A bit late, had taken a day and a half off to rest after writing A Fake Familiar given how long that chapter was. And Toloveru before that was also super long.
Next update is Steel Eyed Faker followed by Fate Coiling Sword.
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-Tokonosu-
(Early in the morning)
It hadn’t been long since he discovered the undead, and so far, Cu failed to find any other victims or even a clue about what sparked this mess. Sure, he had a few theories rattling in his noggen, but without proof, they were just guesses.
If he didn’t figure this out fast, though, he had a bad feeling that things were about to get a lot worse.
“You're not going to school, boss?”
His musing was interrupted by the person next to him, the gangster-looking guy he met on his second day in town. This was the same guy who begged him to spare him after confessing to only working with small gangs due to financial issues and supporting his little sister at school.
Yoshito still wore the durag over his head and the necklaces, and his overall appearance remained the same after their last meeting.
Cu took another chip. Both of them were eating a couple of snacks in an old Kei car that looked like it would fall apart at any moment. Rusted in some areas from the outside, smooth tires that offered little to no grip on the road, and a broken door handle with wires sticking from the side.
Yet it still ran reliably, after all, it got him to the shrine and back to Tokonosu without much issue.
“Took myself a day off,” was all he said, calmly listening to some of the western rap songs Yoshito loved. “And quit callin’ me boss, will ya? Sounds bleedin’ odd. If some idiot heard ya, they’d be thinkin’ I’m in with the Yakuza. Already had run-ins with the cops, don’t need more trouble on my plate. Kyoko might genuinely try to strangle me in my sleep if she found out.”
“Got it, aniki!”
Oh well, it was better than the alternative, and he was older than the guy, so he wasn’t technically wrong.
“You know, for someone who just lost the brand-new car your boss lent ya, you seem awful happy with this one.” He recalled when they first met, Yoshito would hang out with the group where the leader had them as a driver and would even let him keep the old car when it was time to go home. “Did you buy it or nick it?”
“Hahaha! Come on, aniki, don’t say that. I’m seriously paid for this thing fair and square. Used up some of my savings from the gang work. My grandparents would haunt me if I lied about that.”
In that case, the savings must not have been very much to begin with. The two-decade-old car his father had looked at least ten times more valuable and in better condition than this one.
“My friend had this lying around for many years, I bought it at an extremely cheap price and spent the rest of the money on replacing the engine and the wiring and even got some of these comfortable seats.”
The man had a point; the seats were in good condition and were more comfortable to lie on than the ones in Kyoko's car, but still, the thing he sat on was barely bolted down and would rustle in place at each turn. The guy was certain that he saw a piece of rusted lug nut falling off the tire a few minutes ago.
“You sure sound like you have a lot of confidence in this car.”
“Of course I do! It may not look impressive, but this baby can survive an apocalypse, let alone a peaceful town like Tokonosu. “I even got this new radio with that money you gave me.”
“Friendly advice: don't put so much trust in a tin you just bought recently, especially when being held together with hopes and prayers.”
“I trust it!”
The Irish man chuckled at his enthusiasm, while he himself did not have that much funds to support this guy, he had enough to just compensate him whenever he could as he did not want to take advantage of him whenever he needed his car. Of course, it meant sacrificing a few beers he could have bought with that money, but Yoko had several in stock, so he would just secretly drink there if his fridge was empty.
“How's your sister, for that matter? And your family overall, last time you said they were pretty sick.”
Yoshito let out a heavy sigh, running a hand over his durag. “This damn town’s getting pricier every year, thanks to that asshole mayor. Between that and the medical bills, I’m lucky I even had enough to scrape together for this car. Had to fix it up just to keep it running. Can’t let my sister stress about money, though—she’s got enough on her plate with school. But try finding a decent job looking like me,” he said, gesturing to himself. The tattoos certainly didn’t help, along with his overall thuggish appearance and height, made him look like someone who would cause trouble.
Which baffled him a bit, he saw the man's sister, a small cute gal with red hair like Momo that resembled a little angel and was very polite. He truly wondered if these two were really related or whether or not he was adopted.
“Cheer up, things will work out for you in the end, I am sure of it.” Cu said with a forced smile, keeping his eyes on the road and going silent for a moment until he heard Yoshito mutter something under his breath.
“Another one missing.”
“What?” Cu asked, relaxing against the chair with the wind blowing on his face. Having almost fallen asleep but forcing himself to stay awake.
“More missing posters, look.”
Slowing the car, he pointed at a bus stop. On the nearby signboard, multiple posters could be seen, all of them of missing people, and all of them had recently been added.
The sight made Cu frown.
Perhaps it was unrelated, but he did not remember seeing so many of these when he first came over. Not to mention the timing made it that more suspicious. “Does it happen often?”
Still, best to ask someone who grew up around these parts.
“Kinda. Even in a town like this you have your regular johatsu cases pop up with people just… vanishing. Or murder cases, people escaping from violent relationships, human trafficking, rapes, kidnappings, you name it. It's not as bad as the numbers in Tokyo from what I heard, but it is a bit strange.”
“How so?”
“It's just… I feel like there are more and more of these posters lately. Look over there,” he pointed at a phone poll where multiple posters were present, all of them recent as well. None of those on the posters were part of the group that trashed the shrine, but most were very recent. “The majority are students with the few being adults. What's really weird is that you won’t hear anything about this on the news, not a fucking word, these politicians are keeping us in the dark I tell you. Probably got caught by the Yakuza to be sold off outside the country or maybe even the Triade, heard that those groups have a monopoly in the slave trade.”
The conversation kept rolling as the car rumbled down the road, neither of them in any particular rush. About twenty minutes later, Yoshito pulled over a block away from Ishio High School. The place was a complete circus—reporters shoving microphones in every direction, parents yelling over each other, and cops looking like they’d rather be anywhere else.
“Tch, it's worse than I thought. The whole neighborhood gathered here and even the cameras are rolling.” Yoshito mentioned as he got out of the car, scowling which made a few passerbys immediately avoided the duo. “Why even come here? If the girl is sexy enough then I suppose it makes sen—ouch!”
The man was silenced by a slap at the back of his head. “Idiot, I didn't come here to mess around with any girls. As for the reason, you remember what I told you yesterday?”
“The missing brats, yeah I remember.” He answered, not really showing much concern about the missing people. Cu didn’t mention about the undead, only about finding a dead body. “You see this kind of stuff regularly on my side, kids with powerful parents or those who got involved with bad eggs going about causing trouble and being your typical assholes. They end up going too far and someone dies by accident or because someone forgot to hold back, and then they all scatter like rats, dropping that tough facade shit and hiding under their mother's skirt and whining to their wealthy daddy’s to fix it.”
“Sums it up, though these ones most likely got involved in something that ight be really bad news for the entire city if not taken care of quickly.” Leaning against the hood of the car, accepting a cigarette handed to him, Cu continued to observe the school in front and any entry points he could use. “So unfortunately for them, they'll have to deal with me.”
“Is it really that bad?” He was asked this question, this time with a more worried expression from the other side. “Can't you just let the police handle it? I heard the Takagi are involved with this, you just don't mess with them no matter who you are. They'll drag those kids out whether they are screaming bloody murder.”
Cu chuckled, that was what he was worried about most. People who had no idea what an undead was and getting bitten by them. It did not matter if those kids were killed later on or not, for the infection would have already started to spread by now. That was if the infection was even transmitted by bite. It could involve a curse for all he knew. “Tell me, do you believe in the supernatural?”
“Supernatural? Like ghosts and stuff?”
“I guess they are part of it, but more specifically things like undead or zombies if you'd like.”
This answer clearly took him by surprise as he stared at Cu for a few moments before exhaling a puff of smoke while looking upwards. “Shit man, that's scary stuff but they are one of my favorite genres to see in movies. My sister and I will have Friday nights where we'll watch something like that.”
“And if that were to become reality?”
He puffed his chest then exhaled a cloud of smoke, showing a confident face. “Weird kind of question, but since you asked… then I'll crush them all with ease! Whether it be with a knife or gun, those things can only walk slowly, super easy to deal with. Don't know how those characters in movies always struggle so much, like, it's not like a quick shot to the head is that hard.”
The former Servant of the spear wanted to shake his head at the man's naivety. “Saying is much easier than actually doing it. While one undead is not a threat, a thousand of them, tens of thousands or even millions will easily overwhelm anyone, no matter how strong or fast they are. But you're missing something, what if someone close to you were to become an undead?”
Yoshito’s mouth froze in place, unable to provide an answer he became uncomfortable with that idea, frowning and showing clear aversion to that idea.
“Like hell I would let that happen, my sister is too cute to become a zombie and I'll fucking kill an army of them if they even tried.” He shook his head, perhaps trying to get rid of a thought that he did not like. “In any case, why even bring this up? Don't tell me those brats involved with zombies…”
“Hahahaha!” That ended up making the blue haired man laugh at how close his friend was to the bullseye. “You won't believe me even if I tell you why I want to find them, it's easier to just show you next time. In any case, while we wait for a bit, how’s my order going? Is it gonna be ready anytime soon?”
“Yeah, though my friend asked for more time. For some reason the materials he ordered from the outside haven't arrived and not a single fucker is picking up his calls — but the shaft is already done and all that remains was the spearhead, which he's just going to make with local materials to save time. But he wasn’tnot the only one, I also lost contact with a few of my friends in the States. All of them went radio silent man.”
Cu furrowed his eyebrow, checking his phone where he read a few messages from his parents from yesterday. Giving him an update every so often and asking him how things were on his side. Yet yesterday they also mentioned how they won't be able to contact him for a few days, something about the cell service in their area needing maintenance.
He tried sending a single message, but it was not received from their end. A single tick appeared on his side, last seen online for almost half a day.
“...”
A hint of paranoia that originally would not have been present at any other day started to gnaw at his mind. Not a pleasant sensation in the least, he hoped it was just a simple issue getting resolved in a day or two. There was no other way to check on them even if he wanted to, all of his old friends were in that area.
“You have a scary fucking face.” The sudden remark from Yoshito shook Cu away from his trance, pocketing his phone and discovering he was being stared at warily. “You didn't have that kind of face back when you were fighting the gang. Anything happened?”
“It's nothing, also, heads up.” He waved the latter's worries away. “Hm?” Just as he was about to walk towards the school and find a path inside, a familiar figure approached them. Wearing a large coat and having the same scowl on his face as his daughter.
“Why aren't you at school?”
“Ooooh, good morning to ya, Tadashi!” A grin stretched on Cu’s face as he saw the police officer who detained him on his second day here and funnily enough the father of his ‘disciple’ Rei. “Should have known you were going to be here, I hope Rei got home early yesterday.”
“Don’t you dare bring her up,” the middle-aged man hissed, his tone sharp enough to cut through steel. His glare shifted to Yoshito, who stiffened under the scrutiny. “And you—I remember you. Last time I saw your face, you were in that alley. Paramedics had to clean up his mess while you where just standing there. Now here you are, hanging around another school when one of you should be in Fujimi. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t slap cuffs on both of you and toss you in a cell where you belong?”
“Didn't get enough sleep yesterday from the looks of it, you're just as grumpy as Rei during her mood swings.”
“I told you to not speak about my daughter!”
Yoshito flinched in place, looking absolutely terrified while Cu tried to calm the policeman with an easy going smile. “Oh calm down will you? I was sick and Yoshito here felt bad for what happened last time and took it upon himself to make it up to me. So we were just going to the pharmacy and then saw this commotion here. I don't think you'll be worried about two random people when you have more important things to worry about.”
Tadashi squinted his eyes at that answer, continuing to look at him in the eyes for a few more seconds before sighing. “Fine, you're not worth the effort. But talk about my little girl again and I will handcuff you to the bed frame of a jail cell.”
Just as snappy as his daughter, at least now he knew where she got her personality from. The looks must have been from the mother's side and she was definitely a looker from the pictures that Rei showed him.
“You seem very against the idea of both of us hanging out.”
“I prefer for her to focus on her studies more than making friends with a delinquent who couldn't help himself from causing a lot of issues on his second day.” He said sternly, “I already have enough to deal with, I don't want you to drag her down.”
Drag her down, that was the last thing he would do and the girl was too stubborn to fall for such a thing in the first place. Though he could understand why the father was so worried, she was his daughter after all. “Rei is a smart girl, she'll figure out what's best for her. I won't force any decision on the gal. In any case, mind filling me with what's happening here?”
“None of your business,” he answered dismissively, “This isn't something a student should get involved with, so just go back home. Despite my feelings, I can tell deep down you're a good kid, so don't get into trouble and cause unneeded worry for your guardian… also stay away from my daughter.”
Cu raised an eyebrow, “What if she is the one approaching me? Her entire goal so far has been to beat my ass during sparring, I doubt she'll back away easily, that gal is as stubborn as a mule. Wonder where she got it from.”
“Watch your mouth!” Even if those words were mentioned angrily, he saw the man's mouth twitch upwards, almost forming a smile. “Hah, I pity the woman taking care of you.”
“C'mon, I make sure to not cause too much stress to Kyoko as well.” He watched as Tadashi scoffed before leaving, paying them no more attention until he recalled something. “When you go back home, can you tell Rei that I appreciated the bento box she made for me, but she really needs to add more meat in her diet.”
“She did what!?” Horror showed on the father's face as he turned around and rushed at Cu, grabbing him by the collar with clear murderous intentions in his eyes. “You bastard, are you dating my daughter!? I'll lock you up in a jail cell!”
“Calm down pops, I'm actually being serious here. With how often she pushes herself, that girl barely listens to me whenever I tell her to rest or follow my advice. So if you don't want her to see herself get injured during training, best she follows what I say. Unless You are able to convince her to stop sojutsu.”
The middle-aged man scowled, looking at the boy as if he was going to strangle him at any moment. But with how many eyes were on them and the fact that the cameras could turn towards them at any moment, he was forced to let go while grinding his teeth.
But just as he was about to leave, Cu had one final thing to say to him.
“I know we started out on the wrong foot, but I really am not going to make her life harder. She's a good girl, her temper could use some work but overall, she’s not a bad person. If she starts to get involved with bad company or some shitty scumbag wants to make her school life hell… I'll give them a good beating in your stead.” Tadashi’s eyes widened, staring at the boy with surprise as he most likely hadn't thought the latter would be aware of that side of the story.
“You…”
“She's the one who told me if you're wondering, I didn't force her or anything like that. It's already hard enough for her to go to school with practically everyone afraid to approach her because of Shido, that is why let's both of us make sure she gets to have an enjoyable year.” He said sincerely, getting the other one to calm down and let go of him. A complicated expression flashing on his face as he broke his gaze and looked downwards.
“You have no idea, kid. I can't make it up to her when it is actually my fault as to why she’s in that situation in the first place.” He whispered quietly, the prior intimidating presence completely gone leaving behind nothing but a weary father.
Cu sighed, slapping the latter's shoulders. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, moping around won't make things any better. I don't care what you did or how this even happened in the first place, but as long as you're willing to put in the effort then that's all I care about. Just treat her like you would always do, don't act pitifully as it will affect her. She is more perceptive than you imagine, try to smile a bit will you?”
The policeman was taken aback, finding himself speechless to say anything else. After a few moments of mulling over something in his mind before taking a deep breath.
“...You're a good kid.” He proceeded to pat Cu's shoulders as well. “I'm still going to warn you to not get too close to her, let her focus on her studies first before doing anything else. Got it?”
“These pants aren't coming off around her anytime soon, old man. But what if she is the one who is coming at me?” He said playfully come on getting a reaction out of Tadashi who regained his prior demeanor and this time left them with big strides.
“You'll have to go through me first, you fucking brat. Just make sure she doesn't get in any trouble at school… and here is my number in case Shido tries anything else.”
That earned a chuckle from the Irishman, feeling both amused and happy that they could come to an agreement. They're interaction had been witnessed by the stupefied Yoshito who hadn't uttered a single word the entire time. His knees trembling the entire time, “Holy shit, aniki, you are banging the girl of the guy who arrested you!? That's so aweso—ouch!”
Whatever he was about to say afterwards was quickly put to a stop with the help of another slap to the back of his head.
“I ain't fucking Rei for that reason, we ended up meeting each other by pure chance. Also, chin up, we need to move.” He pointed at the entrance of the building, the crowd of journalists and parents being told to leave by policemen. Several cars with the teachers leaving the premises with the students soon walking out from the gates.
From one of the cars, he found a familiar face and pointed at him. “There, the white car, that's our guy. Follow him, now.” He ordered, getting in the car with Yoshito following along with a large grin on his face.
“Count on me, aniki!” Quickly getting inside the rusted Kei car, he turned the key a couple of times. The vehicle took a few attempts to turn on, and the engine made a couple of worrisome noises but turned on the end. His foot slammed the gas pedal, the tires screeching as he swerved around and rushed to catch up. “Let's goooooo!”
“Hahaha!”
Cu laughed at his enthusiasm, grinning as the car nearly struck a lamppost but managed to dodge it at the last second. Attracting plenty of concerned and shocked gazes from the reporters nearby as they left the area,
They tailed the white car, keeping a careful distance to avoid detection. Cu's eyes narrowed as he recognized it - the same one that was always parked next to Shido's. Had to be that creepy gym teacher who taught at both schools, the one who couldn't keep his eyes to himself during stretches.
Whatever this guy knew about the missing students, Cu intended to find out. One way or another.
“Oi, careful there buddy. Prison's not my idea of a good time, and I doubt you can afford to replace this rust bucket.”
“Don't sweat it, I'm an excellent driver!” Given how they nearly ended up crashing against a store, a pedestrian and an actual police car, Cu highly doubted that claim. Not to mention the traffic camera a few blocks back that definitely took their picture. “Whereis this geezer going?”
The white car in front of them took a turn that did not lead back to his school, taking on a completely different direction and heading north.
“Not to Fujimi from the looks of it, strange. Keep following him, don't get too close though, he will grow suspicious.”
The road they were on led to the outskirts of Tokonosu or more accurately at the upper end where the large multi-storey buildings and standard homes started to be replaced with villas and large empty lots filled with trees and parks. He recognized the place, having visited with Rei not that long ago but never this far.
“Damn, just what the hell are they paying to the teacher at your school to have a house in this area?”
“There's no reason to believe he's going back home, probably meeting someone. Stop the car.” The white car came to a halt and so did they, Yoshito taking a turn and going out of sight before parking within the forest with the rusted appearance of the car perfectly blending with the surrounding foliage.
From there they saw the bald teacher get out of the car and head towards the door of a large villa where a man in a suit came outside with a bag in hand.
“What now?”
Cu opened the door, giving him an unreadable stare. “You can come with me, stay here in the car or go back home. I'll be questioning the old man a bit. The topic is a bit sensitive and could get you in trouble. Personally, I think it would be better if you went back home, this is a dangerous matter and I don't want you to put yourself in danger for my mess.”
At first, Yoshito hesitated, but after further debating, he nodded. “If this is about those students, then I'll come with you. The last thing I want is for my little sister to be on those posters. There have been too many disappearances lately, and I don't want her to be next.”
Cu nodded at him before the two headed in.
{Break}
Wakisaka felt absolutely horrible since early this morning, a head splitting migraine, constant wave of nausea and his body burning up as if he had a high fever. Taking on some painkillers that help early in the morning to continue his job as usual and not be absent, with the Takagi family getting involved, he knew putting any kind of suspicions with his actions would not be ideal.
So best to keep up the facade and continue on with his job as usual.
“Four million yen as agreed upon, you will get the other half wired to your account when you leave the city and keep your mouth quiet. Say a single word to the police, then you and all of us will be in jail regardless of how much you plead with them — this is the Takagi family we are talking about. I hope you make your choice wisely and keep your nephew away from the media as we discussed as well.”
The man who spoke to him, a butler serving the family of one of the kid's parents who owned a construction company.
This morning, he received a call about a topic that made his stomach churn and his state worsen. The more he conversed with them the more clear it became that they also wanted the same thing as him. For all parties involved to stay quiet even offered hush money for him to do so. Wakisaka did not refuse the deal. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to take the sum and leave the country as soon as possible.
Staying hidden in this place would only buy him so much time until he would be eventually tracked down, his actions under the bridge still haunted him and the horrific scenes surfaced whenever he closed his eyes. This place was cursed, staying here was not an option and quitting his hard-earned job at Fujimi had to be something he needed to do.
“Yes, you will not hear from us from now on, no from the boy. You have my word, by next week I will be gone from Japan.”
No one was aware that his nephew had also died, and he did not intend for them to find out while he was still alive. So, using the excuse that the boy wanted to stay hidden, he managed to strike up a good deal with this family and came to collect the fee. Before the weekend, he planned to give his resignation letter at Fujimi and leave with severance pay on top of that.
Where could he even go?
A few ideas roamed in his mind, having some connections in China that could help him go under the radar for a year or two before he could think about returning. But none of his friends over there were picking up his calls this morning, not even any of his emails were answered which left him worried they were purposefully ignoring him after hearing about the news.
‘W-Wait, they wouldn't know about the murder in the first place!’ Paranoia grew within and affected his judgement, he wanted to keep a clear head but the pain made it hard to think.
“Then we are done, have a good day sir.” The butler said before slamming the gates at his face, leaving the bag filled with cash at his feet.
Even the parents couldn't be bothered to come out and talk to him themselves.
Wakisaka’s eyes turned wide with surprise when he saw the large amount of cash inside the bag, seeing it had a bigger impact than knowing about the amount and his heart couldn't stop racing with joy. “In… In a few days, in j-just… hn! Just a few more days… and all of this will be behind me… I can be free. Cough cough!”
Weakness gripped at his limbs, with more and more fits of coughs in the past hour.
Right as he was about to head back into his car, a surge of pain engulfed his body and he nearly fell onto his knees. “Argh!” Black spots appeared within his vision, along with the overwhelming urge to vomit. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”
Not wanting to make a scene in the area, he quickly forced himself to get up and run within the forest, away from any prime eyes with a bottle of painkillers and other medicine to help with his issue. He felt a burning sensation coming from his left palm, reaching to his forearms and onto his shoulders, slowly creeping closer to all over his body. As if hot magma was running across his veins.
“That fucking kid, even when he’s dead, he is finding ways to make my life a living hell! Just as fucking troublesome nephew!” Leaning against a tree, he vomited his guts out with bile and blood coming out of his mouth. “Uuuurgh! Kah! It hurts!”
Retching for a good minute, nothing but blood and his stomach acid staining his chewed lips.
The site looked horrific and for some strange reason, his mouth started to salivate. His vision growing more hazy, his fingers getting numb more and more, along with a deep-rooted hunger starting to creep up. “Hn!” Opening the bottle with trembling hands, most of the pills fell onto the ground. “Damn it!” He tried hastily to collect whatever he could, even those that were stained with his vomit.
About to swallow them whole until he heard a voice from behind.
“You don't seem to be in good condition, Wakisaka-sensei.” his heart came to a sudden stop, a chill going up his body as he slowly turned around to find a familiar boy squatting right behind him with a curious look on his face. “Yo.”
“Aaaaaaah!” A terrified screen escaped his mouth, feeling no different to a criminal being caught red-handed as he scrambled backwards only to hit the back of the tree. A myriad of emotions swirling within his guts only for it to slow down when he recognized the newcomer's face.
“Y-You… you're that new student from abroad, S-Stephane?”
“It's Seth or Cu, pick your favorite.” Cu said dryly, “at least you remember me somewhat, I thought you would not, given how often you tend to check the asses of all the girls in my class to pay any attention to the boys. A bit of a surprise to find you around here, least of all in this state. Need help?”
Panic stricken, he tried to ignore the pain coursing through his body and hide it from the boy. “You shouldn't be here! Wh-Why aren't you at school!? I can call the cops and have you deported back to your country for breaking the rules!” He stuttered over his words a bit, saliva flying everywhere while hoping to scare the boy away.
But that only earned a yawn from him, not even looking the slightest bit concerned.
“Bit of an overreaction there sensei. Besides, I already met a cop on the way here, we had a good talk. Though I don't think it's a good idea for you to call them, that's a lot of cash you have there. Would be a shame if they tried to question you about where and how you got it and ended up taking it. We wouldn't want that, would we?”
This unnerved Wakisaka, for the boy was right. With his condition growing worse and how he had dropped the pills, he just did not have the luxury to stay here and try to talk things out with him. So with a large shout, he turned around and ran past Cu towards the path he took to come here. The blue haired Heroic Spirit gave him an unimpressed side eye but didn’t go after him.
“Hah… hah… hah! Oof!”
Unfortunately for him, his eyes that kept looking back expecting for Cu to give chanse failed to spot another person standing in front of him. Colliding against the wall of muscles that stopped him in his tracks and fall tothe ground once again, shaken and groaning.
“It ain't polite to ignore my brother there, geezer. Don't think you're getting your ass out of here till he says so.” Yoshito warned, hands inside his pockets and putting on an intimidating face which made Wakisaka feel suffocated. “Try this stunt again and I'll break your legs.”
Cu walked over and shook his head, “Maa, Maa. No wonder you can't land a job with that attitude. Anyways, don't be scared, we're just to ask you some questions. Also as a student I am concerned with your health, sensei. Yoshito here can get you to the hospital in a matter of minutes, he's a good driver.”
“Yeah, like he said!”
Just what the hell was going on here!? Wakisaka tried to make sense of it all, wondering why the new student and this gangster were after him. Then the realization that someone must have slipped the word of him getting the money became the conclusion. ‘That fucking butler ratted on me! They want me dead!’
He wanted to scream in anger, go back and make those people regret their decision by ratting them out to the Takagi regardless of his fate! But now… now he needed to find a way to survive.
“P-Please, mercy, y-you can have the money but don't kill me! Please!” He begged, forcing out tears and pressing his head against the ground.
“Ah shit, look at what you've done. He thinks we're the bad guys. You're just too mean lookin’ man.”
“Sorry, aniki!”
The two spoke while he continued to beg while hoping for an opportunity to present itself where he could slip away without getting caught. Staying in this town for another day was no longer an option, he would leave immediately regardless of how suspicious his actions would look with the local powers.
He would be long gone the moment they tried to find him.
“We're not here to mug you, sensei.” Finally, for what felt like ages, Cu spoke to him. “We just want some answers, I really don’t care where you got that money..”
“What?”
Was the boy telling the truth? He couldn't say, not like he had any options though and was forced to cooperate regardless. “F-Fine, tell me what you want quickly. I-I’m not feeling well and need to go home to rest…”
The black spots within his vision continued to multiply increasingly faster than before as his heartbeat rose. The bottle in his grasp was empty and he could not even take the pills that helped him ease up these symptoms. Whatever infectious disease that boy gave him, Wakisaka swore to curse his name hundreds of times after leaving this place.
“I know one of your relatives was in the same group as Izumi Kenji. That name ring any bells?”
“—!”
That name was no different to a death sentence, someone he wanted to stay away as far as possible and never get associated with. The murder of the boy by the hands of his late nephew's group spelled only trouble for him.
How did a random foreign student manage to get hold of this information!?
"I-I don't know what you're talking about! I have no association with Kenji! I always focused on my work and never had any close connections to my nephew or… or anything concerning his private life. So please, l-let me go! I-I can't help you…!"
The only response was a low, haunting whistle. It drifted through the air, carried by the wind rustling through the towering trees.
Wakisaka trembled, his breath coming out in short, uneven gasps. His back pressed against the rough bark of an old cedar, its surface digging into his skin through his sweat-drenched shirt. He could barely breathe let alone see with his vision growing more hazy.
The ground moved and contorted, looking like quicksand about to engulf him entirely. He felt their gazes on him, staring intently and he prayed to all the gods that they believed his words.
A chuckle cut through atmosphere, casual yet laced with something that made his blood run cold.
"Oh, really?" Cu's voice was light, a bit amused. "Guess my ears must've been playin' tricks on me, 'cause I could've sworn I heard you agree to keep your mouth shut with that other lad. Do ya think I'm mad, Yoshito? Mad enough to just imagine a whole conversation?”
The henchman's voice chimed in, "No, I heard it too."
Cu let out a thoughtful hum. "Huh. Does that make us both crazy, then?"
"Eh… I've been called crazy before, but I don’t think I am."
"Fair enough."
A cold gust of wind whispered through the trees, making the branches creak. Wakisaka shuddered—not from the cold, but from the sheer, suffocating presence of the boy in front of him.
Cu took a slow step closer, even with his vision the sight of his smile remained clear. But there was something present there that made his fears grow by the second.
"You heard him, sensei. We all heard it. Lying really isn't your strong suit, is it?"
The forest suddenly felt smaller, the towering trees pressing in, suffocating. Wakisaka had nowhere to run.
"Let’s cut to the chase. I’m looking for the people who were there the day Kenji died. Your nephew was one of them—hell, he was close with them, wasn’t he? So just tell me where to find them, and we can all walk away happy. Sounds fair, right?"
“—!”
Wakisaka stiffened. Kenji was long dead and pushed inside the river. They were wasting their time searching for a corpse which had mostly likely turned into fish food by now. But they couldn't know that. If they did…
His mind spun. The others, though… he did know where they were. Not that he cared about them, or the families who had shoved hush money into his hands. His life mattered more, and going to any length to keep himself was just the most logical action to take.
His body betrayed him, his knees nearly buckling as he forced out a desperate plea.
"H-He… Uhn!" His voice cracked, his hands gripping at the bark behind him like it could save him. "If I tell you… y-you’ll let me go? I-I’ll even give you the money!"
Silence.
But somehow, the stillness was more terrifying than any threat.
“If I am satisfied with the answer, then yes. And like I said, I'm not interested in the money, just give me an honest answer. I'm reaching the limit of my patience.” Cu said, his previous laid-back tone replaced with a chilling one.
“Yes! Y-Yes, I'll tell you everything! The Tachibana family, t-the one who owes the construction company is the one you should be looking for! They m-made a deal to take the boys out of town discretely and should be in a bus now. M-My nephew is with them, you'll find him there!” He hastily said, trying to sound as genuine as possible. It was not a complete lie, so he should be in the clear. “Hah… hah… hah…”
His state kept getting worse, saliva dripping from his mouth and his teeth gnawing against one another with enough force it hurt his sore jaw.
He became horrified when recalling the state his nephew was in before death, the paralles between both of them now made him question just what kind of disease that boy got infected with to make him this miserable. Regardless, the man knew he needed to seek medical attention as soon as possible before leaving.
“A bus going to another town? Ah shite.” For some reason, Cu did not receive that answer well, and the latter frowned and looked over the horizon. “Yoshito, how fast can you get to the main road leaving Tokonosu and catch up with the bus?”
“Um, if it just left now then we can catch up to it. Probably will need to break a few traffic laws for that and run every red light we come across.”
A smirk secretly stretched upon his face, they took the bait and all was left was for him to be let go!
“I-I told you everything, so please let me go now.” He pleaded again, already halfway up and stumbling away from the two until his left arm was grabbed. “NO! You told me you'll let me go! I told you everything!”
Trying to pry his arm away proved fruitless, they were held in a vice grip by what felt like a machine. Wakisaka was not weak, he trained his body regularly due to his aging body and had gotten pretty confident in his strength. So for a boy half his age to ignore his efforts so easily raised a lot of concerns and shock.
“Say, mind telling me what happened to your arm there?” Cu said, pointing at the black stain on his left palm. The entire limb was swollen with patches of darkened skin and blisters that made it look quite sickening to anyone. Even he could not bare to see it, there being any sensation left over there did not help.
But he could still move his digits weirdly enough.
“N-Nothing, just an injury I got and it b-became infected.”
“How did you get it?” Cu asked again sternly, applying more force in his grasp yet still Wakisaka felt no pain. Something which the former took notice of with how his gaze sharpened. “Are you feeling any different? Got the urge to ea̶t̸ ̵m̵e̵? Bí̷̢̮̻͋̓t̸̘̮̟̿͆e̸͈͑̏ ̴̢́́̚m̸̧̟̗̿͆é̸̺? Anything?”
His voice started to get more and more hard to discern, a constant ringing in Wakisaka's ears making it hard to listen. His behavior growing erratic along with his movements, his nails digging into the dirt all the while a strange urge grew within him.
“S-Shit, aniki! B̴̩̬͒̽̚l̷͓̀o̷̘̾o̷͎̞̾́ḑ̴͎̓͑ͅ, the geezer's eyes are b̷l̷e̸e̸d̶i̸n̸g̸.”
While the other started to shout with shock and even fear present in his voice, Cu just stared at him in the face with eyes that grew colder and more freighting from what little consciousness remained active in Wakisaka's mind.
“Aah, I see now. You’re turning right now, aren't you? And it looks like it's that kind of infection.”
“... N-No… j-just… Illness.” Even his words could not come out correctly, his jaws no longer obeying his will and nearly biting off his tongue. “L-Leave… me… lone”
Cu sighed, taking a step back which would have made the man ecstatic. But no longer did he feel that, his mind and body growing increasingly numb with all thoughts becoming harder to form. He was terrified, wanted to ask them for help, but none of that came out of his throat other than a nonsensical gurgle with more blood oozing from his mouth.
Everything became dark around him, for even if it was morning, it felt like he was stranded in the dark room with no light.
As his consciousness faded, a hunger was lit up deep within his body. No longer trying to escape, his body moved on its own purely driven by instinct.
“It's too late for you.”
“Watch out, aniki!”
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“Watch out, aniki!”
Cu did not need to hear Yoshito's warning, for he was already out of the way a second before Wakisaka lunged at him with his mouth wide open ready to bite him. A monstrous moan coming out of his throat as he wriggled on the ground.
“Tch, so that's how fast it changes someone huh…”
Truthfully, he had already seen the infection from the beginning, but didn’t immediately associate it being the cause of turning someone into an undead. But the moment he started to change, Cu carefully analyzed every bit of change from the outside and even examined every detail within his body.
Once more, not a single trace of Magical Energy anywhere.
“Waaaaaaah! Aniki! Save me!”
Yoshito on the other side ran behind Cu, hiding behind him while watching the now undead Wakisaka get up from the group and make his way towards them. There was no life within his eyes, his skin becoming pale and both saliva and blood dripping from his mouth.
“It's a zombie, a fucking zombie!”
“Don't scream next to my ears! I can hear you well enough!” Cu said, massaging his ears while keeping his eyes on the undead in front of him. “Don't be too scared, they don't seem to be able to run. So you can just dodge them next time.”
“Next time? THERE ARE MORE OF THESE FUCKER—Gah!”
“I said don't shout near my ears!” He reminded him with a quick slap at the back of his head again, then facing what was before a living person. “So, do you believe in the supernatural now?”
Got a hasty nod from the man, for someone so tall he was now no different to a frightened puppy trembling behind him. Now using him as a shield which was hilarious in its own way. Shaking his head, he focused on the present and grabbed Wakisaka by the throat just like he did with Kenji.
“Look out!”
Yoshito grew horrified at his action, especially when the zombie started to claw at his face and hands. But much to his shock, the thing could not leave a mark on his skin whatsoever, it couldn't even rip out his hair no matter how hard it pulled.
“Sorry about this, sensei. I was really about to let you go had you not been infected. Even if you were a pervert, you were not that bad of a teacher, hopefully things will be better for you in the afterlife. You probably got that infection from another undead you killed or escaped from, probably yer nephew.” He squeezed his hand hard enough to crush the undead’s neck in an instant, making it grow limp. Though his eyes continued to stare back at him and the mouth tried to bite the hand.
There were no emotions left within then, no reaction to any pain or anything — just pure hunger like Kenji's case. With a flick of his finger, a rune formed in the air and engulfed the man, burning him and his ashes into nothingness.
He turned around and looked at the stunned Yoshito, the latter's mouth hanging open with no words coming out of it. More taken aback by the usage of his rune magecraft than the appearance of a zombie.
“We better get a move on, we should reach that bus before it gets too far, there is a chance that the source of this is inside.” He said while tapping his friend's shoulders, “I'll tell you about rune magecraft later. Oh, yeah, magic is real… and so are ghosts, so there's that. Let’s hope that they don’t get involved too.”
“...”
{Break}
(Half an hour later)
“I'm starting to regret agreeing to accompany you, aniki.” On their way towards the path the bus must have taken, Yoshito couldn't help muttering out loud. “I would much rather deal with the Yakuza or even the Russian Mafia then fucking zombies of all things! How the hell is this even possible!?”
Cu who had been comfortably enjoying the ride shrugged, “Trust me, I'm trying to find the answer to that question as well. They can't just appear out of nowhere for no reason, there has to be a source or something that led to its creation. That's what I'm hoping to find in that bus and stop before it's too late.”
“Wait a minute… is that why the Takagi family are so restless lately!? They all knew zombies were real!? Are they magicians like you!?”
“Eyes on the road!” Cu shouted when the man took his eyes off of the road and nearly crashed against the mountain side. Unfortunately the side view mirror got crushed and fell off. “No, they aren't aware from what I know and they are not magecraft users. Just the head of the family has a stick up his ass but he seems like a good guy.”
“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, zombies are real… I'll have to evacuate my family from Tokonosu and.. and…” He started mumbling, worrying about their lives and how this would ruin his sister's education. Sweating like a pig and barely able to concentrate on the road ahead, Cu just kept looking for any signs of the bus.
Things were getting messy quickly, he could not tell just how many cases like the late teacher were around the town currently. For all he knew, hundreds of people could be infected and about to turn at any moment. He could not just go on the blood path and barge into every single building searching for them and kill immediately, it was impossible no matter what tactic he used.
But at least he could attempt at slowing down the rates of the spread and hopefully find the source of it all.
“There! Aniki!”
Fortunately, Yoshito was paying enough attention on the road to find the bus on another road further down the mountain that was splitting off to the right. “Shit, why did it take that road? We'll never be able to reach them in time even if I turn around now. W-What should we do!?” He was panicking, understandably in Cu’s opinion. He did not blame him at his erratic emotions for this was the first time the man was dealing with this situation. Only time would make him calm down and unfortunately, he could not spare any efforts to do so as well.
Especially when he saw quite a bit of commotion going on from within the bus with blood splattering against the windows.
He was already too late.
“Don't stop driving, go as fast as you can! I'll handle this.” He opened the door and pulled himself on top of the roof with surprising flexibility. The wind pushed against his hair as he made sure to not fall off the thing by accident.
“Aniki!?”
“Just keep driving!”
Yoshito was right that he would be unable to catch up with the bus even if they tried to go back. It would take ten minutes, and by then, the bus would be impossible to track down. Descending the mountain to reach that road would most likely just destroy the car in the end. This piece of junk could barely hold itself on a regular road.
This only left him with one option.
“If I grab it from the side… no, it might just tear the piece off rather than stop the thing. But if I try that method…. Hah… this is gonna hurt.”
In the next moment he leapt off the roof of the car, jumping headfirst with Yoshito screaming his name with pure horror. The sound of screaming reached his ears and he finally got a glimpse of the bus driver whose body leaned against the wheel.
Completely unresponsive and most likely dead. More blood spraying everywhere and covering the front windows as well.
"Hn!" Cu landed on his feet, knees bending slightly to absorb the force. The moment he straightened, the glare of headlights swallowed his vision. The bus hurtled toward him, its engine roaring like a beast bearing down on its prey.
Yet, he didn't move.
Taking a deep breath, he arms spreading wide in an open stance to absorb as much force as possible.
Crash!
The metal screamed as the front of the bus crumpled against him, its reinforced frame warping like tin under his sheer resistance and around his figure. The windshield exploded into a rain of jagged glass, covering his skin but not slicing through, mixing with the spray of hot, fresh foreign blood. "Hngh!" Cu gritted his teeth, his jaw tightening as the crumpled front made it hard for him to get a good hold of the damn thing.
His boots scraped against the asphalt, nearly giving way as the sheer momentum of the vehicle threatened to drag him under — shredding apart within seconds and leaving him barefoot.
But he just dug in.
Muscles coiled, his core bracing like an iron pillar. His feet burrowed into the asphalt itself, carving deep trenches as he forced the bus to a screeching halt even with the tired that continued to spin. The ground cracked beneath the strain, the smell of burning rubber thick in the air the tires skidded violently, desperate to keep moving.
“Ha!”
With another burst of strength, his arm grabbed onto the steaming engine before ripping it out halfway through in one motion, fire and oil dripping all over his face. The thing finally stopped moving and he was free to let go.
“Hah, damn… hah… still not fully there yet.” He breathed deeply, feeling strains and sore spots all around the body from his action. Wobbling in place for a moment as his injured feet covered in cuts and bruises that were stuck within the asphalt, pulling himself out before taking a moment to recover and gather his senses. Looking down at his arms, there were more wounds along his limbs, thankfully no broken bones
Cu was fully aware that there was still a way to go before he reached his peak state from when he was alive — his body continued to change and began reverting to his old self bit by bit over the years.
Thankfully he did not need to handle such a thing a decade ago otherwise it would have been very troublesome.
“I just… bought these clothes… hah…”
Still, despite his haggard state, he made his way to the door, pushed it open and walked inside without wasting any time. He didn’t really hold out any hope to find survivors within.
“Tch,” just like he expected, it was already too late. Dozens of bodies laying on the ground with chunks of their flesh missing, most of them were adults with the only people who resembled to be around his age at the back having already turned into undead.
Flesh and blood already filling their mouthes. Four students, going by their clothes, they must have been the lot he was searching for. The Tachibana kid and his little gang… all of them already long gone. And from the looks of it, they were no different to the last two undeads he dealt with, just as lifeless and hollow.
“Not the source then.” Frustration laced his voice, every time he felt progress was made it led him to a dead end. This thing couldn't have just appeared out of thin air, it had to come from somewhere or brought in by someone with malicious intent or even accidentally.
“Uuuargh!” One of the undead zombies who had lost his legs crawled up to him and grabbed onto his ankles. Cu swiftly put the thing out of his cursed fate with a stomp, making blood cover his face and clothes.
“Alright, let me put you all out of your misery. I'm done here.” His figure blurred, going from one end of the bus to the other with several decapitated heads held within his grasp. Their headless bodies dropping to the ground the next moment.
At that moment, he felt no joy or happiness from stopping these undead from spreading to another town, for nothing guaranteed there were not others roaming around already causing chaos in other areas.
The realization that this could be happening in his home country where his parents were further dampened the atmosphere. Uncertainty, regret and anger brewing within his mind at how powerless he felt at that moment.
With heavy steps, he left the remains of the vehicle after setting it on fire. Hoping back up the mountain to find Yoshito looking at him as if he were a monster.
Shaking like a leaf.
He gave him a smile, perhaps not being the best choice with all the blood on him.
“Let's go back, I'm tired.”
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The ride back home took another hour, the entire way back none of them spoke a word and state completely silent. The interior was filled with the stench of blood, though Yoshito was too numb to care at this point.
By the time they reached his apartment complex, the sun already started to set making the sky turned a deep orange color.
“Will you be alright?” He asked with concern over his state.
“I'm fine, I heal quickly, they'll be gone in a day or two anyways.”
“Damn man, I… I don't know what to say. What do you think I should do?” He said, finally gathering the courage to address that topic. “I don't want to those things anywhere near my family if more of them appear. I… I will go crazy if something were to happen to them, aniki.”
"I can't give ya a sure way to keep 'em safe all the time-I'm pretty much in the dark about a lot myself. But listen, if you ever feel threatened or worried for their safety, bring 'em to me. Either here or over to Kyoko's place. Sure, you can even bring 'em here tonight if you want-I've no problem with that.”
“... Can't I send them out of town with the cash we found?”
He could come up in fact it was a good idea but once again, there was no guarantee that more of these undead were not roaming other places. At least if they were close by, he could try to save them.
“Perhaps it's safer for them to stay in a less populated area for now, keep your eyes and ears open about any information. I can add a bounded field around your house, just think of it as a temporary measure for now but it won't help in the long run.” He got a confused look from Yoshito, most likely wondering what a bounded field was though he immediately nodded his head.
“Whatever you think works, if it's magic or whatever voodoo type shit you can do, I'm all for it. As long as it can keep them safe, then I'm happy. For now, I'll keep my eyes on my sister and she won't be going out alone anytime soon. I know someone who has connections with this chick from the US military, maybe I can buy a few guns from him to keep my folk safe.”
The Irishman hummed in agreement with the plan, as long as it provided any measures of safety and ability to fight back. “If you see one, shoot it in the head, don't hesitate or it will kill you or infect your family. Don't bother using a knife or any melee weapon, you don't have the skills to do it.” He left these words before leaving the car, closing the door and watching Yoshito drive off in the distance.
“What a day,” he whispered, having made progress with what he initially wanted but the results were anything but satisfactory in his opinion. The more he uncovered the more dangerous and out of control this entire thing revealed itself to be.
All of this was happening far too quickly for his liking, and unfortunately, he did not have the luxury or ability to stop time.
As he made his way up to the floor where his apartment was, the sound of several things falling to the ground reached his ears as he found an orange just roll up to his foot. Taken aback, he looked ahead to find a familiar orangette high school girl standing in front of his apartment with a bag filled with vegetables and fruits lying next to her feet.
Oh right, the dried up blood, oil and shards of glass on him were still present on his body and messy hair.
Shock and disbelief plastered on her face as she looked at him, at his messed up appearance more accurately.
“... Um, I can explain.”
For some reason, this situation felt oddly familiar.
Next update is either To Love a Sword or Fake Familiar.
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---Magnolia-
“Where is it…”
Broly moved through the dense woods on the outskirts of town, a lone figure cutting through the stillness. His eyes scanned the trees, the underbrush, the occasional rustle of wildlife—most creatures kept their distance, though a few brave souls paused to eye him with cautious curiosity. The forest hummed with its usual rhythm, indifferent to his presence or his search for whoever—or whatever—he was after.
“Strange, I'm certain I felt her Ki signature somewhere around here.”
After he and Irene split ways, her presence was always tracked by him. While he could not guess her exact location, he knew that the woman resided somewhere around here for the past few days. Yet strangely enough as he approached the area, there was no sign of any shed, house, or any kind of structure.
It was as if she was never here.
“...”
But his guts kept telling him that he was here somewhere and that he just needed to find her first. “Hm?” His nose twitched as he passed by a particularly large boulder.
It was mostly unassuming no matter how you'd look at it, covered in overgrown vines, plants, and dirt. But unlike everything around it, the Saiyan noticed something particularly odd about it. “It does not have any smell.” After having lived amongst the vegetation for quite a few years, his senses had adapted to the environment which is much more welcoming and pleasant than Vampa.
Learning to navigate and hunt in these conditions without needing to rely on flying was one of the many things he tried and his sense of smell proved a crucial tool in such things. Which was why for something that was covered with plants and various kinds of other plants, it was weird that there was no sense at all. Not even the dirt had any smell. “She's here.”
He pressed his palm against the boulder and sent a surge of energy through it. The rock vanished in an instant—not a single pebble left behind—revealing a set of stairs leading down into a shadowy tunnel. No hesitation. He descended, his boots echoing faintly as he moved through the dim passage until it opened into another room.
“—!”
Expecting a dank, musty cave, Broly was caught off guard when he stepped into something entirely different. The room was vast—two stories tall—and looked like it belonged in a cozy estate rather than underground. Bookshelves lined the walls, cluttered with tomes and trinkets. Chemistry sets bubbled quietly in one corner, while a fireplace crackled nearby. Chairs and tables were scattered about, giving the place an oddly homely feel. But what really threw him were the massive glass windows, sunlight streaming through them, illuminating the space as if it were above ground. For a moment, he just stood there, wondering how the hell windows even worked down here.
“Space magic along with a bit of conjuration and illusion magic. What you see and feel is but an artificial recreation of the Sun and the outside is merely an illusion of what I would usually see in Alvarez. The entire space around you on the other hand is no illusion, it is not exactly as big as my place back in the kingdom but for temporary refuge, it will suffice.”
A melodious voice came from the fireplace, Broly found the red-headed woman.
Comfortably sitting by a large fireplace, the tall and well-endowed beauty was seen on a comfortable couch and holding a glass of red wine. Irene wore a tight, dark blue dress that clung to her curvy body, accentuating her generous hips and breasts. Her cleavage was rather revealing, giving a nice view of her creamy skin and a small window to the soft valley of her breasts.
A large slit on the side exposed her long, smooth and creamy thigh. She wore a pair of high-heeled, black ankle boots. The woman was a total knockout, her voluptuous figure was very seductive and the way her dress was cut accentuated her curves and left little to the imagination.
Broly had to admit, her overall presence and sense of fashion deferred greatly from Erza. He, on the other hand, didn't particularly think much about the clothing, finding it a bit constricting to be worn during battle. Then again, he wasn’t one to talk,given his lack of clothing in most scenarios.
“I was curious to see how long it would take you to find me. Boredom is a universal enemy that affects everyone, I was half the mind to find you myself had you not arrived today. I am curious as to how you managed to uncover the entrance, multiple spells were placed around the interior to block my presence and energy from leaking to the outside world and from exterior interference.”
“The boulder smelled different from its surroundings, it had no scent,” Broly answered honestly, walking over to the woman and grabbing one of the fruits she had placed on the table before taking a bite. The entire time Irene did not even look at him once or break her focus from the book in her hand.
“Scent you say? That is an interesting way to uncover my secret base. Honestly, I should have realized this flaw from the beginning, though I thank you for reminding me. By the way, you seem to be having fun lately with your little friends from the guild.”
To his surprise, Irene shut the book with a sharp snap and flicked her fingers. Another book materialized in front of him, its pages flipping open to reveal a photo of him shirtless, standing next to Mirajane, who was in a bikini and looking distinctly flustered. ‘So she did come to Magnolia,’ Broly muttered, glancing at the image. ‘Had to be today—this wasn’t out yesterday.’
He grabbed the magazine of the Sorcerer Weekly, turning the pages to discover that nearly half of this entire magazine was just him without his shirt holding various forms with either Mirajane or one of the other girls. He was not sure whether to feel embarrassed or worried about it.
“The last thing I expected from you was being a model of all things. That surprised me in more ways than one.” Again, it was hard to tell what she meant by that.
“I was just on the quest and wanted to help out a friend. It got a bit out of control towards the end and I ended up as one of the models for some reason.” Unlike Mirajane, he was no model on how to pose perfectly and have the right expression in front of the camera. Looking at himself in the picture, it truly felt that there was no need to have him in the magazine, and it probably ruined the entire thing. “In any case, how are you doing?”
“Is that really what you want to ask me?” Irene finally turned her attention to him, brown eyes staring back at him intently.
“Yes,” He genuinely had no idea what she was trying to say. It was mostly a simple question asked out of curiosity and worry in case she was having trouble fitting in with the new environment. “You have been quiet for the past few days, not even attempting to contact me. I was afraid you may have gone back on your promise and came to check on you… just in case.”
“Just in case I went back to being an enemy and you would come for my life.” She finished, this not even being a question but rather a statement.
He nodded his head, as much Broly disliked the idea of taking that path, if necessary he was willing to push aside his discomfort to make sure an individual capable of twisting his mind like last time and would not do it again.
“Oh? Color me impressed, I half-believed you would not say that. Fairy Tail has a rule against killing, don't they?”
“I don't like it, but it's to protect them.” He said after a moment of silence, not disagreeing with Irene.
“Protect them from me or you?”
“Me,” another swift answer for this was no secret nor was it a lie he wanted to make for himself. What was the point of all these questions? “You are strong, but I believe Erza and the others are still capable of beating you.”
Woosh!
A flash of red light filled the room, raising his palm the Saiyan casually grabbed a wave of crimson destructive magic. His Ki wrapped around the sphere, growing smaller and smaller while Irene’s magic struggled to keep its shape. His feet sunk further beneath the earth without his body moving an inch, using more Ki he ended up crushing it within his palm in a single second.
A powerful shockwave spread across the room, shattering nearby glassware and woodwork. A thin film of energy surrounded Irene who continued to sip her tea without care.
Opening his hands, not a trace of burned marks could be spotted on his skin, leaving nothing but black smoke of what remained of that spell. His eyes narrowed, opening and closing his hand after that move, checking the damage done to the area around him.
“You want to test that statement of yours?” She challenged, making him hesitate this time. Whatever that spell was, he knew it held enough power to destroy the entire Fairy Tail guild — all of that power released from a single flick of her fingers.
As much as he hated to admit it, other than the Master, no one in the guild was capable enough to counter this alone.
“Enchantment magic if you're curious. It creates several explosion enchantments concentrated in a single point, overloaded by a surplus of energy that is enough to make anything I want disappear. If I recall correctly, you have something similar as well.”
It dawned on him she was talking about, “I do.” The Eraser Canon is an attack where he gathers his energy from around his body onto a single point before throwing it. “Did you copy it after seeing it once?”
“Don't insult me,” Irene placed the cup back on the table and got up from her chair, pushing strands of hair behind her ear and grabbing onto the staff next to her. “It’s just a coincidence we have an attack that just looks similar. Enchantment magic is particularly complex and requires several formulas to create even a simple spark let alone several explosions. Yours I suspect is just pure energy condensed until it reaches a culmination point at which point all of what energy is released at once.”
He titled his head at that part, as if able to read his mind, Irene sighed.
“It means while both of our attacks achieve a similar level of destruction, mine takes a more complex route and uses less energy comparatively while yours is the opposite.” With a snap of her fingers, the scene around him started to distort and change. He remained calm and observed patiently, seeing them now being present outside.
A flat land of nothing but grass spanning for as far as the eyes could see. “This… we are not in Magnolia anymore.”
The redhead looked surprised, “You noticed? Don't tell me it's because of the smell again.”
She definitely was not willing to let the smell part go any time soon. But fortunately for her, it was not that part that made him figure it out. “I no longer sense Natsu and Lucy's energy.”
Yet as he touched the grass below, the sensation was definitely real and not fake.
“Your ability to sense magic is intriguing, I'll keep note of that. You don't need to worry, we are still within the lands of Fiore. I came across the space recently and it is isolated enough for no one and nothing to disturb us.”
After having gotten a good look at her surroundings, Broly wondered just what she was trying to do. “Is there a point in bringing me here?” He was certain she was not trying to harm him in the first place, he knew that the woman understood the gap between them better than anyone else.
She raised her eyebrow, “Don't you recall? We had a deal, it's the only reason why I came here in the first place.”
Of course, he remembered the deal between them, where you were willing for her to attempt to understand his powers and make it her own if she desired. At the end of the day, what he used was simply Ki, a source of power available to everyone and he was also hoping to understand how it worked in this world with mages. As he was in the middle of his thoughts, an object flew in the air and he caught it as it was thrown towards him. Surprised, he gazed at his hands to have a better look.
“A crystal ball?”
“Not just a crystal ball, this is a lacrima orb. Surely you have seen some of these lying around in that guild of yours.” as she mentioned, he remembered seeing this item used by many people including Lucy. Though they all looked slightly different from one another. “Use it to store your energy within, that's all I ask.”
“That is how you will study it when I'm not here?”
“No, it's just to get a better close-up observation of your powers. Do it as slowly as you can and don't try to blow up the place.” He left out a forced smile, she didn't have to mention that last part — it wasn't like he was destroying entire lands regularly. Regardless, he followed her instructions and concentrated his Ki from within his body onto the orb in question.
“—!”
The orb reacted, glowing a gentle white light, continuing to grow brighter by the second until he had to squint. A faint sound of a sharp noise rang from the lacrima, growing louder in parallel to the light. “Don't stop, keep going until the very end.”
“It's going to blow up.” He warned the woman, still continuing to push more of his Ki into the orb till it began to tremble.
“I know.”
As soon as she said that, what he expected to happen occurred, it cracked before exploding into hundreds if not thousands of shards. He shielded his face to not get any in his eyes, sensing his Ki within it dispersing in the air. “I know I agreed to help you, but I don't see how you will understand my power by having me destroy such things.”
She did not answer him, merely walking over and picking up one of the many pieces scattered across the ground. Several magic circles for me on her hand as the peace started to float and pass through them.
Her expression was hard to read, he couldn't tell just what was going through her mind at all. Still, he kept his silence and let her focus while he took the time to meditate for a few minutes.
“Strange, while the lacrima reacts to the source of energy as it would with any magic, this feels more like yours is forcing it to work as it would have with ethernano putting a lot of stress on it. In the long run, this would basically destroy the item no matter how little you used it. I saw you use your power and yet it is not the same as last time. The energy is far less destructive and more… calm to say the least. In fact, even appearance-wise this differs quite a bit from last time, where it had a more green colour. Are you holding back on me?”
That was a surprise, he never put too much thought on how his Ki could even work with some of the magical devices in this world. Unfortunately he never owned any magical item long enough to see it start to break apart. ‘Wait, is that why that coat I bought only stayed green? No wonder I could never have it change color.’
“Yes,” he answered, almost guessing what she was about to ask next. “That power is beyond your control, I advise you to forget about trying to replicate it or even harness it. You saw for yourself the kind of damage it has done to this world.”
Irene hummed, not angry at his answer and looked upwards at the remains of the moon and what little remained of it.
“I remember you calling it Ki, care to elaborate for me a bit?” Broly opened his eyes, feeling the shift around him, and found Irene standing in front of him. The lacrima shard was discarded without much care, simple curiosity visible on her face as she drew closer and placed her hand on his chest. A wave of… something passed all over his body, sending a tingling sensation across his skin.
The foreign magic was not harmful as far as he could tell.
“It's the life force, an energy that is present within everything and all living beings. I harness it, control it, and push it outwards if I want to use it.” He gave the same explanation Paragus gave him. “You get it from the moment you are born, it grows stronger with time and it's important to learn to control it and not have it be the other way around.”
“Obviously that is not the case,” she said calmly, “At no point in human history has a child been born with power like yours. Unless we are talking about demons, dragons, or an etherious.”
“Etherious?” He never heard of that word, or perhaps had in the past but could no longer recall. Demons on the other hand were familiar to him, given the villagers on Galuna Island were exactly that. As for dragons… well he experienced firsthand how dangerous they were.
“You can think of them as demons, failed creations of Zeref’s in the past. They hold the power of curses, which shares the same origin with regular magic — both of them being simply an aspect of the One Magic. It's their main weapon, tricky to deal with and they are born with it.” Her fingers slid upwards until they reached his chin, “But you're definitely not one of his creations or a demon. Or else he wouldn't be here.”
“I am a Saiyan,” he said, his voice calm and matter-of-fact, drawing Irene’s curious gaze.
“A Saiyan?” she echoed, her brow furrowing slightly. The word foreign on her tongue.“I’ve never heard of such a thing. And from the way you speak, it’s clear you’re not from Edolas. What exactly is a Saiyan?”
He paused for a moment, considering how best to explain something he barely thought about himself. “To put it simply, we’re a race of space-traveling warriors,” he said bluntly. “Born on a long destroyed planet called Vegeta. We were raised to conquer worlds—sent to destroy civilizations across the galaxy from an early age. At least… most of us were.”
Irene’s eyes widened, her lips parting slightly in shock. “Conquer worlds?” she repeated, her tone sharp.
“Yes,” Broly nodded, his expression unreadable. “From what I’ve been told, when a Saiyan is born, they’re sent to a distant planet. If the inhabitants are weak enough, the child is expected to destroy them. Once the task is done, they return to their people, stronger from the experience. The planet is sold off and has the resources harvested.”
Irene crossed her arms, her sharp eyes studying him and her voice measured. “Go on.”
He met her gaze without hesitation, his tone as steady as ever. “We’re not human, even though we look at it. We grow stronger after every fight—especially after being injured. We also have tails. Mine was cut off by my father when I was young.”
His hand brushed absently at his lower back, though his voice remained detached. It happened so long ago that the man only had faint memories of still having a tail. The tail was cut off shortly after Ba's death.
“The tail makes us dangerous during a full moon. It triggers a transformation, turning us into something… destructive. I imagine the planet wouldn’t still exist if my father hadn’t cut mine off.”
Irene’s expression wavered for a moment, her lips pressing into a thin line. The woman started to massage her temples, letting out an amused smile. “Not even Zeref would make a casual comment about destroying a planet… same goes for gods. You’ve painted a picture of a very… brutal race.”
“Are you afraid?”
She scoffed, “I am not one to be ruled by fear. Since Earthland has not fallen yet and we have not been slaughtered — I take it you chose to spare us for some reason.”
A chuckle escaped his lips, “You were the one who nearly made that happen.”
She did not disagree with him. “But why do you speak of your people like this? You don’t seem attached to their ways—or to them at all.”
“I’m not,” he said bluntly.
She blinked at his straightforwardness, and he continued without a hint of hesitation. “I don’t remember them. No, it's better to say that I never knew them. I wasn’t sent to conquer anything. I was sent to die.”
Her eyes widened slightly at his words, but his demeanor remained entirely neutral. “They didn't expect me to survive,” he explained as if he were reciting a dull fact rather than a significant event. “According to my father, I was banished to a far-off planet at a young age because they feared my potential. Regardless of their reasons, it doesn’t matter to me.”
His voice stayed steady, no trace of bitterness or regret. To him, the banishment wasn’t some tragic tale—just a fact of life, like the weather or the color of the sky. He shrugged it off, casual as if he were talking about forgetting his keys somewhere. Paragus, on the other hand, could never let it go. Broly figured some people just liked holding onto things, even if it only weighed them down.
“My father found me eventually, but his ship was destroyed and we were stranded. He raised me and told me a few things about the Saiyans. That’s the only reason I even know what I’ve told you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t care about them.”
Irene stared at him, taken aback by his indifference. She searched his face for any sign of hidden emotion but found none. Finally, she spoke, her tone softer than before. “And yet, despite your indifference, you’ve shared all of this with me.”
He scratched the back of his head, offering a small shrug.
“Does she know?”
It took him a few seconds to understand who she was talking about, “You mean Erza? Your siste—”
“I am not her sister!” She waved her staff, firing a fire bolt straight at his face. “If you keep insisting on that ridiculous notion I will drop a meteor on your face!”
“You even get angry like her…” he said, getting back up with no injuries or burn marks on his face, just some soot from the blast. A smile for me which visibly irked the redhead. “It would have been much easier for you to just tell me what your relationship with her is.”
“That's none of your business, insolent fool.”
Raising his hands in defeat, remembering how Gretel always advised him to not get on a woman's bad side regardless of how more powerful he was. “Okay okay, I'll stop. To answer your question, she doesn't know. In fact, no one other than you knows about the details of my past before I came here.”
Broly didn’t often dwell on keeping secrets, especially about himself. It wasn’t out of shame or reluctance—it simply didn’t occur to him to share. No one had pushed him to reveal his past, nor had they seemed particularly curious. If Lucy were to ask, he wouldn’t hesitate to tell her the same things he’d mentioned to Irene, though he suspected she’d be far more emotional about it. He could already imagine her wide eyes and trembling voice, and he had no interest in making her feel sad for him.
“Really?” Irene interrupted his thoughts, her tone laced with subtle amusement. “I suppose the girl is naive enough not to ask questions to a strange case like yours.”
“Erza’s not naive,” Broly shot back immediately, his voice firm, his brow furrowing slightly.
She raised a delicate eyebrow, her lips curving into a faint smirk. “She is, to me.”
“Well, you’re wrong.”
Her smile widened, and her voice dipped, teasing him. “Oh? How am I wrong?”
“Because I said so,” he replied without hesitation, his tone steady, his gaze unwavering. “Erza’s very smart. Smarter than you.”
For a moment, Irene stared at him, then laughed softly, the sound equal parts amused and incredulous. “You’re comparing me to that child?” she said, drawing out the words as though she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “You do realize you’re talking to one of the strongest wizards in the world? As far as I can tell, all Erza can do is use basic telekinetic magic and Requip.” Her tone was sharp, almost indignant, though a glint of amusement sparkled in her eyes.
Broly shrugged, his reply immediate and resolute. “She could still beat you. You still owe her and everyone in the guild an apology for what you did before.”
“Again with that nonsense,” Irene’s smirk faltered for a split second before returning in full force, sharper now. “If she has a death wish, she’s welcome to try.”
“Then let’s go meet her,” he said, leaning forward slightly, his tone calm but edged with playful challenge. “You can prove to me that you’re not secretly her sister while you’re at it. I dare you.”
The redhead’s smile froze, and for a moment, she simply stared at him, her crimson eyes narrowing. Then, she leaned in slightly, her voice low and dangerous. “I thought I was talking to a warrior, not a child.”
“And I thought I was talking to a calm, wise wizard,” Broly replied evenly, the faintest hint of a challenging smirk tugging at his lips.
The tension in the air shifted, Irene tilted her head, her smirk softening into something more curious, her gaze lingering on him for a moment longer before she spoke again. “You’re a strange one, Saiyan. Strange and... infuriating.”
“And you’re the one acting stubborn like a child,” he said, crossing his arms in front of his broad chest.
The woman rolled her eyes, the faintest flicker of amusement dancing across her features despite herself. “Whatever,” she muttered, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a dramatic flair. “It makes no difference to me whether you agree with my words or not.”
Her face darkened slightly, traces of frustration flashing in her brown eyes, but she made no move to lash out. Broly simply watched her, his calm demeanor unshaken, as if he found her reactions more amusing than threatening.
Her lips curved into a forced smile, though it wasn’t one of mockery or triumph. “Regardless, you are a peculiar man indeed,” she murmured. “A race of monsters capable of destroying entire worlds, the people on Earthland will never accept such a thing. Hahaha…, oh how vast the world truly is. Even after living for so long it still holds so many surprises for me to discover.”
She looked at the sky, for a moment her expression softened enough for him to see the image of Erza layering over hers. “Is our world truly that weak?”
“No,” he answered immediately, getting the redhead to look at him. “I never saw anything similar to what magic can accomplish in my world with Ki. Your way is more versatile and can be used in many different ways, unlike Ki.”
“Yet less powerful when it comes down to pure power.” She said with a smile. “Unless we bring into the equations magic lost to time or the very source of it all. Or if it is a question of whether or not I can destroy the world, a large enough meteor pulled from the vacuum of space is the best I can do — but that would mean potentially killing myself. Tell me, just how dangerous are other Saiyans if some were to one day visit this world? Given you are with Fairy Tail, surely you would protect your current homeworld.”
“...” Broly stayed quiet, memories of his fight with the blue-haired Saiyan emerging back. “I am not the strongest, I have been beaten before and nearly died.”
A moment of silence past amongst them, The woman once more had an expression of disbelief and gazed at him to see whether or not he was telling the truth. After a moment, it became clear that his words were not a lie and that only shocked her further.
“How frightening,” Irene took a deep breath, “This is a lot to take in, I admit. While the concept of other worlds and their existence is not new to me, I have never come across one like yours. Traveling civilization capable of conquering planets by sending their children? Had I not seen your power, this would have been one of the worst jokes anyone utter to my face without being crushed dust for their insolence.”
She was quick to accept his explanation, now looking at him with a different light in her eyes, walking around his body and eyeing every inch of it.
“Hah, going back to your species. You are definitely very similar to a human unless the species you come from is of similar height as yours.”
“Hehehe, that is not the case. Those that I have met are smaller and of a similar height to yours. I guess I just eat a lot more.” his little attempt at humor went completely unnoticed by Irine, making him feel a bit saddened.
“Amazing, for a child to have enough power to conquer a world all by themselves? Ki… it is most definitely nothing like magic and of course that transformation of yours.”
He purposefully made sure to not mention the Great Ape, given what he mentioned already was heavy enough and he worried it might overwhelm her.
“Yes, I also remember you mentioning that you could sense that I was not a human by sensing my Ki. If that is the case, then I should be able to use this power as well unless you're species is the only one capable of pushing it so far.”
“No, we are the only ones.” Having met the likes of Frieza and other soldiers when he traveled inside the spaceship, it was safe to say that Ki manipulation was not specifically reserved for Saiyans.“Ki manipulation isn’t exclusive to Saiyans. But as you are now, I don’t think you’re capable of harnessing it.”
Irene raised an eyebrow at his bluntness. “And why is that?”
“You don’t have any muscles,” Broly said flatly as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Without warning, he reached out and pinched her forearm, his fingers sinking into her soft skin.
Her expression froze in shock as he tilted his head, observing her with the detached curiosity of someone inspecting a specimen. “See? Soft. No muscle at all.” Before she could react, he poked her abdomen a few times, each prod firm yet impersonal. “Here too. No tone. Even Lucy has some muscle, and she’s far weaker than me. You might have survived when I crushed you, but I’m pretty sure that was because of magic, not physical resilience. Your legs on the other hand are pretty ton—”
Woosh!
A sudden surge of energy filled the air, thick and oppressive, like a storm brewing in an instant. Broly blinked, stepping back as a massive tsunami of Ethernano surrounded Irene, swirling around her like a vengeful force. Her calm demeanor had vanished, replaced by a cold, terrifying smile that made even Broly pause.
Her staff glowed with an eerie red light, and the intricate designs of multiple magic circles materialized beneath their feet, pulsing with power. “You have five minutes to give me a very good explanation for your actions just now,” Irene said, her voice low and menacing. “If I’m not satisfied, I’ll summon a meteor big enough to bury you underground. It might not kill you, but it will hurt.”
A pillar of light shot skyward, splitting the clouds as the sheer magnitude of her power shook the air around them.
Broly raised his hands immediately, his expression having a trace of genuine panic since he was surprised by her sudden shift in mood. Also, such an attack would have everyone in Magnolia notice it and he did not want to deal with the Magic Council again. “Wait, wait! I was just checking to see if your body was fit enough!” he said plainly.
Her eyes narrowed, the glow of her staff intensifying.
Her lips curled into a tight, humorless smile, and her voice dropped into a saccharine tone dripping with malice. “Oh, I have a much better way to let you know~”
Broly’s expression remained unchanged, but something about her shifted. He could feel it—the Ki within her stirring, growing erratic and aggressive, colliding with the overwhelming surge of Ethernano that flooded her body. The sheer force of it made the ground tremble, and for the first time, he narrowed his eyes in wary curiosity.
‘What is she doing to her body?’
“—!?”
Before he could react, she moved.
It happened in an instant. One moment, Irene stood several feet away, her presence immense but contained. The next, the entirety of his vision was consumed by a massive, white-scaled claw that appeared out of nowhere. It struck him point-blank, the impact so sudden and overwhelming that his body was lifted off the ground like a ragdoll.
What?!
The force was monumental, a crushing blow that sent him hurtling through the air like a comet. He barely registered the ground beneath him as his back slammed into it, carving a massive trench across the landscape. The impact threw up clouds of dust and debris, and his momentum only slowed as his body burrowed several meters deep into the earth, the ground groaning under the force.
For a moment, there was silence, save for the faint hum of residual magic lingering in the air. Then, from deep within the crater he had created, Broly stirred. That kind of strength was not present during their first fight, it was far too overwhelming to what she had shown previously and was not something humanly possible.
It neared the strength of that black drago—
▅▅ーーー！
The sky above darkened, and a massive shadow loomed over him. Descending with incredible speed, the figure revealed itself in the light—a majestic dragon, its red and white scales shimmering like gemstones in the sun. Its enormous wings spanned dozens of meters, and fiery red hair cascaded along its back like a living flame.
For a brief moment, Broly found himself captivated by the creature’s appearance. Unlike the ominous malice of the black dragon he had encountered before, this one radiated a different kind of power—pure, untamed strength wrapped in an aura of regal majesty.
“Oof!”
A massive white claw slammed into him, pinning his body beneath its weight. The sheer force of the impact created a massive crater, reshaping the land and sending tremors far enough that he was sure Magnolia would feel it. The dragon bore down on him, its claws keeping his body restrained, save for his head, which was free to look up into piercing red reptilian eyes.
“Is this powerful enough for you, Saiyan?”
The voice was commanding, yet unmistakably feminine. It sent a ripple of recognition through him before her familiar Ki confirmed it. The vibrant, unrestrained energy was the same as before but now magnified a hundredfold.
“You’re a dragon…” he murmured, the realization dawning on him. Everything made sense now—why her presence had always reminded him of Acnologia. She wasn’t just like him; she was a creature thought long extinct. The same kind Natsu sought to find his father.
But if she was a dragon, then what did that mean for Erza? Her Ki was entirely different, yet his instincts told him there was still a connection between them. Irene’s defensiveness whenever Erza was brought up only deepened the mystery.
“Since you’ve shared your secret with me, I thought it only fair to do the same,” Irene said, her voice laced with pride. Her dragon form shifted slightly as she leaned closer, the sheer weight of her presence pressing down on him. “And to remind you that I am not weak. Far from it.”
Broly had to admit, that with this level of power combined with her magic, no one in Fairy Tail—not Natsu, not even Gildarts—would stand a chance. He finally understood why dragons were so revered and feared in every book Lucy had forced him to read, even the ones he’d skimmed out of boredom.
How could such a powerful species go extinct?
He doubted it was Dragon Slayer Magic. Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel together couldn’t even come close to matching her strength.
“Are you afraid?” Irene asked her tone a mix of teasing and provocation. “Has the Queen of Dragons managed to shake the heart of a mighty Saiyan? It’s only natural. This form of mine isn’t something I reveal lightly. Other than you, only Zeref has seen my true self. Empires crumbled beneath my reign centuries ago, and I—”
A loud growl interrupted her speech, the sound echoing awkwardly in the silence.
For a moment, neither of them moved. Irene’s red eyes blinked in disbelief, staring down at him as his stomach growled again, louder this time.
Broly felt his cheeks grow warm—a rare display of embarrassment. “Um… I was worried about you earlier this morning and planned to only visit for a few minutes. I, uh, ended up skipping breakfast,” he explained, his tone sheepish. Just the thought of Mirajane’s cooking made his mouth water.
Irene stared at him in silence, her regal aura seemingly stunned into confusion.
Suddenly, an interesting idea came to his mind. “How about this—we both go have lunch in Magnolia? I’ll show you around while we’re at it. You must get bored staying in that cave of yours. Besides, I didn’t smell anything cooking in your room earlier, so you must be starving too. What do you think?”
Her massive dragon eyes narrowed, her expression unreadable as the seconds ticked by.
▂▂▃▃▅▅■■■■ーー！！
He got his answer with Irene opening her jaw and firing a powerful burst of a destructive breath attack of pure condensed crimson magic that engulfed his body and the entire crater itself.
{Break}
-Magnolia-
“Where is he?”
Walking on the streets of Magnolia, a certain blonde celestial wizard couldn't help but murmur with slight disappointment in her tone as she looked around for her giant companion.
“You really think you'll find him by just walking around town? He did say he was going to check up on someone and flew away, I doubt he was talking about someone in this town. Don't waste your time, Lucy.”
Next to her, Cana trudged along with a flask in hand, looking thoroughly bored as she'd been trailing Lucy for a solid half hour. They'd already combed through the quest board twice, and she'd sat through Lucy's failed interrogation of Mirajane about her plans for Broly. That had been particularly painful to watch—the She-devil had deflected every question with her trademark smile, never revealing a thing while somehow making Lucy feel like she'd gotten an answer.
The entire early morning went by in the blink of an eye with it already being noon by now.
“No, you don't understand. Broly would never go somewhere far away without telling me or anyone else for that matter. He is extremely protective of me and does not like to stay away for long periods of time. So for him to be gone this long is strange!” She said, making Cana release a powerless sigh. “Not to mention that he skipped breakfast! I had to pinch myself in order to truly believe he would actually do something like that!”
“Not gonna lie, was pretty surprised about that too.. The guy loves his food and for him to skip it is like Natsu doing something similar. Maybe he went on a date with Mirajane secretly.” She said with a large grin on her face. “That should explain why she was looking at the clock several times today, and she even wore makeup and had a new set of clothes. Most of the guys and few girls were tripping over themselves at her appearance.”
“Don't jinx it! How is it possible that she is after him?”
“Why wouldn't she be?” Lucy was about to retort but found herself speechless, “think about it. The guy has a pretty handsome face attached to that rocking body of his. Even if you put that aside, he is pretty innocent and is not a pervert. He is kind, caring, and cute… I can see why Mirajane would be interested in him.”
Lucy hated how She agreed with the brunette. But still had the pout on her face, “then by that logic why isn't she interested in Natsu? He and Broly are plenty similar.”
“Pft-hahahaha! You can't be serious, Lucy!” Her laughter went on for a few more seconds, the mirror idea of it being so ridiculous that she had to take a moment to calm herself down. “Come on now, she sees him like an annoying little brother. You should have been there a few years ago, Mirajane would practically torture the poor dude out of boredom. There was a reason why both he and Gray are so terrified of her.”
