Chapter 9: Flashbacks are important

(A/N: Fyi, everytime a flashback happens it will a narrator's Pov, spectator Pov or an Omniscient POV aight? Let's start then) 

*Flashback Starts*

The sun was shining upon the world, insects were chirping a certain melody and birds were singing happily.

The green leaves on dozens of trees were swaying and dancing alongside the rhythm of the spring wind.

In a certain clearing, a few children could be seen gathered in a circle. One can hear them laughing boisterously and happily, they were acting like they just heard the funniest joke in the world or found the greatest toy in the world.

…If one focused clearly and in close proximity with the group, they would've been able to hear it.

One single sound amidst the loud laughs from the kids.

A single whimper, the sound of crying, like a little puppy that's in pain and calling for help.

The children made a circle and left an empty circle in the middle, another kid can be seen sitting on the ground.

He was crying and kept trying to wipe his tears away which fails spectacularly.

Sounds of jeers were heard all around him.

"Come on! Try to speak again!"

"Form a single sentence! Come on!"

"Try that stupid thing…..uh….that…that"

"*snort* Pose?"

"Yeah! Yeah! Try that stupid pose thing again!"

"Weirdo!"

"Creep!"

"Do it or we'll beat you up!"

They then started to tighten the circle and started approaching the crying kid.

He started shaking even more as he lifts his head, he covers his face with both of his hands while shaking his head.

"No! No! Please-" he then paused, as if he expect someone else to finish his words for him.

"Ah!? Please what? Finish your sentence dammit!" One of the kids got angry and lifted his leg as if he wants to kick the crying kid's face.

But before he could do so, a voice resounded, "STOP!!" 

The kid stopped his movement with one leg lifted in a kicking position before he felt someone grabbing him and hugging him by his waist.

He then felt himself falling backwards before getting his head slammed to the ground and lost his consciousness.

The other kids backed off immediately with wide eyes and had shocked expressions written all over their face.

"B-boss!"

"Dammit, the boss is down!"

The one who knocked down the so called 'boss' then threw the body to the side before he rose up and dusted himself.

He had brown short hair and had a fierce scowl on his face. He was wearing a dark green kimono with a white belt. He gave the group a glare and lifted one of his foot before stepping on the 'body', he then pointed at the other kids except for the one currently crying on the ground.

"You bastards! How dare you bully my friend!! If you guys are so tough, how about fighting me instead!?"

He then gave them a 'bring it on' gesture with both of his hands.

The kids flinched and retreated a few steps backwards. They're clearly scared of him.

"T-the boss is down! What should we do!?"

"L-let's run away, we can't beat this guy!"

"B-but, the boss!"

The kid that took down the 'boss' then spoke up. "Take this weakling away if you guys wanna retreat, I'll count till 10, if you haven't gone away yet….."

The kids became even more panicked when he said that. They clamoured amongst themselves and heard a dreadful sound.

"1….2…..3" The kid started counting already and this sent another clamour amongst themselves once more.

"W-WAIT!!"

"WE'RE NOT READY YET!!"

The group then went into frenzy and asked the kid to stop counting as they haven't decided what to do yet.

But the kid doesn't give a fuck.

"4….5….6"

The group became even more frightened, but all is not lost as one of them had a determined expression and a masterful plan. He went in front of the group, turned around and glared at them all.

"What're you all scared of!? He's alone! He can't beat us all! Listen! He might've beaten the boss but that was by surprise and a one-on-one. We can just group against him and beat his ass!"

His little speech seems to work as most of them started to lose their nervous expression and had a thoughtful expression etched on their face.

He started gesturing vigorously in the air using his hands, "WE ARE STRONGER! WE'LL NOT RUN BACK HOME WITH OUR TAILS BETWEEN OUR LEGS!! WE'LL GO BACK HOME WITH VICTORY, LIKE A MAN!!! NOW, WHO'S WITH ME!?"

An 'OOOH!' was shouted with gusto and a tint of admiration by the other kids. The one who rouse them all up had a smug expression, crossed his arms on his chest, stood up straighter than before and tilted his head backwards a little bit.

'*humph*, with this, our victory is guaranteed. I'll be able to reinforce myself as the new boss and then I'll-'

Before he could continue this line of thought, he heard a voice from behind him, it sounds closer than before.

"9….10….Time's up." That was the last thing he heard before he got the same treatment as their 'boss'.

By the time the kid took the hype-man down and dusted himself, the other kids already skedaddled away and all that remained in the area was two 'dead bodies', the bully slayer and the crying kid still sitting on the ground only this time, he's not crying but trying to wipe his tears and snot away with his sleeves.

The 'hero' walked towards the crying heap and stared down at it for a few moments, the sniffling mess stop wiping his tears and raised his head to look at his 'hero'.

The 'hero' then lifted his hand and reached towards the sitting kid. "Need a hand?" To which the tearful kid frantically nodded his head and grabbed his hand before using it as a leverage to stand up.

The 'hero' then released his hand after the kid stood up and put both of it on the other kid's shoulders. 

"Kin…dammit, how many times should I tell you not to go outside and play alone!? If your brother can't follow you at least take me with you!"

Kin broke eye contact and stared at the ground, "B-But Gudo, I just wanted to-"

He lets his word hang in the air once more, luckily this time someone is there to finish it.

Gudo shook his head with a scowl on his face, "To what!? To be friends with them!? Haven't you learnt your lesson yet! They did the same thing on Gin last time he tried to play with them too!"

Kin shifted awkwardly, "I-I just thought it'll be-"

Gudo shook him by the shoulders with gusto, "You thought it'll be different!? Don't kid yourself! What makes you think they'll treat you differently? Just cause you're older than Gin by a few seconds!?"

He then stops shaking poor Kin, "Look at me Kin. Look at me in the eyes." 

Kin gingerly raised his head and looked at Gudo in the eyes, "Listen Kin, they friggin hate us, you, me, Gin, our whole family, we're outsiders remember? We gotta stick together, understand?"

Kin gave a small nod which made Gudo smile widely.

"Good! Now let's go back home." He promptly grabs Kin's arm and drags him along as he jogged towards a certain direction.

*Flashback Ends*

(A/N: Sorry if it was a bore but I assure you that this was necessary and there'll be more flashbacks to come in the future, also, first flashback! Yay!)

MC POV

All of us were currently sitting on the floor, Seiza style!

We sat and formed a circle around the room. I was sitting with my back touching one of the walls.

I was currently listening to Kin and Gin talking about their childhood or at least a part of it.

…man, kids are scary. People call them innocent or ignorant but that just mean they don't know that there's a line one shouldn't cross and can easily breach it and went into the deep end when they bully someone.

Also, didn't their parents teach them that they shouldn't bully others? Or they don't give a damn because their children are bullying an outsider's kid? Maybe they got influenced by their parents instead like what happened to a certain blonde ninja?

'No wonder this house and Kibo' s house seems detached from the other houses and located near the edge of the village'.

Though I'm still curious about something…

I stared at Kibo, "But...the guards seem to acknowledge you guys as one of them as well...is there some kind of story about that?"

Kibo and Arai look at each other before Kibo smiles and chuckles while Arai close his eyes gave a resigned sigh and looks at me.

"*grunt, a story for another time."

That made Kibo laugh which earns him a glare from Arai. "Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it." Kibo said to Arai before looking back at me.

"The story is quite the impressive one Ryu-San, do look forward to it."

I nod my head and gave them a grin of my own, "Looking forward to it already."

They both nodded their heads and as if on cue, two small shadows jump towards me from my left and right side simultaneously.

I saw them jumping towards me a mile away and could've avoided both of them.

...but I didn't, instead, I spread my arms wide and caught them both instead.

