Soul Fighters Chapter 1- A Nakakoshi Divided.
Corridors of bright lights seemed endless for the hexagenarian as his injuries forced him to hobble for a chance at safety. Although he knew better than to look back, he was certain that the squadron pursuing him would box him in sooner rather than later. Whilst his estimations of the younger generation had been abysmal during his servitude, he always noticed their ability to work together and create strategies in the most inconvenient times or places. But of course, he wouldn't utter a word of good graces if he was caught, killing a prominent figure would be one thing but implying that they had any sort of value in the scheme of things would send their ego to unbearable heights. A chance to remain out of sight was swiftly taken as he perched himself up against a bitter wall. He fumbled in his pockets, pulled out a walkie-talkie and used the strength he had in his functioning arm to report on the crisis. "I… I don't know how much further I can go. Rest assured, I've bought the CEO some time to get away from these monsters. He's in the server room-" He was interrupted by a man who had snuck up behind him and threw him down the shorter corridor that he thought would buy him a little more time than 30 seconds. If only he hadn't decided on a ponytail for that day and made it easier for him to be thrown. The walkie spun its way towards one of the more looming figures, who smashed it before any cries for a further response could be sent to the old man. Now that he had the moment to examine their faces, he realised that many of them were frequent visitors of the executives in the months leading up to this. Mercenaries or sheep, figuring their status took a backseat in the old man's mind. "This is the end of the line," stated the supposed leader of the affray. "I wish it didn't have to come to this, but because we have a lot of respect for you, we'll make your death quick. Hell, we'll make sure your soul finds a great body too-" Anything that his assassins said would have riled him up, but the corporate whining from the siren really fuelled his anger. "How dare you act as if you traitors have an ounce of respect for anyone other than yourselves. Where was the respect for the board members you slaughtered like sheep? Where was the respect for the CEO that you betrayed? He trusted you all as if you were his children, and you stabbed him in the back. Literally!" Judging by the scowl on the dopey subordinate's face, he knew that whatever came out of his mouth next would hold no value or indicate any form of intelligence. "You keep believing your lies, old timer. We're making this corporation reach greater heights, we aren't afraid to cut a little weight loose." Structuring the statement to make it sound like the squad had some hold over policy certainly confirmed their naivety and the crook they follow. "Greater heights? And you're telling me that I believe my own lies? With the likes of you in charge, you're going to tarnish everything that our ancestors have built up over decades, centuries! And I refuse to just be collateral damage in your conspiracy plot. To hell with the Creator Corporation!" Shortly after his outburst, the old man began writhing on the floor in pain, it was clear that he desperately wanted to scream out but he shuttled his anguish in grunts and heavy breathing. Something resembling a spinning orb with blots of green forced its way out of the old man's mouth as his movements came to a still and his eyes became unfocused. Unable to react to this quickly enough, the squad's efforts to restrain this object were in vain as it transcended through the tiled ceiling and eventually, out of the building. The first thoughts of the squad were not of pride in the death that they caused, but the fear of the consequences that could come from this. What could be done to capture a wicked sinner who knows the path that must be taken?
The summer solstice only shone brighter through the blinds as Akio Shibuya readied himself for another day of high school. Underwear. Socks. Undershirt…no. Short-sleeved shirt. Trousers. Blazer. Whilst Akio did not want to look sweaty without an undershirt, he ultimately decided that some side-eying was better than death from heatstroke. His dad had always spoken about his time in Spain and Akio was certainly envious of how his school would end early should temperatures be unbearable for a learning environment. It had only been 80 days since his freshman year began and the enthusiasm for education had worn off, Akio only needed to realise the weekend was only blockaded by 7 and a half hours of education to motivate himself to stay out of trouble for one more day, detention would certainly damper his mood until his time left. After brushing his teeth and applying an icepack on his facial bruises, he headed downstairs for a filling breakfast, Friday's lunch was always catered to by a private company that never seemed to make anything but the dorayaki taste somewhat tolerable. Of course, it was to Akio's dismay when he only found a bowl of miso soup and a table littered with empty dishes. Nevertheless, it was better for him to eat what he could than to receive an earful from his mother about the energy that firefighting requires or a lesson from his father about the intricacy of architecture and the required mental concentration that's fuelled by a strong breakfast. Speaking of the latter, his father hurried out of the kitchen as his eyes darted for an item that would make or break his full day of pay. "Ichika! Are you sure you left the car keys on the table? They're definitely not here!" Facial expressions showed a glimpse of fear as footsteps grew louder and louder. "Oh my god Roman…" It only took a quick scan of the living room for Ichika to locate Roman's keys. " Are you blind or something? It's bad enough that we have to deal with Akio's shenanigans, I don't need you turning to the dark side-" For a moment, both of his parents were blissfully unaware of Akio sitting at the table, miso soup in hand and his phone in the other. Fortunately for the family, Roman was able to divert the atmosphere of the living room into something more tolerable. "Hey Akio, nice to see you organised for once! Do you need a lift to school? I was about to leave for work until someone-" Emphasising the word 'someone' only led to a death stare from his wife, yet Roman was someone who knew how to make a mistake and still keep out of trouble. "Until someone…professed their love and compassion for yours truly." Ichika's stern face softened and Akio could see the spousal scoreboard continue to even out in Roman's favour. "I would, but I was supposed to meet Mikio at his house two minutes ago." On cue, the doorbell rang. All Akio could say to that was: "Crap." Akio placed down his empty bowl and answered the door. All that Mikio could say was "hey" before Akio said: "One second," and closed the door on him. Akio quickly sorted his bag out and was intercepted by a hug from his mother before he could reach the door. "Mom, you know I'm not 5 anymore." Age was not an excuse for Ichika as she replied: "You may be 15, but you're still my wonderful little guy. Plus, you never know when it could be the last hug we have, so I always make the most of them." Ichika nips his cheek with a grin to the frustration of Akio before kissing Roman as he headed off to work. Roman scruffed Akio's hair as Akio greeted Mikio properly this time. "Hey Mikio, I appreciate you waiting for me-" Unfortunately, his niceties were interrupted by Mikio's erratic behaviour. "CRAP, WE NEED TO RUN! MR YAMAMOTO IS ON DUTY TODAY, WE'RE DONE FOR IF WE'RE LATE ON HIS WATCH!" Akio only knew that Yamamoto was a part of the PE department but he figured that Mikio must have suffered under his rule. This was no time for Akio to rip on Mikio for being unable to join the top PE class as his best friend dragged him out of his yard, which was all Akio needed to match the chaotic mood in the air.
Nearing the entrance of the school, the two were pleased to see that they were not the only ones dancing with a ticking timer as a hundred students eagerly waited for a safe passage across an unusually busy road. The traffic lights turned red as the students rushed across the road and into the sight of Mr Yamamoto, a scary-looking balding man whose watch was his most valuable possession on days like this. "Tick tock!" yelled Mr Yamamoto with a deeper tone than Akio expected of him. "You have 10 seconds to get past me before you're sorting out my files for the rest of the week!" This was all the motivation needed as the stampede of students made it past his beady eyes. Akio was about to look back at Mr Yamamoto but Mikio kept his head forward and his posture perfect. Akio was too tired to understand Mikio's barrage of word soup, but he heard words such as 'unforgiving', 'dangerous' and 'death' that made Mikio's point simpler. "At least he hasn't adapted his articulate form of speaking yet," Akio thought, By the time they reached the complex, Mikio had noticed Akio's quick recovery from the mile they had to essentially sprint to get to school on time. Through inconsistent pants, Mikio asked: "Akio, when did you get so good at running? I thought you said that you stayed clear of cardio at the gym?"
"Well I didn't lie to you then, you know what my parents have been like lately so I haven't been able to go to the gym as much as I would want to. I focus on strength building because I would be killed if I stay out for longer than I need to. It's just… I've always got errands to run, that's all."
"Get out of here with that crap, the normal Akio would have eaten a compliment like that right up! I can see your veins popping out as you're trying to restrain yourself from demanding me to kiss your ass with some passion."
"I-" Akio was going to comment on Mikio's girlfriend but burst out in laughter, which in turn led to Mikio crying from laughter. The rest of their walk consisted of the two trying to calm themselves down, yet looking at each other would set them off again. By the time they were changing their shoes, their laughter had been reduced to snorts and quiet giggles. Akio had noticed a couple of his friends headed in his direction and was dismayed when he realised that they had done a complete U-turn and strolled away. Once he realised that Principal Shinjuku was headed in the direction of him and Mikio, he understood his friend's reaction. His face seemed brighter, which was certainly odd for Akio as he knew that he didn't do anything to invoke such a positive reaction to his presence. Unfortunately for Akio, his nice words were not going to be directed at him. "Mikio, send my congratulations to the rest of the mathematics team, the school should receive further funding from the superintendent after your victories at the Tokyo Mathlete competition." Mikio immediately bowed and let his thanks be known to the principal in a manner that the principal relished in. The positivity on his face went extinct as he turned towards Akio. "Akio, my office please. I'll make it brief." Shinjuku began to walk and Akio had no choice but to follow him. Mikio pulled him back and whispered about using the bear spray against the principal if it was needed, but a stern order to head to class made Mikio scutter away. Akio wondered what the hell Mikio was talking about, had anyone in Nakakoshi ever seen a bear? Akio dismissed the thought relatively quickly as his mind pondered about anything Akio had done to require a meeting with the principal. His thoughts made the walk to the office feel as if it was only a ten-second journey as he was invited into the office. After being party to so many meetings in the office, Akio began to appreciate the Italianate style that was incorporated into the design of the office, he would have felt more relaxed if Principal Shinjuku wasn't staring directly at him. "Take a seat please." Akio sat down and immediately adjusted his posture so as to not gain any further criticism from the imposing principal. "Sir, am I in trouble? I promise you, I have been completely unaffiliated in anything that has or hasn't happened lately."
"No, nothing has happened as of yet. Although, you've been in this office so many times that you were right to suspect something along those lines. To be quite frank, you're no Mikio, but I would be wrong to say that you don't have any street smarts as well as book smarts. For example, I'm sure you remember the Dare Society that you and your friends founded, a book club used to front a betting business! You didn't cause any actual damage, but your 'gang' caused a lot of humiliation around the school."
"In my defence sir, I did not involve in any money-taking, not to mention the fact that many others participated in more dares than I did-"
"I'll give one more example, I'm sure you're dying to go to homeroom. April 19th, 1:30PM. The school closed down for a day after a certain someone thought that a swarm of wasps would brighten up the students of the school!"