“Seriously?”
The sweet angel that served food and drinks to everyone in the guild being such a terror? She heard it a few times from other members but even now it was hard to accept such an image of her idol. The woman gave her the impression of being someone with not a single evil bone in her body.
“I am not joking, she was the polar opposite. But you see, Broly is a newcomer and maybe she got interested in the new guy, coupled with his gentle personality and the impression he gave her at first must have swooned her a bit. Can't say I was not affected as well, hard to ignore a guy who can beat you in a drinking game.”
“Cana!?”
“Shit, you weren’t supposed to hear that. Ignore it, it's just the alcohol talking.”
“You're not drinking!”
“I'm always drunk!” She flipped her hair and crossed her arms with slight discontent showing on her face. “And what's so bad about me being interested in him as well? It's not like I will try to get in between you two. We can both share him, his big enough to satisfy both of us isn't he~?”
Lucy's face went crimson red after hearing what the card wizard kept saying, not a hint of shame on her face from uttering such a thing in the middle of public.
“Don't say that out loud! People are already looking at us suspiciously!”
“People always look at us. I mean it's obvious why, two beautiful girls with large tits walking down the street will definitely add some looks.” She continued to tease the blonde, finding her reaction cute and a good way to pass the time. “Speaking of which, shouldn’t you summon that celestial spirit of yours? You mentioned how she'll drown you if you keep cockblocking her.”
Immediately, a guilty look filled Lucy's face, and tried but failed to hide her reaction — this made Cana give her a dry look.
“You're trying to delay her summon as much as possible aren't you…”
She hit the mark when the busty blonde flinched. She truly started to question just who exactly was the boss between the summoner and the spirit. “Ouch!” Lost in her thoughts, she did not notice Lucy suddenly coming to a halt and bumped into her by accident. “Ah, sorry about that, why did sto—huh?”
She did not even need to ask a question when the answer to that walked towards them and caught her attention immediately. That being none other than the Saiyan walking on the streets while attracting far more attention from every passerby whilst carrying a bag filled with meat skewers.
Cana followed Lucy’s line of sight, her expression morphing into one of disbelief. Both women stood frozen, their attention locked on the unfamiliar figure beside Broly.
It was a woman—elegant and composed, with braided, bow-adorned, black hair and a voluptuous figure that made her stand out. An outfit consisted of a simple black and red themed dress with a diamond-shaped cutout on her cleavage.
To Lucy, she looked very familiar. Yet the girl couldn't pinpoint where she had seen this woman before, but the chill she got made her feel extremely cautious of her.
“Here,” Broly said abruptly, breaking the silence. He held out a skewer of roasted meat, the Vulcan's charred flesh gleaming in the sunlight. “Try this. It’s Vulcan meat. A bit tough, but it’s good.”
The woman beside him wrinkled her nose and leaned back slightly, her tone dripping with disdain. “Get this disgusting thing away from my face.”
Broly’s expression didn’t change, though there was the faintest flicker of disappointment in his eyes. “You don’t like it? Strange. Lucy loved it, and Cana ate two.”
“I’m regretting my choice,” the woman muttered, crossing her arms as she side-stepped his outstretched hand. “I am leaving.”
“Don’t think you’re getting out of it that easily,” Broly said matter-of-factly, stepping into her path and holding the skewer closer. “At least try. You might like it, we haven't even reached the guild.”
The woman narrowed her eyes, a dangerous challenge gleaming within them. “And if I don’t?”
“You can try.”
“Tch,” she scoffed but leaned forward just enough to take the smallest bite, chewing with exaggerated slowness. Her expression remained neutral for a moment before her gaze shifted away, a subtle sign of approval, making Broly smile.
From a distance, Lucy and Cana exchanged incredulous looks.
“Who is that?” Lucy asked in a whisper, her wide eyes darting between the woman and Broly. This looked no different to a date between lovers! Wasn't she supposed to be worrying about Mirajane? Then who was this strange woman!?
“I was just heading toward the guild,” he said, his deep voice as relaxed as his stride. “Sorry, I’m late. I got held up with some matters with…” He paused, glancing at the woman standing beside him as if searching for the right words. “A friend?”
The woman raised a single, perfectly arched brow and replied with an air of authority. “No.”
Broly blinked at her bluntness, tilting his head slightly. “Acquaintance?” he tried again.
“...Good enough,” she replied after some consideration.
Lucy and Cana exchanged a quick, bewildered glance before turning their attention back to the two.
“Um, Broly,” Lucy began tentatively, her eyes darting toward the unfamiliar woman, “who’s… she?”
“Irene,” the woman answered instead, her sharp stare making both women feel a deep sense of dread for a brief moment until Broly placed his hand on Irene's shoulder. That sensation immediately disappeared and made them gasp, their faces dripping with sweat. “Don’t mind me, I won't be here for long. You will forget me after this meeting.”
That sounded more like a command than a simple statement.
“A-Ah… I see,” was all that Lucy could say at the moment. That irksome feeling inside her mind kept growing as she continued to observe the woman, other than her being familiar with Broly which was odd since she never saw her in the past, it still felt like they met before.
But for the life of her, she could not recall any person with such a face.
“U-Um…, are you the p-person Broly…”
Understanding what she was trying to say, Broly nodded his head. “Yes, I met her recently and she accompanied me on my way back from the Magic Council headquarters to Magnolia. I just wanted to check up on her and show her around the town today.”
Lucy looked at him carefully. One thing she knew about the Saiyan was his inability to lie. Not that he was a bad liar, but he just never truly lied to her face, but that did not mean he would not occasionally withhold certain things from her. Yet it was easy to tell when he was doing such a thing, and the way he kept looking anywhere but in her eyes told her that there was more to this woman than he was letting on.
‘Is she blackmailing him or something? No, that can’t be it. He is pretty relaxed around here from the looks of it.’
Ring!
The sound of a doorbell ringing managed to break the tension in the air that Lucy and Cana were feeling at the moment.
“Oh, it's you guys. What are you doing here?”
They all heard the familiar voice of Erza, looking around to find their S-class mage coming out of a bakery shop holding what seemed to be several boxesof an entire strawberry shortcake. The redhead's expression grew confused when she stared at the woman next to Broly with a similar sense of familiarity washing over her.
Lucy then felt as if a knife was pressed against her throat, for the strange woman's temperament seemed to have shifted a tiny bit.
{Break}
-Outskirts of Magnolia-
More than an hour away from the town, quietly gliding over the dense forest surrounding the region, a giant dark airship glided across the sky heading straight for Magnolia. On its deck, several figures gathered, some of which were familiar people Broly and the other members of Fairy Tail had met with in the past and others they did not.
Amongst them, Ultear’s figure was the most discernible. Looking carefully at the figure sitting on top of the throne.
“Hade-sama, we will soon reach the town. But might I suggest that we take a more stealth approach instead? It would be unwise to have the magic council become aware of our presence and send their best mages.” She advised, hoping that this mission would go as smoothly as possible without raising too many heads.
“Oh, shut it, you nagging bitch! Always whining about caution and stealth like we’re some bunch of cowards skulking in the shadows. Since when do we give a damn about the Magic Council? Let’s march straight into that town, unleash the troops, and watch it burn to ash! Hahaha!” The man cackled, black flames flaring from his hands as his manic energy filled the air. Ultear shot him a glare, her patience wearing thinner by the second.
“You're the one who should be shutting up for talking to her like that!”
Another person came to her defense, Meredy Merely having a face that promised pain if the guy didn't shut up.
Another voice decided to add their input.
“It would be a shame to see such a magnificent Jewel be reduced to ashes. Let's not waste unneeded efforts to flatten a bed of flowers and just pick out the worm by sending one of us quickly?” The man who spoke, his hands going through his Canon-shaped hair, continuously trying to shape it perfectly, announced calmly. “And I have to agree with Ultear. Don't want to step on the Magic Council's foot, these insects are already troublesome enough as it is. We just need to capture a single man, no need to go to war over the dead.”
“Boring! BORING!”
“Shouting won't make your point more valid, Zancrow!” She shouted, slowly being pushed to her limit when dealing with this frustrating pest at any point in time. But she remembered that in the older to have her wish granted, this was one of the easiest options around. They just needed to capture him, not kill him.
“Hm, calm down, Zancrow. Your time for battle will come, but for now, Ultear has a point. Trying to attack Fairy Tail in its home base is no different to suicide, do not let their reputation deceive you for they carry one of the most powerful weapons known to humankind. I doubt Maky will use it, but desperate times can call for desperate measures.” Hades spoke, stroking his beard calmly and wanting to plan the next move.
“Rustyrose, you will be going first. Can you handle it?”
The guy who initially agreed with Ultear’s method stepped forward. Bowing to the old and raised his hand to showcase a sphere of light that soon showcased Broly’s face.
“This is the guy, right? It shouldn't be an issue, I'll get it done in a matter of hours.”
“Don't underestimate him,” the woman warned, “while he may be a member of the Fairy Tail guild, he is more than capable of hurting you and will not be holding back. So be very careful.”
“Don't need to remind me, I like to live my life on the edge. No matter how big or powerful an individual is, they will stand no chance against my magic regardless.”
Hades hummed with agreement after seeing the group come to s general consensus. Even those that did not talk willing to respect his command.
“Still, I'd rather stay on the more cautious side and agree to have at least another one of our members accompany you. Make sure to not disappoint us, Rustyrose — bring the one they call Broly back to me alive. He may be the answer I was looking for this entire time.”
“Yes!”
And just like that, his figure disappeared leaving Ultear to look at the second person who left with Rusty. “I don't understand, Hades-sama. No matter how I look at it, you should have just sent me instead. I have known him the longest and I have become moderately familiar with his personality. Surely telling me to go there would have been a much more logical way.”
Had he grown less trustful of her planning? If that was the case then this frightened her.
Hades on the other hand waved his hands, “think of this as a test of sorts. If he performs well, then he will get the treatment he deserves. If not, then I will handle him personally.”
Though he said that, she couldn't help but grow slightly worried about all of this.
“Comfortable” wasn’t a word she’d use to describe how she felt right now. More like “dreadfully afraid.”
WARNING: A lot of lemon (Damn, it's been a while. My writing of such scenes is a bit rusty but I had Shigiya's help with his other works to write the chapter.)
Next update is An Archer's Promise followed by Broly.
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--Underworld-
The day came to an end in a far more chaotic way than I would have preferred. A troublesome situation that surpassed any aftermath my disappearance would have caused had I just left. A human who built quite a bit of reputation lately is now suddenly gone before a match?
Certainly, enough of a reason to have everyone start mocking him and then immediately dismiss my existence despite every past action. It was comical for entities who held powers able to make certain human mages froth from the mouth and lifespans that theoretically spanned for eternity given so far — not a single one of them died of actual natural causes like old age.
Despite all of this, they were more similar to humans in their mentality from what I gathered. Perhaps backward even in some scenarios, especially when it came to old traditions and their innate acceptance of raw power ruling all aspects. It is an obvious observation now that I thought about it, perhaps a part of me hoped that longevity would grant them a form of wisdom different from humanity… guess I was wrong.
Regardless, I knew something was bound to happen—my instincts had been screaming about it all day—but I never expected it to spiral into such a mess.
Unrelated to matters concerning the Devils or even the Khaos Brigade.
Rather somehow getting in trouble with the Norse Pantheon and a Valkyrie on top of that!
I'd much rather be dealing with whatever Sirzechs had planned even if that was already a major headache, but the aftermath of the rating game against the Vassago member was a whole other level of absurdity.
The match itself had gone more smoothly than I’d initially feared, though in hindsight, garnering more unneeded attention, it made sense.
To be blunt, my team was strong.
Too strong actually.
That sounded arrogant, sure, but it was still the plain truth. After all, we had a former SS-class stray Devil who was once one of the most wanted, wielding the destructive art of Senjutsu with unparalleled skill.
A former muscle head exorcist who carried one of the most legendary and unbreakable swords, a Fallen Angel who had been empowered by a shard from the Holy Grail, and another fallen angel who—while lacking impressive combat prowess—could still hold out her own against the average devil.
A secretary more than anything else really, I still wanted to understand why this woman was so willing to participate in such battles in the first place. Maybe her trust in me turned out to be very high, a terrible thing really… my track record on trying to not die has not been good this year and Death was getting frustrated with my constant Shonen bullshit from coming out of it alive. At this point, I was pretty sure some death god out there has a personal vendetta against me, considering how often I show up uninvited in their home.
Turning me into a recurring uninvited guest who would crash there for a few days.
One star, if that’s the case.
Hopefully, this was just me rambling. Getting far too distracted for my own good.
But no amount of preparation could have prepared me for this.
Out of everything I had considered—the strategies, the aftermath, the possible consequences—getting tangled in a massive misunderstanding with a Valkyrie and, worse, receiving the blessing of Odin himself hadn’t even crossed my mind.
‘Sleeping with a Valkyrie… for some reason that feels like an omen of death.’ I knew little about them other than surface-level knowledge with some tidbits learned through my studies in magic and Azazel’s past ramblings. Despite several similarities, many aspects of this world's overall mythology differed from what I read in my world.
As I walked back to my quarters, I could still feel the weight of several gazes—suspicious, judgmental, and worst of all, amused. The way the others looked at me, it was as if they were unsurprised of this sort of situation. It was perfectly natural for me to wind up in a scenario involving divine figures and complicated entanglements.
How ridiculous.
How unfair.
I was no playboy!
Slapping me with the label of a Playboy on me? I’d rather relive my cringiest, most embarrassing moments of chuunibyou repeatedly for the rest of my life!
“...”
Actually, maybe not. On second thought, that part of my life had haunted me enough already—spanning worlds and decades like some cosmic joke. It was strange how the shadow of that era still lingered, almost thirty years later. Perhaps I should ask Odin to hypnotize me and erase it from my memory. Then again, that carried its own risks. What if I reverted to the person I used to be? The shame and humiliation of reliving that transformation were too much to bear.
Kiba smiling like his usual self and Issei cursing my very existence did not help!
‘Why am I the one being targeted? You two literally possessed all the requirements to be the perfect harem protagonists who can't go a single day without being chased down by a new girl or slapped by a tsundere. Why am I the one being treated as one of you!? It has only been Akeno and Rias!’
Why did I choose to not shout that out loud? Mostly due to laziness, the heavy eyelids from the little sleep I got recently made that act feel too energy-intensive.
And I doubted anyone would take my words seriously. No different to shouting at a deaf crowd.
Wait. Focus. I was getting distracted again.
"Are you going to keep ignoring me all night?"
The voice cut through my thoughts, and I sighed, shoving my hands into my pockets as I stepped onto the balcony of my room. She was already there, waiting—her silhouette framed against the stark glow of the artificial moon. Her glossy black hair cascaded down her back like liquid obsidian, catching the pale light and reflecting it in shimmering streaks that danced as the wind teased the strands.
Her gaze met mine, sharp and unreadable, as she turned slightly, her profile now accentuated by the ethereal silver light. For someone who, just like Rias, constantly wore school uniforms or her priestess garbs in certain conditions — a nearly see-through dress just stood on another level.
"You always keep people waiting," she finally said, her voice low and concerningly calm, yet carrying a weight that struck me harder than her words ever could.
"It has barely been five minutes," I replied, unable to stop myself from having a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. “Also I am pretty sure I saw you back there before leaving the main room. Teleportation magic most likely, If your goal was to create a dramatic entrance then you did so perfectly.”
Her lips curved ever so slightly, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. "It didn't seem to work, you look unimpressed," she said, sounding genuinely disappointed. Unfortunately, this woman used similar tactics for years so I was not falling for it.
“Just because I don't show much of a change in my expression, that does not mean that I am not impressed. Though I do find it to be a bit unneeded.” I forced a casual expression onto my face, leaning against the railing. "I didn’t get the chance to say this before, but congratulations. You performed wonderfully in the match—everyone did."
Reading people has always been a skill of mine, something I’d honed even more since arriving in this world. Words could be misleading, but body language rarely lies. And right now, her stiff posture, the subtle tension in her shoulders, and the way she fiddled with the strands of her hair told me all I needed to know.
Given Rias behaved in a similar way, I wondered why she decided to leave me and Akeno alone. Something told me these two had a prior conversation here.
"Why, thank you," she replied, her voice light and cheerful—too cheerful. "I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the Rating Game. I was almost wondering if you were even paying attention or if you were just too busy flirting with the tipsy Valkyrie."
The words were spoken with a playful lilt, but her body betrayed her true feelings. She didn’t meet my gaze, keeping her eyes fixed on the fake moon above us. The way her lips twitched ever so slightly, the way her grip on the trinket tightened—it all pointed to something simmering beneath the surface.
I exhaled heavily, seeing no point in dancing around the issue. "Look, I only ran into her at the party - which you saw yourself. She was drunk in the hallway, and I got her somewhere safe. Would you rather I left her there for some opportunistic Devil to find? We both know there are plenty who'd jump at the chance to add 'turned a Valkyrie into a Devil' to their resume."
"Nobody would be that stupid with Odin around," she countered, though her tone suggested that even she didn’t believe that.
"Really? Because I can think of at least three Devils who'd risk it just for the bragging rights. Some people think more with what's in their pants than what's in their head. Being careful costs nothing and saves a lot of headaches later."
Her voice spread within the room, having an almost soothing sensation to it. “You're becoming more and more paranoid lately in my opinion, Hachi-kun. Also, you did wonderfully during the Rating Game.”
I shrugged and she continued, "The Vassago may not be one of the most prominent clans among the 72 Pillars, but they’ve certainly built a formidable reputation. Their younger members have been making waves in recent years, nothing like the commotion made by Seekvaria or even Sairaorg — but still eye-catching enough for someone like Ajuka to notice.”
"Enough of this," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Look, you've known me long enough to know I don't dance around things or lie. So let me be crystal clear here - there is absolutely nothing going on between me and the Valkyrie. Zero. Nothing. I helped a drunk woman to safety, and somehow that snowballed into... whatever this mess is. That's it. No secret romance, no midnight rendezvous - just me trying to be a decent person and getting caught in yet another ridiculous misunderstanding."
I said it quickly, hoping to avoid further misunderstandings—or worse, getting Biri-Biri by my SM girlfriend in mid-conversation. So I continued to explain every little detail from last night, seeing her expression turn from intrigue to pure amusement.
To my pleasant surprise -and health- she didn’t lash out. Instead, she began to chuckle softly, the sound growing until it blossomed into full-blown laughter.
"Seriously?" she said between breaths, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "You’re so hopeless. You can’t even avoid getting involved in the most ridiculous situations with most women, can you?"
I frowned, unsure whether to feel relieved or insulted. "I’m being serious here—"
"I know, I know," she interrupted, a genuine smile breaking through the tension. "And that’s exactly why it’s so funny. You’re too honest for your own good. Don’t worry—I believe you."
Her words carried a warmth that caught me off guard, and for a moment, the tension between us seemed to dissipate.
"Thanks," I said softly, leaning back against the railing. Both of us went quiet and looked upwards at the sky, something dawned on me at that moment. “I can't help but think about when was the last time we had a moment like this together.”
Rather than giving me a reply, Akeno walked closer with her hands wrapping around my arm and using my shoulder as a pillow for her head. “There was the Kokabiel attack, your time with Rias, club activities, Khaos Brigade, and us preparing for this event. Both of us were pretty busy, I don't blame you.”
It was not like we did not even speak with one another, Akeno practically remained by my side when I was focusing on my club and helping Aika and Asia. Rather, it just being… us and no one else around, that had become a rare luxury. “I'm surprised Rias is not knocking at the door, what did you do?”
She once again gave me an innocent smile. “What do you mean by that?”
“Don't play coy with me, I know the redheads and how possessive she can get with me. The girl would have noticed your absence and rushed here within seconds, for her to not do that… It has your hands all over it.” I said with my eyes slightly squinted, my suspicions growing by the second. “You didn't knock her out, did you?”
“Me? Knock Buchou out? I would never~!” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, part of me worried that— “She is just… tied up with school work.”
My worries were definitely not unfounded!
“Don't give me that look~! She's enjoying it.” I could already picture it in my head, worst of all, I could not deny her words! Rias, while not as big of a pervert as her Queen, could find herself enjoying that kind of treatment. “Besides, Koneko-chan will find her sooner or later and free her. She's completely fine.”
“Hah… now I feel sorry for Koneko for having to clean up your messes.”
“Fufufu, you would be surprised with how unbothered she can be with such things. Have you seen some of her clientele?”
I had, unfortunately. It baffled me that out of everyone in her group, she was the one who attracted the most extreme kind of people. The memory of a grown middle-aged man cosplaying as a baby wanting to be carried and mothered by Koneko still haunted my dreams. “Somehow you get the rich single customers who only want a foot massage or getting zapped at best?”
“Hey, you make it sound like my foot massages are not the best!” She exclaimed, giving me a stern glare which made her look more cute than menacing. ”Who was the one who always pleaded for a back massage after every run in the past?”
I raised my hands to admit defeat, she had a point, and her skills were truly divine. “Perhaps in the future, you can open up a successful massage parlor. I bet it will only take a few months for it to become a global success.”
I said it jokingly, yet Akeno had a pensive stare. “That might not actually be a bad idea. I can always just be a shrine priestess, but having a massage parlor as well should be doable.” I was taken by surprise by how genuinely interested she sounded in that idea. Before I could say anything, my lips were sealed by hers with a gentle kiss. Lasting for several seconds and making my thoughts shift direction for a brief moment.
We separated after a few seconds of bliss and she whispered into my ear, “If I were to do that, would you be by my side and help me out with the customers?”
For a moment there, I do not know what to say. This question was not just a simple one made out of curiosity. There was something else hidden between the lines, a curiosity about what would happen in the far future after we were done with our studies. “Perhaps. Rias would be more interested in continuing her studies most likely, I don't have any particular plans other than finding an office job to pass the time.”
“That’s…”
“Boring?” I completed her words, knowing full well how my goals sounded in the first place. “That's the point, living a quiet life has become a luxury for me. I'm not even sure at what point I'll be done dealing with all these matters relating to the supernatural world or if I can ever get away with it in the end.”
“Do you regret it?”
There was some concern in her voice, so just to reassure her, I gave her another kiss. Feeling her slightly squirm within my embrace as my hands slowly circled around her waist. Keeping my eyes open to see her face up close becoming vibrant red. Funny to see someone who was usually bold and quite forward be rendered so defenseless this easily.
A glass cannon.
"I don't regret it. Back then, even though I kept going on about wanting to be alone, I would've gotten dragged into this mess one way or another. Besides, how could I ignore a certain baby koala who wouldn't leave me alone?" Just to tease her a bit, I squeezed her cheeks playfully, making her pout, making her look even more adorable. "As for the parlor - sure, I'll help out. Though I should warn you, my hands aren't exactly made for-mmph!"
She cut me off, pressing her lips against mine before I could finish. Her fingers gripped my shirt as she pulled me closer, her tongue sliding between my lips before I could even process what was happening.
"Haaa..."
"Mnn..."
The sound of her breathing grew heavy as our mouths opened wider, and we both let our tongues explore each other's mouths. I could feel her tongue slide over my teeth, and her lips brushing against my gums. I could taste the flavor of the strawberry she must have snacked on earlier, and her warm saliva coated the inside of my mouth. The faint scent of sweat and shampoo came from her hair, and I found myself getting lost in the sensations.
It was hard to imagine that this woman just came out of a hard-fought Rating Game.
After a few moments, her lips separated from mine, leaving a thin trail of saliva. She took a step back, her eyes staring into mine with an intensity that made my heart race. Her hands still gripping my shirt with a sly smile slowly making its way onto her face.
“Hah… Since… hah, you've agreed, let me practice on you a bit more~” With great strength, she pulled me back into the room, I doubted she was even conscious of how much force she was using. Enough to lift a normal person in the air if not careful, yet I just found it endearing, for it showed how she was so eager she was barely able to control herself at the moment.
And, honestly, I wanted to see just how far she would go.
“…”
My mind had definitely become far too corrupted because of her. Oh well, I embraced this side of myself the moment I agreed to be in a relationship with two succubi pretending to be Devils.
“Woah!” With a single push, I found myself on the bed, looking in front to find Akeno crawling over with her clothes already loosened enough for me to see her full cleavage with her nipples peeking through. Even a monk wouldn't be able to keep their vows with such a sight, even though this not being my first time I couldn't help but feel goosebumps spread across my skin. “E-Easy there, hehe… Are you giving me a massage or planning to eat me?”
Dammit! The stutter just came out of nowhere.
Akeno grinned, “It's your fault for being yourself, now… relax and enjoy yourself.” With a snap of her fingers, the clothes on me whisked away as if burned by an invisible fire.
In an instant, I found myself sprawled naked on the bed, with a ravenous girl looming over me, ready to devour her prey. With a mischievous glint in her eye, Akeno reached down and popped open her blouse, unleashing her magnificent breasts from their lacy prison. The sight made my brain short-circuit momentarily. No matter how many times I laid eyes upon them, her breasts seemed to have grown just a bit fuller and more tantalizing than before.
Going down to press my hard cock between her soft mounds, enveloping me in pillowy flesh.
I gasped as Akeno's soft breasts enveloped my throbbing member, sending jolts of pleasure through my body. She began to move slowly, sliding her voluptuous chest up and down my shaft with agonizing precision. Her violet eyes locked onto mine, filled with a mixture of lust and mischief.
"My, my... someone's excited," she purred. "I've barely started and you're already this hard for me. It makes me so happy~!"
I could only groan in response, my hips involuntarily bucking upwards. Akeno giggled at my reaction, clearly enjoying the effect she had on me by the balls. Literally! She increased her pace, her breasts bouncing hypnotically as she worked my cock between them, smothering them in soft marshmellows that many a man would kill to be in.
"A-Akeno," I managed to stammer out, feeling the build up reaching it’s peak. "If you keep this up, I'm going to-"
"Ara ara, we can't have that just yet," she interrupted with a teasing smile, hands squeezing her tits around my cock, getting me to groan. "I have so much more planned for you tonight."
This mischievous Devil was just teasing me! Worst of all, I nearly succumbed to it despite this not being the first time…
In one fluid motion, she released my member from her sinful cleavage and straddled my hips. I could feel her wet heat hovering just above me, excitment clearly evident from my girlfriend as clear juices dripped on my cock. It was tantalizing close yet maddeningly out of reach, that I just needed to buck my hips to shove it in.
Akeno leaned down, her bare breasts pressing into my chest, and her face mere centimeters from mine — making me feel the sensation of her stiff nippled rubbing against me. The smell of her perfume, the softness of her body, and the warmth of her breath made me dizzy. I felt her hand caress my face, her fingers tracing along the contours of my jaw. Her nails lightly scratched the skin on my neck, making me shiver.
"Mm, that's much better. Now, close your eyes and try not to make too much noise, don’t want anyone to ruin the fun~."
She leaned forward and kissed my lips. The kiss was gentle, her tongue licking my lower lip before slipping inside my mouth. My senses were overwhelmed by her scent and taste, and the feel of her skin against mine. Her hair tickled my face, and her breasts rubbed against my chest.
Her fingers played with my ears, while her other hand trailed down my stomach to cup my groin.
Her touch sent electricity up my spine.
Her hand slid between my thighs, and I gasped. My hips bucked involuntarily, and I felt a wave of pleasure course through me as I grind against her soft warm hand. Akeno giggled, enjoying whatever expression I was making right now, "Looks like someone's excited."
She began stroking my cock with a slow, steady rhythm, while she continued kissing me. My hands ended up finding their way onto her butt, kneading it with hard squeezes and nails digging into skin,which she definitely enjoyed as I felt her shudder on me.
Unconsciously rubbing against my lower region as the pressure started to build over there with each movement. My toes curled, and my hips jerked involuntarily.
"Mmn...ahh..." I couldn't control the sounds coming from my mouth. It was almost embarrassing, but the pleasure was too great. But I persisted, not willing to admit defeat so early.
Exploiting the fact that every inch of her body was hypersensitive to touch, I tweaked and rolled her stiff nipples between my fingers, causing her efforts to make me climax prematurely to grow more frantic and desperate with each passing second. The very notion of a sensual massage had been thoroughly driven from her lust-addled mind, replaced only by an all-consuming, primal desire to cum.
"Haa… haa"
She increased the tempo, her fingers dancing across my skin, sending jolts of ecstasy through me. My hips jerked forward, and my toes curled, pushing me too close to my limit that I couldn't do much about it anymore.
I groaned loudly, "Akeno... I can't take it anymore..."
She looked at me with a smirk, "Are you going to cum?"
"Yeah..."
"Then do it, cum for me. Spray it all over me!"
I couldn't hold back anymore, her pussy rubbing against me was too much to endure for long. Just as I was about to release my load… she stopped.
“W-Wha—”
Knock!
Knock!
My initial bewilderment and even a desperate desire for her to continue was immediately replaced with shock as someone outside my room knocked on the door. Both of us went wide-eyed at first and then my breath hitched when I heard the voice from the other side.
“U-Um… excuse me, can I please speak to you for a second, Hikigaya Hachiman-san? T-This is Rossweisse, m-maybe you remember me? Please, it will only be for a second!”
Of course, I remembered her! We met not even twenty-four hours ago! But why was she outside my room and blue-balled me at the last momentt!?
“A-Are you mad at me? I'm very sorry! I wasn't in the right mindset and made assumptions. So please come out! Give me a chance to talk to you and make things right!” She started blabbering from the other side loudly on top of that, surely having gotten the attention of half of the people sleeping in this castle alone.
But just as I was about to tell her that this was not an appropriate time and for her to come back tomorrow, Akeno whispered to my ears. “Go talk to her.”
“—?”
My confusion grew even more, looking at the ravenette only to see her sporting a mischievous smile. “It is a bad idea to ignore a Valkyrie who is the personal assistant of Lord Odin. So you better talk to her, I don't mind.”
For some reason I highly doubted her. The knocking kept getting louder and her pleas started to sound more desperate and came closer to becoming a full-on wailing.
“Uuuuuh! P-Please, I'm begging you! I'll do anything - I really need this position! Lord Odin will never let me hear the end of it if I mess this up too!" Her voice cracked with genuine distress.
Great. She was full-on sobbing now.
He swiftly went over to the door, opening it just enough for her to see my highly annoyed face. “I forgive you, now leave.”
“Wait!” Just right as I was about to close the door, the idiot actually tried to prevent me from doing so by pushing back. Using a single arm of hers without exerting much effort on top of that! “No, you didn't! That's not the face of someone who is willing to forgive! Just listen to me for a minute, I can explain everything!”
At this point I was certain that a vein was throbbing on my forehead, my eyes twitched and I was this close to chucking Ophis at her. But my rational side came to the rescue and barely managed to calm down my violent impulse. “Hah… listen, you caught me at a really bad time. I'm not angry at you and would be more than happy to talk things out and fix the misunderstandings we have between us at any other time. So let's just do this tom—hn!?”
I bit into my cheek when out of nowhere, an exquisite sensation enveloped my dick. I looked downwards in a panic, discovering Akeno kneeling next to me with her breast stroking my shaft. The same mischievous smile on her face as she gestured to me to stay quiet and continue the conversation.
‘ARE YOU CRAZY, WOMAN!?’ That was what I wanted to say, but couldn't do so without attracting Rossweisse’s attention and to accidentally have her see something that I really don’t want others to see.
“Are you alright? Ah, You must have gotten injured during the Rating Game!” The Innocent Valkyrie, fortunately, remains clueless about the reason behind this reaction. Instead of showing genuine concern. “Please let me have a look at you, I am very proficient with healing runes and magic.”
“T-That… D-don’t worry a-about it. I-I just stubbed my toe.”
That was the lamest excuse ever, but it was all my scattered brain could muster while Akeno's warm breasts squeezed around my cock. Her excess saliva made each thrust smooth and maddening, and it took every ounce of willpower not to moan as she worked me between those soft mounds. Gods, this woman would be the death of me.
She rolled her large meaty orbs around my cock, stroking me off with a skill that no girl her age should have, sucking hard on everything sticking out of the marshmallow confines like it was a lollipop, her teasing tongue flicking across my weeping slit and the sensitive crevasses of the tip, to lap up the pre-cum beading out from constant excitement and the denial of cumming.
“Stubbed your toe? Ah, it must be because of me… I must have made so much noise that you came running and got hurt because of me… again…”
“No!” I shouted, gripping the door frame with all my might, almost digging my fingers into the wood. “J-Just… just listen, it was an accident… ah! An innocent mistake!”
It took all of my willpower not to not let go of the door, grab the teasing minx’s head and buck into her hot, velvet mouth with everything I had. Icould feel my release fast approaching, balls drawing up tighter even more than usual. Akeno seemed to sense it too, doubling her efforts and taking him so deep he could feel her throat spasming and clenching around my tip.
I glared down at Akeno's smug face, hoping she’d get the hint and stop messing with me. Her answer came in the form of taking my entire shaft down her throat without gagging. The prior sensation I experienced before Rossweisse interrupted them came back with a vengeance.
Forcing me to release all my load in her mouth, unable to even move when she locked my waist with both arms.
With a stifled grunt, I reached my climax, releasing thick ropes of cum down Akeno's waiting throat. She eagerly swallowed every drop, her skillful tongue milking me for all I was worth. My cock pulsed and twitched between her soft, plump lips as spurt after spurt flooded her mouth in my thick spunk before being gulped down her hungry maw. Finally, with a lewd wet pop, she released me, licking her glossy lips with a satisfied smirk.
"Hn!" I bit back a moan, my legs trembling from the intensity of my orgasm.
Damn this vixen! Keeping a straight face was usually child's play for me, but Akeno just loved to push my limits. How the hell was I supposed to hold a conversation like this?
“Hachiman-san!” My reaction alerted the white-haired woman in the hallway, her intentions of coming in were clear to understand, which made me panic.
“I'm just having a stomach ache!” I rapidly shot those words, using anything that came up without caring whether it made sense or not. “T-The buffet… I-I ate too much and probably got food poisoned. You know that I'm human, My physique is not the same as the supernatural species, y-you know how weak humans can be. Soft and weak little flesh bags!”
A string of saliva connected between his dick and Akeno's lips, which caused my member to shoot off some left over strings of semen on her face and breasts as she accepted it happily. Her tongue out and mouth widely opened, it coated her face before calming down.
At least, for only a brief moment before she dived right back in to swallow my cock.
“S-Seriously!?”
My oversensitive member twitched as Akeno's deft tongue swirled around the head, sending shockwaves of pleasure through my body. I gripped the doorframe for dear life, using every ounce of willpower to keep from buckling under the intense sensations and accidentally revealing our activities to the unsuspecting Valkyrie outside.
Akeno hollowed her cheeks, bobbing her head with renewed vigor as she took my length deep into her throat again and again. Her violet eyes locked with mine, filled with mischief and lust as she pleasured herself with one hand, the lewd squelching of her soaked pussy growing louder by the second. The relentless assault on my cock was almost too much to bear, and I found my hands tangling in her silky black hair, pulling her even closer.
A muffled moan of pleasure vibrated around my shaft as Akeno pushed me over the edge. My hips jerked forward as I erupted in her eager mouth, flooding it with spurt after spurt of hot cum. She swallowed greedily, her throat massaging my pulsing cock as she milked every last drop from my balls. Her wicked tongue continued to tease the sensitive head, coaxing out a few more weak spurts until I let out a strangled groan, overwhelmed by the intensity of my release.
“W-What? Did I say something?” The Valkyrie was startled by my tone, thinking I was shouting at her. Not wanting to deal with her crying again, I had to end this conversation right now!
“M-My stomach is acting up again… we'll talk about this tomorrow when I am in a better state. So just go. I am not angry at you and hope we can be friends. Yada, yada, yada! Bye!” Without even giving her any time to respond, I slammed the door closed and finally was able to relax for a bit.
“Hah… hah… hah…” my back pushed against the wooden frame, slowly sliding downwards until I sat on the ground. “You… you're crazy… why…”
"Oh wow, you came a lot," Akeno laughed, com"You really enjoy my mouth, didn’t you? In fact, I feel like you enjoyed almost getting caught more than me~! Who knew you had such a kinky fetish, we can try to explore that further next time.”
She crawled towards me, leaning downwards to give my shaft a little kiss. That gesture made another shiver crawl all over my body.
“All right, you had your fun. Now it's my turn.” This time, I was the one who snapped my fingers and conjured several strands of black tendrils to shoot from the ground and wrap around both her arms and legs. Binding them together and making it impossible for her to move.
“Ah! Oh my, how forceful~! Are you going to restrain me again? I love it.” Rather than give her an answer, I picked up the woman from the ground and walked towards the bed. Throwing her on it, I positioned her at an angle where her butt was presented before me. Dripping with her love juice, she eagerly shook it, inviting me with a desperate gaze.
Positioning myself in front with my shaft having recovered after a quick recovery potion, I was ready to teach this girl a lesson she would never forget. Letting my grievance for her little prank rule my emotions for a bit.
"Oh, please," she whispered, wiggling her ass. "Fuck me, make me cum, fill me with your big, mean cock, and seed my poor innocent womb!"
Not needing any further invitation, I grabbed her hips and thrust inside her in one swift motion. She was so wet that I slid in easily, her tight walls instantly clenching around me.
"Ooh! Fuck!" she screamed, squirming in her restraints.
The tightness, her lewd expression, her lust-filled moans, and the sight of her bound body all had me ready to burst. But, I couldn't do it, not yet. My entire body was tingling, and my cock twitched inside her pussy.
This wave of pleasure surpasses what I experienced at the door.
My grip on her waist tightened, nails digging into her skin and she let out a loud moan. Her tongue was out, licking the bedsheets with nothing but lust in her eyes.
I pulled her back and rammed forward, forcing my cock in and out of her pussy at a hard and fast pace. She could only let out a scream as I used her like a sex toy. Fulling letting my instincts take over, wanting nothing more than to make her mine.
"Oooh! Ah! Fuuuuck! More… more! Don't stop!"
I kept pounding her for a few more minutes. My grip never faltered and my pace not slowing. We were covered in sweat, her head turned around, tongue out wanting me to get closer. So I obligated, leaning towards and biting her earlobes as my cock reached her deepest area.
Her breath hitched and I filled myself getting near my limits. With a few more thrusts, I left my semen to fill her womb. Empty everything I had while continuing to move back and forth.
With Akeno cumming at the same time as me, spraying my body with her juices and letting out one last moan loud enough that I was certain that not even silencing magic would contain it.
After a few seconds, I slowly moved away, the length of my shaft sliding away from a pussy and leaving a gaping hole where semen started to trickle out drop by drop.
Dismissing my tendrils, I fell on the spot next to her, Where she used what little remained of her strength to crawl onto my chest and use it as a pillow. Our sweaty body pressed against one another, her trembling legs twined with mine.
She was satisfied and so was I.
Far too exhausted to do anything or even think, wanting nothing more than to just close my eyes and get to sleep. But before that, a question flashed across my mind and I couldn't help but ask her out loud before she fell asleep as well.
“Say, Akeno… Are you sure you will be able to participate tomorrow? I don't want you to be fighting against Sairaorg in this condition.” I knew that devils could recover extremely quickly, but part of me knew that against a monster like him, one would need to be in their strongest state.
Her fingers twirled around my chest, the fallen angel hybrid letting out an amused hum.
“It's fine, you don't need to be worried. Our next opponent is nothing like that. We should be able to handle Diodora without much issue.”
Diodora?
Rage boiled through me at the mention of that bastard's name. What he did to Asia was unforgivable. Every time I pictured his face, something felt deeply wrong - that practiced smile and calculated charm reminded me of Kiba's masks, but there was something far more sinister lurking underneath. This wasn't just social awkwardness or trauma - this was pure malice hiding behind a carefully crafted facade.
“Be careful with him, and if possible, zap him in the balls as much as you can before he’s eliminated.”
“Fufufufu~” She nuzzled her face closer to mine, pecking my cheeks. “I will, I know that you must hate him. But so do I. He made our little Asia suffer, and I intend to return the pain tenfold.”
Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve someone like Akeno in my life, A question that would forever go unanswered, and for once, I was in no hurry to find out.
And with that, both of us let ourselves enjoy each other's company.
Despite everything she said, in those last moments before I fell asleep, a sliver of worry about tomorrow's match managed to seep deep within my mind.
‘... Vritra… ‘
‘Get some sleep, partner. I am always and will forever be by your side. No matter what challenges may arise tomorrow, we will handle it as we have done with every other case in the past.’
Heh, the dragon really knew what to say to make one relax. I had no reason to not believe him, and so I went to sleep peacefully with that sliver of worry disappearing completely.
‘Rather you should be worrying about Ophis over there, she's been staring at you two the entire time… I won't even question how neither of you noticed her presence. Ah, You're already asleep. I suppose it’s for the best.’
As Vritra mentioned, just outside the room on to the balcony, the presence of a gothic lolita floating in the air and observing everything that happened inside with a strange light flashing within her eyes. Turning her gaze down at her own body which for a brief moment grew to match Akeno's appearance before returning to its prior state before doing it again but looking like Venelana, then Rossweiss, and finally Rias.
Ophis wondered if taking on a more appealing form herself might inspire Hachiman to work even harder in his training. Maybe it will help in making him strong enough to defeat Great Red and restore the silence of the Dimensional Gap. She allowed her form to settle back into its usual appearance. She gazed at the boy's sleeping face one last time, feeling an unfamiliar warmth spreading through her chest. With a quiet whoosh of displaced air, she was gone.
Beta read by Shigiya, GameCrusher55 and Darklord331
Next update is Snafu followed by An Archer's Promise.
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-Fuyuki- -Fuyuki-
(Ayako’s residence)
If Ayako had to sum up her day, she'd call it mind-numbingly boring. Between the repetitive tasks and endless routine, she was about ready to fall asleep at her desk.
“Sis, you have a guest… again.” Her brother's voice carried a hint of amusement. "At this rate, we should just give them a spare key."
Finally, something interesting. The news was exactly what she needed to break up the monotony. Tossing her pen aside, Ayako practically jumped from her chair and headed downstairs, her previous lethargy completely forgotten.
Standing in the entryway was Minori, her younger brother. He was taller than her now, though still younger by a year. His hair was nearly the same shade as hers, though, under certain lighting, it leaned closer to reddish-brown. At the moment, he was lounging by the doorway, wearing a simple shirt and shorts, lazily spooning pudding from a cup. Ayako’s eyes narrowed immediately.
That pudding cup was supposed to be hers.
“You jackass!” she barked, her voice sharp and unamused.
Minori barely had time to flinch before Ayako’s fist met his thick skull—not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make her point clear that she was angry.
“I was saving that for myself, and you have the nerve to steal it!?”
“Stop it! Your name wasn’t on it!” Minori shot back, retreating a step but still holding onto his ill-gotten treat. “And Mom said I could have it!”
“That doesn’t make it yours!” Ayako growled, glaring at him. She considered chasing him down to wrestle it out of his hands but decided against it. Instead, she huffed and turned her attention to the guest he’d mentioned.
Standing just inside the doorway was Yukika Saegusa, a familiar face Ayako had been seeing more often recently. Yukika was from the same year at their school and same classroom, and their paths had crossed enough times that they’d started to grow closer with how often she helped her out with several tasks and some club-related paperwork. Now, at least in Ayako's opinion, they were becoming genuine friends, so much so that she had invited her over for a study session.
“Glad to see you could make it, Yukika,” Ayako said with a smile that softened her earlier frustration.
Yukika returned the smile, her presence was small and almost delicate. She had a certain charm, like a quiet but lovable child, though Ayako knew better than to underestimate her. She was part of a trio of girls at school that caused mischief and havoc in their wake, though she seemed to be the least well-known of the three—perhaps intentionally.
“It’s no trouble!” Yukika said cheerfully. “I live pretty close by, so it was easy to get here.”
Originally, this study session had been planned for a group, but everyone else had canceled for various reasons. That left just Ayako and Yukika to tackle their assignments together. Ayako didn’t mind. The company was welcome, and Yukika’s presence had a way of making her feel less stressed.
“All right, we’ll be upstairs,” the brunette said, shooting a warning look at Minori. “Don’t bother us, that’s your punishment for my pudding…and stay out of trouble.”
“Whatever,” Minori muttered, rolling his eyes before retreating further into the house. Ayako watched him go, still slightly annoyed about the pudding but deciding to let it slide for now.
As they climbed the stairs, Yukika glanced back. “That’s your brother right? I haven’t seen him since that last study session last year. I didn’t get a good look at him then, but he looks a lot like you!”
“Pfft! Maybe a little in the face,” she admitted with a shrug. “But other than that, we couldn’t be more different. That brat spends all his time gaming ‘ I do that a lot too.’, eating everything in sight, and being a general pain. Though… he’s not all bad. At least he listens to me when I ask him nicely. Sometimes.”
“He seems sweet, though, he reminds me of my brothers,” Yukika said, giggling.
Ayako smirked. “He’s a tsundere. Acts tough and independent, but he’s soft inside. Lately, though, he’s been calmer than usual. Makes me wonder what he’s hiding.”
“Oh? What do you think it is?” Yukika asked, curiosity piqued.
“I think it’s because he’s fallen in love,” the girl revealed with a sly grin, enjoying the way Yukika’s eyes widened in surprise.
“No way! Really?”
“Way. He thinks he can hide it from me, but I’ve known him since he was in diapers. That boy has a crush on one of the new first-years. I just haven’t figured out who it is yet.”
Yukika tapped her chin thoughtfully, a spark of interest crossing her face. “I know some of the first-year girls. Want me to help you figure it out?”
“Absolutely! If I can find out, I can use it as blackmail material,” Ayako joked to Yukika, with a mischievous glint in her eye. Wasn't it the duty of a big sister to get blackmail material on their little brother so as to use it as a weapon to get whatever she wanted? It didn’t sound evil in the least, in fact she thought of it rather as an obligation.
They both laughed as they reached Ayako’s room. She opened the door and gestured for her guest to step inside.
“Welcome to my humble abode.” Letting Yukika into her room for the first time.
Yukika's mouth fell open as she took in the room. "Oh wow, I wasn't expecting this at all! I thought it'd be more... you know, sporty? But it's actually really cute in here. And is that a designer lamp? It looks expensive."
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ayako asked, frowning. “And it's not expensive…
“Well, you’re so sporty and tough. I kind of imagined your room would look like a gym. Maybe with punching bags or a mini dojo where you could practice archery or beat up training dummies.”
“Why the hell would you think that!?” she cried, lightly tugging on Yukika’s cheek. “Stop spreading weird rumors!”
Yukika laughed, playfully dodging Ayako’s hand. “I’m just saying! You’ve got a reputation at school, you know.”
Rolling her eyes, Ayako let the matter drop and motioned for Yukika to sit down. They quickly got to work, the earlier banter giving way to focus. To her surprise, they made significant progress, and an hour passed before she even realized it — for all that innocence, the innocent-looking girl was surprisingly sharp-witted when it came to numbers.
As they reached the end of their session, Yukika hesitated, pausing her pen mid-word. She glanced at Ayako, thoughtfully.
“Hey, Ayako… can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if it’s too personal.”
"Eh? Sure, you can say anything you want to." She looked at the girl with a mix of curiosity and confusion, wondering why she’d suddenly put on such a serious expression.
“Well, are you and Shirou dating?”
“PFT—!”
If she had been drinking anything, it would have sprayed all over the girl and the papers on the table, ruining everything. Thankfully, Ayako only choked on air, though it left her coughing and pounding her chest to regain her breath.
“Cough!! Cough!!! W-What?! Where the hell did that come from!?” she managed to sputter, her voice rising in both volume and disbelief. Sure, she was close to Shirou, but at no point had they done anything at school—or anywhere—that could be mistaken as dating…at least she hoped so. Then again, if a new student were to see them hanging out together that idea would seem plausible. And she knew his secrets and went so far as to save him from a dangerou—
“—Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Yukika replied casually, shrugging her shoulders and going back to focus on her paper.
“Hah?”
The train of thought was stopped in an instant. Ayako’s initial shock and incredulity were suddenly replaced by irritation with a twitching eyebrow. What the hell does she mean by that? Did she think she and Shirou weren’t good enough for each other? That they couldn’t be more than friends? It rubbed her entirely the wrong way—not that she was interested in him, of course. But still!
“Well, yeah. Since he already has a girlfriend.”
Ayako’s hand, which had been jotting something down subconsciously on the paper in front of her, froze mid-motion. Her grip tightened, and the tip of her pen pressed so hard against the page it nearly snapped.
“Him? A girlfriend?” she repeated in disbelief.
The idea was almost laughable. Shirou was terrible at lying, and she’d known him long enough to believe he had no such secrets. Finding out he was a magician, or mage as he liked for her to call instead, had been a shock, but something as mundane as him hiding a girlfriend? Impossible.
“Rin?” Ayako ventured. “They’re just acquaintances. They know each other, sure, but there’s nothing that suggests that.” Her mind briefly flickered to Sakura, the violet-haired girl they’d run into at the school café where Shirou worked. There was something slightly odd about her, but nothing that seemed to point to romance. Besides, Sakura had just started her first year of high school.
But Saegusa shook her head vehemently. “No, not her, obviously. There’s someone else—a beautiful woman who likes to cosplay. She’s always with him, both in and out of school. I saw them recently at the park. With how close they looked, there’s definitely something going on between them! And I can’t even blame him. She’s stunning! Her long bright purple hair is so beautiful. I really like that blindfold cosplay she has, it makes her look mysterious! And her outfit is so skin tight it kinda makes me wonder how she can walk around in public with that, also, it looks quite expensive.”
“—?”
Ayako's brow furrowed as she mentally counted the women in Shirou's life. There was his boss at the Copenhagen café, that psychotic woman who'd tried to kill her that one time, and their English teacher who basically mothered him. None of them fit what Yukika was describing. She tried to think of any new people lately that could fit the bill, but couldn’t think of anything.
"Are you absolutely sure about what you saw?" she asked, unable to hide the skepticism in her voice. "Because this is the first I'm hearing about any girlfriend."
“I’m not lying!” Saegusa insisted, her tone sounding genuine. “For some reason, everyone ignores her or acts like she doesn’t exist, but I swear she’s real. I even talked to her for a few seconds. She was super nice when I talked to her that one time! She's not Japanese obviously. Don’t know where she came from but her accent was spot on, and she spoke so clearly. But what was really amazing was her chest! It was the biggest I've ever seen! Wait, are you all pretending you can't see her? That's not nice.”
Ayako frowned, a twinge of unease creeping in. "Tell me more about this person. I'm curious."
If there really was someone lingering so close to Shirou—someone important enough to be mistaken for his girlfriend—it was something Ayako felt she had to know. She’d made a silent promise to herself to help Shirou with his duties as the town’s protector, even if he insisted she stay uninvolved.
The next time he found himself in a life-or-death situation, she was determined to be there for him, whether he wanted her to or not.
Not to mention, she had been feeling like someone… or something was watching her whenever she was with him.
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(Fuyuki Park)
What an atrocious week this has been! She had to deal with continuous taunting from a fake priest who had taken the liberty of ignoring her for the better part of a week. She also had a constant headache with Luvia’s arrival, which spelled so many potential issues that would end up just falling on her head to deal with. Especially if Luvia’s taunts were on the mark. Not to mention she had to get herself involved with fixing the schools decision of sudden grade lifting. She couldn’t count the sleepless nights she and Issei were forced to work together to fix everything. Her only solace were the study sessions Ayako set up which let her ironically cool down and focus on something else.
Rin was tired—there was no other way to describe it. Between her duties as a student, her role as the second owner of the land, and the looming shadow of the upcoming Holy Grail War, she felt like she was juggling too much at once. Truthfully, she was worried. She’d spent years preparing for this moment, yet doubts lingered in her mind. Would everything go as planned? Or would it all go horribly awry?
Rin had initially planned to begin her summoning ritual at 2 a.m. sharp. She had lucked out today and found an incredibly powerful gem that her father had hidden next to a fossilized snake. She immediately could tell that no other gem in her family’s collection was this pure. The red gem was so powerful, and it even had ten years worth of magic energy from her own within it. A true last gift from her father he must have prepared for her. She could perform incredible magecraft with it that was far beyond what she was currently capable of.As soon as her clock hit 2 a.m. she’d perform the summoning. However, the weight of her responsibilities had grown unbearable, and she decided to clear her head with a walk before embarking on the dangerous and life-changing ritual.
Yet, her worries weren’t solely tied to the Grail War. There was Sakura—the source of a gnawing guilt she couldn’t shake—who had run away from home to live with someone she had suspicions of. And on top of that, both a Lord and an Enforcer had made their presence known in Fuyuki, complicating matters further.
Still, Rin reminded herself that was why she needed to stay calm and focus. A walk was her best option to center herself.
What she didn’t expect was to find Sakura at the very same park between the forest and the Tohsaka Residence where they’d crossed paths once before. Worse, Sakura's state made something deep within Rin snap.
All thoughts of her preparations for the summoning ritual, the Lord, Enforcer, Luvia, or even Kirei vanished from her mind, swallowed by a rising tide of concern for the fragile girl sitting in front of her.
Rin rushed to Sakura’s side, a fire igniting in her heart—a fire fueled by anger and blame. This has to be HIS FAULT. She didn’t need to name Shirou; the redhead was the only one who came to mind. Whatever had happened to make Sakura look so miserable, Rin was certain he was the cause, and she was going to confront him.
But before she stormed off to confront him, she needed the details. She crouched beside Sakura, her determination solidifying. If it meant staying by her sister’s side all night and sacrificing her plans, as well as even prying the truth out by force, Rin was willing to do it.
She couldn’t describe this feeling accurately, but right now nothing else mattered—not the Grail War, not her duties, not even the risks she was taking. For now, her only priority was Sakura.
Yet before she could get any answer, her life flashed before her eyes the moment a strange white-haired girl appeared along with a giant shadow towering over her.
At that moment, Rin felt at the mercy of a power beyond her abilities. The touch of death whose mere presence made every single muscle fiber in her body tense up. “Anfang!”
She couldn't afford to waste any movement, conjuring the image of a knife stabbing into her heart as a trigger, with her hands already holding a handful of gems that were tossed in front. Each one brimming with Magical Energy, they all let out a loud piercing sound before detonating in a bright flash of light.
At first, they intended to act as a powerful blast, but they played their roles as stun bombs with more success when both girls felt the air pressure, as the giant slab of stone, shaped like a sword, proceeded to slice through the group right next to them.
▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー!?
The mini earthquake that resulted from the sword hitting the floor coupled with the bone-chilling roar that he let out, rather than bringing forth a sense of fear inside them, brought along a powerful desire to survive.
“Ah!” Sakura let out a small yelp as Rin pulled her inside the woods next to the park, grabbing onto her waist and pushing a quick rush of her energy to her legs for Reinforcement — her body leaped off the ground and landed on the side of the forest. Running without even giving Sakura any time to recover, her sole priority was to get out of there for that creature was the last thing any mage would want to deal with.
“Someone has already summoned a Servant!” She muttered this out loud, cursing her luck for perhaps being too late in her summoning. But the actual date of the war was only a few days away!
“Watch out, Nee-san!”
Rin heard the sound of a wall getting obliterated. That Servant, who, from just this brief interaction, made her believe to be a Berserker, was already on their pursuit, making her feet hasten more. Since she hadn’t summoned her Servant yet she couldn't see his stats but why did she get the feeling she wouldn't like it. Several stone projectiles had been thrown at her, and she saw several tree trunks obliterated with stones the size of fists.
Strangely enough, none were able to hit her even while she tried to jump out of the way, logically a few should have reached her body given how widespread it was, regardless, her suspicions of this being the doing of her sister's went to the back of her mind.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Running won't solve anything, it's a Servant! Why is a Master after you, I didn't see any Command Seals on your hand, Sakura!” the twin-tailed girl shouted, wanting to cry on the spot while her mind stormed to find a way to survive.
Going up against a Servant without one herself was no different from suicide, only an idiot of the highest order or an equally dangerous monster would face one. But she was not a blue blood, not from a thousand year old family, nor a fool, so facing that thing was out of the question! If she had one chance it would be… she could feel a specific gem moving in her skirt pocket.
“I-I’m not!” Sakura answered, her response only confusing the Tohsaka heiress even further. “Drop me, you'll only put yourself in danger!”
“Shut up! Stop being crazy!”
“It's after me!”
“Why the hell would it be after you!? The Master was obviously talking to us, or more likely me! Since I am the Second Owner.” There was absolutely no way she was letting go, even if it meant taking the most dangerous option that cut off most routes leading to her survival. She wasn’t finished talking with Sakura. “Just keep a lout for me!”
“I can run on my own!”
For some reason, Rin highly doubted that claim, having never seen the girl physically exert herself that much in the past or even when she secretly observed the violet-haired heiress from the window during the latter's PE classes. “Don't take this the wrong way, Sakura, but from what I'm feeling I doubt you can do much running.”
“Excuse me!?”
“Stop shouting! I'm trying to think!” The entire time, her hands grabbed what little stash of her gems remained to scatter them all across the forest—forcing each to burst into a blinding light hoping to buy some small window of opportunity to slip through.
‘If I knew where the Master is hiding, I can at least try to get to her first rather than confronting the Servant directly… I can try to set a summoning circle—no, I don't have time or the materials to do so! What the hell am I supposed to do here!?’ No matter what she tried to come up with, it just could not work without having a Servant of her own or relying on pure luck to work.
“Fufufu, keep running~! It's more fun for Berserker to hunt you down like this. Don't worry, I'll keep your heads clean as a gift for Nii-san!”
That accursed smug voice came back, seeing the Einzbern brat at the corner of her eyes, Rin raised her hands making a finger gun, a dark red energy at the tip of her fingertips. With the help of her crest, she wasted no time in shooting several blasts of Gandr straight at her. Watching in frustration when the enemy just turned some strings of hair into ethereal sword constructs which struck her rune spell midair.
A few had closed in and nearly pierced her had she not jumped away. “Ein Körper ist ein Körper!” Another round of gems flew from her hands, exploding with a blinding white light. This one definitely intended to hurt her opponent, but her eyes widened when a black figure stood tall right in front of the Einzbern. Letting spell attacks strike his chest without having so much as a burn mark on his dark skin.
Treating what could have destroyed one of those chimera monsters that came to the city like nothing but a gust of wind. “So this is a Servant…” she let out a helpless chuckle, having expected this outcome truthfully but it was still frustrating to be pushed into such a corner. Having not prepared enough gems for this outing, her stash had dried up, mostly leaving her with only a handful of topazes, emeralds, and a few rubies.
Not much for any powerful spells, not that it mattered even if she tried. Even by the happenings of a miracle by possibly bypassing the mountain of muscles in front of her, killing the Master herself would prove to be another issue in itself. An Einzbern at the end of the day could not be taken down so easily, regardless whether she was a small child or not.
Time… she needed time.
"You do realize there are consequences for attacking non-participants, right?" Rin called out, her voice steady despite the situation. Her eyes darted around, searching for any possible escape route while she spoke. "We're not even Masters, and we certainly haven't done anything to provoke you."
“Consequences? Let's be honest here, you were going to be involved in this war sooner than later as the Second Owner. There is no rule from killing the competition before they get to summon and even if there was… I don't really care.” She spoke cheerfully, not at all angered or bothered by her attempt to buy time. “Besides, I want to see his reaction if I brought your heads over to him. Would he be sad? Angry? Despairing? In denial? So many possibilities, I need to know~!”
Alright, it became clear that this girl was crazy.
“That's awfully confident of you to think you won't get into any trouble. Just so you know, there are certain people in Fuyuki with whom you really don't want to have any issues. Given I am working with them at the moment, trying to get rid of me will only cause you more issues than anything else.” She was not sure if this girl was aware of the presence of a Lord and an Enforcer, But given she was part of the Einzbern family, The chances of her acquiring that information were very high and she had to take advantage of that.
Much to her surprise, the girl hummed rather than ordering her Servant to attack them.
“I suppose it would be quite a hassle if I have to deal with those two. Not that I am particularly afraid of them, but with Berserker by my side, I am practically the strongest and most dangerous being in the city at the moment. Even if you had a Servant, they would have been killed and torn apart by now — so don't get any ideas on trying to escape the situation. So come up with something more creative to escape the situation alive before I get bored. I am not interested in torturing you in particular, my eyes are set on someone else. “
Arrogance, a trait she definitely expected to hear from a member of such a prestigious family. Not that she could even tell her otherwise for everything mentioned held weight including the comment about her Heroic Spirit. Just looking at his giant mane of uncapped hair and dark red eyes sent a chill down her spine, a pure force of nature he could rip her apart at any moment. But the fact that it had not done so made her understand that perhaps that little girl was just playing with her this entire time!
“Ah, I got it!” Suddenly, the white-haired Mage perked up with an interested face on her expression. Showing a smile that neither Rin nor Sakura liked at all, for it spelled nothing but trouble. “How about this, I won't kill you if you want but I cannot just let you go without accomplishing anything. So here is my offer to you… kill the girl next to you and earn your freedom. Simple as that~! But of course, if you don't follow my orders, I'll just have Berserk rape both of you.”
Both of the sisters' eyes widened in disbelief at the proposed offer, especially at the horrifying alternative.
The prior emotions of fear within Rin soon were overtaken by rage. “Listen here you sadistic brat, while I admit that we aren’t in the best scenario, I am not a fan of hearing such low-level jokes.” She said that through her gritted teeth, trying her best to remain calm as her fists started to bleed with how hard she clenched them.
Much to her dismay, those amused crimson eyes did not falter and instead continued to look down upon her with clear arrogance. “So that's a no?”
“Nee-san,” perhaps it was because of the stressful situation, but Rin had not noticed how Sakura started to call her that instead of her name. Creating a wave of mixed feelings but she did not hate it, nor did any thoughts of asking her to stop it rise. “It's fine, I-I’ll try to create a distraction and you can use the opportunity to escape.”
Saying such words with that kind of smile on her face was not fair.
“Idiot, do you even know any spells that can help you here?” She knew Sakura was not inept as a Magus but definitely possessed talent as the heir to the Matou. But so far, nothing was shown to suggest she would be able to stall for time whatsoever.
“That doesn’t matter, Grandfather won't let me die,” the violet-haired woman replied confidently, placing a hand over her stomach.
“You honestly expect me to believe that?” She became conflicted, unable to consider that old freak put such value that he would get in the way of a Servant. In the end, she chose to not believe that, knowing that just leaving would be no different than running away and abandoning her. It just did not sit right with her, and she hated how another part of her agreed with Sakura that this was their best option. “I still have a few gems left, I have been working on a few new spells and I can give them a tr—”
“I am bored, get this over with, Berserker.” That brat’s voice sounded out, and the next moment, moving faster than previously to the point it was no different to teleportation. The giant weapon, already a few inches away from her face, with no other way to escape this situation… she—
Crash!
—saw her life flash before her eyes…huh?
A massive crash reverberated through the air like a thunderclap. From above, a dark purple figure descended with blinding speed, her heeled boots slamming into Berserker's towering frame. The force of her impact was nothing short of cataclysmic, driving the massive Servant into the ground and creating a crater so large and deep that debris and dust exploded outward in a violent shockwave.
Rin and Sakura were sent tumbling backward by the shockwave, landing hard on the ground. Barely able to stop themselves and get a foothold. Dazed, they looked up in disbelief.
“Rider?!” Sakura's voice trembled as she tried to process the scene before her.
The beautiful figure of Rider stood atop Berserker, her chains coiling like serpents around the giant sword itself as her blindfolded gaze bore down on the hulking monster beneath her feet who, unfortunately, managed to resist getting pushed down to his knees.
▅▅ーー!
His body moved, easily flipping back up and swinging his weapon. Pulling onto the chains themselves and forcing her off, the Servant slid on the ground with her boot drifting on the earth till she ended up near the two girls.
“Are you okay, Sakura?” Rider asked, not taking her attention off Berserker who looked no worse for wear, not even a single scratch on his body. “...”
“I am here as well you know,” Rin muttered, “Wait, a Servant? Are you…” she quickly looked down at Sakura's hands and confirmed once more there were no Command Seals anywhere in sight. But she obviously came to save her, are the Command Seals located somewhere else…unusual but not impossible. Yet she didn’t think Sakura was lying when she said she wasn’t a Master.
Her mind raced. Of all the people who could be a Master and intervene, only one name came to mind, and it only frustrated her further. ‘Has he been hiding under my nose this entire time!? Wait… I feel like I have seen her somewhere before…ah! This is not the time for that!’
Even the white-haired Einzbern mage was momentarily stunned. Her crimson eyes widened, her usual smug demeanor replaced with uncharacteristic hesitation. She recovered quickly, however, pointing toward Rider with an almost childish indignation. “Berserker, get rid of her!”
Upon her command, the Servant let out another roar before charging forward. Blade coming down to slash Rider only for her figure to disappear, already behind him with her nails held firmly to pierce his skin. She thrust. “Hn!”
No different from metal, the weapon failed to cause any damage. “—!” Rendering her open for a vicious kick to her guts, rendering the Servant briefly stunned as she was pushed away, only for the chains to pull her back as he tried to go for a grab.
“Rider!”
Despite getting air forcefully pushed out of her lungs, Rider recovered in an instant. Twisting her body around in an almost inhuman degree to barely avoid the grab. Twirling in the air until her chains wrapped around Berserker’s leg, pulling with such monstrous strength that it was able to break his balance. She used her chains to propel herself around the man, going for the same attack as she used at first to kick his chest and send him flying backward, but this time there was more motion. The connecting force doing the trick, and managing to make him move.
Afterward, she gracefully landed back in front of the girls, yet no one was happy with the outcome. Especially Rin who watched the Servant once again easily get back up without any injuries on his body.
“You have to be kidding me! That kind of defensive ability has to be some kind of skill! Who the hell stays unharmed after so many of those attacks!?” She wanted to pull her hair out, the kind of kick Rider showcased was enough to kill a Magus with reinforcement in a single attack, yet it did nothing against that… thing!
“Are most of his stats A? I can't even check, but it has to be… this is not good.” Even with a Servant now on their side, their chances of winning did not seem so high. Had she gotten the opportunity to summon Saber, then things would have been very different. “Oi, Rider right? I don't know who you are or what your abilities are, but if you don't have anything that can bypass that defense, then our best option is to retreat. Buy us some time.”
She was not her Master, and Rin had little to no idea what could her Noble Phantasm even be in the first place. Forcing her to use it right now would not work unless ordered by her Master or the woman herself decided to do so.
“It's fine, I already bought enough time for us.”
“Eh?”
But before Rin could ask further what she meant by that, her answer came immediately upon seeing the Einzbern mage in the distance freeze up along with her Servant. Her expression twisted into confusion, then anger, as a cold press of metal touched her forehead as she stared back at the newcomer.
“Don’t move,” came a calm yet steely voice from behind her. Behind her stood Shirou, gasping for air but composed nonetheless whilst holding a handgun. A bittersweet smile on his face when golden brown eyes met crimson, hesitation along with uncertainty swum within them for a brief moment till he took a deep breath.
Several strings surrounded his body, close to his skin, almost decapitating him on the spot. But he showed no regard to them as if they would bring him no harm.
“You…”
Shirou sighed, “I'm sorry we had to meet this way for the first time… Nee-san.”
“Sister?”
Rin's mind went blank, slowly turning to look at Sakura, wondering if she was aware that whatever had just happened was real.
Only to see Sakura having the same confused look on her face.
Rin's left eye twitched. If they made it through this mess alive, she was going to corner that idiot and get every last answer out of him - even if she had to use her gems to do it.
It was happening. The reality he’d been fearing would one day come had arrived, and done so much earlier than he anticipated. It was not a mystery, nor an unforeseeable chain of events that came out of nowhere, for the signs were there from the beginning. It was the very reason he always kept a knife on hand and regularly sure both Najenda and her father did the same, at least before the latter became bedridden and now dead. This coupled with the state of affairs of the Empire and the shift within the royal court’s perspective of their house was plain to see long before this day.
In other words, they were no longer welcome in the Capital, and with Nagumo’s death, they had perhaps just a few weeks — possibly only days — before they would all be declared traitors before being rounded up and executed by Honest.
Even so…
“You are taking a major risk.” He had to raise this question once more. Not because he was hoping she would change her mind, but rather to see whether or not the girl was truly ready for this. Both siblings were at the stables, the eldest preparing her horse and the youngest standing in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest. The atmosphere was different on this particular day, no sign of calm or nonchalance was to be found. Things were tense, with not even a single sound coming from outside the stable and the entire manor being empty.
"This is not just a small operation you are planning. We are talking about moving hundreds if not thousands of troops outside the Capital. Someone will find out and they will do their best to stop us before we can make our way to the edge of the capital. They’ll never just stand back and allow this many soldiers to just desert, much less defect to the Revolutionaries." There were plenty of loyal soldiers who’d served Najenda and her father for years and were willing to sacrifice themselves, but this situation did not require them to go that far. They’d do plenty to show their loyalty by just staying quiet and keeping their mouths shut.
Najenda’s hands came to a halt as she was in the middle of patting her horse, staring at him with an unreadable expression.
Then she smirked. "You worry too much, I’ve already had this planned out with Father for quite a while. The route we will take has a good chance of keeping us hidden long enough. Those old roads leading to the outside have barely been used by anyone for years, and the only soldiers who are supposed to ever patrol that area are men who answer to me. I doubt the news will be reaching Honest anytime soon, so instead worry more about yourself and get ready. You are supposed to be the main guide, after all. "
It wasn’t exactly a role he’d jumped to volunteer for, but in the end, he took up the task of guiding the troops to a safer area with Najenda guarding the rear against any possible attacks. Regardless, he did not like this plan one bit.
"One wrong move and we'll have the entire Capital's army breathing down our necks. And Honest…" He paused, his jaw tightening. "That jovial act he puts on? Don't let it fool you. Behind that facade is nothing but a monster who'd do anything for power." The Prime Minister's public persona — the witty, carefree politician — was just that: an act. Like father like son, both were ruthless to their core. It wasn't lost on anyone how convenient the deaths of the young Emperor's parents had been for Honest's swift rise to power, though such whispers never dared rise above hushed tones within the Capital's walls.
"I do understand what we are trying to accomplish here can be seen as suicide. But if we remain here then we'll end up dying nonetheless. Especially you. Syura has already posted a standing bounty on you, and you can’t even retaliate since the little shit went into hiding right after that night.”
“I have already disposed of his bounty hunters; he is traumatized enough that he fled the Capital for fear of me because even he knows his assassins are unlikely to succeed. The people he can send after me are far from being the best in the Empire, I’ll manage.”
Najenda scoffed. "You and Esdeath are the only ones who seem unfazed by frequent assassination attempts. It's concerning how much you two have in common. In any case, the sun will be setting soon, so we should start moving.” To attract as little attention as possible, the group had to move under the cover of night. Using the darkness as their ally, they reduce the chances of getting spotted. However, it would still be difficult to move such a large number of people without drawing any attention.
Personally, Emiya would have preferred to divide this group into several smaller ones. To send out perhaps a hundred or so of them each day to minimize the chance of Honest and his cronies noticing anything. Unfortunately, time was not on their side and he had to admit that this left them with very few options.
“You know she's going to get to us before the others, right? " he reminded her, hoping Najenda did not forget about the biggest elephant in the room. Her hands that were brushing the neck of her horse came to a halt, and a somber expression soon filled her face. "I take it that the conversation between you two did not go so well," he said.
"That'd be putting it lightly. She views the idea of leaving the Capital and joining the Revolutionary Army as a cowardly move. No different from running away. She talks about turning the whole place into our own playground if we want. Then again, I should have known that was the kind of answer I would have gotten from her."
”Law of the jungle, where only the strongest survive. In her mind, the Capital is her territory and the idea of running away for any reason is nothing less than a mark of shame in her mind. I told you that you shouldn't have bothered trying to convince her. Now she's most likely suspicious of something." Out of everyone in the Capital, he knew that girl the best and was not surprised by the kind of reaction she showed when Najenda tried to have her join them. To plant the seed of leaving the place and starting a revolution would never have worked with her, as such concepts were the furthest things from her mind.
“Even if she does, it's already too late. So let’s focus on ourselves for now and get ready.”
.
.
.
Was this a mistake? This question had been repeating in her mind again and again for the past hour. With the moon absent from the sky above, it made it that much easier for them to blend in with the darkness.
"Take the path northeast from here, I already put several markers we can follow until we are outside. If you see any approaching soldiers or guards, silence them. We cannot afford any mistakes.”
She received several whispers of confirmation, these men being none other than the most loyal soldiers who served her family since they were practically kids. They had bled and fought beside her father since before his prime. The area they were in was at the very fringes of the Capital’s slums, surrounded by nothing but dilapidated dirt houses and abandoned buildings where not even a single soul would choose to live. Overgrown with vines and roots, this was actually one of the few territories that was still listed under her family's name.
A place that was supposed to be rebuilt in the future as barracks for their soldiers where they could live normally and train. A project that kept getting increasingly delayed in the past due to the meddling of some of the nobles who were close to Honest constantly diverting funds.
"General, what about the young master?"
One of the soldiers who was also close to Emiya wondered where the redhead was. This sentiment was shared by not just him but several other members of the group, who all looked at her with a certain amount of worry.
“Do not worry, he is currently on the other side of town distracting any soldiers. The faster we make our way out of this place the earlier he will be able to join us. So stop talking and keep moving," she instructed them. Truth be told, Najenda understood their concerns and also felt quite worried herself, but she could not show this whilst leading the men.
‘He should be safe, that bastard is amongst the best swordsmen in the whole world, and that weird magic of his will help him to get out in any kind of scenario I could think of. He won't do anything stupid and risk his life for no reason.’ Her brother always operated with logic at the forefront of his mind, not letting emotions take control of his actions. So at least that was enough to soothe her worries for now.
“General! Enemy spotted ahead!” Suddenly, her heart came to a complete stop when she felt a sensation that made her face go completely pale.
The temperature dropped and in the distance, standing right in the middle of the road all alone was the last person she wanted to see. The smirk that had once been constant with this figure was now completely gone, replaced with a mask devoid of any feelings. All that remained was the face of a stone-cold killer who gazed upon her with disappointment. The eyes that stared at her betrayed no hint of the person she’d once regarded as her friend.
"Shit.”
"Going somewhere?" Esdeath's voice cut through the silence like ice, barely above a whisper yet carrying across the entire area. The soldiers froze, white-knuckled hands gripping their sword hilts, but none dared move an inch. "I expected better from you, Najenda. All these years I thought we were of like mind in our pride for our position — you may not be my equal anymore, but you at least deserved some respect. But this?" Her eyes narrowed with cold fury born from disappointment. "The Najenda I knew wouldn't slink away in the dark like a common deserter."
There was fear brewing in the air, several questions stormed her mind including whether or not her brother was safe and what happened to him. Her heart drummed loudly when she saw several stains of blood on her clothes. "Esdeath…”
Those blue eyes narrowed when she called her name. It was hard to understand what could be going on inside that woman's mind, but she could not stop there. “Are you going to follow his orders and kill us all?”
“…”
The blue-haired General did not provide her with a response, continuing to stay silent for the next few seconds until she raised one of her fingers. “One chance, that is all that I will give you. Turn around and go back. Prove to me that your decision today was nothing but just a lapse in judgment, a mistake you made while drunk. I will accept it and forget about it.”
“So you say,” Najenda sighed, having not expected the woman to give her a chance in the first place. Even though there were many uncertainties going through her being about this path she chose, there was no regret. She had to do it and could not go back no matter what. "You know better than I do how this will end. Honest won't just stay idle and just leave me to do my duty in peace. He has already marked me, my family, and those loyal to us for death.”
“If you let him succeed, then that will just show you are weak. But I know you, you are not that pathetic.”
“It's not just about me. My men's lives are also in danger.” But that was not all, partially a reason but not all of it, not even the biggest one by a long shot. So she took a deep breath and continued, “And I also strongly disagree with Honest's direction on where he is taking this country. There is no future for the Empire with him at its head, people are suffering and something must be done.”
