Shit. The world was hot
Seeing Yakumo struggle to keep up against that beast of a monster, Jakuun or whatever, made his veins pulse. Yakumo used air barriers to defend herself, but the monster was quick and intelligent, and already knew most of Yakumo's habits. Somehow, it felt as if the god had been studying them for months and they never knew.
Roku was hiding behind a rock, following Orders. Yakumo's eyes had told him right away he needed to hide, because it was too hard to keep up with the god while also trying to cover for Roku's own health as well. And so he did, he took a hiding spot behind some boulders and watched as Yakumo flew around and tried beating the monster, who had no issue deflecting her attacks and giving retaliation on the spot.
The Shuuki that entered the region were closing in on them slowly, and it was a constant reminder that they were running out of time.
The janitor knew any of the blows traded would be enough to kill him immediately, so his internal alert was full on, running, screaming and making his ears ring.
"Fuck off already!" Yakumo was sweating, the heat of the battle getting overwhelmingly hot as the Jaku'un god took hits that could erase a wall without issue.
Grimacing, the wind user stopped her attacks and got to thinking, incredibly frustrated. Using her full powers with Roku and Ginna around was a no-go, it was too dangerous. But at the same time, if she didn't carefully evade or deflect all of this god's attacks, she'd die or face significant damage. This wasn't ideal, but Roku also could not flee or risk being detected and eliminated. It was a lose-lose situation for her, and so all she could do was put up resistance and percist.
She created a barrage of wind needles and shot them straight to the God, but he evaded them with ease. Counter attacking, he shot a miasma of darkness that she dissipated with her wind. This was…dangerous substances, so she always tried to send them as far away as possible.
She could see it in the monster's intention, that sneaky attitude. He was planning something, and she didn't want anything to do with it.
"Focus or die, dear captain~" Jaku'un was…scary looking, and annoying. Full of himself, and ready to kill without question. His attacks seemed well calculated, always aiming towards critical zones for the human body, making it clear he had studied them for a long time.
Her only advantage was speed and the fact that said Monster couldn't fly, and of that she wasn't completely sure of. But he has remained on the ground so far, so she was hoping that to be true.
"Whirlwind!" Announcing, Yakumo took a hold of a bunch of concentrated air and threw it towards the god. This time, it was merely a decoy.
Surprisingly, it felt for it, trying to cover himself from a bunch of air waves, and Yakumo took the chance to dive fast and get his back with an enhanced kick, effectively damaging him for the first time.
"Not enough!" The monster screeched and threw a small dark vial down to the floor. From it, a smoke screen covered the whole place, and Yakumo used her wind to dissipate it.
Unfortunately, those seconds were enough for Jaku'un to disappear momentarily.
Checking her surroundings, she realized a little late that the monster was aiming for Roku, apparently knowing where he was hiding from the beginning.
"Shit! Roku!" She screamed, bolting towards the monster. It had covered a long distance while she retook her surroundings, and it would be impossible to reach in time.
If Roku could take one second away from the monster, she'd get there, somehow.
And if by a miracle, or maybe because the monster underestimated humans and males, when Jaku'un attempted to attack Roku with a raw punch, the janitor rolled away, timing his evade perfectly. The god's momentum made it stumble forward, and it was enough of a time window for Yakumo to reach in and retrieve Roku, taking hold of him and quickly lifting herself up in the air.
"Curse you, rat!" The dark monster immediately recovered and started throwing different vials at the two in the air.
"Uh oh! Hang on tight, Roku-chin! " Yakumo sped up and evaded, moving carefully in between the vials Jaku'un throwed. All of them exploded, leaving a black mass as its trail and a mass that Yakumo knew it needed to be evaded.
She knew going too fast would hurt him, but she'd take her chances if it meant getting Roku away from that toxic material.
"It's…it's the mask" Roku barely managed to talk through the speed of Yakumo's movements, but she heard him quite well regardless, "When you attack, he only covers his mask. Break it, that's his weak point"
Perplexed, Yakumo blinked in surprise before nodding with her head. She hadn't noticed, but now that Roku pointed it out, it was quite telling.
So she flew far and placed Roku at the entrance of the HQ, before intercepting the god running towards them. Its hands and arms grew large and long, and they were trying to attack them from both directions. Yakumo shielded herself with a barricade of air, and it was barely enough to contain the whole impact.
Roku took this as his queue, and immediately jumped inside the facilities. And as soon as he did, he was greeted with a multitude of people. The HQ staff, missing a few important people.
"What's going on!?"
"Where is the Commander?"
"Are we getting attacked!?"
"Janitor! What happened?"
Too many requests, too little time. Seeing their intention in their eyes, Roku spread his arms and legs and motioned them to stop.
"Stop! No one goes out!" He yelled, with his voice filled with authorization.
"What!? We need to find out what's going on-"
"We are getting attacked by one of the eight gods. Please don't leave this place or you'll interfere with Captain Yakumo's fight!" By chance, a loud explosion reached their ears and it made the ground shake from the force, immediately quieting anyone who had arguments. Thinking for a second, he pondered his options and concluded on the best course of action, "Lady Fubuki and some of her envoys arrived earlier to deliver something important. I need someone to find her, only she'd be able to face a monster and not end up being an obstacle for Chief Yakumo" He stated orders and most people remained silent, absolutely stunned. The Janitor was only that, a guy that cleaned facilities. And here he was, giving out directions to people…
Until one spoke out to volunteer.
