Aoi looked down. “I was afraid you didn’t like me.” It didn’t help that she hadn’t heard from her friends in Tokyo for over a month now.
“No way, Onee-chan! You’re fantastic!” Momoka was quick to reassure Aoi. It made her smile. “I’m really sorry about the mix-up!” She hesitated, then hung her head. “Okay, I’m not being entirely truthful. To be honest, I was kind of bummed to see Asagi join you guys before me. I thought . . . I thought you might think I was weak. I didn’t want to see you until I got better.”
Aoi shook her head. “That’s not it at all. I know you wanted to join first, but you couldn’t fight yet. But you’re not weak. I promise.”
“Anyhow,” Momoka’s voice faltered. “I wanted to show you what I learned. At your place. If you want, I mean. I understand if you’re busy. Or don’t want to.”
But Aoi did want to. She’d wanted to spend some time with Momoka since the last time she saw her. That’s what friends did, right?
“I’d be more than happy to.”
Aoi walked alongside Momoka until they reached Aoi’s house. The backyard’s cherry blossom trees that were once pink with petals had now turned green with leaves. A trashcan sat beneath some low-hanging branches across the yard, reminding Aoi she had to rake the leaves at some point that week. Aoi shut the front gate behind them.
“My wand can do some really amazing things.”
“Amazing, huh?” Aoi wondered what that could entail. Mulan appeared beside her, curious.
Momoka nodded. “Yeah! Oh, you’re gonna love it!”
Aoi waved her hand, eagerly motioning Momoka to show her what she was going to. “So let’s see what you’ve got.”
Momoka gave a playful salute. “Right away, Onee-chan!” In moments, her wand was in her hand.
“You got quicker,” Aoi noted with a nod of approval.
“That’s not all! Watch carefully.”
Momoka pointed her wand across the yard, towards the trash can. Aoi’s eyes were peeled. She wanted to see what Momoka could do. Could the wand extend and become a staff? Or maybe it could summon some cute familiar?
A pink light fired from the tip of the wand, knocking the distant trashcan over with a clang.
“That was . . .” Aoi stammered.
“Remarkable.” Mulan nodded her approval. “Well done. Give your spirit my respect.”
Pocahantas appeared beside Momoka, jumping with joy. “Pretty cool, huh? You have no idea how long it took to figure that out.”
Aoi just nodded. She didn’t have words enough to express her amazement. Only three were able to come out. “Pretty cool indeed.”
“So?” Momoka asked eagerly. “Can I join you guys, Onee-chan? Can I?”
She was hopping up and down, just like her spirit. But Aoi couldn’t decide on something this important alone. Tatsuo had to have a say in this too. It was only fair. And, now that she thought about it, Asagi too.
“You can certainly have another shot at trying out,” Aoi replied.
That was more than enough for Momoka. She squealed excitedly and threw her arms around Aoi yet again. “I’ll make you proud, Onee-chan! I promise! And then we can fight for justice together!”
“I’m sure you will,” Aoi said with a nod. “I’ll text Senpai.”
Aoi sat beside Tatsuo on the porch, eagerly looking out at the road. Asagi sat away from them in the grass, boredly plucking out blades of grass. Momoka had run home for dinner. She would be back for tryouts any minute.
Aoi fidgeted. “You think she can do it?” she asked.
Tatsuo shrugged. “If she can really shoot lasers, maybe.”
“Just maybe?”
“Yeah. Need to see it for myself.”
Aoi could almost hear the eyeroll coming from Asagi. “Always doubtful. Lighten up, Akabori-san. She can train with you.”
Aoi turned. “Tachibana-san?”
Asagi looked up from her half-finished daisy chain. “Yeah?”
“Why don’t you train with Senpai and me?”
The pretty girl huffed in annoyance. “Because my spirit can handle it. Why? Think yours can do better?”
Aoi quickly raised her hands as if to block out the idea. “No, not at all,” she said. “I just thought we might get more out of it if we trained together.”
“Well, I don’t.” And Asagi resumed her plucking. “Waste of time.”
