Chapter 1: Tension
Once, Munto had shown me the sins of the Heavens.
He had shown me a race of beings who fed on the legendary energy of akuto, granting them command over the fabric of the universe. Visions of heavenly citizens drunk on godlike powers, robbed of all sense of reason, flashed in my mind. Worlds were pillaged across many spaces and times, casting akuto-breeding humans into the flames of war. At the end of all things, the Heavens locked themselves away. Centuries passed and they starved for akuto, putting themselves on the verge of disappearing.
That was when they came to Earth, seeking to restore the akuto cycle, throwing me into a new future full of both terrible and wonderful things. Ever since that day, Munto and I have worked to bring our people together.
But we were not prepared for the challenge that would test the foundations of our very spirits and shake us to the core.
The summer light filtered through the trees as a quiet wind rustled the leaves. The cherry blossoms were long gone for the season, but the air stilled carried a remaining hint of spring.
Yumemi found herself looking up at the sky, a bright blue with puffy clouds scattered about. Beyond the clouds floated the islands that only she could once see. Thinking about her friends, a smile crept onto her face.
Only three years ago, it had been a summer's day just like this one – remnants of a downpour pooling on the streets, reflecting and refracting the early morning sun – when Yumemi first saw Munto. That was where the adventure began. As a terrified second year in middle school, she could not have imagined that she could play such a large role in saving her world as well as Munto's.
Much had changed: the Heavens and the Lower World now shared a common space-time, Munto was now the leader of the United Alliance, and Yumemi had become somewhat of a local celebrity.
A new school, a new uniform, a new chapter in her life.
"Yumemi!"
Ichiko jogged down the street to the corner where they met up to walk to school for track and field practice.
Yumemi felt her smile grow a little brighter. Many things were new, but some never changed.
"Good morning," she tugged a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.
"It's so hot already!" Ichiko fanned herself as the two of them set off for the high school. "Thank goodness that we're already on to summer uniforms. We'd be dying in our winter blazers." She raked a hand through her bob. "It's so much better in the Magical Kingdom – it's like spring year round."
"Hmm." Yumemi murmured, trying to keep the disappointment from showing on her face. The last time she had been to the Magical Kingdom was around Christmas. The weeks that followed were filled with intense periods of study and cram school. Then there had been sitting for exams, getting the results, actually starting in a new school, adjusting to a new routine…Before she knew it, six months had flown by.
Feeling a wave of self-pity wash over, she changed topics. "Did you see Suzume's latest text?"
"Obviously!" Ichiko adopted a mild look of irritation. "She texts us anytime Kazuya-kun sneezes! I love Suzume and all, but I really don't need to see her guy munching on crepes with powdered sugar on his nose."
"I think it's cute."
"That's exactly what someone in a committed relationship would say. You couples are all the same. 'Aw, that's adorable. We do that too! Why don't we go on a double date?'"
With a knowing smile, Yumemi prodded her friend. "I take it that he hasn't confessed then?"
Right on cue, Ichiko sputtered defiantly. "Who-who are you talking about? Who would be confessing to me?"
"You know who I'm talking about."
Her friend grumpily frowned. "Yeah, well, I don't think that's going happen."
"Oh no, what happened?" she asked, feeling a bit remorseful.
"Nothing in particular. It's just that he's such a powerful person – right hand man to the king! Not to mention he has magical powers, he's very intelligent, and he's super good looking…" She trailed off before waving a hand in front of her face is if to wipe away some cobwebs. "I've seen the types of girls up there. They're perfect."
Gesturing to herself, she added: "And I'm not. I'm the girl who's got hands bigger than a boy's, remember?"
"But heavenly beings are even bigger than us, so your hands are going to small compared to them either way." Yumemi gave her friend a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Besides, I can't see Louie learning to use a cell phone for just any ordinary girl."
They rounded the final corner and would be at the school gates in only a few moments.
