Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: I.S Style.
Disclaimer: I don't own IS: Infinite Stratos OR Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei but I own this fiction and my own plot and techniques. All props go to fujin of shadows for writing the original story.
Chapter 2:
(Age 10) (Madoka).
"So this is what being kidnap feels like." Ichika muttered to himself as both his twin and himself, together with Houki and her brother, hung upside down, their feet bind by shackles connected to the wall above. "I got to tell youl, I expected worsts." As a bounty hunter, he had seen things done to kidnapped victims enough to be scarred for life.
Of course, after seeing those things, Ichika made sure that those men are thrown to a prison and made sure that they rot in that prison. The prison was designed and built by him after all.
"I'm not laughing, Ichika." Madoka growled as she tried to loosen her shackles, but to no avail.
"Flesh vs. Steel, it doesn't take a genius to know who will win." Ichika muttered in annoyance before looking up. "The chains are made out of brass with a hint of silver, and reinforce with runes, meaning that foreigners are responsible for this. We Japanese use seals after all." Ichika muttered as I sway side to side.
"You can tell all that by just looking at the chains?" Houki inquired surprised.
"I can tell a lot of things by just looking at the material. I've been working with steel and minerals for the past five years after all." Ichika answered before glaring at the purple haired man beside me. "I blame you for this, you prick." Ichika told him in contempt, not liking the fact that his stupidity got Madoka into this mess.
"Stop rubbing it in, you brat." A person 18-years of age snarled at me. This person is a tall young man with shoulder-length wavy purple hair, and brown eyes. He wears a long-sleeved collared shirt with suspenders and dark pants. He has a long scar running vertically along the side of his left eye, which comes from a wound that he got as a child.
His name is Akatsubaki, the only son of the Shinonoo clan, and he is also prat….
"What we need to do…"
"What you need to do is shut up…" the bounty hunter told him with a grumble. "We wait for rescue to arrive, and just relax."
"Stop insulting my Oniisama…" Houki scolded The younger male, but he ignored her as he allowed his senses to spread as far as possible.
'Okay, I don't have my CAD with me, so I need to say the incantation.' thought Ichika. Most magicians in today's age depend too much in CAD's when casting spells. They have forgotten that the main purpose of CAD is to merely lessen the casting time of each spell by minutes or hours into seconds, thus they develop an assumption that a CAD is required to cast a spell…
What bullshit!
Before CAD, there were wands and staffs…and before that, there were incantations.
"Eye of the red moon, be my scout! Fly the skies, hunt for vermin! Give me the sight of thy enemies! Allow me to hunt them down! Meiso shinkei (Meditative sensibility)" Ichika whispered quietly as he felt his senses enhanced to the point that he could hear the heart beats of the people that kidnapped them from across the building and his nose was assaults by numerous smells.
Meiso shinkei (Meditative sensibility) is a skill that enables the user to remove mental shackles through powerful self-suggestion, thereby allowing them to temporarily surpass the body's limits. A strong backlash will inevitably follow from using this skill. But Ichika's body has grown accustomed to It so he will be fine, he had other ways of telling where and how kidnappers there were but all of them would have allerted the other prisonniers into his magic and since he did not have his scrambler on they would have recognised the Orimura clan magic that he uses and that is not going to happen any time soon, so he was stuck with Meiso shinkei (Meditative sensibility).
"At least fifty," Ichika mumbled under his breath. "I could end them, but I don't want to be Sin at the moment."
"What are you blabbing about, brat?" Akatsubaki asked with an irritated tone, and Ichika merely glared at him.
"I'm amusing myself, as usual." the younger male retorted back. "Hey, any of you have your CADs with you at the moment." Being members of noble clans, they are required to have either bodyguards and/or CAD with us at all times because they are all eye candy for kidnappers.
Of course Ichika, having low magic abilities, always carries a handgun in exchange for a CAD. His favorite being is a Desert Eagle, a handgun made over 90 years ago, maintained and improve by himself.
There was a collective answer of no, and I groaned at this. "So we wait," Ichika commented, which earned him a blow from Akatsubaki, which earned him a glare from the Orimura.
"Don't talk like a coward."Akatsubaki all but yelled at the Orimura male.
"I'm not talking like a coward; I'm being practical you fool." Ichika hissed at him. "You guys don't have your CADs with you, my gun has been confiscated, and you guys can't cast a spell without your CADs. We have no choice but to wait." Technically, Ichika can get all of them out of here in a flash, but there would be a lot of questions if he just suddenly unveil my magic to everyone, and Ichika cannot risk Setsura like that, Ichika can never risk Setsura.
"You do know that nobody knows where we are." Madoka pointed out in a matter of fact tone.
"Mother knows where we are. Remember the CAD that you had me tuned last week, I installed a transmitter on your CAD that emits a traceable frequency within three thousand square miles when remove from your possession." Her brother stated with a mischievous smile. "That is enough for mother or for Chifuyu-nee to track us down."
At that information, Ichika's sister, his friend, and the annoying twat gave him strange looks, which Ichika answered by shrugging. "Contingency plans, never leave home without having Contingency plans." As a bounty hunter, he lived by those words.
Their conversation was cut short when several men entered the room. Ichika growled a bit as he watch them free Madoka, Houki, and the twat from their shackles, but left him hanging. He glared at them as he watched them dag my sister forcefully out of the room. "If my sister is harm, I will send you all to the Shinigami in pieces." the younger Orimura told them as a random man came in front of me and threw a punch right at him.
The child did not feel pain from that punch. He hab been through worse and his regeneration is still active with or without a CAD. The person who punch him then grabbed a handgun and level it on his head. Ichika smiled at this.
"If your bullet doesn't penetrate my head, then you're dead." the male Orimura told them while whispering "tekkai (Iron mass)" as a gunshot sound echoed in the room, and all Ichika saw after that is black.
Scene change.
"I told you…" Ichika muttered as he stood over the man who shot him. He was bleeding from the head due to the bullet that Ichika shot through his skull. "….that you would be dead if your bullet did not blow my head off my shoulders." Ichika can regenerate any part of my body in a flash, with two exceptions being my internal organs and my head. An internal organ takes more than an hour to regenerate, and if my brain is destroy, then the bounty hunter is as good as dead. The bullet that was shot at him was weak, it wasn't even enough to penetrate hks skull, but it was enough for him to lose consciousness for about two minutes.
When he woke up, he freed myself from his shackles and escape the room where they are holding him captive, found the man who shot him, then he buried four bullets through his cranium.
