Chapter 7: Crouching Human. Hidden Wolf.

Chapter 7: Crouching Human. Hidden Wolf.

"So why exactly are we wearing these uniforms again?" Kira asked curiously, as he was the only one willing to exchange a conversation with the boy, who was named Ruggie.

"The uniforms are only given to students who have been enrolled in the elite National Guardian Academy!" Ruggie explained with pride, as he beamed with his proud explanation.

"National Guardian Academy?"

"It's to train students who have special abilities to utilize their skills to help protect the Five Great Nations. Twenty students from all five Regions come together to prove themselves through teamwork and diligent co-operation. And if you're lucky, then you'll get promoted to get sent on special assignments for the Priestess!"

"That sounds exciting!"

"It sounds idiotic." Riku growled, finally voicing his opinion after what seemed like hours of silence. "Who would be stupid enough to believe that shit?! Other than Kira?!"

"Hey!"

"The Priestess." Tazuna began, his voice sounding calm, yet his attention was elsewhere in the outside world. "What is she like?"

"Priestess Kiyo? Ah! She's amazing!" Ruggie explained, his excitement clearly written on his face. His eyes sparkled with admiration. "She's so cool! And she's crazily powerful too! Legend has it that she managed to master the art of Body Regeneration and was the one who invented the art of Soul Revival! And she's really pretty too! But she can be incredibly scary if she's pushed to the breaking point."

'She sounds just like any other woman.' Riku growled negatively, wondering just what about this "Priestess Kiyo" was so special to the villagers.

Soon, Kira's ears perked up immediately at the barely audible sound of people talking loudly and a bustling atmosphere. Jumping over to Riku's side of the carriage, he leaned out the curtained window and saw an enormous wall coming into view. His sunset eyes widened in surprise and shock, as he felt his size shrink exponentially due to the sheer height of the wall that stood before them. Even the carriage looked miniature compared to it!

The concrete brick wall was every bit of 140 feet high and appeared to be constructed using bricks rather than that of pressed earth, rocks, and lime. The bricks were polished and thoroughly cleaned until it shined under the intense sunlight; the length of the wall had all but impressed the trio of Wolves, as they could see the wall extended well past Oniguard Pass, which also served as a "natural barrier" for the Wolves and never crossed the border.

The incredibly high and magnificent wall had even larger watchtowers made of the same material. If one were to see an aerial view of the wall, one would see the 125,000 watchtowers placed along the wall. From the ground, each watchtower were built with either three or two floors, depending on where they were stationed; the structure of the towers were fortified with a smaller tower on top, which were open-air and provided an excellent view for soldiers (in this case, Troops) could stay on guard with their weapons. The height of the towers that were placed at the entrance of the large iron gates were every bit of a height of 45 feet high. They were also equipped with specially designed holes and windows for crossbows, machine artillery gear, and archery handlers.

"Woah…" Kira gasped breathlessly as he suddenly felt overwhelmed by the overall perspective of the wall as they neared the gate. "This wall is ginormous!"

"Your weight is ginormous. Now get off of me and sit back down!" Riku growled, as he reached over and pulled the Red Wolf back into the carriage and drew up the curtains on his side.

"Isn't it magnificent?" sighed Ruggie, as he beamed with satisfaction. "The Wall of Jùzàiyīqi City is considered to be one of the Great Treasures of the Nations! It's no wonder everyone here is in great spirits. It's so safe here!"

"Safe my ass." Riku growled under his breath, as he peeked out slightly, his observant eyes seeing watchful Troops in the watchtowers. "This place is crawling with Troops."

"Of course it is! Priestess Kiyo hired them to safeguard the city and the villagers from outside threats!"

As the carriage passed through the gates, the Wolves were immediately surrounded by colorful aura, streets, and even the gorgeously villa square, were all built from tightly pressed stone bricks and cobblestone, giving the entire atmosphere an ancient vibe, resembling that of the Italian city, Lucca, but with an Eastern Japanese flair; with its bright green foliage blanketing the buildings and villa houses that tightly yet symmetrically lined the decoratively smooth roads and side streets, the air was thoroughly saturated with delicate sweet smelling flowers such as roses and lavender yet more exotic flowers, such as nerium oleander, cornflower, and bougainvillea. However, the most prominent trees there were the beloved cherry and peach blossoms.

An enormous sundial could also just be made out in the distance, with its wooden structure and it's just as well put together as the village itself. And sitting just behind the dial was an elongated building with several story buildings on either side. The rooftops were a burgundy red in color, as green foliage cascaded down the buildings, giving them an old, vintage, deserted appearance. While the tiles were called "Kawara" and resembled dragon scales; the edges of the roofs were turned upward and had symbols of Tomoemon (or symbols resembling swirling water). The significant roofs on the buildings in the village were protective against high winds and rain.

And off to to the right of the sundial was a stationary booth, set up with banners and flags of various colors; in front of the booth was a sign that said:

STUDENT SIGN UP HERE

The carriage stopped in the middle of the street, as they'd been traveling along the busy villa. As the disguised Wolves stepped off the carriage, they couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of fear and giddiness as they were now among the Humans in an Italian/Chinese inspired village. As they continued to look around with wandering eyes, their ears perked up when they heard a gruff male voice call out to them from the booth.

"You three! Over here!"

Riku immediately tensed up, as he looked over at the two men who were dressed in outfits, very similar to their own, only they each had a band on each arm. They couldn't have been no more than thirty years of age and had long hair that were tied up into topknots. He glanced over at Kira, who was already exchanging a friendly conversation with the two Humans, as if he'd completely forgotten about himself being a Wolf.

"What the hell are you doing?! Get back over here right now!" Riku yelled, as his temper flared up again.

