New Power

The long bright green aura in the shape of a blade gets back inside the fist of Hirono, making him pull his fist back. The monster falls on the ground, while the blood spreads all around the place. The monster silently keeps on screaming. Hirono looks at the monster in pain on the ground, and feels sad about it. The mysterious man in white behind Hirono starts to clap his hands.

„This is fascinating. You became stronger in an instant. I still can't get enough of the sight of someone unlocking their powers the first time. I wish, I would be able to unlock my powers again."

Hirono turns around and looks at the mysterious man.

„Who are you? And what did you do to me? Why am I able to have this much power? I did never have this kind of power in my life."

„Are you sure, you can talk right now? There are still things for you to do. If you're done, come find me."

Hirono looks at the man, but starts to walk without saying anything further. He heads over to the place, where the first monster is.

„Alright, my job is done here. I never thought that I would be able to find a Gifter in a place like this. Well, time to head back. He will find me anyway. I absolutely need to get out of here, before my clothes get dirtier."

The mysterious man starts to leave.

The soldiers are still fighting againt the monster. Only three of them are left, the other soldiers are all dead, killed by the monster. One of the soldier throws a grenade, but it still has no effect on it. The monster keeps on screaming and rampaging. When the monster is about to kill one of the soldiers, the bright green barrier appears in btween the monster an the soldier, proctecting the soldier. The soldier himself gets shocked. Hirono passes the soldier slowly by, making the soldiers ask who Hirono is. Hirono without saying kills the monster the same way he killed the other one, but multiple blade shaped green aura pierces the monsters body all around. Hirono asks the soldiers, if there are still monsters around, but the soldiers say that there aren't any. Hirono starts to leave without saying anything, but the soldiers try to stop Hirono to question him. A giant bright green aura appears between Hirono and the soldiers, hindering the soldiers in approaching Hirono. One of the soldiers say that they need to contact the Space Station 59 immediately.

Hirono in hope to get some questions, arrives at the scene where the mysterious man was, but the man was gone. Hirono knew somehow that he would not get any more answers today. Surpringly, Hirono was calm. Calmer than he anticipated. He starts to walk faster to get back home. He no longer is able to fit through the side street, so he enters the house from the front door. Without causing any noise, he gets back inside his apartment. He goes to the bathroom and looks at his eyes in the mirror. He stares at his changed body. This was crazy for him, yet he was cool about it. He looks at his clothes in the bathroom, and realizes that non of them would fit him. The clothes in his wadrobe would do the same as well. Hirono picks the blanket on his bed, and covers his body with it. He looks at his phone, and sees even more missed calls from Takumi. Hirono takes his phone and leaves his apartment.

Outside, Hirono returns to the scene where he tranformed. He picks the gas mask, and heads to the house of Takumi. The streets are still foggy, and empty. Nothing can be heard.

Hirono finally reaches the house of Takumi. It's still early in the morning, so Hirono decides to call Takumi first. Takumi immediately picks up the phone and asks where Hirono was. Hirono wants Takumi come to the door, wondering what Hirono wants. Hirono again wants Takumi to come to the door. Takumi doesn't understand what Hirono is talking about, but still follows the word of Hirono.

Once Takumi reaches the door, he sees someone through the window next to the entrance of his house. Someone huge in a covered blanket stands right in front of his house. That someone starts to use a phone to text someone, and at the same time Takumi gets a message on his phone. Takumi looks at it and reads the message of Hirono. The huge person in front of Takumi's house is actually Hirono. Takumi is speechless, and doesn't know what to text back, and stares at his phone for a while. Another text comes from Hirono, telling Takumi to come out and pick the gas mask in front of the door. Takumi looks out of the window again, and sees the gas mask Hirono was telling him about. But Takumi is still confused about the situation. It's been so long since he saw Hirono, but it is simply impossible for Hirono to get this huge in that time. Takumi was also asking himself how Hirono was even able to stand outside in the poisones gas. Takumi looks around not to get caught by his parents, and decides to follow Hirono.

Takumi opens the door and picks the gas mask instantly to wear it. Hirono says to close the door quickly as well. Takumi gets shocked, and can tell by the voice that it's really Hirono, and closes the door behind him. Hirono says that Takumi didn't believe the text he send that he is in front of the house, but states that probably no one would believe in this situation. Takumi asks Hirono how Hirono is able to walk outside, and how Hirono's body changed. Hirono looks at his hands again.

„I actually don't know myself what really happened to me. I feel a strange power inside of me, and crazy things are happening since I decided to go out. More is happening in the world than we were told. Maybe it's even worst than in this town."

Takumi is confused, and asks what Hirono is talking about, but Hirono's eyes start to glow green, shocking Takumi. Hirono displays his power by covering his whole power in the green aura. The aura is lifting the blanket around Hirono from the bottom. He then stops the aura, giving his attention back on Takumi. Takumi is speechless.

„What happened to you? How is this possible? This is insane. I can't believe that you are actually standing right in front me in this form."

