"The next station will be Tokyo. Thank you for taking the shinkansen. The next station will be Tokyo. The doors on the left will open." With the automated voice informing all passengers of the incoming destination, Yumi slowly rolled up the blind whilst looking out the window.
Hamamatsu to Tokyo took roughly 2 hours by bullet train.
"Woaaaahhh.. So this is Tokyo..?" Dazzled by the compact infrastructure and sheer scale and size of the city, Yumi was engrossed by every small detail. From skyscrapers reaching the clouds to billboards on every building hugging one another, taxis and cars occupying every inch of the roads and much more. The difference between the countryside and metropolitan cities was simply night and day.
With her mom travelling on a business trip during the weekend to meet old acquaintances, Yumi had managed to convince her to tag along. Stepping out of the train carriage together with one suitcase each, Yumi found herself somewhat struggling to haul it around, as it was filled with books, sunscreen and a few pairs of clothing.
Eventually navigating their way out of the massive Tokyo station, they were both instantly met with the intense heat of the July sun. In spite of the heatwave, it didn't stop her from constantly taking pictures with her phone.
"It is quite hot today, is it not mom?" Despite wearing a tucked in short sleeved blue shirt coupled with white shorts, she still found herself drowning amidst the heat.
"Yeah.. Here, take this handheld fan, dear." Handing over a small machine made to combat intense summer heat, Yumi promptly activated the fan and put it in front of her scorching face, subsequently cooling it down.
"Answer my request, flow still as water.." Not needing a fan herself, Ayanami was simply able to activate her own Valve and regulate her body temperature instead, thanks to her affinity for water.
'Whew. That feels much better. Has it always been this hot?'
"Aaaaah, thiiiiiis feeeeels muuuch beettrr, thaaanks mooom." Satisfied, Yumi silently held on to her moms hand so as to not get lost in the street sprawling with an endless amount of life.
"We'll need to switch to the JR line Yumi, so hold on to me tightly because the trains tend to get full here."
"Mm.. Okay!" With an excited demeanour, Yumi was eagerly looking forward to touring Tokyo while visiting the headquarters up close and inside.
In due course, they made their way through the massive JR line and finally, their destination where the headquarters was located. Getting off the local train, not only were they accompanied by salary workers and regular people but a select few even had fancy looking weapons wrapped in bandages so as to not accidentally hurt civilians alongside sigils on their shoulders and chests signalling their origin.
Likewise, her mom also had a sigil hidden on the bottom of her right wrist, although it was small and didn't represent any major groups or organisations. By contrast hers was an etched half moon with broken rubble.
"..S-so many people here. And stabilisers as well.." Whispering to herself in a skittish tone, she felt slightly overwhelmed, especially compared to the countryside where Stabilizers were rarely seen alongside huge concentrated masses. For her, everything was quite new.
"Don't worry, I'm here with you." Holding her hand gently but also tight enough, Yumi felt safe with her mom.
-Grumble, grumble!
"?" Although the crowd's rumbling footsteps overlaid most noise. Yumi's stomach growled fairly loud to the point a few pedestrians even grabbed their own stomach thinking they were hungry..
Feeling her own white shirt being tugged softly, Ayanami looked down beside her.
"Can we try the ramen?" Yumi's light voice spoke, her vibrant blue majorelle eyes stared in anticipation.
Letting out a small chuckle, Ayanami patted Yumi's head, roughing up her hair and loosening the ponytail slightly. "Of course dear! I know a good spot nearby, follow me."
…
Not too far from the headquarters, Yumi and her mom found themselves by a relatively quiet street. In front of them stood a plain wood door with no visible sign indicating whether it was open or a restaurant.
"Are you sure we are at the correct spot, mom? Looking slightly confused at the door and matte black glass panels, it proved to be difficult to peer in from outside. In addition, her stomach continued to grumble louder.
Gasping audibly in disbelief, Ayanami asked rhetorically.
"Yumi-chan, dear.. Are you trying to say that your mom might finally be going senile!?"
"Quoi? Finally..?" Raising an eyebrow at her, Yumi appeared even more puzzled than before. Although it didn't last too long before they broke into laughs that filled the secluded street.
