Ga Rei: Exodus Nine (IC)

[Airen]

Makoto Fujioka
Edge of the Sky

"Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn, reckless too!"

Looking around at your ceaseless attacks with a cheerful smile, the boy that resembles you nevertheless draws his own blade for the first time. To him, this is not a fight, he did not come here to fight you, at least not yet, and your ceaseless attempts to do so to him were something that he can only look at and laugh, as if comprehending for the first time that this is what he had looked like once, and might just look like in the future.

Even so...

The fight itself was meaningless.

After all, you couldn't win.

Interrupting you once again, the youth does not attack you directly. He does not undo your wires, he pays no attention to the many traps that have been put to keep him in place.

No.

Simply turning the sword in his hand on himself, the youth keeps smiling even as he thrusts his own blade through his chest.

And contrary to common sense...

Your own erupts with the same level of pain, as if you were the one that had just been impaled without hesitation. The pain is so great that it turns your thoughts completely red, while the sky, or rather the sky that you had changed to a box, was stained with the blood of your apparent copy, he remains standing even as he twists the blade again and you collapse, a hint of spite, or rather, something close to self-loathing in his own actions.

It is not a fatal wound.

Having been almost cut in half before, you cannot classify it as fatal, but since he twists it more and more every time you attempt to struggle to your feet, it seems that his tolerance for pain is much higher than your own. He's destroyed his own heart and doesn't seem to care too much about it, and while your own is intact, while your body looks fine...

It seems like this is some sort of empathic curse...

"I'll act however I feel like, mr. red."

Makoto?

Name: Makoto Fujioka (Amadeus)
Gender: Male
Age: ???

Stats

Vitality: EX
Spirit: EX

ESP (?)

-Amadeus ~ Feelings that Bind-

A power similar to ESP, but one that does not natively belong to "Makoto Fujioka." Because he possesses it, his existence, from the start, could be called "fundamentally different," from his actual self, and is a power he possesses because he was given form by the ESP of someone else, and is thus, "leftover feelings of Makoto Fujioka as seen through the lens of another person."

What this actually means is unknown, but he appears to be able to force "empathic reactions," on his true self, turning pain he feels into pain that the original must feel as well, regardless of any innate supernatural or mental defenses.

[Airen]

Mikagura Mika
Dream Aoyama ~ Home
Morning ~ Sunrise

Now that you knew, it was something that continued to haunt you throughout your living hours. Having made up a lie, some random story to pacify both Nami and Genbu, who had ultimately come looking for you right as you returned home, it had taken every ounce of your lying ability, of years and years of practice and cheating, to keep your expressions as they should normally be throughout the rest of the night.

It wasn't the hardest thing you had done, but it was perhaps the most bizarre.

Attempting to mimic yourself, your normal self, the one that had been unburdened by the truth, and who had found some semblance of purpose living through a lie, but...

It was still clawing at you.

All night, behind your blank expression, the closed eyes, you had been unable to free your thoughts from the deep crimson that had taken hold. Revenge is an ugly concept, something that the world as a whole would probably be better without, and revenge on death itself was not just ugly, but bordered so close to the line of impossibility that hints of fear occasionally slipped through the cracks.

How to find it?

What to do when confronting it?

The understanding that Sora, as inhuman as she as, more powerful back then than she was right now, had been apparently unable to defeat it even with every ounce of strength her body and soul could squeeze from her desperate form.

Perhaps that was why you had risen so early.

Awake in time to watch the sun rise, before Nami and even Genbu had arise, you are standing outside with your back leaning against the house, thinking far more than you probably should, wondering what exactly you were really going to do today, and...

That's when you hear her coming.

The sound of a motorcycle lighting up the morning, the older-than-she-looked Sora that appears along with the sun is riding astride a black motorcycle. A quick glance tells you everything you need to know, a black Yamaha VMAX, model year 2003, strange protrusions at the sides for what at first seemed like strangely designed exhaust pipes but hat turned out to be sword sheaths, custom made tires that seemed to bear runes all along their surface, probably some sort of obscure weapon, or ritual aid for movement through bounded fields. Unlike the previous day, the Sora that steps off of the bike is dressed like a biker, all black leather, dirty-blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and face set in so passive an expression, that you realize in a flash that she isn't even bothering to pretend to be overly cheerful anymore.

After all, you had already seen it.

The face she had been hiding for eight years.

"Hmm? You're awake already, that's good I guess."

Her voice is soft, unalarming, but also fatigued.

"You said you wanted to be in contact, so I bought a phone. I'll give you the number in a moment. If you want to start searching today, or have some sort of plan, I'm ready. If you want something else... Well, I'll do my best."

Strangely unemotional, and very business-like.

...You can't say it's not bizarre.

[Airen]

Watanabe Tomoya
Ghost City - Forest Outskirts
Night - Full Moon

A blink.

Then a snort and a grin as he shook his head.

