The Unspoken Truth Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Envy Asari had apologized to Goro again for the attempted assault she made. Although already forgave her, she still felt some pangs of guilt even after the incident was forgotten. What’s even stranger, despite me seeing her that drunk and high before I defeated Gluttony, she hadn’t had a single absence because of rehab. The problem melted away with the demon, I guess? Anyways, currently, it was two months left until judgment day; the end-of-year exams. Sensei had warned us to start reviewing little by little of everything we had learned over the year, to get us started before the intensive reviewing begins five weeks later. However, I was not interested in preparing for this; I can do that later. What’s more important for me is that the remaining sins left, Envy and Pride, still remains. I decided to evaluate all my ‘journeys’ last night. I have heard from Masahiro, the more devout Christian in the whole of our class that those two are among the deepest causes of all sins. Now, may the gods help me, but seeing it objectively, I had a resolve to believe what he said, because you always need to know the enemy before you face them. “Doesn’t mean you know what happens next,” said a voice that was starting to annoy me each time I heard the tone of his voice on that night. It could be no other but my imposter. “Will you just stop bugging me?” I asked irritatingly in my room. Fortunately, I was alone. “Well…it was you who opened the book on the first place, didn’t you? Don’t complain about you getting all the dirty work! It’s your own fault, anyways. How the hell am I supposed to care?” “You know what; just stay out of me for a while, ok? I don’t need any of your words, just get out!” “...Yowayowashii,” he grumbled as his voice disappeared from my room. Seems that my imposter loves to use swear words. What a jerk. A test in Physics was held a week after Asari’s incident. As you may have known earlier, our class just doesn’t have the talent on Physics. Even Masahiro, who is among one of the most capable, only managed to get an 80, which was his highest, on the previous test. The rest of us…well…made a versatile range of grades, from 5 to a 70. Our teacher, Meishin-sensei, had tried to encourage us to study harder for her subject, but we all agreed that her teaching techniques are not that good enough to make us understand what she wanted us to know. The results, was just as bad. A few of us got even worse. “26….now I feel like counting my chickens,” Joseph said gloomily. Misaki made a gesture as if she fainted. To tell you the truth, she may look like a drama queen, but she doesn’t really mean it. “Allah be praised, I’m safe,” said Hariz, clutching his fist. “We’re doomed, mate,” said Anthony as he compared his grades with Calvin and Richard.

“At least we’re doomed together,” said Richard, trying to look at the bright side of things. Apparently, they got a 40, 45, and 50 respectively. Now that’s something you don’t see everyday. Me, I got 68. That was enough to make me dancing on my table. Nanaho looked at hers, skimmed it for a while, slammed the paper on the table, and made a gesture of disbelief at the test to Nara, with a look of incredulity. “Just cool down, Nanaho…,” Nara was trying to cheer her up, “ There’s always next time….” Nanaho opened her mouth to say something. Nothing came out after a few seconds, hesitated, and buried her head in her arms on the desk. I know; it’s the usual scene you see every time we took physics tests. But one thing’s different this time. It was Nemura. “Oh my God, Masahiro, it can’t be--!?” Reika asked in disbelief. Some of us gathered around his seat. He got a 91. “Okay, Hiro (his nickname), you are soooo going to die!” Misaki threatened him jokingly. “May the Aum Shinrikyo get you someday,” Goro said in jealousy. But at Hiro’s side, I saw Nemura just stood there, watching Masahiro get crowded. There was a look of perfect disgust on his face, and he turned his face away. I mean, he is sort of a perfectionist, but he never made that look to other people when he scored lower. Usually he’ll just accept the fact and try again until he succeeds, but not this time. It seemed that he was real jealous of Hiro. And this type of jealous was dangerous. On lunch, when I was about to put my tempura on my mouth, which is my favorite menu, suddenly Ara had alerted everyone on the class about some dangerous news. “People, people quick! Nemura’s having a fight!” The abrupt news made my first tempura drop to the floor. I hastily picked it up and put it back on the lunch box, wondering if anybody had noticed. Putting that aside, I rushed to the scene; I knew something wrong was with him. On the 2nd roof top of our school, near the canteen, I witnessed Nemura gripping Masahiro’s collar with both hands. Masahiro didn’t know what to do, because he can’t retaliate; Nemura was currently stronger than him. I doubted that; Masahiro could’ve pulled a hundred pushups until he starts to get heavy. “Happy, are you, now, Mr. Smartass!?” he sneered. “I-I-I don’t get what, you mean, Nemura,” he tried to speak as he was still being clutched by the collar. “Don’t ‘I don’t get what you mean’ me! I could’ve pulled a blade on you the moment you and the teacher don’t notice it,” Nemura grimly threatened. “Nemura, please stop, it’s just a test—“ “IT’S JUST A TEST, HUH!? YOU’RE SAYING IT’S JUST ONE FREAKING DOGGONE TEST!?” he hollered right at his face. Comic-wise, it would have been funny, but right now, it isn’t. At all. We had wanted to help separate those two, but today, Nemura has more strength than usual, so there’s no way we can help except watch. Reika wanted to call the teacher, but Asari refused her to go. Aware of what further consequences it would have, she joined the crowd who can only watch from a distance.

