Essence

Chapter 6: The First Hurdle

"Don't regret it later, Pod" Kurotsuki said smiling at the purple-haired boy, Ryou just smirked in response. Glaring…violet eyes against azure blue.

"Don't get too cocky, Airhead, we haven't even started" He replied

"I wonder about that…" Kurotsuki muttered, then he walked slowly towards his opponent "I haven't fought seriously for so long… you better entertain me, Ryou-chan"

Ryou stared at him, "It's true, I haven't seen him use his Essence at all… this idiot always fools around during fights… his ability is…" he was cut off, when Kurotsuki disappeared from his line of sight and reappeared behind him, intending to slash him with a small "knife". Ryou blocked it with ease, then he thrust to the side to deliver a kick which Kurotsuki blocked with his left arm.

"Nice~" Kurotsuki said grinning wide. He raised his hand with the knife, to try and stab Ryou from above, but he quickly moved and got behind him. They both engaged in a hand-to-hand combat, without the use of their Essence.

"Haah~ This is getting boring" Kurotsuki complained, he jumped back to gain some distance.

"Time to get serious then" Ryou replied emitting some huge dark aura, "Fight me with your Essence" He declared. Kurotsuki stood straight from his location, eyeing his opponent.

"Demo~ Ryou-chan is really strong y'know" He said in his usual monotone "…It makes me tremble with excitement" he added, a dark glint flashed in his half-opened eyes.

"Come!" Ryou said, they both prepared to attack, each one has a monstrous killing intent. Just when the gap was almost closed, the two stopped moving. Ryou's eyes widened in surprise, while Kurotsuki remained with his sleepy expression.

"Aoba, what's with the strings?" Kurotsuki muttered, letting the invisible strings carry his weight like a puppet, his hands hanging in mid-air.

"Wha?! Aoba?" Ryou exclaimed in a confused look, then Aoba came out of the shadows.

"What do you think you're doing, Kurotsuki. You said you have enough self-restraint, but you couldn't even stop yourself from such a petty fight" Aoba lectured with his signature cold stare.

"Ehh?~I was just fooling around, teasing little Pod, I don't plan on fighting him seriously at all" Kurotsuki replied sheepishly.

"The heck?! You airhead!" Ryou shouted in response to Kurotsuki's statement.

"You, as well, Ryou, I didn't think you're immature enough to start a fight"

"pff…" Kurotsuki suppressed a laugh, looking down on the ground, his eyes are overshadowed by his silver locks.

"Tch!" Ryou muttered, feeling irritated at the situation. He cut off the strings with a swing of his hand then walked away. He stopped for a second after gaining some distance, as if he had realized something. He glanced back at Aoba and Kurotsuki, "..and for the record, I wasn't the one who started the fight" he grunted then proceeded walking, Aoba quickly averted his attention to Kurotsuki, seeking for an explanation with regards to Ryou's statement. Kurotsuki just shrugged it off as if it wasn't his concern.

" W-What's with this abnormal number?!" Rikoto exclaimed. He was on his way to Zero to check the changes in his station circle, but when he reached the open field at the edge of the town, He was greeted by an army of Codes.

"Shit! I haven't even gotten any training!" He shouted. "Oh damn it! It doesn't matter!" he added, then he raised his hand to attack the codes using gravity.

"Uhmm… T-thank you!" A pink haired girl said as she bow down.

"It's nothing, you don't have to thank me" Kiryuu responded as he put the big box inside the trash. He helped out in throwing away the excess stuffs in the student council. Then he sensed the enormous amount of codes, coming towards them.

"Rena-san, it's getting dark, I'll walk you home" He said smiling brightly

"U-Uh, Hai, Thank you, again, Yamato-kun" The girl bowed again

"Kiryuu is fine, anyway let's go"

The two were talking normally as they walk home. Kiryuu, on the other hand, was quickly burning off, the approaching codes without getting noticed. He was also making sure, that the Codes won't get near the 100 meter margin, he burns them before they get closer.

