I know most people, including myself, don't like OCs since they are unfamiliar. Well, just a little spoiler, the OCs are here only temporarily, for the sole purpose of plot development...
Chapter 6: The First Day
"Silence!" hollered the drill sergeant. "If I hear a single peep I will make all of you do extra 100 push ups. Now go run around the whole academy and you come back in twenty minutes. Then do a hundred push ups, sit ups..."
So off they ran. The ones who had come back late were ordered to line up and watch those who had made it on time ate their breakfast. All of late students were the new ones, and they watched them eat as their stomach growled. A few new students had made it on time, including Yeroro, and they smiled smugly and raised their head slightly higher than usual at their hungry peers who were drooling. Finally, the late ones were allowed to get their food, and they rushed to the food carts, only to find out there was nothing left except boxes of keron emergency rations (the green boxes of crackers that appeared in one episode of Kero Zero).
The students had no choice but to eat the crackers, unless they wanted an empty tummy. Actually, they did not have a choice because of a certain sergeant...
"Eat, eat, eat! These are special rations developed by scientists. They are very nutritious (as explained in the same kero zero episode)," the drill sergeant yelled.
Yeroro stayed to watch his friends eat and to taunt them, telling them how delicious the meat, the salad, and the soup were.
Zoruru, munching the crackers, asked Yororo and Zeroro, "Why do you suppose these taste so bad?"
"I guess they taste bad on purpose so we won't eat them unless absolutely necessary or so we won't finish them all at once when in war," Zeroro replied thoughtfully. Being a picky eater, Zeroro was nibbling his crackers.
Noticing that Zeroro was not eating, the drill sergeant came by and said, "Eat those or run faster tomorrow." Zeroro obediently stuffed and gulped down a handful of crackers. The sergeant patted his shoulder and left.
Yeroro looked at Zeroro and decided that it would be fun to tease the weak looking boy. He asked, "Zeroro, how do you like the crackers?"
Zeroro stared at him in surprise, tears welled up in his eyes. Yororo, sitting acrosss from Yeroro, rolled his eyes at Yeroro and then scanned around for the sergeant. "Here, you can have the rest," Yororo said to Yeroro, then he quickly stood up and smashed the rest of his crackers along with the box into Yeroro's face.
Compare to other students, Zeroro was good at various unusual tasks, such as rock climbing, chasing by beasts, and hiding. He had built up his endurance and unusual skills from years of abuse and torture from his "dear" friend.
The students were training on a three floor tall tower.
About twenty five feet away stood another tower of same height. Between them hung a rope, under the rope there hung a net. The students were ordered to climb up the rocky surface of the left tower in order to reach the top. Then they had to get to the other tower using the rope that hung between the two towers. Most of students chose to go on their bellies, legs clamping the rope in between, and arms pulling the rope to move the whole body forward. The sergeant told them that they would have to walk the rope after a few weeks and that these two towers are like kindergarten's playground. Yeroro, after hearing this, quickly rushed forward and cut in front of the student who was supposed to be next.
"Tch, I wonder what that show-off is going to do," whispered Yororo, who was waiting in line with Zoruru and Zeroro. The dril sergeant was going to yell at Yeroro for cutting the line but stopped when he saw him actually walking on the rope, much to his surprise. When Yeroro made it to the other tower, the crowd cheered and applauded.
"Are you an acrobat?" the drill sergeant asked. Cheers from the crowd instantly turned into a bout of laughters. Yeroro turned bright red, and upon seeing this, the drill sergeant quickly smiled and said," I was just joking. Good job, I am so proud of you boy." Yeroro scratched his head and blushed.
The drill sergeant, on his hover craft, flew to the other tower to watch the students over there.
"Hey you over there clumsy boy!" the drill sergeant pointed at a poor boy, "Don't block others and jump." The boy was standing on the edge of the tower, with a belt strapped across his waist and a rope clicked onto the belt. On the edge of the tower attached a wheel with a rope coiled around it. He was supposed to jump off the tower to let his weight pull out more of the rope from the wheel as he descend. The drill sergeant lost his patience and kicked the boy off the tower, with the boy screaming and shrieking like a pig that is about to get butchered.
The rest of boys watched in awe and decided that they would be better off jumping down the tower by themselves than having the sergeant kicked them off.
After the morning training the students dispersed to their classes. They had to take military history, history, math, field medicines, language, and military tactics. Lunch was only half of a hour, then they would to get to their classes again. Their schedule was full until dinner, then they would go take a shower. Team 95 to 100 shared a shower room. The hallway was eeriely quiet and dim, with the echoes of footsteps of team 100.
Zeroro put his hand on the handle of the shower room, ready to open it. He shuddered at what Nemumu had told them earlier. He hesitated and moved his hand away, staring at the door silently.
"Just open the damn door," Yeroro whispered urgently, slightly nudging Zeroro.
Zeroro sighed, placing his hand on the cool metal of the door handle again. "This is weird. There should be at least twenty students here, including us. How come I don't even hear a single peep?"
Yororo rolled his eyes and pushed Zeroro out of the way, "That Nemumu probably exaggerated everything to scare us." Then he yanked the door open.
