Chapter 12 : The History Of Team Taka - The Child Prodigy“Hiyaah!!” Takamina swung her right leg with full force, slamming onto the instructor’s kick pad hard. It was a really strong kick for a 12 year old girl. The impact literally made the instructor took a few steps back. If the kick pad wasn’t there, the instructor would have been heavily injured by that kick.
“Alright. Let’s call it a day.” The instructor smiled back at the young girl as she bowed. “You’re really strong for a twelve year old girl aren’t you?”
“I have to be.. My dad always told me that if I have a strong body, I won’t die.. I don’t want to die.”
“Yes, of course.. You’re a very strong girl, Takamina.. You’re a true prodigy in fighting. You can even take down a full grown adult at this age. But having so many classes will burden your own body.. I mean you have about three martial arts classes altogether?”
“I take classes for both armed and unarmed combat. Jujitsu, wushu, karate and this class, Muay Thai.. So, four classes altogether.”
“Isn’t that a little too much for your age?”
“Does age even matter?” Takamina replied straight to the point.
“It doesn’t, of course.. But at 12, girls usually play games and do their hobby.” Her instructor explained.
“Fighting is my hobby.” Takamina then looked at her watch. “I gotta go now.”
The instructor merely smiled and shook his head. “Alright. If you say so. I’ll see you next week. Take care on your way home, ok? It’s been dangerous ever since those Cybers and Spectres came.. They’re all over the news.”
“I will! See you next week, sensei!” Takamina waved as she dashed home. She stayed in a terrace house about a kilometer away from her home so she took this opportunity to jog. She never leaves out an opportunity to excercise whenever she could. Soon after, she was home.
“I’m home!” Takamina called out loud as she reached her front gate.
“Nee-chan!” A little girl ran out from the backyard and straight to Takamina’s embrace as soon as her voice was heard.
“Hey, Minako..” Takamina smiled at the young girl. Takahashi Minako was her 7 year old little sister. Being the sister 5 years older, Takamina loved Minako with all her heart.
“Nee-chan!” Another girl ran from the backyard and ran in for a hug as well.
“Oh hey, Rena..” Takamina patted her head. Matsui Rena was Takamina’s neighbour whom happens to be Minako’s best friend of the same age. So, she tend to stay over their house quite often and Takamina too treats her like her own younger sister.
“Bark! Bark!” A bark was heard from within her house as a husky ran out and jumped on Takamina. As the dog was really big, the weight pushed Takamina down on the ground. The husky began licking Takamina’s face again and again as Rena and Minako stood there laughing at the scene.
“Hey, that’s enough, Juliet! Stop!” Takamina tried to push the female husky away a couple of times just to end up on top of Takamina once again.
“Minami nee-chan, show us some of your fighting skills!” Minako hopped around.
“Yes, yes. We wanna see that!” Rena too hopped around.
“Alright then.” Takamina managed to get Juliet out of the way placed her bag on the ground. She then got into her fighting position.
“It looks cool already!!” Minako hopped even more.
“Show us! Show us! Show us!” Rena too joined the jumping game.
Takamina thrusted her arm out and demonstrated a punch.
“Kyaaaa~!!!!! So cool!!!” Minako hug squeezed Rena.
“SO COOL! SO COOL!!!!” Rena replied the hug squeeze as well.
“More! More!” Minako shouted excitedly.
Once again, Takamina demonstrated a few punches and kicks to the two younger kids.
“So cool!!!! Kyaaa~!!!!!” Minako was still squeezing Rena tightly.
“Kyaaaaa~!!!” Rena too was fangirling at the same time.
“Alright, that’s enough for now.” Takamina said.
“Aww...” Rena pouted a little.
“Oh, Minami nee-chan, guess what happened earlier?” Minako smiled brightly at her older sister.
“What?”
“Minako’s baby tooth fell off!” Rena answered for Minako instead.
Minako pouted at Rena. “Hey! I wanted nee-chan to guess!”
“Too late~” Rena showed her tongue at Minako before looking back at Takamina. “Minako’s tooth fell off on its own while mine is still stuck there. The dentist said that it was supposed to fall off last week. It hurts a little..”
“Maybe ask your parents to take you to the dentist tomorrow or something?” Takamina suggested.
“Mommy and daddy will be busy with work till late tomorrow so they won’t have the time to take me to the dentist...” Rena pouted.
“It’s ok, Rena.. Don’t be sad.” Minako, being a cute and bubbly girl, patted Rena’s head with her little hand to comfort her.
“I’ll take you to the dentist tomorrow. How’s that sound?” Takamina said.
“Really?” Rena’s face brightened.
“Sure. Why not?” Takamina shrugged.
“Can I come along??” Minako interrupted.
“Of course you can..” Takamina ruffled Minako’s hair.
“Yes!” Minako was happy that she could follow her older sister out.
“Let me tell mommy first! See you both tomorrow!” Rena ran back to her house excitedly.
“Pick up your toys and coloring books, Minako.. It’s almost dinner time. Mom and dad is gonna be back soon.” Takamina said, pointing at the toys scattered around the floor.
“Okay~” Minako started picking up her toys one by one before she grabbed all the books on the ground, stacked them up and lifted them up above her head. “Minami nee-chan, look at me! Raaaaarrr!!”
Confused, Takamina raised a brow. “What are you trying to do with those books, Minako?”
“I can carry all these books in one go, nee-chan! I’m a strong girl just like you!”
“I’m sure you are.” Takamina replied with a smile.
The evening went by pretty quickly. They had dinner and the whole family watched television till their bedtime except for Takamina. She never liked to waste her time watching television. She prefered to train during her free time. Even as a girl at the age of 12, Takamina could do about 80 push ups within a minute. She trained so much that she could almost do the impossible. Sometimes, Minako likes to hang around in Takamina’s training room and watch her older sister train.
Minako was usually the hyperactive girl like Rena but she went to bed unusually early today. Takamina didn’t seem to pay any attention to that since she was busy doing chin ups in the room. It was already very late, almost 3am. Everyone in the house was already asleep. Minako was seen walking out of her room along the hallway slowly, dragging her teddy bear with one hand and heading towards another room.
“Nee-chan....” Minako weakly opened the door to Takamina’s room and called out. That shocked Takamina quite badly.
“Minako??” Takamina woke up and noticed Minako stading by her door. She then looked at the clock. “It’s only 3am. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t feel so well...” Minako was blinking her eyes slowly and weakly.
“Come over here.” Takamina gestured and Minako walked over slowly. Takamina then placed the back of her hand on Minako’s forehead. “It’s a little hot. I think you’re having a fever..”
“Mmmm.....”
“I’m gonna inform mom and dad now.” Takamina flipped away her comforter away.
“Please don’t...” Minako pulled Takamina’s wrist.
“Why not?” Takamina was confused.
“I don’t want them to worry...”
Takamina raised her voice. “Are you serious!? You’re having a fever and you’re telling me that I shouldn’t tell mom and dad about this because ‘you don’t want them to worry’?”
“Please...”
“Don’t be ridiculous with me now, Minako!” Takamina raised her voice yet again.
“I’m sorry, nee-chan.... Please don’t scold me...” Minako pouted weakly and was teary eyed.
