New Beginnings: Chapter Four

[sunrises]

Nothing much to say with this chapter, except that I have finally given the professor a name. ^^ I may as well label this fic an original one, since it really has almost nothing to do with the TMM characters until later chapters... I hope you guys like it, though. <3

Title: Chapter Four - Chores of Teamwork
Fandom: Original [refences to TMM at the end, but can be changed around easily]
Summary: Today marks the group's first double-duty (or chores)... and something new is learned along the way.
Claimer: Everything in thid chapter is miiiine. xD; No stealing, okay?

New Beginnings: Chapter Four
Chores of Teamwork

It was easy to sense that Shikari’s group was the only one that actually bothered to get to know each other outside of school. As the six piled into the classroom, they could feel the tension rising between groups…

Shikari had to admit, she was glad that she made the group hang out together on Saturday. At least there wasn’t as much tension between them now as there was when they had first came into the classroom a week ago.

As the bell rang, their professor stood in the middle of the room. It was the first time many of the students noticed that he was… young. As Kyr glanced over at his teacher, there was definitely something off about him.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Professor Takaishi began, looking around at the various groups. Placing a hand casually on his hip, he offered the various students a smile. “Are you all ready to try doing your double-duty together?”

Groans escaped the lips of most of the students. Daisuke was expecting them; the redhead probably would have been with them if it wasn’t for the efforts that the others made for them to get along.

Now that he thought about it, the battle with Shawn would have probably helped too. The battle with the Angel Council members seemed like an almost distant memory now, even if it was only three days ago.

“Apparently not, but that’s okay,” The professor raised an eyebrow. “Tonight’s double-duty is organized by ranks, and we’re all doing chores.”

Chores?

Shikari grinned. “You mean the dust the school leaves behind for us to clean up?”

The fire mage had always been a little too familiar with Professor Takaishi, but this was the first time that the other members of her group had really noticed it. The way that their eyes constantly met… how the professor took his cues from her whenever she nodded or shrugged or did something….

Daisuke had yet to notice the bond between the two until now; frankly, it caught him off-guard. Why did Professor Takaishi have to look so young?

As he became engrossed in his thoughts, the conversation continued.

“It keeps you in good shape, though, doesn’t it?” The professor cheerfully replied back, almost as if he knew that Ari would say that.

The other students seemed to perk up at this news. If it was only chores, then double-duty probably wouldn’t be as bad as it normally would have been. Ceasing the idle chatter by pressing a finger to his lips, he smiled.

“You might want to hear who your partners are first, though,” The professor commented, taking out a scroll from his desk. “First group with the multiple redheads…. It’ll be Kinomiya and Mizuhara, Shinga and Kazeno, and Takaishi and Beaumont.”

The group exchanged glances. They didn’t really seem to mind how the groups were paired up except for the first one; Dai and Noru still weren’t on good terms so to speak. The thing that really concerned them was the fact that they were referred to as “multiple redheads”.

“I say we call ourselves something before we become known as that,” Shikari whispered to the others, nodding. “How about….”

Shuugo thoughtfully tilted his head to the side. “The Star Six?”

That actually sounded like a good name to Ari. She let the name sink in. Thinking about how it would affect the group later on, she couldn't help grinning.

“Sounds good to me,” She whispered in reply. “What about you guys?”

She got nods; that was about all she could get, since the professor was still reading names aloud for the other groups. (Shikari was the only one who really dared speak in class when the professor was talking; the others didn’t want to see the consequences or punishments he would give out if they were caught.)

Once he finished, the professor pressed a finger to his lips to keep the class silent. “All right, now that the assignments are out of the way, I heard that some of you might be happier if you got your duties out of the way right now…. So we’re heading to the dungeons in a few minutes. Leave your books here!”

The students began piling out of the classroom, leaving the group behind to leave last.

Daisuke glanced over at Minoru as they walked through the doorway, placing a hip casually on his hip. “Looks like we’re partners for double-duty, huh, Mizuhara-san?”

The blond nodded. “Unfortunately,” He nervously smiled as he realized that his words could be taken as an insult. “No offense, but we never were on good terms or anything, and plus – I’m an earth mage, you’re a data mage.”

The redhead knew he had a point there. “Yeah, I know. But at least they’re not total opposites like nature and data….”