"Shall we head in, dear?"
"Mhm!" As Ayanami opened the door, a cool breeze alongside a heavy scent immediately overcame their senses. From the dark wooden counter to the round leathered seats and old decorations, the aroma of 8 hour chicken and pork broth simmering filled every corner of the restaurant. Pairing with the old 90's style of interior framework, jazz tracks played from an old jukebox situated to the right..
Standing behind the counter stirring the gigantic simmering pot was a man in his mid 50's. His skull was devoid of any hair except a headband covering part of his forehead. Furthermore, he wore a black shirt with sleeves rolled up to his broad shoulders. In spite of having no hair, he had a short beard that had begun turning grey.
"..My apologies, we're opening in an hour at 11:00 am.." With his back turned, Ayanami answered back in a confident declarative tone.
"Well, it's open now for both of us." Upon hearing her assertive order, he stopped stirring and turned around with a melodramatic face while Ayanami and Yumi looked on, awaiting his reaction.
"..Huh? Oh, hey Ayanami-san! It's been a minute!" His tired morning gaze morphed into an eccentric one upon realising it was Ayanami.
"..Hehh, indeed. I believe it's been around a year now, Haruki-kun?" Forming a relaxed smile whilst catching up, Yumi finished setting aside both their suitcases before sitting down beside Ayanami at the counter.
"Who's this adorable young fella you've got with you today? You're usually here with the rest of your group." Processing Haruki's question and peering over to her mom before barely managing eye contact with him, Yumi responded with a shy voice.
"Uhm.. Hello, my name is Shinano Yukihime, I am here with my mom today.. Nice to meet you..!"
-Grumble..
Unable to bear the embarrassment of a grumbling stomach anymore, Yumi pouted whilst keeping her head down.
"Haruki, one large bowl of Tokyo style ramen please, I'll just have some edamame." Grinning ear to ear, Haruki laughed before preparing their orders.
"Coming right up!" Without wasting a beat, his hands and body moved fluidly and remarkably. From preparing the base to layering the different broths alongside the various toppings resting on the firm noodles. Each movement conveyed a supreme self-confidence only attainable through years of work.
"A work of art.." Yumi uttered in silent admiration. Haruki's display reminded her of vanguards who's able to weave between the thinnest threads during confrontations.
"He's pretty cool when he's working isn't he?" Sensing Yumi's interest, her mother prepared the utensils while speaking away.
"Haruki-kun actually used to work as a vanguard overseas for the American defence division, whenever he had time and came back to visit, we'd all go grab a bowl of ramen. It was the one dish that kept him grounded despite being deathly homesick at times.."
Nodding impressed, Yumi peacefully continued listening along.
"For him, nothing hit the spot better than a nice bowl of ramen. That's how he found his passion and drive post retirement."
"Does that mean he is able to cook every style?" Yumi asked apprehensively.
"You bet I can!" Haruki responded passionately whilst chopping onions and putting on the final touches.
"Haha, since he traveled between cities and provinces to refine his taste a year after his retirement, he's become extremely proficient in every style of ramen."
"Here ya go miss, enjoy!" At last, Haruki put the steaming hot bowl of ramen in front of Yumi and thereafter her moms Edamames.
"Thanks for the food."
Separating her chopsticks, Yumi put both her side triangle shaped wisps up behind her ears so as to not get in the way of eating. The medium-thin noodles rested on the brown soy broth accompanied by medium pieces of chashu pork, thinly cut green onion, long bamboo stems and a few kombu seaweeds clinging on the side.
"Wow, what a light aroma.." Scooping the broth up carefully with her spoon, Yukihime also used her chopsticks to grab the noodles. Sipping the spoonful of broth in one go, her tastebuds instantly exploded with flavours.
"The broth is really light and not too sour either.. This is amazing!" Getting another spoonful of broth, she consumed it in one go again but with noodles this time promptly followed by a slice of chashu. She couldn't stop eating, it was too delicious.
"Although my daughter appears quite dignified, Yumi-chan's rather gluttonous, hehe." Yumi's head spun towards her Mom with red cheeks encapsulating her face in embarrassment.
