Reflexio: Perpetual Black Feather

by SeinoNaito

Touta Konoe was involved in a tragic incident that nearly costed him his life and took his parents away from him. Now an immortal vampire, Touta struggles to find a purpose to his new life. An encounter with a mysterious miko will change everything forever. Alternate Universe.

1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is an AU I had been wanting to write for quite some time. Taking place in a world were magic became known much more earlier and a solution different to the Space Elevator was used to save the world. I took lots of inspiration from the School Festival arc in Negima and other sources.

This story is centered around this world's version of Touta and Kuroumaru, also including others like Jinbei, Gengorou and Ikkuu as major characters. There's also many other side characters of the canon and a bunch of OCs.

While this will be one long standalone story, there's other stories for this AU I will likely do once I have this done. First, you can consider this my fanfiction dedicated to the ToutaxKuroumaru ship, although romance won't be the only focus here.

Read and enjoy!

---

Phase 1: The Underpaid Janitor Encounters the Blazing Miko

"This is bad… I can't breathe…"

Those were the thoughts of a boy, lying down in a pool of his own blood. He couldn't feel any part of his body. No, most of his body wasn't there anymore. His two arms and left leg were missing. In his chest, there was a huge hole as if he had been impaled by something.

"Am I going to die now…? Just like this?"

The boy's vision was fuzzy. He couldn't make out his surroundings. However, there was one thing his eyes scarcely distinguished; a small feminine figure kneeling down beside him.

"Poor boy," the boy heard a young female voice. "It seems you have been beaten pretty hard there. Anyone would tell you have not much left to live."

The boy wanted to speak back, but he didn't have the strength for that. The only thing that came out of his mouth was his blood.

The female slowly ran her fingers along the blood spilled around the dying boy's body.

"Your parents asked me to save your life. As you are now, there is only one way to prevent your death. Unfortunately, there is a big price to be paid," the female stated as she licked the blood in her fingers. "That is your humanity."

Big price? Humanity? The boy didn't understand what that meant. He really didn't care right now. The agony he felt barely even let him think.

"What is this woman saying?... Who is she…?... No, I know this voice…"

The boy focused of the female next to him. His vision cleared for a moment. There, he saw a little girl with long blonde hair, wearing a dark gothic Lolita dress. The boy immediately knew who she was.

"E-Evangeline…" the boy weakly said.

The girl nodded, as if confirming his recognition. Evangeline raised one of her hands. Shining ice crystals appeared, gathering together on her hand. They transformed into a glass. Evangeline bit her other hand and poured her own blood into the glass. Evangeline then she offered the glass to the boy.

"The choice is yours, boy. Do you want to die here as a human? Or spend the rest of eternity as an undying monster?"

The boy still didn't quite understand what was going on, but he knew one thing. He didn't want to die. He used all his strength to speak up.

"Let me…... live."

"I see," Evangeline closed her eyes. She accepted the boy's decision. She softly lifted the boy's head. She put the glass on his lips. "If you come to regret this, don't blame it on me. This was your choice, kid."

The boy tasted the blood on his mouth. He swallowed it without a second thought.

With that, the boy's vision faded to black.

---

The scene took place in a complex Japanese-style building. It was a spacious, sophisticated and traditionally oriental construction. It had the looks of those big mansions old rich families lived in. On top of its roofs, a young boy with spiky ebony hair was waking up from his nap.

As the boy opened his eyes, he saw the immense and shining sun in the sky. He covered his face to not be blinded by its light. He yawned and started stretching. His back didn't feel right. The boy looked around and saw some cleaning tools lying around near him. He then concluded he must have fallen asleep during roof cleaning. Again.

He slowly sat up as he rubbed his face to feel more awake. He then stared at the blue sky. No, that wasn't a simple sky. Something was off about it.

Inside the endless blue space, there was a faded image that resembled an aerial landscape. It was almost like there was a massive mirror had been placed above the earth, reflecting the silhouette of the land below with an opaque glass.

However, the boy in the roof didn't seem impressed by that incredible sight. It appeared he was used to it. He instead admired the lake that surrounded the mansion he was in and the image of a large city on the other side. He closed his eyes and felt the gentle breeze on his face.

"Sleepin' at work again, Touta?"

Touta turned to his side and saw a man smoking from an old kiseru smoking pipe, standing in the roof beside him.

Touta yawned. "Mornin', Jinbei-jiisan."

Jinbei appeared to be a middle-aged man with his reddish brown hair tied in a samurai-style ponytail. His attire consisted on a simple dark green yukata and sandals. He was also wearing a kasa hat to protect himself from the sun.

"If someone else catches ya, yer gonna be in big ol' trouble. Ya know what Gengorou does to slackers," Jinbei said as he offered his hand to help Touta stand up. Touta accepted the hand.

"It can't be helped! I get sleepy during the day, especially when the sun is as hot as it is today!" Touta said in his defense. "Besides, you're the last person I want to tell me that."

"Huh? What's that?" Jinbei asked, slightly frowning.

"It means that I have been working here for four years already. And coincidentally, I have never seen you do anything around here, Jinbei-jiisan."

"That offends me, Touta. I have an invaluable role in this organization," Jinbei said proudly.

"Oh, yeah? And what is it?" Touta questioned as if not believing him.

"Something so important that a brat wouldn't understand it," Jinbei said as he smoked out of his pipe.

"Who are you calling a brat?!" Touta snapped, only for Jinbei to ignore him. "At least say what you do for your super important job and I may believe you!"

"I usually sit around all day, reading lotta of boring papers," Jinbei shrugged.

"So, you're NEET, after all?" Touta deadpanned.

"Touta! Where are you?!"

A new voice startled both Touta and Jinbei.

Touta took a look at the ground from the roof. He saw a man with messy dark hair and glasses going over the place. "Shit, it's Gengorou-san! Well, at least he's not going to catch only me this time!"

When Touta looked back, Jinbei was gone. All that was left was a little note with "You haven't seen me" written on it.

"That damned geezer…" Touta growled.

"There you are, Touta!" Gengorou spotted Touta on the roof. "I have been looking all over for you! You were supposed to have finished roof cleaning hours ago!"

"Sorry! I just found a giant ball of muss up here and…"

"No excuses! Now, get down here!" Gengorou demanded. Touta obeyed and jumped from the roof. He made a couple of spins in the air, making a skillful landing on the ground.

Gengorou deeply frowned as he looked over Touta's getup; a simple red T-shirt and a pair of black pants. "Touta, what are you wearing?"

"My clothes?" Touta asked rhetorically.

"Where is your work uniform?" Gengorou asked, signaling his own uniform as an example. "I have told you a million times to not forget to put it on," he scolded in a severe tone.

Touta rolled his eyes at Gengorou. "Come on! Don't tell me you expect me to wear that when cleaning, too."

"This uniform is essential to represent the dignity of this establishment's working staff!" Gengorou strenuously declared with a straight face.

"Yeah, but waiter uniforms are not my style, thank you," Touta deadpanned.

"They are not waiter uniforms!" Gengorou protested. The uniform totally looked like that of a restaurant waiter, though. "Besides, breaking dressing protocol could result in your salary getting lowered, you know?"

"Suddenly, waiters are looking cool to me," Touta nervously laughed.

"Leaving that aside, let's go. You have cooking duty today. You know how our members get when denied their meal. I don't want to deal with a rampage, like the other day."

"Yes, sir," Touta complied. "Those customers just can't live without my splendid meals," he added cockily.

"After that you have to wash all the dishes and rearrange the tables. And that's just the beginning; you have to clean the floors, the walls, all the windows and the chimney, dust the furniture and work on the garden. Don't forget to clean the hot springs and…" Gengorou went on and on with his ridiculously long list of duties.

Touta felt like he was dying from overwork already.

---

Touta had just finished with cooking lunch for everyone. Wearing his so-called his waiter uniform, he was now heading to the dining hall where the establishment's members were waiting for him.

"Hello, my monster fellows! Bet you are all starving! Don't worry, your favorite chef has arrived!" Touta loudly announced as he entered the dining hall.

"Touta-bouzu!" everyone in the room cheered. None of which were human. The place was filled with youkai of all kinds; some had a more human-like form, but most were in their monstrous true form.

Touta calmly served the youkai their food, although he had to be carefully for those trying to impatiently snatch their meal. Despite how scary many of them looked, the youkai actually seemed very polite and friendly. Aside from fighting each other for the food for a bit.

"Hey, Otoroshi! Don't eat the table too! Do you know how much it cost to replace it the last time?!" Touta snapped at the monster already sinking its teeth into the table. "Basan, stop trying to heat the food yourself! We don't want this to become a fireplace again!" Touta yelled as he threw water at the fire-breathing chicken.

