Dying (Anticlimactically) and Waking Up On A Bus

It was a good day. A nice day. Sun, shining in the cloudless sky. A nice breeze hitting my skin, with the temperature being cool and mild.

That was until I walked around a corner, into an alleyway and saw a Ghoul.

A great big beast, looking emaciated and like it hadn't eaten in weeks. It's skin was an alabaster white like it hadn't been in the sun since it was born from some unholy fucking hell or wherever the monsters of the world come from.

Most people would be terrified at the sight of it's beady red eyes boring at them. It pin-sized pupils rapidly looking over their body, eyeing them up for any weaknesses and if they were a good potential meal. Most people, in fact, wouldn't have come looking for this Ghoul. They wouldn't have pulled out their specially modified pistol as soon as the Ghoul charged them either.

But I wasn't most people. I was a genetically modified human who dealt with monsters the Government deemed too dangerous to exist.

I pulled my pistol and planted three bullets in the charging Ghoul's head, followed by releasing the rest of the clip into it's torso.

It didn't survive.

I remember sighing as I stepped forward and reached into my jacket pocket. I pulled out a vial of blue liquid and dripped a few drops onto the Ghoul's body. A short fizzing played out before the liquid began to eat away at the body and before long, there was nothing left but an empty space. I dropped a few more drops around the place - on stray puddles of blood from the wounds - and then I walked further into the alley.

Turns out, this was the day I wouldn't survive either.

As soon as I entered a stray door, everything went black. I, one of the Governments best Hunters, was killed instantly. For a second, in the lightless void, I found myself feeling sorry for whoever had to deal with what I went up against. Or rather, what I'd been killed by.

Should've been more prepared. Could've gone in with backup. Should've taken my time and used some recon equipment before I walked into the room. Could've tested out that new gear Mike was going on about.

All that floated around my head, were regrets. Though I did figure that they'd use me as an example of why diligence is so important to trainee Hunters. Guess it counted for something, right?

...Yeah, I still don't like how I just died. No matter how I try to justify it.

But as they say, it's darkest just before dawn. Literally.

What I mean is, that as my hopes were low and my regrets were filling up...I saw a light. A blinding light, followed by sound of a...bus? I wasn't quite sure, so I just moved myself toward the light. I don't know how I moved at all because I couldn't feel a body. I just moved on my own willpower alone.

As I got closer to the light, I felt an odd pain in my head but, well, I was used to pain. They trained us to resist pain as a trainee Hunter. Most fights with a monster would leave a Hunter in a less than healthy state, after all. Even for the genetically modified Elite Hunters, like myself.

I'd experienced having my stomach gored. I'd broken my arms, legs and ribs more than I could count. I'd even had psychic monsters scream in my head for so long I felt like my brain had been turned to mush. But this pain. This fucking pain was...horrific. No amount of training or experiencing of mundane pain could prepare me for this.

It was like the pain effected me on all levels at the same time. It felt like the worst migraine I'd ever had. It felt like someone had dipped my body in lemon juice and salt after slicing it meticulously with a razor. It felt like my nerves and very soul were being flayed, layer by layer, by an impossibly sharp and precise blade.

It was horrible. But I pushed through. Just like any Hunter would.

I clawed my way through the darkness, and I wondered if any of my hearts had given up by now. It'd happened a few times when I'd pushed myself too far but hey, what can you do? Some monsters need to be put down no matter the cost.

When my hand touched the light, I felt...free. Free of pain. Free of regrets. Free of despair. All of it just seemed to melt in front of the light.

And to my pain addled brain? That was enough to make me claw harder toward the entrance.

Finally, after what felt like hours, I was in the light, bathing in it as it washed away my pain.

But my relaxation was cut short as I was suddenly hit by everything. Sound, sight, smell, touch, and taste. All of it tumbling into me and making my head buzz at the sudden information overload. Though, of course, it was much less worse than whatever had been happening to me when I was crawling toward the light.

I opened my eyes, surprised for a second that I actually had eyes and eyelids to open. I thought I was dead. For good.

But as I looked around, I discovered that I was on a bus. Looking down I saw myself in a...uniform? What looked to be a Japanese highschool Uniform, to be exact. A white buttoned-up shirt, a red necktie, a light-to-medium green uniform jacket, a black belt, tan khaki-looking trouser pants and dark brown loafers or school shoes made up what I was currently wearing.

My attention, however, was focused on something else - I was smaller than I was used to. Still tall and broad by any means but shorter and more narrow than the body I was used to.

It...well, it reminded me of my own body back when I was a teenager.

Bringing a hand to my chest, I felt the left side of my chest.

*Ba-dump...Ba-dump...*

A steady beat was relayed to my hand and I moved my hand to the right side of my chest and did the same thing.

