Kyoto

𝑳𝒊𝒗, 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.

7:00 AM

It was a hazy dawn. The Sun could be barely seen. We all woke up early to get ready for Kyoto. We were sitting around the table, on the sofa, drinking coffee. There were plates in front of us that contained the remains of omelette. The lights were off and through the windows, weak light rays provided us a small degree of vision. It was very dim and silent. The sound of me drinking the coffee echoed throughout all of the room. The coffee, it was neither hot nor much cold. Still, it gave me a sensation of warmth with each sip.

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "I wish we could do some sightseeing."

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "Same here."

"I wonder what you would have said if I had told you the same thing.", I said while having a sip.

A very typical 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 and 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹 thing. Not one day passed without us arguing over anything. From anything, I mean literally anything.

*𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒌

We all heard the car's horn and knew immediately that it was time. I finished the remaining coffee in my cup with one sip and placed it on the table. I grabbed my bag and left with everyone. Who will clean up all the stuff? I don't really care. When we were outside, 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 put her thumb on the handle of the main door-

"House Secured."

I could see the black car waiting for us with the driver sitting on his seat and looking at us. We walked towards it and took our seats. Then, the driver started the engine and the car began moving, slowly getting further away from the house where I had stayed for only one night.

Driver : "Are you all well?"

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "Yes. Why you ask?"

Driver : "Your faces look like a dead man's. You all are leaving so early, it hasn't even been 1 day since you arrived here."

Looked like our concerns were clearly visible even in this hazy morning.

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "We just........ have some work."

The driver looked in his rearview mirror, giving 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 a look.

Driver : "Alright."

After some time, we arrived at the airport. The driver bid us farewell and left. In no time, we were at the runway, From afar, I could see the Pilot waving at us with a smile on his face. I wish I could have it too.

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From the window of my seat, I could see the Land of the Rising Sun. Its cultural beauty shined brightly even in the daylight. I was feeling extremely tired. Who wouldn't be? It was an 18 hour long flight, after all. Forget about the aliens, what I really wanted to do was sleep. This time difference had broke the hell out of my mind and disrupted my sleep cycle completely.

I yawned, I simply just didn't have anything better to do, nor did I wanted to do anything else except sleep. Others....... who cares about those faggots.

Captain on comms : "Everyone get your seatbelts."

At last. Finally, we were landing. My back had become stiff from all the sitting. The plane slowly prepared itself for landing. When it finally touched the runway, the tires produced a significant amount of smoke due to friction. The tires eventually came at a halt, as did the plane. The only one thing which didn't come to halt was my journey.

When the doors opened, I was the first one to step outside. As I placed my feet on the first stair, the sunlight pierced my already tired eyes, inflicting pain on them.

𝑳𝒊𝒗, 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.

5:00 PM

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "What are you dozing off for? Move."

"Yes, yes."

This guy. Not even a long flight could shake his personality. I moved my feets, getting down until it touched the runway.

*𝒚𝒂𝒘𝒏

Someone from behind yawned. I looked back to se- What the hell?

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "So we are finally here, huh? It was definitely a long flight."

No. The first word that came to my mind was "no." This couldn't be possible. The most elegant girl I had ever seen had now transformed into this? Her beautiful hair had become more like a pigeon's nest, and dark circles gave an odd look to her pale skin. If I was tired, then she was tired ultra pro max.

"Wow, you look beautiful."

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "Huh? Ah well..... thanks. You look handsome too."

Wait, did she just blush? It seems that this tiredness has even destroyed my basic processing capability. I mean, there's no way someone would blush for me considering the fact that the author already told you all that I am just a plain guy. I must have lost my mind.

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "Let's head to the parking lot. I suspected this mission to be a trap, which it actually is. Therefore I asked my people to leave a car for us at the airport. We will travel by ourselves, without putting any civilian in danger."

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "Smart Move."

"Unlike you."

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "Did you say something, 𝘔𝘳. 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹?"

"Nah, I was just thinking outloud."

We all reached the parking lot. 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 guided us to a secluded corner where a Black SUV awaited. Its polished black color was so reflective that it mirrored my face. She put her thumb on one of the door's handle-

"Access Granted"

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "Do you literally have biometric locks on everything?"

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "Well..... yes. Now, you drive."

We all settled ourselves in the car, sinking into the luxurious comfort of the seats. I was in the back seat alone as sitting with that guy is a headache. With one click on the display panel located right beside the driving wheel, the engines roared to life, generating an energetic sound wave.

The wheels gradually began moving- But. Suddenly they stopped.

"What now?"

I saw 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 change gears and put his leg on the accelerator. But nothing happened.

"C'mon, what kind of an adult can't drive?"

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "Shut up, this car has some kind of problem."

After some useless tries, 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 tried opening the door so that he could check the engine but the door didn't open.

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "Something's wrong."

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "Huh?"

Rose also attempted to open her door, but it remained stuck, not budging even an inch. Then, out of nowhere, the car's display panel emitted a peculiar sound and turned purple. All of us directed our attention towards it. From the back seat, I began to worry. Not because I had to fight, but because I had to fight when I was so tired.

"Oh, no. Not now, please. 𝘓𝘪𝘷! try to unhack it."

"It seems to be encrypted far beyond my capabilities."

"Fuck!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from every speaker in the car-

𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 : "Hello again, 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹 and his friends. It seems that you have accepted my invitation."

"Yes, yes. Cut the crap."

𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 : "As disrespectful as ever, I see. Well, to display my generosity, I will provide you with a map that will lead you directly to me. Come now, if you dare. If you prove powerful enough to entertain me, I promise to grant you all a painless death."

Damn. This guy is overconfident as hell.

"Look, I am really tired right now. Send the map and I will come by tomorrow."

Just as I finished this sentence, 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 and 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 glared at me. They must have something to tell me in their mind.

𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 : "Come now otherwise I will kill 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳."

After....... a moment of silence. I tried processing things.

"Wait, am I overhearing things or did you just say 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳?"

𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 : "It's exactly as you heard. In fact, 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 is right here in my laboratory."

I began panicking. My heart started racing faster. The atmosphere was becoming tense. I was losing sense of reality. All of the cool front I had was gone.

"Hey, hey, hey. 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 tell me this is not happening."

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "I'm sorry, 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹. It is real."

"You.... 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳, you bastard! If you even try to put a scar on him, I will make you suffer so much that-"

He cut off me mid sentence.

𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 : "I know, I know. If you are that desperate then just come and see me. See you later."

As he finished his talk, the panel became normal. A location popped up on its screen telling where he was waiting for me. I was still processing things.

𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳? 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏? 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏? 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝑰 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆, 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔? 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑲𝒚𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒑 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒐? 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝒔𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚. 𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑲𝒆𝒛𝒓𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒐. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓, 𝑰 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅. 𝑨 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆.

I looked at 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 and 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯, gathering some strength to speak up-

"Listen, you two-"

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "Don't."

"What?"

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "I know that look. Don't worry about me and get to safety shit and all. Don't say that crap. We are all going together to rescue your friend."

"No! You are not going anywhere! It's really dangerous, I am not interested in having your blood on my hands."

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 sighed.

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "We are in this shit together. We came here together. And now we are going to fight together, you like it or not. I can't just see a child walking straight into death."

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "And for your information, We can fight. I didn't research all those Kezrin you broke for nothing. I have got their weapons. You haven't even seen me shooting yet. Believe me, I have a lot better aim than you. Let's focus on working together and utilizing our individual abilities to increase our chances of success."

"You all...."

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 : "Stop with the emotional drama, we have got a person to save."

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 once again started the engines of the car and began driving.

𝑶𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆.