Ch.10 Hiro's War Tale 1
After the battle with Hiro and Odin, Saori and Kurumi snuck into the police station and erased all the footage of the fights, any and all files with Mana's image in it since she's labeled as unnamed DEM wizard; this allowed everyone to move freely throughout the city and fortunately the wizards never got a good look at Ellen, Kurumi, and Aki. The AST is currently trying to make repairs to the damaged buildings, find the DEM wizards responsible (which is what they think happened), and wait for Hiro to recover and as they think Shido and his group are just some random citizens that helped the colonel and Odin. The ceremony, which was supposed to take today, is delayed until Hiro recovers since he is supposed to be the speech giver and figure head for the ceremony.
Shido and his group, minus Akane, decided to spend the night at a hotel. Mana still has no idea what's going on, but Shido has promised answers just as soon as everyone is in place and she hasn't questioned much since but is still flabbergasted by Ellen and her rather motherly persona whenever she talks about her family. Currently, Shido is talking with Kurumi over a cup of coffee in the lobby of the hotel while the others are doing their own thing. Shido wants to talk with Kurumi about what she learned about Hiro when used her power on that photo of him. Kurumi is very willing to answer but Shido only has two questions he wants answered right away, and asks with slight concern as he holds his cup of coffee.
"How many people has he…you know."
Kurumi maintained her usual demeanor and simply responds.
"One-hundred ninety –six and he kept count of every one."
Shido knew it in his heart that Hiro has killed but he is shocked to hear that he has killed that many people and his hands trembled around his cup and he tries to keep calm as he says.
"I see."
It shouldn't surprise him since Hiro is also Origami's son and how she goes about revenge since its clear to anyone that Hiro despises DEM. Shido is still trembling but still asks his second question to Kurumi.
"And does the me of this time know at all?"
"Not from what I saw, Hiro never told his dad about the killings."
Shido is curious about how much the Shido of this time knew about his sons actions and what he would think but Shido still wants to know what Hiro's true feelings are regardless of what he can hear. Back in the base timeline, Shinra is currently meeting with Freki in his room about something she feels that he could be interested in. Freki presents Shinra with a photo she took of Aki and Shinra already knows who he is thanks to Geri. But then Freki adds with a serious normal tone.
"He's probably someone who can be of great use to us and he's vulnerable."
This caught Shinra's interest.
"How so Freki?"
"He currently doubts himself and he may accept our help like Saori, but let's hope we have different results."
"Oh, you don't like Saori?"
"No Shinra but her personality scares me."
"Believe me I don't like it either but she is a valuable asset to our plan. I'll go meet with Akihiko and give him some help."
Shinra leaves the room through a dark portal and only plans on being gone for about a few minutes. Back to other timeline, Mana out for a walk getting some fresh air since she had been locked up in that jail cell for nearly two weeks and is confused since her brother claims his adventure hasn't even been more than three days. But what is currently the most pressing thing on her mind is her meeting with Saori in the bathroom. Despite being used to dealing with Kurumi, Mana is frightened by Saori and doesn't exactly know why. Just remembering her sent a shiver down Mana's spine and she feels nauseous every time she remembers Saori's threat.
Elsewhere, Aki is sitting on a bench since he also wanted to get some air but wanted to be alone. He is completely frustrated at himself.
"I couldn't scratch that younger Ellen, I couldn't handle myself against that woman from earlier, and now we have Saori and Mana, and I only beat Saori because I got lucky. What good am I?"
Aki looks at his hands and clenches them in frustration. He considers just asking either Ellen or Kurumi to send him home so that he won't get in the way but is unsure since he still wants to help Shido. He takes a few deep breaths and decides to go get a drink before going back to the hotel. He buys a coffee from a vending machine, takes a long sip of it, and sighs with relief feeling a little less stressed.
"No, I'll stay with Shido. Besides I want to meet his Tohka; I want to know how my mom was like at that age."
Aki takes another sip of his coffee and then he hears a voice in his head.
