Beta Ch.6 "Bad Boy"
That cool, dangerous gentleman walking down the street. You know you want nothing to do with him, but at the same time, you want him. He thinks too much, smiles too much, and respects no one. Don't talk to him. He asks too many questions, he's lazy, irresponsible. He only uses you and thinks nothing more. He is... the bad boy... at least... that's want he wants you to think.
Students usually wouldn't walk apart from each other. Some known couple would stay side by side, friends would walk hand in hand; however, this morning at Sarugaki High. There was a large separation in the walkway to the school. A single student was between this gap. No one wanted to be next to this student.
He wore a biker's jacket with a black shirt underneath, blue torn jeans, black shoes, a metal necklace around his neck. He had short black spiky hair and brown eyes. To top his outrageous style, he had a cigarette hanging out of the side of his mouth. It wasn't lit, it was just there. He didn't dress like any of the other students.
Why? Because he does whatever he wants to do. Even if the teaches would scold? Nah, because he does whatever he wants to do. He's the typical bad boy. Of course he wouldn't care... right?
"Dammit... what's wrong with everybody?" the bad boy looked to his side. The passing students stepped back in fear when eyes glanced at them. "T... This isn't supposed to happen... I'm supposed to be a star! Girls should be wooing over me! Guys should want to be me! This isn't right at all!"
"Wow... I wonder why everybody is so apart?" Grant wondered as he walked past the depressed bad boy.
"Hey, mind if I ask you a question?" the boy asked Grant, what seemed like a simple look was a death glare to him.
"Don't kill me! Take my money, take my supplies, but please don't kill me!" he raised his arms in surrender.
"I'm not going to beat you up! I just want to ask you something!"
"I'm too young to die..."
"What is wrong with you?! Can't someone ask you a simple question without all the drama?!"
The students around them stopped to watch if the two were going to fight, which was not the bad boy's intention at all.
"Dammit... I'm too tired for this crap... forget I ever talked to you." he sighed as he walked off to the entrance of the school.
"I... I survived..." Grant sighed in relief.
A few minutes before class started, Tina was sleeping on her desk as usual. Grant, who would've just sat down in his seat and watch her sleep, poked at her soft cheeks to wake her up.
"Excuse me, Ms. Wilson." he poked, he secretly was enjoying himself.
"Huh? What? Was I asleep again?" she quickly woke up.
"Um... yes..."
"Oh, how stupid of me! I really need to stop grading papers at the last-minute!"
"Do you mind if we talk?"
"Is this about the Edo period?" she desperately wanted him to say yes.
"Um... no..."
"Of course not... my students never want to learn about that..." she sighed in depress.
"I was wondering if there is anything you can tell me more about Betas?"
"Sure thing. Take a seat." she motioned her hand towards the seat in front of her, which he sat in as ordered. The seat normally belonged to a cute pink-haired girl student that Grant only talked to once, so he was kinda glad he could seat there.
"So, ma'am. I was wondering when Guardians are supposed to appear. Does it happen at a certain date or whenever a Beta is in danger?" he asked.
"Oh, you haven't met your Guardian yet? How odd."
"Is it really?"
"Yes, quite. So far, you have been in three near death experiences; however, your Guardian still hasn't appeared yet. A Guardian normally appears when their Master is in danger."
"So how come mine hasn't shown up yet?"
"That... I do not know... maybe my Guardian can help you."
"Your Guardian?"
"Yeah, you haven't forgotten that I'm a Beta as well, haven't you?"
"Of course not, I just was expecting to see it until like... a major event..."
She placed her hands together and closed her eyes. "I call for you, Grace."
Next to her, a small girl appeared in a pink flash of light. She had short pink hair and brown eyes. She wore a light pink dress and had a red cross pin attached to her hair.
"You called, master?!" the girl yelled, shocking Grant.
"Grace, must you yell?" Tina said.
"I apologize... so why did you call?"
"Grant, this is my Guardian, Grace. She can deflect attacks or cancel them altogether."
"Um... nice to meet you, Grace." Grant slightly bowed. Grace didn't respond.
