Chương 24: The Center of Attention

Glancing at the circle of ash, Kenji looked down at his hands.

"Right," he said.

"I left. But to be fair, you did crush your finger to a pulp to make a point." At the center of the yard where the heat had yellowed the grass, Kurisu widened his stance, his hands dropping to his sides with palms facing upward.

"Observe." Emptying his lungs before lifting his hands, Kurisu inhaled through his nose, the air shifting to a rose hue while streams of red mist drifted from the soil to pool in his open palms. With the energy coalescing in his hands, the healthy growth dimmed ever so slightly as it yielded a tithe of its own Chi.

After Kurisu pressed the life force toward the grass, watching the yellow vanish under a surge of green, he pushed the remaining flow into the ash circle Kenji had created, letting the light dissipate when the dead material remained unchanged.

"That which has perished cannot be restored."

"Damn, but can I just take it from anything?" Kenji asked.

"Like the grass and the trees?" Kurisu shook his head.

"Flora and insects possess feeble wills, surrendering to the draw. Beasts are another matter, harboring the desire to survive; they fight against the pull."

"Hard to take," he said in English.

"Mankind is infinitely more difficult. Furthermore, to draw from them is an abhorrent act." Standing roughly five paces away, he drew Kenji's attention.

"To devour the vitality of another is a transgression demanding death. Yet, within my homeland, we are taught this sensation from a young age to hone our own defense."

"Defense?" Nodding, Kurisu met Kenji's gaze, his hand rising to hover between them.

"If you not know feeling... you die before you fight." Leveling a single finger at Kenji's chest, he held the boy's stare.

"I shall now draw a singular thread of Chi from you. You will perceive a chill. At that moment, cease the flow. Expel my intent. Do you understand?" Taking a breath, Kenji nodded.

"Yeah, I got it. You pull a thread of this Chi energy, I feel the cold, and then I slam the mental door shut to push you out. Let's do this." As he rubbed his palms together, Kenji spread his feet before he dropped into a low crouch, appearing as though he was bracing to intercept a charge. Kurisu, smirking slightly at the boy's antics while he shook his head, reached out with both his hand and his will to slowly pull a thread of Chi from the boy.

With a gasp, Kenji grabbed at his sternum, face paling as he recoiled from the drain.

"Sever the current!" Kurisu commanded. Eyes squeezed shut, Kenji ground his teeth until the invisible tether snapped.

"Good." Kurisu nodded, dropping his hand.

"Cold?"

"Yeah," Kenji said, rubbing his chest.

"Felt like my heart turned into an ice cube."

"Remember it! Though I hope you never have need to," Kurisu said, ensuring his phone was translating.

"To draw upon Chi directly is a measure of absolute extremity, a cannibalization of your own vitality. True efficiency lies in conversion, transmuting the unrefined energy of Chi into the forces of Ki and Shin. That conversion is the pinnacle of longevity." Stepping closer, he held up a single finger.

"The ultimate ideal is muteki, to stand without equal, possessing no enemies. When you master the physical kata, you command martial skill. When you master Shin, you command the unseen arts. When you master Ki, you forge absolute power. And when you master the Rensei of Chi, you possess an inexhaustible well, and finally Saiki, the art of healing through saturation. To unify these disciplines is to realize the pinnacle of Ryūshūhō."

"Okay, that was kind of a lot, bro," Kenji said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You lost me at 'ideal'." Stepping off the bus, Kurisu registered the immediate attention as a hundred eyes tracked his path, the school's noise muting as tension replaced the chatter. Mindful of Steven's warning, he looked straight ahead, ignoring the stares as he walked toward the doors. Whispers moved through the crowd.

"That's him."

"The Kung Fu kid."

"Saw the video." Projecting his Zanshin through the hallway, Kurisu mapped the physical trajectories of the crowd, isolating the shifting gaps in their movement to advance through the congested corridor with ease. Spinning the dial at his locker, he opened the metal door, turning to acknowledge Brad flanked by two football players.

"So," Brad said.

"You killed it. That thing."

"Sleep. Not kill." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Sleep? You knocked it out? Dude, that thing was like a bear."

"Kung Fu. Not bear... too small." With a shift of his weight, Brad gestured down the hall.

"Right. Listen, Coach Whalen... he wanted me to ask. You ever play football?" Unfamiliar with the ritual, Kurisu stared at him.

"No."

"You should come to tryouts," Brad said.

"We need mass. Coach says if you can throw a... whatever that was... he can put you on the line." As he evaluated the athlete's open posture, Kurisu recognized the invitation as a gesture of inclusion.

"Busy."

"Alright, well," Brad shrugged.

