Chapter Two: It all Started with Glowing Lights
Honnouji University. The name was spelled out in intimidating letters in an arch above the entrance to the school, and Ryuko took a second to admire it. Yes, she had finally made it to college, through one miracle or another. Allowing herself a mental pat on the shoulder, she hurried after Mako who had followed the quietly chatting crowd of people that were making their way onto the campus.
They had arrived at Honnouji University and it looked as bleak in person, as it had on the pamphlet. It was like color and happiness was forbidden here. Stone pathways lined everything and there wasn't a single piece of flora around, giving the campus a sterile feel. Even the sky was gray and overcast despite it being noon. Gray buildings towered over them casting malignant shadows, and campus security guards with ashen faces, all dressed in gray attires with single stars on them, silently followed the incoming students. Ryuko felt unnerved by them and tried to avoid their penetrating gaze. The students had all fallen silent now with the anticipation of what was to come. Ryuko could sense something big brewing too. This was like the moment when a video game boss was going to pop out on your guild; you just didn't know when or if you could handle it.
They continued into a giant plaza, which according to the map one of the security guards had given her, was in the middle of the campus. They were going to have the introduction ceremony and then be sent off to their orientations but Ryuko couldn't help but be restless. The crowd in which they stood in seemed to be comprised of shady figures; guys as tall as buildings, women with muscles ripped to the max, all looking as if they couldn't wait to get their hands on someone. What was up with this crowd? Was it normal for a college to have this many hooligans in one place? Ryuko instinctively took a defensive stance and nudged Mako closer to her, who was staring open mouthed at this buff guy. The buff guy noticed this stare and started glaring back to discourage Mako but she just smiled at him like an idiot.
"Mako cut it out," Ryuko hissed. "That guy is not the friendly type."
"It's okay Ryuko," Mako said patting her friends hand assuredly. "He's just afraid of smiling like you are."
Ryuko grumbled, about to respond that she just didn't have a reason to smile, when the loudspeakers surrounding the square blared causing everyone to flinch. A stage had appeared in front of the crowd and was steadily rising upwards while the loudspeakers started a barrage of words.
"Incoming freshman of Honnouji University, I greet you!" The woman's voice was cold and harsh, made only more unforgiving by the metallic detached sound of the speakers. The crowd swung their heads around looking for who could be possibly greeting them, but no one had appeared yet. The security guards that had escorted them there had disappeared and Ryuko felt more unease trickle in.
"You have come from cities, towns, countries from all over the world in order to answer the mighty summons I have sent you!" Floodlights suddenly lite up the left side of the plaza and everyone in the crowd let out a groan as the blinding lights caught them off guard. "But these summons are not to be taken lightly as the road before you is laden with danger and difficulty. It is not one for the weak!" More floodlights turned on, this time from the right side.
"Oooo more lights! I love this. Are we gonna see a show?" Mako exclaimed loudly while Ryuko shushed her as the voice started to speak again.
"You have all been selected and given this opportunity because you are the best at what you do, whether be you fight with bite or bark. You have been given this opportunity, to better yourselves, to be all you can be!"
Floodlights hit the crowd this time from the back and Ryuko let out an annoyed groan. Was this person planning on blinding them all with these lights? She could already barely keep her eyes open for more than ten seconds before they started to water. A faint clank was heard as the stage before them finally finished its climb. It had narrowed out as it reached the heavens and was now so thin it was like a pedestal, fit for one person.
"But this opportunity is not only for the benefit of you. It is for the benefit of humanity! The very world's fate is in your hands!" Ryuko snorted at that. Someone's a bit overdramatic. "Failure to adhere to the rules and procedures meant to guide you will not be taken flippantly. The world's fate is not something to be toyed with!" The voice was getting more and more passionate and Ryuko noticed the loud click clack of heels, as if someone was climbing up onto the stage. "Some of you will simply not make it, for that I am not sorry. You must be willing to sacrifice flesh, blood and tears to solider ahead. But I have no doubts that we will succeed!"
