Getting stares was the norm. But this was probably the first time I actually wanted to be stared at. Like, I was the only one who didn''t have a uniform and people just pretended that I wasn''t even here.


    I would have done the same. I mean, I always pretend that the staring people around me didn''t even exist. And if this was any other day, I wouldn''t have even cared. But today? Today was different, cause no matter how I saw it, I was the only sore thumb sticking out.


    And I wanted people to acknowledge that.


    "Hey, Marg?"


    Even, Marg wasn''t talking to me. Lately, she ignored me too.


    Where the hell did her enthusiasm from yesterday go?


    ''Is being from a viinous family really that much of a big deal?''


    It probably was. And because of that fear, I always kept my identity hidden. And now, all of that hard work just went through the drain. ''Am I invisible or something?''


    But I guess this was unavoidable. After all, sooner orter people would have found out anyway. This just happened a lot sooner than I thought: a lot, lot sooner that is.


    ''Should I just avoid everyone too, and be aplete loner?'' The idea did seem great at first nce, no doubt about that.


    "Yes, what is it?" Just when I thought I was being utterly ignored, Marg put down her book and stared straight at me.


    She was probably the only person apart from me, I saw reading books. Every other guy just read on the Holo.


    "Oh, um-"


    I actually didn''t have anything to talk about. I was just feeling a bit weird. And I wanted her to acknowledge my presence. And when she did, I didn''t have anything to talk about.


    The weird feeling kept on intensifying. It was almost as though something was wrong with me. Come to think of it, I actually hadn''t had the chance to talk with mom about the seals.


    "Well?" She was expressionless as usual.


    "How''s your day off??" I really couldn''te up with anything better.


    "Good, I spent most of the time with your mom: she was really nice and so was your sister. I''d say, pretty good."


    "Oh, that''s great to hear." And I turned around. I didn''t know why but things just got awkward.


    Was talking with people always this hard?


    "But you do have my thanks. Thanks for rescuing me." It was almost as though she was genuinely happy.


    "Yeah, don''t mention it." I didn''t turn around. I finally felt a bit better about all this. But I kind of forgot about my main problem. "Howe everyone''s wearing a uniform?" I turned, partially.


    "You didn''t know? We are supposed to only wear uniform on the first day of every week."


    ''What sort of rule is that?''


    "I actually didn''t know." And even if I did know, there wasn''t any way I could have done anything about it. I didn''t have a uniform in the first ce.


    "Well, don''t worry too much about it. Our first ss would be upied with giving us our rolls anyway."


    "Oh yeah, but didn''t they say they were going to it to usst week?" And I''dpletely forgotten to ask about mine anyway.


    "Apparently, because of a certain someone, the academy had to do a lot of other important paperwork."


    I shed a grin and finally just looked solidly at the whiteboard.


    ''So, you''re telling me, it was basically my fault?''


    No wonder my ssmates always red at me so intently.


    ***


    ss started about five minutester. And just like Marg said, we were given rolls.


    I was third. I actually thought I''d be first because of all the trouble I caused. But I was d I didn''t have to worry about all the responsibilities of the first or the second. But then again the first guy wasn''t even in the ss.


    Anglemen was first and Marg was second. And as usual, Anglemen wasn''t in ss: Who knew what the guy even did. As for Marg being second, it was kind of not so surprising, at least for me. Her power was pretty wicked. It was both rare and very deadly if utilized properly. And her power was also very versatile.


    I, on the other hand, had a stupid power. Like what was I good for anyway, scorching cities? World domination, like John, said?


    Ridiculous.


    All I wanted was to swim in chocte and be an explorer, not the world and its problems. But now I couldn''t even do that anymore. ''Curse you,ctose intolerance.''


    Robert was eighth, while the transfer students were all given bottom spots.


    Well, at least this wasn''t so bad. We had about ten minutes to go, and so far Miss Maire didn''t say anything about my uniform: or,ck thereof.


    "Helio R. Jintel stand up."


