Chapter 3: The calm before the storm

Beta read by Shigiya

.

.

.

-Himejima Shrine, Hachiman POV-

"I approve of you as her friend"

"Oh."

Why did I just feel like I dodged a bullet?

For the last few minutes, I was left alone to probably 'get along' with Baraqiel, which now that I thought about it, wasn't that an angel's name from the Bible? Though I couldn't say I'd ever heard of foreigners naming their kids after them, aside from the more common names like Michael or Gabriel.

This man's family was either super religious or wanted their son to have a unique name. But didn't Baraqiel fall or something? I was not that familiar with the stories but I did remember bits and pieces.

"Yes," Baraqiel said curtly.

"Um, thanks?"

Now, this was getting awkward. I felt like I was being analyzed from every corner, his sharp eyes didn't help the case as it felt like he was looking down on a criminal or something. Like honestly man I just happened to be a 5-year-old kid if it was someone else besides me, they would have probably shit their pants and cried for their mommy or something.

But not me!

Not yet at least, as my mental barrier kept getting chipped away from all this pressure. I was getting increasingly close to running away from here. Call me a coward, sure, but if it was good enough for Joseph Joestar it was good enough for me.

"It is of no issue."

Again he gave another curt reply.

Oi, weren't you some kind of political figurehead or something? You should really have better conversational skills, or did you expect a freaking child to lead a conversation?

Akeno and her mother, where the heck were those two!? This was way too painful!

'There is only so much awkwardness I could handle. It would be very nice if one of you would come by and start a simple conversation to ease up the mood, right now you could cut the tension with a knife.'

Should I try asking him about his job? No, that would be too weird for a kid my age to ask.

Maybe how was life treating him?

No, what was I? An old man? Oh, yes I could probably comment on how pretty this shrine is! No self-respecting adult wouldn't be happy if one was impressed with their ho—.

"Thank you..."

What? Did he just thank me out of the blue? Give something to work here!

"What for?" I asked with my straight face, not showing any of my turmoil to this confusing man.

"Ever since we enrolled Akeno in school she had lost most of her vibrant mood. Though she has tried to hide it behind a smile both my wife and I could see that she did not enjoy her time away from us."

The man's shoulders sighed in relief.

"But as parents, it is our duty to raise our children properly, so it means making some sacrifices. But then one day she came back home with a genuine smile saying that she met someone interesting. From then on she regained her vibrant smile. Every day she would spend hours talking just about you and nothing else. Akeno is different from kids her age, she is... special. She is in a way more mature than she seems, to the point that she could never get along with kids her age."

Akeno's father was staring right into my eyes.

"But you changed that. Now every morning she is eager to leave for school, all of it thanks to you."

Now that was unexpected. I guessed it turned out to be quite natural for kids to hate the instances when they are away from their parents for long periods of time in a day. I never expected this to affect the Himejima family so deeply. Not like I saved their daughter from a tragic accident or something, I just tolerated her presence since she wouldn't leave my side no matter what I said.

I feel like they are exaggerating the issue here, I knew the girl was more capable than she seemed at first glance. Even if I wasn't here she's more than capable to take care of herself.

They were basically looking at a non-existing problem.

"You don't have to thank me. Your daughter's a strong girl, It wouldn't have mattered if I was present or not." I answered with how I truly felt about the situation.

"Quite humble are you?" commented Baraqiel.

"No, I'm just being realistic."

...

-Shuri POV-

The boy was interesting, to say the least.

He was a smart one for sure, his eyes showing a frightening intelligence. For someone so young, he possessed an unnaturally mature aura around him. Even her daughter, a half-fallen angel, lacked this quality. Akeno, being the child she was, still retained her childlike innocence.

She always felt guilty for the lack of friends around Akeno. The Himejima Clan had more or less disowned her and Akeno for daring to love a Fallen. A heretic they called her, a traitor they sneered at, yet she always kept smiling.

It would have been a lot harder had Suzuka-chan withheld her kindness. If things were different then she and Akeno would have gotten along very well. But, she never got her hopes up when it came to matters concerning the clan.

Despite this, she was happy with her situation. Her husband was by her side and her daughter had finally made a friend.

Speaking of friends, there was something special about Hikigaya Hachiman. When she first looked at his eyes she felt that the boy was well versed at hiding his pain. His fake mask did little to hide from her the loneliness he truly felt. No child should have those eyes and it was so hard to hold back her motherly instincts and hug the boy.

In a way, he reminded her of her husband. When she first found him near death's door years ago, she took it upon herself to nurse him back to good health. Her time with him slowly created a spark within her which grew in time and developed into love.

Even after finding out his true nature her heart never wavered.

He was ancient.

He had experienced grief beyond measure and tragedies she couldn't fathom. Though he hid it well behind his stern eyes, it wasn't long before she broke down those walls of his.

The same could be said with little Hachiman. He was quite adept at hiding it but she knew how to read his kind of people. She knew her husband could see the same look in the boy's eyes like his own. Akeno truly made a wonderful friend.

