A/N:
Genre(s) ―Adventure/Fantasy/Action/Romance/Friendship/Family
Warning ― Some genderbent characters
Chapter 1
Doppelgänger
...
The room was extremely large and painted in orange with golden designs lining edges of the walls. On the left and right sides of the walls there were three rows of bookshelves which were filled with books of varying subjects.
In the middle of the room there was a glass-top table with two sofas on the left and right and two chairs on the other sides. A tall blond male sat on one of chairs with his feet on top of the table engrossed in a novel. His brown eyes sparkled with enjoyment. He was none other than Kise Ryouta.
"Your Highness!" a voice from the other side of the door took him away from his reading. "Your guests are here!"
"Send them in!" He replied. As he said that, the door opened and two teens ―a male and a female entered. When the door closed, the male spoke,
"What's with her, Ryouta?" he asked. "Why's she so stiff? Aren't the palace staff used to us by now?"
"I can't answer that." Ryouta shrugged. He then had a playful look on his face. "By the way Yoshitaka-senpai, were you and Yukio-senpai out on a date? You both look dashing."
"Isn't it ob―" he broke off as he was kicked by his female companion. Yoshitaka was a tall male with an average body build. He has short black hair with a slight green tint to it parted to the right. He has very narrow eyes with dark pupils. He was dressed casually, a white dress shirt and black pants with white sneakers.
"Of course not!" Yukio screeched, her face red with embarrassment. She has sharp steel blue eyes which were emphasized by her short voluminous black hair done in the sophisticated bob hairstyle. She wore a white shirt underneath a royal blue blazer and white pants with matching blue heels.
"Come on, Yukio-senpai." Ryouta drawled playfully. "Don't be like that. Yoshitaka-senpai isn't denying it, now is he?"
"You should not be like this!" she continued. "We just happened to run into each other that's all!"
"Wow, that's some luck." Ryouta smirked. "Just admit it. Don't be shy now."
Yukio twitched angrily. Then without a word, she dashed towards Ryouta and gave him a drop kick. He was sent flying into a nearby wall, after which Yukio fixed her hair out of her face.
"You have some guts talking to your Senpai like that, brat." She spat.
"Senpai! That was mean!" he whined.
"Yukio-chan, this isn't school. Drop kicking the Prince in the castle is forbidden." Yoshitaka said warily. "What if someone had seen?"
"Humph! He deserved it!" she said as she folded her arms.
Suddenly, there was a dark purple light coming from the opposite direction of the teens. Turning to look at the source, the trio saw that it was a dark magic circle with strange symbols inside.
The rings on the trio's fingers glimmered momentarily and immediately after, Yukio brandished a halberd. The shaft was metallic and red in colour, and consisted of an axe blade with a spike at the very top.
Beside her, Ryouta had one metallic spear which was silver in colour. The shaft was tall, extending about two metres, with long and thick protrusions on the sides. Its head was huge and triangular-shaped.
Yoshitaka stood behind them and wielded a simple recurved bow which was roughly as tall as him. It was white in colour with blue ornate designs on the lower and upper limbs of the bow. The handle riser section was completely in gold however, the arrow rest had a blue stripe in the middle. Around his right eye was a semi-transparent display lens which was attached to a metal base at the ear.
By now, an elongated creature slithered out of the magic circle. It had no legs, and its entire body was covered in overlapping green scales. The creature was as tall as the room, but unfazed, the teens went to work.
As Yoshitaka pulled his arm backwards, air swirled around him and condensed into the shape of an arrow. He released it towards one of the creature's eyes, effectively blinding it. The others charged at it; Yoshitaka never stopped releasing his arrows as he wanted to garner the creature's attention.
The creature let out a roar which shattered the glass in the room and had the teens covering their ears desperately. Then, it lunged at both Yukio and Ryouta who were closest to it. Haven't yet recovered, Yukio managed to use her fire to create a wall barring the creature for a couple seconds. Ryouta followed suit by moving the two of them away from it with his lightning.
