Chapter 17

On the tenth day of his two-week leave, Takao finds himself with a nasal cast over the bridge of his nose. It's past a week after the incident in Ogasawara National Park and he has had many sessions with Guides and Healers. In no time at all, Takao recovers from his concussion and other bodily injuries. 

He supposes that's why Mirai is dragging him to the terrace of Level 4; something about a get-together he says. Two other Garudas are walking with them; with Takao being the only Falcon in the group. "It's a good time to get to know the team before you join," Mirai suggests as he leads them further across a pavement path. 

And yet, Takahashi Dai, the leader of The Garuda's is still stationed at Ogasawara National Park, meaning that he hasn't signed Takao's promotion paper.

Soon they see the top of the wire fence of the basketball court under a roof of tall bushy trees. As they come closer, it becomes clear that the lone basketball court is packed with people; all dressed casually in sweatshirts or sleeveless tops. Some are on the court with their heads in the game. Some are on the side to practice dribbling tricks. Some are just scattered about, laughing and chatting. 

When Takao enters the ring though, he catches the sight of someone in a dress under a pastel pink umbrella. Pretty, his mind supplies, until the owner of said umbrella tilts around and he sees strawberry blonde hair. Takao whips his head the other way before he is caught looking at Kikuya Rika. What's a Phoenix doing here?

She is sitting on one of the white benches around the court; dressed in a flowy dress with a color that matches her umbrella. Her other hand is holding a colorful mini fan to her face. It is quite warm that day, but it's the kind of warmth that entices you to go outside. Next to her is another person with a sun hat, dressed in a light-colored Hawaiian shirt and shorts. Takao can't catch the face of the person. They are looking down at a book, but on their lap is clearly the head of YES' one and only; Takenouchi Sora. Perhaps it's the pale skin and the pitch-black hair; Takenouchi Sora is hard to miss when you're in YES. A lot of the people in this organization are ride-or-die fans of Sora. The air-wielder is on his smartphone, looking like he's in a very intense battle on a mobile game. 

Strange how even with many other talented young people around them, it is always so easy to single out The Phoenixes. They're different, and they don't have to do anything to appear different. You can just tell.

The person in the middle of the two Phoenix, the one with a sun hat, raises their head from behind the book to reveal Hinata Ren. For a short moment, his eyes meet Takao's. The Guide gives a small nod and a knowing smile. Flustered, Takao does the same but quickly looks away. 

It's hard looking at the Guide right now. It reminds him of that night at Ogasawara Park; of how he returned bleeding from the neck with Abe Koukichi, and that kiss he shared with Shuu -

"Takao-Senpai!"

A pat on the shoulder breaks Takao out of his mulling. Takao doesn't need to check who that is. He recognizes that voice too well.

"Glad to see you here," Shuu says, looking healthier and sparkling as ever. He gives that tiny polite nod at Takao, a complete 180 to the whole shitstorm he saw back at Ogasawara Park.

"Y-yeah," Takao responds, finally, "What are you doing here?"

"It's Koukichi-Senpai. He said he wanted to do a get-together or something of the sort".

Takao silently groans to himself. He has a bad feeling that the get-together Mirai is planning is a joint activity with the one Abe is planning. Sure enough, Abe is having a long-ass fist bump with Mirai in the background.

"No," Takao mutters to himself. He does not want to spend his leave having to deal with any of the Phoenixes again; especially not with the one Phoenix that causes his injury in the first place.

"Oh! Who's this?" Abe Koukichi turns to Takao, baffling the latter because he is sure he has introduced himself to the guy not two weeks ago.

"He's the guy who went inside Shun-En with Guide Hinata," Mirai says with his whole palm spread in front of him.

"Ohh, yeah!! You!" Takao has a feeling Abe Koukichi still won't remember him. "You were there, at the temple".

"Uhh, yeah -"

"There's someone else -"

"Bunta!!" Takao quickly provides. He cannot tell Abe Koukichi that it was Shuu who was the other person at the Temple of the Three Monkeys that day. "It was my friend, Bunta!"

"You call?"

Like a broken crane, Takao's head slowly takes a turn to the right where he finds Bunta, in his ugly mushroom-like hairdo, standing there with one pinky to the nose. "What," Bunta states without a care in the world.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Takao hisses in disbelief. He can't have Bunta here! What if Abe asks him questions about that night that Bunta would surely know nothing about? That will blow their cover!

