Ynk's first year

Ynk sprawled on his bed heavily, his bag thrown against the wall on the side. His was back home by about 10 minutes and he already wanted to leave. Why did he came back again? Ah, right: he didn't had another place to stay during the summer holidays. And P.A.F.I.G. didn't allowed students to stay during summer, which was quite a shame, really; many students would have stay.
He had considered renting an apartment together with some friends but they had to find some cash for that, and he didn't want to ask money to his parents.
Turning to face up, his tail flipping from time to time, he stared at the ceiling, thinking back at his time in school, how much he had learned this year in his new school, and how much he had grow, both in body and mind. 

Flashback
After a good but rough start, Ynk had slowly fallen into a decent routine: up, breakfast, lessons, lunch, some more lessons, homeworks, shower, rest. One would think it would become boring after some time but the lessons were pretty interesting and when they weren't, and the teachers knew it, they made so it was still funny so the students would keep their focus on it. And if that wasn't enough, the friends and acquaintances he made were sur to keep his mind busy.
During the first three months, the teachers had focused on the theory parts of their magic and how their powers actually used the various energies in the world, along with the one from their own body; on strengthening their body and mind, making them look out for end of class to come, their brain melt and body aching. 
The PE teacher, Zebh Uhra, had more than once made them work so hard they could barely lift their arms the next day, and the ones who couldn't keep up were made to run around the building until they collapsed and had to be brought to the infirmary; there was never something dangerou, she just made sure their body got stronger to handle their future usage of their power.
And meanwhile the zebra worked their bodies, the old owl, Professor Ow Long abused their poor student’s brains.
"The stronger the body, the more it can handle your power." and "The greater is your knowledge, the greater is your ability to do as you please with your power." kept saying respectively professor Uhra and Long.

On his side, Professor Alex VanVult , the one who taught Laws and Rights, had burned in their brain the most importants laws on how, when and why they could or couldn't use their powers. This part was really tricky and Ynk really had a hard time with that; though there was a rhino who excelled in that class and more than once argued with the professor about loopholes and half truths around some laws, to the amusement of VanVult who happily discussed those matters with him.
They also had classes of Biology and Chemistry which was taught by professor Hyhy Ehna, a hyena with a very colorful vocabulary; the most sensitive students had fainted or plainly run away from his class, a deep red blush on their cheeks. Basically, he taught them the flora and fauna of their planet, from the smallest, annoying insects to the biggest and most dangerous known beasts; Ynk prayed that he never encounter that huge five-headed dino like one; how could one survive one was beyond him. According to the professor, it took an entire squadron of heavy armors to beat one down; half the team had been lost in that fight.
"However, rumors at that time told of a shady, dragon looking like silhouette who defeated another one of those monsters... and in a little less than a minute too." had added the teacher in that class.
Ynk knew only one dragon so far so he wondered if the headmaster had been the one to accomplish that feat, he did look powerful; all dragons were known to be.
Another class that he had enjoyed were the one of Technology, with Professor Sliplog Togu, a chameleon with a scientific white coat on him which made his skin turn white as well; and although Ynk didn't understood perfectly the technical crap, he succeeded in handling every devices the professor showed them after seeing it being used only once or twice. Although they were rather simple ones: some kind of gun based grapple hook which they used in a PE lesson a few days later, a high pressured water gun which had generated the biggest water fight he had ever participated in, and some others. After every demonstrations, they had to take the device apart, understand how every piece worked, how it interacted with the others, disassemble those pieces as well, without losing any part, then reassemble the whole thing and make sure it still functioned.
He had heard rumors later that day that a girl from third year had built a little teleporter with plastic bottles, a car battery and some guitars strings. He couldn't believe it at the start but he had heard it some many times that he now did, though reluctantly. But after all, they had been things even more amazing through the year, such as-
Flashback End

"YNK! COME SET THE TABLE!" yelled his mother from downstairs, shaking him from his thoughts.
"Coming!" he yelled back, slowly getting up from his bed. 
He had barely reached the door when his mother yelled again, "YNK!!" 
"I'M COMING!!" he howled, his voice shaking his room's door, "Fuck mom, clean your ears." he grumbled as he walked downstairs, his tail flicking with anger, a smokey trail of ink leaving the tip. He went straight to the kitchen and started to set the table: first a colorful yet a little dirty sheet, then he picked up the cutlery from a drawer and set it up for 5 people. Then, from a cupboard, he took the plates and set them between knife and fork. After that, he put on each plate a paper napkin and a jug of water at the center of the table.
His mother brought the food about 15 minutes later and put it on the table, beside the jug. Today, she had prepared potatoes and cooked them in the oven, while his father had barbecue-ed a large piece of red meat along with some chicken's wings and vegetables of different kind, none of which Ynk liked. Everyone served themselves and ate with gusto chatting about nothing and anything; Ynk participated a little in every discussion but never talked a lot, preferring to finish his meal quickly. As he ate, the conversations slowly turning into buzzing sounds in his ears, his mind going back to the first exam he had at P.A.F.I.G. …

