14 - Resonance

A day of recovery later...

“It’s one already?” Sakuto thought to himself, checking the time on his phone. It was the second time he got badly wounded, but this time, the wounds disappeared significantly faster. Especially after a good night’s rest and some painkillers.

“I didn’t even notice the time go by. I was so lost in thought I think I’ve been staring at this site for half an hour or something.”

“Hayk told us that we can take some time to relax and heal our wounds. Rin made it seem like I was never hurt in the first place. I wonder if it’s her ability, or if she’s just a really damn good medic.”

“Or maybe I did something.”

“Mr. Tsunehiro, Hayk’s friend, got hurt pretty badly though. He’ll take a few more days to heal up, so in the meantime, we were told we won’t be doing any 'critical operations’...whatever that is supposed to mean.”

“Should I call Aki?”

He took a long glance at his phone screen, and after a long string of overthinking passed through his mind, finally decided to put it back into his pocket. A few moments later he took it out again, for a different purpose this time.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Still alive. What are you calling for, Oskar?”

“Something pretty cool we can do.”

“And what exactly?”

“Well, since we’re all free...we’re going out for a bit to clear our minds. So, well...if you want to come with us, you’re more than welcome. We can wait for you at the gym.”

“So just a group hangout with everyone?”

“Yeah...listen, I know how you feel about hangouts and stuff, so if you don’t wanna come, I won’t blame you, okay? Just letting you know.”

“I’m fine with it. I can join you guys, uh...thanks for inviting me.” Sakuto replied. For a split second, he experienced an unnerving warmth in his stomach. A moment later, he continued. “Kouta is coming too, right?”

“I’m sure he will once he finds out you’re with us. Well, we’re waiting for you in that case!” Oskar smiled, as he hung the call. Dima was next to him.

“So, the new guy’s coming too?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Oskar said. “Thankfully he is.”

...

“Do you need more painkillers?” Hayk asked, placing a small box of them by Tsunehiro. Rin was sitting next to him, scrolling through her phone.

“He’s maxed on morphine.” Rin said.

“A hero, ey? This is what happens when you play the hero.” Hayk said, pointing at Tsunehiro’s burnt and scarred torso. It was fully bandaged up, but it still hurt like hell. Despite Rin’s best efforts, ‘epsilon’ healing still required incredible precision, and could sometimes fail to complete the job. It relied on cooperation from the receiving soulful themselves.

“Fuck you.” Tsunehiro grunted. “Eat shit. I’m proud of what I did. I got there in time.”

“Both of you.” Rin sighed, akin to a teacher stopping two elementary school students from fighting each other in the hallway. “Oskar and Dima are fine, that’s what matters. The mission was done.”

“The mission would be done if Kouta brought us Hwang’s head on a silver plate.” Tsunehiro said. “Nevertheless, we got all we wanted.”

“We also got live proof that our hero, sir Tsunehiro, can’t damage Diego even if he’s using his divine acclamation.” Hayk blurted out sarcastically. “Regardless...”

“What matters most is that the kids are safe.”

“They’re even going out now.” Rin commented. “Hayk, the wounded kid was surprisingly easy to heal.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“His body adapted to 'epsilon' and responded pretty well.” Rin explained.

“Kouta told me that he learned prowess release too.” Hayk smirked. “Looks like it's starting to pay off, isn’t it?” He tapped on Tsunehiro’s wound. The latter internally screamed in pain.

“So how long?” Tsunehiro asked.

“Huh?”

“How long until your garden plant gets to blossom?” Tsunehiro asked again. “A soulful without a soul expression isn’t of much use.”

“I'm sure he will at some point. I guess I’ll have to get him to grow and evolve more.” Hayk replied.

“Look at you. All this sacrificial bullshit and you’re treating him like a weapon.” Tsunehiro laughed, coughing up in pain a moment later. Hayk couldn’t respond.

“Are you sure he will manage?” Rin asked.