Mirai comes from behind Bunta and lands a hand on Bunta's shoulder. "It's a get-together! We plan to have the Falcons that are going to join us and the Garudas you will work closely with to get to know each other".

"Him!?" Takao points at Bunta, "You're also promoting him!?"

"Yo, that's rude!" Bunta protests lamely.

"Now, we only have to wait for one more pers -," as Mirai say that, a sudden silence blankets the court as the side entrance to the court swings open. Segawa Hide has joined the crowd with a party of 3 boys shadowing his tall figure. Those boys are all Garudas, Takao notes. He has always heard that Segawa Hide has a tiny group of loyal followers who will do anything for him among them. 

"Ah! He's here," Abe Koukichi points out airily, seeming oblivious to the tension Segawa Hide tends to invite wherever he goes. Segawa Hide stops right in front of their small circle. His hands are crossed as he glares down at Shuu, who, to Takao's surprise, returns it with equal amount of heat. 

"You asked me to come here," Segawa Hide mutters. His word is pointed at Abe, who smiles happily.

"Yeah! I figured I should arrange a play date between the two of you!"

"Who?"

"You and Shuu!"

A tense silence ensues.

"I'm not teaming up with him," Segawa tilts his chin towards Shuu. He turns around to face his group of followers. "I've got my own team". He takes his group of four to the other side of the court as people walk aside to allow them space to walk.

"Oh well," Mirai shrugs, "I will have to go with them".

And just like that, Mirai runs to join Segawa Hide's group; forming a team of 5. Takao has heard rumors that Mirai is a part of Segawa Hide's little entourage, but this is ridiculous. "Wait, if this is a get-together, shouldn't we mix this up?? You know, have some Garudas in the team, with some Falcons, and maybe one Phoenix in each team?" Takao exclaims but no one is listening.

"That's okay. You will be in my team, won't you, Senpai?" Shuu tells him instead.

"Y-you know what," Takao thinks up ways he can avoid getting involved much further with the Phoenixes, "With my recent concussion and all, maybe it's not a good idea for me to be here".

Again, no one is listening to him because Abe Koukichi is already discussing strategies. Somehow Bunta is roped into joining the team too and soon Abe Koukichi blurts out that it is not fair that the other team has 2 strength-type Espers in the team, which will be useful in sports. "We need at least one more to balance the game," The mecha Esper looks around the court. And with all the Garudas scattered around the court, he points at the one guy standing not far behind the three Phoenixes sitting on the side of the court who is not part of YES, "Morita! Come here!!"

And that's how Takao ends up in this team of 5 consisting of himself, Abe, Shuu, Bunta, and Morita Ken. "This is funny. Isn't this a little nostalgic?" Abe chippers, referring to the night at Ogasawara Park, "Shuu, if you don't know; these guys technically subdued me when I went on a rampage on my last mission. Isn't that amazing?" The bespectacled guy laughs, "I heard I'm very difficult when I'm in that state. A lot of the others are still recovering because of me".

Morita Ken takes everything in a stride; not letting even a nervous blink to Abe Koukichi. The bodyguard listens to Abe Koukichi with both hands on his hips, nodding every once in a while. Shuu is blinking dumbly; apparently, he is working hard to school his expression to a neutral one. Bunta, on the other hand, looks somewhat appalled, "Huh?"

Takao rushes to stomp on the Falcon's foot to silence him.

The game begins with an aggressive start from the opposite team, to no one's surprise. Segawa Hide strikes everyone as someone who would begin with his best attack. And in a game of sport, how you start the game could set the tone of the whole game. But their side is not doing so bad either, especially with Morita's speedy steals and Abe's 100% success rate as a 3-pointer. Soon, everyone on Segawa Hide's team is trying to block Abe Koukichi from scoring ever again.

Good. Now the attention is diverted from everyone else in their team, they can finally unleash the next stage in their strategy.

"HUWOOOOOHHHH," Bunta lets out a cry as he crosses the court with the ball. He dribbles past player after player, coming closer to their opponent's basket. Takao readies himself on the side, not taking his eyes off of the ball. They're just 2 points behind Segawa's team's score.

