# Elemental Strikeforce



## cosmickev (May 18, 2011)

Hey everyone . This is my first attempt at writing a story so it may not be any good, but I do hope that you enjoy it. I did my best to shorten the chapters without losing information. Also don't hesitate to let me know what you think or ask questions if you have any. I will also update the story whenever I finish a chapter and edit it.


----------



## Razzazzika (May 19, 2011)

I think you have a good backstory and universe set up, but it reads like a textbook. It's almost like i'm sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher yammer on. I actually yawned while reading it.

Not telling you to give up, just the opposite. It was like a textbook, but a GOOD textbook. I'm just saying work on the presentation. Start with characters doing something and work the history in.

.... and then... I feel like an ass for typing what I just typed because you said the key word of prologue, and well... that's pretty much how prologues go I guess.


----------



## cosmickev (May 19, 2011)

Thank you for your input. That's the kind of information that I'm looking for to be honest. But I'll post the first chapter of the story as well, to see if that's the kind of presentation that you were talking about.


----------



## cosmickev (May 19, 2011)

*Prologue

*At the turn of the 21st century, the Universe was terrorized by an  organization of Elemental Spirits called Talisman. This organization  went from planet to planet and engaged in combat with its inhabitants.  The end resulted in either planetary annihilation or the inhabitants  being used in Talisman’s experiments and becoming Blood Knights, the  elite fighters of the organization. This continued for hundreds of years  and Talisman had finally set it sights on a blue planet at the edge of  the universe…Earth.

The year was 2410 and humanity was  celebrating its bicentennial or world peace and prosperity. While they  were celebrating worldwide, a dark shadow loomed over the Earth. No one  knows when the first shot was fired, or what side had fired the shot,  but humanity soon found itself fighting against Talisman. Even though  humanity was familiar with Elemental Spirits, they had never seen  elemental spirits who looked like the ones in Talisman. The Elemental  Sprits who cohabited with humanity explained that these were Elemental  Spirits who were exiled from the Elemental Dimension for following the  ideals of a woman named Celestia. Humanity fought long and hard, but  faced the same fate as the other races before them. However, 2 million  people managed to escape, including the First Generation Elementalists  and the Elemental Spirits who lived with humans.

They  traveled through space, uncertain of their destination. After a few  years, they stumbled upon a planet much like Earth that was called  Ragnarok in the Vega Galaxy. They settled on this plan and began to  rebuild the cities and towns that they had know back on Earth using the  planets resources and pieces of the space stations that they had arrived  on. After seventy-years, Ragnarok looked like the Earth once did and  people continued to live their lives as they had once done on Earth.

The  First Generation Elementalists watched over the planet. However their  leader, Himiko, had a dark vision that foretold the coming of Talisman  to the Vega Galaxy. They decided that this was not something to dismiss  as a bad dream, and told the people of Ragnarok. As a result, the  Elemental Defense Corps., was created to help the Elementalists fight  against Talisman. For hundreds of years, Talisman never showed up, and  while the older members of the Elemental Defense Corps. passed on due to  old age, and the younger generations took their places, the  Elementalists continued to live on, never aging due to their immense  power.

Finally in the year 2960, the day of prophecy  was upon them. Talisman, whose forces had grown even larger since the  last time they met, had made their appearance in the Vega Galaxy. Those  who were not going to be fighting were evacuated from the planet on  giant environmental space stations called Artificial Ragnarok Konstructs  or A.R.K.’s. While the members of the Elemental Defense Corps. were on  battleships called Ragnaros’s. When Talisman was finally within range of  their planet, the Ragnaros’s deployed their smaller fighter ships  called Fangs. They struck the first blow to Talisman and it was a  devastating blow and victory was inevitable. However, this was not  Talisman’s man force, but a scouting force. When the main force arrived,  humanity was overwhelmed by its numbers alone. Just as they were ready  to give up hope and surrender themselves to Talisman, shots from behind  them were fired.

The thousands of races that Talisman  had brought destruction upon, had survivors just like the humans did.  They fought alongside the humans for ten years and crushed ninety  percent of Talisman’s space fleet. On the final year of the battle, the  leader of Talisman, Celestia appeared on Ragnarok hoping to capture the  humans who were still there. What she found waiting for her though, were  the five First Generation Elementalists. Celestia summoned her elite  force of Blood Knights and led the attack herself on the Elementalists.  The fighting was fierce and everywhere that the battle took place  drastically shifted the climate of Ragnarok. By the year 2970, the  Elementalists had secured a victory when the leader Himiko struck a  fatal blow to Celestia causing the Blood Knights to take her and flee.  But the Elementalists fight was far from over. Due to the battle that  they had just fought with Celestia, Ragnarok was on the verge of  destroying itself. In order to stabilize it, the Elementalists went to  five different points on the planet. Once they had reached their  destinations, they used all of their energy to help stabilize Ragnarok.  After a year, Ragnarok finally stabilized itself, but began making  changes to it’s surface which made it uninhabitable until the year 2990.

In  2990 when the scientists deemed that the surface was safe enough, they  reconstructed all of the cities that had once been built in less than a  month due to the advances in technology that had been made since coming  to Ragnarok. In each of the cities, a statue was put up in honor of the  First Generation Elementalists who gave up their lives to save the  planet. However, humanity knew that this battle was far from over, and  the Elemental Defense Corps., became the ruling government for Ragnarok.

The  year is now 3010. There are twenty A.R.K.’s that are used as homes for  humanity and the many other races who were thought to have been wiped  out by Talisman. Ragnarok has returned to its once peaceful days, though  many of the lands had changed from the time that they first arrived on  Ragnarok. As a result of these changes, one such land was born. They  call it Sakura island because Sakura trees are abundant in this land and  no matter what season it is, they never lose their pink luster.

On  this island is a school that runs from Kindergarten through the 12th  grade. The Elemental Defense Corps built this school in order to train  the newborn Elementalists that were born after the First Generation  Elementalists saved Ragnarok spreading their energy throughout the world  and to the A.R.K.’s beyond it. However they hoped that these new  Elementalists would never have to engage in combat and that peace would  continue on Ragnrok. But as they had feared humanity’s age old battle  with the exiled Elemental Spirits…was far from over.


----------



## Razzazzika (May 19, 2011)

Wow... From your prologue I was totally not expecting the plot and characters from a shoujou manga. It doesn't seem to add up. Taken separately from the prologue You had enjoyable characters, though, yes the plot didn't seem to go much of anywhere. You keep alluding to stuff happening on those A.R.K.s, but other than that, not much sets it apart from a typical Japanese school day. Speaking of that... is there a reason for the predominant Japanese culture?


----------



## cosmickev (May 19, 2011)

As far as the culture, I just have an interest in it and thinking about what high school was like for myself,  I didn't think it'd be as interesting to use that as a refrence. It's something different from what I'm used to, so I figured I'd run with that. As far as the differences between the prologue and the chapter itself, I wanted to set up an environment that would give the reader an idea of how things are going at this particular school. But I kind of figured that this would cause some trouble. but what I'm hoping is that as the story progresses, the reader will see the transition from peaceful days to a period of fighting. As a matter of fact, I've got a good portion of the story already written, but I need to edit it so that it fits to the timeline and to build up to the main plot. So give me a some time, and then I'll post that as an attachment. Right now I realize that doing this piece by piece is like trying to put together a puzzle without having a picture to look at.


----------



## cosmickev (Jun 10, 2011)

*Chapter 1*

_I can’t believe they’ve gotten so big_, Yukiko thought as she looked at the two boys who had been under her care for some time now. _I just wish I could’ve kept them from the life that they are about to have_.


She looked away from them and looked out the window of the space shuttle as it made it’s way to the lit up runway.


_Seven years huh? It’s hard to believe it’s been that long_, she thought as she continued to stare out of the window. While she was doing this, she began thinking about the past.


*************************************************************


_I wonder why they called me here_, Yukiko thought as she rode the elevator to the top of the newly built E.D.C. headquarters.


When  she reached the top floor she briskly walked towards the meeting room  since she was running a little late. After walking like this for a few  moments, she stopped briefly to fix her clothes and then entered into  the meeting room.


“It’s unusual for our leader to be late,” a young man said to Yukiko when she walked through the door.


“Shut up Reishin,” a young woman scolded. “Unlike you, Yukiko is late because she had other business to attend to.”


“You know Konoe, you’re really annoying,” he said smugly.


“What was that?! Are you looking for a fight?!”


“Knock it off you two!” Yukiko barked. “You’re eighteen, so act like it!”


Konoe and Reishin backed away from each other and returned to their seats.


“So do you know why we were called here?” a young woman with long blond hair asked in a gentle voice.


Yukiko  shook her head. “Sorry Sayako, I was only told to meet here. To be  honest, I was hoping one of you would have that answer.”


“Well if you don’t know, then we definitely don’t know,” a young man with black hair commented.


“Keiichi’s right. If they didn’t tell our leader there’s no way they’d tell us,” Konoe added.


“I see,” Yukiko said as she took her seat. “Oh well, let’s get the meeting started then.”


She  took the keycard that was hanging around her neck off and inserted into  a slot on the table that she was sitting at. At that moment a  holographic image of the Council appeared before them. The group stood  up and saluted the Council.


“Please be seated,” one of the older male council members said.


“Sir, if I may ask,” Yukiko began. “Why has the Council called us here?”


“Always  straight to the point,” a female member of the council said. “Very  well, we’ll go ahead and get straight to the business. As of today, you  are no longer part of the E.D.C.”


“What?! Why?!” Reishin and Konoe asked as they stood up.


“Reishin! Konoe!” Yukiko barked.


“But…”


Yukiko glared at them, but didn’t say another word. Reishin and Konoe knew that look well and sat back down.
Yukiko then returned her attention to the Council. “Please explain yourself ma’am.”


“We  are not saying that you are no longer needed. On the contrary, you are  going to be needed now more than ever. So as of today you will be the  starting members to the newly formed Elemental Strikeforce.”


“Elemental…” Keiichi began.


“Strikeforce?” Sayako finished.


“That’s  correct,” another male member of the Council said. “The primary task of  this force is not the defense against the R.E.S.’s but to lead the  attack on them.”


“With just the five of us?”


“For now, yes. Hopefully as time goes on, more Class S Elementalists will appear.”


“Why  is such a force being created in the first place?” Yukiko asked. “I  mean there hasn’t been a threat to humanity since the First Generation  Elementalists defeated Celestia.”


“True,” the female  council member said. “However, the number of R.E.S.’s, according to your  reports, has increased, even though they are just Category E R.E.S.’s.”


“So you’re saying that this increase in R.E.S.’s could mean something?” Konoe asked.


“Correct, but it’s still uncertain. For now just understand your new assignment.”


“One more question,” Yukiko said.


“Go ahead.”


“How are we supposed to find new Class S Elementalists?”


“We’ve  built a school on Sakura Island for this purpose. It will be opened  next year in the fall. If that’s all the questions you have, you’re  dismissed.”


The holographic image disappeared.


“Well that wasn’t annoying,” Reishin said sarcastically as he walked out of the door.


“You can say that again,” Konoe agreed.


************************************************************


_At that time I honestly thought there wouldn’t be a need for this Strikedforce_, Yukiko thought as she looked back at the two boys who she was taking care of. _But that day a few months later changed everything. Our first mission, as the Strikeforce_.


*************************************************************


“What happened?” Yukiko asked a scientist from the research facility that had just been destroyed on A.R.K. VI.


“I  don’t know,” the man said in a frightened voice. “Whatever was on the  lowest level of the facility got loose and escaped over there,” he said  while pointing to a large burning hole in the ground that was once the  research facility.


“What could have made a hole like that?” Reishin asked as he folded his hands on the back of his black braided hair.
“I don’t know,” Yukiko answered.


“A R.E.S. maybe?” Keiichi answered.


“Have you ever seen a R.E.S. that big?” Konoe asked.


He shook his head.


“Well sitting around here isn’t going to answer any questions,” Yukiko said. “We need to find whatever did this.” _I have a really bad feeling about this_, she thought. “Sayako, stay here and help treat any of the wounded scientists. Everyone else, you’re with me.”


“Understood,” the group answered as they followed Yukiko’s instructions.


“So what now?” Reishin asked as they looked at a forest that had now become a sea of flames.


“We follow the flames,” Yukiko said.


“How  exactly are we supposed to do that? We don’t have the time to get  clearance for a plane to fly over the flames,’ Konoe said.


Yukiko  took the naginata in her hand and thrust the bladed end of the staff  forward creating a strong gale that blew a path through the flames. “Any  other questions?”


The group shook their heads and continued moving forward.


_Something’s definitely not right_, she thought. _How does something that made such a large hole disappear that quickly?_
She  picked up her pace leaving her teammates behind. When she came out of  the wooded area she came out into the nearby town which was also on  fire. She was horrified by what she had seen. Bodies that had been  completely burned littered the streets. She stood there in shock as the  rest of her team caught up.


“This is…really bad,” Reishin said as he covered his nose with his hand.


“That’s putting it mildly,” Konoe said as she also covered her nose with her hands.


“Let’s go,” Yukiko said as she tightly gripped her naginata.


“Go  where Yukiko? I know you said to follow the flames, but they are  everywhere, and we don’t seem to be getting any closer to our target.”


Yukiko  gritted her teeth, but then calmed down. “Alright. Konoe, find a safe  spot on top of a building and see if you can spot it. Something that big  shouldn’t be able to hide.”


“Glad to see you’ve regained your composure. You’ve been acting weird since we got here.”


“That’s because my little brother and his friends go to school on this A.R.K.,” Reishin told her.


“I  see,” she said before jumping to a nearby building. She scanned the  area before spotting something in the distance. She then jumped down off  of the building. “I saw something off to the west of here.”


“Alright, let’s move,” Yukiko said.


The  group once again began running towards their destination. Once they  left the town, they came upon a road. In the distance they could see a  huge creature, but couldn’t make out its shape.


“What…is that?” Keiichi asked.


“It  doesn’t matter, we just need to get there and we need to do it  quickly,” Yukiko said. She then reached up and turned on her headset.  “Sayako, can you hear me?”


“Yes,” she responded.


“Leave  some of the medics there to finish tending to the scientists. I need  you and a few other medics to meet us at the location that I’m sending  to your G.P.S.”


“Roger.”


She then cut  communications with Sayako. “Let’s go. We’re not taking the road. We are  taking the shortest route there. We’re going to be moving at high  speeds, so your reaction time needs to be on point. We don’t have the  time to stop and wait for you if you fall behind. Is that understood?”  she asked the group.


“Understood,” they said simultaneously.


