6 - Introducing Voltage

“Really? The same trick twice?” Hayk asked, surprised and slightly disappointed.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you. I had to be off the grid completely for a while." Oskar said. "Things were complicated here.”

“And you couldn’t tell me something?” Sakuto asked, upset. “I thought something happened to you...God fucking damn it...talk about a small world.”

“Look man, I had my reasons, alright?”

“Yeah, abandoning your friend can surely be justified.” Sakuto said. “You went from talking to me every other day to dead silence in just one day.”

“He’s an agent.” Hayk intervened, attempting to calm the argument that was flourishing in front of everyone. “He had to be off the grid.”

“The day he awakened a soulful, he was instantly picked up by the GSC. They might even consider hiring him as the newest member of the elemental group.” Kouta explained. “At the same time, he was convinced to stick with us instead of those dickheads. So Hayk made him a spy.”

“I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about, but so do we.” Hayk said. “Sakuto, I’ll introduce you to the family now.”

“Sure.” Sakuto said, still keeping his eyes glued on Oskar who had a little guilt on his face.

“I’ve known Oskar for years, we’ve only met each other in person a few times, but...”

“Most of my laughs were shared with this guy. He’s the closest thing I have to a friend. No, he is a friend. He’s my only actual genuine friend.”

“We used to do the craziest shit back in the day...”

“Right...”

“A friend...”

“Hey, calm down.” Hayk said. “Control your damn presence, will ya? Learn some proper soulful etiquette. No dick measuring contests with your soul presence. Anyways...”

“You already know the three...no, four of us. So I’ll introduce the rest.” Hayk said. He pointed at the girl sitting on the mats, curiously observing the encounters. “This is Ausra. She’s quite the handful, she’s been in this for a while and she has some seriously strong destructive capabilities. She’s also a great cook.”

The girl’s brown hair was styled in bangs with a pair of slightly blonde pigtails on each side. She had profoundly dark eyes, complimenting her white skin. She quietly greeted Sakuto, who couldn’t give much of a response since he was still trying to process Oskar’s return. He snapped out of it and greeted her back, a little embarrassed.

“This here is Dima.” Hayk said, pointing at a guy with slightly curly brown hair with blondish hues and light blue eyes. He was leaning against the wall, his frame was slender but he was tall. One of his hands was wrapped in bandages. “He’s uhh...yeah, dunno what to say about him. He’s here. Been here for a while too.” Dima and Sakuto nodded at one another.

“The lady here is Rin. She’s the person you go to if you break your arm or lose half of your blood.” Hayk said. She referred to the woman who was busy handling various medicines at the cabinets in the corner of the gym. She had shoulder length straight black hair and wore a pair of rectangular glasses with a thin black outline on the bottom side. She didn’t care much about the introduction.

“And finally...the right hand of the operation.” Hayk said, pointing at the man who approached him.

“I’ll take the honors.” He sighed. He had dark hair and a few scars on his face. “I’m Tsunehiro. We’d like to extend our warmest welcomes to you.”

“I’m not sure that’s how the expression works.” Hayk said. “Anyhow, welcome to the family. You’re a part of it now, whether you like it or not.”

“I’m sure he likes it.” Kouta commented. “Out of everyone, I should’ve expected him to be a soulful the most.”

“He was the most nonstandard, even back then...”

...

“So much has happened in this place.”

“I’d go as far as to say I can’t recall anything else that had happened before I came here.”

“Cherished memories, fuel for nightmares, there was absolutely everything. Had it not been for the incident, I’d still come here every day. I wouldn’t have any powers, any soulful acquaintances...”

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“Come to think of it, I’d just be as empty as ever.”

“But back then, I had a different type of life path planned. I had a clear direction in life I was willing to take, although a bit wavering at times, I knew my role and I wanted to be the best at something. I wanted to learn, get a job, date a beautiful girl and eventually marry her...I wanted to be rich too. Filthy rich, in fact. So rich that God would smite me once for my pride and a hundred times for my greed.”

“Every day at this school was monotonous, but in that world, it would be filled with laughter, memories, all that stuff. That type of fulfillment is something I can’t imagine myself feeling now. It’s like they say...in a river, you can’t shit in the same water twice...or something like that. They probably don’t even say that for these types of situations. I wonder what happened to the Sakuto that was like that. I wonder if I changed enough to kill him off completely.”

