The only thing I hate more than clichéd, overused anime fanservice is a clichéd, overused anime seiyuu and a so-called 'Irregulars'.
For crying out loud, does [Absolute Duo] really have to gloss over how special irregular-type main characters are with the tendency of pitching him with fanservices after fanservices? This is so clichéd you might as well call it a fanfic. And the fact that the main character's seiyuu happened to be SAO's Black Swordsman and Trinity Seven's Grimoire Holder (both of whom had the illogical tendency to make girls everywhere fall for them for no apparent reason other than being a main character) doesn't help that either.
Well, one thing's for sure: an 'irregular' has a high selling point.
Maybe that is why I'm introducing yet another irregular into that story.
In this story where students manifest their soul into weapons, I'll try my best to introduce one such student who manifests his soul in another way.
In the meantime, I'll be thinking about how Inuyasha never had to cut his hair considering its length.
Fourth Story: Absolute Ruler
In this world, there were people who could manifest their souls and turn them into weapons.
Whether it is a sword, an arrow, a spear, an axe, or even a set of throwing knives, they could manifest their souls into any one kind of weapons and use it in battles.
That power to manifest one's soul was called «Blaze».
And the people who have this ability, the "Exceeds", are ones who stood at the peak of humanity.
The power known as «Blaze» is brought forth when someone who is compatible with the mysterious substance [Luciful] is injected with said substance. That substance has the power to activate an Exceed's power such that it awakens their Blaze – the power of their soul.
Also, there is one school that houses those amazing people, called Kōryō Academy
It is a school that teaches the students there about combat and how to use their Blaze.
Naturally, those who have their Blaze activated are drawn to this school. Not including its over-the-top facilities and accommodation, even an idiot would enroll there when they find out that their body is compatible with the [Luciful], which is a kind of blessing that not everyone can have.
Entrance is a given for those who are classified as Exceeds.
...However, it didn't turn out to be as easy as it seems.
Now, let's go back to the current story. As of the moment, there were more than fifty people who enrolled at Kōryō Academy. Those blessed students were going to start their first day of school after attending the principal's welcoming speech as well as the student representative's speech.
For some reason, though, things didn't go as clichéd as that.
No matter what, this was not a normal school made for normal people. This was a school for those who had activated their Blaze and was built in order for them to learn how to wield them properly.
And thus...
"Now, you will proceed to duel with your partners."
Such a thing was said by someone who was supposedly the school's director.
Not long ago, the principal had just finished his welcoming speech. The next event should've been the student representative's speech, but the one who stepped up was instead a young girl clad in black Gothic Lolita clothing.
And she had proceeded to say that line.
"Only the winners would be accepted into the academy. The losers will have their Luciful extracted and will leave the academy," said the girl with a small smile.
Of course, this caused quite the uproar. After all, the academy had made no announcement that they would hold a duel for those who enrolled at the academy. It was not wrong to call it excessive.
But in the end, it was all for naught. The loli director even went as far as saying that the duel was an entrance exam, so they left the students no choice.
She had instilled the will to win at all costs to the students who had merely enrolled. They were then forced to fight against the person sitting next to them using the power of their souls, «Blaze».
"...But really, this is ridiculous," a boy said with a groan. "When I enrolled, I thought I'd spend my first days here without any hitches and live a flowery high school life. But now, not only do I NOT get to see a beautiful upperclassman giving a welcoming speech, we end up having to fight of all things? That gothic lolita girl's one messed up director, don't you think?"
His opponent was a blue-eyed, black-haired girl. She looked like a proper girl befitting the image of a class representative.
The girl had already manifested her Blaze. It took the form of a naginata; a spear with a one-sided blade on its point. It was a weapon meant for women in the feudal era as opposed to the katana which men wielded, but it was dangerous all the same.
The girl then responded nonchalantly, "I agree, but that is how it is. The loser in this fight will lose their place in the academy, won't they? Sorry, but I didn't come here to lose."
"No, no, there's no need to apologize. I just don't get how you can still be so calm about this."
