Chapter 6 - last part

“It’s too late” I replied.

“How do you know about the SA anyway?” he asked.

“I got friends from the SA and they told me.” I looked to the left to hide my face. I didn’t want him to find out that I was hiding something. How could I tell him about the tiger?

“She’s lying.” Abruptly I turned my head to the door where the voice came from, Yu did the same. Sho was standing there, arms crossed, watching us. Did he hear everything? Wasn’t that bad if he heard all that? Not just for me, but for Yu also? When I was searching for a way to cover up for our conversation Yu started talking: “Why are you lying, Nao?” he believed Sho. I was surprised. He didn’t even care that his friend came inside our house without us noticing and on top of that heard what we talked about. It seemed like Sho already knew everything. A person hearing all this the first time wouldn’t react this calmly just by saying that I’m lying. And how did he even know that I was lying? Could it be...? My expression probably exposed what I was thinking so my brother explained: “He was part of the SA in the school he was going to. He’s a wandering lie detector, so don’t even think about lying in front of him.” now they got me speechless. I was learning a lot of new things at once and my brain couldn’t take more. Yu must have noticed. “I would love to tell you to rest first, but I have to know how you know about the SA. Please tell me, tell us.” He said after looking at Sho who on the other hand added: “And don’t even think about lying when I am here.”

I sighed. It was no use hiding everything. I noticed they were worried about me being part of the SA. They didn’t want me to take part in missions. And after seeing Hiro I knew why. After my second sigh I finally answered: “I’m not part of the SA. I met 2 people who are part of it. Remember the guy who saved me in the club when you both couldn’t? He is in the SA. And today when I was talking to him after finding out his ability a teacher saw us, his teacher. He talked in riddles but really suspicious so I didn’t tell him anything. It was like he was questioning me for having a recommendation. Afterwards Ryuu, that guy I was talking about, explained about the recommendation system. Before that I found an injured person, who coincidentally is his best friend. He just came back from one of those missions so they didn’t have a choice but explain to me.”

“YOU HAVE A RECOMMENDATION?!” Yu and Sho yelled at the same time. When I nodded they looked at each other speechlessly. I could see their thoughts popping out of their heads: why didn’t they know? “Do you have an ability?” Yu asked first. I shook my head first. But then I remembered. I looked at Sho because he probably noticed already. Before he could expose me I corrected myself: “Well, supposedly I have an ability. I found out today. Ryuu and Hiro told me. I didn’t believe them but they proofed me wrong.” I stopped here.

Sho asked the next question: “Which ability? And how did they prove it?”

“I’m a tamer.” Before I could say more Sho already asked again: “Which kind of tamer?”

I hesitated. What kind he asked. I didn’t even know what kind. Ryuu just explained that I was the strongest type, but he didn’t name it. I tried to explain it exactly like he did to the both guys in my room. They both listened attentively. The more I said the more shocked they got. It sounded unbelievable to myself so it must be worse for them. But I was wrong. They weren’t shocked because it sounded unbelievable, they were shocked because my ability was one of the strongest.

“You should rest” Yu said and stood up. I could see that they both wanted to ask more and maybe even experiment with my ability, but they needed time to let everything they heard sink in themselves. “Please don’t let yourself be caught by the school. I agree with your ‘friends’ to hide the ability even if you have to stay away from them. It’s all better than being part of the SA.” He begged before leaving the room with Sho. Left behind in my room I had enough time to think about the upcoming day, which was my first training day.

Chapter 6 - Part three

I don’t remember the remaining school day. All day I was lost in thought thinking about everything that I found out on that one day. When school ended I went home in a trance. I walked past my brother without noticing him standing there to greet me. I directly went into my room and lied down on my bed. The SA were ability users. SA standing for special ability, not for the special A-class, better than the real A-class. The school was using its students for missions. What kind of missions? I wondered. For Hiro to come back with those heavy injuries they must have been really dangerous. Did Ryuu join those missions too? Did he ever come back this injured? Why was I worrying about someone I didn’t even know? If the school found out about my ability I would be in those missions too. The school mustn’t find out about it! I made up my mind. Starting from tomorrow I will be trained in my ability, I thought. I was looking forward to it. I was feeling really excited about it. Not everyone could claim about having an ability. I felt special. And the person who will train me would be Ryuu, just the thought of it made my heart beat faster. I didn’t understand myself. It probably was just the excitement of finding out about the abilities. The tiger was definitely one of the most exciting abilities there could have been. I couldn’t imagine any other ability which could compare with it. Hiro’s freezing and liquidizing ability was also thrilling, but in comparison with the tiger it lost, by far. The sensation of controlling it with my thoughts was still lingering in my head. I wanted to try it out more, try out a lot more than just giving directions. Having an ability didn’t seem like a bad thing at all. I couldn’t wait for the next day to come.

