Yeah, sorry to everyone who was waiting for this. The delay was a bit longer than expected. In defense of both me and my editor at least part of the delay was due to the fact we were too busy reading Berserk because it's the best.
As always, a big thanks goes to my editor, Murder Media, for taking the time to look it over.
And I of course do not own BlazBlue. I hope you all enjoy.
Ragna was easily stirred from his sleep as soon as he felt the train begin to slow down—years of surviving in the wild does that to a person after all, but it was the screeching of the wheels and the blaring horn that made him rise to his feet. He was pretty eager to finally get out of that stuffy boxcar and get to work on his search. Taking a split second to let his eyes adjust to the dark, Ragna peered to his side to spy a door at the end of the cabin. Seeing as Bang was so ready to suggest he should go train hopping, Ragna didn't imagine he would get in much trouble for doing so, but at the same time he didn't want to waste his time explaining things to any soldiers who would surely be posted around. Thinking back to what Bang told him, Ragna knew he was going to have to move fast if Tager and Bullet weren't going to be hanging around Yabiko much longer.
Striding to the back of the car, Ragna easily forced open the exit door and stepped outside—the bright rays of sunlight forcing him to squint and allow his vision to focus before he was able to take in his surroundings. He wasn't about to admit it to anyone out loud, but Ragna felt a bit paranoid about going to sleep. Technically speaking, he was already inside his dream, and if he was inside his dream dreaming another dream…well, the thought alone made Ragna's head spin. He just didn't want reality bending due to some silly dream he had. He didn't want to wake up and be a ghost ship captain, or some other ridiculous alternate world he had no business or desire to be in. The thought of accidentally launching himself into another world without the small handful of people he actually cared for sent a shiver down his spine. Talk about a waste of all the effort he put into saving the world if something like that happened.
He wouldn't mind having his crazy god powers go rogue and make Rachel spontaneously pop up in front of him though. Probably not the best for the fabric of reality but, whatever— he was already bending the rules a bit as is. Setting those thoughts aside, Ragna took a second to look over the cityscape before him. He didn't spend a great amount of time in Yabiko, but he didn't remember the particular station he found the train pulling in to.
"Jeez," Ragna clicked his tongue. "This looks like a place you'd see in Kagutsuchi. Kagura must be slacking off on upkeep these days. Bastard's probably busy chasing ass as usual."
Still, it made no difference to Ragna either way, so he was quick to hop off the train and land on the platform as soon as he was able. He then hid behind a pillar, mainly out of habit than anything else, as he scanned the area and the people within it. There were plenty of folks out and about around the station, and no shortage of NOL soldiers either. He guessed that there had to be at least fifty civilians and a handful of officers, prompting Ragna to nearly devise a sort of half-assed escape plan to remain more or less undetected by any of them until he reminded himself that he basically didn't need to do so anymore. Without a reason to sneak around, and no reason to throw on a Camouflage Ars, Ragna strode out of the station and made a beeline for the main exit. He could still feel a few sets of eyes following him as he left, but Ragna guessed that it was a given. He had to admit that he was a pretty flashy looking guy to begin with thanks to his hair and eyes so people were bound to stare. Even so, with the way things were now, it wasn't like he had to worry about anyone making a move on him. It was pretty much the only perk that went along with the whole 'nonexistence' thing.
Stepping around civilians blocking his way, Ragna began to consider his options. He had no idea what exactly the mission Tager and Bullet were on was about, or who ordered it, or anything at all really. Seeing as they had close ties, Ragna's first guess was that it had to be that Kokonoe was loaning them to Kagura for something. If that were the case, loitering around the NOL Branch was one option. They would have to check back in at some point or another. Something about that plan didn't sit right with Ragna though—probably the lack of action involved. Sitting around and simply waiting for something to happen was never his style. The second area that came to mind was the downtown district. Any mission those two wrecking balls were going to be a part of would surely have to be away from the nicer districts, so downtown was a decent option too. One thing was for sure, Hierarchical Cities were big as hell and that meant he had plenty of ground to cover. The only upside was that Tager should be easy to spot. Maybe even some of the locals saw him.
