Chapter Text
Kyoka had been buzzing with excitement the moment she woke up and now standing in front of the building the halfling’s heart was pounding even faster. Their first day of highschool in UA, Ultra Academy, the biggest school for young adventurers wanting to hone their skills to the best of their abilities.
The fizzling of her mother’s teleport spell passed through her body and they looked up at the tall structure that towered the other places around, she saw many different beings walking in, some older and some young, followed by concerned parents or meeting their friends, the atmosphere was very light as she walked inside the building followed by her own parents.
“Oh Kyo, you’re going to love it here!” Their mother smiled as she looked at the many welcome decorations. “Do you think they still have the animal recovery center?”
Her dad laughed at his wife’s enthusiasm and lightly knocked on her hips. “Calm down dear, I’m sure Kyoka will have a tour of the place with the teachers and we can see it another time once it’s not as crowded.”
“Yeah, mom.” Kyoka rolled their eyes affectionately. “Once we put everything in the dorm we can explore a little before you have to go and you can tell me all about your time here.”
“I think your teacher was one of my old classmates,” Mika looked at her daughter’s schedule. “I remember his name and how loud he was, you’re gonna have fun with him.”
They walked around the dorm building for a couple floors before finding Kyoka’s room and she opened the door to find the other side already filled with luggage though none of it was open. They entered the room and deposited all of her stuff on the other bed. She looked around some more and saw a few backpacks thrown on top of the other bed, all of which had frog stickers on them, and smiled.
“You can unpack later,” her mother put a bag on the floor in front of their bed, “I want to show you where me and my band used to hang out.”
“I thought parents should give good examples to their kids.” Kyoka raised her eyebrow at their father who shrugged with a small smile before following her mom out the door who just laughed at their joke.
They made their way inside the main building where a bunch of parents walked around with their kids trying to find where things were and the purple haired quarter-elf couldn’t help but smile because she was finally going to have proper musical training and meet people from all over the place with similar and different aspirations.
They remembered their mother being just as happy about her acceptance letter as she was and also the many tales of her highschool days when she managed to become one of the most famous underground bards in the region, the reason she met her father.
They passed somewhat empty classrooms since today was mostly about welcoming the first years and showing what the academy was made for. Staff carrying boxes toward what seemed like the auditorium with the help of older students and different magics enchanting people and turning heads.
After what seemed like too many turns and an abandoned hallway, Kyoka found herself in a quieter area with one stair and what looked like a bathroom. Her mother had a mirthful look on her face, something that could only be described as nostalgia dancing through her eyes.
“It looks just like it did back then.” The purple haired half-elf entered the bathroom. “This is the best place if you want some quiet time away from everything or if you want to have some privacy, if you know what I mean.”
Their mother wiggled her eyebrows and Kyoka couldn’t contain their blush. “Mom!”
“I’m kidding!” She turned around and started looking for something. “Just a little.”
“So this is where Heroin Scandals was born?” Her father asked while looking at the many writings on the walls.
“Technically not in the bathroom but I wanted to see if our mark was still here.” She opened up the last stall’s door and made a triumphant noise as if she found what she was looking for. “I used to come here a lot to write my songs while de-stressing,” she paused a little on that word which Kyoka knew meant something else entirely, “and we would hang out in the other room to create music during the night.”
Kyoka walked over to see what her mother was pointing at and found a couple different takes of a logo for their mother’s band and some commentary around with different handwriting. The half-elf then started to walk out and motioned for the other two to follow. They climbed the old stairs, careful not to step on anything unstable, before finding a closed off small hallway with only one door to the side.
Mika carefully pushed it open and entered, using her magic to get rid of the dirt, and the halflings followed her. Kyoka was amazed to see a somewhat decent music room with foam on the walls to keep the noise from leaking outside and some old instruments that seemed untouched.
Her mother moved to a chest near the far corner and with a bit of magic opened it up to reveal several sheets of paper, all of which had scribbles on. She smiled and brought the paper back to her family to show it off.
“These were some tries we scraped,” the half-elf sat in one of the chairs while sorting through the music sheets. “There are some here that never saw the light of the day either.”
“Who are these about mom?” Kyoka grabbed what looked like a love song from the pieces scattered. “I distinctly remember you saying you met dad after high-school.”
“And we did.” Their mother opened her hand to check what her child meant. After scanning the page for a while a smile appeared on her face. “This, dear, was about a really cool warlock who loved to get into trouble. She was older and we dated for a while before their patron ended up interfering in our life.”
“Oh.” Kyoka could swear they saw a shine on her mother’s eyes and squeezed her knee in support. “I’m sure she was a wonderful person.”
“She really was.” Mika smiled back and looked at her husband. “But because of that experience I also wrote many other songs that led me to your amazing father.”
“Maybe you’ll find your person here too, Kyo.” Her father looked up at her with a cheeky smile and got a shove in return from a very flustered halfling.
“Dad!” She crossed her arms and pouted at their parents’ teasing. They laughed and the half-elf put the sheets back into the chest and followed the young one outside.
“But truly Kyo, I hope you have a great time with your studies.” Her mother ruffled the taller halfling’s hair.
“And if you miss us,” her father squeezed her shoulders in a half hug, “we’re just one sending message away.”
The family hugged properly and the half-elf caressed the smaller ones heads before ushering them back to the main building for the actual opening ceremony.
Kyoka tried to remember as many rooms as she could on their way and noticed other families of different species gawking at the building or running around after younger kids. Her year was about to be the greatest yet.