"Don't worry, she's kinda shy."
"No, I'm not! I just don't want to talk to him." Grace crossed her arms over her chest.
"Did I... do something?" Grant asked.
"No, no. She'll warm up to you eventually. Now, Grace. Can you sense Grant's Guardian for me?" Tina asked her.
"If I must." she sighed and closed her eyes. A minute later, she reopened them. "Nope, don't sense it."
"What?!" Grant nearly stood up.
"That's quite strange. There's always a presence no matter how small." Tina touched her chin in thought. "Something must be holding your Guardian back... or maybe you don't have one."
"Don't have one?! How can I not have one?! I'm a Beta, aren't I?!"
"Well, I'm not sure what to say. This needs more investigation. I don't remember other Betas having trouble commuting with their Guardians. This is truly interesting." a smirk appeared on Tina's face.
"Master, we found another odd one!" Grace said.
"Hey, don't call me odd!" Grant yelled at her.
"Be quiet, pervert! Maybe it's your own pervertness that's holding it back! I certainly wouldn't come out if my master was a pervert!"
"Why you..."
"Well, that could be a possibly." Tina said.
"What?! How is that even possible?!"
"For instance, let's say your Guardian is a hot woman with big breast who's clumsy."
"W... What?"
"I can sense some of your thoughts. You kids sure have a vivid imagination."
"Don't look into my thoughts!" Grant blushed.
"Well, I'm not apart of this discussion, so I'll just go." Grace said as she disappeared.
"Aren't you glad to be around so many attractive women?" Tina suddenly said.
"What?" Grant asked.
"Lola is really cute, but she's as tough as nails. And Shibaki is gorgeous, but she's stuck in the past."
"Tch, like I care about them. Both of them are crazy." Grant scoffed and crossed his arms.
"Well, this was quite an interesting chat, Mr. Mikami. I'm glad to get to know more of my students." Tina smiled.
"Um... t... thank you, miss." Grant blushed.
"Though I'm flattered... I'm your teacher, Mr. Mikami."
"W... Wait! H... How long..."
"I don't know why some of my students are so into me. Is it because of the way I dress?"
"No, ma'am! You dress just fine! Can I just ask that you don't look into my thoughts so often?!"
"I can't help it. I'm kinda interested in what my students are thinking of instead of my lessons." she gave a glare at Grant.
"Ok, ok. I'll pay more attention in class." Grant slumped in his seat. The door quickly opened with Asa bolting in.
"Ms. Wilson! Have you seen..." Asa asked before noticing Grant. "Grant! You're alright!"
"Um, of course I'm alright. What's the problem?"
"I heard you got into a fight and thought you were in the infirmary room. When you weren't there, I thought Ms. Wilson might know where you were."
"Oh, you were in a fight?! Do you win?!" Tina was interested.
"No, I was not in a fight! I just met some weird guy and thought he might beat me up."
"Oh, shoot. I was really hoping there would be a good fight here."
"Ms. Wilson!" Asa said.
"What? Sometimes it gets boring around here. Some drama needs to happen." Tina was disappointed until she stood up. "Hey, kids. Why don't you two come with me somewhere for a bit? There's a place I want to show you."
"But what about class?"
"I'll ask someone to sub for me. Lola is there where I'm taking you."
About a few minutes later at the side of the school near the swimming pool, there was nothing there but nature. Tina lend Asa and Grant to a brick wall.
"What's here of all places?" Grant asked and looked around.
"A secret base I set up." Tina touched around the wall randomly.
"A secret base?! How did you build one at the school?!" Asa asked.
"I bought it and had it built here for training Betas. Luckily I'm good friends with the principal." she touched a brick about an inch above her. A hidden door flung open. "Ah, here it is. Right this way."
Behind the hidden door was a large plain open field. It had a few boulders sticking up from the ground and a few poppy flowers, which looked a bit out-of-place. Asa and Grant were amazed by the sight.
"T... This is so beautiful..." Asa said.
"Y... Yeah... I'm surprised how well-built it is." Grant said.
