It's only been 15 minutes since the battle between the Knights and Historia, they had retreated to the park near the Central Area of the city. Nightfall who is now out of his armour is sitting on the bench next to Yui. He is wearing a brown coat, similar to one that Reika wear as well as a blue checkered jacket around his waist, he is also has a deep blue band on his forehead. Yui is wearing the usual Wisteria girl's uniform. Akai handed them some drink from the nearby vending machine.
"Man... That was quite the fight..." He said taking the canned drink. "By the way, I'm Haruto. Asagao Haruto."
"Osamu Akai."
"Yui, Himawari Yui." Yui accepted the drink. "Right! Akai! Are you alright? Your leg got hit pretty bad."
Akai lifted his trousers to see the injury, it is pretty bad, a large portion of his leg is bruised and is now purple. "This is nothing, I suffered worse."
"Ya sure, man? That looks like something that need to be amputated." Haruto leaned in closer to see the injury.
"Once you are chosen by the Emblems your soul is now enhanced by the energy of the World Tree, so any injuries will heal faster than usual." Akai leaned on the lamppost next to the bench.
"World Tree, huh...?" Haruto looked at the distance. "Sounds like this whole knight thing is complicated."
"Right now, it is not." Akai replied. "All you need to know is that our power came from a different world, you could say one from fantasy media. And now, our goal is to protect this world as the new holder of the titles."
Yui turns to Akai. "But how...? I don't really know how to fight and that person you fought seems like very powerful."
"What we lack is ranged option, and training." Akai finishes his drink and tosses it toward a trash bin perfectly. "The Knights have 5 members each having a title: Paladin, Berserker, Assassin, Archer and Mage; Lancer being an extra. I had talked to both Mage and Lancer, the latter being a pain to deal with and the former not wanting to get involve with all of these battles. This however is bad because the Knights function to work together, help each other and support one another."
"I can't say I disagree, being a hero is a lot of work." Haruto nodded.
"Mage is one of my and Yui's friend; Sayuri..." Akai looked at Yui. "I'm sure you know why don't want to push either of you to fight. Other one is Yagami, from class 3-C of my school but we don't really need to talk about him that much."
"I understand Sayuri-Nee's concern, even I don't want to fight... But, I am chosen, am I right?" Yuri said, her eyes determined. "If I am chosen by the previous holder of the title then that means that person had seen potential in me... That's why I want to fight with you, I don't want to let those people down."
"I am glad you think that way, I'll try to convince Sayuri and deal with Yagami some other time." Akai said. "That only leaves Archer, I still have no idea of his identity. I am sure that the emblem found a new holder, however, I haven't felt their presence somewhere."
Haruto raised his hand. "I might have an idea on who Archer is."
Akai looked at Haruto with curiosity. "Really? Do tell."
"He's also a student to the school I attend to, however..." Haruto scratches his head in a bit of concern. "How should I put it... He's a bit of a loser."
"What?" Both Yui and Akai are baffled by the random remark.
"No, no, no! Don't get me wrong! He's a very nice dude, I interacted with him once... It's just... He used to get bullied a lot so he doesn't talk to anyone." Haruto scratches the back of his head, he's a bit skeptical about this. "I tried making friends with him but he always ignore me. His name is Gyoikou Shotaro."
"How are you sure it was him?" Akai asked.
"About 3 days ago, I saw him holding one of these emblems then the following day I found this one I use, I first thought it was his' but no, he still has his emblem that day." Haruto explained. "That's why when you said we were chosen by these titles, I immediately thought of him being a knight as well."
Akai has his hand over his chin, he's thinking of how to handle this. "Hmm... Interesting... Let's have it this way, *Heart and I will try convince this *green tea guy and Yui will talk to Sayuri since you are closer to her."
*[Akai misheard Haruto's name as Heart and Gyoiko as Gyokuro which is a type of green tea]
"What about the other one? Twilight, was it?" Haruto pointed out.
"I can deal with him next time, for now, we should convince the last member two members to join." He stand straight up and start to walk, although, he's limping. "Halt, if you would be so kind to bring me to Archer."
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Haruto stands up and went ahead of Akai. "Also, it's Haruto."
Akai looked back to Yui. "Yui, I will trust you to convince Sayuri, we really need as much help as possible."
Yui nodded. They went separate ways to do their jobs to gather the other knights, first was with Akai and Haruto. The two are on their way to a house in the suburbs of the city, it was close to the outskirts near the ocean. They are now facing a set of stairs leading up to a shrine, they climb their way up to the shrine. It is fairly empty, no people in sight.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Akai looked around, the shrine is just ahead while the Gyoikou residence is beyond the stone fence on their left.
"Yeah, this place is the place for worship to the God called..." Haruto paused for a second. "I forgot... But other than that, the Clan is also known for their proficiency in archery."
The gate to the residence opened and out came a man in their 50s wearing a hakama, he looked at the two, particularly Akai. The man's eyes widen and approaches the two.
"I can't believe this..." The man said.
The two turn to the man with curiosity.
"You are, Osamu Akai, are you not?" The man asked, his voice seems both surprised and happy.
Akai raised an eyebrow, confused. "I am. Sorry for asking but, have we met before? You look oddly familiar."
"I guess you can't remember me now, after all, you were just a toddler back then." He chuckled. "I am Gyoikou Sakurai, I'm a friend of your mother."
