Edits - I'm still getting used to writing in the first person, so I ended up going back twice to fix stuff. Teehee, my bad.
Edit 2 - More changes! Even after my first edit, tons of mistakes remained. Fixed up even more. Still possible there's some left.
So here's the project I've been slowly chipping away at for the past month and a half. The original plan was to make a 5k word chapter, but it felt practically impossible to do the introduction justice with just that much space. So... here's a 13k word chapter instead.
Slightly oversized, but bursting at the seams with character!
It's not beta'd, though. So if anyone wants to apply as a beta for this story. Hit me up in my DMs or discord.
Discord link is (slash)DQnmaHECfA. Because this site fucking sucks when it comes to notifications, the server's the best place to be if you want to get pinged when a new chapter or story goes up. You can also ask me about the status of my other stories and hold me accountable that way!
Anyways, this story is a planned multi-cross. The first world it will crossover with is Jujutsu Kaisen. I'll add more worlds as necessary, or as demanded by the public. There's a request channel in my discord where people can request what worlds to add to this multicross.
Anyways, without further ado, please, enjoy the chapter!
Kuoh was a very pedestrian-friendly town—neat, well-maintained footpaths. Clearly labeled streets, even that funky button you can press to stop traffic at a zebra crossing.
Regarding amenities, I felt it was more European than Japanese. As I zipped through the local farmers' market, the fact that my brain wasn't even considering what would happen if I got caught was a good thing.
"Akira Shun! You're a man without honor!"
My thoughts were brought back to the present as my body came to a halt in front of a vegetable stand piled high with cabbages. It seemed my pursuers had the foresight to cut me off from the other side of the marketplace.
"Ah! Kaito-kun! You know, this is fun and all, but why are you and your boys chasing me through town again?" I asked, knowing full well why I was in my current predicament.
"You burnt our stash of porn magazines outside the student council room! You sully your honor as a man with your actions! You will pay!" The budget samurai of a delinquent tried to chase me around the vegetable stand, much to the chagrin of the shopkeeper.
"Hey! Hands off the cabbages!" The man yelled, swatting Kaito with a paper fan. Watching the five-three and change shopkeeper defend his stand from the massive teenager trying to make his way around it was almost funny.
"You know, Kaito, for all the honor you peddle, I don't see you giving me the chance at a fair fight! One-on-one, like the samurais of old!" I taunted him and was rewarded in the form of a cabbage thrown at my face, one that I barely dodged.
"An honorless cretin like you dares compare himself to the samurai I'm descended from? You don't deserve a duel, you deserve to be put down like an honorless dog!" Kaito chucked another cabbage at me, but I ducked with ease.
Kaito's reaction was exactly what I wanted, as I slipped below the cart. Putting my back into it, I flipped the cart, showering the stall owner and Kaito with a hail of leafy greens.
"No! My cabbages!" The man yelled, falling in front of the soiled mountain of cabbages in grief, completely ignoring the fact that Kaito was buried under them,
I couldn't stop to admire my handiwork, however, as I heard the telltale noises of the rest of my pursuers catching up.
I quickly got up and took off to the east. The old shrine at the edge of town was my best bet. No one but me had the time, patience, or desire for adventure to climb up the dilapidated paths that led there.
My course set, I took off at full speed, thanking my lucky stars that I'd been an athlete since I was a kid.
Leaving perverted delinquents in the dust. Just another day in the life of Akira Shun.
It took thirty minutes of alternating between running, sneaking, and parkouring to lose my tail and slip into the underbrush that ringed the town. I could have run through the town center and saved a good chunk of time, but safety hinged on secrecy, and while very few people remembered that the old shrine existed, if I was seen going that way, anyone who'd lived in the town for a few years could put two and two together.
Plus, I loved this part. Sure, there were safer ways to get to the shrine, but this specific path had a pretty fun rock face that I learned to climb when I was ten, when I'd just moved to Kuoh with my aunt.
Good times. Then, high school hit.
Say whatever you will about my homeland, but the per-capita spread of proud-and-open perverts on both sides of the gender divide was a thing unique to this country.
I too had a healthy respect for all things womanly, but for fuck's sake, who the hell still kept porn mags around? We had smartphones, dammit. Even if you do keep porn mags around, at least don't bring them to fucking school!
I forcibly calmed myself as I dyno'd over a rather tricky part of the rock face. One bad move here and I'd fall and injure myself. As much as that wasn't a fear I had, explaining to Aunt Saori how I managed to get hurt would be a pain in the ass.
Damn overprotective mother-hen.
I finally pulled myself over the rock face and stood up. In front of me was the good 'ol shrine that had become my secret hideaway over my stay in Kuoh. It was neglected as fuck, with holes in the roof and missing tatami mats all over. I'd meant to start repairing it at some point, just as a way to pay it back for all the great times it'd given me, but the fact that this was city property meant that being a good samaritan might end up getting me jail time.
As much as I wanted to fix the damn place up, I was technically a trespasser. I didn't need to test the prosecution-biased jury of this county, juvenile or not.
"So the honorless dog finally returns to his den."
My gaze was instantly on Kaito as he stepped out from behind one of the trees that surrounded the little shrine. On cue, his lackeys, who I'd spent most of the day giving the run-around followed.
I would have cracked a joke and called them out on their henchmen routine, had they not surrounded me the moment I walked into the clearing in front of the shrine. I looked at Kaito's boys. They were all kids from the Kendo club, all built like the samurai they oh-so-badly wanted to emulate. Some even had that stupid haircut that samurai used to wear.
And they wondered why women won't talk to them.
"Okayyyy." I slowly drawled, backing off towards the Shrine. I took note of the fact that there were more people here than were trailing me earlier.
"Did you put out feelers for me? How did you even find this place?" I asked, and almost on command, a fat little kid wearing a ninja headband walked out from behind Kaito.
"Shameful and underhanded as it is, I had to leverage the ninja guild for information." He replied, motioning towards the fat kid.
"The manga club? What do you guys have against me?" I asked.
"Our dear samurais borrowed some of our…rarer treasures. Treasures that you burnt." The boy answered grimly. "Treasures gathered by our brave ninja, some gathered by myself. The missions were all perilous, fraught with danger, some-"
"Okay, you're just talking about sneaking into the adult section of the manga shop, right?" I asked.
"DO NOT SPEAK OF OUR SACRIFICES IN VAIN!" He yelled back. "Why, just yesterday, we lost Jiro to-"
"Okay, I got the gist of it. You hate me because I burnt your precious porn too." I spoke, shutting up the fatty for the second time. "You guys sure we can't just talk this out?"
"You've besmirched our honor, Akira Shun. The burning of our treasures, that can be forgiven. Burning them where the council president could see them? Besmirching our honor in front of her? That dishonor demands sacrifice." Kaito responded, as his boys slowly started to encircle me. Five guys, each more muscled than me, each with years of kendo practice, all surrounding little old me.
Thankfully, there was a silver lining. Kendo practitioners were strong, yes, but when it came to unarmed combat? They weren't the best.
I slowly started edging towards the left. Rule one in a fight with multiple people? Remove yourself from the center. Slowly edging towards the guy on the left, I see surprise on his face. Was he not expecting to be the first attacker? Was he not expecting me to put up any fight?
No. He was just pissed off that I inadvertently decided that I'd fare best against him. Pride was a weapon, one that I could use here.
Just as expected, the boy rushed me. His movement was sloppy, and he'd broken the perfect encirclement they'd set up to cut off my retreat.
It was all the opening I needed, as I ducked his punch and landed a devastating cross counter on his chin with every bit of force I could muster, sending him to sleep.
