***

"Wow, there's a lot of security people guarding the school today."

"I know right, it's kind of creepy."

Two girls walked past a man who stood center in the school's entrance. Students continued walking past the man, glancing at him as they walked by. Anderson appeared before the man, his arm and hand still wrapped in bandages. The man glanced at him, then approached him.

"Why are you here sir?"

"Just making sure Len gets to class safely."

Len stood just right of Anderson.

"Here, Len, you go on inside now, make sure you go to the correct classroom, okay?"

"Yeah."

He slowly walked past the man, entering the school.

"So that's the kid."

"Yeah, that's Len!"

The man peered down towards Anderson's arms.

"Anyways sir, why are you out of the hospital so early?"

"The doctor told me my arms were at the point of healing, so I asked them to discharge me for the time being."

The man looked concerned.

"What if you get attacked again?"

Anderson laughed.

"Don't worry, I made sure that he wouldn't be able to attack us anytime soon."

The man forced a fake laugh.

"What worries me is that I was not the target."

The man became confused.

"Then who was it?"

"Len."

The man opened his eyes wide.

"The kid!?"

"Yes, it really worries me a lot. I don't know if I'll be able to protect him."

Anderson's face darkened.

"You really care about that kid don't you?"

He flashed a slight smile.

"Yeah, the more time I spend around that kid, the more he feels like family. Even though he was suddenly put in my care, it feels like I was the one who chose him."

***

Len stood in a doorway admiring the scene in front of him. There were lots of students in the room, smiling, laughing, and talking with each other. He looked towards the back of the room, staring at a kid sitting next to a window. Rays of light peered through the window, landing on her.

Who is she?

Len was suddenly pushed. A kid turned around in front of him.

"Sorry about that dude."

He scurried towards the back of the room, sitting next to the girl. A voice suddenly came from behind Len.

"Excuse me!"

Len turned around. A woman with dark brown hair and red glasses stood before him. The woman looked down at Len, examining his face.

"That's a new face, you must be the new student, correct?"

"yes."

"You were supposed to be here a few days ago, but I heard there was an accident so they put it off. You can wait outside for now, I'll call you inside in a minute, alright?"

"Sure."

"You can call me Ms. Blaire by the way."

Len stepped out of the doorway into the hall. He watched the woman make her way intothe room and noticed the students entered a slight panic scurrying around before getting settled behind different desks. He listened in on the woman talking.

"Alright kids, I know a few days ago I said we were getting a new student, but he didn't show up. Well today he showed up, so why don't you come in now, new kid."

He slowly walked in the room, getting pierced by the stares from the other kids. He stopped just beside the teachers desk, facing the students.

"You may introduce yourself."

"H-hi, my name is Len!"

The teacher smiled.

"Is there anything interesting about you, maybe something that makes you stand out, maybe something others might want to know?"

I'm not sure.

Len was hesitant.

"Umm…"

The teacher looked down, noticing Len was nervous.

"It's alright if you can't think of anything right now. How about you go on and take a seat?"

She scanned the room for an empty desk. She pointed to a seat near the window.

"You can sit over there by the window, the second desk from the back."

He slowly walked towards the back of the class, the other students glanced at him as he walked by. Whispering began to unfold.

"we should go talk to him during lunch."

"look, his shirt is torn up."

Len approached his seat, and the two at the back of the class just stared at him. Len pulled out a chair from behind the desk and sat down. Someone started whispering.

"hey Len it's nice to meet you."

He turned around and a boy with red hair was leaning over his desk, looking at him. Len opened his mouth.

"nice to meet you too." He whispered back.

"I'm Rex by the way."

He stuck his thumb up, pointing towards his left."

"And this is my sister, Eunice."

It's her…

She softly waved at him.

Len turned his eyes towards her.

"n-nice to meet you." she said quietly.

Len flashed a small smile at her, nodding.

"Anyways, sorry for bumping into you earlier, I wasn't really paying attention." Rex said.

"It's okay.

