First of January 2023, midday.
Hitori logged in and appeared in the courtyard. He was not expecting to see anybody, especially Kamiya, but then he saw someone sitting on the throne.
When Hitori teleported to his throne he saw a girl wearing a labcoat, clearing her inbox.
Hitori glanced at her. "Finally here, eh?"
Reon sighed and turned to Hitori. "I know. I am sorry, I was wrong. But I am just happy you defeated them-- alone."
"We had a talk," Hitori said, "They were here for Kamiya. So they left when they found he was not here."
Reon closed the window and turned her throne to Hitori. "Are you mad... by any chance? I heard your conversation with them... sorry, again... and you were acting---"
"Weird. I know. That is how our team has made me feel recently."
"Am I really getting that much on your nerves?" she asked.
Hitori paused but ended up nodding. "It is Kamiya. Then this frustration... we are not getting anywhere with our game. Why? Because Onogi threatens our lives."
Reon nodded, then stood. "Let us go." She equipped her gun. Hitori looked at her. "You want to conquer a few dungeons? Let us do it."
"Just the two of us?"
"We conquered a dungeon in the past, just two of us."
Hitori dropped his head. "Reon-san..."
Reon smiled and squatted in front of Hitori. "Hitori-san..."
"I miss the time I spent with him."
She debated whether to place her hand on Hitori's forearm or stay down. She thought it was necessary, she touched Hitori's forearm, and he flinched.
"I miss him, too, I do. But if he does not want to be a part of our party anymore, what can we do? We can't choke him and force him to come back, can we, Hitori-san?"
She looked at Hitori with hope sparkling in her eyes. But he avoided her eyes. Hitori gulped and hesitantly nodded his head.
"Hitori-san? Tell me..." she found his behavior suspicious.
"Uh..." Hitori rubbed his brow. "Nothing, I just did what you said."
"And what did I say?" Hitori glanced at her, then looked away. She sighed. "You choked him? Damn!"
"No, no, I mean, yes, but it was a friendly choke---"
"What is a FRIENDLY choke? There is no way in the hell he would like to come back to the man who choked him!"
Reon released her hand and went back to her throne.
"Let us talk about something else." Hitori proposed.
"What could that be?"
Hitori hummed. "Did you go to the Shrine?"
"Shrine?" she frowned at him.
"Today is New Year, right, will you visit the Shrine?"
"Oh... yeah, I will."
"With your brother, right?" Hitori cracked a smile and Reon frowned again. "I am sorry." He dropped his head again.
Reon shook her head. She knew she had to change the topic. "Have you told Senso-san about last night?"
"Kuzu and Gigi? No. I have not. You were the first person I texted as soon as I got up."
"And you got up at eleven forty. I know, exhausted and stuff."
"I didn't sleep last night. Even when I was on my bed, I kept thinking about the things Kamiya said to me: Kuzu, Mages, House Guardian---"
"House Guardian," Reon said, "I tried to search for it online but... no luck."
"It must be a sort of secret enchantment."
"Then how come Kamiya was aware of it?" she asked, Hitori looked at her.
"He knows spells someone should not know. It is like he learned those curses for the sole purpose of cursing Onogi."
"He was planning, you could say. But his fear held him down."
"When we fought Kuzu and won, maybe he overcame his fear."
"Then Kuzu pays him a visit in the hospital's mage side, in his sister's room. What could terrify someone more than that?"
"And I just added more problem to his trouble, did the same as Kuzu, and choked him till my fingers were printed on his neck." Hitori held his head. "I should not have done that!"
Reon had a bitter expression on her face, her lips were half-open, and her eyes were narrowed at Hitori. "Hitori-san," she said, as she touched his shoulder with more fear of the worst than before. "Calm down."
"Do not touch me..." he said, still holding his head down.
"Eh?"
"Do not touch me, Reon-san." Hitori hissed.
She gasped. She knew something would go wrong this time. She had this lingering fear in her heart. When he sounded so angry to her, her hand jumped from Hitori's shoulders as if two same ends of magnets touched each other, her hand repelled from his shoulder.
"L-let us just talk about something else."
"Talking about nothing can make me cheer up, Reon-san if that is what you were planning to do."
She ignored him and searched for the best topic. She played her flashback. The Christmas, dinner, meeting with Akemi, and before that, meeting with Hitori-- she opened her eyes.
She had found it. She knew exactly what to ask Hitori about. "On Christmas," she said, "I saw this silver locket around your neck. I believe it has a picture of someone important to you."
Hitori lifted his eyes.
"Would you mind telling me about her?"
"Her?"
"Kamiya thought I was your locket girl, is the girl inside your pocket someone you love... or loved?"
"It could be my sister."
"You know, talking and fantasizing about love releases dopamine. It will help you calm down. And I realized that I know very little about you, although I have a hunch that I might break down if you die." She scoffed.
Hitori chuckled. "I am not dying. It won't be me who will die."
"So..." Reon hesitantly looked at Hitori. "Was she your first love?"
Hitori exhaled. "Are you a nerd?"
"I am..."
"Were you ever bullied?"
"Uh... no, thanks to my elder siblings."
"I was. I was bullied for who I was, a nerd. Everyone despised me because I loved gaming, reading, and anime. I was never good at magic, I hated magic, to be honest, and that gave them another reason to pick on me."
"And look now, you are so good at magic." They both chuckled.
