Side Story: Kuesa Shoga

Prologue:

If someone ever tells you that this is a soft story in which the boy ends up with the girl, they are wrong. If someone boats on about how this story has a hero that everybody loves and saves the world in the end, then you might want to question that.

Hypothetically speaking, every story is revolved around infinite avenues; however, this one only had one from the very beginning. I’m not trying to brag here about my story, no, if I said that I would be bragging about it, then it wouldn’t be incorrect although it would not be truly correct.

Ultimately, in the wonders of all possibilities, I would be lamenting my incompetence, how I could never-

Let’s say for argument's sake that all reality could be bent over, exposed, and reversed even in the most superficial. Would it be wrong to take advantage of that to shape your own type of reality?

Warnings are heeded hence my future repercussion, there might be lies all over the script, so many lies in which the count is lost like scattered petal blossoms in a stormy spring. So much blood written over the gaps that could not be fulfilled by the length of superficial lies…

Is what I would like to tell you, yet this is simply thoughts of a lone mind isolated lost in his own world of boredom without a way to return to the present reality.

Let’s try this one more time. If for argument's sake there was ever a compelling tale like this, how exactly would it turn out to be?

I don’t know, for that answer it would have been time to realize to know what I am after. No, that’s not the right answer; however, answers can’t come without anything to sacrifice before, even the gaps that supposedly don’t allow that can’t outrun the biggest answer to this.

0

I’m sorry to interrupt you currently, the occasion that is at hand at the moment is a bit too much, so introductions will have to come later, first off, I will address the situation as it is.

Amidst a garbage alley lays my supposed yet alive body and to think that my consciousness is fading away…

This is all correct due to the consequences of the early events however I never expected to meet my end here this way… Is that all there is!? Am I simply going to die here without ever feeling accomplished at anything I do with my life? Even this so-called death!?

I supposed it would be inappropriate to give this sudden development without any sort of explanation as to how I’m currently knocking at death’s door. Ah seriously, if only I wasn’t this foolish and compromised to do that. Either way, let’s rewind the clock for a great round of 12 hours back in time since currently its 22: 30 pm; let’s go back to the correct time period.

10:30 am, Katarakis High School, Class A, Block B.

1

Time passing while staring at a blank wall. Normally it would be viewed as a sign of pure boredom. My agreement would definitely come if such an approach ever comes, however, it can be viewed in various different perspectives, I suppose.

For instance, the very fact that one is a top student would mean that benefits such as friends would come along with it. That’s not correct; to gather friends is a waste of time.

Don’t even get me started on love, that’s even a double waste of time. Me being a top student and not having any of those traits to my personal arsenal is perfectly fine, in fact, I like it that way. Nobody could ever understand a true intellectual mind like me.

I mean, why would one waste their time on shouldering more responsibilities that they have to? Because it’s fun?

Wrong. Humans care more about their appearances than anything, they will do anything for the sake of keeping one, and the very fact that you treasure the protection of your own loneliness is the very embodiment of that fact. Ridiculous.

The truth cannot be ignored though. Even though I possess and don’t possess certain traits, it goes without saying that without any friends or any way to suffice my time, everything is so…boring.

To tell the truth, I am undoubtedly socially awkward, but is that any wrong? Objectively, being socially awkward enables you to have an impression on people that you can’t communicate and thus creates an aura that in which the socially awkward one can’t be approached. Saying that this is bad, would be an understatement of course.

Thinking about this won’t help nor erase the current problem at the moment. Being stuck while having to be present inside this Mathematics class is boring the hell out of me.

It’s no wonder that I’ve gained the habit of thinking too much, perhaps this discloser to the outside world has proven to be devastating regarding my social status.

No matter, this class will end in fifteen minutes. That being the case, I effortlessly waste my time away while I continue to wait for the bell to ring.

Going around the campus doesn’t sound like a bad idea, even though I have to be aware that there will be another forty-five class in the next fifteen minutes, so being hasty and collective is important obviously.

The question is, how am I going to waste my time for fifteen minutes? Once you have no friends or a love subject, there is hardly anything worth striving for in terms of wasting your time during mini-breaks.

The options aren’t limited to that of course, directing myself to the main cafeteria which is localized in Block A would probably be the wisest route here, eating away wastes around a great deal of time.

For example, simply drinking and eating a simple meal or anything else would take around 4-5 minutes if I eat it rapidly, however by taking an extra repercussion, delaying that to 10 minutes could be possible just by eating very slowly or simply enjoy it as it is.

It needs to be said though, the food that is served in the cafeteria sucks, it’s a simple truth, so eating it slowly it’s as if you are chewing down toxic cockroaches from the sewers. It might sound like an exaggeration, but it’s not.

I wish it was but it’s not. So that option is off the table. Option B which is to give myself a self-tour to the campus in fifteen minutes doesn’t sound too bad though.

This school isn’t something that I want it to be a memory. As I’m avoiding to make myself give any particular remarks about the current environment, all I could gaze upon were either boys of my age who enjoyed their moments or girls who would gossip about girly things as usual. I couldn’t stand the sight of it.

Not because I was disgusted by their actions, but because they possessed something that I didn’t. Freedom. I don’t have any freedom superficially, my mind is chained by these thoughts of mine…

If only I had- Aside from my inner discussion, around the next left corner, in a very deep alley, I couldn’t help but notice a harmful circumstance happening in it.

It was a common sight supposedly, looking upon it, I was reminded over how power is completely relative, and that no matter how much you have it, there are limits to it.

However that was not the case here, a young boy getting hurt all over the place by continuous punches followed up by kicks was the ultimate scene here.

I’ve known the person doing all those atrocities for a long time, unfortunately, no matter how many times I reprehend him, he would just keep on doing it. His name was Gekidoshi Kuhatsusei.

Having natural blond hair color has his principal trait, blue eyes at it, not to mention the same old plain school uniform containing a white shirt followed with black jeans. Overlooking the current issue could be an option.

In fact, calling it an issue is simply too big of a misunderstanding, but I knew it wasn’t. It was bullying. While I made my way to the alley, a strange dialogue was exchanged.

“What’s the matter Saga!? Too afraid to fight back? Then, why not just give me all your money, then you won’t have to deal with me for a while, what about it?”

The supposed weak boy which was taking all the bullying was called Getsuga Saga, calling myself on to remind who he was wasn’t much of a problem, ever since the past, he and Gekidoshi have always been this way, Saga the one being bullied and Gekidoshi being the one who does the bullying. I wonder why humans are this way. Logically speaking, bullying can be seen as a way of wanting another’s attention, however, it always will resort to more violent methods.

“I- I will never give up, you can make fun of me, torment me as much as you want, but I will never surrender to the likes of you”

Despite always being bullied, Saga would not surrender to Gekidoshi’s threats, now that’s amazing, although being amazing has its good traits, it’s not going to help in this case.

“Is that so? Say, which one do you think is harder, my fist or your skull?”

After asking such question, Saga begins to tremble a bit in fear, it was without a doubt a normal reaction since Gekidoshi obviously meant to crush Saga’s inner skull with a powerful punch.

I couldn’t let that happen, not because I was worried about what might happen to Saga, but because Gekidoshi could seriously get in trouble for this. Having no choice but to step in, moving closely towards Gekidoshi’s right arm while he was preparing a heavy punch launch type of attack towards Saga was the right call.

“Wh-“

In awe, Gekidoshi notices my right hand stopping him from committing the attack.

“That’s enough, don’t you think, Gekidoshi?”

“Damn it, why are you always interrupting me whenever I’m about to finish this guy off!?”

Gekidoshi’s words brought levels of irritation to me now and always, and just as he said I’m bound to have to reply with a logical answer.

“Why you ask? Why not ask yourself instead? Don’t you have any clue what happens to you if you get suspended again? You will get expelled.

Stop being stupid for once in your life and do the right decision already. Also, I’m fairly sure that Saga didn’t do anything to you, isn’t that right, Saga?”

While recovering from the Rhapsody of punches mixed with kicks that he took from Gekidoshi, he briefly replies with an answer which showed signs of Saga having troubles breathing.

