Tides Of Protomis XC-
Solace
Removed from the Shima Ward was the town of Kinato, one of Tokyo’s many suburbs. Though directly linked to the city by the maglev and bus lines, there was not much traffic moving through the neighborhood. Save for a one-storied house that retained the traditional Yamato architecture. One where two boys, Arctaius Corde and Sasaki Yudei, lived. Whether it be their friends popping up, or some guy hoping to meet Arctaius, there always seemed to be somebody coming in and out.
The two boys in question, as well as their friends, Yoshida Shinto and Ketamura Akashi, sat in a circle with cards in their hands. Just able to fit into the somewhat cramped room, the walls were made with a mix of wood and paper, with a hardwood flow underneath them. Mostly empty save for a desk that held some notebooks, as well as schematics for what seemingly, were weapons of war. Formerly belonging to his old enemies, most likely. After all, machines were always an interest of his, especially with his experience as a saboteur.
The first to place a card down on top of the pile that had formed was Akashi. His eyes moved across his friends as their gazes focused on him.
“Two of spades…”
This was met with looks of suspicion from the other members. Their eyes looked toward the card and then back toward the man himself, who attempted to keep a straight face, but one could take note of the fact that it was failing, even if somewhat. Shinto took the opportunity, pushing his glasses up as he spoke out.
“Bullshit.”
Something that was followed by his hand shooting toward the card, turning it over to see a three of hearts. Akashi tsked.
“Man... How do you guys always find me out?” he questioned, proceeding to grasp all the cards, bringing them into his deck, sighing as he looked at the large number of cards he had compared to the rest of them.
“Probably has something to do with how you give things away so easily…” Arctaius responded.
“Huh?! No, I don’t. I’ll have you know I’m great at keeping secrets!”
Shinto glanced at him with a squint, clearly unconvinced by his words.
“Is that so? Then can you explain to me how the whole school, no, the whole TOWN knew about the Hot towel incident?” He questioned, making Akashi’s gaze shoot to him as he pointed his finger at Shinto=
“OI, OI, We agreed to never talk about that! And besides, that was back when we were first years, things have changed since then!” Akashi yelled.
“YOU agreed to never talk about it. I never said anything. That aside, I wouldn’t think so, considering what we just saw…” Arctaius responded.
“We were lucky no names got out of the locker room.” Yudei added with a shudder.
Akashi prepared to defend his honor until they all heard the door to the room slide open as they took note of a man and a woman walking in. The man had a head of brown hair, bearing a large amount of resemblance to Yudei, though he looked much older. His name was Sasaki Shouji. The woman had a head of blue hair, sharing a few features with Yudei, though much less so than her husband. Her name was Sasaki Chie.
“Boys, someone’s here to see you.” The man said.
Soon, strolling in as they parted was Kazimir, wearing a pair of shorts and sandals on his feet. Sunglasses on his face. With an open black Hawaiian shirt and white flowers printed on it draped over his torso.
“Yo, Taius, Yudei, Shinto, Akashi!”
As they all focused their gaze on him, Arctaius spoke.
“Kazimir? Thought you’d be out with Miyamoto or something…”
“I was, but we were talking about something, and I had a little idea, we’ll be going somewhere, but I’m keeping it a surprise. Let’s go to base. The others are already there.”
“Well… Guess it can’t hurt. You guys fine with this?” Arctaius questioned, gaining nods from his allies.
“Alright, I’m gonna go get Jirou!”
Just like that, Kazimir walked past them, opened the window, and flew out. Soon enough, the boys began to stack up the cards before they all gathered at the door.
“We’re gonna head out now, Mom, Dad.” Yudei said as he walked past them with a wave, along with the rest of the group.
“Alright, Have fun!” Souji responded. They began to make their way toward the door before changing their shoes and exiting. As soon as it was made clear that they were gone, they glanced at each other.
“So much energy… I remember being that young.” Chie mumbled. The boys, however, did not hear this, given that they weren’t there. Rather, they were walking toward their destination with their minds honed on other things.
“Maybe I should call Tsuchiya-Chan. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind coming with us.” Akashi Mumbled.
***
The small seaside town known as Nishiyoko. One where very little happened. One of those lucky enough to be nearly untouched by the appearance of the Kaemerge. Aside from a flyover, at the very least. Though, it had some popularity, a direct result of its white-sanded beach. It being June, it was packed with occupants, old and young alike. At the least, the mood here was distinct from the tense mood in the cities. It wasn’t surprising that it was especially packed today. Though, some of those who arrived would be a surprise. Just off of the coast, a small airship flew above the waters, with the hum of plasma jets coming behind it. In the pilot’s seat sat Kazimir, with Arctaius in the seat beside him.
“Why exactly are we going to the beach…?” Arctaius questioned.
“We just need a breather, as I see it. We don’t know when those demons are gonna strike next, and it’s not like we can interrogate those reaver things.”
Behind them, leaning on the metal walls that lined the ship, was Jirou, who spoke in response.
“You aren’t wrong… I have to question why you decided to fly this ship, though.”
