Campus Sanctuary 1

Non-Secular Formation

Students show open hostility to the BBs due to the ban on sports festivals. But one of them observes bandages and injuries on some students, suggesting something horrible is happening. Meanwhile, the Non-Secular club reconsiders Hyoga's presence, but Alicia implores them to give him a chance. They allow this since they need more members, so they start by reading the first book of the Bible: Genesis.

The weather for today is sunny and cloudy mix.

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[April 20, Friday - week 3]

Lunchtime begins, and the BBs are the only ones in class again. One of them makes a comment.

"It's empty here," Hyoga says.

"It happens during lunch. I wonder why," Shun says.

"I doubt the cafeteria would be that big..." Seiya says.

"Surely, they have their reasons," Shiryu adds.

"Maybe we should find out the reason."

"Does it matter?"

"Actually, I think it does."

"Ever since we returned, this keeps happening every day. I think it pays to understand why."

"Isn't it obvious? The gym incident freaked them out. They're afraid and pissed off too."

"Right, the sports festival ban."

"Let's head out and see."

As they stroll the hallway, numerous students stare without a word. This also includes students in open classrooms. Every single one of them is filled with nothing but contempt.

"This is worse than expected," Seiya mutters.

Two students, a boy, and a girl, step forward. Given their proximity, they're probably first years too.

"Thanks to you, our school life is ruined," the boy says.

"Our fault?!" Seiya exclaims, agitated. "Listen here..."

Shiryu pulls Seiya away before an argument escalates.

"And the sports festival a lot of people came here for? It's gone! Way to mess up our experience."

"We apologize for the inconvenience." Shun bows. "Our habits got the worst of us."

"I can't help but notice your bruises do not seem normal. Is there something happening?"

"What are you talking about?" the boy asks.

Hyoga notices abnormal bandages on the injured boy's arms, legs, and neck. His face appears to be swollen and bruised-filled. The boy also dons sports tape covering those bandages. The weary girl next to him has only sports tape but in a lesser amount. They're not the only ones, however, as other students around them have similar amounts of sports tape/bandage combo. Both boys and girls. The rest of the BBs take notice too.

"Where are you getting those injuries from?" Seiya asks.

"They're from practice," the injured boy says.

"That doesn't seem right."

"I believe this goes beyond normal practice and is most likely perpetrated by someone," Shiryu says.

"Given their state, it's likely done by a single person," Shun adds.

Seiya gasps. "Hey! Is there a teacher doing this to you?"

"That's none of your business!" the weary girl says.

"Here I thought Nadeshin throwing chalk at me sucks, but this is terrible."

"If a teacher is behind this, you must report to the director," Shun says.

"What's he going to do? He'll probably do jack."

"You misunderstand. Those injuries are—"

"Forget it, Shun. They're not going to listen," Hyoga says.

"We can't make this any worse. We were let go once. Let's have faith they'll realize," Shiryu says.

With that said, the lunch bell rings, and the BBs quietly return to class. Seiya looks at the injured boy. The school day ends, and some split to attend clubs or return to the dorm. In Hyoga's case, he heads to attend his club's meeting at the Practice Building on the second floor. He sees them already gathered and arranged when he arrives, just as on Wednesday.

"What's the name of this club?" Hyoga asks. "I don't see a sign or a name."

"None because we got together, and it didn't occur to us," Kawai says.

"Besides, if we give it a name, we would be advertising," Futaba adds.

"But I think we should have a name for ourselves," Alicia says. "Since we're going to read the Bible, why not call this club Non-Secular? It's easy to understand."

"That's straightforward. Saying Bible Club would be weird."

"I like that name," Futaba says.

"Can I say something before we start?" Kazuki asks. "I still have doubts about him being here. There are rumors, and then he claims to be half-Japanese with that name. This doesn't add up."

"Yeah, but Alicia-san doesn't have a Japanese name and is from overseas," Futaba says.

"That's true, but I've been here since middle school because of my parents' job. Still, we must give him a chance, as our leader says. We need more members anyway."

"Yeah, but not too many that we get noticed," Kazuki says.

"Alright, let's begin. Now with him here, we can start the first book of the Bible: Genesis."

Each member reads their own copy, except Alicia shares hers with Hyoga.

Kawai reads the first paragraph out loud: "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved the upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

Kawai continues reading the rest of the first Genesis chapter: "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." He turns to chapter two and reads the first paragraph: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made."

"That concludes the seven days of creation. What do you think?"

"It's very straightforward," Futaba says.

"Indeed it is. It's a metaphor for how the seven days came to be."

"Have you noticed there's a lot of repetition here?" Kazuki asks.

"This is to emphasize binaries like day and night, light and darkness, and of course, man and woman. This will be a recurring theme in the beginning chapters of the Bible. We'll continue with Genesis next week. The second chapter is all about the Garden of Eden."

The club meeting ends, and everyone departs.

To be continued...