5 - Waking Call

[OUTSIDE TOKYO AIRPORT, 7:00 AM]

“So, how does it feel?” The woman in a military attire said, exiting the main airport building. Her long blonde graciously swayed side to side as she walked, her outfit outlined her bodily features quite profoundly. “I’ve forgotten that Tokyo can feel so...odd when it comes to the weather.”

“Nothing odd about it, Reina.” A slightly older man replied. He stretched his back, marching forward with a stern face that, on this rare occasion, seemed relaxed. His black uniform was covered with a pitch black coat, his face had a few scars on it. His hair was dark and graying a little, but still had some blondish hues to it - the same with his facial hair which decorated his jawline. His eyes were a determined amber. “It looks lifeless at this time of the day.”

The man was Otto Richter - a powerful soulful in charge of the Adler Group, a very prominent soulful faction that existed outside of the GSC’s grasp.

“Why not instantly head closer to the GSC center? There’s a meeting bound to happen soon. I heard Diego-”

“There’s no need for us to attend it at all.” Otto exclaimed, stretching.

“Oh? You’re making a move already?” Reina asked, looking at herself through her pocket mirror. Her attire looked majestic enough, but her long blonde hair reflected her beauty even more brilliantly.

“Conflict will start brewing soon. Where there’s conflict, there’s soul combat. Where there’s soul combat, there’s soul expressions...and opportunities.” Otto said. “Maybe I can take a few things for myself.”

“You’re not just making a move in that case. You’re starting everything.” Reina sighed.

“I thought we went over this on the plane, Reina.”

“You were asleep almost the whole flight.” Reina chuckled.

“And at the times I wasn’t asleep, your ears were plugged shut.” Otto sighed. “The school incident will destabilize the GSC, especially if it involves the elemental group. And those guys are the only things keeping the greater balance stable. The thin ice between the soulfuls and the soulless...”

“Sir Otto.” Erwin, a teenage boy in a similar uniform albeit a few sizes smaller, interrupted him, looking dead ahead and pointing ahead. He had emerald eyes and short fully blonde hair.

“Erwin? What is it?” Otto asked.

“Look. There’s an ice cream shop.” Erwin said.

“...An ice cream shop?“

“Yeah.” Erwin said. “It sells ice cream cones with cat faces on them.”

“Huh?!”

“I’m not joking, Sir Otto.” Erwin uttered, approaching the stand. His hands were a little shaky. “It has cat faces on them. And you can also add sprinkles on top...”

“If you want one, you can just get one.” Otto said. “To hell with it, get one for me too.”

“This is the best thing I’ve ever seen.” Erwin said, covering his mouth. The vendor seemed a little surprised, but nevertheless, welcomed the boy’s enthusiasm. “I never knew such things even existed.”

Reina quietly chuckled at the boy, while Otto looked content. He tried not to think about any of the bad stuff associated with him. However, he didn’t forget his main objectives, not even for a moment.

“I won’t be surprised if anything happens during the GSC meeting.” Otto said. “Prime time for harvesting soul expressions.”

“Don’t spend too much time on it, Otto.” Reina said.

“You’re right.” Otto said. “I have to meet with that damn insomniac too.”

“The school incident was the spark that I needed.”

“The single spark that would set everything ablaze, even if it burns me down.”

He took a deep breath, watching Erwin run to him with a pair of ice cream cones. The cat’s face on one of them had already been bitten off.

“Anything to stop that monster.”

[BZZZZZT]

“Why...” Sakuto grunted, slowly opening his eyes. The new morning’s sunlight struck his eyes, blinding him for a split second. Sakuto looked over, but could neither see nor sense Ichika.

He rubbed his face with his hands and slowly sat up. His earphones were scattered across his bed, with his phone letting out alerting buzzes. Sakuto reluctantly picked the phone up. Aside from a few missed overnight calls from his friends, he also saw an incoming call. He expected it to be from one of them, but it turned out to be an unfamiliar number...

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“Hello?”

“Ah, yes. Hello...sorry, this is Sakuto Hitori, right?”

Sakuto was taken aback after hearing the gentle but emotional female voice.

“Y-yes. It’s me. Who is on the line?”

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but... Ryosuke...I’m sorry that you had to witness what he did. No one had ever expected him to do something of that caliber.”

“This voice...is this his mother??”

“Where is this going...? Wait...I’ve never heard about him making it out of the crash, right?! Shit...shit...”

“He had survived the catastrophe at the school, albeit with some injuries, but...”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Sakuto replied, exhaling. “I’m glad to hear he’s doing fine-”

“Ryosuke later took his own life.”

