[One Shot] ARA5HI

[coolohoh]

Title: ARA5HI
Pairing: General Arashi Friendship (A bit of Ohmiya and Sakuraiba if you squint. Like, really really hard.)
Rating: PG
Summary: The good thing about being a sensate is that you have caring teammates who can act on your behalf. Like, literally.
Note to readers: Written for the 2017 Arashi exchange! Finally got around to posting the fic! There's roughly a 'current' timeline plus a 'past' timeline (aka flashbacks) that's going on in parallel, with the 'past' being all jumbled up. Hopefully it's not too confusing... :P
Note to recipient: Warning! Character death! Nah just kidding. Erm so... I hope you still have not watched Sense8 because you know what? Before receiving your prompt I haven't the slightest clue what on earth Sense8 is. I just erm, read a few pages of wiki and ran along with it... And this is the result. This fic brings a lot of firsts for me... (My first supernatural/super powers fic, first one shot that's so long too, at least the longest I've written in a long while...) Was quite a struggle to write at first but I'm pleased with the end result, I hope that you'll like it too! Now on to the story.

***

Sho’s heart was thumping as he ran through the corridor.

“Faster Sho, they’re gaining on you!” Nino yelled.

“Shut up Nino!” Sho gritted his teeth as he nearly tripped over a box haphazardly strewed on the floor.

“Gosh, you’re hopelessly clumsy Sho! I’ll show you how it’s done.” Jun said as he dove into Sho’s mind, taking over control.

“Done just like a pro.” Nino praised Sho, or well, Jun as he vaulted over a barrier and did a somersault landing into the floor below.

“Where should I go Nino? Where can you make a rift?” Jun demanded.

“You have to get out of that building Jun. Go towards Shibuya station, there’s an empty street behind the station, I can make you a portal there.”

“Sho help! Sho-chan help!” Aiba’s voice came trembling over the mental connection.

“What happened?” Sho replied.

“Ohno! Ohno got shot!” Aiba cried, on the verge of breakdown.

“I’m not dead yet Aiba,” Ohno chided.

“Let me see this.” Sho replied as he took over Aiba’s body.

The gunshot was to the stomach, blood was slowly seeping through Ohno’s shirt, dyeing the shirt crimson red. Sho took out Aiba’s handkerchief and pressed it hard against the wound.

“Ugnnn” Ohno yelped as he gripped onto Aiba’s arm hard.

“You’ll be alright, just bear with it for a while ok?” Sho comforted.

“Nino, we need a rift. Can you open one here?” Sho demanded.

“That… I can, but if I do Sho, I won’t be able to open one for YOU to come back.” Nino explained. “Jun, everything okay there?”

“Yeah, I’m out of the building and I shook them off, I think I can handle this for now, open the portal for them Nino.” Jun replied.

“You sure Jun? Don’t forget if anything happens on your side, Sho-chan won’t be able to save Ohno either….” Nino reminded him.

“Yup, just get Ohno out of the damned place. I’ll try to get to any of our homes and access a secure portal.” Jun said before he dialled out.

“Ok ok, now give me a few minutes Sho-chan, I need to focus….” Nino said as he started the process of bending space to open up a rift for Sho (Aiba) to bring Ohno back in.

“Oh gosh… Just how did I end up here?” Sho mentally asked himself as he recalled the ’normal’ life he used to have.

Of course, being a sensate, his four other group mates heard him too.

“I know right… One moment I was sitting in my living room, and the next I was looking at your naked penis…” Aiba chuckled, never missing the opportunity to tease Sho.

***

Sho had just stepped under the shower to wash off his shampoo when he heard Aiba’s voice drifting in. Sho nearly dropped the shower head.

“What the heck!”

“Sho-chan? Moshi moshi, Sho-chan, are you there?” Aiba asked, tugging and probing at the mental link.

“Woah woah what’s happening?” Aiba yelped as he suddenly felt his field of vision changing. Instead of his familiar living room, he was now staring at a white tiled bathroom wall.

Aiba looked down to see… An unfamiliar naked body and he yelled once again, dropping the shower head onto Sho’s foot.

“Ouch!” Aiba (Sho) yelled.

“Wtf! Why are you here in my… my… mind!” Sho asked.

“I’m so sorry Sho-chan… I was just… Just trying things out and this happens….” Aiba stammered.

“Get out! Get out of my head gosh!” Sho yelled.

“I’m trying I’m trying…” Aiba muttered as he could feel Sho’s cheeks burn bright red with embarrassment.

“Arghs, I guess this is for real after all…” Sho muttered as he regained his composure and tried to continue his shower.

“Erm Sho-chan…?” Aiba finally asked.

“Woah, what, why are you still here!” Sho mentally yelled at Aiba.

“I’m stuck, how do I go back?” Aiba admitted.

“I don’t know! How did you even come here in the first place?” Sho cried out loud in frustration.

“I was just probing at the link between us and…”

“Oooooooo woah… I’m back now.” Aiba’s voice turned distant as he finally got out of Sho’s mind.

“Gosh…. What the hell have I gotten myself into now?” Sho cried as he leaned against the cold bathroom tiles and let the cold water just wash over his body.

***

They were back in their space. Bunker. Hideout. Whatever.

Sho immediately rushed Ohno into the mini operating theatre he’d prepared beforehand.

It felt strange preparing for an operation with Aiba’s body. Aiba was a little taller, and a little stockier… And most importantly, had bigger hands.

“Gosh, this is so tight, I told you to stock M size gloves!” Aiba pouted.

“Shut up Aiba, I’m busy here. Why don’t you go help Jun out or something.” Sho chided.

“You mean help Jun help you?”

“Yeah yeah whatever… Or maybe see how Nino’s doing? He must be drained from opening up that portal…” Sho suggested as he prepared the morphine jab.

“Jun-pon, I’ll borrow your body for a bit ok?” Aiba chirped as he stepped took control of Jun’s body in the living room to check on Nino in the control center.

“Yeah yeah, whatever…” Jun muttered. “Anyway, I’m going over to your house Nino, since it’s the nearest…”

Jun absolutely loathed it at first, but now he just resigned himself to the ‘body borrowing’ habits of his teammates. He had to admit that it was convenient… Jun focused his thoughts once more on the task at hand - getting Sho to safety. He was glad that Sho was a heath freak and a gym lover like himself. If it’d been Nino who was trapped by the Seekers… Well, let’s just say that it would not have ended well, even with his superb parkour skills. It’s as much about the body as it is about the skills after all.

“Where are the seekers Nino?” Jun asked as he tried to plot out his next move. Jun scanned the crowd looking for any signs of danger.

“Don’t know… I’m tired…” Nino muttered…

“Aiba can you look at the map…?” Jun asked.

“I’m trying, I’m trying…” Aiba muttered.

“Arghs no wait, just let me do it myself, why don’t you take charge of Sho-kun?” Jun suggested.

“Ok!” Aiba agreed as they both switched places, Jun going back into his body and Aiba into Sho.

***

Jun (Ohno) could barely stand up.

Aiba made it seem so easy, he’d already visited Sho without even really trying on his first day as a sensate.

“Gosh! I’m so dizzy!” Jun croaked.

“It’s ok Jun, you’ll get used to it after a few more tries. Anyway… This is my house…” Ohno said as he gave a cursory wave around his living room.

“I’m sorry Ohno-san, but I didn’t exactly come visiting to actually visit. I just wanted to practice.” Jun confessed.

“Uhuh…” Ohno nodded.

“You know… With the danger of the Seekers being real and what not… I’d rather be over-prepared than under-prepared.” Jun continued.

“Yeah yeah, I understand Jun, it’s ok, you can come visiting as often as you like. Just erm… Don’t disturb me ok? I’m gonna continue with my painting.” Ohno replied.

“Erm… Ok… I’ll try…? Isn’t it distracting though, to have someone constantly buzzing in and out?”

“It’s alright, I’m used to it already. Nino does it all the time…” Ohno shrugged as he continued painting his pitbull.

“Uh… Ok… Thanks…” Jun said as he withdrew his conscious from Ohno.

Back in his apartment, Jun slumped down on his sofa.

“Gosh… This makes me so dizzy…” Jun complained as he took a sip of water before going to visit Ohno again.

***

“Erm Jun, where the heck am I?” Aiba asked as his conscious took control of Sho’s body. Sho was in middle of a small alleyway that Aiba could not recognise.