"I'll go, I can easily find Miss Fubuki" It was their head chef, Dian. Wearing a tank top and casual attire.
"But…chef, you are…" A small woman tried saying something, but the blonde chef lifted her hand and stopped her.
"Blind. Yes, but I can hear, sweetie. Now stay silent, we need to focus" She proceeded to walk towards the hallways and start her search for captain Fubuki, "All of you make sure to follow instructions, we don't want any disaster. Let's show Commander Ren why we are the best fit to be in Headquarters!" Rallying at the crowd, Dian finally took her leave, not wasting a second in her look for Fubuki.
"R-Right then…" Another staff member that Roku recognized from the health department spoke, and it was clear that she was not that happy with the situation, but she'd cooperate, "Can you explain the situation now?" Roku lifted his eyebrow in question before nodding. His sharp eyes kept everyone in check as he took a breath.
In reality, he felt hot and burning. Like the temperature of the room was going off the charts, but since no one else seemed to be facing this problem, he attributed it to his condition.
"Miss Ginna is out on the field, knocked out on the floor" He commented, worried. Many sounds of concern came from the staff, some even scared and without knowing what to do, "But the monster is on another level. Any chance they see you, they will attack or use you as a distraction to take down chief Yakumo" Roku kept walking left and right, forming a plan, "We have a plethora of Shuuki closing in on us, since the monster broke down the barrier and summoned them. We need someone who can sneak in and drag Miss Ginna out…"
"Oh, Linda!" Someone yelled a name, and suddenly one girl came out from the crowd, approaching him, "Linda can help!"
"Who's Linda?" Roku asked only to be surprised by a touch on his shoulder coming from literally nowhere.
"Me, sir" A shy voice brought him out of his surprise, and he realized there was someone even though he couldn't see them.
"Linda can make anything in touch with her skin invisible" The pink haired staff member explained for her.
"N…no, everything I touch turns invisible, I have no decision over it" Roku understood, and nodded her way.
"You're just what we need, thank you for braving it out. Now give me a second" The janitor started working his mind overboard, thinking for the best strategy, "When we open the door, that monster will be made aware of our presence. We'll need someone to distract them so you can head towards Miss Ginna and drag her away. I guess you can make her invisible, but can you make all of her garments invisible?" Asking a specific question, the pink haired health member was impressed. Roku had gone directly towards things that could go wrong with their plan instead of being optimal and naive.
"I…might not be able to hide her completely" After a while, Linda confessed and Roku nodded once again, understanding.
"No problem, you can get to her without getting noticed. That's more than sufficient…" Roku took a deep breath and then sighed, "I…will be distracting that thing so you can get out without problems"
"Y-You!? But…you are a guy. It's too dangerous" The invisible girl tried to argue, but Roku motioned back to the crowd that seemed cowered, scared, or unsure of the actions they were taking. None of them were ready to make the move and save Ginna, and they were running out of time.
"I'll do it, she can't be left alone there while Yakumo and that monster fight, it's too dangerous. I want to clear the battlefield so our chief can go all out on her powers" He was about to start the operation when another yell stopped him in his tracks.
"Hey! Hold on!" From out of seemingly nowhere, a woman with a strange haircut and a mouth mask came through with a huge…flag in hand. Her eyes were fiery and ready for action unlike most people in the staff, "I'm Chief Mira's vice captain, Zaha Megumi! I'm covering for the boss at the moment, and I heard all this commotion" She planted the flag on the concrete and started waving it a bit, "I can help you! You are my chief's disciple, so you are worthy!" From the flag, a red aura started enveloping both the whole flag and then Roku, who in return felt himself boiling up.
He felt…strong. For some reason. And the stronger he felt, the hotter he got. But at the same time, it didn't quite bother him. In fact, from all the adrenaline, he couldn't even register his heat.
"I can power you up, and reinforce your strength and defense up to ten times their normal. This should let you get in and out without dying in the process!" The strict girl yelled with gusto as she waved her flag high up.
"Shit…this is nice, thanks" The girl merely hummed in return, concentrated, and Roku decided that there was no time to waste, "You ready?" He asked, looking at the general direction where the invisible staff member was.
"I want to save Ginna…she's been a great friend of mine this last year" The conviction in her voice was all Roku needed, and nodding only on more time her way, he kicked the door open and bolted out, with the invisible woman right behind him.
The scenario was just as gruesome as when he left, with Shuuki closing in rather quickly to their position, and in the center, small craters and holes in the ground as the fight continued.
Yakumo was sweaty, exhaling hard every time she let a breath out from the extended use of her blessing, and her body had scratches and bruises all over. After some time, the God had decided to stop trying his new formula anti-blessing on her and merely attempted to poison, scratch, and kill using his basic skills. It worked well, because she was barely hanging on.