“Then go kill him,” Esdeath replied instantly, a hint of rage starting to become present in her tone of voice. “Turn around and march right towards the castle on the other side of the Capital. That pig is there gorging himself on more food than even he can actually consume, if you are so dissatisfied with his regime then go kill him and replace it with whatever satisfies you.”
“That means going through you.”
"Yes." The word cut like a blade, delivered without hesitation. Esdeath's eyes hardened, any trace of their former friendship vanishing. She truly meant to stand against them, to maintain this broken system where the strong crushed the weak underfoot. "Power demands blood. Peace is bought with violence. A strong empire requires sacrifice — that's the natural order of things. You used to understand this."
Najenda's bitter laugh echoed in the darkness. "Life isn't that simple, and it doesn't have to be that way." She straightened her shoulders, resolution settling over her like armor. "I won't waste more breath trying to convince you. I'm sorry, Esdeath, but we're leaving — whether you stand aside or not."
“Is that so…”
Negotiation was no longer an option. She had hoped to avoid this confrontation, but now she had no other choice but to face this person head on. Their former friendship meant nothing in this moment, especially with the intense killing intent emanating from Esdeath.
Enough to make her feel a sense of suffocation in her very soul.
The sinking feeling in her gut was all too familiar when standing before this woman. But this time, the consequences would not be so simple as just a few bruises and cuts. One side faced near-certain death.
“It doesn't have to end this way.”
The rapier was slowly drawn out of its sheath, the blade reflecting light from the surrounding torches. Even without the moon illuminating the surroundings, her presence still stood out the most. “You're right, it doesn't. But you let it.”
The temperature plummeted further to the point that the vapor coming from their breaths became visible. A thin layer of ice formed around the woman, slowly encroaching everywhere.
“Now!” Najenda wasted no time in ordering her men. The large weight of Pumpkin nestled in her arm with the barrel starting to glow an intense white colour. A substantial amount of energy gathered at one point until it was fired straight at Esdeath.
Boom!
The impact of the beam caused a bright flash of white light to spread around the area. This did not stop the soldiers from advancing head on toward the target’s location with their swords and spears ready.
“Pathetic,” her disappointed voice came from within the smoke, the latter dispersing and showing Esdeath remained standing in the same spot as she was before with a thick wall of ice formed in between her and Najenda. A large hole in the middle that had melted most of the way through betrayed where the attack landed, but it failed to penetrate.
“Charge!”
“Aaaaahhhh!”
“You fools! Don't attack her directly, focus on getting out of here! I will keep her distracted!”
As she shouted her orders, Najenda fired several more rounds and let them all rush their opponent. Hoping to keep her attention, her Teigu chipped through the wall of ice with a bigger blast that managed to damage the surrounding trees as it ended up passing right next to Esdeath's neck.
Not all of the men heard her voice or were too filled with adrenaline to stop, perhaps even lacking fear and uncertainty altogether. One of the newer recruits who had just joined their circle took it upon himself to face the bluenette head on.
This soldier stood taller than most of them due to his gifted physique inherited from the hunter-tribesmen who resided near the Capital. “There is no need to fear her, General! She is just one person who did not even bother to bring any reinforcements! Who is afraid of just a bit of ice? My ancestors hunted powerful Danger Beasts who could manipulate the elements for ages! I shall put an end to your reign of terror you vile bit—”
Not even a second passed before the young man found his vision filled by a brief flash of light. His eyes widened, and then he tried to let out a war cry again. But no sound came out of his mouth other than a suffocating gurgle as a small red thin line formed along his neck that soon widened to unleash a miniature geyser of blood.
His trachea was completely severed, yet Esdeath's hand and sword continued to blur faster than even Najenda could keep track of it. Many watched in disbelief as their large comrade lost his eyes, voice, and limbs in less than one second.
Blood spraying everywhere, his figure crumbled at Esdeath feet. Throughout her dismembering of the soldier, her eyes had never strayed from staring right back at Najenda.
“Weakling, not even worth my time.”
With a wave of her rapier, the air shimmered with several ice constructs taking shape. Shaving from a large boulder-sized piece of frozen crystals to something more streamlined. As if getting compressed and chipped away bit by bit right before their shapes started to become more recognizable.
“Y-You…” She could not believe her eyes, having gone speechless at the sight which was familiar to her, but never had she seen Esdeath display something like this. They were not real swords like his, but the mimicry was eerily similar to the point she absolutely hated it. “Run! All of you! Just keep running and don't look back!”
The sense of urgency grew tremendously. Using more of her energy, Najenda fired several shots with her Teigu, each one of them aimed at the ice swords and spears raining from the sky. She desperately tried to cover her men, but was unable to destroy all of them.
“Argh!”
“H-Help!”
“There's too many of them!”
Chaos soon spread, and casualties started to pile up. The hundreds of her troops she’d brought along with her started to dwindle in number. From a handful of deaths to several dozen in a matter of seconds, the path would have been soaked with blood had most of it not already frozen over. All the while Najenda desperately held out, with her shots continuing to destroy as many of the ice constructs as she could target, but she just wasn’t fast enough.
“—!”
Barely spotting motion from the corner of her eyes, she was just able to react in time to see Esdeath's figure heading straight for her. At the very last second she raised Pumpkin to block a direct thrust aim at her head. Sparks flew everywhere from that single clash. Had she blinked then it would have been over in that instant.
“Hn!”
Her knees nearly gave out, there was no holding back from the other side. Using her Teigu in close-quarters combat would only lead to a quick death for her, serving as nothing more than an ineffective shield at best.
With her next plan formed, she dropped the weapon, her action surprising her opponent who expected some kind of retaliation or a couple of shots. Najenda advanced closer, stepping past the edge of Esdeath’s rapier until her face was but a few inches away from her opponent’s cold eyes. Her hand had already retrieved a dagger hidden behind her back, swiftly plunging it for her neck.
Clang!
Only for the weapon to hit a hard surface of ice, having barely scratched the surface. She watched the thick blue layer grow to cover the lower part of her target’s face. Condensing from a white color to pure blue with some spots that resembled glass.
“You really think a blade like that will work against me?” There was no mockery in Esdeath’s tone, only cold disappointment. “I thought you were smarter than that Naje—urgh!”
A second sagger was retrieved, this one sheathed near her waist. The edge slashed against the least protected area of her face, easily cutting through the ice.
“—!”
Esdeath's body jerked back, reacting faster than before. She used her knee to strike Najenda's stomach with enough force to send the other woman airborne briefly, followed by her heels digging into the same spot and sending her hurtling backward while she staggered backward.
Fingers slowly touched her cheeks and she felt a warm, wet sensation. The cut had almost sliced through her eyes. Had she been a millisecond slower…
“That dagger…” her eyes narrowed when observing the second weapon held tightly by Najenda. The first one had been discarded, but this one she held firmly with both hands. A handle that looked like it was made out of gold wrapped in black leather, a shimmering surface of the metal having several uniform grooves with the blade itself being one of the darkest colors she had ever seen. “Tch, he gave you one of his toys.”
“A small birthday gift,” Najenda replied with a smirk, taking a defensive stance with the blade pointed at her opponent. “What, he didn't give you one?”
“…”
“I wonder why.”
Even while taunting her, she kept some of her attention focused on her troops and how far they had gotten. Those injured were being carried with the help of others, but they were still not far away enough that Esdeath would not be able to easily catch up with them afterwards.
“You're willing to risk your life just to save a few of your weakling soldiers. Unfortunately, I cannot let my prey run away, that would set a bad example.” From her tone, Esdeath remained calm without falling for Najenda's taunts, the ice armor growing to encompass several parts of her body. Her knees bent slightly till she launched herself straight at Najenda.
“Shit!”
The rapier and dagger clashed several times in a single moment, one side going on full offensive with frightening speed while the other was forced to deflect and continuously fall back to avoid further injury to her body.
“Ah!”
Unfortunately, the stalemate barely lasted for more than a couple of exchanges before she felt a piercing pain coarse straight through her thigh. GLansing downward, Najenda spotted an icicle that had shot up from the ground.
Ignoring the pain as much as she could, she tried to use the dagger to break free. But the endeavor proved to be a fruitless one with several roughly made ice spears rained down. The ice quickly surrounded every one of her limbs and made any kind of movement impossible.
None of them had pierced her, weirdly enough.
“This… this is a first,” she commented, finding it impossible to even use her strength to break free from her restraints. Despair started to take hold of her heart at first, though the realization that at this point she must have bought enough time for her soldiers to escape gave the woman some peace of mind.
“Are you going to bring me back to Honest? Or maybe take to your favorite torture chamber?”
She did not get an answer. Instead, the point of Esdeath’s rapier approached her right eye. Close enough that she could almost feel the tip touch the surface of her cornea. The realization made her go completely still, a good thing too as even the slightest movement from breathing might be enough to scratch her eye out.
“You tried to take my eye, so it’s only fair I make the same effort. I gave you a chance and you turned it down.”
In a way, she expected this outcome to occur the moment Esdeath appeared. Despite them being something akin to rivals during their academic years, she was rarely her equal when it came to combat. At first, they were roughly at the same level, but as time went on, the gap kept getting bigger and bigger as Esdeath’s exceptional talent and growth continued to shine. No matter how much effort she invested into her training and how far she pushed herself to the point of even breaking her body on multiple occasions — Esdeath was just always ahead.
A true prodigy. One that only a single person could ever contend against.
But she refused to let them face one another, for the outcome would result in one side dying, and even now both of them were dear to her. Worst of all, she was not even certain of his victory.
“Just get it over with.”
“At the very least, I'll give you the honor of burying your body next to your father's.”
She closed her eyes, waiting for it. She was surprised when the pain did not arrive but instead the sound of a musket being fired.
Bang!
“Guh!”
Esdeath recoiled backwards, followed by several more gunshots all fired simultaneously and chipping away at her frozen prison. Shock turned to disbelief and then anger for both women when they saw the source of it.
“General Najenda! Don't worry, you're here to save you!” One of the soldiers shouted with only half of his helmet remaining,destroyed by one of the ice constructs most likely. Despite his clear fear, he continued to shoot.
“What the hell are you doing here, Lubbock!? Why did you bring everyone else back!? Get out of here!”
“We can push her back! Look, she's getting overwhelmed!”
“You idiot!” It was not a matter of overwhelming Esdeath, for none of the bullets managed to penetrate that armor she’d conjured, much less the several walls of ice that immediately appeared all around her. The only thing they would accomplish was just to piss her off even more and send her on a true rampage.
She had to run, get these fools away before it was too la—
“You’re all dead.”
Those words sounded as though they’d been uttered by the Grim Reaper himself. Not only Najenda, but every soldier who came to help her sensed the change in the air. The area which had once been littered with all manner of blocks and shards of ice and frozen weapons changed in an instant. All of them disappeared into flakes of snow that drifted up in the air, before merging into several dozen massive chunks of ice, some as big as a small house.
One of them already hovered directly above Lubbock, and like a large hammer it came crashing down, barely giving any time for him to dodge. The shockwave alone sent him slamming into the trunk of a tree, and while he survived the collision made him lose consciousness in an instant.
“LUBBOCK!”
Anger surged within Najenda. Crawling towards Pumpkin, she grabbed hold of her Teigu and concentrated as much energy as she could to blast the source of this rain of ice once and for all.
“Too late.”
All she saw was a terrifyingly familiar pair of cold blue eyes looking back at her just a few feet away. And while Najenda was aligning Pumpkin, Esdeath was further in swinging a blade of ice straight at her neck.
‘Not like this…’ The world came to a standstill, and in that stillness her life flashed before her eyes. For a brief moment, she felt true regret. Was all of this the sum total of her life? Was dying like this really worth it in the end?
“Duck, you idiot!”
“—!”
A firm hand grabbed onto her head, pushing it downwards just in time to dodge the attack while a blade clutched in her savior’s other hand forced it skyward.
Then her collar was grabbed before she was quite literally thrown backward. “Wah!” A few of her soldiers managed to catch her before she landed on the ground. Many of them cheered for her safety, but were equally worried when everything turned quiet.
“Emiya!” Quickly getting back on her feet, she called his name and felt a terrible sensation course throughout her body at the understanding that these two were in fact going to fight.
They both stared back at one another unflinchingly. He was still looking perfectly fine despite having just gone to the center of the Capital to distract several dangerous individuals.
“Even you…” Esdeath spoke, Her voice sounding like she was in disbelief at seeing him here as well. “…Why?”
Rather than give her an answer, the redhead instead looked at his sister. “Take the soldiers and get out of here as fast as you can. I'll hold her back, just make it quick.”
“Wait! Are you crazy!? You are going to take her on all by yourself!?”
“Yes. Who else can?”
That answer struck her core more than she would have liked, wounding her pride at just how true those few words were. She’d barely been able to offer any challenge to the woman when trying to hold her off herself, and if she stayed here she feared she’d only become a burden.
“Don't worry about me. You know I don't take unnecessary risks unless I can handle them. Just trust me.”
She trusted him with her life, but that did not stop her from worrying about him, especially in the course of a battle like this one. Her entire being was screaming at her to stay with him, to not leave him behind, and to stay true to her duty as his elder sister. But the logical side of her mind knew that if she squandered this opportunity he gave her not only would more Imperial reinforcements arrive, but she would practically sentence every one of her men to death.
“You think I will let them all escape?” Esdeath warned, her tone and expression that of cold fury.
“I think you don’t have any other choice so long as you’re busy with me,” Emiya retorted.
Clenching her fists hard enough to draw blood, she had no choice but to grab the unconscious Lubbock before shouting out orders to start running.
“B-But General, the young master, he…”
“SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND MOVE!” She momentarily lost control of her rage, not even noticing a few tears streaming down her face. For it was not out of sadness but out of self-hatred that dominated her being at that moment. She had failed as a sister and as a leader, being forced into a situation where he had to remain behind just to save her skin when she couldn't do it on her own.
The sense of hopelessness, and powerlessness she felt, the weight of how useless she would be in the fight about to take place behind her despite having one of the most deadly Teigus in her grasp grew stronger by the second.
“General! Above us!”
She knew it would not be this easy, Esdeath, despite being locked in battle against Emiya, would never let her run away so easily. She watched as an iceberg big enough to crush a castle formed in the sky. Running away would be pointless.
“Don't underestimate me!”
Grabbing onto Pumpkin, she let all of her emotions and sense of dread from her life being in danger flow through the device. The gun itself roared like it never had before, gathering an enormous amount of energy until a dense sphere of energy formed at the tip of the barrel. “Aaaaaahh!”
With a single command, she let it loose, firing the attack which took the shape of a large beam twice her size, flying to the sky and hitting the iceberg with all of Pumpkin’s might. The attack persisted, her face going pale with all that she’d put into this shot, and the results started to show as cracks formed all around the descending iceberg till the force of the blast completely carved through it destroying it into millions of pieces.
“Hah… hah… hah… keep running! I'll cover you all!” Despite feeling drained from that last blast, she still had some strength left in her, and continued to protect her troops whenever another iceberg started to form.
The sound of steel clashing and the scraping of metal on ice could be heard even from this distance, dozens of clashes seemingly occurred in a single second, followed by the very earth beneath her feet rumbling ever so slightly. The sound would sometimes draw closer, clear signs of Esdeath trying several times to get closer only to be pushed back.
No one looked behind, all of them kept running.
Her breath haggard, Najenda tried to ignore the sounds of battle as much as she could, hoping that nothing would happen to her brother. This continued on for the next few minutes, the area around them having turned from a dilapidated slum to the outer regions of the forest with more and more trees coming into view.
But it was then she noticed something odd.
“…There's no sound?” The sound of weapons clashing against one another, which had been a constant for these past few minutes, had suddenly vanished. Its absence made her more worried than relieved, and she started to wonder if something had gone wrong.
“General, is something the matter?” After reaching the top of a hill, the entire group stopped; she believed they had gotten far enough from the Capital. Her eyes were glued towards the direction they came from, praying to see some sign of Emiya.
“Why did it go all quiet? Where is my brother?” she whispered to herself, feeling her heart ache with every passing second without seeing any changes until…
“W-What is that?” Every single one of them spotted a white flash of light in the distance. An overwhelming surge of something oppressive gathered at the single point her limbs started to shake, not out of fear but rather at the sensation of the temperature which had suddenly plummeted far colder than anything she had experienced before.
And with the cold, so too came a sense of impending doom.
“Those with shields, in front! Turtle formation!” She quickly gave the order to her men, seeing them hastily follow through and bring out their shields in front just in time for a large dome of white fog to expand from the distance all the way to them in a matter of seconds.
“Hold!”
It hit them harder than a rushing Danger Beast. An immense blast of wind that carried with it a cold that Najenda doubted even Esdeath’s home in the far north could match. Everything turned white, from the nearest huddle instantly turning into ice to the trees themselves freezing in place. The grass beneath her feet became brittle and crumbling with every step with some of her soldiers already being on the verge of suffering the first signs of frostbite.
Looking towards the Capital, her jaw hung open as the once beautiful-looking Capital surrounded by lush greenery, had almost completely been turned into a frozen wasteland. Half of it was now encrusted by snow and ice with even the sun disappearing because of dark clouds covering the sky. A snowstorm the likes of which should never have occurred in this region ravaging the very land.
This sensation barely lasted for a terrifying moment… and then the next brought warmth.
“Dear gods above…”
One of the soldiers uttered those words in disbelief, all of them staring at the center of the place they all just ran away from. The location where two monsters continue to fight one another, one of whom was the very source of the all-encompassing chill that had swept through the land.
From that very same place, a pillar of pure fire rose up all the way to the sky, cleaving through the snowstorm and even the clouds above with ease. The energy exuding from it made them feel as if their skin would burn away in seconds if they dared to step any closer, and everyone rushed to cover their eyes.
As if the very sun itself had descended from the sky to burn away anything in its path.
Najenda likewise shielded her face, each breath feeling like fire in her lungs. The sheer magnitude of power before her defied explanation — no Teigu she knew of could produce such a force, far surpassing what even her own was capable of even when its user was faced with certain death. The pillar of flame pushed skyward, burning through the supernatural storm and bathing the capital in light once more as the two forces of nature clashed.
Time seemed to stretch as fire and ice warred against each other, until finally, both energies dissipated into nothing.
Her first instinct was to turn back and go look for her brother. But she knew better — there could be no returning now. Not after that.
“Let's go! Quickly!” Most of her troops were still stunned, trying to comprehend what they had just witnessed and hoping to make sense of it. Even she was unable to completely grasp what happened back there. This went far beyond anything he ever showed in the past, and it once again forced her to wonder, ‘Just what are you really, little brother…’
A power like that seemed almost alien to this world, and she could not explain it. But one thing she did know was that, in a way, she feared it just as much as she feared Esdeath.
Even so, that power belonged to a member of her family. Regardless of how weary she was of it, Najenda would do anything for him.
…
(Moments later)
Emiya was forced to wonder if things could get any worse today than they had already.
What horrible luck.
He pushed himself quite a bit today, far beyond anything he had done for the entirety of his life in this world.
“Hn!” A groan of pain escaped his lips when he took a step forward, some areas on his skin showing signs of frostbite. There were several cuts all over his body and layers of ice were still present on his hair and eyebrows. All of which immediately turned to water and even steam as he felt the heat from the weapon in his hand encompass his body once again.
Within his grasp, he held a sleek, symmetrically designed weapon — consisting of a primarily metallic silver and blue color scheme. The blade was straight and tapered into a sharp point, with a central groove running along its length for added detail and structural strength.
The hilt of the sword had an ornate, angular guard that extended slightly outward and downward, matching the blue accents of the blade. With a long, slender grip that terminated in a blue pommel with a diamond-shaped motif. The overall design of the sword gave it an elegant yet functional appearance, suggesting it to be both a ceremonial and combat-functional weapon to the eyes of the masses.
Yet this same weapon held the power of the sun itself, a sword once used by one of the mightiest Knights of the Round Table. Not exactly at the same level as Excalibur, but definitely powerful enough to subjugate an entire kingdom if held in the right hands.
Excalibur Galatine disintegrated into shimmering specks of ethereal blue light, its task complete. Within seconds, it had dissipated completely. In the meantime, he advanced towards the figure sprawled on the ground before him.
Compared to him, her own state was much worse. Covered in burn marks across her body with her ice armor having completely disappeared. She had very little clothes left and only faint signs of life. He would not have suspected that she was alive were it not for the faint signs of her chest moving to indicate labored breathing.
Despite being in such a state where the pain alone could incapacitate even the strongest of men, she instead smiled beautifully.
“…”
Ignoring that, he limped towards her and took a seat on top of her. This made it impossible for the woman to move in any way, Not that she could, given her current state.
Tracing a simple dagger, he held it in both hands and raised it all the way above her head where for a brief moment both of them gazed at each other.
“E… E-Emiya…” Esdeath's voice was faint, barely audible, and hoarse. She did not call out with pity or even pleading for him to spare her — there was none of that.
His mind ached, and the dagger trembled in his hands… For this situation in particular felt oddly familiar.
Yet he was not sure where the sensation came from.
Having killed so many people in the past, there was no way he would be able to recall a singular instance that he felt like this after what felt like eons of doing Ayala’s bloody work. Yet they did not stop him from feeling… hesitation? No, it was conflicting emotions within himself.
Memories of the past flooded in, from the first moment he met her, an arrogant child who believed only in the survival of the strongest. Challenging him at every turn, glued to his side like some kind of annoying cat from Hell whenever she got bored, and behaving without shame at any chance she got.
Someone with a twisted mind who found enjoyment in the misery of others. Relishing in torturing those weaker than her or outright killing all she subjugated with her military title without any remorse.
The same person who, despite all her toxic traits, would at times behave like a person her age was meant to. Trying her best to surpass him in the most ridiculous things, but finding it fun just to try them out.
His grip on the dagger tightened despite his face remaining completely neutral. Blood trickled down his forehead onto her face, and his own mind argued furiously with itself.
In the end, he went ahead and plunged the dagger downwards. The blade dug into the ground next to her head, leaving only a slight cut on her temple which she did not even flinch from.
The only reaction she gave was one of pure disbelief at his action.
“…W-Wh… Why…”
“…”
He kept his silence, turning his head to hear the sound of a large number of Imperial soldiers closing in. Honest would never stay quiet after all that kind of display. He must have sent everyone he had on hand to come check this out. Half of the Capital and the surrounding forest had turned to ice, with another chunk of the area now being burned to a crisp.
“Your first and last chance,” he said, getting up and readying himself to leave.
Only to feel a slight tug pulling on his sleeves. Looking down, he saw Esdeath using what little strength she had left to grab onto his sleeves. Her unwillingness to accept this was evident in her eyes., he did not need to guess what was going through her mind right now.
“Hah… even now you're being stubborn.”
He did not know whether to laugh or cry, pulling his arm away and leaving the premises as fast as he could. He was in no condition to take on an entire army, assassins, and no doubt several individuals wielding powerful Teigus.
“…C…Come… back… finish… i-it…”
All she got in return was a lazy wave, her eyes burning with indignant rage as she watched him disappear into the darkness.
{Break}
(Present)
“Hm,” his eyes slowly opened, the rocking sensation of the carriage’s motion letting him know that they had yet to reach their destination.
“Well look who woke up. Welcome back to the land of the living, handsome.”
At the sound of that voice, Emiya's eyes opened and he scanned the carriage they were in, taking them towards their meeting location. The interior was plain and nondescript, with darkened windows to prevent accidental identification. But what caught his attention more was the figure sitting in front of him, the person who was accompanying him on this journey.
“Beer?”
Extending her arm, Leone offered him an opened bottle. He already felt slightly ill at the strong sense of malt and alcohol coming from it so soon after waking up. “No thanks. I’m not one to drink so early in the morning.”
They set up a mode of transportation to leave very early, and an hour or two after midnight so that they could reach their destination within an hour or so of dawn. The cover of night while also using less treaded roads helped to keep them out of sight from as many prying eyes as possible.
“You would have had a better sleep had you taken my offer,” Leone said, snapping the lid of the bottle back on with her thumb and stashing it away… in between her cleavage somehow. “Your neck has to be hurting like hell right now.”
She was not completely wrong, he did feel some slight stiffness, but nothing that would not disappear in a few minutes.
“While I appreciate you offering me a lap pillow, this journey is only a few hours long and I can manage without.” Not to mention the carriage was a bit too tight for someone of his stature to even lie down completely. It would not have worked even if he accepted her offer.
“So, were you having a nightmare?”
“Excuse me? I don't remember having any kind of nightmare.” The man wondered if he heard correctly.
She tilted her head, “You, Boss, and Akame don't exactly have a very wide range of expressions. You always seem to frown or have that stoic look on your face ever since we met. Maybe you also smirk once in a blue moon, but that's about it.”
“Your point?”
“Well, that's the thing. You had a very different expression when you were asleep. You looked like you were struggling with something… I don't know how to explain it. Like a guy trying to hold in the urge to shit.”
“…”
Never once in his life, at least as far as remembered, did anyone ever make this sort of comparison from his expression. Whether he should be offended or just confused was hard to decide, so he settled for just staring back at Leone, wondering if she was going somewhere with all of this.
“Yeah, just like that!” A grin showed on her face as she pointed at him, letting out a laugh when his frown grew more severe. He was starting to believe that she was just messing with him.
“Hahahaha! Alright, alright, no need to look at me like that. I really am curious about what kind of dream you were having that it got you to make such a face. Call it curiosity born out of boredom. Not like there’s much else going on right now”
Emiya sighed, wishing she could have just asked that from the beginning.
“It was nothing, just reliving moments from the past.”
“Oh?” Rather than being satisfied, her curiosity instead grew stronger. Leone left her spot and took a seat right next to him. Close enough that her breasts were practically smooshed against his shoulders. “Tell me more! The boss barely talks about her own past, let alone yours. The entire team is curious about you and no one knows much. Even Lubbock barely knows anything about you other than your relationship with the boss.”
“Why even ask?” he said with a raised eyebrow. “I doubt much will change even if you know about my past. It's nothing exciting or shocking, normal and even boring for the most part.”
“As if,” she scoffed. “While I can make some pretty good guesses on the kind of life a spoiled rich kid would go through — even one raised by a military family — your story is definitely a lot different from those little shits.”
At that, he chuckled. “A rich kid? Me?”
“Obviously.” Her expression could not be any more cocksure. “First off, you lived in a huge manor, I saw that place years ago before properly meeting either of you two. Second, you went to the Imperial Military Academy with the boss, which is just a place with rich folks to send their kids to guarantee a well-paying job in the Empire. Finally, I doubt you ever went hungry living as the adopted son of Nagumo. And I am not just talking about the kind of hunger you experience from missing a lunch or two… but genuine hunger where even dirt starts to look appetizing if only because it’ll fill your stomach.”
Her voice trailed down at the end, perhaps remembering her own past. He did not know much about every member of Night Raid, but his surface knowledge gave him a few ideas on the kind of life some of them lived before joining.
Neither Akame or Leone had anything resembling an easy childhood as far as he knew. Her words now only reinforced that.
“First of all, I never attended the Academy, at best I would head to the dorms or private training grounds from time to time when visiting Najenda. For the other part though, I suppose you are right. Nagumo was many things and a doting father was certainly one of them, something he even extended to a random kid he found in some nameless village far from his home. This alone should tell you enough about the kind of life I had, I barely did anything that people would bother to take note of and I didn’t care for hogging credit, so there is a reason why not many know about me.”
“Then what about your relationship with Esdeath?” Finally, she asked the question that was definitely what she’d been wanting to know the answer to from the beginning.
Not that he could blame her, it was the elephant in the room for everyone other than Najenda.
“We met one another back when she was still attending the academy with Najenda — she and I crossed paths when I once went to deliver Najenda's lunch after she’d forgotten it. She was… unpredictable.”
“That's it?” Leone gave him an incredulous look. “We are talking about a notoriously dangerous general known to have killed thousands and is also a freak of nature who commands winter itself. Surely you have more to say other than her being ‘unpredictable’. I can call myself unpredictable, but nothing like whatever she is.”
He supposed she had a point. Not to mention they were most definitely going to face her and her forces sooner than later. So knowing more about their enemies would help.
"She lives by one rule: survival of the fittest. Always has, always will. This wasn't something she picked up after arriving in the Capital — it's been drilled into her since birth. The first time we dueled and I beat her, it broke something in her. To Esdeath, losing was synonymous with death. The only way she could be satisfied with herself was if she stood at the top as the apex predator, So she latched onto me and Najenda, using us as stepping stones to grow stronger. In the end though, as much as she respected our martial prowess, our views on the world were too different. Oil and water don't mix."
“Wait, does that means she's this fucking dangerous because of you!?”
He laughed, finding her expression of shock amusing. And if he was being honest, she was not wrong, to say the least. “I suppose you can say that. Even so, I doubt she wouldn't have become a major threat whether I was involved in her life or not. She is naturally someone who tries her best to improve at a constant rate, I merely became a grindstone for an already dangerous weapon.”
“Then become our grindstone then.”
“Eh?” That caught him off guard, turning his neck to look fully at Leone who was pointing at herself.
“My Teigu is very close combat-oriented, maybe you can show me some tricks to become as dangerous as your ex-girlfriend~!” She teasingly nudged his arms, giving him a sly look. “I can be a very good student, just ask the boss, you won't find anyone more willing to get down and dirty than me!”
He rolled his eyes at the ex-girlfriend part, but gave the rest of her idea some thought.
It was not a bad idea, in all honesty. Despite her flirty character, Najenda had nothing but positive things to say about Leone, and he was starting to understand her as well. Serious when it mattered and able to not let her emotions get the better of her during missions even with her Teigu’s bestial nature.
“I wouldn't mind, but bear in mind that I am not a brawler.”
“Wait, really?” Evidently the blonde lioness had not been expecting him to actually agree. “You’re serious…? Awesome! I’m gonna hold you to that!”
“I mean it is a sensible idea. Just understand that I don’t really spar with or even fight against brawlers all that much, so our sessions might be a bit… awkward. But I'm sure I can manage to find som—”
“—YES!”
He didn’t even get to finish his words before Leone grabbed his collar and brought him closer to her face. She stared at him intently with a frankly unnerving range of emotions, more than he imagined she would show.
“Who cares if you've ever trained a brawler before or not! I can show you my style and you make sure I can handle people like you in battle! If I can accomplish that, then facing Esdeath and those Jaegers of hers will be a cakewalk compared to before. It'll be fun! With Akame and Bulat doing the same we will be unstoppable! We’ll be able to give your former lover some serious trouble in a fight at least.”
Well, at least she was enthusiastic about the prospect.
“I think it's best for me to clarify that Esdeath and I were never lovers or in that sort of relationship like you clearly believe.” Their moment during the teleportation incident and the hot spring from years ago resurfaced, but he preferred to ignore those for now.
“Seriously? She sounds pretty obsessed with you. Would’ve expected for you two to have beenfucking each other’s brains out years ago.”
“I can say with full certainty that nothing of the sort ever happened,” Emiya replied, doing his best not to think about what the two of them had come so close to doing on that island.
“…So you're a virgin?” she asked quietly, making him get the urge to sigh as now she was definitely messing with him, though he settled for closing his eyes massaging the bridge of his nose. “I'll take your silence as a yes.”
“I will neither confirm nor deny that, but it's frankly not important in the first place.” He technically was not one, but if he was only considering this body, then being in a physical relationship was not something he ever dedicated the time to indulging, especially since a certain tundra general had been hunting him for the last two years.
“Sure it ain't~!”
Thankfully she was content with laughing to herself after that, but he did not miss that small shade of red on her face or the excitement twinkling in her eyes.
Fortunately, right as she opened her mouth to say something else, that was the moment their carriage came to a halt.
“Wee, looks like we’ll have to cut this conversation short for now,” he said while opening the door on his side..
“Oh right, the client! Let's go, I don't want to risk my ears falling off because I had to deal with another lecture about time efficiency from your sister.” After saying that, Leone jumped out of the carriage, leaving him behind to adjust his clothes while she gave her gratitude for the ride to the Revolutionary smuggler in the form of a few silver, which he was all too glad to accept.
“So this is the place.”
Said place was a small village in the middle of nowhere. Not even any guards or brick walls protecting them from outside dangers like Danger Beasts and bandits.
“The letter said to meet the client inside the house with a red door… There are less than ten buildings here.” Leone commented dryly, just looking at the end of the road where a wooden house with a red door was found. On it, all the Night Raid posters were pinned for everyone to see, though no one paid them any attention. Even then, neither of them were on any of the posters, so they didn’t concern themselves with hiding their faces.
“The place is so remote I’m amazed these posters are even here. And if any local trouble rears its head, Chouri has a capable bodyguard with him. Not that it matters much, Honest definitely knows of his location at all times.” Emiya said, walking forward with Leone curiously following along.
“Are you two friends or something? The way he spoke about you in the letter sounds pretty a lot like what an old friend would say.”
His lips twitched, recalling a memory from his time wandering the continent and meeting different people. But his short time encountering Chouri went very… differently.
“Something like that, he is an easygoing person by nature.”
“Hard to imagine that given he is the former prime minister.”
“Well, you will soon see it for yourself.” Reaching the front of the door, he knocked a couple of times and heard footsteps walking closer. The door opened a second later and a young-looking girl with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and wearing a winter-themed style of clothing stood ready to greet them.
Leone tried to introduce herself to the young lady with a cheerful smile, only to be thrown off her game when the latter just scoffed and glared daggers at her companion.
“Humph!” That was all she said to Emiya specifically before turning around and stomping away further inside. Both of them were left rooted to the spot with Leone awkwardly halfway into the motion of reaching out her hand for a greeting.
“Uh… what just happened? Do I smell bad or something?” Leone asked in confusion, wondering what they did to piss off the girl before they could even introduce themselves. As she quickly made sure her hair wasn’t a mess, Leone discreetly sniffed her shoulders, just to make sure she wasn't the cause of that reaction, while hoping that Emiya didn’t notice.
However, her musing was broken by the sound of elderly laughter coming from within. Shortly after, an old bald man with a prominent mustache came into view wearing a jovial expression. “Don't mind my daughter, she is just a bit angry to see the man who declined to marry her here in the company of another beautiful young woman.”
“Eh?”
“Hah,” sighed Emiya, exasperated. “Nice to see you again too, Chouri.”
Leone slowly turned her face to look at Emiya, several questions plastered on her face. “What the fuck does he mean with that talk about marriage?”
Emiya shrugged. “It's nothing. Forget about it.”
At that moment, Leone had the urge to force the answer out of him through any means necessary.
Her intentions were seen clearly by the former Counter Guardian, who could already feel a headache coming upon him.
Well, I forgot to write this message yesterday and fell asleep...
In any case, wow, this year went by so quickly I could barely keep up. I still vividly remember Christmas last year and it feels like it was just a handful of months behind.
Now I'm feeling old.
Y'all have any new years resolution? I hope to increase my update rate.
Also, an amazing year for those interested in video games. We have a list of titans on the horizon from MHWilds to GTA 6. Get your wallets ready people!
I'm just gonna get Wilds, I don't think my PC will handle GTA 6 and I was not that much into GTA V to begin with compared to when I was younger.
In any case, I hope you all have a wonderful year and I wish you all the best! Thank you also for your continued support!
Next update is Nanoha followed by Steel Eyed Faker.
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-Fujimi-
In the dead of night, Fujimi was indistinguishable from any other of the surrounding towns. The streets lay in eerie stillness, with barely a car passing by and even fewer souls braving the sidewalks at this hour. A faint, silvery glow from the moon washed over the roads, casting long, ghostly shadows that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance.
The cicadas droned on in their relentless serenade, a rare constant in the otherwise tranquil night. The forest itself seemed to slumber, its creatures tucked safely within their nests and burrows. Yet, amidst this stillness, a small mongrel lay curled up in a shallow cave, nestled among the roots of a gnarled tree.
The dog's peaceful slumbered, until disturbed by a faint sound—a disturbance carried by the cool night breeze. Its ears twitched, picking up the noise long before its mind registered the anomaly. Slowly, it lifted its head, blinking away the remnants of sleep.
“—?”
As the dog gazed ahead, confusion flickered in its wide, dark eyes. A figure emerged from the shadows, its silhouette barely distinguishable under the pale moonlight. The dog's body stiffened, and a low whimper escaped its throat as unease crept in.
The animal's ears flattened against its skull, and its tail tucked tightly between its legs. It didn’t bark or flee; instead, it watched the figure with a mixture of curiosity and fear. Something about this presence felt... unnatural. The figure moved closer, its form becoming clearer—a man shrouded in an aura that felt at odds with the serene night.
The dog whimpered again, its small body trembling as it tried to decide whether to run or stay hidden in the safety of its makeshift den.
And still, the figure advanced, its purpose unclear, or maybe it hadn't noticed the small cave. The dog’s eyes reflected the dim moonlight as it stared in front, frozen, at the intruder who had disrupted its peace.
“Ah, did I bother you, little guy? Sorry about that, I'm not going to bite ya! Just do a bit of sightseeing, and go back to sleep.” The Irishman said with a calm voice, a smile on his face upon lowering himself down to his knees. The prior unsettling presence disappears and is replaced by a friendly and bright toothy smile. “Don't know how to say it, but these parts aren't exactly safe for you. Should leave when you get the chance.”
A flicker of understanding flashed in the dog's eyes. It hesitated to approach at first but thankfully gathered enough confidence to go forward and sniff Cu a couple of times before returning to its lair. The dog no longer considered him a threat, even lying back down on the ground. This reaction made the man chuckle, not going any further to disturb his newly made acquaintance.
With his back against the tree, he leaned back and rubbed his eyes for a few moments. Sighing with the smile slowly slipping away to show a face laced with exasperation. He retrieves a small notebook from his pocket and opens the first page to reveal a rather detailed map of Fujimi and several areas around it. All are divided into several sections with a large number of them having a red x mark over them.
Cu crosses off another area symbolized by a simple tree drawing.
“What a fuckin’ nuisance, at this rate, it will be daybreak and I'll find nothing even if I search half of this damn forest.” He muttered slowly, placing a cigarette to his lips and having a tiny flame appear at the tip of his fingertips after drawing a small Ansuz rune. One of the few moments he got to enjoy these, hard to do so around his apartment after he gave his word to Kyouko to avoid smoking there.
In any case, indulging in the effects of the tobacco for a bit before bringing his attention back to his book.
“Can’t tell where that Fear Gorta wannabe even came from, no undead spotted around the shrine and the bounded field still has not gone off yet — so it did not have any friends.” He searched the area around the shrine for several hours, having covered most of the regions near that place but only ending up empty-handed.
The streets leading to the city were empty with not a soul in sight, no secret underground tunnels, or even any residual energy from spells. It was completely quiet, empty, and normal — which only made him grow more suspicious of it all.
“No kind of undead just appears inside a shrine-like that all by itself. Either it transformed whilst inside or by some miracle got teleported straight in. Some of the bottles were recently opened, the kid must have been from that group… a bunch of students.” Was there perhaps an apostle that existed in this world? Not a chance. The creature had no magical energy to label him as a ghoul even… for all intents and purposes, it was a walking corpse.
No superhuman strength, its flesh easily tore apart by just trying to claw him and even a well-placed kick to the head by a regular person could have killed it.
Not to mention how that kid's body clearly had been dead for a while, longer than those people who drank at the shrine last time. Highly unlikely that thing stayed in its place without reacting to their noises.
“Hah… this is getting annoying. I feel like I am missing something, maybe I’m putting to much on my world knowledge? Things are bound to be different here, so maybe it is another kind of being that created this zombie.” The more he thought about it, the more of a headache it started to give him.
The man was not exactly the best when it came to investigations and gathering clues, while he was proficient tracker — Cu just preferred a more physical approach if he had the choice. The former Servant of the Spear did not forget the possibility of this being a man-made incident, but without proof, these were just random guesses.
“What a joke this will be if I am just overthinking the entire situation and at the end of the day it is really just a single undead. At that point, I'll just punch myself.”
As he continued to continue brainstorming, he failed a shift to his side and turned to see the dog back up again walking over on its own with curiosity on its face. “Couldn’t sleep huh? Can't blame you, would like to go sleep in my comfy bed right about now. Seeing how your fully awake, you wouldn't mind helping out a friend like me to hunt down a few ugly rotting zombies?”
The dog huffed, looking away from the man.
“I suppose not, that thing would have made ya its dinner by now. Though I doubt those rotten teeth would have lasted long against yer hide.” His casual praise had the intended effect - the dog's chest in pride. The puffed chest and muzzle held upwards in an almost human-like manner.
“Don't get all tough, lil’ fella. I can still see a lotta bones here, get a tad bit larger and come back then.”
Ruff…
It let out a gruff bark, not loud enough to spread far.
“Bite me and I'll bite ya back.”
“...”
Somehow, his words were understood by the animal who just ended up huffing again, rolling its eyes almost. “Oi, what's with the attitude? You're starting to remind me of that Archer prick, not a good thing.”
A simple joke, a banter shared between him and the nameless dog, but soon, one of its ears twitched.
The black dog tilted its head, looking around and sniffing the air a couple of times. Getting up, its tail wagging quickly and ears perking, alert and focused. Both man and canine turned their heads towards a particular direction, having sensed the same thing.
“Oh,”
Cu stayed quiet, his smile dying down the moment he noticed the forest had suddenly gone eerily quiet. No more sounds of insects or woodland critters rustling the leaves as they moved around.
Everything came to a complete halt.
Getting up without making a sound, he ruffled the dog's head to get its attention. Placing his finger in front of his mouth, he gestured the animal to stay behind — a sentiment the latter did not seem to agree with but obeyed nonetheless. Soon, as they disappeared deeper within the forest, not a single trace of either of them remained.
.
.
.
“Well, what do we have ‘ere?”
Traversing a great distance from his prior place all the way to the other edge of the forest without so much as making a single sound was an easy task. Not wanting to alert anyone of his presence, he jumped on top of a tree with the leaves and branches covering his figure — looking in the distance at a strange sight.
That of several men vested in protective military gear, covered in layers of armor and intimidating-looking weapons stationed near the entrance of the shrine.
“They don't look like the local authorities,” Cu muttered, seeing that despite the appearance of an armored vehicle and their appearances… there was something off about them. Granted, he was not a local and knew very little, but at the very least he could deduce that the local military did not have the logo of a sakura flower embroidered onto their uniform.
These people did not even have ranks.
A private militia? Perhaps, it was not an impossible group to assemble, but only someone very influential and rich would obviously have the ability to do so. Yet that still did not explain what they were doing here, at the shrine where the undead appeared.
Unless…
Enhancing his eyes bore little fruit, other than the handful of men guarding the entrance, the others already had the building.
“I'll have to get closer.” Going in and possibly getting spotted by men holding dangerous weapons without a weapon in hand was no different from lunacy, he imagined his master facepalming at his action and chuckled. “I really need a spear.”
Having been reborn without Gae Bolg by his side irked the Irish hero for a good while. For it was not just a weapon gifted to him by his teacher but also his trusted companion who, together, swept through the battlefield and spilled oceans of blood.
A Noble Phantasm who drew some parallels with the likes of Gungnir itself!
"Bah, no use whining about it now. I'll sort something out," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. The odds of finding Curruid's bones to craft even a crude imitation of his spear were practically nil, and even if he did stumble upon the materials, he'd be useless with them. Blacksmithing was never his forte - he could barely hammer a nail straight, let alone forge anything resembling Gae Bolg. He let out a dry laugh. "Watch me trip over the damn thing in some random cave."
Regardless, stealth was never his strong suit and he never intended for it to become so at any point. But that did not mean he could not take a quieter approach if required, hopefully, this effort would bear some fruit.
Unfortunately, the closer he got to the shrine, the more strained his smile became at the idea of sneaking around.
“Fuck.”
…
(Inside the shrine)
“Izumi Kenji, 16 years old as of last month, sole child of the Izumi family and a student at Ishio High School. A quiet boy with not that many friends… or any at all given the lackluster response we got from the investigation. History of getting involved with a group of delinquents in his year that used him as an errand boy according to a few students. Gone for half a month, the police suspected it had something to do with the group he hung out with but found no proof. After a while, and no other leads, the case was deemed as the kid having run away.”
Within the still-dirty room stood two men accompanied by a handful of armed men just like those stationed outside. The one reading the report wore a suit along with the second person who overlooked the mess in front of him with a gaze similar to that of a hawk.
Carrying an almost suffocating presence that would have put any regular person on the edge. Standing taller than everyone in the room with a broad back, a katana of all things by his hips, and a gruff voice. Even those currently accompanying him, not daring to show even the slightest bit of weakness, their backs straight and gazes filled with respect.
“Tell me the truth, Tetsutarou. Not the fabricated story. Just give me the short versions, I don't have time for this.” The man said, no, demanded with enough authority to make his assistant flinch.
Tetsutarou Doi nodded and took a deep breath.
“Yes sir, it was uncovered by our men that the group, in their drunken state, ended up beating Izumi Kenji after was behaving weirdly according to them. They went too far and ended up killing him. One of the kids had parents connected to the acting mayor and asked for the case to be dismissed. This body was never found though one of them confessed to their lawyer that they buried Kenji near the temple before leaving.”
“...”
Sweat trickled down Doi's temple as he stood rigid, acutely aware of his superior's fury simmering beneath that stoic exterior. The silence stretched painfully, heavy with an intensity that only decades by the man's side had taught him to recognize.
Finally, for what felt like years, he spoke. “What about maintenance?”
“W-We understand that the Mayor has provided funding to a private company charged to keep this place clean, one of the boys was the son of the director.” He quickly replied, having almost stumbled over his words but managing to save himself at the last second.
Crack!
The heavy boots walked inside, crushing the shards of glass scattered throughout the place.
“Does this place look maintained to you?”
“No, it does not, sir.”
For years, it looked abandoned, a truly disappointing sight of a shrine that once belonged to the esteemed family he served—the very land gifted to the city itself many decades ago.
Due to his bosses increasing responsibilities, they had turned their attention away from this place for a while these past few years. A small land that was not worth that much in the first place, but still a place once under their leader's family name.
“Not only have they used this place as a gathering spot to have their ‘fun’, leaving behind undisciplined teenagers to vandalize, pocketing the funds most likely and even spilling blood on this holy place — they are mocking my Takagi family!” He shouted, barely holding himself back from punching the wall and instead keeping his stance firm. Hands clenched with the nails digging inside his skin.
Doi shuddered, it was rare to see Souichiro Takagi get this furious and he knew this meant many people would suffer the consequence of his wrath.
“... This room itself reeks of death. How vile,” Souichiro commented with a frown, looking at the dried-up bloody footprints and the splatter of blood on the wall itself. “The corpse?”
“Uh… we failed to find it. Only his belongings were uncovered, this wallet which fell through the floor’s cracks.” As soon as he said that, Doi got even more nervous when he felt a piercing gaze after he bowed deeply. “We searched the place and indeed found a hole of sorts at the back near the forest — but there was nobody inside. I will immediately send Hideo to get the real answer out of—”
Doi stopped the moment Souichiro raised his hand.
“Head back with the men and have a crew come by to clean this place up. Tell Yuriko to have her contacts buy back this land and be reinstated to the Takagi name by any means necessary. If she can't do it then I will make it happen myself. Go.”
The order was given, and both Doi and the armed men did not dare to disobey for a second. Bowing down at their boss before leaving without any hesitation, leaving him all alone in the bloody room. Getting down on one knee, he inspected the few belongings Doi left behind belonging to the deceased boy, a wallet with an old picture including him, and a few of the members belonging to the group who killed him amongst several receipts all with different last four digits from the cards.
Putting them down, his fingers traced across the surface of the wood, sliding it across and finding a faint trace of black soot.
His eyes gazed at the bloody footprint that filled the corner, and then it led back to the door before disappearing. Not a single trace of burned remains even on the other side and no blood. It disappeared completely at this point…
His eyes narrowed, several questions rising but with not a single answer.
Creak
“—!”
Something primal sparked in Souichiro's gut—pure instinct. His hand found the weapon's handle, drawing it with practiced efficiency. Steel sang against the scabbard as the blade caught the moonlight. In one fluid motion, he struck the katana's edge, cleaving through both the wooden pillar and door like they were made of paper.
Those being the only thing his sword cut through, confusion showing on his face when had sensed a dangerous presence. Yet the empty spot made it clear there had been no one there, not even a single falling leaf anywhere in sight.
“...”
Disbelief flashed before his eyes, impossible. Having been taught swordsmanship by the Busujima head himself, environmental awareness was a core aspect of his training that he had mastered. So for his senses to go off this badly over nothing was strange, almost unbelievable.
But then again, it had been a long day, and with little sleep, fatigue most definitely started to crawl its way onto his min— “So the kid's name was Kenji… Ishio High School huh, good to know. This might give a lead.”
“—!?”
This time, the uncomfortable feeling returned tenfold. Goosebumps spread all across his body with an immediate response that followed with him twisting his body around before his mind could even keep up, rather than going for another slash and attack blindly — he jumped away to create enough distance and brought the sword up in a defensive stance.
He saw a young man with blue hair and crimson eyes casually standing behind him with the same folder in his hand where Doi read his report coupled with the missing student's belongings found earlier.
"Easy there, old timer. Swinging that sword around like that - you might hurt someone," the stranger taunted with an amused grin, completely unfazed by the deadly blade. His crimson eyes glinted with mischief. "Nice form though. Reminds me of someone I know, except she had more of a killer instinct when she fought."
“Who are you?” Souichiro demanded, tightening his grip over the handle. He had not sensed the boy's presence behind him this entire time! A realization that rattled the middle-aged man who had learned from one the best in the country and despite that, an unknown teenager managed to slip his senses.
‘Was he hiding here the entire time?’ Several explanations formed in his mind, but that also could not be the case since his men had done a thorough sweep of the place before. Not even an ant would escape their notice let alone a person of his stature.
“Oh, my name ain't that important.” He waved his question away, scratching his ears without much care. “You don't need to know it, I'm leaving either way — got way more than I anticipated.”
He was planning on leaving like this thinking he would be let go so easily? Souichiro did not know whether to believe this boy was way too confident or arrogant. Especially when he brazenly grabbed onto items that were not his in front of him!
“Don’t move, you are trespassing a private investigation and personal business of the Takagi, accompany me to the precinct if you want to avoid any trouble.” Regardless of his initial response, using words instead of the sword was far more ideal. Blind violence led to unnecessary conflict which he wished to avoid in such a sacred place if possible. “You will just be asked questions, if all is good then we will let you go.”
For this person to be here all by himself and even gain some interest in the missing kid possibly means there is some connection between those two. A member of the gang even, an idea that came to the back of his mind.
“Sorry, can’t stay. I need to go back—it’s almost dawn, and I have places to be. Make sure to have this place cleaned up, will you? It holds a lot of value to someone I know. It would be nice to see it return to the way it was,” the boy said, his voice calm but distant, as though he was already halfway gone.
“Wait!” Souichiro shouted, his voice sharp and commanding.
The boy didn’t stop, his casual demeanor making it clear he had no intention of staying. The reasonable approach had failed, and Souichiro refused to accept such an outcome. His grip tightened on his katana as he lunged forward, the blade angled downward, a clear indication that he wasn’t aiming to harm but to detain.
He had dealt with many opponents in his lifetime, both in combat and in negotiation. Whoever this young man was, he didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary—just a fit, determined youth, likely no older than his daughter or that Komuro boy he had seen during the entrance ceremony. Souichiro had confidence in his own ability, even without the backup of his bodyguards. This boy, whoever he was, would not be above him in strength.
Yet, what happened next shattered that confidence in an instant.
As Souichiro’s hand reached out, ready to grab hold of the boy, the figure before him vanished. Not in the way a fast opponent might sidestep or dodge—but completely, utterly gone. His brain barely had time to register the absence when he felt a light, almost mocking tap on his shoulder. This was accompanied by a chilling sensation once more as if a bladed weapon was pressed against his heart and continued to beat the drum loudly..
His body froze, and his eyes widened in disbelief. Turning his head slightly, he saw the boy standing there, as calm as ever, his expression relaxed.
“Don’t stress too much, will ya?” he said with a tone casual as if he hadn’t just evaded him in an impossible display of speed. “I’m not the one who killed the kid. Just found him here, and… let’s just say he was pretty much gone already. You wouldn’t want to show that to any parents, trust me.”
The words hit Souichiro like a blow to the gut by his teacher when they first sparred, but before he could respond, the blue-haired individual was already walking away. His footsteps echoed faintly in the room, growing softer and softer until they disappeared entirely.
He stood frozen, katana still in hand, his breath uneven as he tried to process what had just transpired. The room was silent now, save for the faint creak of the floorboards beneath him. He was alone once again, but the presence of that boy—and the unsettling truth of his words—lingered heavily in the air.
He was not hurt, there were no assassination attempts or any kind of attacks aimed at him the entire time. My dad did not stop his heart from beating as if he ran through a marathon, the adrenaline's effect disappearing after a few seconds of silence. Taking a deep breath, he walked outside and turned around to find not a trace of that boy anywhere, returning to the entrance proved to be a fruitless endeavor and he most likely disappeared from this very area.
The armed guards who are supposed to protect the entrance had proven themselves incapable, lying on the ground unconscious and thankfully alive. No signs of any blood on them, or any cuts on their gear… at least this explained how no one intervened back then.
Amongst them being none other than his loyal assistant.
“Tetsutarou!” His loud voice spread across the forest itself, loud enough to rattle nearly everyone back to their senses.
“S-Souichiro-sama!” No different from an average citizen getting up late and discovering they had been late for their jobs, Doi had a similar reaction. “A-An assailant! A young man is walking through these parts, please head back inside the car and I'll have—”
“Hah… it's fine. The person left, so don't bother.” He massaged his forehead, feeling a migraine approaching, unable to do anything about it other than just use his resources to find this person. At the end of the day, Fujimi remained in his territory, finding a single person though risked consuming a lot of resources, he had to do it.
“Left?” Doi was confused, the clear change in his expression making it obvious what was going through his head. “You let him go?”
“... No.”
Whoever the boy was, his intentions and identity were unknown which he did not like one bit. Someone who knew Kenji? Maybe. There was some clear interest in this case given he took the documents, so he was likely to be around Ishio High School. Not Japanese from his facial traits, but he spoke the language fluently like a local.
It had been a long time since Souichiro felt this wary against someone other than Master Busujima.
“Let's go back,” he instructed sternly, earning a stare of disbelief from Doi who most likely wondered why he was not saying anything about the intruder. “Make sure to proceed with the land's acquisition with Yuriko and have a crew come by to clean this place right away. I want to see this place return to its former beauty.”
“Yes sir! B-But what about the one who attacked us?”
All he received was a glare, even if his body ached from being knocked unconscious, the fear evaporated all of that and pushed him to stand straight and comply without saying anything else. Calling all of the men to return to the car, The engine revved as they made their way back to town with great speed.
Even as the lights from the town reflected off the window, Souichiro stared almost absent-mindedly at the road in front of him. Thinking about his brief confrontation with the stranger, trying to uncover what truly happened.
‘He recognized my sword style… Did that old man take another disciple?’
The more he pondered about this, the more sense it made. Strangely, he did not hear about that man taking in another disciple. As far as he knew, he was focusing on teaching his granddaughter who has been hailed as a prodigy. One whose talent surpassed even his, a natural-born swordswoman who only needed a bit of time to bloom.
‘It won't hurt to see how he's doing.’
{Break}
(Next day)
-Fujimi Academy-
Safe to say, Cu did not get the few hours of sleep he wanted.
Having returned to his apartment after leaving the shrine, the sky had already turned bright with the birds chirping loudly and his alarm clock going off as soon as he opened the door. Barely enough time to get some shut-eye or even eat for that matter.
However, he did not regret his decision to patrol the town. Creatures like those tended to spread fast if left unchecked, he was not sure if getting bitten or infected through blood would turn others into undead creatures.
Strangely enough, he recalled not seeing any bite marks on Kenji. Then again, hard to tell since half of his body had rotted away by the time he found the undead kid. His only lead to finding the source of this matter turned out to be another school nearby, a place that did not hold the same standard as Fujimi Academy, from what he gathered, one of the third year, social studies teachers also worked over there from what he managed to gather from Kyouko.
In any case, for now, he decided to take a moment to rest his eyes during the lunch period. Classes were tedious to follow, as usual, Rei was worried about him and he reassured her quickly. Putting the blame on some late night session of drinking which she was quick to believe.
Not that he blamed her.
Another reason as to why he was finding a spot so far away from the main building was also due to a certain kendo practitioner hounding his ass for the entire day trying to make him join the club. Making countless offers despite knowing he had already made up his mind.
So after finding a random bench in the furthest corner of the school, under a fully grown tree that provided enough shade, he went forward to take a small nap. Having closed his eyes and let his mind for a moment forget about everything.
“If that marker touches my skin, I'll spank ya butt naked in front of the whole school.” Those words left his mouth with a dry tone, not needing to even open his eyes to know who it was near him. The hesitant footsteps led by one that was a bit too eager, silent whispers that even an elderly person with hearing issues would be able to listen, and finally the strong smell of alcohol and various chemicals irritating his nose.
“Ah! I told you he was awake!” The first feminine voice chastised her friend, sounding extremely guilty as if he caught her red-handed with her hand inside a cookie jar. “I'm sorry, Cu! I told Momo to not to bother you but she wouldn't listen!”
“Oh come on, he was basically asking for it, sleeping all defenseless like this in the corner. I know you were also looking forward to having me send you the pictures of his face with cat whiskers, Fumiko!”
“S-Shut up! I never say anything like that! Cu, don't believe her lies!”
The two bantered with one another just like usual. He opened his eyes to find the familiar faces of the redhead tomboyish Momo holding a sharpie close to his face and an embarrassed Fumiko in the back unable to meet his gaze. Fidgeting in place, looking cute enough to have him experience the desire to tease her a bit.
"Cat whiskers, huh? My, my, I didn't know you were into that kind of thing," he teased with a lazy grin. "Should I be worried about all these boys getting jealous of the attention you're giving me? Though maybe..." He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping playfully. "You're hoping for some special pictures in return?" It was fun seeing her face turn crimson red faster than it took Archer to summon that damned shield. Wait, why was he even thinking about that bastard?
Damn it, that dog's smug face and the cat discussion just naturally made his mind wander to that smug prick.
“N-N-No! I–I-I don’t have such intention—”
“Oh? Am I not good enough? Guess I can understand, Fumiko only likes cute boys with whiskers.”
“Seth!” Unable to hold back her embarrassment, the girl came over and kept throwing at his chest a barrage of light punches that barely made him feel anything. No different from getting hit by fists made of cotton, it was cute he had to admit. From this angle especially, she started to remind him of a younger-looking Kyouko from the images around her house. “I was helping you to stop Momo from drawing something embarrassing on your face and this is how you repay me!? How could you!?”
“Ah! Hahahaha! It hurts! My ribs! Ooh! You'll break something at this rate—ouch! Don't pinch my nose!” At first, he was just playing along with fake reactions, but that pinch actually hurt like hell! “Hit your friend as well, she's just there!”
Slowly, Fumiko stopped and managed to regain her cool, taking several deep breaths and giving him a dry look.
“If I so much as try to do that, she will take advantage of it and grope my breasts.”
Oh, well, he had to admit, given what he remembered from their first interaction, the girl was right. Giving him a free show in public no less, bold to say the least. “Well you did say to not do that in public, right now no one is looking, so…”
“No.”
“Shame.”
At least he gave it a try.
After that, both girls took a seat beside him and somehow, after a string of moments with Momo, suggested finding a way for them to make up for disturbing his sleep. Something that was meant as mostly a joke to also tease Fumiko took a rather unexpected turn that even made the redhead speechless at first.
“A-Are you sure this is comfortable for you?”
With the soft sensation of her warm thighs beneath his head, malleable and not too firm, enough to make it feel like one of the most comfortable pillows he tried for a while.
He looks up, his vision half-obstructed by two big mounds, the bespectacled girl's eyes peeking out at the end. The juxtaposition of her cute behavior and seductive nature is quite a sight to behold.
“Mmm~ Very,” he gave her a curt response, staring back at Momo who just sat there with her mouth open. “Not that I mind having to experience heaven for a bit, but what's the occasion?”
“N-Nothing… I just f-felt bad for having Momo disturb you out of nowhere… and also no one is l-looking, so it's fine for just a few minutes.” Looking away from him when talking was enough of an indicator that she was indeed hiding something from him. Cu raised an eyebrow, while it had been a while since he had last been in a relationship — that did not mean he could not spot the signs of a gal with interest in him.
But what caught him a bit by surprise was from whom this was coming from, the shy girl who gave him the impression of being someone who would faint by just giving a hug to someone of the opposite gender.
Not that he was going to say it out loud for now.
“Is that so, then don't mind me.” Taking what he was given without hesitation, the man got comfortable and enjoyed the warmth without declining the advance. He was a bit tired and sleeping next to a woman's embrace seemed like a good opportunity no matter how he saw it.
"Hey Fumiko, I should probably get up - don't want to make you uncomfortable with my weight," he said, starting to lift his head. But before he could move, her hands pressed firmly on his shoulders, pushing him back down. The sudden motion buried his face deeper between her legs, giving him an unexpected view of lacy underwear that made his eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
Huh, baby blue suit the girl.
“You're not heavy!” Fumiko quickly answered him, her face still crimson but at least now she managed to speak without stuttering. “I-I won't do it again, this is just to make it up for waking you up!”
“If that is the case, then I don't mind being woken up from my sleep more often.” He gave her a cheeky response, seeing her pout in a similar fashion to Kyouko made him start to wonder if these two were not related after all. Momo still remained in her spot, speechless at how bold her friend showed herself to be away from the attention of the public.
“Your hair is surpassingly soft, Cu.” Fumiko said after a few seconds of silence, starting to touch his strands and playing with them soon after. “They are softer than mine… how is that possible? What shampoo do you use?”
“None, just regular soap. My hair has always been like this.” He attributed this small element to perhaps his divine heritage that also got carried over here. Even if this body was that of a normal human being, his soul remained that of a demigod. And certain changes were bound to happen sooner or later.
“Is there a reason why you're so tired today? Usually you tend to be very energetic. For you of all people to be tired is like Momo becoming quiet.”
Did the close physical intimacy give her a confidence boost to speak such words about her friend when the latter sat right next to them? Certainly looked like it, that smile that started to become more relaxed by the second as she continued to play with his hair.
“Nothing like that. It's something else, I've been looking into a few things that I consider important. Say, do either of you two know about Ishio High School?” He took the opportunity to ask that question to the girls as well.
“Ishio? Why do you want to know about that place?” Momo, having finally been able to overcome her prior state, answered him with a curious glance.
"Found a dead student there - well, undead actually. Need to track down what caused it before things get messy. And before you ask, no, I'm not training either of you to fight zombies. This town's got enough problems without me turning you two into wannabe zombie slayers."
“Hah? You should probably ease up on the late-night horror movies, Cu.”
Momo burst out laughing, shaking her head at what she clearly thought was just another one of his wild stories. Fumiko joined in with a softer giggle, her fingers still absently playing with his hair. Cu let himself laugh along with them, knowing all too well how this went. It reminded him of trying to convince his parents about who he really was - same skeptical looks, same dismissive chuckles. No point trying to prove anything to people who'd already made up their minds that you were just telling tales.
“One of my friends goes there, it's a normal school I would say without anything standing out. The big wigs don't have their kids go there so most of them are just from regular families from around town. Our schools even tend to hold annual competitions against one another and as you might expect, they rarely won out of the dozens of matches against our clubs.”
Truthfully, there was not much in this piece of information that he could use. Then again, she did answer his question as told and thus it was not her fault.
“Speaking of bigwigs, you still haven't told us about what happened between you and Busujima-senpai! Since when could you use a sword like that and was good enough to reach a stalemate with the best Kendo practitioner in the entire district if not the country!? The fight between you two was so sick! It was like I was watching an action movie with samurais!”
Fumiko nodded along enthusiastically, making her chest bounce with each movement from his point of view.
“I have to agree, You two were moving like those people inside those action movies. I could barely keep up with either of you the entire time, even the other students were captivated by the display and stopped what they were doing.”
“Are you perhaps one of those people who grew up on a mountain completely shut off from society with an old wise kung fu master trying to teach you everything he knows?”
Ah, the girl was a bit too close to the truth than anyone else. Even if this was said mostly as a joke.
“Change the Kung Fu master to an immortal witch spear user and mountain to a magical realm shrouded in shadow, then you're right on the mark.” Both girls chuckled, even though he had not mentioned a single lie the entire time. “To answer your question, I think I already mentioned at one point that I was trained to use a spear before. But that was not the only weapon I learned to use, whether it be swords and shields, I learned to use them all. That Busujima girl is crazy good, I never met someone with that much potential so far.”
Momo scoffed, “Look at you, speaking about the literal kendo champion as if she were a novice. Had I not seen the match with my own eyes, then I would have accused you of being arrogant! Do you have any idea just how many of her fans you will piss off by saying those words?”
He shrugged, not at all afraid by these fans so to say. “Let them come, might even distract me from my boredom if they all come at me at once. Spear or no spear, I am sure I can take them all on with just my fists… or I can just borrow a wooden spear from Rei.”
“Oh yeah, and speaking of Rei. Is she your girlfriend?” As soon as Momo asked that question, he felt Fumiko's entire body grow stiff. Her expression remained mostly the same, but everything else was tense. Was he a bad guy for wanting to give a false answer just to see her response? Maybe.
“She's my beloved student and future second-best spear user in the making!” He declared proudly, for the Irishman was truly serious when he intended to increase her skills far enough to become amongst the top experts.
In this town at least.
“I didn't hear a no.” This time it was Fumiko who answered, her voice a tad bit more saddened than usual. She tried her best to hide it, but was very bad at it.
“Jealous? Don't be, she has two guys competing for her affection — one of them is a childhood friend. While I admit it would be fun to mess with them, I don't want to get in between that and possibly hurt someone. Those lads deserve a chance, good people at heart in my opinion.” Her eyes turned hopeful with some light shining brightly within them. His grin returned and the next moment, Cu quickly snaked his arm around her waist, feeling up her developed curves. “Don't get so hung up on something like this, have more confidence in your looks because right now, your making it hard for me to control myself.”
“Wait, real—hold on! That's not what I meant!”
Too late trying to change it. “Hya!”
Of course, feeling left out, Momo decided to join in. Taking the other half of Fumiko's thighs and shamelessly rested her head just an inch away from his.
“Don't hog Fumiko all for yourself.”
“Please, there are plenty of her for us to share.”
“Good point. Mmm~ so soft~.”
He did not even need to look upwards in order to catch her changed expression. Even her breathing became more audible, the slightest movement making her squirm and twitch, occasionally letting out involuntary moans.
This was getting a bit out of hand.
And just like that, they ended up spending their entire lunch time on their friend's thigh. Waking up right after the bell rang and forcing them to return back to their classes.
Now, at least he had a better understanding of that other high school. Not much information to be honest but enough for him to plan things out for his next move. For now, though, he wanted to enjoy the sensation he was feeling, so he closed his eyes and took advantage of the forty minutes left.
–Break–
(A few hours later)
“What a long day.”
With another few hours passing by, Cu went through his day without any issues. Aside from occasionally avoiding a certain kendo practitioner girl who kept hounding him to join her club.
So, now that his classes were over, the blue-haired man made his way to the club room where once more found the room to be nearly empty with barely any practitioners left. Even though he struggled to call them practitioners since they were just half-assing it.
Rei continued to have a steady progression with her skills but still remained prone to making rookie mistakes under stress. No amount of words would remove them, but instead, the best teacher was experience itself. Thus rather than using words, he preferred to continue sparring with her again and again till she eventually learned.
Not wanting to break the poor girl, he gave her a break and decided to end it early.
“Want me to walk you home?” As they were putting on their shoes to leave for the day, Cu asked while standing near Rei waiting for her to get ready. His answer got the girl to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
“What's the occasion?”
“Nothing, just want to make sure everything is fine on your end.”
“Sorry, I'm not going home right now. My mom asked me to stop by the police station to check up on my dad, he's been working a lot lately. More so than usual.”
He wondered if it had anything to do with the case of the undead boy. Given how that Takagi guy had his subordinates gather information about the missing kid, then there was a chance that even the cops were on it.
“Is everything alright with you, Cu?” Rei asked, walking closer and getting a good look at his face. “You were very quiet today.”
“You’re the second person to ask me that today. Am I really that loud for you all to think something is wrong with me today when I’m being quiet?” He immediately got a confident nod from Rei. “I don't know whether I should be glad about that or not.”
“You didn't get into any trouble, right?”
“Me? In trouble? Come on now, I'm not some kind of delinquent. You're looking at one of the most honest men in the entire school who does his best to avoid trouble of any kind~!”
The face she made entailed not a single word he said was taken seriously. Ouch, was his image really that tainted?
Finally, Rei ended up chuckling, giving a light slap to his arm “How about next time then? Tomorrow I don't really have anything to do. There is a nice cafe that opened recently near the mall, we can go there together. Unfortunately for you, they don't serve alcohol and you will be paying — take responsibility for all these bruises on my body. I can still barely walk because of you, jerk.”
“Oi, I don't just drink beer.” She scoffed at his response. “Also, you need to seriously work on your phrasing, Rei. You make it sound like we're doing something more naughty than sparring.”
His eyes stared at something behind her back, gesturing to her to turn around as well. Taking his advice, she turned to find Takashi awkwardly standing there in front of his shoe locker.
“...”
“...”
He could practically feel the tension in the atmosphere between these two. From the awkward gaze of Takashi to Rei's noticeable frown. He figured something must have happened between these two recently.
“You two hash this out, gotta meet Kyoko and run some errands in town for dinner. See ya later, Rei, and you too, Takashi.”
Giving her no time to respond, he turned his back to them, and left school, practically feeling the girl's glare boring holes behind his headbut pretending to not notice it. The best way to deal with such tensions between two people was to just talk it out.
.
.
.
“Takashi.”
This day just took a turn for the worse in her opinion. Getting constantly beaten during their sparring was bad enough, but now having been left behind purposely just to force her to talk was not something she enjoyed.
So to try her best, she swallowed her anger and forced out a smile on her face while facing her childhood friend.
“How are you doing?” She said, speaking politely and intending the conversation to be short. For she was serious about going to check on her father at the precinct, apparently some case of several students disappearing came to his attention early on this morning. “Sorry we could not talk to each other often recently, with all the school work and other issues that pop out of nowhere, it has been pretty stressful for me.”
“... I understand.”
Did he? She doubted it. Every fiber of her being wanted to roll her eyes and call bull on his empty words, but she held back for civility's sake. After getting tossed around by Cu all afternoon, she didn't have the energy to deal with Takashi's moody teenager act.
"Have you joined any clubs yet?" she asked, trying to keep things civil. "The deadline's passed. Teachers might give you grief about it." She kept lobbing easy questions his way about classes and school life, but all she got back were grunts and one-word answers. Like trying to have a conversation with a brick wall.
After a few more painful attempts at dialogue, Rei gave up with a weary sigh. This was going nowhere fast.
“Just say what you want, Takashi. I have to get going, I can't stay here all day with you barely answering me.” The polite and formal tone she used had been dropped after figuring that taking such an approach proved to be a complete waste of time.
“...” The boy was taken aback at first at her response, perhaps not expecting her to be so direct. Thankfully, his reaction only lasted for a few seconds before he regained his composure. “Rei, you have been hanging around Seth a lot lately.”
Hah?
Her eyebrows shot up at that. Irritation flared through her as she processed his words. The jealous undertone in his voice was impossible to miss, and it only made her blood boil more. Who was he to question who she spent time with? And the way he said Cu's name, like it left a bad taste in his mouth - that really got under her skin.
‘Don’t get angry yet, let's just hear out what he has to say.’ She said to herself, cooling her temper.
“Well, we are in the same club and he does teach me from time to tim—”
"That's not what I meant," he interrupted, making her eye twitch as her practiced calm expression shifted to annoyance. "Look, Rei, I get that you two seem friendly and all, happy to make another friend, but... you should be more careful about who you spend time with."
Was he…
Was he seriously insinuating what she thought he was? She stared at him, anger and disbelief warring inside her. The sheer audacity of him - of all people - trying to warn her about who she could be friends with left her momentarily speechless.
“I admit that I don't know much about him, but I can say with certainty that something just isn't right with him. Early on this morning when I was making my way to school, I saw him talking to a suspicious-looking man, one who looks like he belongs to the local gang and both of them were coming back from out of town.”
She listened patiently at first, but the longer he went on for the more of her patience started to chip away. “So? I still don't see your point. He can have different kinds of friends that look different from regular people. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made friends with a bear.”
“Not when that friend of his has several gang related tattoos on his body,” he countered. “Trust me on this, I don't know what is going on with him but this does not look good no matter how you look at it. He's supposed to be new to the town but is already hanging out with the wrong crowd. I don't want you to get in trouble by being associated with those kinds of people. You know how dangerous they can be, Rei.”
Her fits clenched, the soreness she felt all over her body had become just enough to thoughts at this point.
“Look, I know things haven’t been the same between us lately,” Takashi began, his tone careful, almost pleading. “But I’m just worried about you. I’m trying to help you avoid getting into trouble. It’s for your sake—”
“Would you shut the hell up?”
Her voice cut through his like a knife, louder than she’d intended, but she didn’t care. The floodgates had opened. Rei’s eyes, now filled with disappointment and a storm of negative emotions, solely locked onto him.
“Worried about me? For my sake?” she spat, her voice dripping with disbelief. “What kind of bullshit are you spouting, Takashi? Don’t stand there and act like you care now. Where were you when I needed you the most?”
He flinched but said nothing, his mouth slightly open, as if searching for a response.
“I don’t remember getting so much as a single phone call from you when Shido sabotaged my grades and humiliated me!” Rei continued, her voice cracking with pent-up frustration. “Not one text, not one word from you for an entire month while I was stuck dealing with that mess. Even Igou came by to check on me—but you? You were nowhere in sight!”
Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to rein in her emotions. “And now you have the audacity to say you’re suddenly worried about me? Worried because I’m spending time with Cu? What gives you the right to say anything at all?”
Her words hung in the air, heavy with accusation, as she glared at him. Takashi stood frozen, unable to meet her eyes, the weight of her anger and disappointment pressing down on him..
“Rei, it’s not that I didn’t want to help,” he said, his voice steady but tinged with frustration. “I wanted to be there for you. I really did. But every time I tried in the past, you were the one who pushed me away. Do you remember? You’d ignore me, distance yourself, like none of it mattered anymore.”
He hesitated, searching for the right words, his gaze meeting hers. “And this time… what could I even do? Your grades, your dispute with Shido—those weren’t things I could fix for you. And honestly, I was afraid. Afraid that if I reached out, it’d just happen all over again. You’d pull away like before, and I’d be left wondering why I even tried.”
“Is that seriously your excuse?” She responded back in disbelief, his answer not helping the situation in the least. “I didn't ignore you because I no longer needed you! I did it because… I-I…”
Because she wanted him to try harder, to be the first one to take a step forward and take their relationship from just friends to something more. But he never tried, showing no interest that she started to believe he truly only saw her as a friend. But then his lack of response to her conflict with Shido made her question if he was even looking at her as a friend anymore.
“You're so fucking frustrating.” In the end, she could not say it and just decided to end the conversation on that matter.
“One more thing,” she said without turning around, stopping right at the entrance. “Don’t you dare talk about Cu like that again. He might be a bit eccentric, but he’s honest. He wouldn’t put me in danger. I genuinely have fun when I'm with him, despite how painful it can be at times, at least he's helping me to become better and actually cares on how I’m doing.”
Rei finally turned to face him, her eyes blazing. “And for you to say such things about him... wait.” She paused, narrowing her gaze as if piecing together a puzzle. “I get it now.”
Takashi blinked, confused. “Get what?”
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”
“Jealous?” His tone was incredulous, but Rei’s accusation struck a nerve.
“Don’t play dumb,” she snapped, stepping closer. “You’re just saying those things about him because you want me to stay away from him. You can’t stand the idea of someone else being close to me, of me being in a relationship with someone else. Are you seriously still clinging to that stupid promise we made as kids?”
Takashi opened his mouth to respond, but Rei didn’t give him the chance.