Yukio receded the wall, and in that moment, the creature used its tail and made a lash at the three. They dodged it with ease of course, and this time, Yoshitaka aimed for the other eye. He was successful, and sent a smirk of triumph to the others.
Without hitch, they dashed towards the creature which was moving erratically, due to its sight being gone. Reaching close to it, Yukio jumped up and with her halberd, she slashed the top of its head but was unable to give it a finishing blow due to the creature twisting about.
Ryouta slid on his knee to avoid the creature's tail. Getting behind it, he used his spear to jab the monster in its tail. With a malicious grin, the Prince proceeded to cut upwards its body by dragging the weapon along its body as he ran. But likewise Yukio, he couldn't land a fatal blow due to its movements. Yoshitaka as well, he was finding it hard to release his arrows to hit the fatal areas.
"This fucking monster!" Ryouta hissed in rage and frustration.
Suddenly, coming from the outside, a tunnel of water knocked the creature into the wall and stunting it.
"Otouto!" a voice shrieked. "Are you alright?!" Another tall blond male dressed in a blue suit came through the broken window with a panicked look on his face. His hair was carefully parted to the right with his forehead fringe hanging over his right eye. The back of his hair was in the messy style, seeming as though he hadn't combed it somewhat.
"Ryouji-sama!" Yoshitaka said in relief.
"Ji-nii! Yeah, I'm ―" Ryouta didn't get to finish the sentence as the creature once more let out a scream. However, instead of attacking them again, a magic circle appeared on the ceiling, and the creature slithered up and disappeared through it.
Not wanting this creature to get away, Ryouta headed towards it by using a magic circle as a stepping stone. Reaching the ceiling, he flashed a bright smile at his brother, Yukio and Yoshitaka.
"I'll be back!"
"Wait! You don't even know where that thing came from!" Ryouji shrieked. But knowing his little brother, with an outstretched hand, he called forth water to restrain him while the magic circle was fading. Yukio and Yoshitaka were beside the older blond with looks of concern.
"Don't you want to know where the hell these creatures keep coming from?!" Ryouta asked. "We can't let this opportunity go to waste!"
"You impulsive brat!" Ryouji shouted. "Think first! So what if you found where they are coming from?! What will you do if ―!" But he was unable to finish the sentence. Ryouta evoked his lightning and sent a shock towards his brother, causing him to lose focus. In that moment of freedom, using a magic circle, he jumped up to the ceiling, hoping that the magic circle the monster came out of was still there.
Sadly, it wasn't.
He then evoked his lightning once again, and began to write a magic circle. Trying to remember what the creature's circle looked like, he frantically wrote. While Yukio was attending to the shaken Prince, Yoshitaka looked up and saw Ryouta writing.
"What are you doing Ryouta?" He asked.
"Nothing much." He replied. But as he continued to write, Yoshitaka caught glimpses of the characters being used.
"Nothing my ass!" he shouted and just like Ryouta, he used a magic circle as a stepping stone to get up to the ceiling. He didn't want to touch the Prince because he knows he'll be electrocuted like Ryouji. Instead, with his recurved bow, he pulled his arm back to release an arrow. However, it was too late. The magic circle lit up, and within an instant, Ryouta disappeared.
"What was that, Yoshitaka?!" Yukio asked, Ryouji was finally waking up.
"It's Ryouta! He wrote up a magic circle and disappeared!" He pointed to where the faded circle was still present. "By the time I drew my bow, he disappeared."
"He what?!" Yukio asked. She looked up at the ceiling and saw the circle. "Let's drag his ass back here."
She got down on her knee and with the aid of Yoshitaka; she too copied his magic circle. Ryouji had gotten out his electric daze, and he was filled in by Yoshitaka. When Yukio had finished the magic circle, hers was a bit different than Ryouta's. While Ryouta's had the character for 'departure' and 'arrival' on the outer rings, hers had the characters for 'arrival' and 'return'.
She then placed her hands on the edge of the circle and it lit up.
"Yukio keep it open," Ryouji commanded. "Yoshitaka, get your bow ready. Who knows if a monster may follow him here."
