A man gets out of bed. His gaze is subdued, but the light escaping from the crease hits his curtain hard enough to hit him in the face. His eye, the only one in the filament of this light, fills with resolution after this.
He brushes his teeth, combs his hair neatly, dresses in shirt and jacket, and then, turns his attention to his kittens who stare at him spectatorily for craving his attention. He approaches them, smiling; he caresses and kisses them, for he loves them very much and knows that they will live their lives well.
Then, after filling their plates with food, he lowers what appears to be a huge frame that, full of wires, went to a helmet. He stands in place, on a chair, adjusting the neck rope he has ready under the helmet, and puts on the equipment, letting the system do the rest.
After what seems to be the correct reception of the system, he loses the strength of his body, which also leads him to release all his weight on the edge of the chair, making it shake, and then...
That man left this world...
...
Kuoh, a quiet city stationed in the regions of Kanto and Chubu. If we were honest, it was not quiet. Oh, no, this place was now the top of the world so to speak... Here resided the top elites of all shapes and forms. It was the paradise of technology! An endless point of knowledge and future! It was-!
Time to stop dragging things out and get to the point... Hyodo Issei. 17 years old. If there was one thing that could define this young man, it was the phrase...
"I want to squeeze some boobs..."
Ah, yes. Those were... You see, our protagonist is not a gentleman by any stretch of the imagination. Shamelessly open about his sexual desires, he was known to be one of the three perverted beasts of the school. A real problem in a school that was initially noted for having been all-girls at first.
An example of such lewd hints was the enormous contempt the three had for Kiba Yuuto, an attractive blond young man who with his dashing smile and gentlemanly bearing was distasteful to them because of his predominant attraction to women.
And so, the three of them ended up spying on the girls of the Kendo club. In fact, it was only Motohama and Matsuda as they took advantage of a gap in the wood; the asses of both of them bumping with insinuating hip movement before the women they saw. Matsuda reporting the measurements of each with meticulous excellence and Motohama admiring each for their reliefs. Issei was only noicely depressed because he wanted a space to admire as well, but this only led to him attracting the attention of the student patrol passing nearby. The two who fled in horror left Iseei stranded, who quickly resigned himself to being caught when they saw him...
...
And such was the life of the brown-haired boy every day he was at school. Leaving after his punishment, his path went straight to a special place that was far from the city. His journey is by bus, smiling slightly as he looks around. Peace envelops him as he enjoys the world around him despite his desires outside of moral conception.
He arrives at his destination, walking towards the place he was looking for: A huge fenced-in place. The city's garbage dump.
"Oh, Issei, looks like you came looking for something today!" greets an old man with a patched eye. The woman next to him greets him with a nod, something the boy returns with some embarrassment (of course, because he was looking at her breasts and both adults knew perfectly well that).
"Rossweisse-san, Odin-san" He greeted them both. The older man smiled arrogantly, while the woman just closed her eyes with a beautiful smile. "Yes, I intended to warble a bit before returning home. It's Friday, so Mom and Dad won't be around, so I can sleep here tonight."
"I already set up the space for you to sleep. I figured you'd come." Explained the lady with a smile, only to then look a little apologetic. "I'm very sorry I can't bring you in my car, it's just that you know it's problematic and..." She wanted to apologize and justify herself, something Iseei clearly dismissed.
"It's okay, Ross-san! Being a teacher and bringing a troubled student like that would be a very difficult thing to explain, I know that well. We've talked about this, you don't have to apologize... Did everyone else finish their work already?"
She still looked uncomfortable about dealing with him, being that he was so open to her opinions and attitudes. Odin was watching everything with an extremely mischievous grin (Issei deduced that he was looking at the woman's ass, which was why he moved to turn his back on him and nullify his view).
"Thor and Vidar are burning trinkets already cleared. Tyr left some stuff for you to look at before he went out drinking with Baldur and Loki, you know they need to calm him down to prevent him from ragging for work."
Issei knew these people from severe mischief: breaking the grating, trespassing, wanting to find trash, running away from the dogs who saw him, being caught in a mountain of trash, cornered. That's how he met Thor who came to his aid and scolded him for breaking private property. However, when he explained that he was looking for electronic garbage, he was amazed at how Issei showed a genuine love of art and technology. This led to gladly opening his arms to his family.