The teacher suddenly looked at the two talking.

"Rex, stop bothering the new student!" She shouted.

Rex smiled, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry Ms. Blaire." He said, loudly

She looked disappointed.

"Just get back in your seat."

He sat back down in his chair. Ms. Blaire looked around the room then started talking to the class again.

"Monday we have another exam."

She looked towards Len.

"Len, I don't expect you to take it since you're new here."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Len nodded.

She directed her gaze back to the rest of the class.

"Today is a preparation day, so you guys can work with one another to prepare how you'd like."

She looked towards the back of the class.

"Eunice, I know you're already smart enough, and as of now Len here doesn't have anything to do for class today, so can you do me a favor and give Len a tour of the school."

"Sure!"

Rex stood up, pushing his chair back. He looked at Mrs. Blaire and shouted.

"Wait a minute! She was going to help me. Why does she have to go?!"

"Well maybe if you were as smart as your sister, you wouldn't need any help."

A few chuckles came from the front of the classroom.

Rex sighed and pulled his chair back towards his desk.

"Well let me go with them anyways. I'm just going to fail again so it doesn't matter."

"It's my job to make sure that you guys learn, but I guess you're right. Your test scores are always disappointing and somehow you've made it this far in school, so I guess you can go."

He stood up, again pushing his chair back.

"Alright! Let's go, you two!"

He rushed around his desk, grabbing the lens right arm pulling him towards the back entrance of the classroom.

"I'll be your guide today, so don't worry, you'll know every foot of this place in no time!"

Eunice laughed softly.

"How are you going to do that when you're always lost?"

Rex's face glowed red.

"We don't need to talk about that! Let's just show him around the school!"

These people are weird.

The three strolled down the hall, heading towards the stairs.

"Let's head down to the first floor and start there, most of the facilities we use outside of class are there."

"Okay."

They reached the bottom of the stairs, Eunice turned towards the left and began walking.

"Follow me, let me show you where the important areas are first."

Len and Rex slowly followed behind. They glanced over at each other.

So Len, what do you like to do in your free time?

"Not much."

Rex looked disappointed.

"Really, you don't do much at home or in your freetime?"

Uhhh… Anderson's games.

"I guess… games."

Rex smiled.

"You play games too? My favorite game is Old Amulet, it's a really fun game. You should try it! It's about a guy who fights all these cool monsters, you can ride horses, talk to dragons, create weapons, travel…"

Suddenly, Len quickly picked up his feet, soon appearing next to Eunice. She glanced over at him.

"So Len, what brings you here to this school?"

"learning."

She laughed.

"That's such a straight answer! Why do you want to learn?"

He looked down.

"I'm not sure."

He suddenly was halted by something. Eunice's hand was on his shoulder, and he was stopped in front of a room.

"This is th-."

Rex, still rambling, bumped into Eunice.

"Oww, hey watch where you're going you idiot."

"Sorry, I didn't notice you stopped."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Len's." He replied.

"He was right next to me!"

Suddenly a woman in a white coat opened the door to the nurses office.

"Knock it off you two!"

They all turned towards her. Rex's face turned red, he stormed towards her.

"You damn fake doctor, why did you give me that!"

Eunice grabbed onto Rex holding him back.

"Geez kid, I said I was sorry."

Rex began yelling.

"Sorry? That's not enough for what you did to me!"

She looked annoyed.

"It was just a shot. Why are you acting like it's such a big deal? You're always acting all high and mighty, but you cried because of a tiny needle."

"STOP TALKING!"

The woman started to laugh.

"Geez, stop yelling Rex, I was just messing with you."

She looked over towards Len.

"So who's this kid?"

"This is Len, it's his first official day here!" Eunice replied.

"Well Len, my name is Doctor Lona, and if you're ever injured or there is an emergency you can come to me, most of the time I'll be in this room."

Doctor…

Len was stuck in his thoughts.

"You okay kid?"

"Y-yeah."

Eunice suddenly appeared in front of Len.

