AGITATION CONFLICTION PT 1
It's finally over. I happily thought to myself. What was over you might ask? Restraint. I was finally able to free myself of that forsaken arm sling and and regained full motor movement of my left arm! It was the last thing to heal from my Halloween encounter and boy was it great! I had come to appreciate the evolution of humans and the perks of having 4 working limbs. I also finally returned my hair to it's full natural blonde state with no signs of dye whatsoever! Not to mention it was the weekend so I had all day to do whatever I wanted! Exercise, video games, cooking that wasn't awkward! The possibilities are endless! I couldn't recall the last time I was this happy so early in the morning. It was time for celebration! I happily skipped into the kitchen and began making breakfast for everyone.
"Rice omelet sounds good today." I pulled out the necessary ingredients for a healthy breakfast and began my daily morning routine. Waves of delicious smells wafted in the room and filled me with a sense of accomplishment. The aromas eventually woke up the remaining residents starting with the green haired beauty. I still had mixed feelings about her but things had calmed down since Halloween. She did occasionally go on late night dates to the Kihara Research Facility but it was nothing I felt concerned about.
Her door slowly opened up to reveal her unkempt image. With her eyes barely half open, she dragged her feet across the room before seating herself in the designated 'Ayumi Mess' on the couch. "Coffee." she causally ordered, turning on the television for some background noise.
"Actually, I have something different in mind today. I added it on the Kouta breakfast menu just for you." Living alone in Academy City brought out within me a cooking skill I never thought I would have. It had been a while since I was able to do some comfortable cooking so I decided to show off a bit.
Although her eyes were still adjusting to the morning light, I could tell she was annoyed by what I said and replied with some sarcasm. "Poison?"
"No. Food is the number one thing you don't waste! Besides, you would probably feed it to Gunha first if you thought it was poisoned."
She wiped away the sleep from her eyes using the sleeve of her flower print PJs. "Maybe. I doubt poison could actually affect Gunha so it would be pointless motion. It might just be better to have the cook taste everything first."
"This isn't the age of kings…" I retorted. I finished making her drink and carefully placed it on the table. "Careful. It's hot." I warned her before returning to the kitchen.
Ayumi stared at the drink for a few seconds before finally saying something. "I could've sworn I said coffee. Did you somehow become deaf when you regained motion of that left arm of yours?"
And there it is! Ayumi's sharp tongue has entered the fray! "Don't worry and try it. I catered it to your taste so I'm 95% sure you'll like it." she responded with a sharp glare but eventually resigned herself to tasting the drink. She held the cup in hand after taking her sip. "Well? How is it?" I was quite confident that she would like it but I wanted to have vocal recognition of my skills.
She took another sip before answering. "Kazeyare Kouta." She spoke quite sternly. "Make this everyday for the rest of your life." While it was the praise and recognition I was fishing for, her statement was more akin to an order rather than praise.
"No. That brew of hot chocolate is only for special occasions. That almond extract I used to soak the marshmallows in is a rare ingredient in Academy City." I explained to her.
"Everyday in which you somehow survived is a special occasion."
"That hurts, Ayumi-sama." I replied jokingly.
"But I see now. Your entire life has accumulated to this one perfect hot cup of sweetness. How does it feel? Kazeyare Kouta. That none of your future accomplishments and endeavors will never surpass what you have achieved today?" She raised the cup above her head as if it was a holy symbol.
"You're in a good mood this morning." Good enough to be making jokes at least.
"Perhaps…" A small and gently smile graced her lips before returning to her natural stoic expression. "But I'm serious. Make this. Every. Day."
"I refuse."
I began making the plates of food when the #1 idiot of Academy City finally decided to join us. He stretched his arms out his bright orange shirt and let out a large yawn before greeting us. "Goooooood morning!" While his voice still carried, he lacked his signature energy. He plopped right next to Ayumi and rested his head on the table. "Sniff sniff… Something smells good. Is breakfast ready yet?"
"Almost. Just getting the plates together." But seriously, how does he always wake up just as I'm finishing up? I gathered up the plates and placed them on the table. "Here you go! Eat up."
I was really excited for today. I had planned to do multiple things including hitting the gym after getting a phone. Ayumi said my expenses would be paid by the Kihara Family since it was due to my connections with Gunha that got me injured in the first place. She called it something like hazard pay. Which meant I could upgrade from my old cheap flip phone to something that fits a student of Academy City. I wasn't planning on wasting time since the lack of a phone hindered me greatly during the Ichihanaran festival. "So what are you planning on doing today Ayumi?"
"Hmmmm…" her eyes remained focused on the tv, almost unaware of my call to her. "Guess I can do that…" It seemed she was speaking aloud to herself. Her gaze focused on me, though it was rather absentminded. "I don't have much work to do there so I'm planning on gathering more field data."
Field data? "Does that mean you'll be with Gunha today? I'm planning on being out for most of the day so he was going to tag along with me." If she's offering to take him off my hands then by all means.
"That's perfect. I'll join you both then." I nearly choked on my apple upon hearing that statement. I furiously slammed on my chest to unclog my throat. "What's with that reaction?"
"Cough cough! Ah no. I was just surprised you actually wanted to come with us." The last time we went out together was Halloween. That didn't' turn out well for any of us…
"Why not Kouta? It's going to be amazing to have all of us go out together!" Gunha interjected. It seemed he picked up interest in the conversation when he noticed Ayumi's more pleasant mood. Though it wasn't enough to tear him away from forcing food down his mouth. "I've been meaning to take you guys out to an amazing place so this is perfect!"
"An amazing place huh?" Ayumi repeated with a great lack of enthusiasm. I couldn't blame her. When Sogiita Gunha uses the word amazing it's usually used to describe something stupid or dangerous. In this case…
"It's probably something dangerous."
"It's probably something stupid."
Huh?
Ayumi and I had both retorted to his statement and it was odd that we were so in sync… However...
"Stupid you say? Sorry Ayumi but I've known Gunha a bit longer than you have. If he's showing us something its bound to be some quarantined off section or maybe even the rooftop of that suspicious Windowless building."
"You think time equates to knowledge? How naive of you Kouta-kun. If he's bragging about how 'amazing' it is, it's bound to be something insignificant like that recently built sentai theme shop or some back alley arcade game."
"Oh? Is that so?" her overconfidence in her Gunha knowledge irritated me. "Then how about we make a bet?"
"A bet you say?" her smooth lips formed a conniving smile as she leaned forward to me. "Fine. Since you're going to lose, you can make the bet. I'm curious as to how deep your planning on making this hole your digging."
I clenched my fist in anger but forced myself to smile, preventing her goad to overtake me. "Thanks. If I win, you have to forfeit eating sweets for two weeks straight!" With her love for sweets, she'll think twice bef-.
"Fine." she replied with no hesitation, her smile even brighter than before. "But if. I. Win." She place her fingers on the table and began to make a walking motion toward me. "For every following Halloween and Christmas~" Her fingers edged ever closer to me, with her voice rising in sweetness. You have to wear our beautiful candy cane costume~."
"WE STILL HAVE THAT THING!?" I couldn't contain my surprise and shouted. What made it worse was Ayumi's unflinching confident demeanor. She didn't even flinch once. Does she really that much confidence in her Gunha profiling?
"Of course, Kouta-kun. We've been saving it for a special occasion. Just. For. You~"
Stop it! That sweet voice you're using is always followed by dread and pain! Maybe I should just back out now.
As if reading my mind Ayumi spoke up again. "You can always decline you know. There's no point in fighting a losing battle, Cowardly Kouta-kun."
I lost my cool at this remark. "Fine! I accept! I can't wait to see you cry from sweet withdrawal!"
When I saw her face. When I saw that foreboding smile. I knew I had already lost. "Thank you very much! Kouta-kun!" With that she placed her empty plate in the sink and happily skipped into her room, humming a well known tune from Kanamin. I blankly stared at Gunha who was still sitting across from me.
