Author's Note: Ah, chapter five shows how intense and calming I can make a chapter, shifting the tides of how the story plays out. It's all about hyping up the suspense and then toning it down when needed so there's an even flow of events. Now StarCaptain, something irreversible happened to Geshumaru's real world counterpart, so that's why she's controlling the body. It will be explained around the end of the chapter when the chapter reaches the rising action and keeps it there for a cliffhanger. Sorry folks, but I like to do that as a way to keep the intensity until the next chapter.
Black Rock Shooter and co. belongs to Huke.
Mato ran as fast as she could so she could meet up with Yomi and Kagari since she woke up late, not expecting to wake up so close to the time she was suppose to meet up with them. Her talk with B RS was interesting, but for the majority of the time in the dream, they just looked at the sky, enjoying their time together before they wake up in their respected worlds. It was a bit unnatural but the bridge to B RS's world has changed and Mato wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Everything felt like it was spinning too fast and it was getting hard to keep up with it, at least in Mato's eyes. She just wished, for one moment in her life, that everything could just slow down so she could get a better grasp on things and find out what's going on in the Otherworld since B RS seems to know something but won't tell her what it is.
She noticed Yomi and Kagari talking together as she reached them, "Hey, sorry I'm late..!"
"Ah, it okay, we just got here a couple minutes ago," Yomi told her.
"Man, if it wasn't for that dream..." Mato mumbled.
Kagari arched an eyebrow, wondering what Mato meant, "What are you talking about?"
"Eh, nothing much but a dream of B RS," Mato laughed while scratching the back of her head, "I'll tell you both about it later with Yuu, alright?"
Yomi nodded, going along with what Mato said as she and Kagari exchanged worried glances towards each other, wondering what it could be that's on their friend's mind. It wasn't normal for her to be acting like this, so they feared something happened to Mato and she isn't saying anything about it, which isn't like her to hide something important. That's why they were talking to each other before Mato arrived, since they needed to figure out what's going on and the only way that will happen is if they get help from Yuu, who is probably the only person who actually has been an other self for a time. She could know what's going on with Mato and since she's been watching her during basketball practice, that could help them greatly as Yuu will be able to tell them what she's seeing. The trio walked to school, hoping to see some unnatural reaction come from Mato but during the walk to school, they couldn't see anything unusual come from her.
"I hope you're alright Mato..." Yomi thought silently.
Dead Master and Chariot woke up to see that B RS was gone from the cave, but from what they could feel, she hasn't gone too far off. They got up, picked up their weapons, and left the cave, dashing in the direction that B RS went before they saw her, her white coat slightly moving due to the wind. She looked back and noticed the two girls rushing towards her, causing her to feel a bit irritated as she hoped to leave and cover enough distance before they woke up. Her grip on her ax tightened as she expected them to attack, but she watched their hands and noticed they weren't going to attack as their grip was tight, but only enough to hold the weapon when traveling. B RS wasn't sure what their intentions were but she decided to continue walking, not even bothering with them as she didn't have any need for traveling companions.
"Black Rock Shooter, where are you going?" Chariot asked.
B RS looked over her shoulder, "None of your business..."
"Yes it is," Chariot told her, "Dead Master and I have to find out, for our real selves sake..."
Dead Master walked up to B RS, trying to keep up with her pace, "Yomi is worried about Mato since she's acting strangely, and you're the cause of it..."
"If Mato wants to tell them, she will tell them when she is ready," B RS said, glaring at Dead Master, "And don't you dare put the blame on me..!"
B RS was definitely becoming something else as she wasn't acting like an other self would, since her emotions were coming out slowly but it was easy to see. It was quite troubling to understand as no other other self went though something other than STR, in which she swapped places with Yuu involuntarily. Plus, the fact that it was a concept not entirely explained shows how much holes there are in it, which is why that can't fully understand B RS's current actions. B RS looked at the sky for a brief moment before looking straight ahead, wondering what she was feeling as she picked up on an unusual energy source not to far from her. She looked towards her right and suddenly dashed off, leaving behind Dead Master and Chariot, disregarding the dangers to where she was going and trying to find out what was going on over there.
"This feeling, what is it..?" B RS wondered as her grip on her ax tightened.
As she continued rushing forward, she discovered the landscape was changing, spiral spikes coming out of the ground while the floor was littered with skulls. The color was becoming greyed out as a light fog covered the area, making it hard to see around. She had a strange feeling that the location slightly resembled an area that she possibly been to before but she couldn't put her finger on where. B RS walked around, keeping her defenses up as she heard something hard smacking against each other like two hollow shells. She stopped her movement as something almost slashed her neck off, missing by a mere inch as a cut opened in the light fog, revealing gray eyes.
Meanwhile, Dead Master and Chariot entered the area, trying to track down B RS, "Where could she have gone?"
"Who knows, but this fog is making things complicated as we won't be able to see much," Chariot stated.
"I don't like this one bit," Dead Master said, "It's like we just stepped inside something that we shouldn't have..."
They heard blades clashing and looked at each other before running towards the sound, assuming the worse has just begun...
Yuu was sitting on the couch, looking at Saya who happened to be deep in her thoughts, "Still trying to figure out why Gold Saw has been ignoring you?"
"Yes, it's unlike her to be like that, but given the circumstances..." Saya said to herself before shaking her head, "Anyways, that isn't the point, the point is that B RS's is back but different and I don't like the sound of it at all"
"It's the same deal with STR, she doesn't know what's going on except for the fact that it seems like B RS is developing emotions," Yuu said.
Saya cupped her chin and closed her eyes, trying to figure out what is going on in the Otherworld and why most of the other selves aren't talking with their real world counterparts about B RS's resurrection. They have as much involvement in it as they do since whatever is affecting B RS, it's affecting Mato and that isn't a good sign. Everything just seems reversed and it doesn't look like it's going to end well, but right now, they have to take one step at a time if they want to know what exactly is going on in the Otherworld. So far, the only other selves that made contact with them is Dead Master, who told Yomi about B RS's death and STR, who informed Yuu about the possibility of B RS developing emotions right now. Everything just seems so chaotic, but at least they are gaining so information and with Saya's talk with Mato, they at least knows that whatever happened to B RS changed her completely, but there are still some holes in the information that they have right now.
"If we're to find out, we will have to take control and see for ourselves," Saya said, clutching her head with her hand.
Yuu shook her head, "Maybe we should wait it out, we'll learn soon if Mato tells us everything that she knows..."
"But when will that happen," Saya asked Yuu, "Mato is keeping secrets about B RS and everything that's going on right now, and if this does damage to her in any way, she'll lose B RS again..."
"I just know something will change the situation, but for now, we have to hope she knows what she is doing," Yuu told Saya.
The door slid open and Yomi entered the consultation room along with Kagari, "I hope we aren't barging in?"
"No, you aren't," Saya told them, gesturing towards the couch, "Me and Yuu were just talking about what's going on right now and how we haven't heard much from our other selves..."
Kagari shook her head, "I don't think that will be much of a problem since we can also get some information here in the real world"
Yuu looked at Kagari with a shocked expression on her face, "You know other people who have other selves?"
"No, but I did see Mato interact with this strange girl," Kagari told them.
Yomi nodded, "She said that B RS was controlling Mato's body and while doing so, her eyes had a black tint in them..."
Saya nodded, remembering Mato's description of the current B RS, "And?"
"And this strange girl was using powers I haven't seen before in real life," Kagari told them, "It was like she was from the Otherworld or something, and I'm entirely sure she is since she opened up a portal and went through it..!"
"What did the girl look like?" Yuu asked, "It seems like you're talking about something that's paranormal and it seems like it..."
Kagari nodded, "She had dark gray hair, blue eyes, and she was wearing casual clothes before they changed into something that looked like it was from the Otherworld..!"
"Dark gray hair, haven't heard of a dark gray haired other self before, but from the way you're talking about it, that girl could be an anomaly," Saya stated.
"An anomaly, like someone being completely different in the Otherworld?" Yomi wondered.
Saya nodded, "If that girl was able to come here then she must have unnatural powers; plus, anomalies could often be caused by something that happens to change the other self from who they once were, like STR or B RS right now..."
That was something that they couldn't say anything about as it seems like it's the only possibility behind what's going on with B RS and the Otherworld being mostly silent. From what Saya just told them, anomalies can be anything that's completely irregular in the Otherworld, but seeing how the Otherworld is an anomaly in itself, it's pretty contrasting ideas. For a moment, everything was silent until Yomi and Kagari felt something shoot right through them like a bullet impacting their brains. They got up from the couch and ran out of the room, Saya and Yuu trailing behind, wondering what got them so twisted up. The two girls kept on running upwards until the reached the roof of the school, noticing an unconscious Mato laying on the floor.
The only thing though is that they didn't know Mato was mysteriously brought into the Otherworld for some reason...
Mato opened her eyes, noticing she was in the same place again like last night, "What the- how in hell did I get here?"
She looked around and noticed B RS wasn't here with her, which meant she was probably fully conscious right now but that troubled Mato. All she remembered doing was looking at the blue sky up on the roof before passing out for some reason. Mato started walking before she felt herself being lead out of the strange meeting world meant for her and B RS before she was seeing something that she didn't expect to see at all. B RS was currently fighting against someone wielding a scythe, but it wasn't Dead Master this time, it was someone else since Mato noted the different design structure and the skulls that were hanging by the end to the weapon's shaft. The girl holding the scythe looked like she was dressed in a black and white school uniform, her long hair swaying side to side as she slashed away at B RS, her gray eyes not leaving her target.
