Chapter 3

Sorry for the wait, enjoy!

It had been a few days since Tsurugi had attended soccer practice and for very good reasons. Since first meeting Tenma and forced into receiving power, he had been in hiding in Inazuma Town's PACT headquarters, one of many in Japan. Since having no family or even any proper friends, he had made the headquarters his home and spent a majority of his time inside.

Since that significant event a few days ago, Tsurugi had kept himself locked away in his room, contemplating what to do next. Since Tenma had technically broken the law by giving him power, a PACT agent of all people, he could have him locked away, or even worse. No, Tsurugi wasn't willing to do that, he couldn't afford to be so careless. Tenma was a vital asset, his vital asset and now that he knew what kind of power he was storing within his body, he couldn't so easily chuck him aside, or even allow PACT to find out about him.

People like Tenma were considered extremely rare and not only by Tsurugi, but by doctors too. As a child, Tsurugi was told by his parents that power was more than just energy, it was life.

Just as there were different types of blood, there were different classes of power. Ranging from very common to extremely rare. Each person was at a different point within this scale. Suppliers who had a very common type of power could be matched to anyone within that class, even just a bit higher or lower on the scale. However, higher up the scale, suppliers who had a very rare kind of power, were exclusively matched to the receivers who were also considered rare. Not only was it unpleasant for rare classes to receive or supply power to anyone lower on the scale, it was also considered poisonous for receivers if they were of a much lower class to the supplier.

It was the main reason Tsurugi had avoided charging off of anyone up until now, he was unsure who was what class and he wasn't willing to take any chances. But since receiving power off Tenma and feeling better than ever, there was only one logical explanation, that he was of the same class.

Tsurugi sighed quit deeply as a constant banging awoke him from his daze. A beaming light shone through the window. At that moment, he realized it was a brand new day and he couldn't afford to miss soccer practice again. He still had a job to do and missing work meant consequences for him too.

"Shut up, I'm awake."

"We're having a meeting, get dressed and get to the hall. You've got ten minutes." The deep sounding voice soon disappeared, leaving the room once again silent, as Tsurugi preferred it.

Within that allotted time, he quickly had a shower, grabbed something to eat, chewed a couple pieces of gum and quickly dressed in his usual attire. With a quick brush of his hair, he was out the door and following other elite members of PACT to the great hall.

These types of meetings were always the same. The leader never showed in person, since there were other headquarters stationed around the country, he appeared as a hologram to each and every one of them at the same time, never speaking a word unless needs be or revealing his true location.

There were usually around thirty or more people in each meeting, consisting of elites, agents and undercover agents who worked in schools, businesses and so on. The meetings were also compulsory.

During these meetings the head officer for the headquarters, would raise some issues brought to attention in the area and ask any of the agents to give any information regarding any recent activity within their posts.

Raimon Junior in particular was under very watchful eyes at the moment, and although Tsurugi didn't quite know it yet, but the other officials couldn't quite trust him, therefore he was regularly checked upon by other officials whilst working.

Each base had a head officer, who controlled and operated everyone working beneath him under direct orders from the leader. He stood at a podium in the great hall and would go round each and every individual and ask them to share as much as they could. If they had nothing to report, it was always frowned upon, as something was always going on, someone was always breaking the law.

Which meant Tsurugi was currently in a very difficult place. As he wasn't going to tell PACT about Tenma, or tell them about the rebellion or anything else that the soccer club were getting up to. On top of that, he had missed a few days of work and he had no kind of explanation.

Tsurugi snapped quite quickly out of his thoughts when he heard his name uttered quite sharply.

"Well, since you've spent the last few days in your room, someone else has had to fill in your position. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Tsurugi remained quiet, unsure what to say... lying would only make things worse and telling the truth would definitely make things worse... or maybe revealing the secrets he had found out about the soccer club would actually put him in the good books? But then... there was Tenma, stopping him from doing just that.

He bit his lip and decided to work some way around this. "I'm going back today to fulfil my duties. There are some people at the school who I'm keeping a particularly close eye on but so far they're are not showing any signs of weakness. Therefore there is no need to report them. My absence from the school has been for personal reasons, which I will not like to discuss."

"Hm... we will see. The undercover agent we sent out is at the school right now, so we will see just how much of this is true when he attends the debrief in a few days."

