Soul Spark

11 - Home Sweet Home

They flew to the south of Europe where they dropped off the Heisei’s original fighters. After that, they headed straight to Tokyo - Sakuto and Ichika were on high alert, while Yumichi was trying to keep calm and Hiroshi, with his face covered with pieces of clothing, was still confused and scared...even upset.

They flew at a low altitude, trying their hardest to be as undetectable as possible. They always kept in mind the possibility of Kaito chasing them down, and in an aerial exchange, the outcome would be grim. Eventually they reached Tokyo, however, instead of the Harajuku Sakuto recognized as home, he saw a battered remnant of a once beautiful area.

Half-destroyed buildings, corpses on the street, and the presence of...

“What the hell are those things?!” Sakuto asked himself, observing a small group of voidflames aimlessly walking around, with weapons in their hands.

“Ichika...” Sakuto said.

“I see them.” Ichika said. “They don’t seem to have strong enough presences, I doubt they’ll pose a major enough threat...”

A spear pierced Sakuto’s stomach.

Made up of pure white essence, it was a voidflame’s doing - a feat of incredible accuracy and dedication. They were instructed to not only find Hiroshi, but to also inform Kaito himself of the Heisei’s soldiers’ positions, and to relentlessly hunt them down. Sakuto, caught off guard, for a few moments lost control of his shadows - reflexively focusing his shadows on quickly sealing his wound. The dragon lost its shape...

“Shit...”

“Hold on!” Sakuto yelled as all four of them entered freefall. A spark of excitement emerged in Yumichi’s eyes, but Hiroshi was terrified.

Sakuto quickly wrapped shadow tendrils around the other three, pouring the rest of the shadows into creating a pair of large wings that would help them descend without breaking themselves. More such spears and daggers came flying their way, but Sakuto quickly conjured a shield in front of himself and the others, blocking off the incoming hellfire.

It all seemed under control until they heard the sounds of gunfire.

“Dammit, machine guns too?” Sakuto yelled. The wings shifted their angle, their new objective was to get them to the ground as fast as possible. Instead of picking an appropriate runway, Sakuto charged right at a pair of voidflames that were taking aim at them.

He rushed at them, ripping them apart with his shadows. Ichika trapped the two in a makeshift ice igloo, and, standing on top of it, fired off a series of cluster projectiles to destroy both the surrounding voidflames and their potential cover.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to use soul prowess!” Ichika exclaimed, continuing to mercilessly chop up the buildings in front of her.

“We’ll care about that later.” Sakuto said. He clasped his hands and launched a stunningly fast shadow arrow at a voidflame quite a distance away. He felt the impact of bullets striking him in his head and torso, and, turning his attention to the culprit, used the arrow’s trail as a whip and broke the voidflame in half. Collateral damage was already at a record-breaking pace, if not destroyed by the ongoing war.

“More gunshots that way.” Ichika pointed into the direction of a normally rather busy roundabout. She jumped up on top of a quite tall glass and cement building and observed the perimeter.

“Then let’s clear the way. Make sure nothing threatens Hiroshi.” Sakuto said.

“No, wait...” Ichika said, concerned. “Those aren’t just the monsters...those are...”

She saw that the roundabout was transformed into a battlefield - on one side, an onslaught of voidflames were spraying gunfire and chucking sharpened weapons. On the other were a mix of police officers and soldiers, trying to hold their positions. And the soulless were completely underwhelmed.

“What is it?!” Sakuto asked, jumping up next to Ichika. Seeing the sight took him aback a little.

“If we intervene now, they’ll make a scene out of it. Kaito will likely find out that we are here, and that Hiroshi is with us.”

“At the same, holy shit, they’re barely holding the line.”

“We’ll deal with it without soul prowess. We have a good enough angle.” Sakuto said. He manifested an assault rifle from his shadows, firing accurate rounds at the voidflames. Ichika took notice, and later, aimed, using sharpened icicles to snipe any voidflame that poked its head out.

