Disclaimer:

The following is a non-profit fan-written story. Demon King Daimao and its characters are not owned by me, it's owned by Shotaro Mizuki, Artland, and Sentai Filmworks. Support the official release.

As some of the teachers and professors of the Academy use a rare kind magic that involves repairing some of the damages throughout, most of the students also try to help around with some of the students that thankfully, aren't heavily injured to check up on them. Another pair of students crowd around a tarped area where the dead body of Samantha lies, with Xavier already being blown to pieces.

"Honestly…I figured it was going to happen at a matter of time." said Arnoul as the rest of the student council group would walk away from the crowd gathering.

"But still, even so, while two of them were our enemies, I don't really think they even deserved that." said Michie.

"But they themselves said right to our faces that they admit they weren't really meant to be parents. Maybe they even knew that we don't want to mourn their deaths." said Kanna.

"Well, whatever the cost, this deal just shouldn't be our business. I know Icy's probably going try to strike here in the near future, and perhaps we should try to track her so we don't end up with the possibility of even dead students here." said Lily.

"Right…but we don't even know where the hell is she's going to even reside." said Michie.

"She doesn't even need a home; she can just sleep out and not get worried. She's that fearless, even, due to her powers." said Lily.

"At least everyone ended up okay here. John told me that while there have been minor injuries, there weren't any severe ones." said Arnoul.

Kanna then yelps in nervousness.

"What was that?" questioned Michie.

"Um…won't people close to the city find out all that war-like noise that was going on?" said Kanna.

"No problem. I was able to communicate with Mitsuko about it, and she inserted some sort of shield that's not only soundproof, but also prevents any possibility of being spotted when we're attack unless they're affiliated in terms of magic or unique abilities."

A slight pause happens before Michie says "And she's still a nurse? First she built a time machine, now this?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that too, thanks." joked Lily.

They then see Keena and Gavin up in the air flying as they then land in front of them.

"All cool now?" said Michie.

"Mm-hmm. No way are Akuto's words gonna bring us down at any rate! Right, Gavin-gins?" said Keena.

Gavin seemed a bit dazed out, looking like he's in deep thought until Keena nudges him a bit. "Oh, uh, yeah, true that!" he said, shyly scratching his head and laughing nervously.

"Still…I wonder what's going to happen next…" said Keena, looking serious.

[Opening]

Sarakedase tetsu no tobira wo
Oshitaosu chikara ga hoshii no sa
Baacharu na sekai ni damasareru mae ni
Iza akushon yobisamasou, saa ryoute wo sora he to kazase

Force, force
Kowarenu chikara wo kure
Force, force
Abaiteku chikara wo kure
Force, force
Tobira wo akehanatsu
Chikara wo ataeta mae

Force, force
Aisuru chikara wo kure
Force, force
Tachimukau chikara wo kure
Force, force
Tobira wo buchikowasu
Chikara wo ataeta mae

Give me force, yeah!

Episode 22: "All Apologies"

A couple of hours later, while the sun sets and the repairing around the academy nearly complete, Keena and Gavin enter their dorm room as Gavin immediately slumps on the bed, letting out a deep sigh.

"You tired, huh?" said Keena.

"Yeah…I don't even wanna move…" said Gavin.

"I'll be back shortly. Lily wants us to go to the council room, but she'll let you be excused, okay?"

Gavin raises his hand, signaling a thumbs up. Keena then pecks his cheek and leaves the room. As soon as she leaves, Gavin sighs heavily, especially after what he experienced earlier. He then notices the small fridge, hoping to maybe have a drink. He opens it up and grabs a canteen bottle, and without even bothering to check what's inside, he drinks it anyways. The drink looks rather white-ish.

Meanwhile, back to the student council room, Arnoul, Lily and Michie were just about to start to discuss as Keena enters in.

"Gavin-gins's kinda parched out…personally I don't blame him after what happened earlier." said Keena.

"It's okay, he can be excused, like Kanna." said Lily.

"Where is she?"

"Resting as well. Arnoul had to take her to her room."

"So…I wonder, how was the fight with Akuto, then, Keena?" said Michie.

"Well…I would say it's a bit unfair, but…I guess there's really no helping it. He's the Demon King, after all. It seems like he may have gone through a bit of training himself, but something tells me he was maybe going easy on me a bit."

"You absolutely sure? You look hurt, but you don't look like you're struggling." said Arnoul

"Oh ho, ho, but that's because I was actually going a bit easy on him, too. In fact, it's clear that we're not meant to give it our all here."

