Inside the S-1 Mansion…
A day later, Marachii walked down the mansion's stairs, only to find Fujii and Luca gathered in the living room, watching something on TV and laughing hysterically.
"Look at him!" Fujii laughed. "He doesn't know what to do!"
"I wonder what she thinks," Luca remarked. "She seems just as awkward as he is."
Once Marachii got to the living room, he saw them watching camera footage of Dachii and Kazue, sitting at a table inside a shopping district in Asuka.
"What are you two doing?" Marachii asked. "What is this?"
"We're watching Kazue try and woo your brother," Fujii explained. "Wanna join? It's really funny!"
Marachii groaned.
"Don't worry," Luca assured. "In case you wanna watch it later, it's all being recorded right now as we speak."
"I bet it is."
Meanwhile, in Asuka…
"How was your day, Dachii?" Kazue asked.
"It was…normal."
"That's great! So, what do you want to do?"
Dachii scratched his head. "No clue. We're being watched right now, by the way."
"What?"
"Never mind…" he said. "So your magic…is making candy?"
She gave a thumbs-up. "Resident sweet-tooth, at your service!"
"Like…all kinds?" he questioned."
"Yep! Watch!"
She held out her hand, gumballs appearing in it. She then took her other hand, which formed a lollipop. After a few minutes, the entire table was covered with licorice, chocolate bars, bubblegum, peanut butter cups, cookies, and even cake, among many other forms of candy.
"Sorry…" she nervously laughed. "I might have went a little overboard."
"It's fine…this is pretty cool," Dachii replied.
"I can fight with candy too," she added. "But it's nothing special. If you saw me in the Tryouts, you'd understand."
"Oh. That's fine…"
He scanned her appearance. "Is that hair color intentional?"
He pointed to her purple hair and eyes. "It matches the candy you make. It looks…nice."
"Thanks!" she said. "It's…natural though. It's not very usual for a commoner to have a unique hair color like this, though, so I'd count myself pretty lucky."
"You're…a commoner?"
"Yeah," she admitted. "I've got tons of noble friends, like Hikari, Akari, Nishiyama, even Tsugumi tolerates me, but I'm not of their status. This military thing is a big boost for me!"
She eyed him, curious. "What status are you? From where you come from?"
"Well," Dachii explained. "There isn't really…status, in my home. Not like here. It's either you're rich, or you're poor. Or middle-class, I guess."
"No nobles or royalty?" she inquired.
He shook his head. "That king and queen stuff is just considered fantasy. Something you learn about in high school."
"High…school?"
"Don't ask. It's as boring as it sounds," Dachii assured her.
"Do you guys have a military system?" she wondered. "Like ours?"
"Let me put it this way," Dachii stated. "The military there is a whole lot bigger and more one-dimensional. There is no ranked squads, there is no Magic, there is no tryouts to get in, and there are no Generals. They drag you from whatever house you live in, if you're able-bodied, and they put you under a chain-of-command and make you fight. With guns and bombs and stuff."
"Fight who?" Kazue asked.
"Other humans."
"But why?"
"Various reasons. Human life isn't black and white like over here. It's simple…but more complex."
Kazue tapped her chin. "That sounds super hectic."
"It is."
"Wanna go check out the shops?" she offered. "Maybe they're selling something good today!"
"Sure…"
He followed her as she went store to store, checking out the clothes and other exquisite items within her price range. "Man! My budget is too low for this. I still don't get paid for this military work till next week!"
"I haven't gotten paid at all…" Dachii pointed out.
"WHAT?" Kazue gasped. "You mean your General is holding out on you?"
"Huh. Oh. I don't know."
Back in the mansion, Marachii stared at Fujii. "What's she talking about?"
"Heh…" Fujii stammered. "Just ignore her, she's talking off her head again!"
Kazue picked out a black and gray jacket. "Do you think this looks good? Gray is your favorite color, right?"
"Actually…it's blue."
"Sorry! I assumed it was gray, since that's the color of your powers and all! But I guess elements don't work like that, haha!"
She found a blue jacket for him. "How about this?"
Dachii held it and studied it. "It looks…nice."
"Okay. One sec."
Before he could even process what was happening, Kazue took the jacket and came back a few minutes later with it in a bag. "Here you go!"
"Oh. Thank you."
"No problem! Now let's get out of here before the guy realizes he's still missing half the payment."
They walked further down the district when Dachii decided to ask another question. "What…made you join the military?"