Takamina shut her eyes tight and placed her palm over her own forehead before letting out a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Minako... Come here..” Minako walked towards Takamina again as the latter gave her a hug. “I scolded you because I didn’t want anything to happen to you. What if your fever gets worse, Minako? How do you expect me to hide all the guilt?”
“Maybe.....tell mommy and daddy when they wake up?” Minako shrugged a little. “It’s not nice to wake them up in the middle of the night, right?”
Minako did make a little sense, so Takamina agreed to it. “Alright fine. I’m telling mom and dad as soon as they wake up.” Takamina then pulled Minako in for a hug again.
Minako slightly pushed Takamina away. “Nee-chan, not so close... I’m going to infect you..”
“I have a strong body. I won’t fall sick so easily..” Takamina explained.
“I’m a strong and brave warrior like nee-chan too.” Minako lifted her teddy bear up above her head.
“I’m a stronger and braver warrior!” Takamina laughed and lifted Minako up.
Minako managed to squeeze out a small giggle with that action despite having a fever. “Nee-chan is the bravest and strongest warrior in the world!”
Takamina had always been more towards the serious side. She was never a fan of fairy tails nor did she fancy cheering people up with cheesy methods. In fact, she hated doing those. But for the sake of her younger sister that she loved so much, she could even cast away her own pride.
“Feeling better now?”
Minako shot a weak smile at her older sister and nodded. “A little..”
“Now go back to your room and get some rest.” Takamina gestured.
“Mmmm....” Minako whined a little and tilted her head down.
Knowing what Minako wants, Takamina smiled and brushed Minako’s bangs up, revealing her wide forehead and landed a soft and tender kiss on it for a few seconds. “There’s your kiss.. Good night, Minako..”
“Good night, nee-chan..” Minako then went back to her room and the night passes.
The next day itself, just as promised, Takamian told her parents about Minako’s fever. So both of them decided to take the day off to take care of their sick daughter. Rena and Takamina stood by Minako’s bed, having a little chat with her before Takamina brings Rena to the dentist.
“It’s sad that you can’t follow us out today, Minako...” Rena looked a little disappointed that her best friend couldn’t come along.
“I want to follow....” Minako pouted and said weakly.
“You’re sick, Minako. You stay here till we come back, alright?”
“Maybe next time, Minako.” Rena smiled brightly.
“Ok.” Minako nodded.
Soon after, Takamina and Rena left to see the dentist as her husky Juliet barked them goodbye.
“Weeeee~~~” Rena started running around. Everywhere but the path to the dentist.
“Hey, come back here..” Takamina thought Minako was the hyperactive one, but Rena was at least twice more hyper.
Rena stuck her face on the cake shop window and pointed. “I want that cake.”
“We’re on the way to the dentist and you’re telling me you want cake? Don’t be ridiculous, kid.” Takamina had to drag Rena away from the cake and withstand all her whinings. Takamina definitely loved Rena like her own younger sister, but sometimes, she just couldn’t stand the extremely gleaming rainbow aura emitted by Rena.
It took almost two hours to get to the dentist when it was supposed to be just a half an hour walk because Rena was distracted by every single thing she saw. Sweet shops, toy shops and playground. They spent another two hours at the dentist before Rena got her baby tooth extracted and they head home.
“It hurts..” Rena opened her mouth and showed Takamina her the empty tooth socket.
“Of course it hurts.” Takamina said. “Do you still want the cake now?”
Rena pouted and shook her head. “I don’t feel like eating anything now..”
“As I thought.” Takamina smirked.
That didn’t stop Rena from running around once again, stopping by the same shop she was in earlier. Soon after, they were back in their housing area.
“Let’s bring Minako out next time!” Rena hopped excitedly.
“Where do you wanna go?” Takamina asked.
“Maybe we can go to the theme park!” Rena said excitedly and started clapping her hands all by herself.
“Let me see if Minako wants to go too.” Takamina said.
“...” Rena stopped in her tracks suddenly.
Takamina noticed this and frowned. “Rena?”
Rena didn’t answer nor did she blink her eyes at all. Her mouth was open a little at a scene before her very eyes. “..........”
Being curious about what Rena was staring at, Takamina turned her head to the front and saw the most horrifying scene she had ever seen. The whole lot of their terrace house was crumbled onto the ground. Rena was too shocked to even react.
“What the.......” Takamina’s eyes widened in shock. No words could express her feelings right now. Her mind went blank. This had to be a dream, she told herself. “No.........” Takamina still couldn’t believe the sight before her very eyes. She didn’t know how to react. “Mom....? Dad.....? Juliet.....? Minako........?”
Rena stood there, still being speechless at the scene. “...”
Takamina’s whole body trembled with every step she took closer to her house. As she got closer, something caught her eyes. Her female husky Juliet was laying on the ground. She immediately ran over and hugged her dog. “Juliet!!! No!!”
Juliet’s eyes were closed and there was a large piercing wound on the torso. She wasn’t breathing anymore.
“This can’t be happening....” Takamina placed Juliet down softly and started scanning around for any familiar faces. Definitely she wasn’t hoping to find any familiar faces among the debris, but her worst nightmare came true. There were two adult bodies underneath a concrete beam. A man and a lady who looked a lot like her parents. Takamina still wasn’t fully convinced that those two were her parents until she saw a small hand sticking out from underneath the concrete beam. It was then, Takamina was certain that it was indeed her parents and Minako. “No!!!!”
Takamina rushed over towards the concrete beam and took a closer look. “Nonononono.. Oh god no!!! NO! NO! NO!” Her mind was on the verge of breaking apart. She wanted to cry her heart out but her mind was going crazy at the same time. She couldn’t express her emotions at that time. It was all completely messed up.
Without hesitation, Takamina placed both her hands underneath the concrete beam and attempted to lift it up with all her might. So much that she was screaming her lungs out and a vein was seen on her temple. No matter how much energy Takamina used, whether she was a combat prodigy or not, it was still impossible for her to lift the concrete beam up with her bare hands. Rena merely shut her eyes and covered both her ears, not wanting to believe the horrifying scene.
That was when Takamina noticed a silhoutte was seen from within the smoke. That thing had a few blades sticking out of its back. Takamina was certain that silhoutte was a Spectre from the description given in the news and that it was the cause of their house’ destruction. “YOU DID THIS!? I’M GONNA KILL YOU!!!” Takamina screamed at the top of her lungs.
Then the silhoutte turned its head over at Takamina slowly. As it locked eyes with Takamina, that was when she literally felt shiver running up her spine. Two red eyes staring back at her from within the smoke made her whole body froze in fear. Takamina couldn’t do it after all. Her mind was messed up. She was afraid. Very afraid. She thought after all the training she did, she would at least be strong enough to carry the concrete beam away and face the Spectre, but she was wrong. This wasn’t a training. This was a real life and death situation. Takamina never had an experience like this before. At that point, Takamina knew that if she were to engage in a battle with that Spectre right there and then, she would die literally. She wasn’t ready to fight against a Spectre yet and most definitely wasn’t ready to die anytime soon, so she was left with one choice.
“R-Run, Rena...” Takamina’s voice shivered.
“B-But.... Minako....” Rena whimpered.
“I SAID RUN!” Takamina immediately grabbed Rena’s wrist and started running away from the scene, leaving the house and her family behind.
