Kai's life remained the same for a while, he woke up early, showered , then went to the cafeteria for breakfast, and finally he attended his survival class before going back to his dorm. It was a tedious and exhausting routine, but he did manage to become less frail, he even began building some muscle. Thankfully, the boring routine was broken when on his way to the cafeteria Kai stumbled across Rin Inoue.
Kai remained silent for a while, he couldn't help but steal a few glances at the young beauty before him. Of course, he had no idea that the woman before him was Rin Inoue, Kai only knew this woman as the one who had slapped him in front of everyone back in the auditorium.
'I have to stop bumping into her, it'll only cause problems...'
But as fate would have it, the young man found himself unable to pass. The young woman was blocking his path, she carried an irritated expression while blocking Kai's path. She took a deep breath before speaking, she suppressed her irritation as best she could.
"...Hey creep- I mean.. Never mind, just listen to me for a moment. I'm sorry about slapping you before, I don't want there to be any bad blood between us. The second trial is upon us and I'd prefer if we were at least not on bad terms in case we met."
Kai paused, he seemed rather shocked. But he also noticed the irritation the young beauty before him was suppressing. As if it was some sort of chore to speak with him. Kai shook his head and the young woman extended her hand to him before he could speak.
"My name is Rin Inoue, what's yours?"
The moment Kai heard the name of the one before him, the young man suddenly felt a sense of disappointment and curiosity wash over him. His lips parted as he spoke in a slightly disappointed tone while taking Rin's hand.
"I see... So you're the famous Rin Inoue, you received a title in your first trial, right? Well, my name's Kaito Yoshida."
The woman, Rin, paused while shaking Kai's hand. Then after just a few moments she spoke her tone slightly more monotone than irritated.
"No, Kai will do it. It sounds better, so I'll call you Kai."
Kai felt his eye twitch slightly at the sudden nickname, it was starting to irritate him. Why did everyone disregard his name and just shortened it to Kai. Was his name just not that great to say, did it sound lame?
The atmosphere quickly turned awkward once Rin let go of Kai's hand. After a few more moments she stepped aside and Kai started walking to the cafeteria. On his way there he began thinking about Sakura, after these long few weeks he hasn't seen her in a while. Not to mention that when he did she seemed too tired to hold a conversation, her combat classes must be really stressful.
'I do hope she's doing alright... She usually looks so drained as if she hadn't slept in days.'
Kai found himself at the cafeteria not too long after, he glanced around and noticed Sakura sitting at their table. She seemed to be alone despite the fact she was ranked so high, it was probably because of her background.
The young man went to the small line that had been forming as people waited to get their breakfast. After a while he finally got his own, he was going all out today because tomorrow might just be his last. But it was mainly because today it was his birthday, Kaito officially turned eighteen.
Sakura glanced up from her own breakfast as she saw Kai carrying him and approaching her. The small dark blue tray he carried contained waffles with cream and a delicious cherry on top, a small slice of vanilla cake, and a glass of milk. Not something you'd usually eat for breakfast. As Kai sat down besides Sakura she let out a soft sigh and then turned her head to look at Kai with a tired smile.
"What's the special occasion for this? It's not usually what you eat and it's not healthy to eat this as a breakfast, you know?"
The young man remained silent for a brief while before offering a soft smile of his own, he spoke in a calm tone, his gaze narrowing as he looked at the slice of cake.
"It's my birthday... I just wanted to get something nice, you know? Like spoil myself a bit, even if it's not very healthy."
Kai felt a soft hand on his shoulder and then noticed that Sakura was smiling at him, he felt a soothing whisper in his ear as the voice of The Hex wrung out in his mind. He hasn't heard it in a while since his first trial.
[You have received a tool from Enlightened Sakura Ito].
[The Incorruptible has been added to your list of tools].
Kai suddenly grabbed Sakura's hand in shock, he didn't know what to say or do. However, right before he could return it or express gratitude, Sakura spoke while retrieving her hand from his grasp.
"Happy Birthday, I got two of them from my first trial, I hope it is of use to you a lot during our upcoming trial."
Sakura chuckled softly while returning her gaze to her own breakfast. Kai remained in shock for a brief moment before suddenly hugging Sakura.
"Thank you. It will come of great use to me I'm sure, you are an amazing friend and I hope to meet with you again after our trial."
Sakura didn't know what to say and simply hugged Kai, her soft smile illuminating her tired face. They remained like this for a few more minutes before the young man pulled away.
"Take care of yourself at least, the trial is tomorrow and you look like you haven't slept in days."
Kai's words were filled with concern for his first friend, although they had only met a couple of weeks back, they had become close. They shared many interests and even ended up in the Outer Shell in similar ways.
Sakura remained silent while looking at her friend, acknowledging his concern for her health. She chuckled and nodded, her eyes returning to her plate as she spoke in a tone almost as soothing as The Hex's whispers.
"...I will take today off and rest. Then tomorrow I must be prepared for the second trial, I'm sure that we will make it out alive... But I- ...never mind, the point is that we will be fine."
She seemed to restrain herself from saying something else, Sakura simply grabbed her spoon and scooped a spoonful of the slice of Kai's vanilla cake, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Kai chuckled and shook his head while picking up the spoon as well. He wasn't going to just let her eat his slice of cake on his birthday. Kai's lips parted slightly and he suddenly spoke, his words playful and lighthearted as he tried to play along with her and not spoil the mood further.
"Hey, watch it, that's mine!"
***
Once Kai woke up in the morning, he let out a heavy sigh while getting up from his bed. It was the day of the second trial and he was anxious. But before all of that he went to shower, taking a long amount of time, it could possibly be his last shower in a while.
The young man got dressed as nicely as he could before stepping outside, when he did he saw many young men and women already out of their dorms or just stepping out of their dorms. They were all heading to one place, the chamber, that was where all four hundred Inferior ranked Enlightened were going to spend their time until they cleared the second trial.
Many would meet their end and many others could rise to glory. Kai noticed Sakura too stepping outside of their dorm, he thankfully couldn't spot Rin either. Even though they claimed to stop having bad blood, it was still very awkward being around the young beauty.
All of the Enlightened slowly directed their attention down the hall as the principal waved and began to guide them to the chamber, each step every young man and woman took, filling their hearts with dread and worry. A few seemed calm, after all they were probably trained by their families to conquer the trials, people who had an Enlightened heritage were trained by their loved ones to become powerful Enlightened and bring even more glory to their family.
How unlucky it was to be born into one of those families, you'd be forced to carry on their legacy even if you didn't wish for such a fate. At least that was what Kai thought about the whole thing. Kai began to think to himself silently as he entered the chamber alongside everyone else. It was a very massive and elegant place indeed.
'This place is pretty, it's just a shame that it could also become a graveyard for most of us here...'
The Enlightened were each ushered into one of the sleeping pods, Kai managed to glance one more time as Sakura was helped into her own sleeping pod. All Enlightened were already feeling tired today as The Hex was already trying to throw them into the trials. Once the young man finally entered his own sleeping pod, he saw his teacher slide the lid close before speaking in a very emotional tone.
"...Come back alive, kid don't you dare die..."
***
Author's Note: Hello guys, yes it's me again! I still am thinking of releasing another chapter, it will most likely be released around 6:00 EST, so if it's not out by then I had changed my mind or something came up. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :]