FATE: A World All New

IV. Going Crazy

        After lunch was over Dante and the children returned to the classroom. They did another four hours of work before Dante dismissed them for the day. He reached into his pocket to make sure he had everything as the last of the four students exited the hall. To his surprise the marble was missing!

"Wha- Where?" He started turning every which way in search of it. Finally he spotted it rolling

His eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he realized that he actually needed to go after it. So he started chasing the little marble around the room. It wasn't as hard as it sounds though. After all, the marble stopped as soon as he started toward it. He looked at it and frowned.

"Mr. Vale."

Dante jumped. He looked up toward the door and found Principal Tsue standing in the doorway.

"I have come to escort you to your dwelling while you are here."

"Great! Thanks! Let me- Let me just finish grabbing my stuff!" He bent down and scooped up the marble before going back to the stage and grabbing his bag.

They walked through the now-empty halls once again before arriving at the door. Once they exited they headed to the outer gate. As they arrived there Dante spotted his students. Shun and Marucho were already heading down the sidewalk, most likely on their ways home. Thomas and Yoshino, however, had been joined by two others. One was a boy with long brown hair and an unbuttoned red shirt with a white shirt underneath. He had blue jeans on and a pair of dog tags around his neck. The other was a younger boy with darker skin, blue face paint, bluish-black hair, and he wore a yellow shirt with ripped up orange pants. His demeanor suggested that something was missing from his outfit.

"Come on, Thomas," the older boy with brown hair was saying, "school can't be that interesting."

Thomas sighed. "Maybe not to you. Then again, the only thing you're interested in is fighting."

Dante and Tsue passed the students and their friends on the sidewalk. Neither expected them to notice, so it was a surprise when Yoshino suddenly looked at them and then waved.

"Goodbye, Professor Vale, Principal Tsue!"

Thomas and their friends looked in their direction as well. The two boys didn't make any move to greet them. Thomas gave a slight nod. Dante smiled and waved back at them before turning away. Tsue payed no attention.

"Why's he wearing sunglasses? The sun's already going down!"

"Marcus, you're an idiot. Have we ever told you that?"

"Marcus no idiot!"

"You're no better, Keenan! You know proper grammar now, why not use it!"

"This the way Keenan talk! This the way he always talk!"

Dante chuckled.

Soon after Dante and Tsue turned a corner. Yoshino turned to Thomas while Keenan and Marcus both yelled at them. "Hey, isn't your sister coming tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Thomas nodded.

"Shouldn't you have told Professor Vale that you won't be in class tomorrow then...?"

"Wait, you have a sister???" Marcus, the brown-haired boy, exclaimed. The previous fight forgotten.

"I'm sure you've met her."