Edit: If you have seen Chapter 9 already then disregard this update, someone pointed out the fact that I accidentally switched around Stalker Carbon to Carbon Stalker so I'm just fixing this
Haxor_Bunny: Don't buy those items LordChaldea. Those items are a rip-off, save your materials for the next city. They have much better items than these.
Sitting in front of her computer, Bronya Zaychik was busy coaching this new player the ins and outs of the game that was Homu Fantasy Online. She had been bored playing the MMORPG and decided that it was time to try something different.
Averting her attention from the computer screen, the hacker watched her Matushka having a heated argument with someone on her phone. The blonde leader of Anti-Entropy had bags under her eyes with multiple cups of coffee scattering throughout her table. Multiple reports were strewn across the desk and table as Cocolia swore once more.
And judging by how much profanities were exchanged the situation was anything but improving.
Bronya had no need to try and listen to what the conversation was as she had already wiretapped the conversation into her Homu Bunny themed earphones that she was already wearing.
"What do you mean you lost the Gem of Conquest!?"
"W-We don't know how it happened!" A frantic voice pleaded. "There were no break-ins at the facility. We triple-checked everything to ensure no one broke in and stole the gem, it's like it vanished into thin air!"
"And you think that's going to convince Einstein, let alone Tesla?! They're already scrutinizing every move I make and now with the Gem of Conquest no longer in my possession they'll start to dig deeper and uncover everything!"
"W-What would you have us do then ma'am?"
Cocolia took a deep breath before continuing. "You continue on as normal, act as if the core is still in your possession. I don't care what you have to do to make it look like everything is normal, threaten everyone in the facility to follow if you must but if I catch wind that Tesla and Einstein see through your efforts…" She did not need to finish for her point to be known.
"Y-Y-Yes, we won't fail you!" The scared man hung up the call as Cocolia collapsed into the back of her chair, a tired sigh leaving her lips.
With the conversation finished Bronya returned her attention to her screen to see her two newest online friends chatting away.
LordChaldea: How are these items bad? The stats on them don't look that bad and they look better than my current gear right now.
ChessFanatic213: These are like the biggest rip-offs you'll ever see in the game, every new person makes the mistake of buying these items.
LordChaldea: I'm so confused right now, pls help.
ChessFanatic213: Look at the durability of these items. By the time your original gear needs to get repaired you would have have repaired this set at least five times.
LordChaldea: Wtf is this actually true? Wait let me look at this thing's stats...what the hell you're right. This merchant is trying to scam me and my hard earned money right now!
ChessFanatic213: Well this is the Desert City of Albana after all, the City of Thieves as the locals like to call it. Here everything is a massive rip off, you're better stocking up supplies at a different city than here.
LordChaldea: Look at this smug merchant, he knows he's selling me a piece of crap. That's it I'm not doing the quest that he gave me. I'll watch as it rots away in my quests tab as we continue forward.
ChessFanatic213: No, don't do that Haruto! The quest gives you a really good item in the end and every veteran knows to go for it when the opportunity arises.
LordChaldea: Nope my mind is made up, as long as I play this game I swear to never touch this slimy merchant's request.
Bronya did not show much emotion, but that did not mean it was not impossible as she cracked a small smile at the two's conversation. It took alot for her to ever show emotion but it was unmistakable when she did show it.
Haxor_Bunny: That's a bold statement, hope you don't regret it.
LordChaldea: Believe me, I'm a person made of pure commitment.
ChessFanatic213: Well since everyone's here I guess we can continue to the next dungeon.
LordChaldea: I just have enough time for that dungeon, sorry. I gotta grab some food for this week and I promised Kuro a piece of fatty tuna for her.
ChessFanatic213: This late? You aren't worried that you might get possibly jumped?
LordChaldea: With all the security swarming the streets I think I have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting jumped.
Haxor_Bunny: Idk, you might regret your words later.
LordChaldea: I think you guys are just overreacting. Now are we going to go do this dungeon are we going to waste what remaining time I have thinking of all the possible outcomes of me going to get groceries late at night?
The invite to the next dungeon popped up onto her screen and before long the trio was pulled into the next dungeon, this time set in a temple that sat in the middle of the massive desert that Ablana City called home.
Her Matsuhka could handle whatever was happening to her, she wasn't her Matsuhka for nothing.
In the meantime Bronya would sit in front of her computer and enjoy the masterpiece that was Homu Fantasy Online with her new online friends.
Phalanx did not know where it was going, and it did not care where its legs were taking it.
As long as it was far away from the menace that was chasing it.
The insect combiner dared to look behind itself to see the black mechanical dog closing in. Seeing its pursuer closing in, the lab creation proceeded to throw anything present in the alley that it was being chased in to try and impede the canine.
Stalker Carbon simply jumped over the trash that was thrown into its path. No obstacle was too great for it as the autonomous weapon control system easily caught back up.
