Chapter 3 - The Monkey and his Money
(Note: I'm testing out something new. Which is playing music over some parts of the story. If you want to try it out go ahead.)
( Play: Fly To High - Younha )
"Two Melon Buns!"
"A Grape Soda!"
"Gym Clothes!"
"I need a new Maths book!"
"Three Paint Brushes!"
Orders flew into his ears from every angle. Mori struggled to keep up with the orders from the waves and waves of people huddled around him. Drops of sweat flew off his face as he pivoted back and forth, from his giant bag to the crowd. He had to listen for new orders, hand out the current orders, and receive the money, all at once. Mori didn't mind the sudden craze for his services however, as it meant more money for him.
'Business is booming!' Mori squealed happily in his mind.
But why did the entire student populous desire his services so much? It all happened when a pony-tailed girl walked up to him at the start of lunch.
15 Minutes Ago
The bell for recess had rung, and Mori quickly devoured a banana so he would have more time for work. Originally, he wanted to eat lunch with Issei but that boy had already headed off with his two partners in crime, their destination, the pool's locker-room.
With a hearty sigh, the azure-haired boy heaved his giant rucksack off the ground behind him and exited the classroom, readying himself for work. He slid open the door and wasn't able to take more than two steps when somebody stopped him.
Akeno, stood by the door to Class 2-A, waiting for the azure-haired boy to show up. She wasn't sure if he had already left, as Rias had informed her of his abnormally fast walking speed. Luckily for her, he had just come out. Acting quickly, Akeno tapped his shoulder.
"Hello, you're Dan Mori-kun, aren't you?" she asked with a cute smile on her face and her hands were gracefully crossed in front of her skirt.
"Uh-huh," Mori nodded, and thought. 'Woah~ It's one of Kuoh Academy's Celebrities...she's shorter than I thought too,'
"Perfect, I would like to hire your services today," Akeno handed him a small slip of paper, "Please come to the Old School Building with these after school, I'll give you the payment then,"
The students who were around them gawked at the sight.
"Is that the Himejima Akeno-sama? It's really her right? This isn't a dream?"
"She even more ethereal up close,"
"But why's she talking to the Errand Runner?"
"She can't be asking him out...is she?"
"Noo, she can't, not with him, he's a wuss,"
"They don't even look good together,"
"But then again, his fashion is on point today though,"
Both Mori and Akeno ignored the gossip, the dark-haired devil waited for Mori to finish reading through the list on the paper. When he was finished, he folded it in half and stuffed it in his pocket.
With a bright grin, Mori nodded, "I'll do it,"
"Wonderful," Akeno simply replied and turned around to walk away, "I'll see you then,"
As she neared the stairs, her crimson-haired leader was currently descending from the top floor. Akeno naturally, waited for Rias to join her side before the two devils disappeared to the first floor. As they went down the stairs, Rias had a small unnoticeable smirk on her face as she glanced at Mori on the other side of the hallway.
"Oh, Akeno, have you place the order for the errand yet?" said Rias, in a loud enough voice for the onlookers to hear.
Her queen immediately caught on and replied in the same tone, "Yes Buchou, I've heard that Dan Mori never gets an order wrong so you have nothing to worry about,"
…
…
…
"Hey, you heard that right?"
"Y-Yeah, if the Great Beauties are using the exchange student's business, that means it must be high class,"
"If they're using it, then we should try it out too,"
"Is it just me, or does Mori look cuter today?"
"His fashion is really on point,"
"Hey, Mori!"
The blue-haired boy looked back and saw the flood of students rushing towards him, unbeknownst to the "accidental" advertising the young devils gave him.
Present
Mori wiped a bead of sweat off his brow as the final customers walked off. He quickly looked around to see if there were anymore he missed, and thankfully, the hallways were empty as the students headed either, back into their classrooms, or outside. After Mori made sure he was in the clear, he rummaged through his rucksack for a bottle of water. It was rather easy to find as the plastic bottle was a small bulge in the rucksack, which now resembled a deflated air balloon.
Mori twisted open the cap and took an enormous gulp, downing over half the contents before stopping to let out a burp. He slumped his upper body onto the window sill next to him and allowed his elbows to support his body weight. While watching the usual school scenery from the second-floor window, Mori caught a glimpse of Issei and his perverted friends being chased across the soccer field. He couldn't understand their uncontrollable desire to see the naked body of the opposing gender. But he wouldn't judge them for it, after all, no one seemed to understand his thirst for banana and peach flavored milk. Especially the bottled brands, they were the best as they had small cubes of fruit in them.
Mori bought the bottle back to his lips and took a finishing swig when a voice suddenly called from behind him which nearly made him choke.
"Excuse me, do you still have black coffee?" asked a first-year male student, he was one of Mori's more loyal customers.
The blue-haired teen quickly spun around and grabbed his empty rucksack.
"Yeah, just give me five minutes to restock," said Mori as he took off to the closest vending machine.
