Chapter 05A: First Day Back – Homeroom
Homeroom is just about to begin, I am sitting in a seat that appears to be vacant. Because I wasn't at school for the first day I do not know the seating arrangements.
"I'm glad to see you are healthy, Shiro-kun," says the boy sitting in the neighbouring seat. He's a boy with whom I am acquainted.
"Yeah, thanks. So we're in the same class this year, Ryu-san," I reply.
The boy's name is Ryu Ikena. He is someone who if you look at only his face you would call him a pretty boy. But if you look below the neck, how should I put it? He is someone who casts a very wide shadow. However, despite this he's actually very popular because of his kind personality and sense of responsibility. In the eyes of a girl he's the type of guy who they would want as a close friend but nothing more than that. Someone who is the polar opposite of me, who only has his beautiful loo... NO! Wait, I too am more than just a pretty face.
"Right, I'm looking forward to this year, Shiro-kun. If you have any problems feel free to consult me, I am the class rep for this class after all," Ryu-san continues with a pleasant smile.
"I see, thanks."
Last year we were both in different classes, and both of us were class reps, that's how I got to know him. As a little bit of trivia, I was nominated class rep with one hundred percent of the votes, it goes to show how much people trust me. The fact that I was the only candidate means nothing.
Well, I wasn't fond of those long boring meetings so I'll gladly let Ryu-san do it, I'll just enjoy life to the max.
"I will keep you on a tight leash this year, Yuichi Shiro," Proclaims an intimidating voice. I know this voice well, its owner is my mortal enemy.
"Demon Mizuno," I respond with disdain filling my voice.
This girl is a true bitch. She constantly got in the way of me showing my love to cute girls last year. I sure wish I could shake her off.
Demon, Akane Mizuno, is a girl who has a cute face. If she wasn't violent, I would so have made a move on her last year. But I have long since washed my hands of her, she is a demon woman after all.
"Don't call me a demon!" Yells the incarnate of evil, AKA Akane Mizuno.
"There's no better word to describe you though. And I must really thank you for that pamphlet you made about me. Enemy of all women? What the hell was with that?"
"IT'S THE TRUTH!"
"I never did squat to you did I? Why do you get in my way?" I interrogate.
"That is exactly the problem idiot," The demon whispers something.
"Did you say something?" I question in anger. She definitely insulted me under her breath.
"Nothing AT ALL!" Demon Mizuno turns her head away from me. Ignoring me now huh, truly a spiteful cow.
"Ha! Ha! Don't tease Mizuno-san too much, Yuichi," My best friend says whilst walk to where I'm sitting.
"I don't tease her, Ren. I just full on despise her!" I correct my friend's error, "OWWW!"
THAT BITCH! Dictionaries are for looking up words, not for throwing at people's heads.
"She may act that way, Yuichi. But she was really restless yester...GAH!" Ren suddenly freezes up mid sentence, like he's terrified. The demon is glaring at him. Should I now refer to her as 'Medusa Mizuno' instead?
A few minutes pass with nothing much happening, other than me getting assaulted by a demon that is. But that's nothing new.
"Good morning, class," A beautiful voice greets.
A lady in her early twenties walks over to the teacher's podium. Despite being a teacher, if she wore a school uniform, she could pose as a student without any trouble.
"So, Rina-chan is our homeroom teacher, no complaints here," I voice my inner thoughts out loud.
"Gah, Yuichi-san," Rina-chan stares at me, is she recalling the time I displayed my affection to her? No need to be embarrassed, love is something that makes the age gap trivial.
Everyone in class is glaring at me with anger in their eyes, don't get jealous now.
"Well...that...is..." Rina-chan starts to stutter, no need to be shy speak freely. "WE HAVE A NEW TRANSFER STUDENT!" She shouts at the top of her voice, probably to clear her stuttering.
"Please come in," Rina-chan says after regaining her calm.
The girl who came in is...Well, I kind of expected it. It's my fiancé, Alicia.
"I am Alicia Pandemonium. Because of certain circumstances I shall be studying with you all from today forward," Alicia introduces herself whilst writing her name on the board.
