(GING POV)
THE NEXT MORNING
It’s barely seven A.M. World History class doesn't start for a few more hours, but I’m honestly already dreading it.
Sensei made it very clear that this class is crucial—not just for our academic records, but as a strict requirement to gain our swordsmen licenses to officially become an Elemental Swordsman. But man, it sounds incredibly boring.
Usually I’d be excited for something like this, but today’s honestly different.
People always assume that just because I’m smart, I love sitting around reading books all day. I don't. I want to be out in the courtyard learning the practical stuff–how to actually fight and move like the greatest swordsmen in history, not just read about them.
Still... if sitting through history lectures is what it takes for our squad to succeed, I’ll do it. I'd do it just for Shujinko, honestly. He was the very first person to actually be my friend, let alone stand up for me.
I don't take that lightly. Back when I was surviving on the streets, it was always just me and my brain against the world. Knowing that I finally have people in my corner–people who are actually on my side–makes all the boring classes in the world worth it.
I know this squad will do everything in their power to help me reach my goals. I absolutely refuse to go back to a life of poverty–that's the single biggest thing driving me forward right now.
I’ll continue being the enthusiastic, comedic Ging that Shujinko and this squad desperately needs, but in times of danger… I will always be by their side. No matter how terrified I may be.
TWO HOURS LATER
By nine o'clock, the quiet, almost serene calm of the early morning had completely evaporated, seamlessly replaced by the chaotic, frantic energy of novices scrambling to get ready all at the same time. The room of our dormitory, which had been a quiet sanctuary just an hour prior, was now a whirlwind of rushed footsteps, slamming cabinets, and the frantic rustling of heavy parchment.
I stood at the table in the center of our dorm room, meticulously packing my leather satchel. Sensei Ayashi had unceremoniously dumped a massive stack of required books for class on us the night before, and organizing it was proving to be a strategic nightmare. I carefully slid the heavy, leather-bound textbooks into the bag, making sure the weight was evenly distributed so the strap wouldn't dig directly into my collarbone. The thickest volume of the bunch, A Comprehensive History of Ishoya , was an absolute behemoth. Its gold-leafed spine felt like it weighed forty pounds on its own. Just staring at its densely packed, text-heavy pages made my eyes cross, but I knew I had to memorize as much of it as humanly possible.
"I still don't understand why we have to wear these ridiculous, stiff collars," Shujinko muttered, his voice echoing from the washroom.
A moment later, he trudged into the room, his face twisted into a scowl as he aggressively tugged at the high, restrictive neckline of his formal Academy uniform. The deep navy fabric and rigid gold trim were designed to make us look like distinguished, elite scholars, but Shujinko looked completely out of his element. Without his standard, loose-fitting training uniform and the freedom of movement it provided, he looked like a caged animal trying to escape a very expensive trap.
He stopped pacing and looked over at me, watching as I carefully aligned the edges of my notebooks next to the Ishoya history text. "Ging, since when have you paid such intense attention to detail?"
"Since now, I guess," I replied with a light chuckle. I paused my packing to look up at him, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose to adjust them before turning my attention back to the straps of my satchel. I didn't say it out loud, but the truth was, I had to pay attention to the details. My survival depended on it. I couldn't afford to fail or slip up, not when the alternative was getting expelled or not getting my license and being thrown right back into the brutal poverty of the Tokyo streets.
"Strange," Saki replied dryly.
I glanced over as she stepped out of her separate room in the back. Unlike Shujinko, who looked like he had wrestled his uniform into submission and lost, Saki looked absolutely flawless. Her uniform was immaculately pressed, lacking a single wrinkle, and she wore it with an effortless grace that made the stiff collar look like high fashion. I see why Tsume obsesses over her.
She leaned casually against the stone wall, her arms crossed, already looking entirely bored with the day before it had even begun.
"Hurry up, boys," Saki drawled, inspecting her fingernails with an air of complete apathy. "If we're late on the very first day of academic classes, Sensei Ayashi is going to make us run courtyard laps until we throw up our breakfast. Which... honestly doesn’t sound too bad compared to sitting in a dusty lecture hall for three hours. But still, hurry up."
Shujinko sighed, finally giving up his war against his collar. He walked over to the door, reaching for his signature wooden sword and hastily strapping it tightly across his back. It was a strictly academic setting–no weapons were required, and carrying one into a history class was bound to draw weird looks from the other recruits–but he wore it anyway. He never went anywhere without it. It means a lot to him.
He looked down and caught my eye as he adjusted the hilt over his shoulder and offered a bright, easygoing grin that reached all the way to his eyes. "Ready for this, Ging?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," I said, finally buckling my satchel and slinging the heavy leather strap over my shoulder. The weight immediately pulled me down an inch, but I braced my core and stood as tall as I could. "But seriously, Shujin. I read about it back on the docks. The stuff we’ll learn from this specific curriculum is heavily tested on the official licensing exams. If you fail the written portion, you don't get your Elemental Swordsman license, no matter how strong your core is. So, do us all a favor and don't fall asleep during the lecture."
Shujinko chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with that signature, awkward sheepishness. "I make absolutely no promises, man. If the teacher starts droning on about ancient treaties, I might just black out."
Before I could say anything else, the sharp, definitive click of a deadbolt echoing through the dorm instantly silenced the room's banter.
Tsume stepped out. If he was stressed, anxious, or exhausted from the secretive, late-night talk he had with his terrifying father last night, he didn’t show a single ounce of it.
His posture was razor-straight, his chin angled slightly upward in a perpetual state of superiority. His eyepatch was perfectly adjusted over his eye, and his formal Academy uniform was pristine, lacking even a microscopic crease.
He didn't make eye contact with a single one of us. He just walked straight through the room, his polished boots clicking sharply and rhythmically against the floorboards, until he stood right next to Shujinko at the front door, ready to leave.
"Try to keep up, peasants," Tsume muttered coldly, his tone dripping with his usual, grating arrogance. He reached out and pulled the door open, stepping out into the corridor without looking back to see if we were following. "I refuse to be held responsible if you idiots get lost on the way to a simple classroom."
Shujinko just sighed, shaking his head with a faint, endlessly tolerant smile. I, on the other hand, rolled my eyes so hard I genuinely thought I might strain an optic nerve.
‘Tsume is still the exact same insufferable douchebag he was when we first met on the docks, and in the cafeteria. ’ I thought to myself, readjusting the heavy strap of my satchel digging into my shoulder. ‘But... I guess his behavior has gotten slightly better when it's just the squad. And at the very least, he doesn’t look like he actively wants to kill me anymore. Probably. It was a low bar for friendship, but with Tsume, you had to take what you could get.’
"Come on," I said, nodding to Shujinko and Saki as I stepped forward, following Tsume's retreating back out into the lit hallway. "We've got history to learn."