Rental video store, March 5th, 8 P.M.

After one day observing and two days working, Itzel easily masters the job, and the routine follows on as expected. Being new around the city, he ends up attracting the costumers’ attention, especially from the girls who always try to strike up a conversation.

- Girl! Have you seen the new video store assistant? – Asked a girl, excitedly.

- Yes, I have! Should we say hello? – Answers back her friend, with the same enthusiasm.

Both were searching for romance movies, hoping to talk to him and getting to know him better.

- Hey, young man!! We want these ones! – Both say simultaneously, each one holding a romantic movie, showing them to Itzel.

- Two movies from the romance section? – notices the young one and grabs the DVDs to make sure if the media and the covers are the same. – That’s it! You just need to pass through the cashier and bring them back in three days. Oh, and thanks for stopping by! Come back anytime.

The rookie’s simplicity, friendliness, and disinterest made them not to find room to keep going the subject. Then, they went away taking their movies and broken hearts. The rental video store owner, the young one with a mohawk, sees everything, quite impressed.

- Ohh… Itzel…

- Yes? – Itzel answers back readily.

- Those girls… They were hittin’ on ya.

- Oh, yes, and what would that be? – He curiously asks.

- Oh yeah, you’re an outsider, I totally forgot. – For a while he stopped and thought what the best way of explaining would be. – They wanna date you, but nothin’ serious! – The pink haired guy tried to explain.

- Oh, right. I'm not interested. – says Itzel, thoroughly uninterested.

Some time later, it was almost time to close the rental video store for the day. Itzel said goodbye to the last costumer, and the store young owner gets close to make an invitation:

- Hey, Itzel! Let’s go wild tonight?

- Say what? Go wild? – Asks Itzel quite confused.

- Oh, man, you’re an outsider! For real! – realized the young one. – It’s a place where a bunch of people go to dance, and lots of them you don’t know but you can. – He tries to explain.

- It sounds weird, but it should be important for Earth’s natives… – Itzel thinks, while seeing his friend explaining and making uncanny gestures, imagining that perhaps it might be some sort of ritual of those people.

- I’ll take my GF and some other fellas. We get outta here, put on some clothes and off we go. – continued the mohawk guy.

- I didn’t understand absolutely anything, but I’ll accept the invitation. – said the greenish-blue haired lad, relatively excited, because he would understand better the local culture.

Night is out, everybody is ready. Itzel got dressed in his friend’s borrowed clothes. A long woolen coat, military-style, lined with satin and featuring leather detailing on the sleeves. The structured high-neck shirt made of knitwear had a vinyl detail, wide and crisscrossed at the front. The wide-legged pants, along with the vinyl gloves and black leather shoes, complete the look.

Itzel’s friend and rental video store owner, Ren, wore a similar model however simpler, with a plain shirt and a shorter coat, reaching mid-thigh. His girlfriend was with them in the car, and she was a beautiful young woman with fair skin and green eyes, and long, black hair that reaches down to her waist, with half of it covering her right eye, resembling a gothic rock band vocalist.

They made their way in a rounded black car until they reached a high part of the city where the nightclub was found. Inside, the place was crowded with young people, colorful lights roamed around, and the main light was flashing frantically. The electronic music was sounding loudly at a deafening volume, and everyone danced to the rhythm while sipping on various types of drinks. Everyone, except Itzel, who stood against the wall quietly seeing people's behavior.

"Dark place, colorful lights flashing, loud music. They keep dancing and drinking colorful liquids." - he reflected, analyzing.

Amidst his thoughts, he was interrupted by two beautifully dressed blonde young women.

- Hey, hottie! Good evening! – says the first one.

- Tell us! What’s your name? – asks the second one.

- I’m Itzel, but I’m cool. – he politely answers, without understanding the temperature comparison.

Both found his answer amusing, and imagining the lad was interested in them, they kept on asking.

- Oh, that’s so cute! What a different name! Are you a foreigner?

- Yes!

- How long have you been here?

- Not even a week.

- Have you come to visit?

- I have come for work.