"Such a brilliant introduction, as expected of my fiancé," I shout out in front of the entire class.
"Huh, fiancé? Is Shiro sane?"
"It's a normal level for him."
The class starts muttering among themselves.
AHEM! - A loud clearing of the throat draws the attention of the class onto the demon.
"I think we best clear this accusation now shall we?" Demon Mizuno stands up to address Alicia, "Are you really his fiancé? Or is he just talking rubbish like he usually does?"
Alicia stares at the ground.
"Pandemonium-san, if you don't answer clearly, people will just misinterpret."
Alicia looks on ahead in resignation, why? You're engaged to the world's best guy. You should be jumping up and down at the very thought of it.
"It's...true..." Alicia answers in a small voice.
"EHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The class shouts in sync. Well done ladies and gentleman, you couldn't pull that off so well even if you practised.
I then stand up, all eyes are focused on me right now. That's right, engrave my beautiful physique into your retinas.
"So with that, I don't want any of you making any passes at her. Oh, I'm just referring to guys here, if you're a cute girl go right ahead and do it, I'm all for that," I state.
"YUICHI!" Alicia shouts as she stares at me.
What is it, Honey? Why are you shouting my name and running up to me? Do you want a hug? Well, who am I to disagree?
I open my arms wide and run towards Alicia.
"BAHHHHHH!" She kicks me right in the jaw.
"My...body...won't...move..." After saying those four words my consciousness fades again into darkness. My first day back began with a visit to the infirmary.
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Chapter 05B: First Day Back – The Two Girls, Friends Or Rivals? (Perspective: Alicia)
That idiot embarrassed me within two seconds of me transferring in. Does he not realise anything? There should be a limit to stupidity. Just because I lost some perverse game I have to become his bride. My life truly is going down the pits.
Well, Yuichi will probably be out until around lunch time. So I guess I can have some peace for now.
"Pandemonium-san," A voice draws my attention. It's the girl from before.
"Are you really engaged to that Yuichi Shiro?" The girl asks again.
Please don't keep asking me, it truly does rub the salt into the wound when you do.
"Once again, yes. Unfortunately, it's true," I reply.
"Do...you..." The girl began.
I can take a good guess what she is about to ask me.
"Love him?" I finish her sentence.
The girl nods at my question several times.
"I barely even know him, its an arranged marriage. We met only recently."
"You're avoiding the question," The girl said sternly.
"Love at first sight is nothing but an illusion. My first impressions of Yuichi are as follows: Dumb, narcissistic, perverse, but yet somewhat interesting. To answer your question, right now, no, I don't. In the near future, who knows," I answer.
But why did I give such an answer? Why didn't I simply say 'No, I hate him'?
Ever since I met Yuichi, I have been acting differently from my norm.
My father told me I should marry him. If a girl was usually told to marry someone, then wouldn't they rebel against the decision? Yet, I never did that, why didn't I? Was it my sense of responsibility from putting my family's honour in jeopardy? Or was it something much more personal to me?
The girl stares at me blankly for a second.
"Of course you don't like him right! That damn perverted womaniser!" The girl shouts whilst having a determined look on her face, "Don't worry Pandemonium-san. I, Akane Mizuno, promise you, I will help you destroy your forced engagement to that bastard!"
"Err~ Umm," I am taken aback by the girl's declaration.
"Let's both work hard for your future's sake." Mizuno-san states, before running out the door energetically.
For my sake, huh?
How transparent, it's clearly for your own sake, Mizuno-san.
Well, what do you know. Yuichi truly is popular with girls. Although, I doubt he has realised that girl's feelings.
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Chapter 05C: First Day Back – Demon Or Just A Maiden (Perspective: Akane Mizuno)
She said that she didn't love him, that means I still have a chance. But Yuichi is quite taken with her, is this my punishment for not acting sooner?
I am currently in the girl's toilet looking at myself in the mirror.
I always knew how I truly felt, so why do I act that way? Behind the perverted and foolish exterior was always a kind and gentle boy.
He shows it in unusual ways, but it's there.
