Chapter 八: Crazy Home, Crazy School

Hikaru felt good walking the streets of Old Town again with their reddish-brown round paving stones and white spaces between the stones. That alone reminded him his neighborhood looked like an entirely different place than the rest of Deckstoru.

Away from the tall, modern and mostly identical buildings, Old Town was full of colorful two- and three-floor houses, the first floor of which was always thinner than the second and/or the third, with smaller windows and small- or middle-sized yards. The wide boulevards that were always full of traffic were replaced here with quiet narrow winding streets that had ruins dating back to the Middle Ages and the Antiquity around every corner. Most prominent among those ruins was the old fortress left from the time Deckstoru had been the capital of Barilia that was located almost in the centre of the neighborhood and not far from the Summerbolt Residence.

The spiky-haired teenager’s home stood out even when surrounded by the peculiar-looking houses of the rest of Old Town, Yuki’s surprised reaction upon seeing it making that fact all the more apparent for Hikaru.

It actually consisted of five smaller one-floor houses brought together into one. There was the third central and biggest floor that had a rectangular shape when seen from the front, and two smaller square-looking floors above and below it with diagonal positioning.

Apart from the five mini-houses in the front, which were all painted in light blue, there was a middle-sized house attached to them at the back, that one being painted in a silver color. When looking at this whole complex from a distance, it looked like a light blue lightning bolt on a silver background – the Summerbolt family crest.

(Hikaru) ‘Welcome home, Yuki! What do you think?’

(Yuki) ‘It’s … um … well, it definitely stands out.’

Saya came behind the insecure Yuki to pat her on the shoulder with a reassuring smile, Hikaru not saying anything more because he knew he could count on his mother to help the family’s newest member settle in better than anyone else.

(Saya) ‘It sure does! But then again, so do we, so we make a perfect match for each other! You’ll love it, trust me!!’

(Graid) ‘You done admiring it? Yuki won’t be leaving soon and will have a lot of time to look at the house later, so let’s get inside already to eat and sleep some.’

(Iziya) ‘That’s all you care about, isn’t it?’

Just like how Hikaru could count on his mother to be most hospitable and welcoming to any guest, he could count on his uncle to go mad whenever someone questioned his affinity for food. Which was why he wasn’t surprised one bit when Graid roared with full force at Iziya with a comically angry face in the present.

(Graid) ‘Cuz there’s nothing more important!!!’

(Rose) ‘Graid’s got a point, though. It’s Saturday, so we should all get some rest. Don’t forget that everything will be back to normal for us starting Monday and we have to be ready.’

Having grown used to the outbursts of different Summerbolt family members herself, Yuki quickly redirected her attention to Rose with a question that didn’t escape Hikaru’s notice.

(Yuki) ‘Speaking of normal, Mrs. Rose … now that we’re out of danger, could you explain why you look younger than Hikaru although you’re his grandmother?’

Rose chuckled with a cute and at the same time devilish smile upon hearing that.

(Rose) ‘You don’t trust me because of the way I look? It’s OK, I don’t blame you. To put it simply, Yuki, I’m not from around here.’

(Yuki) ‘You’re an alien?’

(Rose) ‘No, no! I just meant I come from a part of Saiten where the conditions are very different from those in Barilia. Those conditions affect the people living there and so everyone from that region looks a bit younger than their real age and when they do become older in years, they start reverting to their childish form rather than age like normal people. My kids inherited that gene as well, which is why they look a bit younger, too.’

(Yuki) ‘That makes sense. I was thinking Mrs. Saya looked too young to have a son in his late teens and Iziya and Graid didn’t look that much older than Hikaru …’

Seeing Yuki was satisfied with her mother’s explanation, Saya joined the conversation again.

(Saya) ‘As you can see, Yuki, we’re freaks even on a genetic level. And drop the honorifics. There’s no need for such things with the members of our family.’

Miss Iceflame only answered that with a shy nod, the six then going inside the house, where Hikaru’s mother treated his wounds properly, applying a special ointment to ensure they were going to heal faster than usual. As for the scratch on Yuki’s shoulder, Saya pointed out no such ointment would be necessary because she healed a lot faster than any normal human.

