This time Christiana wasn't late. In fact, she had finished practice early today. However, that was not necessarily a good thing in this case.

'Even with the painkillers, my wrist still hurts,' the blond-haired youngster thought as she was getting dressed. Christiana was currently in the middle school's locker room and she was having trouble fastening her top with just one hand.

"I'll never do that again," she muttered as she struggled to engage the last clasp. Ever since her conversation with her Mother earlier in the week, the young lady had been trying her hardest to learn martial arts. Christiana's attempt to impress her instructor had led to the injury. During a very basic spar, she had gone on the offensive instead of simply blocking like she was told. Unfortunately, the off-guard sensei parried the unexpected lunge without thinking.

Not expecting such a fierce counterattack, the youngster hadn't been gripping her bokken tightly with both hands. As a result, her right wrist had absorbed all the energy from the impact when her wooden sword flew out of her left hand. If she had been holding the hardwood Katana properly, or if she had had a weak two-handed grip, then she would not have been injured.

Needless to say, the teacher was not happy with her. The instructor had let the child know all about it as she bandaged Christiana's wounded appendage and gave her a couple of mild painkillers. She had talked her sensei out of calling her home and have someone take her to a med station. She had done this by downplaying the discomfort so she could visit her secMother Karen's apartment as planned.

'Even Mother suggested I talk with her,' she reflected as she closed her cubby and gathered up her belongings. 'That's why I will not allow a busted wrist to change my plans.'

However, between the muscle soreness from kendo and her fresh injury, she was incredibly thankful that she had tomorrow off. Sunday was the only day that she could truly rest and recuperate. Plus, she was really looking forward to her dinner "date" with Miss Harrison.

Having plenty of time to kill, she decided to explore the middle school campus. While she had been going to the gym daily, she never had the chance to just look around.

Unlike the nearby single-story elementary school, the principal building at this academy had four floors. Each of the top three levels contained classrooms for each Year's students. To put it another way, all the instruction rooms for a particular grade were located on the same level. Meanwhile, the ground floor housed general use areas such as the reading room and cafeteria.

A covered walkway connected the gym to the main structure. They fashioned this pathway to keep the rain off of the students as they went back and forth. However, the pupils were forced to don their masks as they traveled outside. This was by design since they held some fitness courses outdoors on sunny Maindays. Because the children had to wear their filters when traveling to the gymnasium, they could not skip workouts by saying that they had forgotten their gear.

"That was a good idea," she muttered to herself as she walked down the protected sidewalk toward the main edifice of the academy. "Everyone forgets things every now and again."

Upon reaching the doorway at the end of the path, she tried to open it only to find that they had locked it.

"Looks like I won't be going in there," she realized. "Time to explore the outbuildings."

With this thought, she turned from the door and emerged from underneath the awning. Following the sidewalk away from the side of the school from the nearby pond, she wandered aimlessly for a few minutes. Soon she came to a large courtyard beside the main building.

A single-pole sat in the middle of the landscaped area. Upon it flew the Alliance flag. The familiar red, white, and blue banner waved in the breeze. As it fluttered, she could clearly see the star-spangled sunburst with the Union Jack in its center.

This was the symbol that represented the three Terran empires that had joined together and launched the ships to this system. As a show of loyalty and respect to their ancestors who made the long journey, the Colony still flew the streamer. That's why a flagpole such as this one was erected at all government-owned facilities to fly this universal ensign.

It wasn't always like this. The history buff knew that every prefecture had its own flag before The Uprising. That state's standard was flown beside the Alliance banner. During those turbulent times, those regional emblems became the battle standards of those who were attempting to give men civil rights. All the freedom fighters were from the western prefectures, which were primarily settled by the members of the Second Wave and their progeny. Therefore, the pennants from these states were all used as the symbols of those fighting for their menfolk.

After the West lost, Congress had banned all regional flags throughout the planet. To those representatives and senators, the prefectural banners had become too divisive for continued use. Thus the Alliance flag was now the only ensign flown on Cooper's World.

She could only sigh as she peered at the planetary colors waving in the light wind. To those from the West, like herself, seeing that rippling piece of cloth filled them with mixed emotions. On the one hand, the object in question was a symbol of those who sacrificed everything to establish the colony. On the other, it was a constant reminder that males had to live as slaves in all but name.

Just because they called the fee for possession of a man, a Dowry did not make it any different from a sale. Creds' were exchanged for them in the same manner that people paid for other goods and services.

'What's the difference?' she wondered. 'I don't understand adults and their way of thinking.'

Not wanting to continue her gloomy line of thought, she quickly checked the time on her com'. After seeing that she still had quite a while before her pick up time, she returned to her exploration.

'I've never gone in this direction before,' she realized, and she meandered behind the academy. First, she passed a large metal structure. Based on the shape of the building and the large air intakes, it seemed to serve as a combination storage area and air purification center. Then she came upon a single-story brick complex that bore a striking resemblance to her elementary school.

"I wonder what's in here?" she mumbled as she approached the edifice.

Looking through the closest window, she could see that this was a classroom. Inside were neatly arranged rows of desks. At the room's front stood a podium as well as a large screen that an instructor could use to display information to her pupils.

'Why do they have another school behind the academy?' she wondered as she checked the next set of windows.

The interior of this chamber contained more work surfaces, plus several musical instruments sprinkled throughout. To her inexperienced eye room's setup was somewhat chaotic, with guitars and shamisens on stands beside a baby grand piano. There were also drums of all shapes and sizes scattered around the room, as well as several black cases which she presumed held yet more instruments.

Then the realization of what this area was came to her out of the blue. 'This has to be the building for the males.'

Most women in the colony did not play music. It wasn't that they didn't have the ability or the talent; it was that there was no entertainment industry to speak of. Most people did not have the extra creds to pay for melodies or to watch performances. Instead, those resources were used to raise their children. Since there was no money to be made from playing instruments, it was not a field that most ladies pursued.

Males were different. Most households viewed the emotionally weaker gender as nothing more than a source of entertainment, so women encouraged them to learn to play music and sing. Because they had no responsibilities, it was sensible that they spend their time on learning skills to make their wives happy. That was why very, very few schools trained young ladies in the musical arts, while almost all of them taught them to members of the opposite sex.

"So this is where John-nii will attend school next Year," she murmured as she began walking once again. "I thought Haruhi-nee would be attending class in the same building. Such a setup would make it impossible to visit with both of them regardless of the path I decide to take."

This discovery truly unsettled the girl. She had imagined that the three of them would at least be in the same edifice. That way, she could occasionally run into the other sibling, no matter who she paired with. Attending class in two entirely separate structures blew that hope to smithereens. Whichever path she chose would leave one of the people she cared for most in the world totally alone throughout the school day.

"This blows!" she unconsciously yelled out loud. Meanwhile, she had increased her pace significantly without meaning to. That was why she was startled when a stern voice called out to her.

"This area is off-limits to all unauthorized female students!" a young woman proclaimed. "Identify yourself so that I can report you to the faculty for entering a restricted space!"