“If that’s what this is about, then grow up, Takashi. I can date whoever I want—it’s not your place to decide otherwise. Whether it’s Igou or Cu, it shouldn’t matter to you. And for you to act like it does?” Her voice dripped with venom. “It’s pathetic.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked out, leaving Takashi standing there, frozen, her words echoing in his mind. Watching her figure walk away, several students avoided her after seeing her furious face.
{Break}
-???-
“Ah damn it!”
On the other side of the town, hidden underneath a bridge, a bald middle-aged man leaned against the wall whilst taking deep gulps of air. His face filled with sweat, pale and with some residual traces of blood that were quickly wiped away.
His face familiar to anyone studying or working within Fujimi Academy.
Wakisaka, one of the teachers who taught social studies, His prior prim and proper look now completely disheveled.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
Leaning against a stone wall, hidden within the darkness and holding onto a metal pipe covered in blood, He stared in terror at the bloodied corpse of a student in front of him that he had been beating for quite a while.
“Eur—rkeu…A-Ah…”
Yet much to his horror, even after having its skull fractured and several limbs smashed to bits, the body continued to move and looked at him with soulless eyes filled with hunger. The teacher trembled in fear when looking at his former student, one of the kids who got involved in the case concerning Izumi Kenji.
According to some of the reports, him being one of the five kids who had beaten him to death.
But the truth was different and the boy had called him here to confess away from any prying eyes about how he was innocent and had nothing to do with the killing. Only hanging out with the group and only mocking Kenji from time to time.
Wakisaka did not even know why he had come in the first place, forgetting involved in this matter wrist endangering his career in both schools. He'd rather lose his job in Ishio High School than Fujimi Academy. But unfortunately, one of these kids just happened to be his nephew so he had little choice on this matter.
Which just so happened to be this kid.
But things took a strange turn up for when he arrived, the boy seemed to be in a strange state. His face was pale and his face sunken as if he hadn't eaten for days, clear signs of a fever and a generally bad state of health. He could barely talk at first and he knew that continuing this conversation was a waste of time.
So taking this opportunity to draw a line into this affair and attempt at distancing himself, Wakisaka ended up experiencing a turn of event he could have never imagined in his life. For out of nowhere his nephew let out a strange sound that sounded like a roar and a moan of pain before lunging at him.
Having barely managed to dodge the assault in time, here unfortunately could not manage freeing himself from several scratches on his body from his feral nephew's attacks. Splatters of saliva and blood having reached his face filling him with disgust and a sense of danger.
Without having a choice, he grabbed the nearest item he could find, which ended up being a rusted metal pipe and started to bludgeon the kid again and again. Shouting him to stop, even begging him to get back to his senses but none of that worked.
“S-Stay away from me! Why won’t you die? Why won’t you die!? WHY WON’T YOU JUST DIE!? DIE!”
Watching the barely recognizable boy still trying to bite him, Wakisaka lost himself in his rage and started stomping on its face with all his might. Cracking the skull with brain matter spilling everywhere upon the ground and his clothes. This state lasting for another minute till he came back to his senses.
“W-What have I done…” He spoke with terror, extreme guilt knowing at his being upon seeing the pile of flesh that was once his nephew. “No… nononono—eurgh!”
Growing delirious come up the world started spinning and the middle-aged demand fell to his knees spilling his guts onto the ground.
“Hah… hah… I-I can't let the police find out about this… get out… I have to get out of here!” But of course, he could not just leave the body here and soon be discovered that could potentially trace it back to him. So with trembling hands and a shaken spirit, he forced himself to slowly push away the body into the stream of water. “Ah!”
In his haste, his feet ended up slipping on the pool of blood and landing on the body that was once his nephew.
“AAAAAAAH!” Seeing the single eyeball still attached to the skull staring back at him without any life within further pushed him to the edge. “Argh!”
His movements were completely out of control, trying to crawl away as fast as he could but without doing so safely, something sharp ended up piercing his palm. A flash of pain spread across his body and he looked down to see a canine tooth lodged within his palm. It obviously belonged to his nephew. “Why me… WHY ME!?”
How did things turn like this? He had no answer to that but regardless, Wakisaka’s goal was to return to his regular life and make sure for him to never get involved and lose the career he built through blood seat and tears. “It hurts… ah!” With some effort to come up He managed to remove the tooth and threw it into the river. Doing the same with the body leaving only a patch of blood on the grass.
“I-It will wash away, right? I heard it was going to rain today. If I stay here for longer I'm at a bigger risk of being discovered.” With that in mind, he quickly did a quick rinse of his clothes to wash away as much of the blood as it could, hiding some of his wounds and getting out of there as fast as he could.
For now, you just needed to act like nothing happened and he wasn’t aware of where these kids had gone. To continue his regular life as a teacher and let this matter slowly die with time.
“Shit! Argh… fucking stings.”
There was a slight burn in his palm. As if bugs were crawling under his skin and stinging him. Going to the hospital was also not an option, for he feared they could link him back to the murder in the future. So best to go back home and dip his hands into some pure alcohol to dissolve any infection that he might’ve caught.
I honestly intended to run away, to escape the entire event and sneak through the back door quietly without anyone ever truly noticing my departure. With Rias and Sona around, they were bound to attract everyone's attention like a magnet. This further pushed deeper with the added presence of Sairaorg bringing the fan favorite so to speak.
Then the presence of the Red Dragon Emperor along with a multitude of fighters all possessing rare and obscure sacred gears not seen for centuries coming out of their hidey holes and ready to flex off to see who can destroy my peaceful life the most. Compared to all of them, my presence barely would attract any attention and I preferred for it to remain that way in the first place.
Yup, these were nothing but just the surface layer reasons why I wanted to just go home. The main one was my dissatisfaction with Sirzechs playing whatever shenanigans he had planned for me. The mere idea of being used as a Pawn in such a way did not sit well with me along with countless other uncertainties that came forth from this kind of situation.
But of course, my luck ended up running dry, and having not even taken a single step inside the train I found myself captured by my so-called teammates and dragged back to the arena in such a way that it destroyed any rep I had gained over the years.
Now, I had to start all over again.
“Had you not considered it would be a bit embarrassing for us if our leader were to just… leave?” As we were teleported within an enclosed space that slowly modeled itself in the appearance of an abandoned building, Xenovia asked out of curiosity. “You're not one to make a hasty decision like this without reason. You were calm yesterday.”
“You haven't figured it out yet? You're a bigger blockhead than I thought—ah!” Perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut, the sensation of having one's ears pulled this harshly hurt like hell. I shot a furious glare at the accursed Fallen Angel bitch who, in my restrained state, was having fun messing with me.
“What? Like hell I'm intimidated by a guy who tried to pussy out of a fight.”
Well, it's not like I ever held any hope for her to figure out the truth. But for Kalawarna of all people to still be clueless? What a shame.
Xenovia on the other hand gave me the impression of simply not caring about whatever was the case. As long as she proves her strength in the most straightforward way possible. This is the perfect stage for her upcoming show I suppose.
“I tried to leave because there is no scenario where we can ‘win’, are you seriously telling me none of you suspect this?”
I got my answer from the numerous confused stares pointed at me. This unfortunate reaction forced a sigh, so I had no choice but to continue to speak. “Basically we are only here to serve as a stepping stone for other devils. A show of superiority from the Devils if you want to look at it that way to all the other pantheons.”
Kuroka seemed to pick up on what I was saying, but not the others yet. “Think about it, with everything that has been going on lately whether I like it or not, my name has become pretty famous and so has my title as the Black Dragon King. Not to stroke my own twisted ego, but I can say with a certain amount of confidence that the title associated with me holds more influence than the Red Dragon Emperor.”
From having faced the Fallen Angel of the Stars recently, to my other exploits which include meddling with the Celtic pantheon, the vampires, and my meddling with the Hero Faction to name a few… well a lot of eyes are locked in on us.” I didn't proceed to point my gaze at the blue-haired exorcist near me. “We can't forget about you Miss wielder of the legendary Durandal and Excalibur Destruction. Then there is you as well, Kuroka, a former SSS class criminal, just you two alone drawing plenty of attention.”
“I'm not sure I follow,” Xenovia said, Trying her best to comprehend but perhaps getting lost in the process.
“Saying it simply, the Devils most likely are not a fan of how much popularity we may be gaining recently and people start to treat us as a bigger deal than the Devils themselves.” This was not a recent revelation if I had to be honest, the thought lingered in my mind for quite a bit of time and only after hearing what Sirzechs set during the party did I start to truly believe it.
At that Kalawarna scoffed, “Not to deny everything you have said, but are you sure you're not overestimating us? I do understand if we are a bit popular amongst the masses but why would they need to make a show out of us? Other than you and Xenovia over here, the rest of us are… not up to par.”
If my fingers were freed, I would have raised three of them to illustrate my following points.
“First of all, Did you forget who was the one who killed a veteran Fallen Angel Cadre?”
“You.”
Well, technically speaking, the real killer was that shut-in Dragon God who's probably lurking around here somewhere, invisible to us all. But mentioning that wouldn't do me any favors right now. Besides, I doubt she'd appreciate the extra attention. That loli hermit prefers to stay in the shadows, after all.
“Exactly,” In the end, I shamelessly took the credit. “That alone is enough to raise many eyebrows. Because remember, the general population believes I am one of Rias' peerage members since the beginning—”
“—Aren’t you one now?” She interjected with a confused face.
“Besides the point, just let me talk.” My eyes twitched but I kept my calm at the very true statement, “Anyway, while the general population is under such a notion, most of the high-ranking Devils from the remaining pillars are aware of the true story. In their eyes, they most likely find it unreasonable for a human like me to be considered in such high regard and perhaps even think of me as arrogant to have stalled from turning into a Devil for so long. My current weird case does not help even if Sirzechs mentioned I had Evil Pieces in me… from both heiresses no less. That would create more chaos than anything else.”
From my point of view, I could see the gears in her head turning as she slowly started to understand what I was trying to get at. Xenovia on the other hand continued to stare at me blankly, making me unsure whether she understood it or not but I kept talking.
“So for now, they still believe I am a human who garnered too much attention from having defeated Kokabiel and my presence potentially bolstering the morale of humankind and establishing another faction.”
“... Isn't this a bit too far-fetched?”
“Not when the recent events due to the Khaos Brigade showing themselves helps with any of this.” She had a point, I could have very well been overthinking the entire situation, but no matter how much I pondered on these factors this was the most plausible answer I could come up with. The other ones were far too unlikely and failed to explain Sirzechs’ decision. “Listen, It's not just Kokabiel and the Khaos Brigade. It's a long list with my connections to Azazel, Paris still being fresh in the minds of many in the Supernatural, and my friendship with Rias and Sona. They fear that Sirzechs and Serafall will show favoritism towards me which would risk the opportunity of my side to establish a solid foundation that could one day go against the Devils.”
“...”
“The Evil Pieces themselves are more of a binding contract or better yet a soul-bound geass that prevents many from truly betraying the devil race without severe repercussions.” I looked at Kuroka, “Of course, there are some who can fight back but your cases are very rare.”
As far as I knew, a standard stray devil could go rogue and slowly mutate into a horrifying monster when they were unable to control their powers. This was the case for the majority of cases which allowed such creatures to be executed rather easily. But with cases like hers, they rarely ever showed up and were counted as outliers more than anything else.
“So to disprove all of these speculations and appease the upper masses, he needs to show them that I am not that big of a threat by having one of their own beat me in front of millions.” The way I made it sound seemed to paint the red-headed Satan as a ruthless mastermind willing to sacrifice my reputation or something. But that was not truly the case, this was merely speculation on my part.
Not like my reputation ever mattered to me anyway. I just didn't like being used this way at all.
“Alright, shut the fuck up already!” Perhaps unable to continue hearing this conversation between me and my secretary, Raynare snapped with veins bulging in her temples. “Who cares about the reason why we are here!? At the end of the day, it does not change that in less than a minute we will have to go against a shitty Devil and beat their shitty asses! So get your dumbass together and get this stupid crap over with already!”
As her voice died down, all of us turned our attention to the other side of the field where a ruined castle similar to ours was. The general setting is that of an open area without any structures or pillars present to act as cover from the attacks. The worst kind of terrain for someone who heavily relied on extensive planning or other kinds of strategies that involved stealth.
And not a second passed before I heard Grayfia make the announcement.
[For this match, the Black Dragon King team will be facing off against Eneely Vassago Peerage. Whoever takes out all of their memebers or make the other team surrender wins..]
“Vassago?” That name sounded familiar, but for the life of me, I could not pinpoint where I heard it before. “Wait… I remember now.”
I immediately recalled everything the moment I saw the face of my opponent. A beautiful woman with blonde hair styled similarly to Asia but much longer. Wearing a standard modest dress of some kind with even half of her face veiled making it hard for anyone to see her face.
“You know her?” Kalawarna asked whilst setting me free, her hands strangely enough starting to wander in places they shouldn't be present. “Don't squirm so much, I'm just trying to untie you~!”
“Then stop feeling my chest… or slipping one within my pants. That's reserved for two ladies, who are watching me getting molested right now.” Instead of answering her question, I couldn't help but comment on the current situation without feeling too worried about our chance of failing or winning.
I shivered when the woman in front of me smirked, putting her face right next to my ears, and whispered quietly, “Then can I add my name to the list as well?” Her hand slowly reached down there and caressed my most precious possession boldly without any hint of shame.
“Stop it if you don't want to get electrocuted once leaving this place.”
“I don't mind~! My body can endure many things, though perhaps dealing with this little boy here will be a great painkiller.”
“...”
I knew for certain this woman was not one to dig her own grave without reason, she was doing so deliberately to earn the eye of Rias and Akeno.
“You two can fuck each other like rabbits later!” Whoever would have thought that Raynare would be the voice of reason in this kind of scenario. Regardless she had a point and I pried her hand off my pants while she locked eyes with me the entire time before focusing on our opponent. *Eneely Vassago, We haven't truly interacted with one another that much in the past. She does not want to mingle with new people that much and as far as I know was always quiet by herself with… oh right, she's engaged with the Amon clan heir as well.”
Everyone had a mild reaction around me, most or rather none of them were really interested in our opponent's identity in the first place, Not that I could blame them for that given how little of a presence she had and how many social circles. “Not much is known about her other than inheriting the abilities of her clan which has something to do with chains.*
As I was introducing her to my group, Eneely spoke as well, gathering everyone's attention with her soft-spoken and melodious tone reaching my ears. Using magic to broadcast her voice from all the way here.
“I believe this is the first time we speak to each other, Black Dragon King. I have seen you in many social gatherings over to the human world and it is a shame I was unable to have a conversation with you in the past. I believe my fiance spoke with you before.” She spoke eloquently, her tone both soothing and even slightly seductive that it drew everyone's attention towards her. But nothing that would suggest it was some kind of charm magic or anything of that sort, just her natural beauty. As for her fiance, I didn't recall speaking to him before.
“You seem very confident in the outcome of this battle since you are just standing there without your peerage around.” Rather than going along with her subject, I prefer to just get this thing finished as soon as possible and get away from the spotlight. “Even from this far away, I can still shoot you with a spell.”
To my surprise, she started chuckling out of amusement.
“I heard a lot about you from Iolava. He would constantly speak about you whenever we met at every given opportunity.” Her prior joyful tone started to descend into that field with frustration and a surprising amount of venom. “The Black Dragon King who conquered the Gremory heiress, the one who seduced her entire peerage. How he had also sunk his claws into Sona Sitri, how he got them to follow his every whim, how they would gladly strip themselves if he so much as asked! How he is forming a harem of different members of all three factions!”
Her voice kept getting louder and more disgusted with each sentence. While I kept a straight face and could do nothing but listen to her words. Wow, that was quite the image I had, one that I already tried to break but unfortunately, it never worked in my favor.
“That damn perverted man whom I nearly managed to reform returned to his old ways because of you! Now he keeps going after other girls whenever I take my eyes off him and asks them to join his harem! It's because of dirty bastards like you that he—”
Woosh!
Not a second later, a white spear was sent hurtling at her from my side, the projectile cleaving through the air at great speed before it struck the ground where she stood. The impact created a cloud of dust, obscuring the area and making it hard for us to discern whether she was hit or not.
Rather my eyes turned to the person next to me, surprised to find that the one who threw the spear was none other than Kalawarna. The Fallen Angel had a prominent scowl on her face with a second light spear soon forming.
“What?” She said whilst noticing my gaze on her. “I am still your secretary, and it is my duty to make sure a random harpy does not damage your reputation more than it currently is.”
“I don't think attacking her like this is going to help with that in any way.”
“It won't,” she admitted quickly, “But it does make her shut up, which is arguably better.”
“Agreed.” Even Raynare found her answer to be amusing given the shit-eating grin shehad on her face. “She was talking too much, I didn't come here to hear someone scream at us like this. It gets annoying very quickly.”
“Well, she is not wrong,” Kuroka added, slyly snaking her arms around my neck. “Hachi-kun does have a lot of girls around him~”
“...”
I could not even dispute her words, for there was no falsehood in them. Other than Kiba and Issei with whom I hung around frequently, there were no other boys. Even at school, I had more girl friends, than guy friends. I refused to acknowledge a certain Dhampir given the latter just dressed as a girl all day. “Kala, remind me to find more boys to hang out with.”
“No.”
“... Why?”
“I don't want you wasting more time than you already do.”
I was left speechless.
I wanted to cry but there were no tears coming out of my eyes, unable to understand just how far my reputation had descended. I was no sex maniac going around seducing everyone!
“If it makes you feel better, dragons are known to be very possessive and power attracts a lot of attention from different kinds of people. So it has very little to do with your charms.”
"This isn't helping, Vritra!" I groaned, glaring at the traitorous dragon. The girls around me erupted into laughter, their shoulders shaking with mirth. Even Xenovia, usually so stoic, was biting her lip to hold back giggles. Raynare didn't even try to hide it, cackling like a hyena. I shot them all a withering look. "Oh sure, laugh it up. I'm glad my suffering amuses you all so much."
Thankfully, our opponent decided to go on the offensive and grant me a small moment of peace.
“They're coming.” As soon as Xenovia said that, multiple shadows rushed out of the dust and we were heading straight for us. A myriad of spells were being fired all that once from all fifteen members of Eneely’s peerage.
A couple fired earlier, with Xenovia taking action and jumping forward to slash the blast away with her sword. The weapon easily cleaved through the spell and disintegrated into nothingness within moments. “Hah!”
We all watched the woman gather more strength and twist her body around to block other spell attacks. While her movement was slow given she was wielding a heavy weapon, each strike managed to perfectly reach the spell and destroy them with great efficiency. Not a single wasted movement on her end, continuing to advance forward with each steady step, twirling around and spinning the giant sword like a saw blade, making sure none of it reached us.
“She's gotten better, far better than what I remember.” To make Raynare impressed and give out such words on top of it was no small feat. I had to agree with her since during the battle against Kokabiel, the girl was not nearly as fast as this.
“Speed was always going to be an Achilles' heel. No matter how strong she would become or how powerful that played-over could end up becoming. If the enemy is faster than you and strikes you before you can even move in time then it is game over.” The Nekoshou explained, seemingly not surprised by what Xenovia had shown. “Not going to ask me if I taught her?”
I shook my head, “I was more surprised that you were willing to help her in the first place… and that you know how to teach someone how to better swing a sword like this.”
“Nyahahaha! That's just one of my many skills, I am very versatile.” She purred, her nose almost buried within my neck. “I can show you what other things I can do in bed as well…”
I shivered when I felt her nibble my ear and blow on it.
Remembering that we were being watched by practically the entire underworld, I pushed her face away with a blush having managed to creep its way to my face. I did not even need to look into a mirror to know just how bad it was and cursed silently at how good she was at getting a reaction from me.
“—!”
As Xenovia drew closer to a few of the Devils, her fighting style changed and immediately became more aggressive. Going for the first person closest with her sword held a pie. Swinging the piece of metal downwards creates enough force to shatter the ground.
[Eneely's Vassago’s Bishop has been eliminated.]
I was honestly taken aback, how could that woman let her bishop go to the front lines? In fact, the more I observed the other opponents the more I realized just how disorganized they were. Even after Xenovia cut down the first one, she was not having any issues doing the same thing again with the following two Pawns and Rook.
Xenovia carved through Eneely's peerage like a hot knife through butter. Durandal flashed through the air, cutting down anyone foolish enough to stand in its path. While not as quick as she once was, Xenovia's improved technique and fluid movements allowed her to evade most incoming spells. She twisted and spun, Durandal singing its deadly song. But even she couldn't dodge everything - a few stray blasts found their mark just as she took down one of Eneely's Knights.
“They are very disorganized, tch, she'll have all the fun at this rate.” Raynare not wanting to be left behind, started to go on the offensive as well, throwing a number of light spears all of which bombarded the field without any target in particular being aimed for.
If Kalawarna’s attacks were considered powerful enough to greatly wound a single Devil, then Raynare's current assault was particularly changing the entire terrain itself. Her current six-winged self held far more power than her past self ever hoped to possess, allowing her to fire multiple spears at once rather than a single one.
But obviously, there was a lack of control, for she still had a long way to go to master all of it.
“Hachi-kun.”
“Careful!” I found myself stepping in the moment I heard Kuroka’s warning and I yanked both girls away just in time to avoid them getting pierced by chains bursting from the ground. Having nearly impaled them had they not been pulled away.
“I find it very polite that a mere Fallen Angel throw-away member gets to act so arrogantly before me. Even you, human, do not look down on us just because you hold Durandal!” Eneely's figure walked out of the smoke. Her clothes were slightly torn in places that ended up revealing her thighs and cleavage far more than they did before.
Even her mask had been torn, revealing a beautiful face — but nothing as striking as Rias and Akeno. It looked closer to Seekvaria than anyone else, but with more curly blonde hair instead of straight green.
“Chains. I remember her clan having control over chains. I was a bit confused about her powers but controlling chains was not something I expected.”
“Are you looking down on me? Why are you not fighting as well!?” What was supposed to be a simple observation on my part seemed to make the other party more riled up and furious as if I was mocking her. “I will teach you the same lesson I gave to Iolava! All of you, don't stop attacking! Keep the pressure on him!”
Giving an order to her remaining peerage members who had surrounded us, she gave an order which was followed through immediately when we found ourselves surrounded by dozens of spells fired at us from all angles.
“This is a bit disappointing.” Seeing the scene before us, Kuroka commented and I shared the same sentiment as well. “Is this supposed to be the Devils who can defeat us?”
“No, not her.” Deciding it was time for me to act, there were just too many spells fired for Xenovia or Raynare to deflect or block all of them. “This is most likely her first official Rating Game. No King would send their Bishop first without any protection, she didn't even make a plan and is just shouting orders.”
The chains in question looked like regular sturdy chains made of Demonic Energy, with no other passive effect. Or at least, the girl had yet to gain the ability to fully use them, which worked in my favor.
“I can take care of them. I still haven't had my chance to strut my stuff.”
“It's fine. It would be far too overkill to have you participate now, Kuroka. You'll have your moment to show off to Koneko, but leave this to me. Everyone already knows of my ability, so there is nothing to hide really.”
A dark violet light shone on my left hand, Vritra’s gauntlet forming with its gem gleaming with power. Eneely flinched at its appearance and immediately sent more chains at me which were struck away by Xenovia acting as my shield.
‘It has been a while since you have faced an opponent below your level, Partner.’
Vritra was right, I could not even remember when was the last time I fought someone weaker than me to such an extent.
Was it arrogant on my part to think like this? Perhaps, but I wanted to relish the moment for a tiny bit. She was most definitely weaker than Connla, the one who apparently inherited the Irish hero’s spirit.
Before I made my move, I had a few words to share with her. “If I recall correctly, your fiance was one of the many people who tried to have Rias' hand in marriage before Riser came into the picture. He seemed quite happy facing her today, maybe he wanted to show off to his real crush. Maybe he does not like having to settle with the second option.”
“How dare you!”
It was a dirty move on my part, but it served its purpose and managed to distract the girl from using more of her powers. It also was not a lie, Iolava, just like many held some level of infatuation towards Rias.
[Delete Field!]
The black dome expanded, encompassing everyone and everything within the field. Instantly weakening many within her peerage to form them down to one knee. Their strength was taken away in an instant with the Sacred Gear's effect stronger than ever.
I raised my hand, the tip of my finger covered in black flames.
For a moment I could not help but groan at myself with how chuunibyou this scene looked but endured the embarrassment. I had done it so many times that something like this would not affect me that much.
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.
.
[Eneely Vassago and her peerage have been eliminated. The victor of this Rating Game is Hikigaya Hachiman.]
{Break}
(A few minutes later)
“Well, that was disappointing.” Having teleported back to the dark room where they first entered the field, Kalawarna made such a comment. “This was my first rating game, I expected it to be a bit more chaotic and dangerous.”
“Are you seriously asking why we did not get much of a challenge against her? Do you think having an easy victory like this without any of us getting injuries was something to be soft for? Or maybe you're just watching too many action movies now, we won't be in a life or death scenario at every opportunity we are forced to fight.”
Eneely Vassago was an easier opponent, She fortunately did not possess the experience required to pose much of a challenge. A single usage of his sacred gear rendered every single spell thrown at them practically useless. This gave the people on his side the opportunity to rush forward and take care of them swiftly.
A holy sword remained one of the most dangerous weapons to use against a Devil, the smallest scratch was more than enough to eliminate multiple Devils and Xenovia got to demonstrate just how capable she was. Most definitely this did not help with the attention focused on us, but Eneely was not at the level of Sairaorg to have her loss cause much of a commotion.
“Who do you think our next opponent will be?” Xenovia asked curiously.
“Well, since there are not that many teams in the first place, and most of the weaker ones got filtered out through the first round. That leaves with a not-so-great list of powerful groups — which includes Sona and Rias if we're lucky.”
“Yay! I can have fun with Shirone again!” At least Kuroka liked the idea, I hummed but did not say anything about her reaction. “Hold on, what do you mean by ‘if we're lucky’?”
The face of a certain grinning Bael heir flashed in my mind, making me shudder.
“It means we probably won't have to deal with a monster in round two. Or at least I hope so… having Kuroka and Durandal might help but I honestly can't see us winning against him.”
“...”
Even the others were taken aback by my words, it sounded pessimistic but I was merely being realistic. If all of us allied to face him, then the chances of us winning were high, but this was assuming we were going to fight him alone without the other members of his peerage getting involved. I knew a few names and they were not weak by any measure.
“You seem certain that we will win against Sona and Rias. I would like to remind you that the Sitri heiress has the Red Dragon Emperor. Are you certain you can handle him if he uses his Balance Breaker?” Kuroka asked, though strangely enough someone else ended up answering in my stead.
“He will.”
I looked at the Kalawarna with a faint hint of surprise, she sounded quite confident.
“I am aware that the Boosted Gear is not to be underestimated but understand that I have been with Hachi-kun here for a long while. He has faced his fair share of opponents that were supposed to be stronger than him and emerged victorious somehow.”
I chuckled, “At times it was just pure luck and outside factors. Sona will not just rely on Issei alone but also on the other members to maximize his power. Rias has Akeno and Kiba, both of which are not easy to deal with in the least.”
“So what? You fought Vali.”
“Thanks to Sona's help.”
I did not like just how much confidence she had in me, or perhaps I did reality always went differently from what I expected. I wanted to believe Issei would not pose the same amount of challenge as Vali, but that would just be me jinxing myself.
‘You are wise to not underestimate Ddraig and his host, but I believe you are also underestimating us. If the need arrives, just switch places with me. I have been yearning to repay some past grudges against that red lizard.’
Great, Vritra started to become more of a battle maniac.
I just ignored him, as long as Issei didn't pull something ridiculous to suddenly multiply his powers by several folds then… ah damn it, I just jinxed myself. Of course, he was going to do something to gain a huge boost of power!
That damn main character's halo of his started to shine brighter these past few months!
“Let's just go meet the others, they are most likely waiting for us in the lobby—oof!” As soon as I opened the door, a shadow jumped onto me, pushing my body to the ground with enough force to momentarily put my mind in a daze.
‘Silver…’ That was the first thing that came to my mind when my vision got filled with strands of silver-colored hair. A wet sensation dropped onto my face which brought me back to my senses and much too much surprise. They were tears coming from the same woman I met last night who looked absolutely miserable right now.
… What was her name again?
Oh right, Rossweisse. We briefly spoke during the party last night and I had to bring her to my room due to how drunk she was.
“You!” Grabbed my collar, using a surprising amount of strength to rattle me back and forth enough to make my brain jumble about. “Take responsibility! I am not going to be known as the only Valkyrie who sold herself to prostitution! TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! Uuuuuaaah!”
Uh?
Eh?
What?
Perhaps it was because the woman was shaking me hard enough to make any coherent thoughts next to impossible, But I was pretty sure I did not sleep with her!
“S-Stop it! You're ruining my clothes again.”
That only worsened the situation.
“A-Again!? Just what did you do to me last night!? Why can't I remember a single thing!? Did you drug me!?!?!!? At least tell me how it went!”
“Nothing happened between us, you crazy woman! Get away from me!”
“Liar! You paid me to sleep with you last night! Why do I have your wallet then!?”
She was a mess, completely out of control and I had to do something quickly. Absorption Line manifested around my forearm before quickly entangling itself around Rossweisse to restrain her somewhat. It worked at first as I managed to set myself free and get back on my feet, yet the appearance of my sacred gear only made the woman’s face turn a few shades of red.
“Y-You… you want us to do it again!? Here!? In front of so many people!? No!” Growing hysterical, I send a ridiculous amount of power to start to surround her with several magic circles forming around her body. Their numbers grew by the second till there were hundreds of them and I watched as they all seemed to gather even more magic and forcefully overpowered my hold on her.
The line getting torn apart, something I never saw happen in such a way in the past. Even the Holy Swords fragments were not able to cut through it!
‘What strength! Now this is a Valkyrie!’
“Not the time to be admiring her, Vritra!” I then turned my attention to the Valkyrie and put my hands up to show I had no intentions to continue this fight. “You, calm down. There appears to be some misunderstanding between us.”
“I-Is this what I heard the other girls call a one-night stand?” She said with a trembling voice, “Where do two people allow their lust to take over and forget about it the next morning as if it never happened? How cruel! You are a terrible person!”
“I’m the one who got my clothes covered in vomit! And we didn't sleep with one another, you were just crying like a kid in the hallway!”
“S-Shut up!”
The first time since I arrived in the underworld did I feel a sense of danger when the person in front of me was about to go on the offensive. A set of armor covering her body with wings etched onto her helmet, she truly embodied the image of a proper Valkyrie with the monstrous amount of magical power emanating from her, enough to potentially destroy this building if she was not careful!
“That is enough, Rossweisse.”
“—!”
Out of nowhere, a voice came from the end of the hallway and immediately the Valkyrie in front of me froze in place. Her eyes widened as she halted whatever spells she was about to use against me and slowly turned her head around to look at the person who appeared at the end of the hall.
I along with the other members did the same and soon faced an old man with a long beard and an eye patch standing there proudly. It did not take a genius to figure out his identity since I remember seeing his traces in the past.
“O-Odin-sama… t-this is not what you think! I was not aware! Please don't f-fire me, I won't be able to…” Rossweisse started rambling like a mad woman but the old man ignored her and walked past her without even sparing her a glance. His reaction made her go completely pale and crumble to her knees in despair.
His emotionless face was a far crime from what I heard about him from other people, even Kuroka behind me was tense.
“So… I heard you slept with one of my Valkyries, Hikigaya Hachiman.” He said with a loud voice, forcing my eyes to twitch by these ridiculous accusations.
“No! I didn't do anything like that—”
“I understand.” But just as I was about to retort further and call out this lie, Odin placed his hand on my shoulder and put a grandfatherly smile that looked very out of place weirdly enough.
“You do?”
For some reason that smile made me feel very uncomfortable.
"You lucky bastard, you hit the jackpot with this one! Rossweisse may be inexperienced, but that just means she's eager to learn. And with a smoking hot body like hers, you'll have plenty to teach her, if you know what I mean. Those tits of hers are top-tier, even among the Valkyries, just like her mother. I bet she's a wild one behind closed doors - it's always the quiet, shy types that end up being the biggest freaks in bed. You gotta tell me all the details later, you sly dog! Did you make her scream your name all night long? I knew you were the man for the job, Black Dragon King! Hahaha!"
“...”
“...”
“...”
… I… I didn't know what to say.
Was this reality?
Perhaps I was just having a nightmare and never woke up.
Also, this conversation felt oddly familiar.
“What is the meaning of this, Hachiman?”
Of course, as if my day couldn't get any worse, the cherry on top just came in. Rias and Akeno just had to show up at the worst moment and overhear what this damn old man say about one of his subordinates.
I should have left when I had the chance, even if it meant fighting tooth and nail against Kuroka.
Partially beta read by Shigiya, Darklord331, and Paragon of Awesomeness and Gamecrusher55.
Next update is snafu followed by An Archer's Promise.
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-Emiya Residence-Bathhouse.-
Never had Shirou had to deal with a case like this, swirls of emotions and thoughts went through his mind as he tried to understand the situation he was in.. First came anxiousness, followed by uncertainty about what to do, before he drew a blank, with no way of dealing with this situation coming to mind.
The fact that Rider, of all people, pulled such a stunt remained something he had a hard time wrapping his headaround.
The purpose of which he failed to understand and in turn chose to remain silent. Keeping his mind focused, forcing it not to wander in places he wished to avoid. Both out of guilt on what he felt at the moment and fear of not knowing how to handle the outcome.
“Am I doing it correctly, Senpai?” Yet this approach was instantly pushed to its limit as the sensation of the loofah moved up and down on his back. A pair of delicate hands holding onto it and applying enough pressure where it genuinely felt good.
“It's fine.” He responded, sitting on a wooden stool with his back facing the violet-haired woman while he faced the mirror — his eyes closed.
The rhythmic dripping of water filling the tub and her breathing were heard in the background. The enclosed space made them sound louder, with nothing from the outside seeping in inside—nothing but the deep orange light from the evening sun visible through the gaps.
Despite all of these factors, the place felt awkwardly silent.
“I’m sorry about this, Sakura.” Shirou finally broke the silence, his voice soft yet carrying an edge of embarrassment. He almost got lost in the gentle, deliberate way she washed his back. Her movements felt more like a massage, and a small part of him didn’t want it to end anytime soon. “I don’t know what got into Med for her to pull such a prank. I’ll talk to her soon.”
The purple-haired Servant had initially seemed so quiet, speaking only when necessary, keeping her words short and reserved. But with each passing day, Shirou started to notice a different side of her. The sharp teasing, sly remarks, and occasional bold actions left him wondering if he had misread her entirely.
Had he missed something?
“She’s… different than I imagined,” Sakura murmured, her voice cutting through the stillness. It seemed Shirou wasn’t the only one reevaluating Rider. “At first, I was scared of her when I saw you two together. I didn’t know what to make of her.”
“I’ll admit, she can be pretty intimidating at first glance.” Shirou chuckled lightly, recalling Rider’s towering presence and that ever-present blindfold, which only added to her mystique.
“That’s not what I meant.” Sakura’s voice grew softer, and her movements paused for a moment. “I… I was afraid that you’d grow more distant because of her presence. That you’d leave me behind, and I’d be left on my own again. But… I was wrong, wasn’t I? The more time I’ve spent with her, the more I’ve come to admire her. She’s one of the kindest people I’ve met—aside from you, of course. Her confidence, her strength, her beauty… I desired to be more like her. Without even realizing it, I really started to envy her.”
“You know I’d never do that to you,” the boy replied, his voice steady. “Even with Med now living here, I’m not going to change how I feel about you. She clearly cares about you, so there is nothing to worry about.”
But he could hear the doubt in her voice earlier, and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why she would think such a thing.
“You also made a lot of friends, Shirou. Miss Luvia, even if you met briefly she cared about you a lot. Going so far as to fly over to Fuyuki just to check up on you. I heard you and a archery club member are quite close along with a few other people. All of this happened so quickly.”
Luvia? Well, he highly doubted she came here just to see him. Her timing was a big enough sign for him to expect some kind of move from her during the Grail War. Her giving him a bit of guidance and experience with both magecraft and combat remained a debt he had yet to pay.
As for Ayako, well it would be a lie to say their relationship could only be summarized as mere classmates. She started to become someone he hung around more than Issei himself.
“I was also afraid for your safety,” she continued, her words gaining an edge of vulnerability. “That one day, I’d be waiting for you to come home, only for you to never return. I knew that, in the end, all I could do was place my trust in Med to bring you back if something happened.”
“…”
Shirou’s chest tightened, any reassurances he might have offered dissolving in the wake of her quiet confession. He wanted to tell her she had nothing to worry about, that he was stronger than she gave him credit for—but that would be a lie, and he knew it.
Not long ago, before encountering Caster, his life had already been pushed to its limits. The near-deadly battle with Bazett, the terrifying clash with the monster at the port—each moment was a reminder of how fragile the line between life and death truly was. And yet, even now, he couldn’t bring himself to regret his choices.
A gentle touch brought him back to the present. Sakura’s hand rested on his back, her fingers resting on his skin. Her voice was almost a whisper, yet her words struck with precision.
“I know you’ve been in danger recently. You faced a Servant, didn’t you?”
Shirou tensed, caught off guard by her direct question. Since rescuing Sakura, they'd fallen into an unspoken agreement, tiptoeing around the magical elephant in the room. It wasn't that he wanted to keep her in the dark; he just assumed she preferred not to dredge up painful memories. Now, with her words hanging in the air, he realized maybe they'd both been waiting for the other to break the silence.
But now, for the first time, Sakura had asked him a direct question—one that surprised him since he was uncertain how she even came to know about it. “How did you…”
The only person that came to mind was none other than Rider.
“You could have died, Shirou.” Ignoring his question, she continued to talk. Her fingers tracing some of the wounds that had not fully healed yet.
He exhaled slowly, gathering his thoughts, “I did not have a choice back then. Bazett was in danger and I had to get her attention somehow. I admit, I could have done things differently, but I truly was not ready to encounter Caster of all people in the middle of Fuyuki. And Rider was with me, even if things got dangerous, I would’ve made it out fine.”
“Were you not afraid?”
Afraid? Not really, not for his life at least. “I did not want to see someone in front of me suffer like that and be killed. Even if we started on the wrong foot, we ended up being on the same side.”
Sakura fell quiet, mulling over his words. The loofah lay forgotten as her hands glided across his back, kneading away the tension. She leaned in, her breath warm against his ear. "That's so like you, Senpai. Always rushing to help others, even if it means trouble for you later."
Shirou's breath caught as he felt her lean closer. Her hair tickled his neck, and her whispered words sent a shiver down his spine. "You save people even when they don’t deserve it. Even when they will cause you trouble in the end. But I suppose that's just who you are, isn't it?"
“I don’t believe that.” his eyes opened, staring at the mirror where he found the girl's face leaning closely to his body. He knew what she was trying to say even if she was not saying it directly. “Even if I were to be put in a situation where I would need to make a decision again, my answer will remain the same. I don't regret it, never had and never will.”
There was frustration weirdly enough building up in her eyes from what he could see, for she had not once tried to look at him straight in the eyes now that he thought about it.
“Neither Zouken nor Shinji can force you to go back. I won't let them, that I promise.” He was not that afraid of his former friend doing anything, a single punch back then was all that he needed for him to start avoiding him. The main issue was none other than that old man whose last phone call still lingered in his mind. “I know that I can't keep you locked here, it is not fair for you and not what I want for you. I will find a way, that I promise. With Rider along to help me, my chances are quite good.”
He tried to alleviate the atmosphere with a light tone but all he got in response was Sakura lowering her gaze even further till he could see nothing but the top of her head.
Her hands were shaking.
“Why… why are you going so far for someone like me, Senpai?” Her voice started to break down, his prior composure faltered under such a reaction. “It is not worth trying to keep someone like me close to you, you're just inviting more trouble for yoursel—”
“I think you are worth it.” He cut her off, not wanting to hear her speak like that about herself. “I have known you for years, from the very beginning even, you helped me a lot. Fuji-nee practically considers you as family by now, and the place just does not feel the same without you coming over. I got used to having you wake me up most mornings and have you help me around the house and hang out.”
She chuckled, but it sounded like something due to helplessness more than anything else.
Taking the silence as her, having accepted his explanation, he continued. “So stop thinking about such things, you are wrong about being any kind of burden. I'll get angry if you continue thinking like th—ah!” His following words got stuck in his throat when two soft mounds pressed against his back. With nothing separating him, he felt every inch of them and how warm they were.
At some point, her arms ended up circling around him, holding onto him while she rested her face against his chest. His heartbeat grew more erratic, and waves of varying emotions wreaked havoc on his mind.
“You know, it's not fair.” She argued weakly,“you say all of that and expect me to listen without realizing just what I am trying to convey. Then again, it just sounds just like to say such things. S-Sorry… it must feel uncomfortable for you, I-I'll stop.”
“It’s not uncomfortable.” He felt her head slowly turn up to finally stare back at him for the first time. These words had come out of his mouth without him having realized it. Yet not wanting to ruin the mood and potentially create any misunderstanding, the redhead scratched the back of his head and stood his ground.
"Senpai…" she whispered, her voice breaking.
Slowly, cautiously, the girl leaned closer.
Time seemed to slow as their gazes locked, the weight of a certain unspoken feeling hanging in the air between them. He once again felt his heart pounding in his chest, yet he didn't pull away. Instead, he moved closer as well, closing the distance between them.
And then, their lips met. It was soft, tentative, and filled with all the emotions they had both been too afraid to voice until now. The warmth of her kiss melted away the lingering doubts in Shirou's mind, leaving only the certainty that he wanted this.
“Mmn…”
“Ha~!”
Shirou turned to face her fully, their kiss deepening as Sakura's embrace tightened. Her soft warmth pressed against him while he gently caressed her cheek, brushing aside damp strands of violet hair. Their tongues intertwined, Sakura's eagerness surprising him as she explored his mouth with a passion he'd never seen from her before.
Breathless, they parted, a thin thread of saliva still connecting them. Shirou's eyes met Sakura's, finding her gaze unfocused and hazy with desire. She looked at him as if he were the only thing in the world that mattered. Without a word, he cupped her face in his hands and pulled her in for another fervent kiss, his heart racing as he surrendered to the moment.
Their lips collided hungrily as curious hands explored every curve and contour. Sakura's ample bosom pressed firmly against Shirou's bare chest, her peaked nipples grazing his skin with each fervent movement. A wanton moan escaped her as her fingers tangled in his red hair, still damp from the bath.
Shirou's mind was a haze, the events leading up to this moment now a distant blur. Had Rider orchestrated this encounter? If so, to what end? But as Sakura's tongue danced and collided with his own, those questions faded into the back of his mind. All that mattered now was the beautiful, passionate young woman in his arms, and the undeniable yearning that burned between them.
There was no rejection within him as he explored more of her body, his hands unconsciously gravitating towards her breast. Feeling his fingers sinking within her soft flesh forced a moan from the girl, her legs quivering as he tried to not give away his complete lack of experience and just let his instincts take over — something he usually suppressed around her.
Having always admired her beauty in discretion, he noticed the changes she underwent as the years passed and became more frustrated with himself for having such thoughts in the first place. Sakura had always been more gifted than the average girl; even most senior students in his school barely held a candle to her curvy figure and abundant… assests.
Having Rider around did not help, but the burden of having to deal with the Holy Grail War at least helped to keep his hormones in check. But her touch, her scent, and the intimacy of their talk in this setting slowly made him slip past the point where he couldn’t hold back any longer.
As it turned out though, Sakura wanted him to stop holding back.
Breaking the kiss, Shirou trailed his lips down Sakura's neck. She tilted her head to expose her flawless neck, giving him better access as he nipped and sucked at her sensitive skin. His hands slid down her sides to grip her hips, pulling her flush against him.
"Senpai," Sakura gasped, feeling his hardness pressing into her belly. She grinded against him instinctively, drawing a low groan from him which sent her body trembling all over again.
Neither of them ever noticed the blurry figure of Rider leaning against the door outside, a smile present on her face coupled with a slight redness to her face.
Sakura's hand slid down Shirou's taut abdomen, fingers tracing the defined muscles. Her breath caught as she wrapped her fingers around his rigid length. The heat and hardness made her pulse quicken.
“Sakura…” he groaned out her name just like she did his, welcoming her touch with her moans filling the room along with the sound of water running. He wanted to hold her, explore every inch of the girl and never let go.
Yet much to his surprise, as soon as he said that her movement froze. Sakura had gone completely still, the haziness within her eyes forcefully getting pushed away.
The beautiful pair of violet gems he was admiring suddenly widened in horror, and he feared he had gone too far.
She yanked her hand away as if burned, stumbling backward, and turned her back to him. "I-I'm so sorry, Senpai! I shouldn't have… I'm disgusting… I’m disgusting…" Tears welled in her eyes as she covered her face, repeating the words over and over again under her breath. “I-I almost… y-you… someone like me…”
Stunned at the incomprehensible phrases, Shirou quickly gathered his wits and cursed himself for losing control. "Sakura, wait. I’m sor—" he reached for her, confusion etched on his features, as he tried to hear what Sakura was saying.
“No!”
“—!”
The red-headed flinched backwards at her tone. Watching her once again apologize for no reason. “Y-You c-can't… I-I won't be able to control myself… Please…”
“Don't apologize, it's my fault.”
She flinched away as he tried to approach her again. "Please don't. I… I'm not good enough. I don’t deserve you, Senpai." The words tumbled out in a choked whisper, horrified at her action and noticed fear showing within her eyes as he got closer.
Unable to just ignore her state, Shirou knew he had to calm her down somehow. “Sorry, it's my fault, I didn't mean to push things so f—”
“…I'm not a virgin.”
As soon as those words left her mouth, Shirou came to a complete halt and watched wide-eyed as she was once again unable to meet his gaze and turned away. Sakura fled from the bathroom with the door slamming shut behind her, leaving him completely stunned and alone.
“…What?”
Shirou sat there, stunned, his mind a blank slate as he tried to process what had just transpired. The seconds ticked by, feeling like an eternity as he struggled to make sense of Sakura's words and actions. He barely registered the cool tile beneath him as he slumped down, his thoughts a jumbled mess.
Just as he was about to force himself to move, to go after her, the soft click of heels on tile caught his attention. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of long, purple hair. Rider had arrived, her presence both a relief and a new source of confusion.
“You heard everything?” In the end, he ended up asking instead, his voice soft and barely audible. And to his question, she nodded.
“I hoped things would have gone differently,” she admitted. “It is not your fault, Master.”
Not his fault? It was hard to believe that this would not have happened had he kept a tighter hold on his desires. “What makes you believe I was thinking that?”
She shrugged. “A guess.”
Had this been any other moment, he would have made a small retort, but now he couldn't care less. Sakura's previous words repeated in his mind and the face she made, one that was on the verge of tears.
“Can you go check up on her, Rider… Or maybe I should.”
Just as he was about to go, the woman held her hand against his chest and gently pushed him back. “I will do it. You can go get dressed, or else you will be running around the house with your little friend here out in the open, Master.”
“I'll put on some clothes, we can both talk to Sakura. I can't leave her like this.” While he was embarrassed having Rider see him in this state, Shirou's concern for the violet-haired girl far exceeded his embarrassment.
“You don't understand.” His senses came back to him when he sensed Rider poke the lower part of his stomach, looking down at his member despite having a blindfold on. Lowering her head till she was whispering into his ear, to his shame, sent a shiver down his back. “You still haven’t managed to calm down from the looks of it.”
“...”
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(A few minutes later)
“What do you think I should say?”
Having taken Rider's advice and getting dressed up, Shirou stood tensely in his bedroom. Remembering what Sakura mentioned back then and unsure where to start.
“Speak to her truthfully,” the Heroic Spirit answered as if the answer should have been obvious to him. In hindsight she was right, his nerves were getting the best of him. “Don't overthink it, that's the last thing you should do right now. Just be confident as you were inside the bathroom, Master.”
Shirou raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his voice. "You seem surprised by what happened back there. Wasn't this your plan all along?"
Rider's lips curved into a small smile. "I had a feeling something might happen, but I didn't expect you to be so... proactive. It appears I underestimated you, Master. Color me impressed."
He was not sure whether to take it as a compliment or not, it was hard to tell with her. Taking a deep breath, he walked to the hallway prepared to confront Sakura and hopefully discuss whatever that was. He did not show it in front of Rider, but he was anxious about the last part she said.
The way the girl confessed those words was enough for him to understand he needed to hear what was going on from her directly… or even from Zouken’s mouth. It had something to do with him, the worm he saw within her was enough for him to be half the mind to just storm over there and demand answers.
That option was dangerous before, but now his odds didn’t seem as low with Rider by his side.
Shinji was another piece of this puzzle, no matter how much he tried to distance himself. Even if he wasn't a mage, Shirou doubted his former friend was completely in the dark about his family's affairs. Sooner or later, Shinji would have to give him answers.
"You look ready for a fight," Rider observed, eyeing him over her shoulder. Her tone was casual, but there was a hint of curiosity. "Plotting revenge already, Master?"
“No, I was just thinking about someone… Rider?” As he finished giving his answer, the redhead stopped as he noticed his Servant whip her head around and stay towards the direction of Sakura's room. The reaction only made him confused for a brief moment before he immediately went on the alert and began analyzing his surroundings.
Before he could answer the question, she went over to Sakura's room and quickly opened the sliding door for both of them to come to witness an empty room. A bunch of messy clothes are thrown out of the haphazardly looking wardrobe. “She's not here.”
“Shit,” realizing what was going on, he did not waste time and turned heels and immediately started running outside. “Sakura!”
{Break}
“Hah… hah… hah…,”
She couldn't not believe what happened. On the streets with the sun soon settling over the horizon, Sakura hastily moved as far away as she could from the house.
“How could I … “ Guilt raged within her heart, the image of what just happened emerging to remind her again and again. Despite having regained some of her control, her body continued to yearn for his touch. The moment at the bathroom having pushed the girl past her limit.
But she could not do such a thing with him regardless of how much she wanted to do it. He did not deserve that, to be stained by her tainted body and remain clueless about the truth.
It sickened her how much willpower it took to break free of the hold, how much her body craved his touch and his kiss lingering on her lips sending waves of pleasure she never experienced. He was inexperienced, she could tell and despite that he tried his best. That realization made her lose her mind from the pleasure that flooded the girl's body and only at the last second did she barely manage to come to her senses.
“I'm sorry… I'm sorry…”
It was supposed to be a simple bath, where she could repay him the favor of helping her by a simple scrub. To scold him from putting his life in danger and just be close to him. But her body betrayed her, growing hot by just touching his back once and taking advantage of their trust.
She despised herself so much at the moment.
“I can't stay there… I can't… “
In an act of desperation, she revealed one truth about herself. Despair clinging to her mind as it begged her to not say it, but he deserved to know the truth. Perhaps she wanted him to feel disgust at her, to realize how dirty the girl he protected truly was and save himself from being deceived.
She still did not want to go back to Zouken, but also could not bring herself to return to Shirou's house. Even now she was not sure to be able to control herself if she tried to approach her again, the side effects having grown worse by the day.
Without even realizing, she found herself back at the park, with night soon settling there was no one in sight. Far enough from the house where she could stay here for a while and just… calm down.
“Sakura?” Yet that moment of quietness did not last long. Then she saw a figure standing there, her eyes widened. For some reason, she was holding onto a notebook. Violet eyes stared at aqua, and a clear concern was present within the other ones the moment she saw the state of the purple-haired girl.
“Nee-san…” those words barely left her mouth without her realizing, the next moment she saw Rin practically teleport next to her.
“Sakura! W-What happened to you?” She exclaimed, any prior calmness and composure she possessed whenever they usually interacted with one another completely gone, replaced with an emotion she had never seen from her. “You look like a mess! Did you get attacked? Are you hurt? Who did this? Is it Shinji? Emiya? Why are you crying!?”
A barrage of questions came out of her mouth, her hands moving all over trying to fix her hair and wipe her tears.
“Tell me what happened, whoever hurt you I'll deal with them, I swear if Emiya d—” she had to cover the latter's mouth, knowing the kind of conclusion she would reach and misunderstandings. Not wanting to taint his name and cause the boy more trouble with others, she shook her head with a bitter smile.
“No… no one hurt me. In fact… I was the one who ended up hurting him…” she confessed, feeling more tears streaming down her face. Her reaction made the twin-tailed girl feel even more panicked, hastily changing the topic and trying to comfort her with a series of soothing words. She was not good at it, but Sakura ended up just accepting her embrace. “I… I almost crossed a line with senpai that I should not have and told him the truth. I don't know if I can face him…,”
“Eh? What do you mean by that? What happened between you two?”
It was clear Rin was barely managing to get a hold of the situation, trying to understand but more concerned with Sakura's state more than anything else. Her face grew awkward when she hesitated to caress her hair, her movements stiff, but she never tried to push her away. “Tell me about everything, please. I don't know what happened, but you can trust me, I'll help you in any way I can.”
Help… no at this moment Sakura knew she did not need help. Having Rin get involved with this matter was not a good idea and it would implicate Shirou in ways he would probably want to avoid. She knew of his nature as a Magus and Master, but that did not apply to Rin who most likely still thought him to be a regular boy.
“... No, it's fine… I'll handle this by myself… “
“Like hell you are! You expect me to ignore you after seeing this!? Do you take me for an idiot!?” The other party pressed on, shaking her by the shoulders with an enraged face still laced with concern.
‘They are similar,’ she thought, seeing the parallels between Rin and a certain redhead. It made her feel worse, finding herself to be unworthy to be on the receiving end of such a care.
“Please, just let me go.”
She had to leave, Shirou was most likely searching for her right now. Yet her plea only made the hold on her shoulders grow stronger, as if Rin was willing to pin her in place and not let her run away.
Yet as she was about to use force if needed, both girls felt a chill crawl up their spines as the temperature around them felt like it dropped by several degrees.
“Oh my, I did not expect to come across such a touching scene at an hour like this. How quaint.” From the entrance of the park, a voice spoke from above the wall strangely enough.
“You…” Raising her head, she found a snow white haired girl sitting there, a beautiful doll-like face who she remembered having encountered briefly in the past. Smiling so innocently but those crimson orbs holding an emotion she could barely make sense of right now.
“Who are you?” Rin wasted no time and pushed Sakura behind her, standing in between them with her hands grabbing a jewel hidden within her pocket. Her demeanor cautious and even slightly defensive at the presence of this unknown individual.
“As the second owner, I am a bit offended you would not know me. But then again, the fault also lies with me for expecting much from you in the first place.” The little girl said with a slight smile, hopping to the ground and elegantly bowing at an irritated Rin. “Evening to you, Tohsaka Rin and you as well, Matou Sakura. I am Illyasviel Von Einzbern — but you can call me Illya.”
“Von… Einzbern?”
Sakura and Rin reacted similarly to hearing the name. Their bodies stiffened at the mention, and they became familiar with its origin and history. This only made the latter grow even more cautious around the newest arrival.
“I am sorry to cut this heartwarming scene short, but it was starting to irritate me the longer I watched. So please, just stand in your spot and don't move, I will make it as painless as possible. Go ahead, Berserker. I can use your heads as a wonderful first meeting gift for my big brother~!”
Neither one of the girls had time to react as a large shadow suddenly appeared before them. Towering over their small figure with its body blocking the light itself, holding onto a weapon big enough to crush them into pulp, being swung downwards.
Fully beta read by Paragon of Awesomeness and Shigiya
Next update is Steel Eyed Faker
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-?-???-
Within an opulent penthouse at one of the most high-cost apartment complexes in Kuoh, the sound of classical music could be heard playing in nearly every room with a lingering scent of tobacco and alcohol being just as prominent.
Lights from the city were fully displayed by the giant glass windows occasionally flashing before it was hidden by red curtains — plunging the entire apartment into a quiet but comfortable atmosphere.
A man who seemed to be in his early to mid-thirties, having brown and blonde hair with a finely trimmed goatee sat all by himself enjoying the peaceful yet indulgent serenity this place offered that he so rarely got to enjoy lately.
The sound of the door unlocking reached his ears, thus attracting his attention to the clock. “He's back earlier than I imagined.”
The fallen Seraph then glanced toward the door as a young man with silver hair stepped inside casually, hands tucked into his pockets. His unkempt hair and sharp, indifferent expression gave off the air of a typical delinquent.
"Well, well, look who's back before the sun's up. I thought I'd at least get a night's peace," Azazel quipped, his smirk growing wider as he swirled the whiskey in his glass. The ice clinked, a soft counterpoint to the classical music playing in the background. "But I suppose I should know better than to try and predict the White Dragon Emperor's schedule."
He lifted the glass to his nose, inhaling deeply. The strong scent of his favorite 'modern ambrosia' filled his senses. "You know, it's a pity we had to resort to this. Locking him up isn't exactly my idea of a good time, but it'll keep things from spiraling out of control. With any luck, our friend might even learn something from his timeout."
There was no doubt in his mind that his protégé had taken down the Cadre on his own. While Kokabiel was undeniably powerful, his arrogance had created a fatal weakness. And, of course, the Divine Dividing Sacred Gear was a force to be reckoned with — superior in both power and versatility to anything his brother had in his arsenal.
Even he was not sure he’d be able to emerge from a serious fight against Vali without at least a couple of grave injuries. Not without some serious preparation on his part, at least.
"So," Azazel asked, his tone shifting slightly, "what happened to Valper?"
"He's probably dead," Vali answered flatly, moving to the sofa and letting his body naturally fall against the soft material. He picked up the remote and changed the music channel to something more to his taste, much to Azazel's dismay.
"That song was one of my favorites," Azazel muttered, a hint of irritation in his voice. He sighed and leaned back, acknowledging Vali’s lack of concern. "I see. Well, I suppose it’s no surprise. I can understand why the Gremory heiress would choose to execute him. One of her peerage members was part of that Holy Sword experiment, after all. No way he'd let Valper walk away alive."
"Shame about Valper," Azazel mused, swirling his glass. "That lunatic had a wealth of knowledge on artificial Sacred Gears. Could've been useful." He shrugged, taking another sip. "Still, can't say I'm losing sleep over it. Some sins are too heavy to wash away."
He drained the last of his whiskey, ice clinking against his teeth. Setting the glass down, he fixed Vali with a pointed look. "Speaking of sinners, did you drop off our friend Kokabiel to Penemue? Haven't heard a peep from her yet."
"Nope. I didn’t bother collecting his ashes."
“…”
The room fell into a heavy silence. Azazel froze mid-sip, then slowly turned to face Vali, who remained unfazed, his attention fixed on the television.
"What do you mean by 'his ashes'?" He asked, his voice tinged with disbelief. "He’s… dead?"
Vali nodded slightly, offering no further explanation.
First, anger managed to show its ugly head within the Governor General's mind, unable to accept that another one of his siblings and long-time ally had died. This sensation only lasted for a few seconds before it ended like it always had in the past he had seen a former sibling die.
Numbness.
A cruel… and bitter acceptance.
Azazel tossed back another gulp of whiskey, the burn momentarily drowning out the ache in his chest. "Another one bites the dust," he muttered, not really speaking to Vali at the moment, a bitter smile twisting his lips as he lost himself in his thoughts. "Kokabiel, you fool. What were you thinking?"
He set the glass down with a heavy thud. "Well, it would seem that I underestimated our little Devil princess and her pet dragon. Kokabiel was no pushover, war veteran and all that." Azazel shook his head, a mix of admiration and frustration in his voice. "Gotta hand it to those Devils, they've got Lady Luck on speed dial."
Stepping out onto the balcony, Azazel gazed up at the night sky. The stars twinkled coldly, indifferent to the loss below. "Remember when you were just a wide-eyed Angel, Kokabiel? Always going on about the mysteries of the cosmos and the majesty of the stars." He chuckled softly, the sound tinged with melancholy. "Guess you finally made it up there, old friend. Hope the view's worth it."
Now their already endangered faction had shrunk even further.
“So… who took him down?” he finally asked. “Was it the Gremory heiress’ red bowman?”
"Not him," Vali replied, his voice echoing from the living room. “He probably would have eventually, but someone else got to him first.”
"What?" Azazel's confusion deepened. "Did you forget to hold back?"
"No. I didn’t ever fight him."
"Her peerage, then? I know she recently recruited the Red Dragon Emperor, but his power rising high enough to face a Cadre is…" Azazel frowned, recalculating but reaching the same conclusion. "Unless I am missing something or he sacrificed something to accomplish the Balance Breaker."
Vali scoffed, as if he had just heard a terrible attempt at a joke. "As if that would have been enough. Even if you multiply his current Demonic Powers dozens of times, it is still at a pathetic level.”
Azazel sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Come on, cut the kid some slack. He's barely had the Boosted Gear for a month. Not everyone's born a prodigy like you." He chuckled, knowing full well his words would fall on deaf ears. Vali was in a league of his own, even among Divine Dividing users. "Besides, from what I've heard, the boy's got passion. That counts for a lot with a Sacred Gear like his. Give him time, and who knows? He might just surprise you."
“…”
Vali did not say anything, but his silence was quite telling of his opinion on the matter.
In the end, it was best to put this matter to the side as it just wasn't that important right now.
"Was it the Sitri peerage?"
“No, they are even weaker than the Gremory group. All of them are pathetic.” Azazel winced at that response, but there was not much he could do about that. The young Sitri heiress certainly lacked any heavy hitters in her group, unlike the Gremory girl despite having more members.
“Then stop playing around and tell me directly what happened. It's not like you to beat around the bush like this, Vali.”
“…It was one of those strange human-spirit familiars. Another one has been summoned, and it wasn’t by Valper or the Devils.”
The glass slipped from Azazel’s hand and shattered on the floor. His eyes widened, all traces of his usual relaxed demeanor vanishing.
"This… this is serious," Azazel muttered, leaning against the handrails, feeling as if he had just traded one problem for a much bigger one.
Vali, unbothered, continued, "The new one was strong. Stronger than the others that were summoned before. She gave me this when I tried to intercept her after she killed Kokabiel and destroyed the fragments."
Vali lifted his shirt, revealing that the entire right half of his ribcage had been turned black and blue. On top of the nasty bruise, Vali showed clear signs of many of his ribs being damaged. That he had been able to walk around without obvious signs of pain was… no real surprise to Azazel. It was not a wound from a blade, but rather a single massive impact that had hit hard.
“I quite like her.” Vali said with a large grin on her face, “If she sticks around, I won't have to play the waiting game with the Red Dragon Emperor anymore.”
Of course, he would be thinking of that!
“Just… just tell me everything that happened the moment you set your foot outside this door. And I do mean everything.”
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-Kuoh Academy-
Meanwhile, in the Occult Research Club, a similarly tense conversation was unfolding. Archer had returned to Rias’ side with Rider doing the same with Sona, joining the rest of their Masters’ peerages. The air was heavy as each party shared what had transpired.
"You encountered the White Dragon Emperor?" Archer repeated the words mentioned by his Master, his brows furrowing in surprise. That revelation caught him off guard — he hadn’t sensed this person's presence at all during his battles with Assassin and Kokabiel.
Neither did Rider for that matter when she fought Saber.
"Did he come here to fight Issei, or was he part of Kokabiel’s posse?"
Going by everything he learned about the history between the holders of the Sacred Gears for the Red and White Heavenly Dragons, he understood they were arch enemies, their rivalry destined to last through the ages via their hosts. Whenever one was reborn, the other would never be far behind, their encounters always ending in one side killing the other simply to repeat again in their next incarnation. Sacred Gears existed for the sole purpose of aiding humanity from what he gathered, but these two in particular seemed to come with the caveat that their hosts relentlessly seek out and destroy the other.
The destructive aftermath of their clashes negatively affected humanity, regardless of the point in time. Dragons whose hatred toward their rival went so far as to affect the very system they were caged into, and their immense pride would never allow either side to relent.
Or maybe the Abrahamic God intended this? A difficult question to answer.
Rias, visibly exhausted mentally, shook her head. "I don’t think it was either," she replied hoarsely. "After Koneko came back and told us everything, we tried to go join you immediately. We couldn’t let you face the enemy on your own. I know you’re capable, Archer, and much stronger than all of us together, but we all wanted to do whatever we could to help."
He wanted to argue but decided against it. For all that Rias was capable of, as were the other members in the peerage, fighting a Cadre, let alone another Servant, was most definitely not a possibility for them if they hoped to survive the encounter. Especially one as dangerous as an Assassin who also had the abilities of a Caster. And to top it off there had been the emergence of a semi-completed Excalibur, from which a mere scratch could possibly incapacitate any one of them.
Still, he let Rias continue her explanation.
“When I saw those flashes of light and felt large amounts of my demonic energy getting siphoned, I knew things were getting serious. Akeno suggested for us to try distracting Kokabiel and Valper to give you the necessary window of opportunity to defeat them once and for all. But just as we were about to reach the foot of the mountain, that was when we saw him. For some reason, he was just spectating your fight the entire time,” Rias explained.
"We didn’t even know who he was at first," she admitted. "We had half a mind to ignore or perhaps hypnotize him, but then he started talking to Issei. And Koneko… she knew something was off about him right away."
"He smelled like a dragon," Koneko added simply, her soft tone carrying an ominous weight. Her voice shook slightly, though Archer was not certain whether it was because of the encounter in question being recalled or because the young girl kept occasionally stealing glances at Rider who was quietly standing behind Sona.
“Was he there to stall for time?”
“I… don't know.” Rias continued, “He was just standing there, and forbade us from getting in between you and Kokabiel. Of course, as you can imagine we did not take kindly to that suggestion and tried to force our way through, but…”
“He utterly overwhelmed us,” Akeno answered, clear signs of frustration in her tone at the encounter. Given how she usually behaved, seeing her so visibly irritated was quite rare. “Issei-kun tried to punch him out of the way, but we could not even touch him. His Sacred Gear manifested and when he shoved us back we all suddenly felt weak, as if our strength was stolen away. Even Buchou’s blast from her Power of Destruction could not even put a scratch on his wings.”
That was very surprising to say the least, Having trained this group himself, he had a fair bit of understanding of where they stood in terms of overall strength. While his Master lacked overall experience and speed, she made it up in terms of raw power just like her Queen. One good blast from her held enough power to instantly vaporize an entire boulder the size of a small cabin in an instant, and he had the impression she could wipe out the entire academy if she went all-out in a single devastating attack.
A fitting display for someone who wielded the fabled Power of Destruction.
But for an attack such as hers to be dismissed so easily before it even reached the opponent? That made him very curious about the kind of powers the rival of the Boosted Gear would have.
“From what I recall from prior browsing on the subject, the Red Dragon Emperor and the White Dragon Emperor have powers that directly counter one another. If Issei here can double his powers every ten seconds, then I suppose the White Dragon Emperor would have something that takes away half his opponent’s power every ten seconds instead?”
It was a mere guess on his part, though the reasoning seemed sound. So he was only mildly surprised when he got a nod of approval from Sona. “You got it exactly. The Sacred Gear tied to the White Dragon Emperor is called Divine Dividing. To add more detail to this power, it reduces its opponent’s power down to half upon making physical contact, and the stolen power is taken in by the wielder.”
Archer resisted the urge to sigh. This power in his opinion sounded even more dangerous than the Boosted Gear. The Boosted Gear only doubled the power of its holder, meaning if the person had little power themselves, then it required a series of Boosts to turn them into a formidable force. But from what he was hearing, the Divine Dividing could be used against an opponent far stronger than the Sacred Gear’s holder. It would be risky to be sure, but a single Divide would go a tremendous way in closing the power gap.
‘She did say it needed to make physical contact… I’ll need to remember that whenever I encounter this person myself.’ If the wielder of Divine Dividing needed to touch his opponent in order to take half their power, then he was likely the person best suited to fight the White Dragon Emperor out of everyone from either the Gremory or Sitri groups. “His actions against you make it clear he’s no ally of yours, Master, but if his only concern was ensuring you wouldn’t interfere in the battle he was spectating, then we can't say for certain he is an enemy either. Did he reveal anything else of note?”
“That bastard just kept insulting me!” Unable to hold in his anger, the brown-haired boy wielding the power of the Red Dragon Emperor erupted. His outburst startled Asia and caused Kiyome to start coughing around her snack. “He kept going on about how I would not even rank amongst the top thousand or something, and how I am the weakest Red Dragon Emperor ever… peh. Next time I see his stupid prick face, I’m gonna punch his teeth out!”
The boy was as energetic as ever. But Archer wanted to remind him that punching or making any kind of physical contact was precisely the one thing the boy needed to avoid doing to that person.
“I'm afraid you are still a long way away from achieving that goal, kid.” Suddenly a deep voice spoke out of nowhere, Archer's eyes widened when he saw the crimson gauntlet appear on the boy’s arm with the emerald jewel glowing with each syllable. “The white one got himself an exceptional host from the looks of it. While I usually do not like to judge too early, you are still very far from reaching his level. Just be glad that he did not kill you right then and there.”
Did… did the Sacred Gear just talk?
Glancing around at the others to make sure they all heard that as well, Archer saw that among Rias' peerage, no one seemed that surprised, but the same could not be said for Sona who had a similar reaction to himself.
As if it sensed his confusion, the light within the jewel lit up once again, addressing him this time. “Greetings, Servant of the Bow. I believe this is the first time I’ve actually spoken with you. I would like to finally thank you for saving my host's life during your first meeting and also training him to no longer be as weak as he was.”
“Host? Are you… the Welsh Dragon, Y Ddraig Goch?” He was familiar with this creature's legend to a degree, for in his world Artoria had this creature’s very essence thrumming within her chest in the form of a Magic Core.
The same went for her and Morgana’s ‘son,’ Mordred, the latter being a homunculus-like clone of Artoria. And that was unfortunately relevant here now that she’d been summoned.
“I am indeed. I take it you have heard of me in your reality also? That is to be expected for one of my magnificence.”
For a dragon, even though his voice sounded very deep and gruff, he sure spoke in a highly laid-back manner, tinged with unmistakable enthusiasm at the notion of having his ego stroked. Not exactly the type of personality he expected to see from a being known to have caused all three of the warring biblical factions to team up just to stop the rampage between him and his rival.
“Since I exist in your world as well, I don’t suppose you’d happen to know if my counterpart’s fate was any different from my own?”
Confused by this sudden development, Archer turned to Rias expecting some kind of explanation from her.
All he got was a shrug.
“After it was clear we couldn’t beat the White Dragon Emperor… both Ddraig and Albion suddenly started to talk to one another.”
“It was like hearing a couple of old friends catch up with one another rather than hated rivals out for each other’s blood,” Kiyome added, giving the gauntlet a contemplative stare. “It honestly sounded as if the two were treating their infamous rivalry as some sort of game rather than an ancient blood feud.”
Taking note of that, He put some thoughts on how to answer the question asked, since the answer to such a question was actually a bit complicated. “The Red and White Dragons, Albion and Ddraig, do not actually exist in my world the way you are imagining.”
That prompted both Sona and Rias to look at him with clear interest. The same went for everyone in the room, excluding Rider who likely already at least knew the basics.
“I won't go into the details since it is frankly very long and… complex. The Red Dragon did exist, it was a being that lived for billions of years and was as old as the planet itself. And the same goes for the White Dragon.” he stopped for a short moment and observed the reaction of the gauntlet to what he was about to say next. “…Because the two were one and the same.”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?”
A thunderous roar that far more closely resembled the bellow of a mighty dragon came from Issei's arm. The poor boy fell from the sofa in shock at how loud that was, stunned at the fury coming from the dragon’s soul within his gauntlet.
“You mean to say Albion and I are the same dragon!? Had I not known your origin as an otherworlder, then I would have taken this as a bad joke!”
Archer shrugged, “it is what it is. The Red and White Dragons were just a singular dragon… the last true dragon for that matter. Said to have been bigger than a mountain, powerful beyond comprehension whose corpse still continues to release high concentrations of Mana used by my world's Mage Association as a very high-quality leyline. Not much is known about its history back when it still was alive, though people have used what remains of its powers for many purposes.”
“Then what about the rivalry between both Red and White Dragons?” Ddraig asked again, most likely still struggling to grasp the concept of both himself and Albion being a single entity in his world.
“If you're talking about real-life events then no, there was no Red Dragon and White Dragon fighting one another to the death. But funnily enough, there is a story about a red and white dragon hatching from eggs discovered by Vortigern in the Arthurian legends with some ‘help’ from a young Merlin. But at the end of the day that is all it is, a simple story.”
The jewel on the Sacred Gear went dim, the prior disbelief and anger simmering down till all that was left was simple denial. “Who would have thought that such a world would exist, where both that bastard and I are one and the same… Just imagining it makes me want to die again. Wait, did you call it a true dragon? What do you mean by that?”
All Archer could do was just shake his head at how such a mighty dragon lamented its counterpart. He would not even call it an account but with how different these two were in comparison. “You see, there are true dragons and regular dragons. The latter are mostly just animals that have inherited a dragon factor or descended from the bloodline of a true dragon. They cannot be compared to their ancestors in either might or mystery. As for a true dragon, they are more of a concept than anything else, given form. For example, Fafnir is also considered to be a true dragon and embodies the concept of greed.”
“But even the mighty Red Dragon from your world died, from the sound of things. Was it in a war, like in this reality?”
“…No, he died with the passing of the Age of Gods.” Died of exhaustion while burrowing underground to find a new home for himself in the deep places of the world where Mystery still remained, unable to reach the Reverse Side of the world where the rest of his kin were. Having waited too long with the arrogant belief that he was so mighty even the passage of time would not matter to him, in the end, he was too late and missed his opportunity, doomed to a slow and miserable death. “You are honestly wasting your time trying to understand the Red Dragon from our world; it can't be said to truly be your counterpart with how different both of you are.”
A moment of silence passed till he heard a sigh, “I suppose so. Perhaps I wanted to find some comfort with the idea that another version of me ended up living a better life, or at least got a better end. But even mighty beings like us are burdened by bad luck from the looks of it.”
Like he expected, this story only brought disappointment for the Heavenly Dragon. Now that that was out of the way, they had to focus on the more important matters. “Master, we should discuss our next move. We still have what looks to be two more Servants out there, neither of whom seems to be friendly in the slightest. We got lucky today in avoiding any casualties, but I’d be highly surprised if we were so fortunate a second time.”
“I agree with Archer,” Sona chimed in. “We were taken by surprise today and underestimated our enemy. That we all came out of this in one piece is nothing short of a miracle. I… I am at fault for the danger we were in as well… I never thought we would face a Servant as monstrously strong as the armored one. That Saber.”
Right, while he was dealing with Assassin and Rias having her own share of problems with the sudden appearance of the White Dragon Emperor. Sona’s group ended up encountering the traitorous Knight of the Round Table, a very powerful Servant even by the high standards the Saber class set. The fact that Rider was pushed into a corner and nearly defeated by her did not really surprise him that much.
Any warrior capable of going head-to-head against the King of Knights would definitely be a powerhouse.
“…I have no idea who that Saber could be.” The Sitri heiress admitted with shame in her voice. “All I can say with certainty is that I’ve never seen such a ridiculous display of power in all my life. She was able to keep up with Rider's speed, outright ignored our attacks, possessed strength beyond anything I have seen before, and almost all of her stats were ranked A or above! What kind of nonsense is this!? I almost lost Rider and Saji against a SINGLE Servant! I don’t even want to think of how many of us would’ve died if she’d treated us as anything more than an afterthought.”
“Kaichou…” the others tried to reassure her, and Rias also held a worried expression at her friend's outburst.
“We couldn't even serve as a distraction… you saw how she treated our attacks. No different from dealing with flies. She only threw that boulder at us because she found us irritating, not because we were actually doing anything, and that still sent us into chaos.”
The amount of anxiety coming off her made Archer worry she would start pulling her hair out at any moment. He glanced at Rider, who remained silent behind her Master. He was unable to tell just what was going through her mind at that moment.
“Remember what I mentioned to you previously about Servant parameters?” He asked the girl, glad to see that she was starting to understand just how big of a danger a single Servant could pose and how foolish she was to intervene in a battle between them.
“…”
“Parameters are not meant to be a deciding factor in a battle. At best they only serve to give you a better understanding of the Servant’s base abilities. Using them to decide whether or not one side will win or lose is doing a major disservice to the Heroic Spirit under your command.” He pointed at himself. “Have you ever tried to check my parameters?”
“Ah!”
That reaction and the way she suddenly focused on him told the man all that he needed to know. He did resist the urge to chuckle when he noticed Rias doing the same with Rider and immediately going pale.
“Strength is… only C-? B for Agility and Endurance? That can't be right… you were able to keep up with Rider when the two of you fought.”
“I can safely say that my parameters are amongst the lower end of the Servants that have been summoned. But just like you have seen during my fights, that did not stop me from keeping pace with foes that at face value were superior to me, or even gaining the upper hand. Servant battles are not some kind of game where higher letters or numbers will be the deciding factor. Personal skills, class skills, battle experience, Noble Phantasms, and outside factors are just as important if not more.” He saw both girls nod along with those around them taking his words into consideration. “Don't get me wrong, Saber is a dangerous and powerful individual. But so is the woman behind you.”
Rider showed him a small smile that once more made him a bit wary of her.
Sona continued to look at him intently, or rather stare at other aspects of his parameters most likely. “Your skills are amazing, especially Eye of the Mind, with it and your Circuit Connect skill being so high ranked that it breaks the normal scale…”
“It is, but don't think for a moment it makes me anything close to invincible.”
“Tch… both your name and Noble Phantasm are hidden, the same as Saber. But… the only skills she had that I was able to see were Magic Resistance and Riding, and she definitely showed off other ones when she fought Rider.”
He shrugged. “Some Heroic Spirits may have a skill or Noble Phantasm that obscures information about them in some ways. Sounds like Saber has one that at minimum conceals her personal skills.”
She shared a look with Rias, “Mind sharing Archer’s info with me since we are allies?”
All she got was a coy smile from her rival, “Sorry, Sona, but that is my little secret~! But hey, you’re a smart girl, so you can probably figure it out!”
Archer raised an eyebrow. He was pretty certain other than his name, Rias also didn’t have any idea what his Noble Phantasm was. But he was glad to see she was not going to share such crucial information even with those she trusted.
‘Not like it matters,’ he thought bitterly, finding himself once again looking at Rider and this time seeing her head being slightly tilted. ‘She has no reason to share the information with Sona since we are on the same team… but I can't be sure.’
He was not against the idea of Sona knowing about his Noble Phantasm, she had no connection to his past self, so it changed nothing for her to know. But such information about a Servant had a reason to remain a secret, and only known by the summoner unless the identity was revealed. An extra layer of mystery that worked in their favor.
“Archer has a habit of keeping a lot of secrets about his past,” Rider added, her words getting a few nods from everyone. “It is not a good habit to have among friends…”
“…Noted.”
He really did not know what she could be planning.
“Were you able to learn anything about her, Archer? From what I gathered from Rider and through my own observation, Saber is most definitely someone with a knightly background. And… well you were close when she used her Noble Phantasm, any guesses?”
He looked at the others in the room to see if they had anything to say, and to his surprise, Asia was the one who hesitantly raised her hand.
“…We are not in class, Asia. Just speak normally.”
“Ah, right, sorry!” After giving an unnecessary bow of apology, she took a deep breath feeling a bit burdened with everyone looking at her. “I-Is she L-Lady Joan of Arc? I have seen paintings of her before and she's the only one who comes to mind.”
“Joan of Arc?” Momo repeated, humming before nodding along. “Well, she did have a full suit of plate armor.”
Others in the room found themselves nodding along at that answer, but a few were completely lost.
“Who is Joan of Arc?”
Saji and Issei asked in unison, glaring at one another afterward.
“Did… Joan of Arc really have such a personality?” Sona wondered with an uncomfortable expression. “She spoke more like a delinquent than a respected saint. But then again, full-plated armor was pretty common among knights in her era…and there aren’t many famous female knights that come to mind I’ll admit.”
Kiyome also seemed to be getting more on board with the idea. “Her personality could be just another difference between both of our worlds. And it is pretty common for there to be inaccuracies in how certain people were depicted in legends. Wouldn’t surprise me if the French and later the Church wanted to portray her as more graceful and lady-like to help her appeal to the masses more.”
“Makes sense.”
“I agree.”
“I can't believe we have to deal with a saint now! And she’s a total bitch!”
Seeing them becoming more and more certain about Saber's “true identity,” Archer felt the need to massage his temples and knew he had to put a stop to this before it got out of hand.
“I'm pretty sure Jeanne d’Arc in either of our worlds wasn’t known to wield a red sword capable of generating red lightning. Other than the plate armor and gender, there are no other similar traits between her and Saber. More importantly, I know with utter certainty Saber is not Jeanne, in fact I know exactly who she is since I heard Saber shout her Noble Phantasm’s name when she used it.”
That got their attention, many holding their breath as if this was about to be some kind of big reveal. His eyes twitched, getting the feeling they had all turned the task of finding a Servant's true name into some kind of game.
“Clarent Blood Arthur.”
“Pft! Cough! Cough!”
Sona immediately started choking with nearly everyone in the room turning to look at Rider who had said the Noble Phantasm’s name instead of Archer. And with that, the prior slightly chipper mood had plunged into one of chilling terror.
“…Yes,” he confirmed with a nod to Rider before turning back to the gathered Devils. “I do not need to tell you Saber’s name, as you now have all you need to figure it out yourselves. After all, there is only one knight who ever sat at the Round Table known to have wielded a sword named Clarent. A sword that they stole when they chose to rebel against their king.”
“…”
“…”
They all turned silent, and the first one to speak was Yuuto who slammed his hands on the table. Him being the first one to let out such an extreme reaction made sense, since out of all the Devils present, he would easily be the one most familiar with the Arthurian legends.
“Mordred was a woman!? The son of King Arthur!?”
If this revelation made him react like this, Archer wondered the face he would make upon learning about Artoria herself, much less the circumstances of Mordred’s birth.
(A few minutes later)
After Saber's identity was revealed, it was clear that everyone had even more questions than answers. He reminded them that his knowledge of Mordred would be more or less identical to Rider’s, with both of them receiving their information from the Throne of Heroes.
Promising to discuss this matter in more detail another day, Archer had to remind them that there were other matters they had to handle before sunrise… Such as doing damage control and cleaning up practically the entire city. The devastation left by Saber's battle with Rider was far too much for anyone to ignore and had to be hidden from the public's eye. He doubted the excuse of all of it being old gas pipes blowing up would work, especially with a mountain being split open.
Both Rias and Sona already looked exhausted from the previous night’s ordeals, and the last thing they wanted to think about was fixing the collateral damage. But they had no choice. Kuoh was their territory, and they had to take responsibility.
Unfortunately…
“Master, doing damage control is not the only thing you should be worried about right now.”
“Eh? Are there more Servants around!?” Rias was shaken, raising her guard which made him sigh.
“Did you forget what our primary objective was when we set out to search for Kokabiel and Assassin?”
“Kokabiel?” It was as if she had completely forgotten about their primary concern, Rias mulled over what Archer had told her of the deceased Fallen Angel’s goals with some confusion till everything finally clicked in place. “THE EXORCISTS!”
“And their Holy Swords,” Yuuto added.
Archer realized he hadn't mentioned Mordred pulverizing one of the Holy Swords into dust. That could wait until they located the exorcists. While he doubted Assassin had killed them after they lost their usefulness, tracking them down wouldn't be easy, but it wouldn’t take to long. Still, they had to try. The exorcists' safety was paramount, even if their swords were no longer a factor.
There was not much for him to do at this point other than to return to his spiritual form and accompany Rias, who most definitely had several questions.
But to his dismay, Rider had different plans and asked to stay behind.
“Not that I don't mind, but is there a reason?” Of course, even Sona was taken aback by the request but was curious as to why Rider asked for it. “Ah, you must have not yet recovered from the fight against Saber. Sorry, I should have taken that into account. Sure, you can stay.”
“No, I am already mostly healed, Master.”
True to her word, there were no more traces of any cuts or wounds on her body. Seeing this, Sona recalled Archer's words on how Servant healed rather quickly so long as they had an ample supply of energy.
“I would like to have a… private conversation with Archer.”
“—!”
“—?”
Rider's request sent a ripple of surprise through the room. All eyes darted between her and Archer, some with suspicion, others with curiosity.
"Hold on," Akeno interjected, her voice sharp. "If this is about Saber or anything that went down tonight, we should all hear it. Don't you think, Buchou?"
"Absolutely," Rias affirmed without hesitation.
Rider turned to face Archer, and despite her blindfold, he could sense the amusement radiating from her. Her lips curved into a slight smile, as if she was enjoying the stir she'd caused.
“If it were not for him, I might well have perished from Saber's Noble Phantasm. I want to take this opportunity to… thank him.” There was a subtle yet unmistakable emphasis put on those two last words, which seemed to trigger not just Rias and Akeno, but also Koneko, and even Sona along with a few of the other girls in the latter’s peerage started to look suspiciously at the purple-haired Servant.
A few even reacted to this scene like it was a scene from a show.
“Why can't you just do it here?”
“I’d prefer to do so without so many eyes on us. It's a bit embarrassing to have others spectating something so… personal. After all, actions such as his require more than a simple ‘thank you.’ It won't take long, Master, maybe an hour at most. What do you say, Archer?”
A blush appeared on most of the Devils upon hearing the mature woman’s stated intent. Issei in particular turned green with envy and made grasping motions with his hands that suggested he was barely able to hold himself back from trying to strangle the Servant of the Bow.
Yuuto on the other hand just kept smiling.
A vein popped on Rias’ forehead, “D-Do you even realize what you are saying! In front of me, no less, Archer’s Master!?”
But Akeno on the other hand seemed more calm than her King. Having an almost smug expression on her face. “Unfortunately for you, I believe Archer over here would be more than happy to settle for a simple than—”
“—Alright, let's talk somewhere else.”
The ravenette’s head whipped around to stare at him so quickly that it almost snapped her neck. She gazed at him with pure disbelief that he was accepting Rider’s request.
“Archer!?” Rias shouted in outrage.
“You are overthinking it, Master. It is just a simple conversation, I'll be back quickly.” Not giving her any time to respond, he disappeared into his spiritual form, leaving the group rooted in place with their mouths collectively hanging open. Rider meanwhile chuckled almost imperceptibly and leaned against Rias with Akeno barely within hearing distance, her whispered words tickling the redhead's ear.
“No peeking.”
With those as her parting words, Rider likewise vanished into fading motes of light.
“Woah… were the rumors about those two fucking actually true?” Tsubasa wondered in disbelief. “Ouch!”
Her crass language earned her a quick jab to the side of her gut, courtesy of Momo.
.
.
.
With the moonlight illuminating the rooftop of the old building, Emiya's figure appeared as he stood at the edge with his arms crossed. The place was quiet, peaceful even, making one momentarily forget about all the chaos that occurred that night.
“You could have just asked me to talk with you at another time instead of purposefully causing a misunderstanding in front of everyone else.”
“I know.” Rider's voice came from behind with her figure materializing a second later. No longer wearing her blindfold and instead has the glasses he gave her. “Strange that we would be allowed to meet again, and in another world at that, Emiya.”
“More than just strange, ridiculous even.”
“Were you against the idea of me remembering you?”
The two of them by themselves on top of the rooftop, having a conversation. How rarely this would happen. They barely exchanged any words in his last summon, let alone the previous ones.
“Not really,” he answered honestly, touching the part of his face where she’d slapped him. “I was just not sure what you would remember exactly. There are many possible instances for you to recall, and I wanted to avoid any unnecessary issues — given that we were not always allies in the fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War.”
"Indeed, we weren't," Rider acknowledged, her tone neutral and matter-of-fact. There was no trace of resentment or bitterness in her voice, just a calm acceptance of their past. She tilted her head slightly, studying Archer's face. "Does my recollection make you uneasy? Or perhaps… wary?"
He chuckled, “I was honestly waiting for you to just reveal my identity to Sona. She has been trying to find out who I am since well before you were even summoned, with either her or her peerage asking me not-so-subtle random questions about my past in order to try and uncover my true name.”
“I still might. Here and now, she is my Master, not Sakura. My duty is to help her in any way I can.”
“I suppose that's only fair. I won't try to stop you if that’s what you decide you need to do. Not like it really matters if they do learn it.” A few seconds passed and for a brief moment, he hesitated, thinking over what to say next. He had a curiosity, one that he wanted to discard, but with each passing moment the desire to know continued to grow stronger, and when the question found itself at the tip of his tongue he could not find the will to swallow it.
“That slap… was it really from Rin?”
“Of course it was.”
Why wasn't he surprised… Though with everything he had done, he admitted it was more than deserved. Funnily enough, he imagined the face of that girl still grumbling and insulting him under her breath. Itching to give him a couple of kicks to the head if he ever met her again and to chew him out.
It made him smile.
“How was she, last you saw her?” The question came out naturally. A bit curious just how much Rider remembered and how long she remained by their side.
“She's happy. A bit stressed because of her responsibilities at the Clock Tower and is an apprentice under the tutelage of the Wizard Marshal. Still, she's doing her best.”
“Is that so… She has her work cut out for her then. That old coot will not go easy on her. Then again, I bet she enjoys the challenge more than anything else. A few sets of hurdles won't stop her.”
Trying to master Jewel Magecraft, in general, was hard enough, but to go several steps beyond that and attempt to learn True Magic like the Kaleidoscope… He would not be able to even fathom the heights the girl would grow to.
But he was certain she would surpass every limit in due time, possibly sooner.
‘Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg will take care of his best and brightest student. No one in the Mage Association will be stupid enough to give her a hard time unless they have a social and literal death wish.’
Rider continued, “You are smiling. How rare.”
“Humph, I do smile from time to time. Did regaining your memories make you forget about the time I have already spent here?” She did not say anything else, but her knowing look made it obvious she meant something else entirely.
“How is Sakura?”
“You actually do care.”
“It was just a question.” He retorted weakly.
“…She is free from her shackles to Zouken, no longer corrupted by the Grail, and is living a happy life with Shirou, Taiga, and Rin.”
As Rider spoke, a vivid memory flashed through Emiya's mind. He could almost feel the phantom pain of those dark tendrils piercing his body, shattering his Spiritual Core. He recalled the monstrous figure in the distance, pulsing with an overwhelming amount of magical energy, ready to annihilate everything. Only his quick thinking and the Shield of Ajax had saved them from total destruction.
Unconsciously, his hand drifted to his left shoulder, rubbing at the spot where the tentacles had struck. The pieces finally clicked into place.
"So you remember," he said, his voice a mix of surprise and resignation. "I wasn't sure how much of our past encounters you'd retained."
Rider nodded, her expression unreadable behind her glasses. "It's not something easily forgotten, Emiya. That battle and what came after… it left its mark on all of us. They all survived, thanks to you. I still think you were mad for making such a gamble…"
“I stand by what I did. It was the most obvious solution available, and I didn't have the time to think about it that much. We were both dying, but he had a chance of being saved and making good use of the transplant. Whether it was the arm or some other part wouldn't have mattered — I was beyond saving but not him.” He looked at her, seeing the latter standing right next to him with her hair fluttering from the wind, gazing at the moon.
“How did you know it would have even worked in the first place?”
“I didn't,” the answer ended up being something simpler than what she most likely had in mind. “I knew the risks of the operation failing were great. Even if it succeeded, my arm would have eventually overwhelmed him and fried his brain sooner than later.”
“The priest used a shroud to seal the arm, but it only served to buy him time.”
Makes sense. A human, no matter how compatible, could not contain even a fraction of a Heroic Spirit's power.
“It was a desperate measure, but he was going to die either way. I gave him a fighting chance to at least not go down so easily, or hoped that he'd be able to make a change before it reached that stage.”
“Too many uncertainties and maybes for it to make sense. You were winging it.”
He thought about it for a moment and she was right. He did not know whether or not his actions back then would even work. “I suppose I was. Not like I had many other options by that point.”
“That sounds like something you would do.”
His frown returned at what she was implying, not liking the meaning behind her words but unable to refute since no matter the angle one would look at his choice — it sounded beyond ridiculous. For the boy to somehow survive and even live past the War after those kinds of circumstances was a true miracle.
“You don't have to worry, he got his soul put into a puppet body and is no longer in any danger. He's staying with Sakura.”
At that, he scoffed.
“I wasn't really curious about how he was doing, or if he was even still alive. Still, manipulating the soul… Heaven's Feel. How?”
“Illya,”
“Ah.”
It was one surprise after another. That version of him was far too lucky for his own good.
Well, good for him, he supposed. As long as he was not running after those flawed ideals, Archer was satisfied.
“While my memories from that summoning are the most vivid, I also do recall other instances, but they feel more foggy.”
Then whatever system was in place was definitely flawed, or at least very different from the Fuyuki system when it came to filtering the summoned Heroic Spirit's memories. From the beginning, she showed signs of recognizing him or at least having a feeling of familiarity. This system had evidently not been that fine-tuned or dedicated many resources to preventing that, and a strong enough stimulus could make a Heroic Spirit remember prior summonings.
“It's strange how I would often end up being the first Servant to perish in most cases.”
“You had Shinji as your Master — not that he could really be called such — and needed to consume blood or even souls from normal people just to sustain yourself, and because of that you were hardly in any shape to fight at all. Not exactly conditions that would let any Servant remain alive for long during the War.”
Her brows crinkled, remembering that boy who made Sakura go through a lot of pain.
“In every instance you were summoned, even those where I managed to survive for longer, you always would do the same thing. One way or the other, going out of your way to keep Rin, Sakura, Illya, and even Shirou at times, safe.”
“I betrayed them a fair amount of times as you well know. You just died before that could happen most of the time.”
“Yet you still saved Rin from getting killed at the end against Caster.”
Emiya raised an eyebrow, trying to recall an instance where Rider was still alive when he had to pretend to switch sides over to Caster. They were very faint, bits and pieces, even though he was not sure about them given they tended to get mixed up with other memories from other timelines.
“Because that is my duty as a Servant.”
“So you say. But for someone who is supposed to be jaded and detached, you are oddly protective of her no matter the situation. It's too personal for it to be written off as just part of your duties as a Servant.”
“…”
“No matter how much time has passed or the fact you made a pact with the world—”
“—You know about that?” Archer interrupted her, caught off guard by the fact she even knew that about him.
In the instances he revealed this detail to Emiya Shirou or even Saber, Rider was never around. And even in the instance where the boy got his arm… it should not have shown him such memories in the first place. And Rin did not know back then either.
Then how?
“You don't have a legend. Even back when I pieced together your identity after you gave Shirou your arm, there was still no information about an Emiya Shirou to be found within the Throne. That hasn’t changed. I grew suspicious and kept thinking about it even during the War but did not get an answer. Now I realize that in most instances, including now, you have all your memories and know a lot more than you should. I pieced things together once again just now, and there was only one natural conclusion. It also explains why you kept trying to kill the boy in many times; you hated yourself forever going down this path.”
He stared at her with wide eyes, speechless.
“You… are a terrifying astute woman despite wearing a blindfold.”
There was no point in denying what she said, Rider would just call out his bluff even if he tried.
“You should have known that for a long time already. But despite all of this, the passage of time did not completely erase your old self. You still care about them, regardless of how detached you might claim to be. You also take care of these Devils in a similar fashion as Shirou did for the girls, especially the little one with white hair.”
He chose to not give her an answer and just continued to stare at the sky.
“We should head back, Rias and Sona might come flying off the handle if we stay here any longer.” Wanting to end this conversation for now and pick it up another time when his thoughts would be more organized.
Archer turned his back and was about to turn into his spiritual form when suddenly his whole field of vision was filled with strands of purple hair and his face was being held in place, with a pair of vivid lilac-coloured eyes staring back at him intently.
Those orbs managed to look awfully calm despite how much they were focusing on him.
“I almost forgot, but I also have a message from Sakura as well.”
Sakura?
He had a bad feeling about this.
“She was very distraught, you know. She blamed herself for a long time for destroying your body back then, even if she never talked about it… I know it remained in the back of her mind for decades.”
“I never blamed her, she was more of a victim than anyone in that whole War. And it seems she’s the type to needlessly worry about small things which she has no control over.”
“I know, even she suspected you would say something like this.” Her breath touched him and even tickled his lips slightly. “Here is the message she imparted to me in case we met again. To always keep an eye on her senpai, to make sure he does not fall back into his old habits and put himself in unnecessary danger. That you would not suffer and be left to handle things on your own with burdens that will overwhelm you.”
“I am not the boy that you protected, Rider. I can handle myself.”
“Every single time you have been summoned in the past paints a very different picture, Archer.” Her hold on his face slightly tightened with her gaze growing twice as sharp. “You fell back into your old habits just this night.”
“It’s better for us to have you alive than dead, you are an ally and Sona would have been distraught.”
“And your Master wouldn’t be if you perished by putting yourself into harm’s way? Do you think any of them want you to endanger yourself in such a way? That would go against what Sakura wanted as well.” She argued back, not leaving any room to counter. “I have been thinking about this, and I also agree with her.”
He glared at her, not willing to back down.
“So what? Are you going to be constantly keeping watch over me? Judge every single one of my actions and get between my duties as a Servant to my Master? This is ridiculous, and you know that. We Servants were always meant to fight.”
Surprisingly, she shook her head. “No, I know better than to try and do something like that. I also have my own duties to attend to, and I know such a method wouldn’t work for you to begin with. But there is another, particularly interesting method, that Sakura managed to achieve with Emiya Shirou. If it worked so well on him… I’m confident it will work on you just as well.”
He felt his face being pulled and had a pair of soft lips press against his. For a moment, his mind drew blanks, unable to understand what just happened. But the sensation persisted, with there being more emotions than he anticipated behind her action.
A desire for intimacy.
A burning passion.
A deep, earnest sense of affection.
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{Break}
-???-
The morning sun rose and the birds started chirping, it would have been a perfect day to just sleep in and forget about everything in the world. She deserved the moment of rest after all, and with the apartment completely empty and no one to tell her otherwise, Raynare was glad to just not do anything for the rest of the day.
The hangover from drinking several cans of beer did not help and killed any theoretical motivation to leave her comfy bed.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Of course, she spoke too soon, and the serenity of her morning hangover was disturbed by a relentless pounding at the door. Raynare attempted to just huddle up under the covers with an extra pillow over her head, but it just kept on going for several minutes.
Her head was going to explode at this rate, so finally, she decided that stopping the banging was worth the effort of getting up.
“Shut the hell up, I'm coming!”
It had to be Kalawarna, that bitch disappeared all day yesterday and would not even pick up her phone. She had half the mind to just believe the woman somehow ended up getting herself killed, maybe by pissing off the local Devils with how much of a bitch she was.
But most likely she just found a handsome human to fuck around for the night.
‘Fucking slut.’
Unlocking the door, Raynare opened it while standing there completely naked. She didn’t give a damn whether it was Kalawarna or someone else on the other side, all she cared about at that moment was getting that fucking noise to stop.
And lo and behold, it was Kalawarna after all.
“Well, look who's back. Finally decided to drag yourself back here after a long night of shaking your fat ass around, didn't you? You couldn’t even be bothered to take the spare keys or something?” She said annoyingly, scratching her eyes and barely noticing the disheveled state of her Fallen kin. Attributing it to the woman's ‘walk of shame’ as stupid humans would call it.
But then she noticed something odd about her partner, particularly when looking at her neck. “Damn it Kala, did you seriously come back here with a chain still attached to your neck?”
“R-Raynare, n-now is not the time f-for this.” the blue-haired woman spoke with a heavy stutter, which sounded almost as if she was terrified of something. “L-Lord A-Azazel… call him now!”
“Hm?” Finally gathering her bearings, Raynare’s blurry vision improved despite the headache, and she ended up gazing past Kalawarna. And it was that moment when she noticed another person in the hallway, staring back at her with an amused smile that made her more irritated than anything else.
“Who's the elf-eared bitch?”
Most likely the person she slept with… She didn’t realize her partner swung that way.
Strange, she had never seen Kalawarna look this pale.
Beta read by FabledLife, Shigiya and Paragon of Awesomeness.
Still working on the bonus part continuation, so gonna update it in a few days either in this chapter or as a .5 chapter.
Next update is Fake Familiar Reborn
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-Sainan-
Sixteen years had passed since his unexpected arrival in this world — a stretch of time that, though largely uneventful, had proven oddly fulfilling. For a man who once carried the burden of being a Counter Guardian for so long that time itself had no meaning, it was a strange shift in the nature of his existence, a far cry from the endless battlefields he was sent to. Yet, he had learned to accept it, if only for the time being.
He often wondered how it had happened. A mistake on Alaya’s part? Unlikely. Perhaps something went awry during his final summoning. The thought lingered like a thorn in his mind, but even that explanation lacked substance. Maybe it was the work of the Greater Grail — falling into the wrong hands, tampered with beyond recognition. But then, why him? He had disappeared, hadn’t he?
His spiritual core was destroyed by the end of the Grail War, making it impossible for him to continue existing. Still, he was able to remain behind for long enough for his arm to get grafted onto the boy.
These musings always led him back to one thought: Rin. Could it have been her doing? If anyone had the sheer stubbornness needed to perform such a ridiculous feat, and for his sake at that, it would certainly be her. Yet, despite her brilliance and tenacity, she just didn’t have the means — not for something like this. And even if she did, why would she send him here of all places?
Another possibility whispered at the edges of his mind, one that unsettled him in its ambiguity. Could someone — or something — from this world have pulled him here?
The lack of answers had been gnawing at him ever since he was aware of his circumstances, but he had long since resigned himself to the mystery. He couldn’t change what had happened, nor did he see any way he could uncover the truth. All he could do was live this life, day by day. And, to his surprise, he found himself enjoying it — genuinely so.
Here, he had been given everything he ever dreamed of having since becoming a Counter Guardian. A loving family who had taken him in after finding him in an alleyway and saved him from getting eaten by a dog, siblings with their unique quirks that can be funny but frustrating at times, and even people he could genuinely think of as friends, even if some of them tended to be more laid-back than him, while others were exceptionally stubborn. It was a normal, peaceful life, free of his duties even if it felt like an illusion.
Risa was the one who embodied that free-spirited aspect the most out of all the people he was close to, and one of the few people he interacted with often, almost on a daily basis. Despite her perverted nature, he found himself enjoying their moments of levity far more often than not, and his conversations with her had a way of making the time just slip by. For all her antics, she was mature enough when it mattered and was one of the few who behaved like her usual self around Rito.
Overall, she was a simple student who had nothing to do with any of the matters related to aliens in the least.
‘So why…'
Why had she of all people been targeted?
Woosh!
The figure on the rooftop moved with unnatural speed, leaping into the air to evade the storm of blades. Each sword struck the spot where they had stood less than a second before, embedding themselves into the concrete with devastating force, leaving cracks and dust in their wake.
Piercing feline eyes locked onto him from a distance as the assassin displayed uncanny agility, effortlessly evading his barrage of projected blades. With fluid grace, the figure spun and darted away, somehow sensing and dodging the swords hurtling towards their back without so much as a glance. It was as if the assassin possessed a sixth sense, anticipating each attack before it even materialized.
Bang!
A series of gunshots echoed, sparks flying everywhere as they each managed to strike the swords closest and deflect them. Each shot was impossibly precise for a human, the figure twisting in the air like a cat with a gun in each hand firing multiple times in seconds.
‘Those are not regular bullets.’
He may have only been Projecting and firing normal swords at this assassin, but even those were durable enough that he was disinclined to believe a shot from any pistol found on Earth would shatter them so easily. Just as notable was how he saw no signs of panic or even true distress from the assassin as he fled.
Seeing that this exchange would at best maintain a stalemate if left to continue like this, Emiya opted to switch to his bow. Within a second he was firing a volley of arrows that all honed in on their target. Unlike with the swords, the arrows came at the assassin in such speed and numbers that he was hard-pressed to shoot down each projectile, getting increasingly overwhelmed until a couple managed to hit his limbs — halting his escape with his body tumbling down from the edge of the building. His last shot, rather than aiming at the arrows, targeted a pipe on top of the rooftop which released a cloud of smoke, completely obscuring his presence.
Quickly making his way over, Emiya arrived at the spot and discovered the assassin to be nowhere in sight despite having fallen off the edge mere seconds ago. His eyes scanned his surroundings until he spotted the black figure two blocks away at the edge of a forest.
“Hmph,” scoffed Emiya, starting to draw his bowstring back again, but then lowering it as he saw the assassin take his opportunity to disappear into the treeline. Following on foot, Emiya saw fit to switch up his style again, seeing that they were less likely to be noticed by a random passerby in the foliage.
Perhaps the assassin’s ship was somewhere in here? Not that he was going to let him fly away in it. Despite keeping a calm disposition, Emiya felt increasingly more frustrated towards himself — feeling as if what happened before could have been prevented had he just been more attentive.
His frown grew, while from the depths of his Reality Marble, several blades were called forth. Taking a bit more Magical Energy, they all were projected simultaneously in the distance floating above and catching the assassin's attention who was forced to jump back as they each descended with a tremendous impact.
Greatswords, taller than most of his constructs, and large enough that they resembled weapons that would be used by a giant like Heracles appeared. Dozens of them all formed a semi-circle around the assassin to block his escape and momentarily stun him.
The sound of a gun being fired echoed, but Emiya was already holding Kanshou in hand and using its flat size to block the bullet. The shot did not leave even a scratch on its surface, and that was when he got to see the ‘bullet’ break apart into shards of light without there being any actual metal within the projectile.
Energy bullets? That explained why they were able to cause so much damage and the fact that this figure never had to reload his weapon.
“…”
The assassin remained quiet when confronted by the scene. “You are in my way.” The feline-eyed man said with a dry tone, to which Emiya just responded with a question.
“Who sent you…” whoever was behind this, if not stopped in time then killing this assassin would only leave the room empty for another one to be hired and for more around him to be targeted and for this incident to repeat. So he had to know who was behind this in the first place.
“I said you are in my way,” answered the black-haired man, raising his gun to shoot at him multiple times.
Rather than using Kanshou to defend himself, more weapons were Traced, all of which acted as a shield. These were nameless Noble Phantasms that didn't immediately break, giving him enough time to close the distance between them till there was less than a meter between them.
The black blade gleamed with an ominous light as it drew closer to Emiya’s opponent, and the assassin was forced to use his gun to physically block the blade's path. Kanshou’s edge failed to cut through the weapon which made Emiya pause to take stock of that. He’d already understood that the weapon was not made from any kind of metal from this planet, but its durability still surprised him.
Both of their eyes met and the latter whispered, “You are strong for a human. And your weapons are exceptionally sharp, though they are not made from any material I am familiar with. It’s not Orichalcum.”
“Answer me.”
His other hand shimmered with light and the assassin's eyes widened with Bakuya appearing out of thin air.
Bang!
He pulled the trigger twice, his gun that was still used to block Kanshou, causing a moment of confusion with Emiya until a powerful impact struck Bakuya.
“—!”
The force of the shots threw Emiya's swing off balance, causing Bakuya to miss its intended target. Instead, the blade sliced through the assassin's clothing, revealing a glimpse of skin beneath. A jolt of alarm shot through Emiya as he realized his mistake. Quickly, he yanked Kanshou back, narrowly avoiding a beam of light that seared past his hand and bored a smoking hole into a nearby tree. The acrid smell of burnt wood filled the air as Emiya reassessed his opponent, keenly aware of how close he'd come to losing his hand.
‘Homing bullets… either that or some form of telekinesis.’
They changed their trajectory at such a close distance. It explained why he was able to accurately hit all of his Traced swords and arrows without missing a single one, only becoming overwhelmed once the incoming projectiles outpaced the rate at which he could pull the trigger.
"Is that al—!?"
The assassin's words were abruptly cut off as Emiya moved, faster than the eye could follow. Instead of retreating as expected, the redhead pivoted sharply on his heel, driving his right leg upward in a brutal arc. The strike connected with the assassin's neck in an instant, the impact sharp and painful to make his vision turn black for a split second as he was sent flying into a large trunk.
The force of the blow rattled the man, throwing him off balance and leaving him staggered. A rush of disorientation surged through his senses — blurred vision, a ringing in his ears — but it lasted only a heartbeat. The assassin's training kicked in, grounding him. Instinctively he braced himself and scanned for an opening to counterattack, but before he could steady his thoughts, an ominous sensation overtook his mind.
“Tch!” Clicking his tongue, he tried to leap away. “Hn!”
His spine arched with the sudden painful sensation of a sharp blade rammed into his shoulders from above, looking upwards with frustration while seeing several spears and swords floating above upside down with the pointed end aiming at him. The impact from the spear forced him back down. Several blades followed and surrounded his body, making any further movement difficult.
His finger went to pull the trigger of his gun—
“Your bullets won’t even scratch these weapons.”
A foot kicked it away from his grasp, sending the weapon flying as it vanished into the surrounding bush. A shadow appeared over his face, the cause of which was Kanshou's pointed tip.
Cold golden-brown eyes stared back at the feline yellow.
“Try anything else, and I will skewer your skull before you can scream,” Emiya warned him. “Now answer my question.”
“I let my guard down and underestimated you,” he replied calmly after catching his breath, not showing any fear even with the Noble Phantasm threatening to end his life.
“Enough,” Emiya's grasp on his blade tightened as he pressed its edge against the assassin’s skin, causing a thin line of crimson to form and a drop of blood to begin trickling down the side of his head. “If you are not going to talk, then I have no reason to keep you alive. Now unless you want that to happen, tell me who you are and who sent you!”
The man did not even let out a groan of pain or show any discomfort. “…I'm afraid I can't disclose any information about my client. No matter what form of torture you use on me.”
“…”
Looking deeply into his eyes, there was no falsehood in his words.
“I was there, out in the open, and did not even have my guard up. Had you taken a shot at me, then perhaps I would not have been able to protect myself. Yet in the end, your client had to target an innocent girl who had nothing to do with all of this.” With this being the last words he had to say to this killer for higher, Emiya tensed his muscles in preparation.
“Wait!”
From above, a pair of angelic wings appeared with tufts of blonde hair extending downwards to wrap around his arm. But that part that attracted his attention was rather the body she was holding in her grasp. “Don't hurt Kuro, he did not kill Momioka Risa!” She said rather hurriedly which was a rarity with the usually stoic Yami.
But he did not say anything and instead watched as she landed next to him and dropped the corpse next to him. Except it was not entirely a corpse, but mostly a robotic body wherein the center of its chest was a dead alien creature whose shape resembled a brain.
One that had a clear hole in its middle due to a gunshot.
“This…”
“She never came to school,” Yami explained while the swords all around them started to break apart, filling the space around them with countless motes of blue light. “The suit this alien is wearing has the ability to alter its appearance and create a near-perfect illusion. When I arrived, half of its disguise had already disappeared.”
Emiya did not say anything, continuing to stare at the deceased alien before him with an unreadable expression. Recalling the conversation they had before Risa’s supposed death, he realized that there were signs he should have also picked up on sooner. “No wonder that ‘Risa’ kept calling me Shirou… but other than that, it managed to replicate her mannerisms and way of speaking almost perfectly.”
Yami nodded, “It was probably observing her for a while in order to take her place.”
A sigh forced its way out of his mouth, his arm relaxed, and all weapons had been dismissed, including the ones pinning Kuro in place, who casually got up and dusted his clothes with little care. There were many cuts on his clothes, the one wound on his body being the scratch from Kanshou.
“The entire time, why did you not say anything if you knew?” Emiya asked. The shot had been aimed directly at the alien right in the middle of its head, not where a human’s heart would be, so Kuro definitely knew his target had not been a human.
Kuro in question slowly got up, moving his arm around to see if it was working properly after the wound had mostly healed. “Khameleon is a master of disguise and has taken many forms. He was part of a galactic mafia group and was trying to run away with classified information that was to be sold to several parties on Earth.”
Several parties… that meant there were far more aliens hiding here than he previously speculated. He hoped that Mikado was not one of the individuals hoping to buy the information. Getting involved with matters related to the galactic mafia sounded like a bad idea, especially with what happened recently with Solgam.
‘I will ask her and Zastin to look into this.’ This matter was more complicated than he would have liked.
“You have a thing for evading my questions,” he continued, looking at Kuro waiting for his answer. “I am pretty sure your contract on the kill did not include a clause that stopped you from revealing the truth of this… thing's true identity to me. You did that on your own just to make things more difficult for everyone, yourself included.”
“…”
His silence was quite telling, even Yami looked at him with clear confusion in her eyes.
“Kuro?”
“You’ve been calling him that, I suppose that you know him before arriving to earth?” Emiya said, bringing Yami’s attention back to him.
That was another matter he couldn’t help but take notice of. The fact that Yami was clearly familiar with this person, and was close enough that she would even go as far as saving him. It made sense when he took into consideration her former life as an assassin, so they either worked together or crossed paths in the same field of work multiple times.
“…I do. He set us free.”
Set free? There was clearly more to the story than he first anticipated.
Seeing both of their attention was now locked on him and waiting for an answer, Kuro finally started to talk. “Rumors travel fast even from an isolated place like this to the different parts of the galaxy. Rumors that mentioned how you failed your latest mission and were subdued by the enemy to serve him forever as a slave.”
“Humph, of course, it's that kind of rumor.” Emiya scoffed, not even surprised at this point. “If it's not the troublesome students at school making up nonsense then it's the whole galaxy itself. So, I take it you came to verify the claims yourself and test me.”
He got a confirming nod for his question.
“I never imagined that coming all the way out here would end up with me almost dying and for you to come to my rescue, Golden Darkness. I owe you a favor now.”
Dying… as if.
Though Emiya did not say it out loud, he could tell that Kuro had been holding back and never felt he was in any danger even when Kanshou had drawn blood. From his arrows that could easily pierce through concrete, the spear which could hold its own against some of the more powerful Noble Phantasms in his Reality Marble, and finally from having Kanshou poised to stab through his face — not once did he fear for his life.
Those were not the eyes of someone who was accepting his fate to die.
From the beginning, he was just goading him to fight him seriously while the assassin himself never intended to go that far. This man gave him the same feeling as Gid, a terrifying notion. Then again, he doubted Kuro’s gun would be impervious to some of his more powerful weapons, maybe even Overedge would have been enough.
Fortunately, their fight did not go far enough for him to try them out.
The blonde former assassin immediately shook her head. “No, I was the one who owed you a debt for saving us from Eden. Also, you can call me Yami-chan.”
“…No.”
“Tch.”
Both men stared at the blonde, this being the first time either of them had ever heard her make such a sound.
“Regardless, I suppose we are even now,” he said, to which she ended up agreeing with some slight hesitation. “You also don't look like someone who’s being treated as a slave.”
“…No, he is my master.”
“Don’t ever call me that.” Emiya corrected, not liking how that way of calling him did not help with the rumors. “Where did you even get that idea?”
“From a maid cafe.”
That explained a lot but nothing at all.
“Hoh, interesting. I can see why.”
Kuro just had to add fuel to the fire, which Emiya did not appreciate much, even less when Yami ever so slightly puffed her chest as if it was something to be proud of.
“Don't encourage her.”
While those two continued to converse with one another, Emiya went next to the now-deceased alien and observed it closely. Many thoughts stormed in his mind and some of his worries still had not died down yet.
“Take care of this alien and make sure no trace of it remains. Do not bury it here and instead take it with you or give it to Zastin, I have to leave for now. Did anyone spot the body after I left?”
If possible, he wanted to avoid having his siblings or any other students in school for that matter from seeing blood. They were innocent souls, even the perverted ones who would not handle seeing the corpse of one of their ‘classmates’ so easily.
“I did. I made sure to get rid of the bloodstains as well.”
“Good. Also, don't bring this matter up with Mikan.”
After getting a quick confirmation from both of them, he left the area and grabbed his phone, dialing the number of a person he had in his contacts, but had never called in the past.
The call rang for a couple of seconds till that person picked up.
“Am I going crazy or is Yuuki Emiya Shirou of all people calling me after he ditched classes?” The voice on the other end spoke mischievously with a clear hint of mirth. “Hehehe, if this is to arrange a meeting with just the two of us inside the gym storage area then I don't mind accepti—”
“—Not in the mood for jokes, Mio.”
That bespectacled girl, even if she was not as bad as her friend when it came to teasing him, was still someone who had managed to pick up some of Risa's mannerisms with how she tended to joke around with him.
“You are never in the mood to have any fun!”
“I want to know Risa's home address.”
His sudden question obviously caught the girl by surprise seeing as she dropped her phone and had the device fall on the ground before being hurriedly picked up. “Seriously? Isn't this too quick!? Wait, no, it doesn’t matter, I'll send it to you immediately! Hehehe! She better give me all the details the next time I see her!”
She clearly had a major misunderstanding, but he was in no mood to correct it.
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Surprisingly enough, Risa’s house was located near Haruna and her sister's apartment. These girls only lived a handful of minutes away from one another by foot, no wonder he occasionally saw them walk to school together.
Rather than an apartment, Risa lived inside a house that was around the same size as his own place. But this one lacked a large backyard and was far quieter than his own home, though that was to be expected given how many people have been living there recently.
Ring~!
Ringing the doorbell, he waited for someone to answer the door. But as the seconds ticked by in silence even after pressing the ringer again, no one came. Unfortunately, he could not see himself just walking away and checking up on her on another day due to what happened so recently. He feared that the sickness mentioned by Mio could have been due to the alien, as a way of keeping her from interfering. If so, who could say how an alien illness might affect a human?
“This is more important.” Not willing to wait, he opened the door and found it to be unlocked. Entering the house, there did not appear to be a single soul in sight. The inside resembled a standard family house, nothing out of the ordinary with perhaps fewer pictures of the family hanging on the walls compared to his.
‘The parents are probably at work.’ Risa rarely talked about her personal life, but what little he knew about her circumstances painted the picture of both of her parents rarely being at home due to their work. A similar scenario to his own parents, but the relationships among Risa’s family did not sound as harmonious as his own since he still had his siblings around.
She was an only child.
Going upstairs, it was not hard to locate the girl's room since it had a plaque with her name on it. Opening the door quietly, he was met by a wave of hot air coming out of the room and a pungent odor of sweat. Ignoring that, he walked in and finally found the girl sleeping on the bed covered in multiple layers of blankets, and her face covered in sweat.
Instantly, a wave of relief flooded his guts. Even if she was not in the best of shape, the fact she was still alive and breathing was more than enough for him to let go of his worries completely.
“Em… iya…?”
She woke up, having heard the sound of the door being opened and letting in a wave of cooler air. Turning to stare at his face with clear confusion, she went quiet for the next few seconds as their eyes met. He took the opportunity to place the back of his hand on her forehead and take note of how much she was burning up. His action made a silly but weak smile grace her features, “Hehehe, this… I… It's been a while since I last had this dream…”
Her voice sounded very hoarse, and he couldn’t see a water bottle around or even anything to help with the girl's condition. “I am starting to understand why you never talk about your parents. Give me a moment.”
After that, he left the room and came back with a glass of water with some ice. He helped her drink it slowly, which started to make Risa realize that this was maybe not a dream.
Taking away most of the blanket layers and using a cool damp cloth to clean up her face and then placing it on her forehead to cool her off just hammered home the realization this wasn't a dream. “Y-You’re real?”
“A good question, I ask myself that same thing every so often.” He answered with a slight chuckle, finding it amusing to see her already present blush become more intense. “Mio told me where you live, I wanted to see if you were doing well and even tried to call you a couple of times but you never answered. I let myself in since the door was also left open. Seriously, you should have called someone.”
“…”
She stared back at him, her eyes hazy, still trying to process what was going on.
“You look… tired…” She whispered.
“I guess I am, dealing with some troublesome people can certainly be tiresome.”
“No… more tired than that… You do that every day.”
A cheeky comment he had to admit. Seemed that even in this state she was observant enough to notice such things. “I heard from someone long ago that stupid people don't usually get sick. But when they do, it hits them hard. So when I heard you were sick, I was in disbelief and was very worried.”
“…Are you calling me stupid?”
"Let's just say your intellect isn't your strong suit," he quipped dryly. Risa made a weak attempt to nip at his hand as he felt her forehead, but her aim was off in her feverish state. “I thought something bad happened to you before I came here, so I had to check on you. Clearly, I was right too, given your current state and the lack of care you’ve been receiving.”
“…Sorry for being a troublesome person.”
“Don’t be, you are not troublesome, even with all your perverted antics.” Compared to the aliens, desperately horny teenagers, and dangerous assassins — dealing with some verbal teasing from a friend was nothing in comparison. In fact, it started to become a welcomed interaction that helped him forget about every other thing. “Were you given any medicine?”
“I think so… I can't remember which one I took.”
She was a complete mess no matter how he looked at it. This reminded him of the moments when his siblings were suffering from a similar kind of fever, even back then both Ringo and Saibai at least took a day off from their work to prioritize looking after their children, before entrusting him with the responsibility of taking care of them.
“How was school today? Did you get to flirt with any beautiful girls?” She asked, shifting in her spot till she was lying on her side and facing him. “I bet you hung out with Mikado-sensei again, but I can't blame you, given how hot she is. Aaaah, I want to grab her boobs… I guarantee squeezing those sweet, soft puppies would make me recover in no time.”
“You would just end up passing on your illness to her.” She squirmed a bit when he wiped more sweat from her neck and behind her ears. “Today passed the same as usual. I had an argument with Yui for sleeping in class, I saw Rito try to have a conversation with Haruna only to fumble it once more with his clumsiness, Lala hung out with Mio to keep her company today and Saki decided to invite me to some kind of resort. I knew if I refused Rin would come after my throat again.”
“So your regular old day,” she said truly to chuckle but ended up coughing again. “Well… can't exactly call it regular. Still, I bet it would’ve been fun to see all that happening. I would have liked to be there, it gets boring lying here all day.”
“It does not seem all that bad. Having a day just for yourself where you can recover some energy and rest your mind can be sorely needed every once in a while, even if you’re not sick. You should try it out sometime.” After finishing cleaning her face, he started to question whether or not to call Mikado to diagnose Risa.
“Nooo… I get way more energy spending my time with you a lot. Seeing you continue to build your harem despite your best efforts is very entertaining as well, and I would hate to miss any moment of it.” Her finger slowly poked his side as he finished up his work. “No, I should be considered lucky to have had my form of entertainment personally break into my house when I am at my most vulnerable… So, should I take off my clothes so that you can give me a sponge bath?”
Emiya stared back at her with a deadpan expression. She was trying to hide it, but he could see through her bravado like a window.
“Yes, take them off. It's not good to sleep in such a state.”
“E-Eh?” As expected, she was not ready to hear such an answer and froze in place. Her eyes darted back and forth from his face to his hand where he held another clean damp towel. She started panicking for a few seconds till her expression calmed down significantly. Without uttering another word, her hands went up to her shirt and started buttoning them one by one until a large portion of her cleavage was visible.
Plap!
“Hm!”
He dropped the cold damp towel on her face, eliciting a small yelp out of her. “Don’t get so eager, I'm just going to wipe your head, arms, and back. You have enough strength to handle the rest. Now turn around.”
Sending him a small glare, Risa did as instructed and turned her body around. She gingerly pulled her shirt up which exposed her back, yet even such an innocent action made her nervous. “Ah~!”
That nervousness instantly got replaced with embarrassment when a moan escaped her lips as soon as the cold towel touched her skin. Emiya ignored it and continued his task with diligence while she buried her head in the pillow, making sure to endure the sensation and not let out another sound.
“There, done. Finish up the rest by yourself, I will pick out a new set of clothes for you and place them here for you to change. And I don't even need to ask if you are hungry, I can already guess the answer.” The kitchen was spotless when he arrived, the sink itself dry without any signs that it had been used for the last few hours. He did see some ingredients in the pantry that could be used to make something light for Risa. “I'll be in the kitchen.”
“You are too relaxed doing such things, Emiya.” She spoke, peeking from the corner with most of her face still buried in her pillow. “Also, what kind of respectful man with all his parts down there functioning refused to clean a beautiful girl's chest when she took the effort to gather the courage to let him?”
“A strange thing to be angry about, of all things you focus on avoiding that.”
“You've seen Lala naked and even slept with her.”
“So?” There was no use in denying those claims since the Devilukian princess most likely revealed it herself and she could not lie. “Seeing Lala naked and seeing you naked are two very different things. Especially when I don't actually ask her to sleep with me naked, she does it on her own.”
“And I don't mind you seeing me n-naked as well… not like you will take advantage of me.”
His head shook at her inconstancy, maybe the fever made her go a tiny bit crazier than usual. “You should not be so relaxed around a man, even if it's someone you know well.”
“What if I don't have enough strength to wash myself, huh? Will you let a helpless girl like me stay like this all day?” Rather than ignore her words, Emiya instead started to ponder for a bit till an idea came to mind. “Well I have an idea if that ends up being the case, but for now, just rest.”
{Break}
(Half an hour later)
Thankfully the kitchen had all the materials and ingredients he needed to make a simple chicken soup for Risa. Opening the fridge he found a covered plate of onigiri which was probably made by her parents for her to eat. “At least they left something for her, though I don’t understand how they expected her to get this herself.”
His impression of her parents was not the best. Though he refrained from saying anything and continued to focus on the soup till the door rang. “She’s fast.”
Already knowing who the person at the door would be, he went over to the home’s entrance after setting the stove down to a show simmer and opened it to come face to face with a familiar blue-haired woman standing there carrying a plastic bag filled with various vegetables and fruits.
“Already taking on your role as a househusband seriously, brat!” The woman wasted no time taking a picture and closed the distance to give him a hug.
Brushing her comment aside, he made way for her to step inside. “Thanks for coming over, Akiho. Sorry, I called you on such short notice.”
Akiho waved her hand dismissively. "No sweat, kiddo. I was just heading home from another disaster date anyway. My big plans? Demolishing a tub of ice cream solo in my room. This is way better - I get your cooking for free and I finally meet the girl who's trying to steal Haruna's man." She paused, her eyes widening. "Hey, wait a sec. She's not gonna steal my personal chef too, is she? I mean, my future brother-in-law." A gasp. "Oh my god, is she Celine's mom?!"
Emiya rolled his eyes, having grown used to dealing with her antics. He was surprised at first to find out that the woman knew about Celine's existence but was still clueless about her nature as an alien plant. The only answer he gave her was that the child was under his care and she accepted it rather easily without even getting into the details of how that happened.
“No, she's a classmate.”
“Ooooh! You finally made a friend! I'm so happy! Nice, so Haruna still has a chance.”
Perhaps calling her over to help had not exactly been the best idea after all. Still, she lived close and Haruna had not yet returned home from what he heard. “You seem chipper for someone who did not have a successful date.”
“Oh please, don't even get me started. This was only our third time going out and he was already bringing up weddings and shit. Even a deaf and blind person could see where it was going, so I broke up with him.”
“That makes your fourth breakup this year, and we’re still a ways away from summer. How are you and Haruna even related in the first place?” Seriously, one sister was quite shy and extremely innocent when it came to any kind of interaction with the opposite gender. The elder one was the complete opposite and regularly went on dates with people despite the relationship barely lasting a month, and even that was long for her.
“We share the same genes, just give her a few years and she will look identical to me. Even her chest might end up being bigger than mine, these babies were nowhere near this big when I was her age. She's already pretty popular at school, right?”
Emiya went back to the kitchen, stirring the pot with Akiho peeking over his shoulders curiously. “She is not exactly getting dozens of confessions in a week like you’ve claimed about your time in high school. But she has admirers. Rito is definitely her biggest fan”
“Hoooo~! That's good to know. With how shy she can be, I was afraid my dear little sister would go her entire life without any boyfriend and end up living all by herself in an apartment with only a dog to keep her company.” As fake crocodile tears streamed down her face. Truly, she differed far too much from her sister. “What? Not going to comfort your future big sister?”
“Stop trying to have me date Haruna. It's not happening, especially when Rito is far more interested in her, you should encourage him instead.”
“What if Haruna liked you?”
For a moment, his hands stopped stirring the pot and he recalled the little misunderstanding accident that happened at his shed not that long ago. All born out of a simple line he wrote inside a piece of paper during the festival about a wish of his, which nearly spiraled out of control with Haruna believing he was going to die.
Her weird behavior had started to make him believe she wanted to confess to him.
Definitely a blunder on his part, he had to admit.
“Not going to happen, we are good friends and I would reject her regardless. So don't even believe she likes me that way in the first place.”
“So you say.”
“Stop it.”
“I'm just saying.”
“Then be quiet. The soup is almost ready and after Risa has her fill, I’m hoping you can take care of her.” This was the primary reason why he called her in the first place, he could not stay here all day and had to go back soon. Since Akiho lived nearby, she could look after the girl until Risa’s parents returned home.
After he finished with his preparations, both of them went to Risa's room and found the girl to be on her phone. There was some improvement to her complexion, and it was a clear sign that by the time she woke up tomorrow, she would have recovered.
“Hehehe, I could smell your cooking all the way from up here. Now I finally get to taste something fresh that — who is this?” The moment she glanced at Akiho, the young brunette was at a loss for words. “What the heck Emiya? You invite another woman to hang out while you’re in my house?”
“Risa-chan~! It's me, Did you forget about me?” Akiho went inside first and immediately grabbed the young girl's face and smothered her with a tight embrace. “You've grown so much in such a short amount of time! Last I remember, your chest was nowhere near this developed!”
“Um, not that I don’t enjoy having my face pressed against a fantastic rack like yours, but… do I know you?” Risa managed to mutter.
Akiho pouted. “Are you seriously saying such a thing to someone you’ve finally met again after a long time?” Emiya could not believe what he was hearing, but then again, this kind of conversation did sound like something Akiho would say. Even the girl who infamously liked to touch other girls’ breasts and molest them was overwhelmed by the older woman's actions. Her head perking in curiosity, Risa managed to lift her head up to gaze the older woman in the eyes…
“Y-You… you're Haruna's sister?”
“Yes~! You finally remembered!” Akiho said with a cheer as she released Risa. “Though I can't blame you for not remembering me, as it certainly has been a while. I should tell Haruna to bring her friends home more often. Oh you poor little baby, to suffer through such a terrible sickness all on your own in a big yet empty house. Had I known you lived so close by I would have come over much earlier and dumped that creepy guy with just a text message!”
“That would have been your seventh time breaking up in such a callous manner. That I know of.” The redhead in the background couldn't help but comment. “If you're not careful you will end up creating a bad image of yourself and be single forever.”
“Hush you, I still get as many confessions as I used to back during my high school years and university. And even if it happened, I always have you as a backup if I’m still not married when I am forty.”
“I'd rather marry an alien,” he replied dryly.
“No need to be shy!” The woman chuckled, her interaction with Emiya drawing Risa's attention, a strange sensation forming within the younger girl’s heart when she saw how similarly he interacted with Akiho to how he did with her… No, it even looked a bit more intimate.
“H-How long… How long have you two known each other?* She couldn't help but ask, feeling that this woman's presence was far more overbearing and dangerous than even Lala herself.
“Us? Hmm, It has been a while. I've known him since he was small enough that he was barely as tall as my waist, back when he was an annoying brat. Still is, mind you. We met by pure chance and he left quite an impression on this big sister. You don't see a kid who’s at an age where he should still be wetting his bed walking around all serious with a big frown constantly on his face. And he’s no better to this day! Even the way he talked back then was exactly the same as how he does now!” Akiho declared, to Risa’s amusement.
“Don't believe me? Let me show you something!” She brought out her phone and showed off a picture of a younger version of herself still wearing her high school uniform standing behind a much younger Emiya, pulling his cheeks while he was clearly annoyed by her antics.
“Wow…” Risa never imagined that even as a kid he would make the same kind of face. Was he born with a resting frowny face?
“Cute, right? There is another one from when I gave him a haircut, he never liked it, unfortunately.”
“You have more!?”
“Yes! I’d be happy to share them with you if you want.”
As if a new spring of energy filled both her body and mind, an energetic Risa immediately grabbed the woman's hands with star-struck eyes. “Haruna has the best sister ever!”
Akiho turned her attention to Emiya who was watching the scene, not wanting to break the good mood. “I like her, she reminds me of myself!”
A small smile couldn't help but force its way to his face, for a moment imagining Risa in the future having similar issues with men like Akiho over here. Weirdly enough, that outcome did not seem strange — which inadvertently worried him as well. “I will do my best to ensure she does not end up anything like you. My hands are already full with a single Akiho as it is.”
After that, all three of them continued to converse with one another, with Emiya ending up having no choice but to spoon-feed the sick girl after she kept insisting on him to do so. Her new best friend did not help in the slightest, in fact, Ahiko encouraged Risa’s childish behavior. Without even realizing it, a few hours went by and the sun started to set with the sky having turned a deep orange color.
Risa had fallen asleep, and Akiho agreed to stay over until her parents came back while he cleaned up the entire house and was about to leave.
“It's strange, you know?” While putting on his shoes at the entrance, he heard her voice and turned to stare back at the woman who now wore a more casual outfit, consisting of tight shorts and a tank top which revealed her belly button. Leaning against the wall with the arms crossed looking at him with an unreadable expression.
“I don't follow.”
“It's rare for you to be this concerned for anyone that is not your siblings. Even going so far as to immediately ditch classes, which you have never done in the past, and rush over here.”
For her to know that… she must have been exchanging messages with Haruna.
“Is it wrong to be worried about a classmate?”
“A ‘classmate’ does not go this far. Even most friends don’t. They usually just hope the other person will get better and wait for a couple of days. In most cases, they would just call the parents and ask if their daughter was doing all right. She is more to you than just a classmate, that much I can tell. But it doesn't seem like you two are in a relationship.”
“No, we are not,” he had to remember that this woman, despite her typically acting so easygoing, was surprisingly quick-witted and sensitive when it came to such things. He could not just tell her that today he saw ‘Risa’ get killed right in front of him. and rushed over to make sure she had not been poisoned by some alien. Or she’d been taken somewhere else by the fake one who had intended to replace her completely.
“I heard some worrisome rumors and was unable to concentrate all day, so I came by to check up on her if only to set my mind at ease. When I saw the atrocious condition she was in, I dealt with the issue myself, and only called you to make sure she wouldn’t be all alone.”
Akiho’s smile grew wider and she shrugged, “Fine, keep your secrets, brat. But I must admit, you have indeed changed from a few years ago.”
“Just keep an eye on her, and call me if you need any help.”
Saying their goodbyes, he left the residence and quickly headed back home. Not wanting everyone else back home to panic, he had already messaged Rito and told him that he would be busy with some private matters.
A lot happened in a single day once again, Though this time it was not related to Lala's whole fiancé situation. But today made it clear that had the target truly been someone close to him rather than a disguised alien, he would have not been able to keep them safe. He started to worry that eventually, some of the other people who wanted to marry Lala would start to resort to more desperate courses of action, and target the people around him rather than go for him directly.
On his way back, these kinds of thoughts kept running around his mind again and again with no clear solution other than letting someone else take his place as Lala’s fiancé. Of course, if he were to do that, then his entire planet would end up in danger because of Gid.
“Hm?” He heard footsteps approaching from behind and turned to see Yami land, with Kuro nowhere in sight. “He left?”
“Yes. But his mission is still ongoing.”
So killing Khameleon was not his only task, which meant that man was still somewhere on Earth. He did not like that idea, but could not do much about it. Given what he learned about that alien, Khameleon had obviously known there was a hit on him and was trying to hide. And given that he’d been dealing with a galactic mafia, he likely also had something to hide. So perhaps Kuro was tasked with finding whatever it was.
“Tell me, Yami. If a scenario were to arise in which I were to confront Kuro seriously, how well do you think I'd fare?” He asked out of plain curiosity, wanting to get a better understanding of the person he fought.
“…I don't know.” But to his surprise, her answer was not as clear-cut as you would have liked it to be. “Kuro is one of the best. Many believe he has the potential to even assassinate Gid Lucione Deviluke.”
“Potential is very different from actually having the ability.”
“…I think he can do it.” She answered honestly. “I fought him before, and I never managed to slice through his gun… and it has the power to shoot through an entire battleship. He is dangerous.”
It certainly was a powerful and very durable gun, firing bullets made out of pure energy. The firepower and rate of fire would definitely be much higher than what he showed prior. That alone was not enough to make him dangerous, but more importantly, the man himself had the skills to match. He had fought Yami before, and he knew that what he experienced today was not the skills that would be needed to beat her.
“The town keeps getting more and more dangerous with each passing day I feel. Not even a year ago, this place felt quite peaceful despite the odd people that inhabit this place. Or maybe I was blind and never even realized the true nature of this place.”
“I wouldn't know.”
“I still need to thank you for helping me today,” he said, getting a confused look from Yami, so he elaborated. “Even if I doubt that guy did not have any tricks from escaping back then, you still rushed over to stop me. Who knows how much the fight could have escalated in the end? Even showing me the alien disguised as Risa made it easier for me. ”
“It was nothing.”
“It wasn't nothing,” he placed his hand on her shoulders. “This is also me thanking you for keeping Mikan company. I never saw her hang out with girls her age, even Rito has friends but she is always at home and never speaks about any that she hangs out with. It may be odd to say this to an alien who tried to kill me, but I am glad you are there for her.”
“...”
Her eyes were hidden behind tufts of blonde hair, maybe she was happy to hear that or even confused? He could not exactly tell.
“How about this, come over to the house today. I'll call Mikado in case she gets worried about where you went, I'll make you anything you want.”
“Taiyaki.”
Of course, she chose that…
“You eat those all the time. Isn't there anything else you like?”
“Taiyaki ice cream.”
Emiya sighed, a mix of amusement and resignation on his face. Yami's single-minded devotion to taiyaki never ceased to amaze him. "You really have a one-track mind when it comes to sweets, don't you? I suppose there are worse vices," he mused. Still, a nagging worry tugged at him. Yami's sweet tooth was becoming quite the habit, and he'd noticed her gravitating more and more towards junk food lately. He made a mental note to keep an eye on that - the last thing he needed was an assassin on a sugar high.
"Alright, taiyaki it is," he conceded with a slight shake of his head.
“Hn,” she huffed through her nose, keeping a stoic face but now walking a bit faster than before. Her hands were holding him, as though she wanted him to hurry up as well. “It’s dangerous outside at this hour, so we should go back quickly.”
With how little emotion she showed, the girl was surprisingly easy to read.
But he did not mind it and let her drag him along. Looking at the rooftops behind him, far in the distance he spotted a figure sitting on one of the buildings, with a black cat sleeping on his lap. They exchanged looks, with the alien assassin giving him a slight nod before jumping off the building and disappearing.
‘Show off.’
.
.
.
“You're back! Ah, you even brought Yami-chan with you!”
Upon returning home, the first person to greet him at the entrance was none other than Lala, jumping over and nearly tackling him to the ground.
“You're more excited than usual, should I be worried?”
He asked jokingly, but the response he received made him immediately regret those words.
“Better! Mama came to visit and she's been waiting all day to meet you!”
Mama?
As in the Empress of Planet Deviluke and all its conquered territories?
She was here!?
Hastily going over to the living room, he knew things were strange when Rito and Mikan were awkwardly scrambling around the kitchen with Momo helping them. Nana ran up the stairs carrying a few of his clothes for some reason… It was complete chaos.
Even Zastin was here, though he had at one point fainted on the ground and was now foaming from the mouth — dirtying the floor he cleaned just yesterday.
“Mau!”
A person came to his attention immediately, a woman holding Celine in her embrace, with long wavy flowing pink hair similar to Lala, Momo, and Nana. Fair skin that was a tone paler than the eldest princess, and finally beautiful crimson eyes sparkling brightly like gems. Looking at her face for a bit longer, he sensed a strange entrancing feeling slowly creeping its way from the back of his mind.
‘Something is not right.’
This sensation was not normal, and for him to feel this way made no sense.
His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he unconsciously cycled his Magical Energy over his body and felt the strange sensation slowly disappear. ‘Some kind of charm magic? Is this because of those eyes? I should check up on Rito, and maybe this is why Zastin fainted…’
Having had similar experiences with other Heroic Spirits in the past, he instantly recognized this kind of effect and put up his guard with this woman whose face was almost a carbon copy of Lala’s.
Or rather it was the other way around, Lala resembled her a great deal.
“Mama! This is Shirou! You remember all the stuff I’ve told you about him. Oh, and this is my friend, Yami-chan! She was a former assassin but you don't have to worry about that anymore!”
Lala introduced both of them eagerly to the woman who was married to that little battle maniac, Gid. The atmosphere around her was completely different from what he imagined.
The woman got up and bowed slightly, “Greetings, my name is Sephie Michaela Deviluke. I’ve heard a lot about you from both my daughter and husband.”
Her voice carried a similar effect to her visual appearance, in that it had an almost supernatural effect which held an even stronger charm effect. It was not anything potent, though he was not sure whether she was doing it deliberately or if she had no control over it.
“Lala…” Still, that was the least of his worries in the face of something else that desperately needed to be addressed. “Why is your mother wearing my shirt?"
The material was clearly stretching in places it should not be.
The fabric strained against her curves, threatening to burst at the seams. Emiya starred as he took in the sight of the galactic empress wearing his casual button-up, which now looked anything but casual.
“Ah, we just came out of the bath and my clothes were a bit too small for her… so I gave her your shirt instead. It's also super comfortable!”
“Fufufu~! That it is.” Both mother and daughter giggled in unison while he faced Yami who was warily looking at Sephie. Most likely she was unsure how to deal with the presence of the Empress herself being here of all places.
“I don't think I'll be able to make you any taiyaki today.”
Was she… was she also wearing his shorts?
This was just asking for trouble.
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AN: Kuro is apparently mentioned to be around Gid's level by Nemesis. Shame we don't see much of him in the manga and anime. Even in the manga he only faced Darkness Yami for a bit and managed to cancel out her Planet cutting attack which was his limit from what I read.
Chapter 72 of Toloveru Darkness if anyone is interested to read and share feedback on the guy.
Forgot to add his picture for anyone not familiar with Toloveru Kuro.
Next update is either Fake Familiar or Toloveru. Third update after these two is gonna be Steel Eyed Faker.
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-Magnolia-
“So all of that happened?”
Sitting at the table in their new abode and having some light snacks, Lucy took the time to recount everything that happened during the quest.
From their journey over there to meeting the various guilds along with their members, Broly's sudden action which ended up causing a major fight, his departure, them going after him, Christina crashing, Broly being mind controlled and forced to fight them due to the effects of the forbidden weapon long forgotten by time; Nirvana.
Cana listened to all of it with various expressions flashing on her face.
From intrigue, shock, disbelief, sadness, and relief.
Lucy found them to be funny to see, it was hard to see the usually mature and mischievous Cana be so expressive for every little thing. Then again, she could understand why given everything that happened with Broly in such a short amount of time.
“I still can't believe he got mind controlled, it's scary magic now that I think about it. To suddenly turn on your allies in an instant… it must have been hard for him.” She said with a sorrowful expression, looking outside where she looked at the Saiyan carrying a large tree five times his size on his shoulder to plant it closer to the house.
The man had even done some light gardening at the front. Planning to plant some fruits and other kinds of vegetables — he was surprisingly good at it. Cana had a hard time imagining someone with his appearance being interested in such activities.
But it was cute.
To imagine this same person who had been contemplating for the past ten minutes about where to place the tree with such a serious expression and suddenly turning on his allies was hard.
“He did mention it is not really mind-controlling magic but something different. From what I remember, Nirvana is supposed to reverse the light within oneself, from light to darkness and from darkness to light. I do not know the details of what he felt like under its effects, but he did mention how it happened before.” Lucy answered with an uncertain face, remembering Erza’s name coming up during the conversation. “Erza apparently saw something similar happen many years ago when they first met.”
Cana hummed, being familiar with the redhead's past. “I still don't understand how he freed himself from it”
At that, Lucy just chuckled awkwardly, averting her eyes with Cana which made the brunette curious.
“What?”
“N-Nothing…” The blonde's memories reverted back to the moment she asked this same question to Broly out of curiosity and his answer was something that turned out to be completely different than she expected. “I don't know how to explain it without it sounding a bit weird.”
Cana’s eyes widened and she showed a sly smile, “Hehehe, oh you naughty little girl. Going to kiss someone in the middle of a battlefield, how bold~! Still, I one hundred percent approve of your method, no need to feel weird about it as long as it works!”
Lucy's hand loudly struck the table, nearly spilling the content and startling Cana who saw a glowing blush make its way on her face till she resembled a tomato.
“Nothing like that happened!”
“Yet.”
“Cana!”
The card mage raised both hands in defeat, barely able to contain her laughter when seeing her friend's reaction. “Alright alright, I was just messing with you… kinda. But you can't blame me for making assumptions if you're suddenly so quiet. So just tell me.”
Lucy continued to hesitate for a few more seconds before she gave up. She didn’twant Cana to come up with even weirder ideas on this topic. “Broly said he was hugging someone.” She whispered, knowing how odd her answer sounded.
Cana tilted her head, wondering if she heard correctly.
“Hugging? Did you not just mention he was beating all of your asses from here to Bosco? Unless he was trying to break someone's spine with a bear hug, I guess that would’ve counted.” Lucy shivered at that, being held so strongly until her bones broke like twigs sounded so painful.
“Yes, he was not hugging anyone. I don't know how to explain it. He said It happened in his mind and some kind of girl with long hair came and helped him from losing control completely. He said she was really warm.” Her voice trailed down at that last part.
A girl with long hair, that description barely narrowed down the list of people who knew him and the description of her being warm did not help at all. When she asked him to give her more information, He just shrugged and mentioned that his memory was a bit hazy at the time and to not worry about it.
“I’ll admit, this is the first time I have heard something like this. To break control of a mind-altering magic by dreaming of a girl hugging you is not something I would hear from someone who wasn’t drunk. Are you sure he wasn't just messing with you?”
At that, Lucy immediately shook her head and denied that claim resolutely. “Broly is not someone who makes jokes like that and he is not even good at it when he tries. And the situation was pretty serious so it didn’t seem like a good time to make jokes in the first place.”
All in all, it was a confusing case in which part of her wanted to know the answer, and the other continued to be curious. But come on! Whoever or whatever happened, it still managed to save him from whatever Nirvana did to her friend and for that Lucy was grateful. “Never mind, if you are still curious about what happened, then just ask him yourself when he gets back.”
“Speaking of which, when is he going come back? He’s been trying to find the sweet spot to place that tree for a —huh? Mirajane?” At first, she just threw a small gaze outside just to check what he was doing, and suddenly out of nowhere saw there was someone else present.
Speaking with Broly whilst holding a basket, dressed in a beautiful black dress that failed to hide her curves.
“I hadn't thought she would come over for a visit, wait… I didn't even tell the others about this place.” Cana muttered, with both her and Lucy standing near the window watching the duo interacting with one another. “Say, don't you think she is a bit too happy speaking with him?”
“Eh? I don't think so, she looks to me like her usual self.” Lucy answered, peeking at the scene with some uncertainty as well. Her eyes narrowed and her guard was up against many people lately. “Maybe Broly told her where we live, they get along well enough from what I'm seeing.”
“Everyone gets along with Mira, there’s hardly anyone in Fairy Tail that doesn't. But she is not one to willingly go out of her way to look after someone else outside the guild like this. Ah, he's coming back! Act natural.”
“Stop making it sound like we were doing something bad!”
With both girls going back to their seats, they heard the door open with Broly walking inside with a towel around his neck. Wiping off some sweat and holding a basket that had an enticing savory aroma coming from it. “Hey you two, Mirajane just dropped by and gave me this — she told me it's a housewarming gift or something like that.”
Putting the basket on the table, he walked away to his room before halting in his step and turning to face both women. “By the way has Makarov mentioned anything about repaying the damages I've done on the quest?”
“You seriously expect him to ask you for compensation for destroying that freaking thing!?” Lucy pointed outside at the sky, the meaning behind her words being quite clear. “Even if he asked us to repay it, where the hell are we supposed to find that kind of money? How do you even fix that thing to begin with? Or who do we go to give the money to!? No one owns the moon! I don't even think the royal family has enough coins in their vaults to do it! So forget about it and please never bring it up again, I don't want our case to worsen after what happened at Mount Hakobe uuuuuh! We barely have enough left to just eat!”
“You also need to contribute to this month's rent.” Not willing to miss this opportunity, Cana added with a mischievous smirk.
“Already!?”
“It's been a few days since you all returned and the end of the month is near. So the clock is ticking~!” She popped her wrist, enjoying the sight of the blonde panicking so much. She found the blonde to be adorable when she’s like this. “Are you two that low on money? I remembered you had quite a bit of jewel when you first got here and both of you have accomplished quite a few quests so far that had high-paying rewards.”
“But we didn't get paid for most of them! And the last one we also were not paid for obvious reasons!”
“Well, no use crying over spilled milk. There is an easy way to fix this issue within a day and earn enough money to pay many months of rent in an instant”
Broly grew curious, He was not that worried about their dwindling funds since he could easily live in the forest as he did in the past. But he could not have Lucy live the same kind of lifestyle as him. Even if she had grown used to it after leaving her house, she still clearly enjoyed the city life more than himself. Also, he did feel a bit guilty to see her stress about money so often and he also felt partially or rather mostly responsible for everything that happened so far.
“What is it then?” He asked the brunette.
“Hehehe, just follow me.”
{Break}
-Fairy Tail-
Honestly, he should have expected this.
“Time for us to take on a few quests!”
After managing to encourage Lucy on a way to gain a lot of money in a short amount of time, all three of them quickly left the house before noon and were dragged by Cana to the guild. The place was as lively as ever, even despite what happened during the quest no one seemed to be bothered by the outcome and only cared about the others coming back alive.
“Hey, Broly! I like what you did with the moon! Now I no longer hear the wolves howling near my house hahahahaha!”
“You look even more beautiful today, Cana! Let me buy you a drink!”
“I need another fill, Mira-chan~!”
“God fucking damn it! That bitch is going to suck my money dry just because I accidentally destroyed her roof! She keeps increasing the amount day by day by demanding ten thousand jewels for even the smallest cracks on the wall! If she increases it again today I will punch her in the face!”
Safe to say, no one even bothered to bring up the details of the quest. To them, as long as Erza, Natsu, and Gray were involved then the quest was bound to succeed with a bit of collateral damage.
No one even remotely believed him when he confessed about destroying the moon. Treating it as a joke he made and bringing it up from time to time. Broly did not know how to feel about that since he fully expected everyone here to look at him with disappointment or anger after what he did.
But none of that happened.
Looking around, he found no trace of Erza, making him wonder where she went. The same goes for both Natsu and Gray, perhaps they were on another quest?
“Hm?”
At the corner of his vision, he saw a set of white wings and blue hair which reminded him of a dragon slayer and flying cat duo he met during the prior quest. His eyes widened at the sight of Wendy sitting at one of the tables with the annoyingly talkative cat having a meal.
And the girl just happened to notice him.
“Ah, hello!” She hesitated at first but managed to show a big cheerful smile and waved at him. Getting up from her seat and rushing towards him with Carla following along. “U-Um… nice to see y-you again.”
“Humph, we meet again, brute.” She just started to greet him like that, though he had gotten used to it.
“Wendy?”
“You remembered!” Of course, he would remember her, it had only been a few days since they last met. “I-I was afraid I wasn't going to be re-recognized.”
“Be more confident in yourself, Wendy! If you continue to behave like that then no one is going to remember you. So don't act all scared and stop trembling so much, young lady!”
“I'm trying my best…”
As usual, the dynamic between these two had not changed since they last met. From his perspective, though the flying cat was a bit unknown to deal with, she appeared to genuinely care about the young girl which he found to be reassuring.
“Why are you…” There were plenty of questions swimming around his mind concerning her current presence. But right as he was about to ask why she was here, Broly managed to spot the Fairy Tail guild mark on her. “Oh, then what about your old guild?”
Her smile faded quickly, replaced with one that was closest to sorrow. The sudden change caught him off guard and Broly wondered if he mentioned something he shouldn't have. Surprisingly, Carla was the one to speak up immediately and give him an answer with a soft tone. “It is a bit complicated to explain everything, so just read this. That old man wanted to pass this onto you specifically.”
A letter?
Curious as to what was going on and feeling a strange sense of dread, he quickly opened it.
…
To the one who managed to burn away our greatest sin,
Greetings,
I present myself as Roubaul, former Master of the Cait Shelter guild and the late chief of the Nirvit clan.
