The Promotion Exam [Kiwi/Odango]

[odango]

It was quite lively in the hall of the female dorm when Tsubaki exited the shower room. Now dressed in light blue pajamas and a beige robe over it, the girl would have to maneuver through a few companies of chatting women. Most of them were close to the same age in this base; it was no wonder that many became friends and spent the time most of them would be in together. As for the brunette, she didn’t have a lot of friends. The fact she lived alone might have been at fault but mostly – the young marine just preferred to be by herself most of the times. She was quite likable in most occasions so she was on good terms with most people yet was close to almost no one.

*I hope I don’t run into her… better hurry up.* Her hazel eyes widened at the thought and the young soldier would quicken her pace while maneuvering through some chatting females, making short and polite waving gestures if she ever locked eyes with any of them. The person she had thought about was a young woman with whom Tsubaki conversed quite often. The other girl was much louder, was of a higher rank and had a completely opposite approach to dressing herself. Most of the time, the blonde would tie her shirt up to expose her waist and also show a lot of cleavage. She went by the name of Rachel and was one of the bossiest people Tsubaki had met in the marines. Heck, the woman wasn’t even in the same teams or on the same duties as PO Taighana, yet would ask questions that sounded like statements and would not hesitate to describe what she did not like about Tsubaki’s choices in everything. It was hard to call them friends, actually… then again, Rachel had thus far been the only one to have a normal conversation with the hazel eyed noble. Also, the green eyed blonde had always been sincere. She had this childish honesty about her that Tsubaki found interesting. Most of the time their conversations would just be about one saying something harsh and the other just ignoring it completely, but it worked – there was no reason behind it.

This time she didn’t want to run into Rachel because she knew what the questions would be. That woman was always interested in all of the new people – especially if they were men. While Tsubaki was a hopeless romantic, Rachel would more openly show that she is on the hunt for somebody new and most of everyone was never too good for her. After finding out that Tsubaki had her own student, her friend wouldn’t let it rest. She would probably mess with her and ask a ton of inappropriate questions, which had nothing to do with anything. The brunette had her ‘test’ in less than twenty hours – she didn’t want to have the conversation that night.

After successfully getting to her room, the young woman quickly locked herself in and leaned back against the door. Now, that had been unnecessarily stressful. After a sigh, the girl remembered that Pluto should be outside already. Right, she would have to smuggle him into the window, probably. Assuming that he was waiting under there as she had instructed, it should have been easy.

Tsubaki walked across the room and leaned over the davenport to open the window. After pushing the both sides of it outward, she would lean out to glance down. ”Psst! Pluto!” she would speak in a very sharp whisper. Her next step was to hang out a sheet from the window. The boy could do a lot of cool stuff but no human could leap up to the second floor, after all…

[BlacKitten]

His ears perked up upon hearing the sound of hinges in motion, leading his eyes to look up and directing his attention towards the window on the second floor of the building before him. Up above, a figure leaned out before sharply whispering in his direction. He figured that the only reason she was whispering was to avoid disrupting anyone within the dorm room who’s currently asleep – perhaps even her roommate was asleep albeit the night was still young. Under the starry night, he could vaguely make out the colors that make up the appearance of his tutor.

Oh, she’s up there?

Somehow in his mind, he presumed that the brunette would be meeting him outside in front of this dorm building. Perhaps Tsubaki had yet to come downstairs to meet him out here. His theory was quickly challenged by the fact that a large sheet of fabric was thrown out the window, hanging down alongside the wall. This immediately left him puzzled. For someone so traditional, he didn’t think the girl would try anything other than the front door.

Eh? Is she planning to sneak outside through the window?

Pluto watched patiently, pondering what that girl was doing. He was instructed to meet her out here, and here he was.

Hmm? What’s taking her so long?

If the Petty Officer wanted to climb out through the window, why wasn’t she doing it yet? He assumed that the girl was still looking for a safe place to tie and secure the other end of the fabric. Walking up towards the dangling end of the sheet, he grabbed it with one hand to give it a gentle tug. A few more stronger tugs allowed him to gauge out that the makeshift of a rope didn’t seem to have any slack; it was all ready to go for the brunette to climb down.

Oh well... I guess I’ll test it for her in case it doesn’t work. Better if I fall off than her.

His eyes quickly shifted and scanned his surroundings, leering through the darkness in search for any witnesses. He wouldn’t want anyone to misunderstand to the sight of him trying to climb up into a female dorm building; he was just testing the rope for climbing purposes.

The coast was clear as far as he could tell. Even if someone was out there, the fact that he couldn’t visually see them meant that it was unlikely for them to see him. In a single jump, he suspended himself one meter off the ground, testing to see if his weight could truly be supported. He didn’t want to leave footprints against the exterior wall of the building, so he relied solely on his arms to pull his weight up with ease. In a little over a few seconds, he peeked his head through the open window.

“Are you coming down?” He asked curiously. “Your rope seems to work just fine.”

[odango]

*Ah, there he is! Good!* the girl thought while twisting the sheet in her hands a bit and looking around for anywhere to tie it to. It was just one so it was not long enough to reach across the room. If she were to lean down with it, the fabric would end up being too short. Pluto might not be able to reach it. She could tie it around a leg of the davenport but just the thought of cracking anything in it would cause her to shudder. There was just one option.

