Chapter 12-19 - It's All A Matter Of Heart
19 - It’s All A Matter Of Heart
“He was with us, there were no soul presences around...he...” Sakuto explained to Jian, losing his temper. “He...”
“Was he kidnapped? Were it voidflames or the soulless-”
“He wasn’t kidnapped, he fucking ran away!” Sakuto yelled, before terminating the connection. “Ichika, we’re searching the whole fucking city for soul presences. Anything that seems out of the ordinary, any movements, any presences, we immediately look into it. And you...”
He looked at Yumichi.
“Try questioning things when you hear them, alright?” He said, holding in his anger.
“Fuck...”
“We’re doing all of this for you, and this is what you do to us, Hiroshi? Just you wait...”
“I’ll get you back.”
“I think...”
“I got far away enough...”
“Ugh, my head hurts...”
Crossing an impressive distance for a freshly awakened soulful, he found himself in the city of Lodz - a city that was, surprisingly enough, peaceful. There weren’t any voidflames flooding it yet, however, it was flooded by something else - people. People that tried were trying to escape to wherever, despite it not being the best decision. People who conscripted and were headed to the new appointed fortress of the world.
Hiroshi walked along the streets, reaching the train station. It was full of busy crowds, pushing one another, crammed so hard and shouting so loudly that the first thing one would experience after going deaf was suffocation. Nevertheless, through the discomfort, he walked forwards.
“If I wanna meet up with my dad, first...I need to somehow let him know that I’m here. But...”
He remembered the many discussions about how much collateral damage his father’s mere presence caused him. In fact, he didn’t even have to remember much - the scenes in front of him, the fear, panic and hate were all the result of his father’s actions.
“No...”
“I need to get somewhere. I need to let him know that I’m headed somewhere specific. And how do I contact him? I don’t even know that myself...”
He curiously looked around them. He was seeing quite a lot of soldiers, he, in his mind, associated soldiers with organized resistance. Organized resistance meant power, and power and the luxury to act on it was something he’d need to utilize.
“Hey, uhm, I’m sorry...” Hiroshi said, tapping on the shoulder of one of the soldiers.
“The hell do you want?” The soldier turned around, yelling at him.
“Hey, come on. It’s a damn kid.” His comrade said, lightly pushing him. “What do you need? Did you get lost?”
“Wha-how old do they think I am?” Hiroshi thought. Despite being this far into his plan, he still had doubts about everything, and a looming feeling that he was doing something very, very wrong.
The issue wasn’t the distance between him and Sakuto. What made him undetectable was the fact that not a single soul in the Heisei knew where he was. They didn’t think to place a tracking device on him since they trusted him to not want to be around his father who was doing what he was doing. Sakuto and Ichika searched throughout Warsaw but couldn’t find anything. By the time they’d get to Lodz, Hiroshi would’ve already went somewhere else.
“I...I need to know where you guys are going. Where the conscription is-”
“What, you wanna be a soldier too? It’s not like in those video games, you know?” The soldier instantly replied. “Now shoo, go back to your parents. We’re leaving soon.”
“No, that’s-”
Hiroshi took a deep breath.
“I want to see my dad. He signed up to be one of you guys too. He’s probably on this train.” Hiroshi said. “Please, tell me where it’s going, I need to know-”
“Ugh, you lot and your sob stories...” The soldier sighed.
“Hey, the fuck is wrong with you?” The first soldier fired back, unexpectedly standing up for Hiroshi. “The kid misses his father. You owe him at least a response, asshole.”
“Okay, okay. Relax. Go drink something.” The other soldier said. “The train’s headed to Vienna. It’s where the new command center is, after the old one got blown up by that shithead...”
“Is he talking about...dad? Did he destroy it?”
“Whatever...”
“At least now I know where to go.”
Hiroshi slowly walked away from them, but he still kept the train in mind. Once the train started moving, he used his newly acquired soul prowess and improvised strength in order to jump up on top of it. Unnoticed, he embarked on a journey he still got chills over.
The train ride wasn’t too long, but it was very exhausting. Hiroshi, at first, stayed on top of the wagons, but as the sight of a tunnel ahead of him showed its scary presence, he quickly snuck into the wagon. He locked himself up in one of the areas and, by frequently changing locations, he waited and waited until he reached Vienna, a city he’d never been in before.
