Chapter 11:

Familiar

MinDivers


“Hey, Masuyo-kun.” someone shook the boy, “Masuyo-kun!”

“Hmm...?” Masuyo slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of glasses gazing at him, “Yoko-san…?”

“You sleep like a rock, boy! Maybe that’s the reason you don’t have time to look at your schedule.” the woman smiled as she helped him get up, “So, how was it? Your first dive, I mean.”

Masuyo scratched his chest with one hand and held his head with the other, “It was weird.”

“Well, I'm sure you’ll get used to it!”

“For now, you should probably rest a bit.” a male voice came from Masuyo's right side, “You must be tired after such a long day!” Hisoka put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Yeah… I am...” 

Yoko and Hisoka stayed in the Diving room, it seemed that they started fighting because Hisoka waited too long to send the signal, meanwhile, Masuyo followed Sute to their residential building, where he quickly jumped into his bed. “How am I supposed to sleep in this crappy bed now?” he cursed his bed for not being similar to the Akozi. The boy kept staring at the ceiling, pondering about the day, until his stomach growled, complaining about how he had forgotten to eat something.

Knock, Knock, Knock.” the sound indicated that the first problem was going to be under control. Masuyo went to the door and opened it to see what was to be expected: a girl handing him a bag.

“It’s the pizza again? You want me to get fat or something?” 

“That’s what you want to eat. I’m just bringing it to you.” she replied while bowing.

“Well… thanks then.”

“Tomorrow we’ll probably dive again if nothing wrong shows on your exams.” her bland voice informed, “There’s a chance we’ll go to town as well, so be ready for it.”

“Okay.” Masuyo observed the girl going to her apartment door.



“Did you have trouble sleeping last night?” Hisoka asked Masuyo, “‘Why can’t we sleep in those beds at night as well?’ it’s usually what everyone thinks.” he smiled at the boy.

“I’m sure it is, but I’m also sure those Akozi are very expansive.”

“You're wrong! They're actually very, very, VERY expansive! What wouldn’t I do to have one of those every night!” Hisoka sighed, “Right, Yoko?!” he looked to the woman.

“Only if you want to die by saying embarrassing stuff!” she smiled back.

That day, they dived again, and everything was similar to Masuyo's first dive: the coziness of the Akozi, the powerful wind, the feeling of free fall... even the headache was present, although assuaged.

“Great, my chest is also weird again.” Masuyo grasped his chest when he opened his eyes to see the weird world again.

“Come on, let’s go watch the fight.” Sute led the way again, not giving a clue if she wanted to do her job or just watch a cool anime fight.

This time Sute, Hisoka, and Masuyo made their way to the fight in a much faster way, making sure they wouldn’t be in the middle of the broken glass when the metal bar and the blue thing fell from the sky. The three stopped at the same hill, various meters away from the fight so that its impact wouldn’t affect them.

“Maybe if we see it from another angle we’ll notice something different?” Sute suggested.

“Huh?” Masuyo was spacing out.

“Let’s look at it from another angle.” Sute repeated and stood up

“Oh, it’s fine by me.” Masuyo replied. He didn’t mind staying still in one place to watch the fight but after they saw it playing out a couple of times, he got bored and started looking at the other two to see their reactions, especially Sute’s, who apparently loved the show.

“I’m just going along with you guys!” Hisoka making Sute and Masuyo look at him, “Pretend I’m not even here!”

They ended up watching the robots from various angles, which demanded a lot of time, making Masuyo’s headache get worse. He pressed one hand against his head and peered at the fight, it was twitching and out of focus.

“That’s enough.” Hisoka stood up, “Let’s go back. You should go to the field!”

“To the field?” Masuyo looked at him.

“Yep! We’ll go visit the person behind this world.” the young man confirmed.

“Now you’ll see something cool your card can do.” Sute cracked a little smile.



“So, Yoko-san, who are we visiting today?” Hisoka smiled and asked the woman.

“Wait just a minute…” the woman typed on her computer, “I’ve just sent you the address.” she stretched and turned to Hisoka: “Adda-san will be waiting for you on the front gate.”

“Hmm…” Hisoka rummaged his pockets and picked his phone, “Hikaru Sasaki, thirteen years old, is that it?” he looked at Yoko.

“Yep.”

“Hikaru Sasaki?” Masuyo frowned, “Why is this name familiar to me?” absorbed by thought, he didn’t notice Sute looking at him and Hisoka calling his name:

“Hey, man! Why the weird face?”

“Huh?”

“You were frowning just now! Do you know this boy?”

“Hmm… his name is familiar, but I don’t remember being an acquaintance of someone his age.”

“Hmm…” Hisoka pondered, “Maybe you’ll remember who he is when we get there. This would make everything easier.”

“‘Get there’ where?”

“Where?” Hisoka tilted his head, “To Hikaru's house, of course!”



Addaneye Varon was waiting for them at the front gate as expected, he ushered Sute, Hisoka, and Masuyo to his car and started to drive at super-speed towards the city of Kitoyama. To Masuyo’s surprise, they didn’t go to the center of town but instead kept a distance from it, passing near the Hirano household, and Botan High, the boy’s former high school.

“That was your school, right Masuyo?” Sute asked him. They were sitting in the back of the car while Hisoka was in the passenger's seat.

“Oh, yes.”

“The peonies are really beautiful.”

“It’s a view you can’t tire of.”

“So your house mustn’t be too far from here.” she took her vacant eyes off of the window and gazed at Masuyo.

“It’s not a five-minute walk, but you could call it close.” he replied.

“Hey, you two.” Hisoka to them, “We’re almost there, so be ready.”

“Okay.” Masuyo and Sute answered at the same time. 

