Hidden Truths

          In the bustling city, cars zoom by on the streets. The sidewalks are entirely covered in walking pedestrians. Birds gather around on power lines. At a certain small and bland concrete building, Yaketsuku enters through the front doors. He is then led into a room in the basement. The door is opened for him by the receptionist, and she heads back. The room is dimly lit and has a one-way window. The man with multiple scars on his face is on the other side of the window. He is heavily restrained and sitting in a chair. With Yaketsuku, four others are facing the window.

          "Ahh, Yaketsuku. Welcome. Thanks for coming in for a follow-up question on the event from a few days ago," one of them says.

          "No problem," he says.

          The investigator continues, "we just need you to confirm something. Let's go through that door."

          The four investigators go through a door and enter the room with the restrained villain. Yaketsuku follows them. Two of the investigators approach the restrained man. One hooks up some gadget around his own head while the other connects the cables to a projector. The one who puts the weird gadget around his head places his hand on the villain's head. He infuses his magic. The projector is turned on, showing a blue screen. After a few seconds, a picture comes up.

          It is the point of view of the scarred face man. The room he's in is only lit by the moonlight coming from the window. The floors are thrashed and dusty, most likely an abandoned house. He appears to be sitting down and is short of breath. The constant pausing in his breath signals that he is injured. He turns to his right and spots the back of one of his comrades, another villain who was arrested after the battle. The other man has his hands tied behind his back, and his head hangs down.

          "Hey, Vladan. Are you up?" he slowly whispers. There is no response. The scarred man turns to his left and spots another of his comrades tied and unconscious. "Shani. Wake up."

          The sound of footsteps approaching is heard. The man faces forward into the dark. The footsteps get closer to him. He notices black boots only twenty-five centimeters in front of him. He attempts to look up, but his head is shoved down.

          "Look how pathetic you all are," says the woman who approached him.

          "Where are we," the scarred man says.

          "Nowhere important. Just a random abandoned house. This is where you and your friends become mine. I have a job for you, and you will do it,"

          "I'm not doing anything for anyone," the man says.

          "Hahahaha. You don't have a choice," she laughs.

          The man spots a large dark spider approaching his leg. The man squirms but is then choked and lifted into the air. He faces the ceiling, and he grunts while trying to yell. The yelling sounds more like fear rather than pain. He shifts his eyes down and sees the large black spider legs. The man shakes and squirms around in fear while making muffled screaming. He sees the spider entering his mouth and forcing its way inside. The man continues his muffled yelling. The picture goes black, and the feed ends.

          The investigator turns to Yakestuku, "these are the only memories we can get from them. For whatever reason, anything after this is just silence and darkness. Do you believe the unidentified woman in this man's memory is the same one you fought against?"

          "That laugh of hers can't be easily mistaken. I'm certain that is her," Yaketsuku responds.

          "The other four that were reprehended all have similar occurrences. Whoever this woman is, she's bad news. If a man of your strength had trouble, is there anyone who can defeat her?"

          "There is," Yaketsuku nods his head up and down slowly. "He's just too young right now."

          "In any case, there is one more troubling matter. When reviewing everyone's memories, we counted six of them that were tied up, yet you guys only captured five. The sixth appears to be a young woman. Either she wasn't involved in the incident, or she escaped."

          The five of them hear a door open. "You can't go in there right now," they hear the receptionist say.

          The door swings open, and two men walk through wearing black trench coats. Both men reach into their coats and pull out an ID and badge. "I'm agent Green, and this is my partner, agent Benette. We're from the KIF. As of today, all evidence regarding this matter is being taken in by the KIF. We'll be taking over the investigating from here on out."

          Agent Benette picks up the restrained man and takes him. Agent Green continues, "you must remain silent about this case."

          Yaketsuku stares at him, "Absolutely not. I will continue my own investigation on the matter, with or without the evidence."

          "With all due respect, Yaketsuku, you may be the country's strongest man, but even you must follow the laws," says agent Green.

