Tales of wind and lightning chapter 4
The harsh wind howled in his ears while the snowstorm obscured his vision leaving him unable to see his had in front of his face. His golden hair was matted from the sheer cold and rain, while his clothes were ripped and torn from his journey. The small knapsack he was given was only large enough to fit a 250ml bottle of water and 2 granola bars which were finished a week ago, almost 2 weeks into the journey. His exposed skin was pale while the tips of his finger and lips were beginning to turn blue, as he was unable to spend any more energy to use his quirk to raise his body temperature. Due to the artic wolves that had also migrated down to Russia during the dark wars he was unable to sleep or rest as they would hunt and try to use him as food. As he walked blood dripped on the ground leaving a small trail behind him which was a result of stepping on a deer trap hidden in the snow which left large puncture wounds in his thigh.
Even as the thought of death went through him, he persevered knowing that if he did die the punishment would be worse for him. Even if he did manage to escape the snowstorm, he knew he would be unable to hide as they had already used tracking quirks on him to ensure they could see where he is at all times and also so they could use a warp quirk to get where he was if his vitals do stop. He cringed in pain at the reminder of what would happen if he does die, due to the fact they would torture him for training until his body dies from the pain before healing him just enough to bring him back to an alive state. After all it takes approximately 5 minutes of zero oxygen for the brain to start being damaged even a tiny bit of oxygen can lengthen that time before damage. Also due to how much training he was given even at such a young age of 5 he was capable of using his nervous systems to shut down parts of his body that are unnecessary for his survival until they are needed without much damage.
As he walked through the snow he decided to catalogue what remains of his body parts that are currently functioning just for something to take the pain away; there was the brain obviously, his lungs, heart and optical receptors as well as the ear (which is all done by vibrations so they don't take up any energy and it would take more energy to disable) and finally there was his nervous systems to allow him to move everything apart from that was turned off apart from his cardiovascular system which was greatly reduced to both preserve energy and prevent blood loss.
The monotone journey of putting one foot in front of the other began to take a huge toll on his body and he knew that if he wasn't given the food and water his parents 'so graciously' gave him he would have died by now. As he began to pant harder now due to the wind picking up and the cold growing larger, he knew that if he didn't find shelter soon he would die and he couldn't allow that to happen, not after what they threatened to do to his sister if he failed this mission. That reminder is what allowed him to push on further than what would have been possible if they had only threatened him, after all he still remembers how she protected him from being tortured instead taking that torture for him. She took the electric and lightning shocks for hours trying not to let any sound out to allow him to be safe, and he knew how painful it was, he was given the same dosages of those shocks as well and he screamed from the pain but it was mitigated due to the electric resistance he was born with, she didn't have that she was more resistant to lack of oxygen which is what allowed her to stay wake even when she was unable to draw breath from the torture. Even after all that torture she received she never gave up and continued to love him as a brother he still remembers how she gave him his name Denki Kaminari (taken from one of the storybooks they were given for succeeding an assassination mission; Denkarima ) and how he gave her, her name Trisha Kaminari named after the hero's family in another. He couldn't let her sacrifice be in vain, it doesn't matter that she was older than him by 5 years he would protect her due to how she protected hi-.
Before the thought could finish Kaminari collapsed to the ground it could have been the blood loss, or it could have been the cold after all -70*C is deadly to those with good quality clothing and he was wearing tatters, or it could even be his body shutting down due to not having enough energy all he knew was that it was cold and he was hungry as well as sad. Sad that he couldn't do this one thing for his sister and sad that he was still going to be punished and his sister would be forced into this as well. However just before his vision faded, he saw a pair of blue eyes shine out of the snowstorm and headed towards him, as the shape came closer, he recognised it as a small white fox, it was small so probably still a young fox and not an adult and it came up to him sniffing him. Kaminari knew that if it decided it would eat him and he wouldn't have the strength to stop it. He didn't even have the strength to get up and kill it for food, showing just how weak his body was. However, to his amazement the fox walked over to him and curled up beside his face protecting him from the harsh cold as well as resting its tail on his ear to keep it warm. As Kaminari smiled at the gesture, he raised his arm up with the last strength he had to pet the little fox on the head before he lost consciousness. As he lost consciousness, he was able to hear the bark coming from the fox to attract attention.
