Miss Gigi's eyes locked on Itoshi, her tone steady yet expectant.
"Y-yeah..."
Itoshi replied nervously, his fingers twitching slightly.
"You're the second representative of the defense... will you make up for it?"
She asked sincerely.
Itoshi hesitated, thoughts swirling as he considered her words.
Miss Gigi shrugged, her voice soft but firm.
"You don't have to be better than the first one. You just have to set a good example."
"No..."
Itoshi answered quietly, a flicker of resolve in his eyes.
She hummed, waiting for him to explain.
"Hmm?~"
"I'll be the best flame user this world is ever gonna have,"
He said with determination,
"No more useless wars. And I will free everyone from the Seele's."
Miss Gigi's lips curved into a knowing smile.
"What fuels your ambition?"
She asked.
Itoshi's cheeks reddened.
"K—"
He paused, gathering courage,
"I love girls."
Laughter bubbled up from the room — even Miss Gigi chuckled, though Kara and Jayu remained unimpressed.
Ryujin smirked and teased,
"Typical Itoshi."
Itoshi's expression darkened a little.
"No... no one has to see what me and Kara saw that day..."
Miss Gigi snickered, folding her arms with a sly grin.
"I know how it feels, kid. Well, you better not fail us. Your success could mean the future of this world."
May 7th knocked on Nagasaki's door with a cold breeze sweeping in from the east.
The city slept under a blanket of silence, but not everyone rested.
Miss Gigi stood on the balcony of the boys' room, the ember of her cigarette glowing softly in the dark. The wind tugged gently at her dark-red hair. Her pale green eyes locked onto the dark sky as she exhaled a slow, quiet stream of smoke into the night.
Not long after, Ryujin joined her, stepping out onto the balcony without a word.
She glanced at him sideways.
"Why are you still awake, Leader?"
She asked, her voice low, nearly swallowed by the breeze.
"Gotta watch over everyone,"
Ryujin answered simply, resting his elbows on the railing.
Miss Gigi smirked.
"How responsible."
She took another drag, then exhaled thoughtfully.
"...On second thought, I'll take that back. Just remembered you guys aren't doing anything in this collaborative mission right now."
"Well... there aren't any major battles,"
Ryujin replied with a lazy shrug.
BONK!
A swift smack landed on the back of his head.
"Major or not, it's your job to throw yourself into the battlefield,"
Gigi said sternly, flicking the ash off her cigarette.
"But then again..."
She muttered, eyes narrowing slightly,
"You lot are the reason this mission's even possible. I guess a little break's fair."
Ryujin nodded faintly.
"Itoshi's training starts tomorrow."
Gigi raised a brow.
"For what?"
"His rhythm."
She paused, flicking her gaze toward the horizon.
"Ah... his flame aura."
Ryujin shook his head slightly.
"His rhythm, specifically. For some bizarre reason, it attracts Seele."
Miss Gigi grew quiet for a moment, staring at the city lights below.
"There's something else I noticed..."
She said slowly, her tone more serious.
"Seele—these things—we still don't know what they want. They just destroy. Spread pain like it's all they know."
She turned to him.
"But I reviewed your battle reports—Cape Hedo, Kaba Island. In every encounter, those savage beasts always went for Itoshi's head first. It's not just mindless aggression... they yearn for his power. They don't want to just hurt him..."
Her voice dropped.
"They want to devour him."
A heavy silence fell between them as the wind whispered around them, carrying the scent of salt from the distant sea and the weight of an unknown future.
"Every elemental type of Seele comes for him—even the wind types, and they're weak against him."
Miss Gigi let the words linger in the air like the smoke curling from her lips.
"I guess it takes a lot of risk... to become a potential Guardian."
A stillness settled between the two of them. The city below was motionless, save for the blinking lights on a distant tower and the occasional hum of wind pushing past the balcony.
Ryujin said nothing. His eyes stared out into the dark, but they weren't focused on the skyline—they were somewhere far off, maybe on the next battlefield, maybe on Itoshi himself.
Miss Gigi leaned on the railing beside him, arms crossed.
"Do you think he's ready for it?"
She asked after a moment.
"To carry that kind of weight?"
Ryujin hesitated. Then—
"He's not."
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"But he's going to be."
Gigi nodded, as if that was the only answer she needed.
"Good," she said quietly.
"Because if he breaks... we don't just lose a boy. We might lose a future."
Another breeze swept past them, colder this time. The kind that carried whispers of war.
"Also... Miss Gigi?"
Ryujin's voice broke the quiet air between them.
"Yes? Leader?"
She replied, not looking away from the city lights.
"For some reason... Itoshi passed out earlier. The clinic reported it was because of 'overheating.'"
Miss Gigi's eyes narrowed as her cigarette lit again with a sharp inhale.
"Eh? That's not possible."
She turned to face him now, her tone serious.
"Flame users do have a limit to the heat they can handle, that's true. But Itoshi's flame is blue—over a thousand degrees... (3,000°F.)"
She paused, the glow of her cigarette dimming.
"There's no way he'd pass out from Nagasaki's normal 29-degree heat.(84.2°F.)"
She flicked the ash off the balcony, deep in thought.
"I know, right?"
Ryujin muttered.
"Perhaps... an outside source actually made him pass out?"
Miss Gigi added, her eyes squinting slightly behind the smoke.
"Could it be that kunoichi...? But then again.. Itoshi does complain a lot about the heat.."
Ryujin wondered, his mind drifting back to earlier that day.
A long silence followed, broken only by the wind brushing past the balcony railings—until Miss Gigi spoke again.
"Oi... Ryujin?"
Ryujin turned his head. Miss Gigi was pointing down toward the street below.
"She's been sitting there for hours now."
There, on an empty bench under a flickering streetlamp, sat a white-haired woman. Short Twin tails swayed gently with the breeze, her posture calm... waiting.
By the next morning, the squad woke up as chaotic as usual—loud footsteps, overlapping voices, someone arguing over the last slice of bread.
The noise filled every corner of the house, but it only made the quieter members stand out more. Kara quietly sipped her tea by the window. Jayu sat cross-legged, tuning her gear in silence.
They had breakfast together like always. Shared jokes, shared food. It was an odd comfort—they were a mess, but a familiar one.
After lunch, Ryujin stood up from his seat and stretched.
"Itoshi. Come with me."
He said it casually, but his tone made it clear—it wasn't just a stroll.
"Anyone else who wants to tag along, you can."
Kirashi stood up without a word and joined them. He didn't need a reason. If something involved Itoshi's training or anything remotely serious, he wanted in.
Bjorne was already by the vehicle, arms crossed, keys in hand.
They all climbed in, and with the engine humming, they were off. The streets of Nagasaki gradually thinned, replaced by open roads and scattered trees. After some time, they reached a remote area on the outskirts—quiet, forgotten by the city's noise.
Bjorne stopped the car.
"You boys sure you're not gonna blow up the countryside?"
Ryujin gave a smirk but said nothing. They got out. The wind was dry here, the sky clearer than usual.
Something about this place felt right for what was about to come.
"Just Itoshi's training"
Ryujin teasingly said as he closed the car door behind him.
Bjorne raised an eyebrow, smirking.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
~~~To be Continued~~~