XXXIV
Asami’s surprised gaze stayed on Tetsuya. And, in the same way, did her body not move. It was an unexpected sight. But, she didn’t know how to feel about it. On one hand, she was glad to see him… But, on the other hand, here he was, apparently on THEIR side. Apparently, the man drew her in enough that she didn't take note of Yudei shoving his way through the crowd. Soon followed by Shinto, Akashi, and Tanabe. She inched forward, and yet, hesitated to move any further… Until she finally made her choice, she would do it, he was her brother! She began to sprint toward Tetsuya. The group’s eyes widened, as Akashi stepped forward, reaching his hand out.
“Asami- Wait!!!”
Even as he yelled, she didn’t acknowledge it, instead, letting out one of her own.
“Tetsuya!!”
The mentioned man moved his gaze, shooting toward the woman that rapidly approached him. His expression remained a scowl, the very same as before. Despite his cold response, which almost got rid of her desire to continue, did not stop Asami. However, this same enthusiasm was not met by Tetsuya, who simply did nothing.. Or, seemingly, until, behind him, the air looked to weave, before, appearing on his back, was a translucent liquid that soon formed into tendrils, that promptly shot toward Asami… Her eyes dilated as the blur rapidly approached her. For a moment, it looked like she was done for. However, within a split second, appearing there, was Arctaius. Not too long after, he quickly scooped her up into his arms, before leaping away. Letting the tendril fly past him, crashing into one of the armored cars. Which were promptly ripped apart, as the writhing tendrils moved across it. Now, they began to retract, returning to their creator.
“Hmph.”
Now, the tendrils dispersed, the remaining liquid falling onto the ground. All the while, Asami continued to stare at her brother, staying silent, as she attempted to think of a way to address him. Eventually deciding upon the most simple one.
“Tetsuya… Why are you with them?!” She questioned, her voice shaky. Even so, he looked unaffected.
“It's none of your concern, girl… How do you know my name- I've never seen you before.” Responded Tetsuya.
Arctaius’ eyes narrowed as he focused on the assailant.
“Well… That confirms it, I knew that face looked familiar, Hoshi Tetsuya…”
This statement covered the faces of those who knew him in surprise. Yudei, Akashi, and Shinto alike. The very same would happen for two more who came to the front of the crowd, having heard familiar voices yelling. Megumi, and Kasumi.
“Tetsuya?” Megumi questioned.
"We haven't seen him for years. What's going on here?" Kasumi mumbled.
Akashi placed his hand on his chin as he observed the long lost man. As corde had, most of Asami's friends knew him. Though, like Arctaius, it sufficed to say that Tetsuya was not exactly friendly toward them.
“What is he doing working with them?” Akashi asked.
Beside him, Shinto pushed his glasses up.
“A good question... Especially with what they’re doing right now.”
Tetsuya stepped forward, as focused his gaze not on Asami, but directly onto Arctaius’ visage. Seemingly, paying her no mind.
“It seems that you’re still here… Arctaius Corde. I always thought that we’d one day clash- though I wouldn't expect it to be like this.”
Asami stayed there in silence...Her own family would be that quick to attempt to kill her that easily? This along with everything else that had happened in such a short time. What was going on? She remained in her thoughts until she was snapped out of her stupor.
“Tetsuya-- Don’t do this… If you work with the Kaemerge-- I- I- I’ll never forgive you!!” She yelled.
Her resounding yell echoed through the streets, as they did through Tetsuya's head. Even so, he looked undisturbed by her statement, continuing to keep his piercing gaze on her as he spoke.
“I don’t need your forgiveness, Asami… The fact that you would associate with a heretic- and this one here, who has the blood of many on his hands… Throughout the war, and even now. Hell, you even saw it yourself, and yet you act like nothing happened. You may as well support his killing. As such, consider yourself dead to me…. I'd enjoy not having remembered you.”
From his scathing words came a deafening silence. Though she said nothing, the change in her mood was clear to see. Confusion had turned to sadness. A frown making its way onto her face, as she averted her gaze, her brown orbs moving to the ground. At the least, until she felt her feet softly touch the ground. And she saw Arctaius step in front of her. She looked up at the youth, as he looked over his shoulder.
“Asami... Go with everyone else, and get out of here… This battle will be destructive- and I don’t want to be responsible for whoever’s caught in the crossfire…”
Now, his gaze shot back to his opponents. Moving his focus away from his old friend. He began slow, deliberate steps forward. His allies soon followed, and soon, so did his enemies. Though, he was stopped in his tracks, as Asami's hand flew to his wrist, grasping it firmly... She wouldn’t give up that easily.
