Chapter 七: The Family’s All Together

Streams of electricity, bursts of red fireworks, volleys of ice shards and spheres of bright yellow flames erupted in the highest amount among the devas released in the police precinct area. The reason for that – the escalation of the clash between Yuki, Hikaru, Seiren, Saya, the ones who protested against them, the ones who supported them, the ones who were trying to get an interview and the police officers who were trying to restrain everyone.

While fighting, the white-haired beauty looked at one of the male reporters who was trying to give a commentary on the current events and was standing too close to the spiky-haired and golden-haired rivals, each of whom was fighting their own battle.

(Random Reporter) ‘We’re coming to you live from Deckstoru’s central police precinct where as you can see everyone is fighting everyone! And our main celebrities are …’ Before he could finish, Hikaru hit him from one side of the face and Seiren – from the other, both of them looking comically annoyed.

(Hikaru, Seiren) ‘Just shut the hell up already!’

Simultaneously a younger male protester had managed to land a hit on Saya’s neck, smiling with great confidence and probably believing he had turned the tide of the battle in the protesters’ favor with that single strike.

Rather than that, he had awakened a second Summerbolt beast.

Veins protruded on the fiery mom’s face as she smashed a mighty right uppercut in her latest assailant’s jaw, grabbing him by the leg after he had been lifted off the ground by her attack and throwing him on her back, starting to spin and form more and more of her specific flames in a circle around her.

Yuki had been with one destructive member of this family long enough to know what Saya’s current actions meant – evacuate her vicinity as fast as possible if you want to live – wasting no time to alert as many people as possible to the danger.

(Yuki) ‘Everyone, run!!! Get away from her!! She’s gone insane and she’s very scaryyyy!!!’

The violent nurse had formed a typhoon of flames around her, causing it to explode and sending the man she had given a nice tan with her deva while carrying him on her back some distance away. Many other protesters, fans, reporters and police officers were caught up in this, of course, parts of the body of each person affected by the blast being set on fire.

Yuki herself was thrown aside by that attack and the shockwave it had led to, an arm made of the same bright yellow flames coming out of the risen smoke and pulling her back in. Fortunately Miss Iceflame reacted fast enough by enveloping the part of her body coming in contact with the flames in her ice to avoid joining the ranks of the fried victims.

As she was pulled back in, she found Saya waiting on the other side of the smoke with a confused expression.

(Saya) ‘Yuki, where are you going? We’re not done yet! Get back here!’

(Yuki) ‘How did I even get involved in this?!?!!’

As the white-haired amnesiac was thrown right back in the fray, she saw that mobs of protesters had now crushed Hikaru and Seiren together, the rivals having smashed their foreheads and roaring at the other with faces twisted in a wacky manner due to a mixture of anger and pain.

(Hikaru) ‘When are you going to stop getting in my way?!’

(Seiren) ‘I was gonna ask you the same thing! We still have a score to settle about what happened in the boys’ dorm, but I haven’t had a chance to crush you yet!’

(Hikaru) ‘Why don’t we do it now, then? Might as well settle up before the ordinari kill us!!’

A sudden gust of wind split the air as Hikaru and Seiren were getting ready to hit each other and Yuki was getting ready to go and stop them, several people being lifted off the ground by the sheer strength of the wind.

Something passed through the ordinari protesters who were up in the air with great speed then, smashing a hit in each one and sending them flying tens of meters away to fall back amid the crowd they had come from.

Finally, the ground started shaking and a wall of large rocks clustered together rose between Saya and Yuki and some of their opponents to protect the former from the attacks of the latter.

Seconds later one silhouette landed on top of the wall while being carried by a gust of wind, the superfast silhouette who had taken care of the ordinari protesters landing next to the wall and a third silhouette coming out of the wall itself.

