Nobody pays any attention to the Seniors, but I happen to think that most of them are terribly cool. So here's a fanfic! It's from Aracd's POV (for those of you who don't recall, Aracd was the Senior Clay paired up with against Zero and Erts) and it tells about how even the least influential of characters can be affected by the winds of change... ^^
Also beware of manga continuity. So when you gape and go, "Erts didn't do that in the ANIME!" you'll know why. He did it in the manga!
Thanks go out to Tony-san, because he tried as hard as he could to come up with a name for this piece, and to Erin-neesama, who absentmindedly said "Aracd reminds me of Xelloss, and this is the kind of thing Xelloss would say" and effortlessly came up with the title that I wound up using, after much angsting and several votes from friends. All's well that ends well, I suppose.
AND LET THAT BE A LESSON TO YOU
And Other Senior Songs
by Kay Willow
Sometimes I just like to take a few steps back, look at my life, and think about how fucking WEIRD the whole universe is.
We had rookie practice that morning, which means that the newest pound of fresh meat -- sorry, I mean "quintet of Entry-Level Candidates" -- gets paired with us, and we get to savage each other to attempt to better ourselves while the newbies struggle to peel themselves off the ground. Most of THEM never make it up, but WE usually wind up shifting rank around; our last rookie practice left me tied with Force and TWO RANKS up from Yoshino. I was positively KEEN on the idea of another chance to humiliate them.
But I wasn't going to arrive on time or anything. That would imply RESPECT, which is something a Senior has never in the history of the Academy shown to such an unworthy creature as a kid barely in Third Troop. Instead, I had a leisurely breakfast and a shower and chatted it up with some of the younger Repairers before Kyoko came along to tell me that we were going to be making our entrance soon.
Anyway, so we were walking along and we're talking about tactics with which to finally defeat Erts -- I have nothing but the deepest admiration for the kid, really, but he's only fourteen and he's been the Top since the day he was assigned to us, and that's hardly fair at all; he should give somebody else a turn! We Seniors may loathe each other, but we can be convinced to collaborate with motive like THIS, and he gives us this CHANCE, too, since he always goes to rookie practice on time, it's like he's asking for it -- when Yoshino cuts in, using his favorite flavor of condescension, and informs us that Erts already chose his partner.
That's weird, you know? Our traditional routine is just to stand around and let ourselves get assigned at random; it's not like the loser newbies ever do much in the actual fights anyway, so all they're really there for is to gape in awe at the abilities of advanced Candidates, and then presumably become filled with the passion to someday become like us. Or something like that. I've never understood why GOA made us go through this silly routine anyway, and for some reason, Dr. Kuro never descended from On High to explain it to me personally.
So for Erts to just one day, out of the blue, totally at random, accept a specific loser newbie from the dozens who ask for him every day...
Well, the guys had a grand old time, joking about little Erts-chan finally picking a "special pair" for himself and jibes about whether or not the Top would be on top, but I actually got to THINKING about it, and I'll be the first to tell you that serious thinking is something I don't normally do in the company of others. ...well, I'd actually probably tell you that I don't think at all, because it's always a good idea if your opponents underestimate you.
Just as we got to the sim chamber, I had about decided that it must have something to do with that strange episode that Erts had the other day; the one where he froze in the middle of the hallway one afternoon and spun around like he thought somebody was stalking him, then insisted that he'd felt someone and only kept staring off into space. "Right," I'd said to myself at the time; "Well, Aracd, it looks like the stress of being the best has finally gotten to Erts and some valuable piece of his sanity has sprung a leak. Maybe I get to be Top by default now!"
As it turned out he was fine, and within an hour he was his regular self again. Granted, he didn't exactly light up the room with good cheer and optimism, but Erts is a repressed thing at the best of times.
But now I was starting to think that maybe there was something going on there after all. I mean, not telling someone something doesn't mean there isn't something to TELL, if that makes any sense. It probably doesn't.
I tried to pick out which one Erts had chosen when we first got to the room. There were (duh) five of them: tallish guy with silver hair and red eyes who looked like he was stuck on a permanent flatline; not-so-tallish guy with big glasses and a fey glint to his eyes that screamed "I will be far, FAR away from the fighting!"; also not-so-tallish kid (can't even call him a 'guy', really) with a greenish look about him and -- without having an ounce of baby fat on him -- STILL somehow managed to give me the impression of being chubby; a definitely-not-so-tall guy with the most contradictory expression I've ever seen (do you want to fight me, punk, or you gonna run? make up your mind!); and the last being an overenthusiastic grinning madman who was making the monumental mistake of trying to touch Erts.
