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“Are you okay?”
Isagi winces as his forehead throbs painfully even though nothing hurts more than his pride right now. He can’t believe he would suddenly get distracted by the sight of a pretty boy and face planted himself in front of a whole crowd of people.
To make things worse, said pretty boy is now standing in front of him, offering a helping hand while a lot of random assholes are openly snickering at his display of idiocy.
Isagi wants to thank whichever god in heaven that granted him the ability to maintain a calm expression even when his heart is hammering in his chest as he grabs onto the pretty boy’s hand and stands up.
“Thanks. I’m fine.” He did not even stutter. “I’m Isagi Yoichi. Nice to meet you.”
“Bachira Meguru.” The boy replies with a wide grin.
He seems so friendly. Isagi can’t believe he would meet someone like this on the first day of mercenary training.
Then, for some unknown reason, Bachira leans in, invading Isagi’s personal space as his yellow cat-like eyes inspect him as if he is a piece of salmon. He only does that (whatever that is) for two seconds but it’s still long enough for Isagi to notice the soft smell of honey coming from the slightly taller boy. When Bachira steps back, he has an even bigger grin on his face.
“Oh, I like you,” Bachira says, eyes crinkling. “Let’s get along!”
Needless to say, Isagi’s brain short-circuits.
*****
Bluelock is known to be the most gruesome mercenary youth camp in Japan and it certainly lives up to its reputation. Every day Isagi returns to his dorm bruised and battled. To make things worse, there is a brutal ranking system and Isagi is currently placed near dead bottom. He has no idea if he could survive this place for a whole year but he badly wants to.
Everyone joins Bluelock for a different reason, but it’s mostly because of the potential high pay that a skilled hunter may receive. His family needs this, but more than anything, Isagi needs this. His heart has always yearned to join the monster hunts beyond the walls.
*****
If there is anything that could make things slightly better, it's obviously the yellow-eyed pretty boy who is now one of his roommates.
Isagi soon finds out that Bachira is very much like a cat. Not only does he have great agility and his big yellow eyes resembling a feline, the boy also has very short attention spans… and he naps a lot. Bachira is almost never awake through any theoretical classes and sometimes he even sleeps during simulated battles.
Like right now, he just rests his head against Isagi's shoulder and snoozes away. They are supposed to hide at this spot to ambush any enemies approaching and defend their team's post. And yet, Bachira doesn’t care. It's a risky move for both Isagi's heart as well as his grade.
Then, something shifts. Instinctively, Isagi’s senses turn laser focused. He did not hear a sound, nor see anything suspicious, but he knows… someone is there.
"Found you."
Isagi snaps his head to the side just in time to see Kira Ryosuki peeking out from behind a tree, finger on the trigger. His body reacts before he can think, dodging to the right in the nick of time as a bullet grazed the side of his head. However, just as it does, Isagi also takes a shot, hitting the white haired opponent right in his nose.
They are all wearing protective suits and the bullets are fake, but Isagi thinks that would still hurt like a bitch. He would apologise to Kira if the boy hadn't already passed out. The suit they are wearing has a function that shocks its wearer once they are hit at any vital spots. Apparently, this is for a more "realistic" simulation experience or whatever excuse the program manager came up with to hide their sadistic tendency.
Knowing that the danger is over, Isagi can't help sending a pout at his teammate who is now very much awake. Bachira was watching the entire showdown from the side and did not bother helping at all.
"Why didn’t you help?"
"Ah. It’s because I knew you could handle it." Bachira says, a hint of mirth dancing in his voice. Isagi can image the big grin he has behind the black mask covering his face.
Isagi wants to be annoyed at his friend's overconfidence, but sadly, he doesn't feel the least bit bothered by it. Bachira may seem carefree, but he isn't as simple minded as people think. He isn't a calm, careful observant character like Isagi, but he is extremely sharp and his instinct in battle is one of the strongest in the current cohort of trainees.
Isagi does not understand why one of the top rankers like Bachira decides to stick around him, but he feels more reassured when someone like that has more faith in him than Isagi may have in himself.
Then, Bachira does that thing where he leans in extremely close and whispers into his ears.
"That’s some nice eyes you had back there." The boy beams, bright eyes staring at Isagi with certainty. "I’ve always known you’ve had ‘it’ in you. Because I have one inside me too, a monster. And it told me about yours."
…
“...What!?” Isagi stutters.
He has no idea what Bachira means, but goosebumps are starting to crawl up his arms and his neck.
A monster… inside?
What does that mean? They are monster hunters. Why would they have one inside of themselves?
Completely disregarding Isagi’s inner thoughts, Bachira continues to urge him. “You should let ‘it’ out sometimes. It’s very hungry, you know? It may just devour everyone at this rate… Besides, it can help you survive this place, like how mine has helped me so far.”
The last part immediately catches Isagi’s attention. Surviving Bluelock is his top priority, so instead of asking what monster Bachira is talking about, he asks, “How do I let 'it' out?”
At his question, the bright boy jumps to his feet, a gleeful expression on his face. “Of course, we should get out there and play. Staying here and holding defences are boring!”
Isagi doesn't have time to respond before Bachira has left their assigned position, disappearing into the forest in a flash. The blue-eyed boy can only sigh as he stands up to follow his enigmatic teammate. This also means kicking their group's plan out the window, though he can’t say he isn’t curious about what Bachira wants to show him. He wants to see him in action, understand what the boy meant and perhaps witness his ‘monster’ too.
Belatedly, Isagi realises that he is still as down bad for the pretty boy as he was when he saw him for the first time.