The Forgotten Heir

Chapter 4: Talk
The main dining hall was near desolate, wooden chairs spread out along the tables, kitchen staff hustling about to clean the visible mess. Workers swept the floors and cleaned the tables spotless, exhausted from long hours of sweating up storms behind the scenes in the kitchen. Fast food workers wordlessly counted register drawers, shuffling large bills aside their manager at the end of their shift. The clinking of dishes, running water and preparing future materials, were the absolute everyday routine of the cafeteria staff, as it had been since the academy’s opening. It’s been drilled in their heads their job is not complete until every single student has left the hall before they can go home.
Hence why they glared daggers at the tan skinned teenager in the back corner.
Akira wolfed down another plate of shrimp tempura, his mouth watering from the crunchy crustacean as he savored his meal. Placing the now empty plate on top of the many stacked before it, he swallowed once more, feeling the warmth of his meal go down to his very core. He paid the glaring workers no mind as he took a gulp of his hot tea, until mild vibrations reverberated up from his fingertips to his arm. Grumbling, Akira set the cup down in exchange for the device, much to the dismay of the staff.
“Hello?” Akira mumbled, mindlessly rubbing his stomach as he enjoyed the remains of his meal. He nearly caught himself from yawning once he heard the voice from the receiver.
“I must have good timing. I caught you right after dinner, right?” Akira couldn’t help the grin reach his face; golden orbs twinkled mischievously as he chuckled. “I don’t remember you ever having bad timing, Onee-chan.” His grin grew bigger when light sputtering sounds came from her end, his chuckle held in under his breath. His captain was really too easy to tease. As he heard her clear her throat, he could almost see the dust of pink on her pixie face while she managed to maintain herself.
“What’s your status there? Has there been any trouble since you arrived?” Akira tapped his fingers on his chin in thought, his mind drifting back to over the past couple of weeks. The only entertainment he achieved was that one Hollow on his first day; afterwards everything slowed down to the pace of a sloth. Copper orbs came to mind, which he mentally shooed away. Akira gently rubbed his eyes with his free hand as he cradled the phone on his shoulder. “Nothing in particular at the moment. There was a minor Hollow incident in the perimeter a while ago, but that’s already taken care of. Other than that, it’s pretty much a bore fest over here.”
“Quit your whining. You’re the one who begged me for this mission in the first place,” the woman scolded, her strong voice heard clearly from the receiving piece. Akira internally groaned as she started her rant, mindlessly twirling a chopstick between his fingers. She must be in her room if she was able to speak so casually. It amazed him that when coaxed, she can talk for a long time, quite energetically too. Not that it irritated him. He was more than happy his ‘sister’ was more than willing to speak without worry, as rare as those occasions were.
“What time is it there now?” he politely asked, interrupting the young woman’s long-winded speech. A short silence was his answer until she murmured ‘dawn’; Akira didn’t need to strain his ears as a small yawn emitted from the woman’s mouth. His brow furrowed with concern, not thrilled about her losing sleep at a time like this. Akira let out a light huff as he asked her random questions in hopes of waking her up. Plans for the day, who she was meeting, what new kick she would use when ?maeda gets crumbs in her hair, again. He laughed at her snort from the last question, but she answered each and every one without fail.
“Alright, alright. Now on a more serious note,” Soi Fon replied while Akira continued to snicker, “I noticed in your last report the humans have a name for these… beings. Care to elaborate?” Akira’s smile faltered into a neutral line, the top half of his tall frame leaned against the wooden chair. Thinking of a proper explanation, Akira quickly recalled the notes from yesterday’s physics class, courtesy of Professor Kim.
“Here they are referred to as ‘Nova’,” Akira ruffled his bangs as the information slowly came back, “Size wise, they’re about half of a Gillian, maybe a little larger. They’ve only made contact with the humans nine times, which they refer these meetings as ‘Clashes’. Out of those nine clashes, they have knowledge of only four types: Type S, R, Q, and F. The most dangerous type it seems is Type S, but since the attacks are so few and far in-between, who knows when the next one will arrive.” Akira stopped twirling the chopstick as he set it down on the top plate, mildly tapping his fingers on the smooth wood. “I won’t know how much of a danger they are until I actually see one, but they are similar to Hollows in more ways than one. The core is some type of crystallized jewel, that’s heavily plated by some type of armor instead of being exposed like a mask.” He caught his breath as he took another sip of his tea. “Also, the Nova use high energy beams like Ceros, and what we know as reiatsu, they call it ‘Freezing’. Here, male students learn to perform a ‘Freezing’ in order to cancel out the effects of the field. Depending on how capable they are, I’d guess it would take an average of five, maybe six of those students just to open it, but keeping it open is a different story.”
“And how exactly are these students able to perform this…freezing?”