*Fine, I’ll just hold it. He can’t be much heavier than me anyways. I’m not a weakling anymore. This should be easy.* the brunette figured and leaned back outside to look down. There was not a lot of light in her room. In fact, she had blown out the candles for this. The last thing she needed was a platform of light for her actions. Now she would just wait for Pluto to climb up… which he was not in a hurry to do. *What is he waiting for, anyway?! By now he should have understood what I meant by a ‘stupid idea’, right? Oh, no! Maybe he thinks that he won’t be safe here?? Oh, please! How rude! Who is this guy to just assume that I’d go out of my way to do something to him? I need him to pass a test tomorrow, not bed the jerk!*

The random train of thought and a misunderstanding from her side made the girl exhale sharply and pout with her head now turned away. *Really! Why am I even helping him?* Soon after, he had finally approached the side of the white building enough to tug on the sheet. The previous thoughts of him assuming weird things were now changed to ones about Pluto just being slow. She glanced down again and squinted her eyes - as if to see better. It wasn’t pitch-black but the sun was gone and Tsubaki did not have superhuman qualities that allowed her to see better in the dark. She could tell what was happening quite well but was afraid of missing something and perhaps letting the sheet slip because of it.

Finally he climbed up and Tsubaki could now say she could hold his weight without much effort. It was a nice feeling, considering what a weak little girl she was three years earlier, when she started training with the marines. There had been no special mentors in her case. All she did was train religiously since she got to the first base. Firstly, the brunette had been a plain chore girl. Thus far, there had been nothing worse than being a chore girl. The days she got to help out in the kitchen and peel potatoes for the whole day were the good parts. There had been days spent in the toilets and tinkering with the canalization, which were not her fondest memories, to say the least.

”Hm?” His question made her pause. A moment passed with just her holding the sheet, which was holding Pluto, staring at him and tilting her head. ”Why would I-“ The girl stopped mid-sentence because the room next to her just switched their lights on. The base had electricity and so did the dorms. Most of them would often choose to use candles but it was much easier to use stronger lights. The sudden presence of light right next to them made her uneasy. What was worse was the movement she caught from the other side. From the corner of her hazel eye, the girl spotted a lantern approaching from the corner of the building. Time seemed to stop as firstly the light source came into view and was held by a small hand. Not just that, but the hand was wrinkled and quite low. There was just one person who would walk around the dorm on a patrol and was short and wrinkled!

”Crap!” she let out under her breath. The light of the next room made Pluto a sitting duck. Even if he would jump down now, there would be trouble. Without a second of even the slightest hesitation, the young woman yanked the sheet up with all her might, catapulting Pluto and the rest of the fabric into her room before the old woman could come fully into view. This caused the girl to fall back on the floor with the sheet on top of her.

[BlacKitten]

“Hmm?” His head jerked to the side sharply as the neighboring window began to illuminate. In addition to the electric lightings within the next room, footsteps approached from around the building. From how secretive his private tutor had been acting recently, being visually spotted would likely not be a favorable for either of them. Tightening his grip around the fabric, he was ready to maneuver away from the source of light and dive straight into the shadows. But, before that became an option, something else caught his attention.

“Eh!?” He felt a sudden surge of energy conducting through the lengthy fabric that was keeping him suspended. In this awkward tug-a-war predicament, he found himself being launched straight through the window by the sharp impulse on the other side. Being reeled in like a fish that took the bait, he flew straight into the room before pressing a single palm onto the floor. Curving his arm into an arc under his weight, he wheeled forth along the back of his shoulder to cushion and silence his fall. At the end of his diagonal somersault, he ended up in a sitting position with one foot flat on the floor with its corresponding knee pointed up.

When falling, being able to roll like a wheel allowed one to avoid slamming straight into the ground. The momentum of falling could easily be used to roll him back up to his feet, useful for dangerous situations as clambering back up to a stand was slightly more time consuming.

As he sat motionlessly still, he kept silent and scanned his dark surroundings. Unsure of there were obstacles around him, the recruit stayed in a single spot to avoid bumping into things. It was so dark in fact that he couldn’t even make out the silhouette of the one who yanked him into this room; that was because the figure of Tsubaki was covered beneath the sheet that had fallen on top of her.

There was a crooked expression on his face upon realizing that he had now technically stepped foot inside the room of a female dorm building. Well, it wasn’t his fault; he was the one being thrown straight into this room. The problem lied in the fact that the brunette was her superior who could easily just frame him under a bad light.

This isn’t good. The situation is now in her favor. As the more credible one, she could easily avoid taking any blame.

However, the fact that Tsubaki tugged him in here to avoid being witnessed under the lights from the neighboring room proved that she didn’t want him to be seen... yet. But, if she so wishes, she could easily get him in trouble without consequence on her part.

He didn’t expect to end up here of all places.

What nefarious schemes does she have installed for me?

Hopefully, this officer wasn’t planning for him to continue his training during the course of the night.

“PO Taighana...,” he said quietly and hesitantly. “What exactly did you want to have me meet you here? You said something about a stupid idea but never ended up telling me.”

[odango]

Like someone woken from a grave, the young woman rose up to a sitting position. Honestly, the whole situation seemed absurd to her. There had probably been a much, much better way to solve Pluto’s sleeping problem. There was no telling what might happen if she were to go and talk to his roommate. Logic made her believe that having a girl stand up for him would cause the raven haired young man even more problems. Tsubaki could have just talked with some of the commanding officers or the ones in charge of his dorm but figured that she might run into a similar problem. The purple eyed recruit didn’t want to work on anything on his own, he had already said that. It was not as if Tsubaki could just force him in the room. Also, was she to request a separate room, the questions that would arise would just lead to the same result as talking to his roommate.

What was the brunette supposed to do? Let him sleep outside? He could get sick easily. Besides, as his mentor for the time, she had to take responsibility over her student. Like it or not, Pluto’s wellbeing was her concern and the young woman would rather him stay in one piece until someone else would have to take care of him.