Speaking of her daughter, the little girl was trying to cook some dishes for Hachiman, or Hikima as she calls him. They looked so cute together, and she could only hope they continued to be close in the distant future.

"Mother, I'm done with cooking, let's go join the others!"

'Oh how she is so excited to have someone special taste her cooking, reminds me of myself when I was young.'

She cooed at her daughter's adorable behavior.

Both of them joined the boys, where Hachiman seemed to be the happiest to see them. Ah, she should have expected her husband to be a bit rough and scary with the boy but she made sure that he knew his limits,

'...or else fufufu.'

Dinner was quite fun, with Akeno pestering Hachiman to taste every single of her dishes while the boy couldn't look any more fed up than he could from the situation.

Even at such a young age, they looked like the perfect childhood sweetheart couple. Despite what his face might say, Shuri could see the happiness and enjoyment in his eyes.

All in all, it was quite a wholesome moment.

All good things come to an end, as they say, and soon the young boy needed to go back home before it became too late. Leaning toward her daughter, she told Akeno to accompany her friend to the stairs so that she may have a few moments with her husband.

Making sure they were alone, she turned towards her Fallen.

"He's quite interesting isn't he, dear?"

Her reply was a short gruff of approval.

"Did you notice anything unusual with the boy?" she inquired.

"He... is a normal human being; I felt no sacred gear in him awaken, no mixed race,"

His voice trailed off as he made a face, "His soul is a different story, however.

Now that caught her attention. "His soul?"

Nodding he explained.

"His soul. It felt much older, though nothing like us angels or devils. It's a 100% pure human soul, I can say for certain it has nothing to do with even past Heroes or him being a possible descendant of one. But still, it's unusual for a regular human to have such a mature soul."

Surprisingly, his tone carried an air of uncertainty, as if he was trying to convince himself or questioning the description itself.

"Are you sure about that?"

"No, not even the slightest bit."

Now that was worrying, even after examining the boy so closely he still couldn't get a clear read on him, "I feel that something is fooling my senses inside his soul, something is creating a false image, I am not sure what, but... honestly I don't know at this point, might be a special sacred gear that masks its users from people like us."

Shuri pondered Baraqiel's words for a moment before responding.

"Well I believe we shouldn't meddle in the boy's life, bringing him on our side will ruin all sense of peace he has. I say we let nature take its course."

If the boy was ever in danger then her family would help him but for now he needed to live the life of a regular human.

'I really hope that it is something minor, as tragedy always shadows those born with strength.'

{Break}

-Hachiman POV-

(4 years later)

Time sure did flow by in a blink.

These were my current thoughts, the thoughts of a 9-year-old, Hikigaya Hachiman.

Thankfully, my stay in this reality grew more bearable with time. I became increasingly more attached to this reality but so did my emotions and memories related to my previous life.

Unlike some reincarnated protagonists who made peace with themselves before dying of cancer or something, or others having no family or just generally living a shitty life, it wasn't the case for me.

Sometimes, I dreamt of waking up on my bed with Komachi blasting my ears off again, I dreamt of waking in the service club with Yukinoshita and Yuigahama, tackling another request. This was followed by an annoying Isshiki bursting through the door and ruining my precious sleep.

But other times it would be the reverse.

That my time in Kuoh was nothing but fantasy and fiction, my bonds with Akeno and the others, being nothing but a figment of my imagination.

My heart was torn between two realities.

'Guess it's another issue I'll have to check up on later.'

But another dream caught my attention, very different from what I was used to, but strange nonetheless. I would be sitting on a chair talking with someone. His or her features were never clear enough to discern the person's gender.

Looking like a blank figurine.

The content of the conversation itself could not be heard, though he still felt, saw, and knew that he was talking about something to this someone. None of the details ever reached him, leaving him with a creepy and unsettling feeling.

'Hopefully, this doesn't stimulate my dark (Chuuni) side.'

Well shit, it wS too late for that, wasn't it?

"Hachiman, it's time for bed!"

I had school tomorrow and I was blessed 'or cursed' to have the privilege of picking Akeno up along the way.

The girl kept getting increasingly more attached to me over the following 4 years. Somehow, she convinced my parents to have me walk with her every morning to school, then have lunch together and even spend our free time together.

I knew it was a silly childhood crush, but there was no way I would reject her openly after everything I had been through before.

I may be a jerk, but I was not a douchebag. I hoped that her silly crush would slowly fade away as she matured

There was no way she would have been happy with someone like me as her boyfriend in her teenage years. Though we were only nine, I could see the signs of Akeno 'growing up' earlier on, and there was no doubt she would become someone popular like Miura was in my past life.

And someone like Miura would never want someone like me near them.

It was an inevitable reality to come, so I have to best be prepared for it.

And with those passing thoughts, I got on my bed, curious to which of the dreams would I have next

-----------

The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 2 Fate fics are already available on my P treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter.