Seconds turn into a full minute as they lock eyes with the rampaging Esper, in his full Tungsten regalia; looking like he has survived a long gruesome battle. And yet, the young man's posture is relaxed as he watches the two of them from his comfortable spot, his smile never dwindling.
Takao's heart drums louder and louder against his ribcage; eyes never leaving the form of the strong S-Class as he swallows loudly. "S-Senpai," he hears Shuu from his side, "What are we going to do?"
Takao is as lost as his younger friend. As a Falcon, he rarely works alongside Team Phoenix. They never had the 'to-do-list in the case of a rampaging S-Class' talk in their briefings. And he is sure no one in YES ever dreams of facing anyone among The Phoenix in a fight.
Every cell in his body is screaming at him to escape, but Tungsten is sitting over their only escape route. Furthermore, no one can beat Tungsten, an Esper known for his Godlike speed, in a game of chase.
Perhaps he can think of something else. He and Shuu are both elementals. They can both attack the rampaging Esper with their elements. But, knowing Tungsten's gift with speed, he will be a hard target to hit.
What to do? What to do when your opponent is just watching you with a wide grin? What to do when you know that you are not his match?
Before he says anything, Shuu swings his arm to summon four ice darts and throws them toward Tungsten. The darts are small; not the size of a weapon that can hurt a human. Abe Koukichi simply has to tilt his head to dodge the ice, but lifts a hand to catch one and throws it back at Shuu. The throw is swift and almost soundless, causing the dart to move faster toward Shuu, but Takao burns the dart before it hits them.
"Shuu, what the fuck!?" Takao is known as the one to cuss aloud in his team, but he has been holding himself back around Shuu. Shuu is, after all, a polite kid. But today he is pushing his buttons.
The younger teen does not stray his gaze from the rampaging Esper. His brows wrinkle as he focuses. Unlike Takao, this boy is not afraid to face their opponent. "As long as we don't fatally injure him, it should be fine, right?" Shuu asks.
True. Abe Koukichi is a fighter on their side. While it is important to incapacitate him; they cannot kill him.
Not like doing the latter will be easy anyway.
"Yes," Takao answers. Soon, he senses his hairs standing up and slowly gravitating toward the teen next to him. Shuu has summoned his lightning bolt.
With a smooth movement of his arm, the bolt is thrown in the direction of Abe Koukichi. It pierces the air; loud and bright. The bolt casts light as it crosses the terrace; enough that Takao sees the expression on Abe Koukichi's face as the bolt dashes closer. The young man is smiling wider.
And then...
He disappears.
"Where'd he go!?" Takao yelps. He swings his fireball left and right to check his surroundings.
"S-senpai," Shuu's voice trembles, "did Koukichi-senpai just teleported?" Shuu too is turning his head to every swish of tree leaves around them in an attempt to find the mecha Esper.
"N-no. He's Abe Koukichi. Being fast is his forte," It's easy to mistake speed as an ability to teleport, especially when you're one like Tungsten, the alias born by Abe Koukichi. The young man is so fast that, to many, he seems to just disappear and appear somewhere else.
But knowing that means knowing that Abe Koukichi can catch anyone if he wants to. And when you're the target, that knowledge is a horrifying one.
"Where is he!?" Shuu is panicking, not just because they can't see the rampaging Esper, but also because they can feel his presence. It's the way they hear a quick whiplash in the air, only to see nothing the moment they turn to see it. It's running around and around, circling them, until.
"Urk!" Someone hits the back of Takao's his ankles, successfully tackling him, followed by a large hand pushing his face to the ground.
"Takao-Senpai!!" A voice, Shuu's, calls out; yet Takao's vision has gone dark. He tries moving his mouth to answer him back, and yet all he feels on his face is concrete. The voices dwindle to mere white noise, and for about 5 minutes, Takao is just floating in silence.
He is jolted awake as quickly as he's lulled to unconsciousness. His head snaps back to see his surroundings, bones cracking as he pushes himself up and he is sure he is sporting a bruise on the face and a massive nosebleed. Shuu, he notes, is lying limp not far from him.
Tungsten stands victorious ahead, just casually studying his own hands. Whatever is happening, Takao's main concern is making sure Shuu is okay.
"Shuu!" He hisses at the boy's figure, "Shuu! Answer me!"