With a sliver of hope in me, I asked Gunha. "It's something stupid… Right Gunha?"
"No. You're both wrong." He crossed his arms and boldly announced for the world to hear.
"It's Amazing!"
Only one thought crossed my mind. And was etched in there for the remainder of the morning.
I've made a terrible mistake.
The Dianoid shopping mall was surprisingly less crowded than expected despite being a weekend. That worked in my favor as I headed toward one shop in the lower levels. Following behind me was my entourage of characters featuring Ayumi and Gunha. Though there were two things significantly different from the normal Ayumi I'm used to seeing.
First was her attire. I could only recall of a few instances in which I saw her outside of her school uniform, most consisted of her flower print pajamas. No. This was a different appeal altogether. She sported some light blue slacks which had this intricate vine design on the seams. The slacks paired well with her white and blue hoodie that had an interesting stripe theme going with it. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with her dressing style and I thought it suited her well But…
I was hoping she would be a tights kind of girl…
The second and more prominent difference was Ayumi happily fiddling with her phone. Even Gunha was curious, stealing occasional glances of her phone whenever the opportunity arose. But neither of us dared asked. If it was keeping Ayumi in a good mood, who are we to ruin such a good thing. Though I had a sinking feeling in my gut it somehow involved my bet with her…
"We're here." The shop had a homely feel to it and had very few customers at any given time but I considered it one of those hidden gems of stores. It carried a unique selection of smartphones, usually the knock-off brands but with a bit more variety. I was more into the specs of the phone rather than appearance.
I headed into the store but was stopped short by a strong tug on the sleeve of my jacket. "Wait Kouta. Before you do that, I want to show you that amazing thing!" He dragged me along the mall before I even had time to refuse.
It's here!? In this mall!? If I had knew that I would have just went to the Underground shopping district! "I think getting a phone is more important, don'tcha think Gunha?" I hastily reasoned.
"It'll be fine. This should only take a few minutes." He casually brushed it off without reading in between the lines.
Calm down, Kazeyare Kouta. It's not over yet! Even if this 'amazing' thing isn't dangerous at all, if I can logically explain why it's potentially dangerous, I can get away with a tie at least! That's much better than a loss, right?
"'It would be nice if it happens to be stupid and dangerous,' is probably what your thinking?" I flinched hearing that. How does she just invade my thoughts like that? It's scary! "Like I said before, you're too easy to read Kouta. But go ahead and keep thinking like that."
"You've been acting really confident! Like you know what it is!"
"Heh."
"You do! That's not even fair! You can't even call this bet valid anymore!"
"Oh? But you never clarified if I knew in advance. I simply stated whatever his 'amazing' thing he wanted to show was most likely stupid."
"It's not stupid! It's amazing!" Gunha declared.
"Shut up!" I began to frantically attempt to pry my wrist out of Gunha's death grip but to no avail. "Let go Gunha! You can show me this amazing thing later! Like in 50 years or so!" I begged for the idiot to stop but to no avail.
"50 years? But we're already here." he pointed to an absurd shop.
"Sentai… Cosplay?" I read the flashy and gaudy sign. There were so many colors and lights on the large sign it actually hurt to stare at it for an extended period of time.
"Yeah!" He proudly proclaimed, puffing out his chest. "I found this amazing place during one of my patrols. It was hard to find since not many people visit the basement floors. Oh? A loss of words huh Kouta? I must admit I was taken aback by this amazing store when I first found it."
It was true. I had no words to say. My mouth laid agape as I tried to deny this...thing.
It was undoubtedly…
It was positively…
"Well Kouta-kun?" An irritating and teasing voice entered my ear. "If you could describe this store with one word… What would it be?"
I fell to my knees in defeat. What other word would fit this store? Absurd? No. The word that came to my mind was…
"It's completely stupid."
