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sadisticsmiles · 7 years ago

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Beyond a Thief’s Power Episode 17

Remade Reality

~Beginning of Part 3~

~1:00 a.m. that morning; April 13, 2007~

It was a dream, and it was... peculiar in a way. This dream... seemed far from what one may have seen. After all, it was not a human's but a magician's.

There was someone wearing a navy blue hood which disguised their appearance from being known to anyone else. Only their hands could be seen and in their right one was a sword—a long sword that had different shades of brown to it. The handle was sandy brown; the hilt was windsor tan in color and had an interesting shape, a curved number three; last but not least, the blade was the color of desert sand. It was a gorgeous sword not from the world in which regular humans resided. However, the wielder of the sword was not a woman per se if someone looked closer at the structure of the hand that was holding it. Most certainly it was a man, due to the long fingers and the hand's rough edges that a woman did not possess.

The man pulled his hand which held the sword back in a readied position, and swung it rapidly. In that one fell swoop, multiple parts of the Earth in front of the hooded figure's sight glowed with colorful auroras surrounding specific countries, parts or even whole continents, the oceans, and far more. Then, it was as if everything split apart and went away in a single blast, leaving nothing of the planet.

The dream ended right then and there.

Rina jolted up from her bed. The expression on her face appeared as if she woke up from a horrible nightmare. What's more, she was panting heavily like there was a heavy weight in her chest. However, she was not sweating, as magicians could not.

Soon, her breathing became normal. "Did... something change in the Human World? From what I just saw, it couldn't be a false event. If so, I have to tell everyone about it to confirm my suspicions in case it wasn't a dream."

XXX

At the same time Rina had seen her dream, Kenshi slowly opened his eyes upon awakening. The room he was in had a sconce that was shaped like a flame and was lighting his surroundings, making it easier to see where he was.

"...?" While he was lying on a twin-sized bed, Kenshi's eyes darted around. "Where am I...? Is this... a cabin of some sort?"

It looks like an old place, but it's definitely clean, he noted within his thoughts. But, how did I end up here? I remember that I was in the rain and there was someone tailing me. Before I knew it, I...

"Oh, looks like you're awake," a male voice said. There had not been a sound of someone opening the door or walking in the room, but the person speaking to the spiky-haired brunet was there with him.

Kenshi's eyes widened. He sat up from the bed and turned towards his left. The expression on his face was serious and stern. "Who are you? And why am I here? Are you with the 14K? If so, I'm not gonna let you do what you want with me, or with my friends."

The person the sniper of the Black Foxes saw was a young man with bright, fiery orange hair and red eyes. He wasn't Japanese, but the words he'd let out of his mouth were. He was smiling and quite good-looking as well. "Whoa, there. Slow down when you're speaking to your savior. I did carry you to the hideout after finding you when you were unconscious, you know. And don't mistake me for a member of the 14K when I'm not one. I don't want to harm you or the rest of the alliance you have with the other Black Foxes, magicians, and the Kujo brothers, Kenshi Inagaki."

Kenshi paused with astonishment showing on his visage. "Wait. You're... my savior?" This earned a nod from the man in front of his eyes. "You're not a member of the 14K?" There went another nod. "Anyway..." He glanced down; then he gazed back at his savior. "How do you know about the alliance? There wasn't anyone else who knew about it except for the thirteen of us, and possibly the two magician of fates' advisor. I'm pretty certain of that. So then, how were you able to find out about it?"

"Every magician except for one who’s been residing in this universe for over nine years knows about it by now," the young man replied, having not shifted his smile and gaze from Kenshi this whole time. "After all, the information in their books have changed, and so has this world."

At that moment, the firefighter felt as though his heart had stopped. "...Almost all the magicians know about it, and the Human World has changed? What... does that mean? Are you a magician as well? If you know so much already, you've got to be one, right?"

The young man continued to put his beautiful smile on. "Well yeah, everyone's changed by now. Even you. However, let me make this clear so you don't misunderstand and jump to another conclusion before getting to know me. I'm not a magician, I'm a human being. Just like you. Yet, I'm not an ordinary human. I'm a Special Human."

