Yuki had enough of beating around the bush now. He had something to go on, though it was hard to believe such an incident went down while they were away. It didn’t make any sense and it seemed that Hiroshi still hadn’t figured it out as well. “Do you know who their leader is? Who’s giving the orders?”

“Yeah, but you’re not going to like what you see.” Hiroshi slid a photo across the table to Yuki’s group. It was a slightly blurred image taken from a distance and through a window, the school. But they all could recognize the central figure in the photo.

Looking up from the photo, Yuki and Saki both stared across the table with their hands pressed tightly against the edge. “Are you certain?”

“We’ve seen them giving out orders to the others.”

Saki was in disbelief over the revelation. She staggered back into the group feeling the ground threatening to fall out from underneath her. “This can’t be! No! I-I…” Memories quickly rushed up around Saki. ‘Takako…why are you?’

Hiroshi went into an explanation for Yuki, but Saki’s mind was already closed off. She only heard pieces of what he said. Every thought went to her friend. She was supposed to be safe from all of it. ‘This can’t be true! She was taken away from here for treatment. They promised they’d help her!’

None of it made any sense to her. It should be impossible for Takako to be doing what they claimed. She couldn’t believe it. This wasn’t Takako. It had to be a lie. ‘She was trapped in her mind, she couldn’t be giving the orders.’ Saki pulled herself clear of her thoughts and focused back on what Hiroshi said.

Determination carved into her face tightly around her eyes. She already knew what she had to do. ‘I’ll get to the bottom of this and prove to them that they’re mistaken. It’s a lie. All of it is!’

“Even if we don’t understand how they’re doing it, it doesn’t change that we still have to fight them. They have no mercy in their fighting and no pattern that we’ve been able to see either. Sometimes they capture and others just brutally slaughter everyone in sight. And I’m not about to let them go around murdering in this city.”

As Hiroshi trailed off, something really seemed to get to him. It caused his voice to rise and then break. A memory likely came back to him that he preferred not to remember. The opening gave Tatsuya the moment to step in and fill in a few more details. “One of the most recent battles with them created that crater you saw before.”

“They did that?!” Yuki jumped, his body shaking at the thought of how many might have been caught up in it.

Shaking his head, Tatsuya corrected his assumption. “No, that was caused by one in our group. We had already lost the fight and needed to retreat, but they were slaughtering us. Even those unable to fight back. It was an ambush. Shiga, she stayed behind to let us escape with those that we could. She…” It was Tatsuya’s turn to come to a grinding halt in emotions and memories. He looked even more shaken than Hiroshi.

Yuki and Yori’s sister both immediately knew who Tatsuya talked about. She was another one of their classmates. She gasped in shock, falling back a little into Yori, but quickly corrected herself. Yuki’s body shook.

He didn’t know her well. They were only classmates and for a short time with the start of the new year, but that didn’t change anything for him. Pain still gripped his chest. ‘I can picture her in my mind. She was in the art club and I saw her staying late a couple of times when I had clean up. And now…how did things come to this…’

Recovering finally, Hiroshi leaned against the table. “They haven’t made their intentions known to us or even tried talking to us. They just act in whatever way they see fit. Since Takako is their leader, we’ve defaulted to calling them the Takako Faction for lack of a better name.” He looked around at Yuki’s friends seeing their reactions. “This is where I want answers from you. Who’s side are you on?”

“Not her’s!” shouted Yuki quickly in reaction. A hint of disgust over their actions trailed through his face. “We might not have known each other for long, but how could you even think that?”

Hiroshi stared at Yuki directly, ignoring the others. “You’re right, we haven’t known each other for long. We barely know each other.” While subtle, he was clear in his intent that it wouldn’t go undetected by Yuki.

Dropping his fists to the table, Yuki matched stares with Hiroshi. He wasn’t being very subtle about it in Yuki’s eyes, even though it didn’t necessarily mean everyone in the room understood. It was something meant only for Yuki. ‘Is this how he’s going to be about me hiding my past from him? I thought he accepted that already.’ Yuki read through the layers of features on Hiroshi’s face trying to understand him. “Don’t trust me?”

“I don’t trust anyone. Not anymore, given the situation and potential can you say any different?”

‘A month did this much to change him? Is that even possible?’ They might have had the big picture, but Yuki didn’t really feel like he had the full picture. There were still too many things that Hiroshi wasn’t telling him. While he might not have been as good as a trained Atlantean in reading others, he knew that much. There was more going on, but Hiroshi had no plans to let him in on it. Paranoia and caution, it seemed like the only friends that Hiroshi had left. “For now, my answer to you is that I belong to no side.”

