"Any idea why did the ambush happened?"
A man who looked like a billboard model in his mid-thirties startled Ren, but not the rest of the group who entered an Izakaya Ramen in Asakusa. Ren was astounded by the man’s appearance; he was wearing a black crisp three-piece suit and looked like he’s straight out of a fashion ad.
"How the hell do you think we know why? Idiot." Ryosuke barked, his face turned reddish.
Ah. This guy''s probably Tomo Sensei. Ren''s thought. They both do resemble each other though.. His face go back and forth at Tomo and Ryosuke.
"Hey, I''m still your fill-in teacher. Don''t embarrass me here in front of the newbie." He smiled before he shifted his direction towards Ren. "Akai Ren, am I right? Pleased to meet you. You''re our recent celebrity."
"Ah, uh, yeah. It''s a, pleasure to meet you uhm.." What a cold, cold eyes he has.
"Minamoto Tomo. This idiot''s uncle.." Did he just slap Ryosuke''s head? "..and your temporary teacher. Well, I teach the Special Class, so if you do survive as a newbie now and will still be alive by next year, maybe I could request your transfer to my class. We do fun stuff, hunting heads and all.” Uh, did he just say that and smirk? Now I get why Sakura and Ryosuke called him a sucker.
"You''re in such a mood, Sensei. What a way to welcome the very student that YOUR girlfriend had chosen to bring in." Yamada voiced out. “She handpicked this outsider herself, do you think she would want you to snatch him from her?”
Girlfriend? Wait. V Sensei?
"Ah right. She would probably scold me, wouldn''t she?" Was that supposed to be sarcasm? Tomo Sensei seemed to have expressed a flat face as if he didn''t care. His smile doesn’t seem sincere either. He strikes me as someone who is popular, having it all, and an asshole. "Oh well, please take a seat, all of you. I''ve ordered my favourite Ramen for you guys, will be ready in just a sec."
"Why did you even call us here?" Ryosuke pouted. "I always hated the city. Touristy."
"To piss you off." Tomo smikred, and his nephew’s face turned fully red. Ryosuke is also fully ready to draw out his Katana.
I can sense the tense now that everyone is all quiet. Sakura hasn’t even made a sound since she stepped into the Izakaya.
Is Tomo Sensei that bad of a teacher? Let alone that bad of a person? He seemed sneaky enough, but he can''t be that bad, can he?
"So.." Tomo added. "None of you can really pitch out why did the attack happen?"
"Seriously? You''re asking us that, for real?" Ryosuke''s uttered out another bark with rather a serious voice this time.
"I''m asking you to work your brain out, little nephew."
There was a good few minutes of silence before Sakura broke her ice. "Did you do that, Sensei?" Her eyes challenged Tomo’s cold gaze.
"And if I did?"
At this point, Ren had to admit that Tomo looked rather like a villain. But Ren’s mind wondered some miles away for a minute, his head is filled with questions.
"Give me one good reason before I crush you, Sensei." Yamada''s eyes popped out with anger. "Mr. Shinichi was at death''s door. Explain. Now."
Yamada is without a doubt one of the strongest person I’ve come across with. But it would be a wrong move to actually challenge Tomo Sensei. I could already sense how terrifying he is. Let alone his Shoshiki power.
He''s a cool guy though, this Yamada dude.
"It wasn''t him." Everyone''s eyes fixed on me the moment I voiced out. Even the eyes behind the sliding door of this private room, that have been watching us like hawks. "If it were to be him, he wouldn''t break his character just yet. Bad timing. This Izakaya isn''t just a regular bar, am I right? Either one of the Big Four owned this establishment or it''s owned by a powerful individual in the Soshiki. But for sure, not the Minamotos. The crest on the wall is different from the Katanas that belong to the ones I''ve seen today. From the Principal to his son whom I just met, down to his grandson’s. So, if Tomo Sensei is to be the bad guy here, he''s an idiot, just like what Ryosuke had said." Ren paused for a moment before he continued, “the ones behind the walls and that very sliding door, they’re on their guard to launch an attack in case anything would’ve happened, correct me if I’m wrong.”
Clapping, Tomo Sensei laughs in amusement.. or seems like he is. His face is still ice cold northern alps, though. "Not bad of a deduction, newbie. Except that.. I did release a hundred Onis, more or less, who were held captive before attacking you. Sorry about that. But my question wasn''t really who did it, but why.."
