded.