Chapter 1: Irregularities
-Tokyo Bay Northern End, Japan-
Kouryou Academy, this academy was a technique training high school located in the northern part of Tokyo Bay, where its students battle each other with weapons known as Blaze as training to become future peacekeepers.
The academy itself was located in the northern part of Tokyo Bay, on an island and could only be accessed through a hanging monorail.
There were Giant Walls surrounding the academy with a single entrance and a giant clock tower can be seen from the outside.
The interior structure of the building of the school and the dormitories are in Gothic style, so some students feel a bit strange about it.
But that wasn't immediately important right now, what was important were the two male teenagers who were making their way towards said school—and most notably—they were most definitely not Japanese.
The first one was 6'4" in height, making him taller than normal. Age wise, he was around 15 with caucasian skin, features that implied German American heritage, short black hair and brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. He had a runner's build when it came to body structure.
He was wearing the Kouryou Academy boys' uniform but had the left sleeve of the shirt and vest removed, from the elbow down, revealing a prosthetic arm.
The second boy looked to be about the same age but was instead 5'5" with brown hair, brown eyes, olive skin, features that implied a southern American heritage with Italian, Scottish, Irish, French, and possibly Native American being possible contributors—and lastly had a cowboy's build.
This was significant because while he was dressed in the same uniform as his taller friend, he was wearing a pair of glasses, a ten gallon leather gambler's cowboy hat that had a front pinch and crease—similar to that of Arthur Morgan—as well as a pair of grey elephant skin square toe boots, a silver pirate doubloon ring that was rimmed with gold, and a tiger's eye totem necklace that was in the vague shape of a T-Rex.
"I cannot believe I just came to a different corner of the world just for an education." The taller of the two sighed.
This was Joshua Landbrecht.
"What did you expect? For them to train us how to use soul weapons as a home school?" The Western themed teen, Calvin Morgan, questioned, the spurs on his boots jangling as he walked.
"I expected some branches in different countries, but I guess that was too much to hope for." Joshua replied, flexing his prosthetic.
"Well there's no sense in complaining, since we're here now…" Calvin muttered as they entered the academy.
(Later)
After the boys joined the assembly…
"Greetings new students, I am the headmistress of this academy, Sakia Tsukumu." A small and petite woman dressed in gothic Lolita clothing said as she stepped onto the podium. "Congratulations on making it here." She told them. "We'll begin by performing our traditional screening right, so take note of the person sitting next to you, as he or she will be your partner." The woman told them.
Calvin was the first to look and saw that sitting next to him was a teenager who looked pretty average by Japanese standards dressed in a male uniform.
"Howdy." He nodded, tipping his hat to the teen.
Joshua glanced at his right and saw a girl that looked about as average as the other locals. He simply nodded at her silently, getting a similar one in return.
"Now, when I give the signal, you are all to rise and begin to battle your partner." The headmistress told them.
"Why am I not surprised?" Joshua muttered with a facepalm as he ignored the protests of the others. It was a combat school, so this should be pretty obvious.
"Fuck me in the ass with a cactus up a tree, is she serious?" The cowboy questioned.
"Only the victors will be accepted here. The losers will have their Lucifers removed and will be asked to leave the premises." Sakia stated.
'... Nah, I'll win.' Joshua and Calvin thought nonchalantly. They weren't worried about losing.
"Now do battle! You are heaven chosen children, so prove that you are worthy of entering our Hallowed halls!" She added.
Seconds later, Calvin knocked the chairs around him all over the place as his Blaze manifested.
Said Blaze was—of all things—a Revolver hand cannon like that of the Last Word from Destiny—with the main body of it being black and the barrel having some gold on it and gold linings.
"It's high noon." He said as he whipped his weapon out and fanned the hammer—rapid firing shots within seconds knocking his opponent clear across the room.
Joshua, meanwhile, kicked his opponent back and manifested a heavy scythe that looked like the Corufell heavy scythe from Warframe, but it was colored black with blue highlights.
"Bring it!" He barked, twirling the heavy weapon like it weighed little to nothing at all.
