Midnight Arcadia

Chapter 4

Sky was awoken by the sound of his alarm going off, he fumbled with his phone as he attempted to turn it off. He brought his forearm up to his forehead as he lay within his bed staring up at his ceiling. Today was the day, his first real day of school. A soft knock on his door caused him to sit up, his mother’s voice coming through the door. “Sweetie, are you awake? Today is the day! Ayako helped me make breakfast for you, come downstairs.” She said, her voice was sweet and caring. He rose from his bed and began to put on his uniform that had arrived a couple days prior. The black pants that hugged his body nicely without being uncomfortable along with a black fitting blazer. After he brought the buttons together, he slid a hand across the material while looking into his mirror, the material feeling firm and lightweight. It felt more like flexible armor than a regular school uniform. He let out a sigh before opening the door and going downstairs. “There you are! You look great sweetie!” his mother doted. He gave her a bashful smile before taking a seat at the table, a traditional Kigen dish atop it. “Tamagoyaki? You guys made this for me? Thank you!” He asked surprised before picking one up and taking a delightful bite. “It was my idea, we both start today, and this is my favorite!” Ayako said, happily eating her own Tamagoyaki while dressed up in her own adorable uniform. Their mother smiled at her children, proud of how big they were getting, but even she couldn’t help but feel worried about Sky going to such a dangerous school. What if he ends up like his father? It was thought that made her sad, but she held strong for her son’s dream. Once Sky finished his breakfast he stood up and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you so much for breakfast guys, I’ll be back later!” he said before walking towards the door, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder and leaving. He walked down the suburban alley and out onto the busy street of the capital. His path reminding him of the day that got him into the situation to begin with. As Sky began to walk towards Himeji, Nova was looking over some papers at her desk within Himeji. She had to confirm what she saw within Akiyama. “A child his age landing a Spark…” she trailed off within the empty classroom. A man walks into the classroom and places a stack of papers on top of Nova’s desk. “Here are the documents you asked for, Koizumi. It was a bitch and a half to get them all from the Agency but here they are.” He said, wiping away some sweat from his brow. Nova began to look at the documents before smiling. “Thanks, Dai. This is huge help.” Nova said in kind. The man pulled on his tie to loosen it before responding back. “It’s not really a problem, but what do you even need this for? It just looked like the background on a random family. You know them?” Dai asked before leaning against the desk. Nova closed her eyes in thought, uncharacteristically serious. The silhouette of that man appearing in her mind for just a moment. “Not really, just wanted to confirm something I had on my mind.” Nova said as she stuck out her tongue and shrugged. Dai laughed as he took out a cigarette and lit it. He took a draw before looking back over his shoulder at her. “Really only you could get away with something like that, Koizumi.” He spoke before taking another draw from his cigarette. He stood back up before putting out his cigarette and flicking it effortlessly towards the trash can near the door of the classroom. “The students will be here soon. The second years should be finishing their winter break missions and show up sooner or later. Good luck on the first years, Koizumi. Even though I know you don’t need it.” He said as he waved behind him and left the classroom. Nova was left alone once again with her newly obtained documents. She continued to comb over them while thinking more about her class. She could see it in many of them, these kids will become extraordinary. While she was busy thinking about it, the students began to flood into the classroom, taking their seats separated by each group. Nova stood up and began to look at the class with a smile usual for her. “Welcome to your first day in Himeji. I’m sure you all are eager to get started with the fun stuff, but this is still a school. That means learning!” Nova said while clapping lightly. Some of the class let out a groan, such as Akihiko and Chiyoko, while others were unbothered by this, like Sky and Miyuki. Nova began to explain the basics of how the Vein works, all of which knew. Cells within the blood stream based on the blood type produced energy that resides within the heart and projects outward once the Vein is activated. While Nova began to explain, Sky raised a hand to his heart, feeling it’s beat and wondering why his Vein hadn’t manifested yet. He wasn’t O-, so he wasn’t Veinless, but he wasn’t useful like a Veinless either. This made him clench his hand over his heart as he listened. “Let’s get some examples, eh? Outside everyone!” Nova said as she made a gesture with her hands towards the door, pushing everyone towards the exit. The class flooded out into the courtyard and then lined up alongside each other. “Now, another crucial aspect of Vein training is energy reinforcement. Reinforcing your body with your energy can make you a whole lot more durable and even make you strike harder. I’m sure many of you think the energy emitted from your body is enough naturally but when in a real encounter you need to reinforce your actual body with energy, so you aren’t taken out in a single hit. That being said, I want you all to strike me.” She said with a confident smile. The entire class looked at her with surprise. She wanted them to hit her? Would they even be able to? None of them had even seen Nova take a hit when her big fights went live on the internet. “Don’t be shy, I’ve turned my Vein off for now. It’s just pure energy reinforcement. Come on!” She assured, really urging her class to throw a couple strikes at her. Galaxy walked up first; she had already been subjected to training with Nova in the past, so she already is well aware of the outcome of this exercise. She readies a fist and with all her might throws a punch into Nova’s abdomen. She doesn’t even budge. She urges the rest of the class to try and one-by-one they try. The result is always the same, with no reaction. Sky walks up next, being the last to go. He raises his fist and closes his eyes for a moment. He then throws a punch with all he can muster within it. He winces in pain and grabs his hand. It felt like punching a brick wall. He could hardly even believe it. He returned to his place in line all while being unable to get the thought out of his head. All his classmates will be able to do that at some point? That’s a terrifying thought to him, he didn’t want to be left behind. The thought made him steel his resolve as he looked forward with a determined look. Nova looked at all her students and let out a hearty laugh. “The looks on your faces! They all do that for the first time. It never gets old!” she laughed. Once she had stopped laughing, she was finally able to explain what she had wanted to. “Phew… anyway, over the next couple weeks you will all be working together one-on-one to work on energy reinforcement. We can work on actual Vein techniques for each of you at the same time. Look forward to it, everyone!” she said with an enthusiastic fist raised in the air. Sky let out a sigh knowing his future just got a lot more eventful.

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To Be Continued.