(A New Canon has appeared. Let us see where the tunes of fate decide to take us now...)
Bold = English Conversations
Bold + Italics =Japanese Conversations
Canon 26
The first few steps Sora took while he was leaping around the pipes were a bit rough, metal clanging with each step he took. He had to be careful not to accidentally step on a piece of rusty metal for fear of accidentally breaking it on his footing. He had been diligently searching for the girl of mystery, Rachel Alucard for a few hours now, almost approaching noon at this rate and he still had nothing to show for it.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration in his current situation, he knew that he needed to act fast because had to meet back up with Makoto as soon as possible. The longer he spends away from her, the more he feels something bad is going to happen to her. 'If I can't find her by the afternoon, I best just head back to Makoto.' Sora thought as he was only doing this with the hopes of getting answers and even then he knew there was a possibility that he would just get more questions instead of answers.
Even so, he knew he must do it. Better to have at least tried rather than stand around doing nothing while awkwardly dealing with the silence he would have had with Noel staring at him before asking if they really knew each other. As much as he would want to spend time with the others… this is probably the better use of his current time in Kagutsuchi before he returned to Otsu to decide where he would go from there.
As his mind was thinking this, he briefly did not focus on where his footing was and felt the steel slowly bend on where he was standing. It was at that brief moment that he immediately regained focus as he quickly pulled out the Rev Blade and stabbed it on the brick wall immediately. As soon as he did so, the pipe that his feet had touched broke on him, leaving him dangling briefly before tossing himself onto the building's fire escape.
"God dammit Sora. Focus already..." Sora said, slapping himself in the face before deciding to climb up the fire escape to get to the roof. Even if he could just continue running up the pipelines, he would put himself in a better tactical advantage by making sure he can have a solid platform to try and scout out Rachel Alucard. As he continued to make his way up, he couldn't help but exercise some caution at the situation presented in front of him.
"Can't waste too much time finding someone who leaves no tracks… unless someone shows up to help make things easier for me, I will have to just look everywhere." Sora mumbled to himself as he reached the top of the roof, taking in the view of the city as he walked over the edge of the roof and peeked over, ready to see if his eyes are able to catch anything out of place. "Now...if I am a gothic Lolita girl…. I will be standing somewhere….somewhere." Sora said as his eyes continued to look around for something.
"My. Wasting this much energy just to find me. It must mean that you wish to speak to me." A voice spoke that spooked Sora as he raised his hand towards the handle of the Rev Blade. Was a ghost trying to speak to him? Or maybe the mystery girl he has been looking for. "Well that depends… do you intend to show yourself or speak like some ghost?" Sora questioned as he felt the wind briefly blow his direction as he looked at the direction the wind blew out of instinct.
As he did, he noticed a strange creature floating towards him as his eyes widened at the sight of the creature. His blind eye struggled to not blind him as he could see that it was a red bat of all things flying towards him. "Hey! I was asked by the lady to take you to her!" The weird red bat creature said as Sora blinked his eyes a few times before grabbing the bat from the sky and looked at it with curiosity in his eyes.
"OWW! LET GO OF ME YOU BRUTE!" The creature shouted as Sora released it out of surprise. It was a talking red bat as he cleared his throat at what was simply a bizarre situation in front of him. "Sorry...I just needed to make sure you were real and I had not lost my mind in the process." Sora apologized as the bat puffed up it's chest. "Of course I am real! I am my mistress's familiar! Now are you going to come with me or not!?" The bat said as Sora knew he had to take this opportunity.
"Sure, but there better not be any kind of ambush laid out for me otherwise I am going to kick your ass." Sora said bluntly as he walked forward, following the bat as it floated ahead of him harmlessly. 'Still...so weird that it's even talking in the first place.' Sora thought as he followed the red bat through the rooftops, taking each step in stride as soon he arrived at what looked to be an intersection of sorts that connected various areas within the hierarchical city.