Sakuto froze in place. He was supposed to be happy about the criminal’s death, right? But the tearful woman’s trembling voice and his own memories of Ryosuke flooded his mind. It crossed his mind to simply hang the call, or to taunt the situation. On the contrary, he also thought of expressing his condolences. What he ended up doing was staying silent.

“We never saw any signs.” The woman said, her voice shaky. “He never told us about it, he said he... I’m sorry, I should not be burdening you with all of this. It was me who needed to realize this.”

“Wait-”

“Ryosuke never told us about his social life, or if he had any friends. He was pretty lonely, and there was nothing we could’ve done against it. He said that for a short while, you two used to talk to each other...I think he referred to you as his friend. I guess after a bit you two became more distant.”

The final sentence made Sakuto gasp in fear.

“I’m so, so sorry for all the pain he’s inflicted to everyone.” The trembling voice said, before taking a pause. “I’m sorry for raising a child like that.”

“It’s not your fault...” Sakuto quickly said, trying to recollect himself. “He was bullied in school. I’m...I...”

“We knew it.” The voice answered. “But I didn’t know what to do. I’m sorry for the pain.” The woman said, before hanging up. Sakuto wanted to speak more, to convey more of his thoughts, but...it was late. There was no one listening.

“Fuck...” Sakuto sighed, holding his forehead with his hand. He slowly raised his head back up, his breathing was thrown off rhythm. He closed his eyes and covered them with his hands.

“Ya happy with yourself, Sakuto?” He asked himself, enraged and lost. The chaotic mental aggregation destroyed his energy. He felt a higher sense of self, and without even realizing it, started dozing off...

“Fucking hell...”

“There was nothing I could’ve done. If I attempted to go against all of that, I’d effectively kill off every bit of social interactions I had. I put self-preservation above selflessness in that case.”

“At least if I was a soulful, I could’ve just...brute forced my way through it, right?”

“This whole system of social norms...where you have to go along with everyone else against something that you don’t accept. If you’re on the unlucky side of fate, you’ll just be a reject.”

“I could do nothing...”

In front of his eyes, the dream that he had forgotten about had begun to slowly revitalize.

“But somehow, I did something for her, despite not having any supernatural stuff lingering around me.”

“Even if I probably set motion to a chain of shitty events that will only ruin and hurt everyone...I felt that I was right, and I’d probably do it again.”

“Is this what I should keep doing?”

“Is this the right way...”

“...to live?”

Sakuto woke up with sweat all over his forehead. Roughly 40 minutes had passed since the phone call. He felt an odd presence within himself and his weapon, which was placed next to his bed. He felt a strange essence that traveled inside his body, abiding by his will. Sakuto felt unrestricted.

“Huh?! This is what it feels like? Soul prowess?!”

He warmed up his arms and wrists a little, slowly getting out of bed. He gently hit the wall, which resulted in a small crack appearing on it.

“Wow, this is...strong. I think if I use it on my legs, it’ll ramp up my speed too.” Sakuto expressed his excitement. “Was what Ichika said about my scary presence true as well? Does it play a role in this? So much stuff to test...”

He quickly put some clothes on, heading outside. Ichika was there, sipping on some iced tea.

“Morning, Ichika. Check this out!” He said with excitement, before stomping the ground with his right leg. Small pieces of concrete flew out of a newly emerged crack at the point of impact. Ichika flinched a little, but seemed cold. Deep inside, she was terrified and amused at the same time. “Pretty cool, right?”

“So you finally awakened your soul prowess. Good job.” She said, without a hint of emotion in her voice. Her eyes seemed tired. “I’m going now.”

“Huh? Do we have any work...or something?” Sakuto asked, confused. Ichika didn’t answer at all, instead she just glanced at him, capturing him with her eyes.

“She’s awfully cold...”

The two headed into the gym building. Even before entering initially, Sakuto sensed a strong abundance of presences and soul prowess emanating from the place. Hayk would often host meetings for his team of rogue soulfuls in order to try and coordinate their actions while preserving all the members’ safety. The members had varying skill and strength levels, but they all had a similar surprised and even intimidated reaction when Sakuto entered the room.

“Sakuto!” Hayk exclaimed, greeting him. Him and everyone else were sitting in a circle on the tatami mats before Sakuto’s grand entrance.

He looked around. The only familiar faces he should’ve recognized were that of his newly acquainted leader and his old friend he reunited with just recently. He never expected to see a face among the crowd that he hadn’t seen a lot, but knows everything about.

“Oskar...?” Sakuto asked, almost ignoring all the conversations taking place in the gym. Everyone fell silent for a moment.

“Huh?” Oskar, his brown-haired peer, asked back in surprise, which would quickly fade into a state of utter shock. He had brown eyes. “You’re-”

“No way...” Sakuto shook his head, taking a step back. “Nah, there’s just no way.”