With a heavy sigh the girl pulled the sheet away from her face and pushed herself up to her feet. ”Why are you here? Seriously!” she snapped a little while proceeding to shut the window. ”Isn’t it obvious? What is the only possible reason that I would smuggle into my room and what is also a bad idea?” After asking that, the brunette locked it shut and her hands reached for something in one of the desk drawers. She withdrew a candle and some matches. Every inch of the room was well known to her so the absence of a decent light source didn’t hinder her from reaching her goal and lighting a candle. She would wait for it to burn a little and pull closer a three-branch candelabrum that had been standing on the corner of the desk. The girl would have to wait a bit for the wax to melt so she could drip it into the candle holder and thus make the candle stick in its place after setting it in. Of course, one candle in an object meant for three was a little lonely but she didn’t think it was necessary to waste them.

The pajama-wearing soldier turned around to pick up the sheet from the floor and fold it. ”You’re not one of the brightest, I’m beginning to think.” After yet another sigh, she would set the now folded bed sheet on the chair in front of her davenport. Looking at Pluto, finally, Tsubaki motioned with one hand to the bed on her right, opposite of hers and next to the wall which would seal off the building. It was already made yet looked like it was not being used - nothing personal about it, whatsoever. ”You can sleep here tonight. Tomorrow, after the test, we can start settling your roommate situation. I don’t have a roommate so this should beat sleeping outside.”

She would then move the candelabrum towards the other bed and glanced down at the book that was lying on the other bed. Her fair-skinned fingers slipped in between the knot in the sash holding her robe together and pulled it open. With a single movement she slid it down her shoulders and hung it over the chair now behind her. ”The toilets are at the end of the hall but I’d wait a bit if I were you. Others are still awake and they’d probably see you as a creepy pervert if they found you there…” she said nonchalantly while getting under her blanket and propping up the pillow against the headboard so it would be more comfortable to sit up. It appeared that the hazel eyed noble intended to get back to reading. That was probably the pastime that she had planned.

”I left some sleeping clothes at the end of the bed if you need them” By this she meant the pajamas she used rarely and had just washed. ”They are a bit oversized so they’ll probably fit you. We’re almost the same height, after all.”

The girl cracked the spine of the book and flipped to about two thirds in. Without much emotion playing on her face, she would continue reading. Some moments would pass, she’d turn a page and would mention something, her eyes glancing towards her student but her expression quite blank: ”Oh, and if you try to do something nasty to me, I’ll just cut it off…”

[BlacKitten]

Pluto shrunk back at the sound of her tone changing to that akin of anger again. In his little spot, the only reliable sense he had was hearing. He could her footsteps approaching and closing the window shut. He then heard the sound of a drawer being slid open, and eventually, a sharp scrape could be heard followed by a dim illumination of a small fire that lit a single candlestick. This offered the room a weak source of lighting, but he dared not make eye contact. He preferred the dark where he couldn’t see her presumably upset expression.

His eyes soon followed the gesture of the brunette’s hand that referred towards the empty, unused bed opposite to her own bed. They soon widened at her words of allowing him to sleep here. She didn’t have a roommate, probably due to the sparse number of females in the marine forces.

For her to go this far, she must really hate the idea of me sleeping on the roof.

He briefly glanced as the girl slipped under her blanket in a sitting up position. The officer prepared herself to start reading a book, pretending as if nothing was out of the ordinary. She made brief remarks on spare clothes that the rookie could use and ended with a warning, “Oh, and if you try to do something nasty to me, I’ll just cut it off…”

“Eh!?” He timidly shrunk back again upon hearing that she would try to cut him –likely with her katana. But, what was ‘it’? What would she try to cut off? His limbs?

This person had a contradicting sense of generosity and resentment. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking of feeling. Tsubaki was definitely a much harder person to read than usual.

I have to accept this... don’t I?

He had a feeling that she would only get mad at him even more so if he didn't go along with her plan exactly. 

“T-Thank you for the bed...,” he muttered quietly to her before clambering himself up to a stand. Taking off his boots at the foot-end of his bed, the rookie recruit quickly flung the covers up to create enough space for him to quickly crawl under before it slowly covers him whole. Lying on his side and facing towards the wall where the light wouldn’t reach his eyes, he curled himself up into a ball.

It was always at night when he remembered his greatest failure. It was always at this time when he would remember his promise to himself. It was always at this time when his eyes would tear up silently as his heart withered.

Tears dripped from his eyes that slowly closed themselves shut. In he saw blackness, flashes of images began to emerge: the black envelope, the fevers, the blood, the blizzard, and the loss. He couldn’t let those the past three months be in vain. No matter the risks, he would journey forth whatever path it took for him to get back what he lost, even if it means sacrificing his own life.

Rebecca...

Silently, he drowned his consciousness into slumber.

[odango]

A part of Tsubaki was still quite worried about her choice. The feeling might not leave her for the entire night, she worried. While there was nothing bad about giving a place to someone who had none, she was breaking a couple of rules. It was not the best time for her to break rules. The young woman had always been a free spirit. It was a wonder that she was now part of an organization quite strict and full of regulations and restrictions. Her reason for joining the navy had been simple – her family made her do it. There were no other options, really. If the girl were to stay at home, it would just cause more problems and it had always been a cold place. There was little to no correspondence between her and her family. The only notable occasion to write to the Taighana household would be when and if Tsubaki were to get promoted high enough. The brunette figured it would take a couple more years, or so. Somehow, the thought was liberating.

*Good.* Pluto thanked her and her blank expression melted into a kind one. Her hazel eyes couldn’t hold a cold expression without real cause, anyways. Some heat colored her face and she smiled down into the pages of the novel she was holding. Once again, she would sigh. However, this one was not out of light annoyance of frustration. She was quite happy. This boy would be her team. Even if it were to be for just one more day, she would not let him be harmed. Be it by other marines or even the weather outside. There had been moments where she might have reacted too sharply but the young woman had not been given such a task before. She had not really trained anyone. Sure, she would have to help motivate some recruits now and then or give example runs of how to do courses but never had she been in charge of a group or an individual.