Odin was a strange man. He was already strange for changing his name to that particular one, but worse was the fact that his wife followed his lead as Freya and so the whole family adopted the concept of Norse mythology. It was hard to adapt at first with the names and their attitudes, but it was easy to do so with his talents and the way the family quickly opened their arms to him...
As he wanders around, the sun is fading. He knows his hours are numbered, so he heads to the huge building that is the family home to change. He passes Freya, who greets him sweetly as if she were his second mother. Then he sees several "Asgardians" who soon recognize him and greet him. Issei was happy here because it was his second home when his parents had to work or wanted to go out to take a break from their heavy work lives. Saturday was so they could be together in full and Sunday (depending on the time) to share together in family.
"Thanks for the heads up, I'll go make the most of the time!" He enters the place. The activities do not cease in the huge family, being that he almost can't even enter the apartment building when he sees Thor and Heimdall walk by with a couch they had rescued and reassembled. He shook his head in amusement to see them so happy about their find.
He goes up the stairs, making his way through all the people in the place. Sif, Thor's wife, and their children, Magni and Modi, greet the boy as he passes and remind him of the things Tyr left in his room. He nods and thanks them for the reminder. The whole place looked more like an apartment complex, highlighted by its rooms and floors. It was certainly amusing to see it that way too, as the "Asgardians" were not poor, they were entrepreneurs of several apartment complexes in "Dinamical X Dice", a fancy VRMMO master-server that stood out for being free, nourished by advertising and microtransactions, full of servers from different games that fed off the same graphic engine and its system. The only drawback was being able to get an E-3X. The third generation suit that served to be able to access the VR games that offered its use and exploited it to the fullest.
This is why he was here lately. The truth is that he had fun with anything he could find (and he really enjoyed the company of the Asgardians) but his real objetive was to find trash he could fix and/or sell so he could get one of those suits.
Getting to his room and seeing the mess of things in it was his daily bread. He could never sit still for a second to look at what was in it or even analyze what he found. He saw so many new things that he didn't even bother to look too closely and went straight to his clothes. Ready and full after a quick change of clothes, he ran out to make the most of what little time he had left in the day.
He put a flashlight on his head and started to work. Bag he opens, trash he looks at. He has become so desensitized to it that he has even found all kinds of junk and his pulse does not tremble in dealing with it.
He searches everywhere with desperation and explores every sector with the desire to find something that could be useful to fix or trade for the money he was collecting for that damn suit. It is perhaps that misfortune that makes him pay no attention to the mountain he is standing on that collapses, taking him down with it.
Amidst the strange greenish sludge and lots of stuff hitting his clothes and face, he falls down a hole that leads him to an area away from the dump. The rats move away from him because of the noise and he is soon assisted by Skoll and Hati, Fenrir's children, who followed him all the way to help him. He couldn't help but pat their heads for the risky act in following him.
"Well, looks like I got myself into more trouble... Let's hope we can get out of here alright..."
Wandering through the darkness of the place, he turns the only possible place and follows ahead. The dogs accompanying him gave him security to continue... It is then that his gaze collided with surprise when he saw in the distance what appeared to be a box hidden at the exit of the place. It was noticeable thanks to the relief of the light, which made it easier for him to discover it. As he moved the rusted metal plates that concealed it, he was surprised to open it and find a wonderful, gleaming metallic red gauntlet.
"What the fu...?" He wondered in surprise. This was intentionally hidden, he understood perfectly. He was so amazed, that he closed the box and, out of desperation, took off his T-shirt and used it to cover the box, taking it with him. He didn't think anyone was going to miss it...
So, Issei took off running with the dogs at his side as he headed for the apartment. He'd found what he needed... While in the distance, on top of one of the mountains of garbage, a shadow stroked the head of a blue dog, identical to the ones that accompanied Issei, but more adult. The shadow's hazel eyes were fixed firmly on him, never leaving him until he walked away inside the building.
"Go ahead, Hyodo. Be mine and let's get my revenge." Were the words of the female voice that smiled with genuine malice.
...
Issei arrived at his room after managing to evade everyone in his best effort to keep them from asking any questions about the fact that he was without his t-shirt. Skoll and Hati lay down on the mattresses he had there while the brown-haired boy turned on his computer from scratch and began to take out boxes with all sorts of things. He found after taking out alcohol and sprinkling it on his hands he wiped it off with a towel and threw it anywhere.
