From this point on I am going to be in need of a fair number of characters, a couple of them major, reason being, there are 4 classes full of hunters, now if I create each and every character myself, then a few will end up a bit bland, so lets keep things interesting with a few suggestions
"waaaake uuuuuup laaaazy!" An offensively happy voice trilled in Crimsons ear. He opened one eye and glanced at the clock next to his bed.
"Aurora..." he muttered "One, it is 7:21 am, which is a stupid time to be awake, and two... go away."
"huh? I was going to buy you breakfast you know, but if you're going to be like that, none for you." Aurora blew a loud raspberry.
Crimson threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. "Sorry! Please accept my most humble apologies, don't make me grovel!"
Aurora raised an eyebrow at him "You didn't bring any meseta did you?" Crimson shook his head "And the academy won't give us our allowance until Friday, which is three days away" Crimson nodded "So you can't buy yourself any food at all for the next three days." Aurora smiled evilly.
"C'mon, please!" Crimson actually was groveling now, on his knees, hands clasped together "I'm a growing boy, I gotta eat or I'll waste away."
"hmm... hmmm... what's in it for me?"
"Crap... you know I have nothing." This was true, Crimsons back pack had been prepared for him, he had no clue that he was going to be stuck in the hunters academy
"Really? aww, blackmail isn't any fun if I can't get anything out of it." Aurora pouted "Fine, I'll pay for your food until Friday, BUT you're on ramen for every meal, I'm not made of meseta you know."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I won't forget this." Crimson wrapped Aurora in a bear hug. Joke's on her, he thought, I love ramen.
Just then there was a polite knock at the door, three light raps. Without thought Aurora went over and opened it, it was Tatsu. Who was rather surprised to see Aurora open Crimson's door.
He blinked twice in rapid succession "So you guys umm spent the night together?" He blushed red and turned away. Turning away was a bad idea, as it left him open to Aurora smacking him across the back of the head.
"If you'll think with your BRAIN for a moment, me and Crimson are still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and I only just met him! You saying I'm some sort of whore!"
"No! I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything like that. STOP HITTING ME!"
Aurora stopped raining blows down on Tatsu's back, but only because Crimson had picked her up and she was now flailing about in mid-air.
"Thanks" Tatsu mumbled "Anyway, I was just knocking to say that there's only a few minutes before breakfast starts, since you're the only two I know, I figured we could sit together."
Crimson deposited Aurora on Tatsu's side of the door. "Yeah, sure, just give me a moment to get changed and I'll see you in the cafeteria.
Sadly, there was to be no breakfast for them this morning, as Sgt. Carlson had a surprise in store for them.
"Now then kiddies, I don't know if anyone has told you the rules of this lovely place yet, but it is my delightful duty to fill you in on them. But I don't like to repeat myself, so you had all better listen very very carefully hadn't you?" There were nods and general murmurs of agreement.
"Rule one." Carlson beamed at them all "The word of an instructor is law, you don't like it? Too bad, you'd have to complain to one of the principals, and they really aren't likely to take your side." She let this information sink in for a while.
"Rule two, my personal favorite" Carlson smiled her best non-friendly smile "Any dispute between students may be settled with a duel. Disputes include, insults real or imagined, possession of an object, allocation of chores and anything else you lovely people can possibly think of arguing about."
"Crap, that's going to get insane." Crimson whispered to Tatsu, who nodded his agreement.
"The third and final rule is, it's not illegal if nobody finds out about it. Do what you like, but be prepared to face the consequences if you're caught. punishments are SEVERE."
"What you going to do? Give us detention?" Snickered an unsavory looking blonde guy near the back of the room."
"Actually I was thinking more along the lines of stringing you up by your ankles, keeping you there for a day or two and then whipping you until you beg forgiveness."
"You can't be serious!" The blonde was looking very pale all of a sudden.
"Ah, rule number one, the word of an instructor is law. They mean that literally of course, this academy operates outside of police jurisdiction. You can't hide behind niceties such as legal, civil or even human rights while you're here."
"You're a psycho bitch! you know that?" The blonde yelled.
Carlson produced a handgun from its holster around her waist and fired a shot that only just breezed past the students left cheek. The student sat down, stunned. "A few people have told me that, yes. But unfortunately for you, I run your life for now, get used to it." She then smiled brightly. "Oh yes, before I forget, in the spirit of competition, you've all been assigned rivals."
The pink haired Erisa timidly raised a hand "Excuse me Sgt. Carlson, ma'am, but what does that mean exactly?"
"Ah Erisa dear, so nice of you to ask, and so very politely too. Well, what it means is, for each of you there is another student in the academy, one who is roughly your equal. But here is the thing, only one of you may pass. If your rival passes, it doesn't matter how well you do, you fail."
There were numerous mutterings about this latest revelation, few of them approving.
Sgt Carlson cleared her throat "You'll find some papers on the table near the door, find the one with your name on it, that is your rivals profile."