"What a substandard handgun." Ichika muttered to himself as he threw the handgun to the ground in disgust. He then activated the medallion that he had on. The medallion that he is wearing was not his CAD, but an artifact that allows him to teleport some of his equipment stored in his mansion to his current location. "Target set, weapon no. 2357, teleport coordinates, N57, S24, E96, W12." Ichika exclaimed loudly as he heard several footsteps heading his way.
The medallion glowed bright before a beam of light erupted from the medallion. The beam of light then formed a red case before the beam subsided. Ichika opened the case, and saw the handguns that he made late last year: the casull and the Jackal.
The Casull is a semi-automatic magnum pistol, based on two pre-WW1 handgun designs by Colt: the M1903 and M1905 pistols (the early versions of the M1911). The gun weighs approximately 6 kg unloaded and has a magazine capacity of six .454 Casull cartridges. The overall design of the Casull is simple, using the Browning short recoil mechanism. Its most recognizable feature is its long slide, counteracting the weapon's heavy recoil with its weight. The barrel is 10 inches long and finished with titanium nitride which gives it a characteristic gold color. The gun fires custom-made explosive .454 Casull rounds, with the steel bullets bearing a core made from melted silver. They are used in a six round single-stack magazine.
The Jackal on the other hand is a massive pistol made by Ichika especially for himself, and the most powerful handheld weapon in the whole of Asia, equalled only by his mother's songstress. It has a length of 39cm (16 in), a weight of 16kg (35lbs), and a black gunmetal construction, and uses massive 13mm explosive rounds. Its unique design makes it seem as if it doesn't have a pistol slide; however, the entire upper assembly is the slide, and moves only a minimal distance compared to other guns', making it appear as if there is no pistol slide. The Jackal has its silver ejector port on the left side, implying that it is meant to be used in conjunction with the Casull (sending the shells to the left prevents them from obscuring the wielder's view). The Jackal fires a huge, armour-piercing, 13mm hollow point bullet. The rounds are jacketed with a "casing" of Macedonian silver and features an explosive tip containing a charge of mercury. However, the 13mm round's size limits the Jackal's magazine capacity to six rounds. The rounds use "Marvell's Chemical Cartridge N.N.A.9", and are suggested to be very short by the minimal movement of the Jackal's slide. This could be due to the cartridge being powerful enough to require only minimal propellant.
Both guns are too heavy for even grown adults to use but Ichika, with his extreme physical training can use them easily.
Seeing that the kidnappers, entered the room were he was Ichika quickly shot the lights making it completely dark in the room. At the same time the twenty or saw kidnappers opened fire on the teen emitting the entire clips of their uzis on him but with complete darkness and zero visibility in the room they couldn't be sure they got him.
"you think we got him?" asked a voice in the dark.
"Of course we did. We empyied all of our ammo on the brat." answered another
"dunno, this kid killed vodka, that's no easy feat, especially four bullets in the head guys" said a third voice.
"Shut the fuck up Gin, you were always a pussy, go check him now" said a fourth voice before they were all shut by a Hail of bullets that pierced their bodies. Ichika countered fire by shooting at them with his weapons. While he did not know where they are specifically he knows where they should be statistically, the rest is handled by his body through the use of Gun kata.
Through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, the clerics, in other words the church, has determined that the geometric distribution of antagonists in any gun battle is a statistically predictable element, and through using said data they created what is called Gun kata. The gun kata treats the gun as a total weapon, each fluid position representing a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents while keeping the defender clear of the statistically traditional trajectories of return fire. In short, the focus of the style is simply to shoot where the foe ought to be when they're aiming at you, and to not be where the foe ought to shoot. This style was used in the third world war, but fell to disuse a few years before the end of It because most masters of the craft are dead. Ichika reverse engeneered it when he once heard his mother talk about a rough gunslinger she killed at the height of the war, by the way he was five when that happened by the way, just saying. Currently counting Ichika only four masters of the Gun kata still remain. One in the Vatican as the head of the executors. One in Russia as head of equilibrium, the russian anti mage unit. And one is an Italian hitman.
As he exited the room he was in, Ichika heard footsteps coming from the door on the end of the corridor, his guess was proved to be correct when six armed guys opened the door but before they could even realise what was going on, their brains were shot, curtesy of the Casull. He didn't have time to admire his handywork as fifty or so bullet penetrated his head, or at least should have had he not bended his body backwards to the point that his torso was parallele to the ground. The five thugs didn't get a moment to be surprised by the manoeuver as their heads were blown up by the Jackal. Ichika raised his body just high enough so that he could see a bullet flying right in front of his nose before he returned fire an killed his attacker. As he was about to go to the next level of the three story compound they were in, Ichika felt queesy, It was his first kill after all, but before he became a shivering mess, Ichika whispered "I am nothing but steel, steel doesn't feel, steel doesn't fear, steel simply kills their opponent." This sentence made all of his emotions disappear. Just like Meiso shinkei (Meditative sensibility), this sentence was a powerful self suggestion that allowed Ichika to completely numb his emotions, after all he can't break down now, he still has a job to do.
Scene change.
After killing nearly all the thugs in the building, Ichika reached the last floor, he opened the door and what he saw made his blood run cold in his veins.
"You know what, screw everything else." Ichika growled in anger as he witness several men stripping his twin sister's clothes off her body. He raised his gun up and blasted the head of everybody in the room. "I am going to slaughter you all." Ichika swore as he took his jacket off and put it over his half naked twin. The kidnappers tried to fight back but Ichika was simply too good, and by the time his mother showed up a lot of people died.
Scene change Ichika POV.
You okay?" My mother asked with a rather worried tone that was very unlike her. She currently leading me to one of the medical vans that she brought.
"I think I'm going to throw up." I muttered to myself with a sickly tone. I was covered in blood, but none of which belongs to me, the smell made me sick as both the effects of Meiso shinkei (Meditative sensibility) and the second self suggestion faded off and the reality of my actions dawned upon me.
"That's to be expected, young master." Yamato, my mother's right hand man, commented as he walked side by side with my mother. Yamato looks to be in his late thirties, and he has rugged look matching his muscular build. His face was mark with dozens of scars. "I haven't seen that much carnage since Bangkok in 2069." Yamato commented and my mother nodded in agreement.
"Mother, can you wash the blood off me, I think I'm going to be sick from the smell." I begged my mother as I collapsed to my knees. Strange, so strange, I fought people stronger than those men before, but this is the first time I felt so exhausted after a fight. Why, I wonder, I didn't even use any of my spells, so why am I so exhausted.
"Of course, just give me a second, Ichi-kun." My mother whispered to me as she snapped her fingers, and instantly, all the blood in my person disappeared, together with the smell. Still, I feel heavy, very heavy.
