Author's Note: The last chapter was back when Hiruma and Kurita were still in middle school, now we have a time skip to the 'present' where everyone is in high school in their first/second years respectively. There are some 'technical' terms in this story (these words are usually capitalized nouns), don't worry, I'll have a character explain it later on in the chapter it appears in.
The Story So Far: The last chapter was too short for me to put something here….
To JustinBlue: I hope you do not mind pardoning my jumbled reply to your review. I will address your points as they appeared in chorological order, though sadly, I have habitually never attempted to make a review reply flow with any decency, mainly because I try to keep things short when it comes to replies, especially ones directed at anonymous reviewers that have to be written into the story itself. Oh, yes, I do very much plan to continue this story. And thank you for critiquing my writing; I was a little nervous (having not written anything that was not an engineering report in over a year) and decided to keep it simple. I'll try to play a little more with the language now. As a reader I do often tire of reading 2-dimensional Hirumas; he is arguably the most complicated character in Eyeshield and a 2-dimensional portrayal does him absolutely no justice. Where this is going and what I plan do to with this are things you will see in good time, I hope you plan to stick around to see it. Thank you for reviewing!
Hidden
By: Bar-Ohki
Chapter 2: Hidden Within the Family
'There are three kinds of humans in this world,' a young boy by the name of Kobayakawa Sena mused, 'and all three are represented at the dinner table.'
"Sena, dear, could you pass the rice?" Sena's mother, Mihae, asked politely.
"S-sure!" Sena handed her the rice bowl quickly, his musings having distracted him from the rest of the world for a moment.
"Don't you have another game coming up son?" Shiyuma, Sena's father, asked.
"Yeah, this Saturday." Sena nodded. Sena was a runningback for his high school's football team, the Deimon Devil Bats. Right now the Devil Bats were in the middle of a large tournament, the Kantou Tournament more specifically. Setting football aside, Sena looked at his mother as he returned to his musings.
'Mom's a Mage,' Sena's eyes quickly veered over to his father, 'Dad's a normal human. And then there's me-'
Sena sighed with a small smile, '-a Sensitive.'
"Do you two plan to go and pray this Sunday?" Shiyuma directed the question at his wife. "I was wondering if the two of you could take a break so that we could go to the fair that's in town."
Shiyuma, like most, as Sena puts them, normal humans, is completely oblivious to the magical and supernatural world around him. As near as the man can tell, he has an enthusiastic wife and a shy son (who somehow became the ace for his high school football team) that like to go and pray every Sunday. In reality Sena and his mother go to a Gateway Shrine and practice their own special abilities. Gateways are places where the normal people's world and the magical and supernatural world interact.
Mihae paused thoughtfully and looked at her son. "What do you think Sena?"
"I dunno, Hiruma-sempai might have a special practice again…." Sena's voice quivered with unconscious fear. The last time Hiruma, the captain and quaterback of the Devil Bats, had had a special practice the day after a game had not been a pretty sight for all of the people involved (including Hiruma, much to everyone's surprise).
"Are you sure you couldn't skip it once?" Shiyuma had a small, hopeful gleam in his eye (the kind of hopeful gleam a dog gets every time its master is eating food). Though Shiyuma was a man that was easily pushed around by others (he never wants to needlessly inconvenience anyone). He does, occasionally, passionately want something; this was one of those somethings.
"I'll ask tomorrow." Sena assured his father, though on the inside he found himself panicking. He could all too easily imagine his team captain pulling out guns, firing them into the air, while brutally conveying to him that missing practice this close to a match was not an option.
The rest of dinner was continued in a comfortable silence that was broken by Mihae standing up and disappearing into the kitchen only to return with a green canvas bag.
"Oh, Sena could you run this bag down to Mamori-neechan's? Her mother left it here on accident." Mihae handed the bag to her son before he could protest.
"Sure?" Sena never minded running errands for people, he'd been doing it since elementary school without complaint. Though, he never did enjoy having errands thrust upon him on the spur of the moment. Curiously, Sena peeked into the bag and saw what appeared to be random, junk-like knick-knacks. In reality these bits of rusted metal and wood were used in rituals of the arcane that both his mother and his friend's mother practiced. Since neither were terribly powerful, both relied heavily on Mediums to cast what few spells they ever did.
"Thank you." Mihae smiled brightly, not worrying in the slightest that she just handed her son something that, in the right rings of people, was worth well over one million American dollars. Mediums took a verity of shapes and sizes, they could range from a bent piece of scrap metal to a stone as large and impressive as the Hope Diamond (which was a particularly powerful and dangerous Medium). The most important thing about a Medium was not its shape or form, but its power and element. The world was divided roughly into five elements: fire, water, air, earth, and soul. Sena's mother's family had spent generations gathering Mediums, Mamori's family was no different.
Which is exactly why they had to be returned tonight.
"I'll go right now." Sena assured his mother as he made his way towards the door.
"Be careful!" Mihae wished him as he put his shoes on.
"I always am!" Sena stepped out the door with a laugh. He walked down the small garden path to the street, stopping at the gate of his family home. His mother had warded the house from things like fire, vermin, bad luck, and most importantly, magic. Mages with any ill intent could not cast spells at this house, nor could they use their magic to look into it. Which meant the presence of Mediums in the house would be unnoticed.
Once a Medium was out of the wards' protection, it would be noticed. Sena knew full well that someone was going to try and take the Mediums from him. He was only a Sensitive, a human with bit of magical ability that allowed them to have certain small powers or senses. Typically a Sensitive can tell if an object was or was not a Medium. Powerful Sensitive can tell how powerful a Medium is, and whether or not it had been used recently. Sena was not a Sensitive with senses; he had a special power that was like magic, but definitely not like magic.
'I hope I don't have to do anything special tonight.' Sena wished as he through the gate, out of the wards, and into the cool night. Quickly, he began running, knowing that the less time he had the Mediums in his possession the less likely they could be taken from him.
Just like Sena predicted, a few men came out from a side alley. They looked like they intended to stop him.
'These men are nothing like Shin-san!' Sena reminded himself, his normal sight easing away into what he called 'path sight'. One of Sena's abilities was to be able to See paths around people. Since the men were not particularly fit, Sena sped up and used his usual running speed (40 yards in 4.2 seconds) to rush past the men. The men simply fell to the side, gwaking at the intense speed that Sena could use.
Sena continued to run and found himself again faced with a would-be thief. This one was a woman. Sena shifted into his path sight and saw nothing. He stopped, a bit startled by the situation.
"You are a Sensitive, hmm?" The woman smiled, it was not sweet, it was the kind of smile a predator gives its prey before it kills it.
"…!" Sena took an unconscious step back. 'She's dangerous.'
"If you hand over the bag, nothing ill will happen to you." The woman purred, attempting to seduce and assure Sena at the same time.
'I have no choice then.' Sena decided, concentrating all of his magic, all of his strength into his legs. 'Hiruma-sempai wasn't wrong when he said I have Golden Legs, because I do.' Sena thought wryly. His legs began to give off a soft, golden glow that unmistakenably belonged to a Sensitive with an ability. The woman took a step back and gasped softly, surprised.
Sena picked up his foot and was on the twenty yards past the woman when he touched down on the ground again. Kobayakawa Sena, the man with Golden Legs, could, if he wanted to, walk seven leagues in one step.
"Have a nice day miss!" Sena called over his shoulder and ran off again. The woman simply stared at him, frozen in her amazement.
Sena arrived at the home of Anezaki Mamori, his childhood friend without further incident.
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