That's right. Keep positive. He got his lead thanks to Bang, so he had to seize the opportunity. He was determined to turn things around as soon as he set off on that train, so it was time to get to work.
And thankfully his "work" could be done in broad daylight now. He didn't have to worry about spooking people as the big bad Grim Reaper anymore. He was just Ragna—another citizen like anyone else.
"You there, Sir!"
Ragna peered over his shoulder to see what voice had called him, and almost instantly grimaced when he noticed it was an NOL officer who had shouted his way.
Maybe it was for someone else. It had to be.
"Sir! The man in the red coat! I'm talking to you!"
Lots of guys wore long, red coats. Perfectly common. Wouldn't hurt to pick up the pace though.
"Will the gentleman with the red coat, white hair and sword please halt!"
Alright. That one was pretty specific. Which meant it was time to hoof it. Ragna had no idea why they were already looking to harass him, but he didn't care. He didn't play with the dogs of Library back in the day, and he wasn't about to start now.
"Hey! Stop that guy!"
Yet, of course, the NOL were as determined as ever when it came to annoying him. Three soldiers stepped up to block his path just as he was nearing the exit of the station. It didn't make a lick of sense, but of course these assholes would be the only ones to actually remember him. It was simply fantastic to see his luck was holding out the same as always.
"Sir, I was speaking to you, you know!" The NOL soldier who was calling out to Ragna said as he closed in. Ragna took note that three more soldiers accompanied the man who was addressing him—seven soldiers in all and their body language seemed to imply they were intending to surround him. A fat lot of good that was going to do them. If he had a mind to he could probably get them all with one swing. Lucky for them he wasn't in that kind of mood.
"Hm? Oh, must've missed it. Place is loud, you know?" Ragna drawled without turning to face the man. "Was this anything important? I kinda have places to be and don't really got the time to be playing twenty questions."
"Excuse me?" The soldier questioned—clearly not used to having someone so openly disobey him. Ragna mused over how easy it must've been to be a soldier of the NOL without him around, and surely no one else would've or could've taken up the mantle of 'Grim Reaper' other than him.
"I asked what your excuse was for wasting my time. Not everyone can kick it around a train station all day. I got shit to do."
"Hey, listen here punk—" One of the soldiers behind Ragna moved to step up, but was stopped by someone Ragna assumed to be his superior officer.
"I understand you have things you want to do, but you have to come with us first. It won't take long." An older soldier spoke as they positioned themselves in front of Ragna.
"You really gonna make me ask 'why' again?"
"It's in regards to that weapon you're carrying."
"My weapon…?" Ragna questioned as he glanced down at the BloodScythe. He couldn't imagine what they would want with that beat-up hunk of metal—it's not like it ever had any magical properties or anything like that. He could only assume that maybe there was some new strict law about carrying weapons around or something. Ragna did notice he didn't see too many armed individuals walking around. Not as many as he would've expected to see before at any rate. Either way…
"Sorry, but that's not my problem." Ragna spoke with minor impatience, noticeably annoying the soldiers surrounding him.
"Well, sir, I'm sorry but one way or another you will be coming with us."
"You guys are so goddamn persistent." A growl snuck into Ragna's voice. It was almost funny how big their egos got when someone didn't come along and massacre a bunch of them once in awhile, and as much as Ragna would love to give them a reality check, he had way more important matters to tend to. "Look, I already got held up once, and I'm not putting up with it again. Maybe I'll come back if I have the time, but for now I'm leaving and you can't stop me."
Ragna's bravado was all the soldiers needed to grab hold of their respective weapons and spread out to completely surround him.
"Seven of you versus one of me, huh? That's not very fair..." Ragna chuckled as he gripped the handle of the Blood-Scythe. "You're gonna need a few more hundreds if you're actually serious about this."
"Talk all you want, but we got you outnumbered and outclassed." The soldier spoke again as he placed his hand on Ragna's left arm, probably thinking he could stop Ragna from swinging his sword. "Stand down now, or we will begin using force. This is your final warning."
