- Oh Mikey, it’s you! Please come on in – Ito sensei said while waving him in and continued - You two know him already, but for you Mr. Wagner this is Mike. He’s the son of a really close friend of mine and my personal assistant. Also, he makes the best black tea

- Everything I know I’ve learn from you, sensei – he walked past us, gave us a little bow and started to display the cups on a little table between the two bookshelves, right in the middle of the room. He then poured the hot liquid on each one and put a platter with what seemed to be some sort of cookie in the middle of the four cups.

- Please everyone, have a seat, we have lost enough time and we have a long day ahead of us

We all sat down except for Mike, who was standing diagonally besides Ito sensei. The table was rectangular, and could fit two people on each long side plus one on each end. Ito sensei sat on the far end of the table, closer to his desk, I sat to his right, agent Meyer to his left, so I expected Mercedes to sit in front of Ito so we were all facing someone, but for my surprise she sat down right next to me on the second chair in my side, so we ended up both facing agent Meyer and no one was facing Ito sensei.

- Please, enjoy the tea and the cookies while I give you a little introduction.

I was a bit reluctant about the tea, so I went directly for the cookies instead. They looked like really basic vanilla cookies, so I put one in my mouth expecting nothing special, and got gratefully surprise by a peppery spicy flavor that I didn’t expect at all

- Wow, what is in this thing? It’s spicy, but not too much, and really goes well with the sweet and soft flavor of the vanilla

- I see you have good taste – Mike answered me with a proud smile on his face – and you are correct, they are vanilla and pepper cookies. They go extremely well with the tea and Ito sensei loves them

- Indeed I do – he said while putting one in his mouth

I ate one more before noticing that they had a flaw, which was their dryness. I suspect that’s the reason why they go well with the tea. I looked at the little mug on the table still with doubts, but still gave it a try since the worst that could happen was me sneaking it down into the cup once again if the taste ended up being too bad. So, I lifted the cup by the handle and gave it a little sip since it was too hot for anything more than that. I waited a moment, then swallowed. To my surprise, the tea wasn’t bad at all, in fact, it was really good. It had a sweet tone to it but not too sweet, and once you swallowed it there was a bitter flavor that combined really well with the spicy of the cookies, just like Mike said.

- You have to tell me where you buy those cookies and how to make this tea

- Hahaha, you are an interesting boy – the elder man laughed – Mike, please write that information down for our young friend Theo here and give it to him at the end of the day, would you please?

- Of course, sensei. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work left before my lunch break

- We’ll see you later then, I’ll be waiting for that info.

- Don’t worry, I’ll have it ready for you – he answered me with a nice expression and left the room

- Before we begin, I want to ask you something Mr. Theo – the principal spoke directly to me – would you mind telling me your age?

- I’m 18 sensei – it was a weird question, but I didn’t mind answering it

- Oh, interesting…

He seemed thoughtful, which worried me a little

- Is something wrong?

- Nono, nothing at all. Well, I guess we can begin now – He said while sipping the remaining content on his cup

- Finally! – Mercedes exclaimed and I could notice the irritation and annoyance on her voice

- Hey, watch your tone while speaking to Ito sensei child – agent Meyer quickly reacted – Please, continue sensei

- Thanks agent Meyer. The reason for you being here today is to give a little demonstration. Lately, the teachers have been noticing that the students are lacking motivation, especially those on the 4^th and last semester that didn’t qualify for the special training. They say that there’s no point on training if they aren’t likely to pass the trials, and that even if they did, the crime rate only goes up. They haven’t been training as hard as they should, and lack determination. So, I’d like you two to show them what a trainee can do, and what is needed to become an agent. First I didn’t know if bringing Miss Wood here would be a good idea since she had been top of her class and isn’t your average student, but now with the presence of the young Theo, things might result different. You, young trainee – this time he spoke directly to me – can prove to them that enough hard work and dedication can get you anywhere, and that’s exactly what they need.

I was left speechless. What was Ito sensei talking about? He seemed to think of me as some kind of beacon of hope for his students? How could I be something like that if I didn’t even go to an academy? I was just a little boy with a dream that later became obsession, but I’m no beacon.