Upon arrival, he quickly jumped out of the train. Concerned, anxious and scared, he carefully tried to listen into the conversations around him - trying to find any clues to the whereabouts of the HQ.
Once that effort was proven to be fruitless, he simply started following everyone else.
And at last, he arrived at the HQ. It was similar to the one in Frankfurt. He slowly neared the gate where people were getting their identities checked, most of which were skipping past it without a care in the world.
“Now then...”
“I need to talk to the people up there. I need to convince them to let me send a radio message across the world, or...at least somehow let dad know about my location, or at least where I’m gonna be soon.”
“And how do I convince them to-”
“Hey kid, who the hell are you? What are you doing here?” A guard approached him, grabbing him by his arm. “It’s not safe here.”
“I know, I need to talk to whoever is in charge of all of this. Please.” Hiroshi pleaded. “Please, just, trust me. I need to-”
“Do you know how many people want to talk to him right now? Besides, what the hell are you gonna ask him anyways?” The guard pressed him. He started pulling him by his arm. “Where are your parents? Do they even know you’re here?”
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“Hey, let me go!” Hiroshi tried fighting back. “I need to talk to whoever is in charge of this!”
“Yeah yeah, sure, whatever.” The guard tried pulling him more, but was surprised when he felt Hiroshi’s strength and resilience. It was unlike that of an ordinary kid his age.
“Hey, the hell is going on here?” Another guard approached him.
“Some dumb kid is being difficult.”
“And you can’t deal with a dumb kid?” The guard said, clearly annoyed. He grabbed Hiroshi by his clothes.
“Let me go, I need to-”
“If you think we have the time to care about you, you’re wrong.” The guard told him, trying to throw him away.
“But I-”
“No, if they...”
“Fuck!”
“Just...”
“Think of what dad would do here.”
“Think of what dad would do in this situation. And just...”
Hiroshi punched the guard in the face. Since it was reinforced with soul prowess, it was quite a hard strike. Hard enough to shatter his jaw completely.
“What?! No...” The guard pulled back, grabbing his handgun. “Alert! Soulful attack!”
“That’s not an attack, that’s-”
“I’ve had enough of you. All of you.”
Those whispers came not just from his mind, but his heart itself.
“All of you are wrong. You don’t know anything about what’s going on right now.”
“The only one who can help you...”
“...is me.”
“All of you!” Hiroshi yelled. Using his rapidly rising soul presence, he jumped up on the wall of the gates that led to the HQ’s main building. “Everyone here, listen to me!”
“W-what the fuck...” The guard, panicking, took aim at Hiroshi. “Get down!”
“I am a soulful!” Hiroshi exclaimed. “And I...I’m the one you need to listen to, okay? I know what’s happening, I can-”
“Get down!” A group of well-armed soldiers quickly approached him. One of the large caliber cannons in the area was adjusted to target him too.
“No, listen!”
“We’ve had enough of you soulfuls!” A voice in the crowd below him yelled. The man behind the opinion grabbed his rifle and pointed it at Hiroshi too, and so did some others in the crowd. “Everything was fine until your kind showed up!”
“That’s not what the issue is here. It’s not about soulfuls or...that’s...not even the point!” Hiroshi said. “I am a soulful, and you...I need to speak to whoever is in charge of this building.”
“Worst assassination attempt I’ve ever fucking seen...” A soldier muttered to his comrade.
“True, he’s gotta be more believable.” His comrade replied. “Wanna gun him down?”
“For sure, put one of that asshole’s dogs down for good.”
“I need to talk to him as fast as possible, and it’s in your interest to do it as well.” Hiroshi said, his presence continuing to rise.
“Interest, huh? So now you’re threatening us?” Another voice called him out from the crowd.
“No, that’s not what I meant-”
The crowd devolved into protest, insults and infuriation. Hiroshi, with the little courage that he mustered up, was on the mental backfoot again. He thought of even flying back to Warsaw, but finding an explanation for his disappearance would be too awkward, too difficult. He thought what would the world where he didn’t take this stupid step be like, even daydreaming about it for a few seconds.
The yells were getting louder and louder, and the soldiers were starting to approach him closer and closer.
“You...just...listen to me...”
“For once...”
“I know how to fix all of this!” Hiroshi yelled out, almost instinctively reinforcing his body with soul prowess.
