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The Young Crow Does Not Know

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Despite all the unknown noises that were currently forcing themselves in his empty head, it was the stinging in his palms that woke Shouyou Hinata from whatever dreamless sleep he had been having. How long he had been asleep was a mystery to him, because he remembered nothing of his life before waking. He had no recollection of who he was, where he was or if there had even been anything before this very moment, his eyes staring at the grey concrete ceiling overhead, watching the flickering light bulb swing back and forth due to some sort of commotion above.

He sat up slowly, every muscle in his body trying to reject his movements, which made him feel as though he had definitely been immobile for some time. His heart was going in his chest and his feet were stinging him now, but he paid very little notice to this. His surroundings had captured his attention.

There were many other people in this room, some lying on beds like he was, which were arranged in neat little rows, others were stood up, getting their bearings as they wobbled around the room on stiff limbs. Nobody particularly caught Hinata's interest, the faces all seemed to merge into one and there was so much incomprehensible chatter going on that he found it all very confusing.

His name and age (sixteen) was written on a badge lying on top of a neatly folded jumpsuit at the end of his bed. It had to be his name, he thought, picking it up and examining it. It felt right to him, somehow. He was happy someone had been thoughtful enough to leave him a name badge, it calmed him a little, waking up and not knowing who you were was a very scary thing.

Someone at the end of the room had been sick. Hinata nodded in understanding, he felt a painful knot his stomach and was worried he might join him soon.

To stop his head from spinning, he lay back down again, breathing slowly, trying to go over what he did and did not know. What he knew was little to nothing, other than what to call himself and that he was a soldier. Hinata wasn't sure why he immediately knew he was a soldier, it just popped into his head and he agreed with this decision.

'I need to learn more.' He found himself muttering, furrowing his eyebrows.

 When the nurses came, he was anxious. They were all very calming, dressed in robin's egg blue, and the woman that served over him spoke very softly and stroked his forehead, whilst removing an IV drip from his arm he had not previously noticed. He asked questions about where he was and why he was there but she didn't answer, saying that was above her authority. She made him drink water and take a couple of shiny red pills before she pushed the jumpsuit into his arms and ordered him to change into it. 'They will collect you soon.'

Feeling a lot better after his little treatment, Hinata followed suit and stripped out of the baggy grey t-shirt and trousers he had previously been wearing and slipped into his jumpsuit. It fitted him perfectly, tracing any slight curve. The chest was protected by a thin veil of metal, which had a white number 10 scratched into it. The outfit itself was black from top to bottom, apart from several vibrant orange lights that ran along the seams. He caught his reflection in a metal bedpan and noticed the colour of the lights matched the vivid colour of his spiky mess of hair.

Hinata scanned the room, looking for other people with his hair colour, but had little luck. He wasn't sure whether he felt odd because of this, like he stood out too much from everyone else, or he should be proud that he was unique.
He didn't have long to ponder over this because a whistle suddenly blew and everyone jumped in alarm. Several new faces had entered the concrete room and were ordering everyone to stand at the end of their beds and face forwards. Hinata realised almost immediately that he, unlike everyone else, had not put on his shoes- a pair of black combat boots lying at the foot of his bed.

He quickly scrambled to put them on, falling onto his backside on the stone floor. He struggled a little with the laces, his fingers fumbling over such tricky work, and when he looked up he found a large, very frightening looking man stood over him, glaring.

'Get up!'

Hinata obeyed.

'Get in line!'

Standing up as straight as his body would allow, Hinata fell into place and kept his eyes focused forwards, like everyone else was doing. Did they know this was the correct procedure? His hands were shaking. Or were they all, like him, completely terrified of this new arrival?

The stranger paced up and down a couple of times, eyeing up each person as he passed them with no comments, before standing by the door he had entered through and addressing the troops. 'Welcome, Cadets, to the Crow's Allegiance. I am sure you all have many questions and I am here to answer them for you.

'If you have not yet figured this out, your identities are listed on your name badge which was on top of your new uniform. These are names we have chosen for you and these will be the names you die with, either in old age or on the battle field. If you have not grasped the situation already, you should be aware that there is currently a war taking place. The details of this will be explained to you later.'

A few people looked nervous. Hinata gulped. It hadn't clicked to him that being a soldier meant fighting in a war. He didn't want to die.

