Survival Game, Book 1: The Fool

Act Three: Chapter Twenty-One

    The week went by at a grueling pace, where it seemed as if time stopped and all a person could do is writhe in endless agony. Or a person who injected an unknown drug into their veins, in this case. Kris had tried to go to school that week, but almost every time, she'd end up sent home. The pain that'd pierced her stomach the first day persisted her for the remaining days and as the week went on, it only got worse. She began getting headaches almost constantly, the tiniest bit of light triggering one in an instant. She had deleted the blog post she'd drafted, a silent promise to herself that she'd no longer use it as means to get back at Satsuki, but it'd cost her the heavy price of a severe migraine.

    Now it was July 29th, and summer break had came. Currently, she stood in front of the glass doors of Azumi Kimura's six storied building. She'd recovered now and when she'd awoke that morning, she felt some sort of light flash in her chest and course through her veins. That was the only way she could describe it. I wonder if the others have came too. She'd hadn't spoken with Kouji in days and she'd never found Ryou or Yuriko's contact information, leaving her to wonder what happened. Shimamura-san will probably be here already. She's had her powers longer than any of us, but she had to take the tests still. Maybe they wanted her to wait until the three of us recovered before training. It seemed fair enough and Kris doubted Azumi was the type to do things unorderly. Illegally, maybe, but not unorderly.
    "Kris!" A voice called, pausing her action of pulling open the door. She turned around to see Kouji her approaching direction. The boy caught up in a few steps, looking surprisingly more energized than she'd ever saw him in the short time they've known each other. His expression seemed uncharacteristically cheerful as well. "It actually worked! I got my powers." He announced. "Have you tried yours yet?" Kris only shook her head in reply, recovering from the shock of seeing him after a while. "Well, I'm sure your mentor will tell you how to use them. I tried mine out this morning at Takaoka's shop and it wasn't too hard to figure out. Can't say the cats were too pleased though..."
    "You... used them on your cats?" Kris asked in brief confusion, much to her friend's dismay. He immediately looked at her in shock. "Hell no!" He answered defensively. "They were just angry about the random spikes coming out of the ground. I'll show you what I mean, when I can." He quickly added when her confusion increased. They entered the lobby as they talked, where a receptionist who'd not been there the previous visits greeted them. She seemed to have expected their arrival, telling them that Ryou and Yuriko were already there and that there was a training area in the basement floor if needed.
    "We should head there first." Kris suggested afterwards. "If the others are here too, I'm sure our mentors will know soon and come looking for us." She wanted to learn her powers before Miho met with her, a sense of dread looming over her at the thought of how the woman would train in combat. Kouji seemed to agree with her suggestion, as he followed her through the elevator. He doesn't seem too eager to meet his mentor again either. She guessed, judging by his tensed posture and scowl. Maybe he's thinking of the tests too.
    The elevator door opened to a wide area of metal walls and hard floors. There were no furniture other than a few rows of cabinets protected by a small glass room in one corner. Kris thought it was originally a shelter for the public in case of a natural disaster—and possibly still was—and Azumi had changed it into a training facility for her group. There were no sign of Ryou or Yuriko, though they were most likely with their mentors at the moment. "Come on, let me show you." Kouji walked ahead of her until he'd created a wide enough gap between them. Facing her direction from several feet away, he outstretched his hand, palm facing towards the ground. He turned his focus towards his hand, a serious glint reflecting in his brown gaze. The palm of his hand began to glow orange, like the heat of a fire, and soon the ground below began to glow as well. With one sweep of his hand, he made a glowing line in the ground and orange-red crystals began to sprout out soon after, its jagged edges glistening in the light. It appeared like a solid form of flames, strangely beautiful with its colors of sunset yet its sharp tips dangerous enough to easily impale anything that fell upon them. Slowly walking towards it, Kris could feel heat radiating off the line of crystals and looking closer, she could see the flicker of flames concealed in the hard mineral.
    "That's amazing..." Even she couldn't hide how impressed she was with Kouji's powers, not that she was trying to. Kouji moved his hand, the crystals shattering like broken glass and disappearing in mid air. The glow had faded as well. He gave a rather cocky chuckle at his newfound powers. "Isn't it?" He replied with a satisfied smirk. "Now, show me yours." Kris was almost taken aback by the prompt. I don't know how... Kakiuchi-sensei told me I had the power of light and dark, but... She could feel Kouji's gaze burning into her and she began to shift her feet self-consciously. Kouji seemed to focus his powers into his hand...