"So what's your name, kid?" asked one of the men, who had a large hardcover book in front of him on the desk.

"Kira!" the boy shouted eagerly, as he beamed with excitement, peering over at the book, which contained a list of all the students who were accepted into the academy.

"And for you?" the other man asked, looking at Tazuna, who was standing behind Kira, as he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Tazuna." the Arctic Wolf answered, as he watched the Human trail his finger along the list and mark his name in the pages.

"And that guy's name is Riku!" Kira blabbered out, chucking his thumb at the miserable looking, yet taunt young adult.

"I never gave you permission to give them my name!" Riku shouted in anger, before receiving a look from Tazuna that meant "play along."

The two Humans sighed to themselves, as they couldn't do anything but proceed with the protocol of student enrollment. After finishing the initial sign up, the first man on the left reached over and grabbed a stamper and an ink pad. Pressing the stamper into the ink pad, he quickly stamped three wooden planks with the words "Attendance" stamped on it. The Wolves each took their respective planks as the men explained their next directions.

"Just go through those double doors of the main entrance hall and await further instructions."

Tazuna looked over at the building itself and said nothing as Riku and Kira followed without much hesitation. As the men watched the three boys walk away and out of earshot, they breathed out a long sigh of relief, as if they'd been holding their breath during the entire interaction. One of the men closed their attendance books and opened a wicker box full of manila folders, as he searched through them.

"Soma, what are you looking for?" asked the man's assistant.

"That's impossible. The boys. How did they get to the academy?" questioned the other man named Soma, who was busy searching through the files.

"Those boys are indeed strange. Their names aren't even registered in the student enrollment book."

"And what's worse is that there aren't any records of their existence in the village database either!"

"Priestess Kiyo couldn't have made a mistake, right? She claimed that she personally selected the students themselves. And yet…"

"Do you think we should warn the other mentors? Priestess Kiyo?"

"No. It'll be much too much of a daring task. Besides, we don't know exactly what those boys are or even what they're capable of doing."

"I see. Well in any case, we can't afford to have those three disrupt the order of the academy. So we'd better keep an eye out."

The Wolves walked into the building and were greeted by dozens of other students, all wearing some variant of their own uniform. While the males all wore the same or similar uniform, the females wore a long dress, headdresses, pleated skirt or skort set with a pair of black, royal blue, or silver leggings. Kira instinctively hid behind Riku, who clutched onto his concealed weapon in his pocket, as he reassured himself with the touch of cold steel. However, Tazuna seemed distracted by a sudden presence that seemed to pull him from his current surroundings.

Standing across the room, was a student with honey-golden eyes. He was about as tall as Tazuna and sported intensely black hair that was braided up and twisted around to resemble a rose and held together by a golden stick with red dangling jewels. He interacted with no one around him, despite the otherwise friendly and jolly atmosphere. However, the strange male student spoke not a word as he kept Tazuna within his line of sight, as if he could see straight through Tazuna's disguise.

Tazuna's teeth now resembled that of a wolf, before his biomechanical eyes seemed to go from blue with white pinpoint pupils to darkened charcoal irises and cherry red pupils. His ears rang loudly, seemingly to block out the voices of Riku and Kira, who were starting to become more concerned and get the attention of other students. Tazuna reached behind him and unsheathed his sword and held it straight out in offense; the glint from the blade nearly blinding from the sun. It was then, a swirling silvery wind could be seen circling the blade and Tazuna's feet!

"Wh-What's going on?!" Kira asked, shielding his face from the winds that steadily grew stronger and more powerful.

Tazuna still spoke nothing, as the winds began to become more resemblant of a gale force wind storm, with the winds now clocking in at about 41-47 knots! This type of wind force could not only make walking difficult, but could also cause structure damage, damage large trees, and tear slated tile shingles off the roofs. However, instead of blowing the tiles free from the roof, the glass windows that lined the upper wall behind Kira and Riku blasted out, as it rained shards of tempered glass. The screams of the students in the room could be heard, as heavy sounding boots seemed to bustling down the steps from the side corridors.

But by that time, it was too late, Tazuna and the mystery student had already sent a shockwave of pure collided energy, as they connected weapons. Seizing each other up, the two boys circled each other, before colliding again, each trying to gain the upper hand in combat. The mystery boy slammed his hands on the ground, as shadowy spires materialized from the shadows of the surrounding students; Tazuna expertly dodged each spire, before using the blade of his sword to block one that was aiming straight for Kira!

'How interesting.' thought the boy, as he casted his eyes on Kira's shadow, causing it to materialize to strike Tazuna from behind!

Kira barely had time to scream until the spire stopped just mere inches from the back of Tazuna's head. Tazuna was about to make his next move when the echoing sounds of heavy leaded boots became louder and thunderous. Kira gasped suddenly from the sudden heat he felt from the blackened spire, which had appeared so close to the left side of his face. The moment the spire dissipated, Kira instinctively held touched his cheek, feeling the slight heat on his skin.

'His powers. They contain heat.' thought Kira.

"Are you alright?" Riku asked, noticing the distant look on Kira's face, which he usually got when he was deep in thought.

"Ah! Y-Yes I'm fine!" Kira answered, realizing he'd been staring off into the distance.

"That's enough! Both of you!" shouted a Troop, who aimed his gun at the two boys, while others immediately rushed into the room to subdue them. "Both of you, to the Priestess's room! Now!"

Both boys were quickly subdued, two guards slamming their weapons into the floor; creating a magic circle, the blinding light caused the surrounding students to shield their eyes. The mysterious boy had yet to move, as he'd been frozen solid within the circle. The alchemy radiation from the strange shape incapacitated both boys, causing their nervous systems to lock up.

