8 - Kidnapping Hanasaki Jr.

“Katya, you ready?” Nightseer asked.

“Yep. All systems in check.” Katya replied. “We’re good to go.”

The ground shattered and a quake struck the surrounding terrain. The small black surface Nightseer was sitting on was raised and revealed to be the head of an especially dangerous beast. It had a human-like appearance, but a lot of the features were sharpened, as if honed specifically to resemble and wield the efficiency of an apex predator. It looked...robotic?

The creature was about the height of a fifteen floor building, towering over the surrounding patches of lands. It had two light blue glowing eyes, the same color as Katya’s. Its arms were intimidating, and the hands were built in with claws, letting it rip apart anything that dared to oppose its movements or challenge its integrity. The majority of this masterpiece was black and white, but Katya’s ‘signature touch’ repainted parts of the head to a mixture of blonde and gold, and parts of the body were a dark blue. It also had a long tail that acted as a whip.

“And what’s our destination?” Reiner asked, almost falling off of the creature’s arm, barely holding onto one of the larger parts of the shoulders.

“Bratislava.” Katya said. “Shouldn’t be too far away.”

“You have a route, right?” Nightseer asked.

“We should be there by the-”

“Katya, do you have a route?” Nightseer asked again.

“Dude, what’s your deal?!” Katya replied, infuriated. “No, I don’t! I’ll just go around and make sure we don’t raise any alarms!”

“Right.” Reiner laughed. “You know, no one’s gonna report a giant mech trampling their city while doing God knows what.”

“Ugh! I said we’ll get there!” Katya growled. Her voice sounded a little computerized.

“I still have no idea why that kid is in Bratislava if his family is supposedly in Tokyo.” Reiner said, stretching and yawning.

“Maybe they sold him off?” Katya asked.

“That’s definitely not the case.” Nightseer sighed. “Maybe the kid is just a genius or something, and they sent him to study in another city. You know, if I had a kid, I wouldn’t want him to be in Tokyo.”

“If you had a kid, what would you name him?” Katya asked. The mech’s face didn’t have a mouth, only eyes, but her smirk was clearly there.

“Let’s just focus on the mission.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be such a moodkill Nighty!” Katya said, sounding annoyed. “You know how boring it is to just walk or sprint, even if we’re moving around pretty damn fast? This isn’t-”

“Katya, please focus.” Nightseer said, finding trouble staying on top of the mech.

“You know, maybe you shouldn’t spend all your time rotting in the library. You wanna catch up to Lady Aizawa? She reads hundreds of books in the span of just an hour! Why do you wanna compete with her?!”

“Katya!”

“You should spend more time with me and play card games with me!” Katya yelled. A moment later, they heard a loud crashing sound from below.

“That’s...a warehouse...” Reiner said, watching in horror. “Good job Katya, your foot is now inside of a warehouse.”

“Is there anyone below? Any soul presences?” Katya asked.

“Nothing.” Nightseer sighed. “Katya, this is why I told you to focus.”

“And you dare tell me it’s my fault? It’s your fault!” Katya replied, not letting go of her agenda.

“Hey, keep it moving Katya.” Reiner said. “If anyone owns that warehouse that isn’t dead, they’ll definitely file a report.”

“Oh no, a soulless nobody with some fancy papers.” Katya said, taking her foot out of the warehouse and walking forwards, destroying even more of the poor building, as if sending a message by doing so. ”If they call me to court, I’ll just blow the building up! Who’s gonna stop me?!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever works.” Reiner yawned. “As long as you keep going.”

“Hmph...”

The giant continued carving its path forwards.

“Night, want a drink?” Reiner yelled.

“Sure.” Nightseer said, watching Reiner stand up, balance himself on the mech’s shoulders and take aim. Miraculously, the drink reached its intended consumer.

Nightseer opened the plastic bottle and took a few sips. It was a basic electrolyte drink but it tasted really good, good enough to get his mood up a little too. He felt gloomy the last few days, almost a little indecisive, he turned to literature to find an answer but failed to do so. He even brought one of the books with him, not the full version, of course, but a miniature version.

“I wonder where the truth really is.” Nightseer asked himself, laying down on the mech’s head and holding the book up, opening a random page. “There’s so much weird shit going on, and there’s a lot about the truth that is unstable.”

“I am not like Lady Aizawa. I have a normal brain, and she’s a genius whose capacity is further enhanced by her soul expression. Her brain is like a supercomputer that can process limitless information in an instant.”

“But I also have the same curiosity as she does.”

“She told me that her ultimate goal is to satisfy her curiosity and to come closer to the truth. I didn’t even notice how it inspired me to think about things myself.”