Phalanx did not understand why this was happening to it. It knew it had failed in its assignment to deliver the Gem of Conquest and had unknowingly jeopardized the mission of its partner. The Gray Serpent did not seem mad with its apparent failure when it had reported in after finding a safe location.
It did not follow its black feline partner after she had saved him. The cat made clear that she was not happy for needing to break her cover to go and assist in its escape.
After finding its own safe shelter and contacting the hacker, Phalanx was meant to stay low and wait for one of Gray Serpent's accomplices to come so they could ensure that any trace of their involvement in the attack would not exist.
So for the entire day following the corporation attack, Phalanx paced the entirety of the room it called its sanctuary in its marble mode as opposed to its unified form. Everytime the sounds of humans got close the machines were tempted to transform back into Phalanx, caution being the only factor that stayed their hand.
For if they accidentally lashed out on a human that did not know of their presence, then they would lose the only safeguard that they had.
After a whole day waiting in perpetual fear of being discovered, night descended over the city of Nagazora. With the arrival of night came a sense of calm as Phalanx could finally revert back to its unified form without fear of many humans coming near.
Humans did not adventurously go out into the unknown and the night was known to have many dangers lurking under the shadows.
However the sense of safety that Phalanx had found would soon be shattered when this black mechanical dog came barreling into the room, green electricity crackling from its claws and bladed tail.
And that was how the mechanical creation found itself running for its dear life as Stalker Carbon slowly closed the distance between them. Phalanx had never been designed for speed, it was designed with the intention for stealth and infiltration.
While Stalker Carbon was designed specifically for combat and pursuit.
So it would not take a genius to figure out what the inevitable outcome was going to be. Still Phalanx would not give in so easily and it was going to do it all it could to survive the night.
However with all of the creation's focus on its canine pursuer, as it turned the corner it did not see the edge of the scythe that was poised to strike until the very last moment.
A singular red eye was frozen in fear as the scythe slashed clean through its body. The two halves of the mechanical creation hit the floor before the subunits disconnected themselves, each individual marble that once made up Phalanx desperately searching for a way out of the alley.
"Oh I don't think so," A female's voice teased as a dark green gas suddenly began to fill the alleyway. "You're not allowed to leave just yet."
As the sudden dark green gas filled the alleyway, its effects became known as each individual marble was forced out of its transformation, the now revealed machines chirping in confusion as they could not revert back into their ball mode.
Then one machine stopped chirping as it fell on its side, no sign of life in its mechanical eyes as the gas took its toll on the machines.
And soon another joined its fellow brethren.
Then another.
Then two more.
And before long the marbles started to die in droves, nothing that they could do now would save them from the dark green gas that had perpetrated the entire alleyway. Death was now a slow and agonizing reality for each machine that had once been Phalanx.
The last machine futilely tried to flee the scene, only to have its last moment before joining the rest of its kind in death's cold embrace.
Rita Rossweisse stepped through the dark green gas in her Phantom Iron Battlesuit, gas mask in place as she surveyed the dead remains of her first target. "Stalker Carbon, deactivate combat protocols." She commanded.
The mechanical canine heeded her command as the vents scattered throughout its body closed shut, the neurotoxin gas that it had released slowly dissipating from the area. The neurotoxin agent was strong enough to bring even the biggest of Honkai Beasts to a halt, so it was no surprise that these little machines could not handle its effects.
As the gas was all but dissipated from the alleyway, the Vice Captain of the Immortal Blades removed her mask from her mouth before bringing up her arm. After typing a few commands on the communicator, she greeted the person on the other side.
"Otto-sama, the first target has been neutralized."
"Good work Rita," The blond overseer of Schicksal applauded. "I assume the first target was the one that tripped the security alarm?"
"It was, I can confirm that this target was the one to trip the alarm." As Rita made her report to Otto, Stalker Carbon curiously began to play around with the dead bodies of Phalanx's machines. It had never seen a prey able to split itself into multiple pieces of itself.
A shame that this one was a disappointing prey to hunt.
"Why are you not interested in this target Otto-sama?" Rita asked curiously. "I was under the impression that you wanted to know what the objective of their infiltration was."
"That is true Rita, I was once curious about this machine's objective but a new piece of information has made me reconsider." Back at Schicksal's Main Headquarters, Otto Apocalypse leaned back into his chair as he pulled up a report made from one of the spies he had in Anti-Entropy.
"It seems that the Gem Of Conquest seemingly vanished into thin air, no one seems to know where it went." The Overseer did find it suspicious that the sole gem that Anti-Entropy had managed to obtain from Sirin just disappeared without anyone knowing.
And just a week later one of Anti-Entropy's biggest allies gets broken for an objective that no-one had figured out yet.
It did not take a genius to connect the two events together.
