Private/Closed Ambrose Academia

[kageyama]

Areum read the text with a sour expression. Of all times, now you want to quit? she queried mentally, attitude dampening quickly. Maybe he's just tired, she offered as she changed into her clean set of extra clothes.

Internationals would take place in roughly a month, and registration's deadline was in a week. Areum gladly would've signed their names on the slip, but found herself avoiding the encounter as Kenji and she inevitably drifted slowly once again. Areum was growing increasingly irritable as the deadline grew near - her boyfriend had seemed to adopt his old exterior that seemed uninterested all too often. With the lack of training, Areum made numerous efforts to get some sort of practice in. She had taken up different 'lessons' with her classmates, but they proved not to be of much use.

Now the deadline was in a couple of days, and Areum was pretty pissed. Instead of writing their names down, Areum had crumpled up the slip of paper and tossed it away briefly. She reached for her phone, promptly texting, "Can we talk?" to Kenji before slumping down on her couch.

Meanwhile, the other male duo was shortly discharged from the hospital and returned to academics as if they hadn't just sustained numerous injuries.

Hatsuo had been walking home when an envelope in his door caught his attention. He snatched it before heading inside and tearing open the seal. Encased inside was the request to transfer to Ambrose Academia with the intention of further honing his fighting skills. Tuition and supplies would be provided should he take the offer. Hatsuo was a rollercoaster of feelings after he read the letter for the eighth time. He gently set it down and reached for his phone, dialing Ryohei's number.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Kenji had been relaxing on his own couch, resting his eyes leisurely as if nothing was going wrong. Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket, and he picked it up, reading the text from Areum. He quickly tapped back a reply before setting his phone down on the table next to him and leaning back once more. "Yeah, I'm listening."

Ryohei received the call promptly, the same envelope with the letter in his hand. He replied with a hoarse voice, courtesy of the throat punch he had received in the finals a while ago, "Did you get the letter too?"

 

[kageyama]

Areum scanned his text before she began to type fervently. "Is something bothering you? You've been acting distant." She blew out a breath of air as she hit send.

"It's really sudden, isn't it?" his voice was cracked as well. "I don't really know what to make of it." Hatsuo paced around the couch as he spoke. "You plan on taking it? It's where that little duo that beat us attend," he said with spite as he flopped back on the cushions.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Kenji read the text that had just popped up and thought for a minute before replying back. "No, not really. It doesn't really feel like I've been distant." Had he been? It could have been that ever since he had shifted his aura before the last set of the final, maybe he had been rather cold in his demeanor. Not much had interested him, but he had assumed that Areum knew he still cared for her. Was it that he hadn't been showing it as much?

Ryohei coughed a bit before replying, "I'm okay with going, but it's you I'm worried about. I may be the pyrokinetic, but you tend to get a little hot-headed sometimes, you know. It might not be best to let a rivalry explode so sudden into our transfer to a new school."

 

[kageyama]

Areum frowned as she read his reply. "Oh. Maybe I'm overthinking it." But she didn't feel that way at all. There was enough tension for her to scrap their chance at internationals, at that.

Hatsuo rubbed his neck as he listened to the male on the phone. "Competitiveness gets the best of me, I suppose," Hatsuo drawled. "I think I'll take the offer. I can't promise that I'm not gonna tease the pair a little bit, though. But I'll restrain my impulse, so to say."

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Months later..
Kenji and Areum continued to grow distant in their relationship, and tension between them and the newly transferred Ryohei and Hatsuo grew as well. The two ended up not going to internationals, much to Areum's chagrin. However, to Kenji, the distance in their relationship went unnoticed. After some reflection later on, he was able to deduce that it might have been his emptiness in what he did that seemed to bother his girlfriend.
Ryohei, along with Kenji, became outstanding in his class, leading to a few clashes between the two rivals from the competition long ago.

In a dark alley near the school, a man with a black cloak, fedora, and a cigarette blew a puff of smoke into the air. An attache case was held in his hand, and after throwing his cigarette to the ground, the man used his other to pull out a walkie-talkie. "Get ready; we head for the school in 10."