"Hai!"
"Alright," Ryouji said as he stood firm. He then evoked his water and formed what seemed to be ropes with it. Each hand had one, and with a grunt, he pushed the water into the magic circle.
"He's right there, on his back! Grab him!" Yukio said. Since this was a spatial magic circle, she was able to see where it had opened up. What she saw was a blond male in a white shirt, lying on his back. And judging by his body structure, and hair, this was no doubt the Third Prince.
Ryouji followed her instruction, and made a fist as though he was holding something. When he felt the water secure his target, he made a giant leap backwards, planning to bring him back in one swoop. But the boy was resisting.
This brat, He thought angrily. He continued his actions, and not before long, Ryouji had successfully pulled back the blond into their world. However, when the boy fell out of the circle and the light dimmed, all colour from their faces drained.
"Oh shit."
xxxx
"I'm home!" Kise shouted as he took off his shoes at the genkan. He then made his way inside the kitchen and saw both his parents busy. His father was by the counter with a knife in hand, chopping meat while his mother was by the sink washing rice.
"I'm home." He said again. The two jumped when they heard him, and greeted him with a smile.
"Welcome back." His father smiled at him. Kise's father ―Ryouhei was a tall man with lovely blond hair and bright green eyes with long corner lashes.
"So how was practice?" Kise's mother ―Ritsuko then asked. Compared to her husband, she was a short woman, with long black hair and beautiful brown eyes.
"It was the usual." Kise replied with a sigh. "Coach worked us like mules; I guess he's still hung up on the practice match."
Ritsuko chuckled. "I'm sure your father told you not to judge a book by the cover, right? I'm sure it can be applied to basketball as well."
Kise deflated and made a pout. "Mom…"
"By the way Ryou," Ryouhei joined in after making one last chop. "We published a tankobon for a new manga today; I brought a copy since you might like it."
Kise brightened in an instant. "Thank you!" With that, the teen sped off up the stairs and down the hall to his room. Flinging the door open, he spotted the manga, sitting atop his bed. He threw his school bag and blazer on the chair and dashed to the bed.
He took up the book and headed into the adjacent room. This room was painted in orange with gold on the edges. On the left and right walls, there were bookshelves, all laden with fiction of the different genres that one could think of (well, appropriate genres for a teenager). There were novels, light novels, but mangas took up the bulk of the books there.
He lied on his back on the floor, and started to read. However, as soon as he opened the book, he heard the sounds of static electricity. Placing the book on his chest, Kise looked about the room, wondering where the sound was coming from. He saw nothing out of place, and shrugged it off as maybe coming from outside. He went back to reading, but then, a bright yellow light shone in his face.
"What?!" Kise said aloud, somewhat angry. He just wanted to read the manga in peace. But that was when he saw it.
On the ceiling, there was something that was too similar to a magic circle he's seen in anime. Within the outer bands, there were intricate writings ―symbols rather, but Kise couldn't tell what symbols they were due to the light emitting from the circle. The inner circle had a hexagram in the centre and at each end of the diagram, there were smaller circles connected together with straight lines. Within those smaller circles, he saw the kanji for 'departure' and 'arrival'.
But then, from these smaller circles went electricity that followed along the lines of the hexagram. After all was connected, Kise saw the hexagram and the circles disappear to give way to what seemed like a portal opening.
It left Kise frozen in shock.
He wanted to run, but his body just won't move. He kept staring at the magic circle which kept expanding. Suddenly, Kise saw another spell circle appear beneath him. Finally his body responded, and he bolted upright. However, in that instant, Kise felt something wrap around his body and he was being pulled in.
Kise let out a blood curdling scream.
Meanwhile, Ryouhei and Ritsuko immediately dashed up the stairs as their son's scream had reached their ears. However, by the time they reached Kise's door, they saw the blinding yellow light and headed towards it. But as they reached the doorway to the adjacent room, they saw Kise on his back being dragged down into what seemed like a portal by…bands of water? The blond was resisting with all his strength but it was futile. Even though the water bands held him, he couldn't hold them.