“I-I haven’t done anything wro-“

Being reprehended as always, Saga couldn’t finish his sentence since Gekidoshi interrupted him.

“Shut the fuck up Saga! Do you want to get another beating!? Uh!?”

“N-No, I’m so s-sorry!!”

Not being able to handle the situation anymore, Saga runs off while sprinting fast.

“Man, what’s your problem, I’m bored, let me have my own share of fun, will you?”

Always giving me these types of childish replies, Gekidoshi demanded yet another explanation for my sudden interruption.

The thing is, I couldn’t be bothered to waste any more logic with him. I knew that he was dumb, but not this much. Seriously, what is he even going to do with his life at this rate?

“Just don’t go around and torment others for the sake of fulfilling your boredom, will you?”

“Like you have any right to tell me what to do… You can’t do anything about me, nor can you do anything about yourself.”

Not realizing what he was talking about, asking for an explanation came to my mind.

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t remember, do you…”

I’m clueless here, why doesn’t he just get on with it?

“Again, you are going to have to be more specif-“

“Forget it, you’re dense as a frying pan, you know? I’m out, it’s a waste of time talking to you, Kuesa.”

I couldn’t fully grasp what he could mean so I just accepted the fact that he had something that even I couldn’t comprehend. We part ways, and while trying to remember something important I remember that I am late for class.

It was about 10:47 am, so I was 2 minutes late, however it gets worse. Having to run towards Block B takes about 2-3 minutes, so I would be late for a great amount of 5 minutes.

2

Making quick haste towards my class, I knock the classroom door while waiting for sensei’s permission to enter, however to my surprise, she begins to interrogate me.

“Kuesa, why are you late to class?”

This question might sound simple, but it’s entirely filled with complexity all over it. Answering this with a simple “I was finishing eating in the cafeteria” could be an option, although that’s a very weak option, choosing that option would have to mean that my sensei is dumb, in which case she is not.

So going with option B is my only choice, which is saying that I would have to give the excuse that I was at the principal’s office this time around. I was ready to give that answer, however to my surprise, Gekidoshi replies in my stead.

“Sensei, he was busy beating up Saga.”

The entire class went up on shock, but it was way too convenient, their reactions were almost like they were synchronized.

I knew from the get-go that this was Gekidoshi’s plan, but this was not good, my solo opinion could not stand against the fact that Saga was clearly all beaten up.

“How horrible.”

“What a psychopath.”

“He always looks irritated for some reason, I guess he was just mentally unstable from the get-go, uh?”

Hearing all those biased opinions just fueled up my fury, but I think what truly gave me all this fury was Saga’s next lines.

“It’s true… During this break, all he did was give me kicks and punched me so hard all my front teeth are gone, just look at these bruises…”

Saga showed his wounds to the rest of the class, and so, glaring eyes came in my direction.

“Kuesa, care to explain this?”

Normally, explanations would be required in this situation, hence Sensei asking for one. So I had no choice, however, it occurred to me, that if I tell Sensei the truth then chances are that Gekidoshi will undoubtedly get expelled.

“Sensei, it’s the truth, I was the one that beat up Saga, isn’t that right, Gekidoshi?”

To Gekidoshi and everybody else’s surprise, I strongly give out the lie that I was the one who beat Saga, so it was normal that there was a sudden silence amidst the class.

Even so, Gekidoshi did not give his reply.

“I see, then Kuesa, you are dismissed for today, a letter from the principal will be sent over to your home later on this day.”

Having understood the situation, I give simple feedback.

“I understand, excuse me then.

Closing the door, I quickly exit the school, however even to my own surprise, I was smiling. That’s right, I was smiling.

Not because there was any particular reason for it, but because for once in my whole life I was given the feeling of being free. So free that I have no idea what to do with the amount of freedom I was given.

It wasn’t as boring as it was anymore, but why was that? Could it have been the fact that I accepted my punishment and was freed from my duties? No, that can’t be it. What else could there have been…

Words from the past came to my mind at that time. A dream of being free without being shackled by the society that we live in.

Those words belonged to Gekidoshi, in a day of remorse, from long ago, memories locked up for good. Types of memories that we have, but those that we never want to recall.

“I will destroy this society, just watch, all those fucking people that dare to oppose me will suffer, mark my words, I will be free!”

Truly childish words, a better description could not be better, but even though they are childish, those words had a certain impact back then, I wish I could be like-

“Ouch!”

Apparently, while I was in the middle of my thought process, I bumped into a girl. I know this very exact moment, I’ve witnessed it thousands of times I think just from watching animes or reading mangas, although I had no intention of making a clichéd remark like those seen in animes or mangas.

“Are you ok-“

“I’m late!! Get out of the way, please!

“Hey, wait, why are you in such a hurry?”

I asked the obvious question, since I couldn’t figure out as to why she would be in such a hurry in the first place, even though she wears the same uniform as me, although a female one, of course, it wouldn’t make sense as to why she is in a hurry, all the classes have started already, so…

“Can’t you see that I am late for my class?”

“Yeah, about that, classes already have started so you are late to them.”

“What!? This can’t be…”

I guess my assumption was correct, there would be no way that she could be in a hurry for something school related.

I’m aware of all the schedules in school, all classes start at 45 minutes and since it was 11:05, then it was obvious that she was late, no, that’s incorrect, she was mega late.

“I’m sorry, but if you want to attend the next class then you will have to wait 40 minutes.”

“There is no way I can ever wait that long, I will die from boredom, I have nothing to do until then, ah, this sucks!”

Emphasizing with her sentiment of not wanting to feel bored I make a sudden proposition.

“Say, are you free right now?”

“What, are you asking me out? I’m sorry, we don’t know each other well enough, so I will respectfully decline. I hope you don’t mind.”

I have to say, I wasn’t expecting this type of reply from her, I guess I was expecting an instant blush or something like that, but no, this girl gave me a straight forward denial, now that’s rare, too rare. If I was interested in her then I would do anything to keep her, however-

“No, that’s not it; we are both without anything to do, so why not waste our time while doing something we both like?

The girl stops for a moment and thinks deeply about what to say, I’ve wondered for a bit what her reply would be, but it wasn’t long until she talked back.

“That’s fine, I suppose, but only under three conditions.”

Is there really a need for this…? Regardless, she proceeds to speak out of her terms.

“Um, so condition one will be, you will have to be my tour and pay everything for everything that I buy.

Did she just put two conditions in one supposedly condition?

“Hey, that’s two condition-“

“Next up…”

She’s doing this on purpose, she’s a devil.

“Condition two is the following, you will give me your full name and you can’t ever ask for my name”

“Hey, that’s two conditions again!!”

Furiously replying, she continues.

“As for the last condition, well…”

“Yes?”

“I will think about it…”

This is fine, I was the one who proposed this, so it’s natural that she might have objected my offer, even with these conditions it’s all good.

“Do you accept these conditions?”

“Sure, I don’t have any objection to them.”

“How desperate, to not even object them with a condition on your own, I expected more honestly.”

She’s getting on my nerves, but for some reason, I am happy about that, there are not a lot of people who have her traits, she is quite special in that sense.

“Yes, yes, so let’s get going, shall we?”

“Wait, tell me two things, your name and where are we going?”

I was hoping to escape the first with only having to tell the second, but I guess there is no choice.

“My name is Kuesa Shoga, and we will be going to the cinema, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Wait, tell me more, on when were you born, favorite food and all that, also, what movie are we watching?”

Okay, she is too energetic, not only does she ask way too many questions but she gives no information about her on that regard, seriously, how unfair can you be?

Either way, I have no interest in her; I just wish to spend my time away simply to fulfill my boredom. Although, I’m not sure if she will agree to watch the movie that I have in mind.

No matter, but continuing to speak here is somewhat uncomfortable, no for me, but for her, since she is showing signs of being uncomfortable while remaining in this place.

After all, we are in the middle of the street with people staring at us. What a bunch of creeps, just mind your own dammed business.

“Hey, let’s catch the bus and we will talk there, okay?”