'Multiple angles to get jumped on...that sounds like something fun to deal with.' Sora thought as the bat continued to lead Sora to what he hoped was the girl that he was looking for. Finally, he walked into a shaded area where he noticed a tuff of white hair as he walked towards the figure, realizing who it was. "Really? I never knew you could summon out weird talking red bats Ragna The Bloodedge." Sora said as Ragna turned his head towards him.
"I see the Rabbit called for you too." Ragna said as Sora took his seat in front of him as he realized that they were seated in a restaurant. "I got tired of waiting for her and decided to order something to eat. Hope you don't mind udon." Ragna said as Sora raised his eyebrow. "Look… Rabbit told me that someone was coming along and that I better get them something to eat while she took her sweet time getting here. I'm used to feeding people at this rate so just go ahead and order something already."Ragna said, sounding like he was complaining more than offering.
"Oh yeah, that bat is not with me. it's the rabbit's pet." Ragna said as Sora simply took a seat as the rabbit floated right next to Ragna. "Don't just call me pet! I am a noble familiar loyal to house Alucard!" The bat shouted as Ragna grabbed the bat and tossed him as hard as he could away from the two as two udon bowls came out. The two udons had the usual thick noodles and broth associated with the dish but unlike the normal udon bowl, these came with a poached egg gently resting on the soup of the udon and a fried piece that looked like vegetables and shrimp mixed together.
"I didn't know what you would want to eat so I decided to get what I would normally eat. By the way, if we are going to pay, we are not going to dine and dash you hear me." Ragna warned as Sora looked at the bowl. He could tell from a glance that this was going to be rather filling with the fried piece in question. But he has never been one to refuse a person's generosity for food and he had not taken breakfast yet so the energy this would give would be crucial.
"In that case. Itadakimasu." Sora said as he grabbed a pair of chopsticks and ate the udon presented in front of him. The first bite into the udon gave him a nice mild taste as much to his surprise, the udon tasted quite sour, most likely made by the owner to contrast the oiliness of the tempura which he ate with. Next he tasted the soup and it's mildness helped to combine the two ingredients together and finally the poached egg added a level of creaminess that went well with everything. Soon, Sora realized he had finished his bowl of udon without realizing it.
"Woah… That was actually good." Sora said to himself, surprised he ate the meal in front of him that fast as compared to the time he ate with the green haired freak and they had what felt like a shit ton of Chinese food, it all tasted quite average to bad. "I know right. And yet it's heavy enough that you can even skip dinner if you are willing." Ragna said as Sora couldn't help but crack his neck a little. All he could do at this moment was simply wait for the girl he has been looking for to make her appearance so sitting around in this modest udon store with the most wanted man in the world was the only thing he could do.
"Say… is that over sized cat alright?" Sora questioned, wondering what happened to the Kakan after he had kicked her down a hill with a cart. "She will live… Kakans are much stronger than you think." Ragna said, slurping down on his udon. "And what about you with the green haired freak?" Sora questioned as Ragna stopped slurping for a bit before swallowing down his udon. "We fought for a little bit before he ran away… and as you can see I am fine." Ragna answered as Sora simply nodded his head.
"Now care to tell me why he was after you in the first place? It really cannot be because you actually dined and dashed on his ass." Ragna said, Sora able to feel the skepticism on his voice as Sora scratched his head a little. "Well… that's exactly why he was after my ass. I really did not like the food he gave me and he made me want to run away from him." Sora said as Ragna clenched on his chopsticks for a bit before nodding his head.
"Well good. Stay away from that freak… not just because he gave you a bad dinner in the first place." Ragna said as Sora wondered if he should press on further with his questioning as Ragna could see it on his face before giving off a small sigh, gesturing with his hand for Sora to spit out what he was thinking. "Well… I guess the question would be why you seem to dislike the green haired freak… but I think that's private information you don't want to speak out." Sora said as Ragna nodded his head.
"You're damn right it's private. Hell we only just met yesterday, I am not going to tell you my whole life story now." Ragna replied as Sora couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I did not expect you to do so… but for a wanted criminal you are awfully nice to people." Sora commented as Ragna scratched his head. "It's not my choice alright. People seem to be drawn to me so I have to take care of their asses so that they will leave me alone." Ragna explained as Sora nodded his head.