As they were running away, Takamina turned her head back and glaced at her family laying on the ground underneath the concrete beam once again. An overwhelming guilt fell upon Takamina that time. She couldn’t believe it herself. She ran away, leaving her family behind just because she didn’t want to die. That was the harsh truth. One can never just squeeze the bravery out of her just like that. She wanted to cry so badly but she was so submerged with fear of the Spectre catching them and killing them. Soon after, they were already far away and they hid deep inside the forest.
“Minami nee-chan....” Rena called out softly with teary eyes. “Is Minako............”
“I’M WEAK! I’M WEAK! I’M WEAK! I’M WEAK! I’M WEAK! I’M WEAK!!!” Takamina slammed her head on the tree trunk again and again, letting out all her tears and anger. There was already a bruise on her forehead right now but that didn’t matter at all. She hated herself for not being able to take down that Spectre right then just because she was afraid of dying. “I couldn’t even retrieve their bodies and give them a proper burial!”
“Minami nee-chan...” Rena was on the verge of tears looking at Takamina like this, but she couldn’t do anything.
“Minako.... She was having a fever..” Takamina choked. “I.....didn’t even thought of fighting back... I just ran.. I’m a coward.. Those talk about me being a prodigy... They were all lies.. I’m just a weakling.” She fell on her knees and covered her eyes, letting out all her tears being utterly depressed and angry with herself that she was a coward for running away. And then a sentence flashed through her mind.
“Nee-chan is the bravest and strongest warrior in the world!”Takamina slowly opened her eyes. That memory of Minako’s smile gleaming at her face made her stood herself up and wipe her tears away once and for all. “That’s right... I’m the strongest and bravest warrior in the world.. I’m not a weakling.. Only weaklings cry.. I need to stay strong. Minako believed in that. I must at least prove that to her.. I shouldn’t be crying over this..”
“Minami nee-chan?” Rena tilted her head.
Letting out a loud breath, Takamina finally calmed herself down. “I must continue living for their sake.. They wouldn’t want to see me like this..”
“We can find my mommy and daddy..” Rena suggested.
“Do you know where they work at?” Takamina asked.
“I....” Rena blinked her eyes at Takamina. She was just 7. There’s no way she would remember where her parents worked at. She never bothered asking about her parents’ office before.
“You don’t know? How are we going to find your parents then!?”
“But I need to find them!” Rena walked away from Takamina.
“Hey, stop.” Takamina grabbed Rena’s wrist. “Where are you gonna go?”
“Find my parents!” Rena shouted.
“Where!? You’ll end up dying if you start running about aimlessly!”
“I don’t care! I want to find them!!” Rena whined and screamed while prying off Takamina’s grip.
Angered, Takamina lifted Rena up and placed her on the tree trunk. Both her legs were floating in the air. “Stop it, Rena! Just stop it!”
“M-Minami nee-chan?” Rena was very surprised.
“You’re all I have left, so don’t you dare send yourself to the afterlife as well! You’re not gonna leave me! I don’t allow it!” Takamina raised her voice.
“B-But... I want my mommy and daddy....” Rena was teary eyed again.
Takamina slowly placed Rena down. “I know... But if you have no idea where they are, then it’s useless running around like that..”
“So what are we gonna do now?” Rena asked softly.
“We can’t he hanging around here anymore.. We should always be on the move until we find a place which we’re certain that it’s safe. What we can do now is to try surviving by ourselves and hopefully some miracle will happen and we end up finding your parents..”
“Ok..” Rena nodded her head. There really was no choice for Rena at all.
Takamina sighed and held out her hand. “Come.”
“Mmm...” Rena nodded and grabbed Takamina’s hand as they set off on a whole new journey.
Two years had passed since Takamina and Rena had left their home and survived by themselves. Rena’s parents were still nowhere to be found so they did not gave it much hope anymore. Despite being this young, they both developed survivor skills that helped them along the way. In this two years span, Takamina had been successfully killing off those Spectres and Cybers who brought danger upon them both. She had grown a lot. She wasn’t the Takamina who ran away from the Spectre at her own home now. Equipped with two cleavers, she could take down any Spectres who threw themselves at her. Rena had her Spectre kills as well despite being so young. She had been training quite a bit with Takamina and so far, she had been showing exceptional performances in combat.
“Hey, Minami nee-chan! Look at me! Wooo~~~!!!” Rena hung upside down from a branch and smiled at Takamina.
“Get down from that tree if you have no intention of plucking the berries, Rena.” Takamina said.
“Maybe I would if you catch me~” Rena, being a cheeky 9 year old girl challenged.
“Don’t make me come up there and get you..” Takamina said another time.
Rena pulled herself back up and showed her butt at Takamina’s direction. She then smacked her butt. “Come get me then.”
As Takamina felt mocked by Rena, she immediately climbed up the tree to get Rena. Rena isn’t just any common 9 year old. She was really quick. She could swing from tree to tree easily like a monkey. Even Takamina find it difficult to get to Rena. “You’re gonna get it once I get my hands on you!”
“Wooo~~ You’ll never get me!” Rena laughed as she continued hopping from tree to tree.
Takamina then stopped in her tracks as a weird noise caught her attention.
*CLANG CLANG*
“There’s a loud noise..” Takamina stated.
Rena immediately climbed up a tall tree with her monkey skills and glanced around the area. She then saw something at a distance. “Minami nee-chan! I think there’s someone fighting there...”
“I see.. Well, none of our business then.”
Rena got a closer look. “But that’s a girl fighting agianst a Cyber!”
Takamina raised a brow. “So? That doesn’t concern me....or you.” She didn’t really care for anyone else other than Rena and herself.
“You’re not gonna help her?” Rena asked.
“No.”
“I want to help her though..” Rena looked back at Takamina.
“You’re only 9 years old. What can you do?”
“I’ve had my Spectre and Cyber kills before, nee-chan. I can fight.”
“Don’t you dare, Rena..” Takamina warned.
Being the rebelious and active girl Rena was, she hopped onto the next tree and made her way towards the girl in danger. “I’ll be fine, nee-chan!”
“Hey, come back here!” Takamina was forced to follow Rena.
As they reached the scene, the clanging sounds got much louder. A girl was fighting against a Cyber just as Rena saw earlier. The Cyber had a sword as its arm. “Minami nee-chan, look!”
Takamina watched the girl elegantly dodging the Cyber’s every single attack with a spin of her body. “She doesn’t need any help after all.”
The girl was equipped with two short metal rods and her movements were very smooth and fluid but weird. Takamina had never seen anybody dodging attacks like that before. The way she deflected the Cyber’s sword attacks away seemed a little unusual. That time, Takamina saw an opening and immediately unclipped her cleaver from her belt before tossing the cleaver at the Cyber’s direction as it successfully plunged right through its head. It then fell down on the ground, motionless.
“You told me you weren’t gonna help, Minami nee-chan..” Rena said from above the tree.
“It was wide open.. I couldn’t help it.” Takamina answered.
The girl then walked over and smiled at Takamina. “Thanks for helping m-”
“Stop right there, lady.” Takamina pointed her cleaver at the young girl, silencing her. “Who’re you?”