Shuu's body twitches, starting from his fingertips to his whole arms. Then, the younger lifts his head. His face carries its fair share of bruises, and yet the boy smiles.
"I did it Senpai," through swollen eyes, Shuu smirks and raises a thumb. "I short-circuited his armor".
Confused, Takao turns to Tungsten just to see the guy taking off his mecha armor. His leering smile, for once, is gone.
"I let him tackle me to a body lock just so that I can electrocute his armor," Shuu's chuckle is raspy as he struggles to speak, "Do you think that's cool, Senpai?"
Takao cannot help laughing too. They're still in a shitty situation, but any small victory counts as a victory. "Mad cool," he says, "But I don't know how much that will help us buddy. Armor or not, he's still an S-Class Esper".
"He won't have that speed anymore".
"Sorry?"
"Koukichi-senpai's ability. It's not super speed," Shuu explains, "I assume it's the mecha armor that boosts his speed to that extent".
"No way. If it's not speed, then what is his ability?"
Shuu's forehead wrinkles as he tries to remember, "Something about having very good aims".
A little dumbfounded, Takao blurts, "What kind of ability is that?". Here is an S-Class Esper with a position among Neo Japan's Esper elites, and it's silly to say his ability is on having good aims.
Meanwhile, Abe is now taking off the legs of his mecha armors; arranging them neatly on the ground next to him. He continues to do so on the rest of what is left of his mecha armor. There's a lot of care in each movement. Observing him, it's hard to believe this Esper is on a rampage.
Takao and Shuu slowly rise up to their feet, albeit with difficulty. Takao is convinced he has broken a few bones. Shuu does not look like he's faring any better. "Senpai, this is a good time to attack. While he's distracted, we'll just," Shuu summons ice shards around himself, "Attack him however we can until he's down".
"Shuu, do not attack before I -" Takao alerts, but those ice shards have hurled themselves toward Abe Koukichi, who is in the middle of casually taking off his cracked helmet. The S-Class Esper is acting so normal that it doesn't look like he notices the incoming attack; only seeing them once his helmet is off of his curly tuff of hair. Abe raises his arm to cover his face, but otherwise, he does not put much resistance at all.
Without his mecha armor, Abe Koukichi is clad in only a black sleeveless top, jeans, and a pair of sandals. The ice shards pierce through the young man's black top and arm. Perhaps, deactivating the armor really does something that their attack easily hits him.
Or does it?
Abe Koukichi lowers his arm, and there it is; the eerie wide smile. He reveals his fist to show a few ice shards. "H-how-," Takao gasps, unable to finish his sentence when they see the tattooed young man twist his torso before the ice shards are returned to their direction with double the speed. They both escaped by a hair.
"Fuck!" Takao cusses after rolling a couple of times on the concrete floor of the terrace. He wasn't hit by any shards, he thinks. He checks himself for any new injury when he realizes one ice shard puncturing his wrist computer. The aim is dead-center on his watch; a perfect hit.
"Something about having very good aims", Shuu's voice plays in his head like a record. That is it. Abe Koukichi does not miss. He was aiming for their wrist computer. Checking at where Shuu landed to evade the ice shards, it seems like his wrist computer and the navigating system tablet got hit too.
With his tech-armor broken; the sonic wave it's emanating to turn off every electronic device should've stopped; meaning that now all electronic devices around it should work again. So to stop them from contacting the base camp now would be to destroy everyone's means of communication manually.
Not only is his aim dead-accurate, but he catches things thrown at him with accuracy too. Everything they throw at him he will probably catch and return; which is bad because most elementals are long-distance fighters. Then again, everyone can catch ice...
...but fire burns.
Takao strengthens the fireball he's been using as a torch and throws it at the tattooed Esper.
But just like those ice shards, he captures the fire in his palm and throws it as quickly as one would in a game of dodgeball. Takao is helpless. His own fireball is coming at him, and he has lost the power to even get up and avoid its heat.
It's coming closer.
The next thing he knows, a strong arm loops around his torso and he is hauled away by someone. The person moves fast; almost as fast as Abe Koukichi in his Tungsten armor.
"M-Morita-san!?" Takao exclaims as Morita drops him next to Shuu. The bodyguard is hissing in pain.