Aoi sighed. This was exactly why she hadn’t asked Asagi earlier. Aoi always seemed to annoy the pretty girl.
Suddenly, Tatsuo looked up from his phone, eyes wide. “Guys, check this out.”
“What?” Aoi scooted closer to him. There was a news alert open across the screen.
“Yamamoto-san . . . The cops found him. He’s dead.”
“I’m so sorry, Tatsuo.”
He just shook his head. Aoi knew he was trying to not show his emotions, but his eyes were full of pain.
Asagi looked up from the grass, eyes wide. “Who’s dead?”
Tatsuo ran a hand through his dark hair, careful not to mess it up too badly. “Guy who went missing a while back. Thought it was gang related, but the guy’s record is clean. They found him outside the Shiroyama Shrine with a cut throat.”
Asagi covered her mouth in a mix of shock and disgust. “Who did it? And why?” she demanded of Tatsuo, but he just shrugged.
“Don’t know,” he said. “All I know’s the where and how, not the who or why.”
Someone was walking up to the back gate.
“I’m here!” Momoka called, waving her arms back and forth. She hesitated when she approached, seeming to sense the hushed and stressed mood that fell over the group. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Everything’s fine.” Aoi lied. She rose to her feet and went to meet Momoka. “You make it here okay?”
“Mm-hmmm,” she said with a nod. “And I’m ready to spar.”
She wasn’t wearing her sweat suit from before. Probably because she knew Tatsuo would tease her about it. Instead, Momoka wore a tank top, shorts, and flip flops.
“You’d better take those off so you don’t get hurt,” Aoi said, motioning to the brunette’s feet with a nod.
“Will do.” Momoka kicked her shoes off and set them on the porch. “I’ll leave these here with you, Akabori-san.” She smiled cheerily at him.
“Uh-huh,” came the world’s greatest lack of enthusiasm. Asagi stood and brushed the grass off her dress, then joined Tatsuo on the porch. She smiled at Momoka as she passed her.
“Well, let’s see what ya can do, kid.” Tatsuo said. That was the reason he came.
“Alright! I’ll do my best!” Her wand was in her hand in seconds.
“So will I.” Aoi readied her ring.
And thus sparing began.
Momoka fired a laser at Aoi, but Aoi had enough distance to dodge and draw closer.
“Better be careful, Onee-chan!” Momoka warned. “Getting closer may help you, but it’ll help me too.”
Momoka was right. Aoi could attack if she got closer, but she also had less room to dodge. She wouldn’t let Momoka beat her though. Not without a fight.
A few lasers grazed Aoi. They shocked a little, almost like getting shot in a game of laser tag. But they didn’t faze her. She couldn’t let them faze her.
She danced away from a pink beam and finally—finally—she was close enough to strike. “This is it!” she said as she lunged at the younger girl.
But Momoka moved away quickly. Too quick for Aoi to stop herself. Her leap turned into a stumble.
“You’re right. This is it.” Momoka aimed and fired.
Aoi tried to dodge, but the laser still struck. Right in the hand, too. Momoka must have planned that.
Her hand went numb and Aoi shook it back and forth, trying to get feeling back in it. In her distraction, she forgot about Momoka. In an instant, Momoka stood before her. Her wand pointed at Aoi’s throat, but her smile was as sweet as before. This was just a game to her. To both of them.
&nbs
p; “I win, Onee-chan!” she said with a giggle. She let her wand disappear. She was right. She’d won.
Aoi laughed. “Guess you did. And I guess I let my guard down.”
Tatsuo roared with laughter. Aoi flinched. Tatsuo didn’t laugh often, but he seemed to have found something funny. “You guess you let your guard down? She beat you fair and square!”
“And easily, too.” Asagi muttered, bored again.
Aoi felt the heat rising into her cheeks. “Hey! You always say that when I beat you!”
His grin widened as he shrugged. “What can I say? I like letting you win sometimes.”
“Senpai, that’s a lie and you know it!” Aoi insisted, stomping over to him. “I win too sometimes, fair and square. I really do!”
