Super Sekken Story 1: The Ki to the Headmaster

Vol. 6, Ch. 14: The Ki to the Headmaster

"H-huh?" Manaka stares at Miyuki, then looking back at the necklace, then realizing that Miyuki is wanting to have that golden artifact. "N-no! Of course not!" Manaka pulls the necklace back towards her, shaking her head in disapproval.

    "Wh-what?! But why?! We need to see if this is the right one! Come on, it may be a slight chance, but it's the only one we have!"

    "NOOO! That'd mean breaking it, which means you destroyed the Headmaster's property! That can get you suspended, maybe even expelled! Hell, you might get sued while you're still poor, then what?!"

    "I.. don't care if he is going to sue me! Do you want to put all of your money on someone who is powerless to these guys?!" Miyuki argued, reaching over to grab at the necklace. She needed it. No matter what happens here, that necklace had to be investigated!

    "No! Miyuki, stop it! Hand it back!" Manaka shrieked when Miyuki grabbed and pulled onto the necklace. Manaka would take the other side and pull the necklace towards her. "Goddamnit, Yuki! I had no clue you would be so stubborn, give it here!"

    ("D-..did she just call me 'Yuki'? That's... what my mom called me...") Miyuki thought, though continued to pull harder onto the thin necklace. "Y-you're the one being stubborn, Omo! There's only so much the Headmaster can do! What if he is paid off by I-35 too? Then what?!"

    "He isn't! I know he isn't! If you give it to me, I'll prove it to you!" Manaka exclaims, pulling harder onto the necklace, and with the tube dangling in between them while they pulled onto the lace. These two once friendly students were now in a furious game of tug of war.

    "I can't leave without trying it! That necklace is mine!"

    "You're really selfish, you know that? Giving it to you to destroy is just as bad as me just handing it to I-35! Actually, I'd RATHER hand it to them! If it isn't what you think it is, then what?!"

    Miyuki looked at Manaka... her eyes widening at that statement. Though her grip stayed tight, her heart felt like it skipped a beat. ("I'm just as bad as them? B-but I'm the one that wants to stop them, I can't be as bad as they are? Am I? Manaka... You don't understand... Please, I need this! Give me this chance to prove to you I'm not crazy!") Miyuki ran her thoughts through her mind repeatedly. It's needless to say all of what she has been through in the past week has sucked, but today was the first time in ages she felt like she had a reason to  try. Her mind was freed from the confines she held it to before, and if only... if only she could get a hold of that tube, then maybe Miyuki's 'ki' to that new peace was on the horizon. Even if the person she cared about the most here was the only thing standing in her way, she had to keep pulling regardless. "If you had just given it to me, we wouldn't risk breaking it! If you want the necklace in fewer pieces, you could have just given it to me!"

    "You... you thief! I'm not letting you have it!" Manaka kept pulling harder and harder onto the necklace.

    "Says the one who took it from his office!"

    "But I took it so no one else would! The Administration is moving offices, he forgot to bring it with him!"

    "Wouldn't he have come back for it?!"

    "He left school early!"

    "Why the hell would he do that?!" Miyuki yelled, then gave one final mighty yank to the golden necklace. With a loud SNAP! the lace broke on both ends, the tube hitting the tile floor and rolling away. Both Miyuki and Manaka would yell "SHIT!" simultaneously before racing for that tube that was rolling away.

    "That tube is MINE!" Miyuki shouted, running towards it.

    "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Manaka was much closer to the tube than Miyuki was, so she had the advantage in catching up to the rolling piece of jewelry.

    "IT MIGHT BE, BUT I STILL THINK I SHOULD'VE HAD IT!" Miyuki shouted, then taking a mighty leap with all of her strength to dive on top of the small tube. When she dived, Manaka was already bending down and grabbing at the runaway item. Before she knew it though, Manaka would be tackled by Miyuki, sending both tumbling a few feet down the hallway. After a short moment of being dog-piled, Miyuki threw herself off of Manaka and checked her hands. She remembered grabbing it...

    A panting Manaka would grab her chest as she stood back on to her feet from a few meters away. "So... it's broken already... there's no use in giving it to the Headmaster. We both destroyed it... I'm just as guilty as you are, Miyuki..." Manaka would then raise her hand up, revealing the tube in the palm of her hand. It was cracked on one side, the liquid contents spilling into Manaka's hand. "If you like experiments so much, I'll be your guinea pig... so you don't have to be."

    Miyuki looked into her empty hands, clenching her fists. The first year heard what Manaka said and looked at her in shock, then ran over as quickly as she could: "NO, WAIT!" No matter if she tried to stop her or not, Manaka already had the tube ready to consume. She would pry open the rest of the tube and swallow the rest of the strange liquid that was in the tube and on her hands. All Miyuki could do now was stand there in shock, tasting nothing but her sour failure. The necklace was broken, the tube consumed, and Miyuki wasn't the one to get that strength.

    Then...

    Like an earthquake, the ground began to vibrate beneath the two girl's feet. What started with silence grew into a sudden burst of agony in Manaka's body. The stinging pain in her chest grew into an intense burning sensation unbearable to the normal human. The girl screamed in pain as this overpowering feeling took control of her body. The only visible change to her body was a bright glow that made it near-impossible for anyone in the hallway to see this sun-bright entity. Just a few moments' glance could cause someone to go blind from the breathtaking light. After a few seconds, it would dim down to only a soft glow on Omo's body.

    Manaka could feel it... in her heart, mind, and muscles. The power coursing through her was unlike anything she had felt before. That raw sense of strength made the air around the two feel like it was much denser. Miyuki stared in an indescribable awe. Just by standing there, Miyuki knew that Manaka's power was far more intense than anything she felt from Light Guy... there was no other way Sekken could describe it other than terrifying.

    Manaka would stretch her arms out, opening and closing her hands as she got a feeling for this new power. "Woah... this is unreal." she muttered, then looking at Miyuki. Without any warning, Miyuki would feel a sudden punch to her gut, the first year sent flying straight into the wall at a speed faster than she could comprehend. She was thrown with such force that the brick wall would have caved in behind her, which held the knocked out and defenseless Miyuki.

    Manaka looked at her fist, then at what she was able to do to Miyuki in just a single blow. So she didn't have to see what she had just done to her friend, Manaka turned around and faced away.

    "I'm sorry, Sekken... I was wrong, your theory was right. Silly me, why didn't I just listen? I don't know. What I do know is that now I have this power. Because I have it, I'm the only one that can stand up to these... mean, horrid thugs. You can rest easy knowing that by the time school starts, I-35 will be no more. Not you, Megami, nor anyone else will be hurt by these criminals again." Manaka quietly spoke, giving one last sorrowful look at Miyuki, then walking off...