Bunta jumps and reaches up, letting the ball jump from the tips of his fingers. He's attempting a layup. Unfortunately, the ball hits the rim of the basket and bounces up to the air. "REBOUND!!" Someone screams. Long limbs instantaneously reach up to the basket to catch the ball. Among those hands; one soars the highest. That hand catches the ball; and to Takao's surprise, it is Shuu.

The boy takes a few steps back and, in a swift set of movements, he stands at the 3-point line. His posture is elegant and beautiful as he throws the ball to the basket. Soundless, the ball goes in; not even touching the rim.

It takes a second before the applause and the whistles roar in the middle of the terrace. Takao himself is running towards the boy; chest heaving and clothes drenched with sweat. "Good job, kiddo!!" He hooks an arm around the boy's neck.

"Thanks, Senpai," Shuu murmurs. The boy wipes the sweat on top of his lips, but his eyes sneak away to find the Phoenixes who are watching from the sidelines. Sora is standing on top of the bench, bouncing happily on his feet as he hollers Shuu's name. But Takao knows Shuu is not searching for Sora's reaction, nor does he care for Kikuya Rika, who is bumping her fist in support. No. Narukami Shuu is seeking the reaction of the Guide.

Guide Hinata has laid his book down to his side. He is clapping; and as he catches Shuu's eyes, the Guide smiles.

Shuu's reaction is instant. His whole face flushes a deep shade of red which is very obvious against his light-toned skin. He whips his head down to hide it.

As for Takao, he feels like he has intruded on a very private moment between the Guide and Shuu. He releases the boy and coughs awkwardly as his teammates come rushing in their direction. "Good one, Narukami!!!!" Bunta smacks Shuu in the back three times, "Good one!!!"

Abe comes third after Bunta. "Shuu! That was brilliant," like it's natural, he lands his palm on top of Shuu's already bowed head in what looks like a pet. And as soon as his hand touches the top of Shuu's fluffy head, the mecha Esper freezes up.

He takes off his hand and stares at it. Then, he puts said hand on top of Bunta's head. "Eh?" Bunta dumbly squeaks.

Abe Koukichi's expression twists to that of realization; as though a puzzle piece has finally clicked in place in his head. His eyebrows rise as he looks at the top of Shuu's head, before those orbs dart to Takao.

Takao flinches, and looks away to exchange looks with Morita Ken. He knows, they both think. That is how Abe Koukichi finds out that the fourth person with them that night at Ogasawara Park is not Bunta; but Narukami Shuu.

***

Meanwhile, just two levels above Level 4, Ari sits in his office with a company.

"Thank you," Ari barely mumbles under his breath to his secretary after she puts his coffee in front of him. The man directs his gaze outside the large window to his right, towards the walls of the dome covering their headquarters. 

"So, did anyone else ever find out?"

Ari only spares a quick glimpse at Segawa Yasuo, who is sitting on the sofa right across from the coffee table. Warily, Ari licks his own lips, "No. Not to my knowledge".

"Not even his parents?"

Ari pauses, then shakes his head, "No; which is funny because everyone else in contact with Koukichi were injured. Ren was injured," Ari recounts the many times he sees that child coming back to the headquarters looking like he ventured into the woods and fought a bear. He's a Guide; and Guides don't typically get themselves into the kinds of troubles Ren has gotten into. "But Narukami Shuu returns unscathed. Clean. No injury at all".

A full minute passes with Segawa Yasuo's heavy gaze on Arilio Banks. "Ren?" The Head Guide phrases it almost like a question but they both know the answer to that.

"Ren," Arilio confirms with a final note. 

Segawa Yasuo lets out a long heavy sigh, "Did the bodyguard say anything?"

"He did confirm that Shuu entered Zone 2 with another Esper-"

"Who?"

"A Falcon. Morita had to be by Ren's side while they were trying to find Koukichi, so they left Shuu with this Falcon".

Segawa Yasuo makes a sound of disapproval at that, but does not stop Ari from continuing. "They're well-acquainted, I believe".

"And why did they enter Zone 2 again you say?"

