Part 4

"Our abilities are so vastly different that if you wanted to end this, you could have." Antonio repeated Haruko's words to himself as he was walking down the empty street.

(I let him go just like that, but to be fair….)

Antonio stared at his closed palm.

(Given my profession, I would be a hypocrite if I said to give up saving somebody without trying.)

Blood was seeping through his closed fingers and dripping to the ground.

(I could not live with myself if I were to give up without trying.)

Haruko's words echoed in the back of his head.

Antonio exhaled.

Reiko did say that you were like this, even so, seeing for myself in another thing. Mr. Matsumoto, this is probably the first time you have been pushed like this, mentally, physically, and even spiritually. So, you are not aware of what is about to happen to you.)

Staring at his right hand, he walked over to a fountain and let the water pour over his hand, washing the blood away.

(You are starting to awaken your own abilities.)

A slight breeze began to pick up.

(On the bridge and at the hospital, I noticed that you would tap into your very soul for your abilities while at the same time never truly awakening them, whether you were aware of them or not.)

(If that last clash of ours is anything to go by, you are at the tipping point of awakening your powers. I can push you only so far, but ultimately it must be you who crosses that final threshold.

(But the fact that you got this far by just briefly tapping into your powers means that when you fully awaken them, the end result will be truly scary.)

____________________________________________________________________

"Huff"

Buildings and buildings passed by.

"Huff"

The sound of panting broke out on the empty streets of NEO New York City as Haruko Matsumoto ran along.

"Goddamnit."

Haruko stopped in his tracks as he ran into his biggest obstacle going forward.

He did not know where exactly Aoi was.

"Shit," Haruko mumbled under his breath. "How in the hell am I supposed to find her?"

Haruko began looking left and right down the street he was on. He stood there, not moving; he felt that if he moved, he would either get closer or further away from her.

"Come on, there has to be a way to find her, think."

Haruko shut his eyes tightly.

A lot of images flashed in his head.

(Shit, I am getting nowhere.)

"Haruko" A female voice rang out, which startled the teen, causing him to turn his head back.

There she stood.

The sophomore student president.

Emi Takahara.

"Emi, what the hell are you doing here so late, and what with that bag you are carrying?"

Emi walked up to Haruko.

"That is what I’m supposed to ask you; late at night, don’t think you can start going crazy because your birthday is in half an hour," Emi shouted to him.

Haruko's body started to relax.

(Yeah, that's right, my birthday is coming up soon.)

Emi closely examined Haruko.

"What happened with you? You look like a mess."

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Haruko calmed himself down.

"It's a long story."

Haruko lazily walked over to a stone bench to catch his breath and sat down with Emi, following suit.

"Been a while since you and I have been together like this, huh?"

A slight breeze began to pick up scattering leaves around.

"Yeah, it has been."

Emi glanced over at Haruko.

Under the lamp post, his appearance was a mess, and she could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

"Are you okay?" It was a simple enough question from her.

"I’m not sure; there was something that I was supposed to do."

Emil got closer to Haruko on the bench.

"What was it you were supposed to do?" She asked with her face close to his.

Haruko looked away from Emi with a blush on his face.

"Okay, hear me out. I was supposed to save this girl and prevent the world from being destroyed or changed," Haruko said in a low voice, trying not to cringe from embarrassment as he said that. Haruko placed his finger under his chin. "Their leader wasn’t very specific about that part."

Emi backed away from Haruko, slowly trying to comprehend what he just said.

"You're joking, right?"

Haruko turned to Emi.

"Joking about which part?" Haruko bluntly replied.

"All of it," Emi loudly stated.

"That is the gist of it, from my understanding; there is probably more, I am not sure, but that is an even longer story."

"Say that I believe even a fraction of that story; what are you going to do now?"

Haruko looked down at the ground.

"Nothing; there is nothing I can do to find her right now, if I ever find her." Haruko clenched his fist. After everything I said to her and myself, she is going to die because of something that is out of my control."

Emi could tell that Haruko was depressed.

She exhaled and quickly pushed herself off the bench and landed on her feet with her arms outstretched at her side, balancing herself.

"Are you giving up?" Emi said this with her back to Haruko.

"Huh," Haruko said as he looked up from the ground.

"I am asking you if you are giving up. I’ve known you long enough that I or anyone else cannot sway you away from what you are thinking of doing."

Emi turned around to Haruko.

"Whatever reason you have, you're going to save her, right?"

