Chapter 12: Orientation II
Author's note: I'd be changing the description of both Kyuushou's hair and Sakuya's hair slightly from a pink gradient to a pink-red/ Poppy red underlight.
The Houraiji hair color and description is pretty hard to describe as the color and the style of the hair often changes depending on the artist that drew them. From Mihoyo/ Hoyoverse official art the design isn't consistent either; sometimes it is bright pink, other times it is some variation of a bright shade of red or even magenta.
Current era, Era 4x, Post 4th Descender Era. Year 2015.
"I thought prestigious schools would have less students than normal but this is quite crowded." Kiana comments while standing on the tip of her toe trying to see the edge of the crowd. New students have gathered here in the courtyard as the teachers prepare the auditorium.
It is quite funny seeing the twins struggling trying to keep themselves up on their toes as they try to see over everyone's heads. The two of them standing normally are just barely above the average height of the crowd. "I-It is." Leon tried his best to keep his laughter in.
"A-Ahem anyway are you two alright?" He asked as he felt a little cramped standing in this crowd. He already stood out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of humans due to how tall he is compared to the average male student who were just a bit shorter than him though there are a few exceptions.
"I'm fine."
"It is awkward in here. At least tell everyone to move a couple centimeters further apart dammit." Sirin grumbles. "How long do we even have to wait? I'd rather just play some games with Bronya if we're forced to wait any longer."
"Just be patient a little bit longer." Though pretty much almost everyone is also getting impatient as Sirin is. Any longer and someone would definitely snap as they have been waiting there for almost 2 hours since 6 am.
'If they were going to delay the orientation they should've informed us first at least.' It is starting to disappoint Leon on how badly managed this orientation really is. Though this isn't the worst event he had ever attended.
"The seniors have it better. Saku-nee must've had a better time on her first day at school than we do." Kiana groaned, she should've read some novels earlier if she knew that she had to wait this long before the main event even started.
Just as she's about to read something to pass time the teachers made the announcement that they could all now go into the auditorium. "Seriously!? Now of all time? The canteen better have some delicious food after we're done with this stupid orientation." Sirin couldn't agree more with her sister, even if there isn't any good food, at least they still have Leon's home cooked lunch waiting for them.
As they all took their seats in the academy's rather large auditorium. All of them are rather surprised that it could even fit all of them inside of this one building alone. At the very least the place is cozier than the courtyard outside and they could actually sit on a chair this time around rather than being forced to stand up.
"On the behalf of all the teachers and the entire Senba academy. I welcome you all newcomers to the Senba academy." The principal started his speech at the podium in front of the students.
"From this very moment you are all going to attend Nagazora's most prestigious academy as a student. It is not an easy feat so with that I congratulate you all for your hard work and talents as they have finally paid off." The principal left out the fact that you also could get into the academy IF you have enough money in your pocket.
"To provide quality service to our students. The academy has a strong team of teachers and other academic members. There are also numerous facilities that students can use, such as the track field, baseball field, Soccer and an indoor swimming pool as well as computer and science labs and also a great library that is filled with many kinds of academic literature and other kinds of literature as well."
The library got Kiana intrigued, while Leon is curious on what the science and other labs have to offer. Sirin didn't seem all that interested in any of the faculties, Sure the computer lab might sound nice but in their house she already has a very powerful PC that she could use.
"Our vision is to be a national class academy that promotes an excellent environment for students to grow and learn. We hope that all of our students can achieve great things and contribute much to society after learning at our academy."
Sirin yawns out of boredom, they all speak the same thing but never really do exactly what they say. So why bother listening to the same thing over and over again? They usually leave the important stuff at the end of the speech or in the middle somewhere and it'll probably take a while to get there.
"Kiana. Wake me up when it's over." The girl whispered quietly to her sister as she closed her eyes to have a quick nap.
"Fine but if you snore I'm going to wake you up regardless." Kiana is also feeling as bored as Sirin. She isn't interested in the flowery words that the principal is spouting and decided to continue to read on her phone the novel she picked up yesterday.
Leon listened through the whole speech while also scanning the crowd for one particular girl that Sakuya was looking for. She is ultimately the reason why they came here in the first place.
Unfortunately that dark hair that Sakuya has doesn't stand out in the crowd as much as Leon would've expected it to be. Would be nice if she had snow white hair like the Kaslana or deep red hair like him.
'Did you see her Homura?'
"I can only see through your eyes Leon so no." His stigmata replied. He learned that his will of stigmata is rather unique as he could still talk to Homura through his mind alone unlike what Sakuya had to go through.
'Is this what Sakuya would feel when she talks to her MANTIS Ego?' It is a weird feeling to actually get a response by just simply thinking of a conversation. Quite convenient that he doesn't have to open his mouth to converse with his will of stigmata or else people would start to think that he is crazy for talking to himself.
"Possibly. I couldn't confirm or deny that statement."
After an hour long speech, the principal finally ended his speech by once again congratulating everyone for being admitted into the academy.
