Hellhound At Supernatural Academy-Chapter 29: Off We Go

May 10, the day when the special training regimen began. Professor Yandri gathered us inside our classroom once again to go over the rules before we boarded the bus. After that, we boarded the bus waiting for us outside the school entrance. Each class had a designated bus assigned to them, and once we reached the foot of the mountain, we would be required to meet up in our groups.

As I entered the bus, I looked around for a place to sit. I was waved over by Jeffrey, who was seated by himself at a window seat, but I politely declined his invitation and instead chose an empty seat near the back of the bus which remained mostly vacant. I preferred to sit by the window, which was why I had to turn him down.

I gazed out the window, trying to drown out the sound of my classmates' chatter as they scrambled to find somewhere to sit.

"Hey, Sin!" a female voice called out to me.

It was Sarah. She, Finn, and a couple of their friends were spread out around me, filling up the remaining vacant seats.

"Um... do you mind if I sit here?" another girl asked rather shyly. I didn't know her name, but I recognized her as one of Sarah's friends. They all seemed to blend into one person; I couldn't really tell them apart, or maybe I just didn't care to.

"It's fine, Maimai. I'm sure Sin won't mind, right, Sin?" Sarah assured her. She was seated beside her boyfriend, Finn who was talking among a group of boys.

Maimai? What kind of name is that?

"Sure, I don't mind," I said, turning my attention back to the window.

"T-Thank you."

My peaceful bliss was shattered as Sarah and her friends erupted in a cacophony of shouts and giggles. Everyone on the bus mostly focused their attention on her group, which meant that I, being in the middle of their chaos, was also the center of attention. They jumped from one topic to the next.

Sarah casually tried to include me in the conversations many times, but being the bad conversationalist I am, I failed to add anything interesting. Plus, they all reacted strangely whenever I spoke. I could tell that the boys in the group didn't care much for what I said anyway; they mostly focused on flirting with the girls.

The girl beside me kept her head down the whole time. Maybe she was feeling sick.

"Are you okay?" I decided to ask. As the leader, it was my job to ensure my classmates were doing alright. It was such a pain.

"....Oh, you're talking to me! I'm fine, actually."

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She didn't look fine; her face was all red, and she was sweating a lot. Maybe she had a fever. I placed the back of my hand on her forehead, which seemed to surprise her.

"W-What are you doing?"

Her temperature was exactly 37°C, which meant she didn't have a fever.

"Your hand....." she muttered something incomprehensible.

"My hand?" Crap! What have I done? She was definitely not comfortable with me touching her. I should've left her alone. She's a girl, after all; maybe she thought I had some ill intentions.

"It's so warm!"

What?

"Oh, my temperature normally runs warm. It usually ranges from about 40 to 45°C."

"Really! I didn't know that about you. What else don't I know?"

"What else? What do you mean?"

"Like hobbies. Do you have any hobbies?"

"I guess my hobby back home was baking, but I haven't really done it since coming to this school."

"For real! I can't really imagine you baking. Just imagining it makes me want to laugh, hahaha."

"I get that a lot, but I used to work at a shop that sells baked goods."

"What about middle school? What middle school did you go to?"

"I never went to middle school; I was homeschooled."

Nina taught me all the necessities, like math and science.

"Oh, that makes sense. You're a little socially awkward."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Well, to me at least. I've always noticed you don't know how to act when talking to other people. You mostly listen to others talk because you're not a great conversationalist, and you tend to zone out a lot. But I love that about you."

That's strange; I'm sure this is the first time I've ever interacted with this girl. How could she know so much about me?

"Why do you know so much about me?" I asked.

Her face turned bright red, and I could hear the sound of her heartbeat growing louder and louder. It had been that way ever since she approached me. Something was definitely off about her. She didn't even answer my question; she just lowered her head to avoid looking me in the eyes.

"I'd like to talk to you after the special exercise is over. Will you meet with me?" she finally spoke up.

"Okay, sure. Where would we even meet?"

"Somewhere private. I have something important I want to tell you."

Whatever it was it seemed important as her voice was trembling slightly.

"Alright, I'll meet with you after we're done with the training regimen."

After a few hours, the bus went off-road, bringing us closer to the mountain. It shook as it traversed the bumpy forest road. After about an hour, it came to a stop. Professor Yandri, who had been sitting at the front of the bus, stood up and ushered us off.

School officials, who had traveled on a different bus from us students, handed out large backpacks to each of us. Attached to the bags was a small one-person tent. The backpacks contained clothes, medical supplies, and cooking utensils such as pots and spoons, disinfectants, and finally, a map. As they had said, we wouldn't be given any food or water. The map wasn't very detailed; it had various marks that signified the different campsite locations throughout the mountains.

The rules stated that all students should be at the campsite by 7 p.m. and we weren't permitted to leave until 7 a.m. If we weren't there, we would face severe punishment. There was also a circle drawn around a section of the map marked "Danger Zone."

As instructed by the teachers, I went to meet up with my group mates, Ava and Leto. We stood closely with the rest of the first-year students until our headmaster, Monroe Pottinger, made an appearance. I hadn't seen her since admissions day. She spoke in a calm, stern voice.

"The special training regimen for first-year students officially begins now. Your first task is to make it to one of the designated camp areas by 7 p.m. Good luck."