Fantasy Stellar ARMOR Satellizer (Ranix Aurus & Admiral19)

[Ranix Aurus]

Akira took a quick glance at his phone, first checking on the clock, and then the elusive new message notification. In his eagerness to finally see his good friend again after months being apart, he had ended up arriving earlier. Too early, perhaps. All he could do now was to wait in boredom at a cafe until the promised time.

He looked at the bustling street. An unending stream of people blurred past him, absorbed in their own business. The sky was filled with towering high-rise, the biggest of them all sporting holographic display with the logo for OLYMPUS corporation. That megacorporation had been accelerating its growth lately, with endless releases of new and improved consumer goods on all fronts. Their stock price had been through the roof after their latest product hit the market, and the profits gained were divulged back into more growth. Factories and offices had been built all over the country, including in this city. Even his classmates had been clamoring to get their internships there, as the pay and benefits were exceedingly generous within the job market.

Job... he would have to think about it real soon. What he wanted to do for the future...

Bored with the outside world, he returned back to his phone, deciding to spend the time browsing today's news. More stories about unsolved disappearances, this time from the neighboring city. Authorities had been telling civilians to keep their vigilance, to go home immediately at dusk, especially for young children. Netizens were showing doubts at the police's capabilities, saying that the case had been dragging on for two months already without any conclusion. Conspiracy theory about terrorist cell or human trafficking organization were also spreading.

"It's getting more dangerous lately," Akira frowned. He would need to warn his baby sister not to go home late from now on.

 

[Admiral19]

The next time Akira looked up from his phone, he would notice someone peeking into the front window of the cafe, sporting the most goofy look he probably has ever seen. After about three seconds of holding eye contact, the person on the other side burst out into laughter, muffled by the barrier of glass. A little after that, the front door opened and Kanae(her laugh having eased down into a chuckle) took a careless seat across from Akira.

Yeah, that was...that was his friend, all right.

"Akira! Did you see me?" Anyone could have seen you, Kanae. "Because I haven't seen you in goddamn ages!"

Indeed, Kanae had been overseas for the past few months, having been sent there with the intent to figure out what she wanted to do in the future. In the time she's been gone, she's discovered a love for trackmaking, so maybe she'd go into music production, or somethin'...OLYMPUS was a valid option, maybe, but Kanae was never keen on corporate work...To be perfectly honest, Kanae was far more interested in the new country she could explore. Maybe she would have figured something out by now had she focused...eh, she wasn't sure. She hasn't been sure since she and Akira graduated, and to be perfectly honest, Kanae was in no rush; if she was gonna go into something, she wanted to make absolutely certain that she wanted it.

But this wasn't about her. This was about Akira and whatever the hell he's been up to. "How you been doing? Is biotech kicking your ass, or what? How's your sis? Ooo, isn't her birthday soon? I gotta get her a gift...!" She rattled off questions and statements at breakneck, wanting to know as much about what she's missed as she could.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Kanae was like a storm. She hadn't changed little since the first time they met many years ago. She was a bundle of boundless energy crashing at him at mach five, but instead of suffocating him, it was a pleasant feeling. If his life was a gray canvas, then Kanae was the sun that brilliantly painted it with sky blue.

He'd missed her so much.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Akira laughed heartily. "I'm not going anywhere! Take a breath first before you run out."

He raised his hand to call the waitress. Another cup of iced coffee would be nice for the occasion.

"I'm the same old, same old. Class had been boring lately, to be honest. Dad already taught me all of them since middle school. I'd been wondering if I should've followed you abroad instead."

Of course, that also depended on whether his sister agreed to come along. Akira wouldn't feel right leaving Hotaru by herself back home.

"Hotaru's fine. She missed you too...?" Maybe? He can't really tell what was going on inside his sister's head. People said that he was a stoic person, but Hotaru was plain antisocial. She didn't like making friends. Kanae, however, was a huge exception. He didn't know if it was because of his friendship with her, or it was just Kanae being Kanae.

"There's still a month left before her birthday. We can buy the gift together. You're not going anywhere again, aren't you?" He sounded like he was pouting. He didn't want to lose his friend again so quickly. "Anyway, how about you? How's it going overseas? Did you find whatever you said you wanted to get before?"

