"Masayuki-kun, you didn't forget to contact Tanaka-san about our coming here, did you?"
The person who was being asked casually nodded and walked carefree. "Of course. If I haven't and he's not around, why should I bother coming here?"
Yamashita Gorou who walked behind Hirano Masayuki stared around, precisely at several guards who saw their arrival with suspicious faces since the two stepped into the Jikai headquarters. Although their arrival was not treated like a guest of honor, no one blocked or restrained them until they reached the entrance and a man approached them accompanied by several others on his left and right sides.
"Welcome," greeted the man, looking dignified in a white suit and grey pants. His two companions looked at Hirano and Yamashita probingly. "It's rare that I get a phone call from you, Hirano-san. I was shocked."
"Ahaha, sorry. I just came back from Fukuoka a few weeks ago and have to take care of the new greenies," Hirano said with a smile. "Speaking of which, did our arrival bother you, Tanaka-san?"
Tanaka smiled back at Hirano while shuffling his shoulders. "Please come in. We accept anyone as long as they have no ill intentions."
Yamashita followed Hirano's steps while watching the surroundings as they stepped up the stairs to the second floor, then entered the lift. Yamashita was confused because when he entered the lift, Tanaka's aides did not enter but rushed away and turned down the stairs. In silence, Hirano, Yamashita, and Tanaka could only wait until the lift took them to the ninth floor.
"Let me guess, does this have anything to do with what happened in Hanomote a while ago?" asked Tanaka right after he opened and entered his room and let his guests in. Yamashita, who hadn't even stepped too far from the entrance, fell silent because of his straightforwardness. Meanwhile, Hirano seemed to grin and hold back his laughter. "If I guessed correctly, it's a coincidence that I also want to ask Higami something."
With a chuckle, Hirano sat while leaning his body slightly forward, staring fixedly at Tanaka. "Oh ... in that case, how about we start our discussion with your question for us, Tanaka-san?"
"Alright, if Higami doesn't mind." Yamashita caught Tanaka's raised eyebrows a few millimetres before the man sat down behind his desk. "About The Chosen One you guys have. How many percent of this child can control his energy?"
Hirano and Yamashita fell silent at Tanaka's question. They both thought that Tanaka would accuse them back. But with the question coming out of his mouth, the two of them stared at each other for a moment before the question was finally answered by Hirano.
"As you know Tanaka-san, our group just got new members a few days ago, and Ken-kun is one of those greenies. Until now, he is still shocked and has not accepted his situation. Technically, I hadn't observed him directly since the first time he showed off his true power, but I'm sure Ken-kun wasn't that weak, if that's what you're worried about. I mean, he's The Chosen Elementor. Even if he looks weak now, it's natural because he hasn't learned much about his own potential."
Yamashita turned his head in surprise when he heard and knew the essence of Hirano's words. He knew that the existence of The Chosen Elementor was indeed very important to each group, but he didn't know that Hirano was already proud and had high hopes for him like his own son. Slowly, he turned his head forward and saw Tanaka's expression, which had previously seemed stiff and dignified, now looked sluggish.
"What's his name?"
"Ken. Imai Ken."
Tanaka murmured. His gaze rolled towards the large window in the room. "From the first time I knew of The Chosen Elementor's existence, I felt sorry for whoever it was, who previously knew nothing about this and suddenly found out that he got that title. The Chosen One we have this time, whose name is Shou, I saw it on his face two years ago: empty, panicked, scared. His father and I were good friends and I often met the boy when he was young. That status changes everything, Hirano. No matter how mature we are, no matter how much weight we've been through, I'm not sure we can feel the same way that Shou or Ken did."
Hirano just nodded.
"Therefore, and as I guessed the reason you two came here," Tanaka said again. "What just happened on Hanomote Street is not Jikai's work at all. Two of our members almost became victims. If you blame the Kage, then just blame them, don't take us with them.
Hirano retreated his back slightly to the sofa. His eyebrows twitched. "Why are you so sure that this is Kage's doing, Tanaka-san?"
Tanaka shrugged his shoulders. "I was just told the details of the incident by Shou a few seconds before I received your call."
"Oh," Hirano muttered softly. "It makes sense."
"During these two years, Shou had a very unpleasant experience related to Kage. It's no wonder that he immediately thought that this incident was also the result of their actions." Tanaka paused for a moment, his eyes staring at the ceiling. "But one I still question. What makes Higami suspicious of Jikai? Is it because Shou happened to be there? But you also know that Suzume, Ken's sister, is also there, right?"
"Wouldn't that actually be the main reason?" Yamashita, who had only been listening, finally opened his mouth. "Because she is his sister. Who knows, maybe he sees this as an opportunity or something like that. In essence, we just want to make sure if there is Jikai's involvement here or not, other than Imai's sister, of course."
Tanaka shook his head. His gaze was serious. "You may not believe in Shou, but if Yamashita's guess is correct, I will teach him a lesson myself. You can keep my word."
Hirano stood up from his seat while reaching out something from his pocket and walked up to Tanaka's desk. "Actually, that's not the only reason why we're here, Tanaka-san."
The man continued walking up to Tanaka until he stood next to his chair, then positioned his phone on Tanaka's table. "We found something unique when we saw the footage of the incident in Hanomote. We think this has something to do with Jikai, so we would like to ask you for confirmation."
In the video that appeared on Hirano's phone screen, it can be seen a green light laser twinkling on the top floor of a building that almost collapsed in the 5th to 8th seconds. Hirano left his phone there until the video repeated itself a second time. Glancing sideways, he noticed Tanaka's awkward expression.
