Note: Hey everyone, break is about to start for me which means I'll have more time to write and finish the stories I've started! I'm hoping to finish this story by the time classes are in session again, so thanks for reading and I hope you stay tuned for more! 12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFMY5G5Ajt
12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVx4LQMAOBW
Mita-senpai ordered Izuki to teleport us to a room on campus. It was a strange choice for a hideout, but I wanted to be anywhere that was far away from the city. The eldest locked the door and turned the lights on. The floors of the room creaked as we stepped, the smell of decades of accumulation of dust and grime. The dim lights casted an eerie shadow on the old furniture in the room. A long table was set in the middle of the room with a few chairs sitting around it.
“What room is this?” Izuki said, eagerly tapping the books and items on the dilapidated shelves.
Natsuki searched the room gingerly. “It's an abandoned club room on the top floor of the school building.”
I was surprised Mita-senpai's prediction was true: being put in a life-or-death situation helped awaken another's power. We were lucky to know the possibility of Kouji having powers, but I'm not sure if we're fortunate enough for it to happen again. At least I hope not. I still can’t bear facing the shadows head on.
Izuki opened a book and a puff of dust flew into his face. He went into a coughing fit, choking on his own breath as he smacked his chest and let out an ugly wheeze. Natsuki glared at him in disgust while I patted Izuki's back.
“These battles are seriously getting out of hand.” Natsuki seethed. He crossed his arms while leaning back in a nearby desk chair, releasing a tiring sigh. “We can’t keep up with damage control at this rate.”
Mita-senpai gave an acknowledging nod. “From now on we need to be conscious of where our battles take place.” Mita-senpai continued with a smile. “Plus, we already found more than half of the supernaturals. I say we're making great progress! Our best course of action is to continue battling until we find the remaining two.”
“How long will that take?” Izuki asked.
Mita-senpai shrugged. “It was a miracle to find you three in less than a month.”
“How can we possibly fight those monsters? Izuki and I’s powers aren't suited for combat.”
Mita-senpai flashed a smile. “That's why I'm giving these to you!” Mita-senpai reached both hands into his pockets. He faltered, patting down his body before laughing awkwardly.
“You forgot them, didn't you?” Natsuki deadpanned.
“Oops…” He chuckled weakly. Natsuki smacked Mita-senpai's back, his punishment causing the eldest to frown. “I'll show them to you on Monday. For now, what happened to your date, Rito?”
“He's in my dorm right now… As a kitten.”
“Can he turn back?” Izuki questioned. I shrugged.
“Hmm, if he can't turn back anytime soon, keep an eye on him until he does.” Mita-senpai nodded towards me. “Alright then, youngins, let’s meet Monday morning so I can give you your weapons.”
Izuki elbowed my side. “Don't do anything fishy to him while he's vulnerable. I know you're desperate, but don't let it get to you.”
“You think I'm that low?”
Izuki cheekily grinned at me.
A vein popped out of my forehead as I clenched my fist. “That’s it, I’M KICKING YOUR ASS!”
I yanked on Izuki’s jacket, but the boy left my grasp and ran to the opposite end of the room. I stomped around the room, sending clouds of dust behind me. Mita-senpai was too busy laughing to stop us while Natsuki was unamused, scrolling through his phone.
“Get back here you damn punk!” I yelled over Izuki's laughter.
It took twenty minutes for Natsuki and Mita-senpai to stop the two of us.
-
The sound of the bathroom door clicked behind me as I hopped onto my bed. Kouji was still sleeping in the same place I left him. My chest ached the longer I looked at him.
“I’m sorry for lying to you, Kouji.” I muttered. I covered my face in shame. “It wasn’t my idea and I was against it... But we needed to figure out a way for you to reveal your powers. It's alright if you won't forgive me.”
As if he heard, the kitten's tail twitched.
I frowned. I laid down beside him, careful to not wake him up.
I know far too well what it feels like to have one-sided affection. Too well.
I made a promise to myself that I would make it up to Kouji one day before I fell into a deep slumber.
-
The soft echo of a knock could be heard within the quiet hallway of the dorms. Knocking again, Junya waited patiently for Rito to open the door.
“I wonder if he's still sleeping.” Junya mumbled to himself.
There seemed to be no indication that Rito was awake, so Junya knocked louder. “Rito!” He called out. “I forgot my keys, could you open—”
Suddenly, a shirtless boy ruffling his stiff black hair unlocked the door. He rubbed one of his eyes to get rid of the lethargy he felt. “Hello?” He croaked.
Junya's back stiffened as he covered his mouth with his hand. “Sorry, I think I have the wrong dorm room. I'll—”
“Kouji, what are you doing?! Put some clothes on!” A voice called out from behind the boy.
