Radiance Academy

Class Three

xxx

'Come on Tai, don't fall behind!'

'In case you're missing it, I've got the suitcase!'

'Oh, come on! Don't be such a baby!'

'Yuri!'

'What?'

'It's Mr Uchiyamada! We're here!'

Tai narrowed his eyes as the trio approached a tree within the thick wood. His mom and dad had begun the drive home, leaving him behind with Megumi and Yuri, but for the last half hour he'd done nothing but trudge over tree roots and drag a suitcase through untouched woodland.

And now it seemed the two girls seemed satisfied that they were finally at the school, even though nothing was there apart from a tree and an old man with a cane.

'Mr Uchiyamada, we brought someone new!'

'Hm?' the old man ponderously said, looking at them. 'I see… well, if you're quite sure Ms Tachibana.'

Tai saw nothing but a shambling wreck of an old man and a tree. What was he meant to be looking at, a school behind the tree?

'Uh… why's this old guy stood in the middle of the woods?'

Yuri only smiled deviously at him.

'Just wait and see, Tai.'

Tai waited as instructed, but still found it mightily confusing as to why an old man was sat in the woods alone. Had he been abandoned by some vindictive relative, or had his stroll gone wrong?

Whatever it was, it had to be more natural than Tai's day – that much was for sure. The very fact his mom and dad had left him in the woods, many miles from home with nothing but a suitcase said it all.

'Very well,' the old man smiled genially and tapped at the tree thrice with his cane.

What happened then defied belief.

Tai watched with subdued shock and fear as the tree's bark began to glow, the light joining so naturally before him that it was like watching a bath's water gather together. Within seconds the bark's light had converged into the form a small bubble before them, shining harmoniously. It was a portal if he had ever seen one in movies or games.

'Tai, we need to walk through it,' Megumi told him softly.

'Yeah, and don't be scared – you'll be a total copy of Megumi if you do.'

'Yuri! Stop that!'

'What?' she asked with blissful ignorance. 'If he's chicken out here just imagine what Mimi's crowd'll do to him in there. Better for him to open his mind a little anyway.'

Tai barely heard them. How could he be bothered to listen when a hole in reality was sitting right in front of him? It was in contravention to everything he'd been taught at school about physics and science and what could be real.

Well, what was more real and surreal at once than standing before the genuine article?

Trembling, he lifted a hand toward the light, sweeping at it as he would to test water's heat. It was warm as the water would be, but it was also numbing – his arm felt completely relaxed and at ease with a simple touch.

'What is this?'

'Tai, can you stop hogging the portal?' Yuri asked behind him.

'This can't be – I mean, can this actually happen?'

'Oh for-!' the next thing Tai knew he was engulfed by the light, Yuri's foot pushing him in with an uncontested strength as he hadn't expected such impatience. It felt like he was falling through the sky with a major case of vertigo.

But then he landed in the dirt, his suitcase standing beside him like some foreboding edifice, its intent known. Tai sealed his eyes as his fear became real and its weight shifted, smacking him in the head. It was a good thing he'd packed lazily and lightly. His head hurt more out of irritation than anything else.

As he got the suitcase off of his head, a hand came into view.

'Need help?'

He detested the offer of the sweet voice. He slapped the offered hand away and got to his feet alone.

'No thanks, Yuri…' he sneered hatefully. 'Don't do that again.'

'Or what?' her smile was broad and her eyes twinkled with mischief. 'Gonna heal me to death or something like that, soccer boy?'

'Y-Yuri…'

Tai blinked; Megumi had come out of nowhere, but she'd made no noise, as though she had teleported or just appeared. Sighing, Tai knew he would never understand the ways of these strange people.

But he was one too now, like it or not, wasn't he?

And he liked it about as much as he understood it. He was so confused it hurt.

'Ms Ohno!' Yuri was suddenly waving, and then Tai caught sight of what he had landed in front of.

It was huge. Like, the size of a village huge, and that didn't even go into the height of some of the buildings. Some of them must have been ten, no, twelve stories high!