"You're right," Tanaka commented as the video on the phone played again for the third time. Hirano and Yamashita paid full attention to him. "This is indeed the code we used years ago, but actually it's a little different from what you know."
"What do you mean?" asked Yamashita curiously.
Tanaka did not answer immediately. His eyes glanced again at Hirano's phone screen, then he sighed. "It's Rebellion."
Yamashita widened his eyes while Hirano put on a sour expression. Rebellion are those people who violate the rules of peace between each group not to attack or provoke members of other groups. Naturally, Rebellion was imprisoned for a long period of time under tight guard. But unfortunately, not all Rebellions can be caught as easily as catching ants.
"Tanaka-san, wait a minute," Hirano approached Tanaka's table with many wrinkles on his forehead. "If it is Jikai's Rebellion, why are they targeting their own family?"
Tanaka looked back at Hirano. "That's also what I wondered about."
...
Ken was amazed by what he was currently seeing. He didn't know how he could suddenly be on a country road with people and building patterns similar to the atmosphere in the Sengoku era. Traditional wooden houses. People dressed in kimonos.
When he was having fun enjoying the atmosphere and scenery that usually can only be seen in historical games, suddenly, people who originally walked regularly now seem to run back and forth without knowing the direction. The atmosphere suddenly turned chaotic. Many houses were destroyed, its roofs crushed like being hit by giant stones falling from the sky. The ground he stepped on shook violently. Then his feet felt wet, and when he saw the water already as high as his stomach, it had inundated the area where he stood.
Not done with the tension, Ken heard a loud rumbling sound coming from the sky, yet he knew it wasn't like the rumbling sound of lightning. The voice continued to be heard, chanting along with the shouts and cries of the people around him.
Until then, his eyes widened and the horrible scene suddenly disappeared, replaced by the view of the ceiling of his room.
"... Wake up!"
Ken glanced at his door which was beaten heartlessly. Without wasting any time, Ken did what his sister had been shouting, then walked out of his room carrying his backpack.
This year's new semester feels very fast. Ken felt that he had just had a day off yesterday, but this Monday he already had to go back to school. Too much has happened in recent days to make his days off mean nothing.
Along the way to school, Ken just stared at the toes of his shoes which had gotten snowflakes. When he raised his gaze, a white pile of snow had already filled the side road. People walked in their long thick coats, with puffs of smoke wafting from each other's noses. Ken looked down again, observing his own clothes that were arguably more suitable for use in the autumn than at the beginning of January. Feeling strange about himself, he raised the hood of his jacket and spurred the pace.
When he arrived at school, Ken somehow felt bad about the crowd he saw. Although it was a natural scene on the first day of re-entering school, the feeling he felt said otherwise. After all, he thinks this is weird. He was already in the school area, and the school buildings and similar institution buildings should be safely protected from anything related to the Kage or something like that.
After changing his shoes with uwabaki, Ken did not go directly to class. He continued up the stairs, continuing up all the way to the door on the top floor. A gust of cold wind instantly stroked his face as he walked on until he stood directly behind the barrier wire.
"I thought no fool would come here in such cold weather."
Hearing that, Ken turned around and scanned in all directions to find out who the owner of the voice he heard was. However, he didn't find anyone until he caught the movement from above, near the water reservoir. He sat with two legs dangling down and one hand waving. He wears the same uniform and green uwabaki as him, only with a large baseball jacket and gloves wrapped around his palms.
Ken walked up to him but didn't go up. He just looked up as he said, "Then I'm the second fool besides you."
The student president, Kimura Kei, laughed at Ken's ridicule. He almost kicked Ken's head with his foot bobbing on top, but Ken dodged him faster.
"But honestly, you're crazier than I am, Pres," Ken said again as he leaned his back on the barrier wire, staring up at Kimura. "Deliberately go outside in this cold even though it looks like you're freezing under your jacket."
Kimura couldn't help but laugh.
"What about you?" asked Kimura without taking off his relaxed tone, although this time it sounded more cautious. "Have you become immune to the cold? Seeing you dressed so thin like that makes me shiver."
Ken grinned, looking down at the jacket that didn't even cover his uniform completely. "I don't know the answer myself. Probably yes."
From above, Kimura looked at Ken who had once been his classmate, with a half-incredulous look. He knew Ken as a less melancholic person and took to heart what people told him. Seeing him gloomy like that is so not Ken, Kimura thought. As a fellow new elementor, Kimura can more or less know the cause of Ken's becoming like that. However, he didn't feel the same way that Ken experienced, so he couldn't respond more to just raise his mood.
While walking down the stairs, Kimura said to Ken, who seemed lost in thought, "Hey Ken, how about you stop by the outdoor sports field after school? Our baseball team and football team have always had a unique tradition of students who are still surprised by their new abilities, just like us."
"What tradition?" asked Ken half-curiously. "Running around the field until you faint?"
Kimura chuckled but shook his head. "No. We call it Super Saiyan Training. If you are curious, just come."
Kimura didn't tell him more about what he had just told Ken. He only invites Ken to go back inside because the morning ceremony in the indoor hall is about to begin. The two of them then split up to join their respective classmates.
During that morning, Ken, as usual, didn't hear a single sentence coming out of the principal or anyone else speaking behind the microphone. Raging with his own thoughts, Ken weighed whether or not he would go to Kimura's invitation.