She  looked off in the distance for a moment and then they began dashing  forward at full speed. As they ran down the road, they came to the point  where the road curved to the left. They never hesitated and hurdled  over the guardrail. They began sliding down the mountainside dodging the  trees that were in their path. When they came to the river that divided  the mountain they were on, they completely jumped over it. There was no  hesitation when they landed as they continued to dash forward up the  other side of the mountain, hurdled over the guardrail in front of them  and used the road that entered the area where the large creature was at.  As they got closer to their destination, they could see what the  creature was standing on.


“Why...why did it have to be here?” Yukiko asked in disbelief. “Why did it have to be here of all places?!”


Reishin who could no longer contain his emotions dashed forward without a single thought and left the group behind.


“This  must be where the little brother and his friends go to school,” Konoe  said as she stared at the creature that resembled a burning fox standing  on the leveled school building and the multitude of children’s bodies  that were scattered everywhere. “So what do we do now?”


“Kill it,” Yukiko said in a menacing tone.


“Yukiko?” Keiichi called to her in a concerned voice.


She turned around and glared at him. Her blue eyes filled with tears.


“Alright, I’m following your lead,” he said.


Yukiko  dashed towards the fox creature and when she got close enough to it,  she leapt high into the air as she prepared to strike it on the head.  The fox whipped its tail in her direction sending her flying into a  nearby wall. Konoe who saw this pulled out her guns and began shooting  shards of ice at the creature that wouldn’t melt even in the face of the  most intense heat. They hit the fox but instead of piercing it like it  would have done to any normal R.E.S., they broke as the hit the fox. It  turned to look at her and kicked her with its hind leg which sent her  flying into Keiichi.


“This is getting annoying,” Konoe  said through gritted teeth as she brushed her light brown bangs behind  her ears and rushed forward again shooting a large volley of ice at the  fox.


The fox whipped its tail towards her with the  point aimed at her instead of the side. She was too busy shooting to  notice, so Keiichi created a wall of water and placed it in front of the  tail. The wall slowed it down enough for him to get to where Konoe was  and grab her before the tail pierced the ground where she was standing.


“This isn’t working,” he said.


“You think?!” Konoe shouted.


“Then why were still shooting at it?!” he asked, as his grey eyes filled with frustration.


“I  don’t know! It was just the only thing I could think of at the moment,”  she said as she turned her light brown eyes away from his gaze.


While  they were arguing, the fox swept its tail in the direction that they  were sitting in. Keiichi was unable to put up a defense so they both  braced themselves for the impact. Just then something flashed past them  and stopped the tail dead in its tracks. When they looked to see what  had happened, they saw Reishin standing there with his two tonfa braced  against the tail. He was straining himself to keep the tail from moving  any further, but he was at his limit when the veins in his arms became  visible as they pressed against his light brown skin. The fox’s tail  began to push Reishin back, but very slowly as his boots dug into the  ground beneath him.


“Now Yukiko!” he shouted.


Yukiko  leapt into the air, her long light brown ponytail trailing behind her  like a streamer caught in the wind, and came down with her full  strength. The blade on her naginata was coated in sharp wind, so when  the blade hit the fox’s tail, it sliced cleanly through it.


The  fox let out a deafening howl as it fell to the ground and flailed  around in pain. After doing this for a few minutes, it slowly got up,  and the eyes that once glowed a bright scarlet, became a very dark  crimson.


“Aw, I don’t think it liked that,” Konoe said cockily.


The fox growled menacingly at the group and then let out a thunderous roar.


The  tail that Yukiko had just cut off dissolved and became one hundred  Category D R.E.S.’s. These R.E.S.’s looked like ghosts in that they had  arms, a head with a pair of glowing red eyes, but the lower half of the  body was a tail instead of legs.


“How cute, it thinks it can overwhelm us with numbers,” Konoe said with a laugh.


“So what do you say Konoe. Whoever takes down the least amount of R.E.S.’s treats everyone to dinner.”


“You’re on.”


“Knock  it off you two,” Yukiko scolded. “They may be Category D R.E.S.’s but  we still have that fox to deal with afterwards. If you’re not careful,  you will lose your life. Now get ready, because here they come.”


The  R.E.S.’s rushed forward without a moment’s notice. Reishin and Yukiko  went on a full out frontal assault, keeping their distance from one  another. Reishin used his tonfa hitting the R.E.S.’s with the short end  of the pole as if he were punching them. He would then spin the tonfa  around to slam nearby enemies into the ground before driving his tonfa  into them to destroy them.


Yukiko used the bladed end  of her staff and made quick frontal stabs that destroyed the R.E.S.’s  that were directly in front of her. Whenever she found herself being  surrounded, she would spin the naginata around her body in a circular  motion, clearing the crowd around her before returning to her frontal  strikes.


Konoe sat in the back with Keiichi and fired  of a volley of shots, but when she got tired of being in the back she  rushed forward and began dodging each of the R.E.S.’s while shooting  them at point blank range. When it was all said and done, they found  themselves face to face with the fox that had gotten into a low stance  and looked as if it was ready to attack.


“Stay sharp you two,” Yukiko said.


“So how many did you get?” Reishin asked Konoe.


“Twenty-four. How about you?” she asked.


“The same. Looks like we pay for our own dinners tonight.”


Just then a R.E.S. came at them from behind. Konoe reached her right arm back and pulled the trigger on the gun.


“Nope, it looks like you’re paying tonight.”


“I told you two to stay sharp!” Yukiko scolded once again.


As  the fox began to make its move to attack, a volley of shots from behind  the group was fired, stunning the fox and causing it to back up from  the group. The fox then jumped back to avoid the attack and then jumped  up vertically destroying a portion of the A.R.K.’s ceiling, before  completely disappearing from their sight. The hole that was created by  the fox was immediately covered by two large titanium doors to prevent  anything from being vacuumed into space.


“Are you guys alright?” Sayako asked them when she had arrived at the area.


Yukiko  nodded as she held her bleeding right arm. “So where did they come  from?” She gestured to the E.D.C. members who had fired the volley that  caused the fox to run away.


“I called them shortly  after you gave me the location on my G.P.S. More importantly, you need  get that arm looked at. That wound looks pretty bad. How did you get  that?”


“I was thrown into a wall. Luckily, I only hit the top half of the wall, so my arm took most of the damage.”


“I see.”


“But I don’t have time to get this taken care of, I need to find-“


“I’ve already sent a team out to search for the survivors,” Sayako reassured her through gentle light blue eyes.


***********************************************************


 “Attention  passengers,” Yukiko heard the pilot say snapping her out of her memory.  “Please make sure you are securely fastened in your seats as we make  our descent into the atmosphere.”


_There were more survivors than I expected on that day, including those two boys and their three friends_, she thought as she looked over at the two boys. _We  managed to keep what happened a secret from the general public, but we  never did find out what that fox was or where it even went. But I guess  it doesn’t matter since it never showed up again after that and we went’  back to our boring task of destroying Category E R.E.S.’s on Ragnarok’s  surface_. She then laughed to herself. _Now that I think about  it, I can’t believe I was so strict back then and how cocky and  aggravating Reishin and Konoe were. But Sayako, she never changed, even  when she helped me take care of these two boys_.


“Attention  passengers,” the pilot said once again interrupting her thoughts. “We  have arrived on Sakura Island. Please remain seated until the shuttle  comes to a complete stop.”


The two boys stared out of the windows.


“Oh I forgot. This is your very first time on Ragnarok isn’t it?” Yukiko asked the two boys.


“Yep,” the boy named Shoji answered.


“But you’ve been here plenty of times for your job haven’t you?” the boy named Kyo asked.


She nodded.


“What is your job anyway?” Shoji asked.


“You’ll find out soon enough. Now come on, let’s get to the student apartments before it gets dark.”


The three of them exited the shuttle, grabbed their bags and headed to the student apartments.


----------



## cosmickev (Jun 16, 2011)

*Chapter 2*

_Why am I up so early,_ Kyo groaned to himself as he looked  over at his digital alarm clock. It was six o’clock in the morning and  his room was still chilly because the sun hadn’t come up yet. Kyo pulled  the covers up to his chin and rolled back over. _“I’ll rest for fifteen more minutes”._ As he laid there he suddenly drifted back to sleep and forgot he had set his alarm. _Beep! Beep!_  The alarm clock went off right on time. “Whoa!” Kyo exclaimed as he  threw the covers off of him and fell face forward onto the floor. The  carpet felt nice and soft on Kyo’s face and cushioned his fall. He  sighed as he reached up and hit the off switch on the alarm clock. He  then proceeded to pick himself up off the floor. “I think I’m going to  get a different alarm clock. Better yet I’ll just use my cell phone,”  Kyo said to no one in particular as he opened his bedroom door, letting  the cool air from the living room area brush gently against his cheeks.


He  stepped out of his room and walked towards Shoji’s room on the other  side of the living room. “ Hey, Shoji,” Kyo called as he knocked on  Shoji’s door, “It’s time to get up.”


“Already?” Shoji groaned.


“Yeah…already.”


He groaned again.


Kyo  then walked into the kitchen and looked for something to make for  breakfast while Shoji took a shower. When he stepped out of the  bathroom, the aroma of the toast, bacon and eggs hit him immediately.


“Ah, toast, bacon and eggs. The breakfast of men!” Shoji declared as he dried his jet black hair with his towel.


“The...breakfast of men?” Kyo asked in a confused tone.


“Yes, the breakfast of men.”


“You do realize that we’re only fourteen right?”


“That’s beside the point. Tonight we dine like men!”


“It’s morning.”


“Fine. This morning we dine like men!”


“You’re an idiot,” Kyo said as he began eating.


“Did you just call me an idiot?”


Kyo nodded.


“Fair  enough,” Shoji said as he sat down and began eating as well. “So were  there any casualties in that explosion on A.R.K. IX?”


Kyo shook his head. “They said it happened after work hours, so no one was inside.”


“That’s a relief. So did you hear from your parents?”


“Yeah. Did you?”


Shoji nodded.


“Good.” Kyo then glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Oh crap! We need to get moving or we’re going to be late!”


They  both dashed from the table and darted into their rooms to get changed  into their high school uniform. The high school uniform was a pair of  white slacks with a black button up shirt, a white tie, a white suit  jacket with red stripes running down the sleeves, and black dress shoes.  After he finished getting dressed, he and Shoji walked out the door and  stepped out into the cool, fresh fall air.


When they  got down to the first floor, they saw Yukiko humming to herself while  she was sweeping the walkway to the student apartments.


“Good morning Yukiko,” Kyo said.


“Morning,” Shoji said shortly after.


“Oh,  good morning,” Yukiko replied. “You two must’ve gotten a late start  since you didn’t come down for breakfast. Are you two hungry?”


“No, we had something to eat already.”


“Oh…I see.”


“Yeah, I was up pretty early so I decided to cook something,” Kyo said apologetically.


Yukiko  smiled. “It’s okay Kyo. I understand that you just feel like cooking  every once in a while. Just make sure you come by sometime and have  breakfast with me okay?”


The boys nodded. Then they headed off to school.


“Okay,  why do you look so serious all of a sudden?” Shoji asked Kyo after  talking to him for a bit and realizing he wasn’t really responding.


Kyo  was silent for a moment and then said, “To be honest I only cooked  because I had too much time this morning, but I think that might have  hurt her feelings.”


“Whose feelings? Yukiko’s?”


“Yeah.”


“You worry too much. She was just worried that we hadn’t eaten is all. That’s what big sisters do. They worry.”
Kyo nodded. “But you’re a little off. Mothers are the ones who worry a lot.”


“You know what I was trying to say.”


Kyo laughed. “I know, I know. Come to think of it she’s always been like that hasn’t she?”


Shoji nodded. “She has. Ever since that incident on A.R.K. VI.”


They  continued to walk to the school and talked about different things along  the way. As they got closer to the school, they could sense the  excitement in the air. In spite of the fact that the morning air was  cool, but the students didn’t seem to notice and were busy talking to  one another.


“Kyooooooo! Shooooooooji!” a voice suddenly called from behind them. “Gooooooooood mooooooooorning!”


Shoji  and Kyo looked behind them, but saw nothing except a small cloud of  dust that had been kicked up near the front gate as if someone had  leaped high into the air from that position. Figuring that they were  hearing things they continued to walk, but stopped shortly afterwards  when they noticed that they were engulfed in a shadow. They looked  directly above them and saw an object that looked like a person rapidly  falling towards them. The boys sighed and took a few steps back. Seconds  later, a body hit the ground creating a small cloud of dust. The person  started coughing from the dust that had built up around them.


“Can’t you say good morning like a normal person, Norma?” Shoji asked.


Norma  started laughing as she stood up, dusted herself off and adjusted the  pink ribbons in her light brown hair. “Where’s the fun in that?”


Kyo sighed and started moving toward the school.


“Aw, I made Kyo mad,” she whined.


“Trust me, I’m not mad,” Kyo reassured her.


“So why are you being so cold this morning?”


Kyo kept walking. “Because you greet us like that every morning and I’m concerned about your body.”


“My...body?”  She thought for a moment and then put her hand up to her mouth and  acted surprised. “Oh, I see now. You’re after my body?” She then wrapped  her arms around herself and acted as if she were scared.


“That’s not what I meant!”


“That’s kind of what it sounded like bro,” Shoji joked.


“You’re not helping.”


“I’m just saying.”


“I need you to stop saying.”


Norma  burst into a fit of laughter as she wiped tears from her light green  eyes. “I’m sorry Kyo. I just had to tease you a bit. I know what you  meant. You’re just worried about my health right?”


“Yeah.”


Norma  put her hands on her hips. “You should already know that I’m actually  pretty tough. I live in a family full of fighting fanatics, and they run  a karate dojo. Besides I train with my mom and dad every day, so I’m  used to taking much harder hits than just landing on the ground when you  two decide to move from my greeting.”


“Now that you mention it, I do remember you always training when we came to visit,” Shoji said.


 “Yep, I train for a few hours a day after school. I’ve been training like this since I was seven years old.”


“Alright,  alright, I get it, you’re pretty tough. But still, tone it down a bit. I  don’t want you to break your neck,” Kyo said in a concerned voice.


“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Besides I won’t break my neck if you two would just stand still and let me land on you.”


“Who in their right mind would let you do that?!” Kyo and Shoji asked simultaneously.


Norma  laughed again. “You two are still the same as when we first became  friends. Oh well, come on we have to get to the assembly.”


When  they entered the building, the aroma of lemons was heavy in the air,  the floors were a shiny white, and the walls were a light blue. On the  walls were multiple cameras watching them as they walked in. The walls  had flat panel monitors embedded in them. The monitors were touch  screens and gave information about the layout of the school and the  surrounding school campus.


“So this is what the high schools on Ragnarok look like,” Kyo commented.


