::Author's Note::
Just a quick note this time. I'm about to take this story in a direction that I hadn't previously considered before. When I mentioned I was having writer's block and it was stopping me from continuing the Devil's Colt series, THIS was the spark of inspiration that made me jump back into it. I understood where I had taken the story and the general direction it was going. And I know how it's supposed to end. The problem I was having was getting from Point A to Point B. I was missing my bridge.
Ladies and Gentleman, I have found my bridge.
I'm very interested in feedback for this chapter and the next one in particular because I get the distinct feeling a lot of you are immediately going to pick up on what I'm doing here. I always include references to other media in my work and love it when my readers are able to spot them. Well...this one isn't so much a reference as it is a full blown crossover. (Though I'm still considering this to be a purely Highschool DxD Fanfiction.)
I'll leave it to you to figure out what I mean by this. For now, here is Chapter 24.
::End Note::
Jon should have never taken those damn tablets from Sammy. Even after waking up, his sense of equilibrium was so out of whack that standing or even just sitting up was completely out of the question. The tingly phase and burning hormones phase were both over. This was an entirely new phase.
The cerebral palsy phase.
If Asia and Koneko were still with him he couldn't tell. Everything was just a blur of motion and sound.
"Jon...Jon listen to me." He heard a familiar voice call out.
"Who's there?" He grumbled in his half conscious stupor.
"You're still not fully recovered yet." The calm, nurturing voice spoke to him. "But once you're awake, I need you to come to the Chapter Room and speak to me."
"What?" He slurred incoherently.
"I've placed some burning incense in the room that should help you recover, but in the meantime, just sleep."
"But…"
"Sleep Jon." The voice insisted in a motherly tone.
"I…" He began to doze off.
"Sleep…"
His eyes shut closed and all went black once more.
Aika slowly rose up out of her bed in a daze. She stretched her back and yawned sleepily, blinking a few times as her brain raced to catch up with her body. She was in her dorm room, judging by all the photos hanging on the walls. All was as it should be.
Except...no it wasn't. The last thing she remembered was scoping out the Microbiology lab with Matsuda and Motohama. Then they were gassed by something and she blacked out. As she recollected the events of the previous night, it slowly dawned on her that someone had taken her back to her room.
Aika threw off the covers and quickly ran to the mirror. She was intact, and seemed to be in reasonable health more or less. After breathing a sigh of relief she went to her desk and grabbed her phone. She quickly punched in Motohama's number and hit the call button.
"Come on. Come on. Come on." She chanted antsily while waiting for him to pick up.
"Hello?" She heard a groggy male voice come through the speaker. He must have just gotten up, same as her.
"Motohama!" Aika breathed a sigh of relief. "Is Matsuda with you?"
"No?" He responded in a weirded out tone. "We don't actually live together, you know."
"Listen, what all do you remember from last night?"
"Uhhh…" He took a moment to think about it. "I remember us going to the party with Jon, then some weird dream about us sneaking into the Microbiology lab."
"It wasn't a dream!" She insisted excitedly. "All of that really happened."
"Wait, for real?" He sounded surprised. "I thought someone had slipped something into my drink!"
"Look, when can you meet me?" She quickly changed the subject. "We need to wake up Matsuda and discuss everything we found."
"I'll let mom know I'm going out." He responded. "We can meet up at Matsuda's place."
She nodded in agreement. "I'll see you there." After hanging up the phone, Aika grabbed her bag and glasses before heading to the door.
Aika quickly made her way off campus to Matsuda's apartment. Once she arrived at her destination she ascended the stairs to Matsuda's floor. There, Motohama had been waiting patiently for her to arrive.
"Good you're here. Listen, something's not…"
She stopped upon getting close enough to see him. From a distance she knew it was Motohama but up close he looked...different. The first noticeable change being that he wasn't wearing his glasses. But aside from that, his skin looked healthier. His acne was gone and he'd seemingly tanned over night.
"So...what do you think?" He asked while slicking back his hair and grinning at her.
"You look completely different." She commented, still trying to get a handle on this.
"It's crazy, isn't it?" He responded excitedly. "I've been wearing glasses since I was seven! What was in that vial we tried to steal?"
Something else she noticed as they talked. His voice had gotten deeper. Over the phone she attributed it to a bad connection but hearing him now she could tell his hyponasality was gone, as if someone had gone in and done major surgery on his sinuses overnight. Aika decided to place it to the back of her mind for now and get to the bottom of all this.
"Come on, let's go wake up Matsuda." She insisted before waving for him to follow.
They made their way to Matsuda's front door and knocked.
"Matsuda! You awake? It's Aika." She knocked again, a little more forcefully this time.
The knob turned and the door slowly opened up.
"What's your damage, Bra?" Matsuda groaned, still half asleep. "It's like...seven in the morning."
Aika and Motohama both reeled back in shock upon seeing their buddy Matsuda. Out of all three of them, he had changed the most.
"Uhhh...dude?" Motohama shakily pointed at him. "Your head…"
"Huh?" Matsuda blinked in confusion. "What about it?"
"You have hair!" Aika exclaimed before pointing at the thick locks of dark brown hair he had seemingly grown overnight.
"What?" He gave her a disbelieving look. "Is this some kind of joke? I think I would know if I had magically grown...hair...over…"
His hand slid up his face to graze the fresh locks of hair on his scalp as he spoke. Matsuda's mouth fell open and his skin paled. He ran his hands all over his scalp to make sure he was really touching what it felt like he was touching. Matsuda then ran from his front entrance to the bathroom and flipped on the light before gazing at the mirror.
A sharp, hysterical scream resounded throughout the apartment. Aika and Motohama both looked at each other in disbelief. This day had just gotten even stranger.
Matsuda was in high spirits as the three of them walked down the streets of Kuoh that day. He hadn't stopped running his hands through his hair since they left his apartment.
"Man, this is so dope!" He exclaimed, giddy as all get out. "I haven't been able to grow my hair out since I was a teenager!"
"Would you stop playing with it like that? It's creepy." Aika insisted. "Motohama, talk some sense into him please?"