Surprise is the greatest element in combat, something my aunt had drilled into me, and something she claimed had saved her ass many times in her career as a policewoman. It bought me a few moments, just enough to break the encirclement and make a dash towards the stairs.
Only to find the exit blocked by the fatty from the manga club. I could have clotheslined him as I ran past, but a fall down the stone steps would injure him for life. As much as these guys wished me harm, there was no way putting the guy in a wheelchair wouldn't get me jail time.
I was stopped in my tracks as something hit the side of my face. Stunned, I staggered back to a tree. Fresh blood ran down the side of my face as I saw the rock that had nailed me in the head.
Okay, maybe these kids did want to fuck me up for life.
"Okay, now you guys are going too far. What if that hit me in the eye?" I barked, wiping the blood off my forehead. The guy who'd thrown the rock looked shameful, but it was Kaito who looked the most angry.
"You! You scoundrel! How could you? We are not him! We will not resort to the kinds of trickery he would! You shame the memory of your samurai ancestors!" He yelled, leveling a seething gaze at the boy who'd thrown the rock at me.
I took this chance to get up and circle. My best bet was to get these guys in a straight line, make them work against each other. My best bet was to get one more of them down, then hope to god the rest of them would cut their losses and leave. One look from Kaito dashed that hope in my heart.
Until he stood, they would fight.
"My boy has done you a disservice. Scoundrel that you are, he has proven to be no greater than you." Kaito spoke, waving his boys to move back. "Dishonor must be repaid via penance or punishment, no matter who commits it. He is my boy, so in his stead, I will take a stand."
Half of his posturing flew over my bleeding head, but I could see that it had created a chance for me.
"Any chance you guys just call it even? Walk away? I mean. You guys said I dishonored you, and you then said that he dishonored me. You know, double negative cancels out and all that?" I jested, knowing full well that these fuckers were not that merciful.
"Your dishonor cannot be forgiven so easily." Kaito spoke, moving forward. "Yet, to pay penance for my underling's misbehavior, I will give you one mercy."
He then took off his school jacket, which was promptly collected by one of his underlings. "You asked earlier about why my honor doesn't dictate I fight you one-on-one, and my answer was simple. You are a dog who deserves no respect. Yet, to avenge the misdeeds of my boy, I will give you what you asked for. A fair fight."
It was around this point, as Kaito folded up the sleeves of his school shirt, that I realized his biceps were the size of my face, and my path to freedom lay beyond taking out someone who could use me as a curling stone.
I sized him up. Sure, he was jacked, but I was taller. Sure, his muscles looked like iron, but I had the reach advantage. Sure, he had dedicated his whole life to acting and training like a samurai, but I'd learned both striking and grappling from my aunt.
He did mean it when he said this would be a fair fight. Knowing full well my reach advantage would be my greatest asset unless the fight went to the ground, I adopted a traditional hitman style. My plan was simple. Circle with jabs, make him over-extend, then finish him without taking too much damage.
All that went out of the window when he dropped into a perfect peek-a-boo boxing stance.
"You're full of surprises, aren't you, big boy?" I joked to hide my apprehension.
"A modern samurai cannot always rely on his sword or spear, and hand-to-hand combat is the very essence of warfare, after all." He replied, as we slowly began to circle each other.
I initially suspected he'd learned boxing from the internet, but that spark of hope was quickly dashed when I realized he wasn't rushing the process. He was carefully feeling out his range, his footwork was perfect, and so was his first jab, which - had I not been already moving - would done more than nicked my shoulder.
I ignored the fact that his weakest hit, a mere jab, had jarred me to the bone and pushed in, quickly peppering his defense with flicker jabs and re-establishing distance.
Only for him to rush me, moving low. Hiding behind his guard, he looked like an unassailable fortress. Yet, the moment he came in close, I saw the briefest of openings. Before I could even process it, my right uppercut found his chin.
Yet, it didn't even slow the behemoth of a man down.
I didn't even get to put my guard back up as the strongest punch I'd ever taken rocked my side, hard. He came in low, I knew he was going to go for a body shot, and yet, I didn't expect the sheer power behind his left hook.
I grit my teeth, trying my level best to not scream as I backpedaled. Kaito didn't push his charge, nursing his split lip from the uppercut I'd landed earlier. He looked like he was in mild discomfort, while I was barely standing, nursing my right side, where I was sure if I took off my shirt, I'd find a welt in the shape of his fist.
It was obvious now. I couldn't beat him in a straight fight. Yet, if I did something underhanded like throwing sand in his eyes, his goons would jump me. I wasn't even sure which was the preferred alternative, and I didn't get to think of the merits and demerits of each as Kaito rushed me again. I tried to dodge backward, only for my heel to hit an exposed root and my ass to hit the floor.
Kaito, seeing his victory getting ever closer, sat down on me in a full mount. He started raining down blows on me, but at this point, he didn't realize he'd committed a fatal mistake.
While his boxing had been perfect, the moment the fight went to the ground, his movement was sloppy. I was able to weave my shoulder and head to make him hit the ground. Worst of all, what he considered a 'full mount' was flawed. He hadn't secured his legs, and he was sitting too far ahead on my torso to effectively leverage the strength of his upper body.
This, I could capitalize on. I fought through the pain in my side to quickly buck him off me. Before he could either regain position or get up, I sprang at him, quickly getting his arm between my legs. He was like a fish out of water, as he tried to get out of my grapple. In a few seconds of tussling on the ground, I had his hand right where I wanted it.
A classic armbar was sunk in, and then, I pulled.
Unlike me, he screamed. I couldn't say I didn't expect it. Someone his size? Most people wouldn't even try to fight him. The few who would didn't have a ground game good enough to get him in such a compromised position.
"Tap out, accept your loss, or I'll break your arm!" I yelled out between labored breaths, pulling back on his arm once more to truly let the message sink in.
"There is no honor in simply accepting defeat!" He yelled back, still struggling in vain. "Break my arm if you must, I cannot lose face in front of m-"
"Bet." I replied and pulled back with all my might.
The sickening crunch of breaking bone filled the hollow, making everyone wince. I couldn't help it myself as Kaito's arm fell flaccid in my arms. He didn't even get to shout, instead choosing to whimper quietly on the ground.
I got up and dusted down my clothes, noticing that the remaining three boys were still encircling me. "Man, you guys still look like you want to go. What happened to all your talk about honor?"
"You broke the honorable leader's fucking arm!" One of them piped up, almost breaking the little samurai act their little group had going on. "We've… we've got to get revenge or something!"
I sighed, falling back into a combat stance. My chances were slimmer than before. Sure, Kaito was down, but damn he'd done some fucking damage. My right side was killing me, and it was hard to keep the blood from the cut on my forehead from dripping into my eyes.
"No, I don't think you will."
The voice was feminine. And following it, what I saw was one of the most beautiful sights nature could ever conjure.
She stood there in classic miko raiment. Her pale cheeks flushed in the cold evening. Her eyes were the most striking violet, perfectly complimenting her long black ponytail. In the dim yellow light of the sunset, she looked like an angel descended to earth.
And she was holding a mobile phone.
"This shrine is private property. I've already called the cops. Leave now or spend the night in prison." She spoke softly, but her words carried unnatural power. I couldn't be sure whether it was her charisma or the threat of the police, but the boys fucking scampered. It seemed all their talk about honor did have some base, as they lugged both Kaito and their unconscious friend along. The only person who hadn't left yet was the fatty from the manga club, who was openly gaping at the woman.
I Couldn't even blame him there.
"Hey, fatty!" I called out to him, breaking him out of his stupor. Realization that his 'muscle' had left him behind hit him instantly, yet he didn't move. He instead stared at me like a survivor in a horror movie stares at the ghost coming to kill him.