"I look forward to Christmas, Candy Cane-san! I'll go ahead and get changed Gunha." her footsteps trotted off into the store, leaving me to contemplate my life decisions.
"Why Gunha? Why did you take us to this place?"
"To be honest, I wanted to take you guys here earlier. But you broke your arm."
"I broke it?"
"Okay! I broke your arm, sorry about that, then Halloween happened, and Ayumi was constantly busy after that so I haven't had time to take all of us down here. You can cosplay as a hero or villain and take group pictures. I just wanted something we can share together…"
I couldn't do it. I couldn't be mad at this idiot for wanting to share this with us, even if I had a negative opinion on it. This was a good time to poke fun at Gunha and have jolly good time, but I was still recovering from my ultimate defeat at the hands of the green haired beauty. "Damn that Ayumi! That was totally unfair!"
"Kouta." Gunha leaned down and placed his hand on my shoulder to comfort me in my time of defeat. "It's okay." He shot me a grin with a thumbs up. "I think you'll look great in a candy cane costume!"
...
I looked ridiculous. Even if it was Halloween I never thought for a second of wearing a mono-colored tight suit. "Why am I the green one?"
"Huh? I picked it cause I thought green was your favorite color."
"I mean, it is but…" I didn't have any fight in me to pull out a retort. I also didn't want to bring down Gunha's mood so I sucked up the pain and begrudgingly put on the silly Sentai suit. It didn't come with a helmet but had the other unneeded accessories like a utility belt and prop laser gun or sword, depending on color. I sighed to myself in exasperation. In reality, there was another reason why I didn't abandon this idea altogether besides Gunha's happiness. If Gunha and I looked this silly in these suits, I can only imagine what serious Ayumi looked like. That was my only saving grace in this unexpected event.
However, when Ayumi emerged from the girl's changing room, my expectations were completely subverted! Instead of a bright colored tight suit, she donned a dark attire with extensive accessories. Similar to a Chinese dress in terms of skin coverage, she looked more like a witch doctor with a skull headdress and carrying a large staff with a black orb on top. She had turned into a standard Sentai villain though the slits on the dress were a bit much, as you could easily see the upper part of her thigh. Part of me was disappointed. I couldn't laugh at her appearance. It suited her too well and with the bones hanging from her neck and strange bottles and tools on her hip. The witch doctor theme was a million times better than the Werewolf suit she wore during Halloween in my opinion. The other part of me shown gratitude for seeing such a sight. My mind was in conflict.
"OHHHHHH! You look amazing Ayumi! Right Kouta?"
"Ah…. Yeah. She looks A-!" A small flash of light broke my concentration. "Wait… What are you doing with your phone, Ayumi?"
"Taking pictures of course. It's not often you see a high school boy wearing a costume catered to the taste of elementary kids." She blatantly said those words to hurt me. Gunha, however took enjoyment out of this, even posing in his red suit when she began taking photos of him!
"Guess it's time for our group photo now." Not going to take any incriminating pictures of yourself now, are ya?
"Right! Everybody in the booth!" Gunha was to first to slide into the thing, placing himself center of the picture. For a picture booth, it was relatively large, comfortably able to fit 5 people. While the store did have its own set, he settled on the booth so we could be closer to each other. Ayumi entered opposite of me and we both slid into frame. "Huh? Guys get closer! Show some vigor and guts!" Without warning Gunha locked our arms and pulled us toward him. "Ready!" The booth began its countdown. Ayumi surprisingly didn't put up any resistance, smiling even with her face next to Gunha's. I resigned myself, not wanting to be the odd one out and posed just in time as the shutter closed and flashed on us. Immediately afterwards I freed myself from his grip and jumped out of the photo booth. "Alright red leader. I did your bidding. Can I go get my phone now?"
"Of course! I won't stop you! But Kouta, there's one more thing I want to tell you."
"What's that?"
"We can actually rent these for the da-"
"I refuse." I cut him off knowing exactly what he was insinuating. I already have to wear some silly white and red outfit every Christmas, why would I wear something else just as silly around Academy City?