Ragna glanced down at the hand gripping his arm. "Yeah, so here's the thing about that…I don't like being touched, but I've been trying this whole thing where I'm nicer, so I'm gonna give you one chance to take your hand off me before I break it."
"Have it your way. Men, detain the—AAAAH!" The soldier wasn't able to give his order, because Ragna reached over with his right hand and grabbed the man's arm that was holding his. He really didn't apply that much pressure either—well, by his standards anyway. Apparently it was plenty to snap bones though.
"Sir?! What's wrong?!" Another soldier called out to their superior.
"He…he's s-so strong!"
"What's the matter? You don't like that?" Ragna spoke slowly as he lazily lifted the soldier's hand off his arm and raised it slightly in the air. "Hate to say it, but if you don't like that, you're really gonna get really upset about this."
Without pause, Ragna took his now freed left hand and drove it into the man's elbow while keeping his grip steady with his right hand. The surrounding soldiers gasped in horror when they saw their superior's arm bend at an unnatural angle from the force of Ragna's attack, but they were drowned out by the man's shriek of pain.
"Good grief…" Ragna groaned as the man dropped down to his knees, still screaming. "I warned you, didn't I?"
"Y-You bastard! You'll pay for that!" Another soldier in front of Ragna moved to charge forward in an attempt to save his commanding officer. Ragna gave the advancing soldier nothing more than a glance before driving his foot into the man with the broken arm—his kick powerful enough to send the man flying into the attacking soldier and launch them both through the air before crashing into a bench and smashing it into pieces. The display of power was enough to give the remaining soldiers enough sense to back off a few paces, and also render every last person in the station to begin a panic.
All it took was that one instance where Ragna dispatched the two guards to gain the attention of every civilian in the station and send the masses scrambling every which way, screaming in fear. It was strange for Ragna—being surrounded by chaos almost felt nostalgic for him as messed up as that was. The nostalgia nearly made Ragna completely drop his guard, but luckily he didn't exactly need it up in this situation. These greenhorns weren't about to put the most dangerous man in the world down with a lucky shot. Though they apparently still had no issue with trying.
"Get him! Don't let up!"
One soldier charged him dead on while another circled around from the back. The soldier in front of him lashed out with a sword, but faster than the NOL operative could ever hope to move, Ragna swung Blood-Scythe in an upward motion and knocked the operative's sword away harmlessly. The young man didn't even have time to process what had happened before Ragna brought his arm back down and knocked him unconscious with an elbow strike to the head. Following through with his momentum, Ragna swung the sword behind him and blocked another sword strike from the soldier who was attempting to hit him with a surprise attack, the criminal forcing the officer to stumble back a few paces as he turned to face him. The guard, now panicked, attempted a second strike with the sword but instead of using his Blood-Scythe, Ragna opted to stop the attack his is bear right hand.
"W-Wha…?!" The soldier stared at the blade of his sword as Ragna closed his fist around it, the metal cracking and shattering under his fingers like brittle ice before falling to the pavement in a cluster of shards. The man, taken aback by Ragna's inhuman strength, didn't even bother to defend himself when Ragna's heel collided with his temple—making him crumple to the ground harmlessly.
"Halfway there… Hm?" Ragna glanced back when he felt a weight come down on his shoulder. Behind him stood another, terrified guard who had attempted to harm him with an Ars infused battle hammer. The sudden pressure had made him flinch but both the weapon and the user were far too weak for Ragna to experience any sort of pain. "Whoops. That was kinda sloppy of me. Still getting used to having a body again, I guess."
The man didn't have the chance to react as Ragna lunged forward and drove his fist into his gut. The sheer force of the punch lifted the man off the ground and knocked all of the wind out of him. He had passed out before Ragna let his body drop back to the ground with a thud.
Turning back around, Ragna sized up the only two remaining opponents before him—one being a man shaking in his boots and the other a blue haired woman staring at Ragna in awe. Apparently, these people weren't used to seeing fighters of Ragna's caliber. Slowly stalking forward, Ragna decided he would let them get a real good idea of what he was capable of first hand. It was made clear which of the remaining two was more capable when the blue haired girl took a step forward.