“Hey,” Shikari came up behind the two, tapping them on their shoulders. “Do you remember which dungeons we’re heading to? I don’t remember if he told us which ones…”

Minoru pried her hand off. “If you were actually paying attention instead of coming up with a group name, ku, then maybe you could’ve heard it,” He replied lightheartedly, glancing over at Daisuke with a weak smile.

“Oh… right, right,” The data mage replied, grinning. “Shikari, you really need to pay attention. Doesn’t do a girl like you any good, you know?”

She pouted. “No, seriously. Where are we going?”

Minoru returned Daisuke’s grin. “If you’re sure…”

The fire mage elbowed Noru; he almost tripped to the ground in surprise. “Shikari-san! What was that for?”

She giggled, holding his hand steady so that he really wouldn’t fall. “For being too much like a big brother.”

“I got the picture, Shikari-san. We’re heading to Eclipse,” Daisuke answered, offering a weak smile. “I guess it’s because of the fact that we have two members in our group that practice holy magic or something…”

The fire mage’s smile widened at this news. “Really? I haven’t been to Eclipse in a while… is it just our group?”

The boys nodded, taking her by the hand down the staircase. The rest of their walk down to the dungeon was in silence, as their thoughts took over their reality.

To Ari, going down to the dungeon known as Eclipse would be immensely fun. In Hoshizen, there were five dungeons, each one dealing with specific types of magic in their origin. While they had been changed over time so that one mage could enter all five dungeons for double duties, the fire mage had rarely visited the dungeon in recent years.

Double duties were really the formal name for what most Hoshizen students called ‘chores’. The origin of the exercise was to train students on using their powers in their normal world, but the exercises were so boring that the students eventually called them chores.

By the time that all six of the mages had come down the stairs to the dungeon floor, they noticed that they were the final group to enter a dungeon.

That wouldn’t have been such a bad thing; the only bad result of being the last ones starting was that they would be the last ones to finish their duties. (In other words – they might be late to their after school clubs and classes if they didn’t hurry with their chores).

The professor was waiting for them in front of the two double doors that separated the mainframe of the Eclipse dungeon from the rest of the floor. He smiled as the group came in front of them, opening the doors behind him by magic.

“Good luck,” He called as they ran into the dungeon. “Remember, each group’s taking a separate path…”

They didn’t hear much more of his words before the doors closed on them. The six stood in the middle of the entrance hallway, their eyes looking at each other.

As Hikari and Kyr formed balls of light in their hands, it was evident that the others were ready to work on a plan to get them all done quickly and safely.

“Okay, since it’s Hikari-san and me… we should probably take the hallway that feels particularly cold.” Shikari suggested, her hand motioning to the dungeon path on the left.

Shawn glanced over at Kyr. “I’m just a gijinka mage, yerf. We’re not exactly meant for battle…” The redhead said nervously, placing a hand in his pocket.

Kyr nodded. “I know what you’re saying, ne. I’ll try to keep you out of the frontlines.”

Daisuke and Minoru exchanged glances. Both of them could easily see where the groups had gone wrong – Shawn was never supposed to be with a mage like Kyr, who wouldn’t be in the frontlines anyways. Both Hikari and Shikari were mages that specialized in spellcasting…

It was Daisuke and Noru who were mostly on the frontlines anyways. The earth mage raised a hand to gather attention.

“Hey, guys? Maybe we should take paths by difficulty, rather than elements. After all, ku, the groups are placed oddly.”

Shikari nodded in slight agreement. “Yeah, that seems about right. But does any of us know any spells to sense something like that?”

It was the time mage’s turn to offer words of encouragement. “I know something similar,” Kyr offered. “I think the spell was called ‘Scan’.”

The other mages stood aside as the blond walked up to each path, muttering the word under his breath. They could sense the instant knowledge the time mage was receiving with each time he said it, though Dai had a feeling that he could probably perform the same task if this dungeon wasn’t from the dark ages.

Kyr walked back to them once he was done, smiling. “Well, Hikari-san and Shikari-san were right about taking the path on the very left. Shawn-san and I’ll take the path on the very right…”

“Which leaves Mizuhara-san and I to take the middle path,” Daisuke finished, looking over at the other blond.

Minoru shrugged. “Whatever works for you,” He replied, summoning his bow and arrows.

The groups went into their respective paths then, expecting their chores to be somewhat easier than what the others had said.

Hikari shivered as she continued to walk down the hallway, her white staff in hand. The brunette looked over at her companion, who seemed to be equally cold.

