I'm... drowning... I know that much... I can't breathe... My chest and throat feel like they're on fire... This aching burn... But what exactly am I drowning in? Water? I've had water in my lungs before but.. This is eerily familiar... Like it's thicker than water... It's not blood... I would have tasted the metal lingering on my tongue were that the case... I can't see anything... My eyes aren't hurting... So dark... I wish I could see the light again.
What's this bright blue light? It's so... comforting... This girl... She looks to be about my age, maybe a year older. She's kind of cute... But her eyes... I feel she could freeze me with that gaze of hers. I see her lips moving... They look so soft... I can't hear anything... Man... I'm going to die... My vision is-
"Will you live for me?"
I open my eyes again. A voice. A girl's voice. Stern but underlying kindness is there. Those beautiful lips again... I want to feel those lips against mine so much.
"If I save you, will you live for my sake?"
"...Yes..."
"What do you want most in this world?"
"... To have the chance to lead a fulfilling life, to do something with every day that I have..."
The burning is gone. Instead I feel this coolness running through me. Like, when I stand underneath the heavy rain and the droplets just pass over my body. Water... I open my eyes and search for that voice - her voice. But, why do I still get the feeling that she's still there? Ouch! What's with this light? I can't see anything else... I can't...
My name is Ken Asuragi. I'm a second year student at Kuou Academy. Originally, the school was only for girls to attend but they just opened enrollment for male students last year. So, as expected, there are a bunch of girls here compared to guys - the ratio is somewhat overwhelming - especially for a guy like me who really hasn't had all that much luck with girls. I would be as you say, a boy without many talents, if any. I'm not involved in any clubs, my grades are average, and I'm not the most attractive guy on campus.
"Wah! Kiba-san!"
Speak of the devil... Kiba Yuuto-san... The pretty boy on campus. Not overly tall but blessed with extremely good looks, blonde hair, and a soft smile, it's no wonder a majority of the girls fawn over him. In fact, there's always at least half a dozen of girls surrounding him.
"Damn him!"
"He's too good looking! And look at him not looking like he cares at all!"
"Go die, pretty boy!"
In case you're wondering about those three guys over there, they are known as the Perverted Trio. I think they're names are Motohama, Matsuda, and Hyoudou or something or other. As expected, the girls tend to stay away from them for that particular reason. I heard a rumor saying that they enrolled solely with the mindset of creating a harem.
As for me, I don't really care about that kind of stuff. Know that I would be the first to point out (to myself of course) when a girl's cute but it's not like I chase skirts like the Trio or I pretend I don't like the attention I get like Kiba over there. Seeing as I really don't have any friends in the first place, I guess there's no point in complaining or being in a hurry to get a girlfriend.
*Bell Rings*
Aish... another day. Let's get this over with.
I walk into homeroom with a couple moments to spare. Everyone for the most part is in their seat looking forward towards the podium but it's not Sensei that's standing there. It's Fukukaichou and Kaichou! That's odd. They usually don't come by here. Honestly, being as popular, strict, and disciplined as they are, something has happened, is happening, or about to happen; there really is no time for anything else.
It appears that Kaichou and Fukukaichou are routinely visiting classes for an awareness regarding the disappearances of students and other individuals throughout the area. I haven't exactly heard anything but I think the news made a small announcement about staying safe at night, primarily high school and university students. I live alone for the most part but Nee-san comes and visits every once in awhile. Again, that rarely happens and I've grown accustomed to being alone at home. I'd say I have become self-sufficient early on.
Maybe that was it. The whole reason why I never had friends in the first place or the fact that I never made an effort to get along with every one else was because I knew I could get by without them. Talking to anyone else seemed to be a waste of time and effort - I mean, Mom and Dad weren't around all that much growing up, I remember that. Nee-san was probably the one person who was there for me the most and compared to most families, she kept me at an arm's length even then. I found out at a young age that if you wanted something in life - whether it was to get by through the day or accomplish a goal you made for yourself, you had no one else to rely on but yourself.
Plus, it was funny, I felt like that I just simply went through the days watching people live. I knew I was alive - the physical feelings I had of exhaustion, hunger, pain, thirst were real. I could not deny my presence when I sat in a chair or at a table or when I walked to school. But, I never felt alive. I felt like some specter or ghost just simply observing people smile, laugh, cry, become angry. That, was something I was never able to experience.
I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I failed to notice the girl that was walking towards me. Taking another quick look at her, I wonder how the hell I missed noticing her; she's actually... kinda cute. She just smiles at me and hands me a piece of paper and walks away. I look at it and I notice there's a strange pattern or design that I don't recognize. At the top, it reads, "What do you want the most?"
Honestly, I don't know. When I looked up to ask about the paper and call after her, she was out of sight. I shrugged and placed the paper in my back pocket. Might as well keep it. It'd be a waste to throw it away.
The hours go by and next thing I know, the school day is done and the sun begins its daily descent. Another day gone... I give myself a wry smile and then I leave to go home. All of a sudden, I had this weird chill and tingle go up my spine. It was cold and, dark? Was that the best way to describe it? I looked around and for a split moment, as quickly as my eyes could see it, I thought I saw a black and purple pool disintegrate into the corner of the classroom. Regardless, the sensation was not something that bothered me all that much. Everyone gets those weird tingles. I must have been the only one who seemed to notice - not that it would matter.
*sighs*
It's getting dark... Might as well head on home.
I stopped by the manga store a little bit to check out some of the newest titles coming out. There wasn't anything that I really liked so it became kind of a waste of time. Honestly, I have nothing else better to do. That's when it happened again.
That same feeling; cold, dark feeling that crawled underneath my skin. I had to shiver to try and get it out of me. But it was stronger - it grabbed a hold of me so deeply that I felt like I was trapped in a vice that was pulling me under. That's when I noticed that the other little things as well; no street lights were on, no houses were lit, and even the stars and moon failed to make an appearance. For the first time, I was truly scared and I felt fear. Then I noticed something in the shadows was moving, distorted as if it were alive and was trying to force itself into the world. If I look closely, claws? Antennae? Pointed feet? And the thing was small - no more than three feet tall. Granted, it hunched over. It was most definitely something that I have never seen before but what unnerved me the most were the eyes; a dull yellow as if there is no life behind it. The shape where those eyes are placed, which can be only assumed as the head, starts jerking into random directions.
It finally found me. Its eyes locked onto mine and it began running towards me in jerky like movements, its arms and legs and head moving in every which way - erraticly. I make a run for it down the street but it catches up quickly and makes a leap at my head. I duck below and pretty much dive into the ground to avoid the claws on its arms and legs hit my body. It misses but the wind pretty much gets knocked out of me. I turn around to look for the creature and that's when I notice the cuts on the light post that was next to me and the post itself is... halved?! What the-!? That's metal right?! Nothing should be able to do that. If I get hit by that, I would most likely die from a scratch.
It still jerks its head and body around without control or purpose except for the sake of finding me it seems. I only have one thought in mind; run. And so I did. I scrambled to my feet and took off away from the thing as quickly as possible. As I did, I heard this weird and uncomfortable sound - not exactly squishy per se but there was almost a screeching, scratching noise that came with it. Chit... chit... chit... As much as I didn't want to look, I did. It started coming after me more and more quickly as if seeing me flee gave it more excitement or purpose. I pick up the pace and start sprinting; this isn't a dream right? This is some messed up nightmare that my mind is playing tricks on me right? I think I should probably take a break from the video games, the animes, the manga, everything. This is just too weird to be real.