'As your General, it is my job to be completely honest with you. I will never lie to you. I want only the best for my men and women. You may all be wondering why you know very little. This is because we have erased all your memories of your life before this moment, right now. '

There were a few gasps around the room. Some people looked shocked and angry.

'You may be surprised by this news, but I assure you, this was not our decision, but yours. Of course, none of you will remember it, but when we rescued each of you from the wastelands outside this base, we offered you the opportunity of a brand new start, free from the heartache, trauma and depression many of you suffered before we found you. The majority of you are orphaned, starved and dying, left the rot in no-man's land by the enemy.
'The Crow's Allegiance will not, nor will it ever, allow the citizens of this world to suffer such a fate. We did not think it was fair for you to have to relive the trauma of your past so it is standard procedure for every new recruit to undergo memory modification, with your agreement, of course.'

A small timid voice from Hinata's left piped up. Every head swivelled in her direction. 'You say it was our choice, but how can we believe you? What if we want our memories back?'
The General marched over and stood directly in front of her. She leant away from him, shaking. 'You will address me as General or Sir when speaking to me, Cadet. You will also learn to speak when you are spoken to. When I am talking, you will listen, do you understand me?'

'Y-yes, Sir.'

'Good. That goes for the rest of you.' He sighed and ran his fingers through his shock of grey hair. He then looked at her name badge and waved his assistant over- a tall, dark-haired woman- who handed him a clipboard. He scanned it. 'Michimiya, Yui. Reported to have been found, almost near death, after her family home had been blasted by an enemy missile. Witnessed family death. Suffers post-traumatic stress and depression. Suicidal.'

Her mouth was hanging open. He raised an eyebrow at her. 'That is your past. Do you really wish to remember this? Do you want to go to sleep every night with the images of your family's corpses surrounding you?'

Michimiya shook her head, tears in her eyes.

The General moved away from her. He raised the clipboard above his head. 'Does anyone else want to know the gruesome murder of their family and friends? I have it all here and let me tell you, not a single person in this room does not have a story unlike hers. There is a reason every last one of you agreed to have your memories wiped, because the thought of what had happened to you and your loved ones was too much for you to bear. You all agreed that you wanted to make a difference, to become soldiers and fight for the safety of this world to avenge those that you have lost.

'Unfortunately, we cannot afford to keep everyone we rescue as a refugee, we do not have the resources. We do not accept laziness. While you are here you must learn to earn your keep, prove your worth within our ranks and you must show to us that you are ready to fight for your world. When we win, you will all be known as heroes. This is the only thing we ask of you as payment for us rescuing you, giving you shelter and allowing you all a second chance at life. If this no longer appeals to you now that you don't feel the need to fight for the families you have lost, you are welcome to go back to the wastelands and live off rats, the choice is yours.'
He pointed at the door. Nobody moved. He nodded, satisfied.

'When you fight with the Crow's, I want you to fight because you believe that this world deserves better, this world deserves justice, that every human being on this planet deserves peace. Every man must look out for his comrades, you will learn this soon enough when we divide you into groups. The men and women you will be partnered with will be with you for life, you will learn to work together harmoniously and without fail. You must learn to trust each other and have each other's backs, no matter the consequence. This is the mark of a good soldier.

'I want you all to sleep at night feeling thankful that we gave you the chance to start anew, safe and protected, knowing you are doing something good for the world, that you have a purpose in life.'

Hinata's eyes followed the clipboard as the General took his original position. His life before this was listed on that clipboard, everything that had happened to him and his family. What had his family been like? Had there been a lot of them? Had they been murdered too? They must have been for him to have willingly given up his memories of them. Had something so horrifically bad happened to them that it was unbearable to think about for any longer?

'There is little more I can tell you at this point,' the General was speaking again and Hinata forced himself to pay attention. 'When you are assigned to your team, you will be able to ask questions to your Lieutenants. You will all be piloting Mechs, which are life-sized robots. Do not panic, you are currently only Officer Cadets, which means you will undergo a lot of training before you step foot on the battle field.'

'What's the point of even fighting, Sir?' A boy around Hinata's age asked. The General shot him a glance.

'Does the idea of world peace not satisfy you, boy?'

'Ah, no, Sir, of course it does! I just don't want to die.'

'That is a coward's way of thinking, Cadet. If you train hard enough, you won't have to worry about dying at all.'

Hinata vowed to himself to train as hard as he possibly could. He did not want to die, not yet. He had too much to learn about this new life he had been thrown into. Piloting a Mech sounded like it would be fun, not that he had any clue about what they could look like. He was picturing another version of himself, only made out of metal, and he would have to give it orders and it would fight for him.