"I think that fire burns through my boots," the sole of Morita's left shoe is thoroughly burnt from the fireball thrown at them.
"Oh, please tell me he didn't plan it that way," Takao mutters in horror. It looks so perfectly aimed, despite the fact that none of them even knew Morita was in the vicinity when he threw that fireball. Morita sends a glance at Abe Koukichi.
"Let's just say it's not my first time being struck on the foot by this guy".
The grin on Abe Koukichi's face, if possible, grows wider. "We have to get out of here," The bodyguard takes Shuu in one arm and Takao in another before he speeds away from the rampaging Esper.
***
"Really, Morita-san, out of all the places we can escape to, you took us further up the cliff," Takao huffs.
Morita took them up the second flight of stairs leading to the top of the cliff, where the Caves of Three Monkeys are located. The area is known for its long hedge maze leading to three different caves. One cave leads to a temple with The Monkey God of Prosperity, another cave takes you to the temple of The Monkey God of Health, and the last one houses the temple for the Monkey God of Love. However, if one is especially lucky, they will find a fountain in the middle of the maze where one can wish for all three.
Takao has always considered the place too much of a gimmick to take seriously. And yet here he is, hiding in one of the maze's many nooks with two other guys while that crazy maniac Abe Koukichi is probably trying to find them.
"If we're heading to a cave, I'm hoping we'll find the one for health, then we might survive the night," Takao half-jokes. Trust the modern-day Japanese to still go to places like this to make wishes despite the decline of spirituality in their society. Plus, who would put a hedge maze and a fountain at a Japanese temple anyway?
Shuu and Morita do not seem to find the joke funny. The latter is busy checking on his wrist computer, which thankfully still works. Meanwhile, the prior appears thoughtful.
"Takao-Senpai, did you see Koukichi-Senpai's hand? Your fire burned it!"
"Duhh, it better did. I worked on that fire attack for years".
"And yet he still touched it. He didn't even flinch!" Without his mecha armor, Abe Koukichi is no longer blessed with immunity towards most elements. Yet, it is interesting how he did not budge from facing the elements Takao and Shuu had thrown at him.
"It's his rampaging state. Espers in that state are barely aware of danger. They don't feel pain, but it does not mean their body is immune to it. They just continue to go at it until their body can no longer take it," Morita Ken taps a couple more things into his wrist computer before he puts his hand down, "Which reminds me, why are you two here? Didn't we leave Shuu to you so that he stays in Zone 3?"
"This was not part of the original plan," Takao points between him and Shuu, "I tried telling you guys that I had to enter Zone 2 because I'm in charge of deliveries between the zones. No one's listening".
"That does not explain why you two are here".
Takao inhales. It's not his fault anyway. "Took him with me to Zone 2 because I can't just hand him to anyone else. And then, Zone 2 asked for our help to check the borders to Zone 1 due to rumors of a rampaging Esper," He shivers, suddenly remembering that said Esper is currently hot on their trail, "Kid insisted on tagging along. One thing led to another and...," then he is reminded that this was something he was asking Shuu right before they were attacked by Abe. He turns a scowl at the youngest of their small party, "Yeah, Shuu, what happened then? How did you lead me here?"
The boy blinks owlishly back now that he is in the spotlight. Both Takao and Morita have their hands crossed on their chests. "W-well," the boy starts looking a bit guilty, "I..., I saw two green dots on the monitor moving around Zone 2. They always went towards orange dots where injured Espers are. After each stop they make, the orange dots will always change back to green or if there were no dots, their stop would make the green dots appear. It's like these two green dots are tending to injured Espers or Espers with their wrist computers deactivated, and they fix everything on their every visit".
"And you figured those two green dots are me and Ren," Morita continues for him.
"Yes".
"What the fuck!?" Takao gawks in disbelief, "Shuu, so while we're trying to rescue our comrades, you led me on to find Guide Hinata instead!? Dude, we had a mission!" His patience is running thin. He had always thought of Shuu as a well-behaved kid, but Shuu has been testing him a lot this particular day.
"No," Morita raises a hand towards Takao, "Let's not fight. You know what, actually, I kind of expect things to go this way". The man then rubs the bridge of his nose, "It's the Phoenixes. Them and their Guide, I swear".