"I guess when you put it that way. You sound more like one of those Tsunderes I keep hearing about." Sora said as Ragna immediately blushed hearing that. "W-W-What the hell do you mean by that!?" Ragna replied in shock, about to slam his hand on the table but stopped himself from doing so as to make sure he didn't flip the table. "Well… you say you don't want people to be near you yet you treat them to a meal… sounds more like something a Tsundere would do you know what I mean?" Sora said as Ragna simply continued to blush before pouting a little and sitting back on his seat.
"Shut up alright. I am not a Tsundere of any sorts. I am just a normal guy who doesn't like having people around him and treat people to meals so that they would leave me alone." Ragna said as Sora was about to say something else but could tell that his comment had maybe made Ragna feel a sense of embarrassment as there was some truth to his words. "In any case… how much longer do you think we would have to wait until the rabbit lady shows up?" Sora questioned, looking at his phone for the time.
Ragna: Knowing her, it will take her a while to get here
Sora: A while? It sounds like you know her
Ragna: You can say it's a complicated matter. I know her because she was the one who saved me from dying when I was younger
Sora: Dying? Did something happen to you?
Ragna: Nothing you need to know. Besides, I agree with you that she's making us wait for a bit longer than normal.
"Well excuse me for wanting to make sure my two guests had arrived and made sure they fed themselves." A voice said as Ragna simply sighed while Sora looked around wondering where that voice came from. "Again with the secrecy rabbit? What's with you wanting to hide all the damn time." Ragna said as Sora realized what he had just said. "Wait...Rabbit… you don't mean..." Before Sora could finish his sentence, a black portal formed in front of the duo.
As this portal formed, Sora saw her… the little girl who had kidnapped a friend who had forgotten who he was as it took a lot of energy from him to just not leap out of his seat and attack her at that moment. Instead he simply drummed his hands onto his legs, relaxing himself as he looked at the girl in the eyes as she looked at him. "And I see that you are still here… The one known as the Error."
"And I see that you are still using black portals to move around… The rabbit girl known as Rachel Alucard..." Sora said, trying to make a comeback speech only to realize how bad it sounded when he said it. "In any case… I cannot believe I actually managed to find you… I guess call it dumb luck or lucky chance…. I am just glad I managed to find you." Sora said, hoping that he would finally have the chance to get the answers that he felt he deserved to get.
"Sounds like you two need to speak privately. If you would excuse me..." Ragna said, slowly standing up as Rachel swung a parasol right onto Ragna's head. "Who said you can leave you mutt? I still require you to stay here and listen in on this conversation." Rachel lectured as Ragna grumbled a bit, wondering what this conversation had to do with him as Rachel soon took a stool and pulled it closer to herself.
"I must say… these stools are truly fit for a peasant." Rachel said as despite her comment, she decided to sit down on it, uncaring of the squeaky noises it made as she focused her attention right towards Sora. "So… from what I heard from my familiar, you seem to be trying to find me… care to tell me why?" Rachel asked, the air of grace she had about her did not fit the image of a little girl as Sora decided to not point that out.
"Well… I am pretty sure you can guess why I would want to find you since you called me an Error..." Sora said, guessing from the body language that Rachel Alucard herself was a woman who did not really like to waste time as she looked at him with a bit of annoyance on her face with the way Sora worded his question. "Of course… you would wish to know about your current situation. After all, me calling you an Error clearly tells me that you want to know what I know about your current situation." Rachel said as Sora simply nodded his head.
"But that can wait for a bit, you look like you haven't had breakfast yet." Sora said as Rachel simply looked at him with a bit of a puzzled look on his eyes. "Oh? Don't you wish to get your answer now so you can do what you will with it?" Rachel asked as Sora slowly stood up. "Don't get me wrong. I would like to do that. But there's also the fact that there are other questions I would like to ask you and that may take a while." Sora continued as he walked towards the restaurant. "I'll get us a quick snack we can have… then we can talk business." Sora said as he entered the restaurant, leaving Rachel and Ragna to themselves.
