CHAPTER 2: First Steps

Getting some new clothes wasn't all that hard. Well except for the fact that Akira had to wait until the next day for the stores to open since apparently, when he pulled himself out of the river it was already past 11 P.M. and all the stores had closed. So he had to hide himself in an alley and sleep on an abandoned mattress, that somebody left there. Oh, well. At least it was better than sleeping on the concrete, like he did almost every day, in all those 20 years of war.

The next day, after buying some clothes (and embarrasing the owner of the shop by entering the store naked) and having breakfast at a local bar, Akira decided to take a walk, to see if the city that he once called home was still the same as before the war. He now wore a black shirt without sleeves, black pants and black shoes.

To his surprise, while exploring the city, he noticed that there were many buildings, stores and restaurants that he didn't recall having seen before. He also noticed that the cars also looked completely different, now sporting a more angular design, having much smaller grills at the front as opposed to the often rectangular cars he saw back in the day. Lastly, he noticed that the people around him wore completely different styles of clothing: gone were the wide pants, the overly elaborated shirts, the wide gowns and dresses that women wore and the elegant, tight shoes that men wore in the 70s. Now people wore casual attires of shirts, jeans, jackets, mostly of a single colour, many people, including women wore sneakers. Women now dressed much like men, and even wore hats of all shapes and sizes, and were't afraid of even wearing ripped jeans much like men. Heck he also saw a lot of women in business suits, a rarity for his time.

"Just how much time has passed?" wondered Akira. Then he found himself in the Shibuya Square, a place were he and Miki would often go shopping. As he was recalling the good memories of the time that he spent with Miki, he saw two young girls in school uniform which were returning from school, happily chatting together. A slight smile formed on Akira's face as he also recalled all the memories from when he and Miki would walk together after school accompanying each other at h-

"Wait, was that a tail?" thought Akira, his smile replaced by a look of surprise. He rubbed his eyes with his hands, just to make sure. He swored to have seen that one of the two girls had a fluffy tail, not unlike that of a fox, coming off, right under her skirt. Could that girl be what he thinks it is?

"Nah, i'm probably imagining things." The demons had been completely extinguished in the war. Surely they coudn't be present in this world as well, right?

He was so absorbed in thought that he didn't even notice two people walking towards him. The result was inevitable: he slammed straight into one of them causing both of them to fall butt first into the ground.

"Hey! Watch were you're going!" came a brash, masculine and definitely annoyed voice.

"Excuse me?! I could say the same to y-" Before Akira could finish, he took a good look at the person he collided into. It was a young man, presumably still about to turn into his twenties with an athletic build that wore a red t-shirt with yellow outlines and a yellow A on his chest, blue jeans and sneakers. He had messy brown hair combed backwards and brown eyes with an outline on the bottom.

Said young man also took a look at Akira. He quickly noticed his, black hair, combed forward, his sideburns and his black eyes. He also noticed that he had a very athletic, muscular build and black markings from under his eyes, similar to his own. Honestly he was kinda surprised at just how much he resembled him, especially his hairstyle, one that he had before.

Both of them kept staring at each other for a couple of minutes before a cute, feminine and soft voice spoke up "Are you alright, Takeshi?"

Distracted from his thoughts, Akira's eyes turned on the owner of that voice. It was a beautiful young girl, presumably no older than 17 (or at least he assumed), that wore a simple light blue shirt without sleeves with a purple butterfly painted in the center, dark blue jeans, a pair of white shoes and a blue hat. She had short, almost purple hair that reached just before her chin and, oddly enough, yellow eyes that had a slit pupil, not unlike those of a cat.

"Don't worry Takae, i'm fine." replied the young man, now identified as Takeshi as he took her hand and came back up on his feet. Akira was perplexed. There was something about these two, that just didn't seem right, especially the yellow, cat-like eyes of the girl. He had a feeling that both of them were not completely human.