"Can I go to sleep, I'm so tired?" I mumbled as I collapsed face first to the ground.
Why do I feel so heavy? Meiso shinkei's effect were that severe before, I mean even when I created the bloody thing I didn't feel that tired.
"Of course you can." My mother told me as I saw her pull out the Songstress from the holster on her hip. "Yamato, anybody still alive in there."
"Two, the ring leader and some guy that hid under the corpses of his comrades when the young master started his massacre."
"Bring me to them, I will show them what would happen when they threaten my son!"
Scene change Ichika POV.
After the kidnapping incident, my relationship with my twin sister change drastically.
Before the incident, we usually do everything together. We were the best of friends.
But after the incident, Madoka distance herself from me, which is strange. I did save her before anything could happen to her. I had half-expected her to thank me or to visit me in all those therapy sessions that my mother force me in (I've seen things that would give that therapist's nightmares nightmares, but I did not say a word. My bounty increase from half a million to 1.5 million since last year after all).
Still, it was strange; my close relationship with my twin disappeared overnight. Whenever I tried to talk to her, she just dismissed me and run off. Whenever we are in the same vicinity, she always makes it a point to be as far away as possible from me. Whenever we are at school, she tries her best to avoid me. Whenever we are at home, she's ignores me.
Houki is also doing that, but I tend to not care. She's my friend, if I lost her, it is okay.
My sister, on the other hand, is a different story.
I was confused, why she was acting like that, and I want some answer from her. I need some answers from her.
It took me roughly a month, but I finally cornered her for a conversation.
A conversation that I soon regretted in having.
"Okay, what's up?" I asked Madoka as I stood in front of her. The two of us were currently in one of the abandon corridors of the Orimura compound, and this time, Madoka will not leave until I get a straight answer from her.
"I'm sorry, but the elders are reacquiring my presence." Madoka excused herself, not even looking at me in the eyes. Before she move pass me, I block her path.
"Not today, Grandfather is currently occupying there attention." I should know, I've kind of, discretely, gave Grandfather some proof about some of the elders dirty dealings.
A lot of scumbags have been entering Japan in the past couple of months, and most of those scumbags are criminals with bounties amounting into seven digit bounty, and most of those seven-digit bounties are dangerous fighters and magicians. On the bright side, my house had gotten a lot of additions, and I am now restoring a Volvo C70 Convertible.
Yes, I need a life but we had already establish that when I was nine years old.
"I am going to hang out with Houki."
"The entire Shinonono family is in Hokkaido for two days and two nights." I informed her before letting out of sigh. "Why are you avoiding me?" I asked, getting straight to the point.
"I don't know what you're talking about."Madoka denied, and I almost glare at her but relented.
"We haven't had our weekly stargazing together." I pointed out bluntly.
"I'm not a child anymore; I don't need to stare at the stars every week." She stated, and I instantly narrowed my eyes at that statement.
She was lying. One true thing about Madoka is that she loves stargazing, and we usually spend one night every week to just gaze at the night skies and spend some time catching up with each other.
For the past two months, we barely spoke with each other.
"Okay, since that kidnapping incident, you barely look at me, you barely spoke to me, you haven't even look at me in the eye for the past two months." I told her with a slightly forceful tone. "I want to know why, you owe me that much."
There's a thick silence between us as I finish saying those words, and my instincts scream at me to leave, but I stayed firm…
A decision that I soon regretted.
"You're becoming like mother." Madoka spoke coolly and I was taken aback by this.
One thing I hate about being a member of a Prominent and High ranking clan is that reputation is valued over family. It is not strange for a clan to marry off some of their daughters or sons to some random spouses just to increase their standings in society, or to get a few yens in their pockets.
Because of this fact, close family bonds are rare within any clans in the country. That's one of the reasons why I tried so hard to keep both my sisters happy. My greatest wish is to have a loving family, something that was denied from me because of the family that I was born in.
My father's only interacts with us if it involves business, politics, or how we could help raise the reputation of the family.
My mother is a bit strange with regards to the family. Unlike my father and most of her friends, my mother was not a noble; she was born a commoner, a very powerful commoner. She was so powerful in fact that she had attracted the attention of every noble clan in the country, but she choose to join the Orimura clan do to the military background of the family, and thus, she was married to my father, the only son of the Orimura clan at that time, as a proof of her allegiance to the clan.
My mother, to make a long and unknown story short, is not too fond with her daughters, but she adores me. She treats Chifuyu-nee as her subordinate, and continually belittles Madoka, but for some strange reason, Mother adores me and continually spoils me.
Chifuyu-nee and Madoka, they tolerate each other, enough said.
My grandfather and I are the once who tries to keep everyone as a family, and it was difficult to do at times.
Now, because of my mother's relationship with my twin, Madoka had developed a genuine dislike for our mother.
"Wait a minute, how am I becoming like mother, I'm nothing like her!" I told her firmly.
"Then why did you kill those men?"
"They were threatening you!" I answered truthfully. "Do you have any idea what they were about to do to you?" I asked her bluntly while inwardly shuddering at the thought. As a bounty hunter, I have seen things that no other people should see, especially kids my age.
I know who send those men after us and I know what they are capable off. I know what they were planning to do to us, they were going to kill me (Fail!), and they were going to break Madoka by either torturing her or raping her (I made sure that failed!).
I can tell grandfather who sent those men, but I can't because I don't have any evidence to back my claim. Sometimes, it sucks to be ten.
"That doesn't explain why you killed them. You could have knocked them out." Madoka debated and I frown at this. WHAT!? Is she listening to what she was saying?
"It was you or them; it's a no brainer who I would choose." I told her with a blunt tone as I tried to look at my twin's eyes to see what she was thinking deep inside. Why is she so bothered of me killing? For Kami's sake, I killed in order to protect her, and that act is the only thing I haven't done for Chifuyu-nee and Setsura.
"Will you not use me to excuse what you did!" Madoka snapped at me before shoving me away. "I saw you, with one of your guns, firing at those poor men, killing them in cold blood! Did you even stop and consider about their family?" Did those men did something to my sister, because she is talking nonsense.
"Let me get this straight, they kidnapped you, me, Houki, and that twat, one of them shot me with a gun, and then they dragged you to a room, strapped you to a freaking table, strip you off your clothing, and was about to do something to you that I do not want to even imagine, and you think I was THE ONE who was wrong because I killed them to save you, Houki, and that twat." I ranted as I tried to control the irritation of my voice.