"Stay behind me! I'll handle this." She spoke with confidence but hesitation was clear in her eyes.
"Wait! I-I'm not sure if you should go at him head on, Mai!" The male officer shouted.
"It's not a problem!" The younger woman shouted back.
"Seriously?" Ragna stopped his approach and raised an eyebrow at the man cowering behind her. "You buy that?"
"I... I…" The man only stuttered out so much before the stress seemingly became too much and he passed out on the spot.
"H-Hey!" The blue haired girl moved to check the guy after he face planted into the ground next to her.
"Well, guess that answers that." Ragna spoke up, grabbing the attention of the final soldier. "You maybe just wanna follow his lead and save me the trouble?"
"Not a chance!" The woman apparently named 'Mai' yelled as she readied her spear. "I'm not scared of you!"
"Whatever you say. This can be a learning experience for you then."
The girl charged forward and thrust her spear towards Ragna's head. One stab after another, the girl kept her strikes coming, but Ragna avoided them all with virtually no effort. Whoever this girl was she was faster than most, Ragna would admit, but she was still basically moving in slow motion to him. Avoiding another swipe, he took note that the girl did a quick hop back, and he could already see where she was going with it. This girl may have been a step above the rest of her group, but Ragna was still worlds apart.
Ragna raised his fist, intent on finishing things.
As soon as the girl went for a big lunge, Ragna surged forward as well, letting the tip of the spear sail harmlessly pass his head as his fist collided with her face. It was then as Ragna felt the girl's nose break under the force of his punch did he realize what he was doing. He somehow got totally wrapped up in a little scrap and nearly lost track of the reason he came to Yabiko in the first place. Ragna came to a stop and glanced back at the girl. When Ragna's attack stopped her dead in her tracks, her forward momentum caused her to flip through the air and slam into the ground a few paces away from him—her spear clattering to the floor a bit further from her.
He kept his eye on her a moment to make sure she was down, but to also make sure she was still breathing. Luckily he managed to hold back enough because the girl was apparently still alive despite the very inelegant way she fell, her body twitching a little when she finally hit the ground. He felt a little bad about punching a girl though since they were always so fragile to begin with, but she saw what he was capable of and attacked anyway.
Hopefully she took this as a learning experience after all.
Still, no use crying over spilt milk. Now in an empty station with a handful of unconscious soldiers littered around him, it would be very clear what would happened should reinforcements show up. Throwing on a quick Camouflage Ars he should've been able to avoid from using, Ragna was quick to escape the station before anyone else tried to pick a fight with him. Finally able to exit the building and take off down the road, Ragna spotted a group of people that gathered outside, clearly drawn in by the action. People sure worked quick, Ragna thought. The fight, if you could call it that, only ended up lasting about a minute or two, tops. Hopefully not too many people got a look at him, and that those soldiers stay out for a while. He didn't need people hunting him down like the old days.
Taking a second to stop to regain his bearings, Ragna couldn't help but kick himself over his behavior. This certainly wasn't the first time he let his temper get the better of him, sure, but it still sometimes bothered him that he gets so lost in fights. It's not like he would go berserk like Azrael or something… Most of the time anyway. But he had to remember there was a time and a place for everything. He couldn't help but think a part of him was sure Rachel would scold him over getting in such pointless brawls, but he guessed this was a merely a testament to how much Rachel had rubbed off on him. At least when it came to his own actions he could probably guess word for word the things she would say to him.
His impression of her could probably use some work though. She was never a fan of it at least.
One thing for sure, his impression wasn't going to get any better until after he found her, so that meant it was time to move. Reapplying his Camouflage Ars just to be sure, Ragna took off on a L-shaped path down connecting a few connecting alleyways. Yabiko became more and more familiar as he moved further into the city. Although that little scuffle had slowed him down, Ragna reasoned that with his speed he should be able to reach the downtown district before too long. From there, so long as his hunch was right, it would just be a matter of time tracking down Tager and Bullet. In the meantime, he was going to have to get his story down for when he talks to Kokonoe. No matter how nice things could be for her these days, Kokonoe was sure to still be the same unreasonable bitch as always. People don't change that easily, especially when you are as stubborn an asshole as she was. He would find a way though. Hopefully he can just play nice, maybe play the Bang card with Bullet to gain some trust, but Ragna knew what he would do if push came to shove.
