My SI Stash #45 - Hiding From Unstable Spirits by Caldon (TsukihimeXFate)

-Damn I remember watching this anime when I was like 10 lol, I cannot believe that this is the only SI fic that I know of... barely alive fandom/ Let me know if y'all got other DAL SI fics~

Synopsis: What should a young man do in a world with superpowered girls, dating and being trapped in a body of what is basically a super Vampire?

Keep low of course. Or at least try...

Rated: ???

Words: 23K

Posted on: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/hiding-from-unstable-spirits-date-a-live-tsukihime-si-spoilers.864350/ (Caldon)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1-3 (exceptional)

A cold chill.

That's what I first felt when I started waking up. Not the unpleasant kind, more like "I have left the window open during a spring night" kind of chill. The second feeling was that of grass beneath my fingers.

Huh, that should be for more worrying to me then it was, but it strangely felt 'right'.

Alas, one can stay groggy after waking up only so long and so my mind began to panic just a tiny bit here. Grass? I am utterly sure that I went to sleep in my bed and not in the garden. Did my family decide to prank me? Was I carried outside while sleeping?

No, it's not possible.

I am not this much of a heavy sleeper, though the fact I'm too heavy for them to even try this is another matter completely.

So, a dream? Well, that I am pretty damn sure that something that felt this much real has never happened to me before.

I decided to slowly open my eyes and raise my head a little bit from the grassy ground I was laying down on.

And I did not expect to see trees and bushes surrounding my laying form... oh god, I'm in some forest!?

Panic surged through my mind and thoughts of being kidnapped and drugged came to the forefront of my mind. The bushes that surrounded me were blocking any view I could have had, at least from my current position.

I started to slowly rise from the ground with hopes that just maybe I could see something beyond the greenery that enclosed me.

Slowly but surprisingly smoothly I got up to my knees and then to standing positing I, from that I could at the very least see what was beyond the bushes.

It was LIGHT! Slightly in the distance, between the trees, I could see what probably was a street lamp.

Though why did it seem to be so dim? In hindsight I should have connected the dots a lot earlier, I mean lamps only shine during the night, right? So why could I see everything around me perfectly?

Realizing that it might be just a bit too convenient to find a lamp in the woods makes me a bit hesitant to just imminently walk over there.

But right now I see little to no alternatives so despite the warnings going off in my head I decide to walk over to the source of the light.

The bushes that earlier hid the lamp post from my vision are barely reaching to my knees and as such offer little to no resistance to my feet as I trudge over to the lamp post and I have to say something seems off about me right now, as in I arrive at the edge of the light in about a minute but I could swear that it seemed much further away.

Did I not notice myself running or something?

Anyway, as I get closer to the lamp I notice that there is a cobblestone path right next to the lamp as well as a... is that a park map, a bit taller then I am that is being illuminated by the light?

Oh, ok then. I am not stuck in the middle of the woods, just some pretty park. That is not perfect but still far better than the alternative of being in some woods in the middle of nowhere.

Kay now, maybe the map will tell me something of where exactly I am, so I approach it and read that which is written in red first.

"Tengu City Park". I said out loud in a strangely smoother voice then I remember my being.

Oh, and it's written in kanji. Hold up...I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE LEARNED HOW TO READ KANJI!

And now it just suddenly comes to my head as if the were the most natural thing in my life, what the hell?

I calm myself as fast as I can and try to think about what it could mean.

One, I am definitely in Japan right now.

Two, for some reason I can read Kanji, and if I were to guess I can probably speak Japanese too.

Three, something is off with my body.

And finally, four, was I just ROB'ed into some setting?

Okay, I am a city named probably Tengu. And this rings no god damn bells in my head. Like none at all. The only city that would help me recognize where I am exactly would probably be Fuyuki City, and for once thank god it is not that blasted place. I don't know if I could handle one of the worst places to be in the Nasuverse. So I can presume I got lucky and I won't end up in one of the Holy Grail Wars, nor does it seem like I'm in Tsukihime...not sure which one would be worse but since I know little about the latter the answer would be obvious. Hopefully, it is not the setting with that girl Shiki, shes damn scary that's what she is.

Now then, I guess I will learn in time in what place did I land, So it is time to address the elephant in the room...

"WHY IS MY BODY SO THIN AND WHY AM I WEARING A BLACK BUSINESS SUIT?!" A yell left my lips as I looked down on myself confused. And what is that odd feeling in the back of my head damn it?

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If I were to describe Tengu City, I'd probably call it modern. Like it is not futuristic, at least that was my impression of it, but I could believe that a lot of people live here judging by the number of tall buildings and homes I've passed on my way down the street.

Finding an exit out of the park was easy with the help of that map, tho the fact I was feeling sadness when leaving the trees, bushes, and small fields of grass behind was...unnerving.