The boy started to look through his window, not noticing Sute’s stare. “Huh?” Masuyo squinted as they passed near a public park, he had the impression of seeing something oddly familiar.

“What is it?” Sute tilted her head.

“Nothing really, I just saw that park and had the impression to have recognized something.”

“Park?” the girl tried to look behind.

“Yes, I don’t think you could see it from your side. We're past it now.” Masuyo sighed and supported his head with one fist, “But it’s no big deal, just a bunch of kids playing.”

“You find it odd because you’ve never done something like it?” she tilted her head, the eyes, expressionless.

“I've been to parks before.”

“I meant the kids.”

“What?”

“You said there was a bunch of kids playing” Sute’s eyes seemed to draw closer to Masuyo’s, “But you never went to a park with other kids, right.” it was difficult to say if that was a question.

“Not that I remember.” Masuyo nonchalantly turned his eyes to his side’s window, “But it's not like I was alone.”

“I see…” the girl gave one last glance at Masuyo and then settled on her seat. After the end of their conversation, it didn’t take long to arrive at the destination. Adda, as always, showed his expertise when driving and carefully parked the vehicle.

“Here we are, guys!” Hisoka uttered when they got out of the car, he walked past the small wall and stood before the front door of a simple two-story house.

“Do you have your card, Masuyo?” Sute asked the boy. 

“Yes, it’s here.” Masuyo replied after groping his pockets.

“So, do you want to do the honors?” Hisoka grinned at the boy.

“The honors?”

“Yep! Ring the doorbell!”

“Okay, but after that, I’ll do what?” Masuyo glanced at the door, “Say that I’m here to fix their internet or something?”

“Only if they need internet fixing.” Sute remarked.

Masuyo glanced multiple times at his seniors, and they both didn’t waver. “Are you guys serious?”

“Of course, we are!” Hisoka put one hand on Masuyo’s shoulder while the other reached for the bell, “But since you don’t believe it, I’ll show you.” he rang it.

It took some time, but an old woman slowly opened the door: “Who are you?” she asked with eyes that said, "Get out of here."

“Good afternoon, ma’am!” Hisoka grinned, “I believe you know why we are here!” he showed her his A.M.A. card.

The woman squinted while looking at the card, her eyes seemed to shine with a faint blue light, “Oh! You’re here because of that television!”

“That’s right ma’am! Leave it to us!” Hisoka kept smiling.

“Please come in, come in!” the woman invited them, “I’ll go make some tea.”

“I appreciate it! But we’ll be over with it so quickly that you won’t even remember that we came!” Hisoka gave a small laugh.

“Huh?” Masuyo was sure he could hear Sute stifling her laugh.

“That joke was bad, Hisoka-kun.” she followed the man into the house.

The lady ushered them through a corridor filled with paintings and pictures. Most of the paintings looked like the work of a kid, while the pictures were diverse images of the family in its various formations: a small girl accompanied by a pregnant woman and a man; those three with an older couple; then a little boy and a girl with the older couple.

“I think that I’ve seen this girl before… although she probably didn’t have this loose and dyed black hair…” Masuyo glanced at the family photos.

“So, I believe you are Sasaki-san, right?” Hisoka talked to the woman.

“Yes, that’s right.” she answered while ushering them to the kitchen.

“So, could you tell me if the young Hikaru is here?” he showed the woman his card again.

“Oh! Of course! He’s in his room right now! It’s the first door to the left after going up the stairs!” Sasaki-san informed.

“So, while I’ll stay here to chat a little bit with you, Sasaki-san, my co-workers are going to chat with Hikaru-san, is that alright?” Hisoka smiled.

“Please! Everything to have my grandchildren happy!”

“Thank you very much, ma’am!” Hisoka bowed and then looked at Sute: “You know what to do.”

The girl nodded and started to make her way up the stairs while Masuyo followed her, the last thing he could hear coming from the kitchen was the muffled voice of Sasaki-san saying: “Yes, maybe you can even help my granddaughter!”

“The granddaughter must be the girl from the pictures... does this mean we have to deal with two persons?” Masuyo pondered while accompanying Sute.

She did as Sasaki-san instructed and stopped before the first door to the left, knocking with the “Knock, Knock, Knock.” Masuyo was growing accustomed to.

“I didn’t think it would be this easy to enter a stranger’s house, but she seems used to it.” Masuyo observed the short girl wearing a hood while they waited.

“Huh?” Sute turned to him, and he diverted his eyes, looking to the floor.

Masuyo picked his card from his pocket and mused at it, “Sasaki-san’s eyes were weird while looking at this, is it related to her letting us invade the house so easily?” he didn't realize the door had opened. 

“What?” a girl scowled at Sute, “What are you doing here?”

“Here.” Sute showed the girl her card, “We came to help your brother, right?”

“Huh?” the girl standing on the threshold of the door picked the card from Sute’s hands and analyzed it, “What is this? The key to a hotel room or something?”

“What?”

“I don’t know how you managed to enter, but I’ve to ask you to leave.”

“What about your brother?”

“My brother? Are you in his class or something?” she gazed at Sute, “With your clothes, you don’t look like it.”

“Bu…”

“My brother doesn’t want to talk to anyone.” she stated, and then turned to Masuyo: “And what about you? What are you doing just standing there?”

“Huh?” Masuyo lifted his head and looked at the girl before him, it was someone he knew.

“Oh!” the girl exclaimed after peering at him for a moment, “What an honor for me to receive a visit from the guy who ran away from his school and family!” she crossed her arms and looked away, “Thank you very much and now get out of my house, Masuyo.”

“Hmm... did you know that you are kind of weird, Kazashi Sasaki?”

Real Aire
icon-reaction-1
Kerry Kamiya
icon-reaction-1