I remember in our first year, a Sempai lost a close relative, yet she always smiled. Everyone could tell it was forced, yet they went with it. Except one person, Yuichi Shiro. One day he approached that girl and started to bad mouth her deceased relative until she eventually broke. The girl who was always forcing herself to smile finally cried. All her pent up emotions got released in the form of anger towards Yuichi. In order to make her not hold her emotions in, Yuichi turned himself into her verbal martyr. Of course no one realised what he was doing, so as a result he got suspended for two weeks. The only reason I know is because I overheard Yuichi and Ren-kun's conversation.
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"Yuichi, why did you do that? Now you're public enemy number one."
"Her smile, was painful to look at. But with this, in a weeks time, her smile will be the real deal."
Yuichi was right, our Sempai recovered from her grief soon after. But for a while Yuichi was intensely hated. Nobody realised his intentions, they only took what they saw and heard at face value.
It was around that time that I started to become conscious of Yuichi Shiro and everything he did. Sometimes he was just perverted, other times he would show hidden kindness. Although very few people could understand its meaning.
I began to question, just who was the real Yuichi Shiro? Eventually, all my thoughts became plagued solely on him.
'Ah, I've fallen for him' I realised this long ago. Yet still, I act like I do, why?
Its all Yuichi Shiro's fault. He's friendly with so many girls. If he just acted like a normal guy, I would be able to talk to him normally. The two of us then could have started out as friends instead of bashing heads.
"I never did squat to you did I?" Yuichi's words replay in my mind. To him, am I not even considered a girl?
I'm not violent this way because I want to be. You just leave me no other option.
After I heard what happened to Yuichi before, the only feeling I had was regret. I couldn't tell him how I truly felt, I prayed all night long that he would be okay. I promised myself that if he recovered I would be honest. The relief of seeing him at school took a huge burden off my shoulders.
Yet, I still cannot be honest with him.
Breaking up Pandemonium-san's marriage for her sake? What a laugh. I just wish to be the one in her shoes, and in his eyes.
But it's not too late, I shall be reborn, a new Akane Mizuno.
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Chapter 05D: First Day Back – Human Anomalies
I finally came to after Alicia's previous assault. But what a messed up day, spending half of the school day sleeping, life is full of strange events.
No sooner had I awoken. Alicia came in and dragged me to the roof.
Wait, does she want for the two of us to be alone?
I think this is it ladies and gentleman, Yuichi Shiro is about to become a man. Doing it outside is very daring, although I have no objections.
"Yuichi, I want you to come with me to the Underworld to meet my parents." Alicia destroys my hopes.
Damn, so she just wants to talk.
"I told you before, right? When you come back to life, your life will be very different." Alicia asks.
"I remember you saying that, but you didn't say how it would be different."
"It looks like now is the perfect time to tell you." Alicia stares into my eyes with a serious look.
"Yuichi, when you died before, your soul entered Purgatory, a part of the Underworld."
"What has that got to do with anything?" I ask curiously.
"Souls that are not within a vessel, in this case your body, are easily affected by the world's environment. They mutate, or maybe evolve is a better word. Anyway, they change in a way that allows them to create physical phenomenon." Alicia explains.
"You lost me."
Alicia sighs and shakes her head. Sorry, but if you speak gibberish, even the genius me won't be able to keep up.
"You have gained supernatural powers."
Oh, those five words I did understand. In other words I can like use magic or something, right?
"Your new evolved soul is what I placed back into your body, thus reviving you. We call all humans like you a Human Anomaly." Alicia continues.
Spare me the physics, tell me what I want to know.
"So can I use magic!?" I ask excitedly.
"You should be able to use something similar but it is not magic per se"
"Cool. I gotta try this out."
"DON'T! you won't be able to control it yet!"
"EHHHH. But I really want to try it out." I say whilst giving Alicia the puppy dog eyes.
"We'll train you how when we get to the Underworld, okay. Forget about all that until then." Alicia orders. She isn't fazed by my puppy dog eyes attack, you're something else, Alicia.
