Chapter 43 - Ryota NakamuraHollow Night Too much was happening too damn quickly.

  You’re telling me I got whizzed away to some fantasy world where we have powers and missions and monsters? None of it was making any damn sense, no matter how you sliced it.

  The only reason I was even going along with any of this was because of what Akio wrote in that note. I couldn’t believe what he’d written there when I first read it, so I didn’t mention it to anyone, but now I’m regretting that choice.

  Everything was true. These guys were being forced to py some sick game – and what’s more, Akio knew he wouldn’t make it. He’d left it addressed to me, as if he knew I would get roped in next.

  Had his Dad read it? After mulling it over, I doubted it. He was always one to respect his son’s wishes, even if he never entirely understood them. Just remembering the emptiness of his eyes, the deadness in his voice, was taking me back to a pce I never wanted to return to again.

  It was still tearing me up inside. While I was off drooling over Junko or training for the next competition, just how much was my buddy going through? After we promised to always be there for each other…

  But I couldn’t afford to get so caught up in regrets. I didn’t deserve that luxury. Not now, when he needed me most. If he’d known that I would get dragged in, then I could trust that everything else written in the note would come to fruition too – which meant I had to be prepared for the worst.

  Hoshino was watching me quietly from the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen. Akio said that, as the newcomer, I’d be likely to get targeted especially by the game’s master, Juno, so I needed to be careful.

  After some more of their bbbering, they revealed this leaderboard-looking thingy.

  Everybody’s names were coded, but Hoshino suddenly chimed in and revealed who everybody was, which saved me some guesswork.

  She was ‘Resolution’, which made me ‘Rush’. Maybe I could’ve ughed at the pure cheese of the whole thing if the situation wasn’t so grave.

  Rush, though? The name had the strangest sense of familiarity, like meeting an old childhood friend. It felt like my entire being, everything that made me me, could’ve been summed up by that one word - and it scared me.

  Based on what Hoshino’d told me, you had a general inkling or intuition for what your power was before you’d even use it; like the lyrics to a song you haven’t listened to for years.

  I think I understood what she meant now. Throughout my body there was a kind of pulsing feeling, like something urging me to explode and take off like a rocket. I didn’t know what would happen once I did, but I’ll admit a part of me was looking forward to it.

  Heck, the prospect of just letting loose was so appealing that I hadn’t noticed the spinning names and images on the screens. Looks like the ‘target’ was being chosen.

  I gnced over at Hoshino. She was gritting her teeth, her skin moist as though she’d just ran 5 kilometres in the space of 3 minutes. I guess she was just as nervous as I was, and had good reason to be. If I really was picked, she’d be in danger too thanks to this Pact business we got going on.

  “Hey,” I called. Her gaze snapped to me, and though she tried to py it cool afterwards, for a split second I noticed her eyes were wide with arm. I smiled.

  “We’ll be alright. You’ve got me on your team, for Pete’s sake. Did I mention the time I led a comeback of –“

  “25 points across the 3rd and 4th quarter of the boys’ basketball regional finals, leading the Tensei Twisters to victory in the decade’s greatest high school level upset?” She interrupted, clearly not as enthused about the story as I was.

  “…Yeah, actually. You have. About a million damn times. Heck, I was there. Or did you forget how the girls’ team was the first in the association’s history to not drop a single game in their journey to getting the trophy?”

  I scowled comically.

  “Show off.”

  “Look who’s talking.”

  We turned away then, our attention back onto the screen. The rate at which names were being cycled through was slowing down, and it wouldn’t be long now until we knew who the target would be.

  Despite all this, I couldn’t fight the smile that fought its way onto my lips. It looked like Hoshino couldn’t either.

  Which made it all the more heartbreaking when it was revealed who was being hunted tonight.

  It didn’t sink in at first, I’ll admit.

  When they showed the name ‘Fenrir’ with the picture of that one English transfer in third-year, with the cool blue eyes and chestnut brown hair, I was more surprised that it hadn’t been me picked.

  Judging from what I’d been told, it seemed pretty on-brand for this ‘Juno’ person to increase the chances of the bottom pairing getting selected, only to choose someone entirely different; say, the new kid on the block.

  It was when the relief and (fine, joy) finally faded that I recalled who his partner was.

  “…Oh shit.” I remember exciming. “W-Wait, isn’t he…?”

