Author's note: this is now the first priority out of all the fics I'm writing. I'm super happy a bunch of you enjoyed the first chapter. I hope you'll continue to read the story and enjoy it. I'll try to do my best to make it a good one. And of course, I do hope you'll continue to leave reviews. It lights up my day to see 'em, and it's always super cool to find out what readers think of my stories.

"... still alive. There's still time."

"You can't do this! It goes against the rules-"

"Not if I invoke the Law of Sworn Bonds."

"Haruno sama! You cannot! The Mistress will not accept it. She's already furious, but there's still time. The Hayama heir is still waiting. If you hurry…"

"It will never happen. There is only one man I will swear myself to, and he is right here."

"Haruno sama!"

"Will all of you go against the Laws set down by our ancestors? The Law of Sworn Bonds is sacred. Deny it to me, and wrath will fall upon you all."

"I… do what you must."

Hachiman's consciousness began to slip again, and the voices he could faintly hear faded away once more. He could feel himself being lifted up and carried forward. There was the unmistakable feeling that he was being held with the greatest possible care: the arms holding him were slender and soft despite being firm and strong, and they were holding him tightly. Yet, despite this, every step forward jolted him, sending a spasm of discomfort through his body.

"Hold on just a little longer," said the same voice as before. A woman's voice. It sounded familiar, though he couldn't quite remember when he had first heard it. Trying to do so hurt his head, so he contented himself with doing as she said. It was hard to stay conscious, but he did his best to do so. Grunting, he managed to crack his eyes open a little. Immediately, he was assaulted by blinding light. The pain in his abdomen seemed to grow fivefold, and he nearly cried out in agony.

There was a loud sound from somewhere next to him; a door being kicked open. The next moment, he found himself in a darker room, being laid down upon some surface. The touch of the arms holding him disappeared, and he stared up at the ceiling. It was impossible to tell where he was. Details were blurry: the haze of pain he was in prevented him from thinking or focusing properly.

A moment later, he heard the familiar voice again, from right next to him. Somehow managing to turn his head, he saw its owner. It may have been the state he was in, but she looked like an angel, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, or ever would. Brown eyes stared into his own, glittering slightly.

"You still want to live, don't you?" she asked.

He nodded.

"If you choose to go ahead with this, you'll no longer be human. You will say farewell to your old life, to everyone you knew. Friends, family, loved ones, you'll never see them again. If you do, they won't remember you."

Forget everyone he knew… say goodbye to his old life…

His old life hadn't really been anything special. Looking back, he could remember more painful memories than happy ones. Saying goodbye to something like that didn't sound so bad. In the midst of his life flashing before his eyes, he paused for a second, one face shining through clearer than all the others.

Ah, Komachi.

Croaking the words out with painful effort, he managed to speak.

"You say… they won't remember me. But will I be able to remember them?"

For a brief moment, he thought he saw those wondrous eyes widen.

"... Yes."

"Then there's no problem."

"There is… one other thing."

For the first time since he had first heard it, the woman's voice showed a hint of uncertainty. She was hesitant, almost as though nervous, afraid of something.

"In order to do this, we have to form a pact. A Sworn Oath, resulting in a bond. I know it sounds hard to believe, but we'll be tied together, you and I. You'll be stuck with me your entire life."

Hachiman was half-certain that he was delirious and dreaming. There wasn't any other explanation for why the most drop-dead gorgeous woman he had ever encountered would up and offer some kind of pact that would bind them together for their whole lives. If he didn't know any better, he'd say this was the closest to a househusband gig he'd ever get.

Typical. I must be dreaming.

That was the only way this could be happening. He was probably already dead.

But… on the off-chance that he wasn't, he decided to answer honestly, though he couldn't resist a quip.

"You only needed to lead with that. Where do I sign up?"

The woman's eyes widened for a second time, practically glowing. He found himself transfixed, unable to look away.

"You don't have to sign anything…" she muttered.

"Huh. Then wha-"

Before he could finish what he was saying, she leaned close, and a pair of lips pressed against his.

He had just enough time to register a soft, slightly wet sensation, along with a sweet taste, before the contact broke. His mouth still open, a glass vial was put against it, and before he knew it, its contents were being poured into him. In direct contrast to the pleasure of mere seconds ago, his throat felt on fire as the liquid ran through it. He jerked upwards, immediately trying to roll over and throw up, but she held him down.

