17 / 03 / 2019 - Daito, Prefecture Osaka, Japan.
"We are here." Standing at the forest entrance, facing the depth of the sea of trees of the first location.
His eyes gleamed in bluish-silver, silently discerning every possible clue that he may have missed and analyzing the surrounding space for clues.
Hands still in his pocket, his plain gaze then moved to the dusted concrete road, the visible track where the dust disappeared in a certain section, and the partial area of fallen leaves was crushed.
All was visible in his gaze, 'Not so fresh, but the potential that they are staying can't be ruled out, so…' forming some conclusion.
Feeling the cold breeze that blew over his face and a bit of warmth from the falling light that pierced the leaves.
'When will spring start? Dammit.' Thinking about the chill that has bothered him in the past few days, he is a bit annoyed by this.
"How is it, Irina? Feel anything?" Turning his head slightly, he looks at his younger sister, who is crossing her hands; her face is impassive, or maybe…
Concentrating on something?
He feels like he won't be getting any results soon, so he turned towards Ayato instead, who is inspecting the tall trees around the narrow side of the road.
Wariness is clearly imprinted on his face this time, with his brows furrowed.
"How about you, find anything?" They are still at the periphery of the forest where the battle took place, and he is not in a hurry for anything, taking time to find some traces left here.
"There's something around here…" For Ayato, he crouched on his knees, his hands touching the ground, eyes narrowed as he perceived some leftover asymmetry in the ground.
"A track perhaps? The warehouse is not far from the place of the battle after all." Akane said casually.
Right as he said this, he could feel a tug at his jacket. Irina's face is somber as she points at the depths of the forest.
Locked to her gaze, there is no panic, but again, it is joy,
"There is something out of place in there, it is the warehouse, isn't it?" repeatedly pulling her brother's jacket.
Knowing what she means, what else is there aside from wanting to quickly go there? Akane's face is helpless, giving up at her pull and looking up to Ayato,
"Are you done?" To which he is standing up from his position, coincidentally having finished his inspection, it seems.
Patting the dust off his knee, he also turned his gaze to the depths of the forest instead of directly answering his question,
"There's nothing spying on us or abnormal at the very least, but…"
Facing him, his eyes clearly conveyed the meaning itself, and Akane replied with a nod to indicate that he understood.
"All right, safety first." Shaking his head, Akane pulls up his jacket and then strides out first to the forest, while observing his surroundings.
Irina, who was left grasping nothing, then proceeded to catch up with a smile, while Ayato followed from behind her.
Smiling helplessly too, his nervous heart and steps have become lighter at the very least.
…
"This is your best chance up close, try to perceive if there's someone in the building itself. I'll aid you."
Leaning against the tree, whispering, still within the unbearable silence, the bluish-silver is examining the buildings in front of them.
Before the buildings, there are some swaths of clearance which are flat, but filled with overgrown bush and wild grass.
And then, his eyes focused on the middle of this clearance, of which there is one huge warehouse, 'It's quite big… 500 square meters, right? Probably.'
Sizing it up and down, left and right, lastly, his eyes darted to the flat dirt path that extended straight to the right of their side.
The frame of visual detection is captured and sent for registry, such as contours of the building framework, weeds that creep up the wall, and rust on the steel.
It is clearly different from his usual methods; it is a more refined technique he found over the past few days.
'Who knows that changing the way you interpret it can bring such a change? Then again, it is Interpretation after all.'
Finding something funny within it, an insight seemed to flash in his mind, as if by luck, on how to approach and view his own power uniquely.
'The fastest brain can do visual processing of roughly ~10-13 ms,'
Tracing it with his eyes, the path extends towards the other side, probably another way to go. He narrowed his eyes while his mind was multitasking.
'In exchange for slower processing time by ~50-100 ms, this is where things become noticeable, the disparity between visual and processing.'
Casually thinking of the comparison from the study he had found, he managed to be more efficient than his brain could by itself.
Then, as his gaze shifted to the path on the other side, he briefly reminded himself of taking an unconventional path, forcing their way through the forest.
And then, here they are, thinking that by
Thus—
'By adjusting the frequency rate of his Analysis and Observation, he managed to slow down his perception or speed up his visual capture rate.'
