A day later.
It's late at night in the hot country of Huairuro. The streets are empty. The air feels heavy, humid, and tired.
Carmelo throws an empty liquor bottle across the room, the glass breaking against the floor.
"Fucking piece of shit," he mutters to himself.
He slumps back onto his couch, the TV murmuring nonsense in the background as he drinks himself deeper.
His hand shakes slightly when he pours another shot.
Suddenly, a knock on the door. Carmelo's head shoots up.
"Eh? Why the fuck is there someone at my fucking door?" His words slur as he pushes himself to his feet.
He doesn't bother checking the peephole before swinging the door open.
"Hey, Mr. Carmelo! I know it's late, but I made you dinner," says Ana, her voice cheerful and innocent. She's holding a small bag with a food container inside.
Carmelo blinks at her, his anger dissolving. He takes the bag carefully.
"Thank you, Ana…" he says softly, his voice tired and sad.
Ana smiles.
"Enjoy!" She waves and disappears down the street.
Carmelo closes the door. He stares at the bag for a moment before pulling out the container. "She's a sweet girl… Saint." he mutters to himself, walking toward the kitchen.
Still drunk, he grabs a fork and knife from the drawer. When he reaches to flick on the light, he freezes.
Jovi is sitting on the counter, calmly.
"Hi."
Jovi says, waving with a faint smirk.
Carmelo's eyes widen. He lunges, throwing a fast right hook, but Jovi catches his fist, still seated.
"Calm down, Carmelo," Jovi says, his tone shifting to something more serious.
Carmelo grits his teeth. His anger sobering him up.
"You fucker! Where is my son?!"
Jovi stands, still gripping Carmelo's wrist. "Calm down, and I'll tell you."
Carmelo pulls his arm free, stretches his wrist, his anger fighting to stay in check.
"What do you want? And if it's to try to recruit me into that little social reject club, my answer's the same as twenty years ago. No."
Jovi closes his eyes and smiles faintly.
"No, it's not that. I'm here for different reasons."
Carmelo sits at the table and starts eating Ana's food, chewing slowly.
"Why should I care? You still haven't told me where my son is."
"He's not with us," Jovi replies. "I'm here because I want you to come with me. I lost one of my friends… and I'm about to lose another. I'm holding a funeral in their honor."
Carmelo lets out a dry laugh through his nose.
"You came all the way here to invite me to a funeral?" He stabs a meatball with his fork.
"I'm inviting you because I know for a fact Saint will be there." Jovi says, sitting himself down.
The fork stops halfway to Carmelo's mouth. His jaw tightens.
"Fuck you."
"I think he needs to talk to you before it's too late. He's been causing quite an uproar in the underworld. You know that?" Jovi says, clasping his hands together as he leans forward.
Carmelo frowns, lowering his fork.
"What do you mean?"
Jovi's tone stays calm.
"He got in contact with Zara Wolf, daughter of Mr. Vino, and killed a Sangre De Reyes Instructor. Furthermore, he was seen in the Ballroom Fighting Club, in a match. His opponent, one of the top stars, was found dead, just minutes after his fight. They call him The Red Yurei."
Carmelo stares at him, shock flooding his face. His hands start trembling.
"You… h-how do you know all of this?"
"I have my connects," Jovi answers simply.
Carmelo's eyes water. He grips the edge of the table, shoulders shaking as silent tears fall.
Jovi leans back in his chair, quietly letting him get it out.
After a long pause, Carmelo speaks again, voice unsteady.
"Saint was born a kind and loving boy. No malice and no hatred was molding his innocent heart."
Jovi's eyes widen.
"I should've kept him out of all this," Carmelo continues.
"Kept him hidden. But I-I don't know, Jovi. I tried… Can nurture be much more important than nature, Jovi?"
Jovi swallows, rubbing his face.
"Sadly… I feel like Saint was led down the darkest path since birth, Carmelo."
Carmelo slams his hands on the table and stands abruptly.
"That's why I've been trying to fix it. I know I'm being watched, that's why I-I-I sent him to Sangre De Reyes so that he wouldn't have a target on his back… make them think he's on their side while also training himself so that when the time comes, the power extraction goes smoothly without killing him."
Jovi's gaze hardens, voice steady.
"Right… you did tell me about that. You didn't want him to be targeted by Vino so that's why you want to extract the power from him."
Carmelo slumps back into his chair, his energy draining.
"Until you showed up… I should kill you right here, Jovi."