"Finally." Leon muttered quietly. It seems he isn't the only one who's relieved that the speech finally ended. Now for the most important part of the orientation. Class distribution.
"Kiana, wake Sirin up."
"Okay~." The Kaslana nudges her sister's shoulder. She nudges her some more and decided to shake her sister when she saw that she isn't responding.
"A-Alright I'm up, I'm up." Sirin yawns as the girl opens her eyes from the quick nap session she had.
The boy waited and waited for his name to be mentioned by the teacher. That wait is painstakingly long as the teacher calls out every student's name in a given class.
"Kaslana Kiana. Kaslana Sirin." Leon looked over at the twins celebrating as they did a high five. Seems like those two would be in the same class.
"Houraiji Kyuushou." Hearing that name made Leon perked up. As he once again observed the crowd for any slight bits of celebration but unfortunately he saw none that he was hoping for.
"And lastly. Milkova Leon. All of you would be in class 1-D."
'All of us are in the same class?' The coincidence is just way too much. Usually you wouldn't put someone from the same family name in the same class so to see all three of them being put in the same class made Leon rather suspicious.
'Can Raiden Ryoma even do something like this?' If that man did indeed pull the strings behind their class placement then it is a blessing for him. At least Leon wouldn't have to sit in his class all awkwardly not knowing anyone.
"Haha lucky~ We're all in the same class again!" Kiana grins. After years of being together it seems like that isn't going to change anytime soon.
"Yeah." Leon let out a sigh of relief. That was a painfully tense experience, who knew school can make you feel as tense as if you were out in a battlefield.
Still it would have been nice if they could go to their class right away without waiting for everyone to be called out first. Unfortunately that didn't happen and they were forced to wait for another hour before they could finally sit in the comfort of their classroom.
Everyone in class all look like they're half dead from standing in a spot that is compact with people for about 3 hours straight. If it wasn't for their Valkyrie and Knight training Leon Sirin and Kiana would've been in the same boat as the rest of their class. But this only made their legs sore.
"Sorry Leon, guess you have to sit in front of us or do you want to sit in between the two of us when there is a chance?" Kiana said with a smug look on her face. The twins took their pair of seats first before Leon could have any chance to do anything about it. As such Leon is now sitting in front of the two of them.
"I'm fine with this arrangement. Why do you want me to sit in between you two so badly? I could keep watch over the two of you from here."
"Aww you're no fun to tease at least act like you're a bit embarrassed. You're sitting between 2 girls you know." The Kaslana pouts. Sirin has always been the easier one to tease than him. Even when he grew older Kiana always wondered why he isn't like any normal boy in their puberty.
"I don't see how that's supposed to make me embarrassed Kiana. I've known you for years."
"Leon you didn't hit your head when we were younger did you? or are you not interested in girls?" If he says the latter somehow Kiana could feel herself being slightly disappointed in that answer.
"My head is perfectly fine Kiana." Leon sighs. "I am still attracted to girls like any other boys do. But living with 3 beauties for all these years made me see girls like you like they're something normal though I can still appreciate your beauty if I look at you can I?" Leon looks back at her with a smile on his own. A smile that could capture the hearts of many maiden in a single glance.
'H-He's dangerous.' Kiana thought to herself though even she couldn't escape from his charm as the girl stared into that yellow eyes of his. She couldn't believe that she was the one feeling embarrassed now even though she was the one that tried to tease him first. 'This is unfair.'
"Now look who's embarrassed hm? Your face is all red now. Anyway, were you trying to flirt with me or something?" He asked as his charming smile fades into a serious look.
"Umm w-well." Cold sweat started pouring down from her skin as she felt like she's being judged by someone. One wrong reply and Kiana would feel the consequences.
'I was just trying to tease him a bit. Why did I get into this situation!' Inside the girl was feeling anxious. If she says yes, Sirin would definitely kill her as soon as they were alone. If she says no then Leon would think that she's being weird.
"Ta-take it as whatever you like, hehe." Kiana awkwardly looks over to her left trying her best to avoid eye contact with her sister who's glaring at her quite intently.
"…Oookay?" Leon raised one of his eyebrows. 'What's with her? If she is flirting with me why not say it outright instead of being vague about it? I'm not being too dense am i?' Least the boy can be slightly self conscious about himself.
He did notice that the twins have acted a bit differently around him as they grew older. Sakuya still treats him the same way but that's probably because of who she is or maybe she's just playing her role a bit too seriously.
Those two sometimes became more awkward around him. Sirin sometimes avoids looking him in the eyes altogether and Kiana seems to always stick near him whenever she has a chance, usually an arm's length away from each other.
'I believe Kiana started teasing Sirin at first but why do I feel like she isn't that much different from her sister? Is this just a clone thing? Girls are hard to understand just by watching them.' Leon blankly stared at the white board in front of him and sometimes on the empty seat on his right.
'Why's no one sitting next to me? Am I that scary or unapproachable?' The seat beside him has been empty for quite a while. No one seems to want to sit beside him as they all have their own partners to form a desk pair with.
When he stared at his female classmates they either became rather happy or embarrassed.