“It’s a lot more high tech than I expected,” Norma said.


“I wonder if the Elementary and Middle schools are also like this,” Shoji said.


“I would assume so. But it makes sense since the E.D.C. built this place.”


Shoji and Norma both nodded in agreement.


They  continued walking and followed the other freshman into the auditorium  for orientation. While Kyo was taking his seat, he noticed a beautiful  girl sitting in the row next to his. She was talking to two other girls  who were sitting next to her. While he waited for Norma and Shoji to  take their seats, he would steal a glance. He noticed that she had light  brown skin, which was common for the people who lived on Sakura Island.  Her dark brown hair complimented her skin tone and was shoulder length.  He became lost in his thoughts as he admired her beauty. However, his  thoughts were interrupted when he felt a tugging on his blazer as Norma  tried to get him to sit down.


The auditorium was still buzzing with excitement as the freshman class continued to pour in.


“I’m  glad to see everyone is so excited,” a voice suddenly said over the  speakers. “But it’s time to start the assembly.” The voice belonged to  the school’s principal, Mr. Sakai. The auditorium slowly got quieter and  then he began to speak again. “Good morning, students.”


“Good morning,” the students replied.


“Welcome  to Sakura High. For those of you who are joining us for the first time  from the A.R.K.’s, welcome to Sakura Campus. This school is not going to  be like other high schools, in fact the very reason that you are here  is different.”


A murmur instantly filled the auditorium as students talked amongst themselves to figure out what he meant.


Mr.  Sakai waited patiently for them to quiet down and began speaking again.  “For those of you who attended both the elementary and middle school on  this campus, you may have noticed that while those two schools are  close together, the high school itself is an area on its own and takes  up a much larger area than those two schools combined. The reason for  this is not because we have more students, but is because this school  trains Elementalists, and that’s why you are here. From the day you were  born, it was determined that you all as well as those attending this  school had the ability to become Elementalists.”


The auditorium quickly filled with different conversations.


“I  know that this comes as a surprise, but there is a reason you were not  informed about this sooner” Mr. Sakai said redirecting the students  attention back to him. “As I mentioned it is determined from birth that  you have the ability to become an Elementalist. However, the energy that  determines if you have that ability may fade by your thirteenth  birthday. As a result, those energy levels had to be monitored in order  to tell who will and will not be an Elementalist.”


The students nodded at this explanation and continued to listen intently.


After  the principal finished talking about how they became students at the  school, he then went on to talk about the rules of the school. Kyo put  his head in his hand as he tried to stay awake. When that didn’t work,  he decided to look around to see who else might be falling asleep. As he  quickly glanced around the auditorium, he found himself once again  looking at the girl who he had noticed when he first entered the  auditorium. To his surprise she looked like she had also been stealing  glances at him because she was looking directly at him this time. She  smiled at him and then went back to looking at the Principal. Kyo did  the same.


“I saw that,” Norma said mischievously.


“Saw what?” he asked.


“That girl was looking at you and then smiled at you.”


“Oh, that.”


Norma  laughed quietly. “The first day of high school, and you already got the  girl’s looking at you. Looks like Natsuki’s going to have some  competition this year.”


“Huh? What does Natsuki have to do with any of this?”


“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing for you to worry about,” she said nervously.


He shrugged his shoulders and went back to paying attention to the Principal.


“Well  that’s all for today. I know it was a lot of information, so you all  may go home and relax. However, tomorrow will be a long day so get  plenty of rest,” Mr. Sakai said concluding the orientation.


Kyo stood up and stretched. “Man I’m stiff. These chairs are not exactly the most comfortable things to sit on,” he complained.


“I  agree,” Norma said as she stretched her back out. “As advanced as this  school is, they could have made these chairs more comfortable to sit  on.”


“They probably did that so we wouldn’t go to sleep when having assemblies.”


“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”


“So, what’d I miss?” Shoji asked with a yawn.


“Were you sleep?!” Norma asked with surprise.


“Yeah,” he said with another yawn.


“Well I guess your theory about the chairs didn’t work,” Norma said to Kyo.


“Nope, it still works. Shoji is just the one person who can sleep anywhere,” he responded.


“So, are you going to tell me what happened?” Shoji asked.


“Nope,” Kyo and Norma said simultaneously as they kept walking towards their homeroom.


“Aw, come on guys,” Shoji pleaded.


“You should’ve been paying attention,” Norma scolded.


“Somehow I feel depressed being scolded by the ‘Forgetful Queen’.”


Norma narrowed her green eyes at Shoji. “Did you say something?’


“Of course not.”


Kyo just shook his head and laughed as they pushed their way through the crowded hallways.


“You liar! You did say something!”


“I didn’t!”


“You  did! Otherwise Kyo wouldn’t be laughing! Now spill it!” Norma said as  she put Shoji in a headlock and dragged him through the crowded  hallways.


“I give! I give! I give!” Shoji said as he repeatedly tapped her on her arm.


Norma  eventually released him when they were able to make it through the main  entrance. It was unusually quiet as the students tried to take in the  gravity of the situation.


“Hey, I just realized that we have the rest of the day off,” Norma said to Kyo and Shoji.


Kyo blinked his eyes in disbelief. “The principal…just said that.”


“Really?” She then thought about it for a moment. “Oh yeah…he did,” she said with a nervous laugh.


“And the ‘Forgetful Queen’ strikes again,” Shoji said with a laugh.


“Hey! Is that what you called me earlier?!”


“No, of course not,” Shoji lied.


“Did he Kyo?”


“Yep,” Kyo said.


“So  you actually have the guts to lie to me twice, Norma said as she put  Shoji in another headlock and dragged him along as they continued to  walk.


After a few minutes she released him because she got tired of dragging him along.


“You suck,” Shoji told Kyo.


“Why do I suck?” he asked.


“Because you told Norma the truth.”


“So I’m supposed to lie to her too?”


“Exactly!”


“Not going to happen.”


“Why is that?”


“Because it’s funny watching you get put in a headlock. That and the fact that this is payback from this morning.”


“You know what…I accept that. Well played my friend. Well played.”


Norma  started laughing. “You two really never change,” she said as she calmed  down. “Anyway, what I was trying to say earlier is that since we have  the day off, let’s got to the arcade. We haven’t been to one in a  while.”


Kyo and Shoji agreed and the three of them  spent the rest of their afternoon at the arcade. When the evening came,  they walked Norma back to her student apartment and then headed to their  own. When the two boys returned, they had dinner with Yukiko and told  her about their day. After they finished they went to their own room and  got ready for bed. Kyo plopped down onto his bed and stared at the  sealing as he tossed a foam basketball up and down in his hand.


_An Elementalist huh?_ Kyo thought. _I wonder how mom and dad will feel about this._
He  grabbed his phone and told his parents everything that happened. Once  he finished talking to him, he put his phone away and went to sleep.


----------



## Razzazzika (Jun 16, 2011)

The second chapter was a little more interesting than the first. I stick with the fact that you write like it's an anime in more ways than one. The second chapter was less like the shoujou that I said the first one was and more like a lot of the other scifi/fantasy school animes that I've seen. But like all anime's like that, they start off slow, explaining a lot about the world before getting into the good action. I found myself lulling off because not much is happening. I'm not saying it's not good. It is a good concept which is why I keep reading your posts, but you need to intersperse it with some action I think. Since it's seeming to be a 3rd person omnipotent book(you've delved into the thoughts of multiple characters) why not try offering us a view of one of the current elemental strikeforce team members and what he has to deal with before going into the lives of the teenagers in training.

I'm going to use two similar anime's as a reference. Neon Genesis Evangelion(which your story reminded me of with the R.E.S. labeled A thru E equating to the Angels) opens up with an Angel attacking the city in the first episode. It's not until episode 3 does Shinji begin his everyday life at school.

In Bleach, we are introduced to Ichigo as an everyday guy who can see ghosts, but then some giant invisible monster starts chasing him causing havoc through the city. Then a chick with a sword shows up and he can then see the monster, she loses agains it, she gives him her power, he kicks the monsters butt. Then in episode 2... he goes to school.

I'm just saying... starting with the school is a bit bland. It makes it seem like your story is ABOUT the school. I say start with a BANG, then cut to the school for backstory, then get back to the action.


----------



## cosmickev (Jun 17, 2011)

First I would like to thank you for your feedback. It makes sense to start off a story like that because when it comes down to the beginnings of a story of this genre, your right, it starts off slow because there has to be information that is given so the reader understands things. Hopefully this is what you were talking about when you mentioned Eva and Bleach (both of which I am familiar with).


----------



## Razzazzika (Jun 17, 2011)

Definitely more action packed of a start. Not too random, because you hint that they're going to fight this 'fox monster' later. My biggest gripe was that you should put a bigger separation between the past and the present. Err, not timewise, but use like a ----- or something between these two lines


cosmickev said:


> _Seven years huh? It’s hard to believe it’s been that long_, she thought as she continued to stare out of the window. While she was doing this, she began thinking about the past.
> 
> --------------------------------------- Not necessarily like this, but it separates it nicely saying, something changed here, she didn't turn away from the sleeping kid and hop in an elevator.
> 
> _I wonder why they called me here_, Yukiko thought as she rode the elevator to the top of the newly built E.D.C. headquarters.



and again here



cosmickev said:


> “I’ve already sent a team out to search for the survivors.”
> ---------------------------------------
> “Attention passengers,” Yukiko heard the pilot say snapping her out of her memory. “Please make sure you are securely fastened in your seats as we make our descent into the atmosphere.”



Without any sort of separator it took me a moment to realize the perspective change, and I had to reread it to realize what had happened.



cosmickev said:


> The tail that Yukiko had just cut off dissolved and became a hundred D rank R.E.S.’s.
> 
> “How cute, it thinks it can overwhelm us with numbers,” Konoe said with a laugh.
> 
> ...



Probably answering my own question with this, but something for you to thing about. How do they know it's D-Rank R.E.S.? Do they have a certain appearance? Because they have no clue what the giant fox is. I understand in chapter 2 (which might now be chapter 3 you explain this) but in chapter 1 your reader has no idea what a D-Rank R.E.S. is, so be descriptive. In fact, I have no idea what a D-Rank R.E.S. is which is why i'm pointing it out. Even in the old chapter 2 you said A look human, E look like energy ballls, but who knows what D are.


----------



## cosmickev (Jun 17, 2011)

Thanks for pointing these things out to me. I completely forgot that as the writer I know what things are supposed to look like, and you're right every rank does have a different appearance that's why they can tell what rank they are. Also the time gap was bothering me a bit last night as well, because I couldn't figure out how to separate it so you wouldn't get lost. But I do like the dash lines so I think I'll roll with that for now


----------



## cosmickev (Jun 24, 2011)

*Chapter 3*

The next morning came rather quickly and the hallways of Sakura High  were once again crowded as students looked at the screens in the hallway  to determine which homeroom they were in. Once Kyo and Shoji found the  homeroom they were assigned to, they pushed their way through the  crowded hallways as they made their way to the their homeroom.


When  they finally arrived, they walked through the open door and noticed a  young woman, with straight shoulder length brown hair which was tied in a  ponytail and draped over her left shoulder, sitting at the teacher’s  desk. Her light brown eyes were fixated on the two boys as they entered  the classroom.


“Good morning,” the young woman said with a smile.


“Good morning,” the two boys said simultaneously.


“Where should we sit?” Kyo asked the young woman.


“You can sit wherever you would like for now,” the young woman said. “I will assign seats later.”


The  two boys nodded and when they saw Norma sitting in the last row on the  left side of the classroom, they decided where to sit. Kyo took the  second seat from the front since Norma was sitting in the front seat  already, while Shoji took the seat to the right of Kyo and put his head  down on the desk. Norma greeted the two boys and started a conversation  with them. When she saw her friend Chloe walk in, she motioned to her to  come and sit with them.


“You look tired bro,” Shoji said to Kyo, who had leaned his head against the window he was sitting under.


“I am. I spent most of the night talking to my parents about being an Elementalist.”


“Glad I’m not the only,” Shoji said with a yawn.


“But your always tired in the mornings,” Norma teased.


“That’s not true,” Shoji protested. “I’m only tired Monday through Friday mornings.”


“And Saturday and Sunday mornings,” Kyo added.


“So…basically every morning?” Chloe asked.


“Pretty much,” Kyo said with a yawn.


“Oh,  forgot to introduce you guys. Chloe these are the two of the childhood  friends I told you about, Shoji and Kyo. Shoji and Kyo, this is my  friend Chloe that I told you about in middle school.”


The three of them greeted each other and then they continued their conversation until homeroom started.


 “Okay,”  the young woman begin to say. “I think everyone is here now, so let’s  begin homeroom.” She paused for a moment to give everyone a chance to  calm down and then greeted them, “Good morning.”


“Good morning,” the students replied.


“I’ll  be your homeroom teacher for the next four years. My name is Ms.  Sumeragi. Homeroom will be held in the mornings, so please be on time to  make sure you get the agenda for the day. This is important because  there are some days where you’ll be doing field training, while other  days you’ll be in class, so if you’re late, you won’t know what to do.  Does everyone understand?”


The students nodded.


“Good.  Alright, today you will be getting your element type and class. Once  the bell rings, the girls will head to the infirmary on the West side of  the school and the boys will head to the infirmary on the East side of  the school. After that, you will receive instructions on which meeting  room to head to.”


The students nodded and talked  amongst themselves as they waited for the bell to ring. When the bell  finally rang, the students stood up and went to their designated  locations.


“So what did she mean by element type and class?” Shoji asked Kyo as they were walking.


“Wait, you seriously didn’t hear a thing during the assembly yesterday?”


Shoji nodded. “I was too tired so I pretty much went to sleep as soon as we sat down.”


Kyo let out a sigh and then explained what went on during the assembly.


“Are you serious?!”


Kyo nodded.


“This is so cool! I wonder what my type and class will be.”


“Same here.”


After  walking for fifteen minutes, they finally reached the infirmary, but  the line was so long that it took forty-five minutes before it was  finally the two boys turn. When they went into the infirmary, they saw  why it was taking so long to move people in and out. First they had to  stand on a round metal platform. As they stood there, a blue circle rose  up around them and scanned them. Once they had been scanned, they sat  down and waited for the results. When the results were confirmed, they  got a tattoo made of nano-machines that painlessly embedded themselves  into their skin on their left and right shoulders. Once the two boys  finished this process the nurse made sure that the nano machines were  both secured in their place and were functioning properly. Afterwards  she sent them to their designated meeting room.


When the two boys arrived at the meeting room, they saw Norma sitting with Chloe.


“Looks like we’re together again,” Norma said cheerfully.


“Looks like it,” Kyo said.


