A rainy afternoon flooded the city, reflecting off glass towers and crawling traffic. Horns blared, pedestrians crowded sidewalks, and digital billboards shimmered above the streets like artificial sunlight.
Kubo sat across from us, typing on his laptop, the glow of the screen reflecting faintly on his sunglasses.
Beside me, Yoshida worked on her makeup, holding a small clip-on blush with a mirror against her cheek.
I stole a few glances at her without really understanding why.
But my attention kept drifting back to the world outside.
The city had changed so much. So many buildings I had never seen before.
A strange ache spread through my chest as the realization sank in.
The world had moved on without me.
It makes you understand something quickly there are two kinds of worlds that exist. The one shared by everyone… and the one that belongs only to you.
I'm not sure which one I belong to anymore.
I'm not even sure if I still have an individual world.
Ten years of imprisonment. Powerful idol girls and the biggest concern of all…
I placed a hand over my stomach the place where Yin had dived into me back in the prison.
Yoshida glanced at me. She could tell something was wrong.
She quietly put away her blusher, searching for a way to break the silence between us.
Then she turned toward me.
"Say, Onii-chan… since it's going to take a while before we arrive. Could you maybe tell me any stories about, you know?"
I stayed silent for a few seconds, closing my eyes before answering.
"I don't think beatings, surviving on cockroaches and years of pure darkness in solitary would make for very entertaining stories."
Yoshida froze.
Her cheerful expression cracked for a split second before she forced a small laugh.
"R-Right… sorry. That was a stupid question."
Silence filled the limousine again, heavier than before.
Yoshida let out a quiet sigh.
"Look… I know I'll never understand what you went through."
She stared down at her hands, fingers nervously twisting together.
"And I know that everything is happening right now must feel sudden… overwhelming."
Her voice softened.
"And you're probably still upset about what you asked earlier… about why I never visited you in prison."
The limousine glided through traffic, city lights sliding across the tinted windows like waves.
"The point is I don't have an excuse."
Her shoulders trembled slightly.
"I kept thinking… what if you hated me? What if you blamed me? What if seeing me just made everything worse?"
She finally looked up at me.
"I know that doesn't make it okay. But I promise I'll make it up to you."
She placed a hand over her chest.
"That's my word as a pop idol… and as your sister."
For the first time since leaving prison, her voice didn't sound loud or cheerful.
It sounded small.
Human.
The hum of the engine and distant traffic filled the silence.
Crowds moved along the sidewalks in restless streams.
People laughed, talked, and stared into glowing rectangles in their hands.
Everyone looked like they were in a hurry to get somewhere.
Everyone except me.
"…Put your energy into building your career."
I said quietly.
"If you really wanna make it up to me."
"Don't waste what remains of your life dwelling on what has already passed."
Yoshida blinked, surprised.
For someone who had tackled me to the ground twenty minutes ago, she suddenly looked very small.
Before the silence could return.
Kubo's gaze met Yoshida's
"You'll have to get used to uncomfortable conversations, Ms. Kamakiri. Your synchronisation rate depends on emotional transparency."
Yoshida groaned.
"Can you not talk about synchronisation like it's a math equation?"
"It is a math equation," Kubo replied calmly.
He tapped a key and rotated the laptop toward me.
Graphs, charts, and medical scans filled the screen.
"Compatibility between Luminary and Guardian candidates averages at 0.7%."
I raised an eyebrow. "That's low."
"Extremely," Kubo corrected. "Successful long-term synchronization is even rarer."
Kubo took his laptop back to his side.
***Ever since Yoshida's encounter with Hoshiro. Her mental state has spiked up than ever before. This could be either good or bad.***
***These results increases the chances of a successful synchronisation but if she goes overboard, heads will fly.***
***But then when I look at Hoshiro's mentality.***
***The computer screen switched from Yoshida's to Hoshiro figure. Showing all kinds of cognitive stats.***
***These results are nearly inhuman like. These types of mentalities don't happen after ten years of prison.***
***No…***
***I know his story. A boy killing his parents at the age of eleven with a scene that it couldn't even be depicted in the case files.***
***There's definitely more to this than your standard homicide. Someway or somehow, he already has connection to the Luminary.***
***There's definitely more to him than the eye shows.***
***Kubo stares at the screen that was showing signs of abnormal body activity in him. In the middle a figure depicting Hoshiro with a dark source in his chest.***
***I don't know what that boy is but I'll get to the bottom of it. For now let's clear the ground more.***
The car slowed to a stop at a red light.
And that's when Hoshiro saw it.
A giant digital billboard towering above the intersection.
Bright lights flashed across the massive screen. Music blasted from hidden speakers.
