The next morning, Zoisite was awakened by a loud, obnoxious alarm next to his and Nephrite's mutual bunk bed. He reached over distractedly to try to shut it off, but it wouldn't stop screeching. Finally, annoyed, Zoisite blasted it.

It took him a moment to realize what it was he had done.

"Nice job, Zoisite." He heard Nephrite say above him. "The 'off' switch was on the bottom." Zoisite looked up at the auburn haired boy curiously, seeing Nephrite sprawled out on his stomach above him, watching him with amused cornflower-blue eyes. He looked at the now-smoking alarm and raised his eyebrows.

"But... what exactly did I do to it?" Zoisite murmured, trying vainly to put the two burned sections of it back into place but failing miserably.

"You used your power on it."

Zoisite could see that Nephrite was enjoying the confusion immensely.

"But... how?"

Nephrite climbed down to Zoisite's bed and leaned past him to grab the broken piece of machinery, gazing at it skeptically. He then grinned. "Looks to be blasted."

Zoisite rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep a smile from his face. "I meant... what power? I don't know what you mean."

"We all have it, Zoisite. Being in this place... it awakens something in us. Some kind of power."

"But where did it come from?"

"Who knows? It's here. Better not to question it." Nephrite said with a shrug. That was never his answer to all things. Zoisite scowled; he himself had always been too curious for his own good.

"Does it bother you? It was a good blast. Clean tore the thing in two."

Zoisite shook his head, chuckling. "You are a very strange person, Nephrite."

Nephrite grinned. "So are you."

At that moment, a youma knocked on the door hesitantly despite the fact that it was open. Zoisite's eyes snapped up, fear suddenly making his limbs taut. This youma did not look half as disgusting as the other, but its expression was one of pure malice. It fixed its red eyes on Zoisite and the boy flinched.

"Nephrite, Zoisite, Jadeite. General Kunzite would like to see you three in one hour. Be dressed and waiting in the training room, sirs."

It was almost absurd, having something so horrifying call him 'sir', and Zoisite started to laugh. After a moment, he was hysterical and even Jadeite, who had until that moment been silent, was chuckling softly from his bed across the room. Nephrite shook his head but started to laugh as well.

The youma stared at them a moment, and then walked out.

"What is so damn funny?" Nephrite asked him.

Zoisite shook his head. "This place. It's like some weird B-movie."

Nephrite laughed and fell back onto the bed, watching Zoisite through slitted eyes. For a moment, Zoisite could only stare at him. Nephrite was truly beautiful, but... not as beautiful as Kunzite. No one was as beautiful as Kunzite.

Zoisite stood up and stretched, pulling on a shirt and escaping to the showers. He spent longer in there than he needed to, perhaps, washing his hair three times. He wanted to clean it well, to wash away the old life. All of it. He was ready to begin a new one.

What's wrong with me? Yesterday I was practically terrified about this! Now I'm actually looking forward to it? I must be as insane as everyone else.

He dried his hair quickly, noticing that Nephrite and Jadeite were already in their showers. Despite the darkness and coldness of this place, it was certainly well-endowed.

He dressed quickly, putting off the top of the uniform for as long as possible. The neckline was awful, starched and ironed so that it cut right into his throat. Instead, he slipped on a white tank top for extra warmth and started to brush out his hair.

Nephrite and Jadeite were dressed by the time they got out of the shower, and he was pleased to discover that Nephrite was as much of an obsessive about his hair as Zoisite was.

"Nephrite, would you mind braiding my hair for me? My... sister always used to do it." Zoisite hesitated, trying to shut out the memories. He didn't want to talk about this. Nephrite seemed not to notice this and instead motioned for him to sit on the bed next to him.

Nephrite braided his hair rather quickly, and Zoisite wondered if he was an expert. He wouldn't have been surprised- with all of that hair. It was even thicker than Zoisite's, though he left it down.

Nephrite finished, and for a moment his fingers brushed against the back of Zoisite's neck. Zoisite shivered, turning around to see Nephrite watching him with an almost puzzled expression.

