At home, Rito gathered not only with Lala but also with Mikan, Zastin, and Zastin's two subordinates, Maul and Smutts.
"The reason I brought you all here today is because of this." He activated the Sage's Eyes: "Recently, I awakened an ocular power, and with it, I can practically copy the abilities of those I see."
The Sage's Eyes weren't something he could hide forever, and now that he had used them in front of Lala, the best course of action was to reveal the truth on his own.
"That's surprising," Zastin commented. "An ability like that is quite unique. Those eyes, could they be a Sacred Gear?"
Zastin grew thoughtful.
"Maybe?" Rito pretended not to know.
"So that's why you were able to copy the powers of that fallen angel, Rito?" Lala asked rhetorically.
"Exactly." He nodded.
"What's this talk about a fallen angel?" Zastin asked. "Was that why... Anyway, what's that about?"
"Lala and I were attacked by a fallen angel while we were coming back from school," Rito didn't hide what happened.
"That's so dangerous..." Mikan seemed worried.
"It's alright, Mikan," Rito reassured her. "I'm pretty strong now; I won't die so easily! Besides, I'll keep training and get even stronger."
"If that's the case, Rito Boy," Zastin asked, "instead of training, wouldn't it be easier if I just showed you my abilities and you copied them?"
"Not exactly," Rito explained. "What I copy is an exact replica. I don't have the power to modify something I copied, so if it's something too powerful or too weak, it'll have the same effect if I copy and use it. That's why I still prefer to train normally and learn on my own. Of course, if it's against an enemy, I'll still copy their abilities."
"Makes sense," Zastin crossed his arms.
Maul said, "So, you basically become a mirror of your enemies... Someone like that is definitely not something I'd want to face."
Maul has smooth purple hair, a pointed beard, and reddish-pale skin; he also has a long scar over his left eye.
"True," Smutts agreed.
Smutts has green hair, light green skin, and black hair. Like Maul, he wore dark sunglasses at all times.
"Rito Boy, let's train," Zastin took the initiative as soon as the conversation ended.
"Rito, do your best, but don't push yourself too hard," Mikan said, in a tone that sounded almost contradictory.
"Rito, you got this!" Lala encouraged him.
"Uh-huh, I'm going," Rito smiled a little.
...
On the spaceship.
"Rito Yuki!" As soon as they were alone, Zastin spoke in a grave tone: "Tell me everything that happened without hiding anything. Someone dared to threaten Miss Lala's life. This can't be taken so lightly!"
Seeing this, Rito got serious too. He told everything without hiding, even how the fallen angel called him and Lala, in particular, inferior.
"Ohh? How bold of him... If you hadn't killed him, I'd like to go to him personally and tear him to pieces," the aura around Zastin was menacing.
"One more thing," Rito said. "I believe he's part of a group of Fallen Angels operating in this city. If I'm not mistaken, their hideout isn't far from Kouh Academy. It's in an abandoned church."
"Interesting... Simply very interesting," Zastin said. "Rito Yuki, I'm sorry, but we'll have to cancel today's training. I need to step out for a bit."
"Can I come along?" His eyes gleamed a little, imagining Zastin's destination.
"Not this time," he refused.
"Okay..." Rito sighed.
...
"Rito, you came back so quickly this time." When he entered the house and reached the living room, Mikan looked at him with curiosity.
"Zastin had an unexpected issue and postponed today's training," he replied, sitting on the couch.
"In that case, Rito, play with us!" Lala said, holding a video game controller.
"Alright," he agreed.
While the two played, he picked up his smartphone.
A few minutes later…
*Rumble!*
Suddenly, a booming sound echoed, and the ground began to tremble.
"Ahhhh!" Mikan screamed: "An earthquake?"
The furniture in the house shook considerably.
When Rito saw the glass dishes in the house threatening to fall, along with the furniture, he manifested green wind and protected the entire house, as well as Lala and Mikan, with the wind.
"This is…"
"My power," he replied to Mikan. "Everything's going to be fine. It seems like it's about to stop."
"Is this the same one you used? It's wind, right?" Lala asked.
"Yes," he answered and murmured: "This earthquake was quite peculiar…"
When the tremors stopped, he retracted the wind.
"Rito, thank you," Mikan said gratefully, adding: "This power of yours is pretty useful."
"I think so too," he smiled, making a teacup float toward him with the wind, as if using telekinesis.
"Show-off!" Mikan gave a wry smile.
"I thought it was pretty cool, Rito!" Lala said cheerfully.
"I knew it, Lala loves me more!" Rito looked at her lovingly.
"Hehehe," Lala giggled, her hands on her cheeks.
Suddenly, an emergency alert flashed on the television.
Mikan grabbed the remote and clicked.
[Anchor (studio): "Good evening. We interrupt our programming to bring live footage of an extraordinary scene in the city of Kouh. Helicopter cameras are flying over a massive fissure that has just opened in the ground—it reaches kilometers deep and hundreds of meters wide. We have a reporter on the scene. We're connecting now."]
The footage cut to the helicopter. The aerial image was shaky.
[Reporter (live voice, restrained shock): "We're flying over the area near the old abandoned church, and what we see is terrifying. From our helicopter, we can see a fissure with almost perfectly smooth edges, an opening that looks like it was cut by a blade. There's smoke and a strange coloration around it—some spots with light activity that doesn't seem natural. Emergency teams are already on the move, but there's still no official information about casualties."]
"That's so scary," Mikan commented innocently. "Could this be why we had that earthquake just now? But what caused this fissure… It seems too strange to be just a simple crack in the ground."
"Zastin…" Lala murmured.
She seemed to have the same hunch as Rito.
Though Rito's hunch was almost a certainty, knowing the exact location where this fissure appeared.
"That was Zastin?!" Mikan overheard her murmur and raised her voice.
"I think so…" Lala replied, unsure of her guess.
"Wow…"
Mikan was impressed.
"One day, I'll be able to create an attack of this magnitude too…" Rito murmured.
"What's that, Rito~~" Mikan looked at him with a teasing glance. "Jealous?"
"Me? Of course not!" he replied with a serious look.
"Sure…" She kept looking at him with a suspicious yet amused expression. "I didn't know you could be so cute, Rito~"
"…I'm going to train in my room!" he escaped.
"So cute~"
He heard Lala's sweet, soft voice and his younger sister's giggle.
"…"
It was one thing to hear that from his sister, but another to hear it from the girl he liked.
In his room, he gave a wry smile at how childish he was being.
==
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