"I wonder when Miguel will be back..."
Kaito mutters as the bandages in his face unwraps and he starts eating away while waiting with nothing to do, after he finished with his meal he lay down on his bed and starts playing with his phone as he sees a news that catches his attention
'this year's recruitment exams is co-operatively held by all the schools of the Fifth base in the wilderness, as this will also serve as a form of selection for major families, organisation and even the military'
'This is quite interesting, this year's practice exams is not going to be easy at all, but why are all the forces suddenly looking for new recruits?' While he was lost in thought the room door opens and Miguel walks in
"Hey, how was your day?" Kaito asked
"Quite the usual only I had to make up an excuse as to why you were absent from class" Miguel said casually as he walks absent-mindedly as he looked strangely at Kaito not too surprised but put it at the back of his mind for now
"Thank you" Kaito said as the bandages all swiftly retract and only the ones on his arms were left
"It's what I should do and also we are free for the rest of the week till the day of the recruitment exams" Miguel said as he walks towards his bed and drops his backpack and walks towards the bathroom
Kaito sits up hearing this
"Really? Why?"
"Apparently the school wants us to train and prepare for the practice exams on our own, I'm sure you have already seen the news about the exams" Miguel's voice sounded from the bathroom
"Yeah bigshots from various organizations are going to be watching this year's exams and possibly recruit talent for their own" Kaito replied
"The principal announced that there is more to this exams that he cannot disclose, that the location is even unknown, there might even be a possibility of deaths and we should take the rest of the week to seek consent from parents and make our preparations before the practice exams" Miguel said while walking out of the bathroom waving his hand to dry
"Well this... let's just see how this plays out. So anything odd about Sam?" Kaito asked
"Not really, he was absent today, which was strange too but that's none of our business, right now, we should be thinking about the exams"
"Yeah...your food is in the cupboard by the way"
"Thanks man" Miguel said as he walked towards the cupboard and then to his bed with the food
"I'm going to sneak out this night to train a little, are you coming?" Kaito asked
"Yeah sure, we can see it as a way to get to know more about your ability, I noticed you could control it now" Miguel replied while eating
"Yeah, I had the whole day to my self" Kaito said
"Rest up then we have to leave early so we can catch up on see sleep tho we have nothing to do tomorrow" Miguel said
"Yeah yeah"
With that Kaito slowly fell asleep while Miguel continued to eat his food after which he too fell asleep
Few hours later...
In forest behind the academic building where students have there lectures, more like a park tho. Kaito and Miguel are seen standing in a clearing in the park forest. With Miguel wearing all black with his dark hair, his figure almost blending with the night, a casual blue joggers and top
"So what do you want to do?" Miguel's voice sounded
"Well train my abilities of course" Kaito replied
"I know that, but don't you need time to get familiar with your ability, just getting it under control is not really mastering your ability" Miguel patiently explained
"True...but, my ability seems entirely different from how the other abilities I have seen work" Kaito says
"How so?" Miguel asked
"You see...I seem to have controlled my ability completely, for example, an extra pair of hands, you are familiar with it already just have to get used to having that extra pair, if not you completely forget you have them" Kaito said while scratching his hair with an awkward smile on his face
"That doesn't make sense at all" Miguel said
"I know..." Kaito said dejected
"You know what? Show me what you've got let's know what where're walking with" Miguel said as his dark hair becomes darker as he expends his hands and a ball of dark energy is seen hovering over his palm
"Huh?" Kaito looks at his dark haired friend excited "you mean? Great! just remember to hold back a little"
With that the bandages swiftly wrapped around Kaito's entire body leaving out his face with some extremities waving around in the air
"Wow! That's something different" Miguel exclaimed in surprise
"I know right?" Kaito responded with a thumbs up but then he frowns "but it feels a lot different from before, I wonder why?" Kaito mutters with a thoughtful expression
"Think fast!" Miguel's voice was heard as a ball of darkness is seen flying towards Kaito, tho he was shocked, he reacted fast with a thought bandage extremities swiftly extended towards a nearby tree wrapped around it and pulling him away from the path of the attack
After getting away from the attack range, several of the extremities moved as they rushed towards Miguel as Kaito's voice sounded
"Be careful, that could've as well hurt"
tho when he looked back he realized that the location he was standing before was unaffected, looking at where Miguel was supposed to be standing he was no longer there before he could retract the bandages on time they hit the ground causing a cloud of dust to rise
"That's it!" Kaito exclaimed
"Dude! You want to kill me?" Miguel's voice sounded from behind as he is seen slowing rising from the shadow of the tree looking wide eyed at the crater formed on the ground where he formerly stood
"Sorry man, I didn't really understand the somethings about my ability yet?" Kaito said with a smile
"You know what? let's stop here for today" Miguel said with some apprehension still looking at the crater
"Please Miguel, I promise I have it under control now just give me sometime to sort things out" Kaito pleaded
"Okay..." Miguel said with a sigh "you know this things take a lot of time, people struggle to get their ability under control for weeks, months with some difficult ability types takes years even so don't be in a rush"
"I promise, I have got this just a moment" Kaito said with a smile of confidence as he calmly retracts the bandages then slowly started explaining to Miguel
"Before we first started, when I activated my ability, I noticed a slight difference in feeling I couldn't tell what it was untill attacked, when in combat, the bandages seemed to have changed"
"What do you mean changed?" Miguel asked
"When you went to school, I used my day trying to find out about my ability, they indeed seemed like regular bandages and felt like it, but this night, when I activated it the bandages felt different, they were hard, very hard but still flexible" Kaito said
"I see...so what do you think might be the reason for that change? Since you are confident you wouldn't kill me you should have the answer" Miguel asked
"I do actually, these things have some kind of mental-link with me making it very easy to control, some of its actions are subconscious, and not actively controlled, well...the thing is this toughness I think is caused by entering combat state or something like that"Kaito said thoughtfully
"Something like that?" Miguel said skeptical
"I'm quite sure of it now, come closer and feel the bandages" Kaito gestures as bandage extremities extends slowly towards Miguel
After a slight moment of hesitation Miguel walks forward and touches the bandages
"They really are like normal bandages" Miguel said
"That's because I'm not in a state of combat, while if I have the mentality that I am to fight an opponent...things change" Kaito says looking towards the crater formed by the bandages previously
"I see...that make sense" Miguel nods as the bandage extremities retracts and he looks towards Kaito "does that mean I don't have to hold back too much?"
"Yeah, I was about to suggest the same thing, as a matter of fact, don't hold back at all" Kaito says with a confident smile plastered on his face
Miguel didn't say another word. He turned and began to walk away, his shoulders squared, each step deliberate and measured. Kaito watched him go, the distance between them widening with each stride. The air crackled with anticipation, the silence heavy with unspoken words. Miguel stopped ten meters away, facing Kaito, his body language radiating a quiet intensity. He raised his hand, a single finger tracing a slow circle in the air, a silent countdown ticking away. Kaito's breath hitched.