He knew that the Gem of Conquest was somehow in the ME Corporation. He had read the initial reports that the alarm in their Reactor Control Room had been tripped before it was deleted and replaced with the alarm being tripped on some random floor of the building.
Yet something else was on his mind than the core possibly being in the reactor.
"Do you not find it strange that only one intruder tripped the alarm, yet two of them left the premises." Otto knew that the first intruder's objective may have been important, but he was confident that the second intruder's objective was much more important.
"Yes that would be strange," Now that Rita did think about, why were there two intruders confirmed to have left the premises when only one triggered an alarm. "Do you think that the second one was there to ensure that the first one made it out alive?"
"I would not think so, after all having more people on an infiltration means a higher probability of the alarm being tripped as opposed to one person doing the infiltration." Otto brought up his hand to his chin as he contemplated the sudden emergence of the second intruder.
"Unless the second intruder felt the need to intervene lest the capture of the first intruder jeopardize its own infiltration." Rita realized.
"Yes, that could be the reason why our second intruder felt the need to defend its partner, but we won't know for sure until we meet this second intruder. I trust that Stalker Carbon has its scent?"
"It was able to pick up a second honkai blood sample but it is much weaker than the first target's." Hearing its name, the canine weapon system walked up to Rita who gave the mechanical dog an affectionate pet on the head.
"Then advise you to proceed with utmost haste. It will not take long for whoever orchestrated this infiltration to learn of the first target's fate. Bring one of those micro machines with you, it will be interesting to see the process it took to create such an effective infiltration machine."
Reaching down the valkyrie picked up one of the various machines that littered the alley floor and pocketed for Otto's later use. Most likely he would dissect the machine and reengineer it to some other creation he had planned.
"And remember Rita, you cannot kill this next target. It is crucial that the target remains alive for us to know its true purpose in infiltrating ME Corp." The Overseer reminded the valkyrie
"Of course Otto-sama," Rita picked up her scythe from the ground. "But that does not mean that it must be brought back in pristine condition." She smiled with a hint of sadism.
"And that is what makes you one of my most effective Valkyries," Otto laughed. "I await your report of success." And with that the call ended.
With the call having now ended, Rita looked to Stalker Carbon. "Shall we?" She asked as the mechanical dog gave the equivalent of a bark.
Not wasting a second the hunting pair soon left the alleyway, leaving the remains of Phalanx to rust away as before long rain began to fall from Nagazora's skies. It wasn't anything like yesterday's weather but it was far from being a light drizzle.
As the rain began to wet the streets of Nagazora, a figure descended into the alleyway from a rooftop. "Tsk, this is bad." Was all that was said as they saw what was left of the target that they were supposed to get out of Nagazora.
Without skipping a beat the figure leapt back onto the rooftop and began to make their way to the only logical location that these unknown assailants would go to next.
After all it was bad manners to leave a job only half finished.
I suppressed a sigh as I shook off the rain that had gotten on my umbrella. Thank you intuition for telling me to bring the umbrella before leaving the apartment to go to school today. I had planned to check the weather forecast before leaving for the academy but decided against it when I recalled yesterday's thunderstorm that had appeared randomly.
If I hadn't brought my umbrella, let's just say that I would be having a completely different experience right now.
"Kuro you good?" I asked as the black feline popped her head out of my bag, meowing as confirmation that she had not gotten wet during our trip to the grocery store.
I had originally planned to buy Kuro's fatty tuna after school but I had forgotten that I had my one on one club meeting with Ishigami so I came home much sooner than I had originally expected.
Still needed to get used to this whole club thing, a drawback from living a previous life that had never considered the idea of joining a club.
And by the time I got back home it was already sunset and I did not want to be stuck at the supermarket when night descended, I did not want to find myself meeting Kuro's 'friends' at a time when they could easily hide my dead body.
So I planned to drop off my bags and immediately make my way over and get what I needed from the store and make it back without too much hassle.
That was until my grandmother, who had waited in my room for me to come back, had other ideas.
"So you're just going to leave Kuro here all by herself?" She asked with an eyebrow raised as she gestured to the injured feline who was relaxing on her podium. The black feline in question meowed when she heard her name being called before going back to her nap.
"...Is there a problem with that?" I asked confusingly. It wasn't like this was going to be a first that I would leave Kuro all by herself, that was practically normal ever since I 'adopted' her.
"It is when she's all injured like that." She motioned to the bandage that was wrapped around the cat's left leg. "What if she harms herself and no one is here to help her out?"
"She's a big girl," I said dismissively as I got my grocery bag. "She can take care of herself."
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as I did not notice the aura beginning to surround her.
My hand touched the doorknob before my grandmother spoke again. "Are you sure about that, Haruto Nakamura?" Her cold tone sent shivers down my back, making me freeze in place from the sudden change in tone.
I slowly moved my head around to see the coldest look that I have ever seen on my grandmother's face. It wasn't a lie to say that her face was probably the scariest thing that I've seen yet.