I am sure you may have many questions upon reading this letter, especially after seeing Wendy join your guild. Allow me to assure you that she was not cast away nor abandoned. Wendy has always been, and will forever remain, a beloved member of our family. She has spoken of you during your encounter, and though some of her words were difficult for me to believe at first, I now recognize their truth.
I will not waste your time and will address the heart of my message: I write to express both my gratitude and my plea for forgiveness.
The Nirvana was never intended to be a weapon of war. Its sole purpose was to foster peace and bring an end to conflict between forces locked in unending strife. It was meant to be a tool of harmony, capable of transforming the hearts of those consumed by darkness into ones open to understanding and compassion. But the road to peace was fraught with unintended consequences, and in our arrogance, we created an abomination—a weapon of destruction that betrayed everything we sought to achieve.
For this, I ask your forgiveness. I have witnessed firsthand the harm Nirvana brought upon you, and I am acutely aware of the rage and pain it has left in its wake within your heart. No apology could ever erase the scars it inflicted, but I must at least acknowledge my responsibility. I am deeply sorry.
My time in this world has been fleeting, extended only by the duty I carried—to guard our mistakes and protect an innocent soul who bore no connection to the sins of the past. For centuries, I remained shackled to that duty. But now, with your intervention, those chains have been broken. The complete destruction of Nirvana is a reality I never dared to dream of, yet it has brought me a measure of peace. To see it turned to ashes has lifted a weight I thought I would carry into eternity. For this, I thank you, my clansmen can finally rest in peace.
Finally, I must ask one last favor, though I know I have no right to do so. I plead with you and your guild to look after Wendy. She is still young, untested, and maturing. She deserves a future unburdened by the mistakes of my past. Care for her as we did. Protect her, nurture her, and keep her safe.
Best regards,
Roubaul
…
A complicated well of emotions rose within Broly's heart when he read the letter. On one hand, he felt particularly sorry about this person who had to look after that weapon for so long and secondly, it was the frustration of any lack of what happened — for he never intended to blame anyone other than Irene for what happened to him.
But that was not the end of it, for him to see the sense of gratitude coming from this letter about him destroying Nirvana… felt good. Warm.
He failed to explain it in words, but when reading the letter made him feel more accepted. But then again, doubts continued to persist stubbornly from within. ‘If I had not destroyed it, would Wendy's guild members still be around?’
“W-What does the letter say?” Wendy ended up asking after a few minutes of silence from him. Seeing her worried expression momentarily made him remember Lucy from all those years ago when she helplessly wandered inside the forest.
Right, This was not the moment to be having such thoughts. So, he got onto his knees putting him out at nearly the same level as Wendy. “It's asking me and the others to take good care of you. Welcome to Fairy Tail, Wendy.” His giant hands ended up finding their way to her soft hair and tussling them a bit like he used to do with Lucy. His action momentarily caught her by surprise but she ended up accepting and even leaning against it.
“T-Thank you! I'll do my best as a Fairy Tail wizard!”
He was happy to see her reaction like that. The girl bowed her head once and had to leave to meet the master, she still had a few things left to discuss with him but as she went along her steps carried more confidence than before.
While he went back to join the main group who was waiting for him.
“Here we are, the only way you can get enough money to buy yourself an entire warehouse of booze within a single day. Trust me, it works.” Cana mentioned while she stood in front of the quest board. “Of course, I may be exaggerating the numbers a bit since neither one of you are S-class wizards, So don't expect to find quests that reward more than working as a group.”
Now that she mentioned it, the Saiyan realized that despite the three of them being a team they had yet to complete any kind of quests on their own.
Lucy on the other hand who was prepared to face a monumental challenge given how much her friend was hyping it up could not help but sigh. “How could I have forgotten about these? I guess dealing with all kinds of ridiculous things in the past few days made me forget about there being simple jobs that won't endanger my life or have me face dangerous mages.”
All three of them began scouting for something fitting their requirements. Simple enough that it could be accomplished in a single day and also offer enough compensation for them. ‘There are a lot. Request to babysit a dog, clean someone's house, buy groceries on behalf of another person, act as background characters in the theater play, and even paint fences. They are simple enough, but I think the pay is too little.’
Neither of these offered much at all, many of them barely even going over ten thousand jewels.
“I see you are having a bit of trouble choosing as well.” a voice spoke next to him, that of a man he never heard before. Broly turned to face a similarly tall, heavily muscular tan young man. Having clothes similar to his, a bob cut, and white tattoos of the sun on his shoulders. “I understand How you must feel right now. Taking on any kind of request is not an easy job and finding the right one can be very tricky. If you need any kind of advice on which ones to choose and which ones to stay away from then don't hesitate to ask me, newbie.”
“Uh… who are you?” Uncertain about how to respond to such a thing in the first place, Broly just went with the first question that crossed his mind when looking at this person.
The person in question did not show any kind of offended expression and even puffed his chest whilst putting on a serious expression. “My name is Nab Lasaro, a long-time member of Fairy Tail. I have a lot of experience dealing with such things, more so than anyone else here, so don't hesitate to as—ka!”
A slipper came flying from behind Broly, hitting Nab straight in the face.
“Oi Nab! Don't go infecting Broly with your serious case of indecisiveness when it comes to picking out a request! I don't want to see him spending most days standing here and just looking at the board like you!”
“Ah! That hurt, Cana! And I was not infecting him with anything, he clearly needed some help to decide. And just so you know, I don't spend all day standing here unable to choose a quest, I am just waiting for the perfect one to appear so that I can be more efficient with my time.”
“You're just a procrastinator.” She did not hold back with her cutting words, striking the man where it hurt most verbally. “Anyways, ignore him, Broly. Nab is infamously known to just stand here all day looking at the quest board without picking out anything with how indecisive he can be. You'll see him often, so just get used to it.”
The man nodded, turning his attention to Nab who was getting back up with a giant red footprint on his face. “I see, it's nice to meet you too, Nab. If I have any questions about a quest, I will come to ask you for advice.”
His response made all of the gloomy atmosphere around the man instantly disappear. Making him laugh while continuously patting Broly's shoulders. “Hahahaha! I'm glad to hear that. See, Cana? You should be nice to me like the guy here, it will make you a bit more cut—”
“—Finish That sentence and I will have you taste the bottom of my other shoe since you clearly like it so much.”
That instantly made him shut up, the irritated expression of the brunette clearly telling him to just walk away silently while he was still in one piece.
“Don't mind Nab. He is a good guy but his indecisiveness can be irritating after dealing with it for so long. But part of what he said is true, given how frequently he hangs around here that guy is familiar with the kind of people who send in the requests. So if you want to avoid potentially dealing with a shady person who might try to undercut you then you can just ask him if the quest giver is an honest person or not. In any case, both Lucy and I chose a couple of quests that might be interesting.” She said before showing him a small stack of posters.
.
.
.
“Need help to move around heavy objects to finish construction on a bridge. Here it's mentioned that the sooner the job is done the more they will pay with a maximum being almost ninety thousand.”
“Searching for strong individuals who can scare off a bunch of wild blood bats That settled in the forest a few days ago. Apparently, they are quite annoying to deal with for the farmers.”
“Oh, look at this! Looking for a water mage who can fill up a large pool with clean water in seconds. I remembered you mentioning holding the Aquarius key, you can use it and ask her to fill it up.”
“Absolutely not! Are you insane!? If I even thought of asking that, she will drown me!”
Cuddled around a table, all three of them were checking the request chosen by each one of them. Seeing which one was potentially the most worthwhile while also being easy to accomplish within a day. The rewards varied from the lowest offering a mere twenty thousand with the highest being a hundred thousand.
“Let's just the one where we are asked to cut down a few trees for a lumberjack. It pays well and I know the person myself, he’s pretty easygoing.”
Lucy hummed, not immediately agreeing. “It does look interesting, but this one seems more interesting don't you think? Where someone needs some assistance to paint their whole house, even the pay is similar and it won't be as physically demanding. What do you think, Broly?”
He shrugged, “All of them seem fine to me. If we are quick with it then getting it done within a day.” They were pretty boring and simple requests that didn’t demand much. And all of it is happening locally unlike the past few quests.
So they continued to search for another few minutes till he sensed someone familiar approaching them with a tray in hand holding multiple mugs of beer. “Oh? It's rare to see you being so choosy about quests, Cana.” Mirajane walked over and took the empty glasses of juice near Lucy and took a quick peek at the posters on the table. Leaning ever so slightly which made part of her chest accidentally touch the saying's shoulders, though neither of them commented or even cared about it. But the same could not be said for Lucy who had a weary expression on her face.
“Well yeah. Since this is the first one we are taking all three of us together without anyone else then I wanted it to be something special. Something that will pay enough for Lucy and Broly over here to afford rent. So I want it to be something special and not dangerous. I can't believe I spent almost half an hour going over these, perhaps Nab really infected me…”
The white-haired Mage did not give her a quick response and instead just looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, tapping her finger on her lips a couple of times before snapping her fingers. “I just remembered something. If you guys are searching for a worthwhile quest then I might be able to help with that. You may even get paid almost half a million if all goes well.” She said with a small smile on her face As soon as those words left her mouth. Getting a reaction of pure disbelief from Lucy and skepticism from Cana.
“Half a million? Not that I doubt you, Mira… but hopefully you're not sending us to a quest where we have to fight a group of bandits or dark mages. I don't even remember seeing such a quest posted on the board.”
“Fufufu~! No, it's nothing like that. You will see it for yourselves. Just come to this address in the afternoon, I will be waiting.” Leaving them a small piece of paper where she wrote the address of the job's location, all three of them agreed.
.
.
.
(A few hours later)
It did not take long for her group to find out what their job turned out to be. Now having left the guilt and walked over to the southern part of Magnolia, they reached the address with him on the paper that turned out to be a large studio building with models, photographers, and other people. A few of them even mistook Lucy and Cana as models themselves and approached them.
Some of them even started surrounding Broly and admired his physique, of you even daring to touch his muscles shamelessly and compliment him on them. Not that he found it weird and just accepted them with a smile on his face.
It wasn't until later that they managed to find Mirajane posing in front of a decorated set wearing a rather skimpy-looking swimsuit. This was followed by multiple flashes of the camera as the photographer kept taking multiple shots from different angles.
The trio froze for a moment, not quite expecting the scene before them. Mirajane, always the cheerful and composed mage, looked entirely in her element as she struck elegant poses for the photographer. The swimsuit she wore—a white and blue ensemble with delicate frills—complemented her curves. “Finally, she noticed their arrival and waved.”
Mirajane, noticing them, broke from her pose and waved enthusiastically at them. “Oh, you made it! Perfect timing!” She walked over, ignoring the frantic protests of the photographer begging her to stay on set. “We will soon begin the group pictures and you two will need to change into swimsuits prepared for you inside the changing room.” It wasn’t the job they’d imagined when she said it would pay half a million jewels.
Lucy’s jaw dropped. “Wait… This is the job? Modeling?! Oh my god, are you serious!?”
She exclaimed, both bewildered and equally as awed seeing the renowned model she'd seen countless times in her favorite magazines posing in front of her in real life and also telling her to join!
Cana folded her arms, arching a brow. “Figures Mira would pull something like this. Though, honestly, it doesn’t seem too bad.” Her eyes flicked to the photographers and the assistants bustling around. “Looks more glamorous than chopping wood, at least. Well, it's easy money.”
“...” Broly scratched the back of his head, his expression neutral but curious. He noticed the photographer eyeing him for a while but did not say anything about it.
“This isn’t just about modeling. I’ve been doing some promo shoots for a new campaign, and they’re short on people for tomorrow’s event. They need some extra models.”
Lucy’s face flushed red. “Mira! I’m not a model! I don’t even know how to pose like that!”
Mirajane chuckled and placed a reassuring hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “You don’t need to. It’s more about presence than anything. They’ll guide you through it. And Cana, you’d be perfect with your confidence.
Cana smirked. “Oh, I’m in. This sounds like fun.” She nudged Lucy playfully. “C’mon, Lucy. You’re always worried about rent. Here’s your chance to make a lot in one go.”
Lucy groaned, conflicted. “But this is so out of my comfort zone…”
She was still hesitant until Mirajane approached her and whispered something in her ears which Broly failed to hear, whatever it was made the girl blush and instantly agree. “Let’s get you all set up then. The fitting room’s that way.”
As the duo were led away deeper into the studio, Broly stayed behind unsure what to do until Mirajane approached him. Still wearing the swimsuit that continued to attract a lot of attention from even the other models. “What do you think?” She asked, striking a pose with her arms under her chest, pushing them upwards and making them pop out even more than usual.
“It looks good.” Broly just said the first thing that came to mind, remembering how Aquarius used to ask him the exact same kind of question whenever she got herself a new bikini. But his relaxed answer did not seem to satisfy her unlike the Celestial spirit, as Mirajane gave him a small pout.
“You answered it so easily I thought you'd be more stunned since I don't usually wear something this risque. You aren't even blushing.” She pointed out, making him slightly confused about that statement.
“Why should I be blushing?”
That caught Mirajane by surprise, realizing he was very genuine with his question. “Oh my, well how do I explain this… most men tend to get excited seeing me in such clothing. I thought you would have had the same reaction but I suppose I was wrong. Or maybe I am not putting in enough effort?”
He tilted his head, not that he felt nothing seeing her like this. But he did not truly understand what she meant by excited, then he recalled the faces Makarov and Wakaba made when looking at similarly dressed models in magazines.
Perhaps that was what she meant?
Not that he understood why, he had seen Aquarias’s bare chest during their baths together but he never made such a face. Though his body did feel hotter during those times but that was about it.
“While we wait for the two to change, want to take a few pictures of me? They will be trying multiple sets of swimsuits to see which one suits them best, so we have plenty of time on hand.”
Broly blinked, slightly taken aback by the offer. “You want me to… take pictures? Of you?”
Mirajane nodded with a playful smile, tilting her head slightly so a strand of her silver hair fell over her shoulder. “Why not? You’re already here, and it’s part of the job. Besides…” She leaned in just enough to catch his attention, her voice dropping to a soft, teasing tone. “I’d like to see how you think I look.”
He didn’t fully grasp the implications of her flirtation, but her gaze lingered on him with an intensity that even he couldn’t ignore. “Alright,” he said simply. “But I’ve never used one of those cameras before.”
Mirajane giggled and reached for a nearby professional camera, already prepped by one of the assistants. She placed it carefully into his hands, stepping close enough for him to catch the faint scent of her floral perfume. “It’s easy. I’ll show you.” She guided his hands to the proper position, her fingers brushing lightly against his. Her touch lingered a fraction longer than necessary, though Broly didn’t seem to notice.
“Like this?” he asked, adjusting his grip as she instructed.
“Perfect,” she replied, her voice honeyed. “Now, just focus on me. Don’t worry about anything else.”
She stepped back into the spotlight, the lighting catching the shimmer of her skin as she struck another pose. This time, her movements were more deliberate, almost feline in their grace. She rested a hand on her hip, tilting her head slightly with a playful smirk. “How do I look now?”
Broly peered through the camera’s lens, his expression calm but focused. “You look… good.” He clicked the shutter, capturing the moment, but his tone lacked the reaction Mirajane was fishing for.
“Oh, come on,” she teased, her lips curving into a sly smile. “You can do better than ‘good.’” She shifted positions, arching her back just enough to accentuate her figure while maintaining elegance. But her stretch made the fabric be pulled back even further, showcasing more skin and a slight pink color at the center of her breast. “What about now?”
He paused, studying her through the lens. There was no denying that she was stunning—her beauty was undeniable, even to someone as straightforward as him. He started to feel a bit restless but did not show it, choosing to ignore that feeling and focus on the task at hand. “You look… beautiful? But be careful, I think your top is going to come off with how much it's stretching.”
The sincerity in his tone caught Mirajane off guard for a moment, her cheeks dusting with a faint pink. “Fufufu~! That would be embarrassing but don't worry, I know what I'm doing.”
As she moved into another pose, she decided to push the boundaries just a little further. “You know, Broly,” she said casually, “I'm glad to see you look more cheerful compared to when we last spoke by the lake. I heard the quest did not go as planned and I was worried that you'd be in a worse mood.”
He showed a smile, “Is that why you came over this morning?”
“You can say that I suppose.”
“I did many things I regret during the quest because I thought it would keep the others safe. It was at the end I realized just how flawed that kind of thinking was and it put them in danger regardless. So I don't want to cause them to worry even more about me, I gave them enough of a hard time.” The Saiyan answered while taking the picture, his answer making Mirajane stare at him for a while.
In the end, she sighed. “You know, it's not wrong to be more reliant on us. We care about you just as much as you care about us.”
His hands stopped, as her words sunk in. They were very familiar with what that person mentioned before and it soothed him more than he expected.
“I know, but I still want the others to rely on me without something going wrong. I made a lot of mistakes, and I don't want it to continue. Which is why I will do my best from now on to not mess things up.”
A gleam flashed within the girl's eyes, “Then how about we take a picture together to commemorate this occasion?”
Broly hesitated, lowering the camera. “Are you sure about that? I’m not exactly dressed for photos like these.”
He pointed at his clothes which covered his entire body with a coat that seemed to be made out of the fur of some kind of monster.
Mirajane’s playful smile widened. “It is a difficult situation, isn't it? Unfortunately, we don't have any swimsuits for men prepared today, so I suppose you would be against taking off a few layers yourself. It must be a new experience for you. How unfortunate~! So I suppose we don't have any choice but to—!?”
What was supposed to be just an attempt to tease the Saiyan even further was instantly shattered when Mirajana saw the man in front start undressing without hesitation. Taking off his upper clothes showing his bare chest and was stunned when he started to loosen the fur around his waist along with the pants.
“I don't mind, since you, Cana, and Lucy are making the effort to wear those kinds of clothing so I shouldn't be shy as well.” He answered earnestly, not noticing Mirajane’s eyes lingering on his body till they started to lower ever so slightly.
“Besides, I usually am used to walking around without much on. So it's more comfortable for me.” With nothing but some boxers that clung tightly to him, Broly approached the set and stood next to a speechless Mirajane. “Alright. What do I need to do?”
Her prior mischievous expression was completely gone and her eyes darted away to look at anything else but what was presented before her.
“Hold her close like in the poster here!” One of the photographers couldn't help but exclaim out loud and pointed at one of the pictures glued to the wall. The moment she saw it, she started to panic.
“W-Wait! I was just messing ar—ah~!” An involuntary moan escaped her mouth when she felt his arms circle around her waist, firmly holding onto her and pulling her body closer to his. Her soft body pressed against what felt like a mountain of muscles, warm to the touch coupled with the scent of his sweat reaching her nose.
‘He smells surprisingly pleasant.’
Such thoughts managed to creep into her mind.
“Tell me if I'm holding you too tightly.” His voice came from behind, far too close to her ears that she felt his warm breath touch her neck, causing a chill to rush up her spine.
She was not supposed to be the one to be flustered today!
Her hazy eyes saw the camera flash and instantly remembered that she was not even paying attention to the kind of faces she was making! But from the reaction of those around, it was enough to make them blush.
The way he held her was not something that could be done by someone inexperienced! He had done this before with someone else, she was sure of it.
It couldn't have been Lucy, right? Despite how mature her body is, that girl did not give her the impression of being bold enough to do such a thing given how easy it is to tease her.
“Your body is growing warmer, is something wrong, Mira?”
“N-No, it's nothing.”
She could not let herself be beaten so easily!
Her pride as a model just refused to do so.
The girl just had to compose herself and regain control.
“Nice! Now have her sit on your lap like this poster and bring your face closer to hers.”
That damned photographer! She was not used to taking this kind of picture, her usual work was mostly solo!
Just as she was about to put an end to all of this, she saw Lucy and Cana walk into the set and stare at the scene with various emotions flashing on their faces.
“What is going on here?”
“That sly fox…”
‘It was supposed to be just some light teasing!’ She wanted to exclaim but couldn't as she felt the man shift his posture, each movement nearly making another embarrassing sound escape her mouth.
Right, it was just a few pictures. There was nothing wrong about this. Surely they would understand if she explained later on.
Now she learned something else about Broly, he was not shy about intimate contact in the least… nor was he shy. Just far too innocent or just pure-minded for his own good.
“Am I doing good?” He asked again, his face almost nestling on her neck. His hair tickled her body which made the tingle within her grow more intense. Being held closer than ever before, having never experienced this with anyone of the opposite gender.
The thick columns of black smoke curled into the sky like the breath of some monstrous entity, catching the attention of both Radomira and Draco. Radomira’s gaze was drawn toward the city entrance, her heart pounding as Draco moved beside her, each step she took filled with dread. They arrived moments later, only to be confronted with a scene that could only be described as a living nightmare.
The heat was suffocating, an invisible force pressing against their skin and lungs as they approached. The air shimmered with waves of unbearable warmth, and the sounds of countless people screaming and calling for escape filled their ears could be heard long before they arrived. Amid the chaos, not everyone had fled. Brave souls—men, women, and even some older children—remained behind to combat the relentless blaze, carrying buckets filled with water to extinguish the torrential fire rising from the ground beneath.
The very same flames that roared from the sewer with enough force to reduce everything in its path into cinder. It was a blaze unlike any natural fire, hungry and vengeful, spreading with terrifying speed. Those who couldn’t escape in time were claimed by it, their screams cut short, leaving behind nothing but charred, lifeless forms.
“What is going on here!? Another attack!? Draco!” Trying to make sense of the carnage before her, Radomira could only think of a single person capable of committing such an atrocity. Whirling around, she glared at the blonde figure trailing behind her. “Stop this!”
Yet much to her dismay, the blonde held an expression of confusion that morphed into disinterest after surveying her surroundings. “Do you blame me for the chaos beseeching this city?”
“Then who else!?”
The Beast shrugged, “I am all-powerful. My strength grows with each passing day by doing nothing but living in this poor excuse of a kingdom. Why burn away my source of power without any reason? It was already on its way to ruins, it's beneath me to meddle with its path in this way.” She answered without hesitation, her voice clear even in this chaotic environment.
“Then who…”
Weirdly enough, despite wanting to believe otherwise, Radomira found herself believing Draco's words. They hadn’t known each other long, but the girl never struck her as a liar. Still, the truths she spoke were often difficult to accept.
“Why ask when you already know the answer, brat.” Draco scoffed at that question. “This Kingdom is built upon the foundation of decadence, incompetence, and pure greed. There is no ruler standing at the helm commanding those beneath, nothing but an ignorant child who has been put into a decorated room while ignorant of the happenings of her kingdom. Eventually, those seeking power would grow greedy and start devouring themselves to the point of becoming no different to animals.”
“I… I don't understand. Archer is here!”
“And?” Draco pushed back. “His presence is not some miracle that will resolve all the issues plaguing these kingdoms. Counter Guardians are not meant to handle matters in such manners in the first place, he has gone out of his way to take an inefficient approach from their standards. In fact, you can say all of this is partially his fault in the first place.”
The young Tiefling couldn't believe her, she vehemently denied this statement and even wanted to smack the girl. “You don’t know what you’re talking about! Stop trying to turn me against him! Archer just wants to help people like he did with me!”
“Stupid child, I gain nothing substantial from lying to you or turning you against your precious ‘Archer’. Everything that is happening right now has no bearing on me and my goals.”
“Then why are you blaming him!? He’s nothing like those monsters!!”
The pig brothers' faces flashed in her mind, churning her stomach with revulsion. Though she'd witnessed their repulsive fate, doubt gnawed at her. What if they survived? The thought of those brutes returning to drag her back into slavery sent icy tendrils of dread crawling up her spine. She shuddered, pushing away the persistent fear that they might one day reappear to reclaim their lost "property."
Archer was nothing like them and she couldn’t understand why Draco was blaming him for this.
“It is his fault. For he allowed this to happen. Silly girl, let me remind you that the duty of a Counter Guardian is to destroy all threats to humanity and its continuation in history. What should have happened upon his arrival was not him going on a small journey to save that dark elf Queen and her subordinate but to eliminate the mercenary group and anyone associated with them — including most if not all of the nobility and clergymen present in this continent that were a threat to humanity existence.” A chill ran up Radomira's spine when those bright crimson eyes stared back at her. “Which means all seven kingdoms, along with every threat, should have been eliminated a long time ago. You as well, would have been destroyed along with everyone here.”
“Shut up…” She spoke in a hushed tone.
“Taking a different path than that of the norm has inadvertently endangered the rest of the kingdoms around Eostia. These people have gotten their hands upon a weapon they have no idea how to utilize. Just take a look for yourself.” She raised her hand and pointed not that far away from the source of the fire. Despite them being surrounded by flames, not everyone had escaped. In fact, now that she took a closer look, the young Tiefling girl noticed a horrifying sight.
“N-No!”
“Stay away from me!”
“Come here!”
“What are you doing!?”
It hadn't dawned on her yet, but there was a subtle scent lingering in the air around her. Vastly overpowered by the stench of burned wood and acrid smoke — she recognized the presence of a particular ‘perfume’ as Draco liked to call it reaching her nose.
“No… why again…?”
Radomira's senses weren't completely overwhelmed, nor were her powers spiraling out of control. Yet there it was - her aphrodisiac, unmistakable in the air and intensifying with each passing moment. Its effects were already visible, as men and women alike seemed to forget the danger around them, their fear of the flames replaced by a different kind of heat.
“A-ah~! Ha~! Harder!”
Amidst the chaos, a disturbing scene unfolded. A young woman and a man, at least three times her age, were locked in a frenzied embrace. Their clothes lay discarded nearby as they writhed together on the street, oblivious to the inferno around them. The woman's cries of pleasure cut through the crackling flames, drawing the attention of others affected by the strange perfume. Like moths to a flame, a crowd of lust-addled people converged on the pair, hands grasping and bodies pressing together.
Similar scenes occurred all around her, with the carnage becoming more and more than just a sound in the background. The sounds of moaning and skin against skin began to overwhelm the area.
“What a disappointing sight.” Draco looked unbothered by the whole thing. Saton top of a destroyed rooftop that had fallen to the street at some point, she gazed at the scene with her legs swinging back and forth lazily. “Behold, these are the type of people your guardian wants to save, the very same one he fights tooth and nail for. Of course it won’t stop them as they are too much lost in their own little world, but it just is the reality of the situation.”
“Why… Why is my power being used here!? I didn't lose control of it!” Unable to bear the horrific scene any longer, she bolted, desperately seeking refuge from the chaos and the hungry gazes following her. Her feet pounded against the scorched ground as she fled, driven by a need to escape the debauched madness her abilities had unwittingly unleashed.
“Humph, idiot. Since you were captured you have most likely excreted enough of this substance for someone to make a weaker and less potent copy using yours as a base. The scent is yours undoubtedly, but not nearly as fragrant. Oh?” She stopped midway as she took the moment to steady herself.
A few men had tried to approach her, their hungry gazes going over her body with saliva dripping from their mouths.
“Hah… hah… that pretty mouth… hah… come here… come here and let me put it to good use…”
“C-Come here girl… you look like a noble brat… I always wanted to fuck one like you…” With Radomira hidden from view, neither one of them was able to see her, pinning their entire focus on the young-looking blonde.
“The gall.”
Their bodies fell to the ground before they could even touch her, decapitated long before anyone even knew what happened before their flesh turned to ashes. “Seems like even a small dosage is already this effective on them, whoever did this is planning to down the entire kingdom obviously. Or rather, I doubt they had much of a plan to begin with. Humu, that makes sense.”
Her nonchalant attitude is starting to get on Radomira’s nerves. “How can you be this calm with everything going on here!? Last I recall you mentioned living a luxurious life here to satisfy your boredom! If this keeps going on any longer, then so will your lifestyle!”
It was a small part of her, a very small part of that had her hoped that perhaps this bratty little blonde would be willing to help her out. To put an end to this madness if she managed to show her reason. But her hopes were raised for naught, as Draco showed neither the care nor the energy to remedy the situation.
“Do not think I haven’t caught onto your little scheme to get me involved, brat.” After all, this was the Beast Archer warned her about. Scheming was her forte.. “This chaos works splendidly for me just as well. My first desire upon arrival was to regain enough of my strength to just wash away all of this filth — they are just making my job a little easier. The mistake is correcting itself. I do hope this is enough to get rid of the guardian and his ambition—!”
The sharp crack of palm against cheek sliced through the chaos. Draco's head snapped to the side, her eyes widening in disbelief. For a fleeting moment, a kaleidoscope of emotions flickered across her face - shock, confusion, and a dangerous glimmer of rage. Slowly, she slowly turned back to face Radomira, her crimson gaze burning with barely restrained fury.
"You dare..." Draco hissed, her voice low and menacing.
But Radomira did not back down.
“Why is it the same with you whenever you talk about Archer? You don't know him! You don't understand him! I don’t get why you are so insistent on making him suffer for doing what is right! You mentioned once that you wished to create a better world but nothing you've done so far has shown this! All you have done so far is to hurt a kind man who was just trying to help people and achieve that goal. In fact, the real parasite is you! Ah!” Unwilling to hear another word, a massive red-clawed hand clamped over the young girl's face and slammed her into the wall.
The pain nearly made her lose consciousness, but her willpower forbade that. She stared back at the furious crimson eyes that had grown sharper. She was no longer dealing with Draco but instead a true monster disguised as a cute little girl.
“There are many incorrect points within your statement, enough to warrant you a quick death with how absurd your ignorance is. The humanity you see now is in its truest form, flawed and limited. There is no salvation for them, no matter how much you believe that or that guardian of yours — They would have destroyed themselves sooner or later, with or without our presence. Wasted potential, inefficient, greedy, slothful, and weak. All of them.”
Pushing back against the crimson-scaled hand, Radomira barely managed to get enough space to speak. “N-Not… hn! Not all of them are like that… Archer… C-Claudia and B-Brynn are human too.”
Had this been the past, when she was enslaved, then she would have shared Draco’s sentiment. Or rather it would have been much worse, believing that the human race in general did not deserve to exist with the kind of monsters they showed themselves to be. Her time here showed a different picture, that despite the vast amounts of crooked individuals, there were still people who she could trust.
They did not deserve to die or be labeled as such.
“They are equally flawed. It is their negligence that birthed this disaster to begin with. No… In fact, you bear a part of the responsibility for this yet you have the gall to point the finger at this Emperor.” Letting out an infuriated sigh, Draco slammed her against the ground. Her body hit the road hard, bouncing a couple of times. Sharp gravel tore into her skin, leaving a trail of cuts across her body.
“...”
She remained there, lying down without saying a word after what the blonde said.
“You call me a parasite, yet worry not for your existence but that of the feeble humans here who have fallen prey to the aphrodisiac.” Those words stung as they were the truth, she knew full well how dangerous her powers were and even learned more about them from Olga.
And to see it being used like this… making countless people suffer, was becoming too much for the little girl to bear.
“You can do nothing but cry and complain, you hold a fair amount of potential but have not made the slightest bit of effort to use them. Archer this and Archer that, nothing but over-reliance on a spirit sent here on a mission, and who is failing in his duty. Your powers are not within your control but instead in the hands of others, how pitiful. If you want to blame someone then blame yourself.”
“...”
Her fingers dug into the dirt below, tears streaming down her face with the reality of the situation bearing down on her shoulders. Draco was right, in the end, she was nothing but a weak child.
“... I just wanted to spend my time with Archer. I wanted to eat his food every day, to be pampered by him, have my hair combed by him, and feel loved by him. I.. I-I didn't want to be like this, I don't want to force him to deal with problems that happened because of my existence!”
She wanted to be taken care of by Brynn, Olga, and Maia as well, hang out with Chloe who always secretly came over to peek at Archer, and be treated as family by Claudia.
“At the end of the day, to live the life you want, you need power. Nothing would change that. You may cling to capable individuals, but it still boils down to you alone. Continue to stay naive, continue to hide behind others while your enemies use what belongs to you as a weapon, and it will lead to the inevitable.”
Radomira sat motionless, her mind becoming numb. The chaos around her faded to a dull roar as she stared vacantly ahead. Draco's harsh words echoed in her ears, each syllable becoming another weight pressing down on her small shoulders. She felt herself sinking, drowning in a sea of powerlessness. The world blurred at the edges, reality slipping away as the overwhelming gravity of her situation crushed what little fight remained in her. At that moment, she was nothing more than a lost child, adrift in a storm far beyond her control.
“If you want everything here to come to an end, for this nightmare to disappear then just wait here. He is bound to arrive sooner or later and finally come to the realization that these people were beyond saving.” She did not need to guess who Draco was talking about, in fact, a part of her knew that Archer was going to save her one way or another.
But she did not feel proud or happy with that train of thought. She was going to be saved once more. “He… he won't kill everyone. He's not that kind of person…”
“Does it matter?”
It boggled her mind how confident Draco was about his next action, how she predicted that he would get rid of everyone. She had seen him go through plenty of challenges just to save a singular person, if all of his issues could be dealt with by killing everyone then he would have done so already. He saved her when he did not need to do so. How could such a person be so willing to destroy everything?
It just didn’t make sense to her.
“H-Help!” A young voice reached her ears, belonging to a child around the age of those she encountered this morning. Swiftly turning around, Radomira discovered a face that looked rather familiar, that of a boy who lived in the orphanage she once visited with Brynn. She remembered this boy talking about how both Archer and Celestine once went over there.
His name eluded her mind, but it didn’t matter as he was currently lodged under a wooden pillar from a partially collapsed house. More of it started to crumble down around him, threatening to crush him.
“No!” Was a decision made on the spur of the moment, her wings extended behind her back and she flew over as fast as she could. Though Draco called her powerless, she wanted to prove that Beast was otherwise.
Not just Draco, but herself as well.
That even in her current state she was capable of making a difference. No matter how small it was, no matter how insignificant it turned out to be… She rushed over there as if her life depended on it.
‘Just one, please just one!’
The distance between them grew smaller, and hope started to bloom within her heart, a small spark showing her the light at the end of the tunnel.
Until…
Crash!
The rest of the building collapsed when she was just a few inches away from him. Her outstretched hands barely touched him as the entire rooftop crushed his body and left her in a state of pure shock.
“...ah.”
She felt even more lightheaded, completely numb to anything and everything around her. She held onto the hand of the one person she tried to save, proving the Beast's claim to be true.
‘I am useless.’
Olga calling her a genius with her magical talent sounded like a joke. Stated to be a Tiefling loved by magic itself and blessed by the natural spirits, to exceed all expectations from even the most talented of human mages and equal to some of the most powerful elves.
This very same creature she praised could not even save a single person and instead caused the death of many.
“It's my fault.” The scent of her aphrodisiac lingering in the air brought forth nothing but grievance. What was supposed to be a gift according to some turned out to be nothing but a curse mocking her at every opportunity it could.
Having become so numb, the girl did not even see the approaching people all eyeing her like a fresh piece of meat. Eager to rape her in every way possible to satiate their lust.
With no resistance whatsoever, she let them grope her body. Fondling every part from her chest to her butt, perhaps hoping this would be enough to atone for what happened. Radomira's clothes were ripped away and laid bare for others to get their tongues gliding on her skin. Guards who had their fill from unfortunate victims were all greedily looking at the untouched flower before their eyes who by now resembled a young teenager instead of a child.
“—!”
Blood splashed on her face, and the next thing she knew, a pair of arms firmly held onto her. As the young Tiefling was pulled away from lifeless corpses that were littered around her. She recognized this touch, “A-Archer…” her voice shook as well as her body. “Why… Why is it always me? I-I didn't want any of this to happen… it's my fault… I can't do anything… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…”
She cried, with tears staining his clothes. Without even realizing gripping onto him with both arms and legs.
“It's not your fault.” He said firmly, gently caressing her back. The soothing sensation doing nothing to bury the guilt deep within, continuously apologizing for being so useless again and again.
‘It is my fault. You saved me and I instead ruined everyone's lives.’ Even if his touch gave the girl a sense of serenity, it only lasted for a few moments, unable to stop other negative emotions from sweeping her.
“...I will handle this. You don't need to worry about a thing, I give you my word," Archer reassured her, his voice almost startling Radomira with how eerily calm it sounded. Unlike his regular tone, there was a clear presence of anger and… resignation.
She blinked in confusion as Archer set her down on the rooftop. His hand ruffled her hair with an absent gentleness, but his eyes... They were cold, distant. Empty. She searched his face, trying to find a glimmer of the warmth she knew, but saw only a grim resolve that chilled her to the bone.
"Archer?" she whispered, her voice small and uncertain. But he said nothing, his hollow gaze fixed on the chaos below.
Void of any of his usual self, that sarcastic but kind demeanor which despite constantly frowning was actually just a facade to her eyes. Hiding away someone who genuinely cared for her and those around to some degree, small as it was, that emotion existed within.
But now… it was like looking into the eyes of a soulless puppet.
It frightened her.
There was no anger, no joy, or any kind of discernable emotions present when he turned to face the pink and black smoke-filled lower part of the kingdom.
“Trace, on.”
A wave of mana surged around him, she sensed and even saw beautiful waves of blue light coalescing around his arm, taking the shape of a large bow taller than herself along with several blades floating around them. Then another strange weapon came forth, different from the rest, for it was not a blade at all but some sort of parasol, though that alone was not what caught her attention.
‘T-That is… so much!’
Her senses were nearly overwhelmed by the immense surge of Mana flooding into the weapon, each wave more forceful than the last. The warping metal drew her gaze, shifting and reshaping itself the moment it touched his palms.
It was then she recalled the story Olga had told about Archer’s destruction of the Kuroinu. How she described arrows powerful enough to obliterate castles, single shot capable of leveling reinforced towers, and a relentless storm of projectiles raining from the darkened sky, piercing anyone who dared stand in his path.
An entire army and fortress was reduced to dust by a single man. Even Brynn had shared a similar tale of a summoned sword eclipsing the very sun to cleave an entire mountain range.
But seeing this about to happen in person, did not awe her in any way. But rather it made her worried, guilt-ridden, and distraught, for that was not the kind of face she wanted to see him make, ever.
“A-Arch—Archer,” gathering her courage, she went forward and grabbed his sleeves. “D-Don't do this.”
“Radomira?”
Her action must have surprised him for he was clearly unprepared for this. “You don't have t-to do this. Don't do th-this, please…”
She begged, not completely for the sake of those below but instead for him.
Perplexed, he let out a soft sigh before reaching out, his fingers brushing against her cheek as he gently tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ears. She relished the sensation for a brief moment, relieved that he reverted back to the person she knew but that joy only lasted for a moment.
“I am sorry, but this is for the best. I was wrong before… If this is not taken care of soon then it is very possible that those responsible will escape and endanger even more people.” He explained calmly, but his words made her blood run cold. “I… I clearly wasted too much time, I was too optimistic with my current method and my mistake led to this mess.”
“Don't say that!” She clenched his hands, pushing back her tears, not willing to cry even more than she did. “It’s not your fault! It's not your fault… it's not… It's mine!”
“...” He didn't say anything else as she desperately tried to stop whatever he was about to do.
“W-What about Brynn? Maia? Claudia? Olga and Chloe!? No, not just them, but there are many innocent people still down here!”
She noticed his hesitation, his body tensing for a single moment till he took a deep breath. “It is impossible to save everyone, I… I tried my best, I really did — but it’s clear now that this approach may not have been the best for the world in the end. I waited too long.”
“But you don't want to do this!” Trembling with desperation, she sought any excuse, any reasoning that could resolve this. “You care for them, they care for you. It's obvious you don't want to kill them so why are you forcing yourself to go this far…”
“Because there is no other way, Radomira.” As if devoid of fear, only resignation could be detected in his voice. “Had there been any other way then I would have gladly used it by now. But at this rate, even if I fail once, it would be catastrophic. Nothing will stop these dangerous beings from escaping and causing havoc upon the people.”
She sensed his mana coursing through his body, the aphrodisiac thickening around them until it enveloped the entire area in a dense, oppressive cloud. Strangely, it didn’t affect her as it might others, rather it felt warm and almost comforting to the Tiefling, though it stirred a growing heat within her. Her body, defying her will, seemed eager to produce even more of it.
The girl resisted, biting her lips hard enough to draw blood. “Why do you have to be the one to do this, Archer? You don't want to kill them, I can tell, so why force yourself? Why does it have to be you!? You're just hurting yourself!”
He offered her a helpless smile, “Hn, it is rare for someone to worry about me in such a situation. I appreciate it, I really do. IMy role in all of this is… complicated to explain. Maybe one day I will tell you, or perhaps you will figure it out yourself. But in the end, this is my duty, I need to clean up this mess before it spreads any further and empowers Draco even more— for the sake of humanity’s survival.”
Ah, so that was why.
‘Because he is a Counter Guardian.’ She used the title Draco mentioned early on. It never truly clicked what such a thing entailed, and she continued to nod as if understanding what the other party tried to explain.
“I won't blame you for hating me after this or decide you don’t want to stay around. I’ll take you somewhere safe, far away from all of this— some placeI doubt evenDraco will find you so easily. There’s a small inn run by a silly girl, assuming she’s managed to keep it afloat. You can live peacefully there.”
Dazed, she watched as Archer turned his attention back to the carnage ahead. The fires had mostly dwindled by now, leaving behind a dense cloud of pink smoke and the rising chorus of moans echoing through the ruins.
The wind surged, carrying another wave of mana as it burst forth from within him. Beautiful ribbons of crimson energy streamed from the weapon, twisting and coiling itself into the shape of an arrow. Focused, Archer pulled it along his bow.
Her body continued to shake, unsure whether it was due to her escalating emotions or the aphrodisiac playing tricks on her mind. But one thing was clear, Radomira had never felt such fear as she did now, watching Archer preparing to release the arrow in his hand.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Her heartbeat accelerated like never before, the world around her fading into nothingness, leaving only his steadfast figure before her.
‘I will drop you off somewhere safe.’
Those words echoed endlessly in her mind. A statement that was no different from a death sentence to someone like her, still scarred from her time as a slave. It forced her to confront a harrowing possibility: that the strongest pillar of support in her fragile world might one day vanish.
It doesn’t matter if Olga survived and were to be by her side, or anyone else for that matter.
She couldn’t accept them the way she did with Archer. It was different, she felt safe with him, but not with them. Without him, she could not even sleep at night; the nightmares of her past would return to haunt her in his absence.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Worst of all, she knew that if he crossed that line… To destroy the entire kingdom, then the kind Archer she knew, who smiled at her every day, loved to cook for her, and told her plenty of stories would disappear.
To be replaced by the soulless entity she had glimpsed previously. An image so starkly at odds with the one she had come to know that it left her feeling sick to her core.
No, he was going to suffer as well.
Her emotions continued to rise. Denial, continuous denial of the reality laid before her.
She could not accept it.
Radomira refused to accept this!
These people used her powers, HERS! What gave them the right to do so and take everything away from her again!?
It did not belong to them.
“Give it back.”
It belonged to no one. A curse that she alone was to bear for the rest of her life.
“Give it back!”
She would accept it, despite the uncertainty and fear that lingered within her. She would embrace that part of herself if it meant wrestling this weapon away from those who wielded it to harm those she cared about.
‘Your powers are not your own—they lie in the hands of others. How pitiful.’
Draco’s biting words echoed in her mind, so vivid and sharp that it felt as though she was leaning in, whispering them directly into her ear. Her laughter, dripping in pure contempt, intertwined with a myriad of raging emotions that flooded her till the dam broke.
“GIVE IT BACK!”
.
.
.
-Main Castle-
“Hm?”
Back at the main castle, a certain Dark Elf queen's senses picked up a strange sensation. A similar reaction emerged on Celestine's face with both elves turning their heads over in the same direction.
Distracted long enough for an enraged priestess to notice it immediately.
“Do you think this is the time to start daydreaming, you fool!?” Her voice was more strained than her usually calm self, even sounding aggressive. She was kneeling in front of a barrier looking completely haggard with dark circles around her eyes, giving the impression that she hadn't slept for days. “I won't be able to hold on any longer!”
“Humph, Is this truly the extent of your blessings? Or perhaps you're still hoarding it aside and feeding it to that insect within you. How deplorable. In any case, keep focusing on the spell, the detoxifying process will take some time with how stubborn the aphrodisiac is in the first place.”
Of course, rather than give her an answer, Olga did not miss the chance to throw a half-baked insult at her. Which actually proved to be quite effective when Kaguya seemed like she was a second away from abandoning her position and jumping over to snap her head apart.
“You conniving two-faced harl—”
Crack!
“Olga-sama!”
The barrier broke the next instant and one of the men outside managed to rush in and almost tackled Olga were it not for Maia appearing at the last second and punching him away.
“Can you two stop fucking with each other and concentrate!? Now is not the time to shit talk each other! Even I’m having a hard time dealing with these fuckers!” The redhead exclaimed loudly, holding dual blades and plunging the blade within the man's legs preventing him from getting up again. The second one sliced upwards cutting through another person who got in right after the second one. “Shit! At this rate, they will all pile up on us and fuck us to death! I don't want to die being stuffed by unwashed dicks!”
“Maia!” Claudia looked at her incredulously, clearly not liking her choice of words.
“If you hate it then let's make sure it doesn't happen! Stop holding back against them, Claudia!”
“They’re still our people!”
“Then kick them in the balls! Or kick them out of here! Alicia over there is getting it!”
“Alicia!?”
Olga cursed, if this went on for any longer then they would have no choice but to go down the path of pure bloodshed. She would never repeat the same mistake as she did against Vault and allow herself to go down without a fight!
It was then she noticed another aroused fool slip past the blockade and head straight for Celestine. His hands were already slipping past her meager amount of clothing to reach for her chest, not to mention his erect member was aimed directly at her nether regions, ready to penetrate her. If the Goddess Reborn were to be raped in front of everyone, then morale would plummet and she could not afford to have these fools give up on her!
Worst of all she knew that fool would never actually hurt someone and might even let him ravage her if it meant saving him! “Chloe, quickly go over the—what?”
The following words got stuck in her throat. What she predicted did not occur at all. For that very same person suddenly halted as soon as Celestine's hand touched his face. All colors on his face vanished with blood starting to drip from every orifice, some of it landing on the blonde's face who watched him with an icy expression.
“Fuck off!” Maia appeared the next second, grabbing the man by his collar and throwing him away towards Alicia who instantly pierced his head with a rapier. “Fucker deserved to die!”
“Celestine!” Serafina ran over, using her powers to heal any possible injuries to her sister. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
“I am fine, sister, just saddened I could not save the poor soul.”
Saved the poor soul?
Had they not noticed?
Olga never recalled Celestine having such an ability before.
Both of them stared at each other, one covered in blood while the other struggled to recognize the person she believed to know inside and out. “Do not worry about me, Olga. Only one person is allowed to touch my body and use it as he pleases.”
“Archer?”
“Yes, my precious Shirou.” Celestine’s face flushed red, not from embarrassment but instead from something else entirely. A hazy stare coupled with a lustful expression that stunned even Olga, who wouldn’t for a thousand years imagine seeing it on this woman's face. “He can use me however he wants to~!”
Just what happened between them for her to become like this? But this only made her more determined to question him later on after everything was done.
“Don't get in my way, will you, Olga?” She asked nicely, with an out-of-place smile.
Despite feeling uncomfortable with her, she refused to back down, she couldn’t afford to show weakness here. So as much as it frustrated her to do so, the Dark Queen pushed those words out of her mouth “Given what he has already savored in the past, I doubt he would give you the attention you so seek.”
Regardless of how beautiful Celestine was, that man had still bedded with two equally as attractive elven women. She doubted he would feel anything special with Celestine. “Kya!”
Olga yelped as a sudden, sharp pain shot through her chest. Before she could react, she found herself yanked forward, face-to-face with Celestine. The usually gentle elf's fingers dug into Olga's flesh with surprising strength, her grip like a vice.
The others were too preoccupied by the horde to even notice what was happening. “Where do you think you're touching!?”
Olga asked in pure shock, never having been treated like this by anyone, even Vault! Yet it somehow ended up being Celestine of all people who was staring her down with emotionless eyes.
“Did you sleep with Shirou?”
“L-Let go of me!” Completely thrown off her previous confident stance, she tried to break away but held back another moan when Celestine firmly grabbed onto her most sensitive spot — almost making her fall to her knees.
“Did you sleep with Shirou?” She asked again, applying more pressure as Olga struggled to hold back the moans coming out of her lips. The lingering aphrodisiac in the air did not help!
“What does it matter to you? Perhaps he thinks I am superior to you. And there is nothing you can do about that.” She would never sleep with a human like him, who constantly got on her nerves.
But Celestine did not need to know that did she?
“You little who–”
Just as Celestine was about to say something, they heard Serafina gasp. Even the sound of the Princess Knights battling and the roars from the aroused people around them ceased.
Finally, Celestine let go of her chest, an opportunity Olga used to quickly create some distance between them and check her surroundings to see what the fuss was all about. Strangely enough, every single hypnotized civilian had stopped in their tracks, frozen in place like living statues.
“Did someone use an immobilizing spell?”
Using that kind of magic on such a large scale upon an entire population required a tremendous amount of mana and control. Only she would be capable of doing so with the proper staff and resources, and it was obvious that no one here was her level unless…
“Is that insect assisting us finally, Kaguya?” She tried to question the priestess but grew speechless when she discovered the latter had already fallen unconscious and was currently protected by Claudia.
Then it could not be her.
And given Celestine's reaction, it could not have been her either and neither was it Serafina.
Paying close attention, she discovered a strange wisp of purple fog and smoke starting to arise from people's mouths and a slight amount even coming out of herself and those around. The small wisps all gathered into a large cloud before they swiftly headed somewhere else.
Those from whom it left all fell to the floor, no different from puppets having their strings cut.
Olga recognized the fog itself and its origin, but was uncertain how the perpetrator who brought forth this disaster managed to get their hands on so much in the first place.
“Radomira?”
It was there, far in the distance within the lowest section of Feoh that a column of the same substance rose to the sky. And from that same place, a crimson light emerged flying right above the kingdom, passing close enough for Olga to experience a flashback of the moment Vault died.
The crimson projectile streaked overhead, warping reality in its wake. Olga instinctively ducked as it blazed past, the sheer power evoking memories of Vault's demise. The weapon tore through the air above them before slamming into the city walls with a thunderous crash that shook the very foundations of Feoh.
“—!”
A colossal inferno erupted, devouring everything in its path. Trees crumbled to ash, and the city walls cracked and crumbled under the intense heat. The destructive force left nothing but scorched earth in its wake.
Her eyes widened as realization struck. By some miraculous twist of fate, they had narrowly escaped obliteration. The Dark Elf queen let out a shaky breath, her usual composure momentarily shattered by their brush with death.
"Holy shit…" Maia muttered, summing up the collective sentiment of the group. "The fuck was that!?"
No amount of barriers could stop that projectile when even the doors to her throne room—crafted from some of the hardest material and reinforced with powerful spells, had failed to withstand that heat.
Her knees buckled, and she crumpled to the ground, drenched in sweat and overwhelmed by a wave of intense nausea. ‘W-We lived.’
What had happened down there to make him miss his target?
Were they even the target?
.
.
.
He had to destroy this kingdom for good. This was no longer a matter of a handful of individuals he could track down and kill one by one. Instead, it had spiraled into an uncontrollable frenzy of deranged people consumed by their lust, attacking anything that moved and raping them until their bodies gave out.
The smoke from the sewers spread at an alarming rate,threatening to engulf the entire area within minutes, if not less. There was no guarantee that a similar outbreak wasn’t unfolding elsewhere, and it might already be far too late to stop it.
‘At this point, this is no different to a small town overrun by an infestation of ghouls or apostles. A quick death would be akin to mercy for them.’
Aside from Prim, whom he had brought to safety, Archer had no idea what had become of the other Princess Knights. Had they managed to escape? Succumbed to the fog? Overwhelmed by the relentless tide? He couldn’t be certain. Either way, he had to focus on the immediate crisis. Stopping whatever the Beast was attempting to achieve took precedence—before it was too late.
He did not blame Radomira for any of this. He just hoped that after dropping her off at the Emerald Inn— where Alice, Anna, Grace, Bianca, and that old man Jint were staying— she would find some peace.
It had been far too long since he last wrote to Alice about the stressful matters lately. He only hoped she wouldn’t feel too bad now that she had a couple of people around to support her.
“Hah…”
With Caladbolg II brimming with magical energy, transformed from a renowned Noble Phantasm into a devastating projectile capable of leveling a vast area, he pulled it along his bow and aimed it for the center of Feoh.
A single attack would not suffice given there were also the underground tunnels. Still, he had the reserves to shoot a couple more in order to finish the job.
But right as he was about to unleash the Broken Phantasm, an enormous gust of wind swept through, carrying with it an extremely high concentration of aphrodisiac that assaulted his senses.
“Argh!”
A sudden gust of wind, laden with an intense aphrodisiac, slammed into Archer like a freight train. His focus shattered immediately, and he cursed under his breath as his grip on his bow slipped. The arrow rocketed skyward,veering wildly off its intended mark. It blazed across the sky in a fiery arc, soaring over the castle and streaking towards the distant edge of Feoh.
The projectile crashed into the distant city wall with a thunderous boom. A blinding flash erupted, followed by a massive shock wave that reverberated through the very foundations of Feoh. As the dust settled, a towering mushroom cloud rose ominously over the devastated section of the city.
But Archer did not pay any attention to that. His focus was entirely on the sudden assault on his body. Covering his mouth and nose with both hands, he coughed violently, struggling to catch his breath. A rising heat surged through him, threatening to overwhelm his senses, but he forced it back through sheer willpower.
He examined his surroundings, finding an unsettling amount of that aphrodisiac gathering unnaturally in one spot behind him. Like iron filings drawn to a magnet, it coalesced around Radomira, engulfing her completely.
“She lost control over powers again? No... this feels different. Why is it being attracted to her instead?” He said in between coughs. Slowly, he began to back away, hesitant to make any sudden moves. Uncertainty gripped him as he tried to discern what was happening to the child.
Before he could even call her name, a shadow shot forward at incredible speed. In the split second it took him to sense its presence, it was already in front of him. His thoughts shifted immediately, it wasn’t just extraordinary speed, it was pure teleportation.
“Damn it!”
The sheer force of the impact, combined with his precarious position, sent Archer sliding off the roof. Instinctively he tightened his grip on the person clinging onto him as his back hit the ground with a resounding thud, his armor hitting stone.
His mind raced with countless thoughts, but they were swiftly pushed aside as he focused on the figure before him. Her hands clung tightly around his waist, their grip so strong that, without his armor or reinforcement, they might have caused injury. Adding to his discomfort was the sharp pain of two horns digging into his skin as she buried her face against his chest.
“Radomira?” He called out her name, uncertain if this was truly the same person who stood behind him a couple of seconds ago.
“Sniff… don't leave me, papa… sniff… Please don't! I took everything back, so please stay with me! Waauuuuuuuuuh!”
The person cried, her voice muffled by the fabric of his clothes as she continued to hug him tightly. Yet, what struck him first wasn’t the sudden disappearance of the aphrodisiac cloud or even the eerie stillness that had settled over the area, with everyone affected now lying unconscious. But instead, it was the voice that spoke to him.
It didn’t sound like the voice of a young child, rather, deeper than usual, with an unfamiliar resonance. Yet, the more he listened, the more apparent it became that it was her after all.
The second change was her height. Even with just a quick glance, it was clear she was taller than everyone else, towering over all of the Princess Knights.
“What… happened?”
Finally, she lifted her face.
The person staring back at him was a strikingly beautiful woman, her curvaceous body accentuated by a generous pair of large breasts and flawless, alabaster skin that seemed to shimmer when reflected against light. Her once-purple hair had deepened to a rich magenta, cascading down in silky waves long enough to brush the ground.
Another eye-catching physical trait was the pair of large, black feathered wings on her back, now far grander and imposing than before.
Yet that very same beautiful image of a sensual beauty was instantly shattered when he saw the snot-filled face and puffy eyes streaming with tears continuously crying and begging him to not leave her.
He did not need to guess who she was, the realization alone made him feel even more lightheaded. His hand instinctively moved to her head, ruffling her hair. The familiar sensation beneath his fingers only reaffirmed what already knew.
“How did you end up like this, Radomira?”
“Uuuuuh!” She wailed, intensifying as she clung to him with a strength that rivaled even Maia’s, making every attempt to pry her off futile. “I promise I'll get better! I will never let anyone use my aphrodisiac again! Just don't… don't say that you will leave me like that… I won't be able to survive, papa. And please, I hated seeing that look on your face, it was so painful to watch!”
He could barely make out her incoherent words.
Hearing the raw vulnerability in her voice, Archer realized he had severely underestimated just how dependent the girl had become on him. He gently ruffled her hair, the same soothing gesture that had worked before and, according to Brynn, even helped ease her nightmares. “Alright, I promise! So just calm down and tell me why you suddenly look like this?”
It seemed that his gesture and question managed to momentarily bring her back under control, her tear-filled eyes meeting his with a flicker of confusion.
“E-Eh, what do you mean?” She said, completely oblivious to her physical change. “Urgh… I absorbed… too much… ”
The next moment, her eyes rolled back, and all strength drained from her limbs. He watched as Radomira fell onto his body, fully passed out — though her hand remained locked around his with an iron grip. What lingered in his mind, however, was the last part of her phrase. It drew his focus back to his surroundings, making him truly notice that even the fog within the distant areas had completely vanished.
“My head…” Archer's body, surprisingly, bore few physical wounds from the ordeal. Yet his mind felt like it had been put through a wringer. The concentrated aphrodisiac had nearly overwhelmed his senses, threatening to drown his rational thoughts in a sea of primal urges. Only through sheer force of will and the constant circulation of magical energy through his body had he managed to stay in control. Now, with the immediate danger passed, that hard-won mental fortitude began to crumble. Exhaustion surged over him in relentless waves, leaving him drained and foggy-headed. He struggled to keep his eyes open, fighting against the pull of fatigue that threatened to drag him into unconsciousness..
But he could not rest now, he still needed to find the one responsible for this mess… Beardsley had to be around — Archer could not let him escape.
“I will have to talk to Olga about this later and find Beardsley.”
That woman surely had an answer for this.
“That will no longer be an issue, Archer.” A voice spoke behind him, recognizing who it was, he was surprised to find Prim standing a few distance away with a handful of Knights behind her.
“We came as soon as we could. Though may I ask… who is this demon?”
…
-???-
Amidst the chaos, much of the kingdom lay in ruin, yet a few places managed to remain intact and well protected. Among those was the Pantielle household, a grand residence that had somehow escaped the destruction unscathed. However, the once-bustling estate was now eerily devoid of any life, as the maids had fled in fear of the calamity — Draco fully expected to find herself walking through its empty halls alone.
She paused at the grand hall’s threshold, taking a final, deliberate look at the silent space before turning to leave. Her gaze lingered for a moment longer, until her expression hardened, and she slowly turned her head, “Come out, I do not have time for this nonsense — face me, or die.”
Upon her command, several figures emerged from the darkness vested in robes, all bearing the same insignia as they kneeled before her. “Humu, this Emperor recognizes your presence. Now, speak.”
One of the men in the middle stepped forward, slowly pulling back the hood revealing a head completely covered in bandages and from whom she sensed a particularly familiar essence.
“Oh great goddess, I kneel before thee and ask for forgiveness for having failed to recognize your arrival back then. Even more so after handing your blessing down to worthless heathens like the Black Dogs. I shall accept any and all punishment for my sins.” He spoke reverently, which pleased her quite a bit. “You know what I am.”
“Indeed I do, our true goddess who has descended and answered our call. I, Shamuhaza, wished I had the luxury to have been the first one to welcome you to this world.” She remembered him, being the one who handed her over to Kin, he had not changed a bit. “The surrounding kingdoms have noticed the weakened state of Eostia, some of them have already begun to make their moves. It is only a matter of time before everything will be plunged into chaos and we can rebuild the world to your desire.”
He showed a wretched smile, bringing out his hand and showcasing a level of confidence she found intriguing. “The Insect God Cult kneels to your authority, whatever you desire we shall accomplish for a new world to be born.”
“The other kingdoms you mentioned, humph, let's see if they are all as rotten as this one.” From the moment she arrived in this world, she had not heard from them once but had a good understanding of them through Kin. “And about your cult, I remember you being good friends with Beardsley.”
Shamuhaza nodded his head, a look of disdain flashing in his eyes at the mention of that man's name. “At one point in time, yes. But now, he is of no use to us. We have received reports that he tried to escape recently through the tunnels but was captured by the remnants of the Holy Iris Chivalric Order led by Princess Knight Prim outside the gates.”
The Holy Iris Chivalric Order? From what she heard, this name belonged to a band of Knights Alicia used to be a part of and who now worked under her command. Said to be the purest Knights in the kingdom, she never had any interest in them.
Oh, a shame really. Despite acting outside her command and taking advantage of her name and ruining her little playground — he was still a useful piece. More so than the Pantielle household had shown themselves to be.
“Should we send our people to break him free?”
At that, Draco shook her head.
“As you mentioned, he has outlived his usefulness. Those who disobey my commands, especially one who has orchestrated such an incohesive blunder, is not worthy to be by my side. Let him be butchered like the pig he is. We have much to do.”
Now she found someone much more interesting to further her goals.
Beta read by Shigiya, Paragon of Awesomeness and Darklord331
-Fujimi Academy-
There were many instances that Rei experienced in the last couple of days that filled her with uncertainty and disbelief. The first was the discovery that she was surprisingly lightweight when it came to drinking alcohol. The second revelation was discovering that fishing could actually be a relaxing and enjoyable activity, contrary to her previous beliefs. It also led to the realization that there are people in this world who possess such exceptional skill in a certain area that no amount of effort from an average person could ever match them. These monsters of talent exist in her world.
These revelations came in rapid succession over the past month, each day unveiling some new tidbit of knowledge. Take, for instance, the day a certain Irishman casually mentioned the existence of a dual spear fighting style - a technique apparently as effective as it was intriguing. Naturally, her curiosity was piqued, but much to her chagrin, the irritating fellow conveniently omitted any offer to teach her this tantalizing combat method.
It sounded awesome despite the possibility of it being impractical.
Nevertheless, all of these still paled in comparison to what she learned today.
"So, let me get this straight," Rei said whilst massaging her temples, looking at him skeptically. "Not only did you go to the Kendo Club and get noticed by Saeko Busujima herself for some reason, but you also ended up in a duel with her?"
"Way to make it sound like me being in a duel is odd for some reason. Also, I don’t know if I’d call it 'friendly'," he replied, scratching his head with a thoughtful expression. "At one point, I was pretty sure that she was aiming for my neck… Actually, yeah, she was definitely trying to hurt me. By the end, I felt like I was a big juicy hunk of meat for her to gnaw on. Ha! But hey, we both had fun. I am glad to see there are still people like her in this time and age."
Rei’s brow rose in disbelief. "And you’re telling me you managed to keep up with her—and were even able to pushher back?"
"Oi, what’s with that look?" he asked, clearly confused by her disbelief. "Are you really that surprised that I could take on someone from your school? I told you I’m good with a sword and shield — I just like the spear more. My Shishou trained me in many different aspects of combat."
Despite his confident tone, Rei's expression remained deadpan and continued to speak as if he didn’t hear him. "And then, in the end, both of your weapons ended up breaking apart, leading to a draw."
"Geez, why the recap? I already spilled the beans," he muttered, rolling his eyes with a smirk. "Those bamboo sticks were doomed from the start, given how we were going at it. Now, if she'd been swinging real steel... hoo boy, that would've been something. Then again," he paused, a glint of mischief in his eye, "by the end, our fierce kendo queen was looking more like a winded kitten. Real sword or not, I reckon the outcome would've been the same."
While he continued to ramble on, Rei only stared at him, lost for words. Her gaze dropped to the club application form he had just handed her, listing his personal information and a short section labeled; Reason for Joining.
He had filled in just four words: “Because it is fun.”
She sighed, both amused and exasperated. After all she’d come to learn about him, it didn’t surprise her after further thinking. And yet, it was still hard to believe that the same guy in front of her had gone toe-to-toe with Saeko Busujima herself—and actually held his ground. If the weapons hadn’t broken… who would have won?
“Even if you like the spear more, if your talent with the sword is good enough to beat Saeko then you are just wasting your time here.” Her voice was barely a whisper, he heard it clearly.
“Really?”
“... I'm serious. That club is getting a lot more attention than this one. You can get sponsored by the same people interested in Saeko, participate in international tournaments, and make a name for yourself. The Sojutsu club in comparison cannot compare, we are not as popu—kya!”
Out of nowhere, she felt a sharp pain on her forehead as Cu flicked his finger. His action caught her and some of the few club members behind turned their attention to him with various reactions.
The brown-haired girl was bewildered while the others were speechless that someone actually managed to do that without getting immediately smacked on the head with a spear.
“Oi, what's with you suddenly becoming this caring?”
“W-What’s that supposed to mean! I am always considerate of others!”
“Not like this,” he answered without missing a beat followed by him messing her hair teasingly. “As far as I know, you tend to be a bit selfish and even bitchy at times. I assumed you would have been very happy or even a bit smug that I came here instead of joining the kendo club and using the opportunity to mock Saeko.”
Her face was still red from anger, Rei gathered her wits not willing to be teased so easily by this cocky irish. “You think too highly of yourself.” She said, jabbing her finger against his chest.
Her actions were not minded by the blue-haired boy, instead he found them quite amusing. “Ah, I guess I do. Not without reason after all, What are you going to do about that, little Miss?”
Seeing not a trace of fluster or embarrassment on his face, she pushed aside her growing embarrassment and this time grabbed his collar pulling him slightly closer. Trying to put on a stern face despite her standing shorter than him. “Then I will pull you down myself and teach you to be humble.”
The grin on his face grew wider and for a moment Rei felt a chill run up her spine as rather than laugh it off or even back away as she had hoped he would do, his hands instead came closer to her face raising her chin up to face him in the eyes. “That’s a nice fire you have in your eyes there. You better stay true to your words then, 'cause I like a challenge.”
“...”
Rei was momentarily caught in a daze, this being the first time someone was this bold with her. Her body turned to stone and she was uncertain of what to do next, now only able to gaze at his gaze and nothing else,
For Cu on the other hand, as far as he saw it, the current gal in front of him was a long way from becoming a proper warrior let alone someone capable of going against him in combat. But that did not mean he would not believe in her, anyone if pushed hard enough to surpass their limits. And if she could just give him that brief moment of satisfaction then it would be worth it.
‘She is getting flustered, how adorable.’ Despite having these thoughts, he did not miss her change in expression, the growing red tint on her face, the increased heartbeat, and the slightly heavier breathing. For now, he was certain that the girl did not harbor any romantic feelings for him in her heart, But that did not mean she was not physically attracted, not like he wasn’t on the same boat. ‘Would you look at that, she is no different to a kitten right now. Maybe I went a bit too far with the teasing, but it’s really hard to resist.’
Laughing at himself, he shook his head on the inside and regained his composure. Getting a good idea of a way to tease her further.
“Want me to kiss you in front of everyone? I promise to make it worth your while”
“—!?”
His whispered words acted no different from a sledgehammer hitting her back to reality, the effects intense enough to give her a whiplash and she ended up taking a few steps back. Noticing the few members of the club looking at them with shock and blushes on their faces at what they are seeing. “A-Ah this was… we weren't…”
Words failed to form as she tried to explain the misunderstanding that they just witnessed.
“Oh my, Rei! I thought Japanese girls were supposed to be shy and introverted when it came to flirting, yet to do it in front of so many people, I even felt my heart skip a beat~!” Of course, He could not let such an opportunity to slip by and took full advantage of it to further tease the poor girl who was glaring bloody murder at him
“S-Stop making it worse! I-It was just a misunderstanding! ”
“Hahahaha!”
Rather than clear up the misunderstanding, he laughed.
“Seth Collins!” Fully incensed by his obvious teasing, Ray grabbed her wooden spear and lunged at the young man without hesitation.
He grinned, a playful glint in his eye, and sidestepped smoothly, hands casually tucked into his pockets. With fluid grace, he dipped under her first strike, letting the spear slice harmlessly through the air above him. His movements were effortless like he was dancing around her, and each sidestep seemed to taunt her all the more. She felt her frustration rise, but she pressed on, refusing to let up.
Those moves were visibly more polished compared to her past self. With more power behind each one of her strikes. “Keep this up and you will become as good as the Busujima girl!”
“Shut the hell up!”
“Fighting against someone who is not even wielding a weapon? How unsportsmanlike.”
“Like you care!” a few trust attacks were thrown at him which he managed to pass with the back of his hand.
“Now that's more like you.”
.
.
.
“Well, this was pretty anticlimactic.”
A few minutes passed since she started to attack him relentlessly. Borrowing a wooden spear for one of the members who was kind enough to pass it on, he continued the fight as if it were their regular spars they had frequently. With proper gear this time for Rei, there were some minor improvements in her overall tile but nothing to write home about.
Eventually, exhaustion started to creep in within the brown-haired woman given she was mostly focusing on the offensive with him instead of blocking most of the attacks or just easily dodging someone that were moving through molasses
Rei halted, her arms falling to her sides as the spear drooped towards the ground. Cu's gaze wandered over her, taking in the way her chest heaved with each heavy breath, her thin clothing soaked with sweat and clinging to every curve of her body. The outline of her stiff nipples was clearly visible through the damp fabric. Shaking his head to clear the distracting thoughts, he teasingly rapped her on the head with the wooden shaft of his weapon, an impish grin spreading across his face.The other members continued their daily practices and no longer focused on him, deeming the fight uninteresting after the initial heat
“Are you still alive?” He said amusedly, poking her head a couple of times with the wooden spear till she slapped the thing away. “Still hanging with the living. Glad to see that.”
“Give… hah… Give me a second, I just need to breathe and I’ll…cough start kicking your ass.” Even her words were ragged, barely audible even within the quiet room.
“Blame yourself for that. Swinging your weapon around without any forethought is just asking for trouble.” He took a seat on the floor beside her, took the application form, and started to write. “It is a bit strange I found no teacher around here. Don't tell me you all are practicing without any guidance?”
“... He's probably hanging around with Shido licking his ass.” A heavy amount of venom laced her sentence whenever it came to matters related to that man.
“One, that’s gross. Also, so what? He won’t be teaching you because of a single teacher having a rich pop?”
Due to his prior meeting with the teacher, Cu conducted some simple research on that guy and learned a couple of things about his family and overall status. Hard to believe someone like him chose to become a teacher of all things, it made him suspicious that perhaps it was not out of the goodness of his heart to teach the next generation of kids.
Rei shook her head, eyes closed still in the middle of regaining her bearings. “I don't know. He can't act too biased nor can he abandon his duties as coach, the school still has a reputation to uphold.”
He couldn’t help but watch her chest sway side to side, the sweat soaking the fabric to the extent that left little to the imagination, popShaking his head in unison, he continued;
“I see, then you shouldn’t worry to much about then. If he is trying to make you quit or distance himself from the club, then I am always here to give some pointers. The other kids don't have any problems with this Shido guy… hopefully.”
“You sound different.”
“Hm?” That caught him a bit by surprise, not sure what she meant by that he kept his silence.
“Just a few minutes ago you were acting like a smug bastard embarrassing me in front of everyone but now that we are alone here you get all serious and caring.”
He let out a small chuckle at the dig from his earlier comment, at least she was feeling a little better, “I was just poking fun at you for a bit. The others were a bit uneasy around you.”
“You noticed?”
“A bit, yes.”
Rei's reputation was not bad from what he understood, she was not openly treated negatively and many people still admired the girl for her looks and capability as a talented practitioner. But there were rumors floating about, hushed whispers that eventually reached his ears. Contempt at her repeating a grade once more and mocking words calling Rei a slut amongst other things.
“...I forgot how cruel kids can be at your age. My friends in Howth were much more relaxed in comparison, we did not treat each other differently based on grades, status, or rumors. ”
He saw a smile form on her face. “Sounds like a wonderful place, maybe I should go there instead for my studies.”
“Heh, don't bother, city girl, you will get bored quickly and I doubt you will like living inside a fridge all year round.” His hometown was a beautiful place with plenty of good folks, but that was about it.
In response, Rei huffed. “At least I won't have to deal with people like Shido and his lackeys.”
“Wow, you really hate that guy don't you?”
"No shit," Rei scoffed as she rose to her feet, brushing herself off with an irritated huff. The abrupt movement caused her disheveled clothes to ride up slightly, giving Cu an eyeful of her athletic physique. Her form-fitting blue sports bra, damp with perspiration, left little to the imagination as it molded to her curves. The sheer fabric, nearly transparent from exertion, did nothing to conceal the prominence of her pert nipples straining against the confines of the bra.
‘Did not expect her to have such taste. Man, girls are really bold in this day and age.’
Not exactly as big as Fumiko but still much more gifted than the average adult woman. Perhaps another reason why those two boys were so attracted to her.
"Anyways, it was fun talking to you, Rei. Gotta head out, so I will leave this here for now." He passed her his form and soon walked out of the clubroom, leaving the girl alone to read his application once more and found that he added something else for his reason for joining.
“Because it is fun to be beside my favorite disciple so she doesn’t become a stick in the mud.”
Her eyes twitched at the school cartoonish drawing of his face at the bottom giving her a thumbs up and she ended up sighing. Had it been someone else, she would have been pissed for them to not fill in the application seriously and wasting her time.
But with him, well she supposed this was on brand with the kind of person he was.
“Disciple, really? I did I agree to become his disciple.”
Yet something about his choice of words rubbed her the wrong way, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why. As she mulled it over, memories of his earlier teasing surfaced. The faint scent of his sweat still lingered in the air, a reminder of their intense sparring session. Rei wrinkled her nose, unsure if she found it unpleasant or oddly comforting in its familiarity.
This coupled with their closeness made her mind wander in another direction. How could he be so bold and confident without a bit of shame!?
Was he actually unfazed by her looks!?
Rei was not one to be overly attentive or a narcissus when it came to her appearance or even too bothered about her makeup. But she still believed it was good enough to accentuate her natural beauty to the point she believed to not be that far behind amongst the top beauties in school if she was to be bold about it.
With all these messy thoughts in her mind, she groaned and put the now folded paper within her cleavage, not having any pockets on her to put it in.
She was not sure the kind of woman he liked, maybe if she wore more revealing clothing during their spa—pa!
“Get a hold of yourself, Rei!”
Using both hands to slap these dangerous thoughts always, she managed to regain her composure.
“We're friends, friends! And you just met him almost a month ago! As if I would be interested in an infuriating guy who likes to make fun of people like this constantly, hmph! He would be lucky if I so much as consider dating the meat head…”
Slowly, she gained back her spunk. Leaving to wash of the sweat in the shower room and getting dressed down, she posed in front of the mirror fully naked, and grabbed her breasts with both hands, enough that it was more of than a handful. An hourglass figure and wide hips — she had it all.
“It should be big enough.”
Right, her appearance was definitely not lacking, he was probably just trying his best to not show his true feelings.
…
While Rei continued to reaffirm her suspicions, Cu walked down the hallway whilst yawning.
It was a long day and hunger already started to settle in. He wanted to go back to his apartment and open up a few beers with a full meal in front of him — an excellent way to end the day in his opinion. “I should stop by the convenience store again, supplies have been running low lately. Oh.”
He stopped, looking at the person walking from the opposite side of the hallway. Immediately recognizing that sleazy expression, that smile which should only ever belong to a snake.
“Are you Seth Collins?” Shido spoke first, putting on a friendly appearance. “I am Professor Shido of class 3-A. I believe we met before.”
“We did?” He replied with a disinterested tone, his pinky finger picking his ear whilst he looked outside. “Sorry can't remember ya, the name sounds familiar but your face does not ring a bell. It’s pretty forgettable.”
The bespectacled man's smile stretched slightly but he kept his composure. “...At the parking lot, when I was having a conversation with Kyouko.”
“Oh, now I remember!” He slapped his hands together with an over-the-top reaction. “You're the man who was throwing a temper tantrum because someone touched your car! No wonder I don't remember your face, I thought that you were some kind of pretty boy who was throwing a hissy fit.”
“...”
Shido took a deep breath and Cu smiled.
“Yes… well, that was an unfortunate first impression you had of me. It was a long day and I was not in the best of moods.”
