"Ngh." Suzuki softly groaned as he sat up in the Full Body Virtual Drive. The young man ran his fingers through his hair, his mind a jumbled mess as he gazed at the empty darkness. He took a moment to regain his wits. Although only a few hours had passed since he entered L.N.E, this last trip felt more like years.
Fortunately, Suzuki only needed a few moments to regain his wits. He climbed out of the Virtual Drive, and then proceeded to take a shower to freshen up. He emerged from his room a few minutes later in a loose, black hoodie and shorts. Suppressing a yawn he made his way down the corridor, and then stairs, to the large, living area.
Feeling extremely parched, he opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Suzuki downed the bottle in one go, but seemingly unsatisfied, he finished another bottle, before grabbing a final one to go.
"Your breath is too loud," Suzuki coldly chastised as he shut the fridge door to reveal a grinning Taiga.
Taiga playfully pouted as his plan to scare Suzuki crumbled. "Aww, you're no fun." But then, his brow rose as he considered something. "Hold on. You heard my breath?"
"Yeah?" Suzuki replied as he picked up the TV remote off a table and pushed the power button. "It's pretty loud."
"Yeah, nah. My breath's the same it's always been," Taiga stated with a doubtful gaze. Suddenly his eyes widened as he thought of a possibility. "Wait. It can't be—"
"ARGH!" Suzuki dropped the remote, involuntarily crying out, and clutching his ears as the Surround System connected to the Television explosively boomed to life. "Turn it off!"
Taiga quickly picked up the fallen remote and dialed the volume all the way down to 2. He then tossed the remote on a sofa and bent over the groaning Suzuki. "You okay?"
Suzuki groaned. No, he was not okay. He felt like a thousand elephants were stomping on his eardrums, though the pain was beginning to subside into a dull ache. The young man looked up at Taiga, and questioned through pained pants, "You didn't feel that?"
"Kinda," Taiga replied with a smirk. He held out his hand, and then helped Suzuki to his feet before explaining with a tap on his ear. "I just learned to limit how much sound passes through my ears. If not, I would have gone crazy a long time ago."
"Humans can do that?"
"Define 'human.'"
Suzuki frowned. "What the hell is Genaco doing?" Taiga's response all but confirmed a sneaking suspicion. Suzuki ahd felt himself inexplicably growing stronger and faster than any exercise could justify. He suspected Genaco was juicing them to make it easier to pilot the Gladiator suits, but Taiga's weird answer suggested something more sinister.
"Saving the world." Taiga replied with a sardonic grin. Manically spreading his arms out wide, he added, "They want to save the world, one child sacrifice at a time."
"Huh?"
"Bahahaha!" Taiga burst out laughing at Suzuki's stunned expression. "God, do you take everything so literally?" He playfully patted the young man's shoulder as he soothed him, "I don't mean it literally. They're not planning to sacrifice us—not directly at least." Taiga took a seat by, and then sprawled over the kitchen table. "There's a war coming. A big one. They need us for that."
"Japan hasn't been in any war in ages." Suzuki once again opened the fridge, this time taking out some tomatoes, onion, chillies and other ingredients. As he cleaned them in the sink, he asked, "Who would we be fighting?"
"Who knows?" Taiga shrugged, but then added when Suzuki glared at him. "Telling the truth, I swear. That part I haven't figured out yet. They're keeping it pretty hush-hush at the top. Whoever we're fighting has them pretty spooked though."
"Spooked?" Suzuki thought back to Akari's stern, and James' playful demeanors. "Are you sure about that?"
Taiga smiled as if reading Suzuki's thoughts. "Yeah, I know. They're pretty good at hiding their feelings. But, I've been around a while. Seki-tan's slipped up a few times." The young man's smile faded. "Let me just say: Whatever terrifies that man to the extent I saw is worth paying attention."
Suzuki's brows furrowed as he sunk into thought, but then he shrugged and said as he put some oil in a pan, set it on the burner and then grabbed a knife, "There's no use worrying about it. That bastard, James, will tell us when he's ready. Nothing'll change even if we go barging into his office demanding answers."
"Heh. He'll probably enjoy teasing us instead."
"Yeah. I don't want to give him the satisfaction."
"Mm." Taiga nodded, acknowledging Suzuki's resolve. "By the way, the hell have you been doing since earlier?"
"Hm?" Suzuki looked down at the remains of an onion he'd been peeling. "What does it look like? I'm cooking."
"You can cook?" Taiga's brow shot up in disbelief. "Since when?"
"Since always?" Suzuki pointed his knife at the belligerent man. "Is that surprising?"
"I mean, it's current year, so whatever," I just didn't expect you to cook. You don't look the type."
"Cooking is an essential survival skill." Suzuki coldly lectured. "If you're stranded in the jungle, you should at least be able to make a simple soup from surrounding ingredients without poisoning yourself. It's a crime to lack such basic survival skills."
Taiga could not help but roll his eyes. "Is everything about survival with you?"
"Is there any larger imperative as a biological species?"
"Procreate?" Taiga's eyes narrowed, and his grin exploded as wide as a Cheshire cat's once he stumbled upon a subject that could potentially agitate his stoic counterpart. "By the way, just spit-balling here. What do you think about Jade?"
Chuck! Suzuki's hand froze for a moment. He met Taiga's mischievous gaze but then returned to cutting some potatoes. "She's a freak of nature like you. I've never met someone more intelligent in my life. Some of the engineering solutions she proffered for the Airship was beyond my understanding. Plus, she's single-handedly creating a new programming language based on some runes." Suzuki poured the onions into the pan, and added some spices as he admitted, "I'm pretty much only good at fighting. Skills like mine are useless in this world. She, on the other hand, she's someone the world desperately needs."
Taiga chuckled as he watched Suzuki dunk the potatoes into a boiling pot. "You sure have a lot of words to spare when it comes to Jade." With twinkling eyes, he stretched on the center table and asked, "But I noticed you avoided mentioning anything physical. An artist such as yourself. Is there nothing aesthetically pleasing about her?"
"Aesthetically?" Suzuki frowned. "Of course she's beautiful. Maybe because she stays indoors mostly, her skin's very pale which contrasts greatly against her dark makeup." A slight sizzling brought Suzuki's attention to the frying onions which had begun to turn golden. He poured in the tomatoes, added some salt, and then continued as he sautéed them. "It's almost ethereal, like a haunting spirit from another time. It takes all I have not to take out a sketch pad whenever she's around."
"Hmm?" Taiga revealed a smug grin as he batted his eyes.
Suzuki snorted as he took the boiling porridge and added it to the onion-tomato masala along with some water. "I know what you're doing. Just ask what you want to know."
"Do you like her?"
Suzuki silently watched the sizzling pan before admitting with a sigh. "I don't even know what it means to like someone. I don't have that emo—"
"Bullshit." Taiga snorted as Suzuki turned to look at him. "I've been where you are. You're just looking for excuses 'cause you don't think you deserve to have anyone like you."
"Yeah, that pseudo-psychiatric crap doesn't work in my case." Stirring the curry, Suzuki sullenly added, "I literally cannot feel that emotion. Not yet."
Taiga shook his head. "I don't believe you. I've seen the way Kashi looks at Lune-chan. You want to tell me you don't feel any of that yourself?"
"Kashi is Kashi. I am myself," affirmed Suzuki as he took out a bowl and dished out some of the curry. He placed the bowl on the center table and slid it over to a confused Taiga. "Just because Kashi feels something doesn't mean I do too. I've found it takes something more to unlock my emotions."
Taiga stared at the curry-filled bowl. Grurururu~ Against his wishes, his stomach rumbled as a result of the aroma tickling his nostrils. The silver-haired young man picked up a spoon, and took a scoop. "Fuck, you can actually cook!" Taiga grumbled, the sparkle in his eyes revealing his enjoyment. As he ate, he looked at Suzuki, who was dishing a bowl for himself, "What do you mean by unlocking your emotions? You're not the type to speak in metaphors or riddles. How do you unlock emotions? Don't they just exist?"
Suzuki frowned as he sat opposite Taiga. Stirring his bowl, he listlessly muttered, "I don't know. For as long as I can remember, I had to unlock my emotions step-by-step. At first, I only had rage and apathy. While I learned to control my rage, I learned amusement and contentment. I still can't feel sorrow, regret, or joy."
Taiga's brows furrowed in confusion. "That doesn't make sense. I've seen Kashi fight. He's all smiling, grinning and shit. How can he display that if you don't feel joy?"
Suzuki sighed. "I may not be able to feel emotions, but I understand them. To an extent, I can simulate the appropriate reaction for any situation. When I fake it long enough, and some conditions are met, I can create a personality that really experiences those emotions. Kashi can feel, but I can't."
"Not buying it," refuted Taiga. "A fake will always be fake. Kashi's got the real deal. He must have pulled that from somewhere."
"Perhaps," admitted Suzuki. "I... He..." He hesitated, seemingly unsure of how to address himself. Eventually, he shook his head and muttered, "I had emotions before the accident. Perhaps they pull from something buried deep in my subconscious. I've never pondered on the technicalities, just the result."
"Not worrying bout the technicalities' just the way I like it," joked Taiga as he thumbed at himself. "Truly liberating way to live."
Suzuki grimaced. "If you think it's great, I might need to rethink the way I live."
"Hey!" Taiga angrily protested, but then grumbled as he took another bite. "You're lucky you're a good cook. Would be a waste to lose your skills."
"Mmm! What smells so good!" A particularly cheery voice called down, drawing the men's attention to the staircase where Jade descended in a white T-shirt and shorts.
Taiga softly whistled as the bundle of energy bounced down the stairs. Leaning over, he whispered to Suzuki, "Sure you don't have any feelings for her? You blind?"
"Shut up!" Suzuki pushed the annoying face away and pointed at the pot as Jade's watering chops dangerously approached him. "There's enough for everyone in there."
"Yes! Gods, I'm hungry!" Jade excitedly rushed over, grabbed a plate, and quickly served herself before gingerly taking a seat next to Suzuki. "I'm digging in!" She announced before scooping up a mouthful. "Mmm! Damn it, this is good! Taiga, when did you up your cooking skills? We wouldn't have relied so much on poor Taki if we knew you could cook this good."
"Sorry, can't take this credit." Taiga chuckled as he shook his head. "This is Su-chan's doing."
That earned a raised brow from Suzuki. "Su-chan?"
Before Suzuki could come to grips with the absurd name, Jade grabbed his arm. "Suzuki, you could cook this well? Why? What master did you study under? No, wait. Was it gaming? Haha, yeah, that makes more sense. You probably mastered a cooking skill in King's Journey, right? Ah, no wonder. To think I can have a grandmaster cook for me everyday. Ah, this is bliss!"
Suzuki nearly shutdown as the whirlwind breezed through, and answered her question. Even more annoying, Jade was technically correct. While he learned a few basics to carry out chores, Razznik's obsession with maxing out as many skill trees as possible contributed to the massive recipe library stored in his brain, backed by thousands of hours of dedicated practice.
No, wait. This was not the time to be dazed. What did this crazy girl say? Everyday!?
"I don't have time to cook everyday," Suzuki coldly refused. "You can just order in like we've been doing."
Jade stubbornly scrunched up her nose. "You don't understand. Ordering isn't the same as a friend's cooking. Besides, you're really the only one who still orders. Taki's been cooking for us."
"For us?" Suzuki' brow rose as he looked inquisitively at Taiga. "You guys have been eating together?"
"Yeah." Taiga grinned. "We try to eat together once a day. You're always cooped up, so we didn't want to disturb you."
Suzuki's eyes trembled imperceptibly. For the slightest of moments, something flashed behind those dark orbs, but only for an instant. Right after, the young man nodded, "Sounds efficient. Especially since you're in the same guild. Makes scheduling easy."
"Hmm... I thought you'd be a bit more jealous," Jade playfully grumbled as she pointed her spoon at the stoic young man. "Just you wait. I'll tear through that shield soon enough."
"Have at it." Suzuki was not perturbed. If she could really do so, all the better for him.
"Ah, I should probably let Saeko and Taki know we're awake." Jade took out her phone and quickly sent a message to a group chat.
Suzuki's brow rose when Taiga's pocket slightly buzzed. He took out his phone, and sure enough, there was no message. "Hey, you guys did not start up a group chat and not add me, right?"
"Ah, yeah," Jade nervously laughed. "I forgot to do that. Gimme your phone, I'll add you right now."
Suzuki handed her his phone as he suppressed the uncomfortable heat building around his chest. He recognized the feeling: anger. He was angry. But, he could not understand the source of his anger. Could it be that Jade was right? Was he... jealous?
"Nonsense." Suzuki scoffed, denying the absurd premise.
Jade, who was done with the invitation, returned his phone as she asked, "What was that?"
"Nothing," Suzuki nonchalantly replied, drawing a secretive smile from the watching Taiga.
"Hmm, okay. Oh! Taki, that was fast!" Jade excitedly waved as the glasses-wearing young man emerged from a room on the ground floor.
Taki yawned, suggesting he was just waking up, but his meticulously gelled-hair and pristinely ironed clothing suggested otherwise.
Suzuki studied the enigmatic young man with interest, as he tried to marry the slovenly expression and mannerism to the exquisite dressing and appearance.
"Don't stress your brain," Taiga called out, interrupting Suzuki's observation. "I'm pretty sure he sleeps in pressed clothes too. Never seen him sloppily dressed once."
"That... takes some dedication," Suzuki admitted as Jade dragged Taki over to the pot while heaping all kinds of embarrassing praises.
"He is a dedicated guy," Taiga remarked. He looked at Suzuki. "You do know he's one of Shouyou's, right?"
Suzuki shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I've never lived under an illusion of privacy where that bastard is concerned. He's probably watching us right now. If anything, Miote's been a great help to Kashi, so I don't really care what he tells James."
"Hmmm..." Taiga thoughtfully hummed, but then conceded with a light-hearted shrug, "Shouyou's your wheelhouse, so I'll defer to your judgment."
Just then, Taki sat to Taiga's right with a filled bowl. "Mato-kun, I never would have imagined you had this in your locker." The young spy's gaze shone with admiration as he took a bite. "You must teach me your recipe."
"Suzuki's fine, and sure," Suzuki agreed.
Taki's eyes gleamed as he looked into Suzuki's dark pits. "Hmm... looks like you figured it out."
"What?"
"I can tell from your eyes. You know James sent me."
"You can really read us that well?"
Taki chuckled. "It's a gift I've honed with years of practice."
"Does that have something to do with why James sent you to watch me? Or is that classified?"
"Classified? Like James has something like that," Taki laughed. "That man only has secrets and no secrets. Once he tells a single person something, he doesn't care who else hears it." After shaking his head, Taki sighed and revealed as he looked at Suzuki, "I was sent to keep an eye on you. More specifically, I was to check on your progress to, as James put it, 'fill your ego.'"
"Fill his ego?" Saeko, who just walked down the stairs, pitched in upon hearing her father's name. She asked as she sat to Taiga's right. "What does that mean?"
"I didn't understand at first until I first met him," Taki confessed as he looked pointedly at Suzuki. "Remember how I blacked out when I first tried to read you? That happened 'cause I was trying to make sense of the mess that was your ego."
"My ego?" Suzuki raised a skeptical brow. "I thought it was an observational skill. What's this about egos?"
"Heh, this world is stranger than you can ever imagine," Taki replied with a chuckle. "Soon, Genaco'll expose you to some of her hidden truths. If what is coming is as big as I've heard, they'll need all the help they can get."
Taiga snorted. "All these pronouns. So, the dreaded 'classified' does exist."
"Heh, this isn't from James. It's Genaco itself censoring this information. But don't worry. You'll all find out very soon. I'm sure of it."
"Alright. Alright. Keep your secrets. What's this about Su-chan's ego?"
"Stop calling me Su—"
"In the psychology field, some speculate the mind is made up of three facets: the id, ego, and superego," Taki explained, ignoring Suzuki's scowl. "The id takes care of most of our subconscious thoughts and is the primary driving force for our existence, often seeking pleasure at any cost. Lust, hunger, anger, jealousy, and more fall into this category. The superego is the seat of morality. It tries to tell us what is right, wrong, and what would be better for us and the word. It wants us to be perfect, and we often feel guilty or sad when we fall short of its expectations. Finally, there's the ego. The ego is based on the principle of reality. The main decision-maker decides when to either attend to or suppress desires urged by our id, or obey moral obligations set by the superego. In essence, it's 'you.' In most people, the ego is the strongest, followed by the id and superego."
Taki looked at his enraptured audience before continuing, "Most people have similar base id's. It's the desire to sleep, eat, have sex, and generally just be happy. Where people start to largely differ is in our superegos. Some people's superegos, either due to nature, or nurture, are weirdly skewed. What we consider right, and wrong differ greatly from one person to the next, and is one of the main reasons people from varying states or countries often can't seem to comprehend why the other finds a certain activity abhorring or divine. Finally, our egos are the most diverse of all. Because our egos are constantly making decisions every waking moment, it is next to impossible to find two or more people with similar egos, even in the same family. There are just too many permutations with each decision made for any two people to remain the same.
"So, what does this have to do with Suzuki? Well, while attempting to read him, I realized that his mind is messed up. His 'ego' was almost non-existent, and there was no 'superego' to speak of. His id was the strongest part of his psyche. It was like looking at a robot controlled only by a set of base commands to find the most efficient way to complete its programming. But what was even madder was that his id was severely damaged. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like most of the basic desires a human should have were missing. I only sensed strong anger and determination from him. I got so lost in the madness that I blacked out for several minutes."