Once the circle disappeared, Tazuna and the boy were handcuffed and escorted down the corridor to the staircase that led to the Priestess's office. Riku was instinctively held down by Kira; the Grey Wolf was trying to get to Tazuna, who dared not move or make any sudden attempts to cause any more unnecessary problems.

"Get off of me!" Riku yelled, as he tried to remove Kira's arms from around his waist.

"No! You can't do this!" Kira argued back, as he tightened his grip. "You're going to get into trouble too! Just stop!"

'I can't let Tazuna get taken away! I've made it my sworn duty to protect him!' Riku growled, despite knowing their interference would expose their true forms.

The two boys were silently escorted up the winding staircase, their collective footsteps all but drowning out the growing tension between both hotheaded individuals. Tazuna said nothing as he kept his head low and eyes to the ground, as he only focused on getting one leg in front of the other. But it wasn't until he felt his restraints get pulled, did he eventually look up. Standing on the last stair was Aki, who was silently guarding the door that led to the Priestess's office. Seeing the face of the second boy, Aki wore a face of hidden surprise, wondering why in the hell the boy would ever be summoned to the Priestess's office. And in handcuffs, no less.

However, the moment Aki moved his gaze from his to Tazuna's, he felt his body involuntarily trembling. as if he'd felt his entire soul become diminished down to nothing. His heart could be felt beating wildly in his ears as he couldn't seem to remove his eyes from Tazuna's mechanical eyes. He was tall, much taller than Aki would've expected; his hair was charcoal black in color, though it looked like it'd been through the mistreatment of the wild. He couldn't have been no more than about sixteen years of age, as he'd been bold, stupid, and nimble enough to withstand the other boy's attacks.

'This kid. There's no way he's human! Those eyes look like that of a wild animal, regardless if they're-' Aki internally gasped in speculation, before gathering himself and opening the door to the Priestess's office.

Once the door swung open, Priestess Kiyo was at her desk, rearranging her papers in front of her, thanks to the well organized file organizers that sat neatly in the corner of the room. The gorgeous woman and Tazuna met eyes and she found herself gasping internally, as if she knew exactly what he was without verbally explaining it. Leaning back in her chair, she propped her head in her hands, as she thoroughly analyzed Tazuna from his physical appearance to his possible mental state.

"You're free to leave now." Priestess Kiyo spoke, as she waved her delicate hand at the Troops, who decided to keep the cuffs on the students' wrists, to prevent them from causing indecent harm to their singular leader.

"Your Highness!" Aki called out, entering the room, just before the Troops closed the door, but stood by to guard the door from the outside.

"Aki. Have you come to welcome the new students?"

"Just the opposite! These two have already caused a disturbance in the Main Entrance Hall! If those two hadn't have been stopped then they could've seriously injured the-"

"Calm yourself, Aki. Now, can you please do me a favor and uncuff my dear friends?"

"B-But Your Highness!"

The Priestess gave her assistant a slide glance, as her pupils shrank to the size of whitened pinpoints, causing Aki to freeze from the utter fright he felt from the moment he met the pupils of his superior. Saying nothing, the teenager walked up and went behind the silent male student, who presented the handcuffs to be removed. Aki placed his hand on the cuffs and with a few quick movements of his hand, the metal cuffs began to creak and crack under the unforeseen pressure.

'He's bending the metal?!' Tazuna speculated, as the handcuffs twisted and bent under Aki's hand, turning it into a heap of metal that clattered to the floor.

"Shadow." spoke the Priestess, as she read out his file from his personal envelope on her desk. "A model student and beholder of the Cross Yin Core. Seems like you've accumulated quite the track record based on your entrance exam you took six months ago. You even managed to perform at peak performance during the exercises and even gained an SSS ranking."

"Hm." replied the boy named Shadow, who performed the respectful hold fist salute, by holding his right fist against his open left palm, and bowed from the shoulders.

"As for you, Tazuna. Because your attendance was on such short notice, unfortunately we don't have all of your primary records in our database. So unfortunately there's nothing I can relay to you, performance-wise."

Tazuna merely nodded, before seeing Aki's spear being aimed towards him, the force from the sudden jab making Tazuna's hair fly up in an instant. However, the moment Tazuna's eyes saw the tip of the spear only a milli inch from the clear bulletproof lenses of his left eye, Aki was forced to freeze to prevent any further accidents. Tazuna's eyes zoomed in as they refocused themselves with a simple whirring sound, making Aki assume he'd pissed off the disguised Wolf, to the point where Aki retracted his weapon and performed the same salute Shadow displayed.

"F-Forgive me! Please continue!" Aki commanded, his voice stammering a bit, as he tried to regain his composure after staring into the Wolf's biomechanical eyes.

'What is wrong with this kid?! It's like those eyes could see right through me!'

"However, that isn't the reason why I called you two here today." Priestess Kiyo continued, waving her hand to dismiss Aki, who repositioned himself beside her desk. "It's come to my understanding that you two are unaware of the rules following the registration of the academy, which includes engaging in private fights outside of training. Seeing as you two did fight, yet due to your negligence of knowing the rules, I will only give you both a warning. However," -the Priestess's eyes narrowed drastically, as she intensely glared at the two students- "if you two are caught fighting, then you'll be forced to re-enroll in the academy and retake the academy courses, therefore relearning all of your previous lessons. As well, as a temporary removal of your Elemental Core."

Aki gasped audibly before he looked over at Tazuna and Shadow, who didn't bother to flinch or react to the high stakes news and issues that came with breaking the rules.

"A Guardian's Core is the most important and powerful thing they could lose! Without it, you'd might as well get denounced to that of a regular Human!" he reiterated, elaborating on the seriousness of the situation.

