Okay, chapter 3! So many people will appear in this chapter! Read carefully and thanks~
I'm walking fast the whole time. "Ha-choo!" It's so cold without my jacket. I hug my shoulders. I curse the weather, and I start running. I make short stop-and-goes. I reach the school in two hours. I'm guessing it's around 11 AM. I hope I made it before 12. I run up the steps to the academy.
Five doors are opened. Each has a number 1-5. I go over to door 1. A few others are in line. I line up. A few minutes, and I'm in front of the door with two guards.
"Name?" A guard says.
"Shizu Sanu." I reply.
"Checked. When you go through the door, it'll tell you which user you are. Do not complain, and other guards will give you supplies." a guard says in a gruff voice. I give a small nod. I go inside, ready for my fate.
"You are a swordsman." a technical voice says. A swordsman eh? Different from Ryuta but whatever, the sound of it is cool. I see a table beside the door. It has uniforms. Two more guards at the table.
Before they say anything, I say, "Shizu Sanu. Swordsman."
The female guard speaks, "Okay, You get the purple uniform." She gives me 2 uniforms, along with 2 white loafers. No comment there.
The male guard speaks, "Do you want leggings, tights, high socks, or low socks? Either way they're all purple."
"High socks please." I answer. He nods and gives me two pairs of high socks. I head to the next table. It has notebooks, pencils, etc. Two guards there too.
"Just 3 points for notebooks, 1 for pencils!" one guard says enthusiastically.
"Sorry, have no points." I say. You can convert cash for points in the academy, and vice versa. Points only work in the academy, Ryuta said.
The guard gives me a sympathetic face. "You'll have to talk to the principal today then. You need points for dorms too." I give a nod. I walk to the next table.
"4 people dorms or 2 people dorms. No more space for 1." the guard speaks right when I reach there.
"4 people. I have no points to pay yet, but I'll talk to the principal." I reply. The guard smiles and gives me a key.
"Girls are on the first left hallway when you turn to the right of the stairs. Your room number is 26. Oh, and you let your bracelet- which you will get next- absorb your key. The dorm doorknob will scan your bracelet and let you in.", he says. I shake my head. I go over to the next table. So many tables. Four guards are there.
"A swordsman you are?" one guard asks. She can tell by the uniform I'm holding. I nod my head. "Alright. Here's your bracelet. Be careful with it, has lots of power. It will be the other half of you. Never take it off- not even during showers." the guard says a bit seriously.
"Thanks." I say. I walk off to the final table. It has two guards.
"This is the schedule table. You have four classes. Since you're a swordsman, that will be your first class- homeroom." a guard says. I nod.
"Two more are Physical Education and General 1. General means just general things to learn in the world. The last class is up to you. It's either Study Hall, Music, Art, Basketball, or Soccer." My answer was obvious.
"Study Hall please." I say. The guard nods and gives me a piece of paper.
1. Swordsman 1: Room 3
2. General 1: Room 6
3. Physical Education 1: Girl Locker Room
4. Study Hall 1: Library
Decent enough. I walk straight, to the front of the stairs. I see a hall on the right and I go through there. One side says girls, one side says girls special, the other I can't tell. Weird. I go through the girls one. I walk and walk until I see three halls- spread apart. Each hall has numbers. 1-20, 21-40, and 41-60. I see a few girls pass me and I say nothing.
As I go in the hall, I think about the fact that I have to live with other people. I hope they're decent. One side has even number, the other odd. They're spread really well. 12 feet. I then notice I passed 26. I squint my eyes and go to 26. I quickly open the door- and the door crashes on someone's head.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry!" I say. I look at the person who's at the floor now. She has plain brown hair that's tied high neatly and gold eyes. She's wearing a cardigan over a plain gray shirt and a jean skirt over black leggings.
She's rubbing her forehead. "I'm alright." She gets up, but she's about to fall again. I catch her.
"Okay, you are not alright." I say as I lead her to the beds- which I notice are bunk beds. She sits on the right bed. I take a look at the room; it looks 12 by 12 feet. Next to the right bunk beds, there's a door- the bathroom. Next to the left bunk beds there are cubicle boxes 3 by 3 feet, stacked 2 by 2. Small, but okay.
"Emi Kaneko." the girl sitting on the bed says.
"Huh?" I ask still dazed.
"That's my name." Emi says.