 

[kageyama]

Areum traveled down the hallway to get to her next class. Rummaging in his locker was Hatsuo, who took notice of the girl's miserable demeanor. He promptly stepped out in front of her to stop her in her tracks. Surprised, the girl stumbled back, then glared when realizing who it was. "You two just can't catch a break, huh?" he smirked, looking down at her. Areum glanced to the side.
"I don't know what you mean."
"Ah, don't be coy - sure you do! Although I must say, I'm quite baffled. Wasn't becoming the nation's prized fighters enough for you two?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I suppose it's not really my business, however. I'm meant to refrain from meddling from now on," his eyes glittered mischievously. "Ciao, I suppose." With that, he walked past her and down the end of the hall.

Areum stood still for an extra several seconds, feeling angry and frustrated at the male's words. Then, she stormed off.

The alley kitty-corner to the one occupied by a cloaked man held it's own character with malicious intentions. "Get ready; we head for the school in 10." The man holding the walkie-talkie grinned. He, too, held a suede case in his knuckles. "Just a run-through, you take the front, I got the back; we snatch a couple of unsuspecting youngsters and do the deed? Am I hearin' you right?" He leaned against the stone wall of the alley, taking his hat off before running a hand through his messy grey hair.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

As he walked to his next class, Kenji suddenly found himself walking next to Ryohei, who coincidentally had the same class as him in a few minutes. "Another day of sparring in Athletics, probably," Ryohei remarked quietly. "I won't lose this time." Kenji scoffed, though his face showed no emotion. "You already know you will. The past 10 rounds already proved that."

"Right. Sedate anyone who tries to fight back if the need arises, but it shouldn't be too hard; you have our men for that." The man scanned the academy briefly before smirking, pulling his fedora down over his face.

 

[kageyama]

"Aaand, here we go," the young man chuckled under his breath, stuffing his free hand in his pocket. He crept out of the alley and snuck along the wall of the large building, eyes scanning back and forth. As he reached the back doors, he opened the case and carefully removed a small 21-gauge needle. He eyed it for a moment before placing it in his pocket and shutting the case, gripping it in his hand. Pulling open the door, he slipped in, examining the empty hallway before him. A custodian's closet lingered a few feet away, offering a perfect stakeout room to ambush unsuspecting students. He stood low in the room, watching through the crack of the open door as somebody walked by. A poor boy, not knowing what was about to occur, was making his way to the restroom before the man yanked his arm and dragged him into the room. The procedure of drawing, drugging, and dropping off then occurred, ending with the man dragging and tossing him into the bathroom stall that was his original destination.

After a few students were seized, another came along with books in her arms and a frown on her face. Areum Cricket, in the flesh. The man readied the empty syringe before grabbing her harshly and covering her mouth. "What the hell -" yelped the girl, dropping her books and struggling underneath his arms. "Pipe down, little lady, this'll only take a minute," the man grunted as she put up more of a fight than the previous victims. He only managed to pull her halfway into the janitor's room before he slipped the needle into her arm and drew what he could. She shrieked under his hand and thrashed angrily.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

As the school day progressed, Kenji noticed that the school had been getting quieter and emptier. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice let out a shriek and kicked all of his senses into high gear, flaring up his aura and running towards the sound of the voice. He turned a corner to see a shady looking man trying to restrain a struggling Areum. Acting on pure instinct, Kenji lunged at the man and tore him off his girlfriend, throwing him against a row of lockers nearby. The man let out a grunt as he fell to the floor, glaring at Kenji. The teen fired an icy glare with intensity surpassing that of the man before grabbing his neck and pinning him to the locker. He held his glare, saying quietly but intensely, "I don't know who you are, or why you're here, but as long as I'm alive, you won't even lay a finger on her." Kenji then aimed a right hook to the temple, knocking the man out cold. He turned around and crouched down, grasping his girlfriend's hand and holding. "Are you okay? What did he do to you?"

On the other side of the school, Ryohei stood in a hallway flooded with the unconscious bodies of men who had tried to abduct him. He smirked to himself as fire danced in his eyes; it had been a while since he got a good stretch in.

 

[kageyama]

Areum sat crouched on the ground, watching as Kenji wiped out her captor. As the man was grabbed, the half-full syringe fell from his hand and clanged onto the ground, cracking, but not breaking. Areum reached down and grabbed it, heart beating quickly as she looked at the medical tool. As Kenji directed his attention to her, she looked at him helplessly before turning her gaze back to the tool. "Ah, um, he just drew some blood, nothing else.” She got up and entered the custodian's closet where the leather case lay, open. Six full syringes were lying neatly inside. "I fear others were less fortunate," she sighed before turning around and hugging Kenji tightly.