“Technology.” he answered, silently clicking his tongue, “small silicon disks known as stigmata are surgically implanted in the students’ skin. Once these disks have been activated, the students are now capable of performing superhuman abilities, from what I’ve seen an increase in acceleration and brandishing weapons out of thin air. However, these abilities are maintained in only the females of the student body. Previous research had shown male students were capable of maintaining only one stigma; any more, their bodies would immediately reject them, causing serious if not lethal reactions.”
“Is having that chip in your skin allowed?”
“It’s not just allowed, it’s required,” Akira murmured as he shuffled through his jacket pockets, “Without it, I won’t have any access to other facilities, especially the training rooms, unless I’m baptized…at least that’s what Tichy-sempai stated.”
“Baptized?”
“Yeah. This school has strong ties with…what did André say it was called…oh yeah, the Catholic Church. I think it’s because a large majority of the student population are from Europe, so I guess that makes sense.” He also chose to not mention how Tichy elbowed him in the ribs, hard, because he asked the principal why she was dressed funny. It was an honest question.
“And how exactly does one get ‘baptized’ at the school?”
“Well,” Akira cleared his throat as he finally found the folded photo and began to unfold it, “I asked my roommate, but he started blushing the moment I asked. Then he startled rambling about his girlfriend for some reason, so I left because the stupid grin on his face was freaking me out. Just this morning, I asked another classmate, Goro I think it was, and he was able to give me a much straighter answer.” Now that he thought back to it, the silent young man he questioned blushed throughout the ordeal, growing redder and redder with every word he spoke. As he replayed the conversation, Akira’s own cheeks began to heat up in realization; he wouldn’t be surprised if the distant workers noticed cherry red blotches on his cheeks.
“So, how’s it done?”
“Oh right, yeah, how it’s done…um,” Akira began to stutter, his cheeks growing even hotter as he forced himself to explain the situation. “Well, first of all,” Akira started, his throat drying up faster than he could think, “I have to find a girl.”
“…A girl, you say?” For the love of Kami, please don’t make this harder. “Yeah, I have to find a girl, and then we talk…about stuff.”
“Well what kind of stuff?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t ask about particular subjects,” Akira muttered, his cheeks flamed vermillion as his tapping fingers quickened. He really needed some water. “We talk for a little while, and afterwards…we go to her room.”
“Why do you need to go to her room?”
“It’s all part of the ritual Nee-san. I didn’t make the rules.” His voice came out raspier than he intended, almost lowered to a harsh whisper. “Anyway, we both go to her room, talk some more, and then I leave. That concludes the Baptism.” Akira hoped and prayed to every deity he could think of Soi Fon would buy that sorry excuse of a ritual.
There was no way in hell he will tell her he’s supposed to have an orgy with a girl he just met.
“Hmm,” Soi Fon replied, mulling over Akira’s description, “I don’t really understand its purpose…but I’ll take your word for it. People from Europe have such strange rituals.” Akira let a sigh of relief escaped his mouth, thankful his light mantra did the trick. Relaxed once more, he took another slow gulp of his tea while he fiddled with a bang, looking down at the now unfolded photo with interest.
“So have you found one yet?” Harsh choking sounds came from the teenager’s mouth as his cheeks grew hot once more. For someone who was much older than him, she was way too innocent for her own good.
He had little time to react when the scent of vanilla reached his nostrils, golden orbs widened in surprise in recognition of the smell. Turning to the doors behind him, a maroon haired woman raced down the hall like a madman. Akira looked down at his photo, then back up to the woman, immediately recognizing the character. As Akira looked up again, the girl had come to a complete stop, her tennis shoes made light squeaking noises as she planted her heels into the marble. Surprised copper clashed with curious gold, the look on her face showed disbelief of him really being here. Akira said nothing as he heard her steps come closer, watching with intense interest of her gliding form.
She was of average height, a good head taller than the woman he still had on the phone. High thigh socks he was used to seeing were replaced with low ankle ones, giving him full view of long, lean, fair skinned legs, a light sheen of sweat on her muscles visible as they flexed and relaxed with each step. Loose sky blue shorts reached his sight, the elastic hem riding low at her hips while the white shirt she sported nearly clung to her body. Pouty pink lips were set in a line as she passed him, only to seat her lithe form across from his spot, arms crossed above her bosom while she maintained steady eye contact.
Mind blank, Akira wordlessly looked on at the red-haired woman before him, his tapping stopped as soon as she entered the room. Realizing the phone was still in hand, Akira let out a light curse as a concerned voice awakened his common sense.
“Nee-san, I’ll have to call you back.” Quickly shutting off the phone before Soi Fon could say another word, he brought back his attention to the impatient girl, light noises from her foot tapping the ground reached his ears. Akira gently picked up his now lukewarm cup of tea, taking a small sip while hiding the light smirk on his face.
“What took you so long?” golden orbs twinkled with mischief, “Arnett-sempai.”