"Oh, well I'm Shizu Sanu." I reply.
"Nice to meet you Shizu. The one over there is Tomoko Watanabe. The only two words I can get out of her." Emi points at the left corner of the room.
Wow, I did not notice her. She has one knee up, and one leg out. Daiki would be proud. She has long silver- almost white- hair that's tied low style. Her eyes are dark blue- cobalt. She's wearing a vest over a collared shirt and brown skinny jeans. She has the 'glare'.
I grin. "Tomoko is it? I'm Shizu." I say.
Tomoko hesitates to speak. "I heard your name already." she replies.
"I know, but what's wrong with repeating?" I give an even wider grin. She glares at me, then looks the other way.
"We're still missing one person, and it's already 11:30." Emi says. I forgot about time.
The door opens and our last dorm mate is here. She looks pretty high class. Light pink curly hair down to her shoulders. Her eyes are green and she has plain glasses. She's wearing a long sleeve shirt with a plain pink dress over in with small heels. She's carrying tons of notebooks and pencils. She has a confident smile. Emi gasps.
"I know you! You're Katsumi Fudaku! Your dad is a royal guard. Oh my gosh! Why are you in this type of dorm?" Emi says, smiling. It's common sense I guess that really rich people shouldn't be in this type of dorm.
Katsumi smiles. "Thanks for knowing me. I asked to be in this dorm, plus they ran out. Can I have your names?" Her voice is normal.
"I'm Emi Kaneko. The girl at the corner is Tomoko Watanabe." Emi says.
"Shizu Sanu's my name." I say. Katsumi nods and fixes her glasses place.
"The Kaneko clan are famous merchants in City Square. They run a restaurant famous for their freshness. I heard many family members tried out for the academy, but never made it. I presume you are the first Emi." Katsumi says.
Emi smiles. "Yep! I am!" Katsumi walks over to Tomoko.
"Many citizens have the last name Watanabe. However, there's a famous line of Watanabes that have signature silver hair. Almost all of them are guards. Good job on following your clan's steps." Katsumi says. Tomoko gives a weird face and Katsumi goes up to me.
"Sanu, Sanu. Very uncommon, but I have heard of it before. A guard works at the front desk of the government building. I remember his last name is Sanu, his first name started with an R or something." Katsumi is in thought.
"Ryuta Sanu. He's kind of a father to me." I say. Katsumi nods.
"I have that data saved now." she says. "My name is Katsumi Fudaku, and yes, my dad is a royal guard. Which type of user are you guys?"
"I'm a shinobi." Emi says.
"Summoner." Tomoko murmurs.
"A swordsman." I say.
"That's great. I'm a swordsman. We're missing a sorcerer." Katsumi says. "Oh, and we should change now. It's 11:40 AM. Lunch is at 12, then the orientation."
"The orientation?" I ask, I didn't hear about that. Wait, now I remember.
"The principal's going to explain more stuff I guess." Emi says. We all take turns going in the bathroom changing. I was the last one. The bathroom was long. The shower was four by four feet that we could stand in. There was a big mirror though and a decent toilet. Right below the door lights in the bathroom are 4 cloth bags on a roller cart. I guess you put dirty clothes in there.
The uniforms look so superficial. It's one piece and long sleeve. On the left it has a cross. One line going all the way down to the skirt, another line on the waist line. The very top is sailor style. And on the other side of the cross is the number 1. The background is white, the rest purple. The shoes are regular, and the socks are warm. It's the fanciest thing I ever worn. When we're all in our uniforms, and done complimenting, we decide on our beds.
"I'm okay with the top." I say.
"Alright, I'll sleep below you." Emi says.
"Top." Tomoko says.
"I'll go below you then." Katsumi says smiling. Emi and I are on the left side, next to the cubicles. "Oh, the time is 11:55. Let's get going."
We all get out of the dorm and head the way we came in. We're back on the stairs and we go straight up. The place we're going in is to the right of the try-outs area. I'm guessing it's the eating-place then.
Once we go in, I notice a lot of people are already there. The place is big, maybe 3/4 of the try-outs room. I then notice in front of the line for food is floating chairs. I give a raised eyebrow.
"You're suppose to sit on them." Katsumi says. "They always go the way the line goes but they read your mind to where you want to sit." That's kind of weird. I reluctantly sit on the chair. It bobbles a bit and moves in a nice pace. So this is why the tables have no chairs.
