Yakusoku to eiyo - 約束と栄誉

[Shelco]

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Location: Planet New Tokyo, Kusari teikokku

Date: November 4th, 814 A.S.

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Sitting on her bed in a small room for her alone, Yukiyama was tying her shoelaces, waiting for the sound of the drill officer's whistle. It was about 4 am and she was up earlier than the other recruits, fearing to be late and unprepared. She was already clothed in the traditional kusarian Shoi's uniform and closed her eyes, waiting for the moment. It was her first day of training, so far she only learned what the academy looked like and what all the rooms were there for, today's training was stamina, testing how tough the Shoi's really were. Not that the initiation progress wasn't enough hell for her already, she didn't know if it was to harass her or if anyone had to pass a test that was as hard as hers. They probably wouldn't want her anyways she thought but in the end, she managed it nonetheless, now the Sensei's could do the same for her every day, for as long as her training would need. She was very tough with herself as well, passing as fast as possible was a personal requirement for her, no way she could take this all too long she thought. And how she would be treated, when she saw the line of recruits she saw no other woman but herself, sure, this wouldn't be with the less privileged military academies, but in this one, she knew it would cause her to have a hard time. The only solution was to sit through it, or rather, run, shoot and punch through it, ignore those who think they must provoke you and move on, finish your training, become a soldier and chase your dream. If only this mindset was as easy to pursue as it was to have in the first place. No turning back now, not that she planned it. She looked at the clock hanging in her tiny room, it was only a few seconds until it would be time to stand in front of the room. She heard the steps of the coming officer, they were at the end of the corridor, she stood up and stood in front of the door, taking a last deep breath.

And it happened, the loud sound of the whistle pierced its way through the corridor and inside the rooms, Yukiyama opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, saluting the officer who was yet far away from her. She didn't say a word and just looked straight to the opposite room. The other doors opened as well, many other Shoi's stepped out and took their places. Yukiyama lowered her hand and folded them behind her back, standing straight and looking straight with a cold face. The Shoi in front of her just raised an eyebrow as he saw her totally obeying and being overly disciplined. He had an extremely punchable smirk on his face but Yukiyama knew to ignore it and keeping her glance straight. A few seconds later, everyone was in position, two long lines facing each other marked the corridor. The loud steps of the officer halled through it as he examined every single recruit while passing, just 3 or 4 persons away from Yukiyama he stopped and stood directly in front of another Shoi. "I didn't know we are the meido academy, Shoi!" he yelled at the young recruit, who seemed to not have his shoes tied correctly. He quickly looked down and corrected the mistake before getting up again, the look on the officer's face was intimidating as anything as he slowly passed on. Yukiyama held her breath as he passed her, as he stopped for a second and looked down on her, before letting out a simple "Hmpf." and continuing. When he was more away from her she breathed out and was glad she passed this first "test". Her opposing comrade just let out a single laugh and slightly shook his hand, he obviously couldn't believe Yukiyama was making such a big deal out of it. She just gave him a sharp look back but kept her calm. There was still so much to pass before she could be a real soldier and it already seemed to be a hell of a ride for her.

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