Chapter 10 - Rival

"Is she gonna be okay?" Sanna holding Asahi's hand worries about her.

Asahi laying on the bed inside the medical room.

"She's fine now. As long as she gets enough rest." Holding a tablet that contains Asahi's health condition, Ai assures everyone about her.

Unexpected event happened without a warning. A new fear that unlocked suddenly, the rest of them feel the situation may get dangerous. Besides the Tyrant's attacks, Demon's suddenly intervened, which feels connected in some way.

Looking very worried about it all, Ai walks away from the room. Takaya follows her left Sanna alone to watch over Asahi.

"Ai. Wanna talk about that?" Takaya calls her and demands an explanation of Asahi's condition.

She stops walking and turns herself at Takaya.

"That bracelet , I call it Saver Bracelet. Originally it was made for her. After the first time she lost control I found out that the cause was exhaustion." Untold, Ai revealed.

"I also found out that besides her power being higher, the usage of power is also higher. So she will drain the power more quickly even if her power grows stronger."

Takaya walks to the window of Asahi's room, watching her still sleeping on her bed. Wondering her safety is endangered by her own power.

"She said 'her shadow' sounds like 'other personality' kind of thing. I thought that only applies on film, but seeing it for real makes me sweat." Takaya recalls Asahi's words when she lost control.

Ai walks closer to the window.

"I heard about this yesterday, Ms. Bella said Asahi fell unconscious right at night when you're attacked by The Demon. After waking up she said she sees a memory but it does not belong to her." Ai tells Takaya about the night that Asahi fell unconscious.

"Memory…"

Takaya speaks his mind. The word 'memory' echoes on his head, like try to find the answer but he couldn't tell.

"The book!" He remembers that day his grandfather gave him a book that contains journals of her mother.

"Ai, to my room now. I want you to see something." He runs.

He runs to his room and opening a latch under his desk, pulling the book that his grandfather gave him.

"What is it?" Ai breaths tired running all the way to the room.

Placing the book on the desk,

"This is my mother's journal. I think it have some information about Asahi since they have the same power, and also if any chances to get other information about the other ancient warriors."

Looking at the book and opening it, Ai read several pages and was surprised how detailed the writings were.

"How did you get this?" She asked.

"The night when I met my grandfather. He gave this book as a parting gift. But I never have a chance to read it, I'm thinking of showing it to you earlier." Recalls his moment the last time he met his grandfather.

"No, it's perfect timing. It contains your mother's experience while having the power. I'll make use of it and find a way to handle Asahi's situation." She is confident that the book is useful enough to provide things that they don't know.

She walks out of the room and leaves Takaya alone.

The night is unfortunately not a good day to rest, So much happened to them and Takaya had a hard time figuring out the solution. Takaya exits the room and goes back to the medical room to see Asahi once more.

He entered the room and saw Sanna sleeps over the bed still holding Asahi's hand.

"Sanna." Trying to wake her up.

"...Huh, Takaya. Sorry I'm very tired and fell asleep." Sanna wakes up and reacts to Takaya.

"It's okay. Sorry to wake you up, I also want to check up once more before I go home. I think you should also get rest and come back again tomorrow. You can stay at my house and sleep with my sister, it's almost midnight and not a great idea to walk home tired like that."

Watching her like that makes him concerned about her.

"I think I would accept that offer today. Sorry for the intrusion Takaya." Knowing she has no choice left to do, she accepts Takaya's offer and leaves Asahi to rest in her room until tomorrow.

They walked to the elevator to exit the facility and entered. Going to the their next destination, she asked,

"Where are we going?"

"Errr my house?" Takaya answers her question.

Getting confused Sanna rises her eyebrows

"Ah, I didn't mention that the facility was underneath my apartment." He explained.

"Say what-"

The elevator doors are opened. Reveals the homely room and the girls sitting on the couch watching a TV.

"Lieutenant Lania?!" Sanna is surprised to see her in his house casually watching TV.

"Ara, Sanna! You've come. Well done kiddo." Greeting her with a slacky attitude.

They walked out the elevator, Sanna surprised to see the vibe.

Rin run's over Sanna and looks at her up close.

"(Seeing Sanna up close)"

"Rin, I might borrow another bed for her tonight. She is staying, is that alright?"

Abandoning Takaya and keep looking at Sanna, while Sanna looks uncomfortable being stared at and looks like that up close.

