Kill Edwin Black.
A being who looked ready to blow up a universe at any second gave me a single mission. He found my soul in the void after death, and I felt really petty for some reason. But being the intellectual I am, I was asked why.
He responded simply, "He is an insult to every self-respecting vampire across the multiverse, next to the vamps from DXD. If you want something, he should take it. Instead, he deletes or restarts timelines causing me endless amounts of work trying to keep the damn multiverse from destroying itself. So here is the deal: while you can refuse this offer, I know you won't. So three essences with one being decided by me fair?"
I gave him a very quick nod, and he summoned hundreds of small potions. The walls were lined with hundreds of them, and as I walked around, the man at the counter continued his paperwork. Looking around, he said, "Let it be known if you succeed, I shall open the multiverse for you along with a fourth essence from myself. So choose wisely."
Taking a deep breath, I looked around the shelves, and as I went from bottle to bottle, each one differing in looks and, I assume, powers, I found two that spoke to me, and as I picked them up and placed them on the table, he looked at me with a smile and said "It seems Lady Luck favors you, my friend, now here is the third one. I advise drinking them from left to right. Unless you desire your soul to implode."
Finding that I was unable to reply with my voice due to being a soul, he looked at me as he started shaking in concealed laughter. "Of course, you cant talk, dumbass, you have no physical body to produce sound. I can read your mind anyway."
Sitting back in the chair, I tried to keep myself calm as I was never the calmest person. The reason I died was because I got angry at my manager for docking my pay after I complained about my coworkers. The reason I died was that I left the store at that moment because right as I left, the guy next to me pulled out a gun and shot me square in the chest.
He probably thought I would try to call the police, or he had a nervous trigger finger, but because I stayed to complain about my lazy-ass coworkers, I was dead.
This was a second chance. Not many people got those, so I can take what I can get. So, as he lifts up the essences in front of me, he floats them towards me one by one. From left to right, he floats them into my form, and as they join with my being, I feel secure in a way and boundless, yet the moment was fleeting as he summoned a portal behind me, and as he bid that I leave, I had one final question.
"If you wanted him gone, why didn't you simply erase him yourself? Being of your strength, you should be able to do that, right?"
As if expecting the question, he simply says, "Curiosity and satisfaction. The first is simple: I just wish to see the result, but the latter is more for me as I want to see the clip of him dead. And to be honest, it's just way too much of a hassle to have to erase him across nearly infinite multiverses. Even I admit I'm being petty, but for now, good luck with the rape-bait ninjas."
The portal then envelopes me, and I feel my soul being forced into some kind of tube and shot to places unknown. I never even got a name other than a single word, Cao, on his desk's nameplate.
(Third Person POV)
-Gosha Village ( Year 2054)-
A village hidden from the beings of the Dark World. The home of the Taimanin ninjas, and today, a marriage was occurring between two people and two clans, the Yumi clan and the Mizuki clan, with the last remaining member of the Yumi clan, Shiranui, being married off to a boy of the Mizuki clan.
Things have been calm for a while now, yet two years ago, the organization known as NOMAD formed and spread worldwide.
However, their rapid increase in strength led Gosha elders to try and learn why they were so successful. But the Yumi clan, which recently was made up of a single family, was murdered, and their heads were sent back to the outpost near the Tokyo Kingdom City.
It was the loss of such a clan that led to such drastic action, and with the demons beginning to appear in larger numbers, it was decided to wed Shiranui to a member of the Mizuki clan. So, as the young bride, barely ten years of age, is sent to the Mizuki clan compound, she sighs to herself in resignation, expecting to be miserable in this marriage.
There was no ceremony nor decision by herself but one made for her. She had never even seen Yato before, and now she was marrying him. If she were younger, she would have tried to fight this, but for now, with her family's land taken by the village and her options few, she did not fight this.
A small part of her was hopeful for the future of this, but it was minimal at best and nonexistent at worst. So, as she walked in with her face hidden behind an umbrella and approached the altar, she saw a rather tall boy, and she could tell by his musculature that he trained well.
So, taking her place next to him, the marriage officiator asked the two, "Yumi Shiranui, do you accept Yato Mizuki as your lawfully wedded husband?" His look practically convinced her to say no.
Smiling at the man, she says, "I do."
Huffing, the man looks at Yato with disdain and asks, "What of you, boy?"
And at that moment, Shiranui heard one of the most beautiful voices: "I do."
The official looked ready to leave and said quickly, "Alright, then, since no one else is here to object, I pronounce you both husband and wife. Now be gone, brats. I have better things to do."
The man then walked away, but as he did, he jumped up in pain as he grabbed at his lower regions.