"Care to explain to me what on Earth is going on rabbit?" Ragna asked as he was clearly lost in this conversation and unable to comprehend the terminology being tossed his way. "My my… oh well, this is to be expected from the mutt." Rachel insulted as Ragna resisted the urge to get into an argument with her right now. "I just want to know why you are so interested in the damn guy… hell what on Earth is an Error anyways?" Ragna questioned as Rachel decided to explain to Ragna all she knew for the time being while Sora was in the restaurant.
In the restaurant itself, Sora was looking through the menu, trying to collect his thoughts into anything comprehensible. He was so focused in trying to find the girl that he realized he had failed in actually thinking about proper questions to ask her. 'Fuck me… I guess I really thought I was not going to find her in the first place that now I found her, I am even more lost to what I should do.' Sora thought as he bit his lip, his eyes staring intensely onto the menu and what it had.
"Say… What's good on the menu for a little girl that wears fancy clothing?" Sora questioned the clerk as the clerk simply stared at the menu for a little bit before pointing on the desert section of the menu, an item called Dorayaki. "A red bean paste filling...sounds like she would like that. I'll get that one...as well as one green tea please." Sora said as he paid the amount due and waited patiently for the Dorayaki.
'Right… I got the thing to give her… hopefully this would be enough to butter her up that she would be more willing to divulge the information...' Sora thought as he took a deep breath, deciding that now should be spent trying to figure out what questions he should question the little girl as he knew he had to pick the questions wisely. 'You can do this Sora… all you have to do is just ask her. Why everyone in the world is forgetting about me… and also why the world is so determined to get rid of me…. Those should be the main questions I should be asking.' Sora thought as the Dorayaki finally arrived with the green tea as he raised his hand to pick up the Dorayaki before realizing he did not have a hand to pick up the tea.
"...Can I get a tray?" Sora questioned as meanwhile outside, Ragna was simply scratching his head as Rachel gave him a brief summary of what Sora was. "So you're telling me that guy is currently being erased for some reason… and you know he's being erased but not why?" Ragna said as he was simply struggling to comprehend what Rachel was saying. "I would not say the answer to his erasure is not a simple one. It's a complicated issue indeed."
"Complicated huh… Are you even going to tell him this stuff or just keep it behind his back?" Ragna asked as Rachel simply raised her eyebrow at that, interested that Ragna would ask a question like that. "Oh? Is the mongrel actually growing some compassion for someone else that is not himself?" Rachel mocked, prompting Ragna to respond as he scratched his head. "It's not like that Rabbit… It's just I can sorta relate to him right now."
"Relate now? My it is worse than I thought. The Mongrel's actually starting to develop a fever." Rachel continued as Ragna resisted the urge to snap at her loudly like he would normally for two main reasons. One, he was in a public place and two, it was not worth his energy right now. "I am not developing a fever dammit… It's just that if I was getting erased for no reason, I would want to know the reasons for that too you know." Ragna said, remaining calm as Rachel pressed her chin in thought as Sora opened the door with his foot.
"Sorry it took a while, had to balance this tray." Sora said as he rushed out and quickly placed the tray of sweet and tea in front of Rachel. "I didn't know what you might like so I got you this Dorayaki and they didn't have any tea you might like so I got green tea instead." Sora said, gesturing for Rachel to help herself as he sat back and watched the princess eat the offering in front of her. 'Please like it… that whole set is around 1000 blaybloo.' Sora thought as Rachel took a bite out of the Dorayaki.
Rachel simply did not make a reaction as she chewed on the fluffy pancake like dessert, it's red bean filling touching her lips as she elegantly licked her lips to clean the jam off her. She then took a sip of green tea to wash it down before setting the meal in front of her down. "The meal is adequate. The sweetness of the red beans nicely contrast with my green tea. At least for now, I can say you had a decent mind for choosing food." Rachel said, Sora sweating at the tiny food critic.
