The GATE Academy [Please read description]

Chapter 3: Back to Class

The smoke took several minutes to clear up and the fire alarms were blaring throughout the school. Whoops. Probably shouldn't have used that much force on Keita...

He'll be fine fine though, don't worry. The school and it's students are protected by a "no-kill zone" type of thing. Only the students and staff are protected by this, though, enemies, or, un-welcomed guests can be killed here.

But that's besides the point. The force of my blow had thrown Keita back a distance and into a wall of the Arena. His impact was so hard that he literally sat inside of the wall, his arms and legs hanging out.

I stood up amongst the smoke and tried to make out what the Arena looked like. The tile floor below and around myself had been obliterated and replaced with its earthy under-layer, which I later found out that the entire Arena had been unearthed.

I could hear several of my classmates coughing and immediately began to regret my decision. Too much destructive force for such a small space? But the Arena wasn't small at all, and my blows were not usually that explosive, but... My energy had turned black. I have no idea what happened and how it happened...

The smoke finally cleared up through a series of vents on the domed part of the Arena and I found all of my classmates staring at me. Some were awestruck and some were terrified with their expressions as if to say "I will never cross this guy." Big deal, I've gotten those looks before...

Professor Cloud stood besides me, he leaned into my left side and said, "I would be more careful next time. Don't forget that you have a team to carry and your actions can easily put your friends in danger."

Professor Cloud pat my back, smiled at me, and began making his way towards the exit, which was still quite a distance away.

He clapped his hands over his head indicating that the spars were over.

"Gather 'round, guys! Spars are over! If you didn't finish your match, then call it even for now!"

His voiced trailed off to me as he walked away, my classmates following after him out of the Arena and back to the classroom.

I didn't follow him though, I knew the drill. There's a certain unofficial rule stating that if you seriously injure somebody in a combat match, it's a courtesy to escort him or her to the school's hospital/medical bay.

I walked briskly towards Keita, who sat unconscious in the wall, picking up his sword on the way. He came into consciousness while I was about fifteen feet away and began to stir. I stood over him and extended my right hand down to him.

Keita, now fully conscious, averted his eyes from mine.

"... Good fight..." he unwillingly stated.

I grinned as he took my hand.

"Yeah, you too. A little too offensive on your end, but I think you were a bit flustered, weren't you?"

"Maybe... It's a possibility..." he said as I helped him up to his feet.

"Anyways, you know the drill, let's go to the medical bay."

Keita clutched his stomach, doubled over, and coughed up a spray of blood. He stood back up looking a little paler than usual.

"Yeah... Let's do that."

***

I waited outside of the hospital wing on a white bench for Keita, who was in there for only a few minutes. Keita told me that he a ruptured kidney, but Professor Itara fixed him up in no time.

Professor Itara is another GATE alumni and now doubles as a professor and school nurse. Despite being in her early thirties, she's still a somewhat petite girl and could easily pass off as a high schooler. Professor Itara mainly reaches the lower CL class, so I've never had her as teacher, but she subbed for my freshman teacher, Professor Blade, once. She's got short, dark maroon-colored hair that's usually up in a nurse's hat and soft, black eyes. She probably only stands at 5'2", but she often wears heels to school. She dresses very professionally all of the time, unlike Professor Hiyaba...

Professor Hiyaba is really something else. She's in the same class as Professor Cloud and she's pretty promiscuous for a teacher... She's a blonde, and, I'm going to be straightforward: she's got big boobs. There, I said it. Most of the girls in her classes hate the fact that all of the guys fawn over her and leave them without any guys, as silly as that seems. Professor Hiyaba is 5'10" and has the body of a model, considering that she is one. She teaches the middle CL classes, but I didn't get her last year, thank goodness. Despite her promiscuity, her class, girls and boys, usually show good results so that's a good thing.

Back to the now, I waved at Professor Itara as Keita and I began to make our way back to the class. There was only 7 minutes left before break started, but we decided to head back anyways.

After a few moments of silence, not awkward silence, Keita spoke up.

"Are you ready for this year's missions?" he said with a hint of excitement, a good sign of him picking up on emotions.

"Of course, now that we're CL-9, we can take the AAA, S, and X-Ranked missions," I replied back with a grin.

Not to brag or anything, but ever since the creation of the GATE Academy, the world has slowly become a more peaceful place. Entire mafias and gangs have been weeded out, assassinations have been prevented, and wars have been resolved before they could start all thanks to the "mission" system we have at GATE. Basically, clients can post requests on our website with a specified price and a suggested difficulty and then, the request is posted onto a giant screen (15' long, 4' high) in which students can accept the requests. Students are encouraged to team up together and accept these requests, though some can be taken solo if they seem easy enough. GATE pays to fly out their students to their clients and then the request is accomplished from there on out.

Keita and I arrived back at class 3 minutes before break and interrupted Professor Cloud's lecture.

"Sorry," I said as Keita and I made our way to our seats near the front.

Professor Cloud simply nodded his head and continued on with his teaching of Calculus. I didn't bother taking out my notes because I already knew this stuff and the bell was going to ring any second now.