Chapter 2: Furuya

“——A ghost!!”

Shouting, Kitagawa Ryusei didn’t turn around and run but instead delivered a swift side kick!

The other person clearly didn’t expect this reaction and quickly dodged in shock, lowering his voice, “Look carefully, it’s me! Keep it down!”

Kitagawa Ryusei recognized the voice; it was the top student from Onizuka’s class introduction today.

Furuya Rei.

“What are you doing here? Isn’t it lights out time?” Kitagawa Ryusei asked, his face showing no guilt.

“I’m just wandering around the school, what about you?” Furuya Rei retorted without hesitation.

Before they could say more, a noise came from behind them. It seemed someone heard the commotion and was shining a flashlight into the corner.

The two exchanged a glance and without a word, bolted away.

Getting caught would definitely mean punishment!

Furuya Rei and Kitagawa Ryusei ran like the wind, disappearing in an instant.

As the top student entering the police academy, Furuya Rei’s stamina was unquestionable. He was surprised to find that Kitagawa Ryusei, who looked more youthful than his peers, also had impressive speed and endurance, keeping up without falling behind.

Though not entirely familiar with the school’s layout, both had excellent memories and quickly evaded the patrolling person, returning to the dormitory.

Kitagawa Ryusei’s room was near the stairwell, and fearing someone might pass by and discover them, Furuya Rei followed him inside without a second thought.

“Phew—” Only after the dormitory door was closed did Kitagawa Ryusei let out a sigh of relief, beads of sweat forming on his forehead in the not-so-hot April.

He put down the book he was holding and looked up at the person who followed him in, the words he was about to say suddenly stuck in his throat.

Furuya Rei gave him a puzzled look.

Under the light, Kitagawa Ryusei leaned in for a closer look.

In the darkness earlier, the area around Furuya Rei’s right eye was a dark bruise, and the left cheek was slightly swollen, possibly a bit red, though it wasn’t very noticeable on his darker skin.

Kitagawa Ryusei’s tone was a bit complicated, “Furuya, who did you get into a fight with?”

Furuya Rei blinked slowly.

In the urgency earlier, he hadn’t felt it, but now, with that one sentence, he suddenly felt pain all over, covering his eye with one hand and his cheek with the other, squatting down with an “ow”: “…That curly-haired jerk hit too hard.”

It seemed he got into a fight with that cool classmate from earlier, Kitagawa Ryusei thought knowingly.

Getting into a fight on the first day of school, this guy wasn’t as “well-behaved” as he seemed.

Kitagawa Ryusei naturally ignored his own more excessive actions tonight, crossing his arms and leaning against the table, mercilessly commenting, “Maybe they couldn’t hold back after seeing your face, Furuya.”

“…”

Furuya Rei stood up after a while, his droopy round eyes looking at the person in front of him with a bit of helplessness, “I noticed Kitagawa treats people differently.”

Clearly, during the day, he was so sunny and cheerful in front of the whole class, but in less than half an hour alone, he seemed like a different person.

With that, Furuya Rei clasped his hands together, asking sincerely, “Do you have some kind of grudge against me?”

Seeing him climb over the wall, pretending to be a ghost to scare him, if it were in the Mafia, he would have been silenced long ago—Kitagawa Ryusei thought sincerely in his heart.

But he still explained, “Not at all.”

Actually, it was because Furuya Rei’s overly strong sense of justice during the day made someone from the “underworld” like him overly cautious.

But that should be his own problem, not much to do with this new classmate.

So he said, “I’m just not used to being alone with strangers.”

Furuya Rei’s expression seemed half-believing, his face full of accusation.

Perhaps feeling his tone was still a bit stiff, Kitagawa Ryusei reflected on his actions along the way—getting caught climbing over the wall, mistaking Furuya Rei for a ghost, and even trying to kick him…

Okay… it was indeed a bit much.

“Sorry, that’s my bad.”

The would-be leader felt a rare pang of guilt, rubbing his knuckles against his nose, he turned and opened the room’s freezer.

He found a bag of ice packs used for preservation deep in the freezer, stood up, and handed it to the person in the middle of the room, pointing to his own face with experience, “You can try icing it first to relieve it, then apply heat later, it should get better in about a week.”

“Th-thank you.” Furuya Rei took the ice pack, caught off guard by the change in attitude, momentarily unable to react.

At this point, the distance between them was at the limit of social distance.

Furuya Rei lowered his eyes to observe closely, noticing a tiny red mole on the bridge of the other’s nose, quite noticeable due to his fair skin.

This embellishment, which could be described as decadent, diluted some of Kitagawa Ryusei’s obedient boyish charm.

Thinking this, he saw Kitagawa Ryusei tilt his head in confusion, seemingly curious about what he was looking at.

Furuya Rei snapped back to reality, avoiding that probing gaze, feeling a bit uneasy as he prepared to leave.

He turned around, hesitated for a moment, and still reminded, “Kitagawa, you have a bit of smoke and alcohol smell on you, remember to change your clothes.”

Though not very obvious, it did spoil the pleasant, refreshing spring water-like scent on him.

Kitagawa Ryusei stood there, blinking, indicating he understood.

Until Furuya Rei walked out of the dormitory and closed the door behind him, neither of them said anything more.

What a strange point of concern. Kitagawa Ryusei lowered his head to sniff his collar, looking in the direction Furuya Rei left, puzzled.

After a while, he shrugged slightly, reaching up to turn off the warm yellow light in the room.

Maybe Furuya Rei doesn’t like the smell of smoke, Kitagawa Ryusei thought, his light brown eyes even brighter in the dark.