"I… don't know whether to take insult to that or accept that as a compliment...so thanks?" Sora said as he scratched his head awkwardly at the gesture the little girl gave him. Was she complimenting him or actually insulting him? The way she spoke with such honesty and bluntness made it difficult to tell what she was actually thinking. Not that it actually mattered at that moment since he needed to focus on a few questions he had in his mind.
"Well… at least it's good to know you like it… Care to answer my questions now Rachel Alucard?" Sora questioned as he observed Rachel take a small sip of her green tea before looking at him with a look on her face. "That will depend on your answer to one question I have about you." Rachel said as Sora knew he needed to answer this question carefully otherwise, she might just choose to keep everything a completely secret from him and he could not afford that.
"Care to tell me where you were born?" Rachel asked as Sora looked at her confused. Where he was born? What does she even mean by that? "Do...Do you mean by birthplace?" Sora questioned as Rachel was surprised to see Sora asked such a question to what she knew was a simple answer for most people to say instantly. "Yes. It is your birthplace..." Rachel said as Sora paused hearing that, both Ragna and Rachel able to see him wondering about the question on his face.
"To be honest…. I don't really know… the earliest memory I have is me waking up….in a place where nobody should be at." Sora said, the memories of him spending his days lifelessly in the dark, metal bars surrounding him as he was merely a body surrounded by a sea of bodies. Sora then stared at Rachel and Ragna as he waited for their answer. "If I can be honest….that is not the answer I was expecting from you." Rachel answered as Sora swallowed some saliva, wondering if she would refuse to answer his questions now.
"But I am satisfied with that response for now… so… do tell me your questions." Rachel said as finally, after trying to butter her up and answering her random question, it was Sora's turn to ask the question as he wondered what he should ask. Maybe the first question should be the most obvious one. "Tell me… what did you do to my friend?" Sora questioned as this was the first one he should ask. While he wanted to know the truth of his existence… he couldn't help but also worry about what was happening with Hunter and if he was being held against his will by this Gothic Lolita girl.
"...He is doing fine currently, In fact, he is currently resting in my abode and I am having my butler take care of him in my absence." Rachel said as Sora couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief hearing that. He had feared the worst, that maybe Hunter was being held captive and was being tortured. But at least to hear he was receiving proper care despite not being in a hospital was enough for him… but that immediately changed back to worry when he realized he did not know if this girl had hostile intentions for him.
"You're not planning on attacking him while he recovers right?" Sora said out of caution as Ragna couldn't help but stand up after that. "Look! Rachel may not look like it but she's not that despicable. She may be a stuck up bitch but that doesn't mean she's that bad." Ragna said as Rachel used her parasol and slapped him right at his thigh. "Oh come on! I was defending you!" Ragna complained as Rachel simply sighed before looking right at Sora once again.
"As much as the mongrel wishes to defend me… I can understand why you would have such thoughts in the first place. My only regret is that you seem to not have that much trust in me." Rachel said as Sora scratched his head. "You're kind of expecting too much from me in the first place… While you may have helped my friend. I still don't know you well enough to judge if you are a good or bad person… Call it exercising caution." Sora explained.
"Fair enough… though I doubt that is the only question you have in your mind right now." Rachel asked as Sora nodded his head, knowing that he should save his most important question for last as there was one other important detail he needed to know. "How on Earth did you find out about Makoto Nanaya… and why are you interested in her?" Sora questioned, the second most important question he needed to know as Rachel raised her eyebrow on that.
"Are you asking about my interest in regards with the girl that has moxie?" Rachel said as Sora had to pause to listen to what she had said before nodding his head. "Y-Yeah… I am asking about that… just why did you have to word it like that." Sora answered as he couldn't help but feel like he was speaking to someone who clearly has been drinking too much of the high class tea for her own good as Ragna himself sighed hearing that.
"At first, it was because she was mysteriously linked with your current situation. After all, her resisting the control of Relius Clover's observation of her soul without losing herself did stem from your existence after all." Rachel said, matching with the story that Makoto gave him as he simply gestured with his hand for her to continue. "Then as I helped the girl along, I cannot help but feel intrigued by her. The bond that you two share is truly unique and only able to exist in this possibility..." Rachel continued as Sora couldn't help but say it.
