2 - Nest

[KRAKOW]

“You think they got here already?” Ichika asked Sakuto, as they made their way towards the park where the meetup was supposed to happen. The Heisei deduced that it would be far less risky to meet in places such as parks or even forests than cramped buildings which could be filled with wires or recording equipment.

“Not a chance. Oskar’s always late.” Sakuto sighed.

“Hey, after we meet those people, can we go out to eat?” Yumichi asked, holding onto her sister’s hand and making sure to keep up with their walking pace.

“Sure.”

“Ughhh...but I want it now...” Yumichi grunted.

“I literally just told you that you’re gonna get something to eat, and you’re complaining? Be a little patient, damn it!” Ichika said.

“Ugh, I wish the meeting was as short as possible.”

“That entirely depends on stuff.” Sakuto said. “Might last a few hours, might last just short of an hour. Might even last a few seconds.”

“Sakuto, knock it off.” Ichika said. “No killing. Not in front of Yumichi, at least.”

“I’m sure he’s seen worse.” Sakuto yawned. After feeling Ichika’s angered glare, he backed down on his intentions. “Fine, I’ll be a pacifist.”

“Walking around like this, had me and Ichika been a little older we’d be mistaken for a family...”

Sakuto sighed, with a faint smile emerging on his face.

“It feels nice.”

“Ichika, I can sense them. They’re over there.” Sakuto said. “How do we approach them?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we can’t just walk up to them, right?” Sakuto asked. “We gotta make a spectacle. Gotta look cool.” He fully expected to have to convince Ichika and bear the weight of her disappointed glance, but instead, he was pleasantly surprised.

“And how do you wanna make that grand entrance?” Ichika asked.

“I thought of a giant ice shard falling down.” Sakuto said. “Then, I pop out of the shadows and slice it apart, and I strike a pose while the ice is falling around anywhere.”

“Or we could put our soul presences to the maximum.” Ichika said. “And we could approach them, you making a bunch of shadows behind you, and me creating a trail of ice.”

“Or, or, or, how about-!” Sakuto noticed something pinching him.

“Hey, mister, don’t forget about me! I want to do something cool too!” Yumichi mumbled.

“Right... So how do we organize this?”

“Hey, are you guys gonna come up to us at some point?” Zawadski yelled from a distance. All three of them sighed in disappointment.

Sakuto faded into the shadows and popped out right next to Zawadski.

“Already here.” He said.

“You might as well tell me how the hell you can do that since we have some free time.” Zawadski said. “The last time I saw those shadows this close, I had to die quite a few times.”

“It’s a long story.” Sakuto said. “What matters is what came of it. Hey, we never got to properly talk, right?”

“Yeah. You were, uhh...quite the grump back then.” Zawadski said. “I’m betting everything’s alright given how happy you looked next to her.” He said, pointing at Ichika in the distance, who was approaching the group in a not-as-cool fashion.

“Really? That’s how I looked?” Sakuto asked. “You sure you’re not imaging stuff?”

“I’ve observed people since I opened my eyes in whatever hospital was unfortunate enough to shelter me.” Zawadski chuckled. “Believe me, the difference for you is night and day.”

“Fair observation, I guess.” Sakuto said. “What I wanted to talk to you about is your ability. I mean, holy shit, I hope you know the extent of what you can do.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I abuse it all the time.” Zawadski said. “Living a genuinely perfect life. Hey, you only live once, so might as well say ‘fuck it’ and go for a perfect run.”

“Doesn’t it get you desensitized though?” Sakuto asked. “I mean, not fearing any consequences, never failing or making mistakes...”

“I thought about it too.” Zawadski sighed. “Yeah, it does get pretty messy in my head at times. At some point I just stopped thinking about it and just started enjoying life. And besides, if I don’t do what I do, a lot of things will go to shit.”

“Yeah, same thing here.” Sakuto said. “I’m not trying to brag, but...”

“Yeah, no, I know what you mean.” Zawadski said. “You’re the strongest without a doubt. Me, however, I’m the most...how do I say it...”

“Essential?”

“Kind of, but...”

“Yeah, I think I know what you mean.” Sakuto said.

“Every member of the Heisei fulfills a special role.” Zawadski said. “Everyone is the best at something. I got the role of the trickster or strategic deployment guy, you uhh...you got the walking nuclear cannon role. It is what it is.”

“Hoping I don’t get to use that nuclear stuff too often though.” Sakuto said. “Fuck, man. Things aren’t looking too good recently.”

“Yeah. Especially after what you told us about that Dima guy.” Zawadski yawned. “Had it been Mr. Kamiki here, he’d cut that fella’s head right off. He does not like suspicious people getting anywhere close to him.”

The two were suddenly distracted by a scream of excitement.

“Yuuka Hoshikawa?!” Yumichi yelled out in the distance, quickly rushing towards his idol. “Is...is...is that really you?”

Yuuka turned around, looking at the boy with confusion and, a moment later, adoration.

“Of course it’s me! Your favorite digital creature!” Yuuka smiled, patting Yumichi. The latter looked like he was about to explode with the force of a collapsing star from joy.

“I watch all your videos! And all your streams!” Yumichi said, too joyful to even move. “I follow and listen to all of your songs too! You’re the best! You’re the best!”

“He’s a hopeless fan...” Ichika sighed, approaching Yuuka. “I didn’t tell him that you were gonna be here though. Hell, he wasn’t even supposed to be here.”

“He seems like the sweetest kid ever.” Yuuka said. “He has your eyes. Is he your brother?”

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“Yep.” Ichika chuckled. “He’s unfortunate enough to share blood with me.”

“He’s well mannered too.” Yuuka said.

“Just look at how happy he is!!! This is exactly why I do what I do, he’s so happy it makes me want to throw up!!!”

“All my kittens are like this, right? I love them! I love them so so so so so so so so so much!!!!!!!”

“Did you dye your hair? It looks really pretty.” Yuuka asked, holding one of Ichika’s snow white bangs. “What paint brand did you use?”

“The soulful type. This happened to me when I used my acclamation.” Ichika said. “It’s been like that ever since. Hey, I’m not complaining, though. I’ve always wanted to color one of my bangs, and it always kept getting delayed...”

“Please tell me you wanted this same color, because it looks so so so cute on you!” Yuuka said.

“I actually did!” Ichika said. “It’s such a coincidence...hey, one of the reasons I believe there’s no such thing as a coincidence in life. It looks-”

Ichika felt something touch her leg.

“Yumichi?” Ichika asked with murderous intent, slowly turning her head towards her brother. “Why did you kick me in the leg?”

“Because you’re stealing her from me!” Yumichi said, standing between her and Yuuka as if he was protecting Yuuka from a world-ending threat.

“I haven’t the slightest clue on how he’s even so obsessed with you.” Ichika said.

“It is what it is.” Yuuka smiled. She kissed Yumichi on the forehead. “Thank you for being a true kitten!”

Yumichi’s head collapsed into a black hole.

“That gives us some time to chat, I guess.” Ichika sighed. “Smart move.”

“Hm?”

“I never got to have a few words with you, but...how do you handle having so many eyes on you? I mean, so many people are looking up at you. I don’t think all of them love you, right?”

“Hah, they don’t.” Yuuka said. “There are many people who hate me, who can’t wait to see me fall and who keep typing mean things in my chat.”

“So how do you cope with it?” Ichika asked.

“Well, to be honest...”

“I don’t!”

“...huh?” Ichika was baffled at this level of honesty.

“The mean stuff always gets to my head.” Yuuka cheerfully said. “It keeps me up at night, and I keep ego surfing and reading all the bad things that people type about me on social media! It’s unhealthy and it sometimes makes me cry or break stuff!”

“Hah, uhh...” Ichika didn’t know how to reply. “And...what keeps you sane?”

“The thought that whoever is typing all of that mean stuff is probably some soulless loser that I can kill at any moment with no legal consequences! :D” Yuuka smiled.

“I see...”

“Do you struggle with people disliking you?” Yuuka asked. “Is that why you asked?”

“Not really, I was just curious.” Ichika replied. “I kinda stopped caring about all of that stuff.”

“That’s great!” Yuuka cheered. She whipped her phone out and prepared to take a selfie with Ichika. “Let’s remember this!”

Ichika smiled at the camera. The smile was pretty, a little sad, but really pretty. The next one to be in such a picture was Yumichi - he took a few dozen such pictures with his second favorite idol of all time.

While at the same time, in a slightly further area of the park...

“Oh my God, she’s here...”

“Who is?” Both Oskar and Dima were surprised at Ausra’s remark.

“T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-the captain...”

“I didn’t talk to her much during the joint training sessions, but...she seemed positively impressed by my performance...I hope...ahhh, she’s so cool...I hope she thinks highly of me!”

“Then go on and conquer the world.” Oskar said. “We’ll fall behind a little if you wanna talk to her privately.”

“I can’t just do that! What if she thinks I’m not worth it?” Ausra asked, panicking. “What if she doesn’t even pay attention to me?!”

“Captain!” Oskar exclaimed from a distance. “We’ve arrived. Dima is with me.” The callout caught her attention. Jian and Ichigo were at a distance, and while Ichigo was on his phone, Jian walked a little towards the two.

