Chapter 35 The Brewing Storm

"Shut up, Midori." Shiroi sighed, walking faster so she could catch up to Satoshi and Kuroe. Before they could sit together, Shiroi took the farthest seat on the back since she knew that Satoshi would sit there as well. And just like she thought, Satoshi did sit there, but Kuroe sat on the other side. They were still busy talking about the tournament-like test that every first-year had to go through in order to get into the USA. It was like they'd known each other for quite some time now.

"Ah! Shiroi, this is Kuroe. Apparently, she has mind control or something. It's a pretty neat superpower." Satoshi gestured towards Kuroo. "And Kuroe, this is Shiroi, my childhood friend. We've been together since we were kids. She can testify that I never had any superpower before."

"Ehh," Kuroe smirked after seeing what Shiroi was thinking about right now. "Nice to meet you Shiroi. I'm Kuroe, we're in the same class. You're the Ice Queen, right?"

"Yes, um, nice to meet you, Kuroe-san." Shiroi was caught off-guard due to Kuroe's friendly approach. "Is it true that you got mind control as your superpower?"

"Not really, it's just one of my superpowers. I'm just like Hiroshi who has two— earth and fire manipulation. But then again, my superpower is interconnected to each other so they aren't exactly two. It's complicated."

"I-I see." Shiroi didn't know what to say next so she just chuckled midway. Now that she thought about it, she doesn't really interact that much with anyone other than Satoshi. And now that she got acquainted with another girl her age, she didn't know what to talk about.

"And so, a fated rivalry between two girls had been born. This rivalry had been prophesied since time immemorial and I'm right here, witnessing what is said to go down in history for many generations. Although it has been foretold, no one knows of the outcome of this rivalry. Who would climb up to the top? Find out next in another episode of Love Rivals." Midori muttered to himself in an attempt to indirectly tell Satoshi what's currently going on. But in return, Satoshi just gave him the cold look as if he was the weirdest person in the world.

"Hah, this is impossible." Midori shook his head in return.

During the remainder of the trip, Shiroi decided to push herself out of her comfort zone so she would know more about Kuroe who managed to get close to Satoshi in just a few hours. They were even close enough to share each other's textbooks during school hours, lean on each other during class, and read together because of the ever-so-malicious Knighthawk. If Kuroe could do it, then Shiroi concluded that she could do it too since Kuroe is no better than her. Midori was right when he said that a fated rivalry between the two had manifested... but in truth, it was just Shiroi thinking too much into it.

Meanwhile, Kuroe was more than amused as she continued reading Shiroi's mind. Clearly, Shiroi was more passionate on the subject than she is because she never looked at Satoshi that way, or at least not yet. All throughout the trip, she was trying so hard in suppressing her laughter. Not only were Shiroi's thoughts priceless, but his expressions as well.

Unfortunately, Satoshi wasn't focused that focused on Kuroe and Shiroi. In the middle of the trip, the school bus driver decided to turn on the news on the television and that's when Satoshi became aware of the reason why his mom and dad had to leave home so early. Apparently, an alien invasion is currently ongoing on the Thermosphere, right above the Karman Line. And a few superheroes were called around the world to participate in defending the earth from these space invaders. It was truly a magnificent yet scary battle. The only thing that stood between the Earth being conquered and the bunch of overpowered Slime Aliens were a few dozen superheroes who are working together to bring an end to their invasion.

p The resistance was led by none other than the master commander Fury himself who had led the Earth in countless defenses against alien invasions. Albeit rare, it wasn't the first time that an alien invasion has occurred on Earth and so a few defenses were put in place. However, this time, the defenses put weren't enough to stop the invasion since the threat is much more powerful compared to the previous invaders.

After showing a video clip of the invasion and superheroes defending the Earth, the report then transitioned to Fury who is currently manning the SAO Headquarters. He isn't one of the top officials there but there he was, sitting as if he was one of the big shots (He is one of the big shots in the eyes of the people but in name, he is just one of the few top-ranking officials in SAO). The ten-minute interview then commenced and Fury answered them all as concise and as short as possible. Soon after, he got up and continued leading the charge.

'So... that's what happened. I wonder if mom and dad are okay. They should've at least told me that they were leaving.' Although Yuuta was confident that neither his mom nor dad would die in an alien invasion, the possibility of it happening was never zero. He couldn't help but worry for them even though he wasn't the one fighting the war. If he were there, he would've felt more assured since he could see what's happening but right now, he doesn't even have the means to go to space, let alone fight the Slimes who were trying to take over the world. He clenched his fists in suppressed fury. 'There's no point worrying about them. Right now, I should aim to become stronger. That's the only thing that I should focus on right now. If I were to do that, I know that I will be finally allowed to fight alongside my parents.'

BOOM!

Crash!

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