Tower of Wishes - Chapter 2: Infiltration

The time was noon, the sun’s light peeked through the clouds and shined upon the village below. The clanking of wood emanated from the rowdy crowd of the spiraling path up the mountain. There were some merchants setting shop by the cliffside, occasional construction workers reinforcing the scaffolding, several guards patrolling the vicinity, and a slightly soaked Junior Climber walking up the path on their way to the Academy. The wind silently breezed on that quiet path as the Climber approached the final checkpoint near the top, the guard on duty leered at him as he got closer.

“Halt!” the guard commanded, adamantly clutching his spear. “State your name and business.”

The Junior Climber adjusted his cap as the wind blew his hair and cape, his azure eyes meeting him resolutely among his confident smirk. “Haku Nozomu, Junior Climber. I’m here to participate in the ceremony.”

At the end of the spiraling wooden pathway, Haku felt the energizing relief as he sets foot at the stone ground of his destination; the Academy of Climbers. This is it. The Academy of Climbers. The moment I set foot through this fate is the moment I become a full-fledged Climber.

Haku took a deep breath before setting foot into the Academy through the wooden gate to the courtyard. The large wooden building ahead of him was the centerpiece of the Academy, decorated with a garden of red spider lily flowers, the Climber’s emblem. From there, it leads to all the other parts of the Academy where Climbers and Junior Climbers come to train or pray to the Goddess, along with the entrance to the tower itself.

As Haku approached the building, he stopped by a water basin that flowed water from a dragon statue. He grabbed one of the ladles with his right hand and hovered it under the dragon’s mouth where it slowly filled with water. Carefully, he poured a third on his left hand before passing the ladle and doing the same to his right. With the rest of his water, he cupped his left hand and poured water on it before bringing it over to his lips where he rinsed his mouth and spat it to the ground by the basin. Once the water was drained, he scooped up more and tilted the ladle up, letting it drip down the handle to his hand and cleaning the handle of his touch before returning it to its rightful place.

Once he was purified, he took a moment of relaxation as the wind drifted across his skin and clothes. It was a quiet time after most of the graduation ceremony has concluded, but he could hear some of the guards murmuring to each other as they make their patrol.

Haku gave a small greeting as walked past him. “Good afternoon, guys. Keep up the good work.”

“Oh, thanks, you too,” the shifty-eyed guard said halfheartedly as they walked past him. But before they got too far, the vigilant-looking guard suddenly stopped. “Actually, do you have a minute?”

“Hm? Is something the matter?”

The guard started questioning Haku, holding up a handscroll scribbled with text. “We’ve been looking into a few reports of strange occurrences happening around the Academy walls. I was wondering if you might know anything about them.”

Haku tried to recall anything peculiar over the past few days, but it all comes to a blank. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can help you with that… This is the first I’ve heard.”

“I don’t blame ya, we’ve only just been informed this morning,” the guard grumbled, his breath oddly short. “From the witness accounts we got, they all mentioned a dark figure sprinting above the walls before seemingly disappearing. Another one who was presumably attacked by the perpetrator noted large horns and an unhinged smile.”

The other guard continued, shifting his eyes frantically. “I saw it with my own two eyes, it was terrifying I tell you! There have been rumors saying that it might be a demon seeking to breach into the tower. If you ask me, they might be onto something.”

A demon? That’s really concerning, Haku rubbed the back of his neck. “Have you informed the captain about all this?”

“I have, it’s standard procedure after all. As for the rumors, however…”

“They are nothing short of baseless,” a chilling, stern voice boomed from behind Haku, sending shivers to all who hear it. “If you have time to listen to idiotic hearsay, maybe you could’ve shown up in time after all. Or perhaps you truly are as spineless as I made you out to be.”

Each word uttered to him felt like a fist into his stomach. He could feel the thumping of his heart stop, the respiration of his lungs hasten as he slowly and cautiously turned his body around to meet the greatest challenge he has to face yet, stronger than any challenge he would face in the ceremony. The academy’s one and only captain of the Climbers, Ishihara Osaki. The atmosphere was tense as Haku nervously stood before Ishihara, sweating profusely. His arms were crossed as he looked down on him with an unamused face, wearing his usual captain garb in a mixture of white and black, along with a ribbon to tie the ends of his long white hair.

“Well?”

Haku flinched as his captain spoke, shaking away his frozen state and replacing it with the heat of panic. He pressed his legs together, body as straight as a plank before leaning forward at a steep angle into a deep bow, nearly falling over.

“H-Haku Nozomu. Junior Climber. Ready for duty, sir!”

“Duty? Did you mean resignation? Because I have that ready to sign,” Ishihara slipped his hands into the scroll holder on the back of his belt.

Haku’s heart jumped out of his chest, going down to his knees and placing his forehead on the pavement, his clothes lightly wetting the stone path. “I’m so sorry, Captain! I promise that this is the only time that this has happened, please let me partake in the ceremony!”

“So you’ve downgraded yourself into a wet puppy begging for shelter from the rain,” the captain jabbed, Haku whimpering silently. “You’re lucky that I like dogs. Keep that up and maybe I’ll let you in.”

Muffled snickering can be heard nearby as the two guards who were questioning Haku struggled to keep their peals of laughter to themselves. Not only did I lose my pride today, but also my humanity, Haku’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment. He was tempted to keep acting like a dog to get accepted into the graduation at this point, but instead, he picked his head up and looked up at Ishihara, his stature even more menacing from below. “Captain, I know that being punctual is a key factor in attending this sacred ceremony. I know that I made an insult by setting foot in this holy place. But… I’ve mustered all of my courage to stand here before you. If I were really that spineless, I would’ve run home with my tail between my legs. I beg of you, let me partake in the ceremony and show you how serious I am about all this!”

As Ishihara listened to Haku’s pleas, he turned his head to the two guards. “Are you two going to keep laughing and get yourself an early retirement, or are you going to do your job and watch over the area?”

The guards scuffled in surprise, standing upright with spears in hand as they paced quickly to their patrols. Haku briefly saw the bitter expression from Ishihara disappear as he told the guards off.

“Stand up.”

Haku stood up like his life depended on it, his head feeling light from that. The captain didn’t face him and instead stared at the tower ahead, back facing Haku. “You have spirit, I’ll give you that. But spirit alone won’t get you anywhere. I’m afraid I can’t let you in.”

I knew it, Haku bit his lip, half-expecting that answer. His gaze sank to the floor as he sighed. “I understand…”

“That is if you were alone,” Ishihara added, peering his gaze over his shoulder to Haku. “Have you forgotten about our three promises?”

“Our promises? N-Not at all sir!” Haku cleared his throat before speaking. “Our faith in the Goddess may never be severed, our spirit to battle may always be strong, and our bonds with those around us may forever be eternal.”

Ishihara nodded. “The Climber’s oath. We are told to always be faithful, trained to never falter in battle, and nurtured to keep watch of each other’s backs. The ceremony is here to test a Junior Climber’s capability to fulfill those three promises and become a capable Climber. Which is why you need a team before you can enter.”

Haku beamed up at the sound. “So, all I need is to find another person?”

“Two in this case. Lucky for you, my notes say there’s one who shares the same fate as you of not showing up. One more and I’ll consider it.”

“That’s wonderful! Thank you so much, Ishihara--” Haku corrected himself, going down to a bow with his eyes closed. “I will not let you down, Captain. I will do my best to become a full-fledged Climber!”

“Hmph,” he smirked. “Come along. You can wait in the ceremonial grounds.”

The doors opened as the wooden interior of the academy grew visible to them. Haku could see the academy space he is most familiar with, the central hall filled with cabinets containing each of the students’ names along with several corridors in each direction leading to different parts of the academy. To the east is the temple where the priests and priestesses pray and ask for blessings from the Goddess. To the west is the training area where most students practice their combat prowess. And lastly, to the north is a long open corridor leading to a single door at the end of the hallway.

Haku gulped, “That’s where we’re heading through, right?”

As he continued staring, Ishihara came into view as he headed towards the hallway without him realizing it. With a bit of hesitation, Haku catches up to him in the corridor. The corridor had windows on them that had a view of a garden of red spider lilies beside a flowing river. Downstream Haku could see it form into a waterfall that provides water for the levels below.

