Aeron: “Mhm~ Relax, little Ty. Dad isn’t here and I promise not to bother you too much. He just asked me to ‘confirm’ if you’re willing to give up on your rebellious state of mind yet, or if you really wish to live out 5 whole years inside of this country? After all, you can only choose now, before anything officially begins, if you want to back out. The school life isn’t ‘designed’ for you. You were never raised capable of tolerating such things, even if the touted Magician Abrams himself came forward to teach you… well,

Father didn’t allow me to say much else. Just that before your choice is made, I needed to remind you of one thing: DON’T embarrass the family. You only have one chance to consider your stance on the matter. Exploring your options is never a bad thing, but once you’ve decided on something, Father expects you to fulfill it to the end.

Now decide, Noel. Do you wish to leave this school and come home? Or do you wish to stay for the next 5 years, unable to leave until you graduate? Pick your stance~”

Noel: “Can… Uhm… big brother Aeron~ can I have a day to decide? This matter--”

Aeron: “No, absolutely not. Father won’t accept an expulsion or dropout either, in case you planned on agreeing for the time being, but escaping later on. Oh! Haha, I almost forgot one small detail. Adding onto this string of academic requirements; he ended this message by demanding that I stress to you on how your marks can be no less than full. It would be extremely embarrassing if you couldn’t even manage this much after all of your Mother’s hard work in developing your super intelligence beyond average Spes Novan standards. What the heck is the point in even having super intelligence if you can’t even dominate in academics? The Family believes that would be too shameful to tolerate. So if you are going to stay, these are ‘Father’s’ conditions regarding academics.”

{!!

What?! Why?? I mean…

...Of course I DID say I wanted to experience whatever this… ‘high school’ stuff is, like normal people, but…

I never said anything about spending a whole FIVE YEARS here!! That’s… why- that’s half a decade! I can’t waste all of this time in one dingy high school! What if…

Wh… What if Father immediately pulls me back after high school? What if I never get to leave again unless it’s on a… a mission?!

That prison – like place… I don’t want to go back! That would also mean that I only have 5 years of freedom available… If I’m not allowed to slack off during this time, and I’m not allowed to flunk so that I can extend my stay in school while I travel around… then…

DAMMIT! Ugh, whether it’s by Mr. Abrams’s schedule or Father’s demands… they’re both trying to pit me! Grown ups always make stuff about them – everybody ALWAYS has to enforce their own ‘rules’ on me… why can’t they all just disappear for a change?! Just leave me alone for a year or two, so that I...}

Aeron: “…I will note down your silence as acceptance. After all; at some point, we plan to introduce you as a Malierano in school. If that’s the road you choose to travel along, that is. And besides! Some of the other families are starting to move after learning about your selfish little escapade – thinking we’re plotting something special this time around.”

Noel: “…Aren’t you, though?”

…

Aeron: “Hehe~”

Noel: “…”

{This is why the other families don’t trust us.}

Aeron: “Haaaaah~ It’s like we Malieranos are destined to be forever the trendsetters. You’ll meet the other kids from your generation, eventually. But these matters will only remain relevant IF you stay inside this backwater high school.

Do that, and you’ll have to choose to commit yourself to Father’s restrictions right here, right now – without resistance.

…

……But since I’m a generous older brother… I can at least grant you 10 minutes of extra free time to mull it over~”

Within this vast, bleak and grey world, Noel dutifully takes the full ten minutes formulating his decision. Aeron starts humming a tune, completely unfazed and entirely nonchalant to his little brother’s struggles. Nothing could be done anyways, so why waste energy fretting about such a meaningless, rebellious struggle?

...

6 hours later, Friday morning arrived to deliver everybody on Hero High’s campus to their designated classrooms or fields.

Noel and his group gathered inside of the classroom today for their ‘introduction’ to ‘cleaning’. But before that, they each took their time greeting Noel and Rise. After all, some students didn’t get to see the two because they didn’t attend the KING Games, and the two immediately headed for bed by the time these unlucky few finished their cleaning duties around the 3-C classroom.