Kotaro was walking home from the convenience store. When he reached an empty street, he stopped to look back and saw the codes appearing from the shadows.

"Attacking at this time of the day, huh?" He said as he put down the grocery bags at the side. He charged at the codes, Killing one after another. He didn't bring his iron rods, so he has no weapon. He dodged an attack from his back then grabbed the codes face and electrocuted it. Another one came from the left and tried to slice him with its blade hand, he dodged it barely and got his cheek wounded a bit. He kicked it in the stomach hard enough to send it tumbling down the other Codes, He electrified them and they tuned to dust. When he was busy fighting, his cellphone rang, he answered it while fighting the Codes.

"Yes" He said while dodging a blade aimed at his head

["Kotaro-kun, it's me Kokone...from the sound of it, you're being attacked by Codes, as well, right?…"]

Kotaro, electrocuted another code charging at him from the front, then kicked another approaching one before he answered the phone "… what do you mean "as well", does that mean, you're attacked too?"

["Yes, I received a call from Natsuki and Kiryuu-kun, they are both fighting Codes too, a big amount at that… It seems "Numbers" are being targeted."]

Kotaro's eyes widened at the statement, then he started running . "…Kokone, where are you now?"

["I'm on my way to Zero, I just finished off the bunch that attacked me… why'd you ask?"]

"Can you back me up for a second? I need to check on Hazuki"

["Eh? You're not with him?! Not good… Okay, I'll go to his house! I'll try to contact him as well!"]

"Thanks, I'll go check somewhere else, Hazuki is probably not home, but we better make sure." he muttered before he put down his phone, and electrocuted the Codes that caught up to him.

"Hmmm… now I've got nothing to do…" Kurotsuki said to himself, looking bored as always. "…the fight with Ryou-chan is getting interesting, if only Aoba didn't interfere… huh?" He stopped to look at the bunch of codes, it seems like they're fighting. Then he saw Rikoto using his Essence to slam 5 codes to the ground, while fighting the others that are attacking him.

"…looks like you're in a pinch" Kurotsuki teased as he look at him with his emotionless blue eyes.

"Wha!? Kutsu?! Why're you here?!" Rikoto said while running to gain some distance from the Codes

"It's Kurotsuki! You damn bug!" he grunted, "Now I change my mind, I won't help you, Number or not" He said before turning his back to leave

"Yeah you better escape, You see I'm just a newbie like you, so I can't protect the both of us…" He replied, as he tried to force his Essence again, but he couldn't lift them up any longer. "Shit!" He exclaimed

"Oi, What do you mean protect? " Kurotsuki said, his eyes twitching. "I'm not weak y'know" he added as he walked towards a code, he grabbed its face then slammed it to the ground, He kicked the other one in the chin, sending it flying, and hit some other Codes. He thrust his bare hands on the others chest, Grinning maniacally as it's black blood flowed on his left hand, then he slammed it on another one. Rikoto stared in awe at the display of bare physical strength, it almost rivals Natsuki's ability…

"…His Essence, could it be the same as Natsuki-senpai? But… impossible, Essence abilities are unique…" While he was mumbling to himself, trying to guess Kurotsuki's Essence, A code has already gotten behind him, it raised his hand to slash him, He could only stare as the blade goes down, wide-eyed.

Blood gushed out, but he couldn't feel any pain. He had closed his eyes shut expecting the Code to cut him down but nothing's coming, He felt a cold liquid drip on his face, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the code was stabbed with a knife directly in its forehead. He quickly averted his gaze to Kurotsuki, who was still grinning.

"To be able to broke through a Code's iron-like skull with a normal knife, and at that distance, what terrifying strength…" He thought as he look at Kurotsuki walk towards him with his face still void with emotion. He crouch down and look at him in the eye…

"Who's weak now?" He said in his usual monotone

"Y-You… defeated them all?" Rikoto asked in surprise, it has only been 5 minutes since he came, and there was like, a hundred Codes at that time…

"Yeah, Trash like that aren't worth using my Essence on…" Kurotsuki shrugged it off, "do you have something to eat?" He asked, his right palm extended to Rikoto expecting some snack.