*Odd… I suddenly feel quite sad…* the thought hit her as a feeling of tightness swallowed her core. The sensation was no stranger to her.

. . .

The day of the test had, finally, arrived. Throughout the whole morning, the weather had been delightful. Not a cloud to be seen and it was warm – perhaps too warm? The heat was only building up throughout the first hours of the day and by twelve it was difficult for the ensign to keep their cloaks on. Most of them still did it out of sense of duty; it really wouldn’t have made a difference if most walked around without them. The numbers of seagulls flying around seemed to have decreased. The people who had spent some time there would notice the difference quickly, indeed.

Tsubaki was standing in front of a rather intimidating and large construction of obstacles laid out in a course. These had been mastered up during last night and would serve the purpose of testing her only student. It was impressive. They even constructed a pool that looked to be about ten feet deep. The basin was placed underneath a high wire stretching between two towers, one on each side of the little ocean. Most of the obstacles were endurance obstacles. Of course, there were a lot of ropes for climbing. After all, the sails of ships were manipulated mostly by climbing up and adjusting them. There was close to no chance that a navy soldier might not need developed climbing skills.

*Why the heck is a pool there? I told them very clearly - and even wrote it down in a couple of places – that he can’t swim. They couldn’t have expected me to teach him over night, no?* he brows knotted at the thought as she walked closer and soon the very familiar tall stature of Captain Leighley appeared into sigh. The big mustached man was smiling widely. His pearly teeth in contrast with the thick black comb of a mustache made for quite a caricature. *Ah, I see. They just want to try and scare him enough. Well, that’s a nice way to welcome someone into the navy.* There were a lot of improvements from mental training but the brunette didn’t think they were meant for the first week. Perhaps, she was just underestimating Pluto by worrying. It was best to stop.

Thankfully, the dorm had been empty enough when the two got up. She really hoped that her sudden wakeup around morning light had not been too loud. It would be quite impolite to wake Pluto… Once again, the girl had nightmares. This time she had woken up sharply with a yelp and more terrified than ever. It was nothing that a glass of water couldn’t fix but the feeling would stick with her for the rest of the day, she figured. At that point, Tsubaki had just walked out for a bit and returned a couple minutes later and went straight back to sleep. It was best not to make anything big out of it, anyway.

Assuming that Pluto had shown up after breakfast, the girl would follow her Captain up to a higher built porch which stretched along the side of the pool. There was a small railing to help some clumsy soul from slipping inside and this would be where the needed spectators would stand. Of course, the news of such an event left but a few people uninterested and you could see small gangs of people piling up around the obstacle course. There were seven constructed tasks in general and Pluto would have been lead to the starting point, when he arrived. *Good luck!* she thought to herself while crossing her fingers and tensing her jaw. *Then again, you don’t need luck! You’ll do just awesome without luck!*

[BlacKitten]

Even as his temporary roommate woke up at the first sight of morning light, Pluto remained asleep in his borrowed bed. He lied flat on the mattress with the side of his head rested against a single white pillow. Peacefully, the boy breathed softly and quietly, alone in the room.

On his body’s own accord, his mind floated back up towards consciousness as he began to naturally wake up. Eyelids opened up gradually, revealing the inner wall of the room to him. Rolling his body like a log towards the other side, he glimpsed to see the status of his private tutor, but she was nowhere to be found. Judging by the angle of the light shining through and the length of the shadows within the room, it was still relatively early in the morning – perhaps around two hours past sunrise. As he lazily approximated the time, it soon dawned on him that today was when he needed to take that ludicrous test that mostly benefited his tutor. In other words, there was nothing to worry about. Whether he passed or fail, it didn’t impact him whatsoever. Above all else, today would be the last day he would have to be pulled around by the metaphorical leash that Tsubaki had on him.

What a pain..., I have to get up eventually and show up. There will be people watching me too..., how annoying. Being a soldier really sucks... No freedom whatsoever.

Sliding off the bed, Pluto slipped his feet into his boots before leaping towards the window to peek outside. Even though no one was outside, he had to make sure no one was looking out the window to notice him as he plots his escape. This was now a simple task for him; all he had to do was sense the presence around him. As of now, no one from the room above, below, or flank of him was looking out their corresponding windows. This meant that if he escapes through the same way he entered here, even the slight chance of being spotted by a neighboring sightseer was nonexistent.

And thus, Pluto safely made his exit out of the female dorm building.

By noon, the new recruit stood alongside his private tutor and gazed with an unimpressed expression for there appeared to be another stupid obstacle course.

Captain Mustache was in view with a wide smile on his prideful face.

I’m surrounded by idiots... No matter how you look at this..., this has absolutely no value in judging if one is ready for promotion. That whole teaching task that she was assign to must have been complete bullshit. That lying captain probably has something else up his sleeve. Damn... what a waste of my time the past two days have been. It seems that neither sniping nor swordsmanship would be tested here.

For the marines to go out of their way to build this, they either had nothing better to do or extremely dedicated towards low ranked soldiers. There were so many simpler ways to test a mere ONE person.

I don’t know why... but I have a sinking suspicious that I am going to hate everyone present here once I am done...

His eyes shifted towards Captain Leighley –also known as Captain Mustache, “Captain, I presume that I have to traverse this obstacle course. But where exactly does PO Taighana, the one being tested for promotion, come into play here? Will she be traversing this course as well?”

[odango]

People of every shape and size were piling up and forming a rather thick border around the course of obstacles built. The chatter was now present everywhere. It was obvious that not all of the spectators were military staff. There were many civilians. While the event would not have been advertised to just anyone, it took little time for word to get around. The island had a lot of people but it was not the largest. The people acted as a small community and news of anything out of the ordinary would travel quite quickly. While mostly pleasant, there was no shortage of tongue-wagging in the town.

