Still in deep thought, Kori was starting to wrap up his reflection like he'd done so many times in recent times.

-That's right, I beat that guy and swore to never kill or permanently injure again. I then travelled to China to get a control of my angry impulses, which worked pretty well. Some stuff happened both there and here and then we're back to the present. Finally finished that d.a.m.n flashback.

I'm tired now and I want to go home and play games…-

Kori looked over to his comrade and asked

"So how do we get home now? Do we get a ride home from that guy?"

Biharu seemed a bit more relieved when he noticed the change of att.i.tude of Kori, changing from a frustration to a tired neutrality.

Biharu was mostly relieved about not being a potential target for Kori's anger. He definitely didn't want to be caught in the crosshairs of that.

The thought of that spun further into Biharu's mind as he considered both of their power levels, maybe he was able to win over the legendary man? He didn't want to overestimate himself too much, but he had trained a lot with his powers and knew how to utilize them well. Kori probably had a lot more battle experience compared to him, but Biharu didn't see Kori as the kind of person to experiment and really care how he defeated his enemies. Biharu thought that he had the technique, meanwhile Kori had the experience.

Biharu thought

- Well, I won't be able to find out any time soon at least. It's forbidden for coworkers to fight each other, after all. We might actually get fired if we were to do it.-

Biharu woke himself up quickly as he realized that he was asked a question, he swiftly turned his towards Kori and answered

"Nope, I don't think they know we're here right now and by the circ.u.mstances we got ourselves into and my phone battery is completely drained. I think we have to walk home… Or, do you have any money? If you do, we could take a taxi or something."

Kori grunted, annoyed as he realized that his phone also was out of battery. He felt his pocket to see if there was a wallet there.

As he felt a b.u.mp in his pocket, his mood instantly got better and he reached into his pocket to pull out the item.

Biharu witnessed the action in front of him and made the comment

"A… calculator?"

Kori got a jumpscare as he pulled it out and immediately threw it to the ground with immense vigor, like it'd done something personal to him.

*CRASH*

Biharu reacted

"Why did you throw it!? Those are expensive, you know! Your mom's gonna be p.i.s.sed."

Kori gulped nervously at the remark about his mom becoming p.i.s.sed, but shrugged it off by saying

"It's whatever, I earn enough money to pay for a new one. My mom won't even know."

Biharu scratched his head after being somewhat shocked and reluctantly said

"I guess… But still… It feels kinda wasteful. How can you even get scared at a calculator? Although I guess I would also be if I expected something else."

Kori frowned as he said

"I might be good at fights and even surprise attacks. But some foes are just too great to face in such a quick fas.h.i.+on."

Biharu accepted that answer, and even laughed a bit, as he also had some personal experiences with calculators and such. He would never forget that one day in sixth grade when they had to have their calculators with them for a test but he'd forgotten his and had to do everything in his head. Which didn't go very well, because Biharu was as good at math as a blinded monkey with 7 math textbooks in front of him was.

Kori, and by extension Biharu as well, were unconsciously headed towards an abandonded warehouse while walking towards the exit of that harbor.

With tired bodies and longing mindsets, the two continued their journey.

…

In a tall building in the middle of the city, and the headquarters for the second largest corporation of that city, only a couple of people were staying even in those late hours. Other than some overworking office workers who needed to finish their projects in time, one person who sat in the highest office was special in comparison.

Not because of anything to do with him, in fact he constantly criticised himself for his lack of personality.

But because of the status he had managed to attain in his long career.

As the CEO of the second largest corporation in one of the largest cities of the country, Ak.u.ma Kurohito had a lot of things. Cars, Money, Women, Status, Respect and all other things that come with a position like his.

But he lacked a couple of things in life, and in particular one specific thing.

Ironically enough, that thing he wanted was the only reason he started the company in the first place.

Every time he called those two people, he always got the same negative response. It'd been a while since he last called them, but he was sure that the same response would prevail if he called them right that second.

As Kurohito was staring out of his highly-located window and out to the busy city, he contemplated his current business moves.

"They should have retrieved those items by now, which will make it a bit easier to a.s.sert control over this town. Korumu should have also completed his mission by now, which will make the company's worth raise once again. Soon, I'll be there and reach my goal.

Once I do, I don't really have anything to live for anymore, do I?

I already have everything anyone could wish for, so there's no point to living then, is there?

But that's the future, right now I will focus all I have onto my current goal!"

The view from his current position would have been considered amazing by pretty much anyone, but Kurohito wasn't necessarily pleased by it.

The thought of his dream though put a faint smile on his middle-aged mouth as he stared at the sky with a hopeful feeling similar to a 10 year-old.

…

It was a while ago since I last felt the feeling of despair, a feeling of hopelessness and futility.

I smiled awkwardly at the nostalgic feeling as I stared at the ground while I leaned over it. Two people stood ominously a couple of meters in front of me and quietly observed me as I stared at the ground. I slowly lifted my head with that awkward smile staying on my face and saw the two people in front of me. A young person with wavy silver hair in a uniform, and an old person with a ponytail and gla.s.ses. I recognized the old guy as the person who I was chasing, but I had never seen the younger person before.

I took a moment to gather myself and speak, because someone had to start, right?

I said

"Where's Sora? You promised me that you would release her if I came, right?"

Takachu spoke

"She's right over there"

He was pointing at a slightly elevated area behind them, where Sora sat completely still.

"But I don't know if we can release her now… You did kind of chase me to try and steal her. It's not for me to decide, I'll ask our boss and see what he thinks."

Takachu moved to his side to make a phone call to the mysterious boss.