In the middle of the fuss, Touta noticed a female youkai wasn't eating at all. She was one of the rare types that looked completely human. She was just a cute blue-haired girl in a kimono to common eyes. "Why aren't you eating, Futatsuki? If you don't hurry the best of my meals will be gone in no time."

Futatsuki shyly looked away. She seemed uncomfortable. "Oh, My Sir. For me to eat in front of you is… very embarrassing."

"Come on, don't sweat it. Go ahead and stuff your face. I mean, mouth," Touta told her, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

Futatsuki's face reddened as she softly nodded. She proceeded to untie her dark blue hair. Her locks of hair started moving on their own and grabbed the food from the table. However, the hair didn't take the food to the mouth of Futatsuki's face. All the meal went to a huge mouth with sharp teeth she had on the back of her head. As the second mouth devoured the meal, Futatsuki hid her red face behind her arms.

"Must be rough to be a futakuchi-onna…" Touta thought as he observed Futatsuki.

"Sssweetie," Touta heard a hissing voice.

In the next moment, Touta realized he was being wrapped by a huge snake tail, attached to the waist of a young-looking girl in a kimono. She had reptilian eyes and shoulder-length wet hair.

"Aren't you so nice to always take such good care of ussss," the snake girl hissed at him as she stuck out her long tongue. She caressed Touta's hair with her human arms. Meanwhile, her snake tail continued to squeeze Touta's body so tight that the boy's face turned blue.

"Nureka-san! That's not fair!" Futatsuki reproached, slapping the table. "We made that agreement between the three. Right, Kohone-san?"

Another female youkai stood up from the table. This one also resembled a human woman in a kimono. Except she was literally a moving skeleton. "That's correct," Kohone said. "It's not your turn yet, nure-onna! The next one to coddle My Beloved is me!"

Kohone and Futatsuki then rushed to try and free Touta from Nureka's tail.

A large oni laughed at the scene. "Well, well. Touta-bouzu is as popular as always. Having those fine women all over him. Bet he feels lucky!"

"Looks more like he's cursing his luck," an ox-headed youkai commented as he saw Touta pass out in the nure-onna tail's grasp.

---

At night.

Touta had spent his day doing his daily, boring janitor duties. He was just finishing his final task for the day: cleaning the outdoor hot springs that all the residents of the mansion shared. They were pretty big and it took long to clean them up. However, compared with what he did for the rest of the place, it was an easy assignment for him.

"And finished!" Touta declared as he swept out the final spot of the hot springs. "Yeah, another day of work well done!" Touta cheered and excitedly jumped around.

"Good to see you're still so energetic. You will have as much work to do tomorrow," Gengorou told him as he entered to the hot springs.

"Gengorou-san! What brings you here?" Touta looked surprised. "Is it a scolding? Just so you know, this time I made sure to cut the grass evenly!"

"No. Actually, your work today was quite passable. One day, your efforts could be thoroughly satisfactory," Gengorou said in his usual severe tone.

Touta rolled his eyes. "Your compliments are so stimulating…"

"By the way," Gengorou adjusted his glasses as he observed Touta's get up. "Not wearing your uniform is one thing, but why do you always have to get naked when cleaning here?"

Touta took a look at himself. He was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist at the moment. "I like taking a bath right after I finish. I think I very much deserve it."

Gengorou sighed. "Well, whatever. I don't really care as long as none of our clients see you like that. Having an employee with an exhibitionist habit can be bad for our image."

"So much for Mr. Bespectacled Nudist," Touta murmured to himself.

"What was that?" Gengorou threw a glare at him.

"I-I will keep that in mind, Gengorou-san!" Touta nervously laughed.

Gengorou adjusted his glasses again. "Sorry to tell you your bath will have to wait, Touta. Your special visit has arrived," Touta's eyes widened a bit. He knew who that had to be. "They are waiting for you at the garden."

Touta sighed. "She's back, huh."

That frequent visitor wasn't one he was exactly thrilled to see, but it would be more problematic if he ignored her now. He knew it from experience.

---

Touta headed to the large garden of the mansion. In the middle of the dark, he found a girl in a maid outfit kneeling down to admire the flowers. As he approached, Touta showed a carefree smile and waved his hand at the maid.

As the girl noticed Touta approaching, she stood up and made a polite bow. She had the looks of a girl close to Touta's age with long aquamarine hair tied in a pair of twin tails. At first glance, she was just a normal girl. The antennae that she had in place of ears was the only way to tell she was actually a robot.

"Hello there, Senchamaru!" Touta greeted her.

"Good night, Konoe-bonsama," Senchamaru greeted back, more formally.

"I told you to not call me that! It's embarrassing! Call me Touta," he insisted, flustered.

"Understood, Touta-sama," Senchamaru complied with a bow.

"Forget it," Touta said while throwing his hands in the air. "How's your little research going?"

"It's progressing steadily, thank you for asking. Your information sources have indeed been really helpful," Senchamaru took Touta's hand into her own. "By the way Touta-sama, have you considered my offer? Of becoming my research partner?"

Senchamaru got Touta's hand closer to her, as if she was about to let him touch her chest. Touta smiled serenely and took his hand back. He placed his hand on top of Senchamaru's head and petted it.

"Sorry, Robo-tan. You're a real cutie, but you're not the heroine I'm looking for."

Senchamaru closed her eyes. "That is a pity. You do seem like the best type of male who can help with my research."

Touta got his hand off Senchamaru's head and started looking around as if looking for someone. "So, you came alone this time?"

"Yes, my Master sent me on my own. She couldn't find the right moment this time, but as usual, she wishes to check on your condition every few months," said Senchamaru.

"Oh, come on. It's not like she's my guardian or anything. Besides, if she wants to get in touch with others, she should do it herself. Not leave it to her personal robot maid!"

"I was designed to be Master's personal assistant in replacement of my oldest sister. It's natural for me to come in her place when Master is busy. Besides, Master is honestly concerned about you, even if she denies it."

"Well, you can just tell your dear Master I'm doing just fine here. No reason to be worried. Now, if that was all you wanted to see me for, I'll see myself out. I had a rough day and may just pass out from exhaustion any moment now," Touta said as he turned back, trying to end the conversation.

A beep sound came out of Senchamaru's head, gaining Touta's attention.

"Please, wait a moment, Touta-sama," Senchamaru asked as she touched her ear antenna. A message was apparently arriving to her.

"Master foresaw you would act this way, Touta-sama. She is now requesting a direct transmission. I will start the projection now," Senchamaru stated with her eyes glowing.

A ray of dark light came out of Senchamaru's eyes. The light took the shape of a tall woman. Like some big spectacle, stage lights appeared around the female figure. Senchaamaru was also playing a small drum as if to announce the entrance of a celebrity.

Once the drum ceased, the projection exploded in light, blinding Touta for a moment. A large swarm of bats flew in the air and encircled the projected female image. Once the bats vanished, an adult blonde woman in a black gothic dress appeared, standing in front of Touta while making an elegant pose.

A small credit holographic floating sign read: Special effects by Karakuri Senchamaru.

With the little show over, Senchamaru slowly clapped. Touta, however, picked his nose with an unimpressed look on his face.

"Long time no see, Touta," the projected woman spoke. "Are you still living a nonproductive life like a hopeless idiot?"

Touta smiled, concealing his annoyance. "I'm doing fine. Thanks, Eva-baasan."

"I told you to not call me that!" Evangeline yelled, annoyed.

"And how have you been? At least, I can see you still think making entrances like a third-rate Broadway actress is cool. How sad."

Evangeline shook in anger. "Damn it, you're still such an annoying kid," she said between gritted teeth.

"Who are you calling a kid?! I'm already eighteen this year!" Touta reproached.

"What's the point of keep counting your age? You'll be stuck as an irritating fourteen-year-old forever," Evangeline reminded him the unpleasant fact.

"At least I'm still better off than certain 700-year-old hag who uses magic to hide her loli body," Touta sneered.

"Senchamaru, hit this insolent brat for me," Evangeline ordered her maid.

"Yes, Master," Senchamaru obeyed and punched Touta hard enough to send him flying a few meters.

Evangeline took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Listen, I'm not here to argue with you. Let's take a walk. I would like to have a word with you."

---

Touta walked through the garden that decorated the mansion. It was designed in a traditional Japanese style and was considerably extensive. It even had a nice pond with fishes in it. Normally, being in the garden would be very relaxing, but not this time.

At Touta's side, there was the holographic projection of Evangeline, taking the walk with him. Or that wouldn't be the correct term. Senchamaru, projecting Evangeline's image from her eyes, was the one walking a few steps behind Touta. Evangeline was actually sitting on a chair from the place she was transmitting her image, as her projection showed.

Even though Evangeline said she wanted to talk, she didn't say a word since Touta had agreed to listen to her. She just kept the awkward silence between the two. At least for Touta it was terribly awkward; he hated it. He decided to try and break the ice.

"So, Eva-baasan. How's everything going? Are you still living in Hokkaido or have you been traveling?" Touta casually tried to make small talk, but Eva ignored his attempt. Touta cliched his tongue in annoyance. He had to be more provocative. "Well, I bet you must love Hokkaido. After all, it's icy and chilling like certain someone here."

Evangeline's eyebrow twitched. "Senchamaru."

"Yes, Master," Senchamaru fired her fist from her arm like a rocket. It hit Touta's head, causing him to fall over. The arm rocket immediately flew black and reattached itself to Senchamaru.

"Don't try to make this about me, Touta. Instead, tell me about you. Anything interesting to tell me?" Evangeline questioned Touta who was still dropped in the ground.

Touta stood back up, with the rocket punch not seeming to leave a scratch on him. "Nothing new to tell. Spending my days cleaning and cooking, like always."

"Are you seriously giving me that?" Evangeline said, raising an eyebrow. "You're working at Fairyland Hall, the Mansion of Youkai. Not only that, you're living at the headquarters of Mythica Conjunctio. You see all sort of monsters from all over Japan every day and you tell me there's nothing exciting in your life?"

"You could say that if I was a real member who participates in the interesting jobs. I'm just the janitor and occasional cook. The most exciting action for me here is to keep the youkai from eating the place."

"And you almost sound satisfied with it," Eva said with a hint of disdain in her voice.

Touta shrugged. "I have nothing to complain, really. I got a job and a place to stay. I get along with the youkai too. Although, I often feel just 250 yen per hour is nothing near enough for all I do around here…" Evangeline burst into laughter at hearing that. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"That was hilarious, kid. You sound like a human!" Evangeline said as she wept away her tears.

"So?" Touta asked, disinterested.

"Guess what, your life as a human is over!" Evangeline told him, giving him the pointing finger. "Did you forget? That's the reason I brought you here in the first place. It was for you to see how monsters live and try to preserve their races. In this new modern society-" Eva's dramatic monologue stopped when she noticed Touta was ignoring her and walking ahead of her. "Hey, are you even listening to me?!"

"I'm listening. I'm just not interested," Touta said indifferently, putting his hands behind his head.

Evangeline gave out an exasperated gasp. Her holographic image finally stood up from her chair. "You're a lost case."

Touta stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to look at Eva. "Hey, what was that?" Touta asked back, trying to sound only mildly annoyed.

"I didn't personally recommend you here just to be cleaning floors. It was supposed to be a chance. For you to do some good with your new life."

Touta sighed, as if they had gone this topic before and was tired of it. "I'm honestly grateful to you, Eva-baasan. You saved me, after all. I'm also happy you brought me here. But did you forget I completely failed at the qualification tests for the combat division or anything else around here? The only thing in which I really stand out is domestic stuff. Janitor was the best job they could offer me. And I'm fine with that."

"I don't want to think you'll be nothing but a housemaid forever. You could at least try getting better at something more useful," Eva folded her arms. "How about swordsmanship? I know your family gave you some training in their fighting style."

"Yeah, but martial arts or weapons is not really my thing," Touta waved his hand dismissively. "The knife of the kitchen is the only blade I need."

Evangeline heavily sighed. This boy was nearly impossible to persuade. She then looked into the distance, admiring the sight of the city on the other side of the lake. It was a relaxing sight for her.

"You know Touta, I often think how amazing this view is. It's been almost twenty years since the existence of magic became known to the whole world. However, it seems like it has been much longer than that. Even I, who have lived for so long, never imagined the world would change so much in so little time. Progress really is a thing to admire."

"What are you are trying to get at, Eva-baasan?" Touta said while folding his arms.

"Touta, you live in an innovating world with infinite opportunities. With the combination of magic and technology, almost anything is possible for anyone, even someone like you. Only a useless fool would settle for being a floor cleaner."

"Sorry for that," Touta said sarcastically. He huffed while sitting on a rock of the garden. "Eva-baasan, you know I can't become a mage. Even beginner's spells are impossible for me."

"There's ways you could get around that, too," Eva persuaded.

Touta rested his head on his hand. "Maybe you're right, but I'm not in a hurry to try any of that right now. Besides, it's not like you're actually expecting me to be able to become a legendary warrior."

"It would take a hundred years for a mediocre brat like you to become a legend," Eva bluntly stated.

"Wow, you're so encouraging. You should be a professional motivator," Touta snarked.

Eva smirked. "A hundred years is nothing to you now. All thanks to you accepting my blood. Right now, you must be feeling it; the part of my power residing within you. Learning to use it would make you more powerful than any regular mage could ever be."

Touta blinked and stared at Eva. "Are you offering to teach me, Eva-baasan?"

Eva looked away, trying to look aloof. "I have no interest in training a brat who doesn't show me any noteworthy resolve. However, I can assure you. With my power, you could do things unimaginable for a mortal. Doesn't that sound like something worth trying?"

Touta's expression lost a bit of his carefreeness."I have absolutely no interest in seeking strength for the sake of it. If I become stronger I want it to be because I found something that makes it worth it. I won't go into battles for no reason."

Eva raised an eyebrow at that slight change in the boy's attitude. "Do you have plans to search a reason for that any time soon?"

Abruptly, Touta went back to his nonchalant attitude and grinned. "Thanks to you, I can think about that after a couple of centuries. I'm fine to stay how I am for a looong time."

Evangeline began to massage her temples in annoyance. "Room for endless procrastination is one of the many pitfalls for people like us. You have seen Jinbei. Do you want to end up like that in a thousand years?"

Touta put a hand on his chin, honestly looking a bit worried. "That's not a nice picture for my very, very distant future."

"See what I'm trying to say?" Eva put her hands on her waist. "I gave you my blood to let you have a great life because that's what those two wanted more than anything. If your parents were here, they surely would-"

"Master!" Senchamaru called Eva out. Evangeline then noticed Touta was staring downwards. His expression wasn't clear, but he didn't look happy or carefree at all. Evangeline jerked her head as if she was regretting what she just said.

"Sorry, kid. I shouldn't have brought that up," Evangeline said in a genuinely apologetic tone rare from her.

Touta kept silent for a moment and dry washed his hands. "…How is that going anyway? Have you found a way… they can return?"

Evangeline frowned, seeming both concerned and a bit sad. "Touta, the incident from four years ago left too much damage to be dealt with. We are doing everything in our power. However, there has been nothing we can do about what happened to them. They're… still stuck on the other side."

Eva then glanced at the sky while Touta kept his head down.

"And… is there anything I can do to help?"

Eva shook her head. "This is an issue for the adults to handle, no place for a kid like you. We don't need your help there," Eva stated without reservation.

"I knew that," Touta said with a laugh that sounded a bit forced. He quickly looked up, showing a carefree smile on his face like usual. "Well, that can't be helped. I know that will be solved eventually. For now, I'll do what I do best and be the number one janitor here," he boasted while sticking out his chest in pride.

The boy filled the atmosphere with the sound of his glorious laughter. Meanwhile, Evangeline and Senchamaru looked the boy with a mix of confusion and sympathy.

Evangeline's projected image started to vanish. "I need to leave now. Boy, there is only one last thing I have to tell you," Touta stopped laughing to listen. "If you're going to be a housemaid, then fine. That's not my problem. However, I think we both know this isn't the lifestyle that will satisfy you. Even immortals get tired of being stuck in one place sooner or later. I can tell you that."

Touta looked away. "At least I like a peaceful way of living like this better than fighting all the time for the hell of it."

Eva averted her eyes for a moment. "Enjoying peace is something not many have the luxury to do. I won't reproach that. But," she looked a Touta a bit softly. "Isn't there anything else you want to do?"

"What?" Touta asked, confused.

Evangeline sighed. "Never mind. It's just that I don't think your parents would have raised an underachiever. After all, you're the second strongest duo of Ala Alba," she smiled confidently. "There has to be something you can do to help the world your parents helped create. At the very least, have the consideration to not make the life I gave you go to waste."

Those were the last words heard from Evangeline's image before it completely vanished. Senchamaru turned off the projector in her eyes and bowed to Touta.