The result is as follows: increasing the density of data and information parsing, he basically throttles up his brain to process more scenes carefully in a single moment.
'Well, I'm tired.' This is the side-effect, but it's all worth it after all, disabling his Analysis, the moment around him returns to normal, leaving Observation active.
Sensing something different from Akane just a second earlier, Irina's eyes seemed confused, tilting her head as she crouched down in the bush, hands on her knees.
But, knowing that something had settled down as the tune was changing once again, she didn't bother to look at Akane anymore.
Instead, she looked up at her brother beside her with interest in her eyes, who was also in the same position as her.
Palms on the ground instead, as a thoughtful hum drifted along with eyes closed.
"I don't know, there's a vibration down here, but it is vague…" Slowly opening his eyes, raising his head to Akane, his face clearly showed reluctance.
In contrast to Akane, who, when he hears it, simply takes the conclusion to advance,
'Why back down here?' Pretending not to see it, he fixed his eyes on the warehouse itself, clearly ignoring that face.
"Got it, we should get closer instead, well, Irina, do your instincts tell you something?"
Before they go, he did not forget to ask Irina, as she has the most advanced perception of them all.
Placing her fingers on her chin, her eyes darting slowly around, her mouth tilted, thinking hard for a moment, and the two are staring at her, waiting.
After a moment, her gaze fixed on the ground, forty-five degrees below the warehouse itself, crossing her hands, "Hmmm, I sense some disgusting things from down there."
Her head tilted along with her flowing white-silver hair, lips curled, and nose wrinkled. At this point, Ayato's eyes become more desperate than ever as he hears Irina's words.
But—
Akane himself flashes a half-smile, patting her head and ruffling her hair messily, "Good job, Irina, now the direction is clear, you can do your job, Ayato."
Irina smiled smugly, but before that, "You messed my hair." With a whisper, as she slapped his hands away from her head, before moving her gaze to her brother, "Do your job, Aya-nii." With a smirk.
Now, the two of them are in turn staring at Ayato, and being the one who thinks most rationally (he thinks) of the three, victimized like this, his heart aches slightly.
But the one that aches the most is his head, and melancholy settles as he gazes at his little sister, who is flocking to Akane's side.
Thinking there's no chance to change their minds, he lets out a sigh of frustration instead, accepting it.
"You'd better think this is a good idea, Akane!" Standing up and gritting his teeth, while his hands are massaging his head messily, his eyes twitched crazily.
Still, Akane rolled his eyes with a half-smile,
"It's not as if you would go there alone, it's better to stick together after all." Having said this, he got out of the sea of forest first.
"Wait for me, Aka-nii." Followed by Irina with the same joyful smile, leaving Ayato once again, as he stood motionless in the woods for a while, eyes darting around.
Sensing the same silence as before, and nothing in his perception, his face turned impassive, then, breathing out in preparation, he also stepped out of the woods, trailing behind.
…..
'Relying on Observation only is really hard, huh…' Standing near the rusted steel wall with wild plants between his feet, prepared for this, he is a bit relieved that he wore long pants.
Then again, among this sea of wild grass and broken structure, the most noticeable thing is the car tracks on the dirt path; they probably think no one would come here and didn't bother to hide them.
'It's not a bad idea to be cautious.' That's what they would believe, right?
Well, if there are smart people, then there are also stupid people; it is a matter of probability of what he would possibly encounter.
One hand on his chin, he gestured for them to quiet down, raising a finger to the front of his lips, "Shhh…" Signaling them and pointing to the dirt path far away with his eyes.
For now, they are positioned behind the warehouse itself for their safety, concealed in the shadows of the buildings.
Time to work, Ayato did not want to waste more time. Bypassing Akane, he then tried to use his perception, piercing through the wall to sense some activity inside.
Ignoring him, Akane also did not idle; he took out of the pocket of his jacket what he was already holding — a pen in his right hand and a small notebook in his left.
Opening the cap and the book, through the pure white paper, the pen danced, a bit struggling as he is holding and writing at the same time.
"Why do you find it disgusting, Irina?" Without raising his head from the book, he asked Irina, who is silent beside him, startled slightly.
