Academy days (Book 2 of IA)

[6] The timing is real

"Dang, I never been to this part of the school before..." I muttered under my breath getting off the sky-train.

Yes, the school was so large that in order to get from class to class, the students used the on campus sky-train that wrapped its way around the school. I had stepped off at the central station for no reason, after all it was the weekend and I had nothing better to do. So, I figured I was going to explore a little of the school on my own. Since Rumble slept in, and Isa was practicing close quarter combat with Kuro, I was basically on my own. Dang, that's live action I am missing on... But the first time impression of the heart of IIMT completely made up for it.
Out in the viewing distance was a giant ancient Roma style arena, towering about 20 stories and stretching hundreds of meters across.

"What's that arena in the distance?" I asked Rin, nodding my chin at the Arena.

"That's The 1st Arena! It says from my search results that the arena is reserved for only the top students for training, and is open to the public during the annual tournament in the summer."

"Huh, I see..." I stepped out the station and into the sun.

I spent about the next 20 minutes walking in a straight line towards the arena. By the time I got there, there were only a few bystanders and couple of food stands set up. One interesting thing I picked up however, was the fact that all students were still wearing their uniforms, I guess their dress code applies whenever they were on campus, regardless of the day.

"OMG KARD! Is that Takoyaki!?" Rin's hologram figure pointed. Several in front of me was a Takoyaki stand and seemed to be the only busy shop around. I had Takoyaki several times before, and just like steak, the quality varied store to store. Overall they are pretty expensive, but the good ones are worth it.

"Yeah I see it. Now just be quiet." I said, as I began to make my way over to the stand with Rin non-stop chanting 'Takoyaki'.

"Ay, how's the math homework coming along? You gottem done?" My ear caught wind of several students talking to the side. I turned and glanced at them for a moment. At first it appeared there was only 4 of them, with the shortest member of the group being the same height as me. But when one of them slightly shifted aside, I managed to catch a glimpse of a short scrawny kid in uniform trapped in their shadows.

"Takoyaki, Takoyaki, Takoyaki~ Kard? Why are we stopping?"

Ignoring Rin, I planted myself on spot and listened in on their conversation.

"If we get caught, we will all be in big trouble!" the scrawny kid protested.

"Right. But you're ok if we let her know..." The short one with the black hair said.

"Leave her out of this! She has nothing to do with this!" the scrawny kid edged further back.

"Aren't you little prince charming? You should confess to her now then. If you're too scared, we can lend you a hand..." the 2nd guy snickered.

"No...No thank you..." the poor guy fell back on his bum, as the 4 of them closed in on him like prey.

"I bet this kid wrote love letters! Let's search his bag!" the biggest in the group was a small giant in his own right. Standing about half a head taller than Rumble.

"Great idea!" the fourth guy with a sneer.

"No, please!..." the scrawny kid shuffled back on his bottom, as he held onto his back pack with his dear life.

"Then I guess we have no choice but to tell her..." the first guy threatened again.

The poor little guy froze, as the first guy snatched away his backpack like taking candy from a baby. Then he unzipped it and dug around for a bit, until he found what looked to be an envelope.