"Gyoikou Sakurai...? You are the previous Archer!" Akai's eyes widened, surprised and then look at Haruto. "Why didn't you tell me we are visiting the Gyoikou Family?"
"I did! You thought I was talking about a tea!"
"Anyway, it's an honour meeting you, Mr Gyoikou." Akai bowed in formality.
Sakurai shakes his hand. "No need for formalities. Are you here for..."
"Right, as you aware, the new knights are now chosen. According to Haruto, the new Archer lives here." Akai explained the situation and what lead to the conclusion of their visit.
"I see, I am very aware of that." Sakurai turns around. "Come with me, I'll bring you to my son."
The two followed Sakurai inside the gate, they are walking by the porch of the house that soon leads them to the archery range by the side of the house. It is empty but it is certainly often used, judging by the marks on the wall.
"I'll be honest, I never thought my son would be chosen by the Emblem." Sakurai said as they walk along the porch.
"Indeed, although rare, it is still possible for the same family to be chosen by the Emblems." Akai replied.
"Why is that?" Haruto asked.
"The Emblems beside the Paladin are chosen by the spirits that lived inside them, they choose the individuals they deem worthy of their power." Akai explained.
"It is, the Paladin Emblem is hereditary, the Osamus has been the holder of that title for centuries but only when Akame was the leader when the mission of the knights finally ended." They now reached the back of the house. "There he is."
A young man is sitting on the porch, book in hand with more beside him. He seems to be the nerdy type, thick glasses, black hair with the most generic Japanese hair, even his clothing is fairly boring, just a white T and green jogging pants. He is unbothered by their presence and just reading the book he has, which is a superhero comics.
"Shotaro, there are people I want you to meet." Sakurai gestures to Haruto and Akai. "They are also Title Holders just like you."
Shotaro simply looked at them and goes back to reading, Sakurai is disappointed by his son's reaction.
"So you are the new Archer, huh?" Akai extends his arm to him. "I'm Akai, pleased to meet you."
Akai got no response from Shotaro, he just ignores him and proceed to the next page of the comic he's reading.
"It would be very appreciated if you would lend us you power."
Still, no response. He is acting as if Akai is not even there, he's just keep reading, his eyes fixated to every panel of the comic he is reading.
"I apologize for his behaviour, he's not very social kid..." He looked at his son.
Haruto approaches Shotaro and squats down to see what he's reading, it has a character that has a mask that resembles a skull, black trenchcoat riding a motorcycle.
"That's [Skull Man], isn't?" Haruto looked at him.
Shotaro flinched and look back to Haruto. Akai and Sakurai are surprised that he was able to get a reaction.
"I have a copy of that with an autograph from the author." Haruto took a step closer to the stack of book next to Shotaro. "These are pretty old series too, it took me so much time to even get physical copy of these series. You even have [JoJo's], all parts as well... This might be an odd question but... Do you watch [PreCure]?"
There is a slight pause in the air, Shotaro is staring at Haruto, baffled. He immediately ran inside the house.
"Wha—"
Shotaro came back carrying a stack of DVDs with the title of [PreCure] on it. "I have every series! From the very first one to the latest!"
Akai and Sakurai just smiled on how things had turned out, the two decided to leave Haruto and Shotaro alone to have a chat. Sakurai and Akai went inside to talk more about the Knights while the other two talk about various franchise, manga and anime. The conversation goes on for about 2 hours before both Haruto and Shotaro got tired from all the talking and hype whenever they talk about a series.
"Haruto, was it...?" Shotaro is laying on the floor. "You and Mr Osamu came to ask me to join, didn't you?"
Haruto stare of the distance to the traditional Japanese garden they are facing. "Well... That was the plan, but I guess it went to a sidetrack because I was just surprised to see someone watching these very good series."
"So... You really are interested?"
"Why wouldn't I? I may be an athlete but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy Anime." Haruto replied.
"Nee... Tell me, why did you accept being a Knight? You know that you could just ignore it, right?" Shotaro tilted his head to look at Haruto who is still staring at the distance.
"Well... You could say I have a reason... I lost my younger sister to a Spawn 5 years ago." He said.
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that..." Shotaro sits up.
"Don't worry about it... Maybe the reason I choose this path is because I don't want other people to feel the same way as me... Or probably I just want revenge..." Haruto leaned backwards using his arms as support. "All I know is that I have to... Because who else would if I don't..."
Shotaro went silent upon hearing Haruto's reason, he can sense honesty in his voice. Revenge? Heroism? Fame? All of it does make Shotaro wonders why he should be a knight.
"I don't want to be a knight because I don't think I am worthy... But you're right... If I don't, then who would?" Shotaro stood up. "But I'm still afraid... Afraid that I won't be any help..."
Haruto stood up with his hands in his pockets. "Akai said one thing about the Knights: the Knights function to work together, help each other and support one another. If you think you are lagging behind, then we'll help you... So, will you help us?" He look back to Shotaro.
Shotaro sees the determination in Haruto's eyes, the eyes similar to heroes in the comics he had read, those who are ready to face challenges even if it means hardship.
He closes his eyes and extent his hand to Haruto. "I'll try."
Haruto nodded and smiled as he firmly shakes Shotaro's hand. Both Akai and Sakurai that had been listening smiled in satisfaction, Sakurai in particular is more happy that his son now has new friends. The day come to an end and both Akai and Haruto left to go home.
<=/|‡Episode Seven, End‡|\=>