Chapter 6: Chapter 5

It had been several months now, I had gotten quite used to Campus One. Mei and her pets  bullied us quite often in the beginning, but after a few months I had completely managed to work the system to my advantage. It did result in me getting lashed many times though, but I would always drag one of the girls down with me each time. It was painful, but all part of the plan.

Once, I was sent to Headmistress Keiko for disciplinary action with a different girl in Mei's group for five consecutive days, and the lashings on the fifth day burst a vessel in a bruise on my back and I had to be rushed to the hospital. Of course it was part of the plan because the number of disciplinary actions taken was disproportionately skewed towards a single dorm room in the entire campus, so Mei and her group were all lashed and beaten in the parade square for all to see although Michiru was spared the worst at least.

From what Michiru told me when I came back, the brutal beating and their cries scared everyone else in the campus into behaving for little over a week, while she herself was only given some extra duties, a very lenient sentencing by the campus' standards.

It was a brutal system but it was also quite fair, disciplinary actions would be proportionate to the action, usually. The enforcers though, weren't as fair as the Headmistress, but those events were a rarity. Eventually Mei's group was transferred to a different dorm, while Michiru and I became the de facto seniors of our room and became rather close companions. We even had nicknames for one another where I would call her Mi nad she would call me Ru.

That said there was very little privacy around here. Some days I would go to the toilet to relieve myself in more ways than two, but I had to be extremely quiet. The best time would be during the peak hours as the other kids came to shower and would make plenty of noises that covered up my own sounds, but of course other people needed to use the toilets too so I was interrupted several times. It didn't help that Michiru stuck by me at almost all times.

As the days went by our rooms filled out little by little. I at least tried my best to help newer dorm mates adjust to their new environment and organised several orientations for them with the other dorms, though Michiru was too shy to join in. Come March, our room had about fifteen girls inhabiting it and the Campus had about ten thousand making it rather noisy as time passed. Michiru managed to open up to her roommates eventually, but she was still as quiet as ever.

Our everyday lives were very simple, in the mornings around seven, one dorm would do some radio exercises while the other would run around the parade square while the other two would do the same in the evening and we would rotate the next day. In the afternoons we would have various lessons on cooking, etiquette and ethics, as well as some history on Exile district. On Sunday's we would have a free day while one dorm in rotation would get to go to the Harbour Town and the rest would choose to go to the playgrounds near School Twelve. Sometimes we would have our etiquette lessons in the Harbour Town too, like that time when I first met the Headmistress, though it was reserved only for the advanced students.

The advanced class was only opened to the very best in each dormitory and personally taught by Headmistress Keiko. We would be trained in several arts like tea ceremonies or flower arrangements, and even formal dances, though of course we were still young so we couldn't go too far into those and kept them at the very basics. Those lessons were very severe and though we were among the best in etiquette class, we would be treated very harshly if we made a mistake here. Many of the students dropped out because of this, and I myself had many bruises from where I was beaten. They would all be treated though, being so near the hospital, and no scar or damage would be left.

Though it was only kept to the very basics, it was by the standards of the Imperial family and so inevitably, we had all learnt to behave and present ourselves as though we were nobility of some kind, maybe even the sons and daughters of rich and powerful businessmen and ministers.

I met Kou and Ms Rikka several times during those outings, but because I was under the Headmistress' care, I didn't get to interact with them as freely as I would have liked, but I learnt Dr Komachi was pregnant in February. Apparently for valentine's day, she threw a baby shower for herself, though the only one invited was her husband who didn't even know about her pregnancy until then but got the bill anyway. Ms Rikka found out about it the next day when he complained to her about his wife's unreasonable demands and has since been the talk of town.

During my free time, I spent them with Michiru in the Library at the main building. They had books on many different subjects, but I was interested in the laws of the island. Exile District had its own law separate to the outside world, run by its own courts and judiciary. The laws were some combination of military and civilian law. 

The legal system was openly two-tiered. The civilian side of the law would be written and proposed by members of the Council and their Aides, and the Supreme Court would decide to pass it based on factors like feasibility and enforceability after consulting the executive branch. The executive branch of government however, is controlled by the military courts outside and their laws superseded ours to some extent. It was modified sightly so that the law could be applied in a civilian setting and hence, Exile district effectively was under perpetual martial law.