“Masahiro, you have officially made your life a misery. Stop getting those grades if you want to live,” He threatened again, and then he pulled out a small pocket knife, and licked its edges in front of Hiro’s face. He gulped and cold sweated. Everybody who watched gasped, startled with eyes wide open, or fainted. “Or else you’ll get a taste of this little devil, “He pointed the edge of the blade until it was 2 inches from Masahiro’s eyes. He was genuinely terrified, aghast, and terrorized. He was so perturbed by Nemura’s blade almost hurting his eye, his whole body instantly went limp the moment Nemura released his grip with a yank and spat on his face before leaving the area, banging the door loudly as he went through it. No one ever dared to stand on his shoes at that time. Reika was fanning and wiping Masahiro’s face as people gathered around him. “You okay, Hiro?” “Calm down now, calm down…it’s not your fault…” “I’d swear I get that insolent bastard an’ teach him a lesson…” “Breath, Hiro, breath…slowly now…” Hiro showed signs of slow recovery, but not exponentially. His breathing was slowly turning normal, his brain regained its senses, and his speech didn’t slur anymore. “Dear Lord…..help me….” he muttered sort of helplessly. “Don’t worry, Masahiro, it’s going to be alright—somebody fetch him water please, “ Reika said requesting help. At times, she could replace Nanaho’s position; in terms of controlling the situation, but she can never fully imitate Nanaho’s character. After he had gained his balance he managed to walk until the class, and sat there as he let out a heavy sigh. Nemura still wasn’t there. While he had the time he had prayed until the whole lunch was over. Good thing he already had his lunch and didn’t have to starve until 3 o’clock. He was a guy with much biblical patience; he was faithful to his own religion, and he was the person who said the least number of curses and swears in our class, according to random observations. We all know him as a good-willed, cheerful friend of ours. Bad news for him is; Nemura had returned to class just before the second bell rang. He still had that jealous look on his face when he entered, and the look turned more atrocious when he sat at his chair which was beside Masahiro. Seeing him, Masahiro moved a bit further from him, and made a cross sign Catholics used when they started and ended their prayers. Then, I saw him brace himself for 2 periods beside the man who had just death-threatened him with a knife. We had an emergency meeting after school the moment Nemura had instantly packed up and rushed out from class, with Nanaho and other who were involved or were witnesses to the scene. When she heard it from Reika and me along with a couple others, she thought this for a while, and said, “I guess we have no choice but to hide it again. I mean, look, this had already happened to Asari before and we took the same action, and she returned to her senses; it should be fine this time—“ “But how would Hiro feel? He’s not like Asari, you know?” Reika pointed out. “I’ll have to speak with him personally. People, we are now putting Nemura under tight watch. Please make sure he doesn’t make more people cry again, okay? Adjourned,” and with that she dismissed us all.

