Taking the bus heading outside Tokyo, the four of them dropped off in a seemingly normal neighborhood. Jun had expected Shizuka to be a bit dismayed like he was the first time he visited Sago House EXP zone, but Shizuka was as calm as snow like she always was.
They entered the Sago House, going the same procedure as usual, given the badges, and headed upstairs.
There was only Amrita on the open second floor, fiddling with her tablet like always. Takumi could never tell what she was doing with that tablet that took so much of her time.
“Good work, Chaudhary-san.”
““Good afternoon.””
Takumi, Saki and Jun greeted her, but Chaudhary only curtly replied with a hum of her nose. If Takumi was an introvert, she was anti-social.
“Good afternoon, Doctor. Thank you very much for what you did back then. My son has been in your care.”
Shizuka lowered her head.
“I just happened to be on duty that day. Also, I’m an assistant professor, not a doctor.”
Amrita, however, brushed her off without as much as looking at her. This time, Saki spoke to her with excitement.
“Even so, it’s awesome that you healed Takumi-kun in an instant! If everyone has that kind of power, we don’t need to go to the hospital anymore, right?”
“How do you think Omega rakes up so much money?”
That one simple question from Amrita made Saki clam up instantly. She made a face as if questioning reality itself.
“…I’ll go and change clothes.”
As usual, Takumi went at his own pace and entered the changing room. When he came out, instead of wearing a gym uniform, he was wearing his Battle outfit that Lindy had given him.
“Is that the one from Lindy-san?”
Asked Saki, seemingly having recovered from her shock.
“Yeah. I forgot to bring a change, and this is what I will wear in Battles anyway, so might as well.”
Answered Takumi. Other than his lowered bangs, he looked ready to jump into Omega Battle. This time, it was Shizuka who opened her mouth to ask.
“How is it, Takumi-san? The outfit?”
“Ah, yeah. It’s more breathable and easy to move in compared to the last one.”
The outfit that Saki and Asa had picked up for him had given Takumi irritated skin on his joints. Moreover, the black shirt didn’t give enough for Takumi’s arms to freely rotate, so it actually pulled on him when he threw rubbles at Daniel.
Not that the outfit was faulty; it simply wasn’t designed for Battle.
In comparison, the HAGO outfit that Lindy provided was airy, light, and stretchy. For Takumi, it almost felt like he was naked. To demonstrate it, Takumi did a jumping jack and not only the outfit didn’t hinder Takumi’s movement, it was back to being neat and tidy instead of riding up like his previous outfit once he was done.
“Oh, warming up before the training?”
“Hajime-san. Good work.”
Adam’s voice was heard, and the person showed up climbing the staircase. Noticing him, Takumi greeted Adam.
After a series of greetings, the training started. As usual, Adam had Takumi create a bunch of hologram objects. Compared to the first time they saw Takumi doing this, the number of objects he created easily tripled.
Meanwhile, Jun was trying to lift his phone with his mind. He had succeeded 3 out of 5 times, but he didn’t dare to lift it too high in fear of dropping it. As for Saki, she was reciting pi as per Amrita’s instruction.
Shizuka watched it unfold in silence whilst she was sitting next to Amrita.
The first training session was done, and they were entering the first break when Jun raised his hand.
“Excuse me, Hajime-sensei. Can I ask something?”
“What is it, Tada-kun?”
Adam turned his attention to Jun.
“I heard from Momo-senpai that Takumi now can use a precognition-like ability by, uh…skipping the travel distance of light? I don’t really understand, but if it’s that powerful, then why aren’t you coaching him how to use it?”
“Well—”
“Well that’s just impossible.”
Adam was about to answer Jun’s question, but Amrita interrupted.
“Skipping the travel distance of light? That’s impossible. The speed of light, in vacuum, is the speed of casualty, it is constant relative to everything in the universe. You literally cannot make it any faster, it is the upper limit for the speed at which matter can travel through space. If you’re messing with the speed of light, you’re messing with the Lorentz Factor, and if you’re messing with the Lorentz Factor, how can you even move at all? It just makes no sense. You’re messing with a fundamental law of physics.”
Amrita spoke up as if venting her frustration, but it almost sounded like she called Jun a liar, so Jun defended himself.
“…it really happened though.”
“Yeah, and that’s why I keep saying EXP zones are illogical, unreasonable, and unscientific. Everything boils down to Subjective Truth. If some airhead thinks that something makes sense, it’ll happen no matter how stupid it sounds.”
Jun wasn’t sure if Amrita was slandering him or validating him, so he clammed up. This time, Adam opened his mouth to answer Jun’s original question.
“There are actually two reasons for that. One, Precognition is not an ability you want to invest as an Omega Fighter. And two, once you’ve achieved the Second Stage, it’s easy to branch out to different abilities, so training the fundamentals is more important than ever.”
“Umm, why is Precognition bad? It looked pretty powerful during Battle.”
“Yeah. Takumi looked like an anime protagonist, evading attacks paper-thin.”
Saki and Jun didn’t seem convinced.
