Hi everyone! I'm presenting to you a new chapter! Chapter 4! I hope everyone will enjoy this new chapter! Without further ado... Let's start!
Normal POV
After some time had passed, Aichi waved goodbye to the others as Ibuki left the door half open.
" Just so you know, this is still a headquarters. Please don't make a ruckus tonight." Ibuki said
Aichi blushed as he shook his head.
" N-Nothing will happen!" Aichi exclaimed
Ibuki sighed as he closed the door, leaving Aichi and Kai in the room.
" Uh... Let's not take him too seriously..." Aichi said, blushing
" Y-Yeah..."
" ... Did you... want to say something before they came in?" Aichi ask
Kai breathed in a little as he held Aichi's hands.
" ... I love you, Aichi." Kai confessed
" Thank you, Kai-kun. I love you too." Aichi confessed
" How long?" Kai ask
" Huh?"
" How long had you had feelings for me?" Kai ask
" Hm... When we met again after Blaster Blade was taken away from me...? Although, I thought that emotion was something else." Aichi said
" For me... It was around the same time, I guess... You never ever saw me smile, but I was listening to everything you would say to me. At some point of time, I would just unconsiously start smiling." Kai said
" R-Really?"
" Miwa tease me for it a lot. You were never there to hear them though." Kai said
" I see... I have to stay here tonight. I heard that Chris-kun had new data about Relics." Aichi said
" I'll stay here with you. The Apostles came over today, and I'm not risking it again. What if they come back? Alice can't come back to protect you anymore." Kai said
" How are you so sure they're after Alice?" Aichi ask
" ... I just know. It's a gut feeling. Also, you're a user of one of the United Sanctuary clans. They might try to Diffride you too." Kai said
" Okay then. I'll be heading to the meeting room." Aichi said
" I'll bring our dinner. Your breakfast must have gone bad by now." Kai said
" Sorry. I'll eat my breakfast next time." Aichi said
" I'm surprised you never felt hungry for so long." Kai said
" I was really tired." Aichi said
" Alright. Go to the meeting room." Kai said
" Okay."
Aichi headed towards the meeting room while Kai made their dinner with whatever there was in the kitchen before bringing the dinner to the meeting room.
" Thank you, Kai-kun." Aichi thanked
" No problem. Here, have a taste." Kai said as he set the plates down
" Thank you for the food." Aichi said as he picked up his spoon and ate, " It's delicious!"
" That's good." Kai said before noticing that the sword was beside Aichi, " Did you have to bring that?"
" I couldn't just leave it in the room. I guess it became my habit after living in the Underworld for a few months." Aichi said
" Time there really passes by quickly." Kai said
" Yeah. Who knows. She might be seeing what I'm seeing right now." Aichi said
" Talk about no privacy in a different kind of way. How will we know when you two will switch bodies again?" Kai ask
" ... I don't really know... Maybe it's because we synced when we feel asleep at the same time. It's really hard to sync our sleeping hours since time passes so differently. Maybe that's the condition. Although, how we return to our own bodies is still a mystery." Aichi said
" I see..."
" Don't worry. We'll be fine." Aichi assured
" Yeah."
A few days later, they had gathered together with Chrono and the others in the meeting room as they looked at the screens with their friends shown around the world.
" For the past several days, a great quantity of information relating to the Apostles has been reported worldwide. The info ranges from locations of their bases to eyewitness sightings of their actions. Our people are out there now in order to determine the veracity of these reports, but..." Ibuki said
" It's probably a diversionary tactic. They want us to spread thin... so they can get you." Aichi said as they turned to Chrono
" It's gone for now, but it appeared then." Chrono said
" We saw it too." Taiyou confirmed
" Going by Gastille's words, the Apostles are definitely trying to turn you into a vessel for Gyze. On the other hand, if we can just protect you and send the last three Apostles back to Planet Cray, this entire affair will be over." Ibuki said
" Is there something we can do to help?" Taiyou ask
" I've gotta do more than just let myself be protected!" Chrono exclaimed
" Calm down. I know how you feel, but I want you to leave this to us. Chrono-kun, the enemy is after you." Mamoru said
" It's alright. I'm sure we'll have this whole thing wrapped up soon." Aichi assured
Chrono and the others left after that as Aichi suddenly felt a surge of pain in his right eye. He winced as he held his eye.
