Chapter 5:

Masked Thief

Three Legendary Swords

On 7 April 2016, at 7:30 AM, the Miraii High School field erupted with morning cheers as students gathered for the annual Sports Event.

"Test mic test mic… GOOD MOOORRRRNINGGGGGGG!!!”

A teacher screamed into the microphone and everyone buzzed with excitement.

"MORRNINGGG MIRAII HIGHHH!!!”
"Happy Sports Day!!!”
"Who stole my water?!”

Everyone except for one person.

"That’s it, Im out!”

Shinji turned to leave, only to be blocked by Akira, hovering in front of him.

"Oh come on hooman! We just got here!”
"Haaa?! Aint you the one who-”

He noticed Mai froze, her face pale, and everyone nearby turned to him.

"Shin- Shinji? Wh- who you talking to?”
"Aa- no- I-… A- uhh-”

Akira slapped her thigh, laughing at him.

"Without further ado, let’s get the aerobic starteddddddddd!!!”

The teacher announced enthusiastically as the music started to play.

Meanwhile, in the Control Room, Ozeki, the Student Council President, monitored CCTV and drone feeds, walkie talkie in hand.

"Orange to Yellow, what’s your 20?”
"Yellow, Classroom Block!”
"Copy! Report for any bogey!”
"Report for bogey, roger that!”
"Out!”

Luna, the Vice President, sat beside him and piloted a drone over the crowd.

"What with the sudden change, Ozeki?”
"Higher up ordered, not me… Something personal they said…”

She glanced at him.

"Heh, they allowed ‘personal stuff’ into the job now?”
"Most likely that ‘personal’ has something to do with it, just like yours…”

He slowly reaching for the donut on the table but she quickly grasped it.

On the field, Chrono crouched down at the 100m starting line, muscles taut, eyes locked, along with other contestants.

"You better win this Chrono!”

Shinji shouted, supporting him among the crowd.

"Umm, hooman… I got a bad feeling, want me to secure your bag for you?”

Akira tugged his sleeve and Mai noticed its moving by itself.

"Must be the wind…”
"Student Council on duty, what could possibly go wron-”

Shinji shook his head confidently and Mai stared at him again.

"Stay away from m-”

BANG! The referee fired the toy gun and the runners exploded from the line.

While the event ongoing, Yuki and another student council member making their rounds, scanning each classroom.

"This is booorrriiing!”

Yuki muttered and her partner chuckles then she pressed the PTT button.

"Yellow! Form 1 classroom clear! Heading to Form 2 next, over!”
"Orange to Yellow, copy that, stay sharp!”

Her partner glanced.

"Wait, you signed up too right, Yuki?”
"Yup! Taekwondo, later in the hall, Im so going to defeat my rival, Mai!”
"Ohhh! Break a leg, Yuki!”

Yuki clenched her fist and punched her palm.

"Hohoo, Im really gonna break her leg! Hehehehe!”
"Eh- ehhh?”

Back to the field, Chrono took the school by storm after crossing the finish line, breaking the record of 100m in 11 seconds, 200m in 22 and 400m in 45.

"Dang! New highscore!”
"Way to go Chrono!”
"That’s sick!”

The crowd clapping and cheering as Chrono jogged over to Mai and Shinji.

"You guys saw that?! Oh! Thanks Mai!”

Mai tossed a mineral water to him and he caught it.

"That’s a good run, Chrono!”
"How the fork you ran that fast?!”
"Like heck Im gonna tell yah haha!”

He grinned amd the next race switched to the female category.

"Maggie? Maggie? Are you here?"
"Just disqualified her! We starting now!”

One referee shouted to another while Chrono finished the drink.

"Ahh! Welp, gotta go, football after this, then Sumo! See yah!”
"See yah Chrono!”
"That many?!”

Mai waved but Chrono stopped halfway and turned to Shinji.

"I actually wanna join more but Habara said it’s unfair for the others, MVP title on the line he said! Gerak lu, apapa roger! (Im going now, if there’s anything, roger!)”

He jogged off and Akira floated smugly in between.

"Better step up your game, hooman! You getting outshined here, Mr. Protagonist!”
"Shut up you dingus!”

Mai misheard and her eyes narrowed.

"What did you just call me?”
"Huh? Wait- no- AHHHHHHHHH! HELP! AAAAAA!”

Mai drawed her ultimate move and Shinji’s desperate scream echoed across the field. Akira rolled mid-air, laughing so hard she nearly cried.

"Orange to Hazel, we heard something, what’s happening there?”
"Hazel here… Yo- you don’t want to know…”
"Huh?”

Habara looked away, adjusting his glasses with a faint smile.

Meanwhile, in the 4C Classroom, a girl wearing a black disposable mask slipped inside the room quietly, searching for something.

"!”

She spotted Shinji’s duffel bag and tried to lift it but it wouldn’t budge.

"?”

Scratching her head, she knelt and unzipped it, only to find dozens of Mila cans inside.

"?!”