          "This is the second incident involving that woman that has caused high-level national threats. The first one involved an old friend's son, and now this incident. After the KIF got involved, everything was swept under the rug. It was made taboo to talk about the incident. Now again, she is involved, the KIF is taking over, and we're being told to remain silent. I will not wait until another incident occurs, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

          "We'll see about that," agent Green says and walks away.

          Back in Draco Hall Dormitory, everyone is getting ready for school. They all enter the kitchen to eat breakfast. Emiko sets the last of it on the dining table. They all dig in.

          "Wow. I can't believe an incident like that happened in your training camp. I'm sure security is going to be tight this week during the 2nd-years training camp," Ichiro says.

          "You guys have it this week?" Ivika asks.

          "Sure do, and the 3rd-years have it next week too,"

          "I can only imagine how difficult those must be," Harper sighs.

          "Nonsense. They're not hard if you overwhelm everyone else. Hahaha," Ichiro laughs.

          "Easy enough for you to say," Ivika tells him.

          Adrion notices Alia acting more distant than usual. He's wanted to approach her about the situation but hasn't found the right time. Adrion is the first to be done, and he cleans his dishes. He steps into the hallway and then hears a knock on the door. "Can you get that, Adrion? I have my hands full," Emiko tells him. He approaches the door and opens it. He spots an unusual guest. Uriah Leoh is standing outside.

          "Hello, Adrion. How's it going?" Uriah smiles.

          "No different than yesterday," Adrion replies.

          "Is that so? How is my sister fairing in this dorm?"

          "She's still pretty independent, but I guess she's doing fine."

          "I guess she'll never change. Can you call her over?"

          "Yeah, hold on."

          Adrion returns to the kitchen and walks back to the door with Alia. Her expression changes as soon as Alia sees who is at the door. Adrion notices her expression and realizes it isn't good. He swears it almost looks like she's scared. He decides to stay for the conversation. Adrion also notices Uriah's change in facial expression. His welcoming smile is replaced with a stern gaze directed at his sister.

          "What are you doing here?" Alia asks him.

          "Is a brother not allowed to check on his sister?"

          "Don't give me that. That may be true for a normal family, but you and I both know our family is not normal."

          "I suppose that is true. Well, I've come to remind you of something. You've been doing good as a 1st-year. Many claim you're the strongest of your class, but tell me… how long has it been since you hit a wall?"

          Alia looks shocked by what her brother said.

          "Your strength hasn't progressed in the last year. That is why you've been going overboard and distancing yourself from others."

          "S-shut up," Alia says softly but with a look of anger.

          "I'll be taking my leave," Uriah says. He turns to Adrion, and his welcoming face returns. "Adrion, be sure to watch over my sister. And here, hand this to Ichiro for me." Uriah hands a large purple envelope to Adrion. He turns around to leave and raises his hand to wave bye. Alia is surprised by something her brother said.

          "Why does he know your name?" Alia demands.

          "I met him during my entrance exam-" Adrion pauses. He has a flashback to something Ichiro said a while back.

          "... Uriah often forgets about those he considers weak," he remembers Ichiro saying during Alia's first regulated battle.

          Adrion stares outside and sees Uriah getting into the back seat of a black luxury car.

          "I don't know," Adrion finishes.

          "If I remember correctly, you said you're from the Emerald Woodlands. Correct?"

          "Yes," Adrion nods his head.

          "Did anything weird happen six years ago? By chance, did you ever meet my brother?"

          Adrion thinks back. He doesn't remember anything about meeting Uriah. The only strange occurrence he remembers is his encounter with the witch, but that was seven years ago.

          "Can't say I ever met him before my entrance exam. Why?" he tells her.

          "Nevermind. You're the one who received the highest score in the first exam. The only reason your overall score dropped significantly was that you got the lowest score in the academic portion. Right?"

          "That's me," Adrion says.

          "In that case, promise me something. There will be a special event at the end of this 2nd quarter. Judging by how you did in the training camp and my brother recognizing you, there is no doubt you will be selected. Promise me that you will survive until you have to face me," Alia tells him.

          "I don't get what this is about, but sure," Adrion replies.