"For Pete's Sake, eh? Looks like you grew up to be cheeky."

Having traveled around the world in his younger years, it was a joke, a pun, that he understood right from the start, but unable to admit that such a thing is funny, it seems that this is the best you could hope to get out of the old man.

"...And yeah, like I said, the crying had been keeping me up at night... I've been watching. Not all the time, but every once in awhile... You've done good, son."

It's something he can only bring himself to say a single time.

That awkward line that father's know they should say, get the feeling that they should say, but ultimately have to force out because of how awkward it made everything that came after it was said.

"You've done good..."

---

Watanabe Tomoya
Forest Outskirts ~ Lakeside
Early Morning - Full Moon

While there was certainly something problematic with being offered a drink by a ghost, there was something even more problematic about waking up a few hours later at the side of the lake, without said ghost watching over you.

It had been a normal drinking party... In the sense that it had eventually escalated into a sort of unspoken competition. Seemingly producing bottles of Sake from nothing, and cheerfully downing a cup for every one you had taken, the sheer escalation of the situation (made worse by the fact that he was a ghost, and you were some kinda extra-concentrated half-ghost, and thus getting drunk was both hard to do and bizarre to experience) seems to have led to you waking up alone at the twinkling lakeside, body hanging beneath the branches of the nearby forest, and...

"Ah, Watanabe-San-!"

Emerging from those same woods, is the ever-diligent figure of Kusumi, dressed in the track pants your mother had bought her sometime after she had started sleeping on the couch downstairs, the same tight but flexible pants she always wore when it was time for 'leg day' as you liked to put it.

...It was a dangerous game, the one your mother was playing.

"Are you injured? Fatigued? It is most unusual for you to sleep at a lakeside... Your sister was panicking enough that she asked me to track you down... I would have done so anyways for training purposes, but that is neither here or there... Are you alright?"

[Mormarth]

Watanabe Tomoya
Forest Outskirts ~ Lakeside
Early Morning - Full Moon

He snorted, "For Pete's Sake, eh? Looks like you grew up to be cheeky."

"I blame my parents."

I tossed the alcohol back into my throat, a burning, slippery, cold sensation crawled down into my stomach.

I sniffed, then coughed, once, quietly.

Friggin ghosts and their booze that doesn't make sense.

"...And yeah, like I said, the crying had been keeping me up at night... I've been watching. Not all the time, but every once in awhile..."

I looked over at my father, silently.

"You've done good, son."

I sniffed a bit harder, and turned my head away to cough into my sleeve, was only polite, after all.

"You've done good..."

Boy, this stuff burns good, gonna have to be all covert so I don't look like a wuss.

My dad tossed his own cup back into his throat and then looked over at me, the silent challenge thick in the air.

I grabbed the bottle.

====

Things degenerated from there.

I woke up a bit later, no old man, no alcohol, no hang over.

Aside from my hanging from the branches of a tree, over the ground a good dozen feet up.

Why did this always happen?

Least I still had my pants on, shirt's unbuttoned though.

I tilted my head at the crunching noise of someone approaching through the nearby woods, and angled my head a bit to survey them.

"Ah, Watanabe-san!"

Oh, hello Kusumi, nice morning.

Also nice yoga pants.

Well, can't say I don't appreciate the gesture, mother.

"Are you injured? Fatigued? It is most unusual for you to sleep at a lakeside... Your sister was panicking enough that she asked me to track you down... I would have done so anyways for training purposes, but that is neither here or there... Are you alright?"

I flopped a hand mildly from where I hung, "Nah, it's fine. This happens more often then you'd think. Just had a late night conversation with my old geezer, did some back-and-forth metaphor fighting, then got wasted."

I rolled myself up and over the branch and plopped onto the ground with a small grunt of effort.

"Didn't exactly intend that last part, but when a contest between men starts, you can't just back down."

I stood up straight and tall, my loose shirt flapping behind me.

"Let it not be said that when Watanabe Tomoya says he is going to do something that it does not get done extremely quickly," I declared to the world at large.

I paused for a moment, then turned to Kusumi once more, "So, congratulations, you found me. Want a prize?"

My stomach growled faintly, "We could discuss it on the way back, keep my poor baby sister from having conniptions."

[Airen]

Jacques Dussault
Aoyama ~ Beach-Side
Morning

For someone so smart, he sure phrased things in not so-smart ways.

Throwing Kenji under the bus had been the natural course of action, after all, the reason she was probably actually angry was because he had put himself into danger. As much as neither admitted it, it was clear that there were some other kinds of emotions lying underneath their friendship, so if one of you had to deal with the wrath of a suddenly vengeful woman, you figured it might as well be him.

It had been going well, at least at first.

Having moved from you to him when it became clear (through the lies she had immediately seen through) that the idea had nonetheless been Kenji's, her firm and almost terrifying questions of what he had been thinking, what he was trying to accomplish, and why didn't he just tell her if he needed something done, seemed answerable, like it could definitely reach a good end so long as he phrased his answers to those questions correctly, but...