In this life and my old one.
"If my memory serves me right, wasn't Kuro's injury due to your carelessness?" I winced at the lie that I had given to her, thinking that it was the best cover up story that I could give. Now it was backfiring on me very badly.
Grabbing my arm with force that I never expected from her of all people, my grandmother dragged me over to Kuro. "You are now her owner and I expect you to have the proper responsibility that comes with being a pet owner." Reaching up she grabbed the black feline, who had an expression on her face that said she was just as confused as I was before she was transferred over to me.
"You were responsible for her injury, and now you are to ensure that she makes the fastest possible recovery." I couldn't even argue for my case as she continued talking while pushing me to the door. "So you two have a good time buying groceries and don't forget to get me something as well!" She opened the door before shoving us forward and closing the door.
I struggled to process what had just happened in the last five minutes as I stood in front of my own apartment room that I had just been kicked out of. Kuro must've felt the same as she looked at me before confusingly meowing at the situation that the two of us suddenly found ourselves in.
"Let's get this over with." I said as I grabbed a shopping basket from a rack as the two of us then proceeded to go through the aisles of the supermarket, grabbing everything that we needed.
It wasn't all that interesting, I mean we were just buying food for the week. Kuro seemingly had this eagle's eye when it came to determining the right piece of fish to get as the moment we took a step in the seafood aisle, her eyes shined like stars at seeing the selection of fish available.
And she was very picky about which fish to get. I probably went through asking the cat what seemed like every fish available before she was satisfied with one of them.
Not forgetting my grandmother's last words, I picked up something spicy before I decided that we got enough food for the week before heading over to the check-out.
In all honesty I had expected something...I don't know like something to spontaneously happen. After living a week in Nagazora it was safe to say that every day something would just happen for absolutely no reason.
To be honest I was more unnerved by the fact that something had yet to happen then I would be if I was in said random event.
Maybe I happened to catch a lucky break and I could live a day in this city without something important spontaneously happening.
"For the last time Sora," A tired cashier said with an expression that looked like he was ready to quit his job. "You need an adult to be here with you right now."
Across the counter, a kid who couldn't be older than 5 pouted as she looked defiantly at the cashier. "But what's the big problem!? I have the money to buy this." She motioned to the chocolate bar in her hand. "So why can't I buy this?"
"For one you're a child." He stated the obvious as he motioned to her. "You need adult supervision when you leave the house to go anywhere, now that's just common sense."
"I've come here without adult supervision before," Sora argued. "What's so different about now?"
"Yeah that was before the whole ME Corporation got attacked in the middle of the night," He pointed behind himself to a piece of paper that was taped onto his station. "The board is cracking down on our lax rules so they added some new ones in to ensure that no one gets hurt while shopping here."
"And one of those rules being that no child younger than 10 years can come in here unattended." The cashier looked back at the pink haired child. "And if my memory serves me right you haven't aged an additional 5 years since I last saw you."
Sora looked defiantly at the cashier before looking back at the chocolate bar in her hand. "...Fine." She handed the chocolate bar over. "I'll go back home now." She said defeatedly as the cashier took the chocolate bar from her hands.
But the cashier wasn't done yet. "Not so fast, little lady. We aren't done yet." He leaned his arms on the counter as he took out his phone. "Do you know how late it is right now? This may not be part of the rules but I need to call your parents to come pick you up."
At those words Sora paled. "N-No you don't have to do that." The child looked pleadingly at the cashier as she tried convincing him to do otherwise. "I-I can get back home perfectly safe so no need to call my parents."
The cashier sighed once more into his hands. Just when he thought he was making some sort of progress with this conversation that they've been having for more than half an hour. "Then do you have any other relatives I could call? An obasan or an ojiisan? You aren't leaving this place without an adult."
Sora looked around nervously as she could see where this was going to lead to. "U-Um my obasan doesn't live here and my ojiisan is out with his friends right now."
The cashier pinched the bridge of his nose as he was quite honestly done with this entire conversation. Why did this simple problem need to be so complicated?!
"Then I need to call the police if you have no guardian to come pick you up." That was the final ultimatum. If he couldn't get Sora's family to come pick her up then the only solution he had was to call the cops.
That seemed to frighten the girl as she clasped her hands together as a last resort to plead with the cashier to turn a blind eye. "Anything than that!" Her eyes began to get watery at the prospect of getting the authorities involved.
And while all this was going on, me and Kuro just watched the scene unfolding awkwardly. I didn't want to get caught up in this drama, and I had a feeling Kuro didn't want to either, but Sora had to have a good reason for not wanting her parents to pick her up.
Kids were many things, but they were brutally honest when it came down to things and the tears that were beginning to build up in her eyes...
Those were genuine.
"U-Um," I didn't know how to cut into this conversation but I felt that I needed to try. "Is everything okay?"
