Part 3
Cause she's watching' wrestling"
Ba-bump
"Creamin over tough guys"
Ba-bump
"Listening to rap metal"
Ba-bump
"Turntables in her eyes"
Ba-bump
"She likes em' with a mustache, racetrack season pass, driving in a Trans Am. Does a mullet make a man?"
A voice broke out in the master bathroom coming from Haruko Matsumoto as he was singing, hitting his sink with his toothbrush and hairbrush.
"It's like a bad movie; she's lookin' through me. If you were me then, you'd be screaming someone shoot me. As I fail miserably trying to get the girl all the bad guys want"
He put his toothbrush into a cup by the sink and grabbed his shirt off the curtain rack for his shower before putting it on over his black tank top.
Walking out of his bathroom, he saw that Aoi was lying on his bed.
He made his way to his computer desk, picking up his backpack from his swivel chair.
"Do you really have to leave?" Aoi asked Haruko as he was putting his books inside his bag.
Haruko paused.
"Trust me, if I had my way, school would not be a thing, but I have to make do. I am going to be away for a while, so try not to cause any trouble for Reiko and Alexis in the meantime"
Aoi quickly sat up from the bed.
"What am I supposed to do until you get back?" Aoi whined out.
"Just find something to keep you occupied"
Aoi exhaled as she weakly grabbed one of the manga books on the Haruko bookshelf near his bed before quickly examining it.
On the other side of the room, Haruko was zipping his jacket up.
"If anything, I should be back around three or four; behave, and I will probably take you somewhere to get you snacks"
Aoi's eyes lit up as she heard the word snacks.
Suddenly, she began to bounce up and down on the bed.
"Don't jump on my bed; you'll wear out the springs"
Aoi stopped jumping on the bed with a huff.
"Now, Reiko has some ground rules in place for us, but I am adding one more to that" Haruko said.
Now it was his turn to sound like a responsible adult.
"Our powers make us stand out, and to the right person, they also make us a target. So, for the time being, we have to not use our powers out in the open"
Standing on the bed, Aoi puffed out her chest.
"You don't have to worry about me; after what you mortals call sixty years, I don't have to worry about my power going out of control"
Blank.
Haruko turned his head toward her.
"Wait, did you say sixty years? Are you sixty years old?" Haruko questioned.
Through the leader of the group, he fought on the night of the 28th of May, and he learned that Aoi, the individual that was standing on his bed, was not from this world. So, if anything, it was fair to assume that time would operate differently between worlds—but sixty years.
Aoi placed her hands on her hips.
"No, I am not sixty years old; I have been in this world for sixty years as a Crystal Guardian. Using the metric this world uses for time, then I would be 120 or 130 years old"
Haruko stared at Aoi.
(She would be that old, but she looks like she would be two years younger than me)
After gaining his powers, this was not the craziest thing he heard.
Haruko stared at her chest; to be more specific, he was staring at what was resting on it.
A blue, six-sided crystal was attached to a necklace.
The proof of her powers and title as a Crystal Guardians- the same as him.
There was something he could not remove from his mind.
Time.
By definition, despite her human-like appearance, Aoi was what this world would consider an alien, so her body operated differently from his—a mere mortal.
As far as he knew, his body would follow the process of any other human on the planet. He assumed that his process would be.
To grow and die.
(She had all that time to gather an understanding of her powers)
Haruko stared at his right palm.Small sparks of lightning emerged across his palm and fingers.
(Something I don't have)
"Am I ever going to have complete control over this power" Haruko said in a low voice as he closed his fist.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
"You are afraid of Haruko's power?"
That question came from Alexis as she was putting dishes in the dishwasher under the stove, which caused Reiko to stop slipping her coffee and lightly put the glass cup on the table with both her hands"
"Of Haruko's power no, this city is teeming with individuals with powers, so this is now different, but, from what I understand, his and her powers are on the edge of what one would consider godhood"
Reiko closed her eyes.
"It's an old saying: power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
Alexis looked at Reiko with a concerned look on her face.
"You don't think this power will go to his head?"
"No, I don't think this power is going to go to his head, but rather he will stay the same, and that's what frightens me. We both know how he is, even without powers. I feel that these powers will only make him more brazen"
There were loud footsteps coming down the staircase as Haruko Matsumoto ran down, stopping in the hallway before the door.
Placing his left hand on the wall, he kicked up his right foot, taking off his slipper. He then repeated the same process for his other foot.
Placing both slippers on top of each other and put them in the slipper compartment. He took his black sneakers off the rack and placed them on the floor.
With a soft exhale, he stuck his feet inside. He raised his foot, kicking the tip of the shoe on the floor.
"Alright, that should be everything" Haruko said as he patted his pockets down.
He placed his necklace inside his shirt.
"Hey, I am leaving now" Haruko shouted out as he grabbed his keys off the rack hanging on the wall, opening the door"
"Alright, don't stay out too late; come home after school and don't go around showing off your powers" Reiko shouted back.
"I already know that I'll see you guys later"
Haruko said as the front door closed behind him.