Starting Trouble

"How do you treat people?"

"How I want to be treated!"

"What happens when they start being mean to you?"

"Ignore them!"

"What happens if they keep being mean to you?"

"Punch them in the face!"

"Luca, no." Exasperated by his boss's strange teachings, Billy shakes his head while he pushes Lucario aside. "Lily, don't resort to violence from the beginning, okay? Your father is a bad influence when it comes to dealing with people, so don't listen to him about this type of stuff."

"Does that mean that I can resort to violence in the middle?" Lily asks with such an innocent look in her eyes.

"No, Lily." Billy rubs his forehead as he begins to realize that Lily is becoming too similar to Lucario too quickly. "Only resort to violence after you come talk to us about it."

"Yes, Billy~" Lily sings while Lucario returns and kneels down to make some finishing touches to her hair.

Coming around the corner, Ryan finishes packing Lily's backpacks with her lunch the men cooked for her before helping Lily put her backpack on. "Miss Lily, just trust in your gut. If you feel even for a moment that someone is a bad person, then you don't go to them. You stay with Ethan whenever you walk in the hallways or go anywhere within the school."

"Yes, Ryan. I will stay with Ethan whenever I need to go somewhere or when class isn't going on."

With everything ready, the group head out to the car and make their way to drop Lily off at school. Once they arrive at the front where the drivers drop off the students, Billy and Ryan quickly nod to each other while Lucario helps Lily out of the car.

"Lily, the most important thing while you're at school is that you must have as much fun as possible," Lucario reminds after setting his daughter down. "It's okay to not pay much attention to your grades because your grades are not what define you. You're still a child, so you must make as many memories as possible because when you grow into an adult, it becomes a lot harder to have fun and make memories."

Grabbing onto her father's hand, Lily set the monstrous paw on her head before smiling brightly. "Lily is a good girl, so I will have fun while also making Daddy proud with good grades. You'll come pick me back up at school, right?"

"Of course, baby girl," Lucario answers while petting the top of Lily's head. With a quick kiss on the head, Lucario and the two other men get back in the car and drive off after confirming that Lily has safely made it inside the school.

—

"There you are, Lily!" Ethan shouts as soon as Lily enters the classroom. "I didn't see you in front of the school, so I was worried that you got lost."

"Hi, Ethan!" Lily greets when her new friend meets up with her by her desk. "My daddy was taking a long time to leave because he wanted to give me a lot of advice before I came inside."

Helping Lily take off her backpack, Ethan gently places the backpack behind Lily's seat before returning to his chair that's right next to hers. "I'm glad that we can pick our own seats," he comments as he sits down. "We can sit together for the whole school year, so let's help each other out on things we don't understand."

Lily excitedly nods her head, but her happiness doesn't last long.

"Did I really get stuck in a class with a baby?" Jeremy complains as soon as his eyes land on Lily once he enters the classroom. "There's no way you're old enough to be in kindergarten. You're so small like a baby."

"That's not nice, Jeremy," Ethan scolds when he stands up to block Jeremy's path to Lily. "Apologize to Lily."

"I don't want to," Jeremy curtly answers, huffing his way to a seat by the door. "I don't want to get cootie germs from a baby, so you make sure she stays over there and away from me."

Ethan starts to say something, but Lily stands up from her desk which stops him.

"Lily isn't a baby!" she defends while crossing her arms. "Yeah, I'm smaller than you, but I'll get bigger soon. I don't even want to talk to you, so I'll ignore you. Don't bother me from now on!"

"Says the baby that still refers to herself by her name," Jeremy scoffs before pulling out a toy from his bag to show off to anyone who will listen.

Greatly annoyed by Jeremy's last comment, Lily drops onto her chair and looks up at Ethan. "Li-ah… I'm not a baby. Right, Ethan?"

Ethan chuckles while taking his seat again. "Lily isn't a baby. You'll get a lot bigger when you get older. My mom said that girls grow faster than boys, so you'll even be bigger than me."

Lily smiles to herself after getting Ethan's validation. It isn't long until class begins. However, as Lily's day goes on, back home, a trio of men rile themselves up.

"That bastard child dares to talk to my daughter like that?!" Lucario seethes while intensely staring at the tv screen.

"I have to hand it to Ethan," Billy remarks, trying to keep Lucario from jumping out of his seat. "He is keeping his word and protecting Lily. For a seven year old, he sure does have his morals and priorities already set."

"Miss Lily did a great job as well, standing up for herself," Ryan chimes in as he brings in an envelope that was just delivered. Reading who sent the envelope, Ryan's expression becomes a bit annoyed. "Mr. Lucario, it seems like you have attracted some attention after the entrance ceremony."

Lucario takes the thick envelope from Ryan and scans over the sender's name.

[Haily Turnip]

[Chairwoman of National Security]

Unsure if he should be annoyed or angry, Lucario carefully rips open the envelope and takes out the letter first.

[I'm sure a letter from me is the last thing you want. There are probably a lot better ways of communicating instead of something so old fashioned, but I want to make things clear without starting an argument and never getting to the point.

[From my understanding, you have my son basically be your daughter's body guard while they are at school. My son has explained to me that this is something that he wants to do as well, so I didn't try to persuade him out of it. However, if my son somehow ends up being collateral damage to whatever trouble you get yourself into, I will have my people come and storm your operation down.

[That being said, I understand that you feel the same way if your daughter got caught up in a fight I find myself in. So, in light of this, I want to disclose some information with you so that we are on the same page.

[First, there is an organization or two who are after my son in order to get to me. Whether that may be through faculty infiltration or kidnap attempts, your daughter might be affected since she will always be next to my son during school.

[Secondly, I know you installed cameras in your daughter's classroom and in various other areas in the school that she might frequent, so I want you to share those cameras' access with me. This is just a measure to watch my son for his safety since he will mostly be with your daughter in each of the cameras they pass by.

[Lastly, there is a harddrive in the envelope that contains information regarding potential threats to your daughter. You may not care much about other organizations, but they care about you since you are one of the biggest people in this ring we fight in. It may not be much, but it should give you an idea and a starting point just for emergency sake because anything can happen to your child at any time and having clues beforehand will expedite the solution.]

Taking the harddrive out of the envelope, Lucario hands it to Billy. "Have this scanned by our tech people. Make sure that it's a thorough check. It was delivered by the Chairwoman of National Security. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of deeply hidden tracking or recording software in it."

"Sure thing," Billy promptly answers as he takes the harddrive from Lucario.