A girl danced in a storm of blue light, her hair flowing like liquid sky as thousands cheered beneath a glowing stage.
I stared at the screen.
Then slowly turned my head.
Yoshida sat beside me, nervously twirling a strand of that same blue-purple hair around her finger.
"…You're famous."
She flinched. "Y-Yeah… a little."
Teenagers on the sidewalk with umbrellas pointed up at the billboard, shouting and taking pictures.
One held a glowing stick the same color as the light on the screen.
My gaze returned to Yoshida.
She had become the kind of person people looked up to.
Kubo closed the laptop.
"The world calls them Luminaries for a reason," he said.
"Their existence inspires devotion… and obsession."
His voice lowered.
"And where there is devotion, there is also hostility."
Yoshida looked down at her hands.
I noticed the slight tremble in her fingers.
"Luminaries don't just attract fans," Kubo continued.
"They attract enemies. Political rivals. Extremists. Criminal organizations."
He met my eyes.
"Luminaries are the heart of Japan ever since ten-years ago. For what we know right now, there are twelve of them in Japan."
"Though powerful they are still human, when you give a child the power capable of destroying the world. Then you're going to need a huge organisation to help them. That's us, G.O.S.S.I.P"
"We've trained Ms. Kamakiri here to hone her powers.
"That is why Guardians exist."
I leaned back into the leather seat.
Yoshida suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"I recommended you because… I trust you."
I looked at her.
Only sincerity remained.
"I knew if anyone could be compatible with me… or at the very least protect me…"
"…it would be you."
I fell in silence again. I haven't had the experience to feel to be relied on.
…
But then I noticed something-
"Hey-"
"Has anyone noticed we haven't moved for like over five minutes now?"
Everybody then looked outside the window, the light stop cycle has passed multiple times.
Kubo then opens the window between the driver and insider. As he then called the driver out.
"Hey, why haven't we moved yet?"
"We're on a strict schedule, what is the hold up?"
The driver was silent. As he kept staring in front of him holding the steering wheel tight. He did not respond back to. He didn't move a muscle.
Something was obviously wrong. I could feel it. I know darkness when I see it. I know it all too well.
The driver grotesquely started to twitch. As a disgusting odor started to spread through the entire space around them. One that stank of rotten flesh.
Yoshida covered her nose with her hand.
"What is that smell?"
Kubo grabbed the driver's shoulder.
Suddenly, Hoshiro's mind went dark for a moment. As a voice breached his mind.
"Hoshiro, I sense great danger. You must flee at once."
Danger?
Hoshiro said in a tone as he saw the driver suddenly started to bloat. The bulging from his stomach as bubbles in his skin spread all over his arms and neck.
It was as if something monstrous was crawling inside of him as then he went silent. Squishy sound whirring through the driver's meat and slight hints of bones getting crushed that could turn one's stomach upside down.
Everybody in the car was watching in horror what was unfolding as then. Yoshida's head was sweating as she reached for the door handle.
Not wanting to wait the current events to unravel but to her surprise she found the doors locked. She repeated pulling the handle with each pull more aggressive and fast pacing then the last.
Hoshiro notices it too, as his side of the door handle was also locked.
"The door's are locked…"
Hoshiro said in resignation.
The driver's skin and body returned into his original state. A few seconds of silence. The world has never been this silent before as if we had forgotten what was the notion of sound. All our focus and guard was on the driver.
The driver was silent as like a ragdoll with no spinal structure bending his head backwards revealing true horror. His eye sockets were void, as if watching an endless pit. With his mouth completely empty, no tongue, no teeth, no skin tissue or uvula. His lips and the sides of his eyes dried, pulled inside of him. He had spots of dark-green as if he rotted like expired flesh. Nearly scooped from all organs and bones.
"Jesus Christ"
Kubo spoke in a low-overwhelmed tone. A child's laughter could be heard, one of a young girl echoing through what remains of the hollowed driver. As then the face structure of the driver reshape into a sinister and malevolent smile. One carved from the devil himself. The man spoke, not even moving his mouth as sound just came from his mouth and said.
"Let's have fun!"
Right after that sentence the man then bloats again, impacting through the limousine and then combusts. Causing an explosion in the front side of the limo. Cars flying away, windows shattering from nearby houses and apartments, glass shards and metal pieces flying across the street hitting. Screaming pedestrians and flames with chaos that reached several blocks away.
The remains of the limo engulfed by smoke and dust. In the dark, a figure cleared out. A young girl who looked to be at the age of 12 stepped completely bare naked. Her green long lush hair touching the ground, covering her feminine assets.
"Boy, do I feel reborn again."