- I… M… Don… - I started stuttering, incapable of putting this thoughts into words. I started feeling the nerves creeping out on me as I felt everyone’s gaze reaching towards me. I was about to reject Ito’s request with some random excuse, when all of a sudden…

- So, we basically have to be teachers?

It was Mercedes who spoke first, saving me from the awkward situation

- Mmm… No. Well, yes and no. I don’t want you to teach the students how to wield a sword, even if a little demonstration of your capabilities would be great, we have teachers more than capable of doing that. No, what I want… what I need from you is something that even the best sensei cannot teach, something only a trainee like you, who passed the latest trials, can give to the students: an objective, something to work for, a goal – He suddenly stood up, looked both at me and Mercedes right in the eyes, and gave us a huge bow before finishing his request – That’s why, young trainees, that I ask you to please lend me a hand and help me guide my students in the right path

The situation seemed surreal. What could I, an 18 year old training freak and self-taught swordsman, possibly teach this 19 and 20 year olds, who weren’t just nobodies, but students of the best and more prestigious swordsmanship academy in the World?

Suddenly, I realized that I had just given myself the answer.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of them needing something from me because they already have more opportunities and resources than I had. And that sudden realization pissed me off. How can they lack motivation and determination when they have the best teachers, training material and facilities that exist probably in the entire world?  I had to train myself with a plastic tube for years, while reading anything I could find related to swordsmanship in my mom’s deposit. I even had a couple of English to other languages dictionaries, since not every book in there was in English, for fucks sake! And Ito sensei is telling me that some rich kids who had everything served to them in a silver platter couldn’t make the tiniest of efforts?

I stood up and positioned myself right in front of the still low-headed Ito sensei and with a firm and strong voice that I had never heard from me before, I finally spoke:

- Please, lift your head up sensei – he moved his gaze up until he met mine, and probably saw the determination in my eyes because he obeyed with an astonished look, and only then I continued – We’ll show this kids what is needed to be a part of the White Police corps, we’ll show them what a mere trainee is capable of, and more importantly, I’ll show them that if a nobody like me who worked his ass off, got to enter the White Police, even with this year’s strict regulations, then they should be more than capable of doing the same, and that the more they work, the easier it will be to help the people of this new World live in peace

As I finished, I extended my hand. Ito sensei was still shocked, but quickly recomposed himself and accepted my hand with a comforted smile on his face

- Thank you, Mr. Theo. I’ll leave it in your hands

- Ahem… There’s more people here, remember? – Mercedes interrupted with a hint of annoyance in her voice

- Thanks for ruining our moment – I replayed trying to tease her a bit

- Oh, I’m sorry, do you want us to leave the two of you alone? – she quickly added, exaggerating her tone to try and tease back, but, even if she was a prodigy with the sword, there was something that I was better at than her, and that was sarcasm

- Are you perhaps jealous, Miss. Wood? – A creepy smile appeared on my face

- Ha, you wish! – She tried to play it cool, bit I could see she was already losing her temper, so, I pushed once again

- Hmm… No, it is not jealousy since neither of us is big, strong nor a muscle head…

- W-Wha… How do you… - She mumbled something, but before she could answer, I delivered the final blow

- I know! You want to be left alone with someone too! You should have said so

- N-No! That’s not it at all! – She tried to escape, but it was already too late…

- Want me to give him a call? – I said moving my hand to my pocket, as if reaching for my phone, but before I could do so, she grabbed my wrist and hiding her face behind her hair, probably red from anger and embarrassment, Mercedes screeched

- NO, SHUT UP!

I win.

I escaped her grasp with a quick flick of my wrist and put my hand in the pocket, taking out the content inside. She looked up with a fearful expression, but the only think she saw on my hand was a little thin green box of gum

- What’s with that look on your face? You don’t like gum? – I said while taking out a piece and putting it in my mouth.