"I couldn't do it with you. It wouldn't work."

That was...

That was not the right way to say that...

While you were pretty sure he meant that in the sense of 'I couldn't bring myself to attack you even if I wanted too' you knew...

She wasn't...

Going to take it like that...

But knowing that it would eventually (probably) turn out fine, you stand up and do what must be done without hesitation.

You bail out.

---

Jacques Dussault
Aoyama ~ Makeshift Prison
Afternoon

With your search for Mina renewed after your little brawl with the youth, it was slowly becoming apparent that the problem wasn't that you weren't looking hard enough, but rather, that the young woman seemed to be trying to avoid you for some reason. She wasn't someone no one had seen, when you asked around about her, there were people that had seen her, at the coffee shops, at the library, at the pool, the people you asked certainly seemed to know who she was, and remarks like "you just missed her," were becoming distressingly more common.

The last person who had apparently seen her, Liane, had said she had seen the other woman going into the prison to speak with someone...

And thus... Here you were...

Although to be fair, calling it a prison wasn't entirely correct. It was more like a re-purposed hotel, there were no bars, rather the things that held the ESPers in their "cells," in the main lobby were just a series of magical circles. There weren't too many people in here, in fact, as far as you could recall, it was just Gisela, and one other girl, two of the 'hostile' ESPers that had appeared during the incident a few weeks ago. As far as prisoners went, they weren't treated badly at all, the atmosphere was that of a hotel, and while they couldn't leave, and their weapons had been stripped from them and put in another part of the building, they were given the same sort of food as the rest of you, weren't tortured at all other than through imprisonment, and well...

It was better than any other "prison conditions" you could think of.

Didn't explain why Mina had apparently come here, but that was something you could probably figure out on your own.

You did, after all, enjoy playing detective on occasion.

Entering the room with a curious eye, the first thing you see is Gisela sitting in the center of her 'room,' eyes closed, and legs crossed in meditation. There's another woman in the back, asleep on a bed with her back facing the front of the cell, and while you open your mouth to speak...

"Dussault."

Gisela beats you to it.

"If you have come to torture me. Do know that I am under a Geas, and even if I was not, I will not sell out my comrades."

A practiced, repeated speech.

The sort of thing she had said to everyone that had come in here over the past few weeks, even though none of them had even laid a finger on her in violence.

[Spinach]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Ryuumonbuchi Estate ~ Kitchen
Time: Morning

“Suzume the Demon Slayer, is it?” The words left a bad taste in her mouth as Saki repeated them back. Not due to disdain, but because she was right, it did have a nice ring to it. Even worse, it suited her, just as much as that hideous suit. “Woe is my black heart to say, the one standing before me is not mine lord. The Revenant Flame has sworn loyalty to Suzume the Freelance Exorcist, and is stranger to Suzume the Demon Slayer.”

The simple act of speaking defiantly blew away the chill running along her spine. The smile of Suzume felt less unnerving with every word, and Saki’s smile grew more genuine in return, as though it were sapping strength from the Demon Slayer’s own. Much like her Rinshan Kaihou.

“An even greater tragedy, noble Demon Slayer, is that you have mistaken this Saki, for another.” Bending her legs and taking a half step forward, Saki lifted the ends of her skirt mockingly, dropping her head as she did so in a seifuku curtsy combined with a bow, etiquette completely unfitting for her image as a Japanese high school student. “You speak to Saki the Demon Contractor. But, sadly…”

Saki brought her head back up, grinning.

“Such formalities are wasted on you, no? He might be synonymous with valueless, but this chained prince of mine is far from the unwise. Soulless, was it? Memories pretending to be human?” Such a vague description left a plethora of explanations for the Suzume speaking to Saki. This person could be the work of an ESPer, an exorcist, a god or even a demon. But without a doubt, she was, in some sense, real yet false.

Real enough that Saki felt certain that her thoughts were fully exposed to the Suzume standing across from her. Strange then, that no matter what, Saki could not reconcile the image of this Suzume with her lord. Certainly, she could picture her in that black suit. Government licensed exorcist was always a future she’d hoped to take hold of. She even held the image well. Complete with that ponytail she tied her now

… Longer… hair.

The thought passed her mind in a flash.

Why would an imitation, or a fake, craft such an elaborate guise, only to alter such a detail?

“Demon Slayer, you…” Belial’s words, the words Saki had repeated seconds ago, rang in her mind again. Bundle of memories. Soulless girl. Pretending to be human. He wasn’t the type to speak nonsense. Even if intentionally vague, in the short time she’d been contracted to him, he had never said anything pointless. “Where…? No.”

The fire froze, along with her tongue. The cacophony of the inferno grinded to a halt, giving way to silence. Like a still frame, a moment captured in time, nothing moved. The licking, lashing flames hung in total stillness, like statues carved into the world to imitate a great blaze.

