Neighborhood Zelé da Cruz Football Field | Present Times, 1 Day After Chronus'Gaze | 2501
"Alright, alright, can you stop laughing already?" Sirius asked irritably.
"Hahahaha. Okay, okay..." Hirofumi wiped a tear rolling down from his left eye.
Sirius just huffed and started juggling a soccer ball he had bought during the last V.I.V.A. World Cup.
"But anyway... are you gonna help me or not?" Sirius asked as he kicked the ball straight into the top left corner of the goal, scoring an impressive goal and resuming what they were doing before this chapter began.
"Count me in. Got nothing better to do," Hirofumi said with a wild grin, readying himself to kick a ball too... only for it to hit a building moments later.
"HEY! WHO THE HELL DID THAT?!" An older man shouted after being struck on the head.
"Pfff..." Sirius held back his laughter.
"Don't laugh, you bastard!" Hirofumi yelled, infuriated.
"Stop being a hypocrite, you wannabe blowfly!" Sirius shouted back.
"I don't even know what that means, but stop being a hypocrite yourself!" Hirofumi retorted, grabbing Sirius by the collar.
"Take your hands off me, cursed fly, or I'll knock you out!" Sirius grabbed Hirofumi's collar in retaliation.
"..."
Hirofumi's angry expression shifted to one of barely suppressed laughter, leaving Sirius confused.
"I... I thought, back when you fought Zariani, that it was just a lack of creativity, but pffffft..." Hirofumi started chuckling.
"What's so funny? I'll knock you out!"
"NO WAY THAT'S ACTUALLY YOUR CATCHPHRASE! HYAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA!!" The human cereal collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach as he laughed uncontrollably.
Sirius was left with a comically gloomy aura, hanging his head and arms in defeat, crouching slightly.
"For real, for real... you're so weird. You know what a real catchphrase is?" Hirofumi asked, and Sirius looked at him, slightly irritated.
"Go on, tell me already!" Renovas replied.
Hirofumi fake-cleared his throat, and with an overly serious, theatrical tone, he said:
"Trakinas." He grinned triumphantly, only to be met with an awkward silence.
"That wasn't even funny... just sad," Sirius said, visibly deflated.
"What!? That's a great catchphrase!" Hirofumi replied, incredulous.
"No, it's a bad pun... and a terrible one."
"You could say the same about yours!" Hirofumi countered.
"Hmph, mine might be bad, but if I insist on it long enough, it'll grow on people." The Brazilian Lil Uzi Vert straightened up, raising his chin in pride over his "brilliant plan."
"Great plan... it's as good as your info-stealing scheme. Hyakakakaka."
"So, Mr. 'Plan Critic,' what have you done, huh? And I'm not talking about what made the headlines; that's too surface-level."
"Well, there was this one time I fought a giant baby and—"
"What?!"
"It was on Jupiter," he said, as if that explained everything.
"Oh." Sirius decided not to question it further after hearing that. Of course, it had to be Jupiter.
After some thought, Sirius decided to share some school stories while they resumed their game.
"There was this one time I accidentally ended bullying at my school."
"Seriously? That happened to me too."
"Really? For me, it was like: 'I want some water,' and that action set off a domino effect that made a kid snap and beat up his bully."
"WHAT!?" The sheer randomness of the events caused Hirofumi to miss an easy goal.
Taking advantage of the stunned Human Cereal now frozen in place, Sirius stole the ball and ran into the opposing goal, still holding it.
"Hahah!" He returned to his spot, juggling the ball with one foot.
"Dammit!" Hirofumi complained momentarily, trying to recover. "I thought you were gonna say you beat them all up, but it makes sense you didn't, being... you."
"Honestly? Not offended by that comment," Sirius smiled slightly, knowing he wasn't a tiny berserker.
"Ehem. Another story, and don't interrupt me this time..." Hirofumi adopted a neutral expression, splitting his focus between soccer and recalling a memory. "Ah! I remembered a good one. It was on Mars. I fought a guy with a chain projection that could split strength between us. So, if I transformed, the damage would increase."
Sirius stayed silent, waiting for the Asian to continue his story.
"That wouldn't have been a problem initially since we'd have the same strength, and I had more combat experience. The issue was, during the fight, I discovered that damage was shared too, and the bastard merged with the Martian crust. So, he had the resistance of a planet and my strength, plus any injuries he sustained would destabilize the ground."
"Wait, if he splits physical attributes between himself and the target, wouldn't you gain half of Mars's resistance too?"
"In theory, yes, but only base attributes are split. The 'extras' he got from the projection's power don't count. And that's not even the main point! If he got hurt, a large part of the planet would too, and people in cave systems would die. Fighting was no longer an option," Hirofumi explained, slightly energized by the memory and the game.
"Let me guess..." Sirius paused for a moment. "You knocked him out?"
"Correct. You know cloro—chloro—chloroform?" He asked, stumbling over the word but pretending it didn't happen.
"Hmm... How long did you hold him?"
"A few seconds. Hyakakakaka, don't look for logic; that's something you'll learn at the academy. No spoilers from me." Hirofumi glanced briefly at the reader, then winked.
[CA/N: …]
[A/N: …]
[CA/N: We're doomed, aren't we?]
[A/N: Absolutely!]
Switching focus from the irrelevant duo to the actually cool duo!
"Booooooring!" Sirius whined childishly, scoring his third goal in a row, which brought immense joy to his face, even though he was losing 10-3.
