⠀The group of four kept completely still as a man in a blue tracksuit jacket and swimsuit walked towards them, his expression incredibly cross. It was Kengo he zeroed in on first, giving Ryouta the same disappointed look.
⠀"You two are in big trouble! You've got some nerve staying out after curfew and then having the audacity to walk in here without a lick of shame!" the teacher leaned down towards Ryouta, who shrunk down sheepishly. Kengo muttered a 'yikes' before the teacher turned his ire back to him. There were small streams of water dancing around his body, spraying a light mist every time they whizzed past someone.
⠀"I'm sorry!" they both squeaked, wanting to hide from Triton's piercing glare.
⠀"Mr. Triton, I apologize for our tardiness. All students of Dorm One are now present and accounted for." Shiro called Triton's attention away from the cowering pair, giving them a break. Sora slid quietly into the shadows, wanting to avoid Triton's gaze.
⠀Triton turned to face Shiro, his expression softening a little, "Very good, Mr. Motoori. Mr. Kyouma was right to make you class rep, you've proven once again that you're very capable of taking care of troublesome students like these."
⠀"Thank you, sir, but I am only doing that which is expected of me." Shiro handed Triton a small book that looked like an attendance roster, which he took. Kengo muttered something crass, causing the two to glare at him.
⠀"Care to speak up, Mr. Takabushi?"
⠀"I said he's a suck-up!" Kengo said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
⠀Shiro scowled, "If you have nothing worthwhile to say, then keep your mouth shut!"
⠀"You trying to start a fight?" the tension started barreling towards going out of control before a plume of smoke flew in front of them. It retracted behind where Triton was standing, surrounding a large figure in a red tracksuit jacket and rather small gym shorts.
⠀"Hey, hey, what's with all the ruckus? You boys out past curfew again?" He headed over, a wide smile on his stubbly face.
⠀"Jinn, this is serious!" Triton crossed his arms, furrowing his brow.
⠀Jinn laughed, patting Triton on the back. The smoke around Jinn mirrored the movements of Triton's water, though the smell was surprising. Like too much incense, yet it was a good smell all the same.
⠀"You worry too much, Triton! While it's true these boys never seem to learn, it's good to run wild while you're young!"
⠀"...Is that really something you should say about students who have repeatedly violated school policy?"
⠀"You're such a party pooper, Triton!" Jinn smiled, putting a hand on Triton's shoulder, who shrugged it off.
⠀"I'm a party pooper? You walk around in public dressed like that. Have you such little shame that you would be comfortable with having your students see you like this?" Triton scowled at the small black shorts that Jinn was wearing.
⠀"Oh come on, your outfit isn't much better!"
⠀"This is swimwear! Designer swimwear! I have nothing to be embarrassed about, while you walk around in underwear!"
⠀"These are the gym uniforms! You know Mr. Kyouma forbade me from wearing my normal outfit! Besides, how dare you insult the outfit of my homeland! You want me to turn you to fish filet?!" Jinn headbutted Triton, who returned the gesture.
⠀"I'd like to see you try! I'll drown and extinguish those measly flames!" Triton shot back, shoving Jinn away and staring at his students. He shook his head at Ryouta and Kengo before noticing Sora, quickly taking a defensive stance.
⠀"You there, stop hiding!" Triton ordered sharply, stepping towards the shadows and grabbing Sora by the arm. Sora gasped, getting yanked into the light of the lamps perched upon the walls that surrounded the school gate.
⠀The sparkle of the gold inlay along the hilt of Boundless Tail caught Triton's attention, and his grip tightened severely on Sora's wrist. He looked as if he was preparing to attack when Shiro got his attention, turning to look at the panicking highschooler.
⠀"Uh, sir! Mr. Triton, there's, uh, something that I want to discuss with you." Shiro manages to grab Triton's attention from Sora.
⠀"What is it, Motoori?"