Unintentionally, It caused an air of jealousy among the male students, at least the ones that cared more about their social status in the hierarchy. It is no surprise For a prestigious school like Senba for such things to occur.
"Guess someone is just late." Seeing that anywhere he didn't see a girl with dark hair and pink-red underlights in his class means that he's probably right about her being late.
It didn't take long for the last student of their class to finally enter the classroom. She was accompanied by their homeroom teacher.
"Next time ask a teacher first when you're not familiar with the academy okay?"
"Hehe, Sorry sensei." The dark haired girl walks to the only empty seat in class. She looked surprised to see both the kaslana twins sitting behind her and squinted her eyes at Leon. Her face screams as if she knew him from somewhere but didn't know if he is the same person with the one she knew or not.
"Umm. Hello?" Leon felt a bit weirded out as the girl beside him kept scanning his face.
"Have we met before?"
"No? My name is Leon Milkova by the way." Leon tilts his head.
"Oh my name is Houraiji Kyuushou, nice to meet you. Hmm I feel like I've seen your face somewhere. Tsk probably in one of my sealed off memory disks." Kyuushou taps her head with her right hand as she couldn't get rid of her feeling of uneasiness from seeing a familiar face in front of her.
"Haha no matter this savior will remember who they're someday!"
"Uhh riiiight…. And Why is your right arm wrapped in a bandage?"
"Oh this?" The girl immediately grabs her own arm. "A dark power is sealed underneath these bandages. If I undo them a calamity would befall this land and curse the world we live in as we know it." With confidence She also covered her right eye with the bandaged arm.
"Huh?" With his mouth agape. Leon sat there wondering if there was something wrong with the girl in front of him. Dark power? Curse? They all sounded like your typical 8th grader syndrome or a Chuunibyou.
"An accident happened okay?" Kyuushou rubbed her bandaged arm. "But don't worry your Savior is a-okay!"
That makes more sense as Leon made an "oh" face. He didn't pried further as he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable by making her remember that trauma again.
"So Durandal and Kiana are both here huh." The Houraiji is at it again. This time she was glancing over to both Kiana and Sirin. Both of them shared the same confused look.
"Wait. Wait. I'm Kiana Kaslana and this is my twin sister Sirin. Why do you call me Durandal?" Kiana points at herself. Maybe it is just her Chuuni behavior acting up. If that's the case she could just play along.
"You still remember your origin? Guessed you're not like Bianka huh. You don't exactly act like the Kiana I'm used to seeing. She would be all defensive if I brought this up."
"Ugh. You lost me there." Kiana shakes her head, unable to comprehend what the Houraiji is saying. "Do I look like a Bianka you knew?"
"Well technically you're her. In due time you'll understand what I'm saying. The savior's words aren't wrong after all."
"I don't think we would be understanding anything you say anytime soon." Though weirdly enough Sirin stayed quiet in all of this. By this point the girl would've usually lashed out to shut any kind of nonsense Kyuushou is speaking and yet she's just there listening to everything she says.
Kiana also felt a little weird when she saw the girl that is sitting right next to Leon. She feels as if the two of them were long time best friends even though this is the first time Kiana ever met this person.
Kyuushou sighs. The girl went into deep thought on how she could explain it better. She doesn't need to worry about school interrupting them as they have all the free time on this day.
"Alright fine I'll make it simple. You know what a stigmata is right? Red tattoo that appears on the skin of your body."
"How did you-." Kyuushou lifts her index finger up to silence Kiana for the time being.
"Shh. That isn't important. Anyway I have a stigmata on my back and my stigmata stores my memories of our past, well more specifically mine. In this era it is the first time we've met but it is fate that always intertwines the savior's path with yours." Kyuushou confidently huffed.
The twins nod their heads. The two still didn't understand much of what Kyuushou said but the stigmata storing memories is a reasonable enough excuse for them to accept. Though Kiana still doesn't accept that explanation on why Kyuushou called her Bianka, her older sister never did that even though her stigmata have a similar property.
"By the way Kyuushou do you have an older sister by any chance? Or maybe a cousin." Leon asked. He couldn't help but to notice that Sakuya is pretty much identical with her.
Their hair color is the same, similar facial features, and skin color. There are differences such as Sakuya being taller one and has a more feminine body than Kyuushou, their eye colors are also different and thankfully their voices are different as well. As Leon already had a hard time differentiating Sirin and Kiana from their voices alone.
Though somehow Sakuya could differentiate the two twins easily even with only auditory cues. It is something that Leon couldn't understand how she manages to develop such a skill.
"A sister? No I don't have one, I'm the only kid in my family and I did have a cousin but she isn't here anymore. Mama said auntie's family didn't make it when an incident happened in their hometown." A tinge of sadness and disappointment can be heard in her voice. Kyuushou always wanted to meet them but unfortunately she was born too late to meet them in person.
The Houraiji could only see them in photos. Her cousin would've technically been 10 years older than her if she were alive but all she could ever see is her cousin's photos as a baby.