"I guess." Ichiko responded half-heartedly before becoming defiant. "What do I need some blue-haired man for anyway? If I start dating someone, who will protect you and Suzume?"
Yumemi giggled as the pair headed for the school lockers, her mind filling with the notion of spending the morning high jumping.
In her third year of middle school, she had taken up the sport, which was highly unusual since most third years stopped their club activities after the summer to focus on studying for entrance exams. There was something about the rush of wind during the run and then flipping over the bar so her entire view was the blue expanse of sky that she couldn't get enough of.
Perhaps it was because for the few brief seconds, with her eyes on the sky, it felt like she was almost connected to him.
Both girls headed to the changing room, where they almost collided with a fellow track member.
"Oh, well if it isn't the little princess?" Yumemi's classmate was already dressed in her gym clothes, ready for practice. "How is your Prince Charming today?"
Purposefully, Yumemi walked past the antagonist. "Good morning to you, Inoue-san. Is Coach here yet?" She quickly started changing in her own practice clothes and tied her hair back into a low pony tail.
Inoue shook her head, causing her angular bob to wave back and forth. "Nope. But you better hurry – no preferential treatment even if you're engaged to royalty." With a final flick of her hair, she stalked out of the dressing room.
Ichiko slowly raised an eyebrow. "I'll never get that one."
With a slight giggle, Yumemi explained. "I think she is jealous. Inoue-san usually had brand-name items and flashy upperclassman boyfriends. She must see me as some sort of competition."
And Inoue was not the only girl to share that sentiment.
On the day that she and Munto had endured the trial by 'Middle School Human World Date,' innocent bystanders had taken pictures of the larger than life king from the Heavens walking around with a human girl. Within the week, everyone at her school knew she was in an attachment with the red-haired magician. Within a month, it was everyone in town.
Giggling girls that she didn't even know came up to ask about the mysterious Heavenly Being and to snap pictures with her, as though she was to be some celebrated personage. While others scowled and delivered scornful verbal strikes, bitter that they were not the ones chosen.
"Competition?" Ichiko scoffed as she finished her own changing. "You're not stealing away anyone. All you have is goo-goo eyes for our gracious Lord Munto." She lowered her voice. "Does he still call himself ore-sama?"
"Yes, but not quite as often." It was great to have Ichiko and Suzume at the same school, even when they weren't in the same class. When the attention and the whispers dragged her down, her friends were there to pull her back to her feet. And if her friends weren't around, there was always the ring, which she kept tucked carefully out of sight.
"Let's have a great practice!" Ichiko held up her palm and Yumemi returned the high-five.
The weather was excellent and Yumemi passed away the hour feeling closer to Munto than she had in months.
The minute she walked into class, there was a furious buzz of whispering that suddenly stopped. Everyone looked up from their phones and stared in her direction. Cautiously, she made her way over to her desk, which was on the far side of the classroom. On her way there, the class rep stopped her.
"Hidaka-san, you are to report to the principal's office immediately."
Warily, she nodded. "Of course. Thank you for the message."
She was also no stranger to being called to the principal's office. It turns out high school, much like middle school, did not approve of high profile relationships. She hadn't been out of the entrance ceremony for more than a few minutes before the principal had cornered her to give a lecture on propriety and maintaining the school's reputation. No doubt, the crotchety old man had found another point of displeasure.
Heading out of the classroom, as soon as she slide the door behind her, the cacophony of whispers started again. The gossip machine was in true form today.
Briskly walking down the hall, she made it the office in minutes and gently rapped on the door.
"Come in."
The office had not changed much since she had last visited. Wooden paneling, a rich desk, plush leather chairs, and expensive art on the walls. Such extravagance was uncanny, given the modest appearance of the rest of the school, but investigating potential embezzlement of school donations would have to wait for another day.
"Welcome, Hidaka-san. Please, have a seat." The principal was a balding man, slightly portly, and while not an unkind man, did not leave her with a pleasant feeling.