"And do you even think that I enjoyed killing those men, then think again. I killed over forty men back then, and their blood will be forever in my hands. I have to live for the rest of my life knowing that I turned my back on my beliefs to save your life." I didn't even do that for Setsura, and I didn't even kill most of the scumbags that I came across in my career as a bounty hunter, and most of those scumbags deserved death, but I relented and merely threw them to a jail that is basically impossible to escape.
I designed and made the prison after all.
Yes, we had already established that I have a lot of free time and I need something to preoccupy myself. STOP JUDGING ME.
"You could have beaten them without killing them. You're skilled enough with a gun to do that." True, I am skilled enough with a gun to take out a C-class magician with nothing but a gun without killing the magician. But, back then, I was not thinking to subdue my enemies; I was thinking to eliminate them.
I took a deep breath to calm myself as I looked at her solemnly. "Okay, why are you so upset? We have seen mother torture and kill before…" Philippines, 2087, my mother and her unit tortured and killed over 1000 rebels that were threatening to invade Japan. It was not a pretty sight, I should know, I was there to witness how brutal and merciless my mother could be. "…and you weren't this affected much…" I had to sleep next to Madoka for a month to make sure that she didn't have any nightmares.
"What is the difference between me and mother killing?" The main difference would be that I kill them outright, and not make them beg for their deaths. Even Madoka knows that.
"I don't know! But I know one thing, you enjoy killing those men as much as mother enjoy killing!"
Okay, WHAT!?
"Are you listening to what's coming out of your mouth? Mother enjoys killing because she grew up in a freaking warzone, and she's a natural born sadist..." I love you mother, but that's the truth. "….if I'm anything like mother, then I would have already shot those elders who always make it a point to make my life as difficult as possible."
"Then you're a bloody hypocrite." Madoka all but shouted while narrowing her eyes. "I saw you back then while you were killing those men. Your eyes were like mother's. You are just like her, you're just a murderer."
As she said those words, I tried my best to hide the pain that I felt and focus merely on her eyes. What I saw was shocking.
"You're jealous of me?" I asked her in a slight taken back tone.
"What!?"
"You were always too competitive, ever since you were five years old. Ever since people started comparing you to Chifuyu-nee, you always see everything as a competition." Thank Kami-sama that nobody can touch Setsura in terms of magic. She has no competition, and that made her special because even without a constant challenge, her growth rate is still tremendous.
"Are you mad at me because I killed those men, or because I showed you that I don't need magic to actually beat somebody stronger than me?" I asked in curiosity as I waited for Madoka to react.
*SLAP*
My head jerked slightly after the slap that my twin gave me.
But that was all the answer I needed.
Scene change: Ichika POV.
One month after that conversation, Madoka and I haven't spoken with each other. I always tried to have a brother-sister conversation with her, but she just ignores me, something that hurt me deeply.
I hid my pain very well when I am within the Orimura family compound, but when I'm out hunting and training Setsura, well, that's a different story.
For the past months that followed that conversation, whenever I hunt, I became more brutal, merciless even, and I even took several pages from my mother's playbook. I have started dismembering some of my targets, I mentally and emotionally tortured some of my targets to an extent that some of them committed suicide, and the less said on how brutal I became in combat the better.
I felt disgusted with myself knowing that I am proving my twin right. Deep inside me is the same monster that mother has within her. I am just like her, a monster in human skin.
The thing I regretted the most about my grieving too much about my lost relationship with Madoka is the fact that my training sessions with Setsura became harsher and harder. I became strict when it comes to training and raising Setsura. Every training session I had with Setsura in the last month always started with me yelling at her and always ended with her so exhausted that she could barely move. She was also always covered with bruises after every particular training session.
You have no idea how much I hated myself after bruising her skin like that.
Also, after the fight I had with Madoka, I have stopped painting portraits and creating musical compositions. It just didn't feel right at the moment. Every time I paint portraits or write a musical composition, I always felt joyful before and after I finish creating my master pieces, but currently, I don't feel the emotions that I usually feel when doing my hobbies.
It suck that I was affected so much by my sister practically denouncing me.
And I still cannot believe that she would denounce me that quickly because I showed a miniscule of my abilities to save her life.
But, most importantly, I hate myself because Setsura suffered because of my grief. In the three years of me taking care of her, I have grown to truly adore that girl. We were friends before, but now, after three years, the relationship that we have is akin to a father-daughter relationship. It pains me to see Setsura enduring my harshness and my grief with a smile on her face like she wasn't pained by my actions. She deserves better.
She deserves better than me.
Scene change: general POV.
Ichika was wearing his civilian clothes for today, he decided to make It up to Setsura today. After school, Seirin elementary school one of the best interest the country, he was going to take her shopping then he was taking her out for dinner, and finally they were going to see the openings night of a remake of her favorite opera: Don Giovanni at the emperial theater, he had managed to procure two balcony tickets for today.
As he arrived at the place Setsura always waits for him to pick her up from, he didn't find her waiting. It was 16:10 so he was late, she should be waiting for him here. Suddenly he felt something very, very wrong was going to happen so as usual, he cheked it out. He took out his cell phone and used a special tracking app that he installed in both of Setsura's phone and CAD. When both turned out to be dead ends, In other words he found both the bloody things in her school in a trash can. He decided that a change of methods was necessary. He dialed a number on his phone and waited, thirty seconds later, the person that Ichika called started a video chat with Ichika.
The man was old, roughly seventy-two or seventy three, and he looks very fragile and thin. He was wearing a kimono, with his right arm covered in bandages and hidden in his kimono. He stands at the height of five foot, five inches. He has light grey hair which was baggy, and long, grey beard which looks to be well trimmed. His right eye was covered by a white bandage, and his face had an X shaped scar on It. The man was Hanzo Gendo the human cyborg, a former general turned traitor of Japan, but to Ichika Hanzo was a mentor, the man was the best hacker on god's green earth for the last five decades, and one of Japan's greatest resource during World War Three. If it were any normal occasion Ichika would have had some small talk before stayting his business but now Ichika just didn't have the time, a sentiment that Hanzo probably detected since he asked the following question
"Ichika kun, what can I do for you?" the hacker said and Ichika simply answered
"Hanzo san, I want a five mile scan of all the security cameras around Seirin elementary school, and I want the footage of the last 8 hours sent to me." the former general simply nodded and said
"of course I will send It to you in 15 minutes." and just like that Hanzo Gendo ended the chat. Another feature of Gendo is that he wasn't overly curious, the man understood the value of secrets, having quite a few himself.
