BXBX NOVEL Chapter 318 Evan Trainor (1)
Evan left his Father's office after being told he would have, yet again, another chance at the Academy's test. He remembered his first two failed attempts. He didn't even make it that far because of his luck in the power department.
Evan was just a tank. A glorified tank that paled in comparison to his Father, a man had a way cooler power as a Glass. Kinetic Energy Manipulation was their family's grand ability. His father could manipulate the actual kinetic energies, disrupting and increasing it as he pleased. It starts to manifest as actual energy which was cool to Evan.
His mother has an aura ability. It wasn't too useful in battle, but it wasn't like she would ever battle. She handled a reading business of her own. She owned a bookstore, a small one, and somehow Father went in and they fell in love or whatever.
Evan shook his head at that as he wandered the huge halls of the mansion. Mother was really into future reading. She had a knack for reading fortunes because of her power. She got a big buck out of it with big names, so it didn't surprise Evan when his Father wandered in for a reading and came out with more than he thought he would get.
Evan slipped into his room and shut the door. His phone had been buzzing ever since he went into his Father's office. He pulled his phone and noticed it was Ritsuka calling him.
"What?" Evan asked.
"Why didn't you pick it up?" Ritsuka asked.
"Talking to my Father. What's up?" He wandered over to the large couch in his enormous room and sat in front of the TV. He turned it on and let it quietly play a cartoon.
"Oh, what about?"
"Taking the exam, again. Nothing different. I don't know if I'll even have a better chance this time than the last two times. My power isn't even as cool as Father's. Plus, I'm just a tank."
"Well, you're in luck!" Ristuska happily spoke. "I'm taking the test, too!"
"What?" Evan leaned forward "You're finally deciding to do that now? Why didn't you try earlier?"
"My older siblings told me I should just do it. The academies we go to don't really offer that." Ritsuka told him. Evan and Ritsuka had been friends since pre-school. It wasn't until 7th grade, Evan moved further away. The two had still caught up with each other, but Evan could tell their friendship wasn't as close as it used to be. They were on different sides of the City.
"So you've actually decided then?" Evan asked Ritsuka.
"Mmmhm. I'm gonna give it my all! What about you?" Ritsuka asked.
"I guess. Father always says a Trainor doesn't give up. I don't really understand that cause he has a better power than I do. If I had what he had then–"
"Come on, Trainor." Ritsuka interrupted him. "Have you ever really tried to do something before? As long as I've known you, you half-ass everything or keep neutral until you have to do something. Just this one time, go all out. If you still failed, you can 100% tell your Dad you gave it your all and couldn't do it."
"But–"
"Just try it, man. If you just act like a know-it-all you're just gonna be that. You have so much knowledge on this stuff. If you didn't help me when I was in my rut about my powers, I would've never given it a good go." Ritsuka encouraged Evan.
He knew Evan didn't really want to give anything a true go. He was stuck in the mid and Ritsuka just wanted to see Evan's potential.
"Yeah, but I don't even have a proper way of practicing." Evan told Ritsuka. He switched himself to lie on the couch as he stared at the curling. "There's no close facility I could even go to, either."
"Ask your Dad, man. He's got connections. I'm pretty sure he can get you in with a proper Tank trainer and even get you the necessary equipment to adequately train yourself!" Ritsuka gave the option to Evan. Evan nodded. His Father did want to help him.
"How am I gonna do well? I'm just small and a tank."
"You're smaller than the average person, sure, but it doesn't mean that has to be your weakness. Your flaw. It can be your greatest weapon. You have Kinetic Redirection and the ability to manifest a shield right?"
"Yeah."
"Have you tried to do anything with that yet?"
"My powers? I've tried but it's simple."
"Then master it. Once you master it, push yourself. Think outside the box. No one succeeds staying where it's comfortable. You gotta get out there, sometimes and just love outside your comfort zone!" Ritsuka was shouting loudly by the end of it.
