The thought of assuming their alleged responsibilities as Vessels proved itself to be extremely disturbing. And the five of them hadn't managed to sleep well the other night because of that.
That was why, at dawn the next day, they all headed somewhere to clear their minds before they start their days. But they did that in two groups.
The first group consisted of Misae, Shuichi, and Eichirou. The three of them came up with the idea of taking a stroll down the beach in hopes that the sea breeze could calm their minds. It was originally Eichirou's idea. Shuichi and Misae just tagged along since biking and archery would only make them sad since those hobbies reminded them of their respective parents.
And to think it was their parents' death anniversary on that particular day, as well...
Surely, things couldn't get any gloomier for Shuichi and Misae.
"Eichirou..." Shuichi ventured upon noticing that the eldest of the group appeared to be in deep thought ever since they arrived at the beach.
"Hmm...?"
Shuichi eyed Misae and the girl seemed to have understood what it meant. She sighed and walked alongside Eichirou. "What made you decide to come here?"
But they hadn't gotten any answer from him. It was only for a short while, though. They saw him stop walking and faced the sea as Eichirou smiled wistfully at the slowly rising sun.
"Mom told me before she died... that if I want to talk to her or if I want to fade my worries away, the sea would wash it away for me. The sea breeze would comfort me just as her hands would wipe my tears away and would embrace me when I was feeling lonely and lost. The sun rising from the horizon would make me smile just the same way her smile was able to lift my spirit whenever I'm down." Eichirou chuckled at those words afterward. "I never even realized that she died to fulfill something that big. I always thought that she died because she had been sick for a long time."
Shuichi and Misae glanced at each other upon hearing that from Eichirou. So even the energetic and the person with the most childish personality among the group had long kept this kind of thought in his mind.
The biker soon approached Eichirou and tapped the latter's shoulder. "You know, I still envy you for that."
His words made Eichirou frown and face him. "What's there to be envious about?"
"That you still had the chance to talk to your mother like that before she died," Misae was the one who answered it. "We never had that chance when our parents were killed that night."
"They just told us that no matter what happens, they'll always be with us. Whatever it is that lies ahead of our paths, they will do their best to protect us," Shuichi added with a sigh. "I should've known that there was more to that fire than just a freak accident."
Misae nodded. "And to think Hideoki-san would save us from that fire." Then she faced Eichirou with a smile. "I guess that's how Hideoki-san loved your mother, Eichirou-san. Even though it was extremely dangerous, because of her prediction about Shuichi, Itsuki-kun, Erika-chan, and I dying in that fire, he charged toward the burning building to save us. He still values her wishes more than anything else."
Giving it careful thought, Eichirou had to admit that Misae had a point. His father only thought about how to protect them and ease the pain of losing the people they loved, never his sacrifices and pain. "To be honest, that was the first time I've seen Dad that serious and had begged us to do something."
"That's because it is a task that he couldn't do for our sake," Shuichi stated. "I can tell that if there's such an ability that could take away our duties as the new Vessels from us and place it to him, I know he would do whatever it takes to have that ability."
"This would be the first and the last favor that—" Misae paused, closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again. "—that I will fulfill whatever it takes. At least... This is my way of thanking him for saving us from that fire and taking care of us for the past ten years."
"Misae..."
"Mi-chan..."
The archer took a deep breath and smiled at the rising sun. "I guess being unable to sleep a wink last night and feeling the sea breeze today helped me come up with that decision."
The two boys eyed Misae for a few moments before ending up chuckling. Shuichi just shook his head in slight disbelief while Eichirou smiled widely. But before they could say something about that, the three of them heard beeping sounds coming from their respective Celestial Shifters.
They noticed that the lotus symbol on their Shifters' covers placed on their wrist was... blinking.
"What could this mean?" Shuichi queried.
But the answer they all got was a series of explosions coming from the main plaza.
