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༉˚*ೃ ᵒ². 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄!
𝐓𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 have this.
She was standing in front of the giant Battle Centre G examination doors, which stretched dauntingly towards the sky, and the girl was surrounded by a variety of other contestants who were all facing the exact same thing as her. Just waiting for the doors to open. This physical test would determine the courses of their lives. Her heart thunderedwildly within her ribcage.
So, Tsubame told herself this: I'm strong. I'm brave. I'll destroy this exam and get to the top. I'm going to get to the top. Nerves twisted her up inside. I'm going to get to the top.
"Are you ready?!"
She stretched her arms above her head, did a quick jog on the spot, hopped up and down a few times. Anything to hype herself up. To stave off the anxiety that was threatening to make her stomach sick. Her mind ran through the rules again. Destroy all the robots with one to three points. Ignore the robot with zero points. Don't injure anyone. Easy. It was easy.
Tsubame, who'd never had any actual hero training in her life, swallowed.
She had to do this for her family. She had to do this for herself.
The woman's voice came again, and as the great gates began to swing open on their hinges, Tsubame grinned with her sharp teeth, canines already extending as fur bristled up her calves and wrists, bones rearranging. Smiled wolfishly through the pain. Cracked her knuckles. I can do this. Just her and a good thirty other students looking either like they were out for blood or about to faint.
"Go, go, go!"
Tsubame ran.
She'd taken off before her thoughts had even processed the command. Muscle memory. How many times had she run track throughout middle school—sprinted on her strong legs? How many hundreds of kilometres had she run just in training for this moment? There were the thundering of feet around her, dozens of pairs of shoes striking the pavement at once, drowning out the sound of Tsubame's silent predator footfall. With her cheetah legs falling into a sprint, the fifteen-year-old girl was immediately overtaking the other examinees, pressing off ahead and kicking up dust behind her paws. Stay ahead.
