Saya walked past Tetsu and Shoko without sparing them a glance. She was deep in her thoughts, the buzz of the school hallway drowned out by her internal musings.
Tetsu's voice broke the silence.
"Long time no see, Shoko. Have you gotten better?"
Shoko turned to him, her eyes brightening as she replied, "Yeah."
The warmth in her voice was unmistakable, revealing layers of their history that Tetsu might not fully comprehend.
Just then, the harsh clang of the school bell echoed through the corridors, signaling the start of the day.
In a sudden burst of energy, Shoko reached out, grabbing Tetsu's hand and pulling him toward the classroom. "Come on! We'll be late!" she urged, urgency lacing her words.
Tetsu, startled by her sudden contact, stammered, "Wait! I can walk by myself!"
The way she held his hand was unexpected and made him feel a mix of emotions he couldn't quite put into words.
Realizing her grip, Shoko quickly retracted her hand, her cheeks tinged with a soft shade of crimson.
"Ah, sorry! My bad!"
Her voice was even more flustered now, and Tetsu couldn't help but chuckle at her awkwardness.
Was he imagining things, or was she a bit flustered to be holding his hand? As they reached the classroom door, Tetsu swung it open, revealing a lively sea of chatter.T
he noise quickly dulled as his classmates turned to look at him. With a warm smile, a fellow classmate flung an arm over Tetsu's shoulder.
"Good morning, Tetsu!" Tetsu returned the greeting, "Good morning!"
But amidst the friendly faces, he caught sight of some classmates who glared at him, their expressions loaded with judgment and suspicion. He sighed inwardly, feeling disappointment settle in his chest.
Why did it always feel like he walked on eggshells around some people?
"What's with that look? Are you okay?" the classmate beside him asked, noticing Tetsu's brief display of discomfort.
Before Tetsu could formulate a response, the same classmate leaned in, lowering his voice.
"Wait, Tetsu. You smell like perfume." Tetsu blinked in surprise.
"Huh? Perfume?" His thoughts flickered back to Shoko, recalling how intimately she just held his hand.
It must be from her, he mused, feeling an unexpected connection to her lingering scent.
Just then, Shoko entered the room, and a wave of excitement washed over the students.
"Kobayashi!" some called out, "You're back!"
Shoko was soon enveloped by a flurry of female classmates, all jubilantly hugging her and asking if she was alright.
"Yeah. Thanks for worrying," she managed to say amidst the excitement, her smile stretching wide, making Tetsu's heart flutter.
There was something undeniably captivating about her enthusiasm. Their cozy reunion was abruptly cut short by the teacher, who reminded everyone to take their seats.
The bell rang soon after, beckoning the breaktime. Students flooded out of the classroom, busting with energy and chatter. Tetsu walked alone through the stairs, lost in his thoughts.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Saya and her group of friends, leaning against the staircase railing, engaged in animated conversation. He hesitated, tension knotting in his stomach.
Ignoring them seemed like the wisest choice, but he suddenly heard knocking sounds from behind.
Curiosity piqued, he turned slightly and recognized Saya. She was tapping her fingers rhythmically on the rail.
Morse code, he realized.
He focused, trying to decipher her silent message. Her fingers paused momentarily, and in that brief silence, he projected his thoughts:
Can you text me?
"Oh no," he finally blurted, not directly addressing Saya.
"I wonder where the bathroom is…"
"Sorry, I'll be going to the bathroom!" she told her friends, who nodded in quick understanding.
As soon as she dashed off toward the female restroom, Tetsu felt a sense of urgency that mirrored her own.
Inside the male bathroom, Tetsu glanced around to ensure he was alone. Relief washed over him, and quickly he pulled out his phone, navigating to the AAO app.
After a few moments of silence, a buzz confirmed a new message.
"Who's she?" it read.
His brow furrowed in confusion. A question mark seemed to float above his head as he replied.
"You mean Shoko? She is my classmate. Including me, Haruto, Mio, and her, we're a group."