"That was not giving both all you've got?!" exclaimed Michie.

"Trust me, if we did, this whole Academy would be thrashed…um…again."

"He didn't look too badly injured, either."

"I didn't want to overdo my power for the moment. It might leave me with some risky gaps, and otherwise, I would've indeed stumbled. It's science, really, or, whatever you wanna call it."

"Not exactly that." Michie replied with a shrug.

"Well, no surprise that he was powerful, but what was up with him showing what seemed to be a dimension with you being with him?" said Lily.

"Well, he definitely had some tricks up his sleeve…but I wonder if he meant to aim that to me or to…Gavin." said Keena.

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't know him." said Arnoul.

"That's just it. But he was quite cunning, I admit that."

"Really rare to see a boy actually be emotionally destroyed like that…it was definitely different." said Michie.

"Well, he always considered that I'm…well, tougher than him…we're different like that."

"With that said, there's really no telling what either Eiko, Fujiko or Icy Hail will do next, plus Akuto as well." said Lily.

"What about Junko, though? Did you see how insane she was?" said Michie.

"It's like she's a completely different person…" said Aroul.

"She's delusional." said Keena bluntly.

Lily would then look a bit surprised at Keena's surprisingly direct comment. "You…really think so?" she said.

"Junko's not her own self anymore. Think about it guys; I think she's suffering from this because she's really that messed up from being with Akuto. I think…she secretly doesn't like being with him. She likes him because she has a crush on him and even went as far as being forced into a marriage, but if I remember correctly, there was a misunderstanding. She then would then declare her love for him by fighting alongside him when Eiko attacked here the first time."

"Right…and maybe, just maybe, that was the first sign of it, knowing that she's delegated herself from trying to kill Akuto, to loving him, to realizing that secretly deep inside, she's secretly feeling ashamed, that it's sort of making her have a breakdown, yet also act normal for most of the time." said Lily.

"So…she's sort of an enigma now. Is she really that shameful?" said Michie.

"But wait…how do you know all that, Keena?" said Arnoul.

"I'm not knowing, I'm guessing. I know I sounded rather off, there, but I once tried really hard to have a friend in Junko, but she just thought of me as nothing more as just a person, just like that. She's just that anti-social with me."

They all then nod as a brief pause follows, with Keena then having the feeling by realizing the serious tension going on.

"S-sorry for all that…maybe this is what happens when I'm a tad too out of my head on some things."

"It's alright, Keena, but on the meantime, we're just glad we got out of this and we're still tight together as a notable group." Lily says with a smile.

"Amen to that, Lily."

They then were about to go for a high-five, they instead opted for a friendship-induced hug as Michie and Arnoul look on with smiles. After a couple of seconds, they then let go of the hug.

"That wasn't too cheesy or anything, was it?" said Keena.

"Cheesy things are just part of the road for us, too." said Lily as they both chuckle.

A couple of minutes later, Keena then walks back to her room as she sits on the bed.

"Should we turn Junko back to normal? I tried even forgiving her earlier, but she wasn't having none of that…Maybe I should have tried a little harder myself, too back then…" she thought.

She sighs deeply, then turning her head to check on Gavin, but he's not there.

"Huh? Where'd he go?"

She then turns her head again, noticing Gavin smiling right in front of her.

"Whoa!"

He then giggles, then saying "Hey there, Keena Keena Keena-kins~.", then hiccupping a bit while saying many things as happy as possible.

"Um…okay…" said Keena, as she then sniffs something. "Oh no…did you…?"

"Oh, how I just love this state~! It's like we live in one, big, Stephen King novel, with many mysteries in ourselves~! Are we even real? Do balloons float? Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers knocking at my door~! (Hiccup)"

"I should have thrown the rice drink out, did I? Gavin-gins, I can explain—"

"Oh, it's the redhead hero! Ha ha~! Hey, hey, hey~."

"Okay, you see…I wanted to make these rice drinks to make them non-alcoholic, but it turns out, I still couldn't get the hang of them…"

"Ah, (Hiccup), then keep 'em like that, cause they're heavenlyyyyy~!"

"Gavin-gins, snap out of it! If you keep getting the attention of people here, we might get in trouble…!"

"Then, let's get more trouble up in here~!" laughed Gavin as he then bites Keena's ear softly."

"Hng! Okay, enough!" said Keena as she then had no choice but to charge him to bed, even going as far as gripping his arms.