"I will judge the serious consequences on my own terms." Tazuna spoke confidently, as he didn't feel any threat from the Human threatening to take away something he didn't care nothing about.

"But you can't just-"

"You may leave now, Tazuna. Shadow." Priestess Kiyo dismissed, clearly dismissive of the student's declaration of independence and slight disobedience.

Aki could do nothing but stare in utter disbelief as he only watched Tazuna and Shadow leave the office, closing the door behind him, thanks to the guards who were standing by the door. The moment they left, Aki turned to his superior, wondering how she was able to keep her composure when she was faced with a student as reckless and mindless as Tazuna.

"You...really. You really let them go?!"

"That kid, Tazuna. He's quite the entertaining student, isn't he? He's...bold."

"And idiotic! Who would be stupid enough to go against your word?! I'm telling you something isn't right about him!"

"Ahh I wonder why my assistant proceeds to doubt my-"

"I-I would never! You got my intentions all wrong, Your Highness!"

Riku had been pacing throughout the entire time Tazuna had been taken away; like an animal in a wired cage, the disguised Wolf openly growled and snapped at any of the students who wanted to check on his condition. Kira could only watch helplessly as his eyes worriedly tracked his friend's every movement, his lips dared not to open to ask if he was alright. He knew Riku was worried; he wasn't the type to handle stress well. Riku always wore his emotions violently and reacted just as violently and body language.

"Make way for the future National Guardian, Yoshiko Nara!" spoke a loud female voice from behind Kira.

The students in the Main Entrance Hall stared at the student of which the voice belonged to. She appeared to be only about fifteen years of age, with cat-like features from her golden eyes and oval shaped pupils to her large smile that proudly displayed a sharp tooth. The girl's skin was fair and smooth, with a beauty mark on her left wrist and a size B-cup chest. Her hair was considerably long, lilac in color, and styled in twintails; hanging freely at the end of her twintails were golden bells with red cords. Her uniform was that of a qipao, only much shorter and wore a grey/white pleated skirt, charcoal grey stockings, and black boots. However, despite her appearance, the main focus was drawn to her incredibly large, steampunk mallet with an elongated handle, and the words "warrior" written in Japanese kanji.

"Huh?! Don't just ignore me like that!" the girl self introduced as Yoshiko complained, as the other students went back to interacting and socializing without acknowledging her existence. "And to think I could impress you all with m-"

Her words were caught in her throat, as she nearly dropped her mallet. Her eyes found themselves fondly attracted to Riku, as he stood next to Kira, who stuck close to him like glue. It was as if the entire world faded, leaving only her and Riku in their own space. Gathering herself, she swung her mallet over her shoulder and cheerfully waved at Riku, her smile thoroughly jolly and excited to be recognized by the mysteriously masculine man.

"I've never seen you before! Are you new?" she asked excitedly, as she couldn't seem to contain her excitement. "Clearly you are if you aren't interacting with anyone! Anyway, my name is Yoshiko N-"

"I don't care." Riku growled, as he glared intently at her, clearly eager to get away from the Human girl as quickly as possible.

"Y-Yosh-shiko..." Kira started, as he was immediately cut off by someone laughing behind him, before hearing the following words.

"Hey! Yoshi! Why don't you calm yourself down before you get yourself slapped. Then again you'd probably like that, wouldn't you?"

The boy who stood behind him was every bit as tall as five foot six and had an aloof smile on his face. His gala apple colored hair was slightly wavy and had two bangs framing his face; the rest of his hair was split between a small ponytail and leaving the rest to drape down his neck and shoulders. His ruby red eyes seemed to shine in a teasing manner, as he stared at Yoshiko, who seemed bewildered. On his back, rested an electric guitar, a beautiful red one with silver strings and a gold one on the bottom.

Standing beside him was another boy of equal height but appeared to be much less friendly and more annoyed with the situation. He had black hair and even blacker eyes, who didn't bother to look in Kira's direction. His aura was mysterious yet amaculate to that of Riku's! But judging by how the boy looked when the redhead opened his mouth, Kira could tell they had to be close friends, due to how much their scents overlapped with each other.

'Who are these people?' Kira asked, before sensing Yoshiko's sudden spike in energy change.

"Why don't you say that to my face?!" she asked, as she cracked her knuckles, preparing to give the redhead a whack with her mallet. "You've got a lot of balls to talk about me like that! Do you have a death wish or something, Ace?!"

"H-H-Hey! You got it all wrong! I definitely didn't mean it in a terrorizing way!" the redhead named Ace refrained, immediately waving his hands at Yoshiko, trying his hardest to not get on her bad side, before turning to his friend's direction. "Hey! Help me out, Shun! Shun? SHUN?!"

Ace looked over and saw his close friend, Shun, who was once next to him, look at him from across the room, as if he didn't know him. Ace seemed absolutely shell shocked from the utter betrayal from his best friend. Which only got worse when he was now face-to-face with an equally pissed off Yoshiko. However, it wasn't until voices and whispers quietly accumulated in the Main Entrance Hall did the tension between Ace and Yoshiko simmer down for one, but escalated for the other.

She was a petite girl, standing roughly around five foot four inches tall. But what she lacked in height, she made up for in absolute beauty. Her wavy orange hair flowed like a cascading river down her back, which shimmered like gloss in the sunlight; her hair was nearly adorned with a neon green bow. Her gorgeous peridot green eyes also seemed to glimmer with curiosity and intrigue. Her outfit itself was more styled around the famous Japanese kimono, only it was shorter, stopping only at her upper thighs, was lightweight, breathable, and decorated with golden floral patterns against green fabric. She wore a pair of black shorts, grey stockings and green shoes with non-slip soles. Her entire outfit was every bit as form fitting and beauty enhancing as any other female students'.