"What the hell are you talking about? Shuu is not a Phoenix! At least not yet! He doesn't have the luxury of doing whatever he wants!"
Morita groans,"Ugh, he is a Phoenix. Can't you see?"
Takao follows the older's gaze to the youngest. Shuu stands there, looking like the perfect example of 'feeling sorry'. If he has dog ears, they will be floppy to exaggerate his sadness. Now that he considers that imagery, Takao notices the kid has puppy-dog eyes too.
"I see a kid," Takao states blandly.
"I see a Phoenix," Morita counters, "Trust me, I know a Phoenix when I see one".
Rumor has it Morita had gone through hellish treatments by the Phoenixes just for being their Guide's bodyguard. Takao took that as a rumor, but seeing the man now, perhaps it has more truth to it than he expected.
Morita, who has been bending down to nurse the sole of his foot, stands up to his full height.
"You're right. Ren and myself were going around the woods to find injured Espers, and ultimately find Abe-san".
"So..., Guide Hinata is also here," Takao contributes with a hint of dread.
"Yes, down the cliff, tending to two unconscious girls that have fallen off of their motorbike".
"Oh," Takao flushes, "Yeah, that. That's on me. Probably not the best idea to send them away on that bike, but I thought it's best that I got them out of there". He knew those two girls were not fit enough to ride a bike, especially down a long flight of stairs. Still, if they had stayed longer, they would be vulnerable to Abe's relentless attacks. "That's why you took us further up the cliff. You don't want Tungsten to find those two girls and Guide Hinata".
"Yes. As for Ren, well, he can handle himself around the Phoenixes, if you know what I mean".
"No, what do you mean?"
Morita shifts awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck. He avoids the question and instead says, "Let's just say being their Guide helps. Nonetheless," he quickly redirects, "Ren hasn't signaled me that he's coming over here so he's probably not done with the girls yet."
"Have you contacted the base camp for backup?" Takao perks up. Morita's wrist computer is still working after all.
"Uhh, no?" The man looks confused, "Look, we, and by that I mean Ren and I, don't need backup. We're here for a reason. You two, on the other hand, do not belong here. You two should leave".
Takao gapes at the sudden turn of events. "What do you mean we don't need backup? There's a rampaging Esper right here. He needs to be subdued".
"And you think any of you can take him down? Heck, everyone is all over the place trying to save your comrades and you think you will have enough manpower to subdue Abe Koukichi?" When Takao fails to respond, Morita adds, "That's why Ren and I are here. We're going to take care of this".
"You know, last time I almost rampaged, I was taken care of by 5 Guides," Takao rebuts. It's hard to imagine how one Guide and a bodyguard can handle an Esper like Abe Koukichi. Sure, Guiding an Esper is one thing; but guiding a rampaging Esper is something else altogether.
Morita smiles thinly, "You seem to forget that Ren is a Phoenix too".
Is he? Takao mentally wonders. No one in YES considers Guide Hinata a Phoenix. He's their Guide, sure. But a Phoenix?
"Uhhh".
They both turn to Shuu. "So, now what, Senpai?"
Morita shrugs, "You two need to scram".
"We can't now, can we? We're at the top of the cliff, in this maze, and we have to pass the terrace a level below to leave, where we last saw Abe-san. We can't leave without facing him again, and if you notice, me and Shuu are too injured to fight him. Get it? We're stuck".
"You will have to find a way!" Morita raises his voice for once before looking apologetic, "I'm sorry guys, but things will get messy. It's not my first rodeo with one of them rampaging". The man tries walking but hisses in pain after moving his left foot.
"Why can't we just tag along? You're injured too. We can -"
"No! Shuu, look," Morita addresses the youngest, "Ren absolutely does not want you to be involved in this".
"Because he doesn't like me".
It wasn't even phrased as a question.
"No! Shuu, Ren does not hate you," Morita returns incredulously.
"Does he?"
Takao rolls his eyes at the situation. Here they are practically in a life-and-death situation, and these two are bickering about something that would not help their cause at all. The fire-wielder puts his hoodie up and pushes his head back as he groans towards the night sky. He's not even allowed to summon his fireball in the middle of this maze unless he's willing to risk causing a fire. The full moon is their only source of light.
And it is then that he catches the tall lanky shadow sitting atop the hedge near them.
