Chapter 50: Arrival
Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi
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(Flashback)
"Aaaaaaaahhh!"
I was running for my life in a dark and hellish-looking dimension while being chased by a psychotic Irish woman; who was also laughing at my screams of terror.
That would be an apt description of the few days I spent in Scàthack's domain.
"Dodge to your left!" Vritra, my ever-present companion, warned me just in time for me to dodge a spear throw, which nearly nicked my kidneys. "You can't keep running, partner. You must stand your ground and engage in combat with her, that's what she wants."
I looked back and saw my current nightmare giving me chase. That old lady I met before was just a disguise she used to travel around in the human world. Now, she looked like a young warrior with her red hair flowing in the wind wildly and a glee-filled smirk that promised me pain and misery.
Her leather armor left little to the imagination as it protected certain parts of her body while leaving the rest exposed. I still felt intimidated by what I was seeing. Unlike Akeno or Rias who had a lith and curvaceous figure, Scáthach had that but with the added bonus a large number of streamlined muscles filled with scars and freckles.
He would've thought that she was a beautiful amazon if it wasn't for the fact that she was trying to kill him.
How the fuck does he want me to fight this crazy witch when both of them banned me from using my Sacred Gear!? I'm running around with just a regular spear, forced to use it instead of my other skills.
"Just follow my instructions, it's better than running around like a scared child. The sooner you learn to fight with a spear, the sooner we can go back to Kuoh." Right, it's already been two days since I've been stuck in this dimension with the only one who gets me out is right behind me.
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"Fine!" I really needed to go back, I have faced broken characters before, got my ass kicked by them as well, so this shouldn't be that scary. Skidding myself to a halt, I turned around and brought my spear into a basic fighting stance that the witch showed me.
Scáthach grinned savagely when she saw me finally muster the guts to face her.
"Finally got your balls back, boyo!" She came upon me like a red lightning bolt and had the spear she threw before fly right back at her and ready to strike at me once again, "Better not disappoint me by dying."
"Pull up the spear in a high guard position and brace yourself for the impact!" Following Vritra's instruction, I brought up my weapon in front of me in a vertical position and made sure to hold my position.
Boom!
"Ha!"
The impact was so strong that I felt my arms nearly give in and get lifted from my feet. Speaking of my arms, they bent back a bit, my muscles and bones groaning at the sudden stress induced on them. Fortunately, nothing broke and I held on barely. "Take hold of her weapon and use it as leverage to deliver a knee attack to her skull."
I did just that and grabbed her spear, much to Scáthach's intrigue. She was curious about my next move, which she soon found out as my knee came closer to her face.
"Smart, but too slow!" Faster than before, moved forward and punched me in the face, stopping my momentum.
"Ngh!" I nearly blacked out from the impact, I'm sure that she broke my nose from that attack! I could taste the blood inside my mouth and couldn't even breathe normally for the next few seconds. I needed Asia to heal me up after all of this is said and done.
"Don't lose sight of her!"
"Wha…" I looked back at where she used to be and found no trace of her. Where did she go?
"Behind you!" Vritra called out.
I ducked just in time to feel the wind of the spear graze my hair and nearly cut off my ahoge. "Holy… are you trying to kill me!?" Getting more pissed off with this situation, I ignored the ban and called upon the power of my Sacred Gear.
"[Restrict]!" Dozens of tentacles came forth and wrapped around her arms and legs to hold her down. Again, her rather open clothing sense didn't give me many options so I had to turn a blind eye and grab onto everything.
The woman just gave me a strange look before smirking.
"Kinky… but still naïve!" Her mouth opened and to my surprise, there was a rune she formed with her tongue!?
It was a ᚨ, Ansuz! The rune glowed red hot, till a red hot roar of fire spewed from her mouth like a dragon!
'This woman is crazy!!!' I could cry at this point, when did my life get so complicated?
Wasn't this supposed to be a simple spear training spar?
"It's been nice knowing you, partner."
"Didn't she say that I also had to repair her rune seal!?" That was all I could say before being engulfed by the flames.
{Break}
(Present)
-Saizeriya-
One of the fun discoveries that I made recently is finding out that the chain of restaurants that held a dear place in my heart had expanded to Kuoh.