"I told you, this is how it is," the girl said while sighing. "Kōryō Academy is a school that teaches combat strategy and the like, so it's only natural that the enrolling students have to fight at some point. It sure is unexpected that we have to fight on the first day, though."
Despite her surprise, she had no hesitation about achieving victory. The girl was a surprisingly willful girl.
The boy sighed.
"You...are you perhaps here for a certain reason?"
"? Yes...it involves my family's standing a bit, but what of it?"
"...*sigh*, this complicate things. Dammit, it'd be nice if I'm up against a power-hungry opponent, but this girl is so sincere it feels guilty just to face her."
"What are you muttering about?"
The boy lifted his face and stated, "I'm sorry, but can I just surrender?"
"...huh?"
The girl made a bewildered face.
"Are you...are you honestly asking that?"
"Well...yeah. It's not that I underestimate you or anything, though!" The boy waved his hand in front of him in a panicky manner. "You see, unlike you, I have no particular reason to be here. In all honesty, even though this is Kōryō Academy, I don't really have to be accepted here."
"What? But all Exceeds have to enroll here. I heard that the [Luciful] injected in us is provided by the academy, so it's only natural."
"Ah, yeah...about that," the boy scratched the back of his head with an apologetic smile. "My case is a bit different. I don't intend to elaborate, but let's just say I don't really have a problem about losing. I'll go ahead and give up."
"..."
For some people, this might've brought elation. Winning the duel meant getting a spot in the prestigious Kōryō Academy, so getting your opponent to give up so easily was a convenient shortcut.
However...
"Don't joke with me," the girl spat out. "Just because I said I didn't want to lose doesn't mean I like winning through such a cheap method. I will defeat you fair and square through a duel."
"W-Woah, woah, hold up. I said I don't wanna fight!"
"You have no choice in the matter. So grit your teeth and prepare yourself, you pacifist!" The girl cried out as she charged forward, her naginata pulled back and ready to attack. "If you won't draw your sword, then I'll just defeat you here and now!"
Disturbed by the girl's readiness to fight, the boy nearly tripped on his own foot as he dodged the spear thrust to the side. He kept dodging every thrusts and swings without taking the offensive.
"Would you just—HEY, THAT WAS DANGEROUS! GYAA, YOU NEARLY TOOK MY HEAD OFF! Just listen to me for one short second, would you?!"
"We've got no time to chat. When the time limit comes, it'll be disqualification for both of us." The black-haired girl coolly stated. "If you have time to run your mouth, you really should pull out your Blaze. I don't want to lose, but winning against a weaponless opponent goes against my policy."
"You really sound like some high-class battle princess just now..."
"...Flattery will not get you anywhere."
Despite her cold reaction, the girl clearly didn't expect to be complimented. It was faint, but there was a slight trace of a blush on her cheeks.
But commenting about how cute that looked would not help the boy win the fight. Thanks to the girl's eagerness to fight and win fair and square, the boy was left with no option but to fight back.
"*sigh*...I really shouldn't be fighting. I don't really want to manifest it, but you're leaving me no choice."
"So you finally understand. Well then, I'll give you a chance to draw your Blaze, so do it quickly so we can resume our duel."
The boy stared at the girl with a deadpan expression similar to someone hearing a bad joke. He continued to do so before sighing again.
"You really don't get it, do you? I meant it when I said don't want to use my Blaze. Honestly, I was doing this for your sake more than mine, but you're too damn persistent. All I'm saying is, don't blame me for what happens afterwards."
"?"
The boy grumbled and raised his hand.
The activation of Blaze was done by holding up one's hand over their chest, creating a gesture that implied taking out their own soul.
However, the boy did no such thing.
Rather than putting his hand over his chest, he brought it to the front of his forehead.
"...Blaze."
-xo-
Right at that instant, everyone collapsed.
Every student who had been fighting suddenly collapsed as if they were being dragged down by an invisible force.
It wasn't on the mere range of two or three people around him. All of the students in the room had downright collapsed and could do nothing but sit or kneel. Somehow, they could not summon any strength to stand up.
The reason for this was fear.
In each and every of the student's hearts, a nearly primal fear came over. The feeling similar to being peered down by a humongous predator crept into the minds of the students.