    She raised her hand up like Kouji had, except with her palm faced upwards instead. The warm heat in her chest trailed down into her hand as she strained to put all of her focus into it. Like Kouji's, her palm began to glow a rather blinding white light, one that growed stronger as it absorbed the rays from the fluorescent lights above it. Soon, a large mass of light formed into her hand and began to form into a curved shape. Is it... turning into a weapon? She wondered, keeping her focus on the mass of light. Her eyes burned and watered, but she kept them on the mass. When it finished forming, it took the manifestation of a crossbow, twice the normal size. She wanted to look away at first, the strain in her eyes becoming unbearable, but she couldn't. I... wasn't expecting this. She inwardly admitted.
    She tried the same thing with her other hand, wondering if it'd do the same. It did, though this time, it seemed to focus on the shadows below her and Kouji and the mass was one of pitch blackness, like a void forming in her hand. Another crossbow formed, mirroring the first one despite seeming to have a more weaker energy. They must go by the settings of the area. She figured, wishing to test it further. Her concentration faltered under the strain of both powers being used at once and the crossbows instantly flickered away like a candle flame blown by wind. The energy remained in her body, even after her powers had faded away. I thought the darkness would form arrows, but it seems not. How can I possibly shoot them? She felt slightly frustrated by the thought, but her head started to ache and she couldn't think anymore.
    "Damn... the crossbows are cool and all, but can they not be so bright?" Kouji muttered, blinking a few times. "My vision's all messed up now. Guess that's a good thing though, since you'll probably blind your opponent before you can shoot." Kris wanted to add that if she even could shoot, but she decided not to. Kouji made his demonstration seem so easy. It'd just look like I did something wrong. However, she was reassured as he went on. "I know this is a serious issue, but how can Kimura think of starting soon? I still can't do much other than the whole ground thing I showed and even then, it's hard. I thought it'd be easier than this."
    "Well, you thought wrong, dumbass!" A stern voice scolded as a newcomer joined their ranks, the heavy stomps of steel echoing from the elevator floor and onwards. A woman with long blonde hair and copper eyes approached, her face giving an expression of someone seriously pissed off at everything. Most likely she was. Or she could've been trying to match Kris' own negative expression, though hers was one of disgust. Her gaze became more focused on the strange Gothic dress the woman wore, filled with frills and several layers despite its more preferable colors of dark blue and black. The corset midsection and large slit in one leg didn't help much, displaying her attractive figure. If the woman was a few inches taller, she'd undoubtably make the perfect model that'd beat out even Satsuki. That was what Kris felt more disgusted about than the dress, though she knew it was coming from an inward self-loathing.
    When the woman spoke again, her words were as blunt and abrasive as one would expect. "Did you think just because you lived through the after effects that you'd instantly be an expert at using your powers?" She demanded, her glare focusing on Kouji. "Don't be so damn full of yourself! You don't know the first thing about how to use your powers!" Her hand balled into a fist as she spoke, as if she would hit Kouji with it any second. She never did, but no one could tell from her anger.
    "I never said I'd be an expert at it!" Kouji retorted with equal anger. "I just thought controlling it would be easier. And in case you forgot, you're my mentor! Shouldn't you be teaching me about my powers?" He glanced at Kris, suddenly realizing the strangeness of the situation. "Kris, this is Satoko Yukimura, my mentor and one of the people whose a total pain in my ass." He introduced the woman with a brief glare. "Now you can see why I resent her so much."
    "Yeah, like you're a great student to work with. Anyway, Ayato and Orimoto already started training their students. So, I decided to graciously track down mine and teach him not to be a dumbass. Kakiuchi is here too, but she requested I take over Aramaki's training as well. Or that's what I assumed. She asked me to send a message, but I couldn't understand a word she was saying over the constant rambling about snakes. And I'm used to constant rambling, so you'd think I could decipher her words." Satoko explained, her dull tone of voice displaying how unethusiastic she was about the process. "So, to quote said rambling I hear on a daily basis, let us begin and leave the rest to fate... or some shit like that. Anyway, Kimura wants us to begin as quickly as next week. She wants the basics covered enough to boost your chances in a fight. Experience will come over time, so we don't need to go through some stupid cliche training program for months while the Grandmasters go around killing everyone."