During that time Ichika went to a nearby cyber café and cheked into a booth that he payed for the next five hours. Once inside, he closed the door and used fuinjutsu to make the room completely unconspecuous to others, he used his medallion to summon his Sin costume and his computer.
Once the file with all the footage arrived, Ichika started seeing all the footage, and around 15:00 hours Ichika spotted a strange individual that came out of an office supply truck. Ichika knew the company that the school sealed with so he knew all the employees of said company, also Ichika was informed of any and all new imployees that were hired or fired since he bribed the secretary of the president of the local branch. Another thing that marked the man was the looks in his eyes. They were not the eyes of a simple delivery man but they were the eyes of a killer.
Since he doubted that people knew he was Sin, and even if they knew they wouldn't be able to tell his relationship with Setsura. Ichika was one hundred percent sure that Setsura was the target all along. The only reason she would be targetted would be because of her mother. So sighing Ichika opened a file that contained a liste of the people that the Princess Shirayuki-hime pissed off in her life. Finding a match to the picture of the man that Ichika suspected of taking Setsura. Ichika's eyes widened when he read his file. He needed to hurry up and find Setsura.
Around two years ago, the Japanese police decided to use the CCTV cameras to track people better in their cars. So they decided to use an algorithm that automatically took pictures of the cars registration plates and used said Images to create a route of the vehicle, they called it project sentinel. They asked Tabane to make it but the rabbit was too busy or not enough interested to do It so she sub contracted Ichika for It. Paid him in full too, what no one knows Is that Ichika had built In a backdoor that allowed him to use said algorithm, an old habit instilled by Hanzo, one that Ichika was thankful for by the way. Finding the location that he wanted, Ichika quickly wore his Sin outfit and left the café, discretely of course, all the while hoping that Setsura is alive.
Scene change: general POV.
Setsura woke feeling a pounding headache, she tried to remember what happened. So she was at the school, It was about the time for the final bell, she went to the toilet and then... nothing just darkness. The young girl looked around herself and saw where she was, she was in some sort of cage in a dark and damp place. A sewer if what she observed was right, her musings were cut short when a voice came from the shadows outside the cage
"you know, you look just like her." and the person stepped out of the shadows, the man, as he was a man by both his voice and appearance was very tall and muscular. He had a distinctive shark-like appearance, complete with pale, blue-grey skin. He also has small, round, white eyes, gill-like facial markings under his eyes, and sharp triangular teeth. He also styled his blue hair in the form of a shark fin. The man was wearing a pitch black suit with a black shirt and white tie underneath. Setsura, even in the face of his intimidating appearance, forced herself to be calm, or at least appear calm judging by the fact that she was shaking like a leaf.
"just like who?" she asked her captor who just shuckled before answering her
"Like your mother, Shirayuki-hime."
"please listen to me I am not who you think I am..." stared Setsura before she was interrupted by the man
"Don't lie to me, I didn't insult your intelligence by being honest with you so don't insult mine by lying to me!" roared her captor making the girl shut up in fright. "Do you think I wouldn't recognised the similar magic signature that you two share, or Perhaps that I wouldn't sheck your DNA before grabbing you.?!" he continued making Setsura's eyes widen before she just sighed in resignation, her onii sama had told her that veteran magicians usually developped the ability to sense magic aura and that they can usually tell family ties using the same method, this man also went out of his way to verify his findings making lying to him useless and in this case, judging by his rsponse, ill advised, so she settled for the only thing she can in this situation, fish for information.
"Who are you?" asked Setsura, making the man smile in amusement.
"So fishing for Intel huh? Very well my name is Kisame, and I am a member of the underwater combat battalion. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Well the why is very simple, your mother made the battalion, over 1000 subjects went into the project, five survived the enhancements and the training. When the project was shut down, all the survivors where put to death so that the information wouldn't be leaked, I mean can you Imagine It? The next in line for the throne of this country mixed up with human experimentation, so to prevent the scandal all the subjects were gunned down, I am the only survivor." finished Kisame.
"So it's revenge, then why I am still alive? You could've killed any time now." she said causing Kisame to nod along her words before answering her.
"True, very true, but I am not into killing little defenseless kids, so I am leaving you fate up to your guardian." he said causing her face to lose color.
"What do you expect me to believe a green girl like you lived by herself for god knows how many years? Give me a break. So here Is the deal, when your guardian comes here him and I will fight to the death, the winner decides what to do with you." and as If waiting for this exact moment an explosion was heard causing Kisame to smile.
"What do you know? He is right on time said Kisame before putting his hand on the water causing five water sharks to swim from said appendage, the blue skinned man smiled before taking of the top clothing, revealing his muscular physic and the three gills on each shoulder. The man had a bloodthirsty grin as he sinked into the waters, getting him self ready for what could be the last fight of his life.
Scene change: general POV.
Ichika just arrived at his destination, an old sewage treatment center. Judging by the file he read on his opponent, he figured it kinda made sense, with his magic speciality and all. Ichika left the self driven car he came and walked until he found a manhole, lifting the cover easily, Ichika decided to simply jump down. As soon as the ten year old made contact with the ground the ground exploded "a land mine" the child soldier thought, "probably a SB-33 judging by the blast " added the gunsmith in his mind. From the smoke Ichika came out unharmed due to reinforcing himself, another habit, this one instilled by the war, and he looked around and just walked away, this type of bombs doesn't really have on trained combat magicians. To even scratch him, they would need something with a little more kick to It than that.
As he walked away at the four corners of the little room he found himself, a small explosion occured, and trop the explosion countless metal beads appeared. Those metal beads sprang toward Ichika like bullets.
This machinery was constructed free from magic. Ichika didn't sense any scent of magic activation. Therefore, it must be machinery Kisame set up before. It is an anti-personnel mine called a Claymore, a cruel pre-set bomb. When each bomb explodes they will release, simultaneously, 700 or so steel balls with a diameter of only about one or two millimeters. These steel balls would radiate outwards in all directions in a fan formation, a terrifying weapon that people say is made to completely destroy a normal, aka non magical, infantry unit with one strike. When it explodes, one won't even have time to escape; the only thing the target at the center of the bombs can do is prepare to be beaten into a sieve.
Of course, provided that the target isn't a magician.
In the split of a second before 2800 steel balls reached Ichika, the spot he was standing on became enveloped by a silver semi-circle. The barrier was made from [mirror magic] and Ichika can only use a rudimentary version of It. But for something as benign as a claymore it should be more than enough.