"Don't throw up! No matter what you do, drink all of it. Swallow it and keep it down! It'll burn, but this is your only shot!"

With one hand, she continued to pour the contents of the vial into his mouth, emptying it completely. Hachiman forced himself to swallow it all. He still wasn't sure what was going on, but right now, he knew his only chance of surviving was to trust her. As the liquid reached his stomach, he felt a searing pain surge through his body, as though flames were crawling through every artery and vein. He began to spasm violently, even as the pain spread to every last part of him. Every single cell was on fire.

Unable to take the pain any longer, he desperately receded into himself, allowing his consciousness to finally slip into the void.

As blackness engulfed him, he heard another voice, somewhere inside.

"A halfway worthy vessel… how long has it been? No matter. I'll be sure to make this fun."

Chapter 2: Rebirth

Hachiman sat up, breathing heavily. Immediately, he looked down at his own stomach, pulling his shirt up to get a look at the bare skin underneath. It was whole and unmarked, like it had been before, not a single trace of having been skewered. Belatedly, he realised that being run through like that would likely mean his spine would have been severed too, making it impossible for him to sit up in the first place, if he was still alive somehow to begin with.

Alive… did I really survive something like that? Or was it all just some kind of nightmare?

It couldn't have been. He remembered the pain too well. There was no way that hadn't been real.

But if that's the case, then how am I still alive?

He looked around at the room he was in, which didn't look like a hospital ward at all. Instead, it was a generic bedroom. There was a wardrobe, a desk and some empty bookshelves, a closed cabinet, and air conditioning (turned off). The bed he was on was quite comfortable too. In the air, there was the peculiar smell of an unused room. Similar to a clean hotel room, or a vacant apartment. Rather than a smell, it might be better to call it an absence of smell. This was a room that hadn't been inhabited in a while. He also had the weird feeling that this smell, or lack thereof, was more pronounced than usual. Come to think of it, aren't all the colours unusually vivid too? It was as if he was seeing everything in more detail than he was used to.

Perhaps it was an effect of waking up after an ordeal like the one he had went through.

For the moment, he decided to put it out of his mind.

Getting off the bed, he made his way over to the door. He still had no idea where he was. Finding out might be a good place to start. As he began to walk over to it, it opened, and several men entered the room. Each of them was clad in a simple black suit, which seemed to be a uniform.

"You're awake," one of them noted. The man did his best to keep his face and voice neutral, but he couldn't entirely hide a note of surprise.

"Where am I?" asked Hachiman.

"You are in no position to ask questions," said another man. This one had short brown hair that had been cropped short in a crew cut. He glared at Hachiman, fists clenched at his side. He was obviously the short-tempered type, and moreover, seemed to have a problem with Hachiman specifically, for some reason.

"You'll come with us," he said, taking a step forward, and making to grab his arm.

His obvious hostility rubbed Hachiman the wrong way. He had never been the confrontational type, mostly terrified of getting into arguments, let alone fights. Yet, somehow, he found himself standing his ground. Perhaps it was the fact that he had almost died once, but he didn't feel the fear flooding him, making him freeze up like before.

He knocked the man's hand aside as it came towards him.

Surprised, the suited individual reacted instinctively, reaching out to restrain him, this time with both hands. As they shot out towards his shoulders, somehow, Hachiman knew what to do.

[Yakuza Kiwami 2 OST: Bad Fortune Flower]

Moving his hands outwards in a circle, he knocked both of the man's arms away before shooting his own forward, taking a step in front as he did so, and firmly planting his feet. Both palms struck the man's body, and he was sent stumbling roughly, staggering back several feet before he managed to regain his balance.

Hachiman stared at his own hands in awe.

"What the hell…"

"Why, you fucking brat…"

The man charged in, this time with both hands up in a guarded stance. As he entered range, he struck out with a front kick. Once more, Hachiman's body moved on its own, knowing what to do. One hand grabbed the leg coming towards him, before he stepped forward and swept the other, causing the man to land flat on his back on the floor. Sensing that he would get back up and attack once more, Hachiman followed up by driving his own foot forward, right between the man's legs.

By this time, the rest of the group had seen enough, and surrounded the youth, attacking all at once.