It takes a while for his eyes to get used to the darkness, but when they do, the first thing he notices is the wide smile.
"Run," he barely mutters as he tugs at both Morita's and Shuu's hoodies and bolts. No questions are coming from the other two as they all cross the maze, taking random turns, only stopping on their seventh turn.
"Was he behind us?" Shuu asks, chest heaving and face so pale despite all the bruises.
"Yeah, oh my God. He was just there, watching us. Holly shit," Takao struggles to breathe, "We're lucky he doesn't run as fast without his armor".
Morita is down to his knees, gripping his left foot. His foot injury is getting worse. He didn't even use his super speed to escape just now. "This is so like him," Morita says between ragged breaths, "Abe enjoys the chase more than he enjoys capturing his target".
"Are you saying," Takao pauses to gather wipe the sweat that has gathered under his lower jaw, "He's only playing around".
"Oh, yeah. Definitely. When Abe Koukichi wants to catch you, trust me, he would have done so by now".
As soon as he finishes saying that, Abe Koukichi appears from the turn ahead of them with brutal force. Simultaneously, they all let out a scream before running back toward where they came from. The man may not be as fast as he was with his armor, but he's still fast. And without Morita's own super speed ability, it is difficult to outrun him.
Shuu drags his hand through the hedge wall. Takao looks behind him to see the hedge has grown a new wall behind them, trapping
Abe with its vines. "Good job, Shuu!!" Takao shouts, still running.
"Keep going, Senpai!" The boy too does not stop his pace, "My control over plants is not very good!"
They continue running; no longer knowing where the maze is leading, until they see a wide opening ahead. They run past that opening to discover the entrance to one of the caves.
Takao drops himself to the ground once they're inside the cave. Next to him is a statue of a monkey, next to an altar where people pray and put their offerings. "Which temple is this!?" He is screaming, not out of fear but more out of the strain of speaking.
"Health," is Shuu's weak answer.
"Good! Fucking good!" Takao clasps both hands as he lays on his back, "Dear Monkey God of Health, don't let us die tonight!"
Morita falls to his knees next to him, "You believe in God, Akagi?"
"Tonight I fucking am".
Their racing breaths are the only sound echoing the cave. "Please, God, please," Takao mutters in between gasps of air, "Don't let us die here, please, Monkey God!"
Perhaps his prayers have fallen on deaf ears because it doesn't take long for him to see the dark outline of Abe Koukichi's shadow in the mouth of the cave. With his back to the moon, Abe Koukichi's face is swallowed by shadows, and yet from where he is sitting up, Takao can still see the unnatural stretch of his lips as he eerily grins at them.
Morita is already trying to stand up, ready to fight. Takao tries too, only to feel his vision swimming. He wouldn't be surprised if he's diagnosed with a concussion after this - that is, if he survives the night.
Suddenly, he feels all the hairs on his body standing up. Having experienced this a few times tonight, Takao steals a glimpse of Shuu. True enough, the boy is enveloped in bright yellow sparks already. Shuu is about to go all out.
Until they hear the shrill sound of a high-pitched whistle.
Shuu stops mid-summoning his bolt, "What's that?"
Again, they hear the unmistakable sound of a whistle. It comes from inside the maze, strangely enough.
"Finally," Morita lets out a heavy sigh, "He's here".
"Who?"
The bodyguard chuckles, "Ren. Took him long enough".
The smile on Abe Koukichi's face morphs into that of surprise as he slowly turns around to face the maze. There at the opening of the maze, stands a person in a light gray hoodie. As the person finds himself in Abe Koukichi's line of sight, he stops moving forward and starts slowly stepping back. He pushes back his hoodie to reveal short brown hair. It's him: Hinata Ren, with a whistle in hand.
"Come get me!" Guide Hinata says out loud before turning around and running back into the depths of the maze.
From the sidelines, Takao watches Abe Koukichi who is frozen stiff like a statue. Then comes the eerie smile before he takes off into the maze, leaving the three of them staring dumbly from within the cave.
"Is that...," Takao starts, "Is that really it?"
Morita plops back down to the cave's floor, "Yep. That's it".
"What is Guide Hinata planning to do?"
"What Guides do".
"Like... hug'em?"
Morita does not answer him right away. "If you'd rather call it hugging, sure".