When the final class of the day ended, Kuoh Academy's students flooded out the gates, although some remained for club activities, extra-credit assessments, or studying. Dan Mori was among the ones who left the grounds, he had an after school errand he still had to run. With his fellow students walking their separates around him, he dug into his pocket to pull out the slip of paper given to him earlier and skimmed over the contents.
'20 bars of Mint Chocolate, A pack of Lollipops, 2 packs of Gummy Worms, 4 packs of Salmon-flavored Potato Chips, 5 Matcha KitKats, a Pineapple Bun, one Corndog, and Watermelon Rock-Candy,'
Mori stuffed the list back into his pocket and mumbled, "...They really don't care about their dental health,"
His search for the items took him across the entire town, entering malls, candy stores, bakeries, and convenience stores alike. He weaved through alleys and found many shortcuts that he didn't know of before, if he couldn't find his way around Kuoh, he certainly could now.
Finally, by the time he arrived back at Kuoh Academy, the sun had set halfway below the horizon. The orange-red sky was being washed out by the deep blue blankets of night. After clambering over the locked front gates like a monkey, Mori looked around for the Old School Building, he had heard about it many times, but similar to many other students, he had never been there himself. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a decently sized, wooden structure behind the trees. Without another thought, Mori paced over towards it.
The tall dark oakwood doors of the Old School Building loomed over him, and he would be lying if he said it didn't creep him out a little. Mori took a deep breath and pushed open the doors, closing them behind him when he entered. The interior was dark, Mori glazed his hands across the wall to find a light switch but after a lap of the room, he found none. However, he did find another set of doors...naturally, he opened them straight away.
The second room resembled a lobby of sorts, there were three green leather couches placed in a 'U' formation, in the middle, there was a maple-wood coffee table. At the very end of the room was a long mahogany desk, and each corner of the room was inhabited by a large fern pot-plant. A chandelier hung on the ceiling, although it was rather dim. At least the windows were open, which provided enough light for Mori to see.
Seeing that no one was here, Mori slid his bag full of sweets off his back and placed it against the wall, next to one of the plants. He had never been to this corner of the school grounds before, so the curiosity drove him to explore the room.
"For such an old building, it's not as dusty as I thought," Mori said to himself.
"That's because we clean it every week,"
Surprised, Mori jolted and spun around to face the familiar voice.
Rias stood by the door with her arms folded beneath her large chest, and Akeno, stood by her side with both hands placed gently in front of her skirt.
"H-Hi...again," Mori shuffled to the bag and brought it over to the table, tipping it over so its contents could spill out, "I got the things you asked for,"
"Thank you very much, Mori-kun," Rias smiled, then she turned to her Queen, "Akeno, please ready the payment,"
"Of course, Buchou," The pony-tailed girl bowed and exited the room.
Mori's dark eyes awkwardly flickered around the room as silence came in between him and the heiress. Rias gestured towards the closest couch and Mori complied with her request, sitting down on the edge of the cushiony material while gripping onto the straps of his rucksack.
The crimson princess took a seat on the couch opposite of him, one leg crossed over the other and both hands rested atop her knee. Her vivid blue eyes pierced into Mori, however, the boy didn't notice as he simply stared at the hill of snacks on the coffee table, zoning out, thinking about what he was going to have for dinner.
Rias' gaze scanned over the blue-haired boy.
"Appearance-wise, there's nothing that's too out of the ordinary," she thought, "He certainly has the visuals but it's most likely just genetics...he knows how to dress well too which is something you don't see in boys his age"
Mori started to swing his legs back and forth.
"This is my chance to get some information about him," Rias readjusted her position by uncrossing her legs then crossing the other over.
"So, Mori-kun," she began, Mori brought his legs up to sit cross-legged on the couch and looked up at her, "While we're waiting, why don't you tell me a bit more about yourself,"
At her question, the azure-haired boy brightened up and introduced himself with an beaming eye smile, "My name is Dan Mori, I'm 17 years old, I was born in China but lived in Korea for a while till I came here, so I can speak up to three languages without any problems, and I like to drink banana milk and eat peaches...oh, but only the ones with white flesh because the yellow ones are too sour,"
The heiress froze, and her bright crimson bangs shadowed over her eyes. She was taken aback by the surprisingly straightforward answer he gave her, as she expected him to at least be a tiny bit restrained. Who in their right mind would blurt out their information to a complete stranger?
"...I...didn't even use my powers...he just..."
"Do you live in Kuoh with your parents now?" Rias asked once she recollected herself.
"Nope! I hit my head really, really hard sometime last year so I was taken to Kuoh Central Hospital by some nice fishermen, and then the doctors there diagnosed me with some sort of amnesia so they sent me to Kyoto Main Hospital for some treatment then they didn't know what to do with me so they sent me back here," Mori replied, he was still beaming when suddenly, tears started to flow like a waterfall comically down his cheeks, "Why'd you have to bring them up, I can't even remember them anymore~,"
Rias visibly flinched, she felt as if Mori's second straightforward answer, stabbed through her like a spear. As soon as she was slightly composed, she realized the state the blue-haired teen was in and she instantly scrambled around the clubroom to find some tissues.
