The classroom emptied into the usual early morning bustle of Kanagawa's Haruka City. Trains screech across rails overheads, the sounds of car engines overtaking the chatter of walking citizens, and students in Aegis Union Academy sticking out.
"Alright, kids. Listen up." Sora dramatically spread his arms and hopped off the railing he was on. "Today's lesson is simple: the team that clears out the most Anomalies, or Rogue Specialists if ya find 'em, earns a point."
"A point?" Shirou pouted. "As in just one?"
"Yep. Just one…for today." The last part piqued some students' curiosity. "The team with the most points at the end of the week will get a prize."
Shizuka raised a hand high in the air. "And what will that prize be, Sensei?"
Sora paused and stroked his chin before replying. "I dunno. Pizza party, maybe?"
Kouichi removed his hand from his pocket and pushed his hair out of his exasperated face. "So we're just bein' unleashed like some attack dogs?"
"If you wanna see it that way, then yeah."
With her arms folded and head held high, Reina shook her head. "Unbelievable."
"Welp, good luck!" Sora gave a lazy salute and a spinning gust of wind encased him. In an instant, he vanished into thin air, leaving the students to their own devices, but not without one final request. "Don't get hurt too bad. It'd look terrible on my record."
"So, what now?" asked Riku, clearing out the silence.
"We get to searchin', obviously." Kouichi stated. For a moment, his shadow was still, then, the other shadows merged into his, sinking in the darkness below. A black shot up into the sky before landing directly in front of Kouichi, cratering the ground beneath it. Glass panes rattled and onlookers went wide-eyed at the sight. It wasn't all too farfetched to see a sight like this, but it was still shocking.
The beast, taking the form of a massive cockatrice with black plumage pulsing with black flames, red eyes and highlights, and a sinister bovine skull on its head, let out an eerie, ear-shattering screech, sending distorted ripples throughout the cityscape.
"What the hell is that?!" Reina asked, mortified as she covered her ears.
'Even if he is more reckless than all hell itself, he's still S-Rank for a reason.'
Mahiro cowered behind a surprised Shirou. "Y-You have a giant bird, Kouichi-san?!"
"Woah…" Riku gawked. "When'd this happen?"
Makoto's once blank face gained a newfound vigor. "Yes, Murakami. Pray tell, where did this come from?"
"Actually, he's a cockatrice and his name is General Tso." Kouichi corrected as his gaze shifted from his classmates back to the shadow beast, finally shutting it up with a glare. His tail snaked to his chin as he tilted his head. "Y'know…I don't actually remember when I got him. He's really just been here. Speaking of which…"
Kouichi's dark aura flared once more as his shadow extended. This time, the shadow only took the shape of an exit as Fenrir leaped out.
Kouichi turned back to his team. "General Tso'll search from the air while Fenrir searches on the ground with us."
"Never change, Kou. Never change." Shirou let out a small chuckle before following behind with the rest of the team.
While Kouichi's team marched down the street, Reina rubbed the shock from her face with the sleeve of her sweater and replaced it with a sense of leadership.
"Alright, listen up," she said firmly, gathering them with a commanding look. "Kitagawa, give me reading on Destabilized Essence Signatures."
Makoto tapped away at his smartwatch, pulling up a holographic map of Haruka City. "I've detected a few. About three D-Rank Anomalies southwest, a B-Rank in the east and an A-Rank in the north. If we're efficient, we should be able to–"
Shizuka questioned Makoto's sudden pause. "Is something wrong, Kitagawa-san?"
Makoto put on a conflicted grin. "Heh. It seems Murakami's group already got to the A & B Rank Anomalies."
'Typical Murakami antics.'
Kasumi twirled her tail like it was a strand of hair. "As that nerd would put it, his best stat is his speed."
"Tch." Reina exhaled a frosty breath. "It doesn't matter. We'll focus on our efficiency. Murakoshi-san, you'll be our eyes in the sky. And we'll communicate through our cellphones."
"Got it." A faint lavender glow encased Shizuka and fluffy white wings as tall as her appeared from her back along with a halo shaped like a hexagram.
Kasumi whistled. "Look at you, all pure n' shit."
"Don't patronize me, Demon!" Shizuka growled as her take off caused a small shockwave.
"It was a genuine compliment!"
Shizuka turned her attention to the north, where she saw General Tso flapping its wings overhead, and the east, where there was a split in the clouds above.
'So they split up. And that split in the clouds must be Kimimori's 'Rend', meaning Murakami's over there as well. Just what does she possibly see in that half-breed that makes her cling to him. Well, as long as she leaves my Shirou-kun be.'
As Shizuka continued to scout, the muffled score of Beethoven played from the pocket of her skirt. She fumbled in the air as she retrieved her phone. "Hello?"
Reina's voice came through the speaker. "What do you see or sense up there?"
"Murakami's group split up."
"Can you see who's with who?"
"No, I can't. But I know Kimimori's in the east and can at least infer that Murakami's with her."
"That…tracks. And it's not particularly a bad idea." Reina turned to her team. "Sakurai-kun, you'll be with Kitagawa and Kasumi-san. I'll stick with Murakoshi-san."
