8 Chapter 8 : "Great to meet you Vin!"

Meanwhile, the tall boy got up, and holy shit, he was tall. Standing at what must have been a good six-foot-something.

Even Vin, who by most standards fell into the category of 'gangly teen' had to look up to meet the boy's eyes.

Damn, he hadn't had to do that with anyone since he was thirteen… Hah, how he does not miss the days of his dad holding things above his head…

A sprout of encompassing emptiness swirled in Vin's stomach. Dad. He took a deep breath. Bury it… bury it… annnnnnd gone.

He stretched his hand out in greeting, "Hey, it's nice to have a fresh face around here. I'm Jafar, and you're...?"

Vin returned the handshake, "Vin. It's nice to meet you."

Jafar gave an easygoing smile, "Likewise, man. I'm sure Ethan's already running off to tell the others about you, so I'd suggest getting ready for that."

"Jafar, I trust everything's been orderly since I've been gone," Grisleda asked.

Jafar gave a nod, "Yup, everything's been pretty chill. I decided I'd finally humor Ethan, give him something to do while I keep an eye on him, you know how he can get."

Griselda pinched the brow of her nose, "Do I ever…"

"Yeah guys, new kids right over here," The distant voice of Ethan called out, as he soon emerged, leading a group of teenagers who all stood a good few inches taller than him.

Vin could vaguely recall a few of the faces from the little crowd that found him after awakening his… what did they call it? Sacred Gear?

Yeah… yeah, that sounded right. But amongst the crowd of people, there were two faces that stuck out to him more than the others.

"Oh! Vinny, you're really here!" Irina enthusiastically called out, hopping out of the crowd, and effortlessly breaking his personal space bubble.

Vin looked down at Irina hanging off his arm, clad in a pair of fuzzy purple pajamas, wow she looked way too good in those. He strained his eyes to focus solely on her face, and tried to ignore the fact that he could probably catch a glimpse of something if he looked down at her shirt's collar.

Really didn't help that Irina was a very pretty girl who was probably the first super pretty girl who was practically hanging off of him. Try to stay calm Vin, try to stay calm, give a response!

"Eheheh, uh… yeah, I am."

Nailed it.

"This is gonna be great! You're going to have so much fun here with us!" Irina beamed.

Oh boy, just what the hell did Vin manage to get himself into?

"Hey, guys, c'mon and introduce yourselves to Vinny! Trust me, he's like, the sweetest guy in my class." Irina called, as she finally released Vin, instead opting to stand slightly to his side.

But wait, did he really get called 'sweet' by the Irina Shidou? Oh boy, what the students at school would do to him if they ever found out that little tidbit.

But before Vin could indulge anymore in hypotheticals about being 'put in his place' by an angry student population in the name of their sweet Irina's honor, an unfamiliar boy stepped out of the crowd in front of him.

"Very well, I shall be the one to measure the caliber of this new budding warrior," Declared a boy with messy black hair, and… was that a cape?

Vin blinked, yep definitely a cloak. The boy was wearing a long black and satin purple cape over a pair of shorts and a Iron Maiden t-shirt.

Oh, well at least he had good taste.

The boy tossed his cape theatrically with his hand, "Greetings budding warrior of the sacred crystals. I am the Jet-Black Conduit, the Blade of Divine Judgement, you may call me… Ezekiel."

Vin shifted his eyes towards Irina, whispering, "Hey, so is he like…"

"Oh!" Irina perked up, before leaning into his ear; the feeling of her breath on his ear causing goosebumps to break out across his back, "Zeke's kind of… special. He thinks up the funniest things, like he's a real life superhero or something. Once you get used to it, it's actually pretty cute."

"Ah. So he's a Chuuni," Vin stated matter of factly.

"Chuuni? Oh! Chuunibyou! You know Japanese?" Irina smirked, as she poked Vin's cheek with her index finger.

Ah shit, that just came out. Abort! Abort!

"Not a word…" Vin deadpanned, a faint dusting of pink crossing his creeks.

"Alright, I guess I'm up then!"

Vin nearly fell to the floor as suddenly, a weight leapt up onto his back. After regaining his balance, accompanied with a feminine giggling just behind his head,

a head of brown and dark orange hair filled his vision. With a flick of the head, the hair flipped over to reveal the face of a youthful girl with a playful smirk.

"Hey, I'm Vanessa. How ya doin'?"

"Vanessa, what have I said about jumping on people?" Griselda's disapproving voice called out.

"Do it if it works?" The girl added hopefully.

Griselda fixed her with a flat look, "No. Now get off your new teammate, and introduce yourself."

With reluctance, Vanessa climbed off Vin's back, and walked around to his front, letting Vin see her thin, wily frame clad in a tank top and short shorts.

"Great to meet you Vin!" Vanessa smiled, her mouth full of pearly white teeth so sharp they wouldn't look out of place in the mouth of a shark.

"Hey," The shorter kid, maybe around five-foot-four stepped forward as Vanessa slicked back into the group, "Name's Ethan. You play Guilty Gear?"

Oh, Vin could tell he was going to like this kid.

"Yeah."

"Hell yeah, who do you play? I'm tired of playing against Jafar's busted ass Justice."

"You're only angry because I play a character that works better against yours," Jafar called from behind Vin.

"OH SCREW YOU! YOUR JUSTICE IS CHEAP AS HELL! SPAMMING ISN'T A VALID TACTIC!"

"Say that to my win-loss record."

"WHY YOU!"

"Hey, you wanted me to play with you," Jafar shrugged.

"Ugh… See what I gotta deal with? So, who do you main?"

"Order Sol," Vin responded.