"Where do you think you're going?" The female among the three sang with a sinister smile.
'What are holders doing here?' Akira pondered, picking himself off the ground and spinning his dagger around his arm, unaffected by the heat left on the chains even when it was put off. 'Don't tell me they're protecting this place too?'
"Looks like we've found another Holder," The man carrying the car door said, gazing at Akira. He was definitely strong, but not that muscular. His strength was definitely the result of his innate.
"Do you think he's already affiliated with a group?" The second man floating in the air asked, tapping his finger against his chin.
Immediately he said that, Akira had more or less gained an idea of who these new holders on the scene were, but he didn't bother staying in place to confirm his theory.
Flames burst from his hands and onto his chain, creating a pretty lane effect.
"Looks like he's not very friendly," The girl sneered with a giggle.
"We can fix that attitude," The man carrying the car door with one hand said, then tossed it at Akira.
In their line of sight, as the car door crashed on the grass creating a screeching sound, there was nothing beneath the impact. It was as if Akira had disappeared.
"Huh?!"
A faint zipping sound created by slicing through wind could be heard in the sudden silence. He was above them. They had realized it too late after noticing a patch of burnt grass where he had stood. He used a burst of flames to elevate himself, and now he was drifting in the air, but time grew slow as if he was halting his descent.
His flaming chained dagger sliced through the air with a wisp sound, forcing the two staying afloat in the air to separate themselves, making a wide space for Akira to descend past between them.
He had anticipated that they were able to fly as a result of the girl's innate, his hypothesis proved true as the man that had been floating in the air as well began to quickly plunge down after the girl had been distracted by Akira's feint.
He guessed she had some sort of innate that induced weightlessness or manipulated gravity. The man tumbled down to the ground but gained his footing with a roll.
"Tch!" The girl hissed, clicking her tongue in vexation. "He's really not a friendly guy huh?"
"How about you quickly tell us who's behind the mask, and who you work for before things get considerably harder for you?" The strong guy stated with a glare, as he flexed his muscles.
Akira remained silent in his position as he watched them closely. He wasn't sure what exactly they were doing at the mansion of a millionaire businessman, but this just meant that he was somehow tied with holders, and worse, probably with H.I.R.E.
"He isn't cooperating," The other man with long black hair that stopped shortly before his hips sneered, creating a glow of purplish energy in his hand. "Let's just capture him and ask him later while we tear his nails out."
With that statement ended, he hurled the purple energy he had gathered in his palm at Akira. Akira swung his flaming chained dagger in a spinning motion that made the fire on the chains come off as a glowing blue wheel, and successfully blocked the attack with the force from the spin.
At the same time, the strong guy darted towards Akira, puffing his shoulder, and fore arm out, while flexing his biceps so he would ram into Akira. He evaded him by spinning on his left leg, and swinging his dagger which cut the man around his lower torso.
When Akira turned to face the later opponent who was generating another energy ball in his hand, he felt the presence of someone in extreme close proximity behind him. On instinct, he created distance with a big leap. The girl who had been floating undeterred in the air had snuck up behind him and was about to place her hand on his back.
"Aww, come on!" She exclaimed, portraying a visible smirk. "Don't be shy, I won't bite I promise."
This girl, among the three was the one who especially got on his nerves. She was definitely the one to watch out for the most. He felt that the other two were simple, and their movements were easily read and easily avoidable, however, this girl whose feet didn't touch the ground could quite as easily get behind him. Yet, she didn't make an attack when he was open, which meant she was intending to do something else. He had surmised that she had probably intended to use her innate then, which would mean, her innate could only work when she was in physical contact with the target. Now he was sure that her innate was something like weightlessness, however this didn't make it any easier for him to evade her. He had to come up with a plan to handle the situation and escape without giving up too much information about his abilities.
So far, he was evading them with the bare minimum he could show. Revealing all your cards to an unknown enemy is a rooky mistake, one he had no intention of making.
He let out a sigh before finally decided to go with the idea he had thought of a while ago, but opted out of using it for fear it might reveal a bit too much. But after dodging, and blocking their attacks for what seemed like a few minutes, he thought this one attack wouldn't reveal much with their level of skill. At least, he felt a little bit more relieved that they weren't of a higher rank than him.
