Chapter 20: A Younger View On Life pt. 1

Now, Orion thought that he was generally a nice kid. He didn't talk much to some of the other kids in the town, since he was too shy, and he was especially nervous around the big personalities of the guild members. However, he did always try and help out whenever someone needed help. He never said any curses, like the tall blonde girl. He didn't prank members, like the shorter pink haired girl. He wasn't bluntly honest, like the girl with huge glasses. And he definitely wasn't as mean to people as the brown haired boy and his blonde friend tended to seem.

Speaking of the brown haired kid, "'EY! What are 'ya doing?!" Orion yelled as the other boy lifted his sandals into the air. His purple eyes studied them carefully.

"What does it look like?" Was the snarky response back before the boy looked back at Orion. "These are really worn out. Why don't you buy new ones?"

Orion didn't answer, instead he just reached for the shoes which were quickly moved out of reach by the tall blonde girl. She sneered, face twisting in disgust. "See, Luke? I told you he wore ugly shoes."

"They ain't ugly! Say that again, I dare' ya." He growled. Luke suddenly looked apprehensive, as if he regretted his actions.

"Am I meant to be threatened? Your sandals are absolutely hideous. Buy better ones." The blonde stated, pink eyes almost glowing with annoyance. As if they were useless, she threw the sandals behind her. "Don't look scared, Luke. He's almost five years younger."

She was about to say more but was cut off when Orion tackled her to the ground, gripping her leather vest's collar. They began rolling on the ground, trying to overpower each other through pure physical strength. The brunet had been yelling her name in panic as Orion aimed a punch at her. She moved her head to the side, narrowly missing his fist.

"I'm going to kill 'ya, I swear it! You touched my sandals!" He tried to punch her again. She quickly grabbed him and threw him off her, getting up from the dirt.

"What's so special about those-"

"Luke! Angelique!" The voice yelled loudly. Luke looked back but Angelique ignored the other girl and got into a boxing stance. Suddenly, a rock nailed her in the head, causing the blonde to shriek angrily and turn to the offender.

"Maiko, what the hell do you want?!" The pink haired girl kept her slingshot up defensively but approached the other kids. Her glare was smoldering and filled with a burning hatred. Orion was used to her being mischievous, not looking like her blue eyes could kill. Angelique's angry fighting look turned to dull irritation.

"Stop picking on him." Was the answer. "I'm not afraid to shoot."

"Same here." Angelique said, fire dancing along her palm. However, with a sigh, she strode off. "He started the fight, I just tried to save him from a fashion crisis."

Luke made to go calm his other friend down but was stopped by his best friend. Maiko looked him in the eye. "I'm telling you, she's a bad influence."

"Maiko, chill. She's just trying to help out. She isn't a bully anymore." He chased after Angelique. Maiko snorted, mocking his words as she walked over to Orion.

"Are you okay?" Orion nodded, making her try to smile but, it came out as a grimace. "Sorry about her. Angelique gets on my nerves too."

The boy quickly ran past to slip his sandals on again. "It's not y-your fault. I-I'm Orion."

"Maiko Vols. Hey... I see you around the guild a lot, how come we've never talked?" She asked. His face went red.

"I-I'm a little shy. You a-always prank people so I thought y-you'd be mean."

"Pssh, nonsense! They're all in good fun! Want to go see one up close? I got a big one planned." Maiko's eyes glittered with mischief, just like usual. He felt more comfortable with her devilish smile rather than when she looked terrifyingly angry like before.

"Don't you do those with Luke?" He asked.

"I do but that loser decided to hang out with little miss Blondie rather than us cool guys. Like, come on!" He almost wanted to laugh at her exasperated yell. "Anyway, let's go."

"O-Okay!

...

"Before we start, let me tell you the biggest rules I follow when pranking. Rule one, check your victim's state of mind. If your victim has been having a bad day, don't pull the prank if it's nasty. We might be pranksters, but we aren't evil. Rule two, think big. If your victim isn't too unhappy or whatever, try do something extravagant. It's more fun that way."

"Didn't you only pull a hand buzzer for the new guy?" Orion asked, causing Maiko to stiffen and frown.

"Maybe. I used a basic because I didn't know him but I needed to prove my authority! He's a wimp so I think it scared him enough anyway. Don't worry my disciple, this is a big one." Maiko said, quickly ducking back behind the beer barrel where they hid.

"D-Disciple?"

"Rule three, watch out for my aunt. She will kill us." Was the next rule out of her mouth.

"Really? We don't need to freak out, though. Isn't she still in Magnolia after the meeting?"

"So rule three may be ignored for the time being. Rule four, the most important rule which shall be demonstrated in this prank, timing is key. Rule five, the prank must fit to the victim like two matching pieces."

