(Outdated) The King of Elements

Gladestone X Wolf

"Geez, it's about time you made it out here," she said as he walked down the steps.

Dre stopped and looked at her in indignation. "I just got strangled by my hopefully ex-principal, but whatever. How do you know where my parents are again?" Dre asked Megumi as they began walking through the parking lot. He could feel the hoarseness in his voice begin to go away.

Megumi sighed. "Daddy told me that my parents are pretty good friends with your parents, and figured it would be a good time to catch back up," she told him, looking around for her car. "You'd never see me up at seven in the morning to see some old friends, but to each his own, I guess. Ah, there you are-" she cut herself off as she approached a sleek and glossy cherry-red Mustang GT. "But, yeah, so I'm going to take you to my house you can tell them what- Dre?"

Behind her, Dre goggled the car, eyes wide open, mouth agape. "Whoa. Is this yours?" he asked her, sounding awestruck.

"Mine? Oh, no, this is the family car. My car is getting worked on. Getting in?"

"In a... In a second. I want to marvel at its beauty for a few more minutes."

Megumi made a sound of frustration as she swung the door open and threw her satchel in the back seat. "Okay. That's fine. Stay out here. But if you aren't in this car before I crank it up, you will get left."

"Okay, okay, I'm getting in," Dre said as he carefully opened the door and slid onto the seats plastered with an anime character on it.

Once he shut the door, Megumi plugged her touch screen Mp.3 player to a custom-made radio that flashed reds and blues from the buttons, which looked expensive, and began playing a mixture of alternative rock and old school video game music. "What is this?" he asked her as she pulled a pair of white sunglasses from the sun visor.

"This, Dre, is chiptune, the music of the gods. More specifically, the band playing now is Anamanaguchi. The best band since, like, ever," she added as the Mustang roared to life. She sped passed the Elementary school across the street from the high school and down West Elm Street.

"How can you guys afford all of this?" Dre had to raise his voice over the music.

"My daddy's sort of a big thing in Japan. He's a fan favorite there when it comes to Mixed Martial Arts. That and the fact that both of my parents are war veterans."

"Wait, if your family is rich, then why move to a one-horse place like Prescott? I'm sure that someone who is a war veteran and a successful MMA fighter could basically live anywhere they wanted to, right?"

"Donno, actually. Daddy just says that he misses the southern hospitality and his friends. Not surprising coming from him, though."

Dre shook his head as they sped through Olive Street to the outskirts of town. They passed by an ancient looking gas station surrounded by woods. This was so surreal. He was almost killed by Principal Dixon, and his parents were apparently at this girl's house, someone whom he had never met. 

Not to mention the boy who was behind Dixon, apparently controlling him. And McManus using that water and that fruit to heal him. He placed his hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. This was a fever dream. It had to be.

Then, he suddenly realized what was going on. He was being taken care by a girl, the same girl that was currently taking him to her house. He'd never been to a girl's house before. He could feel his face heating up again. 

Minutes later, Megumi turned in to a long cement-gray drive way. Leading up to the driveway was a large and elaborate two-story red-brick house. In the driveway was a black Corvette, an electric blue Chevy Impala, and a stone gray Ford F-150. "This is where you live?" Dre slowly asked, awe-stricken.

Megumi nodded. "We just moved in a couple of days ago. Not too bad of a house, isn't it?"

"Not bad?" he repeated. "Dude, this makes my house look like a shack."

She giggled as she parked the car in front of the Corvette, where two women were working under its hood. Megumi looked at Dre and placed her finger over her lips before she unplugged the Mp.3 player and got out at once. An impish smile crept across her lips as she crept behind the women. "Hi mom!" she called as Dre got out.

The two women quickly turned around, looking as if they had not heard the car drive up. "Gumi? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" the woman on the left asked with an odd expression of happiness and confusion on her face. She looked to be about as tall as Dre, with a slim, athletic figure and her hair, about as long and silky as Megumi's, tied in a black braid.

"I was, but we got out early," she said as she rushed to her and hugged her.

"Oh. Megumi, this is my good friend, Abigail Wolf," Megumi's mom said as they released themselves. "We went to school together."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Wolf," Megumi said politely as she bowed.

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Gladestone," said Abigail, through a bright smile. Abigail was just as beautiful as Megumi's mom. She was a few inches shorter than Dre, but had the same mahogany skin tone as he. She had black, shoulder-length hair and a slightly less athletic figure than the other woman, but it was still easy to see that she was the last person anyone would want to enrage.

"And you must be the famous Ke'Undre," her mom implied with a warm smile. "Your mom has told me a lot about you. I'm Tiffany Gladestone. Feel free to call me Tiffany if you'd like. Hm? What's that around your neck?" she asked Dre, who flinched as he tried to hide the bruises with a hand.

"Uh... It's nothing, Mrs. Gladestone-"

"Dre got strangled by Principal Dixon," Megumi interrupted.

"He what?!" Abigail cried out, wielding a monkey wrench. "Tiffany, we'll have to work on this later! Come on, Dre. We're about to show your little principal what happens when he messes with my baby boy!"

"Mom! Wait!" Dre pleaded as Abigail made her way to her truck. "Principal Dixon has already been picked up by the police."

"From the way these bruises looks, he looked like he tried to kill you," Tiffany said, no doubt making his mother even angrier. "What made him snap?"

"Well, about that-"

"Dre fought a bully who kept trying to hit on me," Megumi interrupted. "The guy was huge. Huge and ugly, and Dre knocked him out with one punch." Dre looked from Tiffany, to Megumi, back to Tiffany, in shock.

Tiffany's thin eyebrows arched for a split second as she said, "Risking your neck for someone that you barely met. I must say, the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree. Thanks for showing so much bravery for my little girl." She beamed at him as she held out a gloved hand.

Dre was conflicted within himself. He couldn't act as if he was the one who saved Megumi from Peewee with a good consciousness. Then again, he couldn't just make Megumi seem like a liar to her mom as well as his.

He hastily shook her hand, trying to fake a smile.

Being the nice guy is such a chore.

"The guys are in the house. You two should go in and introduce yourselves," Abigail said, turning back to the Corvette with a big grin on her face. "I'm so proud of you."

"Yes. Proud," Dre mumbled as he glared at Megumi out of the corner of his eye. "Shall we go in?" he added with a touch of anger as he gestured to the door. Once they were out of earshot, he quickly whispered, "Why did you just lie to your mom like that?"

"Because mom would be pissed at me if I got into a fight on the first day again," she whispered back.

"Again? How many times did you do this?" 

Megumi only winked as she put a finger over her lips.