Isamu:
After getting lost several times along the way, I finally made it to the abandoned factory. I think. Pretty sure this is the place…. right? The only thing I could see was the rusted and chained-up iron gate alongside the Keep Out labels that was plastered all over but- Oh god, please don't tell me I'm at the wrong place again! Why didn't you ask for the address, Isamu? Why!
"Hey man, do you know how I can get into here?" To my left, a tanned skin man wearing a purple hoodie emerged from the bushes like he was Bigfoot or something. Wait….. why does this guy seem familiar? Especially his face- And then it clicked.
"You're that drunk zombie that projectile vomited all over me!" I pointed at him while simultaneously backing away from him as much as possible. "I'm not falling for that trick again! Hell no!"
"Umm. I'm sorry but who are you? It feels like we met but-"
"Oh yeah, we met. In fact, it was more than just met!" I shouted regardless if I was being grammatically correct or not as I emphasized the word met in air quotes. Just thinking about last night caused a shiver to run down my spine.
"Hold on a minute," said the man with a hint of recognition in his eye. I crossed my arms sternly, waiting for my long-deserved apology. "You're that angry cat person from last night! You need a smile, friend?"
"No, goddamn it! You threw up all over me!" I accidentally shouted in English, losing my composure. An irritating habit that I've been wanting to get over when I began living in Japan.
"R-really?" The man answered back in fluent-enough English. He then lurched closer to me, making me believe that he was about to perform Vomit 2: Bubonic Boogaloo. "I'm so sorry! Lemmie fix it, smile-smile!"
"Get the fuck away from me!" A palm to the face was all that was necessary. Next thing I knew, the smile-obsessed weirdo came tumbling to the ground.
"What was that for!" He shouted, rubbing his reddened face. "I was going to hand you this as an apology!" In his hand was a single 10,000 yen note. Ohhhhhhhhhh. Well I done-goofed.
Just then, high-pitched screams erupted from beyond the gate. At first I thought I was imaging it, but when Smile-Man also perked his head up, I realized something was wrong. "What the hell was that?"
"It must be from the abandoned warehouse. I can't sneak a peek from here but it looks like the rumors are true…."
"Hold up- Are you the one that Bunko sent to investigate?" I asked, raising a brow.
"You know Ms Bunko too?" His eyes widened while simultaneously dodging my question.
Sighing, I ripped out a pair of cutters from my . "Aight, we don't have time for this. Help me break into this hellhole before it's too late."
-
It wasn't too long before we found two boys cowering by some bushes. They seemed to be around elementary school age. The first one had on a Torajiro t-shirt and denim shorts while the other was clad in black and white. Aka, the exact descriptions of Shiro's friends that Miss Aya told me about.
"Those bruises- What happened to you two?" Smile-man gasped, rushing towards them. Instead of answering his question, the two boys continued sobbing and babbling gibberish.
"It'll be alright, you two. Everything will be alright. Just relax and tell us-" Shoving Smiles and his shallow wordplay aside, I shoved my face right up one of the boy's face. It'd didn't matter how frightened they were, I needed answers. Answers that could save countless lives.
"Where's Shiro and what did you see in that warehouse?" I questioned as firmly as possible, pointing at the warehouse that was now in viewing distance. The kid stared at me terrified but his lips didn't move an inch. I shouted at him again in a more loud and authoritative tone but still, nothing. That's when Smiles attempted to talk me down, saying that I was being too rough with him.
"We won't get anywhere unless these brats talk, Smiles! What don't you get?"
"First of all, I'm Seiji. Second, you need to back off. These kids are scared out of their minds and all you're doing is making it worse."
I kept listening to Seiji go on and on about how my behavior is wrong and borderline criminal. Perhaps if we're in a less desperate situation, I'd agree with him. My heart kept pounding and pounding, hoping he would understand but alas-
"There's no time for this!" I grabbed the kid by the shirt, lifting him a few feet from the ground. The horrified cries from his buddy next to him. The shouts from Seiji demanding me to stop. They all congealed into a cacophony of chaos that only made my head rush faster and faster. Memories of the past came flooding back, one after another, causing me to clutch my temple in desperation. The blood. The tears. The disappointment.
