Lunch

"Pride is the mask of one's own faults."

-Proverbs

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"Remember to keep your blade up!" Agis yelled from the sidelines.

Today, they were all taking turns sparring against each other in what Agis called a "bonding session." His reasoning was, "The best way for you to know your ally's abilities is to be the one receiving them!" Well, his words weren't completely wrong but they definitely hurt.

Currently, Sinclair was facing off against the tall red-headed Arik Woods, another American. Both were of the fighter class and clashed with a flurry of sword strikes.

Arik's swings were stronger than Sera's but more predictable. Sera parried a blow aimed at her right shoulder, quickly countering afterward with a thrust to the chest. Hurriedly, Arik blocked, causing a few splinters to fall from the wooden training sword.

Sera continued her offensive, quickly pushing Arik to the edge of the ring, striking precise blows that were sloppily blocked. Seeing as he was close to the edge, he panicked, striking as fast and with much strength as possible in a last-ditch effort.

Sera saw it coming and swiftly dodged to the right. A quick blow to the chest while he was recovering quickly put an end to the fight.

"Yeah Sinclair!! That was so cool!" her fellow students cheered while a few others consoled Arik. Sinclair remained stone-faced with a cold expression as usual.

Walking up to them, Agis complimented, "Well done Sinclair! Not even a week and you've grown tremendously in handling the blade." Turning to Arik, he said, "Not bad either but do you know what you did wrong?"

Angry at his loss, he answered irritably, "No."

"You let Miss Sinclair control the flow of the battle. You relied too much on your strength and power and not so much on your mind. Always remember, the mind is sharper than the sword. Do not let your emotions influence your actions." Seeing as Arik was still seething at his loss, he said, "Why don't you take a break for a bit. We only have one fight left anyways."

With a scowl, he replied, "Fine." Getting up, the red-haired kid tore off his gear before storming off. A few students whispered, wondering what was up with him.

Shaking his head, Agis said, "The last spar today will be between Ayanokouji and Kaiba. Take your positions!"

Sighing, Ayanokouji took his position, making last-minute adjustments to his training armor to make sure everything was secure. On the other side, the blonde-haired hero was pumped, smiling to those cheering for him and posing with his sword. "Why do I have to do this?" he wondered. It was troublesome.

A cool breeze blew through as they readied into their stances. "Begin!"

The hero engaged first, quickly crossing the distance between them. Kaiba initiated an overhead strike followed by a horizontal blow. Ayanokouji shifted his position to the left to dodge the first and parried the second.

The rest of the students watched closely with excitement, wondering how strong their hero was. Dull sounds of wood colliding could be heard throughout the grounds.

They continued to exchange blows but it was clear that the hero had the advantage. Ayanokouji finally made a fatal mistake, overextending, allowing Kaiba to knock the sword out of his hand and place the sword near his neck, signifying the end of the duel.

"That's the hero for you!" "Good job Kaiba! He never stood a chance!" the students cheered.

Lowering his sword, Kaiba smiled blindingly before saying, "Good job. Not bad for a mere mage. Of course, then again, you were against me."

With his ever apathetic face, Ayanokouji blandly responded, "Uh, thanks I guess?"

Agis came over and congratulated the hero while giving out a few tips for both of them. As the exercise ended for the day, people began to leave with their friends while he lagged behind.

Just as he was leaving, another person from their group came up to him. Their name was… Amaya Yui? She had vibrant green hair surprisingly and a heart-shaped face. She was slightly shorter than him and had attracted many male fans with her large bust. She was someone who wanted to be friends with everyone, no matter who they were.

"Hey, Ayanokouji!! I saw your fight! It was pretty cool!" she said happily.

Slightly surprised that she was talking to him, he said monotonously, "Oh, hello Amaya. Do you need something?"

"I was wondering if you had any plans for lunch? You looked kind of lonely…" Ouch, that hurt. "...and I thought maybe you could eat with me and a few of my friends!"

Thinking a bit, he shrugged, "Sure. It's not like I have anything else to do."

"Great! You'll love them!" Amaya beamed.

Following the bundle of joy, Ayanokouji wondered if this was what having someone to talk to was like.

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Amaya led him to the castle's version of a cafeteria. It was specially reserved for the heroes. As with the rest of the castle, the room was large and made of stone. Only the windows gave any light. Already it was filled with most of the 26 as it was nearing lunch.