”My, my, I think you forgot to tell him how to salute, Taighana! Haaha haaha haaha!” The huge man leaned back while laughing and swung back his long limb to land a slap on Tsubaki’s back. While painless, this action launched the girl a couple of feet forward. She let out a small yelp as her eyes widened but regained her composure quickly, cleared her throat and checked if her hair did not gain any strands out of place. *For the love of-! This is the second time this happens. I should, perhaps, start avoiding it? Is that what he wants?!* The hazel eyed brunette let out a very curt, sharp breath through her nose and stepped back into place.

”Haaha haaha haaha, why would I make her do it? She’d just have to wait for you the whole time! Ha! It makes no sense.” Nexus slapped down on Tsubaki’s shoulder this time. The weight was not too much to handle but the girl could feel pressure on her knees and mad a mental note to not stand so close to the Captain in future events.

”Now. You have to do this course in less than fifteen minutes… we scheduled in an hour for the discussion time and the enter time. It’s already ten past twelve so off you go to the start. We’ll shoot a blank when you’ll have to start. Now…” the abnormally tall man extended a hand towards the young recruit and gestured to two nearby soldiers who quickly scurried up and greeted him with a salute. ”Off you go and good luck. These two will show you to the starting line.” he added a shooing motion with a lazy gesture of his palm. The two white uniforms summoned would proceed to pace away quickly and show Pluto the way.

”Ah, good luck!” Tsubaki spoke out while she still had the chance. She raised her hands and one would notice that her fingers were crossed. It was a gesture of rooting for him. The girl smiled warmly and gave a wave when the raven haired student was led away. *Just act natural and just… don’t stop in the middle and tell everyone that it makes no sense to do this. Please?* Still, the hazel eyed noble couldn’t help but worry.

Her heart started beating a lot faster and she glanced around at the others. There were some high ranking officers gathered on the porch. In a minute or so, even more arrived. The only reason could be that there were no better activities for them to pass the time. Hopefully, Pluto had no sense of stage fright.

Shortly, the mighty man holding a grizzly looking beard would approach the railing of the stand and glance downwards at the surrounding people. ”I appreciate the interest of all of you! Now, let’s get this test on the road…” he reached into the side of his open justice coat and retrieved a small firearm. The muscular Commodore Whelan proceeded to point it to the sky. Suddenly – a shot was heard! This would be when Pluto had to start his race through. ”Begin!”

[BlacKitten]

”Haaha haaha haaha, why would I make her do it? She’d just have to wait for you the whole time! Ha! It makes no sense,” the captain brushed off his question as ludicrous.

Blinking twice, Pluto had been anticipating this from a mile away. He couldn’t comprehend the logic behind this man’s way of thinking. If Tsubaki wasn’t going to do anything at all and he had to do everything here, how exactly did this have anything to do with her promotion? The content and the goal were completely unrelated.

I can’t tell if he’s a bad test maker or is hiding something vitally important from me. At the very least, it seems he underestimates me greatly. But...

He furrowed his brows, glaring at no one in particular, but he couldn’t help but notice the large number of spectators around – some of them didn’t even appear to be soldiers.

Okay... what the hell is going on? A seaman recruit is about to go through an obstacle course... why is there an audience for this!? Nothing makes sense anymore!

He was so tempted to clutch his skull and rip his own hair out by the sheer nonsense presented to him.

Captain Mustache explained that he had to finish this course in less than fifteen minutes and that it was already ten past noon. That begged the question in the rookie’s mind: what were the remaining thirty-five minutes for? This exam was shorter than he anticipated. Everything can be over in less than fifteen minutes.

Escorted towards the starting point, the half annoyed and half confused raven-haired recruit waited for the signal while flabbergasted that he was living in reality and not in a silly childish dream.

A shot was fired. Commodore Whelan signaled the commencement to this exam.

Is Tsubaki not confused by the fact that she doesn’t have to go through this? I wonder what she makes of all this.

The boy dashed onward towards the towering wooden wall, snatching the rope and replicated the same performance as yesterday. The first obstacle was identical. The expression of his face revealed that of a focused and serious soldier, but he wasn’t even thinking about the course before him. His body did all the work as his mind went into deep thought and careful consideration if he missed something here. Was making such a big event out of this merely a custom? A culture? A traditional?

Meanwhile, in the far distance, Lieutenant Himeko passed by, eyeing on the gathering of people who were watching a single mere soldier. Upon zooming in her vision, her eyes grew surprises as she recognizes the recruit from yesterday.

It’s him! Pluto! What’s going on? I thought he only joined the marines two days ago. Why is he being tested already?

Her eyes shifted briefly towards the ones handling this event. She distinctively saw a captain and a commodore present.

They’re here too? Hmm...

She watched as the adolescent she had recently sparred with maneuver like an animal on all four - across the short distance of barbed wires hanging over him.

Despite his normal-looking body, he’s quite athletic. He seems to have great control and awareness of his own body. He’s moving so naturally with no signs of struggle.

After a quick count, there were seven obstacles in total, and the boy had just breezed through the first two. She was quite confident that Pluto was superior athleticism over every other recruit she had seen before, but there was something very subtle and peculiar about him that catches her attention. Ever since she tried to land a hit on him since their light spar, she sensed something very deep within him that was hard to pinpoint. It felt as if there was something that he wasn’t revealing on the outside. Some might mistake it as talent, and while that may very true in his case, there were also signs of experience. Each move he made was brimming with confidence and certainty; no hesitation or wavering whatsoever.

He moves from one obstacle to the other with pause in between. He’s still breathing calmly through his nose and doesn’t appear to be even mildly tired at all.

It wasn’t so simple to just call it athleticism as if he was only good at sports, but she was having trouble putting it to words. Even though he was only revealing an above average physical abilities for a normal human, there was something deceptively subtle about the way he was going through this obstacle course.