Shocked by Takamina’s action, the young girl introduced herself. “I’m Maeda Atsuko. I’m 14.”
Takamina didn’t trust Atsuko just yet, so she decided to ask more questions. “And what might you be doing in a place like this?”
“I think it’s fair that I should get to know my knight in shining armor’s name and age as well?” Atsuko stated.
“Takahashi Minami. 14.”
“Oh? We’re the same age.” Atsuko smiled.
Brushing Atsuko’s statement off, Takamina got back to her serious self. “Back to topic. What are you doing here?”
“I lost my family months ago. From that day on, I’ve been looking for The Legion.” Atsuko said.
“The what?” Takamina raised an eyebrow.
Atsuko was surprised. “Haven’t you been keeping up with the news?”
“I’ve lost interest in news lately. Enlighten me.” Takamina said, with her cleaver still pointing directly at Atsuko’s face.
“I’ll cut it short. Legion is a special place built for people to train themselves to fight against Spectres and Cybers.” Atsuko explained.
Takamina slowly lowered her cleaver as she looked at Atsuko in awe. “People who were specially trained to fight against Spectres and Cybers... How? They have a special weapon or something?”
“Apparently, they do have a special weapon.. A weapon far more effective than mere cleavers or batons.” Atsuko pointed out.
“They actually have an effective weapon against them...” Takamina was still in awe as she gave it a thought. “You’re looking for the place aren’t you?”
“Yes I am.” Atsuko nodded.
“We’re coming along.”
Atsuko seemed surprised. “Oh?”
“We’re coming along.” Takamina repeated.
“You’re most welcome to join. I’m more than happy to have someone come along with me.” Atsuko smiled. “It’s safer to travel in a group.”
“So you’re a fighter too?” Takamina asked as she gestured at the two metal batons Atsuko were holding.
“Oh, my dad was in the army so I did train some combat skills with him before this, but no. I don’t think I can brand myself as a fighter just from some small training.. I was actually a rhythmic gymnast before this..”
“Huh?” Takamina was confused. How is it possible that a rhythmic gymnast able to handle these metal batons so efficiently.
“These metal batons belonged to my dad, but they act just like gymnastic clubs for me. That’s why I can handle them pretty well..” Atsuko explained.
“So that explains why your fluid movements seemed a little odd for a normal fighter.. ” Takamina finally understood now.
Rena on the other hand kept staring at Atsuko as if she was a treasure or some sort. She wasn’t blinking at all. “.....”
Atsuko noticed this and smiled at Rena before asking Takamina. “Your little sister?”
“Sort of..” Takamina shrugged.
“She’s cute.”
“Are you single?” Rena asked completely out of the blue.
“Oh my.” Atsuko smiled and twitched her nose at Takamina.
“Hey. Don’t be rude.” Takamina told Rena.
“No no.. I mean, you’re beautiful. I’m sure Minami nee-chan is already in love with you, right? Right? Right?” Rena nudged Takamina again and again.
Atsuko merely smiled back at Takamina. “Cute kid.”
“Oh, I’m Matsui Rena by the way. I’m 9 this year.” Rena introduced herself with the brightest smile she could come up with and reached her hand out for a handshake.
“Hello, Rena. Nice to meet you.”
Rena gestured Atsuko to bend over a little. She then whispered into Atsuko’s ears. “I know Minami nee-chan is already in love with you. She just wouldn’t tell.”
Atsuko giggled at Rena’s random statement. “I’m sure she is..”
“Stop giggling and having your own sweet time over there. Since when did you both become so close?” Takamina raised her brow.
“Since now.” Atsuko smiled and twitched her nose.
And then their journey began. It took a year and a half for the three of them to finally get to the Legion entrance. In that few months, they had been through a lot together and most definitely they had grown much closer to one another. Atsuko and Takamina adapted themselves from mere stranger into best buddies. During this span of time, Takamina discovered a very secluded cave in which she made three tombstones in respect of her parents, Minako and Juliet. As the three of them stood in front of the Legion gate, they stared at the huge building within.
Atsuko started. “So, this building must be the Legion Academy where normal people will be trained to be a Reaper.” She then pointed at a building situated a little further away. “And that must be The Legion where all the Reapers report to and take on their missions.”
That time, a security guard walked towards them and let out a fake cough. “Ek-ehm.. What are you three doing hanging around here?”
“We’re here to join the Legion.” Takamina answered.
“Huh? You three joining Legion?? Pffttt!!! You three look tiny!” The guard started laughing out loud at them. “Go home, kids. This isn’t a place for little girls like you.”
Clearly, this snobbish guard had never heard of Takahashi Minami before, and he’s about to. As the guard was still laughing, Takamina gave him a headbutt right on the nose, causing him to tumble on the ground, grabbing his nose in pain. With a death glare, Takamina stood over his body and grabbed his collar up. “Go home, man. This isn’t a place for weaklings like you.”
The next second, the gates were open for them to enter. If he had done this sooner, he wouldn’t end up with a broken nose. Atsuko and Rena were still in awe with Takamina’s coolness. They wanted to fangirl so much at the scene that time. I mean, come on. Takamina was 14, and she took down an adult with a headbutt on his nose. Who wouldn’t fangirl?
While there, all three of them managed to register as students in the Legion Academy. Takamina and Atsuko were placed in the same class while Rena was placed in another class because she’s below 13. Students 13 years below would be in the same class known as Class A, 14 to 25 years would be in the same class known as Class K while 26 and above would be in class B.
Depending on the student’s performance and ability, one might graduate even at a very young age. Someone in Class A might end up graduating even faster than those in Class K. This includes theory examinations and combat examinations which will be held once every month. There will be a scoreboard that is updated every month to keep track of the student’s performances, so instead of a mere examination, it kinda became like a competition to be in the top of the leaderboard. The ones who can keep their names within the top ten in the leaderboard in both theory and combat examinations for 40 times each will be allowed to graduate. That means, 40 months will be the minimum time spent as a student in the Legion Academy.
Now, 2 years had gone by since the three of them stepped into the Legion Academy. 24 examinations later, Atsuko and Takamina still had a very good standing in the leaderboard. They were in the top 10 for all 24 times in both theory and combat examinations. Rena on the other had was in good standing only in combat examinations. As for theory examinations, she had only been in the top 10 for 11 times out of 24 examinations. Most of the times, her rank for theory examinations was 15 and below. For someone as hyperactive as Rena, she could never just sit there and study. She just had to jump around or look for something to do.
The results for this month’s theory examinations just came out. Everybody rushed towards the board and started looking for their names. Rena pushed everyone out of the way and got to the front. She then searched for her name. She was shocked by her results. “Oh my god!! Ninth place!! Yes! This is the 12th time in the top 10!”
Atsuko and Takamina merely stood back as everyone crowded the scoreboard area. Besides, they do not even need to look for their names. Judging from their previous results, their names should already be in the top ten by default. Despite not being in the same class, Rena still squeezed herself past the Class K crowd and started looking for Atsuko and Takamina’s names. “Ahh!! Atsuko nee-chan got first in theory examination again.. And Minami nee-chan got forth place!”
“Wow! Minami, you got forth place! That’s an improvement!” Atsuko cheered a little.