"Medical deliveries," A smile, "From Zone 3". The General Manager then continues, "Morita makes me believe that Shuu and this Falcon got as far as the base camp in Zone 2 and no further. Nevertheless, that Falcon returned with a broken nose and a concussion".

Another short silence as they let that information sink. It doesn't make sense that an Esper would be that injured from a delivery assignment. 

"And Abe Koukichi?"

"He..., you know, memories during the rampage is very hazy, but what he saw after, he said he remembered seeing some other people with Morita and Ren, but he couldn't remember who and how many".

Segawa Yasuo snorts, "Abe Koukichi has always been awful with remembering names and faces".

"True," Ari cannot deny that, "and if one of those people was Narukami Shuu..."

"Then they must've done the deed," The Head Guide completes the sentence, "Ren's infamous kiss".

They share another bout of silence; where Segawa Yasuo is scheming, surely, and Arilio Banks worries about his children. He didn't expect this to happen so soon.

"I assume, we're doing the meeting soon?" Ari dumbly asks. His answer comes in the shape of a stern gaze.

"As early as tomorrow morning".

Ari's mouth moves aimlessly before he straightens up and reaches for his phone. This is urgent. He needs to work fast. He has a lot of people he needs to contact; the Ministry; the lawyers to the tech giants, the Abe's; the lawyers to the yakuza family of Kikuya; the board members to Neo Japan's S-Class Espers Association; and, of course, the lawyers to the legendary Narukami Ryuu. He assumes that Segawa Yasuo will take care of informing his two sons and their legal team, along with the Guide Protection Council.

In the meantime, the tall slender form of Segawa Yasuo sits unmoved from the couch opposite to Ari's. The man has one leg crossed over the other as one arm lounges lazily on the armrest. The man's other hand props his face - the face that is said to have seduced many Espers. He has three fingers spread on his face, with one eye observing Arilio Banks from between the middle finger and the forefinger. 

"Mr. Banks, have you tasted your coffee?"

Ari does not falter from typing email after email, "Eh - no". He spares the Guide a quick smile before returning to the screen of his phone. He's not really the type to drink while having a private meeting in his office. 

"Why not?" Segawa Yasuo is, too, smiling.

Ari raises his head. For a split second, he is stunned. It is as they say; Segawa Yasuo can put on the mask of a charmer as quickly as he puts on the face of a cold calculating schemer. And for the moment, Segawa Yasuo is himself the charmer; the one that easily ensnare.

"I'm not much of a coffee person, actually. I only drink when I miss my sleep," a grin; one Ari has practiced a lot in the mirror.

"When was the last time you had coffee in this office when you had a guest, Mr. Banks?"

Ari has his mouth open before he can even form an answer in his head. As the mental gears move to retrieve the exact memory , Ari realizes that he cannot remember any instance of that happening. Perhaps he has done it a couple of times, maybe a long time ago; but no exact occasion comes to mind. 

His gaping mouth closes to another smile. "I don't know," he answers instead, "Perhaps a while ago. Why do you as - WOAH!" Ari jumps to his two feet as the beautiful face in front of him switches to that of annoyance before the Guide swats at the cup of coffee in front of him and throws it to where Ari's secretary is standing.

The secretary has thankfully ducked to evade the hot coffee. "What do you think you're doi -!??" Ari loses his voice when, instead of finding his secretary, he finds someone else ducking in her spot with their eyes bulging out of shock.

"What the fuck!?" The person; a boy with long blonde hair and handsome features that match Segawa Yasuo's own face; gawks at the Guide. The boy then continues in perfect American English, "You could've burnt me with that coffee!!" Segawa Felix screams at his father.

Unbothered, the older Segawa leans back to the backrest of his seat whilst fixing the cuffs to his white button-up. "A warning for fooling your Elders," Segawa Yasuo turns to check his phone, but then continues his scolding at his son, "I told you to behave, Felix; many, many times. And you think I'll believe that a mere cup of coffee can hurt you?"

"A cup of scalding coffee!!" Felix corrects, "And you - You threw that knowing that it's me all along!"

Ari squints at the boy, "Wait a minute, how long have you been here in this room?"

"The whole time - now, how did you find out I was here?" That question is directed to the older Segawa, who is in the middle of blowing his nails. In the meantime, Ari realizes that his secretary and assistants never stay in the room when he's in a private meeting in his office. They don't enter to bring him coffee - he doesn't really drink coffee. They wait outside until he finishes his meeting with his guest. 