After I changed back into my school uniform, I waited outside of the store for Gunha. It seemed he actually wanted physical copies of the pictures rather than the free digital copies they make. Ayumi remained silent. Was something heavy hanging on her mind? I noticed her smile during the shoot but it was very different from any expression I've seen on her before. It wasn't her fake smile, or her devil grin. It wasn't even that rare and almost nonexistent pure smile. There was something… sad about that smile she had. It was reminiscent of an expression Gunha once showed me…
"Oiiiiii!" Gunha's call broke into my inner thoughts and forced my focus to him. I noticed something gleaming in his hand… It looked like… laminated cards?
"Alright! Here's yours Kouta!" He handed me one of the shining cards. Just as I suspected, it was a laminated photo of the three of us, with a colorful background of red, blue, and yellow. From left to right it had Kihara Ayumi, Sogiita Gunha, and myself all smiling and huddled closely together. Though I was opposed to going here in the first place, when I saw that picture, a warm feeling erupted in my heart and I couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks." The word casually slipped out.
"No problem." Gunha shot a smile back. It wasn't always, but there was a silent acknowledgement and appreciation of each other. "Did you read the back?"
The back? I turned the rectangular picture to see printed words that I had no intention of repeating out loud in public. While speaking those words were out of the question, I couldn't agree with them more. "Wait! Is this on all of them?" I panicked realizing he just handed one over to Ayumi.
"No! Each one is different! Mine says 'Overcome everything with Guts!'" This was yet another surprising action by Gunha.
"I'm surprised they all don't say that."
"That was the original plan." Oi Gunha. I just had a high opinion of you. Don't ruin it with your guts logic. "But then I remembered something Ayumi said." Ayumi? Her eyes glanced up from the back of her card. "'Depending on your perspective, you can either be your worst enemy or your best motivator.' I thought if we all used our own words to motivate ourselves!" Using that logic, I can see how she twisted that to fit her 'remedial' lessons...
"Heh." A small chuckle crept out of Ayumi's mouth. "That does sound like me, doesn't it?" There was something off how she worded that. "And then these words you chose for me… How well do you know me?" again she wore that smile that I couldn't bring myself to like. But it was quickly replaced with her standard fake smile and she placed the card in her pocket. "Thanks Gunha!"
"Hm! No problem!" Did Gunha not notice that smile? Or is he feigning ignorance? I could understand either way but it still concerned me. "Alright! Now let's head back home!"
"I still need a phone you idiot!" He had completely forgot why we came to the Dianoid in the first place.
"Ehhhhhh…." His enthusiasm immediately deflated. "Shopping with you is boring. Penny pincher Kouta."
"I don't wanna hear it from you! Mr. Level 5! With all your expense mostly paid by the Kihara Family and the pension you get due to your level! Besides, money saving is a great skill to have in the real world! Don't you agree Ayumi?" I threw the conversation to Ayumi in hopes of an assist.
"You can cook, worry about savings, exercise and diet properly… Are you some kind of housewife?"
"Oh! I was thinking that too!" the two had combined as an indomitable force!
"But if he's going to be bored with you, I can escort him for a while. As I said before, I need to collect some new data."
"That's code for look for tro-!" A sharp elbow to Gunha's gut from Ayumi stopped him short of finishing his sentence. "I mean go on patrol!"
"Oi."
Relax Kouta. There isn't much trouble we can get into that we can't get ourselves out of."
"Oi!"
"Don't forget to call us when you get your phone." The two unceremoniously disappeared deeper into the Dianoid.
I released a solemn sigh with no one to hear my worries. "They should be alright alone…"
...Probably.