"Even though you're not a magician but a mortal, what makes you different from me?" Kenshi inquired. "What makes you so 'special' that you're different from other humans?"

"You and the other members of the Black Foxes were sent a video, weren't you?" the young man answered back with a question of his own. "Eleven days ago, on the night of April 2nd. Three 14K members were cornering a middle-aged man in his café while the other members were waiting on the roof for your arrival."

Kenshi blinked. "Huh? How do you..."

"I'm the one who sent that video. I was also there inside the café when the owner/manager was being assaulted, but I wasn't seen because..." The fiery orange-haired young man kept smiling and tilted his head to his left, cupping the same side of his visage with his hand. "I was invisible."

The firefighter was speechless for a few seconds before asking, "You sent that video to us? But how did you do that? Anyway, I want to know: Is that... your power? Invisibility?"

"Haha, I knew you'd be very curious about everything. I'll let you figure out about how I did that over time. That power isn't mine. I don't have the power of invisibility, but some friends of mine do. Although, I'll confess. Only one of them helped with making me unseen from the 14K and the café owner's sight, even though I was clearly there. My body wasn't actually invisible; it's just an ability that hides me from people's sight, and I do mean any human's if—and only if—they're not permitted to see me. Thus, I had been 'cloaked' by the powers of one magician. As for how I know about the 14K and what they've been doing lately, my friends and I have been monitoring them long before the day Sayuri Mitsuyoshi arrived in this world."

Kenshi's eyes grew wide again. "So it was thanks to magic that you were able to film the video and send it to us? You even knew Sayuri was here this entire time? And you've been watching the 14K's actions even before she came to the Human World? Who exactly are you? You haven't answered my question about your identity as a Special Human and some others."

The young man straightened his posture, letting his left hand go back towards his body's lateral region. "The answer to your first three questions is yes. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Claire Fioré, the leader of the Hidden Resistance. You may or may not know about me, but I'm a historical legend who led a rebellion against the Catholic Church in the twelfth century. Despite my first name, I can assure you that I'm a guy through and through. Sure, it's a girl's name, but my parents originally named me Claire to fool people into believing I was a girl when I'm not one. I was also a celebrity but I quit being one, so there you go."

"It's no wonder you seemed familiar." A smile had finally appeared on Kenshi's face. "I knew I've heard about and seen you before, but this is incredible! I still can't believe you're right in front of me."

Claire gave an eye smile. "Well, I did discover the door that led me to the Cycle of Eternal Reincarnation with three girls, after all, so there's almost no way my name isn't known. I've practically been everywhere by now." He opened his eyes. "Just so you know, I don't have a harem with said girls. I don't want any misunderstandings about that fact, to be honest."

A door opened in the back from where Claire's back was facing.

"Who said you were even allowed to have one in the first place?" a female's voice inquired.

Kenshi knew whom the voice belonged to and still couldn't believe his eyes.

A girl with long, somewhat dark silver hair [that reached down past her knees a little] and eyes of the same color entered the room. "Because of your beauty, I have to keep a bunch of women away from you, Claire. That hasn't changed since I met you, though."

"Now, now," Claire said with a smile as he turned towards the girl who was around his age. "It's not completely my fault, is it? You should also speak for yourself since you're popular with the modern world, as well."

The dark silver-haired girl frowned lightly. "Whatever. I'd say that any guy with good looks would be far more popular than most girls, but it seems as if my argument doesn't matter as much with the entertainment industry rising these days."

"You're..." Kenshi trailed off, frozen in place as he stared at the girl. "...Kuruha... the center of the Japanese girl group that debuted in South Korea, Multi-Star Clover! In addition to being the face of the group, you're also the most famous member! More importantly, you're the wielder of the longest zweihänder known in history: Zenaku (or Zen'aku to help with the pronunciation with the name)! I can't believe I'm meeting you and Claire right now," he breathed in awe.

Kuruha gave a friendly smile. "Likewise. It's my pleasure to meet you while you're still alive, Kenshi Inagaki. Then again, you only know me by stage name, right?"