Taki took a sip of water and then continued, "Knowing what we do about Suzuki and Kashi's relationship, I think I'm finally beginning to see the picture. Right now, Suzuki's 'ego' is much more normal, so I think it was weak back then because he was breaking it in half to create a new 'ego,' mad as that might sound. His id seems to have regained some missing desires, and his superego remains unchanged.
"The most confusing thing though, is that I've met Kashi many times, and when I look at Kashi, his id, ego, and superego are very strong and well-established. It's nothing like Suzuki's murky chaos. When you consider they're from the same body and mind, it's only more confusing... but also fascinating."
Taiga chuckled as he observed Suzuki's scowl. "You hear that Su-Su? Sounds like you'd make an interesting test subject."
"Shut it." Suzuki shot back. He then looked at Taki. "You got all that from looking at me?"
"I told you, it's a gift. I can't explain how or why it works until you get the clearance."
"What clearance level do I need?"
"Uh... I think Clearance Level 3 if I recall correctly."
Suzuki navigated to his Genaco Profile on his phone. "Clearance Level 5."
"Leading the Twilight Wolves to usher the end of the first half of the tutorial probably bumped you up a few levels. You'll need something much grander to get to the next level though. Or, you could try winning the upcoming tournament."
"Tournament?"
"Yeah. The reason Genaco insisted on a one-week break, remember? The first tournament between the chosen teams for the Gladiator project. We should be getting the notifications on the tournament details any moment now."
Suzuki's eyes widened with realization. "Oh, that's why. What kind of tournament is it? Round Robin? Elimination?"
"I don't know the details," Taki confessed with a shrug. "But does it matter? With Taiga here, there's no way we can lose."
"Ah, yeah, about that," Taiga sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "I'm disqualified from the tournament. Seki said I'll defeat the entire purpose of having a tournament."
"Same here," Saeko prompted with a wry smile. "Same reason."
Taki's brow shot up, and he could not help but chuckle self-deprecatingly, "And just like that, we're down by two. I'll participate, but don't count on me too much. These hands were made for counting money, not punching people."
"Miote's your real personality isn't he," Jade playfully jabbed before looking apologetically at Suzuki. "I'll help. There's an auxiliary Gladiator that focuses on intelligence-gathering; hacking, counter-hacking, and all that. Don't know what good I'll be in combat, but I'll at least make sure no one messes with your Gladiator during the tournament."
"So, that leaves only you as our main combat option," surmised Taki to Suzuki. "Think you can handle that kind of pressure?"
"As long as we do not get disqualified for a lack of numbers, I will take on any number of enemies."
"Haha, yeah. It's the birthplace of the insane Kashi." Taki shook his head as he issued a wry smile. "Why did I think your confidence would be any less?"
"That—"
Driing! Driiing!
A pair of shrill sounds pierced everyone's eardrums, drawing their attention to the door.
"Did we have doorbells?" Saeko asked with doubt in her eyes.
"Possibly," murmured Jade. "We don't exactly have guests, so nobody would've had a reason to ring us up."
"Then, who could that be?"
"I will get the door." Suzuki habitually said as he got up and walked to the door. He pulled the door open and greeted, "Crazy Heads Residence. How may we..." Suzuki's voice trailed off, ending in abject silence as he stared in disbelief.
"Oi! What's got you so spooked?" An impatient Taiga snuck a peek over Suzuki's shoulder. "Whoa. What brings a goddess like you to our doorstep."
That was enough to draw the rest over, and they all stared like children at an exotic animal at the stunning beauty that stood outside.
"Well, Suzuki," Adachi Ayumi said with the slightest hint of a teasing smile. "Are you going to let me in, or not?"
****************
A/N
Hey Guys! So, we've finally come to the end of this amazing volume 5! This final chapter was so difficult to write. There were so many things I wanted to do, but I could not afford to cram them all into one chapter. But, yeah. I feel like this is a fitting conclusion to the crazy battle-filled volume 5.
Volume 6 will kick right off where 5 stopped, with a lot of action in the start cause of the tournament, but it'll eventually slow down to the pace of previous volumes as we return to fleshing out both Destia and Earth in their respective worlds.
I've already begun work on volume 6. With any luck, it should be out by next week Friday. Thank you all for your continued support. I could never have written this much without your support!
See you all soon!