I have always liked nature, but not to a degree I would prefer it over the protection of the walls of a home. Why would I have the urge to turn around and just spend time there? It was clear to me that whoever put me in this city had made some changes to me.

Finding out that I was not overweight, but in a healthy and fit body dressed in a black suit with a red tie did not help the matter, though I still had hair on my head, so I was relieved that I am not a clone of agent 47.

But despite how good this body felt, I knew something was very odd with it, for example, both my eyesight and hearing and even smell were miles above what I was used too. For I learned from passing by an electric clock that it was at 01:34 AM, and yet I saw everything perfectly, were it shapes, colors, or even the distance cause I swear I was reading road signs that were at the very least a good 100 meters away from me. Getting used to the enhanced hearing was a pain though, the moment I left the park behind me, my ears were bombarded with the sounds of cars and people a good few dozen meters away from me. And the smell... let us not get started with this one, for it was not pleasant at all to deal with.

Yet, somehow in a matter of minutes of walking down this town, and somehow I began to filter things through, almost as if the most natural thing to do for this body.

So the question arose in my mind of "am I still human?", for no normal person should be able to have such senses nor have that nagging feeling in the back of their heads. Maybe, I was slowly but surely adapting to this body that wasn't mine?

The train of thoughts in my head was stopped when I was passing by a closed clothing shop and say a mirror next to the mannequins on the display on the other side of the glass.

I took a few steps closer to the glass to able to see my reflection in the mirror more clearly, and when I took a good look at my face... I froze.

For reflected was a figure of a young man who barely looked like he was in his eighteens or nineteens, a face too handsome to be natural, with light brown hair that hid his ears and almost his eyes were it not for the fact that it formed an arrow-like shape on his nose.

But the most outstanding thing was the eyes, they were crimson with a snake or feline-like iris.

I couldn't believe it at first, but when I started to focus on those eyes, I could swear I saw for but a split of a second a yellow like glow, and then I knew that I was not human.

Once I reached that conclusion in my mind, I have opened my mouth to check if I ha...Ow! Yep, I definitely have fangs, and how on earth did I not notice them until now?! I just cut my finger on of them an...oh, alright then, the wounds gone?

"Who..what am I? Well, clearly a vampire of sorts but..." I muttered under my breath, countless possibilities raging in my head, but there was one that was louder than any others "...only one way to be sure of that".

I've looked up in the dark sky that showed no stars or nor other celestial bodies, save one.

The moment I saw the full moon, I knew what I am. It was almost as if a child was looking at their parent and knew who they were. A knowledge so ingrained into the body and soul that it could not be denied, but it somehow felt...incomplete?

Once my trance-like state of staring up to the sky( good thing not many people seem to walk this particular street at his hour, else I would have died from shame), I knew what I was and why I felt that desire to be with nature in the park.

"A True Ancestor" words that were barely above a whisper left my mouth, a shocked expression painted on my face.

"GOD DAMN YOU ZELRETCH! And so I almost shouted loud enough to wake the good people of Tengu from their sleep.

Truth be told, I had no idea if my current predicament was in any way shape or from the fault of the Wizard Marshall himself, but it did not matter at that moment, for I was angry and terrified.

So much for avoiding the Nasuverse and dodging a bullet, for was there any other way for me to be an equivalent of a Fairy that is empowered directly by the will of the planet?! Was I dropped off in this city just to be hunted down by Dead Apostles or the Church?

"I-I need a plan, y-yes a simple plan. First and foremost leave the city, hell knows what it could be hiding here and aiming for my head" I muttered to myself, now no longer walking the down the street but standing on the edge of an alleyway.

"Just gotta find someone who could help me, yes maybe that old Vampire Wizard would help me? Nope, not trusting him, and if no him then maybe I could go try and find Arcueid? She's the princess, the princess of a practically dead species but a princess anyway.

She could probably protect me, maybe she'd be even happy to find someone else of her kind? She'd probably let me hang around her if I were to start to call "Big Sis" or something like that." With the amount talking to myself I would not blame the locals that would think that the tall European guy in a suit quietly talking to him is mad or something, I would too.

I had at least one plan now, though I will focus on the details once I leave this city with hopefully no one noticing nor pursuing me.

With my destination being "let's get out of this town" I push myself off the wall of the alleyway that I was unconsciously leaning on and try to find a road that will be out of the city, but maybe I should put those Mystic Eyes that I should have to use a train out of here?

I barely took three maybe four steeps from the place I was standing before "it" hit me and stopped me in my tracks. That sweet smell of...blood? Damn it all, how could I forget about the bloodlust that all True Ancestors had? Was that the thing nagging me in the head all this time?

I could not help but to try and locate that smell, even if the most logical choice right is to go the other way as fast as I can without outing myself, and yet the urge to at very least find the source of the smell was far stronger then reason. I'm gonna need to work on that...