„It's still a mystery for me as well, but this is connected to the gas. I don't know the specifics, but the gas is really a poison, but it turns you into a mindless monster. The gas is a horrible thing to exist. That's why no one should inhale it. The gas mask is the only object to block the effects of it. It's probably to much to understand right now, I'm still confused myself, but you should be even more careful. Now that I know about this, I can't sit while bearing this power. I need to know the truth."

Takumi instantly knows that Hirono will be on a dangerous journey, even if he doesn't understand the situation completely. He never saw Hirono this different. Hirono was always a silent person, and never did unnecessary things. That included meeting people, going to parties or to do any activities. The old Hirono would never talk like this.

„It's been nearly a year since we saw each other. When I call you, you don't answer your phone most of the time. You don't talk much, do much or have the desire to move at all. You are alone the entire time, yet you never complain about being alone or everything being boring. But I know you. You can't hide it from me how you actually feel. There was always a reason for you to be distant to everyone. Not everyone understood you. Not everyone wanted a distant person around them. But I knew you, even if you didn't tell me, I knew that you needed someone. That's why I never stopped annoying you. And now, you show up out of nowhere, telling me crazy stuff that I don't understand, and telling me that you are going to do dangerous things. Even so, I never felt you excited like this before. I would probably try to stop you if the silent Hirono would stand right in front of me, but I won't. If this is going to make you happy, you should do it. But there is one condition to that. You need to come back alive. I don't care about monsters, powers or the gas, if they are real or fake. You are more important than anything else in this world."

Hirono says that he will return, and that he will be a better friend from that time on. He will do something against this gas, and they will be able to meet each other again. But Takumi tells Hirono that he likes Hirono no matter how Hirono acts. Hirono before leaving tells Takumi to be on alert, monsters could be wandering around the town. The gas doesn't affect people wearing the gas mask, but there are cameras, machines and soldiers all around this place. Takumi would get caught instantly.

„When I return, we will meet each other again, I promise you this."

Hirono starts to leave, and is quickly disappearing inside the fog. Takumi is worried, but he is happy at the same time for Hirono to have found something to make him happy. Takumi gets inside his house and takes the mask off, and looks at it.

Hirono is walking through the town on his own, and observing his surroundings. The streets are empty, there were no cameras, no machines or soldiers. It was perfectly silent. But the question was, where Hirono should actually go. It was obvious for him to find the white clothed mysterious person who injected something into his body to get this power, but Hirono didn't know where to start. On top of that, Hirono never left this town since he moved here. That's why Hirono doesn't actually know the outside world. He just keeps moving foward, without any destination.

Somewhere in the town, Space Station 59, the soldiers are returning to the base. The Space Station covers a wide area of the town. A lot of soldiers are inside the area training and gathering. Surprisingly, the base is not covered in the fog that is covering the whole town. The commander of the Space Station 59 is getting angry when the soldiers are reporting back, and is destroying his desk completely by punching it.

„Why the hell did you let him escape?! Spread all the soldiers around the town, let them check on every camera and let the machines patrol! He won't get out of this town. You are all incapable to do anything. You can't even kill one of those monsters. Why did you even become a soldier, when you are a worthless piece of trash? I need to take care of the situation by myself. Get my vest, I am going on the field."

All the soldiers armed leave the base in order to search for Hirono. Machines to control the streets get also activated, and some of the soldiers check on the streets with the cameras. The commander, Zakumi Dozuachi, is also preparing to leave the base. He is waiting to get a signal from the soldiers.

Hirono is still walking forward, and is almost reaching the end of the town. A group of four soldiers appear from a side street, and spread around Hirono instantly, and pointing their guns at Hirono. They order Hirono to stop, but Hirono keeps on moving. They warn Hirono one last time, but Hirono doesn't stop. The soldiers start to shoot at Hirono, but shields of green aura cover Hirono, blocking all the bullets. The soldiers keep on shooting, but it still has no effect on Hirono. One of the soldiers pulls a grenade out of his pocket and throws it at Hirono. The grenade explodes the second it reaches Hirono, but Hirono did not take a single damage thanks to his full body cover of his green aura. Another soldier tries to hit Hirono with a knife from behind, but the knife breaks and the soldier is pushed away. Hirono keeps on moving without lifting even a finger. The soldiers contact the base that they found Hirono. At the exact same second, something hits the ground from the sky right across Hirono, and causes a great impact, causing the fog the disappear in an instant, but to cover the field in dust at the same time. Hirono stops, and waits for the dust to disappear. It's Zakumi. The soldiers did take damage from the impact, and are lying on the ground. Zakumi smiles and says that it's finally time for him to take on a Gaswielder and get a promotion. Zakumi puts his left hand on his vest, and the vest starts to glow white blue on the edges. Zakumi puts on gloves on both of his hands, and starts to dash against Hirono. Hirono still isn't moving, and keeps his green shield in front of him. Zakumi bolds a fist and punches the shield with his right fist, breaking it slightly, and sending Hirono flying. Hirono breaks through the walls of a building, and lands inside of a house. Zakumi smiles, as he is sure to get a promotion this time, while Hirono is slowly standing up on his feet. Hirono is bleeding on his head, but is able to stand. Zakumi's gloves also start to glow white blue on the edges, as he prepares for his next attack.