"Okay sir, I don't know why that's on my record, considering that Hajime was the one who stood on the nest-"
"You don't get any plausible deniability here Akio, you were there and to me, that's all that matters! Anyways, I'm carrying myself away here. The main reason I called you in here is because I want you to understand what I'm expecting from you for the rest of your years here. I can see from the last month that you've stopped pulling most of your crazy antics, but I want to make sure that you'll keep this attitude to your education. Although it's good to have fun, you need to focus more on your studies or else you'll be blown away by the rest of the students in your grade. Consider this semester to have been your tutorial, your actions will have severe consequences from now on. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir. No offence sir, but looking at that file, I'm surprised that it's not a couple of inches thicker-"
"Get out. I've seen enough of you to last me the rest of my lifetime. Do you want me to overdose and die right here? Of course you don't!" For a moment, Akio was too stunned to speak. "Okay sir, you have a good day."
"Damn, that was an eye-opener and a half. Crap, I really need to head straight to homeroom, Miss Kyoran is probably freaking out over my absence-" Akio's trail of thought was interrupted by a group of people that would have preferably remained off the list of people he would interact with today. "Hey retard!" Akio turned around by instinct, only to find Kai Meguro and the rest of his group laughing their heads off. He was certainly annoyed when he said: "Hello, Kai." He decided to piss the rest of the group off by saying: "Hello, other people." The strongest reaction to this came from Ally, a boisterous girl whose history with Akio began in elementary school. "Eh? How do you not remember my name, asshole? We went to that crappy summer camp in middle school together, you gave me a broken leg! I get not knowing me since it was a few years ago, but what about Takashi, Aimi, Hoshi-" Her rant was interrupted by her boyfriend, Zhang, calming her down with a shoulder rub. "Geez girl, it's a Friday, why are you in such a mood? If we don't get a detention today we could go to my grandma's for some Peking, go to the beach, even light some traffic cone fireworks-" Kai gave them a bulging-eye stare which made them both back down, at least temporarily. Before someone else could say another argument-inducing statement, Akio attempted to escape the conversation. " Look guys, on any other day, I would enjoy you guys bitching on, but I'm really in a rush to homeroom-"
"Don't worry, we'll walk you there! Although you don't see us much in them, we have classes too you know," said Kai, putting his arm around Akio as the cluster of students walked swiftly to their varied homerooms. Although Akio had hoped to keep the issue of his bruises for another day, he decided to find out the status of their situation. "So Kai…are we good after yesterday?" Kai seemed confused by the question, almost offended that Akio asked such a question. "Of course, of course! I won't lie, you really gave us a hand in that fight, you must have taken down at least five of those Young Offenders all on your own!" On Thursday, Akio had finished his shopping when he noticed Kai and his friends fighting against the Young Offenders, a rival gang who were doing everything they could to interfere with their activities. Akio was completely fine with letting Kai and the others get a taste of their own medicine, yet Kai's request for help attracted Akio to the centre of the chaos. Although he had some bruises and his legs were sore, he was glad to see that those from both sides had it worse than him. Masahiro stepped in to confirm Akio's true contribution to their fight. "Actually, it was 4 and a half, the half being more so collateral damage after you threw that meat stick Tora Tanaka into the runt with prosthetic legs." Like a domino effect, Benjiro spoke up against Masahiro. "Masahiro. Shut up. Thanks." Benjiro usually had nothing worthwhile to contribute to a conversation, yet the sight of seeing Masahiro assert his intelligence motivated Benjiro to take it one step further. "Oh brother, these two. Two of the smartest kids in the school and they hate each other for it. In fact, if they're so smart as all of my teachers proclaim them to be, then why can't they infer that they're making these conversations awkward?" Akio's thoughts were interrupted by Kai refocusing the conversation. "As I was saying Akio…I, and the rest of us, hold nothing against you, I guess you could say that we are now in your debt. If you have a problem, no matter what, we'll have your back." The stare that he gave Masahiro mid-sentence was not enough to restrict him from piping up again. "As long as it's not expensive." Zhang seemed to have absorbed Ally's frustration as he directed it towards Masahiro, saying: "Well slap my balls and call me a bitch, we had ten seconds where you didn't butt in with useless crap in hand! Do I need to tell Akio about your-"
"One word, starting with M." This was all that Masahiro had to say to keep Zhang quiet for good. "Yeah, I'll call you if I need anything," affirmed Akio as they reached Akio's homeroom. "You better count on it!" chortled Ally as the others continued to move through the corridor and Akio headed into the classroom. Miss Kyoran was not a fan of tardiness and was certainly no different when it came to Akio Shibuya. "Akio Shibuya! Care to explain why you're so late?"
"Sorry miss, Principal Shinjuku wanted a conversation with me. You can give him a detention if you want to!" Miss Kyoran rolled her eyes as Akio headed for his seat situated next to Mikio. Being such a curious man, Mikio wanted to hear all about the encounter with Principal Shinjuku. "So, how was your meeting with the principal? Let me guess, you failed that history test with flying colors and Principal Shinjuku wanted to extend his gratitude?"
"Ah Mikio, you're always right. No, he was just giving me a lecture on behaviour standards or something along those lines. You can have your 'bear spray' back if you want it."
"Oh Akio, how you do go on. That gift will be in your possession for the rest of your life Akio, treasure it!" Akio told him to talk to the hand as he placed his books on his desk. "For such a star student, Mikio can act like such a funny dumbass at times," Akio pondered with a stupid grin on his face. "I suppose I can't complain though, that's one of the things I love about him."
