And so, a week after that, at 4:55 a.m., Atsushi woke up and dressed in his casual clothes, before going out to trek south towards Yokohama. The purpose of this dangerous trip on foot was to meet up with Yeager so he could take a transfer exam. For the entire week he had been watching over Yuichiro when he was in a coma. The trip was dangerous, so he brought his sword with him just in case. Saya, who was within him, agrees to whatever her vessel would say and do, believing that these will make him live more meaningfully. The trip took 3 hours to complete, including the time took for them to watch out for beastmen of the apocalypse and vampires. But, they didn't know that Mikaela was watching over them and following their every movement. The reason is unknown.
Later, at 8:22 a.m., they had arrived at the headquarters of the Red Scarlet Army. Soldiers in red uniform patrolling around and preparing for their next missions and operations.
"Woah…" Atsushi commented.
"It is real!" Saya added in a low voice.
"Let's do this."
Saya then nodded, and both come out and approached one of the guards at the front gate.
"Greetings," Atsushi greeted.
"Who are you?" one of the guards asked while narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"I am Ikari Atsushi from the Imperial Demon Army."
"What?"
"The Imperial Demon Army?" the second guard added.
"Yes," Atsushi replied back boldly and strongly, "and I am here to transfer to your faction."
Before the guards would say anything, a voice came out. "What is going on here?"
Atsushi and the two guards then looked at the headquarters, only to see that Yeager was the one who asked that.
"Sir!"
Yeager then looked at Atsushi and remembered the time he met him.
"Ah, it's you, Atsushi," he said to him with a smile, "It's good to see you again."
"Yes, hello there, Yeager-san," Atsushi responded.
"Are you here to defect to us? Have you decided to do it now?"
Atsushi then nodded. "Yes, I am."
"Good."
Yeager then turned to the two guards. "Let him in."
"Yes, sir," one of them replied, before opening the gate for Atsushi.
Atsushi then went in, and the gate was shut.
Not long after, Atsushi was walking with Yeager down the corridors of the Red Scarlet Army's school, the Yokohama Central Academy.
Classes are not yet started at this time.
"So, what I need to do to enter this faction?" Atsushi raised a question.
"You will need to take the transfer exam in order to get here," replied Yeager back. "For new recruits, they must take the Strength, Endurance, and Power test, or SEP test for short. But, since you're from another faction, I'll exempt you from it."
"Oh, thanks."
Yeager then smiled. "I know you're strong and have been trained well by them."
"Yes, I was."
They arrived at a classroom in the second floor, and they entered in. Inside the classroom, Clare was arranging her lesson material when Yeager said to her, "Clare." Clare then looked at them. "Oh, hi, sir, what is it?"
"We're here because this kid wants to defect to us."
Clare then looks at Atsushi. "Oh, okay, hello there, you must be Ikari Atsushi, right?"
"Yes, I am." Atsushi bit his lip.
"Don't worry, I'll prepare the transfer exam for you."
"Oh thanks, ma'am."
Yeager then looked at him. "You may study at our library if you're not prepared."
Atsushi was very surprised at this flexible privilege. "Thank you, Yeager-san. I'll do my best."
"Okay, you may ask me if you're ready," Clare said to Atsushi.
And so, Atsushi was at the school library studying for the exam. That exam covers basic subjects like math and history. His weakness is science while his strongest is ethics. Saya was watching him while reading some texts.
"I am so determined to get into this faction," Atsushi said to her.
"Okay then, good luck with that," she replied to him.
"Man, that scene from yesterday was so powerful for me."
"You're right, it is a deadly reunion of them."
"How did you know?"
"I saw their past."
"Oh, right, you're a mountain spirit, I remember now."
Saya then chuckled. "Yes, I am timeless."
Hearing that, Atsushi resumed studying, determining to pass the test.
Then, someone came to his table unloading some books. Upon noticing Atsushi being not in a proper uniform, the boy asked, "Hey, are you new here?" Atsushi then looked at him. "Oh, yes, I am."
"Okay, are you a new recruit?"
"No, I am a defector."
"Defector?"
"From the Imperial Demon Army."
The boy, an Indonesian named Basuki Tanjung, was amazed. "That faction?"
"You heard about it?"
"Yes, and I heard they also conducted experiments."
"Yeah, I know that, and I luckily avoided that."
"Woah, how?"
"My mountain spirit protected me."
Saya then appeared. "Hi there."
"Wow, a mountain spirit? I had one, but it's a volcano spirit."
His volcano spirit then appeared. "Hello there! My name is Kawah."
"Oh, nice to meet you, Kawah," Atsushi replied back. "I'm Atsushi Ikari and this is Saya, my mountain spirit."
Saya and Kawah get along very well.
Then, Basuki introduced himself to Atsushi.
"Nice to meet you, Basuki-kun," Atsushi happily responded.
After that, Basuki gave him some tutoring for the transfer exams so Atsushi would be ready, equipped with all the knowledge he needed for the test.
And so, by 10:22 a.m., Atsushi marched to Clare's classroom and asked her for the test. Clare did so, and gave him the exam papers, which was 10 pages long. It has no time limit, either, so he would do it in his own pace. He grabbed his pencil and started reading the questions and problems one by one, before answering them to the best of his ability as Clare monitors him from her desk.