*Ba-dump...Ba-dump...*

I heaved a sigh of relief that I seemed to be right about my body - it was still my body, just a younger version. Though bringing my hand to the center of my chest, I felt another steady beat which shouldn't have been there.

Three hearts. I...didn't have three hearts. I'd had two hearts since the genetic tampering done to me as a child. One heart to act as the main heart and the other to support it and increase my athletic ability at the same time. But I'd never had a third heart. I prodded all over my body and found that I everything was in it's place and only the extra heart was new.

Taking a deep breath, I felt both my pairs of lungs expand, and I heaved a sigh of relief at that. Without an extra pair of lungs, my extra heart--well, hearts, would be useless. If you don't have enough oxygen to put into the blood, what's the point in it being delivered quicker and faster?

Flexing my hand a little, I felt oddly powerful. More powerful than I should have, anyway.

I was made to fight monsters, so I was naturally far above the natural human baseline. But right now, I felt incredible. Like I could have ripped apart that Ghoul with my bare hands and not needed my gun. Even with my knowledge of how hard a Ghoul's skin and bones are, it seemed possible.

"You..." a deep and freaky voice echoed from the front of the bus and I looked straight up and at the driver who was looking down the bus at me, giving me a sideways glance, "You're enrolling at Youkai Academy, right?" he asked, his deep voice sounding out with mirth, though I had no idea why it was.

I looked over the man's face and felt...unsettled. Which was odd. I'd seen things that would make a veteran soldier shit their pants. Why was I being unnerved by this guy?

But I trusted my instincts. Especially how I'd just died. I'll have to think more about that later.

Right now, I feel alive, so I'll focus on that for now.

I couldn't make out the man's face completely. His bus driver cap was casting an unnatural shadow over the upper portion of his face and his eyes were only shone by a dim glow that didn't look human at all. He seemed to have a small and thin mustache and he was smoking a cigar but other than that...I couldn't gleam anything from him.

And what is this Youkai Academy? Is that my destination?

That's when I realized it. He was speaking Japanese. Sure, I'd been taught Japanese before but Japan had their own Hunters. I'd never been there, and I sure as hell hadn't kept up my practice with Japanese. So...how could I understand him so fluently?

Pushing my confusion and worry aside, I figured that if I was dressed like a student, I was probably on my way to an academy. Nodding, I gave an answer, "Yes, that would be me," I spoke, my words seamlessly coming out as Japanese.

"So formal," the bud driver remarked with a wide smile that displayed his pearly white teeth that crunched down on the cigar in his mouth, holding it in place as he spoke, "Whatever. You better prepare yourself kid...because Youkai Academy is a pretty scary place!" he said before he began to cackle.

I just narrowed my eyes before closing them and rubbing my temples.

What was happening? Think 818! Think about the resources you can use...!

My eyes snapped open as I realized what was next to me; a school bag. Opening it, I sorted through the objects inside until I found what looked like a diary.

[Property of Tsukune Aono]

Is...is this my name? But I don't have a name. I've been 818 ever since I could remember.

Flipping through the diary, I started reading about this Tsukune guy. Or me. Or whoever the hell he was.

The diary went back 5 years and I started reading through it. Speed reading, mind you, but my eyes and brain worked quick enough to remember all the information given to me. Tsukune had a normal life. A normal pair of parents. A loving cousin who he was very close to. This mediocre, yet happy life continued until 2 years ago.

His parents died and Tsukune started to live with a legal guardian before...well, before they gave him enough to money to survive on his own and then left. It wasn't legal and it definitely wasn't ethical...but who could Tsukune rely on? Luckily, he'd also looked older than he was, so he took on multiple part-time jobs and payed for an apartment after selling his old house. All out of the ordinary stuff, honestly.

Why didn't his cousin's parents take him in? I don't know. The diary didn't say. But what it did say was the result of him taking so many part-time jobs. He overworked himself, missed too much school, and then failed his exams.

So he had to go to Youkai Academy which was some recluse school that Tsukune couldn't find too much information about.

That was the last entry. Everything else I didn't mention was just filler. Favorite milkshake flavor. Favorite dessert. Favorite drinks. Crushes. Disputes.

I was quite unnerved when I realized that most of the favorites matched up with my own.

"...So, this is me..." I muttered before shaking my head and snapping myself out of it.

This could all be an illusion. Something I'm seeing before I truly die. Maybe there's a chance I'm still alive back in the real--No. Monsters that have gone AWOL aren't usually the most...well, nice, beings in existence. I doubt one would leave me alive.

Limbo? Could this be purgatory? Maybe. I'll have to see what happens in my stay here. Could be fun to mess about before getting sent to Hell or whatever shithole I'm going to.

"Sonny boy," the driver called out as I felt the bus come to a stop as it left the tunnel we'd just entered, "We've arrived!"