"W-What?"
Several meters away, a brown-haired boy who had summoned an Irregular Blaze in the form of a shield widened his eyes as his opponent suddenly fell to her knees.
"O-Oi, Imari, are you okay? What's wrong?" the boy, Kokonoe Tooru, called out.
The girl didn't answer. She could only cross her arms around to hug her shoulders and trembled mightily as if she was in a blizzard.
"What...what is this…? I can't...move!"
The girl, Imari, looked like she was being anchored to the ground. She couldn't move her limbs no matter how much she willed them to, and that inability brought up a distraught expression to her face.
Tooru himself had a notion of this mysterious occurrence, but his guess was no better than the others. All he knew was that he had suddenly felt a wave of dread flooding the entire hall. He didn't know how, but his senses picked up an invisible pressure so thick it was comparable to a brick wall.
Not completely understanding what was happening, Tooru turned around and looked at what he assumed was the cause of this strange phenomenon.
The person he was looking was a boy around his age, whose black hair was all messy, giving him the image of someone who had just woken up. He was looking the other way, so Tooru couldn't discern his face. However, he didn't have any time to pay that any mind.
He was more interested in why the hell did flames suddenly appear on his head.
-xo-
The boy who caused this had only said one thing:
"...Blaze."
He uttered that simple word. That word was a command which would bring out the form of his soul.
When the boy finally manifested his Blaze, the girl's eyes widened. The reason for that was not because something strange like the manifestation failing or anything like that. In fact, the boy's Blaze did manifest.
However, the form it took was not that of a weapon. Nor was it the shape of a shield or a gun or a brass knuckle or any kind of instrument used in a fight.
His Blaze took the form of a crown.
A black crown with purple linings, it was decorated with red jewels encircling it at even intervals.
At the sight of that peculiar Blaze, the black-haired blue-eyed girl suddenly lost the strength in her legs. She fell to the ground almost as naturally as passing out, but her mind had not been more awake than now. She was conscious enough that she noticed her Blaze disappearing almost instantly.
"W...what?"
She couldn't understand.
Her Blaze...her weapon that took the form of her soul had disappeared.
Normally, a Blaze would only disappear by one's own mental command. As such, there was supposedly no one else that could deactivate her Blaze other than the girl herself.
But her Blaze had by no doubt disappeared without her willing to do so.
"How...? My Blaze..."
"I returned it. Actually, it's more precise to say I made you unconsciously pull it back into your soul, but you get the point."
The boy put his left hand into his pants pocket while scratching the back of his head with his right. "I told you, I don't want to fight you. Fighting against someone who actually has a reason to be here would leave me with a bad taste in my mouth, and I honestly don't want to play the villain. Someone like me, who came here simply because my circumstances demands so...well, that alone says a lot about how your motivation is a lot nobler than mine."
"What...do you mean?"
"...Blaze takes the form of one's soul after someone gets injected with Luciful," the boy started to explain with a tired expression. "However, in my case, I never did get the Luciful injection. My Blaze has existed from the very beginning."
The girl's eyes widened at the revelation.
"...But...theoretically, that's impossible."
"Maybe. But that is how it is, so I couldn't help it." The boy said while shrugging carelessly. "You can call me a mutant, you can call me an aberrant; whichever is not entirely wrong. All I know is that Luciful has been running through my veins like my blood has for as long as I lived."
The black-haired boy noticed that his female opponent was still troubled by the sudden turnout. Her hand desperately went over to the front of her chest to re-summon her Blaze, but was stopped as her whole body began to tremble.
"For your sake, you should stop trying that." The boy sighed. "It seems you can't understand without me giving you an 'exposition rant about my power' unique to protagonists, so I better give you just that. This really isn't my style, though...sheesh. Well, whatever. You at least know that Blaze takes the form of one's soul and manifests into a weapon complimented by the properties of the soul, right? If so, then explaining this will be easy."
The boy then pointed to the black crown adorning his head.