“Hey Yoshio, you know when Asari’s had something wrong in her mind like Nemura is right now? They’re a bit strange, you know, one time they’re all going mad like al hell breaks loose, and a couple of days more and they’re going around sating sorry…Wonder what got them…” Ara asked me in puzzlement “Hey, it isn’t just those two, you know…Kiyomi, Flora, Ryou, and you….” I replied, meditating on today’s incident. “Me…I don’t think so…. But I got this strange dream before I didn’t really remember anything that happened for a couple of days...” I stopped, surprised. “Ara, Ara, tell me what happened to you when you had that dream!” I asked demandingly, putting my hands on his shoulders and shaking them slightly. “Hey, hey, why do you wanna know, all of a sudden?” “Please, just tell me, I need to know,” I asked again. “Well, I was standing in a really large, green field, and then someone who was sorta dressed like dracula showed up in front of me. The guy said, ‘Wanna feel how it’s like to get away from poverty?’ and then I said I don’t know what he’s talking about… And then he said that I don’t have to answer, because he already knew in my heart that I wanted it, and finally the last thing I saw before I had I woke up was some green light. After that day, I don’t really remember what happened….” ”That’s all? Are you sure that’s all? Do you really didn’t have had a clear memory of what happened next?” I hoarded him with questions. “Aagh, stop asking me! That’s all I know! Sheesh, why are you being so nosy today?” Ara as a little annoyed. “Ok…Ok…I’m sorry, man…sorry,” I apologized, letting go all the useless curiosity out. I already know that that bastard forced them to do this, but I can’t ask much more from them; they’re just the puppets controlled by the master. My guess here is that these all are puzzle pieces waiting for other parts to be found and put together. After a few more days, Nemura was still his oh-so-jealous self. He had not ceased to threaten Masahiro, still, and occasionally he still spat at his face when no one’s looking. Hiro still had his patience, however, and he seems unmoved by Nemura’s actions. However, there was one more person that caught had set his irritation meter up the roof. It was his ‘twin’ brother, who is none other than Jorouchi. Actually, they aren’t really twins, despite the fact that they are in the same class, the same age, and had similar looks. They both look thin but they’re actually normal, they both joined the basketball club, they both loved Counter-Strike, they rarely spoke a sentence simultaneously, both are gods in math, but one wants to be an architect and the other a doctor. You can tell who’s who by the fact that Jorouchi has a beard, a moustache and more eyebrow hairs than Nemura, but Nemura has more muscles and has a darker tan of a skin compared to his brother. Both have sharp eyes but only Jorouchi uses glasses. So in truth, they don’t really look like twins at a distance. Their reason why they aren’t actually twin brothers is quite a medical marvel. When their mother was about to give birth to the two, Jorouchi came out crying first. When they were about to get Nemura out, he couldn’t. Even though his mother had tried her best to get him out of her womb, and the doctor and nurses had tried their best to help, he just wouldn’t come out. Puzzled, the doctor decided to tell their mother to wait patiently until she felt that Nemura has to get out. An astonishing one week later, he did,

as healthy as Jorouchi. That was just one of 9-E’s ‘essential facts’ I knew. And then they decided to celebrate it at the date that was the middle of the interval between Jorouchi and Nemura’s birthdate. In conclusion, Jorouchi was older and Nemura was younger, only by a week. Nevertheless, it is with simple logic that the younger brother can sometimes be envious to his big brother. And it was true. It was so true, it was tragic. At a small gathering in Nanaho’s house on the weekend, she decided to invite Jorouchi and not Nemura, since he’s still in the ‘total security’ position. She had invited a couple others from our class, including myself and a few from other classes. It was just a plain Saturday night dinner; nothing really special about it. “So you just need to know what’s the similarities between those four pictures,” I heard Misaki was talking about a trick puzzles website. “But how am supposed to do it if all the hints point out to the four brothers?” replied Asari