Like a snake, Hachiman's body shot to the ground, lying flat on it, even as he spun 360 degrees, whipping his leg as he did so, sweeping all of them at once.

Being experienced combatants who now knew he wasn't to be taken lightly, they all saw the move coming, and leapt to avoid it. However, Hachiman wasn't done. Somehow, he had known they would dodge the first strike. So, he had begun a follow-up before they had even finished reacting.

Remaining on the ground, he kept the momentum from the spin as he turned the low kick into a series of high-roundhouses, all of them delivered while balancing on his hands.

His legs crashed into the attackers, swatting them out of the air, sending them flying.

Completing the spin, Hachiman flipped up to his feet, landing with smooth balance and control, one hand up in front of him in a fighting stance.

It was only after he had just done all that that he realised just what had happened.

Holy fucking shit.

"How the hell did I do that?"

He looked at his own hands and arms. He didn't look any different than before. But now that he was paying attention, he didn't feel the same as he once did. His body felt light, responsive. He could feel every muscle in it. It was as if he could control every individual fibre at will. Pulling off a handstand had felt as easy as lifting a feather, and he had barely felt the weight of those men's bodies when he had kicked them. They seemed to move in slow motion to him. His senses were sharper, and he was able to pick out their tiniest movements, somehow able to figure out what they were about to do next from them. His own body seemed to know exactly how to move, performing moves that he had only seen before in anime, as easily as breathing.

Something's changed.

On the ground several feet away, one of the suited men sat up, clutching his stomach. He brought one hand to a small headpiece he was wearing.

"Unit 1 to Control! Target is stronger than we expected, he's dangerous! Send back up, and use full force, restrain him by any means necessary!"

Uh oh.

Hachiman knew exactly what that meant. Without wasting another moment, he dashed out the door.

As he sprinted down the corridor outside, he could hear footsteps coming around the corner, further down. He slowed down slightly, and as the turning point arrived, leapt upwards. 18 year old high schooler Hikigaya Hachiman knew that it was impossible for humans to climb smooth, flat walls, let alone cling to smooth, flat ceilings. Which is why, he experienced the strangest sensation, as reality clashed with his conceptions of what was possible and impossible. His fingers drove into the concrete, piercing through it though it were made of foam. One hand digging into the ceiling, he clung to it, flat against it, even as the men below turned the corner. As they were right below him, about to run past, he released his grip, and descended.

In the fractions of a second he had, Hachiman needed to make a decision. He had heard the communication earlier. The men were instructed to take him in, using "any means necessary". Did that include killing him? His instincts told him that from his current position, it was possible to break their necks before he hit the ground.

No.

Consciously overriding that first instinct, he once more found that his body knew the next best alternative.

Outputting precisely the right amount of power, he struck the sides of their necks. As he landed smoothly, the men around him toppled, unconscious. The weapons they had been carrying clattered to the ground. Kneeling down, he picked one of them up.

A splitstaff? Wait, how do I know what this is?

He shook his head. There was no time to question his decision. There was one other tool he gathered from one of the unconscious men: a bracelet that he quickly put on. Somehow, he knew that it had a certain very valuable built-in tool.

They're using weapons… but all of the weapons here are non-lethal.

Had they been instructed to not kill him?

It occurred to him that staves and nun chaku could be fatal too, depending on how they were used.

No. I can't just assume things. I need to get out of here.

Holding the splitstaff to his side, he set off at a sprint again.

The corridors rushed by. He didn't know the layout of the building. Had there been any windows in sight, he could have escaped by now, but they were missing. So, he continued to run. There was no time to try every door. He would simply have to trust his instincts. As he turned another corner, he saw a large pair of ornate wooden doors.

Speeding up, he launched himself forward, thrusting his leg out. Like a bolt from a ballista, he crashed clean through the wood. The splinters around him seemed to be falling in slow motion, even as he realised he had launched himself off a ledge. The floor was twenty feet below him. Adjusting his orientation in mid-air, he landed gracefully on the marble surface in a crouch. Rising to his full height, he looked around. The place looked like a fairly fancy hall, the kind one might find in a lavish private manor. Built in the western style, it was circular, and overlooked by a balcony through, supported by pillars. All around the hall were doors, but the one right across the floor from Hachiman was the largest of them. One by one, they all opened up, and more men in suits swarmed in, all of them armed. He noticed that many of them were carrying bladed weapons.