There were storage facilities, a running track and plenty of flowerbeds. Radiance Academy was just that, radiant and beyond belief. It was like one of the super-academies from Tai's animes huge, but to see one in real-life was dumbfounding. How nobody could find it was a mystery to him, since the buildings easily climbed over the tallest trees in the wood around it.

'Mr Kamiya?'

His eyes returned from the skies to the earth, a rather strict-looking young woman standing before him in a suit. As if only to add to the image of hard-work and disassociation from society she also wore thick glasses.

But behind it, he had to admit, she was pretty damn cute. Far too cute to be the owner of the shrill and cold voice he'd heard on the phone. That had to have been static, surely.

'On behalf of the student body and the staff, I welcome you to Radiance Academy,' she offered a handshake, her voice apparently not a transmitted error. 'I'm Naomi Ohno. We spoke on the phone.'

'I guessed that much,' Tai thought critically, taking her hand in a brief shake. 'Thanks… I still don't get what's going on, but thanks…'

She smiled thinly, 'I'm here to induct you, so there's much to discuss. As it is, you shall be considered a 'transfer student' here for the time being, as the academic year is close to its end. After summer, I believe we can have you at the entrance ceremony.'

'Right,' he took his hand back. 'So… what's first then?'

'First I would like you to come to my office. With incidents like these, reports need filing and concealment of what happened must take place. Bleeding to death in the park isn't easily hidden from the common government or authorities, you see, and we like to know when our enemy makes it move.'

'Who? Those Junta guys?' Tai guessed, the woman's expression immediately darkening.

A serendipitous result of a female being agitated by something would be one who makes a rather adorable pouting face. This was not one of those results. It was the horrifying antithesis of one of those faces. The deputy-headmistress looked like some evil that was once banished.

'Yes, so I was told,' she admitted, her jaw clenched. 'That reminds me,' her eyes moved across to Megumi, who seemed to shrink under the look, 'I believe you were sent to protect him until we could be sure. Taking him somewhere public other than school was not a wise way to go about it, Ms Kanada.'

'I-I'm sorry, nothing had happened for so long, s-so I thought it might be safe…'

'Ms Kanada, I'm not angry with you, but it was a careless move on your part,' the woman lectured knowingly, a small twitch at the corners of her lips the only sign that she was attempting a smile. 'I despise them and what they stand for, but I despise my students being hurt and killed even more so.'

'I-I'm really sorry… I didn't mean…'

A hand on her shoulder silenced her.

'You brought him, as you promised you would, both of you,' she said in passing, as though only to confirm Yuri was even there and not pouting. 'Now then, Mr Kamiya, your sister is looking forward very much to seeing you, but I'm afraid I need to induct you. On that subject, do you have the forms, Ms Kanada?'

'I do,' Yuri drawled, grabbing an envelope from within her blazer and passing it off to the deputy-headmistress without a second's hesitation. 'Here.'

'Why thank you, Ms Tachibana,' she examined the envelope's exterior in distraction before even glancing at Yuri. 'I heard of timely alert. It may have saved Mr Kamiya and Ms Kanada from Junta. Well done.'

'Don't say it like you mean it…' Tai scolded inwardly, watching the air between the two almost distort with a heavy tension – it was a wonder no sparks were emitted by either one's glares. 'So… Kari's missed me, right?'

'Oh, most definitely,' Ms Ohno looked all-too-happily back to him. 'I've never seen a girl so alight with happiness before in the Academy, but she seemed pleased when I told her. She should be in her class now, so best we don't disturb her and make a scene. It may upset some of the students.'

Tai frowned at that, 'What's that meant to mean?'

'You will find the answer in time, but for now, come with me. Girls, it's been several long months for you, so you may have the day to yourselves. If you wish I'm certain the headmistress will grant you extended absence passes.'

'No thanks,' Yuri shot down without a care, 'my dad's still not said 'sorry' for freaking out on me.'

'I-I don't think my parents would be happy seeing me, either…' Megumi added with a fake smile on her lips. 'Can we see the headmistress? We have a letter to give her from Tai's mom and dad.'

'Of course. Mr Kamiya, follow me please.'

xxx

Incredibly, it had taken a solid fifteen minutes to even find her office. He had been led down actual streets on the campus until they came to the shortest building of three stories at the most, though its importance was clear, as it was utterly separate from any of the other buildings and it was at the head of the street.

