Hiro PoV

     I knocked on the door once more in front of Seungho and GO's room as I waited for them to open up. GO answered the door in an apron, and I immediately smelled spices and sugar. He let me in and the first thing he asked me wasn't why I was coming but, "How'd did you get in here? Did you use your mind trick on the security guy?" I waved it off and nodded my head.  I snuck a cookie into my mouth and GO playfully hit me on the back of my head. He said," I was making those for everyone! Looks like someone doesn't want any more cookies---I'm sorry! I want a batch! Don't poison mine though~Ow!" I sat down at the table and talked a bit with them. It's been a while since I've done anything but work. I asked them what they were up to today, and l sensed GO got anxious. l looked back at Seungho and he had a smug look on his face. So I asked GO," did something happen between you two? Should l leave?---N-Not at all! It's okay, I'm glad you came over," Once he answered me I got into his head and fished for answers. In Thunder's spare time he helped me practice my powers....of course it was all aimed at him, hehe. I quickly found out the answered and was surprised.

     "You got asked to Winter Ball? When's that? This Friday?" I asked innocently as GO jumped and turned around in surprise. His face had a look of pure confusion and shock, and before l let him ask I said, "You would look goo~d in blue. You're way easier to read than Seungho, much less Thunder," I laughed loudly into the echo-y room as his jaw dropped in pure shock.  It was then, Seungho piped up and said, "You've gotten really good at reading minds, huh? So...What have you and Thunder up to? Been busy?---Don't just ignore me! I'm been mind-!" GO just grunted in frustration and went back to baking. I looked down at the table ladled with sweets a little sad. I think the others caught on and wanted to ask more. I replied, "I'm doing okay with Thunder. We're kinda busy since I'm working all the time, and he's trying to keep me out of his Judgement business. Even though I'm decent at interrogation and mind probing but I guess I need to go through the training program first," Seungho let out a low whistle and replied, "Well Judgent is a serious thing and Thunder does like being serious. He went through the training program and it lasts 4 months. It's all held in District 2, an area specifically meant for Anti-Skill and Judgment training and recruitment. I hear they have physical and power training i order to become a member.  Judgment doesn't do very much any ways but mostly keep the peace in the city and help out like community service. l think it's just best to help out in whatever way you can for now without being in Judgment," Well, if you say so.

   I began to hesitate for a minute, but I finally was able to speak up about why I came to them today, "I wanted to say thanks for letting me crash with you guys. I know it was kind of awkward but I'm really grateful for the help,"  Seungho smiled and said it was nothing. There was also something else I wanted to say, "I'm also being accepted into the Academy---No way! You actually made it! Congrats!" The both of them congratulated me, and GO let me have a few more sweets that he was making. They looked really happy for me, and then GO asked me, "So when is your PR Test? Usually it's within a week or two of your acceptance," Huh? What's the PR Test? My facial expression said it all and Seungho responded, "Your PR Test is your Personal Reality Test. Espers gain their powerful abilities through altering reality and making it their own. Your PR allows your to substitute your perception with the certainties of this reality. It's a little hard to grasp the concept, but that's the basic theory on how Espers are created,"  So that's how Espers are formed....but what about Magickians? I asked about Mir, and they didn't really have an answer to how Magickians were created. GO said, "You might as well ask Mir about it. I mean l didn't really believe him at first, l mean Magicians? But then l thought if Espers could be created, why couldn't Magickians be possible too? I've even heard about Esper-Magickian hybrids. Better ask Mir about that later if you wanna know more Hiro," l guess I should. Seungho's face changed as he thought of something else to pick my mind about

    "Say, what Clan are you going to be in? If you're telepathic it may be a sure hit with the OTTs. I'm in that Clan, and we're all about mental abilities. GO is in the Kagero Clan. They focus on pryokinetic powers. I hope you get into a good clan. Wait, do you even know what Clans there are?" Seungho seemed worried that I didn't get enough intro to the academy, so I indulged him and let him explain it to me. He pulled out a glass tablet and displayed a chart with all the different Clans that the school is divided into. GO sat down with us and also helped explain to me how the school works, "There are many Espers with a million different combination of powers. Clans in this school are meant to categorize these powers to make them easier to teach and keep track of. Each Clan comes with their own symbol and nation color. The school is massive with many different branches of schooling and other crap I haven't seen. Each Clan is placed into a Nation, which is another way of keeping track of groups of Espers while training and keeping their powers under control. The Nations go like this:

