Rosario and Lockets
A/N: Hey, welcome to the second chapter of Rosarios and Lockets. I salute those who followed, favorited, and reviewed!
Let's just jump into it. I will write out a more extensive author's note at the end for you guys. Enjoy the chapter!
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Mission 1: Social Hour at the Cafeteria
"Yakiniku set with everything on it."
The cafeteria lady gives him a blank look, not knowing how to react due to the vagueness of his order. She stares at him questioningly for a few more seconds before ultimately having to break the silence. The day is almost halfway done, and she is not having it.
"What do you mean, everything?" She asked, wanting to understand the student before her. Said student sighs annoyingly, already agitated that he has to explain himself— he thought he was clear enough when he said everything.
"Like, condiments? Side dishes? Whatever is available-"
"How about I just give you the set? This isn't a restaurant." The lady cuts him off and prepares him the meal in an orderly fashion. She set his tray with a small bowl of rice, miso soup, pickled vegetables, and of course the main dish, the Yakiniku. "Here are some ketchup packets, and the total will be 400 yen."
"That's a bit expensive..." with a tone filled with surprise, and the hint of agitation still lingering on, he gave the lady the required amount and took his tray.
Despite not getting exactly what he wanted, a meal is still a meal. Too bad he couldn't order pizza, the school wouldn't allow it. Something about integrity and following protocols… to him it sounded like a bunch of nonsense, but he would rather just follow whatever rules that have been set to draw less attention to himself. And that is a department he's already failing in.
"Say, isn't that Uesugi?"
"I wonder why the school hasn't approached him yet about his hair?"
"You think it's naturally white?"
"I'm starting to think so…"
"I would want some pizza right now…" he silently seethed within the confines of his mental space, trying his utmost to block off the whispers. Already subject to rumors, Uesugi Fuutarou simply tried his absolute best to be as unappealing as he possibly could, that way he'll be in the background where he thought he would thrive the most.
But students and faculty alike found Fuutarou to be extremely mysterious, almost becoming an urban legend of some sort.
He underestimates the power that teenagers have, and that is known to him as the worst biological disaster ever laid upon humanity: raging hormones. His appearance alone makes him one of the most attractive people in school, and despite him closing himself off to others, the gossip continues and the rumors circulate.
Under the school uniform, Fuutarou's body was incredibly well-toned. At first glance, people thought that he was some sort of athlete. His first day of school was overwhelmingly chaotic for him as he was swarmed by various sports clubs, scouting and fighting over him. Luckily he made himself pretty clear that he was not interested in joining clubs. Not that he had time to be doing extracurricular activities anyways.
His facial features were so refined, some people might even mistake him for a foreigner at times. His hair can be a combination of two styles: one was sweeping his hair back, emphasizing the fierce, yet the stoic expression on his face. However, at times he would use the other style, which is letting his hair be somewhat parted with his bangs brushed down. And that was the style that he decided to go with today.
If there was one thing that he kept from his childhood self, it was his love for books. He always has a book in his hand. It was what keeps him occupied during breaks and lunch. He loved learning different things through different perspectives, so much so that he kept books in his handbag, and after finishing his meals or finishing what assignment his senseis would give him during class, he would reach out to grab one and immerse himself in the words of literature.
And that is what sets off a tone about him that made him so alluring to students. They called him the 'Ice King' for his unapproachability, but yet he had a characteristic that showcases his uniqueness despite barely having any social interactions.
"It's too bad that he always keeps himself busy…"
"I once offered him to have lunch with us, but he kindly rejected it."
"One would think he's just an egotistical asshole, and maybe he is… but there's something different about him, is there?"
"I know right?! He gives off this aura of… I don't know how to describe it…"
"He reminds me of those European-like nobles in the Isekai anime I've been watching!"
"That's a bit too much, don't you think?" Searching for a table with nobody occupying it is not a problem for him. The cafeteria is vast, and despite being almost filled to the brim with students, he always managed to find a table and sit down by his lonesome. Step one of the process has been accomplished, now it was time for step two: create an invisible veil. He had enough with the gossip for today.
He swiftly turned his head to the direction of students who were failing to be discreet about their conversations about him. If they were going to talk behind his back, at the very least they could perhaps just keep it to themselves and not talk so loudly as if he were deaf. It immediately worked as the students turned away and hurriedly began a different conversation.
