Disclaimer: I do not own any of this and any of this belongs to the original creators.
WORLD OF HEARTS
LINKED AS ONE
Act 2
Chapter 3
The Day Marches On
Ursula Callistis entered the room, gaining the attention of the students. Sanji was already swooning for her, much to Zoro's chagrin. Zoro always felt the need to nag about Sanji's fondness for beautiful women. Sanji's habit of falling for a woman on the spot has put him and the Straw Hats in considerable danger before, made only worse by his 'I-shall-not-hit-a-woman' rule when said woman is trying to kill him and the whole crew. He chose to restrain himself, this time, but it wouldn't last for long.
"Hello, some of you may already know me, but for those of you who don't, my name is Ursula Callistis," Ursula said. "I'll be your English teacher for this year."
"Nice to meet you," the students said.
"Man... Ursula-swan looks cute, even with those glasses on..." Sanji said.
... and here comes the straw that broke the camel's back.
The straw is Sanji's swooning and the camel's back is Zoro's tolerance for the former's antics.
"Hey, moron, we're here to learn," Zoro said.
Sanji gave Zoro the death glare. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Sanji said, calmly. "What was that, moss head?"
"You heard me, Prince Dumbass," Zoro glared back at Sanji.
"You will two not do this right now?" Ussop spoke up. "This is the first day of us being here and you guys want us to get expelled already?"
"I didn't start it," Zoro said.
"You were instigating something," Sanji said. "Idiot Marimo."
"You two are hopeless..." Ussop said.
Ai was glad to see Ursula, but seeing her made her think back to Kairi, her master. She learned more about the nature of magic from Kairi and the teachers at Luna Nova. She was more interested in magic than she was in fighting. She remembered her friends from Luna Nova. From her friend Akko, Diana, Sucy, Lotte, Amanda, Constanze, and Jasminka. She began to wonder what Amanda, Constanze, and Jasminka were up to.
'I bet they miss me and the girls by now,' Ai thought.
Boruto didn't even look slightly interested in learning English.
"Remind me, why do we have to learn English?" Boruto asked Sarada Uchiha, who was sitting right next to him.
"Because you never know when you might find yourself talking to a foreigner from the United States," Sarada said. "Just remember that this is nothing like what we learned back home."
"Yeah, I get it..." Boruto said. "It's just that learning another language just sounds... boring."
"You'll come to like it," Sarada said.
"Yeah, right..." Boruto said. "That is if I don't die of boredom..."
The class began to listen to Ursula as she began to give them a lecture and a quick look at what the students would be learning. After some time passes, the bell rings and Ursula walks out of the classroom.
The next teacher to come in was Toshinori Yagi. He onto the pedestal and looked at the students. He noticed Midoriya and some of his UA colleagues smiling at the sight of him being here. Toshi cracked a smile and took a deep breath.
"I know some of you may already know me by my hero name, All Might," Toshinori said. "But there's no need for any of you to call me by that name. I've already retired from hero work after nearly 30 years of my Pro Hero career. With that said, allow me to reintroduce myself."
His body suddenly became muscular and his bangs stood up straight.
"I AM TOSHINORI YAGI AND I—!"
The transformation broke and he started coughing blood, making most of the students (except a certain few) freak out. He fell on his knees.
"QUICK! SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR!" A small, baby-sized human reindeer said.
Yujo was unimpressed of Toshinori. To think that shriveled man was once Japan's former number-one hero. Nonetheless, he could care less about the man right now. His focus was on Kizuna. This Kizuna kid surprised him. That power from before... where and when did Kizuna get such power?
It looked as though it were something akin to Formchange. Yujo noticed the sudden power increase in terms of physical strength. Yujo rarely used Shadow Tortoise because it was primarily a defensive technique that would only be used against an attack that his keyblade couldn't parry if he knew he couldn't dodge the said attack. Not only that, he preferred to fight aggressively, staying on the attack and fighting within close range.
Yujo rarely felt the need to use defensive moves, but he came up with these moves in case he was forced to fight defensively. But alas, his instincts had kicked in and he used the Shadow Tortoise to protect himself from that powerful punch. That last punch... if he hadn't brought out the Shadow Tortoise technique in time to help him tank the hit, his rib cage would have been smashed to pieces. That Courage Form... it must have had something to do with physical strength. Now, if only—
"Uh... Yujo?"
His train of thought was broken by Yuji.
"What?" Yujo asked.
"Were you a fan of All Might back when you were a kid?" Yuji asked.
"I am not interested in that nonsense," Yujo said. "Besides, he's a shriveled old man who's barely clinging to life."