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Of course, they were not the only ones on the ship. Asami, Kasumi, and Megumi sat on one of the three benches, the third installed by Kazimir some time ago. To their right, Were Yudei, Shinto, and Akashi on the central one. With Miyamoto, Alarick, and, surprisingly, even Shizuko on the left. Many of them had bags in their hands or sat at their sides.
“I’ll admit. It’s impressive you managed to build this by yourself, Rhuskov-san.” Shizuko commented.
Corde and his crowd were never people she found herself hanging out with. Especially with low little, the latter had changed, even as they all grew older. She was never really a fan of his attitude, but… He did essentially save them a while back. She could tolerate him, for now, at least.
“What can I say? I love aircraft,” Kazimir responded.
Though strangely enough, as the conversations continued, there were two that remained silent. Asami and Miyamoto. The latter’s gaze on the ground, and the former’s on hers… She thought about approaching her but ultimately decided against it. The fact remained that she helped that organization. She was a member. How was she any different from the rest? Though she said nothing, the expression on her face, to anybody who paid attention, spoke for her.
This only subsided as she no longer felt the ship moving and took note of the fact that the humming of the jets began to get quieter. Her gaze flew to the windows that lay in the cockpit as she took note of the fact that they were descending onto the ground. Kicking up sand until the airship made contact with the water, finishing their landing. The cargo bay doors in the back opened, letting the sunlight in.
“Alright, we’re here. Let’s have some fun!” Akashi yelled, running out, soon followed by most of the ship running out as well, including the pilot. Though, some were less than enthusiastic, with their minds on other subjects. Something Kazimir took note of, but he hoped this would distract them from it. That was what they were here for, after all.
As they reached the beach itself, they eyed the changing rooms located nearby. Asami stepped toward Arctaius, pulling a pair of swimming trunks out of her bag, before placing it into his hand and walking away. Soon after, the rest followed, going into their respective stalls before exiting some time after, their previous outfits stored in their bags.
Arctaius and Kazimir having their chests bared, with pairs of swimming trunks on their legs, the same happening with the others. No sooner did the girls exit. Asami wearing a black bikini, Megumi and Kasumi wearing blue and purple, respectively. While Shizuko went with a rather form-fitting one-piece. One that made Akashi gawk as certain thoughts began to flow through his head. Something that did not go unnoticed, given the looks that he got from the others. Including the woman herself, who had pink dusting her cheeks. She said nothing as she stepped forward, opting to grab his hand and drag him away.
“Looks like those two have something going on... When did they become an item?” Kasumi questioned.
“I’m surprised. I thought Shizuko didn’t like you guys.” Megumi added, gaining a shrug from Arctaius.
“That aside, let’s find something to do… I’m quite fond of fishing, So I’ll be doing that.” Zhao cut in and began a walk toward one of the piers. Soon enough, Alarick would follow.
“Sounds fine with me.”
As the two walked off, Arctaius and Jirou glanced at one another. Their minds ran to a certain idea, given how they usually operated, but the plans were cut into by Arctaius being dragged away by his wrist, the source being Asami herself.
“I know what you’re planning, and that’s not happening…” She stated. Arctaius sighed at this, breaking eye contact with Jirou. The two would eventually settle on a towel that lay under an umbrella, large enough to contain both. No sooner did the woman shift closer, wrapping her arms around him. It was a nice change of pace for everyone involved, Jirou swimming in the waters. Alarick and Zhao continued casting their rods, waiting for bites. Kazimir and Miyamoto not too far away from Arctaius. Yudei ran across the sands. Shinto with his nose in a book, and Akashi and Shizuko having gone who knows where. Though some questioned what they were doing, it wasn’t at the front of their minds.
Arctaius lay with his eyes closed, an arm draped around Asami’s shoulder until his spine began to tingle, a sign that he recognized almost instantly, the approach of another powerful proto-human. Something that was not limited to him. Zhao and Alarick placed their rods at the side, leaving the buckets of fish they’d caught on the pier.
“That’s Watanabe… What’s he doing here?” Arctaius mumbled, gaining a glance from Asami, as the man landed in front of them, wearing his typical leather jacket, and a cigarette in his mouth. He took a drag, exhaling the smoke as he began to step toward him.
“Yo, Corde… Heard about your fight with that demon thing. You never did like holding back, eh?”
Now, Arctaius stood “Not like we had a choice.” Soon enough, the other proto-humans joined them, making Watanabe glance around at them all.
“I was in the neighborhood, had to take out some mutated Leviathan, kept attacking cargo ships... Though I must say, this is much more interesting. You’ve all gotten stronger.” He continued.
“But of course, we wouldn’t stop training… Though I will say I’ve worked hard to make sure I’m still the fastest here.” Arctaius responded, making the gazes of Alarick and Jirou alike shoot toward him... This wouldn’t end well, knowing how competitive those three are.
“You’re the fastest? We all know that’s me, Corde.”
Arctaius’ gaze shot over to Jirou.
“YOU? As if...”
“Yes, cause that title belongs to me...” then, both of them looked to the source, Alarick.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, boys... I wasn’t just sitting around all this time. The fastest is right here.” Him too?! Wasn’t he supposed to be the mature one?
