The Moment Unfolds, Part 2

As Zenatori awakes from his bed, it isn't like every other awakening. There was a knock at the door of his dorm. The voice said.

"I'd like to speak to you, Zenatori. May I enter?"

Zenatori scratches his head and rubs his eyes before saying.

"Sure."

Principal Hayoku walked into the room and jokingly said.

"You let people in that easily?"

"Well, I'm new here, so I figured that the chance of it being anyone but you is pretty low. But, what do you need?"

"Because of the fact you're new here, I'd like to begin personally teaching you about isotonic force."

"I don't really have any reason to decline."

"Well, great! We can begin training after class. Meet me in the school's courtyard."

Hayoku shuts the door, taking his leave. Zenatori lay in bed, and his eyes began fluttering. Suddenly, he was asleep.

As he awakes a second time, he checks his phone.

12:55 am.

As Zenatori stretched, welcoming the morning, the realization set in. He had 5 minutes to get ready.
Zenatori raced into class, he slid the door open, and missed the bell by a mere moment. He adjusts his tie and takes a seat.

Akari says to Zenatori.
"It's better if you're not late."

Zenatori sarcastically remarks.
"Thanks, I needed that a lot!"

"You're welcome. That aside, are we meeting in the library?"

"No, Principal Hayoku is teaching me now."

"Seriously..? There's no way..."

"What?"

"Why would the principal teach you..?"

Zenatori thought.

"I suppose the principal of the school teaching me would come as a shock, it was to me, too."

He then says.

"He said it was because I was new, I guess he's just trying to fill me in."

"Who would have thought? Well, we have an exam in a couple of days, so I was trying to teach you as much as I could. But if he's gonna do it, I guess there's no point in it now. Because I sit next to nobody, I'm pretty much a last option in exams, but since you sit next to me, I'm pretty much guaranteed to be your partner. It's best we stay in touch to discuss the exam."

"I agree."

The two trade contact information, and Mashaka begins the lesson.

The bell rang, ending class, and as Zenatori began walking out, he thought.
"I believe I needed to go to the courtyard."

A girl stops him by saying.
"Hey, Zenatori."

As Zenatori turns his back, he sees the short-haired girl with brown hair. He thought.
"Does this girl know me, somehow? Maybe from grade school?"

Zenatori was slightly surprised.
"Who are you?"

The girl struts toward Zenatori in a way of lividity. Zenatori wasn't sure what to feel from such a sudden display. Even though he was quite aware of anything happening in this school, her outrage seemed imminent. As she approaches Zenatori, she swiftly stops.
"How did you get to know Akari so well?" she said.

Zenatori says in a mix of amusement and a dubious manner.
"Huh..?"

She continued her rant.
"You two seem like such friends, how did you do it, despite transferring two days ago!"

Zenatori said reluctantly.
"Well, I wouldn't call us friends..."

"Well, that's what it looks like!"

Zenatori thought as the girl only got closer.
"Why is she so passive-aggressive about this? Maybe she has a bad history with her."

Zenatori then exclaims.
"Do you know her?"

The girl scoffed in a transparent way.

"Of course I know her! She usually isolates herself from everyone else unless there's something in it for her. During exams, I always get paired with her, and she seems so cold and distant from me. I just want to know how you did it!"

Indecisively, Zenatori said
"I'm not really the person to ask for advice, what she did was at her own will."

"Is that so? Well, at least I know that she has the capacity to befriend people."

She realizes what she's done and looks slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry about this," she said as she slowly walked back.

"Oh, don't worry about it."

She turns back then walks away.

"My name is Akikyo Yachi!" she said before strutting from the scene.

Zenatori stuck his hands in his pockets and walked in the other direction.

"Akikyo Yachi? Why does she want to befriend Akari so badly? This probably isn't the last I see of her," he thought calmly.

Zenatori finally makes it to the courtyard and is hit by the outside air. The warm spring lets any nervousness he felt leave his body. He sees Hayoku sipping on a cup of coffee, leaning against the school walls, as he seemingly waits for Zenatori.

Zenatori makes eye contact with Hayoku and thinks.
"Who drinks coffee during the middle of the day?"

Hayoku leaves his post against the wall and lowers his coffee cup.

"Hi, Zenatori," he said.

Zenatori raises his hand in a greeting manner.
"What's the real reason I'm here exactly?" said Zenatori.

"I just don't want you coming behind everyone else during the exams, so I guess you could say this is special treatment. I'm not sure if you realize it or not, but the first years have a pre-tokoshu exam a week from now. To make sure you don't completely drag your group down, I'll train you to the best of your abilities. Past this exam, however, you'll be a free bird."

"How about I just don't participate in this exam?"

"The overseers require everyone to take the exams regardless of when they came. To be honest, you might be an exception, because new students are already rare. We've never had one that came right before the exam. But they don't believe reason when it comes to me."

"Why is that?"

"Who knows, dude. They are all just living in the past, who thought it was a good idea to let these old men control the society of syneji artists?"

"Society of syneji artists?" Zenatori said questioningly.

"Oh, the ASA, the Association of Syneji Artists. It makes sense, you don't know it, you'd understand when you get older."

Hayoku sips his coffee as if it were to mentally reset him.
"I'm ranting, aren't I? Let's focus on the matter at hand."

Hayoku glances at Zenatori.

"Yep, an average isotonic force pool."

"Huh?"

"I always have my venerated sights of divinity active. You never know what could happen."

"I see," Zenatori said hesitantly.

"It seems that the venerated sights of divinity allow you to see someone's isotonic force," he thought.

"Let's do a few tests."

Hayoku throws a rock, and Zenatori swiftly catches it.
"Try imbuing isotonic force into that rock. Anyone with isotonic force can imbue it into objects, using actual isotonic force with a syenji is much harder. But for starters, just try imbuing your isotonic force into the rock."

"Uhm, how do I do it?"

"You kinda just do, just imagine you using isotonic force or something."

"That honestly didn't help," Zenatori thought.

Zenatori sits for a moment, trying everything he can.

"Don't worry, you're new, you can take your time," Hayoku said.

After a few more moments of concentrating, Zenatori felt a flicker. The sparks became longer until he finally...

Hayoku slightly smiles.
"He did it," he thought.

Zenatori slightly smiled and thought.
"The first step forward. The step to save everyone I know."

After a short moment, Zenatori has a realization.
"It's kinda crazy to think the first syneji artists had to learn this step by step. How exactly did syneji artistry start?"

Hayoku looks at Zenatori for a moment and takes a long sip of coffee.
"To be honest, I don't feel like trying to explain all of that. Just find a book in the library somewhere."

Zenatori thought.
"This guy. Can't you just take the extra step? I guess I'll just ask Akari."

Hayoku says to Zenatori.
"For now, we'll stop here today."

Zenatori said, slightly unamused.
"Already?"

"Zenatori, this is a type of process you can't rush. Most of the first-years couldn't expel isotonic force until the first week."

"But the exam is in a week!"

"Exactly, that's why from here, we'll ramp up the training. The growth of a syneji artist is exponential. We start small, and learn more as time goes by."

Zenatori wanted to make a rebuttal, but he himself knew nothing about syneji artistry. He knew at the very least, Hayoku was right. This progress couldn't be rushed and was unfinished.
"I understand," Zenatori said, quite unsatisfied.

Hayoku claps his hands together and smiles.
"Great! We'll begin here again after class. How about one hour after class? It will give you some time to learn some history."

"That's fine."

"Well, that's it for today, Zenatori."