Jadeite cleared his throat. "Um... I don't mean to be rude, but I think perhaps Kunzite-sama will kill us if we are late."

Zoisite nodded, glancing one last time at Nephrite before standing up and slipping on the top of his uniform. He clasped the belt hastily and followed the others out.

When they were halfway there, Zoisite's heart began to pound. I wonder how Kunzite-sama will act towards me today. He was so cold yesterday, almost like my father. Perhaps he was just in a bad mood...?

But as Zoisite entered the training room, he saw that Kunzite was standing in the center, arms crossed over his chest, gaze hostile. He took his place beside Nephrite and looked at the floor.

"Another three seconds, and you would have been late." He said by way of introduction.

The three of them nodded, murmuring apologies. Suddenly, Kunzite blasted the floor with a slightly weak beam of energy, the noise loud enough to bring them to attention.

"You are never to apologize to me, do you understand? Either you do things right, or you keep your mouth shut and accept your punishment. This time you had nothing to apologize for. Remorse shows weakness. Do you understand? Additionally, you will not speak unless I tell you to. And if you are going to break a rule, please don't do a half-assed job. No muttered apologies."

Nods from all three of them, but Zoisite looked up at Kunzite with fire in his eyes. He hated being talked down to like a child... absolutely hated it. Kunzite glanced at him for a moment, and it almost seemed that the white-haired general smirked.

"Now, we will begin. Jadeite, stand up."

Jadeite did as he was told, standing with his head up and his eyes straight ahead. He looked through Kunzite, rather than at him, and Kunzite rolled his eyes.

"Please look at me, Jadeite, not through me. I can't talk to you if you're looking through me." Jadeite looked into Kunzite's eyes, and Zoisite could see them filled with fear. He felt pity for the blonde general, and suddenly wanted to do something bad.

"I want you to use your energy to blast that target on the wall. Now." Jadeite did as he was told, only missing the target by a few inches. Zoisite could see the blonde man brace himself, as if expecting to be struck.

But Kunzite merely stared at the hole next to the target with raised eyebrows.

"Good job, Jadeite. If you try not to hit your target you should do fine." Jadeite tried to hide a scowl, but Kunzite caught it.

"Please, Jadeite, don't mask your hatred on my account. It might help your aim. You may sit down."

Jadeite did so, his mouth twitching slightly with rage. He glanced at Zoisite, saw his slightly sympathetic gaze, and his scowl smoothed out a little.

"Nephrite, it's your turn." Nephrite stood up, obviously angry at their mentor's treatment of Jadeite.

"Go ahead." Kunzite told him, and Nephrite did as he was told, hitting the target squarely in the center. Kunzite nodded.

"Good aim, but you lack conviction. Your energy was not pure; it was riddled with doubt and fear, and so you see the blast was weaker. If that was the enemy, they would be laughing in your face right now." Nephrite did nothing, merely stared at Kunzite, until the general told him to sit down.

"Zoisite." Zoisite felt his heart flutter as Kunzite said his name, but shoved down the feeling as the anger took over. Kunzite had humiliated the others and was no doubt about to do the same to him. He stared into the General's eyes, fury and hatred making his emerald eyes glitter like jewels.

"Well?" Kunzite prompted, eyebrows raised.

"Which target, Kunzite-sama? Nephrite already hit that one." He said loudly, too loudly. Kunzite glared at him, but Zoisite thought that perhaps he saw a smile in those cold eyes. Perhaps it was just his imagination.

"Take your pick." He said, growing impatient. Zoisite grinned, and when Kunzite turned to look at the targets Zoisite gathered up all of his hurt and anger and concentrated it at Kunzite's back. He grinned as the General pitched forward onto the floor.

He could see Nephrite and Jadeite both stare at the fallen General with fear in their eyes. He had thought they would enjoy it, but he realized that they were afraid for him. No doubt Kunzite would have him fried for this.

