Title: The Swordless King
Author: Alaya1231
Word count: 6,487 (This might end up blank sometimes when I forget to go back and fill it in xD)
Disclaimer: I own nothing of K Project/K/Everything and this is just an AU that I thought up and decided to write
A/N: I know I have another story and all, but I accidently got addicted to K Project so xD! This is gonna be red clan central with some blue here and there. No pairings that I know of yet. Let me know if I should add some and who they should be! Enjoy!
A/N#2: I also don't own the picture as I have no artistic abilities whatsoever!
Sorry Anna, I won't be able to show you that pretty red anymore.
That was the only thing Souh Mikoto regretted at that very moment. He knew how devastated the young girl would be, even if she didn't show it. But he didn't regret doing it, no. He finally killed the bastard that caused the beginning of his downfall by murdering Tatara. Revenge was a petty thing however, considering he was now on the cold, wet ground and slowly bleeding to death.
He forced Munakata to leave, not wanting the other king to have to watch his slow decent into death. Despite their constant quarreling Mikoto had always considered the four-eyes to be a friend. They had an odd relationship, but not an unpleasant one. Both kings were able to let out their pent up energy and both knew neither was actually trying to kill the other. The blue and red clan clashed constantly, but it never ended in tragedy. Not until today.
He suddenly felt the energy of all of his clansman burst. Right, he thought. Anna will enjoy this bit.
But then everything froze. The falling snow stopped midair, and the wind stopped relentlessly beating at his broken form. He looked to his chest to see his wound had also stopped pouring excessive amounts of blood.
"Hello, Red King." A voice sounded from . . . everywhere.
"Who . . Who the hell . . ?" Mikoto sat up with a great deal of effort and a grunt of pain. He had only stopped dying, he wasn't miraculously healed.
"That is none of your concern. Just know that I am someone who can help you." The voice whipped around him as if trying to replace the wind.
"How . . . ?" Mikoto breathed with the amount of effort it took to simply talk.
"I can bring you back."
"Back . . where?"
"Before your life, and the life of those around you began to fall apart," the words were stated too easily as if they weren't offering an impossible request.
"Tatara?" Mikoto didn't know why he felt like that was what the voice was referring to.
"Precisely."
"Im . . possible," the redhead forced out instantly after.
"Do you have any room to say such a word? To the normal people of this world, your very existence—as well as mine—would be deemed impossible. This very situation would be as well. But it's happening isn't it? Time has stopped. Only you and I exist at this very moment. So is anything really impossible?"
"What are . . you? How could you . . . possibly send me . . back?"
There was a sound as if the space surrounding Mikoto had just sighed. "I, Red King, am the Dresden Slate. This is the only form I can appear to you as I am merely a consciousness. I have decided that you have earned a chance to redo what has happened. I also feel much of it is my fault for choosing the colorless king. So I'm giving you the option to fix the wrongs. This is your only chance. You can go back to Anna, Izumo, and a living, breathing, Tatara if it is what you truly want. If not, I can unfreeze all of this and you will bleed to death and life will go on for the others."
It was almost too much for a nearly dead Mikoto to comprehend. A seemingly inanimate object was talking to him and offering him the chance to redo his life. What the hell?!
"Hah . . what's the catch? . . . Can't just be . . this simple . . "
"No catch. This is a chance for you to fix my mistake for the colorless king as well. Think of it as a favor. There is nothing but benefit here."
"I'd still . . be a king?"
"Yes, but that is a complicated matter. If I send you back your consciousness, your soul, will all be from the you of this time. That means the core of your abilities as well."
"My sword . . "
"That is why this is much more difficult. You will still have your powers as a king, but now you have no sword to act as your mediator. That means that, well, you can't overuse your power. There is no risk to you or anyone you love by you using the full extent of your power as much as you like. I supposed what I'm about to tell you can be considered a catch, however. Because of your lack of a sword your powers will be extremely volatile until you learn to control them once again. You may not know this, most kings are never told, but the sword holds a larger amount of a king's power than the host of the Aura. Especially with the Red Aura. When it dissolved, all of the power entered into you as its host until it could make its way back to me to be bestowed upon the next king. You can't feel it now, but there is an even more vast realm of fire raging inside of you than before."
