AN: Let me know what you guys think about the story, I appreciate reviews.
The gates that had once blockaded off the center area were now pushed open, allowing the huge crowd of people to flow in. Gareki followed the crowed through the gates into the open area where the large group began to disperse, going to their desired sections. Each organization was represented by their own board, which was approximately 12 feet long. Spaced out evenly on each board were five card slots where, if you wished to apply, you would slide your card through, sending ones information to the organization captains. Each board was decorated, representing what each had to offer.
Starting off right next to the first entrance, since there were many entrances into the area, were the highest numbered organizations. The first to be seen was number 2000. The board itself was barely decorated since the organization didn't have much to offer. There were a few pictures of the better sections of the city—that didn't look completly rundown—with just a pain grey background. Although it was the highest number, the board had a long line of people applying. It was a wise idea to apply to the one organization that didn't refuse anyone, considering its rank, in case you couldn't get accepted into any other number.
Gareki waited in line for nearly half an hour before it was his turn. He walked up to the board and in one quick motion, he swiped his card through, sending his application electronically to the organization captain. As he walked away, he felt his cell phone vibrate, indicating that he had already been accepted. It wasn't surprising, since all citizens have to belong to an organization, the highest one is forced to accept all applications that apply.
Gareki glanced down at his cell phone to check the time and found that it was only 2 pm. He couldn't leave until all organizations had decided to accept or deny the candidates and the deadline wasn't until midnight. Letting out a sigh, Gareki decided to walk down toward the lower numbered areas, since he had ten hours to kill.
"Hey, Hirato, why don't we accept a new candidate this year," said a bored first ship captain.
"You know as well as I do that we can't just accept anyone because we want to," replied the man named Hirato. He was currently looking through the applications that had applied, and so far he had found nothing relevantly close to anyone meeting the requirements. Circus typically looked for candidates that had at least some experience in fighting and had scored goods remarks on it. They were also judged on personality and how well they might be in stressful situations. There had yet to be anyone applying that had any fighting experience at all. "From the looks of things, no one is going to be accepted this year."
Standing up from his chair, Hirato sent the holographic files to the first ship captain, named Tsukitachi, with a wave of his hand. "Continue looking through the applications and notify me if you find one that maybe accepted. I'm going to head down to the city and take a look around."
"W-wait a second! You can't just leave all the work to—" Before the first ship captain could finish Hirato had already vanished from the room, leaving only silence in his wake.
In the past six hours, Gareki had stopped and applied at twenty two different organizations to entertain himself but his patients was quickly running short. It was only 8 pm and he still had four more hours to go. It had become dark so the streets were illuminated by the street lights and the lights shinning off of the boards. Gareki sighed and looked around at his surroundings. He was currently standing next to the organization number 104. Compared to number 2000, this one had a bright blue background and multiple pictures of parts of a large looking city and what appeared to be high ranking people in it's society. The women in the pictures were dressed long dark colored dresses and and men were dressed in formal dress shirts with dark colored ties.
It looked like an easy place to live with having enough money to afford a nice apartment and having fancy dress clothes that you could wear whenever you want. Most people would jump at the chance to move up from a place in the ghetto area of number 2000 and into the semi-rich city of area 104 where you would never have to struggle to live. Districts like that, however, are the places where Gareki would feel suffocated and trapped in a repetitive lifestyle. Gareki would pick living in the ghettos over living in a stiff environments anytime. Not that he had to worry though, it wasn't like he would be picked to move to an organization like that anyway.
In the past couple of hours, Gareki's phone had gone off 3 times, indicating that he had also been accepted into three other organizations. He had yet to check which ones had accepted him, but that was something he could worry about later. He continued walking until he had reached the lowest two numbers. They each had the longest lines he had seen today.