He had strong armed Kokonoe before, and he was perfectly capable of doing it again.
"Do not interfere, Grimalkin!"
And with a roar of effort, Hakumen dispelled the Phenomenon Intervention attempting to move him.
"Shit!" Kokonoe's voice rang out. "Hey, you! Get out of there! You can't beat him!"
Whoever she was calling to was obscured by the smokescreen kicked up by Hakumen's wave of energy—who was now approaching the figure in the smoke with blade in hand.
"Now I will end this—"
"Shut the hell up." The man in the smoke rose to his feet, but could still not be seen. "I didn't climb up this damn mountain…just to lose to you!"
The man raised his right hand, the back of the hand facing out to Hakumen.
"I made a promise that I would fight until the very end! Now, let's do this! You masked bitch!"
With a roar of his own that completely dwarfed Hakumen's, a red aura exploded from the man dispelling the smoke…
And woke Rachel up.
Just as nearly every night before, Rachel was shaken from her slumber just when she was on the verge of regaining some semblance of her memory. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Rachel turned to her side roughly and buried her face in her hands. She almost wanted to be happy—this dream seemed to bring her so much closer to him than all the others had, but kept her just out of reach like all the rest. This one had a very mocking tone to it however, as if it was as if an actual feature of this memory was obscuring the man, and not just her own fatigued mind playing tricks on her.
Be calm, think logically, Rachel told herself. As little as it was, and as much as the frustration was giving her a headache, she was making progress. Hearing the voice in the forest the day before seems to have left enough of an impression on her to make a return in her dreams. At the moment, the actual sound of the voice escaped her once again, but the scene itself struck such a chord within her soul this time. This man, the owner of the sword, was fighting Hakumen. While they were never friends, or particularly cared for each other, the White Knight and herself had always been on the same side. Yet, when she was watching, she found herself rooting for the mystery man in her dreams. When that man stood, defiant of Hakumen, she felt her heart pounding with an excitement that she had not felt since...
Actually, she doesn't believe she has ever felt such a rush.
If that was how the owner of the sword made her feel all the time, then it's no wonder she felt so attached to him, but it worried her if it was a double-edged sword or not. It was like she was actually missing a part of her very being by not knowing who he was, but on the other hand to experience such emotion yet again invigorated her to get him back. Rachel rolled and returned to her back as she considered her next move. There was one last gift her latest mess of a dream gave her, and that was a location. Prior to witnessing the encounter with Hakumen, Rachel saw one place laid out after each other as if they were stages in a show and they were all in the same place.
The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.
Everything from the sewers, to the NOL Branch, and back down to the Cauldron appeared in her dream like she was on some sort of tour and it gave her pause. Kagutsuchi was the first coherent thing to appear in her jumbled dreams for months now. Did it mean that it was some sort of sign? She felt as though doing something as silly as letting her dream guide her did not bode well for her mental state, but with her memory being so unreliable these days perhaps this was her subconscious trying to tell her something. It would certainly make no progress in terms of tracking down the sword, but perhaps simply trusting her instinct would do some good. Wracking her brain for months on end certainly hasn't yielded much.
"To hell with this…" Rachel mumbled, already feeling another foul mood taking hold of her.
She had her faithful servants out scouring the globe on her behalf, and if Kagura could deliver on half of what he promised then she should be able to take a quick detour.
Having made up her mind, Rachel tossed her comforter aside and rose to her feet. With the same dull, repetitive routine she had done the day before, Rachel made her way to her armoire and grabbed her clothing for the day, though she decided to save the shower for later that evening since she wasn't in the greatest mood to spend a good hour or so dry her hair today. It was foolish to think this way, but the vampire was worried that if she waited too long then whatever feeling that was drawing her to Kagutsuchi would fade away.
And so with that thought in mind, and having finished preparing herself or the day, Rachel found herself standing in Orient Town courtesy of a quick teleportation.