          "You better remember," Alia says as she heads for her room to get her things.

          Adrion holds out his hand to stop her but then lowers it. "Still not the right time," he thinks. He heads back to the kitchen and hands Ichiro the envelope.

          Later at school, all the students are separated by their year. All the 1st-years gather around in the same open hall they went to on their first day of class. This time the students weren't separated by coat color. The school director walks up to the podium and clears his throat.

          "Good morning, Cacumen Academy student! I just want to congratulate everyone here for surviving the training camp. I hope it reminded everyone just what kind of school this is. It has only been one of twelve quarters. Less and less of you will be expelled as time goes on because of everyone's growth. Don't let that trick you into thinking you won't be expelled. The grind will never be over until you graduate! May the powerful rise!"

          "I suppose this means we should be training more," Kazuo says.

          "Yeah. I still need to work on using my magic properly. It saved my butt a lot. I can't believe I never knew until Adrion pointed it out," Ivika laughs.

          "Let's make a promise!" Harper exclaims. "The six of us are graduating together!"

          "Yeah!" they all cheer. Even Sylvie is starting to sound a little more confident, just a little.

          The director's announcement continues for another ten minutes then the students are dismissed. When everyone heads to their class, Adrion is pulled aside by Dragana.

          "Seeing you here must mean-" Adrion is cut off.

          "No. Yaketsuku just wants to have a chat," Dragana says.

          "Oh. Alright," Adrion says and follows her. They go through the main school building and approach the director's doors. They enter, but the director isn't there. Instead, Yaketsuku and his team stand in there.

          "Sorry to pull you aside like that. Your instructor has been notified that you'll be a little late. My father let me barrow this room the chat," Yaketsuku tells him.

          "Chat about what?" Adrion asks.

          "School is about to get harder from here on out. I wanted to see if you'd be interested in letting me train you."

          "Why do I get the feeling this isn't about school?" Adrion questions him.

          "You are sharp. How'd you get a low academic score?"

          "I fell asleep during the test," Adrion says nonchalantly.

          "Hahaha," Yaketsuku laughs. "You keep surprising me. Well, I suppose there is another purpose. That enemy we fought in the mountains… As you told me, magic is nothing to her. Yet your abilities seem to be unfazed. We don't know her objective, but I need you to get stronger before she does anything else. I'm aware that it wasn't your first encounter with her. I was involved in the investigation seven years ago. Your father asked me to look for you. I tried my best, but in the end, I found nothing."

          "My father knows you?"

          "Something like that," he smiles. "Back then, I never got any answers. Once the KIF took over, everything was tight-lipped. You said you didn't care about anything as long as that lady is out of the picture. So how about it? Are you interested in letting my team and I train you?"

          "I suppose I wasn't thinking rationally when I said that. I know taking this offer is a major shortcut, but I don't want to leave my friends in the dust. I will be training with them so they can improve with me."

          "I see. Hahaha. You're a good person. It's a pity you're involved in all of this. In that case, once you're eligible to take missions, I'll be sure to request for you as much as possible."

          Adrion smiles, "alright." Yaketsuku stands and shakes Adrion's hand.

          "By the way. Before I forget, I seriously can't thank you enough for saving my life. Is there any way I can properly thank you?" Yaketsuku asks.

          Adrion ponders, "If you can join my friends and me for a training session, that would be great."

          "Consider it done," Yaketsuku tells him.

          "Since I passed on your request, I'll give you a little tip. I wouldn't talk about that witch to anyone. She has connections through her puppets. She will prioritize eliminating anyone who knows about her plans or those who search for her."

          "I figured something like that was the case. I'm counting on you to get stronger, then. Good luck helping your friends."

          Adrion waves and leave. As he walks back to class, he thinks to himself. If Yaketsuku's offer had been given to him two months ago, he would've taken it without hesitation. He realizes that he, too, has changed a lot. Adrion wants to compete with his classmates. A rush of excitement runs through him, thinking about taking the top spot in this school without shortcuts. He no longer feels like he has to carry this burden all alone, with his close friends getting stronger with him.