Midnight Arcadia

  Chapter 13

  Sky kneeled down and did his best to lift Ayumi, carrying her up and out of the subway. He placed her down on one of the emergency cots that had been set up with the arrival of the police. Dai had come up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Your resilience is truly like no other.” The gruff man said to Sky, his voice outlined with regret. “He went easy on me. He was playing with me the entire time.” Sky said, looking down at his unconscious teammates on the emergency cots. Dai looked down at Sky, just letting out a sigh. “This was my fault; this group was of a higher threat level than the agency had marked them as.” Dai explained. Sky didn’t respond to what he said, his body hurt too much to even bother. “Where did Ms. Koizumi go?” Sky asked, still looking down at his teammates. Dai put a hand on his head as he let out another sigh, grabbing a cigarette and lighting it as a response. “She alerted me to something that she had to take care of immediately. It’s been radio silence since then.” Dai explained once again. Sky just let out a sigh, his exhaustion catching up with him. He began to lose balance, but Dai caught him, trying to keep Sky up on his feet. Dai had a look of concern on his face, one that wasn’t usual for a man like him, but it showed that even this jaded man still cared for his students. “Come on, kid… you can’t go fainting on me like that.” He said, taking his cigarette out of his mouth and tossing it. Sky was struggling to stay awake, his body hurting so bad that it had gone numb. He was eventually able to straighten himself out and stand back up, but it was an uphill battle. He had never exerted himself like that, had to fight for his survival like that. He knew his life wasn’t in any danger if the masked man was to be believed but he knew that his opponent was prepared to break him. As Sky was lost in thought, he heard some of his classmates arriving. He peered to the left, that action alone hurting like hell. He saw Akihiko and his team run towards him, getting through the barricade of police. “Sky!? Are you alright!?” Akihiko yelled out as he ran up to Sky. His voice full of worry for his friend as he looked at how beaten and bloodied he was. Even Galaxy was concerned as she looked at Sky and then down at his unconscious teammates. Despite how much he hurt, Sky turned his head and smiled. His eye lids heavy but his smile is genuine. “Nothing a little rest won’t fix” Sky said, trying to be strong in front of people he considered better than himself. Akihiko put a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, man. You don’t gotta act strong.” He said, still concerned. Sky assured him that he was fine, trying not to cause any trouble. Akihiko knew he was fighting an up-hill battle and eventually just gave up. Miyuki, the girl with pure white hair and silver eyes, looked at Sky, her face not showing any discernible emotion, but she stared at Sky as if she would burn holes through him. She closed her eyes for a moment and eventually turned around and walked off into the crowd, not saying what she wanted to say. As Sky, Akihiko, and Galaxy had a conversation they were interrupted by Nova appearing out of nowhere. “Sorry that I’m late everyone!” She said as if she was late to a party instead of late to saving Sky and his team. She put a hand on Sky’s shoulder and smiled. “I heard you did good! Good Job.” She congratulated him as she poured an energy into him, healing his injuries to the point that he didn’t hurt while breathing. Sky looked up at her with confusion. “Where did you go? You said you were going to help us!” He said, his voice displaying his hurt. Nova closed her eyes for a moment and then looked back at him with a serious look. “I know. I’ll tell you where I was, alright?” She said with an almost motherly smile.

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  To Be Continued