"Hmm? Yeah," the spiky-haired brunet responded.

"Well," Kuruha added, "I guess I should introduce myself to you. My full name as of this life is Kuruha Mamiya."

Kenshi's eyes widened slightly. "Then your younger sister—"

"—is also a Mamiya," Kuruha finished for the firefighter. "We've always been born into the same family bloodline, as the Eternal Reincarnation Cycle has also affected our family members, as well as Claire's and... you know."

"But here I am!" a cute voice announced as they walked in. It was a shorter girl Kenshi had mentioned around halfway through his sentence before being cut off by the center of Multi-Star Clover earlier. The girl was just as adorable as her voice had given away for all to hear. She had long amaranth pink hair, but it flowed down to the top of her thighs; she also had lime-green eyes and was five centimeters shorter than Mitsuki, which made her a hundred forty-two centimeters tall. No doubt she was a loli. Yet her bust said otherwise.

Claire closed his eyes and smiled openly as he waved with his left hand. "Hey, Kokoro. You're just in time."

"Looks like it," the younger of the Mamiya sisters replied in a mild tone of voice. "So the sniper of the Black Foxes is finally awake." Her gaze shifted from Claire to Kenshi. "Well, I don't really need to introduce myself, do I? So I'll just stand here." She stood next to her older sister, on the latter's left.

Another girl came in shortly after. She had long, moderately-colored blonde hair that went straight down to her feet, and her eyes were indigo blue. The next thing that happened was that she took her place between Claire (on his right), and Kokoro (on her left). "Hello there, Kenshi Inagaki. You know who I am as well, don't you?"

"Elizabeth Diamond?!" Kenshi was practically shocked at seeing another famous icon. "The main vocalist of Multi-Star Clover?! What... What's going on?"

Elizabeth smiled. "What do you mean? It's time for everyone to make their appearance and introduce themselves now that you're fully awake. Looks like I didn't need to say anything though, since you've heard of MSC."

Kenshi exhaled awkwardly. "R-Right..." Then, he shook his head exaggeratedly. "Wait. That's not the point! What I really mean is that I'd like to know what's happened to the Human World, and I'm still curious as to what makes Claire different and 'special' than me. So just explain everything properly. That's all I'm asking at the moment."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. Then, she looked at Claire. "You haven't told him yet?"

Claire smiled nervously and sweat-dropped at the blonde next to him. "I couldn't help it since there were several questions being asked, but you know how I can be sometimes."

Kokoro glanced at the young man in their group. "Well it's you we're talking about, Claire. It's not like it's an uncommon thing for people to skip over some stuff."

"Let's just get this over with, then," Kuruha stated in a calm manner.

Elizabeth's smile returned as she looked at the spiky-haired brunet. "I'll start with the details. It's not just Claire who's different from you, Kenshi. The four of us here are known as Special Human beings, but we're not the only ones who are different than most humans. Rather than special abilities and such, the term Special Human refers to a human who was born with the path to change the world. Most of us have what are known as unnatural physical features at birth, including our hair and/or eye colors. Sometimes, there are those who have natural features, rather than peculiar ones. I'm one of the ones who were born with a natural hair color. Claire, Kuruha, and Kokoro are different from me in that aspect; albeit, Claire may seem a bit more natural than them. On the contrary, you normally wouldn't see anyone with red eyes, unless they had some type of cosmetic surgery, or something of that sort. Another detail is that once we're born, we already have a full set of hair and look like little kids, just like magicians; we also tend to be mistaken for them most of the time. That's about all to it."

"So you guys are mainly 'destined' to do something great, whether it's for better or for worse," Kenshi deducted.

"That's correct," Elizabeth confirmed. "When I remember the first lives we had, I think about the door that led us to our endless rebirths every time we die. We've all lived so many lives, yet we never made it past our early twenties until now, with the exception of Kokoro, who died around her mid-teens back then."

"You mean the three of you never made it past the age of twenty before this life," Kokoro corrected. "Anyway, let's move on to the part about how the world has changed."