Junya peeked past the tall figure and saw Rito frantically getting out of bed. Junya's brows furrowed as he blinked repeatedly.
Rito quickly pulled the half-sleeping boy away from the door to let Junya in. “Sorry,” he sighed while throwing his largest shirt at Kouji, “I can explain.”
“Don't worry, I forgot to grab my notebook. I'll leave you two alone.”
Rito's face flushed as he shook his head. “It's not what it looks like! H-he got locked out of his dorm, s-so I let him sleepover.”
Junya nodded dismissively, staring at the boy who groggily pulled the shirt over his head. “Well, I have to head back home now. I’ll be back by tonight.” He flashed a smile at Rito who began to clench his hair.
Once Junya exited the dorm, Rito let out a heavy sigh. He was about to complain to Kouji, but the boy was sound asleep on his bed.
“Hey, Kouji,” Rito lightly tapped Kouji's shoulder. “I'm sorry about yesterday… I’ll take responsibility for what happened. I could buy you a meal again—”
With a yelp, Rito's body was pulled back onto the bed. His head landed on the boy's shoulder.
Kouji softly snored as if he was in deep slumber the entire time. The grip on Rito's wrist wouldn't budge to Rito's dismay. Rito glanced at the snoring boy. Without further detest, Rito awkwardly laid his head onto the pillow next to the boy.
Monday, 06/03/XX
The five of us met up early in the morning in the bathroom where it was surprisingly more spacious than the club room. Natsuki locked the door as Izuki asked, “Why are ya giving us school supplies?" Izuki held up a laser pointer.
Kouji held putty in his hands while I had a pair of glasses.
"It's to camouflage your weapons as everyday items.” Natsuki explained.
“Where did ya get these?”
“I made them!” Mita-senpai chimed.
Kouji was enjoying his weapon, transforming it into different items. The putty turned into a dagger. "Whoa!" He swung it around and grinned. “You're talented, Mita-senpai!”
Mita-senpai played with his ponytail, smiling softly. “I actually wanted to become an engineer, but getting superpowers made it pretty impossible.” He said under his breath.
For the next fifteen minutes or so, Natsuki helped Izuki with his item while Mita-senpai taught me how to use the glasses.
I followed his instructions and placed the glasses on my face. “Now tap the side of your glasses."
I touched the side of the glasses and the lens turned into a thermographic-like camera. I could only see black and red silhouettes with the red radiating from us.
"The lens detects supernatural activity and works through walls and doors. To go back to the normal lens, you press the side again."
I looked around the bathroom to adjust to the new vision. Abruptly, I heard laughter behind us. Izuki jumped down into the portal and dropped out of the other, landing on the ground.
He showed the pen and grinned. "I can make portals faster now!"
I rolled my eyes at Izuki as I saw Kouji curiously stick his hand into one of the portals. Izuki continued to leap into portals one after another.
“Oh my,” Mita-senpai chuckled. Natsuki’s nostrils flared in irritation. Mita-senpai tenderly hugged Natsuki from behind to stop him from strangling them.
I laughed and pressed the button on my glasses. I suddenly saw five red silhouettes. I squinted at the fifth being to see what it was. The red silhouette started inching closer to the wall next to Izuku's portal.
"Izuki, watch out!" I turned off my glasses and pushed him out of the way into a stall.
Izuki fell into the toilet and clicked his pen. "WHERE?!"
"OH CRAP!" Kouji ran into Izuki's stall right as he was getting out of the toilet bowl. The monster wasn't visible yet and Kouji was already trembling in fear.
Izuki had a black expression as his entire torso was in the toilet bowl.
"The supernatural energy from the portals might've attracted it." Natsuki yanked his necklace off and wielded his sword.
The shadow slowly emerged from the wall and showed its nine glowing red eyes.
Kouji screamed at the top of his lungs, desperately holding onto Izuki. “FUKUYAMA-SENPAI SAVE ME!”
The beast's razor sharp nails clawed at the stall doors. The shadow grimaced and slashed its nails against the stall, earning a girly screech.
"Kouji get off!" Izuki pushed him, flailing his arms, but Kouji only hugged him tighter. “MY WHOLE ASS IS IN THE TOILET! GET OFF OF ME!”
Kouji looked up and saw the shadow's shiny teeth. “I'M GOING TO DIE!”
Natsuki ran from behind and raised his sword but the monster jumped out of the way. Mita-senpai zoomed towards the monster and went for its jaw. Something grabbed his legs and he fell flat on his back.
The shadow took out a tiny orb and aimed it at the cowering boys. Natsuki angrily pierced his blade into its extended arm. It backed away in pain and hit the wall, shattering the glass orb into pieces.