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae missed Akira, too; grounded enough to keep her in check, but lighthearted enough to be able to put up with her occasional BS and even go along with it a bit. Overseas, there wasn't anyone but her, Dad, and Mom, and while both of the latter meant well, Kanae just...couldn't vibe with them as much as she wanted to. She trusted Akira enough to do dumb stuff around him, 'cause she knew he'd be able to pull her back should she go too far out.

"Good to hear, all of that! Tell Hotaru I said hi anyway." Kanae leaned in with a mischievous smile, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Besides, I think with your knowledge of your sister, and my spontaneous nature...ooo man, she's gonna enjoy it! ...maybe."

Kanae wasn't the biggest fan of how Hotaru was so closed off; how was Kanae supposed to talk with her if figuring out what she was thinking was near impossible? Well, it wasn't like there was anything Kanae could do about it. What was she supposed to do, shake the antisocial out of her? That'd be dangerous!

"Also, I'm not goin' anywhere for a while," she said, leaning back in her chair, "but, uh...Well, I got a bit distracted by everything about America. I did some stuff for music production, yeah, but there were days between me starting projects and finishing them and starting new projects. Mom's kinda all graaaah about it"—she made a motion reminiscent of a lion pawing at something—"'cause I was spending more time listening to game OSTs than quality checking my projects, but it was all for inspiration, I promise you!"

There was...some truth to Kanae's words.

She looked out the window and up at the towering OLYMPUS building. "By the way, I heard about some of the stuff happening around here...are you and Hotaru gonna be alright?" The fact that people could end up missing for months was concerning, and as far as Kanae was concerned, the police were either too incompetent to figure out what's going on or they simply didn't give a damn. Or maybe whatever's happening is far more sinister than that...?

Either way, she wanted Akira to be okay, if nothing else.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Dude... finish your project," Akira groaned. Kanae was great at starting an idea. She was the definition of a free-spirit. What he couldn't think of with his limited viewpoints, she could, without breaking a sweat. The problem was that she wasn't the best on getting to the finish line. Maybe he should keep her in check, get her on track so she could finish whatever she was doing. That wasn't a bad idea, they could collaborate-

...No, he shouldn't meddle with her life. It wouldn't be good for their relationship. Besides, he liked this kind of Kanae the best.

When the topic turned to the serious side dampened his mood a bit. The news were indeed spreading out like wildfire across the country, perhaps even foreign newscasts had caught wind of it. Kanae's concern was understandable.

"We'll be fine. I guess...? So far the incidents only happened in other cities," in the countrysides, or smaller satellite cities, as if the perpetrators didn't dare to target places with higher population counts. "Same goes to you. You'll be staying here from now on, right? Is uncle and aunt still in America? It's dangerous if you stay alone at night, how about you..."

Stay the night? Hmm, was that appropriate? There wasn't anything between them. Yet. Akira wasn't even sure if Kanae would be receptive with that idea. In the end, he gulped before making up his mind.

"...Stay with us? Keep Hotaru company. I'm afraid that she'll grow mold if she stay in her room all days and nights."

For now, let's use Hotaru as a shield. Hmm, yes.

He turned his gaze out the window, hoping that she wouldn't notice his warming cheeks. Looking at pedestrians should calm him down. That was when he noticed something... someone.

"Kanae, look, that guy seems suspicious," Akira pointed at a man in a trench coat. His face was almost completely covered with a mask and sunglasses. He was carrying a suitcase, and his demeanor was... interesting. He kept looking left and right as he hurried down the street until he stopped at a crossing.

"If this is a detective movie, that guy would've been a culprit, wouldn't he?" Akira chuckled. But of course, life wasn't a movie. Maybe it was just a nervous salaryman late for his work. A mundane explanation was the most logi-

"""OH MY GOD!!!!"""

There was a loud crash. Then screams. That man was crossing the street when suddenly a taxi had crashed right into him, hurling the man toward the cafe. Time felt like it moved in slow motion as Akira witnessed the man's body smashing into the window, breaking it into pieces. He had moved before his brain could register what had happened. He lunged toward Kanae, and then pushed her away as far as he could from the window, while shielding her from the broken pieces of glass with his body.