"Umm Taka, is this normal?" Sanna asked.

"Rin, you make her weird, you know."

She stops seeing her and turns her head to Takaya.

"(Giving her thumbs up) Agreed! I allow your relationship."

"... Rin." Takaya reacts to her sister.

"What? You're dating right?"

Sanna's cheek becomes red realized that Rin thinks she was his girlfriend.

"No! She is my-"

"I'm his classmate!" Sanna overreacted at the moment.

Takaya sighed deeply at Rin's way of thinking.

"She is my friend, her name is Sanna Meguma. She is Kanna's little sister, Remember her?" Takaya introduces her to Rin.

"Oh, Big sis's friend that time comes here? So you're her sister that she talks about. How is Kanna doing?" Rin asked that innocently.

"...Ah, She's…." Sanna had a hard time answering her.

"Rin, I'm sorry but that's a question for another time… She is tired and needs some rest." Takaya tries to hold her curiosity.

"Ahh! I'm so sorry!! Sanna let me get you into my room to take a rest! Please come with me." Rin apologized and led Sanna to her bedroom.

Sanna had eye contact with Takaya and he nodded, a sign to her to take her time to rest. They walked away from him and entered the room.

Takaya goes to the couch and sits beside Lania.

"So, What's up today?" Lania asked.

"Shits happened. She's attacked by the Tyrant, Asahi loses control and attacks us and falls unconscious. So much for today."

"What did you just say? Tyrant?! And not calling me for that?!" Lania was shocked by Takaya's explanation.

"We got lucky. Demon intervenes in the Tyrant attack, the thing is decapitated. But somehow she is attracted to Sanna, and if it's true then the idea that she is actually Saega is real."

"Also about Asahi, she suddenly loses control after testing Ai's new device. She got mad and said things that weren't supposed to be said. She speaks like a completely different person, saying that she is the shadow, and warns us that we might point her with our sword upon her because she is not as we think she is."

Lania widens her eyes reacted to Takaya's explanation about Asahi.

"I assume you guys are alright since both of you came here right?" Lania responded to the story.

"Yeah, we're fine for now. But things just started. There's no going back." Takaya said.

"You must prepare for the worst case scenario. We don't know what's gonna happen next time you meet the Demon."

Lania warns Takaya, feeling something is not right.

"About Asahi, you should watch over her more carefully. She is not in very good condition."

It is clear to say by her face, concerns, frightened. Lania goes to the tab for a glass of water.

"Yeah, I intended to do so…" He said.

Tired, his eyes and his body couldn't hold any longer to lay down, he went straight to his room and crashed on the bed.

—-----

Next day.

Awakened after the long night she's been through, Sanna sees a glimpse of the sun between closed curtains. No presents of Rin on her bed, telling her it's time to start her day hoping much better than yesterday.

She walks out the room welcomed with a tempting smell of food. A busy morning for Takaya and Rin to prepare the feast.

"Ah… Sanna, you finally got up. Rin was about to wake up, take a seat and have some breakfast." He greets her warmly.

"Yeah… Thank you…" She sits joining Lania.

"Good morning Lieutenant." She greets Lania.

"Aw come on, we're not in the formal meeting or something, just Lania." she said

"Umm, good morning Lania." She hardly said her name.

"Good morning! (Pinches Sanna's nose)"

"Uwah, You so are weird weird Lania" Rin mocks Lania

Lania laughed. Sanna recalls the moment when her nose got pinched by her sister, a trait that leaves a mark on her mind. Just after a couple of minutes they finally have breakfast, chat a lot, and take their time to relieve their thoughts.

Beep. Beep.

A beeping sound comes from Takaya's phone. He checks it and believes it was a message.

"Ai message's me. Asahi finally awakes and she's about to go home." He reads the message.

"Thank god." The weight on Sanna's body lifted as soon as she heard it.

"That girl doesn't know how to rest." A cold comment from Lania.

"It's Asahi, don't be so weird about that." Rin breaks the laughter to everyone.

A few moments later, Takaya and Sanna decided to go to the facility to check on Asahi. Seeing her already back as usual lightens their minds. Later Asahi and Sanna walk home together, while Takaya continues his day.

Takaya found Ai in the research office reading the book Takaya gave her last night.

"Found something?" He asked.