"..Mom! You don't say that about me!" Kicking her mom's leg aggressively, Yumi tried her best to hide her embarrassment, all while Aynami and Haruki kept laughing.
…
The Global Defence Bureau against Distortions. Also commonly referred to as GDAD is a global defence initiative formed by a coalition of various nations. Formed during the late 19th century as a response to new extraterrestrial life suddenly appearing on earth or as we call it today, Distortions.
Furthermore, thanks to the ongoing partnership with "Technology of Combined Arms", it has become significantly easier to interlink and respond to a tear in reality. In spite of new technological advances, the entropy of tears opening hasn't changed.
Most commonly located around large metropolitan cities their buildings are easily distinguishable by unique blends homaging to past architectural design, culture, gods and unique energy resonance antennas stretching far up into the clouds.
Likewise, Tokyo's headquarters dubbed "Inari" preserved traditional Japanese woodwork along its windows on each floor while incorporating sleek and modern designs of a compact corporate building.
"Greetings." Ayanami said.
"Good day, what's your reason to enter the headquarters today ma'am?" Guarding the front entrance, stood a tall armed officer holding a rifled weapon.
"I'm here for a business meeting today, my name is Shinano Ayanami." While explaining her reasoning, she handed both her identification and appropriate paperwork to the guard.
After a few minutes of proofreading and verifying her identity, he promptly forwarded the information through his radio towards the front desk to which they gave her a green light.
"Alright, you are free to enter. Who is the child behind you?"
"..?.." Standing behind her mom. Yumi seemed somewhat disinterested in interacting with him. Mostly, due in part to being stuck in a minor food coma. Yumi's mind craved Gyoza.
"She's my daughter. Her name is Shinano Yukihime." Hearing her words, his somewhat tensed expressions seized and instead softened.
"Understood. Welcome to the headquarters, Inari." Opening the door for the pair, they walked through without any further difficulty.
Making their way inside, the interior was made of various contrasting materials and decorations. The floor was composed of specialised anti-blast alloy whilst the ceiling had a unique chiselled marble pattern alongside large hanging chandeliers.
Furthermore, the walls were filled with paintings of past and present Stabilisers that had been inducted into the hall of fame.
"Oh my goodness, that is Amaterasu! And Susano as well! Oh! Thor and Loki! Wow! Aphrodite is stunning!" Her eyes were peeled to each unique frame. Every stroke from the painter told a story about their times in history, their eyes detailed to perfection showcasing their emotion and essence as deities.
Although she had already seen those paintings a dozen times over her career, Yumi's mom still smiled as she herself hoped that Yumi would one day end up inducted during her lifetime.
"Do you wish to end up there in the future dear?" She asked Yumi.
"Yeah! And then I will be remembered throughout all ages!! Just like them..!" Laughing whilst enjoying the moment, Yumi and her mom walked through the large hallway, all while chatting away admiring everything until they eventually took an elevator and reached the 3rd floor meeting room.
Gently knocking on the door, it was followed by a moment of silence before being reciprocated by the permission to enter. Answering the call, she opened the door and in front stood three familiar acquaintances.
"Hello everyone, it's been a while!" Greeting her former colleagues politely, Yumi was standing beside her watching and bowing.
"O-o-oh! Hey Ayanami-san! Long time no see!" In front to her left, a relatively short man stood wearing white cargo pants and an oversized short-sleeved turquoise shirt waving back. His lanky build, messy green hair and large grey oval eyes coupled with round shaped glasses his already soft face further.
"Long time no see Aoto-kun. I hope you had a good time in Greece."
"Haha, it was f-fun!" Reciprocating Aoto's innocent smile, Aynami eyes peered right next.
"..It's been a minute, Ayanami-san." To Aoto's right, a middle aged man stood with parted smooth dark brown hair, a moustache and beard. Towering over Aoto, he held a cigarette while tapping his foot on the floor, his sharp black eyes with red veins were an indication of stress compared to the others.
Compared to a few years earlier, he appeared noticeably slimmed down. This was most telling by his incredibly sharp jawline and slim nose.
"It has, Xiaodan. I pray you haven't been too hard on yourself lately." Xiaodan barely gave an answer back, instead just nodding faintly in acknowledgement.
