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Chapter Twelve: Hikari

5 years ago...

"Dad! Look what I can do!"

A pink glow. The plant was healed. Little Hikari Hisatomi had restored her father's favorite tomato plant back to life. One touch to the soil in the pot, and it was as good as new.

"Wow, Hikari! How did you do that?" Hayato Hisatomi was impressed. He had never seen such magic before. He had never even seen her use any type of magic anywhere CLOSE to that before.

"That's different from your normal Storage Magic! Where did you learn that?"

She handed him the pot. "I don't know! I just woke up and felt different, then I walked in the grass and it grew! So I touched your plant, and that happened!"

"Wow. This must be...yes..."

"Must be what?"

He grabbed his chin. "Yes. I'm certain you have an Elemental power."

"What's that?"

"A rare ability that our kind rarely inherits. I must let the government know, immediately! Come with me, honey!"

"Okay!"

They got into a weird-looking techno car and drove off. Himeka looked out the front window, a bit confused.

"An...Element?"

Present Day...

"And now, get ready for our final first-round match: HIKARI VS. DOMEN!"

Hikari gave a nervous smile to the crowd, while Domen pulled out his phone and started frantically texting.

"Come on, bae, answer me! I had to go fight, it was urgent, I would never cheat—-!"

The entire stadium just looked at him, wide-eyed. Arata groaned. "Ugh. Someone ban him from this event. Permanently."

He got mad and threw his phone. "Fine, I'll deal with her later!"

After a bit of awkward silence, Jukai lifted his mic to his mouth and spoke the words.

"Ready? FIGHT!"

"Okay, sweetheart, I have business to handle, so I'll have to—-"

With a flick of his fingers, white energy surrounded him, and he disappeared.

"—-Finish this."

Hikari quickly looked all around her, but there was no trace of Domen. She heard a slight noise, and he grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her.

"Now I'll need you to lose. I know you don't have an offensive power like Akari. Your ABILITY is for healing only."

"Oh. Well..."

"Go, Hikari! Go!"

Kazue called out to her from the stands. Akari also yelled out to her:

"Crush him! Don't let him gaslight you!"

In an instant, with a flash of white light, he was holding her over the edge.

"Okay. Here ya go."

But in the next moment, her eyes began to glow pink, and she elbowed Domen in the stomach. "OWWWW!"

He immediately fell to the ground and began coughing. "What the hell did you do to me?"

"Sorry! Might have been on accident?"

"ARGHHHH!"

Everyone paused, confused. Domen began to cough blood. "All she did was elbow me, the hell?"

He struggled to snap his fingers, then he disappeared once more. Hikari tried to scan the area for him, but he had appeared right above her, arms ready to tackle her.

"Oh!"

Almost immediately, a different energy came off of her: a GOLDEN energy. Hikari reached her hand out and touched Domen's face, and the world around them seemed to melt.

Jukai slowly lifted the mic to his lips. "WOAH! Where did they go?"

Akari scratched her head. "Probably nowhere."

Tomoko stood up, cheering. "I want to go too! Let me go!"

In an unknown location...

Hikari and Domen both fell onto a glowing, golden platform. There was nothing but void all around them. Domen immediately got up and screamed.

"WHAT? Where ARE WE?"

"Oh, um, my little space. I couldn't just let you tackle me, you know."

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

He began looking for a way out, but every time he went close to an edge, he backed away, seeing there was nothing but emptiness below.

"AHHHH!"

"Anyway, I think since I'm safe now, we can go back."

"YES! PLEASE!"

Hikari went to the center of the platform, which had a golden circle, and she placed her hand right in the middle of it. Immediately, the platform began to melt away and they both fell right back down into the arena.

Hikari landed right in the middle of the ring, and Domen fell right outside of it, landing out of bounds.

"NOOOO!"

Jukai got back on his mic, stunned. "Well, I don't know WHAT HAPPENED, but it seems our winner is HIKARI!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, with Akari and Kazue cheering the loudest.

"Go, girl!"

"Good job! Flawless victory!"

Hikari stood up, her face red. "Well, seems like I did it! Great effort by Domen—-"

She looked for him, but he was long gone. "Oh."

Fujii stood up. "Good job, Hikari! That caps off our first-round matches."

As they locked eyes, a sense of familiarity and excitement coursed through Hikari.

5 years ago...

"Who's THIS girl?"

Hikari was holding onto her dad's hands as tightly as she could. She had made it to the Astango Office, right in the heart of the nation. The officials were studying her so hard that she was too nervous to look up. Hayato cleared his throat.

"My daughter. I've noticed she has an ABILITY different from her normal form of magic."

A man, with a holographic name tag that read: "Shiroma Hachiro," lazily spoke up.