"Too easy… now please just get the message…"
He found an empty table and finally placed his tray down. He begins to tear open the ketchup packet, pouring some on the meat.
He did not want to get back up to the cafeteria lady and ask for soy sauce. He thought that he would get even more frustrated, due to the lady's attitude. Fuutarou did not want to destroy the invisible veil that he created by causing a ruckus, thus he had to do with what he had.
"I should maybe pour some miso soup on rice to give it more flavor…"
Fuutarou quickly began to dig into his meal, not even bothering to give the traditional Japanese phrase of thanks.
"Mother dearest would have lectured me about this if she were still alive, but right now I just want to eat as quickly as possible to maybe get further into the story I am reading…"
He purges the thought away with the savoring taste of the Yakiniku covered in ketchup. It's not pizza, but it is sufficient enough for him. The beef covered in ketchup reminds him of America when he first tried those grilled burgers.
The aroma of the miso soup was warm and welcoming. The vegetables by themselves were just as plain as the white rice. But Fuutarou got very inventive; he poured the soup and vegetables into the rice, adding more flavor. He took a piece of the meat and also threw it inside the rice bowl, creating a hearty meal that was perhaps actually worth 400 yen.
Before he dug into his latest creation, a feminine voice spoke up.
"Um, excuse me…?" Her sapphire-like eyes gazed upon the meal Fuutarou was eating, and found herself asking too many questions in a very rapid session, even sweat dropping at the bizarre cuisine (if you can call it a cuisine) that the young man was eating. She managed to quickly disperse those thoughts as the boy in front of her looked up to her in a curious, but cautious manner.
An audible sigh can be heard from Fuutarou's side.
"Yes? Do you need something?" Fuutarou asked in his most neutral voice that he could muster. He stopped eating and looked up, only to see someone that gave him an urge to rub his eyes. He summoned his iron will to keep the urge at bay, but he could not help himself but look completely dumbfounded.
He noticed that the uniform the girl was wearing was not from Asahiyama High School, meaning that she's a transfer student. It made sense for her to come to his table, and perhaps due to her curiosity getting the best of her, she wanted to find out if his reputation was what people made it out to be. Do not underestimate the power of school rumors; they are just as inflammable as lighting tinder in a dense forest.
But what made his eyes almost bulge in shock was her appearance. She seemed like a serious-looking girl, although she had an expression of nervousness, possibly due to her being out of her comfort zone. Her hair is medium-length with an expressive ahoge, on top of her notable accessories: a pair of star-shaped hairpins near both of her eyes.
Something about her… made him nostalgic for some reason. The way she looked, reminded him of a time much simpler... and a lot less lonely.
"...What is your goal, Fuutarou-kun?"
"My goal is to simply be so rich that I'll have Kaa-sama and Kintarou live off of me like freeloaders!"
The transfer student herself continued to fidget under his intense stare, her cheeks red and her tray shaking a bit. Snapping back to reality, Fuutarou noticed the ample amount of food that she was holding, which made him adopt a more neutral expression.
"I guess I can make an expectation if she shares some with me..."
"You're gonna let that food go to waste if you don't set it down." he advised the girl, which caused her to widen her eyes in confusion at first. Then realizing that she was carrying a lot, her hands began to tremble due to the weight, almost spilling her cup of water. She managed to regain a bit of her composure, but still struggled to hold the tray.
"Uh… is it, umm… o-okay for me to s-sit-"
"Yeah." His answer was straight to the point and blunt. It would make him quite upset if the girl in front of him dropped the tray, spilling and ruining the food. And he completely detests food being wasted, especially something as appealing as the meal she had. It looked expensive, and the thought of being flexed on by some ojou-sama who can probably afford the meal every day was something that made his insides crawled in agony.
The devil is in the details: her uniform was from the luxurious Black Rose, an all-female educational institution for financially well-off young ladies. He knew that uniform all too well since he used to attend the brother location of Black Rose as a kid, thus giving the conclusion that she was from a well-off household.
The transfer student's meal made Fuutarou silently wish that he could afford pizzas like he used to. Things have drastically changed since 6 years ago, and now he has to earn money to afford simple luxuries like pizza.
