Previous Chapter: Period 2____14-15 years old (Mission 2)

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Period 2____14-15 years old

(Mission 3)

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“What is the meaning of this, Saruhiko.”

In December at the time the results of the mock exam had been sent out to each of them, Oogai Aya once again stopped him in the corridor. Because the mock exam had not been part of the entrance exam this time, they had not known the results would come today. Of course the names of the people in the first 150 places hadn’t been publicized either.

“Are you, like, an idiot? If you don’t go to a high school these days you’re from society’s viewpoint trash. You should go to one. Because you can go into any school even without trying hard and you’ll be successful in society even without much effort.”

“Well, then I can’t be an idiot, can I?”

“You are an idiot. Aya, like, didn’t think you’d be that big of an idiot. Aya will most certainly not become trash like you.”

Aya spoke with anger while she pushed up her glasses which she was wearing today too, with force. 'She hasn’t even sured herself in anything yet in the first place so why does she want to compete with me on equal so badly? I don’t get it. Is she an idiot? Even though she isn’t supposed to be that stupid.'

It was the corridor in front of the boys’ toilet again. 'Do you wait here for me to come or what…' The male students going in and out the toilet glanced at them, but Aya glared at them as if there were worms, chasing them away.

“…seriously, what’s up with you.”

Fushimi leaned against the frame of the window in the corridor.

“I feel good today so I’ll listen to you for only one minute. If there’s something you want to tell me after all, then do it now. Cause I won’t listen to you again.”

“Misaki-kun is good, alright. Even though no matter how hard he’ll work from now on he won’t suddenly get any smarter and he won’t be able to get very far anyway. And if he drops out now he won’t have any effect on society, will he? He doesn’t have to make any more useless effort than this.”

“You sure changed your opinion quickly, huh… Weren’t you drooling over Yata?”

“When you’re dragged along by an idiot like Misaki-kun, your own merit drops. That’s the warning Aya, like, gives you. Aya can talk with you on a high level and on equal .”

“Why do I have to talk to you? Have you ever listened to me with your eyes sparkling and saying ‘amazing’?”

Aya who had been talking on and on haughtily shut her mouth as if he had caught her by surprise.

Fushimi frowned and after he heaved a heavy sigh, he changed the topic a bit.

“You know, I pop them. Bubble wrap, the plastic kind.”

“…huh? What? Pop?”

Without minding Aya’s dubious expression he continued.

“That crushing feeling when you pop that… I keep my hands occupied with it when there’s nothing else to do, and before I notice all of it is already crushed and that in itself is a result… something like a result. Learning too, keeping a high ranking in jcube too, they’re like popping bubble wrap for me. No matter what, I can do them without much effort, just like you said. You seem to think that there is merit for me in it, but in my opinion all of that is merely trash like the popped bubble wrap that's left in my hand.”

Because Fushimi hadn’t kept his voice down the students ing through the corridor were also able to hear him, and surprised but also nasty gazes were turned towards him. But Fushimi didn’t care what the background was thinking. Aya was also background. He wouldn’t feel better by winning an argument against background. One minute had ed already. He turned back and started walking to the classroom.

“…Sa- Saruhiko!”

After some distance had been created between them Aya’s yell came crushing against his back.

“You’re really the worst! Aya hates you from the bottom of her heart!”

With that an actual physical impact crushed against him and Fushimi stumbled forward. Aya’s backpack fell to his feet with a thud. With a hand on his back he glowered over his shoulder at Aya who disheartened, braced herself in front of the boys’ toilet.

“By now I know that even without you telling me. Though I don’t particularly hate you as an individual―”

He scooped up the backpack with the tip of his foot and juggled it on the instep a few times.

“Because I hate the society you’re part of as a whole.”

In those few seconds he saw Aya’s expression become jumbled. Maybe it was bewilderment, maybe it was hope, maybe it was despair.

Fushimi swung his foot back and with the intention to sink the shot with all his might he aimed at Aya’s face and kicked the backpack. Fushimi turned around and started to walk away and the last he saw was Aya’s wide-eyed expression as she wasn’t even able to cover her face. From behind him he heard Aya’s scream and the surrounding people being astir.

Even though his grades were good he had never thought of being proud of it the way Aya was. He had also done jcube simply out of habit. Because he wasn’t bad at studying or playing games Fushimi was immersed in them while he did those, but when he was done nothing like pride or contentment stayed behind. For Fushimi most things in the world ed by the way he crushed bubble wrap out of habit. Even when he was filled with negative feelings, positive ones were hollow.

“You’re amazing!”

“That idea’s super interesting!”

“Let’s do it together, Saruhiko!”

This was the first time that somebody who reacts in an exaggerated way every time without fail and says so straight-forwardly was always by his side. Compared to other people Fushimi might have various talents, but this was what felt like a real merit he had achieved.

†

“Amazing!”

With sparkling eyes Yata pushed the switch of the wrist watch on his left wrist over and over. With every push an about four inch large holographic screen appeared and disappeared in the empty air above the watch’s glass.

“Wow! Amazing! Saruhiko, this is amazing, so cool! It looks like something a Sentai (1) member would wear!”

“'A Sentai member’... are you seven or what?”

“Se- Sentai are adults so it’s okay, right?”

Embarrassed, Yata made a comeback with little strength behind it and raised his voice again in a cheer as he twiddled with the watch.

“Right now it’s not like the watch has turned into a PDA so there’s no point in not carrying a PDA with you. When I apply the one I use…”

Fushimi flicked the screen of his own PDA with a special gesture. A holography a bit bigger than Yata’s appeared in midair.

