Chapter 1

The text is as curt as their last meeting.

"Golden Bean, 9 am tomorrow", the text says.

Its presence in his inbox alone is enough to send Arilio racing all the way past the door of the hip Boulangerie and Cafe in downtown Shin Tokyo, suit hanging from one arm as he looks left and right. He sees him; sitting at a table in the center of the room in jeans and a fitted shirt. Even dressed casually, Segawa Yasuo fails to blend in with the crowd. It's probably in his gait, or the manner he speaks to someone - Arilio isn't sure.

But the thought of speaking to this man always has his stomach churns.

"Good morning! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Ari switches to English, the language he is most comfortable with. The man in front of him is known to speak it fluently, and if they're doing business today, Ari would rather it be done in a language that could leverage his position better. He reigns in his inner professionalism and puts on his widest, toothiest smile as he pulls the seat across from Segawa Yasuo.

The Japanese man shoots him a bemused gaze from behind the sleek black tablet he is holding. Ari rambles on; it helps with his nerves, "Brilliant choice for a place to get breakfast from, by the way - it's also one of my favorites, have you tried their eggs royale? Egg benedict, smoked salmon, on top of freshly baked croissant, dee-licious, and their coffee is to die for," he can see that the plate in front of the other man is more than half empty. Segawa Yasuo must've been here for a while.

The Japanese man lands his tablet, yet he does not cease his silence. It is this that makes communicating with Segawa Yasuo so difficult in Ari's book. It's the silent look. Remember, it's not your fault! Ari reminds himself, you've done what you can. You have nothing to feel bad about.

"Well to explain -!" Ari sputters despite not being asked, but he is quickly disrupted by the other man.

"You're late".

Ah. The Japanese never grow out of their punctuality despite having revolutionized themselves just decades ago.

Ari sneaks a peek at his watch. It's 9.07. Counting the time he spent finding the table and sitting down, he shouldn't be that late. "By three minutes," his smile rejuvenates itself to its full glory. Segawa Yasuo rolls his eyes. The waitress arrives at their table just in time to save Ari from being further sassed by the man.

"Yes, the Eggs Royale and a cup of cappuccino, please. Double shot and no sugar," he's not a coffee person, but he'll need it to face Segawa Yasuo head-on. He thanks the waitress and resumes to be glared down by the face that is said to seduce many Espers left and right.

Ari joins his fingers together on top of the table, to which Segawa Yasuo says, "Cut to the chase".

Ari opens his mouth to gather his words. A second, then two, then he says, "I did tell him about your offer, of course, just like you said it. I explained it to him, and how this seems to be a valuable asset to the team," he nods his head and moves his shoulders, making extra sure that he appears... genuine, "And he said he's not interested".

Segawa Yasuo huffs, which makes Ari desperate to salvage the situation.

"To be fair, I did what you told me to do, and the kid is simply not interested. Sora builds YES from the ground up with a vision. He knows what he wants and I can't just change his mind. He doesn't want a guide in the team," Ari has lowered his volume. After all, there are other people around them. "In this case, an exclusive guide. He said they could get any guide without them having to be in the team".

Segawa Yasuo keeps his silence for a moment, "Did you mention him being a Class F?"

"Y-yeah," he falters, "I did". As an afterthought, he mentally added. At first, he avoided saying it because Sora has been adamant from the get-go about YES being the first Esper Organization to exclusively recruit people under 20 with the minimum rank of Class B. Suggesting the kid recruit a person, a guide to be more specific, of a class as low as F would be bizarre.

And as he had expected, the moment he mentioned it to Sora, the boy waved it off before ending the conversation.

"He's even more disinterested," Ari decides to give a brief version of their whole interaction instead.

Segawa Yasuo's brows are knitted. "He doesn't know. He doesn't know what F-Class Guides can do," he mutters thoughtfully almost to himself.

So do I, Ari blurts silently. Ever since Segawa Yasuo called him to that hospital room, he could not get that boy out of his mind. He's been raking all the resources given to him for more information, and still, he has no clue what that child can do.