"The sidewalks in this district are so much dirtier than I thought." Motohama was looking at the ground. "I've spotted at least two hundred and thirty four pieces of chewed up gum on the ground since we left Matsuda's place."
Aika gave him a weird look. "And you know that, how?"
He shrugged. "Just an observation." Motohama then leaned in close to her, as if inspecting something. "Did you know you blink an awful lot? Like...you've blinked twenty two times since we started talking."
"Stop staring at me like that!" She smacked him across the face.
"Ow! What was that for?" He whined indignantly.
"Dude! Check out these guns!" Matsuda rolled up his sleeve and flexed his bicep. He'd gained at least twenty pounds of solid muscle almost overnight. "Can you believe it?! We really hit the motherload with that pimp potion."
"Look, would you stop calling it that? We don't know for sure what it really was."
"What else could it be?" He challenged while placing his hands behind his head in a relaxed state. "I'm telling you, this is the key to Jon's success with the ladies."
"Man...there are a lot of police cars zooming around the city today." Matsuda cupped an ear to the air. "At least twenty are coming this way. Maybe there was a robbery."
Aika groaned. "Look, I don't know what the heck has gotten into you two, but you need to chill out. We have no idea what it was we were exposed to. There could be side effects."
"You're just jealous because you're the only one who didn't get any cool powers." Matsuda retorted.
"We need to be serious about this!" She was turning red. "Whatever was in that vial, it wasn't like anything normal science can produce. Not if what we've seen is any indication. The media needs to know about this. About the ORC."
Matsuda stopped walking.
"Why?"
She narrowed her eyes at him squirrely. "What do you mean, why?"
He shrugged. "Why do we have to tell anyone?"
"Because the world needs to know that something crazy is happening at Kuoh! Something supernatural!"
"But if we go stirring up trouble, then whoever is behind all this might come looking for us." Motohama observed. "We could lose all we've gained."
"Yeah! No way in hell I'm giving up this new bod of mine." Matsuda insisted. "This is our chance for a new lease on life."
She stared at them incredulously. "So what? Now that you have your new bodies you're just gonna walk away from this?"
At that moment, twenty squad cars came zooming by them.
"Called it." Motohama bragged.
"Look, I have no idea what was in that vial or why it was there, and frankly I don't care to know." Matsuda insisted. "All I know is that I'm gonna be rolling in the panties with these rippling pecks of mine."
Aika shook her head in disgust, her mouth agape. "Unbelievable. You really don't think about anything other than sex, do you?"
"There are seven ambulances coming this way." Motohama spoke up while squinting down the road. "Must have been some casualties."
"You know…" Matsuda glared at Aika angrily. "...all this time you've been dragging us around campus looking for your dumb paranormal mumbo jumbo but you never really seemed to care about what we wanted. All you've done is order us around and I'm getting kinda tired of it." He folded his arms. "You want to know what I think? I think this whole thing was just an excuse for you to drive a wedge between Asia and her club."
She was completely taken aback. "Wh...what did you just say?!"
"Just admit it." Motohama added. "We both know you're in love with her. Hell, half the school probably knows you've got a crush. Why can't you just accept Asia doesn't like you that way and move on?"
That was it. They had officially pushed the wrong button.
"You know what? You're right." She growled back at him venomously. "I don't care about what you two want. And do you know why? Because what you two want is PATHETIC!"
Seven ambulances came zooming past them, sirens blaring. Once they passed, she continued.
"Honestly, why Jon wastes his time with you two is beyond me. In all the time I've known you you've proven to be nothing but a couple of shallow, self absorbed, entitled little man children who have no business going anywhere NEAR a woman. Yet, all you ever talk about is figuring out Jon's 'secret' and building your own personal fantasy harem like you're both undiscovered Gods among men."
The two of them were too stunned to talk, so Aika continued to do it for them.
"But the thing that pisses me off the most about you." She spoke through clenched teeth. "You have the nerve to feel sorry for yourselves like getting rejected is the woman's fault, not yours. All while whining and begging for your Lord and Savior Jonathan Hyodo to show you the way. You really want to know what Jon's secret is, that badly? It's not his looks, or his body, or his accent, or any of that superfluous bullshit. The reason Jon is popular with women is because he's a provider. He doesn't waste his life away playing video games nine hours a day or jerking off to hentai. Jon has talent. He has drive. And on top of that, he has the willpower to achieve his goals. THAT'S what makes him so popular with girls."
They both slowly began to deflate as she continued to dig into them.
"So what do you two bring to the table exactly? What makes you worthy of a girl as wonderful as Asia or as motivated as Rias? Women like that are the way they are because they work at it harder than anyone else. Asia isn't just a kind person, she actively works every day to show people how much she cares. And Rias? She probably moisturizes her face for at least an hour every night to get a complexion like that, and I guarantee you'll never see her eating anything heavier than a salad on any given day. She's going to be a world leader ten years from now. Or the CEO of a powerful company. What will you two be doing?"
Her words cut them both deep.
"Now do you get it? It doesn't matter how good looking you become or what crazy powers you get. No woman will date you because at the end of the day you're both still perverts who have absolutely nothing to offer us."
A cold silence permeated the air. As it slowly dawned on Aika what she just did, her expression turned to one of woeful regret.
"Guys...I'm sorry, I don't know what-"
"I'm outta here." Matsuda turned in one direction and left.
"Yeah...me too." Motohama turned in the other direction and left as well.
She sighed, placing her head in her palm and shaking it from side to side. "Too far, Aika. Way too far."
Truthfully, she didn't hate those idiots. As much as they got on her last nerve, they were still good guys at their hearts. She'd seen enough to know that much at least. Hanging out with them hadn't been as miserable as she was letting on and they actually had a lot in common. It was just so frustrating how objectifying they could be towards women. But she shouldn't have snapped at them like that. Matsuda and Motohama had just hit a particularly raw nerve and she wasn't thinking.
As Aika thought how best to make it up to the guys, she began to notice just how deathly quiet the city had gotten.