"The news said otherwise but it is probably a Honkai attack." Kyuushou lowered her voice so that no one other than them could hear what they were talking about. "It was a small town in the outskirts of Lithuania, it wouldn't make any sense if suddenly a rebellion attacked that place. Why did you ask?"
"I see my condolences as for the reason why I brought that up, it's because we know someone that has similar features with you." Leon felt a bit guilty for bringing that question up. But he had to, This was for Sakuya after all. With this she might even reconcile with her real family members even if they're not her parents or siblings, they're still blood related.
"Where!?" The Houraiji slammed her hands on the table in the heat of the moment. She got a little too excited after hearing that information. Though her action made the whole class glance over to her direction. "Sorry. Sorry, that was my bad. Got a bit too excited hehe." Kyuushou tried to defuse the situation though it became very awkward on her end instead.
But after hearing that she couldn't help but to get excited. She knows it is impossible for someone else to have a similar look as her since her family always have a distinctive feature that made them recognizable.
Her family's dark colored hair with pink-red underlights. Their facial features also always looked similar at least for the girls, for the boys their eye color would always be the same shade pink-red like their hair. It is a genetic trait that has always been found within her family.
"Ca-calm down. She is our senior. I'll text her to meet up during free time."
"You'll do that!?" Kyuushou looked unbelievably excited right now. The prospect of her meeting a cousin that she never knew she had excites her.
"Yes but please note that she's an amnesiac so she might not remember her family name. But she is always curious about it." Leon stated as he didn't want to make Sakuya too uncomfortable with an over-excited Kyuushou asking her various questions.
"Kay, Kay I'll behave. I thought my cousin was always Shinki but I guess this era is a bit different." Kyuushou muttered the last part quietly. "A new cousin huh." Kyuushou smiled. Her heart is thumping from excitement. Who knew she would meet her cousin in this place.
'Seems like fate works in mysterious ways' Unbeknownst to her at the time it was her cousin that searched for her and found her instead of fate bringing those two together.
"What's her name?" Kyuushou asked after a while as her curiosity grew.
"She doesn't remember her real name but she has a name that she gave herself, It is Sakuya. Her full name is Sakuya Kaslana, The Kaslana surname is added because she was adopted into the Kaslana family by their father." Leon points his thumb to the Kaslana twins sitting behind them.
"I see." Kyuushou thought hard for a moment. The name Sakuya with that kind of description on how she looks is giving her a weird sense of déjà vu.
'Why's that name so familiar?' Surely she had heard of that name from somewhere before. The name Sakuya feels eerily familiar to her but the Houraiji couldn't wrap her head on why it is the case.
'Guess I have to meet her in person. I wonder how similar we actually look.' Kyuushou began to imagine what her new cousin would be like as she spent the rest of her time getting to know her desk partner more as well as the Kaslana twins who were sitting behind her.
Somewhere in the back of Senba.
"Is this the quiet place that you wanted to show me?" Sakuya followed her new found acquaintances around to a quiet place in the back of Senba highschool. It is surrounded by trees and bushes so it would be hard for people to spot them from outside of the "garden" itself.
The place is more akin to a big park rather than a garden but the entrance of this place is guarded by a garden of flowers which became a popular hotspot among all of the students compared to the middle part of the park where they big trees grew, a small artificial forest could be a right way to describe the environment.
Students often hangout near the edges of the small forest as it offers a nice shady area while still having a nice view of the beautiful flower beds and bushes.
"Mhm. Nice and quiet isn't it?" The newly acquainted trio of Mei, Yeonsheo and Sakuya sat down as they each took out their own lunch boxes.
"Well at least you weren't lying to me. Though this is way more than I expected. I never knew that a princess like you would find this place either."
Mei giggles at her comment. "I may be popular but even I need a quiet place to recharge my energy just like you. I'm not an extrovert that could withstand a long period of socializing with others."
"…" For Sakuya this experience is still quite unbelievable. Someone with a high social status like Mei helped her without expecting anything in return.
The Heiress actions have all been genuine as she didn't feel any ill intent at all. Sakuya would still be fine if the heiress was a little selfish and maybe even ask some favors from her but no all this time she has done nothing but being genuinely helpful towards her.
'She must've noticed how uncomfortable I was in class too.' Truth be told, Sakuya was going to run away to a quiet place even without Mei's offer. But this is a nice change, she was expecting Mei or Yeonsheo to guide her to the library where it is generally a quiet area but guessed she forgot that you couldn't eat inside of the library.
"This is the place where I met Yeonsheo chan for the first time."
"Mei, it was ME who stumbled across you when I was exploring this place."
"Wellll I guess that's more accurate. But this place still became the place where we hung out since we were in different classes and you're always busy after school."
"Ehehe that's true but work is work. I need to pay for my apartment rent. I don't want to burden my parents."
"You could've asked for my help."
"Mei I would've looked like a beggar if I were to ask for your help and yet you still sneakily try to give me money."
"We-well I just wanted to help a friend in need that's all."