“I want to revamp it sometime but for now it’s like this. Misaki moves around outside, so a navigator would be good, right? So that’s why I have this.”

With that he pulled out and showed Yata a headset with an earphone speaker for only one ear and a mic attached to it.

“Ohhh….”

Saruhiko glanced at Misaki who was fascinated by it and had gotten teary-eyed.

“You just thought it looks like a Sentai operator, right?”

“Ugh, I- I didn’t?”

“I did. Cool, right?”

He said nonchalantly and put the headset on. After Yata had stared at him blankly he broke into a broad smile.

“What’s up with that, you were thinking the same as me after all.”

Saruhiko grinned back at him, too.

“I also assembled the computers I need to run the hacking tool. With only a PDA it’d be impossible, as you can guess.”

“Feels like a control room, doesn’t it?” Yata looked around the room in triumph. “At this point I feel like we’re gonna win!”

“Stupid. It hasn’t even started yet.”

“Then, did you consider the possibility we’d lose, Saruhiko?”

“No way.”

When Fushimi gave a prompt answer, Yata nodded enthusiastically.

“Right. When you and I are teamed up, it feels like we’d never lose.”

Speaking of control rooms of Sentai heroes one would think of shining monitors lined up in a futuristic room but this place felt like a radio station at best. The only thing shining on the loft which is so low you have to squat to not rub your head on the ceiling, was the light of a desk lamp. Going down the loft there was a living space where you could stand and walk normally without worrying about the low ceiling, but there was barely any furniture. They had started first and proceeded with the preparation of their base.

It had been a month since they had talked about seriously looking for a headquarters. Middle school students weren’t guarantors and normally you’d think it wouldn’t be possible for them to rent a room but just as Yata had said the realtors of Shizume City’s underground didn’t care about that too much.

A heliport on the roof to organize sorties with fighter jets, and a secret subterranean tunnel from the sewer that connects with the cellar, unfortunately they had neither. Instead they had a three tatami mats large loft that could be reached with a ladder. It was in the first floor of a multi-tenant building with some kind of shop in the front, the walls and floor consisted of undressed concrete and duct tape was peeling of the ceiling. It was an empty square room, but a kitchen, bathroom and toilet were properly included.

Because of these features and because it was cheap, Yata had immediately decided to take it. Fushimi had thought the qualifications seemed too good so he had investigated a bit and found out that a homicide had happened there, but… he secretly stuck out his tongue and decided to not tell Yata.

“How’re your preparations going, Misaki?”

“Leave it to me. I told you, I procured a new vehicle!”

Yata jumped down the loft without using the ladder, crawled under the loft and was gone from Fushimi’s sight for the moment (By the way, they had decided that the loft belonged to Fushimi, the space under the loft belonged to Yata, and the rest they shared).

Just as Fushimi was wondering what Yata was doing,

Thud!

slipped Yata energetically out from under the loft together with the sound of something hitting the floor harshly.

On the loft Fushimi’s eyes got wide. Yata charged at the opposite wall, made a half turn right in front of it and stopped, looking at Fushimi.

“Hehen,”

The thing Yata stepped on with his feet with a triumphant look and his chest puffed out was-

“Heh… a skateboard?”

“In the park was a group of college students practicing with this and then it came to me. With this I can maneuver easily and it’s perfect for moving in the city. So I asked them if they don’t have one they don’t use and if they couldn’t give it to me. They asked if I’m from middle school and if I can at least do a kick flip and when I asked them what a kick flip is, they laughed and said if I can do it within one hour they’ll give me the best skateboard they have. I guaranteed that I could do it if they show me once how it’s done. And then, nowhere close to an hour I succeeded right at the first time and left those guys dumbfounded. Well, with my reflexes it was an easy thing.”

Yata who held his nose high and told a story of his strength and valor had both his hands on his hips, and those were covered in scratches. His whole body had to be covered in bruises, although he hid it under long sleeves and long pants.

“Succeeded at the first time, huh.”

“Wh- what, are you doubting me?”

When Yata noticed Fushimi glancing at him he became embarrassed and pulled back his hands behind his butt.

“W- well, I just started, so it’s like this, but we have one week until the plan, right? In one week I’ll ride this skateboard flawlessly.”

One week later―― they’ll try to hack into «jungle»’s server.

There were a few parts that had been prepared hastily, but the things they wanted were generally ready. If they’d be too careful and wait who knows how many months until the right time then their interest would dwindle, and because they had obtained certain information at just the right time they had decided to set up everything for that day.

[Extra applications for the surprise party]

He had found this among the missions for December posted on «jungle». It was about participating in a surprise party that will happen on the night of the 26th December in Shizume City.

A surprise party? It felt kind of sudden so Fushimi dug through the information floating on the internet and there was a story attached to that mission. “There is a participation limit for the mission and it looks like they’ll give you information that’ll become handy for entrance exams.” ――it wasn’t clear if this rumor had spread naturally or if «jungle» had intentionally spread it. This story was widespread among the ones it was aimed for, the many middle school seniors living in the city (high school seniors might also be included in that but there was no need to divide them).

It wasn’t clear what kind of information could “become handy”. Help to cheat or manipulating one’s grade――the details were all vague but that was why it was so anticipated for and talked about so much among the students. And at the same time impatience and suspicions developed. You’d think that if they have so much valuable time to waste to participate in this then they’d use that time to learn like a proper student at home. But what if everybody else participates? They probably think in that case they’d be at a disadvantage and that would be unbearable.