"And what is this new ability she has? How does it differ from her usual magic?"

"Well, usually she is only able to store things in her pocket realm, but now, today, she was able to HEAL my plant!"

"And you are sure this isn't some sub-power of her usual magic?"

Hayato shook his head. "Of course not! She went from STORING stuff to HEALING stuff! This can't be a hidden secret of her magic! It has to be something else entirely!"

Hikari began to feel even more stressed being under the watchful eye of so many people. Her golden eyes began to glow pink, and a pink energy coursed through her father.

"Woahhhhhhh!"

Hayato felt a jolt, but not a painful one. It felt as though all his scrapes, his aches, and all his worries had just melted away. A warm pink glow surrounded him, and it was clear that the other men saw it too. A guy, with the name tag "Anzai Tadao," stood up immediately.

"Go get Fujii! Now!"

"Fujii?"

Hikari tilted her head. She had heard the name, she had heard the legend, but she had never met the man before. She had never even seen the man in any way, shape, or form, in her entire life.

In just a few minutes, he had appeared. His icy appearance, his calm but confident demeanor, his charming smile and voice. He walked into the office and stretched out his arms. "Well? What do we have here?"

Hayato bowed his head and anxiously spoke. "Sir, my daughter, I believe she possesses one of those Elemental abilities!"

"Oh, is that right? What makes you say that?"

He knelt down to be face-to-face with Hikari. "Well, little one? What can you do?" He smiled. "Impress me."

Feeling nervous again, her eyes turned pink, and on instinct, she touched Fujii, sending a pink glow into his body as well. "What's this?"

"I...I can heal things! I think..."

"Is that right? I feel better after all that drinking and frolicking last night, but aye, let's test it on something REALLY in need, why don't we?"

Hayato gulped and slowly spoke. "What do you suggest she do, sir?"

"Heh."

About half an hour later, they were in front of Fujii's house. An older-looking cat was sitting outside, coughing blood. Fujii gently stroked its fur. "This is Percy. He's been sick for a few months now. Don't know what illness he has, but I definitely haven't found a cure for it."

He smiled at Hikari. "Well? Go ahead! Show me something!"

She nervously walked up to the cat and touched it...

...and nothing happened.

"Oh, well, guess that's that—-"

"No, work! Please!"

She strained herself, and just when she felt the embarrassment of failing someone like Fujii, her eyes began to glow again, and immediately, such a strong pink glow coursed through Percy that it temporarily blinded both Hayato and Fujii. When they were able to see again, Percy was jumping up and down, with no trace of sickness left in him.

"Woah! You were right, she DOES have an Element! I've never seen such a healing power so strong before! And Percy is jumping around like he's young again!"

"I told you, sir! She just manifested it today!"

Fujii walked up to Hikari, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"So, what's your name?"

"H...Hikari!"

"Well, how old are you, Hikari?"

She looked away. "I'm...10."

"Well, how about this? How about, when you reach the age to join, you come and attend the Voltian Military Tryouts! I think you'll be a useful addition to our ranks, if you can impress."

He gave her a wink. It seemed to chill the air a little. "What do you say, Hikari?"

"Oh...okay! I will!"

"Great!"

Present Day...

As Hikari looked up at him, Fujii gave her a little wink, right before he sat back down.

Jukai took center stage. "Well, now that the first round is done, get ready, because soon we will be bringing you the second round!"

The crowd cheered, and they began the gossip about the fight that just occurred.

"Well, that girl is stronger than she looks..."

"What else do you think she can do? I can't wait to find out!"

"This next round is sure to be a good one! Akari, Atomu, Tsugumi, Hikari, Arata, even that wolf kid, yes!"

Hikari went back and took her seat. Akari gave her a high five. "Good job."

Kazue gave her a gentle hug. "Wow, that was...really cool! Here!"

She offered her some meat, which Hikari quickly turned down.

After a few minutes of competitors and spectators having conversations, Jukai took to the ring again.

"Now, for round two of our Tryouts! Here is the bracket!"

A holographic bracket appeared in the middle of the arena, which showed:

- Arata vs. Luca

- Tomoko vs. Tsugumi

- Hikari vs. Obara

- Akari vs. Atomu

Arata cracked his knuckles. "I'll crush this dog boy."

Luca was busy scratching himself a few seats away. "Okay. I look forward to it."

"Oh shut it! You know you're easy work! Easy work!"

"Maybe so."

Jukai began his introduction once more. "And now, for the first match of round two, we have ARATA vs. LUCA!"

The crowd roared, clapping. "ARATA! ARATA! ARATA!"

"Yeah, they know they love me."

Both competitors went to their spots, beginning to kick off the SECOND round of fights.

"Ready? FIGHT!"