Saki held her words in, hesitating at how absurd the thought was. She was supposed to relish in absurdity. She was smitten with it, loved it dearly, wholly. Saki Ryuumonbuchi felt nothing but utmost adoration for it. What business did she have hesitating now, at another layer of absurdity in this mad festival of demons, gods and man she had found herself a part of?

None.

“When,” the fire resounded and burst back to life, nearly devouring her voice, “did those memories come from?”

[Airen]

One-Eyed Man
Fuji, Shizuoka

At first, the gaze that rested on the fish-shaped cakes was a vaguely suspicious one.

Seemingly unsure about what it was, other than a cartoony representation of a fish, it is not until you start eating yours that the dragon woman puts the pieces together and throws caution to the wind, taking a small, curious bite...

Eyes widen.

A sincere smile graces the lips of someone who shouldn't be used to making those expressions, and with a now content air, your desperate attempt to shatter the awkward, dangerous atmosphere ends with the dragon placated, mostly uncaring about the fact that you were soon dragging her around again, thanking your lucky stars that she seemed happy to eat this slowly as you sprint for the train station, two bizarre foreigners leaving behind the seeds of what would soon be whispered rumors in their wake.

And in that fashion, one dragging along a willing other...

You find yourself aboard something entirely ordinary.

Since it was the first train, it was almost packed to the brim with people. It was an ordinary sight, other than the fact that you didn't have to hide your sword for once (since Red seemed to be doing that for you) it was a completely ordinary sight for those on board the train when you get on-board, and make your way to the back, where the prying eyes would be at their least intrusive.

...But even though it looked ordinary.

It's not hard for you to understand exactly how crazy the situation was right now.

On this train, there was a dragon.

An ancient being of great strength and power, something who could raze this entire city from one end to the other in but a few heartbeats, was silently looking out the window at the rushing scenery in the form of a beautiful red-eyed foreigner, causing no undue trouble, but drawing a troubling amount of attention to herself just by existing, a few people, young men mostly, stealing glances from further ahead in the car.

Not that she seemed to notice, or even particularly care.

Still... It's unlike you.

Just traveling alongside each other like this, felt remarkably... Normal?

...There must be something wrong with you.

"...Where?"

Finally using her voice again, Red seems to finally find it pertinent to know where exactly you were going... Or perhaps the idea of asking had only just now occurred to her.

[Airen]

Farimah Rajavi
Dream Aoyama ~ Noon
Church Fields

"Looks like we're on some sort of island to me."

Choosing to speak up, Lena cheerfully works her way through the picnic basket, stopping occasionally, but only to maintain the bare minimum necessary in terms of manners.

"The city itself feels magical, but if you go out to the beaches, and swim far enough away... It feels like we're still in the normal world. I tested it last night just to see, had to go about a couple dozen miles to really get away from the paradise feeling, but the ocean out there seems legit."

Blinking, even as Mary gives a questioning look at the implication that she had swam a few dozen miles and back alone, the woman continues on as if this wasn't strange (and to be frank, it wasn't).

"Kind of reminds me of that old King Arthur story. Y'know, that Avalon place. Shame there doesn't seem to be a Holy Grail..."

A pause...

"...Although I think I may have seen an angel."

[Airen]

Watanabe Tomoya
Forest Outskirts ~ Lakeside
Early Morning - Sunrise

"Hmm? A prize?"

Remarkably innocent in spite of the fact that she had once been a Demon Fox, or perhaps, because of that very former existence, the silver-haired woman takes your words with such an absolute seriousness, that you're reminded of the fact that was borderline sheltered in many aspects of social interaction. A traditional exorcist through and through, continued interactions with the young woman had made it clear that she was far more used to the 'moonlit' side of the world than she was the 'sunlit' side of the world. She knew a lot about magic in all its forms, from magical equations to hand signs and incantations, but treated things like cell phones and computers with a sort of innate reverence that more normal people would probably show to the supernatural.

She didn't ask for much, and believed in paying back her debts. Even now, weeks after your mother had first 'adopted' her, she was still moving around the city running errands for the woman, believing that if she was staying on her couch, then she shouldn't be a free-loader about it, even though your mother had (attempted) to tell her that it was perfectly alright, and that this house technically wasn't hers either.

"Ah, well, there is something I want actually..."

...Which is why this is rather surprising.

Hands together, fiddling with her own fingers in a suddenly nervous way, the young woman takes a moment to actually say what she had been thinking of asking for awhile now.

"...There is a theme park in this city. I've never had the chance to go to one, but I've been told that they are entertaining... I have been told it is a bit sad to go alone. I asked your sister to accompany me earlier, but she said that you enjoyed this sort of thing more than she did, so I should ask you. I was surprised, but if it's not too much of a problem, maybe, we could postpone today's training...?"

...A dangerous game your sister was also playing.