"Well, I told you that I had a bunch of high-class friends," she answered. "They all planned to join and make a positive impact, so I figured I would too! After all, Hikari and Nishiyama aren't the most ferocious fighters, but they still do great!"
"That's…" Dachii realized. "Passionate."
"Yeah," she said, unknowingly getting closer to him. "Hopefully I'll be as strong as Akari one day! Do you think I can—-?"
She noticed he was looking ahead. She turned her gaze and found two boys wrestling at one of the tables in the middle of the district, an entire crowd following watching them.
"ARATA! ARATA! ARATA! ARATA!"
Between the crowd, Arata and Kiyota were arm wrestling, an intense match going on between them. Kiyota gritted his teeth as he tried to force Arata's hand down, while Arata simply sat still, laughing.
"Come on, runt! Do better!"
Kiyota used all his force to push Arata's hand but didn't even manage to move it an inch, and Arata slammed his hand on the table. "I win!"
The crowd cheered for him. "ARATA! ARATA! ARATA!"
"Man," Kazue sighed. "Can that big oaf NOT draw a crowd everywhere he goes?"
Dachii remained silent, but one member of the crowd turned around and pointed him out. "Hey, it's the Jones boy! The special one!"
The entire crowd turned around, gossiping.
"I heard he can turn into a Zharian!"
"Don't believe everything you hear, son."
"Shouldn't he be surrounded by his squad? He's our enemies' primary target!"
"Should we be around him? What if there's another attack?"
"I dunno about you guys, but I wanna ask some questions! Let's go!"
People from the crowd broke off and swarmed Dachii and Kazue, immediately shooting out questions with curiosity.
"Hey, kid, can you actually turn into a Zharian?"
"Is your mom really a Voltian?"
"Where's your brother? Did he die yet?"
"Pull off that cool orange power! Like you did months ago!"
"Uh…" Dachii looked around. "I don't know what to say to all that. Maybe one at a time…"
As they bombarded him with more questions, Arata pushed through the crowd, Kiyota right behind him. "Hey, brat! What are you doing here? Come to try and steal my shine?"
"No, not really," Dachii said.
"If it isn't Dachii of Squad S-1," Kiyota scoffed. "Haven't seen you since that Elite kicked your squad's ass."
"Yeah…"
"What are you two out here doing?" Kazue asked. "And with all these people?"
Kiyota flexed his muscles. "I'm training. I was so embarrassingly beaten by that Runea girl. I must sharpen my skills for the next encounter, so I can take that ugly little princess's spot and become the top soldier in the military. And from there, a GENERAL!"
Kazue gave him a soft clap. "Yeah, you…you do your best!"
Arata pointed at her, looking around Dachii. "What, is this candy girl your girlfriend?"
Kazue turned red. "N…no! Mind your own business!"
Arata got right in Dachii's face. "Face me next, Jones! Or are you too scared—-?"
"Okay," Dachii replied, little emotion in his voice. The crowd ooed and awed.
"Think you're tough, huh?" Arata declared. "Get in the chair!"
Dachii sat down and Arata sat opposite him, a wicked grin on his face as the crowd and Kazue watched. "Ready, set, go!"
BOOM.
Dachii easily slammed Arata's hand into the table so hard it shattered in half, and caused a massive crack in the ground nearby.
"What the hell?"
Kazue shook him, excitedly. "You won, Dachii! Great job!"
"Thanks…"
Arata pointed a finger at his face. "Run it back! I'm not done yet—-!"
BOOM.
Dachii slammed his hand into the remaining pieces of the table, breaking them further. Kiyota lifted an eyebrow. "Impressive. That physical strength is nothing to scoff at."
Dachii got up. "Okay. Done."
Later on, Kazue brought Dachii back to the front of the shopping district, where she waved him goodbye. "Thanks for meeting me here, Dachii, I had fun!"
"You're…welcome," he managed to say. "I'll…see you later."
As she left, Dachii took a deep breath. "Now for Nishiyama."
An exquisite car swerved the corner, stopping in front of Dachii. "You're Dachii Jones, right? Get in the car."
"The hell—-?"
"My little sis wants you at the crib. So by definition, you're coming to the crib."
He grabbed Dachii and put him in the car, driving off. "Name's Nagatoshi Kimura, by the way. Get ready for a wild ride."
And then he punched the car into gear.
After about five minutes, they reached the Kimura Mansion, which was even bigger than the Izanagi one. Guards were waiting at the gates, and they opened them once Nagatoshi drove inside.
"Coming through!"
He parked in the driveway to the garage, before pressing a button to open the car doors. "Out ya go, kid. I'll escort you inside."