"Can't you . . take-"
"I cannot. Because of your current state as living, the red aura still wants you as its host. Even I could not take it back if I wanted. But you need not worry. You have no sword that can drop now. You just have to take control of your aura and not let it cause destruction just as devastating. It will be a hard task, but considering how long you lasted with the strain of Tatara's death, and the force of the red aura, I trust you to overcome it. Anything that happens is under your control, your power doesn't control you and you no longer have anything that stands as a reminder. Only yourself."
"If . . can't?" Mikoto struggled to speak as it drained more and more of his energy.
"You can. If I thought you anything less than utterly worthy I would not have brought this option to you. You can save your friend and the many people who suffered at the hands of the Seventh King. Do you accept?"
Mikoto had known his answer the second the offer was given to him. To be able to see Tarata? To have Anna be as happy as she was with the long dead man? He would suffer just a little bit more to know everyone else was happy.
"I accept," suddenly everything faded. One last thing floated in the air after him.
"You will be the only one to remember. This future no longer exists. Get rid of the colorless king and be the person you know you are."
Mikoto shot up from his spot on the cushioned chair. The ghost of his stab wound still there as he felt a strong sense of deja vu. He looked to his clock, but remembered that this was the time he had used to replace to batteries and reset it to the right time. As of now it was frozen on a random time. "Dammit!" He stood up to head for the door, but the moment he stood straight an impossibly powerful flame ignited in his chest. It felt as if he would be ripped apart at any second. He clutched at his shirt that was directly above the most painful section and bunched it up in his fists. He bit down hard enough on his lip to draw blood, anything to keep him from making a single noise.
"So much worse . . " The red king gasped for breath as he tried to calm to raging inside of him and watched as his aura slowly dissipated. Feeling the energy subsiding for the time being Mikoto wasted no time to run for his door and down the stairs into the closed bar. "Mikot—" Izumo froze as he first saw his king. His normally overwhelming presence was so much more that even his second-in-command could feel the sheer power coming off of the slightly shorter man. He shook himself out of his stupor as quickly as he could. Something was obviously wrong.
"Today's date? Time? Anything!" The king demanded.
"It's barely an hour before Anna's birthday, how could you not—where are you going?"
"Stay with Anna," and with that the redhead flew out of the door and ran at impossible speeds to find the missing part of their trio.
"Izumo?" A soft, peaceful voice questioned soon after the king's forceful departure. "What happened to Mikoto? He felt different."
She felt it too, apparently, thought the man behind the bar. The young girl climbed onto a stool so she could be more level with the tall man. "I'm not sure myself. He came in here demanding the time and then left as if his life depended on it."
Suddenly her normally expressionless eyes widened before she seemed to realize her action and immediately clamped down on her emotions. "I know where he is going," she told him simply. "I had a dream," she seemed to think for a moment. "But this was not how it went."
"What was it?" Anna normally told him, Tatara, or Mikoto of any premonitions she had.
"Tatara was murdered."
"What? By who? Tatara isn't helpless, who could have—"
"The colorless king," the doll-like girl answered quietly.
"King?" Izumo hissed. Anna nodded. "Dammit!" Izumo pulled out his phone and began to call his king but soon hung up when a phone went off above his head. "Why can't that dumba—idiot,"—Izumo quickly caught himself once he realized who he was talking with—"at least take his phone!" He growled angrily.
"Izumo, Mikoto will be fine," Anna placated.
"Even you can't know that," he seethed.
