Book 28: The Eden Conference

July 12, 2022 - 10:24am

E.C. Campus, Eden City, New Eden

Tamara and her soon-to-be usurpers crammed themselves into Soji’s room. The kids sat on the boy’s poorly made bed while the rest stood.

“So what’s next?” Soji broke the silence, hoping to snap attention away from his disorderly chambers.

“Nothing,” the woman replied, crossing her arms.

“Not only will the Elders be watching you, but every maestro in this city will be on the lookout for the new anomaly, the prodigal usurper of the Rose family, and the boy cursed by the Spine,” Miguel added.

“Exactly,” Tamara continued, “you need to lay low, and play nice. That’s why I spread you three out with the groups. Get people used to you, and get them to like you. That’s really all it takes to move up in the Institute.”

“Really? That seems so…anticlimactic. All that training, and bleeding, and crying just for us to have to wait for people to like us?”

“That’s how life is. Surely you didn’t expect to get into the Saints or march right up to the Spine from the beginning?”

The boy paused.

“I get what Soji’s saying,” Kuro said, “we need to do something besides play pretend.”

“Remember our point plan,” Doc answered, “You can use this time to follow up on your father. The archives here have the highest level of access for the Institute’s databases. With the young Miss Rose, you should be able to get any file you want…”

“Right…” he replied hesitantly. The man had only ever lived in the back of his mind as an afterthought, but was uncomfortably inching towards his well-guarded heart. Soji and Monika noted his apprehension.

“Fine!” Soji groaned, “We’ll do nothing. What else was on the point plan again?”

“Things that can cancel Contracts,” Monika replied, “Although, I’d have to guess that if something like that does exist, then looking for it now would draw way too much attention.”

“You’re right about that. You’ll have to put yourself in spaces where you might coincidentally find that information.” Miguel nodded.

“Again, hence the choice of teams,” Tamara said, “Monika, you’re with your cousin and Anish. That should hopefully increase your chances of getting into the Rose or Talia family estates. Kuro, I put you with Esme because she’s already a Saint. And Soji…as far as I know, Angelo, like Alex and Esme, takes orders from Yasu. As much information as you’ll have to hide from them, you’ll also be able to pick up on things they might let slip.”

“That…makes sense, actually,” Kuro said.

“Why do you sound surprised? I’m always right!” The team rolled their eyes.

“That reminds me, Doc, something’s wrong with these bandages…”

“Already?” The man sighed. His fingers wandered for his frayed box of cigarettes.

“When I was fighting Angelo, and while I slept, my body partially transformed, even with the gloves on.”

“Transformed, how?” His expression darkened. His Instruments were always impeccable. Almost Talia quality, even.

Soji explained the details of the fight, his dream, and waking up to see the Cain family crest etched into his headboard.

“Interesting,” the man said.

“This kid is making it hard to quit smoking…”

“Maybe it’s because I’m closer to the Spine now?”

“That’s certainly a possibility…the blooms closer to the tree are powerful enough to fight off even an Elder like Vera,” Doc rubbed his chin.

“So, in theory, could I get that strong?”

“I think, in theory, if you’re that strong, you’re gone. There’d be no humanity left, just bloom.”

Soji crossed his arms.

“Do you think…it’s possible for me to be human again?”

His question surprised Kuro. Every time they’d spoken in the pit, it didn’t seem like his friend considered that to be an option. Not until he burned Daisy.

“I have no idea. It should be possible to suppress the bloom parts of you with more Instruments like the gloves, but it’ll take time. If it were that simple, blooms wouldn’t be a problem.”

“I see…so the gloves…”

“Drop by my office when you have the chance. Avoid powering up until then.”

“Great!” Tamara clapped, “Seems like we’re all on the same page.” She brought three expensive-looking smartphones out from her pocket and tossed them at the kids.

“You’re welcome. Everyone else will get theirs later, but these are the only phones that work in New Eden, although they can’t contact anyone outside. Of course, don’t use them to talk business.”

“Why do they work like that?”

“The same barrier that minimizes how often blooms appear outside New Eden is responsible for things like the weather, monitoring who enters and who leaves, hiding it from non-maestros, and non-maestro technology. As a result, unauthorized radio waves are prevented from crossing the barrier.”

