Chapter 2: God of Thunder

This was way too convenient.

"My name is Ai Kurosawa. It's nice to meet you all."

The girl with long black hair bowed, and the entire class erupted in applause. She made her way towards the back of the classroom at the teacher's behest, towards my desk. I eyed the empty desk on my left...

The only one in the classroom.

She grinned at me when she sat down.

I sighed and brought a hand to my forehead.

Something told me it was going to be a long school year.

"Hey," whispered Takahiro, "You know her?"

I rolled my eyes, "Even if I did I wouldn't introduce her to you."

"Ergh... man you can be evil sometimes."

I felt a light tap on my opposite shoulder, and when I turned around Ai was holding up her notebook with a smile, "Mind if I steal all the notes I missed?"

For some reason I felt heat rush to my face. I decided rummaging through my bag for my notebook was the best option at that point. I handed it to her after I found it, my eyes glued to it the entire time.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Uh... Yusuke Ryudou."

"That's a nice name. It's nice to meet you Yusuke-kun."

I turned away, gritting my teeth. It felt natural when Nanoha called me Yusuke, but this girl saying it was just embarrassing. Takahiro was leaning his head towards me, a huge grin plastered on his face, "She's a bold one, huh?"

"One more word Taka, just one more."

He only laughed, leaning back in his seat with his hands clasped behind his head.

I didn't speak to her again for the entire period, much less look in her direction.

It wasn't until math started that it happened.

'Can you hear me Yusuke?'

I snapped out of the daze of half-listening to the lecture and looked straight at the desk to my left. Ai was attentively taking notes, appearing to absorb every word the teacher was saying. I thought I was going mad.

'Well that's good then. Nanoha told me you must have a Linker Core. There's no way that Jewel Seed would still be inside you if you didn't.'

I was only getting more and more confused.

I had assumed that this girl was the one sent to protect me, and it appeared I was right, but...

How was she speaking to me?

'You're not saying anything so I guess it's safe to assume that you don't know what's going on. I should properly introduce myself. My name is Ai Kurosawa, I'm a Second Lieutenant on my way to becoming an enforcer, basically something like Nanoha-san is. This is my third mission, I'm to protect you in the case of an attack, and if the enemy is too strong I'm to pull you out until backup arrives.'

I frowned. This was serious wasn't it? Even after meeting Nanoha part of me still thought it was a dream, but the girl sitting next to me proved that it wasn't even close.

'If you want to talk back concentrate a little. It doesn't take much, you basically just have to think at me.'

I took a deep breath, eyes glued to the note book with a blank page on my desk, 'So you're my bodyguard...'

I turned my head back to her and saw a faint smile. I decided it would be best if I didn't spend the whole period staring at her and that I should pay attention, people would spread rumors about anything in that school.

'Basically. Nanoha-san wanted to see to you personally, and she'll be checking up on you now and then, but she's got too much on her plate to be guarding you twenty-four seven. That's where I come in.'

'I see. So this whole magic thing is real huh?'

'As real as normal technology. Along with all the malfunctions and backfires that implies.'

'So what happened in my case?'

'A miracle. You shouldn't even be alive right now, and if that Jewel Seed inside you is damaged you won't be lasting long.'

'Thing might as well be my second heart.'

'It could very well be. It's keeping your blood pumping, and it's not a good idea to put it in harm's way. The problem is that if someone comes after you that's what they'll be aiming for.'

My blood ran cold at that. People like that man five years ago... they would be coming after me. They would rip open my chest and take what they wanted, and I couldn't do anything to stop them.

I felt like an idiot.

'Don't worry Yusuke-kun, I'll make sure that doesn't happen.'

I nodded solemnly and my gaze fell back to my notebook.

The sense of dread didn't leave me for the rest of the day.

I got home without incident. Taka was bugging me until we parted ways at the intersection leading to his house, wondering why I was so out of it. I couldn't blame him for being worried, I must have looked like a ghost in his eyes. The walk back to my house seemed longer than usual, and when I actually made it through the door I was able to breathe properly again.

I knew that it was stupid, people like that guy wouldn't hesitate to kill me if I was in my home, but I still felt safer stepping past that door, "I'm home!"

"Welcome back!"

"Any news on that eviction?" I asked, walking into the living room and sitting at the table, across from my mother, who was frowning while she shuffled papers.

"Luckily no, but we should start packing soon. I'll call your aunt tonight, she said she can have us as soon as tomorrow afternoon, you know how paranoid she is about sprucing up the place for guests."

I smiled, "She's just trying to be a good host."

My mom grinned and leaned over the table, ruffling my hair before leaning back into her chair, "It's not all bad," she said softly, "As soon as I can get a job we'll be out of this mess."

