Chapter 09: Like Father, Like Son

Previously:

"Why?" Was the simple question that came from Yami.

Yuuki…Rito?

"Mikado-sensei said that we can kill her later." Rito said firmly as he placed a soft hand on tip of her right blade, which gradually reverted back to the original hand.

"Rito, Yami, Nana, Momo. I will explaining everything after school, meet us in classroom 1-A. Till then," The echoes of the school bell chanted across the area. "Last period."

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Chapter 09: Like father, Like Son

"Oy Rito, you sure you don't want to go to the new maid café with us, I heard they've got fresh employees…" An unnamed friend of the orange haired boy said, nudging him in the ribcage.

It has only been mere minutes since the all-too familiar bells of Sainan high school rang, and already the flood of students were drained from the school building, save for two people.

"Gomen, I'm busy after school today." Rito replied programmatically, his tone indifferent.

Rito sure isn't in a good mood today… his friend thought as chills went up his spine. "W-Well… in that case, I'll…I'll go on ahead them." His friend stuttered, awkwardly waved before scurrying off, for he knew that a Rito not happy, is not something to be happy about.

Rito gave a sigh as he stood up from his seat, and began packing his school bag. Mea Kurosaki and her 'Master', what are they doing on Earth? Rito asked himself as he reached for the maths textbook from his desk, neatly placing it in his bag. He then roughly shoved his stationaries into his pencil case and crammed it inside the bag. He then hauled the brief brown school bag onto his desk as he looked towards the window.

The sun was still up, rays of golden light shone through the windows and onto everything. He could feel the warmth spreading on his face, he felt it. Yet even the warmth of the sun could not sooth the chill that Rito had. The boy gave a small sigh and closed his eyes. Mikado-sensei obviously has no problem with Mea Kurosaki…but is sensei too trusting? Mea is dangerous, and so is her 'master'. Will I be able to protect everyone when – if, something happens?

Rito then opened his golden-brown eyes, swinging his school bag over his right shoulder with his hands while tucking his chair in. "I'm probably overreacting." He said under his breath as he walked out of the classroom, shutting the door behind him.

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(Time Skip, fifteen minutes later…)

This particular classroom was situated lower in the school building. It was on the first floor, with the sign '1-A' outside, right above the white door of the room. Within the classroom, neatly placed rows of individual brown desks and chairs populated the space, and before it all, was the teacher's desk (podium). But looming over it all were it all was the giant dark green chalk board, stretching from one side of the room to the other. The tubes of light on the white ceiling were dull and not lit, despite the classroom containing several students. The basking sunlight was more than sufficient.

A total of ten people sat in the room, each picked random seats and tables to sit on, but each not too far away from each other. The room was silent, no one spoke and nothing moved, as if time has stopped.

An orange haired boy sat on a chair in a slumped position, his chest leaning on the back rest of the furniture, his arms hugging the back support. His eyes were cold and distant, contrary to his usual appearance. He glared at one particular girl before her, who sat on a table.

"I'm not staying here forever." Rito stated coldly, staring at a pair of deep blue eyes. "Why are you here?"

"Mea-san, please tell them what you told me." A female doctor in a white lab coat said, who simply leaned against an empty table.

One teenage kendo captain sat in a chair eloquently, one leg crossed on the other, her black ponytail behind her back, her hands together on her laps. So this is Kurosaki Mea…

The red-haired Trans weapon gave a small sigh, looking at everyone around her before she finally spoke. "…A-About a two months ago, Master and I received a bit message during our travels-"

"Wait a minute, a bit message? What's that?" Lala asked curiously, her facial expression betraying the situation and mood. That's new…

"Think of it as a wireless psycho-dive. Long range mental communications." She replied, shocking one particular blue-haired ghost. "Telepathy."

So Mea-san also has similar abilities as me… Oshizu thought in amazement, but at the same time, fear.

"The…The message came to us in the form of a subconscious data packet, a…. dream." Mea continued. "I-It told us to come back. This voice…it sounds…sounded like…"

"Deep and menacing, but with a touch of class and politeness. Familiar and near, but also foreign and forgotten." A soft and ever-emotionless voice finished, surprising everyone.

"Yami-san… you have the same dream as well?" Haruna asked shockingly. Everyone's equally startled eyes were now centred on the golden-haired girl. But in response, she gave a silent 'Mm.' and looked away from her isolated window seat, looking towards the setting sun.

"Hai, but it only occurred one month ago."