Thankfully, it was a safety glass. The pieces weren't too much of a hazard. The same couldn't be said for the man, however, as he laid limp on the table, his eyes rolling back into their sockets. His body was twitching from time to time, so he was still alive. His suitcase was broken from the impact, pouring out reams of documents over the floor. As if by chance, a small object had landed right beside Kanae and Akira. Its metallic surface reflecting the invading sunlight.

A medallion.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae shrugged. "Yeah, still over there for work. If you're offering, I'd love to stay over, if only for Hotaru's sake, heh."

This is the first time Kanae's been invited to Akira's house, isn't it? Wait, it's the first time either one of them have been invited to the other's house; they usually met in the middle somewhere else, like a restaurant or a park. Being allowed to stay with Akira...Kanae feels like she should have done something to deserve that, and she technically hasn't! No, it's okay...it's not like Akira's trying to insinuate anything. Things really are dangerous out here, so reaching out to help someone out is common courtesy. Besides, he said it himself; Hotaru's gonna essentially grow vines if she stays in her room for so long. Maybe Kanae could coax her out a bit? Yeah, let's go with that!

But even then...why was her stomach fluttering? Maybe she should have gotten something to eat, at least.

Her attention was diverted by the person anxiously scurrying past the window. He did look really suspicious, didn't he? "Oh yeah...I was thinking more "twitchy henchman on his way to negotiate in a drug deal", yanno? But I see where you're coming from—"

All of a sudden, Kanae was on the ground, shards of glass flying across the edges of her vision. Before she could get up properly and see the damage, however, Kanae noticed the object that had fallen in the mess, strewn amidst scattered documents and shards of glass. The object bounced light into her eyes harshly, so much so that she couldn't even see what was on it...it was for sure circular, though. Very carefully, she picked the thing up and shoved it into her pocket for now.

Now to recollect. Something—someone—had crashed through the window, and Akira had pushed her out of the way before anything could do any damage to anyone. Wait, shit, Akira! Was he alright?! She bolted over to where he had fallen... "Akira! Are you...?!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

A groan followed her concerned call. Then another groan as he climbed back to his feet. "I'm alright," Akira said. The right side of his body ached like no other, but it was mainly from slamming the floor a bit too fast. His jacket was thankfully thick enough to keep the broken glass away. He pulled it off, careful not to get wounded by the pieces stuck on it. "The guy, though... we need to call an ambulance."

In fact, the cafe had gotten emergency on hold the moment the accident happened. Everything was like a blur. Akira remembered the police arriving as well. They asked him a few questions before letting them and the rest of the customers go. It seemed that they were putting their attention on the offending taxi instead.

"That's... something," Akira muttered. He wasn't in the mood to sightsee anymore, so he suggested to cut their downtown visit short. The blood on that table... he wouldn't be able to see ketchup the same way for a long while.

"Say... how about visiting my house?" He asked. "We can watch some movies. Or play games. Or... you know, anything to get that horrible incident off our minds."

 

[Admiral19]

Thank god. Kanae breathed a sigh of relief, then looked over at the body that flew through the window. He was...fine right now, but yeah, he needed medical attention, and soon.

Kanae was similarly shaken up from the incident, barely remembering what happened between the crash and the aftermath. The energy she had earlier was dulled, a half-smiling facade that barely covered her worry. Yeah, maybe they should cut the trip short.

"I'm down to play something!" Kanae's voice was noticeably quieter. "Yeah, show me...show me the way!"

Aimlessly, she shoved her hand into her pocket...the medallion was still there. Should she bring it up?

Later, when they actually got to Akira's house. Kanae needed a chance to relax.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Akira could be considered a quiet person, but he was especially so during the entire walk home. He wanted to give Kanae some time to process the situation, but to be honest he also need it. "Here we are," Only when they've reached his neighborhood did he finally commented.

Akira's house was in a quiet suburb south of the city. His parents had bought it after their marriage for a nice bargain back when the city was still under heavy development. Now that OLYMPUS had poured massive investments, the price of land in this area had risen tremendously. His father had always said that breaking his blood and sweat to buy a house instead of a much cheaper apartment was highly worth it.

