Departing and Homecoming
After his sparring session with the granddaughter of that mummy, Itsuki came back to his contractor’s place.
The relic he sought was a sham after all—just a useless piece of stone. Itsuki had to wonder if it was just Reiji being an eccentric, or if there was something more to all of it. ‘A supernatural condition.’
Itsuki thought about why Reiji would pay attention to that. There was no reason to, unless he could get a profit out of it, which didn’t seem likely; even if the relic wasn't a sham, it would most likely have limited uses.
Which brought another theory to mind: was Reiji himself affected by it? If he was, then it made sense why he would seek such a thing. ‘If it is supernatural, maybe I can try and feel something out.’
He had an Idolon, after all. He was a supporter, a long time ago. Maybe some of his instincts hadn’t gone numb and rusted over the years.
Ha, who would he fool? They clearly had rusted over the years, yet it was not enough reason not to try.
The city projected itself before him. The crowded and busy streets, the many people who talked and walked there. Vibrant with color and life.
It honestly blinded him; it hurt his poor eyes. Since when did the city go from a pale grey… to whatever it was right now? When did this change happen?
The world was so alive. It was unlike how he remembered it. It was so long ago, only the memories of his childhood were so colorful, so lively. The memories of his middle school and early high school were all tainted by her death.
He knew that.
Their colors and meaning faded out.
The world itself lost its colors to him.
Yet… why today was so… different from normal? His normal? He felt warm under the blazing sun; the shivering cold and disconnection he felt for so long seemed so far away.
His eyes hurt, and unfamiliar ache in his chest. Or was it a familiar sensation he had just rediscovered?
He didn’t know, but that feeling, despite being warm, made him uncomfortable.
Itsuki gritted his teeth and looked to the ground, his head held low. He didn’t want to acknowledge the sun, or how everyone was alive, or the colors that now flooded his view.
He refused to see these good feelings; they were so unlike him, so off-brand as to say. They were not part of his status quo; he wanted to bury them.
And so, he made his way to one of the Kurobane Offices, one of the places he could find Reiji, or talk with someone who could notify him to go there.
He entered one of the many offices the Kurobane group owned, and was quickly approached by the security. They somehow knew him and where to take him, as if Reiji already knew he was there.
Knowing the power and influence his family had, he most likely knew.
Itsuki wanted a reason to go mad, forgot the fleeting happiness he now felt in his chest.
The security took him to the highest floor, a big and wide conference room, empty with just Reiji staring at the city below from the window.
The security quickly retreated after leaving them alone.
Itsuki made his way to Reiji, picking up the tear like a stone. “Here is your stone. It was a sham, no magical properties at all. This tearstone is nothing at all.” Itsuki tossed the stone at Reiji, who grabbed it without even turning back.
“It is a Magatama. Your disregard is no reason to not know what it is. A comma is different from a tear.” Itsuki crooked his head to the side and scoffed.
In hindsight, it did indeed look more like a comma than a tear. Whatever. “Well, it still was a fake thing. Who even gave you the idea to go after such an object?” Itsuki questioned his contractor. If he wanted to send him on meaningless errands, then Itsuki deserved to at least know why.
“A detective in H-city, as you may not know by that denomination, is Hachiose City. He said there was a similar condition on H-City sometime ago, and that maybe it could help with what is happening in Kageoka.” Reiji spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
There was no hint of doubt, misdirection, or any attempt to fool or manipulate him. Reiji’s answer looked and sounded genuine enough to sane Itsuki’s doubts for now.
But now, ITsuki felt a connection to Reiji. Something strange, and honestly, if Itsuki didn’t know it was supernatural somehow, he thought he was secretly gay for feeling connected… like that to another man.
He felt a thread going to Reiji, and how his life was going, not in a social manner, but more as if… Itsuki could detect Reiji’s body health, feeling how it slowly deteriorated, his life force being sapped away, and it honestly felt quite empowering.
Itsuki chose to ignore the awkwardness and just treat it as professionally as he could. With a heavy sigh, he walked forward, beelining his walk towards Reiji.
He wanted to confirm something.
When Reiji noticed Itsuki was a tad too close than what was comfortable, it was too late. He grabbed Reiji by the wrist and pulled him up, exposing his sleeve. Itsuki felt a pang, a pulsation coming out of his chest as he did that.
He now confirmed it was supernatural. That pulsation sank to the depths of his belly, foreboding, an impeding sense of doom, much like the feelings he had when he and the student council of his time first entered a Bleeding Zone.
Reiji tried to struggle, but Itsuki easily overpowered him and went with his other hand to his wrist, aggressively rubbing it, to reveal makeup, and then made it fall off slightly. It revealed a mark of sorts.
It triggered Itsuki’s fight or flight instincts. It looked like a black butterfly…
A relic that could cure illness and fatal conditions, restore health.
Itsuki felt Reiji’s life force slowly eroding.
It was a Death Mark, or something like that.
He dropped Reiji, who threw a punch at his chest, before he scurried away. His eyes were slightly taken aback, and surprised at Itsuki’s actions.
It seemed like he had miscalculated the situation, or the type of person Itsuki was. For the first time since Itsuki knew the bastard, he seemed emotion on his face, a seed of confusion, doubt, and other feelings.
As for Reiji, he was unsure of how to act. He knew he had Itsuki under his control; he knew how Itsuki acted. He was no threat, no danger to his safety; he knew that, which was why he had no security at that moment.
Itsuki was dangerous, but predictable; he had telegraphed moves and a pattern. Reiji memorized those and knew those well, so why did something out of the blue happen like that? When everything was under his control?
It made him anxious, fearful. A part of him screamed to go call the guards, deal with Itsuki right now, go back to safety and control, but the more dignified, or maybe the heir he was destined to be, told him to stand his ground, look dignified, not give him to fear and to the beast before him.
Not to give it the illusion of control over him, or that it was a danger.
Reiji’s gaze was so intense, Itsuki had no doubt he would’ve melted him if he had laser eyes. “Sorry about that, but I had to confirm something.” Itsuki sighed before he returned Reiji's gaze with coldness and a near machine-like precision.
“This is a death mark. It indeed has links to the supernatural. I’m sorry, but you are going to die.” Itsuki had just the broad brush strokes about it, but it was more than enough to outline what it was, the feeling he had, that connection he had with Reiji also gave him some ideas to work on it.
“So, you know it took, huh?” For a single moment, Itsuki saw the Kurobane Reiji melt into another person, just Reiji, and a student.
Fleeting as it was, before he returned to his cold heir persona. “Tell me, Itsuki, how much do you know about the… Idea World? A world beyond ours? I know it will sound insane for someone as simple as you, but there is a world beyond ours. A world where curses are real and-”
“I know all about it. Hell, I was there to write the first edition of the enemy compendium that the Student Council has. Are you an awakened, Reiji?” Itsuki knew other types of people could see and sense the Idea World.
That monkey mummy Mei called a grandmother was one. Itsuki had no proof, but he felt it was impossible for her not to know. Maybe Reiji was one of those special people, too.
“Oh. You are an awakened.” Reiji seemed awkward about this situation, too. Both he and Itsuki avoided each other’s gaze.
There was certainly a better way to go about this, but it was buried in what happened a few moments ago. “This helps things a bit.” Reiji sighed again and sat on one of the conference room’s sofas.
Reiji assessed Itsuki’s situation. He saw he was practically a mummy, bandaged all over his body, even as only his hands were visible under his hood and long-sleeved shirt. “Will your wounds hinder you in a mission?” Reiji questioned; he returned to his usual self, cold, unfeeling, detached. The heir of the Kurobane Group.
Itsuki scoffed. Although he now felt every part of him burn in pain, he would not relent. He was not that type of person, after all.
“No. I am ready to go.” Itsuki said with a toothy grin, before his stomach rumbled. It rumbled so loudly that the sound reverberated throughout the room.
Itsuki’s face burned red with embarrassment. “There is an Idea running around in Kageoka. It is perverted, it steals girls’ underwear, and turns people in it’s vicinity into degenerates. There is a cafe down the street, go there. All the expenses are paid.”
Itsuki walked away. Catching an Idea would be hard enough since it acts all around Kageoka, but oh well. It was not unlike the old days of wild goose chasing a Nightmare Eater to write down its behavior and powers.
Mission Start
Itsuki walked out of the cafeteria, feeling quite full and a little better. His wounds didn’t ache as much.
But as he stepped out, a bleeding zone formed itself. He saw a lack and a pink blur go past him, and then a blue and grey one.
“You perverted wrench…!” The red blur said with raging intensity and overwhelming venom and vitriol in her voice.
“Hi hi ha ha hi ha ha hi ha ha.” The pink blur giggled as a shadowy hand appeared. It aimed at the red blur. Itsuki wasted no time.
He incarnated.
Metal ripped across his body as wings sprouted violently from his back.
Or they should.
His transformation stopped mid-way through, metal failed to pierce his skin from the inside out, and wings couldn't break out of his back.
They all stopped, stunted, and echoed with great pain that washed over him.
The only thing that materialized was his sword. But it was enough to let him see what was happening.
The red blur revealed itself to be a girl, probably an Idolon.
Meanwhile, the pink blur was a tall, lanky black as ink creature, without clear features besides what looked like a gi on its body, and a large pink sack of cloth on its back, somehow held by its face, and filled up with feminine underwear. Its face had no features one could discern besides glowing pink eyes.
Itsuki gritted his teeth. His sword felt as heavy as a block of lead.
Time seemed to draw to a crawl. He noticed he didn’t even need a zona oscura to summon his Idolon, and that the girl’s movement also slowed down.
That thing somehow got spatial manipulation— like a master idolon.
He saw the thing’s shadowy hand appearing from behind the girl, aiming at her… underwear.
The girl’s eyes widened in stark horror as she noticed the dark hand that appeared out of nowhere, and what it was about to do.
“Oh no, you fucking don’t!” Itsuki felt a wave of disgust crash over him. Motivated by disgust towards what the creature was about to do, Itsuki swung his sword, as blue flames were projected forward.
It managed to cut out the dark hand. But the dark figure managed to get out.
The girl fell on the ground, sulking. Her gray skin vanished to reveal a more normal, pinkish one, as the creature got out of their reach.
And the Bleeding Zone followed it.
Tiredness affected Itsuki, like a bunch of heavy weights fell on him. He felt out of breath.
He was out of breath like someone who worked out for hours on end. He never felt like that when using his Idolon.
It was strange, a new occurrence. He used his Idolon before, even when he was badly damaged.
Then it came to his mind what the hag had done to his pressure points. It somehow must’ve messed up with his Idolon powers as much as it had messed him up.
His Idolon hadn’t recovered nearly as good as him.
With a heavy, shaky breath, Itsuki looked at the girl. She was standing still, her hair hiding her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Before she even answered him, she started to fall. Itsuki moved just in the nick of time, his limbs cracking and making sounds they shouldn’t make due to the sudden strain.
Her face was pale, her body heavy, she was barely consciousç. “Hey! Don’t pass out right here!”
“I don’t feel so good…” The girl mumbled weakly. Itsuki looked around and saw the cafeteria.
Reiji said that all his expenses were paid for… maybe he could exploit that somehow.
He took her to the cafe and ordered some food. Maybe it could make her feel better.
After a few rounds of food, she was better.
At least enough to not fall unconscious on her own.
“Thanks for the saving, buddy.” She said, finishing a plate of sweet breads. Itsuki nodded. She was eating silently until now. She was demolishing entire rows and plates full of food until now.
Since the tab was not on him, but on the Kurobane group, he wouldn’t care about how much she ate. “You are welcome. So, you were after that perverted Idea too?” Itsuki asked her, not bothering with small talk.
She nodded her head vehemently. “That it stole all of my bras.” She mumbled silently, crossing her arms, her face straining not to openly show how annoyed and mad she was inside, and a blush so red it radiated heat from her face.
More than enough reason to want and chase it dead, then. She seemed to have more intent to end that thing than him. “I see. Well, I’m on the hunt for that thing too. Want to join forces?” Even as he was not in his best shape, he could at least provide some support.
Her redness vanished, to show a face eaming with happiness and intent, much like a puppy. “Damn! How lucky I am to find another awakened here! Well, welcome to the hunt, pal!” She darted her hand forward, nearly bending herself over the table with an eager handshake awaiting him.
Itsuki accepted it, and they shook hands. Her grip was surprisingly firm.
Why did he even accept the handshake, anyway?
“Well, I have been chasing that sicko for hours, but it is full of shenanigans and ullshit that makes it hard to chase.” She groaned in frustration, throwing herself against her seat.
Itsuki rubbed his chin. If it stole underwear, they could try to lure it out somehow using… no, that method was too candid, too disgusting for him to consider.
Something seemed to click inside her mind as she made a slight pout. “Hey. Why are you hunting it? You are a guy. As far as I have seen, that thing does not steal from guys or grope them.” She said, trying to hide her curiosity.
It could’ve stolen from his sisters or mother for all she knew, despite him having neither.
Itsuki threw himself against his seat, mimicking her, his voice tired. “My boss told me to go hunt it down. So I’m just doing my job.” It was still a dangerous idea; even harmless ones could have unintended effects on people, so aside from Reiji ordering him to do that, he would be doing it anyway once he caught wind of it.
“Ah, so you work for the Student Council or something?” Itsuki nodded; he was not in the mood to explain his situation. She smiled and nodded, a smile broadening her lips.
It was good that he didn’t question her about what she knew, and she didn’t question him about his boss. It would lead to complicated questions none were in the mood to answer, although Itsuki just took knowledge of the council as a matter of fact for the Awakened.
“I’m Kirigawa Marisa, nice to meet you!” Her smile shone too much for his taste, but he hadn’t found in himself to ignore her or give his usual uninterested answers.
“I’m Itsuki, nice to meet you too…” He tried to match her intensity with a forced warmth and eagerness, but failed miserably. Marisa noticed but decided to stay silent, not to make him feel embarrassed.
“Well, it will be hard, I can’t use my Idolon for long, so I can only use it in very short bursts to find it. It will take a while. So, are you up to that chase?”
Itsuki cracked his neck and smiled at her. For some reason, that smile had more emotion than his normal one. Genuine emotion, and not forced. A refreshing smile of someone up to take the challenge, and face it head-on, free of the numbness and detached quality it had for so long.
Emotions that not even the self-conscious mind of Itsuki could catch on. “Let’s go, then. Better not waste our daylight.”
Marisa laughed. It seemed that things wouldn’t be as hard as she thought. Two against one was a fair better deal than her trying to take on that perverted idea all alone.
Goose chase
Together they went after that thing. She tried to guide herself with sporadic uses of Scout, trying to feel where the Bleeding Zone was, but since it moved alongside the Idea, it was hard to find it. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but she still persevered.
It was hard for her; she hadn’t been awakened for all that long, just long enough to get a gist of things, and know how to summon her Idolon. As powerful as it was, she lacked mastery over it.
But she held confidence and trusted herself to be strong enough to take it down, even if she just had a short use time for her Idolon. She looked at Itsuki, he didn’t seem like much, but oh well, she would need to trust him.
He also gave her the feeling he was so much more experienced with that type of stuff. Well, besides the problem she faced with him.
Pinpoint the idea was troublesome? Yes, but it was not the problem she was facing, no.
The biggest hurdle to her was not pinpointing the mobile Bleeding Zone; no, the biggest hurdle was the awkward silence that reigned between them, as Itsuki was not the talking type, and Marisa was someone good at keeping a conversation going, not at starting it.
Sometimes, Marisa stole glances at him. He was kind of pretty to look at, of course, it made her wonder if other Idolon users were as pretty as he or her boss. Actually, he may have been even prettier than her boss, what a strange thing.
In further inspection, he fulfilled a lot of tropes, too. She knew the quiet, silent type. He was also very bandaged underneath his clothes, from what she could see of his bandaged hands and sleeves.
Maybe it was for the aesthetic? No, there was more to it.
A past of battle? Crippling accident, maybe he faced a powerful enemy and was now just recovering, like in a manga?
Some things didn’t add up, though. The way he walked, he hid his pain quite well, like he was used to it. He also didn’t hold himself like someone who suffered a grievous accident. Her instincts, her gut, told her he was a fighter.
“Hey, how did you get hurt like that?” Marisa questioned. His eyes widened for a moment,m before he moved his gaze away. While he didn’t let it show in his face or body language, she smelled it like a bloodhound: he was ashamed.
“Got into a fight with a feisty and possessed mummy. She messed me up.” Itsuki laughed softly. From what she could tell, it was not the fight that made him feel ashamed, so maybe the circumstances that led to it?
She was curious, but felt it would be prying too much if she asked why he fought a mummy of all things. While other people would dismiss his words as ramblings, meaningless, she knew better than to judge a book by its cover. Hell, her appearance was probably something many would judge her over.
His laugh continued for a little while, yet, in that laugh, she also saw sadness, aimless, but there. Or rather, melancholy? Why did he laugh so melancholically, if he felt happiness from what she could tell?