Whilst everyone continued exchanging small talk and handshakes, one of Aynami's female colleagues slowly waltzed up to Yumi and greeted her.
Her hair was silky dark blue, eyes warm orange with long black eyelashes, and on her shoulder was a sigil representing the Sun's Cornerstone. She stood half a head shorter than Ayanami wearing a simple black dress and bamboo straw hat.
"Hello! Are you perhaps my dear friend's daughter?" Reaching her medium sized hand out, she gently shook Yumi's hand so as to not intimidate her. Despite her hand appearing brittled with small scars all over, they felt both soft and inviting.
"Ah, Y-yes.. Nice to meet you." With nerves getting the better of her, Yumi hid a portion of her round face behind bangs.
"My name is Hisano Yoko. You can call me Yoko-san! What's yours miss?" Crouching down to Yumi's head height, Yoko tried to ease her tension with a warm reassuring smile.
"Shinano Yukihime.." Flustered, she didn't seem to be budging at all. Luckily for Yoko, she had a perfect plan in mind.
"You have a pretty name princess-chan! Do you wanna come check out some cool technology in development that helps us track Distortions, Entropies and Stabilizers?"
Winking at her softly while pointing at an unassuming door, she was informed early that Aynami was bringing her daughter alongside, who happened to be interested in Stabilizers and Tears in reality.
"..Really?" Slightly bringing her face out of her platinum hair, Yumi's tension seemed to have eased slightly while her curiosity was continuously mounting.
"Mhm! Grab my hand and I'll show you!"
"..Oh Okay!" Happily wrapping her small arms around Yoko's, both made their way out the door together. During which, Yoko kept telling Yumi about her own travels.
"Yoko-san never changes huh?"
"Pfft, yeah. A-always the same, haha."
With Yumi taken out of the room, Ayanami and her friends could at last begin their discussion. Gathering around a hand crafted wooden round table that had glass panelling at the top, it showed a map of the current world. On top of the glass, were small pentagonal arrow pieces made of wood with names ingrained. In Japan, a piece with the Sun's Cornerstone name was laid.
Likewise, in the USA, the Technological Unification of Combined Arms stood. And in Europe, Ruler of Olympus. Furthermore, there were several scattered pieces of "Miracle Constellation" throughout the world with no specified location having a concentrated zone. Lastly, on the Pan-Pacific continent, A. Terra, Amaterasu's name stood signifying her current whereabouts.
"First of all, let's start by getting this out of the way." Breaking the silence and speaking first was Xiaodan's deep stern voice.
"I assume everyone here is aware of Amaterasu's increase in activity lately. I mean, let's be real. A 10.0 combat rating throughout the year is suicidal, especially considering the era we're currently in."
"I agree, does anyone here have a theory as to why she's exerting herself so hard?" Whilst talking, Aoto put down a tablet showcasing Amaterasu's average combat report numbers.
Raising her hand, Ayanami seemed to have theorised a possible explanation of the activity.
"She might be preparing for something big. Although tears in reality haven't appeared as often compared to preceding decades, one thing has remained constant every time one has broken our sky." Opening her suitcase, she pulled out research papers from various different sources compiled into statistics.
"This is..!?" Both Aoto and Xiaodan said in unison.
"As you can see, the energy yield at impact has steadily increased, which has resulted in more devastation in initial blast zones. In addition, the strength of distortions has rapidly grown stronger throughout this current decade." Grabbing the first paper in hand, she put it forth on the table rather aggressively.
"Here's a chart comparing the 1990's and 2000's."
"Although Tears in Reality opened more frequently before now, each distortion was weaker in strength, by quite a lot actually. The average distortion registered during that time period was between Category 2-4."
Shuffling through the array, she put down another paper compiling the statistics of the 2010's so far.
"Compared to today, the average distortion at MINIMUM is a registered Category 5.
At the concurrent pace we're going at. By 2019, there might be a possibility of Category 9's becoming the standard.
"The media might not be showing it, but Stabilizers are struggling more than usual. Soon they might start dropping like flies forcing us old people out of retirement, which would mean that we'd all need to activate our Singularity and reignite our Mana valves to full combat readiness. Which will and can cause real health complications.."