“Maybe if I held onto that direction, dad would be proud...if he was even alive. God damn it, why’d he have to die? I’d be a different person if he was still here. Maybe a much happier person.”

“...”

“That type of life...”

“The more I think about it, the more I realize...”

“I don’t want it at all.”

Sakuto stood in front of the ruined parts of his school, watching repair crews slowly nibble at the tremendous damage. Despite some time passing, a lot of work needed to be done. He observed the sight, keeping his hands in his pockets.

“What are you up to? Came to sightsee?” Sakuto asked, keeping his eyes locked onto the building, zoned out.

“You can sense soul presences too, impressive.” Oskar said, approaching and standing next to him. “Just came to see ya.”

“I only like foreplay when it’s a cute chick doing it, so don’t bother with the build-up. Just get to the point.”

“You’ve never had that experience.” Oskar laughed. “Anyways, look man, I’m sorry, alright? I was just in a...pretty weird circumstance.”

“It’s fine, I understand.” Sakuto said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m more surprised as to why you’re trying to approach me again.” Sakuto continued. “You were probably much happier without me anyways. Must’ve been nice without some moody pants complaining in your ears all the time.”

“What?” Oskar asked, surprised. “That’s not how it works.”

“When two humans are close, they do something for each other, right?” Sakuto asked back. “You’re justified to forget about me if I’m just a parasite.”

“Dude, there doesn’t have to be some reason or mutual benefit in the fact that we're friends.” Oskar said. “You’re my friend, you don’t gotta buy me dinner or wipe my ass for me to accept you as your friend, alright? And no, I didn’t forget about you. And I definitely didn’t feel good about myself when I had to lay low.”

“Huh...” Sakuto said. His eyes were pleasantly surprised, his inner aggregation of thoughts was silenced for a few moments. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m here for you, man.” Oskar said. “Just like in the old times.”

“Yeah, just like the old times...” Sakuto said. Suddenly, his phone rang. He got it out, and was instantly disappointed by the name that was calling him. He didn’t decline the call, he simply waited for it to end.

“Remember when we joked about how our lives would change if we got powers?” Sakuto asked.

“Yeah...”

“What’d you get by the way? The geezer told me that I need to awaken more or whatever that means.”

“Control over electromagnetism.” Oskar replied with excitement. “Check this out!”

He tossed a coin out of his pocket and made it levitate in the air, before charging it up with electricity and throwing it at one of the construction workers. The worker didn’t know what hit him, he assumed it was his coworker, and a fight broke out between them.

“That’s strong...” Sakuto said. “Electromagnetism? That’s...ridiculously strong. I only have a sword to my name right now.”

“Still gotta practice my kit though.” Oskar said. “I know if it was in the hands of someone like you, you’d find a way to abuse it to its maximum capacity.”

“And with a power like that, you chose to side with the geezer?”

“Yeah. I’d rather not get involved with the elemental group.” Oskar sighed. “No matter how good their pay is...”

“Oskar.” Sakuto said, interrupting him. “You know what? I’m glad we’re back. And Kouta’s here too...this feels like a fever dream.”

“Kouta’s mood is much better now that you’re here by the way.” Oskar said.

“I’m glad I’m of some use then...”

“Yeah, it’s the Oskar I’ve known for so long.”

“How the hell did all these paths manage to converge? Especially right now...when just last week I thought I’d take the easy way out and never see the light again.”

“That option just seemed too convenient...but I’d miss out on all of this.”

He took a deep breath, watching the school building. A part of him felt fulfilled watching the destruction.

“We should probably get back.” Oskar said. “We need to train, we need to think of what to do next.”

“Train...?” Sakuto asked.

“Yeah.” Oskar said. “You killed an elemental yesterday, didn’t you? They were hunting down Ichika, and now, you gave them a reason to hunt you down too. You joined in at the worst possible time, you know? We’re gonna be in deep shit soon.”

"You mean we're going to war?"

"Something like that." Oskar sighed. "Just gotta make sure we set up a war we can win."

“Especially considering just who exactly we have to go up against...”