Again, couldn't blame him. With my bloodied face, ragged uniform, and bleeding knuckles, I was pretty sure I was just as terrifying as any CGI ghost.
"Two things," I spoke, raising two fingers for effect. "One, If you don't want me to burn your fucking porn, don't fucking bring it to school, and definitely not anywhere near me." I spoke, my tone measured, trying to hold down the pain that flared up from my right flank.
"Secondly, tell Kaito that if he tries to fuck with me again, I'll take his other fucking arm too."
The fatty dumbly nodded back.
"Now get the fuck out of here, unless you wanna lose an arm too."
To his credit, the fatty ran away at speeds that shouldn't have been physically possible with his size.
I, on the other hand, slowly walked back to the shrine, walking right past the annoyed-looking shrine maiden. It took all my energy not to just collapse on the porch as I picked up the water pail from the porch and took it to the old well next to the shrine.
"Did you not hear me the first time?" The woman asked, walking up beside me. "The police will be here any moment now. I'm not sure they'll take so kindly to a bloodied man trespassing on private property."
I smiled at her, but in that act, I got another look at her. She couldn't have been any older than me, but between her flawless face and her frankly disturbingly-developed body, I found myself inadvertently blushing.
Still, I had to let her know she had no power over me. Looks be damned.
"Oh please. This place is practically my second home. I know for a fact that you haven't called the cops." I responded.
She challenged my smug grin with a cocked eyebrow. "Oh? And how can you be so sure about that? Are you calling my bravery into doubt?"
I chuckled at that. "No, not at all. The fact that you were able to step out into a fight and bluff about calling the cops from an area that doesn't receive any service told me enough about how brave you are." I complimented her, all the while calling her bluff. "Would've been nice if you'd done it a few minutes earlier. My ribs would have thanked you."
That brought her attention back to the fact that - despite appearances, I was more injured than I looked.
"Wait here a second." She all but commanded as she ran back into the shrine. Eager to disobey, I quickly pulled back the pail, now full of clean water. I took it back to the porch of the shrine and sat down. I stuck both my hands into the clean, cold water, letting soothing numbness envelop my bleeding knuckles.
It wasn't an ice bath by any means, but it was preferable to the pain.
It was then that the woman came back out of the shrine, carrying a bottle of water in her left hand, and a strip of cloth, curiously of the same coloration as her Miko outfit. A cursory glance revealed that the girl had -in fact - torn her outfit to get it.
"Hold still." She commanded as she wet one of the strips with her water bottle. Before I could complain, she knelt next to me, dabbing with the cloth at the cut on my forehead.
I was at a loss for words as she slowly cleaned up my forehead. Sure, it hurt, but proximity with such a beauty had momentarily blocked out my ability to react.
"Clean cut. You won't need stitches." She commented, right before noticing the massive blush on my cheeks. "Ara ara, it seems our little warrior isn't good with women." she teased, and the expression on her face could give any man pause.
That snapped me back to reality. Regaining my composure, I snarked back. "Says the woman who's cosplaying as a Miko in a decrepit shrine. Is there a convention or something going on? If so, why not get together and actually fix this place up?"
The woman replied back with a beatific smile, and again, I had to hold back a blush. Why was everything this girl did so erotic? What the fuck was going on?
"Well, this is my home, you know?" She replied. "I also think the current state of this place suits it nicely."
I gave her a deadpan look, before taking my right hand out of the water. "I don't know who sold you this property, miss, but I feel that you got played," I spoke, striking the wall behind me lightly. As if on cue, a plank of wood from the scaffolding roof fell, crashing right through the decrepit tatami below. "This place is a literal health and safety nightmare. No one should be living here."
"And yet you called this place your second home. Plus, it was obvious you thought of this place as a haven, even though you got ambushed here." She asked, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Honestly, yeah. I love this place. Best view of Kuoh? Check. Nice and quiet? Check? Great place to hide out in until recently? Check." I sighed. "Still not sure how they found me. Gotta ask fatty when I get the chance."
She frowned at that, "Why did those boys want to beat you up? The way they were acting, it looked like they wanted your life." She finished, moving to tie the cloth around my forehead.
Giving me a generous view of her cleavage as she did. By gods, that fucking miko hakama really didn't do her assets justice. There had to be something in the water where she came from because it was definitely not normal for girls to be so… big at her age.
"Ah. Yeah. Well, I snuck into their club room, stole their porn mags, and set them on fire in the schoolyard. Between me doing that and the student council head seeing them lose their shit in front of the fire, they designated me as public enemy number one." I answered, trying to keep my gaze away from her ample bosom. Thankfully, she moved back, her job finished.
"And there, all tied up! Gave our little fighter a little headband so he fits the bill better!" She chuckled, before regaining her serious visage. "That said, make sure to disinfect the wound daily! Better yet, take it to a hospital when you can!"
"Little fighter, huh?" I spoke, getting up from the porch. I stood half a head taller than her. Still, she was not cowed in the slightest.
"Ara ara, trying to scare me with your dominating physical presence, little warrior?" She asked, a challenging smirk on her face. "Going to show this harmless little maiden your grappling skills?"
I grimaced at that. "Sheesh, woman, stop talking like an extra from a porn novel."
She responded by giving me a shit-eating grin. "Only when you stop acting like an extra from an action b-flick."
We stood there for a moment, our gazes locked in silent combat, before I conceded.
"Touche. Anyway, I must be off. Gotta get this shit disinfected and check if that hulking brute did any internal damage." I responded. "At least they'll think twice about throwing down with me again after that."
She responded with a beautiful smile. "Good luck with that!"
It wasn't till I'd walked down the stone stairs that led down the hill that I realized i didn't even get her name.
She was all I could think about for the next few days.
I healed pretty fast, always had. Kaito, on the other hand, showed up to school next day in a sling. I made sure to break his arm cleanly so it would heal well, but that did nothing to stop the glares of hate the Kendo club gave every time I passed their members in the hall.
Yet, none of them dared pick a fight. They knew better now.
The manga club was straight-up avoiding me. The member in my class who used to brandish his porn for all to see wasn't even making eye contact with me anymore. Fair, considering it was he who had ended up starting the whole issue.
Overall, though, it was good. Life could go on as usual. Still, news of me breaking Kaito's arm had other effects that I didn't see coming.
Namely, the fact that people were looking at me like I was some thug.
Sure, I wasn't the most social person in the world, and I wore a perpetual resting bitch face, and yes I had broken the arm of the well-known ace of the Kendo club, and yeah I had set a fire in the schoolyard, but those weren't enough of a reason for people to treat me like a social pariah, right?
Bigoted people aside, the fact that I didn't have anyone to hang out with after school left me with a surprising amount of free time, which is why I found myself in front of the shrine again.
My excuse was that I had to pick up the bag of supplies I kept there in case I wanted to spend a night under the stars, but honestly? I just wanted a break from the boredom.
The weird thing was, I heard two distinct voices coming from the shrine, yet, I couldn't see the owner of either.
"You've got to hit the nail hard! The wood's too thick!" A foreign voice came from above.
"But what if the nail bends? What if it snaps?" This time, it was the miko from last time around.
It was as I walked into the shrine that I realized that one patch of roofing had been redone…badly. The planks were unevenly lined up, there was no support for some, and some were literally perpendicular to others.
I barely had any time to criticize the sheer failure of construction I was looking at before I heard something strike the plank right above me, followed by the sound of wood snapping, in turn, followed by a scream.