The house itself was on the small side, barely enough for a family of four to live in. Akira and his sister used to inhabit the same bedroom upstairs when they were younger, but later on the guest room was repurposed for him to use personally. His old room now had a "do not disturb" sign on it, with a cute animal doodle added.

"Make yourself at home," he said while taking his shoes off. He glanced at the shoebox. Hotaru's shoes were in there, so his sister must be home. He motioned for Kanae to wait at the living room until he returned with two cups of barley tea.

Finally he felt relaxed. Home. They were safe here. Without noticing, his shoulders slouched down sloppily as he laid his head on the table.

"That was horrible," he groaned. The back of his jacket was torn up by the broken glass. He wasn't sure of what to do with it, so he just dumped it at the corner of the closet for now. "Sorry, Kanae... I was the one who said that we should meet up today. It ended up a big failure."

 

[Admiral19]

Under any normal circumstance, Kanae would try to cut the silence with some kind of dumb joke. But after everything that happened earlier...well, she wasn't an ass. Not to mention, she needed the time to process too; she came back expecting a warm welcome, and the first thing to happen was someone flying through the cafe window. It was a mess, but she hoped it wasn't a mess Akira would blame himself for.

It didn't occur to her until today; Akira was pretty far from her, wasn't he? Her place was in a neighborhood a few miles eastward of this one. Her dad had a job at OLYMPUS for a couple of years, which had paid well enough for them to get a house over there. She never understood why he left, considering how much they were earning, but this wasn't about that, it was about getting comfortable.

Kanae took a sip of her tea; she remembered not even wanting to drink this kind of stuff before Akira turned her on to it. "It's alright! You think I knew that some guy was gonna crash through the window? No! I don't blame you for anything, it's just something that happened!" She hated when Akira beat himself up like this, especially over things he clearly had no control over.

"Besides..." Light briefly reflected off of something Kanae was bringing out of her pocket. "I wouldn't say that it was a big failure. I found this"—she refrained from saying "near the guy that crashed into the cafe"—"as we were walking back!"

The object in her hand was a medallion, small enough to fit right in the middle of her palm. It was a brushed metallic silver at its base, decorated with red streaks of paint in ornate patterns, all surrounding the same symbol etched into its surface; the astrological sign of Leo.

"I dunno what it's for," she said, "but I thought it was cool! Maybe it's like a collectable coin or something?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Wow...!" Akira was mesmerized by the item on her palm. It had a simplistic design, yet there was something with the luster of the metallic silver and the intricate pattern that drew people in. He cautiously brushed the surface with the tip of his finger. It felt cold to the touch.

"This is cool! They sold this in the States? I should've asked you to buy me one as well," Akira said, smiling gleefully like a little child. "This is an astrological sign, right? Or was it astronomical... I dunno, that thing they used in fortune telling? I think this is... uh... Pisces? Scorpio?"

He quickly whipped out his phone. A cursory search returned the answer right away. "Leo. It's the sign of Leo, the Lion. That's really cool!"

He was so focused at the medallion that he didn't hear the pitter-patter of someone going down the stairs behind him.

"Big brother... you're back?" A soft voice called out, follow by a yawn. Hotaru Tanaka had grown into a tall beauty, with one-third similarity to her brother. She would've been more popular perhaps if not for her constantly sleepy look and her particular disinterest with people. Just now, she hovered into the living room in a daze like a ghost in white, but her eyes immediately brigthened up the moment she saw Kanae.

"Kanae!" Hotaru let out a squeak before squeezing herself right beside Kanae, acting like a spoiled kitten. She was completely betraying her cool-and-collected persona. "I missed you..." she purred.

 

[Admiral19]

"Oh really? I didn't know that...!" Kanae never really cared for astrological stuff or whatever you'd call things like this, but she did like stars a lot...if this was something she could have actually bought when she was overseas, she would have gotten it in a heartbeat.

Their shared admiration of the medallion took a break for a moment, however, because Hotaru had just arrived downstairs, anxiously pushing to get next to her. Hotaru only really ever got like this for Kanae, which was something to be proud of; getting a sleepy-looking, antisocial sort like Hotaru to brighten up at the mere sight of her? That speaks wonders to how much she cares for Kanae, or maybe it's the energy Kanae just had naturally. Either way, of course, the feeling is mutual, even if it was hard to get a read on Hotaru sometimes.