Matsuda walked down the back streets of the Jyongden district, his hands in his pockets and a heavy gloom hanging over his head. He couldn't get what Aika had said out of his mind. 'Nothing to offer'. That's really what she told them. He'd always suspected that was what was going through most ladies minds whenever he tried to talk to them, but it still hurt hearing it out loud like that.
But what hurt even more was that she was right. What DID he have to offer women exactly? Aside from his wicked Call of Duty skills, anyway. He wasn't like Jon, as much as he wished he could be. And nothing was going to change that. Talent? Drive? Willpower? He had none of those things.
He used to...but not anymore.
As he continued to sulk, old memories came bubbling back to the surface. Matsuda caught sight of a back alley thrift store and walked inside. Nostalgia having driven him to search for something. After looking around the small shop, something caught his eye that made him smile. He pulled a wooden bat from one of the bargain bins and inspected it.
"It's four hundred yen if you're interested."
Matsuda turned, a young lady with orange brown hair and reddish brown eyes was smiling at him with her arms folded behind her back in a playful manner. She giggled quietly upon meeting his gaze. Her healthy breasts pressed out towards him.
Okay, that was going to take some getting used to. Matsuda was used to most pretty girls looking at him like something they had just picked off their shoe.
Must...resist urge...to stare at...gigantic boobies!
He forced back the naughty thoughts and smiled at her.
"I...uhhh…"
She frowned. "Is everything okay?"
Dammit, he was blowing this! He just needed to say something that wasn't related to her body in any way. Anything would do!
And then a lightbulb went off.
"Seriously? This is only four hundred yen?" He inspected the bat more thoroughly, putting a real good eye on it now. "You do know what you have here, right?"
She quirked her head at him curiously. "I thought it was just a bat."
"Just a bat?" He repeated in disbelief while holding up the proverbial wooden stick. "This is a Vintage Louiseville Slugger. The same kind of bat used by the late great Joe Dimagio. One of the greatest Hitters of all time."
"Really? How do you know?"
"Look here." He pointed to the engravings on the bat's surface. "See that mark? That's how you know it's authentic."
"Wow, I had no idea." She marveled. By the way she was looking at him, it seemed she was far less interested in the bat than she was in...something else. "So...how much do you think a bat like this is worth?"
"For one in this condition? I'd pay at least thirty thousand yen for it."
She gave him a playful smile. "Well in that case, it's thirty thousand yen."
He guffawed at her, causing her to snicker in amusement.
"My, but you do have a discerning eye, young man." An elderly Japanese man approached them. "Most youngsters these days can't appreciate the classics."
"Hey Grandpa, did you know this bat is worth a lot more than we were offering for it?" His Granddaughter mentioned excitedly.
He nodded. "Truthfully, I wasn't sure what to do with it or I'd have charged more. Most customers these days are only interested in bats used by the Japanese Players."
Matsuda shook his head insistently. "A true fan of the sport should be able to appreciate its full history. Baseball may be popular in Japan, but it started in America." He held the bat up. "This bats an important part of history."
"You must be a player yourself." The old man deduced.
He nodded enthusiastically. "I am! Or, I mean…" His expression darkened somewhat. "...I was."
The elderly shopkeeper seemed to consider him in a different light. "I tell you what. Take the bat. No charge."
"Wh…" Matsuda stared at the man in disbelief. "...are you serious, Gramps?"
"You can appreciate that bat better than most." The Shopkeeper observed. "I'd go so far as to say that I believe you were destined to have it."
"Thank you!" He bowed respectfully.
The Shopkeeper nodded and returned to the cash register, leaving Matsuda alone to marvel at his newly acquired piece of history.
"Something I have to offer…" He mumbled to himself, deep in thought.
"There's a batting cage not far from here." The girl suddenly spoke up.
Matsuda looked up to see she was still smiling at him, only now she was twirling a strand of hair through her finger and blushing. Was she seriously still talking to him?
"Okay." He bowed gratefully to her. "Thanks."
He was about to leave when a thought occurred to him. Maybe it was the hair or the muscles that was giving Matsuda this sudden surge of confidence...no, it was the bat. He was all but certain of it. Holding that slugger in his hands was more empowering than any crazy science goo could ever be.
He turned back around. "So...I was thinking…" Matsuda scratched the back of his head, a light blush creeping on his cheeks. "If you're interested, it'd be pretty rad if you-"
"I'd love to come watch!" She beamed at him happily.
He was elated. "Great! Ummm...I don't know if I ever caught your name."
She giggled sweetly. "Oops, how silly of me." The girl bowed politely before introducing herself. "I'm Rei Miyamota, it's nice to meet you."
"Matsuda Komuro." He bowed. "Nice to meet you too."
Motohama had a lot on his mind as he wandered around the underground mall of the Jyongan District. Aika's words aside, he just needed some space to get a better idea of where his head was at. The world seemed so much more...vivid than he remembered.
There were so many sights, sounds, colors, things he never noticed before. How long had he been staring at women's breasts that so much of life had passed him by? Aika's words had really struck a chord with him. Not necessarily because they hurt his feelings, but because they really started to make him think.
"What have I been doing with my life up until now?"
He had always sort of known he'd been living a shallow life. But for whatever reason, he was okay with that. His eyes had been permanently glued to the bodies of gorgeous women for as long as he could remember. Whatever was in that vial, it seemed to have set him free.
He wasn't just aware of breasts. He was aware of everything. The city was calling to him. Demanding his attention as loudly as the perfectly sculpted ass of the Captain of the Kendo team once did. But what was he to do with this newfound sense of self awareness? What was his true calling?
"So anyway, I start telling this creep if he doesn't back up I'll have Daddy send security on his ass."
A sharp feminine voice caught his attention. Up above him on the second floor, a girl with pink hair tied into two twin tails and dressed in a classy expensive skirt and white blouse was speaking on her phone. Motohama recognized the voice almost instantly.
It was Saya Takaga. A freshman at Kuoh Academy. The daughter of an influential politician and absolute genius. Bust size 36. Waist 23. Hips 34.
At least, that's how he used to see her.