"so how are you feeling after that meeting Kyoi." Sana asked with an inquisitive tone.
"I honestly don't know everything is rather, how do we say it jumbled up I guess. My thoughts just won't calm down and trying to understand things is giving me a headache."
"that is honestly normal after the revelations you have had today. Now you have the choice of either deciding to talk this session or just getting comfortable. It's something I offer to every patient of mine that steps into this room." Sana said with a slight smile.
"Wait, aren't you supposed to be picking my brain on my feelings and everything. That's what the orphanage and school therapists did." Kyoi questioned with a confused tone, the type of tone where they don't understand why they are given options on what to do as others always pretend to know better.
"Of course not." Sana replied with a hint of frustration. "If a patient is not comfortable to talk in a safe space, how would you expect them to talk about what's really bothering them until they break. This is why I try to make all my patients comfortable before questioning them on anything." As Kyoi sat there taking this information in Sana continued. "It's also why this cavern is one of my therapy rooms can you guess why."
Kyoi then looked around taking in everything in much more detail than before. They were in a cavern with a very high ceilings covered in stalactites with water dripping down into the water below. The water well it is more apt to call it a lake covered almost the entirety of the cavern except for the decently sized circle of smooth stone they were sitting on that also had some indents in the ground, which is probably for when people want to lie down rather that sit up. There is also another smaller island in the middle of the lake with an entire bookcase filled with notebooks and a door built into the side of it. On the far side of the lake, she could also see some stalagmites rising from the ground, but they were pretty small. The door was also nearby them made out of a solid red cherry wood with intricate designs of Chinese dragons running up and down it. Even though there was no light source visible in the cavern it was still lit from a glow emanating from the ceiling acting like small rays of sunlight.
"Is it because, it's so calm and soothing. After all the only noise apart from us is the water dripping into the lake from the stalactites."
"That is actually part of it. Its also because this cavern is entirely my domain." At Kyoi's confusion he elaborated. "Every single one of us founders created a type of room catered to us calling it a domain. Its entirely inaccessible to anyone outside of those we give permission, and we are capable of making multiple for necessary occasions. For example as you know by now my powers all relate to water in some way, its why I feel calmer when surrounded by water and I can manipulate the mind subconsciously to relax by putting them in an environment simulated to relax them."
As Kyoi looked on in wonder she suddenly got a curious expression on her face. "But if this is your domain why did you invite me here. Aren't I intruding on your personal safe area."
All Sana could do was chuckle at the child in front of him. "Of course not young Kyoi as I said before I have many rooms like this domain however, my specific one also doubles as a dangerous training room when needed which is why its not accessible to others. You are very perceptive of others feelings even at such a young age, it's a good skill to have."
"thank you sir" Kyoi said with a small childish blush. Although her face instantly distorted to a type of thirst. "Do you think you can tell me about some of the other domains today instead."
As Sana looked on in fondness he accepted. "Of course Norrowarretta has a laboratory where she can do vital experiments, although we may be close to getting her to spend more time outside the domain. Takaiyama has a garden, Kinben has what I believe to be a garage of vehicles or a space themed domain depends on his mood. Whereas Atamagai has a frozen wasteland with sprawling mountains and lakes of ice also Chisai has a ….."
As the therapy continued and Kyoi was filled with more childlike wonder Sana began to feel happiness surge in his heart but he pushed it away so as not to cause another mistake like what happened last time he lost control.
At the same time this was happening Kaminari was beginning to pack up his apartment. He stated in the bathroom as it was the easiest and had the least amount of stuff, only needing to back a toothbrush and a few hairpins. After that he moved to the bedroom and packed up the few meagre belongings he decided to keep namely his notebooks for research and a laptop which all went into a laptop bag. He then went to the bedside cabinet and removed a few pieces of paper specifically old photos. He then went to the living room and after checking that there was nothing there he cared about bringing with him he went to the front door and removed the welcome mat to reveal 2 small notches in the tile underneath. He then inserted some of the hairpins into the slot to be able to trigger a small built in latch causing the tile to swing up revealing the small space underneath in which a green pen sat. After taking this and stashing it into the waistband of his clothes he replaced the tile and welcome mat before bringing all of his belongings to the front door. After this was done and still having a while before he would be brought to his new apartment he got to work cleaning the apartment to make it look as if no one else has been living in it and leaving it just as it was prior to him moving in.