⠀"Well that person you're...holding is a, um, their name is Sora, and-"
⠀Jinn floated in front of Shiro, getting a look at Sora. There was recognition in his eyes, "Sora?"
⠀They nodded nervously, wincing at how hard Triton was holding them. Jinn motioned with his head, and a small cloud of rather thick smoke encircled itself around Sora's waist. The smoke yanked Sora away from the angry blue-garbed teacher and floated towards the boys, where they were safely placed down on the ground.
⠀"They could be dangerous, Jinn! What if-"
⠀"Calm down, Triton. We were getting a transfer student named Sora, remember?" At Jinn's words, Triton's face became blank, as if he was recalling the information Jinn was telling him. When he did, a smile broke across his face. Triton and Jinn headed towards the meek teenager, extending a hand.
⠀"I am quite sorry for my behavior, Mr. Sora. It's been quite a while since we've had a transfer student. You might be the first one since I started working here."
⠀Sora shook Triton's hand, then Jinn's, smiling as well, "Don't worry about it. You were looking out for the school, right?"
⠀"Very good! Come with me, it's time we went to go see Mr. Kyouma!" Jinn pushed Sora onto the school grounds, with Triton protesting Jinn's need to take the credit away from him. The three boys followed after them, sighing as Jinn and Triton started bickering on the way.
⠀It took a bit of time to get to the staff room thanks to Jinn and Triton arguing about which way to the offices would be the fastest. Jinn slammed the staff room door open, announcing his presence to the only teacher in there, a man with brown hair in a ponytail and an almost gone cigarette in his mouth. He looked up from the papers he had in his hand, and Sora noticed the bags under his eyes.
⠀"Mr. Kyouma! I've brought the transfer student!" Jinn squeezed through the small doors, with Triton shoving his way through the door immediately after.
⠀"Don't act like this was all your doing! I'm the one who brought in the transfer student, Mr. Kyouma!" Triton and Jinn took similar stances, with their arms crossed behind them as they pushed Sora closer to Mr. Kyouma. The tired-looking teacher chuckled, pushing his chair out so he could stand.
⠀"Thank you both, I appreciate the assistance. I'll take care of them from here." Mr. Kyouma waved the two of them out of the office, each giving a farewell in tandem that felt appropriate for their associated themes.
⠀When the two had closed the abused-looking door, Mr. Kyouma offered a chair to Sora, who took it. The chair was old, evident when it creaked softly as they sat down. He sighed, putting his cigarette out in an ashtray before reclining against a window behind him.
⠀"It must have been something to be escorted by those two. Those two are famous for their antics. No matter the time of day or night, Jinn and Triton always compete to see who loves their students more." Mr. Kyouma ran a hand across his stubbled chin, "They can get out of hand sometimes. There's no doubt that they're good teachers, but...well, that's not important right now."
⠀"Do they really not get along?" Sora asked, nervously tapping their fingers on the chair. Mr. Kyouma looked at them and shrugged.
⠀"It's more of a rivalry than anything. They get along sometimes, usually if their students are in danger." he walked over to his little section of the long table stacked high with paperwork and started sifting through a stack of folders.
⠀Sora turned their head to watch, noticing that folders had small name tags on them. Mr. Kyouma pulled a chair from a nearby desk and sat down, turning to Sora and handing them one of the folders.
⠀"I'm Kyouma Mononobe, it's nice to meet you. I'm one of the teachers here at Shinjuku Academy." Mononobe pointed to the folder that he had handed Sora, opening it for them, " I need you to take a look at these forms and make sure everything is in order. They're necessary for the transfer procedure and the legal documents for me to become your guardian."
⠀Sora stopped reading through the documents and looked up at the tired teacher, "Guardian?"
⠀"That's right. Here, look at this document. This is your handwriting, right?" Mononobe flipped through the folder until he came to the guardianship legal document. At the bottom was a signature, and although they had never seen it before, Sora knew it was theirs. At their gaping expression, Mononobe raised an eyebrow.