The cashier and girl both looked at me as they realized that they weren't the only people in the grocery store. It was already nighttime so there weren't as many people but it didn't help that their conversation had gotten quite a few people staring.
"Everything is going well sir," The cashier let out a reassuring smile as he motioned for me to come forward. "Let me scan your items and get you on your merry way before I finish up with the little situation here."
I slowly moved forward and placed my basket on the counter. "Are you sure you can't make an exception for her?" I asked as I looked at Sora, who looked back at me with shock. "I mean there must be a reason why she doesn't want her parents to be called."
"Sorry sir but I can't in good conscience let this girl go out into the night without adult supervision," The cashier had an apologetic look as he picked up the items before scanning them. "You can never be too careful with the intruders of ME Corp still on the loose out there."
I wanted to assure him that he had nothing to worry about seeing how I have one of those 'intruders" in my bag but I doubt that was going to work. "Then what if I took her home?" I offered.
The cashier leveled a suspicious look at me. "You?" He repeated as he looked at me from head to toe. "I mean you might be a good person but I hardly know you, so why would I have a complete stranger walk a child back home in the middle of the night?"
"Now that I think about it." He squinted at me as he moved his head closer to investigate. "I don't think I've seen you around here before."
"That's cause I got here just a week ago," I brought out my wallet and showed the cashier my school id to show that I was not lying. "I'm living here with my obasan for the time being."
The cashier took some time to make sure my id wasn't fake but what I wasn't expecting to happen was his face to light up in recognition at seeing my name. "Oh you're Akane-san's grandson, why didn't you tell me that to begin with?"
I tilted my head in confusion. "You know my obasan?"
The cashier just laughed as he began to put my items into a bag. "Know her? Everyone that works here knows her. I can't remember a week where your grandmother wouldn't grab enough alcohol to scare even the most experienced of drinkers."
I mentally noted that extra information from the cashier about my grandmother. Who knew that Akane Nakamura drank so much that she's got herself a notorious reputation. I knew she drank more than she should but this was just insane.
...Now that I think about it, wasn't Himeko a pretty heavy drinker?
Wait, was I related to her somehow!?
Meanwhile at St. Freya High, a certain red haired Valkyrie sneezed. She looked around in confusion before shrugging as she went right back to downing the beer can in her hand.
I couldn't ponder too long on my possible family connection to the valkyrie as the cashier soon turned his attention to Sora. "Well you're in luck Sora, we can get Haruto-san to bring you back and we don't have to call your parents or the police. It's a win-win situation!"
Noticing that Sora wasn't saying anything I turned my attention to the girl, whose eyes were still watery from earlier. I smiled reassuringly before turning back to the cashier, "Hey can you add the chocolate bar to my purchase?"
As I handed the newly purchased chocolate bar to the little girl, a sense of deja vu washed over me. I would've sighed at the warning that the voice that lived inside my house was giving me.
That this little innocent girl was going to be somehow involved in the Honkai Universe.
But I pushed that aside as I watched Sora's eyes light up in delight as she took a bite of the chocolate bar.
Because right now her smile was more than worth it.
It was around late night when me and Sora left the supermarket. It wasn't raining as hard as it was earlier but it was still drizzling to the point that I needed to have my umbrella up.
I didn't want to get Sora sick from my negligence after all.
Sora was too preoccupied with the fact that she discovered Kuro in my bag and decided to hold onto her for the rest of the trek. The cat looked anything but pleased about the fact that she was being carried by this small child but would give the child at least the privilege of holding her.
She wasn't like the rest of the children who would most often than not be too forceful in showing their affection so she was good in Kuro's book.
I sighed as we came to a stop before an intersection, the sign on the red 'do not cross' symbol as the cars nearest to us drove forward. I guess I could add watching over a lost child on the list of things that I never thought I would be doing in this life.
And I had a feeling that I would be adding more to that list in the near future.
"Sora?" I asked as we waited for the pedestrian light to turn green.
"Yes Haruto-san?" She asked as she turned her head to me with an adorable tilt with her head.
Originally I was going to ask her why she didn't want her parents to pick her up at the supermarket, why she seemed so afraid of the idea of them coming to pick her up. I mean it wasn't normal for a child to look like that at the mention of their parents.
I didn't think that she was being abused or some sort like that but as I looked down to lock gazes with Sora's eyes, I ultimately decided against it. "...How are you liking Kuro?"
She was just a child after all. I could be looking into things far more than I should have.
"Kuro's an amazing cat!" She gushed as the pedestrian cross turned green and the two resumed our walk. "Kaa-san and Otousan don't think getting pets is a good idea cause they think they just make a mess everywhere but I'm sure that Kuro is a very polite cat!"
In her arms I could hear Kuro smugly meowing as she reveled in the little girl's praise, solidifying the fact that she was indeed a very polite cat.
