"Then, why are you here?" Lieutenant Hinawa asked bluntly. He had that intense look in his eyes.
'So they're wary of me. They just formed their company, and they are afraid that I might be a spy from one of the other companies. That's actually a reasonable assumption.'
Chrollo took a second before he answered.
"Two years ago, I saw something that made me do some deep thinking." Chrollo said.
"Go on" The captain said. Ushering Chrollo to tell his story.
"I had just finished my second year in the academy, and as always, I placed first. Those who place first get a cash reward from the academy. I decided to reward myself and buy something with that money, it was some shoes I wanted. The store that had my size was in a district nearby, so I decided to go there to pick them up."
"When I got there, however, there was a commotion. Apparently, there were a couple of infernals. I had never seen an infernal up close, so I decided to go and check it out."
"It just so happens that the special fire soldiers had just arrived at the same time I did. I thought, great, I get to see the professionals in action. Then came this yellow stripe. He explained the situation to the blue stripes. There were two infernals. One was rampaging and the other was sitting quietly."
Hinawa's eyes widen slightly. He recognizes this story.
Chrollo noticed his reaction, but he didn't stop telling the story. He had this determined look on his face.
"The blue stripes decided to go after the rampaging infernal first, and they left the docile one to suffer. The reason? Some stupid point system they had. The more dangerous an infernal is, the higher the points they get. Their actions confused me."
"Then I saw something else that also confused me. I saw that same exact yellow stripe from before, and a sergeant in the army break the law."
"They had no license or authorization to do this. They had no clergymen with them to offer prayers, and their weapons probably weren't baptized either. But those two men went and put that calm infernal to rest."
Maki and sister Iris were paying close attention to the story. Their eyes are shifting between Chrollo and the captain and lieutenant.
"Later that day, when I went to bed, I couldn't sleep. You see, I was confused about my feelings. What the blue stripes did was a sound and fair judgment. They went after the infernal that was endangering people and damaging property."
"But I still can't help but feel they could've left one or two people to deal with the docile one. It felt like they didn't value human life. And for some reason, I didn't like what they did."
"On the other hand, that yellow stripe and the sergeant were in the wrong too. They broke the law and went against everything I was taught up to that point, yet I agreed with what they did. This put me in a dilemma."
Chrollo paused for a moment. "One that lasted my entire third year in the academy. I was so frustrated. I thought I would never be able to understand and follow the rules that we, fire soldiers, have to obey. It was so much so that I almost gave up and left the academy."
"By the time I decided to leave the academy, I had already finished my third year. The academy was always easy for me; I always placed first in my class. And since there was only one year left, I decided to finish and then leave the force completely."
"When I graduated on top of my class, I was handed files on each of the companies. I was told to go over those files and take my pick on which one I'd like to join. I was surprised when I was handed eight files instead of the seven I expected."
"I almost didn't open any of the files; I was quitting after all, but surprisingly I did. And I was even more surprised to see that same yellow stripe from two years ago had gone and started his own special fire force company and become a captain."
"That's why, even when everyone told me to pick a different company to join, I insisted on coming here to the eighth. Because I know this company is led by a man who never takes human life as a game."
Silence. Everyone in the room was stunned.
Then captain Ōbi burst into laughter, "Welcome to the eighth kid. Glad to have you!"
Chrollo saluted, "Thank you, sir!"
'Sorry, Captain. It's a half truth half lie. I did watch the whole thing, only from my phone screen in my first life.'
Hinawa stepped forward, "Follow me, I'll take you to your room."
Chrollo excused himself from the captain's office, grabbed his bag, and followed him.
"You should know that the gun used to put that infernal to rest was baptized," Lieutenant Hinawa said suddenly.
"I had guessed that much," Chrollo replied.
They walked a short while before they reached the dorms. There were a few rooms lined up. Chrollo picked the first room.
"Get settled in, and then come find me on the roof."
"Yes, sir."
Hiawa turned and left right away, while Chrollo started putting his things away.
'I'm part of the eighth now. But I'm here one year ahead of time, that's good. Fighting powerful opponents and infernals is going to be a common occurrence.'
Chrollo put away all of his things, put his luggage bag away, and tidied up the room a bit. Once he was done, he made his way to the roof.
"You're here! Come on, let's see what the first ranker can do!" Captain Ōbi was the first to see Chrollo approaching.
Maki, Sister Iris, and Lieutenant Hinawa were there as well.
"Before we go starting fires, explain to us your abilities first." Lieutenant Hinawa said
"Sure. I'm actually what you would call a hybrid," Chrollo started.
All four were paying close attention now.
"I have second-gen and third-gen abilities. I can start my own fire and manipulate it however I want, or I can manipulate external fires and control them however I want."
"Whoa! That's like really strong," Maki exclaimed nearby. Sister Iris nodded her head.
"Yeah, from what I'm told, there is one other person who has those same abilities. It's Captain Benimaru from the seventh. He's also a hybrid." Chrollo nodded.
"That's the man who's known as the mightiest soldier in the entire force. But this was not mentioned on your file" The Lieutenant added.
"I kept it a little bit of a secret, since I didn't want to attract unnecessary attention" Chrollo looked at the Lieutenant
"Good, that means we have a powerful recruit. Now show us what you can do." Captain Ōbi spoke up
"Yes, sir," Chrollo said as he summoned a dozen fireballs. He manipulated them for a bit, causing them to move around him, gather together, and form a bigger ball, or even split up and form many smaller balls.
Maki took over two fireballs and turned them into Sputter and Flare.
"I recently learned I can do this," Chrollo said as he started compressing the fireballs into plasma balls.
"Whoa! Whoa! Those are made of plasma. There are very few people in the whole empire who can produce plasma. That's crazy!" Maki exclaimed again, while sister Iris looked around, confused. She wasn't sure what it meant to produce plasma.
"That's enough. I think we have a general idea of what kind of abilities you have. Let's go eat, we have lunch ready." The Lieutenant cut in.
After that, they all went down to the dining area and had lunch together.
There wasn't much chatter going on during dinner. Most are new around each other, and team familiarity isn't there yet.
After dinner, they were all called into the captain's office again.
"Now that we have a heavy damage dealer in Chrollo, we will add him to our formation," Captain Ōbi said. "Chrollo, you will join Maki, who will be taking the front."
"Yes, captain."
"Now, we will talk about the chores around the base-"
Captain Ōbi was cut off by the sound of a siren. He looked at his team and started talking again, "No time for talks, we have a fire to put out. Company eight, move out!