"O-Oh, I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know,"
"Nah, don't worry about it, I'm fine," Rias spun around from her desk to see Mori back to his usual carefree self, his cheeks were somehow already dry, it was as if he didn't have his little bawl
"R-Right then," The crimson princess sweatdropped at his amazingly fast recovery. Thankfully, her queen re-entered the room holding a white envelope, dispelling the chance of any further awkward atmosphere.
Akeno went to Mori's side and handed him the envelope.
"Here's your payment," she said with a polite small.
"Thank you Akeno-sama," Mori happily replied as he slid it into one of his rucksack's many side pockets. He then stood up and bowed before slinging the bag over onto his back.
"-sama?" the dark-haired devil echoed with an amused raised eyebrow.
Mori nodded, "Yeah, that's what everyone in my class calls you and Rias-sama over there,"
"I see," the two female devils said in unison.
"Anyway, it's getting late so I need to go now," Mori shuffled over to the doors, as he pushed it open he turned back and waved goodbye, "See you tomorrow, I hope that my services have satisfied you,"
And with that, Mori was gone, his quick footsteps fading into the distance. Rias watched as his silhouette paced climbed over the school gates...and almost getting hit by a speeding white truck while crossing the road.
"What did you learn, Buchou?" asked Akeno, who was now by her side.
…
…
…
"Rias?" Akeno asked again. Concerned by her friend's silence, she gently placed a hand on the crimson-haired devil's shoulder.
Rias tapped her forehead lightly against the cool touch of the glass, and mumbled, "...Everything,".
Clearly, Mori's straightforwardness still had an effect on her.
"Everything?" Akeno echoed.
"Yes," Rias released a sigh and removed her forehead from the window, "He told me his basic information like he was auditioning to be on a gameshow, and I don't think he has any ties to the supernatural. I suspect that someone found him shortly after I left with Issei and took him to a hospital. Then he blew off the encounter with Raynare as a dream when he woke up this morning. Aside from that… He's just a bit...quirky...and very honest,"
"Are you going to stop observing him then?"
Rias shook her head, "There is a chance that he is just acting, and that he already had a script in mind for these types of scenarios. That night his body practically stopped functioning, even if he was rushed to a hospital, it would take at least two weeks, for him to recover enough strength to come to school,"
"So you're implying that he's not a human or at least not a full-blooded one," Akeno's bright violet eyes redirected towards the last known position of the azure-haired boy.
Rias hummed a confirmation "Either that or he has a Sacred Gear of sorts, one that can heal and hide it and its host's presence extraordinarily well,"
"Does such a Gear exist?"
"I'm not sure," Rias admitted, "For all we know, it could be new, which would explain its absence in the records,"
Suddenly, the door swung upon behind them, startling the two female devils. Both had slightly expected it to somehow be Mori. They relaxed when they saw the familiar petite figure of a First-Year girl with short, white hair. She had two black-cat hairclips holding together the snowy hair that framed her small face.
"...I've returned, Buchou," she announced in a quiet, monotone voice.
"Ah, Welcome back Koneko," the heiress greeted as Akeno gave her a short wave.
Koneko's nose started picking up the various types of sweet and savory scents that filled the room. She took two steps forward and froze. Her golden eyes gleamed as she saw the number of snacks piling and overflowing the coffee table. Immediately, her head whipped around and looked at Rias for permission.
Akeno giggled with a hand over her mouth, amused at the Rook's reaction. The heiress gave a smile and nodded.
"Go ahead, Koneko,"
Without a second thought, the girl swan-dived into the pile, her stoic expression remained on her face although inside, she was in a blissful state.
The Next Day
It was early in the morning, and there were barely any students at the Academy. Sparrows flew around the courtyard, pecking at the small insects traversing around. Their occasional birdsong symphony rang across the school. The trees rustled in the calm, gentle wind, creating a soothing sound of leaves brushing against leaves.
A tall, athletic figure opened the door of the headmaster's office. The headmaster, who was sitting at his large, wooden, 'L' shaped desk, doing some paperwork, looked up to see the figure standing in front of him.
The headmaster adjusted his glasses and rose from his seat to extend a hand. The figure shook it and took a sat down on a small recliner, placed by the desk. He was bald but had large muscles bulging out of his red t-shirt and jeans.
"I'm glad you came, old friend," said the headmaster. "This new position would suit you well,"
"But of course," the man replied with a nod, "As long as the pay is good, I'll take the job,"
"That's excellent news," the headmaster smiled and drew several folders out from a drawer under his desk, "As the next Physical Education Teacher. You'll find all the second-year student's profiles here, so you'll be able to gauge their physical prowess from the scores of a recent examination done earlier this year,"
The bulky man reached forward and took the thick folder on the top. '2-C' was written diagonally in marker near the center.
He skimmed through each page and out of the thirty students in the class, no-one caught his eye as they all had average scores.
Then he slid it back onto the desk and grabbed the next one, belonging to class 2-B. Once again, he let out a sigh of discontent as this class was the same as the previous one. That was until he flipped to the page containing a certain blonde male, and a small smirk appeared on his face.
"Kiba Yuuto, overall score, SS. Long Jump: 4.86 meters, High Jump: 2.15 meters, Vertical Jump: 1.05 meters, 100-meter sprint: 10 seconds," he read aloud.
"Yes, that boy is one of the Academy's star athletes," said The headmaster, who was tapping away on his keyboard.
Then the muscular man skimmed through the remaining pages, he came across another student who piqued his interest.
"Keita Bloon, overall score, SS. Long Jump: 4.7, High Jump: 2.30, Vertical: 1.10, 100-meter: 11.01,"
"He's half Japanese, his father is an American MMA instructor who trains fighters downtown, and as a result, Keita is notorious for being the best fighter in the entire academy, and maybe even the whole town," the headmaster explained.
The bald man nodded in understanding and placed the folder back onto the table while taking the final one in the process. Class 2-A's folder.
"Is this going to be another boring 30 kids?" he asked, waving the folder around.
The headmaster only chuckled, and replied, "Why don't you just go through it,"
With an annoyed huff, the bulky man began his skimming of pages. He let out a yawn, from what he saw, 2-A was just as uninteresting as 2-C. That was until hit the last page, and his mouth slightly parted as his eyes widened from the scores of the student's profile.
"Who...Who's this?" he asked, pointing at the photo in the top right corner.
"That is the exchange student, he arrived the day of the physical exams" the headmaster shook his head with a small smile, "He certainly surprised all of us, but the strange thing is, during classes and the first sports festival, his skills had decreased down to the average level,"
"That's...weird…," was all the newest PE teacher could say. He had never heard about such a quick depletion in ability before, he'll certainly have to keep an eye on that student.
The bald man's rough gaze, hovered over the profile once more before he closed the folder and handed it back. He quickly thanked the headmaster for giving him the position and walked out of the door, towards the staff office to setup. He brainstormed ideas for his new classes and finally thought of a way to test how accurate their profiles are.
"Kiba Yuuto, Keita Bloon, let me see just how capable you really are," he grew a toothy smirk as he strolled down the corridor, "And that includes you too, Dan Mori,"
Dan Mori's Result for the Physical Examination:
Long Jump - 5 Meters
High Jump - 2.5 Meters
Vertical Jump - 1.19 Meters
100-Meter Sprint - 9.5 Seconds
Overall Score - SS+
The classroom belonging to 2-A was quiet. Only the scratching of pencil and pen on paper could be heard, along with the slow steps of their Physics teacher pacing around and through the desks. There was still a couple of months left until the week of exams would begin, but the teacher insisted on doing a mock test, to better prepare them for the real deal.
A drop of sweat dripped onto Mori's test paper as he drummed his pen against his head. Nearly two whole hours had passed and he was already finished, but like many others of their large class, he was going through his answers. Calculating and re-calculating some, while going into a pondering state of mind for more lengthy questions. His dark eyes and gold-orange pupils flickered up towards the clock on the wall.
'5 minutes remaining,'
Mori flipped to the final page of the mock-test paper and read through his answers for the final time.
'...Gravity is the weakest of the fundamental forces, especially at the molecular and atomic scales...That should be correct for question 67… The Weak Force is critical for the nuclear fusion reactions that power the sun and produce the energy needed for most life forms here on Earth… I think that's right… The greater the Electromagnetic charge, the greater the force. And much like gravity, this force can be felt from an infinite distance, although it would be too small to notice at that distance… I hope that's correct… The Strong Force is the strongest of the four fundamental forces of nature. It's 6, thousand trillion trillion trillion times stronger than the force of gravity… Well, that's what was on the notes,'
"All right! Time's up!"
The students all jolted from the loud announcement and over half burst into a panic.
"WHAT ALREADY?!"
"AHH! I FORGOT TO GO BACK AND DO QUESTION 17!"
"I HAVEN'T CHECKED MY ANSWERS ON PAGE 10 YET!"
"THERE WAS A PAGE 10?!"
Mori, with a dazed expression on his face winced and covered his ears, waiting for the uproar to stop. He had no need to join in, as he was confident in his answers, mostly because he did study regularly but, there was also that bottle of banana milk he drank earlier...which he fully believed would strengthen his mental capability. Because he read somewhere that bananas are good for the brain.
The boy watched from his seat as the teacher went around nabbing the papers off his classmates' desks, much to the despair of most of them. The elder man was quick with his movements and collected everyone's papers in a single minute. Going back to the front of the class, the teacher tapped the pile on the podium a few times until it was neat, and then he put it in a drawer below.
"Alright class, the results will be out the day after tomorrow, remember, this is just a mock-test and will not impact your final grade," he announced, several of the dejected students, including Issei, relaxed their tense posture.
The bell rang soon after, and the students began their migration to the next and last class of the day. Naturally, Mori and Issei walked to the next class together, which was gym class. Matsuda and Motohama had run off early to change and get a good peeping spot.
"Haaah~, I totally failed that," Issei sighed defeatedly, his back was hunched over as he trudged towards the gymnasium.
