One. Two. Three. Four.

Yuuto hands laid on the kitchen floor while his legs were high in the air. He balanced them careful against a wall as he bent his arms.

Five. Six. Seven. Eight.

For a moment Yuuto paused with his arms still bent. He thought about Mr. Hazaki’s lecture from earlier in the week.

Break. Training with that man was already hell but I didn’t come anywhere near getting that strong. Although now that I think about it he is sort of a monster in his own right. A cruel relentless monster.

Yuuto shuttered at the thought of a familiar thorn in his side. His arms wobbled for a moment thanks to his loss of concentration, as well as the fact the doorbell suddenly rang.

Nine. Ten. Eleven…

Ding dong. Ding Dong.

“Give me a minute.”

Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen.

Ding dong.

Looking up from the floor Yuuto stared across the kitchen watching his front door. A moment later a voice could be heard complaining.

“Yuuto. If you’re there answer your door damn it. Whoever’s ringing your doorbell is getting on my nerves.”

Yuuto shook his head side to side as he listened to his neighbor complain. Leaning his legs forward Yuuto flipped to his feet and headed for the door, not before complaining about his neighbor under his breath.

“Seriously. That guy needs to chill out. I don’t even have to make any noise for him to complain.”

Ding Dong.

“Alright, alright. I’m coming.”

A moment later Yuuto opened the door for Senji, who was dressed in a white collared short sleeved shirt with a red bow tie and tan pants. Senji looked Yuuto up and down with a confused expression.

“Uh. You’re not wearing a shirt.”

“Huh?”

Yuuto looked himself over as he invited Senji inside.

“I was bored so I did a little exercise. I didn’t want to get my shirt dirty.”

Senji nodded as Yuuto reaches for his shirt which is sitting on top of a chair. It takes about a second for Yuuto to put it on and for Senji to see that it’s a light blue turtleneck with an anthropomorphic character made of gumballs. With little to no hesitation Senji points at Yuuto with a blank expression on his face.

“What…what is that?”

“Gummi-kun. It’s a mascot character for a brand of candy I like.”

“Oh that’s interesting. So we should get going right. The stores are probably gonna be packed so we don’t want to miss any deals.”

Yuuto simply nodded as he grabbed his wallet from the kitchen table.

“Well let’s…is something the matter Senji?”

“No, nothing. I just noticed this is a pretty nice place. You live here by yourself?”

“Yeah. My parents pay the rent though.”

“So I’m guessing they live pretty far away from Ichiryu no maho Academy.”

Yuuto puffed out his cheeks for a moment then walked past Senji.

“I thought you said we should get moving.”

“Right sorry.”

The pair left Yuuto’s apartment headed down the stairs. Yuuto waved a Mr. Daisuke who grinned widely the moment he spotted Senji.

“Yuuto. I hope you and your friend have a great time.”

Yuuto blinked for a moment while he thought about it then looked at Senji for a moment who just stared at him.

Friend?

“They do live far away from the academy. But even if they didn’t I probably would still be living here.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“You asked if my parents lived far from the academy. Well they do. Anyway even though it’s already the weekend classes have been feeling kinda sluggish.”

“I know what you mean. I’m not sure we’re even being taught all we need to know for the elimination exam.”

Great, even Senji thinks so. If that’s the case then it doesn’t look like we’re gonna do so great on the exam. What the hell are they testing for anyway? If it’s anything like the entrance exam then it could be a series of standard exams. Which would be good news if I was a regular student. Well I guess its good news for Senji though.

“Hey, Yuuto I’ve been meaning to ask you. What school did you go to before Ichiryu academy? I’m asking because I’ve never seen you around before. I mean I know a lot of the people who went to different junior highs, so.”

With a lazy expression Yuuto glances at Senji and stares at him for a moment. “I didn’t go to school nearby.”

“Oh, so was it out of the country? So that means you’re not really familiar with the area. If that’s the case I wouldn’t mind showing you…”

Yuuto shakes his head side to side stopping Senji.

“I was homeschooled so to speak. You see those mountain way in the distance.”

Senji turns to look at where Yuuto is pointing he squints for a moment then nods his head slowly.

“Yeah I see them. There’s a school there?”

“No, but that’s where I was taught. I’d have to come down to town when I needed supplies so I got pretty familiar with the area.”

A shocked expression flashes on Senji’s face. “Someone drove you down the mountain right. Because the way you’re talking sounds like…”

“I walked. Well I did.”

Yuuto replied without missing a beat blinking at Senji as like he doesn’t have the foggiest idea why Senji might be surprised. Before Senji can ask a follow up question a dark look goes across Yuuto’s face. His head is slung down causing some of his hair to fall across his forward head partially covering his eyes. After a moment he begins muttering incoherently.

“If you want food go down the mountain to get it. Money? Well you’ll have to earn that it with hard work. And I nearly starved you rotten mountain troll. Despicable ogre, oni, demon, aragh.”

Senji looked around for a moment before tapping Yuuto on the shoulder.

“Uh Yuuto, you okay?”

“Huh. Sorry I was just remembering something.”

“Sounds like whatever you were remembering it wasn’t pleasant.”

“No it wasn’t. Trust me.”