"I hope that's soon, Dad would have been worried about you pulling your hair out like this."

She laughed, "I'm not going crazy yet, just a little bit more though."

"Don't take me with you," I said with a smirk.

She sighed and stood up from the table, "Well, I'll get started on dinner, you go do whatever it is you do in that cave of yours."

I stood as well, "Just the usual, homework, video games. I got the dishes and the kitchen tonight."

"Alright."

It was always like this. My mom would do the cooking, and I would take a lot of the chores off her hands, washing dishes, doing laundry, the works.

My dad was the same way, so I pretty much took his place when he passed on.

It was peaceful... normal.

Comfortable.

I finished up the last page of my homework, leaning down from my desk stuffing it into my backpack with a few choice curses. I would never get over how evil my math teacher was. The man gave us enough homework to level an entire forest, he probably had a logging company on speed dial in case he ran out.

It also didn't help that I hadn't been paying attention for pretty much the entire period. Talking with Ai, and then thinking about the various ways I could die horribly broke my concentration slightly.

I sighed, walking to my bed, flopping down, and stuffing my face into my pillow.

I wanted to tell Taka, but he wouldn't believe me no matter how I spun it, and something told me that wouldn't be in my best interest. Still, we had been friends a long time, and while he was annoying he had a right to know.

'Jeez,' I thought, 'It would have been fine if I just lived out a normal life for the rest of my days. That stupid clearing was where all this started.'

Click...

My eyes snapped open when I felt a slight draft from my window.

"Hello."

The voice was deep, gruff.

I felt a pain in my stomach and my chest felt like it was on fire.

I scrambled out of my bed, barely keeping my footing as I stepped back and nearly crashed into my closet.

He was right there, standing next to my window, staring at me.

He was at least six feet tall, and built like a truck to boot, wearing a long black cloak that trailed onto my floor.

In his right hand was a knife.

"It's surprising really," he growled, "I never thought to look in the most likely place. This planet is a festering hole with no magical potency."

I opened my mouth...

"Don't bother calling for help, your room has been completely silenced. You knew this day would eventually come."

I reached behind me, prying open the closet with my eyes locked on the man in front of me at all times. "You're the one who killed me," I mumbled, reaching down into my closet and wrapping my hands around the aluminum baseball bat my dad had given me.

"That is correct."

I leapt over the bed, swinging the bat in a downward arc.

There was no impact.

The top half of the bat fell to the floor.

His hand reached down for me, but I was already out the window.

"You're pretty fast for a little rodent!"

I ran down the street as fast as I could. My heart was hammering in my chest and my lungs felt like they were about to explode, but I forced my legs to keep moving.

If I stopped I was dead.

I gritted my teeth, concentrating as hard as I could, 'Kurosawa! This guy is attacking me!'

'I know, I'm almost there.'

The feeling of impending death became a little bit smaller after that bit of good news, but this guy was still hounding me.

"How disappointing..."

My eyes widened and my breath hitched.

'Above me?'

I jumped to the side, collapsing against the street and screaming as the asphalt scraped into my arm.

The place where I had been but a second ago exploded in fire, sending smoke and chunks of asphalt outwards.

I gritted my teeth and tucked into a ball on the ground, hoping none of the shrapnel would hit me.

"Tch, you're like a damn cockroach. Just die already!"

I pushed myself to my feet, trying to force air into my lungs. I looked up at the man floating above me and glared.

So this was it?

This same guy, killing me because of some stupid jewel that I never even wanted?

"Screw you!" I shouted.

I saw a white light gathering at the tip of his knife.

I prepared to run again...

Another explosion rocked my vision, but this one wasn't on the street.

"So do you always attack helpless people? Or are you just feeling really dickish today?"

My eyes widened, "Kurosawa!"

She grinned down at me, giving my a silly salute, "That's my name, don't wear it out."

She looked... strange.

You'd think she was cosplaying or something with the way she was dressed. Wand in hand, long black dress with frills at the bottom, cut off at the shoulders, white gloves... and a long grey staff with a yellow ball on the tip, the yellow ball was encased by what looked like a gyroscope.

This thing didn't just look like a staff.

It looked like a weapon.

"Are you ready Amaterasu?" She asked with a grin.

The yellow ball lit up, and a woman's voice sounded.

Ready, cartridge load.

The staff extended and hissed. What looked like a bullet casing flew out of the now exposed part, and with another clank it closed, presumably loading another one of these 'bullets'.

I was completely baffled.

She aimed her staff down at the newly made plume of smoke, which I figured was where the man had fallen after she made that explosion in his face, "My name is Ai Kurosawa, Second Lieutenant and assigned bodyguard of Yusuke Ryudou, and I'm taking you into custody. Drop your weapon and surrender quietly!"