But if my cute fiancé asks me, I can't refuse can I? I'll forget about magic for now.
"The reason your life will change is..."
"GRRRRAHHHHH!"
What the!? Almost as if answering Alicia, a creature that's emitting a black aura is glaring at us. Appearance wise it looks like a panther, its evil glare is directed at me, like it's trying to pierce through me.
One look and I can tell it's hostile.
"The reason your life will change, is this."
"What the hell is this thing!?" I yell in disbelief.
"It's a Soul Anomaly, a soul exposed and mutated by the world's environment that didn't return to it's vessel. Basically, just a monster that has lost its reason. One Anomaly, naturally attracts other Anomalies, in other words it was enticed here by you, a Human Anomaly."
"By me? That can't be right, only cute girls should be entranced by me. My beauty should filter out dangerous creatures!" I shout in refusal.
"It's your soul it wants, not you. This is the fate of Human Anomalies, they draw in other types of Anomalies to them non stop. You're no exception to this, Yuichi. This beast is only going to be the first of many more to come. In order to overcome this, you must learn to protect yourself. But for now, you can let me handle it."
The Panther rushes towards me.
I can't move. Why? Why can't I move? Is this fear?
Alicia steps in front of me. Does she intend on being my shield?
"ALICIA!" I shout in concern.
"Relax, this is a small fry. I won't even break a sweat." Alicia states confidently.
The Panther continues towards us at high velocity. Wait, where did that come from? Seemingly from nowhere a scythe appears in Alicia's hand. The Panther tries to claw at Alicia, however she skilfully swings her scythe.
"URRRAAAGHHH" The Panther roars in agony as its leg is severed from its body. However, no blood came out of the open wound.
"Disappear." With these cold words Alicia's scythe swiftly slices through the Panther's neck. It's severed head falls to the floor. A moment later the entire Panther disappears into nothingness. There isn't even a shred of evidence to prove it ever existed, complete nothingness.
"I've destroyed its soul. Unfortunately, when its mutated to a degree of that level this is all I can do."
"Alicia, you said I was an Anomaly. Am I like that monster?" I ask in worry. Just what am I?
"No, Yuichi. Whilst similarities exist, you are very different. Your soul was mutated due to the environment of Purgatory, that monster was altered by the living world. Unlike you it no longer was in its body that protects the soul from the mutation. You however, have your body back, so your soul is no longer mutating and will remain in its current state." Alicia then shows me a beautiful and reassuring smile "That thing was a monster, you however are human."
The last words Alicia said are something that I will definitely remember for my entire life.
Alicia, you truly are a wonderful person. I swear as your fiancé, I will make you happy.
"However Yuichi, Anomalies are not the only natural threat. Due to the nature of Human Anomalies, the only way to kill them is by destroying their souls. Regular physical wounds that would be life threatening like being shot in the heart for example, although they will still hurt you, you will not die from them. Only things that can harm your soul can kill you, one such thing is other Anomalies, whether it be regular Anomalies like before, or other Human Anomalies."
"Then I'm not the only Human Anomaly?" I ask in interest.
"I know there are other Human Anomalies, but I don't know much more than that."
"I see."
"Your other natural enemy are Soul Slayers."
"Soul Slayers? What are they?" I ask, they sound scary.
"They are weapons wielded by regular humans. Each one, as the name may suggest, causes damage to the soul. That is the only way you can be severally harmed. Soul Slayers are your natural weakness." Alicia explains in a serious down to earth voice.
"So I should avoid them, right?"
"That will be difficult," Alicia shows a solemn face "All the Soul Slayers and their wielders are under the church. Hunting Anomalies is their duty. Human Anomalies are no exception."
"HUH! WHAT! WHY!?"
"Human Anomalies are still Anomalies to them. As well as the fact that Human Anomalies naturally draw in other Anomalies. In their eyes you are an absolute evil that they must eradicate. People like that won't leave any room for any type of compromise. They just see themselves as being righteous." Alicia explains.
Is it just me, or does she seem to know a bit too much about them?
"I...see...so they see me as the same as a monster, if not more so than that Panther."