"That's a good attitude Akihiko Itsuka."
Aki 's eyes widen and he senses somebody standing behind him but is something is preventing him from turning to see the person who's voice sounded male.
"Who are you?"
"A friend of your mother."
"What!?"
"Well not your mother but rather the Tohka I know. Anyway I'm here to help you; I want give you a gift so hold out your hand."
Aki's arm raises on its own and his hand opens. Then he hears the sound of a finger snapping and a black sphere appears in his hand which surprises him.
"What the!?"
The sphere begins take shape in his hand and takes the form of a long black sword with jagged dark purple edges, the hilt is covered with purple torn bandages, glowing purple thorns adorn the hilt guard, and just holding this blade made Aki feel stronger. Aki stares at this powerful blade with awe and smiles a little creepily but immediately snaps out of it and drops it.
"You don't like it?"
Aki feared that sword and doesn't respond to the man's words.
"Oh well, you can summon the sword anytime you desire and if you really want to gain power just merge yourself with the blade."
"WHY WOULD I DO THAT!?"
"I'm not forcing you to use it; whether you use it or not is completely up to you."
"Up…to me?"
"Indeed, I want to help you. By the way the sword is named is Azael."
The man disappears without giving Aki any answers about who he is, and Aki holds his palm open again and the sword, Azael, reappears in his hands and he thinks.
"This sword feels so dark, so sad, so lonely…and yet, I feel so strong when holding it."
He holds the sword for a good minute and then an image of his mom crying with the saddest lonely eyes wearing a dark outfit flashes through his head and he immediately dismisses the sword.
"What was that about?"
Aki looks at his palm and debates whether he should use the sword or not, but that image of his mother made him feel sad and wonders if the sword caused that image to appear. Mana shows up, sees Aki, and decides to check on him since she was introduced to him by his first name only since Shido still wants to introduce all of his party to her at once. Mana approaches him from behind and greets him in a casual fashion.
"Hey uh Akihiko right?"
Aki turns around and sees Mana. He responds in a normal tone since he regained his composure.
"Oh yeah but please call me Aki."
Mana got a friendlier tone with Aki since she wants be on good terms with him since he's a friend of her brother.
"Okay, Aki do you want to go back to the hotel with me?"
Aki smiles.
"Sure."
Aki and Mana walk back to the hotel together and make small talk about things they enjoy. Back at the hotel, Ellen and Saori are currently enjoying coffee and cakes together. Since Ellen wasn't around when Shido's group fought Saori, Ellen doesn't have any feelings of fear around her and actually has a decent conversation with her. Ellen is asking Saori about her family.
"So you have five siblings?"
"With a sixth on the way."
"Haha you know I want to give my daughter a baby brother or sister and I wanted to ask my husband about it before all this happened."
Saori then decides to ask a serious question that even bugs her a little.
"So Ellen doesn't it bother you that there are multiple Shido's who are with different women?"
Ellen takes a bite of her cake and smiles.
"Of course not, because I see each of them as a unique person, but at the same time I feel compelled to help them if I can."
Saori sips her coffee and thinks.
"Unique people huh. I can't argue since I see it that way myself."
The next day Shido and his friends went to hospital to check up on Akane and Hiro. When they got to the hospital, Akane is already walking around normally in her hospital smock and waiting for them. Shido is relieved that she is doing good and apparently her wounds fully healed thanks to her powers. Also fortunate, Hiro has woken up as well and he can have visitors, so Shido decides to go up to his room and set things straight. The only thing is that he can't bring people with him since visitors are limited per room for AST members.
Once he goes inside his hospital room, Shido sees Hiro staring out the window. Shido is the first to talk and greets him in a normal tone.
"Hello colonel."
Hiro turns his head and immediately puts on an enraged look.
"You!"
Hiro looks as if he's ready to jump and attack despite his injuries, but Shido extends his arm slowly and says.
"Wait, I'm not here to fight; I only want to talk."
"Why should I listen to DEM scum?"
"Hiro if we were with DEM, would we have brought you to the hospital?"
