|Is that how you dance?

“Hyahhh” she ran towards him and kicked off the battle with a flying kick. It was nothing he couldn’t dodge. After swerving her leg aside, he contemplated switching to the offensive but his partner was not done.

She took a few steps forward and grabbed his jacket.

“Oh?” she took out both his feet, making him land face first to the ground..or so she thought.

In under a second, she found herself on the ground too.

*Tch* “You used your wind.”

“Nope. I just swept your feet.” he grinned while regaining his footing.

“That’s dangerous.”

“I know. I just got my arm healed up too.”

“It was so quick too.”

“Well, my turn.” with only one arm he plunged forward. She was not at all familiar with his stance. It seemed as though his only functional arm became a sword. With a few swings, he pushed her backward while using his feet to trap any movement pattern and pin it.

“You’re like a machine.”

“Surely that’s a compliment.”

“Of course it is.”

Without wasting time, she stopped in her tracks and received his blows, hoping to pin him instead.

“You can’t beat me at my own game.”

“We’ll see.” she took an elbow to the chest while attempting a grab.

“Too close.” he landed another blow midway but she didn’t budge.

“Hmm.”

She was within a hair’s length of coming into contact as planned but he aimed for her knees instead. A soft but precise hit. He then tracked back and smirked as she stood in place.

“You’re pretty good.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” she gave him a headbutt before he made his retreat via a backflip. He brushed it off but his head was throbbing.

“Keeping your distance?”

“I like to take things at my own pace.”

“Hmmph.” she placed her hand behind her back, a gun in sight.”

“Woah woah.”

“Cause and effect.” her phone wasn’t too far away. She hurriedly grabbed it and turned to the camera. After taking a brief video of the surroundings, he heard the sound of a bullet coming from his back, then another from above him, two by each of his sides and another quite plainly in front of him.

Much to his surprise, he could see the bullets and the motion driving them. He nearly lost concentration admiring the barely visible lines that appeared from the bullets. He was this close to attempting to adjust the direction just to watch them bounce and collide.

“Perhaps that would make them look more like spider webs?” he thought.

But now was the time to think. He was in a sticky situation. He could easily just blow them away in a life threatening scenario but he couldn’t do that for two reasons.

Firstly, he wasn’t supposed to use his powers so diverting them away would violate that rule.

Secondly, there was still an elegant brunette dancing or rather practicing in the distance so he couldn’t put her in danger.

What other option was left??

It was like a game with a script, but he was unfamiliar with that script. He wasn’t dealing with an equal, after all.

“I’ll relax and let loose.” he swerved and tapped his feet, an imaginary rhythm moved him. Since he was met with dancing, the only possible way he could react was with dancing.

Although he called it that, all he was doing was dodging them with exaggerated movements. Yes, it would have been an insult to classify this as dancing.

“W-What?”

She appeared right beside him with an elbow extending to his neck but that was supposed to be a decoy. Her main objective was his neck. However, he blocked all opportunities for that. With their hands joined he turned her and dragged her back to him.

“Oww, you’re stepping on my foot.”

“If I release it, will you continue attacking?”

“...I concede.”

“Good.” as he released his right foot, she swung her left foot, its destination were his sack of pearls. He blocked and stared coldly at her.

“Don’t you have shame?” he yelled in frustration.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I concede this time, for real.”

Even after wrapping her arms around her own body, he wasn’t sure she wouldn’t pull up another petty trick.

“In that case, let’s dance.”

“Uhh..I’m not very good at dancing with other people so that’s a pass. Besides, what are we dancing to?”

“It could be whatever you want it to be. Imagine it.”

“Hah. I have to admit. That will be awkward.”

“Is that so?” he reluctantly released her hand.

“I feel so much better now.”

“I bet you did. Pulling a gun during close quarter combat. Who taught you that?”

“I improvised.”

“You feel no shame admitting that. Well, I got to see another side of you.”

“Let me guess. The shameless side?”

“Of course not. That’s what I saw when I first met you. But for now, I’ll rather call it doggedness. With that, you probably won’t die as quick as you think.”

“What a compliment.”

“Newbie, I appreciate the gesture. I must say, you’ve got skill.”

With the double tap of her dark wooden cane, she brought his attention solely to her.

“The dancing or the fight?”

“The fight. Your dancing was awful. My apologies, it’s because of me that you had to pull off something like that. Oh, I’m sure you knew that already so there was no need to spell it out.”