Since the place just opened, there was that slight smell of wood and fresh paint. But it soon got overpowered by the heavy usage of the aromas of spices coming from the kitchen and steaming pasta in front of me.
Even though the place just opened, it was quite empty. In fact, I was the only one present at this establishment.
Ring~!
Scratch that, make it two people.
I didn't need to look back to see who it was. It's been nearly half an hour since I invited him and that guy was never late for anything.
"Good evening, Hachiman-kun." Kiba greeted me as he walked into my field of vision.
He didn't wear his Kuoh Academy uniform. With how much I see him wearing that uncomfortable attire, even wearing one during the Rating Game; I wondered if he had anything else to wear. The current Kiba looked like a fancy playboy. A black turtleneck sweater with tight jeans and black boots which looked like they should be worn while working on the field. He even went so far as to have necklaces and bracelets!
"Well isn't someone suspiciously well dressed for a simple meet-up. You look like you just came back from a fashion show." I said, giving one last look at his attire, before digging into my food.
He laughed, scratching his nose and looking a bit embarrassed.
"Really? I don't think I look that good." I just gave him a deadpan look and pointed my thumb at the waitress that was blushing hard while looking at him like a piece of meat. That intense gaze certainly weirded the prince of Kuoh a fair bit. "Yeah…, I just wanted to look nice for our date."
"Oi! Don't word it like that!" Like seriously, I sometimes wonder about this guy! I would rather be caught doing a prince of darkness cringy pose by my parents than have people mistake us for having that kind of relationship. "For the record, you're not my type and I just invited you to talk about everything that's been going on since I was gone."
"..." Kiba just gave me that look that knew I was hiding or dodging a particular subject.
"And also because I wanted to get away from my house for a bit." I gave up and just told him everything going on back home before I came here.
"Ah, I see, trouble in paradise?"
"For some reason, I don't like the way you're saying it; that smirk doesn't help either." Made me want to punch his face—which I would never do— as he continued to give that smile.
"Basically, Rias is more open and aggressive with her feelings and for some reason, Akeno doesn't mind it." I didn't tell him the first kiss thing that the two shared because I felt that information was a bit too private. "I agree that promising to kiss her if she won the match, which wasn't the best choice to make at the moment but I didn't want her to lose. I care about her but I don't want to lose Akeno as well… I just… I just… "
"You love them both."
"...yes." I sighed, just admitting was harder than I thought, especially in public. "Am I wrong? Of course, I am! Like, what kind of person who is not a douchebag or cheating playboy goes after two girls!? I feel like scum just thinking about it. As if I'm being too greedy here for wanting both of them."
Now it was Kiba who was giving me a deadpan look, which was a rare sight, to begin with. If I took a picture I could sell it for a high price at school.
No, seriously, I could make big bucks if I sold some pictures of this guy. Those girls are incredibly thirsty when they want to be.
"Are you for real, Hachiman?" He spoke with his voice no longer cheerful.
"Do I look like someone who jokes around?"
"No, but you are beginning to look like a dense buffoon."
I nearly spurt out my coffee when I heard what was definitely an insult thrown on my person by none other than Kiba Yuuto himself. "Cough, cough… wh— I'm sorry?"
"Hachiman-kun, even after knowing us devils for years, living with Akeno and Rias since childhood, you still treat everything about us with a human mentality. Devils don't care about half of what you're worried about, some might even laugh at your face for that mindset. In our culture—and most pantheons—having a harem is considered the norm and is even encouraged by everyone. You may see having feelings for Buchou and wanting to pursue a romantic relationship with her as infidelity towards Akeno, but you couldn't be any more wrong." He was getting louder with each word and I had to quickly cast a silencing spell around us so that the staff didn't start worrying over the content of our topic.
"Buchou has been working hard towards the day you would finally accept her feelings. She's trained like never before and even abandoned any plans to expand the peerage with the remaining pieces. She did this all for you! I know this, Koneko-chan knows this and even Akeno-san knows this. The reason she doesn't say anything is probably because she wants you to accept Rias and make this official and stop screwing around in uncertainties for a change!" He screamed at the end while I further sank in my seat, scared of his outburst.
He seemed to calm himself, before fixing his composure, "Sorry, but I'm getting tired of seeing you two beating around the bush."