“Though I think I would feel much better if you weren’t here,” Shoji teased.


Norma  stood up and walked over to Shoji. “Aw, but then there’d be no one to  put you in a headlock and you’d be said,” Norma said jokingly as she put  Shoji in a light enough headlock that he easily slipped out.


The  three of them then sat down next to Chloe and they talked about their  element type and class. As they were talking about this, five more  female students walked in.


_Looks like Natsuki and Miharu are with us as well,_ Shoji thought as he looked at two of the girls that he, Kyo and Norma had been friends with since elementary school.


He  then looked at the other three girls and noticed that they were from  their homeroom. However, Shoji didn’t know their names. He then looked  at Kyo had a surprised look on his face.


“Do you know them?” Shoji asked him.


“I only know them from our homeroom,” he responded.


“But he’s not telling the full story,” Norma said mischievously.


“What do you mean?” Shoji asked.


“The girl in the middle of the other two smiled at Kyo during the assembly yesterday.”


“I  see,” Shoji said as a smirk appeared on his face. He then placed his  hand on Kyo’s shoulder. “We have a lot to talk about later bro.”


Kyo looked at him confused, but Shoji said nothing more.


The  five female students all sat down in the same area as Shoji and his  group. After some time had passed, the door opened one last time, and in  walked two women.


“Yukiko?!” Kyo and Shoji asked in surprise as they jumped to their feet.


_What is she doing here?_ Shoji thought.


She nodded at them to acknowledge their presence, but said nothing. Instead she  motioned for them to have a seat.


“Looks like we have a bigger group this year,” Yukiko said.


Ms.  Sumeragi nodded in agreement. “Nine S Class Elementalists,” she said as  she looked at the digital clipboard that she was carrying. “That’s an  impressive number this year.”


“I agree.”


“So what do we do now Ms. Sumeragi?” Norma asked.


“For  starters, you can call me Konoe. Since you are all members of the  Elemental Strikeforce like me, I would prefer that you call me by my  first name,” she answered.


“For those of you who don’t  already know me, my name is Yukiko Nakajima. Like Konoe, I would also  like you to call me by my first name.”


“But,” the girl who smiled at Kyo started to protest.


Yukiko  shook her head. “No buts. We like to keep things informal in the  Strikeforce. However, when we are grouped together with the other  Elementalists, whether it’s for class or training, use the professional  titles.”


The girl nodded.


“Alright, the next thing that we need to do is distribute your R-Weapons.”


“R-Weapons?” Kyo asked.


“It stands for Resonance Weapons.”


“What are they?”


“It’ll be easier to explain once you see for yourself.”


Konoe  walked to the front of the room and put her hand on a fingerprint  scanner that was next to the marker board. After it finished scanning  her fingerprints, the board flipped over and was filled with different  types of weapons.


“Are all the meeting rooms like this?” Norma asked in amazement.


Konoe  shook her head. “No, just this one. We made some modifications to it,  since this is where we meet as the Strikeforce to discuss missions and  meet the new members.”


“Alright Kyo, since you asked the question about Resonance Weapons, you’ll be the first to select one,” Yukiko told him.


“O…kay,” he said still confused about what they were. “So now what?” he asked when he reached the wall with the weapons on them.


“Take  your hand and put it close to each weapon. Only one weapon will  resonate with your element. When the white crystal in the weapon glows  faintly, that will be your Resonance Weapon,” Konoe explained.
Kyo  did as he was instructed and the crystals in a pair of pistols began to  glow faintly. “Can theses be modified to my style?” he asked when he  pulled them of the wall.


“Yes they can,” Yukiko told him.


“Sweet.”


“Alright  so you have your weapons,” Konoe said as she went to her digital  clipboard and prepared to enter information with her voice. “Kyo Mibu:  Class S Fire Elementalist. Vanguard Unit: Desperado.”


“Confirmed,” a computerized voice responded.


After  she entered the information, Kyo returned to his seat and then the rest  of the group selected their weapons one by one, and Konoe entered their  information.


The first one to go up was Shoji. The  crystal resonated in a Katana. “Nice,” he said as he unsheathed the  sword to look at it before putting it back in its sheath.


“Shoji Oda: Class S Lighting Elementalist. Vanguard Unit: Lancer.”


“Confirmed.”


The  next student to go up was Norma. The crystal in a pair of fingerless  gloves had a faint glow to them. “Wait…are you serious? How is a pair of  gloves considered a weapon?”


“Well you are a martial artist right?” Yukiko asked her.


“Yeah, but…”


“It’ll become clear soon enough. Trust me you won’t be disappointed.”


Norma groaned, but still took her weapon.


“Norma Chamberlain: Class S Earth Elementalist. Vanguard Unit: Lancer,” Konoe said as Norma returned to her seat.
“Confirmed.”


After  Norma was the girl named Miharu. When she got to the wall with the  weapons on them, she did the same thing as the previous students,  however, nothing resonated. “Did I…do something wrong?” she asked in a  quiet voice as her emerald green eyes filled with worry.


“No,  you didn’t,” Konoe answered gently so she wouldn’t hurt her feelings.  “Not every Elementalist will be in the Vanguard Unit.”


Konoe  then focused her attention on her digital clipboard. She moved her  finger from the bottom of the screen to the top and when she did this,  the pages turned as if they were actual pieces of paper. She did this  until she found Miharu’s file.


“Okay here we go, Miharu Sakamoto. So you’re also an Earth Elementalist, but your element composition isn’t for fighting.”


“Excuse me,” The girl who smiled at Kyo said. “What exactly do you mean by element composition?”


 “To  put it simply,” Yukiko began. “It means that certain elemental types  are suited for fighting, while others are suited for defense and  healing. In Norma’s case, her element would be a hard type, meant for  destroying things. Miharu’s element is a soft type, meant to absorb  things. But you’ll learn more about this in your classes, for now let’s  get back to the task at hand.”


Konoe nodded in agreement entered Miharu’s data.


“Miharu Sakamoto: Class S Earth Elementalist. Defender Unit.”


“Confimred.”


After  Miharu sat down, her twin sister made her way to the wall. Two  submachine guns resonated with her element. “Interesting,” she said as  she pulled it off the wall.


“Natsuki Sakamoto: Class S Ice Elementalist. Vanguard Unit: Desperado.”


“Confirmed.”


Norma’s  friend Chloe was the next to make her way to the front of the room. The  crystal in a straight short sword glowed and she pulled it off the  wall. “This is a fine blade,” she said as she examined it before placing  it back in its sheath.


“Chloe Fairchild: Class S Wind Elementalist. Vanguard Unit: Lancer.”


“Confirmed.”


The  last student to go up was the girl who smiled at Kyo in the auditorium.  She walked up to the wall and a curved short sword resonated with her  element. She didn’t say anything as she returned to her seat.
“Azaria Springfield: Class S Wind Elementalist. Vanguard Unit: Lancer.”


“Confirmed.”


One  of the other two girls remaining began to stand up when Azaria returned  to her seat. However, Konoe had already looked at the records sent to  her from the nurse’s office and based off of their element composition  determined that they weren’t going to be part of the Vanguard Unit. She  then entered the two girls data.
“Soleil Bordeaux: Class S Water Elementalist. Defender Unit. Mizuki Tsuruigi: Class S Holy Elementalist. Medical Unit.”


“Alright,  I need to explain two very important rules to you about your Resonance  Weapons,” Yukiko said after Konoe entered the two girls information.  “Rule number one: You are to have your R-Weapons on you at all times.  Rule number two: Outside of combat and combat training, you are not to  use your R-Weapons for _any_ reason.”
Once she had finished  giving them the two rules of their R-Weapons, she checked with Konoe to  make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything before dismissing them for the  day.


As most of the group was leaving, Shoji noticed that Kyo was talking with Azaria.


“I’m heading to the front gate,” Shoji told him.


Kyo nodded.


When Shoji was close to the front gate, he saw Yukiko standing there waiting for both and Kyo to arrive.


“Where’s Kyo?” she asked him when he made it to the front gate.


“He was talking with one of the girls. I think her name was Azaria, or something like that.”


“Oh, okay.”


“So tell me something Yukiko, why do we need to carry our R-Weapons on us at all times?”


“Huh? Didn’t I tell you?”


He shook his head.


“Oh,  that’s because you’re part of the Strikeforce now, so if we need you  for an emergency mission, we don’t have the time to wait for you to go  get your R-Weapon. So it’s just for convenience.”


“I see.”


“That makes sense,” Shoji heard Kyo say from behind him.


“You sure took your sweet time,” Shoji commented.


“Whatever, you know I didn’t keep you waiting that long.”


Shoji laughed. “Alright you got me. So what did she want to talk about?” Shoji asked as the three of them started walking home.


“She asked me if I wanted to be friends with her.’


“That’s weird.”


“That’s what I thought too. I mean, I’ve never been asked to be someone’s friend, we just became friends.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”


“Well maybe she had a different reason for asking you that?” Yukiko said.


“Like what?” Kyo asked.


“That’s something that you’ll have to figure out for yourself,” she told him.


The  three of them continued their conversation all the way back to the  student apartments. Yukiko told the two boys to get changed when they  arrived at the building and then to come help her with dinner. After  they finished eating, the two boys headed back to their room and got  ready for bed.


“So what do you think?” Shoji asked Kyo while Kyo was getting some water.


“About what?” he asked.


“Being an Elementalist.”


“It’ll be interesting if nothing else.”


“And  that’s why you’re my brother,” Shoji said as they clapped the backs of  their fists together before going to their separate bedrooms.


Shoji sat down on his bed and unsheathed his katana. _This will definitely be interesting,_ he thought as he put the sword back in it’s sheath.


----------



## BoredMormon (Jun 25, 2011)

There are about 300 years unaccounted for in the first part of your prolouge.

The chapters are very heavy on dialouge. Add some description in to break it up. It won't kill you to give us a few lines of physical description each time you introduce someone new. Describe actions and expressions. 

I hope you chose the name of your planet deliberately... Its tied up with a lot of names that have been before.


----------



## cosmickev (Jun 25, 2011)

Thank you for your input. Now I'll ask this, as far as describing the characters, when I went to a workshop on writing, the speaker was saying that it wasn't necessary for characters who more or less are there to move the story along. I don't have a problem with describing them, I think it helps the reader to visualize the character. But seeing as that is what I was taught, that's what I rolled with. I'll also check out your writing to see if I can get a better idea of what you are saying.


----------



## BoredMormon (Jun 27, 2011)

cosmickev said:


> I'll also check out your writing to see if I can get a better idea of what you are saying.



Not sure how well that will work for you


----------



## cosmickev (Jul 18, 2011)

*Chapter 4*

Two weeks had passed since the start of school. The classes were  running smoothly and the majority of the students had gotten used to the  idea of being Elementalists. The morning started off as it typically  did with the students of Sakura High making their way to the school  building.


“It’s such a beautiful morning,” Azaria said as she took a deep breath.


“It really is,” Mizuki agreed.


 “I just love this time of year!”


“It’d be even nicer if classes started at ten instead of eight,” Soleil said as she yawned and rubbed her brown eyes.


“Sounds like somebody needs to go to bed earlier,” Azaria teased.


“That’s not an option.”


“Why is that?”


“Because if I did, I’d miss all my shows that come on late at night.”


Mizuki started laughing. “I should’ve known that would be the reason.”


“I guess that’s one part of Soleil that’ll never change,” Azaria remarked.


“Somehow…I don’t know if you’re complimenting me or not.”


The two girls just laughed.


The  three girls continued their conversation as they entered the school  building. When they arrived at their homeroom, they took their seats  near each other. Soleil took her backpack off and put it on the floor  beside her desk. She then reached into the side pouch of her backpack  and pulled out her keycard that she was given on the third day of  school. She held it to the side of her desk near the scanner. Once it  had scanned the card, the top portion of the desk rose up and revealed a  flat panel monitor on its underside. Once the monitor was in place a  holographic keyboard appeared. When this had all finished, she placed  her keycard back into the side pouch and quietly waited for homeroom to  begin. After Ms. Sumeragi finished giving them the agenda for the day,  Mr. Amada walked in to begin their Friday class.


“Today  will be a review of what we’ve covered over the past two weeks,” he  said as he began walking around the room. He started on the side that  Norma sat on and when he got to her desk, he found her fast asleep.


_She’s asleep already?!_ Soleil thought as she looked at her.


Mr.  Amada took the paperback book that he was holding in his hand and  rolled it up. When he finished doing this, he tapped Norma’s desk waking  her up.


“I wasn’t sleep!” she said as she sat straight up.


“I never said you were,” Mr. Amada said. “But since you mentioned it…did you have a nice nap?”


Norma laughed nervously.


“Since you were _so_ attentive, the first question goes to you. What does R.E.S. stand for?”


Norma thought about it for a moment. “It stands for…I really don’t know.”


“Then you should be taking notes. Ms. Fairchild, help her out.”


“It stands for Rogue Elemental Spirits,” Chloe answered.


“Yeah, that’s it!” Norma exclaimed. “I knew that, you just caught me off guard that’s all.”


“Is that so?” Mr. Amada asked skeptically.


Norma nodded. “Come on, give me another one. I’ll prove that I’ve been paying attention.”


Mr. Amada sighed. “Alright, then what exactly are R.E.S.’s?”


“They are the exiled spirits from the Elemental Dimension.”


“Looks like you have been paying attention.”


“See?”


“That  still doesn’t mean you can go to sleep in my class though.” He then  turned his attention to the rest of the class. “As Norma said, R.E.S.’s  are exiled Elemental Spirits from the Spirit Dimension. Remember this,  because it will be on the midterm. The next question goes to Ms.  Springfield.”


 Azaria focused her attention on Mr. Amada.


“How are R.E.S.’s categorized?”


“R.E.S.’s  are categorized A through E, with A being the strongest and E being the  weakest. Category A R.E.S.’s look exactly like humans with tattoos,  however they are easily identifiable from humans because these tattoos  glow according to their elemental composition. They are also the most  intelligent of the R.E.S.’s which makes them highly dangerous. Category E  R.E.S.’s look like floating orbs of energy with a pair of eyes. They  are not capable of speaking and lack in both power an intelligence.”


“Very impressive,” Mr. Amada said. “I have nothing more to say about that answer.”


_She’s doing it again,_ Soleil thought as she sighed.


He continued to go around the classroom and asked questions until the bell rang to dismiss them.


“Alright,  make sure you look over everything we talked about today. We’ll start  covering new material next Friday,” he told them. Then he left the  classroom.


Throughout the school, the sound of the  chairs sliding across the floor could be heard as students grabbed their  things and got ready to go home for the weekend. The new members of the  Strikeforce gathered at the main entrance of the school and then made  their way to the front gate.