"Ryou!" Ryouhei shouted and made a dive for him. But it was too late. The light from the magic circle faded and his son had disappeared. However, both parents noticed that there was another magic circle on the ceiling, but before Ryouhei could move, something fell on him. Without hesitation, Ritsuko kicked it off her husband, sending it flying. She saw that it was a human being, but she didn't want to take any chances. She just lost her boy; she couldn't lose her beloved too.
The light from the magic circle on the ceiling faded, and the two parents were looking at the person that arrived.
Gesturing for his wife to stay on guard, Ryouhei made his way to the seemingly unconscious teen who was dressed in casual clothing. He wore a white shirt with a few buttons undone tucked into dark jeans and matching shoes. Around his wrist there was a gold watch with diamonds embedded in the bands and on his thumb there was a plain ring.
But that didn't catch their eyes at first. It was the spear he held on to. It was entirely made out of metal; the shaft was as tall as Ryouhei (or even taller), with long and thick protrusions on the sides. Its head was huge and triangular-shaped.
Using a nearby mop-stick, Ryouhei kept a distance from the boy (and the magic circles) to roll him onto his back to see his face. The act was successful, but a part of the two parents wished that it didn't.
The blond teen on the floor was the exact replica of his son, Kise Ryouta. His hairstyle was the same. His face was the same. His height was the same. Everything was the same. But both Ryouhei and Ritsuko knew that the boy in front them weren't their son. It couldn't be.
The Kise look-alike then shuffled, getting himself up onto his feet. When he was finally up, he looked towards the two and a smile came onto his face as he lunged at them.
"Daddy!"
Ryouhei and Ritsuko were left frozen.
Ryouhei pushed him off, while Ritsuko swiftly held the kitchen knife at the boy's neck. "Who are you?" She asked. The blond boy stiffened at feeling the cool sensation pressed up at his throat. He wanted to retaliate, but she looked like his mother…he couldn't find it in him to throw her through the window.
But, deep down, both Ryouhei and Ritsuko had a feeling of what this is. Especially Ryouhei. Being in his line of work, he's edited and published many stories with this kind of premise but to think it was happening at this very moment…
The Kise look-alike blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about? It's me, Ryouta!"
"You can't be." Ryouhei answered. "My son never calls me 'Daddy'."
"And two," Ritsuko joined in. "Our son doesn't have so many piercings."
It was as they said; this Ryouta had four piercings on his left ear ―three at where his lobe is, and one on his helix.
But hearing what the two said, Ryouta was taken aback. The two people before him were identical to his parents, but when he looked about the room, it was then that he realized that something was wrong. His room didn't look like this.
This room is small! Ryouta thought. But then again, he remembered entering the magic circle to chase after the creature. Still, there's no way those creatures could come from a place as nice as this. That means I messed up. His expression fell immediately. Because of his rashness, he ended up somewhere his own parents doesn't even think he's their son.
Deciding to act calm, Ryouhei decided to speak before his wife decides to slice the boy's throat for taking her child away.
"You say you're 'Ryouta' correct?" he asked.
"Yes. You don't believe me?"
"Of course not." Ritsuko said.
Ryouta sighed. "Daddy, when I was five you ran over Eiji with your car but because Mom wasn't here, when she returned you told her that he had escaped and got killed on the road. You even dug a hole in the wall to show her that he escaped through there." Eiji being Ryouta's pet.
Ryouhei stiffened. Both in shock that that was a secret between him and his son, no one else should know about that; and the fact that Ritsuko was sending him death glares.
"That's ―" he broke off before he could finish.
"Here." Ryouta interrupted. He rolled up his pants leg and pushed down his ankle sock to reveal a mark. It was oddly shaped, seeming like a formless artwork. "This is ―"
"Your birthmark." Ritsuko finished. She dropped her hands and almost broke out in tears. If anything should ever happen to her son's face (God forbid), Ritsuko would know her boy just by that one mark; and no one should even realize that it's there; it's so inconspicuous.