The fiery mom smiled confidently upon seeing this trio, the white-haired beauty next to her being confused by their arrival at first, soon enough seeing all three had skin with the same dark tone and the same black hair. While the girl that looked no more than 9 years old and the man that looked like he was in his late twenties had brown eyes, however, the woman who had used a gust of wind to move around and seemed to be not much older than the man had blue eyes. Her hair was also shoulder-length while that of the little girl equaled Saya’s hair in length.

(Saya) ‘So you three made it.’

(Yuki) ‘Are they … on our side?’

(Saya) ‘Oh, you don’t know each other yet. Meet the rest of the Summerbolts, Yuki. That blue-eyed vixen on the left is my younger sister, Iziya, the mindless brute on the right is my younger brother, Graid.’

(Yuki) ‘And the girl in the middle, is that Iziya or Graid’s daughter? Whichever it is, I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring a child into all this.’

The little girl suddenly became annoyed, but got over it soon enough to grin very widely in a rather mischievous manner.

(Rose) ‘No, silly girl! I’m Rose, these three hot heads’ mom and therefore Hikaru’s grandma! It’s great to finally meet you!’

The night seemed to hold more surprises than Yuki was prepared to take. She had already become convinced that Hikaru’s family was insane but the fact that his grandmother looked like a little girl next to the fully-grown man and two women who were her children was simply baffling beyond compare.

(Yuki) ‘Um … how does that work exactly? I mean … is there a rational explanation for this?’

(Rose) ‘Yeah, but we’ll have to postpone that explanation until we’re out of this mess!’

Hikaru had also seen the other members of his family arriving, jumping up and down with the widest and most joyous smile his face was capable of producing while Seiren seemed to be overwhelmed by emotions just as strong but with a focus on misery and disappointment instead.

The protesters looked like they had been discouraged by the trio’s arrival, the fans being excited, the reporters – confused while the police officers seemed to have lost all hope of surviving or even preserving their sanity at this point.

(Hikaru) ‘Ha-ha-ha-HAAAA!!!! The Summerbolt Five is assembled! We’re definitely going to win now!!’

(Seiren) ‘But what about me? No one from my family came for meeeee!!’

While Yuki was trying to make sense of the situation she had found herself in, Iziya sent gusts of wind to many of the protesters to throw them around, Graid going through the ranks of others on the ground with very high speed and beating them up with a single hit for each target given his great strength. Only now did the white-haired beauty notice his body had burst in jungle-green and scarlet energy simultaneously while doing this.

Meanwhile, Rose was providing cover for her two children from the police’s anti-deva arsenal by stopping their barrages with her rock walls as Saya incinerated a crystal shell aimed at Yuki with a wave of her flaming hand. After seeing the shell had begun transforming into a gigantic bull head with a mad expression before crumbling, the amnesiac and Hikaru’s mother looked at each other.

(Saya) ‘They’ve got our back, Yuki. Don’t worry.’

(Yuki) ‘So everyone in Hikaru’s family has very strong devas?’ – Saya giving her a quick nod and a wink made Yuki sigh though also smiling – ‘And I guess you’re all insane …’

(Saya) ‘Better get used to it because you’re a part of that family now.’

It had already become too hard for Miss Iceflame to rate what the most shocking thing she had heard on her first day in Deckstoru was, but what Saya had just said was definitely in the top-tier class.

(Yuki) ‘W-What? What does that mean?’

(Saya) ‘I talked with Seiren’s family before coming here. Since my son’s the one who found you, you’ll be staying with our family for the time being. It’s the least we can do to repay you for saving that runt’s life.’

(Yuki) ‘But I’m the one indebted to him! And to Seiren! And to your whole family now!’

(Saya) ‘It’d be best to stay close to the ones you owe a debt to, then, right? A deviant without a family can’t last long here. And if a naïve amnesiac like you is going to be joining any family, might as well join the craziest one! You’ll fit right in!’

Yuki could only muster a grateful smile in response to all that, Rose stepping in closer to her and Saya then to share some important information.