" Aichi?!"
" My eye just suddenly...!" Aichi winced
" Ibuki! I need to check on him!" Kai exclaimed
" Yeah."
Kai carried Aichi over to the room as he sat him down on the bed.
" Tell me. Is something happening?" Kai ask
" It's not normal... Something must be happening to Alice... My eye feels like it might burst...!" Aichi exclaimed
" Aichi!"
" ... Kai-kun..."
Seeing Aichi's outstretched hand, Kai took it and hugged him tightly. To calm him down, Kai rubbed Aichi's back while his body started to shiver in pain before everything went still and quiet.
" ... Aichi?"
Kai pulled away and looked at Aichi closely as he wiped the tears spilling out of his right eye. Aichi weakly opened his left eye as he let out a sigh.
" My right eye can't open for awhile... I think Alice wouldn't want this eye to heal so quickly either... I don't know what happened yet... But this must be the Seal of the Right Eye that Uncle told me about..." Aichi said
" 'Seal of the Right Eye'?" Kai ask
" It's a seal that prevents anyone from doubting or going against the Axiom Church... I heard it causes great pain if you have any thoughts like that... I think it was a barcode of sorts that appears in the Right Eye... I remember it was something like 'Code 871'..." Aichi said
" And a seal that keeps the rules in place so that nothing like murder will take place in the Human Empire." Kai said
" Yeah. Criminals guilty of that would be sentenced to death." Aichi said
" That doesn't make any sense... Something like that would never exist. I mean, they want to create AIs capable of murder. With that Seal, it would be impossible. Someone like that Kikuoka would never do that... Could there be..." Kai thought
" Kai-kun...?"
" I-It's nothing. Do you want me to check on your eye?" Kai ask
" It's okay... It's probably just extremely swollen and red from the sudden pain... It'll heal after a day or two..." Aichi assured
Kai went to the first aid kit and took out a roll of bandage and a patch. He then wrapped the bandage around the patch on Aichi's eye and kept the rest back into the box.
" It's not much, but it'll at least keep dust or small particles away so that it can heal better." Kai said
" Thank you..."
" Get some rest. I'll inform Ibuki about your condition." Kai said
" Okay..."
Kai tucked Aichi in as he slowly fell asleep. Once Kai confirmed that he was sleeping, he stood up and headed back to the meeting room. Two hours later, a phone call came as Aichi woke up from the ringtone and answered it.
" Hello...? ... Chaos Breaker...?! Kazuma-kun is fighting him...?! I'm coming right now...!" Aichi exclaimed
Aichi got up, wincing at the pain lingering in his right eye as he quickly made his way outside while grabbing his sword. He quickly got into a car and drove off. Meanwhile, Kai went back into the room to find him missing as he ran to the meeting room again.
" Aichi's gone!" Kai exclaimed
" What?!"
" Check the security footage!" Kai exclaimed
Ibuki nodded and got out the security footage to see that Aichi had taken a car and left.
" What's that idiot doing now?!" Kai exclaimed
He tried to call Aichi as the call kept redirecting to voicemail.
Meanwhile, Aichi had quickly arrived at a construction site as he quickly made his way up. As he was ascending the stairs, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain running from his chest to his stomach as he fell to the ground.
" ... Alice...!"
" Run! Don't go any further!" A voice called out
" ... Is that you, Alice...?! Where are you...?!" Aichi exclaimed as he looked around
" Look out!" The voice exclaimed
Aichi gasped as he saw a net coming down at him from above. Without knowing, his arm had already moved to unsheath his sword and slice the net.
" ... Wha...?"
As soon as he felt the pain in his chest residing, the voice also faded away. Aichi sheathed his sword again as he continued his way up the stairs.