Hiro looks at the ground and settles down since he feels like giving them a chance to explain but says.
"Fine, but I can't believe that asinine story you told me."
Shido is determined to make Hiro believe his story; then Shido gets an idea.
"Hey Hiro I have an idea."
Hiro goes with it.
"What?"
"If my story is true then I should know things about your mom that no one else would, but keep in mind I'm only sixteen and won't know things above that age."
Hiro thinks for a second and says.
"We'll see…Okay first question, what was my mom wearing the first time when you went into her apartment?"
Shido recalls that day since it was an awkward visit to get Yoshinon from Origami but he distinctly remembers what she wore and says with an awkward look.
"A maid outfit."
Hiro actually looks legitimately surprised and says.
"Correct…okay second question, when you went on a date with my mom, what was the outfit you told her to put on?"
This memory brought up feelings that make Shido uncomfortable since that particular move made him feel like an ass even though it was Kotori who told him to say it and says with his head turned.
"A school swimsuit with dog ears and a tail."
Hiro looks as if he's ready to smile but asks one more question.
"Okay last question, what is the codename of the spirit that my mother used to hold a grudge against and for what reason?"
Shido got serious about this one and gives his answer.
"Efreet the flame spirit because Origami said that it killed her parents but I couldn't let her hurt my sister and you know what I'm talking about."
Hiro's eyes widen with shock and says.
"It's true…then that means…I attacked.."
Hiro appears mortified and looks as if he's about to scream; when Shido taps him on the shoulder and says in calm tone.
"Everybody is okay, no one got hurt, and I'll bet if you apologize the others will say no problem."
Hiro's face becomes more normal but has a hint of sadness.
"But I'm supposed to help people. That's why I became an anti-wizard soldier, that's why I became a colonel, THAT'S WHY I JOINED THE AST!"
Shido pats his shoulders again.
"I not going to say I understand everything you went through, but I can say that you're not a bad person and that clearly you've made the people of this city happy."
Hiro smiles a little and says.
"Shido, tell me how you got here."
"Well okay"
Shido begins to tell Hiro about his journey so far. Downstairs in the lobby, everyone is chatting with each other, when a girl in a wheelchair storms through the entrance, and surprisingly, she is being followed by Kaguya. Kaguya is wearing a simple purple secretary dress, and the girl in the wheelchair has long white hair, amber-brown eyes, short blue jeans, a short-sleeved green shirt, sandals, and has a pink bow in her hair. The girl wheels herself to the counter with a look of panic on her face and makes a scene.
"Where's my brother!"
The nurse at the counter doesn't know how to respond but remains calm.
"Uh well who is your brother?"
The girl continues to act the same way.
"Come on look at me! My brother is Hiro Itsuka the only guy in the city with white hair like me!"
Kaguya steps in front of the girl and tries to calm her down and the sound of her saying she's Hiro's brother catches everyone's attention. Kaguya tells the girl in a calm but submissive tone.
"Kaname, you promised you wouldn't do this remember?"
Kaguya remained the same in appearance but now has her hair in the same style as Yuzuru's most likely as a tribute to her. The nurse recognizes Kaguya with a twinkle in her eye.
"Oh aren't you the actress who plays magical wind priestess Yuzuya? Oh my daughter adores you and your show can I get an autograph from you please."
The girl named Kaname slams her fist on the counter.
"Ahem, Where-Is-My-Brother!"
The nurse quickly gets back to Kaname with a nervous look as she says.
"I'm sorry miss, but currently the colonel has a guest and can't have a second visitor."
The scene continues for at least fifteen more minutes and the group can't help but feel awkward. Back inside Hiro room, Shido just finishes telling Hiro the situation so far, and just like the others Hiro feels overwhelmed but accepts it. Shido has one question for Hiro and it's something that he has trouble asking but tries with fear in his voice.
"Hiro…what happened..to"
Hiro finishes his sentence.
"To Tohka and Yuzuru?"
Shido turns his head to the window and nods.
