Hunter Sky

Chapter 14 - A New Face

Two years had passed since Lea was rescued from Kenshin's henchmen, and in that time, Altea enjoyed great prosperity and tranquility. The farmers grew a surplus of crops, the merchants and sellers made great profits, the peace treaties were honored and the nation's trades went uninterrupted. The only disappointment for the Altean military was their failure to find any traces of Kenshin during the two years. However, the king settled on the fact that since his organization was squashed before it could take root in Altea, he believed he would never be seen again.

At the Altean Knighthood Academy, Sir Alexander's students progressed passed group one and we're now in group three, still managing to outperform their pairs of the same group.

Zack, Jirell, Kelly, and Lea all had a growth spurt. The boys became slightly taller and more muscular, while the girls grew in bust size with an athletic build due to their training under the academy professors.

One bright sunny day, Zack awoke to the sound of roosters with the sun beating upon his face through the window. He sat up and yawned with a goofy lazy expression, eyes half open still unwilling to let go of his sleep, until he suddenly choked on air.

"Yuck! I inhaled Kelly's fart," said Zack as he covered his mouth.

He got out of the bunk bed while Kelly was on the top, and proceeded to look at his reflection in the window. He still wore his earrings proudly and his hair was still as messy as ever, however he grew some bangs over his left eye in the summer, believing it was time for a new style.

He got ready and marched off to class while Kelly slept in, seemingly planning to skip class you could say, though one could not easily understand the working Kelly's peculiar mind.

Upon reaching class, he received a great fright as the entire class yelled. "Happy Birthday!" when he reached the door. He held his chest and slouched his shoulders forward. Heavens, did he not expect this.

Lea skipped cheerfully as she approached him. "Happy 15th Birthday Zacky!" she spreaded her arms apart in a celebratory manner.

"You guys didn't have to do all this," Zack smiled scratching his head, as never before had anyone really told him happy birthday much less made a surprise for him, except Lea who made it her duty each year since she met him, but it was the first time the entire class got in on it, which made him suspicious.

Jirell folded his arms and frowned. "She forced us. I wanted no part of this."

Lea then gave him a menacing glare.

"I mean... Happy Birthday," said Jirell reluctantly.

"We all put together some money to treat you out to dinner later, so don't be late," said Lea with her usual perky and jovial demeanor.

Zack nodded his head in compliance. Since when did she become the boss of everyone, he thought to himself as he smiled looking at her strolling off to her seat.

As everyone went to their seats, Zack however noticed that Jirell sat next to Lea in the front row, which he suspiciously rose an eyebrow at. Why in the world would Mister I'm better than everybody lower himself among mere mortals by sitting closer to everyone, instead of in that distant corner of the class he was so fond of, Zack thought to himself, confused by the pair seemingly having a conversation together.

He leaned forward to try and eavesdrop on their conversation, but the chatter of his classmates drowned out their voices.

Unbeknownst to him, Lea had asked Jirell to train her, and since then, they've been training together. This allowed them to become closer, as she became one of the very few people Jirell felt he could trust. However, Zack just thought they were acting weird and let the thought go as Sir Alexander entered the class brimming with excitement. What could have gotten the old man so excited?