"It has been a pleasure to see you tonight, Touta-sama. I shall retire now."

After saying that, Senchamaru activated the rockets on her back and feet. She took off and flew towards the night sky, leaving Touta alone in the garden.

Touta briefly reflected Evangeline's words. "Something I want to do..."

The boy began admiring the view of the night lights of the city across the lake that surrounded the Japanese mansion. The radiant lights in the middle of the darkness were beautiful. He never stopped being impressed by this view, even if he saw it every day.

He then looked up to the night sky. At this time of the night, the reflection of the world seen above wasn't that visible. Instead, only moon and the stars could be seen clearly. Still, Touta could visualize that world in the sky he admired in the morning.

"Help the world my parents helped create, huh," Touta whispered to himself before smirking. "Yeah, thinking too hard on stuff like that is not my thing."

The boy rubbed his eyes and yawned, the tiredness of his day of work finally catching up. As he opened his mouth widely, his noticeably sharp fangs were very visible. He decided he could think over his recent conversation later. For now, he had to go to his room and get some sleep before starting the following day early again.

---

The next day.

Touta was going about his daily routine as a janitor once again. Today, as Gengorou had ordered, he put on his work uniform. After cleaning the floors, Gengorou had ordered him to go clean the warehouse where they kept special equipment. Touta was amazed for the amount of mechanical stuff gathered there, from giant bazookas to high-tech weaponry only ultra-secret military should have.

"Good morning, Touta-kun," A voice called out from behind.

Touta turned around, recognizing the voice. He met with a handsome young man with orange-blond hair tied in a ponytail. He was wearing very unkempt clothing and a white lab coat.

"I didn't know you had to clean the storage warehouse today," the man offered a friendly greeting.

"Ikkuu-san! Good to see you. Came here looking for something?" Touta asked him as he gave Ikkuu a high five.

"I just came for a few pieces I needed for the new Aeria Bike I'm modifying," Ikkuu explained. He then picked up some mechanical artefacts from the shelves in the warehouse.

"Wow, so cool! I can't wait to see it when you have it finished!" Touta said, looking very excited.

"How about you come and see it right now? I only need to add these pieces and it will be ready to go!" Ikkuu said.

"All right! Let's go now!" Touta enthusiastically agreed. He ran towards the door and Ikkuu followed.

The two headed to Ikkuu's personal workshop. That was the place where he kept all his inventions and experiments. It was a room filled with computer screens, cables and shiny machines. There were futuristic high-tech weapons and android parts all over the place. There also was what seemed to be a middle-scale mecha in one corner.

Touta excitedly looked around, admiring everything in the room. "You really have the coolest stuff here, Ikkuu-san. It's like the lab from some sci-fi movie!"

"It's no big deal, really," Ikkuu said modestly. Ikkuu approached the invention he was working on to ensemble the pieces he brought from the warehouse. "Now, let's get this Aeria Bike done and ready to go!"

The Aeria Bike had the shape of a very sophisticated and advanced motorcycle colored in platinum and black. The feature that made it stand out the most was how it had a pair of horizontal discs instead of normal wheels. It also seemed to be floating in the air a few meters above the ground.

"So, what exactly are you adding it new, Ikkuu-san?" asked Touta curiously while he saw Ikkuu at work.

"Oh, I'm just implementing its gravity magic field to allow it to fly higher without spending too much rocket energy," Ikkuu was while still connecting the pieces in the vehicle.

"Eh? That's it? I was expecting something cooler. Like lasers and missiles," Touta said a bit disappointed.

Ikkuu laughed as he made the last adjustments. "Not everything I do has to be for battle, Touta-kun. Although admittedly, it would take me nothing to transform this vehicle into a death machine."

"Of course, you can! It must be awesome to be the head of the tech department around here," Touta said with a tone of admiration. "On the other hand, as the janitor, the only death machine I can ever work on is the toilet. That smell could definitely take down some enemies, though."

"That again, Touta-kun. You shouldn't make fun of your job like that. Since you joined us, the floors are shinier than they have ever been," Ikkuu said with a comforting smile.

"You know I don't mind the job. It's just that it can get boring to do nothing but cleaning a giant mansion every day. If I had a free day other than Christmas and New Year, I would be infinitely grateful. Seriously, I bet Gengorou-san must have been some sort of slave driver in the past…"

Ikku sighed as he heard the boy's ramble. In the following moment, he smirked. If what Touta wanted was some time to relax, Ikkuu had an idea. "Hey, how about you give the Aeria Bike a test ride for me?"

"Really?!" Touta exclaimed with starry eyes.

"Yes. I need to go buy some things in the city, but I have other of my inventions to work on today. It would be a big help if you go there for me."

"Awesome!" Touta said super excited, making a high jump. Once he touched the ground, the emotion quickly faded away and a gloomy aura surrounded him. "Oh, but I still have work to do today too. If Gengorou-san finds out I'm skipping work, my blood will be splattered everywhere… Again."

"Don't worry, I have you covered there," Ikkuu said with a wink.

"Seriously?! Thanks, man!" Touta said with a huge smile. "I have to get ready, then. I will go change and pick up some things in my room. I'll meet you in front of the bridge," Touta affirmed as he left the room.

---

The Japanese mansion that was the headquarters for Mythica Conjunctio was located on a small island in the middle of a lake next to the main city. This small island was connected to another slightly bigger island which was the location of an ancient, large library with Western architecture. The only ways to leave the island and get to the great city were through boats or the long bridge that was found in front of the library.

Ikkuu had already brought the Aeria Bike to the entrance of the bridge. He observed the old library and hummed to himself while he kept waiting for Touta.

"Sorry for the wait, Ikkuu-san!" Touta called out when he finally arrived.

Touta had changed into more casual clothes for his trip to the city. He was wearing a red T-shirt along with black jeans and a black leather jacket over his shirt. More notably, he was carrying something on his back. It was a very thin red bag, almost as long as Touta's body, wrapped over his back and shoulder with a black strap. It appeared to be meant to keep a sword.

Ikkuu looked surprised at the sword bag. "Are you really going shopping with that?"

"I can't leave it behind. It's too important," Touta said as he jumped right into the Aeria Bike's sit.

Ikkuu handed over a piece of paper to Touta. "Here's the list of the things I need from the shopping district," he said.

"Got it!" Touta said as he snatched the paper out of Ikkuu's hands. He then turned on the motor of the Aeria Bike to get going.

"Also, be careful. The rating of magic crimes has increased greatly ever since… you know… what happened four years ago…" Ikkuu said as it was an awkward topic to bring up.

"Yes…" Touta said staring down. His smile looked a lot less energetic than before.

Ikkuu gave the boy a friendly pat on the back to light up the mood. "But don't refrain from going to have some fun in the city too. Everyone deserves a break every once in a while, especially when they work as hard as you do. Maybe you can pick up a pretty lady and have some fun with her!" Ikkuu laughed as he continued to pat Touta's back.

Touta did his best to hold back his tears of joy. "Ikkuu-san really is a saint among demons…" he thought.

"One last thing," Ikkuu said as he strongly grasped Touta's shoulder. "If my Aeria Bike comes back with a single scratch on it, I won't promise you will go out scot-free," Ikkuu said with a scary smile and a deadly aura coming out of him.

"G-got it," Touta nervously stuttered. "Maybe he is just another demon disguised as a saint…" Touta thought to himself. Thinking about his outing to the city, the boy quickly put on a huge smile again.

"Here I go!"

Touta activated the Aeria Bike and take off to the city at high speed.

---

Touta rode the Aeria Bike across the streets of the city. Most of the buildings of this city were Western-style, but others had the shape that made them look like they came from a fantasy world.

Some flying cars could be seen, but it was easier to spot someone in a motorized flying broomstick. In the high sky, there were ships of all sizes flying. Or rather, they were whales?

The streets were filled with humans and demihumans who interacted normally as if they had all accepted the way the world worked now and were happy with it.

Touta put the speed at minimum and left the bike in manual mode so he could admire the view. Even though this was the world he was raised in, it still felt like a dream in some ways. No one could have imagined a world like this a couple of decades ago, but the heroes Ala Alba made it possible. His parents would love to see this view.

"I don't think your parents would have raised an underachiever."

The words Evangeline told last night resounded in his head.

"Why am I remembering that now? That's why I don't like talking to Eva-baasan. She leaves me too complicated stuff in my head," Touta thought to himself and sighed.

Touta didn't think he could ask for more in his current life. He could just spend his days without worrying about anything other than trying to avoid invoking Gengorou's wrath. All hell break loose when that happens. With this domestic job, nobody expected anything from him nor he expected anything else from himself or others. Everything was mundane and peaceful; that's how he liked things to be. However, he had to admit that mundane daily life could get boring sometimes.