The girl next to him summoned her own blaze—which was a katana—and lunged, prompting Joshua to block, parry, then force her back with the shaft—before twirling it and hooking her heel with the blade of the scythe and tripping her.
Meanwhile, Calvin was busy shooting at his opponent as fast as the outlaws of cowboy films would.
"How are you using a gun?! Blazes can't form complex weapons!" The boy, who was wielding an axe, said—trying to block the bullets.
"That's what they told you?" The bespectacled cowboy questioned. "Partner, let me offer you some free advice: if a person says it can't be done, it's probably because they're hiding something!" He added before he raised his cannon into the air, causing it to flash and blaze sun gold. "This is the Golden Gun. Think of it as me overclocking my Lucifer to give it an extra kick." He added, aiming at the teen.
Then he pulled the trigger, and an overcharged bullet flew out. When the boy he was fighting tried to block it, the force behind the shot just sent him flying into a wall, where he was knocked unconscious.
Meanwhile, Joshua was doing well himself against his own opponent. Speaking of, she looked like she couldn't take much more given the onslaught of heavy strikes she was taking, and looked ready to be finished.
"I think it's time I finished this." He stated, dashing at the girl he was fighting before knocking her down again.
Before she could get up, Joshua pointed his scythe at her… Before the tip of the staff portion turned into a gun!
"Checkmate." Joshua declared before he pulled the trigger, the nature of the shot knocking her out. The last thing she heard was the bark of a blunderbuss.
Off to the side, several students took note of the boy's performances and made mental notes about them as the matches wound down.
(Later)
It was later that day and the two boys made their way to their classroom, when two of the guys who saw them caught up to them.
"Hey, nice showing out there." The first boy, a brunette that Joshua recalled using a Shield Blaze, said as he and a shorter boy reached them.
"Thanks." Joshua nodded. "Name's Joshua Landbrecht. You?" He asked.
"Tor Kokonoe." The brunette replied.
"Aoi Tora." The shorter body nodded.
"Howdy." Calvin nodded, tipping his hat to the two. "Name's Calvin Morgan." He told them.
"Judging by the way you two look, you came here from North America, right?" Tora guessed.
"Yep, though I'm more exasperated by how far from home I have to be for an education." Joshua remarked with a roll of his eyes.
"I keep tellin' ya, belly achin' about it ain't gonna do nobody any favors." Calvin stated as they stepped into the classroom and got seated.
Notably, Tor seated himself next to a girl who was quite petite, had silver hair and pink eyes, making her look very exotic.
Joshua was seated next to a girl who had short, chestnut brown colored hair tied up into two mini-tails, laid on her shoulders. She has golden - amber eyes and fair skin.
Figure wise she had a petite body and average height compared to her well-endowed adult-like chest. If Josh had to guess, it was probably at least an F-Cup.
She also seemed rather unsure of herself, if he was reading her body language correctly. He wondered what was up with that.
He shook his head. He didn't want any more mental chaos; he got enough of that from the lack of sensory feedback in his prosthetic hand.
Calvin meanwhile… was actually not sitting next to anyone, oddly enough, which confused him.
It was at that moment the class' teacher showed up.
"Hello, class! My name is Rito Tsukimi, your teacher! But I insist that you call me Professor Bun Bun!" A buxom woman dressed in a maid outfit with bunny ears chirped—hopping on her desk.
"You cannot be serious right now…" Calvin muttered with a flat look on his face, covering his expression with the brim of his hat.
"Is this for real…?" Joshua whispered with a raised eyebrow.
"Well then! Since I've introduced myself, why don't you all do the same for the rest of the class?" Their teacher prompted.
(Later)
"My name is Joshua Landbrecht. I'm not very pleased that I had to go clear across the world for school but, here I am." Joshua shrugged when it was his turn.
"Name's Calvin Morgan, nice to y'all." The cowboy nodded with a tip of his hat.
After everyone had introduced themselves, things moved along. Now they were onto other matters regarding the school.
"Now, first off you students will be split up into teams of two otherwise known as Duos, who will do everything together, including being roommates." Tsukimi told them.
