Questions, Answers(?) And Going To The Library

Sighing with relief that the weekend had arrived, I relaxed into the bus seat I was sitting on but not before a well-timed hum brought my attention to the bus driver who I'd consciously sat closer to today:

I had questions that needed answering.

The bus driver was humming some kind of song while smoking his cigar that never seemed to shorten no matter how much smoke he puffed out.

Standing up, leaving my bag on the seat, and walking near to the man, I looked out the front of the bus as he continued to hum as if I weren't there. It didn't annoy me - I didn't need him to take the initiative for the coming conversation.

"So," I broke the silence and his humming stopped, letting me continue uninterrupted, "You know who I am, right?" I asked vaguely, to which the driver laughed before removing his cigar and tapping away at the nonexistent ash build-up at the smoking end - I wonder how that cigar works. Maybe some kind of magic?

My thought process was cut off as the man answered, "Why yes, I do know what and who you are. A transmigrating Hunter of monsters," he admitted making me turn my gaze directly to him instead of just watching him in my periphery.

"Then do you know who sent me here? Why am I here?" I hurried asked, a little more desperate than I wanted to sound. Coughing to try and compose myself, I turned back to looking out the front of the bus as I continued, "More importantly, how do you know who I am? Are you some sort of godly entity?"

Upon hearing what I said, the bus driver started to laugh almost maniacally, the bus swerving left and right for a moment, "Hahahaha! A godly entity? Me? Hahahaha!" he continued laughing and I just stood there with an awkward expression.

...Did I miss some very important context or something?

"Haah~" the bus driver's laughing spree slowly came to an end as he wiped at the nonexistent tears under his glowing eyes, "You really don't know who sent you here, sonny?" he asked and I nodded, looking and feeling confused on whether I should know or not. Seeing my reaction, the bus driver nodded solemnly, "Well, if he didn't want you to know, I'm not gonna tell you either. That guy loves his plans and he freaks out whenever people interfere. Even I don't know if I could survive against one of his 'tribulations'" the driver brought his hands up and off the wheel as he did mid-air quotations around the world 'tribulation'.

I didn't have much time to think about it as the bus swerving back and forth garnered most of my attention; did this guy even know how to drive a bus or is this his hobby?!

"As for how I know who you are...No, I'm not a godly entity, sonny, but I am privy to details surrounding this universe as most of the strongest people are," he revealed and I felt more and more questions popping up but he didn't stop speaking, "They probably know you're here but because you're a part of 'his' plans, they won't interfere unless you interfere with them. Translation? Stay outta trouble, kid," he said before stopping and taking a long puff of his cigar.

Suddenly, the bus stopped and I realized I was on a normal looking Japanese street. Somewhere out of town but a much brighter and less gloomy place than Youkai Academy.

"Be here 7:00AM on Monday or you'll miss school for that week, sonny boy!" he said with a fake cheery voice and before I could reply I found myself outside the bus. The bus which had disappeared.

Sighing, I found my bag at my feet and I picked it up and slipped the strap over my shoulder as I searched my memory for the address of my apartment.

Remembering it, I thanked whatever deity was up there in the sky for the bus stop I was standing next to having a basic map of the nearby area. Using it, I quickly found where I was and where my apartment was. Relative to where I was it was a bit of distance but as a Human, how could I falter at a test of endurance? We're practically built for endurance and stamina. Probably the only advantage we have over most other species.

Picking up into a jog, I thought back on the bus driver's words...His plans. Tribulations. If it was who I thought he was talking about...I probably wouldn't feel very good about being a part of whatever plans he had.

God. The God. With a capital goddamn 'G'.

At the sudden possibility, I felt...sick. Suffocated. Out of every plan, in every mythology, whether the plans was fictional or real, none--And I mean, NONE--come close to the scale and important of God's Plan. The plan for all of creation and every living being inside of it. If I was a part of such a being's plans...god I don't even want to bloody think about it.

I can't even find the irony of saying 'god' while complaining about being a part of God's plan. Well, who I suspect to be God, anyway. From the information given to me, he seems the most likely candidate.

Then again, I should probably be a bit more suspicious of that bus driver. Who knows if he's lied about everything other than knowing who I am.

If he had, he was damn convincing.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and cleared my head before speeding up slightly and whizzing through the streets like a human rocket. I, of course, kept my speed to more acceptable levels so I didn't draw too much attention to myself.