Tsurugi took to his feet and quietly walked away, though it was a general rule that everyone stay until the very end, the leader quietly whispered to the head officer to let him leave...

Since leaving the headquarters and making his way over the school, Tsurugi had already chewed through five pieces of gum, one piece alone was meant to last at least two hours, but then again he didn't believe they were designed for rare classes. Having been so stressed with what had been happening recently, particularly with Tenma, his body had been requiring more and more energy and the gum was becoming more and more worthless.

Having reached the school in no time at all, he was surprised to see the soccer club already out, practicing and warming up on the field, all except for Tenma. He quietly made his way inside the soccer building, heading towards the club room when the distant sound of laughing and chatting came to his attention, and knowing exactly who it was forced him to hide around a nearby corner.

"So what's this secret you'll tell me if I help you?" Tsurugi was unclear who the voice belonged to, but there was a strange hint of evil laced within his words.

"Well.. I can't tell you yet obviously, you need to help me out first. Well, it won't be just me you'll be helping, it'll be the entire club." Tenma replied.

"Can you at least tell me what you need help with?"

"Hmmm... okay. But before I tell you, can you promise me one thing?"

"Anything for you."

Tenma laughed, his face flushed slightly, "that you're not a PACT agent?"

"A PACT agent? Why on earth would you make me promise you that I'm not one of them? I thought this school had long had one?"

"Well, we did..."

"Wait.. did you know who he was?"

"Yeah, it was kind of obvious... but he went missing a few days ago, so they must have sent a new one and you kinda showed up out of the blue. The only thing is that you actually attend school and attend other clubs... this PACT agent only came to soccer practice..."

"Then, you've just pretty much answered you're own question haven't you? Don't worry, I'm not a PACT agent." He assured him with his somewhat attractive voice.

At that moment, Tsurugi's eyes widened, predicting exactly what was going to happen next. He forced himself to come out of hiding and face the two. The unfamiliar white-haired boy, who had been standing incredibly close to Tenma with his arm extended out over Tenma's shoulder, almost forcing him up against the wall, was quickly pushed aside as Tsurugi dragged Tenma into the club room.

"Tsurugi..." Tenma said, seeming quite shocked and still unsure as to what just happened.

Tsurugi paced around him, eying every part of his body with a menacing glare, "well you two seemed pretty close."

"We've been friends for a few years, but he moved away and only recently returned to attend school here."

"Don't you think that's a little strange?"

"What?"

"That he's moved back just to attend school here?"

"Well, lots of people do it, it is a good school."

"Hmm. You know, since I've been gone these past few days, a new PACT agent was sent to the school to replace me. Now, when was the last day I was in?"

"Ummm... monday?"

"And..."

"Hakuryuu..."

"And when did Hakuryuu show up?"

"Tuesday..."

It was then that Tenma realized Hakuryuu had to be a PACT agent, there was no other way of explaining it. Tsurugi nodded. "Exactly," he said.

"Shit..." Tenma rubbed his face and crouched to the floor in mental pain.. he was so close to revealing so many secrets to a PACT agent who actually gave a damn about his work.

"It's a good job I showed up when I did otherwise you'd all be locked up in a few hours and this school would be destroyed." Tsurugi replied. "If you would all simply follow the rules PACT set out, then none of that would ever happen and you could lead a safe, normal life." He added.

After hearing that, Tenma took to his feat and turned on his heels, heading towards the door, a determined look now on his face.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tsurugi questioned.

"I'm going to ask Hakuryuu to become my partner for the rebellion, I'll tell him everything about what's been going on, I can trust him, he's my friend." He replied.

"Are you out of your mind?" Tsurugi practically screamed, he quickly grabbed hold of Tenma's arm and pulled him back, making sure he couldn't leave before properly realizing the danger he was putting himself and the others in, even Tsurugi's life was on the line.

"No! I'm not! I know what I'm doing and I know Hakuryuu. If he knew what was going on, he might understand. Even if he won't help the rebellion, he might enjoy being charged everyone once in a while."

Tsurugi forced Tenma up against the wall in an almost threatening way. "Don't you dare give him your power. Have you no idea what class you belong in? You can't just go handing out your power to every guy and girl you meet because you want them to aid your fight in the rebellion. Power like yours is for people who need it."