Truthfully, Motohama was finding it difficult to focus on anything other than her voice. That obnoxious, condescending, tone combined with those cold hard eyes. He used to think she was one of the hottest girls in the freshman class. Now he just found her obnoxious.
How long had he been blinded by her physical attractiveness? Yesterday, his eyes would have been permanently locked to her massive bouncy chest and revealingly short skirt. But there was so much more going on around her that was just as captivating. For instance, their were two men hanging up a storefront sign that had to weigh at least five hundred pounds.
Using a length of rope that was clearly not up to code. A length of rope that looked ready to give way at any moment. Time slowed around him as he calculated the estimated amount of time before the rope snapped and the sign dropped and deduced that it would do so roughly around the same time that she was directly under it.
The alarms in his head began to blare. Danger! There wasn't time to warn her, and she was completely oblivious to the disastrous fate that was about to befall her. He needed to act! Matsuda scanned the surrounding area. Aside from the sign, what else was there? Scaffolding to the right caught his eye. Three metal bars balanced precariously against it. Directly next to it? A wooden plank resting against a drum, weighed down by a brick. Beyond that? A stack of folded umbrellas stuffed to capacity in a metal can.
Motohama had the trajectory, angle of ascent, and velocity that he needed. Now all that was required was an appropriately weighted projectile. He quickly scanned around his environment in search of something he could use. A child off in the distance was playing with his pet labrador. In his hands…
Chewed up tennis ball! Go! Go! Go!
He sprung into action. Dashing to the tennis ball, snatching it from the extremely confused boy's hands, calculating his trajectory, and throwing. The ball hit one of the metal poles and knocked it over onto the wooden plank, which launched the brick into the air, which then knocked down the barrel of umbrellas. Thereby blocking off Saya from her route of death.
The line snapped and the sign dropped, scaring the living daylights out of Saya and sending her stumbling backwards towards the railing.
"Uh oh…" Motohama willed his limbs to move as she slipped over the bannister and began to plummet to the ground below, screaming in indignant terror all the way down. Time appeared to be moving in slow motion around Motohama as he sprinted to her. In that moment of exhilaration, her skirt flew up. Showing him everything and leaving Motohama momentarily stunned.
Just enough to where when he finally did manage to get under her, his intended catch turned into a faceplant as she landed directly on Motohama and knocked him to the ground. Though he successfully broke her fall, she was now sitting on his face.
"Almost...had it…" He grumbled in pain, her cotton white panties still planted firmly on his face.
As she slowly came to her senses and looked around, the presence of someone directly under her became glaringly apparent. Her face lit up like a thermometer and she practically launched off him like a rocket.
"What the hell are you doing you Perv?!" She shouted in flustered anger at the man whose face she had been oblviously sitting on not but a moment ago. "Do you have any idea who I am?!"
"Saya Takaga. Of the prestigious Takaga family." Motohama stated while slowly sitting up from the ground. He was still a little loopy and wasn't quite there mentally just yet. "You're in my Advanced Trigonometry class." He stared up at her, still seeing double. "Did you know your butt looks like two pringles hugging?"
She let out an appalled gasp before bringing her hand up over her head and slapping the ever loving daylights out of him. Motohama's head went spinning and he collapsed to the floor again, seeing stars for the second time.
During this unfortunate misunderstanding, a crowd had drawn around them.
"Did you see that?" One person mumbled.
"That boy just saved her life." Another lady marveled.
"Why'd she slap him like that?"
"Doesn't seem very grateful to me."
As the crowd murmured amongst each other and pointed, Saya slowly began to look around and take stock of everything that had happened. From the sign falling down, to Motohama's apparent rescue as she fell. Her face turned red and she scowled angrily, a slight quiver in her body. Motohama sat back up once again, groaning in pain as he rubbed his aching cheek.
"You get...one free meal." She silently growled.
He quirked his head at her in confusion. "Huh?"
"One meal!" She insisted snappishly. "My treat...then we're even."
Matsuda was really beginning to have second thoughts about this. It had been years since he hit a baseball. To say that he was out of form was an understatement, even if he did have more muscle now than back when he first played.
Not only that, he still had yet to fully test how much stronger he actually was. For all he knew this beefy bod he had just been gifted could very well just be for show.
But man...when he got a look at Rei as they walked together, any reservations he may have had instantly went out the window. She was so gorgeous in her knee high skirt and silky white top. And as much as he was sweating bullets, seeing the radiant smile on her face was enough for him to cast all doubts aside and go balls to the wall. Literally.
"I'll warn you, I'm out of practice." He cautioned her.
She smiled, nodding in understanding. "It's okay. I'm sure you'll do just fine. You look like you've got a lot of natural talent."
Great...the pressure was really on now. This girl was expecting a show and if he didn't deliver he was certain his chances of going any further with her would plummet. If he didn't pull this off, his momentum stopped here.
Finally, they made it to the batting cage. This was it. Time to nut up or shut up.
"I'll be right over here!" Rei declared excitedly, a bright smile on her face as she eagerly anticipated the beginning of his hitting streak from outside the cage.
Matsuda gulped back his remaining fears and entered the batting area. Once inside, he flipped a switch that started up the machine before stepping up to the base.
For a moment...it was like he had been taken back there. Back to highschool, back on the field, back on that first base among the cheering crowds chanting his name. A wave of nostalgia hit him as he tapped the bat against his sneaker.
For that one brief moment, the Wonderkid of Fujimi Highschool was back.
Matsuda raised his bat and took his stance. The ball came soaring out of the launcher directly towards him. He took his swing…
...and completely wiffed. The ball zoomed straight past his bat and hit the back of the cage.
Strike one.
"Just...just need to warm up a bit." He chuckled nervously.
She nodded in understanding and continued to watch.
He readied his bat again. The ball shot from the launcher and he swung. Again his bat connected with nothing.
Strike two.
Rei's smile faded slightly. She turned her head away and cleared her throat as an awkward tension filled the air.
Okay...no more screwing around. Matsuda choked up on the bat, gripped it tighter, and focused. Rei peered at him with curious intrigue as a steely look formed in his eyes.