Almost instantaneously, another reply came through.
"Isn't she the daughter of the Kobayashi company?"
His eyes widened, recalling vague murmurs of rumors regarding the Kobayashi family.
"Yea. So what?"
On the other side of the wall, Saya's expression shifted to disbelief as she read his message.
What do you mean by 'so what'? she thought, frustration pooling in her gut. The Kobayashi company was a titan in Japan, its influence pervasive.
Her father has strictly forbidden men from approaching her, she remembered darkly, recalling stories of bodyguards enforcing that rule. Yet here's Tetsu, chatting with her as if he has no idea.
Sighing, she shook her head.
This stupidly clueless guy.
Choosing her words carefully, she messaged back:
"Nothing. But I must remind you to be careful—not to accidentally reveal our identity to her."
"I know," was Tetsu's quick response, but as he typed it, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease that crept up his spine.
Meanwhile, Saya stood in the bathroom, caught in a tumult of thoughts. Images of Reiji flashed through her mind—his sharp warnings and threats unsettling her.
What if Tetsu does betray us? She pondered. His budding friendship with Shoko could complicate everything.
Maybe gathering information from her would be a wise approach.
As the break bell rang, cutting through her deliberation, the tension shifted. When lunchtime arrived, Tetsu hovered near the entrance of the cafeteria, spotting Shoko sitting alone, elegantly eating her lunch.
An unexpected pang of admiration swelled within him; she looked serene, yet there was a hint of loneliness in her demeanor. Saya navigated the cafeteria, determination set on her face.
"Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm a transfer student, Kamizaki Saya."
She slid into the seat opposite Shoko. A brief moment of silence lingered as Shoko processed the introduction.
"Oh, hi. I'm Kobayashi Shoko."
There was a polite edge to her tone.
"So. Do you need something from me?"
"No," Saya replied, dismissive. "I'm just curious about you because I saw your iconic entrance."
"Oh, you're that girl. Please forget about it, my father is just being silly. He always tries to make everything excessively flashy."
The conversation broke out as Shoko's friends approached their table.
"Shoko, you know her?" one of them exclaimed, their curiosity piqued.
"Yeah. Sort of," Shoko answered, looking bemused.
Saya, sensing the distraction, stood up.
"Oh, sorry. My friends are waiting, so I'll go back."
Grabbing her tray, she turned away, but not before noticing Shoko's gaze trailing after her with an expression she couldn't quite place.
Seated with her friends, Shoko felt a peculiar weight on her chest. She absently glanced at her lunch tray, noting a crumpled piece of paper wedged beneath her bowl of rice.
Puzzled, she lifted the paper, unfolding it delicately.
In the girls' changing room later on, with uniforms rustling and chatter filling the air, Saya found herself side by side with Shoko again.
As their eyes met, Saya couldn't help but notice the distinct glow that seemed to radiate from Shoko whenever she looked in Tetsu's direction.
"You seem… particularly glad to see Ishizawa Tetsu back," Saya remarked casually while changing into her gym clothes, hoping to glean more information.
"You know him?"
As Saya nodded, Shoko's cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink, and she busily tied the laces of her sneakers.
"Well, yes. He's… a very good friend. We've known each other for a long time."
Saya perked up, her curiosity piqued. "Oh? How did your friendship begin?"
The warmth of Shoko's memories enveloped her as she sunk into nostalgia.
"We were both the new kids at Seiryu. I remember feeling so out of place, like a small boat in a vast ocean. But Tetsu… he was like a lighthouse," she recalled, her voice softening as she generated vivid images.
Shoko's thoughts flowed freely, painting a picture of their past:
Tetsu's effervescent laughter filling the gym, his fiery determination as he played soccer, and the shared moments of youth.
Recounting her experiences, her heart brimmed with undeniable affection.
"He was just… effortlessly cool," she reflected.
"So handsome, so athletic, so bright. Everyone seemed drawn to his energy."
