WebNovels

Chapter 2 - Disappearance

"… great job, Shoyo!"

That familiar voice, Shoyo turned in that direction.

"Father!"

Shoyo started running towards his father, but he couldn't get to him.

A flash blinded him; when he opened his eyes again, he found himself back at his own home. Shoyo's at home, his dad's about to leave for work.

 "I'll be going now!" his dad announces.

 "Take care!" his mother replies.

 "Wait! I remember this!"

 "Father's about to leave!"

 "FATHER, WAIT!" Shoyo shouts, but his father doesn't hear him. The light engulfs him.

 "FATHER!!"

A light engulfs him.

 "Mi.. ic…"

Shoyo shot up from the bed, he broke into a cold sweat.

 "What… was that…"

 "Oh, Shoyo, you're awake!" his mother exclaims, surprised at his sudden movement.

 "Are you okay? Did u have a nightmare?"

 "I'm fine, Mom, don't worry."

 "I was just.. uh… practicing my hyper awareness, you gotta stay vigilant even in your sleep these days, you know!"

 "Hmm… Okay." His mother says skeptically.

 "You were knocked out for 2 days, you know!"

 "What?! That long?!"

 "You missed the whole award ceremony; they had to mail your results to me."

 "Can I see it?"

 "Yeah, here."

Shoyo takes an envelope from his mother's hand, which had 2 things, a piece of paper and a card. Shoyo starts reading the paper.

Congratulations, Mr. Shoyo Akabane, you have been accepted into the prestigious 11 International High School. We are looking forward to your contribution to this school, and to your progress as a student and sorcerer of this academy.

Yours sincerely, Masaki Kamisato

 

 

 "YES!!" Shoyo jumps in excitement as he finishes reading the paper.

 "Hey, take it easy, you just woke up, you know." His mother admonished.

 "Oh c'mon, it's not like I was in a coma or anything," Shoyo retaliates, "All I did was jump out of my bed."

 "Whatever you say." His mother replies with a hint of disapproval. But he could see that soft smile linger, perhaps out of recognition. Shoyo takes the card out of the envelope, gleaming; turns out it's his student ID. Shoyo puts the ID in his bag in anticipation of the start of the school year.

After a couple of days, Shoyo is fully healed. He's going out to practice before the start of the school year; he didn't want to have to lose so brutally again.

 "I'll be going now." Shoyo declares

 "Take care, make sure not to get hurt." His mom replies with a hint of worry, he only just fully healed recently after all.

Shoyo arrives at an empty park, it was pleasantly quiet, a nice environment to start his training. He drops off his bag at a nearby bench and starts practicing. Shoyo's family doesn't have enough money to hire a private trainer or join any classes; he's lucky his family is even able to afford to give him an education at such a prestigious school. Shoyo takes out his phone, attempting to learn some random martial arts from just the internet.

1 hour later, he's still training, he's managed to get down the basics; he was attempting to perform an air kick when a familiar voice called out.

 "Yo!"

Shoyo turns around, wondering who it could possibly be.

 "Yo—WAIT SAITO?!"

 "Sup"

 "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!!"

 "Oh, it's usually quite peaceful here, so I usually come to read, pretty surprising to see you here."

 "Oh… you live around here?"

 "Well, you could say that. I'm like the next neighborhood over."

 "The rich one?"

 "The rich one."

 "The park there is so crowded, so I just come here instead."

 "Oh, okay, imma do my own thing then."

 "By the way, I don't think Taekwondo suits your fighting style very much."

 "Okay, Bruce Lee, what does then?" Shoyo says sarcastically.

 "Well, you like to do a lot of punches and direct attacks, so I would say Western Boxing is a good pick," Saito says, clearly full of himself.

 "Oh... Alright, I'll take your advice." Shoyo takes his phone to search for boxing tutorials.

 "You know a personal trainer way better than this, right?" Saito gestures to Shoyo's phone.

 "I don't have money." Shoyo retorts.

 "Oh… wait here, I'll be right back." Saito leaves. 10 minutes later, he comes back with a thick book.

 "I'll be your trainer then."

 "Huh? You know how to box?!"

 "Well, I didn't know 10 minutes ago."

 "So you're also just a starter then, how do you expect me to learn from a beginner…"

 "Who said I was a beginner?"

 "You just started 10 minutes ago!"

 "Do you know how my lever works?"

 "Uhm, you copy techniques?"

 "No, I don't only do that." Saito says, feeling a little offended.

 "My lever is based on sight, and despite the name, it isn't limited to the eye; it continues to many parts of the brain that work on sight, reaction, memories, etcetera."