Yumemi took her seat across the desk from him and patiently waited for the rebuke to come. That was when she saw the other man.
Standing behind the principal was an officer of the military, stern-faced and unsmiling. She immediately perked up with a mixture of curiosity and alarm. This was probably not going to about dating red heads.
"Hidaka Yumemi, I presume?" The officer clinically referred to paperwork in his file and then looked at her again, eyes devoid of any compassion or understanding. She nodded numbly.
"You are to come with me for questioning."
Incredulous, Yumemi looked to her principal for confirmation. Was he seriously going to let the military take her away? There was not a chance that she was going to be intimidated by some taciturn man in a uniform – not after everything she had been through. But getting away from a military post might prove difficult and the principal was just sitting there, with a little knowing smile. No help from him.
"What have I done?" She threw back at officer, the spark of fight in her face.
"You are known to be consorting with the heavenly being known as Munto, also known as the king of the Magical Kingdom and the head of the United Alliance of the Heavens."
With this, she gave a little start. Munto had become the head of the Alliance? While she was a little disappointed that she had to learn about this turn of events through a third party, her heart swelled with pride. He had been trying so hard to gain the trust of the other rulers for so long and it was the position that his father used to hold. Now she could hardly wait to share in the excitement.
"We have found that United Alliance to be acting against their declared intent to seek compromise and peace. Our intel has indicated that they represent a significant danger to the human race and will be handled accordingly."
Fire lit up in the pit of her stomach as adrenaline coursed through her veins. It was no secret that tensions between humans and heavenly beings had been rocky at best, especially since last fall when the human news networks started interviewing the heavenly beings. This resulted in the reveal that the "other worlders" consumed something called akuto. In an attempt to explain the process, a common misconception had arose that akuto was part of the human soul, and therefore by extension, heavenly beings were consuming souls. In the confusion, protest groups had sprung up to rally against the "soul suckers" and they were known to get violent with anyone who interacted closely with what they called "space vampires".
This sounded much worse.
"What evidence do you have of this?"
"I am not allowed to discuss this matter at this time. You will come with me and I will brief you on any relevant information during your questioning."
Once again, Yumemi looked to her principal, hoping against the odds that he would lend her a hand. Judging from the victorious gleam in his eye, he wasn't planning on stopping this. Frowning, she glared at him. It was one thing to dislike a student because you felt they were damaging the school's reputation or causing a distraction for other students. It was another thing entirely to turn the other cheek while that student was carted away.
Turning her focus back to the military man, she confronted him again. "I will not go with you. You may ask me any questions here, but I doubt that you will be able to take me away lawfully." She contemptuously shot a jibe at the principal: "No one here has the authority to remove me from school. You will need to call my parents."
The officer's face adopted a reddish hue, but before he could start barking at her, the principal intervened.
"Hidaka-san. It is easy to see that you have been swayed by your unhealthy obsession with that 'good friend' of yours, but you really must consider the safety of yourself, your friends, and your family. You would not want them to get hurt, would you?" Sensing a rebuttal, he continued, speaking over Yumemi.
"There have been rumors that these "visitors" are not who you think they are. Just this morning a new report was released that hints at some of the evil things they have done in the past." He shared a knowing nod with the officer. "The good people at the defense force will of course have the full details, but they have very good reason to be concerned. That race is only pretending to want a peaceful resolution of the current state of affairs. You would be a very valuable resource in planning for Earth's defense against the invaders."
Coughing slightly to clear his throat, the office added, "Hidaka-san, it was never our intention to remove you from school. We would merely like to consult with you, given your close ties to the Heavens, as to what we can do to protect ourselves."
A tiny strain of relief eased Yumemi's fear ever so slightly. At least her secret was still safe. If the authorities were being this antagonistic merely because they thought she was in a relationship, she could only imagine what would happen if they realized that she had been instrumental in manipulating physics to merge the world together.