"Are you ready to move on to the next place?"

"Huh, oh, yeah…"

She continued next door, appearing in front of a sign reading, "Library."

"This is the library, if you want to read anything or need a quiet place, you can come here!"

Rex looked at Eunice who was smiling.

"I don't recommend coming here. This place is pretty boring."

Eunice looked at Rex with an irradiated face.

"No it's not! This place is magical, there are so many interesting stories here, it's amazing."

"You would know since you spend most of your time there since you're so lonely."

"I'm not lonely!"

They argue a lot.

The door to the nurse office swung open. Doctor Lona walked out.

"Can you two stop arguing? It's like this everytime I see you two together."

They both looked down in unison.

"Sorry." They both murmured.

"Now go somewhere else and stop shouting so damn loud."

They scurried off back down the all they came from, Len followed. They approached a window and outside was a red track with freshly painted white lines next to a large grass field.

"Ahh the track, my favorite place." Rex said.

"That reminds me, everyone at this school is here because they have the potential to become renowned in a certain field. Me, I'm good at running, and Eunice here excels at writing, so what are you good at?"

"Combat…"

He burst out laughing.

"Haha! That's a good joke Len! So what are you actually good at?"

"Combat…" He repeated.

A confused expression rose on Rex's face.

"Really? With that body?"

Eunice stepped in.

"Hey, don't be so mean to him."

"I'm just saying, with a body like that, there's no way he could last in a fight."

"Stop it!"

Rex looked down and sighed.

"Fine. Fine."

"Alright let's get back to the tour! No more interruptions!" Eunice exclaimed.

"So the track is used for all of our physical activities, on the inside of it we play different sports and hold many fun games!" Rex announced.

Len stared through the window at the track, glancing at the beautiful grass complimenting the bright red color of the track.

"I think it's about time we head upstairs again." Rex said.

They headed up the stairs and down the hall to the left. They stopped in front of a familiar door.

Rex knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

A man could be heard on the other side of the door.

Rex opened the door, and Principle Roe. was sitting there, sipping from his mug.

"Rex? Oh, and Len and Eunice are with you as well. So, what do you need from me?"

"Nothing, I just came here to visit a friend while giving Len here a tour of the school." Rex responded.

"What makes you think we're friends?"

"Come on, we're always talking with each other."

Principle. Roe looked disappointed.

"That's because you're frequently in here because of all the trouble you get in."

He glanced over at Len.

"Len, I suggest you don't hang around Rex or follow anything he does."

"Come on, I'm not that bad."

"This is your second time here this week."

"It's Friday, relax."

Rex looked towards the window.

"Anyways I'm actually here to ask you something."

"Just hurry up with it."

Rex approached the window and peaked through the blinds, seeing three men dressed in black guarding the entrance of the school.

"What's with those security guards?"

Principle Roe sipped from his mug again.

"That's something I cannot tell you."

"Ugh, why not?"

He remained silent.

Eunice glared at a clock on the wall above the principal's desk.

"Lets just leave now Rex, it's almost time for lunch."

"Yes, yes, you guys should leave now," Mr. Roe said.

Rex's face turned bright red.

"FINE WE'LL LEAVE, BUT I'LL BE BACK SOON!"

Principal Roe smirked.

"I know."

***

They returned back to class and Len sat there, quietly, viewing over everyone talking. He glanced over towards the front of the room, looking up. A clock hung just below the ceiling, the hour hand nearly on the 12. He looked back down, seeing, there weren't any books out of any of the desks. Rex suddenly began talking from behind him. He looked towards the clock and started counting.

"3.. 2.. 1.."

A chime suddenly blared from above, high pitched notes echoed through the school, but only the teacher moved. A sound could be heard from behind Len. He turned around, looking at Rex who was rummaging through a bag, desperately searching for something.

What is he looking for?

Rex appeared above his desk again, holding out a small red box. He grabbed the top of the box and began pulling towards his face, holding the box from the bottom to keep it still with his other hand. He opened the small box and a smoky aroma spread around him. He suddenly looked at Len, who sat there, staring at him.

