Arriving back at the campus, Sunny and Lei stood facing one another with smiles plastered on their faces. They have grown to be good friends and are shown to care deeply for each other despite their differences in personalities and ways of thinking about the world.
Regardless of their beliefs, the two are like siblings who trusted one another even when they disagreed or failed to understand their own motivations. For it is the bond that matters the most for them, which is greater than anything else in this place called Ark.
"Make sure to not fall asleep again," she joked, giggling half hardheartedly at this notion. "Your professor called us yesterday about it." The seriousness in her voice vanished as they shared a laugh between them, knowing the type of person Sunny is when brought into situations he had grown bored of staying in.
Making her understand the reason why he rarely pays any attention to class due to how exhausting or tortuously boring it was to him.
"Don't worry, Lei," he said with confidence, his eyes shimmering with determination in trying his best not for himself but for her and his family. "I promise I will try my hardest to be a good student from now onwards and not repeat this mistake again." The declaration, in addition to how serious he is, added weight to his words, which caused her to believe him completely without a shadow of doubt in his ability to keep his word.
Nodding her head, "of course you will," then without a second thought, she embraced him lovingly, smiling all the way up until they parted ways once again. "Good luck, Sunny!" Waving happily where she stood, the young man then walked further away from her until reaching the set of stairs, making him turn and look back at her with all his heart and soul.
Smiling in return, he waved back, "Bye!" Sunny answered loudly, feeling an unbearable pang of emptiness in his chest as he walked away from her presence for the last time that day, but he promised himself to return and wait after class was over so they could continue their usual activities together once again. Moreover, he will not dare disobey their orders after what happened.
While they are very forgiving, he still felt awful for having them express such worry and concern about his concerns. He can't blame them for feeling a little upset. It's an understandable situation when the instructor doesn't like playing around with the students rules, especially when it has consequences that affect the whole group.
Sighing exhaustively, he entered the academy with nothing but his troubling thoughts, still guilty of making his family so terrified. He knows they are scared of losing him; after all, they are good people, and watching each other's backs is something he cherishes the most in this place called Ark.
Yet he still feels it's the right thing to do, especially when he saved someone's life from a bunch of thugs. On second thought, could those bullies reside in this building? The idea of them being students in this environment they all shared is terrifying enough to make his hair stand on end, as he wished to not cause anymore trouble.
Glancing around nervously in the large, spacious place, Sunny, in his relief, did not notice or find any of them amongst the crowd of students in the academy.
This brought him some comfort, but he still remained vigilant for the rest of his time here because he knows there are many more threats stalking the dark corridors due to the fact that some cruel human beings still enjoy inflicting harm on others for whatever reason it might be other than sadism. The only thing he wishes for right now is to be back with his family again, where he can feel safe and protected by their loving arms once again.
But that can wait after class. "Man, I hope its something simpler." Frankly speaking, math and science as well as other stuff like history is incredibly tiresome to the point of being super difficult to understand. Each lesson the class has to learn is like a different language that he must master before moving onto the next one.
It is going to be a struggle to utilize whatever powers Esper has, using math as well as other nonsense crap he never wanted to learn in his life. It is utterly unbelievable how everyone must be that smart to learn how to unlock their powers and use them effortlessly like a natural-born professor.
Its going to be pain in the ass for sure, but he shall overcome this obstacle no matter what it takes, even if it means sacrificing his own sanity to do so for the sake of his family, who trust him implicitly and will not fail them again. On the other hand, he isn't sure if he can stop himself from falling asleep during lecture.
He will try his best, but there are times when the mind wanders automatically without his control when boredom sets in like a plague that consumes everything in its wake and leaves nothing but ashes behind in the process of destroying his sanity. But if it makes them happy, then so be it.
However, the problem still lies in the fact that he cannot escape the ever-present feeling of something missing within his soul, which haunts him every single day since landing on this strange planet called Earth.
What is out there waiting for him? What secrets does his past hold? No matter how the life he has now is pestering him to focus on what is really important in front of him, it still isn't enough for him to stop longing for answers that elude him like a phantom on the winds of time.
If the switch was turned off, his mind completely switched to thoughts about leaving Ark behind alongside his family.
Forcing himself to walk forward, the negative thoughts in regards to leaving the Ark begin to overtake him in every sense of the word. Aside from the importance of staying awake for class, he knows this is just a temporary thing for him to do to make his family proud.
As he truly leaves, Sunny cannot conceive of how distraught they will become in learning about his departure from this place called Ark, as the weight of this decision is heavy on his shoulders, but he knows there are greater forces at play that he cannot control. Especially of how it is part of growing up and finding who he is.
He knows that he cannot stay in the Ark forever; it has been centuries, and eventually something will happen that anyone might or might not expect. One of them is leaving the Ark completely with family behind.