    United Sanctuary(Una-Sanc)= Gold, Royal, and Shadow Paladin, Angel Feather, Oracle Think Tank(OTT), Genesis

   Dragon Empire = Kagero, Narukami, Tachikaze, Nubatama, Murakumo

   ​Dark Zone = Gear Chronicle, Dark Irregulars, Pale Moon, Spike Brothers

   Magallanica = Bermuda Triangle, Aqua Force, Granblue

  Stargate = Dimension Police, Nova Grapplers, Entrangers

​ Zoo = Neo Nectar, Megacolony, Great Nature

I studied the chart and I thought I understood a good amount of it. I asked what else the Nation and Clans were good for, and Seungho chimed in saying, "Each Clan is meant to not just keep powers all sorted out, but each one also is meant to assimilate Espers into normal society by putting them into work places with their corresponding powers. Let's say you're from Kagero and can use fire. Most likely if you decided to go into work,you very well may end up in a metal workshop or some job that requires high heat. The list goes on, but that's the gist of how the school works,"  Wow, this is complicated stuff. I hope I do well in this school.  I told them that I was accepted a few days ago, and that my test was later in the day. They wanted to come watch my testing, and I let them come watch. I would be pretty nervous if there wasn't someone I knew to help encourage me...

          Thunder PoV

   Haaah~ Another day of work done! I let my body plop into the couch at the Judgment branch opening a bottle of soda to drink. Mir and Joon were dragging their butts behind into the office sounding like an old married couple, "You couldn't catch a cat with your hair? And yet you have huge demon hands in them--- I don't keep everything in there! It's not my purse or anything!" Yes, you would think it sounds cute, but not for a full freaking day's worth of marital spat. They sat down and started to finally quiet down for a bit. I tuned into their conversation to say, "Why did you guys get into Judgment into the first place without proper training? I know the branches requested more recruits to serve in community service and all but sheesh~"  Joon seemed to nod off and doze while Mir responded, "Seungho signed us up with no warning as to why and then well, we're here,"  I guess that makes sense. After a few minutes of resting in silence, Mir's tablet alarm went off. I looked back at him checking notifications saying, "Oh hey! I almost forgot that Hiro's PR Test is today! Joon we should go~ It's almost time!---Give me a few...more minutes," Hiro's...test? I stood up quickly and slammed my hand onto the table to get their attention. I can't believe him... Joon woke up startled and asked, "Dude, what is your problem? Old man sleeping over here---Are you telling me that Hiro is taking an Esper test today? Which means he got into the Academy?" Joon yawned and got up go get an energy drink, while Mir handed me the tablet. 

    "It's at 6pm today. He got accepted a week ago.But I guess you were too busy trying to work and teach, let alone Judgment duties. Have you two not been talking at all?" Mir asked poignantly. I gave it back to him and Mir seemed to catch onto my feelings quickly. He asked again, "What's wrong? Are you not going? Is there something that happened?" l looked back at him and sadly replied, "Yeah. I wasn't always an Esper....l was just uhm, normal human l guess. lt's a little traumatizing to talk about but---You don't have to force us to spit it out. Mir was only being curious and he needs to stop," Mir got quiet and l raised my hand to stop Joon.  l began again, "Well it's okay. l haven't shared very much with Mir about myself so he doesn't really know me, let alone the others too. l guess l became an Esper....through experimental means," lt was at that point Joon and Mir decided to get even more eerily quiet than before. It brought back traumatic memories, but I plunged on any ways by continuing, "I entered an scientific study group back in high school that was meant for college studies. A group of scientists were developing the Power Curricular for Espers to grow their powers artificially. Many naturally powered Espers are not very strong but have enough power to control their abilities. Those who enter Academy City are meant to be trained. Back when I was in high school, they were still developing new methods, and one of them was not too pleasant for me. But hey, I guess it worked. Look at me now, l can control sound. Over 50% of the City is Level 0, the most lowest level of Esper. L0 don't have very strong powers at all, or they aren't able to produce any actual ability. The ranking goes all the way to Level 8, which is also known as Anomaly Espers. Those are pretty ridiculous, as the highest known Levels now are only L5. Luckily the program for training Espers isn't what I had to go through back then but still, l'm worried that Hiro...."