Acting quickly, I moved a step back and put out my arms. Just as I predicted, the Miko from last night fell straight into them. Her scream was cut short as she reoriented herself and looked me straight in the eyes. This time around, she was wearing a school uniform instead. Kuoh Academy, a girls-only school in the middle of town.
She was so light.
"Did you just fall from heaven?" I asked her, a shit-eating smirk on my face.
"I have a hammer in my right hand." She shot back, a frown on her face.
"And a hole in your roof. I see you've taken your first steps into the world of home restoration. Congratulations on surviving your first death tumble, by the way." I shot back.
"I would've been fine." She spoke, as I let her down on her ground. "But I guess you do pass decently well for a 'prince charming'."
"That's a very weird way to say thanks, but I'll take it." I replied, looking back at the hole created by the Miko, only to find another woman falling through it.
Unlike the Miko, though, it was obvious this girl had jumped down. The roof wasn't exactly high by any means, but the way the girl landed in front of me felt unnatural.
Not that it mattered once I got a look at her. Dressed in the same uniform as the girl from before, this bombshell of a redhead was undeniably a beauty of the same caliber as the Miko-chick.
Aunt always did say that pretty girls hung out in groups. Guess she was right again.
"Akeno, who is he?" She asked, a curious look on her face.
The Miko, Akeno, sighed. "He's Akira Shun, the guy I told you about."
My eyes narrowed. The girl knew my name, but how? I was about to inquire but was stopped by the redhead, who looked like she just had a revelation. With speed belying her rather generous frame, she ran off into the back room and reappeared with my bag in hand.
"Is this your DS?" She asked, pulling it out of my bag.
"Yeah, I meant to retrieve that bag at some point." I replied, realizing that they must have found it and gotten my name from one of my books inside.
"Oh. Oh yeah! Here!" She said, giving me the bag. She didn't put my DS back, though.
"Can I have that back too?" I asked, my hand still outstretched.
"Oh, oh yeah." She said, slowly handing it over. "I was a bit curious and went through your pokemon save file. You have like, an entire shiny dex in there!"
"Yeah. I kinda like breeding pokemon when I'm bored. At some point, I started collecting shinies. One thing led to another, and bam, I have too many." I answered, noticing the excited look on her face as she pulled out her own DS from god knows where.
"Well, c-could you trade me a shiny Arcanine? I took the liberty of going through your game and I really want one! I'll trade you my Zekrom for it." She spoke.
I cocked an eyebrow. "A version-exclusive legendary for an Arcanine?"
A sour look appeared on her face. "I don't like Zekrom much. Something about the name hits too close to home." her sour look faded, to be replaced with one of glee. "But Arcanine is my favorite pokemon! It's so floofy!"
"You know, I'm beginning to feel a little left out here." Akeno spoke up. "Also, Rias, manners."
The girl, Rias, gained a cowed expression at Akeno's chastising. "Oh, yeah. Hi! I'm Rias Gremory, and this is my Que- I mean, My friend, Akeno Himejima!" she spoke, offering me a hand.
I could've sworn she was going to call Akeno something else. Queer? Were they lesbians? It would track. That aside, I took her hand, giving it a firm shake. "Akira Shun, as you already know. So, how does an obviously european girl meet and befriend a Miko of all things?"
"I'll take that," Akeno spoke up, stepping forward as a confused look appeared on Rias' face. "Our parents were friends. When my parents passed away, Rias' family took me in. We're practically sisters."
Okay, maybe I was wrong with the lesbian angle.
"My condolences. Also, yeah, Rias. You can have my Arcanine. Or, if you want, I could breed you a shiny Growlithe. You can take your pick." I returned to the original conversation.
"You'd do that? Thank you! Thank you so much!" The chick exclaimed before glomping me in a hug. Now, I wasn't particularly averse to hugs, but when a redhead bombshell hugs you out of the blue, it doesn't bode well for my hormonal male mindscape.
Thankfully, Akeno was on the cause instantly. She pulled Rias back, giving her a deadpan stare. "Rias, remember what I told you about hugging strangers?"
"To not do it?" She replied, a nonplussed expression on his face.
"Exactly." Akeno finished, facing me again. "Sorry, she's a bit sheltered. She was homeschooled till we were both enrolled at Kuoh Academy."
I shook my head. "I got no problems with hugs. Just… that was a bit surprising."
"Of course, you don't, little fighter," Akeno smirked back. "Would you like a hug from me too? I'm sure you'd enjoy it more than the hug Rias gave you."
I gave her a deadpan stare. "I told you to cut it with the act."
She giggled back. "Who says it's an act? You did save me from falling."
I shrugged back. "And you saved me from being beaten up. Plus, you then helped patch up my wound. If anyone needs to be thanked here, it's you."
Akeno's sultry smile faded to something more genuine. "You don't need to thank me, Akira-kun."
I chucked. "And I don't plan to. I feel that any thanks I give you, you'd turn into some sort of perverted joke." I then pointed up. "I actually came here with a proposition."
"Ara ara! What would that be? I'm a big fan of 'propositions' you know?" Akeno spoke, already preparing to make a sexual joke at my expense.
"Simple. When this shrine was public property, I shied away from repairing this place. With some work and elbow grease, I feel I can restore this shrine to its former glory." I offered, only for Akeno to smirk back at me.
"But you see little fighter, we're one step ahead of you. We've already gotten a quarter of the roof patched up!" She exclaimed with pride.
In response, I gave the wall next to me a gentle love tap. The three planks of wood that fell from the roof were a simple confirmation of my point.
"All you're going to end up doing is falling and breaking your spines. And I - in good conscience - cannot allow you two to live out the rest of your lives in wheelchairs." I finished, having made my point.
"Okay, maybe we do need some help," Rias spoke up from the side. "Plus, something tells me we can trust Akira-kun!"
Akeno glared at her. "You're just biased because he offered you a shiny Growlithe!"
"Yes! Why would a bad person offer me something so priceless?" Rias shot back.
I stared at Rias. "Rias… if you ever run into a van with the words 'free candy' written on the side, please don't get in." I stated.
Akeno sighed. "Okay, I can't exactly go against Rias' wishes. This is her family's land at the end of the day." She then leveled a glare at me, "What's the catch?"
"I still get to use the shrine as my little getaway from society. I'm not asking for much, just some peace and quiet." I made my offering, hoping Akeno would bite.
She considered it for a moment, her gaze shifted from my friendly smile to Rias's puppy eyes, and I saw her resistance crumble.
"Fine. You can help fix the shrine." She sighed. "But! It'll have to be supervised work after school time. Either me or Rias have to be here before you start working just in case something goes wrong." She laid down the law, and I nodded in response.
"Also, give me one of your shiny Froslasses. I know you have three." She spoke, pulling out her own DS from god knows where.
"Aye aye, cap'n." I replied with a smile.
Rias and Akeno were a riot.
In the three months I'd spent working on the shrine, I'd learnt about them. Apparently, Rias was a bona fide noble from Europe, which also went a long way to explain why she was so socially clueless.
She was also a grade-A otaku. A Japanophile, even.
She could easily spend hours regaling me about the anime she was watching, the manga she was reading, hell, she even spent hours once showing me how some fancy articulated action figure she bought worked.
Talking to her was easy. I'd watched most of the anime she talked about, so I always had something to add. She was also incredibly inquisitive about my school. She studied in an all-girls school, so stories about the escapades that occur in a mixed-gender school were like gold to her.
It was easy to get along with her, and hence, our friendship blossomed easily. The fact that I was her first friend since she'd moved to Kuoh was also quite moving.
She was a ray of sunshine, and as such, should be protected at all costs.
Akeno, on the other hand, was different. She was a hands-on woman. When I worked, she asked questions. Sometimes, she'd even ask to do the work in my stead. At first, I told her it was risky, but when I caved, she showcased that she was incredibly competent with the right guidance.