"Thanks for that but I really don't need them. It's not that mandatory for me to work to pay my own rent but this is my own choice on the matter." The two talk whilst eating their food in between each reply.
Sakuya felt like she's a third wheel in this conversation as she only knew the two of them recently. 'Those two must've trusted me enough to hold this kind of conversation huh.'
Whether she liked it or not. Senba does have an unspoken social hierarchy amongst the students. Those who have a powerful background like Mei generally sit very high on the hierarchy.
Students like her and Yeonsheo can be considered in the middle of the hierarchy as their beautiful looks help cement them that spot though Yeonsheo's spot is most likely higher than Sakuya's since Yeonsheo has her own influence already as the literature club president.
Those who are not fortunate enough with their appearance or their background generally sits on the bottom, usually referred to as the peasants of the hierarchy.
If only they all knew the truth about her. She would probably be ranked lower than a peasant. But that's fine, a human isn't something that-.
"Sakuya san?" Mei's voice eventually managed to break Sakuya out of her thoughts. 'Ah I must've zoned out.' She thought to herself.
"Sorry. It's a habit of mine." She can be an airhead despite looking like a serious girl.
"I see. Ohhh, by the way how does it feel to live with a sibling? I never had one so I'm always curious."
Sakuya thought for a while before she gave them her answer. "Kiana and Sirin can be rather rowdy at times. Kiana is the loud one while Sirin is more of the hot headed one despite being the quieter out of the two."
"Do you dislike them then?"
"No, of course not. They're quite observant and oftentimes they do try to lift some burdens of responsibility off of my shoulder. They're also pretty simple creatures, reward them with a good dessert or meal and you'll have a happier Kaslana. It could also make them complain less."
The heiress let out a cute giggle as her imagination went wild on how cute those things would be. "You have good little sisters." Now Mei felt a little bit jealous of Sakuya. She wonders what her life would be like if she does have a sister or brother for that matter.
"They're better than just good little sisters. They probably don't know how grateful I am to have them but sometimes I do wonder if I am doing a good job in playing my role as a responsible older sister."
"If they are willing to ease your burdens then you probably are. Sometimes I think the same. If I am a good daughter to Otou san."
"Probably you are. Probably you are." Sakuya didn't notice it at that time but the girl is calmer than ever before. She would usually have something going on inside her head.
A friend is something that she had lost before. No matter who they are, they were always taken away from her in the end.
It has been years since she felt she could open up a little bit of herself to a stranger without worry. Her sisters and Leon are different, she saw them mostly as her family members not as friends.
Although they're a very precious thing to her. In truth she hasn't opened up to them and only has shown them the surface of who she really is.
Maybe having a good friend like these two would be beneficial for her in the long run. That is if the 3 of them could accept each other's secrets that they have buried deep.
"Sakuya san can I ask you a question? Sorry if this seems uncomfortable to you." Yeonsheo finally decided to ask her something to satiate her ever growing curiosity about the new student.
"Ask away."
"You're adopted weren't you? Or did you just dye your hair and wear contact lenses?"
"Yes I am adopted. This is my natural hair color and eyes." Sakuya answered instantly. The question certainly didn't bother her but it definitely bothered the Heiress.
"Yeonsheo chan that was pretty rude of you to ask." The Heiress sternly glances over to the black haired girl.
"I-I know that's why I asked nicely first, Mei."
"Mei san I'm fine there's no need to scold her. She's just curious, most people would when they saw me and my sisters together. At least she didn't call me a bastard's child or someone born out of a wedlock."
"Sakuya san, that was way out of line and rude."
"But it is perfectly reasonable. People can assume many things."
"I know but that's-" The Heiress sighs. Mei knows that Sakuya is right but there's no way she could accept that. "Ne-nevermind." It'll be a bigger issue if she keeps being stubborn about that. So Mei decided to drop the issue entirely since the person in question didn't seem to mind them at all.
"Are you sure this is the place Leon san? We're getting too deep into the park." Leon and Kyuushou have been walking for a while now. The vegetation surrounding this place makes it hard for anyone to find another person unless they know the place like the back of their hand.
Kiana and Sirin weren't interested enough to go with them. Sirin just isn't in the mood to go out and explore while Kiana wants to know her class and the others on her grades better first.
"Just keep following me. I have her location on my GPS alright? And see there she is." Leon pointed out as he spotted Sakuya's signature dark hair from a distance.
"Wh-What? Where? Hey! Slow down!" Kyuushou had a hard time catching up to Leon as the boy began to walk faster and faster. Unintentionally leaving the Houraiji behind as he ran through the thick foliage to get to where Sakuya is located.
"Sakuya! A-ah pardon the intrusion senpai." Leon bowed his head a little. He's unsure if he should bow down a little bit more or bowing your head down around 45 degrees is enough.
"It's fine." Mei replied with a reassuring smile. While Yeonsheo seems to recognize him, the same can be said for Leon as he focuses his gaze on said black haired girl.
"You're Alice's son?"
"Are you Homura?" The two said that at the exact same time.
"Ah Sorry."