He opened the box again, marveling at its contents. He took the device in his hands, analyzing it from all sides. He found a USB slot near the thumb, so he set about getting the connection to the computer up and running. The battery (wherever it was) indicated that it was all perfect, so he looked for a way to turn it on, with no obvious way to activate it. Perhaps it was inside, he supposed, so he decided to put it on, when he felt it tighten in his hand, scaring him. He tried to pull it out, unsuccessfully, which made him desperate, when then he felt a strong shock to his body and everything felt strange. It was as if a lot of things went to his head, which is why he felt a kind of convulsion as blood came out of his nose and he fell on his face to the ground.
...
"...Ssei! Issei!"
The chestnut reacted to the call. His accommodating gaze seeing Rossweisse worried as she held his head intrigued him. His gaze quickly going to his arm and seeing that the device was gone and his computer cable appeared to be cut, hanging mid-connection with the wires stripped. He reached for the box, noticing it was gone. What the hell had happened?
"Ross-san... What happened?"
"That's what I want to know! I found you on the floor and with blood on your nose! Skoll and Hati were barking desperately against the door for help! We thought something weird happened to you since we got a power dip all over the place!"
"O-Oh... I see..." Noted the boy, thinking about what kind of explanation to give so as not to look stupid for a gauntlet that no longer existed in his hands. "I-I was looking at porn."
Silence. Rossweisse exploded in embarrassment at the statement, only to then babble endless coy statements on the subject, which was why Issei was able to take the opportunity to push her out of his room, leaving her alone as he closed the door and leaned against it, staring at his left arm in search of answers.
The most important questions were: what had happened and where the fuck was the gauntlet? He knows perfectly well that everything around this one happened and whatever it was, it bothered him because it was unnoticeable by anything but him. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to take something just like that and put it on...
He sighed, resigned. It wasn't worth giving the matter a second thought... Maybe and only the owner came and snatched it from him when he found it on him. It was not something new, Heimdall several times got angry with him for taking his things; a sword with which he almost lost a hand in a bad swing and a horn that everyone in the house babbled about preaching immediate warning of Ragnarok. Odin had charged him with guarding it without anyone being able to touch it, so the fact that Issei usurped it to see and touch it remained only between them.
Now that he remembered, there were Tyr's gifts. He wandered his gaze into the cabinet where he left all the new stuff he usually brought him, opening it without high expectations, being immediately overwhelmed when he saw a white briefcase with several metallic security reinforcements that he knew perfectly well were from the third generation suit for the VRMMO games he wanted so much. He was overwhelmed when he recognized it, immediately pulling it out from among the other knick-knacks he would see later.
"It's a fact. Tyr-san is the best..." He muttered to himself and self-convinced himself to see what to do to return the favor for this gift. Now he understood why he had taken Loki with him, Loki would be furious if he found out about this gift. "Not for nothing does Odin leave the money management to him..." He was amused at the memory of how Loki was annoyed at not being recognized as a good economist for the family, being that Tyr was ideal for his disinterest in personal expenses. Well, this seemed to be an exception.
He hid it after hearing knocks at the door, which was why he put on a T-shirt while pulling off the cotton balls Rossweisse put on his nose for blood. Facing her, having recovered from the situation and now annoyed, she stretched his ear as a scold for teasing her.
"Dinner is almost ready. We'll be waiting for you downstairs." The young lady stated, annoyed, embarrassed and pouting, turning her back on him and walking away. Issei looked at her ass for a second, noticing that the teacher's outfit truly suited her...
"Stop staring at her ass, Issei! Gondul will piss you off if she finds out!" Thrud warned him from her room, two from Issei's, which embarrassed the boy who returned to his room in a hurry and made the woman who reflexively covered her ass with her hands embarrassed. She was Thor's third child (and only girl) so growing up among barbarians, she was not so delicate with speech.
And yet, she wasn't the only girl here...