Other than that, she was a kindred soul. The amount of things we had in common was staggering. Most prominent among them was the habit of teasing. I liked to tease, she liked to tease, so it became something of a competition. We both knew it was banter, and that kept it respectful.
It was nice to meet someone who gave as good as they got.
Other than that, she was quite a busybody. It almost felt like she was not only Rias's best friend but also her caretaker, the way she fussed over Rias. Plus, she was an excellent cook. Her tea, especially, was to die for.
She'd always keep a kettle ready for me when I finished work, which I was sipping from right now as I watched the sun slowly set over Kuoh.
"I never tire of this view, you know?" I told her, a gracious smile on my face. "I've seen it countless times since I moved to Kuoh, but it never gets old.
"Oh? Do you think the sunset is a better view than me? Why, I'd say that's quite the insult." Akeno shot back, as I expected.
"You can't deny it's beautiful." I shot back at her, a small smirk appearing on my face. "But I think you only enhance this view. Any view, for that matter."
She chuckled in response. "Ara ara, Akira-kun, are you trying to steal this poor Miko's heart?"
I chuckled back. "Is it working?" I asked.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out. A girl's gotta have her secrets, you know?" She countered.
"Admit it, you want me." I joked back, making us both laugh. There was something to be said about the companionship I'd found with these two girls.
I'd never been good at making normal friends, after all.
"As riveting as this conversation has been. Isn't it about time you left for home?" Akeno asked. "It's getting dark, and the way down the hill is treacherous."
I nodded, putting aside my now empty cup of tea and picking up my bag of tools. "Yeah, I gotta get going. I'll be back tomorrow." I spoke, watching her stand up beside me.
"You can take breaks, you know? Working so much everyday definitely takes up time you could be spending with friends or family." She spoke back, an uncharacteristically tender smile on her face.
I shrugged. "The only family I have is my aunt. She's a cop, so she comes back pretty late at night. I get enough time with her on the weekends."
"As for friends, well, I'm spending time with you two, am I not?" I smiled back.
For a second, a blank look appeared on Akeno's face when I mentioned that I only had my Aunt, but it was replaced with a playful smirk.
"Ara ara, the friendless fighter gains the trust and camaraderie of two young flowers. How exciting, and yet, how dangerous!" She retorted with her trademark sultry smirk.
"Laugh it up, princess. Don't even mention the fact that I'm also the only friend you two have." I snarked back, making her giggle.
"Shush! Now get going, and stay safe." She spoke, a beautiful smile on her face.
God, that smile did things to me that it really shouldn't.
"I'll be back tomorrow, princess." I spoke, walking away before she could notice and tease me about the blush on my face.
Something was very wrong.
While the path up to the shrine was often abandoned, the base of the hill itself was a pretty popular date spot. Climbing up and down from there every day had gotten me used to seeing couples littering the half-mile path up to the foot of the hill. Yet, today it seemed eerily empty.
Not a single soul was to be seen in either direction. The lights in the vending machines were out, and even the street lamps felt dim.
There was an unnatural chill in the air as I walked down the path. It was unnerving, for the lack of a better word.
As I walked down the path, I could swear I felt eyes looking at me. The woods on either side of the paved path were unnaturally dark, yet I could swear the moment I looked away, something looked at me.
I wasn't exactly what one would call 'paranoid', yet Aunt had drilled enough self-preservation into me that the eerie quiet of my surroundings had my senses at high alert.
It was this alert that saved me when the attack finally came.
A blur shot out of the forest, too fast for me to follow. Even while I was ready for some sort of attack, I was barely able to roll out of the way of the massive blur. I quickly regained my footing and pulled out a hammer from my tool bag, only to find that the blur had entered the woods on the other side.
No one could move that fast.
"Come out. I'm armed and I'm not afraid to cause harm!" I yelled, brandishing my hammer defensively. Realistically, I didn't expect whoever was assaulting me to take the bait.
"As you command, little brat."
I turned around, noting that whatever was hunting me had run up behind me faster than I could react to it. Without hesitation, I put all the might of my turn into a swing, trying to injure or incapacitate whatever it was that stood behind me. My hammer swung true, and connected with flesh..and fur?
"Was that your best shot, kid?"
I finally got a good look at my pursuer. Whatever it was, it was larger than any man I'd ever seen. It spoke Japanese like a man, but its face was that of a dog. An amused-looking dog at that.
"To be fair. I could try again with a run-up?" I joked, even as I felt my feet wobble in fear. The creature's hands were tipped with sharp claws long enough that it could gouge my heart out of my chest if it wanted. Yet, it just stood there, amused.
"Ah, so you have jokes? Good. Friend of the satan's sister." he spoke, as he delivered a punch to my solar plexus so fast that I didn't even see it approach.
"I hope you're just as funny once I'm done with you." He continued, kicking me in the face, knocking me out cold.
I woke up tied to a tree.
My vision swam. I likely had a concussion, but I was lucid enough to see the bonfire in front of me, as well as the forest surrounding the clearing I was in.
It was also clear enough to see the dog creature that had captured me, as well as others like him, only far smaller than him.
"Are you sure this will work?" One of the smaller dogs asked the big one.
"You doubt my words, Jin?" The larger one snarled. "Months this kid has spent with them. Months! If he was not valuable to the Satan princess, they would have gotten rid of him a long while ago!."
"Yet he is human. If she cared about him, would she not have added him to her peerage?" The dog named Jin asked, making my assailant laugh.
"She would be a fool to do so. Despite being larger than average for a human his age, this boy possesses nothing of value to a devil. I assume they're simply playing with him." The dog answered.
"That flies in the face of what you told us! He's nothing but a toy to them! Why would they come here willingly for someone so meaningless?" Jin asked, getting a smirk from the larger dog.
"Because they are children. What does a child do when you take away its favorite toy?" The larger dog asked Jin. Before Jin could answer, though, another dog ran into the clearing, out of breath.
"Master Jirobu! It's them! They're coming!" He spoke between heaving breaths. "They're strong! They made it through the ambush with ease! We have to run!"
A worried expression appeared on Jirobu, the large dog's face. "How? Some of our best trappers were part of the ambush! How could they get through unscathed?" He asked.
"T-they are high-class devils! Both of them! They killed them within seconds!." The smaller dog spoke, and in my delirious stupor, I couldn't help but chuckle.
"What's so funny, human?" Jirobu was instantly in front of me. Even tied to the tree, I was barely at eye-level with him.
"Oh, nothing. You kidnapped me to lure god-knows-who here, and now that you've succeeded, all you're gonna get out of it is a shitty death." I spat out, a shit-eating grin on my face.
"He is right, Jirobu! We must leave! All of us combined cannot take on two high-class devils!" Jin spoke, and a torn expression appeared on Jirobu's face. I saw his gaze travel over the hollow, over the other dogs, before he closed his eyes.
"The lot of you must leave. Go back to Kyoto. Nurahiyon will protect you. If anyone asks whose idea this entire escapade was, blame me and only me." He spoke.
"You're not coming with us? Lord Jirobu?" The scout-dog asked. In response, Jirobu shook his head.
"Someone has to take the blame. If I can't kidnap the sister of Satan and trade her for the emancipation of our land, then at least I can act like I was a rogue, acting on my own, and keep you all safe," he spoke, shooing them off. "Now run! And do not look back!"
To their credit, the dogs were quick to run, but not before giving him one last bow, for the sacrifice he had chosen to commit.
Still, this left me in a rather tricky situation, one that I was quite unhappy about.