"It comes...further that alleyway?" I said, unsure why I needed to speak at such a moment, what could have possibly happened there to drag me in?

And so guided by the promise of blood( with my sense of smell that began going into overdrive) I slowly and carefully make my way down the alleyway sensing that the reason why I am even doing this is relatively close as if it was just around the corner of the alley, but in that case, why did I not hear or sense anything mere second before the stench of blood hit my nose? Was I so focused on my situation that I filtered anything happening near me out?

Anyways, it is not so far away as I initially thought, in fact, I am sure it is just around the corner. Though there is a new question in my head now and its "Why am I not afraid?", cause I'm pretty sure I should be, judging by the amount of ichor I can now sense there should be a dead person there. And yet, I'm not afraid of seeing it, or hell getting killed myself. Is it my body doing? Does it know that there is nothing here that could do me any permanent harm? Or is it because instead of fear I feel... excitement?

There is no time for those questions now, as I am just about to reach the corner. Now or never, If I can't face whatever is behind this corner, how can I hope to survive the Nasuverse?

I decided to face front on whatever is there, so I abandon the careful walk I maintained until now and I almost jump around the corner, and that which I see brings me both hope and despair.

Facing a dead-end of the alley I see the corpses... or what's left of them of three people, their bodies filled with holes and faces contorted in horror. Alas, I can't have the proper time to look them over as the source of their fate is standing in front of them, wielding a...musket in each hand?

Then it finally hit me.

Good news, this is not the world of vampires powered by the planet or a bunch of morons fighting for a golden cup.

Bad news, this is a world with unstable super-powered girls and a dense moron that's on a mission to save them via dating. And how can I be so sure of that you ask? Well, you see...

The girl that's standing over that massacre of those poor saps and is just reeking of blood, has turned to face me. And now, that I can fully see her pale skin, hair as black as night styled into uneven ponytails with one reaching her neck and the other her waist combined with a new bow on her head, those eyes of which one red shining with madness with the other being a damn clock, add to that her red and black frills that make her look like a cosplaying Gothic Lolita or something...and yeah there is only one character I know that is like this.

"Kurumi Tokisaki," I said in a whisper, stunned by the beautiful and insane girl from Date A Live, a Spirit that earned designations like "The Worst Spirit" or "Nightmare", and she's standing right in front of me.

"Ara Ara, and how do you know my name? You seem to know me, but I am sure that I have never met you," she asked, with a soft giggle at the end as her mismatched eyes locked with my own.

I have no mouth and I must scream.

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"Ara? No need to be so shy, I won't bite you, you know? she said that. She said that while standing in a god damn pool of blood. "And I must ask you again, how do you know me?"

I frowned at that, why did I allow myself to walk right to her again?

Ah, right, bloodlust.

Still, if I play this one right I may get her to think I'm just a random civvy out on a walk, and with a bit of luck, she won't deem me worthy killing.

"Well, you see I k-kinda just... you know?" I am so god damn dead, I cant lie under stress for the life of me. I think I should slowly walk away from he...

"Oh, my? Goin somewhere already? But we just met and all, don't you know it is rude to try and walk away from a lady?" from behind my back spoke more than one voice, as I turned around I saw four of her clones standing behind me and blocking the way.

Right, she can do time clones, and other time manipulation powers, this along with her ability to hide in the shadow... I call bullshit on those power.

" I'm sorry, I did not want to insult such a lovely young lady, but you see I... simply am late for dinner, that's right!" Really, me? I couldn't think to come up with a better excuse to save my hide, she's probably thinking I'm with the government or one of the other agencies.

She'll see right through that, there is simply no way she'd let me leave now.

But, if that is the case... why am I not shaking in fear from her?

"Ah, I see. My apology for holding you up here good sir, now please be on your way." ...NO DAMN WAY! She actually bought that? Did she say that with an honest and kind smile on her face, she can't be that stupid? Or did she decide that I am really not worth it?"

"D-don't worry miss, it's nothi-" my response was cut off by a sudden and sharp pain coming from my chest, I looked down and...

SHE FKIN SHOT ME!

"Oh? My bad, my finger must have slipt" A soft giggle followed from the clones after the response of what I presumed to be the 'main' Kurumi as my sight rested on her now on her smaller weapon that was still aimed at me.

My suit has now a fist-sized hole in it... and it is gone?

I look down at my chest and there isn't even a mark left on it, in fact, the suit looks undamaged.

She shot me, with a magical musket. even still it was just a magical musket. It is no a conceptual weapon designed to stop the reversal of any damage, there is nothing this girl can do that would be a real threat to me for it will always be reversed no matter what she tries to use. And her biggest mistake? It was attacking me, who seemingly possed a body of a True Ancestor, at night.

When there is a full moon.

