They were all pretty shitty in Kazuki's opinion. He did not have problems with any of them in particular. It was not because of them. It was because Kazuki knew he really needed this training to go well. He kept his head down. It was this or get tossed on the streets. They all looked at him on the first day and wondered what to expect from him. Kazuki was only half Japanese. Prejudice was still running rampant in this part of the world. He was not that surprised. He had lived all his life in Japan. The first few months were spent in a boot camp. Then they were allowed to get in their Shine simulator room. While in training, all the prospective Glowies wore the tan training mech suit. It was not comfortable. Not at all. These were the standard set and only had the word "Testing" on the chest. They also did not have sleeves or pant legs either. It all was part of their hazing ritual. None of his squad mates had the storied lineage Minato had, so it was hard on everyone except him. Kazuki was not the oldest member of their squad but he was the tallest. They had to attempt synchronizing in pairs to pilot.
Pairing up was not going to be easy. None of his squad mates even liked him. Minato went directly up to Eiji. "Do you want to sync up with me!? I think that you can be a good Top for me. I'll take the Bottom role." he proposed to him. It was a no-brainer here. Eiji nodded his head walked with him. "Let's make this sync work." he said with a toothy grin. Ryuga and Aito looked at each other. Without a word, they walked up to each other and walked off. It was clear that they were going to be partners. That meant that Kazuki was stuck with Jiro. He was the slacker of the group. He was not even paying attention when everyone was making their moves. When he realized the only one left was Kazuki, he sucked his teeth. Kazuki did not think that Jiro was an amazing choice either, but he did not want to cause a scene. Since they were going to be partners, they had to work together. Jiro glared at him and said "I am going to be the Top here. You just need to lay down and take me inside." Kazuki just nodded his head. Both roles were important in order to pilot a Shine. He did not care about roles.
They went in together. It was an exciting time for both of them. There were 2 piloting platforms there. Jiro and Kazuki took their helmets and put them on. They sat back to back in the middle as they were instructed before they bent forward. Now they were butt to butt. The visors then flipped on. Synchronizing was not a simple task. Now that they were in their augmented reality, it was time to connect. For recruits, they were told to imagine a king-sized bed. Once it appeared, both the pilots were to get on it. Since both the recruits were equal and starting to get the hand of their roles, they were to discuss what roles they should take amongst themselves. It was up to them, but they would be judged for the result whether they failed or succeeded. The mock cockpit was set to shut down if a connection was not reached in 5 minutes. For combat readiness, it was crucial to synchronize within 3 minutes. Over 5 was intolerable and would result in them not being able to go. A new pair would simply replace them for the duration of their big mission. The clock was now ticking down for them.