with a puzzled face. “Last clue: They have different names with the same surnames,” was all Misaki said with a teasing wink. Asari frowned and got herself another mocktail, still wondering what she meant. “No….it’s all about the Red Devils on this season, dude. There’s no way they’d let Liverpool take up a chance to score 3 more points on the Cup,” Tomura Nichijou from 9-B criticized to Nanaho. He was also an avid football fan. Apparently, his favored club wasn’t as favored by the rest. Me, I’m more into baseball teams. Go the Tigers! The pianist, which Nanaho hired spontaneously on this night, ended his Moonlight Sonata, 3rd Movement, and began playing Fur Elise. “Putting that aside, how about La Liga? Think Juventus’ll win this year?” asked Nanaho. “Just this lunch Razzante was all cursing Juventus to hell and bragging about Inter Milan. Him and his ego,” Tomura shook his head. “Oh, that Italian lone Interisti1 in your class? Well, it’s kinda typical of someone like him, you know, just let him—“ There was a slow knock at the front door. “I’ll get it,” Nanaho rose from her seat and went to the front hallway. A few seconds later, she screamed. We all turned. “Jorouchi!! What happened to you!?” We all rushed into the hallway. Jorouchi was lying on the front footsteps, breathing heavily as he tried to cover a deep injury he had, which was close to his stomach. His clothes were dusty and he had minor bruises in his face and arms. It seemed like he got beaten by somebody. “Somebody get the first aid kit on the kitchen, quick”!” Nanaho instantly ordered. “I’ll get it,” Tomaru volunteered as she rushed to the kitchen. “Oh my God, Jorouchi, what happened to you? Who did this to you?” She asked him desperately. “It…it was….N-Nemura…. He was jealous about how peaceful I am with Fumiko…when his relationship with Mika was all crapped out…And then….And then…” He groaned painfully as his deep injury panged to his body. 1

A nickname for Internazionale Milan football club supporters.

“He-he-he hurt you, right?” said Misaki, who was tending to his wounds once Tomaru got the kit in. “Y-yeah…But the way he acted, he was not his own self…I never seen him like that….let alone do this to me…” He yammered as Misaki started to cover the deep wound, possibly made by a sharp object. He must die… I heard voices in side my head again. No it couldn’t be--! The pianist strangely continued to play the melancholic part of Fur Elise more passionately despite the situation as I saw a figure heading out to the garden. ”Oh no…not again…” I soughed. I didn’t want anymore of this. But it seems that I had already chosen my destiny the moment I opened that book last year. It’s my responsibility, and I have to go and fix it up. Never will he be given the chance to live… The figure was standing at a corner of a pile of trees and shrubbery that was decorated with a couple of rocks. It was just standing there as I rushed out to meet it at the back porch to the garden. As I looked into the figure, he slowly vanished, but he didn’t vanish into the trees; rather, vanished into thin air. ”By the, gods, here goes nothing,” I said to my self as I chased out after him. I didn’t hit any walls that should have blocked the way. Instead, I keep stumbling over rocks upon rocks, and trees, and a bit more trees, until it was not night anymore. I got out of the pack of trees and stones. Finally, I found myself standing on a high plain, where it has a good view of some hills that was covered in misty clouds that blurred the top of those mountains. I looked down and I saw ruins of a city that was still in a pretty good condition. They were lined up carefully and orderly, as if they had once been a prosperous city, as it had stretched from a kilometer from where I’m standing to the bottom of the hill that I’m standing on. It was quite a breathtaking sight to behold. The sun rose peacefully to the west. But I know I’m here, at Machu Picchu, for a purpose. I didn’t come all the way from Japan to Peru for nothing. I am now ready, but the worse has yet to come. I took time to explore this place, which I have only seen in History books and in the Internet. I went down the grass terraces that lead to the outer part of the city. The air is crispy mild, and the winds are blowing slowly to the north. As I circled on some of the buildings, I knocked slightly at one of the walls to see if they’re standing quite firm. Although the sound was a bit hollow, I presumed that it