"Izumo," Anna urged with a determined look in her ruby red eyes. "Mikoto is strong. The colorless king is the weakest. Mikoto will be okay." Izumo knew she was right, but that didn't stop him from still being nervous for his friend. This would be the first time he'd be up against a king who would be ready to kill him. Sure, they've had their quarrels with the blues, but everyone knew those weren't real fights. The most that would happen would be a burn on a blue, or a slice on a red. Neither clan actually tried to kill one of the other. It was like an unspoken agreement that they were just there to let their kings blow off steam. But this wasn't one of those times. This would be a true battle, and no one knows what the new king's powers are. It was a dangerous situation.
"And," she added after the long pause. "I think Mikoto knows something we don't. I can feel something different about him. It's difficult to explain." Anna looked fished a marble out of the pocket of her nightie and stared intently at it. "Even this shows something is off," she put the transparent orb in his face as if he could see what she was seeing. "It's burning more brightly than before," she sighed almost sadly. Then yawned.
"Anna, you need to go back to bed. It's late, c'mon." The bartender walked around to where the girl was sitting and lifted her off the seat, into his arms. She didn't complain, instead she settled into the crook of his neck as if Anna had decided he was her new pillow. Izumo was about to take the first step up the stairs when Anna suddenly tensed and gasped. "Mikoto?!"
Izumo turned, thinking the king had entered silently through the back, but instead was faced with a situation much more odd. Nearly level with his eyes and only a foot or two away floated a little red marble. It burned intensely and seemed to almost emit an aura of its own. Under its own will the marble flew around the room in madness, getting brighter by the second. "Anna? What is it?"
The youngest HOMRA member was staring wide eyed at the marble. She was shaking but simultaneously looked utterly amazed. "Anna?"
"Mikoto's red . . . "
"Mikoto is doing that!?"
"Mikoto is angry," stated bluntly, the words didn't sound as if the man in question couldn't burn down cities with his anger. The orb flew around for a couple minutes more, the current inhabitants of the bar staring at it, mesmerized by the power coming off of it. Suddenly it stopped right above Anna's head and dropped instantly to the girl's outstretched hands. "It's over."
Tatara thought nothing of the strange aura emitting from the white-silver haired man humming over the railing. He knew he should have. "I'm Tatara Totsuka. What's your name?" He questioned and tried not to sound nervous when the man started to laugh. Suddenly the stranger turned around and had a gun pointed towards the cameraman.
Bang!
Tatara had unconsciously closed his eyes as if it would help him take the bullet. But he felt no pain that was to come after being shot. But the sudden presence in front of him actually had him completely petrified until he recognized the almost unfamiliar aura of the red king. His aura was coming off of him at impossibly powerful levels as he seemed to radiate rage. "Tatara. Do not open your eyes for any reason no matter what you hear. Not until I tell you it's okay."
"K-King?"
"Get back. Against the wall and do not move." The redhead demanded. Tatara scrambled to the wall as quickly as he could with his forced blindness as to not further anger his king. Tatara knew that he could get away with most thing like teasing his king or pulling cruel pranks. But he—and everyone else—knew that when the most powerful member of the red clan was angry like he was now, it was best to do exactly as he said as quickly as you could. They knew first-hand how scary the king could be when he was angered. It was not something Tatara ever wanted to be on the receiving end of. But despite what the younger man has witnessed, he never feared his friend.
Tatara listened to the confrontation intently.
"A-Ah, Red King," the young king stuttered. Damn better be scared, Mikoto thought angrily. "You are an unexpected sight. Please let me ex—"
"Shut up," they were two simple words. But being said by a man like Mikoto when he was seething as he was, it wasn't anything less than terrifying. The colorless king was visibly shaking and stepped back to lean as far away from the other king as possible. The red king stepped closer and used his imposing height to lean over the boy menacingly. "You just tried to kill one of my very important clansmen, for no reason. There is absolutely nothing for you to explain." He could feel his eyes begin to glow with his anger and his aura grow even more restless. He let the power seep out into his aura, letting the colorless king know just how bad he had fucked up.
"I-I wasn't trying to kill him! It was just so I could get away without his realizing who I was! P-Please understand that!"
"I know exactly what a sadistic minded person like you wanted to do, Colorless King. You were aiming for a vital area that would cause him to bleed out slowly and painfully. You wanted him to get help, have someone who cared about him find him choking on his own blood as he barely gasped for breath and let him die in their arms! You don't deserve to live and I will personally see to that."
Tatara wanted to stop his king. He knew the strain it would have on the man, but at the same time it was obvious his king knew something he didn't. Tatara was uncontrollably shaking from the sheer anger and power that radiated from the red aura. It was unlike anything he had felt before and it scared something deep inside of him despite the fact that it wasn't directed towards him. It was like being in the presence of a murderous lion who had just torn a friend apart and was now rounding on him with nothing but the intent to kill.
And this was all nothing but a second-hand feeling. He couldn't even see his king's aura. He almost felt bad for the Colorless King who would be able to see his king's anger accompanied by his aura as it all focused in on him and him alone. Tatara took a deep breath and held himself back from Mikoto. This was obviously something that needed to happen.
Mikoto watched as emotions flew through the eyes of the terrified boy in front of him and felt satisfied with the emotion they landed on: fear. He watched as the white fox-like creature flew from the eyes of the host body and tried to escape through the city. "Oh no you don't," Mikoto growled angrily. He sent flames towards the creature flying away at tremendous speeds. The power that surged through him at that moment was something unbelievable as it was nothing but a simple fire. It almost scared himself how much power was now trapped inside of him to wield at his will.
I can deal with that later, he reminded himself. The colorless king was a much more important matter at the moment. The flames wrapped around the entity and yanked him back towards the balcony as the red king trapped it in his flaming aura. "I hope you didn't think it would be that easy, coward."
"P-Please," a different yet similar voice begged.
"Your days are numbered. No amount of begging will save you now."
Mikoto unleashed as much power as he was willing to risk, not wanting to destroy the area around them. The small creature slowly turned into a black and orange shape before he began to chip away against the flames. Mikoto balled up the power into the area the lump floated until it was all contained in one compact, circular shape. The creature completely dissolved and Mikoto let his powers disperse it even more until there was absolutely nothing remaining. He had felt no fear confronting a king. He felt no fear jumping in front of a gun as it fired. He felt no fear as he stared down a drop that would kill a lesser man.
What did scare him however, was the fact that he had used enough power to kill a king. Something that could easily cause a Damocles Down. But he felt no strain on his power. He didn't even feel the least bit tired. And that actually slightly scared him.
He then remembered who he was defending. He turned to his first true bit of proof that he had actually been sent back. Tarata was huddled in the corner between the wall and railing, arms wrapped around his legs and head tucked in between. "Ta . . tara?" Mikoto instantly felt a pang of guilt from looking at his long-dead-but-now-living-friend. He all but hoped that he wasn't the cause of his friend's current position, as idiotic as that hope may be.
"King?" Tatara stood, his seemingly forever happy expression plastered back on his face. "Why are you here? You were sleeping when—" He had no time to finish his sentence when he was suddenly scooped into Mikoto's strong arms and lifted completely off the ground in a crushing hug. Mikoto knew how odd it probably seemed to Tatara, but the younger caught on quickly how much Mikoto needed it and gently hugged back. He was alive. Here. Living, breathing, smiling, talking. It was something Mikoto had painfully accepted a year ago that he would never see again. But here it was.
He doesn't have to worry about the burden his clan held after the dead of their mother hen. None of them would even know the suffering they had been through in another life. They wouldn't have to deal with the pain of another loss. He picked the lost and broken and gave them a life. None of his members were ever meant to die, causing the others an extreme amount of pain and sorrow. He was eternally grateful now that Valentine's Day would not be a holiday no longer celebrated because of the memories it brought up of the past dead man's birthday. It was Anna's favorite holiday simply because of the many colors of red that would be everywhere during the season. Now poor Anna wouldn't have her birthday seem a little less enthusiastic because of the date of Tatara's death.