"Well, I did model it from a famous paining. Do you know by who?" she turned to them, expecting an answer, but they just stared at her. "Come on! "Field of Poppies" by Vincent Van Gogh!"
"Who's that?" they both said in unison.
"Nevermind... I just thought that it was obvious from the Poppy flowers I planted here, but whatever."
"W... What the hell?!" a familiar voice shouted at them. A few feet ahead of them stood both Lola and Shibaki.
"S... Shibaki?!" Asa was surprised.
"Miss Wilson, what are they doing here?! What is this?!"
"Now, calm down the both of you. There's a perfectly good explanation as to why I called you four here."
"Training?!" both Asa and Shibaki said at the same time.
"Yes, why are you so shocked by this? Wasn't it clear that this place was used for training by the descrpition I gave earlier?" Tina said, almost shocked that no one expected this.
"Ms. Wilson, I can't work with her! Especially after what she's done!" Shibaki gave her protest.
"Hey, you were the one who attacked us first! Don't put the blame on me for your mistakes!" Asa yelled.
"What was that?!"
While the two continued to argue, Grant looked around the training ground. He was still amazed by the sight of it, though his mind was set on his Guardian. Why wouldn't his Guardian appear? As he continued his thoughts, he noticed Lola sitting on top of boulder staring out into space. Bored, he decided to climb up next to her.
"Hey, Lola." he greeted her.
"Good evening." she greeted back.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing, just bored."
"Mind if I be bored with you?"
"That almost sounds perverted, but I guess so." Grant sat down next to her. For about a minute, they sat there without saying a word to each other. "So I heard you got into a fight. Do you win?" she finally asked.
"I didn't get into a fight. I would've gone to the infirmary if I did."
"You're not confident you would win?"
"Of course not. The guy I bumped into was scary and looked like he could take down in a second. I don't know how to fight for real then throwing a few punches randomly. I'm pretty much hopeless."
"That's true."
"No holding back?"
"Why should I? It's the truth, but you can change it if you learn how to fight."
"I guess so, but I don't know where to start."
"I can train you."
"Really?!"
"Why do you sound so surprised? Shibaki is going to train Asa because they have similar powers. Since I don't, I've nothing to do unless she decides to wield a weapon."
"Oh, I see. Thank you."
"There's no need to thank me. You should've learn how to fight prior to this. You should be thankful I'm considering this at all."
"Can't just say a simple ok? You're incredible sometimes."
Lola's expression remained unchanged as always, though Grant could've sworn her cheeks had a slight tint of red to it. A few minutes later, the five gathered together.
"Alright, so here's what I have so far. You see, there's a thief going around the city stealing money from banks." Tina begun her explanation.
"How is this relative?" Shibaki asked.
"Because I think whoever this is... is a Beta. Reason why is because the thief hasn't been caught or even identified. I think it's mainly because whoever is doing these crimes is a Beta. What I what you three, sorry Grant, to do is catch this criminal."
"Wait, a criminal? Why would you want us to catch a criminal?"
"Well, the best way to catch a Beta is to use a Beta. I expect you guys to be two miles away from the Million Bank thirty minutes before midnight, which is the average time the robberies occur. If the enemy is too powerful for you, don't be afraid to run. This mission is to build personal experince. The world of Betas is a dangerous one. Be careful, you three."
A few minutes before midnight, just as Tina said, Asa stood there under the lamppost, awaiting for Lola and Shibaki to show up. Oddly, she thought her mother would be against having her out so late at night. However, she was surprised she was all for it. She seemed to understand what it meant to grow Beta powers and would do anything to help her out.
So far, just fifteen minutes before midnight. No sign of Lola, Shibaki, or the thief. Nobody, but her was out there. Tired of standing around waiting, she slumped against the lamppost and checked her phone for any messages or missed calls.
As she checked, the bad boy from this morning walked past passed her. He stopped and then turned to her. She stopped checking her phone and looked at him. For about three seconds they stared at each other.
"Well?" he said.
"What?" she said.
"Are ya..."
"What?"
"Look..." he sighed and placed the bag he was carrying over his shoulder. "I don't have all-night and didn't expect to be caught by some girl. So we gonna do this or what?"
