POV: Rai Shinsei
My hectic first day has passed as I awoke in a daze, unable to discern my whereabouts until I remembered that I now live inside of a dorm.
I don't think I'll ever get used to this.
I took a deep breath and yawned as I noticed Arthur, who was already dressed for class as he placed his swords onto his belt.
"Are you skipping class again?" Arthur asked as I wiped the crust from my eyes.
"What time does class start again?" I asked as I stood from my bed and stretched my body.
"In ten minutes." Arthur replied as he grabbed his school bag and left our dorm while waving me off with a gleeful chuckle.
This is why I hate academies.
I rushed my morning routine and headed to my class, which was conveniently on the first floor of the academy.
~
As I arrived inside the classroom, I was welcomed by a woman who seemingly looked to be in her teens, but the most distinguishable characteristic about the woman was her height as I towered nearly a foot over her.
Despite her height, her looks were decent as she had a pale ivory complexion with straight black hair and pink highlights that ended just above her shoulders, but as for her facial features, she had lustrous pink eyes framed with black rimmed glasses as her attire was very similar to Jennifer's, however, she wore flat black heels with long black socks that ended just below her black mini skirt.
She must be my teacher.
"I'm assuming you're Rai, correct?" She asked with a soft smile while approaching me.
"Yeah, but-"
"You poor thing!" The teacher said with remorse as she embraced me with a hug, nearly squeezing me to death as I struggled to breathe within her grasp.
Where is this strength coming from?!
"You're not hurt anywhere, right?! I can't have my pay lowered anymore!" She asked, concerned with tears welling within her eyes while I struggled persistently to free myself.
This woman only cares about her paycheck!
I eventually freed myself as I took a step back away from her, annoyed from her spontaneous actions.
"Sorry, I apologize for being too touchy. My name is Rylie Fuchai. It's nice to meet you, Rai." Rylie said with a warm smile as she extended her hand in the gesture of a handshake.
Her nobility explains her absurd raw strength.
As I clasped her hand, I noticed her grasp was quite firm as she gazed at me with a mysterious smile before I released my grasp and headed towards my desk, which seemed to be replaced with a new one.
That woman…
As I sat into my seat, I placed my hands inside my pockets and pondered on Rylie's expression, wondering if I was just paranoid or if there's something she knows about me.
No, there's no way she should know anything about me, but that's not the kind of expression you give to a new student.
"Are your injuries healed from yesterday?" The girl from the Akari family asked with a smile.
"Yeah. Jennifer healed me yesterday, although she wasn't too happy about it." I replied as the girl's friend grabbed her attention away from me.
Ah, I forgot to ask for her name-
"Alright class. It's the 7th of the month once again, so I'll let everyone know what their current rankings are." Rylie said as she pulled out a sheet of paper from a yellow envelope.
From what Ryan told me, this academy has a unique way of assessing ranks.
In most academies, the only way for you to climb in the rankings is through challenging rankers for their rank and if the other person declines their challenge without any proper reason, then they must forfeit their rank to the challenger, but in this academy, there's another way you can climb the rankings and that's through unofficial fights, training, etc.
For example, my fight with the boy who was bullying Everett is considered as an unofficial fight.
In most academies, my ranking wouldn't be evaluated because the fight wasn't regulated by a staff member, making it unofficial, but in this academy, there's a pair of twins who constantly watch the cameras and evaluates the students based on their actions, therefore, my ranking would be evaluated because of my fight and because I'm ranked 200th, I'm probably going to be placed above that boy's ranked since I defeated him.
I would have preferred if my rank stayed the same, but I'm sure it was inevitable to change since there were too many eyes watching.
"I'll read the rankings from the highest to the lowest." Rylie said as she cleared her throat.
"Arthur Kojiro, Rank 3."
"Aria Akari, Rank 20."
"Emma Korisuki, Rank 26."
"Isen Saki, Rank 46."
"Sarah Iyasu, Rank 74."
"Orianna Blade, Rank 104."
"Grey Yokusei, Rank 120."
"Levy Hysteria, Rank 127."
"Barry Ferrow, Rank 162."
"Owen Petrov, Rank 174."
"Celeste Dami, Rank 176."
"Jacqueline Ayi, Rank 182."
"Nathaniel Griffon, Rank 188."
"Jason Valdez, Rank 191."