" Taiyou-kun...! Kazuma-kun...!"
" Aichi-san!"
" The world will be silent!" Chaos Breaker declared as his mark glowed
The glow intensified as Stark appeared and roared. Aichi felt the floor beneath them crumbling as he quickly reached out for his sword.
" Enhance... Armament!"
When he opened his eye again, he found himself surrounded by the flowers as he went over to Taiyou.
" Taiyou-kun...!"
He looked around and saw Kazuma standing on a beam while his eyes widened at the figure above them.
" G-Gyze...?"
That was when Gyze started to try to take over Kazuma as Aichi quickly took up his sheath and directed the flowers towards Gyze to try to stop it, but the attack went through.
" No way... Kazuma-kun!" Aichi exclaimed
While his guard was down, another net fell on him as he struggled to break free.
" Got him!" Darkface exclaimed
" Just in time." Chaos Breaker said
Gyze, having taken over Kazuma's body, descended towards Aichi as the flowers returned to the sword and he sliced the net apart. From the sudden movement, his eye flared in pain again as he winced before lifting up his sword again.
" Get out of Kazuma-kun's body...!" Aichi exclaimed
Aichi stepped back just as Gyze took a step forward before turning behind him to see that he was at the edge of the building.
" Give up. There's no escape." Chaos Breaker said
" I'm trapped..." Aichi thought
Meanwhile, Kai had quickly drove over to the construction building that had now been surrounded by a barrier as he got out and spotted Onimary.
" Onimaru?"
" Shindou-kun ran in, but I can't get in!" Onimaru exclaimed
" What?!"
Kai looked up at the building before receiving a call as he answered it.
" Can you hear me, Kai?! I'm checking satellite images right now and I see Aichi on top of that building with the Apostles!" Chris exclaimed
" What?!"
" He's surrounded! They seem to want something from him!" Chris exclaimed
" Damn it!" Kai exclaimed as he hung the call up
He tried to look up at the building as he finally saw a familiar back.
" Aichi!"
On top of the building, Aichi heard Kai's yell as he turned back to the ground.
" Kai-kun...?"
" Look out, Aichi-san!" Chrono exclaimed just as he arrived
Aichi gasped and turned back to see Valeos lunging towards him. Getting surprised, he had taken a step too far back and slipped, falling off the building. Kai and Onimaru gasped.
" Aichi!"
As he tried to use his sword again, the mark on his neck glowed and a roar could be heard.
" What?!"
They looked up as a shadow came closer towards him, flying past the Apostles and towards the ground as Aichi grabbed onto the saddle and sat down. Another roar and a hole opened up in the barrier and they flew out of the barrier.
" No way..." Onimaru exclaimed
" Are you seeing this, Chris...?" Kai ask when his phone rang again
" ... Y-Yeah... A real dragon is flying..." Chris exclaimed
Aichi smiled and looked at the dragon.
" Ama... yori...? Is that you...?" Aichi ask
The dragon, Amayori, nodded as she landed. Aichi got off and patted her.
" I can't believe it... How are you here...? You recognised me...?" Aichi ask
Amayori cuddled against his cheek as he giggled while Kai and Onimaru ran towards him.
" Aichi!"
Amayori came between them as it growled.
" It's okay... They're my friends..." Aichi assured as he patted her again
Amayori looked back at him before flying into the sky and disappeared.
" Thank you..."
His legs gave out as Kai quickly caught him before he collapsed to the ground.
" Aichi!"
" Kai-kun..."
" Onimaru, I'm bringing him back for now." Kai said
" I got it. I'll stay here to wait for backup." Onimaru said
Kai nodded and carried Aichi into his car, buckling him in the passenger's seat and going into the car to drive off. Once they arrived back in the HQ, Kai carried Aichi inside and laid him down on the bed.
" Aichi? Wake up, Aichi." Kai called
Aichi groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
" What...?"
" You're alright now. How are you doing?" Kai ask
" ... Where's Kirito...?" Aichi ask
" Huh?"
