35 A Calculus Morning (1/2)

Kyrie's leg bounced incessantly. Sitting still when faced with a challenge was not something he handled well. He'd rather stand or move.

Sadly, calc homework on a Saturday morning was not very conducive to moving. Kyrie had spent a fair amount of time this morning trying to figure out the formula for the problem Pele had demonstrated on the board.

DJ, Liza, and Jasper did their best to answer Kyrie's questions, without giving him the answer. Centra and the others were completing the rest of their homework. Eventually, Kyrie ended up with the power rule's formula; y(x) = x to the power of n the derivative of y(x) equals y'(x) = nx to the power of (n-1) when x equals a constant you get 0.

Kyrie's leg bounced incessantly. Sitting still when faced with a challenge was not something he handled well. He'd rather stand or move.

Sadly, calc homework on a Saturday morning was not very conducive to moving. Kyrie had spent a fair amount of time this morning trying to figure out the formula for the problem Pele had demonstrated on the board.

DJ, Liza, and Jasper did their best to answer Kyrie's questions, without giving him the answer. Centra and the others were completing the rest of their homework. Eventually, Kyrie ended up with the power rule's formula; y(x) = xn the derivative of y(x) equals y'(x) = nx(n-1); ifx equals a constant you get 0.

After finishing his calc homework, Kyrie glanced around the room. Jasper was doing magic.

And Liza was drawing in a comfy chair. When she glanced up, she met Kyrie's gaze. Her cheeks warmed as she went back to her sketch of Kyrie doing his calc homework.

DJ and Centra had synchronized their holo-watches to the display across from the couch. They were playing the game Honor.

Honor is a popular MMORPG. It had a pro-alliance and an inter-city pro team competition each year. But that was all Kyrie knew. Well that and DJ's a fan of one of the local pro teams, it was called blue something.

If things weren't so awkward between Kyrie and Centra, he'd have asked if he could join her and DJ. Kyrie glanced at Taru, maybe he could go practice?

Kyrie shook his head, he was trying to do things differently. He had a second chance. He wasn't going back to the way things used to be. But what should he do?

Kyrie glanced at the display Centra and DJ were using. Even though asking to join them was something Kyrie wasn't willing to do after last night, he could still sign up and play the game.

Kyrie flicked open his watch's holo-display. He purchased a new game account and created a character.

But before he could actually play, it went off.

A signal. A sound that sent the fingers of dread running down his spine. A sound that froze and terrified many but felt like so much more to those who were at the fall of Avalon.

Centra was the first to react. ”Get your gear!”

Kyrie dashed to his room as his chair clattered to its side. Liza dropped her drawing in her chair and headed for her room. Jasper opened his door and walked out as Centra entered hers.

Jasper watched DJ with wide eyes. ”I-is t-that –” no it couldn't be. That – that stuff didn't happen here. Attacks didn't happen here.

”Yeah.” DJ watched Jasper with worry. He was ready. DJ'd always be ready. But that didn't mean he was ready to lose his home, or the people in it.”How's your aura?”

Jasper grimaced. ”H-half.” He glanced at Kyrie who'd returned to their common area. Taru was strapped to Kyrie's back and a canteen to his side. They couldn't expect them to fight, at least not for long enough to need a canteen, right? They were just students. Learning, just learning to fight. Not fighting something big enough to threaten their city. S-so, ”Y-you don't t-think t-they'd h-have us f-fight?”

Kyrie shrugged. He was licensed, and he wasn't going through the same thing as he did at Avalon. ”I'll be fighting.” He'd practiced and even if he couldn't face what was coming at his strongest, he wasn't going to let anyone keep him from helping. Helping how he wanted.

Liza had left her room, her daggers were securely hidden away. ”No. We're students. We're supposed to go to the nearest shelter and get our orders from a Professor.” It was the right thing to do.

Centra was back as well, her bow in hand and her quiver strapped to her back.

”How many of the other students know what to do? They haven't covered that since I got here.” Kyrie glanced at the door. He could hear banging and confused arguing. ”We should help by telling them where to go.”

DJ nodded. ”I'll go with you. They know me and I know where the nearest shelter is.”

Centra frowned. ”I don't think we should be doing that, especially Kyrie. There might be something more urgent they need us for.” He was a hero after all. And letting DJ go somewhere alone with Kyrie was terrifying. But they were trying to be a team. She was trying to trust Kyrie.

”So, we split up,” Kyrie said with a nod. ”You can use your telepathy to contact us when you two get our orders.”

DJ watched Centra. He was he didn't want to leave her, but Kyrie was right. And Kyrie'd need his help. So, he'd go with Kyrie. If Centra could do one very important thing. ”Can your telepathy reach us here if you're at the shelter?”

Centra shook her head. ”No. But it should from half a block away.” Centra glanced at Kyrie. She'd turned down his offer to help before. She and Jasper had almost died at that time. She'd promised to listen to Kyrie. He'd put his feelings aside and offered to work with her. Offered like she was licensed.

And now he was offering his opinion.

Centra walked over to Kyrie and extended her fist. They were a team. A rough team, but a team. ”Alright. We split up. Jasper, Liza, and I will get our orders and head back. DJ, Kyrie, you'll help make sure the students here know what to do.”

Kyrie extended his fist to make contact with Centra's. ”Will do, leader,” he said with a smile.

DJ wandered over and added his fist. ”Stay safe.”