He still couldn't believe it – a school's own street. One of a few at that. As if he didn't feel pressured by academia as it was, he now had to live and walk in it.

Inside the smallest building, Tai's eyes were met by the most desolate corridor ever – it was designed like the inside of a courthouse. Not only that, but there was absolutely nobody around. It was… eerie, to put it lightly.

'What is this place?' he asked, his eyes scanning every detail from the tiles of the floor to the flower vases.

'A courthouse.'

Tai froze to a standstill. Even in his thoughts, it had been a joke, but seriously?

Ms Ohno, noticing he'd halted, came to a stop as well and elaborated.

'You might think it strange, but bullying is a severe problem that needs severe punishment in this place. Here, a small case of bullying the weak could lead to injuries you cannot currently understand. For that reason, we have a court and staffing in the court to properly punish those who flaunt their might at others or might be captured Junta members. Why the face, Mr Kamiya?'

'Me and Megumi were almost toast at the park, so I get the whole punishing thing…' Tai's eyes wandered the courthouse again. 'But… isn't this a bit much? It's a school, so there're kids younger than me too, right?'

'I understand your concerns, but it must and will continue to be this way. Mild punishment teaches nothing. Heavy punishment, everything.'

She said it so calmly that it might as well have been discussed over friendly drinks. But Tai wasn't in a drunken stupor where he didn't grasp or care about what she was implying. He knew that she was admitting to punishments for kids.

He knew it – they were dangerous freaks.

Even so, did they deserve whatever this nutjob had in mind for stepping out of line?

'Don't give me that look, Mr Kamiya,' he hadn't realised that he was glaring until she spoke. 'This is in extreme cases only. I'm not a monster, and neither is the headmistress. A student council is established to deal with minor infractions and refer to me if anything else need be done.'

For the deputy-headmistress she sure threw her weight around, Tai thought critically. If she was only the deputy then what sort of whacked-out woman was the actual headmistress?

'As it is, I might add, anyone is applicable for the council, though with it being the end of the academic year soon… I would ask you to refrain from approaching them until after the new semester begins.'

At the head of the stairs, the corridors branched right and left from one main pair of doors, one more door at one end and the other adjacent to it.

'My office is on the left,' she instructed, Tai following after her. 'The headmistress is on the right, but she is only to be disturbed on the most important of occasions, understood? She has vital duties that she must perform without distractions. If you need anything, come to me and me alone.'

'Aye, aye, captain,' Tai mumbled back.

'Excuse me?'

'I said 'yes ma'am'.'

'Hmph,' she pushed her office door open, not bothering to invite him in and making him feel like an intruder as he followed and closed the door. 'One thing I want you to know with every assurance is that expulsion isn't an issue here.'

'I can't get expelled?' Tai echoed simply, agape at the idea of such uncommon freedom from following school rules. 'T-then what's the point of rules?'

'I said you can't be expelled,' she took her leather seat behind the desk, Tai taking the one opposite her. 'However, we can make life difficult as need be to keep you in line, Mr Kamiya. Whilst Junta prowl the streets, making it ethically questionable to expel you from this place, we will simply send you to one of the four other academies. I hear some are filled with an unpleasant lot of ruffians for students.'

'There's four more of these places?' Tai was stunned further; any more and he risked his jaw locking itself in that position. 'That's… cool, I guess…'

'Yes, it is,' she sounded every bit of the word 'uninterested'. 'Now that you know the position of the school's policy, I can formally enter you into our student body. Of course, you have every right to not start classes now that we are mere weeks from summer vacation.'

'Nah, I've not got much else to do – y'know, what with some crazy people out to get me. What's a bit of English class gonna do?'

'You misunderstand – while we teach common subjects, we also additionally teach the history of our own and rather than only conventional physical education, we also hold classes on control. I'm happy to say that we have thought of everything that many former students needed, whatever the path they may have chosen.'

'Okay…' Tai was a little waylaid by everything he was being told, but that didn't stop him. 'So… do I start class tomorrow? Where is my room, anyway?'

