5:00 AM. The sky began to pale.
In the dormitories of Osaka Special Division 5, a series of alarms erupted. A large hand slammed onto an alarm clock, silencing the ringing. A short-haired man with a rugged face crawled out of bed, stretched, let out a deep yawn, and flipped the light switch.
The moment the lights flooded the room, the men still sleeping in the bunks erupted into a chain reaction: some buried their heads in their blankets, others rolled over to continue snoring, and one remained completely unaffected, thanks to his eye mask.
"Up! Everyone up! To help you rookies adapt to Division 5 faster, the Captain and I have agreed that starting today, we run drills at five every morning!"
The short-haired man was the squad leader. Division 5's housing was different from Division 4—everyone lived in a shared dormitory building. It was a rule set by the Captain to facilitate group operations and save time.
"Leader, what time is it?" a man with shoulder-length hair asked, one eye firmly shut, the other barely prying open.
"It's only five!" Another man checked his phone and dove back under his pillow. "I don't wake up until nine at home."
"When you join Special Division 5, you must be ready to wake up at any moment. Get up!"
The leader ripped the blanket off the man wearing the eye mask, but the man didn't budge. The leader kicked him, but there was still no reaction. "This kid sleeps like the dead. Must be having a good dream."
Just as the leader prepared for more drastic measures, the eye-masked man's body began to twitch, as if he were seizing. The sudden display frightened the three other men in the room; they scrambled out of bed, scrambling to hide behind the squad leader.
"Don't be afraid of a little thing like this."
"Leader, what's wrong with him?"
"Looks like a nightmare."
"Nightmares are supposed to be abstract, not this literal!"
*SWISH!!*
A figure flew out of the eye-masked man's head. The men in the dorm screamed, scrambling toward the door. The leader was the first one out.
"Heh. Is this Division 5? You lot have no guts."
"You can insult me, but you don't insult our unit!"
Though they were terrified, hearing someone mock their division made the three rookies turn back to confront Arata. He didn't look like a bad guy.
"Who are you? Why did you fly out of his head?" the long-haired man asked.
"Call me Arata, or Brother Arata."
"You're Arata from Division 4!!" The rookies gasped. They had clearly heard the legends.
"Indeed, that is I." To confirm his identity, Arata flashed his work badge.
"It really is Arata!!" They were ecstatic. "We heard you easily killed the Poppy Devil, the Mirror Devil, the Zombie Devil, the Bat Devil, and so many others. Because of you, Division 4 has had zero deaths to date!"
They worshiped him because when Division 5 had faced the Bat Devil, they had to mobilize the entire squad—minus the Captain—just to hack off one of its arms, a fight that left half of them wounded. As for the Poppy Devil, that was a tall tale only the veterans whispered about. That Arata could handle such terrors alone made their adoration genuine.
"It wasn't 'easy'—it was a one-shot kill. But who told you all that?"
"A woman named Himeno visited us a while back."
"Good lord. So it was Himeno spreading the rumors all along."
While they chatted, the squad leader had sprinted all the way to the street. Seeing the three rookies hadn't followed, he slapped his thigh in frustration. "Rookies are useless; they're slow even at running away! Hope it's not too late to go back."
He jerked the starter cord in his crotch. Two axes burst from his hands, and a third—resembling bull horns—sprouted from his head. He charged back, leaped into the air, and brought his axes crashing down toward Arata's skull. Arata dodged with a side-step and sent him flying with a single kick.
"Wow! That's amazing! He kicked our leader away with one shot!"
The Division 5 rookies applauded Arata's strength, ignoring their leader flying out the door.
"You're not dead?" the leader asked, hearing the applause and seeing his men unharmed.
"Leader, he's not an enemy. This is Arata from Division 4."
"Arata?" The leader looked closer, his eyes filling with respect. "What are you doing in the Division 5 dorms? Did the Captain send you to train us?" He retracted his weapons.
"Train your head. I almost forgot why I came." Arata scanned the room. "Do you have a mirror in here?"
"How could the men's dorm have a mirror? The women's dorm has one, though."
"Take me there. I'm in a hurry."
The long-haired man sprinted with Arata toward the women's wing. It was only ten steps away. At the door, he knocked, but there was no response. He knocked again.
"They're probably sleeping."
"Pray they aren't sleeping naked."
Arata kicked the door in. The women inside jolted awake, scrambling to hit the lights, but they found no intruders—only that their full-length dressing mirror was missing.
Outside in the hall, Arata stood the mirror against the wall. He wiped the glass with his hand, and his head passed right through it. The long-haired man retreated in shock. When Denji and Power saw Arata appear inside the mirror realm, they escaped through the exit, their bodies fully restored. They had discovered a miraculous way to be resurrected.
"Master!" Denji hugged Arata, relieved. Though he shed no tears, his stone-cold heart had begun to thaw.
Outside, the two women from the dorm room, having put on clothes, stormed out. "Gai, why are you here?" one demanded of the long-haired man.
"Arata-senpai is here."
"Arata? Which one is Arata?" Their eyes scanned the group until they locked onto him.
"He's Arata-senpai!"
During Division 4's month-long training, Himeno and Aki had spent a week with Division 5. While drinking, Himeno had spilled stories about Arata—even bragging, while drunk, that Makima couldn't beat him. To the members of Division 5, Arata had become their god. Every rookie yearned for an elite to carry them to greatness.
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