She could happily celebrate her birthday. Not cry and lock herself up. She could go out and enjoy the many hues of red during Valentine's Day without everyone telling her "not today." He smiled sadly while his face was hidden in the hug before taking control of it again and releasing the smaller man. He would gladly take the burden of the memories if it meant everyone else could be happy. He had already decided that what seemed like years ago when it was actually the completely opposite.
"King? Are you okay? What's all of this about?" He looked worriedly up at his king, trying to read him. For some reason though he was unable to hone in on what the older man was feeling, even thought he normally could decipher every tiny detail easily. "You seem . . . different? You also just hugged me," he added after a second.
"Let's just get back, I'll explain to everyone later," the older man threw off the question.
Tatara smiled brightly once again. "Right! Poor Anna-chan is probably worried sick! How could you leave her like that?!" He questioned playfully. Mikoto still secretly wondered how his friend could throw stuff off so easily as if nothing just happened. He just about got shot but here he is: smiling and jumping down the stairs as if he had just won the lottery and was rushing to go tell everyone. Mikoto sighed and followed the echo of footsteps left by the cheery man.
The redhead still didn't know what to do about all of this. Of course he had to tell his core clan members at one point or another. He's sure Anna, Izumo, and Tatara have already noticed something different. It's not like Mikoto remembered how he acted and what he said three years ago. He needed to wait though as to not put a damper on Anna's birthday. Again.
His powers were also more potent and alive than before. It made sense how the swords did so much damage now if they fell. If they held that much power they would blow up a city or two upon impact—or the entire island of Japan, he reminded himself grimly. Mikoto cursed. He still wasn't sure about the fact that he had basically absorbed his sword and now had probably three times the power of before. Maybe more. But Tatara was alive. Anna's birthday hadn't been ruined. Now he wouldn't die a few years in the future and cause more pain to everyone around. Thinking deeply now, he had never realized how much Anna must have been hurting. Mikoto cursed himself again. She was too good at hiding her emotions when she wanted to. Her favorite holiday and birthday had been destroyed for the years to come. The person who took care of her when no one else knew what they were doing had died, and all anyone could think of was revenge.
Sure, when it first happened he had allowed Anna to stay and they comforted each other until they both were able to calm the emotions neither of them showed. But then he didn't allow anyone near him. He was too out of control. The king didn't want to hurt anyone else because he couldn't keep his powers in check. So he locked himself up for days, only allowing Izumo in to bring food that he hardly ever ate.
Even after he had reined his power in it was still bad. They picked up on his emotions—how much he wanted to destroy Tatara's murderer—and misinterpreted it for anything. He was scared that if he let his guard down for even a second they would unleash on the nearest form of life. He knew that when he used the less potent form of flames—like those for the initiation—they wouldn't hurt anyone who was constantly around him. But put a little more force behind them and they could burn through his friends just as easily. Mikoto stopped, now worried about the same exact thing as three years ago. Apparently these first few days may end up being the same, except this time he has no explanation to the others that they will understand other than "oh by the way, I'm from the future."
"King!" A chirpy voice sounded from a couple flights below. "We'll never make it back if you keep walking like you are now!" A laughed echoed off of the metal stairs and rails.
Mikoto grunted. "Coming."
"Ha! Hurry up then!"
Mikoto forgot how much he missed the man now waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Tatara and Izumo were the only ones who weren't afraid to tease him and scold him for idiotic things. When Tatara died Izumo had backed down on the teasing, but he did occasionally yell at Mikoto for especially stupid acts. But before Tatara had died, he and Izumo had pulled many ingenious pranks on their king. He was definitely going to have to keep an eye out again now.
Once he caught up to Tatara they both picked up the pace to get to the bar quickly. "Tatara? What time is it?" Mikoto remembered exactly what time it had been when he got the call about his friend the first time around. Tatara pulled out his phone to glance at the time. "12:10, why?"
Three minutes ago in other life. He would be sitting in his chair, Anna curled up in his arms as they sat for what seemed like an eternity while waiting for his friends to return with Tatara. His fires raging but Anna somehow helped keep them at bay. She had basically taken Tatara's place as beast tamer since that night, and Mikoto was grateful for her maturity. She understood as she had to strain with her mental abilities as well. They had basically been each other's support when their shared tamer died.