I heard someone knocking on my door. Without me having to answer the door opened a little and I saw Yu’s head. “Is everything alright with you?” he asked. When I nodded slightly he came inside and sat down beside me on my bed. “Did something happen today?” he continued. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him everything. I tried to ask him carefully, without telling him too much: “Do you know why there is an SA-class at our school?” he looked perplexed about my sudden question. He wasn’t expecting me to ask about that kind of thing. At first it didn’t seem like he wanted to answer. He was staring at me for a long time. Then he evasively replied: “Do you have a reason for asking? By chance you got interested in someone?” he tried to grin, so I would find him funny, but when I didn’t laugh he sighed. “Well, yeah, I know why. But you will understand when I say that I can’t talk about it and you should find out yourself, right?” he got up. He wanted to avoid talking about a subject, which he can’t help me with, but he knew something. I tried to keep prying about it. I had nothing to lose. If I said too much Yu would definitely keep it for himself. That’s why I loved and respected him so much. “SA – Special ability” when I said it out loud I saw how his eyes widened in shock. “that’s what it stands for, right?”

“How...?” he took a while to complete this sentence. “How did you find out?”

So I was right, he knew! But how come? He wasn’t in Japan for his High School. Now it was my turn to be shocked. When he noticed he calmed himself. “Well, usually no one other than the SA people themselves know about this, and a few chosen in the other classes who are the “pawns” for their missions. I suppose if you know about the SA you heard about the missions too, right?” when I nodded he continued: “How did you find out and why do you want to know?” I hesitated to answer at first. It was weird to talk about oneself and an ability. I lived the past almost 16 years without knowing of it and now I suddenly have an ability? How would I tell him? To make it easier for myself I first wanted an answer from him: “How come you know about them Yu? You were in Germany!”

Now he was the one to hesitate for a moment. I could see how he thought about an answer he could give me. And I was sure he wondered about my secretiveness but he carried it off well. After a long break he started talking: “Japan isn’t the only country which specializes in SA” he didn’t have to continue talking for me to understand. The only question I had in my head after hearing that I blurted out without further thinking: “You have a special ability?” I yelled. His face showed a sad look when he answered. “No” he shook his head “it’s not like that. I was just a pawn.” Just when I wanted to ask more he interrupted: “Let me tell you the whole story.” When I nodded he continued: “The SA isn’t all about their abilities. It’s students who get missions according to their ability, and their pawns who plan out those missions. Usually their pawns don’t have abilities, they just have the brains to make strategies. They are drilled into doing their job right. My training was hard, it started right when I first went to Germany, when I was just 10.” It was back then, I thought. That’s the reason he went to Germany right after our granny died. The training for the ‘pawns’ really started early. It shocked me that something like this happened without people being aware of it. “Anyway Nao, I want you to stay away from the SA!” he started where he left off.