“Arggh.” he fell to his knees, gripping his chest.

“Zirou?”

“Her sensitivity is zero.”

“Takano? Is there something wrong with him?”

“Umm, how do put it…. That’s just how he is. Pay him no mind.”

“I see. I heard you're decent with the sword but never imagined you would be this skilled without one."

"It's a similar discipline, that’s all."

"Takano, I see you've gotten more creative with that gun. I simply wrote you off after seeing the look of disgust you had when he first gifted you that piece." her voice was soft but her gaze was fierce. Whether intentionally or not, Aiko became fidgety.

"Don't be like that. Sure it’s out of place and doesn’t fit me but I get more used to it every time I use it. I've done multiple target practices. I just needed a live target now."

"So it was planned." he raised his head.

"Of course it was."

“Cause and effect, my ass.”

“I just didn’t want to lose.”

“Huh? But you didn’t.”

“Well, it’s all your fault for getting me fired up in the first place.”

"If you'll excuse me, I have a mission to attend to." she brushed past the both of them.

"Say hi to Chizuru San for me."

"Do that yourself."

".."

"Why the look?" she turned to her.

"I'm not sure she wants to see me."

"Hmm. Not my problem though."

"Haha, you're right."

"I won't go out of my way to say it's to be expected. It might be immature but you’re already familiar with how she thinks."

"Don't you have somewhere to be, Yuzuriha?"

"Ah, that's right. Catch you later then." although her lifeless tone gave an impression possibly matching sarcasm, everything about her was sincere.

She walked out of the building while Zirou could only stare. Her natural aura was weirdly off-putting. She was the only person that gave him such a sickly feeling that he couldn't put into words. All he knew was that he didn't want to be around her for more than a few minutes.

“Let’s continue. Take a stance.”

“I can’t. I’ve used up all my cards.”

“Running out of steam?”

“I’m not tired, but I can’t teleport anymore.”

“That reminds me..Our triggers are still...”

“We’ve not discussed the working principles behind them yet. Let me start then. It’s annoying so better listen up, I’m only saying it once.”

“Say it already.”

“The move I used earlier with my gun is called viva flash.”

“Did you need to name it?”

“I shouldn’t be hearing that from you. This one is different from my regular teleportation. The difference is with the camera and the lens. When I’m taking a selfie, anything within the frame that I wish to teleport would teleport with me. The other lens on the back camera simply picks personal pointers as pillars and makes up my ‘space.’ Within that space, I can teleport as much as I want within a certain time frame. I can’t do more than three minutes on a good day. For the front camera, I can do only a dozen times per day without the cooldown.”

“It has a cooldown?” he modestly rubbed his head.

“You see, I ran dozens of experiments when I first awakened this power and from what I was able to gather, it always recharged once every two hours.” she gestured with her fingers.

“So twenty four?”

She made a loud sigh then shook her head.

“Not really. It’s only if I use it all up immediately at twelve but that’s not really going to work for many reasons.”

“You never told me your powers were this complex.”

“Well, you didn’t ask me and I also didn’t ask for powers like these. It doesn’t influence my physical strength in anyway.”

“Talk about an overpowered ability.”

“Did you listen to what I just said? I mean it’s great for convenience purposes and perhaps…travelling?? But what makes it overpowered per se?”

“You really need me to spell it out for you? You’re just looking at this the wrong way. Jeez, I can already think of effective ways you can use this. You don’t even have to fight.”

“And there’s the problem.” she pointed in objection.

“Initially, I didn’t know how well our powers were going to sync but now I’m more confident. We really go well together.”

“Enough about me. What about your powers?”

“Right.” he stared hard at the ground as his body began to move from it… “To be honest, I don’t know.”

His mind wandered to the conversation he had with Fujisaki during his temporary retreat.

[

“It’s a pleasure to speak with you again, Aoi.”

“The pleasure is all mine. By the way, you could have just asked for my number.”

“After all the hassle it took to get your last number, I wasn’t in the mood for it.”

“Still though, using the head nurse’ phone to reach me does feel a bit weird.”

“You’re in the medical facility so this shouldn’t be such a surprise. What does it matter? Most important thing is that we’re having this conversation right now.”

“I agree.”

“I bet you do.”

“You’re ruining this.”

“This brings back memories.”