The General stood up, his back to them still, a hole in his cape. Then, to Zoisite's astonishment, he started to laugh. "Very good, Zoisite! I didn't even feel you gather the energy for that!" He laughed again, and Zoisite blushed. It was almost... pleasant to hear Kunzite's laughter. Even if it was directed at him.

He could see relief on the faces of the other two, but then the fear replaced itself as Kunzite's laughter stopped dead. He came so close to Zoisite that he had to look up, and Zoisite felt a wave of desire that shamed him and frustrated him. He only hoped that Kunzite could not sense it.

"Now, why on Earth would you attack your superior officer, Zoisite?" he mused, eyes searching Zoisite's face with polite inquiry. Zoisite wanted to say, 'Because you lied to me! Because you brought me to this place and left me alone!' But he didn't. Instead, he thought of a perfectly reasonable answer.

"When I'm on the battlefield, sir, I won't be aiming at targets." Kunzite stared at him, and Zoisite forced himself to be strong, not to flinch.

Again surprising him, Kunzite grinned. "I see. Well, then, perhaps I should bring in some live targets?"

"If they are all fascists like you, then I have no objection."

The other two recruits were watching him with a mixture of fascination and dread.

Kunzite chuckled. "You just described every General in the Dark Kingdom, Zoisite. I'm afraid that won't do." Zoisite felt a wave of disappointment as Kunzite moved away from him, and sat back down.

"I can see I have my work cut out for me with you three. Just... try not to kill anyone unless they're the enemy, yes? Dismissed."

Zoisite stood up quickly and walked out with his head up high, refusing to look as though Kunzite had just won, even though he knew that in that battle of wits, he had not been victorious.

"I can't believe you did that, Zoisite! That was great!" Nephrite said in a hushed whisper as they exited.

Jadeite laughed. "Yeah, if you want to die young. I thought for sure he was going to kill you right there, just for a lesson to the two of us."

Zoisite's heart was still fluttering, and his face was bright red. He was just glad he got out of there with his pride intact.

They returned to their dormitory, and Zoisite collapsed onto his bed, covering his face with his hands. Nephrite leaned on the framed of the bed and watched him with his arms crossed.

"Where did you get the nerve to do that, Zoisite?" he asked, obvious wonder in his voice.

Zoisite didn't like it. He wanted the snide, cocksure Nephrite back. He shrugged. "I don't take shit like that from anybody. Especially when they humiliate my friends."

Nephrite raised his eyebrows, then smiled.

Jadeite snorted. "Yeah, even if it means getting publicly decapitated, you're there when we need you."

Zoisite laughed, rolling onto his stomach to look at Jadeite. "Would you rather I let him have his moment of superiority?"

"That's what he is, Zoisite, our superior." There was obvious dignity in Jadeite's voice, and for the first time Zoisite wondered where he had actually come from.

"So... what do we do for the rest of the day?" Jadeite grinned.

"Oh, we don't get off the hook that easily, kiddo. We also have to get a formal education here. They don't want stupid soldiers on their field."

"They don't have to worry about that with us." Nephrite said with theatrical flourish, sitting down next to Zoisite. "Regular trio of Einsteins, we are."

Zoisite laughed. "Yeah, but Einstein failed math." Nephrite shrugged and started to play with the end of Zoisite's braid absently. It almost made him shiver, but he didn't show it. He was still afraid of how these two would react when they knew he was gay, or rather, when Nephrite found out that he was attracted to him. Jadeite was attractive, but far too cold for his taste.

Like someone else you know.

Zoisite looked away from Nephrite's lounging form, confusion marring his features. Why had he reacted to strongly to Kunzite? Sure, he was beautiful, but so what? So was every other male in the entire Dark Kingdom... well, with the exception of one or two here and there. There was something about Kunzite... something that went beyond how kind he had been at their first meeting. Kunzite was... fascinating.

"Zoi? Are you okay?" Zoisite smiled at the nickname, and turned back to Nephrite with that same smile. One which he didn't really feel.

"Yeah, sure. When does our first class start?"

Jadeite answered him. "It's in three hours, and it's... mathematics."