MIKIO SHINES

“Hira-kun, who do we choose for the speed trial?” Sakura asked.

And just like that, everyone turned their eyes toward me again.

“…Mikio. You’re doing this one.”

“Huh?!” the whole team shouted.

“Me?!” Mikio blinked, flames flickering faintly around him in shock.

I nodded. “Every morning around 5 a.m., you’re already in the gym. I noticed it once and decided to watch from behind the door. You weren’t just training—you were running at a speed you never show us. Even during Squad Survival training, you were faster than Sakura and me. You’ve been hiding your true speed. And right now… we need it.”

Mikio’s expression shifted. The usual goofiness vanished, replaced by quiet thought. After a moment, he nodded.

“…Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Yay!!” Sakura shouted, throwing her arms around both of us.

“Are you guys okay with this?” I asked the others.

Everyone smiled back at me.

“Your judgement helped in the rescue trial, even if we didn’t win,” Jackson said firmly.

“Your analytical skills are top-notch. We trust you,” Talia added.

“So basically… we trust you,” Suki said simply.

Trust.

That word… No one’s ever said it to me before. For the first time in my life… I think I’m motivated.

Class F’s choice was clear. Mikio stepped forward.

“It seems Class F has made a decision. (Do they know about Mikio’s clan?)” I thought.

On the other side, Ryo stepped up for Class E.

“Class E too has decided,” their instructor announced. “The race will be through an obstacle course.”

A race, huh? The dome is big, but not ideal for real speed users.

Then Class E’s instructor raised his hand. A shimmering portal appeared in front of Ryo and Mikio.

“This is a dimension I created with my ability. It has increased gravity, designed specifically for races between high-level speed-type exorcists.”

Of course. The academy always has an answer.

“Get ready,” the instructor said. “The race begins soon.”

Ryo smirked. “Look at that—my opponent is the son of two hybrids.”

Mikio ignored the comment, but I could see his jaw tighten.

“It’s a shame what happened to your brother,” Ryo continued. His tone was sharp, mocking. “But then again, what else can you expect from someone carrying that much unstable power?”

Shut up, Mikio wrote quickly in flames,glaring.

Son of two hybrids? His brother? What does he mean…?

“What’s he talking about?” Talia whispered.

Ryo seemed to overhear and shouted “Mikio was born from an Amaterasu–Kaze hybrid and an Onsei–Minamoto hybrid.”

I froze. No way…

Only one in a hundred children survive being born from two hybrids. Most go mad before the age of ten. That Mikio survived this long at all is… unreal.

Hybrid families are banned from their clans,ridiculed, and shunned by society. It’s probably why his power damages his body. And… with what Ryo said about his brother… I think his brother went mad at some point.

Ryo’s grin widened. “I’m sure you’ll be next. After all, your brother killed himself, didn’t he? No… maybe your sister will go first.”

The air cracked.

A shockwave of sound exploded from Mikio, slamming into everyone nearby. The ground shook. My ears rang painfully, and even the instructors staggered back from the force. Mikio’s anger rolled through the space like a storm barely contained.

“Enough, Ryo.” Miss Clarissa’s voice cut sharply through the chaos. “One more insult, and your team loses points.”

“Sorry about that!” Ryo shouted, though he was clearly smirking.

Then I heard him whisper, just low enough for only a few of us to catch:

“I’ll show you… being a hybrid doesn’t make you better.”

“Ready!” Class E’s instructor shouted.

Mikio and Ryo crouched low, their bodies coiled like springs. The air itself grew tense.

“Onsei Aura Release!”

Ryo’s body ignited in a blinding white glow, his aura rippling like burning sunlight. Cracks formed in the ground beneath him from the sheer pressure.

“This is the true aura of the Minamoto Clan!” he roared, his voice echoing through the arena.

Behind him, words burned into existence—Mikio’s flames spelling only for me to see:

“Don’t worry. I’m not losing this. It just got personal.”

I could feel it—his energy. A storm of sound waves pulsing from his body. The ground trembled beneath each subtle vibration of his feet.

His aura shimmered: a white core lined with a blazing red edge, like molten fire wrapped in lightning.

Tiny shockwaves rippled outward with every step he shifted. He wasn’t just preparing to run. He was preparing to unleash everything.

“START!”

The world exploded.

Both vanished in a flash of light, the sound barrier snapping like glass behind them.

---

Within the dimensional course, gravity warped. The air was thicker, the ground pulling them down with every step. Yet their speed only grew sharper, more violent.

Ryo tore forward, his white aura leaving streaks across the space like broken comets. He kicked off an obsidian platform, shattering it into dust.

“Pathetic!” Ryo spat. “Is this the best a hybrid can do?”

But then—BOOM!

A sonic burst detonated behind Mikio. He reappeared inches from Ryo’s side, his flames bursting red and white in tandem. His eyes glowed with raw fury.

He’s matching Ryo’s speed… in increased gravity?! I realized, my heart pounding.