When the opportunity comes around, and someone with the password calls him, maybe he can pay off that little debt and treat himself to what he considered to be the food of the gods. Until then, 400 yen meals- he needs the protein, even if the extra 200 yen makes him scream in bloody murder. But he can not afford to be a hypocrite, willing to spend all of his money, even going into debt for pizzas, yet be a cheapskate when it comes to other stuff. Well, 400 yen is not much anyway, and he can always get 40 times that amount when a job comes around… again, need someone with the damn password…
His thoughts rapidly reverted to the exchange student as she spoke up once again.
"Thank you…" said the ojou-sama sighed in relief as she sat down on the table. "I usually eat with a group, but said the group isn't here today, and the cafeteria is full… I hope I'm not intruding?" Her shyness made the white hair boy raise an eyebrow in curiosity, noticing that she gets easily embarrassed to have to sit with a boy alone.
That and the goddamn gossip…
"Woah! Look at her! She's sitting with Uesugi!"
"I hope he doesn't tell her off, or I'll beat the shit out of him for denying a hot girl like her!"
"Ha! Didn't you almost pissed your pants when Uesugi gave you the death stare when you kept on pestering him about joining the basketball club?"
"T-That never happened!"
Mentally blocking off the background noise, Fuutarou answered her request with a simple "Nope."
An awkward silence strolled in after the transfer student made herself comfortable. Fuutarou quietly eats his meal, but still has his attention on his new occupant.
"...You're not much for conversation, huh?" The poor transfer student nervously laughed as she felt the overwhelming tense atmosphere between her and the boy in front of her.
"And you're a big eater." The tense environment quickly vanished. Fuutarou knows how to make a person feel themselves, by simply giving them a nice little taunt. Interested in how things are turning out, he wanted to see further development to confirm something that had been on his mind since she came to the table.
The transfer student felt something inside her snap like the spine of a camel's back. Flustered even further by his wry smile, the transfer student's face became beet red with anger and embarrassment, and pointed menacingly at the food Fuutarou had at his tray.
"I did not know you were conducting a science experiment during lunch!" she blurted out furiously.
"I need to eat what I can get, and improvise when I can." Fuutarou chuckled.
"Hmph! If you must know, I like to eat well. I-I am a growing girl after all, so I must obtain as many nutrients as I can!" she explained snappingly, although it seemed that she was saying that more to herself than to her fellow occupant of the table.
"I understand. Eating is not a luxury, it is a necessity after all." shrugging his shoulders, the white-haired teen simply chowed down on the last few grains of the rice and sipped his cup to satisfy his thirst.
"Why are you so curious about my eating habits anyway?"
"Simple, ojou-sama." Fuutarou theatrically bowed his head, which made the girl flustered, to which he gave her an answer that she did not expect. "Envy."
"Envy?" she could not help herself but repeat what the boy said in a bewildered tone.
"Yes. Right now I'm kinda on a budget. The concoction you see before you... is me just trying to put some layers of flavor, but it pales in comparison to what you have on your tray." he frowned. "To be honest, it looks like you simply came to my table just to flex on me."
Instantaneous regret came knocking down on the girl in front of him, as her cerulean-colored eyes widened in moderate guilt and realization. After a second of comparing lunch trays, the awkwardness that she had at first came back with a raging vengeance.
"Oh my goodness! I- forgive me!" Her change in tone was swift as she apologized. "It was rude of me to say something like that, I should know better!"
"It's fine, I was the one who started it first anyways." Fuutarou reassured her and chuckled to himself. "That was my terrible attempt at an ice breaker. Seeing you all flustered and awkward rubs off on me, and I find it to be mildly annoying. So I decided to tease you." he confessed.
"Well, it worked." she crossed her arms, expressing her annoyance in the form of a pout. Her cheeks became inflated, her face was sourcing hot from the amount of embarrassment she had received in just a matter of minutes. Fuutarou felt a tingling sensation on his fingertips as he saw his new acquaintance's cheeks being swelled with air, an insatiable urge within his soul howled in mischievous tomfoolery.
"Do not poke her cheek…" with the will of steel emerging again, he managed to suppress the temptation.
"Yeah, that was my mistake. I'm sorry." he apologized, managing to pacify the girl in front of him.
