Tale of Discovery

Chapter 19: Pleasant Surprise ; (Second title in the end)

The next morning, I am awake early so I decide to head out for a light jog. I have no particular purpose in mind for doing so, other than wanting to get used to my body so that I don't accidentally get in the headlines the next day...

I jog for a while, not aware of how far I've come. Then suddenly Yusa appeared within the corner of my vision. She's wearing sportswear that covers all that needs to be covered. I take a closer look at her figure and I'm promptly amazed by how good she looks.

I never had the chance to admire her beauty until now. Most likely because a certain weirdo made me disgusted just thinking about it... Well, there is also the fact that whenever she appears on TV, my attention is on Ayumi. Why is that? Simply put, Ayumi is a fan-girl.

Although I hate to admit it, she is an over the top kind of fan-girl. What is that supposed to mean? It means that whenever Yusa appears on TV, Ayumi has a nosebleed as her mind drifts off to the land of imaginations.

Leaving that aside, even when we went out together the other day, my mind was preoccupied with other stuff.

I take a moment to pull myself together and greet her,

"Good morning, Yusa."

Just as I was expecting to be greeted back, I hear,

"What are you getting all nice for ya dweeb."

Startled, I look her way and shortly notice that the color of her eyes has changed. They're red now instead of blue. I'm pleasantly surprised by this and respond,

"My bad. Good morning, Misa."

She spits on the ground beside her and lightly glares at me. This girl... she's annoyed by everything. I think for a moment before I suggest,

"How about we jog together?"

She pauses for a short while before questioning,

"Is this your way of picking up girls?"

"Yes." I bluntly reply.

She blinks twice in surprise, not expecting my reply I suppose. However, her surprise doesn't last long and her expression changes to that of contempt as she scowls and says,

"Don't forget that this is my sister's body."

Understanding what she meant, I reply without any change in my expression,

"But I'm speaking to her sister now."

Slightly nodding, she begins jogging once again. I closely follow her as we jog together around a nearby park. Once we're done, I look for a vending machine close by and buy some cold drinks.

She takes one of the drinks and says in a barely audible tone,

"Thanks."

I smile in response and begin drinking mine. The two of us sit on a bench nearby and drink without saying anything. After a while, I ask her,

"Why are you jogging so early in the morning, especially when it's the weekend?"

She doesn't respond to my question, and just when I was starting to think that she didn't even hear me, I hear her say,

"Tomorrow there is a baseball match. Yusa has a weak body, so she's not used to sports. In order for her to not drag down the rest of you, I used her body to exercise."

"Don't worry about her body being sore before the match starts. I know her limits."

We continue to speak for a while. She tells about her past as a delinquent and other related stuff. In the end, I was gently stroking her hair, surprised that she didn't whack my hand away from herself the instant it got near.

------

"I've gotta go now. I unexpectedly enjoyed chatting with you. You're easy to talk to.", she says after we've talked about two hours.

"We could've done some more enjoyable stuff if I wasn't in my sister's body.", she continues in a teasing tone.

I slightly shake my head in response to her words and say to her,

"That doesn't matter. Speaking to you is more than enough."

She snorts and says while squinting her eyes,

"I wonder how many girls you've tricked with that glib tongue of yours..."

I roll my eyes in exasperation, as this isn't the first time she has said something like this. I reply to her without hesitation,

"You might not believe me, but I've never been in a relationship in my life." At least, I don't remember being in any.

She stares at me for a short while before grinning and smacking my back. Then, she walks away while saying,

"It really would've been nice to meet you before I had died."

The thing is, I wasn't even in this world back then and there is no way she's going to believe me even if I told her about it.

------

Having no one to talk to, I decide to walk home and spend the day with Ayumi. However, while I'm on the way home, I sense a van gaining speed and getting closer to me from behind.

I immediately jump to the side. At the instant the van drives past me, I scan it's interior using my enhanced senses. Yet, despite my senses being enhanced, I'm barely able to make out what's inside the van.

I frown at what I "see": Two men holding down a struggling guy that comes off familiar for some reason.

Upon realizing what's going on, I run at an incredible speed without using Godspeed. My speed is already abnormal enough in itself, so I'm able to keep up with the van. Once beside it, I circulate my Holy Essence, planning to use Transmute on the van's side, and get inside of it.

All of sudden, my instincts start to act up. Shivers run down my spine as I immediately utilize Godspeed and Blink to move away from where I am. The moment I do so, an energy beam surrounded by electric currents struck the location. The beam continues to be powered until it's slashed most of the road and a building on the side.

What genuinely alarmed me was the fact that wherever the energy bream struck, the matter there seemed to get disintegrated until it was imperceptible by the naked eye.

Alarmed by the sudden turn of events, I stop and no longer pursue the van. I watch from where I stand as the van drives off into the distance and out of my sight.

What was that just now? What was that energy beam? What's going on!?

-----

The next day, I'm stirred awake by Ayumi.

"Brother Yu, you said you had a baseball match today.", she says while smiling.

"Ayu wants to come and watch Brother Yu win, but Ayu is feeling sleepy today.", she continues, almost sounding like she is disappointed with herself.

In response to her statement, I laugh and ruffle her hair, saying in an assuring and confident manner,

"It's fine. You go get plenty of sleep. I'll tell you all about how I won later when I get home."

I'd rather have her stay home than go outside when things are so chaotic. It's no longer safe out there. There is something going on. No matter what, I can't let them harm Ayumi.

I put on my uniform and head to school. Before leaving the apartment complex, I tell the guards to give me a call immediately if there is something wrong. They look at me weirdly for a few seconds, but upon realizing that I'm serious, they frown a little, before asking for my number.

Once I'm done with that, I head toward where my school is and make my way to our baseball yard. Most of the participants have already arrived. After several minutes, everyone is here except the guy with the telekinetic powers.

We have already waited for several minutes, but he still has yet to arrive. Noticing that something is wrong, the guy the telekinetic user was speaking with when I made him punch himself grabs his phone and calls him. No response. He calls him again two more times, yet there is still no response

He is either a coward or something is wrong Don't tell me he really has shut himself inside out of shame because of what I did to him? No way. He is way too arrogant for that. Wait a minute. There is no way right?

Towards the end of my thoughts, I recall yesterday's incident. The van, the men holding the guy, and the absurd energy beam...

Shit.