Surely there had to be something that was causing them to be freezing their bodies off, right? Hikari had been in the dungeon many times before, and she had never remembered regretting that she hadn’t dressed more warmly.

“Hey, Shikari-san….” She looked over at the redhead. “I think finding this creature might be our chore.”

The fire mage grinned. “Hopefully. I’d hate to go in this dungeon again if it was always this cold…”

The two continued walking; however, it was on tip-toe this time as so to not awaken the creature that they thought was chilling the hallway.

Shikari paused at an open door, motioning silently for the brunette to follow. They both walked into the room, surprised to see that they were on a balcony….

Ice dragons were sleeping below them, their breath chilling the room (and since the door was open, Ari could guess that it was the entire hallway as well).

Hikari shook her head lightly as she saw Ari’s reaction. “Dragons are endangered,” She whispered into the fire mage’s ear. “I don’t think it’s them we’re worried about….”

Ari didn’t quite know what to say to that. The dragons seemed pretty dangerous on their own, but if Hikari said that it wasn’t them that was truly being the real cause, then she would have to believe the holy mage.

They continued to walk as silently as they could, looking for signs of anything out of the ordinary.

The two walked down the stairs, their hands firmly planted on the railing as their staffs floated beside them. The dragons became closer with every step, but the mages could now sense that Hikari was indeed right.

Their breath wouldn’t rise to the top automatically – cold air wasn’t known to rise as quickly as hot air, anyways. Something had to be disturbing their sleep.

“There….” Shikari took her staff and dashed off in the direction of a white blur.

Hikari had no choice but to follow; all she wanted out of this chore was to make sure that her classmate was okay. Shikari was a good person, but it seemed that the fire mage didn’t think things through on some days.

Doors were opening rapidly as the two continued to chase after the blur, the cold air escaping with them. When the blur could run no more, it stopped to catch its breath.

Ari seized the chance, taking a battle stance. “Looks like this one’s no match for me,” She muttered, gripping her staff.

As the battle began between Ari and the creature that was revealed to be a Snow Imp (Hikari didn’t like them too much – they were too mischievous, and they made a big mess out of every little thing), Hikari took her place beside the fire mage.

Of course, Hikari knew that her position in the battle would be observer. Shikari’s aura grew warm as the girl charged up her spell, finally calling out, “Burn!”. Fire escaped her staff, forming a ring around the Snow Imp. They danced, waiting.

The Snow Imp cried out in pain; he was beginning to melt by the dancing flames. They hit, and he was defeated.

The air around them slowly became warmer; the flame flickers disappeared from sight.

Shikari watched the many doors close behind her as she looked behind her shoulder in time to hear Hikari call to her.

“Looks like this one’s open!” The brunette called, opening the door that had just formed.

They walked through… only to realize that they weren’t alone. Shikari sighed as she watched the multitude of Snow Imps approach them, summoning her staff once more.

Another battle came – this time, it was Hikari’s turn to attack. The holy mage firmly gripped her staff, twirling it as she gathered energy. “White Spheres!”

White circles came from behind her; they danced around a circle of five Imps. The monsters laughed, only to be defeated a few seconds later by the impact of light.

Shikari was next. She thrust her staff in front, calling out, “Burning Chain!”

Chains of fire escaped the staff, twirling around the remaining Imps. They turned solemn, running to escape.

It didn’t work. Before they could run, the chain tied itself around the monsters, defeating them in the process.

Another door opened after the battle. Hikari’s pale blue eyes met with her friend’s own deep blue. “Should we…?”

Shikari nodded, opening the door. She couldn’t see much beyond the darkness, but she could sense that this would be their last door. “It looks safe,” She commented, walking through.

Hikari followed her, watching the winding path carefully. Her hands summoned another ball of light, guiding them through the various twists and turns…

When the two could finally see again without the aid of her magic, Shikari couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

There, in the middle where a fountain was, were the rest of the mages. It was obvious that the others had gotten through their challenges pretty easily, as they looked like they hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“The chores were pretty easy, weren’t they?” Daisuke commented, rising from his seat.

When they had all nodded in agreement, the data mage crossed his arms. “I’m guessing that it’s because they want to encourage teamwork today with the chores, rather than give us chances to increase our power…”

Hikari glanced over at Dai. “You sure that you did all right?” She asked, brushing back his bangs. “I mean, you and Noru still are at odds, it seems…”

It was hard to ignore the beet red tint that had appeared on Daisuke’s face. Looking away from her, the data mage managed to let a “Yeah” escape his lips.