"Hotaru, hark! Dear ol' Saitou-san has returned from a long and grueling trek across the world..." Kanae dramatically swept her arm through the air, gazing longingly into space...before hugging her free arm around Hotaru's shoulder. "I missed you too, Firefly! How's everything been? Big Brother hasn't been giving you a hard time, has he?"

Kanae flipped the medallion in her hand before showing it off to Hotaru. "Oh yeah, check out this thing I got on my trip across the pond! Pretty as hell, right? I wanna get a display case for it...what do you think?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Hmm," Hotaru hugged her back, burying her face in Kanae's chest. "Big brother was bullying me yesterday..."

"Oi, oi, I only told you to get out more often!" Akira quickly chimed in to clear up the false accusation. "All you do when there's no class is hiding in your room all the time! You need more vitamin D, my dear sister."

She was indeed a bit too much on the pale side. The girl only stuck her tongue out as a reply before currying favor with Kanae again. She knew that Kanae would be on her side!

"Fine, you guys do whatever..." Akira sighed helplessly. He was watching their interactions with a smile before it slowly died down when he noticed that Hotaru was staring at the medallion with a deep frown. She seemed to be aversed to it, her body leaning away slightly as if to make a distance.

"Hotaru?"

"Oh," she snapped out of it in the blink of an eye. Her expression returned back to the usual, although she still didn't show any interest at the medallion.

"You don't seem to like it?" Akira scratched his neck, a bit surprised. Hotaru was a bit peculiar about her likes and dislikes. Perhaps it was just one of the latter. "Anyway, getting a display case would be nice. Maybe we should go out again tomorrow? Oh, also... how about you... stay over for the night?"

He scratched his neck again. The tip of his ears were undoubtedly red.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae noticed that Hotaru leaned away from the medallion as well...what was that about? Well, maybe some people weren't all that into collecting. Or maybe the design looked bad to her? Well, it looked fine enough to Kanae, but hey, it takes all kinds, right?

Beyond that, however... "Oh yeah, I'd love to go! Maybe..." She wanted to say something about making up for today, but Hotaru didn't need to know about that. Last thing Kanae wanted was for anyone to start needlessly worrying about anyone else.

Instead, she cast a sideways glance over at Hotaru, who had gotten right comfortable beside her. "Maybe we could bring Hotaru along? 'Cause listen, Firefly, as much as I think you're the cutest thing in the world, Akira's kinda right...any paler, and I'd think you're a ghost! You need to get outta here for a bit!"

At the mention of staying over for the night, Kanae cleared her throat. What are you nervous about? Your parents won't be back in Japan for another week, things have gotten dangerous around the area recently...you can't just stay at your place by yourself! At least here, you'd have some people protecting you and keeping you company!

"Yeah, sure, so long as you're offering." Kanae graciously took the invitation. Besides, it'd be a good opportunity to catch up; you've been away from the two of them for the past few months, for crying out loud! But... "Are you gonna have room, though? If you don't have another bed, I'm fine with sleeping on the couch, don't worry." It wouldn't necessarily be the first time she slept on a couch; when her room was being renovated one time, the couch became her best friend for about a week. She could bear it again, surely!

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru shuddered at the mention of going out. Surprisingly, she didn't reject it outright either. Perhaps there was a chance now that Kanae was here?

"Right, room... you know, how about-" Akira had a naughty idea at that moment. Ah, no. He had to stop. He quickly reined his thoughts back in. "No, don't sleep on the couch. You can sleep in my room. It used to be the guest room anyway. I can sleep on the couch instead."

"No," Hotaru suddenly chimed in. She squeezed Kanae's arm with a tight hug, rubbhing her cheek on her shoulder. "Kanae will sleep with me."

Hmm... maybe that's... fine? Akira blinked, a bit perplexed. "You sure? Have you cleaned your room yet?"

He hadn't seen the inside of her bedroom for years. There wasn't any strange odor coming out of it, but... a picture from the internet he saw before of a gamer's room, with cans of beers and rotten pizza slices strewn about on the floor, quickly came to mind.