Make the kid spill the beans, even if it kills you. Or else...…
"Tell me what you saw or- OR!" What followed was a shout and then a flash of violet enveloped my vision. My knees- They gave out, causing me to tumble to the ground. Everything was heavy like piles of dumbbells were hooked on me, trying to drag me to the Earth's core. I could only gasp as I began to drown in the suffocating presence of the light.
"Calm. Down." The domineering voice boomed. Utilizing every my nape muscle to the fullest, I was able to glance back at the voice's source. The first thing that caught my attention were Seiji's eyes. No longer were they dark brown like every other person of Asian descent- They were amethyst purple. The unfriendly look that he gave me made me want to crawl into a hole. However, that wasn't the most important feature I noticed. It was the source of the light.
In his palms, a gemstone-like fig was pulsating purple. It radiated copious amounts of energy- Energy that I recognized as the same type that the Rakav's emitted. Mana as everyone is HARVEST called it.
"That explains everything!" I internally shouted, putting two and two together. The gigantic mana signature that appeared on my radar wasn't a Rakav. It was the Smile-Man himself.
Seeing that I was completely pacified, the domineering spectrum began to die out. Bit by bit, I gained back my ability to breathe. "That fruit.... Where'd you get it?"
Seiji gave me a concerned stare. He seemed hesitant but eventually relented with- "Israel. Jerusalem specifically."
"Jerusalem...." A debriefing from a few months back came to my mind. The heads discussed a certain artifact- An object so mystical that it allows the user to attain powers that can surpass the likes of the Rakav. It was only speculation of course- The only real information we had on it were hieroglyphs that were uncovered a year ago by the excavation team. I likely would've just dismissed these claims like many of our employees but grandfather- The look of pure joy he had on that day made me think otherwise.
"How much do you want for it- The purple crystal I mean."
Seiji raised his brows, eyeing me like I'm a conman or something. "It's not for sale. Besides-" He glanced over at the boy I previously yelled at. "I think you owe this child- Takeshi, an apology."
Seiji gave me a concerned stare. He seemed hesitant but eventually relented with- "Israel. Jerusalem specifically."
"Jerusalem...." A debriefing from a few months back came to my mind. The heads discussed a certain artifact- An object so mystical that it allows the user to attain powers that can surpass the likes of the Rakav. It was only speculation of course- The only real information we had on it were hieroglyphs that were uncovered a year ago by the excavation team. I likely would've just dismissed these claims like many of our employees but grandfather- The look of pure joy he had on that day made me think otherwise.
"How much do you want for it- The purple crystal I mean."
Seiji raised his brows, eyeing me like I'm a conman or something. "It's not for sale. Besides-" He glanced over at the boy I previously yelled at. "I think you owe this child- Takeshi, an apology."
The mention of that kid again reminded me of what I came here to do. I groveled to my knees, not out of apology but desperation. "Kid- er. Takeshi. Please. I get you're scared but you need to tell me what happened in that warehouse. It's important."
"I- umm….. Don't tell my parents, okay? Promise?"
"I promise," I swore to the child, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to keep it- Especially if this situation went south. Seiji also nodded in response, although judging by his demeanor, it seemed like he would actually keep that promise.
Clearing his breath, Takeshi went over what went down. Apparently, the two brats were egging Shiro on into checking out the warehouse with them. Though scared at first he reluctantly agreed in an effort to impress some girl from his class. To show off his bravery which I understood- Almost a little too much.
Hayato, the other kid present, rifled through his tiny as we talked. "Shiro told us to record ourselves walking in. He wanted to surprise Akane especially since she's been gone all summer long to meet with her relatives or something- I don't remember."
With a plop, the kid withdrew one of those bogus ghost-hunting cameras that guys like Sam and Colby use on their channel. "But when got to recording-" He paused, lips trembling. Acknowledging the kid's fear, Seiji gently placed his hand on Hayato.
"We saw this-" Takeshi muttered, taking the camera away from his friend. He then pressed the switch on it, sending the screen to the manufacturer's logo. And then the scene from the warehouse played. My heart dropped as I fully realized that my suspicions- My fears were true.
"Is that supposed to be a shadow? Wh-what is tha- Hey!" I managed to swipe the purple rock from Seiji's paws as I rushed past the three as quickly as I could. I felt guilty but it didn't matter now.
"You! Grab these kids and get to somewhere safe! It's dangerous here so don't you guys dare come back!" Hopefully they'll listen to me but the frantic shouting from the three behind me made me feel a bit dubious.
I could feel it. I could sense the power of the artifact surging through me. Perhaps, I'll finally be able to defeat a Rakav by myself. Alone- without any casualties. Despite my worries for Shiro, I felt like I could do anything. Anything I wanted-
As long as I have the Forbidden Fruit by my side.
Seiji:
"Hey! Get back here!" I yelled out after him, knowing full well that he wasn't going to. Isamu….. was it? What's his problem! First, he tells me to break into the warehouse which is my job, by the way. Honestly, if I knew that this place was restricted, I wouldn't have bothered. Second, he nearly assaulted a crying child over what? Over….. what?
Asking the boys for the camera, I rewound the footage back to the ominous shadow that chased the boys away. At first, I thought everyone was overreacting, believing that it was a raccoon or another small pest. But upon further inspection, the creature seemed larger- Larger than a raccoon. Maybe Shiro-kun and Isamu really are in danger? Even still, that doesn't excuse stealing the artifact- The artifact that Godai-san entrusted onto me!
What to do? The man told me to take the two kids and leave but- No! I need to help those two out! "You kids go home! If you two don't hear back from Shiro-kun then call the authorities about this place!" Not waiting for a response, I rushed towards the abandoned building.
-
Once I got to the dark and oddly damp entryway, I began inspecting. There wasn't much to look at as it has clearly been laid barren aside from the occasional rusted steel beams and cracked metal columns. No signs of Isamu or Shiro-kun, the latter of whose physical appearance, I had no clue of.
"Ms Bunko could've at least told me that a child was missing too." As I thought that, my chest started to ache seemingly out of no where. Not only that, I feel cold now too.
"It's that artifact," I realized. I wasn't sure how I came to that conclusion but I could sense it. It's calling to me and for some reason, I tell where it is. It's as if I was connected to it somehow- mental link perhaps. Channeling this link, my legs moved on its own in confidence. The darkness of the warehouse's interiors meant nothing to me as I trusted the unexplainable phenomena in my mind.
-
I spotted Isamu a few meters in. He was crouched behind some empty oil barrels while glancing his head side to side. As I got closer to him, the profound feeling of coldness dwindled away along with my slight chest pain.
"Psst. Hey," I whispered into his ear. Isamu then jolted upwards, head-butting me right in the nose! A pathetic squeal escaped my mouth as I clutched at my bruised nose.
Turning towards me, Isamu threw his fists intimidatingly in the air as if he was about to beat me to death. That is, until he registered that it was me.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He spoke through gritted teeth, his irritated reddened eyes accentuating his anger. "I told you to stay back!"
"It's my job to investigate this place!" I replied back angrily, mocking his facial movements. Instead of smacking me with a verbal response, he instead smacked with a stare. However, it wasn't one full of anger. His stare seemed almost.... Concerning? You know what? I don't care. I'm making this guy clear up all the confusion I had bundled up from past ten minutes even if it's the last thing I do!
"Why'd you take the artifact from me, why? My mentor risked his life for it, you know? What do you know about this thing, anyway? Clearly it must be something important to this whole Rakav situation." I paused, making sure that I said the made-up word correctly.
"What even is that anyway? Rakav- What is that! Sounds like a made-up term that a stoner would come up with!" Without a word, Isamu pointed his finger at me. No, past me. A shiver ran down my spine as I felt cold again. Only, it wasn't my chest area where I felt it. It was my nape.
Slowly turning around, I spotted a glistening scarlet orb mere inches away from my face. And it was staring right back at me.