“It feels so good to get out before the afternoon,” Soleil said as she stretched her arms wide above her head.


“She says that now, but you wouldn’t have guessed that she was just complaining about how early school starts,” Mizuki teased.


“Just think, if class started at ten like she wanted it to, we’d still be in class right now,” Azaria playfully added.


“But  class starting at ten would be nice,” Shoji commented. “Besides we  could still get out at the same time, which means less class time.”


“Finally, someone who agrees with me,” Soleil said.


“Careful, Soleil. Don’t let him infect you with his laziness,” Kyo joked.


“That’s messed up,” Shoji joked back.


Soleil laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. So since we do have the rest of the day off, what do you guys feel like doing?”


The group stopped and looked at one another, but no ideas immediately came to mind.


“Oh,  I know,” Azaria said after thinking for a bit. “Why don’t we show you  around the campus,” she said talking to the six students who came from  the A.R.K.’s.


“Is there more to it?” Norma asked. “I mean I thought the campus was what’s between the student apartments and the high school.”


Soleil  shook her head. “That’s only the Education District.” She then walked  over to a nearby information pillar and touched the touch screen to show  a map of the campus. “This is the campus,” she said when the map came  up.
The six students who came from the A.R.K.’s looked on in amazement.


“It’s like a city,” Natsuki said in complete awe.


“That’s  what it technically is,” Azaria explained. “Sakura Campus is one of the  most technologically advanced cities in the world.”


“This is incredible,” Kyo said sounding very impressed.


“I know,” Shoji said sounding equally impressed.


Soleil  then returned the information pillar to its standby position. “You  haven’t seen anything yet.” She then looked down at her watch. “We need  to get going though so we take the train to the Shopping District.”
The  group nodded and followed Soleil and the others to where the train was  going to be arriving. It looked like any other train station, except  there were no tracks laid on the ground.


“Um, not to point out the obvious, but where are the tracks?” Norma asked.


“Tracks?” Soleil asked.


“Yeah, you know, the rails that trains ride along.”


The three girls that had lived on the planet since they were born, looked at Norma in confusion.


Kyo  pulled out his hand held computer which he used to store music on, and  searched for a picture of the trains on the A.R.K.’s. “This is what  she’s talking about,” he said as he zoomed in on the rails that the  train was running on.


“Oh, I know what you’re talking  about now,” Azaria said. I remember reading about in a book last year.  On the A.R.K.’s they use tracks to keep the trains in place in case the  gravity generators fail. So I guess the reason why we don’t have tracks  is because we don’t have to worry about the gravity here on the planet.”


The group from the A.R.K.’s nodded as they listened to Azaria’s explanation.


“But then…how do you know where the train is coming from if it doesn’t have tracks to guide it?”


“You’ll see shortly,” Soleil said as she pointed to the train that was making its way to their location.


When  the train pulled up, everyone could see two blue lights that extended  several feet in front of the train, and run under the full length of the  train. The train hovered over the blue lines for a bit, and then the  ground underneath the train, lowered so that the bottom of the doors on  the train, would match up with the platform. The group waited for  everyone who was getting off to get off, before entering the train  themselves. When the doors closed, the ground underneath the train rose  up and when it was properly aligned, the train began to move.


When  they arrived at the Shopping District, they got off the train and the  three girls showed them to one of the entrances to the shopping  district. It looked like a giant, open air mall. It had no doors on the  entrance itself, in fact, the only doors on the building belonged to  each of the individual stores.


“This place is huge!” Natsuki exclaimed.


Azaria  nodded. “It can literally take you all day just to get through half of  these stores if you browsed through them,” she said as she pulled up a  map of the mall, as well as a list of stores from a nearby information  pillar.


“This place has everything,” Kyo remarked as he read the list of stores.


The group nodded in agreement.


“What’s that smell?” Norma said as she turned her nose to the air and began sniffing. “It smells really sweet and delicious.”


Miharu joined Norma and sniffed the air as well. “Oh, you’re right. It smells really wonderful.”


Mizuki sniffed the air to find out what they were talking about. “Oh, that’s the smell of funnel cakes.”


“Funnel cakes?” Shoji asked.


“Wait...you’ve never had funnel cakes before?” Soleil asked in disbelief.


The group from the A.R.K.’s looked at one another and shook their heads.


Soleil’s  right eye began to twitch; she then looked down at her watch. “We’re  going to have to catch another train, but that doesn’t matter because  you _will_ have a funnel cake before you leave here.”


She then led the way to the food court and ordered funnel cakes for the group. She then returned with a large tray.


“This is really good,” Chloe said after taking a bite.


The rest of the group agreed.


“Man they really do have everything,” Kyo said as he looked around at the dozens of specialty food shops around them.


“But  this is only a small portion of it,” Soleil said. “You should see it  during the spring and the summer. No one eats in here during that time,  instead they eat outside and the food vendors set up shop over there,”  she said as she pointed to a nearby park full of Sakura trees.


“It’s really an incredible sight,” Azaria said. “It’s a lot like a fair.”


They  continued talking as they ate their funnel cakes. After they finished  eating, they made their way back to the train station to move on to the  next district. However, when they arrived at the next district, they  stayed on the train rather than getting off.


“This is  the Power District,” Azaria explained. “This is where all of the power  for Sakura Campus is regulated. However, we can’t show you anything more  than that because you need an ID bracelet to get through the barrier  that protects this place.”


“So this is where they make the energy for the campus?” Norma asked.


Azaria shook her head. “There is no energy made here on the campus, just collected.”


“How do you collect energy?” Natsuki asked.


“You’ll  see shortly,” Soleil said as the doors of the train closed. “While we  are heading to the Residential District, you’ll be able to see it  clearly.”


The group moved to the left side of the train  since it was practically empty. At first all they could see were the  tunnel walls, but after a few minutes, they came out of the tunnel and  saw the blue sky as well as a large solar panel that looked like it  could fit all four districts into it.


“That’s how we  collect our energy,” Azaria said. “And when the sun isn’t out, the small  white pillars that you see surrounding the panel rise up and become  windmills.”


“So in other words, the campus has a constant supply of energy,” Kyo said.


Azaria nodded.


The  train stopped at the Residential District, and again, the group didn’t  get off of the train since the Residential was nothing more than a lot  of houses and a few shopping centers. They rode the train back to the  Education District. Once the group got off of the train, they parted  ways except for Soleil, Mizuki, and Azaria who headed home together.


“It’s been a while since I rode the entire line around the campus,” Soleil said as she stretched.


“Yeah, normally we go to the Shopping District and take the train in the back of the district back here,” Mizuki said.


“But if we did that, they wouldn’t have been able to truly see how big the campus is,” Azaria said.


Mizuki and Soleil nodded in agreement.


“Oh that reminds me, can we make a small detour before heading home? I need to pick up a book,” Azaria said.


Soleil and Mizuki nodded, and the three girls headed to the bookstore.


When they entered the bookstore, Mizuki and Soleil browsed through some books while Azaria went to pick up her order.


“I  can’t stand that chick,” Soleil overheard one girl from their class say  to her friend, who was also from their class. “She thinks she knows  everything.”


_I wonder who they’re talking about,_ Soleil thought but then sighed. _Never mind, I have a pretty good idea who they’re talking about._
“I  know. Azaria always answers the questions so fully. Almost like she’s  trying to show off and make the rest of us look bad,” the other girl  said. “She’s so annoying.”


“We...can go now,” Soleil heard Azaria say softly as she fought back tears.


Soleil got Mizuki’s attention and then the three girls left the bookstore.


The majority of the way home the group was quiet. After a few minutes, Mizuki decided to break the silence.


“So what kind of book did you get?” Mizuki asked.


“Nothing special. Just a reference book,” Azaria answered softly.


“Did I miss something?” Mizuki asked Soleil. “She was so cheerful when we went into the store.”


Soleil  nodded. “There were two girls who said they couldn’t stand her because  of how she answers questions in class. I warned her about it-“


Azaria  clutched the bag with her book in it tightly and whirled around to face  Soleil. “Then what am I supposed to do?! Stop being smart?! Quit  answering questions in class?! Tell me Soleil!”


“Calm  down. I wasn’t going to say that,” Soleil said calmly. “I was just going  to say that even though I warned you about it, it doesn’t mean you  should have to stop being yourself. If they don’t like it, then they  aren’t worth it. Those of us who know you, know that you’re really smart  and that’s all that matters.”


Azaria’s frown slowly disappeared and was gradually replaced with a smile.


_You’re still too much of a perfectionist though. You really do need to loosen up a bit,_  Soleil thought, but after seeing Azaria smiling once again, she decided  that she would keep that thought to herself as they continued to make  their way home.


----------



## cosmickev (Jul 18, 2011)

*Chapter 5*

The first day of October finally arrived and the days had starting  getting colder. Azaria woke up later than she normally did on this  particular morning, so she didn’t have a chance to eat breakfast as she  darted out of the student apartment with Mizuki and Soleil who ran with  her so they wouldn’t be late. They made it through the main entrance  before the bell started chiming.


Alright we have until the third chime, Azaria thought to herself as she sped up her pace.


The three girls slid into the back door of the classroom just as the bell chimed for the third time.


“You  three barely made it,” Konoe told them as she walked in through the  door at the front of the classroom. She then started homeroom and  explained the agenda for the day before dismissing them. “Oh and before I  forget, Azaria, Kyo, Shoji, Chloe, and Norma, you five are to report to  the field behind the school.”


_Why just the five us?_ Azaria asked herself as she grabbed her backpack and headed to the locker room to get changed into her training uniform.


The training uniform was provided by the school and consisted of grey sweatpants, a black T-shirt, and black combat boots.


Once  she finished changing with the other girls, she headed towards the  field behind the school building. When she got out there, she saw that  Kyo and Shoji were already out there, along with Natsuki, and a woman  that she hadn’t seen before.


“Good looks like your all  here,” the woman said in a laid back manner. “My name is Ms. Marie  Valentine, but you can call me Marie. Starting today, I’ll be your hand  to hand combat instructor.”


The group looked at her skeptically.


“Why do you all have that look on your faces?” she asked.


“It’s just…awkward,” Natsuki said.


“What is?”


“You would think a combat instructor would be more…I don’t know…less laid back?”


“Well  a combat instructor isn’t always so stiff. Besides I’m laid back  because seriousness causes wrinkles and I’m too young for that. I mean  I’m not even twenty-five yet.”


The group still looked at her skeptically.


She sighed. “I guess you won’t believe me unless you see me in action. So who would like to be my opponent?”


“Since  its hand to hand combat, I’ll go,” Norma volunteered. “Besides I need  to warm up. This cold weather makes me stiff,” she said as she walked  towards Ms. Valentine while rotating her right shoulder to loosen it up.


“Alright.”


“I’m all for being stress free, but she could perk up a bit,” Natsuki said.


“Indeed,  it’s not very befitting for a fighter to be as laid back as she is.  That kind of attitude could get you killed in a real fight,” Chloe  added.


_I probably wouldn’t go that far_, Azaria thought.


“So what do you think Shoji?” Kyo asked.


“I don’t know. We’ve seen Norma fight before, so I know what to expect from her. But this woman…I can’t read her at all.”


“Neither  can I, she’s way too laid back. Normally, I would think someone who is  that laid back and hasn’t even shown an ounce of seriousness would get  killed in an actual fight, but…”


“If she was chosen to be the hand to hand combat instructor, she can’t possibly be weak, right?”


Kyo nodded.


_What are they talking about?_ Azaria asked herself. _What do they mean by ‘reading her’?_
“Oh,  I almost forgot,” Marie said. “Before we begin, I need everyone to  remove their R-Weapons. You won’t need them for this training.”


Azaria  reached down to her lower back and unhooked her sword from the belt  that she was wearing around her waist and then placed it on the ground.  The other students removed their weapons and placed them on the ground  as well.


“Alright, so are we ready now?” Marie asked Norma.


Norma nodded as she took her fighting stance.


“Oh,  you have a very nice stance. It’s hard to find an opening on you. I  guess I’ll have to be a little more serious or else I might get hurt.”


Ms. Valentine got into her stance and instantly the air around her became completely different.


“Alright, I hope you’re ready Norma,” she said in a serious tone.


Norma nodded.


With that the fight began. Marie took one step forward and disappeared.


_Wait…where’d she go?!_ Azaria asked herself as she frantically began looking around for Marie.


A  few seconds later she spotted her in slightly crouching position  getting ready to elbow Norma in the back. Norma quickly spun around,  dodging the blow and countered with a sweeping kick. Marie dodged the  attack by jumping over Norma’s leg. She quickly attacked back with a  high axe kick that brought her leg down onto Norma. Norma couldn’t dodge  it in time so she put up both of her arms and blocked the attack.  However, the sheer force of the kick brought Norma down on one knee.  Balancing her left leg on Norma’s arms, Marie quickly brought her right  knee up and stopped just centimeters from Norma’s face, signaling  Norma’s defeat.


“Not bad Norma,” Marie told her with a  smile on her face as she got off of Norma and then extended her hand to  help Norma up. “You’ve obviously had a lot of training to keep up with  me.”


“Thank you, but I still have a lot more to learn. I couldn’t really keep up with my eyes,” Norma admitted.


“Don’t  underestimate yourself, you fought very well and kept me on my toes.  One wrong mistake and it could have just as easily been your victory.”  She then turned to the rest of the group. “Listen up; what is the one  thing that kept Norma from winning the fight against me?”


“Strength,” Shoji answered.


“Wrong.  The reason Norma lost to me was not due to her strength versus mine. In  all honesty, she is a lot stronger than I am. That’s why my last kick  didn’t break through her defense and only brought her down to one knee.  No, the reason that she lost to me is experience. She lacks the  experience of actual combat, and that’s combat without rules or  regulations. That’s what you will be learning from me.”


After she said this her demeanor softened and she went back to being laid back.


“Of  course I will teach you how to fight, but the biggest lesson you will  get under my instruction is experience. So before we begin our training,  do you have any questions for me?"


Azaria raised her hand.


“Go ahead Azaria.”


“Why are we the only ones out here?”


“It’s  because you are Class S Elementalists and we need to accelerate your  training so you become combat ready as soon as possible. However, you  all are inexperienced so we can’t send you to the Junior Division for  hand to hand combat just yet. So for now you’ll train with me to gain  that experience.”


“Okay…but why is there a rush to get  us combat ready? I mean there are plenty of other members who are combat  ready in the Elemental Strikeforce, right?”


“You  really are inquisitive aren’t you? It’s true that there are a lot of  Elementalists, but there are only a few that are Class S Elementalists  and those Elementalist make up the Strikeforce. But right now we aren’t  really active since nothing is going on.” She then thought about what  she just said. “So…to be honest, I’m not sure why there is a rush.”