I should be more careful in the future-
"Rai… Shinsei? Rank 200." Rylie said with confusion laced in her tone as she glanced at me skeptically before clearing her throat.
My rank didn't change?
It seems Ryan can be useful sometimes.
"Daniel Locust, Rank 203."
"Felix Schneider, Rank 210."
"Jeffery Crestview, Rank 215."
"Ayla Lowa, Rank 226."
"And lastly, Everett Laventh, Rank 240." Rylie added as she gave me one more skeptical glance before seating herself at her desk while I overheard the girl from the Akari family converse with one of her friends about their ranks.
So her name is Aria, but why does that name sound so familiar?
"Hey, I wonder why your ranking didn't change? You defeated Jordan and his friends yesterday, so how come your rank is the same as before?" Aria asked as I noticed several students were eavesdropping, waiting for my answer as I sighed from their unnecessary nosiness.
"I was just lucky in that fight. If we were to fight again, I would certainly lose." I replied as Aria tried to say something else, but hesitated.
I need to avoid gaining unnecessary attention.
It's fortunate that Jacob defeated me in front of the class, therefore, nobody should suspect anything.
For me to destroy the Hero Association, I have to avoid creating problems within a hero academy of all places or they'll eventually find out about my existence-
"Alright class, settle down. As you all know, your first mission will be next week and you all will be in teams of five with a hero supervising you, although, anyone in Arthur's team will not have a hero supervising them because of his rank. Please keep that in mind when forming your team. You have an hour to talk among your peers and form a team. Those without a team after an hour will randomly be assigned to a team." Rylie said as students dispersed from their seats and began talking among one another in pursuit of forming a team.
It makes sense that a hero isn't required to supervise Arthur since his power rivals that of an A-Class hero, but more importantly…
I need to find a team who would want me.
Since I'm one of the weakest within the academy, I doubt anyone would want deadweight in their team and I prefer if I'm not randomly assigned to a team-
"It seems you're in need of a teammate." Arthur said with a grin as he approached my desk.
What a coincidence.
"Are you sure you want somebody as weak as myself on your team?" I asked with concern as Arthur chuckled.
"If you're considered weak, then I guess there's no one else in this class to choose from." Arthur replied as I sighed with a smile.
"I don't mind joining your team, but did you have anyone else in mind?" I asked as I scouted the room for any potential teammates.
"Nah, you're the first one I picked, but I don't mind you picking out the rest of our team." Arthur replied with a yawn as he seated himself at the desk in front of me and began scrolling mindlessly on his phone.
If that's the case, then there is one person I have in mind.
I stood from my chair and walked towards Everett, who was conversing with his friend.
"Yo." I said to Everett, who turned around with a surprised expression.
"Would you like to join my team for the mission? I don't mind if you bring your friend along, but Arthur is on my team, so I can understand if the two of you decline." I asked as Everett and his friend glanced anxiously at each other.
"Y-You want me on your team? I don't know if you heard me before, but I am the weakest student within this entire academy-"
"I'm well aware of your rank, although I don't believe a numerical value has the right to judge one's worth." I replied as Everett remained silent, glancing at his friend nervously until he matched his eyes with my own.
"I see. Can you give us a moment to think about it?" Everett asked as his friend nodded in agreement.
"No worries. Just let me know whenever you come up with an answer." I replied as I headed back towards my desk, where Arthur slouched in the chair with his legs kicked up onto my desk as he indulged in an apple while chuckling at a video on his phone until he noticed me approaching him.
Where did he get that apple from?
"Did you find anyone?" Arthur asked curiously as I eyed his apple in utter confusion until I sighed, accepting the fact that Arthur is truly an anomaly.
"There's two students who I'm not sure about yet, but if they both decline, do you have anyone else in mind?" I asked as Arthur scouted the classroom.
"Well, I would feel much safer having a healer on our team." Arthur replied as the two of us looked towards each other for suggestions.
"Yesterday was my first day. You don't seriously expect me to know anyone, right?" I asked as Arthur laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as I sighed deeply at his incompetence.
"You've been here for two months and yet-"
"You know what, nevermind that. Do you at least know anyone with an Aspect that has a healing factor?" I asked as Arthur began scouting the classroom once more, however, I suddenly recalled Aria's offer to heal me.
That's right.
There is a healer we could ask.