'You can start tomorrow, but for today, I would prefer it that you have a guided tour. Luckily, I know just the person. Across from my office, Ms Kanada and Ms Tachibana should be finished with their report. Ask Ms Tachibana and she will show you around.'

'Yeah… um…'

'Yes?'

'When can I see Kari?'

'Soon enough,' she told him, face betraying nothing. 'For now, I would like to be alone for the process of inducting you.'

'Uh… sure,' Tai got to his feet and pulled his suitcase along with him out of the office, closing the door behind him. 'She's out of her mind.'

'Who is?' he hadn't even noticed that Yuri was there, waiting for him. 'Don't tell me – the deputy-headmistress, right? Whatever she's doing, it's apparently working with some teacher.'

'What d'you mean?'

'I'll leave it to your imagination,' she chirped. 'Wanna start this tour?'

Tai was surprised by that, 'How'd you know?'

'I listened through the door,' she said with a cheeky smile. 'Duh.'

'Hmph,' was Tai's reply. 'Fair enough.'

'Come on. I'll show you what's what.'

'And that's in this tour, is it?' Tai joked, but Yuri was still smiling hugely.

'I'll show you what's what.'

xxx

'That's the library, that's dorm three, that's dorm four, that's a tram for lazy people… pretty much we've got thirteen dorms like these, but it'll be a while 'til we have to build new ones. Some are empty, have been for years.'

Tai was rattled by the rapid-fire declarations as Yuri pointed from building to building, not caring to explain what they were like. Finally, at the towering dorm six, she came to a standstill. Tai was grateful, the suitcase beginning to tire his arm. He felt as though they had been going up a gentle slope.

'That's dorm six. That's yours and mine, but Megumi's is in dorm three. In there there's this really annoying girl called Mimi – want my advice, don't go near her. She's always got a protective fanclub and it can go to her head sometimes. Other than that, there's nice people in here.'

Tai didn't care about that, 'Where's Kari staying?'

'Dorm two, I think,' she pressed a finger to her chin in thought. 'Two's got these specialists who deal with younger people with health problems. That's why none of her attacks before have been serious.'

'That's good…' Tai breathed a little easier – his sister had never had the best constitution, and even the slightest panic could set her off. 'Is – y'know… is she happy here?'

'As far as I can tell – Megumi's her friend and I'm just a third-wheel in it, so I don't see her all that often. You can go to dorm two later and check yourself. School's out here at five, but if she's in some club then it could be seven or even eight when you see her.'

'That's late,' Tai scrutinised, though Yuri was waving it off. 'What?'

'Big bad soccer champion Tai Kamiya worrying about a twelve year-old walking some well-lit street after curfew with security walking around?'

'Well when you put it like that.'

'Rest easy, you're her brother after all, not her dad,' Yuri teased, prodding a finger into his chest. 'Ease up a little – it's been a year and the worst thing that's happened, happened to you.'

Tai grimaced at the memory. Even if by some unnatural miracle he'd survived, just knowing that he was close to dying in a pool of someone else's blood was a lot to take in. He preferred to think of it as a nightmare he woke up from.

'Yeah, I guess…'

'C'mon, don't be all grouchy and enjoy yourself. It's really nice here and there are really nice people, too. Sure, they take a while to open up, but once they do you'll have best friends for life!'

'Friends…'

'Oh, c'mon Tai, I'm your friend aren't I?' she put on a softer expression, complete with 'puppy-dog' eyes.

'What, so Megumi's not?' Tai laughed.

'Oh, you've got no idea…'

'Of what?'

'And now I'll show you your room,' Yuri said ignorantly, advancing into the tall building before Tai could stop her, forcing him to hurry after her with a suitcase. 'I heard from the headmistress that you got room #1124.'

Tai could only stare.

'What?'

'There's that many rooms here?'

'No – '11' is the floor and '24''s your room. Mine's #612.'

'Oh, sure. I knew that.'

'Really? You knew that?' she wasn't even trying to mask her scepticism. 'You know something else?'

'W-what?'

'There's a soccer club here. Only problem is, I'm captain.'

'Yeah, I don't buy that.'

'I'm not for sale.'

'Nice comeback, shorty.'

'Nice nickname, chibi.'

'Nice try, I'm taller than you.'

