The light of dawn breaks through Nadehiko's bedroom window, waking him up. He sits up on his bed, staring at his hand. The past few days have been weird for him, discovering powers he didn't have before. He tries to make a sword appear like last night and he does so almost immediately. The blade glows a He then lets go, the sword is still there but he makes it vanish in a puff of light nonetheless. The doorbell rings and only in his shorts he opens the front door.
"Package for Nadehiko Izuki."
"That's me."
"Where are you?"
"I don't have a shirt on, just leave it over there."
-----
After showering and putting on something more decent he opens up the package and brings the item inside with him to work.
"Here's the new laptop." He shows it to the team. "And here's the artbook you bought, Kitsutsuki."
"Thanks, Nadehiko."
"You sure like that show a lot."
"Hey, sorry to bother you guys," A staff member approaches, "but some computers aren't powering up, could you go check them, Nadehiko?"
"This should fix it." Nadehiko tinkers with one of the computers. "Let's try plugging it in again."
"Wait!"
It was too late, Nadehiko grabs the plug, unaware of the frayed bit where he gripped and plugs it into a socket. This shocks him, but otherwise remains unfazed unplugging it.
"...You shouldn't have used that plug. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"That much would have killed you, what the hell?"
"I didn't even feel a thing-" He notices what seem to be sparks flowing through his arm. "Whoa."
"Can you try powering something else?"
He takes a nearby monitor and holds it by the plug. The monitor does turn on and functions. Once he stops trying it shuts off again.
"That's real electricity," Nadehiko shows his mates the bolt run through his arm.
"How's it feel?"
"Tingly."
"First the invisibility, then this." Masato says, "If this keeps up you're gonna get more media attention than the rest of the team combined."
"People are still bothering me about the invisible guy." Kitsutsuki comments.
"Do they know yet?" Nadehiko asks.
"I haven't answered any of them."
Someone says out, "You know, we don't have a mascot yet-"
"We're not making him a mascot! It sounds stupid, the poster boy of a team called the Spitfires is some electric dude."
"Like they'll even notice." Masato says. "But a mascot's not a priority right now, I don't know why we're talking about this."
"All he has to do is look pretty, though." The same guy notes.
"He's still a player, and speaking of, will you be able to keep yourself from shocking people?"
"Yeah, weirdly enough I already got the hang of this one."
"Good thing, okay, back to your stations everyone."
-----
"Hey." Nadehiko approaches Rina who's sitting on a bench waiting for him. She texted him to meet at the mall for some important news.
"Oh, you're here already." She says with a mild hint of surprise.
"You wanted to tell me something, right?"
"Well, I got promoted at my job!"
"Congrats, let's celebrate!"
"We can go to the arcade then have a dinner at that restaurant we always go to, how does that sound?"
"Sounds perfect to me."
"You always say that."
"You're the one that makes it perfect."
"So you have another game tomorrow." Rina says as the couple leaves the arcade. "It's going to be a busy season for you, huh?"
"Yeah, we're trying to get ourselves seen; Masato's been trying to get the team's first sponsorship, and getting into the playoffs is a step towards that."
"How did practice go today?"
"It went great... no big incidents."
Rina smiles a bit. "You don't sound like you're sure. Was it something with your invisibility again?"
"It's a new one."
"Oh." She looks at the people they're walking by. "I'll just ask about it some other time."
-----
Another game day. This time the matches are taking place in an venue , the space set up for professional computer gaming. The hubbub is denser thanks to the open admission on top of an anime convention taking place nearby. There's no admission and the gallery is mostly kibbitzers passing by. The team is placed just by the entrance, so the first thing people will see is their logo below them. They may not be the biggest team in the room, but they're making the most of the attention they get. This time around Nadehiko gets more play time as a member went out for an important matter. The result of today was only a single loss, which improved their playoff chances.
-----
Although the league's day is over, the team's isn't as they take a detour to the convention. The floor isn't as crowded as it would be on a weekend, which means less hassle for the gang as they look around for something to buy while they're in there. They still get requests for pictures from fans even at the most random of opportunities, but eventually the number of excited camera-holders has thinned out enough for them to enjoy the place at their own pace.
The group returns to an area where most of the attendees take a pit stop.
Kitsutsuki nudges Nadehiko. "Hey, you see those guys over there?"
"Which one?"
"Over there, the ones cosplaying that trending anime."
"What about them?"
"Show them what a sword is like?"
"What?! I might hurt someone!"
"You'll be fine, you should know how long it goes." She pushes him towards the group.
"Hey, could I take a picture?"
"Sure thing!"
He gets close and takes a stance, with the boys "Stand back a bit."
"What are you-" A guy holding a prop sword gets his question answered with a light sword. "Whoa!"
"You have powers!" Someone else comments. "In real life!"
Out of the blue someone approaches Nadehiko. "So it's you!" He belts out. The man looks to be the same age and build as the other men, but with blank black eyes, markings on his face that glow and horns clearly protruding straight from his forehead. "You must die!"
The people flee as the monster unleashes a sword of his own and attacks Nadehiko. Nadehiko swings back, resulting in a clash of swords. The enemy gains the upper hand though by forcing Nadehiko to back and trip into a display and this forces out the sword he's holding. The point of a sword stares him in the face, but Nadehiko rolls out seconds away from a surely fatal draw, with enough time for him to bring his sword back and thrust it into the other.
