Both brothers were in the cafeteria, snacking before returning to their next class. The older one had a lifeless look on his face—apparently, he hadn't expected that he would still have to study after joining the army.
— Hey, Kura and Arold! Long time no see!
The voice belonged to Itadaki, who hugged them from behind as he continued talking to both brothers.
— How are the classes going?
He acted like an older brother due to his extroverted personality, along with the huge age gap between him and the siblings. Itadaki was a man of average height with spiked hair, always moving around with that carefree and clumsy demeanor toward others.
— It sucks… We can't even go on high-level missions because of it.
That morbid and discouraged remark came from the short black-haired one himself, who truly hated having to study for several hours a day. Arold, however, gave a more subtle answer:
— They're actually kind of fun.
Itadaki ruffled both brothers' hair with his hands and began walking toward the door, speaking casually:
— Anyway, I'm heading out on a mission nearby. I'll be back at the base soon. See you around!
A couple of days passed since then—about two days. Kura was now in history class, completely zoning out and ignoring almost everything the teacher was saying.
— The Miraijins were an ancient ethnic group that conducted experiments to achieve immortality and…
Kura didn't hear the rest of the sentence—very different from his younger brother, who was diligently taking notes on everything the teacher said. Kura was too busy thinking of a way to escape class, looking for the most convenient excuse he could find.
— Professor, may I go to the bathroom?
He raised his hand as he spoke. The teacher allowed him to leave, and the short one walked out with a wide grin on his face, happy to have "escaped" class, even if only for a while.
— Man, what a boring class… What was the teacher even talking about? Miraijin? Miramin? Whatever… can't be that important.
He entered the bathroom and used one of his abilities to check if anyone else was inside. Detecting no heartbeats, he stepped in confidently and opened one of the stalls. But as he did, he let out a horrified and frightened scream. That scream drew the attention of teachers and other higher-ranking military officers, who rushed to the bathroom to see what had happened.
— T-There's a… A…
He pointed toward the stall. Inside was a dead body. The corpse had a hole in the head and neck, covered almost entirely in blood. It was one of the more "senior" soldiers—Soldier Alfonso. He was sitting with a horrified and terrified expression on his face, mixed with surprise.
The officers examined the wounds while they waited for people to come and remove the body. Though the injuries resembled those made by .38 caliber bullets, there were no signs of any gunfire, nor any weapons nearby that could've caused such wounds.
— This is going to be a nightmare to solve… Hey, take this kid to change clothes—he probably peed himself from the scare.
They took the boy to the nearest locker room to get changed.
Weeks passed after that event, but the deaths didn't stop. All over the base, corpses began turning up, each death sharing similarities with Alfonso's: either the method of killing or the location where the body was found.
Back to the brothers, who were enjoying their snack break, eating chicken coxinhas.
— Well, at least we still have these amazing coxinhas!
They dug into their snacks—until the young third sergeant bit into something strange. When he pulled it out, Kura turned completely pale and disgusted.
— Not again!
His scream drew everyone's attention—especially Itadaki's, who rushed over and immediately saw that the object was a severed human finger. He pulled the finger out of Kura's coxinha and began using his special ability.
— Give me just a second…
He started analyzing the finger with his power, which allowed him to see the history of any object he touched—enough to identify who it had belonged to.
— Oh… I see. So this is where you ended up… Alex.
Itadaki said this in a somber tone. He knew that the person in question was dead. Turning to the brothers, he spoke in a concerned voice:
— Kura, go see the medic to avoid any kind of infection… Take him with you, Arold.
Arold nodded and took his brother to the medical ward, saying in a mix of worry and gratitude:
— Thanks a lot, Itadaki.
Kura was about to thank him as well when he saw Itadaki bump into something and get a deep cut. This immediately shocked and worried Kura—but what happened next left him stunned. The spiky-haired man simply ignored the wound and regenerated almost instantly.
"Maybe… I'm just seeing things…"
That was Kura's thought as he headed to the base medic, all while wondering: "What was that regeneration?"