"It think it is absolutely terrible that you have such little faith in our new neighbors," she said. "They have never openly declared aggression against us, but you refuse to give them the benefit of the doubt."
"As I said, we have intelligence that suggests otherwise. And if you will come with me, we can fully brief you."
"I refuse." Yumemi stood her ground.
"Hidaka-san, if I may offer some advice. You are young and naïve; it is very easy to be swept away in what appears to be a grand romance. We are worried about you. Your classmates, your teachers, myself, we are all very worried about you. That man that you hold so dear is dangerous. Without your knowing, he has been polluting your mind and clouding your judgement. Now is the time to act on the wisdom and knowledge of your elders."
He attempted to place one his hands over Yumemi's, but she shied away from the contact. Irritated, he snapped at her. "I would seriously consider cooperating with the authorities. At the very least, I would recommend cutting all contact with the invaders immediately. We are about to be thrown into a chaotic time, and I would hate for one of my students to be on the wrong side when justice is served."
Yumemi gaped. She knew the principal disliked her because she didn't conform to his notion of an ideal student and was very likely one of the "soul sucker" protestors, but to threaten her outright?
Luckily the morning bell rang, giving her an excuse to escape from the room. "May I leave, sir? I have Literature."
Both men were fuming slightly at this point, neither having cleared their objective for the meeting, but Yumemi had been right: if they could not convince her to go willingly, they would need her parents' permission to remove her from the premises. They had no choice but to let her go.
As she walked to open the door, the principal threw one last barb at her. "Hidaka-san, you will refrain from spreading your misguided ideologies. If I hear that you are disturbing the other students with your warped sense of events, I will have you suspended. Is that clear?"
"Crystal clear, sir." She made sure to slam the door hard enough that the glass in the pane rattled just a tiny bit.
Fuming, she headed back to class. Was the entire human race that small minded and intolerant? A bit further down the hallway, she stopped herself to take a calming breath. It would do her no good to get angry at the misguided. With a clear head, a piece of the conversation wafted up through her memories.
What rumors were they referring to?
She whipped out her phone. It didn't not take her long to find where the "rumors" were coming from. Every news network was churning articles and videos about the Heavens. She clicked on one article and nearly collapsed against the wall when she read what was written.
It was as she feared: the article laid the sins of the Heavens bare for all to see. The early days of rapid akuto consumption, the obliteration of human civilization, raping the various space-times, the great schism…all the way to the present day. The author was biased and painted the Heavens in such a negative light that it would undoubtedly incite activist groups to further violence.
"How terrible," Yumemi murmured. There was no telling how much damage news like this would do.
No wonder everyone in class had been buzzing with nervous energy when she came into the room.
Other articles brazenly labeled the heavenly beings as monster who nearly destroyed the human race and were not returning to terrorize once again.
She was interrupted by a text from Ichiko.
"I heard you were called out by the principal. Are you okay?"
"Yes. Let's talk about it after school."
"Suzume says that we can stop by Kazuya's place after practice."
Yumemi smiled. Now all she needed to do was make it through the school day.
Hundreds of miles away, above the clouds that drifted over the Pacific Ocean, was the United Alliance Headquarters. A large stone building with many floors and windows. On the very top floor, in a room framed with windows on most sides, was a grand table, around which sat various elders, rulers, and dignitaries from all seven heavenly continents.
Standing at the head of the table, with a magical projection of data and images behind him, stood Munto, finally delivering the last of his report on the Gridori incident from almost a year ago.
"Therefore it is my conclusion that no foul play was committed during the attack by the former king of Horguze, known as Gridori. He was operating in isolation and with no outside assistance from any member of the United Alliance."
With that, he was done. Try as he might, he couldn't prevent the tiniest sigh of relief from escaping. Many months of hard investigation, much of it handled directly by the young king himself, had been taxing. Interrogations had been long, particularly since no ruler or elder had wanted to remember that they had been tricked by an imposter and almost done irreparable damage to the future that he worked so hard to bring about.