Ryouhei let a sigh and raked a hand through his hair. He didn't want to believe that this was happening and that his son was just playing an elaborate joke on them, but sadly, it was not so. He knew Kise would never do such a thing, given that it isn't April's Fool.
"Could you tell me where am I?" Ryouta then asked.
"You're in Yamato City, Kanagawa, Japan." He said. He found it odd that this boy who was the carbon copy of his son didn't know where he was. But throwing that thought aside for now, he then looked at the magic circle in the floor. "Now could you tell me why the hell are those things in my floor and ceiling?"
Ryouta looked at the one on the floor and shrugged his shoulders. "To be honest, I don't know about that one." He then looked up at the ceiling. "That's the one I drew to chase the Bakemono that attacked me in my room. By the way, what's 'Japan'?"
"Wait, I want to know what this is about drawing magic circles and a Bake-something." Ritsuko spoke.
"How come you don't know Japan?" Ryouhei asked.
"I know Yamato City and Kanagawa, but I've never heard of Japan before. As a matter of fact, it doesn't exist." He turned to Ritsuko to answer, "Bakemono are grotesque creatures that attack my world almost every day. No one knows where they originate from though, so don't ask me that."
Ryouhei and Ritsuko exchanged glances before letting out a sigh. For one, somehow, they could tell that he's not lying, as, if they should use their own son as reference, whenever Kise lies his left eye twitches profusely and he avoids eye-contact. The doppelganger before them was looking directly at them and seemed like a lost child.
They sighed again. This is going to take a while.
xxxx
Without a doubt, Ryouji, Yoshitaka and Yukio could tell that this was not Ryouta. For one, this blond didn't wear the watch that Ryouta received from his father on his birthday last year. The second visible thing was that this blond before them was in a different set of clothing than the Prince.
Still, they were frightened.
When he looked up at them, the trio was seeing the Prince. Same blond hair with bangs that come over into his face, same bright brown eyes with the long corner lashes, same angular face…everything was the same (minus the clothing).
Kise's eyes then looked at Yoshitaka and within an instant he launched himself onto the older male seeming to be crying.
"Moriyama-senpai!" he wailed. "Thank God there's someone I know! What's happening?!"
"Get off me!" Yoshitaka said as he forcibly pushed him away. At the same time that Kise was shoved away, he saw Yukio close in on him with her halberd, stained with a thick disgusting liquid. Inching away from her, he then asked,
"Moriyama-senpai…it's me, Kise. Is this some joke you're pulling?" Even though Kise asked this, he knew he wasn't. When he looked around the room, he could tell that he was not in his house anymore, but the only familiar face he's seeing is Yoshitaka's.
"I don't know how you know my family name," Yoshitaka started. "But Ryouta never calls himself 'Kise'."
"That being said, who are you?" Yukio asked.
Kise looked at her and for the life of him couldn't recognize her. He blew it off as someone he just didn't know. "I'm Kise Ryouta." He answered swiftly. The way Yukio had the halberd poised at his body made him remember his mother.
"There's no way you could be." Ryouji said, joining in. Seeing him, Kise froze. Ryouji looked a lot like his father and him. If Kise didn't have sisters back home, he'd honestly think that this boy here was his brother.
"Where's your proof?" Ryouji asked.
Hearing that, there was only one thing that came to his mind. Ever since he was little, his mother always told him that if anyone asks him for a proof of his identity, he should show them his left ankle. And that Kise did.
"This is my birthmark. I am Kise Ryouta." He declared. "Who are you?"
She chuckled darkly. "You claim to be Ryouta and yet you haven't recognized your own Senpai?"
"He recognized me, though." Yoshitaka piped in.
"Shut up! You know I'll kick you!"
At that moment, it clicked. "Kasamatsu-senpai?" Kise asked. There was only one person he knew would kick anyone.
"Oh, so you do know." She smirked.
Aghast, Kise blurted, "Why are you a female?! With breasts?" For a fact, Yukio did have the perfect sized breasts. In his shock, Kise was tempted to touch them to see if they were real, but he resisted the urge. After all, this Yukio was in heels; he wouldn't want to be kicked while she has those boots on. Yoshitaka and Yukio were taken aback, Ryouji cracked up in the background.