It made her feel a funny feeling, a sort of pity, mixed with curiosity. He had some baggage. Maybe he was someone special, too. Her boss would want to know him.
“Hm. I didn’t feel you calling your Idolon, are you a Commander or Stealth type?” From what her boss told her, those were not particularly very powerful in aura or raw power, but made up with different tools. She was still very new to this world of Awakened and Idea World monsters, but was trying her best to learn it all, to help other people.
Sadly, he shook his head. “Sadly, I‘m none of those types. I’m not in my peak shape right now, but it is enough to help you in a fight.” He wouldn’t be doing the heavy lifting, but helping her deal with the pervert. Despite admitting he was hurt and not quite strong at the moment, he showed nor betrayed no feelings of worthlessness or self-pity.
He was ready to throw hands in his state, as he would be at his peak. This was commitment for a fight, and one she both envied and aimed to emulate in the near future. People needed that kind of outlook, to give their best despite being hurt, to make things better.
Both in the real world and in the Idea World, she thought. Good vibes would make the Idea World a better place, no?
Either way, Itsuki’s help was good enough for Marisa; she was not expecting any help in the first place, anyway. The fact that an Awakened, even hurt as he was, was up to help her in this folly, and not ask too many questions, was a blessing she wouldn’t turn down.
He had put her into a pretty good mood, yet it didn’t last long, as she felt something akin to a siren call in her head.
“Wait, I found that asshole’s presence.” Marisa jerked her head suddenly. Itsuki blinked behind her. He was not expecting that.
Well, for Marisa, it made sense; she had scout, after all. She broke into a full sprint as she saw the creature hanging on a perch of an apartment, readying itself to steal more pants. She immediately became her Idolon and readied herself to fold the creature.
She saw weak points through it, where she could strike to end it immediately. But sadly, the creature noticed her too and jumped immediately to run away, her movements slowing down.
But from the ground, a wave of blue flames flew towards it and landed on the creature’s torso. The Idea flew on the ground, as the crushing flames continued to twist and break its body. Marisa descended upon it, a sword materialized in her hands, ready to crush the Idea’s skull in.
The creature made time run even slower and got out of the zone of impact as Marisa’s blade hit the street.
The entire thing broke and collapsed under her might, buildings cracked and nearly busted by the sheer impact. Even Itsuki nearly lost his foot.
Her full concentration was placed on the monster.
Her heart rang loudly, out of frustration, annoyance, and rage at the creature for daring to be so boldly perverted, to steal her stuff. Marisa held her breath.
She planted her left foot ahead of her and held her blade low. With a single move, she slashed forward. She punched the very air itself, and it propelled itself forward like a shockwave. It ripped debris out of the street and hurled it towards the Idea, who held its body over its sack, protecting its stolen underwear.
Its body got damaged by the shockwave, chunks of its arms, legs, and torso missing. It was slightly flattened by the shockwave, but its stolen underwear was safe.
It roared and advanced towards Marisa, her Idolon far melting off her body, too much energy used by her, her body not enduring the power of her Idolon. Her legs trembled, barely holding her up as the monster advanced.
It reached its hands towards her, claws formed on its fingers.
Before it could reach her, Itsuki placed himself on the way, his blade crashed against the claws, as his blue flames crushed the monster’s hand.
Suddenly, he felt capable, strong even, as if the pain that wrecked his body was not there; something empowered him, enough for his weak Idolon to put up a fight.
It screeched in pain and retreated. It opened its arms wide, as a myriad of small dark spots surrounded the.m
Dark hands ripped across space to grab them from all directions. There was nothing to do now. Itsuki tried to brace himself, his flames trying their best to burst out of his body, as Marisa was too tired, too drained from her.
The Bleeding Zone around them weakened, as the creature’s powers took a hard drop. Its blank face trembled, as black-void like constructs assaulted all of its black hands, annihilating them.
The creature screeched and jumped out of there, retreating once again, but an origami creature in the form of a panty managed to sneak inside its bag.
A blonde appeared right before them, a smug look plastered on her face. Oho? So, Itsuki went out to make female friends, eh? Momo will not be happy with that.” Itsuki’s face burned red as someone he didn’t expect was right before him.
A smile that could flinch even a blind man with its sheer radiance.
