The Void Above - Chapter 11

Kichirou woke up and quickly began to put on his clothes, packing a suitcase full of his few possessions acquired over his relatively short stay in Charon.

'Toothbrush, soap, bedcovers…'

Kichirou, while looking for more things he may need to pack, came across his Charon Military Academy acceptance letter, and decided to read it over once more.

'Hello, Kichirou Suzuki. We would like to offer you a place at Charon Military Academy as a high school-level student, enrolling in the advanced program due to your above-average display during the combat exams. Orientation will take place on Monday, September 20, 2024. Please note that all students are expected to live in the student dormitories corresponding to their level of education. In your case, you will reside in the high school boys' dormitory, with others who fit the same description. Due to your placement in the advanced program, you will be gifted the privilege of a single-person room, however, this can be stripped from you at any time should your class rank fall below the top ten. We welcome you to Charon Military Academy and look forward to seeing you at orientation on Monday.'

Kichirou felt a feeling of relief wash over him.

'Even though I got the letter 3 days ago at this point, I still can't help but be relieved every time I read it.'

Kichirou had managed to grab his lifeline, but the thought of there being so much more to go almost scared him.

'I'll make sure I get out of here, and I'll take everyone I want with me!'

Kichirou continued packing his bags, finishing in little time. Soon, he found himself at the door of his apartment, facing Jane as he walked out the door.

"I'll be back to visit soon, though it probably won't be for a while."

"Alright, Kichirou. I'll see you then."

A melancholic look appeared on Jane's face, but was quickly covered with a bright smile.

"I'll look forward to seeing you again."

"Yeah, I will too, Jane."

Just then, Kichirou left the house, walking to the monorail station. Looking at the map, Kichirou was able to notice the presence of a special CMA direct line that would take him directly to the school, and began walking to the station. When he got there, he saw a holographic noticeboard explaining to him the special qualities of this particular monorail.

'So the train always arrives at the Academy at 7am every morning, and stops at every major train station on its way. Luckily, I live close to this station then. The next closest stop is 25th street, quite a ways away from here.'

Kichirou looked down from the noticeboard, and saw a familiar face.

'Is that John?'

Kichirou recognized the boy to be John Smith, the man who he first fought against during the combat examination.

"Hey John! It's me, Kichirou."

Kichirou approached the boy, waving so he'd seen him.

"Tch!"

John put up his hoodie, trying to pretend like he couldn't see Kichirou. Kichirou, a little annoyed by being given the colder shoulder, decided to further annoy him, walking up right next to him and putting his arm around him, as if they'd known each other their whole lives.

"Hey buddy! It's not nice to blatantly ignore someone, you know?"

"Sigh"

John slinked away from Kichirou before reluctantly engaging in a conversation with Kichirou.

"So you've been around here this whole time?"

John pulled away from Kichirou, putting his hands in his pockets as he began to respond to the question.

"Yeah, always have, in the orphanage down the way."

Kichirou wanted to inquire more about the boy's situation, but before he could the monorail pulled into the station.

"Well, it looks like this is where we say goodbye for now."

Before Kichirou could even process what he'd said, John had already disappeared into the sea of people boarding.

'Huh…? He's a mysterious one.'

Kichirou boarded the monorail quickly, though not of his volition as he'd gotten caught up in the pushing and crowding of the others boarding.

'Damn… I guess I just gotta get used to all these people.'

The monorail stopped at every major stop in the city after Kichirou's before entering an underground tunnel dimly lit by a series of white lights. The train then gradually slowed down before coming to a stop. Suddenly, an announcement came on over the loudspeaker.

"Good morning, everybody, and welcome to Charon Military Academy! Most of you here today are present for orientation and haven't spent time here yet, so I'll keep things quick! Please calmly exit through the doors…"

Just then, the doors to the monorail opened, and a sea of people began to pour out of them. As the people pushing and shoving made their way out of the doors, they took Kichirou with them.

'Well, that's one way to get off…'

The people quickly left the underground station, leaving Kichirou behind to finally be able to inspect the area.

'Surprisingly clean for a school area… hmm?'

Kichirou caught sight of a girl in all-black, dressed in a gothic style, dragging along what appeared to be a giant suitcase, almost matching her 175-centimeter, slightly chubby frame. Her black hair was cut short, reaching her neck. In contrast with her general look, though, her nails were painted a bright pink that almost seemed to glow on her fingertips.