“We’ve got sniper support!” One of the soldiers yelled out. “Push forward!!!”

They left the cover and charged right at the voidflames’ position. Sakuto, putting in heavy work, wouldn’t be rewarded, however. His only reward was more bullets hitting him in the back, as well as a dagger sticking right into his lung.

He turned around, seeing another such dagger fly at his eye from below. But by the time it reached him, it wasn’t there anymore. Instantly shadow stepping, he emerged from the shadows right behind the voidflame and cut him down with his blade. He then turned his gaze to a sight much more worrisome.

“The cover!” Sakuto yelled, watching a pair of voidflames try to pry the ice open. Ichika quickly jumped back in fear, immediately turning around and unleashing a barrage of frozen projectiles towards it. The sharpened bits of ice not only killed one of the voidflames and forced the other one to take cover, but also acted as a way to mend the chewed off bits of ice. More voidflames approached the igloo, pointing their firearms at Ichika. She withstood the fire with ease, maintaining her own pressure.

“I’d try to make a play here, but it might be a bit inconvenient for me.” Sakuto said. “I’ll ask Ichika to help me with our synergy later.”

“For now...”

He crouched down and touched the ground. A second later, shadowy roots spread through the asphalt and concrete, and popped up as large blades - killing all the voidflames around the igloo. He quickly rushed in, but on his way, noticed something unsightly.

The loud, and now, supernatural activity in the area garnered some attention. A pair of soldiers, likely dispatched as backup for the other combatants, saw Sakuto. They recognized the Heisei uniform.

“Fuck...what do I even do here?!” Sakuto panicked.

“Damn it...”

“I suppose if these things have any connection to Kaito, he already knows that at least me and Ichika are here...”

He tapped on his earpiece.

“Zawadski! What the hell is-”

“You’re asking me about the monsters, ain’t ya?” Zawadski said from the other side. Gunfire was heard too. “They’re apparently called voidflames. We’re putting a clinic on them, I tell ya!”

“That’s not the point, word’s gonna start spreading that we’re here. We got exposed.” Sakuto said.

“Don’t worry about it. We made a big enough mess here already. As long as Kaito doesn’t know where the kid is, we’re chill. And we have that covered.”

“You have that...covered?”

“Shit, they got rocket launchers...I’ll talk to ya later, alright?” The connection was terminated. Sakuto sighed, moving towards the igloo. He gently carved out an entrance. The kids were inside, covering up their ears. Ichika joined them too.

“Good, you’re alright.” Sakuto said. “Let’s get the hell outta this area.”

“Wha...what’s going on?! Where are we-”

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“Off to the GSC’s old HQ.” Ichika interrupted Hiroshi. “I assume Kaito has a metric ton of security features there, especially to guard sensitive documents. You’ll help us get inside.”

“But-”

Thankfully, Sakuto was fast enough to pull Hiroshi towards him. The bullet barely avoided Hiroshi’s head. He sent a flying slash towards the voidflame responsible for it, cutting it into two.

“No time for discussions unless you want a hole in your head.” Sakuto said. Growing a larger pair of shadow wings, he covered both Yumichi and Hiroshi with them. “Ichika, lead the way.”

“Got it-” Ichika said, before a large explosion effectively blinded them.

“Damn it!” Sakuto thought, quickly expanding his wings more. He felt the constant sprays of gunfire rain down upon him. As long as he or his shadows were the targets, it was fine.

But one of the bullets struck Hiroshi in the leg. He dropped down, squirming in pain, blood pouring out of the wound.

“Hi-” Sakuto called out, before quickly shutting himself up. “Hey, are you alright? Where did it get you?!”

It was visible that Hiroshi was crying from the pain.

“Too...too many of them!” Ichika said, getting butchered by the gunfire and projectiles. “Fucking hell, the soulless are shooting at me too!”

“The soulless?!”