Makoto pushed his glasses. "Mhm, I see. I'm not particularly suited for combat, so you stick me with combat-types so I can continue my research."
'That and putting Kasumi-san and Murakoshi-san side-by-side is too idiotic.'
"Put your research on hold and move out!" Reina adjusted her sweater, her frosty breath spilling into the morning.
"Yes, ma'am!" Riku and Kasumi saluted before running off with Makoto reviewing the hologram over his watch.
Reina watched as the three ran southwest, then averted her attention to Shizuka above her. 'Just you wait, Murakami.'
In an alleyway north of the starting point, Shirou wiped the sweat of brow as he walked next to Takumi. "You coulda helped, y'know."
Takumi removed his hands from his pants pocket only to rest them behind his head. "You had it handled. Why steal your spotlight?"
"Spotlight?" Shirou deadpanned one second, then chuckled the next at his little joke. "Just for that, you can handle the next one."
"Fine, fine." Takumi looked up following General Tso's movement. "We gotta find another one first."
General Tso landed atop the corner of a nearby building with a low, eerie caw. It stretched its black wing further up north.
"Looks like we got some more up north." Shirou turned, but instead of Takumi like he expected, he found a plush doll of a masked ninja with silver hair in his place. He searched around and saw him dashing away, his form blurring as he switched building sides. "Oh so now you wanna put some pep in your step?"
He looked back with a mischievous glint in his barely seen eye. "Nah, just wanna get it over with."
"Show off." He grumbled before taking another look at the plush. He picked it up and tucked it under his arm. "And I'm keeping this plush!"
Soon, Takumi arrived at the spot General Tso pointed to. It was truly a sight for a Specialist. Trash cans knocked over, fractured stone, & claw marks all over the surrounding area. And it was all due to a horde of velociraptors. Missing patches where scales should be leaked Essence and jagged protruding bones made it seem like they were zombies instead of rogue sentient masses of Essence.
'Of course I get stuck with, what, one-two-three-four-five…fifteen C-Rank Entity Anomalies.'
"Oh well. Shirou," he called out as he jumped down. "Tell Kouichi to add fifteen more to the total."
A jade colored blaze emitted from his hands and eyes as he grabbed an emptied trash can. "Transmutation: Demon Wind Shuriken." As he ripped them away, the metal conformed into the folded, four-bladed projectile.
Right as he landed, the Anomalies set their sights on him. Three rushed him down, jaws chomping and saliva being tossed around. Takumi's Essence coated the shuriken as he immediately tossed them at the beasts, unfolding and piercing through the three charging at him and injuring six in the back. By using the Hollow Step technique, Takumi appeared in the middle of the pack and caught the weapon, slicing through them instantly afterwards. "Nine down, six to go."
"I swear," Shirou shook his head with a soft chuckle, putting his phone back in his pocket. "He'd be actually terrifying if just…cared…at all."
Two Anomalies leaped out at him, one on each side. One step back had them collide into each other, allowing Takumi to cleanly slice off their heads. Takumi's eyes drifted to find the final four gunning for him.
"This is more fun than I thought it'd be. Gotta finish up, though." Takumi pointed the folded shuriken at the four as his Essence wrapped around it. At the same time, he grabbed another trash can, coating it in his Essence as well. "Transmutation: Katana. Transmutation: Katana Sheath. I saw Dad do this before, so I just wanna test it."
"Kamikouji Quick-Draw Technique #36…" Takumi slid the katana into the scabbard and dropped into a stance. With hand on the blade's handle, he waited. Once the distance was closed, Takumi's eyes, normally thinner than paper, were open.
SLING! SLING! SLING! SLING!
One second, the feral beast were jumping at Takumi, the next they were dispersing into the air as he returned the blade to the sheath. "…Fatal Thoughts."
"That was dope, man!" Shirou exclaimed as he ran up for a high-five.
Takumi barely returned his excitement. "Eh, was nothin' much. Just a buncha C-Rank scrap. You gave the others the noti, right?"
"Yep. Sent it a minu-" Shirou got interrupted by the buzz of his phone. He received a text from Kouichi:
"Get ready to add at least 9 A-Ranks."
Shirou's grin faltered for a moment. "I hope he knows we're going against Reina-chan's team and not each other…"
Meanwhile, on the eastern side of Haruka City, Kouichi slid his phone back in his pants as he pushed the sleeves of his hoodie past his elbows. Fenrir growled beside him as they faced down their opposition: One Object Anomaly connected to nine yeti-shaped Entity Anomalies in front of it.
"You sure you don't want us to help, Kouichi-kun?" Hitomi asked, her voice smoother than silk.
"If there're any stragglers, sure." He responded. 'But I'll try not to leave any.'
Hitomi responded with a swift thumbs up as she adjusted her skirt and placed herself on the curb.
Mahiro, on the other hand, was shaking in his sneakers. "A-Are you sure we can leave Kouichi-san out there by himself?! I mean, he is an S-Rank, but still–"
The aura around Hitomi shifted. It felt just like, no, maybe even worse than Kouichi's. "Are you doubting my darling's abilities, Hoshino-kun?"
