Yakusoku to eiyo - 約束と栄誉

[Shelco]

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Location: Planet New Tokyo, Kusari teikokku

Date: September 29th, 814 A.S.

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Sweat was slowly dripping down Yukiyama's nose, she was in her headstand position for about five minutes now and her face was as red as blood, her knees and feet were completely numb, thus, the pain was temporary. Although she couldn't see them, the strict and criticizing glances of the three recruiting officers were piercing through her back, making her feel like she was pushed in that direction. She had already passed the tests about theoretical knowledge and was belonging to the few trainees that managed to be in the next choosing round. She was very sportive, that was for sure, she trained hard before she appeared on the academy's doorstep, otherwise, there wouldn't have been a chance at all. More and more blood streamed into her head, it hurt more and more with each and every second. She bit her teeth together and closed her eyes, just hoping that they would soon call it off and release her, but they probably saw her struggling a little and wanted her to fail. After a few seconds a loud drilling whistle was filling the sports hall with its horribly loud sound. Yukiyama fell to the side and was breathing heavily, holding her head and feeling how the blood was finding its way back into the rest of her body, it hurt so much she had to sit there and wait for at least 30 seconds. Her pale knees and feet slowly regained a more healthy look as she fell on her back and stared at the ceiling, oh when would this test be finally over?

"Already giving up, kenshūsei?" Said the oldest and toughest of the three officers that all varied in age. The man seemed to have a specialization in making trainees feel extremely bad, especially her. She got herself into a kneeling position with one knee on the ground and the other one up so she could lean her right arm on it, putting herself in an honorable position with a lowered head. "Iie, sensei, just collecting strength!" She responded with a strong voice that should indicate how much power she had. The man had an unpleasant face set for her, it lasted since she entered the hall. "Yoi, then we will come to the last discipline, hand-to-hand combat." Said the youngest of the three men who seemed way more friendly and calm than the others. He marked the sports discipline as done and waved another trainee in. The aspirant was, to her luck, not taller than her, they both seemed like pretty much the same size, just that he had more energy than the still heavy breathing Yukiyama who was still kneeling but now got up to not give her opponent the expression of being superior. The young man stood in front of her, approximately 2 meters. The recruiting officers didn't leave her much time to prepare. "In position!" the oldest of them yelled, her opponent and Yukiyama looked each other deep in their eyes and bowed down before going into a stable position. "Iku!" he yelled then and both of them slowly walked in circles around the mats. Yukiyama was heavily focused on his movements, she was still less powerful than her opponent so countering his moves would be a better idea she thought and waited for him to move. After a few seconds of focus, the young man made a turn followed by a high kick that was aimed at Yukiyama's face. She dodged to the side but didn't counter-attack yet, trying to find a pattern in his style. Again he started to attack, this time with his right hand, Yukiyama saw a chance and blocked the punch just before it hit her, turning his hand and forcing the man to turn as well. She kicked him in his back, more or less out of provocation, expecting that it would make him angry und predictable. The look on the man's face became annoyed, just as she wanted it, her eyes went over to the strict glances of her officers and she smirked, being very sure about her victory now. She moved in the man's direction, making it look like it was her intention to attack but instead she just turned around while passing him, causing a little confusion. She kept her eyes focused on his feet now, he seemed to shiver a little, two failed moves already, while she was always becoming fitter again. She provoked another attack by coming close to him, he tried to do another K.O. kick into her face which would have worked if she wouldn't have dodged it the same way she did before, by swingfully turning while passing him. This time she swiped his remaining foot of the mat with not much effort and had him laying on the ground.

She turned to the recruiting officers, two of them, the younger ones, looked rather impressed and nodded, noting something down on their clipboards. The oldest took a deep breath and pressed his fists together. "Gōkaku!" he said aggressively and walked away, leaving the hall. The two other recruiting officers seemed a little confused at first but then looked at Yukiyama. "Minako-fujin, you have passed the test, impressive, welcome to the Naval Forces, Kaigun-Shoi." the mid-aged officer said and nodded at her before leaving the hall as well, shortly after followed by the youngest one of them. Although Yukiyama was still standing straight, she was extremely happy on the inside.
Finally her dream came true, now she only had to pass the training at the academy, a challenge she believed to pass just as fine.

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