“Take a left turn and go over to the main street, here I’ll send you a map,” Jun replied as he projected an image to Aiba.

“You bringing Sho to my house Jun?” Nino asked.

“Yup,” Jun nodded.

“That’s a good idea… It’ll be bad if they attacked our base in the real world… We could end up lost in this plane of reality forever…” Nino nodded in approval.

“Yeah… I’m searching through the video footage to find Yamada…” Jun said as he pursed his lips in concentration.

“Are you ok now Nino?” Aiba asked.

“I’m fine… At least I can keep up the base… But no portal for you Aiba.” Nino replied.

“You mean Sho.” Aiba corrected.

“Same difference.” Nino shrugged.

“You see him yet?” Jun asked.

They were looking at screens upon screens showing CCTV footage all around Tokyo.

“Nope… He has to be around there somewhere… Dammit… If only I managed to get that face recognition software set up and running we won’t be facing this right now!” Nino cursed.

“It’s ok Nino, you’ve done enough…” Jun muttered.

“There! Pause that. That’s Inoo Kei isn’t it?” Jun yelled.

Nino zoomed in the video. A blurry picture of what seems to be Inoo showed up.

“Ok… So that’s one of the Seekers… Let’s try and track him down, see if he leads us to other members…” Nino muttered.

***

The bullet was lodged in deeper than Sho expected. Sho looked at his patient.

Ohno’s breath was getting more and more laboured and his face was white.

“Sho-chan, it hurts… “ Ohno whispered.

Sho mentally debated administering an anaesthetic. It was dangerous. Despite all the homework and preparation he had done, he was no anaesthesiologist and he’d be concentrating on the operation. On top of that, the base, the very space they were in was maintained by their combined mental capabilities. If he were to knock Ohno out, the burden on each of the remaining members would increase… On top of that, Nino had already expanded a lot of energy bringing himself and Ohno into the space with a forced rift….

“I’m fine Sho, just do it. We can’t have Ohno dying now can we? Hurry up and stop wasting time. There’s more work waiting for you after you’re done…” Nino chided.

“Just take a deep breath and relax…” Sho said as he placed the gas mask over Ohno.

“Everything will be alright,” Sho said more to himself than to anyone else.

***

“Jun, why don’t you go help Sho, he needs someone to keep tabs on Ohno…” Nino instructed.

“But but…” Jun gestured at the monitors.

“Nino, turn on the CCTV to the OT, just let me know if the heart rate and O2 levels fall below normal.” Sho instructed.

“Ok ok…” Nino muttered as he changed one of the screens to show the monitoring equipment in the operating theatre. Sho had gave them a basic run down on how to use and read the equipment, and more importantly, stuck easy to understand instructions beside the monitors.

“This is bad, it seems like they found out where our base is, they are all coming to my house…” Nino clucked in annoyance.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of them!” Aiba chirped.

“Dude, how are you going to take care of them! Those guys are armed! Gosh where the heck are those good for nothing Kanjani8 people who promised to help?” Jun fumed.

Nino shrugged.

“They are in Kansai… What do you expect? That they’d be able to teleport over or something? You know even with our rift making abilities that that’s not possible…”

“Yeah yeah but still… Damn those seekers!” Jun said as he paced up and down the room.

***

It just wasn’t fair.

That the Seekers had 9 people but they were only 5.

Granted, they had been sensates for longer and thus had more experience… But who the hell started training to become killers the moment they became a sensate? Definitely not ARA5HI. Jun huffed in frustration as he was forced to retreat. The plan to infiltrate into the base of the Seekers had failed. The Seekers were way more prepared than expected.

And now, Jun thinks he knows the reason why.

Yamada.

Yamada Ryosuke.

***

“Senpai, how was my acting?” Yamada asked.

“You did a great job,” Jun smiled. “But I still think I’m the better Kindaichi,” Jun teased his kouhai.

Yamada laugh as Jun patted him on the back.

***

“Jun-kun, why are you leaving the entertainment industry? Who’s going to look after me now?” Yamada wailed.

“You silly little boy… Still such a kid… And there I thought you were grown up already… I’ll still be around, don’t you worry… I’m just going to become a producer now. I’ll always be your senpai so if there’s anything you can always contact me ok?”