"My apologies." It quickly became awkward between them as they realized that they must've had the wrong person.
"I-It's okay. How about I go first?" His senpai asked for permission and Leon agreed to it by nodding his head up and down.
"So are you Miss Alice's son?"
"I…I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know who she is." Leon glances away. He's really not that great at lying when he's confused. Even Yeonsheo could tell that he is hiding something.
But is he really the S rank son? Even though he is a genetically modified clone of her or maybe her son. It is a difficult question to answer that even Natalia nor Siegfried could answer.
Otto and his twisted experiments have really made him question his entire existence once before. But now he firmly believes himself as a human just like everybody else even if he was made with the intentions to be developed as a Herrscher killer.
"I see. Alright then to the next question, who's Homura?"
"She's umm." Well he couldn't say that she's his will of stigmata now could he? Why does Homura look similar to Yeonsheo anyway? The only explanation he could think of is that she also has her reincarnations in the past.
Though now that, Leon had the time to think about it. How did she know Alice Redfield anyway? The former S rank didn't have any public images unlike the current one Elysia Schariac. Leon is starting to get suspicious that Yeonsheo might be working for Schicksal.
But if she does have bad intentions Sakuya would've noticed and done something and yet she didn't? From what Leon observed the black haired girl only seems curious for now. He should put extra caution about what he says around her just in case she is a spy from Schicksal.
"Guess you can call her a childhood friend of mine who looked like you. We've separated so when I saw you I immediately thought of her. My apologies."
"Interesting. Alright let me introduce myself. My name is Shin Yeonsheo. You can call me Yeonsheo if you wish." The black haired girl smiles. It is a weird feeling for Leon to see the usually stoic Homura, to smile with warmth radiating from her beautiful face.
"Can I call you Yeonsheo sunbae?"
"You knew Korean?" The black haired girl was taken aback.
"A bit. I read some manhwa before." Leon awkwardly scratches his hair. "My name is Leon milkova by the way. You can call me Leon." He wanted to hide his surname but that would be weird and inappropriate. He couldn't lie about that either since anyone could see his name in the School's student records if they're diligent enough.
If she is sent by Schicksal there's nothing wrong with getting on her good side. At least that's what Leon is hoping for.
"Mhm." The name Milkova sounded familiar to the Valkyrie too though she had forgotten when and where she heard of that name before. "You probably know who she is but this is my friend Raiden Mei." Yeonsheo introduced the Heiress who is sitting beside her.
"Nice to meet you." The Heiress greeted him as Leon simply nodded his head.
"Nice meeting you too, Raiden sama."
"Just Mei is fine."
"Mei sama then?"
"That's… Alright I suppose." The Heiress sighs. 'At least he's being respectful.' Mei felt a little disappointed but there's not much that she could do about that. "Milkova san, who's that behind you?"
Leon turned around to see Kyuushou's hair covered with some leaves and branches. Thankfully she didn't trip on the tree roots as she made her way over here.
"Hey Leon! If you ask me to follow you, try and slow down dammit! You left me back there! Tsk can't believe you almost got lost in this park!"
"I see my apologies." Leon bowed his head.
"Apology accepted. The savior shall give you some mercy this time." Kyuushou crossed her arms and huffed.
Sakuya found herself staring at the girl in question. Her eyes were wide open filled to the brim with disbelief. 'She's real? She's actually real.' After all that searching online and with the help of Natalia. She finally did it, she finally met the person she had been looking for.
"Houraiji Kyuushou." Sakuya calls the girl's name
"Yep that's me-…" Just as Sakuya was surprised, the Houraiji in front of her was surprised as well, even more so than her. She is stunned to see her in front of her, living and breathing and younger? If this is Shinki she couldn't have been this young.
But Kyuushou had to know. "Sh-Shinki!?
Is that you?" And so the Houraiji decided to ask first.
Sakuya raised her eyebrow. "Shinki?" It isn't the first time she heard that name. Last time she heard of that name was when she dreamt about Elysia in another era.
"Ah right." Kyuushou put her palm over her face. The Houraiji was too shocked to see her that she forgot about one little detail that Leon had mentioned previously.
"We, Have we met before?" Sakuya asked, trying to confirm her own lingering feeling of familiarity. She always got that feeling whenever she saw her will of stigma but her will of stigma didn't know it either. She theorizes that it has to do with something about her past self in the previous era.
"N-no but I-I didn't expect that I'd meet my cousin here. A-Ah excuse me some dirt is getting into my eyes hehe." Kyuushou turned around for a while trying to hide the tears that were flowing down her face. A truck load of emotions hit the Houraiji pretty hard. She felt Joy, Confused, And the same time she felt sorry for Sakuya.
"Houraiji san?" Mei starts getting worried so is everyone present except for Sakuya who seems to be in deep thoughts.
"I'm fine Mei senpai. I'm okay, just got some dust on my eyes." Kyuushou tried her best to wipe away her tears though she isn't fooling anyone.
"You two are both cousins?" Mei looked over to her new friend.