A small droplet fell on his face, but at least his blindfold stopped it from striking his eye and causing him pain.

...

“Alright kids, I’m done grading your tests. You all did exceptionally well.” The tall teacher said, fixing up her glasses. “I’ll go ahead and hand them out to you.”

“Whoa, you think I got the highest grade?”

“No way...”

“Hah, I got it! I asked my dad and he told me I got the final task right!”

“Yeah, I don’t think I passed...”

The classroom was quickly filled with gossip, but the sound of the teacher’s heels against the laminated wooden floor quickly silenced the environment. She handed the papers out in an orderly manner, making sure that every test was placed precisely on the same area on the tables at the exact same speed. She was a woman of class.

The kids that got their test results were filled with a special prideful happiness. Of course they got the highest grades, I mean, who would even dare to assume they wouldn’t? One after another they compared their marks, and whoever got higher had the ultimate bragging rights in front of the sub intellectual plebeians that would dare challenge his authority.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

And finally, it was Yumichi’s turn. The teacher placed the test in the same manner as she did for everyone else, but the reaction was definitely one of a kind.

“What do you mean I failed?!” Yumichi instantly yelled, standing up.

“Yumichi!” The teacher quickly scolded him. “Watch your manners! Do not disrespect this establishment with your delinquent behavior!”

“I calculated everything correctly! Look, I even proved it right here!” Yumichi expressed his discontent. “Everything is right!”

“You did not use the method that you were taught in class.”

“Yeah but, but...I know a better method!” Yumichi said. “It’s easier, it’s faster, and it’s much more simple!”

“You dare question the establishment?!” The teacher lashed out. “Detention! You will spend your after-class time writing an essay on how you, the representative of a younger generation, have no authority to insult those whom you must respect!”

“But I was going to go to the drawing club...” Yumichi said, sounding much more sad. “Look, I solved everything correctly, that’s what matters, right?”

“Ooh, he’s getting detention...”

“Does he really know a better way?”

“Why is he talking back to the teacher? Is he stupid?”

“He’s in trouble now.”

“The process and the method of writing are what matter.” The teacher said, fixing up her glasses again. “If you disobey instructions, you will not be appreciated anywhere as a worker, let alone be taken seriously.”

“Ugh...” Yumichi grunted in disgust, sitting back down.

“I apologize, what was that gesture?” The teacher asked. “Need I remind you where you are? Need I remind you how much it costs to study here?”

“Okay, I get it, I’m sorry.” Yumichi said, upset.

“I wish big sis was here, she’d kick this ugly hag’s ass.”

“No no no, you are not sorry.” The teacher continued. “In my THIRTY YEARS OF TEACHING, I have never seen someone as disrespectful and disorganized as you. You are a disgrace to this establishment and I hope you fail even more so that we finally see you expelled due to your sheer incompetence.”

“I said I’m sorry!” Yumichi said.

“In all my thirty years of teaching!” The teacher approached Yumichi. “In all my thirty years, I have never felt this disrespected. You are clearly an outsider here, accepted due to your fortune and our misfortune.”

“I aced the entrance exams, actually.” He said in a lower voice.

“What was that-”

“I’m sorry!” Yumichi finally said enough. “Why are you shouting all of this at me? What did I even do to you?”

“She’s so annoying, both her and her stupid thirty years of teaching.”

“Ugh, I wish a giant robot would rip this school apart and kick her in the butt!!!”

The roof was destroyed in an instant. One swipe from the mech was all it took to not only destroy the entire section, but also knock the debris far away enough to assure that none of it would hit the target of the kidnapping.

The mech stared at Yumichi with its light blue eyes. The kids didn’t react in fear, in fact, they were completely mesmerized by the unfolding spectacle. They all wanted to bear witness to one of those fancy soulful incidents that sound like straight up action movies. Nightseer jumped down from the mech’s head and landed in the classroom, instantly facing Yumichi, and approached him.

“Yumichi Hanasaki.” Nightseer said, extending his hand. “You need to come with us right now.”

“Huh? What’s happening?” Yumichi asked, shocked, confused and excited at the same time. “Did I...manifest this?!”

“You need to come with us.” Nightseer said. “That’s all you need to know, Please, just cooperate and do as we say, alright?”

“Nope, no way.” Yumichi shook his head. “Big sis told me to never trust strangers that approached me.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to come with us regardless.” Nightseer repeated. “We’re not asking you to come, we’re telling you to.”

“I said no!” Yumichi said. “I have the right to choose my own destiny!”