With the duo gone I could return to my shop and continue searching for a phone unabated. Even without a budget I still found myself scanning the prices and avoiding the higher priced ones out of habit. Even if the Kihara Family paid all the expenses, I couldn't bring myself to abuse the system like that and ended up buying a good touchscreen phone within my regular price range. Now came the hard part. Since my old phone was lost, I had to install and manually enter all the information I had on my phone. I wasn't exactly the most tech savvy of teens so I had to ask the shop manager in assisting me in setting up my old settings. I left the shop with a new phone and a feeling of satisfaction. Now to find those two. Are they even still in the Dianoid? I knew Gunha's number by heart so I tried calling him first.
"..." No response. For some reason or another, Gunha picked up the bad habit of not answering his phone during outings. At home or just sitting around he had no issues. It was a strange and irritating habit that forced me to walk around the giant mall. While I did think about leaving and head straight for District 20, I thought it rude to depart without informing them. And who knows if Gunha ever checks his voicemail?
I wandered about the mall for about an hour or so, stopping at whatever store I thought they might be in, looking for any signs of their presence and grabbed a bite to eat at the food court.
"Seriously, where are these two?" On occasion I would try to call Gunha again but to no avail. In the end, I decided to head back home and grab Ayumi's contact info. She's probably easier to get in contact with than Gunha…
As I stepped outside to met the November sky, I noticed there was bit of a commotion in the distance. Loud grunts, sounds of something breaking and smoke? Was there a fight going on? My mind immediately jumped to Ayumi and Gunha. I ran toward the smoke plume which came from an unpopulated street. "Oi! What the hell are... you...doing?" I turned the corner expecting my roommates only to find 3-way esper brawl. The worst part was all of them stopped to notice little ol me.
Who the hell are these guys? Whoever they were, It's best not to get involved. "Sorry! I thought you were someone else."
One of the violent espers spoke up as I tried to leave. "You're after her? Aren't you?" The girl had some sort of rock construct formed around her left arm. It seemed to be of her own creation as it moved with her body.
"After her? No! I don't even know who she is!" What kind of nonsense is she talking about? I just got here!
"Liar." Without any warning she threw her stone hand toward me. I responded by throwing myself to the ground with the hand whizzing by. I hit the ground and smoothly rolled to a kneeling position. It may have been a while but Hattori's combat lessons were still ingrained in my body. "See." a normal person wouldn't be able to avoid that."
"That's flawed logic! What would you have done if that actually hit me?"
"A necessary sacrifice." She coldly answered. What's with this girl? Attacking someone she just met? Same with the other two who were duking it out. One was using a bow and arrow but they were strangely sharp and accurate for how fast he was shooting them. The other seemed to be using hydrokinesis, knocking the arrows away with strikes of water. They also were spouting the same thing.
"Save her? You? I don't trust anyone! If you do want to save her leave this to me!"
"You would like that huh? I don't know what kind of sick person targets such a weak girl but as long as I'm standing I shall have no harm inflicted to that girl!"
For some reason, they all were adamant about saving this girl. "Why don't you all work together instead of fighting each other? If she's in danger, shouldn't you be rushing to her side rather than fighting amongst yourselves?" My words didn't reach them as they continued to try to end the other. I couldn't relax either as another stone hand flew in my direction. I dashed between the buildings, hearing a loud crash behind me. There was no point in fighting them so I continued down the dark alleyway. Though the girl was most likely a terrakinesis, it seemed it had limited range as she pursued me on foot. "Why're you chasing me? I'm running away!"
"Don't play coy villain! You're heading toward her while I fight the others!" her stone hand had shrunk to fit between the buildings and she launched it once again to my back. With little room to actually avoid, I grabbed a trash can lid and used it as a shield against the attack. The rock hand pushed back against my makeshift shield but didn't inflict any damage to me. I didn't waste any time and threw the tin lid at the esper and darted at another intersection of the alley before I could confirm a hit.
Getting out of the small and tight corner was top priority. I saw an exit and headed toward it with high hopes it would be a crowded area.
Like I had hoped, the area was crowded. And in complete chaos. Trees and uneven concrete scattered along with bodies of students. Around 30 or 40 people were violently throwing attacks with no regards to anything around them.
"All of you villains are obstructions of justice! I'll destroy you all to ensure her safety."