"Can I stop going easy on you now?" Hirofumi asked with a sly grin.
"No way! I'm already dying here, paying for years of procrastination."
"Hyakaka... you remind me of myself when I started training," Hirofumi said nostalgically, catching Renovas's attention.
"Really?"
"Yeah, at first, I procrastinated a lot, and it... came at a cost. But then I got a lecture: 'How will you be the greatest hero if all you do is sit around?' That woke me up." His smile widened as he recalled certain lessons. "Did something like that happen to you?"
Sirius was stunned. That inertia—it resonated with his own.
He couldn't explain why, but he felt a connection.
However, cautiously, he asked:
"If I tell you, will you promise not to get mad?"
"Relax, I don't lose my temper that easily, despite my anger issues."
"Haaah... I want to be the greatest hero in history, but... I never lifted a finger. I let certain events from my past trap me in inertia, and because of that, I spent my life from childhood until now doing nothing. And when a single person tells me I'm wrong, I get some motivation."
Hirofumi stared at him for a few seconds, which felt like an eternity to Sirius, then smiled.
"We're more alike than I thought," Hirofumi laughed heartily.
"Huh?"
Taking advantage of Sirius's distraction, Hirofumi scored a goal.
"Heh." Naobito chuckled. "I'll tell you more about that incident I mentioned earlier. After… certain childhood events that don't matter now, when I was adopted, I spent a long time—from age 5 to 12—completely inert. No training, no action, just… existing as a living statue. That was until I got a lecture from my adoptive father, who had finally managed to find some time to stay at home, and thanks to him, I was able to get back on my feet."
Sirius widened his eyes slightly at such a revelation.
He... had felt that same void? That inert depression that had taken over his life and was now, somehow, fading away after the events at the Chronus'Gaze.
Hirofumi, unaware of the complexity behind Renovas' thoughts, just chuckled and took the opportunity to score another goal, this time dribbling the ball all the way in.
He quickly returned to his position with a mocking smile.
Sirius recovered quickly, puffing out air, but smiled just the same—no mockery, only satisfaction.
"So… you don't think I'm an idiot or something?"
"Don't be dumb. You just succumbed to pain; that's normal for anyone, human or not." - He patted the boy on the back - "I'm not going to say something like 'you don't understand what suffering is' or some crap like that. Pain is pain, plain and simple."
Sirius was really beginning to think that Hirofumi was an angel sent to Earth by the Father.
It couldn't be—he had never in his life met someone so understanding. And honestly? Knowing that such a person existed, and that this same person was fighting every day to keep innocent people safe, was heartwarming.
Time passed, and the two continued chatting, discovering they had many other things in common.
Fans of the same animated franchise, both loved Arena Brawler games and enjoyed the same style of music.
At one point, Sirius decided to open his Dermadata to send a lost-media episode he had found online. It was a special edition of the show The Fat Chinese: Double Dose.
And then, Hirofumi caught a glimpse of Renovas' wallpaper—a beautiful woman with fair skin, blue eyes, and white hair, with a transparent hexagonal gem on her forehead set against a blue background.
The young woman looked at the camera casually, smiling warmly and affectionately at whoever was taking the picture.
"Oh, Noodles, who's that woman?" - Hirofumi asked while observing Renovas' DD wallpaper.
(So direct, huh...) - Sirius twitched nervously.
"That photo was from the last time I saw my mother. Her smile was... so bright. She always called me 'My Little Sun.'" - He smiled a little and sat down, lowering his head - "It was the last time she smiled... Though, it was so beautiful... it felt like the only time it truly mattered."
"What happened to her?" - Hirofumi asked gently.
"I don't remember how, but… she's dead."
"…"
A morbid, melancholic silence filled the room as Hirofumi tried to process this new information.
So that's why—why his new friend had been stuck in inertia for so long.
The void! The cursed void that devoured him for years, the deep depression that tormented him!
Sirius was like him! Exactly like him!
This was a pain he understood all too well.
"I know what that's like." - All that complexity was summed up in a simple phrase by Naobito.
"Eh?" - Renovas was confused.
"The earliest memory I have in my life is my biological mother's smile, and her giving me a name I can't even carry as my own because I was denied it… telling me I'd be a great light to the world." - He placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder, who looked at him understandingly.
"It hurts… like hell, every damn day. Knowing I'll never see her, hug her, kiss her forehead, or tell her I love her." - Hirofumi opened up, now aware that Sirius was just like him - "The difference between us now is that… I've already overcome that void, my friend."
Sirius widened his eyes. So… it was possible? It was possible to overcome the void?
He… had never thought it was.
"You were lucky to meet her, Sirius... treasure that for the rest of your life." - Hirofumi said, leaning closer to his ear, his voice serious yet deeply melancholic.
Sirius placed a hand on Hirofumi's shoulder, supporting his new friend.
"Sorry for making you remember something like that." - Renovas said.
"It's fine."
"Hey… want to come over to my house to plan everything? We can play something after it's all ready." - Sirius suggested, smiling.
Hirofumi smiled… honestly? He didn't regret coming here one bit.
At least… he'd made a new friend.
The things that would happen from now on were unknown to the boy, Renovas.
But along with this New Year spirit, one thing was clear to him.
A new horizon.
New experiences and…
New lessons.
.- --.- ..- . .-.. . ... / -- --- -- . -. - --- ... / -... . .-.. --- …
To be continued…
Final Notes: Happy New Year! (Even if I'm late.)