⠀"What's wrong? You seem surprised."
⠀Sora quickly read through the file a couple of times before shaking their head, "It is my handwriting but I...don't remember any of this. Signing this."
⠀It was Mononobe's turn to look surprised, "You don't? If that's the case then that's all the more reason for you to listen to us teachers for now, at least until you can remember signing those papers. These forms, at the very least, show that you are a student of Shinjuku Academy, and that means I intend to treat you like family."
⠀Sora nodded thankfully, letting their shoulders relax, "Thank you, Mr. Mononobe."
⠀"You don't have to thank me. I'll see that you're taken care of. Also, let me know if you remember something, or there's something you want to do, alright?"
⠀Sora stood up, giving Mononobe a quick bow, "I will. Thank you."
⠀Mononobe smiled at them happily, then quickly spun Sora around to face the door. A few figures in the doorway quickly sped out of sight, and they heard the quiet sounds of panicked nonsense. Mononobe walked over to the door, sliding it open and leading Sora back into the hall. Jinn, Triton, Ryouta, Kengo and Shiro all stood nervously.
⠀"I'd expect such behavior from you boys, but your teachers, too? Eavesdropping on someone's conversation is quite uncalled for." Mononobe gave them all a look of disappointment. It was Shiro who broke the tense silence.
⠀"We heard Sora is going to be joining us-"
⠀"S-So we thought that we should welcome them somehow!" Ryouta interrupted Shiro, an excited smile on his round face. Mononobe looked to Kengo, who shrugged in response.
⠀"I don't care either way, but these two wouldn't shut up about it." Kengo looked up at Sora, who had a troubled expression on their face. What's he worried about, Kengo thought before turning to stare out the windows that lined the hallway.
⠀Triton grinned broadly, the water circling his body matching his mood by spinning in small rings, " Another beloved student! This is as wonderful as the majestic ocean!"
⠀Jinn shoved his way in front of Triton, putting a large hand on Sora's shoulder and turning to Mononobe, "I'm going to be taking Sora and these little troublemakers with me to the Dorms. Dorm 1, right?"
⠀"Yes. If you have time on your way there, could you show Sora around as well? I don't want them getting lost on their first day." Mononobe sighed, running his right through a white patch of hair along his scalp, "I'm sure that would make for a bad experience."
⠀"Not to worry, Mr. Kyouma! I, Triton, shall escort Sora around the school with the gentleness of a calm wave!" Triton put his hand on Sora's other shoulder, juxtaposing Jinn, who didn't take kindly to the merman taking his job.
⠀"...Well, as long as one of you does it, I'm happy. Both of you don't get carried away now, alright?" Mononobe headed back into the office, waving goodbye to the other students. Shiro slipped in after him, leaving without a second word.
⠀Surprisingly, Jinn and Triton didn't fight along their tour of the school as much as Sora expected they would. Occasionally, one would make an off-handed comment about the other. One of the times that Jinn and Triton were butting heads, Ryouta took the time to answer some of Sora's questions.
⠀"So even though they look human, they aren't?"
⠀"Nope." Ryouta pointed to blue fins decorated with gold jewelry along Jinn's arms and ankles, "He's a Transient from a race called 'merfolk'. That's why he's in charge of P.E. and the water polo club."
⠀"And Jinn? Besides the smoke, he looks pretty normal."
⠀"He's in charge of the baseball team, and we're pretty good thanks to our star player Shuten." Ryouta scrunched up his face as he tried to remember something, "I think Jinn is a...lamp genie."
⠀Kengo, who had decided to tag along the tour for whatever reason, butted into the conversation, "Transients are everywhere in Tokyo, it's not like they're a rare sight."
⠀"You'll see more of them tomorrow, we've got a lot of transient students and teachers. It's really nice seeing so many different types of people gathered in one place, but it can get hectic sometimes." Ryouta watched the two teachers huff and puff at each other.
⠀The tour concluded at the dorms, where the two teachers hurried the three teens to their rooms. Jinn went with Kengo and Ryouta to make sure they actually went to their rooms while Triton escorted Sora.
⠀"Are you excited for tomorrow, young one?" Triton asked as they walked down the hall. Sora nodded, nervously opening the door to their new room. It was starkly decorated, having only a desk, some textbooks, a dresser, and a bed. There was a tall potted plant in the room, with a small piece of green cloth wrapped around the small trunk. Sora turned to look at Triton, who was beaming proudly.
⠀"Thank you for taking the time to escort me to my room and show me around campus." Triton gave Sora a giddy grin in response to their gratitude and responded with a handshake.
⠀"Don't worry about a thing, it's a teacher's job to make their students feel welcome in a new environment!"
⠀Triton and Sora bid each other goodnight, and Sora closed the door quietly so as to not awaken anyone. They pulled Boundless Tail out of their belt loop and propped it up against the wall, before turning to lock the door.
⠀It was a busy day, and everything that had happened within the span of an hour or so had completely turned their world upside down. Sora mentally recapped what had happened in the staff room while they looked through the contents of the dresser. Besides a gym uniform, there was a school uniform matching the ones Ryouta and Shiro wore, a new pair of boxers with the tag still attached, and a small envelope.
⠀Sora reached for the envelope, turning it over to the front to see a message from Mononobe.
⠀To help the new student get on their feet.
Buy the necessities first and worry about other things later.
Spend wisely.
-Kyouma Mononobe.
⠀Sora felt a sense of ease wash over them as they closed the drawer and placed the envelope on their desk. They'd investigate the contents in the morning, though they already had an idea of what was inside. They started emptying the contents of their hoodie pocket, finding a small multicolored stone about the size of a USB drive.
⠀"What's this?" they muttered, putting it beside the envelope and grabbing their phone, opening up Summons and clicking on Lil' Sal's icon. He appeared, somewhat frazzled looking, but still in his pajamas.
⠀"Calling me again twice in one night? You sure do like having me around, dontcha?" Lil' Sal laughed, sitting down on Sora's bed, "What do you need to know, Master?"
⠀Sora handed him the small stone, which was comically big in Sal's hands, then took a seat in the office chair in front of their desk, "I found it in my pocket, but I'm not sure how it got there."
⠀"Well, congratulations for one! This is your reward for fighting that Red Oni and participating in the game. It's called a Transient Stone and it's what Summoners use to link the souls together through the Gates." Lil' Sal floated the stone over to Sora, who started looking for a place to put it.
⠀"But I don't remember picking it up." Sora stood, heading over to the windowsill and placing the sparkling stone down. The moonlight that shown through the curtains bounced off the translucent stone, sending a cascade of colors around their room. Sora smiled, flopping down on their soft bed with a sigh, staring up at the ceiling.
⠀Lil' Sal flew over to their face and reclined against the plush pillow, "That's because you didn't. The game is very reward-based for playing it, expect to see gifts every day you log in, even if you don't fight that day. These stones appear immediately after the battle and usually fall to the ground. If you don't grab them within a set time, they'll show up in your pockets or somewhere you'll see it later."
⠀"That's convenient."
⠀"Isn't it? Also, Master, there's something you should know about Summoners and the people they Summon." Lil' Sal's expression turned serious, "Summoned beings are usually under terms that their Summoner gives them. The best example is 'you do X in exchange for Y', but they vary from contract to contract."
⠀"What are you saying?" Sora grimaced, not liking the implications.
⠀"I'm saying that since you were summoned, that means your Summoner has you under specific terms, but I know as much as you do about what those terms entail. Not a fun time!"
⠀Sora rolled onto their back, staring at the white ceiling, "So if I find my Summoner, I'll figure out what the terms are, and maybe they'll even let me go home?"