“That’s impressive…what exactly is a barrier?” Soji asked. He hardly paid attention when atma and its applications were the topic of discussion. He found himself paying for this choice more often than not.

Kuro and Monika sighed.

“You really should know what atma is capable of…many of its applications were invented or refined to purge blooms,” Miguel shook his head.

“A barrier is created by a combination of all three of the atma basics. A maestro uses Flow on the air around them, Shapes it into a simple structure, and Expels it into the surrounding area. As it’s being made, the maestro can add all sorts of conditions about who can enter and who can leave. The higher the skill, the more conditions,” Money finally spoke up.

“Seems simple enough.”

“You’d think so…you see what the New Eden barrier is capable of. Some can even have a distorted flow of time. If a maestro erects one mid-fight, you need to be careful.”

“Got it!” Soji nodded, just wanting the impromptu lecture to be over. He could tell Money had an avalanche of information about barriers just waiting to be coaxed by the low rumbles of his ignorance.

“I get the gist…it reminds me of an anime I watched, actually…”

“Right, then. We’re out. If we spend too much time with you guys, people will accuse you of being nepotism babies,” Tamara waved.

“We are nepotism babies! And so are you!” Monika said.

“Shhh!” Tamara hushed them as she shuffled out of the room. The instructors followed suit, albeit with more traditional means of exit.

“So that weird thing that happened…it was waking up blighted, right?” Kuro asked.

“Not just that…Tamara was pretty weird about the crest thing.”

“You can’t fault her for that. The last time she saw it was probably during the Cain Massacre,” Monika explained.

“I just want to know where I’ve seen it before…if I dreamt it, I must’ve seen it somewhere,” Soji thought.

“Tamara and Hedeon are incredibly strong…who could take out their entire family?” Kuro recalled the overwhelming gap between him and the Elder. Being around someone like that reminded him of his helplessness in maestro society.

The girl grimaced.

“I don’t know the details, but…the Cains were afflicted by a new type of bloom that could blight maestros.”

Both boys sat up.

“That’s possible?!”

“It hasn’t been seen since,” Monika shook her head, “But because they were blooms, they had to be…exterminated.”

“By who?” Kuro pushed.

“Well…” the girl searched for the right words, “...it was something the M.I.I. had never seen before, so they put one of their strongest maestros on the assignment…”

Gears turned in Soji’s head until he arrived at the horrible truth that Monika danced around.

“Tamara…”

~

Illuminated by the early morning light, the trio descended the grand staircase, their footsteps echoing through the vast corridor. With each step the boys took, came a greater understanding of Tamara’s motivations. Soji empathized with the woman, realizing the similarity of their situations. However, while he saw it as the reason Tamara was eager to help him, Kuro saw it as the reason she was eager to use him. She was the same as Soji, out to rampage against the people who wounded them, and that was a problem.

“This place…” he muttered.

“Yeah,” Soji agreed, “It’s the absolute worst.”

The walls, adorned with paintings of distant landscapes, seemed to come alive to mock them in the same manner jail cell windows mocked inmates. As they reached the ground floor, the chatter of their fellow maestros enveloped them, a medley of excitement and anticipation to dispel the rolling darkness.

Dione, accompanied by Penny, approached with a grin, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Must be nice having Tamara Cain as a guardian,” she teased.

“I’m not so sure,” Penny said, “I heard she’s annoying as fuck…”

“Watch it,” Monika warned.

“Why’s everyone so excited?”

“Your mentor gave us all phones and our access cards. Apparently preloaded with this month’s allowance,” Dione replied.

She waved three named envelopes in the air

"She said these ones are for you guys…"

Monika had only ever used whatever money Tamara set aside for her. The girl's fingers buzzed with anticipation as she opened her own envelope, revealing the gleaming card nestled within. It had her name and sixteen digits in raised lettering on the front. In the back was a picture of her that she didn’t remember having taken. Soji's smile stretched as he read the words left on a slip of paper taped onto his card.

Yes, you can buy food with these.

“How do we check how much money we have?” He asked. Dione gestured for his card.

“You guys already have your phones, right? There should be an app that lets you scan the card. It just says M.I.I.”