I look at the food. It looks amazing; I've never seen this much fancy food. I grab a metal tray.
There are four main dishes, four side dishes, and four drinks to choose. I choose pizza for main, mash potatoes for side, and water for drink. At the end of the food line, I get a fork and a straw. Katsumi's in front of me, so my chair just follows her to a table. I estimate there are 80 tables each 6 feet long. All 4 of us sit on an empty table near the front. Emi, Katsumi, and I are sitting on the left side while Tomoko's on the other side far from us. We're barely settled when a girl on a chair comes up to us.
She has light blue pigtails, and her uniform is purple like mine. "Hey, you're Katsumi Fudaku right? Why don't you come sit at your rightful place? The famous Arisa Yoshida is there too." She points to a full table with all the girls- even some boys are crowding a girl with a white scarf. The scarf girl's not exactly smiling.
Katsumi fixes her glasses. "Mana Goto. Your parents are both A rank guards." she pauses for a bit then continues, "I'm fine sitting here." Mana gives a glare darker than Tomoko's and leaves. Emi gives a concerned face. Ryuta told me the ranks from bottom to up are D, C, B, A, and then royal guard.
"You really don't have to sit with us, Katsumi." I say.
"It's okay, I want to." she says. I give a smile. We talk a bit about random things, mostly our expectations for the school. Tomoko joins the conversation once in a while, but she mostly eats in silence. It's 12:30 when an announcer speaks.
"Level 1 students, go to the MPR for your orientation within 10 minutes. I repeat, Level 1 students, go to the MPR for your orientation within 10 minutes. Thank you," a female voice says from the speakers. Emi just finished her food. She was the last one, so we all get up and go out of the eating-place. All we do is go to the right of the stairs and we go in.
We're one of the firsts to get in. The place has transformed. It's like those theaters Kazue described to me one time. We decide to go to the third row. There are 10 rows of probably 10 chairs on each row. The chairs are not floating here, but they're very soft. We quietly wait 10 minutes and all chairs are filled. I hear whispers, a few shouts, and so forth.
"Quiet please." a middle-aged man says. He comes onto the stage. "Welcome, level 1 students, to the 46th year of Kumi Academy. You guys are lucky, the class of the school's 50th year. Let's hope you don't base your skills on luck though." He pauses for a moment. "27 girls and 73 boys. Four Users: Swordsman, Sorcerer, Shinobi, and Savager. Every day will open up new learning. Now onto the school. Scientist of Lual created the amazing bracelets. This school was founded- of course 46 years ago. Kumi was chosen to have the academy here. This opportunity will change your lives forever. I remember when..." on and on he went.
The last thing he said was, "Remember, curfew at 10 PM on weekdays, and midnight on weekends!"
How can you talk so long? 2 and a half hours! Everyone was tired after the orientation. The principal explained everything this school. Where everything is, why they're there, etc. My dorm mates and I slowly walk to our dorms.
"It's 3:10. We have the rest of the day to ourselves. Some other level users are just arriving." Katsumi says. I nod.
We get into our dorms. "Let's get the cubicles the same way we got our bunk beds. That means I get the top left one." I say. They agree and I put my extra clothes inside. That's all I have.
"That's all you have Shizu?" Katsumi asks. She has ten notebooks, ten pencils, and ten erasers. She also has a backpack, blow dryer, curler, comb, body wash, and shampoo. And don't forget the laptop. I nod slowly. She gives me a notebook, pencil, and eraser. 'There." she says smiling. I give her a smile.
"Thank you. I'll pay you back. Let's see, 5 points." I say.
She hesitates and replies, "Okay then."
Emi has the same amount I just got, and Tomoko has 3 notebooks, pencils, and erasers. I also notice Tomoko has a guitar case. We all get settled in.
"What now?" I ask.
"Well, we do anything. Oh, and sometimes students get called to the principal's office for personal reasons." Katsumi says. I nod and then, right then, the speaker comes on. One speaker is in each dorm I think.
"Shizu Sanu, please come to the principal's office. I repeat, Shizu Sanu, please come to the principal's office," the principal says. There's a moment of silence.
"Did the whole school hear that or something?" I ask.
"No, the principal can choose to speak at a specific section. I think just the girls dorm heard it." Katsumi says. I nod.
