The Formula Of Life

Chapter 6: Kill The Innocence P1

Tatsumi walked through the streets of Kuoh with thoughts running amok in his mind. A tired sigh escaped his lips as a hand ran through the choppy brown hair leaving it in an untamed mess. Uniform crumpled and creased, Tatsumi held the image of a defeated man. Movements slow and heavy, the young man stood out among the sea of moving bodies. Breaking off from the stream of people, Tatsumi raised his tired head and scanned the large park laid out before him. Small letter tucked safely away in his hands, Tatsumi scanned the neat writing on it and a smile broke through the solemn expression that had once residing his visage. Captivated by the serene environment he now stood in, Tatsumi began wondering.

Moving onto a path isolated by a thicket of shrubbery, Tatsumi trekked down the dirt road with newfound wonder. Having shifted his mind to a something other than the thoughts that had been weighing him down, Tatsumi pushed deeper and deeper into the park. Guided by inconsistent rays sunlight that managed to pierce the blanket of leaves from above, Tatsumi began noticing more and more signs of life. With a number of torn branches and splinters scattered on the ground, the sense of wonder Tatsumi felt only strengthened. His curiosity was enough to push the young man further along the path. Whatever had caused the damage was large, and Tatsumi had to find out what it was exactly.

"Maybe, it's a bear... But what's a bear doing here in a park?" Tatsumi thought with a pensive expression.

Fives minutes passed with the signs growing further. Seeing more trees with broken branches and deep marks decorating the trunks, Tatsumi only continued on his path. While normal people would have lost the will to proceed, Tatsumi's only only had strengthened. Always the curious one, the young man never really understood how much trouble it would cause him. Little expeditions into the forests surrounding the village with his friends Sayo and Ieysau had been one of the more memorable moments of his life. A village that advanced very slowly in comparison to cities like Tokyo, still upholding traditional lifestyles, Tatsumi could say he missed that way of life. One surrounded by friends and loved ones. From living in a village where every inhabitant was a friend or acquaintance to the life in a city was quite the change for him.

The sound of a growl caught Tatsumi's attention. Positioning himself behind a tree with only his head poking out, Tatsumi waited for something to jump out from the bushes ahead. Minutes passed without any more activity, accompanied by his pounding heart, Tatsumi slowly tread forward once again, but this time his movements were much more tense. Now fully intended on finding out exactly what was behind the roars origin, the young man finally made his way behind another tree. Poking his head out, Tatsumi managed to make out the form of a large creature. View obscured by a veil of shadows, Tatsumi slowly made his way forward avoiding making any noises as he snuck towards the creature.

"Astaroth! I'll kill you!"

Stopped by the animalistic voice, a bead of sweat ran freely down Tatsumi's forehead and cascaded onto the dry ground. The surprise that had overcame his body had been enough to force Tatsumi to look at the creature once more. Making out a massive body of barely contained muscles, the young man's widened as he made out more features of the creature. Colossal in size and bipedal, the creature held excessive amounts of muscle on its body that seemed to be bulging, with a mane of unruly black hair, Tatsumi was thankful a small piece of cloth kept the creature's lower body covered.

"Hmph, another pathetic stray..."

Angered by the words, the creature gave another bellow and charged. Tatsumi looked on in awe as the massive creature moved in speeds no creature of that size should possess. For something half the size of a full grown tree built with excessively large muscles, Tatsumi never expected something that large to have been able to move so fast. Even though the sudden revelation had surprised Tatsumi, the feminine voice was what truly held his thoughts. The voice was recognizable and seemed familiar, having heard it once before, Tatsumi was left pondering whom the voice belonged to. How he had found out brought forth a new string of questions.

The enraged creature was powerful, or that was what Tatsumi had assumed when he had caught sight of it. With its appearance alone, the immediate assumption had been made. Assuming it was strong, he had been given quite the surprise when the creature he had developed a slight fear of was sent crashing into a number of trees. Imagine the look on Tatsumi's face when he caught sight of the creature's attacker.

Standing with her arms crossed and an annoyed expression marring her delicate features was none other than Hilda herself. Still garbed in the Kuoh girls uniform, Hilda's cold green eyes remained locked on the creature. The glare that Hilda was sending to the creature made Tatsumi flinch, the gaze alone was nerve wracking. With a mixture of awe and confusion plastered onto his face, Tatsumi watched with wide eyes as Hilda approached the recovering creature.