"What do you mean?"
"The Kasamatsu Yukio I know isn't a female."
Yoshitaka gaped and gripped the fabric at his chest. He seemed to stagger a little as if this was overbearing news. Yukio … she just looked shocked out of her wits. It wasn't that this 'Kise Ryouta' before her wasn't the one she knew, but the fact that there was another 'Kasamatsu Yukio' out there in existence with a different gender to boot. But before she could ask the blond anything, they heard the clearing of a throat.
"I'm sorry but, you'll experience a little pain, okay?" Ryouji said with a soft voice to Kise.
"Wha ―" before he could even finish, he felt his body wracked with pain before collapsing on the floor. His consciousness faded into black.
"Let's go you two." Ryouji then said. "I'll go get Papa; we need to get to the bottom of this before Mom comes back."
xxxx
"I want to know where the hell are you from." Ryouhei said. "You said Japan doesn't exist, which means, from my perspective, you're from another world. But I can't understand how Yamato City and Kanagawa exists, but Japan does not."
Ryouta's eyebrows rose. "Well, that would explain the existence of a country that I never heard of. I can't answer that part. Japan isn't real in my world." He then slumped in the chair. "Well, first and foremost, I'm the third Prince of the Kaijou Kingdom, located on the Teikou Continent."
Ryouhei and Ritsuko looked irritated; Ryouta wondered if he said something wrong.
"Honestly, if I hadn't seen my son get dragged into that glowing magic circle, I'd seriously cut out your tongue right now." Ritsuko said.
"Mom! What did I do!?" he screeched in horror. Well, at least some things never change.
"There's neither such continent as Teikou nor any kingdom with the name Kaijou." Ryouhei answered. "The only 'Teikou' and 'Kaijou' in existence are both schools."
"What?" Ryouta roared. "Schools?! How?"
"I don't know." Ryouhei shrugged. "Anyway, continue telling us about your origins. Who are your parents? Who are the other two Princes, if you're the third one?"
"Well, my parents are you two ―King and Queen of Kaijou, Kise Ryouhei and Ritsuko. I have two older brothers ―Ryouma, being the older and Ryouji being the second."
"You have brothers?!" Ryouhei said in shock. "I only have two girls and one son being you."
"Hoh?" Ryouta raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."
"Why were you holding onto that weapon?" Ritsuko asked. She then looked around and saw that it was gone. "Where'd it go?!"
"It's my spear. And I keep it in my ring." Ryouta moved his thumb around as if it was something the whole world knew. "I mean, why is it a surprise?"
"Why?! Are you an idiot? How is something that tall able to fit in that ring?!" Ryouhei asked. "Hell, how is anything able to fit in a ring?! Doesn't it hurt your finger?!"
"Wait, this is an inter-spatial ring. It's used for storage. Like, everyone has one or a few. And no, it doesn't hurt." He said with a frivolous laugh. "Don't you guys have it?"
"Obviously not!"
"Seriously? This is something anyone can buy. Well, it depends on the storage capacity. The more it's capable of holding, the more money for it."
Ryouhei paled. "Is that like a fucking thumb-drive or something?"
"Thumb-drive?! Who still uses those ancient things anyway!? I've never seen one except in my Engineering History textbook!" Ryouta guffawed. "As a matter of fact, those were deemed ancient even before my grandfather was born!"
This was it. Ritsuko had had enough. So, she leaned towards her husband and whispered in his ear, "I'm going to finish dinner. I leave this in your hands."
When Ryouhei saw her face, she looked ghastly pale, and decided that it's for the best. She then left, and headed straight into the kitchen.
"Why'd she leave?" Ryouta asked.
"You're too much for her." Ryouhei sighed. "Now, tell me everything we need to know. About your world, about you yourself, your country, everything. In exchange, I'll answer you as best as I can."
"Deal." The Prince smirked. "But can you handle it? I mean, Mom just left."