“Oh yeah, and why is that?”
“Because I am Kaito Kamiki’s son!”
The exclamation left the crowd speechless. The words struck them like ancient hammers on a dwarven forge, and they all backed away a little. They let pointed their weapons away from him, but their gazes were locked onto him as if he was the most unusual thing they’d ever seen.
“Kaito Kamiki’s son...?”
“Holy shit...”
“This kid...?”
“He had a son?”
“He’s a monster like him, isn’t he...”
Hiroshi couldn’t hear those whispers properly. He instead held onto his heart, which ached a lot. It ached like it was about to burst out of his body and explode. However, what it did instead was strengthen his body a little more. It gave him more soul prowess. It gave him greater control over it, and a much stronger presence.
And it created a faint, pure white halo above his head.
Beneath the hollow sun, the wielder of the central element appeared as a divine purpose to the white crow, a dedication to those who refuse to stop fighting atop the mountains, and a ray of salvation to those who could only understand the fields.
“Fuck...is he telling the truth?” One of the soldiers with a higher rank asked himself out loud. “He...looks like...”
“He looks like someone who’d at least be connected to the soulfuls...” His comrade said. “Call the supreme commander.”
“What?” The soldiers around him bounced back in surprise.
“You heard him.” The high rank soldier said. “Call him here. Tell him that we have someone who might just have a plan.”
What Hiroshi didn’t know was that there was a strange formation of white on the left side of his chest, like a rift that had opened up on his body. It was pure, it radiated with almost divine light.
Silent minutes later, the new supreme commander went outside. Despite being appointed with such an incredible position, he was no older than twenty years old. His uniform looked oversized on him, and yet, in every meaning of the word, he was deemed to be a military prodigy. He had roughly done black hair and a faint layer of facial hair complementing his golden eyes.
“So it is you.” The commander said. “I’m Supreme Commander Dietrich Richter, in charge of the collaborative efforts of preserving humanity. And you...”
“I am Hiroshi Kamiki.” Hiroshi introduced himself, climbing down from the fence and approaching him. “I am...”
“His son.” Dietrich said. He took a step closer. “The previous commander, Heidrich, was a relative of mine. And so was another soulful who fought against your father.”
“I...I see...”
“Anyhow, are you aware of how to act upon all of...this?” Dietrich said, briefly looking up at the hollow sun.
“I...have an idea.”
Dietrich carefully listened. He ordered everyone else to move away from them, to give them some space to breathe. He wanted to listen to every word that came out of Hiroshi’s mouth.
“As much as he’s a bad father sometimes...he...” Hiroshi said, finding it difficult to put those words together. “I believe that he does care about me. I believe all of these are his efforts to locate me after I was kidnapped.”
“All of this...is over you?” Dietrich asked, immediately feeling strange. “I must say, I would not expect someone the likes of Kaito Kamiki to have such a deep bond with his family. In all honesty, I did not expect him to share a bond with any human being at all.”
“I think he tried to share that bond with me.” Hiroshi said.
“Then, what is the plan?” Dietrich asked.
“The plan is...”
After the explanation, action was taken immediately. The following message played across radio and communication systems all over the world.
“Kaito Kamiki, or, dad, it’s me. Hiroshi. I’m in good hands now, I want to meet you. I want to talk to you about all of this and to tell you that you don’t have to do this anymore. I am boarding an armored train and heading to Rome alongside some military escort. We...went on a holiday there once, remember? Please...let’s just talk. I miss you, dad.”
Kaito felt the essence of his purpose shine in his eyes, and he immediately began flying towards the location.
The Heisei heard the message too, and they immediately began planning action.
“The train is set to leave in exactly fifteen minutes. Everything has been prepared.” Dietrich told Hiroshi. “I’ll be coming with you.”
“You...don’t have to-”
“I do. That’s...what the late commander Heidrich would have done too.” Dietrich said. “The blood that we share is that of taking responsibility and fighting. I am sure that since blood is involved, you’ll do what you have to with your father.”
“Thank you.” Hiroshi nodded. “Thank you for listening to me.”
The train itself had dozens of wagons, and it moved as fast as it could. Heavily armored from all sides and equipped with not only high-caliber cannons and defense systems, but also the best trained military personnel available, it was set to go...
For Hiroshi, there was no room for doubt left.