Now, I am not truly knowledgeable about the working of the Tsukuhime world, but even I know that an Ancestor power peeks at that time. And apparently, as my body deemed this planet to be close enough to "Gaia" and possess some form of mana in it, it began to draw power from it. Not much, but enough to render anyone I know of here(bar one) a none threat to me.

And the best part? Is the fact that the stupid smile that Kurumi had on her face has fallen off.

"Now then, that was a bit rude too, you know that Kurumi?" A huge grin formed on my face as I delivered the line and looked the crazy girl in the eyes, not knowing that my own eyes were now glowing a bright yellow.

Kurumi was silent for a moment, probably assuming that the fact that I'm still standing and grinning at her must be somehow related to some piece of technology that I'm using.

"Ara, it seems so. Perhaps there is something worthwhile in you dear sir" When she finished her sentence, I noticed them coming from the shadows of the floor below me. " Now if you would just stand still, I promise it will be quick"

Dozens of hands rose from the floor, all aimed at me. If I were to take a guess, instead of simply killing me for being a nuisance, she had decided to 'eat me' with that trick.

This was a choice that at the moment neither I nor she knew she would end up regretting dearly.

And so I stood unmoving, convinced in my invulnerability just as much as Kurumi was in her own power over me. And when the hands finally reached me with intent to drag me down into the shadow beneath, something I did not expect happened.

Kurumi scream.Not in pain if I were to guess but I couldn't be sure of that completely. What I was sure of was the expression of pure terror on her face.

Eyes going wild, I heard her heartbeat increase dramatically, cold sweat drenches her pale skin and black silk hair, and finally, both her shadow hands and clones disappeared into nothing.

"W-W-WHO ARE YOU!? WHAT ARE YOU!?" She yelled at me, her voice that so calm earlier now was a high pitch as her attempt to devour me probably revealed a little bit of the nature of my body to her.

The mature and reasonable thing to do here was most likely to attempt to calm her down and have an honest talk with her. Alas, I can be quite petty when I want to be, and her trying to kill me just gave me a good excuse.

"Well, well, well, "I began, with the most shit-eating grin on my face I could muster, one that showed of my fangs and made my eyes glow seemingly even brighter in the darkness that surrounded us. " Let me start with a proper introduction than my fair lady"

"My name is... Alaya. And you dear Kurumi-chan have been marked as a danger to the Human Order, so in order to fulfill my duty as a Counter-Guardian I must now eliminate you." It was a lie, my name, my nature, and my objective. I did not want to harm her despite everything she had done and will do, for I knew that she had some kind of role to play in the future. As such, my goal was to make her flee from me.

"H-human Order? C-counter-Guardian? W-what are you talking about? W-why me?" And I think I overdid it, judging by the stuttering mess she has become. Welp, it can't be helped now, I'll just give her the last shove to hopefully send her fleeing.

"Of course Kurumi-chan" I took a step closer to her and raise my arms in a 'shrug' gesture, unaware that my hands have turned in 'vampire claws' from all the excitement my body was in." Someone with the power and plans to erase the past, it cannot be tolerated"

"N-no, I must... I-I have to s-still...h-how do you k-know this!? Great, she's confused now and she is aware that I should possess the information I have and...why is she stepping into the wall?"I CAN'T STOP! I WILL NOT! I WILL KILL HER!"

As she began to yell once more, her expression an odd mix of fear and determination, and I simply stood there not moving a finger to stop her.

I guess the idea of her being hunted down by something that could stop her plan she wasted years on persuing was enough of a shock to the poor girl into a 'fight or flight' response.

Then I saw her enter fully the shadow in the wall and I kept my mad grin on till she fully disappeared into it, and I kept eye contact with her till the end of her escape.

And then, I was alone.

" I really hope I didn't screw over Shido with this..." I muttered under my breath, realizing that I may have raised Kurumis paranoia tad bit too much.

In a dark dead-end of an alleyway, in the middle of the night, standing next to a pool of blood... and the smell was so tempting my body began moving closer to it.

That was bad, very god damn bad! I Couldn't let my bodies vampiric impulses control me or else I would drown this world on Dead Apostles and minor vampires or would get the attention of 'her'.

So I did the thing that seemed most logical at the moment and stabbed myself with my claws in the leg.

It hurt, it hurt so god damn much that I immediately started to regret that idea.

But it had worked, somewhat. The pain distracted me long enough for me to regain some sense and control of the body to move as far away from the murder place as it was possible.

And that was quite another problem, in focusing on that I failed to notice just how fast was I leaving the area.

The world became a blur of colors, and as a result of that, I almost crashed right into a big hotel building that was somewhere on the other end of the city.

The fact I didn't get noticed by the Anti Spirit Team(AST for short) or that giant flying invisible ship above the city that belonged to the organization Ratatoskr that was connected to the dense protagonist of the name Shido Itsuka and wasn't there also a clone of 'her' or something like that?

Eh, things to think about later.

