“Fuck! God dammit!” cried Julius, kicking a poor trash can a good fifteen meters away, rolling, having its plastic guts spilling out across the floor. And paper. And whatever else was inside.

“You’re cleaning that up,” told Sorayama Kaiya bluntly, pointing at the self-inflicted mess with her mop.

Julius dropped his arms in frustration. “Fuck you, Sorayama.”

“A2 did that for you,” she mused with a smug smirk, waving him off to do what he was told. He begrudgingly did, cursing under his breath. It was true. During yesterday’s exercise, A2 bested her, straight up humiliating Kaiya and the rest of her team, subsequently winning as a whole against A1. It also didn’t help that she attempted to fly using her psionic energy and subsequently crashed into a tree.

For Combative Class A1’s punishment, they had to clean Field Alpha by themselves until it was absolutely spotless. Even with all twenty students present, it’d take the entire day going well into the night. It was a glorified gym filled with fancy equipment and interchangeable battlefields like an artificial grassfield, a ruined city, a village, and that was all Kaiya could name. Despite it being her third and final year in the Combative Program, she was still clueless, and hungry, and she already wanted to sleep.

Speaking of, she eyed Li Chunhua, inconspicuously, holding her mop close to conceal her scheming thoughts. She was preoccupied with handing orders to Eric and his entourage of numbskulls; they were barely listening, but Chunhua made them listen by snapping her fingers, asking them to repeat her words. An effective tactic. Class Rep was Class Rep.

And for some reason, Kaiya was her second, the Vice Class Representative.

So Chunhua wouldn’t mind if I find someplace quiet to nap… Kaiya deviously chuckled to herself. She roughly knew everybody's positions and chores, their dispositions and their current state of minds. It wouldn't take much to convince someone to cover for her given the right circumstances and subtle negotiation. But that was a lot of work. It could be easier to sneak into the staff rooms but Chunhua and Nadia, one of her trusted aides, had the only keys, because in the former’s words: “One of you will surely hide in there.” then subsequently stared at Kaiya. She was incredibly wrong. Kaiya wanted to sleep, not hide. There was a difference.

So, the western wall? Behind the bleachers? Probably not. Anya was there killing dust-bunnies. While she wouldn’t rat her out, she would hand Kaiya a sword and get her slaying. And Kaiya—her?—she was deathly allergic to slaying and dust.

Then the back of Field Alpha, in the storage rooms, where there were a hundred different gizmos that she hadn’t the understanding of. Maybe she could make a fort out of them, make her forever-home with weird computers and training dummies and sleep the day away. But that’d be a lot of work too. She risked falling asleep mid-way, but it’d provide the most security, even if it was one hour or two.

What to do, where to sleep, how to sleep. These questions toiled her; more importantly, she needed an excuse and someone to give that excuse. Chunhua was bound to notice her absence; thus, if someone she trusted gave her a believable story then it'd be all fine and dandy from there. Not like “Oh! Kaiya went to the bathroom.” because it was such a boring and cliché excuse, but maybe something like “Yeah, she died.” Yes, that was the best answer. Chunhua couldn’t do anything about it if she died. It was best to leave dead people dead.

But who to convince? Everyone, rightfully, knew her as the slacker. Once they see “that glint” in her eyes, they’d back away and deny her anything before she even asked. Even when she pulled her puppy eyes and maybe shed a few tears, they’d turn her down still. Those heartless bastards. And she called them her “friends”.

She thought about asking Julius since he was closest, but he was on his knees, scraping up the trash he kicked. He grumbled to himself, sort of like a bear, sort of like a tiger, but he looked like a puppy. Cute but ferocious. Bad idea. Maybe Eric, once Chunhua was done with him? No, he’d ask to join (and probably flirt with her).

“Dammit…” Kaiya lightly whacked the mop’s staff against her forehead once, then twice to desperately knock herself out, then thrice because it was fun and she was bored. “Who do I have to convince…?”

“Who do you have to convince to do what?” suddenly asked an imposing, authoritative voice.

Kaiya stammered, straightened, feet together and in a sloppy salute, holding her mop to the floor like it was a rifle. “To, uh, lend me their notes for last class.” She added a sweet smile. “...Miss Li, ma'am”

Chunhua was unimpressed, unamused, and unhappy. She was like a ghost sneaking up on her like that. A terrifying, commanding ghost. Worst yet: she was a few inches shorter, but Kaiya felt like she was being looked down upon. “Kaiya.”

“Yes, Miss Li…?” asked Kaiya, quivering purposefully to seem more pitiful.

But she saw through her play, frowning. “Are you trying to sneak off again?”

“Of course not! I would never”—Chunhua’s frown deepened—”yeah, I totally was. You caught me before I even took a step; you’re our Class Rep for a reason, haha. Anyway, I think I’m going to use the bathroom—”

“Kaiya,” said Chunhua again, stopping her for a second time. “Please take this seriously. This is a punishment, not a playground. We have lost to A2, and you were one of the losses.”