[Mormarth]

Watanabe Tomoya
Forest Outskirts ~ Lakeside
Early Morning - Sunrise

"Hmm? A prize?"

Yeah, y'know, like free tickets to the local game of sportsball or what have you.

I dunno what outside observers would've thought about my prize talk, but it was definitely probably something perverted.

I wouldn't think of taking advantage of the kinds of people who immersed themselves in that other side of the world, those freaks and weirdos who don't know how to work telephones and get frustrated by programming a VCR.

We don't even use VCRs anymore! Damn it, Grandma!

Anyway, enough veiled references to family members that may never appear.

Kusumi was the old-fashioned type, all about paying debts and such, I could easily grok those kinds of people, having spent a good bit of my time associating with them during my time abroad.

Still, I could respect the idea of refusing to freeload on someone's kindness.

I wonder if she's realized what my mother is doing, though...

"Ah, well, there is something I want actually..."

Oh, good.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and looked askance at her, the ex-vessel for some sort of horrible demon god and person who had done a brief stint as a giant horrible monster that was indirectly responsible for-

I shook my head, not the time.

Anyway, Kusumi seemed nervous.

"...There is a theme park in this city. I've never had the chance to go to one, but I've been told that they are entertaining... I have been told it is a bit sad to go alone. I asked your sister to accompany me earlier, but she said that you enjoyed this sort of thing more than she did, so I should ask you. I was surprised, but if it's not too much of a problem, maybe, we could postpone today's training...?"

I blinked.

"Oh, issat all?"

I thought it was going to be something outrageous and silly, like having to streak around Aoyama while proclaiming my infinite manhood to the high heavens, then smooch the nearest girl, then sing a previously selected song from the top 100 charts.

I need to stop losing bets to that french bastard.

Still, my baby sister has been learning too much from that schemer, I worry for her precious innocence.

"Fine by me, been awhile since I went to one.

Eight years, in fact.

I smiled at her, then frowned, licking at my teeth.

"Wonder if I should clean myself up a bit, prolly smell like alcohol."

"Hate to be seen with a pretty girl lookin' like a schlub, gotta reputation to uphold."

[Verg Avesta]

One-Eyed Man
Train, But to Where?

"...Where?"

It was a good question. Indeed, it might have been a much-needed question. In his haste to leave behind the town that had been near destruction thanks to the hunger of the woman next to him, the One-Eyed Man had not thought much. Instead, he acted simply on instinct. A small worry gnawed on his mind as he checked his ticket, but was soon replaced by relief. Even when having to babysit a dragon in human form, he had been focused enough to get on a train to Tokyo.

Tokyo, huh? He had been away for what felt like forever... even if it had been only few days at most. That's what the newspapers told him anyway. After the fiasco that had been the underground fighting ring, and the incessantly babbling deity of something-or-other (they were numerous, weren't they?), things had gotten more than hectic. And now? Now his life had been invaded by this red thing that he was literally chained to.

For some reason, the man in white felt very tired all of a sudden.

With a grunt, One-Eyed Man pointed his thumb at the electronic screen where the text of "Bound for: Tokyo" could be seen. Then, as if it was an after thought, he rummaged through his pockets to show a certain old key to Red. Of course, he was unsure if the key to his apartment would say anything to the creature, but at least she should get the general gist of his message.

They were going home. Or, at least he was going to.

"..."

A small twitch furrowed his brows. For some reason, the man in white found himself wondering about Red. He was now going back home, sure, but this creature... Where was its home? Was it the place it had been guarding? Or was it the old world he had seen in his dreams? Or did it no longer have a home? This world around them certainly wasn't its home, so... where was it?

And why was he wondering about that in the first place? One-Eyed Man found himself slightly irritated at his own thoughts, and directed his glare towards the young men peeking at Red. At least he could get some satisfaction out of intimidating locals.

[Airen]

Watanabe Tomoya
Forest Outskirts ~ Lakeside
Early Morning - Sunrise

"Oh, I see! Yes! You did just wake up! Feel free to take all the time you need getting ready, I am in no hurry!"

No longer fiddling with her own fingers anymore, the silver-haired woman had taken on an excited, if somewhat frantic air, as you had absentmindedly made a comment about your current state.

"My own style was made for efficiency rather than beauty, my hair and clothes are plain, but if you believe I'm worth that sort of effort, I won't stop you!"

If it was anyone else, it would have sounded like they were trying to make themselves look better by putting themselves down, but the young woman was simply stating things as she saw them in her own eyes. She had never been taught too much about fashion, the little bit she knew was stuff that she had absorbed from her friends during her time as a high school transfer student eight years ago, and even then, she had just learned enough to keep her hair untangled and healthy, putting no further effort into it beyond that.

As a martial artist, she simply kept it tied back and thought little more of it. Her clothes were just going to get damaged anyway, so there was no reason for her to buy anything fancy, and thus, she was the sort of country girl that normally just went for the t-shirt and jeans combo her old friends had forced on her.