"The form of my Blaze takes the form of a crown, the symbol of a ruler. At the same time, it's a black crown that symbolizes fear. Strictly speaking, if seen in a symbolic way, this is the type of Blaze which 'rules' over people through the fear in their souls. Pointing your sword towards a king is an act of treason; something that no sane person is fearless enough to do – that's a good metaphor to describe its ability. So long as my Blaze is active, you won't be able to even think of attacking me. I suggest you don't use your Blaze, otherwise...well, it'll hurt you more than it'll hurt me, in a psychological way."
"How...there should have been no way such a Blaze even existed!"
"Damn right." The boy said with an ashamed tone, as if saying he wasn't proud of his Blaze. "Honestly, I would've been satisfied with a simple sword or spear, but my Blaze turned out to be an accessory with complicated usage. What do people call this again? Hm...oh, right, it's an 'Irregular'."
The way the boy let that one word roll out from his tongue in such a distasteful manner gave the notion that he was spiting the term 'irregular'. Most likely, he had personal reasons for not liking the word.
The point was, no one in the room – except for a select few who were strangely still standing – was in any condition to continue fighting. This also applied to the naginata-wielding black-haired girl. For better or for worse, the duels had been abstained.
"Right, then. Now that all is said and done..." the boy said to himself casually. He trudged forward towards the black-haired girl.
In response to the boy lessening their distance, the girl's trembling began to gradually worsen. When they were merely a foot away, the girl was already a trembling mess of sweat and tears.
This person is dangerous.
He can kill me.
He can melt me with a stare, mutilate me with a touch, and destroy me with a step.
Those were the thoughts running rampant in her head. She believed in that wholeheartedly.
However, just as the boy arrived in front of her, he walked right past her.
"Sorry," he apologized with a low voice. "The fear you're feeling right now is undoubtedly real, but that is caused by my Blaze. I assure you; none of whatever you're thinking I'd do to you is something I'm inclined to do."
"Y-Y-Yes...un-understood."
The girl was too busy clattering her teeth to deliver a proper sentence.
Seemingly satisfied with her response, the boy continued forward and walked up towards the podium and stopped just in front of it. He looked up and met with the amused gaze of one Tsukumo Sakuya, the Chairman of Kōryō Academy.
The twin-tailed girl wearing a gothic lolita dress was the one who started this duel under the false reasoning of 'qualification ceremony'. Basically, she was the one who instigated the battle he had just stopped.
On his left side stood three people who were probably teachers, though the young woman wearing a bunny suit didn't fit the image at all. They were among those who were unaffected by his Blaze's ability. They had undoubtedly felt it, though, judging by how wary they were when they looked at him.
"...There's a lot I want to point out regarding this stupid excuse of an entrance ceremony, but I'll be brief." The boy's dark blue eyes stared directly into the girl's red ones. "It's a pain, but I request that everyone here to be accepted in Kōryō Academy."
Tsukumo Sakuya raised her eyebrows.
She must've thought the boy was joking, what with his lazed tone that betrayed the importance of his request. She might have mistaken it for a farfetched sarcastic joke had he not looked at her with such an unnerving stare. The girl first inhaled deeply before answering to the boy's request.
"That would defeat the purpose of this qualification ceremony. As I said before, the whole reason the prospective students need to do this is to determine whether or not they deserve to wield their Blaze. Failing here simply proves that they're not fit to do that."
The boy cackled. He sounded like he found the whole thing funny.
"What a joke. You should know better, Chairman-chan. If we're really gonna abide by the rules of this stupid duel, more than half of the students here are going to be sent home. Judging by how you went out of your way to inject Luciful into each and every one of them, with the risk of them getting AIDS thanks to your unsterile syringes, losing that much would be bad news for the school, right?"
"..."
That was true in its own way.
Kōryō Academy might be a prestigious school that not many people could enter, but essentially it was a school directed for students who could draw out the power known as «Blaze». That also meant that, since Exceeds were exceedingly rare, rejecting more than 80 percent of the new entrees would devastatingly decrease their new potentials.
However, Tsukumo Sakuya merely smiled at the fact.
"That's fine. If this many students fail, then it just serves to prove that all of them are unfit to wield Blaze. Personally, I'd like to put more emphasis on the one person who singlehandedly defeated them all without as much as raising a finger, namely you."