"Such a pitiful thing... Abandoning your master and taking on such a hideous form. It would be only right to end you, is it not, stray?" Hilda mused as her face remained indifferent.

"Fuck you... Bitch!" The creature growled, "Go back and service your damn master!"

Single eye narrowing, Hilda took a few steps back and avoided a punch from the Stray Devil. Side stepping another punch, Hilda's graceful movements proved to be too much for the Stray Devil as it's slow and clumsy attacks were doing nothing but damaging the trees surrounding them. Trees were struck and were sent tumbling down onto the ground. Upon contact, a smokescreen of dust fluctuated around the two Devils. Limiting the view of Tatsumi and the two fighters, the young school boy had decided it was time to leave. Rushing away from the fight with adrenaline pumping through his veins, Tatsumi rested a hand on his pants pocket, hoping to find some comfort in the letter that resided there. Instead of finding comfort, Tatsumi's hand brushed against his empty pockets. A new spark of panic flooded his heart as he scanned his chaotic surroundings desperately.

Finally, locating the envelope that had been resting against the trunk of a tree, Tatsumi bolted towards it. Safety thrown out the window, Tatsumi dove towards the letter and swooped it up in a single dive. Smiling in relief, he clutched the letter safely against his chest and ignored the stinging pain that had arose from his back. Having crashed into a tree in the process of the dive, Tatsumi picked himself off of the ground. That was when everything had gone down hill. Tatsumi's blood ran cold when he felt his body being enveloped in a crushing grip. Quickly turning his head around, Tatsumi's fear ridden eyes only widened as he was brought closer and closer into the creature's mouth.

"No! I-I can't die yet! Damn it, no! Damn it! I can't die not now!" Tatsumi thought.

Struggling against the hold, Tatsumi used whatever strength he could muster against the creature. Heart pounding with fear, Tatsumi's adrenaline drenched body still kept at it even though a part of him had already given up. His logical side had already deducted the chance of him escaping were near impossible. Yet, he did not waver. Driven by his emotions, Tatsumi continued to push against the tightening grip.

"I can't die... Yet... Ieyasu... Sayo... I just want... To see you... One... Last... Time," Tatsumi muttered, "Damn it!"

An explosion of magical energy shimmered into existence and enveloped Tatsumi. Sizzling and snapping against the Stray Devil's weakening grip, the blinding light continued to burn against the creature's hand. Until finally, Tatsumi was dropped and the Stray Devil backed away from the human and began shielding his eyes from the light. Tatsumi's desperate cry for survival was the only sound audible, filling the forest with the raw cry of emotions. Left on his knees by the sudden outburst of power, Tatsumi held onto a grey short sword decorated with a chain link tassel on its handle. Collapsing from exhaustion, a single pulse of life ran through the blade.

Reacting quickly, Hilda quickly jumped into action. Raising a palm, a dark green magic circle flickered into existence. Tendrils of black filaments shot out of the magic circle and quickly attached themselves to the Stray Devil. Enraged growls were ignored as Hilda watched the filaments snake their way around the creatures body until they fully held it in place. Closing her open hand, the filaments went to work. Having surrounded the stray's body, the hundreds of tiny filaments began digging into the Stray Devil's body. Tearing through skin and muscle, the filaments acted like parasites, burrowing into the victim's body. Strangled cries of both horror and pain filled the air seconds before the filaments escaped the stray's body. Cries now forever silenced, Hilda waved off the magically created filaments and watched as a pool of blood spread wider and wider from the hundreds of small holes that now decorated the stray's body.

"Guess Astaroth was right about you... Just what is this thing..." Hilda thought as her calculative eyes locked onto the short sword.


Tending to a Bonsai tree, Naruto smiled at the plant, carefully trimming its sides with clippers. Alone in the club room, the calming silence was pierced by the hum of a magic circle. A flash of light followed by Reinhard's appearance drew Naruto's attention away from the plant and onto his Knight. Acknowledging the bow with a nod, Naruto's eyes grew curious as he scanned the noticeable stain of red planted on Reinhard's cheek.

"Request for another date?" Naruto asked with his eyebrows still raised and amusement obvious in his voice.

