Element 3- Examination Hell Part One- Nerves
Commander Sameji looked from her to him, slightly puzzled.
"And you are?" he asked silently.
"Sorato, sir. Fuujin Sorato; I'm here to take the test." He paused to catch his breath. He'd nearly missed the exam, sleeping in.
"I… see." The other teachers looked at him with concern.
"Sir, don't students need an invite?" a blond-haired teacher asked. Sameji paused, considering this.
"True, but I think we can let this one slide- we need all the recruits we can get!" he gave a jolly laugh. The examiner standing next to him glared.
"But if we let him in, what will we do if other's just show up off the streets? We don't want to look like hypocrites, and we already have several applying for positions." He looked over to the right side of the room, where a crowd of students stood, frowning at the two newcomers. Sameji, hesitated, then gave his cheerful reply.
"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it!" everyone stared at him in disbelief.
"And he's supposed to be the head of the police academy?" one student whispered to another. The room was suddenly filled with muted talk.
"Silence!" the blonde teacher yelled, raising his hand- his voice had a foreign tone to it; he tended to roll his R's. The room grew quiet. "Yes," the teacher continued, "now if there aren't any Iother/I interruptions we can get started… no? IGood./I Now, if everyone will calmly get into three single-file lines your examiner will deal with you shortly." He motioned towards three people dressed in black pants and green vests. Fuujin stared at the examiners, watching as the crowd slowly, noisily, dispersed into three lines, one behind each examiner. He suddenly noticed a pair of eyes focused in him.
"Oh!" realization struck him, and he joined one of the lines, looking around to see which one Kanami was in. The faint murmur died down as the last person joined a line.
"All right then, let me explain how this exam works." The teacher with blonde hair announced as he stood up.
b Earlier that same day. 11:40 AM (Lunch Break!)/b
"Hi-chan," Mizuki blushed, clasping her bag over her chest as she slumped against a statue. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and she was in love.
"How cliché." A voice from behind startled her. She spun around to look up at the sun, eclipsed by a dark figure.
"Oh, hey Azume-kun." She sighed, slumping. The white-haired boy smiled down at her, bag slung over his left shoulder. A fountain was spraying behind him- they were in a small park. Concrete stairs led up from where she was sitting, near the center of the bowl.
"What do you want?" she looked at the boy. He wore a black vest; an un-tucked white shirt underneath- a black tie was fastened around his neck. Black jeans hung loosely from his hips, slightly covered by his shirt.
"You missed class yesterday," his azure eyes were serious.
"I was… visiting a friend in the hospital." His eyes lit up.
"Oh! A friend?" his eyes grew less serious; he smiled, cocking his head to the side. "Was it his name you were saying a second ago?"
I"Ack!"/I she cringed. "You heard that?" he nodded brightly, crouching down to look at her.
"Is he Ijust/I a friend? What's this Ifriend/I of yours name?" he cocked his head childishly. She blushed, holding her satchel tighter.
"Hirameki Raito," she answered dreamily.
"IThe/I Hirameki Raito?" he exclaimed. "The famous ranger?"
"Yeah…" she replied apprehensively. "What about him?" Azume scoffed.
"You haven't heard?" he exclaimed. "Hirameki Raito's entire team was just killed!" Mizuki's eyes glazed over in shock. Painful realization hit her.
"IWhat/I" she cried. "IBecause of me/I" Azume stared at her, perplexed.
"You? What do you have to do with Raito and his team?" he asked nervously. She closed her eyes sadly.
"They were protecting me. Yesterday, on my way to school… Iwhen that monster attacked…/I" she looked down at her feet, unable to go on. He looked at her with concern.
"Mizuki…" she looked up at him. "… Don't go blaming yourself for this. There were lots of people in the area when that thing attacked. They were protecting more than just you." She gave a weak, forced smile.
"Your right, I suppose…"
"Damn right I am!" he continued, "and if you really want to make it up to him I think the Police Academy is holding ranger exams for the next few days!" he slapped his hand over his mouth. II've said too much./I She smiled excitedly at him, leaping to her feet.
"I'll do it!" she exclaimed, fire in her eyes, backpack dangling from her clenched fist. "I'll make it up to Hi-chan one way or another!"
"Mizuki, wait!" Azume called.
"Thank you Azume-kun!" Mizuki called as she ran off, smiling at him over her shoulder.
b Back to present. 11:57 AM/b
"Let's get down to details!" the examiner leading Fuujin's line clapped excitedly. The blonde-haired teacher stared at her.
"Fine, I'll let your examiners tell you the details, since Houzuki-san seems so intent on Iinterrupting me/I" he shooed the students off pettily, glaring at the woman with orange hair furiously.
"Excellent!" the woman cheered, turning to her group. Her long orange hair spun around gracefully, draping over her shoulders. Her eyes were bright like lanterns. "I shall now explain the details!" Fuujin yawned, adjusting his glasses. "You there! Pay attention when I speak, or do you want to fail?" she exclaimed, pointing at him madly.
Fuujin finished, staring around wildly. "Are you talking to me?" the examiner gritted her teeth angrily.
"If you were paying attention you would have known that!"
"Sorr-" the sound of doors crashing open interrupted his apology. The blonde teacher let out a sigh of exasperation, massaging his temples.
"Another interruption." He muttered coldly. "ANOTHER INTERUPTION AND I MAY AS WELL CANCEL THESE EXAMS!" his finger snapped to point furiously at the small girl who'd just barged in.