Soji flicked through his phone and followed the girl’s instructions. Kuro and Monika copied him.

“Damn!” He yelled, drawing attention from everybody else in the lounge.

“That’s what I said! I’ve never seen that many zeroes before…” Penny laughed.

“Right? Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money…do you know how much suya that is?”

“Wait, ten thousand? We got five!” Dione said.

Tamara’s wards looked at each other’s screens, with the boys being particularly excited.

“Too bad! Can we eat already?” Soji skipped towards the fridge. He noticed that nobody had entered the kitchen, and smirked.

“So they recognize this as my territory.”

“Hey, what are you doing?” Esme called out to him, “We’re going downtown, the food places there are amazing.”

“How are we getting there?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out…Niko doesn’t want to ‘carry you brats’,” she nudged her girlfriend, who yawned.

“Penny,” Soji drew the tiny Filipino girl’s attention from Kuro’s phone, “could you carry us all into the city?”

“Some of you, probably. I can only take people to places that they’ve been already. And unless there’s a shadow I’ve stepped in before in the city, it’ll be impossible altogether.”

“Boo!” He jeered.

“Fuck you! That being said…I was exploring last night, and found a parking lot with like four buses. Does anybody know how to drive one?”

~

The bus lurched unsteadily under Esme and Niko’s hands. The group had unanimously elected the former as the best candidate to drive. Apparently something about her oozed responsibility. Unfortunately, that air of leadership did not translate well to the road.

“How is it that nobody here can drive?” She would have given up if not for the fact that they were cruising down a very steep hill.

Angelo, ever pragmatic, proposed calling a cab yet again, a suggestion that was met with agreement each time it was offered up.

“This is terrible…not even naija drivers are this bad,” Kuro sighed, resting his head in his hand and staring out the window.

“Right? What this place needs is okada,” Soji chuckled.

Suddenly, the bus screeched as Esme tried, and failed, to follow the road’s sharp turns, sending it through a metal railing, and over the hill.

The kids yelled as they flew through the air. Several of them instinctively called up their atma.

Soji’s eyes shut, bracing for impact as he threw his arm over Kuro’s chest. The impact, however, was snubbed in favor of a gentle descent as Niko's technique rapidly blossomed from the sides of the bus. The bright white wings held the vehicle aloft as it swerved dangerously down the hill. Niko's exertion was obvious, her technique pushing boundaries as she fought to keep the makeshift wings steady. She’d never moved something this heavy before.

“Why didn’t you do this in the first place?” Monika jeered.

“Shut up!” Niko replied with a strain.

The bus slowly sailed towards the city, at a height where delivery drones zipped by the windows, beeping in what could be interpreted as robotic irritation. The reflective glass of towering skyscrapers and uniquely shaped buildings were a marvel. Soji was floored at the sight of one shaped like a horseshoe, another an upright oval. The myriad of silvers and whites wore scarves of greenery in a blend of civilization and nature that he’d never seen before. He half-expected a car to dart past them in the air. Incredible…

After much awe from the passengers, and soft, strained grunts from Niko, the bus’s wheels gently kissed the asphalt of a mildly busy street. While there were only a couple cars parked by the sidewalks, there were several pedestrians who stopped to inspect the vehicle from a distance.

“Alright, I don’t think this thing is making it back up to residence, so I’ll figure out our rides home,” Esme announced, “In the meantime, as you all get off, give me your phone numbers. I’m not gonna babysit anyone, so be here when I call.” She waved the kids forward, guarding the bus’s door, phone in hand.

They practically climbed over each other to dismount the creaking metal cage. Monika, one of the last ones on the bus, buzzed excitedly as she finally touched down on the street.

“I hated that,” a previously suppressed wave of nausea welled up in her stomach. She let out a deep breath while Niko snickered behind her. She almost flung sparks at the girl, but halted as she imagined how each of their friends would react if the girls started fighting. It would be a downtown rendition of the Orchestra.

“What are you guys gonna do?” Dione asked.

“Food,” Soji replied immediately.

“Then a library,” Kuro added. Penny pointed at him in agreement. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Anish hovering awkwardly around the periphery of the group. Otta, however, was nowhere to be seen.

