9 Just Take It Easy

Whilst Aeryn was thinking about how strong Yui Shiro actually could be, the other representatives had just about reached the space port. They had rushed here as fast as they could, crossing half the city in just a few minutes. As a result beads of sweat had appeared on their foreheads and their breathing was quite ragged.

Upon arriving the eight of them split into pairs and went to guard the four entrances as they had arranged on their way over. The TV crews were not too far behind them, recording every moment of their journey. The various air and ground teams for the news teams broadcast live as the the pairs of representatives stood proudly outside the main entrances like eternal guardians of the gate.

While the TV crews were broadcasting at the space port they had also sent out a number of teams to find and record the position of Yui Shiro. They expected them to be swiftly on their way to the space port. They wanted to see how Yui Shiro would attempt to break through the blockade ahead of her and how she would approach the space port.

As the search parties scattered through the city Yui, Asai and Momoka were casually strolling through the bustling streets of Morningstar city unaware of what was going on at the space port. Yui was smiling widely as she browsed through the various street stalls, she was particularly eyeing up one of the grilled chicken stands. Asai and Momoka were also smiling they were still trying to digest the events of the day.

They were feeling a rush of different emotions but the dominant feeling was excitement. After they had left the hall Yui had told them to go pick up their belongings out of the lockers that were provided for participants. Asai had only brought along with him a few sets of spare clothes and necessities and a bit of money that his parents had given him before he left. Momoka for the most part had brought along with her the same sort of things, however Asai had quite the shock when Momoka pulled out a pair of curved swords. At the time Asai wasn't able to ask about the swords as they were in a bit of a rush to escape the awkward atmosphere of the hall.

However now they were just casually walking about in the city together so he took the opportunity to ask her what she was doing carrying around a pair of swords.

"Why do I have my swords? Didn't you know? Most superhumans have a weapon they use when fighting to complement their power. As for why I already have my weapon, it's because my family are a family of blacksmiths so they made these swords for me as a going away present before I left."

Asai wanted to question Momoka further about weapons but before he could say anything Yui interjected.

"Hey you two do you want to go and get something to eat? I'm starving. While we are eating I can talk to you about Ten no Ryū academy and what the curriculum involves."

Their new academy was something that both Momoka and Asai were deeply interested in so they agreed to Yui's request without much hesitation. After wandering the streets for a while they found a reasonably priced diner that wasn't too busy. Inside the design was similar to that of one of those old American diner's. It had checkered floor tiles and red leather seats and stools and perhaps the most important thing, to Yui at least, was the large portion sizes.

The group quickly ordered and took their seats in a booth.

"So first things first, welcome to Ten no Ryū academy."

A look of excitement appeared in both Momoka and Asai's eye's upon hearing those words.

"The next point I have to make is this. If you want to drop out of this, now is the time to do it."

Asai and Momoka's looks of excitement changed to confusion after hearing this.

"Why would we want to drop out now?"

Yui smiled sympathetically,

"Ten no Ryū is a newly established academy. Even now, with the new training year just about to begin, not everything is in place. Only half of the building's are fully constructed, some of the main trainingfacilities aren't yet completed and if I'm completely honest half of the teachers have yet to show up. Although I can personally guarantee the best training in the Galaxy, unfortunately, for approximately the first half of the year while everything is still being put in place we will only be running at half capacity."

Both Asai and Momoka were surprised for a moment hearing Yui's words, however after that brief moment had passed their faces were smiling and that had eyes filled with determination.

"Yui, if it weren't for you I would have been on my way home right now, having been labelled a clown and trash. You offered me a place to go when the rest of the academies had shunned me. I'm not exactly sure what it is you saw in us but, I think I speak for both of us when I say even if you were running at zero capacity we would still follow behind you without hesitation."

Momoka nodded her head fervently in agreement with Asai's words. Asai's words were true, the way Yui had stood up for them back in the hall had truly moved them. It was clear that Ten no Ryū was an academy that really did care for their students and even the teachers were willing to put themselves on the line to protect the feelings and safety of the students. What student wouldn't be happy to pledge their loyalty to such a school?

Seeing the dedication of the 2 students Yui's look of concern disappeared from her face and she smiled brightly back at Asai and Momoka. The two of them were caught off guard for a moment by how beautiful Yui's smile was. Even some of the people in the restaurant who had happened to glance over at this moment had silly smiles on their faces and blushing cheeks.

The image was soon ruined however by the arrival of the food. Yui, being as hungry as she was, did not wait to start eating and began to stuff her face without bothering to think about her image.