***

“Yamada, why are you doing this?” Jun asked as he slowly lifted his hands above his head.

“I’ve always treated you like my little brother… Took care of you, helped you, protected you from bullies… Is this how you treat your older brother?” Jun questioned, his face clearly pained.

Yamada’s hands were trembling but his finger remained on the trigger.

“You left me you traitor!" Yamada yelled, his voice trembling. "Go, and don’t ever let me see you again.”

Jun ran and never looked back.

***

“Yamada… Just what do you have planned?” Jun muttered as his mind flashed back to the earlier scene.

Yamada Ryosuke. Once his cute little brother. Now he was in a white shirt, with tie loosened and the first few buttons undone, holding a pistol that was pointed at him.

“Jun, stop thinking about what happened please.” Nino chided.

“I’m sorry, I just… I just can’t….”

“It’s alright… It’s not your fault Jun, really.” Nino consoled. "Sho's life is at stake here, we need to concentrate..."

“Yeah… You’re right. I’m sorry…” Jun sighed as he continued looking at the maps and monitors.

***

Sho heaved a sigh of relief as he put the last bandage on Ohno’s wound.

Everything turned out longer and more difficult than he expected, but it was done.

And by all accounts, Ohno was alive and well, though still under anaesthesia. The operation in his make shift base had been a success.

Now all he had to do was…. Wait for Ohno to wake up and… Gosh. Where was he? He was still in Aiba’s body and his actual physical self was still out there in the real world and in danger.

“Relax Sho, Aiba’s taking good care of you.” Jun assured Sho as he felt the latter started panicking a little.

“How’s Ohno?” Nino asked.

“He’ll be alright. He’s liver was damaged but it’ll grow back…” Sho deadpanned.

“And are YOU alright?” Jun asked.

“I’m fine… Just a little tired… I’ll put Ohno into bed and join you guys shortly.” Sho replied.

***

“Sakurai-sensei? Are you alright?” The nurse asked as Sho stumbled a little.

“I’m fine, just a little tired.” Sho assured the nurse as he changed out of his scrubs. He has just finished a 6 hour long operation after all, but the extreme headache and dark spots circling his eyes were something he’d never experienced before…

“I’ll go take a rest first,” Sho said to no one in particular.

He’d barely made it into his resting room when the finally darkness claimed him.

***

They were in a black space.

“You-tachi will create a storm around the world” An old man said.

And then, he disappeared, leaving nothing but eternal darkness.

“What the hell was that?” Sho exclaimed.

“Looks like we’ve been chosen,” a snarky voice replied, scaring the beejezels out of Sho.

Sho turned around to see four other people standing in the… space.

“Hi, shall we do some self introduction? I’m Ninomiya Kazunari, you can just call me Nino.” The pale skinny man continued with a two finger salute and a smirk.

“Who the hell are you and why are we here? Where is this place?” Sho exclaimed.

“Geez, didn’t I just introduce myself. I’m Nino. As for where this place is… Well, you can say it’s an alternate reality. Sheesh. Why the heck are you so late anyway? If you’d been here earlier you would have heard that explanation given by Johnny-jiji.” Nino clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Erm… I still don’t understand…” A brown hair guy said.

“Ok, introductions first. Like I said, I’m Nino. You are?” Nino asked, looking at the new speaker.

“Erm… I’m Aiba… Aiba Masaki.”

“And you?” Nino asked, looking at Sho.

“I’m Sakurai Sho. Call me Sakurai. Or Sho. Whatever…” Sho said with a look of confusion on his face.

“I’m Ohno Satoshi. Nice to meet you…” Ohno yawned.

“And you…?” Nino asked.

All eyes turned to the last man in the…. space.

“Why should I give my name to a bunch of people I’ve just met?” He scowled.

“Well I suppose you don’t have to… But we need something to call you by? So we’ll just call you Mr. Thick Eyebrows? And you heard the explanation earlier anyway…. We’ll all mentally connected now. We’ll find out pretty soon.” Nino shrugged.

“You seem to know a lot about this mental connection business…” Mr. Thick Eyebrows pointed out.

Nino shrugged. “I don’t know about you Mr. Thick Eyebrows, but I’m a geek. I love reading all these sci-fi stuff on the internet. And I just happen to have had a fascination about these mental connection stuff… How knew it’d actually happen to me?”

