RECORD #7: THE WELL-KEPT TRUMP CARD
The Vessels were busy preparing breakfast that morning. To be precise, it was Misae and Akira who were in charge of that particular breakfast.
"Is the fried rice done?" Eichirou asked from the dining room where he and Erika were busy setting up the dining table with plates and other utensils.
"It's almost done. A few more minutes," Akira replied. "But you can take the tamagoyaki and the mushroom soup here. They're both finished cooking."
"I'll get it." With that, Erika headed to the kitchen. One by one, she took the plate of tamagoyaki and the large bowl of mushroom soup to bring it to the dining room.
"Woah! Both of you went all out for our breakfast today, huh?" Eichirou commented and helped the pianist place them on the table. "But wait, why are they still in the kitchen?"
"We just have to finish the food that we're bringing to Shuichi and Itsuki. I don't think both of them would choose to leave that room any time soon," Misae said, which only made the other two Vessels silent.
They both knew what the archer was talking about. Both Shuichi and Itsuki were nowhere to be seen in the kitchen and even in the dining room. It was because they were the ones taking care of the still unconscious Helen who was still in a long way to recovery for losing that much Hasureiki in her body.
"She's been unconscious for two days. Does this happen often whenever she uses her Hasureiki?"
"I knew there were some repercussions for using your Hasureiki too much, even for a Vessel like you guys. But I didn't think it would lead to this, as if you were in a comatose state," Akira said as he brought out a large serving of fried rice that had just finished cooking from the kitchen.
"There has to be some explanation for this," Eichirou said as he tapped his temple with two fingers. "Even if we can already tell that Helen-chan isn't your typical Vessel Support, something must have happened for her to end up like that."
"We won't get our answers when she's unconscious like this. The best thing we can do right now is to make sure that those two taking care of Helen at the moment would be in their best health. Then we can confront Helen about her real situation."
Though it was a good suggestion coming from Misae, it was still a little bit intense, in their opinion. Confronting Helen about something important might not be the best idea. But the other three Vessels in that room were all still learning about their responsibilities to protect the world from the Tareans' attacks. At the moment, Helen and the other Vessel Supports were their best bet to learn more about being the chosen Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers.
"Let's finish this so we could switch with those two in taking care of Helen-chan."
The girls nodded as they proceeded with the rest of their preparation for breakfast.
xxxxxx
Once again, a sigh escaped Itsuki's lips as he continued watching Helen as she was still unconscious. The sight of her chest rising up and down was enough to give him comfort that she was, in a way, alright. But it still wasn't enough to dissipate his worries for the said girl.
It was a good thing that the others didn't consider his actions and reactions towards the novelist as something strange. Then again, even Shuichi was acting the same way. Perhaps even more than what he was feeling at the moment.
"You sure like watching her like that, huh?"
Itsuki didn't have to turn around to know who it was that said those words. Thankfully, there wasn't a hint of teasing in them. And so he was sure the person was genuinely asking that to him.
"Can't help it. It's like... ever since she moved in here with us, there was nothing that she brought to herself but trouble that would cause her to overexert herself like this." It was the truth --- at least, based on his observation.
"Do you think it would change even when your interaction with her is starting to get better after that apology you made?"
It took a while for Itsuki to say something as a response to Shuichi's words. After a few more moments of contemplating, he sighed. "I don't know. I still feel like scolding her for overworking herself like this. Then again, who am I to do something like that when I know to myself that I would have to overwork when I have to, if it means helping the team?"
A chuckle escaped from Shuichi and tapped the back of Itsuki's head. "Now it looks like you've made yourself a big brother to Helen after that."
"Who knows. All I know right now is that I have to keep this girl from getting into even bigger trouble just to help us in our fight with the Tareans."
"I don't think that's possible, if you ask me," Shuichi said before taking a chair and placing it beside Itsuki. "Even when you were feeling hostile towards her, she still insisted on working her way to make sure that we were able to defeat the enemy and help us train, in one way or another. And she even helped us awaken our Elemental Guides. She would still do what she thinks is right for us Vessels and even the other Vessel Supports."
Only silence greeted that explanation from Shuichi. Of course, he knew in his heart that the biker was telling the truth. Even so, Itsuki still had questions once again lingering in his mind --- even at that moment --- because of what could have happened for Helen to end up like that.
'I'll just have to make her comfortable enough for her to tell me everything. Of course, I know that it will still take time.' That meant he had to make sure his patience wouldn't run out as he waited for the answer he needed from her.
"You do think that there was something weird about her Hasureiki, right? And I mean the amount that she could cast whenever she would help us. In my opinion, the amount she released when she helped me deal with Otoguri was basically suicide."
At that point, Shuichi wasn't sure if he would agree to that or not. But he was sure that there was a reason for Helen's actions.
"There could be a bigger reason for her to do something reckless like that. She wouldn't mind being like that if it means she got to help the Seitengers fight the Tareans. Maybe even bigger than the fact that the Tareans were the ones who killed her parents."
At least, the two of them agreed on one thing. Helen was indeed reckless, wherever you look at it. Itsuki couldn't help chuckling at that.
"The good thing we have right now is that the Hasureiki inside Mariko-san's barrier is doing its work to restore Helen's Hasureiki even without Misae's ability to do the trick."
Of course, the composer was aware of that. And yet, it wasn't enough to ease Itsuki on one other thing that worried him at the moment.
"But that's not the only thing that bothers you right now, huh?" Shuichi continued.
His words were enough to snap Itsuki out of his reverie. "Was it that obvious?"
"I mean, being with you for ten years... I think that's more than enough for me to be able to read you in one way or another."
Itsuki sighed and faced the sleeping Helen once again. He frowned at something he thought about at that point, though.
"Was it the scroll that Helen gave to Akira the night she fainted?"
The composer nodded. "You've read it, too, right? About the contents of that scroll..."
"Who would've thought that only three out of the five Seitengers managed to awaken their Elemental Guides before..."
"Those three... The previous SeitenFire, SeitenWater, and SeitenEarth... They were the only ones who got to form a contract with their Elemental Guides and actually wield their powers. So what happened to the previous SeitenWind and SeitenLight that made them unable to awaken their Elemental Guides before?"
But nothing came up as an answer to that question from Itsuki. Even Shuichi felt that there was something strange about that information that Helen managed to uncover.
Especially that one other piece of information...
"Why were the civilian identities of the previous Seitengers never mentioned in that scroll, anyway? I mean, the other ones prior to 25 years ago were mentioned. Some of them were even familiar to us since they became famous in their respective area of expertise. And yet..."
Was it deliberately done? Hiding the civilian identities and just mentioning the alter-egos...
But for what reason?
xxxxxx
Both Akira and Misae just finished washing the dishes right after they were all done eating their breakfast. Even Shuichi and Itsuki were able to finish their portions that Erika and Eichirou delivered while they were watching over Helen in her room. They were surprised at first to see those two finally get out of the novelist's room, bringing their dirty dishes.
"She's still unconscious, huh?" Eichirou asked.
Shuichi nodded with a sigh and sat on the sofa as soon as he handed the dirty plates and utensils that he and Itsuki used to Akira. "I still don't know how long she will have to stay asleep like that. But it's obvious now. She definitely used her Hasureiki past the limit that her body can take."
"And to think she'd been doing that even before we found out we're the chosen Vessels."
"Well, she had the earliest encounter with the Tareans out of all of us," Itsuki said and sat beside Erika on a kitchen island who was busy writing on a notebook. "That must have been her ultimate driving force to work this hard. Probably even harder than the rest of us."
"And yet, we also can't deny that what she was doing is basically suicide if she keeps this up," Misae commented while wiping her wet hand with a small towel hanging near the refrigerator. "Is there any way we can convince her not to overwork herself like this again?"
