“Despite it only being a dream, it was the purest, most vivid image of a perfectly content life I’ve ever seen.”

“Money, power, fame, all of that paled in comparison to the dream that presented me the true apex of human emotion. What I considered true happiness was something that someone like me would never achieve in their life.”

“A bond of mutual trust.”

“Laughing to my heart’s content with my best friend, or spending time with my loving partner. Entrusting them with myself and my future, and protecting their dreams. Shaping the world into a place that accepts us and allows us to flourish.”

“The human connections I had rejected, the happiness birthed from what I convinced myself was worthless...”

“It was the only thing that could save me.”

...

“And yet...”

“Being thrown into the soulful world...”

“For the first time in a long while, sparked a lonesome star of hope in an otherwise pitch black night sky.”

1 - Wishing This Was Every Day

[SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2024; TOKYO]

“Ah, shit...”

“Did I oversleep again?”

“Where’s my-”

Sakuto rolled over in bed, trying to reach for his phone. It wasn’t put on charge, and it for sure wasn’t elsewhere in the apartment. Eventually, after wrestling with his bedsheets and locating an area where they felt a little heavier, he grabbed it.

“Nevermind, I woke up just in time.” He relieved himself, after five or so tries to unlock his phone. Contrary to most times, his inbox wasn’t completely empty.

Slowly stretching, he got up and quickly put his home clothes on. His neck felt sore, and his nose was already being rampaged by an unpleasant smell of burnt food. He made his way to the balcony, allowing for the room to be blessed by the fresh autumn air outside. It was just September, but the usual cold was replaced by a strange warm climate.

Sakuto knew this scenery by heart. The wet laundry hanging from the apartments in the next block, gentle beams of sunlight dancing with the slightly cloudy sky, and the autumn leaves slowly preparing to attain vibrant shades and fall to the ground. Still sleep-deprived, Sakuto unleashed an indescribable yawn.

“Hayk wanted to give me some type of briefing today...”

“And he told me that I need to be available at any moment in the near future. I dunno why-” His line of thought was impeached by a fly invading his mouth, causing him to rapidly cough it out in disgust.

“Dunno what’s gotten into him, maybe he wants me to run his special errands now that I’m strong?” Sakuto thought, rubbing his eyes, for a moment succumbing to his zoned out state.

“Whatever, he needs a new supersoldier anyways after Kouta’s passing. I just hope this flow doesn’t get fucked over too bad.”

“I get to be a jobless, educationless bum, spend Hayk’s money, and live with...”

“Sakuto!!!” An almost terrified scream came from the kitchen, paired with a strong smell of smoke.

“...her.”

“For the person that got me into being a soulful in the first place, she’s seemingly as much of a mess as I am. I’ve managed to get closer to her as time passed, but she’s still a mystery to me.”

“Maybe it’s fate?”

“Maybe...”

“Oi, what did you do?! How do you even-” Sakuto yelled, quickly rushing towards the pleas of help.

“You told me to keep them on the pan more! It’s your fault!” Ichika exclaimed, trying to shove the flaming pan under the sink. Inside the pan there was a pair of unrecognizable fried eggs and small ice shards that were beginning to melt.

“I didn’t tell you to burn them!” Sakuto said, snatching the pan from her hands. “I said keep them a little longer, not mummify them!”

“Well I don’t know how strong the stove here is!” Ichika said, trying to snatch it back. From the rapid shaking, pieces of the melting ice fell on the ground.

“You had a good few days to live here by yourself and figure it out!” Sakuto said.

“I lived on store-bought food!” Ichika said, and a moment later, raised her voice even more. “And don’t joke about your death!” She angrily kicked him in the leg, causing him to drop the pan on the ground.

“My God...” Sakuto sighed. The flaming utensil risked setting the entire apartment aflame. “Cover it with ice!”

“It’s on fire, dumbass!” Ichika said. “I tried it. How is shooting ice at a burning pan gonna fix it?”

“Then just...use more ice!” Sakuto exclaimed. Ichika, disappointed, crouched down and put her cold hands on the pan.

“Soul Interpretation.”

“Huh? Is she-”

“Flash Freeze.”

Almost instantly, the pan broke into pieces and was covered in large, thick ice crystals. Due to Ichika’s brilliantly controlled output and carefulness, she also managed to destroy the floor beneath it.

“Since when can you-”

“Since I killed Hwang.” Ichika interrupted, both proud of herself for defeating the frying pan, and embarrassed that she ruined Sakuto’s apartment. “I used this to fight off his divine acclamation.”

“Right.” Sakuto said, staring at the hole in the floor. A brief and awkward pause later, he continued. “You’re lucky that no one lives down there.”

“What would they even do to us if they did?” Ichika asked.

“They’d just sue us.” Sakuto sighed. “If you beat them up, they’ll sue you even more.” He grabbed a piece of clothing and tried to wipe the water streaming from the slowly melting ice.