    Kris remained standing beside Kouji, listening to Satoko despite her uncertainty if she was being spoken to or not. Though Satoko had been asked to train her as well, rather she agreed to it or not remained unclear. "First things first," Satoko began. "The Grandmasters aren't trying to kill their clients. They want to recruit them as Pawns, but obviously it keeps backfiring. Kimura still thinks they choose their clients for medical purposes, but I doubt it's for good. The drug increases your stamina, agility, and things among that nature, so the clients will think their issues are healed and will want to repay the favor. That's how they recruit them."
    "And Noguchi? He killed a guy in cold blood over refusing the drug." Kouji asked. "How is that recruiting him as a... Pawn or whatever?"
Satoko glared at him once more. "You don't know what that is, I'm guessing? Kimura must've been waiting for your first mission to do that. Or for us to tell you. Ah, well. The Grandmasters have a hierarchy system, with the Pawns being the lowest rank who do the recruiting and any grunt work. The Queen is the leader, and she has the most power, as she created the whole system." She explained. "The Knights and Rooks have two members each, as a real game of chess would. However, the real trouble are the Bishops. Unlike chess, the Bishops are a full on group instead of just two members and they're in a whole league of their own. They're supposed to be the ones to provide research, but it's more like they do whatever the hell they want because all of them are genius level when it comes to intelligence. In other words, if a unexperienced dumbass schoolboy tried to take one of them on then he'd just get his ass kicked."
    "And you're referring to me?" Kouji asked as she flashed him an arrogant smirk, answering the question without any words. "Look, I'm not some moron who goes around fighting everyone in sight, you know! Besides, from what you said, Noguchi should be Pawn, right? Then he shouldn't be as hard as one of the Bishops." As he asked the question, Kris noticed a slight tension in his voice as if he was unsure on rather that was true or not. Their ranks might not be based on power. Kris guessed. Some might be Pawns to come off as unsuspecting. Then some might have changed their rank out of personal preference. Her thoughts were confirmed when Satoko continued her explanation.
    "Not exactly. You can't go by their ranks. The Rooks work alongside one of the Bishops almost constantly, but they've been pretty dormant right now. The Pawns are the only active ones since the Queen doesn't see us as a threat." Satoko replied, her answer surprisingly not as arrogant as usual, though Kris thought it was more of from the fact she wanted to hurry things up. "Next, will be about your powers. As with the Grandmasters, your powers have drawbacks. For Kawakami, his is a mixture of crystal and fire. However, if the crystal is broken, the fire inside would burst out and injure both parties. The crystal is pretty hard to break, but it's possible. And as for Aramaki," She finally turned to Kris in acknowledgement. "You've probably saw and figured it out already. The stronger power depends on the area. If it's a bright room like this, light is stronger because there's barely any darkness. But if it's a room in complete darkness, your light powers don't work at all. Not to mention, as you saw, using both crossbows take up a hell of a lot of energy, and that's excluding shooting them. It all can be done by your mind, but you'll have to practice on balancing how much energy you use or you'll never control your powers properly."
    Kris could only nod in reply, unsure what to say to the woman without angering her. Though she is right. She added inwardly. Satoko concluded her speech, turning back to the two of them. "We should be dealing with the Pawns first, since we actually have info on them. You can practice amongst yourselves in the meantime. If you learn how to control your powers, you'll stand a better shot at fighting, even with no battle experience. As long as you don't be complete idiots and get yourselves killed right off the bat, you'll do fine. With that said, I'll see you later. Kimura will let you know when your first mission begins." She turned back towards the elevator. "You can spend as much time as needed. Just remember, this is a public area. Don't go making out as soon as I leave, got it, Kawakami?" Satoko left before Kouji could protest, but he gave a cold glare as she walked away.
    Our first mission... The thought never really occurred to Kris until then. I have powers and now I'm using them to help fight off a whole organization. I thought it could just be writing material, but now... She actually felt a spark of anticipation, as if she was actually doing something to benefit people, and making her own name in the process. For the first time, Satsuki appeared in her mind that day and she didn't feel her usual spite. I'll actually be saving people, not plastering my face on magazine covers and telling other girls how to look. For once, An image of Satsuki appeared in her mind, and she gave an arrogant smirk, courtesy of Kouji. it's my time now, model bitch. This time, I'll win.