Elizabeth showed an expression on her face as if she were pondering over the last thing Kokoro told her, with her left index finger on the corner of her chin, smiling again after a few seconds had passed by. "Sou ne. I don't want to explain the situation, though." She turned her head towards Claire, gazing at him with her serene eyes.

Claire gazed back at the blonde member of Multi-Star Clover with a smile of his own and sweat-dropped once more. "Uh, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth blinked twice; her eyelashes fluttered at the same time. "Yes, Honey?"

"I..." the fiery orange-haired young man trailed off. "...don't want to be the one to tell him about that, though."

Kuruha nodded. "True. It'd be better if a magician explained about what's already happened this morning in spite of how early it is."

"Maa, after one a.m. is still a good time to gather some people to discuss this matter," Kokoro stated. "It's not like we're that exhausted, but I agree. This should be a good time to let him see who're on our side."

As Kenshi blinked, he was not sure what to think. He only knew he had to listen and find out what had taken place while he was unconscious, but... Who on Earth had knocked him out, and why didn't they take him hostage? He placed his hopes on learning about those parts while staying with the four Special Humans in front of him, and waited for the magicians he would soon meet.

XXX

Everyone in the alliance [excluding Kenshi] were gathered in Le Renard Noir. It was the first time an alarming and dire situation that could not be reversed fell into their hands. Besides that, it was also rare to have the Black Foxes' sniper absent from one of their meetings.

"Man, this is really bad," Hyosuke commented with wide eyes.

Riki sighed. "Who would have ever thought a dream could come true and reshape the entire Human World like this?"

"Don't forget that the oceans and other bodies of water have been replaced by a new one that fills their place," Takuto pointed out as he looked back over his right shoulder. He was sitting on one of the high chairs in front of the counter where there used to be stools before the renovation. "The world's also smaller, along with the fact that the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia are the only countries and continents to have survived that swing, and have shifted towards each other while maintaining some space as separate regions."

Rina, who was standing nearby, frowned and narrowed her eyes as she stared down at the floor. "But there's no doubt that Ains was used by a man, so there's a clue we’ll have to focus on."

Taiga had a troubled look on his face. "...What perfect timing."

Hyosuke's eyes broadened further. "Huh? What's wrong, Bro?"

Taiga glanced at his younger brother, then at everyone else around them, and sighed, withdrawing his gaze afterward. "It's just..." He glanced at the others again and continued. "Nao and I are planning on getting married soon."

Hyosuke blinked and had a surprised expression on his visage. "Heh? When did you even—" He immediately came to realize the answer to his question; his eyes raised their lids higher.

Don't tell me... Taiga proposed in the... while having... the purple-haired security specialist thought. He was shocked and taken aback by his own unspoken words which he could barely bear to finish in a sentence, nor could he say aloud. Just then, he finally gave off an irritated look at the underground doctor. Man, what a pervert... When it comes down to it, my own brother is worse than me. Although... he does get embarrassed when it comes to people finding out him and Nao-san kissing or any other forms PDA, and letting him know about their discoveries and knowledge, but no one has ever seen them having sex since that’s a private matter between two people.

"? What's wrong, Hyo?" Taiga asked, oblivious to what his own brother knew, as he turned slightly to his right.

"Ah. Nothing," Hyosuke replied, having noticed the smokey topaz brunet's gaze on him.

Mitsuki smiled faintly. "Speaking of which, when is your wedding, Taiga?"

"Huh?" Taiga tilted his head to his right side. "The beginning of May. Will you be coming to it, Mitsuki?"

While still having her smile on her face, Mitsuki’s eyes lowered themselves. "Actually, I only wanted to congratulate you and Nao since you two are very dear to one another. I'm sorry I won't be going, though. Some things happened once Riki and I got married, but I can’t give you any details."

Taiga's usual, serious expression returned to him after hearing Mitsuki's response. "That's fine. We weren't expecting any guests, anyway. We decided on making it a private wedding."

Mitsuki gazed at Nao. “Are you sure about this?”