Lunchtime came at the speed of light as Akio's friendship group grovelled at the slop that had been provided for sustenance. Well, everyone apart from Hajime, he would passionately defend his positive opinion of the Friday lunch to those with closed ears. A new addition had temporarily joined their table as Akari had sat next to Mikio so she could let him know all about the gossip. Whilst Mitsuda, the sole woman in the group, was happy to see Akari bring more femininity to the lunchtime conversation, she expressed her criticism of her seat-stealing with the occasional stare of disgust. Intentionally or not, Akari always spoke in a loud manner, it helped to keep the couple united with the group conversation but the annoyance of the neighbouring tables was silent yet deadly. "Babe, you can read our texts to know how much I wanted to go to this party, but I'm going to visit my grandma this weekend, remember?"
"Mio? I thought she was the one who woke up during her funeral and then died from shock?"
"No no silly, did you really believe that story? That was my other grandma, Peik-Lin! Honestly Mikio, you really ought to put your smarts into other places than your books!" The whole group was utterly confused by her last statement, everyone knew that Akari made that story up yet she still spoke of it like it truly happened. Whilst Kazuma, the calmer of the group and least prone to judge smiled and nodded, Hajime looked at Mitsuda with shock as he saw evidence of Mitsuda's theory first-hand. Mitsuda had theorised that Mikio was a succubus who was stealing Akari's intelligence over the many years that they had stayed together, Hajime had been a denier but was slowly but surely leaning towards Mitsuda's side. Whilst the rest of the group waited for Akari to realise what she just said, Hiroto, a man who spoke nothing but his truth and was an outspoken hater of Akari's babble. "Akari, what the actual hell are you blabbering on about?" Hiroto had a mouthful of food but even bad manners wouldn't stop him from calling out dumbassery. Nevertheless, Akari had blocked out Hiroto's comment as she became fully endowed with her phone's new notification. "Sorry Mikio, the girls need me. I'll see you after school though?"
"Yeah, I'll see you then." Akari kissed Mikio as she strutted towards the other end of the cafeteria. Whilst Hajime was someone whose presence on the table was certainly less visible than the others, he was never afraid to comment on Mikio and Akari's acts of affection. "Mikio, we get it, you have a girlfriend. Now, can you please show some shame and keep your love to yourselves?"
"Don't take it personally asshole, I'm sure you'll all find someone to love. Even you Hiroto, it has to rain men some day!" Hiroto's desperate attempts to rebut the assumption were interrupted by Akio, who said: "Mhm, keep believing your delusions." Akio focused the conversation on Akari's topic of conversation with Mikio. "Anyways, what's this about a party, eh?"
"You remember Cho Hiyazaki, right? You know, long brown hair, had the weird freckles-"
"She rejected Hiro in front of the entire elementary school?"
"Oh right, I know who you mean." Akio had to do everything in his power to keep his laughter in as Mitsuda had reminded Akio of a memory that he remembered in vivid detail. Mikio continued to inform the others of the event. "So, after months of convincing her family and the neighbours, her parents are out of town and they've allowed her to throw the party! The whole grade's essentially been invited so it's going to be something wild for sure." Mikio's words were met with confusion from Hajime. "Really, I didn't get an invite, did any of you?" Akio, Hiroto and Kazuma shook their heads, whilst Mikio and Mitsuda did not do anything of the sort. Even Mikio was shocked to hear that Mitsuda had received an invite to the party. "It may come as a surprise to most of you, but you lot aren't the only people I speak to. Hiro and I had many playdates with her over the years, she had invited me before the party was even confirmed!" Hiroto gave a look of disgust in Mitsuda's direction whilst Hajime even looked a little hurt by the statement. Mikio's question certainly brought more excitement to the group however. "Now, since I don't have my girlfriend to go with, I need a wingman for the party. Any takers?" Akio and Kazuma's hands immediately shot up whilst Hiroto and Hajime kept their hands on the table. "Oh Akio, I knew you would say yes! Sorry Kazuma, if it wasn't Akio then it would have been you."
"Oh it's fine Mikio, I had gym practice anyways…" Kazuma added some fake sniffling to really emphasise the 'pain' he was feeling. Even though Hajime didn't put his hand up, he sounded offended when he said: "Well…we'll just have our own house party then, rub it in your faces! But seriously, you two are going to have a blast, I know it." Akio was happy knowing that the rest of his friends were able to take the lack of an invitation on the chin. "Yeah, of course I'll have a good time Hajime! You never know, I could meet 'the one' tonight…" As soon as Akio mentioned 'the one', Hiroto was equipped with a barrage of insulting words against Akio. "Oh, can someone PLEASE shut him up!" Everyone was getting involved as the constant insults, accusations and rebuttals resulted in a sound of unintelligible babble.
