The GATE Academy [Please read description]

Chapter 38: Patience

Two days after the first meeting with the Headmaster and Kaiser, I was invited back after school to start my real training with the two. After AP Language (yes, even AP classes were offered at GATE) with Professor Volan, I made the walk across the campus to the office, Keita and Riku having left before me after telling them that I would be busy later. I stopped off at my locker to drop off my unneeded books. Falen, Mizu, and Opal were there already, as they had a different 6th period than me.

"How was class?" Mizu asked politely, nodding to me as a greeting.

I let out a quick exhale, "Essays man, essays..."

"Well that's what you get for signing up for an AP class, Shizuo," Opal shot at me.

Such hostility...

I unlocked and opened my locker and turned to Opal, "Aren't you taking AP Lang this year too?"

"Yeah, but unlike you, I grew up speaking English."

Did she really just go there?

I cleared my throat and swallowed some pride, putting away a textbook from earlier and closing the locker. Falen raised an eyebrow at me, almost as if saying "Do you really want to do this?" I let out a forced sigh and smiled at Opal.

"You're right, I didn't have the opportunity to be born a native English-speaker, but I did have a good teacher when I was very young to help me learn it. In fact, I consider it my primary language, I haven't had to speak Japanese since I was eight."

Opal narrowed her eyes at me and turned to Falen with a huff, "Let's go, Falen, we need to find Iris and the others and have some girl talk."

And with that, Opal dragged off Falen, leaving Mizu alone with me.

"I guess that just happened..." Mizu said, nervously laughing.

"Yeah, I guess so..."

"Don't take it so personally, I think that maybe she's just acting this way because she's a bit shocked. I mean, her dad, your dad, didn't even tell you guys that each other existed and bam, you two have a brother and sister all of a sudden! Wouldn't you be a bit shocked?"

I shifted uneasily and fixed my backpack strap, "I understand that, but she doesn't have to be a total bi-"

"Aye Shizuo!!" Riku called out, Keita walking beside him. The two were coming from down the way behind Mizu.

I met the two halfway and shook hands with Riku and nodded to Keita.

"Yo, so I ran into Opal just right now and she wanted to know why you're such a... Uhm... Well, she called you a mean name, but I kinda really don't want to say it," Riku said, laughing nervously.

"What did she call me?" I asked, leaning into him slightly.

"She called you a d***," Keita said.

I stepped back from Riku and Keita as I started to breathe heavier.

"Is that really what she called me?" I asked Riku, clenching my fists and jaw in rising anger.

"Woah woah, Shizuo, calm down! Remember, she's probably just a bit shocked, yeah? That AND she's a girl, so you can't go jumping to conclusions with her, yeah? C'mon, relax man."

I lit my right hand on fire and looked around, "I just really need something to punch right now..."

"Punch me then, Shizuo," Riku said.

Mizu looked at him with a look of slight panic and stepped away, as he was in the line between me and Riku. Riku raised up his hands defensively.