I like to consider myself Erts' friend, you know? But I wouldn't TOUCH him.
Needless to say, I pinned this crackpot as Erts' partner. The very fact that Erts was near enough that he was in danger of getting touched said something.
Force scared the weirdo off before we could see if he was going to throw himself on our "shy" fifth, which is almost a shame, because I know Erts had a fit the first time Sure tried to touch him (back before we knew what his EX was, natch) and I wanted to see if he was going to do the same to the boy he'd singled out for attention. Ah, well. Lost chances.
The twerp's name was Zero, and -- more importantly -- his number was 88. (Like anyone with any sort of ranking whatsoever would call an Entry-Level Candidate by his NAME.) His companions were named a whole bunch of other things respectively, but I don't really care, and I took a brief moment to ponder my own partner. I didn't want the silver-haired guy, because he looked like the surly type and the last thing I need is him getting in my way, trying to take on a Senior to improve his own ranking; I didn't want the purple-haired punk either, because he looked a bit too aggressive for my tastes too. I want a coward on my team. That way ALL the ranking goes to me.
Imagine my DELIGHT when the kid with the glasses was my partner -- "If I see him at all in the battle, it'll be his ass in the air as he tries to dig himself a hole to escape through," was my exact thought -- and how perfect everything seemed to be when we went up against Erts and his partner first.
Things couldn't get any better for me, I figured. Erts had singled his partner out for a reason, and considering the way Number 88 ACTED, it's hardly because they're kindred souls and Erts wants to sip tea and swap depression techniques with him. No, it had to be because Erts wanted to see if this kid could make it as his pair, like the guys had tossed around so dismissively earlier; Erts was trying to figure out if Number 88 could someday work with him as an equal. And THAT meant that Erts was going to spend most of this battle sitting back and watching to see how the kid did.
And THAT meant that I was looking at the chance of a lifetime. Erts would just stand aside and let me wail on the rookie. Then, once I was through with HIM, I could head over and devote all my attention to my real opponent -- maybe finally even defeat him.
I should've been more wary, I guess. I mean, Erts is young and weak-looking and all, but he's far from stupid. If he'd singled Number 88 out as a potential pair, it was because (thick like a brick, Aracd; sometimes you're just thick like a brick) NUMBER 88 HAD THE POTENTIAL TO BE (how about this? what a shocker!) HIS PAIR. Erts wouldn't have picked someone with no ability, with no skill. It's a credit to how overexcited I was at the whole prospect that I totally failed to take this into account, assuming that Number 88 was just Entry-Level like the rest of the slavering nobodies and I'd have no problem dealing with him.
If anybody asks, I blame Kyoko. She considers herself my manager, and the first thing she did when we got out there was tell me exactly that: I was in the perfect position, I get to knock around some knock-kneed twerp, then I go after Erts, beat the crap out of him, get made Top... Hell, for all I know, she might've already been planning out the victory parade after I singlehandedly defeated the Victim. She drives me nuts sometimes.
Well. I guess it's not her fault. I was the one fighting.
Whatever.
So the first thing I did, naturally, was attack Number 88. And he seemed kind of alarmed, which was another good sign: it means that either Erts didn't read us and wasn't even lending telepathic support, or that the kid was too stupid to take him seriously. And Erts would never leave the whole battle to his pair without lending any kind of aid whatsoever, especially not when his pair is a newbie. It's kind of insulting, now that I look back at it -- Erts gets all concerned about THIS particular newbie, something he usually never does, and does his job and tells his pair what he's plucked from my head, but the kid ignores him. Geez, how's that for gratitude? Does the little brat even realize how many people would kill to be Erts' pair? Hell, I'D kill to be Erts' pair, because between our skills and with his EX playing backup we'd have ALL the ranking in GOA for our own. It wouldn't happen -- Erts keeps going on about how his EX forces him to make pairings permanent, so he can't just pick somebody at random and change later if he finds someone better suited -- but if it were possible, I'd sure as hell leap at the chance...
Where was I? Right. I attacked Number 88, and true to my initial guess, Erts moves aside and allows it. We wound up in a grappling match, neither of us gaining any ground, but Kyoko spotted a weakness in his stance, and I swung at him, and he went down like a... big hunk of metal goes down when knocked off its support, I suppose. Life was looking great for me just then. I'd be able to take Erts on without any interference at all.
As it turns out, Erts decided to lend his chosen newbie assistance.