Kaiya chuckled, remembering the loss well. After all, it was literally yesterday. “I know. I flew into a tree.”

Chunhua sighed, putting a hand on her hip. “I had thought you were working on your flying.”

“I am! But y’know physics, things with large masses pull on other things with large masses. Like namely, I dunno, my head and that oak tree. Kinda just go—” Kaiya whacked herself with the mop’s staff again, “—bam, knocked out.”

“I believe it was a maple tree, not an oak tree,” corrected Chunhua.

“Don’t make me feel stupider than I already am. Everything looks like oak trees to me.”

“You are not stupid, and you should educate yourself on trees.”

“Uh huh, how many trees can you name—”

“Oak, maple, pine, birch, cherry, hickory—”

“Okay okay, I’m stupid, I get it.” Kaiya bowed her head slightly down, more embarrassed than yesterday. “I thought you couldn’t name more than five. Guess that’s the difference between us.”

“What do you mean?”

“You…” Kaiya pointed. “You look at trees. I sleep under them. You're constantly observing. Or that’s called ‘situational awareness’, I dunno, my English is practically native-level but I don't know the words for everything."

“Hmph. Would situational awareness rescue you from a tree accident?”

“I wouldn’t have offended it by calling it an oak.”

“I suppose you need to start apologizing to every tree you offended then. Beginning with that one.”

“You’re real funny, Chunhua.” Kaiya grinned kindly, and through that smile, her Class Representative softened. Good. Next was the kill. She pulled her in and hugged her tightly. Chunhua gasped, surprised, but she didn’t immediately pull away. “Hey Class Rep?”

However, Kaiya must’ve sounded suspicious because Chunhua began struggling but couldn’t free herself. She fumed. “Yes?”

“Can I take a nap?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Dammit.” Despite her failed attempt, Kaiya kept the hug; Chunhua was awfully warm. This was better than mopping some dirty floor. “C’mon, are you sure? I know you have a soft spot for your favorite slacker.”

“I do not,” defended Chunhua bashfully. “Although you make everyone second guess, you are one of the four B-Ranks in our year; you are much, much stronger and smarter than you give yourself credit for. You can achieve anything."

A small, passing smile was formed on Kaiya's lips, but Chunhua couldn't see that. "Anything, huh...?" You're one of the few people who says that about me. "Do you believe that?"

Chunhua nodded, resting her chin on Kaiya's shoulder. "I do. So I cannot believe you are dedicating your energy into slacking. You knew I would catch you. What excuse would you give this time?"

Kaiya shrugged, snuggling closer. “Something along the lines of 'I died, so for my final wish: don't look for me.'"

“You died?” Chunhua lightly laughed. “That is a worse excuse than the bathroom one. Did you thought I would believe it?”

Kaiya nodded, absolutely certain. “Mhm. This is the hardest year for us. Of course I’d die. So much training, so much studying, so much networking. I can’t believe I’m going through hellish applications for a second time; getting into Ordo University was hard enough, but the Big Four? I’m dying here. And I need sleep. Wanna join me?”

“You know I can’t accept your offer,” said Chunhua, her authoritative tone creeping in once more. “This is the one year where slacking is unacceptable. You need to focus, Kaiya. You need discipline. You could get into any guild if you applied yourself; of everyone in A1, I have the highest expectations for you.”

“Heh.” Hearing that, it almost gave Kaiya the motivation to work. She couldn’t ignore the warming regard in her chest. “Do you really mean that?”

“I do. Everyone here deserves to be successful no matter where they go or what they do. Even Julius despite how emotional he gets. Especially you.”

“And you deny having a soft spot for me.”

“Hmph.”

A brief silence came through.

Kaiya broke, “Hey Chunhua.”

“Yes?”

“You better practice your own advice. Consider it payback for placing such high expectations on me.” Ones that I actually want to meet.

“Heh, okay. It is a promise.”

***

“Hey Julius…” Kaiya laid down a flower she stole from one of the botany labs, setting it upon his white-tarped body. It went flat on his left leg and parts of his head. “We almost died again. I nearly gave myself brain damage protecting Alex's sister and Masaru. The tentacle-thing was a lot heavier than I thought.”

She picked out another flower from her hand, placing it on the next bed. “And David? There’s a good chance we’ll die tonight. Seraph ordered us to focus on Pillar Dawns’s defense, not Pereyra’s subjugation. Everyone is doing their best to prepare, figure out what to do and all that stuff, but I think we’ve been put in check a long time ago.”

Next, she had one last flower, and did the same thing. “By the way, Nadia, Chunhua really misses you. I honestly thought you were a goody-two-shoes and all, but I miss you too. S orry I don’t have enough flowers for everyone though. I stole them from a botany lab or whatever, and I don't know what this flower means but let's hope it's something as innocent as 'love' or 'joy'. It’s the thought that counts, right?