Ryouhei laughed at the boy. "One thing you should know, when it comes onto 'getting transported to another world' kind of thing, never underestimate a Japanese."
And thus, the two engaged in what would seem to be a 'Questions and Answers' session. And just like Ryouta had wondered, his answers had floored Ryouhei. Being an editor, he was used to reading books of this genre. But never before has he ever encountered a book, be it in his company or on a bookshelf in a store, which has a plot such as Ryouta's world.
So far, he's gathered that Ryouta is from another called Sekai which, in essence was like a parallel of Earth with a few differences. One of these differences is that there is the presence of Mana, which allows people to cast magic. Mana is still not completely analyzed as yet, but Ryouta told him that normally, it's invisible, but if enough is gathered in a small place, then it becomes visible. Another thing, when Ryouhei asked what exactly is Mana, if it was like air or a liquid, Ryouta shrugged and said:
"Scientists are still trying to find out. But, in my opinion, it'll be more like air. You can't see it but you can feel it in your body when you're about to cast magic."
In addition to that, Ryouhei learnt that Sekai's technology far exceeds that of Earth's. The Prince demonstrated his storage ring; by hovering his hand over the table, it was sucked in the ring like a vacuum, and when the Prince waved his hand, it reappeared from the ring.
Another piece of Sekai's technology Ryouta demonstrated was his cell phone. It was stored in his ring so there was no damage done to it. At first, Ryouhei thought that it was a regular touch screen phone like theirs but boy was he wrong.
When Ryouta took it out, a small 'chibi-like' person appeared on the black screen. He had blue hair with bright red eyes and was dressed casually ―a black v-neck t-shirt and what seemed to be white jeans and matching shoes. He was adorable!
Ryouta then said, "Open up the damn phone, I need to get in."
And the chibi-like person responded, "So mean, Ryou." With a pout and everything. Ryouhei nearly fell off his seat. What is more, this chibi-like person called 'Kei', unlocked the phone and did everything that Ryouta told him to.
"In my world, cell phones come with an AI," Ryouta had explained. "You do know what an AI is, right?"
Ryouhei had gotten pissed at this. "We aren't that dunce!"
"Just checking," the blond shrugged. "Anyway, if I want I can make Kei do everything as I just showed you. Another example would be if someone texts me and I'm busy, Kei has enough sense to message them back saying 'I'm busy doing something, talk later'."
"Without you saying anything to him?" Ryouhei asked.
"Of course. Kei isn't an idiot." The Prince shrugged. "However, if I'm reading a novel or drawing or something trivial, Kei would ask me if I want to reply or not."
"But wait, how would Kei know that you're doing something?"
Ryouta didn't respond. He simply placed the phone on the table face up, and told the AI 'to get out'. The lens of the front camera shone, as though it was taking a picture and there stood Kei, in full colour in all his holographic glory. He even waved at Ryouhei with a blinding smile. Kei was able to walk around and sit, but he was restricted to the phone's face. But Ryouhei had to admit, Kei was quite adorable.
But apart from that, Ryouhei had also learnt something quite…unnerving.
According to Ryouta, if Kise was dragged into Sekai, then the blond would have to learn how to fight with a weapon since there are existences called Bakemono. These are creatures that attack and destroy indiscriminately, and what's worse, the school he goes to trains them for such future combat.
Ryouhei started to fret for his baby boy. Although his son was a black belt in martial arts, he had a feeling that it will be useless against the Bakemono that the Prince had previously described.
xxxx
By the time Kise came to, he realized that he was in a closed room with wooden walls and floors. But when he tried to move his body, he couldn't. He knew he was sitting up straight on a chair as he could feel the sensation, but he just couldn't move. His head and eyes were fixed on the person before him, and if he could have fainted, he would have done so.
On the other side of the table, there was a tall man with average amount of muscles. He had light blue haired neatly combed, somewhat reminiscent of Midorima's hairstyle and warm blue eyes. There was no mistaking it, seeing the man was akin to looking at an older version of his Kurokocchi, which meant, the man was Kuroko's father.
