[I'm sorry]
[Toshiki, Makoto, your task this time is to protect your mother]
[Tomie, take them both away from here safely]
[Sorry, sorry, sorry]
.
.
.
Ken opened his eyes widely. Cold sweat soaked all over his body. His chest was beating wildly, irregularly. His ears were buzzing. His mind tangled raging. His head was about to burst out.
The vibrating phone lying next to the pillow distracted Ken's gaze from the dim ceiling of his room. Incoming call from Yasuhiro. Ken took the phone with his hand soaked in cold sweat. Before answering the call, he looked at the time displayed on his phone screen. It's only six o'clock in the morning.
"Yea? What happened so early?"
Ken didn't hear any sound on the other line. He got up from his lying position, then stared at his phone screen that was still connected to Yasuhiro.
"Yasu?"
[Ah, sorry. My hands move by themselves]
Yasuhiro's voice sounded trembling in Ken's ears. His forehead furrowed. "You sure it's okay? You sick? Or you had a nightmare?"
For the second time, Yasuhiro did not directly answer Ken's question. Ken even almost believed his guess because the behaviour Yasuhiro showed were very unusual. Not long after that, Ken finally able to hear the sound of breathing.
[Hm. Yeah, I'm fine. I'm hanging up. Sorry to wake you up]
The call was disconnected right after Yasuhiro finished his words.
Ken stared at his phone screen blankly. His eyes fell on the date and time displayed on the main screen of his smartphone.
Today is the 26th day at the end of the year. A national holiday that is always celebrated with great fanfare throughout the city, especially in the capital, where the main celebrations take place. Ketteibi, people call it that. 'Determination Day' for teenagers who have turned 17 years old and have the right to claim the elemental energy that resides in their bodies. Since the celebration is held for teenagers who have turned 17, the age of which is considered the beginning of the maturity phase, it is not uncommon for people to refer it as Seijukubi, which means Celebration of Maturity.
As a child, just like most children, Ken considered Ketteibi to be the most awaited holiday besides his own birthday. On that day, the Elementalists—adults who had claimed their elemental powers and belonged to The Great Four—who are all over the city hold parades around while showing off their own abilities. For those who didn't have the opportunity to join in seeing the core celebrations in the capital, the parade became a solace and a lively atmosphere in small towns far from the capital.
Four years ago, when Suzume was part of the participants who had the opportunity to claim her elemental energy, Ken felt envious and wanted to quickly catch up with his sister. For Little Ken, the participants standing in the arena were cool people. Therefore, when he saw his sister successfully expend her elemental energy for the first time, Ken wanted to be like her and the other cool people he saw in the arena.
Ken opened wide the curtains that block the entry of sunlight into his room, then he looked at the street around his bustling house decorated with flags and multicolored banners according to the symbols of The Great Four major groups. Ken opened the window, staring blankly at the crowd of colors that lay under his nose.
"I don't want to go."
"Huh? Did I misheard something?"
Ken turned his head in the direction where the sound came from. Suzume opened the door of his room with her eyebrows raised in wonder. She opened the door of her brother's room wider and went deeper towards the owner of the room. The pair of round eyes Suzume saw reminded her of a big-mouthed little boy who always disturbed the peace of her ears every day.
"Are you sick?"
"Dunno," Ken replied doubtly. "I feel well, but I also don't feel in the mood to do anything or go anywhere. ... Hey, what exactly does 'sick' feel alike?"
Suzume's jaws fell freely. Her hand moved to pinch Ken's cheek, then moved up to his forehead covered with his messy hairs. Ken's skin felt quite warm in such cold weather with open windows and his thin clothes. Suzume moved her hand away, but not because of panic by Ken's body temperature but because her hands felt wet and sticky by her brother's sweat.
"Hey, nee-chan."
Suzume was surprised again, for the umpteenth time. During her seventeen years as Ken's only older sister, Suzume never heard him call her onee-chan, nee-chan, or at least onee-san. That brat from the beginning only called her by name, noisily and without manners, making her hopes of wanting to be called onee-chan fade and vanish into oblivion.
But when that moment finally came, Suzume panicked to death. She gripped Ken's shoulders hard. But he just gave her a puzzled look, then moved to close the window.
"Hmph, forget it. Your expression is annoying."