“B-But...I finally found him- I can't just run without finding out why h-”
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Before she finished, however, Arctaius looked back at her once more. His brows arched, and his eyes squinted, giving her a gaze almost equally as cold as Tetsuya’s.
“Don't be a fool! Think about it- he just tried to kill you, and openly declared he'd rather you not exist… Do you truly believe that even if you ask, he'll tell you why?”
… His words were harsh, but she couldn’t exactly deny what he said. She stood there in silence before she began to step back, letting go of his hand, and making her way back to the other four. Keeping her gaze on Arctaius, as she looked over her shoulder. As she rejoined the group, Yudei turned his attention to Arctaius as well, and then, to the others who came with him.
“That look on their faces… It’s clear, they’re all getting serious.”
As the five walked, they heard a ping. Something that made Jirou glance toward his pocket, promptly pulling out his holo-phone, as he tapped the side, up came a pale blue display. His eyes moved across the screen, before he tapped it once more, turning the device off. He glanced at the tides, shoving his hands into his pocket.
“My guys just told me Sashigai is getting hit. I’d stay, but I can’t have them getting killed. I need to get over there.”
Arctaius looked toward his rival.
“I can’t hold it against you… We all have our own things to do after all.”
“We can hold things down here…” Zhao agreed.
Now, Jirou began to elevate himself, floating above them.
“f that's the case-i'll be going now.”
Now, the Yakuza rotated his body, before he bounded off into his distance, leaving the remaining eight fighters to begin their battle. The tides glanced between one another, nodding.
“Let’s start this off. I got the first pick this time around…” Kazimir began, trailing off as he stretched, stepping in front of the others.
“Now, Who to fight?”He thought.
Kazimir’s eyes moved along the group, from the left to the right. It slowly shifted back to the right, as he noticed the shortest of the four. A purple-haired girl who… Looked much too young to be here, THough, given when they started fighting, he supposed he was in no line to talk, but even so, it slipped out of his mouth.
“To think that the Kaemerge would even use a girl this young as a soldier… Still a kid as I can see.”
As he closed his mouth, Miyamoto’s gaze shot to him, staring at him with a simmering anger that seemed like it could burn through stone. Especially as the words resounded in her mind, Her eyebrows arched, as a grimace appeared on her face. Something that was soon followed by her parting her lips.
“KID?! I'M FIFTEEN YOU IDIOT!!” She corrected aggressively.
Arctaius raised an eyebrow as he focus his gaze onto Miyamoto.
“The same age as us?”
Soon, Alarick did the same.
“I'd think that she was about Twelve… maybe Thirteen” He mumbled.
“Twelve, Maybe Thirteen”, “Twelve, Maybe Thirteen”. These words resounded once again, as her grimace only became more evident. By this point, she was fuming. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by Valerie behind her, who began to snicker at her reaction. Something that made Miyamoto redirect her anger towards the redhead.
“What are you laughing at?!”
Valerie eventually stopped her chuckling, though, a smug grin stayed on her face.
“Awww, she wants to be older-- Don’t worry, you’ll get there one day…”
“SHUTU-”
Before she finished, Miyamoto went silent as she caught herself. She slowly inhaled, and exhaled, calming herself. On the surface, at the least, before turning away from Valerie. Instead, focusing her grimace on the one who started the chain of insults to her pride, Kazimir. and toward Kazimir. As she opened her eyes, she kept her gaze on the man.
“Fine then, I’ll be the one to fight you.”
Miyamoto adjusted her gloves, pulling them further down her fingers, before being surrounded with a crimson light that flowed around her like water. She kept her gaze on the Russian as she slowly floated upward, before bounding off into another area of the city. Kazimir watched as she left, before floating himself, and shooting across the city, following her. Now, the remaining tides and their opponents stared at one another for some moments, before they promptly flew off into pairs, Arctaius with Valerie, Alarick with Gihren, and Zhao with Tetsuya.
Even after all this. Asami still followed Tetsuya with her eyes as he flew away. She didn’t like this situation, not in the very least.
Part B
Rentei, a city of about 50,000 Formerly one of the largest cities in Yamato, had since been overshadowed by the many others. Yahatari in Taiwan, Asakawa just north of the city. Though the city had already been plagued with disappearing industry, the orbital bombardment made it suffered made it worse. It’d been over ten years since the city had been anywhere near major. Though, it was for that reason that a certain group decided to take residence there. In a blast crater on the very outskirts, there sat nothing but exposed dirt and sand. Or, so it seemed. After all, that was just the image hiding what lay within, a building, around 15 stories in height. Within, was a well-lit room, held up by marble pillars, with armed guards wearing the Kaemerge’s full armor standing on each side.
