"To learn is to grow. To grow is to mature. To mature is to live."
*Nyima*
The only students in the class, apart from Yuuta, were Ren and a girl with jade hair and snake-like eyes. It was Mayu, another of the proctors from the test.
"What class is this?" I asked, just to make sure. I eyed the empty black chairs once more. "Where are the rest of the students?"
"This class is Tool Synthesis," the woman who looked like Yuuta said. "It's an elective course, albeit one that is unpopular."
"Why?" Hal said. "Do the majority of Kyuu Seishinians hate making personal weapons?"
"It's not that," Mayu said in a low voice, barely above a whisper. She looked up from the book that she was reading.
Apparently she was into romance novels as she was reading the biggest international hit at the moment, 'Anilla'. And how do I know that it's romance? Well, I might have, sort of, read it.
"Despite being an elective, this has a very small acceptance rate," the teacher responded.
"Only one Kyuu Seishinian of each grade normally gets in," Ren said. "Even for you foreigners it isn't easy. That you're here means that you scored high in the prana control sections of your test."
"I didn't think I did that well," An said, rubbing his stomach nervously.
"I bet you didn't," Mayu said, returning to 'Anilla'.
"Can you eight move out of the way," a boy with weasel-like eyes barked at us.
"Shiori," the snake-eyed girl said, lowering her book once more. "I didn't know you had this class, too."
Shiori walked over and sat down next to his friend. He gave her a dashing smile. "I wanted to surprise you." He shifted his eyes over to us. They seemed as if they were glaring. "So these are this year's foreign first-years. Which of you is Iah?"
"So, you've heard of me," Iah said as he sat down in the closest seat to the door. Iah leered at Shiori. "Would you like to test our strength?"
The white-haired boy smiled slightly, interlacing his long, slender, ivory fingers. His beady, emerald eyes narrowed. "No, I am just interested in seeing this year's talent. Your second-year compatriots were weak, in fact most of last year's crop of foreigners left."
'Yeah, thanks to being intimidated by a group wearing masks.'
"Let's stop the chatter and get on with class," our teacher announced. The rest of us sat down in whichever seat was closest to us. "I'm Mrs. Akiyama. and I'll be your Synthesis teacher for the rest of the year. Since this class is small, I'd like you to introduce yourselves and tell us a little about yourself. Let's start with the members of Team L.I.N.A."
'Lina?'
Lei rapidly bolted up from his seat. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Lei Lan from Wahkan. My favorite thing to do in my free time is to hang out with my friends. My goal is to become the next Magus Maximus!" Most of the Kyuu Seishinians, Hal, and Sarah snickered at his declaration.
My pesky teammate crossed his arms as he retreated to his seat. "I'll show you all," he mumbled. "One of these days you'll all be bowing before me."
'Since he went then I guess that means that my team is going first. Who came up with that name though?,
"Hello. I'm Nyima Taiyang," I said, standing up straight as if I were part of the military. "My favorite animals are rabbits and bunnies. My dream is to become the best fashion designer and hairstylist in the world."
"Didn't expect that," Hal said, chuckling. I gave him a dirty look to shut him up.
Iah was next. "I'm Iah Wudi. I am the next heir of the Wudi. As for my dream..." His golden eyes drooped down. He shook his head. "I got none."
The hairs on the Kyuu Seishinians had gone up as soon as Iah mentioned his maternal last name. They all looked at him as if he were toxic waste.
Iah gave them a satisfied grin as he took his seat. 'Did he do that on purpose?'
"I'm Adela Xiān. My favorite thing to do in my free time is sew. My dream is..." She snuck a glance at Lei, causing her face to flush slightly. "I don't really have much of a dream, either."
Hal stood up. "Since we're done with Team L.I.N.A., I'll start my team off. Hal Cantarella. My favorite thing to do in my free time is to experiment with venom. And my dream is to become the top Poison Master in the world!"
"This again?" Sarah said, yawning. Along with her comment were snickers from the Kyuu Seishinians, and Lei who most likely just wanted revenge for their earlier exchange.
"Wow, how do you do experiments with poisons? " Yuuta said, raising an eyebrow.
