20 Attention

A week has gone by.

It's dark outside, hours before sunrise. I'm the only one awake in my home, sitting alone on the couch in the living room, staring aimlessly at the ceiling above me.

Not much has seemingly changed. Kuoh is as quaint as usual. There are no new monsters to fight, no oddity to speak of.

The 'Isolation' Ofuda I used went out after three days. I fixed the area Suou and I fought in a day before the barrier collapsed with a 'Restoration' Ofuda. It's different to the 'Healing' I use so often; this one instead returns the state of an area to how it was some time ago.

It's not something that works on living things though. I can make it work, but it'd be a whole lot more complicated to make.

That aside,

Suou's demise is quickly noticed by the Five Principal Clans. There's a sort of psychic link between all the members, and so they instinctively knew the moment Suou died. It was why the man knew to look at Kuoh in the first place.

And though Akeno is no longer part of the Himejima Clan, she seems to possess the same link. It's weaker; she doesn't seem to know who it is that died, but she knows that it's someone from her Clan, and someone powerful.

She's quick to ask me if something happened. And for a moment, I debated lying to her. I mean, did she really need to know?

But then I saw the tension on her shoulders, the stubborn glint in her eyes, and I knew that this wasn't something she could remain ignorant to. Himejima Suou had been the one to send those clan servants to kill her. He was the one who had brought her here in the first place. She deserved to know.

So I told her. I didn't tell her about the time I spent training myself, nor did I speak of the things I did to him, but I told her about my fight with Suou.

She'd stared blankly at me, every thought in her head grinding to a halt as she tried to process my words.

And then she smiled. It wasn't a kind one, full of grim satisfaction and relief. "He deserves it," She's spat out, grinning all the while.

I carefully ignored the fact that tears were falling from her eyes, and I made no resistance when she pulled me onto our bed at night and cried into my shoulders until she fell asleep.

That was all days ago.

Now I'm here, alone on the couch in the middle of the dark, my eyes glowing gold as I scour the entirety of Kuoh Town. It's nothing too in-depth. I'm just watching Kuoh from a hawk's perspective, trying to see if there is anything worrying for me to focus on. So far, I've found nothing.

The same can't be said outside of Kuoh. Suou's demise is felt in the Five Principal Clans of course, but the impact of Suou's death reverberates farther than I could've ever imagined. The Youkai, the Shinto Gods, even the Fallen Angels. No one really knows what happened to the man, but they all know one thing.

That he died here in Kuoh.

I'm not so worried about the Youkai; they're more than happy to hear this news. Kagutsuchi himself is angry, but not furious. The other Shinto Gods are rather ambivalent as well.

It's the Fallen Angels I'm truly worried about. They're…fine. A lot of them are pretty harmless all things considered. But the Fallen are fairly curious by nature, and considering that there's hardly any rules or guidelines that Grigori must follow,

It's worrying. They're fairly calm now, but my eyes tell me that several are already planning on making trips here.

Then again, maybe I'm just being paranoid. There are some bad apples among the Grigori, but isn't that pretty normal everywhere else? It's not like all humans are upstanding, moral citizens. Just look at the Five Principal Clans. They're the perfect example of what not to be if you don't want to be looked at as a racist jackass.

Although I know that's just wishful thinking. Something will probably happen soon.

I can only keep an eye out for when something does happen.

I deactivate my eyes, and I sigh as I lean into the couch. There's nothing of interest today, it seems. Which is good. Another day of tranquility is always appreciated. And it gives me time to ponder over what I've learnt.

My experiments with Suou have taught me many things. The effects of Primal Energy, the result of its deprivation, the result of having too much, and more. But perhaps most important of all; I learnt that Primal Energy, on its own, can't act on the world.

Primal Energy is a facilitator. It can boost my strength to great levels and help living beings maintain their bodies from withering, but it doesn't do much else on its own. I can't use it to fire an explosive bolt or whatever. It's the reason why it's been such a struggle trying to expel Primal Energy from myself. My body literally isn't evolved to do that.

It won't stop me from trying though. My eyes have shown me that it's possible. All I need to do is to keep trying.

But this has opened a new possible path for me. Primal Energy props up a living being, allowing them to function. Taken away, their strength rapidly crumbles. I happen to have control over Primal Energy, able to suck them away from other living beings and use them for myself.

Doesn't that mean I'll be able to finish fights by either punching their lights out or draining them dry of Primal Energy? One will leave my enemies with bruises and broken bones, the other will sap their strength and leave them as a vegetable.

I'll become a vampire! Just one that steals some invisible energy and not blood.

Hmm. If anything, that makes me scarier, doesn't it?

It's not viable at the moment; my tunnel focus when absorbing large quantities of Primal Energy will only get me killed. The painful burst of heat is another issue as well. But I'm confident I'll be able to find solutions to both in time, and when I do?

I smile slightly, somewhat amused.

Another thing I learnt is the fact that I can infuse other people with Primal Energy. They won't be able to see it, nor will they be able to control it, but I can make their 'storage' of Primal Energy grow like mine has. Not so useful against my prospective enemies, but for allies? That's a different story.

And it is a different story, considering Akeno's been determined for us to fight together.

My smile falls. I didn't tell her the full story, but she's a smart girl; she knows that Himejima Suou's death won't stop her clan from acting the way they are. Her pursuer may be dead, but the root of her mother's death still remains, and now knowing that the seemingly invincible threat can be brought down, she's more than eager to come back to the Himejima Clan and destroy them.

Except it isn't that simple. The Five Principal Clans may be horrendous, but it isn't as if everyone that lives under that banner is truly evil. Some are servants who've been brainwashed since birth, and some are unwilling clan members who can't do anything against the oppression from the above.

And besides, she isn't strong enough. She doesn't know how to fight, and even if she does, she's still too weak.

But she's insistent. For as mature as she is, time and time again, I keep forgetting that she's still a child. That stubbornness hasn't yet been broken.

So we compromised. I promised that I'll train her up, and she promised that she'll hold herself back until I give her the green light.

Can I really do that, though? My training isn't kind nor patient, and I'm not even sure where to begin. And that's before I add in the fact that I'll still need to keep an eye out for potential threats out in the world.

I sigh.

I'll leave those worries for later. For now, I'll just use my time drafting up a training plan of some sort for Akeno to follow.

I mean, it's not as if I can do anything this early into the day, nor am I exhausted enough to fall asleep.

Hah. Curse this burning vigor my body has.