"If that's the case, then where's my Duo partner?" Calvin questioned.
"Ooh, right. Sorry, Calvin, but you're the odd one out." Tsukimi told him apologetically. "Don't worry though, another exchange student will be joining us tomorrow that should be able to fill that spot for you." She amended.
"So it's just a temporary hitch, gotcha." The boy nodded.
Meanwhile, Joshua glanced at his Duo partner, Miyabi, and saw her looking at him.
"... Awkward?" He asked after a moment.
"K-Kinda." Miyabi admitted. "I'm sorry, it's just that I only went to an all-girls school so I'm not used to boys." She admitted.
"Don't worry about it. As long as you don't start trouble, I won't start trouble." The boy shrugged, holding out his mechanical hand.
"I can work with that." The girl nodded as she shook his hand "... Is there a story to that hand?" She asked after a beat passed, looking at the metal limb.
"Save that for later." Joshua told her in reply.
"Now, as you stay here you'll be able to use your IDs as credit cards and have 100,000 yen to spend as you like." Tsukimi told them. "And one more thing for you co ed duos." She continued. "Kouryou Academy is no place for infants. So no funny business, alright?" She added teasingly.
"… She does know that protection is a thing, right?" Calvin questioned Tora, who shrugged.
Meanwhile, Joshua had a tick mark under his right eye as the urge to punch his teacher with his prosthetic set in.
Was he overreacting? Yeah, but he had self control, so nothing happened.
(Later)
Later on, Miyabi and Joshua were now in their dorms, setting their bags down.
"So, do you want to take a shower first, or do you want me to go first?" He asked.
"I'll let you go first. It can't be easy if you have to take a shower without your prosthetic." Miyabi replied.
"You're definitely right there." Joshua nodded in reply as he removed the artificial limb and set it on the desk. "If I do, then it's liable to generate rust." He added as he grabbed some clothes and a towel before heading into the bathroom.
When he went in there, Miyabi looked at the metal arm and picked it up. She had a few thoughts regarding it in her head, and they all concerned one thing.
Just what caused him to need this artificial limb in the first place?
She would have to wait a while to get her answers; she didn't trust herself enough to try right now.
(Later)
After around seven minutes, Joshua came out of the shower in a pair of black shorts and a matching black shirt.
"Okay, your turn, Miyabi." He told her, drying his hair with his towel.
"Thanks." The girl nodded as she grabbed some of her own clothes and went into the shower.
Now alone for the moment, Joshua looked out the window at the moon.
'I cannot believe I'm all the way out here. Let's hope I don't piss someone off.' He thought. '... And I hope those farmers are okay.' He added with a look of remembrance on his face.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in a different dorm, Calvin was leaning against the balcony of his room, a mug of coffee sitting next to him on the railing as he played a tune on a silver and polished oak harmonica.
"Wheeeen the sun crawls over the hills. We gather up, and ride out together…" He hummed to himself as he played his tune—before the sound of a helicopter threw off his groove.
Looking at the direction of the noise, he saw that a helicopter was coming in for a landing. This made him wonder if it was the transfer student he was told about.
"Well, I'll find out tomorrow." He shrugged, going back to playing his harmonica.
(Timeskip)
It was the next morning and both boys woke up bright and early, though in Joshua's case, Miyabi was still asleep. He was honestly amazed he was able to wake up this early at all, given the time zone difference.
'Hm… Should I wake her up?' He wondered as he glanced at the clock and saw that they had two hours before classes began. '... Yeah, I probably should if she wants time to get ready.' He decided as he gently shook his partner's shoulder. "Hey, it's morning, Miyabi. Time to get up." He said softly.
"Ung… Five more minutes…" The girl muttered, rolling over in her bed.
"Do you wanna miss breakfast?" Joshua chuckled as he shook her shoulder again.
"Ugh… Okay, I'm up…" The brunette groaned as she sat up and yawned, stretching as she did while Joshua put his prosthetic in its place.
"Good. Now let's go." The taller boy nodded as he headed out, Miyabi following behind after she got dressed.
Meanwhile, Calvin was heading to the cafeteria as well already, but as he neared the main hallway…
"You there, the one in the hat." A voice said, causing the boy to turn around.
Upon doing so, he soon saw that the source of the voice was a rather enchanting young woman whose striking appearance seemed to command attention wherever she went.
Her sapphire blue eyes gleamed with an almost otherworldly brilliance, possibly being able to draw others in with their depth and allure.
Her lips, a vibrant shade of red, added a touch of bold elegance to her delicate features.
Her long, flowing blonde hair cascades down her back like a golden waterfall, framed her face in soft, radiant waves.
Her fair, flawless complexion not only complements her beauty but also reflects the refined grace and status she carries with ease.
A signature red ribbon adorned the back of her head, carefully tied to style her hair, adding a subtle but charming detail that further enhances her captivating presence.
Every aspect of her appearance seems meticulously composed, which made her exude an air of sophistication and poise.
"Well howdy, there, miss. Didn't see you there." The boy said, facing her with a tip of his hat, his spurs jangling as they moved. "There something I can help ya with?" He asked.
"Yes. Are you Calvin Morgan?" The girl questioned.
"I am. Why?" The boy asked in reply.
"I believe we're to be Duo partners." The blonde replied as she approached him. "My name is Lilith Bristol." She told him, introducing herself.
"Would you happen to be the new transfer student that just arrived by helicopter?" Calvin questioned. "If you are, you weren't exactly subtle last night." He added with a chuckle.
"I'm an exception, subtlety isn't my preference." The girl replied.
"You British folk always think pretentious or do you just not like talking normally?" The cowboy questioned.
"Sometimes, one can't help the accent they're born with." Lilith shrugged in reply.
"Touché." Calvin nodded as the two decided to walk to the cafeteria together.
(Later)
Fast forward and Joshua was now sitting with Miyabi for their first meal of the day, when Tor and Julie decided to join them.
"Hey, you two." Joshua nodded. "What's up?" He asked.
"Not much." Tor shrugged. "What about you? How are things going with you and Miyabi?" He asked.
"They're fine, for the most part." The tall American shrugged in reply. "Had to get Miyabi awake for breakfast, though." He added before his Duo ducked away from Tor's gaze. "Don't mind her, other than me she's not used to guys." He explained.
"I see." Tor nodded. "Well, Julie is a bit of an oddball in a few ways." He commented.
"Name one." Joshua chuckled as he ate some mashed potatoes.
"She decided to—." Tor began to say right as Tomoe and another girl he met in the entrance battle, Imari Nagakura, sat down at their table.
"She slept with him!" Tomoe nearly shouted.
This made Joshua blink as he looked at her before raising an inquisitive eyebrow at Tor, silently asking for an explanation.
"She snuck into my bed while I was asleep and I was basically her teddy bear." The shield user explained as simply as he could.
"This, people, is why context is valuable." Joshua told the others informatively.
"Well… At least it seems like Calvin and his Duo are doing alright." Miyabi noted nervously.
"What makes you say that?" Tomoe asked, prompting the girl to point at a different table.
Upon looking, they saw Calvin sitting and chatting with a girl none of them recognized.
"Is that the new transfer student Tsukimi mentioned?" Tor wondered.
"I can see some European traits in her, so I think so." Joshua nodded.
"A European and a cowboy. That seems like an odd couple if ever I heard one." Imari nodded.
"No kidding." Tomoe nodded in agreement.
(Later)
After breakfast was done, it was finally time for classes, which… Were pretty mundane, as far as lessons went. It consisted of the usual stuff (math, history, etc.), but P.E. and sparring were ones Joshua in particular looked forward to the most out of everything.
"Blaze on." Calvin said as he summoned his blaze and drew it in a matter of seconds, flipping it in his hand before he fanned the hammer and got off five shots on target within 2 seconds before twirling his weapon and 'holstering' it.
"Showoff!" Joshua called humorously.
"Not bad. Seems I underestimated you." Lilith nodded. "But blaze combat is only as good as your body, so why don't you show us what you can do?" She asked.