First, I'm gonna find a nice hotel room in the city to spend a night or two in that I'm gonna get after using the Mystic Eyes of mine, and after that, I probably go 'shopping' for normal clothes and some sunglasses.

What a crazy first night in this world this is...

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What woke me up from my slumber in my cozy bed was the heat and rays of the sun flooding into the room from the large window that was direct across my double-sized bed.

My bed that's in my room, the room of the hotel that I almost burst through on my run last night.

A room that the keys to I may have acquired by using my Mystic Eyes on the poor sap downstairs by the lobby.

It took a few awkward tries to actually get him to do what I needed, but it worked before he decided to call security and kick me out so I count it as a win.

Still gonna need to practice this a lot if I plan on staying under the radar of all powers in this word.

While still covered with the sheats and surprised I could actually sleep and dream normally, I decided to at least get up a bit and sit on the bed's edge.

Sitting at the right side of the bed I look to the window that was now to my left and... I just stared at it.

"Date A Live, a goddamn harem anime with superpowered girls," I said with a heavy sigh. "Just my luck too, to bump into Kurumi as soon as I got here."

Now that I was able to fully calm myself within the confines of my room I realized just how much I could have screwed over the main cast with my nightly stunt with Kurumi.

What if she is going to be paranoid enough to make her leave the city, or just straight up go to Shido's home and kill him there.

Judging by the way she acted towards me before getting traumatized, I'm guessing she didn't have a date with Shido or tried killing him at school.

Which if I'm right would mean I was thrown somewhere in the middle of season one of the anime adaptation. And since I didn't sense anyone suspicious watching me or getting close to the hotel I can probably say that I am safe from the sight of the big players out there.

As I sat in the silence of my new four walls a simple plan formed in my head.

The only spirits that should have shown up would be Tohka, Yoshino, Kurumi, and Kotori.

The AST, Ratatoskar, or the DEM have not found me out yet, hopefully.

The ones left to show themself in season two and three were the Yamai Sisters, Miku, Natsumi, and Origami.

And for once I am grateful for reading the wiki for spoilers, otherwise, I wouldn't know about the first spirit Mia that's basically GOD in this world, and her clone(?) Reine which is undercover within Ratatoskar.

Just great, if Mia ever founds out what I am or if I dare to get to close to Shido. IM dead. Like finger snap and I'm gone.

So my top priority right now should be avoiding the main cast like fire or trying to murder Reine before she can act.

Then there is this whole Isaac guy, the director of DEM or something.

The guy just reeked with ' I'm evil lol' so he's my priority target right now, even if I don't really know anything about the guy or his plans.

I should have read more about him on the wiki...

...why am I so casually planning a murder? The hells is wrong with me? I know they are bad but still, it shouldn't be this easy for me.

Eh, and then there is the whole thing with Mayuri. Is that even cannon? Could I help her somehow?

Thoughts for later, now my genius plan!

...I'll just wait for season two to kick in and wait for the disaster that Miku will bring and there I sneak into DEM and kill Isaac.

What? No point in risking the timeline too much at this point, though I'm gonna need to watch out for Kurumi now, if she were to get off cannon thanks to me, I would have to reveal myself.

Now though, how do I make myself a better stalker then Origami?

Besides getting clothes that are not a suit.

Maybe, I just have the thing in mind, but I am unsure if I can even get it to work.

Marble Phantasm.

A power that the True Ancestors posses, the ability to change and affect the world to their desire and need. So there could be a possibility to make myself undetectable with it?

If I could manifest the Millennium Castle Brunestud, I could probably go and challenge Mia, though I doubt that I could ever hope to achieve that since I am not Arcueid.

Even still, this could allow me to keep ahead of this world 'Spirits' even if only to get away from them and Shido.

I swear, if this kid walks up to me and asks me out for a date I'm going straight to killing Reine, consequences are damned.

Now, time to focus and see if I can even use that power in any way, and what better way then to sit on the floor and try to...imagine something.

And I think I have just the right thing in my mind.

After what felt like hours of focus I finally looked up to the clock to see that it was almost 4 pm.

I did not think id waste this much time to get so little in results.

However, when I looked upon my open palm and saw the small thump sized pink flower petal fly up and turn into motes of light, a small smile graced my facial expression as I felt true pride at my little achievement.

"We may have not had the best of the first impression as far as meetings go, however, I'm sure we can make this somehow work," I said as I raised myself from the cold wooden floor of the room and walked closer to the window "now then, let us start our DATE you wonderfully crazy world"

Chapter 2

"Thank you for your purchase, please come again." The young cashier lady said to me as I was walking away out of her small shop with the simple black sunglasses I just bought sitting on my nose.

And no, I did not use my Mystic Eyes on her, for I have legitimately bought them with money!

The money I got from some thugs that tried to rob me on my way to the shopping mall that wasn't that far away from the hotel I'm staying at.