He stood and placed a hand on her head. “Yeah, yeah. Fair and square. I hear you.” He grinned at her for a second. Then his gaze shifted to Momoka. His face went pale. “Hey! What’re you smiling about?”
Momoka skipped over to the two. “You two, of course! Onee-chan, you didn’t tell me he was your boyfriend!”
“Boyfriend?” The word squeaked out of her.
“I ain’t her boyfriend.”
“Those were quick answers,” Momoka said with another giggle.
Asagi said, “Completely believable.”
Aoi’s cheeks burned all the more as she looked away. Momoka’s imagination really was awful sometimes. “He really isn’t my boyfriend though. Just a friend that’s a boy.”
“Okay, okay. I believe you.” Momoka said, but her huge, goofy smile didn’t go away. “Anyhow . . . Did I pass? Did I?”
That was an easier question, but still not one she could make alone. “What do you think, Senpai? Tachibana-san?”
Asagi shrugged. “She seems fine to me.”
Well, that was a given. Asagi and Momoka were close friends. Aoi turned to Tatuso, waiting for his judgment.
“Hmm . . .” He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. “Give me a minute to think it through.”
“Sure.”
Finally, he smirked and said, “Well, she doesn’t totally suck.”
“Senpai!” Aoi hissed.
He just shrugged and ruffled her hair. “I’m saying she can join, Arisawa.”
At that, Aoi’s face lit up. Momoka’s did as well.
“Really?” they asked in near unison.
“Really,” he said.
Momoka burst into squeals of delight. “Thank you, Onee-chan! Thank you!” She ran to Aoi and enveloped her in a hug. “I promise I won’t let you down!”
Aoi couldn’t help but find herself smiling as well. Momoka’s excitement was infectious as ever. “I know you won’t.”
Momoka released Aoi and went to hug Tatsuo as well. But he took a step back. “I don’t do hugs, kid.”
“Oh,” she said, only slightly deflated. “Sorry. Won’t happen again.”
He shook his head. “No big deal.”
Momoka moved on to Asagi, who bestowed a daisy flower crown on her smaller friend’s head. Aoi couldn’t help but smile. There were four Linked now—five, if they counted Touya, but he had all but disappeared with how silent he’d been. There were so many of them, but they still had so many questions. They didn’t know how they’d been chosen. They didn’t know the origin of the Linked. And they didn’t know what danger lay ahead for them in the days to come.
Chapter 20
It had been over a month since Aoi had met Touya at school. She figured his distance meant he was processing being a Linked, and he’d come to her when he was ready. The moment she had learned of Yamamoto-san’s death, she had wanted to tell Touya, to see if he wanted to help the group track down his killers. Instead, Touya found her the following Monday at school, and asked her to lunch.
“You know, Arisawa-san, there is a reason I became the school council president.”
They were sitting in the student council room again, completely alone. Aoi hadn’t had a chance to make it to the cafeteria first. Touya had met her by her classroom door, and Reiji hadn’t been in class that day to stop him. This time, Touya had supplied juice for lunch, not just water.
“Oh, yeah?” she asked, picking at her bento.
He smiled and nodded. “I have a dream—a dream of a better Irokara, one completely free of crime. It’s disgusting as it is now. I want to clean up even the darkest parts of this town.”
“So you’re saying . . . you want justice?” she asked, a bit uncertain if she was understanding everything properly.
He nodded again. “Exactly. That’s why I became student council president. If nothing else, I can have order in the school, and the youth of today—us included—can learn to properly protect our town.”
“That seems like a wonderful dream,” Aoi said, eyes lighting up. This is excactly what she was looking for in a Linked—a kind heart and a desire to do right by the world. He would be a great fit in the group.
“When I graduate next year, I’m joining a police academy in Tokyo. When I graduate there, I’ll come back and be a police officer here. Then I can give justice to everyone, whether they want it or not.”
It was an amazing dream, and Aoi was jealous. She didn’t know what she’d do after high school, much less with the rest of her life. She picked at her bento some more, not eating.
“Something on your mind?” Touya asked.
She didn’t answer his question. Not directly. She just spoke. “Just kind of jealous of you, I guess.”
