"Ugh, what a way to ruin a perfectly good day." You sighed as the four of you left the mall after giving your statements, "at least you'll have a story." You smiled as you nudged Isen.

He groaned and rubbed his face in his hands, "if I have to recount this story one more time!" you patted his shoulder consolingly. It was a justified response, the officials were neither efficient nor speedy.

☆☆☆

A couple days later and it was back to the school grind. The day had hardly begun when you heard a loud voice over the school's speaker system, "Remi, Blyke, Isen, and (y/n)," you jolted as you heard your name, "please report to the main office!"

"Uh oh," you muttered to yourself, but not wanting to get into trouble, you made your way to the front office.

"What is this?" you heard a student snicker, "guess goody two shoes isn't so good after all."

"That's what she gets for hanging out with those two troublemakers Isen and Blyke." You clenched your fists at the comments and kept your head down. No. You weren't going to take the bait.

"Don't know why such powerful people hang out with her," another snide voice commented, "they could do so much better."

You wanted so much to turn around and punch the nearest person to you who was throwing shade, but you were going to be the bigger person and ignore them. Once you acknowledge them, they've won. You bit your lip until you could taste iron, and tried to walk as fast as you could without being suspicious.

When you arrived at your destination, you tried to not expose how angry you were, but the way you slammed the door caused a couple people to glare at you. "You okay?" Isen asked with raised eyebrows.

"Students suck," you muttered darkly.

"Amen," Blyke agreed as Remi entered the office.

The woman at the front desk looked at the four of you, "seeing as you're all here, you can head into Headmaster Vaughn's office." She nodded, "and (y/n)?" you faltered. You didn't think she knew your name, but presumably she had a roster or something, "don't slam the door."

You felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment as Remi gave you a quick confused glance and Blyke snickered, "right, I'm sorry."

Blyke was the one who pulled open the wooden door to the headmaster's office, followed by Isen, you, and Remi. Nervously, the four of you stood in front of his desk. The room was cool, but you were starting to sweat. There was a light tap as he put down the newspaper he was reading, showing that it was the newest edition of the Wellston Weekly. "I'm sure you four know why I called you here," he began in a level voice, "is everything written in this article true?"

"Not entirely, Sir. It doesn't tell the complete story," Remi spoke up and you tried to read the article upside down. Unlike what he thought, you hadn't read the Wellston Weekly yet, so you didn't know why you were called in, though, now you could give an educated guess. "We tried to chase after the culprit, but were mistaken for the ones who set off the bomb. There was a misunderstanding, but we cleared things up with mall security."

"Good," the teal haired man nodded as he folded his hands in front of him, "let me remind you. Wellston has a very unique environment. Here, you have the freedom to exercise your abilities as you wish, because the damages are easily repairable. But the moment you step off campus, you need to be more careful." He continued in a serious tone that made you want to fidget in place, Isen must've noticed your extreme discomfort as he reached out a hand to clasp your hand closest to him. Eagerly, you took it, letting it be your lifeline as you drowned in the Headmaster's scolding. He responded with a squeeze of his own and started to rub soothing circles on your hand with his thumb.

"Wellston's reputation and others' safety are on the line. You are four of my most powerful students." He continued and you had to hold back a sound of disbelief. You knew it for Remi and Blyke, but for you and Isen? It was close, but not high-tier level. "What you decide to do out there could significantly impact those around you. So, the next time any of you run into a special situation, don't act impulsively." You were ready for this scolding to end. You already knew you were going to be in a rough mood for the rest of the day. "Think about the consequences of your actions before making a move. Is that understood?"

The four of you answered the same thing, "yes Headmaster."

He gave a nod, "good. You are dismissed."

Isen let go of your hand as the group exited the room single-file and out into the halls, "hm, that wasn't so bad," Blyke mused.

The open halls were a breath of cool, fresh air and you felt like you could breathe again, but that didn't stop your salty response, "speak for yourself Blyke." Isen's hand found your own again, but you gently pulled your hand out of his grasp, much to his surprise, which you didn't notice.

"I am," he deadpanned and you wanted to punch him for his lack of empathy, "I thought we were gonna get pummeled." He continued as he looked to Isen.

"By the Headmaster?" your brooding mood lifted a tad to question him incredulously.

"Yeah," Isen nodded in agreeance as he waved a hand around, "and can you believe that man actually reads the school papers?" he questioned in disbelief before adding, "I wonder if he likes my articles."

"Yo, I'm hungry. Let's grab a bite to eat." Blyke spoke up as his stomach let out a loud growl.

"Yeah, let's go!" Isen agreed enthusiastically as he nodded his head.

"You've been quiet?" you slowed your pace to walk with Remi who looked to be deep in thought.

"Hey (y/n)! Remi!" her pink eyes snapped into focus when Blyke shouted her name, "you guys coming?"

"Uh, yeah!" she responded before quickening her pace to join the two guys, with you at her heels.

"I'm in the mood for pancakes," Blyke declared as the four of you walked to the cafeteria.

Isen laughed, "for lunch?"

"Stop judging me!" Blyke shouted angrily.

"Don't you start a fight again," you warned them, "you'll get us in trouble and," you shivered even though you weren't feeling particularly cold, "I don't want to get scolded by Headmaster Vaugn again." You cried out in something that was half between a whine and a sob.

"Oh come on," Blyke clapped a hand on your shoulder, "that wasn't too bad."

"Easy for you to say!" you retorted heatedly, "you get yelled at by him every other day!"

He let out a sputter of indignation, "not every other day!"

You sighed goodnaturedly, "I'm surprised you're even still allowed to compete in Turf Wars. I propose you be on probation."

He squawked in protest, "who's side are you on anyways!"

"The French Toast side."