I did not hurt them, just used my eyes to make them give me all their money and a cool looking electric black watch that fitted on my wrist just fine. Kurumi is clearly slacking off on cleaning up the city from such trash.

Why would you ever try to mug a tall European guy in a business suit in a world where magical girls are a thing? Like, you're just asking to be brutally murdered at this point.

They even had enough money that I could afford to buy a simple red hoodie, three black T-shirts, two pairs of blue jeans, and a pair of simple black hiking boots.

Why would those four idiots even need extra money? Meh, their loss and my gain.

I just hope that the small hypnosis I put on them would make them a bit more decent, even if they were asshats I don't want them to end up like those guys I found Kurumi with.

"05:36 PM and the sun is still bright. Guess its still spring here, April or May? Tsk, if only this watch would show the date too." I mutter to myself while walking around the mall looking for stuff I might still buy, and I gotta say there is a lot of people here.

Might because its Saturday? Crowds big enough for a kid to get lost that's for sure.

I still get some odd looks from the passerby's, even after changing from the suit. I may be just a bit too tall to fully blend in with the people, why is everyone so short in comparison to me?

When I was shopping for clothes a nice lady helped me with finding the right size, and apparently, I am 186 cm tall.

In a country with an average of 171 cm.

I need some invisibility spell or something...

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As I continued walking around I saw a glimpse of something that caught my interest.

I stepped closer to the store window and admired the object, and I cannot help but marvel at this sight

It is a rather simple red fedora but with a wide, and almost comically looking floppy brim.

I feel as if the world is trying to mock me...

I mean, what are the chances of me just stumbling upon a fedora that just so happens to resemble the one that Alucard from Hellsing was wearing most of the time?

My inner nerd demanded that I go inside the shop and get that hat even if I had to use hypnosis on everyone that was in there because the possibility of messing with people while dressed as the 'Crimson Fucker' himself was beyond tempting, my bloodlust seemed nothing in comparison to that.

But, I also cringed internally at the image of me being fully dressed like that murder machine...

Ugh, I cannot make a decision like this, damn it all, why are you doing this to me you cruel word?

While I was looking at the hat and contemplating if I really want to buy it and look stupid as hell, I felt a tug on my right sleeve of the hoodie.

I definitely did not yelp at the sudden surprise, and anyone telling you that is a liar.

When I whipped my head to the right I saw... no one? That is odd, I'm pretty sure no one would mess with me no...oh.

"U-um... h-hello Sir... c-could you p-please help me find... my f-friends?" A voice said, coming from a little lower then I was expecting.

I looked down at the small girl, that's so short she's barely reaching my chest and that's with that...sunhat that has a pink ribbon on it.

Oh no.

Curly, azure hair reaching her chest and eyes that remind me of the clear sky, and a simple white dress with a tint of blue in it with pink frills at the end.

Yoshino.

"Yeah, give us a hand, will you? We need to find Shido and Tohka so quit starring and help us out!" And that talking white puppet rabbit with a black eye patch on his right side is Yoshinon.

I know that no plan survives the contact with the enemy, but...

THIS IS JUST FATE SCREWING WITH ME!

I wanted to avoid meeting anyone from the main cast early, and now on my second day in this world, I meet her?!

Yoshino didn't seem to notice my distress and instead kept on pulling my sleeve and holding onto it as if letting me go would make me disappear.

"P-please" she sniffles, and I can already see her eyes getting wet.

If I leave her she will no doubt make a scene here, and possibly freeze this place.

Damn it Shido, how can you lose a walking time bomb?!

Welp, might as well roll with it and make an escape once I get her back to that dense fool.

I gently grab her right-hand that's been holding my sleeve this entire time, and surprisingly she doesn't shirk away from me...huh, might be just a Kurumi thing. Then again, Yoshino is not trying to 'eat me' here so that's maybe why she doesn't sense my nature.

"Of course, let's find your friends, little miss, miss rabbit," I say with the most gentle voice I can muster while giving her a small smile.

"My name is Yoshinon. Innit cute? Innit cute?" Declared the small puppet, even tho I did not ask her or Yoshino for that yet.

"Yes, yes it is Yoshinon." I sigh quietly, for this will be a troublesome evening, and you better make it up to me Shido!

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This is ridiculous.

"...and this is how I saved the day!" Vocalized Yoshinon, as she finished speaking the third story about her protecting Yoshino and being the hero of the hour.

And it's barely fifteen minutes of me and Yoshino(with Yoshinon) walking around the mall to find Shido and Tohka.

It should not be this hard for me to find a mop of blue and purple hair, but with the absurd crowd that is today, even I can't spot them anywhere.

Is there some huge sale going on today or what? And how would I miss it?

"A truly heroic tale miss Yoshinon, I am glad to know that miss Yoshino has such a brave and kind friend to rely on." I might as well complement the small rabbit, don't want to be on her bad side after all.