I covered my eyes when the smoke erupted and blew out from one singular point. Standing atop some cracks in the asphalt was the man, dagger at the ready and stoically looking up at the girl that had come to save me, "I see," he mumbled, "How troublesome." He held up his dagger and pointed it at Ai.

She chuckled, "I was hoping you would fight, it's no fun if they just surrender."

"You are a B class mage are you not?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

"The rank structure is absurd. The only thing that matters is power. Are you more powerful than me girl?"

"I guess we'll have to find out, won't we?"

The yellow ball at the end of her staff glowed, and the gyroscope began to move.

Scope Blast.

A single thin yellow line came from the orb and collided with the man.

It looked like a small beam...

But the damage it did was akin to a high explosion.

The man leapt up through the leftover smoke, what looked like some sort of glyph was in front of him. It was a strange design, a triangle with circles on its three points, and intricate drawings within every blank space.

"Interesting," mumbled the man, "But I'm afraid the light show is over." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bracelet, a smirk tracing his features the entire time. The bracelet was silver, and had a small blue sapphire.

Ai's panicked expression was enough to let me know that the situation was about to get bad.

The man chuckled, "Thor, activate."

There was a moment of silence.

Then, a deep male's voice...

Negative.

Ai burst out into laughter. The man merely glared at her and cast the bracelet aside, "Useless junk."

"That's what you get for stealing an AI," said Ai, trying to suppress her laughter, "You have very sticky hands don't you? First it was the Jewel Seed and now this."

"No matter, I'll finish you with what I have."

The man's eyes widened and his pupils dilated. He grinned like a madman at his dagger, and he pointed it at her once more, "Enough games. Triamp..."

Yes.

"Kill the girl and tear the boy's chest open."

Yes Lord!

Ai tried to evade the white balls of light coming from the weapon, but at about ten they ended up overwhelming her, and the man charged forward, still with the mad grin, "Die!"

"Kurosawa!"

She barely blocked the incoming blow with her staff, but then he started coming down on her hard, smashing the blade of his dagger against her staff over and over again.

It was then I realized he was laughing.

It was a laugh you would hear in an insane asylum.

This guy...

"Ah!" Ai was thrown to the ground, she tried to stand up but he was bearing down on her again with no hesitation.

I felt helpless.

He really was going to kill her.

My first instinct was to run.

There was no way she could beat this guy.

I couldn't fight against a monster like that.

I'd barely been in a few fights at school, and I lost most of them.

This... was way out of my league.

Ai's staff was cracking.

Then I saw it.

A blue glint in the corner of my eye.

I looked down, and not but a few feet away was the bracelet.

He had been trying to use it for something.

I wondered...

Then, casting my hesitation aside, I ran for the bracelet, reaching down to scope it up in my hands.

"Did you have a good day at work dear?"

"Yes I did. How's Yusuke coming along?"

"Oh he's grumpy as usual, he's helping me with dinner right now. His twelfth birthday is coming up you know."

"Dad."

"Heh heh, hey sport! Sit down, I'll tell you about everything that happened at work today."

"Dear! You know those stories make an impression on him."

"Oh c'mon, he's old enough now, and he already told me he wanted to be a cop."

"It's bad enough having one policeman in the family, I don't need to be worrying about both of you at the same time."

"Don't listen to your mother, she's just being paranoid."

"Hmph!"

Confirmation?

I stared down at the bracelet, and my entire world seemed to freeze in that one moment.

"This is something that you can't just do, it has to be something you want with all your heart. Understand?"

Confirmation?

"Thor... activate."

Confirmation received. Build... Hammer form.

My eyes widened when the bracelet floated out of my hand, "What the..."

I was enclosed in what seemed like a blue barrier, swirling around me.

"What the hell is this?"

The bracelet seemed to dissolve in front of me, leaving only the sapphire behind, glowing with a brilliant light. It doubled, tripled, quadrupled in size before ceasing.

Seemingly out of nowhere, something began building around the sapphire. It was encased with two silver hammer ends, blue lightning surrounding it as a handle burst from nowhere.

It landed right in my hands, as if it belonged there.

Confirm barrier jacket. Please upload information.

"Wha..."

Please upload barrier jacket.

"Close your eyes and imagine it!" I heard Ai shout, "Hurry!"

Something crashed against the barrier, and I jumped in surprise.

Even through the blue protection surrounding me I could see the man, a look of furious anger on his face, "I'll kill you! Just like last time, you can't avoid it!"

I closed my eyes and thought.

Barrier jacket, huh?

