Chapter 22: Escape

The crowd was completely silent.

Speechless.

Blood pooled beneath Natsu’s head, spreading slowly across the mat.

Taichi stood frozen, his shinai still gripped in his hands.

The strongest student in the school was murdered.

Right in front of every single student of Eclipse Academy.

No one screamed.

No one moved.

From the rear entrance of the arena, two figures emerged.

One wore a black suit, face hidden behind a mask and hood.

The other was an elderly man in a brown jacket and glasses, gray hair neatly combed. He stepped forward slowly, clapping his hands together in soft, slow applause.

“Well done,” the man said pleasantly. “Very well done, Taichi.”

Taichi’s breath hitched as he slowly turned around, his entire body shaking violently. His eyes slowly locked on the man’s face.

“I’ve met you before…” Taichi whispered. “You gave me directions on my first day here.”

“Right you are, kid. You said you were gonna thank me properly next time you saw me, yeah?” the figure smirked. “I’ll wait.”

Taichi’s fingers tightened around his shinai.

“Who are you?”

“That didn’t sound like a thank you to me… did Rintaro really raise such an ill-mannered child?” he asked.

Taichi’s head snapped back toward Natsu’s body, then forward again, rage shaking through him.

“I asked, who are you?!” Taichi yelled, pointing his shinai at the man.

“Kodaka,” the man said calmly, “Control your student, will you?”

Kodaka acted immediately, snatching the shinai away.

“You can’t fight him,” Kodaka whispered. “You need to keep your cool. Don’t be accusatory. If you don’t stay in line, you’ll die.”

Kodaka walked over to the man’s side.

“My apologies, sir. He’s shaken.”

“Oh?” the man asked lightly. “And are you shaken, Kodaka?”

“A little bit, sir,” Kodaka admitted. “But I’m sure you have a reason.”

Behind his back, Taichi noticed Kodaka typing something on his phone.

A message.

He hit the send button. From the stands, Asumi and Meguri stiffened as their phones vibrated.

“Get out. Don’t be seen. I’ll explain later.”

The elderly man adjusted his glasses.

“Very well, if even you’re shaken, Kodaka, then perhaps I’ll conform slightly,” he said, turning back to Taichi. “My name is Kishimoto Akihiko. I’m the headmaster of Eclipse Academy.”

A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“I see… I’m Hayato Taichi, the son of Hayato Rintaro,” Taichi said stiffly. “Thank you for giving me the directions to get to this academy.”

Akihiko’s smile widened.

“I do have a question, though,” Taichi continued. “Isn’t meeting you supposed to be the privilege of Rank #1? You seem to be flaunting your presence fairly easily.”

“Oh, but I do this all the time! In fact, you’ve seen it happen before!” Akihiko chuckled, his eyes darkening. “But just like those times before… you’ll end up forgetting.”

The suited figure stepped forward and dropped something into Akihiko’s hand.

Taichi’s pendant.

“I’m going to need you to put this back on, kid,” Akihiko said.

Taichi took it, looking up at the headmaster with a sharp glare.

“I have a few questions first,” Taichi replied, curling the pendant into his fist.

“You always do. Alright, fire away.”

“Who’s the suited guy behind you?”

“Not your business.”

“He killed my classmate, does that not make it my business?”

“No, it’s my business as the headmaster to decide the allocation of business, and this does not fall under your purview.”

“Why was Natsu killed?”

“Also not your business.”

“Fine, then my father.”

“What about him?”

“What do you know about his death?”

“Everything.”

“Tell me, then. Who did it, why, and how?”

“Why should I?” Akihiko smirked.

“I thought Rank #1 was entitled to answers.”

“Oh, it is…” he chuckled softly. “But you’re not Rank #1, Taichi.”

“I defeated the former Rank #1 in a duel…” he turned back to the dead Natsu and wanted to vomit, but turned back to Akihiko. “Anyway, I am Rank #1. I did it by the rules of this academy.”

“You may think that, but it won’t change the fact that you haven’t reached that rank in my eyes.”

