"That's my story," Kaminari said, staring at the hospital ceiling.
Yamikuro nodded in silence. He had no idea Kaminari's past was this depressing, but that's why Yamikuro swore to himself in his mind.
'I'll never let The Watcher or Lucian hurt any of my friends again.'
That also encouraged him to turn his head to Kaminari.
"...Thank you for being my friend." He said.
Kaminari was startled for a second, but then a smirk appeared. He felt slightly embarrassed.
"We'll be best friends until the end. I swear."
After they talked with each other, two men walked in.
"Which one of you is Yamikuro Asaki?"
Yamikuro sat up on the bed.
"Me." He said without thinking twice about it.
One of the men nodded.
"You're coming with us. You have a meeting with the elites of The Hideout."
Yamikuro raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
The men ignored him and forced him to stand up.
Kaminari waved him goodbye quietly, as he was also confused. He knew who the elites were, but why would they only take Yamikuro?
Yamikuro was taken out of the hospital all the way to a big building, which he has always assumed belonged to the government.
The men opened the door and didn't follow Yamikuro in.
The room was bright, and Yamikuro fell to his knees for some reason. It felt like pressure was pushing him to the ground. Could it have been caused by the people before him?
Looking up from the ground, the eight higher-ranked elites sat behind the circular-shaped desk.
Ivy sat in the first seat on Yamikuro's left, her expression worried.
Yamikuro couldn't bring himself to look at her, since they knew each other.
Next to her was Yure, wearing a white bucket hat, black jacket, white shirt under it, and black and white pants.
And so followed more of the elites, Niar with his blue samurai-inspired outfit.
Raien Thona, who sat beside Kendra, had an oversized hat slightly tilted on his head, wore a bright colored robe on his muscular body, and a cup of coffee steamed before him.
On the other side of her was Seiji. long black hair, a sharp jawline, and somewhat skinny. He wore darker colors.
Next to Seiji was Darnell, a rather old, tanned man with a sleeveless jacket, showing his muscular arms.
And the two on his right were twins.
The head of The Hideout spoke up.
"Yamikuro Asaki, I hereby announce your execution."
Yamikuro's stomach dropped.
"Execution...?!"
Others around her looked down.
"Damn damn. What a kid he is." Raien said in his usual playful tone.
Seiji sighed, serious as always.
"He's the one Kazuhiko took under his watch... What was he thinking?"
Kendra continued.
"Killing a Resonant. Challenging Lucian Daichi, the head of the other world, is forbidden. You should've known that very well, considering you saw all of the Resonants not fight back!"
"But why aren't any of you doing anything?! You clearly have the strength for it! Just how many people have to die before you decide it's enough... He killed my mom, my dad, and Resonants in front of my eyes! He's evil!"
Kendra slammed her hands against the table.
"That is enough!"
"Execute me if that's what you think justice is... Just know you're wrong."
...
Silence grew between everyone.
But before anyone could say anything, the door creaked open.
Caelum entered with his mighty presence.
"This is a courtroom," Kendra said to him.
Caelum kneeled.
"Excuse me, but I merely wish to free Yamikuro Asaki."
Kendra stood up.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!"
Caelum smirked, walking next to Yamikuro. His white robe was flowing in the air.
"I'll need you to excuse Yamikuro for just this one time. What he did was wrong, but he's a kid. Come on, people, I'm technically a part of you, so my word should count in this."
Yamikuro noticed the number zero was written on his back.
Kendra continued in her loud, aggressive voice.
"Yamikuro Asaki will be executed. I won't hear any excuses. I have to set the law above everything else."
Caelum looked around the room.
"So this is fine by everyone in here?"
Nobody said a word.
Until—
Seiji stood up, with the number seven written on his back.
"As the head of operations, I don't see a reason to set Yamikuro free without punishment."
Raien also stood up, but he with a sigh, being way taller than the other two. He had the number eight written on his back.
"As the head of internal affairs, I say execution might be too harsh. From what I know, he's new here, and he has a personal conflict with Lucian. If we, say, give him a warning, and he happens to do it again, we can set a proper punishment for him then."