Using the internet to mess with people’s emotions and manipulate their conduct――Fushimi felt like that was one side of «jungle».

While Fushimi explained their plan once again, Yata put his feet in the middle of the ladder and sat at the edge of the loft with his chin in his hands.

“Come to think of it, is Oogai also going there? Saruhiko, did you hear anything?”

“I haven’t. Why are you asking?”

“Because Oogai is also into «jungle» so the chances that she’ll go are pretty high, right? Aren’t you worried?”

“Y'know… I’ll tell you now but, that girl doesn’t think of you the way you do, worrying about her. I’ll tell you what she said today. Even if you work hard from now on you can’t become a winner so if you’d drop out now that wouldn’t change anything.”

It was no secret so Fushimi told him the whole conversation he had had with Oogai that day. Even if it came from Aya, what Fushimi ed on to Misaki was deliberately insulting.

“Seems like some awful thing were said about me, huh…”

It seemed like that was nothing that cut too deeply for Yata to feel daunted, so he looked as if it was nothing.

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped that she feels bitter towards me. Oogai wanted to go to the same high school with you, right? And yet you suggested to not go to high school together with me.”

“Yeah, I was the one who suggested it. So why is she resenting you?”

“Anyway, when you meet Oogai again apologize, okay? No matter what happened you can’t just kick a bag into a girl’s face.”

“Why. I don’t wanna. She was the one who threw it at me.”

“Saruhiko.”

In Yata’s voice was suddenly severity mixed in.

“You’re not in elementary school anymore. You can’t hurt a girl. You’ll apologize, got it?”

“…”

'Despite getting excited like a seven year old about Sentai and stuff you’re scolding me?'

“…if I meet her, after this plan is carried out.”

When Fushimi said that reluctantly and with a pout, Yata, who had had a serious expression broke in a smile.

“Good!”

With a sulky expression Fushimi turned his eyes back to the display and pulled himself together.

“The appointed time for the 'surprise party’ on the 26th December is 11pm. The students who at the end of the year at such a time should be in their rooms stuck to their desks learning will slip out from home in droves. And then all those people who disappeared from home will gather in Shizume City. Then the group who operates «jungle» should also shift their attention to the movement in Shizume City. That’s when we’ll aim for «jungle»’s 'center’.”

“I gotta say, Saruhiko, if it’s with you I feel like we can even take over the world!”

Yata stuck out his fist from under the loft. It was covered in scars and scab and was swollen red. From the loft Fushimi extended his hand and met Yata’s right fist with his left.

Middle school students like them had seriously set up a plan to hijack «jungle». If he’d talk with somebody other than Yata about it they’d probably laugh, calling it a child’s make-believe game.

'But only Yata doesn’t laugh about it. He earnestly believes we can do it.

Because I made this plan. Because I said I want to surprise society.'

In truth Fushimi didn’t care about “society”. He didn’t consider wanting this shitty world. All he thought was that he wanted to prove that they weren’t just rotting and complaining in a small world like school, but that they had the power to oppose a much more overpowering, bigger presence.

“We’ll mess with «jungle» who even messed with the 'red monster’. The view the big guys of this world have on power, let’s change it a bit in one week, okay?”

They didn’t feel like they’d lose, so they talked big.

“We’ll topple this fucking boring world.”

“But what will we do if it doesn’t become interesting even after toppling it?”

“Then there’s nothing left but despair. If it comes to that I’ll think of a way to fly to space and crash right into the sun.”

“That sounds good! Let’s build a super stylish rocket and crash into the sun in a super cool way!”

They talked together until late into the night about stupid thing like detailed, practical plans and magnificent, obscure ones without getting bored of it. After that Yata fell asleep before him and Fushimi turned back to his computer by himself. There were still a few things he wanted to prepare before the one week ended. He concentrated on his task in the dim room that was only lit by the display’s light. This room was different form that cold mansion in which only things that wouldn’t be a loss if stolen were placed. It was much smaller than that house and there were no expensive things. The computer was assembled with only cheap parts. On top of that there was a history attached to this place.

'But here there's nothing that wouldn’t be a loss if stolen.

I think I’ll properly lock the door in this place.'

†

“They’re coming together one after another. The street is brimming with people. That it came like this is kind of a sick scene, rather than amazing.”

December 26, 11 o'clock at night. The report from Yata who was examining the state of the scene reached Fushimi through the headset.

Fushimi remained in the room by himself. He pulled the blanket over his head and sat cross-legged in front of the desk, and while sipping from the can of coffee he stared at the two monitors placed in an angle next to each other. They were a computer’s LCD screen and a holographic screen connected to his PDA. On the holographic screen was a low quality video streaming. The scene Yata was recording with his PDA’s camera was transmitted to him in real time.

Yata was taking the video from the rooftop of a building by the station. The pedestrian scramble in front of the station was packed with the heads of the seemingly deep black people. The people who pushed out of the station building seemed to pour out in a radial pattern, just how the Hedoro river’s branches stretch. The cross-walk’s white lines, the lights of the stalling cars, the neon signs decorating the buildings by the street――it swallowed all kinds of lights, and the black river ate the city.

“Amazing…”

Murmured Fushimi in front of the display to himself. As many people as this were made to act by «jungle», one online service. It was a true and authentic flash mob.

“How are things at your side?”

“Still not moving.”

Fushimi shifted his eyes from the holography to the LCD screen where another video was streaming which came from a fixed camera they had installed on another building beforehand.