Not to say the enemy didn't take any damage, because the thing was dripping blood from both of its hands, dark blood. His mask was cracked and with a red coloured face instead of the purple one he arrived with. His suit/attire was destroyed, and they were also showing signs of tiredness, except a lot less than the wind user.
Yakumo could not use her power fully or she'd risk killing Ginna, so she was at a disadvantage. If this kept on being a fight about resistance and stamina, she was bound to lose.
The Shuuki God, just like Roku predicted, reacted to the sound of the door opening right away, turning around to screech and then start marching towards them instead of Yakumo.
Roku took the chance and ran in the opposite direction from where Ginna was found. Her body was covered in scratches and dirt from the explosions nearby, but it was clear that she was breathing and alive.
"Are you back to face me again? You won't be slipping away this time!" The monster, albeit more animal looking than before, still held his perfect mannerisms and vocalization. It was truly bizarre to hear him talk but then move like a beast.
He knew his chance and took none, jumping away at the first opportunity. But this time, the god was ready and he extended his arm, taking hold of Roku's arm so he wouldn't run away.
"Roku! Why!?" Yakumo screamed, back from her seconds of recovery. She was flying fast but she couldn't get there in time with Jaku'un already holding Roku's arm like that.
Fearing the worst, she closed her eyes for only a second.
"Get off me!" Surprisingly, when she opened them again, Roku was free and the monster was left stunned from the surprise.
"What!? My calculations…you are not supposed to be this strong!" The thing screeched again, pounding the floor with its fists and Roku felt shocked. He had just successfully hit a shuuki for the first time.
Still, leaving no space for mistakes, he ran once again, making sure the God stayed on his tail and gain some time for Linda and Ginna.
"Roku-chin! How!?" Flying above him, Yakumo repelled an attack with her wind before talking to Roku.
"Chief! No questions, let's get this monster's attention for now!" He mentioned, evading a rock thrown at him at fast speeds.
Roku felt lighter, as if he could jump long distances or dash like a cheetah. But in his mind, he kept reminding himself that this was momentary, and that he wasn't invincible. If he dared get too cocky, he'd end up dead.
Even if he was ten or fifty times stronger, he couldn't match Yakumo's strength. And less so match up to that Shuuki God's power.
The monster threw himself forward, using his hands as catapults and this time he anticipated Yakumo's wind cut, moving to the side so it missed. Also seeing behind Roku's faint, it finally landed a hit on the Janitor's side, sending him flying.
Crashing over some boulders to the side, Roku felt the air leave his chest for a second. But without panicking, he checked himself and thanked the gods for Mira's vice chief power. Without it he'd already be dead or crippled from the impact alone.
Then he heard the wind roar and it was Yakumo, angry and worried, throwing tornados too strong for comfort, shaking the earth. She was losing control, and with the frustration of not being able to use her powers and end this fight quickly, she was quickly getting blinded by the feeling.
Roku took a look around and found that there was a bit of clothes dragging themselves over to the entrance of the HQ, and realized it was Linda and Ginna, partially invisible. Like Linda said, she wasn't able to turn her completely invisible, and her underwear was the only thing one could see being dragged around.
Jaku'un did not hesitate, immediately lashing another attack at Roku, while Yakumo tried to hold him back with a continuous torrent of strong winds. It helped slow down the God, but it didn't stop him from attacking.
Luckily Roku was ready, and he jumped away once again, his chest burning with adrenaline. Shit, this was extremely deadly, but also…so exhilarating.
"Roku!" Yakumo warned and from behind him, a sneaking hand appeared…a limb, Jaku'un's own hand. He had the power to control his body even when separated from him?...
Quite unnerving.
"Shit!" The hand turned into a fist and Roku barely had time to turn around and cover his chest with both his arms, once again being sent away into the air from the force.
This time Roku heard something crack a little, and he knew he wouldn't be able to take another hit without suffering a lot from it.
Crashing onto some other rocks, Roku found himself looking outside of the field. And he was immediately greeted by the sight of monsters, Shuuki of varying sizes and prowess, all close enough for it to be alarming now.
One of them got closer to Roku, curiously checking out what was going on before trying to attack.
"No!" Yakumo tried to head towards him and help, but the Janitor knew that in doing so, she'd be leaving the Shuuki God alone and jeopardize the operation.
"Chief! The God!" He screamed and Yakumo tried arguing with her eyes, because there was no way she'd leave him there with Shuuki attacking, "Please! Trust me on this!" He pleaded and Yakumo bit her lip in frustration before flying back to attack Jaku'un and get his attention away from the operation.
Satisfied, Roku turned back to the monster and it was quite admittedly small, one of the smallest Shuuki he had seen so far. It was definitely feral, and had little to no brain matter if the way it acted was anything to go by.
The first attack came and Roku tried rolling away, but a sharp pain in his chest stopped him midway. The Shuuki's claw reached him and he barely had time to slip away, only getting nipped on the leg and his hand. The cut was superficial, but it burnt and blood rushed out, making him flinch for a bit.
"Shit" Worse than all that, his head was dizzy from the heat he was experiencing and the pain. Even though Megumi's power up kept him in place and strong, the pain was never dulled out. He could take it, but it was taking its toll.