Gavin laughs, "Oh, Keena, you're trying to be naughty!"

Keena then recognizes the time where she also got drunk and she did something similar to Akuto once, which causes her to sigh, then letting go of Gavin, sitting on her bed again.

Keena the groans, "Shit. Just…ugh…it's like today's mocking me all of a sudden, isn't it? First Akuto showing me in bed with him with this…other dimension bullshit, now I get reminded of being drunk cause of my own damn stupidity!"

Gavin then hears this and nuzzles his head on her back, "Oh, Keena, come on, don't you wanna do me? I'm clearly no match for you~!"

"Look, Gavin, I'm the middle of—" Keena gets interrupted by turning around, and noticing Gavin almost naked with nothing but his underwear. Keena, for a split-second, is somehow able to lose focus, but then resumes trying to help him snap out of it.

"Just because I'm a boy doesn't mean I can't moan, huh~?"

"You're drunk, Gavin-gins, you have to sleep!"

"Oh, come on, not even a make-out session~?"

"You're not yourself, stop!"

"Fuck me already, Keena~!"

"I SAID STOP!"

Gavin then stops nuzzling her as Keena stands up and turns around to his direction, and takes a deep breath.

"Gavin, I know what you saw earlier was almost scarring to you. However, what Akuto showed us there was fake! Akuto wanted to make sure to use that to burn into your retinas so you suffer. But I know, and you yourself know that you're more capable than that; you're stronger than that. You should know that it's fake, that we're together, not just you and me, but our friends as well. And you should know yourself that you love me too much to suddenly give in like that! I didn't think he would stoop that low, and now he's really going to have to answer to me."

Gavin is then able to snap out of his drunkenness, although slightly and he is able to heavily get over on what he saw earlier that day, now more than ever. He then hugs her tightly while crying a bit and sniffing.

"I'm sorry…! Please don't hate me for that…"

"I never will, Gavin-gins. You can be assured of it!"

"I love you so much! Please, please, say it back~!"

"Mnn, with a hug as hard as this, I can't refuse! I love you, too~!"

"I love you more~!"

"Me too~!"

"Okay, maybe we should stop hugging, our backs are kinda hurting…!"

"Yeah, maybe we should…!"

They then let go as they pant a bit, and then they laugh.

"Guess the power of love also depletes my drunkness." said Gavin.

"Well, more like powerful speeches save the day." said Keena.

"Weird thing is…I don't even remember what I said while I was drunk."

"Um…"

"It was embarrassing stuff, wasn't it?"

"Kiiiiiiinda~."

"You can tell me~."

"I'd rather not…"

"I'll understand exactly, no matter what~. So, pleeeeeeease you can tell me~."

He then goes for a cute face real close to Keena's face.

"Ah, not the cute face~! Okay, I'll tell you~."

"By ear, of course."

"Mm-hmm~."

Keena then whispers on his ear on what he said while he was drunk. After she's done whispering, Gavin blushes heavily.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

An awkward pause then happens.

"Still wanna kiss me~?"

"No prob~."

They then kiss deeply and hug each other for a while and they fall on the bed.

"Can I say something~?" said Gavin.

"What's that~?" said Keena.

"I would have said that to you regardless~."

Keena then blushes by surprise.

"Ha, made ya blush~!"

"Oh, you~.", she said as she then tickled him, him responding back with a giggle.

Meanwhile, at the library, Lily and Michie both are reading as a stack of books are piled in a table.

"So, I ask again; you absolutely sure there's a book that might get rid of your curse?" said Michie."

"I'm not sure, I know so." said Lily.

"Look…I don't wanna doubt you, but maybe it's best to take a waiting approach to it."

"I'm…aware of that. I don't want to sink myself deeper into it, but it's better than doing nothing."

"You're a true determinator, though, so credits are due to you. Chalk that one up to another reason I love you, too."

Lily blushes a bit, "I guess so, but…now that I think about it…did we start a bit too quick?"

"Not entirely, I mean, we've been friends for a long time that…it's better to ask now than to keep silent."

"I say that because…what if it was a sign?"

"What you did…well…happened way before we considered our relationship, so there's really no way to prove that, really."

Lily sighs, "There's my worried side showing up again."

"I won't give up either, though, just so you know." Michie says with a wink.

"Right!"

"I'll see around some obscure areas that we haven't checked yet."

"I dunno, you might get a little behind on that."

"I have a suspicion that could work, so have a little faith in me, don't cha?"

