Fearless

Chapter 20

After everyone had eaten, they had a small bit of down time waiting for it to get darker. Once the sun had officially set in the sky, everyone gathered in front of Yukio and Shura to hear what they were going to be doing.

"Okay, listen up! I'm going to explain the drill!" He shouted, stadning next to Shura who was sitting leaning back.

"Yeah! It's a test o' courage- I dare ya." Shura slurred, obviously drunk.

"You shouldn't be drinking on the job." Yukio scolded.

"Okay hold on a sec, didn't she saw she was eighteen? That makes her a minor!" Bon said, looking towards the drunk woman angrily.

"You really believed that?" Kiara asked, looking at Bon with an arched eyebrow.

Yukio adjusted his glasses as he glanced from the class to Shura"Wait, eighteen? Don't be ridiculous. This year she'll be turning twenty sev-" He was suddenly interrupted by a can being thrown at him.

"Uh oh. My hand slipped." Shura said.

"Cut the shit and get to work already." A dark aura seemed to surround Yukio, and it was quite obvious that he was getting, or was annoyed by the older exorcist.

"Oh! Teach cursed!" Kiara said.

"Look, I made him mad!" Shura exclaimed, a dopey grin on her face as she burst out into a fit of drunken giggles.

Yukio just sighed and turned back to the class, "Alright, here's the rundown. We're going to have you spread out to find and light some lanterns that are hidden somewhere in the forest. The lanterns are located within a five hundred meter radius of camp. Whoever can keep their lantern lit and return it to base camp in the next three days will be eligible to go on actual combat missions."

Everyone, including Kiara perked up at that. The thought of going on actual missions made her excited. Actual missions meant she would be facing off against actual demons without having to call a teacher to actually exorcise the demon.

"However." Yukio continued, brining Kiara back to the situation at hand, "There are only three lanterns out there, therefore there are only three slots open to go on missions."

"But that means—" Izumo started.

It doesn't mean anything. Kiara thought to herself. It just means that there are three lanterns out there.

Yukio ignored Izumo and picked up one of the bags that were laying besides him. "Now, let's talk about the contents of your shoulder bags." He laced out all the contents from inside the bag out in the open, spreading them out so the class could see them clearly. "You'll be equipped with three days worth of food, water, and other necessities. You'll also find a compass, flashlight, one demon repelling bottle rocket, and one match."

"Only one match? That means if we set off the bottle rocket we can't light the lantern. And by doing that we forfeit the whole thing." Kiara stated.

"That is correct, good observation, Miss Pheles. While in the forest, you can either light the rocket or the lantern. Just as Miss Pheles said, if you light up the bottle rocket, you'll be forfeiting and will not be able to go on missions. Now, by relying on your strengths and focusing on your weaknesses, you'll find a path to success."

"So all we do is find a lantern, light it, and bring it back? That's supposed to be a drill?" Rin said.

Kiara watched as Shura made her her way over to Rin, and wrapped an arm around him as she laughed. "I don't think you understand the situation. This isn't going to be anything like the Exwire exam."

Yukio passed out the survival bags and everyone spread out to search through them. As they were sorting through them Kiara watched as Shura pulled Rin away for a few words. After their talk, she watched as Rin started walking back— his previous excitement of this drill completely gone.

"You were all excited a minute ago, what happened?" Bon asked, walking up to Rin, Kiara walking up and stadning besides Bon. "Come on, you're not chickening out, are ya?"

"Did Shura scare you, Rinny?" Kiara asked.

"Huh?" Rin

"Hey, I was thinking," Konekomaru said, getting the attention of the group. "This drill is actually made to make us compete. But then, if we start doing that-"

"We're going to be at each other's throats." Izumo finished, standing up from where she was.

"They're not giving us a choice. Looks like it's every person for themselves, we can't help each other." Bon said, looking around at everyone, then at Kiara, who just met his gaze with a neutral expression.

"He's right. There's all of us and only three slots. I kinda like those odds." Izumo said.

"Then it's settled guys. No hard feelings, okay?" Shima said.

Kiara just grunted and moved to a spot around the circle, watching as everyone else did the same.

"Take your positions!" Yukio shouted.

Kiara dug the toe of her foot into the ground and turned on the flashlight that was provided for her. She might not be scared of the dark but she did not want to trip over any exposed tree roots. Damn, they completely missed the point. She thought with a sigh.

"Ready?"

Teach has been repeating one thing ever since the Exwire exams, and that is—

The gun fired, and immediately everyone was off, Kiara started running through the forest, her flashlight lighting the path in front of her.

Exorcists work in teams.