Atsuko owned the first place once again with a score of 98 upon 100. Shinoda Mariko came very close in second place with a score of 97 upon 100. Katayama Haruka was in third with a score of 95 upon 100 while Takamina was in the forth place with the score of 89 upon 100. Fifth place was Ikoma Rina with a score of 87 upon 100. It was all thanks to Atsuko pushing Takamina so hard in this month’s theory examinations.
Takamina was definitely uninterested in the theory part of the examinations. Forth or first meant nothing to her in theory examination. She was more interested in fighting. She wanted to be the strongest fighter in Legion.
“Aww man... I’m behind these two again?” A lady complained.
“Don’t worry too much about it, Katayama. Third place is still amazing! You were just 3 points behind. I mean come on.. It’s third place out of hundreds. Cheer up..” Atsuko patted the lady’s shoulder.
“I must study harder from now on.” Katayama said as she rushed off to the library.
A tall lady and a short lady walked towards Atsuko that time. The tall one started. “Congrats, Atsuko. You’re first place in theory again.”
“Thanks, Mariko. You’re pretty good yourself. You’re just a little behind in second place... ” Atsuko smiled before looking at the shorter lady. “Minegishi.. You’re looking young as ever.. Are you and Mariko like dating or something? You both are always together.”
Minegishi raised a brow. “Excuse me? Are you and Takamina dating then? You both are also always together.”
After letting out a fake cough, Atsuko changed the topic. “So how’s things in the lab going lately?”
“Not much discovery, I must say...” Minegishi shrugged.
“I see..” Atsuko nodded her head.
Suddenly the crowd was noisy all over again. The combat examinations results just came out. Once again, Rena pushed everyone out of the way and looked at the Class A scoreboard. “YES!! NUMBER ONEE!!!!!!!!!!” Rena screamed.
Rena got first with a score of 413 upon 500. For combat examinations, getting a score of 400 was already very difficult to achieve. The score of 400 was comparable to a common Reaper, so Rena was definitely satisfied with her results. Being only 11 years old and scoring that high in Legion Academy’s combat examination was already extraordinary. Rena was much more powerful than Takamina when she was her age back then.
The combat examination results in Class K was the most overwhelming one among all 3 classes. Everybody was shocked with the score of the first place. Nobody thought a score like that existed in Legion Academy’s combat examination results. First place went to Takahashi Minami with a score of 500 upon 500. A perfect score. It was the first time in Legion’s history that someone got a perfect score for combat examination. Mariko who was in the second place didn’t even come close to Takamina at 458 points. Atsuko who was in third place got 430 upon 500. The attention was all diverted to Takamina suddenly as everyone started talking about her.
To be honest, the score of 458 was already of a high level elite Reaper. Mariko literally thought she did extremely well in this month’s combat examinations and was ready to claim the first place but she had never thought that Takamina’s score this month made hers look like nothing. Despite being a little disappointed by it, Mariko still acknowleged Takamina to be the better fighter. “I’m impressed, Takamina. You really are a strong fighter.”
“I’m still trying to get stronger.” Takamina said.
“You already got a perfect score and you’re still trying to get stronger?” Mariko asked.
Takamina raised her brow. “Perfect score? There is no such thing as a perfect score, Mariko. 500 is nothing but a mere number. If I keep living my life telling myself that 500 is the perfect score, I can never be stronger. And to be stronger, there can never be a limit of just 500.. I can even reach 600... 700... Even 1000. So don’t give me the talk about 500 being the perfect score.”
Mariko smiled a little and placed her hands in her pockets. “Very well said, Takamina. It was the right thing to do, looking up to you. I’ll see you later during combat class.” Mariko said as both of them walked away. There were a group of girls following Mariko closely, presumeably her fan club. Mariko was the most popular in The Legion that time because of the cool aura she emits.
“Congrats, Minami.. You got first again.” Atsuko cheered.
“We need to celebrate since we both got the first place!” Rena screamed.
“We still have combat class later, Rena. Maybe after that, we’ll go out. What do you think, Minami?” Atsuko smiled and twitched her nose.
“We’ll see...” Takamina said as she made her way to combat class. It was a joined combat class, so every student in the Academy would be in the same hall. On the way to the class, lots of people were seen whispering to one another about the combat examination score earlier. Takamina even got some fan letters, but she merely passed them all to Atsuko as if she was her caretaker.
“Aren’t you gonna read any of these fan letters?” Atsuko giggled as she held Takamina’s fan letters on her hand.
“I have no interest in these childish things.”
“And....” Atsuko hesitated for a moment. “What if I gave you a fan letter? Would you read it?”
Takamina stopped in her tracks and looked at Atsuko. “Do you have it?”
“I mean I can write one lat-”
Takamina cut Atsuko off and continued walking. “If you don’t have it then I suggest you stop spouting nonsense.”
“She’d definitely read it if you gave it to her, Atsu nee-chan..” Rena winked at Atsuko as the latter replied with a smile and a nose twitch.
“Alright, people.. For this class, we will have a test of strength.” said the lecturer. Noro Kayo was their combat lecturer that time. She was a little large in size and that created some jokes around the Academy but that didn’t mean Noro was incapable of fighting. She was the combat lecturer for a reason. She might be a little large but her combat skills were extraordinary.
“Test of strength... Great...” Rena rolled her eyes. Strength was never her forte. Rena was more of a swift and cunning fighter.
“Your task is simple.” Noro said as she pointed at a palm tree laying on the stage. “All you have to do is lift the palm tree up to a 1.5 meter height. That’s it. Class A will be carrying the smaller palm tree which is 400kg while class K and B will be carrying the slightly bigger one which is 700kg. It’s pretty simple so I believe all of you will be able to do it.”
“She’s out of her mind definitely.” Rena shook her head.
Noro then continued. “Oh, you can use any means at all to lift the tree up to a 1.5meter height. Only one rule. You have to do it alone. You’ll all be given two Judgements each. Time will be taken for this test and the score will be determined by the amount of time you take to lift the tree up and this score will affect the upcoming combat examinations score.”
Complains were heard from everywhere in the hall, but things still have to move on. One by one, the students got up the stage and lifted the tree. Some managed to lift it, while some couldn’t even budge it. Rena took some time, but still managed to somehow lift it in the end. Atsuko and Mariko didn’t have much problems lifting it up with the help of their intellegence and some tricks they had up their sleeves using the Judgements. The both of them already knew using the Judgement laser was a big no because it needs 30seconds to charge it. So far, Mariko took the lead with 0.8 seconds to lift the tree to a 1.5meter height while Atsuko was behind a little at 1.5 seconds.
Soon after, it was Takamina’s turn. She slowly stepped onto the stage as everyone cheereed loudly. She then looked at the palm tree laying on the ground in front of her and shot a look at Noro. “I don’t want this..” Takamina called out.
“Huh?” Everyone including Noro was confused.
“Give me a concrete beam.” Takamina told.
“Excuse me?” Noro thought she was hearing the wrong thing. Takamina’s single sentence made everyone there whispered to each other. Everyone including Mariko had their eyes widened in shock from Takamina’s request while Atsuko and Rena merely smiled.
“That Minami..” Atsuko smiled and shook her head.
Takamina repeated once again. “I want a concrete beam.”
