"Come on, man, you gonna give me some, or you just going to leave me hanging?" Zack asked, his left hand still waiting for Jake to slap it with his own hand. But Jake didn't move; he was stiff as a board, caught like a deer in headlights.
He didn't snap out of his daze until Zack waved his hand in front of his face. "Hello, earth to Jakey boy, did you hear me?"
Jake snapped to attention. "Oh, sorry," he said, stumbling over all his words. "I'm just tired is all."
"I bet," Zack responded. "I heard you pushed like you had a fire right under your ass to finish."
"Yeah, I guess I did," Jake said, rubbing the back of his head. He angled his head down in shame. Even though he didn't know Zack before today, he couldn't look the spiky-haired young man in his eyes.
"Out of 2000 applicants, you and I made it to the top 300 hundred, and that's cause for celebration. So, slap me five."
Jack lifted his head, then put on a forced smile on his face as he reached his left hand up towards Zack. "Yeah, yeah, sorry, thanks, man."
The two slapped their hands together. Zack was smiling from ear to ear. "Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about."
Jake chuckled, then his eyes went wide. "Wait, you said 'we' when you mentioned passing the first part of the exam. You're telling me that you…"
"Well, of course, I did. I am the greatness after all."
"But how?" Jake asked, puzzled.
"Well, you see…" But as Zack was about to give Jake all the details on how he passed, he was immediately cut off.
"Excuse me, young men," the two turned and saw a short older woman looking at them. By the way she was dressed, she was also a nurse. "If you two are fine enough to talk, then you're fine enough to leave the infirmary. Now, get out. Let these good people rest."
Zack mirrored Jake's actions earlier and rubbed the back of his head. He was nervous and laughed embarrassingly. "Sorry, ma'am, we'll be leaving."
Jake swung his legs over, now sitting on the edge of the gurney. "Yeah, our bad, miss, we'll leave."
"Well, you better," the old woman said with a lot of attitudes.
Jake got to his feet as he and Zack left the infirmary. As they did, Zack couldn't help himself and snickered the entire way towards the exit. Once the two left the infirmary, they entered a hallway, and once the door to the infirmary was closed, Zack burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, did you get a load of that old bat? She had some spice left in those old tiny bones," Zack was cracking up, and Jake couldn't help but smile a genuine smile.
After Zack was finished with his laughing fit, he smacked Jake on the back and said, "Come on, man, this way."
The two proceeded to walk down the hallway. They passed people who seemed to be other applicants, but by the way they held their heads, the way they sat and stood, unlike the two of them, these applicants had failed the first part of the exam. Jake didn't want to stare, but he shot quick secret glances at them. He saw a mix of frustrated, saddened, and depressed faces, faces he would share if he didn't pass.
To distract himself from the failed applicants, Jake continued his early conversation with Zack. "You said you passed, but the last time I saw you…"
He paused when he said those words, his mind flashing back to when he kept running when he saw Zack in danger. He swallowed the knot in his throat and continued, "Last time I saw you, you weren't in the best position. It looked like you lost."
Zack quickly turned his neck, looking at Jake with a frown on his face. The look surprised Jake. "What are you talking about?" Zack said, puffing up his cheeks like a blowfish. "I had that beastman right where I wanted him."
Jake just forced a smile as he spoke. "Really? From the way I saw, you were on the losing end of the battle."
Zack let out an exasperated pfft as he turned his head back forward. "Are you gonna trust what I say or your eyes? I was about to win that fight."
Jake nodded his head. "Sure, whatever you say, man," as he thought, 'This dude is such a liar.'
"Yeah, I would have had him till that dickwad interrupted."
"What dickwad?"
"I don't know, some super-fan of that guy. He got in my way, crossed blades for a second, got his ass kicked, then he grabbed me and ran full speed to the finish line."
"Wow, a total stranger helped you pass the first phase. That was nice of them."
Zack gave off another pfft as Jake said that. "He wasn't nice, far from it. He was just a dick."
Nearing the end of the hallway, Zack stopped in front of a vending machine. "Hey, you thirsty?"
"Um, yeah, sure."
"Great, my treat."
Jake was put off by the generous offer. "Naw, man, you don't have to do that."
"Yeah, right," Zack shot a quick glance at Jake. "You're right I don't have, I want to."
Zack turned and put a few coins in, then hit a button. When the drink was dispensed, he tossed a sports drink to Jake. He struggled to catch it with one hand, but… Managed to keep it from hitting the ground, Zack then put in coins for his own drink. As Jake took a sip, he was confused. So confused, in fact, that he had to know. "Why are you being so kind to me?"
"What are you talking about?" Zack said, pressing a button for his own drink. "I'm always kind."
"No, I mean, what's with the free drink?"
As Zack got his own drinks after it was dispensed, he answered, "Oh, that? That's just payback for what you did for me."
"What did I do?"
As Zack got his drink, he took a sip then continued walking towards the auditorium. "You didn't get involved in my fight. You listened to my eyes."
"Your eyes?" Jake said, following behind the spiky-haired boy.
"Yeah, my pops always said that one must always listen to the eyes of a warrior."
Jake leaned his head, even more confused now. As the two started to exit the hallway, Zack turned to Jake, pointing at his eyes. "When you ran past, you and I locked eyes with one another. You saw what I wanted in my eyes. You knew I didn't want you to get involved, and you didn't. So, thanks, my man." Zack smiled then gave a gentle smack on Jake's shoulder. Zack turned, drinking his sports drink, then continued into the auditorium.
Jake was stuck in place. That moment they had back then, Jake misunderstood it. He didn't understand what Zack was saying with his eyes. If he did, then this guilt of inaction he felt wouldn't be here. "But he doesn't know the real reason why I didn't help him," Jake tried to tell himself as he walked out of the hallway and into the auditorium.
Just like it was when Jake first entered, before the exam had started, there were a bunch of people in the auditorium, but not nearly as many as before. Jake and Zack walked into the sea of applicants that passed the first phase. As they weaved through the people, Zack pointed in a random direction. "Oh, hey there they are," he said.
Jake followed his finger's direction till it landed on a very tall, large applicant with a weird thing on their head. "That's the dick that got in my way."
"Damn," Jake said, "their huge."
"Yeah, not as big as that other guy but they are pretty big. Um, why are they wearing that thing on their head?"
"Fuck if I know. I didn't ask."
As the two got settled, a familiar sound came from the speakers. "Hey, hey, hey, ladies and gentlemen!" The energetic voice of Moon D came over the loudspeaker. "The second phase is about to begin. To all you applicants that passed but aren't half-dead, please make your way to the auditorium. And for all of you that may have lost or broken your rental weapons, please find an exam assistant to get a new one. We will be starting in less than five minutes."
Zack smirked. "Damn, guess I need a new weapon if I'm going to continue."
Zack turned to look at Jake. "Hey, you ready to do this?"
Jake looked back as he gripped the katana in his hand hard. "Yeah, I am."