Takeru had already reached chapter 300 of The God of Lemons at that point and he was slowly running out of manga to read. Throughout these 2 weeks, he had been reading manga almost every waking minute of his life. It was his futile attempt to run away from his guilt.
"Oh my god! Is this the end of The Lemon King!?", Takeru shouted in excited. His voice echoed through the empty bookstore reminding him of his situation. His excitement faded once again.
"How did I end up in this situation...? I wish I could just go back to being a regular kid... If I hadn't awakened that day... If I wasn't so unlucky, I wonder what I would be doing right now. Maybe I'd be hanging out with Hiroki and Kaito or maybe I'd be on a date with Aiko-chan after I finally confessed to her. Maybe I'd just have myself locked in my room and reading manga..."
The faintest smile appeared on Takeru's face. "That last one doesn't sound much different from this..."
Takeru stood up, went to one of the windows and took a long look at the world outside. "I wonder if I'll ever be a part of it all ever again. This world is unfair."
The day was over and the whole of Group 1 had returned to The SOMA headquarters. Shiori was trying to talk to Yoru but he kept ignoring her.
"Come on! Don't be like this, Yoyo-kun!", Shiori said sounding frustrated. Yoru glared at her intensely.
"Woah! Sorry... I meant Yoru-kun... Please, don't go so far with this. I promise we won't act like that again."
Yoru let out a sigh. "How many times have you said that now, senpai? I guess you can't help it, how could you possibly take the missions seriously when you're that strong? And even if you change, Rin won't." After saying that, Yoru went to the elevator leaving Shiori standing alone in the hallway.
Rin was already chilling in Group 1's dorm. Shiori walked in slowly and said, "He's really serious about this..."
ding!
The elevator arrived on the 20th floor and Yoru walked out heading for The Chairman's office.
"Sir, May I enter?"
"Yoru? Its rare for you to want to talk to me, what's the matter?", The Chairman replied.
Yoru walked in and stood in front of The Chairman's table with a serious stance. "I have a proposition for you, sir."
"Hmmm? What is it, Yoyo- I mean Yoru?", The Chairman shakily replied.
"Its related to The Special Case, Ichino Takeru."
The Chairman got serious immediately upon hearing that. "Explain."
"First of all, I feel that its necessary for me to change groups. Sato-san and Ryuzaki-chan are both excellent agents but I realize that they're not the right fit for me. I believe that I should form a new group, a group with Ichino Takeru."
The Chairman stood up from his chair and glared at Yoru. "Do you hear yourself, agent? Its not safe for him to be out here, do you want what happened to Katsuragi Kohei happen to you as well!?"
Yoru gulped. "Certainly not, sir. I recognize that its dangerous for him to be freed but sir, don't you think its morally wrong for us to keep that poor kid suffering there for something that's not his fault?"
The Chairman scoffed. "The kid's got a better deal than us, he gets to stay there with no risk to his life while we risk death going to missions."
"Is that what you tell yourself to make yourself feel better about torturing that poor child? Even if he's life may not be in danger, its even more harmful for him to just stay there suffering in loneliness forever and besides, if he's in a group with me, there'll be no harm to him and if a similar situation occurs and his alternate takes over again, you can trust that I'm strong enough to put an end to it and make sure the alternate doesn't harm me or anyone else."
The Chairman sighed and sat back down on his chair. "You speak boldly to me, Yoru. I can respect that but I can't fulfill this request. There's too much we do not know about The Special Case, we tried to find out more by experimenting on him but didn't figure anything out. That alternate is dangerous. Takeru himself is a 2nd class Medium Alternate-user but when that alternate took over, it was easily able to defeat both that 1st class Medium Alternate and Yabo, a 1st class Medium Alternate-user meaning for some reason, Takeru and his alternate differ in power and that his alternate is extremely powerful.
When Ichino Takeru first awakened, Takahashi Rento fought his alternate and was able to actually defeat it meaning that the alternate had grown in power when the incident with Group 4 happened. For all we know, the next time, it could be even stronger meaning you might not be able to handle it."
"No, I'll handle it no matter what."
Yoshikawa Yoru's eyes filled with conviction moved something within The Chairman. He pondered for a while not saying anything and eventually, he spoke up.
"Fine, I'll fulfill your request but if even one thing goes on, you'll inform it to me immediately and your group will be disbanded with you going back to Group 1 and Ichino Takeru going back into solidity. Is that clear, agent?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Do not disappoint me."
The next day, Group 6 had been officially formed consisting of Yoshikawa Yoru and Ichino Takeru. They were already on patrol and were walking besides eachother.
"I don't understand what's going on..."
"Be more happy, Ichino-kun. You have finally been freed, haven't you?", Yoru said with a smile on his face.
"Why...?", Takeru said with a confused and tired look on his face.
"It was all thanks to me. I convinced The Chairman that you and I should form a group.", Yoru said while pointing at himself and looking proud.
"..."
"..."
"Who are you?"
Yoru looked shocked and slightly hurt hearing that. "You don't know who I am? No one ever told you about me?"
"Nope.", Takeru said bluntly.
"Uh... Well, I was in group 1 before but I thought they weren't the right fit for me so I thought I should form a group with you instead. I'm your senpai and group leader, Yoyo." The second Yoru finished saying that, his eyes went blank.
"Yoyo? That's a pretty weird name. Thanks for letting me free I guess, Yoyo-senpai."
"No no no! I slipped up and accidently said that, I meant Yoru! Yoru's my name!"
"Nah, I like Yoyo more. I'll continue calling you Yoyo-senpai.", Takeru replied in a monotone voice sounding like he didn't really care.
"SHOW SOME RESPECT, DAMNIT!"