“As for that, I guess you’ll understand faster with demonstration. —Kurogane-kun, do you think you can use a Second Step ability now?”
“Ah, yes. If it’s just for a minute.”
Being called by Adam, Takumi answered.
Previously he would’ve been entirely exhausted after the first session that his psychic power had to rest for an hour before he could use it again. But now, he had grown to the point that he had leeway even after the intensified training session.
“I’m going to throw hits, you guard them using your precognition. Got it?”
“Okay.”
Instructed by his coach, Takumi closed his eyes and used his equinox to see. At first there was a dizzying amount of information flowing into his brain, making him winch, but he immediately focused his vision on Adam.
Adam raised his fists up, and Takumi saw it with his ability.
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“Ready?”
“Yes.”
Adam threw a right hook. Takumi saw it from the movements of his muscle, and raised his left arm to guard himself.
Next Adam threw a straight left. Once again, Takumi saw it beforehand and guarded it perfectly.
After that, a kick, which Takumi evaded before it reached him.
Just like that, Adam threw a bunch of hits, and Takumi either evaded them or guarded against them before they even left Adam. They weren’t slow attacks either, they were sharp and heavy, and Takumi could feel his arms getting numb just guarding against them.
“Enough.”
Adam lowered his fists, signaling the end of demonstration. Takumi opened his eyes back.
“So, what does it look like?”
Adam asked Saki and Jun. After a moment of silence, Jun opened his mouth.
“I don’t know how to put it, but it looks…fake? Like you practiced this beforehand and are just showing us what you practiced.”
“…it feels choreographed.”
“Yes, that’s the word.”
Jun expressed what he felt watching the demonstration, and when Saki said the word, he validated her.
Adam nodded, satisfied that his demonstration had the intended effect. He then opened his mouth again for further lessons.
“Correct. Omega Battle is entertainment, first and foremost. While entertainment has a lot of variations, generally you don’t want the audience to feel cheated. —There is something called Suspension of Disbelief, which is the willingness to avoid critical thinking in understanding something that is and feels unreal. It directly correlates to the engagement of the audience towards entertainment.”
Adam explained, but Saki and Jun looked even more confused that he could swear he saw three large question marks above their heads. This felt like a deja vu for some reason.
“For example. If you see an airplane flying in the sky, it doesn’t look weird to you. But, if you see a giant monster made of spaghetti with two big eyeballs flying in the sky, it will feel weird, right?”
“…maybe there’s just an EXP zone in the sky.”
Adam tried giving them an example, and he thought it was a good example, but Jun’s comment made him lose confidence.
This time, Takumi opened his mouth.
“It’s like the big bad evil guy from the previous movies who’s been defeated by the protagonist and his father, suddenly shows up in the sequel without any explanation whatsoever.”
“What’s with that? That’s just stretching it.”
“Yeah, give the franchise some credit.”
Jun, followed by Saki, protested when he heard Takumi’s example. Seeing that, Adam mumbled under his breath; “what has come to this generation…”
“I think I understand now,” Saki spoke up, “for the viewer to be invested in what they’re seeing, they must be able to believe the development that’s happening.”
Following Saki, Jun also had his aha moment.
“I see. Since Omega Battle is known for using real superpower, the Battle is also authentic. If Takumi suddenly moves like the Battle was choreographed, then the audience will think that they are being cheated, so they will start to disbelieve the Battle itself is authentic.”
“…that’s the gist of it, yes.”
Adam approved Saki’s and Jun’s understanding.
“Even in terms of pure Battle, Kurogane-kun’s version of precognition is deeply flawed. Kurogane-kun can only focus on—”
“Excuse me.”
As Adam continued his explanation, out of nowhere one of the JSDF soldiers who was stationed on the first floor showed up on the second floor and interrupted them. It was a giant of a man with a stern look on his face.
Looking at him, Adam made an anxious face as he greeted the soldier.
“Ah, Sergeant Abe. What’s the matter?”
“You have a guest downstairs. He is looking for a participant named Kou.”
At the soldier’s words, everyone in the room, except Amrita, looked anxious.
♤♠♤♠♤
EXP zones were military sites. Whilst many people had come and entered EXP zones, they were ultimately special exclusion zones that belonged to the government. Only people belonging to the Omega corporation were allowed to set foot inside, and they still had to fill out a document that registered their name, address, and occupation.
On paper, Omega Fighters and their team were Staff of Omega corporation. Upon first visitation, the managerial team must contact Omega and register the visitors into the database. Their names then would be sent towards the soldiers who were stationed in the EXP zone that would be visited.
This was all a preventative measure, and it was testament of how fearful the government was towards the oddity called Extraphysical Zone.
This was also the reason why, despite being a registered Omega Fighter, the man who sat in front of Takumi in the living room on the first floor was prevented from entering the Sago House EXP zone until he did the correct procedures.
“Oh man, I didn’t know I had to tell my manager first. I thought I could just walk in, so that's what I did, but the soldiers drove me away! Hahaha!”
The man with the red hair laughed.
“Oops, forgive me. I haven’t introduced myself, have I? Your two friends seem to have known me already, but introducing yourself is the correct manners. —I am Akabane Hayao, 25 years old. People also know me as Redhawk. Nice to meet you.”