"Isn't there anything else you want to do?"

Touta tilted his head as he thought over those words. "Eva-baasan might have a point. I could at least try and get better at swordsmanship. Find something more interesting to pass time. But there's no fun in training alone," Touta put his hand on his chin and smiled at himself. "Maybe if could find a beautiful kickass girl who would train me, that would solve everything. Yeah, that type of heroine who would yell at me and give me some good smacks whenever I fool around too much. That would be the best!"

Touta's mind was submerged in the fantasy of this dream heroine, but it didn't last long. He was abruptly brought back to reality when he heard a thunderous sound. It sounded like explosions. He abruptly stopped the Aeria Bike to look around and see what had happened.

At the other side of the street, he saw many people running and screaming away from something. Soon, from the corner, an enormous robot appeared. It was of the size of a two-story house and had the form of a man with large spiky hair and sun glasses. This robot was uncontrollably throwing lasers from its mouth all over the place. The resulting massive explosions were damaging the pavement and buildings.

Touta recognized the model of the robot. "A Tanaka V.200?! What the hell is it doing here and why is it attacking the city?!"

When the robot turned around, Touta realized half of its face was wrecked. Smoke and sparks were coming out of the empty space that was left. Touta concluded something or someone must have damaged it, causing it to go berserk.

As the Tanaka robot continued to spray destruction, Touta found himself questioning what he to do next. While he normally would think he should stay out of this, his conversation from last night was still on his mind. Was this it? Should try and be a hero now? The Tanaka robots were tough, but maybe he could handle just one of them. At the very least hold it off until help arrived.

He had his sword with him and knew how to defend himself with it. Besides, there was nothing to fear; the robot couldn't leave him any damage that would kill him. Almost nothing would could do that now.

While Touta kept thinking over, the Tanaka unleashed dozens of missiles from its body. The people on the street and inside the building evacuated just in time before the weapons made impact. Touta was too distracted in thought to drive away.

Miraculously, none of the missiles hit Touta in the Aeria Bike. He was brought back to reality by the sound of explosions. When he realized, all the section around him was on fire and the buildings behind him were nothing but debris.

Touta's face turned pale at seeing the range of destruction. Still, Touta smirked and looked at the robot with a challenging look. "Alright," he turned the Aeria Bike at full speed. "Time to get away from here!" Touta started driving away from the scene, not intending to look back. "I'll play hero another day. I don't want to get blasted away, thank you!"

While he tried to stay focused on getting as far of there as he could, Touta heard a little child crying. He caught sight of a woman running while holding her child's hand. The child tripped and fell over. The woman kneeled down to try and pick up the child, but the Tanaka soon spotted them and started preparing to shoot at them with its laser mouth.

Touta bit his lip as he tightened his grip pf the flying bike's handle. "GODDAMMIT!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Touta changed the Aeria Bike's direction and drove at full speed towards where the giant robot was. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough; he could tell he wasn't going to make it in time. When he was close enough, he jumped from the Aeria Bike so he could reach the woman and the child.

Too late. The Tanaka fired its laser at the woman and the child. The explosion sent Touta flying several meters away, causing him to crash against the pavement.

Others civilians got closer to the boy, but to their surprise, Touta remained unharmed. Touta immediately lifted from the ground, ignoring the people who were looking at him in concern. He only wanted to see what had happened to the woman and child. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, he saw there was nothing but a crater left behind.

"Damn it all," Touta began hitting his fist against the ground. "I couldn't… This time too…"

He couldn't save them. They were gone. At least that was what he thought.

"Look over there!" a civilian pointed to the top of a lamppost in the street.

Touta looked up in that direction. There, he saw a someone standing on top of the lamppost while carrying a sword in one hand. In the other arm of this person, there were two people. It was the woman and the child from before, both safe and sound. Touta smiled in relief at that sight of them being alive.

The swordsman jumped and landed safely on the ground. They gently lifted down the woman and the child, leaving the two sitting on the street. The two civilians thanked the person for saving them, but the swordsman said nothing in return.

Touta and the other civilians observed the swordsman for a moment. They weren't very tall; they were about Touta's height. Their clothing was also unusual; a white kimono top that left the back exposed, long detached sleeves, a golden obi and red hakama pants. They were wearing a short cloak with a hood over their head, for which no one could see their face. Touta couldn't help to be reminded of some women in anime that dressed like that. He saw them at shrines too. What were they called again?

Touta saw the swordsman run forward at great speed, heading to the place where the Tanaka was still spreading destruction. The swordsman stood in front of the large robot and pointed their sword at it.

"I am your only opponent here, iron giant! You should be throwing your weapons at me!"

The swordsman's cry worked; the Tanaka robot focused completely on them. It fired lasers from its mouth, aiming them at the swordsman. The swordsman avoided them with fast dodges and spins in the air.

All the other civilians were trying to stay far away from the battle, but Touta didn't move. He was still sitting on the pavement of the street, witnessing the battle scene on first row. He wanted to see more of it up close.

Touta could only look in awe at the mysterious hooded swordsman. As he observed their battle movements, they looked so impotent and powerful, with still an air of elegance surrounding them. All their moments were light-footed and graceful; like a feather dancing in the wind. How did they do to move like that? That didn't look like ki to him.

There were lots of amazing and insanely strong people Touta had met in his life, but this person had something that left a great impression on him. Like someone who had lived on a cave their entire life and now was looking at the sun for the first time. He could only describe it with one word.

"That's super cool!" Touta exclaimed with his eyes shining. The civilians who could hear him only stared at the boy with a perplexed expression.

Touta's eyes followed the hooded swordsman as they got away from the range of the shots. The swordsman made a high jump in the air and prepared to counterattack. They let out a shout while preparing to swing their sword.

"Sun's Cry Style: Heavenly-Fire Sword!"

An immense fire blast was unleashed. At the same time, the Tanaka fired a powerful ray from its mouth.

The attacks of blazes and the lasers collided. An explosion ensued. The hooded swordsman and the Tanaka robot were engulfed in the wave of the burst. The hooded swordsman was still suspended in the air at the moment. They were blown away by the impact and on their way to crashing against the street. Touta thought he had to do something about it.

"Watch out, Flaming Sword!"

Touta immediately stood up, starting to run as fast as he could. Touta stopped right below the falling swordsman and raised his arms to catch them. Unexpectedly, the swordsman made a couple of spins in the air before landing. The swordsman's legs crashed right into the boy's chest like if they were delivering a dropkick out of an action movie. Touta went out of breath from the impact. Realizing what had happened, the swordsman had an expression of absolute panic on their face.

The two fell down and rolled over the pavement. Once the movement finally stopped, Touta opened his eyes, trying to figure out what had happened. He felt his back was lying on the hard pavement. On top of him, he felt something heavy. He lifted his head and found something red right in front of him. It was also round; very attractively round.

"This is," Touta said as he put his hands around the red roundness. When he did, he heard a very feminine scream. A fist hit him violently in the face.

"What do you think you are doing, impertinent boy?!"

Touta put his hand over his injured nose and then looked up. He finally understood what was going on. The swordsman was sitting right on top of Touta's upper chest. His face was only a few inches away from their butt, which he had just groped. Touta couldn't see the swordsman's expression because of the hood, but from the clenched teeth and shaking of their body, he knew they were furious.

"Yo! This is one of those, right? An awkward first meeting," Touta said with an apologetic smile. "Was I a good safety mattress for this nice behind?" Touta joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

The swordsman stared at Touta for some long seconds. "Did you perhaps hit your head when we crashed or something?"

The swordsman sighed and finally got off Touta's body. They kneeled down beside him to help him sit up. Touta still couldn't see the swordsman's expression very well, but they now seemed more concerned than angry at him.

Touta felt he had to say something. "So, sorry about, well, touching your ass. It was an accident, I swear."

"Do not say ass," the swordsman said with a hint of disgust. "And I understand that. In fact, I would rather you didn't mention it again," they added in an emotionless tone.

"Oh, yeah?" Touta tilted his head. He had a feeling the swordsman was more upset than they let on. "And, uh, did you get hit anywhere? That was a big crash there."

"I'm the one who should ask that. Listen, I don't know if you're some kind of idiot or thrill seeker. But if you interfere with my battle-"

The swordsman got silent once they and Touta heard massive footsteps approaching. The two looked up and saw the Tanaka was standing in front of them. It was preparing to fire missiles from its hands.

