Tides Of Protomis CL(150)- Arc 2 End
Arctaius Corde’s current situation was a far cry from what the past few weeks had been, constant battles, and training. Yet, with their result, victory, he was fine with that. After all, It wasn't as if he hadn’t experienced that before. He was laid upon one of two beds the room he was in contained, the other, occupied by his old friend, Yudei. Both were silent as they laid back, until a call for breakfast emanated from the floor below. As arctaius shot off into the bathroom, his uniform in hand, Yudei had already begun to change. In what seemed like moments, two uniformed youths were sitting at the table. To no surprise, the two sat next to each other.
“Be good to have some real food after a while. Not like any of us were culinary masters.” The group that has formed were alike in that way. The only one who Arctaius would say had any skill in that regard, was Yu. Who wasn’t always in a cooking mood.
“Guess you never learned, even out there, huh, Taius’.” Yudei questioned, in response.
“Of course not, we had to focus on combat training. Besides’ that’s what instant meals and restaurants are for.” A standard Arctaius response, if he’d ever heard one. As Yudei’s mother strolled in from the kitchen, with a plate in hand, she nearly gave him a scolding look.
“Proto-human or not, You shouldn’t be eating like that, Arctaius.” A younger him likely would have said something back, but this was meant with only a shrug by the youth, as he mumbled a thank you and began to eat the food on his plate. Soon enough, Yudei’s father sat down, watching as the two boys ate. Somehow, as he watched this, he thought of both of them as normal boys, despite one of them being anything but. As they finished, they were off almost immediately. Saying their goodbyes, as they exited the house… As their feet moved forward across the Asphalt, Yudei spoke once more.
“So. You fought those general guys, found Sebastian again, and got rid of their leader. You guys cleaned up house!”
Arctaius nodded.
“Yeah, with the seal that’s in place now, we shouldn’t have to worry about them… Hopefully our Sensei and the Principal don’t get on me on the rest about-”
Arctaius stopped in his tracks, which made Yudei stop in turn, as he glanced over at him with raised eyebrows. Just why would he do that?
“Morning, Tai- Ahh!” The answer came when Arctaius extended his arm, catching Akashi in a clothesline.. Well, there was the answer to that question.
“Nice try, Akashi, but you know you can’t sneak up on me. Especially not now.” Arctaius pulled the youth to his feet, as he rubbed his forehead.
“That ended about as good as I thought it would.” Yudei stated.
“As YOU thought it would? You didn’t even know I was there!” Akashi responded.
“And yet, we knew it was coming…” All three looked back to see Shinto coming to join them, a smile on his face as well. With that, they’d already begun walking off, continuing their normal antics all the while, drawing glances, and sometimes interrupted by those who wished to speak to Arctaius, though these efforts were mostly rebuffed by the man himself. But some in their group were not going in the same direction. Zhao Lei stod under the harsh lights of a courthouse. Which itself was lined with stone walls, a marble floor, and masses of people. But he was not alone, Joined by his two proteges, Yuji, and Emi. Along with an unexpected addition, a member of the Gin-Shishio, Koeda Tsumotsu. They stood in front of a booth, which itself contained a government worker, and the terminal she made use of.
“Kuhakumo, huh… I never like to see kids forced to live like that. And to think that underground city project still had people living there. I wonder who was keeping maintenance on the Sigma Particle Reactor. But that isn’t important..”
The woman promptly reached down to her desk, and handed two folder’s worth of paperwork to Tsumotsu.
“These two are now Yamato Citizens, and, henceforth, will be given surnames. Motikawa Emi, and Kawai Yuji will now be under your legal guardianship, Koeda-San.” The man nodded at this, as he turned toward the two, passing the folders to Zhao. Soon, he placed his hands on their heads, softly.
“Well, then, let’s get you two home… You could stay as well, Zhao.” But, the monk shook his head, as he handed the folders back to the soldier.
