The previously folded gates opened with a loud metallic ring instantly waking Yuuma who had been dozing off comfortably. Silence washed away the gossiping and an eerie quietness felt as if everyone was holding their breath. Even Yuuma felt some sort of anticipation. With a ding that galloped in the morning, everyone released a breath. It was truly beautiful. Even standing at the back Yuumas eyes widened, he had never seen a more gorgeous place before. School looked dull in the eyes of a student but Yuuma didn't associate that with this. Covered in ivory and vines with blossoming flowers among the smoothly cut plants and bushes the school came together like a fantasy or an old oiled painting of a sane man gone insane with imagination.
A whiff of an earthy environment was appeasing to the nose as for the eyes it was an extravagant sight. The gates were like a tease compared to what it protected. Or maybe the gates weren't protecting the academy but the outside world?
Looking at the spectacle with a trained eye Yuuma thought it was pretty like an ornament but to study in such a place...wouldn't it be distracting? Flaunting wealth in the form of beauty was just a trivial rich noble's way of spending.
"Greetings!" Without even realizing someone stood at the gate the people closest all flinched breaking from their spells. Some looked embarrassed and laughed awkwardly while giving a bowed greeting. Yuuma tried to look but all he could see with his minuscule height was the top of green hair which he had previously mistaken for a plant of some sort.
"Class of August I welcome you to the yearly exam!" Even with being so far away Yuuma still heard the female's loud and booming energetic voice. Not long after the crowd started to buzz and get shorter and without knowing why he looked to Kenji questionably. Kenji nudged him forward with a curt nod and stood behind. Yuuma walked with the crowd and into the academy grounds with a frown. He half-expected the outcome where he would have to be alone with just these kids and with that understanding tried to swallow his tiredness away knowing no one would be there to catch him if he were to fall.
Within moments everyone was filed onto the academy grounds and Yuuma took a deep breath feeling slight vibrations in the air. It felt of magic, and if he closed his eyes he could practically touch it if he tried. But Yuuma was too scared of what would happen if he did something drastic and break something that wasn't meant to be broken or touched so didn't act on it.
Now with the gates closing behind his back, he could see the women more clearly. She seemed to be quite old but had the classic scholarly look. Green hair and rimmed glasses looked thoughtfully at the children around her.
"I am Mrs. A! The first exam will be on paper, so please, follow me." Like little ducklings they all followed to female closely, scared they'd lose their way. If the outside of the academy was large and beautiful then the inside would be just the same. The marbled floors made much noise when walking enough to make Yuuma annoyed but the rest were occupied in their reflection on the ground.
They made it to a room without seeing anyone else, not even a student nor teacher it left a ghostly impression on the children. "Pick a seat! Pick a seat!" The female ushered everyone into the room stopping a few kids and whispering something to them so quietly Yuuma couldn't hear, he guessed it was silent magic of sorts. Whatever the women said to the ones she randomly picked caused them to look scared and terrified and threw whatever was in their pocket to the old lady who conveniently hid it as well.
Yuuma knew better and guessed the logical reason: cheating. But who could cheat in the famous Vermillion Academy? Possibly impossible without internal means. Some kids beside him whispered in uneasy voices on how they heard this exam was so hard no one passed with a seventy percent or above. Yuuma knew that if you got at least a ninety percent on the test then you could skip the magic exam and automatically be accepted into the academy.
That's the only loophole Yuuma can take right now.
"Settle down children the exam will begin, right now. Thirty-minute breaks will be done every hour, lunch is at twelve, dinner is at five to six, and bedtime will be at nine pm. The magic exam will be done two days from now. I hope you do wonderfully!" With an ethereal voice that reverberated the white room, the children soothed down.
It was a magical experience where a stack of papers appeared in front of everyone's desk. Small marble panels blocked each person in a square, probably used to make sure no one cheats. When Yuuma looked for a pencil it appeared in his palm in a poof of smoke. Yuuma thought it was convenient and silently wished his first life could have been so easy. So many things could have been done differently...
Yuuma listened and found the room deathly silent, he couldn't hear anything outside the invisible bubble everyone had been charmed into. But Yuuma could still see the anxious faces of the kids as they picked up the first subject, some even showing pain. He did spot however some confident kids in the mix, he didn't know if they just thought they could pass the magic exam easily and didn't care much for the paper exam, or they knew what they were doing.
Yuuma steered his gaze back to the papers in front of him, with a listless swish of his pencil the hours transitioned by. One hour he was eating some mints Kenji got him to clear his mind and the next he was fast asleep with a mess of a desk. Papers flung every which way and the corner of one being drooled on while Yuuma used his arms as a pillow.
-
The first break started and everyone got up to stretch as the instructor from earlier brought in some snacks for the kids. One child stood out in particular, he was fast asleep and when the green haired old lady walked to tap him awake, she stopped. Looking down at the messy papers which she had assumed was caused by some sort of tantrum she stared in absolute awe.
Every blank was filled, every formula solved, and every subject read accurately. The lady appeared to have forgotten where she was and quickly took some papers thoroughly looking over the answers with a sharp analytical glare. The children were a bit confused as to why she was not moving and looked to be in a trance.
Suddenly out of nowhere the door to the white room rushed open and a bright scarlet redhead made an appearance. His eyes were cold and his mouth was hardened as he searched the room for something- or someone. Finding whatever it was he came for with a sparkle in his cold eyes he walked in hastened steps towards them. But finding that person asleep he frowned and with no environmental awareness leaned down and tried coaxing him awake. Yuuma did not stir an inch causing Sadao's frown to deepen. With a sigh, he took a small magic bag out of his pocket and dug his hand inside. A fresh smell of chocolate chip homemade cookies wafted in the air creating dozens of mouthes to water and bellies to grumble.
The head which drooped in peaceful sleep shot up and sniffed the air with eyelids closed with sleep. He was so sleepy when he did crack his eyes open a pinch they watered and a big roaring yawn occupied afterward, flashing his sharpened teeth. The teacher had long been forgotten about at this point, not even noticed by Sadao with his abrupt arrival.
"Your favors are so ridiculous," Sadao grumbled but his face held smiles that said otherwise.