Humming thoughtfully, as if unsure, her face is troubled, biting her lips, "Well, I can't say for sure, but the noise itself is unpleasant, what I can say for sure is…"
Then, looking down at her feet, her brows furrowed, but it is clear that her vision is not at the dirt itself, "…there is probably some level of activity down there."
Jotting it down, Akane raised his head and glanced to the side,
"You don't have to worry about it that much. Let's see what Ayato can find this time." There's too little information.
Though with his words, she pouted, "Who would worry about it though?" the whisper drowned out, Akane caught it, but ignored her mumbles; the joy had worn out perhaps.
Shifting his gaze to his twin, who unknowingly had moved from his place and was walking around hunched, while his palm was tracing the ground as his feet moved.
Knowing that Akane watched him, he whispered enough for them to hear, "There's a cavity, not too deep, around…" his head tilted as he stopped to crouch on one single point.
"…30? No… 40 to 50 meters deep." He spoke firmly and raised his head, his eyes narrowed, as his head slowly turned back to the ground itself, his eyes seeming to gleam.
Back to silence, as for Akane himself, 'That's deep,' this one is clearly worth noting, as that is clearly a facility-level basement down there.
Still, he writes it down; the small piece of useful data that he got could accumulate to a mountain, flicking the corner of the notebook lightly, "Can you discern more?"
After he said this, he was also a bit bored, but still did not lower his guard, as his eyes were patrolling around. You sure take your time, he complained slightly.
Hmmm, he paused for a moment, his eyes widened as he was reminded of something,
'I forgot to make a note of their abilities.' The corner of his eyes twitched with realization.
Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes for a moment. It seems sometimes smart people can be stupid after all, the world is not black and white, Akane, bear that in mind.
'After this, after we get out of this place, as it's better to do it quickly.'
With this thought in place, he opened his eyes again, looking up to the front as Ayato mutters and whispers his findings, and he is taking note of it, still not finished.
While Irina is at the side, also looking to the ground, unaware of what she thinks, the conclusion or information of the first place solidifies as time goes on quickly.
————
30 Minutes Later.
Walking out of the crepe store, he is greeted by the chilly breeze, blowing through his messy hair, eyes narrowed to a slit from the intense wind.
Shielding his face a bit, the sun is shining through, piercing the gap of his fingers, not warm either, as it is still mid-March, the atmosphere of the passing winter can still be felt.
"Huh…." But still, the long walk of a certain number of kilometers is no joke for him, though he can't hate it as much as he has to. Lips parted slightly as a warm breath blew out.
Looking up to the sun for a bit, while his bloody-ashen eyes are gleaming and flowing like water, enjoying the moment as his body cools down from the sweat.
"Aka-nii, hurry! Will you just stand there coolly like that?" Right as he is enjoying the sweet moment that did not even last for a second, the annoying and loud little devil is screaming (in his imagination) at him.
It is a bit of an exaggeration, but she can't let him have his peace even for a moment, though what the hell did that last sentence mean?
Raising his eyebrows slightly, he lowers his head.
'Cool, heh? Well, no lie, I'm handsome though.'
Smirking lightly with drooping eyelids, as he turns his body and walks towards the two of them who are waiting.
One hand in his pocket, and the other is carrying a bag of crepes and soft cakes, along with light drinks as a reward or offering to appease the two benefactors of today.
But then, if he thinks about it again, there is no doubt that, as the son is handsome, his father is even more so. With this random thought in mind, the smile became wider.
'Yeah, that's about right, as broke as you are of a dragon, your looks will still be above average, right?'
Thinking this way, the reason is also matched up, so… is father handsome because he is a dragon, or is he a dragon because he is handsome? Well, that is nonsense.
Shaking his head slightly, a moment passed as he arrived at the bench, looking at the person sitting there.
Irina is sitting straight like a refined lady, constantly waving her hands, and then there's his twin, Ayato, who is like a roasted cockroach, lying lazily, tired.
His eyes unconsciously soften, "Here's your orders, eat as many as you want." Offering the bag to them, like a buddha he would be, he is so kind.
'Eat as many as you can, the price of a free thing is often invisible after all.' His smile then becomes softer, even the corners of his eyes curling up.
