gate jieitai

Sarah was staring a hole through her phone screen when her dad came home again that night. She knew that today was going to suck, but it didn’t help her at all knowing that in advance. All her schoolwork and tests were done in a daze, and her afterschool practice was abysmal. She felt like a drunk missing all the receives and shots she took. No doubt her friends were talking behind her back; despite the fact they told her to go home early if she wasn’t feeling well.How you doing, Sare-Bear?” Her dad asked tentatively.

This was many years ago, back when teachers could lay an encouraging hand on a student’s shoulder without being labeled a sex offender. Teachers could sit close by a student to help them with a hard concept, and no one thought anything of it. The boys flirted back with Mrs. B. and the girls got valuable lessons in how to attract boys’ attention and drive them crazy. It was fun. And, Mrs. B was married with a couple of young kids, not that it mattered. It was all just innocent fun.

Noah continued punching the bag in her place. “Since when has it ever been fair? When I was in Handent, I fought a Profane who forced me to fake my death in order to escape, and another captured me like a fly in a web. In Welindar, the battle was lost because I failed to kill Kaisen before he could transform. This is the struggle of fighting against the Profane, the struggle of being outclassed and overpowered. In this war, surviving with just a bruised ego is victory enough. You stood up to that monster, you fought, you survived.