“Wrong, and wrong,” Monika said, “We’re fixing your hair situations now.”

Neither boy could argue with that. Looking in the mirror that morning could’ve been a punishment of its own.

“Lame! Dione, are you going with them?” Penny asked.

“Wha- is it because I’m black?” The girl feigned offense.

“My hair is amazing, what are you talking about?” She gestured at her space buns and twirled.

“Okay, you’re coming Instrument shopping with us then,” Penny gestured at Anish and Israel, who only just learned of their participation. Dione shrugged, skipping along as the group made their way deeper into the heart of Eden City.

~

“Is nobody else hungry?” Soji groaned. Monika pushed him and Kuro along.

“You’ll get your food, as soon as you stop looking like you crawled out of a cave,” she replied.

“I did crawl out of a cave…and at least there was something to eat.”

Kuro remained quiet, taking in the majesty of their surroundings. They were definitely not in Abuja anymore. There was no unending chorus of honking, no mind-melting humidity, no smell of street food and sweat. He could even walk with his arms outstretched without touching a single person.

“How many maestros live here? It’s incredible,” he whispered.

“The total population, last time I checked, was about 300 thousand. It’s not all maestros though,” Monika replied, “This place needs workers to run it, and rich residents to pay for it. People who know people. If you don’t count the Family estates, there are just under 5,000 maestros living here. And about half of those are fighters.”

“All this for 300,000 people?” The boys thought in unison. It seemed…wasteful.

“Damn. Tamara was serious about there not being enough maestros. How many are there around the world?” Soji shook his head.

“You know you guys have access to the maestro side of the internet right? But…there aren’t that many. I think the number of active maestros was somewhere between 250 and 400 thousand, with maybe twenty percent of those actually working for the Institute.”

“When you say ‘active’, what do you mean?” Kuro asked.

“As in, aware and able to use their technique, and interacting with maestro society in some way.”

“So the M.I.I. is outmatched…is it just political influence keeping them in power?”

“Outnumbered, not outmatched. People like Tamara, Victor, and the Elders are the upper limit of power. The average maestro is much weaker. If the top ten strongest maestros worked together, I think they could take on any country.”

“And somehow, we’re supposed to…” Soji drew his thumb across his neck.

“Somehow…” She repeated.

“Let’s just focus on now…tell us where we’re going, Princess.” Kuro teased.

“It’s a hair stylist I used to go to with my da— Hey! If you’re gonna be calling me that, doesn’t that mean you have to do what I say?”

“We already do,” Soji sighed.

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” he continued.

“Rare…” Monika said

“That’s new…” Kuro added simultaneously.

“Fuck you guys,” the boy laughed, “I’ve been thinking, what happens after all this? What do you guys want to happen?”

“That’s not focusing on now, but it is a good question…”

“I mean, if everything goes according to plan, that means no more blooms, and no more Yasu. I’ll be using my family’s resources to heal the world. Imagine if everywhere looked like this?” Monika gestured to the gorgeous buildings around her.

“That’d be kind of off-putting,” Kuro replied, “It’s so…white. But I take your meaning. I know you could pull it off.”

The girl smiled. Soji faked gagging.

“What about you?” She asked, ignoring the boy.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think I could go back to a normal life. I know I want to help people but there’s this…” he trailed off.

“Emptiness…how can I help anyone when I’m not even whole? I can’t even help Soji. No, I can’t even complain. He’s worse off than I am…”

“Hesitation?”

“In a sense,” he lied, hoping his best friend wouldn’t sniff out the truth.

“I get that,” Soji replied, seemingly oblivious, “I feel the same way. I’ve been thinking about what I want out of all this. I mean, if I destroy the Devil’s Spine, what would happen to me as a bloom? Would I disappear? Would I go back to being a normal person? Do I want to be a normal person?”

“What would you do if you were?”

“Human again? I have no idea. Before all this, I was just following the traditional path that’s expected of me. I didn’t really have a vision. Maybe that’s why I have no problem giving my life to this thing we have to do. There’s nothing else.”

“Don’t be silly, Soji,” Kuro playfully knocked the back of his friend’s head, “There’s us. There’s so much food you haven’t tried, so many places you haven’t been. And, are you really gonna die before you see a black live action Spider-Man?”

