Chapter 25: Mirai Kuriyama #1

Hachiman Hikigaya looked at the petite woman as she walked down the empty corridor towards him with a bucket on her head and a sword made up from some gooey, dripping material that definitely smelled and looked like blood.

"Senpai, why is it so dark in here?"

He wondered whether she was talking to him. Not likely. From the looks of it, she couldn't see through the bucket that was covering her entire face. For a second he wondered how she got into this particular predicament. But of course there were more dangerous things to worry about. Like the sword for instance which was made of blood.

It didn't look like an ornament you would hang up around your living room wall. The thing looked like it could cut through things. Flesh for instance. His if he wasn't careful about it.

"Kohai-san, would you mind lowering your weapon. I am trying not to be impaled by your sword."

He must have said something wrong because the crazy bucket woman, as he had started calling her in his mind - why wouldn't he call her crazy, she was walking around with a sword and a bucket on her head. The woman clearly had issues – suddenly went real still.

It was the kind of stillness he associated with danger, the few selected seconds before a strike, a lethal strike.

"Who said that? You are not senpai!" The girl squeaked and stumbled back awkwardly on her two feet.

Even with the sword waving in front of his face, he was kinda worried about her. Then he thought about the fact that falling over your ass never hurt anyone. Well it did, he was not gonna lie. But it didn't have any long term repercussions.

"Are you a first year?" Hachiman asked.

"Well yes."

"Then I'm your senpai."

"You are?"

The sword made of blood lowered a hint and he thanked some god he didn't quite believe in - you wouldn't either, if you met gods like Aqua. Though, not gonna lie, Kazuma was okay in his book – and moved closer to bucket-chan as he was now calling her in his mind.

"I am. My name is Hachiman Hikigaya. I am a second year at Neo Tokyo University. And currently I am moving closer to you -"

"Eep!"

"Don't swing that thing around like a toy! I almost lost an arm, there."

"Oh sorry. That was a knee jerk reaction."

"Your knee jerk reactions are rather deadly for my taste."

"My hands slipped, then." She said, innocently. Well as innocently as one could manage with a sword in one hand, while the other twitched nervously. "What are you trying to do, Hikigaya-senpai?"

"I am trying to remove this bucket from your head."

"What bucket?" she asked in such a silly way.

"The one on your head," He replied bluntly. "Seriously, you are old enough to walk around with a sword on campus, but like a little kid you get all helpless when someone drops a bucket on your head as some sort of prank." He reached forward and using both his hands lifts the bucket from her face.

"How unpleasant!"

Those were the first words which left her lips and as he took in her appearance, one word came to mind: cute. The woman had a petite body with wavy chin-length peachy hair that was styled in a bob with fringes reaching her eyebrows and golden eyes with a shade of amber and brown.

Her entire persona screamed at him to protect her from all kinds of harm. Suddenly he felt outraged at those who had put her under such duress. For heaven's sake, she was walking around with a bucket on her head for god knows how long.

And those thick-rimmed, rounded red spectacles that sat on her nose was crooked.

Someone needed to be punished.

"Who did this to you?"

Her cheeks coloured a bit and with one dainty index finger she reached up and adjusted the glasses on her nose. There was a bit of tremble in her voice, "N-nobody."

"That's clearly a lie." Hachiman thought back to when he first met her. She was talking about some senpai. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Mirai Kuriyama." She gave a small bow as she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, senpai." Then with a small stumble, she quickly turned around and started walking down the corridor, from where she came. Her whole behavior was strange, weird and inconspicuous. It drew his attention despite his intention.

She was also a bit clumsy and for that reason he couldn't help but follow her.

"Where are you going?" Hachiman asked. "Are you going after the guys who did this to you?"

"There was only one guy!" Realizing her mistake she clamped a hand on her mouth.

"So, you admit there was a guy." Hachiman said without being smug. "Is he a second year or a third year? I doubt it could be someone older."

"Why not?" Mirai was curious. Plus it was a chance to throw this dangerous looking senpai off her trail.

"Older students tend to stick to themselves. They don't tend to fool around as much as us, what with some of them already having internships and jobs at some outside establishments. Plus, I found you in this building, where a lot of the second and third year classes take place. I doubt you could have come, walking into this building from outside, what with not being able to see and because of the bucket on your head."

"Can you forget about the whole bucket thing!?" Mirai Kuriyama asked while blushing. "Please."

"I doubt it is possible. Had you not given your name I would have called you bucket-san."

"How unpleasant!" Mirai grumbled.

"Yeah, I seemed to have picked up this habit of giving people nick names from Aki Adagaki." He paused but kept with her pace while walking down the said corridor. "You know her?"

Mirai took a left. "No, I don't."

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend her. Did she do this to you?"

"What!? No. I don't even know her." Mirai said.

"So you know who did this. Interesting," Mirai was a little scared. "So far, all I know is. There was a guy, he was a senpai and both of you knew each other."

"That isn't much." Mirai sounded satisfied.

"I know he was special, had powers, definitely supernatural." Hachiman added, rather smug. "I mean you are too."

Mirai felt worried. "H-How so?"

"Your sword is made of blood."

"Not it's not!" Her voice came out too high pitched. Even to her ears it felt like a lie.