One could say perhaps Yasuo has lost it. To put such value onto a Class F child is almost unheard of, especially in today's world where everything is about where you rank in terms of abilities.

However, Ari has heard enough about Segawa Yasuo to not take his words lightly. Segawa Yasuo is not just a Guide; he is the Guide; the face of Neo Japan's Guide Protection Council and Asia's Guide Association. In his prime, he is said to make any Espers in his path swoon, enough to bag him a handful of influence and power to sit among the upper echelon of the Government and to pull some strings.

His position as a Guide brings him the advantage of not ever being put in the public's eye, however, which makes him one of the most powerful figures who works behind the scenes. Hence, it is hard to read his moves and whims. The man is renowned for not moving his pieces aimlessly, and the way Ari understands it, he is but one of the Guide's pawns at the moment and he wills Ari to move.

But he can't move much without knowing what he's doing and what he's doing it for!

He still doesn't understand why Segawa Yasuo is pushing for that F-Class Boy to join YES. He's done his share of research and all of them resulted in nothing. The people he contacted had gone as far as laughing at him for mentioning the mere idea of an F-Class Guide!

"You don't know how many people I have to push off and how much effort I've put to place that child in safety, and here you are rejecting an offer of a lifetime," Segawa Yasuo states.

"Woah, woah, woah, me? Rejecting? I am not the one doing the rejecting here. It's Sora. Sora is the one you're having problems with".

"We even took care of Shun-En for you".

That got Ari silenced. "That," he nods and turns serious for once. The team's first case at Shun-En was disastrous, but the media circus atop of that was beyond reparation, at least in their hands. The Government stepped in not long after, muting the media and doing negotiations with the families of the victims who are mostly very young. If not for that intervention, they might have lost YES. Ari had wondered then if it was due to the promise Segawa Yasuo made to him in that hospital room, or if the Government had suddenly decided to abort their plan to abandon YES. But this confirms the prior. "That I thank you," Ari continues, "I really do. I would've been jobless otherwise".

"And you still could be. Doesn't Sora want a core team?"

Ah, this has to be about his sons. "About that. Sora is convinced he can wait for your son until he turns 18," Segawa Yasuo snorts, "He said your son has shown enough interest to become an Esper that he'll be able to join once he's a legal adult in about one and a half year". The only thing that is holding Segawa Hide back from joining them is his father's lack of consent. Segawa Yasuo has been very vocal about not having his S-Class children become Espers.

"And he thinks I won't spend that amount of time convincing my son otherwise?"

Ari lifts both hands in a mock surrender pose, "Hey, it's not me! That's Sora! Let me tell you, that kid is stubborn as hell!"

Their waitress returns with Ari's food. Ari thanks her and grabs his cup of joe.

"And how about my other son?" The Guide says.

"Who?" Ari sips from his cappuccino. At the same time, the table behind Segawa Yasuo is calling for the waitress. "Can I have another set of utensils, please? I dropped mine," a young voice says to the waitress. Weird. Someone that age should be at school at this time of the day, unless they work for YES that is. It is then that Ari's wandering eyes catch the sight of the person sitting at the other table.

The coffee spills out of his mouth and back into the damned cup. Some spills to the table.

"Fuck, he's here," Ari wheezes as he scrambles to find a napkin and clean up the mess. He might have spilled some onto his dress shirt. "You brought that kid here, holy fucking shit, mother of Jesus".

The last time he saw that boy, he was in his hospital bed, deeply asleep like nothing in the world was happening. After he left that hospital, Ari braved himself to reread the reports. At this point, he can stomach seeing the pictures of the brutal attack done to that boy without throwing up, although it still messes with his appetite afterward. He has seen the boy's school profile and his school picture; dark brown hair and round eyes of matching color.

Still, he did not expect to see him alive and well after seeing those bloody photos.

Segawa Yasuo is not amused at the mess he made on the table. "Charming," the man mumbles before taking a drink from his own cup of tea.