With no hesitation, Yamada then launched a fist straight into Tomo''s face, which he easily dodged.
Man. Just what kind of drama am I in now? I didn’t sign up for a role.
And I was right. Those eyes behind the walls were as fast as jaguars to enter our room to hold Yamada and the rest of the group excluding me, who were just standing in confusion about what exactly was happening.
There were about four of the guards who with Japanese traditional clothes, on their stance blocking my new three classmates, and one stood trembling in front of Tomo Sensei. But in just less than a minute, an older man who reminded me a lot about the orphanage caretaker entered the room.
He doesn’t look very please.
“Tomo!” He shouted. “This isn’t a place for a dispute. I’ve warned you more than several times!”
On his feet, Tomo Sensei straightened his shoulder before he bowed his head down. “My deepest apology, Matsumoto-sama.”
Matsumoto-sama. Ah, the Izakaya’s name. I noticed it before I entered the establishment. Matsumoto Izakaya Ramen. I see it now.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Shit Ren. Focus. There’s a situation here.
Sighing, Matsumoto-sama replied. “You can’t even take this outside, there are citizens. State the issue. Now. There’s a reason for you to summon the students here in my place.”
“About that..” Tomo Sensei retorted as he positioned himself with a firm stance with his broad shoulder. “.. just a lecture for the students.” A cunning smile was visible on his face again.
“Fighting?”
“Learning.”
“Exactly how is this thing called learning when you purposely send an army of Onis to attack your very own students?” Still in his anger mode, Yamada threw out a shout. “A loyal man who served the school was and is still badly injured because of it, Tomo Sensei!”
“Exactly that, Yamachin.”
“Explain yourself, Minamoto Tomo.” The old man added the tense in the conversation. “The practice of holding the Spectres as captive has already ended over a decade ago..” There was a pause. “ ..by your very own woman.” The last sentence that he expressed through his eyes screamed disappointment toward Tomo Sensei. “Not only have you lied, but you’ve dared to cross me.” There was a good silence in the room for a good minute before Tomo Sensei uttered out another word, but the old man had ordered his men to exit the room beforehand. His last words pierced me as the door slid closed by his men. “Is this how you turned out to be after all these years?”
But Tomo Sensei didn’t sulk down. “And whatever happened to this establishment that put a high regard on its clients’ privacy? Back in the day you wouldn’t even give a single fuck to pour a glass of Sake to a minor.” He replied with rather a question and at this point I’m just at all lost. Matsumoto-sama then flinched. “I know you suspected a foul play when I booked this VIP room for the students. Am I wrong? Hence, those kids behind the walls.” Putting both his hands into his pockets, he then continued. “But with all due respect to you as a living legend Matsumoto-sama, I could easily wipe them off in a snap of a finger.”
“Straight to the point, Tomo!” Matsumoto-sama then raised his voice even louder.
The air around us in this high-end looking room was getting more depressing, and an eerie silence struck us before Tomo Sensei responded again.
“Well kids.. remember this for the rest of your life.” He took out his hands out of his pockets. “Strength, no matter how much you have of it, is nothing compared to the very word POWER.” He then drew out his Katana and cut the surrounding walls.
Shock pierced through my whole brain as I felt the presence of some supernatural beings.
The Spectres.
They’ve surrounded this place.
**
“What is this? How could this happen?” Matsumoto-sama mumbled with both his eyes wide opened. “They shouldn’t be able to enter, impossible.. there’s a seal..”
“But that’s just how the power system works in this filthy world of ours, Matsumoto-sama.” Tomo Sensei cut him off amidst his surprised state.
“What? What do you mean?”
“They know.”
“They..? The Higher-ups?”
“Not all of them of course. But V and Saiaka are on their way to handle this shit. Pardon my French Matsumoto-sama , I’m not necessarily in a stable state at the moment. I had to fight against a rat in court this morning and now this.”
“Hey Tomo Sensei, should we attack the Spectres now or do we wait and keep standing here like stupid?” Sakura’s cotton mouth entered the chat.
“Hold it Sakura.” Tomo Sensei swung his Katana once again, and in one minute time, I could no longer feel the presence of the Spectres.
In ONE. FREAKING. MINUTE.
Tomo Sensei stood straight with his sword like a motherfucking samurai.
I was in awe.
And still lost.