Of course, only a strong illusionist can make you miss mundane details such as this. They make you see what they want you to see, and look away from the things they don't want you to see. Felix is known for these tricks. For him, creating illusions is as easy as clicking the play button on a video. Ari just discovered that the blonde hair is, most likely, part of an illusion too. No one truly knows how Segawa Felix actually looks, except for his dad and brother, probably.

The blonde is sulking; hands crossed and cheeks puffing up. "So you two are meeting up to add a new contract to Ren-Senpai's long list of contracts. I refuse to let this happen!"

"If you have a point to make, then you should voice that in tomorrow's meeting," Segawa Yasuo checks on his watch, "Which we should probably discuss with your brother now. Let's go and talk about this".

The Guide rises from his seat and takes his son with him out of the door. Ari races them to it.

"Guide Segawa!" Ari stops the man, "How about the Takenouchis? Will you be the one making the calls?"

Segawa Yasuo stops mid-walk and turns to look at Ari. "You can handle the easier end. I'm sure talking to Takenouchi Sora won't be too hard on you?" When Ari smiles thinly, the Guide adds, "As for Prime Minister Takenouchi, I'll inform him personally".

***

It is midnight. Shuu is sitting in front of his computer back in his family's manor. It is well past his curfew, and he is sure his parents have entered their bedroom. That alone is an understatement. He is sure it is just a few hours before dawn. But it is the weekend anyway. Shuu deserves to stay up late if he wants to.

Knock knock knock.

There are three knocks on the door to his balcony. Shuu's fingers halt in the middle of typing. He eyes the door; covered by a long linen curtain.

Just a year ago, he would probably alert his parents as soon as possible. But now he is an Esper in training. He can protect himself better than his parents can. And he is too old to fear the dark.

He can leave his desk and lift the curtain. Or he can wait and prepare for an ambush. 

Multiple scenarios run through his head as he stands up from his swivel chair and leaves his large computer set up unattended. The screen on that computer shows a thread extending multiple posts on a popular forum in Japan. The conversation is on mutant apparitions around the city.

Shuu stops before the double door to his balcony. His fingers grip on the linen fabric of his curtain before he rapidly pulls the curtain apart.

There's nothing there.

Confused, the teen looks left and right from the other side of the double glass door, before he finally opens the door and pokes his head outside.

"Tsk, tsk, exposing yourself before properly making sure your surroundings are safe is a no-no, Shuu-kun".

Shuu jumps in surprise to find Takenouchi Sora sitting cross-legged from the ceiling of his balcony. He is sitting upside down, with his hair hanging down the top of his head. "S-Sora-Senpai! What are you doing here?"

"Just checking on you," The older teen winks, "Plus that basketball game was so exciting, I regret not joining in!"

"... o-okay?" Sora is known to be somewhat eccentric. Shuu assumes this might be one of his antics, "It's quite late though".

"Hmm?" The air-wielder smiles widely with an innocent tilt to the head, "I want to play a game with you, Shuu".

"... a game?"

"Yep".

Sora extends a hand to Shuu, like he wants to take Shuu somewhere by the hand. Where to? Shuu mentally asks. After all, from how Sora is sitting, where they are, and the general time of the day, it is not the time to visit someone's house and ask them on a whim to play a game.

Nevertheless, Shuu welcomes the hand into his own. In his mind, it just feels like the right thing to do. "What game are you -" Before he manages to finish his sentence, he feels every cell in his body being split apart into smaller particles. He is disassembled into the night breeze, becoming one with the wind as it travels from his balcony, across the woods circling the gated community his family lives in and blending with the night sky. For a moment, he feels like he is nothing but a flimsy consciousness until his being reforms.

Shuu finds himself crouching on the ground, retching as his head reels from the roller coaster ride of being transfigured into air and back into himself by Sora. The older teen is standing tall upon him; watching silently.

Shuu coughs. He swallows back the urge to vomit. He needs to collect himself, but most importantly, he feels the strong urge to make sure he is complete. His hands search his whole body, trying to make sure nothing is missing.

"You're fine," Sora smiles. He has his hands in the pockets of his pants, looking so casual while Shuu fights his shaking legs to stand up.