- Nice! Hey, would you like to hang around with us? – Asks one of the blondes, pulling him by the arm.

- Oh, okay, it could be. – Answers Itzel, who wanted to leave that place.

In that moment, rapidly, Itzel, puts himself between the girls and Itzel, making them to release his arm.

- HEEEY! I’M SORRY TO SPOIL YOUR NIGHT, GIRLS, BUT THE HANDSOME ONE IS WITH ME. – he said energetically, to make things clear.

The two looked at each other confusedly and whispered to each other.

- Oh, no, the cutie one bats for the other team. - They sighed, believing that the two guys were a couple, and returned to the dance floor.

After they moved away, Ren placed his hands on Itzel's shoulders, trying to understand what had just happened.

- Itzel, what's your secret? I leave you alone for two minutes and two girls come to hit on you.

- Secret? They just wanted to show me around the city, nothing else. - replied the blue-eyed lad, not quite understanding what his friend meant.

- Dude, you're so innocent. It's not the city they want to show you. – said Ren, incredulous at his friend's naivety.

Sayuri’s house, March 6th, Saturday, 7 P.M.

Excitement had taken over the house from early on. Akiko, who never woke up early on her own and would hardly get out of bed early on a day off, was already up, dressed, smiling, and tidying up the house. Sayuri, who usually was the first to wake up, found the situation strange and soon asked:

- Akiko? It's 7:30 AM on a Saturday! Why did you wake up so early?

- Today is the pajama party. I'm excited, couldn't even sleep properly. - replied the girl with purple hair, enthusiastically.

- Oh! That's right! The house will get crowded. - Sayuri remembered. - I'll ask Ghuang to buy food and beverages. Matsui is young, she shouldn't stay up late.

- Don't worry! We'll keep everything clean! - assured the young woman.

After a cleaning blitz, they managed to leave everything clean and organized to welcome their guests. Akiko was very happy to have everything ready, Miyu was annoyed that nothing healthy had been bought for them to eat, and Naoko felt tired from all the energy spent organizing the place. This was not yet the end of the activities, and they divided their tasks: Naoko and Miyu stayed at the kitchen cooking a pot of brigadeiro to eat together, while Akiko enlisted Megumi's help to come up with some games and activities for the evening. The activities continued until they heard the doorbell.

- Aino and Yukino are here! I'll open the door for them! - said Sayuri, heading towards the door. - Welcome! Please come in!

Upon seeing her friends arriving, Akiko ran over, jumped, and hugged Aino tightly.

- Aino!!! Yukino!!! So glad you're here!" 

- Ugh, let go of me! Why do you and Yukino always do this? Can I at least put away the ice cream? - complained Aino about her warm reception.

Yukino, who was calm in the background, wondered why she had been dragged into the conversation.

- Oh! Is that the ice cream you usually make? - Akiko asked with great joy.

- Yes! But hey, I'm not staying overnight, don't get too excited. - she replied, taking the ice cream to the kitchen.

- Girls! Let's start already and eat everything before Aino leaves. - announced the young girl with purple hair to everyone present.

- WHAT A FUSS! - complained the ice cream girl.

The girls had fun throughout the night, each in their own way. They tried to come up with various games but ended up opting for board games, which were easier to please everyone. Aino left around 10:00 PM, and the others played board games late into the night before sleeping together, some in their beds and some improvising in the living room.

Sunday promised to be full of excitement; the sun was intense, perfect for a beach day. Akiko, once again, woke up early and very excited to have fun. Megumi knew that Ghuang's car, although spacious, wouldn't be enough for all of them, so she decided to call a taxi to take her, Miyu, and Naoko, ensuring everyone would travel comfortably.

Beach

The beach was crowded, with people from the city eager to make the most of the last days of summer, relaxing and spending time with family. That's exactly what the girls had come to do. They all took the opportunity to debut their new bikinis. Akiko's was striped in pink and white, adorned with bows and ruffles. Naoko wore a black one-piece swimsuit with cutouts, paired with a matching sarong featuring purple seashell prints. Matsui sported a delicate children's model with a swim shirt, all in pink with flower patterns. Yukino opted for a simple navy-blue design, while Miyu wore a red one with leafy prints and ruffled shoulders. Ghuang chose plain black swim shorts, Sayuri had an elegant sky blue swimsuit, and Megumi wore a perfectly fitting simple red one that complemented her sun-kissed skin.