Then, they all looked at the new challenger as silence fell between them. Their expressions were neutral, that was until they began to think of ways to settle this debate. And smirks began to creep onto their faces. Arctaius’ Gaze went to Watanabe, Jirou, and then Alarick, the third, stepped forward.
“Alright then... How about a little game? We’ll race. We all put 1000 credits down. Winner takes all.”
Arctaius nodded.
“Sounds good to me.”
Elsewhere, Asami and Miyamoto alike watched the display unimpressed.
“Why am I not surprised...” They both said, as if in sync. Something that made both of them go quiet as they stepped away from each other. Eventually, Alarick spoke again.
“How does around the earth sound?”
Jirou glanced at him.
“No way. Too easy. Lagrange 1, Alviss Colony, 10 laps.”
Thus caught glances from the people around them as confused chatters began. That was over a million Kilometers away.
“They aren’t really gonna fly into space, are they?!” A woman asked, followed by a man waving her off.
“No way, they’re probably joki-”
Soon, the people were thrown off their feet as the sand formerly under the four was launched into the air, becoming debris that blocked their vision. It took some more moments for the dust to settle, and by the time it had, the four were but faint blurs ascending into the sky.
“I guess we shouldn’t be surprised… They were fighting armies by themselves.” Another in the crowd stated.
In the higher atmosphere, they flew overhead, and the air around them rapidly became thinner, a result of their pure speed. It did not take very long for them to clear the atmosphere, making their way into outer space. They did not stop there, weaving through the cosmos. Though they couldn’t hear anything, the lack of air was no problem, and the lack of heat was solved by Arctaius himself, given the yellow light that surrounded all of them.
Across the planet, sensors detected the high-speed objects, even as they dipped in and out of visual sight. Even more so as they began to get close to the Alviss colony. A downright gigantic station centered around a spinning ring. Known as a Stanford torus. The four appeared on the sensors, created by the station’s garrison, dotting the darkened surface. Though, no sooner did they disappear.
Arctaius glanced around, looking at the four. It didn’t look to him like he was losing them anytime soon. He couldn’t have that…
“Alright. It’s time to leave them in the dust!”
He shot up to his max speed, blasting past the others. Jirou frowned at this.
“Not so fast!”
He sped up as well, soon followed by Alarick doing the same. And finally, so did Watanabe. Any cap between them closed in a matter of milliseconds. As they blew around the earth, arriving for their second lap in a matter of three seconds. In the same amount of time, they were back for the third, then the fourth, and so on… Before they began bounding back to earth, rapidly rushing through layers of the atmosphere, the rushing wind filled their ears as their hearing was restored. They adjusted their trajectory, making sure to make their way back to the beach, honing in on their allies’ protomis. Before adjusting once more to land in the oceanic waters. Making a splash as the waters washed across the beach, raising the tides, even if temporarily.
On the ground, The proto-humans that remained looked down at a holo-phone held by Kazimir, which displayed the total time since they’d launched. A total of 30 seconds. Soon enough, floating toward them were the four themselves, who took note of the surprised expressions from those around them. Who weren’t used to their usual antics.
“Well... From here, it’s looking like a tie.”
This made their faces gape.
“HUH?!” Jirou yelled in surprise.
Arctaius snapped in his frustration.
“There’s no way... All that Maneuvering, and we’re still tied?”
Alarick sighed at this.
“Figures…”
All the while, Watanabe simply shrugged. This caused some laughter to emanate from the group members, though it came the loudest from Miyamoto and Asami. Eventually, the laughter would subside as they began to go back to their respective activities. The group split up for some time until night began to fall. The sky darkened, with the town behind them beginning to light up. With the group of students finding themselves around a bonfire. Where Salmon, Eel, and Saury cooked, suspended over the flames. Kazimir glanced at Zhao and Alarick as he spoke
“You’re pretty good at this fishing stuff, Lei, Alarick. This sure is a lot.”
Alarick leaned back, lying on the sand as he responded.
“Hey, I had to have some way to entertain myself… That’s just how it was.”
“We should just be glad Asami, and the rest decided to come… Not like any of us can cook.” Arctaius mumbled.
The woman mentioned, however, did not pay attention to the statement. Rather, she placed her focus on Miyamoto... At this point, she could not deny it. She wasn’t exactly acting composed right now. Her attitude wasn’t something she was proud of… She had the chance to do so now, and there was nothing to be lost.
“I’m sorry…” Asami mumbled, gaining a surprised look from Miyamoto.
“It wasn’t right for me to call you a demon… You didn’t kill Tetsuya. That general guy did that. He was the one who tricked him… Convinced him that was what he would’ve wanted.” She trailed off, going silent.
Miyamoto nodded at this.
“I know. I heard from Kazimir. I knew a little about Tetsuya, but I’m sorry for your loss. I don’t blame you for your reaction… If I lost Koyama- san or any of my friends, I’d have felt the same way.” She began, something followed by Asami putting her hand out.
“So we’re all good, then?” Miyamoto questioned.
Asami nodded.
“Mhm…”
With amends made, they went to join the festivities, which would continue until hours later in the night, until they finally left, jumping onto the airship and making their way back home…
To Be Continued