Transferation arc commences.
3 hours after Hashimoto passed out
The sounds of his heartbeat were the only thing present in his ears. His thoughts were blank, unable to recall, think, or even visualize anything. Slowly, he lifted his eyelids as he found himself lying on his back, facing the roof of the car. Gradually, his senses returned. He felt a fluffy blanket covering him up to his shoulders. Sitting up straight, he turned his head from side to side, trying to understand where he was: He was passed out in the back of a car. He looked out of the car window to notice the vehicle was parked outside of a restaurant.
“How did I end up here?” he asked himself, head throbbing in pain as he placed a hand on it before grunting. His legs felt more numb now he was awake, and he also noticed his arms were really sore. He took deep breaths, hoping to ease the pain throughout his body. Suddenly, he heard taps on the car window. He raised his head to see a familiar-looking girl with bright yellow hair alongside fiery orange coloured streaks, her scarlet eyes fixed on him through the window. Hashimoto rolled down the window and she stuck her head through, her arms resting on the car door.
“How are you feeling?” Hoshika asked, worries reflecting in her bright eyes. Hashimoto was unsure on how to answer that.
“I don’t know…” he answered slowly. “...How did I get here? Why does my body hurt? ” He threw in many questions to understand what was going on.
“There’s a lot of explaining to do on both sides, we’ll save up the chats for later. First, let’s get you out of the car.” She pulled her head back out before she pulled the door handle, extending her hand to him. Hashimoto reached to grab onto her arm,struggling to pull himself up, but Hoshika helped him to his feet.
“Take it nice and slow. You aren’t able to move your legs properly yet,” Hoshika mentioned, putting one of Hashimoto’s arms over her shoulder as she walked him to the nearest bench to settle him down. “Wait here, I’ll be back with some food to fill you up.”
Hoshika went back to the car to grab the blanket she used to cover him, then returned to Hashimoto to gently throw the blanket over his shoulders. She walked past with a light smile before turning her head away, his eyes following her until she disappeared into the restaurant. There were suited agents scattered in the area he settled in, though he didn’t think much about it but assumed they were a part of a Public Safety Association.
—
Inside the restaurant had a television installed on the walls for those who wanted to enjoy their meals whilst tuning in.
“Breaking news-” The Anchor woman on the television announced, with both hands flat on the table. “After the incident located in The Kugisaki village was reported: in the village with the population of three hundred and seventy-four.. Three hundred and seventy-two out of the total population have been found dead, leaving one person missing and the other found alive suffering injuries. In a few minutes, the leader of the biggest Public Safety Association will be taking action in order to prevent the same incident from occurring.”
—
A couple minutes passed before the two Hashishins walked out of the restaurant , each with a tray in their hands. Atsushi had one bowl on his tray while Hoshika had two bowls on hers. They went over to sit on the opposite side of where Hashimoto was sitting, placing down their trays before Hoshika lifted a bowl of sukiyaki and placed it in front of Hashimoto.
“Alright, time for us to discuss something-” Atsushi announced, chopsticks resting between his fingers.
“It’s not the time for that, Atsushi. He just woke up and needs to eat before we can do anything.” Hoshika interrupted.
“Huh? We can’t waste time!”
“Now’s not the time to get me furious, ya want me to smash your head against the table?” Hoshika threatened, narrowing her eyes. Atsushi rolled his eyes but gave in, starting to eat his bowl of udon. Both the Hashishins had opted for udon. Before she dug in to eat, Hoshika noticed Hashimoto staring down at his bowl, looking quite displeased.
“Not a fan of sukiyaki?” Hoshika’s voice snapped Hashimoto out of his daydream. He shook and lifted his head to look at her.
“Oh, n-no I do like sukiyaki,” Hashimoto replied quickly.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“I wouldn’t mind switching if you prefer udon,” Hoshika offered.
“It’s fine.. I’m just not hungry at the moment.” Hashimoto picked up his chopsticks, but instead of eating, he was playing with the sliced beef. The Hashishins looked at each other before sighing.
Hashimoto couldn’t get his mind to picture something else as he thought about his parents’ death, his uncle and his close friends who he had no clue as to whether any of them were alive.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t save your parents, Hashimoto,” Hoshika said softly. “Nor we couldn’t save any of the civilians from the village either. Apparently, there’s one more person alive from the village but their whereabouts are unknown.” She felt pity for Hashimoto, now with the threat on the loose which made her believe she didn’t do her best as a Hashishin.
“If we’d gotten there faster, we would’ve saved a good amount of innocent lives. If it weren’t for someone,” Hoshika added, glancing at Atsushi who was eating his food as he felt her gaze.
“Who wouldn’t sleep in a peaceful car ride? Out of the 174 car rides with you, that was the only time you didn’t unleash your anger on me-” Atsushi’s words were cut short as his face was slammed into the bowl of udon by Hoshika, holding his head down.
“Anyways, you need to eat up before we take the train.” Hoshika insisted, letting go of Atsushi’s head as he lifted his face and sat up straight.
“Oww! Do you have any respect for someone who’s older than you?” Atsushi frowned, looking down to notice his bowl remained intact. “Huh, that’s one strong bowl but the food is all spilled!”