The atmosphere provided a calming aura for Haku to catch his breath. Usually, after his rigorous training, he would relax by the garden and feel its calm glow take him. As he stared into the scenery, he could see someone tending the flowers. A girl wearing a white, patternless kimono under her long hair that shared the same color. She grabbed a single flower from the patch and held it in front of her face. His gaze was transfixed to the girl as she admired the flower, she was unlike any person he has seen in the village. Her skin was pale as the moon, and the ends of her kimono almost seemed like they were floating. As the winds blew her hair and carried the flowers from their stems, her tantalizing scarlet eyes met his own. Her expression grew to that of shock and surprise as they continued to stare, unable to look away. That is until he heard a voice calling out to him.

“Haku! You can gawk at flowers another time. We have a ceremony to perform.”

It was then that Haku blinked before quickly responding. “I’ll be right there, Captain!”

He turned his head back to the garden, only to see a garden of flowers with no girl in sight. Haku wandered puzzledly trying to find where the girl went but quickly gave up when he saw Ishihara waiting ahead of him. Not wanting to get another scolding, he reluctantly walked away from the garden with the flowing white hair of the girl by the garden still fresh on his mind.

Through the hallway was a large empty field surrounded by walls where the students gathered for the ceremony. The walls were tall and reinforced with bricks and stone, topped with a layer of slippery roof tiles. At the other end of the field, he could see Ishihara standing by a large gate sealed by a paper talisman to ensure no one will go through and head to the tower unsupervised. It was here that the view of the tower is unobstructed. The monstrous size, the patterned roof, each floor stacking on top of each other and stretching out into the very sky. Even the clouds orbit around its mass and the peak far beyond the visible sky.

“It’s not too late to turn away,” Ishihara mentioned. “Becoming a Climber is a big responsibility, one that many has fallen from.”

Thinking about the words Momoka spoke to him, a faint sense of dread lingered in his head. “You may be right, I might not be most well suited for this job. However, if I just let myself stay on the sidelines, I wouldn’t know what would happen if I did stay my ground and venture into the tower. This is my choice and I’d like to see it through to the end.”

Ishihara silently listened, sighing to himself as they waited under the tower’s presence for the other person to show up. Haku had examined the area well, and yet there’s no sign of life within the walls other than him, his captain, and a flock of sparrows perched on the roof behind him, but even the birds flew away after a few seconds of staring. “Are they gonna show up soon?” Haku asked, still trying to spot his supposed teammate.

Ishihara shrugged. “They showed up in the academy this morning, but left before I could enroll them into a team.”

“How would you know if she’s going to show up?”

“I received word from a messenger sparrow that she will be returning to partake in the ceremony. All we have to do is wait.”

For the most part, Haku kept quiet as he sat down on the wooden staircase. There was not much to see or do but marvel at the size of the tower. With his mind unoccupied, he wandered on Momoka’s warning and Ishihara’s question. A tower surrounded in mystery waiting to be discovered but could bring about death just as easily. To live an easy life filled with questions, or a dangerous life with answers, Haku contemplated as each second continued to pass.

As the sparrows fly with their wings spread wide, Haku’s eyes blinked slowly from his wandering mind, noticing something peeking from behind their frolicking feathers. Haku turned his body to get a closer look, only to be met by a sight like no other. Under the shadow of the tower, he could see a pair of pitch-black horns atop sinister amber eyes and a malevolent grin. It silently walked along the academy walls with its black tattered body and hook-like claws. Haku shuddered, “demon…” he whispered under his breath, his teeth clattering as he pointed at the creature. “Demon!”

Startled, the figure dashed across the wall hurriedly, getting closer to the tower’s entrance. Panicking, Haku turned to Ishihara for help. “Captain--”

Suddenly, he felt a sudden burst of heat coming from where the captain was. Before he could even notice, Ishihara was gone and left behind a small crater in his place. As the figure flawlessly traverses the slippery roof, it suddenly stopped dead in its tracks as something hard impacted the path ahead of them and caused a cloud of dust to erupt. The creature planted its wooden sandal to keep its ground, almost slipping off to the other side of the wall where a long drop to the lower levels awaits. Amidst the smoke stood Captain Ishihara, facing the intruder with an icy stare. Both his hands were gripping his fearsome weapons; a pair of deadly flintlock pistols, smoke coming off of the barrels of the firearms.

“It’s not every day that I see a fool dumb enough to trespass holy ground. Are you lost perhaps?” Ishihara held his weapons high. “I’d be delighted to give you directions to the nearest funeral parlor in town, they would gladly take in another corpse.”