A powerful punch landed right on top of Ken's head. He complained in pain. He rubbed his head while not forgetting to protect his skull to minimize the second attack. His teary eyes looked up, looking at Suzume who was standing in a clenched fist position.
"If you have anything to say, say it!" Suzume growled in a low emphatic voice. The look in her eyes blazed, making Ken feel intimidated and cornered. "Before my patience runs out, Ken."
A brief ringing from Ken's smartphone made the siblings shift their focus towards the phone lying on the bed. Ken stepped wide, grabbed his phone, and then checked the incoming message with Chikara's name displayed there. Suzume lengthened her neck, still monitoring her little brother with a ready-to-kill look.
Ken stepped towards the closet while extending his hand to turn on the room light. The dim atmosphere of the room instantly turned bright. Ken looked in his closet for a moment, then took his black jacket and matching color trousers.
"Take a shower first. Your waking-up face is so unsightly."
Ken glanced at Suzume with anticipation, but all he saw was her ruffling Ken's hair while pushing his back out and taking him down to the bathroom. Ken held his step before being successfully pushed into the bathroom. Suzume looked at him with raised eyebrows and a faint frown.
"Hey, Suzume, I'm feeling a little scared today. Do you think that's weird?"
The long-haired young woman looked intently at Ken's serious gaze, but also looked of confusion there. Suzume sighed. She could not bear her laughter anymore. Ken who had lowered his ego as much as possible to ask about it instantly regretted.
"Take it easy! I'll come see you in the arena. Just call onee-chan if you feel scared as you used to do when you were a kid."
Ken's hands were tightly clenched.
"I never did that!!!"
Ken's growl of annoyance made his parents who had been watching their children from the dining room immediately alert, preventing the worst possibility of a civil war. Ken slammed the bathroom door violently, making Suzume who still hadn't moved from her place startled and reflexively move backwards. After that, she laughed softly as she walked over to the dining table.
"At least that way, his fear can be put aside."
***
As Ken recalled, the gathering time he had agreed with his friends was eight o'clock. But when he got to the promised station, Ken already saw his friends gathered at one point. In fact, Sano and her female friends were also already there, fun mingling and chatting intimately with his two buddies.
Well ... Ken didn't miscalculate because Kazuhiko hadn't been seen yet.
The first people to notice Ken's arrival are Sano and Chikara. Sano with a fiery spirit and a ruddy face enduring the cold waving her hand high, perhaps to make it easier for Ken to see them. The short-haired girl seemed immersed in the twisting of her pink scarf, as well as in her fur jacket and plaid skirt. Ken returned the girl's greeting with a perfunctory smile while patting her tiny palm which was wide open and still in a shoulder-high state. Unaware of the impact of his actions, Ken simply passed up to his two best friends: Chikara and Yasuhiro.
Fortunately, it wasn't long before Kazuhiko arrived while running in a gasp before Ken and his two friends decided to leave him. Without needing to be confirmed, the three of them knew that Kazuhiko had just woke up, it was obvious from his wake-up hair which was very messy because he had not time to tidy up. Even so, Sano's female friends don't seem to think the scene in front of her eyes is something that's disturbing, distracting, or even disgusting. Quite the opposite.
In the train, they stood close together and squeezed each other. In such a position, they had to be patient until the next twenty minutes until the train arrived at the downtown station.
Previously, Ken rarely went to the capital. Perhaps if he count the total number, including his departure today, not up to three times he went there. Even so, Ken had memorized how crowded the stations and the congestion created due to the number of passengers that have exploded in each compartment. That's just the atmosphere on a regular holiday. On national holidays like Ketteibi, it can be even more crowded.
Ken let out a long sigh. His hand reachs into his waist bag. From there, he took out small packets of rice cakes that his mother had made. Ken eats a pack, then offers the rest to Sano and his female friends who are standing next to him.
Twenty minutes passed quickly. The train they were riding in finally reached the downtown station. The station is located right in front of the arena for 17-year-olds teenagers who will soon discover their elemental powers.
While waiting for the traffic lights to change its color, Ken and his friends stared straight at the huge building that stood haughtily in front of them. Colorful flags and banners were scattered as far as their eyes could see. Various expressions were printed on the faces of the teenagers who were waiting for the traffic lights with Ken and his friends.
Ken averted his eyes a moment later, trying to silence the unexplained feeling lodged in his chest.