The two silhoutte's were red and blue respectively. They started to rub their heads on my sides, like a puppy that's happy to see it's master.

They then lifted both of their heads and looked at my eyes.

"Oniichan, oniichan-" Saya started speaking.

"Let's play a game." Youra ended it.

I paused and had a brief flashback about a certain horror film before I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

I then smiled at them. "Let's play later okay? Let's do something else first."

They both tilted their heads to the left and right sides at the same time as if to show their confusion.

"Something-"

"Else?"

(A/N:At this point, y'all know the drill, the  older twin speaks first and the younger twin ends the conversation almost everytime and will only be specified if something different happens)

(A/N:Also, Kin is older than Gin while Saya is older than Youra)

I then gently pushed them both away from me before standing up.

I look at them all before smiling widely, "now then, is anyone willing to help me lift our loots into the house?"

'I could've done it all alone but what better ways to build bonds other than doing labors together?'

Kimetsu~ (All of them in chibi forms each lifting baskets with different sizes which are filled with meat)

We finally finished moving all the meats inside the house, before Hoemi promptly guided us to the kitchen and put it there so that they don't have to keep going into the living room when they run out of meat to cook.

'looks like this'll take a while…'

Kimets-*oof*

The intermission was cut off as our Mc was tackled or to be specific, he got headbutted on the back and the guts at the same time.

'Wtf?'

I paused, not because it hurts me but because I was trying to catch the two munchkins that hit me.

I grabbed both kids on the scruff of the necks or at least where I think it's supposed to be.

I then lifted them both in front of my face. I can see them both grinning at me.

"Hello there-"

"Ryu-niichan"

I gave both of them a grin and then used one of my arms to hug them both. I then proceed to rub both of their heads using the knuckles on my other hand.

"You damn brats! How dare you attack me! This calls for a punishment!" I cackled maniacally.

Both of them squeals and tried to pry themselves away from my hug, which fails spectacularly since it's a little kid vs a demon teen.

They gave up prying themselves after a bit and started flailing around and trying to cover their heads from my knuckles…..which fails once again.

They didn't try that hard tho and I didn't rub their heads that hard. They realized this and started to laugh cheerfully instead and stopped resisting completely and lets me rub their head as I please.

I didn't realized that Kibo was quietly watching me play with the little twins from the kitchen entrance.

If one looked closely, they can see tears forming in Kibo's eyes, he was feeling very happy.

*Flashback starts*

Birds singing melodic tunes can be seen around the village. Many villagers were currently playing around outside their houses.

A house can be seen located by the edge of the village, another house was next to it but the weird part is that the two houses were a bit farther away from the other houses.

Inside one of the houses, a woman can be seen lying on furs that are piled on top of each other to make a bed and covered with a fur blanket a damp cloth was currently on her forehead.

She was wearing a brown kimono with a black belt. Her face was framed by short black fluffy unruly hair and her eyes has the same color as well.

(A/N:Eh...kinda like Mina Ashido's from Boku No Hero Academia only this one is black and not pink)

She seems to have trouble breathing as she keeps producing wheezing sounds. 

A man can be seen sitting next to her bed, currently grasping one of her hands. 

His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.

He was of a slim build, he has short smooth black hair and narrow snake-like eyes, he's also wearing a black kimono with a green sash.

The man was Kibo and he's currently crying a river.

"S-Sora~*sniffles*I-I don't want you to die." Kibo said between tears.

She gave him a weak smile and looks to her other side, towards her children.

"Children..*cough* can all of you *cough* give mommy a hand?" Sora said so while casually coughing blood.

The 2 pair of twins were currently crying as well. The older twins nod their head and started to help their mother but she gave them a weak glare.

"I said…*cough, cough*..'all' of you...*cough,cough* did ya guys turned deaf from all my, *cough, cough* coughing??*cough*"

The older twins promptly stopped their movements and quickly made some room between them for the two gremlin to squeeze into.