"So…if you use that strategy, then I think you should be able to activate the second phase of the boss fight without needing the Draconian Scythe. Anyways, I seriously have to go now, don't worry about paying me back Kazuma!" Akio waved off his group of friends as they continued down the street without him. Heading into his house with haste, he headed up to his room in order to decide an outfit for the party. The party had already started without him, getting there in the next 30 minutes was pivotal as Akio was expecting the party to be shut down shortly after it began. Sorting through his sparse closet, he decided on a Hawaiian shirt along with some cargos and a pair of sunglasses. Akio looked at himself in the mirror for a second, he was unsure of how he would cope in such a new and profound situation to him, he never thought someone would be willing to throw an American-like party in such a judgemental area like Nakakoshi. As he took a deep breath, he realised that all of the other partygoers were likely having the same thoughts as he was. He smiled at himself in the mirror and headed downstairs and hoped for a swift exit. Unfortunately for him, his mother was immediately made aware of his presence. "Akio, you look adorable in that outfit! Speaking of which, why are you all dressed up like that?" Akio knew the jig was up, but he thought there could be a chance, depending on the words that came out of his mouth. "Oh, didn't I tell you a couple of weeks ago? There's a party at Cho Hiyazaki's house tonight, and-"
"NO. You know how I feel about you going to those sort of parties, it's just not right." Damn, he was absolutely busted. Yet, this was an issue that Akio would defend his viewpoint with his life. "You know mom, I could just stay in bed tomorrow-"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT. Do you know-" Roman had caught wind of the argument between Akio and Ichika and wanted to diffuse the situation quickly. The first method that came to mind? Seducing his wife. "Hey, hey, just calm down a bit, beautiful," stated Roman with a voice that Ichika would have associated with a dashing prince. Visibly flustered, Ichika babbled: "S-sure…I suppose I was getting a bit out of control there…hah." Akio's awkward stare in their direction was all that was needed to break the lustful gaze that the couple held with each other. "Anyways, I completely agree with your mother, Akio. Your education should be your top priority at your age, we certainly don't want you to fall behind, or even worse." A misconstrued sentence that Akio struggled to blurt out in his defence was immediately struck down by a frustrated mouthful from Roman. "You just don't get it, do you? Come on, we're going for a drive." Akio sighed and headed for the car as Roman whispered something in Ichika's ear that made her giggle a little too loudly. As soon as Roman entered the car, he immediately relaxed his face, leading to an awkward silence as Akio was unsure of what was to come next. Roman decided to break the silence by saying: "Don't worry, I'm not planning on giving you a lecture or anything. If I did, I would end up stumbling and fumbling and you would be giving me a pep talk."
"Okay…so why are we driving then?"
"Tell me Akio…where does this Cho Hiyazaki girl live?" Akio's face lightened up significantly as a big smile spread across his face. "Of course I was going to let you go to a party, they're essentially what define your teen years! I would know myself after the many, many parties I attended back in Andalusia."
"Dad, you're genuinely an amazing person. I'm pretty sure that she lives at 20-9, her house is supposedly hard to miss."
"A big house eh? That must mean rich parents…she's a keeper Akio, a keeper!"
"Dad, don't say things like that! I only got invited to the party because of Mikio and Akari, it's like they know everyone in this city!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Hey, that address isn't too far from here, I'll get the prince to the ball ina minute."
"Haha, real funny. Wait, what are you going to say to mom? If she finds out I was at the party, she's going to lose a child and then become a widow!"
"Relax, I've got it covered. In your friend group, who's the most likely to invite people over to their house?"
"Hmm, probably Hiroto?"
"Ohhh, I haven't forgotten about that knucklehead…anyways, I'll call your mother and tell her that I've dropped you off at Hiroto's house for a few hours."
"But-"
"Say no more Akio, I've got some contingencies for our master plan. I'll drive out a bit before I make the call because I can already hear the music." A quick turn at a tight junction led to the view of Cho's house becoming all too visible. "Wow!" exclaimed Roman. "You weren't lying about the house, it's huge!"
"Wow, even I don't remember the house being this big though…"
"Anyways, the time is now 7PM. I'll pick you up at around…10:45?
"Sure, sure, that's fine by me. I really have to go now, I'll see you later!"
"Remember Akio! Only drink beverages with five percent alcohol, and I'll throw you to the tiger if I smell any drugs on you!" Akio waved him off as Roman sped away, leaving him at an event that seemed like it could gobble him up with one bite.
Akio had remained in place for about 30 seconds since Roman had left him at Cho Hiyazaki's house. Frozen in place wouldn't be the best way to describe Akio in that moment, but he certainly felt hesitant to move forward and into the heart of the party. Was he expecting something bad to happen? Had he lost the confidence he had, now that he was in a unrecognisable situation? Akio wasn't certain what was stopping him from moving, but he knew that he didn't need any unnecessary attention. He took a deep breath and counted. One. Two. Three. One step turned into two, two steps turned into three and three steps turned into a stride as Akio headed inside the castle-like abode. Whilst Akio was certain that Cho's house had neat decorations that complimented its modern style, blasting music and darkness frequently dotted with flashing technicolour lights made any form of beauty unrecognisable. Weaving in and out and sliding his way through unaware partygoers, Akio was certain that neither Mikio nor Mitsuda were inside the house. After weaving through more people from his grade, he finally reached the backyard, certainly less packed but holding a more chaotic atmosphere. It didn't take too long for Akio to locate Mikio, who was talking with a girl who looked like she went to Nakakoshi City High School. Drunk off of his head, Mikio was yapping so much yet not saying anything of substance. "So then I was like, skabow! You need to tell the foreman to blow up the place." The girl seemed relieved that this drunken fool wasn't flirting with her, but she needed a reason, any reason possible, to escape this conversation. "Yeah, yeah, haha. O-Oh no, I'm having a baby, I need to go!" Mikio waved her off with a gleeful face as he turned and recognised Akio. "Akio, my man! Glad you could make it, I was running out of people to talk to, you know? Say, that girl I was talking to, was she actually…pregananont?" Akio was certainly aware of the word Mikio was trying to unsuccessfully pronounce, but he let Mikio bathe in his own thoughts by saying: "I'll…I'll let you decide." Mikio grinned as he took Akio to the true heart of the party, just seeing Mikio become so confident in such a rambunctious setting was all Akio needed to match the atmosphere and to truly let himself have some fun.
