Chapter 1: Awake once more
One last time I opened my eyes, and with it came pouring in all my missing senses.
It was odd to feel again. Strange to hear the noise of the bustling streets, admire the vibrant colors of an urban city with a dense population routinely going on with their day, and absorb the smell of fresh air that wafts into my new form. I regained my body back. I was alive once more.
I sat on a bench that conveniently enough was shaded by the leaves of a nearby tree planted beside it. It was a cool day, yet warm enough to be enjoyable without a jacket, which I did adorn. The usual same brown jacket I wore during the winter season was on me and the rest of what I was wearing back then during the winter season. My glasses fit snug on my face as I reached up to fiddle with them to make sure they were actually there and didn't suddenly regain my sight.
Oddly enough, my chin felt a bit cold when a slight breeze passed by. I reached up and found that it was shaven like it was in my palace attire.
'Seems I took on the look I got from my palace. Hmph, I always did find it quite odd that I was clean-shaven in my palace attire. But it seems my hair isn't slick back anymore like it was in the palace...' I played with the fluffy bangs hanging over my head and noticed that they were a bit shorter than I recalled.
'Strange... I thought they were just a little longer than this. I should check and see if everything is all right with me.' Despite feeling fine in this new world, I still didn't completely trust the entity that transported me here. He was a mischievous one for sure, and I wouldn't be surprised if he made some drastic change to me that would hurt me here in this new world for insurance to make sure I was handled for good.
I instinctively reached into my jacket to find my smartphone still in the same pocket before leaving to stay and wait in the palace that fateful night. I took it up to my face and turned on the camera, and flipped it to get a good look on my face.
I wasn't caught off guard in my younger-looking appearance. I knew something was up when I found the lack of hair in specific places on my head. I didn't know exactly how to feel with this regression of age. It wasn't much, to begin with anyway, I looked to be around my college years, so I wasn't too concerned with the bit of backtrack in my years.
I then started wondering what I would do if I were any younger. If I were all of a sudden born into this world from the start. To slowly get accustomed to this world from a child's point of view would've helped; I wasn't upset with staying relatively the same. It was actually quite the opposite.
I genuinely couldn't imagine how uncomfortable it would be to relive infancy or my teenage years again. Though it does come at the disadvantage of not growing into this world more naturally. No doubt will I attract attention for a person my age to not know the basics of this world. But after looking around a bit more, this place looked no different than any regular big city in Japan.
The more I look around, this place is practically Japan. Every billboard or sign had the language plastered on to it pretty regularly throughout, besides all some random English words here and there. Even some passersby were speaking Japanese as they crossed the bench I sat in.
'There has to be something different to this world than the one I left behind. Maybe a parallel universe the being found that was close to the original?' I stood up from my bench and reached into my jean pockets to get a hold of a wallet. I opened it up to look through all sorts of identifications that were given to me.
All seemed normal with it. My name was still Takuto Maruki, and my prediction for my age was correct as I compared the date of birth on my I.D card with the calendar on my phone. I was to be twenty-two years old in this world, and with it came a certified license for counseling while I looking through all the credit cards and driver's license.
'Seems as though the being left me with everything I had back in the old, with the added bonus of making me a bit younger.' I put away all my cards and stuffed my wallet and phone back into their original pockets, 'For a being that barely knew me, he sure has my whole life down pat. But if he managed to fit me in this world this perfectly, then that means he has some control over it, or maybe now he has a bit of control over it because of sending me here.' The theories invaded my mind as I pondered more about the sinister entity, leaving nothing but dread for the future of this world.
I took a deep breath as I calmed myself down a bit to think of what to do next.
'Even if all that is true or not, there's no time for me to waste standing here and do nothing. I need to get some information of this world and its version of mankind.' I then started walking down the sidewalk as the city kept bustling around me.
'And what better way than to go sight-seeing here.'
The city was lively and loud. It was really just like any other major big city back in Japan. Actually looking around and browsing the internet on my phone, this place is in Japan.
It's definitely different, though, as the words hero and villain keep showing up no matter where I go.
Upon further research, this world casually has superhuman abilities among the public. Quirks as they call them. This power that randomly sprouted out of nowhere quickly integrated into society with the rise of crime from people abusing their quirks for nefarious deeds. The occupation of a Hero was quite a luxurious lifestyle if you had the right drive and power to back it up.
But the mere thought of individuals becoming heroes purely on fame and fortune made me sick with the apparent innate corruption there probably was within the hero business. Money and power tend to get to people, and in this world, it was way more evident than it ever was back in the original. The weak depended on the strong, as the masses with less powerful quirks relied on those that carry the mantle of being heroes to protect them from criminal threats from sick, demented people that chose crime or violence. I struggle to comprehend the legitimacy of these hero agencies that hire and dispatch heroes. It all spells bad news to me, no matter how honest they seem to portray themselves.
