ISH MOTRANGA's POV
"Already here?"
My face probably looked like a kid who just got candy… or maybe one who just found a shiny spri on the street.
Who wouldn't be amazed? One blink and boom—you're already at school?
This is the exskill I really want: Teleportation!
"That's a shortcut for ya!" bragged the Teleporter.
"With teleportation, you save on transport fare and can go wherever you want."
"Who said it's free?" He raised an eyebrow.
I froze. What did he mean by that?
The Teleporter sighed and shook his head, then turned to Rin. "So… Rin, who is this kid to you?"
"Him? He's my neighbor."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Why's this guy looking at me like that? I don't like his stare one bit.
"What's his exskill?"
"He's the one I told you about in the group chat. The one with fire/heat-based attributes."
"Ah… so he's the one?"
"Ye—"
"Yup, that's me." I interrupt.
Rin's friend just smiled and completely ignored me.
"Ish, good luck to you. I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends here."
"Thanks, Rin… and you, uhm…?"
The Teleporter gave me a bitter smile.
"I am Rai Otsutsuki."
"Uh… Thank you, Rai—"
"Nah, nah. That's Diwan Otsutsuki to you."
"Eh?"
"Tsk! Don't forget to show respect, kid. Respect your upperclassmen," he said with a bitter smile before suddenly going poker-faced. "This is the first time you've seen me, and you're already calling me by my given name? Feeling close, huh? Want me to teach you how to respect your superiors?"
I swallowed nervously. What's this guy's problem?
"Hey! Stop scaring him, you jerk!" Rin laughed and shoved Otsutsuki, then turned to me. "Ish, he's just crazy. Ignore him."
"Ouch! So violent! And what do you mean crazy?! No wonder my sister doesn't take you seriously with that kind of mindset!" Rai Otsutsuki rolled his onyx eyes balls as he shoved Rin back, and tapped him on the shoulder before they both vanished in thin air.
"Hope all," I whispered to the wind.
Wait—Not hoping to be crazy, okay?! I mean, hope all can teleport!
I looked around the hallway and started wondering… What kind of students are in the main school? Are they like the ones in the satellite campus? I shrugged. If I take this too seriously, I'll go crazy.
I turned down the left hallway, and just like that, my day got worse. Why? She's here again with her twin.
"Good Morning, Ish!" Sol greeted, while Dy just rolled her blue eyes.
"Good morning." I greeted back.
Then Seth suddenly appeared, panting like he'd just run a marathon. Where the heck did he came from?
"Hey! Breathe! Chill! Inhale… exhale… inhale… exhale…" Sol tried to instruct the gravity changer.
I pointed at the water dispenser in the corner. "Need Water?"
Seth shook his head. "I'm good. Hoo! That was exhausting! Ugh, I should've just used my exskill. Jeez!" He talked to himself, took a deep breath, then faced us. "Did you guys hear?"
We raised our eyebrows and glanced at each other. "Hear what?" we asked in unison.
His eyes widened. "They just posted it on the ALVAACAD Citadel page!"
His facial expression was nerve-wracking. Like... he'd just seen his monthly bills or something.
Dy put her hands on her hips. "What is it? Spit it out already! We're in a hurry!"
Seth rolled his eyes. "Aren't you guys the lucky students?"
"Yeah?" Sol, also hands on hips. From his tone, he didn't sound so sure.
"What makes you say that?" I asked, curious.
Before I knew it, I had unconsciously placed my hands on my hips too.
Seth sighed and placed his hands on his hips as well.
Wait—he's doing it too?
Time out. Time out. HOLD UP!
This starts to feel like those scenes where your gossiper aunties stand in the yard gossiping early in the morning. It's giving neighborhood gossip circle energy.
It was so awkward that I slowly and subtly took my hands off my hips. Meanwhile, those three were still in the same pose.
Seth was taking forever to explain. He's like one of my classmates who gives a long-ass intro only to say something super short in the end. Just get to the point! My goodness!
"According to the post, all Grade 11 lucky students are required to be members of the newly formed E.C.C."
The three of us went, "Hah?"
"Seriously?" My respond held a bit surprised. "Well… doesn't sound too bad…"
The twins looked at each other. Wait—they had no clue?
"E.C.C? What's that?"
I rolled my eyes. "For your info, E.C.C stands for Elemental Chord Committee. It's a Cleanser Organization of ALVAACAD! Their main goal is to help Mother Nature!"
Dy rolled her eyes. "You sure know a lot…"
I shot her a glare. Not only are we in the same school, same class, but now we're in the same club too?! Freakin' cliche destiny.
After breaking the news, Seth left right away. I walked off first, and Dy and Sol followed. I was just listening to their convo.
Not that I'm a gossiper, okay—but they were so loud. How could I not hear? And they were talking about… muscle cramps? Weird.
Hands in my pockets, anime-style, I walked the cement path to the old building. For some reason, I suddenly remembered that girl's ID lace. I kinda burned it. Not on purpose!
My fire tends to act up with my emotions. It's been a real problem for me.
Because of this exskill, I've burned through a lot of clothes. And it's not like money rains on me—burning clothes means I can't afford to buy new ones.
I lightly kicked a small rock on the path as I turned left. I stopped walking, and so did the people behind me. There weren't many around except those in front of us.
And when they noticed us, they all turned to look—at the same time.
That was impressive. How'd they even do that? Was that rehearsed?
A girl stood up from her rusty armchair—looked like their leader. Just a feeling.
"How are you? I'm Musika Redfox, the President of the E.C.C! Welcome to the club! Here are the files you need to fill out to submit to the head."
3rd Person POV
"Only three?" The E.C.C Vice President, Aresovich Calachuchi, looked doubtful.
"You're wrong, Ares. I heard someone from Hanan and Mayari joined voluntarily," said E.C.C Secretary Aron Swan.
"Don't worry. You're only temporary members of the E.C.C. After a month, you can decide which club you really want to join. But if you want to stay, you're totally welcome," said President Musika Redfox.
"So… that means we have something to do?" Dy asked.
"Yes! We have a project!" President Musika grabbed an old whiteboard she found in a pile of junk. She got a marker and started writing the task.
The three read it.
"Community service?" Not like they're surprise.
"The TIC noticed that students aren't really paying attention to the environment anymore. So they decided to bring this club back… but it was actually SSG President Miss Forest who suggested it to the TIC." The E.C.C. President Musika Redfox explained.
"TIC?!" – Dy, Sol, & Ish
"Shortcut for Teacher-in-Charge. Tsk. Dummies." The E.C.C. Treasurer Presa Sampaguita exclaimed.
"Hey! Ms. Sampaguita! Don't talk like that to the Grade 11s, they might get scared of you!" The Auditor Mikael Dismuke scolded his fellow officer.
"No one's joining this club because of you!" Secretary Aron Swan unapologetically accused.
They discussed the objectives of the E.C.C and the new members introduced themselves.
"Tomorrow, bring a sack of plastic bott—"
"Huh?! Tomorrow?! Right away?" Presa complained. "It's not that easy to find trash," she muttered.
Ares scowled. "Presa, stop complaining. Just follow the President's orders."
"Don't complain. This is for the environment," Musika explained calmly.
"It's not a whole day—we only have a few hours. We go home at 4 PM, and after that, we barely have time to collect plastic bottles. We're not free all the time—we have chores," Ish said softly, intimidated by Ares' stare.
The VP rolled his eyes balls.
"Are you ALVAACAD students or not?"
To be continued...