Chapter 4: The Test of Wills
Chapter 4: The Test of Wills
Scene 1: Mizune vs. the Midterms
Two weeks of preparation pass by
30/7/2018 10;23am
School hallway, early morning. A quiet, tense energy hums through the corridors. Students hover near their classrooms, flipping notes or muttering formulas.
Mizune and Hinata stand side by side near the window, the early sun casting soft light on their uniforms.
Mizune glanced toward the classroom door, then back at Hinata. Her voice was calm, almost too calm for someone minutes away from a major test.
Mizune:
"…Do we fight with swords or logic in this test?"
Hinata blinked, turning toward her with a mix of confusion and resignation. He'd learned not to question her phrasing too hard.
Hinata:
"…Logic. Hopefully."
Mizune:
"What if I'm better with swords?"
He paused. It was hard to tell if she was serious or making some strange metaphor.
Hinata:
"Then you'll need a very understanding math teacher."
Without breaking eye contact, Mizune pulled out her journal and scribbled something into it.
Mizune:
"Note: Try logic first. Save swords for second attempt."
Hinata murmured to himself, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.
Hinata:
"You know it's just… normal questions, right? Like equations. Essays."
Mizune:
"I know. I read the syllabus. Twice. I think I memorized the dates of the French Revolution…"
He exhaled through a quiet laugh because they were writing a maths paper not history.
Hinata:
"You'll be fine. Just don't start quoting history during physics."
Mizune (dead serious):
"That happened one time."
Hinata:
"I know. I sit next to you."
There was a small pause. Mizune looked down at her notes, then up at the morning light streaming through the window.
Mizune:
"…What if I fail?"
Her voice had no panic—just curiosity. But for once, Hinata sensed something beneath it. A doubt she hadn't voiced before.
Hinata:
"Then… you'll learn from it. But I don't think you will fail."
She tilted her head slightly, surprised by the confidence.
Mizune:
"You seem confident."
Hinata (shrugs):
"Not really. Just… hopeful."
She considered this for a moment, as if hope was a foreign ingredient in her study toolkit.
Mizune:
"Hope. I'll add that to the list of tools. Logic, swords, and hope."
Hinata (smiling slightly):
"…That's a dangerous combination."
30/7/2018 10:45am
The test starts in the Classroom. Rows of students seated in tense silence. The only sounds: rustling papers, clicking pens, and the invigilator's footsteps.
The midterm exam booklets were passed around with a heavy silence that seemed to crush all idle chatter. Hinata tapped his pencil rhythmically, eyes scanning the first page.
Across the room, Mizune Yukinoshita sat upright, her pen already poised with surgical precision. The sunlight through the window caught the edge of her glasses, making her look eerily like a final boss before a duel.
She glanced at her test paper. Then at her pen.
Snap.
The barrel cracked in her grip—completely broken.
Mizune (softly):
"…This is sabotage."
She reached for her backup. Gone. She blinked, calculating silently how this could have occurred.
From two rows behind, Ai Hayasaka noticed and prepared to throw her a pencil.
But just before she could act, Hinata subtly leaned forward, noticing Mizune's motionless form. He raised his hand halfway, pencil in hand—an unspoken offer.
Hayasaka ,with her lightning quick reflexes interpreting his intent, redirected her throw slightly.
The pencil arced... and landed exactly at Souta's desk.
Souta (looking up in panic):
"Is this... a weapon?!"
He looked around as if caught in an inter-school espionage scheme. The invigilator stomped toward him, eyebrows raising.
Invigilator:
"Mr. Minami. Why are you holding three pencils you do know its against the rules to have more than 2?"
Souta:
"I'm being framed, sensei! It's not mine!"
Before hesitation could catch hinata, he reached over and gently tapped it against her desk, then looked back at his paper.
She glanced at him.
Then at the pencil.
Her hand hovered for a second.
Then picked it up.
Eyes narrowing ever so slightly, she turned the pencil in her fingers… noticing faint indentations along its shaft. Something strange. Something… carved.
She squinted.
For a moment, her expression remained blank.
Then:
She raised an eyebrow, muttered:
Mizune:
"…a golden ticket to skip the final boss from hinata."
And got back to writing like nothing happened.
The rest of the exam passed in relative quiet—if you ignored the soft murmurs of Souta trying to bargain with the teacher and Ai covering her face in mild embarrassment.
Mizune worked with robotic grace. Hinata wrote fast and was halfway asleep . Akari muttered to herself like a general recalling a battle plan.
As the final bell rang and the papers were collected, tension melted into relief. Bags zipped. Chairs scraped. Conversations resumed.
The bell rang. Exams were over. Paper stress had evaporated into relief and yawns.