The ball launched again and he swung.
Crack went the bat as he made solid contact. The sound was glorious to his ears, an incredible reminder of his past. He could almost hear the crowd burst into applause as his ball went soaring into the net at the far end of the cage.
Rei beamed with excitement and bounced in the air, clapping her hands energetically for him. It felt incredible. A surge of adrenaline rushed through him as he choked up on the bat again. Another ball launched towards him and he cracked off another massive hit. This one blasted straight through the net and kept flying.
With each ball he hit, more and more holes were riddled into the net. Rei continued to watch on in amazement, her features elated by the incredible display. Matsuda's confidence surged and he cracked one of his old post homerun grins at her, making Rei blush in the process.
It had been years since he got a girl to do that.
She gasped and pointed. "Look out!"
"Huh?" He looked back at the machine just in time to see a baseball come flying straight at his face. The projectile beaned him right in the left eye and knocked him flat on his back. Rei quickly rushed into the cage and shut the machine off before kneeling down to check on him.
"Are you okay?"
Matsuda peered up into her gorgeous eyes as she stared down at him in concern. The sunlight danced off her features, causing her to almost sparkle.
Maybe he got hit harder than he thought.
Rei wanted to get some ice on Matsuda's eye, but the swelling went down before she got the chance. Whatever was in that vial, it wasn't just his looks or his strength that had been affected. Apparently he was healing faster now too.
Regardless, that was the furthest thing from his mind at that moment. Right now, he was more concerned with the fact that he was actually spending time with a girl. Not just any girl either. Rei was so unbelievably nice and charming in addition to being insanely pretty.
As they walked together, she suddenly turned and smiled. "Hey…I wanted to say thank you for letting me come watch you practice. I haven't had fun like that in awhile."
"Really?" Matsuda chuckled nervously. "I figured a girl like you might have better ways to spend your time than bumming around with a guy like me." He played his words off as a joke, but truthfully he was genuinely questioning her interest in him.
Her smile seemed to glower somewhat. "You'd be surprised. Truth be told, I don't have a whole lot of friends."
Matsuda had to stop himself from laughing. That was a joke right? A girl like this didn't just have friends. She had a boyfriend, a backup boyfriend, and three dudes stuck in the friendzone on standby. Girls like her weren't just popular, they could get whatever they wanted...right?
Yet the look in her eyes was so unbelievably sad. How could someone be smiling and yet still look so depressed? Rather than comment, he decided to leave it be for the moment.
"I mean...you have your Grandpa right?" He offered encouragingly. "He seems like a pretty cool dude."
She nodded, her brightness slowly returning. "My parents died when I was very little. It's just been me and him for as long as I can remember. He's a good man. A bit stern, but fair."
He chuckled. "Yeah. My old man's like that too. Both my parents are." His smile faltered somewhat. "In all honesty...I haven't spoken with them in awhile."
"They must be very traditional." She surmised.
He shook his head. "No…" Matsuda sighed glumly. "I think they're just stern because they worry about their kid."
She quirked her head at him. "Why do they worry?"
He stopped walking. "They probably worry their son is turning into a degenerate."
She frowned at him, after a moment however, she smiled again and stood in front of Matsuda, her arms crossed behind her back.
"So...I was giving it some thought and…" She blushed deeply. "I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime."
He was stunned. Matsuda felt like pinching himself just to check and make sure this was actually happening. Rei was so beautiful and so kind. A girl like her would normally never give him the time of day.
"I…" Sweat began to form on his brow. "...that would be-"
He stopped. Out of the corner of his eye, something caught his attention. A figure off in the distance, shambling towards them with an unsteady gait.
"Wh...what's wrong?" She turned around to see what he was staring at.
It was a man. Drunk by the looks of things. And yet...something about him made their blood run cold. He didn't just look intoxicated, he looked ill.
Deathly ill.
A pair of police officers happened to be passing by and saw the man. After quietly speaking amongst each other, one of them approached the man cautiously.
"Sir, are you alright?" The officer kept his hand securely on his nightstick.
The man turned and began lumbering towards him. Their were dark circles under his eyes and his skin was so pale it was almost blue.
"Sir, please step back." The Officer commanded before drawing his nightstick.
He ignored him, reaching out with his boney hands to grab at the officer.
"I said get back!" The Officer shouted before swinging at the man's ribcage. His weapon hit the assailant with an ugly pop as several ribs cracked.
And yet he was less than bothered. The man lurched forward, grabbed him by the arm, and sank his teeth into the Officer's arm. The policeman shouted in pain and gripped his wounded limb as blood gushed from his wrist. The second Officer drew his gun and fired three rounds into the assailants chest. Much to his horror, the man did not stop. He didn't even seem phased by the bullets.
"Stay away!" The Officer shouted in panic before firing a round that went straight through the assailant's head. Finally, the deathly pale man collapsed to the ground.
Whereupon he immediately began to dissolve into a puddle of brown liquid.
The Officer was more concerned with his partner. Who by this point had collapsed to the ground and turned the same color as the assailant. He quickly rushed over to him to check his status.
"Taizo! Taizo are you okay?!" He asked in a panicked voice. After not getting an answer the Officer quickly got on his radio and called for dispatch. "Dispatch this is Officer 1148. I'm at East Jyongan with an Officer down and shots fired. I repeat. Officer down and shots fired. We need-"
He dropped his radio as fear completely took over his senses. His partner slowly lurched up and turned his head towards him.
His eyes looked exactly the same as that man's did.
The second Officer shrieked in unbridled agony as his partner proceeded to sink his teeth into his neck. From off in the distance, Matsuda and Rei both watched this. Paralyzed to the spot in both fear and shock.
"Wh...what's going on?" Rei trembled in apprehension. "Why did that Policeman do that?"
"I don't know." Matsuda shook his head as adrenaline began to surge throughout his body. "But I don't think I want to stick around and find out."