Pluto had already zigzagged his way through a series of walls and swung over a fence after climbing up a rope to do so. Four out of the seven were finished, and he kept going relentlessly.

[odango]

”Oooh? Look at him go. Quite nice, quite nice…” The tower of a man let out under his mustache as long fingers stroked his chin. From under the cap, the tall navy officer glanced down at a certain busty soldier who was now just staring at the course, without blinking, and her hands had nervously rolled up into fists. ”It’s strange that his first physical exams showed no sign of overly developed muscle mass, yet he flings himself forward with ease. Haaha, you might just be a miracle worker, Taighana! Good job!” Once again, Nexus Leighley burst into a loud laugh and swung his big palm back to aim a slap on Tsubaki’s back. This time the girl leaped forward four feet…

”Ha ha ha…” she laughed along nervously. There was a dry feeling in her throat and she would glance back to the captain shortly. The girl did her best to avoid eye contact. There were some things that made her worry. Why was such a test necessary, even? The Captain had mentioned a special reason before, but there was no use testing Pluto this early. Five days would have been a short enough time to cram in everything. Three was just a joke. The two of them had not even discussed what mental training is and how much literature there was involved. There were tactic models that they would have to go through – not to mention the variety of codes. The idea of her teaching him was nice, of course… but the shortage of time made Tsubaki think that the goal was completely different for them. Maybe the higher ups just wanted to give her an impossible task to teach her humility? Perhaps, they were counting on Pluto being weak and not being able to get across the obstacles?

*He’s not going to fail. It’s obvious. There will be time to spare when he’s done. I wish the credit could be given to me but this guy just came here with the strength of an ox. It makes little sense… he doesn’t even look like he has the upper body muscles to pull himself up everywhere that quickly. Not like he is the lightest person in the world, either… There are a lot of questions here, actually. Maybe he just had a much bigger background of training his body than he cares to advertise? It would make sense.* She thought while chewing on her lower lip lightly. The girl glanced up at the tall superior officer finally and noticed that he wore an amused smirk on his face. This made her a bit more worried. What was there to be amused about? Was it just an odd facial expression?

*Aaaaaand now I’m worried. If they had wanted to teach me what it was to fail an impossible task, I won’t. Then what’s funny about this situation? Are they going to make him do it again if he finishes quickly? Oh, they might make me do it after all? I could still do it faster, I think, but that’s a given. I know the best ways to get through all of these, anyway. What would that prove, anyway?* the feeling that Tsubaki felt was similar to how she imagined an engine heating up. This time the engine would be her head. The sensation of heat was so real that she lifted the back of her hand to her forehead just to check if she didn’t have a fever yet.

”Hey, Whelan, wake up! He’s getting to the fun part soon! Haaha haaha haaha!” Nexus called out to his colleague and the most influential navy officer on the island. To this the bulky man just snapped the toothpick, he had in his lips, in half and spat it out. ”Don’t say it like that! It belittles my authority. I’m the Commodore now, Nexus.” the shorter of the two men slowly paced closer to the railing with an annoyed expression on his face and retrieved another, new toothpick from his jacket to place in his lips.

[BlacKitten]

The fifth obstacle was a series of horizontal logs that rose up at an incline, resembling a staircase of sorts before descending on the other end. With large leaps, he skipped a few logs along the way to take the least amount of steps.

The sixth obstacle was a towering framework like three stacked up wooden cubes, supported by mere vertical and horizontal beams with floors dividing them apart. Like a monkey in the jungle, he jumped up and clung onto wood, scaling upwards until he reached the top.

Without pause, he continued to run onward. His eyes shifted to the side, leering at a marine soldier who stood on the same platform as him.

The seventh and last obstacle extended off of the previous one. Taking advantage of the height, there was a single strand of rope connecting the current wooden structure to another one in the distance. There was a catch. Beneath the rope was a pool of water.

Squinting forth, he took notice of another soldier standing on the top platform of the opposite wooden tower.

Tch... That bastard. This was... all part of your plan from the very start, wasn’t it?

Pluto proceeded to crawl along the rope with his legs looped around as his hands pulled him across little by little.

A soldier stationed on either side of the rope. A pool directly below me, this was all a trap. In other words, Tsubaki did indeed tell the captain about my weakness. And he plans to drown me.

There was no turning back now.

Unfortunately for you..., I lied! I don’t have such trauma. However, it’s true that I’m powerless when submerged in water.

Snip!

In unison, the rope snapped on both ends.

From less than six meters of height, the devil fruit user plummeted. He spread out his arms and legs to increase the surface area of his body to slow down his fall by whatever small amount he can manage.

He had two options left: fly away or drown!

Exposing his special powers now would mean saving himself at the cost of being distrusted by the marines. It would have meant that he was hiding something from them. It would mean they would have a hard time trusting him, even suspecting him. If he uses his power, it would jeopardize his mission. His agenda would have to be greatly modified. He had the power to save himself in these few seconds. Every cell in his body instinctively released warning signals to his brain to transform.

However, against his intuition, the statistical side of this predicament suggested that he should allow himself to drown. The captain –or whoever idea this belonged to- did not know beforehand about his curse. If he or anyone else had suspicion on him, they would have interrogated him directly. Even if they did intend to test his ability to swim, allowing him to die in the pool would be same as murder. The face of justice wouldn’t allow the innocent to die by their own hand just like that. But, for someone who had always find them incompetent, he lacked the faith and trust in them. He would never allow his life to be put into their hands. He simply did not trust them. Yet, logic and statistics dictated that he should.

In a battle between his mind and body –logic and instinct-, Pluto had to make a choice in a split second.

He opened his mouth and quickly inhaled air that filled the bottom pit of his diaphragm, lower lungs, and then upper lungs. Bloated with oxygen, he sealed up his lips and halted his breathing entirely right before crashing against the surface of liquid.

