"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. He then awakens a second time and checks his phone.

12:50 am.

As Zenatori stretched, welcoming the morning, the realization set in. He had 10 minutes to get ready. Zenatori rushed out of bed, barely able to brush his teeth and fix his hair. He raced to class, sliding the door open, and missed the bell by a mere moment.

He adjusts his tie and takes a seat.
"It's better if you're not late," Akari said with a tease.
"Thanks, I needed that a lot!" He sarcastically remarked. 
"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?" 

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

"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. I'll continue to do so as long as you're fine with it."

"Yeah, I'd like that." 

"You should ask him if you have to participate in the exam."

"I'm going to participate regardless."

"Huh? You're vastly underestimating who you're going up against. I guess everyone learns the hard way at some point."

"Pffft, I'll be fine. I don't plan on losing."

"To be honest, no one knows what the exam will truly be about, but we should stay in touch, just in case."

The two trade contact information, and Mashaka begins the lesson. The bell rang, ending class, and as Zenatori began walking out, a voice called him out.

"Hey, Zenatori." It was a feminine voice Zenatori didn't recognize.

Zenatori turned his back and saw the short-haired girl with brown hair. She didn't see anyone familiar from anywhere, but that could be because of the school's uniform. Her body was quite small, compared to Akari's, but her beauty was vivid.

"Who are you?" He said.

The girl struts toward Zenatori in a way of lividity. He wasn't sure what to feel from such a sudden display.  "How did you get to know Akari so well?" she said.
"Huh..?" He said dubiously. 
"You two seem like such friends, how did you do it, despite transferring two days ago!"
"Well, I wouldn't call us friends," He said reluctantly.
"Well, that's what it looks like!"

"Why is she so passive-aggressive about this? Maybe she has a bad history with her."
"Do you know her?" He then exclaimed.

"Of course I know her!" She said transparently. "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!" 

"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 and then walks away. 

"My name is Akikyo Yachi!" She said with a bright smile, waving at Zenatori.

He 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'll see of her."

He 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.

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 tokushu exam a week from now. To make sure you aren't a complete failure, I'll train you to the best of your abilities. Past this exam, however, you'll be a free bird."

"Can I choose not to participate?"
"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." 

He then glanced at Zenatori.
"So you really do have isotonic force."

"Huh?" 

"I always have my venerated sight active. You never know what could happen." 

"I see."

"It seems that the venerated sight allows you to see someone's isotonic force," Zenatori thought.
"Let's do a few tests," Hayoku said.

Hayoku threw a rock, which Zenatori swiftly caught.
"Try imbuing isotonic force into that rock," Hayoku said. "Anyone with isotonic force can imbue it into objects, using actual isotonic force with a syenji is much harder." 

"What's a syenji?"

"You don't need to know that right now. 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's terrible advice." Zenatori briefly 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 few more moments of concentrating, Zenatori felt a flicker. The sparks became longer until he finally... Hayoku slightly smiles.
"Well done!" Hayoku said.

"The first step forward," Zenatori said internally. "The step to save everyone I know."

"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."