Clutching my chest, I jolted awake and pushed myself up from the bed, sweat clinging to my skin as I struggled to catch my breath.
A second later, I pressed a hand against my head, trying to piece things together, forcing my thoughts to move.
"I can't remember anything…"
I vaguely recall that something might have happened after I lost consciousness during that fight in Mato. I was sure of it.
But every time I tried to dig deeper, there was nothing there. Just a blank, like that part of my memory had been wiped clean. No fragments, no flashes, nothing I could hold onto.
Letting out a quiet sigh, I reached for a nearby towel and wiped the sweat off my face. My body still felt off, tense in a way I couldn't explain. I sat down on the chair and pulled my shirt off, letting the cool air from the AC hit my skin.
After a moment, I got up and grabbed a coffee jelly from the fridge, peeling it open before taking a spoonful.
The door clicked open.
I glanced over, spoon still in hand.
Isadora stepped inside, carrying a plastic container with fried chicken in it.
"Oh, you're finally awake." She let out a quiet sigh of relief. "You really took your time, Princess Aurora."
I gave a wry smile, still feeling the lingering heaviness in my body.
"Oh yeah…how long was I out?"
"Only a day."
"Just a day?"
I frowned slightly, surprised. I had expected it to be much longer than that.
"Don't strain your body for now," she said, placing the food on the table. "Which means no heavy activity."
You don't have to tell me that. Even now, my whole body feels stiff and sore. On top of that, I'm unbelievably hungry.
Without asking for permission, I finished the coffee jelly, then immediately opened the container and started devouring the chicken like a starved wild animal that hadn't eaten meat in days.
"You don't have any enemies here, so relax, Hideo." Isadora sat across from me, offering a glass of cold water. "Just eat to your heart's content."
"Aye," I mumbled through a mouthful of food. I didn't care how I looked to anyone watching and just kept eating.
Man, wherever Isadora got this from, these fried chickens are seriously good.
"How was it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"..."
I didn't need any more hints. She was talking about it—using a combo during that fight.
"It was scary," I replied.
"Looks like it," she said, crossing her arms as she studied my face.
"You weren't lying about it giving me a lot of power."
I glanced at my right hand and clenched it, biting into a chicken wing held in my left.
It really did give me more than I expected.
And that included a small, ugly trace of greed—a real, lingering desire for more strength. It didn't just affect me physically either. I could feel it messing with my mood, my thoughts… even the way I reacted to things.
Lesson learned. Using three core medals from the same color spectrum doesn't just come with a physical toll. It reaches deeper than that. It affects you emotionally… cognitively.
"You did well for your first use, though. There's that."
"I guess."
Summoning them, Isadora held three familiar green circular objects between her fingers and wiggled them into my view.
"Gatakiriba," she snorted. "Aside from enhancing many of your abilities, this combo even lets you create a swarm, an army like insects, made from your own copies."
She set them down on the table.
"Not only that," I added, "I was able to use its abilities as if they were second nature to me."
If Gatakiriba granted me something like that, then I could not help but wonder what the other combos would offer once I got the chance to use them. I had a feeling it would not take long before that happened. And honestly, I was already looking forward to it.
"Enough about that. How was the third unit?" I asked, leaning back slightly in my seat.
She didn't answer right away. Instead, she looked at me for a moment before a small, reassuring smile formed on her lips.
"The good news is they'll be fine, if what that vice chief of the fifth unit told me is true," she said, her tone calm as her hand absorbed the medals back into her body.
She paused for a brief second, her expression shifting ever so slightly.
"The bad news is the one responsible for the incident managed to escape."
I let out a quiet breath and shook my head gently, more tired than frustrated.
"It's already enough for me to know they'll live," I said. "Even if that bastard woman, Shikoku, got away."
There was no point dwelling on it. Not now. Not when things could have ended far worse.
At that, Isadora simply shrugged, lifting a hand to casually adjust her hair as if the outcome didn't bother her as much.
"That's so like you, partner," she said with a faint grin, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Always focusing on what matters most."
She leaned back slightly, crossing her arms as her gaze drifted for a moment before returning to me.
"But I agree," she continued. "Defeating that Unique Shuuki and horde was only a secondary priority. The real win here is that those soldiers made it out alive."