"What does that mean?" He asked, not comprehending her final rules. He wasn't sure if it was because of her advanced thinking (She was four years older than the seven year old), or that she just didn't seem to make much sense.

"You'll see. Just stay here a watch." The girl moved away from their hiding place. Moving near the doors, she gripped her arm, wincing like she was in pain. Kichirou walked in, instantly noting the small girl's pained expression.

"Are you okay, Maiko?" He asked, reaching out to touch her.

"I cut my wrist. Can you get me some bandages from the infirmary." He looked anxious. "Dr Mari isn't here. She's at the hospital."

"He's. He's at the hospital." Kichirou corrected, a shudder going down his spine. "Sure, just wait a second."

As the brunet walked towards the infirmary, a grin blossomed on her face. She pulled a remote out from her dress. Just as Kichirou stepped on a slight misplaced plank of wood, she pressed the button. The mechanism activated and he was suddenly flung into the air by a huge spring under the floor. As if just on time, Cammy walked out from the infirmary, wrapping her forearm in white bandage. A loud thump echoed around the room.

"What the fu- hell?!" Cammy was just able to stop herself from cussing in front of everyone. She looked down just as Kichirou hefted himself up and supported his weight with his elbows. He looked up from where his nose was pressed into her black wife-beater shirt. It took a few seconds for them to both understand the position they were in, faces going red for entirely different reasons.

"Uh, C-C-Cammy! I-I swear this was an accident! I was walking to g-g-get stuff for M-Maiko and next thing I know, I was off the g-ground and Ididn'tmeantogropeyouorlandinyour... um... chest area?" Kichirou cried, rushing so fast through his last sentence that it was hard to understand his flow of words. He looked like he was about to die of embarrassment with how red his face was.

"Kichirou..." She growled, face red with anger. Said boy, immediately jumped up, backing away from the dangerous woman. She clenched her fist, ice swirling around her as she bared her fangs in an animalistic way. He visibly gulped. "I'm going to kill you!"

"No!" He turned and ran out the guild. The whole way out, he yelled a mantra of, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

...

As Maiko approached the boy who lay on the ground, twitching from fading laughter, she giggled like a deranged schoolgirl. Orion took deep breaths, allowing the older girl to lift him up so he was standing upright.

"How did you do that so perfectly?" He asked, watching the pride smile fill her face.

"Two things, I'm a genius and rule four, timing is key."

...

"Hello? Earth to Luke?" Angelique's voice pierced his thoughts, causing the boy to yelp in surprise. In response, she glared, heat radiating off her like a bad stove. "As I was saying, Maiko is so... ugh! I'm almost 13. Why does a puny 11 year old who can't even do magic think she can stand up to me?"

"She is kinda small but she isn't puny..." His defense for her was weak at best.

"I think she is! Her aunt is crazy powerful, right? How come she can't even make a spark? Not even a hint of magic in her body! I think that makes her weak."

Seeing the blonde explode like that immediately triggered memories in the boy. Memories of her, that weren't so good. "Okay, Angie, that's enough! Maiko is still my best friend, she isn't weak and for standing up to a bully like you who is older than her, she is way stronger than a lot of people."

"Are you really going there?" Suddenly, the girl's expression turned from a slightly angered one to a sneer. "I didn't do anything wrong! Why am I always painted as the bully?"

"Because you were the bully." Luke muttered.

"Don't tell me you guy are still... I apologized, didn't I? I won't-" Before Angelique could finish talking, Luke exhaled deeply before turning and walking off. She reached out. "Hey, Luke! Wait!"

...

"W-W-Wait, no. Maiko you don't have to!" Orion cried, trying to resist the force of the girl pushing him forwards.

"Yes I do! I'll take you to meet some of my friends. They are a bit older than you but they're nice! Maybe Lavanda will be there too. She can tell you lots of things, she reads lots of books." Maiko said, twisting in front of him so she could pull instead of push him along. He stumbled forwards as she suddenly began running, waving at a small group of kids. "Guys!"

"Hey Maiko! Who's that?" The leader of their group, Kerriuke, yelled, shifting the football under his arm.

"This is my friend, Oreo."

"Don't call me that!" The seven year old squealed, disgusted at the thought of the treats. Of course, the girl ignored him and did a really cool handshake with each of the other six kids.

"Nice to meet you Oreo. I'm Kerriuke but everyone calls me Kerri for short." Kerriuke said, a grin on his tan face. His tan was similar than Orion's, making him blink in surprise. His flame orange hair was in a mess with twigs and leaves stuck in it, almost as if he had just fallen out of a tree.

"My name's Orion, tree-hair." As if suddenly realized what he had said to the other boy, Orion's eyes widened. "Um.. I-I mean..."

"Wow, fiesty. I like that!" A girl said, ruffling his brown hair and turning it into an absolute mess. He didn't want to look like Kerriuke!

"N-No it was an accident." He mumbled, causing the children to laugh.