He got out, bringing Dachii to the front door, and opened it for him, showing the vast interior of the mansion, which already had plenty of guests inside. "Ever been here before?"
Dachii nodded. "During the Hunt."
"Well, now you get to see it in its full glory. Without some pesky Hunters chasing you."
He motioned to the guests. "Don't mind them. They're just here to discuss business with my dad."
Nobu Kimura was in the middle of the house, and he stopped when he saw his son with Dachii. "Oh, you again! Son, why did you bring Mr. Jones here?"
"Your daughter wanted to see him," Nagatoshi explained. "Wouldn't stop calling my line."
"Well," Nobu said. "She should be upstairs. And son, I have company over. Please don't play your music so loud today, alright?"
"Yeah, whatever," he remarked. "Nishi! Come get your little friend!"
Nishiyama hurried down the stairs, her hair in a mess. "Coming!"
She stopped in front of Dachii, hugging him. "There's my favorite human—ish friend! How's things going with you?"
"The same," Dachii said. "Hi, Nishiyama."
"Come, let's go upstairs," Nishiyama suggested. "All these lesser nobles walking around my house like they own the place disgusts me."
"Nishiyama!" Nobu exclaimed. "Be nice to our guests!"
A man dressed in a fancy suit walked up to her. "Yes, I would imagine you would be a bit more humble, seeing as you've come downstairs looking all ragged and disheveled. That is no way to present yourself."
Nishiyama shot him a cold glare. "You do realize this is MY property you're standing in, right? I can do and look however I want it in."
With a flash of her hands, the man was paralyzed, and Nobu immediately tried to free him. "Nishiyama! Unbind him!"
"Uh-huh," she waved, dismissively, causing the man to fall to the ground as she walked up the stairs with Dachii.
"Such…such savagery!" the man exclaimed.
"My deepest apologies," Nobu stated. "My daughter can be a bit…prideful."
Nagatoshi laughed and headed to his room. "That's little old sis for ya! Teaching the old geezers a lesson!"
"Son!"
Nishiyama took Dachii upstairs, where there were at least 50 rooms, 25 on each side. "Why…do you need so many rooms?"
"Well," she said. "I have 6 bedrooms to myself. That's a need. Another 4 are closets. And then 3 bathrooms. Can't forget 2 rooms for my pets. Another one is my private bank, I don't like to keep my money in those unsecured public banks, and then we've got my library, I put cool things in there, along with my books. I've got a movie room too, that's where I watch all the cool shows being produced, and of course can't forget my observatory room, I'm a woman of the stars."
As she continued, Dachii just stared at her.
"What the…is she spoiled?" he wondered.
"And finally, I've got my exercise room. I've got to stay in shape. As for the rest, I guess they belong to my dad. I dunno. I barely bother to check."
"That's…very…interesting," Dachii noted. "Do you…use all your rooms?"
"Of course!" she exclaimed. "What good are they if they're gonna just catch dust? I sleep in a different bedroom every day!"
She grabbed his arm. "I'll take you to see them!"
She went room by room, showing Dachii the vast and spacious interiors, all of which were decorated with different colors and expensive furniture.
"Are these rooms or mini-suites?" Dachii asked.
"Whatever you think they are," Nishiyama joked. "That's what they are! Because obviously, I'm totally deserving of such luxurious spaces, don't you think?"
"I mean…you are very cute…"
She immediately wrapped her arm around him. "See? I knew you'd get it. Let's advance further!"
Before Dachii knew it, it was dark, and he was in Nishiyama's closet room, watching as she explained her various outfits. "See this, this is a dress made from pure diamonds! Do you like it?"
He yawned. "Y…yeah."
Meanwhile, somewhere else…
Kia was in a house, which appeared to be long since abandoned. She walked through the eerily dark rooms with her phone's flashlight, looking around. "Where is it…?"
She stopped at some dressers, looking through them. She found a picture of her family: a young Takashii, Marachii, and Dachii, along with her husband, Kuroten.
"What I wouldn't give to have those times again," she reminisced.
Suddenly, the air turned cold, and a voice called out to her.
"Kia…"
She dropped the photo, turning around. "Who's there?"
"Kiana…"
"Who—-?"
A shadowy figure formed in front of her, seemingly taking the shape of a man with glowing purple eyes. The figure stepped forward, placing a hand on the terrified woman's cheek.
"Kiana…"
"Who? Who are you?"
"Don't…be afraid…"
The figure disappeared into the shadows, leaving one final message.
"We shall be reunited…soon."
And then they were gone.
—-