Chapter 3: Supernatural Abilities

Six people walked into a ramen shop, with Date Wataru and Kitagawa Ryusei trailing behind, watching Hagiwara Kenji and Morofushi Hiromitsu chatting, while Matsuda Jinpei and Furuya Rei seemed to be trying to kill each other with their eyes.

“How did you manage it?” Date Wataru asked in a low voice, full of admiration.

Before this, he hadn’t considered the possibility of being rejected by the others.

“Just convince Hagiwara and Morofushi,” Kitagawa Ryusei replied simply.

Whether it was hoping their friends would get along with classmates or wanting to see the others flustered, having these two step in was bound to be effective.

Date Wataru pondered this and secretly gave him a thumbs-up in admiration.

“So, that guy is really annoying, right?” During the meal, Matsuda Jinpei resonated with Kitagawa Ryusei’s first impression of Furuya Rei: “He practically has ‘I want to be a cop’ written in his eyes!”

Furuya Rei felt a phantom pain in his eyes from the description and retorted sarcastically, “Come on, I’m a police academy student! You’re the one who looks like you’re ready to enforce the law violently at any moment!”

“Blondie, haven’t you had enough of a beating?!”

“You talk as if you had the upper hand last night, curly-haired idiot!”

“Alright, Jinpei, getting angry will give you wrinkles!”

“Zero, the ramen’s getting cold, eat up.”

Hagiwara Kenji and Morofushi Hiromitsu both spoke up to stop the two from fighting.

To ease the tension, Morofushi Hiromitsu continued the conversation in a gentle tone, “Speaking of which, when I first saw Kitagawa, I thought you’d be a well-behaved and excellent student.”

This time, Furuya Rei and Kitagawa Ryusei both widened their eyes in shock, exclaiming in unison, “Huh?”

Furuya Rei recalled running into Kitagawa Ryusei during a night stroll and asked with a complex tone, “Hiro, what made you think that?”

Was it just the face?

Kitagawa Ryusei wasn’t angry at the skepticism; he even nodded in agreement, “Although many have said that, I don’t think I’m well-behaved at all.”

The word “well-behaved” was an absolute insult to him as a prospective Mafia cadre! Absolutely!

Kitagawa Ryusei considered himself only slightly disguised in front of the police.

If misunderstood, it must be because his disguise was too perfect!

Kitagawa Ryusei thought with satisfaction and changed the topic, “Are Furuya and Morofushi childhood friends?”

Morofushi Hiromitsu answered, “That’s right, Zero and I have known each other since we were very young.”

“Just like me and Jinpei!” Hagiwara Kenji affectionately wrapped an arm around his friend’s neck, ignoring the dark expression on his face and ruffling his hair, “What about you, Ryusei? Your friends in Yokohama must miss you after you came to Tokyo for school!”

The purple-eyed young man naturally changed the subject without offending, making Kitagawa Ryusei acknowledge his social talent.

Kitagawa Ryusei said, “I left before I had the chance to…”

He suddenly paused, feeling something was off.

The day before coming to this world, he was dealing with enemies at the dock with the action team… What was his partner doing?

Did they let him go on a mission alone, or was there something more important at the time?

A whisper seemed to flash through his mind:

—”How you use your abilities is your freedom, but Ryusei-chan…”

“Ryusei?”

Kitagawa Ryusei was brought back to reality by the call.

It was Hagiwara Kenji, who hadn’t heard the rest of the story, looking at him curiously with the others.

“Oh, I just suddenly remembered I didn’t get to say goodbye to my friends when I left,” Kitagawa Ryusei lowered his head to hide his unusual expression, then looked up with a calm smile, “I’ll probably get beaten up when I go back.”

“Eh, with such a cute baby face,” Hagiwara Kenji half-joked, half-shocked, “Who would bear to hit Ryusei?”

Compared to “well-behaved,” the word “cute” made Kitagawa Ryusei feel even more awkward. His face turned red, and the blush gradually spread to his ears.

Kitagawa Ryusei’s gaze swept around and landed on Furuya Rei, who was engrossed in his ramen, and quickly dragged him into the conversation, “Furuya-kun has a baby face too, and Matsuda still hits him, right?”

“Cough, cough!”

Furuya Rei, caught off guard, almost choked on his ramen, coughing uncomfortably as he took the tissue Morofushi Hiromitsu handed him, unable to retort.

Matsuda Jinpei quickly interjected, “That face only makes me want to punch it, nothing to do with ‘cute.'”

Date Wataru seemed to catch onto something, looking surprised, “So, Kitagawa thinks Furuya is cute?”

Before he could finish, Furuya Rei seemed to be overwhelmed by the dissipating heat from the ramen, coughing even more unnaturally.

Separated by a few people, he glanced at Kitagawa Ryusei, who was also propping his face up, openly observing him.

Realizing this, Furuya Rei instinctively straightened his back, making his posture appear somewhat stiff.

But still… as a 22-year-old tall and fit young man, he couldn’t possibly be called “cute,” right?

Furuya Rei felt inexplicably nervous, but it didn’t stop him from grumbling internally.

Kitagawa Ryusei was about to respond when he suddenly wrinkled his nose slightly, turning his head with a frown, “Do you guys… smell something off?”

It was like the smell after a Mafia mission.

There were also some strange noises downstairs, but Kitagawa Ryusei was unsure.

After all, this wasn’t Yokohama; Tokyo shouldn’t have explosions or gunfights happening on the streets, right?

