3rd Person POV Makoto

Unknown Location

It has been six months since Makoto's dubbed "Crazy Day." And then the meeting with Shobai Hashimoto after all those years since her father passed away. And then there was the offer made by Shobai himself.

And now, Makoto stood with a bunch of other people, most of them older than her by a few years and all of them are male, much to her chagrin as they started to leer at her before someone came in.

"Hello everybody." He greeted them cordially grabbing everyone's attention. He wore a suit almost befitting of a scientist; a long flowy lab coat that reached his calves with gold colored shoulder pads and a couple of gold chain links connecting to a breast pocket with two different colored hankerchief.

"I am Yamato Kisaragi, but you all will address me as Merlin. and let me officially welcome you to the most dangerous job interview of your life." Makoto gulped nervously at his words and the dark tone at the end of his dialogue. He then lifted something up for everyone to see. Makoto felt some of the color leave her face when she saw the black bag in Yamato's hand.

"Does anyone know what this is?" He questioned the crowd coolly. Makoto shakily raised her hand. "Yes, Naegi-san."

"A standard issue b-body bag, sir." Makoto stuttered slightly, her words making the other applicants freeze and/or look at her, the bag, and Kisaragi in disbelief.

Yamato nodded in confirmation. "Very good. Each of you take one and put your name, date of birth, and blood type on the tag." He instructed, the applicants doing as he instructed, albeit reluctantly.

"It's just a scare tactic, no big deal," one of them said to the other, the lot of them smirking though Makoto got an uneasy feeling instead.

After some briefing, Merlin told everyone to rest up as the following week or so was going to be one hell of a trial.

After some chatting amongst the candidates, they found their bunks and turned in for the night.

It was not until midnight that Naegi awoke to a cold feeling running down her back, making her sit up quickly on instinct.

"Why do I hear water running?" She wondered, thinking that perhaps left one of the toilets running.

Then she looked down at the floor, her breath freezing in her throat.

The room was being flooded as it had already reached halfway to her bed already.

"Guys! Wake up! Emergency!" Her fatigue was forgotten as she hastily called out to the others to warn them.

As soon as they saw the situation, they began to panic as the water level by that point had risen past their waists as they were now standing on the floor now.

One of the candidates told them to run to the toilets and grab a tube to get air from as the water finally reached over their heads.

Doing as she said, they all swam over to the bathroom area and grab the tube in the toilets and used them as a snorkel.

Makoto looked around the bathroom area as she made sure she got an adequate amount of air into her lungs. She then saw the bathroom mirror, feeling as if she was being watched from behind it.

"One of those two-way mirrors like in those crime TV shows...?" She wondered.

Curious, she pulled away from her "snorkel" and began to swim over to the mirror, much to her colleagues' confusion.

She knew this was a shot in the dark, but she wanted to at least try as there was no telling when help will arrive, being that this is supposed to be a secret location and all.

With as much force as she can muster, she began to bang on the mirror. With some effort, cracks began to form and increase in size, giving the ahoge-girl hope before she made one final punch to the mirror, breaking it entirely and releasing the water from within the room.

The others followed her, surprise apparent on their faces as the supposed "shrimp" of the outfit figured out a way to escape.

As she coughed to regain air into her body, she was vaguely aware of Agent Merlin coming back in and began to talk in a cool tone.

"Congratulations on passing the first test, all of you." He turned to the one who mentioned the "Snorkel" idea. "Good thinking on that. Find that, and you have a limitless supply of air." He then turned back to Makoto, who had regained her breath by this time and was feebly sitting up on the wet floor. "Good eye on seeing the two-way mirror."

"Dumb luck, that's all it was," one of the other candidates sneered.

Merlin glowered at him. "I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you. You may have passed this test, but all of you forgot one vital element in this exercise: teamwork."

He pointed back into the room they were sleeping in, making them rise to their feet to see what he was talking about.

Makoto felt her face go sheet white as she noticed the body of the girl she talked to beforehand was now dead from drowning.

"So much for it being a scare tactic," a dark part of her mind snarked at her, almost as if mocking her.

Timeskip

It was the next morning after the flood scare where Merlin called the applicants to meet outside.

"Last night," Merlin began to lecture them from a balcony, "you all lacked teamwork in a life or death situation. So to remedy this, we decided to give you a partner that will be with you even after you pass or fail your exam. So all of you, pick a puppy."

Right below the balcony Agent Merlin was standing on, there were crates upon other crates holding a puppy of different breeds.

Of all the dog breeds to choose from, Makoto felt a pull to one in particular. This one being a husky of some sort with bright red eyes, and she seemed a bit undersized compared to some of the other pups.

And to make things more interesting, the dog seemed to be looking right at her, her bright vermillion eyes almost too intelligent to be like any other canine.

"Well, I always wanted a dog," Makoto thought to herself as she and the other candidates approached the cages holding their future partners.

Of course, she went straight to the husky mix, the dog's paws placed up against the cage she is being held in before Makoto unlatched it, letting her out.

The dog immediately glomped her, licking her face as Makoto could not help but laugh as she did so.

All of this was noted by Merlin, who's eyes widened marginally at the sight.

"Odd," he mused to himself, "that pup had turned down many applicants in the past, even our best agents, yet with this one she went straight to the Naegi kid...."

"So what to name you?" Makoto mused, mostly to herself as the dog had finally let her up for air. Getting an idea, she suggested, "How about Koromaru?"

The dog barked, almost as if in approval. Makoto laughed in response. "Koromaru it is."

Thus a beautiful friendship, between a human and a dog, was born.

Timeskip

After choosing their partners, the other trials felt like a blur to Makoto. From sky diving from a plane to being tied to the railroad tracks while being interrogated about the secrets of the organization (which she passed with flying colors amazingly despite her panicking as the train was coming), Makoto felt as if after all of that she should be immune to just about whatever crazy curve ball her soon-to-be occupation can throw her.

Now she sat in front of Agent Arthur herself, aka Rei Mekaru. Like her cohort Merlin, she also wore a white labcoat. However, Makoto noted the air of superiority around her, making her sit up straight on instinct. She also had bright orange hair, and wore glasses, showcasing her amber/gold-colored eyes. She also wore something of a dressy business outfit, coupled with dark pantyhose and a pinstripe top of some sort (A/N: I dunno what you call that, you guys tell me in the comments).

"Well hello, Ms. Naegi, yes?" Rei spoke politely, but Makoto can sense the slight condenscension in her tone. Regardless, she decided to play nice as this could very well be her future boss.

"Ah, yes ma'am." Makoto responded politely, petting Koromaru who sat at her feet quietly.

"I see Agent Merlin had been teaching you manners. Very good." Rei said, looking vaguely impressed. "At least this one isn't one of those arrogant purebreeds the other factions in other countries insist on hiring on where they don't always last on the field...."

"Merlin-sensei is a very good instructor," Makoto spoke up. Rei nodded, further examining her. She then turned her attention to Koromaru, the dog's red eyes clashing with her golden ones undauntingly.

"Interesting..." Rei noted, especially as she was more than aware of Koromaru's history of being "picky" with candidates. The fact she stuck with this one this long is quite a feat not even the most seasoned agents could pull off.

"Let's see how this one reacts to this final phase of her exam," Rei smirked to herself before she turned her attention back to Makoto.

"I see you and your dog seemed to be getting along just fine." She began to make small talk, perhaps lull the teen into a false sense of security.

Makoto, however, was wary. She knew for a damn fact this wasn't a friendly visit. This is the leader of Japan's Kingsman, after all. She wouldn't take time out of her busy schedule just to mingle with a mere applicant. So something is up, she just know it.

Regardless, she decided to play along. "Yes. Koromaru is the best partner I ever had. Even though she is my first dog, I'll admit."

Rei nodded before reaching in her pocket, making Makoto go on her guard when she saw the glint of metal.

Everything seemed to stop as Agent Arthur produced a pistol out of her labcoat, pointing the barrel at Makoto.

Before she flipped the handle to Makoto, making her take it, albeit with alarmed confusion.

"Shoot the dog." She commanded, her nice facade melted away.

Makoto felt something in her brain just stop working at those three words. "What?"

"Shoot the dog." Rei commanded, her voice taking on an impatient edge now. "Are you deaf, peasant?"

With those words, Makoto's face have become shadowed, making Arthur blink with shock before recovering her composure, if only to further taunt the ahoge-girl. "Are you perhaps too soft to be an agent of Kingsman? What a shame, especially who you father once was. I bet he's rolling in his grave because of your-"

Click

Rei's words were cut off midsentence as suddenly, the barrel of the gun was pointed right at her, right between her eyes.

"W-what's the meaning of this?!" She sputtered, not expecting this.

Makoto's bangs then lifted, showing Rei her eyes that were filled with a bloodlust that rivaled many of her veteran agents by tenfold.

"You said shoot the dog," Makoto began in an ominous tone that did not fit her character, "and to be frank, I think I just spotted a bitch."

That remark made Rei turn red with anger. "You insolent-!"

"Shut it." Makoto's cold words halted her, as she pulled the trigger.

Click!

Confusion dawned on her as nothing came out of the barrel. She pulled it again, only for nothing to happen. She then quickly checked the magazine, only to find it empty.

"What..." Makoto's actions then caught up with her, making her faint. "I just threatened an agent with their life. Not just any agent, but Agent Arthur herself!"

"Well done." Makoto's thoughts slammed into a halt when Rei mustered up the courage to speak.

"What?" Makoto spoke dumbly.

"You passed the test." Rei had a smirk on her face. "While I did not expect you to turn the gun on me, you exceeded my expectations nonetheless."

"But I-- I just--- I nearly---"

"My exact words were, Shoot the dog," Rei reiterated. "The word dog has many definitions, keep in mind."

"Though I fear what would have happened if I had actually put a bullet in the chamber," Rei thought to herself nervously. If that gun was loaded, then heaven help everyone.

"Congratulations," Rei then stood up. "You are now part of Kingsman." She offered her hand to the awestruck girl.

"Welcome, Agent Lancelot."

And thus, Agent Lancelot was born.

AAAAAAANNNNNDDDD SCENE!

Sorry this took so long and I apologize if this was too short. I did not want to write out the other scenes during the training sequence, as that would have taken me forever.

Anyway this is ArtVampire signing off!

Ja ne!