"Yeah, but back before he ended up like that, he—"
"I am not interested," Yujo said.
"Now, I'll be your social studies teacher for the year," Toshinori said. "The syllabus will have already been sent to you electronically, so be sure to check your devices and read it."
He claps his hands. "I hope we get along and make some great memories together this year, young boys and girls. So, any questions about me that you'd like to ask?"
Ami was quick to raise her hand.
"Yes, young Mizuno, correct?" Toshinori asked.
"Are you alright?" Ami asked.
Toshinori looked over to his left side, imagining that terrible life-threatening injury almost costed him his life. He remembered the precise location of that injury. It was located on the left side of his body, higher on the chest. The injury had obliterated his left lung and destroyed half of his stomach. He took a solemn deep breath. Half his chest was crushed and some of the organs that remained after the fact were pushed over to the right side, causing him to cough out blood. Despite the injury, he just pushed forward. He knew how bad the damage was, and he knew that his days as a hero were numbered. Still, he persevered, all the way until he announced his retirement.
He looked at Ami and he could make it the worry in her eyes. He smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine now. I'm sorry about earlier. It's been like this ever since I had this injury. It's a miracle I haven't keeled over yet."
He scans the room.
"Anyone else?" Toshinori asked.
Kaneki raised his hand.
"Ask away, young Kaneki," Toshinori said.
"Why do your eyes have black sclerae?" Kaneki asked.
"Oh, this?" Toshinori points at one of his eyes. "I... don't know how they ended up looking so dark. They've always been like that since I had this injury."
"So... they've always been like that?" Kaneki asked.
"Yes, young Kaneki, they've been like that ever since my injury happened," Toshinori said.
The bell rang. It was time for him to go.
"Well, that's my cue," Toshinori said. "I'll see you all at Orientation which will start after lunch. Until then, goodbye."
"Later, teacher," the students sounded off.
And like that, Toshinori left the room with a smile on his face.
Lunch
Kizuna was having lunch with Yujo and Ai. The trio were sitting at a table together. Kizuna and Yujo simply stared at each other while they were eating their food, leaving Ai nervous around the two boys. She wondered if she could break the ice.
"So uh... Yujo was it? What kind of school did you go to before coming here?" Ai asked.
"Jujutsu Tech," Yujo said. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, you know... I'm just... curious about what kind of school it is," Ai said.
'Wait, that's right, I still have no idea what Jujutsu Tech is like,' Kizuna thought. 'And not only that, there was that crazy power he was using back when we fought for the first time and when he was up against that Behemoth...'
"Also, that power you were using when we fought before, what was that all about?" Kizuna asked. "Are you some kind of practitioner of the dark arts or something?"
Yujo stopped eating and looked at Kizuna and Ai. He smiled.
"So, I see you've grown interested in jujutsu," Yujo said.
"Jujutsu?" Kizuna and Ai asked.
"The art of using cursed energy, energy born from negative emotions," Yujo said. "That energy is then properly channeled through the use of cursed techniques. Think of cursed energy as an electric generator and cursed techniques as a power line."
Kizuna slams his fist into fist into his open palm.
"I get it... so those shadow animals were part of some technique you were using..." Kizuna said.
"Wait... you said... cursed..." Ai said before she started to shiver. "What's this about curses?"
"Curses..." Yujo said. "They're like evil spirits or malevolent ghosts."
"G-Ghosts?!" Ai looked terrified.
"They are why jujutsu sorcerers exist," Yujo said. "Curses, or cursed spirits, are created from the darkness that leaks out of humans over time and then manifest at a certain point. They can't be seen by ordinary humans or any beings that do not possess the level of spiritual energy to notice them. The only way to destroy them is with cursed energy or something like a keyblade."
"Incredible..." Kizuna said. "So you're like some kind of exorcist?"
"Can you two not talk about all that creepy stuff? It makes me feel like I'm living a horror movie or something..." Ai said.
"Yes," Yujo glared at Ai for a bit before he went back to eating.
Kizuna looked at Ai. She snapped out of her shivering state and looked at Kizuna.
"So, you said you were from Luna Nova, right? An all-girls school, correct?" Kizuna asked.
"Oh my gosh, I almost forgot!" Ai said. "Yes, that's the one I went to learn magic."
"Wait, they teach magic over there?" Kizuna asked. "Like... what kind of magic do they teach?"
"All sorts of magic," Ai said. "Transformation magic, illusions, and even magic astrology. But it goes far more from that."
Kizuna was intrigued. "Like what?"