The white-haired magician gave an eye smile. “Yes, I’ll be fine. I’m free to do as I wish now that things have changed in this world, after all.”

For a few seconds, Mitsuki’s eyes widened but soon returned to being natural. “…”

Hyosuke narrowed his eyes in vexation. "So you two decided that without telling Miyuki and I about it? Also, what about our parents? You're so selfish, Taiga."

"Well, they're in love like we are, Hyosuke," Miyuki remarked. "Your parents will understand, even if they're not invited to the wedding."

Hyosuke's shoulders slumped down and he gave a tired sigh. "But we're not, either."

Nao giggled with an eye smile on her face. "Why don't you forgive Taiga this time, Hyosuke? We're finally going to become in-laws after all these years. Someday, Miyuki will also be a part of the family, as well."

Hyosuke frowned before giving in with a smile of his own. "...Alright. Since you'll be my older sister soon, I shouldn't be so negative. Anyway, congrats, Nao-san, Taiga."

Miyuki nodded. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Nao said in reply.

"Ahh!" Hiro yelled out; his eyes seemed as though they were about to pop out any second now. "I can't believe I just missed my chance to congratulate my favorite idol about her upcoming marriage!" He quickly composed himself and smiled casually. "So, uh, what I should've said earlier... Congrats, Nao. Oh, and Taiga, too. I'm your biggest fan, Hiro Sarashina, if you remember me from your previous concerts and fan meeting events."

"Of course, it's nice to see you again," Nao stated in a tranquil manner. "I knew something was off about you the first time I saw you over six years ago. Thank you for being a wonderful fan of mine. I'm glad you enjoyed the concerts and events, and I appreciate the fact you enjoy my songs as well. I hope to be a helpful ally to you and everyone else when the time comes for us to fight alongside one another against the 14K and... that woman."

Sayuri had a stern expression as she stared at Nao. "Roxanne Feris."

Atsumu tilted his head to his left as he stood behind the counter. "Roxanne... Feris...? Who's that?"

Without moving her gaze away from Nao, Sayuri elaborated on her previous words. "The woman who caused all of this to happen by interrupting Nao-san and her cousin's journey to this world, stealing Ains from Rina at the trial, plotting against the magicians' power loss and near demises. She's also the leader of the 14K as we've discussed before. However, there's still a high possibility that she's targeting Rina as a result of the same trial from over three years ago, but the fact her subordinate has Ains in his hands may be a form of trust we've never known about her having with anyone besides her parents until I came to the Human World to seek her out."

Riki acknowledged with a staid expression and inquired, "About her subordinate, could he have a strong bond with this Roxanne Feris? If she's not the one using Ains, then she must be letting her subordinate do whatever he wants. He's already erased billions of people from our world and made it smaller. If we don't do something about him, he'll destroy everything, you guys won't be able to stand a chance against him, and neither will we. We can't just do nothing right now—we have to face her and the rest of the 14K as quickly as possible!"

Takuji let out a sigh with a carefree smile, putting his arms and hands out as if they had formed a W in the space they were in, cupping and surrounding the empty air. "You're so impatient, Riki. The guy's toying with your emotions by doing things according to his will and desires. It's not like the Human World has nothing left. You still have this country and several others remaining, and a smaller world isn't as bad as it appears. If you rush into things, the guy's gonna use you—the leader of the Black Foxes—as a hostage to lure everyone else into a trap. Count on that if you really want to get beaten up in the torture chambers the 14K created. What I can tell you for certain is that there'll be no hope for you unless you cool down and listen to us. Anyway, to answer your question, Sayuri and I can certainly sense a bond between them, as the two of us have personally encountered the 14K for a while now, but we're not the only ones who have."

"What do you mean by that last part?" Riki replied.

Takuji let out a breath with his mouth closed, still smiling. "Nothing. Don't worry about every single thing I've said so far." Soon, he received a message on his rainbow striped flip phone [which rapidly appeared in his left hand], and opened it. Then, he glanced at Riki and the others from behind the counter [on Atsumu's left]. He closed his phone and put it back in his suit jacket’s left front pocket. "Unfortunately, Akio-sama has told me that we'll have to lay back for a while."

