The Boy With No Past (45)

"You two take the left side!! I'll take the right myself!" Kuro directed his teammates in formation.

They were chasing a group of bandits who just stole some food from a market at a nearby town.

The bandits were getting away on a horse drawn wagon through the woods.

The strongest of the group stood to the back of the vehicle, with his foot perched up on the ledge. "It seems you kids don't know when to stop playing! Hurraaaghhh!!"

A large piece of the road uplifted, getting in the way of the three.

"Go around!" Kuro directed.

"You don't have to tell me that!" One of the girls said. Her name was Ako.

Both of Kuro's teammates were girls in fact.

The other, much nicer girl was Maki.

Ako climbed right over the wall of road and continued to chase down the bandits.

Kuro ran up ahead of the girls. He was much faster than them.

But before Kuro could act, someone jumped onto the wagon and took out all of the bandits by himself.

After throwing them off, he leapt onto the top of the wagon's canopy and jumped down to the ground, grabbing hold of both of the horse's necks in each of his arms, causing them to stop.

"There! Problem solved!" he said, dusting his hands.

Kuro was mad. He ran up to the kid. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!"

"Huh? I'm taking out the bad guys." The kid pointed to the men on the ground.

Maki was tying them up with vines.

Ako stood behind Kuro.

Kuro stepped closer. "Yeah I can see that, but this was OUR mission! We can't get credit for something we didn't do!!"

"Oh. Sorry! I just acted on impulse."

The boy's apology wasn't helping Kuro calm down.

Ahsan soon flew down from above. "What happened here?"

Kuro pointed at the boy. "Sensei, this kid just swooped in and took out our targets! He made us fail!!"

Ahsan looked at the boy. "This kid? All by himself? I must say I'm impressed! What's your name kid?"

"Kyo." (pronunciation: kai-oh)

Kyo was of average height, with brown skin and white hair. His eyes were dark brown.

"Kyo, this is Kuro, and those two are Ako and Maki. My name is Ahsan, their captain."

Kyo smiled. "Nice to meet you all!"

Ahsan turned to Kuro. "Also, you three didn't fail, you just won't receive a reward for this mission. If you don't want other people butting in, then learn to do your jobs more efficiently."

Ako rolled her eyes and walked back. "Whatever."

Kuro scowled at Kyo for a few more seconds, then left as well. Ahsan followed.

Maki went up to shake Kyo's hand. "You were so cool!! Where are you from?"

Kyo put his hand behind his head. "Uhh, around... I guess."

Maki's eyes glistened with interest. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

Maki clapped her hands. "That's so cool!! Me and my group are all fourteen! You should become a Knight!!"

Kyo looked at her confusingly. "A Knight? What's that?"

"The Knights are a group of warriors that fight strong criminals and villains. You look strong, you should try out!"

Ahsan called back. "Maki!! Stick with the team!!"

Maki straightened up. "Coming!!" she called back. "Well, hopefully I'll see you around!" Maki ran off.

Kyo looked at the wagon full of food. "They left the wagon..." He picked up an apple.

*crunch.*

"Hm. Delicious." Kyo continued walking through the woods. "Eh. Couldn't be too bad. I'm always doing this kind of thing anyway."

Kyo walked his way to Arbok City, the nation's capital. He went to a building near the Knight's Headquarters that accepted and organized new recruits.

Kyo walked up to the clerk behind the counter.

"Hello, how can I assist you today?" she said politely.

"Um, can I try out for the Knights?"

The clerk started typing something up on her computer. "Right away. I need a name and address."

"My name's Kyo. That's spelled K-y-o. I don't have an address. Is that a problem?"

The clerk smiled and shook her head. "As of now, no it is not. But within three weeks, you will have to report *some* form of address."

The clerk continued typing. She then printed something out and handed Kyo a card. "This is your First Order ID. You will need it for access to all facilities relating to the Order. You take this to the academy to show proof that you are a recruit. The program is in three days."

Kyo took the card. "Thanks."

--

In three days, Kyo showed up at the academy. There were about fifty or so children and young adults, all trying out to become a Knight.

A strict-looking man with glasses walked in. He had on a suit with a silver badge and a black insignia in the center. He was an Omega Knight.

All of the recruits were directed to stand in an organized group. "Recruits. My name is Fujitora. I will be your instructor and examiner for today. At the end of our program, you will either pass, or fail. No exceptions. If you happen to fail, you will be allowed to take the test again next year. Now, let's get started."

Kyo was a little nervous. He'd never taken any sort of test before. Someone elbowed him in his arm lightly. He looked.

"First time?"

Kyo nodded.

The boy continued. "This is my second try. I failed last year." He stuck his hand out. "I'm Tenma, fourteen years old."

Kyo shook his hand. "I'm Kyo, thirteen."

Tenma didn't look like someone who'd fail. He was buff for a fourteen year old kid, and was several inches taller than him. He had red hair, brown eyes, and his two front teeth stuck out when he opened his mouth.

"How did you fail?" Kyo asked him.

"I was too weak. They told me I didn't have what it takes."

Tenma balled his fist. His eyes gleamed with determination. "But this time I'll pass. I know it!"

Kyo smiled. He almost felt kind of bad. Everyone probably had their own personal reasons for becoming a Knight, but Kyo was here simply because he enjoyed fighting.

Fujitora spoke. "There will be three parts to this exam. The first is of course the written test."

Everyone was split into four test rooms where they sat at desks. They were in groups of thirteen. Kyo's group was labeled A-3. Other than himself, he only recognized Tenma in his group.