"Over here Amaya!" Two figures waved over at her, trying to catch their attention.

Amaya dragged him over in excitement.

"Hey guys! This is Ayanokouji! We just got out of practice with Agis."

One was a guy with raven hair and brown eyes. He wore the typical armor given to the heroes. He was average in build and looked reserved and calm.

The other was a girl with pink hair and round, green eyes. Her hair was put up in a ponytail and had a large war hammer laying near her. It was ridiculous in size and was something you find in a video game. It was as tall as her and weighed probably double her weight.

The raven-haired guy nodded to him, saying, "My name is Callum Moore."

With eyes alight in excitement and a hint of insanity, the girl said, "And I'm Akane Tsuya!"

"Nice to meet you," Ayanokouji said.

"No need to be so reserved. We're all friends here right!" Akane said.

"Friends?"

Spinning a fork in her hand, she replied, "Well yeah. I mean Amaya vouches for you and you seem like an okay guy." Callum nodded while Amaya smiled, flashing her white teeth.

Ayanokouji sat down in the open seat while Amaya remained standing.

"Are you not staying?" Callum asked Amaya.

With a wince, she said, "Sorry guys, I just remembered I have to talk to Ayla about something. I know I'm the one who invited you Ayanokouji but I have to leave. Please forgive me."

"It's fine. I understand," Ayanokouji assured her.

"Thank you! I have to go. I should be back soon though!" she said as she left through the door.

"Anyways, why don't you tell us about yourself Ayanokouji!" Akane said with an eager expression.

"Eh… I am 16 and am a mage. And, uh, I don't really have any special skills or anything."

Both of them sent looks that were either pitying or of unbelief.

He failed. How could he fail at an introduction?

Not sure how to respond to that, Akane said, "...Well it's nice to meet you! I'm a fighter! I love sports and whacking people with my hammer! Oh, and watermelons!!"

Akane nudged Callum to go next. With a calm voice, he said, "I am a fighter as well. I enjoy reading and shogi."

With introductions out of the way, the trio, well mostly Callum and Akane, began discussing life in another world. Ayanokouji kept quiet for the most part, giving his opinion every once in a while. That is, until one topic caught his attention.

"Hey did you guys see the huge amount of guards blocking that door?" said Akane.

"That one next to the garden in the tower? Yeah, I asked and they said it was storage for ancient artifacts. Kinda weird they would have it there instead of like the dungeons."

"Hm… I don't believe artifacts are what's being stored in that room. Earlier today I saw a cart of books being hauled over to that direction," Ayanokouji stated.

"It could have been ancient books that they wanted locked up. Like a grimoire for magic maybe? I mean, we are in another world," Akane defended.

"Not likely. I also saw a few people including our trainer go into the room. Why would they allow a soldier to enter a room full of the kingdom's treasures, even if it's our trainer? More likely it is a library."

"You're really observant! You're like a detective!" Akane praised Ayanokouji.

"It was just a coincidence, I just happened to notice."

"If you say so. But why are they not allowing us to enter the library?" Akane asked with a thoughtful expression.

Ayanokouji was about to respond when there was sudden laughter. Turning our heads, they saw Arik and his goons messing with a boy sitting alone.

Ah, he was Sai if he remembered correctly. He had the lowest stats out of all of us, each at 11. He constantly looked gloomy with his hair covering one eye. He rarely talked with anyone since he was considered so weak.

Sai's food littered the floor and water drenched his clothing.

"Tch, watch you're going weakling. Were you trying to get food on me huh?" Arik said angrily while grabbing Sai by the collar of his shirt.

Sai only looked down, not meeting his eyes. "You're worthless, you know that. You wouldn't last 5 minutes in the dungeon, nevermind the demons. You'd be worthless even as a meatshield," Arik snarled. Arik's gang behind just laughed in amusement.

Everyone else either laughed along with them or did nothing to help Sai. Some looked at the other, believing someone else would help. A perfect example of the Bystander Effect.

This scene made Callum and Akane boil in anger. Ayanokouji only shook his head disapprovingly at the scene and decided not to pay attention to them anymore. "Ah, how unfair the world is," he thought.

Callum, despite looking calm, was fuming. "That isn't right."

"I know what we should do. We should break his legs," Akane whispered rather darkly.

