"I'm glad your alive! I thought you were dead." Modoru said exasperated.
"Honestly I'd rather be dead than in this hellhole. We're now both in this predicament because of you!" said Nokosu. His hair had grown out and it could be seen, even under the same straw hat he was wearing. His clothes looked like they had not been washed in a while, in fact he looked like he had not washed in a while. And what was with the change of attitude. Nokosu should be glad that Modoru had saved life. They were alive albeit in a different time.
"Nokosu," Modoru said slowly, "What happened to you?" Sighing slowly, Nokosu heaved a huge breath and took off his straw hat.
"I am not a soldier. I didn't figure out I was in a past time until a 3 days later. Those 3 days were hell. When everything is fundamentally different, it took me a while to catch on. I first went and phoned my family at the restaurant. To my surprise, there was younger version of me who answered. I immediately hung up and wondered if someone was playing a wild prank on me. Next I tried taking the public transit only too discover that they had wheels! Wheels Modoru! Who in God's name uses wheels anymore with Xenophite around. After spending an abnormal amount of time wandering around, I happened upon a newspaper that had the date on it. Newspapers are the one common thing that is still in Diviner's city in the future so I had to believe it. However the date was all wrong – the year was 2021, 50 years ago. By that point I thought I had lost my mind. So I did the one thing I only knew…I went to the library. After reading up on the history books I realized that I really was in the past, but still in Diviner's City. Next I looked up books to find out how and maybe why I was in the past. Little did I know it everything to do with Xenophite. After another week of researching I had come to a common conclusion. You. You and your C.S device. Xenophite reacts differently to too much heat. You must have reacted the whole chasm of Xenophite with a maximum level of heating from your C.S device. Am I right?" Nokosu questioned.
"You are right. To save you, I had push the heating mechanism to maximum and reach you in one port. I differ from you. I'd rather be here than dead. And now that were both here, we can figure out how to get home together." Modoru said
"Wrong there's no we in this Modoru. We're here because of your mistake. Thank you for saving me. But after you've been here for 6 months on your own, you let me know if you don't all of a sudden become cold and callous." Nokosu said icily. 6 months? No wonder Nokosu had looked so worse for wear. Even his inkling to blame Modoru made sense. Still Modoru wasn't about to let this guy walk all over him. He was going to get out of here too. Whether or not Nokosu wanted too.
"Look, I realize 6 months is a long time. But I say again. Two minds are better than one. I know everything there is to know about the C.S device. And mind you its mine. We're going to have to work together if you want to use it," said Modoru who took a different approach. Nokosu smirked slyly.
"6 months isn't even the half of it….and then there's this…"Nokosu reached into his pocket and took out a match. He went over to the wall of the subway train, lit the match, and put is hand over it. Seconds later, he disappeared almost like he had ported, then reappeared now farther away from Modoru.
"what….in the hell?!" Modoru blurted out. "How did you do that…and without a C.S device…."
"Doesn't matter, all I you need to know now is that your C.S device is going to be mine. And I'll gladly take it by force if you refuse," said Nokosu who had reached for another match. Reacting quickly Modoru knew that he would not reach Nokosu with just words. If he was going to start a fight, it was a fight he was going to lose. Modoru reached down to his waist and switched on his C.S device.
"Very well then Nokosu, you leave me no choice," said Modoru. Nokosu held his hand over the flame and disappeared. Modoru readied himself in a defensive stance. Appearing now in a crouched position, Nokosu tried going for a sweep. Modoru spotted him instantly and jumped then turned on his C.S device porting away 10 paces. He would need to create distance to subdue Nokosu. As he appeared, he saw Nokosu's hand over another lit match very briefly; just before he disappeared again. There was enough space to fight now, so Modoru held his ground this time against Nokosu's assault. Appearing right in front of him, Nokosu took a swing at Modoru with his right hand. Ducking and using the palm of his hand to strike, Modoru struck at the belly of Nokosu to take out his air. Hitting his mark, we could hear an 'oof', and Modoru followed up with a grab to Nokosu left arm. Twisting now, Modoru shifted his body weight into a simple throw, and threw Nokosu to the ground. Almost ready to subdue him, he missed one thing. Nokosu's right hand had a lit match in it. Nokosu while on the ground, threw it in the air and grabbed the airborn match, engulfing it in his palm. Nokosu's entire weight disappeared, and Modoru was thrown off balance. Nokosu appeared again in front of him, with a clear shot to Modoru's face. Throwing as strong as a punch as he could, Nokosu hit Modoru squarely in his jaw. Modoru backed off and took a knee. Nokosu smiled.
"Your not the only who's had practice teleporting Modoru. I've been practicing lighting these matches for 6 months. I can easily light one at moments beckoning." Nokosu revealed. And therein lied the key to defeating Nokosu; Modoru realized. All Modoru would need to do is deny Nokosu access to his matches. Changing his plan of attack now, Modoru wiped the small amount of blood from his mouth and readied himself into his stance. This stance was offensive however. Porting forward now and appearing 45 degrees in the air near Nokosu, Modoru launched a side kick at Nokosu's right side. Clearly, Nokosu had practice teleporting…but fighting another assaulting teleporter? He definitely needed more work. As Modoru's kick landed, Nokosu took the brunt of the hit then reached for his pocket again. This would be his opening. Modoru while still in the air, ported downward into a semi-crouched position and made a sweep of his right leg. Connecting with Nokosu, Nokosu toppled over and lost all of his matches in his pocket. Simply now, putting Nokosu in a light arm lock, Modoru yelled.
"Yield!" as he pulled the arm lock tighter.
"Owww…..owwwwww, ok I yield. Let me go," Nokosu said. Modoru released Nokosu and they both got up from the ground. "How did you know to go for my matches?"
"You revealed it in middle of the fight. You don't reveal stuff like that to your quarry." Modoru said.
"I see….well you are a soldier," said Nokosu who sounded less frustrated. "look you're clearly not giving me the C.S device, and I won't be able to take it from you. Let's just let bygone's be bygone's and call it a day."
"I agree. But one thing," Modoru said as he reached to his waist for his C.S device. Taking it off now, he handed it too Nokosu. "If you really want it, you can have it. I'm sure there are more C.S devices out there. And if anything, they'll make some later." Nokosu was completely taken aback by the offering of the C.S device. They had just fought over it. Maybe Nokosu was giving Modoru a really hard time with his decision to save him. Nokosu decided against his previous statements; maybe he had pegged Modoru all wrong.
"No you keep it. I'll figure out something else," Nokosu said. Departing now, Nokosu looked back at Modoru and gave him a wave. "Let's go, if we're going to figure out how to get back to our time, I can't do it on an empty stomach." Modoru for the first time since meeting Nokosu smiled and followed him.