Suddenly, names were being shouted and Hinata was brought back to Earth. The Cadets were being sent off to join different groups to begin their training. He stood for a while, watching others around him leave the room, until finally his name was called and almost tripped over his own feet in his excitement to get up front.

'Hinata, Shouyou, you're with the Karasuno group. Head to Area 12 with-.'

He nodded before the General could finish speaking and sped off out the room and hurried down a corridor before realising he had absolutely no idea where Area 12 was and he had managed to get himself completely lost. Panicked, he tried to make his way back but had not been focusing on which path he had taken. It felt like he was just walking in circles, all the corridors looked exactly the same- grey stone with metal pipes.

Perhaps he had been supposed to wait for someone to direct him, or to ask a member of staff for directions, it seemed a bit ridiculous to expect brand new Cadets to know their way around this apparent labyrinth. He had just been far too eager to leave and find his new team.

Eventually, he came across a woman with raven black hair fixing one of the pipes on the wall, which was hissing with steam. She was wearing all black and had safety goggles on her face. He approached her cautiously, scared to get close to the steam. It looked hot. It didn't seem to be bothering her, but then again, she did look completely padded out and protected.

'Excuse me.' She turned to face him, blinking slowly. Her eyes were the first thing he noticed, so strikingly blue. She did not say anything to him, she just waited for him to continue talking. He rocked on the balls of his feet, trying to shake of the nerves. She was very pretty, despite all the black grease on her face. 'I'm sorry, Miss. I'm lost. Could you help me?'

She nodded.

'I'm supposed to be going to Area 12, but I don't have a clue where that is.'

'Just go straight down this path,' she said very quietly. She pointed behind her. 'Second door on your left.'

Hinata thanked her and sped off. He noticed now that some of the doors had numbers etched into the concrete over the top of them. He skidded to a halt in front of the one that said 12 and pressed the little flashing button that made the heavy metal door slide open.

The room inside was huge, bigger than what he had already seen wandering around this base. The ceiling was three times as high as the one in the first room and the floor was made of metal grating and there were no windows. There were at least thirty-so Mechs in this room, large, bigger-than-human sized mechanical robots which looked really intimidating, all black and shiny with the same orange lights running along the metal to match his jumpsuit. They were large enough to fit two people, which he noted because two people were currently seated in the cockpit of one of them, which was visible because the top was pulled back. They were both making the arms and legs move, swinging a punch and testing that the machine guns attached to each arm were working properly by firing at the metal wall opposite which was covered in bullet holes. The noise of each bullet striking the metal sent shivers down Hinata's spine and he had to press his hands to his ears. This was scarier than he'd imagined.
When gunfire died down, the two men in the Mech whooped to each other and high fived. They unfastened their safety belts and jumped out of the machine with little difficultly, despite the Mechs height, and landed on their feet.

One of the two men was tiny. Smaller than Hinata, who had noticed already how short he was compared to all the other male Cadets. The only noticeable thing about the second man was he had a shaved head. They didn't look much older than Hinata, maybe a year or two, he had to guess.

Too busy admiring their handiwork to pay Hinata any attention, he decided to take this opportunity to have a good nosy around before having to introduce himself. He wanted to examine a Mech so badly, his fingertips were itching with excitement.
However, before he could even get close to a Mech, another man appeared from a side room, which looked like some kind of office, and did a double take when he spotted Hinata. 'Oh!'

The other two turned to look and both gasped when they saw Hinata. They rushed over, almost stumbling into him. He moved away, terrified. They seemed far too eager about him being there.

'Tanaka, Noya, calm yourselves.' The third man said, sighing. 'Don't scare the kid.'

'H-hello. I'm Shouyou Hinata. Uh, I was assigned to Area 12? The Karasuno team? Um..'

'Yeah, that's us.' The guy with a buzz-cut beamed, showing a lot of white teeth. He pounded himself on the chest proudly. 'I'm the Boss, here. Ryunosuke Tanaka.'

The third man glared at him. 'Be quiet, Tanaka. Don't listen to him, Hinata, I'm the Lieutenant here. My name is Daichi Sawamura.'

He shook Hinata's hand. Noya bounced forwards and grasped Hinata's wrist with both of his hands and shook violently. Daichi pulled him away. 'Noya, behave.'

