"Intertia, you say?" Fumi asks.
"Yes, 0.001% of the population has an Inertia." Yuki replied.
Fumi said "I see" and put his hand on his chin. "Yes" he said. Inertias are something that people are born with. They are, like powers that do what you want them to do. Fumi said "Ah I get it now". He asked "Is that why I can make these balls that soak up things?" Fumi said this while pointing with his finger and making one of his balls appear. Yuki seemed to get caught off guard for a second, slightly surprised that he has an Inertia, but she composes herself. "Yes that's exactly what an Inertia is. Also what do you mean by absorb stuff?" Yuki asks.
I will try to give you an example. I can probably take the heat from boiling water. Put it on something else. The heat will go back, to where it came from which is the boiling water. The damage will still be there. Fumi says this as his sphere just stays in the air.
I think I understand now. So your spheres can take in things from things. I get it now Yuki says. "Anyways, my Inertia allows me to manipulate technology." she says once more. "Ah, so you can like, find locations and hack into stuff, right?" Fumi replies in a curious tone.
"Yes, essentially. I can do anything with technology." she replies in a humble tone.
Kawakami was stretching near the doorway. She looked over at Yuki with a soft laugh. "Yuki always says it is not a deal but Yuki is really good, with tech " Kawakami said. "I remember one time the entire college Wi-Fi stopped working and Yuki fixed it before the staff even knew what was going on." Yuki scrunched up her nose. "You are making that sound bigger than it was " Yuki said.
"I'm really not." Kawakami replied.
A thud suddenly came from the far corner of the gym. Gumpei had left a pair of dumbbells on the floor, and Ren accidentally kicked one while walking around. "Bro, why are these like landmines?" Gumpei says, shaking his foot. Kawakami snorts under her breath, trying not to laugh, and Yuki just sighs like she's been dealing with these idiots forever.
So we were talking about something. The body makes a kind of energy. It is like we have another way to get energy, which is called Synergy. Yuki says this.
"Synergy, huh?" Fumi replies.
Gumpei leaned back against the punching bag, arms crossed. "Man, Synergy still feels weird to me. Like having a second heartbeat I can't hear."
Kawakami hummed in agreement. "It takes time to get used to. You notice it more when you overuse your ability."
Gumpei pointed at her. "You know what I mean it is, like what you did week."
Kawakami rolled her eyes. She said "I told you Kawakami is fine." No that is not what she meant to say. Kawakami said "I said I was fine." That is what Kawakami really meant. Kawakami was trying to say that Kawakami did not need any help.
"Uhh, anyways. Yes, Synergy. It's an essential part of Inertias and how they function. By using your Inertia, you use a portion of your Synergy. Not a lot, but it's still noticeable." she says. "By summoning one of those spheres, I'd say you used 1/100th of your Synergy, barely a dint." she follows up with.
"Everyone in this household has these abilities." she says in a straight and confined tone.
"Ah, I understand now. I'll keep that in mind." Fumi replies.
"And Kawakami, I'm assuming you also told him about how Atami doesn't let one leave, correct?" Yuki asks.
"Yup." Kawakami nods.
"Great. Now, I think it's time we head off. Shall we?" Yuki says as Kawakami and Gumpei walk towards the exit door of the gym room.
"Us three have the same college class as each other. It starts at 10:00 AM sharp, which is in about 20 minutes. Ren's first class starts at 11:30, so he usually stays behind." Kawakami says.
"See you later Fumi, see you later Ren." Kawakami and Yuki both say.
"Yeah, see ya later you two. Don't do anything fun without me, alright?" Gumpei says shortly after as a sly smirk forms on his face.
"Come on, you." Yuki says, forcing Gumpei out of the room and shutting the door.
"Ow! Let me go! I didn't mean it! Let me go! Gaaaaaaaah!" Gumpei exclaims as his voice could be heard through the door. And a few seconds later, it stopped, as they've left the house.
The two stood in silence before a moment before Ren spoke up.
"Whelp, it's just you and me now. (Beside Yubara who's still sleeping) Wanna go have some fun down town?" Ren asks.
"You bet." Fumi replies with a smile.
Ren stretched his arms up high. Let out a happy sigh. "Alright. My shoes are on properly. We are moving now." he said with a smile, on his face. Ren walked towards the stairs. He felt like the day was going to be great. He did not wait to see if Fumi was coming with him. Ren already knew that Fumi would follow him. Fumi walked behind Ren. When they left the gym floor Fumi felt like the atmosphere got a lot better.