"Open offer, let me know if you change your mind." Drawing his attention from Brad's retreating back, a vibration in his pocket prompted Kurisu to pull out his phone before reading a text from Kenji: [Dude. Don't look now, but there are two guys in suits standing by the admin office. They aren't teachers.] As he spotted the two men in charcoal suits down by the main office scanning the hallway, one tapping an earpiece while watching faces, he pocketed his phone, walking straight toward them.

Through the parted students, he stopped three feet away to look down at the taller of the two men, who still stood a full head shorter than him.

"Nangoto zo?" Kurisu asked as he pulled his phone from his pocket. Lowering his sunglasses, the agent reached into his jacket to produce a leather wallet, flipping it open to reveal a silver badge and an ID card.

"Kurisu Nodaichi Miller," the agent said.

"I'm Agent Cox. Department of Homeland Security." Kurisu glanced at the badge, recognizing the sigil of the ruling authority.

"We have questions," Cox said, snapping the wallet shut.

"Regarding the incident in the courtyard yesterday. The animal." Stepping into the center of the hallway, the second agent split the flow of students, blocking the path to the cafeteria.

"We reviewed the footage," the stocky agent said, crossing his arms.

"You put that thing down hard. But what we need to know is what that animal was, and how a high school student knew exactly where to strike to incapacitate it."

"I told the officer yesterday, that is not your concern."

"That's not going to fly with us, kid," the agent replied. As he leveled a half-lidded stare on the man, Kurisu watched the agent shift uneasily from foot to foot before answering.

"Kung Fu." The agent narrowed his eyes.

"Kung Fu? You hit an unidentified biological threat with enough force to crack concrete, kid. You killed it." Shaking his head, Kurisu sighed.

"No. Sleep. Not kill." Why was he forced to repeat himself on this topic? After exchanging a glance, the agents shared a nod.

"Sleep," the agent repeated.

"So you had the control to intentionally knock out a feral primate in a frenzy. That confirms it." Crossing his arms, Kurisu leveled his gaze to meet the agent's stare.

"Enough games, what is it you want?" he asked, his tone sharp. Stepping in, Cox took over.

"We have the asset, Mr. Miller, and it is sedated. My partner's point stands regarding the anomaly of your performance. You didn't just hit it; you pinned it with a knee to the spine and a hand on the neck, meaning not only did you ground this thing too easily, but you had direct contact with a biological variable we haven't identified yet. Why did you know where and how to hit that thing? What was that thing?"

"Unknown." Why did the nature of the ko-oni matter to these officials? What were they truly after? Their aggressive posturing over a subdued animal made no logical sense to him. With a sigh, Cox rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Look, you're feeding us bullshit answers, and I get that you don't want to get involved, but we can do this here or we can open a formal federal investigation. That involves subpoenas and a full audit of the Miller household to ensure there are no other irregularities, primarily because Steven and Charlotte work hard, and they don't need the government freezing their assets because you refuse to cooperate regarding a public safety threat."

Recognizing the tactic, Kurisu realized they intended to force his cooperation by targeting his clan. Squaring his shoulders, Kurisu closed the distance by a half-step.

"You will not threaten my clan."

"I'm not threatening them," Cox said.

"I'm telling you the consequences of obstruction. We need real answers."

"My answer has already been provided." Closing the final gap, Kurisu stepped into the space Agent Cox occupied. Forced to react, the man planted his feet and shifted his weight before the teenager spoke.

"Sare!" With the resonance of a thunderclap the word coursed through the corridor, stripping away the peripheral noise. Through Zanshin, Kurisu felt the authority of his command crash into the agent's intent, shattering his resistance. His posture broken, Cox jerked aside, flinching as he cleared the path for Kurisu to walk past him without breaking stride.

"We'll be seeing you, Mr. Miller," Cox called out to his back. Turning the corner toward the cafeteria, Kurisu sensed the approach behind him through Zanshin, an energy identifiable without a backward glance. Falling into step beside him, Kenji kept his voice low.

"Dude," Kenji said.

"What did they say? Are they cops?" Kurisu adjusted his backpack strap.

"Yakunin."

"Officials?" Kenji repeated, glancing back at the corner.

"What did they want?"

"Questions. About... ko-oni."

"They know," Kenji said, shaking his head.

"The video. I knew it. What did you tell them?"

"Kung Fu." Kenji stopped walking.

"You told the Feds... Kung Fu?" Kurisu headed toward the smells of the lunch line.

"They threaten clan. Paperwork."

"Yeah, that's what they do," Kenji said, as he caught back up.

"They'll squeeze your folks to get to you. Kurisu, you can't just ignore them. They disappear people over this stuff. We're talking black vans and secret prisons." Stopping, Kurisu glanced back toward the corridor.

"They are mere functionaries of the state. Lacking the spirit of warriors, they warrant no genuine concern." Although the agents were a problem, they had no steel in them, making hunger the more immediate concern.

"Annoying," he added.

"Eat."

"Right," Kenji said.

"Federal investigation looming, but hey, pizza day. Priorities."