was enough to keep the building intact for thousands of years without any foundation. I marveled at the sight of how ancient civilization could be this sophisticated a thousand years ago. I found an alley that leads me into one of the main districts of the inner city, through a road that leads to the end of the outer city. On this area, the buildings are slightly larger and more complex than the other houses that were in the outer city before. Since the area was probably for the middle to upper class citizens, they had more private parks rather than the outer city which only has big public parks. In front of what it seems to be a temple, there were 8 statues men who held 8 different spheres in their hands, face to face in pairs that were placed in a pathway that leads to the temple. I had a feeling that this place was worth visiting, since it was the only place that was intact and still complete; even the pathway was still in prefect condition, regardless that all of it was made by clay and stone. I walked through the pathway, and

with each pair of statues I pass, their spheres glow in colors; red, blue, green, dark blue, brown, purple, white, and black. They surprised me at first but I had gotten accustomed to it instantly. Inside those spheres, I can see the element that they are made of: fire, water, wind, ice, earth, lightning, light, and dark. I never knew that the Incans were fond of the elements of the earth as well. Of course, I may be wrong since I’m in an alternate dimension, but who knows? When I had climbed quite a number of steps, I reached the front door. They were sealed, but there was something that sealed them. It was a rod whose head has eight slots for spheres to be inserted in They were carved in such a way that should you place some kind of spheres, they would have formed an octagon. I yanked it out from the door, because the staff was attached to it and that was what made it sealed. It was light as feather but strong enough to crack stones. Once I had examined it for a while, I heard some sound that came from the pathway I just walked. I headed downstairs to see what happened. It seemed that those statues that were standing and carried the spheres with two hands had kneeled down and placed the spheres in the ground. And they shrank into pearls that are suitable for the slots in the staff. “The powers of our forefathers have been passed on with kindness…use it wisely…” …was the only thing said when the little spheres just levitated and made its way to the staff. Once they had been intact, the staff glowed and changed color form a wood brown to a metallic platinum. Some kind of power rushed from the staff and all over my body. I could feel myself getting stronger with each second passing by. When it had ended, I could feel that I could let something loose from my hand. I tried to stretch out my palm, and out came a fireball out of my hand that made a scorch mark in the wall of one of the buildings. Astonished as I was exhilaratingly happy, I went trigger happy to the fireballs I shot to the sky. Then I called for a stalagmite, and then some ice cubes, and I ridiculously called upon total darkness. After I managed to get things back to normal and get a hold of myself, it was then that the person I seek in order to get out of here spoke. “I shall torment him to the very ends of hell…” It’s that same threats I heard. It seems like he detests somebody. “I’ll steal all his happiness and leave him nothing but despair…” I had an uneasy spine chill. The words he spoke were very powerful, not only did he mean it, but the will to do it was also very strong. I have to be careful from now on; I knew that this was not going to be a walk in the park like the other battles. I saw him. He was heading to the large amphitheater in the outer city. Probably he wanted some space to speak his mind. I rushed to him quickly, enhancing my running with the power of wind. Having played so many RPG games, I was free to control and use the power as much as I like, although obviously it was limited. At the east entry, I met him, standing, looking towards the audience seats, with a bland expression. He was wearing traditional common Incan wear; a shirt and pants. He looked like an ordinary citizen I approached him, and then I feel an aura of jealousy passing through me like wind. I was a bit scared. But I was ready. “Nemura,” I called out his name. He turned. “Who are you?” He asked with a very unwelcoming tone.