"The making of potions, learning to magically fly on a broom, handling magical creatures, various spells, and even magic rituals," Ai said. "So what kind of school did you go to before coming here?"
"M-Me?" Kizuna points at himself. "Um... uh... I uh... um... I don't think it's that important to know which school I came from—"
"Say it,"
Kizuna looked at Yujo and saw a silent glare staring into his soul.
"I... I just got out of middle school..." Kizuna said, looking embarrassed from admitting it.
"Oh... so you just... graduated from middle school..." Ai said. "I mean, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that."
Yujo was still glaring at Kizuna. Kizuna felt goosebumps just from the unnerving glare he was getting.
Meanwhile, Madoka was sitting at a different table with Usagi, Momoko, and Nagisa.
"So, Madoka," Nagisa said, "Have you and your boyfriend stayed in touch with each other?"
Madoka was surprised by the question and blushed. "H-Huh? W-Well... um... n-no..."
"No? Did something happen between you two?" Momoko asked.
"Has he been seeing another girl?" Usagi asked.
"Did he put you in the friend zone?" Nagisa asked.
"N-No! No to all of that!" Madoka said, looking embarrassed. "It's just... we haven't had enough time to catch up with each other for the whole year since I went back to Mitakihara."
"Oh..." Usagi sighed in relief. "For a second there—"
"Was there something keeping you two from talking with each other?" Momoko asked.
Madoka sighed. "I had been focusing on my schoolwork and hunting witches down, and Kizuna's been training with his mother, so..."
"So you two were busy the whole time," Usagi said. "Well, I've been spending time with Mamo-chan before he left to study abroad~"
Suddenly, the girls were interrupted by the sound of someone breaking a plate. The girls looked over to see a schoolboy with a pompadour staring down a boy with slick blond hair. Judging from how he wore his uniform and the pompadour, he was probably a delinquent.
And boy was he livid.
That boy just so happened to be Josuke.
Over by the table he was at, Koichi Hirose was shaking his head at Josuke, telling him to calm down, but Josuke wasn't having it, not after hearing Neito Monoma saying something about his hair looking like a boot. Yusuke Urameshi and Kazuma Kuwabara got up as well. Josuke looked down at Monoma with eyes filled with fury.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch what you just said," Josuke said. "So I'm gonna ask you again,"
Josuke cracked his knuckles.
"Josuke, calm down, we can't get in trouble on our first day here," Koichi said. He looked at Monoma. "People are watching us—"
"I know, and I don't care," Josuke said. "Now, then... Monoma..."
Monoma had a smug look on his face.
Josuke took a very deep breath.
"What did you just say about my hair?" Josuke asked.
Monoma scoffed. "Huh? Are you—?"
Then, in an instant, he was hit with the force of a magnum and fell in seconds. Blood gushed from his nose and mouth. He hits the floor, landing on his side as he feels his nose being broken, all of this being followed by the sound of what sounded like a shotgun going off. But... let's go back and see that moment again, from a different perspective.
Yusuke saw an ethereal arm punch Monoma in the face so hard, it sounded like a gunshot rang out. Monoma. Yusuke couldn't believe what he just saw with his own two eyes as Monoma fell down with blood coming out of his mouth and nose, along with several teeth. Yusuke could see a purple aura around Josuke.
"Kuwabara?"
"I know man, I saw it too..." Kuwabara said. "That Josuke guy... he's... he's got some kind of ghost in his back corner or something!"
"Yeah... just what the heck was that?" Yusuke asked. 'I'm surprised that Monoma managed to take a punch like that head on. He should be unconscious from that blow.'
"Argh!" Monoma cried out. "My face! My handsome face!" He tries to stand up. "You bastard! How dare you hit me like that!"
"I'm not the kind of guy who will just let anyone say shit about my hair and get away with it," Josuke said. "I don't care who it is!"
He took one step toward Monoma, filling the latter with fear.
"Did you just say that my hair looks like a dirty boot?" Josuke asked calmly.
"I-I don't remember anyone saying—"
Josuke stomps on Monoma's head. "I heard you asshole!"
Josuke lifted his foot off Monoma's head and went back to the table. He touched the plate and the plate was suddenly fixed and the mess was gone. The plate, however, the shape didn't look quite right. Kuwabara leans over to Koichi.
"So uh... Koichi, right?" Kuwabara asked. "You wouldn't happen to know if Josuke's got a ghost over his shoulder and some psychic powers, right?"
"W-Wait, y-you saw it too?" Koichi asked, surprised by Kuwabara's question.