Outside the air was really cool and fresh. Atami was not too loud. It was not too quiet either. Cars were moving at a pace. A few people were riding their bikes with baskets of groceries. Ren was walking beside Fumi with his hands in his pockets. "First rule " Ren said with a smile. "Do not go to the place you want to see. Walk around a bit first. Let Atami wake up on its own. This way everything feels really nice. Ren thinks that when you do this Atami feels more alive. So Ren likes to wander around Atami with Fumi.
People walked past houses with balconies and plants in pots. A woman was sweeping her porch. A kid was unlocking his bike with one hand. Eating a roll with the other hand. Ren smiled at the scene. It really seemed to make him happy. "Things like this" Ren said. The little things in life are what make it nice. You do not notice these things at first.. Once you notice them you start to see that these are the good things. These small moments like the woman sweeping her porch and the kid eating a roll are what the whole day is made of. Ren liked these moments of everyday life like people doing ordinary things because these moments are what make life worth living. Ren thought that things, like this are really important.
They came to a vending machine that was really old. The plastic had turned yellow. The lights were blinking on and off. Ren. Gave Fumi a little push. "Pick something" he said. "You are starting from the beginning right? So pick a drink that feels like the one you really like." Fumi looked at the machine for a moment then picked a drink and the can fell out with a noise that made it feel like it was really happening. The vending machine was old. The drink was Fumis first choice.
Ren bought his drink and they kept walking. "So" Ren. He opened his can. "You do not have any memories that's tough.. It also means something really cool. It means you can start fresh." Fumi looked at Ren. "What do you mean?" he asked. Ren gave Fumi a smile. "It means you get to decide who Ren thinks you should be is not important you get to choose who you want to be from, on. You get to choose what kind of person you want to be and that is a deal. Most people do not get to do that Ren thinks that is really cool.
Ren and Fumi walked into a park. The park had two swings and an old slide. The slide looked like it had been there for a long time. There was also a bench that was not straight it was tilted to one side. Ren sat down on the bench. Tapped the space next to him. He said "Come on sit down. You look like you have a lot, on your mind." Fumi sat down beside Ren. The swings were moving a bit in the wind.
Fumi said this quietly. He was watching a bag roll across the dirt. The plastic bag got stuck to a fence. Fumi was thinking about something. "What if I was a person before" Fumi said. He did not know what he was, like before.
Ren shook his head. He was firm but warm when he did it. He said "No look at what you did today". Ren said "You stood up for Kawakami without thinking about it twice". Ren said "That is not something that a bad person does". Ren said "That is something that a person, with a heart does even if that person does not remember that they have a good heart yet".
Fumi went quiet. Students were walking through the park. They were talking really loudly but then their voices just faded away into the background. Ren leaned forward he put his elbows on his knees and he looked at Fumi.
"Listen " Ren said. "You do not need to have all the answers now. You just need to make progress that is all. Just take one step make one choice do one thing at a time. Today you learned something about Atami. Then tomorrow you will learn something, about Atami. That is how you build your life Atami is a part of it. You build your life piece by piece with Atami and everything else.
They left the park. Walked to the busy part of town. There were shops now. They saw a hair salon with colorful posters. Then they smelled something from a curry place. There was also a convenience store with its doors open wide. Ren pointed down the street. "This road is okay " Ren said. "The busier part of town is always, like this. Nothing strange happens here. When I feel bad I walk down this road until I feel better. I like walking down this road because it always makes me feel normal again. Ren thinks that this road is solid so Ren walks on it when Ren needs to clear their head."
They stopped at the crosswalk. The red light blinked. Fumi saw a slice of ocean at the end of the road it was calm and blue. Fumi said to Ren "Ren". Fumi asked Ren "Do you like living in this place Ren?"
Ren thought about it for a moment. Then he smiled, bright and sure. "Some days I really do." Ren said. "Some days I want answers. But no matter what, I try to live in a way I won't regret later." He gave Fumi a small encouraging grin. "You can do the same. Start today. One step. You'll be alright."
Oh no look at the time. It is 11:15. I have to go to class. I will see you later Fumi. Is that okay with you? You know how to get home right? Ren asked.
Yeah I do. See you later man. It was really fun hanging out with you Fumi said with a smile waving at Ren as he jogged away, to class.
As Ren left Fumi walked across the street thinking to himself about the time they spent together. "Man, that Ren guy sure was cool. I hope I get to hang out with him again sometime soon." he said to himself as he felt something touch his calf muscle.
"Huh?"
He checked his calf muscle, but nothing was there.
"That's strange..."
He continued walking.
He then felt a sharp pain in his earlobe.
"Ouch!"
He touched it and felt blood.
"Wait-"
He grabbed out a phone Kawakami gave him and went into the camera settings to look at his ear. His earlobe had a massive hole in it that was spewing blood, and a small, purple, floating cube emerged from behind his ear with blood on it.
"An attack?!"
To Be Continued!