Soji slapped his forehead.

“You are so right. On the other hand, sometimes being a bloom isn’t that bad. I’m strong as fuck, and I can heal from all sorts of injuries. Perhaps I’d like to explore the world on my own…”

“Why on your own?” Monika asked.

“I’m used to being smothered. I’m grateful, but sometimes I…I crave silence.”

“It’s not as good as you think it is. It can be crushing.”

“I agree,” Kuro said, “We should hold each other as close as possible. No matter what.”

“Cornyyyyy,” Soji said with a smile. The three had been walking down an empty street for the last few minutes, taking in all the facilities the city had to offer. Many of them were empty, with only the kids to bear witness to their pristine interiors.

Monika read Kuro’s expression.

“The day after the Orchestra is sort of a cooldown period for most of the city.”

“Then how do you know your hairdresser is open?”

“Well for one, my aunty Esta doesn’t take breaks. And secondly, we’re here. See for yourself.” The girl pointed at a storefront whose glass doors revealed rows of barber chairs and saloon stools. A short Japanese woman sat in one of the chairs, nose buried in her phone.

“Aunty? Like Rose aunty?” Soji asked.

“Third cousin, actually. She doesn’t care about all that succession stuff…I think.”

The woman jumped up excitedly with the jingle of the bell by the door. Her eyes widened when the trio walked in.

“Baby Momo! You’re back! You’ve gotten so big, are these your boyfriends?” She threw her arms around Monika.

Soji retched facetiously while Kuro blushed.

“Good morning Ms. Rose, I—” he extended a hand. The woman smacked it aside and hugged him.

“I am not Ms. Rose. It’s Esta. And I know who you are. That white hair of yours is telling. And that makes you…” she pointed at Soji, then gestured for him to come closer.

“...Soji. You’re the big bad bloom, huh? You’re not so tough, I could take you,” she teased, poking his stomach. The boy chuckled nervously.

“I’m guessing you came here to fix your awful hair situation. Please, sit.”

The boys sat. Monika looked around before her aunt gestured for her to join them.

“You’re a mess, too. Running around without putting your hair in any protective hairstyles,” Esta shook her head. Tsk, tsk, tsk. The girl followed suit without arguing.

“What happened to your hand?” She pointed at Monika’s bandages.

“Niko is…competitive.”

“Tsk. That girl. I blame Akane. She was always a bit of an iyana on'na…”

Monika laughed.

“Good to see you’ve been keeping up with your Japanese…” Esta stood over Soji.

“Honno sukoshi dake.”

“I just want a—” The woman shushed Soji before he could say any more. Atma twirled around her fingertips as she placed her index on the boy’s head. Strings of her purple energy wove into his hair and undid his locs in an instant.

“Woah…” he whispered. His uncertainty about the woman’s ability to do his hair justice dissipated. She pulled his head back into a sink and gently caressed his scalp as warm water danced through it. A fragrant shampoo further soothed him, almost putting the boy to sleep. As soon as the sensations embraced him, they ceased. Esta squeezed the hair dry, and pushed his head up to align with an overhead hairdryer. She fiddled with some dials on it before switching it on for just a moment. The boy felt the water that had been weighing it down evaporate almost instantly.

“How?” He and Kuro were shocked. If any other hairdresser had skipped this many steps to prep their hair, they’d have been livid. But the combination of atma and skill showed that she clearly knew what she was doing.

“Talia tech, darling. Even Beyonce comes out here to see me,” the woman smiled as she ran a finger through the middle of his scalp.

“You do not know Beyonce.” Esta just smirked. Soji’s hair twisted into longer locs that cascaded down to the sides of his head. She gestured for them to stand up, and traced along the sides, instantly fading them into a taper. She repeated the process for the front and lined him up nicely.

She held up a mirror for him to look at the back.

“Damn…this is incredible!” He admired his thick locks. They sat gingerly atop his head, falling down all sides of his head, with many of them gathered in front of his face. He smirked, feeling himself.

“Of course it is. Who wants next?”

~

Angelo drained his fourth mimosa in less than ten minutes. Him and his friends had chosen a classy breakfast joint whose patio they would get trashy wasted in. Their wonderful dean, after all, had announced them to be de facto babysitters. They had the experience in the field and the leadership to corral their younger colleagues into shape.