It was plain, true... But...

Pretty much all of For Pete's Sake had agreed that it worked for her.

Your mother was the one who had introduced her to the yoga pants.

"Yes. Preparation time... We can meet there in two hours!"

Nodding, face flushing, as if stuck in a situation she wasn't quite sure how to handle properly, the young woman bows slightly, before running off as quickly as she had appeared, and...

"I feel like I'm looking at a high school girl, asking someone out for the first time."

Hanging from the trees above by her knees, your sister, who had been hiding there for quite some time now, cheerfully smiles down at you from above.

"It's really cute, she didn't flush when it was me~"

[Vritra]

Makoto Fujioka
Edge of the Horizon

Mhmm!

Glowing in anticipation I watch annoying red red finally pull out a sword. Ahahaha got you, gonna get you, I already did one so here comes two! Coming out of the spin as I complete what I set out to do I flick two small blades into my hands and prepare to charge.

A grin twists beyond recognition as the world is overwritten red.

I had only taken the first step when he defies everything to turn his blade on himself and yet somehow on me. Unbearable pain begins to flood through me crushing every thought and action in its tide. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts, every stab brings for another wave of pain that foil any attempt to pull myself up as he only stands there.

Cursing again and again until it all bleeds together the world is quickly and completely is dyed red under the pain and more. Thrashing, cutting, squirming, an inviolable enmity growing like a stained flower blooms. Power seeking strength, power seeking retribution, limbs twist before snapping back unnaturally as red roots make themselves known. Hating everything around it for their existence, hating everything within it for inability a forcible correction is made out of a berserk sense of purpose. Blades as roots, blades as limbs cut and split before reconnection and modifying, if it won’t move it has to make it move, if it can’t fight it has to reforged it. Logic deaf to recourse and blind to pain exacts its method as a metallic cry announces blades that grow like a forests and a body reforged for an unfailing purpose, any form is fine, everything is allowed as long as it can act as a vessel for purpose, to cut, to kill, to devour until everything disappears. Called by pain and enmity brought forth by weakness seeking strength a red that dreams of drowning the world proclaims its name and its desires.

.
..
…

I can see red… I can feel red… I can hear red… I’m sinking into a sea of red. Unsure of how long it’s been I can only slowly feel myself slip under to the sound of metallic scraping and a person I’m beginning to really, really, really want to hit.

"I'll act however I feel like, mr. red."

S-

…

Shu-

…

Again and again I can hear that irritating line bouncing around inside my head and again and again I answer only for my voice to be drowned out by red.

Yet…

Crack, it’s the sound of my head being driven into the ground, yet it is neither a result of the convulsions spurred by metal tearing apart my body in its attempts to gain victory, nor due to the pain that the annoying annoying person causes me with his self-harm.

“Shu-Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut UP!”

Screaming out I somehow manage to scrape up towards the surface of the drowning red sea. I can feel an overwhelming amount of pain from the blades within me and from the wounds empathy but, I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t careIdon’tcareIdon’tcareIdon’tcare. Over and over again I scream out my rebuttal to everything as I drive my head against the sky ground, I don’t care that he doesn’t think I can win, I don’t care what the red has to say, I don’t care what it thinks, I don’t care about his pain, I don’t care about my own. Everything about this and them simply gets on my nerves I want to win, I decided I’m going to win and I refuse to let anything like this stop me as I scream out I scream out a refusal to both red and red.

“Don’t you… DON’T YOU STEAL MY WORDS!”

Throwing myself completely into it I defy pain and wounds to stand and to grasp the blades with will, I don’t care what it wants and I’m going to make it do what I want. Repeating refusal like a mantra I make them again and again, I make the ones what grow like limbs turn to dust, I make the ones that split my body pull it back together again and I make the ones remake my inside reinforce it instead. I defy everything to stand no matter how hard or how often everything tries to stop me.

[Mormarth]

Watanabe Tomoya
Forest Outskirts ~ Lakeside
Early Morning - Sunrise

"Oh, I see! Yes! You did just wake up! Feel free to take all the time you need getting ready, I am in no hurry!"

I rubbed at one of my eyes with the side of my finger, amused.

Well, okay.

Seems she's gotten a bit excited.

It was very cute.

"My own style was made for efficiency rather than beauty, my hair and clothes are plain, but if you believe I'm worth that sort of effort, I won't stop you!"

Lady, you're making street casual look like it was deliberately planned.

The sort of 'don't care much for this' charm is a charm all on its own.

"It's all 'bout self-assurance, could be dressed to the nines, but what really matters is you," I pointed at her, "You're confident, people are attracted to that."

In all manner of situations, confidence is the most important thing.

Still, I wouldn't lie and say I didn't appreciate the view.

"Yes. Preparation time... We can meet there in two hours!"

She bowed, still flustered and blushing, and rushed off almost as suddenly as she arrived.

I waved absently, casting a lazy eye to the branches above me, spotting something I hadn't known was there, but had merely guessed as such.

"I feel like I'm looking at a high school girl, asking someone out for the first time."

Oi, eavesdropping is rude, sister of mine. Quit trying to pretend like you're some suave femme fatale.

In response to my wry glance, she grinned cheerily, wiggling her fingers in greeting.

"It's really cute, she didn't flush when it was me~"

"It's because of my raw animal magnetism. Plus the open shirt."

But yes, it was very adorable.

"Now if you're quite done being a cackling old woman, come down from there and we can talk about Dad."

[Airen]

Makoto Fujioka
Edge of the Horizon

The boundary was falling apart.

Looking down at his self with eyes full of a cheerful annoyance, the youth that had denied each and every one of your attacks so far, and was intent on continuing to do so in the future, kneels down at the side of his self without fear of retribution. He had not lied a single time to his own self, calling him red, again and again, as if to make a point to himself about who the berserker was here, the cheer gives way to eyes like ice as he watches himself struggle to stand up.

Nothing would change if he continued to act this way.

It was enough to frustrate him, had been enough for him to tear his own body apart in order to make a point, but it seemed the young man was too stubborn for his own good.

Ironic.

...But he should have seen it coming, perhaps his own mind was only this clear because of the powers of that empathist.

"Stealing?"

Smiling wickedly, the youth that stands over his own self can only respond to his own words with a smile.

"But it's what you are-"

Pain assails his senses as an unexpected attack comes from nowhere. It was an attack that was unlike himself, his hand, holding not a sword but a fist, rocketing up for a single last strike.

It hurts.

Not very much, as a fighter, he was someone used to fighting the long-forgotten gods, the demons that lurked in the vortex outside of the world.

But it hurt enough.

Enough for him to stop talking.

Enough for the box to disappear, replaced by a world of broken buildings and flame.

"...Okay!"

Enough for him to smile at you with the razor teeth of a wraith...

And punch you right back in the face.

---

Makoto Fujioka
Golden Dawn
Evening

With a start, you find yourself back in the world of the conscious.

With no wounds to spare, but a face that is surprisingly sore, you pull up your head to find yourself back in the restaurant, the fastest shutter girl still fast asleep beside you at the table.

...A remarkable amount of time has passed.

While it had been approaching noon when you had arrived, you can see that the sun is going down outside the windows, and...

"Huh, you all really sleep for a long time."

Sitting across from you, her apron gone, and the day's newspaper in hand, Chiyoko seems amused by the puddle of drool you had left behind on the table.

"Have a fun dream?"

[Airen]

Fushigi Sayara
The Matrix Reloaded

Fast.

"Show you more...?"

Not thinking, diving into the mindset of a berserker, the impossible sprint becomes a burst of flight. Combining existing momentum with the strength of your soul, the charge that carries you towards the gently smiling priest is one that humans would have never been able to perceive in the first place; a silver wind should lead to a violent decapitation, but knowing better than to expect that this soon, at the very least, it seems like a burst of crimson should splatter along the apparently digital world.

But-

"There's no need for that, this little distraction of yours is already over."

-Something goes wrong right at the end.

...It is a difficult to place feeling, but the moment you mean to use your sword, the muscles in your arms twitch in a manner that doesn't seem to have an obvious cause, your spiritual channels flux, and you descend without meaning to; your balance thrown off by the ill-timed misstep, and the attack that should have shown you a burst of red, is instead the reason that you are slammed against the floor, body bouncing along the endless numbers as you reflexively regain your footing, instincts telling you that what had just happened was not a misstep on your part.

But rather...

A sign that something was inherently wrong with you.

There's an uneasy feeling in the air. While you suspect poison at first, it doesn't seem to be that simple, attempting to replicate the motion that had caused you to seize up does nothing, you are regenerating again, which meant that your body didn't seem to think that there was anything wrong with you beyond the obvious cuts, but...

You feel unsafe.

Behind you, Jojo is banging on the barrier with a renewed fervor, as if she had suddenly realized something about the situation that had put her into a panic.

She was mouthing something...

Looked like...

....'Bad Luck?'

[Airen]

Saki Ryuumonbuchi
Ryuumonbuchi Estate ~ Kitchen

She has no obligation to answer.

While the sight of the raging inferno, a flame that danced and roared along with your emotions, was something that would intimidate most people by itself, and the addition of the false man standing behind you, a demon who had carved it's name into the legacy of human existence, was something that could be said to embody a primal, instinctive fear.

But she still doesn't seem to be too bothered by all of it.

Whether it was because she had been created out of a distortion, because she seemed to possess a sort of borderline limitless strength that your Suzume did not, or simply because she had seen things that were ultimately far, far worse than you or that demon could ever hope to be, the expression of the young woman changes from a smile to nothing, then from that nothing...

To a slight frown, tinged with an obvious sympathy.

"...Wasn't it strange? A radio host that tells the future?"

Apparently failing to answer your question, but instead commenting on something else, the young woman draws attention to a fact that almost no one had bothered to investigate in this world.

"...She hid herself in plain sight. It was too easy to be true, so no one bothered to look... Whether it was clever, or she's just lucky... I can't say."

Standing up, brushing the ash from her pants, she keeps one hand in her pocket even as she finishes.

"But from her perspective, the only thing that radio talks about is the past."

[Airen]

One-Eyed Man
Aoyama-itchome Station

It hadn't taken much to convince everyone that they should look away.

A simple glare, the shifting of a crimson gaze from the side to the front, shifts the thoughts of the overly eager young men from their admiration of a foreigners beauty, to the sudden fear that can only come from the appearance of what must look like an overprotective boyfriend, all but stabbing them from afar with his gaze alone.

Those eyes spoke of countless accused crimes, of automatic judgements, of warnings that they should look away now, lest they meet the inside of a hospital room far too soon, and thus...

The train-ride back is spent in an atmosphere that is both awkward and vaguely amusing.

Time passes, and the weather outside slowly begins to change; clouds give way to sunlight, and the snow that had seemed so heavy before had become close to nonexistent. Stepping out into this sunlight, this sudden warmth in the once blistering cold, the first steps taken back into your home-city are taken without hesitation, taken in the manner of a person who has been away from home for far too long, (according to the newspaper, you had somehow lost six days in that little fall into the alternate dimension) and was ready to rectify that situation.

For that purpose, you had never intended on slowing down.

Assuming Red would just follow you, thanks to the fact that you were literally chained together (albeit with a long chain) your exit from the train station is nevertheless stopped when you notice that she has stopped walking, instead crouching down, not to pick anything up, but rather...

To talk with a child?

Yes.

A young boy of no older than six years old, had been crying out in the middle of the train station, not loudly, in a way that would get people's attention, but quietly, the tears of a scared child that had shrank in their fear, rather than becoming a bigger presence because of it.

While many people had missed him.

She had not.

Kneeling down next to the boy, your enhanced senses let you pick up on their conversation quite clearly in spite of all of the other noise around you. It is very short, a simple question from the blonde foreigner, a nod of affirmation from the young boy, who had taken to her immediately, and then...

Somehow...

Impossibly...

No...

Walking hand in hand, the child wiping at their eyes, the dragon-woman walks right over to you, and without a single ounce of hesitation says:

"Lost. Looking for his older brother."

...As if it was only natural for her to do so.

[Airen]

Watanabe Tomoya
Forest Outskirts ~ Lakeside
Early Morning - Sunrise

"...Eh?"

While it seemed like she was having fun acting like some sort of secret agent, setting people up to act in ways only your mother could approve of, the sudden change in expression, from cheerful and teasing to a wide-eyed disbelief, is what accompanies her spinning dismount from the tree branches.

...It as an excessive flipping motion perhaps, but...

Well, the entire family liked to show off in small ways like that, even when they didn't mean too.

"You found him already?"

Keeping her emotions in check, the young woman does what many others could not in this scenario, asking for answers rather than demanding them, hands in the pockets of a crimson jacket.

There was no... Fighting or anything, right?"

[Airen]

Hitoshira Nagi
Time Unknown
Nagi's Room

"...Are you not already friends with this young one?"

Having gone silent for quite some time now, watching you with those colder, more emotionless eyes that shouldn't belong to Joanna Cross, the blonde woman makes a statement that verifies something that you had perhaps, been thinking about in the back of your mind.

That this person, despite looking like Joan, and possessing her body...

Is not the genuine article herself.

"Forgive me, I should have perhaps stopped you sooner, but it is rude to interrupt. I am not my summoner, if you wish to refer to me by something, you can call me Lailah."

Just like that it becomes clear.

Joan had no talent for magic, even you had made note of that in your surprise.

And yet she had somehow sealed the strongest curse in this world away anyway, and for that to be the case...

It had to be someone else, someone who was not just talented with magic, but godlike, close to divine...

Like...

An angel.

Her angel.

"...She ordered me to help you as best as I could, so I don't believe you have to worry, she already considers you a friend."

So saying...

An 'image' imposes itself over her form.

"For the sake of avoiding future misunderstandings... I will speak with you like this."

...There is still no emotion in that face.

Eyes filled with a calm purpose, there is a vague sense of familiarity, like you had met this being once a long long long time ago, but it fades as quickly as it appears.

"...To answer your earlier inquiry about death... Yes, I do believe that curse is eventually fatal, however... The world as a whole possesses no real future so long as the source of that curse continues to exist. In that sense, it is not a timer that you should have to worry about, so long as you do not go out of your way to indulge yourself in the curse."

...Still emotionless but...

Is this how... An angel tries to lighten the mood...?

She seemed to see this as a form of 'good news.'