The crowd branched out away from the station into several streams and spread to fill the streets in the center of Shizume City. But when you looked down on the scene from above you could tell that every stream was ing through a certain three-forked road. That was the place the fixed camera was capturing――a shop with a stylish atmosphere, standing at the corner of the three-forked road. Despite the late hour the shop seemed to be open and the warm color of the light falling through the windows illuminated the street. When Fushimi made the camera zoom in through remote control he could make out the name written on the antique, western-style sign.

Bar HOMRA ―― the “red monster”’s base.

Most of the participants probably didn’t know of the “red monster”’s existence and even if they heard of the urban legend those who believed that that monster possessed actual ghastly powers were little. The participants persistently felt like they were “participating in a game”.

“Hm…? Somebody’s come out.”

The shop’s door opened and the light spread further. Three or four men appeared from the inside and threw long shadows onto the illuminated street.

“Oh, the 'red monster’?”

“No, seems like some subordinates came to check out the situation.”

Right now those men were standing in front of the shop and simply observing the situation of a strangely high number of people moving in front of their eyes. Despite it being a dubious situation, there was no chance the shop would suffer any damage because most were ordinary people, and furthermore, middle school students. There was no use in arguing with kids, and they definitely wouldn’t strike at them either. This was exactly how it had been with the secretly taken photos, this was «jungle»’s modus operandi.

“Misaki, I found a group from Himuka middle school. I’ll send you a map, can you see them from your location?”

Next to the camera video was a map of Shizume City displayed in another window. In one point of the map were small lights clustering together like a nebula. The lights were slowly moving in a crowd and were indeed headed for the three-forked road in front of Bar HOMRA.

These lights represented the location of the Himuka middle school students’ PDAs. Most of them seemed to flock together and move according to which school they belonged to. Which was convenient for Fushimi and Yata.

“I got the map. I should be able to see them from the opposite side of the building I’m on right now. Wait a moment.”

Wham, came the sound from the skateboard hitting the ground and the video that was sent from Yata’s PDA blurred for a moment. “Around here… oh, found them! They’re from a different class but they’re all seniors from our school…” The video that was sent to Fushimi was of low quality so he couldn’t make out detailed facial features but because Yata had good eyes he seemed to be able to distinguish every single one of them.

“Ah, Hanayama is there. And… ah…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah… ahh, no, it’s just that there are all the guys who were in the same class as us in the first year. That’s all.”

Because Yata spoke in a feigned casual tone Fushimi could guess what this was about.

“…they’re just scum that got hooked up on a rumor that says they’ll get information that will become handy for entrance exams. It’s good you cut your ties with them, right?”

Declared Fushimi coldly, but Yata was still not completely convinced. “Y- yeah. But well, I understand their opinion too.” Because Yata said something as if he was covering for them, Fushimi clicked his tongue and changed the subject.

“What about Oogai Aya?”

“Hm–… I can’t find her right now. Hm? Can’t you tell where she is?”

“Even if I could hack into her , I can’t enter her PDA because she already added security to it”

“That ' hacking’? thing, I still don’t really get it…”

“I used a teacher’s to get into the data base of Himuka middle school and then I extracted the students' information. That’s all. I got the teacher’s and through borrowing his PDA while he was gone for a moment. With this method it was easy to steal it.”

At present Fushimi had the means to access every Himuka middle school senior’s PDA as an , excluding Aya’s. Like this he also got a hold of the information on the location their PDAs were dispatching and could display them on the map. From all the participants he could at least grasp the movement of the Himuka students on the map. Fushimi could also control their PDAs from a distance.

“You’re really amazing. Isn’t that a crime though?”

“Yes it is, what did I just say?”

“So you can also look at their mails and photos and stuff, right?”

“Well, yeah. I didn’t touch those though. I’m not interested in other people’s mails and…” he looked at the clock on the screen and broke off their conversation. “One minute left.”

“Oh, is it already time?” Yata’s voice was tinged with tension.

At 11:30pm Fushimi would turn towards «jungle» and hit them with a hacking program, although that was just a distraction. Needless to say that it was a fairly solid program he had built, but Fushimi didn’t think he could hijack «jungle» this easily and should he actually hijack it, that would be a total letdown. For now if «jungle» recognized it as “being attacked” then that was good enough.

The digital clock changed from 11:29pm to 11:30pm. Through a timer the hacking program activated. On screen two 3D Tyrannosaurus started hurling their bodies into a solid building. This kind of show was utterly unnecessary, but because Fushimi thought it’d be more fun for Yata if there was something visual happening he had added it. They won’t be able to identify him that easily, no matter how often he’ll connect to the proxy server.

“Saruhiko. Something weird just started to happen?”

He could hear Yata’s voice through the headset. When Fushimi returned his attention to the video, he startled a bit.

While he had looked at something else the people’s “faces” had changed. “Masks…?” Before he had noticed everybody had put on white masks with holes for the eyes and a mouth shaped like a thin crescent moon bored into it, which gave the masks a somewhat eerie expression. How had the participants who had come in small groups just obtained those―?

As he suspiciously stared at it, there was a change in the movement of the crowd that had until now ed by the three-forked road at random.

Thud!

A sound rose as everybody in the crowd simultaneously stomped with vigor on the ground in front of the “red monster”’s gang who was standing in front of the shop.

Just when it looked as if they had taken one step forward,

Thud!

they matched their movements and this time took a step backward.

Thud, thud, thud!

Forward, backward, alternately they repeated the movement of stomping on the ground.

“What is this…? Did they all practice together?”

“No… there are instructions on the PDA.”