“A bus to where?”

“To the mall of course, where do you think we will be watching the movie?”

“I see, that makes sense, shall we go then, Kuesa-kun?”

I feel awkward when people use formal manners with me, I believe that there is no necessity whatsoever to address people with formality, it’s a waste of speech and time, to think that people prioritize time and appearances over utility, that’s pathetic.

“Or do you not like the “kun” at the end?

Such a question came from this girl. What a surprise, truly.

“I don’t mind, call me whatever you want, it makes no difference to me whatsoever.”

“But it makes a difference to me though.”

She’s got a fair point, even though I think that caring about this is utterly pointless I can’t deny that she has the upper hand on this argument.

“I see, then just call me Kuesa.”

“Okay, Kuesa~”

She said that in a very girly way, to the point where it was truly attractive, any male human being would have fallen in love with her after this, however, I am different, I will not be fooled by this.

“What should I call you though? You won’t give me your name, so I didn’t even bother to ask, so what should I call you? Addressing you as “you” doesn’t feel right…”

“It makes no difference to me what you ca-“

Immediately interrupting her, my following words have a bit of anger in them.

“Hey, that’s cheating you can’t do that.”

“Then, think of a name to give me, otherwise I will be treated as “you”.”

This isn’t even troublesome, it’s just that if we are going to spend time together then I would like to at least address her in a polite manner, but why am I even bothered by this?

It has no relevance whatsoever.

“Fine, either way, we will be watching a superhero movie, I’m sorry; I bet you wanted a romance movie or something cute like that, however before that, we have to eat something, I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, I hate romance movies, actions movies all the way for me, and I’m hungry too.”

Wait, wait, is this girl serious? What kind of girl hates romance movies? That’s… Awesome. Please marry me. As if, as if, good thing these are my own thoughts if she could read them, then I would go insane.

“Alright, so I will tell you what the schedule is for today, I don’t blame you if you want to quit though. First things first, around 12 pm we will eat, then at 12:30 pm the movie will begin which has the duration of 1 hour of 30 minutes and th-“

My brief explanation gets quickly interrupted by her.

“Time out, time out.”

“What is it?”

“You don’t expect me to stay all day in a mall, do you? I have to eventually get back to school, I’m fine with skipping the first morning part, however, skipping the afternoon is simply foolish.”

She has a point though, skipping the afternoon part is foolishness at its finest. This reminds me, I have to eventually return to school, but then again that’s incorrect I got dismissed for the whole day and I will only receive information about my situation later on, so me assuming others have the same time that I do have is wrong and incorrect, I’m at fault here.

“I’m sorry, I assumed that you had time on your hand. My bad, we will go wi-“~

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Can you listen to me for a second?”

She probably wants to speak her mind out for a bit, that’s natural, I suppose.

“Of course.”

“Let’s hypothetically say that I do skip the afternoon part, just for how long can you stay?”

“Stay? What do you mean?”

“… If I do go along with your entire schedule today, just for how long do you intend on staying with me?”

I see. So she is bothered by staying with me. That’s perfectly natural, even I am bothered by staying with myself sometimes, so I can emphasize with her feeling quite well.

I have to respect her opinion, even if it means that I will probably be bored, though. Which means, that I probably shouldn’t make it obvious that I am disturbed by her thoughts, I will simply open up a possibility for her to go away since it would be convenient for her.

Though this isn’t what I wished for, I hate to make others suffer on my stead, so I will commit to this.

“You don’t have to stay with me all day, I just said what I said because I was bored anyway, and you are free to go whenever you want so don’t worry about it.”

“Say, can you stop doing that, it’s getting really annoying…”

Entering a state of confusion, I couldn’t fully grasp what she meant by that, so I couldn’t help but ask.

“What do you mean?”

She stopped walking, just as we were getting inside the bus that was waiting to depart she had an expression that represents someone that couldn’t hold back on her words.

“You are always assuming my own preferences, so instead of doing that, why don’t you simply ask me that? Is it that hard to rely to other people? I know that I am not the most reliable person there is, but still, I feel pretty hurt when someone has to rely on himself so much to the point where I am never an option.”

Just like that she handles out the truth. I’m not even surprised at this point. I believe that none else in this world can understand me better than myself in this world, so it’s somewhat fine if others doubt or question my decisions.

Still, I couldn’t let this slide, I had to respond with the same force.

“I simply assumed that you were asking that because you got tired of being with me, is that not the case?”

“Why would you assume that?”

“I… am not someone who I would see myself hanging out with. I’m selfish and whatnot, so I thought to myself that I was being a bother…”

“Well, first things first, I am not you, so why would you think that I would get tired from being around you? You are interesting Kuesa, I think that I am loving being around you, but you have to stop being so negative about yourself, also let’s get to the bus or else we will be late, okay?”

I was amazed I think, so amazed I couldn’t help to ask this, I just had to get it out.

“Say… Do you believe in me?”

She immediately makes a smile full of confidence.

“Well, why wouldn’t I? If you trust me, then I will trust you for as long as I am alive, now do you trust me?”

I never have believed in magic, or in the power of love. The chances of me believing in such things are highly negative since I will never believe in them.

However, if hypothetically speaking, there was ever an exception to that, then it would have been this moment. This moment was truly magical; those types of moments you wish to live in them for eternity.

“Yes, I do trust you.”

“Great, let’s get going then Kuesa, or else we will seriously lose this bus, so hurry up!”

3

After that, I and she spent the rest of the bus trip which was around 15-20 minutes talking about our preferences and such. I kind of wish I knew her name though.

Putting that aside, the bus was quite full, I was already fearing that leaving the bus would mean going through a hard time, but there was nothing I could have done about that.

No, that’s incorrect, there was, however, it would imply that we would have to leave our seat for this plan to work. It had to be done, so I start to make my move.

“Hey, let’s get up?”

“Why? We could just wait for all the people to leave the bus and then make our leave instead?”

She again had a point, however, I had a better idea, or so I assumed.

“I’ll explain later, just trust me on this one.”

“Alright, I did say I would trust you, after all.”

“Thank you.”

Having said that I and she headed out towards the front seats, the plan was simple; the main distraction would be the usual door which is usually located in the middle section part of the bus itself, but we would not utilize that door, instead, we would utilize the front door.

However, that’s normally impossible due to the reason being that the driver does not allow anyone except elder people to use it, or people that have physical problems.

To resolve that main problem we would have to become one of the exceptions which exist to get ourselves aboard the front door.

There isn’t really a necessity as to why this should be executed, however utilizing intelligence to make things easier is very helpful in this world, so I rather not let a situation that which has an easy out slip by.

The problem was how we were supposed to achieve the solution to this problem. The core of the resolution lies within the front door of the bus itself, but another solution would be the bus driver.

Since it’s the bus driver it gives us the upper hand here, everything can be manipulated and just like that, mind manipulation came to mind, now the final step would be how to manipulate the bus driver that we were in a dire situation in which we had to use every means to avoid ending up leaving using the middle door.

My method was still lacking a solution, which is troublesome, either way, as I approach the front seats with her, she questions me.

“What exactly are you planning?”

I could or I could simply not give a share of what I’m thinking to her, although I think I’m serious about trusting her, so I might as well.

“I’m planning on leaving the bus using the front door.”

“How exactly are you going to do that though?”

“By fooling the bus driver, how else?”

“I’ll repeat my question, how are you going to do that?”

Repeated questions usually have a good way of proving points and the fact that she is aware of that just makes her the more clever, that’s nice, I’m always the one who keeps up with everything and having somebody else along my side while doing that is pretty effective, not to mention helpful.

“First, I believe that I should pretend to have a physical problem, which would then allow me to use the door, and then I would need you to say that you will accompany me to the hospital to make sure that I do not fall. How does it sound, is it that bad of a plan?”

“I wonder… That would have to mean a couple of aspects first. This should only work if the bus driver is a complete fool so this plan working out is totally dependent on that factor, you see.”

“I see. It’s true that this plan has flaws, should the bus driver have any redeeming intellect we are done for. I hate to say it, but this plan is pretty bad.

“Hey, can I propose one instead?”

I wasn’t exactly surprised, but rather, excited to hear her out at this point.

“Sure.”

“How about I attempt to seduce the bus driver and you make a run for it?”

Stupid as it may sound, we men are fragile creatures when it comes to women, so it might work, although I couldn’t help but to retort.

“You can’t be serious.”

“What? Are you jealous? I see, then let’s leave using the middle do-“

Even though she was playing her little game I really didn’t want to have to use the middle door, but what was the most surprising was the fact that I was somewhat bothered by her proposition, I even blushed a little when she said that I was jealous.

To my luck, I made it sound like I didn’t blush at all.

“Are you blushing?”

Damn it, she’s a devil, how did I forget…

“Alright, so can you run fast when I run for it?

“Yeah, it should be no problem.”

“Good luck, then.”

It came down to this, all that thinking for a seduction, bravo. Her endeavor better work or else we might be done for.

While silently making her way to the bus driver seat we had arrived at our destination.

All the doors were about to open, but that’s when I decided to listen to her words while seducing the driver, supposedly.

“I-I’m sorry to b-bother you, b-but could I leave using the front door, I have to get to work, please!

“No can do. You will have to leave using the middle door.”

That’s the logical reply, however-

“Please! I really need to leave fast!”

Attempting her way out while using the same words a second time might have sounded completely like a waste of time, but this time around she had a trick upon her sleeve.

She embraced the man’s arm along with her chest. It was bound to have an effect on the bus driver and so it did.

“O-Okay, just make it quick.”

“Thank you!”

That was so pathetic. Not by her part, but by the bus driver’s part, no matter how pathetic it was I had to take advantage of the moment and run for it, this was the only chance.

As I run for it, the bus driver suddenly notices me, luckily it was too late for him to close the door since I was already on the other side, but for her, it was a different story.

I knew that I had to do something, so I did the only thing that was possible at that moment anyway.

“Grab my hand!”

She immediately followed my command like a well-trained soldier or a robotic machine, either way, it was superb, she grabs my hand and we run for it, leaving the bus driver completely mad.

4

“Th-That was something else…”

She tells me that while hanging on to her breath since we had to run quite a while.

“I suppose so. Let’s get going, we need to eat, right?”

“Y-Yeah. W-Wait, how come you aren’t tired at all?”

She got me.

“Uh, I’m tired, you are simply more tired than I am, yes, that’s it.

I try to fool her with a secondary logical rate reply, but I could almost guess it would prove to be meaningless.

“I know you’re lying. You look me in the eyes too much whenever you lie.

If that’s true then even I didn’t know that. How interesting.

“Is that so? Then, do you want the truth?”

“No need, I can pretty guess it, I think?”

Time passed after that, I think I lost count of the time, after we eat, we watched the movie, explored the mall and whatnot.

How would I call this…? It was fun. Having someone to have fun is simply the greatest there is.

That must be the reason as to why I’m not feeling bored anymore. I simply wish that I could relive this day over and over. My life must have been so boring until now if I treasure a simple day like this so badly.

Others might say that a day like this would either be normal or dull. Boring or unproductive. I don’t care. Strike me down as much as you want, all I want is something like this.

“Did you have fun?”

While still walking around the mall and directing ourselves towards the exit, she asks me that question.

“Believe it or not, but I have no idea how to answer that question, but you can pretty much guess, right?”

It would be so lame to say my inner thoughts, she would think that I would be all over her, although for some reason she seems the type of girl who would not panic and realize that I was simply being sincere and not romantic, still, I rather not try my luck here.

“I don’t know, you are going to have to say it to me~”

This girl, how many times must I say this to myself? She’s a devil. But a cute one at it. I’m a coward.

If only I had the guts to tell her that I probably want to spend the rest of my days with someone like her.

I figured I wouldn’t tell her since it would selfish of me to ever give another being the responsibility of being with me. I mean, I simply look at myself and see nothing but arrogance.

“It was the best time ever.”

“I see. I’m glad you liked it.”

I hesitated to say the next words but a strong urge flew inside me at that time.

“Can we do this more?

“What?”

Ah, this was bound to happen, what an idiot I am, can’t I simply rewind back 5 seconds back in time just so I never asked this stupid question, please…

“Ignore that.”

“I can’t do that.”

Or so she says.

“I’m sorry for asking that.”

“Don’t be sorry, it will make me sad.”

This conversation was going nowhere, not to mention that it was slowly but surely getting dull, to be fair though, I didn’t mind.

“We are here.”

She says that while we are standing at the exit of the mall.

“I know.”

“Are you sad?”

“Sad? No, just probably disappointed, but you wouldn’t understand. Either way, we should probably part ways here, so… I guess this is goodbye.”

This is it. Goodbye. Saying goodbye is always hard for some reason, but what’s harder was when we supposedly said hello, then again we never said that hence why it’s so hard now.

“Wait!”

“What is it?”

“I haven’t told you.”

What is she on about, this is goodbye, why prolong my suffering…

“Uh, so my third condition will be…”

Oh right, I forgot about this, it’s probably going to be another selfish request, but a condition is a condition, I’ll leave it at that.

“Go ahead, say your condition; it’s probably another selfish request.”

“Does it bother you that I am selfish?”

“No, it bothers me when people aren’t selfish, so be as selfish as you want with me.”

“Why is that? Why do you not object when others oppose you?”

Thinking about this is troublesome, I have either the right or the correct way to answer her, but I will go with the genuine one.

“Does it matter what I have to say?”

“Should it not?”

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

It came back to me, the same words that I would listen previously were about to be spoken again.

“I am not you; I told you that already, I think.”

“You’re right. So, to answer your question as to why I don’t object to others, well to tell you the truth, I am a coward, so there you go. Now it’s your turn, go and list your condition, it’s getting late, isn’t it?”

“I… guess it is. My last condition will be-“

“Before that, I need to say one last thing, can I?

“Sure thing…”

To say this, I think it took every inch of strength in both my mind and body to form the words that I was about to say, I was embarrassed, ashamed, proud, happy and eager when I said to them, all sorts of feelings could be called here, but there was not a single regret when I said this.

“I love you.”

There. I said it. I think shivers just went down my spine. Yeah, I’m truly awesome; I mean who would have the balls to say this to a girl who I only have met for hours.

The result is pretty obvious, of course, coming into this I had to think this out logically. If I asked her out then the chances of me getting rejected would be high but not that high.

However if I had made a proposal to her that we could eventually be friends, then maybe she would have accepted it, it’s fifty-fifty.

Ultimately, if I had said nothing and just kept on meeting her from now on during school then perhaps we could have led several conversations that could have given birth to a potential friendship and then a relationship. Knowing this, I could have made the right call.

I didn’t, though. I myself wanted to get rejected, and so I will accept it, so now, come; I’m ready for you, rejection!

Uh? That’s weird. It’s been 30 seconds already… Maybe I should look at her instead of sulking about my chances of actually getting a positive response? I guess there is no option then…

“T-That’s not fair… I-I mean we only met today so why…”

No way. No way. No way. Is this happening? Wait, this isn’t the time to be wondering and being paranoid about possibilities, she is crying, I should and have to do something about it.

“H-Hey are oka-“

“Wait.”

She says.

“I will think about it.”

“Eh?”

“About your confession, I will give you my answer tomorrow, so… bye!!”

“W-Wait!”

I suppose she was too embarrassed, but it turns out she didn’t flat out reject me. Today is simply full of surprises; however, I don’t have time to be in awe right now. It’s 19:00 pm, it’s way too late, I have to make my way back, I can’t wait until tomorrow, this is the day I don’t want to die.

Ah, this needs to be done; I have to release all this happiness with one loud shout. I’m sorry for whoever is about to hear this bombastic noise, no hard feelings really, but here it goes.

“YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

Wait, what if she heard that? No way, no way. Oh no, what if she did? That’s even better, right? Yeah, totally. No matter though, aside from my nonsolid assumption, that shout was only confronted with a huge silence. It’s time to move forward, what a day to be alive.

5

With that said, I made my way home, to do that I had to catch a bus, again and a train. When I got home it was already 20:00 pm, so I headed out to my room and laid all my school stuff there.

Ah, in the end, she never said her third condition, but I got my confession off which was great, although I really should have asked her after that was that third condition of her was.

I can’t stop thinking about her, waiting for tomorrow never felt this real. No choice then, it’s time for dinner.

“Can’t wait until tomorrow, can’t wait until tomorrow, can’t wait until tomor-“

“Brother?”

I forgot to mention, I have a brother.

“What is it, Bakengan?

“Nothing, you just look… different from usual, you’re normally sadder, but now you’re happy? Did you meet a girl or something?”

“Mind your own business, pick squeak.”

“Aye, Aye, but I have to inform you; Gekidoshi came and said the following:

“Tell Kuesa that if he gets this message on time that I will be in trouble later on during today. Also, I’m sorry for what I did today, I will explain that later in detail, but I need help, please help me Kuesa, and come to the docks alone, around 21.30. I beg of you, please, help me. Remember that I am your friend.”

Or so he says. Hey, isn’t this what they call a trap?”

Bakengan has definitely a point, and after what happened today, there is no way that this is true, this is all way too convenient, honestly. I had to ask the following just to make sure of something.

“Did Gekidoshi say anything more?”

“More… I don’t think s- AH! He did say this:

“You’ve got a nice girlfriend.”

Yes, that was it.”

I’m going to kill him, slaughter him, pulverize him, pound him and whatnot if what I’m thinking ever comes across reality in any shape or form.

I won’t allow you to do as you please, I swear on my life that I will hunt you do-

“B-Brother it hurts…”

Unconsciously, without me even realizing it, I was grabbing Bakengan’s arm, not to mention squeezing it as a way to relieve my rage.

I’m such a fool, but I won’t be one any longer, you won’t have your way anymore, Gekidoshi.

“I’m sorry Bakengan, I will have to go now, tell mother that I will skip dinner to meet up with an acquaintance. Don’t tell her about this, make sure to not say a word about what’s happening.”

“O-Okay, I got this! Good luck, Suega!”

“Hey, it’s “Nii-san”, not “Kuesa”, remember to always use your manners, Bakengan.”

I hate to scold him, but since our father has passed away there has to be someone there for him.

That’s right, everybody needs another somebody, it’s that simple yet I failed to grasp that ironic fact about human nature.

“Aye, Aye!”

“Also… In case if I don’t come back, well, open up my chest that is hidden inside my closet very deep down.

You will see a letter there, read it and follow the instructions carefully, then do what they tell you, ok? Ah, but that’s only if I don’t come back, so don’t worry, haha!”

“Nii-san, you’re scaring me… You will come back… right? You won’t be like father, will you?”

“Yes, I won’t be like him, I’m different, trust me. Be strong, Bakengan.”

That was somewhat emotional and perhaps unnecessary. Time is short since it’s currently 20:30 pm; haste is needed since I will probably be facing off against Gekidoshi in the docs.

I have to say this though, I’m probably not a match for him, but I don’t have to be a match for him.

Normally alone, one can’t ever face off against another force that contains more strength than the other; however, that’s a different story when other factors are included.

That’s right; the correct answer is to always rely on secondary factors to win a battle and never to use the primary factor, yourself.

I will need knives and stun guns. Fortunately for me, my father was an ex-military and he has a weapon stash hidden in his old room, so I will just take them from there.

Gathering the correct number of weapons here would be wise. Five knives and five stun guns. I don’t know how many people could potentially await me.

Me being easy on this is naïve and foolish. Those who are easy on themselves will never win, it’s necessary for one to be continuously hard on them to get positive results. I will not fail.

As the last thing, writing up that letter is beyond important at this point, assuming that I don’t return, somehow. This way, Bakengan will deliver her my true honest feelings.

“All ready, it’s time.”

I give myself a brief quick reflection and leave my house without making any unnecessary repercussions.

“The docks are located in Zashamei. It’s not far; if I catch the bus at 20:55 pm I can reach the docks around 21:20, which is plenty. It’s currently 20:45, so I need to make haste.

6

Oddly enough, as it was 21:20 pm, I reached the docks. It was located very close to the sea. It had an abandoned look into it; it’s as if it was a gigantic mansion that has been there for a couple of centuries.

That still doesn’t change the objective, to find out what’s truly going on. Why I was called here, what Gekidoshi has up on his sleeve.

That aside, there was a bigger issue at hand right now. A man was staring at me and not saying anything. I decided to take a step forward and so did he.

This was becoming pretty awkward honestly. I couldn’t waste any more time on him, I had to move on, and so I proceed to speed up.

“Advance.”

“Wh-“

I thought something was wrong with me for hearing that word, but after not seeing that man around anywhere it was like he suddenly… disappeared…

Also, what did he mean by “Advance”? This is all so confusing, but I really need to get to Gekidoshi.

The time to act was right around the clock, with that said I made haste towards the docks entrance.

Expecting to find some sort of trap, the decision to throw a rock to see if there was anything set up for me. Luckily, since the current location is around the sea, there are rocks in the middle of it.

Grabbing a few and no more than necessary, the call for a test making was absolute.

It pains me to say, but all that work was for nothing, there was not even a single trap for me, as my entrance was filled with nothing but calamity.

“Yo.”

A familiar voice filled me in. With a relaxed expression, sitting on top of wood boxes, Gekidoshi makes his appearance.

“Yo. What’s the deal, calling me out so late at night?”

“You see, I really need your help with something and since it’s something that only you can solve it, then I had no choice but to count on you to solve this one.”

“Alright, but what is it? Hurry up, it’s freezing here.”

“Um, so, can you, like, die?”

Such words were said, receiving them with shock was all but a natural reaction to me.

“D-Die? What are you talking about? S-Start making sense!”

“Ah, that’s true, I should explain my motives first, shouldn’t I?

“Isn’t that obvious!?”

“I hate you and I don’t want to go to jail for killing you, so I thought this out really deeply and I came up with the simplest of all solutions. Kill yourself.”

What the hell is this guy saying, I have so many questions like why…

“So you expect me to die because you say so? Don’t make me laugh you, third rate hypocrite, I even protected you back then during class.

I could have simply said to sensei that you were the one who did that to Saga yet I didn’t, and this is how you repay me? Hey, Gekidoshi, tell me, what’s going on?”

Demanding an explanation for this is beyond necessary as it wouldn’t leave my mind all day.

“You really are clueless, aren’t you?”

“Uh?”

Gekidoshi briefly exhales and gives a big sigh in response.

“Very well then… I knew that you would stand up for me, you are the type of person that thoroughly thinks about everything even to the most irrelevant of points, so taking advantage of you is simply the easiest thing there is.

Also, after you left school I did see you with another girl while peeking through the classroom's window. What, did you really think that you were doing everything cautious and whatnot? Hahaha! You’re an idiot, Suega!”

“Bastard!”

“Hey… Remember when we first entered high school?”

“What’s the point of reminding of ourselves of the past right now, I’m leave-“

Just as I was about to finish my sentence, Gekidoshi with a simple snap of his fingers calls out a group of five people.

To be more accurate, instead of calling them people, they would fit the descriptions of thugs instead.

They all had muscular builds, knives on their hands while smiling in a true psychotic way. I expected at least to fight against Gekidoshi on a one versus one, but like this, it is a bit… Impossible.

“I’ll continue where I left off. When we entered high school we made a vow to each other that we would seize to rule society and to not be oppressed by society anymore.

Yet… you… betrayed me! You were never truly apart of this, were you? You never cared about this in the first place, did you?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“It’s nothing personal, it’s just that you are a problem, right now. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her in your steed. I and she are going to have a lot of fun together.”

“I will fucking kill you! Gekidoshi!”

Rage would accomplish nothing yet I couldn’t feel anything but that. There were worse matters at hand currently, one of the thugs suddenly rushed towards me while extending his right arm with the intention of stabbing me with that knife.

I had two options, one was to dodge his attack and repel with a counterattack, but that was only if that was the case.

Realistically speaking I was about to face five thugs. There is no way in hell that I have a shot at this, I have to run for it.

Unless, I utilize my second option here, but that’s way too risky here, although it’s not as if I have any choice honestly.

“This is farewell, Kuesa, die, now.”

“As if I’m going to die here!”

Running with every inch of my strength I make way towards the exit only to find myself getting blocked by one of the thugs, but that’s not the only thing that’s bad at the moment.

I have two thugs coming for me from both the left and the right side while the rest of the two thugs chase me from behind along with Gekidoshi, which means I would have to somehow evade the upcoming attack or I could do the following instead.

“It’s no use trying to attack Kuesa, you are outnumbered.”

How right he was, Gekidoshi would be dead if it wasn’t for his numerous advantage, however, as I take out a knife from my bag, extending my right arm with a knife towards the front thug was the final call.

“Ug- Why you!”

“It’s no use.”

Eliminating the first adversary is already a small win, still, I had to continue to run or else I would be dead.

Of course, I didn’t kill the thug, I simply stabbed him in the shoulder.

Accomplishing a simple stun was the ideal here. Yes, this was the second option. Fighting one by one.

If one thinks about it, there is no way to face multiple opponents at once. Even if you manage to strike one opponent down, if they all simultaneously strike at the same time then it’s obvious what the outcome is.

Defeat. Knowing that and ignoring that outcome is downright foolish.

“There you are!”

That was close, I was almost stab-

“Got you.”

Thinking that I would have dodged the backstab from one of the thugs, from my left flank Gekidoshi hits me with a rock.

The pain I felt was beyond painful, making a move from that point seemed impossible, still giving up would mean losing to Gekidoshi. That’s simply not acceptable.

“Eh… You still can move after that… Not bad Suega, I thought you were a spineless coward but you’ve got some moves in you! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I would have come sooner hunting you down.”

Deciding to ignore Gekidoshi’s taunts, I continue to run for it, however, there was a problem, I would soon be meeting a dead end.

Up ahead it was either the ocean or the right side of the warehouses that contained more abandoned facilities.

There was one good side about the warehouses, they didn’t have any lights apparently. This is nothing but an assumption based on my vision which tells me that there are no lights up ahead.

“Hey, stop running Kuesa, don’t be a coward and fight!”

“Tsk.”

I hate this if only I had a chance to turn on him, but it’s obvious that I am about to be cornered, I can only run for so long, my stamina isn’t everlasting, I know that. Still, what can I do?

“If only there was a-“

There was nothing, I was bound to die. I’m going to die. What for? Because Gekidoshi doesn’t like the fact that I am an existence?

That’s so messed up. I never did something to deserve that. Hey, is this what they call unfairness? If so, where is the fairness in all of this? Such a rotten world that we live in.

“If that’s the case…”

“Oh? Finally fighting, are you? Kachiraba, Ryotei, Kuseika, Bokurei, go with the plan.”

Plan!? Oh c’mon, using codes right now won’t help me at al-

“Argh!”

“Bullseye!”

One of the thugs’ leaves off a message like that, it didn’t take me long enough to realize the consequences and the intentions of those words because I already had let out a painful scream to symbolize my painful struggle. One, no, two knives were on my left leg fully stabbed.

“Hey, you can all go now. Give Kitorika-san my regards. I will contact him tomorrow.”

“Understood, Ryotei, Kuseika, Bokurei, we are leaving.”

That strong command belonged to Kachibara, one of the thugs.

“Really? That sucks, I didn’t even get to use 20% of my speed…”

Another thug, this one known as Bokurei kept on complaining.

“That was because we were told to hold back, remember, don’t sulk now.”

Such words came from Kuseika, on the other hand, Ryotei kept in silence. There were many questions unanswered, but my consciousness was simply focused on the pain that I was receiving from being stabbed by two knives.

“Argh… Damn it, it hurts…”

“Hurts, doesn’t it? Here, let me give you a hand.”

At first, it would appear that Gekidoshi was extending his hand, and that was so the case but it was for another purpose, his intention was to obviousl-

“Argh! Gah!”

“Oops, sorry, it turns out it wasn’t helpful for you. Look at it from this side, it was helpful for me. Hahaha!”

“You bastard! You won’t get away with th-“

“I won’t? Do you really think that anybody will give a damn about you dying here? You will die a dog’s death just like your father did!”

“Don’t you dare talk about my father like that you piece of shit.”

Glaring at him as much as I could, emitting an omnipotent raging intent was all I could do. To think that I had him cower in fear for a second or two.

That was a win in my book, but, that was in no way going to alter the result of this. There was a knife pierced in my heart, and it was real. Of course, it was. I wish it wasn’t, though.

“Stop looking at me like that, you weakling.”

Gekidoshi not being able to subtend his fear any longer punches me with his right fist.

“I will haunt you even when I’m dead, you son of a bitch!”

Posing a glare of someone who is fully ready to commit an action, Gekidoshi pulls the knife from my heart up to the top and pierces my heart once again.

“Goodbye, Kuesa, if only you had cooperated, then it wouldn’t have come down to this, now, die.”

“Guh… W-Wa-“

7

It was no use; my voice was fading, no longer being able to produce any sort of words, I look up to the sky.

There was a beautiful color to it, not too dark or nor too bright, the perfect balance. I’m not even going to make this a dramatic death, I will accept all the facts here. I was weak, foolish and arrogant.

Yes, that’s the right way to describe it, but still… Even though I know that I had so many flaws with me...

“I don’t want to die… Damn it, my life was so simple that it was disgusting… Is that all there is!? Am I simply going to die here without ever feeling accomplished at anything I do with my life? Even this so-called death!?”

We managed to fully rewind the clock and now we are exactly where we started. The time is currently 22:30 pm.

I’m sorry to disappoint you, but if you were looking for a story where the protagonist was an uprising hero, then it would be that simple since I’m going to di-

“Hey, you there?”

A voice? But wasn’t I just dead? Wh-

“This is probably too sudden, but do you… want to live?”

Live? Of course, I want that. Wait a minute. Haven’t I seen this guy before somewhere? AH! He’s the old man that was at the docs’ entrance!

And what does he mean by that question; there is no way for someone to be able to escape death, just let me die, will you?

“All you have to do is sign here with your blood and since you have blood all over the place it should be pretty easy. C’mon, don’t you want to live? Are you just going to die like this?”

The old man won’t shut up, can’t he see that I want to die, tsk, in the end, I never got her name… Her name… Wait. What if. No way, you can’t escape death, let’s not unrealistic here.

“You don’t have much time you know kid… Say, if you’re going to die why not sign this anyway since you will be dying anyway?”

What kind of messed up logic is that? But he… has the point here. Ah, screw it, if that’s the case then…

“A-Alright, just a second…”

“Oh! That’s the spirit, what’s your name, kid?”

“K-Ku-

Mountains of blood block my speech due to the huge coughing that just happened. I’m dying, so, me speaking formally is simply impossible.

“Ku? You’re name is Ku? Alright Ku, please sign here with your blood.”

I’m going to kill this old man I swear, he dares to make a joke like this in this percussive moment, unreal.

What’s more interesting was how the contract was shaped; it was like an old scroll. A metal entrance that would extend to a bare fifty centimeters containing what appears to be a foreign language?

I don’t care; I’ll just sign it up.

“Oh, nice! Good job Ku! Thanks a lot! You saved me big time! Now I won’t have to listen to another scolding from the old man. I can’t wait until I show him this, he’s going to be in awe, haha!”

“S-Shut up, my name is Kuesa, not Ku…”

“I see, I see. Either way, it’s nice to meet you. I don’t have much time to be fooling around in this dimension, so I’ll give you this contract instead. Also, when you wake up, remember to read the contract properly. See you, Kuesa boy.”

“W-Wait old man!”

“What’s wrong, young one?”

“What’s your name, old man?”

Slowly smiling, the answer was soon delivered, surprisingly pleasantly.