Once I get home, I need to shower, change my clothes and then go for a little read at the local library. I need to know what I can about this new world.

. . .

Putting down the second Encyclopedia I'd gone through - this one about fauna and flora of the world - I let out a breath of air and leaned back, closing my eyes as I wiped and massaged my eyes. Reaching to the side, I grabbed a carton of orange juice and took a few sips, almost groaning at the wonderful taste.

A school week of the orange juice at Youkai Academy had made me value the taste of good ol' human orange juice.

Putting the now empty carton down, I tore another one from the six-pack they came in, and I thought about what I'd learnt so far.

Before going through the encyclopedias, I looked through multiple different biographies, searching primarily for people I remembered being successful in my past life. Everything matched up to what I expected it to.

Some of the people I though of didn't appear but that was because of the year. It was 2008, whereas I was from the year 2020 so I was a bit ahead.

And seeing most of my knowledge match up, I knew that this was an advantage. By the time I finish school, it'd be 2011 and I could start using the money I save up in the next three years as investment into companies and certain things that I know will become big. Though a test period will be needed to confirm that this world is following the same progression as my old world.

Tapping my fingers across the table, I looked over the a book which read 'History of the World So Far; Technology Edition!'. This book was...useful. It showed that there were a few companies that I hadn't heard of before.

This world, despite being 2008, was slightly more advanced than 2008 back in my world. Not by much, mind you, but it was definitely more advanced.

I had to admit that this was probably due to monsters profiting on the human world.

Not that that's bad or anything but it doesn't bode well in the long run. It speaks volumes about how much more intelligent ALL monsters are. Back in my world, monsters were just that; mindless beasts that killed and ate what they wanted.

While I'd definitely met some unsavory characters in this worlds monster society...I couldn't help but admit that I'd found that most, if not all, monsters were just like people. But with superpowers.

What does that mean for the long run? It means that as soon as monsters realize they hold the advantage both physically and in the business world? They'd probably look down even further on humans.

Sighing, I put the now empty carton down before resting my head in my hands.

I might be a very heavily modified human but I was still human. It may be a legitimate question if someone asked me 'Do you think you have some humanity in you?' because honestly, after all the killing I've done, I can't help but doubt that I'm as bright-eyed and ignorant as the rest of humanity is to the deep dark that surrounds everyone.

But after coming to this world and meeting the people I have...It'd be a lie to say I hadn't changed. And even if I hadn't changed, I wouldn't want to see humanity fall below monsters.

Moka and Kurumu are examples of monsters that want to and can do good. But sadly, I really don't think they're the majority.

If humanity wants to stand a chance...they need someone to show them the way to stand up and fight back against the ever-encroaching dark.

A few seconds went by as this thought appeared in my head and I shook my head, chuckling in a self-deprecating manner. Would I be the one to lead them against the dark? I...I really don't think so. But could I protect them? Yes. Could I fight back against the monsters and bring humanity and monsters into equality with one another? Have them co-exist like how the school wants us to?

Honestly...I think I can. It'll take time but for the next few years, I'll have more than enough time to set the foundation and find allies in the monster world. Finding allies in the human world and showing them monsters will be a bit harder yet I know I can do it.

Smiling to myself, I stood up, prepared to go home and start a plan that would change this world.

I was feeling ambitious. Which went against every little bit of my training. A Hunter should only move as much as he needs to. A Hunter should only spend his energy on what he needs to. But as I told Kurumu in the infirmary only a few days ago...it's a leap of faith, and sometimes you just gotta take 'em.

But as I stood up, intent on getting myself a library card so I could take home all the books I needed to. I saw an oddly out of place that had been placed amount of the non-fiction books.

I don't know how I hadn't seen it, and as I was pulled over to it by my own curiosity, I pulled out the book and looked at it's bold pink and red writing over the black background, I raised an eyebrows in genuine curiosity.

[Love; Are You Afflicted With It? A study on the elusive emotion by...]

My eyes went away as the author's name was written. For some reason, when I read the title, Moka appeared in my mind and to a lesser yet still surprisingly extent, so did Kurumu.

That, and my own suspicions about my new-found emotions and the oddities that came with them, I flicked open the book and upon reading the first paragraph, I closed it with slight widened and panicked eyes.

"Ah, shit..." I mumbled as I held the book between my arm and my side before going and collecting the other books I thought to be necessary.

I had a lot of reading to do tonight.