The teenager arrived at the hotel late. The events that had happened were from yesterday. "The hell? The damage done here looks fresh..." He investigates the scene.
"What's this...? A navigator? It says it's going North. Where does this go?" He had plenty of questions. Would he trust it? There is no other reliable source of communication and navigation. So, he had no choice but to follow it. "Raquel if only you were here to help me out damn it." Naoto is a counterpart of Ragna in a completely different dimension. He was serving under Raquel. The daughter of Clavis Alucard. Possibly Rachel's counterpart as well.
"I guess I have to keep moving." He proceeded to follow the device's signal.
"Was there a battle here? What happened?" He knew it was not a good idea to investigate. But he had questions. Otherwise, he wouldn't know the current situation or even be aware of what's going on. He followed the damage and gets to the location where Azrael was located.
"Son of a bitch...That Grim Reaper tied me up here. What kind of shit is this? It feels disgusting." Azrael couldn't do anything to move. He was definitely stuck there by Ragna's binding.
Naoto heard talking. The Mad Dog went mad. He didn't like staying immobile in one spot. "Huh?"
Azrael heard footsteps, "Hey bitch! You're back to piss me off aren't ya?" Naoto came out with hands up.
"I'm not here for a fight- Why are you tied up?" Naoto was confused, Azrael had an idea.
"I got robbed and beaten up. I'm lost in here like you are. I have no clue where I am right now. Name's Azrael. You?" He was just playing dumb. Unfortunately for him, the device still works.
"Ragna, you sure Azrael's really stuck there? We don't want him rampaging again. If he gets out of there, he is bound to kill one of you guys. " Kokonoe talking through the communicator.
"Fuck..." Azrael cursed himself. Naoto immediately moved away from him.
"Uhm...hello?" Naoto talked.
"Who the hell are you? How'd you even get dad's gizmo?" Kokonoe's senses sharpen up. This is someone she doesn't know and is talking through her device.
"I uh...I'm near the Azrael guy and are you the person who made this?" Naoto really didn't know what to say there.
"Yes, I am. Why do you have it?" She was about to push the wireless self to detonate button, so nobody else would know their plans. "Careless deadbeat dad..."
"I found it along the way. I sorta came from somewhere? I fell from the sky and all that kind of stuff."
"I'm gonna have to trust him for a bit...if he does something sketchy, I'll have everyone pile on him..." She calls out the person talking through her device, "Give me your identity and I'll tell you what to do." She wanted it to be quick.
"Eh? Why do I need to-" He sighs, " I need answers so...screw it. I'm Naoto. Naoto Kurogane, 16 years old, High schooler, and I serve under Raquel Alucard."
"Raquel Alucard? Rachel's got a sister? I didn't know that. This guy gave out his identity that easily? That was easy. Although, I still don't know anything about him in general...I'll keep an eye on you." Kokonoe implanting the information in her head.
"What about you? Person in the radio?" Naoto tried to be funny. It didn't work.
"Name's Kokonoe. Now follow that mark on your gizmo you're holding. The rest will be talked about later." She was losing patience. She needed to figure something out about the system's problems when it talked about someone to defeat.
"Okay, but uh- Wh? Hey! Is anyone there?!" Kokonoe turned off her comms and enabled navigation on Naoto's device. "*Sigh* Guess I'll go with this one."
"Hey, kid. What about me?" Azrael asks Naoto.
"Sorry, can't do anything. But I need to go." Naoto runs to the location it pinpointed at.
"HEY, YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME HERE!" Azrael was left in the dust. "Fucking asshole..."
Naoto was running and following the direction he was running in. The area he was started to distort. Reality started to fluctuate. "What the hell?" It teleported him to Ragna's location.
"OOF!" He landed on the ground. He gets up seeing the group. "Uh...hi?"
Everyone immediately went into a battle stance.
Ragna was shocked. What is he doing here? He was supposed to be summoned during the events of Central Fiction. He was about to ask Rachel, but he sees her going uneasy.
"You...you are not supposed to be here!" Rachel started losing her cool.
"Wait! I'm not an enemy!" He raises his hands showing that he surrenders, " I just need some questions...wait." He looks at Rachel, "Raquel? is that you...? H-HEY!" He dodges lightning that was cast from Rachel.
Ragna immediately grabs Rachel and tells her to stop. "Rachel! This isn't like you! What's the matter?!" She was trying to get off of him.
"I...I must eradicate him. His presence alone can harm you! Release me!" She was actually going to hurt Ragna just to be released and remove Naoto. She doesn't want Ragna's existence to be in danger.
"Hey, kid. Come with us. We'll leave the two of them here for now." Jubei suggesting to leave the couple alone for a talk.
"Okay...thanks..." Naoto was relieved that he didn't have to fight anyone. "But why does she look like Raquel...?"
The two were finally left alone in the area.
Ragna lets her go, she looked anxious and uneasy. "What's going on? What does he have to do with me?"
"His existence is dangerous. Ragna, if he stays here you'll-" He silenced her by putting his hands on her shoulders with a comforting look.
"You know I'm not like last time Rachel." He caresses her cheek, "I'm different. I can basically fight Sankishin units and do lots of stuff that I couldn't do before. I still have functional body parts while Celica is around." He smiles, this allows Rachel to cool down. "Calm down. I'll be alright. He may be out of place, but it won't hurt me. I know the guy. I sorta own him for saving you. And me."
"He...what? He saved us?" She started to collect herself. "Okay...I understand." She trusted his words, but she still needed to keep her guard up. Ragna had never lied to Rachel, even if he was annoyed. But as of now, nothing can be predicted.
He wraps her in his arms, "It's fine. You don't have to worry. You know, you worry a little too much."
"It was for your sake. If you didn't have such capabilities before, I would have erased his face of the planet." she hugged him back and pushed him back slowly. She finally got herself together once more. "However, there was a person hovering above him. She looked awfully similar."
"Who?" Ragna didn't catch on to what she said, "Hovering on him? I didn't see anything. Must've been your imagination." He really didn't know what she was talking about. "Guess we'll have to find out and ask him."
Meanwhile in Jubei's group.
"Where are ya from?" The cat hands him a fish on a stick.
"Thanks, came from somewhere, a castle. I serve under the Alucard family."
This caught the cat's attention. "Alucard? Didn't know Clavis had another daughter. What's your relation to Rachel? Are you another friend of hers?"
"Rachel? Uh, the name's kinda different. I'm actually not from here. I have no clue where I am. I don't know where she even sent me." He was in utter confusion. The words that were given to him were: Save the possibility.
"What the hell did you mean by saving the possibility? Where the hell is you anyways Raquel." Naoto started to get annoyed.
"What does she look like?" Makoto asks the teenager.
"Well, she looks similar to that girl who was held back by the white-haired guy." Raquel had a striking resemblance to Rachel. Except she was taller and skinnier and had golden eyes. And naked. "And...she doesn't wear clothes..."
"What now?" Jubei was caught off guard. Why was she running around naked? He thought Makoto's attire showed too much skin but this Raquel girl took it to the next level.
"She sees mortals as cowards and would most likely walk around naked. I don't know why, but no matter what I say, she just wouldn't buy it." He shakes his head in disappointment.
"You say that this girl, has similarities with my physical features?" Rachel looked at Naoto with a bit of bitterness.
"Rach, you might wanna lower your killing intent would ya? For me?" He could sense that Rachel was getting angry hearing those words.
"Y-yeah. She doesn't really wear clothes, can we not talk about this please?" visible embarrassment in his eyes.
Her eye twitches, "That person you are talking about, is within you. I can see her hovering above you. I see no garments, only a cape. I am going to assume that is her. If she is part of the Alucard family, wearing not a single thing for clothing and roaming freely bare is definitely a sin." She was definitely getting mad.
"Alright Rachel, you've got your part. I'll take the wheel." He approaches his counterpart, "Why are you here Naoto?"
That surprised the teenager, he didn't even tell him his name yet. "How did you...?"
"Let's just say that I know you from a different world alright?" Ragna was already getting annoyed, but now's the good time to tell everyone.
"All of you, get in close, I have things to say." Everybody listened and got close. "Like you, I'm not from here originally. You were sent here for a reason, but I don't know what for. As for me, I kinda fucked up when I tried to exit the Amaterasu Unit."
Nine was taken by surprise, "Wait wait wait Amaterasu unit? What did you do? You killed Terumi?"
"Yep. He nearly killed me but I got stronger in return. High risk, high reward." He was glad that he finally killed the bane of his existence. All that's left is to return and live his life with Rachel. "Now, make sure to keep your mouths shut alright? Nobody else should know about this."
Tager already knew the situation and the 3 friends were incredibly surprised.
"What about us? And Jin?" Tsubaki asked.
"I won't spoil your ending. It'll be less exciting."