     l trailed off into silence, looking back at all the things l could've done to protect Hiro. Instead l just plunged my head into working. l snapped out of it and decided to come along with Mir and Joon to see Hiro. lt was almost time to for Hiro's test anyhow, so we all just headed down to the testing facility in the Academy. The two of them tried to put my mind at ease, but l knew the only way I would be any calmer was to see him in action myself. As we approached the facility, l remembered that Hiro was also training with Mir in his spare time. l decided to ask him about it, "Hey Mir, Hiro's been practicing with you a lot hasn't he? How is his progress?" Mir thought about it for a while and replied with, "He's definitely in much more control of his Esper abilities but his other abilities have been a little....slow," What? Other abilities? What are you talking about? I opened the doors to an open space with a packed sand floor spanning the entire complex, and people lined up around the place to take their tests. All sorts of tests were being displayed: Physical, Mental, and Power Tests. Joon tapped my arm and pointed to the screen displaying the test subjects that were waiting to take their test and those currently active. Hiro's Physical test showed up and then erased off the digital screen. He must've just finished his test. The very last test that was queued was his Power Test. We found our way through the maze of people to Hiro's station. He was sitting down with Seungho and GO resting. Makie was there as well giving out water and refreshments to students.  "Hey~! Hiro! We're here!" Hiro was drinking his water bottle when he looked up towards our direction and saw the three of us.  He smiled gently as we came an dat down with him.

        "Hehe~ l'm really glad you guys came, but you all didn't have to come!---Nonsense! You think we'd be the only ones watching you from the sidelines? Dude, this guy can pick a mean fight tho!" Seungho pulled out his tablet to show a video of Hiro's Physical Test. Hiro looked a little red and tried to stop Seungho from playing the video, "It looks terrible! l haven't even gotten into the right stance for it! Stahp it!" Seungho handed the video to me and Hiro immediately turned red while looking away.  Hiro was fighting a training robot, similar to Evangeline's android Chachamaru.  His fighting looked like a graceful dance, as l slowed down the video to watch in detail. His kicks were fliud, and his punches were delivered in the right places. l saw his face in the video, and Hiro looked happy in a way. As if he was looking for a fight and was happy for a challenge. He also looked so determined to make that android into a piece of scrap metal, his physical features making me smile slightly. His dance of fighting really showed off his physique, his toned arms and legs, his strong abdomen......??? Wait why am l watching so closely? I handed back the tablet to Seungho, and saw that everyone was looking at me a little too closely. "What? Do l have something on my face?" I asked confused. The four of them snickered while Hiro looked even more flushed. GO replied, "ls it me or does your face look really pink? And that big smile on your face doesn't help," Oh ! l cleared my throat and shook my head to clear away my thoughts. Before l could come up with a defense, everyone else had already moved on to other topics. "Hey which Clan do you want to be in? Why not try to get into the OTTs?---No way! They're really snobby, come to Kagero with me Hiro---Yeah where the school punks all learn how to roast people," The four of them were starting a turf war between the Clans and fighting about where Hiro should go to. Technically, l'm still in the Academy's program, but l don't do very much  in the course except teach others how to control their powers. I was placed into the Angel Feather Clan in the Academy, a Clan focused on abilities with air and flight. l was soon transferred over to the BT(Bermuda) Clan because of my unique ability to control just sounds. But enough about me, it's about Hiro today.

      "Hiro if you want an easy class why not join the DI(Dark Irregular)? Mir's the new Clan Leader and we probably won't do any in that class---Hey what are you trying to say! I can be a good mentor!" Oh here goes the martial couple spat again. l looked over at Hiro who was busy listening to the fighting, and he looked really happy. The PA system called out the next batch of subject for the Power Test, "Izumi Hiroki, please report to your Power Testing official. Testing will resume shortly," I felt something drop into the pit of my stomach, and it felt like nervousness. Please be okay Hiro...