"I'd like to know…for closure."
Hiro sighs and explains himself.
"I'd better start from the beginning."
(Flashback)
"When I was in my final year of high school, I was captain of the kendo team and it was the final match and the school was attacked by DEM. Tohka and Yoshino were in the audience that night to watch me, so I assume that's why they were there in the first place. That was I met the new adeptus 2, a French woman named Collette, she had long golden blonde hair, and wire a yellow variation of the DEM standard wiresuite, and her realizer was called Lancelot. She was a beast of a human, she attacked my school, three of my teammates died, and my younger sister Kaname was caught in the destruction of the building and became paralyzed. Afterwards I joined the AST and hoped to join DEM myself to kill Collette for what she did. The AST saw my potential with the realizer and approached me to join in a program, The Anti-Wizard Initiative.
The program was designed after DEM attacked the school. Elliot Woodman himself designed the program and I was the first to undergo the procedure to have the weapon known as the Mana Eater implanted in my body. They implanted me with Mana Eater Model-Ratatosk and I spent months training with it. I was asked to go to England and showcase my powers to Isaac Westcott. When I got there, I met Ellen Mira Mathers the strongest wizard at the time, and she looked like hell. She was coughing blood and taking a medication, and I had suspicions about Isaac and the rest of DEM. I used that visit to uncover DEMs secrets; like Isaac's depraved nature, and his experiments on spirits. This lead to the war and I along with twenty-nine other soldiers along with an army of wizards fought DEM. Originally, I was part of a squad that was placed behind a massive territory to protect the city in case of a breach I had the misfortune to fight Collette while I was injured with a broken leg and that's when…"
(This will be an actual scene)
Hiro fights against Collette in the ruins of the city which will soon be called the forbidden zone; the sounds of war fill the city and explosions can be heard in the distance. The only DEM ship left is the Goetia which is piloted by Ellen. Collette fights using a rapier based energy sword and a new model of rifle which wields in one hand with ease. Hiro readies his dual blades and tries to charge at Collette but is impeded by his leg injury and she charges him instead and knocks him down with her rapier by slashing him horizontally. Luckily for Hiro, his Mana Eater Ratatosk has evolved to the point where only his head isn't covered by the armor. Collette then runs him through the leg with her weapon and pins to the ground. She then backs up and holds her rifle with two hands and begins charging it. She puts on a smile and chuckles as she tells Hiro.
"Vous aves termine you pest."
Collette's rifle fires a single powerful shot and Hiro shuts his eyes out of fear and thinks.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE HERE!"
After a moment nothing happens and Hiro is confused by this.
"Why am I not dead?..unless."
Hiro opens his eyes and is shocked beyond words.
"Oh my god!"
He sees Yuzuru in front of him holding back the blast using a powerful shield of wind but she can't hold it back forever and Hiro shouts to her.
"Get out of here Yuzuru! That shot will kill you!"
Yuzuru doesn't move and retorts.
"Logic, if I don't do something she'll kill YOU."
Hiro continues to shout for Yuzuru to move, until, the blast shoots through her wind barrier and Yuzuru takes one last moment to divert the direction of the shot so that it leans more to the left, but that isn't enough stop it from shooting clean through her body all it does is cause the shot to miss Hiro completely. Hiro pulls Collette's rapier and pulls himself to Yuzuru who has blood running from her mouth. He gets over to her and is beyond panicked as he tries to talk with her.
"Yuzuru come on come on talk to me!"
Yuzuru turns her face and looks Hiro in the eyes and smiles.
"Relief, I'm glad you're okay."
Hiro has tears running down his face.
"Why, why would you do this?"
"Reason, because if you died, Shido would be so sad."
"What about Kaguya? Won't she be sad?"
"Retort, Kaguya and I have lived longer than you and I want you to have a full life especially since you've got more things to do than me."
"Yuzuru, I don't want this."
"Lecture, Hiro we don't always get what we want, but at…least I was able to "
Yuzuru's eyes go blank and Hiro starts crying and calls out for her and presses her head against his chest and starts begging.
