Chapter 17 - Someone I can trust...

I followed Ambrosia into the bathroom. She shut the door behind us and locked it. At this point, I was getting worried. My mind was running through a trillion scenarios, but I knew only one of them was correct.

It was dark, and we were alone... then, she snapped her finger, and scattered light particles around the room, dimly lighting it, as if a candle were the only source of light.

Then, she grabbed my hand, and sat on the sink, her heels fell off and hit the floor. She looked me in the eyes, but said nothing. My heart was racing. She set her book to the side, making sure it wouldn't fall off the sink and into the toilet.

Perhaps it would have been smarter to just close the lid, but she wasn't worried. If her book fell, she would simply prevent it from falling further with her mind. Then, after what felt like forever, she spoke to me.

"Yukio...do you know why I brought you into the bathroom, alone, with me?"

"I could think of an infinite number of reasons, but I know there can only be one," replied Yukio.

"I know what you're thinking right now, stop it. Your mind is filthy. I brought you in here because I need to do an energy infusion with you. I think it would be a good idea to set up an interval of time, rather than randomly doing them."

"Ah, I see. You had me worried for a second. I thought-" Yukio was then cut off by Ambrosia.

"I know exactly what you thought... you're dirty, but, we should do these infusions every night, to keep them regulated. Now, let's begin," said Ambrosia. Then, she closed her eyes and began to glow.

"Ah, this feeling again. It's stronger than before, are you infusing more energy?"

"Yep. If we do it more every night, then you'll become stronger on the inside. Everything on the outside is up to you though." said Ambrosia, continuing to infuse her energy into Yukio. He and her were forming a connection, as they were the only two people who knew of his summoning. She was someone Yukio could trust.

"This feels really nice. It's not as harsh as it was the first time. It's pretty euphoric." said Yukio. Ambrosia then smiled and giggled to herself. Yukio continued.

"You know, if you weren't an esper, what would you be doing? Because of your abilities, you're the 2nd highest ranked hero, you met me, and now you're caught up in my situation. You and I are the only ones who know the truth." asked Yukio.

"Well, if I wasn't an esper, I would have never joined the Hero Camp. I'm glad I am an esper though, but at the same time, as I said in the restaurant, it can be a curse sometimes..."

"...to be honest, it's kind of scary being an esper because you can know the absolute truth about something, but if it's outlandish enough, for example in your case, nobody will believe you, even if your senses are credible..."

"Speaking of which, do you have any idea at all of how you found yourself here? From what I can sense, you had no previous existence here until you woke up in the field. It's as if the past 19 years of your life have been...erased." said Ambrosia. Yukio then felt a shiver go down his spine.

"I honestly have no idea... I went to sleep, and then woke up completely senseless in the field. I don't even remember what I dreamt about that night." said Yukio.

"I see...you're definitely telling the truth. My senses are telling me that much... but what doesn't make sense is how my senses are telling me that that's where your life began, but you're clearly 19 years old. You were for sure sent here somehow."

"It doesn't make sense to me either... it's created so many problems for me. I'm worried about getting back, and my family...to them, I just went missing..." said Yukio.

"Yukio, I'm going to work together with you to solve these problems. You can trust me. I may seem like a cold person, but I want to help you." said Ambrosia. Yukio blushed a little bit and replied.

"Thank you.. so much. I can't believe I already found someone who understands my situation. It's so hard trying to hide the fact that you were summoned. If I say the wrong thing, I could be deemed insane in an instant!" said Yukio.

"Precisely. That's partly why I'm here. If you mess up, I'll try my best to fix your situation, because I'm a credible source." said Ambrosia.

"I do have one other question though, Ambrosia."

"Go ahead, although I already know what you're about to say, and I believe I have somewhat of an answer to your question. It seems Cyprus has spoken to you about him once?"

"Yeah, it's about "Hero". Who is he? Cyprus told me that you nearly match him in power, and I thought that because you're one rank under him, you might have some more information about who he is,"

"Also, I figured that if I can find him, I can talk to him and get some advice on how to be a hero. One of my goals is to be the best hero out there, so I thought he would be the one to talk to," said Yukio.

"Well, Cyprus is lying, first of all. Hero is lightyears ahead of me in power, in a league of his own. But, what would you like to know? I personally haven't spoken with him in nearly 5 months. Nobody has. He went missing after he left Camp Alpha 5 months ago." said Ambrosia.

"First of all, how strong is he, really? Cyprus made it sound like he's some kind of god figure," said Yukio.

"He's right. He's been the number one hero since I joined the camp. I became strong, eventually reaching the number 2 spot, but could never catch up to him. It's like he's gone beyond his limit, and unlocked a seemingly infinite power, similar to what I'm sensing in you."

"Furthermore, my esper abilities have absolutely no effect on him. One time, I tried dueling him, but my most powerful abilities did nothing to him. He simply walked up to me and punched the air, inches away from my face. A great gust of air went by me, and the trees blew violently. He didn't even hit me, but his attack had that much influence. Just like that, the duel was over."

"His mind is also infinitely calmer than mine. He did some weird thing he called opening chakras or something, blocking his mind is completely from my esper influences. So I have no clue about his background."

"Dang, so he really is that powerful. What does he look like?" asked Yukio.

