The Burned Bridge 1 (Post-Yashahime/Inuyasha, OC!MC)
AN: Thought of this along the lines of 'The Bonds we Break', but it's not a copy of that plot- no, but the feels will be tough to swallow within this context.
2020.
"A-Aniki, where's- where's Oneesan? You- You promised that-"
A smile, a vicious grin shadowed over the twisted reality of things.
"Hm~? Your sister? She is not coming back~!"
"W-Wha-What?! But- but you promised-"
"I lied!" A wheeze, then a sigh. "She is not coming back. She is stuck there- she can't be back to you, your sister is gone, Mei-tan- and I am the one that caused it!"
The sight of a young girl crying over her world's destruction, the cause of it a nice person she thought was indeed that, but proved to be the worst villain possible.
"I-I hate you!"
But he smiled nonetheless, denying her happiness in returning pain to pain.
That was supposed to be the last time they met, back in that cold and dark night before a Tree that took people back and forth between the 'Present' and the 'Past'.
Yet they would be proved wrong. Once again, fate grimly welcomed an unwarranted reunion between a big brother and a little sister bound by all but blood.
2028, Japan was blossoming under the care of the giant industrial conglomerates that had been born from the ashes of the Post-WW2 Zaibatsu's obliteration.
By a public and official perspective, the greatest growing Keiretsu that had already dethroned most of the others within the country was the Oziaki Consortium led by the young businessman Oziaki Hayato. A dazzling man with a magnetic smile, a polite mannerism and the capacity to sway old and new competitors to bow and submit to his whims.
Japan's own boy darling, and yet also a most wanted man by those high-class heiresses that sought to create political dynasties out of upcoming 'lords of the new aristocracy'. But to the man that was Oziaki Hayato, a man of charitable mindset and immense wisdom...
None mattered because he didn't need to have a heir to his empire. Not when he had long made sure to remove his 'expiration date'.
A man that was immortal and nigh-invincible didn't need to create a family. He was a complete man in that regard as reproduction was to 'prolong the existence of one's family'.
And I am... finite within my own infinity.
The idea was absurd, many would call it crazy and a sign of madness. But the truth is that this was a truth that had long came to be from that peculiar adventure unfolding eight long years ago. An adventure to a mythical past, an adventure that saw me trying to still 'nag' at my rival but that ultimately led me to discover one of the many realities of this world and, by all means, take what was owed to me by Time itself.
I was back from a time where Yokai were a thing to one where none of those survived. Mankind had erased that aspect of nature, rewarding itself with a flat and monotone life that lacked of magic and dangers. And I, through my actions, became more than a mere human.
Was I a Yokai? No, but I was strong enough to stand between those distinctions. And as such I... was also blessed with the means to abuse my power to dominate the planet through the 'legal way'.
Grinning and smiling, I had conquered Japan, and I was on my way to do the same with China and then the rest of the countries. My Consortium was going to take over the world and no one was going to stop me. Why was I sure of this? Oh well, I was aware that the only obstacle to my plan was currently stuck in the past and has been so for years.
I took my sweet time to build up what I had now and my efforts had paid off. Soon the world was going to be mine and I would have full control over what policy was allowed, what crime was acceptable and what God the lesser ones had to praise!
...
Except today, I suppose. It was a normal day, I was enjoying reading the papers praising my name for opening a new elementary school somewhere at the edges of urban Japan when I was interrupted by my secretary.
"Sir? We have someone that wishes to speak with you, it sounds urgent and... he has one of the last names you saved up as 'Trouble'."
My lips twitched, and I shut the newspaper before setting it on the table. "Who?"
"Higurashi Souta."
...Hm. I was expecting someone younger and... you know, relevant to cause me issues.
"Let him in."
"Sure thing."
Mere moments later, a very familiar man walked through the doors of my office and I greeted him and his furious look. Back when I last saw him, Higurashi Souta was in his mid 30s, and now he was rocking his early 40s with a few gray locks on his hair and a full beard.
"Old man Higurashi, long time no see, and-"
"Where is she!?"
...Hm?
Before he could actually rush at me, I stopped him with a small dose of my killing intent. The man paused, then fell on his knees and he looked closed to have a stroke.
"Now, now, I don't like to be murderous, but I also don't wish to be attacked for some random reasons. What's the purpose of your visit?"
"Y-You- it has to have been you! Mei-chan, what did you do to Mei-chan!?"
The fuck is he talking about?
"Old man Higurashi, I know jack shit of what you are accusing me to. Are you trying to land yourself some lawsuits?"
"M-Mei-chan, she has been kidnapped. Other girls were as well and she was looking into it- she thought it was Yokai but the tree- it still closed so-"
"So you thought I would be the one that, after eight blissful years of me focusing on conquering the world uninterrupted, I would just decided to randomly kidnap someone from my past- what a smart assumption!"
"I-It has to be you. You are the- the only one with the powers from that Era-"
"And no Yokai henchmen to use for such a foolish endeavor. To put it bluntly, I even doubt it was a Yokai, so you should just get the police involved and hope the Yakuza morons behind the move didn't kill your daughter."
He stood put, slowly reaching for his bag and I walked up to him to stop any attempt to kill me but... it wasn't a weapon he pulled out. It was a feather. A blue feather that was inbued with demonic magic.
"W-What about this then? This- this is not normal."
It was not. It was not normal at all. I leaned down and snatched the feather out of his old hand so I could look at it closely. I thought it was a souvenir from the last time the Tree was still active and allowing people to travel through time but...
But this was fresh- the scent of it was weeks-old.
"Where did you find this?"
"W-Where we found Mei-chan's bloodied bag on the walk back to school. You... You don't know of this?"
I blinked, almost annoyed at being caught off-guard over something that I had no awareness of but... that really set some alarm bells. I mean, the Tree was inactive, this much was good- but somehow Yokai from the past found a way to the Future?
That was fishy indeed and, if that was the case, then this sounded like one of those 'adventures' meant to pull out former heroes from their 'retirement' to deal with baddies. And if this was meant to pull the few people I had happily left in the past out to be trouble for me-
Then this was a motherfucking problem for me.
I turned to the still groveling man and I walked up to him, pulling him up and dusting his shoulders. "Old man Higurashi, Souta-san, my pal! This is indeed grave news- I knew jackshit of this so... how about you tell me where and when this happened so I can return your beloved child to you?"
If I moved fast enough, then I had the chance to also avoid some unsavory meetings I preferred to not deal with. But of course, I was up with some 'consequences' I thought unimportant in the 'Past's' Past now coming up to bite my handsome butt...
AN
There will be some flashbacks here and there, but most of the narration will actually be in the 'Present' in regard to how some stuff happened with Hayato. All I will say is... he is not a villain and a thug by personal choice, he was a reluctant fighter that ultimately became the worst of what he could have been between accepting the need to kill to survive and acquiring the grand power that severely dehumanized him.
And, of course, some wounds go beyond merely taking this route and involve that confusing scene at the beginning. One where context was purposely denied and... many bridges had to be burned.
Also... I am sticking to just 'a pairing' for this one too.