Almost an hour later he heard a knock at the front door before the door opened to reveal Jojuna standing there.
"You need a hand to move the rest, Kaminari." He asked with a smile seeing how Kaminari isn't rushing around to pack like the rest of his friends used to do when they had to move the few times.
"No, I have everything with me here we can go now." Kaminari responded with a deadpan expression.
This single sentence caused a layer of shock to appear on Jojuna's face before he masked it. "Are you sure it's only been a bit longer than an hour that you've been here are you sure you have everything you need."
"I am sure we can go now. I know you are busy and have other things to do."
"Oh well if you're sure we can go now then."
At this they both left the apartment and began to travel down the stone corridor, even with no obvious source of lightning the corridor was lit up brightly. After about 10 minutes of walking through different hallways loud sounds of blades clashing against each other could be heard in the distance.
Spotting Kaminari's curious expression Jojuna explained. "We're currently passing through one of the training areas to get to where you will be staying, we won't pass directly through but there will be a corridor intersecting to there." At Kaminari's nod they passed by the corridor allowing Kaminari to see a bunch of people clashing blades in a small ring while caltrops littered the ground restricting movement. However, just a second later he passed the corridor and was unable to see anything anymore.
Almost another 5 minutes later They finally reached another corridor this time filled with a bunch of different doorways with different names on them but most of them were unreadable due to the letters shifting around.
"We put privacy seals on these so people can't just break in and try to discover other people's identity and therefore they can stay anonymous. It's a good thing when we have witness protection clients to house." After saying this they stopped before a room with no name plaque. "This apartment used to belong to one of our vigilantes before they became one, so now they are currently in another apartment with their vigilante team so it's all yours and the person you will be rooming with. Enjoy your stay."
At this Jojuna started to walk off and tossed the keys behind him to Kaminari but stopped as he heard Kaminari asking him to wait. "Thank you, Jojuna-San," Kaminari said with his head bowed.
"Jojuna just smiled while facing away from Kaminari. "No need to thank me kid and keep your chin up. Oh, by the way Norrowarretta San would like to speak with you tomorrow at 10 in the infirmary I assume you know your way there." At the confirmation he continued. "Well see you around kid."
Kaminari just watched as Jojuna walked around the corner disappearing from sight before shaking his head and deciding to open the apartment. The front door opened into a small hallway with a shoe rack on the left-hand side and a cloak room on the right it had a few hangers to hang up any jackets that need to be hanged as well as having a boiler at the back. The corridor continues to a spacious living room with an ornate cherry wood coffee table surrounded by plush red armchairs and a TV cabinet with a TV on the top as well as a DVD player and a number of games consoles in the cabinet. There was also a DVD rack next to it with a numerous amount of films and games for entertainment. On the left-hand side of the room there was a dining table with 4 chairs surrounding it with a nice glass centrepiece.
Also, on the left wall just near the table there was a hatch that was currently closed leading to the next room. Going down the corridor next to the hatch the first door on the right led to the kitchen and on it's right wall the hatch there led to the living room. The kitchen contained a stove top, oven, fridge and freezer combo, washing machine and tumble dryer as well as a sink to do all the washing up. There were also a bunch of everyday appliances such as the kettle, toaster, microwave and rice cooker. However, the rice cooker wasn't noticed because it was left on top of the fridge where kid Kaminari was unable to see.
Leaving the kitchen, the door right opposite the kitchen led to a pantry already stocked. There was also another set of doors further down one leading to a toilet and sink while the opposite one had a toilet and both a shower and bath. At the end of the corridor there were three doors one on either side of the hallway and one at the end of the corridor. The room on the left was locked but the room on the right led to a spacious bedroom with a bed desk, bedside cabinet and bookshelves along the wall, there was also a cabinet to store clothes. The final door led to a rather small room with tatami mats on the ground and a small intricately carved table with a small cabinet nearby full of boxes of incense sticks. Not knowing what this room is for Kaminari left and went to put his small meagre possessions away.