"Yuzuru…don't do this to us Yuzuru…don't do this to us Yuzuru…"
Hiro's sadness causes Collette to chuckle since she's been watching the entire thing and claps as she says in a rather happy tone.
"Tres Bien, that was a very nice show, and I killed a spirit something that Ellen never did."
(In case you're confused Colette is speaking french at the start of her sentences)
Hiro grits his teeth, gently sets Yuzuru's body down, clenches his fists, and growls. He stands up despite his injury and says to Collette in angered yet controlled tone.
"I'm gonna kill you; you better know that."
Collette puts on a smug smile as she responds
"Vraiment? We'll have to see about that won't we?"
Hiro begins to emit a blue aura from his body and his mana eater begins to glow brightly. Collette is a little shaken by the glow and then the final portion of Hiro's armor coats his head and he grabs her rapier and runs at Collette with intense speed startling her.
"QUOI!?"
Collette attempts to fly away, but Hiro grabs her by her legs and slams her on the ground. He then proceeds destroy Collettes Lancelot by slashing it up with his dual blades completely grounding her and then he destroys her rifle. He then puts away his dual blades and chooses to use her stolen rapier as his weapon of choice. Collette picks herself up and pulls out a replacement rapier and the two begin to dual using the energy weapons without any words. Hiro uses his kendo training to dodge Collette's fencing and the two constantly clash blades making sparks fly from their intense clashing. After intense clashing, Hiro seemingly falls of guard and appears to flinch and Collette takes advantage of this as she attempts to finish it.
"Adieu, farewell pesky insect!"
Collette thrusts her rapier and Hiro dodges since he was faking his dropped defense. Collette is surprised since now Hiro has an opening and he tells her.
"Game over Collette."
Hiro slashes at Collette's wrist and severs her sword carrying hand causing her to let a scream. She falls to her knees holding her wrist and slowly looks at Hiro with pleading eyes.
"S'il vous plait mercy."
Hiro's face can't be seen but his words tell the tale as he says in his angered yet controlled tone.
"Mercy? You want me to show you mercy!?"
Collette begins to tremble as she nods her head and Hiro's hands begin to tremble with anger as he shouts.
"WHAT ABOUT YUZURU!? Did you show mercy to her!?"
Hiro raises the rapier high and is about to deliver the finishing blow when Collette screams. When he sees her panicked expression, Hiro then stops as he realizes that he's just as bad as DEM attacking a helpless person, so he throws down her rapier and tells her in a very serious tone.
"I don't ever want to see you again Collette, and after this war, if you survive, stay away from this city."
(Back to Hiro's narration.)
Hiro places his hand on his opposite shoulder and clenches it.
"After that I never saw Collette again, but I'd heard she was killed by Odin. I spared her because I knew it went against everything you taught me… er my dad."
"But did you kill anyone?"
Shido already knew that Hiro has killed before just based on what's happened so far but wants to hear it. Hiro clenches his shoulder tighter and has an uncomfortable looks as he tells Shido.
"Shido…It was war, people die, people kill, but…to me it's something you don't get used to."
Shido is relieved to hear that Hiro isn't a killing machine, but now is now ready to hear about Tohka. However, before Hiro can talk about her, Kaname bursts through the doors and calls out for Hiro. Shido catches on rather quickly because of what he already knows about his daughter in this world and decides to leave the room to let Hiro chat with his sister since she has her head against his bed crying since she thought something bad happened to him.
Shido started making his way to the downstairs lobby and passes by a children's ward where he hears Kaguya's voice. He pokes his head through the door out of curiosity and sees Kaguya dressed what appears to be a shrine maiden miko combined with a magical girl outfit and the children are chanting.
"Yuzuya!… Yuzuya!"
Kaguya strikes a superhero pose as she declares in an exaggerated tone.
"Evil fears my Ein Lanzer!"
Then the children follow with enthusiasm.
"Invisible yet visible, visible yet invisible."