"I rescued him, Carmelo. Sangre De Reyes would've brainwashed him and turned him against us. We're talking about Oshoku here, you don't think he'd use you or Ana as leverage against Saint? Make him do everything they tell him to?"
Carmelo freezes.
'How does he know who Ana is?'
He exhales, defeated.
"Either way, my son has a target on his back. If you're sure he'll be at this funeral… I'm going with you."
Jovi stands, calm and collected.
"I'm sure."
…
In the morning, Ari, Hazu, Monita, and Tlen return back to the academy. Sangre De Reyes.
"Man, I'm tired…" Hazu groans.
"I'm going right to sleep," Ari says, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Tlen yawns, covering his mouth with one hand, while Monita trails behind, clutching Dori Dori against her chest.
"Everyone must be having class or something, no?" Hazu asks, glancing around the unusually quiet halls.
"It's Saturday, dumbass," Ari replies flatly.
Hazu turns to him, wide-eyed. "Really?!"
Ari smirks, making fun of him as they walk. Then Tlen stops in front of a large flat screen mounted on the wall.
"Hm?" Tlen mutters, studying it.
"What is that?" Monita asks softly.
"Hey, guys. Check this out," Tlen says.
Ari and Hazu join him, curiosity pulling them closer.
The screen reads:
Current Power Rankings.
1. Reiki Five (Score: 86)
2. Unit Zero (Score: 74)
3. Squad Kaze (Score: 66)
4. Strike Nine (Score: 51)
5. Chrome Wake (Score: 39)
6. Floor Eight (Score: 37)
7. Fifth Trace (Score: 30)
8. Mirage Post (Score: 22)
9. Chrome Arc (Score: 17)
10. Pulse Tier (Yet to return.)
11. Black Sigil (Yet to return.)
12. Signal Row (Yet to return.)
13. Iron Fold (Yet to return.)
14. Quin Kairo (Yet to return.)
15. Drift Core (Yet to return.)
16. Zone Quell (Yet to return.)
"What is this, Hazu?" Ari asks, inspecting the screen with curious eyes.
"This? This means the season has started. Each mission we complete will get scored every week for 20 weeks. Think of Taiho as a manager for a sport team."
They all glance back at the screen.
"So what team is ours?" Ari asks.
"Hm… probably one of the bottom," Hazu says. "Since we came back on a Saturday, it's not updated yet."
"Reiki Five, you were a part of them last year, weren't you, Hazu?" Tlen asks,
"Yeah. Taiho was the mentor that year too, Tanya used to be on Strike Nine. This year, Brugger was supposed to be the mentor of Reiki Five, we got really close as a team before he… died." Hazu replies.
Ari glances at him.
"Why'd you switch teams?"
"Well… uh… I didn't really, I got kicked… I was grieving Brugger. I was fueled by rage, I couldn't really focus, letting my other teammates down and burying my talents." Hazu says, disappointed in himself.
Ari puts his arm around Hazu,
"Looks like you're stuck with us, then." He says sarcastically.
Hazu chuckles, shaking his head.
"Man, Reiki Five really are something else, huh?" Ari says.
"This season, we'll show them," Hazu says, fired up.
"Do you think we'll get a high score for… you know, our mission?" Tlen asks.
Ari and Hazu turn their heads simultaneously at Tlen with a bored expression.
"You killed a high ranking Psychomaner, dude. That's gotta be worth something. Last year, when I was a first-year, there was a third-year. I was the number one student in the school for weeks, racking up points and completing each task assigned to me with ease, but then out of nowhere, another student jumped me in points after having defeated a Psychomaner. That guy is crazy strong." Hazu says.
"But you came in first, right? Since you're ranked number one." Ari asks.
"Yeah. I forgot to mention, after the season, there's a main tournament. All the teams face off in one-on-one squad battles. I got matched up with him, but he never showed up to our fight, so I won automatically."
"Ohhh… I see." Ari steps back, scanning the rankings again. "So the favorites are Reiki Five, then?"
'Can I bet on this?' Ari thinks to himself mischievously.
"Yup. It's always between them and Strike Nine. But Reiki Five's won eight years straight."
"Do you think we've got a shot?" Tlen asks.
Hazu looks around at them, Ari's tired grin, Monita's quiet curiosity, Tlen's determined eyes.
"Honestly… yeah. I do. I feel way more comfortable here."
Ari yawns.
"Well, we can talk about this Monday. I need sleep. See y'all." He waves lazily and heads toward the dorms.
"We should do the same. I'll talk to y'all tomorrow," Hazu says, going in another direction.
The hallway goes quiet again
…