The First of Few Friends

Lucario knows well that the kids in this school aren't just normal kids. They are the kids of politicians, city and nation leaders, mafias, gangs, and the scattered sponsors. Making friends in this school can lead to a life or death decision when it comes down to it. The friends a student makes here can be a potential aide or a potential threat as they get older.

"Lily, I want you to have a lot of fun while you attend here," Lucario starts off as they begin their way to the headmaster's office. "Just be very careful when you make friends, okay? I don't ever want to see you cry just because you found out that someone pretended to be your friend. It's okay to take your time."

"Yes, Daddy!" Lily sings while hugging her father. "I'll be very careful so that you don't have to worry."

Arriving at the headmaster's office, the group knocks on the door and waits to be allowed in. As the door opens, a cold room filled with unnecessary books greets them while the headmaster calmly sits at his desk. At least, until he notices Lily.

"My, who is this little angel here?" the headmaster asks while setting down his reading glasses.

"This is my daughter, Lily Buenavista. I plan on enrolling her this week for the coming school year, but I wanted to let you know ahead of time so that you can be aware of my daughter's presence."

The headmaster glares at Lucario yet softens his eyes when he sees Billy. "I will do my best to ensure that your daughter is safe while she is within these walls during the school days," the headmaster sighs as he rests his chin on his hand. "I'm pretty sure that the daughter of this school's infamous monster will be the center of a lot of the future destruction around campus."

"Lily isn't a bad girl," Lily claims while looking up at the headmaster. "Lily doesn't get into fights or hurt others."

Laughing at the thought of a monster taking care of a flower, the headmaster grins at Lily. "I'm sure Miss Lily is a good girl. I'm referring to the future destruction that your father will cause if something happens to you at school."

Lily tugs on Lucario's pants to get his attention to which he kneels down to her level. "You can't destroy the school, Daddy," Lily scolds while pointing a finger to her father then to the headmaster. "You only watch from behind me. I will ask Daddy if I need your help. Okay?"

Unable to hold in his laugh, the headmaster turns around to face the window and chuckles while his shoulders shake from trying to keep his laughter low. "I guess it's my turn to die now that I've seen it all. The monster is being controlled by a budding flower."

"I got it. I got it," Lucario submits as he picks Lily up in his arms. "I won't do anything to destroy the school unless you say so." Recollecting himself, Lucario's gentle eyes pierce sharply into the headmaster. "I will be expecting the best learning environment for my daughter. If Lily ever comes to me and tells me that she's being bullied or harassed, I will come for this school."

"And there's the monster again," the headmaster mumbles to himself. "Your daughter's safety is ensured; however, I hold no promises in ensuring that she won't get bullied or harassed. Kids have a mind of their own, so it's up to them if they want to do something bad to your daughter."

Annoyed by the headmaster's answer, Lucario clicks his tongue before turning to face the door. "The monster that you know is still very much alive. It just has better control of things now." With that, Billy opens the door for Lucario, and everyone files out of the office, stopping only when they make it to the foyer.

"You know what to do, correct?" Lucario asks without looking at the men with him.

"Yes, Father Lucario," Billy and Ryan respond before disappearing into the hallways that line the school.

"Daddy is thinking of bad things again, aren't you?" Lily pouts as she looks back where Billy and Ryan split off to.

"Daddy is thinking of ways to make sure that you're safe and having fun," Lucario refutes while heading over to the preschool wing of the school. "I'm going to be a bit busy, so can you stay here with the other kids here while you wait for me? They are going to be your future classmates, so it's best to get to know them now so that it's not too overwhelming when school starts."

Lily promptly nods her head, so Lucario lowers her onto the floor just inside of the preschool wing. "It will only take thirty minutes maximum, okay? I won't leave you alone for too long."

Waving off her father as he disappears into a hallway, Lily turns around and finds a couple of the preschoolers staring at her. "Daddy says that it's rude to stare at someone when they aren't looking."

"Who are you? I've never seen you before," one of the little boys asks, standing up from his pillow by the block tower area.

"I'm Lily. I'll be going to school here, so we will be classmates from now on!"

