A/N: Very unbeta'd so sorry. Mild language this time, because Ahomine alone has the chance to use his colorful vocabulary. Suddenly I plot this chapter?
"What the hell?!" Aomine exclaimed.
"We must eat you now, Hollow-that-is-not-quite-hollow."
"Your corpse will greatly help us evolve, ganguro!"
"Hey, everyone, just relax, will ya? This guy doesn't seem to wanna be eaten by us right now. Also, Susa, it's really troublesome if you announce our intentions right at the start."
"I'm sorry, senpai!" a voice apologized.
"I wasn't talkin' to ya, Sakurai," the Hollow with the lilted accent said.
Aomine looked on, incredulous, as the titanic group of Menos of Adjuchas-class and a surprise person continued to bicker and block his path to Tetsu. Earlier, he had been sprinting and using his ability to travel through dimensions, Sonído, to find his way to his friend's side.
The dark-haired Hollow had been careless in his hurry, to use this ability when he had just grasped the concepts of it from Satsuki, and in an environment lurking with Hollows such as the ones before him. Aomine was thoroughly surprised to see Sakurai among the them, though. He sent a questioning look toward the tentacled Adjucha, but was greeted with a nervous shake of the head.
Later.
The implication of "later" was if he lived long enough to hear an explanation. None of the group looked keen to release him, or keep him alive. It was no matter to him, since he and Tetsu had experienced many similar situations with Hollows who threatened to kill them. Aomine's only hesitations were hurting Sakurai, who appeared to be enjoying himself with his new found companions, and the thin, bony Hollow watching him through the slits in its jousting helmet-like mask.
"I don't care if it resembles a human; I just want another one to add to the thousands I ate. Seeing how much he resembles the Shark of the mountains, we probably stumbled upon a big fish," the Adjucha with the bulky shoulders and fists laughed at his own joke. "Ha, you get it? Because—"
"Wakamatsu, I don't think jokes will work on killing your next target, ya know? Humor sounds kinda deadbeat and forced from you." The Hollow with the sharpened horns and accent interrupted and, after a pause, chuckled to himself. "On second thought, why don't ya make a few more? Your terrible sense of humor will surely 'knock 'em dead.'"
"Alright, fine! I won't say anything, as soon as you stop making those half-assed puns, Imayoshi," he grumbled. "Just don't get as bad as the infamous Eagle of Seirin."
"What, that Shinigami? His reputation has even reached your ears, huh."
The first comment from the one named Wakamatsu alarmed him. The blue-haired pair were searching for others like themselves, and the "Shark" they spoke of seemed to be regarded on a high enough level to be considered a "big fish" among Hollows. Looking for it was their only lead to seeking a way out of their prolonged dilemma.
He thought over his current situation with around 4 Hollows nearly twice his size ready to pummel him and the one secondary friend he did not want to hurt. Better to go the polite non-violent way of asking for information.
"Hey, you shit eaters."
Aomine internally applaud himself for being so unreasonably nice to the weak Hollows, who were more like unpopular and gossipy uncles.
"What was that you said," someone replied in anger.
Before he could get a good look at the person who spoke, Aomine leaped and tore out a bloody chunk of the nearest Adjucha, which was unfortunately Sakurai, with his teeth that had elongated on their own.
"Huh?!" the tentacled Hollow cried out. Sakurai writhed to look at the bitten wound and his eyes widened to reveal shock and tears. "I'm so sorry, Aomine-san!"
"Bastard, you dare eat our comrade!" Wakamatsu yelled in rage. He stepped forward, menacingly waving his large fists for retaliation.
"Wait, Wakamatsu. Is this your 'Aomine-san', Sakurai? Does he always bite you on sight?" asked Susa, the only Gillian-class Menos of the group.
"No, I must have done something wrong...um, but please don't provoke Aomine-san any more."
"And why is that?" the bony Hollow inquired through his mask, breaking his silence.
The timid Hollow squirmed and wrapped his tentacles inward to hide his wounded appendage, and nervously stammered, "U-uh, he might accidentally kill us, Harasawa-sensei?"
Thank Sakurai, for warning them in his stead. He had never intentionally eaten another Hollow before, and his teeth sharpening and growing in size surprised Aomine just as much as it did to the Adjucha group. There was a chance he could do more damage on purpose than unintentionally, but he'd rather not try it out again.