"A lot. The book is all about ancient warriors' historical discovery. I'm impressed by how detailed they were able to explain." Ai said.

"Apparently only The Forgotten had experienced the 'Power possess'. Is a condition where she's overwhelmed by her power growth, giving her the imaginary images of the past and confirms that there was another personality within her."

A straight explanation unlocks fear for both of them.

"Is there any possible way to prevent the other personality from taking over her??" He sounds hopeful.

"I haven't found it yet, there's even a note that says 'The more I relied on the power, the more powerful it was to possess me.' This is your mother's note." She said.

"So the best way is not to use it, rather it is getting stronger. But there's no way she can hold it." already know that Asahi would just sit if something happens.

"But I found another note that says your mother had a vision of another ancient warrior in the past that can neutralize Forgotten's power. The warrior called The Distortion."

Ai shows the recorded data collected when Asahi and Sanna tested the bracelet.

"When both of their shots hit one another the energy purified and vanished. Even the fluctuations show the energy became calmer. It didn't make it through even though Sanna's energy is weaker than Asahi's. Is just like water shuts the fire-"

"But we don't know if it's true, we can afford to risk any further." He cuts her.

"Agreed, for now, we must never let her out of control again,I will work with the bracelet."

Out of options, there's no time to believe in what they have learned.

"All right. I take Sanna's care. I have something in mind, while you take care of Asahi." He said.

"Okay…" she agreed with him.

—-----

In another place, there's a bridge in the middle of a street that is unusually quiet. Asahi and Sanna watch the clear sky and finally enjoy peace. However, face tells everything. After what they're been through there's many unsolved mystery.

"Ahh… Whatever!"

Asahi shouted release her feelings.

"For god sake, you freaks me out, you know?" Sanna reacted by that, but also understanding the reason.

"I've lied about last night, I was never wear the bracelet for that fight." Asahi sudden confession.

"Why? You ran out of energy and yet you still doing it?" Sanna asked the reckless action Asahi's done.

"I just found out about my power true nature from my mom, is belongs to The Forgotten also belongs to her sister which is Takaya's mother." With a sad tone she said.

Sanna gasp reacts for Asahi.

"I've been told to not relying on the power to much, but still I can't believe it just like that. But I finally got the meaning." She turns around facing Sanna.

"I remembered everything. I see it. But no matter how much I trying to take control over my body, it just no happen. And then 'she' appears and talked."

Sanna recalls the moment,

"You remembered what youself saying? It's really someone else?" Sanna asked.

"It's me precisely, …another me. Since last night I can feel it 'she' is inside me."

Still confused with the explanation, Sanna thinks straight.

"You know, all of this makes me think that we are actually fighting ourselves. No matter what the problem is, we're fighting inside."

"Last night, I felt 'struggling' inside when you shared a little of your power." Surprisingly she was able to feel the same feeling inside Asahi.

The two stare into each other's eyes without saying anything. Realized they had the same problem inside their own minds but couldn't solve it in the same way.

"I'm sure we'll find a way to fix this." Walks closer to Sanna,

"We are like different sides of the same coin, and have no difference in the value."

Sanna smiles at her.

"We are worth the same, no matter what the face is facing up." Sanna continues the word,

"That's why only us who can solve this matter, but we need to trust each other. I will make you stronger, make you find your own powers mean. But you will need to be my limiter. If anything goes wrong with me, when I begin to change to be someone that you don't know, you will be there to stop me no matter what, even if it's meant to kill me-" Asahi talks like she knows she will 'change'.

"Kill?! Why? Why me? And why are you giving me that task?" Sanna asked.

Asahi walks to the bridge railings and sits her hand on it casually lean herself,

"Because you are my rival. I trust you with the thing you will be capable of dealing with."

Sanna leans herself to the railing beside her.

"Why not Takaya or Ai?" She asked.

Asahi chuckled.

"Ai can't kill me. Besides that she won't let me die that easily." She looked at the river,

"And Takaya… He's like a younger brother to me. He's already burdened with hard things throughout his life. Instead of asking him to do things, I rather do something for him while I still can."

A cold breeze touches Sanna after she hears Asahi say that. Is the first time Asahi ever talks about things she wants to do for Takaya. Recalling their actions from the first day they met Takaya until now, Asahi is the one who is very excited for Takaya. Sanna looked at Asahi's face smiling softly after talking about Takaya.

"Do you… like him?"