“The name’s Jun. And we’ll leave it at that.” Jun clicked his tongue in annoyance. He clearly did not appreciate the nickname Nino gave.

“Ok. So for the benefit of everyone… I’ll summarise what we know so far.” Nino said, though he was clearly looking at Sho.

“For some reason or another, Johnny-jiji, whom I believe you just saw a fleeting moment of,” Nino said looking at Sho, “Well, he picked us to be the next generation of ’sensates’ to continue his work in protecting public safety in Japan. And that the five of us sensates are now mentally connected and we can talk to each other through our minds… We can also do high level stuff like go into each other’s bodies and what not...”

“The space we are in right now is a subspace of reality that is created jointly by our minds, and since it’s created by us, we should be able to decorate it as we like… This place is only limited by our mental powers and knowledge it seems.” Nino continued.

“You don’t look convinced Sho-san…” Nino commented.

“I’m not either…” Jun remarked.

“I think I’m just hallucinating… This can’t be real! It’s just a dream! I’m not in this subspace or alternate reality or whatever!” Sho yelled.

The next thing he knew, Sho was lying on his bed, still in the scrubs that he had yet to change out off. His headache was gone now, and there were no more dancing black spots in his field of vision.

Sho took a deep breath and cautiously got out of bed. Was it a dream? But for a dream, it felt too real. Yet it seemed too bizarre to be reality. Mental connections? Talking to someone through their minds? Sho closed his eyes and concentrated.

Nothing.

There didn’t seem to be any sort of ‘mental connection’ going on.

Sho sighed and headed for the showers. Perhaps it was just a dream after all? Maybe a sign that he’s been working too hard lately. Perhaps he should go on a much needed vacation….

***

When Ohno woke up, he was in a completely white, undecorated room and he felt like there was a stone resting on his stomach.

“Where am I?”

“Relax, everything is fine, you’re in a resting room I created in the space. Do you remember what happened? You got a gunshot wound in the stomach but everything is alright now…” Sho started reassuring Ohno, but Ohno had fallen back asleep before Sho could finish.

***

Ohno remembered the day he became a sensate all too well.

It came all too suddenly.

Ohno was on the boat when he was hit with such a terrible headache that he nearly passed out. The fishing rod fell out of his hands and all he could see was darkness. Soon after, he found himself in a pitch black room with three other young guys and an old man.

***

“Be careful here Aiba, the Seekers are nearby.” Jun instructed as Aiba in Sho’s body neared Nino’s appartment.

Aiba carefully punched in the access code and scanned his fingerprint and iris on the scanner. With a soft click, the door to Nino’s apartment opened.

Aiba stepped in and quickly closed the door. Scanning the living room for any signs of intruders. Suddenly, a shadow moved in the corner. By pure instinct, Aiba rushed forward and delivered a roundhouse kick to the intruder.

“Ouch… ” Chinen crocked.

“Oh Chinen? I’m so sorry… How did you get in here anyway?” Aiba asked.

“Shh…!” Chinen hushed as he pushed Aiba out of the apartment.

“Yamada managed to hack open a door into Nino’s room… He’s camped here now waiting for you guys to come out. The moment you open your portal he’s planning on invading the space and killing all of you…” Chinen explained, his face pale and lined with worry.

“Oh... shit…” Aiba stammered.

“Is there any other way by which we can access your subspace from?” Chinen asked.

“Aiba, go to the carpark and take my car.” Nino instructed.

“Find another safe portal and just come back asap ok?” Nino replied, exhausted.

“After all that surveillance, to think that he’d simply managed to open a portal to my house eh?” Nino sighed.

“Is that possible? Is Chinen lying?” Jun questioned.

“I don’t think so… We did search his mind previously and we were satisfied with the results didn’t we?” Sho remarked.

***

Chinen was an avid fan of Ohno’s manga way before Ohno Satoshi became famous. He’d read every manga from cover to cover, and been to every single of the artist’s exhibitions.

When he became a sensate and found out that Ohno was one of the group members that leader Yamada wanted to get rid of, Chinen swore that he would protect Ohno with all his might.

***

An internal debate was going on.