“Impossible!” one of Class E’s students gasped.

---

The obstacles came fast: walls twisting mid-air, blades of energy slicing across the track, and platforms tilting under invisible force.

Ryo blitzed through them with calculated grace, his aura forming a shield of compressed light.

But Mikio… Mikio’s every move was violent, raw. He shattered walls with sound waves, his flames vaporizing blades of energy. Every obstacle exploded behind him in shockwaves that made the dimension quake.

“Dammit, he’s adapting!” Ryo hissed, forcing more power into his aura.

---

The two were neck and neck, blurring into streaks of white and crimson.

Then—Ryo smirked. His aura condensed into his legs. The Minamoto clan’s secret: Flash Step.

In a single burst, Ryo vanished, reappearing several meters ahead.

Class F gasped.

But Mikio didn’t falter. His lips curled in a faint smile as his body flickered, his flames igniting into a pure, ear-splitting resonance.

BOOOOM!

He disappeared.

And when he reappeared—he wasn’t behind Ryo.

He was beside him again.

Their auras clashed violently, shockwaves ripping through the dimension. Space itself warped where red soundwaves and white light collided.

---

Ryo snarled. “Don’t you dare compare yourself to me! A hybrid will never surpass a pure Minamoto!”

Mikio didn’t answer with words. He answered with a detonation of flame and sound that roared like thunder, his body lunging forward as if declaring—

Watch me.

And for the first time—Ryo’s confident smirk cracked

The dimension quaked as Ryo and Mikio tore through it, their auras colliding like storms. Every step left afterimages, every clash shattered the obstacles around them.

“Give up!” Ryo snarled, surging ahead with another Flash Step. His white aura erupted, stretching far across the course.

For a moment, it looked like Mikio was falling behind. His breathing grew heavy, flames sputtering against the crushing gravity.

But then—

BOOM!

A deeper, sharper shockwave erupted from him. His flames compressed into a sphere of vibrating sound, glowing red-white, then expanded violently.

The collision of fire and resonance screamed like thunder.

“What the hell is that?!” Tachibana shouted from Class E’s seats.

Jackson’s eyes widened. “He’s… forging a new technique.”

Inside the race, Mikio clenched his fists. His aura didn’t split anymore—it synchronized. The vibration of sound fused perfectly with the intensity of his flames.

The result was a new energy that roared across the dimension: Crimson Resonance.

The ground beneath him shattered completely as the hybrid energy blasted him forward.

Ryo turned, shocked, as Mikio blurred past him, leaving behind a trail of flames laced with vibrating sonic shockwaves that made the entire dimension ring.

“No… way—!” Ryo spat, trying to catch up, but his Flash Step couldn’t breach the gap.

Mikio’s body looked like it was tearing itself apart, his flames burning so hot they shifted from red to blue at the edges, while the sound around him howled like a storm.

BOOM!

He shot forward in one last burst, the finish portal opening wide ahead.

And then—he crossed.

---

The portal ripped open in the viewing arena with a violent gust of heat and sound.

Mikio staggered out, his body steaming, his skin glowing faintly red. And there, waiting at the exact spot, was me—Hikaru.

Mikio stopped right in front of me, his crimson aura flickering out, leaving only faint embers.

For a second, neither of us spoke.

Then I said. “You did it, Mikio. That was… incredible.”

Mikio lifted his hand weakly, flames spelling out a single word in the air:

“Thanks.”

I nodded firmly, looking him straight in the eyes. “No… thank you—for proving them wrong.”

My hands moved along with his occurring in a high five.

Mikio’s expression softened. For the first time since I’d met him, I saw it: pride. Not arrogance, not pain. Pure pride.

Then, as the cheers of Class F erupted around us, his knees buckled.

“Mikio!” Sakura cried, rushing forward.

I caught him before he hit the ground. His body felt like it was burning and freezing at the same time, the cost of pushing his hybrid body past its limits.

“He’ll be fine,” I said, steadying him. “But he needs rest.”

Miss Clarissa’s voice rang out over the speakers:

“Mikio of Class F has won the Speed Trial!”

The crowd exploded, our class cheering as Class E stared in disbelief.

And even as Mikio lay unconscious in my arms, his face carried the faintest smile.

Author’s Note:

Hikaru: "So… Mikio really went all out, huh? I knew he was hiding something, but that was insane."

Sakura: "Insane?! It was amazing! Did you see the flames and sound mixing together? I thought my heart was gonna burst out of my chest!"

Hikaru: "Calm down, Sakura… you’re shaking the author’s note."

Sakura: "Hehe, sorry! Anyway, if you liked Mikio’s big moment, don’t forget to add the book to your collections and drop a power stone! It’ll help Hira-kun keep the story going."

Hikaru: "Right. And tell us—do you want to see more about Mikio’s past, or jump straight to the next trial? Either way, we’re not slowing down."

Sakura: "See you in the next chapter!"