Now running on instincts he didn't know he possessed, Matsuda grabbed Rei by the hand and took off in the direction away from the grisly scene. He came to a dead stop, however, upon rounding a corner and coming face to face with no less than six shambling bodies feeding on the corpse of and elderly woman.
Rei let loose a blood curdling scream and the six figures immediately turned their heads towards them.
"This way!" He tugged on her arm towards a back alley and the two broke into a full sprint. The shambling figures picked up pursuit and gave chase after them.
"They're right on us!" She shouted in fear.
"Don't look back!" He insisted, trying to put on a brave face despite the terror in his heart. "Just keep running!"
They came to a stop yet again as more shambling figures appeared in the alley in front of them.
"What do we do?!" Rei panicked.
He cursed, gripping his bat and holding it in front of him like a weapon. "Hate to say it but we're sandwiched alright."
She looked around for a moment before spotting another alley blocked off by a ten foot high fence. Rei quickly tapped on his shoulder and pointed. "There!"
"Huh?" He gave her a confused look as she proceeded to sprint towards what he thought was a dead end. "Wait! But what about the fence?!"
Rei proceeded to perform a cartwheel that transitioned into a back handspring. She quickly gained moment with each flip before launching herself up and over the fence, just barely clearing it in the process.
For a moment, Matsuda forgot about the shambling figures entirely and just gawked at her.
"Come on!" She insisted vehemently from the other side of the fence.
Remembering where he was and what was going on, Matsuda sprinted towards the fence, the figures behind him picking up pursuit. With all the strength he could muster in his leg muscles Matsuda proceeded to leap into the air intent on latching onto the fence and climbing over.
Instead, what he did was jump completely over the ten foot high fence, clearing it entirely before landing on his feet. Upon making contact with the ground, he froze in place to ponder on whether that really just happened or not.
"How did you do that?" She asked in stunned bewilderment.
After taking a moment to process that yes, that did indeed just happen, he scratched the back of his head awkwardly and chuckled. "Well...you know. A balanced diet and plenty of squats."
She shook her head in disbelief. "I do squats on an almost daily basis and I'm pretty sure I can't do that."
Their conversation was cut short by the sound of a dozen bodies slamming against the chain link fence. Matsuda and Rei both jumped instinctively before cautiously backing away from the snarling mass of flesh and teeth.
"How long do you think that fence will hold?" She asked nervously.
"Not nearly long enough. Let's get going."
They darted down the alley, making their way back to thrift shop.
"So seriously? What the heck was wrong with them? They didn't even look human anymore."
"Beats the hell out of me." Matsuda insisted. "We need to warn your Grandfather and call the police."
They quickly ran back to the thrift store and located Rei's Grandfather who was still manning the cash register.
"Back already?" He asked his Granddaughter curiously. "You know if you want to take the rest of the day off Rei you can."
"Grandpa!" She quickly ran up to the register and slammed her hands down on the counter. "We need to leave, now!"
"What do you mean?" He peered at her searchingly. "Is everything alright."
"Something's going on." Matsuda explained urgently. "We're not sure exactly what but there are a bunch of psychos going around eating people."
He cast his gaze from Rei to Matsuda and then back to Rei again. "You're sure of this, Rei?"
"I'm sure!" She insisted vehemently, a desperate look in her eyes. "Matsuda and I barely got away. Please, Granddaddy we need to leave and call the police. It's not safe here."
He raised a hand in the air reassuringly and nodded. "Alright, my Child, alright. Just give me a moment to close up the shop."
Matsuda peeked his head outside the store and blanched. "Uhhh, hate to break it to ya, Gramps. But there may not be time for that."
A horde of dozens of shambling figures came charging towards the door. Matsuda slammed it shut and braced with all his strength as the horde threatened to spill into the store.
"Keys! Now!"
Rei dashed behind the counter and grabbed the keys for the front door. She quickly tossed it to him and he proceeded to lock the door before backing away. The glass window of the storefront broke and multiple deathly pale arms began reaching through the metal bars as the entire storefront began to buckle.
"What in God's name?" The Elderly store owner turned pale at the sight.
"Everyone upstairs!" Rei waved for them to follow.
Matsuda helped the elderly man up the stairs while Rei locked and deadbolted the door.
"No way that will hold them." Matsuda declared before going to a nearby bookcase and knocking it over in front of the doorway. With that out of the way, he could finally take stock of where they were.
It was an apartment above the store. If he had to guess, this was where Rei and her Grandfather lived.
"Think we're safe?" She asked nervously.
"At least for now."
"Rei, what is going on?" Her Grandfather asked worriedly. "Who were those people outside?"
"We don't know Granddaddy. Honestly, we're not even sure they're still people anymore."
"They just started attacking without warning." Matsuda explained. "One of them bit a cop and that cop then proceeded to bite his partner. It was so fucked!"
"We barely got out with our lives." Rei's heart was beating at a mile a minute. "If Matsuda hadn't been there I'd be...I'd be…"
"It's alright, Dear." Her Grandfather wrapped her up in a warm hug. "You're safe now. That's all that matters." He then turned to Matsuda and bowed in respect. "It would seem I owe you for saving my Granddaughter. Thank you, my Boy."
"Ehh…" He flushed in embarrassment. "...no problem Gramps. I'm just glad I was there to help."
"I don't believe we were ever properly introduced. I am Obito Mitsuka." He formally spoke.
"So what do we do now?" Rei asked expectantly. "There's no telling how long the storefront will hold."
"We need to call the police." Matsuda insisted. "They need to know what's going on."
"I'm on it!" Rei went to go find a phone while Matsuda followed Obito into the living room. There they both sat down and turned on the TV.
Only static. Obito tried flipping through every channel but nothing was coming through.
"That's impossible…" A horrible pit began to form in Matsuda's stomach. "Every station?"
Meanwhile, Rei stood in the hall with a phone up to her ear. Anxiously waiting for someone to pick up.
"I'm sorry. But we are currently experiencing an abnormally high call volume. Please stay on the line and one of our operators will be with you as soon as…"
"No way…" Her heart sank into her stomach. "One Ten is busy."