Aomine had almost forgotten the reason why he had acted so impulsively, if not for the fact his friend's blood was spilling from the corners of his mouth. He should have been glad he only injured the skittish Hollow, but he felt anger at his actions besides.
His teeth retracted back to wherever they had hid before then. He swallowed and swept his tongue over his blood-splattered lips and cringed in disgust. The taste of another Hollow's flesh and blood was bland and underwhelming.
I better tell Tetsu about this once it's over, he thought. He had no doubt he would win over the others, but it would come with a challenge, judging from their experience of eating thousands of Hollows.
To make it quick as possible, he had to defeat them all in one powerful kill, Sakurai included, to hasten his search in finding his companion. Tetsu had more priority than the Adjucha, Aomine had decided long ago.
He prepared to defend and fight his way like he did to the ordinary Gillian Menos before, but "Harasawa-sensei" must have sensed his determination and killing intent and spoke.
"So, we've found our prodigious king, then?" Harasawa asked the other Hollows.
The tan Hollow turned to face Harasawa, guard on high alert, as he took in his thin and skeletal form. Who was he referring to? The bony guy could be only talking about him.
"We have heard much about you, Aomine," Harasawa said, tone filled with authority. "Sakurai has told us much about your power and how close to a true 'king' you resemble. We tread on a similar path."
Aomine narrowed his eyes. "How are our paths the same?" he growled. He glared at each member of the Hollow hunting group. "You all feel like you would crumble if I seriously decided to destroy your party."
Sakurai trembled in his peripheral vision, and he faintly regretted making a threat against his friend's comrades. But, he was also feeling impatient; their conversation was wasting time.
"No, you misunderstand. We are indeed similar, but not the same. While you aim to be less strong by searching for the stronger, we aim to be stronger," the Adjucha smoothly explained. "That is all the more reason to be taken under your leadership, as one of the strongest. Your existence is our ideal image of strength."
He ended his praise there and proceeded to kneel before Aomine, skeletal limbs and all. The others followed suit. Wakamatsu bowed grudgingly and Sakurai in relief. The others simply obeyed. Harasawa appeared to be the leader of the group, to be called "sensei" by Sakurai.
"Everyone, you can't just..."
In the past, he had weaklings who clung to him in hopes of protection, but a fan club? It was flattering, but he feared they would end up like the others, all dead and bones, and in Harasawa's case, just dead. He planned on telling them to go declare some other unlucky Hollow as their king, like the Shark, but he considered the pros of allying with them.
"Fine, you can call me your king, but don't be surprised if you die along the way," Aomine reluctantly agreed. "Also, don't talk to me about my strength, got it? It's a taboo topic."
They nodded and made way for him as he sped through the Forest to continue his search, and he could sense their reiatsu following him from a distance. He simultaneously teleported through dimensions and thought on his decision to keep his newly appointed fan club as an insurance of Tetsu's safety.
Yes, they had eaten at least a thousand Hollows each, allowing them enough evolution to be deemed as powerful allies. They could protect Tetsu if he wasn't there. The uses of their presence could be used to his advantage. He could sacrifice any of them in the place of Tetsu, if they really worshiped him so. If they endangered his friend, they would be dealt with accordingly. Aomine would...utterly destroy them if any one hurt him.
Aomine could not, would not forgive it.
His vision temporarily turned a dark hazy blue, and his mind led to the simple and terrifying thought of destruction of everything existing and substantial, in order to clear away the solitude that gnawed at him like a dog to bone, day by day, night by night, and every moment he would have breathed, if Hollows were granted the gift of life and warm, flowing blood.
He wasn't aware he had stopped in a rift between a separate dimension and an open field within the Forest. His senses continued to distort along with his thoughts.
He would destroy.
Aomine did not want to destroy.
You will, a voice whispered tauntingly, because it is the whole of your existence to.
He realized the voice was his own, the voice that gave him endless truths and saved him so many times from death, and finally gave in.
Yes, destruction felt good. It gave him purpose. He loved it. Doing nothing all the time was simply boring.
Why should Aomine care if anyone got hurt in the process? Honestly, he felt that the world should owe him for being weaker and easily breakable.
Destroy his annoying fan club. Destroy this shit mess of a forest. Destroy the Gillians who got in his way. Destroy the goddamn familiar panther he, for some reason, recognized.
Destroydestroydestroydestroydestroydestroydestroyd estroydestroydestroydestroydestroydestroydestroyde stroydestroydestroydestroy—
One thought cleared the chaos that was his mind.
Destroy the Tetsu that lied to you.