Taichi turned desperately to Kodaka.

“You said I was Rank #1!”

“What the headmaster says is final, Hayato,” Kodaka responded quietly. “Don’t argue.”

With a sigh, Taichi turned back to Akihiko.

“Okay, how do I become Rank #1, then?”

“Don’t worry yourself too much, kid,” Akihiko said, patting Taichi’s head. “When the time’s right, you’ll get your opportunity. Now, don’t you think it’s your time to put your dad’s pendant back on?”

Taichi clenched his pendant firmly, looking up at Kodaka, who was slowly shaking his head.

"And if I don't?"

"Well..." Akhiko trailed slowly. "Your father and I would both be rather disappointed in you."

Taichi exhaled heavily, staring at his feet.

"Not as disappointed as he'll be with me for hitting an old man," he muttered.

"Huh-" Akihiko was quickly cut off by a sweep at his legs, knocking him down as Taichi's fist met his falling body.

He was unconscious.

The tension that was locking the entire crowd’s eyes to the conversation broke with the headmaster’s nose. The audience roared in chaos, surging toward the exits.

They couldn’t leave.

A suit appeared at every single exit route, preventing the audience members from taking the final step to freedom.

"Kodaka Sensei, I thought you said he was-"

Taichi was quickly cut off by the sound of footsteps rampaging toward him, the feeling of impending death trailing it like a hawk. The suit that killed Natsu was rapidly approaching him.

Kodaka looked up at the stands and smirked.

"Good… they escaped..." he muttered, not seeing Asumi or Meguri in sight.

His feet dug into the floor as he sprung into action.

Smoke exploded outward, swallowing the arena in white.

Natsu's killer stopped in his tracks momentarily before hearing footsteps. He immediately moved toward them and swung his shinai through the thick smoke... but nobody was there.

Kodaka raced out past the suits with Taichi in tow without them even doing a double-take.

Taichi looked up at his sensei in awe.

"Your aspect..."

"Illusion magic," Kodaka confirmed. "And a lot better than my daughter's too."

"Yeah, I can see that, Tadokoro's magic was nowhere near this effective... wait, daughter?!" Taichi yelled.

"There's some explaining to do – we're meeting your friends off campus. Asumi just gave us a meeting place in Shibuya," Kodaka said, letting go of Taichi and typing a message on his phone. "I'm gonna end up needing your help."

Taichi nodded hesitantly.

"Alright."

Kodaka and Taichi walked off to the train station to get there in complete silence. Awkwardness filled the air as they staired at each other from opposite sides of the vehicle.

"So..." Taichi started.

"Don't talk," Kodaka interuppted. "We're gonna be talking enough already from now on as it is."

The train ride silently continued until they got off, their eyes meeting Shibuya Crossing.

"Are we meeting at a ramen shop?" Taichi asked.

"Don't tell me we're going to one of your date spots," Kodaka groaned.

Taichi shrugged and guided Kodaka to the ramen shop from the station, the day when Asumi took him still fresh in his memory.

With a jingle of a bell on the curtain, the two of them stepped in.

"Welcome!" the owner yelled out. "Oh, you're Asumi's boyfriend, yeah?"

"Yeah, it is," Meguri said from her seat next to Asumi.

"Not my boyfriend!" Asumi shouted. "And get him a tonkotsu..." Asumi trailed off quietly with a blush.

"Ordering for him, huh?" Kodaka smirked. "But you won't for me?"

"He's got a point, Asumi," the owner chimed in.

"Yeah, he does," Meguri confirmed.

"Shut up!" Asumi retorted.

"I'll take a tonkotsu also," Kodaka said.

"You got it."

Taichi and Kodaka finally sat down next to the two girls and silence filled the air.

Despite their antics, the air was still heavy with the sight they saw. Natsu was murdered. Right in front of their eyes. And neither he nor anybody else could do anything about it.

The owner brought out four ramen bowls and silently left them.

Kodaka's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at his three students.

"I guess now's the time for you to learn what this academy really is," Kodaka sighed. "Buckle in kids, this is gonna be a story."