"Kuro is a very polite cat," I confirmed as we turned the corner onto a block where there weren't a lot of people. Now this wasn't suspicious or anything as for starters no one wanted to be out with the potentially dangerous ME Corp intruders still out and about.
And two Sora lived closer to the suburban side of Nagazora, where you could find old traces of what Nagazora used to be before ME Corp came in. From what I understood from her explanation when night approached most of the people in that area would go home resulting in not a lot of people staying out.
But right now it felt like the equivalent of walking through a ghost town.
Still I was going to have a serious talk with her family about letting her go out at this time. I mean talk about being responsible, who lets their child go out into the night by themselves to go and buy a chocolate bar?!
"Will this be the only time I get to see you?" Sora asked as she handed Kuro back to me. The black feline soon situated herself around my shoulders, mindful that she didn't accidentally sprain her injured leg.
"Do you want this to be the last time we meet each other?" I asked as we turned another corner to a block that had even less people than the last one did. Here there was practically no-one except us present.
"N-No," The girl replied nervously. "You were really nice to me back then and I liked holding Kuro."
I laughed lightly seeing how adorable Sora was being right now. If I had the option to, I would've ruffled her light pink hair for how cute she was being but since both of my hands were holding onto something I settled for an open laugh that she blushed to.
"Of course we can meet again after this Sora," I smiled.
Around my shoulders I could feel Kuro beginning to move around but I dismissed it as the cat wanting to get into a more comfortable spot. She was always picky about how she slept.
"Though let's talk to your parents about this when we get-" I was cut off when the black feline on my shoulder suddenly started to loudly hiss behind us. The loud hiss stopped me in my tracks, literally and figuratively.
In the time that I've spent with Kuro living in my household I've gotten to know alot about the cat. Sure it was only for a week and there could be a plethora of things about Kuro I did not know about but I felt confident that I knew the major things about him, of how he acted.
And I knew for fact Kuro never hissed at anything, even when she was in a bad mood. If she was in a bad mood you could just tell from her facial expression and if you pissed her off while she was in that mood you'd get a pretty harmful scratch on the arm.
So for her to hiss now of all things…
I took a cautious scan of our surroundings, trying to note anything out of place that had Kuro on such high alert. For starters no-one was here, period. I thought that we just happened upon an empty street that just so happened to have no pedestrians at that moment but I couldn't hear any sounds of nearby people.
No sounds of a drunkard trying to get home, no sounds of a car possibly driving down the street. The only sounds present were that of crickets and the distant sounds of traffic.
This was getting more suspicious by the second as I took in our surroundings. "Kuro," I whispered to the black feline on my shoulders. "Are you absolutely sure?"
The black feline just let out a low growl as her gaze to the rooftops on the street opposite to us remained unwavering. Her eyes were narrowed as her back legs tensed themselves in preparation, ready to launch herself at whatever she had her attention on.
"H-Haruto-san?" Sora nervously asked, Kuro's sudden hiss scaring the girl. "I-Is everything okay."
"Yeah, everything is okay," I lied as I put on my best assuring smile for the girl. "I think there's another cat here and Kuro was making sure that they knew she was here."
Luckily the rain in this area wasn't as bad as the rest of the area so I was able to put away my umbrella and opened my free hand for Sora. "C'mon let's get you home now, it's pretty late right now and you can't miss your bedtime."
"I don't have a bedtime!" Sora retorted as she grabbed onto my hand before we resumed our walk.
However the real reason why I wanted to have Sora hold onto my hand was if Kuro was reading the situation right, which I sincerely hoped she wasn't, then I could easily carry Sora if I needed to run for it.
And it seemed that was the case as Kuro's growling only grew more aggressive as we continued walking. I slightly winced as I could feel Kuro's claws begin to dig into my shoulders as she was all but ready to go at a pin's drop.
I took one last look behind my shoulder to see if I could see what Kuro was seeing but to no avail. I was 100% relying on Kuro's senses in this situation.
"Kuro," I whispered, hoping the cat was able to divert a little bit of her attention to hear what I had to say. "If whoever it is that you have in your sights moves against us, hiss as loudly as you can."
The cat simply growled in response as she went back to her watch.
With that I turned my attention to the girl whose hand I was holding. "Sora, I need you to listen to me."
The girl was unaware of the danger that we were in right now and as much as I wanted to keep her out of it, there was no way that was an option at the rate that this was unfolding. "Yes Haruto-san?"
"Do you trust me?" I asked with seriousness in my voice.
"H-Huh?"
"Do you remember what that cashier told you back in the supermarket? About how there were potentially some dangerous people out there?" I reminded her as we were beginning to near an intersection.
Sora's face was slowly dissolving into panic as tears were beginning to build up in her eyes from my words. It hurt that I was kind of responsible for that but I needed her to know what was about to go down.
"Y-Yes, I-I trust you Haruto-san."