The violent nurse went on to examine her family’s newest member in great detail, confirming she was a deviant, but was something else as well – which was one of the main topics of discussion during dinner that Saturday night. With all six family members gathered around the elliptical table in the dining room/kitchen half of the third floor (the other half of which was taken up by the living room), Yuki sat in disbelief after Saya’s first big reveal.

(Yuki) ‘What was that?’

(Saya) ‘The superstrength and superspeed you possess … they’re not deva-based abilities.’

(Yuki) ‘What are they, then?’

Having calmed down after stuffing himself with as much food as all the other Summerbolts could eat combined long before anyone else had finished eating, Graid joined in to help with Saya’s explanation.

(Graid) ‘You may not have noticed, Yuki, but my two devas are precisely superstrength and superspeed. In order for anyone in the universe to use either of those abilities, they need to possess a Reloid or Daroid deva.’

(Yuki) ‘And the Reloid and Daroid are?’

Being even better informed regarging the abilities his uncle had mentioned, Hikaru joined the explanation group as well then, ignoring how much that annoyed Graid.

(Hikaru) ‘Those two are part of the eight energy compounds in our universe, each of which is an energy with a specific color that grants a certain type of ability. Reloid is green and gives its users superstrength while Daroid is red and grants those who have it superspeed.’

(Iziya) ‘And so far you haven’t mainfested either type of energy while using superstrength or superspeed.’

That reveal came as no small surprise to Yuki as was made evident by her expression, everyone else on the table being considerate of her shock and staying quiet for a bit before Saya continued with the explanation.

(Saya) ‘Your body’s been modified with some technology I’ve never seen before to increase your speed, strength, agility, stamina and regenerative abilities.’

(Rose) ‘Could that be the reason she’s lost her memory? Because of the experiments performed on her to perfect her body?’

(Saya) ‘Can’t say for sure.’

(Hikaru) ‘Any chance she’ll get her memories back?’

Though overwhelmed by everything she had heard, the white-haired beauty looked to Saya with hope in her eyes after Hikaru’s question, the spiky-haired teenager being able to tell by the look on his mother’s face she was thinking what kind of answer to give exactly.

(Saya) ‘There is a possibility. The bruises and scratches Yuki had on her, though, weren’t the cause of her memory loss. Something else was done to her brain in particular to erase all memories from it.

Or rather not all, but those related with where she comes from, her abilities and all the things from ordinari- deviant history. Whoever’s responsible did their job really well and used technology beyond anything we have here so we can’t reverse the process for now.’

Yuki looked down with a very sad expression after that, Graid not even waiting for her to become fully depressed to pat her on the back hard enough to shake her whole body with a very loud laugh.

(Graid) ‘It’s okay, Yu! You’ve been a given a chance to start over with the craziest bastards in town and Deckstoru’s not such a bad place to live in, so it could be worse! Try focusing on that for the time being and things are sure to get better.’

Hikaru’s uncle had been successful in his attempt to cheer up Miss Iceflame because a small smile formed on her face after she sighed and looked at the whole family.

(Yuki) ‘I don’t know how to repay any of you for all of this. I just keep saying ‘thank you’ and keep feeling it’s not enough.’ – all of Yuki’s insecurity was suddenly replaced by resolve then – ‘But I promise I’ll do more. I’ll get a job to help with the expenses and will help around the house with whatever I can.’

This time around it was Rose’s turn to get angry, interrupting the family’s newest member before she could say more.

(Rose) ‘Hold it, young lady! Saya said that although the police analysis on you didn’t get a match in any database on the planet, it’s been verified that physically you’re 17 years old! That means you should be going to school! Helping around the house is fine, but other than that, I want you to focus on your education!’

(Iziya) ‘We’ve already set up a place for you in the house as well – the spare room next to the kitchen. I’ve put some of my clothes there for you to wear for now, but don’t worry, we’ll buy enough new stuff to fill your wardrobe soon enough.’

At that point the white-haired beauty just started bawling with the full emotion overload of her heart and soul, Hikaru trying to calm her down as he pat her head.

(Yuki) ‘You’re just … the best family ever!!!’

Everyone smiled gently while looking at the young woman crying from happiness, Graid being the sole exception as he crossed his arms with a proud smile.