Finally, he wrangled the information he needed. After a much longer delay, the council had decided to convene and he strong armed his way onto the agenda, lest he be forced to wait another half year.
But now it was over. He headed back to seat, thinking about the real problem at hand: working on the relations with Yumemi's world.
"If I may address the king of the Magical Kingdom?"
Everyone at the round table turned to face the new speaker: the young king of Horguze who had been elected by his tribesman after Gridori had been pulled into the void eighteen month ago.
Munto froze and then slowly returned to front of the table. "What is your question, Tatakohe?" The new ruler put him on edge – whether it was because he shared the same kingdom as Gridori or there was something else that made him distrustful, he couldn't be sure.
"Did you not find it odd that everyone so readily agreed to attack the humans?"
There was uncomfortable shifting as the young leader called attention to the elephant in the room. Munto was unsure himself of how to respond – he usually relied on Louie and Ryuely to help him navigate the waters of political intrigue. While he might have agreed that the Heavens were wrong to have jumped the gun, to use the parlance of the Lower World, bringing up such a topic would only sow discord amongst the members of the already weak Alliance.
He crossed his arms and gave a disproving look to the newest member of the group. "As I mentioned in my report, tensions were high, considering how the delegation from the Lower World was behaving. Anyone would have felt threatened, if it provoked, would be moved to defend their country. The reaction of the Alliance as a whole was not wrong, even it was perhaps a bit hasty."
Murmurs went around the table and Munto wanted to slap himself. That last piece was unnecessary: he had to keep calm. Pretend to be Louie.
Nothing escaped Tatakohe. "You agree then that the Alliance was premature in their decision to launch a full-scale attack against the Lower World nation known as Japan? Even though, ultimately, that choice was not wrong?"
Silence fell in the room. Munto was trapped and Tatakohe knew it. He could deny it, claim that he misspoke, but that would be a sign of weakness. Or he could stick by his decision. Louie was going to kill him.
Battle instincts humming, he went for it. "Yes. The Alliance moved too quickly and was goaded too easily into attacking the very people that we are seeking to understand and build relationships with. Too long have we lived, governed by our own standards, without any outside influence. To attack without even confirming the facts would have ended in disaster."
"And what were the facts in this case?" Tatakohe came around the table, his white headdress and mask concealing his face. Munto had to resist the urge to shoot a ball of energy at the spitting image of Gridori.
"The impostor misrepresented the threat that the humans posed to us in order to generate a defensive state amongst the leaders."
"Right, and in your own words, we weren't wrong to be defensive, given that we believed we were threatened. You still believe that we acted…hastily?"
"There were other signs," Munto replied angrily. "After weeks of championing for peace and stability, through dozens of talks trying to understand the other side, you thought that it was natural that I would suddenly change my position?"
Tatakohe's stance changed ever so slightly. As a seasoned warrior, Munto could tell he was brimming with confidence, moving in to the kill, so he sought to cut him off.
"Not to mention that all of my top aides, advisors, and allies were suddenly declared treasonous and thrown into the dungeons! Did that not give you a moment's pause?"
The elder of [BLAH], his long eyebrows covering his eyes spoke up. "To be fair, young king, you are rash and often lose your temper. Even in discussions with the humans, you would become antagonistic towards them."
"All the more reason to be suspicious!" Munto was sliding down a slippery slope, but without Louie or Ryuely in the room, there was nothing to stop this fall. "Despite my temperament, I was still trying to make it work with the humans. I wouldn't have suddenly given up!"
"Unless something had changed with the Girl of Destiny."
Tatakohe's attack came unannounced and Munto reeled from the shock. What did Yumemi have to do with this?
"Hypothetically, you could have been making the effort in deference to her. After all, she does possess the same power as an Outsider. It would have been reasonable to keep her placated by keeping up the pretenses of these negotiations."
Trying to keep his rage under control, Munto clenched his fists down at his sides. "Yumemi – I mean, the Girl of Destiny is someone that we can trust. She helped resolve the akuto crisis and helped to make our present possible."