"The life you will live from now on will be filled with conflict. That's why you need to come with me to the Underworld for a while. You should prepare yourself, both physically, and mentally, for this will be your fate."
Well if this is my fate, then I shall take it into my own hands and change it.
"Ah knock it off stop pushing! AHHHH!" A voice I recognise came from the roof's door. Was she spying on us just now?
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Chapter 05E: First Day Back – Learning the truth (Perspective: Yuna Shiro)
It's lunch time and I am walking side by side with Sakura. We are heading towards the second year classrooms, we both wanted to have lunch with Onii-chan.
"Ah Sakura, Yuna-chan," Ren-sempai greets us.
"Ren-sempai, have you seen Onii-chan" I ask politely
I can't see him anywhere in the classroom. Has he run off skirt chasing or something, I certainly wouldn't put it past him.
"I saw Alicia-san drag him to the roof a while back," Sempai answers
"The roof right, thanks Sempai."
"Wait a sec you two, if you're going to have lunch then let me tag along will you."
I guess Sempai doesn't have any plans to eat with anyone. "Sure thing," I have no reason to refuse, Sakura also nods her head.
After we agreed to let Ren-sempai tag along, a girl approaches us.
"You three are meeting with Yuichi Shiro? Then I think it's in your best interest to let me keep that wolf from harming you unknowing young girls. It's my duty as part of the disciplinary committee." The girl announces. Does she have a grudge against Onii-chan?
"Mizuno-san, not even Yuichi would molest his own sister. Nor would he touch my sister If I am there." Ren-sempai explains. True, if Sempai is there he won't lay a finger on Sakura.
"Huh, sister?"
The girl looked at us shocked. Wait, Ren-sempai called her Mizuno just now. Is she the one who wrote that warning about Onii-chan?
"I'm Yuna Shiro, nice to meet you Sempai," I introduce myself to the girl who looks embarrassed.
"Um, Sakura...Kirei...it's a...pleasure." Sakura is as shy as ever. Well, this is one of her charms.
"UH AH UM! Akane Mizuno, a classmate of both your brothers," she introduces herself whilst muddling her words.
Her shock is making her erratic.
After a few simple introductions the four of us head towards the roof.
"Ah, I want a cute little sister too," Mizuno-sempai claims.
"Isn't it closer to say you want to be the older sister in la...OUCH!"
Ren-sempai has his foot stomped by Mizuno-sempai.
Oh, so that's it, this girl likes Onii-chan. I thought he was delusional, but Onii-chan wasn't wrong. He truly is popular with girls. But the way this girl acts, Onii-chan will never figure it out by himself. The self proclaimed genius who failed to recite the alphabet, won't understand the complexity of a maiden's heart.
"Yuna, does this Sempai like..." Sakura begins.
"Yeah, she likes my brother by the looks of it."
"Another rival..." Sakura shows a determined look. Sorry Sakura, but I think Onii-chan sees you as a child. In the run to become his girlfriend, I don't think you're even on the starting line yet.
We eventually make it to the roof. I take a quick peek through the door. The atmosphere feels tense and serious. Not the kind of situation one can simply intrude upon. The four of us simply stick our heads out watching and listening to Onii-chan and Alicia's conversation.
"Yuichi, when you died before, your soul entered Purgatory, a part of the Underworld."
"What has that got to do with anything?" Onii-chan asks.
"Souls that are not within a vessel, in this case your body, are easily affected by the world's environment. They mutate, or maybe evolve is a better word. Anyway, they change in a way that allows them to create physical phenomenons."
Onii-chan and Alicia-san are having a serious discussion. But what Alicia-san said rings through my head, 'when Onii-chan died'? Is she referring to that traffic accident?
"Your new evolved soul is what I placed back into your body, thus reviving you. We call all humans like you a 'Human Anomaly'."
Revived? Alicia-san revived Onii-chan?
Onii-chan isn't disagreeing with what she said. Does that mean she is telling the truth?
It's just a hunch, I don't think she is crazy. I don't know why but, I believe every word she says.
"So can I use magic!?"
