Purotekuta

CHAPTER FIVE

The rest of the examinees are already in the main lobby, waiting for their test scores to show up on the screen. I don't even want to see mine. I already know that I failed.
          I look up at the large screen anyways just to humor myself, shocked to see that my name is in the number one spot!
          How-... I only had twelve points! Wait... There were rescue points too?! I got one hundred and twenty rescue points?! There is an aura of shock radiating throughout the room.
          Someone growls at me from behind recognizing the scent. That's the scent of that guy who came up to me before the physical exam started. What was his name? I think it's Ikari.
          I look back at him, the veins on his arms glowing red again. 
          "You idiot! I am supposed to be in the number one spot! I have the most points! Rescue points don't even count! This is bull-shit!" He roars, stalking toward me. "How'd you even pass the exam in the first place?! You're just a wolf!"
          "Yet you ignore the fact that you don't even know if I have an affinity or not," I explain calmly. My right-hand bursts into flames—the hand that my father burned when I was just eight years old. Ikari's eyes widen, explosions firing off in his blood-red eyes.
          "I can't believe you! You tricked me, didn't you!" Ikari bellows.
          "I did no such thing, Ikari. You merely assumed something of me that isn't true," I reply calmly. I don't need to get in a fight right now. 
          He scowls at me, his head about to pop off in anger. The veins along his arms become brighter, creating a spiderweb of glowing lines.
          "If you don't mind me asking, what's your affinity?" I ask curiously. That catches him by surprise, his eyes widening, sneer relaxing slightly. The veins along his arms dim down, the heat surrounding him receding.
          "What's it to you, nerd?" he growls quietly, glaring at me.
          "Your affinity seems to be a powerful one, but it also seems that you can barely control it when you're angry. I have never seen an affinity like or similar to yours." His stance stiffens, his sneer returning, but his veins aren't glowing yet. I wonder why.
          "You want to know my affinity? Fine! My affinity, dynamite, allows me to create explosions wherever I want, as long as it's in my line of vision. The perk to this affinity is that I can also cause explosions inside a living organism. When I'm angry, my veins glow due to tiny explosions occurring within my bloodstream. My affinity doesn't allow me to explode by my explosions. Happy!?" I raise my ears, close my eyes, and bow my head to him.
          My wings are tingling from being folded tightly to my back. Even though they're invisible—thanks to one of the teachers here—they're still very much there pysically.
          I have to be careful not to bump them into anyone or knock things over.
          "I greatly appreciate you explaining your affinity to me, Ikari." I raise my head to look at him. "And it seems it's a powerful one too. I look forward to seeing you in class!" He scoffs at me and walks away, clearly mad at himself that he spilled information about his affinity to someone he didn't know. I'll have to ask Father about him when I get home. I still can't figure out what Family he's from.
          A sound from across the room catches my attention. Is someone crying? I race over to them as fast as I can, but my body's still exhausted, so it's not as fast as it can be.
          It's crowded, so it takes longer than I want it to. God, my wings are starting to hurt. I have to move them soon. 
          "Are you alright?" I ask the boy softly, kneeling down in front of him. I look down at another examinee who is sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, crying. There are bruises all over his body—his wings look pretty beat up, too. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" I ask quietly. 
          He looks up at me, his dark brown eyes staring up at me, tears streaming down his face. He has blood on his face, one of his eyes swimming with red. His wings are quivering, his whole body shaking.
          I sit down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He starts crying harder and falls onto me, his arms wrapping around my chest. I am caught by surprise and my eyes widen, wings twitching.
          It only takes me a second to get over my shock, and I hug him back. I can feel his whole body shake as he sobs on my chest. He is so small, so cold. He must be on so much pain right now.
          We just sit there for a few minutes until he starts to calm down. When he stops crying, he loosens his grip on me, clearly exhausted.
          I take his shoulders and gently push him off me, supporting his weight with my hands. He looks at me, tears still streaming down his face. He has a deep brown eye that looks almost black. His right eye is swimming with blood, a gash right down the center of it. The eye has a glazed look to it, something you would see in a blind person. Oh my god, he's blind in his right eye. The gash looks new, almost like it happened recently.
          His eyes are sad, tears streaming down his face. His silver hair is falling into his eyes, the place where it's touching the gash soaked in blood. His ice-blue wings are shredded up and look broken. I feel a tsunami of anger and fury surge through me.
          "Who did this to you?" I ask him intently. His eyes swim with tears.
          "Another examinee came up to me, and started yelling and hitting me. I don't remember why he was yelling, or what about. I-I'm sorry..." His voice is small, unpracticed, and coarse. I pull him close again, wrapping my arms around him and letting him cry into my shoulder.
          "Don't worry—It's alright—I'm here now." I can't help but imagine what he's been through. I'm surprised that the professors didn't stop him from taking the exam; he's clearly not in a state to do so. 
          These injuries couldn't have been caused by another examinee, either. It's not tolerated here. 
          My wings bristle as I clutch him closer to me.
          He doesn't need to feel afraid anymore—I will protect him, and make sure he's never abused again. "Hey, uhm... Do you mind if you tell me your name?" I whisper. He raises his head to look at me, his eye red from crying.
          "I'm Akio, uhm. What's your name?" He is hiccupping from crying so much. I feel so bad for him 
          "My name's Hajime, and I'll make sure you're never hurt like this again." I proclaim to him.
          He looks at me, his eyes wide. He looks surprised, but relieved; like nobody has offered to do that for him before. They probably haven't.
          "Can you come with me, Akio?" He nods. I get up and offer him my hand and he places his small, pale hand inside. His hands are so cold.
          I grip his hand, my fingers wrapping around the top, and hoist him onto his feet.
          He's short. He can't be more than 170 centimeters.
          I move to let go of his hand but he grips it harder, his head bowed. I can hear the sound of his tears falling to the floor. Poor thing.
          "Alright, Akio. I won't let go—I promise." I comfort him. He looks up at me, and I smile back down at him. When was the last time I smiled?
          "Come on now, let's get you to the nurse's office." He tightens his hold on my hand again and shakes his head, clearly terrified of anybody else besides me at the moment.
          This is a dilemma. He won't get better if he doesn't see the nurse. I stand there, thinking. Eventually, I come up with a decision. "Okay then. Let's ask if they can make changes so that we're always close to each other, same dorm and class. Sound good?" He nods his head, the ghost of a smile on his face.
          "Yes...." I smile wider at him, and we start walking toward the principal's office.