He looked over to Rikka and said, "How many men have you slept with till now?"
…
Rikka, not knowing Satoshi will toss the question at her, stopped mid-way through her sentence and looked down onto her feet. Then, with a soft tone, she spoke: "Why do you need to know that?" Satoshi agitated, and with a rugged look, said: "Because I like you, Rikka, and I also care about you and your well-being!"
Stunned, Rikka hesitated to answer the question, embarrassed by the scene caused on the train. Satoshi decided it was better to bring it up later. Knowing that his tries all ended in a futile position, he chose not to give in until she spoke her mind to him. Viewing the situation as if it was with his younger brother, he thought that it could come out to be his victory if he kept pressuring her.
After 45 minutes of traveling, the train ride had come to a stop, and they finally arrived in Osaka, where they planned to have a date, knowing that his crush had agreed to a date with him, Satoshi had dressed very nicely, to which Rikka had noticed and complimented on the walk to the restaurant. Thou, the two were happy the tension from the question had never left the air. While seated, awaiting their food, Satoshi reached in closer to the table and complemented Rikka. With a soft expression, he said, "you look pretty, just as always."
Rikka, blushing, looked away and said, "Mhm, So what did you want to talk about, and was the talk worth this much to you?" to which he responded apprehensively. "I wanted to do something for your birthday, that's all."
Silence had washed over them, the two nervously waiting for the other to propose a small talk—the waiter. However, came upon them, and with their food, they enjoyed each other's company. Finally, after the meal, the two took to the streets of Osaka, experiencing and walking around the central city, came this rush of emotions to Satoshi. The straightforward ideas became a distant thought as if everything he was carrying all came down from his shoulders. The boy seemed relaxed and happy but frustrated and angry. Arriving at the station, the two decided to tour the Osaka Shrine to worship the God there and pay a visit to break the tension.
Conversations continued to flow, but nothing seemed realistic to Satoshi, not that it didn't matter, but what was indeed on his mind was different. Satoshi, seemingly lost in the conversion, caused Rikka to pause and ask him. "Satoshi, are you listening?" The boy looked over with a dumb-struck look, nodded, and said, "yes, I'm listening, just appreciating the city," with that, a burst of nervous laughter came out of the boy. Then, itching his head, he said, "Rikka, I wanted to ask you…" but before he could finish his sentence, the train came to a stop. As they both went out of the train, the talking stopped, so they made their way to the shrine.
…
Akito was back in his bed, laying there he had his forearm upon his forehead, thinking and slipping away from reality evolved a vision to him. A beast of unnatural creation had appeared before him, with fangs appearing out of his mouth. This beast was inhuman, out of this world, even dimension, but for some reason. Akito stood there silently, entirely at peace. Akito looked upon this beast of a creature in a daze. This creature became more apparent to him. Nonetheless, for some reason, Akito's fears, words, thoughts, and movement all came to a halt.
The monster spoke, but the language of his tongue was a language foreign and unbound to this world. His eyes alone were made of "Love." Akito felt as if he had created a connection, or he so thought. Akito came awake in his bed. He sat up, feeling moisture in his sheets. He glanced down and realized he had peed his pants. His sweat glands were at most pouring out every ounce of sweat. Scared, he rushes to the bathroom, taking another leak. The boy called to his mom and told her that he had a "little" incident.
....
After a short walk from the station to the Osaka shrine, the two had finally made it. Standing there, the two decided to pray to the god who resided within this shrine. After the prayer, Satoshi took hold of Rikka's hand, pulling her to the side. The boy looked as serious as ever, proposing the question once again, "Rikka, how many men have you slept with till now?"
Shocked and frustrated, Rikka slapped Satoshi across the face. Teary-eyed, Rikka said, "don't you ever ask me that again." Now watching his crush walk away from him, Satoshi held his red cheek. Embarrassed and depressed, the boy took to the street and walked to the station. Catching up to Rikka, the two with the built tension remind quiet, not a word, and a couple of feet apart from each other, the two had tears remained in their eyes.
Upon reaching the station, the two still sat relatively close to each other, frustrated and sad. The two were distant but also connected. Love is a mysterious string of events. Love unfolds and folds itself in ways that not even scientific methods and experiments could answer. Love is the driving force for every living creature that was ever to step a foot upon this mysterious universe, and upon feeling their connection, Rikka and Satoshi looked into the eyes of each other. Everything had changed, time stopped moving, people had disappeared, and it was as if they had traveled to a different dimension. Their eyes, heart, mind, and soul connecting, the two got closer to each other, and the closer they got, the heavier their breathing became. But due to a sudden ring on Satoshi's phone, the two faces broke apart.