"...The heck?"
The boy frowned and glared at the porcelain-like girl.
There was no doubt that everyone in the hall heard her statement, judging by the collective gasps that were heard. The thought of all of them failing simply because they were unable to fight was enough to warrant their disbelief.
"You're saying that it's fine to reject all of them? You're saying that it's fine to cut off the hopes of that many people?"
"For the price of one Irregular with such an intriguing ability? I'd say it's a fair trade. After all, if you alone can defeat this many people, then there's no need to waste time on other people."
She prioritized quality over quantity; someone who could take on hundreds was, in her eyes, better than the hundreds themselves. That kind of thought wasn't wrong, but the black-haired boy couldn't bring himself to accept it.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance, but chuckled afterwards.
"I see, I see. Is that a fact? Well, I gotta admit, that train of thought is pretty logical. Still, you're pretty extreme to sacrifice that much just for the sake of little ol' me. I'm not even that special – I'm just an ordinary Irregular. The others are likely more talented in handling their Blaze than I am with my complicated crown. But well, if you refuse to acknowledge that and insist on kicking 'em out, I'll have to do things myself."
As he spoke, the boy raised his hand to the crown on his head.
"End transmission of passive order, (Code: Tyrant King)! Amendment: Commence mutiny on the king at once. Attack with extreme prejudice and let his blood run on your blade. OBEY!"
Words rolled out of his tongue as if he was distributing orders to an invisible computer interface. At the same time, the red jewels decorating his black crown shone brightly in a luminescent red glow. The next thing that happened was something unbelievable.
The students who were kneeling on the ground trembling just a moment ago suddenly stood up and had their Blaze appear in their hands. Bewildered looks were exchanged between them as they didn't know how that could happen without them calling out for their Blaze.
What was more troubling, though, was that despite regaining their Blaze, they didn't necessarily regain control of their body. More like, they felt like their limbs were being moved with invisible strings by an invisible puppeteer.
"What is this? I can't move!"
"Wha—hey, I can't control my hand! Look out!"
"Why am I running forward?!"
Things like that could be heard. All of a sudden, a stampede of students were rushing forward towards the crown-wearing boy, swords and spears poised to attack.
The earlier naginata-wielding girl could only stare in befuddlement as her legs carried her forward while her arms pulled back to ram her weapon into the boy's defenseless back.
"Hang on, why aren't you moving? Get away! I can't control my movements!" she tried to call out to the boy, warning him of the impeding danger. But he barely even flinched.
Countless weapons were ready to pierce through him and the crown-wearing boy wasn't budging in the slightest.
'No...not like this!' the girl thought. 'I certainly have something I want to achieve by coming here, but what good would it be if I have to stab someone from the back to do it? This isn't right!'
"DAMMIT, MOVE IT!"
The girl screamed as her uncontrollable body moved to attack.
And then...
*CLANG*
The sound of metal hitting metal was heard. It then repeated several more times.
*CLANG*
*CLANG*
*CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG*
Despite the overwhelming number of weapons trying to pierce the boy's unguarded back, none actually made it there. The reason was simple; something, or someone, had blocked the attacks.
That person held a Blaze in the shape of a shield on his left arm.
"...Heh," chuckled out the crown-wearing boy. "Oi, Irregular #1, who said that you can move?"
"What, I should've just watched as they attack you?" Tooru asked in response, gritting his teeth as he struggled to hold back the weight of more than twenty weapons in front of him.
"Well, that was the whole point why I did what I did. You stepping in right at the final moment not only prevented that outcome, but you also stole my spotlight." The black-haired boy pouted. He looked down to Tooru's arm and calmly said, "But still, a shield, huh? Guess us Irregulars really do get the shittiest items in the shed. That's one sturdy shield, though, I'll give you that."
Tooru didn't respond, but he found himself staring at the mysterious black crown adorning the other boy's head.
