Unrequited Love

Kapitel 3: The Graduation Exam

A/N: Nobody actually reads this, do they?

Disclaimer: Life is unfair so this is also unfair. Just making sure, but everybody knows that 07-Ghost belongs to Yuki Amemiya right?


Kapitel 3: The Graduation Exam

I woke up feeling refreshed, and I understood why when I looked at the clock in my room.

'Holy Crap!'

I only had thirty minutes to get up, do my morning routine, and finish my breakfast. Not to mention, today was the exam. The refreshed feeling I had woken up with was gone.

'Crap! Crap! Crap! I'm sooo dead,' I swore in my head as I dragged myself out of bed; quickly brushed my teeth; dressed in record timing, hopping from one foot to the other whilst doing so; and left using my fingers to comb through my hair and putting it up into its customary bun, lining it with the single braid I was glad I didn't take out and went to bed with last night. It was a hairstyle I adopted a day after enrolling into the academy as my long hair was definitely not suited for the fighting we did.

'Only twenty minutes left, better use it wisely,' I counted, sprinting down the hallway to the cafeteria and skidding to a halt a few steps away from the door. I waited for my heart rate to drop back to normal before making sure my uniform was put on correctly and brushing out creases. I flattened my hair and put any stray strands behind my ear before walking in. Not many stared anymore, they had gotten use to another girl attending this training school, though there were still a few who never got used to it and would stare from the corner of their eyes at me and other girls. I hurried over to get my breakfast and plopped down beside Teito and Mikage. It had become a daily routine.

"What took you so long?" Teito asked me.

"Sorry... I slept in," I replied embarrassedly, sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck.

"What?! Yumi–chan slept in?! That's not like you!" Mikage exclaimed in mock surprise.

I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved him. The more time we spend together, the more comfortable I was around them. When I first started hanging around them, I didn't really talk much, Mikage was the one who would do all the talking. Teito and I just listened. I was also really polite before we were close, and once again, Mikage was the one who would talk informally and prompted me to do so as well. His initiation of friendly body contact probably also played a part in luring me out of my shell. I figured I was weak against extroverted people. Teito and I would hang around together when Mikage's chitchat became rather annoying and overwhelming or when he wasn't there. It was silent and awkward at first, but became more comfortable and companionable as time passed. We would occasionally make small conversations about homework and similar things and gradually grew closer.

After we finished eating, we left to go to the meeting area we were instructed to go to yesterday to receive information about which groups we were sorted into and what we were doing for the examination.

"So what group are you in Yumi–chan? Teito and I are in group A," Mikage asked me.

"Group D, the last group to perform the exam," I replied with a pout.

"It's so unfair! You have Teito who's the best in the class," I whined in which he responded with a roll of his eyes. "Anyways, I'll watch you guys, so better watch mine, 'kay?"

"Of course, Yumi–chan! Right, Teito?" Mikage stated cheerfully.

"Fine..." Teito mumbled quietly, his voice barely audible.

"I can't believe I'm stuck with a sklave," exclaimed a voice near us. We all turned to find that the speaker was none other than the conceited Shuri Oak who was arrogantly sneering.

'I guess at least I'm not with a nut head like him. Now I feel sorry for Teito and Mikage,' I thought.

"Group A, hurry up while I'm still asking you nicely!" the examiner shouted at the group.

"Bye, Yumi–chan, catch you later," Mikage promised with a two-fingered wave.

"Good luck the both of you, you'll need it with that blonde on your team," I told them before they left with a wave of my own.

I was turning to go find my own group when somebody clutched my shoulder. I turned around and faced my grandfather.

"Yumiko, it's been a while, would you like to watch with me?" he asked. I nodded enthusiastically and followed him to the examining room.

We didn't get to see each other much anymore, the weekend being the only opportunity to do so, and we didn't see each other always see each other during then either. It was a big change to seeing him almost every day, so I was happy we had this time to spend together, even if he was watching my fellow classmates.


Students were sent flying as the prisoner bashed them all up to a bloody pulp. Soon there were very few people left, Mikage, Teito and Shuri being some of them and the latter cowering in the background as the other two fought the robust troll along with the other people in the group.