'I'm no stranger to business and government workings. Heroes can be just as corrupt or exploitive as any other institution handling with money, power, and justice.' My faith in the hero system wasn't high, but I needed to see how they really exercise their influence to make a fair judgment. I continued my walk as the sun started to set onto the horizon before me.
'Quirks are a powerful thing in this universe. I wonder if I possess such power as well...' Reaching up to my face, I tried summoning Azathoth.
Nothing came as I focused as hard as I can to summon the persona, but to no avail. No sensation came from even focusing on calling anything to come forth. I knew that if I were to save people and be productive for every soul, I would need to get a quirk or power to compete with the rest of the populace.
'Perhaps there are clinics that can test whether you actually have a quirk within you. I'd be very disappointed if I were to end up quirkless in this world.' I kept walking around to see if there were any clinics around to go in at this time of day. I also looked online if quirk testing even existed. It did to some extent, and that was to x-ray scan your foot to see if you missing joints or not. I didn't quite get it when I read it, but I decided to settle with finding out the answer myself through an expert.
I managed to get in a clinic and asked them to perform the x-ray scanning on me. They looked at me like I was crazy when I asked them.
"Sir, you do know that at your age, you should know by now whether you had a quirk or not." I stared at her wide-eyed, knowing that she was right. The problem of me just popping into this world started rearing its head as I stammered to give the lady a half-decent response.
"Yes...you are certainly right about that, ma'am. I-I just wanted to double-check you see. I never actually took an x-ray as a kid to see if I had one, and I wanted to just cross that off the list. You know? hehe..." I adjusted my glasses a bit as the receptionist looked on with pity.
"Very well, mister. You're lucky it's been a slow day. Usually, you have to make an appointment, but we'll make an exception. Of course, at the cost of a surprise visit fee on top of the scanning fee." I took at my wallet and promptly gave her a credit card.
"Why, of course, ma'am. It's only natural." The transaction was soon completed as I was immediately led to the x-ray scanning room. There were quick to strap me up and scan only my foot as they quickly moved me along to one of the patient rooms.
The doctor came in and laid down some papers before sighing and looking at me with an incredulous look.
"Honestly, sir, what did you expect? Your joints are all there. I doubt you're a super late bloomer or anything. But I guess it's good to know and get out of your way with what-ifs." The doctor was brief and blunt as I was quickly shooed out of the clinic, leaving me standing in the night streets of this city I still knew nothing about.
'So that's it, huh. I'm just an average person in this world. Can't say I'm too disappointed. Maybe being a hero or whatever wasn't meant for a guy like me. There's still good I can do without actively putting my life out there to save people. I still have my counseling career; I can work on that for the time being, then...who knows what's next.' I went and started walking to find a hotel to stay in for the night. As far as I know, I actually don't have a place to call home in this world yet.
Not a second later, I heard a loud explosion blossom at the end of the street in front of me. Massive tufts of smoke flew into the sky as screams of panic and people running away were to be found.
I didn't waste any time as I started running into the commotion.
I came to an abrupt stop as a tall man covered in stone was hurling cars, mailboxes, and stands all around the area.
"WHY, EIKO! WHY FOR HIM!" The monster roared as he kept throwing more cars left and right, causing more explosions to occur and fill the street with suffocating smoke.
"Leave me alone! I told you we're done!" A woman yelled as she tried to drag herself away from the man in desperation.
"I'm with Miyazaki now! Get over it already, dammit!" The man roared as he grabbed her legs and held her upside down while shaking in what I could only describe as pure rage.
"HE HAS NOTHING! HE'S JUST SOME RICH SNOB!"
The woman glared at the man before yelling back, "he has a job, Nagao! Ever heard of that?!" Before the stone man could make a rebuttal, a bright light soon shined onto the man's face made of stone, dropping the woman as another person came and joined in the soap opera.
"She doesn't want you, Nagao! It's over, man! Get a life already." The man's hands shined a bright light as the stone man put up one hand to try and block out the light.
"That's your quirk! A cruddy flashlight!?" The stone man charged blindly at the light as the man stopped shining his light and dodging out of the way for the behemoth crash into a car.
"What's happening over there?! Where are the heroes at!" A random spectator yelled out, accompanied soon by a coughing fit as the smoke in the street was getting too much to handle for them.
"Get a hero! Get one now!" Police sirens rang in the distance as the stone man made his advances to the man and woman. The man tried his best to get the woman and lean on his shoulder, but her foot seemed to have sprained with how much they struggled to getaway.
"We had everything Eiko...everything! I know I'm not the best with my money, and we don't see eye to eye like...ever. But I still love you!" Reaching out to grab for the woman, she turned around and pointed out her index finger to let out a glue-like substance that covered the man's eyes.