When Issei stopped feeling embarrassed about what happened, he pulled himself together and decided to go downstairs after settling the bag of scrap metal into useless electronic boards that he would leave to burn in the incinerator. As he introduced himself in his act, everyone at the table shouted his name with glee to his embarrassment and amusement. Just as he set the bag down near the door, Tyr made his presence known by entering in his clerical attire, apparently returning from work. Everyone cheered his name and Issei hugged him without further ado, evidently grateful for the gift, to which he gladly returned the hug.
"I'll return it to you as soon as I can." The chestnut assured, the man stroked his head with amusement.
"Please, Issei. It's a gift. I know how much you wanted one... Besides, the family loves you very much whenever you come. This is a way to remind you; the gift is from everyone."
He turns and faces the huge family at the scattered family tables. His excited smile, with the embarrassed blush, made everyone not even wait for his words as they raised their drink pitchers and cheered happily...
And then, his gaze goes to the side. Near Odin and Freya, there she was; her short platinum hair rests up to her chin, sometimes covering her beautiful face that wore a dead look despite her serious expression. Fenrir rests behind her, always accompanying her. Vali, a girl that Odin adopted illegitimately. He never spoke to her, mostly because she almost never spent her time here. It was a real ghost. She just stuck her sidelong glance at him, but he was already watching Thor clowning around with a smile.
That's why Issei didn't force any interaction with her anymore. He tried a thousand times, and so he received silence and disinterest. Freya told him not to judge her for it, she was having a very bad moment and was using the dumpster as a refuge from her life. He understood that perfectly and that's why he never pressed the issue. He accepted everything perfectly as it was, Thrud being then the only girl, who although already a woman for her 23 years, who would talk to him (ignoring the fact that she was more man than woman being as brutish as her father).
"Let's eat! Let's sit together, Issei!" Pushes the red-haired girl to the resigned boy who ended up between her and Rossweisse. The awkwardness of both of them, so the platinum-haired one already started drinking to ignore everything, being that Issei grimaced because he saw coming what would happen... He saw her stretch the elastic band she used to retain her ponytail, letting her beautiful hair flow, sighing right then as the drink finishes.
"YAAAAY~! ANOTHER ROUND~!" She exclaimed, totally drunk, as all the Asgardians cheered her on in are celebration.
...
"UUUUEEEEEEEE~! ISSEEEEEEEI~! YOU'RE A PERVERT WITHOUT A CAUSE, I'M A FAILURE AS A TEACHER! UUUUEEEEEEE~!" Whined the woman as she pressed Issei's head against her breasts, hugging him and laying her head on his. The poor boy was lucky enough to be thankful he was used to this, as the first thing he did when she approached him was evade the button shot at high speed that went straight into the head of someone eating. He grimaced when he saw it fall and, now used to it, the others dismissed it and passed over his body to deliver the prepared food. Rossweisse had a killer body, but her weakness for a single drink of alcohol and the fact that she spoke with a Scandinavian accent when she got nervous and/or drunk were hilarious things.
"That has nothing to do with you, Ross-san... And I'm sorry for being a pervert without a cause..." Explained the embarrassed boy as he had the back of his neck buried in the woman's who knew him knew that he didn't enjoy it because, despite being a pervert, Issei had respect over his loved ones (much more so if this was an almost thirty-something virgin and unlucky in love life). He couldn't look at her lewdly like that.
"Oe, oe, Ross! Let the kid go, you'll eat him when we don't look!" Joked Vidar, another one of Odin's sons... Wait, now that he thought about it, how many kids did that old fuck have?
"Hey, you old fuck! I just noticed you have a lot of kids! Give me advice with the girls!" Iseei whined, which made Freya and Odin laugh uproariously in their nostalgic little moment. It seems they were both rather irresponsible in their youth...
"Forget about that, boy! Dad said more than once that he wouldn't have any more children and so Baldur and Heimdall came along!" Thor reminded outrageously, generating laughter from everyone. Issei only worried because it only reaffirmed his theory.
"I-I would never do such a thing!" complained Rossweisse with his accent blossoming into living chestnut sighed resignedly at that.
"I would if he finished his high school education! Hey, Issei~! Play something~! Sing us some~!"
He didn't know whether to be worried about the previous statement or her sudden change of subject, but he resigned himself when everyone started cheering his singing and musical playing. So used to it he was that he already saw them coming to relinquish the acoustic guitar from his room, sighing as he braced himself. Ross let go of it thanks to Thrud pulling her away from the boy, handing her a phone that appeared to be recording, so she pointed it at it devotedly, expectantly.