I'm STILL not quite sure what happened; it's all a blur. But one second Number 88 is toppling over helplessly, and then the next second Erts is behind him, and then my NECK practically gets DISLOCATED as something CRASHES into my Pro-Ing's head and MY head SNAPS around painfully from the synch. Kyoko never had a chance to cut the connection so I got blasted with the full force of the pain, but I can't blame her. If either of us had any idea it'd be coming, we'd have gotten the hell out of the WAY, now wouldn't we?
I tell you, they say I've practically got Multiple Personality Disorder, but the real guy with MPD is Erts. He's all false pleasantry and serene composition in public. He's terrified, stammering and skitterish, when forced into battle. But put him in a Pro-Ing and tell him, "This isn't a REAL fight, it's just practice: show us what you can do," and the kid turns into a fucking demon. Small wonder all those rumors about him not being human started up. Nobody ought to be this good, and sure as hell nobody as panicky as Erts is under actual combat situations.
Well, once I'd remembered how to see straight, Number 88 launched himself at me. And all at once, weirdly enough, he was getting GOOD. It's like he was learning how to move almost before he made the mistakes I should've been able to use and exploit to my own advantage. He was starting to score some points off of ME, and that is definitely a Bad Thing when you're a Senior and your opponent is still in Third Troop.
And then, out of nowhere, he just left. My initial impression of grinning madman might not have been too far off the mark. He just changed his mind, turned around, and trudged off elsewhere. You know, the mysterious stranger cliche. He came, he did stuff, he impressed people, and then he just wandered off into the sunset, an obscure and bewildering figure who really didn't do much of anything significant when it comes right down to it.
It was just plain WEIRD.
But this left me facing Erts. And I'd done nothing but arm-wrestle a nobody and completely FAIL to bring him to the ground so far this battle. If I lost to Erts now, I was getting a big fat nothing for my efforts. Force would kick my sorry ass from here to Zion in the evaluations.
And THAT was not happening, thankyouverymuch.
So I didn't bother fighting him, just defending; Erts may be all evil and godlike on the simulated battlefield, but he continues to be Erts deep down inside, and by "Erts" I mean "overly-sympathetic bleeding-heart". He just can't make himself fight somebody who isn't fighting back. It was actually childishly simple to get around him and head over to where Number 88 was chasing the pathetic weasel with the glasses -- I can't remember his number. Doesn't matter. He'll get kicked out of the Academy in a week or two for low performance anyway -- and then get above them, on one of those handy-dandy simulated cliffs...
And, well, anybody who's fought with me in a sim-ground battle can tell you my favorite move.
Jumped off the cliff. Smashed 'em both a good one. Attacking my own pair probably got me a few points off, but it WAS an instant KO, which is decent points, and I made up for it anyway by beating the off-balance Number 88 all the way back and KNOCKING him outfield in one fell swoop. Shows him right, the obnoxious prat.
Two rookies in a single move. Both of them down for the count. Damn, I'm cool.
Of course, then Erts apparently teleported in behind me (I SWEAR I'd have seen him coming if he'd been walking up!) and pulled some impossible maneuver by reaching INTO the gap between armor and power source and yanking out the main motor cord from my Pro-Ing. It said a lot about HIS abilities that he had such control and all, but it made ME look pathetic, and the first thing Kyoko did was snarl about how lame I was. I'd like to see HER come out here and try and take Erts down, huh? This isn't as easy as it looks.
That was the end of my match. I'm told some nifty stuff happened afterwards -- most notably, that Number 88 managed to somehow get BACK onto the playing field, albeit in a not-very-impressive manner; maybe he's worthy of a Senior after all -- but I didn't stick around to watch it. I took out my frustrations on my erstwhile pair, and then went to hunt down the others and see how they'd fared.
Sure actually didn't do much better than me, which was a consolation. Apparently he got stuck with the short punk, and they matched with the gray-haired kid and Force. And then the little bastard going by "87" went psycho-killer and handed half their asses to them on a plate. I'm not surprised. He gives off vibes of "I hold onto my sanity by a fine silk thread, and I just dropped the thread" from a mile away. Feel a bit sorry for the purple-haired kid, though. From what Sure says, he was just as pathetic as every other newbie we've ever met. Didn't stand a chance.
Anyway, Force didn't gain much ranking from that match either, so we're still tied. Yoshino had his match later, and he went up against Erts too -- but, weirdly, he didn't have Number 88 as a pair; what is UP with that kid? is he like, totally resistant to becoming important, or what? -- and he got himself creamed. So it's still Force and I matched for second, Sure third, and Yoshino lagging behind as fourth.
And Erts still Top.