That's what your interested in!? Just how much of a foolish brother are you!?
"We'll train you how when we get to the Underworld, okay. Forget about all that until then."
Underworld? Just who or what is Alicia-san? She is capable of resurrecting the dead. She claims to be from the Underworld. There is definitely something different about her.
"GRRRRAHHHHH!"
HUH!? That's...just what is that? The four of us all look on in fear at some sort of huge black cat that suddenly appeared in front of Onii-chan and Alicia-san.
Alicia-san steps in front of Onii-chan as if to protect him.
"ALICIA!" Onii-chan shouts in concern.
I can't watch. I close my eyes in fear. Trying to shield my mind from the image of Alicia-san being slashed at.
"URRRAAAGHHH" A horrible noise enters my ear drums. Without my sight, naturally my other senses grow sharper.
"I've destroyed its soul. Unfortunately, when its mutated to a degree of that level this is all I can do."
Alicia-san? She's okay? And that cat...I can't see it. What just happened?
"Alicia, you said I was an Anomaly. Am I like that monster?"
"Sempai, is like...that...thing?" Sakura looks on at Onii-chan. Almost in tears.
Onii-chan? Like that monster? That can't be? He is an idiotic pervert, but he is nothing like that thing. Onii-chan if you compare yourself to that thing, then I will get truly angry.
"That thing was a monster, you however are human."
Hearing that, my heart calms down. Onii-chan too looks much better after hearing Alicia-san's last statement.
"Everyone, I don't think we should listen to any more of this." Ren-sempai suggests.
I agree, there's no need to do this any longer.
"No! this is about school discipline. I have many questions to ask Yuichi Shiro," Mizuno-sempai said angrily.
"Ah, knock it off, stop pushing AHHHH!"
I fall through the door along with Sakura, Ren-sempai and Mizuno-sempai.
Heavy. Having the weight of three people on top of me is very painful.
"Yuna, Ren, Sakura, Medusa!" Onii-chan shouts in shock
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING MEDUSA!?" Mizuno-sempai retorts.
Busted.
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Chapter 05F: First Day Back – A Secret That Is No Longer A Secret
Honestly, to think that my sister and friends were eaves dropping on us. The demon aside, I expected better from the other three.
How much did they hear? I need to find a way to deceive them. Wait! I just thought of a cunning plan. It's perfect.
"So you had a dream like that last night, Alicia?" I ask calmly. Oh I'm good, worship me now. Coming up with such a great idea on the fly. My genius truly shines when trouble arises.
Everyone stares at me open mouthed. I nudge Alicia with my elbow. Come on play along, my full proof godly plan will go to waste if you don't play your part Alicia.
"Yuichi, as your best friend, I'm just going to tell you. We aren't buying that excuse one bit," Explains Ren with eyes filled with pity.
Damn it, Alicia! If you played your part we would have been able to fool them. Why couldn't you play your role!?
"Well since it's come to this. Onii-chan, I have many questions I want answering."
"Me too, Sempai."
"I too, have many things I wish to ask, for the sake of the school's morals."
My cute sister, my cute kouhai and the demon all say whilst looking at me. I step back
"Uh, Alicia, what do we do?" I whisper.
"No point hiding it at this point, might as well tell them. There's no rule saying you have to keep it a secret. Although I wouldn't go round shouting about it. Unless you wish to end up in a mental asylum," Alicia explains whilst shrugging her shoulders.
Well, I guess life would be easier if I shared this secret with the others. Although, I would rather not tell the demon who I know will use this information against me at a later date.
So I tell them everything that happened after my death by the truck. Although I left out the nature of the game I challenged Alicia to. I don't want to hurt her pride any more than I already have.
"Hmm, so that's what happened," Ren says whilst in deep thought.
All four of them are looking at me. Their eyes don't hold a single shred of doubt. I can't believe they actually took my story as the truth.
"Well, now that we've sorted that out..." Yuna looks at everyone "Shall we eat?"
With this Ren, Sakura, Yuna and Demon Mizuno learnt the truth, and I feel that life will be a bit more easier because of it.
These guys are truly strange.