“It’s…” Kaiya sniffled, having an aching pain course through her head. She still suffered from the overuse pains. “It’s insane out there. It hasn’t been a day yet and I’m still making my way through…” She made some odd gestures. “Through whatever this is. Everyone is angry, I’m angry, Professor Hei is angry, we just want it to end.

"Chunhua, she told me that our prosperity was basically guaranteed, y'know? It's something certain, like tomorrow coming after today or the sun rising in the morning, but I haven't seen the sun in the last twenty-four hours, and I don't know if we're gonna live to see tomorrow." Wasn't the first time I had those thoughts. "I wish I was sleeping right now. I can't though. You guys...

"You were the first good thing to ever happen to me. Your deaths have to mean something; they have to."

Someone cleared their throat. Kaiya turned around and found Victor, who looked just as miserable as she was, but he too had a random assortment of flowers in his hands. Of different colors and shapes. Lucky him though, he didn’t have a searing headache. “Looks like I'm not the only one. How you holding up?"

“Awful, Victor Squared,” she joked. They both forced a laugh. "You know what those flowers mean?"

Victor looked down at his "bouquet" and shrugged. "Nope. Isn't that a Japanese thing? Uh, Hikihana?"

"Ikebana. It's uh, flower arrangement. I tried it once or twice in high school but it never clicked."

"Heh, yeah, arranging flowers seem pretty lame." Victor chuckled to himself, sounding forced, before he approached the bodies. Everyone belonged to the Department of Systemic Works, laid out according to classes, with a small piece of paper that had their names penciled in resting by their feet. Victor went to A2's section, and Kaiya followed. "It's been a real fucking morning," he said.

"Tell me about it. I almost gave myself brain damage," said Kaiya.

"Deon almost gave me brain damage, shit. That fucking guy, I swear to God, I'm actually gonna kill him one day. I get it, I fucking do. Everyone is knee-deep in blood and shit but that doesn't mean he can play hero and abandon his team—if this was any other time, he'd be put in front of a council to discuss expulsion...!" and Victor continued to ramble from there, adding a swear between every word.

Kaiya frowned and listened to Victor justifiably badmouth Deon. Universally, Slayers followed two rules above anything else: never abuse the common man, and never abandon your team. Both were crimes with the harshest punishments, especially when a loss of life occurred. Deon had committed executive abandonment, which meant that the Team Leader abandoned their team for "malicious motivations" or whatever Ordoian law said.

When the disaster was over, he'd probably be suspended or expelled, but actual jailtime would be unlikely due to some legal shenanigans (this wasn't the first time a junior from Ordo University committed abandonment).

In summary, Deon fucked up. He couldn't handle his own emotions.

"Can't you go easy on him?" Kaiya asked Victor, interrupting him from his tirade. "We shouldn't be lashing out at each other like this, even if Deon—"

Victor fought, "Deon abandoned his team—!"

"I know that, but we're all pretty worked up right now, don'tcha think?" Kaiya raised her voice, and right as when Victor opened his mouth, she raised a hand. He stopped. "Whatever, I don't wanna argue with you. Not here."

They looked around at this sorry excuse of a graveyard.

Silently, Victor conceded and whispered a soundless apology.

Although he didn't say anything else for the rest of his visit, it seemed Kaiya's words had reached him in some way. That maybe everybody deserved some leniency because everyone was suffering from the same sickness. But it didn't mean Deon should be forgiven; ultimately, it was up to him to redeem himself.

***

After parting ways with Victor, Kaiya wandered around Ordo University, unrecognizable to the day before. The pavement had been washed of blood but not the grass, which was dried red and crusted over. She decided to look up instead and stare at the false night, not particularly paying attention to any of the details. She did this until she reached the dormitory, A1's. All students in Systemic Works were required to stay on campus for the same reason why their classes never change rosters: unity, teamwork, those sappy stuff.

She entered. No one was inside the commons. It was trashed. Tables flipped over, cabinets rummaged through and picked apart, the closet was open and all the pillows and blankets had been taken. The door was unlocked when she came in, and the windows were broken. Maybe some bold refugees came through, or it was the students themselves.

She didn't care that much.

Kaiya went upstairs. Her room was on the third floor, left wing, second door on the right. Only a few rooms were open. They belonged to the ones who had died. Kaiya's was still locked (thank goodness for that). She unlocked it, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

"Heh..." She wanted to cry. Her messy, unkempt, disastrous, tornado-torn and calamity-brewing, horribly disorganized and subjected-to-constant-complaints room—!

It hadn't changed at all.

Not a single bit.

Cheerfully, Kaiya rushed to her bed and pushed aside the piles of clothes on the floor, and pulled out a vase-shaped case. She entered the combination and flipped the latches, revealing a black and burgundy acoustic guitar with a floral design shining through. Of plum blossoms and primroses, the flowers of the Osaka Prefecture.

Sorayama Kaiya sat on the edge of her bed with her guitar having been returned to her hands, and she played remembering yesterday and the day before, thinking back on the future that was supposed to be.