 "Okayyy, so what does that mean?"

 Saito sighs, "How has your peanut of a brain managed to miss all of the information that was just relayed to you?"

 "Uhh, sir, English please," Shoyo says, completely oblivious to the fact that he was just called a complete idiot.

 "Ugh, never mind, it means that I already read everything before I got here, and I have all of it in my head already. So, let me be your trainer." Saito sneered.

 

 "I don't know, I'm still a little skeptical." Shoyo remarks.

 "What other choice do you have?" Saito says impatiently, "I'm tryna help you here."

 "Okay, okay, let's see what you got, then, trainer!"

Saito sighs heavily. It seems like it'll take a pretty long time before his disciple gets good.

Back at home, Shoyo is looking at the ceiling, recalling what happened today.

 "Woahh, His phenomena is so useful." Shoyo marvels

 "I wish I could learn that quickly."

 "I'm glad I met him there, I almost messed up with the wrong martial art."

In the neighborhood next door, Saito is sitting at his desk, looking at the ceiling, looking soulless.

 "I wonder how long it'll take for that idiot to get a grip on the style." Saito wondered. "Becoming a personal trainer oddly wasn't on my agenda for before-school activities, but here I am."

 "Why did I even suggest this?" Saito sighs, "Sometimes I wish I weren't so spontaneous."

Fast-forward one week, Shoyo has become somewhat proficient in boxing, being able to land punches that actually connect, more aware of enemy weak spots, and finally being able to force Saito to pay attention to the fight.

 "Woah, you actually don't learn that slow," Saito says while dodging a hit to the solar plexus.

 "Yeah well, compared to you, I'm like a sloth." Shoyo throws another punch.

 "That's partly thanks to my phenomena," Saito dodges.

Shoyo embeds his hand with sound energy. He throws a punch towards Saito with full force. The punch connects, and Saito knocks into a nearby tree.

 "What was that for?!" Saito snapped.

 "Stay vigilant, you can't give your opponent free hits in a real fight," Shoyo advises playfully.

 "Oh, so you caught on?" Saito drawled

 "Fine. You won't get any free hits anymore." Saito picked himself back up, winding up a punch. Shoyo was then sent straight into the stratosphere—needless to say, he never tried testing Saito ever again.

Shoyo picks himself up and sprints back to Saito as fast as he can.

 "You didn't have to go that far!"

 "Stay vigilant," Saito says with a smug look.

After a while of training, it was getting late, so the both of them were preparing to go back to their respective homes.

 "Hey, do you have LEIN?" Shoyo asks

 "Whoa, you have a smartphone?" Saito replies, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shoyo doesn't speak—he simply looks at him with a look that screams, "Seriously?" while holding up the phone that he was using to train prior to Saito's training.

 "What, we can't take a joke now?" Saito scoffs.

With that, they exchange contact information and head back to their homes.

Back at home, Shoyo gets out of the shower, drying his hair. He goes to his room and lies down on his bed, taking out his phone. Shoyo opens his phone, he sees a message from Saito.

 The message reads, "Hey, I won't be training you anymore after tomorrow."

 Shoyo replies, "Why?"

 Saito texts back, "I wanna do other stuff too before we go to school."

 Shoyo replies with a simple "ok," a little saddened at the news.

Saito looks up at the ceiling, replaying the image of a certain encounter after the entrance exam.

 "Hey you, Wilhelm, was it?" Said a familiar cold voice.

Saito looks back, very visibly tired, he sees Charlotte approaching him, her blue and red eyes analyzing him.

 "Can I help you?"

 "How'd u do that?" Charlotte inquires.

 "Do what?" Saito replied, trying to figure what what she's talking about.

 "You copied 2 phenomena." She answered.

 "Two?" Saito repeated, feigning ignorance.

Words couldn't express how obviously fake that reaction was. Charlotte didn't even bother replying—her glare said everything.

 "Look, it's a really long process that I really don't want to have to explain." Saito muttered, already turning away.

Charlotte sighs, "Well, why did u copy that kid's lever?"

 "Who? The one you were fighting?"

 "Yeah that one."

 "It looked interesting, so I just wanted to study it, that's all."

 "Aren't there any drawbacks to doing that?"

 "I mean, yeah, but you win more than u lose anyway."

 "What are the drawbacks?"

 "Now, why do I have to tell yo—"

 "Just answer." Charlotte cuts him off.

 "What's in it for me?" Saito shot back.

Charlotte sighs. She takes an ice cream cone out of her bag. "I just bought it; it's still frozen cold."