"Because I don't exist in any other possibility but this one for some reason?" Sora said as Rachel simply remained quiet as Ragna himself was getting lost in this conversation but did not say anything regardless of how crazy this was starting to become. Rachel herself was able to follow this conversation itself as she knew what the next question was going to come out. "Then tell me… Why is this world so determined to try and erase me for some reason?"
As soon as Sora said those words, the restaurant became quiet. The people at the table didn't say a word as the wind blew briefly. Ragna sat between the two, his eyes darting left and right wondering what he should do about the situation. Rachel herself ate another piece of the Dorayaki as Sora himself remained quiet, remaining patient and hoping that Rachel would give him an answer right now.
"Unfortunately… I do not know why the world is so determined..." Before she could finish her sentence, Sora immediately slammed his hand on the table, destroying the table with ease as Ragna and Rachel could feel the anger radiating out of the man as Sora felt like he was running into a dead end once again. "However… I may be able to divulge a theory as to why the world wants to erase your existence." Rachel said as Sora did not like the idea of leaving things simply to theory but what choice did he had.
"Then what is your theory then?" Sora asked, trying to hold back from letting his agitation take over and override his reasoning. Rachel on the other hand had other things in her mind. "I would tell you… but I wish to put you to the test if you do not mind." Rachel said as Sora clenched his fist and closed his eyes. He didn't know if this girl was trying to test his patience but if she is, she is definitely doing a good job pushing it to it's limits.
"Then tell me what I need to do so I can get the answer from you already. I don't have much time to waste right now." Sora said as Rachel simply stood up, pushing the stool to the side as she looked at Sora in the eyes. "Prove to me your resolve by playing a game with me." Rachel said as Sora rubbed his forehead. Ragna meanwhile could notice the stress building up on his face as he looked at Rachel, wondering what she was hoping to accomplish by annoying him like this.
"All I ask is for you to touch me… with the mongrel acting as your obstacle." Rachel said as Ragna looked at her surprised. "H-HEY NOW! Don't wrap me up in this whole mess you are starting to make Rabbit!" Ragna complained as Rachel looked at him with an air of calm around her. "Do not worry so much Ragna, I will be assisting you from the rear so you don't have to worry about being dead weight." Rachel answered as Ragna couldn't help but feel insulted by that comment as Sora simply stared at the both of them before nodding his head.
"I don't care what I have to do. If you have something you think might make sense and you are doing this to test me, then I am going to do it not because of your interests but of mine." Sora said as he placed his hand on the rev blade, showing that he was ready to go as Ragna was scratching his head, frustrated that he got roped into this whole mess against his will but he knew better than to complain about spilled milk.
"I guess I got no choice in the matter, Fine I will do this. But not for you rabbit." Ragna said, reaching out to grab a giant slab of metal that was resting on the wall that most people would call Ragna the Bloodedge's signature weapon, the Aramasa. "And don't expect me to hold back kid… even if you don't have to harm me, I will hurt you." Ragna warned as Sora simply shook his head before walking out of the restaurant to the street outside as in Sora's mind there was one thing he needed to do.
...Get this whole thing done with so he can meet back with Makoto…
GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION!? HOW IS EVERYONE DOING THESE DAYS!? Well now… this whole pandemic thing has been putting a damper on things. I don't know about you but I cannot help but feel a bit depressed about our current situation. Regardless, Staying positive is all we can really do in this time of craziness and madness around us. So let's stay positive together and hopefully not go insane with each other.
SO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT TO SORA MINAKAZE!? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF RACHEL'S TEST!? WHY IS RAGNA THE BLOODEDGE ASKED TO FIGHT AGAINST SORA WHEN RACHEL CAN DO SO HERSELF!? AND FINALLY WILL SORA BE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE TEST FAST ENOUGH TO REUNITE WITH MAKOTO!? All these questions and more will be answered in the next chapter of Canon.