Hikaru blinked as he read over his score. "Huh." He wondered. Then he heard footsteps approach him.
"Hikaru! What place and score did you get?" Albert asked.
"I got 74th place. My scores were… Offensive-74 Defensive-30 Control- 59 Physical-60 and Mental-78." He read out.
"What's yours Albert?" He wondered if Albert had scored higher than him. "I got 80 in all of mine." He chuckled while scratching his head.
"N- nice." Hikaru stuttered, impressed.
Two Days Later.
Hikaru had told Asel and they stayed at an inn for two days before the official entrance ceremony. "Asel, I'm heading out. And, one last thing, could you bring my bag to my dorm later?" He asked. "Sure." Asel said shortly.
Hikaru then stepped into the city streets with his official uniform of the academy. A black blazer, a white dress shirt and a blue thinly striped tie with the emblem of the academy right over his heart.
Into the streets that were livelier than ever. Though, he couldn't tell why. "They're oddly lively.."
On his way to the academy, he was fixing his uniform until crash! He accidentally head butted someone.
"Ow.." He holds his head as he looks up to see a petite and short girl with blonde hair, purple eyes and a girl's uniform.
They were books sprawled on the floor and Hikaru got curious. "Sorry, are you okay? I'll help you." As she looks up, she stares into Hikaru's eyes and their contact lingers for a bit.
"Y- Yeah.. I'm good." She says as she blushes and looks away to pick up her books.
They finished picking up the books in silence. Hikaru broke it with a soft voice.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay. Really," she said quickly.
"You don't have to lie." He knelt slightly and held out his hand. "Here."
His mana circuits flickered along his arm in a faint green glow. "…Healing."
A sphere of soft light hovered from his palm and touched her scraped skin, dissolving the wound.
"There," he said gently.
"T-thank you…" she murmured, a faint blush lingering on her cheeks. "I'm Miro. Miro Lighthouse."
"Hikaru Siegfried," he replied, then hesitated. "Nice to, uh, make acquaintance?"
She smiled. "Too formal. Call me by my first name. For healing me."
He smiled back, more comfortable now. "Wanna walk to school together?"
"I- Isn't that a little sudden?!" She asked flustered, taken aback by what she thought was bold. Then for a second she took it back.
"Nevermind, I will walk with you." She smiled.
Their walk to school was brief, before Miro broke off to go talk to a friend leaving Hikaru alone.
Hikaru approached Albert as he saw him. That is my friend, right? He thought.
Before Hikaru could greet him, Albert turned around. "Hey, Hikaru!" He said enthusiastically.
"Ready to start the year?" He asked. "Yeah. I am." Hikaru answered.
He was cut off when the intercoms spoke.
"First years, please stay while the others go to their dorms. You will get your own dorms and ranks."
Everyone who got accepted waited at the entrance until the upperclassmen left.
An instructor from the entrance exam had come to guide them.
"Each one of your's uniforms should now have updated and your rank should be right next to your front pocket."
Everyone looked to check theirs.
Hikaru looked at his and smiled.
"D, huh? I guess I have to do better." He said.
Albert spoke. "What does mine say?"
Hikaru saw his and his eyes widened.
"A. Good job?" He sounded disbelieving.
"Nice! I am so proud of myself!"
What an odd thing to say! He thought.
Hikaru brushes it off.
After leading the students to the dormitory, he instructor spoke.
"Find your rooms. Your doors will have numbers on them."
"Geez, demanding much?" Hikaru muttered under his breath, though, there was no real bite in it.
He splits away from Albert and finds his own room.
"Found it." Next to his door, was a holographic frame made with mana. It scans Hikaru's badge and unlocks the door.
Hikaru opens the white brown wooden door to his
"Not bad at all." He said. But the truth is, it was nicer than anything he'd ever had.
He threw his stuff down and jumped into his new bed.
"Mmph!! You're nice aren't you? Oh, you're so pretty!" He snuggles with his bed and blankets, rolling around.
"Class is at 12 once you settle in."
Hikaru froze. He turned to his door to witness a disgusted gaze from a female who looked like a instructor.