Hours had passed and after some dancing, drinking and drunken flirtations, Akio stumbled onto Cho's front lawn to take a little break. His legs were situated on a cold pavement which brought relief to Akio as the summer nights in Nakakoshi didn't feel radically different to its days. Through some successful conversation, Akio had bagged himself the numbers of two different ladies, but his incomprehensible scribbles left him little hope of finding the right number. Akio took a deep breath and laid his body on the inviting grass, his head hitting the ground a little too fast after receiving an accidental injury from another partygoer. "Ah, my head. That idiot Kurasawa didn't even apologise for headbutting me! Ah well, I'm not in the mood to be angry at this point." Akio smelled his breath before continuing his train of thought. "Yeesh, I'm going to need to find some mints before I go home, hopefully dad will have some." As a faint whooshing sound could be heard in his ear, Akio felt very enticed to finish the rest of his beverage. "Ugh…I know I shouldn't make myself more incriminating, but this pineapple cider is pretty damn good…" As he took another sip, he felt himself begin to cough, cough some more. After a few seconds, he was violently choking as he desperately clinged for some air to enter his lungs. Panic overtook Akio as he couldn't even lift himself off the floor nor grab the attention of anyone nearby. He felt himself slowly pass out, knowing that he was teetering between life and death. Luckily for him, the choking subsided and Akio was finally able to receive some air into his lungs. Between desperate pants, he thought: "Damn, what the hell was that? Was there something in my cider? I don't know anymore, it seems that I really brushed death there-" A rush of heat collided with him as Akio was sent flying into the concrete-ridden road. Through his temporarily dazed vision, he slowly turned his head to discover a blurred mix of flurrying orange colours. As his vision slowly returned to normal, he realised what had happened. Cho Hiyazaki's house was burning alight.
Akio needed a moment to fully realise what was happening. Standing in shock, he noticed many people running from the scene and many more having to be dragged into the arms of safety. All Akio knew was that fireball would spread, and many more would perish. Scanning the clusters of partiers running from the scene, he was unable to find Mikio amongst them, only sending fear through Akio's mind. He remembered from a previous drunken conversation that Mitsuda had left early, meaning that his mind was fully set on rescuing Mikio. As he began to run towards the backyard in which Mikio had planned to stay for the duration of the party, he bumped into Ally, someone he didn't expect to find at this party. "Akio? Oh thank god you're alright!" Ally quickly hugged him but was shocked when Akio turned to face the direction of the fire. "Akio, please don't go back in there, it's an absolute nightmare!"
"I need to find Mikio, I know that he's still in the backyard! Call the rest of your gang, they'll help people to reach the hospital!"
"I already have Akio, please be safe!" Akio rushed through to the backyard, shoving passerbys into the direction of safety. When he reached the backyard, horrors he never thought he would see in his lifetime awaited him. Dozens screaming and writhing in pain, flames consuming the charcoal bodies of the already dead, Akio had no choice but to persevere onwards. Mikio was perched up against a burning wooden fence, which Akio removed him from quickly. "Mikio!" No response, but Akio was thankful when he could still feel Mikio's heart beating. "I'm not sure if you can hear me, but just know that I'm getting you the hell out of here! Wait a minute…" Akio noticed a hooded figure at the top of a hill, staring down upon the burning populace. Akio was inclined to find Mikio a place of safety and confront them but a voice inside his head stated: "Run…get out of here." Akio quickly apologised for the pain that he knew would come from moving Mikio as he placed him onto his shoulder. As he hobbled along the side path to the front yard, he locked eyes with a conscious man who seemed unable to move himself to safety. Akio takes the second partygoer onto his back as he reaches the crowd located on the street. Without a second to spare, Kai Meguro and the rest of his group rush down the street on their motorbikes, Kai having stopped his bike right in the vicinity of Akio and his casualties. "Kai! Get these two to the hospital, ASAP!"
"Alright, you got it! I know this one is Mikio, but who's the other one?"
"I don't know, but it shouldn't be a problem! Get going!" Kai zoomed off with his two passengers, the others following suit with their own passengers soon after. The world began to spin for Akio as the many voices of confusion, pain and panic meshed into a form of gibberish. Akio tried to force his body to keep going, to save one more, yet he found himself on track to hitting the trampled grass. As he lay on the ground, leading to a few people surrounding him, Akio was unable to fight his slow fall into unconsciousness. Perhaps this was the end of a bad dream, Akio thought, begging to be true. I'll wake up, and I'll be all the wiser.
Akio's eyes slowly opened as he awoke to the sun shining through his shutters. As he adjusted himself to his surroundings, he had a feeling of uncertainty. What was reality, and what was an illusion? The sound of delicate songbirds chirping outside certainly provided some justification for Akio to believe that it was just a horrible dream, as he thought: "That was an awful dream, maybe I should listen to my mom when it comes to things like that." As he changed into some loungewear and began his descent to the living room, he encountered his mother and father sitting at their dinner table with eyes dredged in lifelessness. Their mid-range television was broadcasting a news report, seeing the words 'BREAKING NEWS' plastered across the screen made Akio think that no other channel would be broadcasting other matters. " A perfect little city by the coast, now swarming in tragedy. Just last night, an explosion engulfed a house in flames, leaving many dead. It has been reported that a party, held by Cho Hayazaki from Nakakoshi City High School, was happening during the explosion, hence the high death and injury tolls. 90 have already died, leaving the majority with major and minor injuries. The situation could have become a lot worse if a group of good samaritans, a gang known as the Dirtbag Drifters, came in to help transport the injured to the hospital-" Roman turned off the TV, he had heard the same information ring again and again in his ears. All Akio could mutter was: "Oh my god, last night did happen…" His words must have been heard as Ichika turned to face Akio, and began to cry. "Not here, Ichika, not here. Come with me." Roman guided Ichika to their backyard as Akio took his usual seat at the dining table. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, or if he was even feeling anything at all. He felt as if he was…impure. Before his mindless staring could continue any longer, the vibrations from his phone snapped him back to reality. A group call had been initiated by Kazuma and Akio was one of the last to join. "Oh, Akio joined. Hey, are you feeling alright? Did the doctor say anything about your wounds?" Akio was a little confused about Kazuma's question, he couldn't even feel any wounds, yet he could see in his camera that his face was riddled with bandages. "I…I just woke up, I thought it was just a bad dream."