"Don't worry about it, we still have ages until the actual test," Mori told him, "All you gotta do, is study some more,"
"...Right,"
"But don't study too much, it'll be bad for your mental health,"
"My mental health is already at a low point, it couldn't get any worse," said Issei joked.
"Hah, so I guess even Kuoh Academy has people like you," Mori said in a matter-of-factly tone. Issei winced when he heard his new friend's words, he wasn't expecting that from a person like Mori, so it felt like the words shaped into an arrow and impaled his chest.
"Anyway, have you heard? We're getting a new gym teacher," Mori continued, and Issei straightened back up into normal walking posture.
"Yeah, there's a rumor that he trains World-Class MMA fighters," replied Issei, "To think that that kinda guy would be training us now,"
"Well, it sounds interesting,"
"Hopefully he doesn't go too crazy, I wanna be able to sleep normally tonight,"
The duo entered the boy's locker rooms located to the right of the gym doors. It was surprisingly cramped, it seemed as if all second-year male students were there changing into their gym clothes. Issei and Mori found empty lockers in the back corner, the brown-haired teen began to strip off his uniform and equip the academy's white t-shirt and blue shorts. Mori, on the other hand, was busy stuffing his rucksack inside the narrow steel cabinet. Luckily for him, sales were good today so it was easier for the empty bag to fit.
Unlike Issei, Mori didn't need to take off any clothes, all he had to do was untie the blazer around his waist, and replace it with the Kuoh gray tracksuit. Truthfully, aside from the blazer, Mori didn't own any other piece of the normal Kuoh uniform. He thought that aside from the summer and winter variations of the gym uniform, everything else was too expensive, and the only reason he bought the blazer was because it was compulsory.
Mori patiently waited for Issei to finish before following the crowd into the gymnasium. The gymnasium was a large hall with shining, waxed timber flooring. It contained four basketball hoops, two one each side, and an auditorium stage on the far end. The window panels were lined up around the building, just below the ceiling. That was the gym's usual appearance, today there was something new added. In the very center of the hall, was the large, imposing, raised, netted octagon of an MMA ring. Sitting on the stairs leading into the ring, like a hired bodyguard, was their new gym teacher.
Issei gulped as soon as he saw the setup, he wasn't along as his fellow second-years had the same reaction. Mori simply scratched his ear, he was not a stranger to the ring as some of his errands would require him to be a "sparring partner" for some of the tougher male students, at their gyms after school.
"ATTENTION!" the new teacher boomed, Mori went from scratching his ear to covering both of them in an instant.
"After your previous gym teacher left you losers for another school. I, stepped forward to take his place, and I will succeed where he failed. Because I will make sure that you will all enter your third-year, as winners," the new teacher's sharp gaze swept over the crowd of second-years, "So from now on you will address me as, Nomu-sensei. Do you understand?!"
"Y-Y-Yes…," scattered replies reached Nomu's ears. He grit his teeth and slammed his fist down on the stairs he was seated on. Instantly, terrified silence filled the hall.
"I asked...DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND ME?!"
His raised voice initiated a chorus of loud frightened replies, "YES! NOMU-SENSEI!"
"Good," Nomu then pointed towards the section of the crowd which contained the highest amount of class 2-B members, "You, there, Keita Bloon, get over here,"
Keita Bloon stood at over six feet, he wore a loose white tank and blue shorts. He had shaved, brown hair that looked like the bristles of a comb, and his eyes were as green as a murky river. His most notable feature was his bulky muscles which nearly looked as if they were carved from stone. As soon as he saw the ring, he couldn't wipe the arrogant smirk off his face, and when he heard his name being called out, Keita slipped out of the crowd and stood in front of Nomu.
"I hear that you're the strongest fighter among all the young people in this entire town," said Nomu.
"You'd be right about that," Keita replied in a cocky tone, "But don't get used to that long-ass title, I'll be taking the throne of 'World Champion' as soon as I graduate,"
"Very well then, confident...I like that" Nomu nodded and stood up to open the ring doors behind him. "Get in,"
"Gladly," Keita waltzed into the ring and began to jog on the spot. Warming up his body and taking off his tank before doing some basic stretches and throwing a couple of light combos.
The crowd of second-year students started to huddle together like penguins in the harsh Antarctic winters. They had a bad feeling about what was about to happen, and some of them could even predict the inevitable event.
"S-S-S-Sensei won't be...making us...f-f-fight him...is he?" Two female students stuttered together as they hugged each other in fear.
"There's no way, Keita is practically a pro-fighter, no….he is a pro-fighter," A male from the middle gasped.
"Is this teaching method even legal?" Another voice asked, and soon an uproar started up once again.
"Silence...SILENCE!" Nomu roared. The entire second-year body let out a collected "EEP" as soon as they heard his loud voice.
"Yes! Your suspicions were correct, you will be fighting Keita today," many groans and whimpers were released.
