Modern Monster

Gyro didn’t turn around after a few moments of hesitancy; then, mirroring Sen’s fake façade, he met eyes with him.

“I’m from Italy,” he responded, then added, “If that’s all, I'll be taking my leave. I need to give the kitchen your orders. Rest up, folks! You have a long day ahead of you! Ho ho!”

“I can eat a cow right now. I'm so hungry!” Baru’s mouth was lavished with anticipation.

Noticing how Gyro planned to part ways with them, Sen raised his hand to catch his attention. You’re not leaving that easily, Sen thought to himself.

“Really, Italy? I heard their cuisines are fantastic. Actually, I studied quite a bit about that place. It was actually one of the first countries to establish the AOK, wasn't it?”

“Hmm, it seems you’re quite well-informed, young man. Yes, you are correct. In the early 1900s, the Administration of Knights started its sovereign rulership, along with its close neighboring countries, Switzerland, and France.”

“Sovereign rulership?” Sen echoed his words, playing off like he didn’t understand them.

“Yes, sovereign rulership is basically another term for a country that has its own independent government, and citizens abide by their policies and laws. Which is every single country now, but it used to be quite rare. In other words, the AOK was a government that was founded by Italy and was adopted by the rest of the world as a new defense system. Of course, now governments and the AOK are two separate entities, but they do work in unison to keep their citizens safe.”

“I see,” Sen murmured in understanding. “Speaking of sovereign rulership, wasn't there a country that fought in the last world war? If I’m not mistaken, they were being attacked by Italy's army when the AOK was in power.”

A shadow passed over Gyro’s expression, a small vein visible above his eyebrow.

Hmph, exactly what I thought. Now are you going to play it off like you don’t know what I’m talking about? Gyro fell into his trap, and Sen continued his onslaught without hesitation.

“Hmm, ah man, I forgot what the country was called; meh, maybe they weren't too important anyway. I mean, hey, they were completely destroyed by Italy anyway, right?” Sen gave a small chuckle, narrowing his gaze at Gyro’s reaction.

“This conversation feels very passive-aggressive—” Baru’s voice was immediately cut off by Gyro’s grim response.

“Greece...” He gritted his teeth. “It was Greece!” Gyro’s voice sounded loudly in the bar, echoing throughout the room. After his voice fully disappeared from the halls, only the soft jazz music was audible in the background. His team tensely looked at him in silence, confused by his sudden outburst. Sen gave into a small grin.

If you ever lie to me, you’ll eventually be caught in it. Don’t ever try that again.

“M-Mr. Gyro? What seems to be the problem?” asked Hono, a hand placed by her chest in fear.

“U-uh, my apologies. I'm unsure what came over me to reply in such a way, hahaha! You could say I’m quite avid about history!”

Baru yawned. “I don’t care about the past; I just care about the present!”

“HO HO! You’re quite right, young Baru. It is meaningless to obsess over the past…” Gyro replied, then added with a grimmer tone, “Sadly, the past is an open wound. No matter how many times you try to forget it, you always end up feeling its pain.”

“Yeah, yeah...." Baru nodded attentively, then paused. "Not gonna lie, I didn’t understand a word you just said—”

“I can give you a little summary of what he means, Baru.” Sen seized the opportunity and stood up from his chair, his greyish-blue eyes darting at Gyro like icy spears. “It's probably time for me to stop playing games. We really don’t have that much time.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Sen? You’re acting weird,” Hana furrowed her brow.

“I’m at a loss as well, Sen,” Hyo said admittedly. Kaiyo and Hono both nodded their heads.

“Are you okay?”

“Where’s my goddamn burger!” Turns out Baru didn’t care about anything that was going on.

Sen let out a sigh. Well, I can't even blame them for not being able to see through this one. They even fooled me. If Sen had a hard time figuring out his current prediction, for the rest of them, it must've been an impossible task.

“I'll keep it nice and simple… this wasn’t the end of the first challenge, was it, Gyro?”

His team gawked at him like he was an insane person. Hana twisted her head back and forth between Sen and Gyro with utter confusion.

“HUH?!!!”

Gyro let out a small condescending click of his tongue in response while Sen eyed him with contempt. How are you going to respond to this, old man?

“This IS the final challenge. At first, I was a little confused as to why a bar, out of all things, was how the academy represented the end of the challenge. So I was on edge the whole entire time, and with that time, I noticed a few inconsistencies within your speech, Mr. Gyro.” Sen pointed his finger at him.

“Hm? Amuse me, boy.”

“First was your body. You have the physical stature of a warrior, and although they might not be too visible, on your forearms are scars.”

“Okay? Everyone has scars. What’s your point, young man?”

“I’m getting to it,” Sen said amusingly. “Of course, having scars doesn’t indicate anything; however, it does if your super sense is…” Sen paused, “Touch…”

Although his team seemed more perplexed than they already were, Gyro let out a small chuckle of amusement, almost suggesting that Sen was on the right track. Of course, Sen already knew he was. He didn’t need a liar telling him he was going in the right direction.

“Well, since you guys don’t seem to get what I mean, I'll have to explain it,” Sen sighed. “A person with Touch almost never gets scars due to their body’s durability. This means that if someone does have them, it suggests they were part of heavy military training or were hurt in the midst of it. Only advanced weapons that utilize the power of one's senses could wound someone with Touch. Obviously, Guns and other lethal weapons are outliers to that rule. The scars that Gyro has are not done by them but are more similar to slashes that are made by a sword similar to Ayame’s or Genkai’s, which are SenseWeapons.”

“What if he doesn’t have Touch, though? That would certainly explain the scars. Sure, he has an impressive build, useful in military training, but that alone isn’t conclusive proof,” Hyo countered, offering the benefit of the doubt.

Sen nodded, appreciating the question. It was a fair point, and under different circumstances, it might have been fair. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times.

“You’re right to assume that, and you would be correct if... Gyro hadn’t tried to hit me…” Sen said, casting a bleak glance at Gyro, who had turned his head slightly to the right as if trying to distance himself from the conversation. His team gaped at the revelation.

“He tried to hit you? When? Why!” Hana looked from one to the other, gauging their reactions. Gyro chuckled softly, seemingly entertained by Sen’s deduction. As they noticed Gyro’s silence, his team rose, eyeing him with suspicion.

I’m not finished yet, Sen mused.

“Trying to hit me doesn’t prove my point, but this does,” Sen continued, picking up a glass shard from the floor and grinning as he held it before Gyro’s face. “When you shattered the glass in your hand while trying to strike me, you redirected it at the last moment, realizing your mistake. Yet, after Kaiyo kindly offered to help, you showed us you didn't have one scratch on you. How did you manage to break strong glass without sustaining a single cut?” he probed.

“Well, well!” Gyro burst into laughter. “Indeed, you are correct. Touch is my Sense. But what difference does that make? I’m merely an old veteran who served in the army long ago. And your proof that I meant to hit you? Enlighten me, young one, the more time you take, the better it is for me…”

Sen caught the subtle insinuation from the muscular man's words and couldn’t help but be amused. Clever old man, he thought, as laughter bubbled up uncontrollably within him.

“Hahaha!” Tears of laughter started to form in his eyes as he looked down at his hands, still chuckling. What is this feeling? Am I... actually having fun?