"Ah… I have some Onigiri in my bag…" He replied, pointing at his things placed on a corner. "WAIT! THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT REACTION TO IT!" he shouted, realizing their situation. Kurotsuki ignored him and took the Onigiri.

"It's good" He replied, totally unrelated to the subject.

"Kurotsuki, You defeated them all just like that, are you really a Newbie?!" He questioned

"Nope, isn't it obvious?" Kurotsuki replied, munching the snack

"…eh… now you said it…" Rikoto was uttered speechless at his bluntness. "…anyway, what do you mean when you said these Codes aren't worth using your Essence on?!"

"I mean exactly as that, what kind of meaning are you expecting?" Kurotsuki frowned at his somewhat-irrelevant-questions. Well, as for him, it is irrelevant. But for Rikoto, it isn't, he needs an explanation.

"Wahh! What's with you?! Answer me seriously!" Rikoto exclaimed, completely annoyed.

"I am serious…" Kurotsuki said glaring at him "I didn't use Essence on them, co'z it's unnecessary, got it?" he said before he stood up and started walking.

"EH?! How's that even possible?!" Rikoto asked again, running after Kurotsuki "Wait, what's your ability anyway?"

"eh!?" Kurotsuki blurted out, pointing upwards. Rikoto turned to look at it.

"What?" he said, his eyes widened, there's nothing there and when he turned around, the silver-haired boy was gone already.

When Kokone arrived at Hazuki's house, he wasn't home.

"Kotaro-kun is right… I better call him" she murmured, she has sneaked inside the house when no one answered her knock earlier. She immediately took out her phone and search her phonebook.

["Yes, Kokone, Is he there?"]

"Nope, it's just like you said… where could he be..?" Kokone answered, she was trying to keep her cool.

["Knowing him, he probably saw all the codes coming, and avoided them using routes that people rarely pass by… "]

"Eh?! Then… where would we find him?"

["I've checked the routes in this Area, right now, I'm following a pattern"]

"Pattern?"

[" Hazuki would probably detect me with his Essence, and since we're both moving,it'll be hard for him to catch up with me, so it's better to give him a clue on the next route I'll take. This way, he can use the pattern I take to reach me while avoiding the Codes"]

"…Wow, you guys really understand each other, don't you?" Kokone giggled

["What do you mean?"]

"It's nothing, I just thought you guys are real partners"

["Indeed"]

"I'll leave Hazuki to you, then. I'll go see Rikoto- kun, he's probably in a pinch since he hadn't received my training yet"

["You mean the other way 'round, he'll be more in a pinch receiving your training"]

"Ehh?! Not quite!"

"He used a straight pattern, If I take a left, I'll meet him up in just two more turns…" Hazuki thought, as he carefully examined the area. He has gained a bit of a distance from the Codes that are after him. Now he's trying to meet up with Kotaro. He went straight through his chosen route, and ran as quickly as he could, ignoring the darkness that blocks his view. He was shocked when he bumped into someone.

"Eh? Impossible, I scanned this entire area, there shouldn't be anyone heading this route…" He thought to himself as he stared at the figure in front of him. He can barely see his face, but he can clearly see his bloody left arm holding a convenience store plastic bag.

"Oh… it's a kid" Kurotsuki said in surprise, he crouched down to look at the terrified expression of the boy.

"wh-who…" Hazuki couldn't find the right words to express his thoughts, but suddenly the silver-haired boy handed a big Lolipop to him.

"Here" Kurotsuki said in his monotone voice.

"Eh?"

END OF CHAPTER

AUTHOR'S NOTE

What is Kurotsuki's Essence ability?

-spoiler-

Just kidding XD

strange combination- Kurotsuki and Hazuki – what'd happen?

Anyway, I'm glad to know there're still readers, XDD, that's enough to keep me going, but a review or two is much appreciated …