"You are still moving, machine?!" the swordsman yelled, instantly getting back to being focused on the battle. They got in fighting stance, but they noticed something was missing. "My sword!" the swordsman exclaimed while staring at their empty hands. They concluded they must have dropped the sword by accident during the explosion or the crash against Touta.

The swordsman got distracted while pondering about their lost weapon. They left themself wide open at the Tanaka's attack. The robot's hand-missiles were fired, coming right at the hooded swordsman and Touta.

Touta stood up in a panic. "Hey! We have to run from here!" Touta said to the swordsman.

Touta grabbed them by the arm. This caused the swordsman to react on time. Before Touta could pull them back, the swordsman lifted him up. Carrying Touta in their arms bridal-style, the swordsman made a spectacular high jump. Having barely escaped the explosion, the two landed on the balcony of a nearby building.

"Wow! That was awesome, man," Touta praised the swordsman with an excited smile. He put his arms around his rescuer's neck, like he was enjoying the bridal carry. The swordsman didn't respond to his praise. "Wait, or are you…"

The swordsman dropped Touta from their arms like he was luggage. Touta tried to complain, but the swordsman spoke first.

"Get away from here now," the swordsman said in a cold tone. "I do not want anyone else to intervene in this battle, especially a child like you."

"Child?!" Touta yelled while jumping right back up. "Just so you know," he stopped talking when he glanced behind the swordsman. There, he saw the rampaging Tanaka. It was using its rocket feet to fly towards the balcony. Completely on reflex, Touta immediately took the swordsman into his arms.

"You impertinent! What do you think you are doing?!" the swordsman yelled in protest. Despite the swordsman's resistance, Touta managed to lift them up and placed the swordsman over his shoulder.

"Saving our asses!" Touta jumped down from the balcony. Being reluctantly carried over-the-shoulder, the swordsman saw the Tanaka firing hand-missiles at the building they had been a second ago.

"That accursed machine! It's supposed to only be attacking me, its opponent," the swordsman exclaimed between gritted teeth. "I have to annihilate it this instant!"

Hearing the swordsman's words, Touta smirked. "You have a good spirit there, Flaming Sword. But I think you'll need your sword back for that!"

He bounced off some damaged building and debris. He then made a perfect landing on a destroyed section of the street. He carefully lifted the swordsman from his shoulder and helped them stand up.

"Let's get out of here!" Touta grabbed the swordsman's wrist. He tried to drag them as he turned on his heel. However, the hooded swordsman held their ground.

The swordsman made Touta let them go and pushed him away. "As I said, you have to get away from here."

The swordsman took out a pair of ofuda from their sleeve. They looked up at the Tanaka flying down towards them. The Tanaka fired more lasers from its mouth and missiles from its hands and chest. The swordsman didn't even flinch and calmly closed their eyes.

"I invoke the heavenly power of the yang! May the ever-burning sun answer my call!" The swordsman threw the ofuda in the air, both which started shining. "Come forth: Flaring Wheels of Dawn!"

The ofuda transformed into two giant wheels made of fire. The first one acted as a shield for the swordsman. None of the lasers and missiles could bypass the flaming wheel. The second wheel spun at massive speed towards the Tanaka. Before the Tanaka had the chance to counterattack, it was over.

In a blink of an eye, the Tanaka's mechanic body was severed in two pieces. The split portions collapsed on the ground. The top half fell a few meters in front of the swordsman and Touta. The lack of movement indicated it was no longer functioning.

The hooded swordsman, thinking it was over, sighed in relief. They were taken by surprise when they heard sound of cheering and applauding.

"What is that noise?" the swordsman asked. Touta put his hand over their shoulder and signaled behind them. The swordsman saw the civilians applauding and shouting praises.

"It's called a cheering crowd. Never seen one before?" Touta commented as he joined the applauding. "After all, not every day do they see a flaming warrior fighting a berserk robot."

"W-What," the hooded swordsman stuttered. "Doing that for someone like me…"

Despite the hood hiding the face expression, Touta could notice the swordsman was getting flustered at the cheering. The swordsman played with their fingers as they nervously kicked some rubble in the ground. In Touta's eyes, this was quite the contrast to the swordsman's composed self in the battle.

"Hey, why are you getting so modest?" Touta unexpectedly grabbed one of the swordsman's arms and lifted it up. "At times like this, you should at least wave back!"

"L-Let me go!" the swordsman protested and tried to take their arm back.

"Come on, you just saved the day!" Touta forcibly waved the swordsman's arm for them. "Be proud of it! Only some people can defeat a Tanaka quickly like that!"

"Tanaka?" the swordsman asked, confused.

"The robot you just teared into pieces! They're one of the top security systems around here. Don't you know them?"

"I am not from around here," the swordsman struggled to get Touta let go of their arm.

Touta glanced back at the Tanaka's upper half behind them. His eyes widened. The top half of the destroyed Tanaka was generating a magic circle on the ground. The circle extended to Touta's and the swordsman feet. In the next instant, Touta noticed he couldn't move his legs.

"This is," Touta almost panicked. He had heard about this thing the Tanaka could do. This was bad. He had to alert the civilians. "Everyone! Run to somewhere safe!"

"What is happening?!" the swordsman exclaimed, desperately trying to move their legs. Despite their efforts, it was like they have been glued to the ground.

"Looks like we got trapped by its self-destruction system," Touta said as he got the bag off his back. He opened it as fast as he could, taking his sword out. It was an elegant shirasaya. "To think I would need you, old buddy."

Touta wrapped his free arm around the swordsman. He heard another angry protest, but he decided to ignore it. He stabbed the ground below him with his sword and shut his eyes.

"I know I never tried this before, but, come on, work," he silently prayed in his mind. He knew he would probably come out of an explosion just fine. Not that he looked forward to the experience. But right now, he just didn't want the one next to him to be blasted away. "I'm an idiot too slow for everything. I bet you still haven't recognized me as your owner for that. But that doesn't matter now…"

Touta took a deep breath. "Keep this person safe! Yunagi!"

The Tanaka's body exploded. Just at the last minute, a pyramid-shaped barrier appeared around Touta and the swordsman. Touta was the most surprised of the two. The barrier was holding up very well to protect them from the explosion. Touta praised himself; not bad for his first defensive technique. However, his relief didn't last long. The barrier began to crack not after long.

"Shit," Touta yelled. He tightly embraced the swordsman, putting himself in front to receive the impact. In the matter of seconds, the barrier was completely destroyed. The two young ones were blasted away by the wind pressure. As they crashed against a building, Touta positioned to take the bulk of the impact. He tried it once again when gravity pulled them to the ground, but both took the impact this time. Touta rolled over and stayed lying on the ground, holding the swordsman's body tightly in his arms.

The boy sighed in exhaustion. He assumed this whole fight had to be over now. He was thankful his barrier could hold up enough to at least survive the explosion. He probably he broke nearly all the bones of his body from the crash, though. It hurt like hell everywhere. However, he didn't mind that much. Whatever pain he felt disappeared in an instant.

"Arg," he growled. "Hey Flaming Sword, we survived somehow. Any injuries?"

Touta pulled away to check on the swordsman in his arms. What he didn't realize was that hooded cloak had fall off. He wasn't expecting what he saw in front of him.

"A girl?!"

The mysterious swordsman was a beautiful feminine face. It appeared to be young; just about his apparent age of fourteen. The pale white skin and long raven hair kept in a side-ponytail on the right side made it stand out all the more. Touta had never seen a face this pretty before. It almost didn't seem human; it was more like a porcelain doll. The breathing and the bit of blood streaming down her face were a confirmation this was a girl of flesh and blood.

As he caught the scent of the blood in her face, Touta felt like something took over him. The smell was simply exquisite and made his mouth water. He couldn't help himself. Totally overcome by instincts, he leaned closer and closer to the girl's face. He was about to lick the blood. He felt like he would die if he didn't taste it.

Unexpectedly, the girl's big brown eye snapped open. As if acting on reflex, she punched Touta right on the face. Her strength was enough to send him flying meters away.

Standing right back up, she looked at her surroundings, confused. "What just happened? I am sure I sensed a malign presence approaching."

She spotted Touta lying around away from her. She put her hand over her mouth.

"Young boy!" she ran towards him. She kneeled down and held him in her arms. Making a solemn face, the girl closed her eyes. "I am so sorry. You lost your young life because I let you get involved. However, this is the result of you not going somewhere safe like those people with common sense. You must have been really stupid," she shook her head to express her lament.

"What do you mean stupid?! I just saved us, dammit!" Touta snapped, immediately reviving. "And I'm NOT dead!"