Furuya Rei, sitting by the window, also sensed something, pushing open the second-floor window to look down.

The sounds of panic, previously muffled by the window, instantly reached them—

“Fire!”

“Run away!!”

On the other side of the street, a black private car was parked at an angle by the roadside, with obvious collision marks on the front.

Another white sedan, hit into the corner of a wall, had its door dented, with thick smoke pouring out from the hood’s gaps, and flames licking up towards the front wheels!

The driver was unconscious, blood trickling down from their forehead to their lips, then dripping off their chin, as a few passersby hurriedly dragged them out of the driver’s seat.

In just a few seconds, the flames had already escaped the control of the would-be rescuers, spreading over the entire car body.

The back door was still tightly shut, deeply dented inward, with faint cries coming from inside.

At this point, the entrance to the driver’s seat was completely inaccessible. The intact rear door was blocked by the wall, making it difficult to open!

Someone rushed over to try and open the deformed rear door, but the heat forced them back:

“The door won’t open! There’s a kid inside!!”

The six police academy students rushed downstairs and quickly assessed the situation.

Someone had already contacted the fire department, but they wouldn’t arrive in time. The fire extinguishers borrowed from nearby shops were useless against the raging fire.

“How long has it been since the fire started?!” Hagiwara Kenji, whose family owned a car factory, understood the situation better and immediately asked those around.

“Almost five minutes!”

“Damn, Jinpei, you and the class rep go evacuate the crowd to prevent them from being caught in the explosion!” Affected by the heat, Hagiwara Kenji’s forehead was faintly sweating as he scanned the area for tools to rescue the trapped.

After a car catches fire, the entire chassis will burn in about seven minutes, making the fuel tank and tires prone to explosion.①

Meanwhile, Furuya Rei hurriedly took off his jacket, wrapping it around his arm, and took the bottled water from Morofushi Hiromitsu, soaking the jacket before rushing over.

But Kitagawa Ryusei suddenly looked towards the vehicle, feeling a premonition of danger:

“It’s about to explode.”

They were about fifty meters away from the burning vehicle.

If Furuya Rei went to rescue now…

“Hey! No!”

Just as Furuya Rei was about to run to the rescue, he was yanked back by the collar, catching a glimpse of a figure rushing out even faster than him!

“Kitagawa Ryusei?!”

In his vision, the young man’s figure was as agile as a hunting leopard, reaching the roaring flames in seconds.

The surrounding crowd had mostly dispersed, and the shop closest to the accident was empty.

“Be careful!”

Kitagawa Ryusei seemed unfazed by the heat, ignoring the flames around him, and directly crawled into the car through the front door, which was now just a steel frame!

The flames licked at his clothes and hair, some even scorching his skin.

But he didn’t care.

The child in the back seat had her small arms wrapped around her head, curled up on the seat, her legs trapped, burns covering her legs and the hands protecting her head.

The child was too weak to cry, only whimpering like a dying animal cub.

Without a second thought, Kitagawa Ryusei used his simply wrapped hands to lift the restraint that an adult could easily escape.

He took off his jacket, wrapped the little girl in it, and, with the jacket, carried her out through the driver’s seat again!

The whole process took less than ten seconds!

“—Boom!”

The struggling private car finally couldn’t withstand the high temperature of the flames, exploding sharply just as Kitagawa Ryusei stepped out!

“Kitagawa Ryusei!!”

The five police academy students ran frantically!

The explosion shattered the sky, the air distorted and deformed under the high temperature, and broken metal fragments, carrying scorching heat, flew in all directions.

The acrid stench of rubber and gasoline filled Kitagawa Ryusei’s lungs, the flames dancing like demons before his eyes.

This scene was like a wedge, firmly nailing itself to Kitagawa Ryusei’s retina, deeply embedding in his mind.

…It was as if the fire had devoured something very important to him.

Countless images were awakened by the explosion and fire before him, causing his head to throb painfully.

In just a moment of distraction, the glass shards from the explosion flew straight towards Kitagawa Ryusei!

With a child in his arms, he couldn’t dodge. In the blind spot of his vision, obscured by flames, the sharp glass reflected the blinding light of the fire, aiming directly at Kitagawa Ryusei’s neck.

The texture was cut open, hot blood splattering, landing on the young man’s face like spots of red plum blossoms.

…The familiar taste of death.

Kitagawa Ryusei closed his eyes, almost immersed in it.

[Supernatural Ability—Tōriten!]

Briefly pausing in the space of his ability, Kitagawa Ryusei opened his eyes again, the firelight reflected in them seemingly ready to leap out.

His arms, the cut blood vessels, the burns on the little girl in his arms, all vanished in an instant!

“Boom—!”

The second explosion sounded in his ears, the heatwave and impact knocking Kitagawa Ryusei to the ground!

“Kitagawa-kun!”

Falling heavily, Kitagawa Ryusei skidded along the ground, leaving a long mark.

The police academy students immediately surrounded him, taking the child he had protected so securely.

“Are you hurt anywhere?!”

He heard the urgency and concern in their voices.

He didn’t respond.

For some reason, Kitagawa Ryusei looked up, staring blankly at the police academy students who were afraid to move him carelessly, opening his mouth but unable to make a sound.

Until he saw Furuya Rei among the five.

The other was looking at him with concern.

The sunlight and the future policeman’s golden hair made his eyes flicker with an unusual light.

—It seemed like he understood why he had come here…