Upon hearing the aggressive knocking, Tsukuru began freaking out. "Uh, how the hell do I dismiss this thing?" Tsukuru asked frantically. Out of instinct, he waved his hand in front of him, as if he was dismissing one of his System's screens. Immediately, an electronic beep could be heard, and the Haunted Knight instantly shattered like a glass statue, breaking apart into translucent, light-blue pixels, which then slowly began to fade. Tsukuru stared at the now-empty spot that the Haunted Knight had occupied only a few seconds earlier. He then made a mad dash towards the false wall leading to his walk-in closet.
Instantly, as if a proximity sensor had gone off, the wall slid upwards. Tsukuru ran inside. He grabbed a large, rectangular luggage case with wheels on the bottom and an extending handle on the top. He plopped it on the floor and threw it open. He looked at it for a second. "What the hell am I doing?!" Tsukuru replied, exasperated, as he kicked it halfway across the room. "I don't NEED that!" He ran up to the dresser below the lines of hanging clothes, and ripped open the top drawer, revealing rows of folded underwear. His hand shot out and tapped the first pair with his index finger.
"Inventory!" Tsukuru replied, imagining placing the underwear into his System's Inventory. Instantly, a System screen appeared.
[Would you like to place Underwear in the System's Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'Yes', and the pair of underwear disappeared, breaking apart into pixels. He then repeated the process with every other pair in the drawer. "Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory!" Tsukuru repeated, tapping each pair of underwear in succession. As he touched each one, the same System message appeared. He thought 'Yes' to each one, causing the underwear to vanish into the inventory. When the entire drawer was empty, he slammed it shut, and opened the second one. This one contained folded socks. "Inventory!" Tsukuru yelled, as he reached out, and touched the first pair. Another System message appeared.
[Would you like to place Socks in the System's Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'Yes' once again, and the socks vanished. Like with the underwear, he repeated the process with every pair of socks. "Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory!" As he touched each pair, he responded 'Yes' to each accompanying System screen. One-by-one, each pair of socks vanished into the System's Inventory. Tsukuru then slammed the second drawer shut, and pulled open the final drawer, which revealed rows of folded pajama pants.
"Inventory!" He yelled, touching the first pair. Another System message appeared.
[Would you like to place Pajama Pants in the System's Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'Yes', and the first pair of pajamas vanished. He then repeated the process with every pair. Meanwhile, in the main room, Logan gazed at the now-shut false wall of the walk-in closet with a somewhat bored expression. He had walked in from washing his hands to the sight of Tsukuru bolting towards the false wall. And now, he was hearing Tsukuru just scream the word "Inventory" over and over again.
Back in the closet, Tsukuru screamed "Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory!" as he touched each pair of pajamas in succession, thinking 'Yes' to every System message that popped up. When the final drawer was completely empty, he slammed it shut. He then got back to his feet and turned his attention to the row of shirts hanging on hangers above the dresser. He reached out and touched the first shirt in the row of shirts on hooks. "Inventory!" he yelled, thinking about placing the shirt in the System's Inventory. A new System message appeared.
[Would you like to place Shirt in the System's Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'Yes', and the first shirt in the row vanished. He then went down the row, tapping each and every shirt down the closet rod. "Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory!" He repeated, going across the room as he touched each shirt. As the System messages appeared, he thought 'Yes' to each one, causing the shirt to vanish. When he reached the end of the stack, the row of hung folded pants came into view. "Inventory!" Tsukuru replied, touching the first pair. A new System message appeared.
[Would you like to place Pants in the System's Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'Yes', and the first pair of folded pants in the row vanished. He then went down the row, tapping each and every pair of folded pants down the closet rod. "Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory!" He repeated. As the System messages appeared, he thought 'Yes' to each one, causing the pair of pants to vanish. When the last pair of pants vanished, the stack of shorts hanging on modified hangers with closepins. Tsukuru looked at the shorts for a second, contemplating whether or not he should pack them. Eventually, he spoke.
"Ah, screw it!" Tsukuru muttered with a wave of his hand, as he walked back towards the false wall that led back to his main room. "If I need clothes for warmer weather, I'll just MAKE them!" It was one of the benefits of his Video Creation Skill. Creating a new set of clothes would be child's play. The only reason he was packing clothes in the first place was to conserve MC cells. As Tsukuru reached the false wall, the proximity sensor went off again, causing the wall to slide up. revealing the doorway back into the main room.
As Tsukuru walked back in, Logan looked at him. "What, did you raid your whole closet?" He asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"We're in a rush!" Tsukuru shot back, as he rushed over to his bookshelf. "I can sort through clothes later!" He then reached forward, and tapped the head of the first anime figurine on the top of the bookshelf. "Inventory!" He yelled. A new System message appeared.