Then laughter entered her ears as the boy in the yukata said, "You have to love using electricity to ruin a guy's chances at kids."
Shiranui's eyes widened as she asked, "Did you use a Taima art?"
Lifting his hand, sparks gathered at his fingertips as lightning danced between his fingers. "I can't do much with it yet, but roasting a guy's nuts is enough for me." Shiranui almost laughed at this crassness as the boy offered his hand to her. "So, do you want to have something to eat?"
Almost entranced by his voice alone, Shiranui took his hand and was led to one of the side houses used by the servants. Since it was late at night, the kitchens were empty. As they entered, he showed her a seat, and she looked at it with a questioning look.
"Is something wrong Yumi-San?" The boy asks as he looks at her with concern.
"Shouldn't I make the meal, Mizuki-Dono?" Yet, as she asked the question, he looked at her with an almost sad expression.
"Not tonight. Let's enjoy our time together tonight, which starts with me showing off to you. Besides, I am an amazing cook." She could almost see the boy's nose extend at that statement, at least in her world.
Shiranui then asks, with a small smirk, "Oh, is that so? Then show me your skills, and we shall see."
Yato simply shrugged with that same bright smile on his face and began to cook while using his lighting to heat it, as the servant kitchens are not very well equipped. Thankfully, there was some seabream and rice for the two, and as Shiranui watched Yato cook with firm yet excited vigor, she almost felt a warmth she had lost.
The cooking lasted for thirty minutes, and embarrassingly for Shiranui, her stomach betrayed her at the worst time, causing Yato to look back with a grin on his face that, for some reason, irked Shiranui. The atmosphere was quiet but personal as Yato placed the plates of food in front of her and handed her some clean utensils.
As he sat down and did nothing, Shiranui asked in confusion, "Are you not going to eat first, Mizuki-Dono?"
He shook his head and said, "I want to see how the food is. So you eat first." Seeing Yato's stubbornness, Shiranui calmly took her spoon and ate some of the rice and some shrimp, but as she did so, her surroundings shifted as she recalled better times, her mother and father staring back at her with smiles on their faces as they ate rice and other foods.
Her taste buds exploded with flavor as she saw it was the same day they last had. But as she tried to reach for them, they looked at her smiling and disappeared. Her sight returned to reality as Yato kneeled next to her, looking her in the eyes.
"Are you okay?" A simple question, yet as she tried to wipe her tears away, she found that she couldn't, and soon the sobbing began as Yato embraced Shiranui, and for the next twenty minutes, Shiranui sobbed and wept for what was lost. She would never taste her mother's cooking nor be able to embrace her father again.
Tears soaked into their clothes, and the calm night sky seemed to not move, as at this moment, there was no going back. As Shiranui silenced her sobs, she tried to move back and said, "Mizuki-Dono, there is no need to hold me; I am fine now."
"Well, I am exercising my husbandly right to veto that request." In both a serious and calming tone, Shiranui almost died of embarrassment at her husband's straight face.
But soon enough, she calmed down, and Yato picked her up and placed her on his lap. With a small yelp of surprise, she looked at her husband as he looked back at her.
"It is okay to cry, you know?"
"I can't! I have to get this right. I can't mess this up. Please let me go." He shook his head and laid her head against his chest.
"Do you hear that?" Yato asks as Shiranui blushes against his chest. She could feel the strength in his muscles ready to be used at any moment, but a singular sound caught her attention. A strong heartbeat caught her ear, and she listened as it steadily beat in Yato's chest.
*Thump, Thump*
*Thump, Thump*
*Thump, Thump*
Even she did not know how long she lay against his chest, soothed by the sound of his strong heartbeat. Soon enough, Yato said, "This union between us, I also want to do it right, and while I may not be the most intelligent guy, I hope we can make this work. Also, your eyes are nice to look at, and how you dress in that robe makes you look adorable."
Shiranui's blush increases as her husband compliments her, but as she tries to use her taima art to escape, she finds that she can't, and the compliments keep coming: "I like the way your hair looks when it's down like that. Also, the design on your clothes was perfect-"
"Okay! I get it!" She then shoved him away as she turned around in his lap, yet due to her red face, Yato simply chuckled to himself, finding her embarrassment adorable.
"My husband is a bully." Shiranui would say as Yato nodded without shame.
"Of course I am, but I, as your husband, reserve the right to bully you." Shiranui will have to learn about her husband's privileges, but for now, she simply sits and eats her food.
"Thank you, " she says quietly, and Yato smiles. They both enjoy each other's company. The moon shines in the sky, and the stars brighten as if officiating this point in history.
Essences Used: Ultimate Ascendant, Hentai World Defense Powers, and Taimanin