Sora suddenly regained her ability to speak and move, and said

"Kenjiro… Why did you come here? To save me? Or to inflict as much damage as you can to these guys? Maybe even to me..."

I gripped my fist as a way to hold back the tears that burned in my throat. Something that even surprised me, as I hadn't felt that sensation in a while. I half-whispered to myself

"Nothing hurtful enough had happened to me in so long so I'd forgotten what it was like; To be at the brink of tears. I'd been living such a blissful life, hidden away from anything that could hurt, and that was what I want to continue doing.

There's no point in all of this, it just hurts. I don't want it to hurt, I want to be able to smile in my everyday and be as happy as I'm allowed to be..."

I raised myself a little and continued my slightly audible monologue

"No matter how worthless anyone is, I feel like everybody is allowed to smile and be happy. I get that it's weird for the worst person out there to feel that, and that I even feel this damaged over this. Feelings aren't allowed for people like me. But something tells me that this isn't the first instance of you guys doing things like this.

For me to have this feeling in this scenario must mean that..."

I paused and took my look up to the blue-haired girl and said a bit louder

"I care about somebody…?"

I continued my monologue inside my head quickly

-That couldn't be! I'm not supposed to care about anyone, I'm supposed to be quiet and alone. Right, that's my place and I will keep it. But I feel like I owe the Magical Arts Club something for the undeserved kindness I've gotten, as much as I don't want to be there. I won't forget my original objective of pa.s.sing this power onto someone who knows what they're doing, and like that I'll be able to go back to my normal life.

I must make amends though for what I said in the infirmary room before. Even if I don't think I said anything too wrong about myself, I did unnecessarily hurt Sora. My thoughts don't even matter, The members' feelings take priority to this useless person's-

A heavy pressure instantly fills up in my head, almost making my believe my head was going to explode. It was the same kind of pressure you'd get when a presentation in front of the whole cla.s.s is up and you know you're going to make a lot of mistakes, only that the pressure I felt was filled with the anxiety of disappointing a what was apparently a friend. Not only that, but the look on Sora at that moment was one of pure confusion. Like a traitor had suddenly switched sides once again, and one that wondered if she'd heard me correct. I got the awkward smile once again as I stood up and walked a step forward.

Takuchu looked over at Satos.h.i.+ with an equally awkward expression, although it wasn't exactly a smile. Satos.h.i.+ whispered quietly to Takuchu

"What's going on here? There are a lot more emotions at play here than there should be. What did you do? I almost feel like we're doing something wrong… Which is kind of exciting if I'm honest. But it could be bad, because if he gets this emotional, it could for sure lead into a fiery resistance against us, which would be a pain. It's already so late, I wanna sleep!"

Takuchu chuckled wryly and responded

"Right… but it's part of our work today, imagine the face of our boss when we can tell him if it works or not. But guess what I saw him have? He has Kori's abilities! We do need to be wary if he decides to do something."

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

I looked into the confused but ultimately sad eyes of Sora with a kind of bravery unlike my common self. I didn't look people in the eyes often because of their importance, they are the gateway to the soul and I didn't want people to see into the dirt inside of me. I still felt the same at that moment too, but I thought that in order to communicate my apology correctly, I needed to speak to Sora's soul. Her eyes screamed of the sea, like the harbor that was right next to us and had the same intense light blue as her hair had. The complexity displayed in her look was hard to explain, and it didn't seem like she hated me, which I got confused at.

I bowed down while maintaining the eye-contact and half-yelled

"I'm so sorry, Sora Ikutsu. I'm sorry for my ignorance! I'm sorry for my stupidity! I'm sorry for my uselessness! I hurt you for no reason earlier when I made my bland statement, it was uncalled for and something I deeply regret! I came here with the intention of saving you, but I have failed at even that task. I was unable to redeem myself for what I said. I am the worst person in the universe, but I don't want to become even worse! If you manage to get out of here, then I owe you a thousand favours!"

One, lonely, desolate, and to some; meaningless, tear very slowly made its way down my cold and dirty cheek. I straightened myself up again and said with a very simple smile on my face

"Come on and beat me, you two. I accept my punishment!"

A complete surprise to everyone in the room, and it showed in their faces. Especially Takuchu, who had encountered the unexpected strength of the young man before. He said to Satos.h.i.+ with a both relieved and hesitant smile

"I guess we won't need to go through the pain with this guy after all!"

Satos.h.i.+ smiled for a couple of seconds.

Which then turned into a light chuckle,

and then full-on laughter as he said

"HAHAHA, This'll be the easiest job so far! He's kind of dumb, isn't he? I mean, who would just submit themselves to something like this?"

Sora stared with a gaping mouth, she stared with the same shock as seeing a well-executed plot twist that she already expected. She should've seen that coming, but she didn't expect me to actually go that far.

A couple of moments of silence fell on the room, before it broke.

Sora, still staring at me, said

"Well… I think it's safe to a.s.sume that if you make an effort, I'll be able to get out of here. So I'm using one of my favours here already:

Fight!

Fight to save me and get me out of here, even if it's futile with no hopes of succeeding. That'll be the appropriate punishment for you!"

My smile stayed the same as I thought about it, and I figured that it was a legitimate claim. I would get beat either way, so this one was probably a lot better if I wanted to apologize to Sora. I said slowly as I brought up my hand in front of my face slowly

"I guess that makes sense, I'll try."

I paused for a bit as I took in some air and folded two fingers on my hand.

With a 3 displayed on my hand and my eye peeking out of the s.p.a.ce between my index and middle finger, I said

"Level 3.0"

...