The Shuuki spared no time to recover and jumped at him with its mouth open, using a certain angle so direct that Roku had no real place to evade or jump back. So bracing himself, he put his arm forward and the Shuuki immediately bit on it, forcing blood out and a wince from Roku. The Shuuki's teeth penetrated his skin and reached the bone with no issue, a sign that he was running low on that power Megumi had on him.
The minor monster squeezed hard and Roku let out a scream before kicking it on its eye, effectively forcing the thing back. Looking at his arm, it was completely useless now.
"Not good" His vision was blurry from the damage he took and looking up, more monsters were gathering around him like ants around a corpse, forcing dread to creep up behind his neck. The plan was…looking behind him, it was a success. It was evident Ginna had been evacuated correctly, but now he found himself at the other end of the bargain.
Another hit from these Shuuki and he'd be done for.
An alert in the back of his mind went off, and Roku realized the situation he placed himself in. Surrounded by Shuuki while Yakumo fought endlessly against one of the eight Gods, he was wounded and left powerless. Apparently there was a limit for how much Megumi's power could keep him from harm and this was it. He still felt the power on him, but it was obviously not going to make him invincible. His vision was lacking and his heart was pounding faster than what was clinically recommended.
Am I gonna die here? He questioned and tensed. This was the worst place to tense and freeze, but the fear trying to creep up made it impossible not to.
Until a strange sensation of warmth coming from his side made itself evident, and Roku quickly evaded an attack before it even reached halfway to his body.
Then another feeling, closer to his belly, and he dragged his body back to hit a wall in order to avoid a slash from a Shuuki monster.
Another sensation of warmth, on top of his head, and he ducked, evading a rock thrown his way.
Something…was strange. These feelings kept guiding him, as if they knew what was happening before he did. Warmth on his feet and he jumped away from a sweeping attack. Warmth on his hand and he used to deflect a slash. His eyes…were hot. Boiling hot, but in return, the monsters in front of him were slow. Like, slow motion slow.
He rushed away from them and they seemed to stay behind for too long. Their reactions were just…too dumb now, and things were brighter. Much more so, if someone asked, he'd say he could probably see in the dark.
"What is happening-"
"Roku, watch out!"
Having been too distracted, he didn't realize he had run away to the middle of the battlefield, and that Jaku'un the beast was heading straight for him. Shit, even when slow motioned, he was fast, way faster than any Shuuki.
Yakumo was behind it, on the floor unable to use much wind any longer, and she was trying to get back the monster's attention once again to no avail. Her eyes screamed for Roku to move or do anything, but his unreactive body wouldn't move one single meter. Even then, for some reason, the janitor wasn't as worried.
Once Jaku'un got too close, and Yakumo started charging an extra powerful attack to stop the attack from impacting Roku, a flash of bright light stunned them both. It came straight from Roku's body.
Once the light died out, the janitor was…
Nowhere to be seen.
Jaku'un was confused and stunned from the brightness, whilst Yakumo tried her best to understand what just happened. It was a cough coming from behind her that kicked her out of her surprise.
Behind her was Roku, on the floor, panting hard. His chest and right leg were scratched harshly, and his right arm, bloodied up and practically broken. He had somehow…teleported to her.
"Teleportation…" Jakuu'un muttered to himself, his body wrecked and tired. He had laid down the cards correctly so he could fight that Wind Captain without her being able to use her full strength, but he had not counted on the assistance of a powerless man and a bunch of surprises. Teleportation from these humans could only come from two people, that weird woman Izumo, who he knew was taking guard up in her own headquarters, or their commander.
Plausible, because he had taken too long and they must've come back knowing he was going to attack the HQ after their battle in the human world.
"You were more clever than I gave you credit for" Somehow, the god's body reformed itself once again, and instead of looking like a wild beast-shuuki, he returned to his normal form, albeit with his attire destroyed and body withered down. Even then, it's as if he didn't care about his body, or as if he felt no pain from it, "Your powers were well within my calculations, Miss Ezo. I have to say, it's fascinating to fight such a powerful individual. And you…" He pointed with a finger towards Roku, who was already passing out on the floor from the pain. Whatever he'd done, it had drained him of all energy, "I will study you, and next time I'll make sure to bring back your corpse for later examination!" He threatened, but Roku could barely even register what he said. Yakumo on the other hand felt rage building up inside her, and realizing that Ginna was no longer around on the ground behind Jaku'un, she placed her hands together and conjured a special power needle.
Invisible to the naked eye, this small needle traveled at speeds faster than sound, making it the one of her deadliest techniques that could be labeled as safe for the environment.
Surprisingly, the needle hit Jaku'un hard on the stomach and did nothing to the monster. He was stunned for a bit, but showed no signs of pain.
"Now…if we are done here, we shall meet together again under even worse circumstances for you all" And with that, Jaku'un sank into the floor and disappeared from sight.
"He…ran away" Yakumo muttered to herself, finally letting out a deep breath she had been holding for some time now, "God…what an annoying fight. Damned God, he-" A cough below her brought Yakumo out of her thoughts and there was Roku, down on the floor panting and with his arm bleeding away.