Now, how could a mere ice cream cone possibly make him talk—

 Saito's eyes lit up at the sight of the frozen snack, "OK, I'LL SPILL. JUST GIVE IT HERE." He demanded.

Charlotte gives him the ice cream cone, a raised eyebrow and a dry, deadpan stare that says, "Really?"

Saito starts eating it, enjoying every moment.

 "So when I use mimic, it takes a huge chunk of my mana and brain power, making me very tired after words, the intensity depending on the lever." Saito says with a mouth full of ice cream.

 "I usually just sleep it off, so yeah, it's really no big deal." He continues.

 Charlotte's limousine arrived. She had to make her leave. Charlotte, still amused by his behavior, asks for his contact information.

 "I'll need your LEIN. I might need to meet up with you later this month." She added afterwards.

Saito snaps back to the present, he checks his phone to see a notification from Charlotte.

 "4 pm, Victory Super Mall, the day after tomorrow, don't forget." The message had the warmth of a concrete wall—classic Charlotte.

 "Just my luck." Saito sighs; he hasn't had a single day to himself ever since the entrance exams.

The next day, Saito and Shoyo meet each other at the park for their last day together. As always, Saito makes Shoyo do many drills as well as train his mastery of the fundamentals of boxing. 3 hours passed; it's getting late. Saito decides to give Shoyo one last test.

The battle begins, with both sides waiting for their opponent to make a move. After some time, Saito makes his first move; he rushes toward Shoyo and throws a jab, but Shoyo dodges just in time. With that, the distance between them is closed. Seizing the opportunity, Shoyo throws a forward punch aimed directly at Saito's abdomen. Saito dodges the punch, but it still lands; turns out Shoyo was going for a hook. Saito dashes back, creating some distance so he can recover.

 "Not bad, meathead," Saito says—that's the closest you'll get to praise from him.

Saito retaliates, launching a left hook into Shoyo's jaw; the hit connects, forcing Shoyo to step back; he gags in pain. Saito doesn't waste any time; he follows up with a series of jabs, knocking Shoyo to the ground.

 "I win." Saito announces, "You still need to improve if you're to use this art against others in the academy."

 "I will," Shoyo says, " and I'll beat your ass when we fight again, just watch me."

Saito helps Shoyo up. They start packing up. They both, then, walk to their respective homes.

 

 

Saito looks up at the ceiling, contemplating his life choices. His phone lights up with a soft ding. He picks up his phone to see Charlotte's message.

 "Yo." The message reads—as dry as ever.

 "Heyyyyy, ever considered giving ur texts a little flavour for once in ur life?" Saito replies.

 "Just don't be late," Charlotte said, ignoring his text.

 "Yeah yeah Ik u don't have to keep pestering me abt it." Saito messaged.

 

It's the afternoon of the next day, Shoyo is training by himself, trying to perfect his hooks before the school year starts, "I'm gonna beat him. Definitely… No matter what."

 

Saito is reading a new book at home; it's been forever since he picked up a new one.

The book in question?

The Dhammapada, a book of teachings written by none other than the great sorcerer—Mage III himself, Lord Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama.

Saito, engrossed in the text, doesn't speed read the book—it takes away from the joy of reading.

 "Be a lamp unto yourselves; be a refuge unto yourselves. Take yourself to no external refuge." Saito reads.

 "Mage III is amazing." Saito marveled, "He didn't even need his lever to get that much influence."

 

Later that day, Saito went out to a mall near his place, Victory Super Mall. He's wearing a simple outfit, a black jacket, a white T-shirt, and black pants. He meets Charlotte, wearing a professional tailored navy trench coat, smooth white silk blouse, and slim white trousers.

 "Let's go." Charlotte urged.

 "Damn, did you lose your way while trying to get back to heaven?" Saito said sarcastically.

 "Stop looking at me," Charlotte said bluntly.

The both of them walk into the mall.

 "Let's go there." Charlotte points to a tailor shop.

They walk into the tailor shop. Charlotte approaches the tailor.

 "I would like something made," She requests.

 "Am I just gonna be your personal assistant today?" Saito asked.

 "Don't worry, I didn't call you here so I could go on a shopping spree," Charlotte says without even looking back, "I called you out today because I already had things to do, so it would be more efficient." She adds.

 "Okay, so what am I gonna do?" Saito complains

 "What, you can't wait a little?" Charlotte replied tersely, "If you really can't wait, you can get something made too, I'll pay."

 "Nah, I'll pass, I don't like the idea of a woman paying for me anyway, especially not you," Saito said with an obnoxious tone.