“I think it’s too risky to bring Chinen to the base, it’s not that I don’t trust Chinen, but he’s linked to Yamada and that make him way too dangerous for my likingMakes me wan.” Jun cautioned.

“But if we leave him here, he might get killed by Yamada… Who knows what that monster is capable of doing…?” Aiba pleaded.

“And what makes you think he won’t take over Chinen and use that boy to kill us all?” Jun demanded.

“Arghs you guys are so noisy. How am I supposed to sleep in this noise?” Ohno chided.

“Tell you what… I’m the strongest mentally here. I’ll take control of Chinen so that Yamada won’t be able to control him, that way we’ll all be safe. Ok?” Ohno continued.

Jun reluctantly nodded.

“Ok… Just… be careful ok? I don’t want anyone to get shot again…” Sho cautioned.

***

“Found you little rats!” Yamada deadpanned as he opened the storeroom door to a hiding Aiba and Ohno.

“Bastard!” Ohno yelled as he slashed at Yamada with his hunting knife.

“What the…” Yamada swore as he knife cut into his thigh.

Bang.

The gun in Yamada’s hand went off as Ohno stabbed Yamada in the abdomen.

“Fuck you!” Yamada swore as he ran out of the storeroom, dripping a trail of blood in the process.

Ohno crumpled to the floor, groaning in pain.

***

Getting controlled by someone outside the group was a painful process, but Chinen knew that it could not be avoided. Besides, in happier times, he would have gladly given up anything to be controlled by the idol.

“So this is our base.” Aiba introduced as they stepped into their space.

“I guess we can switch back now Sho-chan?” Aiba asked.

“Oh yeah sure, I think we should do that eh?” Sho replied.

“Wait… You mean I’ve been talking to Aiba-senpai all along?” Chinen asked.

“Well actually, you were talking to all of us.” Ohno replied in his head.

“Oh…”

“Anyway… I, I mean Aiba, bought us some food…” Sho said as he peaked into the bags of food Aiba had grabbed from his house before entering the space.

“Wow… This place is… Amazing…” Chinen gasped as he looked around the living room. The design was sleek and modern, and beautiful yet practical.

“It took us quite a while to get here…” Ohno shrugged.

“Anyway where are you, Ohno-senpai?” Chinen asked.

“I’m here,” Ohno said as a door materialised in the middle of the living room and Ohno walked out.

“Woah what, are you alright?” Sho asked as he rushed over to Ohno.

“I’m fine, it just hurts a little, but I’m fine…” Ohno replied as he mentally conjured a new sofa to lie on.

“Well Chinen, if you don’t mind…” Jun said as handcuffs appeared in his hands.

“You should get some rest Ohno, don’t overexert yourself.” Sho sighed.

***

“Hey guys! Look!” Aiba yelled as soon as he got back into the ‘space’.

“Erm what? You look the same as before Aiba…?” Nino remarked.

“Wow, a sofa, where did you get that from? And where’s Jun?” Aiba asked.

“Jun said he had work to do, he left just a moment ago… And as for the sofa, Oh-chan here conjured it.” Nino smiled as he messed with Ohno’s hair. “Anyway, what did you want to show us?”

Aiba explained how he managed to visit Sho.

“Anyway, how come I didn’t feel any of you earlier!” Aiba asked.

“Maybe it’s because we are in here… I don’t sense any of you either.” Ohno remarked.

Nino agreed. “This is a special subspace after all… Hmm I wonder if it’s like a dungeon and we can change the settings or something… It would be nice to make a tv and my game consoles here… I wonder if I’ll be able to have it connect to the internet…”

“Wow, this is amazing… We can make a house in here! And food, do you think we can conjure up food?” Aiba asked, amazed.

“I don’t know…” Ohno shurgged. “Why don’t you try?”

***

“So what are we going to do about Chinen and Yamada?” Sho asked.

“And what about the rest of the Seekers?” Aiba said out loud.

“Why do you keep calling us Seekers… We have a name you know… We are called Hey Say Jump…” Chinen protested.

“You were called Hey Say Jump until you guys turned evil.” Sho corrected.

“Honestly, it’s just Yamada… He’s so… He… Forced us all…” Chinen said as he looked out from the cell Ohno had created in a corner of the living room.

The smell of the spaghetti was drifting across the living room and making Chinen’s stomach growl.