"Hmm, it must've took longer for the stream of data to reach Yami-san, given her location." Momo commented.

"We figured as much, with a frequency that high broadcasted throughout space, only Killing Machines like us are able to pick it up-"

"Yami-san isn't a killing machine." A certain black-haired school disciplinarian snapped as she stood up from her chair, her firm eyes glaring on.

"And you would know, wouldn't you, Earthling Yui Kotegawa." Mea fired back sarcastically, her red braid behind her waved around slowly.

"Mea-san. Please do not activate your Trans ability during your course of treatment. The transformation rendering is still buggy and I'm working on a patch." Mikado-sensei requested calmly, although secretly gripping a liquid-filled syringe in her coat pocket tightly.

Hearing the voice of her saviour, Mea eventually relaxed, as did her hair. "Naturally, Master and I saw this as a threat, and so we began to wander around the galaxy. But wherever we travelled, Master always felt a presence behind us, closing in on us. Until one day, it caught up to us."

Seeing the people now all silently engaged, Mea continued her recount further. "Our first encounter with this…this being was on a deserted planet, where we were fortunate enough to escape. B-But then the planet-"

"Th-the five planets that were reported to be destroyed, that was you-"

"It wasn't us." Mea countered Nana firmly, a hint of rage hidden within her tone. "That was…what he did."

"W-What did 'he' do?" Mikado asked, her tone cautious. Who can possibly possess the power of planetary destruction, other than Konjiki no Yami…

"I…I'm not sure, Master and I were only concentrated on getting away. But…" Mea then paused as she looked down on her hand. "Back on those planets… I could feel every particle in the air, in the earth, in the water, moving unnaturally. It was as if he was able to…to manipulate and change them. ALL of them…"

The people were now evidently shocked at the news. Each with heavy thoughts in their minds.

"W-Who can he possibly be? You've seen him right, Mea?" Nana asked in concern. But this didn't go unnoticed by the boy.

"I can't remember clearly, gomen ne, Nana-chan." Mea replied, shaking her head. Silence now filled the air.

Nana seems to get along with her…. But nevertheless…she's still a threat. Rito analysed.

"Yuuki-kun, you've been pretty quiet for a while. What do you think?" The short-haired Universal Doctor asked as eyes turned towards the boy. The group of girls saw the boy slowly getting up from his slumped position on the table.

"Sigh… You know," He said as he grabbed his school bag. "This…..story, is emotional and all, but jokes aside." Rito said condescendingly, much to everyone's surprise. "You still haven't answered my question." Rito stated icily, his golden-brown eyes glaring at those widened deep blue ones. "What, are, you, doing, here?" He reiterated, pausing briefly after every word.

Nervously, Mea then turned her head, briefly looking at the buxom doctor, who cryptically nodded her head in return. Receiving her confirmation, Mea then locked eyes with Rito. "Master and I are here…..because….because we are finding protection." But the next response was not what she expected from the former assassin Earthling.

"Hahaha…hehe…" Rito faint chuckle faded after a few seconds, his face now holding a condescending smile. "So this is a joke after all: you're here to find protection." Rito mocked as he gave yet another short laugh of disbelief, this time rubbing his palms together, trying to calm himself down. The others could only look on in blatant question as Rito reacted the way he did. "Well you know what, Kurosaki Mea, neither of you are safer on Earth than you are out in the stars, I guarantee you that. You might as well be back floating around." Rito replied, finally looking at the Trans weapon with a serious face.

"You mean out in space, spending every day running away from an unknown enemy and possibly getting caught and thrown into galactic prison forever?"

"Kurosaki Mea, if I were you, I would get those prison guards to prepare a nice little cell for you, because anywhere in the world will be much safer than here." Rito got up and headed for the door, the sunlight behind his back.

"And why's that?"

"Because you will find no protection-on a planet-with me." He finished coldly as he flickered away, stunning the girls into silence.

Master…. What do I do? Asked herself as she look down in distress. Mikado placed a hand on the distraughted girl's back.

"Give him time." Was all she said. Easier said than done… She thought in her mind.

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(That night…)

The air was still and night was silent. Though not only did this apply to the outside, but also the interiors of houses in Sainan City, one house in particular. The inside of said house was dim and peaceful. But one room however remained alit.