"Wouldn't that do more harm than good," Kiyotaka thought while deadpanning.

The scene escalated as Arik was about to punch Sai. Akane finally had enough, throwing a tomato hard enough to splatter all over Arik's armor.

Arik immediately let go of the boy, turning around with a livid expression. "Who the hell threw that at me," he growled, scanning those in the room. Everyone froze, doing their best to look innocent. He continued to look until he found the trio who stared at him except for one person with brown hair who had his back turned.

Arik stomped up to Ayanokouji's table, saying, "You think you're a real comedian don't you!"

"Huh, are you talking to me," Kiyotaka asked dully as he turned around to face him.

"Are you a moron? Of course I'm talking about you. Now clean off my armor or else," Arik threatened.

Standing up, Ayanokouji said, "I assure you that it wasn't me who did it."

"Oh yeah? Who else did it then? If you speak up I might let you off."

"I don't know but I'm sure whoever did it feels sorry about it," he said with an emotionless face.

Akane nearly snorted. "Yeah right. I would never feel bad about that," she thought.

"Maybe you should let this go? I've heard holding onto anger isn't good for your health."

"How the heck can you keep such a straight face while saying that," Callum thought while watching the two.

"YOU THINK I'LL JUST LET THIS GO YOU ID-" Arik calmed down for a second before smirking, thinking of a way to get revenge. "You know what, you're right. It's just a tomato, it'll come off. I'll go wash this off then," he said while turning to walk away.

Ayanokouji shrugged before turning back around to sit down. Noticing his guard was down, Arik smirked, swinging his fist as he turned around to backhand him in the face. But to his surprise, Ayanokouji bent his body back, dodging the strike.

"WHAT?!" Arik thought before bringing up his fist to punch him again, thinking that he dodged by luck. Ayanokouji simply deflected the strike with his hand before putting some distance between them.

Arik growled in anger at the failed attempt. "You got lucky you freak. Let's see how you handle all of us."

Ayanokouji didn't reply. His golden eyes held no emotion, only a strange coldness that made Arik freeze for a moment.

"What, got nothing to say? You scared?"

"..."

"Tch. Freak."

Arik and his lackeys rushed at Ayanokouji, who didn't move an inch. Just as Arik reached him and was about to throw a punch at his face, he noticed Ayanokouji's eyes. Underneath his gaze, Arik swore he could feel death staring back at him. His eyes reflected an abyss, indifferent and apathetic to all. And it terrified him for that split second.

Before Arik could do anything, a girl's voice yelled, "What do you think you're doing?"

Arik and the others paled when they heard that voice. Of course, it belonged to the girl everyone had a crush on, Amaya.

Trying to save some face, Arik said, "I'll let you off for today since I'm feeling generous. Let's go guys." At those words Arik and his friends left the room in a hurry, ignoring the stares of everyone.

Running over to Ayanokouji, Amaya checked him over for any injuries. "Are you alright Ayanokouji? I'm so sorry I didn't come earlier."

Casually, he replied, "I'm fine, they didn't touch me thanks to you. If anything, you should ask Sai if he's okay."

"Why? What happened?" she asked in worry.

Callum chimed in, "He was the original target of the bullying."

Amaya looked around only to see that he had already left. "Where did he go?"

"Dunno but you should have seen Arik's face when he got hit by that tomato!" Akane laughed.

"And you almost got Ayanokouji hurt because of that," Callum pointed out with a raised brow.

"Bah, he would have been fine. He even dodged the first strike without even looking like a ninja," she dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"Yeah, how did you do that? He's only behind Kaiba and Sera in strength. Did you practice martial arts before coming to this world?" asked Callum curiously.

"I did piano and calligraphy," Ayanokouji said with a straight face.

"Oh."

"He would've been fine anyway. If they landed a hand on him I would have Snapped their legs!" Akane said with a little too much joy.

"Don't do that!" Amaya reprimanded.

"What? He was being a jerk."

"Yeah, while he's hotheaded, Arik doesn't usually bully people like that. I wonder what happened?" Callum asked aloud with hands underneath his chin.

Their conversation continued as Ayanokouji thought about Arik's behavior. Lost in thought, he didn't notice Ayla who saw the entire scene unnoticed.

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A/N: Happy early Halloween!! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!!

If you have any ideas for the story or corrections for me, comment to let me know!!

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