"...Big brother, you're being rude," Hotaru pouted. Her bedroom was, in fact, just a normal one like any other. A bit dusty, perhaps, but relatively clean. "Well, Kanae?" She looked at their childhood friend with twinkles in her eyes, begging like a puppy.

 

[Admiral19]

Oh, how dare Hotaru try to tug at Kanae's heartstrings with those eyes of hers...! Luckily, Kanae didn't want Akira to sleep on the couch anyhow; why would she make Akira sleep on the couch when he was the one who invited her over? She'd feel like a shitty guest!

"Akira, you invited me to your home," Kanae said, "I'm not gonna let you sleep on the couch. I'll bunk up with Hotaru!" She squeezed Hotaru into a big hug. How could she say no to this girl practically snuggling up against her? And besides, she'd love to catch up with her as well.

That being said..."But, uh...just in case, I wanna check out your room, Hotaru...y'know, just for the sake of...making a space for me to sleep!" When it came to the Tanaka siblings, Kanae would like to say she was fair with both of them. She was willing to side with one or the other, but if it came down to a certain issue, she wanted to remain as partial as she could. She's never had a sibling of her own, but she did know that compromise was sometimes necessary...she thinks.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru had separated from Kanae for the rest of the conversation, mainly because she had no trust. Akira was covering his mouth while silently holding back his laughter, which earned him a kick under the table from his sister. The day was already getting late when they arrived, and soon it was time to take a rest for the day. Akira took the lead as he got up and stretched his body. His side still hurt a bit from the crash. He hoped that a good night's sleep would let it heal.

"Alright, you guys have fun. Good luck, Kanae-"

Hotaru gave him another kick when she saw him clapping his hands in a prayer.

"Come in..." the girl held her bedroom's door open for Kanae. The decoration was quite minimal. Simple, white paint for the walls, while the rest were bare necessities for a college student. A laptop laid on the desk near the bed, with a pile of books related to graphic design at one end. It was, thankfully, devoid of trash bags, or expired bags of chips, or whatever else their imagination could conjure about a shut-in's room.

The only thing that added some touch to the room was an old teddy bear on the bed. Hotaru plopped down on the mattress before pulling the plushie into a hug. "Do you remember this?" She showed the brown bear to Kanae. It was a toy that his brother had won for her back when they were younger. Kanae had a hand in getting it too. In a way, it was her memento of them both.

 

[Admiral19]

"I'll be fine, trust me!" She gave Akira a thumbs up as she followed Hotaru into her room. Ah, it looked much cleaner than Kanae expected—erm, of course it did, because if nothing else, Hotaru is good at keeping her room clean! Yeah!

Upon seeing the little teddy bear she and Akira helped Hotaru get, a massive smile broke out on Kanae's face. "Ahh, I do! We put so much money into getting that thing, but the way you smiled when we got it was priceless." Kanae sat on the mattress next to Hotaru. "Y'know, I missed you guys a lot. So much so that, when I was out overseas, I kept thinking about that bear whenever I started feeling a bit lonely. Well, that, and all those DVD box sets we watched together."

Yeah, those. Kanae once bought a bunch of DVD sets for old masked-hero shows and, not wanting to watch over four hours of content by herself, decided to watch them with Akira and Hotaru. That was her favorite memory; the three of them, all hopped up on snacks and soda, singing each show's opening off-key every time an episode started. That was a time, alright...

"Oh, hey, speaking of those DVDs!" She brought the medallion she found out again. "Y'know, I'm looking at this thing again, and doesn't it seem like something you'd put into something else and use to transform, right? Like I could just..."

She stood and pantomimed opening up a compartment on an imaginary belt, "placing" the medallion into the "compartment". "Transform! ...Yanno?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Ah. The DVDs. Those old-era shows about people in costumes fighting nonsensical enemies. Hotaru wasn't too fond of them, but she remembered that Akira and Kanae were really into it. Especially when the main characters made their weird signature poses and "transformed" into the heroes. She remembered the two going wild with cheers. As for her, she... got swept up with the occasion, perhaps? She wondered whether those older medias were still usable these days. It had been years since they've last seen it.