“See? Now she paid attention to you.” Oskar said, playfully shoving Ausra forward a little. “Go on. Speak your mind with her.”

“Asshole!” Ausra barked at him, before walking towards Jian, with her face staring at the ground. “Thanks.” She whispered once she got a little further away.

“So what’s all of this about anyways? You mentioned my name to them specifically, didn’t you?” Dima asked. “What’s going on?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Oskar said. “And hopefully I’ll find something out too.”

“C-c-c-c-c-captain-commander Jian Fang!” Ausra said, bowing down, her face as red as a ruby. “At your service!”

“The formality is obsolete in this environment.” Jian replied.

“A-a-a-a-a-----I’m sorry!” Ausra said. Quickly straightening up and even putting one of her hands in her pocket to show her ‘informality’. “Hey, uhh...what’s up, bro?” Jian suddenly realized that perhaps she could’ve worded things more differently, but didn’t really know how.

“She looks so beautiful!!!”

“No, that is not...what I meant...” Jian said. “I...pleasure to meet you, Ausra.” She added at the end of the sentence, just as her brain was slowly turning into a pile of mush. “I was greatly impressed by your performance during the training. I think you were trying a little too hard, though.”

“Ah, yes! I...I’ll make sure to uhh...” Ausra said. Slowly she finally took the mask off, and with a deep breath, said in a slightly disappointed voice. “I’m sorry. I just admire you a lot.”

“That is...encouraging to hear.” Jian said.

“I mean, really, you’re one of the strongest and coolest, and you’re also our captain.” Ausra said. “It’s thanks to you that Nachtfallen was a success, and you helped save all of us during the war too.”

“I am greatly pleased to hear that.” Jian said, after a brief silence and a sudden wave of self-reflection. “Perhaps this may sound disillusioning, but I am far from the strongest in the Heisei.”

“Same. I’m probably one of the weakest.” Ausra said, a little saddened. “Especially with monsters like Sakuto and now Ichika around. But...I still think you’re the strongest!”

“And why is that?”

“Well, you’re the captain. You bear responsibility for all of us. And you guide all of us. We can win battles on our own, but without you, we wouldn’t win any wars...if that makes sense.” Ausra explained. “I wish I was like you.”

“Why do you wish so?” Jian asked. “Why would anyone wish that?”

“I want to be strong. But not just strong like them, I want to be strong like you.” Ausra said, smiling at her. “And I want people to rely on me and trust me. I want to be there for them.”

“I’m sure that with your current rate of growth you will become a fearsome soulful.” Jian said.

“They idolize me, but for what?”

“Do they not see her?”

Jian, in the corner of her eye, saw that kid with a pretty face. In the distance, amongst the trees, playing around with a bow and arrow.

“Do they even know about her? If they looked that way, would they still want to look at me?”

“Captain, it looks like everyone’s here.” Sakuto said, popping out of a shadow behind her. “Oh, hey Ausra.”

“You could’ve just walked up to her, you know?” Ausra complained.

“Of course Sakuto can allow himself to behave like this in front of the captain herself! Being strong gives you crazy privileges!”

“My bad, I convinced him to do that.” Zawadski said. “The rule of cool is the supreme force of the universe. I think now that everyone is here, we can actually talk about the important stuff.”

And a few moments later, everyone gathered around. On a patch of grass, close to some old and wise trees, with a layer of clouds suffocating the sky, they all assembled. The last person to join in was...

“Ichika, hold my hand.” Sakuto said.

“Sure, but...why?”

“The first reason is that I like holding hands with you, I think it’s really cute and it feels reassuring.” Sakuto explained. “Second reason is so I don’t beat that guy’s teeth in. Something’s off.”

”Your own distrust of him before his apparent ‘amnesia’ shouldn’t have an input on what happens here.” Ichika commented. “Though his soul presence is extraordinarily weak...”

They all gathered in a semi-circle, and Dima was in front of them, with Oskar standing right next to him. Jian took a step forward.

“Dima, you are under arrest for treason against the Heisei and the GSC.” Jian said. “But, considering your current predicament, we will not take immediate action. As long as you wish to cooperate with us.”

“I-what? What the fuck are you on about?” Dima asked. “Who did I betray? What did I even do?! Hey, Oskar, what did I do?” He asked his only friend present.

“Just...look, they’re gonna ask you questions, you just have to answer them. And don’t lie.” Oskar said. He too had a difficult time processing everything.

“Dima.” Jian asked, now appearing more and more intimidating. “State your full name and your soul expression.”

“My name is Dima.” Dima said. “My soul expression is, uhh...”

The crowd fell silent.