On Fushimi’s display was the same thing shown as on the students’ PDAs’ screens whose s he had obtained. He understood that the way they were supposed to move was being transmitted to their PDAs in real time. Because of that seemed the steps directed, almost as if they were doing group practice. The perfectly coordinated steps performed by the group that wore uniform masks had as much impact as a scene from a musical, and the “red monster”’s gang could also only stare at them in surprise.

Thud!

The outstandingly huge group stomped their feet and turned their bodies straight towards bar HOMRA. On the PDAs was the instruction to change their direction with their steps by ninety degree.

And the next instruction―

Bang! Bang, bang!

The sound of consecutive bursts echoed and white smoke rose.

Through the headset Fushimi could hear the surprised exclamation of Yata, who was watching at the actual scene. In the middle of the video was the group of the “red monster” also taken aback.

The colorful confetti that had scattered together with the white smoke whirled and fell to the ground while glittering in the light of the outdoor lamps. They were party poppers ― that party supply shaped like a cone. Each person had hidden them in their hands.

While the “red monster”’s group struggled to understand what was happening, the row that had used their party poppers switched places with the row behind them and strewed about. The row that was in the front next stomped there feet just like the steps done in a musical, exactly the way it had happened just a moment ago. Thud, thud, thud, thud-thud ― the steps got gradually stronger and fiercer and at the peak they turned towards the shop and let their party poppers crack. Then they run away, and the row that had been on standby stepped to the front.

Exactly how the mission’s keyword suggested did this look like the opening to a secretly arranged “surprise party”. This however had happened with a definite restriction to the good relationship between the ones who had planned this and the ones who this happen to.

“Ohh, I wanna try to them. It looks like fun.”

“Don’t be affected by it so quickly. Don’t lose focus.”

“I- I’m not. I’m properly spying on them, all right. …ah, that guy with the Kansai dialect came out.”

“Number 2 was pulled out, huh.”

Through the party poppers going off non-stop the bar’s shopfront was already shrouded in thick white smoke. Making out details through the camera had become fairly difficult. Fushimi could do nothing but stare idly at the monitor.

“Misaki, I’ll move on my side soon, too. Proceed according to the plan.”

“Ro- roger! Leave it to me!”

Despite being nervous, Yata gave a high-spirited answer.

Within the LCD screen the hacking program meant as a distraction continued its attack. The two tyrannosaurus were gnawing at the wall of the building with their sturdy jaws. With the same kind of force as in the animation tried the program in the background to prize «jungle»’s security open. Letting the tyrannosaurus work without interrupting them, Fushimi hit the keyboard. After he hurriedly mend the code he had arranged beforehand for a short moment, he send the program to the Himuka students whose PDAs were under his control. A shining lizard, smaller than the tyrannosaurus twisted its body once and disappeared from the screen, got on the internet circuit and jumped away.

On the Himuka students PDAs showed the following message at once, disguised as an official notice from «jungle»:

[XX-san, good evening. We ed you for an urgent notice. Our server is under attack and has been invaded. To save your information we will stop service for one hour.]

At the same time the message Fushimi had sent out showed up on everybody’s PDAs he heard Yata’s loud voice through the headset.

“Oh no, this is real bad! There’s a cyber attack on «jungle», it’s being hijacked!”

“…shut up. That sounded super fake…”

Yata’s shouting directed at the crowd pierced right through Fushimi’s ear and he couldn’t endure it so he grumbled and pulled the headset off. Not only was he loud, that act was also really bad… well, whatever. Under these circumstances nobody’s going to mind something trivial as that.

It was Yata’s job to blend into the Himuka students and induce them to act. Each of them receiving the message would probably just lead to uncertainty, but with somebody actually talking about it the message’s authenticity would rise ―― Fushimi had come up with most of the plan, but this had been Yata’s idea. “'Because somebody said so’, you hear that a lot, right? As an explanation to a crowd’s actions. If you’re alone you won’t move, but if somebody else starts then it just flows naturally.” ― Yata had scratched his face with an expression as if he spoke from personal experience, and had taken on that task himself.

Needless to say that the hacking in reality hadn’t been successful. On the display the tyrannosaurus were merely blocked by the solid building and breaking their teeth on it.

On the other hand a moderate number of s had received the official information that «jungle» had been hijacked and through Yata’s incitement it would lead to disorder.

«jungle»’d wonder about the state of things, right?

Fushimi stared fixedly at the screen that shone in the middle of the dim room and the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile.

He found himself looking a bit forward to what kind of countermeasure the other party would take. If they’d do a foolish thing like unlocking their door to peek outside because they were worried a burglar had come, they’d give him the perfect opportunity to put his foot in the door and force it open.

If their move would be to throw the shutter close and cut off their connection to the outside then he could, disguised as official information, manipulate as many s as he wanted while they were shut indoors.

'So, what will you do? Depending on your reaction, I thought of several next moves, y’know?'

Fushimi licked his lips and, without looking away from the screen, stretched his hand out to the coffee can. Which is when he accidentally knocked the can over with his fingertips, and black liquid spilled to the edges of the display and keyboard.

“Ah, shi-”

Just as he was distracted, in that moment―

The sign of something appeared right in front of his eyes.

It felt as if static electricity crawled down his nape and startled, he turned his eyes back to the screen.

The two tyrannosaurus that had been attacking the building reacted in a comical way, just how small animals startle when they are sprinkled with water. As if a splash of water that came from the edge of the display intruded into the screen’s virtual space― The two tyrannosaurus tucked their tails between their legs and fled out of the screen.

'What is this… I didn’t program an action like that.'