At last a figure reached the top of the pedestal and Ryuko immediately turned her attention to it, in hopes of catching a glimpse of who was there. But floodlights from behind the stage turned on, overpowering all of Ryuko's senses. "Mako cover your eyes," Ryuko placed one hand over Mako's gaze, which had somehow managed to be unaffected by any of the lights, before throwing a hand over her own. The crowd reacted in a similar fashion, gasps of astonishment filling the air.
Loud music blared from the loudspeakers and Ryuko cringed. The volume had increased and it was enough to cause the music to echo painfully throughout her head.
"I, Satsuki Kiryuin, wish you freshman a successful year at Honnouji University. May your school year begin!" Satsuki's voice rang out, if possible, even louder than the music, leaving everyone trembling in their boots. Ryuko forced a peek through her fingers to catch a glimpse of who their speaker had been but the glare made her eyes tear badly and all she noticed was the outline of someone with long flowing hair. The stage had begun a rapid descent and by the time it was almost halfway gone the music and lights turned off. Struck by the absence of stimuli Ryuko's senses nosedived and she felt like a newborn incapable of hearing or seeing anything. She angrily rubbed her eyes to try and see something but all she could discern was spots on her vision. She glanced at the spot Satsuki had been in, but she was long gone. That sly bitch, Ryuko thought. The bright lights, when turned off, would cause people's eyesight's to get messed up so then she could slink away unnoticed.
"Wow that was so cool!" Mako exclaimed hugging Ryuko so hard her ribs hurt. "Mako's excited to go to school here now, yes she is! And the school president is so pretty." Mako smiled her bloodshot eyes resembling steaming eggs after she'd glared into the lights directly.
"Wait, you saw her? What did she look like?" Ryuko inquired.
"Hmmm," Mako put her hand to her chin and tapped at it. "Well she was very pretty but I was busy looking at all the other people here. They all look so interesting." Ryuko let out a groan. Of course Mako would happen to see the president but not pay attention to her.
The guards had silently returned now and were herding the group of students up to one of the academic buildings. Freshman orientation was taking place and all three hundred students piled into the giant auditorium. The inside was as plain and unappealing as the outside but, as Ryuko sat down in the blue chairs, at least the seats were comfortable. She slouched in her seat in the back row while Mako took one next to her and immediately made binoculars with her hands to see better. Ryuko had told Mako to get glasses if she couldn't see, but she claimed that doing this with her hands, if not cooler looking, actually helped her. Ryuko found it to be a lost cause to argue with Mako especially when she put her arms over her head and the halleluiah music played. How Mako would always have that music timed right, Ryuko would never know. It was one of the secrets of Mako.
The students squirmed in their seats impatiently talking to one another. Some of them looked too big to even fit in the chairs and some too old to even be students. The guy right next to her had sagging skin. Just what exactly was up?
"Alright listen up everyone." The opening and closing of a door signaled the arrival of a teacher. Peering in through the spaces of people's head Ryuko noticed that he was tall and heavily muscled, but his voice certainly did not match. It was too feminine to match his tough guy appearance. Apparently some students thought the same thing and snickered.
This did not go unnoticed by the teacher who cleared his throat and glared at them as he took his place in front of a podium before the rows of seats. "You're now all officially freshman," he announced to which the students let out hoots and hollers, some pounding on their chests. "Calm down," he muttered and slammed his hands on the podium repeatedly, silencing the kids. "You won't be as excited in a couple days, I can guarantee ya. Anyways, let's get straight to business. After all that's why y'all are here-not to have fun." Some groans at that which caused the teacher to send another glare.
"This college is not like any others. There will be studying and hard work, long hours of staying up and perfecting your craft, but there will be no time for romantic relationships, for goofing off or for partying!" At this more students groaned and enraged chatter filled the air. This sounds terrible! All work and no play. Man, I was hoping to go to a college party. I hear their legendary! Ryuko complained internally.
"Silence!" the teacher yelled slapping his hands down on the podium again. It took longer for the students to quiet down this time but when they did so, the man took a deep breath and continued. "The objective of Honnouji University is simple. Succeed. In any way possible. Failure is not accepted frivolously here. There are three main departments at Honnouji, the academics, the arts and the physical. Each of you has been assigned to the one most fit for you and a four year curriculum has already been designed for you. So you don't have to worry about picking classes or majors. Our departments of student resources have already done that for you."