But now he was back and Mikoto could feel his power recognize the man they thought had been lost for good. He felt calmer just by being beside the man, and his powers did too. It was as if Tatara's kindheartedness alone sparked something inside of Mikoto to help calm his inner demons. "Nothing," he answered. Tatara examined him out of the corner of his eye but Mikoto just ignored it. He knows he's acting different. He's still in his mindset of years into the future, not the time he's currently in. Hopefully he didn't change that much or else everyone would notice.
"Oh! I forgot to ask earlier, but what did you get for Anna? I found these cute little sandals that I know she'll love!"
What did he get for her? They never really celebrated her birthday but Mikoto remembers having gave Anna her present at one point. He nearly face-palms as he remembers. He gave her that dress she wore all the time in the years after Tatara's death. She also found the shoes the then-dead man had hidden away and decided to wear them coupled with the dress and hat all the time. He doesn't know where she got the rest, like the hat and bows. He always thought Izumo had just taken her shopping while he was cooped up in his room just to get everyone out.
"A dress."
"Aww! I knew you cared!" Tatara teased.
". . . Shut up," Mikoto turned his head away.
"Is King embarrassed?" The other full blown laughed now. Mikoto said nothing. "Don't worry! It's her birthday so everyone will have gifts for her!"
Mikoto mumbled a "whatever" and they continued on as Tatara talked about a billion random things.
A ding from the bell above signaled the entrance of the two men into the bar. "Mikoto! Tatara!" Anna hopped off the stool she was perched on and ran to the two, pulling them together for the best hug a small child could give to two men twice her size. "I was worried," she told with large, happy eyes. Mikoto remembers that she had told him about her vision of Tatara a while after his death. He had been upset that she hadn't told him until she explained why. There was no way of them knowing when it was going to happen and Anna didn't want everyone to worry, even thought they ended up hurt in the end anyways.
The tallest of the three put a large hand gently on her hatless head, giving her a kind pat. "Happy birthday Anna-chan!" Tatara shouted happily and bent down to give her a hug of his own. Mikoto mumbled his own happy birthday, said something about Anna going to bed, and then began to head up to his own bed with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Izumo blocked his path to the stairway. "Not until you explain just what the hell is going on."
Mikoto gave a half-hearted glare but sighed when the tallest man stood firm. "I'll explain later. Not tonight."
"No, you'll explain now. We deserve an answer from you," both pairs of eyes narrowed.
"No I won't. It's Anna's birthday and I'm not going to ruin that because you're too stubborn to wait," sighed the king. He had hoped to get upstairs before anyone stopped him. "Now move." There was an underlying tone in the order that told Izumo he wasn't in the mood. The blonde moved to the side with his arms crossed as the redhead quickly climbed the stairs to his room.
Kusanagi's eyes followed the man heading up the stairs until he was out of sight. They then turned to the pair on the other side of the room. "Anna, it's late. You do need to go to bed like Mikoto said. Everyone's fine so there's nothing to worry about." The little girl turned pleading eyes to the one closest to her but he didn't fall for it. "He's right, Anna-chan. You need to sleep or you will be in bed during your entire birthday! I'll even give you a little show tonight when I come up, okay?" Anna's eyes lit up and she happily scampered up the stairs. Izumo sighed, irritated.
When he was sure Anna was out of hearing range he walked over to his friend and whacked him on the head. Idiot! You don't say 'a little show tonight' like that to her! Do you realize how dirty that sounds? Find a different way!"
"Ow! I thought King was the only one who did that!"
"Someone has to when the lazy oaf is already asleep."
"But Izumo you were the only one thinking about it that way," pouted Tatara. Izumo was glad they had finally broken the younger man of the habit of giving him and Mikoto an honorific even after telling him multiple times it wasn't needed. Then he realized was else was said after.