“He will. He has monsters like Kouta by his side. And speaking of Kouta...”

...

The group was carelessly exploring Harajuku. Passing by the crowded tourist traps and busy street food vendors, they were making their way through the area with peaceful minds. Kouta stuck next to Sakuto, the two of them were slightly behind the group. Ichika and Ausra were together, holding hands. While Ausra had a smile on her face, Ichika seemed like she wanted to go to sleep and hug a giant plushie. Oskar and Dima were leading the group, either making small talk or checking their phones every few seconds.

“Hey, you guys...” Dima called out, stopping by a small food shop. “Let’s stop for some food.”

“Why not just grab it to go? We can eat it while bowling.” Ausra said.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Is that even allowed?” Dima took a second to reconsider, before finally deciding. “Yeah, I think it is. We’re paying them to do bowling anyways, right? They shouldn’t get mad at customers.”

“Dude, the bowling place has tables for food too. We just go there, leave the food, and go back and forth I guess.” Oskar added to the discussion.

“Oh well.” Dima sighed. “Sakuto, Kouta...you guys want something specific? I’ll be getting chicken boxes for everyone.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Sakuto said.

“These two really look like brothers...” Dima thought, before he and Oskar went into the store. For a few minutes, the four of them outside had split into pairs, each wandering off into a separate direction.

“Kouta, can I ask you a few things?” Sakuto said, as they were wandering around the shop.

“Sure thing.”

“That one time you mentioned a soulful technique that’s apparently super strong. I also heard Hayk utter its name a few times while Rin was healing me. What’s a divine acclamation

?”

“I knew you’d ask something like that.” Kouta sighed. “You know you can’t use it even if you try, right?”

“Huh?”

“Listen, it’s incredible that you learnt control over soul prowess and prowess release so fast, but you have a lot to learn before even touching the subject of acclamations.” Kouta explained. “You don’t even know what your weapon’s special property or even your own soul expression is.”

“What if I just wanna know what that thing is in the first place?!” Sakuto asked, startled. After a brief pause, and feeling the awkwardness of a concluded conversation, Kouta spoke once more. “No need to remind me that I’m as good as a punching bag.”

“A divine acclamation is like the ultimate move in a video game. You know, your character has strength and defense, abilities, healing...acclamations are the ultimate moves.”

“Do they have special effects or something?” Sakuto interrupted.

“Dude, I was gonna explain that.” Kouta said, disappointed. “Anyhow...a divine acclamation is the release or exposure of your soul itself. Your soul expression is boosted and often applied throughout a certain area, while your base control over soul prowess is brought to its peak. Satisfied with the answer?”

“How do you counter it?” Sakuto asked immediately.

“You have to enhance your own soul with soul prowess.” Kouta elaborated. “Since an acclamation is the exposure of the soul, the soul’s void and prowess can force other souls in its area to weaken and extinguish, which is the same as dying. It’s called ‘dimming’, and it can be quite a pain in the ass if left unchecked. Soul prowess needs to be allocated to the soul itself to protect it against extinguishment. Happy now?”

“You’re this curious? Back then you took strategy and technique awareness very seriously while fighting. I guess the habit carried over.”

“Right, I get it...” Sakuto said. “Sorry if I bothered you.”

“It’s fine. I just don’t want you to get false hopes.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Sakuto chuckled.

Kouta seemed a bit off guard by the comment. Dima’s remarks the other day about their bond resembling that of an older and younger brother were something that he believed in too.

“I’m glad you joined us, Sakuto.” Kouta sighed. ”You really helped me out.”

“I really didn’t do much, man.”

“Nah, just you being here is good enough.” Kouta smiled. “Even back then, you helped me out.”

“I didn’t know how to react.” Sakuto thought, trying to not get overwhelmed by his mindscape.

“His gratitude...it felt nice. It felt just like her words back then. Moments like these really stick out to me.”