It was this confidence that made Ichika almost miss It, but when each one of the 2800 steel balls hit the barrier they all glowed in a magical light before they each exploded. Individually each Explosion would have been ignored by Ichika but together even he would be fatally injured so Ichika chanelled Psions to his feet and disappeared in a burst of speed, that was a variation of the shukuchi (land reduction technique) that he called Shunpo (Flash step). Looking to the only other entrance of the room, Ichika simply said
"Are you done with the greeting yet or do I have to dodge some other gimmick." he asked mockingly
"Oh my, please excuse me, but when I saw who came for the little girl, I just had to see for myself if the rumors are true, and I have to say that I am beyond impressed with what I have seen."
"Where Is Setsura Kisame san and Is she allright?" he asked with a glare and all he got was a chuckle
"she Is fine, how long that last is on you though?" answered the shark themed man
"What Is that supposed to mean?" asked Ichika tensing
"It means that her lifespan is depending on the outcome of our little fight, I win and she follows you into the great beyond, you win and she gets to live for a while longer." said Kisame which made Ichika sigh before saying
"I already know the answer to that but I have to ask you anyway, will you give Setsura back?"
"Do you seriously expect me to say yes?" asked Kisame
"Nope, but I had to ask, just for a clear conscience" Ichika answered causing Kisame to howling in laughter
"you crack me up lad, guys like you and me will never have clear consciences unless we die" said the old male causing Ichika to ponder on It for an instant before summoning a simple black sword to his hand
"Ah the infamous Geneiken (Illusion swords), I am honored Sin san now let me return the favor by showing you a little number I came up with Mizu no ken (Water sword)" and In a flash a puddle of water at Kisame's feet turned into a long katana made from water. That was a spell that all water users can use now but originally It was created by the man that Ichika was facing. As both swordsman faced each other Ichika was analyzing his opponent.
'All right opponent is tall but definetly slow and from observation of his fists he is right handed, from the grip and the stance that he has, I can safely deduce that he is an old hand at swordsmanship but he is no master, stance is relaxed but capable of instantly going to offense or defense so experienced. Usually I would try to test the waters but in this case that is inadvisable, so top speed It is.' concluded the Orimura not knowing that the shark man was also analyzing him
'Interesting, target is short but probably very muscular, also most definetly a speed type, not to say that he doesn't have any power moves, but he probably relies on his speed to get the job done. From observations target is also ambidexterous, stance relaxed but capable of both offense and defense, as expected the target is experienced. Natural grip of the sword seem to concurrence with the rumors that Sin is a swordmaster, but what is this? Sin san seems in a hurry that could be in my favor.' concluded Kisame.
'Advantages my speed, disadvantages his strength, Kisame is a water magician that is one of the top 20 world wide, prefers shark themed attacks, he is a member of the underwater combat battalion so underwater combat is not advised.' finished Ichika in his head before preparing himself for the clash that is to come.
'Advantages my strength, disadvantages his speed, target uses some sort of sword magic and gun magic to take down opponents, capable of fighting at all ranges but prefers classe range combat were he can use his sword magic to finish his opponent. Another advantage is target's concern for hostage so he is likely to make mistake due to being in a hurry. Final advantage is misinformation. Advised tactic: close range combat or underwater combat.' finished Kismae in his mind before both himself and Ichika disappeared and appeared at opposite sites of were they were in the beginning.
Blood started flowing and Kisame grinned before looking at his opponent and said
"Well I'll be damned, who would have thought that you would be Sin of all people as he realised who his opponent is, indeed both the mask and the glasses were lying by Ichika's feet, cut by Kisame's one attack, meanwhile Ichika was replaying the clash in his head
'What the fuck happened I am sur I hit him thrice but each time I did It felt like my sword lost all momentum, I felt magic but not one I know so what did he do?" he asked in his head before turning towards his opponent who just stared at him in confusion
"Orimura Ichika, son of Orimura Isane and Orimura Kurei, what are you doing taking care or your father's bastard child I wonder? Anyway It seems that first blood is mine." he said before looking at Ichika in confusion seeing no wound "it seems you have some sort of regeneration, oh well more funny for me I guess." he said before suddenly Finding himself impalled by Ichika's Sword.
"Kyosha (Deathly Wheel)" whispered Ichika, but to his confusion the hit felt light, too light, he then heard a voice behind him
"Shukuchi (Land reduction technique) a basic technique that all soldiers in my time could use" indeed Kisame was standing right behind, Ichika jumped backwards while maintaining eye contact with Kisame, the older male just continued with his monologue "but my personal take on the technique allows me by adding a few additional steps to create a clone of myself, I call It zanzo (afterimage)" he said before found himself once more stabbed by Ichika's Kyosha (Deathly Wheel), the Kisame disappeared showing that he was just an afterimage, but this time Ichika was ready as the moment Kisame appeared he found himself being cut down by the Orimura, and just like the first time the Kisame faded as well. Ichika was about to move when he found himself surrounded by four Kisames.
"Asumptions, a dangerous thing they are, they usually get you killed you know. Like the assumption that I can only make one clone, when In fact my limit is four at a time." and like that the four Kisames each stabbed Ichika but Ichika just banished showing that he was an after image as well. Ichika appeared oustide the Kisame barricade and simply said
"I couldn't agree more, like the assumption that only you can create after images." and like that Ichika took both his Casull and Jackal and opened fire, two bullets dispelled the other after images while the last ten impacted on target. But to Ichika's suprise the bullets just stopped the moment they touched Kisame and fell uselessly on the ground. The sharkman just grinned before casting an unknown spell and suddenly Ichika lost his footing, just as Kisame slashes with his sword, Ichika managed to dodge the attack but his right arm wasn't so lucky and the limb fell uselessly by his feet.
The older male just grinned before saying
"And here you lost a limb..." But before saying anything else, a flash of light interrupted him and when the light ceased, Ichika was with a full set of limbs once more "What the hell? That ain't faire!" the sharkman screamed. Ichika on the other hand just looked at his limb appatethically before saying
"This is…!" There was no doubt. Ichika was sure that his hunch was the truth, and asked Kisame who was standing across from him.
"You made the ground lose friction, didn't you…!?"
"What a fast realization. That's quite correct."
Kisame answered as he slowly walked up to Ichika.
"Blocking, slashing, shooting. In this world, the effect of every type of power is greatly related to friction. No matter how fast the bullet, if its speed is stolen by friction at the point of impact, it would have no penetration and fall uselessly at its target's feet. And if an attack was altered by the same power, a blade can be made to unparalleled sharpness that cuts through any material without resistance."
A sword of excellent offense. A shield of divine defense. It was power that manipulated friction, which makes up the foundation of every kind of force.
"That is the ability that I, Kisame, possess."
"That's quite the ability you got there buddy, how come no one knows about It?"