She needed to take him to the health quarters immediately, but they were practically surrounded by Shuuki. If she didn't take them out, they'd invade the place and hurt everyone. But leaving Roku with such injuries on the floor…he'd probably bleed out or die.
Everyone or Roku-chin…no way she could make that choice.
"Duck!" A familiar voice reached her ears and instinctively Yakumo ducked, covering Roku with her body from whatever was coming their way, and it was a powerful wave of energy.
It hit some of the Shuuki coming from the east and completely obliterated them.
Once she lifted her head, she sighed in relief. It was Captain Fubuki, with some of her clan's members by her side, and her spear in her hand.
"Bring back our colleagues to the HQ, I shall take care of all Shuuki in the area" The giant, imposing woman ordered and her ninja-like clan members bolted towards them, one taking hold of Yakumo while the other two struggled to carry Roku. Around them, explosions and commotion as the captain Fubuki used her abilities to get rid of the Shuuki before even touching the HQ. The wind user was tired and scratched all over, but as she watched Roku being delivered back to the ER room he had gotten out of only a week ago, she felt no desire to sleep.
Somehow, she knew this was only the beginning.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Oh the disgrace.
Oh the absolute, disturbing disgraceful taste in the tip of her tongue.
"And Roku?"
"He risked himself so we could save Miss Ginna from that Shuuki God! He's now in the ER"
After arriving at a scene far more drastic than what she had imagined, Ren Yamashiro felt a shower of shame washing all over her. There was a huge crater in front of her HQ's entrance, there was a plethora of Shuuki corpses around the place, and three of her staff members were injured. All because of her mistake.
Her powers had come back too late, and they still hadn't recovered to their utmost best, she knew and she could feel it in her bones. It was devastating, and it had taken all of her strength to not show her actual emotions as she went through the debris and talked to multiple staff members.
Now she was walking towards the Health Quarters, with her mind running overboard with multiple thoughts and processes. This was…new. The God hadn't been as strong as the other gods, if the reports people gave her were true. But it had outsmarted them and she suspected that they hadn't seen even the beginning of that monster's abilities.
Pushing the doors open, she was greeted with a lot of shushing sounds. She must've been out of her own mind, bursting through the doors of a medical facility.
"Commander!" Quietly, Ginna came rushing to Ren's side. She was bruised up, with a bandage on her head covering most of her pink hair and with her uniform torn in multiple places. According to the report, she'd been knocked out upon the Shuuki God's arrival, and had sustained multiple rocks hits before finally someone retrieved her back to the HQ.
By far, the least injured of the three.
"Ren" On the nearest bed, there was Yakumo Ezo. She had a few deeper cuts and lacerations, plus her face showed signs of blessing exhaustion, so she had probably gone overboard with her wind against the monster. She guessed the god had been clever enough to render Yakumo unable to use her full power, which was a well known weakness for the fifth unit's captain.
Jaku'un had outsmarted them. On the same day when Mira took her leave to visit her unit, and the same moment Fubuki separated herself from the clan, the bastard had attacked both of their most important strongholds.
"Where is—" She raised her voice, frustrated and annoyed and—. Yakumo lifted her finger up to her lips in signs of silence, and on the next bed next to them, was Roku. This time, at least he wasn't connected to life support. His arm was red with vivid blood and his body had deep cuts all over, bites and scratches. There were big and purple bruises on his bare chest and sides, plus holes in his arm from clear Shuuki teeth. The blood had been stopped thanks to emergency treatment from Kaiko, who thanks the skies had remained at the HQ to receive Fubuki and that damned parasite.
At least his face wasn't really…injured. And his head, of course. Luckily enough and probably thanks to his own dexterity, he had once again avoided permanent damage or ultimate death.
Ren had cameras all over the HQ. Once she was done with all this, she'd look at them.
In any case, the janitor was deep asleep, so much that there were snores coming out of his mouth, for once making him seem more humane and less of a stoic rock.
A sniff next to her kicked Ren out of her immersion, and it was Ginna, comically crying at the sight of Roku.
"Linda told me…" Sniff, ew. "The janitor sacrificed himself to save me…oh how—how heroic" The hyperactive girl's eyes shone with a familiar spark of admiration and Ren feared for Roku's privacy from that moment onwards.
"He did?" She questioned and looked towards Yakumo, who merely nodded in return.
"He kept screaming to keep the God's attention off Ginna. Even when surrounded by Shuuki, he told me to stay on the objective…I thought he would die, I was so conflicted" Her eyes showed the concern and small fear still lingering within her, and Ren realized this was a normal human being that had managed to successfully pull off a rescue operation. Against a Shuuki God and no less.
With help, of course. But Ginna was alive as well as everyone else, so things were as good as they could get.
"And I suppose you had to hold back on your wind?" Ren questioned the fifth unit's captain and she munched her cheek before nodding, frustrated.
"I'll…work on that. I can't rely on having open spaces to blast away without care…a lesson earned the hard way, I guess" Yakumo sighed but the commander smiled in return, satisfied.