But it got me thinking.
He was right.
I needed to get my act together.
And I needed to have a private talk with Akeno about that whole kissing Rias thing. I felt a bit conflicted about her actions, and needed to word it out instead of just ignoring it.
I knew she didn't have any bad intentions in mind, still… a talk was necessary.
"So… I should just go back and accept them both as my girlfriend?"
"If it wasn't obvious by now, yes." Was it just me or is Kiba acting more… different than usual?
"It isn't that easy…"
"Then make it easy."
He wasn't making this any easier.
"You know what? Let's talk about what happened while I was, okay?" I'll handle this harem stuff myself, I'll just have to stop being a coward and own up to the girls.
"Well… there's a lot, honestly. During our training period, Azazel came along with Asia-chan and Kalawarna-san. We even trained alongside Sona and her group." Kiba then recounted the following days and mentioned all of the different training that they received.
"Oho? Guess you must have had fun with the new sparring partners." Now it was my turn to start asking the questions, "Tell me, did you have a nice time with Tsubaki?" I said while giving him a shit-eating grin.
Kiba just looked at me confused.
"I don't follow…"
What?
"You can't come here and tell me that you're as dense as your average protagonist! With all that talk you just gave me a few seconds ago, I expected better from you."
He laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Hehehe, nothing, just remembered how you used to be against the concept of romance and generally kept your distance with such topics. And you were even very pessimistic back then and a bit of a debbie downer."
Well, that's because I just happened to be introduced to the world of the supernatural and was a bit put off. Not to mention I was still dealing with some of my demons back then.
…Did he seriously call me a 'debbie downer'?
"People change, Kiba. And for your information, I wasn't pessimistic; I was being realistic. Still am, mind you. The only difference between past me and present me, is that I just grew up. I see the flaw in my past thinking, but I also see the benefits and protection it gave me. Made me look at the world with a different lens than others, it allowed me to accurately judge others and their true self is hidden behind a mask."
"You speak as if you've lost that ability."
I shook my head.
The people in this world and my old one were vastly different. Here, people tend to show off their true selves more often than not. Their problems had a much bigger impact on their life compared to what I was used to dealing with from my old life. Koneko's case is a prime example. Having an elder sibling accused of having lost control of her powers and killing her master wasn't something you would generally find in Sobū High.
I was used to dealing with people who tried to be more accepted by others behind a fake personality. Many tried to mask their original intentions behind a polite and friendly face. Some who didn't want to be ignored and alone. Cliques, social gatherings, friends, rejections, and acceptance was their main concern. It was something much simpler that revolved around themselves and a few others.
One could argue that here it was the same case, but they tend to forget that none of the people in Sobū had the capability or mentality to easily kill someone and destroy towns on a whim.
I couldn't just rely on myself and my logic to survive and protect my close ones here; I needed to be something more.
"I didn't lose that ability, it's just that the ability alone doesn't suffice anymore. It isn't the same anymore, now, there is much more at stake, since falling into the supernatural. So I need to learn to put my needs and wants aside for a bit and make place for others. I need to become stronger in order to stop any threat that decides that they would want to hurt my friends and the people I love, even if sometimes it's from themselves." This time, I focused on Kiba. "That includes you."
"Me?"
"Don't give me that surprised act, something's been on your mind since you first came here." Though the changes may seem subtle to others, for me who knew Kiba for years; it was pretty obvious.
He looked on edge, rigid and his smile was terribly fake… at least faker than usual.
"..."
"Hey, you don't need to reveal anything to me. It's not like I've known you for years and even helped you on many life and death occasions. Think of me as a stranger, a tool you're just usi—"
"—Tomoe sent me a picture today."
A picture?
"And does that have anything to do with how you currently are?"
He didn't answer my question, deciding that showing would be better than talking. Kiba sent me a picture he got from Tomoe. When I looked over the picture, I was surprised to find what looked to be a younger Issei playing games with another kid near a fireplace.
"Interesting, either Sona and the others decided to give Issei's house a visit and his parents decided to embarrass their son a bit and show off his old pictures. Or… Tomoe became his girlfriend and they are now dating; which I find to be highly unlikely." Some of the girls had a thing for Saji and Tomoe was one of them.