I smiled in thanks at her trust in me. "Thank you Sora, that means so much to me right now becaus-". Kuro then hissed the loudest I've ever heard her say.
Looks like it was time then.
Hearing the cue I dropped the groceries bag in my other hand before proceeding to lift Sora up and turned the corner and ran as fast as I could. The groceries could be grieved for later, and Kuro's personally selected fatty tuna would be mourned as well, but our lives were on the line right now.
As I ran for dear life I could faintly hear the sounds of something beginning to chase us down. Daring to look, I turned my head around to see something that definitely wasn't a human crossing the rooftops behind us.
Yup this was definitely the time to start going faster.
As I ran like I have never ran before in my life, I could distinctly hear Kuro just rearing to get a shot at whoever was trying to kill us. "Kuro no!" I yelled hoping the feline would heed my words. I wouldn't be so cautious about what Kuro wanted to do but since she had an injured leg I wasn't risking it.
Sora was crying as I could feel her tears beginning to soak my jacket. I wanted to offer the girl some sort of relief or assurance that everything was going to be okay but I couldn't even guarantee that right now.
As I turned yet another corner in hopes of trying to shake off our pursuer I decided to risk it by immediately going into an alleyway. I moved through the dark alleyway, mindful not to accidentally knock over any trash in fears of making a loud ruckus.
You see, my whole gambit revolved around the idea that our pursuer was close enough that they were able to see us turn the corner but far enough that they weren't able to see us run into the alleyway.
They would believe that we continued running down the street and with hope they would overlook this alleyway.
As we made our way through the dirty alleyway a smile was on my lips as I could see a light at the end of the alleyway. Just a bit more and we could-!
My optimism was soon shattered as we exited out of the alleyway...that led to a dead end. My smile fell as I looked around to see if there was any ladder or hidden exit that we could take to get out of here but to no avail.
We were trapped.
"Maybe our pursuer fell for the bait," I muttered to myself in the hopes that there was a positive somewhere in this situation that was slowly spiraling out of control.
My hopes would be crushed once again as the sounds of metal scrapping filled the alleyway that we just came out of. My body tensed up as Kuro hopped off of my shoulders while Sora buried her head into my shoulders.
The sounds of metal only got louder and louder as it was becoming more apparent that our pursuer had not only seen through my ruse, but knew that we had no way of getting out of this alleyway!
"Dammit Haruto, think, think!" There had to be some way to escape from this area! I refused to believe that this second life that I was so blessed to have was going to end in some dirty alleyway!
I needed to know the answers of why I was even reincarnated into this universe, how I even came into existence. Why was I chosen out of so many others for this role, a role that I had no idea was going to work in the long scheme of things.
As my mind worked overtime to try and figure out what the hell to do next before our intruder exited the alleyway, I could hear Sora's panicked breaths as she was struggling to process everything that was happening. If I hadn't offered to take her back home she would've never gotten involved in this mess.
Sure her parents would've been called in but a talking down from them is much better than potentially dying in an alleyway that no one might ever find our dead bodies in.
"Sora don't you worry," I tried to reassure the girl as I soothingly rubbed her back. "I'm going to make sure that we get out of this alive."
"P-Promise?" She asked as she moved her head from my chest to look for reassurance.
"Yeah," I then thought of an idea that could help break the tension as I brought up my free hand, extending my pinky finger. "Pinky promise."
She also extended her pinky finger as our fingers interlocked. "K-Kaa-san says those who break pinky promises go to hell."
Despite the situation that we were in I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Then I better make sure I come up with a great plan then." Which was easier said than done when I had no idea how to begin to even get out of here.
"Meow," Kuro's voice shifted my attention to the feline who had not been sitting idly by as our possible death came looming closer with every second. My attention shifted to where the cat was at but more specifically to what she was pointing her paw to.
A small little opening that was in the middle of two buildings. Moving closer to the opening I could faintly see some light at the end of it. If someone could fit through the opening and get to the other side then they call for help!
...However there was a problem with that plan. More specifically the fact that the opening was way too small for me to fit my body through. Even if I got on my knees I think I would barely fit in there and I did not entertain the idea of me getting stuck midway.
"Kuro you know that I cannot fit in there." I pointed out to the cat.
The black feline just rolled her eyes at my obvious statement before she motioned to the child in my arms.
I looked at Sora before looking back at the opening when I realized what she wanted to do. "No, absolutely not." I firmly said. "I am not endangering Sora!"
The black feline just hissed in return. Stupid human! Of course she didn't want to endanger this innocent child but if Sora didn't do this there was a very low chance that any of them was walking out of this alive.
Maybe if she didn't injure her leg the chances of them living would be higher but now that it was their odds were looking very grim.
Seeing the determined look in her blue eyes, I couldn't help but relent at what was exactly at state. If Kuro, who I knew for a fact could hold her own in a fight better than me, thought that Sora needed to do this then the situation was much more bleak than I thought.