"Josh?" The teen asked his friend, looking at him.
"Alright, fine." The taller teen allowed as he stepped up and stood in front of a dummy. "Blaze On." He intoned as his heavy scythe manifested in his hand, where he did a twirl and cut the head off effortlessly before using the gun mode to blast the rest of it to toothpicks. "How's that for a demonstration?" He boasted with a chuckle as he rested his Blaze on his shoulder.
"Not bad." Lilith nodded before she summoned a rifle blaze of all things and nailed her own targets. "Seems we all have that in common." She mused. "But I was more referring to your hand-to-hand skills." She elaborated. "Joshua, why don't you try your luck against me while Calvin tries against Miyabi?" She offered.
"Um… What?" The brunette girl squeaked as she looked at Calvin, who was cracking his knuckles.
"Miyabi, you don't have to if you don't want to." Joshua told her. "Also, are you sure you wanna fight me, Lilith? This hand could break your nose by accident, you know." He warned the British rifle girl, holding up his left hand for emphasis.
"Oh, I'm sure I can handle it, don't you worry." Lilith assured him with a wink.
(Later)
First up was Joshua and Lilith and the boy was already getting his cyber arm ready to go.
"His right hook is always his nastiest move…" Calvin hummed, massaging his jaw as if remembering something rather unpleasant.
"I figured it would be his left hook." Lilith remarked.
"Nah. His right hand is his dominant hand, not his left." The cowboy told her. "Though his left cross does leave a nasty bruise…" He amended absentmindedly with a wince.
As he said this, Lilith was the first to attack with a kick, which Josh quickly blocked with his prosthetic arm, before wrapping the artificial limb around her leg, grabbing it with the other hand and then slamming her to the ground—allowing him to pin her from behind…
Only for her to suddenly wrap her legs around his waist and flip him over instead, prompting him to try rolling in order to not be in the same position.
It just barely worked, and it allowed him to get back to his feet quickly.
"Not bad." The tall teen acknowledged with a nod.
"It pays to have private tutors." The blonde nodded. "You're not so bad yourself, quite the opposite, even." She mused.
"I studied a fair amount of kickboxing along with other things." Joshua admitted before going in for a right hook.
Lilith was able to block it, but she wasn't ready for the force behind it, which made her stagger in surprise.
"See?" Calvin nodded, gesturing to the fight as he saw his point being proven.
"Wow! I've never seen someone in our age group with that kind of strength!" Miyabi gasped in surprise.
"Yes, it's quite impressive." Tomoe nodded.
"Talk about a strong-arm." Tor quipped.
"You said it." Tora nodded.
"Ja." Julie nodded.
Back with the two combatants…
"Just what exactly did you use to train with? Punching rocks and trees?" The blonde questioned, her arm feeling like it was nearly broken.
"Do I look like I'm Rock Lee?" Josh questioned, getting back into stance. "Seriously, you make it sound like I'm a Minecraft character." He added.
"Your strength disagrees." Lilith retorted as she tried to throw a punch at his ribs, only to get deflected by his prosthetic. "Gah!" She hissed, her fist hurting from hitting the metal.
This gave Joshua the opening he needed to grab Lilith by the face and facepalm her into the floor, knocking the wind from her lungs in the process.
"Do you yield?" He questioned.
"Y-Yes…" The blonde coughed with a groan.
"Good." The tall American nodded as he helped her up. "You gonna be okay?" He asked.
"I'll need to get my arm checked out, but other than that, I will be." The British girl nodded in reply as she held her left arm.
(Later)
Miyabi decided that she wasn't really ready to fight, so instead, the next spar was one where Imari and Calvin were up next, prompting everyone else to sit and watch.
"If Imari has any chance at winning, she needs to stay clear of Calvin's left side." Joshua stated.
"Why's that?" Tomoe asked.
"Cuz he's a southpaw." The taller teen replied.
"What does that mean?" Julie questioned.
