Yashiro Kiyoshi
Minori was sitting on top of the backless black chair on the right side of Kiriko. Minori took up the small cylindrical glass from the table on her right as she turned to Kiriko, moved her head up, her hairs flung back, as she gulped it up, and then quickly banged it on the table again. Kiriko looked at her, trying to hide her disgust and disapproval, and commented with a similar glass in her left hand, “S-Sensei, I don’t think that it-it’s right for you to, um, you know, drink this much.”
The bartender from the bar in front of them on the other side of the black worktop came walking to them and looked at Minori as he shook a pair of glasses in his hands. He stood in front of her, and asked, “Ma’am, would you like to—”
“No, sir, it’s okay,” Kiriko told him. “She’s high.”
Minori had her right hand on the same glass on top of the worktop and had her head tilted downwards. She glared at the ground aimlessly. Kiriko turned at Minori and asked, “Sensei, are you alright?”
Minori slowly turned her eyes up at her, who had her head tilted down at her. Minori shook her head, and then tilted her head down again. “Kiriko, to be honest, something’s bothering me since this morning.”
“W-What’s bothering you, sensei? Y-You can tell me to lighten up your chest.”
Minori straightened her back and moved a little away from Kiriko. She then looked into her eyes, and then bent her back forward. So did Kiriko. Minori whispered in her ears, “K-Kiriko, did… did I have a child?”
***
Takemura Itsuki
“Stop it, you all.”
The blue and white logo in between all of us commanded. “Goddamn, nothing goes right if I don’t interfere!”
I turned my head a little left, and looked at the confused and drowning eyes of Haruto through my expressionless shocked eyes. As I frowned, I turned my head to the logo. “Man, what now? Was this supposed to be another one of your plans?”
“Yeah, but this one wasn’t planned by me,” The robotic voice said angrily. “And just LEAVE ME ALONE!” The logo then clicked and disappeared.
“If it were an RPG, I’m sure it’d have been an intense scene turned to shit,” I said in disgust as I moved my right hand—with the sword in it—downwards slowly and loosened my left arm from her neck. I moved my arm back and threw the sword down angrily. “Man! I’m done with these shitty levels of yours!”
“Ehe,” The black figure, who was now free from the hands of Haruto, chuckled a little as she moved a little forward to me. “I’m sorry, newcomer.”
“Yeah, like it helps.”
She turned her head frontwards at me and looked into my eyes directly. “I was the one who wanted to test you two newcomers, to be honest.” She turned her head backward and looked at Haruto, who had his hands on his waist and his head tilted down in relief. “I wanted to see for myself how good the new members are. I’m sorry.”
“Nah, it’s okay,” Haruto replied with a smile, and moved his back backward, applying his weight and balance on the wall beside the door behind him.
“So, are you hurt anywhere?” The one behind me asked.
I turned my head backward, and sarcastically replied, “My head is hurting right now!”
“So, take a good nap, and—”
“He was just being sarcastic. Don’t mind him,” Haruto replied as he looked at me turning my head down, facepalm, and then sigh.
“Ah,” She chuckled.
“Anyways,” Haruto turned his head up and looked at the dark figure in front of him. She turned her head backward again. “What… uh, you know… what’s going on here?”
The girl gulped in and tilted her eyes a little down in hesitation. “Well, the things are not so easy to understand, and…”
“Everything else can wait right now,” I angrily said as I walked by the girl and stood beside Haruto. “We’ve been through a lot of shit and we still don’t know what the hell is happening with us right now. We need answers and explanations. Everything else can wait right now.” I held the doorframe on my right, the direction where Haruto stood by, and then slowly moved my body down. I sat on the little stairs at the entrance of the house. “I can’t wait anymore.”
“B-Bu—” The first one was about to reply when the second one nudged her.
“O-Okay, we’ll tell you everything.”
The first one turned rightwards to the second one and whispered, “But, it—”
“Can’t you see the desperation in their eyes?” The fairer one whispered as she turned her right arm at us. “We know that what tests are given to be chosen. They probably are tired of fighting and need rest from all this stress, and this stress can only be eradicated when all their doubts are clear.”
The other one sighed out from her mouth, and then slightly nodded. “… Okay.” She then turned her head at us, and said, “So, the place where you both are right now is the sacred empire of Dansamia, a fantastical empire constituting hundreds of villages, big and small. Dansamia is large, wide, circular in shape, and is full of forests, like this one where we are right now. Dansamia. A sacred place. Full of adventures. A perfect place for adventurers and thrill-seekers like you two right now, but… we’re ruled by a king… a sixteen year-old dumb child who doesn’t really think of anything else other than himself.”
“The name of this child is Ishida Keisuke. Ishida-kun is someone who only thinks of himself. He wants everything for himself, and his jealousy is what makes him notorious in the minds of his fellow subjects.”
“Ishida-kun was born into the great dynasty of the Ishidas. Ishida-kun’s father was a great man and he worked for the subjects, and died for the subjects, but this guy… he works for himself, and lives for himself.”
“And that’s why, two sacred adventurers and fighters were brought from that world to this world: Shiratori Haruto, and Takemura Itsuki. Our mission right now is to beat this guy up and save the public of Dansamia from despotism.”
I suddenly frowned, and asked, “So, we’re supposed to join your clan and fight with you, right?”
“Yeah,” The dark one replied.
“Then at least, don’t make us feel like some kind of superheroes, man,” I replied like I was uninterested.
“Pal, I wanna go back home right now,” Haruto said as he turned his head down at me. “I can’t bear this all. Seriously.”