"My god.." Aoto took a step back, almost bringing himself to both knees. He held onto the table's edge with pure goosebumps.
"Damn.." Xiaodan wasn't better, his tapping had reached a point where it halted abruptly.
Shocked by the revelation, everyone went quiet for a minute trying to regather their thoughts and composure. The silence was deafening to the point where they could hear their own heartbeats with Yumi and Yoko talking in the operations room next door.
Eventually it was sliced strongly by Aoto.
"How many active Stabilizers do we currently have who exceed an overall Combat Rating of 5?"
"Around 700, give or take."
"Of them, what about 7, nearing 8?" The power curve between so much as a few decimals between each individual integer bare great leaps in combat and ability prowess.
"Excluding projected talents/prodigies that are still too young and in school. That'd be the super rookie Hotaru, Siberias Mikoya and maybe a few humans from 'Miracle Constillation'." Therefore, it is considered exponential, not linear.
"And how many of those exceed 8 or 9?" Staring at one another, everyone in the room knew only one active Stabilizer that exceeded 8-9.
"A-a-Amaterasu Hiroku.." "..Amaterasu Hiroku." "Amaterasu Hiroku!!"
"...AUGH!!! Seriously!? Fuck this shit! This world has gone too shit" Furious, Xiaodan stormed outside with rumbling steps. With only Ayanami and Aoto left in the meeting room and collectively understanding the gravity of such a possible future, they let out a sigh of deep disappointment.
Curious whether or not the government had been informed yet he decided to ask her.
"Does the government know yet?"
"No, and unfortunately I doubt they would reveal it to the masses either so as to not cause any unwanted panic in this so-called 'peaceful' era. They're really stubborn about changing their ways after all. Curse those old farts still clinging onto the old economic boom..!" Ayanami explained with a heavy heart.
"A-a-and that's why they're still relying on Amaterasu so heavily for the dirty work. How disappointing really." Sliding a chair from under the table, Aoto sat down deflated. Following his demeanour, Ayanami stood in place, holding her head down slightly.
"I agree, Aoto-kun. Not to mention the worst side-effects a tear in reality brings.." Aoto's glance turned towards Ayanami. Likewise, hers turned towards him as well.
"Mana decay." They both said in unison.
"A form of thread cancer that eats away at your mana cells and destroys your cellular energy circuit, leaving you unable to ever use a valve again. Usually formed when an individual is present during the initial blast zone of a reality tear." His hands began shaking with goosebumps visibly showing around his arms.
"Or similarly, when somebody is exposed and overloaded with a large amount of condensed energy close to the host." Ayanami's expression turned grim, memories came flooding back, witnessing civilians affected by the widely considered incurable-disease.
"Eventually the entropic energy can't sustain itself anymore, completely collapsing within the host's body, resulting in death." Sitting with her arms crossed besides Aoto, Ayanami could only pour her heart out.
"I shouldn't have retired too early if the world could turn out this way.. Now my child might bear our burdens leftover." Ayanami bit her lip hard, to the point her red lips almost began bleeding.
Feeling her heavy regrets, Aoto put a hand on her shoulder in solidarity.
Just then, the door leading to the operations room slammed open. It was so loud even the table rattled momentarily.
"Whaaaam! The legends arrive!" Walking out was Yoko carrying Yumi on her left arm. Yumi herself was holding onto an unknown piece of equipment that was somehow able to display holographic information.
"We are back, mom!"
"Oh? Where'd Xiaodan-kun go? And what's with the darkened atmosphere?" Yoko peered around, sensing both their depressed demeanours, she most likely realised what topic they had been discussing.
"Mom! Look at this! It is still in an experimental phase, but it can display almost anything! Also the device is small enough to fit onto my palm!" Flaunting the device in front of everyone. They all couldn't help but to laugh together with her.
"Hahaha, shall we take a break Aoto-kun?"
"Hehe. Y-y-yeah, I think it's best for us." With the mood mildly brightened, the pair began sorting the scattered research papers back together into her suitcase before heading towards Yoko and Yumi.