He’d since replaced his shattered blue oni mask with a black one, now with a skeletal jaw printed on it. He pulled it back up, and stood up abruptly.

“Oh boy, he’s wandering again,” Niko warned. Esme and Alex tapped their noses immediately.

“Shit!” Niko stood up with a sigh, and followed their drunken friend. This was the second time in a row she ended up responsible for the boy’s inebriated walks. He never said much, or caused trouble or anything. He just walked. The duo disappeared into the restaurant.

“I want to get an Instrument, shall we go?” She asked. Alex nodded, and placed a wad of cash on the table.

~

The two of them entered a shop whose interior was out of place from the rest of the nearby buildings. It was almost like a wooden shack with a peeling sign, tucked neatly between two skyscrapers, practically begging for a customer. That was exactly the type of place Esme liked to be. The store owner was a weathered old man with piercing green eyes, skin like leather, and dark silver hair. He didn’t even look at them when they entered.

“This is definitely the right place to be.”

“I guess he’s taking being on Soji’s team pretty hard.” She signed while she browsed through the assortment of wall-mounted weapons.

“I don’t think that’s it. He doesn’t hate the kid… at least, not really,” Alex croaked.

“What do you mean?”

“I think a lot of what he’s feeling is misplaced anger at himself among other things. Sort of like someone else I know. How are you and Niko?”

Esme picked up a pair of short, wide swords shaped like shark fins. They were held together by a chain, and were light to the touch. The girl ran her fingers across its jade colored hamon to feel out the integrity of the blade.

“We’re fine…”

“But?”

“Everything with Yasu. I was hoping that completing her personal missions would help my chances at joining the Saints group. But some of the things she’s asked us to do…I just couldn’t. And sometimes, when I see how Niko acts…she’s too much like her. I feel like she’ll do anything to please her mother and grandmother. Anything.”

“You can always trace a ripple back to its drop. You can’t fault her for that.”

Esme nodded.

The shopkeeper spoke up.

“That’s the Wild Jade. Very good eye, my friend.”

“What does it do?”

“Aside from the usual reinforcement, the chain is able to extend up to ten meters despite its current length of one.”

“Not bad…how much?”

“Usually, I sell this for ten, but for only you, my friend, I’ll do five,” the man smiled, animated by the prospect of making money.

“I can do $500,” Esme was quick to bring out her access card.

The shopkeeper chuckled.

“You are confused. It’s five thousand.”

“What!” She exclaimed.

“That’s my entire allowance! I’d rather not dip into my savings.”

“I can’t afford that, sorry,” she turned to leave when Alex clattered a box of carefully secured marbles and a wad of cash onto the counter. The man’s hand darted at the cash like a viper to its prey.

“You know how these work?”

Alex nodded. He signed to Esme that she can pay him back with more gossip. Before she could protest, he shut his eyes. She huffed stubbornly as the old man handed her the sheathed weapon in a plain black wooden box.

~

“What do you think the real source of your frustration is? Since you and Angelo started working with Yasu, you haven’t been yourselves.” He resumed their conversation.

“I think it has to do with why I started working with her. After the Orchestra Incident, I felt so powerless. And Yasu offered me — offered us — a chance to be better. But… I’ve had to hurt so many people, and I’m not sure I feel any stronger.”

“You’re scared that you might be a bad person. Well then stop it.” Alex shook his head with a grin.

“Yasu has a million other people she could have asked to do her bidding. But she reached out to you and Angelo at a time when you both were vulnerable. Why? You were desperate, traumatized, and impressionable, and now that you’re a little older, you’re recognizing that. But at the same time, you need to hold yourself accountable for the decisions you alone have made. If you tie Yasu and her status to all your bad decisions, that’s all you’ll ever see in Niko. And…”

Esme thought for a moment.

“I need to separate Niko from her status…”

“Exactly.”

“How are you even wiser while drunk? What goes on in your head?”

He motioned to sign something but changed his mind, and instead smiled.

~

Kuro couldn’t take his eyes off of himself. Esta had given him cornrows, and roped the ends together to give him a cute ponytail of sorts. She let two twists hang from either side of his head to complete the look.