"Yes, my Lord." Reinhard replied.

Seeing the small falter in his polite smile, Naruto released a snort. It was no surprise Reinhard's charms and likable manner attracted many females from a variety of age groups, as a Devil, contracts between Devil and human were traditional. Asking a favor with a worthy award in return, Reinhard seemed to receive a bulk of summons from females. Captivated by his charms the demand for him was high, Naruto was honestly not surprised by the dominating number of female contractors Reinhard held. That and Hilda's overwhelming number of males was not much of a surprise either.

"My Lord, about the surge of power earlier... I fear Lady Hildegarde may be in trouble..."

"Have faith in her abilities, Reinhard. I'd hate to see what Hilda would do to both of us if we interfered with her fight."

The last part of his sentence was intended to shift the conversation away from the worries both of them held. The intended effect had worked, Reinhard shared a knowing smile with Naruto as the two thought on Hilda's actions she would have taken in order to protect her pride. Though a tinge of worry pierced Naruto's heart, the young Astaroth had confidence in his Queen's ability. The Stray Devil was obviously not the cause of her tardiness, something as weak as a Stray Devil held no candle to Hilda and her abilities. Something was delaying her. Now, only if he knew what it was.

Before the conversation could continue, an all too familiar magic circle appeared. Ignoring the bright light that followed, Naruto was given quite the shock when he found himself staring at Hilda whom held an unconscious Tatsumi in her arms. Reinhard jumped right into action, helping the unconscious human out of Hilda's hands, Reinhard gently laid the young man down. While Reinhard tended to Tatsumi, Naruto went to check on Hilda. Spotting no visible wounds, the Astaroth continued to scour the woman for any possible wounds.

"Hilda, are you all right?" Naruto asked, concern obvious in his tone.

"I'm fine,you should be more worried about the human," Hilda replied, "That Sacred Gear of his knocked him out..."

"I thought you had the park secured, Lady Hildegarde. Tatsumi should not have been able to bypass the barrier..." Reinhard said.

"There was a barrier around the park. The human managed to get by it somehow," Hilda muttered, "I guess this human isn't as worthless as I had thought..."

"What do you think, Lord Naruto?"

Naruto stared at Tatsumi's unconscious figure with narrowed eyes as he turned to the two and replied, "His Sacred Gear must have helped him. From what I read, Sacred Gears remain dormant and wont manifest unless called forth directly or activated through pure will. Tatsumi must've been in real danger if his Sacred Gear activated without him knowing about it. That might be why he had been able to get past Hilda's barrier..."

Accepting his answer with a shrug, Hilda seated herself on one of the numerous couches and crossed her legs. The look of annoyance she held had not diminished to any degree. Tatsumi's interruption of her hunt was not appreciated. Not only did she have to save him, but, drag him to Kuoh was not pleasant either.

"What are we going to do with the human..."

"Since he already activated his Sacred Gear, I highly doubt the Fallen-Angels will keep away for long. With that much magical energy released when it was activated, I would think the Fallen-Angels are already scrambling to find him. It would be best if we kept him close by. I don't think the Fallen-Angels are brave enough to attack Tatsumi with us around."

Receiving no response from Hilda, Naruto turned to Reinhard for his opinion on the matter.

"Keeping Tatsumi-san safe would be best... For now."

Accepting the answer with a nod of his head, Naruto turned to the falling sun. Evening slowly turned into night as the final rays of the sun danced across the darkening sky.


Tatsumi could feel pain surrounding every inch of his body. As life every single cell that individually built him as a person were on fire. Indistinguishable pain was all he felt. He wanted to scream, yet no sound could be heard. He wanted to yell, yet not a single word could be formed. He wanted to cry, yet no tears formed in his eyes. Laying there, in the empty shadows, he simply floated there. Accompanied only by his pain, Tatsumi stared lifelessly at the never ending shadows. Tatsumi wanted to but his muscles would not listen. Unable to receive the sweet mercy of unconsciousness, he simply laid there surrounded by darkness and accompanied by immeasurable pain.

Memories of events prior to his current predicament flooded his mind. From images of his beloved friends and family to the horror he had felt when face to face with the creature. No matter where Tatsumi wished his mind would wonder, it always returned to the events prior to falling into unconsciousness. Memories of the surge of power he had felt, power that no longer flowed through his body. Power that he now desperately needed. A single word he had muttered allowed a wave of power to rise, the word was so close, yet so far.