"But! If you land one, single, clean, hit," Nomu paused and looked over the crowd of students, then glanced back at the high-school fighter, "I will pass you, for this entire semester. Which means if you pass, you can skip gym class and do whatever you want until summer break,"
A wave of murmurs and whispers washed over the second-years.
"Wait so I just gotta hit him once and I don't need to come to class?"
"Bro, that's...a pretty good deal, you should do it,"
"What?! No, I'll die!"
"Hey~ You think a nice slap to the arm counts?"
"Does high-fiving him count?"
"I bet Kiba can beat him, no sweat,"
"Yeah~ Kiba will flatten him,"
"Kiba~ Go out with me after you win,"
"What? No?! Keita will decimate that pretty boy!"
Nomu ignored every single comment and gestured towards the open door, his booming voice echoed in the spacious hall once more.
"Great! No more time-wasting… Who wants to go first?"
Immediately, and shockingly in sync, every student comically scurried back by ten steps, even Kiba, although he just got swept back by the crowd. Leaving the azure-haired boy out in the open, he didn't even notice his fellow teenagers' retreat until it was too late. His head whipped around left and right in confusion.
"...Hmm?...Huh? ...Wha-?..." Were all the sounds he could make.
Nomu laughed and gave a booming clap, "Ha! Excellent, we have a volunteer,"
"...Wait, hold on, I don't even know what we're doing," Mori spluttered as Nomu's giant arm wrapped around his shoulders, dragging him towards the short staircase and up into the ring.
Nomu ignored him as he closed the entrance, locking it in the process. Then he turned around to the student crowd who were slowly beginning to make their way forward again.
"You see how confident the exchange student is? You all should follow his example in the future!" his voice boomed once again. A ripple of nods quickly followed.
"If it ain't the little monkey, Dan Mori," Keita sneered, with his arms crossed over his chest, he gave off an intimidating aura.
"Oh...great," Mori muttered under his breath. Keita was also one of Mori's more loyal customers, just not in a good way. The fighter regularly hired the blue-haired boy to be his so-called "sparring partner," after school, which just meant Mori being pummeled countless times by Keita in his father's gym downtown. At least the pay was good...usually.
"Ah! I see you're both already acquainted, that makes things easier," Nomu called out from below.
"What...exactly am I supposed to be doing?" Mori asked, scratching his cheek.
"It's very simple-," Nomu began.
"You/We fight," the gym teacher and Keita announced simultaneously.
"Whaat?!" Mori exclaimed, "Isn't fighting between students on academy grounds against the policy or something?"
"Usually, yes," Nomu admitted, "But this, this also counts as a...physical test of sorts. If you land one, clean hit on the future champion of the MMA world, I will pass you for the entire semester… I'm sure I've already said this,"
"A-A whole semester? So you mean…"
"Until after summer vacation. But standard ring rules apply, if you are knocked on the ground for more then 10 seconds, you fail. If you get knocked out, you fail. If you give up, you fail,"
At this point, the other second-years were huddling around the octagon, all of them wanted to see how this would play out. Issei and Kiba moved forward until they were among the front row, they had gotten better acquainted due to, certain circumstances.
"So," Nomu leaned against the staircase, "What's say you, Exchange kid?"
Mori remained still staring at the ring floor as he thought over it for a while.
'If I land one clean hit, and pass the semester, I won't need to come to gym class every day. If I use that time to run some more errands then that means I would have an extra hour of work… More work equals more money… More money, means I can store more in the bank account… Then by the time summer vacation comes along, I should have a reasonably large amount for a person my age… With that amount of money means… MORE CLOTHES! AND I CAN FINALLY DECORATE MY HOUSE! AND I CAN FINALLY BUY ORGANIC BANANA MILK! AND I CAN FINALLY BUY THE EXPENSIVE SNACKS!'
Mori's head snapped dramatically towards the new gym teacher.
"I'll do it," he said with a comical gleam in his eyes.
"Splendid," Nomu pushed off the staircase and circled around to the middle of one of the netted cage walls of the octagon, so he could get a better view of the impending action.
"Now, let's see how the kid with the SS+ ranking does in a fight," he mentally smirked, before yelling.
"Fighters ready?!" Both Mori and Keita nodded, "Begin!"
Immediately, the pro-fighter started to bob and weave with his guard up. Slowly inching his way towards the azure-haired boy, an arrogant smirk stitched on his face. He was going to play with his prey for a while before finishing him off.
"Mori," Issei whisper-shouted from below, genuinely concerned about his friend's impulsive decision, "Are you sure you know what you're doing? If you quit now, no one will blame you. Gym class has never been too difficult to pass anyway if that's what you're worried about,"
"Don't worry Issei," Mori shot him a thumbs-up, "I know exactly what I'm doing,"
…
…
…
He had no idea what he was doing.
Mori's forearms were crossed behind his head, guarding them. His knees were brought up to his knees, and the boy could only curl up into a fetal ball as he was repeatedly stomped on, thrown, and kicked across the ring. A frightened, dazed expression had been on his face ever since they begun…a good forty minutes had already passed since then, and all he had been doing, was guarding.
