The order prepares

After another round of healing, the students got into the coach and returned to the academy. The journey back was a lively one as students tried to decipher what Akanori's power was.

There were numerous theories being thrown around like speed manipulation and time manipulation.

Yashiro was quiet, trying to understand it all as he had seen it before.

He moved closer to Tanori, who was also speculating.

"They're not quite there, are they?" Yashiro asked.

Tanori turned to his side. "I feel like each theory being proposed is a small part of the big picture. My theory is some sort of stasis manipulation."

Yashiro was quiet for a few seconds while he thought about it.

"Thats very plausible, but it doesn't explain the fluctuations in his speeds. He kept getting faster"

Tanori nodded in agreement. "Or perhaps he manipulated our perception of how fast he was moving"

Yashiro finished off the statement, "putting our minds in some form of stasis? That's an interesting theory Tanori. If he could do that then he's a high level magika type. He probably didn't need to use his hands"

Tanori smiled, "I see why he's the current guardian. Even if he was surrounded, with that power, he'll still win"

That comment made Yashiro stop to think. [Man, I have a really long way to go]

Meanwhile, Akanori's laughed as Hirase healed his arm.

"Akanori, you might need to go to the hospital. The bone in your arm was broken in numerous places and your fingers are in very bad shape. It'll take too long for me to heal, and I've nearly overused my power today.

He smiled, "That's okay Dr Hirase. It only needs a few minutes anyway."

She had a puzzled look on her face as she saw him get up and walk towards Fujimoto, who was laughing.

"Rando really did a number on your arm didn't he?" He asked

"I've fought a lot of crazy bastards in my time as guardian, and in those years, only about two of them have managed to do something like this to me."

With his good arm, he shook hands with Fujimoto before he continued speaking. "With students like him, there soon won't be any need for a guardian" he joked.

"Funny enough," Fujimoto said, "he's one of the students who is looking forward to becoming an officer"

"That's brilliant then"

Akanori paused, and seemed to think of something before asking Fujimoto a question.

"Principal Fuji, would the school mind if I coordinated some of the training sessions with your students.

"I don't see why not. We will discuss the details further after your arm heals."

Hirime interrupted the conversation abruptly. " On that note, Mr Akano. Unless you want some long term damage done to your arm, you should go to the hospital this instant.

He smiled, "Miss Hirime, I appreciate your concern but I'm fine. Besides, it's nearly fully healed."

Hirime grabbed his arm and her eyes turned bright green as she inspected what was going on inside.

[Incredible] she thought. [Absolutely incredible]

"how did you do that? This arm was completely broken a few minutes ago, now I'm only noticing a few fractures"

She also noticed it required a lot of energy to achieve whatever he did but decided to keep this to herself.

He winked in response, "trade secret"

She shook her head and continued to heal his arm, as she could deal with fractures in her current condition.

He thanked her after she finished, and shook Fujimoto's hand once again.

"I look forward to working with your students " he said, with a smile still on his face.

Fujimoto chuckled and nodded before asking a question.

"Before you leave, I have a question. What did you think of the boy who wants to become the future guardian, Yashiro Katsui?"

Akanori paused to think for a few seconds, "He shows a lot of promise. However, as a guardian, he can't be as reliant on others as he is right now. He'll never make it that way. I'll watch him closely, to see if his power will be enough to make him a good enough guardian. This is an arduous path he's on. He has to be the best of the best, and right now he's not"

"I'll take that into consideration. We'll see what we can do to increase his training. Thank you for your time Mr Akanori"

Akanori said goodbye to all the other teachers before leaving in his motorbike. Fujimoto turned to Hirime. "What do you think?"

"I'll speak to Izume and Ichisuda, to see what can be done to increase Yashiro's training. Akanori did say he shows promise. Even though I agree, everything else he said was also true. If Mika was not there during their battle, he would've been blown away, resulting in a loss. We need to get him to a stage where he is able to handle those robots by himself. "

Fujimoto laughed, " It really is an arduous path he's walking"

1 looked at the news paper angrily.

"Asaka. This cannot stand"

0 (Asaka) grabbed the newspaper from 1 and in a matter of seconds, his face was screwed up. A mix of disgust and anger.

"What the fuck?"

The headline read, "Local cop and task force agent arrested after gruesome murder of a suspect"

He read further, as the article described the aftermath of the attack but it didn't mention the name of the victim nor the police officer.