"You fake heroes! Can't you see only I can save her? If can't understand that I'll make you understand with my fist!"
"Don't worry cute girl! Your beautiful Onee-chan will come to save you!" They were all fighting for this girl yet none of them even considered working together. If this girl was even in danger, it would be due to these self righteous 'heroes.'
"What the hell is going on?" I didn't have time to dwell on the question. I had not lost my pursuer and she burst out from the buildings. She blasted a smaller rock fist in my direction, this time with more speed than before. With no time to dodge properly, I braced my body for impact and directed her attack to my right shoulder.
"Guuhh! The shock reverberated throughout my body and I slid back. It didn't break anything but tanking another one of those should be avoided at all cost! My mind was racing for a conclusion to this fight. It didn't seem likely she was going to back off and it was too late to bluff with my ability. I thought about rushing through the frenzy of heroes but I'd be ditching one problem for another.
The ground beneath the esper began to break apart and conform around her right arm. That observation confirmed my suspicion. She's a terrakinesis, most likely with a short range. She can launch it away from her body, but depending on the mass determines the speed. Though with all this information I still couldn't think of a way out the fight without confronting her directly. Maybe I can direct her violence toward someone else...
An idea popped into my head. Was it the best idea? Probably not but the situation didn't offer the leeway to think too much about it.
"That's a good attack girlie. No wonder your so keen on rescuing her." Bluffing was out of the question and in a direct confrontation, I wasn't confidence in my ability to take her down. Error In was my only trump card in this battle.
"What?" She bared her canines as I casually spoke of the girl. "What do you know about Fremea?"
Fremea? Isn't that-!
Her attack was swift but I had already position my body to easily dodge the attack. My eyes still locked onto her as I wasn't sure how fast she could form another fist. Sure enough, her second attack was being prepared soon after her first volley. "Tell me what you know about Fremea now!" I expected this angry response but it was much more violent and crazed than I imagined.
Shit! Is this going to back fire? Still, it's too late to back out now!
"Fremea is what you call her? How precious." I sneered, pulling out my best villain impression. "My associate prefer to call her something a bit more... appropriate..."
Her expression twitched. There was break in her violent rampage. This might work! With the idea planted in her mind, I only needed to nail it in!
I put on a confident grin. "Yes I believe one of them affectionately called her...Target practice."
"You bastard!" the esper launched the accumulated mass of rock and concrete at my feet, kicking up a a large dust cloud and smothered my vision of her. I darted to the side and lowered my center of gravity in preparation of another attack. But when the dust cleared I noticed her figure fading into the distance.
It was over. I released a large sigh as if I was holding my breath. My body began to relax and I awkwardly sat down on the concrete. "I can't believe that worked!"
Error In. By itself it's a seemingly useless ability in my opinion, when paired with some selective choice of words and a face that could put a movie thug to shame, it could be quite effective planting ideas of another person already near Fremea.
I didn't have the leisure of basking in my victory. Fights were still occurring around the streets and even more beyond. With a grunt, I pulled myself from the ground and found a dark corner to safely evaluate my situation.
"Okay so we have crazed espers fighting, some girl in trouble and no Gunha in sight. Just what I wanted today. But it's fine you know. It's not like my power is suited for combat or anything. I can totally handle this situation. With my average fighting skills, mediocre intelligence and the ultimate trump card that is Error In, I'm not out of my depths. Gunha? Ayumi? Who needs those guys? I sure don't. Not Kazeyare Kouta. They're probably off doing stupid things like eating cake or breaking the laws of physics. But Kouta? Oh he's just found himself in another fight? What a troublemaker." I found myself sarcastically going over the details in order to bring levity to the situation. My mind wasn't particularly focused on my thoughts. My senses were still on high alert but the action of talking to myself did help calm my nerves. "If I keep this trend up I'll be in a hospital bed with a broken arm. Let's try to avoid that shall we?"
After a few seconds of silence, my mind became a bit clear, enough to think straight. I pulled out my phone and began thinking of my current options.
