Walking out of the classroom, Kichirou looked around for Victoria and Gray, two of the only friends he had.
'Where are they…'
"I'm over here."
Looking in the direction of the voice, Kichirou caught a glimpse of Amy Vi, her massive suitcase in tow.
'Not exactly who I was looking for… but I'm glad she's here.'
Walking over to her, Kichirou quickly greeted her before they began their walk to their Close Quarters Combat class.
Disliking the somewhat awkward silence between the two, Kichirou spoke up.
"The acclimation class was pretty interesting, no?"
"Yeah, it was alright."
'Not givin' me much to work with here, huh…'
The two walked along together in practical silence for quite a while, only broken by the occasional addition of banter back and forth
Suddenly, Amy said something strange.
"Hey…"
Kichirou was surprised by the sudden change in her speech
'Usually, she's so confident… what's up with her all of a sudden? Her shoulders dropped, and she's been looking at the floor for a while now. I wonder if somethings up…'
Kichirou decided that if it was something that could do something look this to the ever-confident Amy, it must've been something serious.
'Even if I haven't known her for very long, I should listen to her at the very least. If she's coming to me, I should meet her halfway.'
Kichirou fixed his gaze on Amy.
"What's up?"
Amy looked down as though she were deep in thought, before stopping in her tracks and turning to meet his gaze. Kichirou stopped as well.
"Do you know of something called 'AKA-21B'?"
'What the hell…? I've never even heard of an AKA-21B.'
Kichirou was perplexed by the strange question. He had no idea what an "AKA-21B" could possibly be.
'It must be something important, though, if it's got Amy in such a state.'
"Oh… Alright then. Forget I asked."
Following her sad resignation, Amy brought the suitcase down to her hip and sat on it. Crossing her legs, she elevated the suitcase using the control glove on her left hand and rode it the rest of the way to class, leaving Kichirou behind.
'Hmm… Well, whatever that is, I'm sure it's serious. I'll see what I can find out about it.'
Kichirou resolved to learn more about this AKA-21B in his free time.
'It has to be something important. I should figure out as much as I can about this whole thing when I can.'
Kichirou walked to class alone for the remainder of his trek, eventually arriving at his Close Quarters Combat Class with a few minutes to spare before the class.
'According to the map they gave us with all of our class locations, this should be it… Looks like they're really serious about these combat training classes.'
Kichirou recognized the place he was in as Building C, the same place his combat examination was supposed to happen before they had to split everyone up.
'I guess we'll actually get to use the massive arena they have set up here. I wonder if there's anything special about this place like there was in the Ranged Combat class earlier. Maybe another space dilation?'
Kichirou was fascinated by the seemingly fantastical spaces that were set up by the school.
'I'm guessing they use that exigent energy to make all of this possible, don't they? It must be pretty powerful if it can do things like make a small space huge, and give you complete control over a room. I wonder when I'll get to try it…'
Kichirou's fascination with the mysterious energy quickly turned to desire. He yearned to use that power.
'Maybe, if I can learn to use it with what I already have, I can get ahead!'
Kichioru was quite excited. He saw a path forward, leading toward his goal, and couldn't bring himself to overlook it.
"Hey man, what's got you smiling all like that? Got a girlfriend already- gah!"
Kichirou turned to the origin of the voice to see Gray rubbing the back of his head, and Victoria standing next to him.
'I didn't see them after the class ended before…'
"Where were you two? I looked around after class and couldn't seem to find you."
Victoria answered, leaving Gray behind in his agony.
"We stuck around in the classroom for a bit after the lecture was over. The professor really started talking about some weird stuff…"
Kichirou recalled his first interaction with Professor Sanchez.
"Yeah, he has some ideas, but you never know. He may be right about those kinds of things."
'Maybe he's right about some stuff. With the way the government treats me, it wouldn't be surprising if they're reticent to release all of these advanced technologies to the public.'
"Yeah, maybe… We should head into the arena, shouldn't we? We don't wanna be late."
Quickly changing the subject, Victoria entered the classroom.
'I wonder what that's all about…?'
Kichirou followed behind her, confused by her reaction.
"Wait for me, you guys!"
Gray ran into the classroom behind them, still massaging the back of his head with his left hand.
***
Kichirou, following Victoria, finally managed to make his way into the large arena the class would take place in.
'Woah… This place is huge! I thought Close Quarters meant we'd be shoved together, but damn! It's just as big a building as it is on the outside.'
Kichirou took a few more seconds to marvel in awe at the size of the arena before joining his classmates who were all gathered together in the center of the battlefield.
Looking up at the professor, Kichirou recognized a familiar face.
'He's the guy from before, isn't he?'
"Hey! It's you, from orientation! You were in my group."
The professor walked over the rest of the way, meeting Kichirou in the middle before patting him on the back.
"Haha! I knew I recognized you back then! You really were one of mine!"
The man's laugh was genuine and heartfelt.
'His vision's gotten leagues better… Before he had to squint just to see me and Amy a couple of meters down the hallway. Maybe he's wearing contacts or something like that.'
"Yeah, it's nice to see you instructor…"
"You can just call me Jackson, or Instructor Jackson if you're the professional type."
'Must not be big on titles, this guy.'
"Alright then, I'll call you Instructor Jackson in class."
The man's smile wore down a little bit. He felt a bit dejected because of Kichirou's lack of familiarity but didn't let it affect him too much.