“Someone who’s trying to get you out of this misery,” I replied quite honestly, scratching my feet and feeling quite relaxed. He didn’t look impressed. Instead, he talked as he coldly glared to my pupils. “Who in the world doesn’t get jealous at least once in their lives? No, not one. Everyone is jealous, against something, or to someone having that something. Me, I am a perfect example. I hate my brother to death because I was jealous, I was also jealous to my colleagues, and I’m jealous of EVERYTHING MY BROTHER HAS! Does he think that by being the older one in my family he gets all the attention when I am spared with none!?” I had to admit that he has a good shouting voice, not as morbid as Kiyomi’s but generally well. “So what, man? Hating other people’s blessings is just damn stupid. I swear the irony’d be so thick, I can cut it with a knife.” “Now you’re presuming to mock my actions? Is that how a temple priest should act? How shameful.” Temple priest? I looked to myself and realized that I wasn’t wearing the shirt and jeans I wore on the dinner party. Now I had a white cotton T-shirt with a couple of embroidered necklaces, a white ring that shimmers, leather sandals, and a long robe that stretches to the knees. I didn’t exactly know when this happened but it looked pretty good on me, I’d have to say. Problem is, what’s the meaning of my status being higher than him? “They say that aristocracy is bad because it can upsurge the jealousy of ordinary citizens. Well, this fact is soon to be tested,” Nemura said as he hurled out something seemingly invisible towards me. With reflex, I quickly made a shield that blocked it, but I didn’t felt any force to resist upon. “Decoy?” I asked, surprised. “Only testing your capabilities,” he said as he examined his fingertips. “Interesting, perhaps I shall give you a chance…” He made that good ol’ magic circle again, except this time, it was blue. A royal, dark blue, but it’s sort of murky. He concentrated it in thin air with both of his palms. “Free this soul from the very chains of desire and fulfill the possessive nature with nothing but vengeance,” Nemura chanted. It was the same old thing over again, but this time it made a glow in his body and then it faded away, not disappeared. Nevertheless, I shouldn’t be faltering right now. A transparent, seemingly invisible orb appeared and circled around him for a while. “With envy comes hatred, and with hatred comes all the madness that the world has to offer,” he explained, “including murder. And I believe I shall not hesitate to do so.” “Try me, punk,” I taunted him, knowing that I had the advantage. But at time I was a little overconfident. He released a couple of transparent energy balls from his hand that aimed for me. My fire wall took care of them and I proceeded with making spikes out of the ground surrounding Nemura. He caught one, but he managed to evade the rest, which were coming in torrents. When it stopped, he cast another wave of energy balls that I can block with my fire wall out. Trying something new, I concentrated on my thunder element in

my staff, and moments later, a big thunder blade appeared in my shadows and made a 180 degree swipe to Nemura. Again, he still managed to avoid it. “Very good, dear priest, very good. Now see if you can handle this,” He said as he focused on my orbs and attempted to steal one of it away from me. The force that he used now was not like the transparent energy balls that I had blocked. This type of force; stealing force, that is, is so much greater than the energy balls he had previously launched, that I just couldn’t help but witness the water orb taken away from me. I had lost the water pearl in my staff, and now he has the water orb circling around him. He had a satisfied look on his face, but I guess that wasn’t enough for him. “Well, maybe I should just….borrow your other trinkets there as well?” He inquired slyly. “To hell you could,” I cursed as I unleashed some ice lances to him. He made a large column of water for the ice to melt. Irritated, I made a dark projectile punch made of dark matter, and it hit him before he had a chance to do anything. While he is still flinched, I summoned 7 swords that made a circle around him and passed through him like lasers. Of course, he wasn’t dead yet but he is still in pain. Strangely, he quickly regained strength and paused for a moment. “I’ve had it with you, temple priest. It’s time I take everything from you,” he threatened atrociously. And then before I knew it, he stole the dark pearl from me mysteriously again. It was now circling around him, and he summoned a black demonic familiar from his orb that’s purpose is only to kill me. I enveloped myself with light so that it would swallow the demon. However, things didn’t turn out what I expected it to be. The demon still made its way to me and he successfully punched me with his fists that were surging with pure darkness. I was thrown away, hitting a tree. I coughed blood, but I still had lots of strength to battle him. I made hundreds of wind