The Legend of Kyo (Toph x OC Fanfiction)

A Duel

Thirty Minutes Later

After going their separate ways, Kyo still needed to make one more trip before heading to school... "There's no way I'm asking her, out of everyone, for a uniform," Kyo mumbled to himself. He was still trying to find a way of getting himself suited up. And so, he headed for the local clothing store that was run by the infamous Ka-Ren.

He approached the shop and shyly, he walked up to the middle-aged woman attending the store. "H-Hello, ma'am. By any chance have a school uniform....oh and one that's a medium."

The store clerk held her finger up to signal him to wait and went to the back to check. She returned in less than a minute with a sharp black and red Fire Nation uniform that everyone else wore. "Yes, we do. You're in luck because we have one medium uniform left."

His amber eyes shot open.

"Oh sweet!" He shouted.

The lady plugged her ears from his yelling and rolled her eyes.

Store Clerk: "That will be 11 silver pieces." She said, holding her hand out, waiting for the payment from Kyo. 

He searched his pockets for money. His heart dropped, and so did his smile. As turns out, there were only 5 silver pieces left in his possession. He took a deep breath to muster the courage to tell her the bad news.

Kyo: "Oh...I'm uh..sorry, but I'm 6 silver pieces short." He hoped that she'd be in a generous mood but of course, she was "infamous" for a reason.

She chuckled in a mocking tone, "Too bad, seems like you're not in luck after all."

Kyo: "I'm so so sorry, can I just pay you back later?" He bowed his head to show respect and did his best to show how urgent it was for him to get this uniform.

Ka-Ren: "Listen, kid, this is a clothing SHOP. Not a place where you can rent clothes. If I did that, I'd have to wash and dry all my clothes at that idiot Lee's house every time a customer returns them.

Those words felt like a small needle that hit Kyo's heart since his acts of kindness ended up hurting him in the long run.

Kyo: "I'm begging you! I need it for sch-"

"And I need the silver pieces to keep my business running." She interrupted with fierce eyes and a condescending tone, "And your school needs you to be there right now. Go ask for a uniform there and waste their time instead."

It was a lost cause. There was no chance that he'd be able to win against her of all people. Kyo, being fed up, decided to walk to school with an even shorter temper. He was going to be punished for being late anyways so it was a lose-lose situation no matter how different his circumstances were.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he approached the school, he was immediately greeted by the unfriendly male guards that were posted in front of the gates. Kyo, knowing how they would react, braced himself for what seemed to be the third annoying conversation he'd have to endure in one morning.

Guard: "Where have you been young man!? Morning class has already started and we just caught another student that was playing hooky." Kyo rolled his eyes, if I was playing hooky, I wouldn't have considered showing up here...would I?

He sighed, "It's a long story okay?! I lost my uni-"

"By the name of Ozai, where is your uniform?!" He said, pointing at Kyo's plain attire.

Kyo: "Maybe I'd tell you what happened if you didn't cut m-"

Guard: "Hah! Did you really think I'd let you waste my time and stall so you don't have to go back to class? Go to the Headmaster and get a uniform immediately!"