Michie then searches through several bookcases, then proceeding to think;"I still find it rather conspicuous that there's books about possible curse breakers here. I mean, there's books about fighting, magic, and even light novels that I'm sure Japan would love to turn it into a series cause they have such a fetish for those, but removing curses? If I'm wrong, may I hit myself into a book case by accident."

By accident, she hits her head into a book case. "Ow~…well, that was just silly." She said out load, but then a book falls out and hits her on the head. "And that's just stretching it! Wait…" She then looks upon the book as it says "How To Truly Unite With Your Lover While She Or He Is Cursed". She opens the book and searches through a couple of pages, until she stops at a certain page. Reading it quickly, she smiles widely and cheers for joy as she runs back to Lily.

"Whoa, you're suddenly jumpy." said Lily, a bit surprised.

Michie then hugs Lily tightly. "We can break the curse!"

"No, no, way, no kidding, right?"

"I wouldn't lie, of course!"

"So, what's the info?

"We have to...um…here's the thing…"

"Go and spill, Michie, how do we break the curse?"

"We have to get married."

Lily responds with a blink as she stares at her for a few seconds. "Go by me again."

"See, when it comes to two people loving a lot to each other, if their love is strong enough, all we need to do is get married and the curse is broken that quickly. Simple as that."

"Huh. Give me a few minutes."

4 seconds then pass by.

"PERFECT, LET'S DO IT!"

They then hug tightly, laughing.

"Told you so, Michie." said Lily as they then kiss for a while, until Michie's lips releases hers'.

"Say, you remember that speech I made months ago, right? I've actually seen gay and lesbian couples around here start to open up a bit better as of late."

"Our marriage must be another good step, then. But wait, we aren't 18 yet…"

"Oh, they'll allow it. If you're 16 and gay, marriage is allowed. Remember, Maine is the first to practice that law."

"Could be quite the good attention for the state, too."

"How's May sound?"

"You got it!"

They then resume kissing, then letting go again.

"Yeah…maybe we should get out of here…and fix up these books." said Michie.

"Mm, good point." said Lily.

"After 5 more minutes~."

"How sly of you~."

They resume kissing once more.

Meanwhile, back in Keena and Gavin's room, they cuddle while they're asleep as then Keena enters into a dream as it's all pitch black, with her looking around before seeing a familiar face; non-other than the human form of the Law of Identity again.

"W-wait…what are you…?" said Keena.

"Keena Soga…I know you want to try to kill the Demon King Akuto Sai yourself. However…it seems that killing him is not part of your destiny after all."

"What the—what's going on?"

"I'm usually not the bearer of bad news, but you have no exact destiny to speak of."

"Do you not believe in me; is that what you're saying?"

"Thing is…it's best to spout out the truth after all. The only major reason why I told you that you were chosen to defeat Akuto after all is sort of a test, to give you and your friends hope. Hiroshi is still targeted to be the chosen one to eliminate him."

Keena then remains silent for a few seconds; however, she continues to look onward to the human replication of the Law of Identity.

"It's not usual for you to stay silent like that."

"I know, and…guess I knew it would be too good to be true."

"Should you re-consider getting—"

"The whole "God's powers" option? No way. Not to mention, I'm starting to wonder this "destiny" option being a complete lie."

"You certain?"

"Damn right I'm certain. Why did Hiroshi deserve it in the first place, anyways? A prophecy that is rather vague? Isn't it a little coincidental that it just so happens to be a best friend of his? Personally, neither of us deserve to be the Hero, that is unless, whoever kills the Demon King first, correct?"

The Law of Identity stands there, almost speechless what the calculations Keena was making. "You may be right on that part, but you see..."

Keena interrupts, "I knew it, called it right there! Destinies, prophecies, whatever, you only gave it to him because it's quite a shortcut in him being his best friend and all! Wait…or better yet, considering how much Hiroshi has suddenly supported him as soon as they met, what if they ended up as lovers, huh? That would be two majorly powerful beings instead of one! Well, that's it! Weather I'm the chosen one or never was one to begin with, I shall slay Akuto Sai regardless what you think!"

The Law of Identity once again seemed a bit speechless, but then says, "You sure are finding the flaws rather conspicuously, aren't you? I think you deserve one more test after what happened today."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"That would be me."

The latter voice came from a different Keena, the one that was shown in Akuto's vision earlier.

"W-wait, another me?"

"I'm the one who's…from the dimension you saw that Akuto showed you."