Ari is quick to note that the person sitting with the boy is probably another undercover personnel, a bodyguard. The man is reading a book, while the boy - Hinata Ren, that's his name - is writing something onto a book - a handbook? Is he... studying?

"Ren wants to work for the ministry".

Ari does another rough wiping on the stain on his tie, "Sorry?"

"The Ministry of Defense and Esper Conduct. Ren said he wanted to work there as a secretary or something similar. That's why he is studying hard. Could you believe that? Someone of his rank, working for the ministry," Segawa Yasuo chuckles, for once, "Such a waste of potential".

"O-oh," Ari thought the man would think that it would be difficult for a Class F to find a place in the Ministry. Yet it is clear that Segawa Yasuo sees something in Hinata Ren that no one else can see.

In fact, Ari sees nothing. One out of ten people have a higher sensitivity to abilities, allowing them to sense a person's Class through sight alone. Ari is one of those people who can sense them; and, unsurprisingly, he senses none from Hinata Ren.

It piques his curiosity when someone else can see something he can't because normally he's that person.

"You think he should be in YES," Ari tries to maintain his smile, but honestly he is feeling a myriad of emotions that putting up a front is starting to be difficult. "Why YES? Why not another guild? If you so believe in his potential, then why not just make him a licensed Guide and let him work under you? He can be a huge help outside of YES, you know?" After all, YES is but a seedling.

"True, and he will still be. However, I don't think you understand how his potential works".

"Then humor me".

"Not until you bring me Sora," the Guide quips back with a tone that is a tad sharper. The man leans forward and lowers his voice, "You don't know how many people I have to fend off to wait for that brat to come around. I have Matsuzaka Kei ringing me non-stop, and the only reason I fight so hard against his relentless badgering is because I held out hope that your brat will see some sense".

"M-Matsuzaka Kei?"

"Yes. He's proposing for Ren to be his exclusive Guide".

"So why don't you?"

"... you have no idea don't you?" The Guide's smile is cold and almost condescending. He leans back and crosses his arms, eyes trained on Ari's confused form. "For now, I'll simply tell you that if I handed Ren to Matsuzaka Kei, no one else would have access to him. Not Sora, not my sons. And he won't be the only one pushing for such proposals. The only reason news of Ren's presence is not out yet is because Prime Minister Takenouchi has stepped in. Otherwise, I would have to deal with more proposals".

"The Prime Minister...," Ari finds himself whispering. The man is Sora's uncle, and they both are known to not have the best relationship. Yet one thing about Sora is that anything his uncle is interested in, he will seek; mostly for petty reasons.

"How about this. Tell your brat that he might get Hide, but he will have to get through me to get to my second son".

"Yeah, but Sora is never interested in recruiting your second son," He is only interested in Segawa Hide, the boy with the super strength ability.

"Tell him Felix holds the key to solving the mystery of Shun-En".

"What!?"

"You heard me".

Ari blinks. "Oh, come on! If that is the case, you know that should hold a higher priority than holding him hostage to ask Sora for a ransom!"

"Yes, I can, because this matter regarding Ren holds a much higher priority you have no idea," Segawa Yasuo's tone is calm, but it promises a foreboding doom. "Bring Sora to the table, and we'll discuss. In the meantime, we should finish this breakfast in peace. I have a meeting in about an hour".

***

Arilio Banks storms past the elevator door to the 12th floor of The National League of Espers Headquarters. This floor specifically has been reserved for YES while their official Headquarters is still in the middle of construction on the outskirts of Shintokyo. Normally, Ari would enjoy his time at the office improving the planning for their future Headquarters, but not today. He has something else in mind at the moment. Something he has kept to himself for the length of his conversation with Guide Segawa Yasuo.

I don't know where Sora is.

Yes. Sora has disappeared.

Not that it is anything new to those who have worked with the teen. In the times he works with Sora, he has experienced a few of the 18-year-old disappearing acts. And, when it comes to Sora, going off-contact could either mean, "sorry im busy saving the world right now", or ,"im just boooorrreedddd lololol". One time when he was gone, Ari found out from the news that Sora was rescuing people from a huge fire in China; but the last time he was away, he told Ari later on that he was curious about what it feels like to eat Ramen at the top of Mt. Fuji, so he went there with a cup of instant noodles.