The demon scowled, rushing in with its rusty metal claws and slashing it into Ishihara. But no matter how many swings he does, none would connect from the captain’s swift dodges and parries. As their weapons clash and the shadow of the tower begins to leave them, Ishihara pushed the creature away and placed a finger on the trigger of his firearm. The intruder crossed their claws together as a loud bang rang out across the entire mountain. The figure recoiled with its face dislodged to the side as the bullet ricochets off its weapon, breaking off its blade and blowing it away as it stabbed into the ground by Haku’s feet, causing him to jump.

As the shadow of the tower gradually moves away, light illuminated their bodies from the cloak of darkness. It was then that they saw the true monster they face. Dark spiky hair, black tattered clothing, light bandaged-wrapped skin. Its dark horns were not of demonism, but a mask. Its weapons were not of claws, but a pair of rusty sickles. It was unmistakably not a demon, but a young boy. One that Haku knows all too well.

“It’s you!” Haku exclaimed. “That boy who pushed me into the river!”

The masked boy turned his head to Haku, a surprised scowl peering over the holes. That was enough time for Ishihara to aim his pistols at the ground and pulled the trigger. As the bullet impacted the ground with a loud crack, it rapidly began to heat up before exploding into a ball of fire, destroying parts of the wall and covering the view with smoke. With the destruction and flames raging, it distracted the boy from the view of the Captain who had been propelled in the air above him. Gracefully, he dropped down behind the boy before roughly kicking him to his knees. The boy grunted, ready to retaliate but was stopped when Ishihara shoved the hot barrel of one of his guns to the back of his skull.

“For someone like you to cause this much trouble on such an important day,” Ishihara said coldly as he pushed the muzzle harder, searing it into his skin. The boy did not respond, only groaning from the hot barrel pushed into him

“I’ll give you two options.” Ishihara placed a finger over the trigger. “I blow your ashes to the wind where not even the Goddess can save you.”

Haku gulped as he saw all of it unfolding, his hands twitching wanting to do something. This is going too far… I need to stop this before it gets out of hand. He wanted to take action, but it seemed like Ishihara wasn't going to let the boy go easy.

Thinking there was no other option but death, Haku was taken by surprise when the captain pulled his guns back and placed them behind his back. “Or you could drop your weapon and come with me to explain yourself,” Ishihara suggested, his voice softer than usual.

A breath of relief escaped Haku seeing a more peaceful approach considered. The figure also seemed relaxed, but still had his weapon tightly held. Even from that distance, Haku could see the grin the boy had on his face as he swiftly turned around and struck Ishihara in the neck with his rusty sickle.

Blood splashed out from where Ishihara stood out, a trickle flowing down the blade of the figure’s weapon. Haku’s eyes widened at the sight of the captain’s blood dripping to the ground, his hands covering his mouth as he suddenly felt nauseous at the sight. The masked boy held the blade with the intent to kill, but as the blood of the Captain was spilled and his eyes pondered at the spoils of battle, his hands suddenly trembled. Ishihara’s icy cold eyes stared deep into the boy, not a single bit amused. It was then that the boy could see the captain gripping the blade of the sickle with his bare hand before it could strike his neck. The boy tried to pull his blade back, but the captain’s grip was stronger than he could ever imagine. Blood gushed out of his palm yet he continued to press tighter and tighter before pulling the sickle off his hands and throwing it into the ground.

The boy stood back in panic and reached behind his cloak to pull out another sickle and threw it straight to Ishihara's head. Unamused by the desperate attack, he used his bloody hand to swat the weapon off the air and down the lower levels of the mountain. The masked boy continued to step back as Ishihara slowly advanced towards him. His sandals pressed onto the tiles, suddenly breaking off and dropping him to the fiery crater filled with burnt wood and stone created by Ishihara’s explosion. As he slowly slipped down to the blazing fire, he was suddenly saved by Ishihara’s bloodied hand gripping onto his cloak.

Haku was in a state of panic as he watched everything unfold. Ishihara could have died from giving the intruder a chance of survival, and the boy could have died if it weren’t for Ishihara’s quick hand. With the boy’s cloak soaked with blood from Ishihara’s grip, the captain’s eyes were adamantly kept to stare right into his mortified gaze, even when he pulled him off the ground and brought him to the other side of the wall where his feet dangled above the chasm to the lower levels.