'Sorry, Daichi. Hey kid!' He grinned even wider than Tanaka had. Hinata frowned at him- who was he to call anyone a kid? 'The name's Yu Nishinoya, everyone calls me Noya though. Me and Ryu are Lance Corporal.'

'I don't know what that means.' Hinata muttered, feeling embarrassed. Surely, knowing he was a solider would mean he meant he knew the different ranks, but they meant nothing to him.

'Don't worry about it, Hinata.' Daichi said calmly. He was tall, good-looking and had dark spiky hair. His face looked stern but friendly. 'You are only a Officer Cadet, which means you have lots of training to do. We'll teach you about the different ranks and how to pilot a Mech and the current status of the war. It will be some time before you have to fight on the battlefield, we would never allow you to go out if you weren't ready.'

That's reassuring, Hinata thought.

'Although everyone here is a different rank, we don't bother with formalities. It's much easier to call each other by name, it makes our bond as a team stronger anyway. It will be good to get to know you.'
'But I have no memories.' Hinata said. 'I barely know myself.'

Daichi smiled. 'You will figure it all out soon enough and become your own person. I am always intrigued by the personalities everyone ends up adopting over time. When Nishinoya first arrived here, he was terribly quiet.'

'Yeah, now he won't shut up.' Tanaka sighed and rested his arm on the top of Noya's head, who huffed and swatted him away. 'I guess they didn't explain to you about how anything works within a team, did they?'

Hinata shook his head.

'It's our job to show him, you learn better by doing around here. General Ukai has very little to do with Officer Cadets, other than the first introduction.' Daichi beckoned for Hinata to walk with him and told the other two to get back to training. They headed off back to their Mech after fist bumping Hinata, who was very happy that they'd taken an immediate liking to him. He was so pleased his team was nice. Daichi walked over to a Mech with the numbers 9 and 10 on either leg. 'This will be the Mech you will be piloting, eventually. Each Mech requires two pilots in the cockpit.'

'I have a partner?'

'Yes, you will be meeting him shortly. He's running some errands at the moment.' Daichi informed him. He tapped the Mech fondly. 'Your partner is one of the best recruits we've ever had, he's a genius. He can pretty much control a Mech on his own.'
Hinata was startled. 'So, then, he doesn't need me?

Daichi laughed. 'He'd like to think that way, yes. No, no, every Mech needs two pilots, regardless how skilled one of them is. It doesn't work as well unless there's two, and you have to sync up your movements together and work completely as one unit to be the best. I, uh, I should warn you your partner might be a bit tricky to get along with to begin with, I'm sure he'll warm up to you though.'

Hinata felt his stomach knot. He didn't want his new partner to dislike him.

'Let me introduce you to my partner. Hey, Suga!'

A man had been sitting at a table at the back of the room, pouring over stacks of paper that were spilling onto the floor. He looked up as the two of them approached. He had neat light-grey hair, a mole beneath his left eye and gave Hinata such a genuine, friendly smile that he felt all his anxiety just slip away for a moment. 'Hinata, this is my Mech partner, Koushi Sugawara, second Lieutenant. That means he's in charge if something happens to me. Suga, this is our new Cadet who will be partnered with Kageyama, Shouyou Hinata.'

'It's very nice to meet you, Hinata.' They shook hands. 'I'm glad to have you as part of our team. You're the only new Cadet we've had this year.'

'O-oh? Is that a bad thing?'

'No, no, certainly not!' Suga laughed and waved a hand lazily. 'It's a good thing, teams get new recruits at least every two months when they need replacements. Thankfully, we have not lost any of our men.'

'B-but, Kaneyama doesn't have a partner, does that mean I'm replacing someone?'

'Kageyama,' Suga corrected Hinata's mistake. 'Lost his partner in the first battle he ever took part in, a year ago. Unfortunately the two of them just did not sync well together. It was our mistake, since they got very little time to train together, due to complicated reasons, and thankfully we haven't lost any more of our team this year. He's been fighting alone ever since and refused to have anyone in the cockpit with him. I think the higher ups have gotten tired of his attitude and assigned him a new partner, whether he likes it or not. You're not exactly replacing anyone because they were never, technically, a team in the first place.'

Hinata nodded, suddenly very scared that if he and Kageyama did not sync up straight away, he was probably going to meet the same fate as Kageyama's first ever partner. He gulped.

'Don't be so nervous,' Daichi told him. He nodded but couldn't really help it. 'I'd introduce you to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi but they've gone out on a resource mission. They'll be back later.'