Riki's left eye twitched. "What? We don't have to do anything?"

"For the time being," the mint-haired magician replied without any worries. "Besides, it'll be a good thing for us, due to the stress of going through so much for several days. You can relax and slack off all you want until we're needed!"

The unemployed twenty-seven-year-old couldn't believe it. What was he going to do now? He still didn't have a job, and had been told that he should step back from being a thief with the rest of his team for an indefinite amount of time. Things weren't going so well for him that spring. "...How is that a good thing? I won't have much to do, even when I'm not on a mission or assignment. Kenshi's also been missing from our group—who knows what he's up to, or if he's alright."

The look in Sayuri’s eyes seemed to have somewhat changed with a beautiful light in them, while her mouth opened a little. She turned around on her right, looking at both Mitsuki and Riki.

"You don't need to worry about him," the orange-haired magician assured them. "Kenshi's fine."

A severe grimness appeared on Riki's face. "Sayuri, what makes you so sure about that?"

Mitsuki's eyes widened slightly. "Telepathy? Who told you about Kenshi's—"

"I have been ordered not to say anything about it," Sayuri interrupted the dark purple-haired magician's words in an indifferent manner. She had a stoic expression planted on her beautiful visage. "Furthermore, I am asking you on my source's behalf to place your trust in them. No matter what."

Riki's gaze fell to the floor. "How can we put our trust in their hands so easily? We don't even know who’s with our comrade and what'll happen if we don't do something about all this mayhem."

"I've already placed my trust in them, and so have the other magicians from home," Sayuri said without any hesitation. "In due time, you'll understand... because it'll all work out in the end, especially according to Akio-sama."

After hearing those words, Mitsuki held Riki's right hand in her left and smiled gently without lacing their fingers together. "I see. Everyone else in Neon has given their hopes to this source. Then, why don't we wait and see what the future holds together? It sounds like Kenshi is in good hands."

Riki glanced wistfully at his wife. "Mitsuki..."

Hiro also smiled, gazing at his partner. "..."

Sayuri looked back at Hiro. She was not smiling, but her eyes started to show the emotions of gratitude and happiness.

At the same time, Atsumu was glad things were going well for the couples in his restaurant, along with the fact he had a nicer interior with new equipment that were more efficient, and magnificent furnishings. Everything looked great and he couldn't be unhappy about Takuji's help. The mint-haired magician had already been gone for some time now, and was most likely back home with his wife of royal blood.

Rina took a seat on her ex-boyfriend's right side and turned her attention towards him. "Are you hungry?"

Takuto glanced back at the Magician of Power in their group. "Yeah. I want a bowl of pork noodles. And I'm talking about the ones you make. I'm craving food made from Neon's ingredients."

The blonde nodded. "Alright. This is also the perfect time to make it a large, early breakfast to celebrate Nao-san and Taiga-san's upcoming marriage, so I'll get things ready."

"I'll help out too, of course," Atsumu beamed. "With the knowledge Takuji's cooking gave me, and the practice we had yesterday, I'll be able to prepare better food for everyone."

Takuto snickered and glanced at Riki. "You'd better raise your reputation. Takuji’s become more like the real leader around here, especially with you losing his mojo.” Then, he turned toward Atsumu. “It's still dark out, but it's not like we can't grab some food to eat. We have enough time to finish before sunrise, so don't disappoint anyone here, including me."

The wavy-haired brunet gave a thumbs-up. "You got it!"

Riki stared at Takuto with some displeasure in his eyes. “Takuto, don’t think I didn’t hear what you said just now. I’m still the leader of the Black Foxes in contrast to being unemployed and having to lay back for the time being.”

“Pffft!” the programmer laughed. “You’ve already been put into your own grave, Riki. Don’t sweat the small stuff and take a frickin’ break. Don’t you ever learn?”

“…” Riki could not make a comeback because he could not deny his tendency to work.

Everyone else was having a blast and stayed in Le Renard Noir for the enjoyment and food.