He generated more flames than he had been doing. Now, he was at least using twenty percent of his full abilities. Flames not only covered the chains and dagger he was holding, but spread onto the ground around him.
"H-Hey, wait... How...? The girl stuttered in astonishment as she gawked at the flames spreading from his hands.
"What the-? The strong man gasped, watching the blue flames as well. "How is he generating those flames?!"
"It's probably something that has to do with his gloves," The long haired man exclaimed, snapping the other two out of their bewilderment. "Now stop gawking and actually get him."
With a slight movement of his wrist, the chained dagger extended, flying towards the girl in the air. It was like the dagger was leading the flames that burned on the ground, into the air and surrounding itself with them. Unlike other holders with a fire related innate, Akira had a peculiar way of controlling the flames.
He had guessed the reason they had been shocked upon seeing the level of his innate was probably because, there has been no other record of a holder bearing a fire related innate that allowed him to create his own fire, much less a cold color like his. Most wielders of fire innates can only go so far as to control fire started with a tool, like a match or a lighter. The fact that he was able to create his flames on his own was extraordinary enough, but his level of control over the flames extremity was what gained his innate an S-rank.
However, this was also why he wasn't to into the idea of using this level of power, and he hoped that even if they found it amazing and strange, they wouldn't be able to piece together his identity and affiliation with Halo.
The girl managed to dodge Akira's attack barely, sustaining a light graze on her shoulder and cheek. Other than her annoying innate, he thought she was quite weak physically, and lacked technique and skill. He was now increasingly sure what organization they were affiliated to.
"Tomori!" The strong man exclaimed in concern, as he saw the blood dripping from her injuries and onto the ground.
"You bastard!" The long haired man yelled, eyeing Akira.
"I... I'm fine!" She retorted, shooting Akira an icy glare.
He didn't show it, but he was quite satisfied he had wiped the smirk that was plastered on her face earlier off. Girls like her greatly irked Akira. They reminded him of someone he had seen on the night he lost his will to live.
'Tomori, huh?' Akira made a mental note of her name in his head. Again, they had just revealed more information to him.
He had thought he could use their temporary defenselessness as an opening to brush past them and escape when an iron rod came rushing towards him. It was fast and picking up speed. Knowing he had not time to completely dodge the attack, he used his weapon, again spinning it like a flaming wheel, and using the fire to greatly accelerate the spin, making the chain feel like a flat surface, he brushed the rod by it, and pivoted on his leg, allowing him to evade, though the rod tore his cut.
He clicked his tongue as he gazed upwards at where the attack came from. A guy wearing the same customized suits as the other three appeared from behind the line of guards.
'Tsk! Another one,' He sighed. The situation was growing increasingly against his favor.
"Rin!" The girl, whose name was now identified to be Tomori exclaimed upon seeing him come into view.
"Tch! You didn't have to show up! We were handling it," The strong guy scoffed as he folded his arms.
"Sure," He the new interferer said flatly with much sarcasm. "That's definitely what it looked like."
'I can't drag this out or I'll inevitably have to reveal more than I already have,' Akira thought as his mind raced for different solutions to the situation. 'I have to leave now!'
He grew tense, especially with the sound of police sirens getting louder from the distance. It was now or never. But before his body could take action, a cannister was launched onto the grass surrounding them, and smoke poured out intensely, completely covering the area.
"Wha...?"
"What the-"
"Where did this smoke come from?!"
Soon, Akira could hear their coughing from their positions within the cloud of smoke.
"200 meters Southeast," A voice seeped out from the com-device embedded in his ear. The voice belonged to Lesley.
Without complaint, and a well timed diversion, Akira dashed for the wall he had climbed to get in. Luckily, the rope and gear he used was still there. Lesley had just told him that he was 200 southeast of his current position. As soon as he was over the wall, he sprinted from the compound and onto the road where he was stopped by a sudden flash of bright headlights. The siren sounds and flashing red and blue lights were enough to alert him of who had halted him on his path.
"This is the Tokyo PD! Please drop your weapon and put your hands up immediately!"