“This sucks...” Ichika said, saddened. “I wouldn’t want to be chased after by a bunch of soulless and their lawyers.”

“Yeah. It’s a shame.” Sakuto said. “I mean, to be fair, no one lives there, right? What if we just use that place for ourselves?”

“Huh?!” Ichika seemed amazed by the claim. “That’s illegal! You’re the one talking about suing! Unless you manage to do it and not get caught...”

“We’d still need things like electricity and water if we wanna use it, unless we just want to use it as storage.” Sakuto said. “Which is most likely the-”

[RING]

“Oh, hold on, it’s Oskar.” Sakuto took his phone out of his pocket, halting his cleaning duties and his deranged conversation. “At this time, it’s probably about Hayk calling us. I’ll put him on speaker.” He said as he picked up the call.

“Sakuto? Dude, you’re up already? Did you have to endure another cooking disaster-”

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“You’re on speaker, idiot!” Sakuto yelled, trying to drown Oskar’s voice out. He quickly disabled speaker mode and brought the phone to his ear. “What is it?”

“Hayk’s calling you specifically.” Oskar said, as he himself was wasting time around in the old gym that was their impromptu headquarters.

“And what does he want?” Sakuto asked, putting the wet cloth aside. He was caught off guard by another kick in the leg from Ichika.

“He said it’s something important.” Oskar replied.

“Really?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you couldn’t ask him what that important thing was?” Sakuto asked, a bit confused.

“I did. It was the only response I got.” Oskar responded. “Now get your ass to the gym. He’s been up all night and waiting for you.”

Oskar hung up. Sakuto put his phone away, now not only having to deal with a home disaster, but also someone nagging in his ears about soulful business. He made his way to his room and began to change.

“Ichika!” He yelled while hastily putting his outside clothes on - a mostly black sports outfit he started using more and more, primarily due to it being comfortable to fight in. “We’re heading out to the gym now.”

“I figured.” Ichika sighed. “Hurry up then.”

“I’ll grab you something to eat on the way there.” Sakuto said, leaving his room. “Since you decided to outperform yourself in the kitchen, you’ll have to wait until I buy a new frying pan to eat at home.”

“Okay.” Ichika smiled. “I won’t have to cook anymore!”

“Yeah, that’s honestly a good thing.” Sakuto sighed, receiving another kick. A brief pause later he continued. “You know those don’t hurt, right?”

“It was an expression of disagreement.” Ichika said. “I don’t want to turn your leg into an icicle.”

“Let’s just go.” Sakuto said, as the two left their house.

“She’s strangely comfortable with me now.”

“Before my pseudo-death, she was unpredictable.”

“I get it that she has to stay at my place since she’s got nowhere else, and it’s also a safe spot...but she’s still a mystery to me. No matter how much I look down from the mountain, I can’t find her anywhere.”

The two walked along the freshly awoken but oddly careful streets of Harajuku. Following the previous disasters, and the mass collateral damage caused by soulful conflict, it seemed that the entire area was on high alert. Military and police vehicles were stationed all over the place.

“But when I thought I died, the one thing I was least content with was the fact I couldn’t solve her.”

“Maybe one day...”

“Stop.” Ichika said quite abruptly. Sakuto, confused, followed her order, and watched in disappointment as all she did was walk into the convenience store nearby.

“I thought you sensed someone’s soul presence. Don’t scare me like that.” Sakuto sighed. Expecting a response, he was instead greeted with a busy silence from Ichika who was bulk buying pieces of fried chicken.

“Can you even eat that much?” Sakuto asked, following her into the store.

“I’m getting some for the both of us.” Ichika replied, almost dropping her supply on the floor.

“Right...”

“These small moments of consideration...”

“They’re the ones that can catch me off guard the most.”

...

“Took you long enough.” Oskar said sarcastically, watching as Sakuto and Ichika entered the gym.

“Piss off, we had to grab something to eat from outside due to uhh...a domestic emergency.” Sakuto replied.

“Right. Oskar.”

“An old friend of mine that I reunited with and got to see in flesh after I became a soulful. When it comes to being on the same wavelength, he’s the guy for it.”

“Should’ve told me about it.” Ausra commented while scrolling on her phone, laying on the gym’s mats. “I’d make something for you guys.”

“You mean you’d make store-bought noodles?” Oskar sarcastically asked.

“No, I meant an actual recipe. I’d put some cyanide in your meal too, Oskar.” Ausra innocently smiled. Her phone suddenly fell down on her face, a sudden and absolutely unexpected intervention from Oskar. “Hey, you know that your ability can risk damaging electronics, right?!” She complained.

“Where’s Hayk?” Sakuto asked.

“Ausra. The girl that is Ichika’s only friend. She’s also close to Oskar, and is generally super helpful.”

“I’m surprised as to how well this small group of ours is functioning, even though I haven’t been around for too long.”