Her grin softened into something more gentle.
"They'll live to see another day, and that's more than enough."
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The afternoon rolled in later that same day. I stepped out of my place, deciding to take a walk on my own while Isadora went off with the landlord's daughter to watch the live quarterfinals of the esports tournament they'd been following.
Apparently, by some ridiculous miracle, our country had made it that far. A ragtag team of salarymen had clawed their way into the top bracket, backed by a sponsor that was, quite literally, a zoo. Against all odds, they managed to push back against the usual giants of the scene, with Koreans and Chinese teams dominating for the past decade.
And somehow… they bit back.
"Fuck," I groaned under my breath.
The thought kept circling in my head. I had already been overthinking it earlier, but there was no denying it now. I definitely did something before I woke up.
The problem was, I couldn't remember a single thing.
Not even a fragment.
Standing by the edge of a narrow waterway, I stared blankly at the slow current flowing beneath me. The sound of it should have been calming, but it did nothing to settle the unease creeping through my chest.
Then my attention shifted.
A familiar pair of kids were playing around on the grass nearby, their voices loud and carefree.
"What are those brats doing…" I muttered flatly.
With nothing better to do, I took the stairs down and headed toward them.
"It's not fair, Ryuga!" a black-haired kid with glasses shouted as he ran after another boy, his voice full of frustration. "Let me try too!"
"I'll only do it if I feel like it, but too bad I don't, Sento!" the brown-haired kid shot back, laughing as he ran.
I couldn't help but smirk.
Timing it just right, I stepped in and dropped down in front of them like a ninja, cutting off their path completely.
One of the idiots didn't react fast enough and ran straight into me, bouncing off before landing on his back with a soft thud.
"Ouch! Watch where you're going!" Ryuga complained as he looked up but immediately froze the moment he recognized who he'd just run into.
I smiled slowly.
"You've got some guts talking to me like that," I said, cracking my knuckles in a deliberately threatening way. "Did you forget your manners, boi?"
His face twitched.
"Help! Someone's bullying me!" he shouted, frantically looking around like someone would suddenly come to his rescue.
Meanwhile, the other one reacted completely differently, his face lighting up the moment he saw me.
"Hideo-nii!" Sento called out as he jogged over.
"Yo." I raised two fingers in a lazy salute and bumped his fist. "This guy still being a pain?"
"You have no idea," Sento sighed, pushing his glasses up. "He hasn't changed at all."
"Hey! I can hear you, you know!" Ryuga snapped, glaring at us as he brushed himself off.
Sento ignored him and tilted his head at me. "But seriously, what are you doing here, Hideo-nii? You don't usually come around this area."
I clicked my tongue softly and shrugged. "Nothing special. I just didn't have anything to do, so I figured I'd wander around a bit. Staying inside was getting boring."
"Ah, I get that," Sento nodded. "It does feel like that sometimes."
"Right? At least you kids have the energy to run around all day."
"Speak for yourself, old man," Ryuga scoffed, crossing his arms. "You're the one jumping around out of nowhere."
"That's because it worked," I smirked. "You still ran straight into me."
"Tch… I just didn't see you."
"Yeah, sure."
Sento let out a small chuckle before glancing around. "If you're here, then where's Isadora-nee?"
"Her? She had something to take care of," I said, waving it off. "So it's just me today."
Ryuga snorted as he got back on his feet, tapping the ground with his heel.
"That old hag is annoying anyway, so good for me," he said with a laugh.
I raised a brow slightly. "You've got a death wish or something?"
"Hah? Like I'm scared of her."
Sento shook his head. "You're definitely the first one who'd run."
"Shut up!"
I let out a quiet laugh, watching the two of them bicker like always.
My mood lifted a little, the weight on my mind easing for the first time that day. With nothing pressing to think about, I figured I might as well make the most of it.
So, I decided to spend the rest of my afternoon getting dragged into whatever kind of nonsense these two were up to.
========
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We ended up entering a nearby shop run by an elderly couple. The place felt warm and familiar, the kind of store that hadn't changed in years. The three of us headed straight for the fridge, grabbing some jelly cups before I walked up to the counter and paid for everything, just like I promised.
"Cheers." I raised my jelly container.