Slamming his fists against the table, Hiroshi ground his teeth in frustration with Yuki. “You can’t be neutral like this doesn’t affect you just because you’ve been away the entire time! There are only two sides, our side and their side!”

Yuki turned away from Hiroshi to look at his friends. It seemed that they all mirrored similar expressions as himself. They were confused. Hiroshi had them all up against the wall demanding an answer when they only just started to know what the question was. They needed time. “I won’t make a decision for you. Everyone should decide for themselves what they want to do.” He started to walk away from the table for the exit.

Miyako, who out of respect for Hiroshi, remained silent despite her emotions finally broke. She broke through the group and grabbed Yuki before he could leave. “Where the hell do ya get off thinking you can just walk out of here?!” Her rashness immediately had Saki on the offensive along with Yori’s sister. The three women stared down each other.

Walking around the group to reach Miyako, Hiroshi placed a hand on her shoulder. “That’s enough, Miyako. They’re allowed to leave.”

“But Comman—Hiroshi…”

“It’s fine. They need time.” He got Miyako to release Yuki, which backed down the others. The sight actually made him sweat a little. ‘Saki sure, but even Yumi. Both of them had looks that could kill…and Yuki…he’s actually even more frightening than the others. It’s buried, but for a moment I swear I could see a look I’ve never seen from him. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s like even though he knows he’s surrounded by all of us, he knows that we’re no threat to him. But it’s not simple arrogance…it’s more complex than just that…unsettling…’ Hiroshi questioned if this was really the boy he knew from high school. Even between the lies of a class clown or the truth as a delinquent, neither answered what he saw in Yuki.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“But—“

Motioning for the door to open, he let them go. Though he held Yuki back. “I expect an answer from you.”

Chapter 295 – Sides

After all of them left, Hiroshi motioned over Miyako to him. He stared in the distance at Saki quickly making for the exit. “Put tails on all of them. Despite what they’ve learned, they don’t seem to understand the dire situation of going outside. Keep them away from the high school at all costs.”

Her eyes lit up a little to see the Commander that she knew and respected back. “I understand! I will at once!” Miyako jumped double time out of the Command Room moving about gathering up teams.

Tatsuya glanced over at Hiroshi. The look on his face told him how much worry he had over Yuki. “You think he’ll join us?”

“I guess that depends.”

“On what?”

“On which is the real one, the Yuki we know from class or the Yuki we haven’t seen.”

Outside, Yori took a brisk pace away from the store that hid the secret base. His sister with some curiosity, followed him. “Where are you going?” she thought aloud watching his back. The sight of him still left her with pangs of fear, but she learned how to control it better.

“I want to see things for myself,” he answered.

Not expecting a response, she came to a halt. She stared at him, unable to say anything, partly out of fear for what she might say and be heard.

He tilted his head over his shoulders as he stopped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. It seems to be one of my powers.” Yori saw the mixed look of fear and embarrassment. “I can only hear surface thoughts. You’re not always in my head.”

The thought of him being able to hear her thoughts, even if it was the loudest of ones, didn’t give her any more comfort. She had too many things that she didn’t want to reveal to him. She didn’t know how much he already knew about her because of it. ‘I’m going to need to be more vigilant…’ A mental conversation with her brother gave her too many unsettling thoughts to continue it. “Do you not trust Hiroshi?”

Turning back towards the grass street, he began to walk again. “I believe he believes what he told us, but there’s two sides to every conflict. I want to see what the other side is. Something about this whole thing doesn’t sit right with me. We’re missing something.”

* * *

In the opposite direction, Fumiko parked herself at an intersection. She went south, not directly moving towards the school, but her eyes looked in that direction. ‘Saki was the first out…I don’t know what’s going on with her, but she seemed the most shaken by all of this.’

Taking a slightly meandering route towards the school, she broke into an abandoned building a few blocks away. The whole area was mostly just houses and a few stores. It was a little more built up for businesses further away, but almost nothing went past two stories. So it made looking from the roof of the second floor pretty easy. She could see the high school. Her improved sight gave her a glimpse behind the walls.

Most of the windows were blackened and the grounds of the school looked more like a construction site than anything. Earth tore up and random materials thrown about without care gave little sense of purpose. ‘Knowing Saki, she’s thinking that she can handle them all by herself. However, we don’t know what they’re doing to get everyone on their side. If it is so absolute, then we can’t be so arrogant to think we can do whatever…’

Caught in the middle of thought, it was almost too late before Fumiko realized that someone was inside the building. She heard the groaning of the stairs behind her. Immediately, her body reacted by flashing a fireball in her hand. ‘Who is it?’

* * *

Yori and his sister held their backs almost up against each other. Everything turned south so fast that they didn’t even realize what was happening until it was too late. Surrounded and outnumbered, neither knew what they were going to be dealing with. The situation was unlike the ones that they were familiar with from the Atlanteans. These people were powered up in the same fashion as them.