After tossing all the cans aside, she zipped the bag back up and slung it over her shoulder. Moeru Yona buried at the bottom under the books and wrapped with a black cloth. Oblivious, she slowly left the classroom.

The Field
Shinji slowly crawled over to Habara under the canopy, groaning dramatically.

"Ughhh… Aren’t you… In charge here?!”
"They don’t pay me enough for that…”
"You guys getting paid?! Fork! I think I cant walk anymore!”

Habara adjusted his glasses and his radio suddenly crackled.

"Yellow pursuing a bogey! Female, around 160 cm, green shirt, track pants with green lines, black mask, running with Shinji’s duffel bag! Heading Hallway C, over!”

At once, Shinji shot to his feet, sprinted full force toward the building, followed by Habara trailed behind.

"Shin- SHINJI!!!”

He pressed the PTT button.

"Hazel and Shinji flies in, over! Didn’t he said he couldn’t walk anymore?!”

Everyone’s attention turned to Shinji, including Akira and the race referee.

"Hm? Hooman?! Hey! Where you going?! Hooman!”
"Wow! He just broke Chrono’s record by 1s faster!”

Meanwhile in Hallway C, the masked girl staggered with the duffel bag but somehow managed to widen the gap between herself and Yuki’s team.

"She’s fast!”
"Hey! You should sign up for the race instead!”

They laughed but the thief remained silent, nearing the door, only to see another Student Council member coming through. She veered sharply in another direction.

"Yellow! Bogey heading to Science Lab Corridor! Over!”

Control Room
Luna calculated the possible meeting point between Yuki’s and Habara’s team to catch the thief.

"Ozeki…”
"Orange to Hazel! Tell Shinji! Ten o’clock, maintain speed! Over!”

He nodded and pressed the PTT button.

Cafeteria
Habara received the order and delivered it.

"Shinji! Go northwest!!!”
"Huh?! WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU?!”

He glanced and Habara adjusted his glasses while running.

"You want your belonging or not?!”
"Tsk!”
"Anything important in there?”

He adjusted his glasses again.

"Mila!”
"Mila?!”
"Nobody can steal my choc drink!”

Both groups reached Hallway E where two paths converged. Shinji sprinted from the south while the thief came from the east.

"I can feel his ki! It must be that damn ninja!”

He turned to his right at the intersection, ready to tackle.

"YOU NOT GET-... Aimi?!”

His eyes widened seeing the thief but then he tripped, landing face-first.

"Fork! Adoiii!!!”

Habara caught up and together with Yuki’s team, they surrounded the thief.

"Hazel to Orange, we got them, code 4!”

Ozeki received the transmission from the Control Room.

"Orange copy, good job everyone! Proceed with interrogation! Over!”
"Mountains of paperwork incoming!”

Luna grabbed the drone’s controller back and left the room.

"We get you some more donuts later!”

Ozeki turned to her but at that same moment, a faint, smoke-like shape flickered across the CCTV feed.

"Hooman! There you are!”

Akira floated past the camera at the corner of the hallway and found Shinji still face-down, limbs stiff on the floor while the others dealing with the thief.

"Help! Im cramp!”
"Whale, whale, whale… So this is our bogey!”

Akira cast her magic while Yuki tugged the mask off the culprit.

"Hm? Maggie?!”

Yuki’s partner blurted out and they all turned to her.

"You know her?”
"Aah, fellow Form 5, but different class… She’s mute so I doubt she will cooperate…”

Yuki asked but she explained the thief’s disability. Shinji on the other hand, casually grabbed his duffel bag before walking off.

“Wait Shinji! We not done yet!”
"I take whatever punishment! I just want my stuff back!”

Habara adjusted his glasses while Shinji replied without looking back.

"Prez might let it slide but the fact she targeted yo-”
"What?”

Shinji stopped then turned to him.

"You think I brought something illegal to school?! I am…”
"Im not accusing but… Out of many, why yours? You got nothing to hide also, didnt you?”

Habara adjusted his glasses again.

"I see that ninja gameplay now, hooman!”

Akira crossed her arms and lowered her gaze.

"He set you up good! He knows exactly how to ‘move’ his ‘pieces’ just to ‘check’ you! Sorry hooman, but you lost the moment you blundered your ‘knight’ last week!”
"Im trapped then… Fork! There’s no way Im making out of this…”

He dropped his bag in front of him.

End of Chapter 5…

Extra 005:
Midnight before the sports event.

Shinji slept soundly on the floor while Akira dozed on the couch when suddenly, a noise from the kitchen woke them up.

"Hooman, keep it down!”
"It’s not me!”

She turned to him, blinking sleepily.

"Huh? Is it... A ghost?!”

He sat up, pushing his blanket aside.

"Arent you the ghost in this house?!”
"I told you Im a spirit, not a ghost!”

The noise grew louder. Akira quickly hid behind him, trembling.

"G- go check it hooman!”
"Why m-… Wait, you scared?”
"Ju- just go!”

They crept toward the kitchen and heard a voice counting.