"W-where did you take me?" Shuu rasps, still struggling to control his breath. In just a minute, they have relocated from his balcony to the middle of a grassy field, surrounded by tall trees. The stars above shine bright in this clearing where no artificial light dares to outshine them.

"It appears that you have rushed me into doing this, Shuu," Sora has his body slightly turned to the side, but he keeps his gaze on the younger male. "Let's play a game, shall we?"

He's crazy, Shuu thinks, he has to be.

"To make it fair, I'll restrain from using my strongest element in this game. But you, Shuu," Sora's smile disappears, "if you can hit me with any of your elements or if you can make me use air before the sun rises, you win".

"W-why!?" His answer comes in the form of two fireballs hurling toward him.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to tell you that I will fight back," Sora adds playfully. 

For a moment, Shuu is just standing as still as a statue. However, it doesn't take him long to jump to the attack. Hours pass and he barely notices. Soon enough, Shuu is down on the ground, the back of his pajama top is soaked with sweat and the front is pressed to the wet grass. He is breathing hard into the dirt on the ground and he does not care. Sora stands unharmed; not a single dirt to his person.

"Shuu-kun," the older murmurs silently as he watches the first signs of sunrise from the horizon, "I think I have come to my decision". He smiles wide, "Welcome to Team Phoenix, Shuu".

Meanwhile, a couple of hours later, miles away in YES Headquarters, people are flooding into the building's biggest meeting room within the depts of Level 6. They start filling in the seats situated around a large O-shaped desk. Arilio Banks has been sitting there for almost an hour. He is dressed in one of his best suits and his most expensive watch. He might seem still, but he has been tense the whole time.

"Sir," someone taps on his shoulder, "The Prime Minister cannot make it to the meeting".

Understandably, someone of such importance cannot attend a meeting on such a short notice. "Noted. Thank you," Ari tells the man. Secretly, he is glad Prime Minister Takenouchi will be absent. He is a difficult man to deal with. 

The people from various governmental agencies are the first to fill in the room, right after YES management's team, of course. Afterward, it is the legal teams of each of the promisees. His own children, the Phoenixes, show up alongside their respective legal teams. Ari makes sure they're all there; Rika with three of her family's legal team; Koukichi, surprisingly only taking two of his lawyers with him, and the Segawa brothers arrive with their Father, along with three lawyers. There are two nameplates on the desk labeled with the name 'Takenouchi'. There are four legal experts already sitting behind each of those two nameplates; one is reserved for Takenouchi Sora, and the other is reserved for the teen's uncle, Prime Minister Takenouchi.

Most importantly, there is a side on the desk tagged with the name Narukami, filled with 7 lawyers, all known to be at the top of their game. Aoki Smith is among them, exchanging words with his fellow legal experts in his team.

It takes another half an hour for the room to be full with people. Ari joins his fingers and puts them under his chin as Segawa Yasuo stands up among the higher-ups of Neo Japan's Guide Association. "Order," he calls, and the room instantly goes silent, "I would like to thank everyone for being here today. We apologize for the short notice, but it is after a review of the latest events that I deem it necessary for us to gather here today. And so, we gather here to discuss the making of the next exclusive contract with Guide Hinata Ren. The parties in today's contract are Guide Hinata Ren and young Esper trainee Narukami Shuu".

Someone from the crowd raises their hand.

"Yes?" Guide Segawa allows the man to speak.

"Sorry, but may we ask where Guide Hinata is right now?"

True enough, the Guide of interest is absent from the meeting. Guide Segawa clears his throat, "As some of you might have known, he is having an important exam tomorrow".

"Ohh," and so everyone shares a collective nod. Of course. no one would ever come between Hinata Ren and his exam preparation.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the Headquarters, said Guide sinks his face behind a thick English book as he sits with his bodyguard. "There's no exam tomorrow," Morita Ken mulls as Hinata Ren clenches his teeth, "You just want to avoid the meeting, don't you?"

"You never know!" The Guide insists, "A teacher might be in the mood for a surprise exam tomorrow!"

And perhaps, you still find this series of events as confusing, dear readers; just knows that since then, Shuu becomes a part of Team Phoenix.

***

End of Book 0