(Graid) ‘That’s the damn truth right there!’

Suddenly coming to a realization, Yuki became confused after she stopped bawling with Hikaru’s help, looking at the other Summerbolts again then.

(Yuki) ‘Wait. You said I’ll be going to school. I’m a deviant, though, so does that mean I’ll be going to the same school as Hikaru?’

(Saya) ‘Don’t worry about that, kid. If we do everything right, you’ll start going to Sunbird with Hikaru from next week!’

(Yuki) ‘Where?’

*

 

The full answer to Miss Iceflame’s question was Sunbird High School – the place where Hikaru and all deviants from Deckstoru and the vicinity between the age of 15 and 19 studied.

That was where the spiky-haired teenager and the white-haired amnesiac found themselves at the beginning of the next week, both wearing the school uniform in black and electric yellow, the former sitting on his desk in his classroom, the latter – standing in front of the blackboard in the same room. Yuki had written her name on that blackboard, holding her skirt while looking at the floor with a very shy expression.

As she stood there, the homeroom teacher, Tenji Line – a tall slim man in his early thirties with glasses, freckles, average complexion, pale red well-combed short hair and purplish eyes – came up next to Miss Iceflame with an encouraging smile. The whole class’ attention was focused on her while she introduced herself, Hikaru in particular watching her with a lot of worry.

(Yuki) ‘I-it’s a pleasure to meet you, everyone … I-I’m Yuki Iceflame … and I look forward to working with all of you, so please, take good care of me!’

Many of the new student’s classmates welcomed her with greeting words and shouts of encouragement as her homeroom teacher showed her where she would be sitting.

Moments after she took her seat, the girls from the class, who were an overwhelming majority over the boys, started asking Yuki a number of questions, which flustered Hikaru’s newest family member even further, Line-sensei intervening before the spiky-haired teenager could.

(Tenji) ‘Can everyone keep calm for at least a second? We need to create a proper atmosphere for Yuki, so she can get used to things around here faster, and so far we’re not doing so great on that front.’ – having become a bit nervous himself, Tenji coughed to clear his throat before continuing – ‘Now, I don’t deny that she along with Hikaru and Seiren have become the local celebrities after recent events. However, fame in the outside world doesn’t matter in Sunbird at all. What matters here are a person’s abilities and their commitment.

It’s already clear that Miss Iceflame possesses all the abilities necessary, so the next thing she needs to do is prove she can commit to upholding the rules in this high school – something a number of students, including many from this class – are unable to do.’ – after giving his students an all-around reproachful look, Tenji returned his attention to the still nervous Yuki – ‘In order to do that, you can start by choosing the right school club to join. I would recommend the ones Hikaru and Exo from our class are a part of. Avoid … the rest of the boys, if possible.’

Finally, the voice of Hikaru’s rival was heard in the room then, the young Summerbolt looking at the rather annoyed Seiren sitting on a desk not too far from him.

(Seiren) ‘Playing favorites all of a sudden, sensei?! Not cool at all! I put my life on the line as much as Summerbolt out there, so how is he or Exo better than me and the other guys?! Don’t think I’m gonna be cool about this because …’

Before he was able to finish his sentence, Line-sensei’s right arm had extended several times in length, its palm smashing against the pervert’s chest and sending him to the wall where he was crushed in a mini-crater, the homeroom teacher’s threateningly furious expression being revealed now.

(Tenji) ‘You may have got ahead of yourself after that stunt at the precinct, brat, but I’m still in charge here, so don’t interrupt me again!!! I’d hate to inflict more injuries on you as the old ones are not fully healed yet!!’

Yuki turned to Hikaru after she saw this scene with a terrified expression to which he only responded with a shrug.

(Yuki) ‘Your homeroom teacher has anger issues as well?’

(Hikaru) ‘Just doesn’t like being interrupted. You’re new, so he’ll go easy on you, but try not to get on his bad side just in case.’ – seeing his friend was still shocked, the spiky-haired teenager decided to say some reassuring words – ‘I know this place is crazy, Yu, and I’m sorry about that, but there’s nowhere safer for deviants than Sunbird. Once you get used to it, you’ll be just fine.’