"YES~!"
Liam sprinted out of his room and took a sharp left to Lee's door.
Jet says we can go! He's even offering to give us a ride!
As if waiting for Liam to reach his door, Lee stepped out of his dorm. He wore a fitted black T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Around his neck hung a small silver tablet, and resting over his eyes were his signature shades.
Lee nodded at him. "Yo."
Liam nodded back. Lee is a great choice. He's calm, disciplined, and should give my mother little to worry about. Chad should like him too.
"So, you said Jet's gonna drive us to Bowles Stadium?" Lee asked.
"Yeah," Liam replied as he tugged at his shirt.
Lee glanced at him as they walked to the emergency staircase. "I didn't really expect it, but you dressed up nicely."
Liam gave him a look of derision. "The heck is that supposed to mean?"
He was wearing black sneakers with red accents, black jeans, and an unzipped black jacket over a blue T-shirt. A white symbol of a drop of liquid forming was emblazoned on the jacket's back.
Lee smirked and looked away. "Nothing. Anyway, who else is coming along?"
Liam glanced at his CID. "Well, Lisa—"
"—of course."
Liam glared at Lee, who chuckled and avoided eye contact. Liam shook his head and continued. "Po said he'd come along, and Raidou too."
"How many people did you say you can bring along?"
"Five."
Lee stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So that's four people. I'm guessing the last one's Jay?"
Liam paused, then sighed dejectedly. "No."
Lee frowned at the heaviness in Liam's tone. "Then... Rex?"
Liam shook his head, and he began to give off a gloomy presence.
Lee sighed. "Then who... no."
"Yes," Liam groaned. "Him."
"What's up, dude!"
Liam sighed. "Nanami. Keep it down."
The boy slapped a hand over his mouth and gave Liam a thumbs up.
Liam shook his head. I didn't want to bring him along because of how loud he is. He'll draw way too much attention, and... I don't want Chad to become even more hyper.
Nanami grinned as he walked up to Po and began talking. He was wearing a white hoodie, black cargo pants, and grey sneakers. Po was wearing a large red jacket over a white shirt, and dark blue jeans.
Raidou had a baggy black shirt on with a skull logo over the left breast. Hanging from his neck was a small, equal-armed cross, and his overall outfit was similar to Lee's, apart from his shoes being white.
Liam looked at Lisa and raised an eyebrow in moderate surprise.
She had tied her long pink hair into a ponytail, and was wearing a cropped hoodie with a white camouflage print along with a high-waisted pair of black cargo jogger pants with several pockets and straps on them. Her sneakers were also black, with a few orange and red accents.
"Hey, look," she chuckled as she walked over, "our shoes are similar."
Liam flinched. Surprised at his own reaction, he looked away and coughed into his fist. She's just... dressed a little differently. Nothing to fuss over.
He glanced at the boys, and apart from Po, they were all smirking at him.
His ears reddened a little. What's with them?!
"So, when are we leaving?" Lisa asked.
"O-oh, um, Jet said to meet him at the entrance of the school's parking lot," Liam replied. "Let's go."
They talked as they walked. Nanami occasionally cracked some jokes, and both he and Lisa ganged up on Liam to tease him about how they didn't expect him to dress so well.
"Called it," Lee said. He immediately looked away when Liam glared at him.
Po patted Liam's back in silence, and Raidou elbowed him in the shoulder and told him to cheer up.
After a while, they reached the entrance of the school's underground parking lot—
"VROOOM~!"
"Get out of the way!" Raidou yelled as a large jeep came barrelling towards them. As they ran to the spaces where the other cars were parked, Liam caught a glimpse of the driver.
"J-Jet?!"
The jeep came to a halt right at the entrance, and Jet dropped out. The blonde Hunter straightened his jacket and grinned.
"Hey, guys! Hm?" He paused to observe them. "Damn, you look a lot different. Maybe it's because you're always in either the uniform or your gym clothes..."
All six students stared at Jet in disbelief.
The Hunter shrugged. "Ah, well. Anyway, Kane gave the all-clear. Said that since you guys will be thrown into training for a full month, you might as well enjoy yourselves while you have the chance."
Lisa and Nanami chuckled, and Raidou shook his head. Po was still shivering, and Lee patted his shoulder to calm him down.
"Wait a minute," Po said after calming down a bit more. "Where's Liam?"
The others looked around in surprise, as none had seen him leave, but Jet waved his hand to reassure them.
"Don't worry about it," the Hunter smiled. "He has his own ride, so he'll be—"
"LIAM CAN DRIVE?!" Lisa yelled in shock.
"LIAM HAS A CAR?!" Nanami hollered.