After eating a few large bites Yui looked up at the two of them and, between mouthfuls, began to explain the curriculum of Ten no Ryū academy.

"So when we get there the first thing we are gonna have you do is have a quick assessment of your current abilities, to see where you are and what you need to work on. From there we will also analyze what other powers you might have other than the ones you are aware of. I'm not saying you will definitely have more than you knew about but if you do we would like to know as it will determine your timetable at the academy."

Yui paused for a moment as she took another bite of her meal before continuing on.

"The lesson plan will probably be quite loose and not really set in stone but, there will be a few classes that you will all attend regularly without fail. Those being; combat training, aura control and weapons training. Well, don't sweat the details of the classes for now as all will be explained later at the academy. Also once you have received a decent amount of training and we are satisfied with your abilities one other thing that you will be doing quite regularly is going out on missions."

"Missions?" Momoka asked with a hint of trepidation in her voice.

"Yes, we will have you do things like; taking down wanted criminals, helping out with disaster relief and other requests that people might have. At the end of the day there is nothing like real combat to hone your abilities and sharpen your senses. Of course, it wouldn't be very safe to throw you into stuff like that all by yourself from the get go, so we will be putting you into groups so you can watch each other's backs and cover each other's weaknesses whilst on these missions."

Momoka seemed to be slightly nervous hearing about these missions, but her facial expression didn't falter and she remained determined.

"Oh and also while I remember, Momoka, you are allowed to bring and use your own weapons at our academy but they have to undergo a quality check before you can use them. We can't have you running around with second-rate weapons. After all, sometimes your weapon can mean your life, we, as your teachers want to ensure that your weapons don't fail you in crucial moments."

Momoka smiled, understanding Yui's reasoning and nodded her head.

As Yui had just being speaking Asai was casually looking around the restaurant. He was from a small mountain village with less than a thousand people making up it's population. This whole trip to Morningstar city had been full of new experiences for him. The cities building's were tall and dense, filling the sky, a far cry from the few cottages and houses scattered about on the mountainside in his home village. Hover cars and bikes snaked in-between the tall buildings and masses of people could be found in every corner of the city. Even the restaurant they were currently sitting in was a new experience for Asai, he had nothing like it at home. As Asai looked around eagerly observing his surroundings his eyes fell on one of the TVs on the wall not too far away.

On it, the news was playing and it was showing the representatives from the other school keenly guarding the entrances to the space port. Asai suddenly has a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked sheepishly at Yui and asked:

"We aren't heading to the space port by any chance, are we?"

Yui, who was still happily chewing on her meal looked at Asai with a curious look on her face and asked:

"Yeah that's right. Why do you ask?"

Hearing Yui's answer Asai's face twisted into one of deep worry. Whilst slowly raising his finger to point at the TV behind Yui he replied nervously

"Well... Please look."

Yui turned around and looked at the TV for a few moments before returning to her meal without saying a word. Momoka had also noticed the TV at this point and had begun panicking and her eyes shooting about the room anxiously.

"W-what are we going to do?"

Momoka asked Yui seemingly getting more and more restless by the second. Yui looked up and smiled at Momoka obviously finding her panic a little amusing.

"Well... I was planning to do a little more sightseeing of Morningstar city, there's still quite a few things I wanted to see in the city. This will be good for you guys as well, as new students of the academy you will be working with each other quite often so you should take our little sightseeing tour as a chance to get to know each other better."

Asai and Momoka almost fell off their chairs hearing Yui's off-beat answer. The other representatives were obviously out for blood and Yui wanted to go sightseeing?

"What about the representatives at the space port?"

Yui looked up from her meal yet again and smiled mischievously.

"Look at the screen, those guys aren't going anywhere. They're so desperate to teach me a lesson that they will probably wait there all day. So whether we go there and fight them now or whether we go there in a few hours after seeing the sights what difference does it make? Whether we hurry or not isn't going to change our situation, so we may as well take it easy and enjoy ourselves. Let those proud idiots steam for a few hours."

Yui laughed as she sat back and smiled. Asai and Momoka both had looks of disbelief on their faces hearing Yui's laid back answer. They soon realized however that Yui made a fair point. Whether they went now or later, it didn't matter. Rushing over there would not change their fate. They decided to put their faith in Yui and do as she said.

Both of them sat back in their chairs and let out a sigh. I guess we may as well just take it easy, Asai and Momoka thought at the same time, resigning themselves to their fate.