“Here, I’ll feed you,” Jun said as he appeared from the kitchen with a bowl of porridge in hand.

“You guys can conjure food too?” Chinen asked, eyes wide open.

“No you baka,” Aiba laughed. “We just have a nicely stocked kitchen is all.”

***

The new sensates were eager to test the limit of their skills.

Aiba closed his eyes and pictured a plate of chicken karaage.

“Ooo, looks delicious.” Ohno commented.

“Is it edible?” Nino frowned.

“Maybe?” Aiba said as he popped one into his mouth.

“How is it?” Nino asked.

Aiba frowned. “It’s… Nothing.”

“As in?” Nino asked, confused.

“It’s… It just disappears into nothingness. No taste, no nothing…” Aiba commented as he offered the plate to the other two.

“Hmm… I guess there are limits after all…” Nino commented, frowning.

***

It was by accident that Nino discovered that he could bring real items into the subspace.

He’d tried conjuring up his DS and Nintendo Switch, but the creations were duds that didn’t work. Now he was sitting in his living room wishing that he could take his gaming sets along with him…

And in the next moment, there he was, sitting on the lone sofa in the barren subspace, holding his Switch controller. The television had followed him along too, and better still, the game was still running. Nino tried the controller gingerly. Link on the TV screen moved.

“Oh my goodness, this is amazing!” Nino gasped as he tried a few more buttons. Everything seemed to be working as per normal.

“Gosh, I have to tell the rest about this discovery!” Nino gasped before collapsing onto the floor, overwhelmed by tiredness.

***

The phone rang.

“Hey Nino? It’s me, Hina… We just reached Tokyo… So where’s this Yamada that you’ve been telling us about?”

Nino’s eyes lit up with glee.

“Hey guys, get ready to rock and roll, because reinforcements are here!” Nino announced.

“Ok! What’s the plan?” Aiba asked.

“Do you think you can make us some bullet proof vests? Because I think it’s time to lure Yamada out…” Jun asked, looking at Ohno.

“I’ll try…” Ohno groaned as he tried to sit up.

“Send Kanjani8 to your house Nino, we’ll catch Yamada off guard and storm his subspace instead.” Jun instructed.

“Got you boss!” Nino smirked as he gave Jun a trademark salute.

***

The battle turned out to be a total anti climax.

“Gawd… You called us all the way here for this??” Yokoyama complained as he poked at the half dead Yamada.

Yamada groaned as blood spluttered out of his abdomen wound.

Sho sighed.

“Let’s just call the police and the ambulance… I think I’ve had enough of emergency operations for the day…” Sho shuddered.

“Already did, I called the Sensates Defence Department too… They’ll deal with all of them…” Murakami said as he pointed at the miscellaneous Hey Say Jump members, who were all too pleased to surrender the moment Yamada pass out when Maruyama knocked him out with a well aimed strike with his nunchucks.

“See, I told you, it’s just that Yamada was so powerful mentally that we couldn’t resist him…” Chinen pleaded for his teammates.

“Sorry lad, the judge will decide that, not us.” Yokoyama replied.

“Gosh… That was such an exciting day… I’m drained…” Nino commented as he came out of the rift into his bedroom.

“Ah my comfy bed, I missed you… Shoo, get off my bed!” Nino said as he flopped down onto his bed.

Nino watched as Sho helped Ohno out.

“Anyone left anything in there?” Nino asked.

“I’m gonna dismiss the space for now then…”

“Till another day, another adventure…” Ohno replied.

“Hey guys, we just got to Tokyo, anyone wanna party?” Murakami chirped.

“Sorry bro, we’re dead beat, you guys go have fun ok?” Nino replied.

“Alright, we’ll leave once the police arrives… Next time try calling us a day before at least? The Shinkansen takes 2 and a half hours from Osaka to Tokyo ya know...”

“And we need some time to prepare too!” Maruyama said as he swung his nunchucks around in a Bruce Lee imitation.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll try, we’ll try…” Nino said sleepily.

***

“Yamada Ryosuke.”

“For attempted murder, forced mind control, illegal procession of firearms, and another 23 counts of charges, you are hereby sentenced to removal of your sensing ability as well as life imprisonment.”

“Court dismissed."

***