Heh. So much for not trying to kill me.

The largest of the doors finally opened, and a figure emerged from it.

Hachiman felt a bead of sweat roll down his face.

Hey. Isn't this guy… a little too big?

He vividly recalled the green monstrosity that had stabbed him, but the figure walking across the hall towards him right now was bigger even than that creature had been. It was armoured from head to foot in the style of traditional samurai. Standing close to twenty feet tall, he was the combined size of all the suited men put together. Each step he took caused the ground to shake, armoured boot sounding like a sledge hammer as it struck the floor. In one hand, he held a massive sword, far longer and heavier than a katana. Once again, Hachiman's newfound knowledge told him this was an Odachi, or greatsword.

He looked at the splitstaff he was holding. Fortunately, it was made of metal.

"Well, it's not like I have a choice."

He spread his feet wider, getting into stance.

"I guess you're the first boss. Well, let's do this."

Elsewhere in the same manor, the elder daughter of the Yukinoshita family was currently in the midst of a heated discussion with none other than her own mother.

Yukinoshita Yukiko was held by most to be the head of the clan. While officially, that title was held by her husband, he preferred to focus on the battlefield, leaving most of the day-to-day running of the Yukinoshitas' various businesses and the clan itself to her. As such, she wielded considerable authority, and was feared by members and outsiders alike. In appearance, she bore the image of the ideal woman, and preferred to dress formally in a kimono, with her hair tied back. In all situations, she maintained an aura of perfect composure, never losing her cool. However, on this occasion, even she couldn't maintain her facade of calm control.

"Absolutely disgraceful! You left Hayato kun waiting in the penthouse for five hours. Five hours! Poor Yukino had to keep him company."

"Well, there you go," said Haruno cheerfully. "In that time, I'm sure Yukino chan won him over. You got what wanted then, didn't you?"

"Haruno!"

There was a warning in her tone. Haruno had been joking, but she didn't miss it.

"This arrangement has been decided decades ago. Your father and I went to a great deal of effort to make it happen. The future of both clans depends on it."

"Does it really? I'm only 21, you know. Hayama Hayato is younger still, only 18. I very much doubt either one of us possesses any special skill or power our elders don't. Given that fact, I don't see how we're supposed to save the clans."

"You know quite well that there is more to the survival of a clan than warfare. The number of descendants carrying the Vessel Gene has been falling steadily for generations now."

"All the more reason to find others who possess it, and bring them into the clans," countered Haruno.

Yukiko slammed her fist against the wall.

"I will not accept the boy you brought home last night! You seem to be quite taken with your new toy-"

"He saved my life," said Haruno, cutting her off, voice colder than ice. She faced her mother head on, meeting her gaze without flinching. "He is not a toy. He is a good man, and will grow to be even better, when given the chance."

"That was not up to you to decide! You gave him the Gift of the Demon, without our permission!"

"Every clan member has the right to choose one outsider to present the Gift of the Demon to, so long as they are prepared to accept responsibility for them. That is the Law of Sworn Bonds. Will you go against it?"

Yukiko clenched her teeth, but dared not answer in the affirmative.

"... He will not survive anyway. Less than a fraction of one percent of the world's population has the ability to accept the cells, and transform."

At that precise moment, they were interrupted by the sound of an alarm. Less than a second later, a voice spoke through the speakers in the room.

"The Target has escaped his holding room! He is proceeding through the mansion. We are attempting to capture him as we speak."

Haruno turned to her mother, a smirk on her face.

"About that…"

Yukiko brought a hand to her temple.

"We find him. Now!"

Without a word, the two women set off, their speed immediately causing them to disappear from sight.

Haruno closed her eyes briefly, reaching out with her innate sense for bio-energetic fields.

Right away, she felt it.

His Ki was burning brightly, a bonfire in the midst of so many candlelights.

She quickened her pace.

She had also sensed another Ki, close to him.

He's up against the Sentinel, huh? Not the easiest opponent. But if it's him…

The two women arrived in the hall just in time to see the two men face off.

On one side, the towering, armoured behemoth.

On the other, the man Haruno wanted to see.

Her eyes lit up the moment they landed on him.