"Look closely," Kiba said with a grave tone. I didn't kid around and paid more attention to the details. There wasn't much to see, I didn't recognize the other kid, nor was there anyone else aside from those two in the frame. The background didn't look like it was the Hyoudou's house; too fancy in my opinion for that pervert to live in.
Until it hit me right in the face.
The sword in the back!
It looked just like…
"Excalibur Mimic." Over the years, Kiba and I did enough research on the Holy Sword Project to learn that there were in fact, not 1, not 2, but rather 7 different Excaliburs in this world. And we even made sure to memorize their appearance from the little description we could dig up without alerting the church. I realized what this meant for Kiba and worriedly looked at him. "Kiba…"
His exterior mask broke for a second, and I saw the wrathful person he truly was from his eyes. "To think, things like this happen, huh. To find it in such an unexpected place… I was quite shocked that day. Hyoudou Issei of all people… hahahaha! It's almost like a joke, don't you think?"
Kiba laughed by himself. But his eyes were filled with so much hatred that it made me shiver. The fate of the Tri-hair colored man flashed in my mind and I grew frightened of what might happen to Kiba if he kept on going like this.
"—?"
I heard the chair opposite of me squeak, it was Kiba preparing to leave. He didn't even take his phone back and had that cold and soulless look in his eyes.
"Kiba… where are you going?" I asked apprehensively, already having an idea on what he was planning. Thousands of scenarios going through my head. "You haven't ordered any food yet."
"I'm fine, Hachiman." He dropped the kun, he's no longer joking around. "I'll just pay a visit to the Hyoudou's… maybe they know something about this." His tone didn't convey that this might be a friendly talk. Despite having talked with Issei a couple of times, Kiba still considered the boy a stranger and didn't have any friendly feelings towards him.
"Listen to me, Kiba… you're making a mistake here. Issei doesn't have anything to do with this, I doubt that pervert even remembers most of his childhood. Don't drag him into something you might regret in the future."
"This is none of your concern. After years of searching yet we came empty-handed over Valper's whereabouts and now we finally have what looks like a lead. I just need Hyoudou Issei to… confess some information on this person in the picture." Not in your state, you look like you'd murder someone by bumping into you.
"We can do this together, let's have your King help us." I put some emphasis on the King's part, to remind him of who he was loyal to and pledged to never abandon. A dirty move, I know, but a necessary one.
He didn't give me a reply and was about to leave the table.
But I wouldn't let him.
Sorry bud, but you asked for it.
"Isaz," I muttered quietly while my hands drew an I under the table.
"What are you d—" Kiba's eyes widened in shock as he stopped moving and fell to the floor paralyzed; shocking some of the staff members.
"Kiba!" I acted surprised and hurriedly made my way toward him. "Oh no, not again!"
"Is the customer okay!?" The waitress that was giving those goo-goo eyes at him earlier on, came rushing. "I should call an ambulance!"
"No need!" I stopped her just in time when she was about to dial the emergency number. "My mom's a doctor, she's the one who takes care of him whenever he gets like this. Don't worry, this is a pre-existing medical condition he was born with, he isn't in any kind of danger. I'll bring him back home so that he can get some treatment." To further prove my identity to the doubtful lady, I showed her a picture of myself and Kiba and a random doctor.
"I-I see, then I guess you should make haste, sir."
As I dragged him off with a princess carry, I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my head.
"Sorry Kiba, you're going to put yourself and others into needless danger and will go all emo, lone wolf-like if I didn't stop you. Hate me all you want later on, but do it after I get more information from Azazel. I know you won't let this go, so I'll be making sure you don't do things all blind and alone."
Guess Rias and Akeno will be sleeping on their own tonight.
{Break}
Up in the skies of Kuoh, where a heavy blanket of clouds covered the town's sky. A single black figure could be seen floating up there.
It was someone feared by many, even gods knelt before them. Known to be one of the strongest beings in existence and only second to Great Red.
Yes, it was none other than the Ouroboros Dragon, the Infinity Dragon…
Ophis.
Her emotionless gaze swept the town below where she was honing in at a single person. She had sensed him long ago, back when he used a power that reminded her of the Dimensional Gap.
"Found you… Black Dragon."
She was one step closer to getting her home back.
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu and Fate are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter.