Part 6

The sound of footsteps could be heard walking up a staircase that led to the roof emergency door, coming from a man in a blue boiler suit.

"Aww, come on, I get a call this late at night," the man's voice echoed throughout the empty staircase.

The man was verifying a report to the effect that something had fallen onto the roof of a building he was the superintendent of.

As he reached the top of the steps, he opened the door leading to the roof.

There was a cool breeze as he walked onto the roof.

His eyes glanced over to the object he was called over for.

A fallen billboard.

The man began closely examining the billboard—just the billboard itself and nothing else. That is what was there at the moment.

Looking at the billboard, he could see a small crater-like hole in the center of it, not enough for anything to pass through.

He began turning his head sideways, hoping to find anything else but the roof, but saw nothing. He placed his hand on the back of his neck.

Silence.

"I wonder what caused this billboard to fall."

_____________________________________________________________________

A pair of light blue eyes opened to the night sky of NEO New York City, belonging to Haruko Matsumoto.

He was lying on the ground; through his fingers and the pricking feeling on the back of his neck, he could tell that he was lying on grass.

He groaned as he sat up.

He started to look around the area he was in.

(This is not the place I crashed into. How the hell did I end up here?)

Haruko placed his finger under his chin.

(Did my body keep going after I was knocked out? No, that can’t be what happened. The only other option would be….)

"Oh, it seems that you are awake, Mr. Matsumoto."

Haruko turned around to hear the source of the voice behind him, only to see the head doctor sitting on a stone bench.

"Did you bring me here?" Haruko asked.

With his eyes closed, Antonio nodded.

"I believe that would have been the best course of action available."

"That twice you saved my neck, I guess I owe you another one." Haruko said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Haruko stared at the man.

"That bastard took Aoi and left."

Antonio sighed as he stood up.

"Yes."

The answer was simple, but it hit Haruko like a ton of bricks as he removed his hand from his neck.

"If you want to owe me, then give up your pursuit of him and that girl."

Haruko shot his head toward the man.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I can't," Haruko shouted out.

"You can’t? why not? Other than briefly meeting her for the first time just a few hours ago, why go this far for her?"

"…………" Haruko had no answer. The only thing he could do was stare at the grass beneath him.

"I……..I made a promise," Haruko said in a low voice. "Not just to her, but to myself."

Antonio stared at the teen.

"A promise: is that why you are so reckless and have zero self-preservation?"

Haruko looked at Antonio blankly as he tried to figure out what he said.

"Zero self preser- what was that last par-"

Haruko was cut off when something appeared in front of him.

The teen was slow to react as he felt something small hit his forehead.

Whatever it cranked his head back and his body followed, knocking him back several feet into the grass.

"Gahhhhh!" Haruko shouted out.

Antonio held his arm out with his ring finger extended forward.

To send him back this far was nothing more than a mere finger flick.

Haruko picked himself off the ground and placed his hand on his forehead. He could feel his blood pooling in his palm.

"What the hell was that?"

The sound of a footstep interrupted Haruko's thoughts.

Antonio was walking toward Haruko.

The teen could see that small particles of energy were flaking off his body.

Antonio stopped walking a few feet from him. Haruko removed his hand from his forehead and glanced at the blood in his palm.

(What the hell is this guy?)

"That odd"

Haruko looked up at the man standing a few feet away from him.

"In the midst of battle, your thoughts seem to be everywhere, but what is in front of you."

Haruko gritted his teeth.

"BATTLE!" Haruko shouted out as he clenched his fist. "What the hell is your problem, attacking me out of nowhere? Why go through with rescuing me if this was your endgame? Are you an enemy or what?"

It is not about rescuing you; it is about getting you to understand that you don’t have the strength to see that goal of yours through."

(What.)

"Saving people, without a doubt, is a noble goal, but the fundamental rule of that is that without the strength or skill, you cannot hope to save anyone. The situation that the girl has found herself in is unprecedented, but you can’t hope to save her with your level or lack of strength."

Haruko stared at the ground.

"Since the Crystal Guardians powers are connected to the user's soul, the forceful removal of those powers would mean the complete and utter destruction of her soul.

Haruko's head shot up with that statement.

"If that is what is going to happen, then there is no way in hell I am abandoning her. I am going to save her."

"And say, if you do try to save her, how would the outcome be any different now?"

"What?" Haruko asked as he stared at the man.

"How would the outcome differ this time? You fought the leader and lost, and now you are back to square one—well, not exactly square one, maybe a couple steps before tha-"

"ENOUGH!" Haruko shouted out, cutting Antonio off. "I’m tired of you talking like I haven’t done good enough so far."

"You haven't," Antonio replied bluntly.

"What was that?"

"Earlier in my office, you stated that you were only able to beat the man who attacked you at your house because that girl removed both the means for him to attack and defend himself."

"……………"

"On the bridge, you would have been killed had I not intervened, and furthermore, it was myself who defeated that woman, not you."

Haruko's eyes glanced away from Antonio.

He couldn’t find any response to the man's statements. He slowly unclenched his fist.

"Your so-called doing well attributes to nothing more than luck on your part; if not on your part, then on others, but sooner or later that luck you have been clinging to so far was bound to run out."

Haruko glanced at Antonio with ferocity in his eyes.

"Do not misunderstand; I allowed you to go up and face the leader of their group so that you finally understand that with your current level or lack of strength and a little bit of luck that you have, you will not save anyone or save yourself. I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to continue this foolish delusion of yours if the only outcome that will emerge from it is the same result."

"Move," Haruko said in the tone of a low growl.

Antonio looked at Haruko with his eyes wide open.

"Excuse me"

"You heard me; I am going to save her," Haruko said, placing his right thumb on his chest. "I'll save her, whether I have to go through you or anyone else!" Haruko shouted out.

There was silence as Antonio stared at the boy.

"Very well then," Antonio said as energy began to surround his body, unleashing a wave of pressure that flew toward Haruko, causing him to block with both of his forearms.

"So, you’re going to fight me," Haruko said as he grinned.

"Not fight; I believe that under the legal authority that I have, I can subdue you if I believe you are a great risk to yourself."

Another shockwave broke out.

(That is his energy.)

A bead of sweat dropped from the side of his head.

(This is insane that someone has an ability like this; regardless of that, I need to get past him if I want to save Aoi.)

Haruko readied himself.

(But can I really get past him? Judging by glimpses of what I saw earlier, he was able to use his energy to increase the speed and range of his attacks. If I can find a way to get past that, then there may be a chance.

"What are you doing?" Antonio asked, interrupting Haruko's thoughts. "You don’t have time to leisure away in your thoughts, doing so-"

It was just for a second, maybe even less than that altogether, but the person Haruko was staring at vanished mid-sentence.

Vssshhh!!

Haruko did not have time to react as Antonio appeared in front of Haruko, a few inches in the air, as if he leaped toward him.

"Only causes you to lose sight of what is in front of you," Antonio said as he brought his left hand downward to the teen.

Haruko's eyes moved upward.

A shockwave broke out, which rattled the entire area.