Obito considered all this grave information and sighed in grimm understanding. "In other words, it's not just here. It's all over the city."
Matsuda sank into the couch, completely numb to everything. "So what do we do?"
Obito flipped off the TV and stood up, a resolute look in his wise old eyes. "We cannot remain here. For the time being, we must find a way out of this ourselves."
Rei ran around the apartment gathering supplies and stuffing them into her old bookbag. She grabbed all the medicine in the bathroom as well as any food she could find in the kitchen that wouldn't perish before packing it up and slinging it over her shoulder.
Meanwhile, Matsuda helped Obito locate some weapons for himself and Rei. The Elderly Man eventually settled on a barely used snow shovel he had tucked away in his closet as well as a mop handle with a pointy screw on the end for Rei. Not exactly ideal, but it was the best they had.
As Matsuda grabbed the long mop handle, Obito suddenly stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. He turned around to see the old man offering him the Slugger in his free hand.
"Don't forget this." He insisted.
Matsuda took the bat gratefully and nodded. "Thanks, Gramps."
"Listen…" Obito spoke severely. "...I barely know you. And yet despite you being a complete stranger to our family, you've done more for my Granddaughter than anyone has done for either of us in the past two years. So should the worst happen, I want you to make me a promise. No matter what, protect her for me. Protect Rei at all costs. Can you do that?"
Matsuda's mouth hung open in shock. At first he didn't know what to say. No one had ever entrusted him with something like this before. Yet by the desperate look in the old man's eyes, it was clear he was serious.
A fire lit under his ass.
"You have my word, Sir." He assured with confidence. "Your Granddaughter won't come to harm with me."
At that moment, Rei returned. Supplies in hand. "Okay! I think that's everything. Are we ready to go?"
Matsuda nodded. "I think so. But how the heck are we supposed to get out of here?"
"We'll head up to the roof." Obito explained. "From there, we'll head from building to building and then use a fire escape once we reach the main road."
With their plan established, the group made their way towards the roof and into whatever perils awaited them.
Motohama had just finished scarfing down his third plate of fried rice and was now ready to enter a food coma. As he leaned back in the plastic seat of the Mall's food court, he breathed a content sigh before patting his belly.
"Are you done?" The disgusted voice sitting opposite of him asked impatiently.
He looked up from his food coma to see a very angry looking Saya glaring at him with her arms folded and her leg crossed over the other.
"I guess?"
After a moment, she sighed despondently. "Honestly. To think that I, a member of the prestigious Takaga family, would become indebted to one of the biggest perverts at Kuoh. Unthinkable."
Motohama frowned woefully, his eyes cast towards the ground. "I guess my reputation precedes me."
"Of course it does!" She shot at him snarkily. "Everyone knows who you are Motohama Hirano! Your name is plastered on every warning poster in every female dorm on campus. You and that pervert friend of yours both. You two are easily the most despised men on campus by the whole female population."
He remained silent, bowing his head in shame. "If that's how you feel...why buy me lunch?"
She scoffed at him dismissively before turning her nose up in the air. "Because a Lady of the Takaga family always pays her debts. No matter who they might be to."
He perked back up again. "Really? Gee, that's awfully noble of you."
Saya glared at him hatefully. "Like I care what a pervert like you thinks. It it were up to me I'd have you and your friend thrown in prison for your lecherous behavior."
Motohama lowered his head yet again and sank into his seat. For a moment it looked like he might start crying.
The moment Saya noticed this she sighed and shut her eyes in weary resignation. She knew she had a bit of a sharp tongue but this time it looked like she may have gone a little bit overboard. "Look, don't cry, okay? I didn't mean it. And besides, this whole thing was pointless if I end up hurting your feelings anyway."
"It's okay…" He sniffed. Motohama wiped his cheek and looked back up at her, his eyes heavy with guilt. "...I'd probably deserve it. For some of the things I've done."
She frowned at him curiously as he continued.
"Honestly, I know I've lived a shallow life. From the moment I hit puberty I only ever saw women as a series of measurements." He turned his head away. "But lately? I'm beginning to realize there's more to life than a woman's body. I've been so obsessed with this one thing for so long, I feel like I've missed out on everything else life has to offer me."
After listening to him speak, an annoyed sneer formed on her features as she crossed her arms again. "Honestly, the way you talk about a woman's body. It's just stupid. I mean...not only is it perverse. But you miss out on all the best parts."
Now he was the one staring at her curiously.
"You men put way too much time and energy into glorifying what is essentially just fat and muscle tissue." She continued. "You honestly think I care how big my breasts are? Please! My boobs are nothing compared to the size of my brain."
"And that's really saying something." Motohama spoke up excitedly. "Considering your boobs are so…" He stopped upon seeing the sour look she was giving him and laughed nervously. "I mean…" He sighed morosely. "I do appreciate your genius."
"Then let it inspire you to better yourself." She insisted sharply. "Don't just pine after girls like a little lost puppy dog. Fix yourself before you worry about anything else."
He narrowed his eyes at her curiously. "So why tell me all this?"
"Because." She stuck her nose in the air again. "You're stupid."
He groaned dejectedly.
"But…" She continued. "...you're at least aware enough to know you're stupid. So maybe with my help you'll be a little less stupid." She glared at him. "Do you get it, Stupid?"
"I...guess?" He was utterly confused. Was Saya trying to be nice to him? If so she was failing miserably.
"And besides…" She suddenly got quieter as a light blush set on her cheeks. "...you may be a Stupid Pervert, but you did save my life. I consider that worth something. At least enough to help you out."
He beamed at her happily. "So how do I fix myself?"
"You need to find your passion. Your drive." She explained like a Professor teaching a student. "The thing that motivates you that's not breasts."
"My drive?" He slumped again as his features darkened. "I've...never really thought about that before."
"Hmph!" She turned away in a snooty manner. "Doesn't surprise me. But worry not. I'm a genius. I can help."
"Really?!"
Saya nodded, now observing him more considerably. "We just need to figure out what makes you tick. What inspires you. And most importantly of all, what you're good at. With these things in mind…" She grinned at him.