Rachel stepped out of the alley she found herself in and scanned up and down the road. The city truly never changed no matter how many times she was there. Always the same run down streets that the locals would surely label as 'charm'. Turning her eyes to the horizon, Rachel began her stroll down the sidewalk praying something of use would find its way out of her frazzled mind. It amazed her how a wretched city such as Kagutsuchi served as the stage for so many grand events in history, Rachel mused. For whatever reason, that fiend Terumi decided this site would be appropriate to begin the final act of their war. Over the course of a mere week he had smelted his Kusanagi, revived Nine as his pawn, successfully outsmarted Takamagahara, and dragged the Goddess of Death herself into the fray. The situation would have been dire were it not for the return of Hakumen. Yes, quite possibly the only thing Kokonoe did right, salvaging Hakumen from the Boundary meant they had a fighting chance once more. Although, of course Rachel had to be the one to bring him back to the frontlines where he belonged as opposed to letting his skill and power go to waste as a simple battery. All Rachel had been missing was an ace, and once she had Hakumen leading the charge, she had managed to successfully guide the others to victory over Terumi. The final battle had unfortunately cost Hakumen his life in the process, but she knew he held no regrets. It was his strength that that saved the world after all. Such was the fate of a hero.
These were the events that Rachel knew to be true, or rather, what she wanted to believe for it would be so much simpler that way.
Whether it was for better or worse, Rachel was never able to shake the suspicion that history was not what they all believed it to be, and of course that man was to blame. He played a vital role in some regard, that much she was sure of, but now she was unsure of what that role could be thanks to her latest dream. Hakumen was undoubtedly an ally to her cause, but he had apparently crossed swords with her mystery man.
Rachel raised her gaze to the NOL Branch in the distance and observed it a moment before lowering it once more so she could think.
The battle between that man and Hakumen had taken place on the outer rim of a Cauldron, and if it took place in Kagutsuchi that meant it wasn't long after Hakumen was freed from the Boundary. If anything it was very soon after his arrival due to the fact it seemed as though Kokonoe was still attempting to capture him in her dream. Could that man have possibly been assisting Kokonoe? If she was still trusting her instinct, the answer was a resounding no. The brief exchange Kokonoe had with that man implied they were very unfamiliar with each other. Which meant she was still left with the crucial question of why the man she supposedly cherished would have such a serious fight with Hakumen. It's not as though Hakumen was ever one to pick fights lightly—he was always dead set on hunting down those he deemed a true threat to the world.
If she was in such pain over the absence of a man who desired the destruction of the world she loved, that would be a very cruel twist of fate, Rachel thought.
It then occurred to Rachel that her dream had actually given her a clue as to who that man was at least. Perhaps she could not, or didn't want to, draw any conclusions on what that man was after, but she did learn something about his strength from the standoff she witnessed. The man she was searching for must have been exceedingly powerful if he had managed to stand on equal footing with Hakumen. Only a select handful of individuals could've laid claim to such a feat after all. Perhaps it was just her now unreliable imagination, but she even felt as though that man would have defeated Hakumen. There was a strong possibility that was merely because she was rooting for the mystery man, though she knew not why. She found herself completely enthralled when that man stood and declared he wasn't going to lose.
She knew it was going to bother her to no end to not know who won that battle.
"Meow…so hungry…" A voice whined quietly.
Rachel's ears twitched when she heard the muffled cry of a girl decades younger than her prowl near her feet, prompting the older woman to briefly stare down at what was near her before quickly shooting her gaze towards the NOL building to avoid eye contact with who it was. Judging from the excessive "mews" and "meows" that erupted from the pile of clothes that covered the teenager, Rachel could only guess who it was that managed to strike her attention, and was quick to leave before being stopped by the imbecilic Kaka once more.
"Meow…?"
Without so much as blinking, Rachel took a single, graceful step over Taokaka's body and completely circumvented the roadblock in her path without breaking stride.
"Hey! Tao said meow!"
Stopping in her tracks, Rachel glanced back over her shoulder and addressed Tao with a bored look. The young member of the Kaka Clan was clearly out begging for scraps again.
"Yes, I heard you despite my sincerest efforts. For the next time you wish to speak with someone I suggest you use your words like a big girl. You are no longer a kitten so there is no need to act as such. Now, good day."
"Hold on a second, lady!" Tao yelled as she rushed ahead to block Rachel's path once more. "You can't just walk away from a starving person! That's bad manners!"
"Is a creature such as yourself actually accusing myself of having bad manners? Perhaps I am not the only one going mad these days…" Rachel let the last part trail off, though it wasn't as if Tao was paying close enough attention. "If you are oh so hungry, why not return to your village or visit that doctor? Her clinic is not far from here."
"You know the boobie lady, rabbit person?" Tao question as she tilted her head to the side, utterly perplexed. Clearly Tao did not remember her, Rachel mused though it was completely unsurprising. "Tao can't go back though! Every time Tao tries to get food from the boobie lady, that means little shorty hogs all the grub! Why can't you feed me, rabbit person?"
Rachel openly groaned as she massaged her temples. She just did not have the energy to deal with Tao right now, the cat's antics bringing back the pain in Rachel's skull in force. Not that she ever particularly cared to entertain Tao, but now less than ever. Setting Tao with the sternest look she could muster, Rachel opened her mouth to tell Tao 'no' as simple and straightforward as possible so that even she could understand.
"A white-haired fellow with a stupid face will be arriving here soon. You should ask him."
"Nyah? Really?"
"…I…what?"
In a split second, it was as though Rachel had an out of body experience. The words she spoke were automatic, leaving her mouth before she even realized what she was saying. What alarmed her most was the thing she said was so specific, so very exact—as if she spoke those words before. Rachel clutched her chest as the pace of her heartbeat picked up frantically and her mind worked overtime to piece together the connection she knew had to be there. She saw visions of Kagutsuchi, that man fought Hakumen here, and now here she was unconsciously speaking familiar words as if she was in this situation before.
Could it mean…?
"Hey, you okay, rabbit person? Are you hungry too? You don't look so good." Tao leaned in, unintentionally invading Rachel's personal space, out of apparent concern. Rachel, however, only spared the cat a glance before summoning a stack of platinum dollars to her hand and offering it to Tao.
"Here. This should be more than enough to feed even the likes of you."
"Wow! All for Tao!?" Tao cheered as she swiped the cash. "Thanks, rabbit person! Tao thinks you're a good girl!"
Rachel pinched Tao's ear and gave it a yank. "None of that. Run along now."
"Rodger dodger!" Tao, quick to shake off Rachel's mild scolding, never needing to be told twice when it came to stuffing her face, and took off down the street to do just that, the cat girl leaving only a trail of smoke behind her.
Finally alone, Rachel attempted once more to make sense of this shocking turn of events. This was progress—the first bit of real progress she made in months and it was almost overwhelming, evident due to the throbbing behind her eyes intensifying. She was ready to push her mind further and further if it meant finally having the breakthrough she desperately craved for so long now. He had been here in Kagutsuchi after all, and she directed Tao to him for some reason, but why? Why would she direct Tao to this man for food? Was he just the kind of man who would feed a total stranger that easily? The sudden revelation was giving Rachel an adrenaline rush, but at the same time a vicious migraine was threatening to push her back down. It was like she was fighting against her own mind to recall anything else—reaching out for answers but only being rewarded another wave of pain throughout her skull.
It wasn't about to stop her though. Rachel had experience pain far worse in the past. She refused to give up on her lead.
Taking off in a full sprint, Rachel made her way to the upper levels of Kagutsuchi while making sure to observe every small detail of her surroundings. She didn't know if there was anything left of value in the lower levels, but she would be damned if she missed a single thing that could possibly drag out more of her memory. She was prepared to do anything necessary if it meant she could at long last gain back what she lost.
He was real, and slowly but surely a picture was forming.
He carried a broadsword, he was strong enough to face Hakumen, kind enough to feed a stranger, had white hair…
…And a stupid face.
For anyone worried, rest assured the next chapter will be up much quicker than this one. If anyone has something on their mind, they are welcome to review.
