Side Story 2, Chapter 7: It's time to fight back

[Side Story 2, Chapter 7: It's time to fight back]

It's past 3AM. We went to where the gunshots came from, and there were people with the same outfit as the attackers.

Ariel immediately attacked them with a katana, knocking them unconscious. He's so cool… Since when did he learn the ability to fight this well? (blade i know he's rusty come on)

Another attacker ran after us, then I used a magical spell card to shoot a light beam at the attacker! It was really effective, then Ariel slashed the other attacker with a katana. His mysterious orb is holding the bag with a lot of items. So this is why mysterious orb users don't get tired from carrying stuff…

"Our group is well, I think it's really powerful! I think we can beat thousands of those attackers easily…" Ariel said, being nervous about his capabilities in fighting, but he's at least more powerful than the others.

Another came running towards us, but it's not an attacker… It's Chris in a disguise.

"You are okay! I was… I was think you is in danger!"

"Hiya, we're fine, Chris! I think with this single katana Sai gave me for my birthday, I feel like I'm powerful, but not really powerful."

"Do you have… Food?"

"For how many people?"

"Meriku, Yuguwa, me… 3 people."

"Yoooooo, I have food for 3 people! I have 3 burgers." Ariel was weirdly happy about it… Didn't we buy a lot of food?

"Ah, no no. We uhhhh… We divide it into 3 pieces! It saves our resources!" 

"Oh, alright." Ariel gave Chris a spicy hamburger. Chris ran away to supply his team with food. "Do you ever wonder what will happen some days from now?"

"I want the crystal to be retrieved." I said.

"That'll surely happen in more than 2 days, but don't be scared, Kasuri! I'll always try to protect you and hi-ya you everyday."

"Thanks, I guess. It feels a bit cold without the crystal, doesn't it?"

"I've been in Mokkato for no more than a year, so I don't know." Ariel paused for a second, and looked at the street signs. Street N24, the place between Entrance C and the Statue of Naiko.

It was a place that Ariel hasn't gone to before, but the rest of our squad did. Ariel felt a bit nervous, as if a lot of attackers were there, but Ariel recognized the place after he saw the hypermarket… He ran there, so I and Inazuma had to follow him.

"The hypermarket is clear." I said. "Let's buy stuff." Ariel said. "Especially things that can help us survive against those people." Inazuma told us.

Inazuma's right, but I think we should split and buy other stuff. "Let's go to different stores, so we can get items quicker!" 

Ariel made a thumbs-up, and ran to a food shop. 

"What about you, Inazuma?"

"I'm buying weapons, I'm good at telling which are good and which aren't."

"So you're buying weapons?"

"Of course I am. Now, just go buy other stuff."

[1 hour later]

[Group Chat]

ariel_cool: i bought more food, but i have a lot of them, where should i keep it ?

LucaLuca: My car has a lot of storage, there's a lot of food there so you can keep them there

yuguwa_11: why not keep them in kasuri's room???

sephcakes: Yuguwa, we don't always stay in her room, so we need to keep them in the transport. I wonder how you get the motorcycle to be in your car, though.

LucaLuca: I just strap it on the side.

sephcakes: Whaaaat? It'll fall down!

LucaLuca: I don't care, as long as I can ride it, it's fine.

sephcakes: Do you need my magic to keep it in a magic storage?

LucaLuca: Eh, fine…

ariel_cool: what's a motorcycle, can I use it to kill ray ?

SpadesRaven: Who is Ray?

ariel_cool: ray is a person who is not cool . ray is less cool than the attackers . who are you ?

SpadesRaven: I am Inazuma.

Looks like they're just discussing storage. Ariel and Inazuma are back now, Ariel's got tasty food, Inazuma got dangerous weapons, and I've got entertainment and miscellaneous objects. Mostly comic books, cards, and other stuff. I also brought a microwave.

[We headed to Luca's food truck, everyone is there]

"What is it?" Luca said and stared at me.

"Me, Ariel and someone I found in the sushi shop brought so much stuff, so we're making you store it here." I said.

We all started to get items into a shelf in Luca's food truck, enchanted by Sephine to make it have more, but not unlimited storage. All of the items are separated in different categories, which we didn't really ask for, though, it helps us a bit!

All of us are near Luca's truck for now. No attackers were found. The time is now 5AM…

"I think the attackers only attack at night, from 7PM to 5AM. Is that right?" Yuguwa asked me.