XXX

Meanwhile, Kenshi was amazed by what he found out, and he was also stunned by the same knowledge about what took place while he had been sleeping. There was also a group of six magicians with him, Claire, and the three other Special Humans.

"Seriously?!" he exclaimed. "Most of the countries and continents have been permanently destroyed and removed from the Human World?! So that means..."

A female magician with waist-length purpureus hair and sunset orange eyes nodded firmly. "Yes. Your world has lost many people with a single swing of Rina's sword by a member of the 14K."

A familiar male magician with teal hair and light green eyes said, "In any case, the guy who has Ains is tempting you and the other members of the Black Foxes into taking quick, rash actions. Thanks to Akio-sama's message to Takuji and Minagi's telepathy, they won't be doing anything that'll endanger their lives for the time being."

"Still, it's going to be a shocking matter for the other innocent lives of the world population to take this all in," Kenshi answered with a conflicted expression. "I never would've thought you two were working against the 14K."

"Aaron's got some interesting but ordinary-like ways to distract them, while Manjuki helps him and the rest of us take them down," a female magician with long cream-colored hair reaching past her thighs with curls that resembled soft serve ice cream said. She had cadmium red eyes and was similar to Elizabeth in appearance. "But they really shouldn't mess with us, even when they recruit more members."

"Uh..." the firefighter trailed off. "You're Elise Illyse, the main rapper of Multi-Star Clover." He shifted his gaze towards another female magician who had long, light green hair that went past her waist and had floral lavender eyes. "And you're Minagi Hogo, another member of MSC! It's so cool to have all the members of Multi-Star Clover here in front of me, including Manjuki." He was filled with awe and stupefaction. "A room full of celebrities is too good to be true, but this is reality."

There was also Futaba Rukawa, a female magician with long, picton blue hair that almost reached the back of her knees, and brink pink eyes. She was one of the co-managers of Multi-Star Clover, along with Aikishi Buntai, who had white hair and dark blue eyes; the latter was in a romantic relationship with Elise. Futaba's boyfriend Aaron Fitzgerald, on the other hand, composed the girl group's songs, while Claire did the music arrangement.

"We do have our jobs in this world, but they're nothing compared to landing concealed attacks on the members of the 14K," Aikishi added. "Although Claire's not a celebrity anymore, he goes along with us since we all make up a whole team in the entertainment industry."

"By the way," Claire brought up, "we could assign you to be our bodyguard, if you want to do the job, of course."

Kenshi's surprise was transparent. "What? A bodyguard? It's not like you need one since you guys all go to work together, right? There's also the fact that I'm a firefighter, and a member of the Black Foxes. I’m just a human compared to your team consisting of both Special Humans and magicians."

"Haha, I was joking!" the leader of the resistance laughed. Just then, he stared at the spiky-haired brunet with a serious look in his eyes. "But it seems you still haven't caught onto what I meant behind those words."

"Huh?" Yep, Kenshi was puzzled.

Manjuki smiled and said, "What Claire was actually saying, Kenshi, was a command to join us as a member of the Hidden Resistance. He’s only kidding about having you as a bodyguard."

"You want me to join you?" Kenshi questioned. "But why? I mean, I can't just quit my job and abandon my role as a thief. I'm not powerful like you guys, and I'd just slow you down."

"Even though we're aiding the Black Foxes and the alliance, as well as protecting them?" Manjuki inquired.

"What?" Kenshi's bewilderment was so like him, it was getting old. "You guys are helping us?"

Elizabeth smiled once more. "We've been doing so for a long time. Way before you guys joined hands with the Kujo brothers, Nao, and Miyuki. In fact, we've been countering against the 14K at a slow rate for the past six years."

Kuruha's eyes narrowed. "Kenshi. Are the Black Foxes irreplaceable to you?"

"Yeah," the spiky-haired brunet responded without having to consider the question.

"Then you want to keep them away from danger, right?" Kuruha continued.

Kenshi grinned. "Isn't it obvious? Of course I'd want to protect them with all my might!"