"Just be glad that you didn't end up like Mikio, apparently he's stuck in the hospital for a few days until his burns heal." Hearing Mitsuda's voice, Akio felt a little relief as he was thankful that his assumption hadn't contributed to her death. "Mitsuda, I'm so glad that you're here. Are you alright?"
"No…no, not really. I'm glad I had left the party before it happened, but there are so many people that I can't get into contact with. I'm not even sure if I know anyone else who survived this." Mitsuda's eyes showed no more tears available to cry. "I'm sorry Mitsuda, seriously. I…I need to see Mikio soon, see how he's doing then."
"I won't lie to you Akio, I'll be surprised if your parents let you leave your house unsupervised, this town is definitely not safe anymore!
"Hiroto, you know my parents can be reasonable, I'm sure they would let me go." Hiroto gave a sigh and a little shrug as Hajime sought to gain further information on the party. "Say Akio, what was it really like at that party? I heard you saved Mikio and some girl too, you must have saw some things-" Hajime paused himself when he saw Akio's reaction to his question. Akio's chest felt as if it was compressing in on itself and cold chills accompanied some trembling throughout his body. By the time he was able to calm himself down, his friends had all taken notice of Akio's reaction. "Akio…I think you should maybe have some time for yourself. We weren't there last night so we couldn't help you out in the way that you need, even though we wish we could."
"Huh? Oh, I guess you're right Kazuma. I'll talk to you guys later, I hope you're all doing well." Akio hung up the call and put his hands on his face. Deep breaths didn't seem to help him either. Just then, Roman and Ichika returned to the living room, Akio standing up to greet them. "Hey there Akio, how are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling alright, I suppose. Dad, what are the bandages for?"
"Oh, you got a few bruises and cuts from your fall. The doctor said that you must have exhaled a lot of smoke, I'm guessing the alcohol may have been a factor as well."
"Oh, alright, I'm glad I can't feel any pain from my injuries." Akio took a pause as he took another deep breath. "Who…who was the bastard that did this to us?"
"Akio-"
"It's fine Ichika, his anger is understandable. From the people I've talked to, nobody has a concrete theory. Some are saying it could have been terrorist group, a rogue arsonist, even an enemy government. I think it could have been a faulty gas pipe, but I'm not entirely sure myself. All I know is that this city is divided." Through tears, Ichika gave Akio a warm hug. "I'm so proud of you, I know you must have felt scared yet you still put your life on the line. You're a true firefighter Akio, I know some of my co-workers who would have ran away from a situation like that." With tears in his eyes, Roman added: "You're a true Shibuya, Akio. A true Shibuya…" Akio felt like he needed to cry but he couldn't even force himself to do so. His pain that he felt was substituted for a dose of temporary embarrassment. "You don't need to cry. Honestly, I'm fine. I'm just going to have some time for myself though, I…I need to talk to my friends."
"Take all the time you need son. It seems like the whole town has went radio silent today."
"I figured…" muttered Akio as he took the stairs to his room, Ichika and Roman hugging each other as they watched him walk out of sight. Entering his room, he flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. With a quieter tone, Akio began to ramble. "Oh my god. This really happened. All those people, they're…gone. Damn it, I know I could have went back in there! Why did I decide to value Mikio's life anymore than someone else?"
"Don't blame yourself too much, son. You did all you could." Jumping from his bed, Akio was quick to realise that it was not his dad's voice, rather it was similar to an old man's husky tone. "Woah, you're that same voice from the party! Who the hell are you, and why are you inside of my head?"
"Shhh! You don't need your parents to suspect you of anything else!" Calming down, Akio sat in his chair and placed his hands on his head. "Okay then, I'll ask the first question. I'm not hallucinating, am I?"
"No, I presume that's not a sign of good news for you. Let's just say that this whole thing is complicated, but I can assure you that I'll be around for a long time."
"You're very charming, old man. Speaking of which, do you have any name that you would like me to call you?"
"My name is Botan Aoyama, so call be Botan. I worked at the Creator Corporation until…well, let's just say that something catastrophic happened."
"The Creator Corporation? I swear they were based in the United States…why did you travel all of the way to Nakakoshi then? Please don't tell me that we were prophesied to meet or I don't know what I'll do."
"Not really, after a few months on the lam, I found that your little city was one of the limited areas that didn't provide any sort of surveillance that would be able to detect me. You were the first suitable host that I found after a little recon and that takes us up to today. Actually, I shouldn't call you a host, I'm not intending on us two having a parasitic relationship."
"Ugh…what are you actually talking about? A better question, how did you get inside of my head?"
