Midnight Arcadia

Chapter 7

Sky looked towards Chiyoko, his gaze lingering on her form as his regret rises up through his body. She looked towards the ground, clearly lost in thought. Sky couldn’t even begin to think what she might be thinking due to his rash actions. He hadn’t lashed out to insults like that since his early middle school days, he felt terrible about it even though he undoubtedly gained from the interaction. He simply let out a sigh before turning away from her and following Ayumi and Akihiko out of the gate. He thought he would just make it up to her later. He stared down at his hand with the light glow of energy surrounding it, he still couldn’t believe this either. He wondered how his mom would react to this development. Akihiko pat Sky’s back with a big smile on his face. “Would you look at that man! You belong here after all!” Akihiko said. The energy dissipated and Sky looked up towards Akihiko. “I never thought I could ever do this. It’s like… It’s like a wall began to crack inside of me.” Sky explained, his gaze thoughtful. Ayumi chimed in with her thoughts as well. “It’s amazing that you progressed so fast though. Surely with enough practice you’ll get your Vein properly!” She said with that warm smile she often wore. Sky couldn’t help but smile at Ayumi’s optimism, agreeing with her with a nod. He looked towards the sidewalk as they arrived at the crossing. “I hope Chiyoko will be alright though. I still feel really bad, she looked really shaken up.” Sky said regretfully. Ayumi and Akihiko attempted to cheer him up, and though it helped a little, he still felt bad. He thanked them both and apologized for being so down about the whole thing. As they walked through the crossing a woman bumped into Sky while he wasn’t paying attention. Sky quickly apologized to the woman before noticing her odd appearance. She was wearing a leather hood that made it extremely difficult to make out any features upon her face. “Careful where you’re walking there, kiddo.” The woman said, her tone uncannily cheery. Sky apologized once more, despite being weirded out. They began to walk off, continuing their trek through the busy crossing. But she put a hand upon Sky’s shoulder, the action made him shudder slightly at the sudden touch. Sky began to feel uncomfortable, but the woman lowered her obscured face to his ear. “I would be careful if I were you, your life will get… extremely difficult soon.” The woman whispered into his ear before she let out a chuckle, causing goosebumps all across Sky’s arms. When he turned around to look at the woman she was already gone. He looked throughout the crowd to see if he could find even a hint of where she could have gone but he couldn’t. He heard Ayumi and Akihiko call out to him from the sidewalk and he shook his head and ran to catch up with them. From atop the Oshiro Corp building the woman looked down upon them. “So that’s Tsukiko’s kid, huh? He’s basically a ticking time-bomb. What do you think, kiddo?” She asked as she lifted up her hand, talking to the person behind her. “He landed two Sparks within a couple weeks of each other. No one but Nova Koizumi or One could do that in their entire lives.” The young girl with snow white hair and silver eyes said. “That’s their kid, alright! Too bad he’s going to truly suffer on the path he’s been set on.” The hooded woman said as she tilted her head back, kicking her feet off the side of the building. “I can’t wait to see how he’ll do.” She said. Down within the crossing opposite from Sky and friends, a man and a young person are walking down the street. “Jun, why are we in Kigen? Andrea and Enmei are already here, there is no point in being here until the operation. The young person said, clearly not wanting to be around people. Their skin pale and their bracelet beeping before administering another dosage of blood into their body. The man let out a laugh before looking back towards them. “Lighten up, Shigeri! It’s called having fun.” The man said erratically. Shigeri let out a scoff while putting an earbud in their ear. “Fun for you maybe…” they said under their breath. The duo continued to walk as they made their way to the Kigen Division Agency building. “Looks like Andrea was right. The Agency building is only a few minutes away from Himeji by foot. Shigeri, can you manage to Veil this off?” Jun asked, planning something with a devious smile. Shigeri looked up to the building and closed their eyes, feeling the surrounding area. “I could put a Veil over the Agency building, Koizumi wouldn’t be inside on the day of the operation though.” Shigeri said, confident in their predictions. Jun looked up towards the building with his hand on his head, swaying back and forth with a smile on his face. “That works just fine, Shigeri. We just need time, Koizumi would show up regardless. Let’s ensure that it’s just Koizumi searching though.” Jun said with a laugh. Shigeri looked up at Jun, tired of his antics already. A woman with dirty blonde hair walked up to the two, taking off her sunglasses. “Andrea, the boy is the right target?” Jun asked the woman. “Yes. I saw the second Spark and Enmei has confirmed it. Prep can begin for the operation on the 23rd.” Andrea said with a smile. Jun couldn’t help but smile as he looked up towards the Agency building. Sky walked into his house after finally splitting with Ayumi and Akihiko. He couldn’t contain his excitement as he walked up to his mother. “Hi, sweetie! How was your day?” She asked, her comforting smile filling the room. He explained what happened before he showed her the light glow of energy around his hand. His mother’s eyes widened as she looked at the energy around her son’s hand. She shakily lifted up her hand and took his hand into her own. She traced her thumb across his palm. “It’s… It’s so like his…” she said under her breath, her longing apparent. She wiped away a tear as she smiled at him, her own excitement finally starting to build. Sky couldn’t help but notice her reaction, but he didn’t pursue it. It must have been about his father. Sky and his family began to celebrate as they ate all together. They all conversed about their day and what they were all up to. Sky couldn’t help but smile, knowing that no matter what happened he always had his family at the end of the day. After dinner Sky went to his room upstairs, getting under his covers after prepping for bed. He finally planted his head on the pillow as he the happiness began to subside. He understood after the long day that he had experienced that his life has been permanently changed.

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To Be Continued