The other three had covered their ears, and they were staring at Jet in surprise.
He shook his head. "Not really a car... that aside..."
Jet turned his head to the entrance, and his students did the same. Standing there, blowing a bubble of gum, was Spirit. Right behind her—like some sort of sentinel—stood Hound.
She put her hands in the pockets of her shorts and smiled. "Well, well. If it isn't the Asuran Legend, Jet."
Jet smiled back, though there was no warmth in his eyes. "I'd rather you didn't call me that. It's a bit embarrassing, much like your own name. Right, 'Free' Spirit?"
Spirit visibly cringed from the name. "Alright, alright. Geez. I won't call you that."
Jet chuckled. "At least you know when to back down."
Spirit rolled her eyes. "Of course I do. But clearly, someone else doesn't, otherwise he wouldn't be continuing this conversation."
Before Jet could reply, yet another thunderous roar reverberated throughout the parking lot, followed by the loud squeal of tyres.
Everyone stared in quiet shock as a motorcycle skidded to a halt beside Jet's car. The rider scratched his cheek at the sight of so many people looking at him, then pulled off his goggles.
Liam chuckled nervously, smiling in embarrassment. "Hey..."
Every single one of his friends stared at him in complete and utter shock.
"I'm... not dreaming, right?" Lisa tapped Lee as she gaped at Liam.
Nanami stared at Liam wide-eyed. "Raidou, pinch me. The nerd has a motorcycle and looks too cool. This has to be a hallucination."
Raidou rubbed his eyes and squinted at Liam. "Unless this is a mass hallucination, I can guarantee you that I'm seeing the same thing."
"How..." Po muttered in shock. "How was that so cool?!"
Liam glared at them. "What the hell?! How is me riding a motorcycle so weird?!"
Nanami stared at him in disbelief, then turned to Lee. "Can you believe this guy?"
Lee shook his head. "No. No, I don't. I don't understand how he has zero situational awareness."
To be fair, Liam did, in fact, know what kind of image he was projecting. However, the fact that his dramatic entrance had turned several heads in his direction was incredibly embarrassing, so he pretended not to know what he was doing.
"Haha!"
Everyone turned to Spirit, who was the source of the laugh. Liam took the opportunity to get off his motorcycle and raised his hands to hide his reddening ears.
Spirit shook her head, chuckling quietly. "That was hilarious... haha... he wasn't even trying to be cool, and he just... haha!"
Jet raised an eyebrow, keeping that one corner of his mouth under control so it wouldn't give away his actual feelings. "Are you seriously going to keep laughing? You're holding us up."
Spirit wiped an imaginary tear from her eye and chuckled. "Really? Sure, sure. I won't hold you up any longer. You can all hop into that slow thingamajig and crawl on your way."
Jet narrowed his eyes at her, then shook his head.
"Whatever."
Spirit raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Hm? Looks like you do know when to quit."
Jet pursed his lips and rolled his eyes.
Don't bother, or we're gonna be late.
Jet turned to his Ranger—the jeep—and waved at his students.
"Come on, people, we've got places to be."
Smirking, Spirit walked past the Ranger. She paused for a moment beside Liam, then her eyes widened slightly.
"Ah, no wonder you seemed familiar."
Liam shuddered in a mixture of confusion and anxiety. "E-e-excuse me?"
Spirit chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Relax, kiddo. Don't you remember? The highway incident. I asked you to hold on to a few of my things."
Of course I remember! Liam thought as he nodded. I almost died that day! And I got you and Rapido's autographs... and I almost died to a Ptera.
"I-I remember," Liam nodded.
Spirit's smile turned warm. "It's quite the surprise to see you here in Dawn, but that's life, you know? Always throwing the unexpected at you."
The Ranger's engine roared to life, and Jet leaned out the window.
"Hey, Liam! Finish up quick; we leave now!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
Spirit chuckled and turned away. "Well, see you later, kiddo. I wish you the best."
Liam stared at the Hero's receding back in surprise, then smiled.
"Th-thank you—!"
The Ranger let out another roar, and it began to move out of the parking lot. Liam turned his attention back to his bike, then revved the throttle.
ROOOAARR~!
Liam grinned as his bike pulsed beneath him. It's been a long while since I last rode this thing.
He pulled on his goggles and cruised the bike out of the parking lot.
When I think about it, I guess I fulfilled a part of the wish I'd made while that Ptera dived at me—"if only my power was stronger".
Liam smirked as sunlight bounced off of his motorcycle. Well, I'm definitely stronger.
With that, he pulled up his legs and pulled the throttle all the way back.
"WOO-HOO~!" he laughed as he and the Ranger sped towards the school gates.