- But… You… Phone… Call…

- Oh, about that, I left my phone inside my locker at the HQs

In the next couple of seconds, Mercedes’ face went through every expression possible, finishing with a mix of embarrassment, anger and killing intent, which I’m sure she would’ve lashed out to me if we weren’t in the presence of Ito sensei. Her face turned red and seemed to be about to explode, but she was making a good effort controlling it until…

- HAHAHAHAHA You got totally played Miss Wood! I’ve told you that sarcasm isn’t your thing and you should definitely learn something about our new partner!

Agent Meyer was hysterically laughing while continue teasing Mercedes, which turned useless all her effort because she finally exploded, screaming to her tutor while hitting him like a monkey, using both her fists like hammers

- SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!!!!

The room was chaos, agent Meyer couldn’t hold his laugh and Mercedes wasn’t going to stop either. I was amused but then remember that Ito sense was still here, and suddenly felt badly for him since we were probably bothering him. I turned to him to apologize but when I saw his face, I noticed that he wasn’t mad, on the contrary, he was smiling while looking at the scene unfolding before him.

- I think I might have gone a bit too far with that… Hahaha…

- Don’t worry Mr. Theo, she’s always been a bit moody. It’ll go away in a moment and then we can go. I’ve asked all the professors of the third and fourth semester classes to gather their students around the arena we have behind the center building so you can use it as an improvised stage.

A minute later, both Agent Meyers and Mercedes had calmed down, and the first one was apologizing to the second one, still hiding a smile, so we were about to leave when I stopped for a moment to ask a question that had me feeling uneasy for a bit

- Excuse me sensei, can I ask you a question before we go?

- Of course you can

- You mentioned that there are a few classes gathered together waiting for us right now… Well, how many students are we talking about?

- Hmm… I think that something in between five and six hundred

- Oh… okay, we can go now

Shit. Shit fuck. I have to talk in front of that many people? What am I gonna say? What am I gonna do? I’ll probably be the youngest person there too! Oh fuck, I don’t want to do this, but I cannot back down after my little speech on Ito’s office. Great job brain, you really fucked us this time.

We got out of Ito’s office and walked through the building directly to the backdoor that lead us to the open. Once we were out, I saw exactly what I expected from Mercedes description earlier. There was a big building in the middle of the campus, and to both sides you could see the long corridor-like dorms that ended in the ‘First’ and ‘Second’ buildings. The rest of the campus’ floor was a big grass carpet with some paths to walk on with occasional tables and benches scattered here and there.

- There’s nothing else here besides the arena sensei mention earlier and those things? – I said pointing at the closest bench

- Of course there is, but you probably cannot see it from here. You remember how I told you how the First and Second building are connected? Well, the entire bottom floor of that building is basically a shopping mall, with convenience stores, food places, clothing stores and such. They did it so the students could still do social activities while inside the security of the campus.

- Oh right, that makes complete sense to have inside a school!

Fuck rich kids. I hate them. Of course, I hate them out of envy, I want to be a rich kid, not for the superiority complex part, but for the money part. I like money, okay? Maybe because I’ve always lived with the right amount of money to not starve, but whatever the reason is, I like money.

 We kept walking until we were right in front of the Special Training Building. I didn’t know if the world ran out of architects after the world, but every single building inside the campus seemed the same and it was pretty boring if you ask me. Of course, I know absolutely nothing about architecture so I wasn’t gonna speak my mind about it.

- Come on, the arena is right outside the backdoor of this building so if we cross through it we’ll save a bit of time – Ito sensei explained and, even if he was talking to all of us, Mercedes, and I assume agent Meyer too, already knew the campus well enough, he was probably speaking only for me

- Let’s go then – I added as a form of gratitude for his explanation

We went inside the building and, once again, it was generic and boring just like the lobby and probably the other buildings too. It was a straight path from the front to the back, so in just a minute we were waiting at the door that led to the arena.

- Before we go out, do you have any more questions? – Again he asked to all of us, but was mainly talking to me

- A lot, but none of them is going to help me with this – I said dropping my head and lifting my shoulders in sign of resignation

- Okay then, without further ado, I thank you once again and wish you good luck! – Ito sensei exclaimed, and opened the door.