Flashback
"Alright, you maggots!!" the voice of the buffy zebra echoed for some time in the impossibly spacious gymnasium, "Today is your first test! You've been at our prestigious Academy for five months and now we're going to see if you managed to make use of the knowledge and training you had so far!"
She took a step back and the headmaster took her place, towering above every professor and student.
"As my colleague said, this is your first test here. It will be unlike any test you had before now. Here at P.A.F.I.G. the tests are a huge combination of knowledge, wisdom and practice. A course will be set for each one of you. Your bodies and minds will be tested; you will need to apply everything you learned in our school to succeed. All your limits will be challenged and even your best could not be enough."
That sentence had every first year gulp down. Hard.
"Don't give us 95% of your abilities, and not even the 100%. The minimum we expect from you is 110%!" The dragon eyed slowly every student in front of him and smiled slightly, "I know... WE know you can do it."
After that, he sat back on his chair and leaned back, his fingers crossed in his lap and professor Togu took his place, a sheet of paper in his color changing hand. "In a few minutes, the setting will be ready. I will call your name and you will enter the maze."
"What maze?" Asked Ynk's room mate.
The professor only smirked and pulled out of a pocket a remote. After a little 'bip' from the device, the room shook violently. Some students fell on their butt or crouched down to avoid falling, other just bended their legs a bit to absorb the shaking.
Slowly, metallic walls sprout from the floor and formed a large and tall maze, a single entry in the nearest wall.
"Oh..." was the little mouse smart reply.
"When I call your name, step toward the entry. At the signal, the test will begin. The grading will be based on different factors. We will watch your every move, so do not attempt to cheat."
"Can we use our powers?" asked a crocodile, his tail swiping  the floor nervously.
"You can." answered the teacher, "But beware that if you use them for cheating, we will know and your exam will be nullified."
The croc nodded.
"Let us begin. Emily Niwa." called the professor.
A squirrel stepped forward and, under Togu's sign, entered the maze, the wall sliding shut behind her. Everyone waited in silence, hoping or praying for their friend to come out alive.
Suddenly, screams and shouting resonated from the metallic maze, along with high flames, booming noises and swears and prayers. Every student gulped, paled and some almost fainted; Ynk’s only reaction was swallowing hard and his tail bristling when a piercing scream was heard, though his mousy friend, Clirk Owoy, really fainted, or at least pretended to, an amused grin on his face. 
“I hope she makes it out alive…” said a hyena girl, worried for his friend.
Many thought the same thing of course: no one wanted their classmate to get hurt to worse. But after 14 long minutes of agonising wait, a gong like sound was heard from the other side of the maze.
“You’re friend finished the test.” announced the teacher, looking over the maze a moment then back to his students, “Now for…”
And so it went on, victi- Err, student after student were sent into the maze, coming out no less that 10 minutes later, although with some exceptions: the smartest one, a shy but cute sheep managed to come out in less than 8 minutes, the slowest one, a strong but slow hippo, came out close to 20 minutes. Ynk did his best but only came out with a 14 minutes time. 
‘Well, technically it’s 13 minutes and 45 seconds.’ thought the hybrid, licking his wounds (metaphorically) and removing the dirt from his tail.
14 minutes had been the average time, with the priori mentioned exceptions.  Clirk had completed the course within 13 minutes and 12 seconds and was bragging playfully at Ynk since he got out.
“Oh, yeah, I’m the boss. Little mousy beats FGC.” he kept singing doing a weird funky dance.
“FGC?” asked Ynk, although he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“Fogecoon didn’t feet in the rhymes… So I used just three letters: F for Fo, G for Ge and C for Coon!£ explained the mouse with a wink.
“ Clirk! You can’t summarize a person’s specie with letters! What if I called you Clirk the M?” 
“Clirk the Marvelous? Thank you, thank you!” he mocked, bowing exaggeratedly.
“More like Clirk the Munchy.” said Ykn, pretending to snap a bite at the bowing mouse who jumped back with a squeak.
They glared at each other before, slowly smiling then laughing out loud.
A loud “Ahem ahem” made every student turn their head toward the origin of the sound. Standing there was the headmaster, looking at his tired and bruised students with a grin on his scaly face.
“Well done students! You completed your first examen here at P.A.F.I.G. You will have the results in a couple of days. Dismissed.” said the tall dragon before leaving, followed by the teachers.
Flashback End

As he cleared the table, while his parents and younger siblings talked about stuff he couldn’t care about, Ynk smiled as he remembered the grade he got at that exam: 81/100! It was a pretty good score. He wasn’t the top of the class but he was far from being the worse one.
The fogecoon brought the cheeses and desserts on the table, foods going from a simple yogurt to a camembert to mandarins. Himself ate just a yogurt with a little honey added and then waited for the right time to get out of here. It was only 10 minutes later that Ynk finally got out of this maddening house. 
Wearing his usual trousers and hoodie, he walked out and took a bus to the center of  Inner Ring (his family living between the Middle and Inner Rings); he had a little nap in the bus, the sound of the engine actually making him sleepy. It was thanks to his developed senses - and the habit of getting off the bus at this point of the travel- that he woke up right before his stop.
From here, he took his time walking around, window shopping and occasional parkour moves (or just simply walking in balance on some flat fence). This was the best way he had to spend time out of home. For a moment, he wished he had something akin to an adventure… but when thinking back at what his first year at P.A.F.I.G had been, he shuddered; surely there would be plenty of adventure during the next school years.