Oliviera: “Oh… OH MY LEECHUMS…! You both… You both… *Sniff*

…

WAAAAAHHH~ I missed you soo terribly mu-”

Rise: “Your not getting’ any more juicy info for your blog, or whatever it’s called, so stuff those crocodile tears!”

Oliviera: “...HMPH! Fine! Keep all the precious information for yourself, I have my OWN ways of finding out, without your help!”

Rise: “*Yawns* fine. Then you go do that. I’ll just… take a nap.”

Elijah: “Rise, wake up please. Today Mr. Abrams has asked that everyone prioritize watching a movie Mr. Reeds is bringing along. The tv is already set up and everything. He also pointed out that there is a ninety nine percent possibility that we’ll be tested on the video’s contents. It’s roughly two hours long, and would be critical to our future as non – combatants.”

Wayne: “What’s it about?”

Elijah: “I ...don’t know.”

Oliviera: “Pffft, he said our future! Heeheeheee!”

Elijah: “…”

Noel: “*Busy looking around* Oh, so this is what a public classroom looks like… Not too different from what I’m used to, except that it’s kid friendlier and not inside of an all white couple of floors underground.”

Rise: “What kind of strange homeschooling is THAT supposed to sound like…?”

Noel: “...AHEM. It was a joke, Rise. Just a joke.”

Rise: “…Right.”

Mr. Reeds: “Ohohoho~ Hello again everybody, sorry that I am a tad tardy! I planned to come earlier, but I needed to first find this video! That teacher of yours – he only told me to grab it from the teacher’s lounge on top of his desk… but he never specified what floor his desk was on! Haah.

I also heard you kids had it rough this week. Well, just take it easy today, okay? Alright? Good.”

The elder assistant teacher’s soft, and heart-warming smile was exceedingly infectious. For these fresh students, such a day was sorely needed.

And so, for the first two periods, they all watched a movie about the ‘aftermath’ of villain invasions – a documentary meant to raise awareness about how, becoming a crime fighter is NOT as simple as it seems, and people can always lend a hand regardless of their current ability. Some superhero trainees are made to watch this type of video to teach them what could happen due to their carelessness, and how even with the most precise plans, damage and casualties are sometimes inevitable. Also: that true villains are absolutely terrifying in their mindset, and can NOT be reasoned with.

For these kids, though, who wouldn’t actually be fighting in any battlefields…

while such knowledge WAS indeed valuable to have, their focus lay mainly on the ‘jobs’ specialized volunteers and civilians without training or expertise came together and performed once the battle was already won. Aftermath scenes flashed by, one by one – revealing both dangers, like the rubble falling off of the broken buildings, as well as the positive bonuses to performing such helpful tasks- like evacuating other civilians early on to prevent as many casualties as possible. Sometimes, people would be trapped inside of a situation that requires special superpowers to fix. This sort of thing requires locating a sidekick, if any, are nearby, for assistance. Should a hero be done with their fight, then they can also be sought out. Otherwise, civilians can only make do with themselves.

Non – Combatants are essentially the new civilian task force designed to handle the jobs A Superhero is too busy to perform, and a sidekick can handle, but could equally be dragged out of the ensuing chaotic clash between justice and immoral lawlessness while handling such affairs. It’s far easier to allow sidekicks to assist Superheroes and hand the menial and life-saving jobs to a separate unit that doesn’t plan on battling against villains. This way, all three groups: Superheroes, Sidekicks, and Non - Combatants can fully focus on their jobs without splitting their attention too far apart. Mainly, though, clearing out rubble, keeping track of traps and burial spots… seeking out corpses or people in dire need… superheroes can only help in this AFTER they finish battling, while non – combatants are expected to assist early, once the battle has been dragged away from a scene. That way lives are saved sooner. the main problem, as pointed out within the documentary, is that deaths are bound to occur when a civilian tries to help while a villain is still alive and kicking. This is why volunteers are often shunned away now, and sidekicks have it extremely rough trying to evacuate everybody, save trapped civilians while also providing back up for their powerful and heroic partners.

This is why Superheroes have an even tougher time fighting against unrestrained villains, who find that anybody and everybody is an enemy.

This is why, the non – combatant project was initially suggested, funded and finally formed.

---