These talents were what opened the doors to this place in the first place...
He did a quick strum, looking quickly at Bragi who quickly recognized the song he intended to play, something that excited him, being that he quickly prepared his buckets and chopsticks to accompany him. People already cheering as they recognize the song, so they stop eating and celebrating to line up around the boy and listen.
(Gene Loves Jezebel - Break the Chain (Thornfield Sessions))
It's just an illusion, a trick, a trick of the light
what you now see is really out of sight
It's dark, it's evil, possessive and kind
Something that you give me keeps me alive
Rossweisse is amazed. Her calm gaze is dazzled by her smile as she enjoys the recording she is making; a perfect song for all present who were enjoying pure and hard freedom thanks to the opportunities the world gave them. Thrud elbows her, causing her to notice the phone and discover it's her own, which embarrasses her when she notices it.
Both ends burning, burning so bright tonight
And my world keeps turning, turning inside out
And I can't break the chain
I've gotta break the chain
I'm trying to break the chain
God help me break the chain
His eyes flick slightly to Vali, who looks at everything with her usual expression... And yet Issei assures that she feels more relaxed, so he goes back to business.
I'm winning, I'm losing before I start
I pull myself together as I fall apart
I'm wise, so foolish, perceptive and blind.
Something that kills me keeps me alive.
Tyr looks all proud. The boy certainly had a precious talent that well earned Bragi's musical spirit, which is why he always invited the boy to evenings in music bars to learn more about that world.
"I didn't like it. There's a lot of drugs and cigarettes in the air."
The poor musician almost died from that statement which generated immediate rejection in the young man to that environment, but it was enough for him to know that he would not go into music full time. He and Baldur had to console him for a couple of days for that.
Both ends burning, burning so bright tonight
And my world keeps turning, turning inside out.
And I can't break the chain
I'm trying to break the chain
God help me break the chain
I wanna break the chain
There's no rhyme no reason
to what I do
I just live my life before I lose
I give, I take, I throw it all away
Pick myself up and I start all over again
Odin watched Vali enjoy the music in the distance, which is why he dared to push her from her back into the circle, which angered her, but then resigned herself when everyone made room for her and included her. The man smiled as he watched her unconsciously stomp to the beat of the music.
Both ends burning, burning so bright tonight
And my world keeps turning, turning inside out.
I'm trying to break the chain
I've gotta break the chain
And I can't break the chain
God help me break the chain
I wanna break the chain
Bragi was already silently shedding tears as he continued to play. Tyr noticed it too as he saw that the boy changed that whole part of the chorus for this moment.
Break the chain! Wow, wow, wooow!
Break the chain! Wow, wow, wooow!
Break the chain! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
He kept on playing, looking like he'd had a rough week as Bragi stopped and looked at the boy with simmering pride. Sweating, flushed from the glare of the moment. Issei let it all out inside him, finally slowing down the intensity, muttering the last words...
The chain...
The chain...
And when he stopped playing, he whispered the last word...
The chain...
Cheers and whistles ring out. For a moment, as he looked up, he seemed to see Vali smile genuinely, but he couldn't corroborate it as she had disappeared. He sighed resignedly, hoping that this might get her to at least speak to him once in the future.
Full and satisfied, he embraced the instrument with shame for all the admiration of everyone. Rossweisse put the recording away, apparently recovered from her drunken state, knowing this would be one of her many treasured jewels. She approached the boy, hugging him from behind fully and he just kept trying to deal with the grief of the moment.
...
While he didn't have to do it, he went to help clear the table and wash the dishes. He had left the suit carrying for the trial of fire, something Tyr assured him would be appropriate for him to do in the safety of his home and the next day, but the boy was enthusiastic and patience was not his middle name.
Despite everything, the cleaning crew released him and insisted upon him leaving, something that embarrassed him as it seemed obvious his longing to have fun that very night. Abiding by their wishes, Issei ran upstairs, not noticing Vali watching him from a corner as he entered his room. The box with which he had held the gauntlet in his hands, now on hers, gave indications of being the person responsible for usurping it when he became unconscious. However, the doubts went to how she made her way to his room.
Issei didn't know it, but he would soon discover that this device that disappeared from his arm had not simply done that...