"You are already extremely powerful. We can take this as a good thing; you honing your skills even more can only be benefiting to us all"
"I couldn't save Roku" She still felt deflated, and it was a feeling she could share, "He…I don't know, he saved himself. It was strange, once he wakes up maybe he can explain it better but I couldn't do anything else than keep the God on me. And even then, Roku received plenty of punches from that bastard…his whole chest is purple and bruised" Unusual for her, Yakumo was sad and down. The only thing that made her happy was the fact that no one died and that they could fend off the God Shuuki in the process.
Still, she'd hardly call this a victory.
"Then grow better, that's the only thing I can tell you. Your power is vast so learn to use it to the utmost best" Ren felt like a hypocrite for saying this, but in her mind these were the right words to say.
Yakumo nodded a few times before finally standing up and stretching.
"I'll go and help fix the entrance. It's also my fault that it ended that way! Please let me know when Roku wakes up!" She asked, bolting away before Ren could say anything else.
Hearing a click from a camera, she sighed at the sight of Ginna taking pictures of the sleeping janitor. She could already hear the story inside the crazy woman's head.
Mato Newsletter issue #76
A janitor or a Hero!? The newest addition to our HQ staff turned into yours truly (Ginna) savior! What a turn of events. Check page 7 for more details!
"Stop taking pictures of my staff while they are recovering" The commander ordered and the secretary immediately stopped, laughing sheepishly.
"I'll ask him if I can use these later, of course…" She wasn't going to, but in this case Ren would obligate her to do so. She had never seen the janitor mad, but Ren could picture his fury if someone posted his pictures on a worldwide recognized magazine like Mato's Newsletter.
"You will ask him, or I will personally stop this project of yours. Understood?" Her tone left no room for argument and Ginna felt a chill run down her spine before she nodded in agreement.
"W-W-Well I have to report some documents to the administration, so!" She used an excuse before finally running away from the Commander, finally leaving her alone with Roku, who by the looks of it had woken up from all the commotion. Ren instantly walked closer and took a seat on a chair nearby Roku's bed.
"...shit"
From the way those words came out of Roku's mouth as the first thing to say after waking up, she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. He was well aware he had been spending a long time in these medical facilities, and she bet Roku wasn't happy about that.
"Ah, commander" His eyes were dull and tired. She nodded his way and he nodded back.
"Saving the day, Roku Denki?" She asked, refined. With her legs crossed and fancy fashion.
"...Sure" He answered back, sighing as he looked around. His arm was…bandaged, and seemingly back to health but not that much. His chest was purple and it hurt to breath, but at least he was still alive, "I feel like sh-trash" He corrected his speech and Ren smiled at his effort to remain formal with her.
"You fought valiantly. I've yet to see the camera footage, but it's clear you took the extra step to make sure Ginna was saved" She reached with a gloved hand and placed it on top of Roku's non-injured one, "As the Commander of the Mato Elite Corporation, I want to personally thank you" She shook his hand before letting him go, "Name your reward and I'll give it to you" She pushed some of her hair to her back and took her seat once again.
Roku looked at her for a while before turning around to stare at the white roof on top of them.
"Putting the rewards aside, how's Miss Ginna?" The janitor asked and Ren hummed in return.
"Exuberant and annoying, as always" She replied wittily, "But completely unharmed, thanks to you"
"And Yakumo?" Taken aback, Ren took some time before realizing he had just mentioned Ezo's name without much care. Had they gotten that close already?
And why was it bothering her so much if they did?
"A little bruised up, peach exhausted, but she's already helping out with the repairs…so she is fine, totally" She managed to brush off the shock and Roku nodded, understanding before turning once again to look at her.
His eyes were scanning her, she knew.
"Ren" He mentioned and her alerts went up, still not used to, never used to have anyone call her by her name, "Are you okay? You seem…a little out of it" He asked and her initial reaction was to…overreact.
Because how could he know what was going through her mind? Because…was he a mind reader, or was she easy to read? How dare he be able to read her?
"Out of it? How would you know if-" And she stopped herself from tarnishing something they had been building up for some time now and clicked her tongue. This wasn't…mature. Or what an adult would do. Or what the Apex of Earth would do, "...N-No, I just…that monster did something, and my powers have been…strange since then. We fought before it left to attack the HQ…bastard, and he left me with…this weird feeling " She couldn't say weaker…she'd never utter that word when referring to herself.
"Strange? Sounds worrisome" He commented and she nodded in return, "Did he…use any type of black powder, by any chance?" Her eyes went wide with surprise and she made a face of interrogation, urging Roku to elaborate, "He was trying to hit Yakumo with that weird powder as well but her wind made it impossible for him. I guess he was aiming for the same…seeing as he survived you…" He grimaced, "Did he…?" Seeing his hesitation, she decided to put the cards on the table.
She could trust him with this.
"He managed to disable my powers. It was brief! They are back now…but not to their utmost best" She managed to say it all out in a single breath, "To say it's worrisome would be an understatement. He managed to escape and I could not fly until at least an hour after the fight" She clenched her fist and snarled. "Without my powers…I was nothing against that piece of shit" Not caring about decorum, she cursed in front of Roku.
He instead had a face of bafflement.