SPLASH! 

Closing his eyes, he prepared himself for the inevitable. The fluid seemed to have a special property of draining away his energy from his body, robbing him of the strength to move.

Despite being weakened by the second, he must not resist.

Despite being on the verge of death, he must not feel fear.
Emptying his mind, he entered a void.

Little by little, he slipped minute amount of air out the corner of his lips, creating tiny bubbles that rose up to the surface.

If there was one advantage he had to could postpone his demise, it would be his innate ability to hold his breath for a long period of time. With his experiencing from flying, his body had naturally adapted to the thin air of high altitudes. His cardiovascular health was rather good.

I swear... if this is how I die...

[odango]

*What? Why the heck are they cutting the wire???!*

From the beginning of their movements Tsubaki got a tight feeling in her gut. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she quickly snapped her gaze upwards and to the side. There was no way that Captain Leighley would just allow such a thing to happen! It would make zero sense. Even if it was for “surprise” purposes, they knew that the raven-haired recruit could not swim. Was this just some tough love test to make him try? The navy didn’t sink to such methods usually. Fears would be eliminated gradually, not with such a public spectacle.

”Calm down, Taighana.” the tall man spoke out lowly but firmly.

The brunette’s hazel hues darted towards him and the falling figure of Pluto. The thick wire, now freed from the strain, pulled together like some rabid serpent and was now sharing the same fate as the purple-eyed young man. The mere seconds of his fall seemed like hours and Tsubaki felt her heart jump to her neck. Panic made her whole body cold and she would feel the hair stand at the back of her neck. The pulsating noise of her heartbeat banged hard at her eardrums and her breathing quickened. ”Captain, I did note that he can’t swim. Please, pull him out!” Without thinking, the young noble had spoken out with great worry just as Pluto met with the surface of the water.

The splash sent drops even to their location and the brunette could clearly see him sinking down to the bottom. At that point, she had clearly taken a half a step ready, about to jump right in herself – however, a long and strong suit-coated arm appeared in her way. ”I told you, calm down, soldier! Do not show weakness! That is an order!” the man barked at the young woman next to him. For the first time ever, since PO Taighana had encountered Nexus Leighley, did he raise his voice. It was unfitting the man but mighty intimidating. The mere pressure of his being next to her had weight. Tsubaki had never felt like that before but now she felt a bit stuck. It was fear. While not wanting to, she was very afraid of the Captain. No matter how wrong she thought the actions were, she felt her body hesitate to move against him.

”Besides… if this one goes, we have many more recruits to go. You can just get a new one…” Turning back to a calm tone, the man gazed back at the now submerged recruit. The way he spoke made it seem like he saw recruit lives as nothing more than pebbles on a coast. The aftermath of his words sent a shiver down Tsubaki’s back… A part of her did not want to believe what she just heard. Thus far, no one had even lifted a finger to try and jump after Pluto. Just a few seconds had passed but she could see the ripples of water starting to settle and a trail of air bubbles trailing up.

*They have got to be kidding!! We are supposed to protect others! How is this a part of it? DOES HE EXPECT ME TO JUST STAND HERE AND WATCH HIM DROWN?!!* She could feel heat rising to her face and her gaze was starting to get a bit hazy. The girl was desperate. Hectically, she looked around to check if no one was really going in the pool to save Pluto. Somebody had to do it! They just had to!

Unconsciously, she had stepped forward more and once again – the same arm of Captain Leighley rose up to stall her. This time, clearly annoyed, the man gave her a heavy glare and showered her with actual intent of bloodlust. The heavy feeling came like a wave and most of her instincts told her to stay put or try to run. There was no way that she would be able to fight this man and win.

”For the last time – STAND DOWN, TAIGHANA!” he commanded and some of the nearby officers stepped back. Everyone looked to be intimidated. Everyone, except Commodore Whelan, that is. ”One more step of this and I’ll have you punished for insubordination.” The dark-haired man’s words were firm and would not be just a mere threat. There was no doubt that Tsubaki would get in a lot of trouble for going against a direct order right in front of him. The young woman’s jaw clenched and her hands balled up into fists.

She took a deep breath and shut her lips tightly. Tension was quickly building up in her body. *…. As if I’d let this happen!* Quickly, and surprisingly easily, she sidestepped the big man and leaped onto the railing – only to use it to kick off and was head first in the pool within a couple of seconds. After a loud splash, the young woman was quickly engulfed in water. Her eyes squinted at the sensation of pool water greeting them and her gear weighed her down a bit, it none of those details would slow her down.

Swimming had never caused any problems to her, even with gear on, so within just mere moments she arrived next to Pluto at the depths of the pool. Quickly, she snaked one hand around his torso under his arms and pulled him closer to her core. From there, she’d kick off from the bottom of the pool and would pull him up towards the surface. It would only take a moment for them to reach air. After reaching the side of the pool, her hands grasped firmly the railing and with the adrenaline cursing through her veins, she was able to fling both of them over the narrow edge of the pool. It was a ten foot drop, but the brunette made sure to pick up her student with both hands so she would end up absorbing the fall on her own.

”Pluto! Are you ok?? Please, oh please be alive!” After landing, the girl called out and now turned the body of her student towards her. She was so worried that her eyes had started tearing up. It was now not just water on her face anymore. Big tears trailed down her cheeks and she started gasping for air quickly between sobs. The girl shook the raven-haired young man by his shoulders furiously until she would get an answer. ”You can’t die! That will make me the worst tutor EVER! Just spit the water out!” She spoke quickly between sobs while still shaking him so some of her words might have come out as gibberish.

[BlacKitten]

Something’s off... he’s hasn’t resurfaced yet.