“Jealous of what?”
“You have a plan, not just for the next year but for the rest of your life. Me? I hardly know what I’m gonna do tomorrow.”
Of course that was an exaggeration. She knew she’d go to school, train, maybe hang out with her friends. That was easy to know. But what about next month? Next year? The further ahead she tried to picture, the blurrier things got. It scared her.
Touya smiled at her reassuringly. “You have time, you know.”
She nodded. Two more years of high school after this one. But then the decisions got hard. Especially if she had no plans.
“You have to have dreams,” he prompted her. “Or maybe there’s something you’re interested in.”
“I’m not so sure about dreams,” she said. But she did have interests. Everyone did. “I like video games and computers though.”
He thought for a moment. “Maybe you could be a programmer.”
“That’s really hard work though, isn’t it?”
He shrugged. “Just a suggestion.”
That’s true. She didn’t have to be a programmer. She could be whatever she wanted . . . as soon as she figured out what that was.
“Maybe I could be a baker?” she pondered aloud.
“A baker?” he asked.
Aoi smiled. “I love cooking, especially for others. I make Tatsuo bento every day now. So, yeah. Maybe I could be a baker.”
“Don’t you wish to protect people as well?” Mulan asked.
She was right. Aoi became a Linked, even though it seemed scary at the time, so she could help people. And she had. She saved Momoka, at least. Maybe she’d do more in the future.
“And . . .”
“And?” Touya repeated.
“I want to protect people, especially those who can’t protect themselves.”
A smile spread across his face. “Is that so?”
She nodded. “Isn’t that why I became a Linked?”
He gave a small laugh. Aoi wasn’t sure why. She didn’t think she said something funny. But then his laugh died down. “Sorry about that,” he said with a smile. “I just think it’s interesting that our reasons are the same. I didn’t expect that of you.”
“You mean the reasons we became Linked?”
Touya nodded. “That’s right. I wanted to be stronger so I could keep my town safe. The stronger I am, the more people I can protect. When I became Linked, it was like everything just . . . clicked for me. Such a wonderful feeling.”
Wonderful? Aoi wondered about that. Nothing had clicked for her when she Linked. Instead, it had burned like a fire in her veins.
“It didn’t hurt?” she asked.
His eyes widened in surprise. “No. Did it hurt for you?”
“Well . . .” Aoi looked away. “Kind of . . .”
It hadn’t hurt Senpai either when he Linked. Aoi thought of that day in the warehouse, when Tatsuo’s necklace gem had disappeared as he fought to save her. He hadn’t seemed incapacitated at all.
Why didn’t it hurt for Senpai or Midorikawa-san? she asked Mulan through her thoughts. She wondered if Momoka or Asagi had hurt when they Linked. Why did it have to hurt for me? Tatsuo was able to keep fighting back then.
“I believe it comes down to your heart,” Mulan mused. “You did not want to become a hero when you found my gem, but you had a good heart. Tatsuo had had his gem for many years, but it wasn’t until he fought for just, selfless reasons that he Linked. It didn’t hurt for him because he wasn’t fighting the transformation. You, on the other hand, did not want the burden of this task. Not yet, at least.”
Ah, Aoi thought. That made sense.
“I think I may have a club for you to join,” Touya said. “If you’re interested, of course.”
“Huh?” Aoi was pulled from her thoughts. “What club?”
He smiled. “Why, the student council, of course.”
Aoi didn’t know why that surprised her as much as it did. “Huh?”
“Plenty of positions are still open.”
“This late in the year?”
He nodded. “We’ve not had many people interested in joining this year.”
“Sorry to hear that.” It must have been rough on the student council. They must have had a lot on their plates to deal with.
“It’s fine,” he said with a shrug and a smile. “Arisawa-san?”
“Yes?”
“Would you like to join the student council?”
She tried not to answer too quickly. She didn’t think it worked. “I’d really rather not,” she said. She was too busy at it was, between friends and training. She didn’t know how she could add on the responsibility—or if she even wanted to.
His shoulders slumped. “I see.”
Linked: The War of the Gems - Book 1 Page 18