"If even I wanted to, and believe me, I want to, I have no idea where in the city she may be or if she even is in the city at this point."

She frowned at him and folded her arms.

"That has never stopped you before."

Haruko raised his head to look at her.

"The Haruko that I know would never give up so easily. He would ignore all logic and reason to help anyone he could; he wouldn’t mope around like this.”

Her words resonated with him.

"Yeah, you are probably right," Haruko said as he pushed himself off the bench.

He placed his finger under his chin and stood there in a thinking pose.

"If I am going to save her, I still need a way to find her."

Suddenly, Emi's phone began to ring.

"It is Alicia," she said, raising her head to Haruko. "Don’t make a sound." Emi swiped left, ending the ringtone and answering the phone.

Haruko tuned out her conversation and began to think.

(How in the hell am I going to find her? Let’s see, I wonder if I can contact that head doctor and see if he can locate her. Would that be possible to do for him?)

Haruko's thoughts were interrupted as Emi approached him.

"I have to head back home. Emilia is starting to become restless."

"She's starting to become a pint-size version of me," Haruko chuckled.

"That is not a good thing; it is just what the world needs right now—another version of you running around the world getting into trouble."

Haruko chuckled again.

"That ringtone of yours was LINKIN PARK, right? When did you start listening to them?"

"It is not for me; it calms Emilia down."

"Well, if that is the case, then I can send you a few more songs.

Haruko placed his hand on the outside of his right pants pocket and rubbed it around.

Nothing.

He couldn’t feel anything.

(Huh.)

In a quick blur, Haruko began patting himself down, startling Emi.

"What are you doing?" Emi asked, watching Haruko move around like a rabid dog.

"My phone; I can’t seem to find it."

"You’re just now realizing your phone is missing."

"Cut me some slack. Alright, it's been a long night, but still, don’t tell me I lost my phone."

Haruko squeezed the bridge of his nose, causing Haruko to close his eyes.

(Think, I had my phone earlier.)

An image of the Matsumoto residence came to mind.

(It is slowly coming back to me.)

"Haruko, are you okay?"

"Shhhhh, trying to concentrate," Haruko whispered, holding out his hand to Emi.

Haruko slowly remembered putting his phone in his jacket and putting on Aoi.

"AOI!" Haruko shouted out as he came to the realization.

"Who is Aoi?"

"It is part of that long story I mentioned earlier," Haruko said as he turned to Emi. "Let me borrow your phone real quick."

She quickly became defensive.

"Why?"

"My phone is in the jacket she is wearing; if she has my phone on her, then I can use your phone to find it and her."

Emi gave Haruko her phone.

He started fidgeting with the screen.

"Close this, close this and this, open this."

Haruko turned his head toward Emi.

"I’m going to sign you out for a bit."

"Do whatever you must," she replied.

With that statement, Haruko typed his information out, and his finger hovered over the button that would log him in to find his phone.

(After everything that has happened tonight, there is no backing out now.)

Haruko pressed the button, closing the page, and it brought up a map of North America. There were several beeps as the map began to zoom in.

(Alright, it is locating my phone.)

The map began to zoom in on what one would consider the east side. His eyes widen when the map zooms in on NEO New York City.

(My phone is still in the city; I don’t know if the phone is on her, but it is a start, but I need to get an exact location.)

Haruko watched as the map continued to zoom in on a location within the borough of the Bronx.

(Just a little bit more.)

Suddenly, there was a beep as the map stopped zooming in.

Haruko stared at what was on the screen.

A red dot on the map.

Haruko began staring at the location.

"Joseph Yancey Track and Field," Emi said over his shoulder, causing Haruko to scream out and nearly drop the phone.

"Hey, don’t go dropping my phone."

"Don’t go sneaking up on people," Haruko said as he handed the phone back to her.

"Joseph Yancey Track and Field." He repeated her words, trying to conjure an image in his head.

"It's the area under construction where the old Yankee Stadium used to be before they tore it down to build the stadium across the street."

Haruko looked at a street sign hanging from a nearby lamp post.

153rd street.

"Yankee Stadium is at 161st Street."

“Yes," Emi replied.

Haruko exhaled.

"You haven’t been there or anywhere near there tonight?" Emi asked Haruko.

"Nope."

"For your phone to end up there..." Emi started.

(For my phone to end up there means it was either dropped there or that Aoi is there, and most likely that guy is there too.)

A quick image of Nereus flashed in his head before he clenched his fist tightly.

"Then that is where I am going."