rakuen | Next stop: Utopia Academy

You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

-I remember now. It's a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her.

The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess.

No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because--

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep.

"Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. This tramline terminates here; all change. Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. All change."

Sunlight streams through the windows of the long carriage, making the seats almost uncomfortably warm beneath its sleeping passengers. The air is muggy and thick, the atmosphere relaxing. Almost too relaxing; the warmth and the silence make it difficult to immediately muster any kind of reaction or thought. Your nausea settles, slowly. The last of the dream fades.

"We have arrived at Utopia. Repeat, we have arrived at Utopia Academy. Could all passengers please leave the tram, as it is terminating here."

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"I'm supposed to be in America." Kevin replied after a moment, a sour look on his face.

The fact that they were looking each other in the eyes wasn't lost on the kid, even though one of them was sitting. He also didn't fail to notice the other's colorful apparel. Something he decided now was the opportune moment to address.

"What's with the getup?"

America? Wasn't that a blast from the past.

"Huh, this?" He looked down, then tugged at the large section of his mantle that was bunched up rather unflatteringly behind him on the seat. "It's my uniform."

"Uniform?" Kevin repeated the word with a sense of incredulity. If only because the only kind of uniform he'd ever seen come with a cape were the ones from movies. Realistically, having a cape just wasn't really all that practical for movement.

... even if it did look kind of cool.

"What for? Are you a soldier or something?"

"Yeah," he answered, honestly. After all, chances were he'd end up fighting here. This kind of situation usually led to a lot of people getting killed. He eyed the boy's clothes, and hazarded a guess. "Student, right? That looks like a gym uniform."

"Seriously?" Kevin replied with a mix of both surprise and uncertainty. He honestly hadn't expected Gino to confirm his guess, mostly because he'd thought he'd seen all the kinds of cops there were and Gino hadn't fit the bill on any of them. Then again, soldiers were kinda different from cops so... maybe he was allowed to be different?

Then again, he'd never seen anyone dress like Gino did either, except on Halloween, so who knew?

"Yeah, junior high. I'm a tennis player."

"Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg," he supplied. The introduction was almost automatic by this point, after his time in Ashford, as was the friendly addition, "But just Gino is fine, okay?" He made a note to keep an eye on the kid; he didn't look like much of a fighter. He wondered, vaguely, if this Utopia Academy had a tennis club for him to join.

"A knight?" The reply was out of his mouth before he could stop it. He couldn't help it, who used the word "knight" anymore these days? Except for maybe people in Europe, and even then he was pretty sure it was just a formality.

... a knight? Seriously?

"Uh- sure. I'm Kevin Smith." He replied a little blankly as he began a less than subtle overview of the other, as if trying to spot a sword and shield.

Hey, that's what knights had, right?

"A Knight of Rounds, that is," he corrected, though he hadn't really expected the kid would know what he was talking about. Koharu hadn't. He brushed the front of his cape aside and indicated the insignia, in case that was any more helpful. "I guess you could say we're elite pilots, bu~ut that might be giving us too much credit."

Kevin Smith- that was a Britannian name. The first he'd encountered so far, in fact. With a slight shrug, he changed the subject. "Think anyone else here plays tennis?"

"Like the round table?" Kevin asked, eyes flickering to the insignia obligingly for all the good it would do. Needless to say, the symbol didn't look at familiar to him and he was soon looking back at Gino.

"Don't know. They don't really look like the type." He remarked, glancing at the other people scattered about the train with a pessimistic look. "You said you're a pilot, do you fly jets or bombers or something?"

"Probably," He hadn't really thought about the origin, but that sounded appropriate. "And, nope," he sketched what would probably be a humanoid figure in the air with one finger, "We have Knightmare Frames."

But anyway. There were more interesting things to find out. "What does a tennis player look like?"

"Knightmare... what!?" Kevin watched Gino make the outline and couldn't even fathom what it was that he was drawing. Maybe it was a name for a strange jet he hadn't heard of?

"Uh... Like me I guess?"

"All of them?" He was just teasing by this point, though he found that he was actually interested in what Kevin had to say. Tennis wasn't exactly one of his fortes. Neither, apparently, was explaining the machine he'd been piloting for years. He couldn't recall anything about how the Tristan worked. "Knightmare frames," he repeated, to stall for time. "Humanoid machines piloted by humans and used for war?"

"Of course not!" Kevin snapped back, growing irritated with Gino's carefree manner. How could someone be so easy-going in this kind of situation? They'd been kidnapped for crying out loud!

Huffing angrily and crossing his arms, Kevin gave the train car another once over, as if something had changed since the last time he looked, using the time to compose himself. When he felt he had his annoyance back under control, he look back at Gino and frowned.

"You mean like... a robot? Or a mech?" Mech was the word for it in Japan, right?

Next stop: Utopia Academy

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