"Wow! You're eyes are green?" A small girl said, a large grin on her round face. She looked no older than 4 or 5, which amazed him. Maiko made loud 'hah?' sounding noise, looking down at the girl.

"Perriana, you've never seen green eyes?" She asked. The child nodded, but blushed in embarrassment.

"Both Perri and big brother Kerri has dark, dark brown. You has blue, Ama and Mia has grey, Jack, Jamie and Joseph has light brown, Angie has pink, Lav and Luke has purple and Ming has black." Perriana said, pointing at each of the people who were there as she said their names. Orion wanted to wince at her words. First talking about herself in third person and then the grammar.

"You mean, have? They have light brown eyes, Perri." Lavanda said, stepping forwards and patting the girl on the head. "Don't be so stupid."

Kerriuke glared at the older girl, causing her to squeak in surprise. "She isn't stupid, Lavanda, she's 4."

"But I could use proper grammar at 4." She responded, not understanding why he seemed mad.

"Well you were-"

"Guys, let's not fight now. Are we still on for football?" Maiko interrupted, stopping the argument before it could escalate. Lavanda went quiet, stepping back on her laced flats and pushing up her glasses. He could see Kerriuke simmering in anger as he nodded.

"I'm not going to play today." There was a loud collective whine from the three Vera siblings.

"But Lavanda... If you do that, we won't have even numbers. We're already missing Ming and Angie and Ama and Mia and Luke." Joseph whined, causing the two other triplets to nod in support, although Jamie looked more apathetic compared to his brothers.

"It's not my fault they didn't come. Besides, I'm wearing a skirt today. If I had my trousers I would have joined in." She explained, causing Joseph and Jack to deflate. Jamie patted their backs in a lame effort to cheer them up.

"Lav, I have a dress and I'm playing!" Maiko said. Immediately, Kerri popped back into the conversation.

"Yeah, Maiko's playing! She doesn't care if we see her panties, because she's tough, like a man!" That immediately sent the triplets into giggles while Maiko covered her face so nobody would see the horrifying shade of red she had turned. Lavanda just nodded as if he had proved her point and sat down on a box.

"I'll ref." She stated, bringing out a book and pulling out a red card and a yellow card which she placed in her lap.

"Since Ming's not here, Perri'll help Lav referee!" Perriana sat by Lavanda's box. The children nodded, accepting her decision.

"Me and Maiko are captains, as usual. I'll start with Joseph!" Kerriuke shouted, pointing at the green haired boy. Joseph cheered, moving to Kerriuke's side.

"That's your mistake, Kerri! You picked the shortest triplet!" Maiko exclaimed, laughing obnoxiously.

"I'm not short!"

"Sorry Jo. I'll go with-" Maiko was cut off as she heard the voice behind her.

"Luke." He said, moving in next to Maiko. She turned, a smile on her face before she hugged him and squealed girlishly. "I came to play because Angie was being a jerk about you."

"Imma let them have their moment. So... Jack!" The boy skipped over, high fiving his brother. Maiko let go of Luke, seeing the two boys left.

"Between Oreo-"

"Orion!" He yelled.

"And Jamie, I'll go with the Oreo." Orion didn't budge. "Fine, Orion." Pleased with the words, Orion moved to her team, giving Luke an apprehensive look.

"Mr. James, come to my team." Kerri stated, finishing the choosing of teams.

"Why am I always picked last?" Jamie pouted, although he didn't actually seem that bothered by it.

"Because you're lazy." Was the collective response of all the kids. Other than Orion, of course. He didn't know them well yet.

Maiko counted the numbers, frowning when she saw the sides. She frowned, giving Kerri the stink eye. "Your team has one more person than mine."

"Well, Perri don't wanna play without her best friend, Ming. I guess the team's will be in my favor today! Come on Vera's, to the pitch."

"Hold on!" Another voice shouted, breathless from running. Orion rolled his eyes. Would they be able to play at all? People kept stopping them! However, once the boy saw who the voice belonged to, he paled.

"Angie?" Luke asked, causing Maiko to growl.

"I can't have the teams be so unfair for little Maiko-chan. To all three of you," Angelique's words were directed to her team members, regret shown in her eyes. "I want you to know, I'm sorry. I really am."

Maiko just nodded, shrugging the apology off and not caring what the girl said. Luke smiled at her, doing the handshake that the others did earlier. As Angelique joined him, Orion looked at her, deciding that although she was rude before and seemed to have made Maiko hate her, she didn't seem like the type to be horrible for no reason. She didn't seem like a mean person when she smiled and goofed off like that. If anything, she had this natural charm that made him realize, she couldn't be that bad. Deciding on his answer, he reached up to tap her shoulder.

"I forgive you." He said, watching Angelique blink in surprise before grinning. "Now can we finally play?"

...