1.25: The Outside world

Tedashii didn't react at all.

"wait, so I'm…dead?"

"Good as gone if you appeared here," Monk answered.

"…" Tedashii's face began to mewl.

"WOAH KID!! DON'T START MOURNING YOUR DEATH NOW! THAT WON'T HELP AT ALL! What we need to find out is-"

"WHY THE HELL AM I DEAD??!!"

Monk hit him with a straight punch on the head for him to calm down.

"OWWW!!! VIOLENCE DOESN'T SOLVE EVERYTHING!!"

"SHHH!! Listen…"

"Oh, Tedashii? I have been waiting to hear from him or my husband for some time. But don't worry, he'll be safe with us. After all, he has always been a strong young man."

They heard as she tried to cover up the story.

"My GOD! Does she kiss her mother with that mouth?" Monk asked, astounded that she covered such a conspicuous story.

"SHHHH!! Listen…" This time, Tedashii interrupted him.

*beep*

Miku cut the call as they finished talking. "Oh, Tedashii, you made your mother worry about you. Three days straight of her asking about your well-being, but what can I tell her? I have your dead son in my house? That will destroy her."

They both sat down. And since they were in Tedashii's mind, they solicited popcorn.

"I know she is the best healing ronin. But she put her trust in Gaiyato, and I didn't want to be why she stopped doing so. Your uncle loves you a lot, to the point he almost lost his job after meeting the person who killed you."

"Soooo much of an uncle he is, HA!" Monk said as he stuffed his mouth with a handful of popcorn.

"SHHH!" Tedashii seemed to want to hear everything she had to say.

"You know, I wasn't the best fighter out there when I was young. In fact, I was the worst when it came to combat. That was until I met Gaiyato."

She began to ramble about her past life, whereas Tedashii hated not being the main topic. "AWW WHAT!! Don't switch the subject and talk more about me!"

"SHHH!! HAHAHA, Guess you aren't that important after all!"

Tedashii and Monk began to fight again, and the familiar voice was heard again.

~Enhance my Energy…~

"!!!"

The ground began to shake as Tedashii tried to keep his balance. Monk was okay since he always experienced this. Tedashii fell to the ground before the rumbling seized itself.

"Wha…what was that?!" Tedashii asked as he was dazed.

"First time?" Monk questioned him while rolling his eyes.

"Uh, YEAH, OF COURSE, ITS MY FIRST TIME!!" He got up as fast as he could.

"Follow me; this must be a bit of a problem," Monk said, then ran forward and dived into nothing.

"HEYY!! Where are you going?!" But there was no reply. "GAHHH!!"

Tedashii was furious as he hesitantly dived. "AAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

The loop kept on going as if there was no end. Going down, and down, and down, and down.

Grab!

Monk successfully caught him at the right time and pulled him aside.

"Huff…huff. Thanks…"

"Huh, you've never dived from a high place either?"

"YES, I HAVE! It's just that THAT TIME WE HAD SAFETY BELTS ON!!"

"Chicken…" Monk insulted him.

"What did you say!!"

Tedashii was going for his Surge, but nothing happened. "Huh?"

He tried again but stayed in an uncomfortable pose like a clown. "Why isn't it working?"

"Because you're dead!"

"Oh…aww." Tedashii sniveled.

Then, two screens appeared before Monk and Tedashii. They got closer as the image was getting more authentic.

"What is this?"

"We are in your head, but in your right eye this time," Monk answered.

"Why specifically the right eye?"

"It's the only eye that grants me access. Your left eye has a barrier that does not let me in. That's your Hakuraa side, disgusting prowess, by the way!"

Monk pointed towards his left. There, Tedashii saw the blue barrier.

"That aura, it IS my Hakuraa."

Tedashii said and walked towards it. He held out his left hand, and it let him through. But it blasted him away before he even tried to get the right half of his body in.

"GAAHH!! What the…"

"It seems like your left eye hates your right side. That's a bad sign."

Tedashii got up and thought to himself, but then the screeching of the screen grabbed his attention.

"HEY! STOP!!"

Tedashii and Monk got closer to see what was going on. They saw the troops of the Anti-Ronins as one was suddenly punched in half by Kuma. It was the conflict between Litch and Kuma, but from Litch's point of view.

***

"This is not the right time to be fighting!"

"Oh, come on. I'm bored! GRYAAHH!!"

SMASH!!!

He bashed another of the soldiers. As the battle progressed, Litch constantly replaced himself with one of the soldiers. But now there was only one left. "Shit!"

He dropped his weapon and ran; if anything went out of Litch's perspective point, he couldn't switch. So he followed the soldier, but so did Kuma.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING LITCH??!!" Kuma asked, with his body covered in the blood of all the soldiers he decapitated.

Litch did his best to catch up to that soldier, but Kuma had already leaped above him.

"JUST LET ME LIVE, PLEASE!!!" The soldier pleaded.

A split-second strategy came to Litch's mind. He kicked one of the guns between him and the soldier.

~SWITCHI!

Litch switched himself with the soldier, and Kuma went for the kill.

"GUESS HE'S YOUR FINAL SHIELD!"

SLASH!!

He grabbed the soldier from the jaw and manually unlocked it. But right before he could do anything else, Litch had already turned around.

~SWITCHI!

Kuma found himself in Litch's place. And right before he turned around, Litch was holding the gun by his head.

"Huff, Huff…Checkmate."

Kuma laid down his spiritas and then turned towards Litch.

"Man, that prowess is impressive. I'll take the loss, brother."

Litch was glad and then concluded what Kuma had started. He was still holding on to the jaw of that soldier, so he laid the gun in his mouth as it fired itself when he fell.

"Ha-ha, nice one." Kuma praised him.

"Well, tell me. Are you just going to stand there and do nothing?" Litch asked before they both went for a handshake and hugged each other.

"Good to see you're doing well, Litch."

"Likewise Kuma."

They took a moment to realize what transpired around them.

"Wait, where did all these soldiers come from?" Kuma asked.

"Huh?! But you were obliterating them, yet you didn't even notice!"

"Well, I was fighting the GREAT LITCH! How could anyone else cross my mind, hahaha!" They both laughed it off, and then the attention went to Ado. "So what do we do with him?" Kuma asked.

"Do as you please. Those soldiers took down a ronin with a dart. For humans, that is a well-rehearsed strategy. Which defines their leaders as either ronins or skilled capturers."

Kuma stared at him. "So…should I kill him?"

Litch just shrugged at him, so Kuma approached him with his devastating fists. Tedashii immediately reacted out of fear.

"NO, DON'T DO IT!!"

"It's pointless; they both can't hear you. You're only seeing from a perspective, not physically." Monk reminded him.

"PLEASE!!! DON'T DO IT!!" Tedashii kept insisting.

"Why are you wasting your time? He won't-"

"STOP, please!!!!!!!"

***

Abruptly, Litch looked up at Kuma. "Wait!"

"Huh~, what is it?" Kuma asked as he spread down his spiritas.

"Something just came to me; Let the boy be."

Kuma's smile disappeared. "What?"

"He's tied up and unconscious. Where's the fun in that?"

He thought to himself and then laughed. "Yeah, you're right; I did get carried away for nothing. So now what?"

Litch began to explain their objectives, but then the screen screeched again.

...