Chapter 3.2 (1/2)
K R:B by Azano Kouhei
3 (part 2/2, pages 70-85)
†
The headquarters of Scepter 4 were provided at Tsubakimon.
It was officially registered as nothing more than “Annex 4 of Tokyo Legal Affairs Bureau”, and the nameplate at the gate said as much, as well. Except it was a humungous installation, on which grounds, besides the office facilities like the main, the west and the south buildings, there could also be found a dojo, a garage, warehouses and even dorms for the troops. One look at those headquarters was enough to realize that the sign designating it as a simple annex was there only pro forma.
The men in blue uniforms with sabers strapped to their hip were currently lining up in orderly rows on the grounds of Scepter 4 HQ.
Midsummer suns.h.i.+ne blazed down from above, casting short and dark, ink-like shadows near their feet. The sakura trees planted along the outer perimeter of the installation were resplendent with the emerald of fresh leaves, and buzzing of cicadas could be heard from their branches.
The sky was cloudless and colored transparent blue.
Awas.h.i.+ma Seri, clad in a blue uniform like the rest of the rank and file, was facing the troops.
She pulled her chin up and nodded. “Men, draw!”
On Awas.h.i.+ma’s command, the troops unsheathed their sabers all at once. The blades, freed from their scabbards, sucked in the sunlight as the synched motion released sharp flares of silver light at equal intervals.
All the troops a.s.sumed the stance with sabers held to their chests, blades held up vertically and the points of the bristling sharp swords sundering even the sunlight that rained down on them.
Awas.h.i.+ma’s face became stern and she gave another order, “Swordplay practice, figure 1, ready!”
“…One! …Two!” Awas.h.i.+ma’s carrying voice echoed throughout the grounds. With each command dozens of sabers rendered the air, repelling the glittering sunrays.
The synch was perfect - or it was supposed to be but actually wasn’t, due to the division having been formed only recently. However, if anything, one had to rate highly how well the corps had come together in only such a short time. The division was mostly comprised of former members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, National Defense Force, or Fire Defense Agency, so it didn’t take them long to adapt to the organization’s activity; their stamina and potential were also high. It could be said that the division was taking shape, though imperfect, precisely because the rank and file possessed a talent to excel as soldiers.
They were the combat troops that were to function as the core of Scepter 4 - its swordsmen division, comprised of only newly enlisted members.
“…Three! …Four!”
They swung their sabers in time with the commands. The “kata” they were practicing were very different from kendo, fencing, and other existing types of swordplay. Actually, rather than fencing, their style might have been better described as “sword dancing”, and that was because they swung their swords not with the objective to physically kill the opponent.
All the troops had already gone through the Blue King’s rite of pa.s.sage - the installation - becoming his clansmen. That is, supernatural power holders. So naturally, it was their special power that became their greatest weapon.
Consecutively, for special power holders, the most important thing was the ability to control their power. Such was the ideology of Scepter 4.
For that reason, in Scepter 4, releasing one’s power without authorization was prohibited. Also, in order to ensure that it would not go out of control under the influence of emotions, it was enforced that invocation and manipulation of the power were to tie in closely with the sword “kata”. In other words, this practice was held with the purpose for the troops to master how to manifest the power they possessed as the Blue clansmen with precision.
The saber they held in their hand was the “staff” that allowed them to manipulate their power, as well as the “tact” to discipline themselves.
Awas.h.i.+ma continued to give orders.
Yes, at this point it was hard to call their coordination flawless. But the day when their synch would be perfect was not far. At first, the plans for Scepter 4’s reorganization and the schedule that they were supposed to follow seemed outright reckless to her, but as of now, it was looking more real by the minute. Presently, the force was already operational, and the fruits of training were starting to show.
…Still.
Awas.h.i.+ma came to her senses and suppressed the urge to break into an ironic smile.
—To think that I…
Until a short while ago, Awas.h.i.+ma was just a normal college student you could find everywhere.
…No, it was probably wrong to say that people like her could be found everywhere. She was always a high achiever and a changeless top student in her academic grade, talented in both leaders.h.i.+p and business. Predictably, she was appointed as the vice-president of the student council. She was also good in all types of sports, but especially in kendo where she held the 4th dan. All in all, she was a cla.s.sic example of a person accomplished both in academics and sports, and on top of that, she also had beauty and a killer body that won her landslide victory in Miss Campus contest at her university with the 2nd place finisher’s score doubled - the fact that she didn’t remember entering that pageant in the first place notwithstanding. Despite being that gifted in both intelligence and beauty, she was always humble and polite, so no one hated her, and she was considered an excellent student all around.
Still, all her accomplishments didn’t change the fact that she was very much an “ordinary person”.
And there she was now, standing on the grounds she had never seen before, clad in a military style uniform, with a saber - no less! - strapped to her hip, and racking her brains over how to improve proficiency of the troops which were pretty much an urban legend. Frankly speaking, her current reality looked less convincing that a dream. She couldn’t help thinking about the rapid developments her life underwent.
Everything started with that plane hijacking incident. Or, to be exact, with her meeting a young man named Munakata Reis.h.i.+ and being selected by him.
Munakata had stopped the falling plane from cras.h.i.+ng - she was aboard that plane, and when he had put it under his control, Munakata’s reign extended to her world as well. When he suddenly declared that he was a king all along, her reasoning faculties, desperately searching for a logical explanation, arbitrarily concluded that he went crazy from fear, even though her instincts readily accepted his words. At that moment it struck her: she would serve this king.
Her premonition came true very soon.
She recalled the first time she visited the HQ she was currently on the grounds of. It was the morning of the day following the release of the pa.s.sengers of that hijacked plane. Munakata left the airport and headed to Tsubakimon, Awas.h.i.+ma following him. Munakata invited her, but the reason why she agreed was because she had too many questions that needed answers. She was sure that if they went their separate ways there with everything still shrouded in mystery, she simply would not be able to return to the life she had been living till then.
Unlucky for them, about that time, thunderclouds rapidly developed and caused local downpours in several areas of the city.
When they arrived, they found most of the headquarters facilities tied-up. The swordsmen corps had been disbanded, and almost all of the logistical support staff were working at Mihas.h.i.+ra tower. Under the dark clouds, the HQ building, with its facade of old-fas.h.i.+oned design, getting beaten down with whips of intense rain and almost devoid of human presence, appeared to be taken out of some horror flick.
At the time, only a handful of clerks remained in HQ.
It was those few who heard it first.
“Nice to meet you. I am Munakata Reis.h.i.+, the newly enthroned Blue King - that is, your king. I will be in your care from now on. It may be sudden, but I wish to familiarize myself with the doc.u.ments stored in this facility. I would like one of you to show me the way.”
The clerks stared on in mute amazement as Munakata called upon his Sword of Damocles specifically to show it to them. Since the first time it manifested Awas.h.i.+ma was inside the plane, it was her first time seeing it with her own eyes, too. The giant sword, blue and solemn, soared high amidst the dark clouds surrounded by flashes of lightning. Moreover, the sword pushed away the heavy rainclouds, making a tear in them. The sky above was overcast, as if it was still the gray of early morning, with hardly any sunrays making it through, but one area - around the sword - was clear and white sunlight shone through it brilliantly.
Awas.h.i.+ma could only stare fixedly at the sword floating above, not even realizing that she dropped the hand holding the umbrella and her body was being beaten down by the rain, which was beginning to let up. She got herself involved with something immense and incredible. What that conviction sparkled in her, however, wasn’t fear. It was excitement and something akin to a hair-raising sense of inspiration.
After that, Munakata entered the office building, and, drawing on all of the clerks, began to read through all the doc.u.ments - from paper ones to the electronic database - that were stored at HQ. The next day, a messenger from the Gold King appeared, inviting Munakata to Mihas.h.i.+ra tower; Munakata received him politely, but turned down the invitation and kept doing so with every next messenger for the next few days. In the end, Munakata didn’t take a step outside HQ for the whole 3 days, reading through the doc.u.ments and not sleeping even an hour a day.
And then, finally…
“Well, that should do, I suppose.” With this, he suspended his reviewing of the doc.u.ments and, later, accepted the Gold King’s invitation.
Returning the doc.u.ments to where they belonged, he showered in the troops’ dorm and chose a uniform of a suitable size from among the standard issue articles that were left in the warehouse.
“I would have liked to have this, too, made anew for me, but I shall make do for the time being,” he commented, equipping a saber from the ones that were also left.
Then, he slowly took another saber, turned to Awas.h.i.+ma and presented it to her, his accompanying words sounding as lightly as if he was offering her to lunch together.
“—The choice is yours, Awas.h.i.+ma-kun.”
Awas.h.i.+ma took the saber, and underwent the Blue King’s installation.
Now that she thought about it calmly, she found it baffling, but at the time, it was as if she had forgotten what doubts and hesitation were. Munakata didn’t even attempt to say or do anything to coerce her, and she didn’t remember her composure failing her at the time. For all intents and purposes, even Awas.h.i.+ma, a firm believer in swift decisions and quick actions, should have taken a moment to consider her choices there. Except in reality she didn’t - she felt no sliver of hesitation to compel her to.
And it couldn’t be written off as the heat of the moment either. If, for argument’s sake, she was presented with the same choice once more this very instance, she would not hesitate again, even if it baffled her immensely. What decided her was not reason. It was some kind of instinct that the young man Munakata Reis.h.i.+ roused in her.
—Whatever the case, the path to take has already been shown to me and is now fixed.
All what was left to find out was whether she had what it took to walk this path or not.
“…Next. Swordplay practice, figure 2, ready!”
Following Awas.h.i.+ma’s command, the troops changed the “kata”. But in the next moment, a few members faltered ever so slightly in their motion.
She already knew the reason. From one of the office buildings, a single young man came out - their king, Munakata Reis.h.i.+.
Awas.h.i.+ma tossed a glance at him, and he acknowledged her with a small nod.
Awas.h.i.+ma then ordered to a member standing in the front row, “Akiyama! Take over!”
“Yes, ma'am! Swordplay practice, figure 2!” As ordered, the member continued giving commands in Awas.h.i.+ma’s stead. “One! Two!”
Once the practice resumed, Awas.h.i.+ma left the training grounds and walked up to Munakata.
He was tall and lean. His posture was very nice, and even if all he did was stand there, his perfectly proportioned and balanced frame was striking. With intellectually added by the gla.s.ses, his entire countenance gave off the feel of refinement and elegance.
But what it made the observer feel even more was likely the presence of an enigma.
There was no telling who this person was. Yet, he absolutely could not be ignored. The measure of that enigma - its depth - varied depending on the beholder. The keener an insight said beholder was capable of, the more unfathomable Munakata would seem to them.
“It appears it is going smoothly,” Munakata commented, addressing Awas.h.i.+ma, who stood by his side, as he gazed at the troops. Awas.h.i.+ma looked up at his profile and found a calm, peaceful smile on his lips. This was the countenance he always showed, and that smile was one of the causes that made Munakata seem such an enigma.