"Isn't that Sakura Yami?" asked a student.

"She's considered to be a Xi'an Village Beauty!" complimented another student.

"She's so beautiful." whispered another student from afar.

"Why is she interacting with that boy with the silver hair?"

"Yeah. He looks way too dangerous."

"S-S-Sakura?! What are you doing here?!" Yoshiko blurted out, immediately getting in front of Riku, who looked even more annoyed than usual. "You'd better not even think about trying to get close to him!"

"I don't even want to get close to YOU!" Riku argued, as his temper flared up instantly, as he'd already found Yoshiko and her gaggle of friends annoying as hell. "That goes for you and your little pathetic friends!"

"That's harsh dude." Ace commented, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, when you're yelling for the entire school to hear you, how was I not supposed to ignore it?" the beautiful girl named Sakura asked, before looking at Riku and Kira apologetically. "I'm terribly sorry for the disruption she's caused-"

"Me?! I should be the one saying that to you! You're totally ruining my chances here!"

"I don't even know you!" yelled Riku. "Nor do I want to! Now get the hell away from me!"

'This really is a disaster…' Kira sighed within his head, as he didn't know exactly how to deal with a couple of feuding females.

After the scuffle of arguments died down and Yoshiko was left to cool down with Ace and Shun by her side, Sakura was left to talk to Kira, as Riku was still mindlessly focusing on the corridor where Tazuna had yet to emerge from. Kira even felt the excitement behind the girl's surge in popularity. She was kind and resourceful, attractive and daring. Even from the sweetness of her voice and the gleam of her eyes seemed to make him nearly forget where he was almost completely.

"I'd like to personally apologize for my friend's behavior." Sakura sighed quietly, "she tends to be quite wild and crazy when it comes to boys she likes. And it seems like your friend there isn't that bad of a looker."

"Y-You mean Riku?" Kira asked with a stammer, his face involuntarily blushed at the softness of Sakura's words. "He's not the type to be too friendly with strangers. B-B-But he really is a nice guy once you get to know him! I promise!"

"I didn't give you permission to string my name along!" Riku growled at Kira, glaring at him, as he protectively shielded the kid from Sakura, "Now shut your mouth or I'll punch you until your lips swell!"

"Now now." Sakura started, reaching over to boldly touch Riku's arm, which could be seen despite his uniform. "I'm sure there's no need for violence-!!"

Riku instinctively slapped Sakura's hand away, before he aggressively reached out with his left hand to predatory grab her throat, only to stop immediately, as he heard Tazuna's voice echo from out of nowhere. The platinum white haired disguised Wolf whirled around and saw Tazuna standing there silently, his arms crossed over his chest, as he seemed to gather the attention of a few of the students around him. Preferably the female students.

"Tazuna." came the collective response of Riku and Kira, reflecting opposite personalities, respectfully.

"Tazuna! You're ok!" Kira cheered happily, as he hugged his senior, squeezing his waist as he nuzzled him affectionately.

"Of course he's ok." Riku sighed in agitation, secretly thrilled to be away from Sakura and her unwanted touch and overall presence. "You didn't automatically suspect he'd just die, did you?!"

"Says the same person who was pacing around for what seemed like hours!" Kira teased in return, causing Tazuna to grin at the banter between his two friends.

Sakura silently watched, as she couldn't help but smile fondly at the trio interacting with each other; she giggled a bit and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. But as she walked away, she couldn't help but get the overbearing feeling that she was silently being watched from a distance. However, it wasn't until she turned back towards Tazuna, Riku, and Kira when she was literally looked down upon by Tazuna himself. She gasped quietly, as she couldn't help but feel her face flush with embarrassment.

"You're Sakura, right?" he asked, as he kept his eyes on her, as he gathered all the information he could gain from scanning her digitally. "My friends didn't scare you, did they?"

"I'm fine! I just- wasn't expecting you of all people to apologize in their stead." Sakura started, as she suddenly realized that she'd lost her train of thought and words, now that was face-to-face with their missing friend.

'He's so silent! I didn't even hear him sneak up on me! But still- why is he so...different?'

"I'll take full responsibility for Riku's behavior. He's very prickly when it comes to meeting new people."

"You don't have to. I wouldn't dare not have anyone possibly do something like this."

It was then a large feminine voice came across a loudspeaker. It was the Priestess.

"Welcome students to the National Guardian Academy! It's such an honor to bring such a wonderful opportunity to enroll everyone with such outstanding abilities. As of today, you're no longer strangers. You will learn, grow, and develop together as a unit. Today will be the Night of the Celebration festival! As a generous reward for being selected to be a part of the academy. Each student will receive a map of the academy, which will include a key to your dormitory! But for now, I will let my assistant, Akimori Shimura, instruct you on what to do next."

The students surrounding the Wolves were even more buzzed and rattled with excitement, as they excitedly chattered about the celebration mentioned and what they would be doing. Sakura had found herself also being distracted by Tazuna's presence but eventually found the courage to peel away from the disguised Wolf. She smiled sweetly to Tazuna and walked away to rejoin Shadow, who was silently waiting for her on the other side of the room.

"As each of you have already noticed, each student is wearing a stylized uniform that is tailored to each specific Region." spoke Akimori, who was now talking over the intercom, "Some of you are from the Eastern Region. Others from the North. Standing on the far end of the wall, there are five different doors. Because of the number of students who were selected to be here, the Council has decided, with approval from the Priestess, to split the students into five different groups to make classes more easier to maintain. Each classroom is capable of holding thirty students a piece. So if you'll please equally divide yourselves into the appropriate number based on your Regional signia."