I kinda expected that, though. He didn't get there by accident, after all, and it was going to take more than one rookie practice to change that. I am of the devout belief that with enough training, any of us can beat him. So we'll just keep working at it, and someday one of US will get to be Top for a change.
Force started a food fight while we were in the cafeteria, when one of the Second Troopers gave him a nasty look. How's that for our self-appointed leader? Hurts my head to think that he's usually higher ranking than I am. Carres thought it was hilarious, of course, because she and Force share the same brain, there not having been enough, apparently, for both of them to have their own. Kyoko spent a lot of time yelling at them, but she's always criticizing somebody for something, so she was pretty much ignored. Ever hear that old fable about the boy who cried wolf? Story of Kyoko's life.
Sure tried to stop everybody in his gentle giant kind of way, by issuing polite requests at normal speaking volume while food and cutlery flew every which way. When he could be heard over the shrieking, nobody paid him any attention, until Yoshino finally hurled mashed potatoes into his face. That was when I took it that we were having a free-for-all, and Yoshino himself was my next target. It's all well and good to harass the younger kids, but it takes smacking my rivals around with beet-flavored mush to REALLY amuse me.
That was a lot of fun, of course. It's a shame the Instructors had to come up and stop us. I hadn't gotten to throw anything at Bellarcha yet...
Erts was back by the time we headed together for our next group spar. We had a lot of aggression to work off, the other four of us, so we mostly just grappled with each other to let off steam -- and hey, you know how HARD it is to pilot decently when you've got creamed corn down your shirt? Distracting as hell. Erts seemed quieter than usual for the duration of the practice, even once getting criticized for hanging back so often. He's never the first among us to jump into the fray, but he typically isn't that passive either.
He told me as we were heading for the lecture center afterwards (why DO they make us go to Physics right after our sparring matches? It's hard enough to stay awake there as it is, never mind the exhaustion and the grit and the sweat...) that he needs to rethink some beliefs of his. I knew right away what he was talking about, because everybody knows Erts' principle belief -- he's afraid of fighting because it hurts him as much as anybody else.
I have no earthly idea what Number 88 said to him to change that, and I rather don't want to know.
And I noticed that he wasn't even pretending to listen to the Instructor, which is another weird change for him. Erts finds this stuff as boring as any of us, he's not the scholarly type, but he's always making an EFFORT to care. That day he just sort of stared into the distance, not taking notes or reacting to anything, and even when Force got into a quiet brawl with Koushou on the other side of us -- they're such freaks, says I -- he didn't look up.
Of course, I only noticed about the first ten minutes of this odd behavior, because after that I was out like a light. That was it for me for about the next hour and a half, until Force and Koushou tumbling into me brought me back to the waking world, and I had to teach both of them a quick lesson in courtesy.
We shuffled back to our respective rooms without dinner, nursing our demerits and our black eyes, and listening to Koushou whine incessantly about Force having gotten food in his hair during the foodfight earlier. Koushou is WAY too interested in people's hair. No wonder they put him in charge of the decontam unit. Koushou once scalped Force in his sleep during our Third Troop days, claiming innocently later that he'd heard lice were going around. Force can't stand him -- you may have noticed. If Koushou were in our group, we'd never get any peace...
I talked with Kyoko before lights-out, because she has this THING about communication. It's a girl thing, but Kyoko isn't really a GIRL, that I've noticed -- I'm not sure she has a gender. I think it may just be coincidence that she looks like human females. I happen to find human females attractive. Kyoko's just kind of... there.
She made me go over the rookie practice in detail, going over everything I observed and noticed therein, even for the kids I didn't match with. She seemed really into it; I don't know what she was thinking, but she commented as she left, "It seems like things are really moving fast now, doesn't it?"
I thought about that for a while once she was gone, unable to sleep. For some reason, things are always clearer in the night, much more objective. I could almost feel the future looming in the distance, and it seemed to me like things really were moving quickly all of a sudden, like something was going to happen soon that would change everything.
I can't tell if the change would be for the good or the bad; I'm no telepathist, no psychic to be able to read intentions and meanings into things that I can't even see. But whatever it is, it's coming and there's no way to slow it, to brace ourselves for the impact.
And you know what? Good. It's better that way. There's no point in worrying, or predicting, or preparing. That's my motto: "Live for the day."
No matter how weird it may be.
Koushou is the barber from the first episode, remember him? The name and some aspects of the character, such as his rivalry with Force, was lifted from TJ's portrayal of him in the MK-RPG.
Hope you enjoyed.
--Kay Willow, with no commentary
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