Shido smiles at this since it looks like Kaguya has been doing okay without Yuzuru around and is making children smile. Kaguya starts signing autographs when Shido makes his way to the lobby to finally give Mana the answers that she's been craving. Upon getting back to the lobby, Shido gathers the others and then finally tells Mana the whole story and about the spirit children plus the nice Ellen. About an hour later, Mana is overwhelmed by the information that she has just been told and sits down. She believed her brother since things have gotten weird and he has no reason to lie at this point. She then asks.
"So Aki, Akane, and Saori are your kids?"
Shido scratches the back of his head and nods with a flustered look.
"Yeah in a manner of speaking."
"And the Ellen with us is your wife?"
"Yeah."
Mana then gets a weird image in her head of her brother with four wives and four kids(he didn't tell her about the others yet). Then like a punch in the face, Mana realizes that the girl who threatened her is in fact her niece and looks at Saori with a blank stare.
"She can't be…"
Saori gives a closed eye smile and waves at Mana since everyone is too close for her to give a more sinister look. Mana eventually accepts the idea and tells Shido what she knows and about Origami going missing. Shido is shocked by this and is much more curious about who is doing this. Mana then tells Shido about the masked man but remembers very little about his appearance other than his mask because the room was too dark. Nobody has any ideas who this masked man is and Aki doesn't bring up the incident last night since he's still debating within his mind. Five hours later, the group is called by Hiro back to the police station which has been fully repaired in record time and he had been discharged around the same time with his injuries mostly healed. This time he has a proposal to the group with everybody around in his office as he says.
"I'd like to come with you all."
Everybody is a little surprised, but Shido is the only one to talk.
"But what about the AST? Don't they need you?"
Hiro smirks a little as he explains.
"Well that's why I have somebody ready to take my place in such a time."
Hiro presses a button on his desk as he says.
"Kyoka, please come in now."
The door opens and a girl about sixteen walks into the office. She has a slender figure, long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, light brown eyes, and is wearing a white skirt, a white suite top with black outlines with some blue covering certain parts with a silver tie, and silver stilettos. She has a grin on her face as she says hello.
"Hello colonel Itsuka."
Hiro introduces her to the group.
"My friends, this is Kyoka Kannazuki my secretary and my vice colonel in a sense and an Anti-Wizard soldier like me."
(Quick note: Anti-Wizard soldiers are automatically ranked as majors and are eligible for promotions.)
The name Kannazuki rings inside Shido and Akane's minds and Akane asks in a "really" tone.
"Kannazuki as in Kyouhei Kannazuki?
Kyoka nods her head.
"Yes, that is my papa's name. Do you know him?"
Both Akane and Shido picture Kannazuki with a girl that looks like she's fourteen wearing wedding attire with Kannazuki having that smile on his and shiver a little. Hiro then tells Kyoka some last words.
"Now Kyoka, we can't afford mistakes in my absence so please do your best. Oh and please handle the ceremony in my place as well."
Kyoka smiles as she says.
"I will, but if I may need a long, thorough, and intimate lecture when you return."
Akane then thinks
"Great, she's a verbal masochist."
The others aren't objecting to Hiro's offer since he thought they were DEM and now realizes that they aren't. He has a replacement set up and the ceremony will be held without him. Shido smiles and nods then Hiro extends his arm to shake Shido's hand and Shido accepts, but then he remembers something that's been on his mind.
"Hiro what was up with the girl dressed up as Yoshino? Why did she have a hook hand like a pirate?"
Hiro chuckles a little as answers in rather jovial tone.
"Oh I lied and said that she had a hook hand so that the real Yoshino could live without being noticed too much."
Shido shrugs it off before they then leave this timeline and go to the next world. However through the gate they hear snickering in the distance.
Authors note- This will not be the last time the war will be talked about. I just wanted to end this timeline since it came out longer than I expected. I am deeply sorry that this chapter took so long, but please understand that I value my readers and I am constantly working on multiple projects at once. I will continue to work on the next chapter so I can get it done faster.