"Well, he's about your height, maybe a little taller. He wears a tight-fitting silver and gold hero outfit with a white cape, similar to Sledge Reaper, but different in its own ways. He has white hair and gold eyes. Now that I think about it, his entire appearance is just white and gold. He doesn't carry any weapons with him though."

"Why not? Don't you think he could be even stronger with a weapon?" asked Yukio.

"He said once that he doesn't use weapons because he doesn't need them, and they actually hinder his performance. He fights with his bare fists, and that is all," said Ambrosia.

"Damn, well, when was the last time you talked to him?" asked Yukio.

"The last time I talked to Hero was 5 months ago, before he departed from Alpha. He told me that he was going on a very important solo mission, and to not expect his return any time soon. He put me in charge of the level 7's until he returned, and to this day, he never came back. I wonder what kind of mission he's on…"

"Do you know what his real name is?" asked Yukio, out of pure curiosity.

"He doesn't have one, at least that's what he said. If he does have a name, I wasn't able to figure it out, as his mind overpowers even the best of my abilities. It's like he's a personified version of God himself." said Ambrosia, shuddering.

"So, even with this unfathomable skill that he has, he can't beat the shade?" asked Yukio.

"Well, the shade works in mysterious ways. Nobody is sure how it's managed to evade capture for so long, but it has. It keeps disappearing whenever someone approaches it, even Hero himself mentioned that he couldn't understand how the shade worked."

"That's horrifying. Well, it's my eventual goal to defeat the shade, so if it's really as powerful as it's said to be, then I could be stuck here for years…"

"Not to worry, you have me and everyone else here to help you out. We'll get you back, Yukio. How do you know that it's your job to defeat the shade though?"

"When I woke up, I heard voices in my head telling me that my task will become clear once I observe my surroundings. There were monsters around me, so I assumed my task was to eradicate them."

"I see… I'll have to process this info, and come up with an idea. If you're thinking of finding him, you're out of luck right now. I'm unable to sense where he is at all..." said Ambrosia.

"I understand...perhaps someday in the future, you and I will find him..." said Yukio. Ambrosia then closed her eyes, and tightened her grip on Yukio's hands. Her skin was warming up.

"...I know what you're thinking right now. You want to get closer with me, don't you."

"Huh? Well, I was just-"

"Shh, It's okay, Yukio. I know..." said Ambrosia, putting her finger over Yukio's lips. She already knew his thoughts, so it would be useless for him to explain.

"The energy infusion is almost complete. How's it feeling?"

"Really good. It's a nice warm sensation this time. I could get used to this Ambrosia." said Yukio, smirking.

"Hehe, well, we'll do this every night, just for you," said Ambrosia. Yukio hoped to god that Yui wouldn't walk in suddenly, but the door was locked, and she was tipsy, so his safety was ensured, for now.

"You don't have to make it sound so amorous, Ambrosia," said Yukio. Ambrosia chuckled to herself and glanced up at Yukio with a slight smile.

"We seem to be getting along just fine, Yukio Sazuke... hey, I'm going to cease the infusion, I think we've done enough for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll meet back up for another session, mkay?"

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Ambrosia. Also, should I call you by your hero name? I can call you Esper Witch if you'd prefer."

"There's no need. Please, call me Ambrosia, or any other nickname that you see fit," said Ambrosia. At this point, it seemed that both Yui and Ambrosia were into Yukio. He was finding himself to be in a bit of a predicament. But, he carried on as normal, as he couldn't confirm nor deny how Ambrosia truly felt.

But, regardless, they bonded and formed a strong connection with each other purely due to the fact that they are the only two people in the entire world who know the truth...Yukio is no longer alone on his mission...

The two exited the bathroom, one after the other as to not raise suspicions. However, it didn't work too well. Cyprus was standing outside of the bathroom door as soon as Ambrosia opened it. She was startled.

"AH-"

"...Ambrosia, what were you and Yukio doing in there?" asked Cyprus.

"I was doing an energy infusion with him, remember? I told you about them earlier!"

"Yeah, you said you and him were going to make physical contact. Locking yourself in the bathroom with him alone seems like a bit much just to make some "physical contact"." said Cyprus. Ambrosia's face turned red, and Yukio chimed in.

"Trust her, we were just doing an energy infusion. She needed a quiet space to channel her energy... It's not what you think, Cyprus. I promise."

"Well, alright then, just know that you can always just do it here if you need to, and we will be quiet," said Cyprus. Ambrosia grimaced slightly but calmed down.

"Anyway, it's getting late. We should all head to bed. Mayumi and Yui already went to sleep. You two were in there for a good 40 minutes, so I was getting worried. But, you should get some sleep too. Yukio, you have a long day tomorrow."

"You're right. I should probably get some rest..." said Yukio. The three of them grabbed their pajamas. Yukio changed in the bathroom into a two-piece set, Cyprus just ducked down to the side of the bed to change into a similar outfit, and Ambrosia phased through the wall into an empty area to change into a thin nightgown.

Yukio and Ambrosia each climbed into their beds. Yukio climbed in carefully, not to wake up Yui, and Ambrosia casually floated into her bed and under the covers. Cyprus entered his bed, and the three of them fell asleep. Tomorrow, Yukio would take his written hero exam...