Immediately, Arata jumped up and slammed the ground, causing a MASSIVE shockwave. Luca jumped up into the air, doing a few backflips as the ring shook back and forth.

"Hmm."

Arata picked up the entire weapon rack and threw it at Luca. Quickly, two axes appeared in Luca's hands, which he used to deliver a huge slash that knocked the weapon rack off its course.

"Oh, you wanna pull out those, huh?"

BOOM.

Soon after, a MEGA shockwave rattled the arena, forcing everyone to hold onto their seats.

At the judge's table, Shinjii clapped.

"Haha! The kid has POWER! I like it!"

Nakada pointed down at Luca. "It seems he's not too fazed, however."

Luca had used his axes to anchor down into the ground, and once the shockwave stopped, he shifted into WOLF form.

Toru straightened up in his chair. "Here it comes."

Arata watched as Luca ran all around him. "You think turning into a mutt will save you? It's not sweet and easy anymore!"

Luca quickly lunged at Arata, who batted him away a few feet close to the edge. "Better change that strategy!"

On the girls' side, gossiping began.

"Who do you think wins?" Hikari asked.

"Luca," Akari stated.

"Arata, duh!" Kazue replied.

Akari slapped her head. "Look at Luca, he's not even trying."

Luca shifted back into his normal form, weighing his options. Kazue snorted.

"Yeah, he is! He's totally sweating right now!"

On the boy's side, Kai and Tetsuya were cheering on Arata, Obara was cheering on Luca, Umeda was cheering for himself and Tomoko was cheering to cheer.

"Go, fighters go!"

He was jumping up and down, having gotten out of his seat.

BOOM.

Luca and Arata had clashed fists. A white energy surged through Arata's body, and a shockwave blast knocked Luca back. Atomu studied the fight carefully.

"It seems this match won't be as easy for him. He has to really exert himself now. Now he has to use his magic to the fullest."

Kai laughed. "Come on! He's gonna fold that kid like a pretzel—-!"

"GRRRRR!"

The crowd went quiet. Luca was beginning to change. He had the fur of a wolf, but he was standing on two legs. He gained muscles. He was like a human wolf. A WEREWOLF.

"Oh shi—-!"

Kai covered his mouth. Atomu shrugged.

"I told you."

Not missing a beat, Arata smiled like a maniac and jumped at Luca. Luca immediately matched his pace and they both collided fists once again.

BOOOOOOM.

Luca and Arata both applied pressure, attempting to overpower the other. Luca swung a fist, and Arata did too, which caused another clash that shook the arena.

BOOM.

And again.

BOOM.

Luca summoned another axe and swung low at Arata, who jumped back and caught the axe, breaking it.

"Easy work!"

Luca punched him in the face, growling.

"GRRRRR!"

Arata just laughed and sent a shockwave-infused fist at Luca's chest, which Luca blocked, sliding back a couple of feet from the force.

Fujii looked down at the fight. "Hmm. I didn't know he could do that. He's worth a closer look..."

He began to jot down notes. Himeka was hiding behind his chair.

"Uh, Himeka?"

"Ahh! What?"

"What are you doing?"

"Um, nothing?"

"Why are you...?"

"The scary man-wolf! Don't let him get me!"

Arata tried to unleash a downward SMASH on Luca, but he jumped out of the way before the attack could land. Luca tripped him up by tackling his legs.

"Ack! Low blow, kid!"

Arata kicked him back, and Luca did a double backflip before landing on all fours.

"Phew, you're getting me tired! Let's end this!"

Arata kicked himself up, as Luca growled at him. They both rushed to each other once more, Luca full speed charging and Arata with a fist ready.

"Take...THIS!"

As Luca jumped onto him, nearly tackling him out of the arena, Arata delivered a full-shockwave punch to his gut that sent him flying out of the ring.

"Okay! Clutched it!"

"And the winner is, ARATA!"

Jukai walked center stage, as Arata was sweating profusely and struggled to get up. Kazue blew a raspberry at Akari.

"See, I told you!"

"Just look at him. It's clear he only barely won. If Luca actually thought more, this would be easy."

"Yea, well, couldda, wouldda, shouldda!"

Kai was also making fun of Atomu.

"See, he never fails! Guy's a tank!"

"Mmm. I see."

"ARATA! ARATA! ARATA!"

Arata smiled. "Victory...is MINE!"

Jukai prepared his next statement. "And now, for the next fight of round two, we have TOMOKO VS. TSUGUMI!"

"TSUGUMI! TSUGUMI! TSUGUMI!"

Tomoko laughed. "They really don't like me!"

Tsugumi just looked at him with disgust.

"Let's just get this over with."

The two competitors walked to their spots, preparing to begin their fight.

—-