The Hidden World

‘What? Are they secret agents?¹Because no last name was given. So kinda like a secret agent name. Do they not have a last name? Should I know about them?’ Yuki thought.

 

Looking around, Yuki wasn’t the only one that seemed confused. There were murmurs throughout the yard as well as many looking at the stage with inquisitive eyes. Everyone had the same questions, who was this woman and what the hell is she talking about.

 

“There will be a total of three examinations. The first one is a simple written exam, the second a physical exam. The last one will be a quick health check-up. Your results will be given on the same day so you will know whether or not you have qualified or not. Do not ask any questions. Just follow your instructions,” she said seriously. “Now without any further delay, will the girls please follow my partner here and go to the track. The boys will stay here and take the test that is being distributed right now.”

 

The students were separated quickly, with the girls heading off for the physical exam and the boys receiving a sheet of paper and a wooden pencil. When Yuki got his, his confusion began to increase steadily as he read each of the questions on the exam. There were only five questions, but they were odd ones.

 

“If you were to be standing at a crossroad and there were three roads, one wide and smooth, the other small and rough, and the last dark and covered in foliage, which one would you choose?” read the first one.

 

The other questions were similar. No matter how Yuki looked at it they seemed to be you would find in a personality test that a psychiatrist would administer. With a mental shrug, he began to answer the questions in the most mundane ways possible. If he can make himself out as the most boring person in the world then he wouldn’t have to deal with these weird people and their weird tests.

 

After ten minutes had past, Kaede ordered all of the test takers to stop and turn in their papers. The girls returned at that exact same moment with some looking out of breathe and others looking bored.

 

‘They were running, some of them are rubbing their legs,’ Yuki thought as he watched the girls. ‘The ones that look bored might be the more active ones. They probably felt that the running time was too short.’

 

Once all the girls had returned, the boys were sent to the track to have the physical exam administered. Yuki’s plan here was to jog slowly and speed up if he was lagging behind the others. This was so that he could stay in the middle of the pack and not be seen. Since there was a physical exam, that would mean that anyone that was outstanding physically would probably automatically become scouted to join this “Aether”. Which was the exact opposite of what Yuki was aiming for. 

 

Moyasu, the male presenter that was leading them, stopped at the edge of the track and turned toward the boys that were behind him.

 

“I want all of you to line up in front of where I am standing. When I give you the signal, you will begin to run at whatever pace you like and keep running until I tell you to stop. Understood?” Moyasu asked.

 

The boys nodded, following obediently and lined up with Yuki placing himself right in the middle of them. Moyasu quietly said "go" and the all boys ran down the track, some of them sprinting as they tried to race each other. Yuki decided to go the safe route and just go at a quick jog so that he wouldn’t tire himself out. Once he had caught up with the ones that were sprinting but now gasping for air, he slowed down his pace. In this way he managed to stay within the main body of students, effectively hiding himself in the forest of sweaty adolescent boys.

 

Another ten minutes passed and Moyasu yelled to them to stop. Being boys, most of them started to sprint again to see who would reach Moyasu first, Yuki following as that was apparently what normal people did and he didn't want to be left behind by his camouflage. By the time the boy’s group had returned to the school yard they were all out of breathe. All of them, except Yuki. He was instead walking right back to his place in line, deep in thought.

 

‘The next exam was a health one if I remembered correctly. This one should be fine. I’m sure my body is normal.” He suddenly remembered a few peculiar events that occurred in the past and revised his assessment. ‘I think.’

 

The boys and girls were allowed to gather together for this test as each person would be tested individually. Two people were pulled out of the group at a time and were sent behind the stage. They would return within a couple minutes which seemed extremely fast for a health examination to Yuki. He couldn’t really think much into this as he now found himself to be next to that girl that kept pestering him with questions.

 

“So how well do you think you did? I felt like I did okay on the running part but those questions were weird huh?” Sayuri asked.

 

Looking at her, Yuki could tell that she would do well in the physical part of the test. She was taller than the average girl with a well built physique that suggested that she exercised to an extent. Whether or not she did well on the written exam, he couldn’t say.

 

Unable to ignore the constant inquiries, Yuki decided to try to get Sayuri to stop asking questions or at least placate her briefly so that he could focus on preparing for the next exam and save his mental health.

 

“I did fine," he said. "Why do you keep asking me questions?”

 

Sayuri’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting a response to any of her questions. Not wanting to let this chance go, she quickly answered.

 

“Oh, I was just curious about you. You’re a transfer student and all and there isn’t much that goes around here so I was bored," she explained. "By the way, your voice is really high for a guy, I almost thought it was a girl’s.”

 

Yuki ignored the last part.

 

“Alright. But can you please at least limit the amount of questions you ask me? And if I don’t answer that means that I don’t feel like talking at that moment,” Yuki told her.

 

“Okay, gotcha!. I’ll only ask about stuff I really want to know,” she replied happily.

 

Nodding, Yuki returned his focus on to the stage. He wanted to find any clues as to what the next test would include. If it was something he could control then he would need to find a way to make himself boring. But if it was merely measurements there was nothing he could do.

 

“Oh I forgot to ask you! Why do you have long hair?”

 

“.....”

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Yuki was again saved by the two strange presenters when they grabbed him and Nagisa to be tested next.

 

He was placed in a separate room and was told to sit and wait. While he waited he observed the small room that was set up for the check up. There were two chairs including the one that he was using currently. On a small desk there was a laptop as well as a few various medical tools such as a stethoscope and a blood pressure monitor. It was a very plain and normal looking room except for one piece of equipment that seemed out of place. A milky crystal ball that was resting next to the laptop on the desk. There was no obvious function for the ball so Yuki decided that it was either decoration or some new technology used to see if you have cancer or something like that.

 

While Yuki was observing his surroundings, Kaede walked in. Apparently she was going to be the one performing the health check up on him. Telling him to put his arm out, Kaede began the exam and started to record various information such as his heart rate, blood pressure, height, and weight. She also asked him personal questions about his medical records and asked him to strip to his underwear so that she could observe his physique. Yuki did all of this without a complaint and was indifferent even when he was told to strip as this seemed normal to him.

 

The last part of the medical exam involved the baseball sized crystal ball on the desk. Kaede instructed him to simply just hold the ball in his hand and wait for a couple of minutes.

 

“What does the ball do?” he asked. It was the only part in the exam that he didn’t even have a hint of a clue as to the what it was. “Does it record something?"

 

She smiled lightly and replied, “That is none of your concern. But you might know what it does after the exam if you're lucky.”

 

Puzzled, he proceeded to grasp the ball offered to him by Kaede. He still had questions but he knew that he shouldn’t be too nosy. Asking too many questions lead to less answers, he knew this from his own experience with a certain high school girl.

 

For the ten seconds or so nothing happened. He just sat there looking confused at the cold crystal ball that laid in his palm.

 

But soon he felt the little ball begin to warm and with it a tugging sensation within his mind like the a rope being pulled. Both of these sensations, the warmth and the tugging, increased exponentially as the seconds ticked by until he felt as if someone yanked that rope, his consciousness getting sucked into the ball itself.

 

He sensed something awaken within him. And with it five words echoed in his mind.

[Hello. Nice to meet you.]

 

Then the world became black.