'Major Ukai and Captain Takeda will probably want to speak with him.' Suga said, scribbling notes down onto the paper in front of him. Hinata could not understand any of it, it all looked really complicated to him.

'How can I read,' Hinata asked out of the blue. 'If they took my memories?'

'They didn't take every single memory from you,' Suga answered. 'You still know all your basic stuff, how to read and write, how to do math, how to eat and sleep and go to the bathroom. They just took the memories of your life, if that makes sense. You don't remember growing up or having a family or friends. I wouldn't be too upset about it, none of us remember and it's probably for the better, but we build our family in our teams, and make new friends and it feels like you were never missing anything to begin with.'

Hinata screwed up his face and clenched his fists. 'I promise to try really, really hard. I want to be part of your family. I want to fight and save the world.'

Daichi and Suga laughed wholeheartedly. 'I'm glad to hear it. We need more Cadet's like you.'

An orange light began to flash overhead and Hinata almost jumped out of his skin. The other two turned to look at a large metal shutter that was the very far end of the room. Slowly and with a lot of noise, as though it really needed a good oil, the door began to slide upwards, revealing a harsh yellow light from outside. Hinata squinted and shielded his eyes, watching as a large black silhouette was revealed. The door came to a jittery halt and the sound of steam being released was heard as the Mech stomped its way into the room, the floor vibrating underneath their feet, the metal grating shaking violently, almost threatening to give way and send the Mech crashing into the hundreds of pipes that slithered and connected beneath.
The Mech came to a halt next to Tanaka and Noya's, who both did not even look up from what they were doing (having a thumb-wrestling match), and there was another hissing sound as the top of the Mech was lifted up and sent backwards, revealing two people within. They unstrapped themselves and clambered out, a little less gracefully than Tanaka and Noya.

Without even acknowledging Hinata's presence, the two of them approached Daichi, carrying unknown items wrapped in rags. Daichi thanked them and opened the top most one the blonde guy was carrying, revealing a heap of tin cans inside. Hinata stood on tiptoes to look. 'Cans?'

'We need to keep a constant stock of food supplies,' Daichi explained, making the newcomers set the supplies at their feet. 'There are plenty of cities and towns that have been completely abandoned, most people who are unfit to fight have moved into safe housing, thanks to the Crows work, so we have to take it in turns to go out and scavenge whatever is left over. Canned foods are usually the best, because they will last a very long time.'

'I hope you like canned fruit.' The blonde one said, glaring down at Hinata. He was the tallest person here and wore thick-rimmed spectacles which flashed whenever the light hit them. He turned to Daichi. 'What's with the kid?'

'This is Kageyama's new partner, Hinata.' Daichi introduced him. Hinata held out his hand for the two of them to shake but they both ignored it. He lowered it, feeling a little hurt. Had he given them a dodgy look or had they been insulted by his 'cans' comment?

The blonde one laughed in his throat, very humourlessly. 'Good luck with that. I won't introduce myself, you'll be dead within the week.'

'Tsukishima!' Daichi and Suga both snapped at the same time. He sighed.

'I am only speaking my mind.' Tsukishima said in a very bored voice. 'You know no one gets on with the King.'

'The King?' Hinata was puzzled.

'It's a nickname for Kageyama,' the second man said. He was shorter than Tsukishima and had messy shoulder length brown hair and a heavily freckled face. 'He's called the Selfish King of the Battle Field, because he refuses to work with anyone and likes to dictate others. Tsukki is much better than him, though, he thinks he's the best of the best-'

'Shut up, Yamaguchi.' Tsukishima sighed.

Yamaguchi fell silent.

'This team is becoming such a joke.' Tsukishima stated very clearly and then walked away before Daichi or Suga could yell at him again. Yamaguchi gave Hinata the once over before hurrying after his Mech partner. Suga let out bated breath.

'I'm really sorry about him,' Suga apologised. 'I wouldn't pay much attention to anything he says, he's not particularly happy being here.'

'Why not? Doesn't he want peace?'

'Yes,' Daichi said. 'He's just not very social, is all. Constantly having to work in a group makes him quite grumpy. He has his own way of doing things.'

'So, he's like Kageyama?'