"Why do you care?!" He exclaimed, small tears begun to form and fall from his very eyes, it was obvious that Tenma was in a real predicament and Tsurugi was only making him feel much worse. "Shindou is going to force me to leave the team if I don't find a partner soon and I deeply care about soccer. It seems like you have no interest in the sport and you won't charge off of me willingly, so why should I reserve my power for you?! Hakuryuu will be happy to accept my power and I know he will help the team..."

Tenma attempted to leave once again, but Tsurugi forced himself even closer to the others body and in the heat of the moment, forced his lip against Tenma's, his free hand gripping the nape of Tenma's neck and the other wrapping around his waist.

When partners were simply partners and nothing more, the kiss was usually motionless and nothing except the exchange of power occurred between the two, usually lasting a few seconds as was recommended.

However, this moment that Tsurugi and Tenma were currently locked in was different. Their lips moved and intertwined with each other, neither really sure what was happening but one thing was for certain, they both felt amazing. The exchange was beyond passionate and heat-filled, could this be... love?

The kiss had lasted longer than a minute, maybe even reaching two, the maximum exchange time was at least thirty seconds, but Tsurugi had been so desperate for this power, almost all his life, that to stop now would only make him crave it even more.

The moment itself had even overpowered their thoughts and senses.. as an unfriendly face watched the from the doorway of the clubroom. He coughed quite loudly and uttered, "sorry, I didn't realize you two were... busy." He smirked wickedly.

As Tsurugi had been holding Tenma up for the past couple of minutes, suddenly having no support and barely any power left to support his own body, he collapsed to his knees. Which made Hakuryuu realize that they had been kissing for quite some time.

Tsurugi helped him over to a nearby couch, after which he chatted privately with Hakuryuu at the back of the room.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that... what other information are you withholding from PACT, Tsurugi?"

"There is nothing going on at this school, nothing that I don't know about." Tsurugi replied.

"Well clearly there is, do you want to explain what just happened to PACT, or should I?" Hakuryuu smirked.

"Tenma is my boyfriend and they're not forbidden if I recall?"

Hakuryuu smirked. "You're boyfriend? Right, I didn't realize kissing someone so intimately left them almost unable to stand properly."

"That's jus the kind of impact I have on him." He replied, though Hakuryuu wasn't exactly stupid, he had already seen through Tsurugi's lie.

"I wouldn't take you for being the romantic type Tsurugi... so why don't you just stop lying to me and tell me exactly what's going on here or else I'll tell PACT myself and I'll have you're 'boyfriend' locked away."

"I've already told you, Hakuryuu, there is nothing going on with me and Tenma, and there is nothing going on within this school." Tsurugi replied sternly, he was becoming quite desperate now to prove Hakuryuu wrong, if he were to simply walk out that door now, that would be the end of everything.

"Hmm.. fine. I'll take your word for it, but in exchange for keeping quiet. How about your, 'boyfriend' give me a quick kiss?" He smirked, looking over at Tenma, who was in a bit of a daze after giving away so much power he had spent the last few days building up.

Tsurugi quickly glanced over, then shot a glare right back at Hakuryuu. "No."He simply replied.

"Fine, if you won't let me, then I'll tell PACT about you're 'relationship' with him and that'll be the end of you both... or at least, I'll tell them about you, and then I'll have Tenma all to myself?" He teased, in actuality, he didn't care too much for Tenma, he was interested in getting some power as he too had been on the gum for a very long time.

Tsurugi gripped Hakuryuu's collar and pushed him up against the wall and in a hushed whisper, "if you dare tell PACT or do anything to hurt Tenma, I will kill you."

Hakuryuu wriggled out of Tsurugi's grip and took a step back in shock when he realized Tenma had been stood behind the both of them.

Tenma on the other hand, had been somewhat stunned as to what he had been hearing for the past couple of minutes. It wasn't like they had been whispering either, so he had heard pretty much everything. To find out that someone who used to be his good friend was on PACT's side and so willing to give away their secret was heart breaking.

"Hakuryuu, how could you do this to us?" He said. "I thought we were friends?"

He stiffened up and made sure not to fall for Tenma's soft talk and puppy dog eyes. "This is what we have to do to survive in this day and age. PACT have so much control over the world that we cannot afford to let everything slide anymore."

"What happened to your partner?" Tenma asked. "Where's Shuu?"

Hakuryuu's eyes widened, it had been sometime since he had last thought about his partner, or even heard or uttered that name. "Shuu... I don't know." He saddened.