Found you.

Hikigaya Hachiman looked alive and well. Not only had he fully recovered from his injuries, his Ki was incomparable to what it had been last night. Next to her, Haruno heard her mother click her tongue in annoyance. Yet, she could not deny the truth that was in front of her: he had survived ingesting the Demon's cells, and thus, made the transformation from human to what lay beyond.

As Haruno looked on, the two dashed towards each other.

Belying his tremendous size, the armoured Sentinel moved with frightening speed, enormous blade screaming through the air. Hachiman's eyes did not lose sight of it. Ducking, he avoided the swing, even as he bashed the splitstaff against the side of the samurai's knee, where the armour wouldn't protect it. The warrior's leg buckled slightly, and Hachiman followed up with a thrust to his face.

The blow did not connect, however. Despite having taken a hit, the Sentinel did not drop his guard, parrying aside the staff easily. Thrown off balance by the redirection of force, Hachiman was left open as the gigantic opponent countered with another swing. The teen was barely able to lean backwards, arching to avoid it. Knowing a second swing was coming, he flipped away preemptively. The move saved him from a vicious downwards slash that cracked the marble floor, sending a hairline fracture across the entire hall.

Hachiman found that whatever instincts automatically told him his opponent's next move, along with how to counter it, were having a harder time reading the movements of the behemoth. Rather than knowing beforehand, he was having to observe and react as they fought.

Hmph. There's more than one way to use this weapon.

His fingers found the pressure sensitive spots on the staff, and tightened their grip. In response, the weapon extended and split apart, true to its name. Instead of a single staff, it was now a three-sectioned one, each connected by a metal wire.

Up above, Haruno frowned. Next to her, Yukiko shook her head.

"A mere child. He lacks judgement in battle."

Haruno wanted to argue back, but held her tongue.

The Demon's cells were incredibly powerful. The Gift of the Demon, as it was called, was a concoction that combined them with a special compound to create a substance that when ingested, triggered the Demon's cells to integrate themselves with the host's body. For centuries, this was how the Yukinoshita Clan had created superhumans to fill the ranks of their ninja army. In order to fight otherworldly terrors, ordinary warriors would not suffice. Thus, long ago, the Yukinoshita Clan had come into possession of the cells of a certain being from the Realm of Darkness. This they had used to create the compound that transformed humans into more.

The number of humans capable of accepting the Demon's cells were extremely limited.

There had been a high chance that Hachiman wouldn't be one of them, that making him drink the Gift would have killed him. But he had been dying anyway, and this had been the only way to save him. Thus, Haruno had taken it.

Superhuman strength, speed, agility, reactions, senses, motor control, an increase in the body's Ki generation capabilities, along with instinctive knowledge of martial arts and several other disciplines.

All of these were imparted by the Gift, should an individual be capable of accepting it.

However, no two people who partook of the Gift got the same results.

The actual power gained from ingesting the cells varied widely, and it was believed that the cause for this variance was the vessel itself.

Seeing Hachiman in action, having felt his Ki, Haruno knew right away that the amount of power he had received from the Gift was far greater than usual. Despite not knowing any of the advanced techniques, or how to consciously manipulate his Ki, he was fighting nearly evenly with the Sentinel, who himself was several times as strong as the average Yukinoshita clan ninja. The Sentinel also did not hold back in battle, meaning right now, an untrained Hachiman was holding his own with a bloodthirsty warrior that had decades of experience on him.

He can win. I know it.

As she looked on, he attempted to use the splitstaff's range to attack while staying away from the Sentinel's sword. However, the strategy was ineffective. Given the armour covering most of his body, any hits that managed to land did minimal damage. Worse yet, a single bad attack would leave him open. And so it happened, the Sentinel managed to counter one of his swings, his sword cutting through the splitstaff's wire, causing it to lose one of its sections.

Taken by surprise, Hachiman wasn't prepared for the sudden charge from his opponent. The Sentinel's shoulder slammed into him, sending him flying and colliding with a pillar backfirst, cracking the stone.

"Haah!"

He dropped to the ground, coughing. The hit had knocked the wind out of him.

That big guy… is pretty strong. Can I really beat him like this?

"Hachiman!"

A voice so very familiar to him called out.

Looking up, he saw her.