Hotaru tensed up when Kanae was mimicking those masked heroes with her medallion. "No. That's silly," she grumbled, before turning on the bed so her back was facing Kanae. She hugged the bear tighter, burying her face in its soft fur. "...Those shows... it's not real. Kanae can't 'transform' like that in real life. Don't bother."

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae's smile and stance faltered a bit. Well, that was to be expected. Hotaru was never really into all that masked-hero stuff; it was a miracle that Kanae and Akira could even get her to join them back then(Maybe it was all the food). But even then...wasn't she being a little grumpy about it? Kanae loved her fantasy worlds, but not that much, not to the point where she genuinely believes some random coin that was left by a severely injured dude's body could really do anything.

Even if it could, what would she do with that? It's not like there was some overarching threat she could take on, so all that suit would be good for is a damn good cosplay.

"W-well, I mean...yeah, you're right." Kanae laid back down on the bed next to Hotaru, staring up at the ceiling. "That's just an example, just how I imagine it would work. I dunno if this thing actually does anything, but don't you at least wanna imagine what would happen if it could?"

Maybe she didn't. That was fine too, Kanae supposed; the three of them were close enough in age that she could say Hotaru was mature enough to do whatever she wanted.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru turned her head slightly to sneak a peek at Kanae. She pursed her lips before diving into Kanae's side. "I'm sorry..." her voice came out a bit muffled as she snuggled closer. "Those shows have... monsters, in them, weren't they? The heroes had to fight monsters after they transformed. It's... dangerous. I don't want Kanae to be in danger. I don't want to imagine it."

She said it so seriously, as if the shows were real and fighting monsters were a known occupational hazard.

"Promise me you won't put yourself in danger...?" She peeked up, again with the puppy eyes.

 

[Admiral19]

There goes Hotaru again, swaying Kanae with those eyes. Kanae didn't exactly believe anything wild like that would happen, but...well, she hated seeing Hotaru worry. She turned to look at Hotaru straight on, bringing her closer into a hug. "I'll be just fine. I'm great at keeping out of danger!"

Kanae's voice lowered to a soft murmur. "Hey, Firefly. If the time ever comes and something dangerous comes knocking at our door, I promise that I'll keep out of trouble. Can't exactly get you outside more if I'm gone, can I? And who's gonna keep your brother from bullying you?"

Kanae said all that, but...she didn't want Hotaru or Akira to worry, but neither did she want them gone. If she could, if she really had the chance like those people in those shows did, then she'd want to protect them both. If she really could, she'd make it so that neither of them would have to worry again.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Kanae~" Hotaru purred. "Kanae is so good to me. Even back then... you would play with me when the other kids wouldn't. I'm... happy. I like... Kanae..." Her words trailed off into a whisper as her breathing got quieter, settling into a good night's sleep. Her slender fingers curled up on the hem of Kanae's clothes, as if reluctant to let go.

Sunday morning arrived without a fanfare. Akira had gotten up since dawn. Part of it was a good habit formed from years of having to prepare lunch boxes for himself and Hotaru every morning. The other part was because he was stupidly nervous. Kanae was staying over, goddamnit! In his house! He was surprised that he even managed to fall asleep yesterday. He was worried that it would show in his face. Kanae was their childhood friend, she was like a sister. He really shouldn't have weird thoughts for her.

"OLYMPUS proudly presents the latest and greatest of future technology. The PAS, Personal Assistance Suit! Our patented ARMOR technology is an easy-to-wear automatic suit that enhances human capabilities to a new height! Lift boulders twice your weight single-handedly! Run marathon without breaking a sweat! With our PAS, nothing is impossible!"

An advertisement for OLYMPUS's latest tech reveal was rolling on the television. The scene then turned to OLYMPUS headquarters, where they showed a group of security personnel wearing said suits. Those were shaped like white-colored riot gear, but seemingly made entirely out of metallic material, more conforming to body shape, and covered them entirely from top to bottom. The people wearing them look more like robots than normal humans, but their movements were surprisingly nimble, as if they were wearing nothing at all.

"The first official working batch of PAS will be rolled out to law enforcement personnel near you. PAS, creating a better, safer future!"