The red-haired man — Hayao introduced himself as he thumped on his chest proudly. His eyes were fiery and full of spirit.
Takumi recalled the name Redhawk. Saki mentioned it beforehand, it was the name of the tokusatsu Omega Fighter with explosion-based power. That would explain why Saki was holding onto a shikishi paper that had Hayao’s autograph on it with glitters in her eyes and a huge grin on her lips.
However, Takumi couldn’t understand why Jun also had the same level of excitement.
“…I’m Kurogane Takumi, 16 years old. Kou is my stage name. Nice to meet you too.”
Seeing that Hayao was using his real name, Takumi felt like it was proper manners to use his real name as well.
“I’m his mother, Kurogane Shizuka. I’m Takumi-san’s manager as well. A pleasure to meet you.”
Following that, Shizuka who sat next to Takumi also introduced herself.
“I saw your Battle, Kurogane-kun. 16 years old…such a young age, yet you’ve fought valiantly. However, I cannot say I agree with how little you regard your life. Bear in mind, when you’re hurt, it’s people who care for you who are in pain.”
“…I’ll put that in mind.”
That was advice that made Takumi’s ears hurt.
Truth was, Adam had also scolded Takumi for that very reason back on Monday. He told him that, while indeed Omega had procedures, that was no reason to put his life at risk since things could always go south when they were least expected. What would happen if Takumi was teleported a bit late? What if Amrita didn’t heal him in time? What if Daniel decided to continue attacking Takumi with the enlarged katana despite the darkness he created?
Takumi had a surefire plan prepared by Saki and Jun. To disregard that without consulting them meant the same as to disregard their goodwill.
That kind of scolding went for 30 minutes straight, and the entire time Takumi could only listen with a lowered head as he sat seiza. Adam was surprisingly terrifying when he was angry. He could literally raise hell with his pyrokinesis.
As Takumi reminisced about the event that transpired, Hayao pulled him back to reality.
“However! I am in no place to preach to you that. Let’s cut to the chase. Kurogane Takumi-kun, and Kurogane Shizuka-san, I am here to say my apologies and my gratitude.”
Hayao bowed his head so hard, it banged the coffee table. However, he paid it no mind and continued speaking.
“I am deeply sorry for causing you great trouble, and thank you very much for taking on Daniel Mitchell for us!”
As he said, Hayao apologized and said his thanks, but his voice was so loud it felt like it could be heard from anywhere in the Sago House.
Takumi and Shizuka were puzzled by this. Shizuka hurriedly opened her mouth.
“Excuse me, I don’t understand what you mean by that. First, please raise your head.”
“Yes!”
Asked by Shizuka, Hayao raised his head, again with great vigor.
He then started to explain his circumstance.
“Being apologized to out of nowhere must be inconvenient for you, so let me explain. That night, in the Battle against Daniel Mitchell, his opponent was supposed to be one of my juniors. She’s a new Fighter, eager to prove her worth, and we trusted her judgment and thus we bought a premium slot for him. —it was too late when we learned her opponent was the newbie crusher from America.”
Hayao spoke with less vigor than before. Takumi, Saki, Jun, and Shizuka listened in silence.
“Getting that premium slot cost us a fortune. However, the penalty we would get from pulling out from it would immediately put our agency in the red…unless we found someone else to substitute. Daniel only agrees to fight newbies, so it was hard to find a Fighter. We tried contacting other agencies, but no one wants to jeopardize the future career of their new members, and I can’t blame them for that. However, at this rate, we would have to pay the penalty and that could lead to the dissolvement of our agency — until a call from your manager, Kurogane-san came.”
“…yes, I do remember a sigh of relief coming from the other side of the call. I didn’t think much about it back then, but I see, so that’s what happened.”
Shizuka validated Hayao’s story. Hayao nodded at that.
“I felt sick, it was as if I was sacrificing a kid to save my own butt! Watching you fight your Battle was the least I can do to atone, however, you fought well, more than any of us expected! Momo told me your contact address, but I must come to see you and apologize in person! Kurogane-kun, Kurogane-san, once again, I am very sorry, and thank you very much!”
As he saw Hayao lowering his head again, Takumi felt conflicted. Even after hearing Hayao’s side of the story, he couldn’t blame Hayao or his agency. In the end, the fact that Shizuka called them and Takumi became the substitute Fighter was all boiled down to luck.
Takumi felt like he had to say something. Shizuka was silent, leaving it to Takumi to handle the situation.
Both Saki and Jun seemed like they didn’t know what to say.
If it was Asa, what would she say? With that in mind, Takumi opened his mouth.
“You’re not at fault, Akabane-san. You did what you had to do to protect your junior, and I did what I had to do to protect my family. This is just the natural outcome.”
“You’re a good person, Kurogane-kun,” Hayao raised his head, “You see, there is a second reason as to why I am here. Kurogane Takumi, no, Kou. I want you to Battle me — and lose to me.”
With a huge smile and a fiery gaze, Hayao offered a proposal.