Mato stared wide eyed as she saw B RS dodge another slash, 'What the hell is going on?'
"Mato... get out of me right now," B RS thought, surprised to hear Mato inside her, "It's not safe!"
'I know that, but how am I suppose to get out?' Mato shouted.
Mato stopped talking when she saw B RS use her ax to clash with the scythe, trying to stopped the endless chain of attacks that kept coming without stop. She pushed back and invoked her flame, causing the area to clear up a bit as the girl was now fully in view. While the fog managed to cover her appearance a bit, she was still able to be seen except when she retreated back into the deeper parts of the fog. B RS steadied her ax as she dashed towards the scythe user, locking blades again before they started attacking each other, not holding back and hoping the other slips up and leaves an opening. Mato was starting to have slight flashbacks of what happened before and hoped that B RS didn't kill her. The last thing that Mato wants was a repeat of what happened before and she didn't want the person who was this other self's counterpart to be affected by what's going on.
B RS jumped away, gripping her ax with both hands now, "Who are you?"
"We've never met before, in case you're wondering," The girl told her, "I'm Death Scythe and you're trespassing..!"
B RS narrowed her eyes, "That's a big fat lie, she wanted me to come here..."
'If so, then what are you gonna-' Mato started as she saw Death Scythe leap into the air, 'Look out!'
B RS looked up before jumping away, narrowly avoiding the possibility of being sliced in half and having Mato die along with her. She didn't want her here, nor does she even know how Mato got inside her in the first place, but the fact that she is here will make her situation even more complicated. B RS slashed at Death Scythe, sending slight shock waves of energy towards her but not able to do any substantial damage to her. Death Scythe grounded her scythe into the ground before making a diagonal arc slash at B RS, sending dust and sand into her eyes, blinding her temporarily as she was slammed into a stone wall, implanted into it. B RS felt her ax being taken away before it was implanted into the joint of her right shoulder and shoulder blade, causing her and Mato to scream in pain as blood seeped out from the wound.
Death Scythe backed away and noticed the color of the blood, "Strange, looks like you're becoming human..."
B RS looked down and noticed the blood that was seeping down was red with a slight hint a black coursing down her body and arm. She couldn't feel it through her jacket, which meant that it probably wasn't going to leave a stain but B RS shook the thoughts away as Death Scythe pointed her scythe at B RS's neck, ready to guillotine her. Mato was watching everything play out as she gripped her joint, the place on her body stained in black as evidence of where she was feeling B RS's pain. She didn't want her or B RS to die but she also didn't want B RS to kill Death Scythe as that would just cause problems in the real world for someone. B RS could feel Mato's inner turmoil inside her and narrowed her eyes as Death Scythe launched her weapon forward before it was halted by B RS's left hand gripping the blade, stopping it three inches from her neck.
"What?" Death Scythe shouted as she saw B RS pushed her scythe right back towards her.
Death Scythe stumbled backwards, trying to catch her balance as B RS pulled herself out from the stone wall before removing her ax from her joint, allowing her healing capabilities take care of the wound. As Death Scythe got back on her feet, she blocked a ferocious slice from B RS, her black eyes reflecting her hatred for the girl who caused Mato her inner turmoil right now. Every strike that B RS made to Death Scythe's weapon caused even more damage to it. B RS cocked her ax back before pooling all her power into her next slash, which caused the scythe to break and slice off Death Scythe's right arm, a black phantasmal blade cutting through before fading away. Death Scythe fell onto her back as B RS pointed her ax right at her, her eyes boring no emotion but conviction.
"You'll kill me?" Death Scythe asked.
B RS narrowed her eyes before she hoist her ax on her shoulder, "No, you're not even worth it..."
B RS turned around and started walking away, not noticing Death Scythe reaching over for the other half of her weapon so she could make a sneak attack. She grabbed it with her left arm and dashed towards B RS, intent on stabbing her right at the heart. Before she got the chance, she was knocked across the area by the blunt side on B RS's ax, seeing her black flame flicker around her left eye before passing out. The white haired girl frowned, knowing that she nearly killed the girl but realized that she has other priorities right now, primarily checking up on Mato. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be taken to their cross-world, stepping onto the water as she saw Mato sitting on the ground.
B RS walked up to her, "Hey..."
"Did you kill her..?" Mato asked, her eyes hidden by her arms.
B RS shook her head, "No, I wanted to but I guess you stopped me..."
"I didn't do anything, I only watched," Mato said as she got up.
B RS was a little bit surprised by what Mato told her as she saw the girl walked up and hug her counterpart, "Don't ever kill unless it's not an other self..."
"Don't worry, I don't plan to," B RS said as she wrapped her arms around Mato loosely.
