I'd be lying if I didn't say I had butterflies. I've never been in such a situation before where children weren't pushing one another to death's door, or receiving graded scores on how to more efficiently kill. But I always...always dreamed of leaving. I was told it was a haven devoid of murder. A place that tells me that it's okay to be different from everyone else in my family.
Lisa Rowe often shared tidbits of the outside world - that out here, the world is different from both of our families. Common sense out here is that killing is shamed and forbidden. A country of heroes founded by 10 powerful "families", Aegis Concord. When you kill, you are labeled a villain. No exception. Well, maybe an exception for self-defense cases, but I don't know for sure. And 'school' is where they train next generational heroes for upholding a heroic idealism that helps to foster peace, fairness, and most of all: Justice.
...Or at least it should have been.
"GO HOME!"
"We don't need unpowered FREAKS ruining our image!"
"Like, why do we even need 'non-combatants' in our school?! Just use PROPS! IT'S SAFER!"
"GO HOME! WE DON'T NEED YOU!"
"GO HOME!"
"GO..."
...
I had the displeasure of being subjected to such lame chants as the Principal, Mr. Layman, introduced a change to the schooling system that allowed non-powered students the opportunity to apply to their school under the protected label "Non-combatant student".
Excusing myself, 59 others applied. Was it safe for non-powered students to attend a school filled with temperamental kids? I don't know. I barely understand what's considered 'normal' other than what Lisa Rowe explained whenever we snuck away to hang out, growing up in our dysfunctional families, or what Boman drilled into my head after we settled down here. If I had to answer, I'd say...probably? So long as these teachers and students actually do their jobs and protect those they are sworn to protect, I mean. It's like asking if a fork is dangerous. Sure, but if you know how to use it then using a fork becomes child's play.
This assembly taught me two things: First, there are two types of 'Heroes' now: The 'Realists', and the 'Dreamers'. I don't know the difference, but I'm guessing it has something to do with those chants I still vividly recall even after a full day has past - most of the freshman student body don't actually want the 60 non-combatant students attending this school. Apparently, these students mostly make up the 'realist' faction.
And second...
"WHOOO! It's them... it's the TEN KINGS!"
"God's above... my GOD is that...? It IS! It-It's her! The girl that stole the 2nd King spot after crippling Elijah! They say she's undefeated! The Hasty Queen!"
"Strongest king, Rhys Abrams! LOOK AT M- Wait... he's not even here??"
"Harveyyy~ Show them muscles babeyyy~"
"NIKITA- huh? Where's Orochi and...? Ohh, there they are!"
...
The 10 Kings, a group of students that surpass the others within their grade, judged by every applicant's test results. They were apparently started two years ago and our generation of "Kings" were confirmed this summer it seems. And apparently a certain girl went and crushed them all, cementing herself as the 2nd place king- or 'Queen'.
I remember people going crazy for them, even though 2 skipped the entire assembly, it was as if neither teachers nor students minded. The entire school seemed to prioritize these students over And out of the 8 that attended, 6 were glaring daggers at the 'non-combatant' students on stage, me included. Onl Nikita and Orochi, according to the gossipers next to me, ignored us.
I felt like killing again.
...But I endured. After the Opening assembly, they held some sort of Orientation games for fun so the 10 Kings can show off their prowess. Other students could supposedly challenge them for their title or something. Non-combatant students were the only group of Freshman not obligated to attend, so most of us left.
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Today, I woke up from a relatively good sleep. That dream was really exhausting to relive...I hate when I dream about the missions, and my...targets. But it beats being at home where we even needed to train in our sleep! Ugh, I'll take reliving memories any day of my life.
We had our dorm located in the middle of a complex forest on campus grounds. This academy, indeed, is huge. The third of all Hero academies, Aegis Academy. It was absolutely enormous. If I didn't know better, I'd assume this school had utilized Spacial technology to appear more expansive than the land they really owned. I couldn't help laugh at such an unrealistic thought.
---
"UGH! My holy leechums, I am NOT walking this long-ass path to school. Mr. teacher~ Carry me~"
"...No."
"Why not~ Teacherrr...*GASP* You better not be calling me fat!"
"I'm not...but the walk can do you some good, I suppose."
"......HOW DARE Y- Mmmph!"
"Shh! Quiet! That guy is a top hero! He's been fighting villains since last night!"
"He's about to face another villai-MMMPH!!"
...This feels...strange. Out here, children aren't being forced to fight, or kill. I learned this, but...experiencing it firsthand is strikingly different from hearing about it. I can't help looking around. 4 teachers gathered together all 60 non-combatant students and took us to our wing of the H-shaped building. After 45 minutes, the kids were noticeably exhausted and sweating. Normally, my heightened senses would easily detect every contraction or muscle twitch within my classmates...but I couldn't do that anymore. Boman, the only Malierano family servant that believed in me enough to tag along, and not because I-I dragged him along, attached this colorless patch onto the nape of my neck. It made me seem more "normal". It wasn't perfect, but so long as I'm careful, I should pass for a nobody! I even got a bruise on my arm after running it into the edge of my metal cabinet for 10 minutes!
"Alright, today, we are splitting into four classes. Each student received a slip of paper in their mailbox outside their dorm room that details the specific number. Please clean yourselves up and head on over."