“Sure it was. Though it didn’t stop ya from trying to force someone to come with ya to a party despite telling you no the first time.” He could see Shido's expression shift ever so slightly, but these words were obviously not enough to break his composure, but it wasn’t like he was trying to push him over the edge in the first place.
“Kyok—”
“Professor Hayashi you mean? I don't remember her being that close to you.” Honestly, he was not that bothered by the way people called each other here but was just doing it to see his reaction.
“You are quite the character aren't you…” Shido chuckled, pushing up his glasses with the sunlight reflecting off of them. “A new foreign student. We do not get those often, especially one that was accepted so easily by the director. I suppose Professor Hayashi had a hand in it, as a guardian no less.”
“And? I am not seeing where this conversation is going, so make it quick because I need to go back home soon.”
Shido ignored his taunt and continued to speak, “Professor Hayashi has been a member of the school's staff for years. With excellent academic achievement and a spotless record, she is what many would consider a perfect teacher.”
“Heh, I agree with you completely. She is an amazing woman bit of a stickler for the rules.” Perhaps the first thing they agreed upon, though this was their first conversation.
“Which is why you should be more careful, Seth.” Shido’s smirk grew. “A person like hers whose entire life is based around her achievements cannot afford to have a stain on her records. Being your sponsor means that your achievement reflects on her.”
“What are you trying to say?” Cu no longer felt interested in the conversation and asked directly, his tone of voice holding a hint of impatience missed by the man before him.
“I believe you understand me perfectly. Hanging around a delinquent like Rei Miyamoto who not only repeated a grade but regularly gets into disputes with other staff members is already worrisome enough. But you see, as your teacher I also have to put aside my bias and grade you accordingly, if you continue down this path then it is very possible for this to reflect on your grades and overall sponsorship.”
“...”
“If you fail and end up being sent back to your hometown, then Kyouko will have to bear responsibility. This could affect her career negatively and even ruin plenty of opportunities she worked hard for in the past. Down the road… who knows… under the right circumstances she might lose everything—!”
For a brief moment, Shido closed his eyes as he explained the environment the boy was involved in the first place. To show him who was the one in control and place a leash around the boy to keep him in check.
Yet the moment he opened them back up after not even a second passed, he found himself staring back at crimson eyes with a hand gripping down his shoulder.
“You need to stop talking Professor.” Cu spoke dryly, a cold sensation spreading across his entire body sprinkling his skin like thorns. Uncomfortable, chilling, and nauseating even. “For a moment it felt like you were trying to threaten me and Miss Kyoka. Is that getting from ya?”
The grip on his shoulder tightened, enough to make him groan in pain from the sensation of his bones almost getting popped out of its socket. Shido, enraged by this behavior, was about to remind him of his father's identity and call for help but found himself unable to mutter those words when the dreadful sensation grew more intense.
“Urgh!” His legs gave out, and a retching sound came out of his mouth with the nausea growing worse. The air smelled like blood and he started to shake everywhere.”
“Is everything alright, Shido? You look kinda sick there.”
Cu said, watching the guy in front of him on all fours, breathing haggardly with sweat pouring down his forehead. “Hah… hah… hah…”
The more he looked at him, the more this man reminded him of a certain purple-haired bastard from the last war.
All bluster and no spine when the chips are down.
Getting down to his level, he touched Shido’s forehead. “Don't think about using Kyouko or anyone else against me, you sniveling brat. This is the first and last time I'm letting you off the hook, only for Kyouko's sake, but try this again and you will regret it.”
Giving the man one last hard pat on the shoulder, which almost had the man buckling again, he walked past him. Heading to the entrance, leaving Shido to stew in his thoughts. As much as he wanted to beat some senses into that man, the aftermath would hurt others more than himself.
Not that he was particularly worried about his retaliation, Cu swore to keep a close eye on the bastard in case he tried something else. He already knew that those types never learn to stop poking the bear. But he didn’t need to point the tip of a spear against that man's neck to get him to comply.
Maybe he could try to scare the father first, the son was just leeching off him after all. Without the former, Shido had nothing.
“Ah!”
“Eh?”
Lost in thought, Cu barely registered the sudden shadow looming over him. He glanced up, only for his eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets. Instead of a face, he found himself staring at an impossibly massive pair of tits straining against a white button-up shirt. They made even Kyouko's generous assets look very modest by comparison.
Before he could react, the soft mounds collided with his face. His brain short-circuited at the unexpected contact, leaving him dumbfounded and unable to dodge. As the weight pressed against him, Cu could only stand there in stunned silence, trying to process what the hell was happening.
.
Bam!
His head slammed against the wall hard enough to cause small cracks on the surface. What followed was no different from a concussion harsh enough to blur his vision and even feel the warm sensation of blood on his scalp.
The pain was greater than anything he felt since his rebirth in this world, this being the first time someone made him bleed.
‘I did not sense any hostile intent… or any person for that matter. Damn it, I became too comfortable and let my guard down!’
Strands of blonde hair appeared at the edge of his vision with the voice of a flustered woman clearly panicking as his body fell to the ground with a thud.
“No! Nononono! I-I am sorry! B-Blood!? Are you dead!? No! Don't die! I will lose my job!” Whoever this was, out of nowhere started to slap his face repeatedly and begged him to wake up.
That hurt!
“He's dead!”
Dead? Who the hell was dead here!?
Slap!
Slap!
“S-Stop sl—oof!”
Slap!
“Wake up! Please don't be dead!”
Could she not hear him groaning!?
Slap!
“Why isn't he waking up? He is really dead!”
Because she kept slapping his brain around his skull! What kind of person packed so much strength in a slap!?
“W-What should I do? Should I call the police? No! I will definitely lose my job! Maybe Rika can help me hide the body…” he heard her sniff. “Waaah! I KILLED A STUDENT!”
Oi oi oi! He was not even dead and this person was already planning to bury him!
Slap!
Why this little…
“I'm not dead, you crazy blonde!”
“Kya!” Finally recovering from the sensation of his brain rattling inside his skull further by those unnecessary slaps and with the rising anger from not only getting slapped repeatedly but being declared dead, Cu forcefully opened his eyes and shot up.
Only to end up getting buried once more in two soft, yet deadly, mounds that would suffocate him if he stayed like this.
She smelled nice at least.
“Oh my~! You are alive!” Ecstatic that she had not committed murder, whoever this person was in her blusterous mood just hugged his face and pushed him further into his bosom. “Why did you pretend to be dead? I was so worried that I would lose my job just now~! We should get that injury checked as well!”
If she kept suffocating him like this then he was really going to die!
And while the not the worst way to go, he would prefer to live a long life this time around.
“Calm down will you!”
“A-Ah~! D-Don't touch them like that~!”
Ignoring her moans as he tried to break free, Cu gathered more strength and successfully managed to escape death's soft clutches.
“Who the hell are you?”
Now he finally got a good look at his assaulter, who turned out to be a stunning blonde-haired, rather tall-looking buxom woman with ridiculous curves and a physique most pronounced by her humongous breasts. He would have admired the sight at any other point in time except for now, it best to keep his distance.
Watery hazel eyes looked back at him with slight happiness.
“Ah! Yes, my name is Marikawa Shizuka!” She quickly bowed her head, each action making her chest jiggle right before his eyes. Not even whatever she was wearing within was able to keep them in place.
She was indeed taller than most students, the tip of her head reaching his nose, slightly taller than Saeko who he previously thought was the tallest.
“I am the school nurse, just arrived today. It's nice to meet you!” She spoke with a chipper mood, doing a full one-eighty on her previous reaction where she kept panicking.
“A school nurse who could not see that I suffered a possible concussion and kept slapping me? Not even sure if I was alive? Listen, lady, I like to joke around with people but this is not really the time, so tell me who you really are.”
The migraine he felt at that moment was painful enough to ruin his mood. His physique was not that of a Servant anymore, but he still recovered faster than a regular human due to his nature.
But he still felt pain like any other person!
‘It will take a day to recover. Might need to buy some ice for the minegrain.’ No way he'd let her see this - she had enough on her plate without worrying about his dumb ass getting injured. The woman deserved a break from all the stress he seemed to bring into her life. He'd just have to play it cool until it healed.
In any case, he first had to deal with this stranger who was impersonating a school nurse. Her looks were top-notch, he had to be blind to not see that, but he still had to make sure she was not anyone dangerous.
“Uuu! I swear I'm a nurse! I did not hurt you intentionally! My heels just broke when I was walking down the stairs and I fell on you… I'm sorry!” Once again she bowed deeply, making her chest move wildly without much restraint.
‘Seriously, what is up with the women here?’
Nevertheless, she seemed genuinely sorry and that made his frustration die down considerably. Her high heels were truly broken as she mentioned and it was better for him to get injured than for her to end up with something worse were he not present. “Hah, fine, fine. Stop bowing already. It’s just a small cut on my head. It’ll get better in a day or two.”
“Wait!” Taken aback by his words, Shizuka shot him with a shout loud enough to make his ears ring and rushed to stop him from leaving by holding his hand. “I-I was the one responsible for your injuries. But I am also the school nurse and it is my duty to treat all injured students! Please come with me to the infirmary, I will patch things up in a jiffy! Your injury might also be worse than it feels, the adrenaline is making you momentarily resist the pain but it will get worse after you calm down!”
He waved her worries away with a nonchalant smile. “It takes more than just a little fall to make me suffer any kind of serious injury. Even if I jump out of the window right now, I won't break any bones.”
“Don't jump out of the window!” horrified by what he said, Shizuka now wrapped her hands around him in a vice grip looking at him sternly.
“Urgh!”
For someone who looked so innocent and dainty, she sure did hide quite a bit of strength on her, at least to rival his current father's hugs.
“I was just kidding! Why would I even jump out of the window?”
“Ah, really? That is a relief~!” And once more in an instant her behavior did a complete switch and she reverted back to her bubbly self. However, she still did not let go of his wrist and started to pull him along the stairs. “Let's go before you faint and potentially die from blood loss!”
“What is with you trying to kill me off!?”
{Break}
(Next day)
The day went by and Cu was in the bathroom looking in the mirror at the bandages neatly wrapped around his head. Despite an entire day passing by, they remained perfectly fine and his migraine ended earlier than expected.
“Well would you look at that. She really was a nurse after all.”
Granted, Cu's apprehension grew as Shizuka dragged him into the infirmary, fumbling with the first aid kit and nearly dropping it several times. His eyes widened in alarm when she brandished a pair of scissors, bringing them perilously close to his face with shaky hands.
Yet as soon as the treatment started, it was as if she had turned into someone completely different. Her face fully focused as she disinfected the wound on his head and carefully put the bandages on without putting them on too tightly. Going so far as to give him some medicine for his headaches and a trip to the hospital if he felt worse afterward.
A strange yet beautiful woman, the entire time she was applying the bandages her chest kept rubbing against his face. At one point he even started to wonder if she was openly flirting with him, because if that were the case then he wouldn’t mind.
But if she was genuinely clueless about her actions then he could do nothing but sigh and deal with it.
“She is quite capable, next time Rei gets injured or pulls a muscle then I can bring her over there.” Taking off the bandages around his head, the wound had already fully healed up.
Not even a trace of it remained.
“Best I avoid her for a few days or keep wrapping my head to avoid suspicions about how I healed so quickly.” Then again, he doubted anything would come out of Shizuka finding out about his fast healing.
She was nice to talk with, a chipper lassie to say the least. Childlike at times and mature during other moments, but overall pleasant to have a conversation with.
Right as he was in the middle of getting ready, his doorbell rang.
“Just on time, I see.” Looking at the clock, he already knew who it was as prior to this day, they made an arrangement. Going over he opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Kyoko wearing a red coat with her hair finally done. “You look beautiful.”
“...” She made a face as if she wasn't sure how to respond, and just opted to clear her throat and accept his compliment with a small nod. “G-Good morning, Seth, I am happy to see that you are already dressed up for the occasion. I was half expecting you to still be asleep.”
Calling him dressed up was a bit of an exaggeration in his opinion, for he wore nothing special but just simple black pants and a white shirt. Nothing too fancy but good enough to hang out outside, Though it did accentuate his toned physique. “I can't look too shabby for our date can I?”
“Please never say that again when around a teacher. I am just going to show you around the town Like we agreed before. I'm sorry it took this long, it was only recently that I managed to clear up most of my schedule.” She was genuinely apologetic, even though he already visited a large part of the town thanks to Rei and Igou — there were still places he had not visited yet.
Flash!
“Ah!” While his back was facing her when he went back inside to grab his shoes, Cu heard the sound of the camera taking a picture of him and proceeded to look at a stunned Kyoko with a sly smile. “Come on. You could’ve ask to pose before taking the picture. I wouldn’t have minded if you asked to do it shirtless if you asked.”
“I was just taking a picture to send to your mother! She has been asking about you a lot recently!” The woman quickly explained that came up shaking her head and seeing her usually composed self breakdown so easily and resemble that of a teenage girl was cute.
“Is that so?” He just tilted his head with his arms crossed, putting on a suspicious expression and finding some pleasure in seeing her trying to explain herself even further.
Feeling that he had messed with her enough, he decided to throw her a bone.
“All right, I believe you.” Showing a casual shrug he walked past her and went for the car with the woman quickly following with an uncertain expression. “I was being honest when I mentioned that I'm willing to take any kind of picture you want, whether it's for yourself or my mother I do not mind either way.”
“It is definitely for your mother! I as a teacher will never do such a horrendous action against my student. It is completely unprofessional!”
"Relax, Kyoko. It's just a photo. Outside these walls, you're more than my teacher - you're my guardian. We've got a unique bond. I mean, how many other students and teachers swap recipes and share meals? Our situation's different, and that's okay."
She tried to say something in return but found herself for little to argue. “I guess you are right to a certain extent. But still! We should still keep a formal relationship between us so as to not cause unnecessary misunderstandings.” She insisted though her tone was much softer than before.
“I can't even give you a good morning hug? I used to do it a lot with my folks back home.”
“... I suppose on special occasions. But that's it! And hands above the waist mister!” Fully expecting her to turn down his offer, he did not expect her to actually agree with his words even if it were on special occasions. It made him happy to see the previously strict and closed-off woman start to warm up to him.
“Then our first outing can be considered as a special occasion can it?”
“Um… I suppose it does—wait, forget what I said!”
“No take backs!”
“Ah!”
Not giving her an opportunity to backtrack, he gave the woman a one-handed hug, making sure it was brief. It was quite a sight to see her be so thrown off her elements that she did not know what to do next.
“See? It wasn't that bad.”
Her expression confused him a bit.
“Your reaction makes it look like you never hugged or had any close contact with anyone in your life. Didn't you have similar intimate contacts with friends or even a boyfriend?”
“—!”
As he said that she immediately averted his gaze and looked away in shame. It took a few seconds for him to find me and realize why she went so quiet.
“Wait, don't tell me you never had a boyfri—Mmn!” Flustered by what he was about to say, She quickly covered his mouth and looked around hastily.
“I would prefer we avoid talking about such useless topics in the middle of a parking lot! Get inside, we need to avoid early traffic.” He never saw any kind of traffic in this town but did not comment on that and agreed without much of a fuss.
Both entered the car before she started driving towards an area of Fujimi he had not gone to before.
The car ride was mostly silent and he could see his prior words had hit the nail about the reason for her lack of experience. ‘A bit unbelievable, she is very good-looking and is an impressive woman, for her to not have been in a relationship for three decades is… strange.’
Given he himself had multiple relationships and even a son at one point then died before he even reached his thirties.
Then again, it was not his place to judge. Different times, different people, and different circumstances.
After another few minutes of silence, Kyoko was the first one to break the silence with a rather interesting question. “Seth, did you… have any issues with Professor Kōichi Shido?”
Oh, did that man already start to make his move?
“Hm, nothing comes to mind I am afraid. I barely even spoke to him this entire time and the last time we had a conversation it was just him greeting and welcoming me to Fujimi Academy.” That guy was a snake, he heard plenty of bad things about him thanks to Rei, and their meeting Just cemented that impression. “Did he approach you about me?”
She nodded, “Yesterday he came by my table and asked me many things about you. Of course, I did not divulge to him any private information and only shared the basic stuff about your studies and your country of origin.”
Was he planning on making a move against him? Probably. People like him did not like rogue elements in their own playground, most likely the man was trying to find something to use against him or force him into a form of submission. Internally he scoffed at his attempt, too much of a coward to use a direct approach, and instead opted for such methods.
It made his impression of this guy even lower.
“Don't worry about me, Kyoko. There is no bad blood between us and I will handle everything without causing any trouble for you. That much I promise.”
“Good, Professor Shido is a renowned individual and a gifted teacher. It would only invite trouble for you if there was some kind of argument between you two so make sure to do well in his classes.”
“As you wish. I’ll do my best,” he said smoothly, his words measured and polite. Inwardly, though, he was already forming a different plan on how he’d handle this man. But he kept his true thoughts hidden behind a charming, disarming smile that suggested nothing but calm compliance.
“By the way,” he added, glancing around as they moved further away from the familiar sights of town, “where exactly are we going?”
The path had taken them far from the edge of the town, and now they were surrounded by dense vegetation. Towering trees stretched overhead, their branches intertwining to form a canopy that filtered the sunlight into scattered patches across the forest floor. The air was filled with the earthy scent of moss and damp leaves, and the sounds of rustling leaves and distant calls of unseen birds chirping echoed around them.
“A place That was once highly popular amongst locals and would get plenty of visitors from outside. Filled with history all related to Fujimi from centuries ago, somewhere I used to visit with my parents often; a shrine.”
“Eh?”
.
.
.
(Ten minutes later)
“Woah, this place is ancient.”
Having a ride at their destination, Cu got out of the car and turned to see what was basically an abandoned site where one could see the remains of an old shrine. The Torii gate itself found at the top of the staircase was covered in foliage, moss, and plenty of cracks.
The trees had grown dense enough to block out a large part of the Sun's light to illuminate the area and Even the stairs were crumbling apart in some areas.
“I thought this was a popular place a decade ago, but from the looks of it, no one came here for much longer than that.” He noted, that not even the ground below them was visible with the amount of dried-up leaves covering it.
Kyoko showed a melancholic expression, “It was very different in the past and… I wasn't aware the condition had deteriorated this badly.” She said while touching the wooden board where there were remnants of posted notes whose content had long since faded away.
Crumbling apart by simply touching it.
“The previous mayor promised that he would allocate funds acquired through local donations into hiring proper personnel to keep this place clean and renovated from time to time whenever needed. The current mayor is still accepting donations for this shrine.”
“Turns out that was a lie and we can make an accurate guess where that money is going. Still weird how no one has noticed this so far, surely someone would have appointed it out at some point.”
“... I'm not sure myself.”
Guess even this place had its fair share of crooked leaders. It was a shame as well, the place looked rather beautiful and still retained some of the charm it possessed decades ago. Walking further inside they found the main building that was completely dilapidated at this point.
Though the kanji characters inscribed into the wooden plague were still somewhat readable.
“A shrine dedicated to Somin Shorai?” It was an unfamiliar name. He was not particularly familiar with the entirety of the Shinto religion and its deities aside from the major ones.
“You are not familiar with the name, that is to be expected. He is not as well known as other deities.” Kyoko mentioned. Praying silently which he did so as well for her sake, the irony of someone like him praying to a foreign deity given his identity was not lost on him.
Kyoko gestured to the shrine before them, especially the small carved wooden figure, her voice gentle yet reverent. “This shrine honors Somin Shōrai,” she began, her eyes studying the intricate carvings on the wood. “In ancient folklore, he was a poor man who, despite having very little, welcomed a traveler who came to his door one night, seeking shelter and food. Little did he know, this traveler was actually a god in disguise, testing the hearts of those he visited.”
She paused, letting the weight of the story sink in. “While others turned the traveler away, Somin Shōrai shared what little he had. In return, the god rewarded him and his family with a talisman, a protection against the deadly diseases that would soon sweep through the land, claiming the lives of those who had refused to show kindness.”
Cu looked at Kyoko, his expression thoughtful. “I see. It's an interesting story, I must say. Shame that the people responsible for keeping it clean are more interested in filling their pockets. Maybe we should convince the Shido guy since his father is quite influential.”
“Fufufu~! Don't bother, I doubt anything will change even if you tried.”
“I have my ways, I can scare him shitless and force him to do so.”
“You rascal!” She gently slapped his shoulders, taking his words as a joke even though he was being serious about it. “Hah, it's unfortunate, I wanted to have a picnic nearby like I used to have in the past with my parents and friends. Every Time after a ping pong competition we would celebrate here, there used to be a large clearing filled with various booths selling all kinds of snacks.”
“Maybe somewhere else, let's look around a bit. There should be a good spot somewhere, so let's look around a bit.”
“Ah, Seth! Wait, we shouldn't wander mindlessly in such a place!” Taken aback by his actions, she tried to stop him but the man was already walking past the line and into the shrine grounds. Went to the other side and curiously slid open the door much to her dismay.
Then she saw his figure suddenly halt in place.
Something seemed off about his reaction.
“Seth? Is there some the mat—Oh my god!” A gasp escaped her lips when she saw within the room he opened leading to the interior of the shrine. A strong stench of booze assaulted her nose along with the sight of dozens of empty bottles of alcohol, ashtrays filled with cigarette buds, and another horrid stench she could not identify.
It was a complete mess.
Bad enough to make her nauseous.
“Seems like we were not the only ones planning on coming here to relax. Some bottles are old while others were opened recently given the bottling dates.” Cu commented with a frown on his face, eyes darting around the place and ending up on a small wooden idol in the corner covered in insulting words and faces drawn with markers and a slight crack at the top.
“Who could have done this!? This is a sacred place!” Kyouko flew into a rage at the sight, shoulders trembling with Cu next to her patting the woman’s back for comfort.
“It could be anyone really, kids who found a nice place to hang out away from noisy people, street gangs taking this spot for themselves, random people passing by who don’t bother to clean up after themselves. The possibilities are endless. Hm?” His attention turned to the outside, looking at the back of the shrine with squinted eyes.
“These bastards! They stained an important part of Fujimi’s history just to drink a few bottles and smoke!? I will contact the police!”
Just as she was about to retrieve the phone, Cu gently pushed the device back into her pocket. “You can do that later, for now, go back to the car and take a breather. I will clean this place up a bit and see if I can find something to identify who has been here.”
Kyouko gave him an incredulous look, “Leave that to the police, you should not be meddling or even going anywhere near this trash heap!”
Seeing her get this worked up, he used a different approach and gently took her into his embrace.
“S-Seth!?”
“I know you must be feeling pretty pissed at seeing a precious spot being ruined like this. But calling the police won't help at all since they will just follow what the Mayor has to say or just ignore the matter altogether after a while. They might even get rid of the evidence to avoid public outrage. So, just leave this to me, I’ll take a look around and see if I can’t find anything useful before the police take it. ’kay?”
He could feel her heartbeat going wild, her breathing quickening and subtle sounds of frustration and embarrassment leaving her lips as she remained in his hold. The stimulus would have easily made any man feel the urge to go further but he did not have such thoughts at the moment — the entire time his eyes kept focusing on one spot in the distance.
“F-Fine, you can let go of me now. I'll return to the car… B-But don't spend too much time here or I will come back!” She escaped like a rabbit, rushing down the stairs and before he knew it, he was the only one there.
He walked inside and closed the door behind him. Going past the bottles without sparing another glance at them before heading to the second sliding door inside leading to another room.
The stench that Kyouko complained about was the strongest here. A stench that he recognized as it remained present during the aftermarket of many important great battles in his past life — the stench of flesh rotting.
“...”
Slowly, he opened the door and was met with a dark room where hardly anything could be seen. The only source of light is a small hole in the roof making a thin beam of sunlight peek through.
In the corner, he gazed at a shadow of what resembled…. a person facing the wall. Standing still without moving an inch as if he were a statue.
“...”
Cu’s eyes grew cold and he stepped inside, the wood underneath creaking from his weight.
Creak!
“Raaaaaaaaaa!!!”
The person turned around and lunged at him like a maddened beast.
Only for the former Servant of Spear's limbs to react much faster and extend his hand at the figure's neck and catch it effortlessly as it tried to attack him mid-air.
“Gngh!”
The creature in Cu's grasp was barely recognizable as human. Its skin had decayed to a sickly pale hue, oozing a viscous green fluid from every pore. With a feral snarl, it snapped its jaws, revealing a mouth of rotted, blackened teeth - many missing entirely. But it was the eyes that would’ve chilled any normal person to there core. Milky white orbs stared back at him, devoid of any spark of humanity or life. This thing, whatever it once was, had long since left the realm of the living.
“... A corpse?” Cu spoke after a second of thinking, watching as the boy tried to scratch his skin apart with half-decomposed fingers with each failed attempt ripping away more of its flesh.
Smearing blood everywhere.
“Nope. An undead definitely, but something different. Not even close to a ghoul, strange.”
There was no trace of magical energy within this creature, back then he only heard the harsh breathing this thing made when Kyouko shouted loudly.
“Definitely one of the kids who was hanging out here.” It was strange, there was no sign of struggle or blood anywhere outside, it did not seem as if he was attacked and changed into… this.
“Knnarrghl!”
The undead tried again and again to get a bite of his flesh, starting to chew on its own lips and ripping them apart. Worms and maggots present inside itsmouth were already feasting on the creature, a disgusting sight indeed for anyone of a weaker stomach.
He didn’t say anything to the already dead boy, not that it would even understand him. Instead, his fingers traced a single rune on the undead’s chest that shined with a brilliant orange light.
Woosh!
A torrent of flames erupted, instantly engulfing the undead as its body was dropped to the ground. The fire consumed every part of its flesh and bones alone, the wooden floor and even the paper doors remaining completely intact.
A moment later, the entire creature was nowhere to be seen, not even ashes remained behind.
Walking outside, he did a quick tour of the place and found nothing to suggest this boy was attacked or bitten by something. Either it wandered here from somewhere else or changed into an undead zombie by itself?
“Can't make any conclusion without any proof.”
This worried him, if there was one then there had to be another somewhere. The shrine was a good distance away from Fujimi and he spotted nothing out of the ordinary along the way.
Going back to the front of the shrine, Cu made sure to spot Kyouko's car down below with the woman on her phone, he then paid closer attention to everything and noticed the wooden carved idol Kyouko prayed to have a crack in the middle that was not there before.
“...”
Taking the idol in hand and paying it close attention, it was nothing more than a regular piece of wood carved by hand. Old enough that a bit of force could easily break it in half.
It was not even cursed as far as he could tell, but something in his gut told him that it might have played a role in that creature.
Beta read by Shigiya, Darklord331 and Gamecrusher55.
Next update is Hound since I am 30% done with the chapter. Better to get it done oncs and for all.
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-Emiya Residence-Dojo-
When it came to combat, confrontations that required close contact with the opponent and a sturdy overall physique was something— Shirou had to admit that he was somewhat lacking in that department.
There was only so much damage he could sustain, so many broken bones, torn ligaments, and internal bleeding to bear before everything broke apart.
Not to say he did not have experience or training, but compared to the people he met so far. The discovery of how far behind he was in that aspect struck the boy like a wrecking ball. From getting overwhelmed by Luvia when they first met to getting absolutely pummeled by Bazett nearly dying in the process of escaping.
Granted he personally believed his specialized field lay in long-range shooting than anything else but having an overall balanced arsenal felt ideal. A small part of him wanted to believe that he at least managed to get better, to have improved to a certain degree so that past incidents would not repeat themselves anymore.
Bang!
“Gah!”
Yet here he was, coughing out blood and spit, rolling onto the dojo's floor with his body drenched in sweat. Breathing haggardly and seeing twos from his vision. Overall… a pretty miserable situation.
“Stop trying to rush your opponent, keep your guard up, as well as your distance. Your form is not bad but you lack proper strength and technique for your strikes to incapacitate your opponent as quickly as possible.”
How many times had he been tossed like this? Ten? Twenty? Thirty?
He lost count honestly, not bothering to keep track of the numbers with the multiple head traumas he sustained. “I think you turned me into a crippled man, Bazett.”
At his response, a damp towel flew at his face with a loud splat. “Stop whining, brat. You're the one who asked me to help you with these lessons. I am not one to let my debts go unpaid, and I also don't do things half-assedly… so you have no one to blame but yourself.”
Looking at the person standing in front of him, wearing a simple blue tracksuit that clung to her figure. Sweat trickled down her forehead from their spars, yet not a single presence of bruised skin or anything similar. She was completely fine while he suffered plenty of torment by those unnaturally powerful fists.
‘And she is supposed to still be recovering, yet I feel like she has become more powerful than her past self.’
What a monster.
It is still not as hard to deal with compared to Rider. Of course, the latter was a Servant after all, but Rider's kicks felt more painful due to her heels, which felt no different from getting pierced by a metal rod.
“Also you are the weird one, It's good to have the drive to get better and improve — but pushing yourself to this extent won't gain you any results.” His solar plexus ached, every joint in his arms screamed in protest from the smallest movements and his legs were basically jelly at this point.
But he didn't share Bazett's opinion that he didn't gain anything from pushing himself so far. “I become more familiar with your style.” He said with great effort, pushing himself off the ground after feeling some of his energy recover. “And your lessons have helped me learn how to take a hit without something important in my body breaking. I would not have been able to learn this in such a short period of time without your help.”
“Tch, trying to flatter me won't get you anywhere.” She said quietly, neither sounding angered by what he mentioned nor trying to disapprove of his statement. “Still, you do recover quicker than I anticipated. I will comment on one thing, next time, don't try to grab onto my body like that if you don't want a broken skull.”
A chill ran down his spine, forcing him to look at the ceiling and be unable to meet her gaze for a few seconds. During their battle, he would occasionally use moves taught to him by Luvia, trying to get a hold of Bazett and immobilize her movements as much as possible. Using offensive attacks proved to be useless so that was his only option which he believed had a fair chance of succeeding.
But he forgot to account that in trying to get a proper hold and with her struggling to break free, he would end up ripping apart the shirt she had on at first.
Frozen in shock, Shirou's eyes widened as he found himself gawking at Bazett's barely concealed chest, her sports bra clinging on for dear life and revealing an ample amount of her firm, bouncing cleavage. His gaze lingered a little too long, catching a tantalizing glimpse of pink peeking out from the fabric. Before he could fully process the sight, Bazett's fist ruthlessly connected with his face, the sheer force behind the blow launching him clear across the dojo like a ragdoll.
She pretended nothing happened after changing into a tracksuit, but that faint blush on her face was very telling.
“Why are you not asking that Servant of yours to help you? I haven’t seen her fight but she is a Heroic Spirit at the end of the day and her power and skills outclass mine. Surely she is the better option than me.”
“...”
It was not the case of Rider not being enough as a teacher because she was, rather the issue was something completely different.
Every time they trained, Rider seemed to favor close-quarters grappling over her signature kicks. She'd trap him in holds that left him gasping for air, his neck locked between her arms. But even as she cut off his oxygen, all he could focus on was her body pressed against his and the overwhelming scent of lilies that clouded what little sense he had left.
Rider wore tight clothing that hid only the bare necessity, so the slightest contact made him feel her warmth as if it was her bare skin. This got worse when she once used an arm bar to move against him to hold him in place. Pulling his arms which were fully in contact with her chest and her legs locking his head into place.
He was suffocating in more ways than one that day, an urge he would not feel normally during such a scenario washing over his body with Rider beside him. His heart felt like it was going to explode that day and he had to cut the session short in order to get a long cold shower.
The lingering touch of her entire body and warmth made it impossible for him to come out of there any sooner.
It was genuinely driving him insane.
‘Is she doing it intentionally?’ Her tendency to do things just to get a reaction out of him started to become bolder lately. They were subtle but definitely noticeable.
This is one of the reasons why he wanted to try out a couple of sessions with Bazett just to get a hold of himself.
But now, he wonders if he should just try looking for a male instructor.
As their little sparring session came to an end, Shirou found Bazett wearing her shoes and preparing to leave. “You can stay here if you want.”
“Hm?”
“Here. The place is big enough to house multiple people and is far away from the main area of Fuyuki to be considered peaceful. Since you are staying in Fuyuki for the foreseeable future, feel free to take one of the rooms.”
He did not have much of a reason to extend this offer to Bazett other than plain convenience for the other party. She mentioned only doing this for him as a way to repay a favor for saving her from Caster.
“I'll have to decline,” she replied curtly, having taken a few seconds to consider his offer at the very least. “I appreciate what you are offering, do not get me wrong, but it is not necessary for you to go this far for me. I already have an old resident registered under the name of my family, who was purchased a long time ago, so staying there is more than enough.”
“You never told me where this house of yours is.”
“Because that information is private and none of your business. If you need my help then a phone call is always better.” So she said, but this was not the entire story, and thus decided to bring up a certain topic that had been bugging him for a while.
“Are you being so secretive because of what that priest mentioned at the church?”
Her body went rigid before she turned to fix him with a sharp glare. "Listen kid, some things are better left alone. Getting mixed up in business that doesn't concern you will only bring trouble you're not ready to handle."
Shirou grumbled a bit at her stubbornness.
“Oh come on. I am a Master involved in a war where spirits capable of destroying the entity of Fuyuki fight one another for an all-powerful wish-granting device. I am already involved with matters that will cause nothing but trouble for me. I don't think your situation is any worse with what I’m dealing with right now, you know.” He didn't get to hear exactly the conversation the woman had with that weird priest. Only managed to catch a few stray words.
But he did notice her bad mood as she left the church a few minutes later. She did not give him any opportunity to listen to his questions before walking away and telling him she would stop at his house the next day.
“Are you perhaps aiming to become a master as well?”
“And what if I was? She did not deny his words and instead gave him a sharp glare. “This is more reason for me to not be invited to live here. Bringing in a potential enemy to where you are most vulnerable is not wise, I could kill you at any moment.”
“So… is that a yes or a no?”
Her eyes twitched, “See the back of my hand. Do you spot any Command Seals? I can't even become a master now even if I wanted to, I lost my spot.” There was clear frustration in her tone. Enough anger that she clenched her fist hard enough to almost draw blood. “Which is why for your own sake, Just focus on getting out of this mess alive rather than thinking about helping others.”
“I can't do that.”
His answer came immediately as she finished her sentence, further annoying the woman who was forced to let out a deep sigh.
“You say that you owe me a debt but so do I. If it were not for you taking out those monsters that were prowling the city then I do not want to imagine how many people would have fallen victim. Especially with that monster we faced at the shipyard, I would not have been able to kill it all by myself if you were not here. So yes, I also owe you a lot.”
“That was already paid back long ago.”
“Not for me it isn't.” Were she not present, or had he not been at the right place at the right time, then these monsters could have easily targeted some of the people he personally knew. His mind went back to the corpses of the policemen who were eaten alive when he encountered the monster for the first time. He truly believed this to not be a death that could be completely repaid just after helping Bazett one time.
“If you do not wish to tell me then I will not force you, instead I will find out the answer by myself.”
“Don't push it, stubborn brat.”
“It is you who is being stubborn. I'm just trying to help!”
“You can't just go on helping every single person that just happens to cross your path!”
*I don't see why I can't! If someone is in trouble then it makes sense to help them!”
This back and forth went on for quite a while, the longer she tried to dissuade the boy the more intent he became not willing to back down a single step. ‘Something is seriously wrong with his head!’ Perhaps she struck his school in the past a bit too hard and gave him permanent brain damage which made him like this, but if that were the case it made her feel even more guilty!
“If you are not willing to tell me what problem you are facing, then I will just ask the only other person who knows and might be willing to share. I'm going to the church.”
"Wait, you idiot!" Bazett lunged forward and snagged his collar, yanking him back with enough force to make him stumble. She pinched the bridge of her nose, looking thoroughly exhausted. "Of all the thick-headed, nosy brats I could've gotten stuck with... What did I do to deserve someone who can't mind their own damn business for five minutes?"
Thinking about this carefully, and after getting to know him for a bit longer, Bazett truly started to believe that he was going to somehow get involved with her affairs even if she tried to hide it from him.
“Hah… fine, you win. But if this ends up killing you then it's your fault entirely.”
Her resolve broke and both ended up facing one another sitting in the middle of the dojo. Shirou waited patiently to hear her side of the story, already coming up with his own ideas on what could have happened but not voicing them out yet.
She massaged her temples for a few seconds and then spoke, “The story is not that complex to tell you the truth. I myself got wind of it the same day you found me facing Caster. There are some incidents that happened here and in London that are being blamed on me.”
“You're being hunted down?” Both eyes widened at that revelation, this was worse than he imagined.
Bazett scoffed, “Ironic, isn't it? I, an Enforcer, have to experience the same thing my prior targets had to deal with. It has not deteriorated to an extent that I have multiple people flying over my head, but I can't exactly disregard the possibility of that happening if I do not resolve this issue.”
“Mind telling me the details of this incident? What exactly are you being framed for?”
She did not give him an answer immediately, visibly pondering on her next course of action and whether or not to tell him the entirety of the story. “I will not tell you everything no matter how much you ask me to do it, but if you had to know the basics, it's because of those Chimera monsters and the one behind their creation. Somehow, I ended up in a situation where people were led to believe I was an accomplice to an extent.”
It was that bad huh… “Then all the more reason for you to stay here. I have Rider with me, if people come to hunt you down then we can help you ou—ouch!” His phrase was cut short as her fist struck his head with a light thud.
“Don't try to be a hero, Shirou,” Bazett mentioned it with a softer expression this time. “I am still more than capable of taking care of myself and the last thing I would want is to have a stranger who had nothing to do with me get involved with my own problems. Just let me handle this, I won't fail like last time.”
Seeing that he didn't say anything else, the woman felt satisfied that she finally managed to get through that thick skull of his and was about to leave the dojo when she heard his voice ring out from behind.
“Bazett,” She hoped he wouldn't try to act stubborn like he did previously. “If you ever find yourself needing any kind of help, even something very trivial, then please don't hesitate to come and see me here or in Copenhagen.”
A smile graced her face and she hummed in agreement. “And you make sure you don't end up in scenarios you should not have been involved in the first place or even try to take on a Servant all by yourself.”
“I can't make any promises.”
Oh well, at least she tried.
{Break}
While Shiro and Bazett had their session inside the dojo, in the main house both Sakura and Rider were sitting at the table in the living room silently watching the news on the TV.
Each had a cup of tea which they drank ever so often.
Yet that was not truly the case given Rider kept noticing the violet-haired girl in front of her kept getting distracted and would look outside every so often. A worried light flashed within her eyes, though it was not that hard to figure out what was going on inside her mind. “You do not need to mind the crashing noise, It is most likely Master getting thrown around a bit or getting punched in the face.”
Sakura gave her an incredulous look, “How is that supposed to help? That only makes me more worried than anything else!”
“Ah,” Rider realized that she made a mistake and tried to change up her words. “Master and the Enforcer are wrestling one another which ended up with her clothes getting ripped.”
“...”
“It sounds weird, but I assure you it's exactly what happened. I checked.” Leave it to that boy to end up getting beaten to an inch of his life even in the safest of environments. She did not pity him, even feeling a bit satisfied by his suffering given he just had to ask Bazett to help him with combat when she was readily available as his Servant.
Was it jealousy? Not really.
More accurately a tiny part of her pride got hurt because she felt like he did not find her capable enough to help him in that regard. While she acknowledged the Enforcer had talents herself, so did she.
“You have been worried more so than usual, Sakura. I am not talking about Shirou training and getting injured, but something else entirely.” Rider pointed out, Having long since decided to help the girl in front of her in any way she could.
Sakura was a bit caught off guard by what she said but did not deny it. Caressing the cup of tea in front of her she whispered quietly, “I feel like there is a wall between us.”
“Pardon?”
“I-I have been here for a while now since he took me away from my house. This has been some of the happiest moments of my life, I get to see him every day and become a more intimate part of his life than before. But despite being physically closer and spending this entire time with him, I do not feel like anything has changed between us.”
“...”
Rider wanted to deny that claim but she was unable to do so, for the girl was correct and she could not even blame her Master for it. These past few days had been rather hectic for everyone involved, and Shirou continuously kept finding himself in precarious situations or busy improving his abilities for the future.
For someone who was doing so just so he could protect those he cared about and to lessen the burden on herself, she just could not blame him whatsoever.
“You see it too right? It's as if nothing between us has really changed at all. I want to be more involved in his life, I want him to look at me more often and I really wish I could help him with everything he is dealing with right now. Instead, I am here, living in a safe environment while he keeps smiling at me and telling me everything is going to be all right.”
Rider looked at Sakura's trembling hands.
“... Is it getting worse?”
“Not as frequent as before, But it is getting increasingly more intense. I almost lost control of myself when I came to wake him up, I was able to leave and relieve myself in the bathroom.”
She knew, given she was there as well but did not plan to stop her even if she had lost control. As a part of her new that Shirou would have tried to help Sakura in any way he could if he knew about her condition. But it was unfortunate that Sakura begged her to keep this a secret, a promise she regretted making.
“You cannot keep it hidden for long.”
“I know… I know.” She answered, a trace of exhaustion flashing within her eyes. “But I am afraid he will be disgusted or put off when confronting that part of me. I do not want to shatter that version of myself he has in his mind, I want him to keep thinking of me as being someone pure rather than discovering what kind of tainted individual he had been protecting all this time.”
“I don't believe he will act like that, I know that Master genuinely cares about you and won't abandon you, Sakura.” This was the same person who she suspected already had an inkling of her true name, yet despite that he never changed his behavior around her.
If a monster was not enough to draw negative emotions, then Sakura would be safe from such judgment.
“Can you be sure of that, Rider?” She asked with a saddened smile. “Can you really tell me right now that if I tell everything will remain the same and Senpai will continue to look at me in the eyes like he used to when getting to know the truth?”
“...”
No, as much as she knew her Master, Rider just could not guarantee the kind of reaction he would have. If she was wrong and things failed to go as told, then the damage done to the girl would be too much.
“I know I will not stay here forever. Maybe it is a matter of days, weeks, or a month at best… I will be forced to go back and complete the preparations set up for me. It is inevitable, so before that happens, I want to make my time here as memorable as possible. Maybe I am being too greedy after all.”
Even if Sakura could not see Rider's eyes, the latter frowned heavily when presented with this situation. At the end of the day, she was Shirou's Servant and not Sakura's, so making decisions solely around the well-being of Sakura at the potential expense of her Master was tricky, to say the least.
But she was not going to give up so easily.
“You need to be more active if you want Shirou to see you in a different light.” She said sternly, slapping the table to gain her attention.
“Ah!” Sakura was not prepared for such a thing, almost dropping her tea. “R-Rider?”
“Sakura, I want you to understand that Shirou will not just take the first step if you continue behaving like this. It may be wrong for me to say this but he is someone who can be described as… blind. Until you just don't directly kiss him or sleep with him he will remain clueless.”
“Kiss!? S-Sleep with him!?”
"What's stopping you?" Rider gripped the girl's shoulders firmly, preventing her escape. "Trust me, I've spent enough time with Master to notice how his body responds during our spars - he tries to hide it, but he's still just a teenage boy. And between you and me..." She leaned in closer, a hint of amusement in her voice. "I think he might actually enjoy getting roughed up a bit. With a figure like yours - which rivals even mine - all you need to do is get him alone in your room and drain him until he can’t get enough."
Sakura's face burned crimson as her mind wandered to dangerous territory, those suggestive scenarios playing out in vivid detail despite her best efforts to suppress them.
"Just imagine - pinning him down, kissing him until he can't think straight," Rider continued with a knowing smirk. "Trust me, a few well-placed touches in the right spots and he'll be completely at your mercy. Men are simple creatures, after all."
“I-I c-can’t do that!”
“Yes you can, I believe in you. He is a teenage boy with a working libido. He is not as pure-minded as you like to think, I have seen him sneaking glances at your chest as well along with mine.”
Sakura stopped struggling and looked at her with bewilderment. “He… did?”
“Many times. I promise you. A single wet dream and he will be unable to look at you properly without wanting to make you his woman.” He was a dense person but still a man, and if she remained consistent with her pushes then he was bound to break.
Her own experiments gave her a few ideas of his threshold.
“Don't you want him to push you down every time he comes back home from a long day at work and have you for dinner and again during a bath?”
“Where did you learn that!?”
“Not important. So, what is your answer?”
The violet-haired girl hesitated and ended up nodding her head. “Then if you follow my lead, take advantage of every opportunity I prepare for you then I guarantee that he will be yours in a matter of days. Wouldn't you be sad if he ended up in the arms of another girl? He is already being swayed by me.”
She tried to ignite the competitive spirit most young girls around Sakura's age would have, but seeing the confused stare threw her off a bit.
“Ah, I do not mind if you also like Shirou, Rider. After all, you have kept him safe many times. I don't have the right to stop anything happening between you two…”
Alright, perhaps she went a bit too hard on the girl and she was not saying nonsensical things due to her lower self-esteem.
“That is why I will trust you, Rider.”
Her Master had no idea the gem that resided within his grasp and she was going to show him one way or another.
{Break}
(A few minutes later)
After his conversation with Bazett, Shirou returned to the main house feeling sore all over his body. She felt satisfied with what he accomplished today and was looking forward to future lessons with the woman.
“Ah, Rider.” Walking in he found the servant sitting all by herself in the living room for some reason. “Why are you sitting here all by yourself?”
“Just looking at the news.” She said while humming and took a seat as well, wanting to drink some tea to quench his dried-out throat.
“Is Sakura still in her room? Maybe I should call her to have dinner, it's almost time.” Good thing their sparring Did not go overboard and he still had enough stamina left to cook up a few simple dishes which also helped to relieve some of his mental stress. “Do you have anything you want to eat in part—woah!”
His soul nearly left his body when he found the blindfolded woman's face less than an inch away from his neck. Her tantalizing scent reached his nose making his eyes go hazy and his imagination into overdrive. The prior fatigue he felt instantly evaporated as that same sensation he wanted to avoid started to creep in ever so slowly.
“R-Rider?”
Her nose twitched, and he just found himself staying completely still, completely immobile like a statue.
“Master, you reak of sweat.”
“...”
Her words hit him like a punch to the gut, sharp and unexpected, snapping him back to reality. For a moment, Shirou just sat there, stunned, his composure slipping as the color in his cheeks deepened. It wasn’t often he found himself at a loss for words, yet here he was, blindsided and blushing.
After a steadying breath, he glanced down, buying a moment to gather himself. But even as he did, a familiar, unpleasant scent drifted up, catching his attention. With a quick, embarrassed sniff, he realized it was him—the stale, sour smell of hours spent sparring with Bazett clung to him, seeping through his clothes and into the air around him.
He gave a small, resigned sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I guess so. I don't think Sakura will like sitting and eating next to someone who stinks hahaha… I forgot about the blood as well.”
Their injuries were not remotely severe but he did bleed a bit after getting pummeled a couple of times.
He tried to lighten the mood, yet instead of just agreeing with him, Rider's face came closer and he felt her breath touching his ears, her hair tickling his neck and then sensing her hand resting on his knee. “You don't smell that bad Master. Your scent is almost… sweet.” She whispered that last word closer to his ears with a different tone.
Goosebumps rose across his body yet he was not afraid of Rider, rather he started to fear what he might end up doing if she continued.
“I am going to take a shower!”
He quickly summoned every ounce of strength his will could muster up and left the living room with heavy steps. Uncaring weather's reaction may have conjured up any misunderstanding from Rider, it was the best course of action.
“I see, I already prepared the bath for you, Master.”
She did?
Why?
Not important right now.
His mind played back the image of her face so close up that he could see her glossy lips.
‘What am I thinking!? I am going crazy… it must be because of the fight. I just need to cool off!’ It wasn't like him to lose control of his emotions so easily just from a few seconds of physical contact, in fact, he was pretty sure he was not like this just a few days ago.
Was Rider really not aware of her actions!?
Uncaring, he took off his tattered clothes and did not even notice the lights in the bathroom that were already on. Pushing the door open and walked inside till he was faced with a face full of steam and a fragrant scent of lavender.
“Urgh!”
Shirou choked As soon as he turned his attention to the bathtub and noticed a familiar gifted figure calmly lying in the water. Her violet strands of hair floated on the surface with her chest being submerged enough where that he could only see the cleavage.
She looked back at him with an equal amount of surprise with a completely flushed face.
“S-Senpai?”
She was here….
Sakura who he believed to have been in her room previously was actually taking a bath and he barged in without noticing.
His prior confused state turned into complete chaos.
“I'm sorry! I didn't know you were here.” Grateful that he still had the towel around his waist, Shirou turned around swiftly and planned to rush out.
Bam!
Only to have his hopes burn to cinders when the door slid closed. He quickly tried to open it back up, only for it to not budge an inch.
“Rider! Rider! Quickly open the door for me!” In his desperation, he called for his Servant to come to his aid as quickly as she could.
Poor Sakura must be shaken seeing him just barge in like this.
"Oh dear, what terrible timing - the lock seems to be jammed. How unfortunate," Rider called out with barely concealed amusement. Through the fogged glass, he could make out her silhouette casually leaning against the door. "I suppose these things just happen sometimes."
“How is it broken!? I made sure to check it out last week!” Shirou rattled the handle frantically, his voice cracking slightly with panic.
He tried to use more strength only for it to be a futile attempt with the entire thing just refusing to budge. How did the door lock become so difficult to break!?
“Rider, try open with force from your own side.”
The sound of water splashing to the ground came from behind.
“I do not think that is a good idea, Master. You did mention how to be careful with household items.” She said, her tone carrying a clear trace of mirth. “Maybe we should wait a bit and see, perhaps the lock will get unstuck by itself.”
“That's not how locks work!”
The wet footsteps drew closer and closer.
“Forgive me, Master. Modern technology still confuses me to some extent.”
“Break it then!”
“Ah, I believe I heard something outside. Please stay here while I go check, it can be an enemy for all we know.”
“Rider! Come back! If I stay here Sakura will be very uncomfortable!”
She was messing with him!
He knew it!
Then he realized that the footsteps sound came to a stop near him, warm wet fingers grabbing onto his wrist hesitantly. The scent of lavender grew stronger and his heartbeat reached a level it never had before. Shirou gulped, trying to calm down his nerves.
“Senpai,” she called him, her voice both soft and gentle to his ears. Sounding louder than usual due to the confined room. “You can… you can look at me, please…”
His head slowly turned around, and it felt as if the world had come to a complete halt. He stared blankly at the naked girl standing there, droplets of water streaming down her inner thighs, face, and chest.
“I… I don't mind that you are here.”
Her grasp on his wrist tightened ever so slightly.
Chapter was pretty important to cover a certain part of the story so I couldn't add the bonus scene and decided to fully flesh out the chapter instead. I'll be saving the bonus content for next chapter.
Next update is Fake Familiar Reborn followed by Nanoha.
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-???-
Deep within the confines of space come up a large spaceship hovered over the Earth, bearing the colors of the Deviluke Empire and adorned with countless weapons to ward off all kinds of threats.
Within the ship, an entire group of Devilukians worked with the team currently stationed on Earth, the screen showing Zastin and his subordinates now adorned in their armor and suits greeting the newest arrival with an equal part of fear and admiration.
“General Zastin, is the ground clear for landing? I have received reports of several incursions of attacks from outside forces. Explain yourself.”
The oldest person on the bridge of the ship demanded with a stern voice, even speaking arrogantly at one of the emperor's most trusted warriors without any fear.
“There have been outside forces who attempted to harm Lala-sama and her fiance with the goal to take his place but failed in the end. We have also had an unexpected encounter with the forces of Solgam who were taken care of by the emperor himself.” Zastin answered truthfully without wasting time. “We went to great lengths to keep the city safe after we have received news of your arrival.”
“Humph, I will take your words on this.” The old man ended the call, his stern face disappearing and being replaced by that of submission and respect as he faced the person sitting in the middle of the room on top of her throne.
The woman's face hidden behind a veil yet it did little to hinder her overall beauty.
“Your Majesty, we shall be landing shortly. Our team has confirmed the location of Princess Lala and her sisters along with tracking the one who is currently betrothed to her.”
The woman on the other hand did not give him an immediate answer, her attention completely taken by the tablet she held showcasing a video taken by one of the scouts she sent a while ago.
The scene showing a chaotic fight between hundreds of people against a single woman. Moving around nimbly yet wielding enough strength to toss a person shaped like a wrecking ball across the street. Then the video ended around the time where a nurse approached the young girl who then got surrounded by a plume of smoke which dispersed soon after showing a naked man.
A melodious laugh spread across the ship's main room, leading many of the present crew members to sport a healthy blush on their faces just from hearing the Queen's voice alone.
“Oh my, what an interesting person Lala found, no wonder Gid is interested in him.”
{Break}
-Yuuki house-
"Waaaah, this is the first time I’ve dealt with something like this! We should test out your body more, Shirou!"
Not even an entire day had passed since his grand battle royale with the members of the Anti-Emiya Alliance. Something that could only be described as a full-on circus act the likes of which were only seen in humorous plays rather than in real life.
A lot happened in such a short amount of time that spanned for barely two days. First was the ridiculous disaster that occurred when he was meeting with Run, the exact one that turned him into a female. Then his goal to reverse that issue led to going to find Mikado, an event somehow leading to a large majority of the boys from school being hospitalized, with the main attacker — his female self — currently being talked about on many different social platforms.
Rather than being angry, many were curious about the identity of the woman who took down so many men with such little effort. Some had even started a fan page with pictures of him taken from different angles they somehow managed to capture, much to his irritation.
But he wasn’t that worried.
His female self would no longer appear in the public eye, nor in private, so anyone hoping to see her again would just be chasing a futile dream. The same applied to anyone who approached him, asking about a potential family member he never mentioned.
To those people, the only thing he would say would be to deny their dream girl’s very existence.
In any case, that entire issue was behind him, and for now, he was having his body checked by Lala, just to make sure there weren't going to be any unnecessary side effects.
“Is it something I should be worried about? And no, I would rather let Zastin clean this entire house instead than go through that again.” He said with a dry tone, just the picture of a ruined house making him frown in disgust.
“Eh? He is not very good at that sort of thing though.”
“I know, and it’d probably be easier to rebuild the whole house than to clean up after him. That clumsy bodyguard of yours can't even wash the dishes properly without destroying most of them.”
“Hahaha! He is more of a fighter rather than being as talented as Shirou when it comes to chores.” Lala chuckled, already aware of how flawed the so-called greatest swordsman in her father's army was. "Anyways, going back to the previous topic, from what I'm seeing, your body managed to overload the effects of my invention.”
“Overload?”
"Before you left, I was certain the effects would last for at least another day before naturally dissipating. But your actions and the amazing fight against those boys cut that time down until it eventually ran out — I think.”
“You sound awfully certain for this to be just a guess.”
She shrugged, “there is no other explanation other than that. I still don't understand how this Magical Energy thing and your circuits work exactly.”
This caused Emiya to massage his temples. "Hah… had I known about such a thing, I wouldn't have taken the risk of going outside the house to find Mikado and bring her over. Instead, I would have just stayed here and constantly circulated my energy all day or continuously Traced a number of swords.”
"Magic is so awesome!" she said with childlike wonder. "So, does that mean the next time you change, you can just forcefully deactivate the transformation whenever you want?"
At that, he flicked her forehead.
"Ouch!" the girl exclaimed with a pained expression before she started rubbing the now tender spot. “Shirou?”
"What do you mean by 'next time'? I will do everything in my power never to end up in a similar situation again, even resorting to using those around me as a shield if I have to."
He didn’t want to admit it, but Emiya was starting to feel very sorry for Run and Ren. Unlike him, who just temporarily had his body altered, both of those people had different personalities that shared a single body, which was much worse than his case. They had to live that way from the beginning, prisoners of their own flesh in a sense, unable to take control whenever they wanted to for who knows how long.
"Well, at least this is over. So, what are you doing now?" he said, while looking at the pink-haired princess, who was fiddling with a funny-looking weapon on her desk, wearing goggles, gloves and holding a magical girl wand-like tool named, “Almighty Tool.” that retracted and extended several kinds of attachments — looking no different from a whimsical mad scientist.
Who would have thought that such an innocent-looking girl would genuinely start to terrify him whenever she focused on her inventions like this? It only meant she was creating something more troublesome.
"It's Pai-Pai Rocket-Kun, the thing that turned you into a girl!”
What a horrendous name indeed.
“Normally, its effect should have only been to increase my boob size, but for some reason, it had a different effect on you. So, I'm trying to see if I can fix that. But it still works as intended on me, I checked!”
"Why do you even have such an invention? You never struck me as someone with low self-esteem, especially about your own chest of all things. So why keep working on it? In fact, you have many inventions that the most flattering way I can describe them would be ‘extremely situational.’"
A part of him had the urge to just rush forward and smash the damn thing into thousands of pieces. But he had to keep a semblance of control over his emotions and just stayed in his spot.
"Why do you keep making them?"
The question caught her by surprise, so she took a second to think about it, humming silently.
"Because it's fun. It’s like you are making all those weapons in your shed, even though you never use them. I guess you can call it a hobby?”
A hobby huh… well when phrased like that, it would be a lie if he said he couldn't understand her to some degree.
"You have to be the only person I’ve ever known who can talk about the ability to create a black hole and other spatial disorientations as nothing but a small hobby. But for some reason, I can’t help but believe you.”
"It’s more fun than you might think! Once you get an idea — any kind of idea — you can just create it anytime you want! It can be something as simple as making a robot that follows you around just to hold your bag, all the way to bending space and time to make things more convenient in your daily life. Want me to show you?"
"Are you seriously asking whether I want to create inventions similar to yours?"
"Yes!" Lala answered cheerfully without missing a beat. "Something tells me that if Shirou tries hard enough, he can reach my level very soon!"
At that, the red-headed boy couldn’t help but laugh, his reaction even surprising Lala who never saw him laugh like this.
"I may be many things, but a genius is not one of them — especially not of your caliber. I can’t just conjure up any kind of item I desire out of convenience."
The irony was not lost on him; his Magecraft technically allowed him to do something similar to Lala, but on a much, much lesser scale.
And all of them were items that already existed.
"Didn’t you tell me about a Structural Analysis spell you have?"
"It’s a basic spell that anyone with the slightest talent in magecraft can conjure. It’s not anything groundbreaking whatsoever."
"But still! If I had such an ability, it would have made my life so much easier — to be able to analyze the inner structure of my inventions in a second without missing anything! If I had this spell, all of my creations would be far more stable and harder to control by anyone other than me!”
He doubted such a spell would be that useful when the very thing she just said could already be accomplished by a pair of goggles she’d already built herself. If only she’d remember to actually use them. "I did have thoughts about using Structural Analysis on your weapons and inventions. The first time I did, I suffered a headache that I don’t want to experience again. I’m perfectly fine the way I am now."
"Was it that bad?"
"It wasn’t whether your invention was bad or faulty; rather, there was just too much information somehow cramped into your creations. It goes far beyond anything humanly possible — something I doubt will be replicated by humanity even in a hundred years."
"But you won't know that until you at least give it a go! Try it, and I am not asking you to make something complicated. Come on, it will be fun! I'll show you how to do it," she continued to insist, which was a bit odd to the former Counter Guardian.
All of this felt strange, she was being far too insistent.
"Is there a particular reason why you're trying to make me meddle with your stuff?" he asked, seeing Lala shift her eyes a bit, making his suspicions grow, especially when she tried to whistle but failed.
"Well, would you look at that. It's not like you to have ulterior motives with such things," he said jokingly, not at all worried that she was trying to do something bad, necessarily, as the girl was far too honest for that. But he was curious as to what she had in mind that made her so reluctant to share with him.
"Hehehehe, nothing gets past you… I just wanted to share my hobby with you, since you've done the same with me."
"I don't remember letting you enter my shed anytime recently other than to have a quick look."
"I mean helping you around the kitchen. Mikan told me how you are very strict about who comes over there and won't even let Rito near it."
"Because he is a klutz and I am afraid he might slip and either fall on something he shouldn't or fall while holding a hot dish, then end up burning himself or others. For all the chaos you cause, you don't seem to have any issues with that, so I am comfortable letting you do minor things around the kitchen. Also, you made those machines that help out with the cleaning, so it was the least I could do."
"And I want to do the same! Shirou is always protecting us and making us delicious food every day, so I wanted to try doing the same for you. And also because you give me the impression of being someone who can help me with such things by using your magic! My sisters were never interested… nor was Papa or Mama, so I thought we would give it a try together…”
It was a big surprise to see her speak with this low of a voice. It was clear that the girl in her youth was so far beyond her peers that she just didn't have anyone around her age capable of doing the same things as her. Sure, she had some friends like Run, but that was the only friend — so to say — he ever heard of from all three sisters. Momo even mentioned that Lala would spend most of her time creating new inventions and helping many of the most esteemed scientists the galaxy had to offer. It wouldn't be surprising if a large chunk of her father's empire's weapon systems were designed by her alone.
He could certainly see it as being a lonely existence, having no one else within her own age range whom she felt she could relate to. Perhaps she hadn't even realized it herself — how lonely she was — and maybe that was the reason she created Peke; a sentient robot who was always by her side and helped her with all her inventions.
For a brief moment, he did feel genuinely sorry for the girl before him. He also wasn't above believing that he was perhaps overthinking the entire thing, but there was no harm in such a train of thought, so he wasn't that worried.
Taking his silence as approval, she got more excited. "We can design all kinds of things that can help Shirou in combat, like an amazing armor that will protect you from everything, a cool sword that can shoot out laser beams, Anti Gravity Wings like mine, or even a battery that can store your magic power to be used later on!”
"So you want to create something similar to Jewelcraft?"
Lala blinked. "Jewelcraft?"
Ah, that came out without much of a thought. "Nothing, just thinking aloud about something from the past. I would be lying to say that your ideas don't sound interesting, but truth be told, I don’t see myself having much need for a suit that can fly or a sword that can shoot lasers, since I already have a couple of the latter. As for an armor that can protect me from all harm… let's avoid that since I fear the system might malfunction and interpret all kinds of everyday things as threats.”
"Oh…" Lala looked downward with a disappointed expression, which was fairly hidden behind a forced smile. "I understand. Shirou already has an awesome array of magic powers, so you wouldn't need—"
"—But I don't mind helping you out in the process of designing some of your inventions."
"Eh!?" Her head whipped upwards in pure shock, and she saw him with a light smirk of amusement on his face, as if he had expected and was looking forward to her reaction.
"Why not? This way, I’ll be able to keep a closer eye on you and what you're creating. I won't have to worry about you making something ridiculous for which I have to then suffer the consequences until you manage to work out the kinks. I'm not as knowledgeable about such things as you might think, but I'm always willing to learn."
He did have some knowledge about certain technology that humanity built in the future, and both his own bow and armor were made of an alloy that had yet to exist. But none of them held a candle to what he had seen this girl before him create on a whim within a single afternoon. Still, he felt he could use this arrangement as a chance to at least try and understand what she was creating, stop her when she was about to go too far, and perhaps even expand on what he knew. It wasn't exactly every day he had someone of her caliber willing to teach you how to create items far beyond anything humanly possible.
"Yay!" Lala jumped up from her chair and wrapped her arms around him. She squeezed hard enough to restrict his airflow with that insane strength of hers, but thankfully she managed to keep it under control and not crack anything.
"So, what do you want to create?” she asked excitedly. “Anything special in mind? I can make you a talking chef's knife kind of like Peke, that can help you cook and transform into any utensil you want!"
“T-That sounds dangerous, Lala-sama!” The hairpin on her head, Peke, spoke nervously. “I don't want a sibling who is a knife or anything like this man! He's already a magnet for bad luck!”
“…”
Ignoring Peke’s comment, he was getting a bit overwhelmed, so the man grabbed her shoulders and settled her back into her seat with an awkward smile.
"Let's just start with something simple."
“Okay! Follow me!”
Without wasting a single second, she grabbed his wrist and dragged him to her main workshop. This was one of the few times Emiya had seen Lala be so energetic, at least more so than her usual self, which made him a bit happy.
In the end, he was just going to help her out for an hour at most and then go back to focusing on his own activities.
.
.
.
“Look, this is Sui-Sui Board-Kun! Useful as an ironing board and can also be used as a mode of transportation faster than a rocke—ouch!” A rolled-up magazine struck the girl's head, while Emiya shook his head in disapproval.
“Just a simple ironing board is enough! No rockets!”
“B-But… then it's just going to be a regular ironing board.”
“Then add a sensor that adjusts the temperature of the heated iron depending on the type of materials placed on it.”
“Oh! That's actually a good idea! Grab the Almighty Tool, I'll show you how to use it!”
It started out simple as he mentioned, with Lala just showing him some of the inventions she was already working on, and soon enough there was an initial prototype of the ironing board in front of them. However…
“Lala…”
“Yes?”
“Why are the clothes on fire?
“Hm… I think I forgot the heating feature which is supposed to instantly dry the clothes. But I forgot to put a limit—owie!” He once again gently struck her head with the rolled up magazine. Turning off and analyzing the board after putting out the fire, he found the component responsible and began working on removing it after realizing this thing wasn't as complicated as her other inventions.
“Your wiring needs work surpassingly enough with these less complicated builds. I don't even know how that is possible. You're just asking for something to burn with how close they are to the heater.”
Whenever he encountered something simple, Lala always mentioned some ridiculous secondary function that earned her another tap on the head from his trusted magazine turned blunt force weapon. Many of which were strangely items related to housework.
"Moving on… you mentioned a design for a vacuum cleaner?"
“Huh? Oh yeah, Mikan wanted a new one after the old one stopped working yesterday.”
“This sounds simple enough. Walk me through what you have in mind”
The sun outside slowly settled, and the seconds ticked by until minutes turned into an entire hour. But both Emiya and Lala were completely unaware of the passage of time, with the girl continuing to work on something while the redhead watched over her vast gallery of resources with interest.
"I can take the suction device from Go Go Vacuum-Kun and add it into this vacuum cleaner!” Lala cheerfully explained.
“This… already sounds incredibly dangerous.”
“It creates enough force to suck up any debris and stains from the dirtiest carpet in the galaxy!"
“Well, it’s probably worth at least some kind of beta test. I'll handle making the frame, so don't think about creating anything animal-like.”
“Eh? Do you already have a design in mind?”
“A couple.”
Their back and forth continued, the pile of scrap metal and discarded tools littering the ground growing by the minute till the entire room became unrecognizable after another hour passed. The sun had long since settled and the clock read eight o'clock in the evening.
“This chip will be enough to give it some basic form of artificial intelligence to sweep around the house and avoid getting stuck. Though we'll need to change its program a bit for it to work on a vacuum cleaner.”
“Wow! I didn't know earthlings used such technology inside fishing poles as well!”
“They don't.” He answered without missing a beat. “Just found it during one of my… outings. Anyways, are you sure this will be safe?”
Lala nodded her head vigorously, "Completely! We can even test it out if you want."
"I don't want to purposefully stain the furniture and house, only to regret it afterward if this doesn't work."
"I have a test chamber where he can create simulated environments. We can do it over there."
.
.
.
Another couple of hours passed and both Emiya and Lala stood around a burnt device that resembled a disk shaped vacuum cleaner. Sparks of electricity flying out from time to time, this only contrasted by their blackened dust covered faces and messy hair.
"So the test was a failure. I told you the suction force was too much." He was the first one to speak, grabbing a towel, cleaning his face and Lala's afterwards. The latter enjoyed the sensation at first before catching up on what he just said.
"It wasn't that bad…"
That earlier confidence was gone and now replaced with slight embarrassment.
"Half of the fake house disappeared into a mini black hole."
"Like I said, it's not that bad. At its maximum capacity, the suction would've been able to absorb half the city."
"Why are we trying to stuff a black hole inside a vacuum cleaner again?"
“…"
She had no words.
“Lala.”
“…Yes?”
Pa!
“Ah!”
The fearsome magazine struck her head once more, this being the twentieth time he'd done so. “No more black holes.”
“But—”
“No buts.”
“It's cool!”
“Staying safe and having a roof over our head is cooler.”
“Okay…”
“Back to the drawing board and this time, no more alien technology. I'll take the lead.”
Hours passed, and the duo continued to plan tests and create various kinds of items, all of which were only useful for household chores and daily activities like cooking and cleaning. Any kind of weapons for body morphing, all banned.
There were a few more magazine slaps that happened afterwards, but Lala’s smile only grew wider. The failures no longer disappointed her, she even began anticipating them in hopes both of them would work on it afterwards. Her heart sang with a newfound joy she hadn't experienced so far, beating with vigor whenever he would stand behind her going over the schematics she proposed. Whenever his breath touched her ears, a strange sensation started to group within her body.
Absentmindedly watching him learn to use her tools after a single try with ease and work on the projects they planned together made Lala's eyes grow hazy.
‘Am I having a fever? No, that can't be it…’
It was very foreign, uncomfortable as if her chest was getting stuffed… yet pleasant at the same time.
She didn't dislike it and wanted this moment to last for as long as possible.
At this point, the clock on the wall showed that it had already been past midnight with neither of the duo seemingly even tired. The doors to Lala's room opened, with Mikan and Rito curiously coming over to wonder what these two were up to since morning. Mikan had a bad premonition when her usual punctual brother missed both dinner and doing the dishes.
Fearing that the two crossed a line they shouldn't, she quickly rushed upwards only to find the main room empty, with various lights and drilling sounds coming from the door on the other side leading to Lala's workshop.
Even the twins got curious.
"What are they doing inside?" she said, with a shocked expression. Rito stood behind her, having a similar reaction just as she was about to go over to call both of them in. He stopped her with a serious expression.
"Wait, this is a rare moment where Nii-san spends time with Lala. Usually, he's always busy, and she is always demanding his attention, so this is the best opportunity to let those two hang out together for a bit."
The young girl was caught off guard by this remark and looked at the stranger behind her, unable to stop herself from saying, "Who the hell are you, and what have you done with my dense brother?"
“Mikan!?”
“Tell me quickly before I call the cops; my brother can't be this smart.”
“That hurts!”
While these two quarreled with one another, the twins, on the other hand, held an intrigued reaction. Momo smiled like usual, without her inner thoughts being shown, while Nana, on the other hand, seemed oddly frustrated.
{Break}
(The next day)
“What do you think they were doing inside, Nana?”
Having been forced to sleep all night with all the noise happening. She barely got enough sleep and the dark circles around her eyes were proof of that, now both sisters lazily watched the TV, going through the local news that no longer spoke about the battle that happened yesterday. Suspiciously glossing over the entire thing, a bit weird in Nana's opinion… this couldn't be Zastin’s doing.
“What do you mean by that?” Nana said, knowing that Momo was up to something. “They probably are still working on whatever inventions Onee-sama brought up.”
“Which is weird, Emiya never struck me as someone interested in such things.”
“Maybe he's just making sure she doesn't make something prone to malfunctioning.”
“Or maybe,” her younger sister purposefully stretched the last part of her sentence. “Maybe they got intimate in the heat of the moment and spent all night getting to know each other's bodies better~”
“Shut up, Momo!” Incensed by her sister's behavior, she threw a pillow at her face. Her face grew bright crimson. “Onee-sama wouldn't do something like that and the same applies to Emiy—oof!” She got hit by the pillow this time.
“What's so strange about them being together? Both are grown individuals and engaged.” There was a clear presence of mirth, a sign of this being a trap but one Nana couldn't ignore as easily for some reason.
“H-He… they aren't actually engaged… it's just to force dad to get off our sister's back.”
“And what if they genuinely fall in love with each other? Onee-sama is already in love with him from the beginning, and you know this.”
Yes, Lala was head over heels for Emiya Shirou, that much anyone could figure out. Even the youngest brother in the Yuuki household could see it. Not once did their sister ever have any romantic feelings back in their home planet Deviluke, despite the countless marriage candidates who tried every trick under the book failed to catch her attention but somehow a random human she stumbled upon by pure chance managed to do so within a matter of days.
“I guess so…” She said with a small voice, not wanting to continue this conversation any longer.
“You look dissatisfied with what I said.”
Momo loved to talk a lot, sometimes Nana wished the former would shut up. Her headache from the lack of sleep wasn't helping at keeping her cool.
“Shut up.”
“You've been acting like this since he had that secret date with Run.”
“I said shut up.”
“I've even heard from Mikan-chan and Rito how he's been quite close with plenty of other girls at school. Like a lot of them, including Haruna Sairenji who came over last time. There was definitely something strange going on between them.”
Of course she knew all of that!
They spent all day together, so whatever Momo knew, so did she. The nurse, the rich heir, the school friend, a perverted classmate who liked to touch her sister's chests daily, the wannabe rival and class president all. All of them she heard from various sources and their interactions with Emiya.
She hated it.
He should be with her sister yet there were so many women around him! She wanted to call him a beast, a shameless person who just was a cold-hearted bastard taking her sister's love and throwing it into the garbage!
‘But…what can I even do about that?’
Truth be told, Nana slightly feared him. Whenever her anger flared up at his shameless flirting with other girls when outside the house, any thoughts of reprimanding him would get stuck in her throat when facing him.
This was the same person who actually threatened their father!
So calling him a crazed maniac felt accurate.
Yet despite all of that, the image he showed in the house around his siblings made it really difficult for her anger to hit the ceiling — quite the opposite in fact.
She couldn’t make sense of the man before her.
On one hand, he had given them a place to stay, looked after Celine like a mother would, and cooked meals so delicious they made her forget, if only for a moment, reality. He had shown kindness, almost warmth. But on the other hand, she couldn’t shake the image from the videos Zastin had shown her—the man ruthlessly killing Lacospo without a flicker of hesitation. That same man had spoken in a voice so cold, so devoid of emotion, when he first told them to leave his house. The memory of it sent a shiver down her spine.
How could someone be both so caring and so merciless? She didn’t know how to reconcile the two sides of him, and it left her deeply unsettled.
‘Am I the only one who feels like this?’ She truly couldn't tell, Momo herself was difficult to read at times.
“Hehehe, your frown has grown. You must be really looking forward to seeing him become our brother-in-law or maybe you had something else in mind? Perhaps wanting to be spoiled rotten with some… sensual requests he only reserves for our sister. I'm sure he wouldn't mind.”
“—!” I'm able to deal with her sister anymore, no no through another pillow at her which she managed to dodge in time. Not that she cared as she went to the stairs hastily. “Stop wasting my time without your jokes, Momo! I'm going to wake up in my room!”
“Ah, Make sure to wake up those two love birds and tell them to come and have breakfast~! Though make sure you don't get in between their lovemaki—”
“AHH YOU'RE ANNOYING! SHUT UP!” She hastened her steps until in less than a handful of seconds the girl had arrived in front of the rooms the sisters shared with her hands stopping just shy of the doorknob. Momo's Lost woods haunting her mind for a brief moment till she shook her head exaggeratedly. “What the hell am I thinking!? They weren't there when we woke up.”
Slapping her face a couple of times, she opened the door and secretly let out a sigh of relief when she discovered the two hadn't come out yet and the noise stopped. Though There was still a bit of unrest that remained gnawing at her heart, so she approached the entrance leasing to Lala's workshop and room.
“Huh?” She blinked in surprise, expecting to find the usual mess—piles of trash, scraps of metal, and scattered bits of paper. But instead, she stood before a pristine room that nearly gleamed in the light. Everything was in perfect order, not a speck of dust in sight, and not even the usual clutter of notes and tools that always seemed to pile up whenever her sister worked on a project.
And there, amidst the spotless surroundings, she saw it—"Ah!" Her sister, fast asleep, curled up next to Emiya. Her clothes were missing, bare skin and chest tightly pressed against his, legs tangled together as though they had sought out each other’s warmth in sleep. Her head rested gently on his right arm, using it as a pillow, her face peaceful, almost content.
The slow rise and fall of their breathing was the only movement in the room, a silent rhythm that echoed within the room.
Emiya on the other hand wasn't completely naked, only missing his upper clothes with burn marks on his pants. His entire body was visible to the second Devilukian princess unconsciously gulping as her heartbeat soared when gazing at his rather fit body that had built up quite a bit of muscles for someone his age. “T-This p-pervert… sle-sleeping with her like this!”
She didn't need to look into a mirror to know that her face had turned once more completely red. Her blush had spread all the way to the tip of her ears.
At least in his sleep he didn't look nearly as scary as before.