A young man in nothing but simple dark blue shorts and a white T-shirt stood within the room. The room was filled with steam and the sounds of the fans on the ceiling, trying its best to suck out any steam within the room. The young man looked at himself through the sink mirror, and roughly he ruffled a hand over his slightly damp orange hair. The pair of golden brown eyes met a pair of identical golden brown eyes.

So much is happening… was that right? The teenager thought in discomfort as he grabbed a towel beside him and promptly flung it over his shoulders as he turned left and exited the bathroom.

It didn't take long before the orange haired teen reached the door to a room. Hanging on the door was a sign of soccer design, reading 'Rito' in messy handwriting. He opened the door and entered the dark room.

He walked in the room bare footed as he closed the door behind him. He was frustrated and evidently tired. He gave a loud tired sigh as he threw the towel on his shoulders, which flopped over neatly on his computer chair. But he paid no heed to his perfect throw as he headed for his only objective in mind: the bed.

I'm so tired… The boy moaned in his head as he flopped square onto his bed, turning his body upright as he did so. He gave out a loud yawn as he spread his arms across the bed and closed his eyes. But those same eyes widened at the feeling of flesh under his hand. That unmistakable feeling of-

"M-Momo?!" He cried out as he sat up on the bed in a flash and was about to push up against the end of the bed, when he abruptly stopped as he recognised the person before him.

"L-Lala?" He spluttered out as he caught a good view of the girl, many thanks to the moonlight past the window. The pink haired Devilukean had had nothing but a simple white T shirt on, but more specifically, his shirt on. It was big and baggy, stretching down to her thighs. Although her apparel was big, it did nothing to minimise her natural features.

"Just relax, Rito." She soothed as she pushed onto his chest gently, laying the boy back onto his single bed. She then turned her body, so that she was also laying down beside him, her head resting on his chest. There the two relaxed, staring into space. Lala took the chance to listen to his heartbeat, which was surprisingly erratic, despite his rather…comfortable position. But it didn't take her long to figure out what it was.

"Ne, Rito…"

"Hmm?"

"About today…" Gid's daughter started softly. "Is she really the girl you met in Planet Mistletoe?"

Rito's eyes widened as the girl brought up the subject. "….Hai." He answered reluctantly.

"I see…" She trailed off. She's nothing like how Rito described her to be… "You didn't have to be so hard on her. Besides, she is Nana's first friend at school. And according to her-"

"Lala, this…'Kurosaki Mea' is willing to do anything for this 'master' of hers, and that makes her a threat to everyone… to you. She is a weapon-"

"And Yami-san?"

Rito halted in realisation as he thought about what he had just blurted out. That's right… Yami isn't a weapon….but Kurosaki Mea….I….

"I…I'm sorry…" Rito whispered as he gave out a heavy sigh, relaxing his body. "It's just…"

"Nani, Rito?" Lala asked curiously as she turned towards the boy. Distressed golden-brown eyes stared into shining emerald ones.

"It's just…everything is suddenly coming back….and I find it difficult t-to…." Lala remained silent as she listened on to his whispers.

"I….I thought it's was behind me, behind us. All the fighting…the visions…the killings…the weapons…the contracts…planets….the assassin…" Rito then huffed silently and closed his eyes. "And then your father….It's all coming back. I'm…"

"…"

"Scared." He finished, saying the word 'scared' as if it was a foreign language.

But that didn't last long as the boy found himself in a warm and tight embrace. Lala had wrapped her arms around his neck, gently pulling him towards her….well, her.

"Daijobu, Rito." She chanted as she kissed him on the forehead. "It's fine, Rito. We'll go through this together."

Rito found himself no longer able to object to this open gesture of affection as he gave in, letting himself go in her loving and eternal embrace, but at the same time, blushing madly.

"A-Arigato, Lala." The boy whispered weakly the briefly broke apart from each other. They locked eyes as they leaned in, sharing one final kiss of the night.

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(In a completely different part of the universe… )

Up past the night sky, and among the stars, there existed the central planet of the Milky Way. The planet was, in one word, majestic. Some say it's many times the sun's size, and others say it's like paradise. This particular planet, was like no equal. Suspended in darkness, the planet was orbited by countless of glittering gleams in the distance, but only a few larger ones dared to approach their superior that was this majestic planet. This magnificent planet had a crystal clear atmosphere, one could look from space and witness all the variety of geography present in this world. All the vast uneven areas of green, all the blue, all the buildings of gold, all the levels of silver, the levels of rock, and all the patches of white. Freckles of grey would occasionally dart around the planet in all sorts of directions, leaving only a smoke trail behind them.