 "What's that supposed to mean?" Charlotte said, a little annoyed. "Look, if you won't take my offer, figure out how to pass the time yourself."

Saito stopped talking; he merely sat down on a nearby chair, sulking.

Charlotte finishes up her request, "Let's go to the jewelry shop." She urges.

 "What about your… wait, what did you even ask the tailor to make?" Saito inquired.

 "I'll come pick it up when we come back," Charlotte answered.

 "Oh okay."

 "Hey, how did you know I like ice cream?" Saito asks.

 "Lucky guess." Charlotte shrugs dismissively.

They walk into a jewelry shop called Chloe&Co. Charlotte walks to the bracelet section.

 "Excuse me, where is the earrings section?" She asks

 "Right this way, ma'am," A staff member replies.

Charlotte heads to the earrings section with the store clerk. Saito, left alone, decides to pick out a piece of jewelry for himself at the ring section.

They both pick out their jewelry and head to the checkout center together.

 "Wow, 2 different gemstones?" Saito admires.

 "Yeah, they came in a set, 1 ruby and 1 blue sapphire," Charlotte replied. "I thought they looked good on me, they match my eyes, so I bought them."

 "Really? There's no other meaning behind it? I thought girls were into gemstones' meaning, and chakra or whatever." He asks.

 "Well, I didn't really think much about it while buying it, but I guess ruby has meanings tied to love and vitality, and sapphire has some meaning tied to hope and something about wisdom," She replies. "You got a red diamond ring?" Charlotte gestures to the meticulously hand-carved platinum ring with a red diamond streak running through the middle in Saito's hand.

 "Yeah, I just like the color."

 "Damn, I didn't know you liked to wear jewelry." Charlotte teased, "You know, that's a very rare gem, are you sure u can afford it?

 "Don't worry about me, I could probably buy your whole family tree," Saito smirked.

 "You really love to show how spoiled you are, don't you?" Charlotte said, disprovingly.

 "Okay, c'mon, I said it once."

They both pay for their jewelry and walk out of the store.

 "You really just dropped 1 billion yen on jewelry?" Saito said impressed.

 "Oh, it's nothing compared to your 700million for just one piece of jewelry." Charlotte proclaimed.

 "Okay, but you still spent more than me." Saito shot back.

They continue talking for a while. A little bit later, Saito asked where they were going next, and Charlotte answered, saying that they were going onto the rooftop of the building.

After walking for what felt like an eternity, they finally reached the top of the building.

 "Do you have any idea why I called you here?" Charlotte asked, standing on the rooftop beside Saito, the cool wind tugging at the ends of her coat. She looks at him with a cold, but not entirely emotionless, expression, her tone steady.

 "No, not really," Saito replied, wind drifting through his hair and jacket, trying to read her expression.

 "Your father is… Heinrich Wilhelm… correct?" The atmosphere turns tense. Saito's face darkens. "You keep up with German news?"

 "It was a very big case, turned global in a matter of days," Charlotte answered—A hint of sympathy snuck into her voice.

Saito recalls a memory. It was the 10th of August 2015. Saito's father, Heirich, was working in an underground lab with a few of his coworkers. It looked like they were working on a very important project, one that could revolutionize the world's technology. This went on for some time, when a gang of raiders started looting the place, they took everything. All the resources, research papers, experiment records, and even the people. Heinrich was there, he tried protesting the best he could, but it was all in vain, one of them had a lever, a water-based lever. The raiders knew what they were doing; they took the water out of one of the beakers, and the sorcerer drowned Heinrich until he was knocked unconscious. They took him too; he was the head researcher, they couldn't afford to lose him. Little Saito was looking at all of this from the camera footage found at the run-down lab.

 "The Guillaume family was involved, correct?" Saito snaps back to the present.

 "Evidently so, although concealed from the media."

 "Why are you here?"

 "I was sent to Japan after the case closed so as not to involve myself with further conflict. You?"

 "I came here because the headmaster is one of the 11." Saito's face tenses. "I want to know the truth, the truth about everything, about that incident, about this world, about the 11. Everything"

Charlotte's expression shifted; she tilted her head downward, her gaze turning distant. She thought for a moment, then spoke up. "I'll help you." 

 "What?!" Saito's eyes widened in confusion and shock.

 "To tell you the truth, I've wanted to know more about the incident since the case opened, but they never resolved the case and eventually closed it without a conclusion."

 "Wow, did the sun turn blue too?" Saito asked, voice dripping with irony—didn't take that long for him to return to his usual self.

 

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