"Junichiro… Junichiro-san. I'm looking for Junichiro-san."
Kaguya stood a distance away from the guards on duty that day. She leaned on a containment unit nearby to steady herself. Her voice trembled, her legs shivered, and those eyes as grey as the moon wore desperation. She was not adapting well to the extremely cold air-conditioning indoors as she wore little—a torn shirt barely covering her, and extremely worn pants that were torn at the edges.
The guards aimed their weapons at her. The fear was so very obvious in their eyes. After all, she was what they called a god for generations, a monarch in the history books from a thousand years ago. Kaguya then hadn't known thousands of years had already passed on Earth.
One of the men was shaking with fear. He clutched onto his gun, stammering, "They—they said she was gone… permanently!"
Another one exclaimed, "Didn't he defeat her in combat?"
Kaguya looked at each of them, confused. Instinct allowed her to start explaining herself, "I'm just looking for Junichiro-san! Junichiro! Junichiro… Watarukai?"
The guards looked at each other.
Kaguya could notice some form of hope in their eyes. She felt relieved. Junichiro could help talk her out of this. Kaguya herself was human, but she could not blame them for fearing her so much.
They didn't know she was weak.
Some of them had known Junichiro personally, and this furthered their resolution. A few of them had even been taken care of by him. One of them straightened their hands; they were holding a gun. "You will have to get through us before getting to Watarukai-san."
Kaguya grit her teeth. The cold was starting to get to her. She needed to escape first. But what could she do? She wasn't as strong as before. Junichiro may not even be alive anymore. That one thought suddenly strangled her by the throat—which was a weird, unfamiliar feeling to have.
Then from the dim edge of the room, footsteps could be heard approaching. The guards' uneasy behaviors turned into excited murmurs.
Then he stepped forward.
Junichiro didn't speak, but the room reacted to him as if he had. You could evidently see the looks of admiration in the guards' eyes.
Junichiro glanced across the room, but the moment he laid eyes on Kaguya his eyes widened.
"Kaguya-san…"
Kaguya looked up. She smiled, sort of weakly.
Everything about her was the same yet so different. Though her hair color was the usual bright blue, it was cut short, up until her shoulders. Her *ahoge was shorter too. She had heavy eye bags under her very dead eyes, which looked equally dead. And that smile.
So lifeless.
Junichiro pushed through the crowd and held onto Kaguya's hand. No one there dared to stand in his way.
"Kaguya-san. You're… alive."
"When did I ever say I would be dead?" That sentence brought a little life to her smile, and Junichiro could feel his shoulders relax.
"Watarukai-sama, you must stay away from that—that thing! She's not human!" one guard cautioned.
Junichiro glared at him, those black pearly eyes never dug into a human more fiercely. "As if I don't know." He was more pissed at the guard calling Kaguya 'a thing.'
The guard stumbled back from the glare.
"Kaguya-san, you know we must get out of here."
"Yes, Chiro-kun. I know." She looked up sharply at the guards with the little strength she had.
Junichiro nodded and was about to lead Kaguya to the nearest exit when he heard that repulsive voice.
"So you've found it."
Junichiro turned and saw Kanato Eigen, the Head of Alien Research at that time, they called it. He was standing at the entrance. Junichiro narrowed his eyes and scowled.
Kanato only smiled.
"You must know it fought against you, Watarukai-sama, thousands of years ago."
Junichiro revealed his weapon, a dagger with an intricate design he had crafted with his own magic. It was stunning—a black dagger with a golden tint. Should a normal human touch it, they would be burned, as its heat was equal to being near the sun. "Kaguya-san is a she," Junichiro said resolutely.
Kanato scorned. He knew what Junichiro had longed for so dearly all these long-awaited years. And now it was within his reach. He wasn't going to let Junichiro get his way this time. "It is ours to keep. This alien is the experiment we've been talking about, Watarukai-sama. You don't know how much of a burden she will be to you if you keep her."
Junichiro replied fiercely, "She is not a burden to me."
Kanato tried one last time, playing on Junichiro's weakness—mankind. "It will be useful in conserving this Earth's energy. Hadn't this alien also attempted to take your life back in those days? It deserves imprisonment, if anything."
Junichiro frowned and readied his dagger in front of him. "You don't understand anything."
The researcher raised his hands, as if in surrender. "If anything, I understand most, Watarukai-sama. It is for our best interests."