    I might have spoken too soon.


    Regretfully I stood up. Judging by the voice, it was Miss Maire''s other personality: the violent one.


    "Where''s your uniform?"


    "Got shredded, miss." I gave an honest, sturdy answer.


    My fears wereing alive one by one.


    "Why didn''t you get a new one?"


    "My family didn''t provide one. I''ll get one when I''m able to afford-"


    "Sit down."


    ''Wait, that''s it?''


    I didn''t know why, but even this felt weird. I didn''t even deserve punishment? Wait, why was I even searching for punishment in the first ce? Wasn''t I trying to escape this even an hour ago?


    I didn''t know why, but all of these contradictions were giving me a headache.


    There was a vote in thest five minutes and the girl behind me, Marg, was chosen as the ss Rep. I guess she now had all the responsibilities. I was really d I didn''t have to get involved in all that trouble.


    But honestly, what the hell was wrong with me?


    ***


    sses ended without much hassle and it was lunch. I didn''t have anything for lunch today, apart from the gifts I received. Though I declined most of them, I still got forced to ept some. Those guys weren''t giving up no matter what.


    So I had two boxes on my table. One box was full of shrimp fried rice and the other, full of celery. Andstly a bottle of broli juice. Thest thing I wanted.


    Strangely, more than half of the students were present here today. I guess something important was happening after lunch that they couldn''t even miss a second off? But it was just math ss anyway.


    I got proved wrong again as four students came inside the room and everyone got all quiet. It wasn''t that something important was going to happen after lunch, rather the important stuff happened right in the middle.


    I still stuffed my face with shrimp anyway.


    "Now, I''ll exin some rules." Johnathan stood by the ckboard. There were three others from the club with him. Eve, Amie, and Monty. "The prelims would be overseen by the disciplinarymittee this year, not by the club."


    The moment he said that Dick walked into the room with two other guys. "That''s right. And so, there will be some new rules. Firstly, using ordinary swords will be allowed as usual. But for sabers, you may use everything that uses a saber core. I don''t know why John asked me to allow that but I don''t see any problem with allowing, so I''ll allow it. It will be more fun this way, anyway. But do remember that such weapons won''t be allowed in the actual tournament." The guy spoke like he was talking to his friends or something.


    ''Wait, Johnathan requested it?'' I looked at the guy, and he shed a weak smile at me. I guess he didn''t harbor fear against me? I was totally under the impression that he wasn''t going to even get near me anymore and yet, the guy was actually doing me favors.


    I grinned and downed everything with the juice: terrible stuff.


    But there was something else left. The celery of doom.


    "There will be eight hundred battles this month among one hundred participants. Only twenty-five participants will pass into the tournament qualification rounds. Every match will take ce exactly at five every afternoon, and you''ll be informed through the Holo. " Johnathan used his Holo projector to give us a brief overview.


    That''s the one thing I didn''t want to hear. I didn''t have a Holo.


    ''So one guy has to fight 8 times?''


    Wait, if this wasn''t even the qualifiers then what was the point?


    But boy was there a lot of participants. It didn''t matter to me. ''Wait, if I can win, I''ll be able to buy a lot ofctose-free milk, right?'' Now I was even more motivated to win. Mom had forbidden me to drink milk, but she didn''t forbid me to drink milk that wasn''t produced by cows… I kind ofughed inside and then realized. ''I''m just making up excuses, aren''t I?''


    "But isn''t the qualifying numbers a little low,pared to how many battles there will be?" One of my ssmates spoke up. "And how do you determine who gets to participate?"


    Johnathan smirked. "Good questions. This will be a point-based match. It doesn''t matter how many battles you win, but rather it matters more how you win it. You will fight and be judged in three criteria. One, your style. Two, your speed, meaning how fast you can win, and third, your utilization of sword powers."


    Meaning as I didn''t know how to use barriers yet, I had no shot at winning thest points.


    But Johnathan hadn''t answered thest question. It was probably more important than anything else.