"If you're being that sincere and honest, I guess I'll accept your apology… in exchange for taking a peek of this~" the transfer student had a mischievous grin as she lunged herself across the table, almost spilling everything if only lady luck had not intervened. She managed to take a small stack of papers from Fuutarou's bag.
"Let's see here… A Uesugi Fuutarou… 100 points?" wanting to get back from the teasing the boy had done, the red-haired transfer student simply just wanted to take a look at his academic prowess. But what she had not expected was a perfect score…
"Uh… why take my exam?"
Steam came out of her ears from the amount of humiliation she suffered from this one ordeal. She covered her eyes, not being able to face the boy in front of her properly.
"Hmph!"
"Um… are you okay?"
"No, my pride just took a critical hit, thanks to you."
"I'm sorry?"
She let her hands down from her face, but the pout was still there.
As the storm in front of him rages on, Fuutarou was silently basking in her companionship. She ever so slightly reminded him of his little twin brother, Kintarou. When they were kids, Fuutarou was always able to tease the living hell out of Kintarou, and the latter either simply tried to pick a fight afterward or somehow manage to make a witty comeback.
But those days were long gone, and long dead.
But this feeling inside of him, and the fact that she looked like her…
"Strange… she did try to hide the fact that she had a twin sibling… maybe this is the twin sibling? Or maybe it's her…"
"Uhm… Well, I'm bad at studying, so I really admire your grades." She forcefully admitted. She had decided to put her pride aside, and risk a chance of asking him something that would indeed help her become a better student.
Hellfire shall be the consequence if he humiliates her one more time.
"Since you're already here, why won't you teach me a bit?"
"...I'm not the teaching sort I'm afraid." Fuutarou rejected sincerely, giving an apologetic look. "As you can see… I don't want to involve myself with others too much…"
"That seems kinda depressing, Uesugi-kun. Do you not have any friends?"
"Are you pitying me, ojou-sama?"
"P-Please! Just Itsuki!"
"Hai, hai ojou-sama."
"E-Enough with the 'ojou-sama', mou!"
Fuutarou couldn't help himself but smugly smile a bit as he watched Itsuki inflate her cheeks with air once again.
"Well… my invisible veil is completely demolished, thanks to you Itsuki-san. But I don't mind it as much anymore, you did something that not a lot of people can do."
"W-Which is?"
"Made me feel comfortable talking, I guess."
"Hmph! Despite being new here, it looks like I'm the only one that can manage to speak with you… A b-boy nonetheless… and asshole to be quite frank as well..." having gained the momentum of the conversation, Itsuki decided to at least get some sort of penance out of him for the number of times he embarrassed her in the brief time that they met by calling him an asshole.
But she also realized that Fuutarou was not a detestable asshole either. Of all things, he reminded her of her older sister… always teasing and managing to make her blush up a storm.
"An asshole? At least you kinda get it… people here, no matter what I do, always seem to gravitate towards me when I just want to be alone…" Fuutarou let her slide with the remark,
"But you're different. Even if you're not Rena, you look like her, and you made my day a little less bad."
"A-Anyways! W-What I'm trying to say is… we both can benefit from learning! So what say you? Don't worry, you'll be compensated accordingly."
Fuutarou thought long and hard about the proposition. Tutoring? He possibly cannot, he has his business to maintain. He's a busy man, and the risks of involving the girl in front of him in his life were way too god damn high...
But… she radiated something that he has not felt in years.
At the very least... He wanted to know if this was the girl he met 6 years ago. But a part of him doubts that as well, it was too much of a coincidence.
"...Can I ask you something personal?" Fuutarou decided to play his cards, and double his bet. The worst that can happen is simply just a weird stare from the transfer student, and he can afford the loss.
"S-Sure, I don't mind? As long as it isn't too personal, we just met after all."
"I hope that statement won't become ironic. I think I might just be going crazy, but… I feel like we met before… or I met your sibling before."
"Huh? What makes you say that? What are you on about" the tone of her voice adopted a more alarming one as she put on a glare of suspicion.
Fuutarou dug deep into his pockets and pulled out his wallet. He opened it, and took out a half-folded piece of paper, and then unfolded it. He silently gave it to the girl, who was reluctant to take it at first but gave in to curiosity.