Paradox woke up with a slight headache the light from the sun burnt their eyes and left spots in their vision the pounding headache they had was a reminder as to why they don't drink alcohol as much as they used to. Paradox groaned as they stood up cracking their back to ease the pain and proceeded to walk out the room, they were in reminiscing of the events that happened next week. After walking for a bit they decided that maybe it would be time to pay a visit to the soul king's palace after all the only one capable of stopping them from coming in and out would be Ichibei-dono or their prisoners Aizen and Yhwach. After gathering a small backpack from how knows where and filling it with a bunch of sweet treats they began the long trek to the royal palace. However a long trek which would take approximately 2 weeks only took around 5 minutes due to their powers.
Arriving at the base of the Royal palace they took the time to look at how efficient squad 0 was at repairing the entirety of it making it seem as if there was no battle ever taking placed here. The only way you could tell was the reiatsu that spread over the palace.
Deciding to speed up so as not to suffer another greeting by Tenjiro-Dono they used their powers to arrive directly in the former soul king's chamber seeing 2 figures suspended there. The first was obvious after Yhwach was killed his body was used as the linchpin to fix the imbalance of souls caused by the Quincy's total annihilation of hollows compared to the other races purification processes. Whereas the second was the most surprising to others. His brown hair was matted to his face and neck while his eyes had deep bags underneath, his black prison outfit wrapped him from his toes to his neck even covering his fingers yet the marble chair he sat on did not have the restraints that were in his previous prison. All of these restraints were seen as a formality due to the fact that the true restraint was the seals placed all over the room preventing him from harming anyone until he is let out. To many others they would be horrified that this man was staying in the royal palace, but to those in the know it is a testament to his strength and ambition as well as his crimes that led to him being given exactly what he wanted just not how he wanted.
"Well good morning Aizen-Dono" Paradox said with a smile. "Well good evening, Paradox." Aizen replied back with an exhausted tone before being interrupted by a slight coughing fit. "What did you come to see little old me for." He asked wearily.
"Is it so bad to visit a friend Aizen-dono." They asked with an inquisitive tone but before Aizen could continue they held up their rucksack "I brought snacks." At this and the bright smile on Paradox's face Aizen just let out a sigh and motioned them to sit.
Paradox sat down and started sorting out the snacks to share, while Aizen had the most sweet and unhealthy stuff Paradox did take the relatively healthy stuff namely the fruits, although they did leave a candy apple in the bag for them to eat later. "So how have you been lately, Aizen-dono." At Aizen's slight glare at consistently using honorifics even when he ordered them to stop, they just giggled causing Aizen to sigh once more before eating a cookie. "It's going the same as always. Managing the cycle of rebirth is exhausting as well as ensuring that there is a perfect balance between the living realm, Hueco Mundo and the soul society, is exhausting, not to mention ensuring that the gates of hell do not remain in the world of the living when a terrible soul must go there to face punishment. Then they have to be reintegrated after their time is up."
"Jeez that must be a lot of work, especially since you keep getting in meetings with Ichibei-Dono to ensure the peace treaty between the remaining Quincy's, Shinigami and hollows are kept." At the affirmative they just remained in silent for a while. "You know when I saw the soul king the first time, I was so disgusted with a being that had such power and wouldn't do anything to help any of it's realms, but now that I'm sat at this chair forced to manage it even with Yhwach's reiatsu easing the strain I'm surprised he didn't die long before I saw him. "I've only been here a few thousand years yet it's so exhausting."
After this more silence followed yet it wasn't awkward, it was more like the silence that follows when people trust each other and feel comfortable without having to talk.
"You remember the hogyoku that you made right Aizen." At this Aizen looked stunned as he didn't like remembering what he did to create that artifact. "Yes I do remember why." At this Paradox had a grim smile on their face. "While you sacrificed the nail, Urahara sacrificed the tooth, the tooth has made it's move now."
At this Aizen cringed slightly "ah so someone with the power of the soul kings tooth will be walking around the realm of the living correct." At this affirmative he continued. "Guess I have to start changing the cycle then."