"AHHH! YOU UNGRATEFUL BI-" She shot out more of the glue to cover his mouth for the moment.
That moment lasted a good second before the man screamed with rage. He sputtered completely incoherent words as he ran and charged at the retreating couple.
Time slowed; I could see the imminent blow come and destroy the couple. My legs were moving before I could even think about it. I didn't have any powers and abilities. My persona was dormant, and waking it would lead to a disaster supposedly.
Nothing was going my way; nothing I could do would save all of us in this situation. The weight of my legs only grew as my hands pushed the couple aside.
I never knew what it was like to save someone. What it was like to put oneself in danger to ensure the safety of another. I tried so hard to keep everyone in my own twisted way. Never did I care to meet them in person. I merely acted as a disillusioned messiah that thought he knew best for everyone. To create a perfect reality where no pain existed, where everyone lived a joyous life without worry. To run away and not deal with pain.
I was running; I had no reason other than to escape a reality I rejected to mend my own sorrow away with a disillusion I took too far.
Now I was running for another reason. To save these people. People I don't know, people that I would probably never meet again even if I did live through the hands that were moments away from making my paste on the street.
Never was I the bold type, but I suppose I learned a thing or two from a certain joker in my previous life.
'This is it, eh? What a life I lived in this world...' I didn't know if I was content with my decision or not, but one thing was for sure, was that the looks of shock on that couple's face filled me with some sort of joy. Seeing them out of harm's way sparked something in me I never knew I had in my entire existence until now.
One moment I was looking at the couple, another brought extreme pain, and once again, it came.
Darkness.
Serious deja vu hit me when I opened my eyes to be sitting on that bench again. The same smell, look and feel of everything this morning hit me once again.
I didn't waste time going and check my phone and wallet for a second time.
Everything was there. To the credit cards, to the I.D's, even my license was there just like the last time I was on this same bench.
'I died... but now I'm back here again. What's happening?' I tried to rationalize the circumstances once again in my head. Many theories came to blame the entity that sent me here. Was this a groundhog day that would repeat forever? An infinite loop of death that awaited me? As far as I'm aware, that being could be pulling strings to my every move and decision.
But I just have the feeling that isn't the case for this revival for my redo. I could now sense...a presence. One that is quite comforting now that I focus on it.
My persona was here, with me. Azathoth was within me once again.
Joy filled my heart as I tried to summon Azathoth once more. But just like last time, he didn't materialize in front of me.
'Why won't he come out? He's obviously here with me now. Do I need to enter a place like the metaverse to summon him?' I kept focusing on Azathoth. I could definitely feel him now, but why not before?
'Was it because he was asleep? The being did say that Azthoth would fall asleep when we entered this universe. So does that mean I awoke him once more?' Chills ran down my spine as I remember the words of the diety. If he were, to be honest about one thing, it would have to be Azathoth's state of lucidness. Out of the whole conversation I had with him, Azathoth's condition was the most genuine answer I felt I got from him.
'But he's still so faint...maybe it was a subconscious doing on Azathoh's part to revert time to prevent my death. And if that's the case, maybe he did more than just that.' I didn't waste another second to go and revisit the same clinic as before. Perhaps this reversion gave me something more than merely another chance on life.
I patiently waited as I went to the receptionist and asked to examine for a quirk or not. The conversation stayed the same as I pulled out my credit card and paid the surprise visit fee once again. The scan went just as quickly as last time as I sat waiting for the results once more. The doctor came in and laid papers on the desk while sighing.
"Honestly, sir, what did you expect? Your joints are all there. I doubt you're a super late bloomer or anything. But I guess it's good to know and get out of your way with what-ifs." The repeated sentence from last time snuffed any hope I had to do anything significant in this world.
"You're lucky we got the scan through. It must've been bugged or something. It left all these nasty white specks all over these scans..." The doctor muttered as he left the room. I promptly made my way out of the clinic and stood in the street in silence as the mid-day of the city was still vibrant as ever.
'Even if I don't have powers in this world, that doesn't mean I can't prevent the incident between those three from last time.' I retraced my steps to the same street with the conflict between the couple and the stone man.
I leaned on a building and waited as time passed by to become nightfall. It wasn't long before I could hear an argument coming in my direction. I looked over to see the stone man in what I suppose was his regular appearance, as he wasn't made of stone this time around. The woman was walking away quickly and furiously as the man grabbed her arm and started yelling.
"Whatcha say, Eiko?! You dumping me?" The hurt in his voice was evident, and the woman looked to not have cared less as she pulled her arm away from the man.