= = = = = =
Meanwhile, the second group consisting of the Hoshiyama siblings decided to go to the Music Conservatory to think what Itsuki and Erika heard the other night was something that was out of this world. But the fact that their parents died to protect the truth was enough for both of them to think that the world was unfair.
For 10 years, they've lived with the fact that the fire did take something important away from them. But now, they realized that the fire also hid the reality that they were destined to face as the chosen Vessels.
Itsuki touched the keys of the piano in the stadium—the very same piano that Erika was using the other day to practice.
Erika could only look at her brother whose mind was surely wandering somewhere. She couldn't even say anything to make him snap out of it. But what could she possibly say to him? Even she was shocked upon hearing the revelation. And yet, learning all that made her realize that her parents knew she and her brother could be more than musicians.
"Onii-chan..." Erika called in hopes of distracting Itsuki and stopping him from spacing out even more. "Are you angry?"
For a few moments, it was total silence that surrounded the siblings. Then Itsuki sighed and started playing a few notes on the piano. But abruptly, he stopped.
"Whether I'm angry or not, it doesn't even matter. Mother and Father were already dead. They died protecting us and our true reason for existing in this world," Itsuki stated with his hand balled into a fist.
"But that doesn't mean we had lived for this long just because we are the chosen Vessels," Erika said in understanding before holding Itsuki's fist. She felt Itsuki loosening up at that gesture. "Hideoki-san said it last night. The current situation prevented us from continuing to live our lives peacefully. It only means that even though we are Vessels, he still wanted us to live like normal people."
Itsuki exasperatingly sighed and looked at Erika incredulously. "How in the world can you still think like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you're not even bothered by what we learned at all."
The pianist looked intently at her composer brother before answering. "Even if I admit that I'm bothered, how will that change the fact that we're destined to fulfill this? It won't change anything. But it will be enough for us to realize that Mother and Father defended our destinies with their lives so that we could protect the world that they immensely cherished till the day they died."
"You're talking strangely formal again," Itsuki commented to which Erika just replied with a giggle. He looked intently at his sister this time. "Are you sure about doing that?"
Erika covered Itsuki's hand with both of hers. "Onii-chan, I won't be able to know how far I'll go if you constantly hold on to me like this. I know you're worried and scared to death—"
"Hey! I'm not scared."
"—but the moment I was told of my destiny as one of the five Vessels, I realized that this is my chance for me to know that."
"Erika..."
The girl smiled to assure Itsuki. "I'll be alright, Onii-chan. You have to believe that. Okay?"
Well, if Erika started giving a speech like that which discussed faith in her, then Itsuki knew he couldn't say anything to retort to that. He nodded as an answer to that which made Erika's smile widen.
"Thank you so much, Onii-chan!" And because of excitement, she tackled her brother in a big hug.
But that brother-sister moment was interrupted upon hearing something like continuous beeping. Realizing that they brought their Celestial Shifters with them, and it was possibly the ones beeping, both of them immediately checked their wrist where they were placed. They were right, the beeping came from their Celestial Shifters with which the lotus symbol on the covers was blinking.
The siblings looked at each other with a frown.
"No one's possibly calling us using this, right?" Itsuki uttered. "I mean, we just got them from Hideoki-san last night."
Erika shrugged and started walking away from the stage. "Maybe we should head home."
But before any of them could move further, they saw the Music Conservatory's caretaker Kawabata entering the music hall. They saw him panting and in a slight panic. Worried, Erika approached the said person.
"Kawabata-san, are you alright?" she worriedly asked.
"Did something happen?" Itsuki followed suit and approached the adult man.
Kawabata took a deep breath after recovering. "It's better if you two should stay here for a while just until the commotion is over."
"Commotion?" The siblings repeated almost at the same time deepening their frowns. They looked at each other again.
"Don't tell me...?"
But a loud explosion coming from the main plaza only heightened their suspicion of what could make their Celestial Shifters react.