Chapter 6 - Part two

“The faster we start, the saver she is.” Hiro sounded confident with this reasoning. Ryuu already formed fists with his hands and I could see how the bones turned white. He sighed heavily but didn’t say anything. When Hiro continued talking I knew he understood Ryuu’s silent sign to go on with what we were doing, even if he wasn’t happy with it. “Now Nao, try to touch this” he pointed to one of his wounds. Touch it? If I did that wouldn’t it bleed again? He already had lost so much blood. But he seemed sure about what he was saying so I reached out my hand but he caught it midway. “Let me finish. Touch it, without making it bleed! You have to control your ability. When you manage to touch it without the wound defreezing you got control about when to use it!” he let go of my hand. I slowly reached out for his wound again. Just an inch before touching it I stopped. I closed my eyes and concentrated. Not bleeding, not bleeding, not bleeding... I repeated over and over in my head before I touched his wound softly. I felt the cold. I managed to not make it bleed immediately. I softly opened my eyes and looked at the blood. It was still in place. When I wanted to turn around to share my joy with Ryuu I almost bumped my head with his. When I experimented with the wound he came nearer to get a closer look and his head was just behind mine so we almost kissed. I blushed and backed off when Ryuu shouted: “Hey concentrate! The wound!” and grabbed my hand so it would stay on Hiro’s wound. I turned my head to it and saw how the blood got liquid on one corner of it. I got nervous and looked up to Hiro, to see if he felt any pain, but he was just grinning widely and said: “Continue, continue.” I looked back to my hand and saw that Ryuu was still holding onto it. His face got nearer to mine when right beside my ear he softly spoke: “Concentrate. See, Hiro froze it back, try again. Touch it softly and just think about not liquidizing it. It mustn’t bleed. You have to control your ability. Make it your strength.” Hearing him this near to my ear made my heart beat faster. I knew I had to concentrate, they were doing it for me after all, but it was hard with him being this close. I closed my eyes again and tried to calm down. Concentrate, concentrate... I told myself. The wound mustn’t bleed. When I opened my eyes this time the wound was still frozen. I swiped over it a few times but it didn’t start bleeding. I did it! “You did it!” Hiro and Ryuu said at the same time. I looked up to Hiro to see that he still had a really wide grin. First he was looking me in the eyes but then his gaze wandered to my hand. When I followed it I saw that Ryuu was still holding my hand. This was becoming a habit. He must have noticed, because he let go right that moment.  I felt sad about it but right when I felt like that I questioned these feelings. I couldn’t feel sad about someone whom I just met. Ryuu hemmed “Well, that’s it for today. We have to get back to our classes or everyone will be suspicious. Let’s meet up tomorrow at lunch break in front of the stuff room. We’ll continue from there.” I nodded. I couldn’t look them in the eye right now. I was blushing from my own feelings and I felt like I had to go immediately. I turned around to leave the infirmary, but Hiro grabbed my arm. “Thank you a lot for your help.” When I turned around I saw a mischievous grin on his lips. The colour in my face got deeper. He saw through me. I nodded and he let go of my arm. I left the room and returned to the classroom. 

Chapter 6 - Part one

6.

Now that we resolved this, I remembered Hiro’s wounds. I looked at him, but he didn’t seem like he had any problems. I got up from the bed and went towards his bed. During the conversation he had sat up. I could see his wounds even clearer. I attempted to touch one of his wounds, but Ryuu held my hand back. “What are you trying to do?” he asked.

Right, what was I trying to do? If I touch his wounds they will just bleed and Hiro will lose more blood. Now that he looks fine I shouldn’t try doing anything, I thought. But I got curious about his ability and when the curiosity grabs me I just couldn’t withstand.

“Teach me...” I started but interrupted myself. What was I trying to say? He just warned me about people finding out that I had an ability, so why did I want them to teach me how to use it? But this whole matter seemed really interesting. If I knew how to use it, wouldn’t it be easier to hide it? That’s how I negotiated with myself before I continued. “...how to use it.”

“How to use what?” Both asked at the same time, but from their expression I could see that they already understood me.

“How to use my ability!” I replied.

“Didn’t you listen to our conversation?” Ryuu asked angrily. “You shouldn’t provoke the school by training it also! If the school notices you’ll be in the SA!”

Yeah, I understood that part. He was right about it. But knowing about abilities made me so excited I just couldn’t hold myself back. I nodded. “But, knowing how to use it will be an advantage for me, right? It could even help me in hiding the ability!”

I could see the rage in Ryuu’s eyes when he wanted to argue back, but Hiro beat him to it: “She’s kind of right, Ryuu. And there is the other matter: she HAS a recommendation, so if by chance someone senses her ability she will come in the SA anyway. If we help her train it then at least she won’t be completely unprepared.” He winked towards me. I smiled lightly. It was good that someone understood what I was trying to say and he even was on my side.

Ryuu ruffled his hair as if he was lost on what to do. Even his friend who should have understood his point wasn’t agreeing with him. I could see the fight within himself. But he understood that it was important for me to know how to handle the ability. I knew he came to a conclusion when he sighed. “Alright, but we’ll have to do it in secret. No one is allowed to tell anyone outside of this group. We’ll meet up every day after school to train.” He thought about everything he said and added: “And we need Kei’s help.”

Kei? Who was he? Another ability user? When he didn’t want anyone to know, why let him know? Before I could ask Hiro already shouted: “Kei? Really? YAY! That will be so fun!” his grin was really broad but the next moment he flinched. “Ow ow ow... my stomach.” So his injuries still hurt. He saw Ryuu’s and my worried faces and smiled slightly. “Don’t worry, it will heal soon. But now that I think about it... let’s start with the training immediately!” What was he saying? Suddenly starting with the training? Did he lose his mind? But just thinking about it made me excited. I wanted to try it! “What should I do?” I replied. I looked at Ryuu who was staring at his friend. “Do you have a loose screw Hiro?” he shouted. “You shouldn’t do anything but rest!” he had a point. But it wasn’t just Hiro who wanted to do this, though the outburst of Ryuu made me unsure of what to do, so I just stood there silently, waiting for what would happen.