“Kan. I would like to have a nice conversation with you, but time is running out, bye now!”

“WAI-“

Eh? What’s happening? My consciousness is drifting away, I’m sleepy…

8

“Hey, Kan! Are you sure you performed the contract right? He isn’t showing signs of waking up!”

“R-Relax for a bit Moerumi, just take my word for it, the subject has not been armed in any sort of way, you can relax.”

“This is why I have trust issues you know! People like you don’t know how to do their jobs when they are told exactly how to do!”

“No, I’m pretty sure there’s a stronger reason as to why you can’t get along with others…”

“What was that!?”

So noisy. Listening to these voices is getting irritating, just let me sleep damn it. Sleep is supposed to be a peaceful event, why is it met with noise instead…

“Let’s face it Moerumi, your chest is so small that even the most introverted person who comes across you wouldn’t even bat an ey-“

“Shut up! Do you want to get killed, geezer!?”

“That’s dangerous, don’t swing that scythe around please!”

“Then keep your mouth shut or I’ll shut it myself…”

“…Scary…”

Out of the occasion, I decided to laugh thus meaning that I would have to wake up.

“Pftt.”

It was more of a giggle than a laugh truly, now that my consciousness goes back to it.

“Oh, he’s up!”

“About time, honestly!”

Both Kan and Moerumi gave the feeling that they were by no means happy that I was waking up late, although, truth to be told, the idea of knowing what was going on was nowhere to be seen.

Also, this place is bizarre; in fact, can you even call it a place? To give it a faithful description it would be a truly bizarre place. Only a strong light could be emitted all over it.

To add more to the cause, I was under a strange type of bed, no, it wasn’t a bed, it was a table… full of light… just what is this place..?

“…Where is th-“

Not being able to finish off my sentence, a sudden interruption erupts from Moerumi.

“Kan.”

“Aye, aye…”

“Eh?”

“Sorry… It’s not your fault kid, it’s just part of my job. Also, good luck adapting to your… well, I guess you will find out yourself soon enough.”

“Please wa-“

Never having felt that sort of feeling my consciousness enters in a state of slumber… again. This is getting frustrating, sincerely.

Crimson dimension, STC headquarters, 44: 15 am.

9

“…Commander Zomok, aren’t they a little late?”

“They should be here in any time. We must be patient, Kur.”

A large room. Among the 6 people that were present in the room, there was a table with nothing on it, except for six cups of water. One cup of water for each of the people in the room.

The first person that could be spotted on the table that had a rectangle shape size was Teju Zomok. His seat was located starting on the top since that was the right place for a commander to be in.

His description was quite peculiar and interesting. Wearing two rings on both of his index fingers, one from the right hand while the other being on his left hand.

The rings resembled a skull shape, although every person on that room knew that there was a reason as to why the rings had that shape in the first place yet they dared not to ask.

Aside from his visible blonde hair, Zomok was wearing a uniform, to be more accurate, a commander’s uniform.

Although most people who disregard it as natural for him to be wearing that, there was a special occasion which made that occasion something that goes beyond natural.

“Why the hell are they 30 minutes late!? I’m going to kill them once they get here, those bastards!”

More up down to Zomok’s left there was a left seat in which the sub-commander was constantly smashing his feet slowly into the ground due to his immense impatience. Azazan Lotan was his name.

Wearing stylish clothes along with diamond earrings, Lotan possessed medium silver hair, although a bit mild.

He was also wearing special clothes for the occasion today, not to mention that he wasn’t looking to this occasion very much himself.

“It’s always like this, with them on the job, you have to show patience, but that’s impossible for you, isn’t it?”

“Watch your mouth woman, I’ll end your existence!”

Saying that powerful response was a mysterious woman that goes by the name of Ljubljana Ikuchi.

Unlike Lotan, she was not on Zomok’s side of the room but rather on a faraway seat localized at the bottom of the table, which in this case was like a mirror since she was in a frontal against Zomok in terms of seats.

Her charm is enormous due to her beautiful long blue hair, makeup and most obviously her noticeable larger body parts. Still, unlike any lady, she was wearing what it would appear to be battle clothes. In any case, it was clear that wasn’t an occasion that would require casual clothes but instead more serious ones.

“We will only wait more 10 minutes, is that alright with you, Commander Zomok?”

Retorting back to the issue at hand, Ikuchi lands a powerful mark on the current mood while asking out of her own interest towards Zomok.

“No objections, Ikuchi. It was my own bargain to ask all of you to be present here today since I have a very serious matter at hand to communicate with all of you; however, it seems that the conditions for that to happen are not present at the moment.”

Making her voice be heard among the room for the first time, a more serious young lady decides to mark her question to Zomok.

“Commander Zomok, can I have the permission to ask you a question?”

In comparison to Ikuchi, the young lady that goes by the name of Sarka Apalala, had a more rigid expression on her face, a smaller height and of course, smaller body parts.

Plus, she wasn’t wearing any specific clothes, just plain casual clothes along with her tied brown hair. It seemed as if she was totally not disregarding any respect towards the potential event that could happen.

“Permission allowed.”

“Why were we all summoned?”

A strong silence falls upon the room’s atmosphere, as Zomok does not answer Apalala’s question.

“…Is there anything strange with what I just said, Commander Zomok?”

The silence is prolonged as Zomok continues with his endeavor of not answering Apalala’s questions.

“Apalala.”

A deep dark voice comes right from the person who is seated at Apalala’s left, and since Apalala is seated next to Ikuchi’s right, that voice could only belong to a person who, like Apalala belonged to a younger generation thus equaling their ages.

First name Zmei and surname Ryujin, Zmei calls out Apalala as if to say repression or some sort of advice to her due to how clueless she was about the situation at hand.

“…Yes, Zmei?”

“Sit down and wait for further instructions, you are being a nuisance.”

Anyone could tell that Zmei wasn’t joking around, just by looking at his fierce blue eyes, any person would probably flee in terror, hence the nickname was given to him ever since his youth achievements on various dimensions “Knightmare Zmei.”

“W-Why are you being so rude, Zmei?”

“Rude? Aren’t you the one who is being rude, Apalala? You are completely disregarding this meeting’s conditions which were the simple basic of wearing the respective status clothes yet here you are wearing nothing but plain clothes, when will you stop being a child, uh!?”

“…That doesn’t mean you have to be so rude, you know.”

“You fool. Me being rude is not important right now. What is important right now is to wait for the commander’s orders respectively while posing a respectful stance, but you can’t even do that, seriously…”

After such harsh remarks, the short black haired boy gets his speech disrupted by the one who was at Zomok’s right side and thus being the last person in the room.

“Aye, Aye, let’s stop the quarreling, feel free to clash your ideologies outside but right now it’s not the best time for that, I think we can all agree that that’s the wisest choice here, correct?”

Once again, silence falls upon the room, however, this time around it wasn’t because there was a doubt amidst the air but rather because this one person managed to bring a peaceful and calm atmosphere to the room.

Such ways could only belong to Zomok’s right hand, also known as Rit Kur.

There was something that was special about him and that alone was perhaps the only reason as to why he was present there during that time on that day.

He was a dimension champion. However, people only knew such people known as “Dimension champions” for being powerful, but that was all there is.

“Thank you, Kur.”

“No worries Commander Zomok, it’s my pleasure.”

Finishing his sentence the red-haired boy gives off a smirk while being proud of accomplishing what he did, even though it wasn’t much of an importance in the first place.

“Kur, Lotan, Ikuchi, Apalala, Zmei. I ask of you to understand that it would be conflicting to speak of the matter at hand without the subjects present. My endeavor will benefit us all.”

“You keep saying that but where are these so-called “subjects”?”

Angrily persisting with his questioning, Lotan bombards Zomok with yet another question.

“What time is it, Kur?”

“Sir, the current time is about 44:23 am.”

Calmly collecting his wits Zomok directs his words to Lotan at once.

“Lotan, they will be here in exactly 30 seconds.”

“What a show-off, you don’t even know at what time they will be showing up, you’re just saying that to lighten up the mood in the room, aren’t you?”