Another memory emerged—a snapshot of her first days at school when Tetsu and Haruto approached her during lunch, inviting her to join them.
"I was so surprised. They were so friendly and genuine."
As she shared her reflections, Saya listened intently, her expression thoughtful.
"That sounds like a truly beautiful bond," she remarked, an undercurrent of longing weaving through her voice. Shoko met her eyes, feeling a connection begin to form, one that was layered with friendship, worry, and unspoken tensions.
As they headed out to the gymnasium for their physical education class, Shoko's heart raced, and she couldn't shake the feeling—something significant was about to unfold.
Deep beneath the unassuming facade of a seemingly abandoned industrial complex on the city's outskirts, a starkly different reality unfolded.
Gleaming steel corridors hummed with the low thrum of powerful machinery, the air thick with the sterile scent of chemicals and the faint, underlying tang of fear.
This was no haven of heroes; this was the beating heart of the EERF's clandestine operations.
In a harshly lit chamber, its walls lined with complex ing equipment and ominous-looking devices, a young high school girl was secured to a reinforced platform.
Heavy restraints, cold and unforgiving, bound her wrists and ankles, her slender frame trembling with a mixture of terror and exhaustion. Her eyes, wide and bloodshot, darted between the impassive figures in white lab coats who moved around her with clinical detachment.
A scientist, his face obscured by a sterile mask, adjusted a dial on a nearby console.
With a soft click, a surge of energy coursed through the girl's body via the restraints.
Her muscles spasmed violently, her breath catching in a ragged gasp. Involuntarily, uncontrollably, the water molecules in the air around her began to writhe. Thin tendrils of moisture snaked outwards, coalescing into droplets that danced and swirled with erratic force.
A strangled scream tore from the girl's throat, a raw expression of agony and violation. The forced exertion of her power was tearing through her, a cruel puppetry of her own power.
Water erupted from unseen sources, splashing against the walls and equipment, a chaotic outburst mirroring the turmoil within her. The scientists observed the data streams on their screen, their expressions detached, noting the intensity and fluctuations of her power.
In a neighboring chamber, the scene was grimly similar, yet subtly different. A high school boy, gaunt and pale, was also restrained, his body twitching weakly in response to the relentless energy pulses.
His Kinesis, a form of telekinetic manipulation, had manifested in violent, uncontrolled shudders of the metal restraints, but now, those movements were becoming sluggish, fading. His breathing grew shallow, his eyes unfocused.
"Subject 7 is flatlining," a scientist announced with a note of clinical disinterest, his gaze fixed on the lifeless readings.
A collective sigh of disappointment rippled through the observation room.
"Another failure," one muttered, making a note on his digital clipboard.
Without ceremony, two figures in biohazard suits entered the chamber. They unstrapped the boy's limp body and dragged it unceremoniously towards a heavy steel door at the far end of the room.
The door hissed open, revealing a horrifying vista. The air within the chamber was thick with a metallic stench.
Piled haphazardly within were the contorted remains of other young people, their school uniforms tattered and stained, their bodies bearing gruesome wounds and evidence of countless cruel experiments.
This was the EERF's final resting place for their failed subjects.
With a mechanical groan, the figures tossed the boy's corpse onto the pile. One of them activated a control panel, and the heavy door sealed shut.
A low rumble filled the air, followed by the sickening hiss of ignited fuel.
Flames erupted within the chamber, licking at the lifeless bodies, consuming the evidence of their brutal ends in a swirling inferno. Ash drifted upwards, a grim testament to the EERF's ruthlessness.
The door to the experiment site hissed open once more, and an imposing figure entered.
An old man, his back ramrod straight despite his age, moved with a disconcerting stillness. His stark white hair was neatly combed back, and a pair of thick goggles obscured his eyes. Scars, intricate and disturbing, crisscrossed his face, a roadmap of past endeavors.
A significant paunch strained the fabric of his white lab coat. He surveyed the struggling girl and the empty restraint platform with a look of profound dissatisfaction.