Hatsuo had heard a bit of clamor throughout the school but dissed it as unimportant. When he came around the corner to see Ryohei standing vigilant amongst a sea of unconscious men, he sighed. "Damn it, I missed it all?" he said with a bit of a whining tone.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Kenji hugged Areum back, not wanting to let go of the embrace. A surge of emotions came rushing in for what seemed like the first time in a long while, and he chuckled softly. "We should probably stop having all of these little moments, shouldn't we?" He pulled back briefly to kiss his girlfriend on the lips before hugging her once more for a brief moment.

Ryohei turned around at the sound of Hatsuo's voice and stuck out his tongue in a mocking manner before letting out a laugh. "Get here quicker then." His facial expression suddenly turned serious as he started running past his comrade, saying, "We should make sure these guys are out of here for the time being."

 

[kageyama]

"That's probably for the better," Areum laughed. She pulled away from the hug after a few moments to pick up the briefcase. "I've got a feeling he stashed the kids around the school. You should look for them. I'll alert the authorities," she said to Kenji before turning on her heel to head for the principal's office.

"Har har," Hatsuo said, walking towards the mass of people and crouching down. He took one of their hands and held their arm up, examining their build. "Pretty big dudes. Nice job," he said while standing up and dropping the limb. He stretched his arm while looking around the corner. "Let's go," Hatsuo nodded.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Kenji nodded and flared up his aura, which now took on a bright silver, before running through the entire school and checking for any students that might have been abducted. He immediately tended to the ones he found, unbinding them and bring them to the nurse's office before going again. Meanwhile, Ryohei, trusting his friend would follow, did the same, incapacitating the occasional bad guy. Upon hearing Hatsuo's compliment, he replied with, "Thanks. This should be easy for me if I ever wanna surpass him someday."

 

[kageyama]

Areum exited the office, leaving the suede case with the principal for further examination. Local police were contacted but were facing transportation issues so help would be delayed. She met up with Kenji and helped him take care of the last missing student. "Potentially, there are extra henchmen in this heist," she said, dusting off her skirt. "We should probably check."

Hatsuo bit the inside of his cheek. "No fair, you get a cool rival," he sighed, putting his arms behind his head as they walked. "I don't wanna be rivals with that stuck-up chick, she's no fun." His eyes darted along the hallway, spotting a man that was crouched near a doorway. He fired a sharp spear of ice at the collar of the man's shirt, pinning him against the wall. He walked over, briefly socking the fellow in the nose before turning back to walk with Ryohei.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Kenji nodded and began running deeper into the middle of the school campus, looking for any other henchmen around that might be trying to draw the other students' blood; he still couldn't put his finger on why, at the moment. Teachers had been alerted and were now assisting in moving the students that were conscious to a safe location. Suddenly, as the teen passed through a hallway, he heard a deep but shaky voice speak, possibly into a communications device, "There're some kids here that are super strong; a lot of our men were taken out. We'll need to send in backup--" His last sentence was abruptly cut off as Kenji threw open the door and ripped the comms device out of the henchman's hand, crushing it under his foot and knocking him out cold. He cursed under his breath before tying up the henchmen in some rope found nearby and continuing to run, trusting Areum would follow.

As the two made their way deeper into the building, Kenji stopped in his tracks suddenly to see Ryohei and Hatsuo, who also stopped upon seeing the two. Immediately, Kenji and Ryohei put on a sour expression upon seeing each other, until Kenji broke the tension with a frown. "I see you guys are trying to clean up the hellhole the place has become." Ryohei grunted in reply, "Could say the same for you two." Kenji sighed in resignation. "Though I hate to say it, now that these guys are calling in backup, we'll need to coalesce if we're ever gonna get this whole ordeal resolved."

After hearing one henchman call for help, the man, still standing in the alleyway, sighed before crushing his comms device. "I guess there's some competent resistance after all. Oh, well." He smirked as his right arm under his cloak began morphing into a cybernetic arm. "Been wanting some action for a while."