"O-Okay." He nervously answered.
Then she was gone, the door sliding shut behind her like she'd never been there.
Hikaru sat upright, eyes wide.
"…So much for first impressions."
He flopped back down, one arm over his face, sighing into the mattress.
His voice muffled. "This bed doesn't judge me."
But even as he joked, a knot sat in his chest. The kind that came when things were too quiet. Too new.
He rolled onto his side and stared at the ceiling. Smooth. White. Clean.
Too clean.
The kind of clean that didn't belong to someone like him.
Hikaru sighed. "Why do I always overthink everything?"
An hour goes by.
"I'm getting hungry…" Hikaru yawned, stretching his arms out lazily.
Stepping out of his room, he immediately heard a commotion echoing from the A Dormitory.
"Ruckus already? This place is lively…" he muttered. Curiosity won. He followed the noise.
At the far end of the hall, two guys were posturing aggressively in front of a brown-haired girl who sat calmly on the windowsill, legs crossed, unimpressed.
A small crowd had gathered. Eyes glued.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" one of the guys barked.
"Yeah, commoner bitch! Don't think you're all that just 'cause you scored high on the test!" the other jeered.
The girl didn't even flinch. "I'm sure there's a better use of your time than throwing a tantrum in front of your little fan club."
That hit a nerve.
"You little—"
Thud.
Hikaru, watching too intently, bumped into something—or someone.
He slowly looked up to meet the towering glare of a muscular upperclassman in the same uniform.
"…Oh. Sorry, man, I didn't mean to—"
POW.
A fist like a cannonball collided with his face.
"Ow?! What the hell?!"
BAM.
SMACK.
THWACK.
The punches came in stereo. It was less of a beatdown and more of a one-sided drum solo—with Hikaru as the drums.
"Hey! They're fighting!" one of the jerks shouted.
"Let's take out the commoner while everyone's distracted!"
They rushed the girl, swinging wildly.
She gracefully dodged, weaving through punches like water through cracks, then slammed both idiots into the ground with the elegance of a dancer and the brutality of a street fighter.
Meanwhile—
Hikaru finally staggered to his feet. Bruised, dazed, and fueled by sheer irritation, he raised a trembling fist.
"What is your problem?!" he roared, stepping forward with all the fire of a man who'd had enough.
The big guy blinked once.
And then catapulted his fist forward like a meteor.
CRUNCH.
Hikaru flew backwards, spinning midair like a ragdoll in a washing machine. One eye swollen shut. Leg bent at an angle that definitely wasn't natural.
"This is fine," he thought as he hit the ground like a sack of regret.
It was not his day.
Then, chaos. A full-blown brawl broke out in the hallway. Dorm leaders yelling. Spells flying. People diving for cover.
And just as Hikaru accepted death—
She landed in front of him.
Effortlessly knocking the brute off his feet, the girl scooped up Hikaru in her arms—bridal style.
"You idiot. What were you thinking?" she sighed, holding him like a bruised prize.
"I… saw a squirrel," Hikaru mumbled, or at least tried to. It came out mostly as a wheeze.
The next thing he knew, he was in a large office—stylish, sterile, intimidating.
"…Wait. This isn't the principal's office," Hikaru blinked.
She rolled her eyes. "This school's principal is too important. We go straight to the presidents."
"Of course we do," he groaned, slumping deeper into the couch.
"Siegfried. Carleia. You both know what you did, right?" President Isaac asked.
They were both silent.
He sighed. "So did you guys start a brawl?"
The president tapped his foot while asking.
"The one thing I know, is that I got brutally beat to a pulp." Hikaru answered.
"And I was getting… picked on." She added.
"Those weren't the answers I was expecting. I guess I'll look more into it later. You're lucky I'm busy right now."
Those were the last words until he let them off.
They both walked out the room together.
"Hey, so we didn't introduce ourselves yet." She stated.
"I'm Caelia-" "I'm Hikaru-" They spoke at the same time, cutting each other off.
She giggled. "Okay then, Hikaru." That voice lingered in his mind. "Yeah." He chuckled back. Now everything was finally calm.