The Weight of the World

Raiden laid on the ground, his heart beating rapidly, his mind trying to get his body to return to normal conditions. He wasn't used to fighting so angrily, so calming down after such an event wasn't easy. It took him some time to get his heart rate and breathing under control, his body calming down and allowing him to rest easier. The others, hidden underneath the veil of Annalise's Mist Flames, were released from the illusion, coming back into view, Sukai running toward Raiden worried about his friend's condition.

"Raiden, are you alirght?" Sukai asked, getting on his knees and examining the Lightning Guardian, making sure that there were no serious injuries. Raiden, a small smile on his face, chuckled at Sukai's worry.

"I'm fine, Sukai. Those guys were pretty scary though. I didn't think they would come out and attack us like this."

"None of us did," Norio commented, the other guardians rushing over to accompany the two on the ground. "They came in and tried to find us while we weren't expecting them. But how did they know where to find us?"

"Possibly when Irie and Spanner were searching for information," Arashi said.

"That's probably it. But still, all we found out were simple initials and they found out where we were. These guys are no joke," Annalise said.

"No kidding," Ame said, his voice quiet. "Wonder how long before something else happens to us."

"I don't know, but we should get out of here before more of them come out and try to take us. Without weapons, fighting isn't gonna be that easy for you guys," Taiyō remarked. The others looked at one another, nodding before looking to Sukai to lead them back to the warehouse. Sukai, sensing the gazes falling onto him, got on his feet and extended an arm to Raiden, Raiden his hand and pushing himself off the ground, Sukai pulling him onto his feet. Raiden stumbled a bit as he stood, anchoring himself with Sukai's shoulder before stabilizing.

"Alright then, let's get going." Sukai, still worried that Raiden might stumble over his own feet, stayed close by to keep the Lightning Guardian stable, everyone following behind them as they moved toward an exit. "Raiden…you did good." Raiden was caught off guard by Sukai's sudden compliment, but he smiled and accepted it.

"Thanks. I just…got mad. I didn't think I had it in me, but when I saw everyone being threatened like that and the marbles rolled into my hands…I just…"

"It's alright. We're safe now at least."

The group ran for a little bit in silence, each of them wary of their environment when a static sound suddenly erupted in Sukai's ear, cringing the boy and stopping his movement.

"Sukai!" Raiden shouted. The others stopped behind him, the young boss grabbing hold of the sides of his head as he tried to regain some sort of sanity from the sudden crackle.

"Sukai, what is that on your ear?" Taiyō asked. The pain was slowly lessening, but it didn't make it easier to answer.

"Irie gave that to him," Annalise answered. "It's a communicator to talk to us. Those are just designed for Sukai. Is something wrong with them?"

"Ugh…I, don't think so," Sukai managed. The pain was almost gone soft static began transmitting through the headphones, slowly building up into a voice, a voice that was being distorted through the static.

"S….su-Su….-Sukai!" A voice finally broke through the static, entering Sukai's ears. It took him a moment to recognize the owner of the voice.

"Irie?"

"Yeah, it's me. What happened you guys? The campus is in disarray and their saying something about a group of kids who were being arrested by the police."

"Those weren't the police. They were part of that mystery family that we mentioned. They tried to attack us and take us with them."

"What?! But, but that's completely reckless! These guys…they sound tough." Irie paused, Sukai following. He didn't know what to say to such a thing. It remained this way until Irie spoke up, his voice stern and heavy. "Sukai, you don't have much time. The real police are on their way right now and I doubt they need much more time to get there."

"What? Can we still get out?"

"Yes, but you have to hurry. I'll go tell Spanner about this and we'll both get some things ready to help you guys. We'll find you through the tracking system installed in the communicators. Hopefully we won't find you somewhere out of our reach."

"Are you sure Irie?"

"Yes, I am. I can't sit by while you're all fight for your parents and Tsunayoshi-kun and the others are being held hostage. We'll come at night and try to get as much information before then. Just…be safe Sukai."

"We'll try." The conversation ended with static that slowly died down to a wisp. Sukai looked to his guardians, his face exhausted from worrying too much. "We have to hurry. Police will be here any minute." Nothing else needed to be said to prompt them all to move. They picked up the pace, even Raiden who looked like he would trip at any time.

It took some time before they saw an end to the campus and a beginning to the alleyways that concealed them. With a last sprint, they all ran to the alleys and turned the first corner they saw, each of them running past the corner until they felt like they would be safe, slowing down and trying to catch their breaths.

Not long after they entered the campus, they heard sirens blaring in the distance, not quite loud enough to be an immediate threat. Still, none of them wanted to take the chance. Once they all felt rested and well enough to continue, they slowly slipped their way through the alleys, navigating them at a much slower and cautious pace than earlier in the day. They peeked over corners and hid under Mist Flames to avoid being seen by any civilians that would wonder into the alleys.

It took them longer than before to get on the street of their hideout, hiding underneath Annalise's flames and entering through the back to avoid suspicion. Once inside, the veil of the Mist Flames was dispersed and everyone seemed to relax, Sukai and Raiden crumpling to the floor while the others just stood, their minds fuddled with the events of the day running through their heads.

"Is it gonna keep going like this?" Sukai asked no one in particular, speaking more to himself than anyone. "We didn't accomplish much of anything," he said, pulling his legs closer to his body as he sat on the concrete.

"We discovered something, Sukai. At least we have that," Arashi said, trying to cheer up the boss but to no avail.

"Initials. We found initials that could belong to anyone in the world. I don't see that as success." Sukai's sullen mood didn't help anyone improve their own dark moods. Even Arashi who was normally level-headed couldn't help but grimace over their shortcoming. The dark mood lingered over them, until the sun finally couldn't take enough of it.

"Enough!" Taiyō shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. He didn't normally shout unless he was excited, but he was angry this time. "You wanna know something that we accomplished?! We lived! We're freaking alive! Who knows what would have happened if Raiden didn't fight back?! Who knows what those guys could have done to us while we would be helpless in their hands?! But at least that's not the case! We're alive and together…so at least be happy about that." Taiyō's rant ended softly, his fists tightened and his throat aching, but he didn't care. However, it didn't seem that they got the message. It only frustrated him further that they didn't care about it. Frustrated, he walked away from them and sat at the corner of the warehouse, punching the ground with his bare knuckles to vent his frustrations.

Sukai, along with the others, couldn't look at Taiyō, not when they couldn't be happy that they were all safe. Sukai simply got up and moved away from Taiyō, away from his guardians, and stood against a wall, his fists clenched tight, tears welling up in his eyes.

I didn't ask to be useless. I didn't train with Dad to not be able to protect my friends. What was even the point of all that training? Sukai thought. Atlas' curse wasn't something that Sukai was ready to withstand.

Author's Note: Hey all you people who wonderfully follow my story. Thank you so much for following me, even though I left for such a long time. . I'm really sorry for that, so I'm gonna try and post on a regular basis now. I'm really busy with school most of the time, but when I have free time, I'll definitely be writing the next chapter. I plan to update every other week (two weeks), but sometimes it'll be a day or so over or maybe I'll post earlier. Either way, I'm gonna try and post regularly now. I hope you all continue to enjoy my story, and if you have any comments about it, feel free to write a review about it. Thank you all once again.