“Mom would have sent me right back to the barber…even my rows before were pushing it.”

“And that’s the last of you,” the woman said. Monika’s unruly waves of hair had been tamed into streams of locs, tied into two bunches at the back, but allowed to flow freely in front.

“That’ll be $3,000.”

Kuro’s eyes widened. He started to stutter while Soji crept towards the salon’s glass exit. Monika laughed.

“I’m kidding! This time. Just because you’re my nephew’s boyfriends.”

“Aunty!”

Soji frowned as though he smelled something awful.

“I’m not— we’re not…no,” Kuro stumbled into his answer. As cool and collected as he was, it was a trivial task for anything Monika-related to disorient him.

Esta laughed.

“I’m sure…now get outta here, I’m child-free for a reason. Shoo!”

~

“She’s nice,” Kuro said.

“She’s always been like that. I think she gets tired of people easily,” Monika replied. They were again isolated on the city’s streets, and simply followed the girl. Soji, of course, thought only of breakfast, and protested with his grumbling stomach.

“Isn’t it a little convenient that her technique revolves around hair? Does that mean she always saw herself as a hairdresser?” He referred to the idea of techniques being born from one’s self perceptions.

“You’d think so, but being able to control the hair on anyone’s body can be lethal. Think of your own hair, sharpened, tearing through blood vessels and drilling into your bone. Or even a few strands digging at your brain. There’d be nothing you could do.”

“Scary…” Soji shuddered, thinking about the fact that such a woman had her fingers in his hair just minutes ago. Then again, he rode with Tamara Cain.

“Come to think of it, everyone is kinda terrifying…the Elders must be insane if they can keep so many people in check just by existing.”

“Where are we going next?” Kuro asked, changing the subject. In his mind, he ran through several scenarios where he could fight Esta if it came down to it. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

“Instruments, then clothes. You need a new weapon, and Soji needs a new wardrobe…”

“Why are you deciding that on your own? What I need is breakfast, or I’m gonna eat the next person we see!”

“Tch, you don’t seem to mind your situation when it comes to eating people,” Monika laughed.

“Well that’s just ‘ow they think, innit?” A man with a graying beard commented. He had a worn, beige trenchcoat, matching the grisled attire of his three peers. They were stout men who stunk so much of smoke and atma, it was a wonder that they hadn’t been noticed earlier.

The kids instinctively readied themselves.

“And you are?” Kuro asked. A sturdy veil of atma enshrouded him.

“Ah, pardon me manners. I’m ‘enry, and these are the boys. Silent Pete, So Low Bob, and John the Mute. They don’t talk much,” Henry gestured at his comrades.

“So what is this, a stick up or a hate crime?” Soji cracked his knuckles.

“A job.”

“Got it!” Monika unleashed a barrage of marbles of atma, sending echoes down the cavernous and isolated streets. Dust obscured the sight of their would be opponents.

The faint glow of a barrier poked out from the rising clouds.

“I thought as much. These guys are professionals.”

“A barrier…what are the odds?” Soji frowned. A moment later, another barrier was erected, enveloping their entire street. For anyone outside it, they would’ve seen the empty, extravagant avenue it was expected to be at this time.

“Remember,” Henry whispered, “No techniques.” His men nodded, and together, they dashed at the children. Two targeted Soji while the others sought to occupy his friends.

He lunged forward to meet the one on his right with a hook, but the man was quick and blocked. Henry kicked him back, recreating distance between them.

“That reinforcement is good…”

The boy motioned to shoot out his bandages but was stunned momentarily by the erection of a sudden barrier around him. The veil was a pale, translucent blue dome, spacious but short. Soji touched it and recoiled at the familiar sensation of stinging atma.

“Soji!” Kuro continued to trade blows with his bald attacker. The man moved slowly, but powerfully.

“Bob…these guys are wearing name tags? What’s their deal?!”

He leaned into Bob’s space and went for a punch but was intercepted. The man clamped down on his arm and flung him in his associate’s direction.

Monika crashed into Kuro mid air. The two grunted as they hit the ground, but quickly scrambled to their feet and stood back to back.

“You good, Princess?”

“Not anymore,” she chuckled.

