The GATE Academy [Please read description]

Chapter 11: New Additions

I sat in a reclining chair as I finished telling Keita and Riku what the Headmaster had requested of me inside of their dorm. Keita and Riku understood what was to be done.

We attended class like normal the next day, Thursday, and Friday came around faster than expected.

During lunch, I found myself talking to Yuki, talking to her alone at the beginning of lunch. I had decided to try to make her feel as welcome as she could to GATE, after all, she went to DH her freshman and sophomore year.

"How's GATE so far, Yuki?" I asked her as we sat down at a small 4-person table.

Yuki shifted uncomfortably, "I still don't have a lot of friends, but that's ok, I guess that I'm just too shy to make a move..."

I cracked open the top of my water bottle and took a drink, "Don't sell yourself short, Yuki, you just need to give everybody a chance to get to see how nice you are."

"It's not so much that I'm nice, but rather, that I'm quiet... I had a lot of friends at DH, but I think it was just to have another body in the group... But they still noticed and recognized me," Yuki timidly said as she played with a loose strand of hair that had fallen out of her white beret.

"There you are, Yuki!!" a voice exclaimed from behind me. I looked over my left shoulder to see a girl approaching Yuki's and my table. She sat herself down next to me (either way, she would have had to) and set her tray of food down.

Her hair was a lush, lightish brown color and was up in in a single pony tail. She matched her deep blue eyes with a blue crop top and a pair of white short shorts, also sporting a pair of white tennis shoes. I could tell immediately from her build that she was athletic, probably just cardio sports like running and swimming though, judging from her toned, yet not muscular, build.

"So this is where you've been, Yuki! Flirting with the class president now, eh?" The girl jokingly said to Yuki, elbowing her with her left elbow.

Yuki's blush showed brightly against her fair, white cheeks, "No... No I wasn't, Faith... I don't want to know Shizuo like that..."

I just sat there and smiled, I turned towards the new girl, "Hey there, I'm Shizuo, and you are?" I said politely.

"I know who you are even if we don't have any classes together, Shizuo, everybody does. You're the junior class president and recent savior of GATE from the two DH students, good job by the way. Though, I might add that needing help from a friend to defeat Hiro-Hisashi was a little low, I've taken on and beaten him before," the girl said in a taunting manner, "Oh, and I'm Faith, nice to meet you."

"I..." I was speechless, I know that I could've taken on Hiro-Hisashi myself, given some time, but she just said that she's already defeated him.

"Are you a DH-transfer as well?" I asked Faith.

"Yes, I am. I was supposed to be elected the class president this year, but no, I had to come here to GATE for my junior and senior years."

I nodded my head, "Well we're glad to have you here, Faith," I told her with a smile.

"Thank you," she replied, "But I do have to admit that the people are generally nicer here than at DH. Then again, that just makes one have to work harder to be respected at DH."

"What did you do to earn respect there, Faith?" I asked her.

Yuki looked at Faith and then to me, "She gave the school's douche a thorough beat down."

Faith smiled proudly, "He tried to flirt with me in the wrong way."

I laughed, "I see how it is, then, so do you consider yourself off-limits to guys?"

"No, I only want to make sure that the guy's worth my time," she said, winking playfully.

I just chuckled as I continued to eat my food. After a few moments of silence and eating, I spoke up.

"What do you guys think of DH right now?" I asked the two of them.

Yuki asked, "What do you mean?"

I set my sandwich down, "I guess I'm just asking for where you guys side with this: Us or DH?"

Faith's light air broke as she became serious, "GATE."

I looked at Faith, confused, "It's only been two weeks since you've been here and you're already sold on GATE?"

Faith set down her sandwich as well, "There's a reason why I left the DH Academy, reasons that I won't share now."

I left it at that, but then, an idea came into mind.

"Say... What would you two think about taking a 3-day trip down to DH?"

"Why?" Faith asked.

" 'Spy work'," I replied, "The Headmaster wanted me to check out the other Academy and get a feel on how they feel concerning the 'war' with GATE."

Yuki asked, "But what do we have to do with it?"

"I think that I could use you two on this trip. Since you guys are DH-transfers, you'll be able to get a better feel on how the student body feels. What do you two think?"

Yuki looked at Faith while she stirred her straw inside of her soda cup, Faith answered, "I'm in. Anything against that school and I'm in."

Yuki nodded her head, "I'll go too."

I picked up my empty tray and stood up, "Good, we're leaving Sunday night. Meet up in the office at 9, be packed and ready then."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, as I threw away my trash and set my tray down.

With Faith and Yuki, I knew that my mission would be made easier now.