“Uh...okay?” Nightseer said. He awkwardly turned around and looked at the rest of the classroom before taking a deep breath and continuing his negotiations. “Look, you’re a bright kid, right? Just, make the smart choice, okay? Please.”

“What’s taking so long? Just get his ass here!” Reiner complained. “We don’t have all the time in the world, you know?”

“I’m not gonna drag him up there!” Nightseer replied, raising his voice. “I mean, just... he’s just a kid. I’m not gonna use any violence.”

“We’re not daycare workers. We’re soldiers.” Reiner said. “Just do it like they do in the movies.”

“They use those napkins that make you go to sleep in the movies, and we don’t have those.” Katya complained. “And that’s not the movie method, that’s literally the most basic kidnapping strategy!”

“Then why are we not prepared for the most basic kidnapping strategy?!” Reiner yelled.

“Wait, you guys are kidnapping me? I thought-” Yumichi stumbled on his own words. “I thought you were just gonna take me away and tell me that I’m secretly someone really-”

The floor beneath him broke down, and the mech’s hand captured Yumichi on its palm. He slowly stood up and balanced himself on it, fascinated at how small everyone was from higher up.

“That’s all we needed to do all this time.” Reiner sighed. “Come on, get up. Let’s bounce.” Katya picked Nightseer up and placed him on her head.

“Alright, let’s go~!” Katya cheered, walking away from the destroyed school. “Lady Aizawa’s gonna be really happy, I bet. If she even cares.”

“Whaddya mean?” Reiner asked.

“I mean that she looks like she doesn’t even care about what we do or how we do it. Ugh, that woman is so weird...and creepy.” Katya complained. “Where do we take the boy?”

“We could go north. There’s a small outpost in Starachowice, we could hide him there.” Nightseer suggested.

“Nothing ever happens in Starachowice.” Reiner sighed. “And besides, that outpost isn’t worth going to for this, it’s too deep. Too far. We could go to Krakow instead.”

“I agree.” Katya hummed.

“You just don’t want to walk around as much.” Nightseer said.

“True.” Reiner said.

“True...” Katya said, disappointed and sad.

“Krakow it is then.” Nightseer said.

“Hey, you two keeping track of the little guy?” Katya asked.

“Yeah, he’s still with us. He’s got a soul presence, it’s easy to track him.” Nightseer said. “Most likely an incomplete soul.”

“You think we should take him to Lady Aizawa first? Maybe she can get some nice information out of him.” Reiner suggested.

“Let’s not do that.” Nightseer quickly said. “We might raise some alarms along the way. There’s a chance the Heisei are sniffing through Prague right now.”

“Night? Is...anything the matter?”

“We’re not taking him there.” Nightseer said. “We’re keeping him with us, at all times. The threat of interception is too large.”

“Hey!” Katya said. “I, as your faithful transport, refuse to go back for so long. We’re going to Krakow.”

“Hey, um...why are you kidnapping me?” Yumichi asked, holding onto the mech for dear life.

“Because that’s just how things are unfolding.” Nightseer said. “Sorry, but you’re a part of this now, whether you like it or not.”

“How unnecessarily corny...” Katya said, accidentally stomping on a few cars. “We’re taking you with us because we wanna make life interesting. You want it too, right?”

“Yeah...” Yumichi said. “Ugh, I hated that stupid school, and that teacher...”

“And look where you are now, on top of a giant soulful mech and going to another city. Pretty awesome right?”

“It is!” Yumichi exclaimed, his energy suddenly reigniting. “Hey, can you shoot lasers out of this thing? How about death screeches?”

“It can do anything you want.” Katya proudly said.

“Big sis would love this thing.” Yumichi said.

“Really? Who is your big sis? Tell me about her.” Katya asked.

“She’s just the best ever. I haven’t seen her for a while, but I know that she’s somewhere out there, being the strongest big sis ever. She’s brave, she’s strong, really strong, and she cares about me a lot.” Yumichi rambled.

“How adorable...” Reiner chuckled.

“Hey, anything your big sis can do in particular?” Katya asked.

“Yeah, she can do all sorts of crazy things with ice.” Yumichi said. “Like that one time she shot a bird out of the sky with an icicle, it was so cool! And, and, and, she can make these icebergs pop out of the ground, and, and...”

The boy was getting lost in thought telling most likely fabricated stories about his sister, but he spoke with such passion that it managed to charm the soulfuls.

“Wow, it looks like she’s quite the handful, your big sis.” Katya said.

“Yeah.” Yumichi exclaimed. “Even if you fought her with this massive robot, she’d totally kick your butt!”