Azaria sighed. _This woman_. “Alright, I have one more question. What kind of trick did you use to make you disappear?”


“Trick?”


“Yes. When you first started the fight, you disappeared.”


“Oh that. That wasn’t a trick.”


“Then what was it?”


“Raw speed,” Norma told her.


“Raw…speed? You mean she’s just that fast?!”


“Don’t  let it surprise you. I promise you, by December you will be able to  move at the speed that I just displayed,” Marie said as she looked at  her watch. “Let’s hold off on the questions for now, we need to begin  your training. Everybody pair up with one another. Norma, go ahead and  pair up with Azaria.”


“Alright,” Norma said. “Azaria, show me your fighting stance and hold that position.”


Azaria did as she was told and put up her fists.


Norma then walked to the side of Azaria. “Are you left or right handed?”


“Left-handed,” Azaria answered.


“Okay,  then you’ll need to put your left out a little further than your right  hand. Keep your right hand up, but keep it closer to your face to guard  it from attacks.”


_I’ve never seen Norma so serious before, even in class_.


“Next  is the placement of your feet. You need to widen your stance a bit.”  Norma reached her left foot in between Azaria’s feet and slid her left  foot forward. “Since the left side of your body is dominant, you need to  lead with your left. Also make sure you bend your knees a bit. If  you’re too stiff you’ll fall all over yourself when it’s time to move.”


After  she made sure that Azaria’s could get into that stance naturally, she  allowed Azaria to attack her to see how her form was and where she would  begin to help her improve. After doing this for a few hours, the bell  rang dismissing them to go home for the day. Azaria made her way back to  the locker room and changed with the other girls. While she was putting  on her blazer, she realized that her cell phone was vibrating. She  pulled out the thin headset, clicked a button to bring up the  holographic screen and read the text message that she had received.


_So Soleil and Mizuki went home already? Alright, I’ll head home too then_, she thought.


She  put her cell phone on her ear and left the locker room. As she was  walking she realized her entire body had become really sore and so she  leaned against the walls in the hallway as she slowly made her way to  the main entrance.


_Why does it hurt so much just to move_, she thought.


“Are you okay?” she heard someone ask her.


She  turned her head to see who it was. “Oh, Kyo. I’m okay.” She tried  moving again, but her legs buckled beneath her. She sighed. “I guess I’m  not okay.”


Kyo knelt down in front of her. “Hop on,” he instructed.


“Wait! You want me to do what?!”


“I’m going to carry you back to the Student Apartments on my back.”


“No! Th-that’s embarrassing! What will other people think?!”


He  shrugged. “I’m not really concerned with what they think. Right now  your body is too sore for you to even stand up on your own. I think it  would be more embarrassing to have you crawling on all fours to get  home. Besides people would really get the wrong idea if I carried you in  my arms like a princess.”


She thought about what he said and decided to let him help her out. “W-won’t what’s under my skirt be exposed?”


“Your skirt is long enough so no.” He then laughed. “You really need to relax. If somebody asks, just explain what happened.”


She  nodded as they started making their way to the main entrance. She was  quiet for a bit but the silence made her uneasy so she struck up a  conversation.


“So…Kyo,” she said.


“Yeah?”


“Earlier you and Shoji were talking about reading Marie’s movements. What did you guys mean by that?”
“It’s like judging your opponents skill level, I guess.”


“You guess?”


“I mean that’s probably the easiest way to explain it.”


“I still don’t get it.”


“Well,” he thought about how to explain it. “Alright, have you ever played a sport before?”


“Nor really. I mean I did play tennis for a few months but that was about it.”


“That’s  good enough. So since you’ve played tennis, I’m assuming that you  played against other players that weren’t on your team right?”


Azaria nodded.


“Okay  did you ever get a feeling, no matter how little it may have been, that  the person that you were facing was more skilled than you were?”


“Kind of. I could usually tell by how they stood whether or not they were a beginner like me, or an experienced player.”


“That’s what reading is.”


“I see. But for you to be able to do that when it comes to fighting, you must be really good.”


“Maybe, but it just comes from experience rather than actually being good at it.”


“So you’ve fought before?”


“Only for self defense. But my older brother taught me along with Shoji, Natsuki and Miharu.”


“That sounds really cool actually.”


“Not to change the subject or anything, but you were really amazing in class last Friday.”


“How so?”


“Just  the way that you answered the question. I mean you gave a lot of  information. I was surprised that you could remember all of that.”


Azaria smiled as she thought about what Soleil told her after she found out two of the girls in her class didn’t like her.


They  continued to talk until they got to the Student Apartment where Azaria  lived. When they got to the front entrance, she got down off of his  back.


“Thank you for your help today, but I’ll be fine from here.”


“Are you sure?” he asked.


She  nodded. “You’ve given my legs plenty of rest so I can at least make it  to my room. And if I collapse again, I can call Mizuki and Soleil to  come help since I live with them.”


He nodded. “Alright, then I’ll see you tomorrow.”


He started walking off.


“Kyo,” she called out.


“Hm?” he said as he turned around and faced Azaria.


“Thanks  for carrying me home. I’m sorry that I made such a big fuss about it, I  just didn’t want people to get the wrong idea about us.”


He nodded and then headed home.


She sighed. _Why did I make such a big fuss about it?_ she asked herself as she got onto the elevator. _All he was doing was helping me get home since my legs are so sore_. She sighed again as she got off the elevator and made her way to her room.


When she got to her room, she opened the door and walked in.


“Oh, hey Azaria,” Soleil said as she finished eating a potato chip.


Azaria just sighed.


“What’s up with you?” Mizuki asked as she put down the medical book she was reading.


“The  training we did today left me really sore and I feel like I made a  complete fool of myself in front of Kyo.” She sighed again.


“Oh? How did you manage to do that?” Soleil asked with curiosity.


Azaria groaned. “I’m going to go soak in the bath for a bit. I’ll tell you when I get out.”


“Stop right there,” Mizuki instructed.


Azaria stopped where she was.


“Now lay down on the couch.”


Azaria had a confused look on her face, but did as she was instructed.


Mizuki walked over to where she was at and began pushing the muscles on Azaria’s legs.


“Ouch! That hurts Mizuki!”


“I have one question. Did you stretch before you started training and after you finished training?”


Azaria shook her head.


Mizuki  sighed. “You need to do so. That’s why your legs are so tight right  now. Make sure you stretch before and after your training from now on.  For now though, you’re going to have to put up with the massage no  matter how bad it hurts. Otherwise you’re legs are going to fold up  tonight while you sleep.”


Azaria continued to groan as Mizuki massaged her legs to loosen up the muscles.


“That sounds really painful,” Soleil said nonchalantly.


Azaria shot her a glare as she groaned again.


“Hey, I didn’t tell you not to stretch before and after training.”


“You didn’t tell me to stretch at all.” She groaned again.


“Should I have to?”


Azaria groaned as she buried her head in the couch’s cushion.


When  Mizuki finished the massage, she instructed Azaria to soak in the bath  for at least fifteen minutes. Once Azaria finished her bath, she changed  into her pajamas and then explained the events that happened during the  day.


“Well now I see how you made a fool out of  yourself,” Soleil said. “But why did you make such a big deal out of him  helping you?”


“Forget that,” Mizuki said. “I’m more interested in why you are attracted to him.”


“He’s handsome,” Azaria said.


“Well…yeah I can agree with that. But what do you like about him?” Soleil asked.


“Well…I  like how kind his brown eyes are. His light brown skin matches nicely  with his black hair. He’s also really sweet and he makes me laugh.”


“Hm, well good luck with that,” Soleil said skeptically as she continued to eat her chips while reading her book.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”


“I’m telling you this as a friend, you’re a workaholic, and if you don’t learn to loosen up…he’s going to lose interest in you.”


“I’ll keep that in mind,” Azaria said as she went to her room and closed the door behind her. _What does she know anyway?_ she thought as she started on her homework. _It’s not like all guys are the same anyway_. _Besides she’s never had a boyfriend so how would she know about a guy’s interests._ She became so frustrated that she couldn’t concentrate on her homework. _Forget it, I’ll just get up early and finish this._ She then closed her notebook and climbed into her bed. _He’s different from the other guys…she’ll see_, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.


----------



## cosmickev (Jul 18, 2011)

*Chapter 6*

“So tell me something Kyo,” Shoji said as their class walked down the hallway.


“What is it?” Kyo asked.


“Why are we walking down the hall again?”


“Weren’t you paying attention?”


“Not really.”


Kyo sighed. “Ms. Kawamura wants us to meet her outside for class today.”


“Why?”


Kyo shrugged.


“I thought you were paying attention.”


“I was. Kon- I mean Ms. Sumeragi didn’t tell us why Ms. Kawamura wanted to meet us outside.”


Shoji sighed. “Ms. Kawamura is like a hyper active Chihuahua.”


Kyo burst into laughter. “Did you just call her a Chihuahua?”


Shoji nodded.


“That’s messed up. You know that right?”


 “It’s not my fault she’s so perky first thing in the morning.”


Kyo just shook his head and laughed.


The  class continued walking through the hallways as they made their way to  the track where Ms. Kawamura had told them to meet her.


“Good  morning, good morning, good morning!” Ms. Kawamura exclaimed when the  students finally gathered in front of her. She was bobbing her head back  and forth which made her wavy shoulder length blond hair swing back and  forth like it was trying to sweep her shoulders.


“See what I mean?” Shoji asked as he nudged Kyo.


“Now that you’ve pointed it out…yeah, I see what you mean.”


“I’m telling you, this level of perkiness, this early in the morning, isn’t natural.”


“You’ve got a point.”


“So I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve decided to have class outside this morning? Ms. Kawamura said cheerfully.


“No, we’re wondering why we’re outside when it’s so cold outside,” Norma muttered.


“Is it really that cold?” Shoji asked her.


She nodded as she continuously rubbed her arms to keep warm.


“Hm, I don’t really feel it.”


That’s because you’re a freak of nature.”


“But Kyo doesn’t look cold.”


“He’s a fire Elementalist, so I don’t expect him to be cold.”


 “Hey  you two!” Ms. Kawamura called out to Norma and Shoji. “You shouldn’t be  talking when I’m trying to explain something. That’s how you miss out  on something important.”


Shoji’s eye began twitching. _Even when she’s scolding us…she’s still cheerful about it_.


Both Norma and Shoji apologized.


“As  long as you understand,” Ms. Kawamura said. “Now back to what I was  saying. We’ve been studying Resonance and Resonance Crystals for over a  month now. It’s now the third week of October, which means you only have  five weeks until you have your field exams in December. So today we’re  going to put what you’ve learned into practice, since you’ll be using  your R-weapons during the field exam.”


She reached into  the bag that she had sitting at her feet and pulled out a Resonance  Crystal that was about the size of softball.


“As you all have probably noticed, this Resonance Crystal is bigger than the ones embedded in your weapons.”


“Why is that?” Azaria asked.


“Because this is a lesser grade Resonance Crystal used for training purposes only.”


“Lesser grade?”


Ms.  Kawamura thought for a moment as she tried to think of a simple  explanation. “Simply put, lesser grade resonance crystals are man-made,  while the resonance crystals in your R-Weapons are naturally gathered.  But I’ll give you a more in depth definition in class next week. For now  let’s get to the training.”


She held the crystal in the palm of her hand and extended it in front of her.


“The  first thing that you’re going to want to do is close your eyes and  breathe slowly. Once you’ve done this, visualize your element as a  trigger. When you feel the crystal in your hand become warm, pull the  trigger within your mind.”


After she finished  explaining the steps, she demonstrated the process. Immediately after  closing her eyes, the crystal began to glow a bright white. Her hair  rose up behind her as if a gust of wind was blowing up from beneath her  feet, and even though it wasn’t that cold outside, the students could  see her breath. The water in the air around her began to freeze and  before long she made a life sized ice statue of herself.


“Just like that,” she said when she was finished.


“So why do we need R-weapons if we can do stuff like that?” Norma asked.


“Because  it’s impossible to use lesser grade resonance crystals for combat. With  just the slightest break in the concentration this happens.”


She  stopped focusing on her element and when the crystal stopped glowing,  the ice immediately turned to a puddle of water on the ground.


“The elemental quality created from these crystals is weak. It’s not even enough to defeat a Category E R.E.S.”


“Then why not just use a pure Resonance Crystal of that size?” Soleil asked.


“Because  you’d get Resonance Poisoning. Granted the amount of power that you  would generate would be enormous, but the kickback from it would cause  the element to have a negative effect on your body and essentially  shorten your life. Again, I’ll cover all of this at a later date, so  hold your questions until then. Now everyone pair up. Once you’ve found  your partner, I want each pair to come and grab just one crystal because  I don’t have enough for everyone to have their own.”


Kyo and Shoji paired up and began their training.


“Alright, let’s get started,” Kyo said. “You can go first.”


“Alright,” Shoji replied.


Shoji  held the crystal in the palm of his hand and imitated what Ms. Kawamura  did. The crystal began to glow faintly, but Shoji’s element didn’t  appear. He did this a few more times, but the result was always the  same.
“This is tougher than it looked and you feel kind of tired afterwards,” Shoji said.


“Weren’t you tired to begin with?’ Kyo asked.


“I’m not talking about the kind of tired where you feel sleepy. I mean the kind of tired where you feel like you feel drained.”


“That’s  a normal side effect,” Ms. Kawamura told him. “If you feel like that,  it means you are doing the process right. Just try to hold your  concentration a little longer this time and you should see your  element.”


Shoji began to go through the process again, but stopped short when he heard Ms. Kawamura’s voice.


“Great job Azaria! You have excellent control!”


Shoji  looked over at Azaria and saw a small tornado surrounding her. He  gritted his teeth and then went back to his training. He once again  imitated Ms. Kawamura’s actions and held his concentration a little  longer. This time the crystal glowed much brighter and electric sparks  began popping all around him. But soon afterwards, he became really  tired.


“Not a bad attempt Shoji,” Ms. Kawamura said cheerfully.


“But it still wasn’t quite right,” Shoji said.


“What makes you say that?”


“I’m  not sure how to explain it, but it didn’t feel right. Not to mention  that my element was just sparks, almost like it was trying to do  something. It was completely different from what you and Azaria had  happen.”


“I’m very impressed.”


“Huh?”


“Is it that strange for me to be impressed with a student of mine?”


“When they aren’t doing something right, yes it is.”


“Well, that’s not why I’m impressed.”


“Then why are you?”


“Because you haven’t managed to resonate properly yet, but you can still tell that something isn’t right.”
“Well I know it didn’t feel right, but I still don’t know why.”