 

[kageyama]

As the pairs crossed paths, Areum scrunched up her nose. The tall blonde before her replied with a similar expression, shortly leaning over and whispering, “Seriously, she’s stuck up! It’s no fun,” to Ryohei. Areum scoffed and crossed her arms before Kenji issued that they cooperate together.

“Well, it can’t be too difficult, can it?” Hatsuo said nonchalantly, nodding his head to gesture the scattered unconscious bodies around them. “My guess is that there’ll be some big baddie that’ll show up pretty soon and put up more of a fight than those dunces.” His voice held a singsong tune as he glanced around. Areum rolled her eyes. “Don’t take light of the situation. Though I agree, there can’t be many more henchmen than what we’ve dealt with. The next threat is going to be more imminent,” she spoke sternly. Hatsuo glanced at Ryohei with a ‘see what I mean?’ expression in his eyes.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Ryohei stuck an elbow into Hatsuo's side, shooting him a look that seemed to say, 'Behave.' He began to nod in agreement until suddenly, the wall behind them exploded, debris flying in all directions as henchmen began to flood out of the hole created by the explosion. Behind them entered the man with a cybernetic arm, cigarette in his mouth. The men were not armed, though the head of the group was holding an attache case much similar to that of the men at the beginning. He held up a hand, signalling the men to hold, before introducing himself. "Well, you children seem to be quite in the predicament, don't y'all?" The man grinned before continuing. "I'm Dylan. Dylan Sage." Ryohei let out an exasperated groan before snapping his fingers. "Do you not see the signs around the school? Smoking isn't tolerate on campus grounds. Upon the sound of the snap, Dylan's cigarette burst into wild flames, prompting the man to throw it to the ground and stomp the fire out. He whistled in surprise and chuckled. "So, fire manipulation, huh? That would be nice to have." Have? Kenji thought in his head before narrowing his eyes. "Listen, old man. I'd suggest you get your men out of here before a lot of bodies drop. That includes yours." Dylan laughed heartily in response to Kenji's threat before smirking with menace. "Including mine? How naive of you teenagers. I just need one look to know that you wouldn't land a single hit." Kenji scoffed before flaring up his aura and getting into a fighting stance. "And how would you know that?" Dylan sighed before taking off his fedora and cloak, throwing it aside. underneath was a black dress shirt, slacks, and a black leather belt. Suddenly, a bronze light began to surge around him, denser and with more power than that of Kenji's. "Of course I know. I'm like you. Only difference is, you have much less experience using your aura than I do."

 

[kageyama]

Areum shielded her face with her forearm as the wall crumbled apart, revealing the mind of the entire heist. As he finished up his monologue, Areum glanced at Kenji. “You and Ryohei take care of Dylan - you’re both the strongest in the school,” she said, then turning to Hatsuo. “You’re gonna help me take out the sidekicks, got it?” Hatsuo sucked air in through his teeth before sighing. She wasn’t wrong. “Yeah, yeah, I gotcha,” he sighed, raising his hands as if to utter defeat. The teen turned to the swarm of men, cocking an eyebrow up. “Well? Come and get some,” he taunted. “Or are you afraid of two teenagers barely old enough to drive?”

Areum snorted before a large array of men charged at the duo. She grabbed Hatsuo’s hand and began running down the hall. “We’ll lead them to a more confined space so that they don’t get in the way of the others,” she explained as they hustled. Eventually, they reached the cafeteria, and all of the men had flooded in behind them. “Showtime,” Hatsuo hummed. Ice spread to the doors and windows, coating them over to ensure no escape. Then, left and right, Areum and he dished out different qualities of their powers, as well as physical combat.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Kenji's eyes widened as he saw the density of the aura that now surrounded the man in front of him and Ryohei. He has aura like me? Not only that, but it's on a level much higher than mine. Nevertheless, his eyes narrowed as he lunged at Dylan, flaring up his own silver aura as well. Before engaging, he yelled an instruction to Ryohei, "Cover me! When I'm going in close, attack his blind spot with your flames. With your ability, there's no reason you shouldn't fight from a distance." Ryohei nodded and set his hands ablaze, getting ready to fire when he needed to. Kenji aimed a straight lunge at Dylan's ribs, which was abruptly stopped and followed by a sharp knee from the latter. Ryohei continued to watch as the fight went on, covering Kenji's blind spots while attacking Dylan's own.