A whole palm tree was already heavy enough for everyone here and yet Takamina was asking for a concrete beam which could be a few times heavier than a normal palm tree. Nobody understood why Takamina was asking for something like a concrete beam when she could have just done it with that palm tree. Nobody except Rena and Atsuko knew the reason.
Accepting Takamina’s request, Noro ordered a crane to drop a concrete beam on the floor for Takamina. It was a 60 cm x 60 cm size beam and 3 meters long. Twice larger than the one that crushed her family. Altogether, the concrete beam weighted close to about 2.5 tons. It was 4 times more than she should be doing, but she insisted on this. Takamina activated her Judgement sword and placed the tip of it directly underneath the huge concrete beam. The crowd became silent, their hearts beating miles a minute waiting for the outcome. Takamina then closed her eyes and let out a huge breath. She whispered to herself. “Mom... Dad... Juliet... Minako... Please give me strength.”
Takamina placed both her hands underneath the concrete beam and attempted to lift it up with all her might. So much that she was screaming her lungs out and a vein was seen on her temple. No matter how much energy Takamina used, whether she was a combat prodigy or not, it was still impossible for her to lift the concrete beam up with her bare hands.“START!” Noro clicked on her stopwatch.
She opened her eyes immediately, flicking her sword to the side with an amazing speed. The flicking force miraculously thrusted the beam upwards for a height of 1.5 meters before she swung her sword upwards, cleanly slicing the beam in half. As soon as the beam came back down in two pieces, the whole crowd went wild. Rena and Atsuko were squeeze hugging each other to death and everyone else just went crazy. Even Noro was surprised. “0.7 seconds for a 2.5ton weight! A new record!”
Takamina let out a smile. “I did it, Minako.. I lifted a concrete beam finally...”
“Wow, she never cease to amaze everybody.” Minegishi who was also present that time, expressed her shock. From all the data Minegishi collected, she could easily conclude that even most of the Reapers were not capable of doing what Takamina just did. She was an overwhelmingly skilled fighter. A true prodigy.
“As expected from a prodigy.. She never needed much help from Legion Academy.” Mariko smiled and said. “I can never beat her in combat.” Mariko was also a prodigy but no matter how well Mariko did in combat classes, Takamina will always be one step ahead of her. That was what made Mariko look up to Takamina in the first place. They were both branded prodigies by The Legion but Takamina was of another level. She’s just that strong.
“Let’s go celebrateeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!” Rena screamed as she ran up and koala hugged Takamina on the stage.
“You did amazingly well, Minami!!” Atsuko too ran up and hugged her.
“Yeah... I finally proved to Minako that I’m strong..” Takamina nodded.
“Minami?” Atsuko placed her hand on Takamina’s cheek. “You never needed to prove anything. You had always been the strongest warrior that ever lived in Minako’s eyes. There’s nothing to prove. You just gotta live that life.”
“Thanks Atsuko..” Takamina smiled back.
“KISS HER! KISS HER! KISS HER! KISS HER!” Rena started chanting loudly.
Takamina gave Rena the side eye. “Quiet, kid.”
“Aww.... No fun..” Rena pouted.
The year of 2030 was a legendary year. That was the year that the 16 years old prodigy Takahashi Minami set the most number of new records in the history of Legion Academy. She became almost world famous and her name travelled so far that it even reached the ears of both Spectres and Cybers. This news had attracted even a certain short Alpha Spectre who had been looking for a formidable match for years since her arrival.
“The prodigy Takahashi Minami, huh?” The short Alpha Spectre smirked. “Have I finally found my match after all these years?”
Another 16 months passed by really quickly. Exactly 40 months after they first stepped into the Legion Academy, Takamina and Atsuko finally got the chance to graduate with 40 consecutive top ten spots in both theory and combat examinations. Out of the hundreds, only 5 from the whole batch got to graduate within the minimum time of 40 months. Rena was in top ten for 40 times in combat examinations as well. It’s just that her results for theory wasn’t that good. She was in the top ten for only 27 times so far out of 40. That means, Rena still have to be a student for a minimum of 13 more months.
“Congratulations on graduating from Legion Academy. From today onwards, the 5 of you will be branded as official Reapers of The Legion.” The leader of Legion that time, Ohori Megumi gave a speech for the 5 students who scored with flying colors.
The 5 of them stood proud up front to receive their first official Judgement and Legion cloak. From that point on, they will be dubbed as Reapers.
“First up, Ikoma Rina, age 20.” Ohori called out. “With an average theory exam results of 89 upon 100 and average combat exam results of 421 upon 500.”
Everyone clapped as Ikoma received her items and bowed. “Thank you.”
“Next, Katayama Haruka, age 24.” Ohori called out. “With an average theory exam results of 92 upon 100 and average combat exam results of 424 upon 500.”
“Damn.. 92 for theory isn’t good enough..” Katayama bowed. “Thank you.”
“Next, Maeda Atsuko, age 18.” Ohori called. “With an average theory exam results of an astounding 98 upon 100 and average combat exam results of 434 upon 500.”
“WOOOO~~!!!!!” Rena cheered the loudest as Atsuko stepped up to the stage to recieve her Judgement.
“Thank you.” Atsuko smiled at the leader of Legion and twitched her nose.
“Next up, Shinoda Mariko, age 24.” Ohori announced. “With an average theory exam results of a remarkable 96 upon 100 and average combat exam results of 452 upon 500.”
Everyone in Mariko’s fan club went crazy and screamed her name as loud as possible. “GO MARIKO-SAMA!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!”
With her posture as cool as ever, Mariko shook hands with Ohori and grabbed her items. “Thank you.”
“And finally, the one who broke a total of 7 combat records throughout the 40 month course...”
“SHE’S UP NEXT!!!” Rena screamed.
“Takahashi Minami with an average theory exam results of 84 upon 100 and average combat exam results of an unbelievable 486 upon 500! One of the best combat scores recorded in the history of Legion!”
The whole crowd went wild. Everyone cheered like mad as Takamina went up the stage and claimed her Judgement and cloak. Even the leader of Legion, Ohori was impressed with Takamina’s performance. “Well done, Takamina. I look forward to seeing you in the field.”
“Thank you.” Takmina nodded a little.
“WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!” Rena cheered out loud.
“The graduation ceremony officially ends here.” Ohori announced as the whole hall crowded the five of them.
Each of them got their very own fan gifts. The one with the most fan gifts was none other than Mariko. She was literally flooded with girls and request for an autograph. Rena violently squeezed herself through the crowd of people. “Out of the way! Out of the way! Don’t you know who I am!?”
That time, a guy presented Atsuko with roses. “This is for you, Atsuko.”
“Oh my..” Atsuko smiled and was about to receive it before a hand grabbed onto the roses and crushed them immediately.
The guy turned his head over to the owner of the hand and got shivers sent up his spine. It was Takamina. She raised a brow at the guy. “May I help you?”
“N-No, you may not..” He then scurried away as Takamina tossed the remains of the roses onto the ground.
After letting out a fake cough, Takamina wished Atsuko. “Congrats.”
“You too, Minami.” Atsuko replied with a smile and took something out of her pocket. “Here. I want to give you this..”
“What’s this?” Takamina held up something that looked a lot like a letter. It was pink and had a few bunny stickers on it.