Meanwhile, Dead Master and Chariot managed to get to the battlefield, seeing an unconscious Death Scythe as well as B RS laying on the ground. They weren't sure what happened, but when they felt that spike of power, they only assumed something bad happened and that B RS managed to kill someone again. Instead, all they saw was a worn and torn area with one unconscious other self and a sleeping B RS. As they walked towards her, they saw something that they couldn't believe in as it was completely abnormal. It only confirmed that this B RS was a lot more different than the one they knew before, and what they were seeing was defying everything that made the Otherworld as it is since they were seeing her hold onto someone.
And that someone happened to be an astral projection of Mato...
Yomi and Kagari stepped away from Mato as the noticed an astral projection of B RS holding onto her like she was her shield or something. When Saya and Yuu got up and noticed the scene, they couldn't help but be confused by what they were seeing as it was clearly not normal by any means. Seeing B RS, though a transparent version of her, was quite a shocker as they could now see what she looked like now. Saya matched it up to the description that Mato gave her and realized that they were exactly as she said B RS was. They heard someone clap their hands together and turned around, seeing Geshumaru wearing casual clothes as she kept the guise of a human.
"It appears she truly is an anomaly," Geshumaru said, surprising the four girls before Kagari started pointing at her.
"See, that's the strange girl that I was talking about!" Kagari told them.
Geshumaru arched an eyebrow, "I see you know me just by appearance, but not by name..."
"Just who are you," Saya inquired, getting in front of everyone, "You can't be normal if you're calling Mato an anomaly..?"
"I'm Geshumaru and I maintain the balance in the Otherworld," Geshumaru introduced herself, "But I'm someone I suggest you don't attack, otherwise, you four will be up against those fences without any way to get off of them..."
Yomi glared at her, "Just how are you here?"
"Becoming one with my real world self is something that is a concept not possible to reach by normal standards," Geshumaru explained, "We were both harmed, but she was brain-dead while I was mortally wounded, so I merged with this body and started controlling it, becoming a perfect real/other self hybrid"
The girls eyes widened as Geshumaru continued talking, "I have to stop Mato and B RS, otherwise, the Otherworld will be in grave danger..."
"I won't allow it," They heard, looking back at Mato's body as it got up.
Geshumaru frowned, "Great, you won't give me a break will you, B RS?"
B RS opened her eyes and glared at Geshumaru, "I keep on telling you to stay away from her and you don't listen, why?"
"You don't know the dangers of you existence right now, or the fact that everything could fall apart if you're lead to my world again," Geshumaru said, turning around as she walked towards the stairs, "Besides, I only came to see how far your bond with Mato has gotten, guess I'll have to be careful if you properly manifest in the real world as an other self doing anything here is dangerous..."
They watch Geshumaru leave the roof, disappearing into the school without arousing suspicion amongst the students and teachers inside. Yomi heard a groan and looked toward Mato's body, in which the original owner is back in control. She was caught off guard when she heard B RS tell her that she was going to control her body to deal with a certain annoyance, but when she got control over her body again, she didn't know what B RS did. Mato figured that whenever B RS was in control of her body, there was bound to be a gap in her memories, even though she is fully conscious. Yomi walked over and laid her arm around Mato's neck, supporting her completely as she was sure she was still trying to recover.
"Mato, are you okay?" Yomi asked.
Mato shook her head, "I need a cup of water, you all won't believe what I'm going to tell you..."
Geshumaru walked along the streets, watching the cars roll on by as she looked at her reflection in the glass, seeing her actual appearance. She still wasn't used to being something completely unnatural, but being part human now made her see things that normal other selves wouldn't. Geshumaru didn't have to think much about what became of her real world self, since she could see it happening as if she was there. Her real self's brain was dead by all mean, unable to be utilized like before since she suffered massive brain damage, causing her to be in a permanent vegetative state. Geshumaru didn't want to die as she still have a mission to do that will last until there is a proper successor, so she took control of the body and jump started healing on the brain, fixing the damage done and being able to use it.
Geshumaru looked away from her reflection, "There is no point in reflecting in the past, only the present and future is the main focus..."
She continued to walk on, letting the sound of the streets overwhelm her mind in order to have her forget about what happened about a year ago...
Author's Note: Yuu finally makes her debut in the story, which I was trying to figure out how to make her appear since this is set in anime/OVA verse while being slightly AU. Now, B RS fought against Death Scythe and won without killing her, which could be a big relief for Mato as she won't have to worry about B RS killing other selves. Geshumaru introduces herself to everyone and she tells them a little bit about herself, but will the information be helpful or destructive. Also, it seems like Geshumaru is becoming a bit melancholy and is trying to stop it. Hope the end segment explains what Geshumaru is right now, as it also shows how much research I have to do to get the information I need despite me needing the bare minimum.
Please review and I'll see you all later.