But Shuichi shook his head. "I don't think she would even listen to us even if we tell her that. Especially now that the Tareans have recognized us as a bigger threat than ever for their return here on the surface."
Erika was about to say something, but she stopped and turned to the direction of the front door with a frown. "That's weird..."
"What is?"
"Someone's entering the mansion --- even with the warning in the front door that no one should enter the house other than him and the others. We're about to start training, you know."
With that said, the rest of the Vessels and Akira faced the direction that Erika was looking at. To their confusion (and in Itsuki's case, annoyance), it was Amuro who entered the mansion.
"Amuro? What are you doing here? Didn't you even read the sign at the gate?" Shuichi immediately approached his biker rival/childhood friend as soon as the hyper biker entered the mansion.
"Oh, I didn't notice. But this won't take long since I have to go to the cemetery to visit my mom, anyway."
It was then that the others remembered that it was the death anniversary of Amuro's mother. Just like the rest of the Vessels, Amuro's mother died when he was young --- around 10. She died in a car crash that was still a mystery to this day because of the circumstances of her death.
That was why Shuichi would find it weird at times that Amuro never developed a sort of fear related to cars after his mother's car-related death. Then again, he never actually knew what Amuro felt when it all happened back then.
"Anyway, what made you come here? It's rare for you to just barge in here even with the notice that Hideoki-san placed at the gate. If it is racing-related, we could talk about that when I go to the racing stadium for training."
Wth the way Amuro's expression lit up, it looked like he finally remembered the reason why he went to the Mizuhashi mansion. "Ah, that's right! But it's not about racing. There's something I have to tell you about the warriors fighting off the monsters that appeared here in Tsukikage."
Of course, everyone's eyes widened as soon as those words registered in their minds. What the heck? Did Amuro seriously ask about... what they thought he would ask them?
"W-what about them?" Eichirou inquired, nearly smacking his head for stuttering. But the sight of Itsuki's expression soon turning passive had, thankfully, prevented him from doing so.
"Do you think there's any way I think I can find them? Or at least say something to them." It looked like Amuro was still oblivious about the slightly tense atmosphere of everyone in the room.
"What are you trying to imply right now? And what made you decide to do something like that, anyway?" Misae tried asking as inconspicuous as she could. "That's pretty sudden, if you ask me."
Amuro shook his head and started taking something from his right jacket pocket. "Oh, that's not sudden at all. I've been meaning to do that ever since seeing them fight that fish head monster before." He handed a picture to Shuichi. "They were amazing at dealing with it back then."
'Fish head...?' Frown appeared on the Vessels' faces upon hearing that. It didn't take them long to remember that the only fish-headed Triske Monster they dealt with was Cyone.
Does that mean... Amuro was at the sight of the incident when it happened?
As if to answer their question, Shuichi looked at the picture that Amuro had handed to him. He tried not to show any emotions other than confusion on his face when he saw what was in the picture. The rest of the team soon huddled around and behind Shuichi to see what it was.
It was a photo of the team taken when they were about to finish off a group of Gargonema using HyakuRei Laser. From what they could remember, it was when they dealt with Cyone for the second time.
"How were you able to take this photo, by the way?" Erika asked when he faced the other biker.
"I was there when it happened. But I wasn't there to loiter around, just to remind you."
"Were you one of those who helped with evacuating the people before that fish head was about to suck their energies?"
Amuro nodded in response to Akira's question. "I mean, I may look and act like a bad boy, but I'm not an idiot to leave anyone there getting hurt with that monster lurking around."
It was the truth, and Shuichi was more than aware of that, most of all. But then they realized that they were straying from the real topic of the discussion.
"By the way, Amuro-san, why do you want to find these warriors? It's definitely not out of curiosity, that I can tell."
Once again, Amuro's expression lit up that, in a way, had given the Vessels the feeling that they were in for the shock of their lives.
"I want to join them in fighting. I want to be a part of their team."
All eyes widened at that statement. Yes, even the usually stoic Itsuki did the same.
"What?!"
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