Noru nodded. “We did fine,” He replied somewhat nonchalantly. “After all, the chores were easy. Nothing to sweat over in the first place, ku. We didn’t need teamwork…”

Kyr sweatdropped. “Well, we should get out of the dungeon at the very least. We shouldn’t be talking about it here, ne?”

Shawn took the time mage’s hand. “Right, yerf! Let’s get out while we still have time.”

As if by command, the doors opened before them.

They didn’t have a choice on whether or not to take the door; a sudden gust of wind threw them in before they could say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Dai groaned. “Mizuhara-san, I think you jinxed us…”

“Don’t look at me!” Minoru retorted as he was brought down to the ground. The lights flickered on.

All twelve eyes widened as they caught sight of the monster before them. The black canine was literally foaming at the mouth, its eyes were glowing an eerie yellow.

“Awww, man!” Shawn summoned his saber, jumping back to avoid the canine’s lunge. “You ready to rock, guys?”

They all nodded, taking their respective battle stances.

Daisuke performed a backflip onto the canine’s paw, thrusting one of his daggers into what he thought was a joint. It howled; Dai was surprised that he hadn’t been thrown off already. He glanced over at Noru, waving.

The earth mage had created steps; he was already running up them. When he got the sign from Dai, his hands went to the bow and arrow in his hands. He strung the arrow in, waiting for the right moment.

As soon as Dai took the dagger out, he released. The arrow flew through the air….landing in the edge of his ear.

More howling ensued. Noru winced, jumping to avoid the attack from another lunge.

Shawn saw his chance. He jumped onto the canine’s back from Noru’s steps, landing (quite ungracefully) onto it. He aimed his saber at the neck of the creature…. He was about to strike…

Unfortunately, that was when Shikari decided to attack. A chain of flickering flames enveloped the canine’s paws; it tumbled to the ground.

While all of this was going on, the two holy mages in the group were working on enhancing the group’s stats.

Kyr aimed his staff at Shawn, his muttered word of “Reflect” barely audible over the noise. The gijinka mage could sense a barrier wrapping around him; he glanced over at the blond and mouthed his thanks as he readied his attack.

Hikari dashed over in the direction of Daisuke, her staff floating over where she was. She clamped her hands together, bowing her head. “Prayer!”

White circles surrounded Daisuke, healing what little wounds he had gained so far from the battle.

Shawn’s saber was thrust into the canine’s neck. It could howl no more; instead, it decided to run into anything and everything it could.

Dai and Noru knew it was time to end the battle quickly. The data mage readied his dagger; the earth mage strung another bow. Oddly enough, this time…

The two felt like they could read each other’s mind. Earth magic began to surround his dagger, and data magic enveloped Noru’s arrow.

“Unison attack! Digital Vine!”

Daisuke hadn’t heard himself speak in unison with anyone like that in a long time…

He thrust the dagger into the paw again; Noru released the arrow. Vines enveloped the creature…

It fell to the ground, KO’ed. As it disappeared from sight, Shawn jumped off, his saber by his side.

“Looks like we have to clean our weapons well after this,” He commented, making his weapon disappear back into his garnet.

The others nodded. Another gust of wind threw them out of the room – taking them into the final door.

As they opened their eyes, they were greeted by none other than Professor Takaishi.

The professor blinked, extending a hand to help the six children. “You guys okay?”

Daisuke nodded. “We’re fine. Are we the last out..?”

The professor shook his head, offering a smile. “Actually, you’re the second group out.”

The group exchanged glances, until Minoru finally spoke up.

“Um, sir…. How’s that possible? We were the last ones in,” The earth mage asked, looking at the other closed doors.

The professor ran his hand through his maple-brown hair. “Well, it seems that you all know teamwork better than the others do….”

“So the chores were meant to be easy at first,” Shikari quipped. She glanced over at the brunet, smiling. “Well, it was fun, if nothing else.”

The others nodded in agreement. As the rest left the room, they realized that Shikari hadn’t chosen to go to her afterschool club quite yet.

“…Hey, Sor?” She asked the professor, her smile widening. “Thanks.”

His face became a pale shade of pink, nodding as he watched the fire mage leave. “You’re welcome, Ari.”