"Well Ichika san, the answer is quite simple, I killed all those who ever faced this ability." answered Kisame as If talking about the weather.
"It seems you are quite arrogant, Kismae san to explain your ability like that to me"
"Hoh? And how am I being arrogant? Since the beginning of this fight I have been treating you as an equal Ichika san?"
"The very fact that you treat me as your equal is arrogance in itself Kisame san." Ichika said while flexing his aura.
"Hoh? It seems that you are quite the arrogant man Ichika san" answered Kisame while doing the same "But, how will you attack me?"
"Simple you magic has two major weaknesses." said Ichika while showing his ornemental pistols, Kisame just activated his magic, but he was surprised when instead of feeling nothing, he felt crippling damage in his shoulder, he looked and saw a hole in it.
"Weakness number one: energy attacks, you can't block those." Kisame snarled before ignoring his injury and attacked Ichika with his sword, he expected Ichika to try and block but Ichika simply disappeared and appeared behind him. And just like that Kisame had towards gashes on his back, curtesy of the two blades that Ichika had in his hands.
"Weakness number two: Speed, this magic that you use is incredibly complexe, so you definetly can't use It for both offense and defense at the same time." and like that Ichika disappeared only to appear right in front of Kisame with a punch that impacter on his opponent's face but like all the others, this attack did nothing to faze Kisame, the shark like man was about to gloat when he felt an incredible pain in his stomach, looking down he saw a sword in his guts, snarling, he pushed Ichika away than yelled "Mizu Kamikiri (Rising Water Slicer)" and sent two fast jets of water running through the ground that were powerful enough to slice through solid rock. However, Ichika avoided them by putting his body between and in parallele to both jets, this plan worked until both jets exploded with Ichika stuck between them, the pain he felt was excrutiating and It was only his pain tolerance that made him not black out. When he came out of the steam, his opponent was nowhere to be seen. Supressing a growl Ichika left the room he was in and started walking until he reached a drowned corridor, having cheked the schematics of the place before he realised what happened.
'The son of a bitch flooded the whole place to give himself an advantage here, no matter that was still within predictions, even with that new magic he uses, I still can win this. However what was that at the end, It looked like Hadan (Rupture) but I am sure It was not heat magic, It was water magic.' he thought before diving into the waters, a decision that he regretted almost instantly, since five water sharks tried to rip him into shreds, he simply blasted them with his kudou dan (hollow bullet), after that he simply swam until he reached an opening, when he saw his opponent, the man was standing on top of the water with two scars, one near his shoulder the other in his guts. He looked at his opponent curiously, the man seemed to read his mind was he said
"the best medical magicians are those that use water magic, while I am now expert, I can stitch my self just fine." Ichika nodded before saying
"I see, now tell where IS she?!" roared Ichika. Kisame grinned but before he can answer a sound came from the wall
"Ichika sama" he looked at the source of the voice and his eyes softened when he saw his charge. Ichika smiled at his younger sibling and asked.
"Setsura, are you alright? The bad man didn't do anything to you?" he said ignoring Kisame's indignation at the 'bad man' comment. Setsura just shook her head but before She could answer, Ichika had to ducking under one of Kisame's swings. Jumping backwards, Ichika draws one of ornemental guns before firing a kudou dan (hollow bullet) at his opponent who dodged It. When Ichika landed on the water surface, Kisame caster a spell and the spot Ichika was in exploded in a steam explosion. Si arling Ichika didn't have enough time to avoid being impalled by six jets of water in his stomach, Kisame having casted the Mizu no yari (Water javelin), decided to finish things with his sword rushed Ichika and stabbed him the chest with It. Seeing his handywork and ignoring the female in this place's screamed the the shark like man grinned and said
"And that is that, though I have to ask: how are you standing on the water? I know how I am doing It by using water magic, how about you?"
"Hah... Hah... ninjutsu... How... Hah... did you cause... an explosion?... Hah... That wasn't Hadan (Rupture)." said Ichika sounding at the end of his rope.
"Hoh, impressive, you managed to tell my spell appartement from Hadan (Rupture)." started Kisame while putting his hand on Ichika's forehead "as a final mercy I will tell you, water magicians are thought to draw water from steam and vapors around them, at least in my time they were, so that got me thinking: What If I did the opposite? What If instead of turning steam into water, I turned water into steam? So with the help of Shirayuki-hime, may she suffer in hell" said Kisame earning himself an amen from Ichika "the spell Kyokiri Shikama (High Mist Death Scythe) was created, a spell that causes a phreatic explosion by turning water or ice into vapor, which takes up more volume, resulting in an explosion." said Kisame proudly before looking at Ichika sadly
"And since the human body Is 70% water, you can guess what is next right. Orimura Ichika, you were without a doubt one of the strongest opponents I have ever faced, and I say it without shame that my victory over you was simply luck, I promise you that your sister's death will be swift and painless." the man said before activating his Kyokiri Shikama (Secret technique: High Mist Death Scythe), but nothing happened, he looked down and saw Ichika staring at him, the blade of water in his chest simply returning to its original form before the bounty hunter launched a punch at the ex soldiers chest, Kisame quickly activated his magic and the attack landed harmlessly. He saw his opponent and said
"I don't know how you did It but that attack missed..." was all he managed to say before he was sent flying by an incredible impact in his chest, in mid air he felt another sending further towards the wall, and a third, then a fourth, this one sent him crushing into the wall, he was about to slide down when the last impact buried him one inch in the wall. The man was about to lose consciousness when he felt a single sword piercing each of his limbs, the pain brought him out of It. He definitely wished to have passed out because of the pain, another thing was the fact that he felt that most if not all of his internal organs were damaged, diagnosis: death in a few minutes since he didn't have the skills to patchwork himself up from that. All he had in his mind was
"What was that?"
"I punched five times in the same place delaying the impact of the other four punches, the one your magic nullified. This technique has a drawback though" said Ichika showing his limping right arm while trying to retake his breath, that was a close, as Kisame said It could have gone either way.
"What about your organs?"
"Karate breathing technique, I lifted my organs into my ribcage" Ichika lied since all attacks hit home, and he was feeling It.
"How did you survive Kyokiri Shikama (Secret technique: High Mist Death Scythe)?" Kisame asked the final question, at this Ichika glared his psions and Kisame saw a blue aura around Ichika.
