18 A Trashy Reality

Author Note: Chapter gets a little heavy near the end nothing major though.

"How did you two." Muri seemed to be in a state of shock as he saw Eren collapse to the ground. Taking a step back of either instinct or fear, he looked towards both Shirei and Kazuma. "I'm not going out like this!" Thanks to Kazuma stealing his weapon and being outmatched by Shirei, he had almost no hope of winning this.

But that didn't mean thoughts of running away were absent. "Well excluding the almost dying under a bunch of dirt and stone part that wasn't so bad." Walking over to Kazuma, the two of them looked at Muri as he continued to back away. "Look just surrender, and no one else needs to be embarrassed or hurt."

Clear resentment was in Muri's eyes as his heartbeat raced. "Never!" Turning, he immediately tried to run dashing off towards a nearby street outside of the estate grounds. "He's getting away!" Kazuma was prepared to chase him down, but before he could, the sound of a gunshot echoed out once again.

Flying straight of Shirei and Kazuma the bullet hit Muri through the back of the knee. "Ga!" With a mix of agonizing pain and forward momentum, Muri fell forward and slammed into the ground. "Agh! You- Gaaa!" As Muri squirmed on the ground, Shirei shook his head. 'Did he think he was going to outrun a bullet or something?'

Directing Kazuma the two of them captured both Eren and Muri as Asami and the others made their way back. Looking at her Shirei could say confidently that she had the smuggest look on her face. "Do you two have anything to say?" Holding the MFV Rifle over her shoulder, both Darkness and Meguimin followed Asami with their eyes shining.

"Nope." Kazuma turned his head away as Asami just rolled her eyes at him, changing targets to Shirei. "Ok fine it was worth it, but in all honesty, I'm more interested in how you hit those shots." Despite Eren being a big target, Shirei could almost be certain Asami didn't know how to shoot a sniper rifle.

That aside she also managed to hit Muri directly in the back of the knee when he began to run. Asami looked slightly awkward when she heard the question as she began looking around randomly. "Well... That would probably be my quirk...." Shirei's interest peaked as he probed at her. "Oh? I didn't even know you had one."

"Ya well when people are always looking to hire people with strong quirks or in my case hunting me down you end up keeping a few secrets." Seeing she dodged the question slightly, Shirei didn't push it as he looked over at Kazuma. "Hey, I'm sure this mess has attracted a lot of attention from the nearby adventurers. It's only a matter of time till they get here, so can you handle them?"

Feeling more confident with his 'New' weapon in hand, Kazuma nodded his head. "Sure. you guys can meet up at my mansion I'm guessing you know where." With that, both Asami and Shirei took Eren and Muri with them as they left and headed to Kazumas mansion. Soon after, Kazuma turned and looked at Megumin.

"Megumin as my dear friend and being partially responsible for this entire situation Ill leave the explanation to you." Megumin's brain blanked as Kazuma immediately ran off, leaving her there with Darkness. Turning around, Megumin looked at Darkness with an apologetic face. "Umm Darkness I just realized I left some food out in my room so…"

Travelling down a chain, the responsibility of explaining was left to Darkness as both Kazuma and Megumin abandoned her. "Wait… What!" By the time she realized what had happened to her, it was too late. A horde of adventurers and citizens had made their way to the estate and immediately locked onto Darkness.

"What happened here?"

"We heard there was a giant monster!"

"Ya and we say a bunch of lightning."

Being swept under a barrage of questions, Darkness was left to fend for herself. Meanwhile, having arrived at Kazuma's mansion, both Asami and Shirei made their way inside with Shirei being back in his human form. "Ugh, you…" Struggling Shirei turned around and knocked Muri out with a punch to the head.

"So we're just going to keep knocking them out every time they wake up?" Asami almost laughed as she saw Shirei hitting Muri. Shirei scratched the back of his head as he shrugged. "I need them for something on the Hub. Until we can get them there-" Shirei turned around and punched Eren in the face as he began waking up.

"Yes, that's exactly what we're going to do." As the two of them were speaking to one another, they heard the sound of creaking and footsteps. "Um excuse me? Who are you?" In a slightly haughty tone, someone spoke to them, and as they turned around, they spotted Aqua standing there in her pyjamas.

"Shirei?" Looking towards Shirei for answers Asami didn't want to do anything rash. "She's just a has bin goddess. It's actually people like her that makes our job so hard." Shirei completely dismissed Aqua's existence, and Asami lowered her guard. "Oh, really? Well I mean we wouldn't have gotten to have fun if they didn't so it kinda balances out."

Feeling insulted Aqua glared at the two of them. "You two just suddenly came in here and interrupted my nap! I'll give you one more chance to tell me who you are." Holding out her hand to her side, a strange-looking staff began to materialize in her hand. Swinging it around like a polearm, she pointed it at both Asami and Shirei.

"Or else I'll have to force you to-" In the middle of saying something two more people entered the mansion through the front door. "Eh?" Spotting both Shirei and Asami looking at Aqua as if she was crazy, Kazuma and Megumin sighed. "Aqua is a long story, but their friends from Kazuma I think. Actually, I don't know what's going on either."

"Sorry about this embarrassment you two can follow me to the living room." Kazuma politely led both Shirei and Asami with Megumin following behind. Standing there, Aqua watched as she was completely ignored before yelling. "Hold on, what do you mean an embarrassment! I'm a goddess! Did you forget you would be dead if it weren't for me?"