"Ritsuka, if you have that much energy, come spar with me!" An older male voice shouted.
"I don't want to! You'll best me, dipshit!" A loud thump noise was heard over the line, followed by Ritsuka cursing as he rubbed his head. "I'm giving Evan a prep talk about the Academy Entrance Exam!"
"You should work hard too!" Ritsuka's brother shouted. "And tell Evan if he wants to train, come train here. He's a tank right? He might do well with actual sparring!"
"Hear that," Ritsuka asked Evan.
"Yeah… is it a smart idea?"
"Is he trying to get out of it?" Ritsuka's older brother was closer now. "Gimme the phone." There was a scuffle with some shouting. Ritsuka's older brother cleared his throat. "Hey, Evan, it's Jiro. I overheard the conversation. Swing by and me and Ryu can teach you and Ritsuka some stuff."
"Oh, your older brother is back?"
"Mmm, I'll let Mom and Dad know you're swinging by! They'll be happy to see you. It's been a long time right?"
"Oh, Jiro, I don't–"
"C'mon, Trainor." Evan could see Jiro's smirk. "Ryu can give you pointers since he's worked with a ton of tanks. Maybe he could even show you what's up." Before Evan could even say anything, he listened to the brother's fight for the phone.
"C'mon, Jiro!" Ritsuka whined. "Give it back!"
"Come over, EVAN!" Jiro shouted before hanging the phone up.
Evan sighed as the car pulled to a stop. The window rolled down and he cleared his throat.
"How can I help you?" A voice asked.
"It's me, Evan Trainor. Ritsuka's expecting me." Evan told the voice.
"Alright, come on in." The voice replied. The gates buzzed and opened. Evan slowly pulled into the large estate. He moved to the front of the house, parking in one of the empty spots and sighing in relief.
"Traffic wasn't too bad." Evan shut the car off with a press of a button and unlocked the doors. He grabbed his backpack and opened the door, stepping out.
"Evan! You came!" Jiro greeted him halfway down the stairs to the door. Evan nodded as he shut the door and locked the car. He and Jiro met halfway, Evan shaking Jiro's hand. "Good to see you again, man. You look more in shape than last time I saw ya."
"Thanks. Where's Ritsuka?" Evan asked. Jiro led him into the house, motioning him to go in before him. Jiro followed Evan into the large foyer. The home was a mansion with a couple of other facilities on the estate. Jiro shut the door behind him and passed Evan as he took off his shoes.
"He should be with Ryu in the back. C'mon, everyone will be happy to see you!" Jiro smiled. Evan followed Jiro through the foyer and into the large living room. It was a huge open concept house. The home may be smaller than his, but it felt homier and large with the huge windows. The smell of something cooking in the kitchen greeted Evan's nose. "Dinner should be ready in a bit."
"Ah, who's cooking?" Evan asked as he stepped into the kitchen. He could see a young woman, Hayami, in sweats and a hoodie humming away.
"Oh, who's here?" Hayami asked, turning. Her face lit up as she set the wooden spoon down and wandered over to Evan. "Evan, it's been awhile! You've grown a lot!" She gave him a squeeze. Evan returned it and gave her a warm smile.
"Hi Hayami. It's been awhile. How have you been?" Evan asked.
"Well. Our older sister is coming home so all of the kids will be here for dinner. Mom and Dad are still busy with some out of the city stuff so it'll be us. You're staying the weekend right?"
"Y-yeah." Evan nodded. She gave him a smile and patted his shoulder.
"Don't need to feel awkward around us. I'll let you go. You're probably here to see Ritsuka, right? He's in the back with Ryu. Ryu's currently grilling him about his training. I'll call you guys when I'm done with dinner. We're having tonkatsu."
"A-ah, thank you." Evan gave a small nod as Jiro motioned him forward.
"C'mon, Evan, this way. Ryu will be ecstatic you're here!"