It was in the middle of the night in a shrine turned into a normal Japanese home, but inside it, what was happening was anything but normal, in it a ten-year-old boy was shakingly holding a knife against two men wielding swords and wearing ogre masks, behind the boy was a thirty-two-year-old woman with her back against the window wall desperately wondering what she could do.
"Get away, get away, get near her and you will die!" cried the boy.
"Step aside, child, that woman is impure" growled one of the men, making one step towards the boy.
"No, miss Himejima is A-chan's mommy, if she dies A-chan will be sad and I don't want A-chan to be sad!" cried the boy.
One of the men lost his patience and made a downwards swing against the boy with a knife, the woman widened her eyes in horror, the boy by pure luck managed to parry it but now he was struggling to hold the blade in place with his kitchen knife, with the sword getting ever closer to his shoulder one of the men getting to the woman the boy did the only thing he could do.
"Miss Himejima, run, run to the forest, A-chan is there" he said with a stutter and a grunt in his breath, exerting himself as much as he could to stop the blade of the man, all in vain as the man slowly but sure got the katana closer to the boy's face.
The woman, now crying, also decided to do the only thing she could do to save the poor child trying to save her, with a frantic wave of her hands fire began to dance them, she aimed at the man that was about to slash at her with her right hand, the fireball impacted the man in the chest, too late to evade the slash but soon enough to prevent the man from slashing all the way down, the sword ended up embedded on her left shoulder. Unfortunately, the fireball was big enough to reach the other man and the boy, the worst of the damage was done to the man who had his left side of the body completely carbonized but the boy didn't come out unscathed, he was launched by the force of the explosion, he hit the kitchen counter and landed on the floor.
The woman opened her eyes, her own magic not affecting her, looking around she saw one of the men seriously injured and the other not even twitching and his sword which she painfully took out, remembering her protector, her eyes darted around the kitchen, and her heart sank when she saw the immobile figure of the boy next to the low counters.
"No, no, no, no. Subaru-chan, Subaru-chan, please answer me Subaru-chan, please!" she cried as she held the figure of the boy, she conjured as small floating flame to see him better, as she saw his face, he sported third degree burns on half of his face, and his hand, and to top it all off she couldn't feel a pulse, the woman was inconsolable
'I killed him' she thought over and over as tears streamed down her face.
"Mother? Mother!" cried a little girl running towards her mother after coming into the house, the girl stopped meters away from her mother and stood petrified as she looked first at the body of the boy and then at her own mother who sobbed uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry Subaru-kun, I'm sorry" the mother repeated.
A teenage boy was brought from his dreams by the sound of his alarm, six in the morning, it read, and the sky from the window behind his bed was still dark, getting up from bed he turned on the lamp on his bedside table, with some light on, he never turned on the lights of the room as he disliked a fully illuminated room, he went to his only wardrobe and took from there his school's uniform. Finishing all the chores in his room and his grooming and bathing, he did the last thing left for him, he prayed to the Most Holy Trinity, to safeguard the soul of his family and his only friend and also his own intentions, with that he had a small breakfast before packing his bag with the books lying on the living room and headed out while the sun still wasn't out, heading for school despite the school not opening for another twenty minutes. As he walked down the street he pondered on his dream, which wasn't the first time he did and it was understandable, the dream was a very traumatic experience from back when he was a young boy, and it repeated itself in his dreams every day, he dreamed nothing but that and some other thing which he can't remember.
As he was absorbed in his own thoughts two hands blocked his eyes as he felt someone behind him.
"Guess who?" asked a feminine and playful voice.
"Akeno" replied the boy with his own monotone voice.
"Correct, now, how is my dear kohai doing?" replied Akeno as she withdrew her hands from his eyes and stood next to him, the boy turned to look at her, a beautiful girl with long black hair reaching to her waist and purple eyes full of nothing but kindness, affection, and mischief for the boy in front of her.
"Good" he replied, and Akeno pouted.
"I know he isn't one to talk too much, it's always so hard to get him to chat even with me, but come on, there must be something" she thought, as she looked for ways to get him to chat with her.