"A present, I remind everyone, that was decided by you and by her. None of us had any say in the matter."
"We did what we thought was right." He gritted his teeth as it took all of his resolve not to punch the smarmy bastard in front of him.
"Of course. Please don't misunderstand, everyone here is grateful that you resolved the akuto crisis – even though that was mostly brought on by your country's excessive akuto consumption." He waved a hand, as if sensing Munto's tensing muscles. "But that is beside the point. The key thing here is that I believe you have been swayed by this young human girl and you are biased."
More murmuring ran around the table and Munto knew he was in trouble. Before the Gridori incident, everyone had followed his lead as the ruler who helped bring about the end of the akuto crisis. After Gridori's attack, everyone had grown distrustful, but still reluctantly rallied around him because he held the power of the Girl of Destiny, the armies of the Magical Kingdom and Ender, and also had experience with the void. That allegiance was wound tightly like a thread, ready to split at any moment.
And Tatakohe was making that moment now.
"I move that we all have an opportunity to speak to the Girl of Destiny. After all, if she does possess the powers of the Outsider, should not that power reside beyond any single country? Even if we are no longer separated from Earth, it would be good to have a traditional figure like the Guardian of Time and Space returned to us."
"But Yumemi isn't interested in any of that. Besides, Gass said that if anyone uses the space-time magic too much, they will be cursed-"
"And Gass is gone!" His opponent remarked loudly. "He did not pass on the Outsider powers and this girl, this Yumemi is the best alternative that we have."
Munto snapped. He flashed over to Tatakohe and grabbed the white fur mantle with both hands. "Don't you dare say her name," he said under his breath.
"Or what?"
Feeling the tugs of advisers pulling him away, Munto allowed himself to be extracted from the other young king, who called after him.
"Please have his lordship escorted from the room. It seems this is a difficult topic for him, due to his affection for the little human girl. Send him to his quarters until he has regained his composure. The rest of us will continue the meeting."
Enraged, Munto whirled on him, but was already been dragged from the room by an entire group of guards. Seconds later, he was locked outside of the meeting room.
That bastard! How did he know so much? A random person should not be able to get under his skin so perfectly!
He stalked down the hallway to his private guest room. Along the way, he ran into Louie, who offered nothing more than several confused questions, which he promptly ignored. He did not stop his furious pace until he was safely behind the closed door of his room. Only then, did he lean against the wall and slide down to the stone floor, knees drawn up, and rested his head on crossed arms.
Why did this have to be so hard? He had done and sacrificed so much already to get to this point, but everyone was determined to be stuck in their ways, relentlessly trying to tear about this future.
At his eye level was his father's ring. Yumemi had already explained that she could not wear her ring on a regular basis, but he sincerely wished she was wearing it right now.
He had already reached his limit long ago. He had the support of Louie, of Ryuely, of Sheza, Harka, Marty, and Tail, but there were here to support his ambitions, his hopes, and his dreams. Yumemi supported his heart. In the past year, they had confirmed their feelings for one another and last winter, despite their first real fight, Yumemi had all but pledged to dedicate her life to him. That along had buoyed him through the tough times and on the dark days, the rings help to connect him, to keep him from falling into the darkness.
Now the council was jeopardizing that bright link he shared with her. If she truly became the Outsider, then he would have to give up. That was not something easily undertaken.
Suddenly there was a rush of emotions, but he was instantly on guard. The emotions coming through were fear, anger, and pain. Yumemi was in trouble! Without a second thought, he rushed to the window, threw it open and launched himself into the sky. Normally he would fly, but the seconds were streaming by.
He closed his eyes and imagined where he wanted to go. He remembered Yumemi's room with clarity – her bed by the window, desk up against the wall, low bookshelves to separate from her little brother's space. At the end of her bed was a wall that overlooked the main space in the house. As he recalled every detail, the rush of magic swirled around him.