30/7/2018 3:00pm
Akari clapped her hands once, already pulling out her phone.
Akari:
"Okay people, where are we celebrating surviving brain death?"
Hinata:
"…There's that new bakery near the station."
Hayasaka:
"Too sweet. I vote karaoke. I have rage to sing out."
Souta:
"Bowling alley! Let's roll our pain into pins!"
Haruki (quietly, holding up a sketchpad):
"what about some takoyakis?"
They all turned to Mizune, who blinked, tilted her head once, then replied with full sincerity:
Mizune:
"Tuvalu."
Silence.
Hinata:
"…What?"
Mizune:
"It's a country. I thought we were naming peaceful destinations."
Souta (muttering):
"Bro she took the exam and her soul never came back."
Akari rubbed her temples like this happened weekly. She shoved her phone in the air.
Akari:
"Nope. We're going to the ramen shop behind school. I'm Insta-mapping it. If you get lost, blame your ancestors."
She started typing.
Akari (muttering while texting):
"At least ramen doesn't say weird country names to me."
Mizune:
"…Tuvalu is only weird because you've never been."
Hinata:
"She has a point."
Akari:
"Don't back her up, Baka #2."
Hayasaka (laughing):
"This group is chaotic. I love it."
30/7/2018 5:41pm
Evening. The ramen shop buzzed with warmth, the air thick with broth steam and noisy slurps. The group had squeezed into two booths pushed together. Chopsticks clicked. Conversation simmered.
Souta (already halfway through his bowl):
"I'm telling you, if I don't get a second bowl, I' might start hallucinating the quadratic formula!"
Akari (handing over the menu):
"Then hallucinate the price too, freeloader."
Hayasaka (grinning):
"He deserves it. He spelled 'photosynthesis' with a 4."
Souta:
"It's futuristic spelling. You people have no vision."
Mizune, meanwhile, stared at her bowl, holding the chopsticks backward again.
Hinata:
"Do you need help or…?"
Mizune:
"No. I watched a martial arts video. This is how they hold weapons."
Akari (rolling eyes):
"It's soup, not self-defense."
Mizune blinked, rotated her chopsticks, and immediately poked the egg in the ramen like she was inspecting a crime scene.
Haruki:
"You treat food like it's giving testimony."
Mizune:
"It is. Everything on this table has history."
Hayasaka:
"Philosopher mode: activated."
*Everyone laughed. Akari looked at her Insta and snapped a quick story — the caption reading:
#PostExamFeast #RamenOverGrades #MysteryEggGirl
Akari:
"Okay, Hinata. Confess. You did help Mizune in the exam, right?"
Hinata froze mid-bite.
Hinata:
"…I have no comment."
Souta:
"Suspicious silence. He's guilty."
Mizune (murmuring seriously):
"He gave me the pencil. It spoke to me."
Akari:
"WHAT."
Mizune:
"Not literally. But metaphorically, it had answers."
Akari blinked at her. Hinata gave a why did you say that look.
Hinata:
"She's joking. Obviously. Haha… ha…"
Hayasaka:
"Poor boy. He's sweating more than the miso ramen."
They continued eating, occasionally clinking bowls and trading playful insults. For a moment, it didn't feel like a random group forced to study. It felt like something closer to… well, friendship.
30/7/2018 8:49pm
Then came the moment Akari had been waiting for.
Akari (grinning):
"Hinata, walk Mizune home."
Hinata (startled):
"Huh?!Why am I getting deja vu"
Haruki (mockingly) :
"because this really happened not too long ago dumbass"
Hinata:
"Why me?"
Akari (mock serious):
"Because I said so. And because I'm in charge of group emotional manipulation."
Hayasaka: "That name just screams akari, lmao"
Hayasaka clapped softly.meanwhile mizune ended her call with someoner and says
Mizune (calmly):
"I will walk Hinata home."
All:
"HUH?!"
Hinata:
"W-Wait, why?"
Mizune:
"You walked me home once. I have to balance the Karma scale…."
Souta (muttering):
"Bro got uno reverse'd."
Hayasaka (controlling her laughter as much as she can):
"ofcourse Just Let her walk you home the streets are dangerous you know..poor hinata"
Akari:
"Of course she calculated the karma balance or something.that's our Classic rich egghead for you "
Hinata (awkward laugh):
"You know my house is really far—like, dangerously boring distance—"
Mizune:
"Then I'll see more of Earth's infrastructure. I've studied maps."
Hinata (resigned):
"I give up on making you give up …lets get going."
They stepped out under the quiet night sky, the others still frozen at the door like they'd witnessed an alien handshake.