Takao lifts an eyebrow at that. He remembers the last time he almost rampaged, he was stuck in this weird group hug with 5 Guides while Chika took pictures of him to share to Team Falcon's group chat. That group hug session was still not enough to help him recover. He still needed to attend more group hug guiding sessions for the next couple of days.
In the middle of this sudden peace, Shuu suddenly lurches up. "Hinata-Senpai!" The boy exclaims; the panic is obvious in his voice. "Hinata-Senpai!!" And now, Shuu is also running into the maze.
"Shuu! What the fuck are you doing!?" Takao starts chasing after the boy.
"Akagi! Stop!" Morita calls behind him, "Let them be. He'll be back soon".
"What if Abe attacks him instead!?"
"He won't! Trust me, Ren knows what he's doing".
"It doesn't matter if he knows what he's doing, what if Abe attacks Shuu!? That kid is assigned to me!" frustrated, Takao yells. He has always been the hothead of the group wherever he goes. "You stay right there. I'll drag him back".
"Oi, Akagi -"
"I said, I'll be right back!"
He doesn't waste his time to continue the conversation and chase after the sound of a whistle. He turns to the left, then right, then left, and then left again. Soon, the continuous whistling noise simply stops, and all Takao is left with is the sound of footsteps. "Shuu!?" He calls, no longer caring if Abe Koukichi hears him too.
Thankfully, after another left turn, he finds a lone figure in a light gray hoodie at the end of a long path. Takao continues his track towards the boy.
"Shuu!" He calls, hand already reaching out to grab the boy by the back of his hoodie; pulling the boy two steps back closer to him. Yet by doing so, he's exposed to the sight of the clearing beyond the path, where a beautiful fountain stands at its center and the full moon casts its generous light on the lush grassy floor of the clearing.
It's the hidden fountain in the maze; the one that is said to be able to grant its visitors prosperity, health, and success in their relationships. But even more surprising there are two other people on the opposite side of that fountain, wrestling on the ground.
It's wild; it's animalistic. Over there at the center of the clearing, right next to the fountain; Abe Koukichi has wrestled his guide to the ground and bit him in the neck. Takao's eyes widened at the sight of blood, just streaming from the Guide's neck and dripping onto the grass. And onto that gash wound on the neck, latch the fangs of their crazed chaser; Abe Koukichi. He has his long limbs around the Guide's torso, just keeping him down to the ground as he bites onto the Guide's neck.
It's carnal - the glare Abe Koukichi is sending them from behind the Guide is. His eyes are burning the color of flame, a clear symptom of a rampaging Esper. He's way beyond insane at the moment, and Takao, being an Esper, should do something to save that guide from being ravaged by this animal.
Yet he cannot move a finger. He's stuck in a trance; in shock.
"Do not turn around," a voice says behind him. It's Morita. "Do not cut your eye contact. Do not speak. Do not make any sudden move. Just step back, slowly".
Takao follows the instructions almost like he's hypnotized.
"Follow my voice and do not look away from him," Morita continues as they take more and more steps away from the fountain and back into the maze. Meanwhile, the red eyes of Abe Koukichi follow them, until they are well-hidden by the hedge wall of the maze. Takao feels the collar of his hoodie being tugged to a nook in the maze, and soon he's faced by a stern Morita.
"What was that!?" Takao finds his voice again, though he is keeping his volume low.
"That's... guiding".
"Guiding!? Last time I was guided, it was not that bloody," Takao points at the clearing, "He's bleeding, man - from the neck!! He's - He's biting him like a vampire!"
"Uhh, yeah. Look, maybe I can explain it to you, it's just that I don't want to stay here longer in case we see or...," Morita pauses, "Hear something - uh, Shuu, are you okay?"
The boy looks like he has just seen a ghost.
"Everything's fine. It's quite normal, really - oh, don't look at me like that, Akagi. How about we find our way out of this maze?" The oldest points his thumb in the general direction of what they assume is the way out.
Takao opens his mouth to protest, then closes his mouth, then relents, "All right, let's just... get out of this craziness". He leads their entourage, only turning around to check on their youngest. "Shuu, you okay?"
The teen mumbles a soft, "Yes," and puts on his hoodie to cover his face. Takao doesn't know what the boy is thinking, but what they saw is quite gruesome; especially with Abe Koukichi, the person Shuu is close to among The Phoenixes, doing that to Shuu's prospective Guide.