Seconds later, he opened his eyes and he was in the loft. Yumemi's little brother was huddled on the bed, eyes wide in shock, with tear-stained cheeks. "King-man?"
When would these people learn that he was Munto-sama? Pushing aside this blatant disrespect, he quickly walked down the stairs, where he promptly ran into Yumemi's parents, who were distressed by the front entrance. They turned as they heard the commotion and Yumemi's mother ran up to him sobbing.
"Munto! They've taken Yumemi!" she sagged against him, her head hitting him around his rib cage.
"What?" He tried to make sense of this information when he noticed that Yumemi's father was sporting cuts and bruises all over his face and arms. Those were signs of a struggle if he'd ever seen one. "Who took her?"
Attempting to put shattered glasses on his nose, Mr. Hidaka wearily responded. "The military. They've made up some ridiculous story that she's pivotal to our national security. I mean, she helped you out a little a few years ago, but what could she really know? She's only sixteen!" There were tears forming behind the cracked lenses. "Can you save her? Can you bring her back?"
Munto slowly pushed Mrs. Hidaka into her husband's arms. "I will do everything in my power to bring Yumemi back." He walked out the front door and jumped into the sky, scaring the low-level guard that had been stationed by the gate. "
He could still feel the fear and pain coming from Yumemi, but now the anger was much strong. Anger was good.
Yumemi, I'm coming!
The rest of the school day had gone quietly. Almost too quietly. None of her classmates had asked her about the terrifying news reports. The principal had not followed up with her. Practice was business as usual. She was even able to go over to Kazuya's apartment to clarify the news reports for her friends.
It wasn't until she was rounding on her home that she realized that they had never let her go. There was an unmarked car outside of her house, with troopers hanging by the front door. With a defiant air, she walked into the front entry way.
The house was in chaos. Her little brother was at the top of the stairs, fearful. There were men decked in black combat gear, standing around with prepared grips on their weapons.
"No, I do not give you permission to take my daughter! This is outrageous!" Her father, who rarely ever raised his voice, was yelling into the face of the military officer from this morning. "Get out of my house!"
Her mother ran up as well, but several of the armored men grabbed her and hauled her back to the couch.
Yumemi raced into the living room, not even bothering to remove her shoes. "Excuse me! Just what do you think you are doing?" She pushed the guards back from her mother. Then she turned to the officer. "I told you I would not cooperate. Now leave!"
"That isn't your decision." The officer gave a brief hand signal and the troopers moved in to surround Yumemi, grabbing her harshly by the arms and lifting her off the ground. Immediately, she began to kick and twist, managing to get away for a brief second.
"Yumemi, run!" Her father yelled, fighting back, earning himself several blows to the head, which forced him to the ground.
Not needing any excuses, she bolted for the back door, grabbing the ring from her necklace and slipping it on her finger. There was no time to comprehend the despair coming from Munto, as the guards at the background stopped her in her tracks. One of them attempted to knock her out, but the butt of his machine gun hit her shoulder instead. The pain made her blank for a second, which was just enough time for another pair of guards to scoop her up.
Her vision was still blurry as she was carried out of the house and into the backseat of the car. She could hear the car doors slam and the engine started. A minute later, her eyesight began to clear.
They had stuck her in her in the backseat of the car with some men in helmets and visors. There was a divider between the back and the front, presumably that horrible officer was in the front. She checked her hands, which were now bound with zip ties.
She bit her lip: her experience with escaping was fairly minimal. What was she going to do?
Yumemi, I'm coming!
Her heart soared.
A/N: Welcome back everyone! This is the third installment of the "Their Future" series, which is my little attempt to continue the Munto TV series. If are new, I recommend reading "The Future They Opened" and "The Future They Explored" to make better sense about what is going on.
This is going to be a longer story - not sure how long yet. Our dream team is back together and ready to take on a brand new foe. What awaits them in the shadows? Stay tuned to find out!