In the center, there lay a large table that looked like it belonged in a meeting room. On the very end of the table, there sat an older man, who looked to be around 40. His jaw and gaze alike were sharp. Though, his black beard was thick enough that his jaw was hard to see. His clothes were the standard one would see on an officer, white and buttoned-down. Aside from the medals that adorned his uniform from the many tours of duty in his past. And the red cape that was draped over his shoulders. These things distinguished him if the oppressive amount of protomis wasn’t enough. This man was the Count of the Higashimori Region and the General of the Kaemerge’s Yamato Branch, Honda Yoshio.
His eyes focused on a 3-d holographic map of Yamato that was spread across the table. The Geographic features, mountains, rivers, and major cities alike all visible. Something that would help him with his strategies. His forces, as well as those of the other branches, were marked as well. Now, he looked up at the people around the table, some of the most prominent figures in the branch, those that served as his council. His eyes went between all of them, before he leaned back into his chair, putting his feet onto the table. One could say that he was quite casual for what’d just taken place.
“The fifth fleet just lost about 30% of their forces, and Qian got himself killed… I thought them surviving against Lord Ito was a fluke, but they’re better than I was expecting. But, we have bigger fish to fry. We can leave the elimination force to handle them. What’s the status of the rest of our forces?”
One of those at the table stood. He had a head of white hair, his eyes a pale red. Like honda, he wore a dress uniform. Though, with notably fewer adornments. The man known as Lieutenant General Mazus Lavarit. He dragged his hand across the display, zooming in on the city of Osaka.
“We're clashing with the Yamato armies in the outer areas of Osaka. And if the situation remains the same, we should have it under control by the hour.”
He dragged his hand across it once more, zooming out.
“Our surface fleets have met up with our allies, and we should be prepared to start attacking the enemy’s naval assets.”
Yoshio nodded, somewhat placated by their successes.
“And what of Operation Blade?”
“It will take some time, but with our surface fleets in place, we may be able to cut them off from their naval trade. And we’ve enlisted some help from the Sons of Neptune.” He continued.
“Those pirates out in the belt, eh… Always wondered how they got the weapons they have. We’ll have to make sure to clear groups like those out when we’re done on earth.”
Soon, another of his council stood up.
“Sir, Lord Ito has given us clearance to deploy project Ziqq to help in our campaigns.”
“Good… Deploy project Ziqq to Sendai, prevent the enemy from capturing it... Project Aegis may have failed, but that one shall not…”
Away from the table in the center, leaning on the wall of the room, was a man with a black cloak draped over his arms, which remained crossed over his chest. A longsword, his weapon of choice, remained sheathed at his side. Though, most noticeable was the large, vertical scar, which went across his eye. Likely why he never seemed to open it. A small amount of facial hair dotted his chin. That he stroked, as he began to contemplate his course of action, listening into the conversation. Until the chatters began to quiet down.
“With that said- I will go join the elimination force… I have my honor to restore.”
Yoshio glanced over at the man as he made his statement.
“In that case- go ahead, Schrötter.” The general responded.
Schrötter bowed, turned around, and left the room. As he strolled through the well-lit hallways, he caught glances from those around him. Unlike the members of the military, they were dressed in civilian clothes. Simple T-shirts and jeans. Many of which lived in the Settlements in the region. He’d become known, but his reputation was not a good one. Especially given the loss he experienced 7 years ago. He thought back to his experience with a certain boy. How one that was so young tore through his troops so easily, the scar he gave him as he cut his face with the same blade that killed his troops.
“That same ridiculous boy- The Agium… The time has finally come, I will eliminate you.”
He continued his walk, stopping between five men, all wearing red cloaks, and white masks, that stood on both sides of the hallway.
“Roten Dämonen… We leave.”
Soon after, they began to follow him. All the while, Honda’s gaze focused on their disappearing forms, as they went down the hall. Before he closed his eyes, leaning his head back, and adjusting his position, attempting to get comfortable. Lavarit looked at Honda once more, as he parted his lips to speak.
“Lord Honda… Are you sure that that one will be able to handle this? From my knowledge, none of the proto-humans in his squad are anywhere near the Tides.”
Yoshio sat there in silence, as he thought about his words. He knew he couldn't deny the truth of his subordinate's statement.
“While it’s true that they can’t stand a chance against him, directly. There is a different purpose they can serve. Perhaps they can achieve what the Jade Fang Triad failed to do…”
To Be Continued