“A gift for your graduation.. My first official fan letter to you.” Atsuko smiled and twitched her nose.
“But you do have to understand that I never prepared any present for you, right?” Takamina said.
“I know. What, you actually thought I’d expect a present fom you?” Atsuko giggled.
“You should have prepared a present, Minami nee-chan...” Rena said before her grin grew wider. “Because since you didn’t, you have to give Atsu-neechan a kiss! KYYAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!” Rena started spazzing out of the blue all by herself.
“Stop it, kid. Enough of this nonsense.” Takamina stated.
“Why, you don’t wanna kiss me?” Atsuko jokingly asked.
“Atsuko, stop it.. I’m gonna read this later when I get back.” Takamina kept Atsuko’s fan letter inside her pocket.
“KYAAA~~~!!!!! HOW SATISFYING!!” Rena’s grin was really wide as started spazzing around. She literally felt the satisfaction of a successful wingman. “We must totally go out and celebrate!!!” Rena shouted excitedly.
“I’m tired.” Takamina cut off Rena’s steam almost immediately.
“Celebrate!” Rena shouted once again.
“I said I’m tired!” Takamina raised her voice.
“CELEBRATE!” Rena screamed even louder this time.
This time, there were no words from Takamina. She merely shot a death glare at Rena.
“Atsu-neechan....” Rena pouted and twirled her finger on Atsuko’s shoulder, sulking at Takamina’s scary death glare.
Atsuko smiled and patted Rena’s head. “Rena, Minami’s tired.. It’s been a long day. Even I’m tired.”
“Aww... Well then maybe tomorrow?” Rena smiled.
“We shall see.” Takamina shrugged.
“Make sure you read the letter, Minami.” Atsuko smiled.
“Yeah! Make sure you read the letter, Minami~” Rena imitated Atsuko’s voice.
It was a really long and tiring day so everyone went back to their rooms soon after. As Takamina entered her room, the first thing she did was unclipping her very own Judgement from her belt and took a good look at it. “I hope you guys are seeing this now.. I’ve proven myself to be a strong fighter like you said I was, Minako...”
She then placed the Judgement on the table and laid on her bed. She took out a pink letter from her pocket, the same letter Atsuko gave her earlier. “Hmm.. Doesn’t kill to read.”
She then opened it and read the content.
Dear Minami,
It’s me~! Atsuko~! You might be surprised to recieve this fan letter from me. And no, I never expected anything in return from you. You’re just cool like that and I love this side of you. We’ve known each other for how long? About five years now? Since the day we met, I’ve never had a day which I went by without a smile. You had been like a protective sister to me all these time and I have to tell you just how much I loved having a knight in shining armor by my side everyday.
I admire everything you did. Your courage and bravery, your strength, your perseverance and your will to get stronger everyday. You are by far the most reliable person I have ever met. Even as a very close friend to you, sometimes I just can’t help but to fangirl at you being so awesome and cool.
To tell you the truth, I’m your number 2 fan. I’m not that selfish to claim the number 1 spot because I know that spot belonged to none other than Rena and Minako in a pair. I know I have never seen Minako before but after the story you told me, I can tell just how big fans they are of you.
Learning everything about your past simply makes me admire you even more. Your parents, Juliet, Minako, Rena... They all played a huge role in your life and no words could possibly describe just how important they are to you. And I just hope one day you would see me as an important person too. I like you, Minami. As a what? Figure that out yourself. /smiley face/
That’s all I’m going to say as a fan. Now wipe those happy tears off your face. Hope you liked my first official fan letter to you, Minami. Stay strong, stay cool and stay awesome. All my hugs and kisses.
Your number 2 fan,
Maeda Atsuko“Hmm..” After reading the contents, a slight smile crawled up Takamina’s face as she shook her head and placed the letter inside her drawer. “That Atsuko.. How childish..”
Time flew by pretty quicly. With the blink of an eye, it was already the next day and the three of them were already walking in a shopping mall. “Ugh- What am I even doing here..”
“Minami nee-chan never liked shopping. She, coming to this place proves that she totally loves you.” Rena winked at Atsuko.
“I know.” Atsuko smiled and winked back before she looked at Takamina once again. “So... Did you read the letter?” Atsuko asked.
“What do you think?” Takamina asked with a straight face.
“She totally read it, Atsu nee-chan.” Rena giggled.
“Maybe.” Taamina answered again with a straight face.
“Alright, I’m SOOOOO curious right now.” Rena said.
“Well, all that matters is that you read it.” Atsuko smiled and twitched her nose.
“Was it a love letter~~?” Rena nudged Takamina again and again.
Takamina then side eyed Rena. “If you nudge me again, I will place you in a cage, kid.”
“I bet the letter goes like this.” Rena cleared her throat. “Dear Minami. I love you. Be mine. The end.. KYAAAAAAAAAAA~~!!!!!” Rena squeeze hugged Atsuko as hard as possible.
“Oh my...” Atsuko giggled a little.
“Oh my god! Look at all the clothes!” Rena grabbed Atsuko’s arm. Rena sure gets distracted pretty easily. As expected of a 13 year old girl.
“Yeah! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Atsuko and Rena stormed into the clothes department store.
“I don’t believe this..” Takamina stayed outside while leaning against the wall as she waited for them to come out. The decided to shut her eyes to rest a little.
“Well well well, are you here alone, missy?” A big sized guy stood before Takamina and placed his hand on the wall, trying to disturb the tiny lady.
Takamina slowly opened her eyes to come face to face with the big sized guy standing right in front of her before shutting her eyes once again, as if the man was invisible. “....”
“Oi oi.. Ignoring me, are you!?” The man grabbed Takamina’s wrist and that attracted a lot of people in that area.
Despite that, Takamina still had her eyes closed. “You have five seconds to get out of my sight, because once I open my eyes, I’ll make sure you fall flat on the ground with a broken arm and a broken nose.”
This man obviously didn’t read today’s newspaper about Takamina being a combat prodigy. “Heh. Are you kidding me!? You? Take me down? Don’t make me laugh!”
“FIVE!” Takamina straight off started with the number five. She obviously didn’t even bother to count to five. She shot her eyes open and wrenched the guy’s hand off her wrist with absolute ease before twisting it upwards, completely breaking his arm. She then released an elbow strike on his nose instantly as he fell onto the ground.
“Arghh.........” The man grabbed his arm on the ground in pain as his nose bleed profusely. Everyone took a photo of it.
At that time, Atsuko and Rena came rushing out of the store and saw the scene. Rena cheered. “Wooo!!!! Way to go, nee-chan!!”
Atsuko on the other hand, shook her head. “Oh man, this will not turn out well..”
“Congratulations, Takamina! You made the front page again!” Ohori slammed the newspaper on the table. “Only this time, it wasn’t something to be proud of at all!”
“...” Takamina wasn’t even paying attention.
Ohori grabbed the newspaper again. “I’m gonna read the headlines for you. Legion Prodigy Takahashi Minami a bully?”
“He attacked me. I was just protecting myself.” Takamina answered.
“Oh? Protecting yourself? From what? You could have just held him down and let the police take over. For god’s sake, Takamina, you’re a fully trained Reaper while he was nothing but a common delinquent.” Ohori raised her voice. “Breaking his nose and arm in public like that will taint the name of Reapers. Now the media thinks Legion trains bullies.”