'No. He understands that he needs a partner to pilot his Mech, he's clever enough to know it's worthless going it alone, he doesn't have the same stubbornness that Kageyama has. He does get on with Yamaguchi quite well, even if it doesn't seem that way. They sync excellently together, mainly because Yamaguchi is quite submissive and will do everything Tsukishima says, which is one way of working together, I guess.' Daichi scratched back of his head. 'That's the whole team, anyway, apart from Major Ukai, who is General Ukai's grandson, and Captain Takeda, but they will be along another time. They usually appear whenever we are being sent out on a battle, as they're the ones who arrange our movements and attack strategies. They're both very friendly, so I wouldn't worry. You don't need to be so formal with them, either, although don't let Ukai persuade you into drinking with him.'

The look on his face suggested he had had bad experiences with Major Ukai and alcohol.

'There's Asahi too.' Suga reminded Daichi.

'Oh yes, he'll be in the Medical Ward though, so I'll introduce you whenever he's next around. He used to be a Lance Corporal like Tanaka and Noya, but he doesn't fight anymore.'

'You can stop being a solider?' Hinata asked. Daichi pulled a face.

'Under certain circumstances.'

'Like what?'

He didn't answer. Hinata felt his ears burn. The expression on Daichi's face told him he was crossing into a forbidden territory. He wondered what circumstances would be considered good enough to get you out of service duty. Perhaps you had to be seriously injured, maybe that's why this Asahi person was in the Medical Ward.

Trying not to picture the terrible things that could have happened to Asahi, Hinata allowed Daichi to give him a tour of Area 12. The main room held all their equipment for fixing and building and training with Mechs, there was an office room which contained a large table covered in yet more paper, a radio control room which the Captain used to keep in contact with them when they were out on a mission, a bathroom and a washroom and a room filled with bunk beds. Daichi said Hinata would sleep in the room with them when he passed his training and became a Private. For now, he would be sharing a room with all the other trainee Cadets, the same room he had originally woken up in.

He then took Hinata around the base, showing him some of the other Areas, which looked identical to their own, the largest room in the entire base was filled with fighting jets and helicopters, there were rooms filled with steaming boilers and tables piled with unknown machinery, gears and cogs. Daichi told him none of these other rooms were important and it was likely Hinata would only ever be in Area 12, his sleeping quarters and the cafeteria, which Hinata was very pleased to be led into at the end of his tour because he was only just realising how hungry he was.

'All meals are free, breakfast is served from five until seven. Lunch is twelve until one and dinner is six til eight. We usually eat together as a team. I suggest you don't miss these meals because, for one, you won't get offered another meal until the next appointed time- I will be after you if you don't turn up because regular eating is very important for your health, and it's the only real time we get to sit and catch up and talk about things other than the war and Mechs and training. It will be a good time to learn more about your fellow team mates. Tanaka and Noya will talk you under the table, be warned. Don't let them interrupt you when you are speaking.'

Daichi then got a message through the com he wore on his ear and told Hinata that he had to leave. 'Get yourself some breakfast and then come back to Area 12 when you are done. Kageyama is on his way back. I want you two to meet each other.'
He left.

Hinata made his way to the counter, his stomach rumbling loudly and his mouth watering at the smell of hot food. He was greeted by a friendly old lady who served him scrambled egg and beans and a single rasher of bacon. She handed him a cup of water in a shaky hand and he took it from her with a word of thanks.

Feeling too awkward to go and sit with any of the other people in the cafeteria, not knowing who was a Cadet or not, so he took a seat by himself and shovelled down his food, not really tasting what he was eating because he was too hungry to control himself and because he was far too excited about meeting his partner to waste any time.

Sloshing half of his cup of water down himself, Hinata pushed his plate away and stood up. He let out a long breath and tried to pump himself up as he headed back to Area 12. He needed to look professional, intelligent, like he knew what he was doing (even though he obviously didn't, being a Cadet). He didn't want Kageyama to think little of him (no pun intended).

Once again, he found himself asking for directions back to Area 12 because he'd been too focused on Daichi and what he'd had to say to notice the paths they'd been taking. Eventually, and a little out of breath from running, Hinata made his way back to Area 12 and let himself into the room.

Daichi and Suga were in a Mech, fighting against Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Both had their tops open. Noya and Tanaka were watching from the side lines. Hinata ran over to join them. 'Why are they fighting?'
'It's just practice,' Tanaka said, slapping Hinata on the back in a form of greeting. 'Daichi wants us to learn to fight with the top off because he says we need to learn to defend ourselves better. It'd be bad if your robot was ripped in half and you were exposed with no form of self-defence.'