"Is that it?" Says the unfazed creature. "That is not enough for me to- argh!"
Nadehiko shocks the other into a daze and slashes him in two. He has felled the monster.
The people around him cheer, though most murmur amongst themselves.
"Yo! Did you plan that?" A photographer shouts out.
The body disappears into ash. The crowd murmurs even louder.
"No... I didn't." Nadehiko answers, heavily breathing.
"Are you okay now?" Masato approaches him.
"Yeah, all good." He looks at the fallout of his fight. People are putting back up the toppled stands, a security member asks him some questions and people crowd around to take pictures of him afterwards as he holds his sword. "We're in the middle of a photo op, right, where are those guys?"
"We're here!" One of them says as they return. "Wait, what if it happens again?"
"If he had backup he would have called for it." Masato answers.
"Which mean he didn't really expect someone like me to be here..." Nadehiko mutters.
"You really could have been chosen for something." Kitsutsuki comments, pulling out her phone. "Now do the thing you were doing a while ago... and you guys stand around him... perfect!"
-----
The apartment bell rings while Nadehiko is about to change his shirt. He opens the door while invisible, luckily he needs no explaining. "Rina!"
"I was told about what happened." Rina rushes in, then notices her boyfriend with his shirt up. "Could you do that later?"
He quickly lowers his shirt and makes himself seen.
"But are you okay now?"
"Yeah, but I think that is just the beginning."
"What beginning?"
"I didn't just get these powers for nothing, right?"
"But what's the reason?"
"I don't know, it's probably something I'll soon find out."
"What would happen to you, though? I don't want to lose you."
"I'll be okay, I'll do my best to survive whatever gets sent my way. How about this, aren't you proud to have a boyfriend who has powers?"
"I guess I am."
"I'll be fine, don't worry about me too much."
She embraces him tight. "I... I love you."
"I love you too."
-----
"Awake..." A voice rings in Nadehiko's ears while he is sleeping. His eyes open to see an eagle, glowing blue and looking at him.
"Wha- who are you?"
"I am the Blue Eagle. I bestowed you with those powers."
"How... why?" At this point Nadehiko has stood up, no longer in a haze.
"It started in the forest. You must hasten to go there; the man who had hurt you will answer on my behalf, I told him to do so."
"That means yesterday... But I can't remember where the forest is."
"Follow me."
In such a short notice he dons on the closest clothes he can get, then his helmet. He runs out of his aparment into the parking lot, hops onto his scooter and floors it.
At the convenience store next block away Masato notices a blue flash of light whizz by above the road outside the window, followed by a biker. He quickly calls someone on his phone.
"Hello?" A sleepy voice answers him.
"Rina? I think I saw Nadehiko go out."
"Huh? It's too early for him! Do you know why?"
"No, that's why I'm calling you..." He stops himself. "I think I have an idea: he's going back to the forest."
"I'm going with you; I want to know what's happening."
"Meet me at the bar."
Masato arrives at the bar, where Rina is with a few other acquaintances of Nadehiko.
"I think you'll all fit, get in."
The road trip continues, Masato playing mild music from his playlist.
"How are we going to find him?" Koyomi asks.
"I still know the way to one of the entrances." He stops at an intersection.
"What gave you the idea that he's going back to the forest, anyway?"
"I heard stories about the forest being home to some magical stuff."
"Are you sure about this theory?"
"You've seen the stuff that's happened to Nadehiko the past few days and you don't think it weird?"
A blue flash gets the group's attention.
"That's the one, let's follow it."
Soon enough everyone involved has left the city roads, Nadehiko still ahead and cruising through the road while Masato's van is behind. Both are following the same beacon.
The bird starts to land, and Nadehiko slows down somewhere in the town next to the forest. He parks his bike, takes his helmet off and tired out once more falls asleep on it. Back at the van they notice the light lower.
"Looks like I'm right, it's landing just above the forest." The light disappears. "We know where it went. So, who hasn't had breakfast yet?"
"I don't remember anywhere we can stop on the way." Rina says.
"There's at least one gas station before we enter town."
Masato makes a pit stop at said gas station and everyone finally has some breakfast.
"You think it's been leading up to this." Koyomi asks.
"It's leading up to something." Masato answers. "All this happened after our hiking trip, and if he's always had them we would have known earlier."
"You have to hand it to him," Kitsutsuki chimes into the table. "he gets powers and he just goes on like nothing weird happened to him. But this one, this is weird."
"That thing he's following must have something to do with it." He turns to Rina. "Are you okay? You haven't touched your food."
"I'm just worried what might happen to him."
"I get that, but you're not alone, and we'll try to get to the bottom of this together."
"Thanks."
"I should be jealous," Koyomi says, "you have yourself a knight to defend you."
"I guess you're right."
More conversations happen within the otherwise unremarkable store. Finished with their meals, they head back to the truck and continue on to their destination.
-----
Nadehiko opens his eyes to daylight. No one else is around. The eagle shows up again before him.
"Do you know where you are?"
He takes another look. "Yeah, this is the town next to the entrance."
"It's time. Enter, he is waiting."
He unzips his jacket, doffs it onto his motorcycle and slowly steps into his destination.
Masato parks his truck in town, at this time slowly dotted with locals. The group then walks to the forest entrance.
"Is that his bike?" Koyomi points at it.
"It is!" Rina dashes to it. "But where is he?"
"Maybe he's in the forest at this point." Masato says. "Only one way to find out. Let's go."
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