46 Exodia 46: Absolute Zero

Ancient Runes class was weird for me.

Well, there are two reasons for that. Let's address the less serious reason first.

The first reason is because of Merlyn.

So, she's lived for over 10,000 years and knows the Black Emperor.

She says that I'm one of the hosts who've lived the longest without being slaughtered by the other Emperors.

That's probably because I haven't used Black Exodia in school yet. Of course, excluding the Singularity sensor thing.

Merlyn says that she was friends with the Black Emperor and will do anything to get him back. Meaning that she wants the Black Emperor to take over my body.

I don't know if that's possible, but if the 'Great Magae' is saying it, then I guess it is. I need to keep my guard up around her.

And now, for the serious reason.

This involves Kuro.

So, as all of you who have read Exodia 1 should know, Kuro isn't exactly human.

She's closer to a Familiar and the basis in the world of Streia is that Familiars are treated like slaves or partners.

Because of the attack on the 3rd, she was forced to use her cat form to use her abilities. People saw and put it up on the forum board.

Practically everyone in this school knows that Kuro is a Familiar. Her friends are avoiding her and everything. For some reason, the excuse that the cat form is her Singularity didn't work.

She looked unaffected in class but I know she's hurting on the inside.

And for this reason, I'm here, outside of Weissmann's door to talk over the situation with him.

I knocked on the door to make my presence known.

I heard a voice say, "Come in," and I opened the door.

As I entered, I saw three people in the room.

Weissmann, Ophelia and a student.

The student turned around to look at me.

Her white hair was tied up in a ponytail and her yellow eyes pierced me. It was like I was stuck on the spot. She wore a hoodie over her shirt and a blazer over that. I could barely see the colour of her tie.

It was black.

This girl is a second-year; she's a senpai.

I thought to myself.

I have a natural tendency to be polite to senpai. My first meeting with Akane is an example, though, she isn't a senpai.

"Ah, I'll wait outside, if you're busy..."

I said, pointing at the door behind me.

"No, Shoya Sasaki. Please, come in. We've been wanting to speak to you."

Ophelia spoke.

I looked around the room to assess the mood. Weissmann didn't seem to be smiling. It's serious. Or so I thought until the senpai greeted me with a "Yo!"

I walked into the room and closed the door behind me. I stood next to Senpai.

"Shoya, there's something I need to show you."

"Uh... Sure."

Weissmann reached into his drawer.

"You know about Akane Kabura, right?"

"Yeah, she went missing before the attack, right?"

Not something that I'm happy about.

Weissmann got out a remote.

"Well, Shirogane, here, found Akane Kabura yesterday. After a little fight."

Shirogane? Is that her name? That sounds like her surname.

Ah, wait...

"You found Akane?!"

I slammed my hands on his desk. I quickly retracted my hands, awkwardly, once I noticed what I had done. Weissmann smiled and so did Shirogane-senpai.

Then, I heard a chuckle. There was only one other person in this room; Ophelia.

Hearing her laugh is something I never thought would happen.

"I'm sorry to say, but..."

He clicked a button on the remote.

A holographic projector appeared. It's very futuristic. I'm guessing this is from security footage though.

Uh... I can't see anything. Oh, it's clearing up.

The dust on the screen rushed away, only to reveal a room covered in ice spikes and ice pillars. In the middle of the room was a girl.

Her hair was long, silky and white. The opposite of Akane. Her eyes were still like purple gems. The clothes she wore looked like something you would put onto a patient. The clothes looked to be at their limit.

"Akane Kabura is in quarantine."

"Quarantine?! Why?"

I asked them. Shirogane-senpai responded.

"Well, if you look at the screen, you can see that the room is covered in ice."

"Yeah, but still..."

"That room was made to handle all temperatures. No matter how cold or hot it is."

Ophelia said.

"All but one temperature."

She muttered.

"Absolute Zero."

Shirogane-senpai called out.

"Isn't Absolute Zero the coldest anything can get? Is Akane okay?!"

"Yes, she is."

Weissmann said.

"Only because her body was modified to handle Absolute Zero. I have no idea how, but all I can say is that unless she calms herself down. She won't be able to go back to her normal self."

Her body was... modified...

"What about her family? They must have something so that she can return to normal!"

"She'll be forced to go home since they sent her here to be excellent. If they knew of this, they'd consider it a shame to her family. If you told her family, they would forcefully take her back. That would go against her will."

"Who cares?! If we can't do anything then-"

There was a loud bang on the desk and Weissmann burst up from his chair. He looked extremely angry. He leaned over and spat words in my face.

"I care! Not only as the principal but as Weissmann Mori! Akane Kabura also cares! I'm doing all I can to keep her in this school!"

My heart skipped a beat.

My facial expression was a mix of confusion, anger and sadness. I didn't know what I could do. What can I do... I don't...

[...Exodia...]

Wha...

[Use Black Exodia...]

It's... the Black Emperor's voice. He's right. I can. I can fix this. I can do this!

"Then... Let me fix this."

I said.

"How?"

Shirogane-senpai asked.

Weissmann shook his head while Ophelia questioned me.

"Shoya Sasaki, you couldn't possibly be thinking..."

"Yes, I am. I'm going to use Black Exodia on Akane."