"I see..." She had hoped for the best. She wonders what would happen to her in the future.
"I knew it. A power boost like that is pretty abnormal Ragna, it would be too good to be true to know that you mastered the Grimoire a little too early." A chuckle from his master.
Nine was impressed. "Well? You're stronger than before I can give you that."
Naoto wasn't listening. Instead, he was deep in his conscience. He didn't know he was thinking out loud, "Raquel is within me? What does that even mean? If so, why the hell can't I see her?"
"I dunno I can see her clearly. She's streaking alright." Nine was amused. Someone that belongs to a noble family is doing such actions? That's something you don't see every day.
Naoto felt a bit uneasy. "Christ, I guess your right. Anything negative you say about her, I feel weird. Just to confirm my intuition, try insulting her.
Nine smiled, "My pleasure. Flat." Nine saw the figure's face turn sour. She got pissed.
Naoto was suddenly on his knees. "Naoto!" Makoto tried to hold him up. Even if it was not directed to Noel, she felt bitter.
"Fuck..." He suddenly felt a punch to the gut. "Yeah, you're right...ow..."
Ragna gives him a hand to get up. He learned from his past mistakes from starting fights without thinking. "So, why are you here? What did the girl say before bringing you here?"
Naoto briefly explained that he was sent to this world because he was tasked to "save the possibility". Ragna was surprised.
"Hmm...maybe I might lose my temper like that time with Azrael again..." He was thinking deep into his thoughts. "Stay with us for now. We don't mind having a new ally in our team. It's better than dealing with enemies. It'll be a pain in the neck if we gained more enemies."
"Enemies? Like that one guy that was tied up on my way here?" He was talking about Azrael. Ragna laughed a bit. The Mad Dog still couldn't escape. "Yeah, tied the dog to a leash."
"Ahem. Naoto, when you return to this 'Raquel' person. Make sure she wears proper clothing. She is defiling her name as Alucard." She could feel Raquel looking back at Rachel. "For someone who thinks mortals are insignificant, you have the audacity to walk around bare. That would let you be on even ground for popular harlots." She could feel dagger stares from the other vampire.
Ragna holds Rachel and slowly drags her away, "Rachel, it's best not to piss her off. She's gonna abuse the poor guy."
"I would have no business with her if she was not an Alucard. She is dishonoring the family name. Now listen here." She wanted to lecture her. Ragna proceeded to carry her and scurry off.
"We'll follow, you guys go ahead. I need to cool her down again."
"I demand to be put down!"
"Over my dead body!" Ragna gradually speeds up his walking.
"W-what are you doing?!" She feels as if Ragna was walking faster.
Ragna was gonna repeat what he did with her in the past. A big leap towards the sky.
"A little stress reliever!" He bends and springs up.
"W-WAIT STOP-" A scream could be heard as it slowly fades away due to the distance. He leaped very high.
"Haha, They get along well do they?" Nine was a bit giddy. She wanted to follow the couple.
"We can think about those two later. We need to get to Tager and talk to Kokonoe." The cat suggests that they need to go to Tager. He is not far from the group. He informed Jubei that he was going somewhere for a better signal since Kokonoe needed to pass information to Tager. It was about Naoto.
Tager was located in an open part of the forest. He was talking to Kokonoe, "So you're saying that Naoto is from an alternate timeline of possibilities? Dear God, and I thought Ragna's situation was complicated." The Red Devil sighs in distress.
"Shit's always complicated. It's annoying how we always have to deal with this constant bullshit every day." Kokonoe was already stressed out from analyzing the last message that was given to her before all contact was lost.
Jubei calls out to Tager while everyone was walking along with the cat. It almost took an hour for them to look for the Red Devil in using the navigator of Celica's he was really that far away. Moments later, Jubei finally saw Tager and called him. The two start the conversation, "Okay so, we might have another person coming. His name's-"
"Naoto. Your message came in late. Boy, he just appeared outta thin air."
"I see...let me update Kokonoe on that..." Tager returns to the area where he got a better signal.
"The teenagers get along well since they're all of the same age. Young 'uns, I miss those days. Man, I'm old."
"Indeed we are. But with the time we have, it's best to live it to the fullest dear~" Nine picked up Jubei and proceeds to hug him like a stuffed toy.
"N-Nine...let me go..." Jubei was definitely getting humiliated.
Tager was distraught. "Can we all stop the lovefest here? We have serious matters to deal with."
"Just go on. Nine won't even bo-HAGh cAN't bREATHE." He was getting squished.