“They think we’re still working with Kaito...” Ichika said. “How the hell do we even get out of this without exposing ourselves?”

“I don’t think there’s a need to worry about that anymore.” Sakuto said. He quickly conjured up all of his shadows into forming a ball around Hiroshi and Yumichi. A pair of wings grew out of it, helping it take off. Sakuto, on top of it, conjured not just a rifle with his shadows, but a machine gun.

He unleashed terror at the voidflames grouping up beneath him.

“Lead the way to the gym!” Sakuto yelled from above.

“Got it- wait, the gym?” Ichika asked.

“Hiroshi caught a bullet in his leg.” Sakuto said. “We treat it first.”

“There’s...medicine at the...headquarters...” Hiroshi whimpered, holding onto his wound.

“There’s probably an abundance of these voidflames there too.” Sakuto said. “We’re going to the gym. It’s the only place I trust to be somewhat safe.”

And so they went on...

The sphere descended. Ichika stood at the gym’s entrance, Sakuto climbed off of the shadow orb and slowly dissipated it - making sure the kids inside were safe. He stood by Ichika, staring at the closed door. Miraculously, the gym wasn’t caught in the bombings or the crossfire.

“I...” Ichika seemed uneasy. “I don’t know if I can enter it.”

“Let’s enter it together.” Sakuto said. He held Ichika’s hand, slowly pushing the door.

Despite it being months later, he remembered the very first time he entered this place. Where his strangely scary soul presence alerted everyone present. Where Kouta first introduced him to the basics of soul prowess and gave him his now soul-bound weapon. Where he met his soon to be comrades, and especially, someone who he thought he’d lost contact with completely.

It was full of discussions, jokes, angry rants, and the sounds of punching bags being struck and pads being hit. Despite the awful predicaments, it was still a place both soulfuls remembered in a positive light. In fact, when Sakuto was introduced to the team, it was just the two of them entering together. All of the familiar faces and people they perceived as not just allies, but also friends...

The gym was completely empty.

The air felt so overwhelmingly cold that it almost froze the blood inside their bodies. The silence was deafening enough to make their ears cry in pain, and the sight, so gray and blurry that it reminded them of a nightmare. They looked at the bits of equipment laying around, still afraid to step in.

Hiroshi entered first. He carefully looked around before sitting down on the mats, holding onto his wound. Yumichi entered too, trying to look after his friend.

“Come on.” Sakuto said, slowly stepping forwards, barely holding an outburst of emotions inside. “We can’t stay here too much.” Ichika, a little hesitantly, followed suit. The place felt even closer to her, but she didn’t recognize it anymore. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by NoveIꜰire.net

“The medical cabinet should have some stuff in it.” Sakuto said, walking over to it. “Some painkillers too.”

“No painkillers.” Ichika said. She crouched down next to Hiroshi, carefully freezing parts of the wound to prevent blood loss. Hiroshi whimpered in pain, biting on his lip and scratching the mats. His soul presence increased a little.

“Then just...disinfect the wound.” Sakuto said, bringing over a few small bottles of medicine and a pair of bandages. “We can’t stay here for too long.”

A loud explosion was heard outside.

“For fuck sake, they’re onto us.” Sakuto said.

“It shouldn’t get any worse.” Ichika said, finishing freezing the wound shut. “Might be a bit hard for him to move around, but...it is what it is. No better means.”

“Ugh, can’t we...go and get some...painkillers?” Hiroshi barely spoke.

“If you want to get shot again, sure.” Sakuto said. “Those guys, and probably parts of the soulless resistance, are gonna surround this place.”

“Can’t you just...fight them?” Hiroshi asked.

“I can. But you can’t.” Sakuto almost lashed out. “So stop whining, and let me think.”

He took a deep breath.

“Sorry, Hiroshi, I...didn’t mean to...”

“We need to get to the GSC headquarters, right?” Ichika asked. “We just need to find a way that won’t turn much attention to us.”