“Don’t worry, next time, I’ll make sure to drag him to a secluded place before beating him up.” Takamina said.
“That’s not the freaking point here, Takamina!” Ohori raised her voice.
“So, what are you gonna do about it?” Takamina challenged Ohori, which was definitely a bad choice since Ohori wasn’t the nicest of them all.
“What am I gonna do about it? You’ll be given a penalty of being a lecturer at the Legion Academy, Takamina.”
“What!? I haven’t even got my first mission yet! I’m a Reaper! Not a lecturer!”
“The lecturers were all Reapers as well, Takamina. It’s because they were all good Reapers, only then they were eligible to teach the young ones. Since you did an exceptional job in the 40 months here, you’d make a good lecturer.”
“Damn it! I want to do missions! I demand for it!” Takamina retorted.
“Wish granted. You’ll teach during the day and do missions in the evening.”
“What!? That’s not what I meant!” Takamina raised her voice. “You can’t do that!”
“Yes I can, and already have, so I say deal with it. You’ll start next week. Out now!” Ohori pointed at her door.
“Damn it!” Takamina slammed her fist on the table and stormed out of the room immediately.
The week passed in a flash and today was Takamina’s first day as a lecturer. She checked the documents found out that she would be coaching Class A, which happened to be Rena’s class. “Rena’s class? This is ridiculous!” She smacked the documents on the table.
Ikoma placed her hand over Takamina’s shoulder. “Cheer up, Takamina.. Being a lecturer has its good points too..”
“Don’t even start with me, Ikoma. Just because you think there are good points of being a lecturer, doesn’t mean I feel the same.”
“Who knows? You may even find a student that you like. I’m actually having a lot of fun teaching the kids.” Ikoma stated.
“It’s a class filled with students 13 years and below. If they are all as hyperactive as Rena, then forget it.” Takamina crossed her arms and rested her legs on top of her desk.
“Well, suit yourself. Anyway, I have a class to attend now, so I’ll catch you around.” Ikoma said as she walked towards the door and opened it. At the same time, Katayama was standing right behind the office door. There was a young girl standing beside her.
“It’s alright, you can go in. Don’t need to be afraid.” Katayama gave the young girl a little push as she slowly walked in and stared at Takamina’s face.
Tilting her eyes down towards the young girl, Takamina asked Katayama. “So.... Who’s this little midget right here?”
“One of your new students, and from the documents of Class A, she would be the youngest student in Legion Academy. I’ve already helped her with the registration and everything. She’s all good.” Katayama said. “So I’ll leave the both of you here for some alone time.” Before Katayama left the room, she told Takamina. “And Takamina.. She’s just 7. So be nice.” and shut the door.
“.......” The girl blinked her eyes at Takamina as she remained silent.
“......” Takamina remained silent as well.
“.....” The girl was still silent.
Takamina decided to break the silence. “So...”
The young girl was startled by Takamina’s sudden start of conversation.
“What brings you here?” Takamina continued.
The girl pouted a little and started sniffing as she remembered that she had lost her whole family. “....”
Right when the girl sniffed, Takamina pointed at her and widened her eyes. “Don’t you dare cry in front of me, kid. I hate seeing tears, so stop it.”
Perhaps Takamina was a little too fierce at the little girl. She seemed afraid and immediately stopped crying. “Mm..”
“You’re here to be stronger aren’t you?” Takamina asked.
“Mhmm..” The girl nodded with little confidence.
“Then why are you crying?” Takamina said. “Crying is for weaklings, do you understand?” Takamina was a little too strict even for a 7 year old girl.
“I’m not weak...” The girl finally opedned her mouth.
“Yes you are.” Takamina insisted. “You wanted to cry earlier, didn’t you?”
“No, I’m not!” The little girl started tearing up again.
“Just look at you now. Crying over some mere words.”
The girl kept sniffing and wiped her tears away but they kept flowing down her cheeks. “I’m sad.. I just lost my brother earlier on..”
“I see... You lost your brother earlier..” Takamina nodded and stood up from her seat before lowering herself to the girl’s level and said softly. “So what?”
“H-Huh?” The girl was surprised. Not only did Takamina called her weak, she didn’t even seem to care about the girl losing his brother.
“You heard me well, kid. So what if your brother died? So what if your whole family died? I’m sick and tired of people telling me whom they had lost. You think you’re the only one who lost their family, kid? Did you think I came here with my parents?”
The girl cried more from Takamina’s insensitive words towards her despite being so young. “Hic...hic....”
“Look at you now. I thought you said you were a strong girl. What happened to the talk about being a strong girl earlier?” Takamina shook her head. “What you’re doing now is not called ‘being strong’. It’s called ‘being weak’. Do you want to be weak or do you want to be strong?”
“I....hic hic.....I want to be strong...” The girl hicced and answered Takamina.
“I can make you strong. But I need you to help me with that. Answer me this one more time, kid. Do you want to cry over them for the rest of your life, or do you want to stop crying now and be stronger?”
The little girl wiped her tears and her snot all over her shirt. “Strong.”
“Then this will be the last time I see your tears, understand?” Takamina rubbed her thumb beneath the girls’ eyes and wiped off her excess tears. “Look at me, kid.” Takamina said and the girl looked back at Takamina with her red eyes and nose. “I want you to tell me loud and clear that you are a strong girl. ”
“I’m a strong girl.” The girl said it, but still a little soft.
“Raise your voice.”
“I’m a strong girl.” This time, she said it a little louder.
“Louder!”
“I am a strong girl!” The girl shouted a little.
“One more time! Even louder!! Show me that you’re strong! Show me that you can be strong despite being so young!”
The girl then ran towards Takamina’s desk and lifted a few books above her head. “I’m a strong girl!!!”
Takamina then widened her eyes at the immensely familiar scene as a memory flashed through her mind.
“I can carry all these books in one go, nee-chan! I’m a strong girl just like you!”Takamina really surprised of how much this little girl reminded her of her late younger sister. “Minako..”
“Minako?” The girl placed the books back down and tilted her head in confusion.
Takamina then got back to her senses. “Ignore that.”
“Ok..” The girl placed the books back on the table.
“What’s your name?”
“Kashiwagi Yuki....”
“I’m Takahashi Minami. 18. I’ll be guiding your class, and I’m gonna keep an eye on you especially. Things will just get harder and harder from now on, so you have to prepare youself for the worst. Understand?”
“Understand.” Yuki answered.
“From today on, you’ll address me as Takamina sensei.”
With a smile on her face, Yuki nodded. “Sensei.”
Chapter 12 : The History Of Team Taka - The Child Prodigy
ENDNOTE : So, how did you like Takamina's journey to becoming a lecturer? Hope you guys liked it. Next chapter is the second chapter of the 'History of Team Taka' series. It will feature more about Yuki training under Takamina and yes of course, lots of Takayuki will be going on in the next chapter. Guess what? Jurina and Mayu makes an appearance in the next chapter~! Stay tuned for Chapter 13 entitled "The History Of Team Taka : The Birth of the Strongest Team"~!
Topic: [Atsuko_love's fanfic] The Ultimatum - CHAPTER 27 (multipairing) 31/03/2016 (Read 119885 times)