Ignoring Aqua, Kazuma led everyone to the table in the living room. The fireplace in front of the coach crackled as everyone sat in their respective chairs leaving Aqua without one. "Hey, where am I supposed to sit!" Walking over to the table, Aqua slammed her hands down and yelled at Kazuma. "I appreciate your help with dealing with Muri and Eren."

Thanking Kazuma, Shirei heard him respond in kind. "Well you kinda did force me into it, but I'm not one to hold onto grudges." Kazuma laughed lightly as Aqua looked at everyone with tears in her eyes. "Fine! I'll just go talk to Darkness!" Walking out of the room, no one seemed to pay her any mind as Megumin asked a question.

"So is anyone going to explain what you guys are actually doing here?" Reacting to Megumin's question Kazuma didn't really know what to do. He looked over at Shirei who spoke to him uninhibited. "You can tell her if you want." Personally, Shirei realized that they would have to expose themselves a lot in the coming days.

The Spectral Order will become a beyond Universally known group at some point, and keeping it secret will be almost impossible. 'Plus there is something here that I think maybe a big help.' While Shirei was thinking to himself, Kazuma decided it would just be easier to come clean to Megumin.

Normally he would keep reincarnation and even more so the fact their novel characters to himself. However, there really wasn't any way to explain this and Megumin had the patience to bother him about it forever. Shirei could see Megumins face changing as Kazuma told her about him being reincarnated and about Aqua actually being a goddess.

However, that was still in the realm of possibility with magic existing and what not. However, the second part about their entire world being a part of the media was a bombshell, to say the least. "I-" Megumin was at a loss for words, and it caused the mood to turn solemn. Glancing to his side Shirei could tell Kazuma's explanation was getting to Asami as well.

She had already said the fact of the matter hadn't set in fully but now seeing it explained to someone else must have been hard to watch. "So we're just…" Megumin seemed to choke on her own words as she looked down at her lap. "I need a moment." Standing up from her chair abruptly, she quickly walked out of the living room.

"Megumin," Kazuma called out to her as he saw her leave. He took it a lot easier due to what kind of stuff he was exposed to as a NEET, but that wasn't the same for everyone. "I uh. I'm going to go check on her." Asami stayed silent, and Shirei nodded Kazuma off and watched him leave after Megumin.

Being left with Asami, Shirei could only silently sigh. 'I'm not good when it comes to emotional crap…' Swallowing his hesitation he turned to Asami and spoke to her. "So you wanna tell me why you're so glum after saving my life?" Trying to lighten the mood slightly, he heard Asami chuckled as she turned to him.

"You-" She paused for a moment before continuing. "You're the first and probably the last person I'm going to tell this story to alright?" Shirei nodded his head while smiling. "That's fine with me, and besides I'm technically not a person, so your record remains unbroken." Asami shook her head with a slight smile.

"So if you remember I said I had a quirk." Shirei nodded, showing he was listening. "It's not officially named, but I just call it Foresight. When I'm using it generally, I guess you could say I can predict the future? Weirdly, it's like everything is a phantom to me and I'm an observer." Hearing Shirei felt as if so many more things made sense.

Asami was able to avoid so many factions chasing and hunting her down. Plus she even saved him from getting shot in the head that one time. He thought it was just a good sense of awareness, but it makes a lot more sense now. Plus he never really knew why All For One didn't try to kill Asami right away. "Of course that alone isn't that bad but the second part is a little different."

As if she was reading Shirei's expression, she continued. "When I was really… Really young I learned something else as well. Back then, I couldn't control when my quirk was on or off. So whenever I focus on a person with my quirk, I'm able to read them. Not their mind exactly but… I can feel their intentions and the emotions they are feeling."

Asami balled her fist as she spoke. "You don't know what it was like living in that hell hole of a city with my kind of quirk. Something you couldn't turn off no matter how hard you tried. Knowing that the Vigilantes, the ones that were there to save us weren't leaving cause they needed help. No, they crushed that naivety out of me."

Shirei Asami tensing up as he listened. "No, they weren't leaving to get help. They were running away because they were scared and ready to abandon that city as a lost cause. I got to experience that loud and clear when I was young." Looking at Asami, Shirei could see the slightest sign of tears as he lowered his gaze.

"So you can imagine I wasn't shocked knowing my parents really regretted having me. I mean it was on their minds every time they looked at me. And that's how I grew up. I can control it, but I rarely get close to anyone. In a city like that no one is your friend and they either want you for their own gain or for your looks. And after all that I get told I'm just for entertainment."

Shirei thought back to when he first met Asami, and she mentioned something to him. 'I guess it makes sense why she always spent her time as bars. Can't be disappointed in someone if you know everyone around is a scumbag and drinking probably just helps with that.' There really was no link between that MHA world and the one he knew.

Things had really changed and got better in the show, but this was the reality when things were in anarchy. 'And she still wants to save that city from All For One.' Shirei didn't know whether to laugh or cry as Asami leaned back in her chair wiping her face. "Let's just say finding a person in a bar who I couldn't read was a shock. And even If I know why I can't... It helps you know?"

Shirei slowly nodded his head and smiled. "Ya and I'm sorry I didn't ask about this sooner. I honestly couldn't have imagined things were that bad for you." As the two of them talked for a little more, they overlooked Kazuma behind the wall in the hall. He had tried consoling Megumin, but she ended up saying she needed some time to herself, so he came back here.

In the end, he heard most of Asami's story, which caused him to freeze in his tracks. He wasn't one for regrets or anything like that but couldn't help but feel a little bad. Especially due to the fact he acted like… Well himself. 'In some worlds, people get to live relatively happy and in others, it is a living hell. What kind of fucked up reality is that.'