There were grumbles of protests at this. Ryuko didn't particularly care. She was just glad to be in college for free, no matter how weird it already had started off as. One kid yelled out, "That's not fair! If we are expected to give our best to you all, at least we should have the freedom to choose!" There were murmurs of agreement and teacher looked about ready to explode, when from the loudspeaker that had descended from the ceiling randomly, blared over.
"Freedom is subjugation and subjugation is freedom! If we give you choice, those choices will lead you to your ruin! Therefore if you obey what you have been given, only then can you truly be free to see what paths lie before you! Keep this in mind as you pursue your education at Honnouji University." The speaker ascended back to the hole it had come from leaving slightly shocked students. Ryuko gripped her arms chairs harder. She didn't do well with authority, especially such strict one. This was not going to end well for someone and she didn't plan on that someone being her.
"As Lady Satsuki said, we do this because freedom can corrupt you. Unless you have the necessary discipline to carry out your own freedom we will take the reins on that," the teacher smiled cracking his knuckles. "If you have any complaints you can take them up with the department of discipline and they will be more than happy to kick you out. Everything that was expected of you was listed in the small blue handbook you had received in the package, but I take it that many of you haven't read that."
What blue book? Ryuko thought and then remembered with a half groan. Yea, there had been a book. But had she read it? No way.
Hearing the rest of the moans and muttered curse words from his audience the teacher smiled even harder. "I suggest you all read it unless you wanna take a one way trip to the head of discipline. As I was saying everything is predetermined but there are chances of changing it should your specialty change. Each department's goals are different but the same. The goal: to succeed. There is no friendship here; it'll only hinder you when you must strike the final blow. Academic majors must focus on sharpening their wit. The only way to succeed for you is to excel at academic tasks given before you, to invent and give life to new meanings. For art majors, creating something that can reach the soul whether it is visual or through the ears and hearts of people is a must, as is the sharpening of your talents into a deadly symphony of paint and dialogues. For physical majors, why yours are the most simple of all. Sharpen your skills to the point that your pure strength cannot be stopped by even the most powerful of shields. All of you build yourself up until you surpass your colleagues and can challenge the heads of each of your departments. And for those of you truly driven by your goals, you can claim the greatest prize; a fight with Lady Satsuki herself."
The teacher smiled his voice reaching a fevered pitch, his hands spread out in grand flourish as he had managed to finally capture everyone's attention in the room. Even Ryuko had sat up her heart pounding with unexplained excitement. Man, a school that was all about fighting. Had she ended up in heaven somehow when she'd taken that fall into her father's basement yesterday? Seeing that the room was still silent with astonished faces, the man continued. "The goal of this school is to teach you discipline, expatiate your talents and help revolutionize the world. Like Lady Satsuki told you this school is no joke. Everything here will be provided for you but you will be expected to give back just as much as you have received. Now without further discussion line up and take your schedules." The creaking of chairs signified the end of the orientation and Ryuko and Mako got in line for the schedules along with the other students.
After waiting in line for half an hour, Ryuko took a single look at her schedule and was sent reeling. "What is this!" she growled threatening to crumble the paper up. Her schedule was packed, what was this? High school again?
Her day started at eight in the morning with a Pilate's class, followed by cardio, weight lifting and gymnastics all before twelve. Then a break for lunch, but right after it was back to business with a wrestling class, some international affairs, modern psychology, defense training, fight club and the day was finally rounded up with zumba. "What is this shit?" Ryuko sputtered out again, disbelief filling her. Her day ended at freaking six pm. Six pm! The fuck were all these classes for! What was the rest of the four years going to look like?
"Hey cheer up Ryuko!" Mako hit her livid friend across the back. "At least we have some classes together!"
When Ryuko still didn't say anything Mako raised her hands above her head in her signature move which Ryuko quickly pulled down. "Okay, I'm okay," She muttered. She didn't need Mako pulling this shit now.
A loud voice belonging to one of the guards that had stuck with the group rang out. "Now that everyone has their schedules divide up into groups. We're taking a campus tour."