“He went out to smoke while waiting for you.” She replied, before being attacked by Ichika jumping at her and hugging her. She slowly stood up. “Ichika, is this your way of telling me you’re still starving?”

“Yes.” Ichika replied, finally letting go of her.

“I’ll ask Rin to make something for us.” Ausra sighed. “If she makes chicken soup again, it’s your fault you don’t know how to cook.”

“How do you know?” Ichika asked before turning to Oskar. “Was it because of you? You rat!”

“This feels like such a loud environment.” Sakuto thought to himself, exiting the gym just as the madness was about to unfold. “But for some reason, it’s more energetic than annoying. It makes me want to feel involved, to become a part of it. I usually only saw these types of circles from the outsider’s perspective.”

“Something like this at school would’ve made me want to grab a gun and-”

“Sakuto.” Hayk waved from a distance, approaching him. The man’s face looked clean shaven, with the gray scarf around his neck contrasting well with his coat.

“Ah, good morning.” Sakuto said. “Oskar told me you wanted to speak to me.”

“Oskar forgot to mention that you shouldn’t be late.” Hayk said, rather bitterly, before putting out his cigarette. “How have you been feeling? Did you experiment enough with your soul expression?”

“Yeah. It’s nothing more than what I told you, but the more I practice, the more I can get the hang of it.” Sakuto replied. “The more I think about it, the more stupidly strong it is.”

“Well, compared to your comrades, you have the most exotic one.” Hayk explained. “Ichika’s ice, Oskar’s electromagnetism, Ausra’s explosives...even the late Kouta’s gravity system. They pale in comparison to what you have. And despite all that...you’re still hesitant to tell me how you came back from the dead.”

“I told you, he didn’t properly finish me off.” Sakuto replied.

“Whatever.” Hayk said. “The reason I called you here is because Kaito Kamiki wants to see you.”

“Huh?!” Sakuto jumped back in surprise, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. “T-the head of the GSC?”

“Don’t ask me why or how that makes sense.” Hayk said, and he disappeared. After an instant that was never perceived, he appeared right behind him and grabbed him by his shoulders rather roughly.

“Sakuto, either you’re gonna go ahead and start a religion, or you’re gonna tell me the exact truth.” Hayk said. “Because that is probably what that asshole wants to find out from you.”

“I told you already.” Sakuto said, sharply pushing Hayk’s hands away and turning around. The environment was tense. With a bit of hesitation, he continued. “I was just as confused back then as you are right now.”

“Right...” Hayk nodded, not buying it at all. “Say whatever lie you want. Just don’t come crying to me if he decides to beat the secrets out of you.”

“You made contact with him.” Sakuto fired back. “How did that happen?”

“Oh, so it’s about me now.” Hayk said, starting to lose his temper.

“Both of you.” Ausra said, rather annoyed. Her voice seemed to have pacified the room with its explosiveness. “There’s a bigger issue at hand.”

“Are we gonna use this meeting of mine as an opening to attack him?” Sakuto asked. “I’ll be in the same room as him. Will you use me as bait to attack?”

“Don’t be idiotic.” Hayk grunted. “We’re not going to attack him.”

“Why?” Sakuto asked, now a bit more infuriated. “Weren’t we effectively at war with the GSC?”

“We were. But things have changed now.” Hayk said. “He’s an enemy. But you have to do as I say.”

“Whatever...” Sakuto sighed. “I’ll go for it.” He walked away, a certain emptiness being reflected in his gray eyes. “You think Kouta would’ve approved of this?”

“Kouta screwed us over by thinking he was doing a good deed.” Hayk commented. “Him deciding to destroy the Soulful Academy while killing himself in the process had consequences far beyond what you can imagine. And now that you killed Kaito’s best tool for dealing with such situations, I guess he wants to have a word with you.”

Sakuto simply walked off.

“He’s sending me to the enemies’ den...for what?”

He went back inside the gym. All three of his comrades were seated on the mats, with bowls of odd looking chicken soup in front of them. Rin, the “caretaker” of the squad, made sure to pour them extra. After a quiet lunch, they all went their separate ways...

...

“Sakuto?” Ichika asked, as the two were making their way home. “Why is your soul presence scarier than usual?”

“Cause I’m overthinking.” Sakuto replied. “It always happens when I overthink. Kouta said the same.”

“And is what you’re thinking about a secret?” Ichika asked again, in a much colder voice.

“Depends on who’s asking.” Sakuto said. “It’s just over what Hayk told me.”

“I see.” Ichika sighed. “Hey, Sakuto, um...can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever-”

“Excuse me!” A seemingly random guy approached them, his hand full of fliers. “Are you aware of what your regional representatives are plotting? Are you interested in knowing more about Sheller’s program?”

“Ah right...” Sakuto’s mood took a hit by the interruption. “It’s election season now.”