Tenma watched Hakuryuu break down within his own mind thinking about his partner. Tenma of all people who knew how close the two were and to see that Shuu was suddenly no longer a part of Hakuryuu's life made him realize that they weren't the only ones suffering. "Hakuryuu, you can charge off of me, if you want." Tenma replied.

Tsurugi's attention suddenly altered to Tenma and his eyes became quite menacing and somewhat dominating. "What? Are you being serious?"

"Yes, Tsurugi. He's lost his partner too, so we of all people should know how he feels. Not only that but he obviously lost his quite recently, we've never know what's it's like to have one, he has!" He replied.

"It doesn't matter, have you not been listening to me? You can't just hand out your power as you please!"

"Tsurugi, you need to start listening to me too! I can do what I like with my power, and I'm happy to help him." He paused to alternate his gaze, "just promise me that you won't tell PACT about me and Tsurugi if I give you some, Hakuryuu."

Hakuryuu turned away and thought about it for a moment, it couldn't hurt to get a little power from someone and obviously, he actually really wanted it. "Fine, but if I find out about anything else going on at this school, I will tell PACT."

Tenma smiled and took a few steps closer to Hakuryuu, it was a little awkward to begin with... neither wanted to lean in and take the first step, Tsurugi was becoming more and more jealous by the second. "Hurry up and get it over and done with before I stop this from happening altogether." He added.

Hakuryuu leaned in closer and allowed their lips to touch, however, after the first couple of seconds, Tsurugi could already tell that something was wrong. Hakuryuu quickly pulled away and begun clutching at thin air, then at his body as he felt an awful burning sensation course through his veins, his body jolted around uncontrollably and violently, he chocked and coughed in a horrible manner before collapsing to the floor. At that point, he was out cold and barely even breathing.

Tenma was also struggling to keep on his toes and only a few moments later, he also fell to the floor, passing out not long after.

Most suppliers recovered fairly quickly from any kind of damage done to their body, or in Tenma's case, exhausting all of their energy in such a short amount of time- which was considered extremely dangerous.

However, suppliers continuously recreated energy, throughout the day, even throughout the minute. Common classes recreated this energy much quicker than rare classes, as the energy they created was made up of common elements and compounds which required no effort at all.

Any common class of person, who had done what Tenma had done that day, could easily have recovered within an hour or so. However, Tenma was a different case altogether. As he was a very rare type, his energy was made up of more complicated elements and compounds, which took longer for his body to recreate.

On average, he would have to wait between five to six hours before his body would be capable of transferring energy to his receiver. Though he himself believed he had quite a fast recovery rate. However, if Tenma was unable to transfer this energy and it simply be allowed to build up over a couple of days, there would be enough energy to supply more than three different people, as the energy is that powerful, it could keep a receiver going for at least a day, if not longer.

Which is exactly how Tsurugi was feeling. Even though it had been well over fourteen hours since he had last received energy of Tenma, he was still going strong. He hadn't even chewed a single piece of gum since this morning... he felt amazing to say the least.

Before the day was out, Tenma finally awoke from his heavy sleep, in an unfamiliar environment, with a nauseating smell surrounding him and uncomfortable bed beneath him. He'd been in this exact situation before and it didn't take him long to realize exactly where he was... though the day and what had happened this morning was nothing but a blur.

He sat up in his bed and took a few deep breaths before completely coming round. He eventually realized that Tsurugi was sat beside the bed. "Hello..." Tenma said.

"You are very lucky." Tsurugi replied. "And stupid," he added.

"What? Why?" Tenma replied, slightly confused.

"Isn't it obvious? Do you not remember what happened this morning with Hakuryuu?" Tsurugi replied.

"Well, no... I remember what happened between me and you, in the clubroom... but after that, it's a little hazy."

Tsurugi sighed deeply, he wasn't particularly sure how Tenma would react, but even after finding out their wouldn't be much he could do. "You poisoned Hakuryuu."

Tenma could hardly believe what he was hearing. Like Tsurugi, he knew all about the class system and the consequences for sharing power with someone of a lower or higher class... but he had failed to take that into account this morning. "Oh god..." The memories of that morning flooded back in an instant and he could barely stand seeing Hakuryuu, an old friend, struggle for life essentially on the floor of the clubroom. Though he had no idea what happened afterwards, as he eventually passed out too. "Is he okay? Is he here?"