“Thank you, but I have a home I constructed. It’s a simple affair, out in the forest, but it has served me well.” With this said, he began to make his way out of the courthouse as well. While elsewhere, the last Von Zaisen found himself in a rather luxurious apartment, one inhabited by his Betrothed, who he had no intention of leaving, even with such an arrangement no longer a thing. The Imperial Princess Iris still had her arms wrapped around him, staying in close contact as she usually enjoyed. Though, he didn’t seem annoyed by that, rather, his very distant cousin. One of spielbach’s princes in line for the throne. His standard ornate regalia on his body, Eadwig.
“Revered cousin, I'm glad to see you’ve returned! The glory of our shared house now extends even into another plane-” Shared house? From a historical perspective, the houses of Von Zaisen and Von Blutstein shared a common ancestor hundreds of years ago; they hadn’t been considered the same dynasty for years. Even without that, he’d already told him he wasn’t considering himself any sort of noble.
“Eadwig, for the last time, my house no longer exists, And we are not a part of the same house.” Alarick said with a sigh. But at this point, he’d come to expect it from him. He returned Iris’ hug, as he stepped back. Her eyes followed him as he did so. He only nodded, as he began to float, and flew away in short order. The day had mostly gone as normal, in the Shima Ward, it was the first time in a long time where that was the word that could describe its happenings. No demons falling from the sky, no proto-human battle in the streets… Well, outside of the local street fighter’s self created arena, known as the “Dome”. Created by one who could manipulate earth, no less. Eventually, as morning turned to noon, and noon, to evening, the school was filled with those either going to their respective clubs, or participating in the Cleaning. In one of the classrooms, filled with four who were supposed to be doing the latter, Arctaius leaned on the wall, flanked on his right by Alarick, and Shinto, who read into their respective history books, speaking all the while.
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“So, in truth, the Banyatumi war was considered as important as it was due to the pre-unification Pacific isles being neutral. the USSR, Zhuhong And World Treaty Organizations both had a vested interest. Especially for the non Zhuhong side if it meant keeping their curtain from expanding over the rest of the south regions of Asia. Especially with Dai Viet and the Siamese Empire being part of their orbit…” Alarick noted, gaining a nod from Shinto.
“Indeed, Especially with Persia, Madzivamwe, and Del Varanda being major Zhuhong Allies. Some of their royal branches even have descendants of Zhuhong Prince and Princesses. Even if their relationships eventually begin to decline… Though, how swiftly they went about staying out of each other's way, or informally working with each other, when the new regime attempted to create a fourth bloc…” This wasn’t a surprise to Arctaius, the two discussed history a lot, that much was clear. Though, he listened to the conversation with some interest. It was theorized that some family members had survived, that of the true leadership of the so-called kingdom. The military dictators, rather than the king, who was essentially a figurehead and nothing more. Though, those were such things he didn’t think about much, simple gossip as he saw it. While in front of him, Yudei and Akashi moved across the room, clashing the brooms in their hands between them, as if they were wielding blades. A common thing among them, no doubt. He caught Zhao and Kazimir entering the room as well, and nodded at them, as he stepped toward the window.
The grass field that he saw was filled with ridges and numerous obstacles, one of the practice areas, for a sport known as Ridgeball, two team, six players each, tried to get the ball into the other’s goal, it wasn’t exactly an easy sport for most, as you had to always had to watch above and below you. Though, his focus was not on that, rather, one person in Particular he knew well, Asami. Who herself, had become known as one of the best players on the team. She leaped onto one of the ridges, running, and taking it from a girl with hair of Green, much to the latter’s surprise.
“You’ll have to do better than that, Harase!” With her shout, she began to leap, and sprint once more, but she soon found herself faced with the other who would commonly be considered her competition, Shizuko.
“Not so fast, Hoshi!” Her first attempt to reach in and take the ball from her arms was eluded, and the second, though she succeeded, she found that Asami pursued, swiping it back before she had much chance to go anywhere… Arctaius sensed movement, and by now, he knew who it was now standing beside him, Akahi watched the display of athleticism with stars in his eyes.
“Shizuko-Chan. She really is the best Ridgeball player in Shima…” However, this was met by a scoff.