Two shadows instantly fit themselves into the space they made.

"Mommy! what can-"

"We do to-"

"Help you!?"×2

She gave them a small grin and lifted her hand in front of them which the four children instantly focused on.

She slowly opens her palm with the palm facing upwards. All the while grinning towards her children.

"Hands"

The younger twins instantly puts one hand each on top of her open palm.

The older twin meanwhile showed a deadpanned expression at her command while tears were streaming down their face.

Which is quite a hilarious expression in my opinion.

She glared at the twins and only then they gave a small sigh and smile wryly before putting their hands on top of the younger twin's hands.

Only then did Sora gave a satisfied nod and a bright smile before turning towards her husband.

"We've trained*cough*them well,*cough* right dear?" she said so smugly, like a pet owner that's proud of their pet's skills.

Kibo had a bewildered look on his face and just nodded which earns him a soft smile from her.

"That means*cough* they'll *cough*listen to you after I *cough**cough* leave at the*cough**cough* very least."

She gave what was supposed to be a sad smile towards Kibo, "*cough* wipe those tear my dear, *cough**cough* we all have our time to go...I am really*cough* happy and thankful*cough**cough*that I managed to*cough*hold on until now and have a family with you*cough**cough*."

She then turns towards her children and smiled widely, "Kids, *cough* I am really thankful to*cough**cough*be able to give birth to all of you*cough*."

Her expression then changed into a sad one, "I just wished that*cough* you kids didn't became like me*cough**cough*, maybe if you guys were 'normal', you kids*cough* could've *cough* had friends other than the Okitsu's."

Her eyes became teary, "If only, *cough**cough* if only there were others like us,*cough*just one person...maybe…*cough*maybe we wouldn't *cough*feel so bad for being different*cough*."

She then turns towards the ceiling and closes her eyes, "Thank you for *cough**cough**cough* making me*cough**cough**cough*...happy."

Her body then turned limp as she turned silent and her breath stilled.

The whole house turned silent for a moment before being filled instantly with cries of sadness.

The cries could be heard all the way to the house next door.

The whole Okitsu family was coincidentally walking towards the Akagiri's house and were already a good 10 meters from the door instantly flinched while a certain figure among them perked up.

"We're a bit too late….no, I can make it." The figure mumbles before instantly dashing towards the house.

The Okitsu's then snapped out of their reverie and soon followed after the figure.

Gudo shouted towards the figure that has kicked the door down with a flying kick and rushed inside without a pause.

"Wait up! Wait for us! Slow down." But the shouts fell on deaf ears as the figure didn't stop for even a moment.

Thus, Gudo shouted the name of the figure in hope of getting his attention.

"Joho-san!!!"

*Flashback ends*

Kibo's flashback ended when he felt a hand patting his left shoulder. He turns to look at the owner of the hand and saw Arai standing next to him.

Only, Arai was currently giving him a small smirk.

"Good luck. Keep up the good work."

Kibo groans, his teary eyes weren't caused because he was happy, no, that's not the whole reason.

He has tears in his eyes cause he's gonna have to try to keep 'her' in line, so that she doesn't go too crazy because of happiness after finally meeting another kindred spirit.

MC POV

I hear loud footsteps outside, kinda like someone running, the main door was slid open and closed loudly.

The footsteps continued and thedoor into the living room was slid open vigorously.

There I saw a figure, her face was framed by short black fluffy unruly hair and her eyes has the same color as well, she was wearing a pink kimono with black belt.

She looks towards us all and posed with one hand pointing to the sky and the other hand resting on her hips.

"Sora Akagiri has arrived! Ahahaha!" She said so with a smug smile on her face.

….and I was wondering when the mother will appear.

I heard Kibo sigh tiredly behind me and I can almost hear him say 'this is going to be a long day'.

….frankly? I agree with him, this is gonna be a long day.