"Speaking of which, I never saw you during summer, every time I came Miss Shuri always said you were out with your friends in the occult research club, I hope you were not engaging in any rituals" he warned, although also with concern lacing his voice, Akeno denied it, the question taking her off guard.
"Of course not, we are not witches or mages calling upon the power of demons, we only investigate supernatural phenomena" she replied.
"Like ghostbusters?" asked the boy.
"Exactly, Subaru-kun, don't worry your little head, I'm not getting possessed any time soon".
'I hope so' thought Subaru, Akeno smiled mischievously as she looked at his face.
"Aww, were you worried about me?" she asked, "Was my adorable kohai worried?"
"Yes, I was, I did not see you for a whole summer and miss Shuri would always dodge the question" he responded with sincerity, that moment Akeno's smile disappeared, and a sympathetic look appeared on her face.
"Of course, he would be concerned, you dumb cow, you leave for the whole summer, and you don't even call, you shouldn't have listened to Rias and just called him whenever possible".
With that thought she approached Subaru's back and hugged him from behind
"I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you, but I had to leave quickly, it was entering the club and leaving immediately, but I'm really sorry for not telling you"She told him, putting her head on top of his.
"It's okay" he replied, though his words seemed empty in Akeno's ears he really meant it, he could never bring himself to hold a grudge against anyone, much less his only real and closest friend.
"I know, I'll invite you over to the arcade after class, then we can have some tea at my house, will that make it up?" she asked, looking at him in the eyes.
"Yes" he replied immediately.
"Ufufu, okay then, I'm looking forward to having you, and I'm sure mother is too" she replied with a smile back on her face, and although she didn't see it Subaru allowed a small smile to come to his face, the rest of the walk was silent for the two of them, but they reached the school before the sun was completely out, at the gate was a teacher and two other students, one short black hair and glasses, the other was a bit taller and had longer black hair as well as blue glasses.
"Ah, Kazuma-san, Himejima-san, you are early" greeted the short student.
"Ara, Shitori-san, I thought you would no longer be surprised".
"You mistake my comment for surprise, I'm just glad, I wish more students were like you two" she replied with a smile. Akeno smiled back, she and Sona Shitori have become good friends ever since, even encouraging Subaru to befriend her, but between Sona's cold attitude and Subaru's quietness, they were practically perfect strangers. The teacher opened the door as the two girls chatted, Subaru followed them into the white building now lit by the orange morning lights.
"Well, it is good to see you back, Himejima-san, but I have to attend to matters in the student council, so I will see you soon" said Sona as she dismissed herself.
"Goodbye Shitori-san" replied Akeno.
"I also would like to go to my class while it is still quiet, Akeno" mentioned Subaru, Akeno.
"Then goodbye to you too, see you after class Subaru-kun" and Subaru left for the stairs that lead to the second floor. As soon as he was inside the empty classroom, he took a chair in the corner, took off his rosary and started praying, he figured that since he still had thirty minutes left, he could pray his rosary before the day left him without any silence whatsoever. While he was praying, he could already hear people coming in, some of the students who didn't know him looked at him wondering what he was doing with that strange collar that looked like Buddhist prayer beads, as soon as Subaru finished he kissed the cross in the rosary and looked at the people looking at him with a deadpan, wondering what was strange about him doing what he was doing, when he did that they stopped looking at him and continued to mind their own concerns.
After ten minutes the teacher came in and soon the grind started in full for Subaru, classes passing at a slow pace, with the most exciting thing being that someone kneed a student in the thigh during a chemistry practical exercise. When he got to the canteen, he noticed everyone was looking at him, or more specifically, behind him, he looked and behind him was a redheaded pale girl with eyes as blue as the ocean, Subaru was taken aback even if he didn't show it, only Akeno could rival her own beauty, so surprised he was he took a step to the side to allow the girl to go ahead of him.
Subaru finished his classes normally, and as he left to go straight to the entrance of the school he was once again stopped by someone behind him, a smiling Akeno poked his left cheek while giggling, once again Subaru stared at her with a deadpan.