"Still no significant breakthrough," he stated, his voice surprisingly smooth despite his grotesque appearance.
He turned and left the chamber as abruptly as he had arrived, his gaze already distant, focused on some unseen calculation.
"These specimens are proving…utterly deficient," the old scientist hissed, his voice a dry rasp that echoed in the sterile observation room.
He is Kageyama Soichi. His goggled eyes, magnified behind the thick lenses, scanned the lifeless data streams with palpable disgust.
"Their resilience is… pathetic. Their kinetic output, a mere flicker. We require subjects of far greater caliber. Individuals who can truly wield their abilities, push beyond these infantile limitations."
He punctuated his words with a sharp rap of his cane against the polished floor.
"Continue the search. Scour the databases, the latent talent registries. Locate those with exceptional potential. Untapped power. Raw, unbridled Kinesis."
A younger scientist, nervously adjusting his glasses, stammered.
"We are cross-referencing the national psychic aptitude index, Director Kageyama. Several promising candidates have been flagged…"
Kageyama cut him off with an impatient wave of his scarred hand.
"Promising is insufficient. We need prodigies. Individuals capable of withstanding significant stress, of exhibiting… unique adaptations."
A low, guttural chuckle rumbled in his ample chest, a sound devoid of any amusement, laced instead with a chilling anticipation.
"Our promise… the dawn of our new world… demands nothing less than perfection. Mediocrity will not suffice."
Suddenly, a portly assistant, his face slick with nervous sweat, shuffled forward, clutching a digital tablet.
"Director Kageyama," he began hesitantly, his voice a thin squeak.
"While reviewing the archived potential subjects… a file caught my attention. One Ishizawa Tetsu. His initial aptitude readings were… remarkably high. Off the charts, even. A potent Kinesis user."
Kageyama's gaze snapped towards the assistant, a flicker of something akin to interest glinting behind his goggles.
"Ishizawa?"
"Detail."
The assistant's fingers danced across the tablet.
"Yes, Director. Subject displayed significant control and output at a young age.
"However…" he swallowed nervously, "he was flagged as… uncooperative.
"Later records indicate he… joined the Darkside Destroyer."
A slow, appreciative smile spread across Kageyama's scarred face, a truly unsettling sight.
He let out a hearty, booming laugh that echoed through the observation room.
"Hah! The Destroyer, you say? Intriguing! Truly intriguing! A wild talent, tamed… or perhaps merely leashed. Precisely the kind of… spirited specimen we require!"
He tapped his cane thoughtfully against the floor.
"Capturing him directly, however… that would undoubtedly prove… problematic. They are fiercely protective of their assets."
His smile widened, morphing into something cruel and calculating.
"No, direct confrontation is… inefficient. We shall employ… incentive. Ishizawa is, I believe, still enrolled at Seiryu High?"
The assistant nodded quickly.
"Yes, Director. His records indicate continued enrollment, despite his… absences."
Kageyama's chuckle returned, colder this time.
"Excellent. He has attachments then. Weaknesses. His… peers. Gather a specialized retrieval team. We shall acquire a selection of his classmates."
"Their… continued well-being will serve as a potent motivator for young Ishizawa's cooperation. A little… persuasion will ensure his enthusiastic participation in our… advancements."
The malicious laugh echoed once more, a sound that promised unimaginable suffering.
Outside, the rain continued its relentless assault on Seiryu Academy. The deserted school stood silent and vulnerable in the darkness.
"Why does it suddenly rain?" Looking at the window, she questioned.
Suddenly, a deafening roar split the night as a jagged bolt of lightning descended from the storm-wracked sky, striking the roof of the main building with a violent crackle.
"Ahhh."
Shoko screamed, quickly turned to Saya, covered her ears and hugged her. Her face was pale.
The light illuminated the school for a fleeting moment, its imposing structure silhouetted against the raging storm, a dark mirror to the evil festering beneath the city, a silent promise of the terror yet to come.