Organization number two: Kafka. It was rumored that they did illegal genetic research and experimentation but it had yet to be proven. It was, however, widely known for their brilliant scientists and medical researchers. The organization took in, on average, two people each year that either went into the science or medical fields of study. Their board consisted of metallic silver background and was filled with pictures of some of their medical and science labs. One person in particular in the pictures caught Gareki's attention. He had light blue hair along with light blue eyes and was wearing black coat that contrasted strongly with the silver background of the board. He had an odd feeling about him but Gareki couldn't place what it was. He then turned his attention the other organization.
Organization number one: Circus. It is known to the public as a defense organization that works for the government and performs raids to capture criminals and solve crimes. Circus had its own rumors circling their actions. People say they hunt strange looking monsters and have even raided Kafka. The hate and suspicion between the two organizations was not a secret to the public. Circus has been looking for a way to expose Kafka's illegal genetic research for years but has never found enough proof to do so. The chances of getting into Circus was very slight considering the irregularity of the candidates they pick. The most recent candidates accepted was a girl from last year, and the other was a boy from six years earlier. Their board was splashed with multiple bright colors and had pictures of some of the Circus members on the front. One consisted of two girls, one with long blond hair pulled into pigtails and the other had long turquoise colored haired pulled into a ponytail. Another picture consisted of a boy who had short blond hair and a bandage on his cheek.
Gareki was tempted for a moment to apply to the two organizations but he had to consider whether he was willing to sacrifice his pride if he didn't get accepted. Deciding that he didn't have much to lose Gareki spent the next two hours waiting to send in his application. Gareki checked the time and it read 10:30 pm. 'Great, now what am I suppose to do for the ne—' Gareki halted mid-thought when he heard a commotion up ahead.
Hirato had been walking around in the streets for nearly two hours now. He had taken Tsukumo down with him to help look for a possible candidate and they had split up to search. He was dressed in his usual black suit, black top hat and with his cane. Just as he was coming to the lower numbered area he heard a commotion up ahead. He ventured closer to hear exactly what was going on.
"Look what you did you punk! You messed up my clothes, now how are you going to pay for it?" said a large muscular looking man.
"I-I'm sorry, but I-I don't have any money on me," said a timid white haired boy.
"Then maybe I'm just going to have to beat it out of you," said the man as he picked up the young white haired boy by the front of his shirt. Hirato was about to step in when a raven haired boy stepped forward.
The young man in the blue coat reach around from behind the man and grabbed the wrist that was holding the white haired boy. "Why don't you go someplace where you might actually win a fight," the boy said.
"Why don't you go someplace where you might actually win a fight," Gareki said. He met the man's glare with a glare of his own. Gareki gripped the man's wrist hard enough that it forced him to release the white haired boy. The man turned to him and pulled his wrist free from Gareki's grip before taking a few steps back to put space between them. He reached his hand around and grabbed the gun that was his pack pocket. Gareki saw his movement and reached around to grab his own gun that he carried. The man fired one bullet directly at Gareki's chest. At that moment, Gareki let his reflexes take over and aimed the gun to match the projectile of the man's and fired his own bullet. The two bullets collided midair, flattening from the equal force exerted from both sides.
The people around them seemed to pause for a moment, not able to believe what had just occurred. Gareki took that moment of confusion to kick the gun from the man's hand, disarming him, and hold his gun toward him. "That's quite enough, anymore shots fired and you'll both be put under arrest," a man dressed in a black suit stepped forward with a look that said he was not to be messed with.
The man tsked before turning his back and walking away. Gareki sighed and returned his gun to his back pocket and looked toward the boy who was still sitting on the ground in shock. Gareki rubbed the back of his head before extending a hand to the boy. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"I-I'm alright, thank you!" the boy replied with a smile lighting up his face as he took Gareki's hand. "My name is Nai!"
"Gareki," he replied pulling the boy up.
"That's quite the aim you got there," said the black dressed man startling Gareki who had almost forgot the man was there. "I am Hirato, second ship captain of the organization Circus."