Even in the realm of sleep, fear did not leave him. A sinister growl echoed throughout the chasm of emptiness. It resonated from every corner of the shadows, the growl was that of a beasts. Ferocious and evil, the growl alone brought an impending feeling of doom upon Tatsumi. The growl made his skin crawl, simply hearing it had ignited a flurry of fears he had thought were buried long ago. Images of harsh landscapes holding no signs of life flashed through his mind. Playing over and over again in an endless loop. Every image Tatsumi saw, a pair of gleaming red eyes could be seen. Eyes filled with insatiable hunger, yearning for blood. The eyes of a beast. The eyes of a predator - no - the eyes of a survivor.

In what one could describe as an hypnotic state Tatsumi's eyes locked onto a pair of gleaming red ones. Continuously falling deeper and deeper into a trance. Images of odd locations and people continued to poor into his mind, like an never ending flow. For what seemed like eternity, the images stopped. Left confused and bewildered by the event, a new revelation dawned upon Tatsumi. Images and memories that had assaulted his mind had given him the answer he had been searching for.

"Incursio..."

The word that had escaped him moments ago...

"Incursio..."


Issei was not been the only one left in a stupor the next morning. Left flabbergasted by the supposed dream, Tatsumi dragged his steps as he slowly approached the school. Following a steady stream of students, Tatsumi's eyes caught sight of the woman present in his dreams. Walking into the school accompanied by both Naruto and Reinhard, Hilda's mask of cool indifference drew the attention of boys and girls alike. It did not hurt that she was accompanied by other foreign-looking students either. Left staring at her, Tatsumi was brought out of his gaze when a cold glare courtesy of Hilda snapped him right out of it. Shaking off his thoughts and refocusing his weary mind, Tatsumi marched onward, ready to face another day of school.

Stealing one last glance at the woman literally from his dreams, Tatsumi followed the crowd of students inside. Struck by a nauseating sting, Tatsumi clutched his head in an attempt to massage the pain away. Taking in a few deep breaths, he managed to successfully quell the pain. The sudden spike of pain had been enough to draw his attention away from Hilda as he attempted to shift his thoughts away from the terrifying dreams. Simply pondering on it brought forth unnecessary fear. Whatever he saw in his dream had been real. Or it seemed to be. Whatever that thing was, he wished to never see it again.


"Naruto, the Fallen-Angels are growing bolder with each passing day," Sona muttered, "Have you encountered any issues on your end?"

Shaking his head, Naruto took a sip of the tea set before him, "Though they may not be giving me any trouble, I don't think they will stay quiet for long. If we don't do something about them, I can guarantee a fight will break out sooner or later."

"If we "deal" with them, imagine the political backlash. Though we may control Kuoh territory, the woods just outside of Kuoh is where they are staying. That being said, entering the Fallen-Angel territory will not help our cause. The amount of power they will hold over the 72 Pillars is too great to ignore. We mustn't be brash about this. Even if the Fallen-Angels do not hold it against us, our clans will lose face."

"Agreed, if we do anything now, our political images with get tarnished either way. But... Provoking them to attack may not be such a bad idea.. If the Fallen-Angels attack first, we can attack on self defense... Ya' know, a win win on our side."

Sona sighed at Naruto's words. Though his proposition held merit, the problem laid on how to truly provoke the Fallen-Angels. There was little to no information revolving around the activities of the Fallen-Angels, with no such information, provoking them was not going to be as easy as Naruto had worded it. Unless Naruto knew, which Sona doubted, then they could only bluff to draw out the Fallen-Angels..

"How are we going to draw them out, Naruto? We don't even know why they are in Kuoh."

"Leave that to me, Sona-chan!"

Waving his hand, Naruto gave Sona one last smile before he vanished in a magic circle. Sighing once again, Sona massaged her temples in an futile attempt to stop the growing headache. Though Naruto's plans had successful outcomes most the time, Sona was worried about his execution of the plan. Naruto's unorthodox methods had even drew praise from her elder sister, and that was saying something. The same older sister that dressed as a magic girl and came up with some of the most out of the world plans known in Devil history. Just thinking about the actions of her elder sister, Serafall, made Sona shudder.