Effectively it gave the enforcers a get out of jail free card and within limits, could behave in any manner of their choosing. There have been several fatal shootings, and each time a statement was made by the executive brach that the perpetrator had threatened their lives in some way or another. That being said, it was not like the enforcers could go about shooting people indiscriminately, and several enforcers have apparently been removed from their jobs and positions due to abuse of power. Most of the time, minor infractions of the law would lead to summons and subsequent sentencing in the lower courts. There have been many wrongful arrests, but those situations would be cleared in court.

There were no laws for minors though, as it was assumed that all of us would at the very least be of the age were we would be considered young adults. Indeed there has never been a record of an Exile who was younger than the age of twelve,  and most of us would fall between sixteen to thirty years of age. Very rarely would there be anyone older or younger, and usually they would die during the process of becoming an Exile.

Legally us kids were considered minors, but we were treated and tried as adults. There were a few incidents in campus, and some inhabitants were regularly removed every now and then, never to be seen again. There was no death penalty though, which is all well and good but I sometimes wonder were those people went to.

I saw Mei on several occasions. Apparently her new dorm had an even bigger alpha girl, and she was relegated as the new servant of that room. Her friends had all abandoned her, becoming part of the circle of the new girl, and I watched as Mei bit her lips and suffered silently at their hands. While I thought she deserved it somewhat, I also felt somewhat sorry. I went up to her once, but she snarled at me so I never bothered to help her. I don't think she wants to be helped since she was so stubborn, and I wasn't in the business of helping someone who didn't want it.

Winter came and passed, and it was soon to be April and the new academic term would start as the spring weather set in halfway through March. It had been recently confirmed that the new rumoured experimental facility designated as School Forty Two would only take in forty two Class One students per year starting from our batch, I had already heard about it from Kou of course but up till then it had all been rumours. I was placed in Class One as expected along with Michiru, in fact our room had been doing quite well as they were all in Class Two. Only two other girls were placed in Class One along with Michiru and I.

I frankly didn't care about the facility as I only wanted to relax and enjoy my life with my friends. Still I was told that I was under consideration to be admitted and was offered a chance to go for an interview for admission, though I could turn it down if I wanted to. No one else in the dorm was though, including Michiru. Uncharacteristically Michiru pushed me to accept, even though it meant we would be separated for probably ten years.

Despite that, I didn’t want to separate with Michiru I had grown rather close and fond of her during the several months we spent together. It may have been somewhat childish, but I think it was because I didn’t want to be lonely. Michiru being a shy girl must have felt the same way too, yet she all but forced me to go for the admissions interview.

"Its alright Ru, if you aren't accepted we'll be together in School Twelve anyway," She said.

"But Mi, if I do get accepted…" I started but she cut me off soon after.

"Even if you are accepted, we can always meet up at the playgrounds on the weekends. We won't be too far from each other. We can also talk regularly on the bracelet."

So reluctantly I went for the interview. It was basically the same generic bunch of questions you would get in a career guidance interview during high school, and I answered as I usually would. As the new School would have plenty of money to blow on our education, they asked me what I thought about the new school and what I would expect and do if given an opportunity in terms of my education.

I said that from what I gather, the new school is designed to cultivate a certain group of people for probably a very specific function in Exile community but as to what that was specifically I had no idea. I could see though that amongst the hundred or so people asked to go for the interview, there were several similarities and qualities that we shared.

Firstly, we were all Class One and were the more outspoken of the group. I had often seen them during the orientation sessions for the new inhabitants, and generally were the good natured sort. Secondly, we had all done very well in etiquette classes, and I had seen many of them in the advanced etiquette lessons. Lastly, they were regular faces at the library and I often see them when I'm there studying.

My best guess was that the new facility was built as a place to cultivate us so that we may interact better with the outside society based around the premise that our qualities made us more likely to start business ventures and partnerships with them, or even work in places where we might be in close proximity to the outsiders on a regular basis. The interviewers somewhat confirmed my suspicions when they said it was 'an interesting inference', which to me felt like they couldn't outright confirm it, but they wouldn't deny it either.

As to what I would do in terms of education, I told them I had been planning on going for a degree in Economics or Social Sciences, and maybe a minor in Mathematics, as well as take lessons for interests I couldn't pursue in my youth such as music.

I had considered taking a double major in Economics and Social Sciences along with a minor in Mathematics before I became an Exile, but I felt that time might be to constrained to do so at the time. If it at where possible to do so now though, I would do it. I had about seven years for education after all, since I found out I could continue my education part time in the first two years of conscription service.

The interviewers were rather impressed at this, asking me if I could handle such a load. Of course they had my background history at hand so I simply told them my resume and listed all the jobs I had been working in since high school.