They spend their walk in silence, with Morita limping from his foot injury. They made it out to the stairways back down in just 10 minutes. "Can you still walk, Morita-san?" Takao asks, but he's already making his way down the steps.
"Yep," Morita answers.
They climb down the stairs and decide to just sit in the middle of the terrace below this flight of stairs. Shuu hugs his knees and sinks his head behind his arms. All the while, Morita is tapping on his wrist computer. "You calling for backups now?" Takao jabs. Morita winks, "yep".
Thank goodness, Takao says internally. Takao no longer cares what that Esper is doing with his guide at the top of the cliff. At this point, Takao only cares about getting his nose fixed because he is sure it's broken.
"They should be done by now," Morita says out of the blue with his eyes still on his wrist computer.
"How'd you know?"
"I'm keeping watch on Ren's vitals".
Takao finds that information to be somewhat troubling, but can't get himself to care enough to press further. He's had enough of the Phoenixes this week.
It doesn't take 5 minutes for Abe Koukichi to show up after Morita's announcement. The man appears at the top of the stairs, with the Guide on his back, limply hanging from the Esper's shoulders. And Takao isn't sure what gives it away, but Abe Koukichi seems... normal.
"Heya!" The young man that carries the name Tungsten on battlefields airily greets them, "I hope I didn't cause too much trouble?"
Takao forces out an awkward laugh to answer that particular question. Morita corroborates with his own share of chuckles, "I'll let the base camp update you on that. Otherwise, Ren?"
Abe shakes his shoulders a little to wake up the Guide. His head weakly rests on Abe's left shoulder. Takao cannot see his face, but from the way the head is tilted, he's sure the guy is unconscious.
"He's fine. Checked his pulse and everything. Is there any place where Ren can rest?"
The tall Esper looks around for a good spot, then walks to the nearest bench to put down his Guide. The Guide seems to be fully awake now as Abe helps him sit. The Esper crouches down to meet his Guide's eyes. The two are talking privately among themselves with Abe resting his chin on the Guide's knees like a little puppy. The image is a little disturbing if you consider the fact that just moments ago he was chasing everyone and was absolutely not sane enough to keep his power in check and not kill anyone. The only telling sign of his prior insanity is the ravaged state of his attire.
After conversing with his Guide, the Esper approaches Morita and Takao. "So, I have to make another round to Zone 1. I don't know how I lost my armor on the way here, but I can't contact the team without them so I have to make the trip to tell Sora myself - oh, hey, isn't that my armor?" He points at the legs, arm, and helmet of his armor suit that are organized neatly on the ground not far from where they're standing, "I swear, I don't know what I was thinking when I'm in that state".
"We've figured," Takao chimes. Abe raises his eyebrows.
"Who's this?"
Morita is the one to answer, "He's the guy who went in with Ren at Shun-En".
"Ohhh! You're that guy," he flaps his finger as he tries to remember Takao's name, "Umm".
"Akagi Takao," of course he doesn't bother to memorize his name.
"Yeah!!" And he has probably forgotten it by now, "And your friend back there?"
Takao forgot about Shuu for a while there. The kid is still somewhere in the corner, brooding; thankfully with his hoodie up. They can't exactly tell Abe Koukichi that his little ward, his favorite one, is here in an active portal when he's supposed to be resting at home.
"That's uhh my friend! From Team Falcon, Bunta!" Takao walks along Abe as the latter makes his way closer to Shuu. He can't break their cover now.
"Hmm, do I know him?" The tattooed Esper comments as he stops in front of Shuu to study the top of the boy's head, not knowing it is his young trainee.
"M-maybe you've met him a couple of times! H-hey, A-Abe-san!" But it's too late. Abe lands his large hand atop Shuu's head. He's... petting it. "Umm, I t-think Bunta is tired. You should, uhh, leave him alone".
"Oh," The tall gay stops mid-pet, "You're right". He straightens up and pats invisible dust out of his jeans. "Hmmm, I guess it's time for me to go. Morita!" He calls to the bodyguard, who is checking on the Guide, "You take care of the rest!"