"Regional signia?" Kira asked curiously, tilting his head to the right, as he was confused about the entire process.

"He meant the signia that's on the right side of your uniform." answered Ace, who pointed at Kira's chest, showing him the signia Akimori was referring to.

True to Ace's words, Kira looked up at Ace and saw he too had a signia on his uniform. It was quite the odd looking symbol; the overall shape was a circle but was also created to resemble a rolling wave. It was then he remembered Tazuna had specifically taught him about the Five Great Nations and their Regional signias which were similar to what we call "national flags."

The Eastern Region had a signia known as the Eastern Wave.

The Western Region had the Sand Dune.

The Northern Region had the Glacier Cityscape.

And the Southern Region had the Temp Forest.

"Can you tell which one this is?" Ace asked.

"The Eastern Wave signia!" Kira announced with confidence, before receiving a head pat from Ace, "H-Hey! Quit that! You're messing up my hair!"

"Ahaha! Got it! Got it! It's just I keep forgetting that you're a boy because you resemble so much of a girl."

"Eh?! I-I'm not a girl!"

"Hahahaha! Are you sure? For all I know, you could be lying."

"You're more of an idiot when you open your mouth." spoke Shun, who managed to say something for the first time since Kira saw him, spooking both boys humorously.

'Where did he come from?! I could've swore I didn't see him there a few minutes ago!'

"What?! Come on Shun! You know I'm just joking here! Give me a- OW! OW! Let go!"

Shun had grabbed Ace by his ear and pulled him away to their appropriate classroom. Kira could only watch in confusion and embarrassment at their strange relationship; yet he definitely found Shun confusingly complex due to him suddenly reappearing the moment he said something. Kira eventually caught up with Tazuna and Riku, who were patiently waiting for him. The Red Wolf always found the Human world strangely odd and curious; but now things between him and Ace seemed more confusing than ever.

In layman's terms, the Wolf found the Humans unusual and weird.

"What's got you so confused?" Tazuna asked, noticing the otherwise blank look on the Red Wolf's face. "Is everything alright?"

"Huh?! O-Oh yeah! I'm fine." Kira answered, as he smiled with newfound energy, before hurrying ahead of his pack.

Tazuna and Riku said nothing but followed behind him to keep an eye on the Red Wolf. The moment they entered through the door, they noticed the other students were already taking their seats at a stacked seating arrangement. Such an arrangement was popular at universities and colleges to make it easier for the professor or teacher to survey their students and to teach them more efficiently. Just as the Wolves were beginning to calm their nerves down, Riku suddenly felt something- or someone- latch onto his right arm with a surprisingly strong grip. Slowly turning his head, he casted his eyes down and saw Yoshiko holding onto his arm and smiling at him with the dumbest of smiles.

"You've got a lot of nerve to grab me." Riku snarled, as he felt his left hand jerk and twitch, which usually happened when he was trying to keep his predatory instincts under control.

"Well why wouldn't I?! You basically told that rich pretty girl to back off!" Yoshiko sneered confidently, "that's the type of man completely unfazed by Sakura's charms, grace, and beauty!"

'What bullshit is this Human spewing about?'

"I was talking to you too! Now get away from me!" Riku yelled, as he absentmindedly grabbed Yoshiko's wrist and gave it a firm squeeze, as he was already at his limits with physical contact.

"Y-Yoshiko!" Kira gasped, as he tried to pry her hands off of Riku and vice versa with Riku himself, "Riku! Let go! You're going to hurt each other!"

"Why should I?! She grabbed me first!"

"We're practically in the same class!" Yoshiko blurted out, as she didn't seem phased with Kira's attempts to break them apart, "the best thing we can do is get along!"

"Ara ara~ would you two happen to be fighting again? Honestly, you two really are hopeless." spoke a feminine voice from behind Yoshiko.

It was Sakura, who just so happened to be in the same class as Yoshiko and Riku, and his friends. As before, a flurry of comments followed her, as the students were all surprised that the Village Beauty would be in their assigned class! Yoshiko and Riku both harbored the same look of disgust and annoyance at the sight of seeing the beautiful looking girl. Sakura walked over and effortlessly unhinged Yoshiko's hand from Riku's arm, who in turn refused to let go of Yoshiko. It wasn't until Tazuna placed his hand on Riku's shoulder and shook his head, did the Grey Wolf reluctantly let go. Sakura only watched with a sigh as she watched Riku walk away with an overly worried Kira.

"Why the hell are you here?!" Yoshiko yelled at Sakura, who was more worried about Riku. "Wait! D-D-Don't tell me you're in the same class as I am!"

"As much as you don't like it, Yoshiko, I am in the same class as you." Sakura started, as she sensed Tazuna's eyes on her, as he was already sitting in the fourth row next to Riku and Kira. "Come on. Don't be like this. I just want to talk to you."

"Talk?! What's to talk about?! Ugh! Why do you have to be so annoying?!"

"I'll give you some time to calm your nerves. I really hate to see you upset. Come on, let's take our seats."

Yoshiko could only stand there as she heard the gentle tap tap tap sound of Sakura's boots walk across the floor. As far as she was concerned, Sakura had always been the type to quell any difficult situation or argument. She had a lot of fans and people who adored and liked her. Sakura truly was the popular student while Yoshiko was stuck being her shadow. But it wasn't until Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned close to her ear, whispering in a low voice:

"I'd hate to see what you look like to be shredded by a wild animal who hates you."

'W-What was that?!' Yoshiko asked internally, as she felt an ice cold shiver run up her spine. It was like a switch had turned on inside of Sakura, as she was a completely different person. Was she the only person who saw it? What...was that voice just now?