"Well then, Kichirou, it's time I started class. We'll talk again tomorrow."
The instructor then walked back to the front of the group and began to speak in a commanding tone.
"Alright Class! Today, we'll be doing minimal fighting! Rather, you'll all be taught about what you'll be using to fight!"
'I knew it…'
Kichirou had already suspected that the man had some sort of military background and the way he dictated the students' learning course for the day to them only further proved those suspicions.
The instructor began walking to what appeared to Kichirou to be another entrance to the arena situated on the opposite side Kichirou had entered through.
'I should try to get a good idea of the layout while I can…'
The arena's battlefield was finished with panel tiling made of a hard, lustrous material akin to marble. At 90-degree angles from each other, there were huge, arched doorways, through one of which Kichirou had entered the marble battlefield.
"Alright class, look over here!"
Entering through the arched doorway Kichirou had a revelation
'It's not an entrance… it's an armory. Just like the one in the smaller arena from before…'
Kichirou looked down at the white jacket he'd found earlier.
'I'll just keep pretending it's always been mine…'
Following the instructor as he walked further into the armory, Kichirou saw a row of suits lined up behind a glass partition. They were black with white streaks going down the limbs and sides. They seemed to be made out of a material that would hug the wearer's body from head to toe, but appeared breathable enough to be worn comfortably.
'It looks just like those costumes all the superheroes wear in the movies.'
Kichirou made an accurate observation before the instructor began to speak.
"These are your Combat suits. Each one is made using the special material you learned about before, allowing you to generate exigent energy to enhance your physical abilities. These, in tandem with certain weaponry, will allow you to fight very well up close."
'I can already use energy to boost my strength and whatnot, maybe that'll compound on top of that.'
"I'll pass these out to you now, there're changing rooms in the back for the girls, in the front for the boys. Go get changed and meet up back in the field."
Taking a suit that seemed to match his size, Kichirou walked off with Gray towards the changing room.
"I'm not sure if this is really gonna help me as much…"
Kichioru looked over to his left to see a conflicted Gray looking down at his silver revolver.
"My whole thing is ranged combat after all, I don't think punching harder is gonna help me as much as my bullets piercing stronger."
Kichirou attempted to assuage Gray's doubts.
"I'm sure it'll help out. Imagine being able to reposition faster, or draw your gun faster. Being physically stronger has more advantages than you might think."
Gray thought back to the fight Kichirou had against Victoria.
'The way she moved back then… Maybe he's right. If I could move like her, bolting around like she can, maybe I could've won…'
Gray's dim expression brightened, if only ever so slightly.
"I guess you're right. I'll see what I can make of this."
An expression of determination flashed across Gray's face, and Kichirou was glad.
'If I have to go so far as to be chosen by the B-17E Annexing Program, I at least wanna have a couple of people I can take with me. I know I'm not strong enough to do it all on my own…'
Following Kichirou's battle with Victoria, he understood that he was nothing special. Though he may have had special abilities, they didn't give him unmatched power or an unstoppable trump card. Kichirou knew that Victoria couldn't possibly be the strongest one around and that if he were to face people with levels of power that could dwarf even that, not only would he need more strength, he'd need others who could support him.
Quickly getting changed into the power suit, Kichirou exited the changing room and rejoined his classmates back out on the center of the field.
"Alright, it looks like we're all here!"
The instructor yelled out boisterously.
"Now that we're all here, I can explain the basics. Over the course of your time in this class, you'll learn to use three basic things: hand-to-hand, melee weaponry, and physically enhanced movement. Basically, you'll learn how to fight up close and move really fast."
'Seems a lot simpler than the other classes so far…'
"Today we'll focus on just getting used to these things. I'm sure you can already feel the power flowing through you."
The battlefield was filled with quiet nods and other gestures of approval.
'Huh…? I can't feel anything though?'
"Very good! There hasn't been anyone who hasn't felt the increase in strength so far. Try focusing on your hands and arms."
As the class followed the orders of their instructor, the arena was filled with dim lights originating from the hand of each person in the room, with the sole exception of one person.
'No matter what I do… I just can't get this to work!'
Kichirou's eyes were drawn to an abnormally bright light, abnormally so compared to the other members of the class.
'...Victoria?'
Looking over to witness that light, Kichirou was met with the image of Victoria, her right hand extended toward the sky, a large, bright, reddish light emanating from it. Her hand was oriented with her palm facing upwards, and it almost looked like rather than the light coming from her hand, she was generating it outside of her body and only holding it in her hand.
'What the hell…? How is she so good at this?'
Just then, the instructor shouted out.
"Woah! Looks like we've got a damn prodigy in here!"
The fiery red light previously coming forth from her right hand quickly diminished, eventually fading into nothingness as she willed it.
'She's even able to control it so well. Maybe she's just got a knack for this thing.'
Kichirou tried to push out the exigent energy with all his might, to no avail.
'Well I certainly don't have a knack for it…'
***
The class went on that way for the remainder of its time, with Kichirou still being unable to see any results.
"Ugh, I'm tired. I'm just gonna head back to my room."
Immediately after the end of class, Kichirou went back to his room, crashing on his bed after the long day.
'I wonder, why couldn't I use that exigent energy in the CQC Class? Do I just have no talent? Maybe. I'll just try harder tomorrow…'
And after a bit of thought to himself, Kichirou fell asleep.