“Yori…how much control do you have?”

Grinding his teeth together, he knew he didn’t have the same sort of combat experience as his sister. ‘She’s already thinking about fighting. I’m still thinking we can talk our way out…’ She accepted their situation faster than he had. He was still behind her. “I’ve been practicing. I’ve had a month while we were in Atlantis.” Black blades form in his hands in response.

“Right…” She could tell his hesitation. Her mind was already thinking about what powers they might have and how she was going to counter them. ‘I have to remember that he’s not used to this. I probably should take the lead in this…’

Two figures appeared behind the circle, partially obscured by the others. “Look who we have here,” a girl’s voice said.

“So this is where you are,” the other replied.

Yumi’s eyes widened immediately, recognizing their voices. She turned to her left to see them push through and reveal themselves. “Kaede…Katsumi…what are you doing here?!”

Grinning with a dark expression, Kaede leaned up against Katsumi, both wearing their school uniform still, though the color scheme changed to black matching with their dark intent. “It’s been a while Yumi, we’ve missed you.”

* * *

Inside Takako’s room, Saki started to come to terms with reality, even though it still didn’t make any sense to her. She didn’t understand it. “Are you really Takako?” Her voice almost pleaded for it not to be true. A hope for it all to be an illusion was the only thing that could save her.

Leaning back in an odd pile of chairs and desks completely mangled into a distorted mass sat Takako. It almost looked like she treated it like a throne for her and she stared out among her empire. However, unlike the last time that Saki saw her, a light had returned to her eyes. A dark light that seemed blacker than any moonless night. Just a look was enough to feel the menacing presence bleeding off her.

Takako’s eyes focused on Saki in the moment after hearing her. Her face soured and then grew in happiness only to twist away once more. “Saki Furukawa! I never expected to see you.”

“What are you doing, Takako?! Why are you doing all of this?!”

“All of what?” Takako asked, looking genuinely confused. She didn’t seem to understand the question or even what Saki was getting at.

Saki threw her hand back to the entrance. “All of that! The hell that is living in this school!”

“Is there something wrong?”

The look of complete confusion actually terrified Saki. ‘What’s the matter with Takako? She doesn’t seem to understand at all what’s wrong with it.’ As it all soaked into Saki’s mind, she realized that Takako knew what happened. It was impossible for her not to know. And yet she honestly didn’t understand the problem with it. She was completely detached from the whole thing. There was no empathy, no feelings, no comprehension. She accepted the reality and saw nothing wrong in what happened as though it was completely natural.

Saki made herself feel even more sick as she understood how completely broken Takako had become. “You’re insane! What happened?! Takako!”

Takako rubbed a finger down her cheek in an absentminded manner. “Am I? Perhaps or perhaps not. Maybe you’re the insane one and I’m sane.” She stood up from her throne and walked down to Saki. “What are you doing here?”

It troubled Saki that the very sight of someone that she worried and cared about, a friend, made her feel sick to her stomach. The stench of death soaked through her very being. She wasn’t innocent. Saki felt that. She could only steel herself to it all. “I came to see you.”

Clapping her hands together in excitement, she walked around Saki, always staring. Her eyes never left her. It was almost as if she longed for her. “To see me! Well isn’t that exciting!” Takako pressed her finger up against Saki in the most uncomfortable manner possible, but lacked any hint of knowing it was such. “So you’ve come to join me.”

Clenching her jaw tight, Saki struggled to keep herself in control. Every part of Takako left her unnerved. Nothing of the friend she knew seemed to be present. She didn’t know the girl that circled around her. “No. I came to stop you.”

Giggling uncontrollably, Takako fell over Saki for the moment. She rested her head next to her ear. “Is that right? Is there something I need to stop?”

Fighting the chills up her spine, Saki held fast. “Of course! You’re killing your own classmates!”

“Is that right? I think I recall that happening.” Takako jumped off Saki and landed out in front of her. “Is there something wrong with that? Death is part of life. Ending a life is so simple. If it was bad they would have made it harder to do.”

“You can’t be serious!” Saki took a step forward at Takako, but sensed the room change. ‘I’m being watched still. They’re going to attack if I make any move.’ She eased up her stance.

Takako laughed until her head seemed ready to fall off. “I’m very serious,” she replied sharply, returning to a semi-normal state. She walked back up to the throne and took her seat once more. “Will you join me, Saki?”

“Never!”

Grinning, she leaned forward from her throne. Takako stared straight into Saki’s soul with the most coherent expression she had the entire time. “One last time, will you join me, Saki?”

Saki knelt down, bowing her head to Takako. “Naturally, Takako. What would you have me do?”