“Someone’s age doesn’t give them certain roles of respect! I’m the one who’s more mature here, taking your ass to missions without ever taking the driver seat!” Hoshika pointed out to Atsushi, making him roll his eyes as he finished up his bowl.
Hashimoto’s gaze returned back to the bowl of sukiyaki as his stomach rumbled. He couldn’t make himself eat even just one sliced beef or a vegetable. His loss of appetite occurring each time from his thoughts. His father’s last words kept going on and on in his ears, doubting he’ll be able to stay in the path of becoming an incredible swordsman.
Atsushi scratched the back of his head whilst checking on his phone for the train’s arrival time, remembering he was assigned to help on carrying wooden crates of weapons onto the train.
“We’ve got about half an hour before it gets here, I’ll leave you two alone” Atsushi stood up from his seat and glanced down at Hashimoto. “Hashimoto, try to fill your stomach before we head out of here.”
Hashimoto bobbed his head slowly, continuing with toying around whatever was in the bowl. Hoshika remained seated on the opposite side, twiddling her thumbs with her eyes following along his chopsticks.
“What’s on your mind?” Was what Hoshika wanted to say to break the awkward silence between the two. He replied with nothing but a soft sigh. “No need to be afraid to tell me, I’ll be happy to let you tell me”
Hashimoto separated his lips. “My mind’s been stuck on repeat of what I saw ever since I woke up.”
“I see. It can’t be stopped unfortunately, you must’ve lived peacefully for as long as when you were first born. What happened back there is something you couldn’t handle. You know, with the sudden death of your parents… it’ll definitely traumatize you for a while.” She tried helping him with words, however she wasn’t very confident with reassuring someone. “All that chaos prevented you from having a wonderful celebration from the entire village.”
“A-A celebration?” Hashimoto tilted his head in confusion.
“Yes, a celebration for being accepted to the NPSJ. Your dad and mom wanted to planl a huge surprise before you begin your new journey.”
Hashimoto’s eyes widened, had realized what his father’s last words meant all along:
“Make us die proud of you, son,” Hashimoto quietly quoted his father’s final line.
“Hm?” Hoshika raised her eyebrow.
“Before he died, those were his last words…” He gritted his teeth as he tightened his grip on the chopsticks, beginning to be mad at how pathetic he was back then, eventually a tear formed in his eye. “I wasn’t strong enough to fight..”
“Hey hey, don’t tell yourself that. You did what you could back there, you’ve got great combat skills” Hoshika reassured him. “Be proud. Only way to make up for what happened is to fight through whatever’s gonna be thrown at you in the future. I believe that’s what your parents want you to do from now on—for you to make them proud to have raised you to become a resilient fighter.”
Hashimoto took in her words. The sense of calmness slowly invading his current mindset which left his lips to form a little smile once a tear drop rolled down from his eye.
“I will make them proud” Hashimoto boldly said, the determination ringing in her ears as she pulled a smile.
“Now that’s more like it!” She replied, surprised she reassured him pretty well for the first time. Her hand ruffled his silky black hair. “Now, the time to eat. Don’t rush, we still have time before the train arrives.”
Hashimoto nodded, he placed the chopsticks in-between his fingers, picked up a sliced beef before he settled it in his mouth before chewing. His body radiating warmth after his taste buds exploded from the succulent meat. Silence returned to the two, but this time Hoshika didn’t feel awkward about it since Hashimoto had finally started eating.
“You don’t mind if I call you Hashi, right?” Hoshika wondered.
“Hashi?” Hashimoto repeated the nickname. “It doesn’t bother me at all,” he replied with a grin.
Hoshika chuckled, then remembered their next mission. “Oh right. We haven’t informed you about where you're going.” She sat up straighter before continuing. “Since you’ve been accepted,Atsushi and I will be transferring you to the NPSJ. With you being accepted, you are our newest Hashishin.”
His eyes widened once more, realizing he wasn’t accepted to be a swordsman but rather as the top member of the biggest Public Safety Association. Everything was all connected: his village wanted to celebrate his success in becoming a Hashishin. He began to feel full from eating, but kept going, knowing he needed to recover from earlier.
—
The suited individuals began to gather at the train station near the restaurant where the Hashishins were seated. The grinding sounds of the rails got louder as the train reached its stop, and everyone started helping to carry items onto the train. Hashimoto finished stuffing his mouth before setting the chopsticks down. He got up from his seat and turned to face the train in the distance. Hoshika held her sheathed blade while Atsushi had his axe over his shoulder, walking past him before they stood in front of him. They both turned their heads to the side to face him.
“Hope you're ready for a long ride to Saitama, we’ll be discussing some things in order to have every bit of information to keep the leader informed.”
“Be aware, she’s veerrrryyy scary when she’s serious about her mission!” Atsushi teasingly said, then got his head smacked by her. “Hey! Take a joke already!” He rubbed the back of his head as the two walked.
Hashimoto let out a laugh as he followed their steps to the train.
Behind them, an anomaly had occurred. A snowflake flowed itself through the warm air before its landing froze a patch of the ground.