Hal chuckled as he sat down once more. "Well the lack of test subjects kind of hinders those experiments."
"Moving on, I'm Sarah Shui. I am the sister of the current ruler of the Shui clan," Sarah said.
"The Shui were once one of the most powerful clans along with the Xiān, Wudi, Huo, and our own, weren't they?" Ren said, leaning back against his seat.
Sarah nodded. "Exactly. We have had a long history as the rivals of the Huo and the allies of your clan, Kyuu Hyaku."
"I keep forgetting about that," Iah said, putting his chin against the cold table top. "Especially after seeing the royal family of this country intervene in the personal matters of Sera's own royal family."
"As for my dream," she continued, ignoring the mention of her brother. "It's to rebuild my nation to the former greatness that it once held. I want to make Sera great again, no... even greater than it ever was!"
The Kyuu Seishinians snickered once more, but it seemed to be one of interest, rather than of mockery like the earlier ones were.
"My name is Xue Yueliang," Xue said. "My clan is the Yue clan who have served as the protectors of Tsukuyomi no Mikoto and his descendants. I wish to become a member of the elite squad, those who directly guard the moon god and his family."
Iah grinned. "Those kids of his must be quite lucky, having a guard as pretty as you by their si-"
An cleared his throat as he stood up from his seat, cutting Iah's flirting short. "It's my turn to introduce myself. I'm An Yao. My favorite animals are hawks. As for my dream..." His eyes became even sadder than Iah's had. "I seek to locate a certain someone."
"Nice to meet you eight," Yuuta said, bolting up from his seat. "I'm a second-year. My name is Yuuta Akiyama and as some of you have probably guessed, I'm Mrs. Akiyama's son." He looked up at his mom and smiled. "Don't worry, I didn't get here due to nepotism."
"That's right, Yuu-chan has a talent for tool synthesis unlike any other I've ever seen in ages," his mother said.
Yuuta lowered his head as his face flushed. "Don't call me that, Mom!"
Ren slammed his table, drawing everyone's eyes toward him. He grinned at the attention and said, "I already know some of you, but I guess I'll introduce myself, anyways. I'm Ren Kagamine. My favorite animals are dogs and my dream... Well, I don't have one, but I am only a first-year, after all!"
Mayu put down her book as soon as Ren sat back down. Upon standing up, she said, "I'm Mayu Suzuran. Just like Hal, I like to toy around with venoms. I'm a third-year. As for my dream, it's rather similar to Sarah's."
Sarah, Iah, Xue, and Adela straightened their backs upon hearing this. Sarah let out an amused chuckle of her own. A restored Kyuu Seishin and Sera would mean a radical shift in the dynamics of regional geo-politics.
"I'm Shiori Fujiwara, a third-year. There isn't anything all that interesting about me, and my dreams are none of your business."
Mrs. Akiyama smiled. "Alright then. To help you familiarize with each other, I'll be having you pair up for this first project. The teams are Adela and Ren, Nyima and Yuuta, Lei and Shiori, Mayu and Hal, An and Sarah, and Iah and Xue."
Sarah sighed as if exasperated. An simply smiled at her and moved over to sit down next to her. "It seems like we're teammates, again."
She crossed her arms and looked away. "I'm not happy with it, but at least it's someone I know."
"So we're paired up," Iah said, walking over to Xue.
Xue stared at him suspiciously.
Iah smiled nervously. "Is something the matter?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Come to think about it, you seem familiar."
He scratched his head in confusion. "What do you mean? We've known each other for a couple days now."
"I mean from before."
"Have we met before this year?"
She shook her head. "I don't believe so."
I looked away, only to find Yuuta standing in front of me.
"Hey there, teammate," Yuuta said, chuckling.
I glared at him. "Don't trip me this time."
He smiled similar to An, except his had a hint of cynicism to it. "So long as you don't try going into forbidden areas."
I crossed my arms and turned away "Hmph!" Something about how he said it felt off, as if he didn't want me going there. Just what was down there that he didn't want me to see?
**Solar Note: Thanks for reading :D! Don't forget to click that star if you enjoyed it! So, what are your thoughts on the native Kyuu Seishinians thus far?**