"Well, you may have remembered feeling like you were choking on something when you were drinking in the front yard. Well, your open mouth was the only entrance to your body and I didn't want to wait for another chance. Don't worry, everyone has a hard time when the Soul adjusts to a new body." Now, Akio's brain was overloaded, not only had his life been turned upside down a few minutes ago but his perception of life was slowly starting to radically change. "Okay, Souls? I'm sorry but this is a lot to take in. It doesn't help that I've barely even got over the fact that last night happened, and-"
"Akio, was it? Hold out your hand." Botan's request certainly halted the flow of conversation as Akio now felt that his social position was not comfortable enough to ask for further information. He stood up and held his arm at an obtuse angle, waiting for further instructions. "Now, tense the muscles in your hand and send it to the ceiling I think you'll be surprised by what you see." What the hell does 'it' refer to? Akio had no idea how to make the tensing of his muscles any different than normal but he didn't want to risk Botan messing with his nervous system or kidneys. All Akio thought was: "Send it to the ceiling. Send it to the ceiling." Tensing his hand, he was certainly surprised to see a thick string of a green substance leave his palm and cement itself onto Akio's ceiling. Now, not only was his brain malfunctioning but a severe panic was running through his body. "Botan, I can not have that sticking on my ceiling, my parents will kill me! How do I get bring it down?"
"Oh, just tense the muscles in your hand again, it should do the trick." Tensing the muscles yet again, he found that the substance swiftly returned under his skin. As he tried to locate where the substance had escaped to, he noticed that his green veins were certainly a lot darker in colour. "Okay Botan, I need a detailed explanation for this. What was that thing." Akio could hear Botan take a deep breath as he seemed to prepare himself to say a paragraph of information. "Your ability has been nicknamed as the Breath of Gaia hundreds of years prior to our meeting. Before you, I used to own your ability, but as I said earlier, a catastrophic event saw the ownership transfer to yours truly. You have the power to control that substance with your own free will, it was quite a feared ability back in my days because it was not only useful for battling but for its healing abilities also. Now, I don't know exactly how or why the previous owner of the Soul stays with the new owner, but until you die, I will be stuck in this body."
"I can heal people as well? Jesus, this is a very powerful Soul, huh?"
"It's certainly a high-range Soul, but there are so many out there who could beat even the most experienced with this ability. Though, I would guarantee that if you talked to 10 others with Souls of their own about the Breath of Gaia, at least 7 of them would know."
"I'm sorry for asking so many questions, but are these Soul thingies related to what went down last night?"
"It would be highly likely, I mentioned that this was a city that I couldn't be surveilled in, but it wouldn't take a genius to work out where my journey came to a halt. There's a high probability that someone was assigned to take me out using any means necessary, meaning that our paths crossing had devastating consequences for you."
"Oh, wait-"
"I need to make one thing very clear Akio. You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about your newfound ability, otherwise you might not find them alive by the next morning. Understand?"
"Loud and clear Botan. Also, you…you won't try to take over my body, will you?"
"Even if I had the power to, I couldn't do something like that to someone in your mental state. Plus, I think that you and I are going to get along well whilst we're stuck together."
"Okay, okay. Every answer is only leading me to more questions to ask, but I suppose we have plenty of time to discuss them in the future." Akio was about to test his newfound powers in further detail until Botan remembered one more vital detail. "Wait, Akio! I have one more minor ability to show you. For this, I need you to breathe in, then exhale as if you're evacuating all of the air in your lungs." By this point, Akio had gained confidence in the instructions that Botan gave to him, thus motivating him to follow his method step by step. Slowly but surely, a green and noxious gas came out of his mouth. In shock, Akio quickly scuttled to open a window before someone nearby inhaled it. "This minor ability was the justification for this Soul's nickname being the Breath of Gaia. It causes extreme irritation to the skin, yet its usefulness in a fight is limited due to its preparation time." Silence fell across the room as Botan sensed that Akio had another burning question to ask him. Deciding not to implore Akio to ask his question, the silence lasted a few seconds before Akio mustered up his words. "Now that I have this ability, have I gained a new rank or social status?"
"Well, I'm not so sure about a 'rank' because you're not aligned with the Creator Corp or any other group in fact. But, I suppose you can take solace in the fact that you're joining the localised Soul Community!" Botan could sense that Akio had some sarcasm to refute his latest statement, so he implored Akio to test his newfound abilities. As he slowly began to inform himself of his Soul's limitations and what he needed to use his abilities in the way he intended, he slowly began to realise the situation that he had unintentionally got himself involved in. If the Creator Corp had sponsored a firebombing that killed dozens to destroy one Soul, there were no limitations for the acts of brutality that could be employed against him.
Around an hour after Akio began his practice with his new Soul, a young octogenarian trudged his way up to his bedroom to find his daily medication. Often referred to as Mr Arigato by the Shibuyas and the Hangais that neighboured him, he searched high and low in his traditional chamber for his Lisinopril bottle. Pushing his cross and family photo aside, he located the bottle in the far corner of a bedside drawer. Standing up with a look of glee on his face, he found himself facing the direction of the Shibuya's house, more specifically, Akio's bedroom. He was certainly shocked to find Akio in his room, seeing as the weekend was never right without his nap being interrupted by the chatter of his friend group. Yet, further and horrifying shock came from Akio dangling from his ceiling with a string of a greenish substance, despite him not gripping the string in question. He had never seen anything so profound in his lifetime, and his old body knew only to faint.