"Kyaaaaah!" she jumped. The person sitting next to the teacher whispered something into his ear. He put his head in his hands, shaking it sadly.
"Fine, fine. Since I apparently can't do that… Ijust go over there/I" he pointed painfully without looking at a random group. It just happened to be Kanami's.
IThose eyes…/I Fuujin stared as the girl happily skipped over to join Kanami's group. IThat's the girl from yesterday…/I he didn't have time to finish his train of thought, for the second the girl had joined the line his instructor snapped loudly, calling attention back to herself.
"Okay then! Now I'll just explain." Houzuki paused, looked around as if expecting yet another person to barge in, then continued. "All right! The exam is broken down into three separate areas, and those areas are then broken down further. These three areas are Intelligence, Leadership, and Combat Skills. Each part of the exam will test you in one (or more) of these three areas. You will be judged throughout, and if you are caught cheating," she made a neck-slicing motion with her hands, "understood?" several grunts from the line of students. "Good. Now then, the first exam will be… the Written!" she said this with a snap, her voice rising on the last word.
"Written? But I didn't study?"
"Nobody told me about a written!"
"Arghhh!" one student bashed his head into a wall.
The sounds of complaint from the students were obvious on all except Fuujin. He actually looked pleased. IAll right/I He thought, clenching his fist triumphantly. II always was better at written exams/I
"Ok!" the examiner said pointing towards a door near the front of the line. "Head through there for the first part!" the other examiners motioned towards their groups own doors, and the lines began moving. Fuujin gave Kanami the silent thumbs-up as he stepped through the doorway. Kanami slapped her hand to her face, shaking her head in embarrassment. She then stepped through her own door, taking a deep breath.
b 12:04 PM/b
The room was spacious, though it didn't look that way filled with all the long wooden tables that were arranged within. Kanami let out a sigh, taking the first seat she saw. A small dark-haired girl with startlingly blue eyes sat down at her side, kicking back with her feet on the table. Kanami stared at her.
"Aren't you nervous?" she asked. She was pretty nervous herself.
"No." the small girl replied calmly, cracking a smile. "It it's meant to be, then true love will pull through." Kanami gawked at her, smiling uncertainly.
"True… ilove/i" her voice cracked slightly. The girl opened her eyes, looking at her cheerily.
"Yeah. If it's meant to be, you know… it'll happen." She said simply. Kanami hadn't thought of it this way- instantly her tension eased… went away.
She smirked at the girl. "Let's hope so." An exam assistant slapped a test down in front of her; she gave the girl one final smile and started on the test.
… Went away… ifor the most part./i The second she looked down at the piece of paper in front of her the tension returned, flooded back into her. iI… I don't think I know these./i She leaned forward, propping her head up with her arms. The pencil was balanced lightly in her hands- it began to tremble. She tapped it nervously on the table. The person in front of her turned to glare furiously at her. iOkay, calm down Kanami/i she meditated, setting her pencil down and taking a cleansing breath. Her mind drifted to thoughts of her late brother, and she bit her lip. …IYakedo give me strength/I she focused on his image, drawing confidence from it. IYou can do this… he could do this./I Taking another breath she once again looked down at the heartless test before her. IDamn it! Fuujin-kun was always the better test-taker. Usually we'd just study together, and this would all be a snap! But this… this is all third-year stuff./I Her eyes trailed down the paper, looking for something she knew- Ithere/I Her eyes caught something.
A leadership question?
She looked intently at this question. II know this! The answer is D/I She quickly filled in the circle, moving on to the next question. II know this one too! And this one… and this one/I She was on a roll; this test was easy- much better than the tortured night of sleepless worries and painful memories she'd endured preparing for it.. With a clack she slapped down her pencil, finished with the questions she could figure out. The examiner came and took her test- he walked away shaking his head. IIt's not my fault I didn't know how to triangulate my enemy's position or stuff like that./I She thought angrily watching the examiner. IOh well, did my best… Yakedo./I For a second she felt a surge of depression welling up, but she choked it down. INo. I have to be strong… for him./I
She sat back, resting with her arms behind her head. Something made her decide to look down and see how the other girl was doing. She snuck a look from her relaxed position. The girl's hand was moving so fast, almost filling in the circles before the girl had time to read them.
IWow… she's amazing/I With a clack the girl was finished. II wonder how Fuujin-kun is doing…/I
Fuujin glared at the page blankly. Do I even know these? He thought weakly, pulling back his hair nervously. IAhhhhhhhhhhhhhh/I
Fuujin: Tests! I HATE TESTS!
Kanami: No you don't. You were just saying how much you Iloved/I tests.
Fuujin: Well things change!
Raito solemnly: Yeah. Things do change.
Mizuki silently: Like what Hi-chan?
Raito giving Mizuki a playful noogie: LIKE YOU CALLING ME HI-CHAN!
Mizuki whining: Hi-chan, STOP!
Yakumo: It never stops.
Raito and Mizuki stop playing to look at new character
Mizuki: Sir? Who are you?
Yakumo: You'll find out soon enough, so just chill.
Fuujin: Chill. Next chapter… aw SHOOT! I forgot what happens!
Kanami giggling: Fuujin-kun! You just stumbled onto your answer.
Fuujin: I did?
Kanami nod nod: Yup. Next element- The Shooting Range!
Fuujin in tears of joy: Yeah, because little girls and boys get to play with guns!
Mizuki: HEY!