"Well, ready to leave for the arcade?" she asked. Subaru nodded and they left the school, after that both went over to the arcade room and spent four hours in it, beating records and having much needed bonding time for the two of them. After that they headed out to Akeno's house, her having told her mother by the phone that Subaru was coming. They were halfway through the city bridge when someone called them out.
"Excuse me?"
Subaru looked to his side and noticed a girl round about his age with a black skirt and dress and dark red eyes, he looked at her without replying.
"Hi, mister, I have to ask you something," said the girl.
"Go on" was Subaru's only reply.
"Well," she stuttered while fidgeting, "it's just that… Would you want to go out with me?" she practically screamed, he was surprised, while it only showed in his face by his eyes slightly widening, this was very unexpected considering he never saw this girl before, but before he could reply, someone else replied for him.
"No, he doesn't" replied Akeno in a cold tone, standing to Subaru's right and slightly ahead of him, the girl stuttered.
"B-but he hasn't said anything".
"I know what he is thinking, and he doesn't want to go with you" snapped back Akeno, trying her best to control her anger at this skank who thought she was good enough for Subaru. The shorter girl frowned.
"And how do you know, he still hasn't said anything, are you, his girlfriend?" That question made Akeno flinch if only slightly.
"None of your business"
"So he isn't, then why are you so defensive" Subaru knew that if things continued to escalate the two girls would end fighting, so he just took Akeno's hand.
"Come on Akeno, this isn't worth it" he said as he began to walk away.
"Wait, you still haven't given me your answer" cried the girl, Subaru stopped and turned to her.
"I'm flattered, I really am, but you are not my type" and with that he turned away from her, trying to ignore the sobs coming from the now crying girl. Unknown to him Akeno turned back to see the girl, now glaring at the pair with barely restrained anger, her gaze was met back by Akeno glaring daggers back at her, daring her to do something about her friend's refusal.
Both walked back to Akeno's home with not many more problems, her home was an old Shinto shrine that over the years was turned into an actual house since there was no longer any priests to take care of it, Shuri renouncing her vows once Akeno turned twelve, with a new shrine made two streets down. There was someone else to greet them there, a man with black hair, a muscular build and a hair a shade lighter than Akeno's, he smiled as he saw the pair walk up the stairs.
"Ah, good afternoon, Kazuma-san" greeted the man.
"Good afternoon, Himejima-sama" replied back Kazuma.
"Don't talk like you met me for the first time, we go way back at this point".
"If you say so, Futaro-san".
"Of course, I do, now come inside and stop kidnapping my daughter" at that comment Subaru narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Kidnapping? Should I tell you how this girl breaks into my house and eats my food as if it belonged to her?" with that comment he got his cheek pinched by the girl.
The three of the went inside the house, took off their shoes and headed for the living room, inside it was a woman like Akeno, but when Akeno had a youthful and playful face, this woman, while retaining a large part of her youth and having the same black hair as her daughter, did reveal with her eyes and some wrinkles that she has lived far longer than both boy and girl. The woman looked at her daughter and husband and smiled, she stood up when she saw Subaru behind Akeno and her smile widened.
"Ara, Kazuma-kun, it's so good to see you!" she greeted, Subaru bended over.
"Good afternoon, Himejima-sama" the woman laughed.
"Come on, Kazuma-kun, you know me far too well to call me like that, call me like you do with Futaro" Subaru then stood up and smiled.
"Fine, Shuri-san, but then I must ask you to refer me to as Subaru instead of my family name, that goes for you too Futaro-san" Shuri giggled.
"Okay, Subaru-san, now, I assume Akeno brought you here right, well you are just in for tea, come over to the table, I will bring the tea shortly".
Shortly after that the four were sitting on the tatami mats sipping on tea, he and Akeno talked to Shuri about their first day at school among other things while Shuri and Futaro listened, but the conversation soon changed when Subaru asked.
"So, Akeno, you never told me what you were doing in summer" at that Akeno lost her smiled and her parents turned to her, before she could respond Futaru answered.
