Chapter 12

April 17

Sunday

Early Morning

Sunny

"You're heading out pretty early."

"Yeah, I'm meeting up with a classmate. He's going to take me around Shibuya."

"…Just don't get into any trouble."

"Sure.

- - -

[I dropped them off here. Make sure to get them before someone steals them.]

After placing the small box at the Sakura residence, Akira promptly left. Only after 20 minutes did a small feminine figure swiftly open the front door and take the package. Even with the door closed she felt incredibly nervous and was only partially relieved when she went back to her room and saw no sign of Akira in any of the cameras she had installed around the house.

"Dropped item secured."

- - -

"You have no intention of figuring out who that was?"

"I have the intention, but not the motivation. They seem fairly harmless, for now."

"…I'll trust your judgment. Still, it would be great to have someone with such impressive technical abilities on our side."

"All in due time, Morgana. Let's go meet up with Ryuji."

Morgana kept his head outside of Akira's rather comfortable leather bag and observed the passing of the people and various sights. The lingering gazes of women reassured the idea that Morgana had when he first met Akira.

"…This guy is quite handsome…I wonder if my human body…"

"Hm? You say something?"

"N-Nothing."

"Hang tight, we'll be there soon."

.

.

.

Morning

Sunny

Dressed in dark earthy tones, Akira blended well with the crowds even if he stood a head taller than just about everyone. Near the station square, he spotted Ryuji dressed mainly in black with a purple jacket and yellow shoes.

"Sup' dude. Looks like you made it. Whatcha got there?"

"Yo. Vegetable juice."

"…Anyway, the shop is on Central Street, so we gotta go through the Crossing to get there!"

"Lead the way."

- - -

"Should be…here it is!"

Ryuji led Akira to a less frequented path off Central Street to a store.

"Untouchable?"

"Cool right? It's got the whole shady alley vibe to it."

"How did you find this place?"

"I kinda just stumbled upon it…It's honestly kinda intimidating in there. You'll see what I mean."

As the two entered, Akira was amazed by the sheer amount of merchandise. It looked like a weapon store from a certain car stealing game, the major difference was the manager who had his feet propped up on the counter.

"You know what you want yet?"

"Yeah. Do you have anything that looks real?"

"…Oh? You guys plannin' a nice big bank robbery or somethin'?"

"Or something? How about it?"

"I like your attitude kid. You guys look like casuals, but everyone's gotta start somewhere."

From his relaxed position, the manager sat upright and tossed his book on the counter. Immediately, his aura shifted, which sent a shiver down Ryuji's spine while Akira barely felt it.

"Some precautions first though. Don't go 'round pointing 'em at other people. Keep 'em in a bag or somethin' if you're outside. Oh, and don't let the fuzz catch wind of you having 'em. I don't need them comin' around here."

"Does this even need to be said?"

"Ha, you catch on quick kid…Now, if you look closely, you'll be able to tell that these are models. Real guns feel…different…heavier. Maybe someday I'll show you the real good stuff though—if you got the guts for it, of course…But, for now, you get the beginner selection. Just sit tight, I'll bring 'em out."

"…Nice job dude. We've totally gotta go for some fancy shit, right? I want 'em to shine!"

Akira smiled at Ryuji's enthusiasm. If nothing else, Ryuji was straightforward, a trait that Akira admired.

"Oh! Here's the cash for mine. I trust you to pick something good."

Normally, Akira would reject the money, but the earnest look in Ryuji's eyes prevented him from doing so.

"I'll get you something nice."

Soon the manager came back with a binder.

"Everything for the beginner's section is here. Pick what you want, and I'll bring it out from the back."

"Thanks."

The binder was extensive and detailed. Akira started with the ranged weapons and chose the highest-end items for each of his teammates. Ann, Ryuji, and surprisingly Morgana were easy to shop for. The store sold slingshots and somehow…armor for pets…

What was challenging were weapons for himself. He used something closer to a sci-fi blaster and energy-based sword than a traditional one.

"Hey, do you have sci-fi guns and weapons?"

"…Let me check…what strange kids…"

A few minutes later, the manager returned with a decent selection of gear. Akira carefully considered the various choices, before purchasing a sleek black ray-gun and a straight sword vaguely reminiscent of a wakizashi.

"Hope you found everything you wanted. Oh yeah. You can sell all sorts of objects here, but I won't buy any model guns from other people. I don't wanna deal with any problems buyin' somethin' that's already been modified. Anyway, thanks for stopping by."

After taking the nondescript bag full of model weapons from the manager, Akira left the store with Ryuji.

Once they were back on Central Street, Ryuji offered to grab lunch together, but Akira politely declined.

"Sorry, I've got some business to take care of."

"Don't sweat it, man. See ya!"

Waving goodbye, Akira made his way to Aoyama-Itchome.

.

.

.

"I'm here to see, Suzui Shiho. We go to the same school."

"Just a second…There she is. Room 107."

"Thank you."

- - -

Akira carefully opened the door and saw Shiho asleep on the bed. He had planned on saying something, but the words couldn't come out. A tight, uncomfortable sensation squeezed Akira's chest, and he willed it to remain and fester.

Before he knew it, 20 minutes had passed. With one last look, he placed the bouquet of flowers he had picked up on his way and left the hospital.

.

.

.

Evening

Sunny

As Akira walked through the doors of Café Leblanc, he heard the exchange between a customer and Sojiro, which resulted in the customer leaving the store with a mighty harumph. It brought to attention how lax Sojiro was when it came to customer service. As if reading his mind, Sojiro explained that he refused to plaster on a fake smile, because the café is his hideaway from the world, a place where he can be unabashedly himself.

- - -

Akira continued to respond to Ann's messages as he returned from the bathhouse. She had visited Shiho and was understandably melancholic at her continued comatose state. Akira made no mention that he had also visited Shiho but encouraged Ann and supported her decision to seek retribution from Kamoshida.

"Who was that?"

"Ann. She was just talking about visiting Shiho."

"…We just need to do one more thing before heading to the Palace. Go to your desk and pull out those items we bought."

At the desk, Akira dumped the materials from the pocket space onto the table. Morgana diligently explained how to make a lockpick, and to his surprise, Akira quickly mastered the technique. Soon enough, the spectacled teen had made 12 high-quality lockpicks.

"W-Wow! You're a natural! This will make things much easier moving forward…I'm tired, so I'll head to bed. Make sure to get some rest."

Gracefully leaping off the desk, Morgana went to his bed before quickly falling asleep.

After verifying with Kippōshi that Morgana was asleep, Akira took out the newly purchased gun and hilt. He placed his hands on both and started infusing each with Pneuma. Slowly, both took on darker colors and when the visual changes were complete, Akira stopped. Both were branded with the concept of "range".

He could forcefully extend the length of his first lightsword as a way to imitate Kippōshi's Spirit Stab, but that took time and energy. Now, with a single thought, the sword would extend from 2.5 feet to 5 feet. A valuable skill when in melee range. His gun could now shoot farther away. In theory, his targets were either too close or too big to miss, but the idea of pestering Shadows from afar to draw their attention or kiting Shadows to avoid wasting Spirit or Pneuma was too tempting.

With that completed, Akira returned both items to his pocket space, turned off the lights, and lay in bed. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, his expression unreadable until 2 am when his eyelids drooped down and forced his consciousness into darkness. He dreamt of hospitals.