It was then Aki appeared through a door on the opposite side of the room. He didn't have his spear in hand like before, but he did appear more serious than usual, as he stood in front of the now quiet class.

"Who is that?" Kira whispered quietly to Tazuna, who sat to the right of him.

"He goes by the name of 'Aki.' He's the Priestess's assistant." Tazuna answered, before Aki immediately started talking.

"From this day forward, you'll no longer be seen as regular ordinary students. But as full-fledged National Guardian trainees. The next step of your training is to give you all a written test so the officials and instructors can base your class qualifications centered on how much you know about the Nations as a whole."

"WHA-?!" came the overall collective response from the students, excluding Riku and Tazuna, who only cringed at the amplified shouts and groans of the disapproved Humans around them.

'A written...test?' thought Kira as he felt his soul leave his body, before he felt his hand involuntarily tremble in his lap.

"You ok kid?" asked a Human boy with baby blue hair, who noticed how frightened Kira looked.

"He's fine. Now shut your trap." Riku growled, frightening the kid, who saw the aggression on the Wolf's face.

'But I can't take this test! I'm not prepared for it at all! What am I going to do?!'

"Hey Aki!" shouted Ace, who sat in the last row of seats, seeing as he had an overview of the entire room, "What's gonna be on the test? And how will we get tested?"

"Keep quiet, idiot." snapped Shun monotonously, as he looked at his close friend with a look of annoyance.

"R-Right. Sorry…"

"As I was saying," Aki continued after he cleared his throat, "The test will be based on your extensive knowledge on the history of the Five Great Nations, the creed of the Nations, the responsibilities for knowing each Nations laws and customs, and political outlook of the Nations, excluding the ones you all originate from. The test will be an hour long. However, there are rules."

'Rules?' asked Tazuna, as he remembered there not being any rules during the tests he was sent out to complete with his Hunting Instructor.

'Does everything require rules in this world?' asked Riku, who had his nose expertly covered with his hands to prevent the smell of Humans to fully incapacitate him.

"What kind of rules?" asked another student.

"The first rule is there will be 100 points total to this test. Each test will have a maximum of twenty questions each. Resulting in over 20% of your overall grade."

'Only 20%, huh? Well what's with the other 80%?' asked Riku, who clearly was confused over the simplicity of a standard paper test.

"The second rule is that this will be a joint effort. Which means, depending on your scores at the end of the testing period, will determine what team you'll be assigned to."

'So we'll be put into teams depending on that?!' asked Kira, who glanced at Tazuna and Riku respectfully. 'I can't afford to be separated from Riku and Tazuna. There's no way I can survive on my own without them to guide me! No. I have to do this for myself. I promised Yu'Bi and O're that I would find a way to save them!'

"And the third and final rule is that rebelling against the rules of the test will eventually cause those to destroy themselves."

'Destroy themselves, huh?' Tazuna thought, as he wondered what the last rule meant. 'What exactly did he mean by that?'

'What a bunch of stupid rules!' thought Yoshiko, as he caught a glimpse of Riku from her position on the fifth row. 'I really hope I get paired with Riku. He's really smart looking so I bet he's going to ace this test with no problem!'

Suddenly, both side doors opened and a series of various inspectors walked inside, as chairs were all lined up neatly along the walls. Some were men; others were women. Some had scars; others had eyepatches and odd black markings. But they were all villagers from the Central Region, each carrying a clipboard. As they took their seats, the Wolves couldn't help but analyze the inspectors and noticed they were holding a list of every student in the room, including their own. But when Tazuna examined them closer, he realized there were two check boxes labeled "pass" and "fail."

'So cheating isn't a realizable resource.' Tazuna evaluated, as his eyes switched to the 360° camera feature. 'Judging by the test papers we're given and the physical analysis of this classroom, I can only predict half if not all of these students are going to cheat. But they're going to do so in their own way. However, that isn't what I'm worried about.'

Tazuna looked at Kira, who had remained unusually quiet ever since they announced the test. He knew he'd always been watchful and maternal towards Kira, since he'd raised the Red Wolf ever since he was a tiny cub. However, there was one thing that he wouldn't have ever prepared him for…

"And… begin!" shouted Aki, signaling the start of the test.

The students silently picked up their pencils and immediately began to scribble on their test papers. Riku and Tazuna only pretended to take an interest, only because they weren't interested in being in a classroom full of Humans. In fact, the more they studied the questions, the more they realized the test didn't make a bit of sense to them humanely.

'What kind of questions are these?!' Tazuna asked, as he stared in shock at the questions, before regaining his composure, as he sensed he was being watched. 'This third question seems more aimed towards a negotiation murder tactic. Let's see: 'In the midst of a negotiation and the person being interrogated has a cursed mark placed on their tongue, how would you extract information without murdering the suspect?'

'What should I do?!' Kira asked over and over and over again, as he felt himself go crazy from the overloaded stress he was experiencing. 'I can't do this! I really can't do this at all! This test requires written answers! I haven't even picked up my pencil yet! But I have to do something… I'm being watched!'

"U-Um, e-excuse me…" spoke a relatively soft yet feminine voice within Kira's head, "...A-Are you ok?"

'That voice! Y-Yes! I can hear you! I can!'

"I-I'm not that good at...cheering people up but… w-would you like me to help you with your test?"

'You're willing to do that? For me? Haha! Thank you so much!'

"Y-You don't have to! I-I mean… You seemed to be...having trouble."

'Why shouldn't I? You're really nice to help me! But...how should I thank you? I don't even know your name.'

"M-My name…?"

'But… even with your help...I still can't bring myself to take the test.'

"W-Why not? D-Do you not understand the questions?"

'Well that's not it. It's just… well. I can't- ah!'