“Then again, I could also let some of the locals find your body to bury you, maybe then you’ll find salvation.” Ishihara subtly released a finger from his grip. “In hell.”

The boy was clawing on Ishihara’s arm, trying to break free. And after peeking down at the long drop, his expression grew from anger to despair. He became desperate and used all his body to let go of Ishihara’s grasp, but it was no use. Ishihara’s grip was like an immovable statue inching closer to his eventual execution, slowly releasing finger after finger, all with an expressionless face that can only be described as unmerciful.

“Stop!” Captain Ishihara peered his eyes back, looking at Haku trying to climb the wall with much difficulty. The guards catching up to him and trying to pull him down.“S-Stop this… Ishihara!”

The captain’s eyes twitched, turning his head to Haku with narrowed eyebrows. “Address to your captain with respect, Junior Climber. Now is not the time.”

As Ishihara said that, a few of the guards walked in to subdue Haku, but he quickly kicked over the guard’s hands and stomped on their heads to jump and grab onto Ishihara’s leg. “Let the boy go!”

Agitated by his rude behavior and using his leg as an anchor, he let out a deep sigh. “What do you think you’re doing to your captain?”

“Don’t kill him, I beg you!” Haku struggled to hang on, his hands were sweaty and his grip was unbalanced. Not to mention that he was sweating buckets from the large fiery crater beside him. I have to hang on just a little while longer…

“You are friends with an intruder trying to defile the sacred ceremony and infiltrate the tower with a demonic mask?” Ishihara gradually raised his voice. “You must be out of your mind to suggest that I let go of the likes of him, especially one that tried to kill me.”

Several wooden planks that were on fire suddenly collapsed from the crater nearly hitting Haku and causing his grip to loosen. It was getting hard for him to breathe with the smoke and heat wafting to his entire body. “You’re going way too far with this, I can handle it for you!”

“I doubt your lack of a spine would do any good in this situation. Let go of my leg, Haku. This is your final warning,” Ishihara ignored, another finger pulled back from his grip of the boy, now leaving only two fingers to determine his fate.

“Then…” With nothing else to use, he mustered up the courage to use his last ammunition. “Y-You’d be betraying one of our promises!”

Silence suddenly rolled into the scene. As Haku’s struggles kept on, Ishihara was intrigued. “Go on.”

The grip on Ishihara’s leg was slipping, the heat intensifying with each time the fire spread. But even then Haku spoke out to his captain without delay. “Our bonds... with t-those around us,” his hands began to slip as a piece of burnt wood fell off and hit him in the shoulder, burning his skin in the process. “...may forever be e-eternal.”

As his hand slips off, Haku could feel his body giving away as he fell down to the ground below. Ishihara even tried to reach for him, barely missing and causing one of the two fingers that grabbed onto the trespasser to retreat. Even if Haku’s body surrendered to the fall, his arms didn't as he quickly reached behind his belt and unsheathed the knife from its cover before driving it deeply into the crevice of the stone wall. His grip was strong but crooked, breaking the fall but also his wrist in the process. He screamed out in pain as he held on, using both hands to hold on for just a moment. “The bonds we share… that includes new bonds as well, right? Anger and rage will only blind you from trusting those worthy to be trusted. Didn’t you tell me to make an ally of those able to be saved? Weren’t you the one to tell me to strive for the survival of all residents in our village?”

Haku briefly looked up at Ishihara from below as he held on for life, screaming it out to him with the last of his energy. “If so, then you’ve failed your duty as a Captain. You’ll be nothing more than a murderer!”

A glint of surprise shined onto Ishihara’s eyes. He looked back at the boy he was hanging. Despite all the desperate attempts of anger, fear and despair were most evident and one that made him reach for a way out. From the glistening of his eyes, he could see a reflection of himself, an emotionless monster with the intent to kill. After a moment of silence and Haku struggling to get a grip on his knife, he pulled back his last finger.

“No!”

...on the roof tile next to him.

Oh thank the Goddess, Haku thought to himself in relief, finally pulling off his knife and dropping to the ground below. His lips curved into a smile as he traveled down the tall wall, awaiting the guards to catch him. But the only one who caught him was the rough dirt of the ceremonial grounds, a thud following shortly after as he blacked out.