“As if, Akashi, we all know Asami wins that battle…” Arctaius responded, resulting in the second leaning closer.
“With how fast Shizuko moves, no way!”
“What does that do compared to Asami’s Reflexes and stamina? She ran across a lot of Kingston, you know…” The others in the room eyed this with blank expressions. Was this truly an argument that Arctaius would involve himself in? Regardless of what many would think, it seemed to be one. Elsewhere, the one who was once called the Violet devil was finally home with the one who’d decided to take her in. Koyama only watched with a smile as she spoke to her friends, ones from her school, outside. She’d worried that the unflattering reports made on her would still have some effect on her, even if they were rescinded, but the fact that this didn’t seem to be the case brought her some solace. But that didn't come close to the fact that she’d survived, returned Victorious.
“I only wish that you didn’t have to fight in such battles… Is that simply life for children in today’s world?” It was a question indeed, the answer most leaned toward was not one that she’d hoped would be the truth for long. She had a son, and lost him many years ago to combat, she hoped she would not have to outlive another she cared for. Though, if those she surrounded herself with, and her own strength was anything to go by, Junko would be just fine…
Evening eventually shifted to night, as many began to filter into their homes, though some had chosen to stay outside, enjoying Tokyo's nightlife. On a well-lit, yet, empty street corner, two men who weren’t commonly seen with each other lay. The head of the Jirou Family, within the larger Hashimoto-Kai, and Arctaius Corde. The two leaned back against the brick wall behind them, standing in silence.
“So… The Jirou Family’s getting a lot bigger, then?” Arctaius questioned.
“Yeah. Apparently some of our guys got pinched, I gotta take over operations at some of our places. I’d ask you to join up, but, I know the command structure thing’s never been your style…”
“You know me well, Hashimoto.” Arctaius answered. Silence had returned, for a moment, but a smirk rose on his expression, and soon enough, the same seemed to happen to Jirou, as if both already knew what was coming next.
“So… That technique you used against Epsilon, Singularity, huh? Who knew that was what you were cooking up when you went off on your own all those times.” Arctaius stated with evident interest.
“I heard about those new techniques you used against that Sebastian guy… That’ll make our next fight an interesting one.”
“That so? How about ton-” Arctaius was interrupted, as he felt a fist softly hit his shoulder. He glanced over at the source, who, herself, was shaking her now hurt hand, Asami.
“Not so fast… Jirou, Could you.. Give us some time?” As the woman asked the question, he obliged, beginning to walk off. The two stared into eachothers’ eyes, a certain amount of longing within Asami’s. She wrapped the man in a hug in short order.
“Idiot…” He returned the hug, even if somewhat hesitantly. He didn’t seem inclined to disagree with her statement.
“How have you been holding up? With what that general did, what happened to Kausmi?”
“It’s… Well, you all came fast enough that no harm came to us, but… I’m still torn up about Kasumi. So is Megumi, not to mention her family. If anything, I'm just glad that they won’t be coming back anytime soon… And I'm glad you’re okay. You and everyone else.” As Asami tightened her hold on him, he simply allowed it, responding.
“I’m glad you’re okay too, Asami… If i’d been there, I would’ve been ab-” Arctaius was cut off by a finger pressed to his lips. Pulled away as soon as silence was achieved.
“Enough, I won’t have you blaming yourself for what you couldn’t have helped with… That’s not why I'm here in the first place.” The two were once again left staring into each other's eyes, but, before the youth had much time to say anything in response, he’d already found a soft pair of lips, pressed against his own. Something which had even managed to catch him by surprise, given his expression, the two did not move, not for some time. What was a few seconds, felt like minutes, as the brunette pulled away.
“I’m… Going to stop beating around the bush, I love you, Arctaius.” How was he to respond to this? Arctaius corde was experienced in many things, this.. Was not one of them. He recalled his mother saying some things about this kind of situation, those years before. Eventually, he decided, it was just better to say what was on his mind, as he would in many other situations.
“I love you too, Asami…”
Arc 2 - End