"Well, there you go, Chairman-chan." The crown-wearing boy spoke up again. "As you can see, I can control people and make them butcher me without any struggle, excluding this shield guy right here. I have no qualms of being defeated here if that means they get accepted into the academy. So whaddya say? Do you accept my request or should I just do it in a roundabout way and make them win? Either way, no one's here will be left out."
There seemed to be some conflict in Sakuya's eyes as she took in every word the boy said. An annoyed frown marred her graceful features for a second before it returned to how it was initially.
"Interesting... You've caught my interest, boy. Tell me, why do you care for these students to that extent? Surely you don't know any of them, so they are mere strangers to you."
"You're right, they are strangers to me." The boy admitted with a nod. Then, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the twin-tailed girl in contempt. "However, who in their right mind would go along with your stupid qualification or whatever? I sure as hell won't. At least, I'm not cruel enough to force a girl to give up her place here just because I want to win. One of the things I hate the most is people with the inclination to spout conceited bullcrap of how 'the strong wins over the weak'. I get that this is a combat-oriented academy, but what's with that cheesy doctrine, sheesh."
"...I see. Fine then." Sakuya said in a conceding tone. It seemed she had finally made her decision because she raised her hand as a gesture to all of the students. "The duel is over! The victors and losers of this duel are both accepted into the academy. I hereby welcome you all to Kōryō Academy. Finally, I leave you with these words... I pray that someone, someday, might attain [Absolute Duo]."
There was a stunned silence. A loud cheer followed suit when the realization dawned on each and every students.
The black-haired, naginata-wielding girl looked startled by the outcome, and she couldn't wrap her mind around the current situation. She had apparently lost to her opponent, but she got accepted anyway? This was...
"Unbelievable..."
Meanwhile, the crown-wearing boy who created that miracle cackled aloud as if joining in the celebration.
"ALRIGHT! Now that's what I'm talking about!"
"...Did that just really happen?" Tooru asked aloud.
"Aw, come on, Shield-kun. I know that was an unexpected outcome, but the way you're gaping is embarrassing me."
Tooru shrugged, not really caring what the boy thought. He was somewhat relieved, though. This meant that Imari could also enter the academy regardless of whether she was losing or not in their duel. In a way, that was something to be grateful of.
"...Oh, right. Don't call me Shield-kun. My name's Kokonoe Tooru."
"Sure thing, Odin."
"That's the wrong guy!" (*1)
Ignoring Tooru's remark, the boy looked up at Sakuya and smirked.
"So...I suppose there's a catch to our agreement?"
Sakuya smiled, "Indeed. First things first, you are to begin studying in our academy as a student. Later on, though, I'm interested in how that crown will grow out to be. You'll definitely put on a good show."
"Aww, you're making me blush."
Perhaps unable to keep up with the boy's knack for waving off seriousness, Sakuya sighed. "I never had the chance to memorize the new entrees' name. Might I hear yours, crown-boy?"
"Crown-boy, huh? Sounds cheeky...but that's too flaky. I suppose I'll just give you a brief introduction, chuunibyou-style!" The boy bowed humbly with a mock smirk, giving the impression of a magician at the end of his show.
"I'm the one true king who rules, the tyrant who controls people through fear.
I bear the symbol of terror in my heart and the sin accompanying it.
I am the infamous Terror King, wielder of the everlasting Guilty Crown."
Well, that was my attempt of story-bashing.
Not to be rude to any of [Absolute Duo]'s fans, but honestly, this is how I feel about the anime, so I had placed a convenient character to erase the self-important atmosphere of the original story...by creating a self-important OC in a fanfic version of it.
*Sigh*, dammit, this is getting tedious.
Also, I realize this isn't quite a crossover. I actually thought of using [Guilty Crown] as the second party, but judging from Ouma Shu's personality, more than half the things I want the protagonist to do would be impossible for him. So, in the end, I merely took the term "Guilty Crown" and placed it as a Blaze in the story.
Thank you for reading this pathetic excuse of a fic, and may it spur your imagination to create something similar.
Glossary
(1) A wordplay on Tooru's name. As Julie mentioned in the canon story, Tooru's name can be associated to Thor, the Norse Lightning God. Instead of that, the OC called him "Odin"; a different but similar Norse god.