"Honestly I don't know. If she says it is then it's probably correct. I don't remember my name. Sakuya is the name I came up with on my own." Sakuya shrugs it off.
"I'm very sorry to hear that."
"No it's okay I already made peace with it myself but seeing her and hearing my old name didn't seem to awaken any memories yet. You can call me whatever you like though I prefer If you call me Sakuya for now at least until I recover my memories."
"Okay. Umm I hope you remember who you were then Sakuya san." Mei smiles reassuringly. "I can help you with reconciling with your aunt and uncle."
"Thanks for the offer but I think it is better if Kyuushou san is the one that introduces me to them, Mei san. It would be much more helpful if maybe you could find some documents about my parents or who I was before."
"I'll see what I can do. Otou san might be too busy and I don't want to take too much of his time but I could try asking him."
"That would be more than enough. I know we just met but you're doing way too much for me Mei."
"It's nothing really. I'm just happy that I could be helpful."
Sakuya starts to wonder if the Heiress of ME corp is that much of a pushover or if she's way too nice for her own good. Either way that is pretty bad for the Heiress as people could very much exploit her kind nature.
"Hwaa~ Shinki Nee san you're alive!" The crying girl immediately hugs her cousin, surprising even Sakuya herself. Looks like Kyuushou just didn't care anymore as she was too overjoyed to finally see her cousin in the flesh for once in her life.
"You don't need to call me Nee san… And please don't let your tears wet my clothes." Sakuya sighs while patting her cousin's back to calm her down. Leon is a bit surprised to see this gentler side of hers. Sakuya tends to be rather cold as she usually shows her affection in other ways.
["- You'll always be my cousin, no matter what you say you are! Monster, Herrscher? They're all crap I tell you! The sa- No just me a regular human. You can call me whatever you like but I, Houraiji Kyuushou vow that I will and will always be your cousin no matter what you become. Let's go back home, - to our family. You're not alone anymore. To me you're always… A Kindred soul. A Human just like me."]
Sakuya suddenly remembered those words as Kyuushou calmed down all on her own. She didn't know where it came from but that felt reassuring.
"You're not alone. A Human. Family." Those were the things she wished she had heard just a little bit earlier but at least it isn't too late. No matter how far they were or how alone they felt. Somehow Sakuya knew that she and her cousin would always look for each other.
A light that would light up her dark world. It is envious that she always had the better upbringing but if it was the other way around. She isn't sure if she could be the savior that Kyuushou always preached about. She's not as selfless as her nor does she have the drive to save the world. But if her family is in trouble she wouldn't hesitate to save them, even if the world was saved in the process.
Previous era, Era number 1x, Post Elysia era. Year 20XX.
In a desolate and destroyed city lies 2 girls all battered from a fight. Corpses of both humans and Honkai beasts are littered everywhere.
The savior looks down at her opponent as she held the Herrscher's source of Honkai energy, The Herrscher core, in her hand. She was victorious but it came at a great cost as their prolonged fight destroyed many homes and took on many innocent lives in the process.
The dark haired girl with a poppy-red underlight stared at her lookalike who's laying there with wounds all over her body. Ranging from deep cuts to broken bones and dislocated limbs, she has barely any energy left to heal herself from her wound.
The so-called monster lay defenselessly in front of her. The monster that took so many lives away. The same monster that destroyed many cities in her wake. The same monster that created a tragedy that is so destructive that it can be considered a mini judgement day.
A tragedy that would be known as the "Blankness calamity". Kyuushou knows that she is a dangerous Herrscher but the girl couldn't make herself do what must be done, that is killing her own cousin to end this war.
"...Yo-You've won. A-are you really that so-soft hearted that you couldn't kill me?" The Herrscher spoke. Her voice is raspy even if Kyuushou didn't do anything she would've most definitely die on her own from blood loss or an overexposure to the environment.
"Maybe." Kyuushou took a deep breath and looked up into the stars above, putting the core away into one of her pockets.
"I always say that I am the savior because I thought that I was special. But being special doesn't give you any extra privileges at all." Kyuushou chuckled at her own fate. If being the savior meant that she had to kill her own family member she'd rather not take up that role at all.
"While I lived my "normal" life you were busy surviving on your own. You forgot your past because of the trauma that happened in your childhood. Unfortunately you've met the wrong people and fate forced you to endure such cruel torture for years. Even when you're free this world keeps taking every last bit of that hope you kept in your heart. All that's left is all of that pent up despair, anger and hatred towards the world that you began to curse its existence." The savior looks back down at her cousin.
With great sadness in her eyes, she took pity on the Herrscher. There was neither any hatred, anger nor malicious intent behind that frown of hers.
So even if she had to convince the world. Even if the world hated her for this one decision. Kyuushou wouldn't mind as the Houraiji extended her arm towards the Herrscher. It was an offer that the Herrscher has seen before and yet this felt different.
"Wh-what are you doing? You're the hero. Th-the savior of hu-humanity. Why are you… Extending your h-hand to som- to a monster like me?" The Herrscher doesn't understand why this one human wants to even save a monster like her. What she has done is irreversible and she didn't regret that. If she couldn't have a good life why should she restrain herself? It felt refreshing to finally let everything go.