When the attackers had disappeared the building’s automatic door opened and one character trotted out of it. It wore plain clothes, had no distinctive facial features and was a three-head long 3D character― it was the default avatar in «jungle».

He came out of the hacking program’s window and walked to the display’s center.

For Fushimi it felt like their eyes met. His with the one’s who was on the other side of the screen controlling the avatar.

Fushimi backed away from the screen with a jolt. His hands he had placed behind him slipped off the loft’s edge and he almost fell down.

Clap, clap, clap, did the avatar applaud with its little hands.

Over its head appeared a speech bubble and the lines were written letter by letter.

[Well fought, middle schooler. I intended to watch you in silence, but because it was interesting I ended up coming to greet you. Hello.]

“What… are you…?” Muttered Fushimi in a hoarse voice.

Even though they had somehow managed to hack Fushimi, that person should not be able to hear him because he had taken off his headset. But through some way there was an answer typed into the speech bubble.

[I am a superior member of «jungle».]

It was a quick, vague self introduction.

[I value your eagerness. But, as you can see I’m in the middle of playing with the Red King. He hasn’t really taken action yet, but it should be about time, don’t you think?]

Acting as though actually alive in the virtual space the avatar turned its eyes to one corner of the display. There was the camera video overlooking the three-forked road in front of bar HOMRA still streaming. The masked group repeated to form lines, stomp their feet and let the party poppers burst, but slowly something changed.

The distance between the line that was letting their party poppers burst and bar HOMRA’s shopfront had narrowed. The “red monster”’s group had backed up so much they were practically sticking on the shop’s wall. The crowd lined up in a row, pulled the party poppers’ string and white smoke formed a cloud and rose.

Whoosh, flew in the middle of that smoke something that seemed like a burning arrow and pierced right through the shop’s front window. The glass shattered and fine dust whirled in the air.

That had been a bottle rocket, as one could already imagine. It looked like a normal bottle rocket where on the end of a thin stick a rocket formed like a pencil was attached, but because of the force with which it had crushed the glass it might have been a remodeled one.

The expression of the “red monster”’s gang who had until now stared in bafflement, changed. There was no way they’d stay silent if things had been brought up to the level of damage. There were some who got angry and wanted to strike against the crowd, but the man with the Kansai dialect yelled something and gave orders, and the other comrades held back the ones who had gotten enraged.

[Haha, Homra’s Number 2 is being cautious. So they won’t carelessly hurt any common minors, huh? As expected of him.]

The avatar had completely relaxed, sat down at the bottom of the screen and watched the video together with Fushimi. The crowd got even closer and burst their party poppers. In the white smoke bottle rockets came flying one after another. They went past the stooping “red monster”’s group and fire pierced through the bar’s walls and windows.

[Well then, setting aside me, is it okay for you to just watch and do nothing?]

Letting its tiny legs swing up and down, the avatar turned his head towards Fushimi.

[Is that friend of yours who puts pineapple in the porridge alright?]

At once the blood in Fushimi’s veins froze to ice.

'They can read the conversations in the encrypted mail app. When did we have that conversation? More than two years ago. They had always been able to read them…? Since the beginning, everything…?'

“Misaki!”

Fushimi grabbed the headset, and because he was to impatient to put it on, he clung onto the mic and called out. “Misaki! Misaki!”

He held the earphone part to his ear and called out again, but there was no sound audible through the earphone. At some point the connection had been cut.

From the silent earphone was suddenly a different voice audible.

“The codes you write are beautiful. Too beautiful. I recommend you write the secret codes messier.”

It was a neutral voice to which a mechanical effect had been added. The avatar in the display suddenly raised its eyes and matching the voice, it moved its mouth.

“You’re pretty talented. But you’re inexperienced. If you want to play with me, do it after you’ve gotten stronger and smarter. If you don’t, things will end up like this again.”

The avatar that had had a simple expression opened its eyes wide.

'It's gonna be destroyed―!'

What and how Fushimi did not know, but he felt it in his bones.

He instantly grabbed the cables of the router connected to the internet and the computer and yanked them out all together. The display turned dark and the avatar too disappeared.

Fushimi grabbed only his PDA and jumped down the loft. He stumbled and fell on his knees but he immediately stood up again, slipped into his sneakers and rushed out the house.

They were in the same town. Bar HOMRA wasn’t that far away. While he ran he used the phone mode of his PDA and held it to his ear. He had nothing up his sleeve anymore. He could do nothing but call Yata normally. From the beginning he had not been able to hide anything. Today’s plan had been completely leaked out. What a stupid story.

From his PDA was audible the beep- beep- beep- that indicated the line was busy and it was as if the sound was deliberately vexing him. Fushimi clicked his tongue and hung up for the time being. He soon clashed with the tail of the crowd that was overflowing the city. PDAs that were giving off a faint light were grasped in everybody’s hands and illuminated the white masks of the people lined up in a row.

“Out of the way!”

While he used his shoulders to push through the crowd Fushimi tried to call Yata once again, and at that exact moment he got a call.

“Misaki!?”

“Saruhiko, are you okay!?”

They both called out in the same moment and their voices collided in the PDA. After they both went quiet at the same time,

“It’s useless, everything…”

“The line was suddenly cut off!”

their voices clashed again, and they both fell silent again.

“…The plan’s broken off. We… I, lost.”

Fushimi ground his teeth so hard he could actually hear it.

'…so frustrating. It’s been the first time… and then losing…'

“Saruhiko? Did something happen? I’m going back right now so I’ll be there soon.”

“I’m also going to where you are right now. What happened there?”