Ivy clenched her fists at the thought of Yamikuro dying, but said nothing. Her number was five, head of support and medical.
Yure, leaning back on his chair, spoke up. With number six being his.
"As the head of intelligence, I also say this isn't justice. If we kill him, what example does it set for the others? That this place is exactly like the other world? One slip up and you're gone type of world?"
Niar coughed.
"Lucian has been our enemy for a while. That shouldn't come across as a surprise, but we can't just oppose him. The pact formed twenty years ago was so we could live here in peace. Asaki has gone ahead and discarded the pact we once had, one can only guess what will happen next."
"As the head of training, I say Yamikuro should at least atone for his crimes in jail."
Darnell stood up.
"As the head of defense, I say it was partly my fault. I don't think Asaki went out of his way to fight, but he should've escaped first chance he got. A warning would be the best for everyone."
The twins were quiet as usual.
They didn't speak, and instead, they stared at the desk.
Kendra sat back down, crossing her arms.
"Fine. Yamikuro will not be executed."
"But, I will send him to jail for five years."
Everyone sat back down without saying a word.
Caelum still had a slight smile on his face, but that slowly shrank.
"Unfortunately, those terms do not work with me."
He grabbed onto Yamikuro by his cuffs.
Kendra's eyes widened.
"What do you think you're doing right now?! Answer me, Caelum!"
Caelum didn't respond. He held up Yamikuro with one hand.
He gave one last look at everyone in the room, and suddenly he started sprinting.
He didn't disappear or use super speed; he just ran, carrying Yamikuro in his hand.
"After him!" Kendra yelled, his tone full of frustration.
Seiji and Raien stood up yet again.
As Raien was stretching, Seiji moved, leaving behind a slight afterimage.
He pushed open the door elegantly and jumped onto the rooftops to look around.
Caelum and Yamikuro were nowhere to be seen, nor could he sense Yamikuro's uncontrolled power leaking.
But that's because they were somewhere away from the capital, inside a small mountain with a view over the big city.
Caelum freed Yamikuro from his cuffs.
Yamikuro, who hadn't said much, mostly because he was shocked, spoke up.
"Why are you doing all this?"
Caelum sighed.
"You're the Darkness wielder. I can't just let someone like you die."
Yamikuro raised his eyebrow. How did he know about the Darkness? He had seen him a couple of times in The Hideout, but who is Caelum exactly?
"Most think it's just a myth. But I've spent years studying the Darkness. When I saw what you did… I knew it had chosen someone again. It's said that the person chosen by it will lose control of themself and submit to the power of the Darkness."
Yamikuro was still confused.
Caelum continued.
"What interests me is how you got this power? And how are you still yourself?"
After Caelum asked his questions, Yamikuro looked over at the capital. He wasn't sure how he got his powers or how he was still himself. But thinking hard, he remembered something.
"I had this strange dream... I fought against the Darkness, and it chose me as its host. It felt so abrupt and weird until I actually found out I had the powers."
Caelum nodded, as if he understood what Yamikuro said.
"And the person you killed, it wasn't really a Resonant, was it? It was a god."
Yamikuro froze, and blinked.
"How'd you know?"
Caelum smirked.
"It's like a folklore coming to life before my eyes. It talked about gods wanting the Darkness, and how humans have kept it to themself for hundreds of years."
"There's not much I wanted to talk about with you today. If possible, I'd like to meet again."
Yamikuro wasn't sure how to feel about Caelum.
He sounded reasonable, and after all, he saved Yamikuro.
"I can drop you off at your home if you wish. Just lay low for some time."
Yamikuro nodded.
"I live at the dorms."
Caelum stretched.
And he took Yamikuro back to the dorms.
"Stay safe for now. You never know who would come for your Darkness powers." Caelum said as he turned his back on Yamikuro.
Rye had said something similar with this sticky note.
Yamikuro didn't respond. He knew he had to stay safe, but from whom?