*

Kitagawa Ryusei was an orphan, who, while out looking for food, accidentally stumbled upon a shootout between the Port Mafia and a rival faction, nearly getting shot to death, only surviving by awakening his ability.

At that time, Yokohama had just finished the “Dragon Head War,” and orphans were not in short supply, but his “resurrection” in front of everyone still shocked others, so after the incident, he was taken back to the Port Mafia.

His ability, “Tori Ten,” is a passive skill, literally translated as “Thirty-Three Heavens,” seemingly related to space, passively triggering whenever Kitagawa Ryusei is near death.

The space has no time flow, only accommodating less than fifteen people, and the moment the ability is triggered, anyone Kitagawa Ryusei touches can enter.

Though not much bigger than an elevator, it’s a golden space where ancient bell sounds can be heard.

No matter how severe the injury or strong the negative effect, entering “Tori Ten” heals everything.

In short, it indiscriminately removes all debuffs from those who enter.

Though Mr. Dazai insists it’s a waste of talent, Kitagawa Ryusei hasn’t discovered any other abilities of “Tori Ten,” so he just uses it as a healer.

He was assigned to a guerrilla unit directly under the leader, partnered with a violent martial arts enthusiast, with daily tasks of traveling, approaching the battle center, timing his near-death to trigger the ability, and watching his heavily injured partner fight on as if refreshed and reset.

Because of Kitagawa Ryusei’s unique ability and his partner’s violence, their reputation gradually spread in Yokohama, with the most widespread being the “Immortal Myth.”

He wondered if that guy would be more cautious without his ability… Kitagawa Ryusei propped his left hand on his face, his gaze unconsciously fixed on the faintly pulsing artery on his right wrist.

He couldn’t yet confirm if his ability still existed in this world, but he couldn’t easily test it either, or else tomorrow’s newspapers would be filled with “Tokyo Police Academy Student Overwhelmed, Commits Suicide in Dormitory.”

The textbook lay open on the desk, the theory class teacher passionately lecturing, while Kitagawa Ryusei casually flipped through the “Police Science Outline” in his hand, engrossed—

He never thought he’d be taught how to be a police officer one day.

Maybe these skills would come in handy if he ever returned…

Lost in thought, Kitagawa Ryusei noticed a figure standing up in his peripheral vision, seemingly answering a question posed by the teacher.

Golden hair glowed in the sunlight from the window, and the band-aid on the young man’s mouth didn’t affect his performance, his speech clear and concise, even including his thoughts and doubts about the book’s theories.

His gaze on Furuya Rei was unrestrained, quickly noticed by the other.

After answering, Furuya Rei turned his head in confusion.

Kitagawa Ryusei calmly retracted his gaze, as if he hadn’t just been staring at him.

But he didn’t see Furuya Rei raise an eyebrow and “ha” after sitting down, accidentally pulling on his facial wound, groaning as he lowered his head to cover his face.

“What’s with that weird skin and hair color?”

“Wonder what mix of nationalities he is.”

“And he loves to show off.”

The two sitting behind Kitagawa Ryusei whispered, their voices a soft rustle.

What’s so weird about it, Kitagawa Ryusei thought, once again casting his gaze at Furuya Rei sitting in the distance.

In Yokohama, there were all sorts of hair colors, from red, orange, yellow, to even half-black, half-white.

The police academy student behind him noticed his gaze and leaned forward seeking agreement, “Right, right, you think it’s weird too, right?”

Hearing this, Kitagawa Ryusei sincerely asked, “What’s weird about it?”

Though golden hair and dark skin were rare, it didn’t affect Furuya Rei’s looks at all.

It was the kind of pleasing appearance that made Kitagawa Ryusei willing to take a few more glances.

So he was genuinely puzzled, “Is it weird because it’s good-looking?”

The person behind him: “…”

Not far away, Date Wataru, who hadn’t looked well, had a strange expression, while the purple-eyed Hagiwara Kenji in the front row burst into laughter, elbowing his desk mate.

The “Little Jinpei” with a band-aid on his knuckles and a shiny ointment on his brow glared at his desk mate, then turned to give Kitagawa Ryusei and the two behind him a “shut up or else” look.

Kitagawa Ryusei accepted it well, even finding such a gaze somewhat familiar, but it silenced the two behind him instantly.

Until the theory class ended, the two didn’t say anything more.

“Kitagawa!” After class, Date Wataru called out to Kitagawa Ryusei.

“What’s up, class rep?” he asked, puzzled.

Date Wataru rubbed his buzz cut, saying, “I noticed there seemed to be some conflict between Furuya and Matsuda yesterday, and I was thinking of inviting them out for a meal to resolve it, since we’re all classmates.”

So he’s a class rep with a strong sense of responsibility, Kitagawa Ryusei thought, unsure of why he was being called, so he asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

Date Wataru, a bit embarrassed, said, “I need to go to the materials room to get some documents, could you invite the two of them for me? They’re in Onizuka Instructor’s office doing a review.”

“…So,” Kitagawa Ryusei hesitated for a moment, confirming, “You want two guys who might have just been punished for fighting to sit together for a meal?”

“…” With that reminder, Date Wataru’s tone also carried uncertainty, “Then maybe invite more people? Hagiwara and Morofushi probably won’t refuse, and you should come too, Kitagawa!”

A large hand clapped heavily on his shoulder, and Kitagawa Ryusei almost grimaced, instinctively refusing, “I’ll just…”

Date Wataru had already run off, his words unable to keep up with his speed.

“It’s settled then, remember to wait for me at the school gate! I need to hurry to the materials room…”

“…not go.” Kitagawa Ryusei’s latter half was left far behind.