There was a great deal of unorganised milling around as everyone attempted to get their paper at the same time. But eventually it was all sorted out and everyone knew who their rivals were.
Crimson flipped the front page over, the next page was a brief document with details on his rival, there was a photo attached. It was the same dark looking youth that Crimson had encountered the other day. It was sort of creepy to see that flat, unfriendly stare gazing at him unblinkingly. But then Crimson had always been a bit creeped out by photos. He quickly scanned the information on the page.
The guys name was Itami Rudhira, he was 16 years old, had black hair and even blacker eyes. Crimson took another look at the photo, there was definitely something chilling about Itami's eyes.
The next page was more detailed, much to Crimsons surprise, it included a criminal record, a brief personality profile, and some other personal information which Crimson thought really shouldn't be shared, Crimson figured he didn't need to know it anyway. Further thinking was stopped when Aurora bumped into his side.
"Hey Aurora, who you got as a rival?" He asked casually, resting his arm on Aurora's head.
"Violet Persimmon, and it looks like she's a total cow. Look" Aurora held out her data sheet for Crimson's inspection.
"Well yes, she does look like a bulldog chewing broken glass, and whats this? A history of violent crime? Looks like you hit the jackpot with the rival draws huh?"
"Uh huh, and she's 190lbs, I weigh nothing compared to her, how am I supposed to be better than her when it comes to fighting?"
"Be quick, be smart, don't let her sit on you" Crimson joked.
"QUIET!" Sgt Carlsons voice cut through the classes conversations "Right, now I have your attention, you're to report to room 12 in teaching block A, it's near the athletics track, run along now."
The class made an unorganised push for the door. Crimson, having learned better, hung back with Aurora and Tatsu and waited for the rush to subside. When they passed through the doors they heard the sounds of an argument.
The blonde haired kid from before had Erisa pinned against the wall, she seemed to be in some amount of distress.
"So? Your teachers little pet huh?" The blonde kid yelled "Think you're better than everyone else just because that bitch doesn't hate you like she does me? That it?"
Erisa shrank back against the wall "No, that's not it at all, my parents always taught me to be polite, and Sergeant Carlson isn't so bad if you don't cause trouble."
"If I don't cause trouble? You saying I'm a trouble maker? I don't have to take this crap from you, you snobby little whore!"
"I'm sorry" Erisa sank to the floor
"Apologise to my fist bitch." The blonde guy pulled his fist back to strike Erisa as she cowered against the wall. But he met a strong resistance when he tried to move it forwards. He turned round to see Tatsu calmly holding his wrist.
"I think you should say sorry to this young lady." Tatsu said calmly "I also think that you need to be a little more tolerant of your classmates, you're going to be stuck with them for a long time."
"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do? Huh? Since when do I take orders from an albino freak?!?" The kid swung his other fist, which Tatsu easily caught with his free hand. Tatsu then began applying pressure until the kid was forced to his knees, bringing him down to Tatsu's chest height.
"Apologise to this girl, or I will force the apology from you."
The blonde student tried to struggle against Tatsu's grip, but found that he couldn't. He looked up and stared directly into Tatsu's eyes. Red eyes, blood red eyes that met his blue ones without flinching. Tatsu wasn't afraid of him, not in the slightest.
"I'm sorry! There I said it, now let me go you bastard!"
Tatsu released his grip on the youth, who jumped to his feet and slashed at Tatsu with a knife that had been concealed in his boot. Tatsu dodged the slash with a slight movement of his head. The blonde haired student sprinted away. turning back to yell.
"Don't think I'll forget about this Tatsu! I'm John Kayden, remember that name!"
Tatsu shook his head "What kind of name for a hunter is john?" He extended a hand towards Erisa "Are you okay Erisa?"
Erisa took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "I'm fine thank you." She said quietly, despite the fact that tears were still trickling down her cheeks and she was trembling slightly.
"Never been in a fight before?" Tatsu asked in a tone that held so much of kindness that there was no hint of mockery.
Erisa shook her head "Mom always taught me that if I try hard enough, there's no need to fight."
Tatsu smiled at her "If that were true, the world would be a much nicer place to live in."
"I think it is true." Erisa replied "and I want everyone else to believe it too. Umm where did your two friends go?"
Tatsu looked around, Crimson and Aurora were nowhere in sight. Then he looked down and noticed he was yet to let go of Erisa's hand. He immediately flushed red and let go. "They umm must have erm, gone one without me. We're supposed to be going to class remember."
"Oh! I completely forgot." The look on Erisa's face was one of shock, she really had forgotten about the class they were supposed to be attending. She took off down the corridor at a run "Bye mr, thank you very much for helping me."
"I'm Tatsu, Tatsu Littlewing" Tatsu called after her, before realising that he too had better hurry if he didn't want to be disciplined for being late.
Short chapter again, but it's either short chapters or longer waits for updates (which take ages anyway) I'm sure my fans (all 2 of them) will understand