“Ah, ahh, I was mingling with the Himuka students but somehow things turned really bad. The shop’s windows and door were destroyed and the people tried to force their way into the bar, and the “red monster”’s underlings pushed them back…”

«jungle» had probably incited the “red monster” and his gang and induced them to raise their hand against common people. The avatar that had invaded Fushimi’s computer had called the “red monster” the “Red King”.

'“King”…?'

Bam!

Close to Fushimi there was a burst, and a sharp heat pierced the right side of his face. “Hot―” Not able to endure it he let out a small scream and fell to the ground.

“Ugh…”

Pressing down on his face with one hand he somehow raised his body. Staring through the gaps between his fingers there was one person standing right in front of him with a party popper in her hand from which white smoke rose. With her mask pushed halfway up Oogai Aya looked down on him with fixated eyes. “You damn…” forced Fushimi out in a low voice through gritted teeth.

Aya’s expression became surprised and she turned around and fled into the crowd.

He didn’t have the time to go after her and there were a lot of people blocking the way right in front of him. They lined their party poppers up in a row and pointed them like gun ports at Fushimi’s head. 'Are these people crazy!? Don’t they understand that this is going far beyond ‘just a game’!?'

“Oraaahhhh, get out of the wayyyyy!!”

Together with a roar the sound of something hard hitting the ground was audible. With the glittering outdoor lights shining behind him Yata, riding on his skateboard, crashed into and through the people encircling Fushimi.

“Saruhiko, are you alright!?”

While he grooved a circle with the wheels into the asphalt, Yata landed in the middle of the encirclement. Because of the stir he had caused the crowd had backed away a bit.

Fushimi took Yata’s hand and stood up, but there was a piercing pain in the right side of his face and he could still not open his right eye.

“What the hell is happening? Why are they attacking you…?”

Yata teared the mask which he had probably snatched away from somebody off his head and glared at the crowd to keep them in check. A hand grabbed his nape from behind him and almost pulled down and Yata tumbled off his skateboard. Without a moment’s delay Fushimi struck at the masked person.

“Anyway, let’s get outta here!”

“Ah, my skateboard!”

“Leave it behind!”

Shoving aside the crowd, the two started to run. The masked group reached out their arms to them from every direction. When one was about to be caught the other struck at the captor and so they cut their way through the crowd. With obvious malicious intentions party poppers were burst in their proximity. While they coughed violently because smoke shrouded them on one side, all they could do was to escape right now even though they didn’t know why they were being attacked.

Not able to attain balance with only one eye, Fushimi staggered and while they ran he and Yata got separated.

“Saruhiko!”

Yata tried to run back to him but a burning arrow came flying right in front of him. Fushimi looked behind him and clicked his tongue. Just how they had attacked bar Homra the masked group had changed their weapons from party poppers to rocket bottles and chased after them.

“Keep going!”

Fushimi turned to Yata and yelled that while he waved his hand as if to chase him away.

It was in that moment that he saw a red light rise slowly over Yata’s shoulder. What looked like a life-sized pillar of fire was one man whose entire body shone and was clad in a dark red aura. He had his hands nonchalantly shoved into the pockets of his jeans, and even though there was no way he could not see this crazy uproar, he came walking towards them from the opposite side of the street as if he was simply taking a stroll. That person whose big steps were as slow as the aura swaying around his body was unmistakably fire itself.

Yata also belatedly noticed the person’s silhouette behind his back and raise his voice. “The 'red monster’!!”

“Misaki, run to him!” yelled Fushimi, pointing to the front.

'If he reaches him then it’ll be safe', believed Fushimi not based on logic, but on intuition.

Despite worrying about him, Yata started to run. While Fushimi pressed down one hand on his hurting face he also tried to start running but bottle rockets continued to flash by right next to his head and cut off his way.

Orange tails pulled into the night sky and the burning arrows found together so that the whole visual field of his left eye was died by them, and they all came chasing him.

“'Red monster’!!”

He could hear Yata’s voice that was close to a cry.

“Save him! Please! Save Saruhiko―”

Hot air swelled behind Fushimi who was standing paralyzed. The hot air the flames had brought with them became a big wave and, while swallowing the night sky, a rain of flames headed straight towards him. The individual bottle rockets swallowed by the mass, burning without leaving any remains behind, heaving – like that they came chasing Fushimi from above. With a sight as if a huge flame was coming down the sky Fushimi had no place to escape to and he could do nothing but stand there.

Gently, pale hands appeared on the edges of his visual field and enclosed his head. The hot air that had heated his face turned into the warmth of a sunny spot in winter. The big wave of flames hit the ground, recoiled, and billowed over the ground as if it was writhing in pain. The asphalt got burned red and seethed. But the warm sunny spot became Fushimi’s shelter and the flames did not burn his body.

When the wave of flames ebbed the boiling asphalt cooled down quickly and solidified into a bumpy and black shape. Only the asphalt within a one meter distance from himself had stayed even and unharmed.

'…I… have been…… saved……?'

Just when Fushimi thought that, he lost his strength and sunk to the ground.

The mob that carried party poppers and rocket bottles with it and that had chased them as if they were possessed had stopped moving and surrounded them from a distance. Many white masks were floating in the darkness. There was a faint bustling audible but there was nobody who got any closer to them.

“Oh boy, that sure was in the nick of time,” spoke somebody above Fushimi’s head.

He automatically understood that it was the voice of the person who had created the sunny spot shelter; it was a carefree, cheerful voice. When Fushimi turned his head, still in a stupefied state, there stood a young, smiling man.