'As expected of Mikage and Teito, but why's Shuri still standing? I thought he'd be knocked out long ago,' I wondered with a puzzled expression. As soon as I thought that, the examining room's automatic door opened and in came a group led by a man with wavy white hair and amethyst eyes. I gaped slightly and lowered my eyes as I recognised who they were, the Black Hawks. They came in and the examiners greeted him respectfully, as did my grandfather too. Then Grandfather Miroku motioned me forward and I obeyed. Then he introduced me to the leader.

"Ayanami, this is my granddaughter Yumiko. Yumiko, this is Ayanami from the Black Hawks." he introduced.

I looked up and said, "It's a pleasure."


Ayanami studied the girl that the Chairman introduced to be his granddaughter. He could see the strong resemblance between the two. She nodded slowly after the introduction and he got a better look at her face. She had a small but toned figure and didn't wear make-up like most girls her age did. She had vermillion eyes like her grandfather, and roseate hair styled into a bun. There was something strange about her that he couldn't seem to place his finger on; a sort of nostalgic familiarity about her, but he had never formally met her before, only glimpses at parties and her parent's funeral. He nodded in response to her pleasantries and brought his focus to the other examiners, but the girl still held some of his attention.

"How are this year's candidates?" he asked coolly.

"Well..." replied the female examiner.

He turned and faced the window that separated the examiner's room from the one in which the candidates were taking the exam in. One of them ran up to the screen and started banging his fist on it pleading for help. Ayanami looked at him in disgust.

"How disgraceful," he said.

"Isn't he the heir to the prestigious Oak family?" somebody commented.

"Family name means nothing on the battlefield," Chairman Miroku said seriously. "Nothing matters when it comes to the real thing. Even if they perform well in training, if they cannot prove themselves in battle, it means nothing."

"I agree, Grandfather. Isn't this where most of the students drop out? I've also heard stories about some of them dying," asked a female voice.

Ayanami turned and found it to be Yumiko, the Chairman's granddaughter, just as he'd assumed. Chairman Miroku smile fondly at the child and said, "That's right Yumiko. Only about an average of 20 students passes out of all the candidates participating. They can't seem to harness the skills they use in training when they are faced with a real opponent."

"I suppose that this is good for them even if they fail. Most students are from prestigious families and are spoilt, having everything handed down to them on a silver platter, failing the exam is a good dose of reality since none of them really knows what it means to fail." she commented. "Arrogance will be their downfall."

"I guess that's right Yumiko. I don't understand everyone seems surprised." he said with a raised brow, taking into account the surprised faces of some of the proctors. Ayanami suspected them to be the girl's teachers who weren't used to this sort of behaviour. The girl in question was blushing.

"Ah, I'm generally polite and distant in class; I guess they aren't used to me speaking my mind. I'd actually prefer it if all the boys from noble families got beaten, they need to know what life's actually like since they'd probably never get by if they continued to think everything would go their way."

Hyuuga came up behind Ayanami and whispered "Psst, Aya-tan. She's a kind of sadist like you, even if she hides it behind a cute face, don't you think?"

Ayanami drew his sword and aimed it at Hyuuga.

"Your reaction time is slow by 0.003 seconds, Hyuuga. Go practice after our business is finished here."

Ayanami turned back to the cadets and saw that a boy with brown hair and emerald green eyes had surrounded the prisoner's head with his zaiphon and told him that he would spare him if he gave up. He narrowed his eyes. An examiner entered and told him that he had to finish the criminal off, but he just replied saying, "He isn't really our enemy. There is no reason to kill him," and withdrew his zaiphon. How weak, if he is unable to finish off an opponent who is a threat to him just because he 'isn't really our enemy', how will he become a useful soldier then? Ayanami entered and finished the criminal off. He looked at the brunette directly and said, "You're soft."

After doing so, Ayanami returned to the examination room and watched the other candidates, only a few passing the exam. Soon, it came to the last group's turn, Group D. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Chairman speak softly to his granddaughter.

"It's your turn Yumiko. Do your best."

"Of course Grandfather! I promise I won't disappoint you or tarnish our family's reputation!" she replied. She pecked his cheek and left.

When she passed him, Ayanami couldn't get the feeling that he knew her out of his mind.


A/N: I'm cringing, couldn't bear to read how Yumiko was like before. Ugh, I'm just going to hide under a rock. Now that I've added some things, there seems to be some new implications. Like why does Yumiko seem familiar to Ayanami? I'll let you guys figure that out.