Asaka grit his teeth and clenched his fist, crumpling the paper in the process.

"1, we need to assemble the rest of the order. You are right. This cannot stand"

1 agreed and pulled out a burner phone. "I'll make the calls"

After the realisation that there was a task force after them, the order of blight split up into small groups and went into hiding as it was easier to hide in smaller groups. The plan was to regroup after Asaka and 1 had dealt with the task force, and the group was to do everything they could to stay hidden.

2 and 11 went together, 3 and 6 partnered up. 7 and 5 unwillingly went together, which left 9 to go alone.

2 and 11 were under a bridge when the phone call came in.

As 1 explained the situation, 2 got visibly upset, which slightly worried 11.

He waited patiently for the phone call to end.

"That was 1" she said, "9 is dead. Apparently he was brutally murdered by some cop. 1 is calling a meeting"

"when?" 11 asked, while Riot made noise in his head, saying "you can take her,"

"later tonight but we need to start making our move now."

As they began walking, 11 observed 2's facial expressions. The news had clearly upset her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah" she paused for a few seconds before continuing. "It's just, we are losing a lot of members. That grand plan is looking a bit shaky now isn't it?"

"Look at it this way, 2. Everyone will be extra motivated now. To prevent this from happening again"

" I guess you're right 11 but it still sucks, losing a member"

"Yeah"

3 and 6 were in another abandoned building when the call came to 3. He put the phone on loudspeaker as 1 delivered the news.

"A cop killed 9?" 6 asked in disbelief."This task force is more serious than I thought

"No, that wasn't a task force agent killing a suspect. That was a man murdering another man in cold blood. Knowing 1, he's not gonna let this slide."

"I guess we'll find out at the meeting"

They weren't too far from the meeting point so they decided to wait a few more hours before leaving.

5 and 7 stayed with 5's old crew who were still bitter about losing a member. They camped in a store that had recently closed down.

7 slept on the floor using his jacket as a pillow and covering his face with his sweatshirt while the others including 5 played card games.

Lance was the most agitated of them all but he held his tongue and continued playing the card game.

Suddenly, 5's burner phone rang, stopping the game abruptly. He kissed his teeth before answering.

"This is 5" 7 woke up when he heard this

"there is a little situation 5." 1 said on the other side of the line "The others have been briefed so I'll keep this short for now. 9 has been killed. A police officer went off script and murdered him. We are all meeting at location Charlie, at 10pm. Make sure you aren't followed"

"oi, 7. Meeting with the group at 10pm. Location Charlie"

7 finally sat up. "What's the occasion? Task force dealt with?"

"No, some cop killed 9. 1 is calling a meeting."

"The fuck? What cop?"

"Don't know"

"why are you so calm, 5?"

"These questions are starting to piss me off 7 but to answer your question, that cop is going to get what's coming to him. I'm pretty sure that's why he's calling this meeting"

Before 7 could say anything else, Lance slammed both hands down onto the playing table, sending cards, dice and some chips flying in various directions.

"So, one of yours gets killed and suddenly all hell is about to break lose but blue is still in trouble and you've suggested absolutely nothing to get him back. What the fuck happened to you, "5"?"

"Watch your tone, Lance" 5 said angrily right before Lance flipped the table. However, before things got escalate to a very violent level, black took Lance into his domain to cool off.

"Lance what are you doing? You know he'll kill you right? Chill out"

Lance sat on the black cloud floor and took a deep breath.

"We need to get Blue back"

" I know, Lance but we need the whole group to do that. Can't have you losing your arm or leg in an unnecessary fight with spade"

Lance laughed. "When was the last time anyone called him that?"

Black sighed. "Are you calm now?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Black undid the domain and the pair were visible again.

"Get your shit together, Lance." 5 said before standing up to leave "Don't ever try that crap again."

After 5 left, 7 looked at everyone in the room one after the other, sighed and went back to sleep.

"You guys do realise we've now lost 4 members of our team? If we had the power to, do you not think we would've released the three who are alive?"

The room remained silent.

*

"Don't you think we've observed enough?" Kibara asked as they continued to watch the academy. "We know most things we need to know I think we should act now

Yuri thought for a few seconds before nodding in agreement

"we'll make our move soon"