"So, your plan's a bust. How about letting me go? Maybe whoever it is that's coming to kill you might be a bit lenient if you do?" I tried to reason with him, and for a second, it seemed like I'd made some headway before a wicked grin split his face.
"Do you even know what they are? Your two favored friends?" he asked.
"Rias and Akeno? Other than being great friends and absolute fucking bombshells, they're just good people." My concussion-addled mind made my tongue slip, but at this point, I was far more worried about what was on his mind rather than my own verbal slip-up.
"Good people! Hah! You humans are so gullible. One whiff of a woman's scent and you completely disregard all logic." He laughed, "They are devils, kid. The red-haired one? She's the sister of Satan. The Black-haired one? She's one too. They don't care about you, a little human, a little plaything."
"Yet, they seem to care enough to kill you to retrieve me." In my addled state, words flowed freely, completely ignoring the scowl on my captor's face. "Doesn't seem like a very devil thing to do."
Jirobu snarled. "Devils covet their possessions as much as Dragons do. I made a bet that they'd come to get their little plaything, and I was right."
"Yet you underestimated them and are going to die because of it. You won, but you still fucking lost." I spoke on, even as the back of my mind was screaming at me, telling me not to antagonize the massive dog-demon that held me hostage.
"It is true. I will die here tonight, but I will make them bleed before I do." Jirobu countered.
"And how do you plan to do that? 'High-Class'. Isn't that what your little doggie friend called them? Seemed like a pretty big deal, the way it got you all scared." I shot back.
"True, one of them alone? I could maybe hurt if given the element of surprise. Both of them? I'd be lucky to so much as get close before they killed me." He spoke, matter of factly.
"Lucky for me, I don't need to injure them to make them hurt."
I felt it before I saw it. It was quick, and clean, yet the pain of his sharp claws tearing straight through my chest couldn't be either. I didn't even get to scream, as my heart and lungs were eviscerated by his claws.
"All I need to do is break the toy they are so fond of."
My consciousness began to fade, and the last thing I saw was Jirobu's blood-splattered ugly mug.
What a shit way to go.
It was a white void in all directions.
I was standing on what appeared to be nothing, staring out at nothingness, as far as my eyes could see.
I was not in control of this body, but whoever was, knew that I was a passenger in his shell.
It didn't seem to mind.
"What do you think of this place? This dimension between dimensions?"
A voice, grand, larger than life, behind me.
My body turns, and I face a young man, There is an aura around him. Peace, comfort, fatherhood. The feeling that everything would be right.
"It is empty, as it should be." My body answered. Raspy voice, metallic, unused to conversation.
"Were you born here as well?" The young man asks.
"No, born in a world beyond worlds. Born with one purpose. Kill the greatest threat." My body replied. Absolute conviction, no room for debate.
"It must be good to know your purpose. I was born here. I have been here since. I hold great power, yet know not what to do with it." The man spoke. Somber, pure, no deceit.
"Are you a threat?" My body asked. Cold, calculated, prepared.
"What could I be a threat to? There is nothing." He spoke. Concerned, sad, melancholy.
"Make something." My body replied. No emotion, throwaway, pointless.
"What should I make?" He asked. Curiosity, intrigue, hope.
"What can you make?" My body asks, Curiosity, doubt, hesitation.
"I… am not sure. I don't know where to start. What to imagine." He spoke. Wistful, purposeless, dejected.
"Make a world for humanity." My body answers. Direction, planning, caution.
"...what is humanity?" The man asks. Hope, direction, enthusiasm.
"I can show you." My body answers. Planning, conniving, intrigue.
"I would like that. My name is Yahweh. And who are you?" The man asked. Delight, company, hope.
"I am Omega, the first and the last."
Void. Void. Void.
I woke up in a burning village.
My hands instinctively reached for my chest, clutching over where my heart was speared by Jirobu. There was no wound, no blood, my heart still beat. Yet, there was a gaping hole in my uniform, a grim reminder that I had - for all intents and purposes - died.
"T-this is Kyoto! From my childhood! I-it's on fire! How?"
I turned around. My eyes locked on Jirobu, who was standing on the dusty road in front of me, coughing up a fit. I assumed it was the fire and smoke affecting him, considering he was a fucking dog.
I stood up, the action was enough to catch Jirobu's attention, even though his senses were far more impaired than mine.
"You…That portal! Where have you brought me? Why is Kyoto on fire?" He asked between bouts of coughing.
"What the fuck are you talking about! You fucking killed me you rabid mutt!" I shouted back, before taking another look around. "This isn't fucking Kyoto! I was there last year! There aren't even fucking roads here!"
He snarled at me, only to be stopped by yet another coughing fit. "No… No! This is Kyoto from my childhood! I grew up here centuries ago! How are we here?"
I shook my head. "Beats me, man. Maybe Rias and Akeno sent us back in time? I don't fucking know?"
Jirobu shook his head. "Devils do not have such power. Even gods do not have such power. Else history would be a lot different than we perceive it." He snarled. "No, it was you who brought us here. Something within you activated when I killed you, it's the only answer!"
I thought back to the vision I had after my 'death'. The conversation between Yahweh and Omega, two names that meant nothing to me.
"You're telling me that somehow, you killing me activated something that sent us back centuries, all the while transporting us halfway across the country? Feels far-fetched to me, man." I retorted.
"No… I am certain. Something in you has awakened. You smell different." He shot back.
"That's probably the fire and smoke, dude. Wouldn't breathe in too much of that shit, god knows what it'll do to ya." I retorted.
"You say that, yet you are breathing it yourself, completely unaffected! Your senses may not be as good as mine, but a human wouldn't be able to breathe so well in a blaze like this!" He countered, and he was right. I was having zero difficulty breathing. Even the heat from the fires was dulled to the point it felt bearable, like being out in the sun on a hot day at worst.
"No matter. Killing you is what brought us here. All I have to do is repeat the process." Jirobu spoke as he lunged at me. I rolled out of the way, noticing that his movement was far more sluggish than before. It was likely a byproduct of all the smoke he'd inhaled while the two of us were talking.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I took off in a sprint, with Jirobu hot on my tail. While his movement was sluggish, he was still both larger than me, and also quadrupedal. I tried to take as twisty a path as possible, weaving between alleyways and houses wherever I could, yet, he was still gaining on me.
It was then that I saw him.
He was a muscular, red-haired man, shirtless too. He stood in the middle of an intersection of roads, seemingly lost in thought. He was surrounded by fire, yet didn't burn. Smoke obscured his face, yet, he didn't move.
I had to move him. I couldn't let him become collateral to Jirobu's rampage.
"Oi! There's a big-ass dog man behind me! Run!" I yelled, as I ran closer and closer to him. Behind me, Jirobu had caught up, and was preparing to lunge. If he lunged now, he would hit both me and the man.
So I did what I thought best and tackled the man as Jiroju leapt. I was able to down the man and hit the ground just in time to make the dog-demon miss. Jirobu also seemed to misjudge the amount of strength behind his leap, as it took him straight through a wooden house, buying me some time.
"Hey, dude. See? I wasn't lying about the big dog-fucker. Now, Let's run before he gets u-" I stopped in my tracks as I finally saw the face of the man who I'd pinned to the ground.
He had four eyes, and all of them were locked on to Jirobu.
The man moved me off him with a swipe of his hand. One of his four hands, mind you because he also had two pairs of those. As he got up, I also noticed the fact that his stomach had a mouth.
His stomach had a fucking mouth.
"A dog demon… Quaint." The man spoke, his eyes not straying from Jirobu's prone form even once.
"An Inugami. A proud yokai of this land." Jirobu spoke, getting up and slowly walking out of the rubble of the house he'd barreled through. "The flames that burn this town of mine carry your stench. Just what are you?"
