( Sorry if this is shorter than the previous chapters, I promise you that this is a rather short one as well. )

Surge 8

It has been officially been a month since Sora started studying in the academy. The way the flowers bloom symbolizes the start of Spring for everyone in the academy as the artificial flowers bloomed as pretty as they were. Sora however just continued walking, ignoring the sight as he has seen real flowers bloom before and they were even more pretty than these "Fake" flowers. 'I miss the flowers back at Otsu...they should be blooming right now...' Sora thought to himself as he continued walking in his path.

One month ago, he was just starting to study and get used to the student's life and now he was already one month into it. Sora didn't know if he should smile or felt a bit sad for some strange reason. Whenever he walks past a few students, they give him a few weird looks before backing off, human and beastkin alike. Humans he had no problem but beastkin was hurting him a little bit, he honestly wanted to become their friends but at the same time he knew for some reason he didn't want to get close to them. As if there is something inside him that prevents that.

'What...what is this feeling of fear?' Sora thought as he looked and saw Makoto from a distance as she walked with her friends. Makoto...his only friend here. He was glad for her company as it helped to keep him occupied at the academy. Looking at her other friends, he noted their characteristics and personalities in his mind as he continued to walk behind them. 'She sure has some interesting friends for a beastkin...at least it's good to know that she's not alone...' Sora thought sadly as he looked at her friends again.

The red haired girl, Tsubaki Yayoi, Daughter to the prestigious Yayoi family of the Duodecim. The family cares only about the importance of maintaining the purity of their bloodline and thus have suffered a decline in their numbers because of this mindset. Though she may not be like them in normality, she is a graceful member of the Duodecims and a well brought up one to boot. Sora didn't felt any kind of disgust for her because of her general kind personality but he didn't want to be close to her either due to her rather straight beliefs

The girl next to Tsubaki was Noel Vermillion. Daughter to Edgar and Claire Vermillion who he read in newspapers was just about to lose their rights as a noble household if it weren't for their adopted daughter's actions. She may have acted appropriately but she was too timid and hid behind a shaking shell but Sora could sense a woman inside there...if it would emerge. Another thing he noted is well...her rather flat chest where breasts should be but he decided not to bring any mention of that to his thoughts of her.

The final person that always hangs out with Makoto is a red haired man by the name of Hunter Long. Nobody really knows his origins other than he came from Kagutsuchi and is the loyal butler of Noel Vermillion. He possessed an air of confidence about himself and for some reason people were attracted to him even possessing great combat skills and average studying abilities. People often compare him with the ever so cold Student President Jin Kisaragi saying that those two are the perfect matchups for each other. Sora never gave a damn about that as he knew that it was pointless.

As Sora continued to watch the group, he noted how Hunter limped a little with his walk. He say how much the right leg would limp before going back to straight once more. Sora's face went sad at this because he knew why Hunter limped like that. There were rumors about him actually going to be dismissed from the academy because of a broken bone and nobody knew the reason why... Sora on the other hand knew it too well...

Because he was the one who nearly caused it to become true.


2 WEEKS BEFORE...


Walking down the long hallways of the NOL Academy, Sora felt the sheer length of it annoy him. 'Will it help them to make these halls smaller.' Sora thought as he was holding something on his hand. It was yellow and long, a banana as Sora heard it being called. Looking at the thing while walking, Sora just thought about why would anybody eat something that is so long and yellow. 'Hell...it even looks like a dick...a really erect dick...' Sora thought as he actually began to poke on the tip of it.

After doing that for a while, Sora finally peeled it and saw the banana within the skin. Taking one small bite, Sora tasted dryness at first but then experienced a sweetness that bewildered him. 'A dry yet sweet fruit?! How!?' Sora thought as his face did not have the same expression as his thoughts. Ever since last year when he woke up, He has felt this strange urge to cover up all of his emotions under a bored, less expressive face. He knew it wasn't necessary but he felt it was a part of him.

He didn't spend time thinking about it as he felt his heart beat weakly and his head slowly getting dizzy. 'Damn...it's time again.' Sora thought as he took out his capsule and looked at the banana on his hand. He cursed the fact that he was holding it at this very moment and wanted it off his hand, placing it on his mouth instead. As he took out the pill and got the flask out, he sweared once more. 'STUPID BANANA! YOU ARE CAUSING ME NOTHING BUT TROUBLE!' Sora finally snapped as he had enough of the banana.

Finding a chair and thanking his luck for maintaining his sanity. Sitting down on the chair, he placed the banana on the side as he finally managed to take his pill and drank down his flask of sake. Relaxing on the chair as he looked at the piece of banana skin, he couldn't help but feel his blood boil a little bit. He couldn't believe that a fruit gave him so much trouble, even more trouble than when he is fighting against 100 strong men in Otsu a few months ago.

Ignoring the banana peel, Sora sat on the chair to think for a bit. It was just his third week in the academy and he is not only the source of attention, he is the one to watch as most people have said. He didn't like that at all, all he wanted to do is just relax and study like any normal student. 'And yet what I get is the pleasure of fighting people, getting into trouble with snobs and beastkin scared to befriend me...well...all except for one.' Sora thought as he thought about Makoto.

Makoto Nanaya...she really helped him out in just the span of two weeks. He really felt thankful for her support as he snapped out of his thoughts. 'Geez...Makoto really helped me...more than I thought.' Sora thought as he looked at the banana peel and picked it up. Looking for a trash can, he continued to think about Makoto as it slowly began to cross with the memories of another squirrel beastkin. "Reiko..." Sora quietly muttered as he walked up the stairs to the trash bin upstairs.

Tossing the banana peel into the trash, Sora began to walk back through the hallway for the library. He wanted to do some reading on the materials for a while as he was having his first examination soon. Sora then entered the library as he saw the various books that any student would have wanted for their studies scattered around. Ranging from books about studies to books about combat, everyone could find it here.

Sora then walked into the medical section and took out a book from it. Looking at it, Sora noted that the book was talking about bones and how they worked. Sora started reading it as he spent a good while reading it, noting how deep and complex it really was. "So the femur is the hardest part of the body... the bone on our legs are harder..." he muttered as he tapped his knee for the femur. He didn't know why he had this sudden interest for the human body but he didn't care about it as well. All he knew was that he liked reading medical books...most likely from that sex ed book from before.

Sora recalled the burnt book and it's contents. Though it had a letter from Nee-san and it made him cry when he read it, the actual contents of the book contained mostly sex positions despite the book charring most of them to be near unreadable. He kept the book because it was the very first book he had ever decided to read and enjoyed it as well. Placing the bone book back on it's shelf, Sora walked back to the health section looking for more books to read. As he felt the various books and their losing intrigue in his eyes, he decided to leave the library and head back to his place to rest.

Walking down the hallways again as he reached the stairs, he couldn't help but hear the moans of pain coming from someone downstairs. The sound was enough to get his attention as he looked down the stairs and noticed a person's foot right down there. Rushing to that person's aid by jumping down the stairs, he noticed a banana peel where he landed and realized that the banana caused the accident. 'This is what I get for not making sure trash gets tossed properly.' Sora thought guiltily as he looked at the leg and how twisted it was.

"Hey are you alright?" Sora asked gently as he looked at the person and was shocked to realize who it was. He had red crimson hair and his rather pained face disguised his normal relaxed face as Sora immediately recognised the person. "Hunter Long!?" Sora said in shock as Hunter finally managed to look at him properly and didn't even bother to make a single expression as the pain on his leg was too much.

"Please! Get me to a doctor!" Hunter shouted as he gripped his right leg tightly. Sora looked at the leg with interest as he decided to ask about it. "Hunter...what happened to your leg?" he calmly asked as Hunter looked at him with some madness in his eyes "I don't know...but it feels like I broke something!" Hunter shouted out in the end as Sora began to touch it. The pain felt like electricity as it surged through his body. "AHH! Just get me a doctor already! I think I broke my leg!" he shouted once more however Sora did not hear that.

Sora's eyes were too focused on something to even pay attention to the cries of Hunter Long... as Sora felt memories go into his mind... memories that he had never known existed. The scenery changed around him, as he found himself no longer standing in a hallway that belonged to the NOL Academy. The clothes he wore had changed to his view as he found himself wearing a black jacket that had multiple holes ripped off and a hoodie inside the jacket. Puzzled, Sora looked around for a bit to get a better understanding to his surroundings.


SORA POV


"Where the hell is this place...?" I said to myself as I looked around my environment. Everyone I looked I saw flames as I began to hear them whisper to my ear. I immediately ignored them as I focused some more on other parts of the environment. He noted the broken structure of it, how there was broken buildings that laid next to something I couldn't make out. It looked like bodies from the distance however they were piled in such a way that I couldn't understand.

"AHHH! My leg! It Hurts!" A voice suddenly called in front of me as I thought that was Hunter who was in front of me. Turning back to the direction of the voice, I opened my mouth in shock. It wasn't Hunter Long who was in front of me but Monika instead as I saw her writhing in pain. "IT HURTS! I THINK I BUSTED MY RIGHT LEG!" She shouted as the battlefield got louder for my ears. "SORA! Check up on Monika!" Another voice yelled, the voice I instantly recognized as Shen.