"Cheers!" Sento and Ryuga echoed in sync, clinking theirs lightly against mine before opening them right after.
Even the names were pretty amusing. Robot Jelly, Dragon Jelly, and Danger Crocodile. Honestly, the names alone were already selling it, but the flavors were surprisingly good too, each one different from the other.
"So, how's school treating you two?" I asked casually, taking a spoonful.
Ryuga puffed out his chest with confidence.
"I didn't fail," he said proudly, nodding to himself.
"In other words, you're barely surviving?" I shot back with a wry smile.
"Hey, nothing's wrong with that," he scoffed, waving me off. "At least I go to school. Even if I don't listen to the teacher that much."
"Yeah, that explains a lot."
"Tch."
I shifted my gaze to Sento. He adjusted his glasses, and for some reason, they gleamed like he'd been waiting for this moment.
"Easy peasy lemon squeezy," he said smugly. "All full marks."
"Yeah, sounds about right."
"At least act surprised, Hideo-nii," Sento pouted slightly.
"Don't wanna," I hummed, taking another bite.
"Oh yeah, I'm already heading into my next school year," Ryuga groaned, dragging his spoon lazily through his jelly. "One step closer to becoming a slave to some shady company, I guess."
"That's a pretty negative outlook for someone your age," I said, glancing at him.
He gave me a flat look.
"Big bro, look at me. Do I look like the kind of guy who's gonna survive college and go for something like medicine, engineering, or even law?"
"...No."
"Exactly," he nodded, completely unfazed. "I might be confident, but I know my limits."
He then pointed his spoon at Sento.
"Now this guy, on the other hand, is definitely heading to Tokyo or somewhere big after high school," he said, putting on a fake sob. "Leaving his poor best friend behind."
Sento frowned slightly. "Don't make it sound like I'm abandoning you."
"You will," Ryuga said without missing a beat. "You'll get all smart and successful, then forget about me."
"That's not how it works…"
"Sure, sure. Next thing I know, you'll be too busy to even reply to my messages."
Sento sighed, clearly used to this. "I'm not that kind of person."
I chuckled quietly, watching the exchange. "He's got a point though. You do look like the type who'd end up buried in work."
"Hey…"
Ryuga snickered. "See? Even Hideo-nii agrees."
Sento adjusted his glasses again, a bit annoyed this time. "I just want to do well. That doesn't mean I'll cut people off."
"Yeah, yeah," Ryuga waved him off, still grinning. "Just don't forget me when you become some big shot."
After that, the three of us fell quiet, our attention drifting to the darkening sky as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon. The orange glow stretched across the clouds, casting long shadows over the ground.
"Even if I already know what to expect… it still sucks here, huh," Ryuga muttered, letting out a quiet sigh. "The girls get all these cool powers, while we're stuck with crappy treatment just because we can't get anything from those peaches."
Sento smiled faintly, though there was a hint of bitterness behind it.
"Yeah… even if I've already accepted it, I still hate it," he admitted. "Having someone invalidate all your hard work just because they were handed some kind of cheat ability… it doesn't sit right with me."
"Well, with your brains, at least you've got better chances than me," Ryuga said, glancing at him before smirking. "Me? I'll probably end up like this old man here."
At that, I lightly chopped him on the head.
"Ow—!"
He flinched, then stuck his tongue out at me in protest.
"Watch it," I said flatly.
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, rubbing his head, though the grin never really left his face.
Shaking my head, I instinctively reached out and patted both of their heads.
"Sento."
"Ryuga."
"You two might not have powers or anything like that, but to me, you're both already great. So just keep doing what you do best."
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
"You really are something, Hideo-nii," Sento said quietly. "I know I won't be able to do what you do most of the time."
I tilted my head at him.
"What do you mean by that?"
Ryuga and Sento glanced at each other, then broke into the same knowing smile.
"Nothing," they both said at the same time, their tone teasing.
I frowned at their response, but instead of pressing them, I reached out and started messing up their hair.
"Hey—!"
"Cut it out, Hideo-nii!"
Their complaints quickly dissolved into laughter as they tried to swat my hands away, the three of us falling into a light, careless moment that didn't need any more words.
In the end, I didn't have much else to say.
Even if my body still didn't feel like my own.
Today was a good day.