In a world led by advancements in science and technology, Tatsumi had brushed off mythologies and any stories associated with such out of the world claims as nothing but a false claim. Mumbo jumbo if you would. Regrettably, it seemed science was unable to prepare him for this. Having suffered a great deal of mental stress from his tiring dreams, Tatsumi had steeled his mind and decided to confront Hilda about the dream. While he had snippets of doubt plaguing both his mind and heart, Tatsumi resisted the urge to abandon the confrontation and gone through with it. The outcome was surprising to say the least. Given a second invitation to the Gardening Club, Tatsumi had relented once again. As a way to speak to Hilda about the dreams - in which she was apart of - plaguing him for the past few nights. He had expected another invitation to join the small numbers, yet it had never came. Instead, Tatsumi was given information he would have blown off as fake and utterly insane. If it had not matched his dreams he had been experiencing.

"Let me get this straight... You guys... Are Devils..." Tatsumi said pointing a finger at Naruto and the other members of the Gardening Club whom all gave him conformation in their own way, "Do you know how insa-"

Leathery wings sprouting from the backs of all three Devils, effectively silencing the young man once again. Mouth left agape, Tatsumi shook away his shock and approached the closest Devil for further inspection of the wings. Crouching down for a different angle, Tatsumi's wonder had prevented him from seeing the danger he had placed himself in. Giving Hilda's wing a sharp tug, he ran his fingers on the leathery texture with a hand rested upon his chin. Seconds after his close inspection, Hilda had sent a pummeling fist at Tatsumi and sent the poor boy flying into a wall. Permanently engraved onto the stone surface, Tatsumi groaned in pain as he collapsed onto the ground.

"Do that again..." Hilda muttered as her green eyes took on a feral gleam, "I'll kill you..."

Not trusting himself to respond, Tatsumi only groaned as Reinhard helped the human onto his feet.

"Ya' believe us now?" Naruto asked attempting to quell the amused grin he had plastered onto his face.

Nodding his head, Tatsumi groaned again. Reinhard took pity on the poor boy and went to retrieve a potion. Though the potion was not enough to heal an individual in combat situations, healing a human from minor wounds was more than enough. Outclassed by Phoenix Tears, the small healing potions were only good for training and healing minor wounds, nothing serious. Tatsumi seemed to have been given the full effects as his eyes widened in surprise, testing a once sore arm, his eyes only widened further when he received no pain from the movements.

"How- That- But, my arm... It-"

"C'mon Tatsumi. If Devils are real, magic has to be real too ya' know... How else do you think we take human souls?"

The last comment caught Tatsumi's attention as he nervously dropped the flask Reinhard had given him and scooted backwards ever so slightly. His actions only brought amusement from the gathered Devils, Naruto released a small chuckle and Hilda snorted. Reinhard had able to hold his composure but a tiny twitch on his lips had signified his amusement.

"Jokes aside, Tatsumi, you are in danger. A group of Fallen-Angels are after a certain power you possess inside of you."

"Wait... So you mean my dreams are real!" Tatsumi said with a smile of relief.

That smile only lasted for a few seconds before realization came crashing down. Plopping onto a couch in defeat, Tatsumi groaned.

Why did things like this always happen to him?

Chapter end

Hope you enjoyed and sorry if it is a bit slow. Anyways, I got some questions and I will do my best to answer them. So, before I do that let me explain a few things. Tatsumi's Sacred Gear is Incursio. It is an anomaly in the Sacred Gear system and it should not exist. That is all I am saying about it until further chapters. Oh, one more thing. I am deciding on what piece Tatsumi should be. I mean he would be a great pawn but how many pieces is the question.

Anyways, I am open to all suggestions and will read every review. So, about the small argument about a full peerage or not, I am okay if you post full peerages. I receive more options that way, so there really is no issue. As for the way I am making Peerages, I decide based on the character's overall stats and strength for the future. So, the number of Peerage members is not set in stone.

Still open for suggestions for Peerage/Harem members. Shalltear will appear sooner or later. Any more suggestions just leave it in a review.

King: Naruto Astaroth (Uzumaki)

Queen: Hildegarde (Beelzebub)

Knight: Reinhard van Astrea (Re: Zero)

Rook x2: ?

Bishop x2: ?

Pawn x8: ?