⠀"Best case scenario, you go home and the terms are something simple like 'be my friend and I'll protect you', but who knows! I'll be there every step of your journey to find your Summoner, Master! Don't you worry!"
⠀"Thank you, Lil' Sal." Sora moved their hand to pat Lil' Sal's head, being startled when he sprang up and grabbed their hand.
⠀"Master, wait! This is a Summoning mark!" Lil' Sal pointed to the dull blue star on the back of their hand, "This is to show the pact between you and Boundless Tail. You should have another one to show the pact between your Summoner and yourself."
⠀"I haven't seen any other marks...but then again I haven't really had time, either." Sora sighed, watching Lil' Sal contemplate something.
⠀"...There's one condition needed to activate a Summoning Emblem. When the Summoner and the Summoned come into contact, an identical Summoning Emblem appears on both. No two emblems are alike, it's a completely unique contract between souls."
⠀Sora's eyes widened, and they felt their heart flutter with hope, "So if I find someone with the same Summoning Emblem, then that means I've found my Summoner?"
⠀"Exactly! Worst case scenario, you have to come into contact with everyone in Tokyo, which is uh...tens of millions of people, and...heh, goodnight, Master!" Lil' Sal retreated into the phone, leaving Sora with an expression of disbelief.
⠀But that little bit of hope hadn't left. No matter how long it took, they would find their Summoner and get home. As they made this vow, they slowly drifted off to sleep in their new home, wondering what tomorrow would bring them.
⠀In the Toshima Ward, north of Shinjuku Ward, an enormous white lion transient walks quietly to his master's bedroom. Under his arm he carries an odd bit of news, peculiar enough to make this older gentleman wonder about the coming days. After opening the door slowly to avoid waking his Master too abruptly, he headed over to his bedside table and turned on the ornate lamp.
⠀"Master, I apologize for disrupting your rest. I have a report for you that cannot wait until the coming sunrise." the lion butler waited for his Master to acknowledge his presence before continuing, "An App battle was observed several hours ago in Shinjuku Central Park. One side consisted of an Oni transient and the other a human, judging by appearance. As far as we can tell, it matches no other Transients in our records. According to the report by a scout in the region, this unidentified being's Rule is 'Rending'."
⠀The red-haired master of the lion butler sat up quickly at this report, a somewhat excited smile on his face, "Oh? Rending, is it? So the long-anticipated rare has finally appeared."
⠀"Precisely so, Master. Although the existence of the Rule of Rending itself was always predicted, this is the first instance of it actually being observed, as far as I'm aware." The Lion butler watched as his Master slid out from under the silk covers and stood, making his way over to a desk sitting against a wall.
⠀"What is the attribute of their Artifact? If it's Aether, perhaps it's the Shears of the Three Crones or the Elder of Time's Scythe…." the rather eloquent master found a blank sheet of paper and began writing down the information that the lion-butler had told him.
⠀"It is none of those, my Master, nor is it any of the other elements. The App displayed 'All'." the lion-butler scrunched up his face, wondering just how powerful that human was with power like that. Who were they?
⠀"Is it now? It's clear why a loyal servant like you has disturbed our slumber. There has been a deadlock for some time, but that will come to an end with the incoming Rare. We shall soon enter a new phase." the young man smiled broadly, his blue eyes sparkling with wicked excitement. The white lion smiled at his charge.
⠀"It is as you say, Master." he took the manila folder he had with him and placed it on the ornate study desk. In it was a detailed description of all recent transients in Tokyo from all 23 wards.
⠀The young master stared out the tall window in front of him, the city filling out the horizon, with a Gate in the far distance taking up most of it, "Snow, our loyal familiar, your Master now commands you! Prepare to give this new visitor a proper Ikebukuro Guild welcoming!"
⠀Snow, the lion butler, bowed, "Yes, Master, your wish is my command."