'Woah… quite the look.'

"Hey, give me a hand with this?"

"Uh, sure."

Kichirou walked over to help her with the suitcase, stopping just before her, awaiting further instruction. The girl spoke up, telling him what to do.

"Just grab the other end over there, I can get this end."

Looking at her from up close, he saw that the girl had distinctly Asian features.

Kichirou soon picked up the suitcase from his end, and when he did, he felt just how heavy it was.

"Oomph-!"

"Heavy, right?"

The two picked up the suitcase.

'What the hell…? It's not even hollow, I can't even hear anything rattling around in there. What could she possibly have in there?'

The duo trudged up a wide set of stairs leading out of the platform, eventually coming out to a large hallway that looked like the A Building where they'd taken the written exam. The hall was enormous, yet it still felt as though the sheer number of people crowding it was enough to leave extremely little space for the duo to carry the suitcase together without getting in the way of other people.

Kichirou noticed the room plate for room 314, the same room he'd been in for the written exam

'So the monorail lets us off in the basement of the A Building then. Wait, where's everyone headed? If I remember correctly, the way further into the building is past room 314, so why's everyone going the opposite way? Maybe orientation is outside.'

Kichirou wanted to let the girl he'd been 

"Everyone's going outside, if we wait long enough, the halls should clear out, and we can make it to orientation, if a little late."

The girl looked over at Kichirou with a confused expression that quickly turned to one of clarity.

"Ohhhh, that's right. I never told you, did I? I'm not going to the orientation first thing, we're headed to the weapons department first. There's something I have to take care of."

'The weapons department first thing? I guess some people really have their priorities set in stone, don't they?'

Kichirou, recognizing she'd said "we", and not "I" knew he'd gotten himself wrapped up in something he couldn't quite back out of easily, so he decided to just go along with it.

"Sigh, alright then, I'll help you get this thing over there for now, but I'm gonna go back right after we're done."

The girl nodded in a show of understanding, and the two waited until the hallways cleared to walk the box down to the weapons department.

"Alright, we're here."

The girl suddenly dropped her side of the suitcase, leaving it to slam to the floor with a loud thud.

'Ugh, finally. But it could be helpful to know where the weapons department is, just in case I ever decide my knuckles need an upgrade.'

The girl walked over to knock on the extremely large door, which would be answered by a man in a lab coat. He had dark skin, and curly hair that was cut extremely short, just barely enough to show that he had hair, though it was still in the shape of his head.

"Come in, you two."

The man who Kichirou assumed was an engineer of some sort for the weaponry left the wide, massive door open for the two to walk in, before shutting it with the press of a button.

"So, what brings you here at this time? I know there's some kinda orientation to attend to."

'I have no idea…'

The girl spoke up before Kichirou could voice his inner thoughts.

"We're here to get my weapon fitted with floating engines. It's too heavy and too big to carry everywhere, so I need some FloaTech to carry it around with me."

'What kinda weapon is she planning on using that she needs to float it around with her because she can't even carry it with her?'

Just then, Kichirou took notice of a much smaller, reinforced iron door leading further into the establishment. Now that he thought about it, the room didn't look much like a Weapons Department at all, rather, it was much more reminiscent of an office area, dotted with chairs with a large desk around the middle of the room.

'Sure, there's a lot of weapons lying around here and there, but it's way too small in here to call it a whole "weapons department" would it? They're probably in charge of making weapons here, and they'd need more space than in here to do so, so it's probably all done behind that door.'

To confirm his theory, Kichirou quickly drew the symbol, increasing his perceptive abilities enough to hear what was going on behind the door, and was greeted by the sound of loud hammering and power tools going off, as well as some processes he couldn't quite describe by the sound.

'I was right! They really are doing all of that back there. There must be a lot of space back there to be doing all that, but how does it fit in here? The building is only so big, after all. Well, whatever, it doesn't matter much.'

"Alright, ma'am. I'll get started on your weapon immediately."

'Immediately, hmm? They must already have it back there with them because there's no way they could start immediately if they weren't already in possession of the item.'

"Alright, here you go, then."

Just then, the girl pointed to the giant suitcase sat on the floor inside the office.

' … That's a weapon?'