-Chapter 3: Wolf's Pelts.-
Kazuto sat at his desk, the eyes of the girls in his class pasted to his new short black hair. He looked at the black haired boy with glasses, and back at his sister Suguha. Who nodded firmly.
Kazuto took a deep breath and walked up to him at the back of the class," Hello, are you Shinichi?"
"Yeah, that's me." Shinichi said looking up from his conversation with the light brown haired boy in front of him.
"Okay uh..." Kazuto said leaning to whisper in Shinichi's ear," I want to talk to you about the rebellion."
Shinichi's eyes widened. He stood up straight and fixed his school uniform," Very well, we'll speak to you at lunch."
"We?" Kazuto asked.
"Of course, now the bell's gonna ring soon, so sit down." The teen with the glasses said promptly.
Kazuto nodded and went back to his seat, playing with his notes, trying to focus.
He took out the small photo he had printed out of Asuna and sighed at it in his palm.
The girls of the class sighed looking at him as he day dreamed about his lost love.
The teacher walked into the classroom and cleared his throat as the class took their seats.
The bell rang and the teacher stood behind the podium," Good morning class. This morning, we have an in class lesson from our guest speaker and guest. He will be teaching today's lesson."
The class groaned.
A guest speaker?
He walked into the class room, the girls shifting their focus from Kazuto to the new handsome guest speaker.
Teizen was wearing his new sparkling Sergeant's uniform. He had watered and combed his hair to make it look better, and made sure to remove any blemishes beforehand.
Yashiro himself had told him to make a good impression on the people, and look the part as well.
His chest was adorned with all the medals he earned as a top grade cadet, along with the epaulets that came with being an officer.
The entire class kept their eyes glued to his glowing face, as he smiled and bowed respectfully," Hello students. My name is Kouwahaka Teizen, I'll be teaching your class today. As this is European History, we'll be taking a step back from the Pre-Industrial Era and go back to the classics."
"The ancient world." Teizen said respectfully.
The class kept staring.
"Well?" He said sarcastically," What're you waiting for? Open your notebooks."
The class hurriedly prepared notes as Teizen walked around the classroom, standing in the center of the class to show his unique way of thinking.
They all looked at him as he pointed to the various statue heads adorned around the class room.
"Caesar. Augustus. Hannibal. Alexander." He said with a glow of wonder on his face, enticing the class with his superficial charisma.
"Titans of history, the men of the ancient world are mere beggars compared to these Goliaths." Teizen said walking to the chalk board.
He began to write a list of battles on the board, and with his back still to the class, he asked," Who can tell me which one of these battles was won by Alexander?"
"Gaugamela." Kazuto stated quickly as the class looked at him.
Teizen looked at him," That's correct. Now Mr..."
"Kirigaya."
"Now, Kirigaya-san, what in your opinion played the largest role in the Persian Defeat?"
Kazuto stood up straight from his desk at the front of the class," Well, Alexander's Genius put simply. He exploited the overextended Persian line with a feint and broke them."
The class scribbled notes on the discussion as the two teens spoke.
Teizen smiled," Another fanatic of history I take it?"
Kazuto shrugged," Moderately."
"Good. So, of these four men, pick your favorite."
"Hmm..." Kazuto said, putting a hand to his chin.
"Hannibal."
Teizen went to the board again, leaning on the long aluminium stand that held the chalk.
"Ah... Hannibal," Teizen said," History's disappointment. He became the closest man in living memory to actually defeating Rome and her legions. Why do you like Hannibal?"
"He's the underdog, you know the hero of his own story. One of his quotes basically sums up his power, I will either find a way-"
Teizen interrupted," Or make one. Go on."
"He made a blood oath to his father to never be a friend to Rome, Rome had more men, home ground advantage, and yet they lost every battle on Italian soil. Guy's a legend."
Teizen nodded," And yet. He failed. Rome sacked Carthage after Hannibal's last defeat at Zama. Why pick Hannibal? All four of these men were underdogs, the odds stacked against them. But Hannibal failed, why pick him?"
Kazuto looked at the dark brown haired teen in the face," Technically Kouwahaka-sama, didn't all four men fail?"
"Excuse me?" Teizen asked.
"Alexander's Empire shattered into pieces after his death, Hannibal's state became a ruin, Caesar was stabbed to death by his own countrymen, and Augustus created an Empire that made the church that set back Europe for a century."
Teizen looked at him," So thousands of lives, four amazing military minds spent, for nothing?"
Kazuto felt his hand tighten around the picture of Asuna in his pocket," Sometimes life just disappoints you like that."
Teizen stood up straight," What Kirigaya-san says is harsh."
"But also true," He said admittedly," But what I want you all to take away from today's lesson, is this. These four men accomplished more than what was accomplished in decades, just in a few sort years."
"But what made them stand out, is their belief and need to improve themselves, personal excellence. The need, the lust to stand out above the sheep of the ancient world and become legends, takes inspiration in one's self and self pride."
"I studied these men and followed them. And I myself was inspired by them. I graduated from my cadet class with top honors, scored the highest possible grades on all academic testing prior to my release into the military. And most of all, I was hand picked by Yashiro directly to lead a brigade, the first teenager to do so for centuries. But you could all be great."