"Clay Art: Earth Clone." Fujitora split himself into four clones so that he could oversee each group.

In room A-3, Fujitora briefed the group before the test. "There are fifty-two recruits in total, so each group has thirteen people. After taking the test, each group will split into three teams of four."

Kyo raised his hand.

Fujitora looked his way. "Yes?"

"What about the extra person?" he asked.

Fujitora pushed his glasses up on his nose some. "The person with the lowest test score automatically fails. Simple as that. You all have thirty questions each. The questions are all different for each one of you, except one, to prevent cheating. You have thirty minutes. If there is a question left blank it will be marked as incorrect. Begin."

Kyo started sweating. He looked at his paper and started.

The questions were half about world history and common knowledge, and the other half were scenario questions. Asking "what would you do" type questions.

Kyo did as best as he could. He finished a minute early.

Time ran out.

"Pencils down!" Fujitora boomed. "I will come by to pick up your papers."

Fujitora made his rounds of the class, taking everyone's paper. He went to a back room for about ten minutes, then came back with the results.

"Attention. I will now announce the results. The highest score, with ninety-seven percent correct, is Frost. Congratulations." He held his hand up towards a silent kid with light sky blue hair and blue eyes.

Fujitora went on with the results. "The lowest total score with forty-three percent, is Kyo."

Kyo's eyes widened. He knew that he wouldn't do well, but he didn't think it'd be this bad.

Kyo had no real knowledge of the world, so most of the test was foreign to him.

Fujitora looked at the paper. "I *do* want to inquire about this question that you left blank. Number seventeen. A criminal has caught you in a trap. A bomb will detonate in ten seconds. The explosion will kill many innocent people without fail. The criminal is also holding a blade to your teammate's neck. It would take you ten seconds to either save your teammate, or defuse the bomb. Choose. Why did you not choose?"

Kyo stood up. "I can't choose over people's lives. I'd try to save my teammate *and* defuse the bomb, all within ten seconds."

Everyone in the group stared at him. Kyo felt stupid and sat back down.

Fujitora pointed at another boy. "You, Goro. You finished with fifty percent correct. The second lowest. You fail."

Goro stood up in confusion. "Wait, what? But you said the lowest score would fail! He got a forty-three!"

Fujitora smiled. "Yes, I did. But, what separates Kyo from the rest of you, is that everyone in this room chose one of the two options for number seventeen. Either save your comrade, or save the innocent people. Frost here, also chose one or the other. He would've had a perfect score if he chose the right answer. See. I never said that you were *required* to choose an answer for every question. Leaving something blank was also a choice. Both of the answers given for this question count as wrong."

Goro got angry. "Still!! You said that if we left a question blank, it would be wrong!!"

Fujitora walked up to Goro's desk and got close to his face. "If you obey every single thing someone tells you and not have the capacity to think for yourself, then you don't have what it takes to be a Knight. You not only failed to answer the question successfully, but you obviously also don't have much common knowledge either. Now. Leave. You failed."

Goro had tears in his eyes as he ran out of the room.

Fujitora turned to Kyo. "Kyo. Your recruit form showed no home address. Are you homeless?"

"Um. Kind of. I've been travelling across the country my whole life. I never had one place to stay."

Fujitora returned to the front of the class. "Have you no parents?"

Kyo shook his head. "I don't know."

"I see. See to it that you read from the various libraries across Arbok City from now on. This low level of knowledge is still unacceptable. Other than that everyone else in group A-3 passes."

Most of the kids cheered, or felt some sort of relief.

Kyo noticed that the one named Frost remained silent, leaned back in his chair with his arms folded and eyes closed.

Fujitora signaled the class to quiet down. He spoke in a stern tone. "Now. I will assign you in groups of four as I see fit."

Kyo was placed on the third team.

"Team B-3. Agaki, Kyo, Frost, and Tenma. Find all of your teammates after I dismiss you all. There will be a grand total of twelve teams. You will take part in a tournament style team battle. All teams other than the final two fail. Prepare yourselves. Dismissed."

All the recruits left the room.

Tenma caught up with Kyo. "Looks like you barely passed, good stuff!"

Kyo laughed nervously. "So where are our other teammates?"

Another kid their age walked up to them. "Yo, I'm Agaki. We're on the same team."

Agaki was of an average build and height, with wild, messy black hair and pure yellow eyes.

Tenma looked around. "Where's that Frost guy?"

"Frost isn't really the 'people' type. He usually does things his own way." Agaki said.

Kyo walked off. "I'll go find him."

He found Frost sitting on the far side of the gym by himself with his eyes closed. "Hey. You're Frost right? I'm Kyo. Your teammate."

"I'm well aware who you are. Now leave me alone." he replied dryly.

Kyo was unmoving. "As teammates, shouldn't we be together? Like getting to know each other and stuff?"

Frost looked at him with a cold glare. It sent chills down his spine. "I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to get stronger."

Kyo sat down next to him. "Then I'll just sit here until the next phase starts."

A few seconds pass.

Frost groaned. "Fine. I'll join the team. Just stay away from me. I don't want to lose my sanity."

Kyo hopped up. "Cool!"

The two rejoined the others.

Frost stood a few feet away from the other three.

Agaki was speechless. "He actually came..."

Kyo smiled. "Alright! We're gonna ace this tournament!!"

All of the other teams stared at them.

"I don't think that was the right thing to yell out..." Tenma said quietly.

Kyo met the other's gaze. "What? You guys wanna go?"

The other teams turned their heads away.

"I thought so." Kyo said.

Fujitora walked onto the stage. "Alright recruits! The real start of the Knights Exam starts now!!"