Also, I noticed that it was mainly Yoshinon who was doing all the talking all this time, while Yoshino was keeping quiet but she never let go of my hand the whole time.

The poor girl must still be working on her shyness towards strangers and might only open to Shido now.

" Yes. Yes. Flatter me more, after all, I am the most heroic one in the world!" ...note for the future, never allow Yoshinon to meet the likes of King Gilgamesh..."Hey, onii-chan, what's your name?"

O-O-Onii-chan?! What the hell Yoshinon!

"I'm Al...yes, my names Al. I'm a tourist from East Europe by the way" I voiced, technically not lying, as 'Al' sounds less girlish then 'Alaya' and would be easier to pronounce.

"Al? Haha! A funny name!" No, it is not Yoshinon. "What do you think Yoshino?"

My eyes moved from the small puppet and focused themself on Yoshino, and she was...blushing?

"I think... it is a n-nice name" The small girl stuttered out.

She is so damn adorable, all I want to do is to hug her and never let any harm come to her ever!

And I swear I can see Yoshinon smirking at me, how can a puppet even do that?

"I..thank you miss Yoshino," I say, bit surprised at her answer to Yoshinons clear tease." but I think we should focus on finding your friends now."

And we still haven't found Shido and Tohka, I hope they did not forget about Yoshino here or else I'm gonna find their hom...woah, keep the anger in check, don't scare Yoshino now.

Speaking of her...

"Miss Yoshino, why have you stopped?" I speak out and look at the girl in confusion, and she's looking at something rather intently to our left.

Has she noticed Shido?

I follow her gaze and I see... an ice cream shop.

Of course.

"Miss Yoshino, would you like some ice cream?" I ask the girl that is clearly absorbed into her staring contest with the chilly sweet.

She looks up to me, a warm smile on her face, and vigorously nods her head.

"YAY, ICE CREAM" Yoshinon screams out, and damn, how can she be so loud?

We walk inside the shop, and stand in the line and lucky for us there are only two people in front of us.

When it is our turn, I buy one strawberry scoop of ice for myself and two blueberry scoops for Yoshino(Yoshinon seems overjoyed at the fact I got one for her too).

With our ice cream in hand, we both walk out of the shop, but I notice that Yoshino seems a bit hesitant to move too far from the entrance.

Ah, she has both of her hands taken now and cont hold my own now and is likely afraid of getting lost again.

I withhold a sigh, I don't want to be stuck with her too long because that might get me labeled as a kidnaper...

"Try to hold on" I speak to hear, and she just looks at me with confusion written clearly on her adorable face.

I put down my ice cream on a nearby bench, after that, I get closer to Yoshino and grab her gently around her armpits and lift her up on my shoulders.

I am not sure if it's my Vampiric strength or if the girl is simply light as a feather.

"Kyaaaa!" This is the cutest sound I have ever heard in my life.

"Pardon my sudden action, but now you can both eat your ice cream and look for your friends. "I state, hoping she won't get upset at me for this.

"I...see. Thank you." She whispers, both embarrassed and surprised at this development.

"Oh my! Onii-chan how bold of you!" Thanks Yoshinon, you've ruined the moment, you're lucky I can't glare at you right now.

Now with Yoshino on my shoulders, we make it again into the crowd with hopes of ending this search soon.

Honestly, how unlucky can we be that we're still haven't foun-

"YOSHINO!" I hear two voices shout the little girl's name from my right.

As I turn around to see who it was, and boy speak of the devil and he'll show up...eventually.

"SHIDO-SAN!"TOHKA-SAN!" Even if I cannot see Yoshinos face right now, I can feel the happiness in her voice.

Now, how do I explain why I'm holding a Spirit on my shoulders to them?

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Chapter 3

"I see, again I'm sorry were lost the both of you Yoshino,Yoshinon. I promise I will make it up to you, and you" Shido spoke to Yoshin and then turned to face me"you have my thanks for helping her si-"

"Please call me Al, "I cut Shido off " no need for the whole 'sir' thing, I'm not much older than you Shido-san. I'm just a tourist that happened to catch little miss Yoshino and Yoshinon's eye" I finished speaking and gave the boy a small smile.

"I am just glad I could help" I outstretched my right hand towards Shido, still keeping the smile on my face.

"A-ah I see, again thank yo-" Shido grabbed my hand for the handshake, but he did not expect the amount of force I put into" e-eh?"

"So Shido-san, "My expression never changes, unlike Shidos that bears the signs on confusion on it, "tell me, how did YOU lose such a small young lady in this crowd? It might have not ended this well if she didn't ask me for help."

"W-well, umm... you see, w-we were looking for kinako bread for Tohka,a-and we kinda lost Yoshino while looking arou-" Eh, alright lets cut this interrogation of and leave him a warning.

