Kaito Sakurama lived in a world that did not care about effort but by results. Results were dictated by something most people awakened with before they were old enough to know what it meant to lose it.
Ninety six hundred years ago a global crisis labeled as the "The next evolution of earth" changed the whole world into something out of a fictional story. A mysterious unidentified flying object entered the atmosphere crushing on the earth's surface around California like a meteor from out of space.
Later on it was taken for research. Due to the strange mineral formations the researchers failed to identify what it was. As time went on the object cracked slowly ,bit by bit until it tore in half, forming a mysterious energy like wave. Around that time a natural phenomenon occurred that manifested within the human body(Core Energy) during adolescence, usually between the ages of ten or thirteen.
As for Core Traits they were defined as innate abilities that defined one. Some manipulate element, others enhance their physical bodies and some bent abstract concepts such as energy.
Right after the invention of Grades suddenly erupted. Grades are not combat strength. They are a measurement of how much Core Energy a person can possess and circulate.
Think of it like capacity, not skill.
A cup and a tank can both hold water. One just holds more.
Two people could stand side by side, both capable of tearing through a battlefield, and still be worlds apart on paper. One because they trained. The other because their body was born as a reservoir, vast and deep, even if they barely knew how to use it.
Zero,4,3,2,1, and Merit. From Zero to Merit. The higher the grade the more power one possess.
That was why the grading system existed.
To restore balance.
Society reorganized itself around this fact. Militaries were reformed and new hierarchies emerged. The Core Weilders Society(CWS) became the new military of modern civilization. Those with versatile traits were elevated quickly being placed into elite institutions and somewhere groomed for leadership.
And there were those like Kaito, people called them "Traitless".Not officially of course. Official records labeled them as Zero Graders a term designed to sound hopeful. In truth they would never be able to manifest due to their nervous system rejecting to merge core energy under certain circumstances.
Traitless individuals were not forbidden from joining, without a core trait, a weilder could not synchronize with core energy, so they relied on physical conditioning and equipment to stay relevant. Kaito leaned against the stone railing of the courtyard as water mist brushed against his face as the artificial waterfall descended endlessly.
His reflection wavered in the basin below.
His fingers curled slowly against the stone as uninvited memories surfaced. His mother tying him a bracelet around his wrist when she was still around before her departure overseas. His father kept telling him everything is going to be okay not matter how cruel the world was. To Kaito his father was just trying to make him feel better.
This world, power decided worth long before character ever got the chance. And yet, despite everything, Kaito was still here.
Still wearing the uniform, taking missions, chasing criminals who wielded forces that could tear building apart with a single pull of a trigger. And yet being sent out because someone .somewhere within this walls believed a traitless Core Weilder might still have value. Or is it they are just waiting for him to die during a mission. To learn how cruel the world is, how much the world doesn't need people like him.
Kaito exhaled slowly.
"Rough day, huh?"
The voice came from behind, it was light and familiar, light enough to cut through the noise made by the waterfall. There was no need for him to turn, he knew exactly who it was without needing to look back. A young woman stood a few steps away, hands loosely clasped behind her back, she wore a white accented uniform. Her hair was tied up the way it always was on duty. The left side of her uniform's shoulder was a label of two crossed weapons a gun and a sword and on the bottom was written Division 5,the division that was responsible for supporting core weilders with medical care.
"Haruka?!"his tone sounded bored.
"In the flesh!!"she said proudly.
"Answer my question, mister!!."
"Something like that," his voice came out flatter than he intended to.
Haruka's eyes flicked to the insignia on his chest, then away again just as quickly.
They stood there together for a moment, the two of had know each other ever since grade school.
She amongst all people in the society that had tolerated and cared for him. As they shared school assignments, hobbies and much more. But what stings was she'd walked out of with glowing results while he stayed behind like a background character.
"How did your mission go." she eventually asked..
"Bad."
"That bad?"
He let out a slow breath." I am on thin ice. Thinner than before."
Haruka nodded once. Her Core Trait, Restoration made her valuable in the field. Barriers, energy stabilization and healing are some of her core trait's concepts. Most squads came back alive because of her, for that the core weilders society acknowledged she was promoted into a fifteenth seat office in division 5.
"They always measure people by what they can do right now," she said ."Not by what they can do sooner."
Kaito gave a short humorless laugh."Thats a nice way of saying i dont belong here."
Thats not what i said."
She steeped closer, resting her forearms against the stone railing beside him, looking down at the water as if the answer might be hiding down there.
"You are still here," she continued. " Still going on missions, earning money for that. That counts for something, even the system doesn't know how to label it."
Upon he wanted to believe her, but that's the problem. The world they lived in doesn't reward stubbornness.
"You shouldn't be seen with me, he said quietly. "Are you suppose to be on whatever medical duty."
Haruka turned her head then, really looking at him. "I was on my night shift."
Kaito closed his eyes for a brief second letting the sound of the water wash over the tightness in his chest.
"I was just about to go home." he claimed.
"Hmm..."she stared at him with a cruel smile.
"Nope, I don't owe you a thing."
"Come on there is no need to be grumpy. You promised remember, if you need a reminder I would be happier to-"
"No need to, lets just get this over with."
"Yippe!!"she got excited right after.
"Dude grow up already you acting like a ten year old." he said, digging both his hands in his pocket as they were aiming for the front gate.
"I am 19,not that old."
"Old." he teased.
"What was that!?"
"Nothing"