He began to walked down the aisle of desks, the eyes of the class following him, "If you believed in yourselves you could do greater things than anyone could possibly imagine. It just takes self-determination and you can do it."
"I draw my source of inspiration from my heroes of history. Napoleon, Washington, Tokugawa. And my country. I hope you can all do the same."
Teizen bowed to the classroom, returning to the front of the classroom, "Thank you."
The lunch bell rang and the class walked out to the school yard.
"Shinichi!" Kazuto yelled, waving and running to him while he gripped his satchel.
Shinichi looked at him, "Ah! Kazuto-san. Let's begin our-"
"Kirigaya-san!" A familiar voice called out.
Teizen was walking towards him, his officer's boots trudging across the grass of the school yard.
Shinichi gulped, as Kazuto began to sweat.
Teizen bowed, "That was an amazing discussion. Now, do you play chess?"
Kazuto looked at him, "A little."
"Good. Sit down, I always want to see if those who are good at history excel at chess as well."
Shinichi looked worried, seeing Kazuto take a seat in front of Teizen who was setting up the board.
Teizen cleared his throat, "You'll play as white, I'll let you move first."
Kazuto nodded and moved his central pawn.
Teizen shadowed his first movements, a small group of students watching them play.
They both showed incredible prowess at the game, showing strategic mastery.
About five minutes into the game Kazuto sighed.
He's amazing! I've never met an opponent that posed this much of a challenge to me!
Teizen's eyes studied Kazuto's face, taking in every detail of his complexion.
For a begginer, he is definitely putting up a fight. I'd say the match is even so far, we'll have to wait and see what tips the scales.
"Check." Kazuto said defiantly.
Teizen studied the board.
Hmm... I'm willing to trade my knight for the checking bishop, just to gain a tiny bit of power in my favor.
Their hands moved delicately, the group of students watching followed the two masters with their eyes quickly.
It did the trick, slowly but surely, Teizen began his finely tuned machine of attrition, piece by piece fell.
Kazuto fought back steadily however, making the match even, with an increasing bit of favor in Teizen's.
Near the end-game phase, the pieces were lined up on either side of the board, an equal black and white number of captured pieces.
Teizen moved his knight," Checkmate."
Kazuto stood up and offered his hand, "Good game."
The jet black haired teen shook his hand firmly, feeling Teizen's strong grip, "Good game indeed."
Teizen stretched, waking up peppy.
He smiled, today was Thursday. The day the wolf suits arrived!
The teenaged Sergeant walked into the rec room, his eyes widening.
"Good morning Sergeant!" The brigade said in unison.
"What is all this?" Teizen asked seeing the elegant breakfast set up.
The wooden tables were adorned with white sheets and plating.
One of the privates stepped forward from the long lines of men around the tables and said, "Since it's a special occasion with our gear arriving, we decided to prepare a special breakfast for you."
He removed the cover off his plate, taking in the smell of the delicious breakfast.
"Mm... baked cod and potatoes." Teizen said," Great."
He sat down to eat and took a bite of the cod, nodding, "What're you all waiting for, real training begins today!"
The men of the Wolf Brigade dug in eating happily.
After they finished eating Teizen stood up and said, "Thank you all for the amazing breakfast. In a couple hours you will receive the latest in our military hardware: Panzer Armor, better known as Wolf Suits. Now, make me make this clear. Since you will all be representing the best soldiers in the country, you will have the health of men worthy of that title."
He went on, "No liquor or alcohol of any kind. No tobacco or cigarettes. No fatty foods. I want you all to have the best possible health, which is why I'm putting an emphasis on leafy greens and vitamin rich fruits for the remainder of our month of training."
The unit groaned and Teizen broke up the complaints," NOW! Go train before your suits are revealed to you all!"
...
The unit, covered in sweat, backs aching from the two days of intense training, walked into the large rec room now with forty three statue looking objects covered in tan sheets.
"Whoa..." One man said his mouth dropping.
"What?" His friend asked.
"You guys need to see this."
The light clicked on loudly, Teizen running from the light switch to his Wolf Suit.
Teizen stood on top of his Wolf Suit smiling, "Men."
"Welcome to your combat armor, the very suits that will define the Wolf Brigade. The Wolf Brigade's armor."
"The Wolf Suits." He said as the whole brigade walked up to each of the statue's covered in tan sheets.
"Hot damn..." A soldier said uncovering his armor, the sheet falling to the floor.
The Wolf Suits were beautiful. Carbon-durasteel super light and impenetrable material that each soldier had dreamed of since the day they'd got there.
The masks weren't off-putting, despite the bright red rings the masks showed when activated.
The man stood there astounded by how powerful and daunting they seemed.
Teizen broke up the moment and said sarcastically, "Hey!"
The men's attention snapped from their new suits to their Sergeant who had gone inside his new Wolf Suit, the yellow Sergeant's mark on his forehead.
"Are we gonna sit around here staring at our gear, or train with it?" The teenaged officer asked.