Sunny doesn't want to do this for the sake of everyone else, but it is necessary for him to see what is out there, even if it is a barren and dangerous place on the surface of the earth. Sunny has to do it, and if he can't, then he will force himself to do so. No one should have authority over others by force; people should have the choice to make decisions regarding their future and destiny.
Sunny will show them and the Ark that Earth might not be as dangerous as many would assume. "I wonder," he said under his breath, holding his shoulder bag tightly whilst walking with a determined step as he began making his way to his first class of the day. "Could Earth be a place of wonders and possibilities after all?"
Centuries have passed since humanity has been living prosperity within the Ark, having time to develop technology and culture beyond what was imaginable in the outside world. Regardless of how good life is, he still needs to see it for himself before judging and making decisions based on secondhand accounts and stories.
Who knows what happened to their home planet while they were away for so long? Maybe Earth became habitable again due to natural processes or some unknown event that changed everything drastically overnight? However, one idea that stuck with him the most was: could there still be life on their dead planet? Must be, it has to right? There is no way the world wouldn't just remain static for eternity.
It's too large for such a thing to happen without some kind of change or evolution over the centuries since they left. Whatever the case, he will find out soon enough once he finds a way out of the Ark without being noticed.
Heading upstairs to the second floor, Sunny went to his assigned classroom as he opened the door wide and open, revealing it to be a crowded class. "Was I late?" He asked worriedly. His professor stood at the front, lecturing about the history of Earth before humans arrived here, completely oblivious to his arrival, before hearing his voice.
Some of the students turned to him; their expressions shared varied reactions of surprise and curiosity as they recognized him from before, but none were directly hostile, which relieved him a bit. In his past life on earth, he was always assuming everyone to be his enemies, which in turn was true to some extent.
Human beings can be assholes at times, so it's always right to be paranoid at times like this.
"You just arrived in time!" The professor smiled at the sight of him not coming in late to class. It was always a rare phenomenon for a young man to come to class at a later time due to his preference for being the earliest.
"We were learning about the history of the earth before humans arrived here. You know, it was a very different place back then compared to what we see now," she exclaimed, hoping not to delve into any deep conversation in mid-class. "Take a seat and we will briefly resume our lecture," the Angeloid said, returning her attention back to the projector screen once again as she continued with her lecture on the subject matter at hand.
Nodding silently, he looked over at the back corner of the seats, which were unfortunately occupied by other students. Grimacing at the sight of this, Sunny could feel the dread of having to sit in the very front of the class. The idea of being called out to answer a question is going to be extremely horrific for him to experience, as he has no clue on how to respond to such a question.
Seeing he had no choice, he went to the only available seat, which is in the front row of the classroom facing the podium, where the teacher usually stands from behind to lecture her lessons to the entire class. And this sight alone made him want to commit suicide right here and there.
"Sunny?" She asked, confusedly at the sight of him just standing there, "Are you going to take a seat?"
"Yeah," responding hesitatingly with his eyes glued to the ground as he slowly sat down in his chair before placing his bag on the table.
"Now let's begin!"
She explained everything, from how the mysterious cosmic malestorm almost wiped out humanity and other animals alike. Furthermore, explaining the catastrophic event that caused the earth to become uninhabitable for millions of years after the Ark was built and launched by the last remaining humans who desperately seek a new home to continue the human race before extinction befell them completely.
The professor didn't stop there, of course; she also began talking about the history of humanity, which didn't interest anyone in the class one bit. Most of them have already known this by now but still hold a passive face in hopes of finishing it up.
Sunny's eyes had a hard time staying focused on her words as his mind wandered off to thoughts of doing something productive like listening to music. In his heart, he wants to take out his smartphone and start jamming along with a song he has in mind, but he couldn't during class.
It pains him to think of the restrictions and rules that they have to abide by while inside the classroom because he can feel his restlessness growing stronger with every second that passes until a couple gentle knocks from the door woke everyone up from their eternal slumber, including him.
With a wide grin, the professor began to announce a new transfer student joining them today: "That reminds me! We have a new student joining us today! Please make him feel welcome when he arrives," she smiled warmly at the class, expecting them to act accordingly to her request.
A new transfer student? Sunny found it surprising, to say the least.
As the door opened, everyone in the class stayed silent when a familiar young man entered the room, saying, "Sorry that I was late, lady." Moving to her side, he turned facing the class and bowed apologetically, "My name is Tom! Its going to be pleasant in working aside with you all!" The rest of the students responded in kind, greeting him politely according to what they were told to.
But out of all of them who were engaging in conversation with the new student, Sunny could not help but be flabbergasted at seeing him in a place like this.