"[Contact type Gram Demolition], is an alternate form of Gram Demolition used by counter magicians. Unlike the usual Gram Demolition which functions like a cannonball, Contact-type Gram Demolition works like an armor composed of formless Psions, demolishing any magic that comes in contact with the user's body. Contact-Type Gram Demolition cannot protect the user from the purely physical effects of an enemy's attacks and thus it is not a true "armor". That is how I survived" said Ichika while turning around and limping away
So, I lost to a child. I never thought that would ever happen to someone of my caliber." said Kisame resigned to his fate.
Ichika on the other hand was thinking
'And how many enemies did that woman left for her daughter to fight. I hope nobody is as strong as this twat.'
Ichika was covered in his blood, for the first time, from head to toe as he stood in front of the man in his late forties. Ichika was breathing hard, exhaustion visible by the way he was standing, or barely standing considering my legs are shaking like hell. He was holding a black sword, a [Geneiken(Illusion swords )] he summoned.
The man in front of me was not as injured as me; in fact, the guy did not have a scratch on him. The man was relatively unharmed,but he was wheezing, and any doctor could tell you that the man was going to die, he was also crucified on a wall courtesy of four swords that Ichika used to pierce his hands and feet, which bounded him on a thick wall.
"I'll…" Ichika took several ragged breaths as he slowly turned his back on the man that he barely defeated. "…be…taking…her…now." Ichika was able to say as he willed his body to move.
"She's as good as dead, you know." came the voice of his defeated fow
Ichika ignored those words as he used every drop ofhis remaining energy to move towards the unconscious Setsura on the farthest corner of the room, the little girl having fainted when he was impalled. All the while Ichika repeatedly something in his mind
'If anything happens to her, I will embrace my inner monster, and butcher that man.'
"I wonder why a brat like you would bother to risk his life for a reject like her."
"She's my responsibility." Ichika stated weakly, not bothering to look at the man that he defeated.
"A child taking care of another child, how laughable." The man commented with a dry laugh. "Tell me, brat, how much did you gave up so that that girl could live a semi-ordinary life; your childhood, your beliefs, your morals, your innocence…."
"She's my responsibility." Ichika repeated as he limped towards the prone body of Setsura. His regeneration is taking its time to heal the damage done to his body. The final sword to the chest nicked his heart.
"You won't go this far if that was the case. You wouldn't have pushed your body to the breaking point for a girl that is just your responsibility." The man said with a smirk on his face. "I beat you within an inch of your life. I punctured every organ that you have. I cut off or blasted off every movable limb that you have. The only reason you're alive and have all of your limbs is because of that strange regeneration power that you have…"
"And yet, you were still able to beat me, for a girl that you should have abandoned a long time ago."
"She's my responsibility." Ichika repeated again as he knelt down to Setsura's unconscious body before picking her up and carrying her bridal style. He frowned when the pure white hair that he adored so much was coated with his blood.
"Your responsibility, such a childish answer, though it is admirable for a child to handle a man's job, that much I would give." The man said a crisp voice. "But you don't owe her mother anything, trust me child, that woman may look pure, but truthfully, that woman is a glorified bitch with a mean strict, and trust me, I speak from experience."
"That child's mother was a selfish and greedy woman. There is no one in this country that is more demented and evil than that woman, and I thank Kami that she's dead."
"And you intend to kill her daughter?" Ichika muttered as he headed towards the exit. "How pathetic! I know what you said is true. Shirayuki-hime is not as pure as most of those who knew her would like to believe. I hate her as well, but Setsura is a different story."
"She's my responsibility, and I truly enjoy raising her."
"You should be thanking me. I was in the process of freeing you from a burden that no child should endure."
"She's my responsibility, and I absolutely adore her." Ichika repeated again.
"The girl that your holding, she's Pandora's Box. If the secret of her heritage gets out, this country is going to be plunge into a civil war." The man all but shouted. "She's better off dead."
Without stopping, Ichika looked over his shoulders before glancing at the still unconscious Setsura. "Even if the world is her enemy, even if the world wants her dead, it does not change the fact that I swore that I would take care of her. I swore before her dying mother, and I swore in front of her grave that I would take care of her. The world may not acknowledge her existence, but that doesn't change the fact that she is my responsibility."
"I will raise her to be the most magnificent woman that this country had ever seen, and I will see to it that she will be the most powerful magician in this generation." Ichika told him, pride booming with each word that he utters. "I am an artist, and Setsura is my most precious and beloved masterpiece. The most beautiful gem in my collection, as well as the most valuable."
There was a moment of silence before the man let out a hysterical laughed. "What would your mother think of you, for taking care of the illegitimate daughter of her husband that she loves so much? What would your clan and her mother's clan do to her for bringing shame to their respective Names?"
"You may have saved her today, but she is living in borrowed time. Sooner or later, the girl's secret is going to be known, and when that happens, that sin that you're holding is going to die."
Those words successfully made him stop from my tracks as his anger suddenly exploded. "If you would have held your tongue, I would have let you live for the time you have left, but now... [Tōgen Kyō (Blade Illusion Border)]" Ichika roared loudly, and the sound of a body being split into several pieces echoed in the room, but Ichika paid it no mind as he merely continue to walk to the exit.
After taking several steps, Ichika felt Setsura move in my arms, which made me sigh. "Do not pay that corpse any attention." he told her with a calm tone while Setsura started to sob.
"Ichika-sama," Setsura whispered, and Ichika smiled wearily at her.
"Are you mad at me, for referring you as my art?" he asked her with a quite tone.
"No!" She answered weakly. "I'm so happy that Ichika-sama regarded me as his masterpiece, even if my life is nothing but a sin."
"Don't speak nonsense. Your very existence is my art." Ichika exclaimed proudly with a smile. "I want you to live, because it would be a waste for a masterpiece like youto just disappear without shinning like the star that I know you are." he exclaimed with a solemn smile.
"You're the most beautiful art that I have ever had the opportunity to admire and adore, and you will continue to grow to become a much more beautiful masterpiece, and I will continue to admire and adore you as you grow into an even more beautiful piece of art." Ichika told her as he held her tightly in his arms. "I will forever nourish, assists, help, and watch over you as you grow. That is my responsibility as an Orimura, and the greatest pleasure that I will have as an artist."
He nuzzled her head with his, giving her the affection that she rightfully deserve. "I didn't realize it at first or should I say, I refuse to admit it, but your existence became my pride. You became my pride." Ichika whispered sincerely to her. "Would you live and love yourself to protect my pride, would you at least do that for me?" he asked her sincerely as he allows her to cry on his chest.
"Yes, yes," She whispered repeatedly as she clung into him like a child.
"Thank you, my beautiful Imōto."
That was the first day Ichika ever refered to her as his little sister.
And that was the day that Ichika started to realize that he is slowly caring for her more than he should.