Tsurugi shook his head, "No, he's at a special facility a few blocks away, having the power siphoned out of his body. I'm not sure what his condition is now, but he's also very lucky that he didn't get much from you."

"That's because of you, not me." Tenma smirked, hoping it would lighten the mood.

"Well, you don't need to worry about that anymore. I won't take any power from you." Tsurugi replied, instantly turning the mood upside down.

"What?" Tenma replied, slightly confused, "but... this morning..."

"Was a mistake," Tsurugi interrupted, "I wasn't thinking clearly, it won't happen again." He added.

"What? No... The team needs you! I need you, I thought what happened this morning was a sign that you were going to become my partner!" Tenma exclaimed angrily. He just couldn't believe that after everything that had happened, Tsurugi was still unwilling to help.

"No, what happened this morning was nothing more than a mix of anger and impulse." He paused whilst he got up from his seat and slowly made his way to the door. But before he left, he did have one last thing to say. "I meant what I said though, this morning... you shouldn't just give away your..." before he could finish, Tenma interrupted.

"I know... it's a rare class and it's should be reserved for people of the same class, I get it." He replied, angrily.

"Well, I'm glad that's starting to stick. But you saw what happened to Hakuryuu, and I'm sure you were told as a child that transferring power to receivers of a lower class can be poisonous." Tsurugi added.

Tenma suddenly became scarily quiet and the room filled with an uncomfortable silence... Tsurugi waited by the door to see if the boy had anything else to say, though after a while, he simply continued to stare at the world through the window and remain silent.

"You should give up on soccer and leave the team, it's for the best." Tsurugi said, which quickly gained Tenma's attention.

"How... could you even say that?" He replied, a disgusted look on his face. "I love soccer, and to give up on it would be as difficult as giving up on living. I want to help the team and the rebellion. I want to prove to the world that partners are good for something other than just living. And if you won't help me, then someone else will. I refuse to be kicked off the team and I know someone out there will help me, someone of the same class as me."

Though Tsurugi simply wanted to walk over and smack some sense into him, he knew doing such a thing would only prove the fact that he didn't want Tenma do to any of that stuff, especially finding a partner and giving him all of his power when it was obviously meant for Tsurugi.

At that moment however, he realized that if Tenma's power was that good, imagine the power his matched partner could create? Even though there was absolutely no chance of finding him now, there was still a small hint of hope in the back of Tsurugi's mind that reminded him he was out there somewhere.

However, there was something about Tenma that was staring to change Tsurugi's opinion. He knew that if he continued to take power from Tenma, then he might not want to find his matched partner anymore, as he knew the power from Tenma was almost identical to the small amount of power he took from his matched partner all those years ago.

He hadn't even considered the idea of Tenma being his matched partner yet, it was certainly an impossible theory, especially to Tsurugi who believed his matched partner had to be in a different country, or worse, dead. He didn't believe in fate, or chance either, so the two meeting had to have been just luck.

At that moment, Shindou suddenly burst into the room, rushing over to Tenma's bedside, a somewhat exhausted and worried expression covering his face. "Thank god you're okay, you had a very lucky break Tenma!"

Tenma nodded, "Shindou... yeah, I'm okay. Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah, Tsurugi told us... who would've thought that Hakuryuu was the kind of person to steal power from people. Well, if anything he got what he deserved." Shindou replied.

Tenma looked passed Shindou and over at Tsurugi, who stood quietly by the door, listening into their conversation. He was meant to be leaving, but he was interested in hearing what Shindou had to say. Knowing that Tsurugi had lied to Shindou, possibly even the team about Hakuryuu, showed that he did care somewhat about the future of the team and the school, even Tenma. "Yeah... I doubt he will return to the team anyway, so we don't need to worry about seeing him again." Tenma replied.

"Well, I've got some news anyway. It's quite big." Shindou added, it was at that moment, both Tenma and Tsurugi felt a similar worried feeling. "PACT contacted Raimon today, they're demanding several matches with some of the clubs from the school in a few days. The soccer club was chosen as one of the participants, along with the swim team, basketball team, kendo team and track team. We're not sure who we're competing against, but it's one match and as a team, we have decided that if we win, we're going to tell the world that we've been using partners."

Thanks for reading and again, sorry for the wait! :) x