Morita raises his thumb to signal his okay. "Then I'll be off!" With a wave, the S-Class Esper disappears, shocking Takao as a result. He thought the guy could not reach that speed without his armor, but maybe he was wrong. Then why didn't he chase after them with that speed if he's able to?
"That Abe Koukichi. That guiding session does him justice," Takao hears Morita saying, "He was really struggling then".
"Him? While rampaging?" Takao frowns. The guy did not seem to struggle at all while chasing them.
"As I've said, rampaging does not make you immune to injuries. Looking at his condition before, it's obvious that he's gone through a lot before he got here. You'd know Tungsten is seriously injured from how he moved and attacked. It's surprising he could keep going with all those injuries. I suppose that's an S-Class for you," Morita rambles, "Then again, it's Ren who's amazing isn't it? It took him just one guiding session, and Abe Koukichi is back to his normal self. He even healed that burn on his hand".
Takao freezes. He's right. What kind of Guide can do that?
Takao is A-Class, and it takes 5 Guides of varying levels over multiple sessions to help him recover from his almost-rampaging state. Yet this Guide, hidden well within the folds of YES, can fix that craziness called Abe Koukichi with one guiding session?
From the bench on the other side of the terrace, the Guide asks for his bodyguard. He points at Shuu's brooding form. "Oi, Akagi, Ren is calling for Shuu-kun".
"Hm? A-alright," Takao looks down at his younger friend who hasn't budged from his spot, "Shuu-kun? You okay? Come on, Guide Hinata is asking for you". The boy does not answer. "Hey, come on. It's rude to not answer your seniors, you know?" He gently pulls the younger's arm, which the younger does not resist. He tugs until Shuu stands on his two feet and continues so he walks along him. The boy has his head down, his face hidden by his hoodie.
"Shuu-kun?" Takao starts to worry. The boy has been acting off the whole day.
The closer they get to Guide Hinata, the more Takao realizes that the Guide is not doing any better compared to all of them. The left side of his hoodie is ripped, and that side of his neck holds a huge gash that Takao saw Abe Koukichi bit into. There are many other bite marks around his neck and collar, along with nail and hand marks on his wrists. He's pink and swollen in the eyes and nose, which means he was crying. Furthermore, he lost a shoe. Whatever Abe Koukichi did to him, it was brutal.
And yet, the Guide does not seem afraid nor traumatized. In fact, he's acting quite casual.
"I knew it," Guide Hinata says once Takao and Shuu stop in front of where he's sitting. "You've been suffering too, aren't you?" He's addressing Shuu, who still has his head down. "I told you he's been off since we left the Headquarters, Ken".
"Shuu-kun?" Takao questions.
"Yes," The guide confirms. He tugs on Shuu's sleeves and pulls the boy down until he falls to his knees in front of the Guide. He pushes Shuu's hood back, revealing the boy's face.
To Takao's surprise, the teen's face is wet with tears. But even crazier, his eyes are tinted with a red hue. "He's close to rampaging, this boy," Guide Hinata announces.
Of course! The fluctuating emotions, the lowered inhibitions, and the sudden spike in his power; those are all the side effects of rampaging. "He hasn't received any proper guiding since his disappearance in Shun-En. It should have an impact on his psyche, considering he spent about 3 hours in Zone 0. Look where it got Koukichi," Guide Hinata says, "I'm surprised he's behaving quite normally".
"Not really. He's been acting off since we got here," Takao adds.
"Well, of course. I mean, with everything considered, this is more normal than I expected," the way the Guide explains is almost nonchalant. He's used to this situation, it appears. "Ken, my status?"
The bodyguard hands the Guide a bottle of water which the latter chugs from. "Still up," Morita answers after a quick glance to his wrist computer.
"Good. I'm out of syringes, so...," without any warning, Guide Hinata grabs onto Shuu's hair and tugs him closer. And before Takao knows it, they kiss.
His jaw drops. It's not even a peck on the lips; it's all open-mouthed and messy. And Shuu; Innocent pure Shuu-kun is not even passive in the kiss. The contact awakens something in the teen that he starts tugging back at the Guide too.
They separate for a short moment, before Shuu leans forward yet again, getting another fill from the Guide, who welcomes it calmly.
"W-wh-wha - I-I," Takao sputters nonsense as Morita puts a hand over his eyes. He's taking a week-long leave after this!!
***
To be Continued.