Tager rolled his eyes. "Naoto and the rest of the girls. You are to be under my surveillance. Kokonoe ordered me to keep an eye on you guys. Make sure you stay with me got it?"
All of them nodded in agreement.
The couple appears through the shade of the trees.
"What did we miss?" Ragna was still carrying his little bunny-leech. Rachel looked irritated and her hair was messy. She was definitely exhausted from screaming.
"Remind me to have your head buried under the soil." Ragna kept jumping and tried to do tricks in the air. Rachel couldn't let go of Ragna out of instinct. The criminal laughed, "It was worth it."
Time passes as they were given more information about Kokonoe's plan. They were also told to hurry up since Hakumen started to get impatient. Nine and Jubei were leading the way, the 4 girls and Naoto were walking along with Tager and the couple was following at the back. Naoto told Tager that he had some more questions to ask either Ragna or Rachel. He slows down to go to an even pace with the two.
"Hey guys, I wanna talk about something." Naoto was waving his hand as he walks towards them.
Ragna replied instantly, "Yeah sure."
"Damn how do I call her? Miss? Mrs.? Madam? Ah, screw it." He didn't know how to call Rachel. "Madam? Lady? Rachel, before I ask about more stuff. Who's this white-haired guy and how does he know me? Are you a master and servant relationship thing like I am?
A tint of red appears from her cheeks and eyed Ragna. He looked away and covered his mouth, trying not to laugh. He knows that Rachel isn't still used to this kind of stuff. Why was he asking her instead of Ragna? Is it because she resembles someone he knows? "Ahem. H-he's my lover. He isn't my servant. Like you, he came from an alternate timeline. Although, he is from the future. It's unknown if he'll stay or go back to where he was after we resolve this mess."
"Oh, I see. I get what you mean. But, mind if I know the person of possibility?" Naoto asked more questions.
"The buffoon walking beside me is the possibility." she was referring to Ragna.
"Wha-? Seriously? You're calling me that as an introduction?" Ragna slouches with his arms down.
"You referred to me as a rabbit multiple times. This is just a personal preference for us to be on even ground you see..."
"But you look like one with those ribbons. It was a compliment."
"Whether you like it or not, buffoon." A visible smile from the vampire. Ragna sighed.
"If so, I'll just call him a white-haired bastard every now and then." That popped a vein on Ragna, he didn't even pick a fight. Why was Naoto being an asshole here? What did Ragna even do? Is it natural that random strangers would hate him? "Son of a bitch..." Ragna cursed himself.
"What? Are you looking for a fight punk? You know what? Forget it." He decided it was better to not fight instead. Although, he's very tempted to beat him up.
"Anything else Naoto?" Rachel asked him if he had any more questions.
"This is just a personal one. Does the Alucard family have a tradition for streaking?" It struck a chord on Rachel. Ragna heard something snap.
"..." Silence surrounds the three when everyone stopped when they heard his question. Naoto felt cold in his spine all of a sudden.
Ragna puts his hand on Rachel's shoulder. He was about to ask her about her sudden silence while he was trying to not laugh. Rachel was known to always have a calm and steady head. If it was anything about Ragna and her own family name, that would change. And I mean that would really change. Oh Naoto, what have you done?
"You being quiet is getting a little creepy, something wrong?" Ragna was not paying attention to Naoto and proceeded to look at her. Her eyes were locked on to Naoto with killing intent. This scared Ragna. He looks at Naoto shivering in fear, he regretted asking her that.
"Bold of you to assume that it was a Family tradition to trot along the streets bare. I am no harlot nor cretin boy. The only man I allow and find worthy to view me in full form is Ragna, and you think that I would have a debut and dance around wearing nothing but my shawl?" Rachel was slowly losing it.
"Oh shit. Hey uh, Rachel, you might wanna...calm down a bit?" He smiles nervously
"Oh dear Ragna, I am indeed calm." Her "calm smile" was way worse than Hazama's casual grin. It spelled murder out loud with that face.
Ragna turns to Naoto. Their eyes meet, Ragna's eyes signaled the teenager, "Run." The criminal was gonna slow Rachel down and find a way to calm her down again.
Naoto on the other hand ran towards Tager and hides behind him for dear life. Everyone began sprinting away from Rachel while Ragna stays behind for her.
Winds began to form into small tornadoes. Ragna could be seen flying in it, he was about to puke from intense dizziness.
"RACHEL! PUT ME DOWN!" The criminal was screaming.