“That’s simple. You just went through Resonance Overcharge.”


“Resonance…Overcharge?”


Ms  Kawamura nodded. “You tried to force too much energy out at one time,  but it couldn’t release all at once so some of the energy kicked back.  Your body can’t absorb that energy so it uses more energy to cancel it  out. This is why you feel so tired and why only a small amount of energy  was released.”


 “I see,” Shoji said as he began to lose his balance.


Ms.  Kawamura caught him and then instructed him to sit down. Afterwards she  gave him a piece of candy to give him his energy back.


 “Here,  why don’t you take the crystal home with you to practice? Unfortunately  class time is over and you need to get ready for your afternoon  training.”


The rest of the day went by quickly as the  students finished their training and headed home. Later that evening  Shoji sat on the couch thinking about what happened earlier in the day  as he stared at the crystal in his hand.


_Why is Resonance so annoying?_ he thought._  If I concentrate too long, I overcharge, but if I don’t concentrate  long enough, I don’t get a reaction. So how am I supposed to find this  balance? _He groaned as he leaned his head back against the couch. “This sucks,” he muttered.


“Are you still thinking about how to resonate?” Kyo asked when he walked out of his room and saw Shoji staring at the ceiling.


“It’s not so much how to resonate, but how to balance it out so I don’t overcharge anymore.”


“You’re seriously over thinking this,” Kyo said as he leaned against the frame of his door.


“Then  how am I supposed to think about this?” Shoji asked in frustration.  “You do realize if I can’t resonate, that I can’t fight the R.E.S.’s  right?”


“I know, but I’m trying to tell you it’s not that serious.”


Shoji sighed. “You’re not really helping.”


Kyo  sighed. “I guess talking about it isn’t going to be enough.” He then  looked at the TV to check the time. “Alright, get dressed. We’re going  to go to the park behind the student apartments.”


“What for?”


“You’ll see when we get there.”


Shoji sighed, but did as he was told. A few minutes later, the two boys left the room and headed towards the park.


“Where are you two going at this hour?” Yukiko asked when the two boys were passing through the lobby.


“To the park to work on Shoji’s Resonance,” Kyo answered.


_Why didn’t he just tell me that?_ Shoji thought.


“I see. Well I’ll need to come with you then.”


“Yukiko, we’re not little kids anymore.”


“It’s  not about you being little kids. You’re getting ready to go to the park  and it’s past the campus curfew, and the rule says that if you want to  go out this late, you need to have an adult with you. Of course you can  also return to your room, if you don’t want me to tag along.”


The two boys agreed to let her tag along for their training.


“So what do I do now?” Shoji asked Kyo when they arrived at the park.


“I’m going to show you,” Kyo answered.


Kyo  held the Resonance Crystal in his hand and did what Ms. Kawamura did  earlier. He instantly held a small flame in the palm of his opposite  hand.


“How am I supposed to understand it when you can barely do it yourself?” Shoji asked.


Kyo  sighed and enlarged the flame to the size of a basketball. He then  extinguished the flame and made a small flame on the tip of his finger.  After that, he enlarged the flame to the size of a basketball again, but  he continued to have it floating just above the tip of his finger  before extinguishing it.


“Okay, so you can resonate. I still don’t see how this helps me.”


“Catch,”  Kyo told Shoji as he tossed the crystal to him. “Like I said before,  you’re over thinking it. Now, do the same things as you did earlier,  except this time lightly pull the trigger in your mind.”


“Lightly pull the trigger? How do I do that?”


“By staying calm.”


“Huh?”


“Earlier  today you were frustrated because you didn’t get it the first few times  and Azaria managed to get it, on her first try and that frustrated you  even more. Am I right?”


“How did you-“


“You  don’t hide your emotions very well. It was written all over your face.  That and the fact that I’ve know you for years. But that’s why I was  telling you earlier that you were over thinking it. Do the same thing  you did when you overcharged, but just stay calm this time and the  results will definitely be different.”


Shoji nodded and  began to calm down. He then went through the motions like he did  earlier. As he did this the crystal began to faintly glow.


“Good, now intensify that concentration,” Kyo encouraged him.


Shoji  concentrated even harder and the crystal began to glow brightly, but  this time instead of sparks popping around him, lightning began to form  around him and encircle his body. Shoji opened his eyes and saw his  element.
“Simple isn’t it?”


Shoji nodded and  stopped resonating. “But this still drains me pretty quickly. Speaking  of which, why don’t you look tired? You forced your element out twice  and it was out longer than mine was.”


“That’s because  Desperadoes have a much higher energy pool than any other Elementalist,”  Yukiko said. “But I’ll explain that later. You two need to get to bed  because it’s almost midnight and tomorrow you two will be skipping over  both the Freshman and Sophomore Divisions and joining the Junior  Division for your training here on out, and I’m going to tell you this  now…it’s not going to be like your training has been lately.”


The two boys nodded and then they all headed back inside the building and got ready for bed.


----------



## cosmickev (Jul 18, 2011)

*Chapter 7*

The next morning came rather quickly and the two boys had to drag  themselves out of their beds. It took them a little longer than usual to  get ready, but after having breakfast with Yukiko; they found their  energy and made their way to school. After homeroom was finished, Konoe  dismissed the students and sent them to their designated training  locations.


After Shoji got changed into this training uniform in the locker room, he made his way to a building behind the high school.


_This looks like the Kendo Halls that we had back on the A.R.K.’s, only bigger_, Shoji thought when he stepped inside the building.


As  he walked across the wooden floor, he looked at the walls that were  lined with different types of wooden training weapons. He was so  absorbed in the weapons that he didn’t notice the others who were in the  building with him, until he heard the sound of footsteps echoing  throughout the building. He turned his attention to where the sound was  starting from and saw a male student standing in the middle of five  other male students, who were charging at him.


_Five against one?_ Shoji thought as he watched the event unfold.


In  the blink of an eye the male student in the middle of the others drew  his wooden sword and made quick slashes without taking a single step.  The other five fell to the floor.


_That’s who I want to fight!_ Shoji thought as his adrenaline began to flow throughout his body.


“Mrs. Nakajima,” Shoji heard one of the female students call out. “There’s a kid here who’s lost.”


Yukiko  popped her head out of the office. “He’s not a kid. This is Shoji, one  of our newest Strikeforce members,” she explained. “By the way Carrie,  why are you laying on the floor when you’re supposed to be training?”


“Because I’m bored and the guys won’t let me train with them.”


“There are three other girls with you. Why don’t you train them?”


“Yeah…that’s  not going to happen. I’m not that great at teaching,” she said as she  rolled over on her side to look at Yukiko. “Besides, it won’t make me  any stronger.”


“Well when you can get on my level, I’ll gladly train wit you,” one of the male students said as he got off the floor.
Carrie  narrowed her light brown eyes at him and before the guy had a chance to  do anything, she had already gotten up off of the floor and kicked him  with a roundhouse into the opposite wall causing him to cough up blood  when he bounced off the wall.


“How’s that for getting on your level, Vincent?”


Vincent  gritted his teeth and sprinted at Carrie in a zigzag pattern  disappearing from her sight only temporarily, but when he appeared  again, he threw a punch at her. Carrie easily dodged it and countered it  by grabbing his arm and flipping him on his back. She then put her foot  on his chest and brought her face close to his as she brushed her  shoulder length red hair behind her ears to keep it out of her face.


“I  need you to understand something. When we train, I’m holding back. I’m a  lot stronger than I look and even stronger than what you just felt. So  when you get on _my_ level, I’ll train with you anytime you want. Until then…keep your mouth shut when you’re in my presence…understand?”


Vincent nodded reluctantly.


“Good,”  she said as she removed her foot from his chest. “Now I’m all sweaty,”  she complained as she took off her T-shirt and revealed the black sports  bra she wore underneath. One of the girls tossed her a towel and she  used it to wipe the sweat off of her lightly tanned skin.


Shoji  started laughing. “Yukiko, when you told me that the junior division’s  training would be nothing like our training has been lately, I see what  you mean. But I didn’t think it would be this much fun!”


“You call this fun?” asked Azaria who had walked in with Norma and Chloe when Carrie and Vincent started fighting.


“What? You don’t think this is fun?” Norma asked Azaria.


“Don’t tell me you think it’s fun too.”


“Of course I do! After seeing that girl fight, I’m itching to have a match with her.”


Carrie  who had been walking to where the other girls in the junior division  were at, disappeared from everyone’s sight, reappeared in front of Norma  and tried to hit her with an axe kick.


_She’s fast_, Shoji thought. _But she’s not fast enough_.


Norma  easily kept up with Carrie’s speed and blocked her kick. Afterwards she  swept the leg that Carrie was standing on from underneath her leaving  Carrie slightly airborne and before Carrie could even get close to the  ground, Norma finished her combo with a roundhouse to Carrie’s chest  sending her flying. When she completed the roundhouse by putting her  foot on the ground, she quickly dashed after Carrie and positioned  herself above her to finish her attack with a punch that would plant  Carrie in the ground.


However, Carrie reached her hands  back and immediately stopped herself. Then she lifted both of her feet  to do a flip and in the process kicked Norma in the stomach and threw  Norma over her head. Carrie then completed the flip, pivoted on her  right foot and dashed after Norma. Norma regained her control and used  the momentum to propel herself off of the wall that she was thrown at.  She tried to uppercut Carrie, but Carrie dodged and managed to grab  Norma and slammed her onto the floor knocking the wind out of Norma.


“Not…bad,” Carrie told Norma as she was catching her breath.


“Same...to…you,” Norma said when she was able to breathe again.


“This isn’t fun. This is crazy,” Azaria said. “I mean they attacked each other without warning.”


“I  wouldn’t call this fun, but I wouldn’t call it crazy either,” Chloe  said calmly as she tied her shoulder length black hair into a small  ponytail. “It’s true that they attacked each other without warming, but  our enemy will do the same thing.”


“You mean the R.E.S.’s?”


“Indeed,” she said as she took off her glasses showing her dark blue eyes.


“But still-“


“That’s  just how real fights go Azaria,” Shoji said. “You’re going to need to  get rid of that fairy tail delusion of yours; otherwise…you’ll never get  stronger.”


Azaria went silent.


“So Shoji,” Yukiko said after coming out of her office. “You have this look in your eyes, like you want to fight someone.”


“I do. I want to fight him,” Shoji said with a smile as he pointed to the guy who had taken the five male students at once.


“Huh?!  Seriously?!” Carrie asked in a surprise voice. “Kid, you do realize  that he’s the strongest person in this building besides, Yukiko right?”


“Of course. That’s why I want to fight him.”


“I  can respect that,” the male student said as he tossed Shoji a wooden  sword. “You just saw me take down five people without moving and you  still want to fight me one-on-one. I really respect your fighting  spirit. Just know that I won’t be taking it easy on you just because  you’re new to this division.”


“I wouldn’t expect  anything less,” Shoji said as he got into a fighting stance with the  wooden sword in his right hand resting on his right shoulder.


“Before we begin, I’m Yuji Ueda. What’s your name again?”


“It’s Shoji Oda.”


“Well, Shoji, your stance is leaving you wide open. You sure you don’t want to change it before we begin?”
Shoji shook his head. “I’ll fight you like this.”


Yuji  shrugged and made a quick dash at Shoji. His long black hair that went  down to his back and was tied in a neat ponytail, floated behind him as  he moved. While he was dashing, he lifted his wooden sword above his  head and then slashed down at Shoji from above.


Shoji  sighed as he sidestepped the sword and hit Yuji in the side with the  hilt of his wooden sword. Yuji took the hit without moving an inch and  swung his sword sideways at Shoji. Shoji quickly flipped the sword over  in his hand so that the tip of the sword was pointed at the ground and  blocked Yuji’s attack. He then did a roundhouse and kicked Yuji in the  face.


Yuji reeled back and wiped the blood from his nose while keeping his light blue eyes fixed on Shoji.


“This is annoying,” Shoji said as he narrowed his brown eyes at Yuji. “Why are you underestimating me?”


“What  do you mean? You were the one who was completely wide open. How am I  supposed to take you seriously when you aren’t taking me seriously?"


“You  weren’t planning on taking me seriously from the beginning. Your stance  was completely different from when you fought earlier. So since you  weren’t taking me seriously, I didn’t take you seriously.”


“My  apologies. I thought you were a complete beginner so I was thinking I  would go easy on you, even though I said I wouldn’t. That was my  mistake.”


Yuji entered the stance that he had taken when he fought earlier.


_He’s  still not giving off the same aura that he had earlier, but if I don’t  change my stance, this fight will be over before it even starts_, Shoji thought as he put his sword at his side like it was in its sheath.


Yuji  again initiated the start of the fight by dashing at Shoji. But this  time when he got close to Shoji, he disappeared from Shoji’s sight.


_Crap! Where’d he go?_ Shoji thought as he began looking for Yuji.


“Where are you looking?” Yuji asked as he hit Shoji in the back with the blunt side of the sword.


Shoji  swung his sword behind him, but hit nothing. Yuji repeatedly attacked  Shoji from different sides and would seemingly vanish before Shoji could  even attack.


_Okay, calm down. All he’s doing is moving faster than my eyes can keep up with. But he’s not moving silently_. Shoji closed his eyes and listened carefully. He could hear footsteps quickly approaching him_. Is it from the left? No the right? I can’t tell. Come on! I need to figure this out!_ He concentrated even harder on the sound. _No, it’s from the front!_
Shoji  opened his eyes just in time to block the downward slash that Yuji  attacked with. However, since he didn’t have time to brace himself for  it, he was brought down to one knee.


Shoji began laughing. “I’ve got you all figured out.”


He  then pushed Yuji’s sword away from him and began quickly slashing at  Yuji. Yuji was dodging them with ease, but he couldn’t find a chance to  attack or even block the attacks. Shoji continued this barrage of sword  slashes, but his stamina was running low and it was reflected when his  attacks began to slow down. Yuji used this opportunity to begin  attacking Shoji who switched to a defensive stance and used a mixture of  dodging and blocking Yuji’s attacks. He used very small movements to  give himself a breather and regain his energy. Once he had gotten his  second wind, he would parry Yuji’s attacks and use that chance to take  the offensive.


The two boys were all over the building.  They bumped into the walls knocking some of the weapons on the ground.  After a while of doing this, the fight became a mixture of swordsmanship  and martial arts as they elbowed and kicked each other whenever their  swords were in a deadlock. As they continued to fight all over the  building, Yuji picked up a second wooden sword that had fallen onto the  ground.