The current Keena would then glare at the other dimension Keena, "I didn't think it'd be possible, but I think I found the evil doppelganger of me."

"Listen to me. I'm not evil at all. He actually became a good Demon King after all an didn't use his powers for evil."

"This still doesn't explain why you even went as far as loving him!"

"Because we really cared for each other!"

"Grr…I still refuse to believe this!"

"Listen…we're both actually very different than what you'd think!"

"You sure about that?"

"At least you actually have parents! I never got to see my own…"

"W-what?"

"Just because we have the same name…doesn't mean all of our incarnations involving dimension hopping is the same. Not to mention we and Akuto were raised in the same orphanage, so…it was sort of meant to be. You got that?"

The current Keena sighs, feeling rather sorry for her stubbornness, "My humble apologies…to me. Boy, that sure sounds weird."

"Even in terms of personalities, we're both very different. You definitely seem to be the more "action hero" type, while I'm meant to be a bit more out of the action. I know you won't like it much, but that's how my dimension works. And, at the very best, you should accept it."

"I would, but then there's the "loving Akuto" part…it still seems rather distracting."

"Still…I'm more surprised that you didn't well…pound my face in."

"I'm aware of that…"

"That was the test, actually. See how much you can tolerate around my incarnation."

"That was…surprisingly easy."

"And as a result, I may as well destroy said dimension myself."

"N-no way, what?"

"Seeing as it causes grief to your boyfriend, I'm aware that your incarnation of the Demon King might try the same trick again. Even if it means sacrificing myself, I can't afford you two having such a damaging moment in your lives anymore."

"How can you do that anyways? You don't have the Law of Identity's power, or do you?"

"I still do, and I shall use the Law of Identity's power right now…to turn into a Goddess and start the world anew. Take care."

She then fades away as everything blacks out again.

("All Apologies" by Nirvana starts to play in the background)

As the other dimension Keena returns back to her own dimension, facing with Akuto.

"What is it that you want to talk to me about, Keena?"

"Guess I have to tell the absolute truth. I don't think we should have fallen in love."

Akuto reacts with a smirk, "Is this one of your jokes? I admit that worked a bit."

"No…in fact, regrets are really setting in, and to be perfectly honest, this is the only dimension that we're in in which we're only together."

"Dimension? You taking weird again?"

"Look at me seriously, Akuto. I'm not calling you "A-chan", for starters!"

"Y…you're using magic to screw around with time?"

"I've checked as many timelines as possible. We're never meant for each other, and I now know what I must do. I must destroy you!"

"You turn your back on me? After all we went through?! Being raised in the same orphanage with you isn't a good enough for us to be like this?!"

"You use that excuse a lot…but the more I realize it, you're desperate! After all these years, I want to prove how strong I am, but I never got the chance to! I'll do what Hiroshi couldn't do, and that is annihilating you!"

"I can't question that you can be strong, but you're not the Hero here, there's no way you can kill me!" he said as he laughs evilly.

"I can become the Hero…by being a female God!"

A big wave of energy surrounds her as Akuto gets appalled by it, with Keena yelling in redemption as a big beam of light fills the whole world as the current Keena watches in surprise. As soon as the song's breakdown happens, the world explodes in a Big Bang like way, with the current Keena looking in shock.

"Is this really the right way? I know it's a dimension, but…this just doesn't feel right…"

(The song then ends as it all darkens out again)

Keena then wakes up with a jolt, now being morning outside. Gavin, next to her, also wakes up as well. "Whoa, had a bad dream?" he said

"It was…bizarre, to say the least…"

"Why's that?"

"We'll group with Lily later. It might shock you all for a bit."

[Ending theme]

I must apologize for not participating in symmetry

But it's been such a struggle to win entry to this industry

Put simplistically it sickens me for my lack for contributions

I hope to tighten loose ends with new sense and end this nuisance

I think it's more

More than I can take

I don't exactly know just what to say to you

That I haven't said before

And it feels just like I have been more than

Patient enough with wasted breath on bluffs with no bread to touch

So much of what I give will become the unstable crutch

Then who would you get to lend you a new menu of gifts

To spit quick and then shift to the next on your list

I think it's more, more than I can take

I don't exactly know just what to say to you

That I haven't said before

'Cause it feels like I'm gonna try this time

We got a different way of seeing what the day can bring

And I know that I'm stepping up to the line

Now I'm old enough to understand it

So come on, navigate while I drive

We got a different way of seeing what the day can bring

Cause it feels like I'm gonna try tonight