(Sorry if that last chapter hit you in the feels, or was a bit insensitive to some. I hope that you guys are still enjoying the story and hope to enjoy future chapters. Just wanted to say, thank you guys for all of the love, this story has passed 1600 views now, thank you. Have a good day, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.)
Chapter 10: Familiar Settings, New Faces.
He started twirling the butterfly knife around, as though to try to intimidate me, but to no avail. I kept my stance with both fists balled covered in a crimson that got colder as the wind hit it. His broken wing almost complimented the mangled tree that stood over him, as though it were about to fall on us. I then looked at his face, it had matured into a chiseled shape, the chin had an abyssal black soul patch above it. "Kid, what's your name?" He asks me as he tries to fly above me with an injured wing. "Why do you care?" I snarl at him, practically foaming at the mouth due to the newfound anger I dredged up from earlier. "I figure no devil should die without at least one person caring about what they're name is." He says in a snicker followed by a hearty laugh as he quits his effort to fly.
"Eric, my name is Eric. Though I doubt you truly care." I retort, his laughter stopping immediately. "It speaks, perfect, now I can say I didn't hunt a feral." He says in a surprisingly monotone voice. He closes his eyes, as though trying to see something in his head. His wrinkled face with was partially covered by hair, the same shade of black as his soul patch, making what his body was conveying a bit hard to read. All of a sudden, without any warning at all, a red and green blur flew from what appeared to be nowhere and sent the man into the ground. Shocked and injured, I ended up staying still as the shock wave then sent me flying into the tree directly behind my father's grave. The dust showed no signs of settling, so I decided to cut my losses and run away from where my father's killer once stood. As I ran, my heart pounded in my chest with each step, feeling as though something was trying to burst out.
My heart kept this pace until I was grabbed by another blur, this blur, however, looked white, blue, and yellow. When I went to scream and punch whatever had grabbed me, my mouth was cupped by a man with blonde hair in a school uniform while another girl with blue hair and a school uniform kept my arms still. "Quiet, we're here to help." The man said as he was looking around. "I'm going to take my hand away, when I take it off, I want you to tell us your name." He said in a soothing voice, I almost missed what he was saying due to my now racing heart. He slowly took his hand off of my mouth, being cautious even though I wouldn't have bitten him. Once he took his hand was at his side, he wiped everything off it including my blood and tears. "Eric, Eric Grayson." I managed to cough up through the film that had now manifested in my throat. "Yuuto Kiba, but you can just refer to me as Kiba." He says ending it with a bow. I had no clue on what to say, the girl was still restraining me. "I'm Xenovia. Don't expect a nickname from me." The girl said blankly. She let me go, my wrists now bruised as I pick myself up from the ground. "We're going to get you back to where you're safe, you shouldn't have gone on your own." Kiba said in a tone that I couldn't tell if he was being genuinely caring or partially belittling.
Another girl was waiting for us a while down the street in the direction of the dojo, she had black hair and looked to be from the Edo era of Japan. "Akeno, did you lay traps in the dojo?" Xenovia asked as we were running at full speed. I don't know how anybody could talk running at the pace we were going, it seemed impossible to even just to run this fast. "Yes, now can we battle?" This girl asked with a hint of hidden desire, I didn't want to be on the receiving end of whatever her kit was. "Really, you just had to fend people off when you got here!" Kiba stated. I ran inside the dojo ahead of them, not my brightest idea. Before anybody could finish a warning, a small girl with pure white hair had punched me in the groin, causing me to fall over immediately. The pain was immense, it felt as though an elephant had just fallen with all of its weight on my lower region. "Sorry!" The girl shouted as another girl who looked like your stereotypical girl next door with her blonde hair and forest green eyes came over. The blonde girl crouched by my side and held her palms toward me and suddenly everything started to feel as though it were born anew. "Kiba didn't warn you that he should've come in first?" The blonde said sympathizing with me as best she could. "No," I replied to her. "What are your names anyway?" I asked. "Shouldn't we be the ones asking you that?" The white girl asked me as she cracked her knuckles. I scoot back in fear she will punch me in the groin again. "Well, at least we know you're friendly, one of them would've insulted us." The girl with white hair says putting her hands at her sides. "My name's Eric, please don't hit my groin again." I say getting up slowly. "Asia, get him through the portal." The white-haired girl said.
I assumed correctly that Asia was the blonde as she escorted me to the portal. "Will you be alright here Koneko?" Asia asked her. Out of nowhere, Koneko sprouted cat ears and a tail. "I'll be fine." She says as I'm not in a very mixed state of confusion. Then just as soon as I was starting to understand everything that was going on, I was pushed through a portal. The sensation it sent through my body was not of being teleported like I was when I was with Jamie, but that of being submerged underwater but being able to breathe through a snorkel. "Here we are." Asia said to me, eagerly pushing me off of the platform. I fell on my face, causing my nose to gush with crimson all over this polished stone walkway. Just as soon as I fell, both Jamie and another girl with the same shade of red hair picked me up and set me on my feet. "What were you thinking?!" Jamie yelled as the other girl slapped me across the face with a circle above her hand, making it feel as though a mac truck hit me at eighty miles per hour. I was promptly sent flying onto my rear, my hands instinctively covering here I had just been slapped. "By the way, nice to meet you, Eric, my name is Rias Gremory." She said in a down talking tone as though to convey that she was still livid. "Mom, I could've handled this on my own had you just let me." Jamie said partially embarrassed.
Rias wasn't the type of mother though to let things go so easily, she helped me up again, slapping me again once I had regained my balance. "So I take it that I am not getting healed from these slaps?" I say through swelled cheeks. "Jeez kid, you look as though you-" A man says behind me as I hear metal thud upon the ground with each step it took. "Oh, I take it Rias got to you before I did." The man said again almost chuckling. "Issei, not now," Rias says annoyed. "Did you at least incapacitate the fallen angel?" She asked. "No, a bunch more showed up and allowed him to get away those bastards." He says while he did what I assume to be him clenching a fist. "Fallen angels?" I ask with a serious questioning tone. "Child, you have a lot to learn once you get ranked." Rias says. "I liked the old system better." Issei says annoyed. "Well Issei, it's better than the houses that put all of their pawns into people with no sacred gear or powers." Rias retorts. "I was lucky with you, remember that whole lecture?" Rias continues. "Yes, I remember." he says reluctantly. If I have a lot to learn, I first have to learn what everybody is talking about, even if it takes sitting in place listening to somebody rambling on like a history teacher who thinks that they have an attentive class. Before any of that happens though, I must first conquer the challenges that this arena holds.