And a magnetic pull that put the Sun to shame. “Madoka…
Marisa looked over her and Itsuki, quite confused. She knew who Madoka was; it was hard not to know the charismatic genius of the Onguuchi family. She was quite a local celebrity after all, but how was Itsuki connected to her? He was on a first-name basis with an Onguuchi, and their heir at that!
He had more secrets than she thought, and had connections to important people, too! Was he a sort of hiding knight, or maybe an outcast seeking redemption?
Nah, that would be too cliche. Tall, good-looking, with white hair, it would be too on the nose.
But he was important. It made her itchy; she wanted to know more about him, get to the source of this gossip that unfolded before her.
She looked at Madoka as she made her way to talk to Itsuki. She was even more beautiful than she expected. She saw her photos in a few local journals and magazines, but they were put to shame by the real thing. She was not into girls… but it was hard to deny that the woman before her was beautiful, maybe too beautiful.
It made her feel inadequate in comparison; she considered herself to be pretty confident, all things considered, but Madoka… someone like that was a miracle, maybe one in a million type of beauty. Marisa had to avert her eyes, as her cheeks burned red.
Those thoughts brought too much shame to her heart; she shouldn’t be envying her betters. Especially when she seemed to be an Awakened, too.
“So, that thing groped me while I walked down the street. It seems you guys are hunting it?” Madoka looked at Marisa and made her way to her, as if she had nearly teleported, she immediately grabbed her hand, as their gaze met.
A sort of succinct understanding was formed between them. They understood each other wordlessly, a sort of innate womanly instinct telling them everything they needed to know about each other.
They shared a smile as Itsuki felt a shiver run down his spine. “I’m Kirigawa Marisa. Nice to meet you.” She said with a wide smile.
“Onguuchi Madoka.” Their shadows were cast on Itsuki, who trembled. He felt as if a grave mistake had been made.
Well, it was too late for him.
Clock Strikes Eleven
Madoka was in an amusing situation. Things have changed greatly in what amounted to two days of suspension. A loner curmudgeon had made a new friend and was on a hunt with her. It would be the topic of gossip. But first.
“How are you dealing with your suspension? It has been just two days, and you look so broken already.” Madoka said with some concern, it was Itsuki after all, he would not be brought low just by that type of wounds.
She was curious about what it did to him. “It was a mummified monkey possessed by an evil spirit. Nothing to worry about.” Itsuki scoffed in an attempt to cut the talk short.
Madoka would give him this small victory. ‘Maybe I should talk to Shu about this. He seems more sociable.’ No longer as much of a threat as he once was.
Maybe they could drag him to missions inside the Idea World, behind the door. From Death Marks to new creatures appearing from the Idea World, to possible infiltrated in Higan. Another hand to help them would be good.
Even if Itsuki… was not the most stable of people at the moment.
“Hey, Madoka, that thing has a mobile Bleeding Zone with it. How is that even possible?” Madoka sighed. That was a good question.
“Some ideas are evolving, enemies becoming stronger, things are not looking good, but we are managing.” Madoka sighed.
Itsuki mumbled something, but she didn’t hear.
Her gaze darted from him to his new friend. He was more approachable now. She felt something shift; the paradigm he lived in had changed, somehow.
She compared him to who he was when Momo first brought him in.
He smelled like fresh blood. He trembled and twerked as if possessed; he was so violent and meant to hurt people with his whole heart.
He was like a shura.
Now, he seemed so subdued. Even after he numbed himself to the world, he didn’t seem so approachable.
Itsuki now, tho? He looked like he was just another person, which was a great improvement.
Madoka giggled to herself. ‘Momo will love to see you now.’ Itsuki's healing was a good sign, if he was healing, indeed.
Actually. The way he walked, the form he projected himself, it seemed like he was trying to emulate a lone wolf type.
What seemed to be something he did unconsciously was like something he couldn’t even replicate now. What an intriguing development. Yet, Madoka changed her view of the girl he befriended somehow. She didn’t seem like a Higan Student.
She should check it back in Higan, but she was nearly sure she was not a face she knew or had ever seen. A rogue awakened? She didn’t seem the type to do evil on her own, but she was not someone under the Student Council’s umbrella.
She also seemed quite inexperienced, with how often she jerked her body in a new direction after their collective target changed routes.
‘Hm. I feel like the soul of that boy has changed. No, rather than changed, it feels like someone lifted a blanket from it.’ Kukurihime said in her head, drawing her attention to her words.