She inspected the piece of paper and realized the bottom side of it was grainy, smooth to the touch. It was like rubbing a finger through a smartphone.
She flipped the paper around, revealing it to be an old photo. Her whole worldview came crashing down on her head as she saw the girl in the photo: red-haired with a simple dress and blue eyes...
"This…!" she could not contain her astonishment, becoming completely flabbergasted and nearly fainted on the spot.
"Yeah… that's me and the girl I met back in Kyoto 6 years ago. You look like that girl in the picture..." he sighed lonesomely as he began to gather his things, and made sure to take the photo from Itsuki's hands. "I'm starting to regret this big time."
"Your lunch is going to get even colder at this point, so I'm going to excuse myself and let you eat in peace. Sorry if our classmates start to pester you about me."
"H-Hold on! Uesugi-kun, was that you in this photo?" Itsuki managed to grab the photo from Fuutarou's grasp, and pointed to a white-haired boy with swept-back hair, standing next to the red-haired girl giving a 'peace' gesture with her hands.
"Yes. Why would you think I'd own something like that if I were not in the picture?"
"G-Good point… but this girl here, that's Yotsuba! My older sister!"
"Yotsuba? Not Rena?"
"Rena was our mother's name, we used it as an alias whenever strangers asked us our names…"
"I see… what a damn coincidence, to find her twin sister after 6 years…"
"Twins? We're Quintuplets."
-Line Break-
Sometime after lunch period…
Nakano Itsuki introduced herself to her classmates 20 minutes prior and was once again flabbergasted upon seeing that Uesgui Fuutarou was in the same class. After the brief introduction, the star-pinned girl noticed that there was an empty seat next to him, and she sat next to Fuutarou. It was obvious that she was going to sit next to him since the two made their acquaintance during lunch. But she also needed to sit next to him so she could put her table next to his to share his textbook since she had yet to acquire one.
Ignoring the whispers of students about the new development that was happening in front of their eyes, Fuutarou allowed Itsuki to see the textbook. However it was not enough, as she grew frustrated with the lecture, and the professor had a habit of erasing the board too frequently.
"Uesugi-kun?" she murmured his name, grabbing onto one of his sleeves to get his attention. It worked as Fuutarou stopped jotting down his notes, and turned to her with a raised eyebrow. She wore a rather perplexed expression on her face as her eyes averted his gaze, a red hue growing across her face once again. Fuutarou stopped counting how many times she had blushed, for it was too many to take account for.
"You're stuck, huh? That's fine." the white-haired teen slid his notes over to her, which made her smile in relief. She took the pieces of paper containing the valuable information and began to review it first for a quick analysis. Then Itsuki started to diligently copy them, carefully using her precision to write the kanjis to understand the information later on when she needs to consult with them.
As his new classmate took her time in writing down the notes he lent her, Fuutarou's mind began to drift away.
"Being a tutor? I could probably do it, but it'll risk me losing potential customers who need demons to be slain. And those jobs pay way much more…" Fuutarou thought as he put his hand under his chin, his gaze unconsciously averting away from the professor and onto the window, viewing the beautiful scenery outside.
...
"What is the difference between a human, a demon, and a devil?"
After years of slaying demons and drifting from one end of Japan to another, Fuutarou can wholeheartedly answer the question with the utmost confidence. Humans are simply that, humans. Mortals who inhabit the world as it currently is, the top of the food chain... so they think. What they do not know is that there are barriers that protect humans from demons, and prevent the underworld from merging with the human world.
Demons are vile creatures whose instinct is solely geared towards dominating humans and ruling both realms. They have a system of hierarchy based upon their power scaling- the strongest being crowned as the Demon King.
And devils? Well… both demons and humans can be devils, it is all a matter of perspective. Fuutarou seemed to think that almost all demons are devils. Thus he eradicates them as a side profession, and sometimes just to fuel his personal vendetta.
But humans can be devils too. Fuutarou had seen tragedies unfold before due to humans giving in to their desire and committing the most atrocious acts that even pale in comparison to what a demon can do.
But not all demons are bad. His father is the greatest example of that.
Sparda was the one who aided humans two millennia ago. He defeated the Demon King Mundus and his legions through his superior prowess in the skill of swordsmanship and demonic magic. But Sparda being a demon himself, also had to seal his power away along with the demon world.
