Battle Academia (The original one)

Chapter 2: Meetcute

Ezreal had searched for the main entrance all around the building but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to find it. The library that he had previously broken into, was in a different building, so his shoplifting days are not much of help here. He had looked around trying to find some classmates to ask but everyone seemed to simply be.. gone. For a split second he thought he saw a black shadow out the corner of his eye. "Hey wait!", he shouted at the shadow and took a turn at the place he last spotted it..

And consequently.. bumping into it.

"Ouch", she said dramatically with a smile in her face.

"Sorry.. uhm..?", he smiled waiting to hear her name.

"It's Luxanna. I assume you have a name as well", she retorted. Oh. The blond chuckled.

"I'm Ezreal."

"Nice to meet you Ezreal", she gave him her hand in a greeting. And my heart on my sleeve, he mused. "First year?", she asked pointing at his uniform. She was wearing the exact same black uniform, except for a skirt instead of pants.

"Is it that obvious? I'm actually lost here", Ezreal replied trying to sound charming enough for her to help him.

"No", she laughed, "I just gathered that from your uniform. Only first years wear that."

"Well, I didn't know that. Good thing I bumped into you then", he smiled. The girl was beautiful. She had long red hair, all tied up in a ponytail, except for a few strands of hair complimenting her face and bringing her bright blue eyes the attention they deserved.

"Well, I'm lucky. My brother is a student here. He's a senior so he warned me about the hidden entrance. They use it as kind of a test for the rookies. Just follow me and you'll be fine."

Hidden entrance? Maybe I could have used the gauntlet to get inside. But I'm not that sure that I know exactly how this thing works. The other day, it was pure luck, if I'm honest. But really it's no use thinking about all that. Let's just follow the pretty girl, he thought as he walked alongside her.

"Nice glove you have there", she noticed.

"Oh that old thing? It's a family jewel." Kind of.

"That gem on it, sure is shiny." Typical girls. They gotta love shinning things. All the girls he had met in his life craved for jewels, diamonds and pearls. Which constantly put him in trouble. But it was an impressive gem. After all that's how it had first gotten his attention in the dark.

"What can I say? My ancestors were pretty eccentric fellas". If only I knew any of them. He had an uncle he knew that much, but the old bastard couldn't care enough to be a part of his life. He could at least send him a monthly allowance or something. The guy owned a freaking museum as far as he knew.

"Here we go", she exclaimed. But there was nothing in front of her. Just a stone wall.

She touched the wall with her hand and closed her eyes. Shortly after he could see light. Small beams of light were coming out of her palm and after that, the light was spreading all through the wall. Her hand was at the center of it. A door had formed out of the light particles and Ezreal was dumbfounded.
She turned to see his awestruck facial expression and he quickly snapped out of it to make himself look cool. She cackled.

"We should probably hurry. I think we're late. They might have already started the ceremony", she said running.

"The what?"

"You seriously don't know?", she halted for a second. "The sorting ceremony! To assign clubs!" She grabbed his hand and started to run with him again.

"What do you mean clubs? I thought clubs weren't mandatory".

"Well, let's just head inside and you'll see".

The room was huge. It was an amphitheater. They had rushed to their seats in the front along with the other first years, all in their black uniforms. The other seats were packed with students showing off their coloured uniforms. Ezreal noticed they were wearing green, blue, purple and even red. Everyone looked so.. proper. Exactly how am I supposed to fit in here, Yuumi?

Speak of the devil, Principal Yuumi still on her signature flying book, headed straight to the podium and welcomed the newcomers.

"Wait, that's not right.. Professor Yuumi got a promotion? I thought Marcus Du Cuteau was principal", said Luxanna.

"Congratulations on being chosen to be our students. You have been chosen because every single one of you posesses a great talent. A talent than can be used efficiently in perilous times. And those times might be coming for us all, I'm afraid. It's for the best to have the best defenders to try and save us all. This is your purpose young students. And to better utilize your talents, our school does this in the form of our four clubs."

Smoke was coming from behind her, a purple light was projected on it along with an intricate design of a purple sword.

"The Assassin Club, also known as Warband. The ones who don't hesitate to take the difficult decisions to ensure we come out of the battle victorious."

The smoke had turn into green now and an emerald fire was burning in the middle of it. "The Sorcery Club or The United, as they call themselves. Whenever we think our fight is lost, they turn it around through their determination and teamwork.", he saw Luxanna flinching.

Red smoke. A shuriken shape appeared with three circles around it.

"And now for the Battle Club. The Faceless. If you're truly one of a kind, welcome home". Ezreal's heart skipped a beat. "Courageous and full of nerve to try out new tactics, no one's ever dared before".

A blue eye appeared in the smoke. "And last but not least, the Luminary Club. The Council. Always one step ahead of their opponents. Utilizing their intelligence and outsmarting the enemy with their flawless strategic decisions", Ezreal noticed Luxanna's grin.

All four crests of the clubs were now in line, behind Principal Yuumi. Ezreal looked at the students in front of him. They were all laughing, trying to guess what club they're in. But then he noticed Luxanna biting her fingernails. She looked extremely nervous.

"Hey, are you okay?", he asked worried.

"It's fine. I'm just nervous. My family's been in The Council for ages, so you know.. I don't want to be the black sheep", she tried to make herself laugh a bit.

"You have nothing to worry about. In the end I'm sure you'll make the right choice".

She laughed at him, "Ezreal you really know nothing about this school. Where did you even come from"?

Mental Note: Don't say you are only here because you've unsuccesfully attempted to steal priceless artifacts.

"You don't get to choose, Ezreal", she said seriously.

"Oh. Well.. I hope we're in the same Club then, if it matters". He thought he saw her blushing a little before someone called her name. A tall, muscular boy came in front of them.

"How are you doing little girl?", the guy said patting her in the head. He was wearing a black jacket with blue details and a blue tie. He looked like a giant next to her. Ezreal felt a sting in his stomach for some reason he couldn't explain. "Who's your friend?", he asked looking at Ezreal. I could ask the same question, he thought.

"Oh, his name is Ezreal, he's a first year as well. We're not friends, I've just been showing him around the place, that's all". That's cruel. But I'm okay with that. At least I'm out of the friendzone. He made an evil laugh in his head.

"Hey", he made a handshake with the tall guy who had already extended his hand first.

"I'll be watching you", he mouthed when Luxanna wasn't looking and left. Ezreal raised an eyebrow.

"Uhm.. Who was that?", Ezreal asked Luxanna.

"That was my brother, Garen.I told you about him before. He just doesn't really like his little sister being around boys. Don't mind him", she said half embarassed half laughing.

Principal Yuumi continued her speech. "Everyone back to your seats. We will now proceed with the sorting ceremony".