“Not the best ones. You’re still as predictable as ever.”

“I believe that’s a false assessment.”

“In any case, I’ve been here for a couple of days now and Aiko assured me that my job is safe and all..but I don’t know how to feel.”

“I know that I’ve not had time to visit HQ regularly but you don’t need to worry. I’m working on it. I apologize for not coming to see you.”

“I don’t know if you’re being willfully ignorant or just cocky but I’ll clarify. I’m talking about my sister.”

“Right. An inconvenience, now and in the future too.”

“You say that with all the joy in the world but you don’t know how bad this situation is for me?”

“Why do you think it’s bad? There’s a reason the body suffers from exhaustion. You can’t keep running forever.”

“Is this why you brought me in? From the onset, this was your plan?”

“I brought you in because of your overwhelming strength and potential. Hence my promise. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Liar.That talk we had about a year ago. So this was what you meant. Was I that unlucky in encountering you again?”

“Quite ironic. Frankly, I saw this day coming. Our fateful encounter was inevitable. Also, calling me a liar is a serious offense on my person. I usually don’t tolerate false accusations.”

“So what is this? I know you love the idea of facing your problem directly but I don’t feel the same. You trap me in this cage with these shackles on and then what? Tell me how much of a good job I’m doing?”

“Such folly. I might agree with you on the basis of your conclusion but everything you said on the way is terribly worded and ultimately amiss.”

“.…”

“You haven’t even signed the contract yet. Those shackles you claim to see are not from me. If anything, I might be a bit too relaxed when dealing with you. Can’t help it though.”

“I said a bit too much, sorry.”

“Do not apologize. I honestly thought you would be more upset.”

“Sometimes though, I tend to think the opposite.”

“The time is right. That’s what I believe.”

“It appears I’ve been lying to myself all this while. Telling myself when the time came, I’ll be ready.I don’t feel ready at all.”

“So what are you going to do? Run away again?”

“...”

“I’ll leave you to think about that. That’s not why I called.”

“Is that so?”

“Well, this is more within your realm of expectations.I found myself thinking more about it. Your powers are outrageous, dear.”

“What about it?”

“From my limited understanding, you manipulate air particles around you.”

“Yeah. Accurate enough.”

“But I was wrong. You see, I perused the footage of your fight with Chizuru multiple times. When I add that to the knowledge I gained on that same battlefield brought me to a conclusion. Your powers are way too minute in detail to be considered “manipulation of air particles”.

“So what do you think it is?”

“For you to be able to suck out the oxygen from a particular area, I believe you can manipulate atoms on a micro scale. Down to the purest, fundamental form of the element.”

“...”

“When I knocked the both of you out, I realized how uneven the battlefield was prior to my arrival. On one part, I could breathe free and the other was almost a vacuum. I can’t explain it any better than that. It only returned to normal slowly after you were unconscious. Was that part of your plan?”

“I didn’t plan anything that complicated. Didn’t have the time for it to be honest.”

“I see.”

“Who else knows about this?”

“Ino Kosuke. I would have loved to tell a particular someone first but he approached me instead.”

“So that’s why he was telling me I don’t know what I’m made of.”

“He said that? Haha, that’s Ino for you.”

“He didn’t bother to explain further.”

“Perhaps he was counting on me to explain it to you first.”

“Wouldn’t make a difference. I hate him.”

“When you’ve thought hard enough about it, you can meet him. I think he’s in the best position to help you.”

“Doubt it, but sure.Wouldn’t mind giving it a try.”

“Liar.”

“Now you’re just messing with me.”

“Forgive me for that.”

“Well, is that all?”

“Allow me to say something.”

“Feel free.”

“Honestly, I know you are still lost. I understand the need for clarity. It’s crucial. The last piece of the puzzle in a sense. I am that last piece. If you stick with me, I promise you. I will make your problems disappear. I just wanted you to know.You’ve always got me--”

*beep*

“Fucking Sadist.”

]

“So you can manipulate particles on both a micro and macro scale. What about it? Doesn’t it make things easier for you? Talk about complicated. So, if you can manipulate particles to the degree of their varying elements…”

“Don’t even ask. I swear..I would have been better off not knowing about all that. I was fine thinking I could just move the wind in my favour.”

“You dummy. It’s a good thing. You just need to find a way to access the full reach of your trigger.”