"I told you to get your act together, Nagao! I asked for one thing, and that was to get a job, and you still blew it! I've moved on, Nagao-"
"You what!?" The man grabbed her arm again as his fist turned into stone. "What do you mean you've moved on?! You saying you were seeing someone else?!"
"That's exactly what I'm saying, Nagao! I needed to keep my options open, and you proved to me that it was the right decision to do so. I'm with Miyazaki!"
"MIYAZAKI!?" The man had fully transformed now as he tightened his grip, leaving the woman starting to pull away frantically in desperation.
"Let go of me!" The woman pulled and pulled until she got loose and started backpedaling away from the man, "Stay away from!" She yelled as she attempted to run away. The man gave chase, but before he snatched her up, I made a mad dash and catch the woman as we both fell to the ground together while the stone man stumbled forward.
"What the? Who the hell are you?" I got up while helping the woman stand as I looked toward the stone man.
"Listen here, I know that you're upset with her for leaving you, but you have to let her go. If she wants out of the relationship, then so be it. She gave you the ultimatum, and you failed." The woman nodded and smiled in agreement, but before she was about to speak, I interrupted her, " And you, to go behind his back and practically cheat on him was not the right decision. You can't cheat on your boyfriend as some twisted insurance to keep your options open, you should have trusted him, and if he broke that trust, then it was free game from then on." The woman gasped, looking at me flabbergasted.
"The audacity you have, you prick!" I stepped in shock as the man added on.
"Yeah! Who the hell do you think you are telling us how to live our life!"
"Wait, what?! Did you two hear a thing I said? I was trying to help-"
The woman came up to me and put a finger on my chest while yelling in my face, "Don't go acting as if you know better than us; you seriously piss me off!"
"Yeah, me too!" The stone man smashed his fist together as he started to loom over me. "I don't need to take this shit from some bug. I bet your quirk is trash." I can only stare at the two in disbelief as they both started advancing towards me.
'These two are insane! No wonder they even started dating in the first place!' The man raised a fist as he reeled back for an attack.
'He's not seriously going to go all out with that punch?' I leaped towards my left as the man completely demolished the wall of the building behind me.
"Holy!" I didn't have time to process as the woman stuck out her finger and sprayed the glue-like substance onto my feet, "You gotta be kidding me! I was just trying to help! You guys would really just kill me for giving you some advice?!" The couple of lunatics approached my stuck form as the stone man raised his fist one more time.
I didn't expect to go out this way, with two deplorable people that had nothing better to do that day than use their powers for the most stupid reasons. The joy I felt for saving this woman before was replaced with a deep and visceral sensation brooding from within my heart. The hand of the stone man came down, and it clashed with a tentacle that sprouted out of the ground from seemingly nowhere.
"Huh?!" The tentacle wiggled and wrapped around the man's arm. It soon flung him across the street as he yelled and crashed on the road.
The feeling I was experiencing now was weird, to say the least. I could feel the tentacle was a part of me in some way, and mentally visualizing it, grabbing the man and chucking him led for it to do precisely just that.
"Is this my quirk?" I stared at the tentacle as it swayed protectively in front of me. It then went ahead and swatted away the hardened glue at my feet, leaving me free to move once again.
'This feels so much like summoning my persona...but I don't see Azathoth anywhere...'
The woman shrieked in terror as she ran away, "Ewewewewewewewew!" The woman went out of sight as I heard police sirens blaring in the distance.
'Someone must have called the cops when that stone man demolished that wall.' I quickly assessed as what I assume was my quirk vanished back into the ground. I didn't think too long about it as I didn't waste any time booking it out of the immediate vicinity. A run-in with the authorities was not something I was looking forward to. I barely knew my identity in this world. I don't think I could answer a simple question like where I lived.
My feet carried me away from all the commotion as I bent over with my hands on my knees to catch my breath. I rested my back on the wall of a building as I slid down to the flow in exhaustion. It felt like I used up all my energy summoning my quirk. I had the same feeling when Azathoth and I were on our last legs against the fight with the Phantom Thieves. The absolute weakness I felt was as if I was struck by a horrible fever.
'This quirk is too familiar to summoning a persona. Even the look of it was reminiscent of the tentacles I used in battle with Azathoth. Could this thing not be a quirk at all? Is this all from Azathoth? Is this a part of his awakening once more...' I kept taking on quick and ragged breathes as my body's exhaustion was reaching an all-time high. I looked up slowly to find a beacon in the form of a hotel that looked extravagant and pricey...but I was too tired to even entertain the idea of finding another cheaper alternative.
"Let's hope this doesn't max out my credit card," I noted as I got up and made my way for the building. Slowly yet surely did I stumble toward the steps like I was a drunkard seeking sanctuary. Along the way, I started calculating how much instant ramen I would need to make up for the debt that I knew I was to dig myself into.