The ramen shop buzz faded behind them. Mizune walked beside him in perfect posture, like she was on a mission. And in some weird way… maybe she was.
The streetlights cast golden halos across the pavement. It was quiet. Mizune walked beside Hinata — calm, composed, arms folded behind her back like she was on a stroll through a museum.
Hinata:
"So… are you sure about this?"
Mizune:
"Affirmative."
Hinata:
"Not 'yes'?"
Mizune (blinks):
"Same meaning. Less intimacy."
Hinata:
"…Okay, weirdly fair."
A small silence stretched between them. Only the soft clack of Mizune's shoes and Hinata's tired sighs filled the night.
Hinata:
"You always like being this… formal?"
Mizune:
"Formality prevents misinterpretation. Casual talk is messy."
Hinata (smirks):
"Guess you'd hate texting."
Mizune:
"Incorrect. I'm… intrigued by emoji. They are modern hieroglyphs."
Hinata:
"…That might be the nerdiest sentence I've ever heard."
Mizune:
"Thank you."
Hinata:
"That....Wasn't a compliment."
Hinata (muttering):
"I'm gonna lose my mind."
Mizune (turns to him):
"Do not. I may need it for something later."
Before Hinata could respond, a black limo arrived, door opened and a warm voice called out—
???:
"Mizu-chaaaaan~!"
A woman stepped out in a stylish coat, brown hair slightly curled, bright smile — an older, chaotic version of Mizune herself.
Yukinoshita's Sister:
"Ohhh! And this is your boyfriend?!"
Hinata:
"Wait, what—?!"
Mizune (blinking):
"He is my… study companion."
She grabbed Hinata's arm and dragged him to the car.
Yukinoshita's Sister (laughing):
"Come in, come in! We'll drop you home. You're practically family!"
The ride home was a blur of childhood photos, awkward laughter, and Mizune sitting in silence like she had nothing to do with any of this.
Yukinoshita's Sister:
"Oh, you're cute. What's your name? Blood type? Career goals?"
Hinata:
"Uh—H-Hinata. Don't know. Staying alive?"
Yukinoshita's Sister:
"Smart! My Mizu-chan used to say she wanted to become a power outlet when she grew up."
Hinata (chokes):
"…A what?"
Yukinoshita's Sister:
"She thought electricity was stored in the wall. Used to sit with a charger and talk to it like it was her pet."
Mizune (stoic):
"I believed in its potential."
Yukinoshita's Sister:
"Once, she swallowed a thumbtack because she wanted to 'see if she could digest pain.' We had to rush to the ER!"
Hinata:
"Okay… what even…"
Mizune (quiet):
"I survived."
Yukinoshita's Sister (laughing):
"And don't even get me started on the time she tried to mail herself to the moon. In a shoebox. With stamps."
Hinata:
"Why a shoebox?!"
Mizune:
"It was the only vessel I could afford."
Yukinoshita's Sister:
"She addressed it to: 'Moon, Sky, Space, The Universe.' I still have it framed."
They reached Hinata's house. The chauffeur stepped out and handed him a sleek white paper bag.the car takes off
Hinata (reading the tag):
"…Handmade ramen and imported soy milk? What kind of thanks is this?
Yukinoshita's Sister (smirks):
"You really like this one, huh?"
Mizune (flat):
"He is… manageable."
Back at Mizune's house…
Hayasaka (in full maid uniform):
"Welcome home, Mizune-sama."
Mizune (monotone):
"Hayasaka, If I ever run away… tell no one."
Hayasaka:
"you're essentially saying me to getting fired? Sure."
CHAPTER END
Mizune's Journal
9/7/2018
Entry 1: First Contact
New environment. Loud. Many unfamiliar organisms.
Objective: Survival.
First spoken interaction: boy said "I'll be in your care."
→ Translation unclear. Possibly a threat? Or ritual?
Hypothesis: Could be requesting adoption.
Will monitor.
Entry 7: School Trip Incentive Bribery
Exams determine trip privileges.
Studying now tied to vacation access.
Akari initiated group study.
I was recruited. Possibly abducted.
Akari is extremely motivated by power.
Threatened Hinata with "scary things."
No clarification given.
Entry 8: Group Dynamics
Ai Hayasaka:My maid disguised as civilian. Not fooling anyone .
Souta: unknown function. Eats often.
Haruki: does not speak. Might be ghost.
Hinata: nervously helpful. Overqualified for this planet.
Entry 9: The Pencil Incident
My pen broke. Replacement also failed
Hinata passed me a pencil. It had tiny markings.
Answers?
Unsure.
May have been cheat tool… but I used it.
Felt strange. Like… relief. Like being cared for.
Emotion foreign. Will investigate.