I lowered Sora unto the ground as I was still uncomfortable with the idea of doing this. "Sora, I have a mission for you, a mission that only you can do." I pointed to the opening that looked just big enough to have her fit through. "I need you to crawl through here and get some help while me and Kuro fight off the person chasing us."
Sora looked at the opening that she was to fit through before looking back at me. "B-But what about you?"
"We'll be fine." I motioned to Kuro, who was sitting between us. "She may not look like much but she has a mean set of claws on her."
"B-B-But,"
I interrupted her by placing a hand on top of Sora's head, "I know it may not look like it but I'm actually really terrified right now." I told her truthfully. Every vein in my body was filled with terror at the fact that death was probably just right around the corner.
"And it's okay to feel terrified cause that's a sign that you're about to do something really brave," Or that's how I remember the saying went. I didn't want to tell her that regardless if you were terrified or not the only option left was to fight or die.
Yeah that was way too dark, even for this situation.
My attention was stolen when the sounds of a dumpster getting turned over came from the alleyway, and judging by how loud it was then they were close. Our time of action was slowly closing so I redirected my attention back to her. "So I ask you Sora,"
"Are you up to the task?"
I knew I was asking for a lot, especially a child of her age, but if I didn't then this would be the end of Haruto Nakamura. Normally I would've been fine with that as my presence in this universe would be no more but I didn't want to risk the potential worse case scenario if my life really was instrumental to everything.
Sora remained silent as she looked back at the opening that was just big enough for her to squeeze through. "I-I'll do it but…" She looked back at me with a resolve of her own in her eyes. "Y-You have to buy me a bunch of chocolate after!"
I chuckled softly before bringing up my pinky, "Let's pinky promise on it then."
A tear rolled down her cheek as she nodded before she brought out her finger and completed the pinky promise. "D-Don't die." She said before she began to squeeze herself through the opening.
Ensuring that whoever was chasing us wouldn't find out where Sora had gone through, I began to hide the opening with some trash bags that were scattered throughout the area we were trapped in.
Even with the fact that I might be dying twice soon, I couldn't help but be proud at how Sora acted. She definitely acted much braver than I expected from a child of her age.
"Alright then Kuro," As I finished hiding the opening, I reached down and grabbed a rusty pipe on the ground and held it like a baseball bat. "If you got any useful tricks up your sleeve, this is the time to show them."
The black feline looked at me before a purple glow enveloped her to reveal her other form. The mechanical cat growled as her double machine guns materialized on top of her hind legs.
I took a step back in shock as I took in Kuro's other form for the first time. I knew that she had some sort of special ability but never did I expect something like this! I thought she was gonna like to have some minor pieces of armor on, not turn into a fully mechanized panther!
My shock was short lived when Kuro hissed as our pursuer finally decided to reveal themselves to us. From the shadows of the alleyway that we just exited, Stalker Carbon growled back in response.
If I wasn't in a life or death situation I would've commented on the fact that this was a normal situation of a cat and a dog riling each other up, except both of them were highly dangerous killing machines.
But my mind was occupied with something else as recognition overcame me, my hazel eyes widening as my brain finally made the connection of what exactly was standing before me.
But if Stalker Carbon was here...
Then where the hell was its master?!
"Don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone's work time?" Rita chided as she lowered her scythe. The broken remains of arrows littered the floor around her as the maid gave a cheshire grin at her hidden opponent.
"And aren't Schicksal Valkyries meant to be humanity's knights in shining armor?" Stepping out of the shadows, Raven venomously spat out the word valkyrie as she glared at the valkyrie. "To think they would stoop so low to harm even an innocent child."
If Rita was offended, she didn't show it. "I must say that I did not expect this night to hold so many surprises," Pointing her scythe at her adversary, Rita fell into her combat stance as Raven notched another arrow into her bow.
"How fortunate that I was proven wrong."
The plot thickens...kinda of
So Haruto gets his first brush with actual death, Sora has been introduced into the story, Rita now has to fight Raven, and will we ever get to the 3rd Honkai Eruption without me thinking of chapters literally right on the spot?
Idk about the last part because it's both a blessing to get more chapters but also curse cause all the good stuff I have in mind are after the eruption
I'm going to try and avoid telling you guys what the next chapters will be because I feel it kinda ruins the surprises that I have planned at the end of the chapters. Though it really doesn't apply in this chapter since the next chapter is pretty self-explanatory.
Support as always has been crazy and I just want to thank you guys for supporting this story ever since the first chapter. I didn't think I would be hooked on writing this story but here we are.
Welp that's all for this chapter. If you enjoyed it, drop a fav/follow/kudos as they really help me out with creating great chapters. Reviews are deeply appreciated and if you have a question or a really interesting theory I am more than happy to reply. Please be patient if I don't respond to you super fast.
Peace!