"OK, listen up! I'm going to explain the drill." Yukio stated, standing up whilst the rest of the students and Shura was sitting.

"Yea! It's a test of courage! I dare ya!" Shura slurred, waving a can of beer around, drunk.

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

"Okay! Hold on a sec! Didn't she say she was 18?! That makes her a minor!" Bon shouted, pointing at Shura in accusation.

"Wait, 18? Don't be ridiculous. This year she'll be turning twenty-se-" Yukio was cut off by a beer can that hit him in the head.

"Uh oh, my hand slipped." Shura slurred plainly, clearly not amused that Yukio was about to give away her real age.

"Cut the shit and get to work already." Yukio threatened with a menacing aura, pushing up his glasses in his Glassesly way, pissed.

"Look it! I mad him mad!" Shura laughed, clearly amused. It some of their minds, a similar situation popped up about Shuku just after the Exwire exam... It was still not allowed to be talked about, at least not around Shuku.

"Right..." Yukio sighed, pushing up his glasses, again, "Here's the rundown. Were going to have to spread out to find and light some lanterns that are hidden somewhere in the forest. The lanterns are located withing a 500-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." The last part caught everyone's attention. The exercise seemed simple enough to Shuku, but why three days to complete it?

"However, there are only 4 lanterns out there, therefore there is only 4 slot open to going on missions." Shuku sneered at the last part, her competitive spirit rearing its ugly mug. The spot was as good as hers.

"But that means-" Izumo started, but was ignored due to Yukio carrying on.

"Now let's go over the contents of your shoulder bags." He continued as he slipped his pack off and showed them what's inside. "You'll find three day's worth of food, water, and other necessities. You'll also find a compass, a flashlight, one demon repelling bottle rocket, and one match." Yukio stood up straight and gave them a closed-eyed smile that made Shuku's eye twitch and made her want to throw something at him... again.

"By relying on your strengths, your abilities to their fullest, you'll find the path to success." Shuku cringed at the cheesy quote.

"So all we do is find a lantern, light it, and bring it back, that's supposed to be a drill?" Rin asked, the wheels in his head turning for possibly the first time.

Shuku yelped as Shura went over to Rin and glomped him, still drunk, before dragging him to the edge of the magic circle. With her highly sensitive hearing, Shuku managed to catch a few words. She was telling him to not use his powers or else he was basically fucked. If he did, Shuku realized, she was fucked too. Higher ups would come, and not only would Rin be killed, Shuku would be dragged back to her dreaded father, or some place with lots of security that would be hell to get out of alive. Shuku would rather be dead.

While Shura was away, Shuku stole a can of her alcohol and slipped it into her hoodie pockets, which she had put back on due to the heat going away for the night. Shuku smirked and went over to her bag, and scanned over its contents. It was just as Yukio said, all of the things she would need, were in the bag. Slipping a few extra things inside, Shuku zipped up her pack and slipped it on. She had put her summoning papers in the bag for safe keeping, an extra bottle of fluid and extract for her pen, which she had just replenished due to her constant use of it lately, and her gun.

Shuku had managed to 'retrieve it without permission' which wasn't stealing since it was hers anyways. She had just taken back what was hers.

Rin walked back to the rest of the students, looking much more somber than when he had left. His eyes deep in thought.

"You were all excited a minute ago, what happened?" Bon asked, a smirk in his voice, "Aw, come on, you're not chickening out are ya?"

"Huh?!"

"Bon, I was thinking." Nerd, you're always thinking, "This drill is actually designed to make us compete, but then, if we start doing that-"

"We'll be at each other's throats." Izumo finished. Everyone else had finished packing up.

"And that's just up my ally." Shuku added, a cold smile adorning her face.

"There not giving us a choice. Looks like it's every person for themselves. We can't help each other."

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

"Then it's settled, no hard feelings guys."

"If I accidentally or not accidentally injure someone, Sorry I'm not sorry. No regrets."

With everyone lined up around the circumference of the magic circle, Yukio held one of his guns up in the air to signal. Shuku slipped out her Vapor pen and took a long, deep puff from it. No regrets. For anything or anyone. Whatever happened tonight, Shuku wouldn't regret meeting people she could consider friends. Or her time with the Exwires, this would be a time in her life, that she would remember till her end, on what it was like to be seen as a person, as a friend.

"Take your positions! Ready..!" A gunshot rang through the air, and Shuku jumped with new enthusiasm into the forest, her worries left behind in the clearing just for a little while.

And as always, remember to , , and for more by me!

~Your author who just wants school to be over now instead of next week.