"SHUT UP, GET UP, AND FIGHT!" Natsuki seethed angrily. "The monster feeds off of fear!”
I saw the round putty on the ground and swiftly picked it up. "Kouji, here!" I announced, throwing it in his stall.
He caught it and split it, transforming one piece into a sword and the rest into two pistols. Kouji handed us our weapons allowing Izuki and I to shoot from afar while the others used their swords.
Natsuki pushed forward and stabbed the shadow's limb with his blade. Mita-senpai tapped on the bracelets on his wrists which covered his hands in hand wraps. He swung a punch at the shadow in its eyes. The monster shrieked and swung his arms out. Mita-senpai ducked before it connected with his head, allowing an opening for Kouji and Natuski to attack. Izuki's head jolted backwards as he shot one last time before the monster disappeared, leaving the shattered orb on the ground.
I plopped on the floor panting while Izuki and Kouji were cheering loudly. “WE DID IT! WE DID IT!”
Their moods change so quickly… I internally thought.
Mita-senpai crouched down next to the shattered glass. Natsuki joined him and reached out to touch the glass, but the eldest stopped him.
“Don’t. This glass absorbs supernatural energy.” Mita-senpai kicked the glass into the corner of the bathroom.
“Are these the types of shadows we’ll be fighting?” Kouji asked.
Mita-senpai continued to push all of the glass aside. "It gets progressively worse from here."
Kouji continued to panic as I glanced at my phone. “Crap, we're gonna be late for class!"
"B-but my pants!" Izuki patted his bottom and angrily looked at Kouji.
The younger stopped walking in circles and shrugged while laughing nervously. "I'm sorry! It's not my fault I was about to die!"
"Ya got extra pants?!" Izuki scowled.
Kouji frowned. "Why would I have extra pants?"
"Fine, give me your jacket." Izuki put his hand out. "I’ll use it to cover my pants."
Kouji reluctantly gave him his jacket. "Make sure to give it back to me later."
Izuki tied the sleeves around his waist. “Yea, yea. Thanks,”
“Alright, youngins, with your new gadgets, we'll begin training tomorrow!”
“Training?” The three of us answered in unison, except I was the only one who sounded reluctant.
“Yes!” Mita-senpai beamed. “But for now, get to class!”
-
“Hey, did you hear about what happened in Honko city this weekend?”
Izuki and Rito flinched. Frozen in shock, they were unable to respond. A stinging pain in Junya’s chest caused him to flinch as well, but he ignored it while pulling out his phone to show a news report. Izuki abruptly snatched the phone from his hand.
“Reports stated there was a large octopus-like creature that emerged from the sewers, wreaking havoc on the city,” the reporter from the video continued, “eyewitnesses claimed a group of boys fought the octopus, but were unable to recall what their appearances were…”
Izuki gulped as the video showed photos of the four of us. Thanks to our masks, our faces were blurred.
“This is bad.” Izuki whispered feverishly to me. “I thought Mita-senpai said it would be fine? We even used Camouflage!”
“Mirage not camouflage!” Rito scolded under my breath. Is it possible for Mirage to wear off? Rito wondered.
“People were saying it’s possible for that creature to come from a sewer system that connects to the ocean.”
“Yes! That must be it!” Izuki blurted. Rito nodded in agreement.
Junya pursed his lips. “I didn't know those types of animals existed. Doing research on it would be interesting.”
“Ya and your research. Don't ya wanna be a doctor, not a biologist?”
“I need some research experience if I want to be one.”
“You're the smartest one here, so you'll do fine!” Izuki grinned while patting his pants. He started mumbling irritably. “Dammit, it's not dry yet.”
“What happened?”
"I got my pants wet…”
"Why are your pants wet?" Junya tilted his head.
“...I-I fell in the toilet.”
Junya gasped and turned to Rito. “How did that happen?”
“Izuki was being Izuki.” Rito replied nonchalantly.
"Accidents happen, I suppose." Junya frowned, turning back to his lunch. “Is that why Izuki’s wearing a jacket?” Izuki nodded, his face beginning to blush. “Whose jacket is that?”
“An underclassman's. Do ya know Nishikawa Kouji?”
Junya pushed up his glasses. “Not sure.”
“Pretty tall, pretty buff, pretty big eyes?” Izuki flexed his lanky arms while fluttering his eyes. “He has short, black spikey hair. He wears silver studs too.”
“Actually, I think I do.” Junya’s eyes shot open as his eyes darted towards Rito’s direction. “He is very buff. I’m sure Rito would know about that.”Junya added.
“Excuse me?” Izuki frowned.
Junya cleared his throat as Rito’s face flushed bright red.
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