But these humans would never agree. They love this rotten world. They will continue to live their lives in ignorance of the bigger picture. Because of the weak and ignorant majority she had to suffer.
Someone like Kyuushou should know how painful it is to be ostracized. They both lived completely different lives but in some way the two could relate to each other.
As the savior of the light she should be the executioner that ends the tyrant of darkness. But Kyuushou chose the hard path, she chose to give the Herrscher mercy. A decision that might end up taking more lives in the future.
"Shinki. You'll always be my cousin, no matter what you say you are! Monster, Herrscher? They're all crap I tell you! The sa- No just me a regular human. You can call me whatever you like but I, Houraiji Kyuushou vow that I will and will always be your cousin no matter what you become. Let's go back home, Shinki, to our family. You're not alone anymore. To me you're always… A Kindred soul. A Human just like me." Kyuushou kneeled down in front of the Herrscher with her hand still extended towards her.
"Family…" The Herrscher bit her lip. Instead of tears flowing down from her eyes, blood flowed down in its stead as the Herrscher had dried up all of her tears.
"Sirin onee chan was my family! And yet, And yet you… Humans took her away just because she was a Herrscher." Anger and hatred still persists in her emerald green eyes. Despite being at death's door she continues to curse on those that have wronged her.
"Why? She wasn't dangerous. She didn't kill anyone when she became one and yet you vermins still hunted her down! I just wanted to know who I was and she helped me, Sheltered me, stayed with me when I needed it the most and taught me how beautiful the world is despite knowing many of its flaws. Is that a monster to you humans!? Why does she need to be killed?" The Herrscher tried to move again but to no avail due to her critical injuries.
Kyuushou couldn't answer any of that. It was true that this calamity could be prevented if they all just gave these human Herrschers the right treatment. But fear clouded their minds and their greed for power led to this outcome.
It is true that there were no casualties during the initial Herrscher of the Void outbreak. Sirin too was a blind person when she was just a human. Being a Herrscher granted her vision for the first time and till the day she died she never once have been ungrateful for it. She always said that it is a blessing to be able to see the beautiful world her mother had described when she still a human. Truthfully she only wanted to make the place a happier place for everyone but unfortunately that dream never came into fruition as she died by the hands of the very same people she tried to cheer up.
"I know where her body is being kept. I'll let you do the honor of burying her." The savior used the power of the Herrscher of death to stop all of Shinki's bleeding as she carried her on her back.
"I can't bring back the dead but we can always give them the burial they deserved. Shinki, he's still alive out there somewhere while I know that you want to kill him but right now Humanity still needs his brilliant mind to take down the finality that we have to inevitably face. It might not be as satisfying to you but why not sacrifice him when our judgement day does eventually come."
"...Fine. But if anyone stands in my way I will not hesitate to kill them…."
"Alright I'll make sure your path is clear then. I would be lying if I didn't say I hate his methods of achieving victory over the Honkai. So maybe this is the best option for everyone."
After a long walk with nothing but silence between the two, Shinki finally breaks the ice and curiously asks something that has been bugging her for a while. "….Why do you want to save these weak creatures anyway? I get that you're the same species but they never did anything to you. In the end you probably won't get a simple thank you from them while you had already sacrificed everything for them."
Kyuushou merely smiled. She had made her resolve long before and her friends made that flame in her heart burn brighter than even the stars above.
"Because I wish to fight for those that are beautiful in this world. To give this world the salvation it deserves, that's why I will keep fighting." Her smile turned into a big grin. It made Shinki remember how her older sister used to tell her a story about how her mother always said that this world is very beautiful and colorful when she was still a blind normal human.
She doesn't understand that still but she understood that it is because of her sister that this world became beautiful again. "You humans are honestly very weird." Shinki can only sigh as Kyuushou carries her back to her home.
"But… Thanks Kyuushou. Thanks for being one of the few that extended their hand to me. Sorry that I tried to kill you before. Truthfully I don't want to die either, at least without accomplishing anything."
"Don't be such a downer." Kyuushou chuckles. "We'll get through this. From now on your cousin will always be your partner Shinki! I'll make sure that you won't regret it!" A big cheerful grin was carved on her face.
"Promise me that you won't leave me alone."
"I promise. I've said it before haven't i?"
"I guess you did."
Despite all of her injuries, Kyuushou kept moving onwards. Onward towards an uncertain future. Even with that in mind her smile never fades. A youthful smile towards a better future in ages to come.
Phew this took quite a while to make.
Honestly seeing the graduation trip animation short made me tear up a bit. Kiana really have come a long way and it is been 5 journey since us captains experience her entire story. Graduation trip in my opinion a perfect ending animation short for Kiana. Hoyoverse did an excellent job at making a satisfying ending for Honkai impact.
I'm coping for Kyuushou or at least someone that looks like her to appear in part 2 or HSR.
And thank you for reading this chapter.