The man smiled. It wasn't a pretty smile, though honestly with that face of his, I'd be impressed if he could ever be considered pretty. His smile was bone-chilling, like the smile of a boy right before he stepped on an ant.
"I can ask you the same. You are not from any of the clans. You are too uncouth, too ugly, too weak." The man spoke as Jirobu stood in front of him. Even though Jirobu was far taller than this red-haired creature, he felt smaller. Such was the confidence this creature exuded.
"I'll show you weak!" Jirobu shouted, bringing down both his hands on the creature's head with enough force to explode it like a watermelon.
If it connected, that is.
I couldn't describe the feeling that overtook me. It was hopelessness, pure and simple. It was the weight of presence that came from the red-haired creature
He was a creature so far above me, that even the thought of going up against him brought terrors to my mind, and by the looks of it, to Jirobu's too.
The Inugami's legs collapsed under him as he kneeled before the red-haired creature.
"An Inugami, you called yourself. A myth made up by those who saw a cursed spirit and thought it to be an act of god." he continued, tapping once on Jirobu's nose. "Yet here you are, real and solid, yet not a shred of cursed energy dwells within you."
"What… what the hell is cursed energy?" Jirobu choked out under the creature's pressure. It wasn't an answer, more a question, yet, the look of delight that crossed the creature's face was terrifying to behold.
"A creature of the occult that is blind to the existence of cursed energy? Exquisite." He commented, walking a little further from Jirobu. "Tell me, 'yokai', what is your standing in this supernatural sphere of yours?"
"I… I am Jirobu, retainer to Nurahiyon." He choked out as the pressure seemed to lessen with distance. "We serve the Shinto gods, the same Shinto gods that protect this city you have burnt down, and they will strike you down where you stand!"
In response to Jirobu's threat, the creature laughed. "Of course! If Yokai exist, it isn't too far-fetched to assume the gods do too." He spoke, true mirth on his face. "Yet, this leads us to an impasse."
"If these gods of yours protect this city, where are they? Why do they hide while you, a lowly retainer came to kill me?" he asks. "Why do they hide as their favored city burns? Why did they send you in their stead?"
Jirobu tries standing up, only for the creature's pressure to push him straight down. "No god sent me here. I've chased that man across this city, yet I couldn't smell a single youkai. This isn't my Kyoto, and I'm sure this isn't my world either."
It was then that the creature's gaze shifted to me, and I felt the full brunt of his presence. It was fear incarnate. There was no escape, there was no hope. There was no chance in hell that I could outrun, outlast, or outfight this man.
It was humbling.
"You… you are human… yet… you are not?" The creature spoke, crouching in front of me. He touched my forehead, and for a second, I felt the world unravel around me, only to reform in a single moment.
"Your body rejects me. Even with all my might, it pushed me out. Shame. I shall dissect you later, see if your body still denies me then." He spoke, losing interest in me. He walked back towards Jirobu.
"I assume the reason you are chasing him is because he brought you here." The creature spoke. "Yet, there exists no sorcery that can lead to alternate worlds. If there were, I would have found it."
He then waved a hand, and all the fires surrounding them disappeared, so did his presence. He then focused his excited gaze on Jirobu.
"You, Yokai. Show me the extent of your abilities. Surprise me, and you get to live." The creature spoke, even as Jirobu got up, sniffing the smokeless air. His main hindrance was out of the way, and a smirk appeared on Jirobu's face.
"I'll make you wish you hadn't said that." The Inugami exclaimed as he began to transform. He grew larger, more feral. While he originally looked like a hybrid between a dog and a human, he now resembled a house-sized feral dog.
"Senjutsu… evil… use… rarely." The dog monster spoke, his voice distorted. "Kill…you…kill…kid…home…"
The redheaded creature, though, was not impressed.
"You used the energy of nature to transform yourself from a mutt into a larger mutt." The creature spoke, his mirth lost. "I told you to surprise me, not bore me."
Before I could even blink, though, the supersized Jirobu moved, cutting through the red-headed creature's chest with his swordlike claws.
"...surprised?" The mutt asked, sure of his victory.
"In fact, yes." The creature calmly answered back as his skin re-knit itself. His face was impassive, bored.
"You've set a new standard of disappointment for me." The creature spoke.
"Now, disappear from my sight."
Nothing happened. No one moved, for a moment, the world stood silent. The sounds of roaring flame ceased to exist for a split second.
And then, Jirobu's body split into eight equal parts, fanning out like a fucked up folding fan.
"If that is the best you can do, I hope to meet the gods you serve one day." The creature spoke, walking past Jirobu's corpse.
"After all, what better material is there to whet my blade than the flesh of a god?"
The divisions of Jirobu's body fell, and he was no more.
I didn't react. I couldn't react. How could I? That transformation that Jirobu had gone through, I couldn't even see him move! Yet this creature had killed him with ease.
As the creature's attention moved to me, I could finally see him clearly, with no presence, fire, or smoke blocking my vision, I could see the night-terror this creature was.
"You." he spoke, and every pore of my body shivered in fear. "You tried to protect me from this beast. Unnecessary as it was, it was a gesture of good will. For that, I must commend you." He spoke. There were no lies in his words, but he wasn't done either.
"Yet, you committed a cardinal sin. You dared to lay your filthy hands upon my body..."
"And for that, you will die."
"For your bravery, I will give you my name. I am Ryomen Sukuna, unparalleled under the heavens." he spoke. "I will learn what I can from your body. May you live on in my memory."
The next thing I saw was upside down. It only took a moment for me to realize that my head had been removed from my body.
Then, all I saw was darkness.
It was the void again.
This time, I was myself. I controlled my body, and yes, it was my own body this time. Somehow, I was still alive.
In front of me, a screen formed. It was metallic grey in coloration, with black text appearing on it.
Omega Reformation Started
Boon Provided: Foundations of Omega
Mental malady Resistance: Added
Elemental Resistance: Added
Adaptibility: Added
Okay, this was new, yet, it wasn't. I felt my body change ever so slightly. Yet, somehow, the process… did not feel foreign.
I barely got the time to process the changes before the text moved on.
Scenario Quest: A Man, A God
Main Quest : Kill Ryomen Sukuna: Failed
Due to the impossibility of the task, a consolation boon has been added
Boon Provided: Boundless Body
Every day that he trains is a slap in the face of the gods
Body modified
The text didn't explain the ability, because it didn't need to. Somehow, when I tried to access it, the knowledge was… simply available to me. It was a simple boon, but a strong one.
I could train harder, and grow faster. Sure, it wasn't magic, but it was the magic of hard work, and seemingly, the only thing hindering this ability was the nature of my body.
Humans are frail, and it terrified me that this knowledge was somehow ingrained in my mind.
Sub Quest 1: Cause damage to Sukuna: Success
Boon Provided: Root Of Malice
Having a lot of cursed energy is one thing, but controlling it? That's something else.
Body Modified
I felt rage, rage at being killed twice. I felt inadequate, for not even being able to protect myself, I felt shame, for letting myself become a captive, for causing my friends to worry.
And I felt these negative emotions feed something in me. An energy that was wild and rampant, and something I would have to learn to control.
I mentally thanked Jirobu. Somehow, the damage he'd caused Sukuna had helped me gain a power that held so much potential.
Sub Quest 2: Survive Sukuna for a minute: Success
Boon Provided: Reversal Of Malice
It's called reversed curse energy. A bitch to learn, but practically cheating once you do.
No body modification this time, but the technique was imprinted into my mind nonetheless. The ability to reverse the course of cursed energy to heal myself. The technique I'd seen Sukuna use to instantly bounce back from his torso being shredded.