"Um... I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you trying to hit on me?"
"What?! No! You're completely not my type! Most notably you have..." he stopped himself. "Nevermind, I'm out. I don't have time for annoying chicks like you." he turned around and begun to walk away.
"Whatever." she returned to her phone. What the bad boy said next returned her interest back to him.
"God, you're almost as annoying as that guy I ran into this morning. You even look like him with the hair and eye color."
"What did you say?"
"Huh?" he turned to her again, this time he was shocked to her eyes were now serious. "What's up, girly? Did I say something to piss you off?"
"So you're the guy who threaten my brother?"
"What's with this crap about that?! I was just asking him a simple question! Why was this so blown over?!"
"Look here, my brother didn't do anything to you. So I appreciate it if you leave him alone."
"I ain't even messing with the brat, so slow your roll, girly. Those eyes are looking a bit too serious." he gave a smirk. For about a minute, they glared at each other until the bad boy's smirk turned into a smile. "Alright, fine. Let's do this thing. It's been a while since I fought a Beta." he tossed his bag aside, it made a clanking sound once it hit the ground, which was a sound that Asa heard a few times before. The sound of money.
"Ah, damn... don't tell me this guy is a..." she cursed to herself.
"Damn straight! I'm a Beta, an auto-Beta to be exact!" he forced his right palm out and then pulled it back, as if he stole something. "I call for you, Rob!"
A shadow spiked from the ground next to the bad boy. The shadow then slowly begun to dissolve, revealing a man underneath it. The man had a dark purple skin tone, had a black headband over his eyes, long black hair, and wore dark loose slacks.
"You called, master?" the man asked.
"Fight her for a bit, but don't hurt her too much. I don't want to seem like a bad guy." he responded. Asa glumped and prepared herself.
"Ah, she's not calling her Guardian? Well, she's otherwise strong by herself or foolish to think she can fight by herself."
"Hey, why don't you try fighting me first before judging?" she said despite actually being afraid of fighting a Guardian alone. She felt slightly confident she could take him by herself since his master didn't pull out a weapon or wanted to join in.
Suddenly, Rob appeared in front of her and threw a fast punch at her. She stepped back, evading the punch and kicked at his head. He blocked the kick with the back of his right hand. He felt his hand getting colder and immediately stepped back.
"She's an ice type." he said to his master.
"Ah, really? This is my first time meeting an element type. I hope you don't disappoint me, girly." the bad boy smirked.
"Hey, don't talk unless you're fighting yourself and don't call me girly!" she yelled at him, seeing his smirk irritated her.
Rob grabbed the shadow of a tree nearby... no literally, he lifted the shadow from the ground and held it in his hand. To make things even stranger, he then harden the shadow and formed it into the shape of a spear.
"My Guardian, Rob, can take, harden, and manipulate shadows around him. That's why I call him "Rob"." the bad boy explained.
"I didn't really need the explanation. I just saw it with my own eyes."
Rob threw the shadow spear at Asa, surprisingly with great throwing speed. Asa was fast enough to freeze the spear mid-air before it reached her. Unfortunately, she didn't notice Rob under her and he tripped her. Rob slightly lifted himself from the ground and kicked at her.
She grabbed his foot, though the force of the attack hurt her palm. Despite the pain, she froze a large portion of his foot. He stepped back and smashed his foot against the ground, crushing the ice off of it.
"Luckily she didn't freeze my foot, otherwise I would be walking with a cane." Rob commented.
Asa lifted herself off the ground and rubbed her palm in pain. "Damn, if don't something to protect myself from his spears, he's going to kill me." Asa thought to herself. Seeing how he formed the spear earlier, she focused her energy into her hands, forming ice around them. She then imagined the shape of a katana in her mind and formed the ice the same way, forming an ice katana in her hands.
"H... Hey! I did it!" she smiled upon seeing how successfully she created the katana.
"What the hell?! Did you just copied what my Guardian did?!" the bad boy was slightly angered.
"Do not worry, master. She may know how to form a weapon, but she doesn't know how to use one!" Rob charged at her, he seemed to be more serious now.
Knowing this, Asa stabbed at the ground, sending a line of ice at him. He dashed sideways, evading the attack and threw another shadow spear at her. Asa fraily blocked the spear with her sword. She was lucky enough that the spear didn't knock the sword out of her hand since she didn't know how to wield one properly.
"Dammit, why did I make one if I can't even use one?!" she thought to herself.
Rob manipulated five shadows near him into thorns. He then fired the five thorns at Asa from all sides. Asa created an ice shield around herself to stop the thorns. She opened a small opening enough to dash out of the shield and charged straight at Rob. Surprised, he took the shadow of the lamppost and formed a shadow spear to protect himself in case Asa would strike at him with her sword.
Instead, Asa discarded her ice katana and grabbed the shadow spear. "Not this time!" she froze the spear in Rob's hands, which also froze over his hands as well.
"W... What?!" Rob and his master were surprised by Asa's actions.
"Sorry, but I win!" Asa formed ice around her right hand, like a glove. She then punched Rob back enough to break him from his hold. Rob fell to his back, his head was ringing from the hard punch Asa gave him.
"D... Dammit... how could I have been so careless..." Rob cursed to himself as he held his head in pain.
"Rob..." his master looked at him.
"Alright, since I won that means now you have to surrender yourself to the police. Unless you want to fight me again. This time, I'll call my Guardian out here and this can be a two-on-two brawl." she warned him.
The bad boy chuckled. "You sure are something, girly! But, in a real fight, just punching your opponent hard enough to make his head hurt doesn't win you the match. However, I'll let you have this victory since I'm a nice guy." he gave a smirk.
"Keep smiling and I'll knock it right off your face."
"Oh, feisty! I like in a girl, but unfortunately you're not my kind of gal. By the way, I ain't giving myself to the police because I didn't do anything wrong. You see that bag, I stole that from the bank, sure. However, what you don't know is that I was planning on giving that money to charity."
"I'm supposed to believe that?"
"I didn't say you have to, girly. The rich are a couple of fat, lazy, good for nothing snubs who use their money for their own petty purposes! What about the poor who are forced to exit their homes, the hungry who are forced to starve, who answers them? How can they respond? The only way, money. It's an awful thing, don't you agree?"
"I agree with everything you said; however, that doesn't give you the right to steal whatever you want." the answer didn't belong to Asa, it belonged to Lola, who was standing behind a tree and approached them.
"Lola! Who long have you been there?!" Asa asked.
"The whole time. I wanted to see how well you could fight on your own. Shibaki didn't show up though." Lola answered her. "Anyway, as I said..." she continued her speech to the bad boy; however he wasn't listening.
Instead, he was staring at her beauty. Her long hair, her bright eyes, her slim figure, and most of all to him... her flat chest. What he saw was pure beauty. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move. His heart was beating a thousand drums, his hands were sweating bullets, and his breath was heavy. For the first time in his life, the seem-to-be bad boy... was in love.
"Hello? Are you listening to me?" Lola asked him.
"Huh?! Oh, yes! Every word! Thank you so much for showing me the light! I can't thank you enough for your great kindness!" the now in love bad boy bowed.
"Um... master?" Rob looked at his master confused.
"Come now, Rob! Let us return this money to its rightful owner! From now on, we start anew! No more shall we steal from the rich!" the bad boy grabbed the bag of money and positioned his Guardian to the direction to the bank.
"Why are you giving up so easily, master?"
"Whatever do you mean, Rob? Can't a man have a life changing moment?! Goodbye, fair maidens! Shall we meet again!" the bad boy waved and ran off.
Baffled by the sudden change of events, Asa and Lola stood there and looked at each other.
"I guess my speech really worked." Lola said.
"Um... I guess so." Asa slightly chuckled.
From behind a tree nearby, Shibaki stared at them. Gale appeared next to her.
"My, she's more capable than we thought. Looks like she doesn't need much training from you." Gale commented.
"She's still a rookie. She has much to learn. Though I do find it nice that I would have to show her the ropes for long." Shibaki smiled to herself.