“I doubt we can fly anymore. Besides, navigating that building is going to be hell.” Sakuto said. “I’m more than sure he has a ton of defense systems around, and the concentration of those...things, the, the voidflames, is gonna be even higher.”

“Well, we can’t go left, right, forward, back...we can’t even go up.” Ichika said. “That leaves only one direction.”

“Huh...” Sakuto thought. “Hiroshi, where are the GSC’s archives?”

“Why...ugh...” Hiroshi growled again. A few tears were building up in his eyes, the pain was making him more upset than scared. “It’s...it’s below the building.”

“Fucking jackpot.” Sakuto said. “We’ll dig our way towards it.” He went to the drawer cabinet in the corner and grabbed a flashlight, tossing it to Yumichi. “You’ll light the way ahead.”

“Woaaah!” Yumichi said, fascinated. “A...tunnel? You can...do that?!”

“With ease.” Sakuto said. “Ichika, you’ll make sure the whole thing doesn’t collapse on us. Everyone else, stand back.”

“Sorry for doing this to your gym, Hayk...”

Sakuto, manifesting most of his shadows into a notably large drill on his left hand, began to dig downwards. The sounds of gunshots were getting closer and closer, but the loud sound of the drilling impeached its dominance over the ears of those present. Having dug deep enough, he signaled to the rest of the squad to move in. Ichika jumped in first, carefully catching Yumichi and Hiroshi, and covered the entrance with a thick layer of ice.

Digging towards the HQ’s general direction, Sakuto led the way, with Ichika building ice support beams behind them to prevent being suffocated. Yumichi lit the way, Hiroshi awkwardly tagged along. He wasn’t as concerned about the moment as he was regarding the situation overall.

“This is...all what dad did?”

“T-there’s...no way...”

“I...I need to know what he’s doing. There’s no way he’d cause all of this.”

They kept on moving forwards, slowly, but safely.

“We’ll be on a timer once we get there.” Sakuto said. “The less anything at all sees us, the better, but at some point they’ll all surround us.”

“It all depends on if we find whatever we’re looking for.” Ichika added. “Infiltrating a building like this...”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got experience with shit like this.” Sakuto chuckled. He slowed down for a little bit, the memories of his raid in America flooding his mind. It was dangerous, awful, but it was fun - especially since it was something he did with his friend.

He even remembered their conversation the day before, Oskar was the one who wanted it to be something that they’d do and remember for the rest of their lives. He said that because he thought Sakuto might die for one reason or another.

“Sakuto?” Ichika asked, seeing Sakuto stop tunneling.

“Ah just...just some memories.” He said, continuing to drill, albeit much slower. Ichika slowly approached him and put her hand on his shoulder.

“Please don’t say that it’s okay.” Sakuto reacted to the gesture. “Nothing is okay right now.”

“I know.” Ichika said, slowly caressing his shoulder. “Nothing is okay.”

“For some reason...I still feel like I can vent to Ausra about all of this.”

“I think of it first, and only then remember that I can’t do that anymore.”

Sakuto took sharp breaths and continued pushing forwards, with even more intensity than before. With a tired concentration blessing his face, he dug his way, all while memories of his past were played in his head with the monotonic sound of the shadow drill acting as a stage for them. It drove him insane, so he kept moving.

“It shouldn’t have...ended up like this...”

“At the very least, we were supposed to be in this together.”

“It feels awfully cold right now, I feel like throwing up...”

He kept moving forwards with that insanity until he finally hit something hard. It caught him off guard a little, he brushed some of the debris away to reveal a reinforced concrete wall.

“This should be it...” Sakuto said. “The underground layer.”

“This is it.” Ichika said. She approached the concrete and gently placed her palm on it.

“Soul Interpretation.”

“Flash Freeze.”

The frozen essence pierced through the concrete, freezing it and breaking it apart. The entrance to an area that was exclusive to only the man with divine powers was in front of them.