‘What do you mean by that? As if something was hidden in his nature or something?’ It would make sense with how extreme the change done to him seemed.
‘Yes. Or that it was veiled by other factors.’ To Kukurihime, what she saw was the true nature of that boy. What he looked like without obscurity and pollution.
It made sense to Madoka as well.
Without much delay, they reached the Bigger Idea again. It was prepping itself to grope a woman. The girl, Marisa, advanced as Itsuki jumped into its Bleeding Zone, immediately triggering his incarnation, weak as it was.
Madoka followed suit. Immediately incarnating. Mist covered her body, as a fox mask appeared over her face, her body quickly warped into that of Kukurihime.
She used Enhancement on Itsuki to put him into a fighting shape, as she cast her Negacion on the Bleeding Zone, weakening both it and the Idea, which screeched again, enraged.
It absorbed the underwear it had collected into its body. It started to swell in size and power. They were in for quite a hard fight.
Yet, something unexpected happened. A pillar of raw darkness, as if made by tormented shows, was cast over the Idea, which screamed in pain, as the bleeding zone darkened as if it were in the depths of Yomi.
Something hovered in the air, with a great spear in its hand. Kukurihime noticed immediately what it was, but before she could alert Itsuki and Marisa…
They were both crushed to the ground, with Marisa barely able to move, and for Itsuki.
Blood poured from between his bandages, staining his clothes red, as he coughed blood. Madoka felt her Death Mark burn as the creature’s gaze focused on her.
It seemed like it had found her.
“That is… a servant of a Shinigami…” She could feel it in her body, that thing followed a god of death. It had come here to hasten its master’s job and deal with Madoka Onguuchi.
Weaken the Student Council with a grievous blow. Madoka sent Yata Mirrors against the Shinigami; she used the pillar of darkness id had summoned to make mirrors, but it simply deflected them with the spear, not even bothering to look at her.
Even Negacion didn’t seem to work on it. Its gaze intensified on her, as she felt the death mark sap more and more out of her. She fell to her knees as the creature readied its spear.
(...)
Itsuki stared at what was happening, too impotent to do anything. His wounds gushed blood, as he was powerless. He saw the creature hover towards Madoka, in a near ritualistic manner, readying itself to reap her life.
The taste of powerlessness once again was felt in his mouth.
He was powerless to stop her suicide.
How he did not even help against Alyona as she forced them to be her buttmonkeys.
He couldn’t even summon his Idolon properly.
Was he just a joke, after all?
As everyone rose to new heights. He just stayed low.
He couldn’t accept it.
Not now.
He mustered all his strength, but the best he could do was to push his body with his arms, facing down the whole time, just to fall again.
He saw Marisa, and she was not much better than him. Whatever the thing they were facing, it was there for Madoka. She was caught in the crossfire, so was he…
But once that thing dealt with Madoka, they would pay the same price as she did, probably. Itsuki was fine with dying, but he couldn’t let another person, one so inexperienced in the matters of the Idea World, pay the ultimate price.
He tried to muster it all again, but he failed, as the thing got closer to Madoka, four wings sprouting from its back, as if it were some sort of demonic butterfly.
Itsuki clawed the ground. Something swelled inside of him.
A light, overwhelming, so bright.
For a moment, an angelic, fetal-like creature appeared over him, with white wings and closed eyes. His old Idolon.
It opened its eyes and disappeared in a burst of light, as it rained back on Itsuki, as if to unite with him again.
Blue flames erupted from him, mixed with golden lights. Twelve wings were restored to his back. His armor redorned.
Both the light and flame were unstable; they were two infernos raging against each other, vying for control, but for that single moment, they had made peace with each other. Enough to allow for itsuki to hold his sword, and both elements to follow after the blade, coating it with, turning it into a single, raging blade of energy.
He felt the presence of Madoka strengthen him, the presence of a Death mark within her as well.
The thing noticed him, but it was too late. Itsuki swung down his blade. Golden Lights and Blue fire were unleashed against the thing that tried its best to block the hit. Its concentration, ritual, broken by him, allowing Madoka’s energy to return to her.
Quickly, she raised her hands and chanted words that Itsuki couldn’t hear, as the creature began to be banished.
In a last-ditch effort, it advanced against him, and Itsuki’s word exploded in white.