Kaito approached the gates of the academy, he was captivated by the mesmerizing view. A few leaves fell from trees and flew by Kaito. He shifted his gaze to all of the people walking inside, one particular person caught his eye. A young woman with golden luscious hair and diamond blue eyes. She had pale alabaster skin like his, but she wasn't dirty, unlike him. She was wearing the academy uniform like everyone else, but her uniform seemed newer. Indicating that the young woman was most likely just entering the academy.
'Wow... She's beautiful...'
Kaito paused while ogling the young woman like some creep. Just as he realized what he was doing she turned her head and briefly glanced at the young frail boy that was staring at her. Kaito stood out the most out of everyone else, it wasn't because he was beautiful or someone famous. Instead it was because of his disheveled and unkempt appearance.
The frail young man wore tattered clothes and his black hair was dirty and a complete mess. A complete contrast to the woman he was staring at. The young woman suddenly made a slightly disgusted face and walked a bit faster.
'Okay... You really didn't need to give me that look...'
Kaito dejectedly shook his head while walking past the gates that had opened not too long ago while he was still approaching. He slowly headed towards the main doors of the massive building. However, just before he could reach the academy doors two older young boys walked past him, deliberately bumping into him with their shoulder and causing Kaito to fall.
"Gah!"
Kaito gracelessly fell onto the cement face first. Many of the people walking into the academy shot him a glance of pity or amusement. This enraged the frail young man as he clenched his teeth and got up, glaring at the two young men who had pushed him.
'You're lucky I can't kill you guys! Damned bastards!'
As Kaito stood up and walked into the academy through the open doors. His eyes widened as he saw so many students walk across the extravagant hallway to a specific room. Kaito took a deep breath and followed the rest, he managed to spot another Outer Shell kid, it was a frail young woman. Her clothes were in a poor condition yet still better than Kaito's own clothes.
The young woman glanced at Kaito with her beautiful red eyes and her eyes widened. It was an expected reaction, Kaito himself was a little shocked to see another person from Outer Shell clear their trial. It was really hard for anyone in the Outer Shell to beat a trial because of their weak bodies.
Having more than one person from the Outer Shell in the academy at once is almost a miracle. Although people mainly looked at them with pity or contempt. The young woman with surprisingly well kept red hair began approaching Kaito as he walked into the large and luxurious room where all the two hundred students had gathered.
"Hey! Hey, you're also from the Outer Shell, right?"
Kaito turned his head as he noticed the young woman behind him and tried to start a conversation. Her beauty caught him off guard for a moment, why was she so beautiful even though she was from such a harsh environment? Kaito stuttered while trying to come up with something to say.
"O-oh, yes I am. You are too, right?"
Kaito offered the woman a warm smile while speaking to her. His tone was as sweet as it was before when he spoke to those guards earlier. The woman shyly lowered her head to look at herself and then spoke softly.
"W-well it should be obvious... B-but, It's nice to meet you, my name Sakura Ito, isn't it amazing seeing someone from the same place as me in such an extravagant academy!"
The young man tilted his head slightly in brief confusion while listening to the young woman, Sakura. However, he felt a small ping in his head, making it hurt a bit after she introduced herself. Kaito managed to hide it of course.
'Obvious? What's obvious? If it wasn't for your clothes I'd think you were one of those pampered girls.'
A subtle blush appeared on Kaito's face as he scratched his head and responded with a chuckle.
"Oh well... My name's Kaito Yoshida, It's also very nice to meet you Sakura."
The young woman paused for a moment and then blurted out with a small smug smirk.
"No, I'll call you Kai instead! It sounds way nicer!"
The young woman suddenly brought her hand to her mouth, covering it while looking away and continuing in a shy and soft tone.
"I-if that's fine with you... I'd like to call you Kai instead of Kaito..."
Kaito felt his heart flutter at the sight of Sakura becoming shy and chuckled.
'Cute.'
Before the two could interact anymore, the room suddenly went silent as an older Enlightened man took the stage and calmly looked down at everyone. He then began to speak in a firm tone.
"It is good to see you all here in the Academy of Enlightened. As most of you may know or not know, this place was made to nurture you all into gems. Enlightened who shall clear the toughest of trials to protect humanity."
The older man paused and looked around the room.
"Every single one of you has cleared your first trial and became Inferior ranked Enlightened. Some of you may have received amazing blessings, others may have received terrible ones, a lucky few may have even received titles from their first trial. But in the end we all are Enlightened who shall fight for humanity."
All of the young men and women stared up at the man who was speaking, some were inspired, others didn't care. Kaito in particular didn't care enough to listen to the speech. He looked around for a while before letting out a small yelp after being startled by Sakura who spoke.
"Kai, what are you looking for?"
The sight of the young man recoiling slightly made Sakura chuckle. Kaito, no, Kai was startled and let out a sigh. He looked around once more before speaking in a casual tone.
"Nothing much, I was just looking at the others who have made it."
They both remained silent for a while before returning their attention to the speech. Well Sakura did, but Kai was focused on something else. Or someone else, the young man was staring at the woman from earlier. She had her head raised high while listening to the speech intently.
'...She's so beautiful... No wait, do I have a crush on her?! Ugh, this is so. cheesy and creepy... I need to stop looking at her!'
Unknown to Kai the young woman was already aware of him staring at her. She was used to being stared at by others but for some reason she felt herself particularly disliked when that young man from the Outer Shell looked at her.
'Ugh... He's looking at me again... Why do I have such a strong urge to slap him...? So many other people are staring so why just him?'
Her anger slowly began to rise after every glance Kai gave her. She scoffed and started brazenly walking towards the frail young man who was staring at her. She was glaring at Kai who was shorter than her by a couple inches. Both of the two Outer Shell kids seemed startled at her approach, Sakura and Kai looked confused and amazed.
But all of that was short lived as the speech ended and shortly after a loud slap wrung out, echoing throughout the entire room. Kai fell gracelessly onto the floor, his cheek swelled slightly with a red handprint. Everyone was stunned and turned to look at the scene. Even the principal that had just finished his speech and majority of the older Enlightened staff looked at the scene with slight shock.
An elegant and beautiful young woman with luscious golden hair, diamond blue eyes, and smooth pale alabaster skin stood before a frail young man. The young man had skin similar to hers but it was dirty, his black hair was unkempt and messy, his clothes were tattered and unsightly. The young man's obsidian eyes were shaking in shock as he held his right cheek.
The room was quiet for a while but not for long as the woman that had slapped the young man spoke in a tone filled with irritation and disgust.
"Why the hell are you staring at me, you disgusting creep! You couldn't even bother hiding your gaze you damned pervert?!"