At this point, the tide of the fight turned  completely in Yuji’s favor. Yuji began slashing at Shoji twice as fast  as before. Since Shoji could barely keep up with Yuji’s barrage of  attacks, he just defended himself. Yuji then managed to use a low kick  that knocked Shoji off balance. At that moment, Yuji spun around and  used the momentum to swing both swords at Shoji. Shoji managed to block  the attack, but the sheer force of the attack sent him flying into the  wall. While Shoji was trying to regain his composure, Yuji pointed one  of his swords at Shoji’s throat, signaling the end of the fight.


Shoji put both of his hands up as a sign of his defeat. Yuji pulled back his sword and extended his hand to help Shoji up.


“I  can’t believe you actually forced me to dual wield,” Yuji said with a  laugh. “I really shouldn’t have taken you lightly at all.”


Shoji laughed. “We have got to do this again! That was fun!”


“I’ll spar with you anytime you want. Just continue to improve so our fights stay entertaining.”


The  two boys laughed as they shook hands. Afterwards Yukiko gave them a  break and then the rest of the day was spent sparring with one another  and working on their form. When the training came to an end, Shoji met  Kyo in the locker room and then they met Yukiko at the front gate and  headed home.


“I am so sore,” Shoji complained.


“So am I,” Kyo added.


Yukiko laughed. “I told you it was going to be different from your normal training.”


“Yeah, but I didn’t think I’d be hurting all over,” Shoji groaned.


“You’ll get used to it.”


“Oh, something’s been bugging me since last night.”


“What’s that?” Yukiko asked.


“Kyo, how are you able to resonate so well?”


“Huh? I didn’t tell you?” Kyo asked.


“I don’t think so. If you did, just tell me again.”


“Oh,  that’s part of the training for Desperadoes. We’ve been using our  R-weapons so we had to learn how to resonate first before we could use  our R-weapons.”


“So…you’re saying that you cheated?” Shoji asked jokingly.


“No, I’m just saying that you’re jealous,” Kyo responded jokingly.


“Whatever  man,” Shoji said with a laugh. “So Yukiko, why aren’t we allowed in the  Senior Division? I mean if you’re accelerating our training, why not  just go straight to the top?”


“The Senior Division is  only for Category A through E Elementalists. It’s not a division for  training like we do in the other divisions. It’s a placement division.  In other words those Elementalists will be distributed throughout the  planet or sent to one of the twenty A.R.K.’s. Since you are already part  of the Elemental Strikeforce, you don’t need placement. You just need  to be evaluated on whether or not you’re ready for missions.”


“Is that what the test in December is for?” Kyo asked.


Yukiko nodded.


The  three of them continued talking as they walked home. After eating  dinner with Yukiko, the two boys went back to their room and talked  about their training in the Junior Division while playing a game.  Afterwards they called it a night and went to bed.


----------



## cosmickev (Jul 18, 2011)

**Quick note. In the previous chapters, an italicized sentence showed a thought. The same thing still applies, however, if a sentence is "italicized with quotation marks around it", it means that a conversation is taking place using a form of telepathy.*

*Chapter 8*

“Good morning Sakura Island,” the weather woman on the TV said. “It’s  a beautiful Thursday morning on this 13th day of November. It’s a  chilly 42 degrees on Sakura Campus and it won’t get much warmer than  that. So for all of you students, make sure you stay bundled up,  especially if you have outdoor activities planned.”

 Natsuki listened to the woman continue to talk about the weather  across the island, while she set up the table for her and her sister to  have breakfast.

 “We interrupt this program to bring you some breaking news,” an anchorman on TV said.

 Natsuki stopped what she was doing and stared at the TV.

 “Early this morning, two massive explosions on A.R.K.’s XIX and XX,  have caused intense damage to the A.R.K’s. We now take you live to  A.R.K. XVIII, where Raquel Lockheart is awaiting the escape shuttles  from those A.R.K.’s.”

 The image on the TV switched from the news room to the docking bays on A.R.K. XVIII.

 “I’m here on A.R.K. XVIII and as you can see, there are literally  dozens of escape shuttles are making their way to this location,” she  said as she pointed out of a nearby window showing the shuttles and also  the two A.R.K’s that had been badly damaged.

 The two A.R.K.’s looked like they had the back side of them, where  the large thrusters were positioned, completely blown off. There were  large chunks of debris floating around the back side of the A.R.K.’s. As  the shuttles began to dock and unload its passengers, Raquel made her  way to their location to begin asking if they knew what happened.

 “Excuse me sir,” she called out to a man who was just getting off the shuttle. “Can you tell me what happened?”

 The man shook his head. “It happened so fast. One minute I was  sleeping, and then the next, I was woken up by the sound of the alarms  sounding and an announcement telling us to get to the nearest evacuation  center. I didn’t even know something happened until we were on the  shuttle and I could see the debris floating in space.”

 “Well I was closer to the explosion,” a woman told Raquel.

 “So it was an explosion then?” she asked.

 The woman nodded. “It sounded like a bomb had gone off. And when I  was able to catch a glimpse of the area that had been affected before  the automatic air locks closed off that part of the A.R.K…”

 “What did you see?’ Raquel asked cutting the woman off.

 “All the buildings, residence, office, and shopping, were covered in  flames. I mean it literally looked like a sea of flames. And I’m not  entirely sure, but...I thought I saw something big standing in the midst  of the flames, but it might have been my imagination.”

 Natsuki’s red hair stood on end as she listened to the report. “I’m  sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she chanted over and over again  in a frightened voice as she covered her ears with her hands and  collapsed to her knees.

 Miharu, who had been in the kitchen watching the report from the  doorway, ran to the table, grabbed the remote to turn the TV off and  then knelt beside Natsuki and embraced her tightly.

 “It’s okay. You’re okay,” she comforted Natsuki in her usual soft voice.

 “No I’m not! It’s coming to get me!” Natsuki said as tears began to flow from her frightened blue eyes.

 Miharu looked around the room, but saw nothing. “Nothing’s coming to  get you, Natsuki. I promise. We are miles away from A.R.K. VI, so you’re  safe..”

 “Really?” Natsuki asked in a timid voice.

 Miharu nodded.

 Natsuki removed her hands from her ears and clung tightly to Miharu  as she buried her head in Miharu’s chest letting her tears continue to  flow.

 Miharu continued to embrace Natsuki and hummed a song to calm her  down. After some time had passed, Natsuki finally regained her composure  and was able to stand up.

 “Feeling better now?” Miharu asked.

 Natsuki nodded.

 “I’m glad,” Miharu said as she returned to the kitchen and finished preparing breakfast.

 Natsuki resumed setting up the table, but when she reached for a  plate, her hand began to shake. She quickly pulled it back and did her  best to stop It from shaking.

 “Natsuki, why don’t you take a seat? I’ll handle the rest,” Miharu called from the kitchen.

 Natsuki sighed. “I’m the older sister, yet I’m being treated like the younger one,” Natsuki mumbled as she sat down.

 “I heard that,” Miharu said playfully while she was carrying the food  in from the kitchen. “How many times have we been over this? You’re  only older than me by a few seconds.”

 The two girls continued their conversation as they ate breakfast.  Afterwards they quickly got ready for school and made their way to  school. The morning went by pretty quickly since they had training, but  after lunch, the afternoon seemed like the longest afternoon in  Natsuki’s life. She sat in the first afternoon class and was barely able  to keep her eyes open as Mr. Amada droned on and on about R.E.S.’s in  review for te field exam coming up in a few weeks. When that class  ended, she put her head down for a quick nap while she waited for the  next teacher to arrive. The nap was short lived because as soon as the  bell rang, the teacher walked in.

_Who is that?_ she thought when the man walked into the classroom.

 She wasn’t the only one who thought that because as he was making his  way to the teacher’s desk, the students were busy whispering amongst  themesevles as they tried to figure out who he was.

 “Settle down everyone,” Ms. Kurosawa, their usual teacher for this  class told them as she moved her shoulder length black hair that covered  the right side of her face behind her right ear. “Since the field exam  is coming up, you need to learn how to use the combat communication  device. So I figured it would be easier for you to learn if the creator  of the device taught you personally.”

 “Sounds like she was just too lazy to teach the class,” a male student said to some of his friends.

_That was a mistake,_ Natsuki thought as she rested her head on her hands.

 Just as she finished her thought, a pen flew across the room at the  boy who was busy laughing with his friends and pierced through the wall  just centimeters away from his head. The boys eyes were filled with fear  as he looked at Ms. Kawamura.

 “My hand slipped,” Ms. Kawamura lied as she pulled another pen from  the white lab coat that she was wearing and began taking attendance.

 “As temperamental as you were back in college I see,” the man with  Ms. Kawamura said as he scratched the back of his head through his  shaggy brown hair.

 “Just shut up and teach the class. We don’t have a whole lot of time.”

 “Just as bossy too.”

 “What was that?” she asked as she cut her eyes at him.

 The man avoided her question and picked up the black suitcase that he  was carrying with him and placed it on the teacher’s desk. He then  placed his hand on a panel next to the board to turn the board’s screen  on. When the board had booted up, he grabbed the light pen off of the  desk and wrote his name on the board.

 “Um, let’s see now,” he began in a slightly lazy tone. “My name is  Victor Hoffman, but I guess you can see that. Anyway, that’s all for the  introduction,” he said as he once again scratched the back of his head.

 Natsuki sighed. _I have a feeling that this is going to be another boring class,_ she thought as she looked at Ms. Kawamura.

 Ms. Kawamura, who was sitting in the front of the classroom, started  messing with the black chocker around her neck. Then she folded her arms  across her chest and yawned.

_And her yawing like that, just confirmed my suspicions. Though I  guess I shouldn’t base the class off of her reaction, since she’s always  like that._ She then turned her attention back to Mr. Hoffman.

 “I’m going to assume that Ms. Kawamura did her job for once and taught you about the different combat devices, correct?”

 Before the students could answer, a book sailed across the room  towards Mr. Hoffman’s head. He moved his head back slightly as the book  sailed in front of him and landed on the floor on the other side of the  desk.

 “I teach my classes very well,” Ms. Kawamura said calmly as she  returned to her previous position with her arms folded across her chest.

 “I see. Then I’ll skip the introduction for Combat Communication devices or C-Com for short.”

 He opened up the black suitcase he was carrying, and pulled out small boxes that were about half the size of a pen.

 “Ms. Kawamura, please pass these out to the students,” he instructed.

 Ms. Kawamura got up and did as she was asked without putting up a  fuss. Once she finished passing them out to each individual student, she  returned to her seat.

 “Go ahead and open the boxes,” Mr. Hoffman instructed.

 The students opened the boxes and pulled out a small device that  attached to one of their ears, much like the phones that they used, and a  pair of contact lenses.

 “So you’re basically giving us phones?” a female student in the class asked.

 “Something like that,” he answered. “But these only look like the  phones that you have. The C-Com has features that are very different  from your phone.”

 “How is it different?”

 “It’ll be much easier to demonstrate than to tell you. So everyone  pick up your device, turn it so the inside is facing you, and push the  small button on the inside to power it up.”

 “I’m pretty sure we all know how to turn on a phone,” another girl said.

 “Seriously,” her friend chimed in.

 “Just do it,” Ms. Kawamura ordered as she narrowed her dark green eyes at them.

 The class followed Mr. Hoffman’s instructions and then they all put the devices on one of their ears.

 “Now, everyone take the contacts out of their case and place them on  your eyes. Those of you, who wear glasses or contact lenses already,  won’t need them while you are wearing these. They will adjust to your  prescription to help you see clearly.”

 The students did as they were told, although some of them had trouble  getting them in. After ten minutes though, the entire class had their  contacts in.

 “Now that you have your contacts in, you should see a small number in  the upper left corner of your left contact lens. It should be the  number one. Does everyone see that?”

 The class nodded.

_“Good, then everyone should be able to hear me like this,”_ he said without moving his mouth.
 The student’s eyes lit up.

 “Did he just...talk into our minds?” a male student asked.

_“Pretty much. It’s called Techlepathy,”_ Mr. Hoffman explained.

 “Techle-what?” another male student asked.

_“Techlepathy. Simply put, it’s telepathy made possible through  technology, or in this case, your C-Com device. Oh and for the rest of  the class, we’re going to be using Techlepathy to communicate. But don’t  worry, your private thoughts won’t be broadcasted. Techlepathy only  works on your conscious thoughts. In other words, the thoughts that you  want to be heard. Go ahead and give it a try by talking amongst  yourselves for a bit.”_
_ “But remember this…I’m also listening to the conversations, so  you say anything out of line…and you’ll be spending some time with me  one on one after class today,”_ Ms Kawamura threatened using Techlepathy.

 The students began to converse with one another to practice using  Techlepathy. After doing this for about fifteen minutes, Mr. Hoffman  returned their attention back to him.

_“So what’s the purpose of Techlepathy?”_ Natsuki asked.

_“So you can hear your teammates clearly and coordinate attacks or  retreats. When you’re in combat, it’s hard to hear what someone is  saying when you’re fighting and a lot of noise is being generated around  you,”_ he explained.
 The rest of the class period was spent with Mr. Hoffman going over  the secondary functions of the device, until the bell rang and dismissed  the students for the day. Natsuki went home and took a long bath as she  tried to clear her thoughts of the news that she had heard earlier that  day.

 When she got out of the bath, Natsuki sat on the couch and tried to watch the news again while she dried her hair.

_It hasn’t changed since this morning,_ she thought.

 She continued to watch it, but after sometime she turned the TV off and just sat on the couch.

 “You’re still up?” Miharu said when she came out of her room to get some water.

 Natsuki nodded. “I couldn’t sleep.”

 Miharu got her water and then sat down next to her sister. “You’re  still thinking about what happened seven years ago, aren’t you?”

 “It’s not exactly like I can forget,” Natsuki said sadly.

 “I can understand that, but you have to quit blaming yourself.”

 Natsuki hugged her knees.

 “I’m serious. Your fight with mom had nothing to do with what happened that day.”

 “But if I hadn’t told her ‘I hate her’, mom might still-“

 “Knock it off!” Miharu yelled.

 Natsuki’s eyes widened. _I’ve never seen Miharu so upset before._

 “You told me mom saved you while you were answering a question on the  board and the explosion happened. She knew that you didn’t hate her. I  knew that you didn’t hate her. You were just upset with her,” Miharu  said with tears in her eyes. “That’s why...that’s why I want you to stop  blaming yourself,” she said as her voice softened.

 Natsuki didn’t say anything, instead she just cried.

 Miharu hugged her sister. “Whatever you saw that day…wasn’t after  you. It was just an unfortunate event,” Miharu said comfortingly.

 Natsuki nodded slightly as she continued to cry until she fell  asleep. Miharu grabbed a blanket from her room and placed it around  Natsuki. She then sat in the chair across from the couch and covered  herself with another blanket while she watched over her sister until she  too fell asleep.


----------