"Jaa, why don't you just join us already if you're willing to prevent them from going outside of the safety zone?" Kokoro suggested. "If you become our ally, you'll be carrying out our errands and strategies to lower the 14K's power, and once the time's right, we'll bring them down without fail. Therefore, everything will finally be over between them and us. We'll even reunite you and your friends after they follow our trail later on. It won't be too long before you can see them again, but it'll take some time until we can accomplish the things we've set out to do."

As if a ray of light had shined down upon him from above, Kenshi felt the sensation that he was needed by the Hidden Resistance members. "Will you guys... really give the Black Foxes the chance to defeat the 14K?"

Claire smiled as though Kenshi's inquiry did not need to be asked in the first place. "What are you saying, young man? Do you want your friends to bring them down by themselves without enough power to do so? We're going to do this together, you know. As a combined force of indestructible unity between us and them."

Kenshi's eyes widened, his vision becoming full of mist. "So you'll really help us go against the 14K and let us meet again...?"

"What's with that look in your eyes? Are you going to cry and bring a flood to the place, Kenshi Inagaki?" Claire jested half-heartedly. "This is our hideout. If you're going to sob like a little kid, do it when we're not around."

Tears of joy formed in Kenshi's eyes and he nodded, whimpering as his tears drizzled down his visage. "Okay." Shortly after he uttered that one word of obedience, he started to bawl and blubber with less noise than one would have anticipated.

"Then, it's settled," Claire kept smiling, but there was a huge hint of triumphant glory to it. "As of today at 3:27 a.m., I declare you, Kenshi Inagaki to be our eleventh, temporary and final member. We the Hidden Resistance welcome you to our team. Oh, and don't forget to eat stuff from Neon; you'll need to enhance your abilities since that blow to the back of your neck weakened most of the stuff you gained beforehand. You may have been lucky that last bit of power protected your skin from tearing, but there's barely enough magic in your body to keep you alive.” Glancing at the magicians, he continued, “The six of them will help you regain that."

Aaron laughed a bit. "Heheh! Anyway, congratulations on surviving that blast. Or, maybe not. The power of fate sure saved you from a 14K member!"

"Aren't you that mailman from before?" Kenshi asked. "You know, from that weird delivery service?"

The teal-haired magician waved his right hand to the side. "I was just following orders to dress up as one and deliver that letter to Riki. Plus, that delivery service was fake. I mean, postal services don't exist in Neon. All magicians know each other, so there's no need to have someone send mail when we can contact each other."

"Huh..." Kenshi exhaled with his typical dumbfounded expression and tear-stained visage displaying for the ten other members in the room to see.

They couldn't help but smile at him warmly. To the sniper, it felt as though the Black Foxes were with him, but the Hidden Resistance members were there instead. They were going to be there for him; after all, they were his comrades from that morning on and Manjuki had known Kenshi for several years. As long as there were people he could trust, it wasn't going to be a bad experience for him.

These guys and Manjuki... Kenshi thought. A wonderful smile showed itself on his face. They're willing to help a band of thieves like the Black Foxes achieve our goal of bringing that woman and her minions down, but they're doing what they can without showing themselves to anyone. I see. That's what makes them who they are, and Manjuki's also protecting Saionji in her own way. Maybe that's why she hasn't told her anything. I'll have to keep this from everyone else, so... I swear that I'll protect the rest of the team, even if I don't keep in touch with them. For their sakes along with the rest of the alliance's, the HR's, the other magicians', Mom and everyone else's at Kikufuji, and for mine.

With that vow in mind, Kenshi's noble side began to fuel him as his expedition across the new world was about to advance. He wasn't going to fool around like an immature or adolescent kid anymore. He was going to become a true man of his word and grow up without failure getting in his way. There would definitely be a time when he would show his maturity to his closest companions once they meet again.

#Kenshi Inagaki #Taiga Kujo #Hyosuke Kujo #Riki Yanase #Hiro Sarashina #Atsumu Kashiwabara #Takuto Hirukawa #voltage fanfics #voltage fanfic #love letter from thief x #llftx

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