Hachiman Hikigaya-senpai scoffed. "Well than what's it made of? Tomato soup?"

He visibly blanched at the idea. Mirai didn't know why, but it looked like he was more grossed out with tomatoes than he was with the sight of blood. Usually it was the other way around. What a strange guy.

It couldn't hurt to ask.

"Senpai do you know what a youmu is?"

He looked like he was thinking. "I read about them in our C.S class."

"C.S?" Mirai asked.

"Contemporary Studies." Hachiman explained. "Aren't they like these extremely hostile creatures which posses and kill humans that are targeted by Spirit World Warriors."

"Yes, exactly" Mirai said. "I am a Spirit World Warrior."

The two of them stopped walking. Mirai thought he was gonna leave her alone. He had seen her wield her own blood as a weapon in the form of a sword. It was considered a blasphemous act in her circles. He must know that too and even if he didn't, he should realize that she didn't need him.

"Pfft!"

Mirai blushed. "What was that?"

"Sorry, but I can't see you killing youmu."

Mirai tried to correct him, but then she thought about what happened. She had been trying for a week now, but like he said, she had been unable to kill a youmu. Akihito Kanbara still walked this earth, despite being impaled by her sword.

"How unpleasant." She said weakly.

"Hey, don't lose hope." Hachiman Hikigaya quickly added. "I didn't mean anything by it. You have a killer sword, made from your own blood. I know a knight who would be really jealous of it. Have you met, Mordred Pendragon by any chance? She is a first year like you."

Mirai looked confused. "She? Isn't that a guy's name."

"Yes it is. And you would become great friends with the guy if you compared your swords." He cringed at his poor choice of words. "Never mind that. Look, let just take a picture with your sword, okay."

Mirai looked uncertain. "You promise to leave me alone, if I let you take this picture?" she asked.

"Yeah sure." Hachiman had a plan. Mirai Kuriyama was no doubt being bullied. He believe what she said about being a spirit world warrior and fighting youmu – wait, what if the person who was bullying her was a youmu, he thought. That would make sense, only he wasn't sure whether youmu worked like that.

A half-youmu then. Nah, that sounded stupid.

But he thought, and it was rather naïve to think like this, but if Mirai Kuriyama had a friend on campus, someone to stick to her and look after her, then she wouldn't be pranked on like this. And seeing how, she had a sword made out of blood, he was pretty sure someone would be interested in her.

"Okay, let's take a selfie." Hachiman said.

There were certain apartment complexes on the campus which were rented out at a lower price to the students who attended Neo Tokyo University. One of them was the Sakurasou boarding house complex. It was special, in the sense that it allowed pets, especially cats inside the building.

Mordred Pendragon, was playing with a black cat with cat like reflexes and agility, mimicking its movements to perfection. In other words, she was fooling around, having fun.

It was then that she received a mail from a, dare she call it, friend.

However upon checking the mail and the image, her blood boiled.

"Hikigaya's with another girl!?" She shouted out in vengeance. "And she has a sword to his neck. Am I being replaced?"

"Mordred is being replaced." Mashiro Shiina said, deadpan. She had just caught what was said, though she wasn't interested in the conversation. But for some reason she couldn't help but repeat the sentiment to no fruitful effect.

"No, I'm not." Mordred grabbed her red jacket from the mess of clothes that had piled on in the room. Mashiro really needed to clean up her mess. "Look, I am heading out for a bit. Need to bust some skulls." She added to herself. "Just feed the cats, I will be back in a bit."

"Sorata will feed the cats." Mashiro said.

But Mordred was already out the door, down the stairs and out of the building. As she was sprinting down the road, glaring at anyone and everyone who crossed her, she couldn't help but let her anger take hold of her. Before she knew it, she was calling a number she had memorized not so long ago.

"Hello, this is the FullMetal Alchemist." Said, the irritated voice on the other end.

"Edward, you half-pint."

"Don't call me half-pint, you boobless woman!"

The two of them had become friends over time, bonding over their love for red jackets and a mutual hatred towards their respective fathers. He was also someone who could keep up with her in combat practice, because of his skill in alchemy.

"Look, Hikigaya pissed of the wrong woman-"

"You mean you?" Edward Elric snarked.

"Kinda," Mordred grinded her teeth. "Well, yes, okay. But anyway, some little midget -"

"Hey!"

"Not you. Some another woman, has him hostage. Sword to the neck kind of situation." Mordred explained. "I was wondering if we could team up and take him down. Teach him -"

"Don't you mean her?"

"Yes! Him, her, whatever!" Mordred was almost to the building. "Let's just kick some ass!"

"So, we fight and save your guy from the clutches of an evil woman." Edward was getting dressed. "Sounds like a plan."

Later on, after the battle had ended which saw Edward Elric, Mordred Pendragon and Mirai Kuriyama fighting on the grounds of the campus over a silly misunderstanding, Hachiman Hikigaya made a promise to himself to never treat a selfie as a joke.

After all, it was his idea to have Mirai Kuriyama pose like that, with her sword to his neck.

He thought, Mordred would appreciate the sentiment.

Apparently not.

A/N: It's been a while since I wrote a big chapter. Tell me, how it was?

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