  Hoshino turned toward me slowly, holding her palms out with stern eyes as if she already knew where this was going. It didn’t matter if she knew or not. She wasn’t going to stop me.

  “I’m going after them, right now.” I decred, marching off in the direction of Center Street. As I was moving, there was a fsh of light behind me before Hoshino appeared in front of me.

  So that was her special sauce, eh?

  “Just wait, damnit!” She instructed through gritted teeth. “It isn’t that simple!”

  I hoped my facial expression did a good job of dispying my exasperation.

  “What? Hell yeah it is that simple! This Fenrir guy being targeted means that Junko’s in danger now too. I don’t know how strong they are, but from what this masked guy said, they’re in some deep shit, Hoshino. If we don’t get over there and help, they could – “

  “Just think about it for a second, you idiot!” She screamed. The sudden explosion caught me slightly off guard, but I had the feeling this had been long overdue.

  Like she’d even surprised herself with the sudden outburst, she briefly broke eye contact, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before continuing.

  “Look, Mizuko’s gonna be with them.” She began, the constraint evident in her tone. “You know, the one who almost stabbed you in your fucking throat a few minutes ago? Yeah, her. And I don’t have time to go into this with you right now, but I want you to know one thing.”

  She looked me dead in the eye.

  “She’d sooner kill us and absorb our EXS if it gave her even the smallest chance of doing a better job protecting her sister. Even you can see that much, right?”

  Even me? This girl didn’t know half of what I did. The truth was that no matter who’d been picked, I would’ve gone to help them anyway. That was what I’d been instructed to do. But now that Junko was in the line of fire, there was no way in hell I’d be leaving her to die. I’ll never make that mistake again.

  “I don’t give a shit what she does to me,” I spat. “Junko needs me, and that’s final. I’m going.”

  I had barged past her, and was about to sprint off back to the others when I felt something grip my colr, holding me in pce. Before I could even react, I was flying backwards, past Hoshino and tumbling onto the ground. Jesus, what was that strength?

  “You’re staying here, Nakamura.” Hoshino’s face was unlike anything I’d ever seen. “I did not get a second chance at this only to have you fuck it all up.”

  I had a feeling it might have come to this. As I got back onto my feet, I weighed up my options. I didn’t actually need to beat her, come to think of it – just make it past her and get enough distance so she couldn’t catch me. Simple.

  It was meant to be simple anyway. Until Juno started calling our names.

  “Resolution, Rush – my apologies. Was I interrupting something?”

  Was the broadcast still going on? What was there even left to say? But then, if this was going out to everybody, why call our names specifically?

  We were both silent, likely because I was looking for an opportunity to blow past her and she was watching me like a hawk in response.

  “…Regardless, there is something the two of you should be aware of.” Juno continued, ignoring the room’s atmosphere. “There is a secret opportunity I wish to make the pyers outside of the target pairing aware of.”

  Okay, now they had my attention. Secret opportunity? Where were they going with this?

  “You see, I understand that after…recent events, you are all beginning to realize the importance of seeking your own strength and not becoming excessively reliant on one another.” They noted.

  “Thus, in spirit of this newfound philosophy, I have mandated the following rule: if the target is eliminated by a fellow pyer instead of by the Noise, that pyer – and their partner – will receive double the amount of EXS from the killing, as opposed to the normal amount.”

  I don’t think my jaw could have dropped any further down. What in the actual fuck? So you’re telling me that, in addition to this mercenary group of monsters lurking about somewhere in the city, we have to worry about other pyers too?

  Eiji had warned me – she’d warned me that, with Akio’s ‘elimination’, retions between everyone had grown all kinds of tense.

  Shit, now that I think about it, I remember seeing social media stories mentioning that Katoru and Kurogane had gotten into some kind of scrap. Had that been about what went down here the night before?

  Either way, I’d learned first-hand that the other pyers weren’t friends anymore, and that was putting it lightly. I think at this point, even Eiji would –

  I gnced over in her direction, and my heart stopped. Just like that.

  “Naturally, I’ve kept this a secret from the targeted pair, and Yuki no Yurei, who seems to be in allegiance with them. But do be wary, my young warriors…” Juno croned onwards.

  I started to run.

  “For the Noise and the target pairing will surely only be the beginning of your troubles tonight.”

  They were right.

  Eiji was gone.