"Oh, you are alive," the girl's eyebrows raised slightly. She let out a sigh. "Good. What I was told about bland and foolish-looking people being abnormally endurable was true."

Touta's eyebrow twitched. This girl was cute, but her tongue appeared to be made of knives.

The girl helped Touta sit up and held out her hand. "Give me your hand."

Without questioning, Touta let the girl take his hand. A light emerging from her touch. He felt a warm feeling all over his body. As she kept holding his hand, Touta took the chance to stare at the girl's face again. She really was pretty. Before he realized, his face was a bit hot.

"Unbelievable," the girl said, bringing Touta back to reality. "It looks like you are not hurt anywhere in your body," she looked back at Touta as she let go of his hand. "Does… it hurt anywhere?" she asked, seeming a bit concerned.

"I'm perfectly fine, look!" Touta affirmed as he energetically moved his arms. The girl frowned, not looking convinced. "I know it's hard to believe. You see, my sort of people doesn't get hurt by small stuff like explosions," Touta said with a smug smile.

The girl tilted her head, getting more confused. She let out a sigh. "If you are unharmed, that is all that matters," the girl stood up and dusted herself off. She then offered her hand to Touta to help him stand up. Touta accepted his hand with a smile. Once Touta was standing before her, the girl made a traditional bow. "When I let my guard down, your barrier saved us both. You have my gratitude, young boy."

Touta blinked in surprise. He then laughed out loud. "Come on, don't get so dramatic! I only thought quick back there!"

"Not everyone can take proper resorts at critical moments like that," the girl lifted her face up. "My respected mentor taught me one must show respect to qualities worth of it," she put her hand over her chest.

"Oh, yeah? Your mentor must be a pretty cool person," Touta smiled.

"Yes, you are right," the girl replied, her eyes looking down. She then turned her attention to Touta's hand. "That sword and that barrier you used… You belong to the Shinmeiryuu school, I assume."

"Oh," Touta just remembered he still had the sword at hand. "Yes and no," he scratched his head. "My ma and my grandpa taught me about it. I never graduated from the school, though."

"Is that so?" the girl said in an emotionless tone. "Then use that carefully. One must take their family's teachings to heart."

"That's just obvious. Although, there's no need to say it so seriously," Touta said.

Before Touta could say more, the girl gave a few steps ahead. She observed the damage left by the Tanaka's self-destruction. Most of the street was now gone. There was just a giant crater in the area that was a normal street full of people just a few moments ago. The girl stared at the scene in utter silence.

"Hey, this isn't your fault," Touta told the girl.

"No, I was way too careless," the girl said, again sounding emotionless. "This is the result of it."

"You're not to blame for a giant robot rampaging around the city," Touta saw the girl lower her head. "Besides, you saved those people! They're alive thanks to you."

The girl shook her head. "I got you all involved here. It was natural for me to prevent you were hurt."

"Involved?" Touta didn't understand what she meant. She didn't answer.

Touta had no idea what to say in a moment like this. He thought he maybe should leave her be for a moment. After putting his sword back on its bag, Touta walked around the destroyed street. Many buildings were damaged or completely destroyed, rubble spread everywhere. And of course, there was a new crater which covered the whole intersection of the road. At the very least, Touta was relieved no civilians had been caught in the robot's self-destruction.

Touta soon stepped on something. It was a sword; a tsurugi to be specific. He assumed it was the girl's which she dropped during the fight. Touta proceeded to pick it up.

"Hey! I think I found your sword," Touta called over the girl. He picked it up and noticed a paper bird that was hanging from the sword's pommel. Feeling curiosity, he touched it.

The paper exploded into a cloud of smoke. When Touta stopped coughing, he found a creature flying in front of him. It was a bird with red and golden feathers. It somehow resembled a small phoenix. Most notably, it had a large feather sticking from its head and a jewel encrusted in its chest. The bird flew its way to the top of Touta's head. It then sat on his hair.

"Hello there, little fellow! Now, what exactly are you?" Touta said to the animal on his head.

"That is Asama," the girl arrived to Touta's side. "She is my shikigami," she explained as she took her sword from Touta's hands.

"A shikigami?" Touta looked up at the bird. "I have seen some before, but this really seems one of high class. What does she do?"

Without saying anything, the girl appeared to stab the bird through the chest with her sword.

Touta was obviously horrified at this. "Hey, what are you doing to the poor-?!"

"Look carefully, young boy," the girl said as if trying to calm him down.

When Touta payed a bit of more attention, he saw the bird haven't been stabbed. The sword was been absorbed by the gem on the bird's chest. Like some sort of portal, the sword was consummated into the bird until it vanished from sight.

"This is Asama's main purpose; a storage shikigami. She is very useful to carry my possessions during my travel," the girl explained.

"Like a living hammerspace? Never seen that before…" Touta commented. He laughed as the bird got herself more comfortable on Touta's head.

"It is rare for Asama to get so friendly with a stranger this easily..." the girl put her hand on her chin, slightly surprised.

"Animals seem to like me," Touta mentioned while petting the bird in his head. "I understand the confusion little buddy, but that isn't a nest."

As Touta told his joke, the bird nailed its beak into Touta's forehead. It did it again and again. A stream of blood began uncontrollably spirting out from the boy's head. Touta screamed in pain.

"I am so sorry! She usually is not like that!" the girl panicked and took her shikigami into her arms. "She only does that with people she likes too much."

"In that case, I like it better if she hates me!" Touta yelled in annoyance and pain. Blood kept streaming down his face.

"This is my fault. Please, allow me to heal you," the girl said, taking out an ofuda from her sleeve.

Touta took out a handkerchief from his pocket. "Oh, no. It's not necessary," he said as wept the blood from his face.

"But you are-!" the girl tried to protest, moving the handkerchief from Touta's face. To her disbelief, she saw the injury was gone. "What? How…?" she questioned as she got her face closer to Touta's forehead. She touched it softly with her delicate fingers.

The girl soon noticed Touta's reaction to this. "Are you sure you feel well, young boy? Your face is red," she asked innocently.

Touta stepped back in embarrassment. "No, it's nothing! I just-" he tried to come up with an excuse, but he couldn't deny what was going on. "When a boy sees such a pretty face, it's only natural to react like that, isn't it?"

The girl blushed a bit, but soon her eyes widened in shock. It was like something was wrong. "Wait a second, you can see my face?"

"Well, yeah. I saw it up close and clearly," Touta stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The girl began touching her face. She registered nothing was covering it. She let out a scream out of nowhere, almost giving Touta a heart attack.

"This cannot be happening!" the girl began to frantically look at all directions as if she was looking for something.

"Is something wrong?" Touta asked, starting to get worried.

The girl didn't pay attention to him. "It cannot be here! I must have dropped somewhere in the way!" She concluded, clearly talking to herself. "Asama, let's go!" She ran off with her red shikigami bird flying after her.

"Hey, wait!" Touta called out, starting to chase after the girl.

He nearly caught up to her, but not soon enough. The girl made a high jump to the top of the buildings and started jumping through the roofs. Touta knew he couldn't follow her on foot like that.

"Damn it! She's too fast! And why is it they love to do the roof jumping thing!?" Touta complained. He searched for Ikkuu's Aeria Bike. By some sort of miracle, it didn't get caught by the explosion. Touta got up on it and activated the vehicle, going after the girl as fast he could.

Touta flew up to the roofs. He was afraid he would lose signs of the girl. He concentrated his vision and caught the eye of black hair moving through the roofs in the distance. She was pretty far already. For once, Touta thanked getting such good eyes from Evangeline.

Touta increased the speed at the maximum and flew towards the moving black hair. Once he caught up to her, he abruptly pulled over right in front of the running girl, forcing her to stop.

"Don't think you're running away from me!" Touta exclaimed.

"You…! Why?" the girl questioned, giving a few steps back.

"Because it's super rude to run away from someone in the middle of a conversation. Didn't anyone tell you that?" he said while resting on the bike's handle.

"I-I am very sorry for that," she made an apologetic bow. "I had realized I lost something extremely important and I guess I panicked," the girl explained.

"Oh, that's cool. I was worried my pick-up line made you run away. Wouldn't be the first time it happens, you know," he joked with a laugh. The girl didn't seem to get it and kept her serious expression.

"Anyway, you did not have to chase me all the way here," the girl folded her arms. "What are you after?"

"Your mail address, of course! Hopefully a dinner, too," he finished with a wink and a cocky finger gun.

The girl frowned and tilted her head. "Excuse me, what is a mail address?"