Junichiro didn't even bother to reply to him. He said firmly, "I'm taking her."
Kanato scowled, "I won't let you. Get that alien away from Watarukai-sama! It is a hazard! It is our experiment." Kanato raised his voice at the guards and pointed at Junichiro, who placed himself between them and Kaguya.
A few of the guards hesitated. None took a step. A few had their reasons—they feared Junichiro and his power. But some didn't move; they didn't want to betray his trust, because they knew he had taken care of them.
"I'm sorry, Sensei," a guard said, his hands were shivering. His name was Riku Ito.
"Ito-kun," Junichiro remembered his name. He gave a knowing nod, "Don't be sorry."
Then they all attacked. Junichiro flicked his dagger and sent it flying. With a sharp whistle through the air, the dagger spun like a golden blur, slicing through the chaos. In one fluid arc, it knocked guns out of the guards' hands. Their hands instinctively tried to reach for their own weapons, which left an opening for Junichiro.
Junichiro took off his black coat and draped it over Kaguya's shoulders. "Kaguya-san, forgive me for this terrible experience."
Kaguya didn't respond. Her face was pale, and she looked like she was already about to pass out. Junichiro looked up at the clear way before him.
A faint hum rose in the air as Junichiro focused. The world slowed around him. One heartbeat passed… then another. And then he moved—faster than sight—each step like a flash of lightning.
The Black Sun was finally awakened.
The guards scrambled to chase after Junichiro, who was already at the nearest exit from where he last was. Kanato looked on. "So this is the power of the Hidden Monarch."
Junichiro ran down the hallway that passed the labs. By the time he reached the lobby, he was cornered. There were guards at every corner. A crowd of them blocked his way.
Junichiro looked down at Kaguya. He could very evidently feel her shivering in his arms.
He turned to look out of the glass window that gave a breathtaking view of Tokyo with just a glance. The clouds had cleared. The sun was setting low. Junichiro had lived so long he had gone almost crazy many times. That would not be his craziest. He would do whatever you're thinking of.
Junichiro ran and hit the glass back first with so much force, he crashed through the glass, 700 stories high.
And fell down toward the City of Lights.
Maybe all that wind resistance Junichiro and Kaguya were pushing against made Kaguya come back to her senses. "Chiro-kun!" she screamed.
"Just trust me!" Junichiro shouted over the howling wind and covered Kaguya's eyes with his cold hands.
Kaguya pushed his hand away. "I'm mortal! I could die!"
Amidst the free-falling, Junichiro looked at Kaguya in shock. He thought she would come back as she was. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"How could I? Literal armed men were surrounding me!" Kaguya covered her face with her hands. She could feel the internal pressure on her face. Her body was abiding by the laws of this world.
Junichiro shook his head. "I'm sorry. Hold on, please."
When they were close to the ground, Junichiro spun his body with his legs facing the impending ground. When they hit, his feet crashed against the ground, leaving only a dent on the polished concrete.
Junichiro checked on Kaguya, who had passed out, cradled in his arms. He admired her face for a while, before the blaring of police sirens brought him back to their current predicament. Above him, there were cops after him in their flying Arcs. They shone their headlights down at him. Junichiro gave them a look of annoyance and sprinted across the bridge. He reached for a token in his pocket that he pressed. The loud roaring sound of a vehicle echoed, and a black-looking motorcycle appeared.
Junichiro lifted Kaguya onto the bike before climbing onto it. Ensuring that her arms were wrapped around him, he sped away.
It was amazing that Kaguya managed to awake. Normal people don't when they fall from 2,100 meters. When she did, they had already left Tokyo. She felt the night breeze slide against her face. The world blurred in silence as she gazed at the city that held dear memories from long ago.
Kaguya leaned on Junichiro's back, which was comforting to her. "I feel so tired," she mumbled.
"It's your time to rest," Junichiro replied. Already knowing she had awakened, he continued looking forward.
Kaguya relaxed, her eyes still locked on the City of Lights. "Yeah…"
Then she fell asleep, her arms still wrapped around Junichiro. She was glad Junichiro was still alive, and had remembered her. The world had long forgotten her name. But the cold remembered. The fear remembered. And somewhere, so did he.
Then she began to dream again.
To dream a very long dream.
*ahoge — 'foolish hair' in Japanese.