At least I let him think that he got off with just a warning because I'm gonna come up with something to punish him later.

"I understand, but please be more careful next time, for I might not be around if that happens." I let go of his hand, and see that now Yoshino was standing to his left and holding Shido's other hand.

She looks between me and Shido, but luckily she seems more confused than worried, while Shido scratches his head with the right hand and looks a bit ashamed that a stranger scolded him.

I now move my sight to Tohka that's to the right of Shido and notice her staring at my bag with clothes and...kinako bread.

Was she staring at it the whole time? And is she drooling?

I withhold another sigh today, and reach down to the bag and pull up the kinako bread and hold it up to the starved girl.

"Here, you seem hungry and Yoshino's disappearance must have stopped you from buying one for yourself" I explain to the girl, this much for tasting if its good for myself.

"R-really?" Asks Tohka looking for conformation to which I give a small nod. "Thank you!" ...did I just see stars in her eyes?

As she reaches for the bread with both of her hands she touches my hand for just a moment.

And then I'm no longer in the mall, instead, I stand in a crater and see ruins of what was once a city and I feel that this place is flooded with death.

After getting a grip on myself, I notice the girl standing in front of me.

Or, what I assume once was one.

Her skin is beyond pale, it looks more like ash, and its the same for her hair. She wears the tattered remains of what once must have been a beautiful dark purple dress, the remains of what must have been a ribbon of the same color stick out from behind her head.

With ten swords floating behind her, and five sharp and twisted nails form a claw around her left hand.

And her eyes...

They seem red but...are hollow. Like if she was broken a thousand times over and has given up on life, yet still I can see traces of something that would have been called emotions behind them.

Anger, Rage, Hate.

Sadness, Sorrow, Hopelessness.

I know her, even in this state I can see that its Tohka...no.

Calling her a 'Beast' would be appropriate for I can't see anything that would make her human anymore.

And then it hit, the sweet smell of blood.No, it should be called a stench.

And this 'Beast' was drenched in it, and its concentration was far stronger than Kurumi's.

While Kurumi might have willingly killed thousands, where this one killed millions herself...and not only humans.

But before I can even make one step or say a word, I am back in the mall with Shido, Yoshino, and Tohka.

I blink a few times, just to make sure that I am seeing correctly.

And what I see is an unconcerned Tohka that took her first bite of the bread I gave her, Yoshino is still holding Shido's hand while Shido himself seems to be thankful for what I did.

I try not to show them the UTTER CHAOS that erupted in mind.

Like, WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT?

Was it the future? A possible future? An alternate world?

"Umm, Al-san? Are you alright?" Shido asked me, I must have been lost in thoughts. Again.

"Yes, I'm fine Shido-san. Just got lost in thought."I did half-lie to him, but he seemed to buy it judging from his expression.

Then I noticed him bring up his free hand to his ear, crap.

He did not show what he was told with his facial expression, but the eyes betrayed him.

Cofusion.

Seems that either something is going and he's been called back or...Kotori has ordered a background check on me the moment I introduced myself to them.

Kotori, I swear I will steal all the lollipops you have hidden in your house.

"Ah, I'm sorry Al-san but we have to go, its pretty late and there's dinner to make" Shido, this excuse would be much more believable if you didn't try to avoid eye contact with me.

"It's fine, I have some things left to buy myself so I understand the hurry." I said, hoping they would leave now so I could try and comprehend the stuff I saw less than a few minutes ago.

"WAAAAIT!"Okay, why are you screaming Yoshinon?" Yoshino has something to say to onii-chan here."

Huh, that surprised us all besides Tohka who seems to be still enjoying the kinako bread.

"Umm, I...wanted to say" Yoshino took a step forward and slightly bowed her head."Thank you...and please call me Yoshino."

I...at this rate I'm going to die from the overload of cuteness from this girl.

"You're welcome mi-" I shook my head a bit on that part." You're welcome, Yoshino."

And I think she might have blushed a bit harder after she noticed my genuine smile directed at her, while Shido seemed to smile at her for the courage to speak out herself and not through Yoshinon.

Anyway, Shido and Tohka said their goodbyes but not before thanking me again and then all three(or four if I count Yoshinon) went their way home.

"Hey, that's Hell you're walking into" Alas Shido could no longer hear me as I chuckled to myself thinking about what the boy will have to face in the future.

As they left my sight and disappeared into the crowd, I noticed that they were tailed by a girl with a mop of hair as white as snow that reached her chin, dark blue eyes, and the same uniform that Tohka was wearing.

I don't want to think about how long Origami Tobiichi has been watching us, the girl is an enough of a weird stalker to creep even me out.

And I'm a Vampire damn it.

Eh, leave it be, got stuff to do, and the first thing I'm going to do before I head back to my hotel room?

Simple, I have a hat and some extra stuff to 'buy'.

I wonder if they have Twitter in this world?

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