In his peripheral vision, he noticed Keita readying an elbow drop. Mori quickly jerked his body to roll away at the last second. He quickly picked himself up, but unfortunately wasn't quick enough as Keita was already in front of him. The bulkier male's heavy jabs, hooks, and uppercuts rained down upon the poor azure-haired boy, who once again, could only protect his face.
Meanwhile, one half of the audience was cringing at the sight of the beatdown happening in front of them. While the other half was having a great time as they were cheering on the fight.
"The exchange student is getting destroyed,"
"Has he even thrown a punch?"
"Hate to be him right now, that's for sure,"
"Yoo~ Look at Keita go, no wonder his the strongest in Kuoh,"
"He's definitely gonna be the next world champ for sure,"
"Hmph! He's nothing compared to Kiba-sama,"
Without giving Mori time to rest, Keita grabbed him by the arm and threw him over his shoulder. Mori bounced off the ground and sprung back onto his feet. The fighter grit his teeth in annoyance at the blue-haired boy.
"Just give up already...otherwise...you might...die," he huffed out, a straight forty minutes of being on the offensive, tired him out, although he didn't want to show it as it would mean weakness and having stamina worse than the exchange kid.
Strangely Mori was still fine. His breathing patterns were still rather normal and only had some bumps and bruises over his visible skin. His clothes were also stained with sweat and dust, deepening the color of his long-sleeved white shirt.
Without saying a word, Mori began running circles around the ring.
"Get...back here!" Keita roared as he chased after him.
The two ran around in circles for quite some time. Keita attempted to tackle, trip, and grab Mori several times during his circular pursuit. But the boy was somehow just too nimble.
'Quick Mori, think! What would Jackie Chan do?' Mori asked himself, as sweat flew off his face, his opponent slowly but surely gaining more speed, 'You've watched all his movies, there has to be something you can use… wait...I GOT IT!'
Still running, Mori turned his head towards his brown-haired friend.
"QUICK! ISSEI! THROW ME A LADDER!" he yelled.
"...WHA-?! WHY-?! MORI! YOU CAN'T WIN THIS! THROW IN THE TOWEL BEFORE YOU BREAK SOMETHING!" Issei yelled back.
Keita tried to go for another grapple but the azure-haired boy ducked just in time.
"NEVER! I WANT THAT MONEY!" Mori thought about the free passing score, and the extra time for work it granted.
"WHAT MONEY?!"
Keita went for a tackle and would've succeeded too if he didn't slip on his own sweat.
'Yes! Now's my chance!' Mori grinned and dove in for a good punch to the larger male's head…only for him to suffer the same way, losing his footing from the sweat on the floor.
Keita roared with frustrated anger and pushed himself off the ground. With one arm, he picked up Mori by the back collar and slammed him against a pillar of the octagon. The other arm was cocked back, and as soon as Mori's back made contact with the pillar, he released the arm, gatling down combos upon combos. This time, however, Mori wasn't able to put up his guard in time and every hit connected.
But as his body lurched in every single direction from the onslaught. Something mystifing happened. With each attack, the pro fighter's movements seemed to gradually slow down. Was it because he was getting worn out or was it because…
( Play: GoH - Battle (HQ Cover) )
'Why is he moving in slow motion?' Mori thought to himself, his eyes flickered left and right towards the surrounding audience, 'Why is everyone else in slow motion? What's going on?'
His gaze moved back to the center, towards the abdominal region of Keita. The pack of muscles were right in front of him, it was as if they were calling out and demanding to be hit.
When Keita's fist left his face, Mori was able to sip in some air.
'Right Mori… What would Jackie Chan do?' he thought once again, this time he recalled one of the movies he watched recently, Drunken Master. His brain searched for a move...any move that would allow him to achieve the promised pass. Then he remembered one of the many scenes where the world-renowned action star used kicks, punches...and elbows.
'Oh yeah~ Elbows… Y'know, If I use my elbow, I think I can reach him from here,' Mori was able to bring his arms above his head to guard, due to Keita's blows now being more akin to flailing than anything.
'...Yeah, I'll do that, hit him with my elbow,' Mori mentally nodded to himself.
His front foot slid forward, and his body went with the movement, allowing him to stand side-on in a low stance.
'...Was it…' With his left arm in a 45-degree angle, Mori struck out with his left elbow, '...like this?'
[ RE-
The student audience and Nomu let out a collected gasp of pure shock. Mori's elbow dug into Keita's abdomen, the tip of his joint disappearing into his torso flesh. The larger teen's body bent forward as he coughed up a good amount of bile, and his eyes had gone white from the impact.
Then, like a bullet, he shot backward to the opposite side of the ring and crashing into a pillar. Keita was knocked out the very second of the collision, from his cranium whipping back into the pillar and from the unexpected attack dealt by the azure-haired boy. His body dropped onto the ground and went limp like a giant bag of rice.
The crowd, and teacher, could only stare in utter awe and surprise. Their jaws fell to the ground as their eyes stretched to the size of plates. No words could be made out, as all they could do was sputter out weird sounds.