"You little brat! You're so lucky we're in the bar!" Tatara just laughed and ran from the older man. "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" He laughed more until they both stopped and flopped on the couch. They both sat in silence until they caught their breath.
"So what happened with you two?" Izumo asked seriously. They both knew this wasn't a matter to be playing around with. The paler-haired man sighed. "I went up to the balcony of that one building near the edge of the city—the one I told you had a great view—to get some videos. There was some guy up there humming a nice little song so I just introduced myself when he started to laugh. Then he turned around and shot at me, but it never hit me. I'm only guessing King dissolved it or something because I had closed my eyes when I sensed him there. But Izumo it didn't feel like him at first. His presence was completely different, so much—"
"I know," Izumo admitted. "I felt it when he first left and a when he came back, not as strong but still overwhelming. I'm not sure what happened to him since yesterday, but he's done something. Keep explaining?"
"Okay, well, he told me to get back and keep my eyes closed. Apparently he knew the colorless king's ability somehow. They started to talk and King's aura just kept growing more angry and powerful until they fought. It was weird though, the fight. You know how you can always sense the surge when a king's sword shows?"
Izumo nodded.
"I didn't feel it, but I did at the same time. It felt like the power had been there the entire time inside of showing up all at once and then vanishing again. I'm not even sure how to explain it. Then there was just the heat from his fire everywhere. I could feel the power and I knew he was using it to kill the king."
"What?" Izumo shouted. "He should have known better! He can't just go around killing kings like—"
"The thing is," Tatara interrupted before his friend had a complete meltdown. "He feels the same. You know he does. He didn't act like he had just used enough power to kill someone that powerful, even if it was just the colorless king. When we were walking back I could still sense all of his power being bottled up more since his rage wasn't completely taking control. That's all it was though. He felt fine, and I don't know how or why."
Izumo sat back to think. He had felt the immense presence seeping out of his friend, so that was no surprise. But killing a king with his powers instead of a physical weapon would take an extreme toll on any king. There was no way for Mikoto to just be fine. That being said, he really didn't give a sense of exhaustion of his abilities. Izumo knows that Mikoto bottles up his aura so as to not seem even more intimidating than he already was. Even normal civilians can sense the danger that comes off of clansmen, even more so on kings. Everyone has noticed how Mikoto reins in his powers as much as he can until they feel extremely dampened even though they could be unleashed at full force in a moment's notice. They also knew he didn't necessarily want people to be afraid of him unless he felt like they deserved it. Those people however felt a little more than fear. Especially when the king was in a bad mood.
"We might just need to wait until he explains everything. Based on what he said I have a feeling this won't be a pleasant story," suggested the oldest one.
"But at least we'll understand," the other agreed. A moment later, "I feel like we're gossiping as if we're in high school again."
Izumo sighed, then gave a small huff of laughter. "Idiot," he shook his head, amused, before standing up. "I'm heading on to bed. It's been a long night and I need a rest before tomorrow. You should head to bed too."
"Ye-ap," was the noise that came out of Tatara's mouth as he stood. "Probably," he smiled. "Night Izumo!"
Izumo waved and went to shut off the lights. He heard the door shut upstairs.
These next few days are going to be crazy.
He went for his room as well, everyone in the bar finally retiring to sleep.
A/N#3: Well here it is! This is more of a long prologue than an actual chapter. The chapters are going to be a bit longer I hope, so this is going to be short in comparison. I don't have a beta, but I did look through it one last time for any mistakes. Please point out any that I might have missed! Chapters will probably come out weekly. I never realized how long it takes to write a decent sized chapter, and this isn't even going to be as long as I want most of my to be! Someone better start spamming me to get my ass to work if I end up being late, lol. Some weeks may be slow as I do have school and exams and all of the other great things life brings (ha). I will generally warn everyone in the chapter before though. If there is anything I missed please warn me. I feel like I'm missing something even now O.O so help is appreciated. I will also respond to reviews as much as I can and I love each and every one that I get, so if you want to say something feel free! :)
Until next time!
—Alaya