Sparda's reign over the human world after sealing the hellish void was silent and peaceful, and thus the legend was born as the years have gone by. The Legendary Dark Knight was his moniker, and it struck awe and fear to those who know about the legend.
But all legends come to an end... unless its legacy has been passed down to an heir.
Sparda was a precocious man, even with sealing the majority of his power back in the demon world, he still wanted to spit the remaining power he had into various artifacts. He used the power to forge two Devil Arms and two amulets, and distribute them equally amongst his two sons, Kintarou and Fuutarou.
Fuutarou, being the oldest, had inherited the dark forged katana known as Yamato. Sparda described its power as being able to 'split the darkness'... the vagueness of it was intentional, and it was up to Fuutarou to learn more about how to use the blade's true power. The other artifact was a golden amulet, with a beautiful red-colored gemstone embedded in it. Keepsakes from his late father and another from his late mother.
Kintarou received similar gifts as well… but he never lived long enough to ever put them to good use.
Days after the trip to Kyoto, Fuutarou and his family had been under attack by a group of demons that spawned from the outskirts of their home. Sparda, unfortunately, died the day prior, due to him gifting his twin sons the remaining source of his power.
Fuutarou was the only one who survived the carnage that left him an orphan.
But despite that, he never strayed from the righteous path, and he knew that he had to carry on the legacy of his father… by making himself a mercenary and living off a profession dedicated to wiping out demons. The only problem was that finding those types of jobs was extremely difficult, especially in a time where the closest thing to the supernatural were people worshipping deities. Thus he set up a business under the guise of a 'handyman willing to do any job'- and his clients had to know the password to hire him for his services. Those who don't know the password are simply ignored.
The percentage of potential clients that knew the password was so damn low that he would actually be better taking his chances at a casino to earn some money. Then again, a 17-year-old student gambling would only draw unnecessary attention to himself. Demon slaying and vigilante activities can be accomplished discreetly, but Fuutarou knows damn well that he can not get away with gambling… if he won the damn jackpot, that will certainly get the law on his ass.
"Tutoring does not seem to be a bad idea now that I think about it. If the pay is good. I still need to owe money to the pizzeria, oh and maybe pay off next month's rent. Sitting around waiting for the password to come around ain't going to suffice..."
A/N: I just want to make something clear: I am afraid of getting my writer's block back, I really am. I have not written anything this extensive since 2018. I am proud of myself for actually managing to do this.
Aside from that, If you guys catch me on the discord server being quiet or unsure about Rosarios and Lockets, the direction of the plot, and characters: it's because I don't want to be that vocal about it. Bear in mind that I am writing this with the mindset that my writer's block could come back with a vengeance. I don't want to be put in a position where I am talking about my plans for the story extensively, then cannot bring myself to write it out. So please forgive me if I seem a bit short-term. I'm just following what's on my mind without having to overthink things long-term, and so far it's working.
Fuutarou's character has some traits derived from both Vergil and Dante from DMC, but please understand that Fuutarou is his own entity, and so is Kintarou. Spoiler alert, Kintarou is the antagonist. You can not call a story a DMC crossover without a pair of siblings fighting to the death. But that's something that is going to be expanded upon when the story reaches that point. Fuutarou IS NOT Vergil, nor Kinatrou IS Dante. They just might have some characteristics derived from the og Sparda brothers, but they will be their own person.
Kintarou is not dead, but Fuutarou seems to think that his entire family had died by the demons. As for Sparda himself, he quietly passed away a day before the tragedy due to him giving his sons the remaining power that he had: the two Devil arms, Yamato and Rebellion, and the two amulets.
So think of this story as the second reboot of the DMC franchise… sounds like hot garbage XD. But it's my pile of garbage: one man's trash is another man's treasure, as the saying goes.
Things are just starting to set in motion, and I am primarily focusing on following the QQ manga for now. Of course with heavy AU implications like Fuutarou finding out who 'Rena' is from the get-go.
On the romantic side of things… I want it to be a harem. I want Fuutarou to have all the quints!
TLDR: I'm taking baby steps, and eventually I will get into expanding the story more if my Writer's Block or life's circumstances do not screw me over. Harem, yes most likely.
Anyways, if you like what you read so far give it a follow or review.