Chapter 7: Setting The Stage For No RE:Turn-WAR Beyond The Horizion
Part 1
There was a sigh that broke out.
She was a little annoyed at the moment.It was 6:30 in the morning.
It was her day off; she would be asleep in bed and not wake for a few more hours.
And yet here she was, awake.
On the second floor of the Matsumoto household, a bathroom door opened, letting out steam.
Stepping out of the bathroom in her pink pajamas and slippers, was the matriarch of the household.
Reiko Matsumoto.
She yawned as the cold air hit her skin.
Rubbing her face, she made her way downstairs. She could feel the bags under her eyes from a lack of sleep from being woken up early.
But it's not like she could help it.
There was a loud crack of thunder in the sky above her and most of the city.
It was too loud to be anything natural, so that left only one option:
She could feel herself get a little upset.
Haruko Matsumoto.
Her adopted nephew
A week ago, she did not have to worry about random blackouts, appliances going haywire, or freak lightning storms. That was before Haruko became a Crystal Guardian.
That was what they called themselves.
At least that was what the girl, whom Haruko had saved, was now currently living in the household with them under the supervision of both Haruko and herself.
Between Haruko and Alexis, there was one more person in the fray.
The way Aoi explained herself and Haruko's half-assed explanation regarding the same topic to Alexis and herself was that she was from another world with the powers of a GOD.
And now Haruko had those same powers over lightning.
A Crystal Guardian
Nothing in the world could've prepared her for the existence of something like this, even though she lived in NEO New York City. A city where power and reality warpers were commonplace
But from what she could tell, nothing like Haruko and Aoi.
"Owowowowowowowowowow" a female whined out.
As Reiko reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard a voice cry out in pain from the living room.
"Good morning, Reiko"
Walking inside, she was greeted by Alexis.
The middle sibling between Haruko and Jayden and the elder of the two twins.
Like Reiko, she was also in her pajamas, but she was wearing an apron.
Eyes closed, she had a smile on her face as she tried to ignore the chaos in the room.
Reiko's eyes slowly drifted to the other side of the room, which was the source of the early morning commotion.
Haruko and Aoi.
The two Crystal Guardians.
Haruko had Aoi in a Boston crab submission as she was tapping on the floor.
"What the hell were you thinking, shouting like that so early in the morning?" Haruko said.
"Good morning to you too, Alexis" Reiko said as she quickly turned away and pulled out a chair to sit in the dining room.
Holding a spatula in her hand, Alexis spoke. "I made some omelettes. Would you like some?"
"Yes, please" Reiko said as she placed her finger under her chin. "Is there any coffee in the machine?"
"What would you have done if my powers went out of control and destroyed several houses?"
"You can't blame me because you are terrible with your powers"
That statement caused a vein to pop on his forehead.
Haruko let go of one of her legs, letting it fall to the floor as he spun around, still holding on to her other leg. Wrapping his legs around her leg, he began twisting her ankle in an ankle lock, causing her to spasm out of control.
"I'm terrible with my powers because every time I try to get a handle on it, some bs' mostly from you keep me from continuing" Haruko shouted out.
This was Reiko's morning.
Alexis walked up to the table holding a plate of omelets, sausage, and bacon with a little bit of syrup in one hand, a hot cup of coffee in the other, and a newspaper underneath her left arm.
She gave the cup of coffee to Reiko first, which Reiko grabbed with both hands, then placed the plate and the newspaper on the table.
Holding the cup in front of her face, right under her noise, Reiko took in the smell. It was as if something had awakened in her.
During the continuing bickering between Haruko and Aoi, she lightly placed the steaming cup on the table.
She closed her eyes.
With a loud exhale, she clapped her hands once.
It was just once, but it was enough to startle the two Crystal Guardians, causing Haruko to let go of Aoi's leg. Both of them turned to Reiko.
There was a cold, unrelenting feeling in the air as nothing was said.
"Thank you once again, Alexis" Reiko said, "Now, with that part out of the way, I can deal with you two"
Reiko began cutting the sausages.
"Regardless of the powers you two possess, there are certain house rules I expected both of you to follow. Rules that Haruko, you should be fully aware of by now and that you Aoi were just told about and do remember what that rule was?"
The two Crystal Guardians looked at each other, then back to Reiko.
"No early morning noise" Aoi weakly replied.
"Yes" Reiko answered back "I don't need anyone knocking on my door because you are screaming out into the neighborhood, and Haruko..."
Haruko tensed up as she said his name.
"Your powers, without proper control, is too dangerous to be left to your own devices regarding training. That's why training in or near people or houses is off-limits. We were lucky that only a select few knew about your power, so most likely no one would connect the dots about what happened earlier"
With a depressed look on his face, Haruko placed his hand on his knee and stood up.
"I'm sorry; I thought that by now I should have some control over it by now" Haruko said, staring at his right palm. "This power is harder to control than I thought" Haruko said, closing his right hand into a fist.
"Haruko" Alexis soft voice interjected "That power you have is beyond anything anyone has ever seen before. It is going to take some time before you understand it, and even longer to fully control it. This is not going to be an overnight process"
Reiko turned to her phone.
"Either way, we can continue this conversation later, but for right now, you need to get ready for school"
"You can't be serious; I am a Crystal Guardian now" Haruko whined, "The school year ends in three weeks, and I already passed, so I don't see the point-"
Reiko spoke, cutting Haruko off.
"Haruko, you have been out of school for almost a week. I am not letting you ignore your education because of your new-found powers; if you can't control your powers, your education might be the only thing saving you in the future"
"Fine" Haruko groaned. "But I will not enjoy it"
"You're not supposed to enjoy it"
Haruko began walking to the stairs, with Aoi following closely behind him.
Stopping, Haruko spoke.
"Oi, can I ask why you are following me?" Haruko said, in a deep voice.
"I was hoping to see where you hide your snacks"
There was silence between the two.
My snacks, my, that is an odd thing to request; I don't have any-" without finishing his sentence. Haruko quickly ran up the stairs, leaving the girl in shock.
It took a few seconds to register what had happened before she ran upstairs after Haruko, shouting out his name on the way up.
"Well, this might take some time to get used to" Alexis said as she sat at the table. 'Haruko and his powers"
Alexis was a mage in training, the lowest level of magicians and spellcasters. The highest rank one could attain would be that of a sorcerer, a classification so rare that only ten exist in the world.
Those who can ignore reality on a whim with the strength of twenty-thousand magicians
And without knowing it, Haruko was reaching their level of power.
"You know, I never did ask you about how you feel about all of this" Alexis said.
Reiko swallowed the food in her mouth before placing the fork down on a napkin near the plate.
"To tell you the truth, it kind of frightens me"