" He was struck by some sort light... Where is he right now...?" Aichi ask
" What are you saying, Aichi?" Kai ask
" Ai... chi...?"
Aichi blinked slowly and looked around again before looking at Kai, narrowing his eyes a little before sighing.
" I see... I'm back here again..." Aichi sighed
" ... You're Alice, right?" Kai ask
" Correct... What happened here...? His body feels a little weak..." 'Alice' said
" We have an enemy here that's trying to destroy this world. Aichi tried to save someone from becoming a vessel to that deity but failed and almost got captured. But a dragon saved him... I think he called it, 'Amayori'." Kai said
" Amayori...? Amayori is in this world...?" 'Alice' ask
" You know it?" Kai ask
" Amayori is a girl...! Don't be rude...!" 'Alice' said
" S-Sorry..."
" ... She's my dragon... She hatched from an egg and became my partner..." 'Alice' said
" I see."
" I hope Kirito is safe... I guess Aichi can take care of him for awhile until our bodies switch back..." 'Alice' said
" Yeah."
Suddenly, the ground started to shake as Kai held onto 'Alice'.
" What's this...?!" 'Alice' exclaimed
" Hang onto something!" Kai exclaimed
He then got up and ran to look out of the window as he gasped, seeing a new Zeroth Dragon descending.
" A Zeroth Dragon...!" Kai exclaimed
" What is it...?!" 'Alice' exclaimed
" This is... the sixth one! That means..." Kai exclaimed
" ... Zeroth Dragons...? According to his memories, this shouldn't be happening...!" 'Alice' exclaimed
" But it's happening right now! All six Zeroth Dragons have awakened!" Kai exclaimed
A bright light engulfed the area with the Zeroth Dragon as it soon disappeared.
" Is it over...?" 'Alice' ask
" ... No. I see it... It's the Planet Cray... It's visible in the sky..." Kai said
" And...? What's the plan now...?" 'Alice' ask
As soon as he finished his sentence, Kai received a call as he answered it.
" Hello? ... I got it. Yeah, we'll start packing up and head there soon." Kai said as he hung the call up
" Who was it...?" 'Alice' ask
" It was Ibuki. We're heading to the North American Branch." Kai said
" What for...?" 'Alice' ask
" The Zeroth Dragon that Gyze still needs is being kept there. We're going to head there to protect it." Kai aaid
" I see... Then let's make haste..." 'Alice' said
" You stay there. I'll pack up our luggages and get a flight ready." Kai said
'Alice' sighed before nodding as Kai called someone else and exited the room.
Meanwhile, in the Underworld, a week had passed since the final battle with Quinella as 'Aichi' had also switched bodies with Alice again. He looked out of the window of the Cathedral and back at the bed in front of him.
" Everything should be over, but why did this have to happen...? Eugeo is gone and you're suddenly in a vegetive state." 'Aichi' muttered
The door opened as he turned to see Bercouli walking in.
" Hey there, little boy. How are you adjusting?" Bercouli ask
" I'm adjusting well. Thank you for the concern, Uncle." 'Aichi' replied
" Good. Don't worry. The boy will wake up soon." Bercouli assured
" I hope so. Alice really wanted to take care of him well. I thought that I should take her place for now until we returned to our bodies." 'Aichi' said
" Yeah."
" Everything must be at peace now. The Administrator is gone and the ruling can be taken away too. Now the people in the Underworld won't have to suffer anymore." 'Aichi' said
" ... Little boy. You mean you didn't know?" Bercouli ask
" Huh?"
" We're currently readying our army by recruiting soldiers all around the Human Empire. The gates to the Dark Territory are about to collapse soon." Bercouli said
" But if the gate collapses, then..." 'Aichi' exclaimed
" The Human Empire and the Dark Territory are going into war." Bercouli said
'Aichi' gasped as his eyes slowly widened.
" No way... War?!" 'Aichi' exclaimed
And that's the end of this chapter! Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see everyone in the next chapter!