A sharp pain in his knee changed that, making him fall to it in pain. She had kicked him!

'Not anymore you're not,' Yuri cackled devilishly. 'It's mostly the hair anyway, chibi.'

'What happened to the new kid not being bullied on their first day?' Tai growled, rubbing at his knee to try and rid himself of the stabbing feeling that kept him from standing. 'Forget shorty, I'm calling you 'ugly' now.'

Her hand shot to her chest as though he had stabbed her in the heart, 'Little ol' me? Ugly? Tai, no wonder you didn't have a girlfriend for all those months.'

'Hey, shut up!' Tai could feel his face flush. 'I've had plenty of people interested!'

'Soccer coaches don't count,' she scoffed. 'Gross, actually. Don't touch me, I've heard that idiocy's contagious!'

'Sucks to be you then, ugly.'

She kicked him, this time in his good knee.

'Uncalled for!' he shouted at her, unable to stand up.

'Don't be such a wuss, chibi,' she shot back, offering a hand that she rescinded as soon as he reached for it. 'Stand on your own feet. That's how it's gonna be here.'

'What, am I going to have other bearded girls kicking me in the knees?'

This time he caught sight of the kick and blocked it with his arms. Feeling the power in it, Tai could almost believe that she was captain of a soccer team.

'I don't have a beard,' she said firmly.

'Defensive for someone who doesn't. Don't worry, I think it goes with the moustache.'

Again, he caught the kick before it did serious damage. He was actually beginning to enjoy teasing her in a strange fashion. It wasn't as though he could stand up at the moment anyway.

Whether she was seeing it as good fun he didn't know or care. Making her self-conscious was nothing compared to the sudden antics she had performed.

'Whatever,' she stuck her nose in the air. 'Get up and stop being so stupid, chibi.'

'Whatever you say, your highness.'

xxx

Hobbling, Tai pulled his suitcase from the elevator and followed Yuri dutifully, the girl giving a hateful silence as she led him down a corridor of doors on the eleventh floor. Each had a plaque with the room number, but apparently she was going to see him to his room herself.

She opened a door and waited from Tai to catch up, letting him inside his new home.

It was breathtaking.

It was smaller than his apartment, and there were only two doors to adjoining rooms, but it was still sizable for one person. There was a couch, a big-screen TV and a complimentary games console. Other than that, an entrance into a kitchen area was beside him and large windows gave him a view of the night sky and a few apartments below his in the building across the street.

'This is mine?' Tai couldn't believe it. 'I mean, all this, for me?'

'Yep,' the affronted girl gave no inkling of forgiveness.

'Look, I'm sorry about before,' Tai told her honestly. 'But you're the one who kneecapped me!'

'Yep.'

'Look, if I change it back to 'shorty' will you be okay?'

'Yep,' she echoed emptily, though some life returned to her eyes. 'Oh, right! I was meant to give you this too!'

Reaching into her skirt pocket, she retrieved a pricey-looking phone. It was beautiful, if he was honest. Steeling himself for some sort of joke, he took the phone for himself.

'Uh…'

'It's the headmistress's way of saying 'sorry you nearly died in a park', chibi.'

'Really?' Tai didn't fully buy that someone would go to such extremes, but then he remembered the incident and had second-thoughts. 'I guess that makes sense…' he mumbled, pocketing the phone.

'Great. You're uniform's in your bedroom and a cleaning lady comes by every few days to take care of it – while you were still sleeping, I called my club members and had them get you a soccer uniform.'

'Oh, thanks…' Tai muttered, but then his face was overcome by heat and colour, 'Hold on, how d'you know what size uniform I need?'

Yuri was quiet for a long few seconds, shrugging and looking elsewhere, 'Lucky guess?'

'What did you do to me?'

'Calm down Sally, I looked in your clothes pile at home and found your uniform,' she said with an almost-malicious smile. 'By the way, it's gross enough without week-old boxers being there. Just saying.'

'You're enjoying this!' Tai accused.

'Oh, you've got no idea. See you at school tomorrow! I've got stuff to do!'

And she closed the door, leaving Tai to regard his new home. Somehow, it felt more like a prison the longer he stared at it.