Identity V - Your Voice

CHAPTER 6

As the first years looked at the scene in front of them, Naib stared at Jack for the time being. He thought, 'Isn't he one of the student council? I didn't expect to see him here.' Jack noticed him and Jack's eyes widened in surprise while Naib awkwardly looked away from the sudden attention.

    'Hmm? Well this is going to be interesting.' Jack thought.

    "Hey man, the next time you're late, Martha's going to give you the punishment routine. " Xie Bi'an said.

    Jack looked listlessly at the sky. "Mhm" he replied.

    "I don't really understand both you and Martha." Xie Bi'an sighed. "Anyway, just do the usual warm-up and then when we're good to start."

    Jack looked from Xie Bi'an's spot to the first year students. He thought about doing the warm-up exercises is just a waste of time. Some of the first years looked at him waiting for his instructions with a hint of fear in their eyes. 'Well, I don't want to be all strict and boring like those two... How about let's do something fun instead.' Jack smiled at his idea and started humming a tune.

    "I don't like where this is going." Martha thought out loud.

    "Hm? What's wrong?" Xie Bi'an said while scanning through all the club application forms of the first years.

    "Jack's in a pretty good mood apparently. He's humming."

    "Oh? Isn't this a sight to see. If his warm-up is good, I don't think we'll have to continue with the original plan then."

    Martha looked at Xie Bi'an with annoyance. "If that's what you think, then you can watch over them by yourself. I'm going to relax."

    "Alright kids, this warm-up is going to be good." Jack smiled. "We're going to play tag and I'm going to be the it. Rules are simple, if you got tagged in under 1 minute, you're out. I also won't be allowed to switch targets unless I tagged a person or I have been chasing someone for more than 1 minute. Got it?" The first years just stared at Jack, a little bit confused on his plan for the warm-up. Meanwhile, Naib is intrigued at the thought of playing tag. 'So the evaluation starts now huh? If I don't survive for at least a minute, I won't be able to join the team.'

    Jack looked at the Captain and said, "Would you mind helping me with the timer?" Xie Bi'an gave an 'okay' sign and now Jack is all excited.

    "By the way, I'm giving you 30 seconds to go as far away from me as possible. Once the time is up, I'm going to start running." Jack gave out his last instruction.

    As Jack blew the whistle, all the first years ran as far as they could to at least have a sort of advantage. The field was wide and it is surrounded by chain-linked fences. Playing tag in this kind of open area has its ups and downs. The good side of this is that the area is so wide you can run as far and as fast as you can. But the down side to that is there's no time or place for rest.

    A different sound of whistle was heard and that signals the 30-second timer. Jack didn't bother to look back at the Captain and began chasing one of the first years which he thinks is the closest target. The first target was caught in less than 20 seconds.

    "Oh man! I didn't know he runs really fast. I guess I took him lightly..." the first captive said as he went to the bench beside the Captain.

    Xie Bi'an laughed at the statement. "You really shouldn't underestimate him even with that kind of attitude. Once he wants to have fun, he'll really do it seriously."

    A random voice joined in the conversation, "I can see what you mean there, Captain."

    The Captain looked at the other side and raised an eyebrow, showing his amusement. 'Oh?'

    There are a total of 20 students who applied for the Track and Field Club and so far only 4 students survived the 1 minute requirement in playing tag. The other 15 students sat on the bench while waiting for the warm-up to end. Jack stared at the 4 students and thought that something was off. 'Something is not right. I know the number of first years I've caught and I've been chasing after these remaining first years with the 1 minute interval. I can see there are four of them left, and I think one person is missing.' Jack stopped and looked at his surroundings. The other four were confused at the sudden halt, but still aware of the other. Meanwhile, Captain looked at his side and said "Hey kid, I bet he's looking for you now." Jack looked at the benches and saw Naib sitting beside the Captain. He gave out a small smile and started walking towards Naib's direction.

    Naib felt Jack's gaze and a chill went up to his spine. He knows to himself that he has to start moving now. He knows what will happen once he's caught. He kept on walking to the side near the fences and waited for Jack's move. Jack started running towards Naib and Naib made his move. Naib ran a little close to the fence and propelled himself to run to a different direction catching everyone off guard. Jack was amused by the sudden movement but still pursued to catch Naib. 'Forget about the other four, this kid is really interesting.' Jack thought.

    "Oh boy, he's really focused right now huh." Xie Bi'an still amused with all that's happened this morning. "Hey kids, come here. I think you guys are good now."

    After three minutes of running, Naib dropped on the ground. "Oh, you're done?" Jack asked. "Well, I don't mind. You're in anyway."

    Naib turned his head to Jack and his eyes widened at his statement. "What do you mean I'm done?" Naib asked.

    "Oh, don't mind that! I was just testing how long you can last." Jack replied and smiled in amusement. "Your idea of hiding near the Captain is a good, but I think if you joined us from the start, it will be more fun."

    'He was just testing me? What does that mean? I really don't understand him.' Naib thought. With the sound of the whistle, everyone gathered again for the next announcement.

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A/N:

It's been a while, everyone! Here's the next update and I hope you guys enjoy reading it. (uwu I haven't really been thinking about what to write and these just popped in my head as I just did it. But!! I still try to sync the following part from the previous chapters and I don't really want rushing this story. I hope you guys will still be patient for the future updates. Let me know what you guys think and I'll always do my best to talk to you guys (uwu

xoxo,

ruka_pyon7009