'You can rip a robot in half?!'

'I wish! That would be so cool!' Noya shouted. 'Nah, nah, but you can smash the glass of the cockpit, which is just as bad. The glass is supposed to be bulletproof and shatterproof but it doesn't always hold out and that makes you extremely vulnerable, so Daichi wants us to be able to receive attacks better and block them.'

'Noya here is an excellent blocker. Our Mech barely gets scratched when he's in control.' Tanaka said, ruffling Noya's hair. He looked extremely annoyed and began running his fingers through it to re-spike it.

'So, what's your job?'

'It's Noya's job to block all the attacks that are sent our way and it's my job to throw attacks straight back at the enemy. I'm amazing at it, I might like to add. Really popular with the ladies.' Tanaka sniffed sadly. 'I was hoping you were going to be a girl. We haven't had any girls on our team, ever!'

'That's because you're a pervert.' Tsukishima was walking over to them. The fighting had stopped and the four had already gotten out of their Mechs. Suga and Daichi were busy examining the Mechs and discussing better defence alternatives.

Tanaka glared at him and puffed himself up. 'Quiet, Specky, you're just jealous because I get all the ladies and you don't.'

'Tsukki has no interest in women-' Yamaguchi snapped back but Tsukishima told him, once again, to shut up.

'Getting slapped by women all the time doesn't count as 'getting all the ladies',' Tsukishima's tone never seemed to change, which Hinata couldn't help finding really bizarre. Did everything bore him? 'You're pretty pathetic.'

'You wanna say that to my face, huh, punk?!' Tanaka shouted, trying to go for Tsukishima but Noya held him back. Despite his size, he appeared to be strong enough to hold back someone a foot taller than him.

'Tanaka, stop it!' Daichi had come over to see what the commotion was about. Tsukishima was already walking off, Yamaguchi at his heel like an obedient puppy. 'Must you always start arguments?'

'I didn't start it! It was that miserable git!' Tanaka huffed, indicating at Tsukishima's retreating back. Daichi sighed.

'Please try to set an example for our newest member.' Suga put in, tucking a pen behind his ear. 'We are trying to show him how to work together as a team.'

'It doesn't matter if me and him don't get along,' Tanaka said irritably. 'We are never going to pilot a Mech together.'

'You never know.'

'No way!' He and Noya formed some sort of weird back-to-back position. 'I've got my bro for life.'

Tanaka and Noya both started chanting 'Bro, Bro, Bro' to each other whilst beating their fists into the air, but one sharp look from Daichi made them stop immediately. Tanaka leaned into Hinata and whispered 'You need to be careful around Daichi, he's really scary.'

'I heard that.' Daichi said, now leaning over the papers Suga had been working on earlier. Tanaka pulled a face at Hinata and scurried off, literally dragging Noya behind him.

'I thought Kageyama was going to be here?' Hinata asked, glancing around the room. Daichi nodded.

'Hmm, yeah,' he seemed a bit more focused on whatever he and Suga were doing. 'He'll be here soon. Be patient.'

However, after an hour and still no sign of his partner, Hinata's patience began to wear thin and he was starting to get extremely jealous watching the others piloting their Mechs and battling each other. He wanted to learn how to do that so bad it hurt him to think about it.

Daichi had given him some papers to file away but he'd gotten bored and just shoved them all into one draw. He went and wandered around the Mech he would be piloting, stroking it, admiring it from every angle, wishing he was tall enough to see inside of it and all the buttons in the cockpit. He peered over his shoulder and checked the others were busy before reaching up, standing on his toes, and tried to hoist himself into the Mech. A voice from behind made him cry out and he fell, landing on his backside with a painful thud.

'What are you doing?'

He looked behind him and found a boy around his own age glaring at him. He got to his feet as fast as he could and held out his hand. 'My name is Shouyou Hinata. It's nice to meet you.'

The other boy did not shake it. He continued to glare. 'Why are you touching my Mech?'

Hinata's face lit up. 'Are you Kageyama?!'

Kageyama did not look impressed that this strange new boy knew his name. He nodded, looking sour. 'What do you want?'

'I'm your new partner!'

'No.'

'But-'

'No. I work by myself.'

'Actually Kageyama,' Daichi had wandered over, having noticed Kageyama had finally returned. 'You will not be allowed out on any more missions until you have a partner, I've been told this by the General. Either you learn to get along with Hinata or you don't get to pilot a Mech at all.'