Mahiro almost choked on his own breath as she spoke. "O-Of course not, Kimimori-san!" he stammered, wildly waving his hands as if he was fanning away the tension. "I-I just meant, uh, I just don't want to see Kouichi-san overexert himself!"
Hitomi's aura receded as quickly as it flared, her smile returned to its previous serene state. "I see… I feel the same way."
Mahiro slumped over as he sat next to her. 'This is worse than dealing with Anomalies…'
'It looks like whatever that Object Anomaly is, it's strong enough to make nine giant A-Rank Anomalies. Gotta up the count to ten A-Ranks. Hold on. Is that…' Kouichi squinted to focus on the Object Anomaly. "Is that a damn fridge?!"
The ground began to rumble as the first Anomaly took only a single step. With the flick of his hand, black flames conjured in Kouichi's palm. In the same breath, Fenrir snarled as the black flames leaked from the edge of his mouth.
"Hm? That doesn't look like Kouichi-kun's 'Shadow's Embrace'." Hitomi mused.
"That's because those are the Flames of Desperation," Mahiro answered. "Black hellfire that can only be wielded by those of Demonic heritage."
Her attention flickered from Kouichi to Mahiro. "Does that mean you can use them as well, Hoshino-kun?"
"Well, yeah I can, but they really conflict with my Resonance, so I don't use them as much."
The yeti slammed its fists into the ground, causing a plethora of icy spikes to erupt from the ground.
It was only when he finally away from the yeti did Mahiro notice the larger than life icicle head straight for them.
"Wha–" Mahiro, nearly frozen in fear, braced himself for an impact that never came.
Before it could collide, a sharp but quiet slice came from the swipe of Hitomi's hand. "Please make sure you're paying attention to your surroundings, Hoshino-kun."
"G-G-Got it."
'Using ice just like Kashima, but you're not her, so that means it's an auto-loss for you.'
Kouichi's fingers curled around the black fire swirling in his palm, as if it were his most trusted weapon. "Blazing…" Kouichi cocked his arm back and tossed the flames in the shape of a javelin. "Lotus!"
Fenrir opened its mouth and a searing black fireball erupted from its jaws, expanding akin to a miniature sun that cast no light, in tandem with Kouichi's Blazing Lotus.
The air snapped as they collided, a shockwave blasting outward, almost warping the reality around them. The ground trembled as the forces struggled for dominance, Kouichi and Fenrir's flames swirling in defiance against the Anomaly' ice.
Moments after the attacks collided, the street lay obscured by a roiling cloud of steam and through the steam, a black tendril shot out and wrapped around the neck of a yeti. The black mark had appeared on Kouichi's face once more as his leg became covered in the darkness of Shadow's Embrace.
In a singular maneuver, Kouichi arched his leg back and delivered a strong roundhouse kick version of Dread Impact, toppling the yeti. Before the Anomaly could fully dissipate, another one swung at Kouichi, to which he jumped high in the air.
"Now, Fenrir!" At Kouichi's command, Fenrir grew taller than the Anomalies. Off pure reaction, four the Entity Anomalies turned, only to get bitten from the waist up.
"Nightmare…Rain Assault!" With a commanding clap, Kouichi unleashed a sweeping arc of Essence between his hands, transformed into multiple energy arrows on release. Each one, infused with the intense power of the darkness, pierced through the chests of the yetis, leaving only the Object Anomaly hovering in the air.
"So this is the power of an S-Rank Specialist." Mahiro murmured, his former nerves now steeled in awe.
"Not just any S-Rank Specialist," Hitomi countered as she made her way to Kouichi. "This is the power of Kouichi Murakami, the boy who will stand at the top. And I'll be the one to help him up there."
'Hard to argue with that. Actually, it's hard to argue with her at all…" Mahiro thought, his shoulders shuddering as he trailed behind them.
"Is everything alright, Kouichi-kun?" Hitomi asked as Kouichi stared at the fridge.
"I don't know yet." Shadows crept over Kouichi's forearm until it formed a sharp claw that he grappled the Object Anomaly with and pinned to the ground. "Mind inspecting, Fenrir."
Nodding in confirmation, Fenrir padded over and sniffed it. "Its Essence Signature is fluctuating rapidly. Go ahead and dispose of it."
"Thoughts so." Kouichi turned back, an expectant look on his stoic face. "Hitomi?"
Her smile never left her face, even after her Essence began to rise. "Ready."
Kouichi readily tossed the fridge in the air and a single upward swipe of Hitomi's finger cut it in two, leaving Mahiro in awe at the synchronization.
Kouichi didn't turn around as he spoke. "Ya just gonna stand there, Mahiro? Ya didn't do shit but yap and get saved"
Mahiro flinched once called out. "R-Right, My fault."
Hitomi placed a hand on Kouichi's shoulder as she let out a soft laugh. "Don't be too hard on him, Kouichi-kun. Not everyone can keep up with you."
Kouichi's response was to roll his eyes and scowl harder. "He better learn. Now let's go. Period's almost over."