"So what did you bring for lunch?" He asked.

Oh, lunch

Len suddenly reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out an item wrapped tightly in a plastic wrap. Len spoke.

"A sandwich."

"Is that it?"

Len nodded.

Rex seemed disappointed with Len, then sat all the way back in his chair, crossing his arms. He smirked.

"Well, come over here and feast your eyes on this masterpiece!"

Len leaned over the back of the chair, admiring the small box from above. The box was split between pieces of steak along with a ball of white rice next to some carrots and some peas.

"Isn't it impressive?" Rex asked.

"yeah," Len responded.

He bent forward from the back of his chair, inching towards Len.

"Well, you see, I made this myself."

Len's face suddenly lit up.

"R-really?"

"Yeah I d-"

Eunice interrupted him.

"No he didn't, our mom made the food, he just put the food inside and is pretending like he made the food himself."

Rex squinted over towards Eunice who was right next to him.

"You know, you really are annoying."

"No you are," she responded.

These two…

Len unraveled the plastic from the sandwich, taking a bite as he watched the two argue for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

Lunch abruptly ended and Rex's box was still more than half way full. His eyes slowly teared up, soon drying up after he rubbed his eyes clean with his forearm. He regretted his actions of ignoring such a masterclass of a meal to argue with his sister. He closed the red box, throwing it back in his bag. He put his head down, covering his eyes with his arms. Len could tell he was sad, but chose not to say anything, knowing it wasn't his problem. Ms. Blaire suddenly walked in the room, looking ready to announce something. She looked around the room, and towards the back corner where the three of them were.

"Thanks for giving Len a tour, Eunice!"

"What about me?" Rex chimed in.

"And you too, Rex."

Rex appeared to be satisfied with that answer, smiling. Ms. Blaire looked around once again.

"As I've stated before, Monday is your test, again you can do whatever you would like to prepare for it."

Len turned towards his left, gazing off into the distance. He saw no reflection in the window, he blinked, and a man appeared from behind the wall at the entrance of the school, dressed in a blue suit with a black tie. Three security guards quickly approached the man. They began talking to the man, but Len didn't know what they were saying. The man suddenly looked towards the building, eyeing every window the building had to offer, landing his eyesight towards the window Len was at, then smiled. The man's face seemed… familiar.

Who is that?

Len remembered seeing that smile before, but didn't know who he was. A black figure suddenly appeared around the man's waist, but he couldn't see any details from far away. The man glanced back down towards the security guards and put his hands up, acting innocent. The three guards pushed the man away, and he happily left the school. Len glanced back up towards the front of the class, seeing the teacher behind her desk, examining some papers. He looked around the room, everyone was studying. He put his head down, his vision slowly faded, to darkness.

***

He slowly opened his eyes, lifting his head up. A sound chimed in his ears, he looked around, kids were walking out of the classroom. Rex stood there next to Len's desk, waiting for Len to notice him. Len turned around to see if Rex and Eunice were there, but was startled by Rex right next to him.

"School's ending, so you might want to head home now." Rex said

He yawned.

It's over?

Len glanced towards the clock at the front of the room. The hour hand stood directly on the three. Len slowly got up, pushing his chair out behind him. He looked back towards Rex, but he and Eunice were already headed towards the back exit. He pushed his chair back under the desk, heading towards the front exit of the class. He slowly made his way towards the front of the school, seeing Anderson just outside the front, waiting for him. Anderson waved at Len, and he just kept on walking towards him. Len reached the exit, stopping right beside Anderson.

"How was your first day?" He asked.

Len yawned again.

"Tiring."

Anderson laughed.

"Lets head back home now, the team leader said he was going to send us on an easy mission tomorrow, so it's best you rest up."

"okay.' Len responded.

They walked towards the bus stop just a block away from the school. Reaching the stop, they sat down next to each other. Len's head suddenly fell to Anderson's side, he was out.

***