That looked cool... Akira thought to himself. It's like that superhero from the movie, that "Ironman" guy. He wondered if those PAS robot suit can fly or shoot laser too? Maybe not. This is real life, not fantasy sci-fi movies. At most they would be merely powered exoskeleton.

"Breaking news, Tendai Hospital at XXX city had suffered an attack from unknown assailant last night. Preliminary report had concluded that the patients and medical staff were unharmed."

Huh, that's their city.

The scene in TV showed a footage from outside of the hospital. It looked... awful. One side of the fifth floor was heavily broken, as if a wrecking ball had smashed and created a hole on it. There wasn't any report of machine noises last night, so the police were suspecting the use of explosives.

"One patient had gone missing after the incident, one Seiichiro Amamiya, forty-two, who was brought to the hospital after a horrific hit-and-run at noon the previous day. Mr. Amamiya is later discovered to be an employee of OLYMPUS corporation, and OLYMPUS had reached out to verify the information..."

Akira's hand had stopped stirring his tea when the picture of the missing person showed on the screen. That guy... wasn't that the one who got hit by a taxi yesterday? His stomach began to churn. Something was up, he just didn't know what.

 

[Admiral19]

It took Kanae a good, long while for her to properly get up, mostly because she woke up to Hotaru clinging onto her like a koala. Not wanting to wake her, Kanae spent more time than one probably would carefully trying to move out of her grip, before resigning to her fate and simply nudging Hotaru awake.

"Firefly..." Kanae gently tapped Hotaru's forehead. "C'mon, Akira's prolly already up by now. Fiiiirefly...!"

Soon enough, the pair were drowsily moving into the main room as the news broadcast was running. Kanae only managed to catch the tail end of what the anchor was saying, something about an employee of OLYMPUS...

"G'morn, Akira," Kanae said, rubbing the sleepy out of her eyes, "how's the day treating you?"

Bang, bang, bang!

A few sharp knocks on the front door could be heard. This early in the day? What the hell could they want?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Hey, good mor- what the hell are you guys doing?" Akira twitched. Hotaru was clinging on Kanae like a stubborn bear cub, making it seem like the older girl was dragging a sack of potato around with her. They were wobbling like crazy all the way downstairs.

"Girl, get off her. Poor Kanae can't even walk," he said while turning the TV volume slightly down so they could converse easier. "It's been good. Morning's feeling great today," especially because he could see her first thing in the morning. That was more than what he could ever asked for. Well, technically, his sister did it before him, but... let's not worry about the detail, yeah?

Unfortunately, the warm atmosphere was interrupted by knocking on the door. Very persistent as well. "Hold up," Akira got up and went over to the take a look. When he opened it, there was a suave middle-aged man dressed in crisp suit and top hat standing in front of him.

"Good morning," the man said in an amiable tone. His lips were curved up into a pleasant smile.

"Oh, uh... yes, good morning," Akira swallowed his complaints. "How can I help you?"

"You have something that I want. I would like to have it back."

"Uhhhhhh... Sir, I think you have the wrong house. If it's something that have to do with my father, then it'll be faster if you contact him directly. He's not living here at the moment."

Damn it, did his old man got them into debts? What kind of trouble was he making out there?

"You have something that I want," the man repeated, his voice sounding unnatural. "The medallion. I would like to have it b-"

"WRONG HOUSE!" Akira slammed the door on his face. He had a really, really bad premonition just then the moment he mentioned about the "medallion". He couldn't explain it in words, but he was somehow convinced that it had something to do with that thing Kanae had shown him before. This won't do. He would have to discuss this with her.

"Kanae, that medallion of yours, where did you-"

His words were abruptly cut by a loud noise of something breaking into pieces. He looked back in horror as the man in suit had stepped into their house by way of breaking down the front door itself. That thing was made out of mahogany, his father replaced the original one with that way back then for "security reason". It was now laying at the side, pitifully split in five. As if a wrecking ball had smashed on it.

Akira had a chill on his back. The image of the wrecked hospital building from before flashed in his mind.

"The medallion. I would like to have it back," the old man repeated. Again. His eyes glowing yellow as his gaze flitted over from Akira, to Hotaru, and finally to Kanae.