Touta fell face-first right into the Aeria Bike's console. "Alright, started off on the wrong foot there," he had to come up with something else. "I know! I bet you haven't seen manaphones before," the girl shook her head. Touta raised his hand and held out his palm. A small holographic screen magically appeared. "See? These are what everyone uses now. Pretty cool, uh?"

Touta showed off the manaphone to the girl. She observed it while she putting a finger on her chin. Touta thought he was having success in grabbing her attention.

"I see," the girl paused. "You have a quite an interest in little girls, it seems," the girl commented in a deadpan voice.

"Huh?" Touta looked at the screen in his palm. He yelled in horror at the content revealed. "How the hell did my gallery of Tsundere Loli heroines get opened?!"

The girl held out her palm towards the boy on the Aeria Bike. "I am not surprised by this at all, young boy. My mentor warned me that all males outside the village have depraved desires," she crossed her arms. "Although, I did not expect to run into one of your kind so early. How were you called? Rori… Rorican?"

"It's lolicon," Touta corrected. His eyes widened and waved his arms frantically. "Which I am NOT!" he yelled in his defense. "I'm specific with my choices! I only like lolis over fifteen!"

"And that is supposed to make it better?" the girl eyed him with distrust.

"Anyway, I'm not one of those creeps! If I could choose, I would go for a heroine who went through puberty! As long as she has some tsun-tsun and some dere-dere, all is good for me!" he declared as he unconsciously punched the dashboard. Accidentally, he hit the ejection seat button and got thrown away from the vehicle. He landed head-first on the roof, right in front of the girl he was trying to impress.

Touta got his head out of the hole he made on the roof. He looked up at the girl. She was covering her mouth with her hand and it seemed she was shaking a bit. Touta assumed this was a sign she was utterly disgusted at him.

The boy hung his head in defeat. He lamented his situation in his mind. "It's over. I never thought someone could screw up at hitting on a girl this badly. It has to be some kind of record. I never wanted to pass on to history like this!"

"That was pretty… amusing," the girl said.

Touta looked up with hopeful eyes. "A-Amusing? You thought that was funny?"

The girl softly nodded. Now Touta understood. She wasn't shaking in disgust, but to hold in her laughter. He might still have a chance.

"Of course, it was funny!" Touta boasted. "There hasn't been a single person I have come across I haven't made laugh! It's all thanks to my mastery of the Ultimate Art of Comedy passed down on my family. We don't originate from Kyoto for nothing!" he burst into laughter.

The girl kept staring at Touta. "You are one strange young boy," she said. For a moment, Touta had the impression she smiled, even if a little.

The color red rose in Touta's cheeks. "And you're really cute!" Touta jumped right back up. He got his face uncomfortably close to the girl's. "Let me take a better look! With such a pretty face, why do you have these bangs in the way. It's a waste! Are you some ghost tribe kid or an oni maid?"

When Touta touched her bangs, the girl tried to put on some resistance. "No, wait-!"

Ignoring the girl's protests, Touta moved away the long bangs from the left side of her face. Instead of a big brown eye like the one on the right, Touta saw something unexpected.

The eyeball was of a vivid red color. In the place of a pupil, there was a golden symbol that resembled a magical circle with a sun in the center. Veins around the eye were sticking out and the skin was darkened. It resembled a disfigurement caused by a burn scars.

The girl slapped away Touta's hand. She covered the left side of her face with her hands and gave a few steps back.

"Sorry. This is… I… do not want anyone to see that… It's just unpleasant," the girl said, appearing ashamed of what Touta just saw.

To her surprise, Touta grabbed her shoulders, looking at her with a big smile and sparkling eyes.

"What are you talking about? That eye is super cool! You should show it to everyone!" he exclaimed with a fascinated expression.

The girl gave him a disbelieving look for an instant. She soon turned her look downwards. Her hand touched the eye hiding behind her bangs.

"You do not know what you are saying, young boy. This eye… is nothing but a curse."

"A curse?" Touta frowned.

The girl turned her back on Touta and made a few steps away. "If you excuse me, I have important matters to attend. I need to have it finished before sunset. You better head back to your own way too, young boy."

"Wait!" Touta yelled without think. She stopped and he quickly thought of something to say. "You said you lost something right?" he asked and the girl nodded. "What was it?"

"It was a traditional mask worn by those in my clan. It symbolizes something like status. In my case, it's what identifies me as the miko of my tribe."

"A miko, huh," Touta said. "Yeah, I could tell you were something like that from how you dress. It was either that or a cosplayer."

The girl frowned at the word 'cosplayer', but let it pass. She continued. "When I realized it was gone, I let my emotions take over. However, logically losing that mask is a trivial matter."

Touta tilted his head. "You wouldn't freak out like you did if it was nothing."

The girl frowned, looking a bit sad. "I personally received that mask from my miko predecessor; the person who taught me everything I know."

"The mentor you mentioned before?" Touta questioned.

The girl nodded. "It was something like a memento. But, if it's lost because of my carelessness, I will have to accept it."

Touta smirked. "Want any help finding it?"

The girl finally turned back to see him. "What? I can't ask you to do that. You must have other things to do. You don't have to help me."

"But I want to! I can understand what is to care for a memento from someone important," he pointed to the sword bag he carried on his back. "Do you know why I carry this sword on my back even though I'm not an official Shinmeiryuu?"

"Why is it?"

"This sword was a gift from my ma, who taught me the style. I have never used it in battle yet, though. I just like to keep it close for sentimental reasons. So, I kinda get how awful it would feel to lose something like this."

The girl seemed to get moved a bit. However, she wasn't entirely convinced yet.

"But this city is very big and I am not even sure where I may have dropped my mask. It could be useless. Besides right now, I am in kind of a hurry for something else."

"Then it's your lucky day! Right here, I have a last model Aeria Bike that can fly all over the city in less than a couple of hours!" Touta tried to show off as he jumped back into the vehicle's sit. "I also happen to know this city like the palm of my hand. Let be your guide. I'm sure that together we will find your mask. And in the way, you get a free flying tour around the city!"

Touta said that with an energetic pose. He apparently was trying to make himself look cool. He was failing miserably at it, though.

The girl frowned as she tilted her head. She wasn't sure if it was really worth it to engage in what could be wild-goose chase with a complete stranger. It sounded like a potential waste of time. She was thinking of declining, but then her shikigami Asama flew ahead of her. Asama once again settled in Touta's head. She really seemed to find it comfortable there.

"Looks like your pet already decided to join in," Touta carefreely laughed.

Seeing his smile, the girl put her hand on her chin. This boy was really strange to her. "Fine. If you insist, I suppose we can go searching for a while."

"Really," Touta exclaimed with an excited smile.

"My mentor taught me not to give up before trying. Not taking the chance to find her mask would dishonor her," she folded her arms. "Besides, you look like a good young boy," she added with a soft expression.

Touta felt his face heating up again. He looked away, hoping the girl wouldn't notice it. "Hey, stop with the 'young boy' already. You don't seem that much older than me anyway."

"By the standards of a human, perhaps not," the girl looked sideways, gaining a confused look from Touta. "In that case, we should properly introduce ourselves. I have not heard your name yet."

"Oh yeah, right!" Touta didn't realize that before. He confidently extended his right arm to offer a handshake.

The girl kept staring at the hand in front of her. It was like she didn't know what she was supposed to do next.

"What's wrong? Have you never seen a handshake before?" Touta intended it to be a joke.

"A handshake? I am sorry. We have no such custom in my tribe," the girl explained in an emotionless voice.

"You don't? It's easy! Just take my right hand with yours," Touta began leaning in to get his arm closer to the girl, giving her a wink in the process. "Name is Konoe Touta! Currently an underpaid janitor working 250 yen an hour! I will be at your service for the rest of the day, blazing miko!"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "What kind of denomination is that? It is distasteful."

"What do you want me to call you, then? Don't leave me with the arm hanging for so long!"

"My name," the girl paused and cowered. "I am… Kuro..."

Touta raised an eyebrow. "Kurou?"

"Kuroha," she said. Doing as Touta had instructed, the girl lifted her right arm and took Touta's hand. With the two officially handshaking, she looked directly at him with her big brown eye. "Hinosaka Kuroha. A pleasure to meet you, underpaid janitor Touta-kun."

Touta returned with a huge smile. "A pleasure to meet you too, Kuroha-chan!" he blushed a bit and scratched his cheek. "Can I call you that?"

"No," she said bluntly.

Touta let out a small gasp. "It seems you got quite the tsun-tsun there. I like that," he said with a suggestive smile.

"And it seems I am entrusting my guidance to a total weirdo," Kuroha deadpanned.