"Easier said than done. Well then, we've done what you want now. It's my turn."

"Hmm I bet this will be fun."

"In my bedroom though."

"Not again."

"I just want to watch TV with you."

"That should have been the first thing you said. So what are we watching??" she murmured.

“Cybernate.”

“Hmm..”

“What do you say?”

“Just this one time.”

“I’ll have you know. This is also a form of training. We’re going to fix up your attention span.”

“Whatever.”

“Must be fun floating, huh?”

“Yup. I used to hate it because I drew too much attention in public but here? Good to go.”

“Could you help a friend out?”

“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood. Brace yourself. We’re binging the entire series.”

“I rarely binge but for the robotica phase, I would indulge myself.”

“I remember introducing you to the Cybernate franchise so why are you more excited than I am?”

“Is that a rule or something?”

“Of course it is.”

They spent hours upon hours lazying around and watching TV, an experience that had a sweet flavor with a bitter aftertaste. She felt relaxed and also a little guilty. As much as she told herself there was nothing she could do with the roster, she still felt like she could be doing something else at the moment.”

At the same time….

“This is fun”, she thought…

“Hey, we’re only a few episodes left till the Season Finale.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of binging.”

“To be honest, I feel sleepy.”

“Hah..Weakling.”

“Shut it. It’s your fault. It’s just one hour past twelve.”

“You aren’t sleepy. Infact, I think you’re restless.”

“Where did that come from?”

“Just an observation.”

He dropped his phone and stared at his hands .

“I should be the restless one. And even then, I have no reason to be. I admit that I do lack experience but I’ll simply do what I did the first time and hope it works again.”

“That’s reckless. Although, it’s you we’re talking about.”

“Lay off.”

“It makes me wonder..Did you mean what you said back there? About waiting for your death?”

“Of course. Have you ever had suicidal thoughts, Aiko?”

“..I have.”

“Didn’t think you would, but…” he glanced at her.

“Given that you have a trigger, assuming you have lived a rosy life without trauma would be foolish of me.”

“Hey, my life has been full of roses.”

“Sure, partner. We’ll go with that.”

“So the only thing keeping you from acting on those thoughts you have is your sister..”

“Now that’s a terrible way to put it. It’s not necessarily her. How do I put it, it’s like keeping yourself for marriage. My dignity..no vulnerability is in the hands of whoever is willing to kill me.

Once I hand over the keys to do as they wish, I’m a goner. So I have to be extremely picky. No one can have those keys except for her. Until then, I’m simply not dying,”

“I see.”

“It’s no use thinking hard about it. Actually, it’s rather elementary.”

“Got it, Sherlock.”

“What about you? How nervous were you the first time?”

“My first mission? Yeah, it was my hardest, that is if you can call it my mission. I joined Kamiya senpai’s team. Unfortunately, I was so weak that I was the hostage. To be fair, the apparition was A-class.”

“O-Oh.”

She noticed the hilarious look he had on and smiled.

“Feel free to laugh.”

He snickered as quietly as he could before halting with a cough.

“It must have made things a lot more difficult from that point.”

“For some reason, if I fail my first task, I usually lose the will to continue. Because it feels like I’m bound to fail the rest.” she placed both of her hands on her cheeks, regret appeared on her face.

“It’s not that I’m lazy or unmotivated, I swear.”

“I know, I know. I didn’t think that. I know people that have that same problem. They freak out and lose all confidence due to their first attempt being a failure because they don’t have that reassurance. If it was their second try, they could easily say something along the lines of ‘No luck on my second try, huh? But at least my first was successful. I’ve still got some skill, right?’ ”

“And some will say ‘I got it on my first try so what’s going wrong? Was that just a fluke?’ and get worked up.”

“Sometimes, the harsh truth that we fear the most ends up becoming inevitable. Sometimes, it ends up that way simply because we worry about it.”

“Haa. So both fear and failure would be the cause and effect.”

“I suppose. They will keep dancing in what one would consider a hopeless cycle, full of despair.”

“What a deadly duo. Wait, is that Teri?”

“Haven’t been paying attention? They foreshadowed it in the first episode.”

“I’ve got to say, I’m a bit disappointed.”

“About the foreshadowing? Every great show does that, especially in the first episode.”

“No. About the movie in general.”

“You’re supposed to be excited. The whole plot was leading to this conversation.”