He put his thougths away as he saw the young man, now known as Takeshi extend his hand to him and say "Sorry about that. I kinda got carried away." his voice now calm again.

Akira then took his hand, brought himself back up and replied in an apologetic tone "It's alright. If anything, i should be the one to apologize for walking straight into you."

"Don't worry about that. He usually does that. Right, Takeshi?"spoke the young girl as she turned towards Takeshi with a hint of tease in her voice.

"I guess you could say that." replied Takeshi with a fake, embarrassed smile, while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head with a hand.

"Anyway, i'm Takae, and this is my boyfriend Takeshi." spoke the girl, turning towards Akira and pointing at her boyfriend. "Nice to meet you! she continued, while putting her hands behind her back, closing her eyes and giving Akira a smile. Said smile unnerved Akira, though. He could clearly see canines by far longer and sharper than any human would have among her teeth, further implying that she wasn't human.

Nonetheless, Akira returned the smile and introduced himself "Nice to meet you too. My name is Akira. Akira Fudo."

As soon as the last world left Akira's mouth, Takae and Takeshi both gasped in shock, and a look of pure bewilderment formed in their faces.

"DID YOU JUST SAY FUDO?!" exclaimed both of them at the same time, making Akira feel uncomfortable.

"D- Did i say something wrong?" responded Akira, with wide eyes and a nervous smile. Normally he would have asked why two people that he had never met up until that point knew his surname. But then again since nobody survived the war, and the fact that Akira had probably ended up in a different world or universe meant that there was no way that these two knew who he was.

Or was it?

What seemed like an eternity, passed, before Akira asked "Well?"

After which, after exchanging a look with Takeshi, Takae regained her smile and spoke up "Oh, nothing! It's just that….. it's not a surname that you hear that often!"

"Yeah, i don't think i've ever met someone who has it" added Takeshi, with an obvious fake smile, while rubbing the back of his head once more. Akira sweat-dropped at such a display. "Bunch of weirdos" He thougth.

Then Takeshi took a look at his wristwatch. It was almost 1:00 P.M . "Well it seems it's about lunch time. Sorry, Akira, but i'm afraid that we'll have to go find a good place to eat."

Then Takae chimed in "I have an idea. How about TsuruTonTan? They make some really awesome ramen there!" proposed Takae at Takeshi, who smiled at her and replied "Sure."

"Then i guess i'll just take my leave." Said Akira as he started to walk away from the couple.

"Wait, Akira! Would you like to join us for lunch?" asked Takae, curious to know more about him.

"Thanks for the offer, but maybe another time. I've got some business to attend to." replied Akira.

"Oh, i see. Well, see you around then. I do hope we meet again someday." said Takae, a little bummed out. But then again, who was she to force someone who they had just met to have lunch with them?

"Till next time then, Akira. Take care." Said Takeshi.

"Same goes for the both of you. See ya!" and with a wave of his hand and a wink, he left, hands in his pockets.

The couple watched as Akira slowly dissapeared among the crowd, then they resumed their walk. After a few minutes of silence Takeshi spoke up, with a serious tone "Takae."

"Yes?" she asked his boyfriend who replied "You felt it too, didn't you?"

"Yes, Tak. That guy…. He's one of us right?" answered Takae to her boyfriend with an equally serious voice.

"I don't know. He definitely didn't smell like a human, yet…. There was something about him that i felt, something very strange….. as if…. As if there was another personality, suppressed, hidden in his mind." replied Takeshi dead-serious.

"And did you also hear his surname, Fudo? Could it be that…. he's related to her?" said Takae her eyes widening at the possibility.

"It definetely woudn't surprise me if it would turn out that way" replied Takeshi.

"Should we tell Miss Fudo about this?" asked Takae.

"I don't think we should. Poor lady's already been through so much. Besides, i got a feeling that this won't be the last we'll see of him." concluded the young man before he set off with his girlfriend.