"You've seen this happen before?!" Kuwabara asked.
"A lot..." Koichi admits. "What you saw isn't really... technically a ghost. It's more like uh... the manifestation of a person's life energy and fighting spirit."
"In the form of a ghost?" Kuwabara asked.
"Yeah... something like that," Koichi said. "What you saw is a Stand. Every Stand is unique in terms of speed, power, abilities, range."
"But what about that plate?" Kuwabara pointed to the plate. "Wasn't it broken a few seconds ago? How the heck did it fix itself?"
"That's because of Josuke's Stand: Crazy Diamond," Koichi said. "Anything it touches will be restored to the way it was." He looked back at the plate and noticed its disfigured shape. "Though... when Josuke gets like this, the restoration gets distorted and... you know."
Yusuke watched as Monoma got back up. Yusuke saw blood coming out of the boy's mouth and nose, as well as Monoma's irate expression and broken nose. Yusuke was about to say something, but then he stopped to notice the blood flowing backward and that the blood on the floor was lifting off the ground. The blood that came out of Monoma started to go back inside, even the boy's tooth found its way back into Monoma's mouth.
Monoma's nose, however, twisted for a second before assuming a different shape.
'H-His face—!' Yusuke thought. 'It's back to normal... except for the nose...'
People began to mutter about Monoma's nose, eventually catching Monoma's attention. Monoma looked around, hoping to find a reflective surface to use. He pulled out his phone, turned the camera on, switched to a different camera on his phone, and there, he saw something that horrified him.
He realized that his nose had been misshaped.
"My nose... my nose!" Monoma growled before looking at Josuke. "Y-You ruined my nose!"
"And thanks to you, my plate looks terrible," Josuke said, standing up to confront him. "What are gonna do about that, eh?"
Monoma squeaked before running away. Josuke's rage subsided and he pulled out his comb. He began to comb his hair before sitting back down. Yusuke sat back down.
'No wonder everyone in my school looked at me funny when they found out I was going to Daybreak,' Yusuke thought. 'This whole school is filled with freaks with all sorts of wacky superpowers. Meta-humans, magic users, psychics, alchemists, Devil Fruit users, Ghouls, Beastmen, Faunus, and whatever the hell is in here with me.
'Meanwhile, the only "regular" humans here are either crazy and/or stupid enough to come here, or they happen to be strong and skilled in martial arts and whatever other skill sets they all have. Then, there are these teachers who are even crazier for being here, thinking they can handle all of this.'
He sighed.
'Damn that Koenma...' Yusuke cursed. 'Now I have to spend an entire year with these guys, all because...'
Flashback
One Year ago...
"Toguro is back?!" Yusuke exclaimed. "Again?! After I pummeled his ass back in the Dark Tournament?!"
Yusuke was back in Spirit World, standing before a toddler wearing a blue robe with pink trimming that was tied by a red obi sash. The toddler had a pacifier in his mouth and was also wearing a hat on his head with the kanji for "King" on it, with the brim part of the hat having "Jr" inscribed on it. The toddler was sitting behind a desk. Standing next to Yusuke was Botan, a girl with sky-blue colored hair, who was trying to calm him down. Botan was wearing a light-pink kimono with a white obi sash wrapped around it. Yusuke was wearing his green school uniform. Standing next to the toddler was a blue ogre.
"Yes," a toddler said. "Somehow, Toguro was... brought back to life."
"And just how the hell does that happen exactly?!" Yusuke yelled. "You better explain right now, you little twerp before I come over there and—!"
"Yusuke! Calm down! He was just about to get to that!" Botan pleaded with Yusuke, to which the latter did. "If you would, Prince Koenma."
"Yes," Koenma said, turning to the ogre. "Ogre, on the screen."
"Yes, Koenma, sir," the ogre picked up a remote and turned it on.
On the monitor sat seven orange balls with stars on them. One ball had only one star while the second had two stars and so forth.
"I'm sure you've heard about a set of mystical items known as the Dragon Balls, correct?" Koenma asked.
"What? From that crazy old tale about Shenron, the magic wish-granting dragon?" Yusuke asked.
"Yes, that," Koenma said. "You see Yusuke, by themselves, a single Dragon Ball is about as useful as a car without any fuel. But put all seven balls together and, as you mentioned earlier, you can summon the powerful wish-granting dragon, Shenron, who is said to be so powerful that he can grant any wish you so desire."
"So if I asked Shenron to give me a pair of panties—" Botan hit Yusuke on the head with her oar.
"Yusuke, you pervert!" Botan exclaimed.
The young man looked at Botan with a cross expression.