(Rose) ‘I hope you two are done with the emotional moments because I think I see our back-up on the horizon, which means we should get ready for the final stretch of this madness!’

(Yuki) ‘Back-up?’

Saya’s smirk because as mischievous as her mother’s had looked earlier after the white-haired beauty’s question.

(Saya) ‘You didn’t think we’ve been fighting all this time just because of the protesters’ taunts, did you? The plan right from the start was for the Summerbolts to come here in two waves in order to focus the attention of everyone in the area, especially that of the police, on us. That way our back-up could move freely and reach us without anyone noticing.’

Yuki turned her attention to Seiren then to see he was the one jumping up and down with a most happy expression now, Hikaru looking in the same direction as his rival to see the incoming mass of people that had stopped the traffic on the nearby bridge next to the police precinct area. All those people were led by a trio that consisted of a man, a woman and a boy in his mid-teens who all had traits and wore outfits of a similar color scheme to the young Blackscale’s.

(Seiren) ‘There they are! My folks and brother are here, too!’

(Hikaru) ‘Looks like they’re bringing a lot of deviants with them, but … I think there’s something behind them. What is that?’

The thing in question was revealed to Yuki’s eyes soon enough as a number of military ground vehicles in between which hundreds of men in special uniforms with angry expressions were running. Tens of military hover- and aircrafts were coming from the horizon at the same time, Seiren’s family and the other deviants actually running away from them.

With all the commotion at the precinct it was hard for Miss Iceflame to hear everything the coming group shouted, but one word clearly stood out among all the others: ‘run’.

(Seiren) ‘The ordinari brought the army?!’

(Hikaru) ‘No, no, no!! This is going to turn into a civil war!’

(Iziya) ‘Not if we can help it, brats!’

Iziya went past Hikaru after saying that and grabbed him with one of her wind gusts, Graid going over to Seiren and throwing him on his back, Saya’s younger brother and sister going to where she, Yuki and Rose were holding off the enemy. Once they had come together, the fiery mom roared as loud as possible while sending a shot of bright yellow flames from her fist in the sky above the precinct, that shot releasing a marvelous explosion.

(Saya) ‘Over here!!!’

The other deviants cleared a path and although it was hard, Seiren’s family found their way to him, the Blackscales also being brought back together. Unfortunately, they couldn’t savor the moment, because just then the soldiers combined their forces with the police, surrounding the rebels on all sides, the protesters being mixed in their ranks with triumphant smiles.

Despite being angered by this turn of events, the fans stood their ground next to the Summerbolts, Blackscales and their deviant allies, the reporters having fallen silent and looking with great concern at both sides of the conflict as the rays of the slowly rising sun over the bridge reached everyone.

With this serving as a background, Hikaru’s mother and Seiren’s father stepped forward to speak with the police commissioner and the general leading the army forces that had just arrived while Yuki wound up between Hikaru and Seiren in the midst of all the chaos. The three started talking with each other in a low voice then which coincided with the representatives of the opposing groups starting a conversation themselves.

(Hikaru) ‘So you met all the members of my family. What do you think?’

(Yuki) ‘I’m not all that surprised by them, considering they’re related to you.’

(Seiren) ‘My family’s just as crazy, so I’m sure you’ll like them more. You’re welcome to stay with us if you want, Yuki.’

(Yuki) ‘I may take you up on that offer, Seiren, but for now I’ll be staying with the Summerbolts. Hikaru’s mom told me earlier that’s the decision your two families have come to and since I’m guiltier than anyone else for what’s happened here, I don’t really have the right to question your parents’ choice.’

Those words brought a jubilant smirk to the spiky-haired teenager’s face as he turned to his rival.

(Hikaru) ‘Guess I win this time, Blackscale!’

(Seiren) ‘Don’t get too excited, Summerbolt. We may all be dead soon enough, so you won’t be able to enjoy that win for much longer.’