"yeah at least you get the knowledge in advance and can prepare for it after all it's better to be prepared than to be reactive."
"You are absolutely terrible." Aizen huffed out.
"Yep" they replied popping the P "But from what I heard you were a lot worse beforehand and only by being forced to take the role the Soul king used to have you mellowed out." After saying this they remained in relative silence the only sound being the chewing of snacks and the rustling of the wrappers and foil they were throwing away. Although a few minutes later Paradox's head snapped up looking off into the distance at the wall and it was almost like they were looking through it, however Aizen knew that it was actually their powers of being able to see through time that has caused this. After a few seconds a large smile grew on their face and paradox burst out laughing falling to the ground due to their laughter. "Oh my gosh Jojuna-San really did that, oh I can't wait to see what happens next. I have to see this in real time it's gonna happen in about 10 minutes."
At this Paradox stood up and gathered all the wrappers and waste shoving it in their backup and proceeded to run all over the place to gather everything that was outside their bag. "Ill see you around Aizen." They yelled with a smile causing him to say his farewells with a smile on his face before they disappeared.
Hundreds of metres deep underground in a dark chamber only illuminated by the slight light that periodically flashed from the ceiling was a man. He was a broad man with dark curly hair and a small smattering of freckles on his cheeks. However, his clothes hung off of him almost as if the person wearing them has shrunk, his normally healthy skin was marred with blood and his body was much thinner than what it used to be. His arms and legs were covered in sores and he appeared to be in a veritable amount of pain. However the worst part was that he was suspended a foot in the air with his arms attached by chains to the ceiling above him pulling his arms in separate directions and his legs as well were tied the same pulling him in effectively four different directions. His head was bowed and under his chin peeked a band of black metal. The wheezing sound of his breaths was all that echoed throughout the chamber, allowing him to focus on the mistakes he had made over his life. All of a sudden a loud bang echoed through the chamber signalling the door behind the man being slammed open and in walked a large group of people. The first was a contingent of guards both including regular guards while some were actual heroes, the next was a group of doctors but the malicious glint in their eyes betrayed the fact that they weren't there to heal but to dissect and study, while the last person was a woman in a very posh suit with high heels clacking against the ground as she walked in front of him.
"Well well well, how are you my dear servant." She said in a sweet voice, however that was offset by the sharp scathing honeyed tone she said it in."
"Madame president." The man acknowledged in between coughing fits.
"You are being really uncooperative you know, if you would just give us the locations of your family and relinquish your quirk to us we will let you go." The president said with a maniac glint in her eyes.
"Over my dead body." The man spat out "If I let you get your way you would just kill my family and then me so it's not happening."
At this the president let out a sigh. "what a shame, oh well we will find your family soon, the paranoia quirks we managed to hit them with years ago should get them out in the open and outside of the protection you made."
"Good luck trying that no matter what you try I've already planned ahead so just piss off."
At this the president just scoffed and left the room signalling the doctors to do what they want. A few hours later after the last doctor had left the man started to use his regeneration quirks he got over the years to slowly heal himself as the effectiveness was dampened by the collar put around his neck. When it was finished he let out a sigh and stared at the ceiling hoping to see the outside. "Inko, Izuku, please stay safe."
After Kyoi had finished her therapy session she was taken to her old room by Kuromaku and he helped her to pack her belongings. After that he led her down a bunch of corridors pointing out the academy she would be going to starting from next week after her paperwork was sorted causing Kyoi to huff and whine which made Sana chuckle. After passing through a training room Kuromaku gave Kyoi a key to the apartment and told her to go in. As kuromaku left Kyoi steeled her nerves in preparation for meeting her new roommate rather than letting doubt creep up on her she decided to open the door and go in, coming face to face with the one person she didn't want to see.
"What are you doing here." She yelled at Kaminari seeing him in the living room. But at his response of him living there they both arrived on the same page.
"Well shit." They uttered in sync, knowing that they both got played like a fool and they now have to suffer living with a roommate that hates their guts for the foreseeable future.
So I so very sorry that i forgot to update this the thing is I was updating it on the archive and forgot to do it here so here have the last few chapters today and for future refernce please check the archive under the same username and title for this story and whether it is up to date compared to here.