cutters that aimed for him along with a tornado. They strike him in continuous waves, and some of them managed to damage him regardless of being in a magic bubble that protects him. And yet again, the moment the wind cutters were gone, he stole the earth pearl from me and it circled around him again. This time, he punched the ground and made a crevice in front of him, heading towards me. I dashed at him provided I still have my wind pearl with me, and in front of him I made a ball of electricity that made large electric jolts to an area around it. He was trapped in it because he had his water orb with him that enhanced the damage to him. I made a lightning beam to finish that off, but he cast a thick wall of earth that ultimately disarmed my beam. He came up from the wall, he made a large column of water around me which spun really fast; I was dizzied and hurt from it. When it ended and Nemura was still his triple value to me, he stole two of my pearls at once, the fire and the wind pearls. He was getting stronger as he stole the pearls from me, and I was getting weaker. I had no way to prevent him stealing in any kind of way; the force was so strong that you can’t back out from it for long. “Ah, so you’re getting hopeless as I …borrow these from you, eh? Hmmm, this is truly entertaining,” Nemura remarked with a laugh that I learned to loathe since my encounter with Greed. Ireful of him, I trapped him in a large chunk of ice crystals and broke it, making him suffer the torments of below freezing pain. But he still came over it easily. I was starting to get anxious, whether or not I can make it or not. As a counter

attack, he made a large bow with an arrow made up of raging wind and aimed for me. It was unleashed and it went dead straight at me. I tried to block it using a big shield made out of light. A force field between the two powers was made, and Nemura’s force was starting to break my shield. Nemura made another arrow and shot it at my shield. Finally, it couldn’t resist anymore, and the shield was broken into little balls of light that slowly dissipated into thin air. I was thrown to the air by the two arrows. I landed on hard ground. I coughed blood again, and I don’t think any of my bones broke. “Is that the best you can do?” He said as he shockingly appeared from my shadow. He easily stole all my other remaining orbs while I was struggling to stand, then he grabbed me by the shoulders, lifted me up, and to my horror, he seemed to selfexplode with great force. Again, I was thrown away by the force, and I was flying so fast that when I collided with a wall it cracked as I impacted it. The rest of the area around Nemura was covered in smokes. When it had thinned, he was walking slowly towards my direction. I was lying against the wall, hopeless. All of my body hurt, my staff had no more pearls in it anymore, and the power within me was gone. “Truth be told, it was not that hard to get these from you,” Nemura said, now with 8 orbs circling around him. “Perhaps there’s more to it than the 8 of these…somethingm ore…stronger, wouldn’t you say?” “W-what are…you going to…do?” I asked him as I took heavy breaths with eyes trying to get the pain away from my body. “Well, how about if we…mix these orbs all up and see what happens next?” Nemura inquired. He summoned his transparent orb he had earlier, and it was in the center of the other orb’s orbit. They stopped, and one by one the orbs instantly assimilated into Nemura’s transparent orb. With each orb, the transparent orb made a stronger glow of spectrum. When al the orbs had been assimilated, the orb had a color of a nebula, and then it rose and spread out light to every part of the place. I was now floating in outer space. Wherever I look, I see nothing but galaxies and stars. There was a black hole, some nebulas, and some starts in its supernova phase. I looked at Nemura. He was now in a trance state, still wearing his normal citizen form, but in his chest, there was a small demon that seemed to emerge from his chest. He was the color of blue, and he had pale white eyes. “Hehehe….I had fun feeding myself from his envy; he was too weak to be even called prey!” The demon sneered and laughed atrociously using his voice and Nemura’s. “Now, all I need to do is finish you off…Sweet dreams, loser,” he said. From a place very far away, I could see a meteor coming this way. The whole place shook. I was still weak from the damage I took before. The meteor grew larger and larger as it was approaching towards my direction. When it was about 5 kilometers away from me, it was as gigantic as the Island of Hokkaido. It was heading for me, fast. Even if I run, I certainly couldn’t make it in time. I just stood there, hopeless. I didn’t know what to do anymore. I was having a mental earthquake. “No…don’t come closer...no…please stop…” “I...I still want to live…I can’t die right now…please…” I already knew that there was no point in asking since he was just laughing his head off as he enjoyed the view of me getting swamped by the gigantic meteor.

