'They really left--Lin just left... Ivory's gone.'
Koji was slightly shaken as he struggled to accept the matter at hand--Ivory was gone; he would not see her until he was 13 and at the Academy.
All because he hurt her.
He just sat still on his bed; his face was blank with utter obliviousness of his future for the next four years.
'Four years... I just spent most of my life with that girl--just to see her gone within a moment. What to do? Four years--that, that is how long I'll have to wait? I had this planned, fuck!'
He looked down at his pale hands that cupped each other tightly; so far, this was the biggest hardship he has faced--the loss of Ivory for years, and the divergence of his path.
'No, this can't stop me--it's just four years right? Yes!'
Despite his hopeful inner confirmation, he still shook with worry and uncertainty.
'I don't know... I don't know. How? How?'
All he did was keep asking questions to himself that he had no answer for--usually, he'd never do such a stupid thing, but now was different.
'T-this, I'm way to effected.... This shouldn't hurt me so much--she doesn't even know who I really am. Ivory... Fuck! And she's so young--what is going on? This young girl who doesn't even know the real me, why am I so sad? I need to stop asking questions... I just need to act--I need to move on somehow.'
Koji gripped his hands together tighter, the pale skin turning even whiter as the hands locked--his black hair cascaded over his face, and yet his frown that had previously covered his face vanished into thin air.
Instead, he was slightly smiling--though, it was still a sad smile.
'I didn't think I'd come to care about her so much, well I did kind of--I didn't expect such a reaction from myself though; it's so... unlike me to be like this. I'm not supposed to feel so much sorrow for people, yet even if it was anyone else in this new life--I'd feel the same if they left.'
Truly, Koji was way more sensitive than he himself would ever think.
'Ivory... I'll see you again--though, I really hope you don't completely move on from me. However, until then I need to stop dwelling on this. I don't have an answer to any of my questions, so I'll simply find them.'
Koji was still sad, however he was now slightly lifted from the depths of sorrow.
Though, he still didn't know who would continue his training; that was about to be solved.
As Koji sat in his room, footsteps could be heard treading towards him slowly.
Mei came in, and slightly frowned as she saw Koji's sorrowful position--she absolutely hated seeing Koji in any type of bad mood, as she loved him very much; she wanted him to be happy as much as possible--though, she had to break the news of where his life would be headed.
"Koji, starting in a week you will have a new trainer; she will specifically teach you Lightning Mantra, and how to nurture a new core. Do not worry--she is very nice, and I hope you like her..."
She said it gently, and tried not to offend Koji since his old trainer just left for good.
"O-okay.. Thank you mom."
Mei hesitated, but then left the room; she felt that Koji needed space for the time being, and disrupting that wasn't the best choice of action.
'A new trainer? Well, I'm glad she'll be teaching me Lightning Mantra... Heh, maybe I will even become slightly proficient in it before I am sent to the Academy--where I will be reunited with Ivory again!'
His spirits were slightly lifted as he considered how great of an opportunity this actually was--he would finally be focused on Lightning!
'I already have extensive knowledge of Soul, but now I will learn Lightning! This is great, I will make tons of progress for the next four years. By then, I hope that when I enter the school I am among the strongest of my age, or that would be a problem. I don't want to be a weakling! Those who are weak in this world most likely get shoved around in the Academy... That is not acceptable!'
His hands slightly loosened their grip on each other, and Koji looked up.
'Hmm. Mei said the new trainer is a woman, I wonder if she's cute... Hopefully she is, unlike Lin! It's been hard having an ugly brute train me... But if it's an attractive woman, I'll definitely pay attention to what she says!'
Although Koji's spirits were higher, he still felt quite a bit of sadness at the situation--however, he could not dwell in sadness too much; wasting his life being in such a pitiful state, this isn't something Koji would do.
...
'Finally, he's gone. Though, I didn't intend to make Koji so sad... It doesn't matter, he'll be okay; Lin's leave was necessary! One day, hopefully Koji will realize that--maybe he already does, after all--this brute wanted to punish him for simply winning the fight. It's good he left... No, great! Mei... No longer will I have to worry about someone stealing you.'
Ivan was the opposite of Koji, he was absolutely relieved by this outcome! In fact, it was his whole plan to have Lin removed.
...
Then a few days later, the door was knocked on.