“Let’s trade?”

“I’m game. They’re slow…”

“But strong. And that barrier…”

“Yeah. They’re after Soji…I told you you needed a weapon…”

“Shush,” Kuro assessed the situation.

“Someone should be here soon…didn’t Tamara say an Elder monitors atma use in this barrier?”

Henry’s warning to not use techniques came to mind. “Wait…does the Eden barrier not recognize basic atma usage? I can’t use my technique without a blade. But Monika!”

“If you make a big enough explosion, you could draw someone’s attention. The Eden barrier monitors technique usage!”

The men closed in on them while Soji’s attackers slowly compressed the barrier trapping him.

“I’m not using my technique. If I do…it’ll hurt.”

Before he could ask what she meant like that, a bolt of atma shot into his shoulder. He cried out in pain. Bob and John started expelling shaped atma at the kids, realizing the advantage they had at range.

Monika took a deep breath before lunging at Bob, while Kuro pivoted to assault John. The two banked on their reinforcement to tank the projectiles while they closed their respective gaps.

As she closed in on her assailant, Monika’s arms started vibrating and glowing softly.

“Screw these guys for making me do this. But we need to get someone’s attention!” As she punched the man, she exhaled. Atma energized every cell in her arm, causing a series of tinny explosions, all chaining together into a concentrated but earth shattering BOOM!

The force punctured not just the man’s reinforcement, but his chest. Bob flew backwards with a hole where his sternum should’ve been, while Monika shook the blood off her fist.

“Gross!” Her hand trembled with the recoil. The man wheezed as he coughed up blood, twitching and slowly losing consciousness on the concrete.

Simultaneously, Kuro repeatedly drilled reinforced punches into John’s side, but the man was just as formidable.

“I need to help Soji, I need to help Soji, I need to help Soji, I need to help Soji, I need to help Soji, I need to help Soji, I need to…” His mind almost went blank as he pushed more and more atma out, with greater speed, and greater intensity.

The world screeched to a halt. The sun seemed to have dimmed, but Kuro could see what looked like stars from the corner of his vision. Although stuck in place, he could feel his atma surging. Without thinking, he let his body run along its flow, like submitting to a raging river. It guided his fist into John’s chin in an uppercut, and as quickly as he entered that world, Kuro was thrust out.

The resulting force cracked the man’s teeth, jumping past his reinforcement. John groaned in shock before Kuro kicked him in the chest.

“What was that?”

Meanwhile, Henry reached into the barrier holding Soji, concealing something in his hand. They boy grunted in pain.

“This feels like Angelo’s stupid stick.” Suddenly, he felt the hairs on his body raise as a whiff of familiar atma wafted from Henry’s gloved hands. He adjusted his head to see a tiny, leafy insect crawling across the man’s fingers.

“Daisy!”

Soji gnashed his teeth at the man and bit down on his fingers, cleaving through the leather. He heated his body up and spat the dismembered appendages and smoldering insect at Pete, who had been maintaining the barrier. Henry roared.

“Bloody, ‘ell, ye fuckin’ cunt!”

Soji grabbed the man’s neck, and opened wide, the morning’s hunger catching up to him.

“Soji!” Kuro snapped his friend out of his trance. Henry struggled, albeit carefully, as Soji’s extended claws dug into the skin around his throat. Silent Pete just watched, cautious.

The two men suddenly shuffled into the air. Tamara floated above them grinning happily.

“You guys seem to have handled yourself pretty well.” Behind her, two spherical barriers contained Henry and Pete. They seemed to fall to the bottom of the veils, but would reappear at the top, perpetually plummeting.

“Took you long enough!” Soji said.

“What is that?” Kuro pointed at her spheres.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be all ‘oh how did you get here? Thanks for saving us?’”

The boys just looked blankly at her. Soji wiped the blood off his lips with the back of his hand.

“I’m somewhere between relieved and irritated right now…”

Tamara sighed.

“I imbued my technique into the barrier. The inside and outside are on two different layers, so they just loop around the inside. I’m sorry, are you guys already unimpressed with what I can do?”

“Is it because I showed up when everything was over? I came as soon as I felt Monika use her technique.”

“I’m hungryyyyy…”

“Ah.”