The shield surrounding me flashed and blew the man back at least twenty feet before it dropped. I was once again surrounded by the night of Uminari city, but there was something different this time.

I looked over at Ai, whose smile was as bright as the sun at the moment.

I looked down at myself.

A black shirt, navy blue jacket, blue gloves, blue pants, and deceivingly comfortable boots. "What do I do?"

Ai was at my side in an instant, "Follow my lead," she said, "We can beat him together!"

I nodded.

The cracks in her staff appeared to be gone.

It was good to know damage could be repaired on these things.

"Amaterasu, are you ready?"

Yes.

I held the hammer at the ready, and Ai nodded firmly to me, "Thor?" I asked.

Confirmed. Combat ready.

The man was upon us in an instant, but he went for me first.

"Shit!" I held up the hammer in a meek attempt at defense.

Barrier.

The same kind of barrier that had surrounded me before was now in a half-sphere in front of me, holding back the man's dagger as he gritted his teeth in anger.

Ai moved instantly, bearing down on him while he was distracted with me. Her staff landed a blow right on the side of his face, and he was sent careening into the ground with a concussive force that nearly matched the earlier explosions.

Load cartridge.

I looked down at the hammer in my hands, "What?"

Confirmation?

Ai rolled her eyes and nodded at me.

"Oh, uh... load cartridge..."

With a clank, the hammer's handle extended slightly, and a small blue cartridge ejected from the chamber before it slid back into place.

Just like Ai's.

Ai smirked, twirling her staff as the man stood again, "You're not very good at fighting two people at once, are you? Even if they're weaker than you, huh?"

The man glared at her.

"You're too short-fused, you have no control."

He charged for us again.

This time we both swung.

He managed to block Ai's attack, but Thor hit him square in the chest, shattering a barrier he tried to put up at the last second and sending him flying right back where he came from.

"Let's finish this," said Ai, grinning, "Amaterasu."

Yes. Shooting mode.

The gyroscope on her staff ceased rotating as they were all aligned. The gyroscope then seemed to collapse in on itself and a gap at the tip was formed, with jagged edges. Her handle extended and steam was discharged. It clanked twice, ejecting two cartridges.

My grip tightened around my hammer's handle, "Thor?"

Confirmed, sniper form.

Ai coughed a bit, "What now?"

Thor's handle collapsed a few inches before something jutted out of the end.

It looked like the butt stock of a gun.

The hammer ends folded in and collapsed into the handle of the weapon, only the tip was left slightly larger, holding the sapphire. A handle jutted out a few inches in front of the stock, and I grasped it on instinct, pointing the weird looking weapon at where the man was now struggling to his feet and tucking the stock into my shoulder.

Ai regained herself and held her staff with one hand, aiming it as well.

Sun Flare.

Thunder shot.

The entire street lit up like a small-scale nuclear bomb had been dropped, and I set one foot back, gritting my teeth against the sheer force Thor was exuding.

It was over as quickly as it had started.

The smoke cleared, and the man was...

"Gone," I growled.

Ai beamed, "Well, you're safe and we got Thor back, so that's all that matters. Now if you could just hand him over I can give it to Nanoha."

"Alright," I said, "No problem."

Deactivating.

The hammer retreated into itself until only the sapphire was left, and with a flash of blue light I was back in my normal clothes, socks and all.

The bracelet was around my right wrist now.

I tugged on it...

And it didn't budge.

Ai frowned, "What the..."

"I... I don't know. I can't get it off."

Negative.

Ai pouted, "Oh no."

"What? What is it?"

Her pout turned into a sheepish grin, "Um... sometimes the AIs... stick with one person, and it looks like he likes you."

"I guess I'll keep it then."

"Are you INSANE?" she shouted.

I was surprised by her outburst, and stepped back a bit, "Um... Kurosawa?"

"Nanoha-san told me she didn't want you fighting! I was fully intent on giving her Thor as soon as you handed it over, but now I can't! Do you have any idea what that means?"

"Um... what?"

She grabbed my collar and shook me violently, "She's gonna kill me!"

I pried her hands from me and frowned, "But, why would she kill you? I mean... we did it out of desperation, she'll listen if we explain ourselves."

With the look she was giving me at that moment it seemed like she was calling me stupid without her actually opening her mouth, "No, you seriously don't understand. You don't know Nanoha."

"She seemed nice."

"Yeah, until you're waking up in the infirmary!"

I frowned, was it really that bad?

Well, at least I had an answer for Nanoha.

Whatever this was, it felt good.

Still...

Ai paced back and forth, her hands grabbing and pulling her hair over and over again, "I'm dead, I'm sooooooooo dead! Ai Kurosawa, sister, friend, screwup! The White Devil shows no mercy!"