The first thing Haku noticed in his blank state was the dry smell of incense smoke in the air. Haku opened his eyes to the view in front of him. It was a world of black and white, with nothing but empty skies atop a field of white flowers. Somewhere in the middle, Haku could see something peeking from the bunch. A girl with long white hair stood with her hand on one of the flowers, bringing it close to her face. There he could see the girl's alluring scarlet eyes among the colorless world around her.

“I’ve seen you before…” Haku whispered to himself, trying to approach the girl. As he did, however, a wall of fog began to form between him and her. The more he traversed, the thicker the wall got. It got to the point where everything he saw gray as if the fog itself was infecting his vision. Amidst the fog he could hear something, it was hazy and unclear, but he could make out his name from it.

“Haku… can… me…?”

His eyes started to feel heavy and he felt a throbbing pain on the back of his skull. He collapsed onto the soft white flowers and felt the ground give way to an endless fall. Amid that fall, Haku awoke from his unconscious state with hazy eyes and muffled hearing, but he could see Ishihara in his vision speaking to him.

“Haku, can you hear me?” Ishihara shook him.

Haku blinked before looking around the area for any sign of the girl, the fog, or the endless field of flowers. But nothing by the academy’s usual look was there. Haku let out a sigh of relief. “I’m not dead.”

Ishihara scoffed. “Don’t be such a drama queen. You blacked out for a minute or two and now here you are.”

Haku held his head and looked up at the wall, just realizing how tall it is by being right next to it. Even the traces of his knife that he planted was lodged far beyond his reach. “I guess that explains it.”

Ishihara turned to a figure standing away from him. “Regardless, what you said to me was true, I did break one of the three promises of a Climber. That itself is unforgivable and I only have myself to blame for that. As promised, I put him down.”

Over Ishihara’s shoulder, he could see the masked boy, crossing his arms while leaning against the wall. The two guards who were at the tower gates are now present on both of the boy’s sides to ensure he doesn’t escape. Haku smiled knowing he is alive and well. Hopefully, with this, I could also secure a teammate for the ceremony. He sheathed his knife and pushed his way up the ground on his way to meet him but winced in pain when he used his hand to support his ascent and fell over yet again while holding his wrist. It was horribly damaged and of no use until healed.

Ishihara scowled. “I will say though, your actions were reckless beyond comprehension. How are you going to partake in the ceremony when you injured yourself trying to save a man without a background?”

“I-I’ll be fine, captain, I’ve trained for this. Plus, I can always rely on my ally to help me up,” Haku looked over at the boy who turned his head to him, expecting a response. But the only response was a huff from his nose while he turned his head away, ignoring him.

“A hello would suffice,” Haku pouted. Slowly, the pain on his wrist started to get to him, making him bite his lip. “Well, I wouldn’t mind going to the clinic for a little while. Maybe meet up with a priest or priestess.”

Despite Ishihara’s stoic expression being unchanging, Haku could see how this is a problem for him from his face. “Amai is currently inside the tower with her assistants looking for injured or potentially missing Climbers from the ceremony. Most of the priests and priestesses in the academy are busy tending to the wounds of the recent graduates at the levels below and the ones that aren’t are dismissed for the day.” Ishihara looked over at his own palm, covered by a shred of his own cloth. “Unless you want to continue on and run the risk of dying or having someone else hurt, I suggest you call out this futile struggle to partake in the ceremony and come back next year.”

“But, captain!” Haku desperately pleaded. “What about all the things I said to you? And the boy; you can’t just leave him here like that. Please, can it just be a team of two--”

“Absolutely not.”

Haku recoiled from Ishihara’s raised voice. “You’re lucky you’re even standing in this academy at this point. From being late for the graduation ceremony to defending an outsider who was trying to infiltrate the tower and injured the captain. If any of this happened to any other person, I would have their remains be thrown out into the fog. Now unless you studied to be a priest under my nose to fix yourself or miraculously found another fugitive to join your ranks, I forbid you from partaking in this ceremony. Do you understand?”

There was nothing but silence as those words echoed in Haku’s skull. Anger, frustration; Haku could hear it all in his voice. All the emotions he once saw on the captain’s face before he even called himself a captain. He couldn’t understand why Ishihara was so insistent on being the leader of the academy, but that decision was the one that got Haku here in the first place. To be a Climber and take his place once he’s gone, like the promise he made long ago.

