The Eternates

Chapter 8

Ruriko made a note to herself to come up with something to tell Hisana, who had been looking utterly shocked when she left their dorm room. Unless Karin took care of it by that time. Which she probably would.

Ruriko climbed two flights of stairs and arrived at the door at the end which she pushed open and stepped onto the terrace. She instantly felt the thrum of something electric in the air, vaguely resembling the feeling of that touch earlier in the night that had lost her her consciousness and almost led her to drown. Hiroya stood across the terrace, leaning casually against the metal railing, his hands crossed across his chest. His piercing deep blue gaze made Ruriko gulp.

She took a few steps towards him till they were standing a few feet apart.

"So? What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"You were pathetic today, you know that?" Hiroya said.

It felt like someone had dropped a huge bucket of cold water on her head. Of course she knew she had been pathetic.

"You were slow to react at critical moments," Hiroya continued, "and refused to listen to me which led to your friend getting wounded. It is actually quite surprising how the two of you didn't end up getting more severely injured."

Ruriko knew all of that. She didn't need a recap of what an useless burden she'd been that night. It had been an enormous stroke of luck that Hiroya and Akihiro had been there that night. Otherwise, Virik would have already dragged her halfway to Daetas. That night had been proof of how powerless she was against the people who had been the source of all her nightmares. And the situation wouldn't improve unless she did something about it. Like– turn into someone who can call someone like Virik pathetic.

"However," Hiroya pushed away from the railing and started towards Ruriko in long languid steps. He stopped just in front of her and bent down till his face was a few inches from hers. Even at five feet nine, she was a little more than an entire head shorter than Hiroya. "You did a little trick today that might give you some saving grace." Ruriko leaned away from the proximity of his pretty little face.

"You," Hiroya continued, straightening, "unlocked my powers. Albeit for just an instant, but you did it. Something no one has been able to do for the last two years."

Ruriko tried to swallow the confusion down but in vain. "What do you mean?"

Hiroya exhaled deeply. "Some unfortunate events that took place two years ago led to my powers getting locked up. It was done by one of the strongest men alive." Hiroya's eyes darkened as he spoke. " It was done through a technique called Imitation. There's only one way to free my powers– by overpowering the original caster's Imitation. I've been trying to find someone for a while now who can do it and unlock them, but no one has been able to." The deep blue of Hiroya's eyes seemed to shine bright under the moonlight. "Until tonight."

Ruriko gulped.

"I'm sure you understand what I mean."

She did. The peculiar moment earlier that night when her body had been buzzing with heat and something else closely resembling power– when the tiny balls of light had appeared in her vision, and waves of energy had surged through her body and leapt across the expanse of air and linked with Hiroya's.

It was just after that, that he had electrocuted Virik.

"How is this possible?"

"It's a surprise for me as well. For someone as...," Hiroya cocked an eyebrow, "unremarkable as you–" (Ruriko's hands balled into fists at her side) "–to possess such a talent.... It almost seems like a divine joke of some kind. But," he continued, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers, "the truth remains that you're the only person I know of that's been able to unlock my powers, for even an instant. So, try to be a little useful for once and undo the original Imitation."