"A-alright!" I shouted to the voice as I checked Monika's right leg. It was dislocated and a bit broken due to something hard hitting but nothing a good pull couldn't fix. The problem was I couldn't do it without breaking it completely. "JUST DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO SORA! WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" Monika shouted at me as I heard various clangs and twangs in the air. I looked in front to see Marcus as he conquered a small tornado in front of him as he held a strange yellow glowing dagger while Chikacho was in the air soaring to cut down what appeared to be black apparations.

Realizing how much danger everyone was in if I didn't fix Monika now, I took a deep breath as I looked at her with a sense of seriousness. "Listen to me, I am going to pull hard on your leg. Just brace for the impact." I said to Monika as she nodded her head and closed her eyes. Breathing hard, I pulled once where I felt a tudge from it as the first time didn't work. Doing it a second time, I felt it loosen up some more and guessed one more time was just enough for it. Taking in one last breath, I pulled hard as I heard the bone snap.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Another voice Not Monika's shouted as I snapped back to reality...only to see Hunter Long writing in pain. Looking around to see the environment around me was the NOL academy once more. I immediately realized I was experiencing a memory...and that memory managed to over loop with what was happening and made everything real to me. I noticed that another pair of footsteps were coming from the stairs as I saw the ever so regal Tsubaki Yayoi coming to his side.


Moments earlier...


Tsubaki had just finished all of her duties for that day, the paper load was just overwhelming and ridiculous. She was going to meet with her friend, Hunter Long who told her that he was going to wait for her. 'Honestly, I hope I didn't keep him waiting.' Tsubaki thought as she hurried on her walk. As she did so, she approached closer to the flight of steps where she heard something so gut wrenching that it spooked her badly.

"AHHHHHRRRGGGHHH!" A person yelled violently as Tsubaki instinctively closed her ears from how loud it was. As soon as the shout died down a little, Tsubaki realized who was the person that shouted and rushed to the source. As she walked down the stairs with haste and speed, She noticed a crimson red haired man who was being taken care off by a silver haired man with blond tips and immediately recognized who they were.


Tsubaki: HUNTER! SORA!

Sora: ! Tsubaki!? Thank god you're here!

Tsubaki: What happened to you Hunter!?

Hunter: Ahh...My leg...I can't feel my leg!

Tsubaki: Oh no...this cannot be good! Let's get him to a doctor now!

Sora: A-Alright!


As soon as Tsubaki said that, Sora took Hunter on his arms and they rushed him to the nearest clinic on Torifune...


As soon as Sora finished recalling the events of two weeks ago, he realized that there was a person standing right in front of him. "Hey Sora! Why were you zoning out like that?" The person said as her tail wagged right behind her. "Oh! It's nothing Makoto." Sora replied as Makoto simply smiled back at him before they both walked beside each other. As soon as they entered the main building, Sora and Makoto noticed the huge crowd that was beginning to surround Hunter Long.

"People are just glad that he's able to stay despite that metal plate on his leg." The moment Makoto said that, Sora couldn't help but look away from the sight. Feeling a sense of guilt come into him as he did so, he noticed a poster that was attached to the notice board. Walking up to it, he noticed that it had something written on it. Sora decided to speak it out loudly.

"Torifune Tournament of the Students? Sports Bonanza?" Sora said as Makoto giggled at that, "The school is going to host it's usual tournament for the students for the Sports festival. Though the festival ended a month ago, the tournament is for those who want to test their abilities against the students here." Makoto explained as Sora couldn't help but nod his head at that. "I'm going to enter in it! What about it? Join in the tournament with me and let's both get to the finals!" She said with enthusiasm.

Sora stared at the sign once more as he thought about it, seeing that the tournament itself was going to be in a weeks time. He realized how short of a time it is for a person who wants to train as they would finish their exams by today. Thinking about it a little bit, he smiled and nodded his head. He was used to having to train for a short period of time, hell he was already training already. "Sure Makoto. I'm going to sign up for it." He said as he noticed the smile that appeared on her face which made him smile.


Little did he know, signing up for that battle would awaken memories... memories that he would wish remain locked forever...


GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION! I'm sure you all are wondering why on earth this chapter is much shorter than my usual chapters. I am just going to be frank here, Some chapters will be smaller than others to help balance the writing styles. Will this mean that quality will suffer because of it? OH HELL NO! I can guarantee you that you will not see a suffering in writing quality in these shorter chapters. Sometimes you needs shorter chapters to help to balance the longer chapters. The last two chapters were quite long and well I guess this short chapter will help for you people to relax a little. How often will these short chapters appear? Who knows...but I will just say right now... FAREWELL!