"Oh, she had a special event from her club and told us she couldn't use her phone, so she gave it to us".
Subaru was suspicious, he knew Akeno was in a weird club that as far as he knew were essentially ghostbusters, but still 'what type of event requires you to not use the phone? Were they tracking down a demon that impersonated a computer virus or something?' but he said nothing because he trusted Akeno and her parents.
"Well, you could have said that from the start" he replied, Akeno simply smiled, in the inside however she was relieved and thankful for her father's timely intervention, her father simply nodded lightly.
"Well, apart from starting school I apparently caught the attention of a girl" to that Akeno cleared her throat loudly, Shuri noticed and grinned, eager to tease her daughter.
"Ooh, tell me Subaru-kun, was she pretty?" she asked, Akeno turned to her mother with a frown.
"She was, but I turned her down, Akeno acted like she was about to bite her head off" replied Subaru in an offhanded manner as if he was used to it, Futaru giggled while Akeno turned red.
"I can only imagine, Akeno telling the girl to leave while also wanting to strangle her" Akeno was about to talk but Subaru cut her out.
"That's basically what happened, yes, she snapped before I could give my answer, I mean, the girl asked me if I wanted to go on a date and Akeno responded for me "No he doesn't"" for the whole time Subaru never raised his tone or laughed, as if it wasn't something too strange, making Futaro actually laugh and Shuri to giggle at her daughter's antics, fed up with the teasing of both her parents and her friend's bluntness she pinched and twisted on Subaru's skin on his arm, making him slap her hand reflexively.
"It's not nice to badmouth your friend Subaru-kun" she said with a low tone.
"Was it something I said?" he asked, his bluntness only worsened the situation.
"Just, be quiet please" pleaded Akeno, seeing her parents laughing at her and him, Subaru stayed quiet and just sipped his tea.
Subaru left the house well into the evening, Akeno insisted on walking with him to his home, the walk was supposed to take a significant amount of time less than the earlier one since they would take a shortcut passing through a garden with a fountain on it. While walking Akeno looked at Subaru and sighed.
"You need to learn a bit of tact, Subaru-kun, you don't just babble stuff like that without sugar-coating it" Subaru looked at her with a deadpan.
"You're asking me to lie?"
"No! I'm only asking to soften it, for example, you don't mention that I responded for you or that I was practically insulting her in my head".
"Were you insulting her in your head?" asked Subaru.
"Yes, I mean no! I mean…" stuttered the girl, another sigh came out from her "just, try to be a bit more prudent with what you say, there are details people are much better off not knowing" she finally said, Subaru thought about the answer for a few seconds.
"I can try at the very least, but I'm not lying".
"Thank you" she replied, they reached the small park when the sun was just covered by the horizon and the orange glow mixed with the rapidly darkening sky, but then Akeno felt a sense of unease wash over her, nobody was in the park, not even people were near the site, it was understandable that the place was almost deserted but this place was a midpoint between the centre of the city and everything else, nobody being here not even cars was rather disturbing, and at that moment she understood what was going on, just as a spike of light impaled Subaru, Akeno barely had a moment to understand what happened before she reflexively dodged another projectile to her, she looked behind her and saw the same girl that asked Subaru out, except this time long, black and feathery wings sprouted from her back and instead of a dress she wore a black uniform of some kind.
"Hello again, skank, this is both payback to you for being so annoying and rude towards your superior and your boyfriend for being a threat and turning me down, me! Can you believe that?"
Akeno did not listen at that point, her vision turned red while her mind repeated only one thought.
"She has murdered Subaru! She has murdered Subaru" The woman barely had any time to react, a lightning bolt arced towards her and singed her sides, leaving a nasty wound that looked like a whiplash and a burn wound, the one responsible was the girl infront of her, frowning deeply with tears in her eyes and her arm stretched towards her and wings on her back, one leathery like a bat, the other made of feathers like the woman's, she grit her teeth.
"Not only you liked a human, but you are also a traitor…" she was cut off by Akeno swooping to her, a lightning bolt on her hands.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up and die you murderer!" screamed the rage and grief-stricken girl.