ARANG ]
But the one who was left the most dumbfounded was Mori himself. A nervous bead of sweat, rolled down his temple as he blinked a few times in confusion.
"...What?" his widened dark eyes, darted around nervously when he saw the state his opponent, and fellow second-years were in, "...Did I just do?"
( Play: WIN-CIX )
And there we have it. I ended Chapter 3 with a little bit of Renewal Taekwondo. This doesn't count as a return, because as you can see, Mori did it by complete accident.
I need to clear some things up. Unlike Season 6 Dan Mori who had his memories heavily suppressed, this story's Mori had his memories sealed by his Journey companions. So please don't expect him remembering his Jin and Wukong days for a while.
The reason I'm using a "fresh" Dan Mori, is because with his memories returned, Mori will be able to breeze through so many events (not all, but a whole lot), that will cause this story to feel more like a battle forum spite thread than...well a story.
Another thing is regarding the use of Yen. I will admit, I do know the conversions and how $1 is 100¥ and all that. But I don't know how many of my current and future readers know about the conversion. So I generalized it just in case someone thinks Mori is rich because he earns like 10,000¥ a week when it's just $100. But heyyy, at least I'm not using Won, right? Cuz that's like 100,00W when it converts to $100.
I will also confirm that Mori's gear did indeed transfer with him, but like canon, they've all lost respect for him for losing hope and giving up and no longer recognize him as their master. Also, I just realized that there are now 2 Original JinGu Bangs in this world… So yeah.
Thank You Again! To all the readers and to the ones who followed, favorited, and reviewed, in the first week of this story's [The Great Sage Equal to Heaven] existence. It motivates me to continue. Now, onto the Q/A segment.
Sunfang193 - Mori isn't human, so he won't be getting an SG
Triton0501 - Jin Form won't be making an appearance anytime soon.
Momentei - I'm pretty sure breaking the moon in half at peak strength is an extremely low lowball.
Wilson-Jordo493 - I know it, I've been following it for a while now.
Guest - Yeah, I think I was there before it hit 500,000 views. It's about time the king gets a game that's not a MOBA.
Flash Beat - He does, but as you can see, he's gotten much, much weaker.
Lu (Guest) - ...Gaia...There's not much info on her honestly, I think she appeared at most 3 times as of Ep 484 (I use fast-pass). But I do have a theory on who she is which does give me some ideas for this story, so for that, go to the section after the Q/A.
X (Guest) - If memory serves me correctly, only members of a Devil Household can teleport through their circle and only the Head of the Household or the Maou can grant permission to anyone who isn't. Which is why thee couldn't rescue Asia from Freed, and why Rias was able to take Issei, but not Mori.
Kamencolin - Sorry but no. Mira will still become the Witch of the West and I ship her too much with Daewi. Soojin and Bora will still found Balhae. Xiaochen will still be assisting Daewi. Hyangdan is married to Gamdo now I think. Uma is married to Seungchul…kinda, she basically is. Peach and Ahan, they don't know about this Mori. And, P is still Mubong's secretary.
Hashirama 1710 - Ragnarok Mori is definitely on the level of Top 1. I find over half of the DXD strongest list to just be there due to statements from other characters, and only some have actual feats. Unlike Mori who has statements, hype, and feats. DXD Top-Tier's most impressive feat (statement) is destroying the Earth. GoH Top-Tiers from 100 Chapters ago played ping-pong with planets much larger than Earth, and (I know it's always being used but) Mori extinguished the sun. The diameter of the sun is approximately 109 Earths, and 1,000,000 Earths can fit inside the sun. Now with Season 6's Finale approaching, there's gonna be even more crazier things happening, and who knows...Mori might Extinguish the Galaxy this time.
Now, onto my theory on who Gaia and what role she can play. In Chinese mythology, there is a goddess named Nu Wa, and she is what you can consider a Primeval Goddess. There was a catastrophic Heavenly War between Gods and Demons, that caused the Heavens to basically shatter, sending the world into complete utter chaos. Then Nuwa came along and used five-colored stones of the five elements (and the legs of a big turtle ) to repair the damage. Sun Wukong (and his three brothers...yes he has biological siblings) were said to have been created from the shards of the stones that crashed onto Earth. Hence, the title Stone Monkey. So basically, Nuwa is Wukong's "mother".
Mori is seen talking to Gaia after achieving the title of Supreme God and said something along the lines of "You've been protecting me this whole time," and since a mother always protects her children…Yeah, Gaia is based on Nuwa...That's my theory. Or, it could've just been Xuanzang or Gaia is something else completely and I'm overthinking it.
One Final Thing. I don't know if this counts as a spoiler, but... Before I decided on naming this story The Great Sage Equal To Heaven, I was originally planning to call it Black Myth: Mori. If you know anything about Journey to the West, you can most likely guess where this story is going to be heading.
Anyway! That's all for Chapter 3. Once again hope you enjoyed it, leave a review, and all that good stuff. PM me if you desperately want to know some of my plans for this.
Thank You For Reading, and Goodbye!