He's never gone longer than a week and has a sixth sense when it comes to portals opening in Neo Japan that would alert him before it's even coming, so no one is ever concerned when he disappears.

Except now Ari needs him.

And he has no way of getting to the boy. No one would have a way to contact the boy when he's on his off-contact whims, except for two people.

"Where the fuck is Koukichi!?" Ari cusses with his phone to his ear. He is taking large steps in the hallway, trying to get to his secretary's desk as soon as possible.

When he gets there, he stops by the front desk only to find it empty. The other end of the call has yet to answer.

Then Ari feels someone touching his chest.

Alex Wu, the Singaporean man who is the latest addition to his line of secretaries and assistants, a man of short stature and flamboyant mannerism, is wiping the stain off of his tie. "Your tie is dirty, Sir," Alex smiles like he's about to give him the world. One thing about Alex is that he is gayer than the average gay and seeing him is enough to make Ari see rainbows in his vision for the rest of the day.

"Get the fuck off me Alex, and where the hell is Koukichi?!" He snaps. Alex steps back dramatically with what sounds like a whine. Thankfully, he finds Yuri Hartley running to him from his office. "Mr. Banks! Thank goodness you're back!"

Yuri is Japanese American, and Ari is thankful she has spent enough time in America to deal with his antics without a single judgment. "Great! What the hell have you guys been doing? The front desk's empty and we have to get to work, okay? Now I need you to find me Koukichi -"

"Oh my, you haven't heard," Yuri cuts in. She and Alex exchange nervous glances as their faces pale. Alex looks apologetic.

"I've sent him numerous texts explaining the situation," Alex explains.

"What? What's that look for, JUST TELL ME!"

Yuri grabs his arm and pulls him with her to the large double door of his office; Alex follows closely behind them. Once there, his third assistant, Tara Park, is standing in front of the large television screen.

The screen is showing the midday news with the news anchor speaking next to a picture of someone familiar.

Ari notices the picture first before he hears the news anchor's voice.

It's one of his kids; Abe Koukichi. Smiling in the picture and posing like in any other pictures he posts on his social media.

"An individual claiming to represent a team of vigilant citizens has posted a video admitting to kidnapping the heir to the family behind the multi-billion tech company Abe Tech, Abe Koukichi. As of now, the video has been taken down by Utube and is in the hands of the Washington Police Department and the FBI. The 19-year-old was last seen in this CCTV footage venturing the streets of 16th Street Northwest -"

"Kidnapped!!?" Arilio Banks groans, "Are you kidding me? Now's not the time to get kidnapped! I have things to do, people to find, oh my God," he rubs his forehead. He can feel a headache coming.

"Will he be all right?" Alex mutters.

"All right? Of course, he'll be fucking all right! You haven't seen him beat those mutants to pulp?"

"Have you?"

"No," Ari sighs, "That's not the point! Point is, he can escape those kidnappers if he wants to. He's dealt with mutants before, you think this vigilant whatever is a match to that?"

"Yeah, but the one facing those mutants is Tungsten, not Abe Koukichi the rich heir," Tara remarks, "He can use his ability as Tungsten, but he can't use it as the person outside of the armor".

That is true. Out of the three kids in YES core team, Abe is the one running under an alias and hiding his identity behind a mecha armor. His reason is simple, he wants to have an identity separate from his civilian self. And when you're an heir to an old name with constant media scrutiny, you would want to have a semblance of privacy.

Plus, Koukichi is not 100% forthcoming with his family about his Esper career.

"Fuck!" Ari cusses loudly, "FUCK!"

"What is it?" Yuri asks as Ari starts tapping to his phone.

"I will have to make a phone call to the person who can get me to Sora. And if it's not Abe Koukichi, then there's one more number to call".

And it's the one Ari doesn't want to call.

***

To be Continued.