The trio’s attention then turned to the adults who seemed to be negotiating with the police and military elite at the moment.

(Saya) ‘I see the ordinari have not sat idly by and have gathered a considerable force.’

(Serego) ‘We formed a rebel force of our own in response to the violent treatment of the deviants from Deckstoru after this last incident.’

(The Police Commissioner) ‘And what do you plan to do with that rebel force now?’

(Saya) ‘We only wanted to send a message. If you brand a single deviant, all others will rise to defend their kind. That’s how unified we are. And you’ll have a civil war on your hands if you keep this up.’

Seeing as how they had come out a bit too strong, Hikaru’s mother and Seiren’s father looked at the other for a moment to calm down before the latter continued with the negotiations.

(Serego) ‘But there’s no need for such things. Neither side will profit if the violence escalates further. As I understand it, the three kids even offered to take on all the punishment you had in mind for us just to avoid the possibility of the conflict between ordinari and deviants getting any bigger.

Although they knew what had happened was not their fault. They cared for protecting the ordinari as much as protecting the deviants. They cared about protecting the very people who had condemned them for crimes they didn’t commit.’

(Saya) ‘All we came here to do is to defend those three and what they’re fighting for.

To defend the peace between our species. For both sides’ sake.

I admit we used extreme measures to protect the brats, but that was meant to further demonstrate our resolve. We would kick ass any day to avoid deaths, as weird as it may sound.’

The police commissioner was about to say something, but the general next to him intervened before that, further worrying all the deviants watching, as Yuki could tell by looking at their faces.

(The General) ‘So you’re suggesting we just let this slide?’

(Serego) ‘Would you prefer to go with the other option over something so petty?’

(Saya) ‘We’re not saying the latest events shouldn’t be investigated. But wait until you find actual evidence implicating any Deckstorian deviant before you start judging us while we’re trying to protect everyone.’

The commissioner and the general sighed and looked at each other and then at the people around them.

It felt as if an eternity had passed before any of them spoke again and the tension in the air became that much more palpable during that strenuous moment.

(The Police Commissioner) ‘You’re free to go. But we’ll be calling on all deviants in the city for questioning in relation with the incident from yesterday.’

(The General) ‘And things won’t go smoothly at all if we find anything on any of you.’

(Serego) ‘Much appreciated! And about the protesters who are still here …’

(The Police Commissioner) ‘We’ll deal with the hostile elements in our ranks. Do the same with the ones in yours.’

(Saya) ‘Understood. Thank you, sir.’

The deviants started cheering in an explosion of emotions that literally shook the air and ground, the protesters getting ready to attack them again as the police and army split the effort of holding them back, the reporters continuing their commenting of the situation.

Seiren turned his triumphant grin to Hikaru against the backdrop of the joyous shouting, the overly happy Yuki sighing and quickly getting annoyed when she saw the next confrontation between the rivals was already brewing.

(Seiren) ‘I guess we won’t be dying yet, mad bastard! That means Yuki’ll have all the time in the world to decide which family she wants to stay with! Our battle is far from over!’

(Hikaru) ‘I’m ready for a rematch any time, damn pervert! And so is my family!!’

That was the first instance in which Yuki responded in a manner she would expect one of the Summerbolts to react in – she hit both Hikaru and Seiren on the head and held them down as they reached for the other with a comically angry face even while on the ground.

(Yuki) ‘Will you two give it a rest already?!!’

While dealing with the rivals, Miss Iceflame couldn’t help but notice the other members of the Summerbolt and Blackscale family had come together and were laughing as they watched the three of them with satisfied smiles.

(Rose) ‘Yep. These three are getting along just fine, I see!’

The white-haired beauty had been in Deckstoru for only a short while but already the temper of the local deviants and most of all – that of the Summerbolts – seemed to be rubbing off on her. Rather than scare Yuki, however, that realization actually made her excited about the future – and what was going to happen as she spent more and more time with these hot heads.