Yet, an ability that I couldn't even fathom using, not with cursed energy I couldn't control. The only reason I knew what it was, was because I'd seen it in use.
Sub Quest 3: Earn Sukuna's Respect
Boon Provided: ?
Your own cursed technique, should you have the skill to master it!
There was no accessible imprint this time, just the bare notion that something had been taught to me, something I couldn't even comprehend, knowing as little as I did about using cursed energy.
Great, I loved having long-term projects.
"I hope these gifts are acceptable, successor."
I turned around. Behind me stood the body I had inhabited the last time I'd come to this void. Seeing the world through his eyes was different than actually looking at him.
He was anything but human. For one, his entire body was mechanical, yet fluid. No skin covered his steel-grey body. There was no expression on his androgynous, doll-like face. There was no life in his eyes.
There was also no necessity for an answer from me. He already knew, he always knew.
"Good. You will need them. You are to become Omega. You are to become the first and the last. You are to take over my purpose."
"Grow strong. Learn from worlds like your own, otherwise, you will continue to die."
Void. Void. Void.
Mental Defense Activated
Memory Altering Spell: Negated
Evidence: Recorded
Would you like to see the evidence?
Yes - No
I woke up to messages hanging on a screen in front of me, in my bed, of all places. I was in my school uniform, repaired, as if nothing had happened to me.
Yet, the message still hung in front of me, a reminder than I hadn't simply had some wild dream.
I quickly tapped on the yes button. A hologram seemed to envelop my room. Suddenly, I wasn't alone, Rias and Akeno stood in the room, next to my bed, where I was merged with a hologram of myself, asleep.
"He was targetted because of me, Akeno. I have to do it." Rias spoke, tears threatening to burst from her eyes.
"Yes! But he's your friend! He's my friend! We could protect him!" Akeno spoke, tears streaming down her eyes too.
"How? You know we won't be here forever. We were lucky that it was just a rogue faction of low-class Youkai. What happens when someone we can't deal with shows up instead?" Rias countered, pain etched deep on her face.
"Then add him to your peerage! He'd barely cost one knight! He's incredibly athletic! Sona's reincarnated people for less!" Akeno shouted back.
"You know I can't do that, Akeno. You know why I'm saving as many pieces as I can. He'd be a great peerage member, I know. But not for what I need!" Rias spoke, her voice a whisper.
"Give him a chance, Rias! It's… it's better than simply removing him from our lives, removing all memories of us!" She begged.
"I turn him, I lose to Riser, he will remove Shun from my peerage just for being male!" Rias spoke. "I'm already scared about what would happen to Kiba if I were to be married to Riser, and he's got a sacred gear! Riser would get Shun killed, just because he'd be in my peerage!"
"I wish there was another way, Akeno!" Rias spoke between sobs. "The last three months have been magical for me. I made a human friend, Akeno! I made a friend who didn't care about who I was, or want anything from me, and now I have to make him forget me…forget us."
"There… there has to be another way." Akeno sobbed.
"There isn't, and you know it. The least we owe him is his safety, Akeno. Sometimes, when you love something, you have to let it go." Rias tried to console her friend.
"...do it," Akeno spoke, wiping her tears. "You're right. We owe him at least that much. Even if he won't remember us, we'll remember him."
"We'll remember the time we spent together. We'll remember him every time we sit in the shrine he repaired for us. Every time I look at that shiny Growlithe, every time you look at your shiny Froslass." Rias finished, putting a hand on hologram-me's head.
"Thank you, Shun. Thank you… for being our friend."
Recording Over
I…was at a loss for words.
They didn't even talk to me once, didn't even consult me, instead, they decided what was best for me all on their own.
And I couldn't even blame them for it. They didn't know what had happened. They didn't know about my excursion to another world. They didn't know about Omega. They didn't know what I knew.
How could they? They didn't even give me a chance to talk about it.
Yet, I could see the wisdom in their words. Even with all my newfound powers, I was weak. I lacked control, I lacked training. Gaining potential meant nothing, realizing it? That would make all the difference in the world.
It was then that another message interrupted my chain of thought.
Scenario Quest: He who spins Samsara
Step 1: Follow the Victorious Fighting Buddha
Location: Kuoh
Sub Quest: Uncover a secret hidden by love
Vague, but I'd take it. It was another step towards power. Power, that would one day allow me to stand alongside my friends. Not as a hindrance, but as an equal.
Rias and Akeno. They'd made this sacrifice to make sure I stayed safe.
One day, I'd make sure to return the favor.
Saori POV
Space and time had been rent asunder here. Magic so old it pre-empted the creation of this very world was cast here, and not by an unknown.
I stood beside a pile of corpses. Youkai, all of them. They had run the moment they saw the two devil girls coming. They'd made the mistake of running towards me instead.
They kidnapped my dear nephew, and the punishment for such a sin is death, and I knew a thing to two about dealing with sinners.
As I surveyed the tree that my nephew was tied to, where the portal had been created, I felt an all-too-familiar presence appear in the woods behind me.
"For someone known to have seventy-two earthly transformations, you sure suck at hiding, Wukong." I spoke.
"Yet, you noticed me now, ten minutes since I got here. Of all the places I'd have expected to find you, the very backyard of the Satans would not have been my first choice."
He stepped out of the forest. He was unarmed, still in the guise of a harmless old man.
I knew better. I'd seen him at his greatest. I'd borne witness to him crashing the Jade Emperor's court.
All my brothers and sisters knew better than to pick a fight against Sun Wukong, the monkey king himself.
"What better place is there to hide? Once you know how to fool their wards, you'll find their territory… surprisingly unguarded." I spoke.
"That… is something I should have seen coming. Still. I'm glad that you're here, fallen Archangel Sariel. This old monkey greets you." He gave me a little bow, yet both of us knew that it was merely his nature as a buddha that kept him humble.
This was not a fight I wanted, and also not a fight he wanted.
"What brings you here?' I asked bluntly. "Trying to clean up after Nurahiyon's messes again? Or did Indra decide to finally give you a vacation?"
Wukong shook his head. "Nay. I just felt a presence from this place. It felt like an old friend, so I came here to greet it. Shame that it's gone."
"Unless, you'd happen to know something about it?" He finished, and for a second, it felt like I was talking to the Sun Wukong of old, before his gaze lightened, and the pressure dispersed.
"If your friend is the person who cast a spell strong enough to rend space and time itself, then I believe I do know who it is," I spoke. There was no point hiding it. Not from Wukong. If he wanted to find out, he would, collateral be damned.
"Oh? I assume he's a mechanical little fella, about this high, with a presence so powerful you'd assume he could destroy this world with a snap of his fingers?" he asked, a shit-eating grin on his face.
"No. The one who cast this spell was my sixteen-year-old nephew." I spoke, noting the shock on Wukong's face.
"The same nephew who didn't know the supernatural existed till last night." I finished.
In response, Wukong pulled out a tobacco pipe, lit it, and took a drag.
"Fuck" he said, a solemn look on his face.
Crass as he was, I did agree.
I could definitely use a smoke right about now.
So, that's chapter 1. It goes over a lot of things real fucking fast, so take some time to digest it.
for the discord server I promised, it's going to be (slash)DQnmaHECfA for anyone who wants to join. This is in order to combat the shitty email system this site has, as well as so you guys can provide feedback directly.
Make sure to request for the updates role in the server if you want notifications when there's an update!
Other than that, if you are interested in RWBY or Kuroko no Basuke, Please give my other stories Empyrean and Pick and Roll a shot! You won't regret it (maybe)
- Cold Daylight