"Huh? That's stupid, Commander" She blinked, perplexed, "You are still Ren, whether or not you have powers to your disposal" Roku elaborated before she could counter his words, "I understand what you mean, but…I just don't see how you'd be nothing without your powers. Without powers I'm someone, and even if I had some, they'd never define me"
Ren remained silent, because without powers she'd be able to do nothing against the God's themselves but…she realized how insulting it sounded, to call powerless people 'nothing'. She hadn't meant it that way, and she knew Roku understood that.
"However I understand you must be feeling panicked. I wouldn't worry, you are Ren Yamashiro. If anyone can figure this out, it's you, Commander" He continued. Filled with pride, Ren hummed in return, happy with his praise repeating ten times over in her head.
Indeed, she was Ren Yamashiro, the best of the best. This was nothing but a hiccup.
"Hmph! You are right!" The Commander stood up, with her spirits up to the roof once again, "Once you are healed, I expect you in my office! We'll talk about commendation for your acts on this battle then! No refusing accepted!" She ordered, with a permanent smile on her face, and before she could say anything at all, she marched out of the emergency room .
Left with nothing to do, Roku sighed before pulling up the covers of his bed and use the remainder of the day to sleep.
It had been a long day, after all.
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TWO DAYS LATER
On the highest building of the headquarters, the Commander of the Mato Corps sat on her desk with a surprised look on her face. For the last few hours, she had been revisiting the footage of the fight against the God Shuuki. Thankfully it seemed like her powers were back to normal, and she felt dumb for having overreacted yesterday.
Her whole attention was down on the screen in front of her.
Now that she had detailed information, she realized Megumi from the second unit had been a great help for the fight two days ago. At first, seeing the strength behind the punches the God used against Roku, she had thought it impossible for him to survive. Now, it made sense.
Not that it wasn't still commendable, AND she would have a talk with her staff members later. She could understand the confusion and hesitation, but in a situation as dire as that one, it was unforgivable to see just how neglectful they had been with Roku and the whole situation too.
She knew first hand that trusting the new addition and janitor was a hard task, but he had shown once again that he could undertake these situations the right way. Gossip was already spreading about his sacrifice to save Ginna and his popularity was rising through the HQ, but she would still have a talk with her team to let them know, if someone is going to take hold of a situation, they need to cooperate. At the end of the day, she knew it wasn't smart to do things without thinking, but with this she had no doubts that they could trust Roku on this type of issue as well.
Everyday it became clear he wasn't just any random civilian they had picked up from their list. Roku was…a special case altogether.
He had managed to befriend the apex of earth herself, so he must be special!
"And then…this" She commented up to the air as she sped up the footage, stopping at the very end of the fight. This is where things had gotten…strange. So much that she had spent the better part of the morning figuring out what just happened. Suddenly Roku had started rushing through the battlefield faster than any human could ever hope to move. And at the very, very end, that monster had attempted to catch him and the Janitor had…just flashed away. A flash so bright she had to remove her eyes from the screen. And then Roku was on the other side of the battlefield, right next to Yakumo. On the floor, passed out.
Just how…she'd need to ask him herself.
And that was the thing! She had requested Roku to visit her office AS SOON AS HE FELT RECOVERED. And this morning, she had seen him walking around the main floor with a Janitor Cart in hand. His arm was no longer in horrible condition, but he still had bandages over it.
Roku was not picky, but it was funny to know he had requested black bandages. Not something hard to give, but almost no one requested such things. She guessed that for Roku, fashion was just as vital as his privacy.
Still, he was loitering around the HQ and he dared not come visit her as a first task on his list of things to do, and she felt mad about that. How dare he? She had tried spying on him, and yes, he was being diligent. Cleaning up the kitchen, waving at…waving at plenty of staff member that now acknowledged his presence. Giddy women in groups, giggling and whispering to themselves as he walked by.
For the life of her, she could not help but feel bothered by it…they were acting like dumb teenagers.
Was she also acting like a dumb teenager? God, she hoped not.
Huffing and crossing her arms, she resigned to fill in some paperwork. And a small note in her mail finally turned her mood all for the better.
Having Ginna help her, she had finally managed to get the approval ready for a new room to be made. It had been obnoxious, and once she was done with quarantine she'd get to the bottom of this mistreatment, but for now at least they could begin with the construction. A new room in the dorm's quarters…tentatively away from that crazy woman, Yakumo.
With gusto she started typing down the details, humming as she did so. A good bathroom, at least two windows, and a king sized bed. Light bulbs white and blue, she guessed some art might do him good so a few paintings. A big wardrobe , stuck on the wall. Night table, plenty of utensils…was this too formal? Then again, Roku was the definition of formal…maybe the blankets in dark colour…sounds good. Hmm, maybe a TV. Or maybe he'd prefer a laptop? She could get that arranged for him…
Without noticing, she spent the rest of the day turning this request into the best possible room for Roku Denki.
Why? No reason whatsoever.
None at all…
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Attention. Everywhere.
When walking through the hallways, murmurs and whispers. In the main lobby, eyes on him. Even on social media, words like "manly hero", "unknown savior", "the best janitor ever", Yakumo was worried.
And exhausted.