“It’s coming…to me…It wants to kill me…” “…NOOOOOOOO!” And I thought it was all over. A few minutes later, I opened my eyes. I was still unharmed. The meteor had stopped. Froze, to be more specific. And so does everything that surrounded me. Even the black hole stopped moving. Something, or someone, had totally stopped the gears of the universe. I had regained my strength back. I hovered and came closer to Nemura and his demon, frozen in their laughing pose. “ So much for someone who gets jealous too much, I said as I shook my head. A ball of white light appeared to my left. When it had dissipated, there was a shiny figure of a person. I examined it carefully, and then I knew who she was. “You’re…Akiko Maezawa from 9-D, right?” I asked spontaneously. She nodded. “What are you doing here?” “Oh, just taking my boyfriend back,” she replied. I opened my mouth in shock. I never knew that Nemura’s girlfriend was her. How foolish am I, claiming that I know all about the 9th grade. “Well, in that case, maybe you should get rid of that blue...thing…there…” I pointed at the demon. “Oh, no problem, but I need your help. Could you just point the head of your wand to me?” She requested. I did so. She turned into white light again, and this time she dissolved into my wand. It was now glowing bright white, radiating calmly. “Now, all you have to do is to cast a column of light around him and I’ll do the rest. Can you do that?” She spoke to me through my mind. “Of course,” I agreed. With a bit of concentration, a large white circle appeared beneath Nemura’s feet, and from it came a large column of light that went upward. My wand had lost its shine, but then time had continued on the column, and I could hear a demonic scream from it. After that, the demon, now in his true form, had been swept away and disappeared at the top of the column. When it ended, I could see Akiko hugging Nemura, who was unconscious, and they both disappeared in the same white light. The whole universe around me shook. Suddenly, the meteor went backwards, like a scene being rewind backwards in a movie. It grew farther and farther until it couldn’t be seen anymore. And then, it’s as if I had been pulled backwards by time. The whole scene was going backwards, from the amphitheater, to the inner city I had visited, to the temple where I gained my powers (and at this time I was no longer holing a wand and I wore my normal clothes again), and then to the pathway in the outer city, and then to the place where I could see the whole of Machu Picchu, all the way to the woods I encountered before, and finally to Nanaho’s garden. I stumbled on a rock and my face splashed to a nearby pond. “Yoshio!” Nanaho called as she opened the doors to the garden. “Aagh, what are you doing down there? Be careful next time, will you?” she said as I stood up and cleaned my face. “Huh? Oh, oh! Is Jorouchi still okay? How are his wounds?” I asked, suddenly remembering that Jorouchi was still injured.

“…Jorouchi being injured? What the hell are you thinking? He’s as jolly as he could ever be, stupid! You must be imagining too much,” she reassured. I was still confused. Suddenly, the front door bell rang. “Oh, that must be Nemura. Why don’t you go get the door to get a splash of reality back?” she indirectly asked for help. “Nemura!? Isn’t he uninvited?” I asked in shock. “What!? Then for what did I…..urgh, you know what, just get that door, please!” I gulped as I went to the guest room, and then to the front anteroom. “May the gods bless me,” I said as I opened the door. There stood Nemura, in his jacket and jeans with a smile of profuse happiness. I sighed. The Nemura who was a slave of his own jealousy was gone. I also noticed that Akiko was hugging his arms. “Hi, Yoshio,” she greeted me. “Hi yourself, Akiko, you look lovely, even lovelier with you boyfriend! Come, let’s go in, it’s cold outside,” I greeted them back as we entered the house. When I was back at the dining room, I found out that we were still exactly at the time before Jorouchi got hurt. “So you just need to know what’s the similarities between those four pictures,” I heard Misaki was talking the same thing again as I entered. The rest of the guys greeted Nemura and Akiko when we arrived at the room. Finally, Jorouchi came in, bringing the main course for dinner in side. He was neither unhurt nor unscathed; nothing had happened to him. “Come on guys, let’s go for dinner! I’m starving,” He said as he placed the grilled lobster dish on the center of the long table. Then he went to the kitchen again to take more dishes. Nanaho helped him carry them too. Meanwhile, I saw Masahiro talking happily to Nemura. Well, I guess that’s another sin vanquished. There was only one more. My hopes of defeating it easily were high at that time. But I didn’t last for long, because on that very night, I had a dream.