“Yeah, but then..This scene is lacking some action. Oh and a bit of romance.”

“That shouldn’t be the main focus.”

“It’s just an observation.”

“Tsk, if you’re gonna be like that, at least appreciate the cool space warping gun.”

“Fine, the gun is cool.”

“You bet your ass it is. I would be unstoppable with such a weapon.”

“What if it had time altering properties?”

“At that point, is there anything I can’t do? I would go back in time just to see which parts of history are actually true. I’ll certainly go pay the dinosaurs a visit. Pretty sure that’s the only point in history where things would be either extremely satisfying or extremely disappointing..”

“I’m more interested in pyramids and mummies though. Taking a front row seat to the creation of the pyramids would be..”

“Be careful what you wish for.”

“My overwhelming curiosity disregards all doubt.”

“Knowing you, you would probably get caught and become the world’s first time traveller/mummy.”

“Wouldn’t that be an achievement? Mummification was mainly done on royalty.”

He thought of a rebuttal but none came to mind.

“It’s sort of satisfying in its own way, knowing that we would rather be tourists than perfectionists trying to change our lives.”

“That’s because it’s not possible. We both know that so our minds don’t make room for such nonsense.”

“We’re on the same wavelength. Couldn’t have worded it better.”

“Although, perfectionist is pushing it a bit.”

“But then, when you alter events in your life, the current you is no longer present. Don’t you agree?”

“I don’t think I do.” she rubbed her smooth chin and paused.

“Well, I see it as a trade. The moment you try to reclaim fragments of the past, you are already giving up the future.”

“I know some people that would only bring back a loved one if such an opportunity existed.”

“A lot of people will probably share that sentiment.”

“I know right? That’s why I don’t think it’s wrong. Rather, I believe they are justified.”

“I’m included in that group by the way. I have a feeling that my life would be perfect if I could share it with my Mother. If all I could do is bring her back, I would in a heartbeat. But at the same time, I feel like even if I did alter the past. At some point, things would still go wrong and lead me here, without her. I can’t shake that feeling.”

“It’s not hard to see why.”

“Ultimately, I think perhaps we just have to stick to the script.”

“Perhaps we aren’t on the same wavelength after all.”

“Glad to see both our conclusions can co exist.”

“I knew you were pessimistic but I was wrong. Figuring you out is slightly more confusing.”

“Your optimism is refreshing yet distasteful.”

“Hey. You know, as relaxed as we are at the moment, someone is probably getting killed.”

“Such is life. Whether we eat, sleep, take a dump or even have sex, someone will still be out there dying.Why did you have to bring that up now?”

“Wrong timing?”

“An issue among many. I don’t think there’s much to discuss here.. Nevermind, please go on.”

“If I’m souring the mood, I could just shut up.”

“I want to hear it. You don’t have any excuses now, do you??”

“Right. From what I heard..

Fifteen percent from HQ were killed in the past year and roughly eleven percent from the Kyoto branch were killed or missing. A total of Twelve point five percent.”

“I’m not too familiar with the numbers. I assume that is a realistic number to expect.”

“Jeez, this is what happens when someone gets in purely based on favouritism.”

“This is a pretty unfair metric in my opinion.”

“You don’t know the first thing about what you’re getting into.”

“How do these numbers help me hunt down Apparitions??”

“See?? There’s a lot more to the job than that. As long as you have your powers, you believe you’re competent.”

“I believe I am.”

“Forget it. I spoke to Sensei the other day about the motor bike, turns out it was not that big of a deal. Guess you were right when you said I was overreacting.”

“When have I ever been wrong?”

After his remark, the silence in the air was instantly drowned out by the various sound effects from the movie they both watched.

“By the way, it seems like you’re awfully close with Sensei.”

“Hmm?” his unusually soft tone was as a result of their previous discussion.

“You’re all over the place. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. The show’s messing with my train of thought.”

“To answer your question, Atsuko and I are pretty close. What about it?”

“I don’t mean to be nosey. I just found it odd that you made a clam open up to you without even trying, it probably means you’ve known each other for a while.”

“You know we aren’t close enough to share such delicate, intimate information.”

“Well…..”

“Yet you chose to approach me with such a…question.”

“As you said, we really don’t know anything about each other. Isn’t that what we are trying to change?”

“Hmm.”

“You know what? I’ll tell you a little more about myself…. but that depends on your answer.”