"Ehehe... I'm off then!" I say walking out of the dorm. As I walk out to and down the stairs, I meet Daiki in a red uniform. I grin, and we pass by each other without speaking. The principal office is to the right of the bottom of the stairs. I brace myself, and then open the door.
I see the same orientation man. His two arms are folded onto his superficial desk. He gestures for me to sit down in a seat in front of his desk. I slowly sit down on the chair.
"Shizu Sanu, someone named Ryuta who works at the front desk at the government place, told me something. He told me to give Daiki Mori and you a certain job that will grant you money." The principal- whose last name is Takeda, pauses for a moment. I nod, and he
continues, "Have you noticed how aside from the girl dorms, there's a hall that says girl special?"
"Yes, I've noticed, sir." I say.
"Good. Well, there are boy special too. Everyday after school, you are to go over to boy special room B and serve the person whose living there. You are to be at the place by 2:30 sharp. The person may dismiss you earliest 3 and latest 6. Every person may not know who you are unless necessary. This mask, when you put it on, your uniform color will turn gray and your hair color & hair style will change," Principal Takeda says as he gives me the mask.
The mask is white and it only goes over my eyes, not my whole face. I give an obedient nod. "Every month you work for the person will give you money for your dorm. So people don't suspect you, here is a teleport card to get right in front of the dorm. If you want extra money, you can sign up for weekend cleaning. You must be the first ten to sign up each weekend." I take the card. I give another nod and I get up.
"Wait." Principal Takeda says. "I have something else to discuss, it's more personal." He pauses for a bit as I sit back down.
"What is it sir?" I ask.
"Your client is very special. He is my son. I have a few restrictions," the principal says. How cute, daddy's coming in. "I forbid you to get very close to him. Be emotionless. I trust you do this. I'm saying this to your kind, and especially your kind. That is all." I quickly go out of the room, a bit dazed.
What a discriminator! Like I'm really going to follow all his rules. I already found some loopholes. I hope his son is decent, and I mean decent in both ways. I walk all the way back to my dorm, and I open the door slowly this time.
"Welcome back Shizu. How did it go?" Emi asks. Katsumi and Emi are both sitting on their beds facing each other. Tomoko is laying on her bed- the top- listening to music I think.
I give a faint smile. "It was fine. I have to do a certain job after school everyday." Katsumi and Emi both nod. I put the mask in my cubicle.
"3:31 now. What do we do now?" Katsumi asks- for suggestions. I sit beside the bed ladder.
"Well, let's talk. First off, I am homeless. I think I'm an orphan, I'm not sure." I say, spilling it all out.
"That's terrible Shizu." Emi says with a concerned face.
'It's okay actually. I live with a 'family' in the dump." I say, giving air quotes on the family.
"Two questions. What's the dump and how about Ryuta Sanu?" Katsumi asks.
"I call the place I live the dump. It's actually next to the east dump of Kumi City. When I was young I really admired Ryuta. He along with two others raised me in the dump. They picked me up when I was left there. I use his last name because of that." I say.
"That is so touching." Emi says smiling a little. I give a smile back.
"Your turn then Emi." I say. She smiles.
Turns out, she really wanted to get into the academy. All her family did was work in a restaurant. All of them did try-out for the academy but never really tried. Emi trained every time she could and here she is. She also is very athletic.
Katsumi was a different story. Her dad- being a royal guard and all- didn't want any of his family to try out. They had enough money. Katsumi still wanted to try out and so here she is. Also, Katsumi isn't really that smart, she says, she just has photographic memory.
The only thing we got out of Tomoko was that she plays the guitar and she has a brother at the academy.
"That is very specific!" I say, obviously sarcastic. Katsumi, Emi, and I all laugh. Tomoko gets down from the bed.
"I'm going to shower." she says. She grabs her PJ's and goes in the shower.
We all take turns going into the shower. I avoid brushing my teeth; I don't want to ask for too much. My PJ's are just the clothes I came to the academy with- tank top and sweats. When everyone's done, we talk about our families. When I say everyone, I kind of- kind of don't- mean Tomoko. After all the talking, we're all on our beds.
There are a few seconds of silence.
"Wait a minute!" I sit up, "It's only 8 PM! We have to eat dinner!" We all slowly got up.
Next chapter will be the first day of school! Emi, Tomoko, Katsumi, Mana, Arisa, and the principal debuted in this chapter! Heads up, Arisa's the female deuteragonist of this story.