“Are you okay? Your face? Did you get burned? Ah, your eyelashes are a bit burned.”

Peering at Fushimi’s face he said things sounding as if he was worried, but the feeling that it was urgent and that he was actually worried didn’t convey at all.

The man looked back to the “red monster”. “King. That was way too flashy. Kusanagi-san said to try our best to not let the decent kids get hurt.”

“Didn’t let them get hurt. I went easy on 'em,” replied the “red monster” with a voice sounding like a beast’s growl and looked down on Yata who was sitting on the ground in front of his feet as if he was a bother.

“So, who’re these kids?”

“I wonder? You don’t know either, king? Then why did we save them?”

It seemed like they had no memory at all of the middle school students they had met by chance just a month ago.

'King…… the “Red King”……'

“Sa-…Saruhiko…”

Staggering, Yata stood up, went away from the “red monster” and ran to Fushimi. Just before he reached him he fell hard on the ground, tumbled, and with that force he charged at Fushimi.

“Ugh, uehh, Saruhikoo, I- I’m so glad you’re…this time I really thought it looked bad and you’d d-d-die…I’m so glad you’re fiiiiiiine, Saruhikooooo…”

With tears streaming down his face Yata hugged Fushimi tightly.

†

Fushimi and Yata had been protected by the “Red King” and his subordinate named Totsuka and when they reached bar HOMRA, the rioters – it was okay to declare them rioters now, right – the rioters that had flocked in front of the bar scattered in all directions and ran away. It seemed like the “Red King” and Totsuka had been away from the bar when the rioters had started to surround it and even though they came back after having been ed, some time had ed. If «jungle» had purposely been after a time when the “Red King” was absent wasn’t clear. Anyway, with the “Red King”’s faction and the “Red King” himself incited to take action it could be said that the conditions for a definite win had been fulfilled.

Kusanagi, the tall man with the Kansai dialect, was the only one who ed Fushimi’s and Yata’s faces and astounded, he said: “What, Mikoto and Totsuka don’t know 'em but picked 'em up?”

The “Red King”’s faction knew that both the secretly taken photos that had been ed online and the attack from this time was «jungle»’s doing and even if they wanted to strike back, because their direct opponents were common people they couldn’t start a fight with them. This was exactly like what Fushimi had read.

But the one thing they still did not understand in the end was―

What exactly was «jungle»?

And this gang that made this bar their headquarters, just what where they―?

“You don’t really understand our and «jungle»’s true state, do ya? What I can tell you is that we and they are a group with a “King” as our leader – a clan,” said Kusanagi and looked towards the man who was smoking and leaning back on the couch in the middle of the bar.

The king’s throne was nothing more than a simple sofa. But it was understandable why that man, who was smoking his cigarette with a cool expression as if he was already not interested in the turmoil anymore, was called a king. He had a somewhat violent presence.

The “Red King” ― Suoh Mikoto.

An actual man with special powers.

A few more hours were needed until all the people who had flooded Shizume City’s downtown had withdrawn. While they waited Fushimi got the burn in his face treated and after they had confirmed that it was safe outdoors, Fushimi and Yata left the bar and went back to their own place.

Morning already dawned. The neighborhood was deserted with all the people gone but a strong stench of gunpowder remained in the air. The remains of loads of party poppers and bottle rockets and thrown away masks filled the streets and with each step they crushed them under their feet.

“He was amazing, the “Red King”, Suoh Mikoto! I could see it perfectly from close up! Saruhiko, you couldn’t see it? When he simply made a fist, like this, it turned into flames and when he wielded it just a tiny bit a huge flame came like whoosh!”

Yata had already regained his energy and while he talked in high spirits he swung his fists energetically to imitate what had happened and show it to Fushimi. Next to him Fushimi dropped his gaze to the ground and walked in silence. Crack, crack…… he stepped on the broken plastic masks.

“…Saruhiko? Does it hurt? After we get home and sleep a bit let’s go to a doctor, even if it’s already noon by then. Kusanagi-san also said we should see one.” In the blink of an eye Yata sounded close and affectionate, they way one sounds when they call for the reliable big brother figure of the neighborhood.

With his eyes still cast down Fushimi shook his head. Because he was wearing his glasses over the bandage that had been put on his temple he looked a bit stiff and gloomy.

“Saruhiko.”

Yata lowered his previously cheery voice. It was the tone he used when he sincerely pushed Fushimi to do something.

“We’re the ones who lost. Right?”

“I’m the one who thought up everything. So I’m the one who lost.”

“You’re wrong. Didn’t we say we’d do it together and didn’t we plan it together?

“……” Whichever. 'It’s not like either would console me.'

When Fushimi stayed silent Yata frowned and turned his eyes to the front.

One week ago, when they had talked confidently about changing the view the big guys have on power, their own idiocy had been fully exposed. The ones that had messed with them had, without getting as much as a single scratch, manipulated them. They had only been put in danger.

'We had honestly believed we wouldn’t lose. Were had that confidence come from?

We really look like idiots.'

“I want power… Saruhiko,” muttered Yata next to him. “Right now the two of us are in the end just normal middle school students. At that time I could do nothing but beg the “Red King” to save you. …I want power. Special power.”

Yata clenched his fists on the sides of his body. After Fushimi glanced at him from the side he raised his eyes from the ground and stared fixedly ahead.

“……yeah.”

He nodded and pressed his lips hard together.

______________________________________

(1) Super Sentai Series, the original superhero TV show in Japan that became popular worldwide as the "Power Rangers".

Next Chapter: Period 2____14-15 years old (Mission 4)