Luca and Alto's subsequent training of the squad went smoothly. Even Hayate, the hot-blooded youth who sometimes could not control himself, patiently and seriously attended every day's lessons.
In Alto's eyes, Hayate was a typical case of someone with lofty ambitions but inadequate ability. In terms of diligence, he was nowhere near as hardworking as Alto had been when he had first joined S.M.S. Still, once Hayate got serious, he did make people see him in a new light.
After truly spending a long time around Hayate, Alto also realized that Hayate was not actually brainless, the type who only knew how to charge ahead recklessly. Sometimes, because of his youth, he could not control his emotions and got too fired up, acting on whatever came to mind without much thought. More often, though, he had an easygoing nature, somewhat lacking in ambition. He did what he liked and refused to do what he disliked. His nature was not bad; he simply yearned too much for freedom and lacked a true goal.
When it came to piloting Variable Fighters, Hayate had not truly accepted his identity as a soldier. He had come this far only because he wanted to fly, found it interesting, and wanted to protect someone along the way. In that respect, he was somewhat like Alto in the past. The difference was that Alto had always worked hard and seriously improved himself, while Hayate was interested only in practical training.
As the chief instructor, Alto had no way to change something like Hayate's personal beliefs. All he could do was teach Hayate to become a real pilot as much as possible, provided Hayate was willing to accept and cooperate with the training. To that end, Alto specifically requested a fleet Variable Fighter and, one night, took Hayate