Fremea though? Isn't that the name of the girl Komaba occasionally brought to the hideout? I didn't know the details around her just that he considered himself her caretaker. It never crossed my mind as strange Komaba brought her to the hideout filled with failures and generally not good people(according to majority of Academy City) But since he did, does that mean he didn't want her alone? Was Komaba and by extension Skill-Out involved? I couldn't be sure. With so many espers running about it was hard to distinguished who had powers and who didn't.
An idea came to my mind. "Maybe I should... call Komaba?" It had been a few years since I was an active member of Skill-Out but I still clearly remembered his number. I doubt he changed it. He preferred to be as minimalist as possible.
If I can get in contact with him maybe I can-!
Wait. Why would I want to get in contact with Komaba in the first place? The idea to call him popped into my mind so I accepted it but... It wasn't toward the solution I wanted. If I called him and he was involved, I'd be involving myself in this crazy situation, one where my power is insignificant compared to the other 'heroes'. And if he wasn't involved, I'd be dragging him into this. No matter how I thought about it, calling Komaba didn't bring me closer to the resolution I wanted.
"Anti-Skill then?" Bad memories flooded my mind when I spoke of that law enforcement group. However this is exactly what they were made for. With so many rioting students and no end in sight, Anti-Skill was clearly the logical conclusion. However I could feel a sense of dread coming over me as I began dialing the number. I couldn't think of as my gut feeling. No. This feeling was more... forceful.
"Yo."
What!
I jumped back and prepared myself for another fight yet the person lazily stood behind me, leaning on the wall for support. The boy was very short, akin to a middle school student and had short red hair. Despite the outlandish fighting in the background, he was too relaxed to be called normal. He let out a long yawn before speaking again. "Hm? Oh I'm not planning on fighting you so you can relax. I'm not affected like the rest of them."
"Rest of them? So you know what's going on?" Does this kid know something?
Heughhhhh! Another yawn? "Not really. But it's really strange that you're not affected either."
"Affected by what?"
"That's…" His voice trailed off.
What? Did he lose his train of thought mid-sentence? No. The truth was far from that logical conclusion…
He's… Sleeping!? Sure enough the strange boy had fallen asleep mid-sentence with his eyes open!
Another weirdo has appeared. At least this one isn't attacking me. Both verbally or physically. I gently shook the boy's shoulders in hopes of jogging him awake.
"Hm?" it actually worked! "You?" He paused to collect his thoughts. "What am I doing here again?"
"How should I know?" I retorted. Seriously, with the crazy espers running around, Gunha and Ayumi disappearing and you, This day is all kinds of strange!
The kid's empty gaze focused on me before speaking. "Huh? It's strange. From what I was told, you should be affected. Do you not fit the parameters like she initially thought?"
I raised an eyebrow at the nonsense spouted "Parameters? She?" Who are you talking about?"
"Ah. My mistake. You are Kazeyare Kouta right?"
"Hm?" I instinctively responded before realizing my mistake.
The next instant a surprisingly heavy blow impacted my gut, forcing me to my knees and forcing air out of my lungs. "Oh? Your still conscious? What's that body of yours made of?" The boy kept his casual manner of speaking but there was a bit more life into his eyes when he spoke. "I'm sorry for doing this. I don't really like involving people in our business but… I guess they had the same idea when I got this order." He curled his small hand into a fist once again and raised it above my head. "So leave the rest to us."
The fist came down on my head.
And darkness followed suit.
Agitate Halation. While not everyone's favorite arc I found it as a nice point of congregating stories. 7,500 'heroes' gathered along with some outliers such as ITEM and the unexpected gathering of all the Level 5s. This was a fun chapter to write as it had some fight scenes that I've been so desperately avoiding. While I still think I'm far from the best, it turned out better than I initially thought. This also brings up some other interesting plots that may or may not be relevant in the future.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon in the next chapter!
But this is Sargent Crash...
Crashing Out!