Battle Academia (The original one)

Chapter 40: Get Excited!

"Stop following me alright? Don't you have anything better to do?", Ekko rolled his eyes.

He remembered how he thought that Kayn was a grumpy fella when they first met. But, oh boy, this guy takes the cake.

"I would if I could! Aren't you the one who's supposed to show me around this place?", he yelled angrily.

"Ugh.. Whatever.. Just sit down and shut your mouth for once".

The two boys sat at a particularly large table in the school cafeteria. It fit at least eight people but right now it was just the two of them. Ezreal couldn't help but notice the weird looks they were getting from the other students.

"Are we expecting anybody?", he raised an eyebrow as he gestured towards the empty seats. Ekko remained silent as he fumbled with the wire on his headphones. "Do you want me to go get some food"?

Ekko let out a boisterous laugh making the number of weird looks they were getting increase at an alarming rate.

"Don't tell me Durrandal's cafeteria is self-service?", he wiped a single tear off his eye. "And you guys actually believe you're better than us!".

Ezreal perched his lips together annoyed but didn't say anything as Ekko ran his fingers through his mohawk. Which didn't budge by the way. Not in the slightest. How much gel and hairspray is in this thing anyway? Weird fashion choices.

Speaking of weird things..

Ezreal quickly scanned the room taking a peek at what the other students were up to. What intrigued him the most was how many.. weird people were actually there. Well. "People" is being used quite generously actually.. Short squirrels(?), a mermaid, a bug, a pink floaty octopus eye thing? What the hell is this place?! Please don't tell me we have to fight these things.. What's next? Vampires and werewolves?

Ezreal noticed a cute couple. Now there's something normal. They sat side by side eating their meals, completely mesmerized by eachother's presence. Aww.. That was until he saw the feathers sticking through their backs and the cat-like ears under their hoods. So much for normalcy..

"Dude. Dude", Ekko's words pierced violenty through his inner thoughts.

"Hmm.."?, Ezreal hummed.

"What are you having?", Ekko sighed pointing towards the waiter who was standing ominously above their heads.

"Ugh.. Same thing you got!", he answered politely. The waiter nodded and left with their orders.

Ekko clicked his tongue irritated.

"Stop copying me alright? Nobody likes copycats". Ekko picked up some silverware and pretended to drum on the table.

The entire room was bigger and cosier than the one he'd become accustomed to back in Durrandal's. Waitors in suits and white gloves were spread almost everywhere. The tablecloths seemed pretty expensive and even the tables were round, reminding Ezreal of a fancy restaurant. I guess there are more rich kids here.. that explains it.

Ezreal noticed the different uniforms the students wore. He saw some green, red, blue and pink jackets around the place. Just like their clubs. Right.. They must have their own.

"So which club are you in? I'm in the Battle Club", Ezreal flaunted proudly.

"Clubs? We don't do that here, whimp. Here we have Vagabonds, Renegades and Mystics. Oh. And the Vanguard. But no one really cares about the Vanguard. They're like super boring. Trust me on this one", Ekko said and Ezreal didn't have the intention or the will to disagree.

"So which one are you?", asked Ezreal, secretly wishing he wouldn't regret trying to strike up a conversation with his new roommate. Gahh.. Kayn come pick me up bud. These freaks are seriously creeping me out.

Ekko gave him a mischievous smirk. A tiny spark lit up in his brown eyes.

"Why don't you take a guess"?

The boy took a few moments to consider his options.

"A renegade?", Ezreal eventually asked.

"Close enough but no. I'm a Vagabond".

"Somehow I'm not surprised", Ezreal taunted him raising his eyebrow smugly.

"Now, now.. you're just being mean", said Ekko yet a tiny smile crept in his lips.

Ezreal's gaze landed on an eerily beautiful girl with bright pink hair. She too had cat-like ears like the couple he'd noticed before. He also noticed the fluffy, brown tails behind her back. She was sitting at a nearby table. Her sole attention was on her phone that must have been integrated in her palms at this point. She didn't even give a second look to all the guys that were drooling over her left and right.

"Don't even think about it", Ekko said. "Ahri is way out of your league", he chuckled. Ezreal laughed nervously.

"Did you think..? I already have a girlfriend okay"?

Ekko scanned Ezreal with his eyes from top to bottom.

"Whatever you say pal", he replied clearly not buying his words.

"Hey! Are you implying I'm not pretty enough?!", Ezreal extended his arms out of frustration hitting a guy who happened to pass by them by accident. "Oh shit, sorry!", he quickly apologized.

He turned to see the boy he'd hit. It was a pale skinny guy with white hair and strange eyes. The only part of his eyes that was visible were his black irises. We might have to deal with vampires after all..

The boy grunted. Without uttering a single word he kept on walking as if nothing ever occured.

"Phew.. That was close", Ekko said sweeping some imaginary sweat off his forehead.

"Who was that guy?", Ezreal cleared his throat and swallowed hard. Something about him made his stomach coil.

"That's Vlad. I think his dad is a Count or something?", he said in between sips of water. Ezreal furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Oh yeah.. Get used to it. Everyone here's someone important's sons and daughters". Ekko noticed that Ezreal's gaze hadn't left Vlad's back.

"Just leave him. Frankly, I won't be surprised if he turns out to be a school shooter. It's always the quiet ones", Ekko whispered that last sentence covering his lips with the back of his hand.

Food was finally here. Thankfully Ekko had simply ordered pasta. Ezreal was about to take a bite off of his plate when a loud bang was heard coming straight from the kitchens.

The alarm went off. Everyone around him was in a frenzy. Everyone except for the boy that sat at his table.

He saw a girl with long, blue, braided pigtails sprint through the kitchen with a spray can in her hand and a disturbing smile carved on her face. Smoke had filled the entire room and the staff behind her seemed too busy having a cough fit to chase after her.

But Ekko seemed completely cool with it as he took another bite. Ezreal was cool too. Right? So no worries. He would just follow his lead.

The girl ran and sat right next to him as the sprinklers went off causing him to jump a little.

"My hair! It's ruined!", the girl with the pink hair he'd previously seen, shouted with pouted lips. A hoard of knights in shiny armors rushed to her aid, covering the girl with their jackets and satchels.

"Oh look at her..", the girl rolled her eyes as she hit Ezreal lightly on his side with her elbow. "She's such a loser! Always ready to cry".

"Hold it right there"! Security guards had spotted her across the room.

"Well. See ya!", she blew a kiss in Ekko's direction then went back to running. Ezreal heard her laughing as the doors closed behind her.

"What a psychopath", he mumbled under his breath.

"Isn't she awesome?", he saw Ekko sigh happily.

Yep. Feels like the whole world's gone crazy.. Right on schedule.