It had been two days after the whole fiasco with that Shuuki God and, even though people were back to health and Roku Denki seemed to be doing fine in his recovery, things were worse on another aspect.
Somehow the girls around the HQ were finally noticing how amazing, incredible, cool, smart, strong, mysterious, interesting, handso…
Okay, so they had started noticing him. And things were…not playing in her favor. Ever since the attack, she had been too busy with chores and training to have time to enjoy with Roku-chin. So much so that she hadn't seen him for the entirety of yesterday and today, not even to sleep. Mainly because he had stayed overnight in the clinic, and then the next day had been too hectic in the morning for him, and she didn't even see him when she woke up.
So now she was sad, squatting down in the training room next to other members of the corps, as she tried to distract herself by working out. But nothing helped, her mind was fully occupied with both worry for the janitor's actual state after such a strange turn of events, and also because she just couldn't get him out of her mind once she realized she liked him.
Gosh, why couldn't he just materialize in front of her and-
"Fifth unit's chief!" Someone calling her finally kicked her out of her thoughts and in front was Megumi, with gym clothes and for once, without her mask. She had a piercing on her lower lip and her nose was quite slim and pretty, just like the rest of her face.
Were this any other time of the year, Yakumo would've probably fallen in love right then and there with the vice captain, but as it was, she felt nothing but a bit of excitement. An improvement, Kaiko would probably say.
"Yeah?" She asked, and Megumi smiled before motioning with her head for Yakumo to look behind her.
And behind her, there was Roku, entering the gym with his janitor cart in front of him, white clothes with his right arm bandaged. He seemed to be absent minded, as he often was when doing menial work like cleaning.
"People say you've claimed the janitor already, this true?" The vice captain asked her, and the wind user couldn't help but blush at the implication.
"O-Of course not!" She managed to blurt out, but she was actually quite happy people saw it that way, "Roku-chin and I are just friends!"
"Oh, but he sleeps in your room, correct?" The vice captain seemed to lack any decency regarding this type of girl talk, and Yakumo nodded in return.
"He does, he doesn't have a room assigned to him just yet…"
"But you're not together?" She asked and Yakumo nodded again, understanding why that may be a little strange to some. To her though, she'd be elated if Roku was never assigned a room.
Then a stupid thought ran through the captain's mind and she voiced it before she could stop it.
"Why? Do you like Roku as well!?" She questioned, almost interrogating, and the vice captain Megumi giggled in return.
"I do not like boys, chief. Don't fret" She dismissed and Yakumo felt dumb for asking such a question, "But saying as well…so you do like him!" Megumi was mischievous, and the wind user actually started floating in embarrassment.
To make things worse, she noticed Roku was walking towards her.
Gosh, please act normal, please act normal, please act normal…
"Hey, Yakumo" The dark haired janitor mentioned her name and it was all it took for the fifth unit's chief to take off, floating up to the ceiling and hitting her head with one of its supportive metal bars, "What…"
"Oh she's just been feeling energetic ever since the fight two days ago" Megumi came to save her and delivered a perfectly unacceptable excuse. To which Roku just nodded in return, not quite understanding but accepting it.
"What do you need? Roku-chin?" Quickly reincorporating, Yakumo flew back to the roof and got back to Roku.
"Well…I need to clean the ceiling today, but there's no stairs available, so-"
"No need to ask twice!" She agreed before he even finished talking, and Roku smiled in return, happy that Yakumo was someone he could count on without problems.
Waving away at Megumi, Yakumo made a sign with her hands to stay silent about what was spoken earlier, and the vice captain nodded in return, happy to oblige.
Unbeknown to them, Megumi was there on orders. Mira's orders, and it was to keep up with everything regarding Roku and Yakumo. A wingman type of mission, if one wanted to see it that way.
In Megumi's eyes, seeing both the janitor and the chief chatting and laughing as she helped him clean the ceiling, she couldn't see a problem.
So with that in mind, she nodded to herself and returned to her duties.
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Somewhere deep within the Mato territories, late at night.
"So it's true? Jaku'un, can you confirm?" On the edge of a hand made pool of sorts, made of white rock and pristine water, the figure of a certain snake master Shuuki God could be seen with only her feet soaking into the water.
On the other side, was the monster Jaku'un, seemingly untouched and freshened from the fights two days ago. If the Mato Corps had managed to hurt him permanently, he showed no signs of it.
"The black powder works, however, it seems to work only temporarily, and it takes varying amounts of time for the enemy to repel it from their bodies" He replied back, giving the dark vials back to the Snake God in question. She extended her arm and from it, a snake appeared, opening its mouth and swallowing the vials.
"Hmm, is it reliable?"
"I'm afraid not against many…but it is for one important person. I think you'll be very pleased to hear it" From the implication, the snake demon god smiled devlishly, already knowing what he meant.
"So that bitch of a commander gets affected the most? Who would've thought…" She laughed hard, and clapped her hands together with satisfaction, "Great! This is great news, then we can proceed with the preparations for phase one"
"And that is?"
"Of course, it's the down fall of Ren Yamashiro"
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Thank you for reading, this chapter took some time to finish, but it's done now. Please leave a comment if you liked it, the story is getting interesting!