"...we will discover your calling."
At that moment, the mall's PA system came on.
"Attention all customers and staff, this is an emergency announcement." The person on the PA system sounded incredibly alarmed. "The mall is closing due to a citywide state of emergency. In a calm and orderly fashion, please make your way to the nearest exits. I repeat, a citywide state of emergency is in effect. Please head for the nearest available exit in a calm-"
His words were cut off by feedback. As if he had just dropped the microphone he was speaking into. A harrowing silence fell over the mall and Motohama's Danger signals flared. He quickly tapped on Saya's shoulder who shot him an angry look.
"What are you doin-"
He shushed her sternly before pointing to the floor. "We have to go. Follow me."
"Why? What's-"
What followed was nothing short of horrifying. The man on the PA system began shrieking in horrified agony as the entirety of the mall was subjected to the tortured sounds of him being eaten alive.
Saya turned green. "Wh...what is that?"
"Get down and follow me." Motohama insisted before pulling her down to the floor next to him and crawling under a table.
As the sounds of his dying screams finally ebbed, the entirety of the mall began to break down into pandemonium. All sense of order and reason devolved as panic sank in and the building was plunged into chaos. Every man, woman, and child ran screaming for their lives to the exits. Trampling over each other, shoving people out of the way, and in some cases, outright attacking and killing one another just to get to the door quicker.
Meanwhile, Motohama and Saya made their way from table to table. Crawling across the floor and avoiding most of the chaos.
"What the hell is going on?" Saya asked while trying to avoid the sticky spots on the floor. "What was that gruesome noise over the PA?"
"I don't know." Motohama was laser focused on moving as far away from the mob as possible. "But we need to keep moving. Follow me and don't stray behind."
"Shouldn't we be going the other way?" She insisted. "The exits back there."
"Trust me, you do not want any part of what's going on over there right now."
She scowled at him in annoyance. "Why?"
At that moment a woman fell in front of them and was trampled to death by hundreds of stampeding feet. Saya gasped at the gruesome sight, covering her mouth and turning white.
"That's why. Mob mentality is a dangerous thing. Whatever emergency we're under right now. I promise it's not half as dangerous as being in the middle of that crowd."
She gulped nervously. "So what do we do?"
"The main entrance and all emergency exits are going to be so congested that any chance of getting through them safely is close to nill. So our best bet is to find the maintenance department and use their entrance."
She quirked a brow at him as they continued to move. "How are you so calm about this? And here I always thought you were a coward."
Truthfully, he had no idea why he wasn't freaking out right now. Normally in a situation like this one he'd be curling up in the fetal position and pissing his own pants. Yet now it was like his brain was telling him he had no reason to be afraid.
For within his mind lay the key to their survival.
Matsuda and Motohama weren't answering their cellphones. Something that frustrated the hell out of Aika. How was she supposed to apologize to those stubborn nitwits if they wouldn't even answer her calls?
"Oh forget it." She groaned in frustration before putting her phone away and collapsing back onto the park bench.
She'd come to the city park in hopes of convincing the boys to meet her there so that she might make amends in person. But of course that didn't pan out the way she had hoped. And now she was just sitting there on this bench, alone, pissed off, and feeling all sorts of guilty.
She sighed in a melancholy tone. "What should I do now?"
As she sat on that park bench, moping over her currently plight, Aika noticed something that gave her pause. Or rather...it was what she didn't notice that had her so worried.
There were no animals in the park that day. No birds chirping, no squirrels running around, there didn't even appear to be any insects nearby. It was as if they had all just scampered off and gone somewhere else.
More unsettling than that, however, was the fact that she appeared to be completely alone in the park. Despite the fact that it was 2:00 PM on a Saturday, there didn't appear to be anyone there but her.
"Something's not right…" Aika slowly stood up from her seat and looked around. She could see people off in the distance, seemingly wandering around aimlessly in no particular direction. Something about the way they were walking was terribly unnerving. None of them seemed to be going anywhere in particular. If anything, it looked like they were looking for something.
Or rather...someone.
Okay, now she was starting to get frightened. Something was very clearly wrong here. Those people were not behaving normally. And furthermore, this hideous feeling she had deep in her gut would not go away. Aika pulled out her phone and tried dialing Matsuda one more time.
"Come on...please pick up. Please." She begged.
"I'm sorry, but service in this area is temporarily unavailable." Came an automated voice message she had never heard before.
"What?" She looked down at her phone again and then held it back up to her ear.
"Your city is currently in the midst of a Class IV Supernatural Crisis. For more information, please press one. For help and directories, please press two."
Confused, but otherwise curious, Aika pressed one.
"Due to the overwhelming presence of Deadly Supernatural phenomena, your city has been Quarantined under the jurisdiction of this cities primary benefactors. During this time, no phone calls or communications may be sent anywhere within or outside the perimeter that has been established. All communications including phones, radio, wifi, and other devices, have been temporarily disabled. Once all Paranormal and Supernatural phenomena have been reduced to acceptable levels, the quarantine shall lift and the cities functionality restored to normal. If you have any further questions, please press two for help and directories."
She immediately pressed two on her phone.
"It is our duty to inform you that no help is coming and you are directed to run. If you value your life then run human, run while you still can. And pray to whatever God you believe might be listening that you make it out of this alive. From the Offices of the Gremory Clan, we hope you have a nice day."
Abject terror gripped Aika's heart as she dropped the phone on the ground. A bright light off in the distance caught her attention and she squinted at what appeared to be a focused beam of energy coming up from the ground and shooting high into the sky. The beam of light spread out and began to envelope the entire city like a dome, forming a barrier of unknown energy around its circumference.
Upon closer inspection, she noted the beam of light was coming from Kuoh.
The figures off in the distance were no longer shambling around aimlessly. They were staring at her now. Dread seized her being as they each one by one began running towards her. Coming from all directions, nothing but those same, pale, dead faces sprinting straight for her.
Aika ran. Ran as fast as her legs could carry her. All she wanted was to know the truth.
Now...she wished to God she'd just kept her curiosity to herself.