[Would you like to place Anime Figurine in the System's Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'Yes' again, and the figurine vanished. Logan palmed his face in incredulity.
"Really?" He muttered, rolling his eyes, as he watched Tsukuru tap figurine after figurine, with each one vanishing a moment later. "You're taking your action figures with you?" Tsukuru's head snapped towards Logan's direction. Logan saw a fire in Tsukuru's eyes, as if his words had personally offended him.
"They're highly-detailed, high-articulation scaled-down model figurines, not 'action figures'!" he shot back, multitasking by placing the figurines in the System's Inventory while he argued with Logan. "I've told you that a million times! Besides, you CANNOT TELL ME that you DON'T plan on taking your little inventions with you!" Tsukuru put an almost condescending emphasis on "inventions", and saw Logan's face harden in slight annoyance, but seeing as how he had just denigrated his anime figurines by referring to them as mere "action figures", he didn't care if he hurt Logan's feelings right now. "If you're taking YOUR hobbies with you, I'm taking MINE!"
Logan let out a long sigh. As the last figurine vanished, Tsukuru leaned down, and pulled the black card binder out of the bottom shelf. Logan raised an eyebrow. "And pray tell, why do you need THOSE?" He asked. Tsukuru glanced back at him, his face showing a look of greatly depleting patience.
"For 'inspiration' for my future Summons!" Tsukuru snapped, using the exact language of Logan's "jest" from hours prior, as he tapped the cover. A new System message appeared.
[Would you like to place Card Binder in the System's Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'Yes' again, and the binder vanished. Logan looked at him with a sceptical look.
"I thought you could only have ONE Summon?" He asked.
"I can have one Summon active!" Tsukuru corrected. "The only hard limit to how many I can make is my number of available Summon Points!" Logan shook his head, dismissively.
"Anything else?" He asked. As if to answer his question, Tsukuru looked down at his
wristwatch. Although it was linked to his biometrics, it was dangerous if it was stolen. It could unlock just about ANY of the multiple Green Family mansions located on any of the other planets. He tapped the screen.
"Inventory." He muttered. A new System screen popped up.
[Would you like to place Wristwatch in the System's Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'Yes' again, and the wristwatch vanished off his wrist, leaving it bare. He then bolted past Logan and made a mad dash for the door.
Logan waited a second, and then shouted "Hygiene!" over his back. Tsukuru came running back.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He muttered, as he ran into the bathroom. He grabbed his toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, deodorant stick, can of body spray, bottle of body wash, and bottle of shampoo, and placed them all on the bathroom counter in front of the integrated sink in a file line. "Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory, Inventory!" He replied, tapping each one. A System message appeared for each one. Tsukuru thought 'Yes' to each one, causing it to vanish into the System's Inventory. When the counter was empty again, Tsukuru spoke up. "Alright, let's go!" he announced, running out of the bathroom, and back towards the front door.
Logan sighed, as he slowly walked after him. As he walked, his robotic assistant, Ash, levitated near him, carrying a bookbag in a light-blue tractor beam emitting from the bottom of Ash's spherical form. The bag was a slightly bulging, rounded grey rectangle with multiple black zippers. "Your bag, Master Green." Ash announced. Logan grabbed the bag, the tractor beam dissipating as he did, and slung it over his shoulder. As Tsukuru and Logan both reached the front door, the ceaseless banging from the other side still audible, Tsukuru was about to put his hand on the door to open it. Then, he remembered that he no longer had his wristwatch on. He turned to Logan, and took a step back.
Getting the hint, Logan slightly rolled his eyes, and put his hand on the door. Using his Ability to communicate with the door, it then slid open, revealing a military
official on the other side. He was bulky, built like a bear, wearing the standard
military outfit. He had a moderately-thick mustache on his face and short brown hair and hazel eyes, the majority of his hair hidden under his military cap. The man put his hands behind his back and assumed a pose of immediate attention. "Logan Green!" He announced, looking at Logan. His gaze turned to Tsukuru. "And…Hikiko Tsukuru." He muttered with a slight look of discomfort on his face. He coughed into his hand.
Under normal circumstances, he would have reprimanded them for holding up the group, but both of these two boys had highly influential backing, with the sergeant receiving a PERSONAL warning from Sergeant Hikiko Shizuka herself before the carrier had even left the base. So he decided to keep his mouth shut, lest Shizuka decide to cut off his tongue. And…knowing her personality, it would have been with a dull, rusty knife. "I am Military Sergeant Dezlin Krow!" He announced. He jabbed a finger backwards towards the military carrier behind him, which seemed reminiscent of a school bus. "It's time to ship off for your two years of mandatory Military Training!"