…
On the other side of the ring was Akito, calling his brother to make sure he was alright. But when a sudden answer to his call came, a resentful and angry speech came hurtling at him through the microphone. "You little…" As Satoshi inhaled deeply before screaming into his phone, thankfully, he was inside the bathroom, where he thought no one could have heard him, but his scream had reached the ears of Rikka across.
"Why! Did you call me? There better be a damn good excuse for this Aktio!" he said while tearing up for missing his chance. "Uhh, yeah, there is actually. I was wondering where you were and what time you would be back so we can go on our run." Bluntly said Akito. Frying up, Satoshi screamed into his microphone with frustration again. "Why! You!"
But soon cut himself off and thought. "Well, whatever. There is no reason to be pissed, not that it was going to happen anyway." Although he was telling himself that, he was still pissed, but replied. "I will be home soon. I will probably be home around 1 o'clock," to which Akito had no care. He only called to see where his brother was and with whom, "hey listen, so I heard from mom that you went out with someone. Is it who I think it is? Huh? That girl Rikka, isn't," he said while curiously jogging around his room.
*Click*
Satoshi pressed the decline button and headed back to Rikka to find her boarding the train home. Now, Satoshi is making a run for the train before the captain closes the door and departs. Fortunately, the boy jumped inside but found Rikka with an older gentleman. Enraged, Satoshi walks up to the pair and listens to their conversations.
The old man whispered, "So, why did you run off last time, princess."
To which Rikka had no reply other than, "Leave me alone."
Satoshi is now coldly staring at the man, his eyes filled with emotions, his heart filled with rage, and his mind filled with murder. The boy walked up to the old man, grabbed him by his collar, and picked him off his feet, "she told you off, didn't she? Now scram, you little bald bitch."
With fear in his eyes, the old man was dropped onto the train's ground—people staring and watching the situation unfold before them, yet, decided to keep shut and mind their own business. The old man mumbled and said, "you, you won't get away with this. I paid for her! She owes me big time." The old man started to feel more anxious, scared. He runs off to the back of the train, only to have Satoshi walk after him. "You think you can get away from me? Old man, let me ask you this. What if I was doing that to your daughter?" As he rose his knuckles up to his chest and cracked them, Rikka came running behind him, "please stop, Satoshi! There is no need for you to go this far for someone like me!" as a teardrop had come running down her face, Satoshi calmed down and told the old man to never show his face around her.
Satoshi then looked over to Rikka, and with a soft smile, he told her to follow him to the front of the train bus, to which she agreed. The old man was finally apprehended and arrested for his misdeeds, but the two were also stuck at the police station along with some witnesses. After a few calls to the parents of the two. Only Satoshi's parents came running to his aid. Afraid, they hugged him and checked for his safety and saw the girl there, with no one. Finally, Ichika proposed a question to Rikka, "where are your parents?"
Rikka, embarrassed, replied, "my father is probably home drunk, and my mother… is…." Ichika stopped her; understanding the situation, fortunately, due to Ichika's hard work at the hospital and the recognition of her saving multiple lives of policemen, she was allowed to take Rikka, "the daughter of her late friend," home with them. Thus, with some negotiations and use of favors, Rikka was heading back with the Rin family.
…
Akito was still home, unaware of the situation. He was skipping and searching through the internet for a mysterious blade. He came across an article that read the following, "Recent attempts to locate the missing blade, known as 'Excalibur' has been discovered with modern science and technology. Excalibur appeared hidden inside a rock, theorizing that the rock's natural evolution had devoured the handle and the remaining parts of the blade that stayed stuck inside it. Unable to pursue the removal of the blade in fear of damaging it. Excalibur can now be found in various museums around the world. In a press conference with various archaeologists and historians who worked on the project, the press interview revealed that the rock was to be moved around countries and museums showcasing the dense energy emitting from it."
Amused, Akito decided to browse the web about another interest. "Mana" can be found in various movies and TV shows, but Akito had a feeling that mana had existed within him. Researching through articles and online web pages, but his search soon came to an end, finding nothing accurate, he decided to give Kazuto a call.
Kazuto, sitting on the floor, reading a book, heard his phone ringing, dropping the book and getting up, he noticed that it was Akito. "Hey, Akito, what's up?" He said. Akito, unable to ask the favor, tried to skip past it, "so, uh, what are you up to?" realizing the situation, Kazuto replied. "Nothing much. What's going on? I know that you need something."
Embarrassed, Akito said, "yeah, I do. I researched the power I had tapped into against Fujel, and I wondered if it was mana. Is there anything accurate or an old text that is related to mana?" Excited, Kazuto screamed into his phone, "Yes! I do! It's good that you asked. I was researching this myself!"
Feeling the rush of excitement, Akito told Kazuto to bring all the information he had about the subject to the club room, accepting that. Both the friends ended the call on a high note.