- Let's play ball on the beach! Who's in? - Akiko said, already inviting everyone to enjoy the day.

- Let’s play, Matsui? – Naoko asked.

- Let's go! – The little one replied enthusiastically.

- I'm going for a walk. – Yukino said, heading towards the shoreline.

- Ah, I'll read first, then join in. – Miyu said, heading to a quieter spot.

- I think everyone is settled in now. – Ghuang said with relief, looking at the young ones.

- They get along well. – Sayuri said, smiling to reassure her husband.

- Go enjoy yourself, Ghuang, you don't need to look after us all the time. – Megumi suggested, noticing that the host needed to relax.

At that crowded beach, a bit further away, a group of three people were chatting and drinking beer together. It was Itzel, Ren, and his girlfriend, who had taken advantage of a break from work at the rental video store to have some fun. Itzel and Ren were wearing swim shorts, Itzel's in black and Ren's in green, while Ren's girlfriend was in a simple black bikini.

- Grab a beer and let's chat! – Ren offered to Itzel. – Yesterday, Lauren and I noticed your name is Spanish! Is that right?

- Ah, my name. Yes, it is. – Itzel replied.

- Cool, man! You Mexican? – Ren continued to ask.

- Yes! – he responded.

- Wow, cool. But you're mixed race, right?

- Yes.

- Half German?

- Yes!

"Incredible how humans invent stories. It's just easier to agree". – thinks Itzel after agreeing with all the assumptions made by his pink-haired friend.

The young man with cyan hair decides to get up and explore more of the beach. He informs his friends and starts walking, but quickly something catches his attention. By the shoreline, Yukino is tossing seawater into the air and rapidly freezing the droplets, likely practicing to improve her speed.

As he observes the scene closely, Itzel extends his hand towards the sea and begins to draw water into his palm as if he were storing it. The water in that area starts to recede rapidly, leaving beachgoers alarmed by the situation. Ren approaches Itzel, urging him to leave, but he refuses, insisting they should go first as he wants to check if anyone needs help with the situation.

Yukino watches the sea suspiciously, finding it strange for this to happen in that area. The young man approaches her closer, she notices, but says nothing.

- Alright, do you need any help? – Itzel asks, attempting to initiate a conversation.

- No, I'm leaving already, thanks. – Yukino responds, trying to evade the stranger as she heads towards her friends.

As Yukino turns away from him, the young man with cyan hair gradually releases the water from his hands, sending it towards her. The mass of water swiftly travels towards her, catching her off guard, knocking her to the ground and ensnaring her within it. Sayuri, who was farther away, notices what's happening and rushes to her aid. Megumi steps forward and at once releases her glimmers to dazzle the eyes of their opponent and deter the other beachgoers.

The situation was already familiar to Itzel based on Rosália's reports. There was one individual with ice Potentia and another one with light Potentia, he quickly realized he had met the same group. Despite the excessive glare in his eyes, he remained calm to assess the situation.
Sayuri positioned herself in front of Yukino to protect her, while Naoko, water Potentia user, hurried to dismantle the trap that the enemy had set for the young woman.

- Are you okay? –  she asked, worried.

-  I’m better now, thanks, Naoko. – Answered back Yukino, getting up slowly.

The appearance of the water Potentia confirmed to the villain that he was facing the expected group. He already knew they were skilled and that he was at a disadvantage being alone, but he decided to try to capture at least one of them. He started running to take advantage of the moment while they were distracted. As he ran, a dense mass of air began to form and envelop him. The man was taken by surprise and soon found himself levitating, suspended by the mass of air.

- There was no mention of an air Potentia... There must be more of them, then. This air mass is strong enough to levitate me. – thought Itzel, who despite the situation, managed to stay calm. He then tried to find the source from where the air enveloping him was coming.