The same woman he remembered from the incident. The one who had killed the monster, and later on, the one he'd been trying to save when he got stabbed. All of a sudden, all the pieces fell into place, and he remembered everything.

That's right. She said she'd save me. And she did. That's why I'm alive.

"You'll no longer be human… but we'll be tied together, you and I. You'll be stuck with me your entire life."

His heart sped up, even as he felt some heat on his face.

So it really wasn't a dream. I'm relieved.

He didn't know why, but for some reason, he was glad that he really had met her.

"Hachiman, the power inside you… you've already seen what it can do, haven't you?"

He nodded.

"Then trust it. Believe in it. Follow your instincts. You have everything you need to win."

She could have gone down and taken the Sentinel out herself. But in the long run, that wouldn't help.

He needed to train, needed to learn, but that came later.

Right now, what he needed was to bring out what he already had within.

Metal Gear Rising OST: Rules of Nature

The Demon was said to be the strongest being in any of the living realms. Even with just a few of his cells, the amount of power one could gain…

Throwing away the splitstaff, Hachiman closed his eyes for a second.

I can do this.

Everything I need… is already within me.

Opening his eyes once more, he let go of his fear and inhibitions, fully embracing the strange instincts he now possessed. An eerie feeling filled his body, and he crouched slightly. Electricity coursed through him. He felt strong.

The opponent's got armour.

But armour doesn't win fights. Fighters do.

Hands up high in a fistfighter's stance, Hachiman dashed in.

"Western boxing?" said Yukiko. "He'll never beat the Sentinel with th-"

WHAM

The words died in her mouth as the first punch collided with the samurai's breastplate. An impact like a hammer on anvil rang out through the hall. The force behind the hit was enough that both Yukinoshita women felt a wave crash into them even from where they stood.

Groaning, the Sentinel countered with a backhanded swing, but Hachiman ducked under it and went in, this time striking with a right handed body blow, leaping up to smash the behemoth's solar plexus.

The metal bent inwards from the punch.

The Sentinel stumbled backwards, clutching his chest, unable to breathe.

Yukiko's eyes widened.

"This brat… how does he have this much strength with no Ki control?"

Haruno smiled.

"He's the man I chose. You didn't think he was going to be ordinary, did you?"

Charged up with confidence, Hachiman pressed the assault, charging in again.

In desperation, the Sentinel gripped his sword with both hands, swinging downwards with all the force he could muster.

But Hachiman saw it coming.

Timing it precisely, he coiled himself, crouching low, and pushing off the ground at the exact moment.

As the Sentinel swung, Hachiman shot himself upward, avoiding the path of the blade by centimeters. The weight of the massive samurai's own body, his own momentum drove him forward, even as Hachiman shot towards him.

The counter-hit palm strike connected cleanly with the right timing, and all of Hachiman's Demonic strength behind it.

The result?

All 10 tons of the Sentinel's mass, armour and all, was launched backwards, clean off the ground.

Sailing through the air, he crashed into the very doors he had entered through, breaking them as he landed, unconscious. The odachi dropped to the ground from his hand.

I did it!

With more excitement than he had felt in years, he looked up, finding Haruno, eyes meeting hers.

"I did it!"

Haruno's own heart skipped a beat at the sight of Hachiman's usual stoic eyes alight. She had already known, but she was now more sure than ever.

Leaping off the balcony, she landed next to him, and looked up at her mother, and then at the other clan members gathered all around.

"I brought Hikigaya Hachiman into this clan, and gave him the Gift of the Demon. In order to do this, I invoked the Law of Sworn Bonds. He is now my responsibility. He will train with us, so that he may join our ranks, and become shinobi. Let any who object step forward now."

She looked her mother in the eye, daring her to refuse.

Haruno would have kept Hachiman by her side anyway. The fact that he was unquestionably strong, and somehow able to draw on more of the Demon's power than any new recruit was icing on the cake. There was no way her mother would object now.

Yukiko was seething, but she could not allow her anger to show in front of her subordinates.

Fixing the young pair with one last cold glance, she walked away without a word.

As for Hachiman, though he had taken note of the Yukinoshita matriarch, his eyes were elsewhere.

Never once in his life had anyone believed in him before, except Komachi.

Yet, Yukinoshita Haruno had done so. And he wouldn't forget that.