Reviewing, Planning And Training

After the Kenjutsu Club incident—well, calling it an incident was a bit of an exaggeration, but that was the only way Reo could describe it—days returned to normal. He went to school for a day, though detention was part of that day for both him and Ayaka.

Afterwards, he spent most of his time training his body, reading up in the library on ancient civilizations to see if there was any connection between Earth and Primordia. He found nothing.

He also tried calling his parents again—but still, no response.

Itsuki eventually notified everyone in the group chat that he had acquired the weapons and shared a location for them to meet. That was where Reo now stood with the five others.

"Guys... are we sure this is the right place?" Yui asked nervously.

Ayaka checked her phone again just to be certain. "Yes..."

Hina stood beside them, dark circles under her eyes and her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her coat. "Guys… it's too early for this. Someone explain again why we had to meet at some abandoned building?"

In front of them stood a multi-level parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Though aged and worn, the fact that it still stood was a testament to how well it had been constructed.

"It’s not that early," Ren replied, looking over at Hina bundled up in winter clothes. "...But seriously, why a parking lot?" She looked like a hamster in a coat.

They were still waiting on Aoi, though not for long. She came running up, handbag bouncing against her side. "Sorry... I’m late. Something came up..." she said, catching her breath.

Everyone greeted her. Yui immediately leapt forward with a wide grin. "Aoi! I thought you weren’t gonna show up!"

"Y-Yeah…" Aoi replied, slightly breathless.

"GUYS! UP HERE!" Itsuki’s voice rang out from the second floor of the parking lot. He waved down at them.

Reo waved back, then glanced at his watch.

7:00. Only 17 hours left until midnight, when the summoning would take place.

No one said it aloud, but everyone was nervous. Terrified, even. If they still had their abilities, they'd be confident. But that was nothing more than wishful thinking.

“Let’s go,” Reo said, walking toward the building entrance. The rest followed behind him.

***

On the second floor of the parking lot, seven plastic chairs were arranged in front of a whiteboard. Everyone took a seat, facing Itsuki as he stood before the board.

He adjusted his glasses. "Okay. Here’s the plan I came up with..."

Itsuki laid everything out. The summoner would appear at midnight. They needed to be fully prepared before then. Each of them would carry a gun hidden in their school bags.

Phase one: The summoner would appear before them individually. They couldn’t group up—it would be too suspicious. The summoner wasn’t stupid. They were to act natural and wait for the moment they were transported to the Silent Space. The moment it happened, they needed to grab their bags subtly to avoid drawing attention.

Phase two: Catch the summoner off guard. Pretend everything is normal until the very last second—right before the summoner begins drawing the circle in the Silent Space.

“But there’s one flaw,” Reo said, folding his arms. “How do we get out of the Silent Space?”

“You and Ayaka should be able to do it,” Itsuki replied calmly.

Ayaka rested a finger on her chin. “You mean... Reversal Magic?” she mumbled.

Ren raised a hand. “Wouldn’t that be impossible without mana particles?”

Hina nodded. “No. The summoner uses his blood as an alternative. There’s no reason we can’t use ours to reverse the summoning circle. But still…”

'It would take hours to reverse a summoning circle—and we don’t know how long the Silent Space will remain once the summoner is gone', Reo thought.

Then Aoi’s voice broke through the tension.

“Everyone... should we really be doing this?” she asked, voice trembling. “We’re planning to kill something we know nothing about... What about the consequences?”

Silence. Her question hung heavy in the air.

Should we stop while we still can...? Everyone had the same thought. Their expressions said it all.

Bang. Itsuki slammed a hand against the whiteboard. “This isn’t the time to hesitate! We only have one chance to change the future!”

“Still…” Aoi clutched her hands together.

Itsuki’s gaze turned cold. “If you’re going to waste our time, Aoi, I suggest you leave.”

“E-Everyone, calm down—” Ren said, trying to ease the rising tension.

"Itsuki! How can you be so heartless?! Don’t you care about what happens to us?!" Aoi shouted back.

The two began arguing while Ren and Ayaka scrambled to calm them down. Yui, who hated arguments, clamped her hands over her ears, while Hina bit her nails, still thinking about the Reversal Magic. Reo, meanwhile, weighed their options.

“That’s exactly why I came up with this plan!” Itsuki shouted, clenching his jaw. A sorrowful look passed over his face. “Do you know how I felt... when I heard you died?”

He glanced briefly at Yui, then looked away.

“But that doesn’t mean—”

Clap! Reo clapped his hands together, silencing everyone.

“Aoi, I understand your hesitation. Everyone feels the same. Itsuki... I know how you felt, since I was the last of us to die.”

He looked around at each of them. “So here’s what we do: First, we find out the summoner’s true intentions. If it’s hostile, we fight. But if it’s not... then we explain everything—how we traveled back in time. Maybe we’ll get answers too.”

“Is everyone okay with that?” he asked.

Everyone nodded, although a few hesitantly.

The heavy atmosphere lightened. The tension dissolved. Ren and Ayaka took deep breaths of relief.

Reo turned to Itsuki. “Now, let’s move on to the real reason you called us here.”

Itsuki pushed his glasses up. “Right. I called you all here for one reason—learning how to handle firearms.”

He walked to the table beside the whiteboard and lifted a heavy bag, setting it down on the floor.

Everyone gathered around as Itsuki unzipped the bag.

Inside were guns, grenades, and live ammunition.

Everyone was stunned. It was their first time seeing real weapons.

“Whoa! Where did you even get all this stuff?” Hina asked, wide-eyed.

“I have my ways,” Itsuki replied calmly.

Ren’s eye twitched. 'Wait—no way. Did he buy this off the black market?!'

Reo picked up a 9mm pistol. It felt heavier than it looked—cold and smooth to the touch. “So you’re going to teach us how to shoot?”

Itsuki nodded.

And so, the group began training. Since the building was far from civilization, they could fire freely. Surprisingly, Yui adapted quickly to firearms. Aoi and Ren lagged behind, while Hina excitedly claimed her favorite webnovel character used guns—so she had some "experience." Reo and Ayaka were... average.

***

20:00

Only 4 hours remained until the summoning.

Reo sat on his bed with a guitar case resting on his lap. Itsuki had given it to him after practice, calling it a gift.

He clicked the case open...