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I omitted the jobs I took in middle school because I technically wasn't hired, but rather 'helping' at shops owned by several 'family friends' for some 'pocket money' in accordance to the National Labour Laws of Japan. Combined with my high scores in the Common Tests led them to agree that I could indeed bear the work load.

"Alright then Ms Hotaru. We will let you know if your admission is successful on your bracelet. We wish you all the best."

"Thank you sirs." I bowed as I stood up to leave, one of the interviewers stopped me and asked me a rather unprompted question.

"By the way, how do you view the normal people outside?"

"Well, I don't view them positively nor do I view them negatively."

"Despite their negative and careless attitude towards us?"

He was right though, so far most of the regular normal people we have been in contact with have been with the enforcers who weren't the friendliest bunch and were the representation of society's general attitude to us taken to extremes. There was Ms Rikka who is nice but she had family here as did most others sympathetic to us so she didn't count. She had skin in the game.

"I think the problem is that we are isolated from them," I began, "and they have never been given a chance to correct this misconception of us. Certainly we are capable and more prone to being very dangerous, but not all of us are and certainly with the proper training we can be rather civilised. Some of us just want to live a normal and simple life."

In fact many people were just like regular people here, Michiru and Kou for example. We have happy days and sad days just like anyone else, days where we are excited, and days that just pass by.

"The problem is that there are people outside who are perpetuating this view and idea without ever giving us a chance to prove ourselves that has led to this current predicament. I myself was very much the same before I became an Exile."

When I was still outside, I had been taught since young that Exiles were bad and emotionless people who would not feel a thing killing someone or doing harm. Now that I am one amongst them, I knew how hurtful that must have had been. Every Exile here must feel the same way since most of them like me, grew up being told that we were inherently evil and that we deserved to be stuck here, more so the first pioneer batches who suffered the brunt of the resentment. 

But when it starts happening to us, when we become the very thing we despised, I think it becomes very hard to accept. Although our emotions are slightly compromised, we still feel, we still love, we still hurt. Our genetic composition is the same as anyone else's. Even several academic and medical institutions have stated that there is no test yet that can distinguish between a human or Exile. But for the medical records written by some doctor, no one could tell. Does that not qualify us as human too, just the same as anyone else?

And maybe after being told that much so often, I think we all began to believe those words ourselves, that we are too different and had to be separated, that no one wanted us. For a group like us who were already deemed psychologically and emotionally unstable, such an idea becomes insidiously appealing to us in some twisted way. It gave us reason and purpose to continue even if we could not accept it, because subconsciously we believed that 'that is just the way things are'.

"If they would only give us a chance and properly observe us and understand us, I don't think they would behave the way they do now, is what I believe."

"Well said Ms Hotaru, thank you for giving us such a wonderful answer. You are free to go."

When I went back, I was greeted by Michiru who had spent the time reading some Jane Austen novel.

"Ru, how did it go?"

"I think it went well Mi. But I still don't feel right leaving you behind."

Michiru shook her head and held my hand. 

"You shouldn't hold yourself back form taking the opportunities that presents itself to you Ru, especially not for me or anyone else." She paused and gave me a box of apple juice. "I'm your friend, and I want you to be the best you can be."

"But what if I just want to be with you?"

"Oh don't be so dramatic Ru, there will be time for that in future. You just need to do your best till then."

She gave me a reassuring pat to the back. I was truly grateful that I made such a good friend as Michiru. Kouya and Haruto were my good friends as Houtarou, but that life is over now. From here on I, Hotaru had a best friend and her name was Michiru.

The entirety of Campus One began to prepare for the start of the admission announcement as March came to an end, and everyday we would be packing our things and cleaning the bunks to prepare for the next batch of inhabitants. That said there were still a few of them coming in, being admitted just before the start of the academic year. They had plenty of trouble adapting but for the most part were fitting in rather well. I tried my best to prevent them from making too much of a faux pas, but my abilities were somewhat limited because they were often not on the same floor as me.

Our time together however was short, and eventually when April came our arrangements had been finalised and we were all alerted on our bracelets. As expected, most of my roommates went to School Thirteen while the Class Ones went to School Twelve and with the announcement came a long welcoming letter congratulating them on their admission.

As for me, my announcement came with no fanfare or letter and the bracelet simply read 'S-42, Experimental Unit-00, report at 0900 010422’.

I looked at Michiru as she came over to show me her good news. She was smiling slightly when she read mine, but I however didn't feel all too happy.