The boy walks over to Lily and looks over at her as if she's some sort of merchandise. "As if I would call someone like you my classmate," the boy scoffs. Noticing that Lily is still unfazed, the boy points his finger in her face. "Don't look at me in the eyes. We aren't on the same level, so you better treat me with respect."

Lily crosses her arms and glares up at the boy. "My daddy says that I shouldn't let other people boss me around because I'm going to become a boss one day. If you don't like me, then you can just ignore me. It's that simple."

Annoyed by Lily's response, the boy raises his hand to hit Lily when another boy who was looking on dives in and takes the hit for Lily. "It's not nice to hit a girl, Jeremy," the boy scolds as he rubs his cheek. The boy glances over at Lily who has fallen onto the ground behind him. "It looks like you two aren't on the same level. You shouldn't let someone who is under you even try to hit you like that." The boy holds out his hand and helps Lily up.

"Thank you… um…"

"Ethan Turnip," the boy answers first. "My mom is the chairwoman for national security at the FBI. What's your name?"

"Lily Buenavista," the little girl responds after patting off her dress. "My daddy is the CEO of Buenavista Manufacturing."

"That kid over there that tried to hit you is Jeremy Johnson. His parents hold seats in the nation's congress," Ethan comments, pointing his thumb behind him. "But you don't need to worry about him. He's just a bully with no real friends."

Lily peeks behind Ethan and sees Jeremy seething at how embarrassed he is. "I'll stay as far away from him as possible then," Lily laughs to herself. "I'll be enrolling here for the new school year. I hope we can be friends when school starts."

"Why not be friends now?" Ethan asks with a puzzled look. "Why wait until school starts?"

Shocked by the sudden offer, Lily looks down and fiddles her fingers. "Lily isn't very good at making friends, so I was going to practice first before school started."

Covering his mouth, Ethan chuckles lightly before holding out his hand to Lily and cheekily smiles. "Then let's start practicing now! I'll be your first friend if that's okay with you."

Lily stares at the hand in front of her. "Really? Is it really okay to be friends with Lily even though we just met?!" Ethan firmly nods his head, so Lily reaches out to shake his hand when she is suddenly lifted up off of the ground.

"You shouldn't touch other people that you don't know, Miss Lily," Ryan advises while he props her onto his hip.

"Ryan!" Lily hugs the familiar face tightly before pointing down at Ethan. "But Ethan is my new friend now, so it's okay to touch him. Right?"

"Friend?" Ryan glares down at the seven year old boy below him. "Lily, boys are known to be really mean to girls. You shouldn't have a boy as your first friend."

"But Ethan saved me from getting hit by Jeremy," Lily bluntly remarks as she looks at Jeremy who has now taken his seat back at the block tower.

"Did you just say that someone tried to hit you?" Lucario growls after appearing from the doorway. Taking Lily from Ryan, Lucario examines Lily's face and arms to make sure she isn't hurt. "You didn't get hurt did you, baby girl?"

Lily shakes her head then gestures down to Ethan. "My new friend saved me so that I wouldn't get hit. See, his cheek is still red from getting slapped for me."

Similar to Ryan, Lucario glares at the child in front of him. "Is it true that you helped my daughter from getting hit in the face?"

Ethan gulps then shakily nods as he has never met anyone as large and menacing as Lucario before. "It's not nice to hit a girl, so I took Lily's hit for her."

Lucario looks at Lily who has a proud smile on her face.

"Isn't my friend nice?" she innocently asks. Little does she know, she's mercilessly shooting down all of her father's anger against his will with her angelic face.

"Yes, yes, you have a nice friend," Lucario says in the end while shaking his head. After getting himself back together, Lucario glances back down at the child but with a less scary gaze. "I will leave my daughter in your care while she's at school. As her friend, you will make sure that she is safe and having fun. Will that be alright with you?"

"That's… that's alright with me," Ethan stutters, frightened about what would happen if he was to decline.

"Lily, your enrollment is finished, and we got the list of supplies that you will need," Lucario mentions, holding up a sheet of paper with the supplies. "Let's get started on buying your school supplies and new clothes."

"Okay, Daddy!" Lily turns to face her new friend and eager waves at him. "Bye, Ethan! I'll see you again when school starts!"