“Mmm, you're being too rough… Shirou… you'll break the… device…” Nana's body stiffened when she heard Lala murmur in her sleep, coming back to her senses she inexplicably found herself wanting to stare at the sight longer.
‘What am I thinking!?’
She turned her attention back to Lala, the latter having a serene expression, a face that was almost glowing with satisfaction that differed from her usual self. Perhaps because of Momo's influence, her mind started to wander to places it never had. “Did these two… last night…”
No! No no no, her sister wasn't that kind of person! And most importantly, his pants were still on! “It must have been him who tricked her to sleep with him like this! I just know it! He's no different to his brother after all, I'll teach him a lesson!”
She shook her head, uncertain how to even wake either of these two up. But not willing to just stand there for the entire day, Nana hesitated a bit before taking a step forward.
As she moved through the dim room, Nana accidentally stubbed her foot against something hard, crying out in pain. "Ouch!" The sharp sting broke her focus, and before she could catch herself, she tumbled forward—right onto the bed. Instinctively reached out, hoping to grab something to soften her fall.
“Urgh!” The girl barely had time to register what happened before realizing, to her horror, that she’d landed directly on top of the sleeping Emiya. Her face pressing against his bare chest, the heat spreading across her cheeks and his scent filling her nose.
“Hm?” The unexpected weight seemed enough to stir him awake, his golden-brown eyes fluttering open, locking onto her own with a bleary confusion. For a second, she froze, her body refusing to move under his sleepy gaze. “Nana?” he murmured, his voice thick with sleep, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.
His words seemed to rouse Lala, who lay beside him, stretching with a sensual moan as she opened her eyes. “Oh, is it morning already?” she mumbled, half-awake and oblivious to her sister’s presence. Moving closer to Emiya, resting her head against his neck with a contented sigh. "Last night was amazing, Shirou. We should do it again—it was very fun!"
Nana’s cheeks burned as she watched her sister cuddle against him, mortified and unable to tear her eyes away from the scene. Her mind was already conjuring up images of the interaction between these two which only made more blood rush to her face.
“Ah? Nana?” Unfortunately, before Nana managed to rush out of the room, Lala Finally noticed her presents. Fear settled in the younger sibling's heart as her current position could easily be misunderstood as her taking advantage of the sleeping man.
“This… this isn't what it looks like!”
But much to her shock, there was no expression of anger or distrust appearing on Lala's face, rather it was pure joy. “Eeeeh? Did you and Shirou finally become close enough to share the same bed? That's great! He's very warm isn't he?”
“...” Rendered speechless by her sister's reaction, a wave of shame descended upon her mind where she could do nothing more than cover her blushing face and rush out of the room. “I'm sorry!”
Whatever plans she had previously vanished into thin air, desire to teach him a lesson or even scold the man being pushed back into the farthest corner of her mind with the only dominating thought being to get out of this place as soon as possible.
…
“Eh? Nana!” Surprised by her sister's frantic reaction and how she just ran away like a frightened rabbit, Lala momentarily pulled herself away from Emiya and looked towards the door with confusion showing on her face. “Did something happen while I was asleep, Shirou? It's very unlike her to act like that.”
The answer she got was an eyeball from Emiya, the latter Getting up from the bed whilst sorting out his mind trying to understand what just happened.
“Either she is spending too much time with Rito and some of his luck rubbed onto her, or it was just an unfortunate accident. Yes, for her running away, well your choice of words didn't help.”
That was the most logical explanation you could come up with. Before he could continue thinking about this topic, memories from what happened last night soon rushed into his mind and for the first time in a long while the counter guardian felt genuinely embarrassed with himself.
“Damn it, I got too distracted.”
It was only supposed to be an hour yet here he was sleeping topless next to a naked lala after their clothes were burnt away from the many failures last night. The first chance he took to rest his eyes for a couple of minutes ended up making him fall asleep here instead of his room and Lala must have joined him.
[Cleaning complete. Waiting for further instructions.]
His self-scolding ended as soon as he heard the mechanical noise of a talking robot come from nearby, looking next to the bed frame where a disc shaped vacuum cleaner he made with Lala awaited his orders. Behind it the previously ruined room now in pristine condition, almost sparkling.
“Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad.”
Lala next to him chuckled, “I'm so proud of Alaya, it didn't blow up like its predecessors!”
The embarrassment returned tenfold, in his last moment before falling asleep, he remembered Lala asking him to name this new invention.
That name just came out naturally as a joke, yet here it was.
“Can we… just change its name?”
“Oh, I already lasered the name onto Sweep Sweep Alaya-chan’s body.”
Something inside him broke when hearing that name.
“Let's just go to school.”
{Break}
After the whole headache-inducing moment from this morning, Emiya, Rito and Lala made their way to school. Before leaving, they all had breakfast and he noticed how Nana just refused to look at him whatsoever. Nothing he could do for now other than wait for the girl to calm her nerves and talk things out later on.
“Wow, this place is empty.”
As one might expect, The number of a boy's attending today was far less than usual. The normally crowded streets seemed more empty and As far as he could see, both he and Rito were one of the few boys present.
“After everything that happened that day, I don't think they'll be getting out of the hospital anytime soon.” Rito mentioned, Having seen footage of the carnage online just like many others did.
Even as they hung out in class waiting for the bell to ring, there were only female students around them with at least a third of them empty.
“You can see this as a blessing, as for today alone the place won't be filled to the brim with perverted students and a criminal principal who should be behind bars charged with hundreds of cases of sexual harassment.” Emiya replied without feeling any guilt. “And for the few boys present today, either day or one of the few who are actually normal ones and most likely a couple who hadn't attended the parade.”
Strangely enough, even Risa was absent today with Mio mentioning how the girl caught a fever and was bedridden. The bespectacled girl looked especially worried when she mentioned that Risa's parents are never home so she was worried the girl didn't have anyone to look after her.
‘I will stop by her house with Mio later.’
Just for a quick check up to make sure she was alright. That idiot was a stubborn one, there was a high likelihood she would never call anyone for help in such a scenario.
“Emiya!” Both of the boys turned to find a certain brunette class president standing behind them with a stern look on her face. “The absence of this many students today, it's your fault isn't it?”
“Oh, Yui.”
Somehow he shouldn't have expected for her to appear.
“I have nothing to do with this.” He lied before Rito said anything he shouldn't, that boy was unable to lie.
“Do you honestly expect me to believe that? The last time something similar happened was at school with you going into a fight with half the students and hitting them unconscious. I had to drag them to the infirmary all by myself. And now something similar happened once again.” She insisted, her initiation better than he imagined.
Then again, it wasn't enough. “So let me get this straight, you think I disguised myself as a girl, somehow able to make myself thinner and shorter just to go around beating some brats?” He mentioned his points one by one, marching closer to Yui while she took a step back each time till her back reached the wall. “I don't know if you noticed, but the person in the video looks very different from me and only has similar hair color. Take a closer look at my face and tell me again that I'm responsible.”
He noticed how flustered the girl became, a part of him did feel bad for her but he had to make sure she wouldn't keep any kind of misunderstanding that could make things harder for him.
“E-Emiya…” she whispered, her whole body shaking while he remained calm. It wasn't until a few seconds later where she lowered her gaze, “I was wrong… S-Sorry.”
He smiled, “it's alright. Mistakes happen.”
“...”
Rather than say anything else, the girl quickly ran out of the class, breaking her own rules of not running in the hallways. He felt Rito's gaze behind him and turned to find a face of awe.
“Wow, I never saw Kotegawa act like that. How did you do that, Nii-san? I hope she's not angry with you.”
He shrugged, “I don't think Yui would get angry over something like this or else she would have mentioned it already, most likely just shy. Anyways, take care, I'll be going to my class.”
After accompanying his brother to his class, he walked towards the door and was surprised to find Saruyama entered covered in bandages head to toe.
The boy's eyes brightened up when he saw Emiya which sent a chill up the latter's spine. “Oh, It's nice to see you come here for a visit, Emiya! It's wonderful weather we're having today isn't it?”
Rather than approach him with clear hostility like he used to do every time, the boy instead greeted him politely with the largest smile on his face.
Going so far as to shake his hand and even bow his head politely.
This display serving to only raise his suspicions.
“Sayuyama. You have seen better days.” Not to make a scene come up He decided to just greet the boy as usual and even make a comment on his appearance whilst feigning ignorance over the cause. Which to be fair, he had no recollection of kicking or hurting this guy during the march, there were just too many people around so perhaps he got hit by the principal's body like many did.
“Hahaha! Strict as usual aren't you, Emiya. But you don't have to treat me like a stranger, we've known each other for a long time haven't we? As for these bandages, hahaha! You won't believe it, but I just fell down the stairs!”
True, he didn't believe it.
And he had to agree that they weren't strangers, but the one-sided hostility between them couldn't be ignored. “I suppose I should consider you as an enemy then, since you are part of the Anti-Emiya Alliance. Stop with the pretending and just tell me why you approached me.”
Once again, the boy laughed and reacted as if he hadn't heard his words, continuing to behave friendly. “Man you're so cold, but that's what I like about you! I always told Rito how cool his brother is and how he's lucky to have you as family!”
The longer he spoke, the more sick the redhead felt to his stomach.
“I'm leaving, have a good day.”
He tried to leave the place again, this time with hurried steps but was once again stopped by the boy who had the audacity to out of nowhere have his hand around his neck as if they were close friends.
“Wait! Wait, wait! I'm just being friendly to you man, since we've known each other for so long you're more than just a friend, in fact we could even be considered as brothers! I consider Rito as a dear brother as well, so no need to be so cold towards me, bro!” He said with a giant grin on his face.
Another wave of goosebumps spread across Emiya's skin.
“Don’t call me bro. What do you want?” Best to get into the crux of the matter immediately, clearly this person wanted something from him and was acting so weirdly. “Spill it or else I'm leaving.”
His previous frown turned into a sharp look warning the boy to not waste his time. His message fortunately seemed to have gone through with Saruyama trembling slightly under his glare and visibly took a deep breath.
“It's… well it's about your cousin. I heard she came over to Sainan and is still unfamiliar with the place.” A blue formed on his face but he kept a confident look. “I am more familiar with the city than anyone else in school! So I wanted to offer her an opportunity to have a look around and get familiar with the places. So perhaps you can put the both of us in contact with one another? You can trust me, we're good friends after all!”
“... My cousin?” A bad feeling arose within his heart.
“Oh no need to play ignorant, I won't tell a soul about her and even keep her safe!” He stated loudly, taking out his phone and showing him a picture of his… uh… female self walking with Mikado and Rin.
Oh no…
“So, can you please present me to her? Hehehe, I promise we will get along wonderfully! I'll treat her like a princess!” His previous expression slowly morphed into that of admiration and pure love, longingly looking at the picture on his phone. “Hah… had I known you had such a sex—um, beautiful cousin, then I would have—ah, wait! Emiya? Where are you going? Emiya! Ouch!”
He failed to run after the redhead as his forehead struck the door as soon as he was about to rush out of the class.
His loud voice reached the counter guardians' ears which the latter paid no heed to and continued to make his way to his class with hasten steps as if trying to get away from something horrifying as soon as possible.
“I should have known about this.” He was this close from punching the boy in his stomach to render him unconscious but his rational side kicked in at the last second and he managed to keep himself under control. “A few days, all of this will disappear and everything will turn back to normal in a few days.”
Those words repeated a couple of times in his head like a mantra, hoping that these perverted boys would instead pay more attention to the girls nearby rather than to that one person who they confronted a few days ago.
“Y-Yuuki Emiya Shirou,” He heard someone call his name, turning around he found Saki followed by Rin and Aya. Unlike her usual self, the blonde looked a bit shy.
Then again, she probably remembers what happened to her after getting affected by Celine's pollen. He couldn't fault her for that, it was a scenario completely out of her control after all.
Though she wasn't completely innocent, he still recalled the weirdly fortified measures deployed around the house.
“Good to see you, Saki. I'm sorry about what happened last time and the destroyed walls.” He spoke first, genuinely apologizing for what the twins had done. “I wasn't able to become the butler you wanted.”
Saki was initially taken aback by his words and proceeded to shake her head, “It's not your fault, I also didn't plan things out accordingly and was too hasty. Rin mentioned everything you have done and how you saved me as well… so thank you.”
She sincerely thanked him, he watched Rin in the distance wondering just how much the girl told her. Rin acted like she didn't notice his gaze and just continued to stare at the clouds.
That girl…
Before he could even ask just what Saki knew about everything, the blonde made her move first and handed him an invitation card. “It is going to be my birthday soon and we will be celebrating on a private island owned by my family. So to make up for the disaster from last time, I wish to invite you and your family on this outing!”
A private island?
Somehow he had a bad feeling about this.
“Thanks, I'll try my best to attend.” He said, neither giving a yes or no, taking the invitation which still made a giant smile appear on Saki's face.
“Great! I'll be waiting for you then, make sure to bring your sister as well!” She said and left the area.
“I need some fresh air,” Even though he just got inside, Emiya I could already feel several gazes focused on him from some of the boys. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were after and he hoped that Rito wasn't having a hard time as well. “Lala should be with Mikado for a check up, so I don't have to worry about her for now.”
Hm? While outside, he felt a gaze upon him, looking around he came across a black cat near the gates looking at him intently. Emiya paid it no heed, merely treating it as a passing animal. “It probably wants some food.” He said, watching the feline jump downwards and disappear into the bushes soon after.
He had a nagging feeling that something was off about that creature.
A familiar?
As far as he knew, there were no mages he had yet to meet, so he couldn't confirm anything about the kind of spells and magecraft used in this world including summoning familiars.
Maybe he was overthinking this matter, it could have just been a regular cat. Thankfully, his attention was drawn to another figure at the gates walking inside.
“Risa?”
The light brunette arrived much to his confusion, since Mio mentioned the latter was bedridden. Looking at her face, it didn't look like she had a fever. There was a healthy glow to her face and she walked without showing any signs of tiredness. It wasn't until she noticed his presence that the girl stopped in her tracks.
“What are you doing here? I heard from Mio you were supposed to be sick.” He said while crossing his arms. “Don't tell me you still came to school with a fever and were too stubborn to lay in bed for another day.”
“O-Oh, didn't expect to see you here… Shirou.”
“Hm?” Strange, she never called him by that name before. “Needed some fresh air and came here because there aren't that many people around. Most of the boys are in the hospital, So this place is more barren than usual. You don't seem to be in great condition, maybe you should take some time to rest at the infirmary and have the nurse check your health.”
If Mikado mentioned she was good to go, then he would trust her judgment. Currently Risa despite looking to be in great shape did not feel like her normal self, she was fidgeting in place and hasn't thrown a single flirtatious remark yet.
A strange method to gauge someone's state, but the most accurate one when it came to the person before him.
“Haha, sorry about that. It's just that things have been a bit hectic at my house lately.”
“Family problem?”
“Something like that.”
Honestly he knew very little about her personal life other than the few snippets she shared in the past. Just like Mio mentioned before, her parents were barely ever present just like his but on top of that their relationship wasn't exactly the most harmonious. But he rather not jump to conclusions without concrete evidence.
“You've been busy yourself, I heard a lot happened this weekend alone.” Again, she spoke calmly and did not try to do anything mischievous. Maybe something bad did happen at home.
“It has become a regular part of my daily life unfortunately, but not much I can do about it other than deal with the issue as soon as it shows up.”
“Hehehe, look at Mr Knight in shining armor here. Always willing to protect the princess from the bad guys. I won't lie and say that I'm not a bit jealous of the treatment she gets over me. I too deserve a gallant knight willing to come at my back and call.” She nudged him slightly, her smile forced. “But I can understand why you have to pay her that much attention. After all she is the princess of an empire that spans across the entire galaxy. If something happens to her then the entire planet will be in trouble.”
“Everything has been going smoothly so far thankfully. There were some bumps but we managed, at least you don't have to fear getting kidnapped anytime soon.”
“Oh I'm not worried about that,” Risa smiled. “Because if I ever was in any trouble, then you'd come and save me.”
Then a complicated face soon emerged.
“Is there something wrong?”
“We are friends, right, Shirou?” Again with that, though this was not the moment to inquire about that part, since it was clear something was weighing down on her mind.
“I thought that was obvious.”
“And friends help each other, right?”
“That they do I suppose.”
“I see.” Risa sighed in relief, her voice trembling ever so slightly. “I was hoping to hear that from you. So please, I… I really need your help right no—”
A split-second later, her sentence was cut short.
Emiya’s instincts roared to life, a wave of dread surging over him. Before he could think, he threw himself forward, his reinforced legs pushing off the ground as he rushed toward her with every ounce of speed he could muster.
Then, a glint—a flash of something white in the corner of his vision. Hostility flared in his mind, cold and unmistakable.
But he was too late. A searing beam of light shot through the air, aimed not at him — but at the original intended target; Risa.
Time seemed to stretch and bend as he watched the beam strike its target, piercing Risa’s chest. Her eyes widened in shock, her mouth half-open in silent surprise as her body began to fall. Emiya reached her just in time, catching her as she crumpled into his arms, her weight impossibly light, her warmth felt across his skin.
He barely noticed, his focus shifting to the figure atop the school wall. Clad in shadow, the assailant stood, feline eyes gleaming with cold confidence, a smoking gun held steady, aimed precisely at its mark. There was no hesitation, no fear in that gaze.
A dark emotion settled over Emiya, his shock sharpening into a singular, lethal intent. He took a steady breath, the air around him crackling with the power of his spell.
"Trace on," he whispered.
In an instant, the air around him filled with dozens of blades, their edges gleaming with merciless purpose. With a single, silent command, he unleashed them all.
Next update is Steel Eyed Faker followed by To love a Sword.
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-Magnolia-
“Broly got arrested by the council again!?”
Mirajane's incredulous voice sounded within the guild, especially when she found the main team coming back without any signs of the Saiyan and then revealing the fact that he was detained by the Blue Knights once more.
“Are they just going to come after him every time he goes on a mission? They never behave like this even with you, Erza!”
“It’s because you don’t see her destroying the moon or some massive land mass on every quest! Not even Natsu goes that far and that kid is a walking fire hazard hahahaha!” One of the drunken mages in the back shouted cheerfully.
Unlike her, none of them seemed worried and had already accepted this to be one of Broly's quirks whether it was true or not.
“Stop saying that he destroyed the moon! Do you really think he's the one behind this?” The white-haired mage said exasperatedly, shaking her head when people started to cheer that their guild had another monster who had joined. “Never mention anything about him destroying the moon! Ridiculous stories like this might cause him more trouble. Understand?”
Fortunately, her stern warning managed to shut off some of the people around, who, despite being drunk, immediately shrunk back when they sensed a cold stare coming from her.
“In any case, what happened back there, and what led the council to take him away?”
“Same question,” Cana said, sitting nearby with a barrel of wine in her grasp. “Even though I've known that guy for a short amount of time, he does not strike me as the type to wantonly destroy an entire freaking moon. He does look strong, but you still have to keep things believable.”
Just like everyone else in the guild, she was petrified at the sight of the destroyed moon.
Countless theories arose in her mind, and the most logical idea she came up with was this being a passing asteroid that happened to strike at an unfortunate time. She wasn't denying that he was powerful; the man literally took down an army of Vulcans single-handedly. But telling her he was responsible for putting a hole in the moon was just too much to believe. At that point, why would someone that powerful even waste time joining Fairy Tail or even trying to live inside the woods? Someone that powerful struggling to find a place to live with Lucy sharing the same house as her was just far too ridiculous.
“So tell me, what happened during the quest?” At that, everyone looked at Erza and Lucy, waiting for them patiently to provide an answer.
Erza, after a brief moment of contemplation, spoke with a complicated tone. “It’s a long story, but just to give you the brief version, we were ambushed… sort of, more like taken by surprise by a battle that should have never happened very early on. Most of us fell and lost, including people from the Blue Pegasus guild getting completely wiped out.”
Many of those around me gasped. Though Blue Pegasus wasn't on the same level as Fairy Tail, it was still very close, and to see such a renowned guild have its members completely beaten was shocking.
“We barely managed to secure a victory somehow, even though I am not sure how we did it in the end through luck more than anything else. That's about it, the Rune Knights came after everything was settled and took away the members of Oracion Seis.” Neither Lucy nor Gray mentioned anything about the story their teammate gave, all of them keeping their silence. Even Erza didn't mention anything about the moon.
In a way, it was the truth, but it just sounded very different without proper context and details. Yet it served to break from the others well enough for them to start drinking and cheering out loud.
It was clear the redhead wanted to avoid spreading the matter of Broly having technically betrayed them at first with his actions. Though they were done with the best intentions, it still counted as betrayal in the eyes of many.
“You know, I’m just waiting for another messenger to come over and deliver a letter asking us to repay the bills needed to fix the moon,” Cana joked but instantly regretted it the next second when she was faced with a vastly infuriated Makarov, first out of his office, looking like a madman who hadn't showered for days, turning his head left and right as if awaiting a death sentence.
“A messenger from the council!? Where!? It’s not our fault!” he shouted, dribbles of sweat dripping down his face but soon calming down when he noticed the guild laughing at his expense. “YOU EVIL KIDS! Do you know how stressful it is thinking about someone from the council who will come over with the bill that will bankrupt our guild!”
“Don’t be so stressed, Master! It’s just a single moon. We’ll recover financially after a few A-class quests and a handful of S-class quests.”
“How does one even fix the moon?”
“With Earth Magic, you idiot!”
“That makes perfect sense, let's drink to that!”
“Aye!”
“I can donate some of my savings, which I plan to buy that new gun for myself,” the green-haired gunslinger, Bisca, chimed in, leading others to follow suit with equally ridiculous remarks. Faced with this atmosphere, the old man could do nothing but sigh and just go to the bar and demand a beer. “You lot are going to be the death of me. I should be retiring at my age, you know?”
“By the way, where is Natsu?” That’s when Gray just coughed.
“That idiot said he was going to find Broly and bring him back or something.” The others, upon hearing that answer, just shook their heads. This was the second time the young wizard was going to do such a thing, and at this rate, even Makarov was too tired to be angry at him.
“In any case, I hope that Broly will be released soon. The council shouldn't be that big of a problem.” The old man slumped on the counter, too tired and stressed to even wash his worries away with alcohol. “Still, all of this should just be an unfortunate incident. The amount of magic needed to put a hold on the moon is ridiculous that even the strongest Dragons from hundreds of years ago wouldn't be capable of that. Probably just a giant meteor or another kingdom testing out their secret weapons. The kid must be feeling guilty with the accusations those old fogies must be throwing at him—”
“Eh, isn't that Broly outside?”
“YOU DAMN BRAT, YOU BETTER NOT BE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS!!”
His mind did a compelling reversal and Makarov was already rushing outside with the others following him.
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(A few minutes earlier)
“So this is Magnolia.” At the edge of the town, two individuals approached, each carrying a distinct aura that attracted the attention of the passersby. The first was a giant man surrounded by a mountain of muscles, and the second was a red-headed woman whose face resembled that of the most famous mages in their area. But none approached them, as her gaze carried a terrifying intent.
Most were just happy to wave at them and greet them from afar, to which the former waved back. “It is a neat little place, calm and peaceful from the looks of it. I will admit, I expected a bit more from this place.”
“Is it different from where you're from?”
“Yes, it is.”
“You never did mention where you came from.”
“... From Vampa. Don't bother searching for it, you'll come out empty-handed. It's not from this planet.” He turned to check Irene's reaction, whether it was going back to shock or just dismissing his words as a lie as the council did. But to his surprise, she didn't show either of these and just hummed with a slight nod.
“Makes sense, there is no chance for a power like yours to exist in this world and to be never heard by both Zeref and I.”
“You believe me?” Now it was Broly's turn to be uncertain about whether or not she believed him.
The woman rolled her eyes, “I am not as close-minded as many of the current mages. In the past I have studied and researched alternate worlds to Earthland, my findings letting me discover the existence of Edolas. I never got the opportunity to traverse that place, mostly due to the complete lack of Ethernano which dampened my interest in that place. So you must not be from Edolas.”
“I am… not sure?” Broly wasn't sure what his world was even called in the first place. “Vampa is just the name of the planet I grew up on. There are other planets called Earth and Vegeta, but I never learned the name of my world. It could be Edolas, my father never mentioned anything about people using magic nor Ethernano.”
Irene touched her chin in contemplation, “Were there other people with similar powers as yours.”
“Yes.”
“Were they stronger?”
He recalled the blue-haired Saiyan, “Yes, much more powerful.”
“... It's hard to imagine that, I must admit that notion is a bit terrifying.” Despite saying that, Irene grew more interested. “And I assume everyone could use Ki?”
Broly nodded, “Everyone I met could use Ki, except for two people who were too weak to use it properly.”
“Then it's not Edolas. Since that world also needs to rely on magic which has become a scarce resource. They regularly steal some pitiful amount by opening portals between worlds. I sensed a couple forming in Ishgar before someone forcefully closed it. In any case, the idea that there are other worlds than Edolas is not far-fetched, it makes sense and it's only a matter of finding them. But that will be a matter for another time, for now, I have to study your Ki.”
Not elaborating anymore on that, Broly started to head for the entrance, only to stop midway when he remembered something and looked back at the woman. “You’re not coming?”
“Do I even need to? I don't know if you forgot, but our agreement was only for you to act as my test subject. I did not come here to be friends with your guild members nor establish any long-term connection. After my research bears fruit, I will leave, and you can accompany me back.”
“No thank you, I’ll pass,” Broly answered without hesitation. He truly had no plans on leaving Fairy Tail anytime soon nor traveling to another kingdom entirely. Brandish was one of the few friends he had and wished to see once more, but not now. “Just don't try anything that will hurt my friends.”
“Oh, is that so?” Irene showed a hint of a twisted smile. “I can get bored easily, they proved to be amusing pieces the last time I met them. Even you had fun.”
“—!”
For a brief moment, his anger flared up and Broly forcefully grabbed the redhead’s wrist as she was about to walk away. The latter stopped, neither wincing in pain nor showing any discomfort whatsoever and instead locking her gaze with his.
“Do anything to them against my will, then I will make sure you will regret it.”
“You are an insolent one. Don't order me around.” Not taking lightly to his words, a burst of crimson fire formed around his arm engulfing his hand.
Woosh!
Then a bigger wave of energy erupted from Broly, a burst of transparent Ki immediately clashing with her spell. The crimson fire getting snuffed away like a candle in the middle of a storm, Irene's eyes twitched, a vicious light flashing within her eyes followed by even more Ethernano gathering around her, condensing till even the ground started to crack and making some of the people flee in fright.
“You are wasting your time.” The Ki around his body remained completely unaffected by her power. “I've already beaten you. And I can still beat you now.”
Rather than being offended or angered by his words, the smirk on her face just grew larger. “I know I can't hurt you yet, but I can't guarantee you that the people in this small town won't be left unscathed in the aftermath.”
“...try it.” He didn't back away, a hint of emerald creeping in his eyes. “It will be the last spell you'll ever cast.”
“...”
“...”
Neither said a thing for the next few seconds, till she chuckled and retracted her energy. The previous tyrannical presence disappeared, leaving only Broly's who soon calmed down as well. “It is indeed a fascinating power, I was gathering enough Ethernano from outside and within to level this entire town with a single spell, yet your Ki’s source of power came only from within your body.”
Forcefully pulling her wrist away from his grasp, the powerful mage behaved as if their brief confrontation just now was no different from a small disagreement. Unconcerned about her own safety and disadvantage.
“Fine, Fairy Heart no longer interests me anyway with you here. I don't have to go through a bunch of brats and potentially the entire continent just to get it.”
Again with this Fairy Heart, he had no idea what it was. But since Irene was interested in it, then it must be some source of power?
“Go and have fun with those brats, I don't care. Just stay through to your promise and so will I.”
“Are you not interested in meeting Erza?” Broly asked, Irene's eyebrow twitching with a hint of impatience showing on her face.
“You bring her up again, I told you she is of no concern to me. Don't waste your time with such useless things.”
“I knew it, you don't want to face your sister.” As soon as he said that, a vein popped on her forehead, and she showed a rare look of anger.
“You baffoon. I have lost count of how many times you have persisted with that ridiculous notion, but I remind you once more out of the goodwill of my heart that I am not her sister. Were it not for my wounded state; I would have killed her on the spot just for getting in my way.”
“Really? I don't think so,” Broly said without missing a beat. During his travels to Magnolia, he had conversed with Irene from time to time, and his first impression of the woman did change from his initial thoughts.
Despite any similarities they may have shared, her personality was undeniably different from Erza's. She had a merciless nature, effortlessly eliminating anyone who stood in their way, whether they were bandits or monsters. Her tactics made him uncomfortable, ranging from swift annihilation to manipulating enemies to take their own lives. He didn't agree with her methods and had asked her to stop.
“Believe what you will. Anyway, I will set up a workshop somewhere in this town or in the forest. I am not a fan of crowded places and unnecessary disturbances, so we will see if I find a good spot. I'll give myself a day, and we can start our experiment. Don't try to find me, I'll find you.”
Broly wanted to tell her that he could still sense her energy signature even in such a crowded place. It was very different, powerful inhuman, but kept it to himself. She didn't need to know everything about his abilities, and he wanted to keep an eye on her.
“I can show you around, I know certain places where you can set up your work—” The rest of his phrase got stuck in his throat when the woman behind him disappeared. “Guess I should have expected that.”
Broly had mixed feelings about this woman. He didn't have any fears or concerns about her trying to uncover the ‘secrets’ of his power.
As his father mentioned, Ki existed within every living being, and anyone with enough potential and training could unlock it. Saiyans were just gifted warriors who had access to this power from birth. Any other species had the ability to control their Ki if trained enough, in his mind, the same logic must apply here as well.
His case was unique and did not apply to everyone according to Paragus. Even Frieza was interested enough to make him join his army at first. To become powerful, one needed to train arduously regardless. “Will she start training her Ki if she unlocks it? But her Ki is clearly more plentiful than everyone I've met so far, so how come she hasn't been able to control it? It can't grow that powerful without using it.”
The more he thought about it, the more of a headache Broly got from it. In the end, he was no researcher who knew the details of how or why the people in this world were different despite all living things having Ki.
As he made his way to the guild, the Saiyan grew increasingly nervous about meeting his guildmates once more after parting ways with them a couple of days ago.
Part of him still felt guilty about what happened, and he felt ashamed to go back once more. But he quickly shook these thoughts away by slapping his face and taking a deep breath.
When he reached the guild, he stood at the entrance and had everyone's eyes now focused on him. “H-Hi… I'm back.”
Before getting any response, he was immediately assaulted by Makarov, who held his collar and looked at him with bloodshot eyes. “Tell me it's not the truth! Tell me that it is all a lie! TELL ME!”
“Huh?”
He never saw the old man get this worked up about anything.
It was unsettling.
“That this story about you destroying the moon is just a fabricated lie made by drunk, wackjob fools!” Makarov spoke desperately, his appearance and behavior even shocking the Saiyan, who was momentarily left speechless and even contemplated lying to the man's face.
But the latter deserved to know the truth, and he never had any plans on keeping this secret, so with a complicated smile, he slowly shook his head.
“Sorry to say this, Master. It is indeed the truth, I was responsible for that. I already told the Council.”
The quiet atmosphere that followed was very awkward, to say the least. He saw the whites of Makarov’s eyes as his body slowly lost its grip and fell to the ground with a small thud, having lost consciousness due to pure despair with foam coming out of his mouth.
“Broly!”
He heard a couple of footsteps rush to the entrance and pulled his head upwards to find the rest of the guild members looking at him with various expressions. He smiled awkwardly and waved his hands.
“Hi, guys, sorry I was late; they kept me there longer than I imagined—oof!” Once again, he didn't even have time to finish his sentence, and the first response he got was Lucy moving faster than she had ever shown before, instantaneously appearing before him with her hands wrapping around his neck, followed by the others cheering loudly and welcoming him back.
“Hm?” A second person approached him, tapping his shoulders he turned to see Erza standing next to him, her eyes also slightly reddened but overall she looked fine. His other hand went to ruffle her hair, to which she unconsciously leaned against it without even realizing it.
“You arrived at the right time, people were starting to get restless and perhaps Natsu would have tried to storm the prison again… welcome back.”
It was at this moment that once more Broly felt a sensation of pure joy and a sense of belonging course through his body. “Kya!” He grabbed all three people around him, Lucy, Erza, and the still-foaming Makarov into his embrace.
“...Glad to be back.”
This was his family, and he could never abandon it.
{Break}
Home sweet home.
It had been a while since Lucy and Broly returned to their humble abode, the small building housing four apartments with two at the bottom and the last two on the upper floor. With the upper floor being the one where she, Cana, and Broly lived.
Or at least, that was how it should have been.
“Um, Cana… what happened while we were gone?” A confused Lucy asked the card mage next to her, standing in front of a small building built near the eastern part of the town closer to the mountains. Unlike their past complex surrounded by other buildings near the water canals, this place was located in a quieter place surrounded by greenery, and the entire structure was a bit old-styled.
A one-story house covered in moss with cracked stained glass, a crooked chimney, an aged wooden door, and a dirt path leading to the main road. It wasn't ugly in any way, it even was cleaned recently from the looks of it but still a bit further away from Fairy Tail.
“Well, our former complex was rendered inhabitable when the roof collapsed one of the guild's members ended up falling through when testing an experimental flying apparatus from a quest. Master compensated the woman and she decided to renovate the entire place making it bigger. So as you can imagine, everyone had to leave.” Cana mentioned, stretching her arms which nearly made her blue bikini top barely manage to keep her chest contained, drawing Lucy's attention and slight envy at how confident the woman was at showing off the girls.
Broly, on the other hand just focused on the squeaky door he tried not to break when opening it slowly.
In any case, Cana continued. “Since we've already paid in advance, I told the landlady to either refund us the full amount or just give us another place equally as good. Take a guess which option the cheapskate chose? That's right, this place. She never found any takers after the last one left. It has three bedrooms, one giant old-style bathroom, a living room, and a courtyard. Originally it was supposed to be rented for two hundred thousand Jewels which I negotiated down to the same price as your last place.”
So a hundred thousand jewels… that was basically a steal for what this place offered.
“Take a look inside, it took me some time to clean and make the place look more lively. Even had Elfman help me bring your stuff here, though it was a big confusion how little Broly had. Don't worry, we didn't snoop around, I made sure Elfman wouldn't accidentally do so.”
“It's fine, I don't have anything to hide. It's just Lucy over here who is very shy about people seeing her things.” Broly mentioned, patting the mortified Celestial Wizard next to him who immediately rushed to Cana and grabbed the latter's shoulders.
“Y-You went t-through my s-stuff?”
“Hehehe, don't worry, I made sure to not dig through your belongings. But there is one thing I must say, Lucy, those are some rather riské lingeries and tops in your collection. Even I blushed when looking at them, who were they for exactly?” She asked with a Cheshire grin, visibly finding joy in teasing her friend who had turned into a full-on tomato face. “My oh my, here I believed you were a sweet innocent girl. But it turns out there you are a devious little succu—mmph!”
Lucy's hands shut Cana from speaking any more than necessary, especially when she was deliberately speaking loudly for a certain Saiyan to hear it! Those clothes completely slipped from her mind and the girl was instead more worried that her secret story draft was discovered!
“T-Those aren't mine! It's just a friend of mine who left them behind for safekeeping till they come back!”
“Yes~! A friend~! I completely understand~!” Cana winked, much to Lucy's dismay.
“No, you don't! J-J-Just listen to me…” While those two had their conversation, Broly walked into the house and was greeted by a cozy interior. Nothing extravagant, a living room with a single large sofa placed in front of a fireplace, a bookshelf most of which was empty with a handful of books which all belonged to Lucy and multiple decks of cards. Picture frames that showed everyone from the guild hung on the wall, many of which were taken at different points in time.
Several potted plants were placed throughout the area.
The kitchen was only separated with a table counter which had a few apples and he grabbed a couple of them to eat. He then found a hallway leading to four doors, one of which was the bathroom and the other three rooms.
“This should be my room,” he followed the place that had his scent, opening the door to walk inside a mostly empty room with a bed, a table, and some bundles of clothes. He didn't have much to begin with, only a couple of clothes and a small sack filled with jewels he got from quests and what Lucy's father gave him — which had been depleted already. There were many things he left in his small shack up the mountain, all of which were taken care of by Gretel.
The Saiyan felt a deep sense of calm wash over him in the familiarity of his new adobe, accompanied only by the soft chirping of birds outside and the gentle warmth of sunlight filtering through the window, casting a peaceful glow across his room.
Without even realizing it, he was already sitting down on his bed with his body slowly leaning down. The soft mattress, made it far more comfortable than the cold stone floor in the prison, a small area that he could call his own and have complete control over.
But there was one memory that still refused to leave his mind… a sensation that he actually missed and wanted to feel once more. Closing his eyes, he recalled the hug that a strange woman gave him when he was nearly consumed by his dark thoughts, a warmth that easily erased any fear he felt at that time.
It wasn't like he never hugged or had other kinds of intimate moments with other people, Aquarius occasionally bathed with him and had a habit of pushing his face into her chest and even giving him massages. Just when he returned to the guild, Lucy hugged him and so did many other people.
He felt loved, and liked those moments — but they weren't exactly the same.
That woman made him feel different, loved but also… safe. At that moment, he forgot who he was, there was no Saiyan who held unimaginable power capable of destroying the world, no longer a powerful individual but just… him. Slowly, his eyes turned blurry when trying to recreate that feeling and exhaustion slowly settled in inside him.
From the moment he returned from Galuna Island, then went on the quest to eradicate the Oracion Seis and then was imprisoned. All this time he barely had any time to properly sleep at all, consumed by his fears and guilt.
Now, all of it was behind him and even he could no longer keep the wave of mental exhaustion from washing in like a tsunami. Not even a minute passed before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Unbeknownst to him, an ethereal figure floated next to him as soon as he went to sleep. Her body is fully translucent like a ghost and completely invisible to any outsiders. With her feet touching the ground, she walked near the bed and sat next to the sleeping Broly.
Her white dress fluttered even though it didn't exist in the material world, a waterfall of blonde hair cascading onto the bed. Blank eyes gazing down at the sleeping Broly without much emotion for the first few brief moments.
"Hm..." Broly groaned, his brow furrowing as if caught in the throes of an unsettling dream, haunted by the remnants of a turbulent past. She watched him, her head tilting slightly in curiosity, her expression a mixture of confusion and intrigue. For a moment, she hesitated, her hand hovering uncertainly above him.
But then, driven by an instinct she couldn’t explain, she gently lowered her hand and let her fingers graze the edges of his hair. The soft, black strands passed through her fingers like a whisper, without actually making contact, the touch itself was intangible. Yet, despite the lightness of her gesture, she noticed the change almost immediately.
His rigid form, once tense and knotted with the weight of whatever plagued his dreams, began to soften. The furrow in his brow smoothed, the deep frown fading from his face. His expression, once slightly contorted with unease, grew serene, peaceful even, as though the simple act of her presence had calmed the storm inside him.
She marveled at the transformation, having a small smile that lasted for an hour.
“Everyone at one point in their lives faces an obstacle that seems unsurmountable, from the weakest to the strongest, from the most ignorant to the wisest and from the most mundane to the those bound to a unique fate set to change the world — all reach that point in their lives. It may go on for days, weeks to years, sometimes looking like it may never end.” She spoke gently, recalling her first impression of this person to when he first came to join the guild to now, a sad look flashing before her eyes. “You saw it today, didn't you? They were happy to see you.”
There were many questions at the forefront of her mind she wanted to ask, but she wasn't in a hurry. Instead just swung her feet back and forth, looking at the door where Lucy and Cana's voices sounded, the girls talking about decorating the house.
“Zeref will come to find you, especially after what happened recently. If his interest was only at surface level before, then it has most definitely grown. A power not from this world… foreign yet so destructive — it is only a matter of time before you two meet.” She showed no other emotion when mentioning the black wizard at first, absentmindedly staring at the empty space before as if remembering the past. “He is lonely and never got to have a family. I failed to grant him that.”
“...”
Broly, unaware of the platinum blonde-haired woman next to him, continued to sleep peacefully. The hand that was caressing his head slowly retreated. “I don't want to give you any more burdens than you already bear in your heart, it is not your duty nor anyone else in the guild to grant my wish. But I'll be selfish this one time once more, I hope… I hope when you meet him, death won't be the end conclusion of either of you two.”
Who would have thought that the power many craved, willing to go to any length to gain actually belonged to an individual who despite his appearance was but an innocent child to her eyes. His reaction upon their first face-to-face meeting only cemented that belief.
At that moment, she didn't think about whether or not his appearance was a curse or a blessing to Fairy Tail. She didn't care if he had any connections to the gods or if he was sent here for some purpose.
Slowly, her figure disappeared leaving Broly to continue to rest.
That was until the door to his room opened, with two curious heads popping in and peeping inside.
“Hehehe, he looks cute doesn't he?”
“...”
“Not going to kiss him?”
Lucy blushed but didn't want to scream at Cana and wake him up. But she wasn't willing to let Cana tease her like this so easily! “I-I can k-kiss him anytime, he wouldn't mind either way after everything Aquarius had done with him previously.”
“... What?”
“I'm serious… I saw it. She’s shameless!”
“Damn.”
Cana was left speechless, and it turned out the big guy wasn't as innocent as she'd believed.
{Break}
-???-
There were very few things in the world that Ultear feared. Whether it be creations from the book of Zeref, Wizard Saints, and even bloodthirsty dark mages — They all couldn't hold the candle to the sensation she got whenever she had to describe her failures in front of the person who raised her.
“You failed to capture his mind once again, haven't you, Ultear?” The person in front of her mentioned it with a stern tone. Her body shook when she realized that this time her failure was worse than before as she didn't even get the opportunity to go through with her plan after failing both during the Tower of Heaven and in the dungeon. “For how long do you think this will go on? No, rather I should ask, are you even confident you have the ability to capture him in the first place?”
Yes, for all the power that man possessed he was surprisingly naive despite showing some level of wariness. She felt that even without the need to use her magic to manipulate his mind, a simple use of deception was more than enough to get him on their side.
“Don't answer that. I already know what you will say. But unfortunately for you, your failures speak for themselves and I do not want to wait for another year for you to come back and give me a similar result.”
Her fists clenched, both in fury at herself and towards Erza Scarlet, had that woman not interfered then she wouldn't be displaying such a shameful result to her Master.
“Aaaah! I told you that we should have used my method instead, Ultear! Just break his bones and drag him here, much easier and fun!” Another voice spoke from behind her, the girl didn't need to look to find out who it was nor was she willing to respond.
That man would just ignore it and start insulting her.
“Enough, Zangrief.” It took but a single warning from him to silence that loudmouth. Not surprisingly, everyone here feared him for a good reason. “Ultear.”
“Yes, Hades-sama?” she turned her head upwards, looking at the elderly man seated on his throne with a long beard. His most prominent feature is the helmet in the shape of two horns followed by an eye patch on the left side of his face.
“Unfortunately, time is not our ally after the events of these past few days. With our fallen allies, we have also allowed the Magic Council to gain a keen interest in our target.”
“Hades-sama! The people don't even believe his words and are not aware of the power within him! They even tried to keep him locked up until he revealed to them the location of the weapon capable of harnessing so much power, not that it ever existed.”
“Humph, as expected.” Hades did not seem surprised in the slightest. “Blinded by greed, oh how far they've fallen. Regardless, capturing Broly is no longer your duty alone, Ultear.”
Her eyes widened in shock.
“You mean…”
The darkness around him became tangible, goosebumps spreading across her skin when she found the gleam in his eyes intensifying.
“This mission now falls upon all of us. Grimoire Heart needs to capture him at any cost, even if I have to personally take action.”
Edit 1: Made a HUGE ERROR and mixed up some details with Fake Familiar with this fic... Corrected it and now the chapter got an almost 1.5-2k words increase.
Yes, I am cursing past Nim for such an error for those who noticed it.
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-Underworld-
"I can't believe this! What the hell is he thinking? This is completely irresponsible!"
A fair amount of time had passed since the end of the party, and as expected, both Sona and Rias were not happy at all with the news concerning my unexpected, and forced might I add, participation in the Rating Game. I myself remained quiet the entire time after leaving that place, just focusing on the chessboard in front of me, lost in my own thoughts, wondering just what pushed Sirzechs into taking such a course of action without informing me beforehand.
That man for all his antics never struck me as someone who took whimsical decisions like these just for the heck of it. The title of Lucifer carried weight and under such a mindset would eventually crumble.
So there had to be a reason.
I hope.
On the other hand, Kuroka and Xenovia didn’t show any negative reaction to this announcement—quite the opposite, in fact. One was prepared to show the devils what she was truly capable of and how far she had come since her battle against Kokabiel. Constantly polishing her swordsmanship and eagerly swinging Durandal around while the other just commented, "I can’t wait to show Shirone how cool her big sister is!"
Fucking siscons. Always making my life harder than it has to be.
I didn’t even feel shocked or disappointed at this rate, having grown used to dealing with such eccentric people. These kinds of behaviors had become normal. I was surrounded by a battle maniac with an oversized sense of pride and a siscon. Other than them, there was a bitch who wouldn't hesitate to backstab me or just laze around the entire time, a secretary more adept with seduction than actually fighting.
‘Nothing is stopping me from just leaving and going back to the clubroom.’ I wasn't kept here against my will and had no contracts binding me to participate.
Meanwhile, a certain crimson-haired otaku seemed more worked up about this whole mess than I was. "Rias, if you keep pacing like that, you'll make a trench in the floor and sprout white hairs from all of the stress. And next thing you know, Koneko will be calling you 'Onee-sama' instead of me."
"This is not the time to make silly jokes, Hachi!" Rias shouted, clearly not in the mood for my little quips. "You are mine! A member of my peerage and even hold my evil pieces within your soul, so why take such a decision!"
“Well, I don't technically have your pieces inside m—”
“THAT'S NOT THE POINT!”
Wow, maybe she was part banshee? Even my ears are ringing despite sitting far away. Focusing on the previous comment, why indeed… “Well, unfortunately, I'm not omniscient nor a mind reader, so best to not make hasty conclusions.”
I understood her frustration to some degree, she was prepared to go completely full throttle upon this Rating Game and planned to shock the Underworld. After all, Rias’s dream was to rank on top of the billboard and be recognized for her merits alone. So to suddenly be faced with such a handicap of having a ‘member’ of her peerage suddenly turn into an opponent was visibly disheartening.
This, further damning when the person who pushed her in this situation was her brother.
"Just take a moment to breathe and think about this carefully. You know your brother isn’t the type to make your life harder than usual without a good reason."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she said with a sour face. "There were many times in the past he never took a stance to help me out when I needed him the most. Don't forget about his stance when it came to Riser!"
Hmm, I waited for her to bring up that point. "Because he is also a Satan just as he is your sibling. He can't always choose your side over the judgment of those around him. He is required to be impartial, and an biased treatment would only give his enemies more ammunition to use against him." At the end of the day, there was always a reason behind such actions, and throwing a tantrum of any kind wouldn't help. So, it was best to just focus and think about this matter carefully.
“Then again, I'm not defending him. I still think Sirzechs is wrong with what he's trying to do.”
"Could he have been pushed into making such a decision?" Akeno, who was handing out tea, suggested. The girl herself had her reservations and opinions about this decision but, surprisingly, hadn't said much the entire time.
Knowing her, she definitely hated the idea just as much as Rias. Just like her King, she waited for an opportunity to have me fight side by side for a very long time… something about how it allowed her to keep a better watch on me so that I don't get myself in another near-death situation.
"I doubt it too. While it is true that Sirzechs has to compromise on many things in his position as Lucifer, that still doesn't mean he can be pushed into making such decisions by anyone so easily. The only person who could push him to do so would be the Bael clan or the Gremory house itself. And I highly doubt that the patriarch of the Bael house is in any way, shape, or form interested in me participating." Though I said that, in actuality, part of me believed otherwise.
That old skeleton may as well be planning to make a show out of me. ‘He wants to showcase how despite everything accomplished with my name attached wouldn't look that impressive?’
‘Even that is unlikely, partner,’ Vita spoke from within my mind. The dragon itself held the same amount of confusion as I did over this decision. ‘Had you been a human this entire time with growing popularity among your species, then that would have made sense. But you are not exactly a normal human, are you?’
‘I’m a mess.’
‘Agreed.’
Wow, what a supportive partner… but I couldn't deny it.
While everyone continued to speak, another idea came to my mind, which I voiced out. "What if Sirzechs just doesn't want both of you to fight over me?" I asked, my words leading both Riaz and Sona to stop in their tracks and look at me with confusion. So, I continued to elaborate. "Think about it. In this Rating Game, I can only join one side and not help the other. It's just impossible. If I go with Rias, I'll have to confront Sona's group sooner or later. And let's say, by the end, we win — it will not be fair to Sona. Honestly, it would have been better if I just didn't get involved.”
The idea of leaving started to get more and more appealing. The train to the human world left in a few hours… and I had to catch up with my duties as a club president and help out Aika.
“But you're my lover and not hers!” Rias didn't back down, pouting with Akeno agreeing with her. “She should just accept her loss and deal with it.”
“You know that I'm right here, right?” Sona's annoyed voice sounded from the back, drinking the tea Akeno served with a twitching eyelid. “And I'd like to add that Hachiman here is also my close ally, so please don't forget about that.”
"Easy now, let's not turn this into a catfight," I said, raising my hands in a placating gesture. "I was thinking more about the fallout if word gets out about my... unique situation with Sona's Evil Pieces. Can you imagine the uproar? And trust me, Serafall would be the first to raise hell if her precious little sister lost because of it. For big events like this, it's probably safer if I sit on the sidelines." I jerked my thumb towards Issei, who was blissfully unaware of our conversation as Irina hand-fed him sweets. "Besides, you've got your own ace up your sleeve, don't you?"
“What?”
"Come on, it's not like either of you are hurting for firepower. Sona's got the Red Dragon Emperor in her corner, along with her other Sacred Gear users and Rias, your team's a supernatural all-star lineup. A Senjutsu user, holy lightning wielder, and Excalibur user? Not to mention Kiba's ridiculous Sacred Gear and sword skills. Face it, you two could probably take on half the Underworld young devil peerages without breaking a sweat. Me being a measly dragon king would just be a drop in your overpowered buckets."
“I take offense to that,” Vritra grunted out with a hint of resentment. “There's nothing to say a Dragon King can't equal or even surpass an Emperor!”
Then Ddraig decided to join the conversation. “Hooo, quite confident of you to say that, Vritra. Are you perhaps willing to rely on external aid from a Dragon God to bridge the gap between us? Can't blame you, it's the only chance you got at beating me hahaha!”
“Laugh all you want, you overgrown lizard—” I held back my tongue from reminding him that he was technically also a giant lizard… or a snake to be more accurate. “Do not forget my previous host did not need Ophis’s help to take down your equal; Albion.”
“You have quite the audacity to call that fool my equal.”
“Oh, forgive me, I meant you're better. I meant no offense, oh great Dragon Emperor.”
The green jewel within the Boosted Gear started to glow brightly, and the previously amused dragon's voice turned bone-chilling cold. “Vritra, you haven't been much to deal with in the past, but it seems that getting yourself this new host has turned you a bit arrogant, and are asking for an ass-kicking.”
“Can't say I envy you,” replied the Prison Dragon without missing a beat, “arrogance has to be earned, I neither feared you nor Albion in the past. Do not believe that has changed now.”
“Humph, of course, you do not know the meaning of fear. Only a lunatic without sanity would wage war against Indra’s forces and their leader alone. You may appear wise but you and I are not so different.”
“We are beings ruled by our emotions, and I became wise because of my failures.”
The two dragons continued to bicker at each other like two crotchety old geezerswhile I and the rest of the club listened. No one intended to intervene for it was rare to have either of these two speak to one other person than their host let alone other dragons. One thing I learned after being with Vritra for a long time was how stubborn the guy was, stubborn to a fault.
“Wait, one of Vritra’s past hosts defeated that other white bastard's host!?” Issei exclaimed shocked. I suppose Ddraig never mentioned the story, then again, I myself didn't know much and Vritra himself only brought up bits and pieces.
“Both died in the end, but yeah, that did happen. I don't remember that woman's name, but she reminded me a lot of Tiamat.”
“Then what happened to the Boosted Gear host of that time? Didn't you say that in every incarnation, both you and Albion always end up killing one another?”
I mentally gave Issei a thumbs-up for that question.
"Oh, that?" Ddraig's voice took on a somber tone. "Don't get your hopes up, kid. That poor sap wasn't some lucky exception who rode off into the sunset. My host back then? Barely clung to life long enough to watch the other two tear each other apart, before dying from his wounds thanks to that white-scaled bastard. Funny how history keeps repeats itself, eh?"
The weight of those words hung in the air, hinting at a deeper narrative. I couldn't help but wonder - was this clash triggered by the fall of Ddraig's host? Could there have been some connection between my predecessor and Issei's? Friends turned foes, perhaps? Or unwitting pawns in a cosmic game? The possibilities were as intriguing as they were unsettling.
As much as I wanted to delve into that mystery, the present demanded my attention.
“I have no doubt that there’s much to learn from the past,” I said, my voice steady but still filled with curiosity, “and I’d love nothing more than to hear those stories. But right now, I believe we need to focus on the present. You know, the whole fight both Sona and Rias.”
“You're thinking too much, Vritra's host. Just treat it as another sparring opportunity to challenge each other. I won't hide it, but I really believe that going against you will help Issei attain new heights… and it will be fun.”
Great, another battle maniac. But what more did I expect from a dragon that had all of his fights end with a death battle.
Saji agreed as well, “I still need to punch you in the face for stealing the Absorption Line from me!”
“Well, I can't say I don't deserve that but I can say it’s your fault for not being more compatible, so you have no one to blame but yourself for being lazy. But anyway, your brother maybe made me a separate party to be fair to both you and Sona. Another possibility would be for me to just end up as a show of force to the other factions — which I highly doubt, Sairaorg is more than enough for that.” At least, this was what I believed and the only explanation that made sense, especially when it came to trying to understand the actions of an eccentric siscon like Sirzechs.
"But it's still not fair!" Unfortunately, Rias still felt wrong. "When was the last time we fought together or participated together in a Rating Game? Never. Back then when I faced Riser, you weren't there but instead gave me moral support from the stands. I can tell that had you been there by my side, I would have been much more confident and capable of defeating that guy much sooner! I was looking forward to this event quite a lot." Her mutters echoed within the room, but I couldn't say anything, nor did I attempt to answer her.
“And I made countless plans and tactics to include your powers with my team's dynamic,” Sona added, equally as pissed obviously with her Queen comforting her.
"Well, it is what it is. There's not much we can do right now, so for now, focus on your side and we'll see how this goes."
With that said, I left the room, leaving the redhead and the Sitri heiress to deal with their side of the matter.
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After that discussion, my initial plan was to go back to my room and sleep for the day. Maybe watch some DevilTube about that new show Serafall was making with Katarea acting as a villain.
Not by choice of course.
But fate just had to throw that plan right into a wall, especially when I came to a stop at the sight of a familiar white-haired woman sleeping in the corner of the hallway with drool leaking onto the floor.
“Mmmmn… my precious… yearly bonus…salary… come back… don't run away…”
“...”
I didn't even want to know what kind of dream this woman was having with a face like that. Switching between joyful and heartbroken, I half wondered whether or not she was faking it.
“Oi,” no reaction, not even so much as a twitch. The woman just kept snoring loudly without a care in the world — I almost envied her peaceful state. But then recalled that she was sleeping in the corner of a castle for some reason, the heavy stench of alcohol just made the entire scene just sad.
“My… money… come back…”
Hoh, rather fond of money? Couldn't blame her, guess being a female warrior who escorts the souls of fallen warriors to Valhalla did not save one from the clutches of capitalism.
“Just leave her, partner, this place is heavily protected.”
I sighed, “This feels like abandoning some kittens in a box outside.”
“Except this kitten is a full-grown tigress. Valkyries are phenomenal warriors both in physical combat and magic. Maybe even around our level or beyond depending on who she is, the name Rossweisse doesn't ring a bell.”
There weren't even any maids around I could ask for help. I didn't even know where Odin and his group were living for me to drop her off. And I wasn't in the mood to go the extra mile and investigate just for this stranger who I met today.
So I made up my mind, “Hey, wake up.”
With a bit more force, I shook the girl back and forth for a few seconds. My efforts led to some success when she groggily opened her eyes and mumbled something under her breath. “I know the carpet on the floor is high quality and comfortable to the touch, but you shouldn't be sleeping on it.”
Seeing her half-opened eyelids where silver eyes stared back at me intently, an uncomfortable sensation settled in as memories of what happened in Gremory manor bath resurfaced. But I immediately slapped myself realizing where my mind started to head when it came to the person.
“I'm spending too much time with Akeno. I'm starting to think like her… or maybe it's Aika’s fault. Those two are peas in a pod.”
Seriously, what kind of sane person would believe that meeting a drunken person in a corridor led to an intimate conclusion? I was becoming the very kind of perverted individual my past self never approved of!
Hah… in any case…
Slap!
My palm struck the side of her face with enough force to produce a crisp sound, an action that would have left some light reddening on a normal woman but left no trace on this person whatsoever. Her skin alone though soft to the touch, felt like steel from the slap.
How strange.
“M-Mmmn-ah…” Smudges of clarity returned, making me smile in relief.
But that smile soon disappeared with her following words.
“M-My wallet…” she said, almost sounding like asking pitifully about her missing item. “Did you… see it?”
She didn't even react to the slap, most likely feeling like a tap if nothing else.
Despite sounding very slurred, I managed to understand most of it with great effort. Wasn't she searching for Odin yesterday? Just how did this lead her to lose her wallet… my impressions of the Valkyries started to plummet with every passing second. “Sorry, I just found you and nothing else. Have you tried asking some of the maids?”
Her eyes grew further teary as she started to stretch near the edge of crying out loud, this alone gave me the answer to my question. Then she genuinely started to cry despite my best efforts to comfort her, barely audible sniffles growing in volume and threatening to turn into a full-on loud wailing any second. So I panicked and did the first thing that came to my head in order to solve this tricky situation. My hand went to the back of my pants where I retrieved my personal wallet before handing it out to the Valkyrie near her breaking point.
“A-Ah, would you look at what I found beneath the carpet just now? This must be yours!”
Her shaking stopped as I pushed the item over to her, she grasped it so firmly that I feared the thing would tear at any moment.
“Uuuuu, thank you… thank you… I won't go hungry…”
Damn it, she still cried in the end.
Where was the dignified Valkyrie said to guide brave fallen warriors to Valhalla?
The person before me just looked like a miserable office worker tethering at the edge of poverty working for a black company struggling to make ends meet! The very person who in the next moment fell down to the ground with a loud thud, having once more lost consciousness from the excessive drinking.
A silly smile on her face, continuously holding onto my wallet as if it were a lifeline. I couldn't even take it back with how she just tightened her hold on it, further pushing to her chest till it slipped through her buttoned shirt and sunk within her cleavage.
“... Is this a Valkyrie capable of holding their own against an ultimate class devil?”
“It would seem so, partner,” even Vritra sounded uncertain… or was it embarrassment?
“I was under the impression that everyone in the supernatural world was loaded.”
“That's a gross generalization. Not everyone cares about wealth. Living for many centuries does not mean one will be sitting under a mountain of gold. Remember, those exorcists are not any different from your average human when it comes to wealth.”
He had a point, hanging around the three factions made my view on certain things become more twisted. “But this is not just an exorcist, you'd think a Valkyrie would be different.”
Shaking my head at this, I made up my mind and approached the woman. My arms went under her legs and back. Gently lifting her up from the ground, making sure I didn't bump her head against the wall or on any of the incredibly expensive furniture.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure she doesn't end up getting converted by a random passing devil snob and accidentally turns into a peerage member by accident. I've seen the kind of people attending this banquet, not the best kind of crowd.”
The dragon hummed in agreement, my footsteps echoed in the hallway as I thought about where I could drop her off for the night. I couldn't just open a random door in the hallways and just drop in a random bed without knowing whether someone was going to sleep there later on or not.
{Break}
(Next morning)
(Rossweisse PoV)
“Hmmm,” her head buzzed loudly, the after-effect of her drunken state from last night coming back to cause a splitting headache. The hangover was strong enough that she just wanted to block out all light and sound to continue sleeping peacefully in this comfortable bed.
The sensation of her bare skin enveloped by the warmth of the soft blanket made it feel like she was floating in a sea of clouds.
.
.
.
“...?”
Eh?
Wait…
Soft?
Blanket?
Bare skin?
Bit by bit, her senses returned and she noted a few odd points.
First of all, she wasn't wearing her stuffy suit and instead felt the cold morning wind caressing her skin sending a slight shiver up her spine. Secondly, this bed was far too big compared to the small single bed she was given, rather this was clearly a king-sized one!
“Ah!” She hastily pushed herself up, ignoring the headache with her messy hair sprawled everywhere. Her bra barely hangs around her chest about slowly slipping off, the gray suit rolled up into a ball thrown at the edge of the bed along with her pants.
She looked around the place and discovered this wasn't her room!
“What? W-What happened!?”
The distressed Valkyrie jumped out of the bed while clutching the blanket around her figure. She tried to recall what happened last night for her to end up here! “I-I was searching for Odin-sama, t-then someone approached me… ah! It was the Black Dragon King! Yes, he agreed to help me find Odin-sama, I then followed him before everyone's attention was on us…. Then… then he was pulled away by the Gremory heiress and Sitri heiress, then I found those complimentary bottles of wine…”
Wine whose price tag was her entire yearly salary! Given for free to anyone in the banquet she could even take multiple without any limits! “Th-Then I took a few sips just to test the quality while searching the castle then… then… what happened?”
It was at this point that her mind went blank, everything became very blurry after that to the point she didn't even know whether it really happened or it was just her imagination. Focusing, images flashed of a certain person whose face was covered in shadows. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t even recall their voice.
A dreadful thought crossed her mind which she quickly dismissed with a firm head shake. “What am I thinking, I would never do something like that even in a drunken st—”
An object fell to the group in the middle of her messy muttering, landing right next to her feet. Her eyes went downwards only to widen with disbelief and horror when she discovered it was a wallet filled with cash that was scattered across the floor.
A large sum enough to make her momentarily green with envy.
“N-No…No… nonono…”
The unfamiliar room, lack of clothing, hazy memories, and wads of bills at her feet, all of this pointed to one outcome alone.
Rossweisse’s legs felt like jelly, crumbling onto her knees as she stared at the luxurious ceiling with tears starting to stream down her now pale face.
“WAAAAAAH! I'm sorry grandmother! I SOLD MY BODY TO A STRANGER FOR MONEY!”
Her wails were heard throughout the hallway, scaring some of the passing maids who quickly ran off so as to not get involved with messy matters like these.
…
And so with little life in her eyes, Rossweisse listlessly walked towards the main area where spectators could watch the Rating Game. The mission of finding Odin was now completely at the farthest corner of her mind, she felt hollow.
Only paying half attention to the news of a match that was about to start, and the first one to participate was none other than Rias Gremory’s group who would confront the eldest son of the Amon clan; Iolava Amon. A name she did not recognize nor cared to remember, only wishing to find a spot to sit and smash her head a couple of times against the wall.
“I promised to keep my virginity for my one true love… grandmother will kill me.”
Useless.
She was so useless!
At the very least her mind should have let her remember the experience of experiencing her first experience! Whether it felt good or not! But there was nothing!
While continuing to curse herself, some of the surrounding Devils spoke amongst themselves about the match. “It’s the Gremory group; I bet on them to win given there is nothing standing between them and the king.” one of the many people around mentioned.
“I heard she even had a match against the Phenex clan and won.”
“You can’t be sure about that; it could even be some tall tales. But still, I have to agree with Rias Gremory emerging victorious. The Amon clan’s members haven't shown any impressive feats yet”
“Even their second child, according to rumors, is only interested in collecting swords. She even earned the nickname of the weakest devil by her classmates and clansmen.”
Rossweisse shook her head the more she listened. Clearly, some people just couldn't help themselves from spewing ransom gossip as if they were facts — she was taught from a young age that underestimating an opponent always led to defeat. Whilst many were focusing on the battle, a certain green-haired individual approached the depressed Valkyrie. Standing tall, she was a beautiful devil with a pale face, vested in rather formal attire that resembled a military suit. Walking in high heels, her steps clicked as she came closer.
Even if in the Valkyrie Academy Rossweisse was considered to be the school's belle, the woman believed she couldn't hold the candle when it came to these devils. Just in a day alone, she met dozens of beauties all surpassing her in terms of looks and temperament.
“Is this seat available? Mind if I sit?” the woman asked, to which Rossweisse nodded silently, keeping my focus on the projection in front of her.
“I believe we met yesterday, my name is Seekvaira Agares, it's a pleasure to meet you once more, lady Rossweisse.”
Heheheh… she was called a lady by someone like her. It made a smile grow on her face till it froze when she recalled the term lady wouldn't fit someone who brazenly slept with a stranger drunk in the middle of the night for some money!
Was she that loose when drunk!?
“I am curious about the legendary Red Dragon Emperor, many are anticipating his arrival; and to see just how powerful he is. Unlike the Black Dragon King and White Dragon Emperor, he has hardly shown a similar level of power or mastery over his Sacred Gear in the past.”
“I-I see…”
Red Dragon Emperor?
Oh right, the brown-haired boy who kept staring at her chest last night when she greeted the Sitri group. Rossweisse didn't have any strong impression of him and only believed him to be a youngling who still needed time to reach his full potential. She trained under her grandmother's hellish training regiment from the tender age of five and barely managed to pass her test at eighteen.
Surely someone who unlocked a Sacred Gear a few months ago would reach her level.
“I’m not just talking about Hyoudou Issei. Among Rias's peerage are talented individuals who are capable of making a name for themselves within the Underworld easily.”
Not to mention, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri themselves weren't weak by any means. Odin and the Valkyries had seen the match between her and Riser Phenex before coming here amongst other things.
Then again, she knew little about the Amon clan heir to make any accurate judgment. But from the impression she got, he wasn't that impressive.
This of course reflected upon the scene in front of me. As soon as both combatants were ready, the Rating Game started. The first one to make a move was surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly, the impatient Iolava Amon, the very same salmon-haired devil who she remembered sided with Zephyrdor last night and who paid the price at the end. The same person ordered his peerage to instantly attack Rias without any plans whatsoever, leading the front line like a general in the middle of a war.
“Foolish! He is just rushing in like a maddened dog,” Seekvaira exclaimed, not even surprised at his course of action and only disappointed at best. “He is too arrogant, relying on his family’s powers and collection of few Sacred Gears users in his peerage to throw away so haphazardly,” she noted her words; that man was no different from an angered bull rushing in as soon as he saw the color red.
A few of his Peerage members indeed possessed Sacred Gears, but nothing too impressive from the looks of it. Some were minor ones, taking the shape of weapons or pieces of armor, each having different functions.
Meanwhile, Iolava covered his entire being with pure demonic energy, taking a dark color before hurling it at the building. A clear move that he believed would result in his victory was severely short-lived, as in the split second a shadow peered outside, slicing the ball of energy into two as it dissipated in the air soon after. Holding Excalibur Mimic in her hand in the form of a katana, Irina just grinned at the face he made.
“Did he not do any research about who was within Rias Gremory's group?” Rossweisse couldn't help but ask quietly, looking at the person next to her, hoping she had an answer.
“Iolava is much simpler than you imagine. His arrogance comes from his parents over-praising him for his talent since birth. Due to family circumstances, he was given more importance after the birth of his sister who failed to live up to expectations. Of course, this ended up getting to his head and he now believes himself to be amongst the top ten devils in our generation. Idiotic fool, he's nothing more than a lackey for Zephyrdor.”
Wow, Seekvaira sure had a strong opinion on this fellow. Rossweisse couldn't say anything in return, just focusing on the scene in front which helped her forget about her sin of debauchery from last night.
“Ah, the Gremory group started their counterattack.”
After Iolava’s attack got cut apart by Irina, the other Knight, and Rook all emerged at the same time and went to deal with the opposing peerage members. Laying waste to their numbers in a matter of seconds.
“Efficient and amazing teamwork.”
It was surprising how good they were with so few members in their peerage. Behind the two knights and Rook was where she found Rias herself whose hands glowed a demonic red color with the power of the Bael clan on full display. Iolava did not waste any time and hurled another blast of demonic energy, fully enraged that his Peerage was eliminated so easily.
She looked upwards as if looking at the camera intently and letting out a visible huff.
“Oh my, Rias is not in a good mood, I suppose it has to do with the Black Dragon King not being present in her group.” The green-haired devil added, sighing after remembering what happened last night. “Are you familiar with their history?”
“Not much, only bits and pieces from other Valkyries gossiping,” Rossweisse admitted with an embarrassed smile. Due to her duties as Odin's bodyguard, the gossip was very limited around her and she only learned about them by pure chance.
“Well, the public believes Hachiman was within her peerage for a long while. But the truth of the matter is that he never truly joined her group nor Sona's. But recently, I heard rumors that this may no longer be the case, but even that I can't confirm given that Sirzechs added him as an independent party.”
“Are you… okay saying all of this to me?” While the Norse faction and the devils weren't on bad terms, they could even be considered as allies to some degree while neutral at worst. Still, it felt like she was being told more than necessary.
Seekvaria shrugged, “It's not a secret to begin with, and basic research will give you the answer. I just wanted to put you up to date with the latest news given you are technically part of it.”
Ah… right, people misunderstood she was part of Hachiman’s group.
“N-No! I'm not part of his group! That would make me a traitor!”
“It's fine, just rumors and anyone with a brain can see what's really going on. Odin is known to be wise, so I suppose you shouldn't be that worried.”
Well, she was right. But still!
“Don't worry, let's just focus on the battle.”
Well, there wasn't much Iolava could do either way, his constant barrage of spell blasts kept getting devoured by Rias’ own spells. Like a small candle getting swallowed by a brazier.
It was almost pitiful to see the scene.
“She is Lucifer's sister, it's not surprising some of his talents were inherited by her.”
Tried halted, visibly panicking and trying to retreat — only to have his struck by a bolt of lightning that came from the Queen who floated in the sky with smoke rising from her fingers.
And just like that, his exhaustion slowly started to settle in till Rias just ended his misery by ordering Akeno to summon a holy lighting which instantly shattered any and all struggle put up by the Amon heir, turning him into a stream of light that was transported out of the field before it was too late.
His body disappeared and Grayfia's cold voice sounded across the field.
“Iolava Amon has been eliminated. Winner of the Rating Game, Rias Gremory.”
The crowd cheered, Rossweiss also clapping along, amazed by the quick and decisive fight. Not once did the Gremory group show any signs of retreating or losing.
Handling everything expertly.
This kind of atmosphere and jubilance within the audience continued when it was Sona Sitri’s turn to participate, this time her opponent being heir to the Paimon clan.
“The Sitri clan, I remember they are experts when it comes to water control.” The Valkyrie commented, curious to see what this devil in particular was going to show. “Paimon… I'm not sure what their powers are.”
“Similar to the Sitri, but their element is wind. But just like the Amon clan, their house has been on a decline for many years with barely any shining gem emerging from it. “Brena Paimon barely made a name for himself at all in the Underworld, I sometimes forget he existed.”
“That's… a bit harsh.”
“That's how it is. If you don't have the power then no one will pay you any attention.”
As if proving her point, Sona rather than using her entire Peerage like Rias, had instead sent a single Devil to face Paimon.
“The Red Dragon Emperor?”
The young brown-haired boy flew with a giant grin on his face, going so far as to pose in front of the floating eye familiar. “I'll show the world that Kaichou’s peerage is the strongest and I'll personally win this tournament even if I have to face that fish-eyed bastard! This is what Ddraig and I were working on!”
The Boosted Gear in his left hand was bathed in an intense emerald light.
[Boost!]
[Boost!]
[Boost!]
[Boost!]
[Boost!]
Each shine from the jewel made the aura around him more tyrannical, if Rias previously was a bone-chilling power that destroyed everything it touched like an all-encompassing raging storm.
Then this boy reminded her of an active volcano.
All of the power gathered at a single point in front of his gauntlet, taking the appearance of a small crimson bead of energy that grew with each [Boost] till it became the size of a basketball.
“Look carefully, Hachiman, I'll win Kaichou's heart with this!”
“Ora!”
[Dragon Shoot!]
With a battle cry, Issei's armored fist slammed forward, unleashing a torrent of power. The battlefield erupted in a dazzling display of emerald and crimson as a massive energy beam tore through the air. It struck Paimon's starting point with devastating force, vaporizing the building and leaving nothing but ash in its wake. The sheer destructive potential of the attack left spectators stunned, a testament to the Red Dragon Emperor's growing strength.
Half of the building disappeared with a circular hole present in the middle and the terrain at the back.
“All of Brena Paimon’s pieces have been eliminated including the King himself. Winner of the Rating Game, Sona Sitri.”
.
.
.
These younger generations of Devils were terrifying and the Red Dragon Emperor was just as deadly as the legend portrayed him!
Even watching the two matches made goosebumps appear on her skin.
“Can I even block that last attack?” Maybe if she had enough time to set up multiple barriers, but in an intense battle with but a few seconds to prepare… she rather not take the risk and just dodge if possible.
And the Black Dragon King was supposed to be more powerful than that!?
“It ended sooner than I calculated, Iolava… hah, I hope this will serve him as a lesson. Paimon on the other hand couldn't even make a move, he was just far too outclassed. Anyways, lady Rossweisse, are you interested in meeting the winner of this match? Rias is an old friend of mine.”
“Oh… um… sure, I don't mind.”
She still needed to find Odin, maybe he was somewhere else, so walking around might help.
So both women went to another area, walking towards the teleportation area where contestants gathered. It was there she saw the Gremory group cheering and congratulating the Sitri group. Issei getting a pat on the back from Kiba and Irina jumps on him rather intimately. The other Pawn sulked in the corner, with Momo and Koneko patting him on the back.
Sona massaged her temples while Rias laughed.
Grayfia's voice sounded once more announcing the next contestant of the battle. The names caught Rias and Sona's group's attention immediately.
Before Seekvaria called out to them, both women heard a disgruntled noise from behind.
“Ouch! What is the meaning of this, Kuroka!?”
“Eh?”
From the back, a beautiful black-haired woman wearing a revealing kimono gleefully approached the area while pulling onto a rope. Behind a few people followed along, but most eye-catching of them all was the bundle on the ground struggling to break free from his restraints.
It was the Black Dragon King…
“Hehehe, come on now, Hachi-kun~, I can't have you sneaking away to earth and abandoning your match just because you didn't like Sirzechs’ arrangement. How else am I going to show off in front of Shirone?”
“How did you know about my secret plan?”
“I sensed your aura leaving the castle and followed your scent.”
“That's disturbing and creepy. I don't want a weirdo in my group.”
“Ara~ so hurtful~! Also, you don't need to do anything, just sit back and let me handle the rest~! Also, you won't be able to break free from these ropes so easily, I stole them from the Youkais not long ago.”
“I'm technically your boss, so I order you to let me go.”
“Nope~ I've been a bad kitty and you can punish me later in bed~!”
Rossweisse did not know how to react to this scene in particular. Seeing the boy get dragged away with an unwilling expression. So he just accepted his fate and looked blankly at the ceiling while muttering something about a ‘troublesome woman', it wasn't until their eyes met that she felt something very familiar about him.
“Oh, you woke up I see. Don't forget to give me back my wallet. Just hand it to Rias or Akeno, my student ID is inside and I don't want to go through the pain of replacing it.” He said while being pulled away into the teleportation circle and being transported into the field.
His words hit Rossweisse like a punch to the gut. Memories flooded back, bringing clarity to her hazy recollections. The mysterious stranger's face suddenly snapped into focus.
Horror and realization washed over her as the pieces fell into place. Her legs gave out and she crumpled to her knees, drawing concerned looks from those nearby.
"Are you alright?" Seekvaira asked, bending down with a worried expression.
But Rossweisse could only stare blankly ahead, her mind reeling from the shocking revelation. What had she gotten herself into?
“I-I-I slept with the Black Dragon King!?”
“—!?”
Seekvaria, who was next to her, choked as soon as she heard that.