Himeko watched from afar. Having recently come out of recovery, she had been relatively uninformed of what has been happening around here.

No one... is going to help him? Is it he unable to swim? No..., there’s something more to it than that. Someone who can’t swim would at least flail around in the waters helplessly. Maybe... he’s the same as me? ...That can’t be it.

Without opening his eyes, he felt something slither around his torso, reeling him closer to press against another body. His lungs were about half empty of the air he stored up prior to falling into the pool, gradually easing up the internal pressure with small leakage of bubbling air from the corner of his lips. All the sound from the safe, dry land was muzzled up by the thick wall of liquid, distorting and dampening the noises. It was quiet and dark.

Soon, he felt his head resurface back up before the rest of his body followed. Lying flat on the ground, he remained motionless like a corpse. The remaining volume of oxygen stored up quickly and silently leaked from his nose. All he heard now was the sound of droplets tapping against the ground. Only now could he truly distinguish his clothes as being entirely drenched due to the contrast of dryness around him. He felt heavier than usual as his soaked clothing weighed him down.

He heard his name being called out along with pleading, but he didn’t respond immediately. A part of him was curious what her reaction would be when a semi-stranger like him were to die right before her eyes. From the first day, he didn’t entirely trust Tsubaki, seeing her as just another insignificant soldier who’s delusional from World Government propaganda. He didn’t believe in their way of justice. There was nothing to be proud of in being a marine. Serving their idea of justice under a bunch of slave owners – also known as the Celestial Dragons, marines were hypocritical by its design.

They all lived in a hierarchal system regardless if they are the marines, pirates, or civilians. The ones with higher status dictate the ones beneath them.

“I didn’t swallow any water,” he responded before slowly opening his eyes to the light.

Almost immediately, he began panting heavily from a combination of his drained energy and from having to hold his breath. He felt greatly weakened as if suffering from poison. To him, that poison was being engulfed in water. His strength was returning to him quickly – at least enough to move his limbs, but he didn’t feel like standing up.

So that person is his tutor?

The lieutenant sighed in relief after witnessing the busty brunette diving in to rescue the adolescent.

Still... they sure go to such great lengths just for one or two soldiers. This whole setup is overkill for just a promotion test. I kind of want to test him personally myself... but it can’t be today.

"I'm tired...," the youth complained with his half-open, almost sleepy-looking eyes. 

[odango]

The young woman could feel her hands tremble a bit and began to blink quickly to somehow get the piling up tears away from her eyes. After all, she was still holding on to Pluto. Her sobs were so loud that she almost didn’t hear him speak at first. ”Wha-?”

”TAIGHANA!” A voice roared loudly from behind her and the girl jumped up. As soon as she realized to whom it belonged to, the young woman pulled Pluto close to her – perhaps even in a smothering way, both of her hands wrapped around him and cushioning him with her chest. The hazel eyed noble clung to him in fear that someone might actually try to throw him back into the pool.

After slowly turning her head and now gazing up at the very tall Captain, the girl mustered enough courage to grow a look of determination on her face. She blinked the last tears away and swallowed the ball which had formed in her throat. There was no chance that she’d let them try to drown him again!

”Didn’t I tell you what would happen if you disobeyed? Are you stupid enough to face punishment for a mere recruit, Taighana? The consequences will be severe…” he dragged his words at the end and Tsubaki couldn’t help but imagine what it was she’d have to do. There were a lot of ways to make one’s life miserable. Worst case, she would always be put on the front lines in combat. While there was a chance that she’d luck out in such a situation, it was unlikely that the woman would live long. Surely, such a punishment would seem too hard but it was, in her opinion, one of the worst ones.

”I- The dripping wet navy soldier opened her mouth to speak but her voice broke on the spot. Tsubaki’s heart was pounding painfully in her chest and she tightened the hug on Pluto a little more to keep her core from trembling. Never in her life had she stood up to any of the superiors but here she was faced with the Sea Ripper. It was a wonder that she was able to get out any sound at all!

In a moment of finally managing to focus on anything else but fear under the intimidating presence of Nexus Leighley, the soaked brunette finally managed to get a few words out: ”If I can stop it, I…” Just a mumble of half a sentence came from her lips and she swallowed to try again, this time much louder.

”If-… If I can, I will NEVER LET MY PEOPLE DIE!!” What started as just speaking loudly broke out into a shout midway and her breathing got heavier. ”Who-WHO THE HELL WATCHES SOMEONE DROWN, ANYWAY???!!”

In just a moment, fear reminded her who exactly she was shouting at. *Oh, crud, I don’t want him to kill me. I don’t want to die before I turn thirty!* The towering man took a few steps towards her quickly and out of reflex, the girl turned away, shielding Pluto with her body from any attacks to come.

…

A heavy palm landed on her wet shoulder and the hazel eyed noble almost jumped at the touch. ”Good girl, Tsubaki. Haaha haaha haaha! You pass!” The previously frightening face was now blooming in a wide and warm smile after he had leaned in. The low voice came to her like a dream. What was the chance of Leighley being serious, even? Did he just set an example for everyone by using her and Pluto?? Who did that?! This had taken a toll on her nerves and she could feel the fear she felt get replaced by annoyance quickly.

*You’ve… got to be kidding me.* The color in her face dropped and she lifted her head to look around. Slowly, the surrounding people began to clap or cheer. Obviously, they had been entertained. Her grip on Pluto loosened to a light embrace and she blinked multiple times.

”Hey, Whelan! Let’s go eat! They have ribs in the cafeteria today! Haaha haaha, lucky us!” Suddenly, without the slightest worry in the world, Captain Leighley turned his back and began walking away. ”Ah right! Someone should clean this place up… This was fun tho. Hey, Whelan, let’s do this again sometime!” Just like that, the man would soon catch up to his shorter colleague and the two would leave together.

”Wait – what?”