A solid plan to squeeze their bones dry is formed in his mind.
And for Irina, who can't take it anymore, she is happy as he arrived and fulfilled his promises.
It was when she heard that he would treat them that she couldn't believe her ears, that she couldn't even think straight about where that money came from.
Not that she cares that much, but the thought of having a sweet for just walking around like this left her drooling as she walked, which her brother led her to this place.
But…
Right as her hands are about to take that bag, her instinct warns her, her eyes quickly snap unconsciously to that wide smile and half-lidded eyes, a shiver runs through her body.
'Scary, that is so scary, what the hell was nii-chan thinking about?' Gulping, the hands that are about to take the bag seem to hesitate for a bit, left hanging.
But apparently, the world did not lack blind people after all. As her eyes widened slightly, a hand as fast as lightning passed her and took the bag, quickly opening it.
"What takes you so long, huh?" Taking the custard crepes filled with banana toppings out, and passing the bag to Irina, disinterested in what's left, after complaining slightly.
"Heh, it's not your money after all." Still smiling, but his eyes had opened slightly, narrowed, but then again, he didn't care if this little money could buy their effort for the next day.
After all, his savings are still plentiful, the thought passed, then looking at Irina, who is silent with a troubled expression and pursed lips,
"What's wrong, Irina? Not to your liking? I could buy another flavor if you want." He is a bit confused as to what this particular sibling thinks.
Flinching, Irina quickly shook her head, paused for a moment, then, as if she had decided on something, she also took out the sweet, to which her eyes instantly brightened.
Mouth agape, holding it as if precious, the first strawberry shortcake of this week! Opening the wrap and taking the spoon, she scoops it up a little, bringing it to her mouth.
Sweet as heaven, as it is just a temporary tactile ecstasy, in the end, the snake will also fall and man be cast out of heaven.
'You can't escape it after all.' He breathed a sigh of relief; he is a bit worried if she might notice something, but this kind of assurance is not something that she could resist after all.
Still with the same smile, "Eat, eat as much as you want, hahah."
Chuckling lightly, he also grabbed the bag and took out the fresh drink inside, opened it with a crack.
Life is beautiful after all, then again, it is short-lived, so it must be fought to the death.
There are four places out of five, and then the expansion to other cities or areas, work hard, my sheep, as I also do this for you after all, as he chugs down the drink and wipes his mouth.
As he thought evilly, he remembered the thing he had forgotten after his head had cooled down.
Closing the bottle with the cap, he pursed his lips for a moment, "Then again, what is the limit of the range for your ability?"
Facing Ayato, whose mouth is full of cream, he licked his lips before he answered, still with laziness.
It seems their family is full of lazy people, Akane thought for a moment, as he is also tempted to lie there all day.
"50? Or 75 probably. Many factors are affecting it, Akane." Pushing up his body and leaning on the backrest, while one of his hands lies above his lap.
Irina, though quiet, also listened at the side, but the speed of that scooping is not slow at all; she is on her third cake, and now one of her hands is creeping on the bag.
Glancing furtively at Irina, his eyes twitched,
"Yeah, could you elaborate more? Mister mysterious." Staring at him unblinking, he too was staring back.
For what reason did you pick a fight? Is your heart that fragile and small?
"Tch, if there's a blockade, my perception can only sense a general image behind it, and the farther it is, the more blurry my perception becomes."
Clicking his tongue, he crumpled the paper wrap of the crepes and diverted his gaze,
"And before you ask, how could I sense that cavity before? Well, the activity at the bottom is not disguised after all."
Looking at the trash can far away, and with a throw,
"They are like fireflies or a person shouting beyond a wall, that's why I can know them and identify them."
The trash made a perfect arc and landed precisely at the center, falling inside. Akane's gaze followed the trajectory with interest, but what piques him the most is the talent of his twin.
"That's neat, if it's as loud as you say, what did you hear earlier then?"
Turning his head to look at his motionless body like a drunken man, Ayato's eyes twitched slightly.
Face impassive, but the coldness behind those eyes really tells it all, "I don't know… perhaps, it is a scream, a very loud and crowded scream."