"It means he's left side dominant, which makes him harder to predict." Lilith replied. "I've seen enough boxing matches to know that a left handed boxer can be particularly brutal when they feel like it." She added.
"Exactly." Joshua nodded in confirmation.
As they said this, Calvin opened the fight with a right jab to Imari's face, prompting her to back up to avoid getting hit.
But this left her arms within reach, allowing the body to grab her by said limbs and pull her in before delivering a knee blow to her stomach, causing her to drop to her knees—and then he finished off with a left check to the back of her head, knocking her out cold.
"... Did someone have a timer for that?" Tor asked after a beat passed.
"I counted about fifteen seconds." Tora noted, checking his watch.
"When someone tries to over extend your reach to get you off balance, it's best to pull them in to get them off balance instead." Tomoe nodded as she went to Imari.
"Or alternatively, you can just fight dirty…" Joshua stated with an eye roll.
"If anyone feels like it." Julie chimed in.
"I don't feel like fighting anymore…!" Miyabi gulped nervously, clearly not wanting to be taken down in less than fifteen seconds.
(Timeskip)
Fast forward things slowly started getting into a rhythm with the Duos as the deadline for picking their permanent Duo partner reached its end.
And in one such situation, Joshua and Miyabi were in their dorms like usual, and the girl decided to ask her partner if he was having second thoughts.
"Joshua, are… Are you considering someone else for your Duo partner?" She asked hesitantly.
"Not particularly… Why?" The boy asked, a bit confused by the question.
"I… I was hoping that… that.." She tried to say, but couldn't finish the rest of the sentence.
"You want me to be your Duo partner, don't you?" The tall American guessed, getting a shy nod in response. "I mean, if you're okay with it, then sure." He nodded, not really offering any sort of protest in response.
"I do feel comfortable enough around you." The brunette admitted. "I… I don't know if I can find anyone like you." She added, not wanting to lose the freshly built sense of comfort she's gained.
"Well you don't have to worry about that, then." Josh nodded as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be your partner from here on out." He told her.
(Elsewhere)
"Coffee, in the middle of the night?" Lilith questioned as Calvin set a mug down for himself while she had tea for herself.
"For some people, caffeine at night can actually serve to make them fall asleep faster rather than keep them up." The boy stated.
"I know that, but I'm not really sure if I'm under that umbrella." The blonde admitted.
"Why do you think I suggested you have tea instead?" He told her. "Thanks, by the way." He nodded, looking at Lilith's female butler.
"Of course." She nodded.
"Different subject." Lilith sighed. "Duos, are you thinking of swapping?" She asked.
"Not exactly." The cowboy shrugged. "I don't necessarily see any reason to change partners." He admitted. "I mean you may be bossy, hard headed and stubborn as a mule, but you're fine as far as partners go." He told her.
"Well, you're certainly a tad arrogant, but your abilities back it up." The blonde commented, not acknowledging nor denying what he said about her.
"I think we'll get along just fine." Calvin chuckled.
A moment of silence passed between the two as they let this sink in, until the bespectacled teen pulled out his harmonica and started playing a tune on it.
Lilith opted to silently listen to the tune her partner was playing, finding it soothing for this moment. It definitely helped create a relaxing atmosphere for the two of them.
ThermalsniperN7: This story literally popped into my head while working on another Absolute Duo story, that being Infinite Soul. The alternative Blaze for one of the protags here would've been the Big Daddy suit from BioShock, including the drill.
Dragon Emperor0: I decided to go with a cowboy paleontologist/Archaeologist and treasure hunter because, why not? That's basically a decent part of my personality, and pairing him with Lilith seemed perfect because I've already seen the "Refined British woman and Rugged American Cowboy" dynamic play out great in my Assassin's Creed: Outlaw western story.
ThermalsniperN7: That is true. Anyway, we decided on this more or less due to the fact Absolute Duo seemed like a good setup for another of our alternate self story set, where my character lost a limb due to an incident that will eventually be revealed. Not sure how this story will go, but I like to have fun with this sort of thing.
Dragon Emperor0: Same, so I'm looking forward to it. Anyway, see you guys next time.