The Hero Is Unchained, But Not Free

By: Fox Under Fire

Chapter 3

Sunglass-man is my next door neighbor! He’s a Uni!

But...why isn’t he confronting me?

Does he not recognize who I am?

It had to be. Either that, or he was playing the fool for some reason. Personally, I was hoping for the former.

Still, was this really the same guy I had seen outside my window the night before? His eyes were the same spears to the soul, and when his voice dipped in octave, it matched, but his demeanor was completely different. The Uni who had confronted the shadow assailant was dangerous in an electric, almost satisfying way. But this sunglasses-wearing bartender/barista was almost painfully plain, relaxed as if nothing would ever ruffle his feathers.

Maybe they were twins or something. Or cousins. Or I had been hallucinating the night before. Or my mind had conjured a terrible nightmare to go with my homesickness and halfway hopeless feelings.

If only that were true.

I had definitely seen two Uni quarrel, short lived though it was. And it had definitely scared me to the core—so much so that I could feel my body threatening to shake as I stared at my sunglasses-wearing neighbor.

Keep it together, Ivy! You can’t let him suspect you!

My mind screamed at me just as my next door neighbor said, “Um...are you sure the coffee is alright? Your face is twisted into a—well, I’m not really sure how to describe that expression.” He said all of this with a polite, nonchalant air, as if he had no hidden agenda that involved strangulating or threatening me.

I held my coffee mug tighter, practically clinging to it as I replied, “Oh no. It’s wonderful. Really.” I was well aware that my pitch was too high, and that everything about me screamed discomfort.

You have the worst poker face ever, Ivy—no, the worst poker posture. If that’s actually a thing.

No wonder I had always lost when my boyfriend took me to the casino. Not that I had actually cared about gambling, anyway.

I took another drink of my coffee, just to show that I liked it, but the sunglasses-man didn’t appear convinced. A frown marred his lips, and before I could reiterate how great the drink was I felt something invisible tug—almost reluctantly—at the center of my chest.

I shivered, thrown back to the night before when icy-white eyes had stared at me, and I’d felt the exact same sensation, only stronger. It wasn’t unpleasant, but there was something pervading about it that made me feel as if I should be disgusted by the feeling even though I wasn’t.

Now there was no doubt. This was indeed my next door neighbor, the very Uni who had reached out and closed his fingers around the shadow assailant’s throat.

“Sorry.” When the Uni in front of me spoke, I jumped, almost spilling my coffee. He pushed his dark glasses up the bridge of his long nose. “I guess you’ve figured me out then. I was honestly hoping you could avoid getting involved, but...no, it was a stupid wish.” He ran a hand through his ebony hair, tugging it hard. “Who’d have thought you’d end up here? I guess there’s no choice.”

Shoulders hunched, lips pulled taut, with desperation in his tone, I could no longer believe this Uni was a bad person. Though he had terrified me the night before, my heart melted towards him in that moment.

“I’m Ivy McLaughlan,” my mouth blurted the words before my brain processed them, and I reflexively held out my hand, even though it was clutching my coffee mug.

What was I saying? What was I doing? The Red Bar’s bartender/barista had just admitted he was the Uni who lived next door to me, and I was giving him my name? This was a bad situation.

But I suddenly couldn’t help myself. In that moment, getting to know this Uni seemed like the most important thing in the world.

Looking back, a part of me must have sensed what was to come.

The sunglasses-man glanced at the coffee mug before he looked back at me, hesitating. “Um...I’m Satsuya. Satsuya Harada.” The name had a nice ring, even though he frowned while saying it. “But I don’t think you understand. There are Uni after me—Typpe hating Uni. You’re in danger.”

“Oh, I—I understand just fine.” My voice came out as a squeak, and I spilled some of my coffee onto my lap as my hands began to shake. “But that’s just life, isn’t it? One day you’re on top of the world—and the next you’re disowned by your family and you end up in some backwater town, targeted by evil Uni. It’s completely normal. Just life. That’s all.” I teetered on the edge of hysterics with overzealous laughter.

Satsuya’s brows twisted in concern as he set the tray he still held on the table and crouched in front of me; this way we were at eye level. “I’m sorry. That sounds difficult.” Instead of telling me I was losing my mind, he spoke in a soft, kind voice as he gently pushed my still-extended coffee cup back towards me. “Maybe you should finish drinking that.”

I sniffled, tears forming. “Yeah. Maybe I should.” I held my coffee mug close once more, like a treasured cat, but didn’t drink from it. To any outside observer, this scene probably would have looked ridiculous, but my heart calmed in the presence of this concerned stranger.

I was calmed so much, in fact, that I almost forgot what I had seen the night before—those eyes like ice, his hand around the shadow assailant’s throat.

Careful, Ivy.

I wanted to stumble back—or better yet, run from the coffee bar—but I found I didn’t have the strength to stand.

Not that I could have escaped, had Satsuya really wanted to follow me. I didn’t know him or his abilities too well, but that much I could sense.

It was as if he could cloak his power. The night before, he had pulled the cloak away, and that power had leaked out. Today, he had thrown the cloak on, concealing the almost electric aura his abilities generated until I almost hadn’t recognized him. But now I could feel that power re-emerging, as if he had pulled the invisible cloak back just enough to reveal his hand.

I wanted to believe in the concern I saw in his eyes, but I was fearful. And curious.

Darn my writer instincts, always wanting a story.

What should I do now?

Instead of running, I tried to still my shaking as I glared at the Uni in front of me. “Don’t act like you didn’t try to kill a man last night. How do I know you’re not the one I should be concerned about?” Bold words in the face of someone who could probably easily end my life, but even I had my moments of bravery—or stupidity, depending on how you wanted to look at it.

Satsuya sighed and hung his head. “I didn’t have any intentions of killing him. I try to avoid that, if I can.” I noted that he didn’t say he didn’t kill anyone, and I gulped. “Listen, I understand you have no real reason to trust me, but—”

“Big brother!” A shrill voice rang out as the door to the coffee bar banged open, and I turned to see a young girl of perhaps eight rush into the establishment. Her ebony hair hung, braided into twin pigtails. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees, panting and red faced from running. “I’m sorry! I—I just wanted to—help!”

“Yuuki?” My next door neighbor stood. “What were you doing out by yourself?” Alarm leaked through the reprimand in his voice.

Yuuki opened her mouth to reply just as the air behind her contorted, warping like an aged mirror. A hulking hand reached through the distortion, vapor dripping from its fingers like liquid smoke. It firmly grasped Yuuki’s neck in a twisted version of last night’s events.

A face followed the appearance of the hand, the distorted air peeling back from a man’s skin as he grinned at Satsuya and declared, “Hello, Searcher. Long time no see.”

“Mirror Dive.” Satsuya growled. I didn’t recognize the mostly invisible Uni’s name, but, with the way he was acting, he had to be a villain.

“So you do remember me. I feel honored—really.” The man who held Yuuki tightened his grip, and the girl squirmed, shooting him a backwards glare even as tears formed. Every inch of the villain, save his face and the hand that threatened Yuuki’s neck, was invisible; I couldn’t even see his hair.

I shivered as the power of the mostly invisible man washed over me, much as Satsuya’s had the night before. Only, this man’s presence lacked the magnetic quality my next door neighbor’s had. It stabbed at me instead, the attacks like phantom shards of glass that disappeared halfway through their assault.

Speaking of Satsuya’s magnetic air, it erupted in full force as his hands clenched, and the air surrounding him seemed to freeze—not in temperature, but in stillness. “Get your hand off my sister.” He demanded, voice dipping to the same chilling octave I had heard the night before.