"I was being hypothetical!" Yusuke said. "Besides, who the hell would even wish for a pair of stupid panties anyway?!"
"A talking, shapeshifting pig!"
"Yeah, right! As if an actual pig would ask for panties!" Yusuke scoffed.
"Actually, that did happen—"
"That's not the point I'm trying to make here!" Koenma exclaimed, getting the attention of both the reaper and the spirit detective in the room. "And as for you, ogre, we do not speak about that to anyone, not even my father."
"Y-Yes, Koenma, sir..." the ogre said, lowering his head.
Yusuke and Botan looked at Koenma.
"The point is, that Shenron can grant any wish, good or evil, regardless of who is making the wish," Koenma said. "He can even bring back the dead, which has caused... a lot of disruptions in both Spirit World and the Soul Society. It's even made my father upset because that makes his job harder, which in turns makes my job even harder since it also disrupts the balance between life and death."
"I know what you mean..." Botan said. "One moment, I'm taking several souls off to Spirit World after being sent from the mortal world and the next, they're suddenly gone and have gone back to the Living World."
"Jeez, it must suck having to ferry all those souls, only for them to just suddenly vanish before your eyes once you finish writing their death certificates," Yusuke said.
"This is serious, Yusuke!" Koenma yelled. "Toguro was supposed to serve his sentence, which is to be tortured for 10,000 years repeated for 10,000 cycles in Hell, specifically in Limbo."
"Ten thousand years? And for that many cycles?" Yusuke asked.
"I... tried to convince him to take a lighter sentence in light of his past as a warrior and his good deeds that helped him atone for his sins, but... he insisted that he deserved worse..." Koenma said.
"That's probably just like him," Yusuke said. "He wouldn't have had it any other way."
"Perhaps..." Koenma said. "But like I said, he's back and Spirit World Intelligence has identified who it was that brought him back."
"You do?" Yusuke asks.
"Yes, a shadow organization that has been making a bit of a name for itself in the Living World," Koenma said. "An organization calling themselves..."
Flashback End
'... Eternal Darkness,' Yusuke thought. 'They're the ones who brought him back. These guys must be gathering demons to use for whatever purpose they have in mind for them.'
"Oi, Urameshi, your food's gonna get cold if you don't—"
"Y-Yeah, I get it, Josuke," Yusuke said.
Yusuke went back to eating his food.
Japan
Eva is back in the cemetery, paying her respects to her husband. She was on her knees, praying by the incense. She heard footsteps and turned to see a familiar face. It was a tall, handsome young man with black hair and teal eyes. He wore a black suit with a tie, carrying around a silver necklace bearing a cross.
"Koutarou Amon, was it? Here to pay your respects for the man you and your partner butchered?" Eva asked. "The same man whose grave you desecrated and whose wife and child you and your partner were willing to murder for the sake of your "justice?"
She could tell that the man was hiding his emotions well, but she could sense his heart. She felt a tinge of uneasiness coming from the man. Her words stab at his soul. She looked at him with a cold, emotionless iron stare. After a few moments of silence, the man finally spoke up.
"I guess your opinion of me hasn't changed at all," Amon said, kneeling with her to join her, putting his hands together. "Then again, maybe you never will change your opinion of me, my partner, or the CCG for that matter."
"I never liked the CCG or the way it does things," Eva said. "All of you just treat Ghouls as monsters, just like how humanity has treated those who are too different from them. Fishmen, Merfolk, Beastmen, Faunus, Meta-Humans with Mutant-type Quirks, Witches, all of them have faced discrimination by mankind, just as man has discriminated against each other in the past."
"That's not fair," Amon said. "Last I checked, not a single one of those races you mentioned has a craving for human flesh."
"And you think every Ghoul is a monster solely because of that fact alone?" Eva asked. "Who decided that?"
Amon was quiet.
"When my son intervened in your investigation to save Fueguchi-san's life," Eva said. "He did so because, for him, it was the right thing to do. He knew that his father would have done the same if he were still alive."
She looked back at her husband's grave.
"You should be grateful to my son for sparing your life and asking me to do the same," Eva said. "For if either those things didn't happen, we wouldn't be having this conversation, and both you and your partner would be buried in the ground in jars."
She got up.
"Now if you don't mind, I have somewhere else to be," Eva said.
There was a shrine that was hidden in a mountain. Within the shrine were seven magatama of different colors in order, going counterclockwise, red, blue, green, yellow, white, and black. The red magatama was glowing brightly. A seventh, rainbow-colored magatama could be seen in the middle of them.