Enrollment Into Kindergarten

"Lucario, it's time."

"But I don't want to."

"How else is she supposed to learn and grow?"

"We can just hire teachers."

Stalemated, Lucario and Billy hold a staredown across the desk while Lily and Ryan read books by the coffee table.

"Lily needs to learn how to socialize with kids her age!" Billy refutes as he slams his hand onto the desk.

"She's doing just fine socializing with the men on the estate!" Lucario argues back while crossing his arms.

"You're being ridiculous, Luca!"

Trying to ignore all of the yelling next to her, Lily pulls on Ryan's blazer to get his attention. "Can I go play with my Merf guns?" she asks with a look of exasperation

Realizing that even a little girl is getting tired of the bickering, Ryan stands then picks Lily up. "Mr. Lucario, Miss Lily is bothered by all of the yelling, so she wants to go to her shooting range to practice with her Merf guns."

"Lily," Lucario whines as he gets up from his chair and walks over to the little girl. "Do you want to go to school? If you don't want to, I can get teachers to come here if you are more comfortable that way."

"I want to go to school," Lily boldly claims without an ounce of hesitation. "But Daddy is the one who makes the decision, so I will do what Daddy wants to do."

Shaking his head, Lucario takes Lily from Ryan's arms and carries her over to his desk. "This is your decision, baby girl. Whatever you want to do, I'll try my best to support you. I'm just worried that you might get hurt at school since none of the men will be with you."

"Then Daddy can just teach me how to fight like how you did last time when you saved me," Lily suggests with a bit of excitement. "Daddy fights really well to protect Lily, so I want to learn to fight to protect myself and Daddy, too!"

Lucario gazes down at Lily as he realizes that Lily sees everything. He knows that Lily is super observant of her surroundings due to her conditions with her grandfather, so there isn't anything that can pass by her eyes unnoticed.

"Are you sure you want to learn how to fight?" Lucario slightly holds onto Lily tighter at the thought of her getting hurt. "You'll be in a lot of pain in the beginning. It's not easy, and it will take a lot of time to get used to."

Nodding her head, Lily points at the book that she and Ryan were reading earlier. "The princess in the book is really good at fighting so that she can protect the people who live on her land. Just like Daddy! So I want to do it too! That way you can let me go to school without worrying about me."

"I don't know if I should hit you or not," Lucario contemplates as he glares at Ryan who is standing nearby.

"Mr. Lucario, I understand your worry regarding Miss Lily; however, she is in a very important developmental stage where she needs to learn how to interact with other people of various ages," Ryan says, stepping forward. "Children who are confined to the home are known to have stunted developmental growth, so it will be best if she attends elementary school."

Lucario sighs to himself before grabbing the list of elementary schools that Billy has researched and gathered for him. "If we are to send Lily to school, it must be one that has the best security. That being said, this school is known for teaching the children of other organizations like ours, so we should go check it out."

Billy peeks over at the list to see where Lucario is pointing when a smirk appears on his face. "Well, it is the school that you attended growing up, so there shouldn't be a problem with Lily's security."

Wendale Academy. A school widely known for producing the city's if not the nation's prominent leaders. It admits kids from preschool all the way up to college prep. It's highly selective in its admission while also being very open to allow anyone regardless of background to enroll if they meet the requirements.

"Lucario Buenavista! Never in my days did I think I would see you again after you graduated all those years ago!"

Reaching for the hand offered to him, Lucario greets his former teacher. "Never did I think that I would be back here, Ms. Vivian."

"What brings you here? Do you plan on sponsoring a student?" the woman asks as she brightly smiles at her former student.

"Actually, I wanted to check the school out to see if anything has changed or if it stayed the same."

Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, the woman who looks to be much younger than she really is glares up at Lucario. "You aren't planning on doing something bad to this school, are you? We teachers have an obligation to eliminate potential threats, and I would hate to have to fight a former student of mine."

Lucario waves his hands in front of him in a bit of a panic. "No, no, of course not, Ms. Vivian," he awkwardly chuckles to himself. Stepping out of the way, Lucario reveals Lily who is quietly hiding behind him. "I plan on enrolling my daughter into this school. I'm just worried about her safety, so I wanted to take a tour with her around the school."

"You… you have a child?!" Ms. Vivian paces back and forth while occasionally glancing over at Lily. "The monster that I taught actually consummated with another woman?!"

"Still as harsh as ever with your words," Lucario sighs as he throws his head in his hands. "Lily, can you say hello to Ms. Vivian?"

Stepping up, Lily looks up at the woman who watches her still in shock. "Good morning, Ms. Vivian. My name is Lily Buenavista. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh my!" The woman covers her mouth in awe at how well Lily articulates her words despite how young she is. "Did you kidnap her?"

Knowing that technically he kind of did kidnap her in the beginning, Lucario just laughs off his teacher's accusation. "Lily will be enrolling into kindergarten, so you won't be able to teach her until she gets into middle school. However, I trust you more than anyone in this school, so if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on her from time to time, I would greatly appreciate it."

"Of course I wouldn't mind! I will make sure that this precious child ends up different than how you did. We don't need a carbon copy of you in this school again," Ms. Vivian teases as she squats down to Lily's level. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lily. I'll make sure you have a lot of fun here."

Happy that someone knows her father, Lily's eyes fill with excitement. "Thank you, Ms. Vivian."

"Well, I shouldn't keep you all. I have a class to teach in a few minutes, so I'll let you go on with your tour of the school." With that, Ms. Vivian dismisses herself and disappears into the crowd of students.

"Looks like Ms. Vivian still has it out for you for what you did in high school," Billy comments as he picks up Lily to keep her from getting separated from them.

Still staring in the direction that his former teacher went, Lucario squints his eyes as he can still see the remnants of his fury sixteen years ago. "If that bastard of a snake's son didn't try to provoke me so much, I wouldn't be called a monster so much like I am now." Turning to face the doors that lead into the school proper, Lucario grits his teeth before exhaling his frustrations. "We shouldn't give Lily a bad first impression of the school. Let's show her around and give her a good time."