It was at that very moment, Ace eventually sighed quietly, spooking the Red Wolf, as there wasn't any other noise being made aside from him. Ace had finished his test at a decent time, as he'd been forced to study for the test, thanks to Shun, who was an intellectual when it came to minute details when it came to studying. Shun, himself, had long since left the classroom, due to him being one of the smartest students with an overall SSS Class level of intelligence.

With Ace returning his paper to Aki, he exited the room to join his friend outside of the academy's main building. As they relaxed and stretched their muscles, Shun was unusually quiet, which nobody would ever notice due to him always having a quiet yet slightly harsh sense of humor. Ace draped his arm over his close friend's shoulder and smiled largely.

"What's eatin' ya?" Ace asked, as he tried to figure his friend out, but only received a sigh in return.

"That kid." Shun answered a few seconds later, as he stared at the ground below, as they were perched on the rooftop.

"What kid?"

"The kid who was sitting between those two guys in the third row."

"Ah! I believe his name is Kira! But, why are you so interested in him all of a sudden?"

"That kid wasn't doing well."

"What the hell do you mean by that?! Is he sick or something?!"

"I mean that he can't take the test."

Ace blinked clearly confused on what Shun was trying to say, as he never could fully comprehend anything he said when he was deep in thought.

"But he's a student here! If he wasn't able to take the test then he wouldn't have been selected to enroll!"

"I'm saying he's having inside help."

"Inside...help."

Shun nodded.

"Someone who is smart enough to infiltrate the room and weed out the most helpless student. All without being detected."

"Hmmmm. Whoever it is seems to really be keen on helping him pass!"

"Exactly."

Eventually, with enough time remaining, Kira had managed to stumble past his fears and was able to pick up his pencil. Albeit with very shaky fingers. Tazuna shifted his gaze slightly before shifting his foot closest to the Red Wolf and gently touched his right foot. The Arctic Wolf knew the exact reason why Kira was under so much immense pressure but dared not exploit his secret. He knew Kira wouldn't want that. He sensed Riku knew it was well, as he could feel the tip of Riku's large grey tail touch his thigh, as it laid gracefully in Kira's lap. Before he knew it, Tazuna had finished his test, followed by Sakura and Shadow, who both silently left the room, but not before seeing Sakura give him a glance.

'What was that all about?' Tazuna asked, before he was approached by an inspector.

She was tall and quite pretty with tanned skin, amethyst eyes and red lips, due to her red lipstick she was wearing. Her black eyelashes were thick and long, much like her hair, which hung down to her thighs. She wore the same colored uniform as Tazuna did, as she proudly showed off her cleavage and slender build. Yet despite the uniform, she wore an armband similar to the ones the two men wore during the registration process for the Wolves.

"Sir." she spoke, her voice sweet as honey, as she held her clipboard in her arms. "If you're through with your test, I'd have to ask you to leave the classroom."

Tazuna silently turned his head to the woman, who's gasp was barely audible to the other students near her. His eyes scanned her automatically, allowing him to know her name, age, height, weight, occupation, and previous work history. As his eyes whirred wildly, the Arctic Wolf said nothing at first, obviously refusing to move.

"Sir. This isn't-"

"I heard exactly what you said." Tazuna spoke suddenly, his voice unwavering as he turned to look at the inspector. "But as you can see, it won't matter how many times you ask me, I won't leave until my friends have finished."

'This child! His aura. It's so powerful that I can't get a good read on it!'

"If you don't want to disrupt your students, then I'd advise you to sit back down." Tazuna continued, his voice low but threatening.

'This is-'

Kira was silently taking his test, with the help of the gentle voice in his head and a series of extremely thin strings connected to his fingers and hand. With the final question being answered, the Red Wolf finally put down his pencil. He felt his heart slowly calm down as if he'd been subjected to the treadmill for several miles. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and stood up slowly, getting the attention of Riku and the spectator.

"I-I'm finished now." Kira stuttered, as he felt his hands trembling slightly, as he still felt gittery from taking the test.

"Then that means we're free to go." Riku growled in a low voice, getting up and shoving the test paper at the woman, before walking past her and out the door.

Kira followed immediately, desperately wanting to get out of the room, as he felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. Tazuna stood up from where he was sitting, towering over the spectator and dwarfing her in comparison. He felt the stare of the students and spectators in the room; some fearful. Others bewildered. Most felt intimidated. He silently stepped from his seat and walked past the woman, who continued to stare after him until he vanished out the door. It was then and only then did she remember how to breathe. The air felt thick with a foreign feeling of fear and murder, which left her shaking.

'What...was that? He... This isn't normal at all.' the spectator heaved, as she remained frozen solid in fear, before she shook her head and ordered the remaining students to get back to work.

"GET BACK TO WORK OR I'LL FAIL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!!!"

"Can we leave now?" Riku asked, as he was sitting under a tree in a nearby pagoda shaped gazebo. "This place is absolutely terrible!"

"I-I think it's great!" Kira cheerfully exclaimed, as he was laying on the bench beside Riku, as he toyed with a small lavander plant he found. "I mean- aside from the test we took."

"We can't afford to leave." Tazuna answered, as he silently sat next to Kira, as he looked at the academy building.

"Why not?!" Riku and Kira collectively asked, as they stared at him with a shocked and bewildered look on their faces.

"Because the voice is gone."

"What?" Riku asked, as he blinked slowly.

"Yeah. I-I don't hear it either!" Kira gasped, as he realized he no longer heard the strange voice in his head. "It's completely gone!"

'So that's why.' Tazuna thought to himself, before he casted his eyes back at the academy, which stood just to the right of their line of sight. 'The voice had to be leading here. To this city.'