But perhaps the most interesting objects present on the surface of this planet were the tall towers which populated this planet like pineapple. Those gleaming gold and black towers stretched up to the skies, some even penetrating the atmosphere. But one cluster of towers stood superior amongst them all.

This group of towering golden columns stood proudly on an enormous rock formation. This…formation's columns were situated in a castle-like structure, with its outer towers wrapping tightly around the tallest spike in the centre. The structure greatly resembled twin golden devil wings, each wrapped protectively around the contents within.

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Towards the distance, a moderately sized spaceship approached the castle. It was slick and black, with delicate black symbols painted on the side. The ship propelled through the air, leaving nothing but white smoke in its wake, creating a loud noise in the area. This ship was surrounded by various other jets, which were humbled by the sheer size of the centre vessel. And within minutes, the group of aircrafts slowly docked into the welcoming wings of the palace.

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(Mother ship, newly docked…)

One man opened his fierce and black eyes as they quickly adjusted to its surroundings. The man was short, but his height did nothing to minimise his sense authority as he began walking down the steps newly laid out behind the ship. He stepped out of his ship and onto the cold grey ground. He was immediately greeted by a corridor of black suited people who stood beside him in parallel.

"Welcome back, my king…"

"You have returned, my lord."

"My king…" The tailed people all bowed their heads respectfully as the man would walk past them, their tails drooped down.

"Hm..." Was the heavy grunt that came as a reply from the Devilukean king as he approached two large cathedral doors of brown, which folded backwards in fear. The man the walked inside the palace, holding his hand up in the process as he disappeared on the steps, stopping the people who were about to talk to him. The people stepped back at the signal, in fear of their king's wrath.

The tailed scholars all looked at each other with fearful eyes, each with the same thought on their minds. Gid-sama is angry…very angry.

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(Minutes later, …)

"My dear, you have returned. I saw your ship coming in just moments ago." A soft and serene voice spoke, the figure still onlooking the horizon. A woman stood on a huge balcony overlooking civilization.

The small but aged king now sat next to the curvaceous figure, to be precise, on the arm rest for the figure that was the balcony fence. His small hand rested upon her smooth ones. "…"

"You seemed troubled…."

"Yes….Yes I am…" He began softly, which seemed odd to everyone, even himself. "My dear, our daughters…will be returning home in a few weeks time."

"Hm? I thought the successor you chose on Earth-"

"That human boy is nothing but a liar, who deceived us and has repeatedly placed our daughters in danger."

"Honey, you know how stubborn those three can be-"

"I am their father-"

"And I am their mother."

"…"

"…I know, my love. But we are not only the parents of those three, but also the king and queen of the Milky Way. We have the responsibility to protect everyone from the danger that is to come…"

"That is why this Yuuki Rito, though I haven't met him in person, is the best chance of their safety."

"…" The two stayed together for a while, both looking upwards into the black space above, decorated by stars and moons. And ever so softly, the king of the Mikly Way began to speak.

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"Sephie, my dear….I am getting old…." Gid began slowly as he stroked over his black spiky hair with one hand, which, not to his surprise, had streaks of grey hidden in them. "Did you know?"

"Nani?" The figure asked curiously.

"There is a native and ancient Devilukean legend passed down from generation to generation. A legend...between kings."

"A legend….between kings…."

"Hai. It was said that every king which ruled the Deviluke has a moon dedicated to him. And when every king steps down, their moons live would too diminish in their shine…And that has been true for the past kings." He said as he took her hand, pointing it to the six distant moons. "There's only one still alit…"

"Yours…" His wife breathed.

"hai. But its lost most of its glamor compared to many years ago…"

"Wh…What are you saying…"

"I'm saying….I'm saying that this could be our last moon… this planets last moon."

"Why…?" But it was then when she connected all the dots. "Is it….the enemy?" She asked worriedly.

"…." But Gid remained silent. I must find another worthy successor in the meantime…

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

THIS CHAPTER TOOK ME A WHILE TO FIGURE OUT, MAINLY WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF PLANET DEVILUKE, TO WHICH I HAVE TO THANK Darkboy18, Miknel-san, WhiteBeaner and daibai1998 FOR PROVIDING IDEAS.

I WOULD LOVE READERS' OPINION ON THIS STORY

BUT AS ALWAYS, MORE CHAPTERS STILL TO COME

REVIEW ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED!

CRITICISMS ARE ALSO ACCEPTED.