**
Thirty minutes later, I learned that some of the people who hold the power within this secret organization, called the Higher-ups, had purposely captured and released some Spectres, with all of them being the Onis –where I also learned that the Oni kind of Spectre isn’t a warrior type although still dangerous and eat human as its snack— which make them easily captured. The Higher-ups went overboard with opening the seal on the gate in the southwest Tokyo near Mount Uzumaki, closer to my new school. That particular gate only allowed the Onis to enter and exit its route. The ones who attacked both Yamada and I were the Onis, so do the ones who were sent here in this Izakaya. Tomo Sensei had to use his Manipulation Technique –apparently one of his abilities— for the Onis to get through us first. Mr. Shinichi, one of the school’s Men in Black, was made well aware of that by Tomo Sensei himself, but he went ahead with the mission anyway. Although badly injured at the moment. I guess they’re used to how the things worked around these things that are fairly new to me.
The reason? Well, apparently it has something to do with Matsumoto-sama.
Anyway, that was pretty much what had been said to me. And as the truth falls out, let me just say that I really truly, honestly have no any intention to eavesdropping.. however, the circumstances forced me to.
I was on my way back from the comfort room and passed by Tomo Sensei and Matsumoto-sama.. And again, I swear I had no intention on hearing what I was about to hear.
But what I heard made my heart race with trembling feet.
"How did they find out?" Matsumoto-sama raised his crisp voice.
Pointing at the ruined walls, Tomo Sensei responded. "They confirmed their suspicion on you, not long ago."
"They have, huh?"
"V''s informants reported it to her just last night. She was in Manila, had her flight back to Japan earlier this dawn."
"The Red Division, I believe. But oh well, my senses have gone senile. I guess growing old has its downsize. How could I not notice the Power Force layered within the walls.."
"Don''t beat yourself up to it, Matsumoto-sama. Your only weakness is your.. well I honestly despise this word, but your kindness has evidently become your downfall. Harbouring those Spectres.."
"They''re harmless." He cut Tomo Sensei off.
"They''re still the enemy." Tomo Sensei retorted.
Sighing, Matsumoto-sama replied softly. "You kids have been brought up to believe that the enemy IS the enemy."
"True that."
"But have you ever questioned if that belief is worthy as a belief?"
Amused, Tomo Sensei acknowledged what the old man had just said with a genuine smile. A smile so different from the one he showed roughly thirty minutes ago. He looked refreshingly different. As if he''s removing the mask he''s been wearing, and only showing it to the people he chose. "Profound philosophy. Have thy forgotten the reason why I left before, Sir?"
"I''m a few months away from being a century old.. It''s a luxury of life that I''m grateful for. But at the same time, it is also a curse of life that I''m being punished for.." He paused for a second. "I''ve done many unforgivable things in my lifetime." His voice echoed with regrets.
"And harbouring those Spectres is a way to atone for your sins, is that what you''re trying to say?"
"No. But saving them from the Soshiki''s trash like those corrupted Higher-ups is one way to keep me alive. There''s finally a purpose for a good cause. All my younger days with the war.. all went by in vain. Those lives I took on the battlefield, those families I broke.. those poor souls.."
"You were a military-man by choice, Matsumoto-sama. Your very own choice. Death is inevitable in the war zone. Death is also inevitable even in our normal life. And don''t get me wrong, our generation may be a fucked-up but we''re not heartless. You''re a crucial someone in V''s life, she may never show it but you know her longer than I do. She cares."
"Hahaha." Matsumoto-sama laughs wholeheartedly for a while.. although I can sense a hint of painful sound in that laugh. "She had endured a lot.. that brat."
"She''d start a civil war in Soshiki should the Higher-ups land their hands on you if I didn''t make a quick move today. She''d chop my head off too if I were to fail. I''m glad I made it on time. Although, I do feel bad for the kids. But what you did, Matsumoto-sama, is still a crime. As a former General in the Great War, you understand that very well."
"I broke the Soshiki Law with a cautious mind. I fully understand the consequences." There was a long pause before he continued. "Tomo.." He spoke softly. "I''m grateful you decided to re-join the Soshiki. I''m grateful that she chose you as her man."
Tomo Sensei sincere smile crossed his features once again. "That, I''m also grateful for, Sir."
"You''ll take care of those poor spirits, won''t you? They''ve never once harmed a soul.." In a trembling voice, Matsumoto-sama spoke out softly.
"I''ll figure out a way, I can promise you that."
"Then.. I can finally rest in my ancestors'' grave."
Indeed, my heart raced a thousand miles.
Before I realised another attack that was coming in our way.
Not from the Spectres.