"You're finally up." The man said. "It seems Ryouji went a bit overboard." He said with a chuckle. Kise didn't know whether or not the man was trying to lighten mood because it sure as hell wasn't working. "I'm Kuroko Hikaru, Chief of Police. And you are…?"
"Ki-Ki-Kise Ryouta." He stuttered. Kise was close to panicking. He couldn't move his body, all he could do was sit and look at Hikaru which he deemed frightening.
"Hmm…" Hikaru leaned forward as if he didn't believe him. "And how old are you?"
"Sixteen."
"Let's cut to the chase, where did you come from?"
"Eh?" Kise really didn't know how to answer that, but thanks to his knowledge from manga and anime, he swiftly said, "I'm not sure what you mean but I live in Yamato City in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan." But when Kise answered, he noticed that he was starting to feel dizzy. He thought that it was probably the effect of being in this forced position for so long, as it seems he was like this when he was unconscious. However, the feeling didn't go away.
Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Prefecture? Japan? Boy, what are you talking about?"
Kise started to break out in cold sweat. Not because he was scared of the man, but because he was feeling like he was going to die. "I'm from Japan. It's a country on Earth, third planet in the solar system, Milky Way galaxy. A prefecture is a district under the authority of a governor. Japan has a total of forty-seven and ―"
"Wait just a minute." Hikaru said, stopping him. "You say your planet is Earth, right?"
"Hai." Kise managed to utter out but his voice was strained. He then saw the man jump out of his chair and turned his head to the left, tilting upwards.
"Get a doctor and a Regulator in here now!" he barked. Looking at his face, Kise could tell that Hikaru was worried about something. Was it that they knew about Earth? Did they think Earth was dangerous? But what's that about Regulator? At least a doctor was coming, he felt like he was being torn apart.
But just then, a searing pain ripped through his body and Kise couldn't help but scream out. Hikaru dashed to his side and with two taps of his index and middle fingers, Kise could move again. He was just in time to cover his mouth as he felt something rise within his throat. He coughed and what came out on his hands left him speechless.
"Fuck." Hikaru swore.
Blood.
Kise trembled from the shock, but nevertheless, the pain was not subsiding. He then felt Hikaru grab hold of him and turned him on his side. With his insides on fire, Kise felt numb. His vision was getting cloudy with red, and not long after he couldn't even register what was going on. His consciousness was fading, his mind was going blank.
"Shit, where is that doctor?!" Hikaru said in frustration. "He's even bleeding from his eyes."
Within a moment's notice, the door of the room bust open and a beautiful woman in a white coat entered. More like sprinted. Without hitch, she slipped on what resembled a headband onto Kise's forehead, and in that instant, his body spasms stopped.
"Men! Let's get him out of here!" she barked. Just then, three men on what seemed to be a hovering stretcher entered the room and Hikaru gently placed Kise on it. The stretcher glowed red the instant his body touched it and everyone's face paled.
"God speed!"
"Yes Ma'am!"
…
The doctor exited from the room to meet with Hikaru, Ryouji, Yoshitaka and Yukio. Seeing their faces, she let out a sigh.
"He'll live." She said. "There's no need to worry at the moment."
"So what was the problem?" Ryouji asked.
"He has no Vault which means that his body was sucking up mana like a sponge. Because of this, it was building up too much in his body and killing him."
"Oh shit." Yoshitaka said in shock.
"Then it's a repeat of the case five years ago, right Ayane?" Hikaru asked.
"You could say that." Ayane answered with a sigh. "But really, what happened? How is Prince Ryouta and this boy…?"
Hikaru looked at Ryouji, Yoshitaka and Yukio. The two then recounted the incident and upon hearing everything, Ayane was shocked. Hikaru then added his bits from the interrogation. Putting the information together, Ayane then realized what was going on.
"I still need to question him some more." Hikaru sighed. "That way, I can have an idea of where the Prince may be."
"You have to wait until he wakes up." Ayane said. "Ari tells me that he'll be up in a few hours."
"Then, we'll wait." Ryouji said.
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