Chapter 23 : Let's play Hitball!

As the day went on, class proceeded as normal. Loretti stopped teaching history, and moved on to normal classes such as basic language and mathematics. It was extremely boring for Kieran, since it was elementary school math. Addition, subtraction, basic grammar, things like that. Lunch came and they all went to the cafeteria together, but Kieran sat alone and ate alone. Nobody in his class, nor his grade, were smart enough for him. They all talked about stupid things, such as toys, and games. He had no interests in those things, but rather the things Mr. Anavos talked about. Kieran remembered the chant, and tried it himself. He did the same things that Mr. Anavos did. He closed his eyes, put his index finger over his mouth, and said the chant.

“Sleep, mortal eyes, and dream the truth awake,

Grant me eyes unbound by flesh or fate,

The Quiet Watcher.”

…

…

…

His eyes stayed close, but he saw nothing. He waited a bit longer, but he saw nothing. Did he do something wrong? Or maybe he wasn’t ready to use Sinner powers just yet? He sighed in disappointment, opening his eyes when someone's face was right in front of him.

AGHH!

He screamed, while falling backwards out of his seat.

Ouch… he whined

“What are you doing, Kieran?” said a familiar voice.

When Kieran looked up, he saw a familiar face. Though it looked dumb, it was a relief to see a somewhat-intelligent being in the same room. Ren was there with 2 other people. Next to him was a girl and a boy. The girl had long brown hair, with a black hairband on top. Her arms crossed, staring at Kieran. The boy looked the same as her, but looked more happy and dumb, like Ren was. They were twins.

“Oh these are my friends,” Ren said. “This is Liam, and that's his twin sister Marie.”

“Hello! I heard your name’s Kieran! You seem pretty fun, let’s be friends!” said Liam.

“Do we really have to be friends with him? He’s so young, I don’t want to babysit a kid” said Marie, even though she was only 2 years older and a kid as well.

“Yes we do! He’s my really good friend? Or like a brother? I don’t know, but he lives with me now, so we’re family!”

Kieran laughed a little before standing up. The girl was around the same height as him, the boy a bit taller. As he looked around, he realized that Ren was truly a giant. Though not much taller, he was around the same height as the boys in the 5th grade.

(Author note: I realized I may have messed up with the ages and grades, I apologize. To reconfirm and set straight, Kieran is 6 years old and in the 1st grade. Ren is 8 years old and in the 3rd grade. I apologize for the confusion, I myself got confused as well)

“So, what were you doing? You were saying some weird words that I didn’t know,” asked Ren.

“It’s nothing, I was just saying random things, don’t mind me” Kieran said as he continued to eat from the tray in front of him. Lunch was served like a normal cafeteria, or prison food. There were no options, it was just mashed potatoes with a bit of gravy, some chicken meat and root vegetables.

“Well, we were just wondering if maybe you wanted to play with us?” piped up Liam.

“Oh yeah! I forgot about that!” Ren said. “Kieran, we’re gonna go play “hitball”! Do you wanna join us?” he said, with pleading eyes. It was like a dog who wanted you to take it on a walk desperately.

“Sure, I might not know how to play it, though, so you might need to explain it,” Kieran answered.

The two boys were ecstatic, high fiving each other and doing their secret handshakes, while Marie seemed to just not mind anything. When Kieran smiled at her to try and lighten the tension, she just looked away with her arms still crossed, following the two boys.

Hmph!

…

“What the hell is her problem?”

As they walked out, they reached the yard that Kieran saw when he first approached the school. It was quite large, though there was no grass. It was all dirt and ground. There was what seemed to be a field on the side of the yard. It was a rectangular shaped box, something like a football field. There was a line going across at the half point, and a few balls in the middle.

When the group reached the middle, Ren suddenly screamed out loud.

“WHO WANTS TO PLAY HITBALLLLLLL????”

Instantly, a bunch of boys came rushing, already forming teams and discussing tactics. Hitball was one of the biggest games that the village played, since it was extremely simple to set up. It was the same as dodgeball, literally the exact same. You threw a ball at someone and if they got hit, they were out. If you caught a ball, you could revive a teammate back into the game.

“How stupid, couldn’t they have come up with a better name than “Hitball”?”

Soon, the teams were split. On team A, there were a bunch of boys with Ren. On Team B, it was Kieran and Liam added with other boys. Marie decided to just sit on the side and watch.

The plan was simple. Kieran would stay behind and analyze the situation, see who the biggest threats were, and work from there. He would see his teams and his opponents strengths. A teacher stood on the side, refereeing the match.

“Are you guys ready!?” the teacher yelled.

YEAHHHHHHHHHH!

“Ready…”

“Set…”

…

“GO!”