“I… understand.” Haku reluctantly said, his gaze falling down in defeat.

As Ishihara took a deep breath and let it go, he nodded to the guards. “Good. Now, off you go.”

Haku looked over at the guards where they roughly held the boy, looking displeased and trying to break free. “What are you gonna do to him?”

“Take him in for questioning. Then we let him go once we find a suitable punishment.”

“You’re criminalizing him? After what you said about regretting your actions?”

He shook his head disapprovingly. “My actions were reckless and I understand that. But he still trespassed the walls of the academy to breach into the tower. Not even the Goddess can forgive something like that.”

“Let him go already!” Haku got up and approached the guards that were apprehending the boy, only to be stopped by Ishihara's hand.

“Haku, you’ve done enough. Stand down,” Ishihara commanded.

Haku froze up, but took a deep breath and scowled at him. “Stop this, Ishihara.”

“What did I say about addressing myself properly?”

“This is not the time. Please, let him go.”

Ishihara didn’t budge, signing to the guards. “Take him away.”

The boy thrashed around as he was being taken by the two guards. Despite the guard’s armor and advantage, they’re having a hard time keeping the boy down. It got to the point where the guards locked the boy’s hand behind him and pinned him to the ground with their feet planted on his body. His screeches of anger and pain echoed out into the air. “Let me go!”

Disturbed by the sight, Haku pushed Ishihara’s arm away, running off towards the boy. It wasn’t long, however, for he himself to be pinned down by Ishihara, his face and body planted to the ground by Ishihara’s hands. Haku saw the boy by the doorway of the academy, the guards desperately trying to exhaust him and making him stop. His struggles were chaotic and destructive despite his bound limbs. The guards had enough and retaliated by bashing, beating, and kicking him to submission. Each impact Haku could see the boy’s rage slowing to more pain and exhaustion, his eyes twitching as he looked over at Haku.

Haku tried his best to break free, but Ishihara wanted none of it, sitting on top of his body and pinning him to the ground where he couldn't move. But despite that, he continued to move his legs and arms to the point of punching the ground with his injured hand to drag him a little bit further. His whimpers were suppressed by the ground as he continued to drag himself forward. Even from his muffled shrieks, Ishihara could hear his pleas clearly. “Let him go!”

“Haku,” Ishihara said softly, pressing his fingers together on his uninjured hand. “You are a fool, but a fool with a heart. You follow your desires blindly without any second thought. Forgive me, but I’ll have to stop you before you make irreparable damage to your own body.”

“Please…” Haku turned his gaze and looked at Ishihara as his hand lined up to his neck. The water on his eyes streamed down in droplets to the ground, and as the droplets reflected each moment like a still picture, a faint sound of creaking arose as the academy door opened. Each person became still, turning their heads to the door as it slowly creaked open. Shyly peeking from the crevice Haku could see a girl in a kimono, fearful in her gaze but determined in her eyes.

“E-Excuse me,” she spoke in a soft, innocent voice. “Is the graduation ceremony still open?”

Haku’s eyes widened at the sight of her long orange hair, bells decorating her locks. He raised his head from the ground and spoke out to her in a suppressed tone. “Momo…ka?”

Haku reached out to the door, but couldn’t move a single inch with Ishihara pinning him down. Momoka looked at everyone with both shock and fear, her hands shaking at the sight of Haku being pinned down and the glaring stare of Captain Ishihara. She looked like she could break off to a sprint at any moment, but instead, she stood there trembling. “H-Haku? What’s going on?”

Ishihara let out a sigh. “Took you long enough. But I’m afraid you entered at the wrong time. Care to wait for me outside?”

“Um,” she stammered, trying to get her words out. “Could you… unhand them first?”

“If you have no business here, it’s best you leave. Come back later.” Ishihara turned his focus away back to Haku who was getting exhausted under his grip.

“No, I do! It’s just…” her eyes averted to Haku before quickly going back to Ishihara. Momoka took a deep breath and sighed, telling him the truth. “I was wondering if I could… join the graduation ceremony.”

Ishihara simply turned his head and stared at Momoka, behind her back he could spot sheets of paper clutched by her hand, which made him smirk as he loosened his grip on Haku. “Miracles do happen.”