Mako and Ryuko went to the same group. The tour took forever to complete and Ryuko's legs were tired by the end of it. Even Mako with her boundless energy was looking a bit drained. Ryuko's head which was already spinning from all the information from the orientation had a hard time following the influx of data from the tour so she drowned most of the words out; she was terrible at paying attention anyways. The campus had looked so much smaller on the map than in actuality. There were a lot of buildings with many complex names that Ryuko couldn't bother to remember or pronounce. What was helpful though, was that the campus was divided into four parts. The academic part was on the north part of the campus. The buildings were a light gray here and mainly consisted of labs or libraries. One building that stood out to Ryuko was a low lying one. Neon lights flashed through the windows and computerized noises could be heard coming from there. Ryuko was going to ask about it when one of the guards that had been leading the tour answered someone else that had the same question. "That is the heads of the academics departments place. Boss battles with him are to be requested here."
The west side of campus was dedicated to the arts, the stone gray buildings comprising mostly of stages and studios. Ryuko figured she wouldn't be here much on this side anyways. She was a complete failure at arts and crafts. At least with academics there was some hope. Once again there was a different looking building. Ryuko figured it must have belonged to the head of the arts department; loud music was coming from inside, the bass turned up so much that window panes rattled every time it dropped.
The south quad was dedicated to the physical majors. The darker gray buildings representing classrooms were few; most being gyms or open fields to play sports on. Ryuko figured she'd be spending most of her time here. The house belonging to the head of the department was unexpectedly silent and Ryuko felt a bit disappointed. She had hoped to get to sense her head a bit better so she could more easily crush him.
The guard led them up to an iron fence on the east side of campus. Behind it she could see more boring buildings. "This place is locked up all the time. No one is to go here on pain of punishment. This is where the department of discipline resides as well as Lady Satsuki." The guard cast a look at the students who were elbowing each other. "I'm serious. Enter here at your own risk." The guard turned the group away and Ryuko shot a longing look past the fence. If she was to truly succeed here, she'd have to fight Satsuki. I wonder if she's as tough as everyone makes it seem.
At last the guard deposited the tired group before a bunch of classy looking dorms. The dorms and dining hall were all built around the giant plaza in the middle of the campus. "Alright you cretins, get your behinds in there. Quiet hours at all times and lights out at 10pm. No complaints and no breaking of the rules, unless you want us to break you. Then that would be a pleasure!" The man snorted in excitement and Ryuko felt disgust. This guy was certainly a creep.
"Ryuko! Let's check out the dorms!" Mako exclaimed dragging her friend around as the group disbanded and the students went their own way.
"Mako I'm tired," Ryuko complained but followed. The dorms were clean with nice looking upholstery in the common rooms- "Omg is that a flat screen TV!" Mako gushed running up to it and staring at her own reflection in the TV. There was a kitchen, "Now I can make my croquettes!" Mako nodded in approval. The bathrooms provided lots of privacy and had both tubs and showers. Their bedroom- which they were sharing as roommates, which was unbelievably lucky- was more spacious than their whole house but it lacked any sense of familiarity. The walls were bare, but nothing Ryuko couldn't fix up with some posters. Their one suitcase was already there and they quickly unpacked everything, their clothes looking meager in the amount of space they now possessed.
"Man I've waiting for these all day!" Mako pulled out a bento box from inside her shirt and laid it out so the both of them could share. Ryuko's stomach rumbled and she suddenly realized how hungry she was.
"So what do you about the school so far?" Mako asked as she gulped down the croquettes and poured hot tea into her mouth simultaneously without managing to choke.
"It's alright, so far I guess. I mean it's a bit weird, it's not like any school I've been to before but I think I can do it." Ryuko contemplated while she stared down her food.
"Want some tea?" Mako offered her thermos which Ryuko politely declined. Mako had pulled that out of her skirt. Ryuko was definitely not touching it no matter how much she loved the girl.
"I think Ryuko will do just fine!" Mako smiled pausing in her meal before returning with extra vengeance and finishing her portion up. "I'm gonna go to sleep now," Mako jumped onto her bed and rolled up into a burrito using the blankets. Ryuko chuckled patting the already sleeping girls head. Then she finished her meal, cleaned up after herself and laid down on her bed. She stared at her ceiling thinking and thinking until finally she fell asleep.