I close my eyes and just kept running into the darkness. Then I hear the noises of something like a splash. I open my eyes to see more and more dark pools begin to take shape and form and there's something trying to reach out and grab hold of life outside of it. More!? One is enough to make me scared for my life but more?! No... No way this is happening. I see one just manifest itself without a pool - standing straight up out of the ground in front of me. It stands still and looks towards me, as if it's wondering what I'm going to do as I keep running full sprint ahead. At this point, I don't care! I want to live! I promise myself- no, I swear- I swear tomorrow I will live for the better and fulfill my life a lot more and give more meaning towards each day. And this one in front of me is not going to stand in my way! I swing my bag across my body and as I charge towards it, I throw my body weight into the toss of my bag as I aim low to hit the thing in the body and legs. Yes! A good throw! As it's about to hit the shadow-
Huh?! My bag cut through the air as if there wasn't anything there to begin with! Hey! Where'd it go!? I look down to where it was standing and I see the outline of the creature moving not really along the floor but as if it were part of the floor... It can do that!? As I was pondering this, I saw itself to slowly bring itself out of the ground stand up to its hunched height, its stance ready to launch at me. With a couple lunges at me, it lurched itself at me more towards my body instead of my head like the last one. With a quick spin, I tried to manuever myself out of the way but the legs of the thing hit my waist. The force was enough to make me lose my balance and trip over my feet so I wind up hitting the ground on my side.
"Damnit!"
I look around me and all I see are tens, perhaps hundreds of these things slowly walking towards me. Those eyes; those dim, yellow eyes that are just bright enough to give anyone a really eerie feeling in this blackness - all focused on me. As I tried to crawl backwards on my hands, I felt my hand sink into the floor as if it failed to hold me. I had lost almost half of my arm into the darkness and I could see this black-purple vapor rising up from the ground as a pool of the same color enlarged itself around my body. I felt my hand give way as well into the pool as my back and upper thighs soon followed. I tried to turn myself around on my stomach to try and to, swim, through the blackness but that only hastened the demise that I could see fast approaching me. I felt the pool of darkness go up above my neck; seemingly trying to squeeze the life out of me. Using the few times I was in a pool as a learning lesson, trying to tread in whatever this was soon became increasingly difficult. Every part of my body felt heavy, weighed down by some invisible dark matter that made me feel like I was carrying lead everywhere. It was only a matter of time before the darkness began to slowly cover my chin and starting invading my mouth and nostrils - choking on this dull burn that was crawling it's way into me. And suddenly, I felt my conscious started to leave me and began to become something that was me and wasn't me at the same time. As if, I lost all sense of direction - where is up? Down? Left? Right?
I'm... drowning... I know that much... I can't breathe... My chest and throat feel like they're on fire... This aching burn... But what exactly am I drowning in? Water? I've had water in my lungs before but.. This is eerily familiar... Like it's thicker than water... It's not blood... I would have tasted the metal lingering on my tongue were that the case... I can't see anything... My eyes aren't hurting... So dark... I wish I could see the light again.
What's this bright blue light? It's so... comforting... This girl... She looks to be about my age, maybe a year older. She's kind of cute... But her eyes... I feel she could freeze me with that gaze of hers. I see her lips moving... They look so soft... I can't hear anything... Man... I'm going to die... My vision is-
"Will you live for me?"
I open my eyes again. A voice. A girl's voice. Stern but underlying kindness is there. Those beautiful lips again... I want to feel those lips against mine so much.
"If I save you, will you live for my sake?"
"...Yes..."
"What do you want most in this world?"
"... To have the chance to lead a fulfilling life, to do something with every day that I have..."
The burning is gone. Instead I feel this coolness running through me. Like, when I stand underneath the heavy rain and the droplets just pass over my body. Water... I open my eyes and search for that voice - her voice. But, why do I still get the feeling that she's still there? Ouch! What's with this light? I can't see anything else... I can't...
A/N: Hey guys. For those of you who are kind enough to continue following me, hoping I would update on my other two stories, this one just came to me one day when I was at work and I had pretty much roughly threw the first chapter together. This is kind of rough in my opinion since I didn't write a lot of this in one sitting; more like, six or seven, fifteen minute sessions. Anyway, I'm sure for all the High School DxD fans, you guys can at least see that I'm starting to move towards a less-explored set of characters. We'll see where this goes.
As for my other two stories, I'm still working on them, I promise. Things have been crazy and I am trying to get my head on straight for the time being concerning those other projects. I just like working on multiple things at the same time and I feel like I may or may not finish them when I want to. But, I will press on!
- hashimoto-san-x or as some know me, xshashimoto