"It was just another day, I was lying on the floor, my console was snapped into two, my glasses were on the floor, and the class was laughing at me, the girls thought I was a loser. And I had given up on the hope of finding myself a girlfriend. Not that I had a crush on anyone in middle school.
"And then that day... oh, crap. I wish I could show you... instead of telling you. You know, it is found of... hard for me... to---"
"Just talk about her. Forget about the bullying, just tell me about her. Why did she become so important to you?"
"Gin."
"You want to drink... Gin?"
"Gin Shiro was her name."
"Oh... that is a name?!"
"She gave me this locket one day, in the hope that either I will find her or she will find me."
"Why, where you going somewhere?"
"We were leaving Kyoto. I was in my sophomore year when we left for Tokyo. That is it."
"Do you still want to find her?"
Hitori looked at her. "I do. Not as much as I want to find Onogi, though."
Reon opened her mouth to sigh again, probably, but a buzzer snapped them out of their fantasies.
Reon jumped, and Hitori opened the map. He spotted two red dots standing in front of his territory. When he opened the camera and zoomed in, he saw those familiar faces.
One was clad in robes from top to bottom, wearing glasses. The another one wore a thick kimono, had a muscular body frame, and a sharp jaw.
"What are they doing here?" Hitori muttered.
"Who are they?"
Hitori lifted his head. "Guess we will have to find out ourselves."
They both teleported to the Kori dungeon and stood in front of the invisible barrier, the Kori dungeon's entrance.
Whilst, Hitori received a message from the two visitors.
"I want to meet you and your partner Leonine. I would like to propose a battle."
"Come to the first dungeon you see," Hitori replied.
Reon gulped. "Trouble?"
"Nope. Just a friendly battle."
"Are they Kuzu's men?"
"No. I know them, not personally, but play individually."
And the next moment, they both approached the Kori dungeon's entrance. Hitori stared at them while the samurai grinned back at him.
"Ryu. I am Kuchiki. And this is my friend Yaban."
"Hirohito. Yaban Hirohito," Yaban said.
"Ryu and Leonine," Hitori said. "We are sorry but we can not reveal our names."
"Ah..." Kuchiki folded his arms. "You might not know us, but we know you. We saw you two---"
"The Midnight Battle. Get to the point."
"Since we saw your battle, we were impressed. From that point, we trained to get to your level. We expanded our territory and gained more experience as gamers."
"All for proposing a battle I might decline?"
"You will not," Yaban said. "I know you will not decline this battle."
"Yeah, Yaban? What made you think so?"
Yaban chuckled and exchanged glances with Kuchiki.
"We do not want to use that option, so let that be."
"I decline," Hitori said. "So you will have to use that option."
Kuchiki sighed and unfolded his arms. "We will raid your dungeons. With a force much bigger than Onogi's."
Hitori kept looking.
"You will lose your territory for a quick battle."
Hitori stayed silent.
"But since your territory is not what we want, we don't want a time to come where we will have to turn to that option."
Hitori nodded, dropped his head, and rubbed his brows. Reon glanced at him, her brows were angled down.
Hitori sighed and looked at Kuchiki. "I don't think we will be able to defend against you without our strategist."
Yaban grinned wider. "Tomorrow. At the same time."
"Ah. Sorry but, it is impossible." Yaban's grin dropped. "The academy is starting tomorrow, and I have to prepare for the trials."
Kuchiki folded his arms. "You are a student?"
"I will be fighting someone at this time tomorrow, you will have to choose a different timing."
Kuchiki sighed. "Fair enough. Third of January, evening. Be prepared." They opened their menu screens.
"Third. Yes, I will be less busy on the third."
Kuchiki and Yaban disappeared. Hitori exchanged glances with Reon.
"Hitori-san..."
"We will fight some monsters, Reon-san."
Hitori deactivated the Kori dungeon's invisible shield and walked out.
"I think we should let them attack. And ask for their territory in return." She followed Hitori.
"We don't have Kamiya with us, Reon-san."
"So what? We have Senso-san." She stopped.
Hitori turned and walked back to Reon. "He is a war specialist, not a gamer."
"How much could it matter?"
Hitori lifted his finger. "Do you see me? I am confident that I will take those two with your help. Do you know what I call this confidence and not overconfidence? One word-- Experience. What I am, and who I am is all because of my experience.
"That man may have fought wars, battles, maybe won a few, too. But that doesn't make him a good gamer."
"He was known as Territory Collector. He owned many dungeons! He must have conquered them based on his experience."
Hitori lowered his finger. "It was from his war experience, not gaming experience."
"How can you define others' experiences, Hitori-san?"
"Are Onogi and Kuzu war specialists? I don't think so." Reon shook her head. "They may be criminals, powerful scientists, but they are not war strategists."
"And what is your point?"
"If he was a good gamer, he would not have lost his property to Onogi."
Reon was hit with the realization.
"Senso-san gained his territory from his war experience, Onogi snatched it from him based on his criminal mind and gaming experience. It matters. A lot."
Reon still thought a raid was better than a duel. "I-I don't think I am ready to fight yet. We should take this chance and let Senso-san take the control."
"You heard what I said. He still needs gaming experience. Things work differently in games." Hitori turned and walked out open in the leveling field.
"We don't know unless we gave him a chance!" Reon shouted.
"Then I guess I still trust Kamiya more than him!" Hitori shouted back and left for the leveling area.
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