"HEH...HEH...HEH...sweet shriveled leechums...I CAN'T...I'M DONE! I'M DYING!! I NEED AN AMBULANCE!"
Two students were on the floor, 1 was a chubby tan-skinned girl who clearly had a dramatic flair to her every word, and the other was a bespectacled boy who was much shorter than the entire non-combatant student body. He was even shorter than me, and I'm only 12. I pulled the slip out of my pocket, and followed the 'map' that directed us from the front entrance to our class. Unlike most of them, my body didn't sweat from a 45-minute walk. I saw about 20 others just like me who climbed the stairs guided by their maps.
The directions were easy enough, and without trouble I arrived at my destination - Classroom 3-C. Unlike my initial assumption, I wasn't the first student to arrive. Ignoring the kid sleeping on the teacher's desk with strands of off-white curls leaking out of his hood who was an anomaly, there was...
A dark-skinned teen with short braids, toned muscles and a slight scowl. But her eyes with lit up with a fiery light brighter than those hecklers from yesterday's assembly. Her desk's nameplate read 'Alyandrea'.
Beside her was a boy with a bright smile but slight bags underneath his eyes. He seemed tired. He was about the same height as her, perhaps slightly taller. Though his muscles weren't as defined. Li Shun was the name on his desk. And I could see a binder filled with photographs of him with...people. People in poor shape, with burns, soot or even minor blood spots on their clothes. Victims...? His, or...no. Looking deeper, these injured folk are smiling. Some forced, but genuine smiles. Hm...
The last was someone I had to do a double take on. It wasn't his snow-white hair or even his name that I recall learning during the assembly: Elijah Abiko. Nor was it my mind piecing together that this classmate of mine was the "handsome, crippled, former 2nd top hero candidate" and a former 'King' whom the school was prioritizing their support for. No, it was a bit simpler than that. He held an...aura. Something that felt instinctively dangerous to me in my weakened state, but that instantly vanished as swift as it permeated. Before I can ask any questions...I felt a hard shove from behind.
"Watch where you stand, bug."
A wild-haired giant of a teen who almost doubled my height. A particularly eye-catching scar carved just beneath his left eye, and his body was toned to the point it was clear he had a customized uniform tailored for him. How is this a non-combatant? He's clearly a wolf in sheep's clothing...well, I guess I'M allowed as a non-combatant, haha, so others probably also entered for some sort of purpose.
His body was already turning but for a split second, I accidentally leak out murderous intent upon our eyes meeting, before I reign it in. Only for a split second, though. That was close. If a teacher was around, I'd have been cau-
*Grab*
"What was that, you little fuck?"
...
Silence permeated the room. Well, it had BEEN silent already...but still! Now that silence was due to frozen, confused stares who's owners watched on as this muscled punk grabbed me by my collar and lifted me to his face, before cursing.
Say it, don't spray it, buddy.
More importantly, I'm honestly shocked. It seems he noticed the split second trace of killing intent that I leaked out, ehehe. Oops. This must have been why Boman stressed that I behave and not get into fights.
But just as I was about to speak, the snow-white haired boy in the corner, Elijah, shot up from his desk. "Where do you think you are?! Put him down, now!"
The wild-haired boy shifted his glare to Elijah, sniffed the air, then froze. His expression shifted from sensing danger, then confusion, before finally relaxing lazily. Honestly, it was so funny to watch. His expressions are very easy to read.
"Pipe down, weakling."
Oops, that seems to have triggered the other students around as the air shifted tensely, sharpening like a knife. When our eyes met again...I couldn't stop my mouth from growing into a smug grin.
His words and actions, my appearance ass the 'victim'...Oh yeah. I had the high ground. As if sensing my thoughts, I could see the veinon his forehead pulse with irritation.
The only one who could see my smirk was him, and he was almost baited into punching me and getting himself expelled right then and there. Almost.
"Ahahaha! You know it, girl! I was like-oof! Ow... my nose... *GASP* YAAH! My phone!
HEY! Do you think you're a WALL?? MOVE OUT THE WAY!"
That familiar chubby teen sprawled on the floor half-dead earlier, ran into my near-assailant and dropped her phone.
Without warning, she angrily picked her now-cracked cell phone back up, pushed her way into the classroom, and settled her fierce gaze upon the proper recipient of her wrath until...!
...
...
...
Her eyes settled on the boy pretending to sleep on our teacher's desk.
At first her face contorted with disgust. It was almost as if she was looking at a worm, rather than a human.
"HEY! You ain't mah teacher! Get offa that chair you lazy slob of a...!...?"
I was busy covering my ears with my hands and turning my head away, pretending to ignore this wild-haired guy's threats and that Elijah's mild demands for him to 'let the child go' when we noticed the chubby classmate of ours cut her sentence mid-rant. It was that single off-white curl that gave the 'slob's' identity away.
"Y-You slob of a...slob of a...
...
*Drops phone*
*GASP*
---!!!
Yaaaaaaaahh!
EEEEK!!
AAAAAHH!!!
Oh ma leechums, oh ma mama's leechums...OH MY GRANDMA'S LEECHUMS!!! IT'S ---!!!
IT'S THE NUMBER ONE KING! KING RHYS!
RHYS ABRAMS!!"