“Maybe so, but, why not wait and see if I’m right or not, there is nothing at stake here, is there?”

“…Fine.”

Perhaps those were the slowest thirty seconds that one could ever feel yet by the time the clock had given a thirty seconds full round, time was up. Quickly assuming that he had won, Lotan makes his stance.

“See Zomok? I wi-“

For a certain reason, everybody in that room would know for a fact that Zomok would never lose on something once he is sure of that, even Lotan himself knew that, although he feigned in ignorance regardless as two people enter through the main door.

“Unbelievable.”

Still reposing his talkative stance, Zomok decides to ignore Lotan’s words to acquire the most important issue at that moment.

10

“You’re late, Kan, Moerumi. What took you two so long?”

Asking for a sudden response, Kur marks his stance right away.

“We had an inconvenience apparently since Moerumi couldn’t finish her job right away.”

“It was you who couldn’t finish your job right away, you liar!”

“Back at it again with the lies, Moerumi? That’s not very cute you know, you will lose your charm, just saying. Well don’t worry, not like you had any in the first place, haha!”

“Commander Zomok, please ignore this fool and let’s get this started, shall we?”

“Understood, Moerumi, also, both of you, have a seat, the conversation will not be long but I would like to have the attention of all of you now since the subjects at hand are present.”

“About time, we started this, it’s been so long, damn it!”

Taking a deep breath, Zomok makes a calm yet a serious glance at all the people present in the room.

“First, I would like to give you all my sincere apologies for; not answer as to why I summoned you here and also for keeping you here for quite some time. What we will be discussing today will be about the formation of a new elite squad, mainly because of the several dimension breaches happening in the past few months.

Before that, Kan, Moerumi, from what dimensions did you two secure the potential members from?”

Clearly standing up, Kan eagerly gives off a quick explanation as to what supposedly happened.

“I managed to secure one… However, it’s from…”

“Continue, Kan.”

Giving a heavy sigh from feeling sudden anxiety, Kan proceeds to speak the rest of the sentence.

“…He’s from an already conquered dimension…”

When Kan helplessly gave his words to Zomok, the rest of the people present in the room erupted in a shocked state, especially Lotan.

“Are you mad, Kan!?”

“Please listen to me. I know that there were better dimensions to pick better targets, however catching a target from an already conquered dimension could potentially be a big addition to our arsenal, since conquered dimensions normally don’t have any compatible synchronization targets in the first place.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Kan!? Don’t you know how dangerous it is to go inside a conquered dimension, not to mention synchronizing a target that’s already… dead is…”

“Listen, Lotan, what if we are able to turn our situation around with this target, wouldn’t that be ideal!?”

“You’re being unrealistic here, there is no way that a dead target would ever provide us any good… Don’t you know that a dead target can’t ever conquered dimensions? Not to mention that their leveling up system is…”

“That’s enough Lotan. Kan, proceed with your report.”

According to the room’s atmosphere, there were a lot of doubts about this new target since the amount of distrust in a dead target could lead to rebellion yet those reasons were unknown for the time being.

“Thank you, Commander Zomok. In accordance with the Crimson Index, recruiting or in this case synchronizing dead targets is automatic heresy due to multiple rules of the Index being broken, however, I believe that if we keep this a secret from the Index God Tree, then we can achieve greatness.”

“Kan, on what basis can you say that this target will provide us any good to our advancements?”

“About that, Commander Zomok, I know that this might be a hard request but I will reveal that soon, on our first expedition, I promise.”

Uneasiness filled up the room’s atmosphere once again. Over many times, Kan was known for making over the risk type of gamble and this time it was no different.

“Zomok, shouldn’t Kan get punished for this, in case that he does fail to show any results regarding this new target?”

“That’s correct, Lotan. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury to blindly bet on this new target without any sort of information regarding its success rate, so Kan, if you fail to produce results, you know what happens, right?”

Normally, Kan would be wearing an easy going expression however this time around all that could be seen was eyes full of conviction, his eyebrows were more rigid and tenser than usual, not to mention that he was somewhat reluctant about this as a whole.

“I do know what happens if I fail.”

“Good, then, Moerumi, your report please.”

As Kan’s report ended it was time for Moerumi to make her report be heard. Unlike Kan, she was actually looking forward to her report as she embraces a full smile on her face while livening up the atmosphere.

“Hello everyone! How are you all doing today?”

“Oh, Moerumi-chan! We were all bored with Kan’s presentation, so good luck!”

Such words coming from Lotan weren’t surprising at all since Lotan is a Moerumi fan, essentially because Moerumi is seen as a very pretty lady in the Crimson dimension as a whole.

“I’m doing fine Lotan-san! This work was tiring, haha!”

This went on for a while, to the point where she fully asked everyone one by one how they were. Although this could be seen as a sucking up move made from Moerumi, it was clear to everyone that this was a simple good education and elegant behavior.

“Moerumi, the report, if you may.”

“Yes, Commander Zomok. On my journey along with Kan, I have recruited a new target and I guarantee you that she is a good choice to our arsenal.”

“That’s great to hear, from what dimension does she come from?

“She’s from the Nemean Dimension and she’s the complete opposite of Kan’s target, she isn’t dead.”

While making that last reference Moerumi glares at Kan as if saying that she won the race against him, meanwhile Kan wasn’t even bothered in the first place by that which made Moerumi a little bit frustrated.

“I see. Those are satisfying news to hear. Now that all the reports have been spoken, I shall address the situation as it is.

In exactly 2 months from now, the Crimson dimension will be retaking what we previously lost 12 years ago, an expedition will be marked towards conquering the Skvader dimension and if possible… the Zaratan dimension as well.”

Upon hearing the name of “Zaratan” Zmei elevates himself from his seat as if to express happiness meanwhile it was not happiness it was simply suppressed rage.

“Commander Zomok, were you serious about conquering Zaratan dimension!? Are we going for it?!”

“Zmei, calm down please.”

Apalala’s warning was irrelevant since Zmei was too committed to hearing what Zomok had to say.

“Commander, I’m sorry for interrupting while you were giving out the situation, but how exactly are we supposed to conquer the Skyvader dimension, not to mention the Zaratan dimension as well?

We don’t have the fighting force to uphold a battle and win. Wouldn’t we just suffer another defeat as we did 12 years ago?”

Ikuchi might have had a point, however, there were oppositions to the current words that she was emitting, it could be said that she was doubting the commander here and treating this as heresy would not be incorrect.

“Oi, Ikuchi, are you doubting Commander Zomok?!”

“You misunderstand Lotan, I’m simply trying to get a hold of the situation here, nothing more.”

“That still means that you do doubt him, you bitch.”

It was pretty clear that there was an outgoing battle of grudges right now, the necessity for it to be stopped was the right call and one had to be the one to execute the task of silencing the current mood.

“All of you, make silence, you’re being childish with your attitudes, behave yourselves like grownups please, making this difficult will not get us nowhere.”

“There wasn’t a necessity for a harsh retort like that, but I do appreciate the effort, Kur. Allow me to continue where I was and I will answer any questions at the end of my speech, so do not interrupt me any further, this is getting repulsive.”

All this time Zomok had been quite patient with all the people inside this room, however by the looks of it, even Zomok’s patience wits can be reversed.

“As I was saying the expeditions will be set on two months from now. With that said, what I truly had to communicate with all of you was the formation of a new elite squad. I could have informed each and every one of you that the Crimson dimension would be embarking on an expedition to another dimension without having to consult all of you here, so it was quite obvious that my motives would be more orthodox than that.”

There was truth in what Zomok just said, whenever the Crimson dimension would embark on an expedition, each supposed Dimension soldier would get a notification on their Leveling messages.

So going out of his way just to simply explain that there would be embarkation would be a waste of time.

“The constitution and the characteristics of the Elite Squad are to be secretive and their methods on how to become Dimension conquers are not to be revealed to the outside world no matter the circumstance.

Having that in your minds, what I’m about to say will stay only with us and if the information that leaves here today is spilled around, there will be a traitor elimination round.”