"That means we have 14 hours to prepare for the next attack." Inazuma replied instead of me. She seems pretty serious about everything…

I got in the truck, Luca is just cooking while Sephine and Ariel watch him.

"...Have you mentally recovered from your sister's death?" Sephine asked.

"Well, yes. I didn't talk to her much anyways but it still hurts. I'm starting to understand why Kasuri is crying everytime she sees somebody dead now." Luca replied, with a cold expression, and a hint of sadness.

So Luca finally understood me… He used to scold me for crying all the time, he thought it was annoying when I first met him, but as time passes, he starts to feel bad for me too.

Ariel just sits there, not asking anything because he's eating a barbecue. That's one of my favorites from Luca's food truck!

When we first met, me and Miles used to argue with Luca. I hated him, but some days later I came back and made friends with him again. He used his motorcycle to save Goro, which was pretty cool, I guess. He surely never gets into a car accident after getting so many speeding tickets.

[I peeked outside the window, seeing Derie with a terrible wound, I ran to him in worry]

"Derie! Are you alright?"

"You're that kid from last night. I was about to ask the same question!"

"Why aren't you going to Ritsurin?"

"I got injured on the way there, so I decided to hide and seek medical help. Where's your spirit guardian friend?"

"She's in the food truck… But you better get yourself healed first."

"Alright, then." Derie walked into the food truck, and asked anyone in the place to heal him. It wasn't Sephine that healed, but Ariel! I never knew he had this kind of power with him, that's really amazing!

"Another mysterious orb user, hm?" Derie asked.

"Yup! Mr. Suki saved me and introduced me to how to use the orb! He's really cool!"

"Do you know of a Raiyumi?"

"Raiyumi? She's well, pretty cool! She helped me escape the Kingdom of Darkness and escape from Ray!"

"Good, you'll need help from her later, so I'll just stay here. We can be friends, right?"

"Yeah!!!!! We can be friends! My friends are cool and all! I'm Ariel, and I'm really cool!"

"Why is your tone so happy in a situation like this… My name's Derie Elenate. Do you know that little girl over there?" Derie pointed at my direction.

"I'm Kasuri Mano!" I said.

"No, the girl behind you. Your name is cute though!"

I looked behind, and I found a little girl walking around. She's noticed us, but I know for sure she's not an enemy! Her hair is blue, just like Meriku, but it's light blue, and she has green eyes, just like Raiyumi!

"I think her name's Kang Hyeon-jae."

"Hey, assuming people's name isn't a good thing."

"No, her name tag says it. Kang Hyeon-jae. I forgot to tell you that I can read Korean…"

"U-uh… Sorry about that. Hey, kid!" Derie called Kang, and she immediately walked towards us. 

"Hi…"

"Why do you look sad? What happened?"

"My mom…"

"Your mom… What happened to her?"

"Where is she?"

Derie patted Kang, and said "Don't worry, once someone returns the crystals, I'll help you find your mom."

"I want to find my mom now!!!"

"Kid, what's your name? I think I can find your mama if the names are similiar."

"Kang Hyeon-jae."

"What does your mom look like, Hyeon-jae? Do you have a photo of her?"

"Here it is!" Kang handed Derie a photo of her mom. Her mom does look cute, I think she's as cute as mine, but… I can only faintly remember her face ever since she died, unless I look at a family photo.

My mom died some months ago, in a bank attack at Utoko. Ever since she died, I've visited that place every month to mourn her death. But my friend Roroxa still robs the bank, not knowing how much it reminds me of my trauma… The person who killed my mom wasn't Roroxa, though, it was somebody else. I don't believe that the murderer is human anymore, she's a monster. It just feels so unforgivable to kill anybody, even myself have killed someone, and I regret it ever since. Everyone deserves to live, except people who are total monsters. Everyone exists, and has a personal life of their own. Their loved ones are waiting to meet them again, and sometimes they won't even know that the last time they met has already passed. One of the saddest things after seeing someone pass away is that most of their loved ones have no idea they're dead, and I pity them so much. It's better to not tell anyone that they're dead, so they'll be less sad.

Even thinking about this just… It slowly cracked my heart. I don't wanna die, and I don't want anyone to die…

[After complaining about this for the 10th time in my head, I decided to go searching for stuff with Meriku]

"Uhh… Are you okay now?" Meriku said to me. Meriku said she's bad at comforting, and I think that's because she's really shy.

"Yeah, I'm fine."