“I wanna help him out even more in the future. Quite frankly, I should be forever grateful to him. He taught me how to survive, and he reassured me that I’m strong. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

Sakuto’s breathing fluctuated a bit. He zoned out for a second, quickly managing to regain his composure before Kouta noticed it. Thankfully, this time, he could suppress his soul presence too...

“Don’t just stop with me when it comes to helping people, though.” Kouta continued. “There’s someone else you’re helping too.”

“Oh, yeah I guess that’s true.” Sakuto said, before the two headed back towards the store.

“Right. Everything started with her...”

...

“Ichika, you seem a little sleep deprived.” Ausra noted.

“Kind of, yeah.” Ichika replied. “I guess I messed up with my sleep cycle.”

“Hm? You slept even later?”

“More like earlier. I was pretty tired too, and I had to make sure Sakuto’s wounds were fine before he slept himself.”

“And how was he?”

“We talked a bit, he told me about what happened.” Ichika said. “He was telling me non-stop about how cool Kouta is.”

“That’s to be expected.” Ichika laughed. “Those two are like-”

“-brothers.”

“Hm?”

“He told me a bit about how he got to know Kouta and what he went through. Honestly, hearing his perspective of Kouta’s story was pretty interesting. He...helped Kouta out when everyone deemed him to be a failure.”

“How sweet.” Ausra said. “And did it change how you view him?”

“Kouta? Not really, he’s still the same gloomy-”

“I’m talking about Sakuto.” Ausra said with a smile. “What do you think of him now?”

“Well...I don’t know.” Ichika said. “He seems alright. He saved me twice already, once during the school incident, a second time against that elemental...”

“Right, that’s good.” Ausra said. “Did you eat today?”

“Not really.”

“Did you take anything last night to sleep better?”

“Yeah, just one.”

“Look!” Ausra suddenly said. ”Oskar got the food!”

Everyone soon gathered around. The fragrant scent of the food could be sensed through the thin paper bags it was packaged in, and it quickly imprisoned the group’s noses.

“Screw bowling, let’s just sit down and eat now!” Ausra said in excitement. “We can do it later. I’m starving.”

“Yeah, I agree!” Oskar said, matching her energy. “Let’s just take a seat outside.”

“You guys know if you told me earlier I’d set up a nice seat for us, right? It’s occupied now.” Dima sighed.

“It’s fine, we can just eat outside.” Oskar said, inviting everyone else to take a seat. Sakuto watched the scene unfold with uncertainty in his mind.

“I was supposed to check on Aki and hang around with them right? I was supposed to retain the ties with those people and keep the bridge afloat from my side.”

“They’d say this is stupid. They’d call me a fake elemental that’s wasting time. They’d say I need to go back to school...”

“Oi, Sakuto!” Oskar called out, tossing a drink to him. “If you want a different can, let me know.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Thanks.” Sakuto said, quickly getting back to his senses. The cold feel of the can refreshed his mind for a second. “Get one for Kouta as well.”

“On its way.” Oskar replied, chucking another can at Kouta. The latter pulled it towards him with his gravity and grabbed it. Small talk, jokes, and great food...

“You don’t get what I’m saying, we don’t need a damn operation!” Hwang yelled. “Just get me somewhere with that asshole I’ll settle the score!”

“Calm down, one-armed general.” William said. Hwang was aggravated and tried to attack him, but was shut down by Ichigo.

“Please, let’s all stay patient until he arrives.” Ichigo conveyed in a formal tone.

“What’s the time? He’s late already.” Luca said, resting his head on his elbow.

“WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Diego barged into the room, almost breaking the door. His outfit, half covered in food remains and vomit, and half in alcohol, told more than a million words.

“We g-gonna fucking kill 'em! Ey?!” He yelled, shaking the bottle of beer in his hand around, spilling some of it on the floor. “G-gonna...Ah, shit...” He exclaimed his final words before puking on the floor.