Gifted

The Lost Chapter

I hung up the phone.

"Who was that?"

"The principal of the Sacramento Academy. She says she has something I can only see in person." Everyone raised their eyebrows.

"That dragon incident was months ago. Surely it doesn't have anything to do with y-"

"I should go. Please Kazuma." The principal sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"The last time I sent you 3 on a mission, I didn't see you for almost 2 weeks."

"Well this isn't a mission, just a vacation." I added.

"Yeah, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Asuna said. Kazuma sighed and smiled.

"I suppose a small vacation isn't bad for the students. But please Mr. Zoldyk, be back in time for your 18th birthday. Your mother would be entirely sad if you weren't here."

"I'd never miss my own birthday. I made it just in time for Ebi's, remember."

"Barely..." Ebi muttered.

"Cut me some slack! Allan had to poop like really bad then Chiba-"

"Anyway. I will allow you to travel to Sacramento. Just bring me a souvenir, I've always wanted to visit California." The 3 of us thanked Kazuma and left his office.

"So what do you think it's about? Why did they request you?" Asuna said as we were walking down the hall.

"I have a vague idea. But we'll only know until we find out." We spent the rest of the day packing accordingly and planning the trip. At about noon, we were ready to leave. After that dragon incident, people at the Academy treated me with even more respect than usual. They came to me for Gift advice, relationship advice, tutoring (even though I'm a terrible student), and even sports. I was starting to feel more like a teacher. Even Coach Drake took notice of this, calling me a "mentor for my subordinates." I didn't feel I had any authority over the lower class men, I felt like I was still one myself.

As we walked out the front doors of the Academy, students in the atrium and clapped. It was extremely embarrassing, but I didn't say anything.

"You've become pretty famous around here." Ebi said as we walked outside. He had gotten extremely taller and his voice was deeper as well. Puberty hit him like a freight train. I almost couldn't call him my little brother.

"I guess so, huh. I'm not used to it." I said.

"You're recognized as one of the greatest Gifted people to ever live since your father, dude. That's gotta be cool for you." he said.

"That may be so, but I've got to be far from the best." I said modestly.

"Oh really? I've never met anyone more insane than you." He said with a laugh.

"Could you guys help me load the supplies instead of chatting?" Asuna said. She had changed considerably too. She had been training more often than not and had accepted more difficult missions as well. I feel like it was her way to make up for what happened in Santa Monica. I guess she felt like a hinderance to me, but she really wasn't. She was my reason to even keep going.

"Sorry." We helped Asuna put our supplies on top of Poe and strap them in. Poe had developed a taste for Ayakashi ever since Santa Monica. We would release him outside the Academy and he would fly around picking them off. He had gotten considerably larger as well, which I couldn't tell correlated directly with his feeding habits.