บท 63: LOVE

Akane woke up in the morning where she is supposed to wake up. But something felt strange, her body literally just hurt. Her legs, her arms, her head, her stomach, each inch of her body just screamed in pain. Akane was confused, what the hell happened after she decided to sleep?

Akane was worried, worried that something might have happened. She called out to Chara.

"What is it partner? I am still here."

Phew, at least she was still doing fine.

"Welp, guess that confirms my pain theory. Chara, what the hell did you do last night after the talk with Himiko?"

Akane had the feeling that Chara looked away from her in her inner world. What mess did she get them into?

"Chara, if you don't tell me immediately what happened, I am going to seal you away in one of our rooms."

She could hear Chara sigh. This could only mean trouble.

"Check our stats."

Akane was confused, she couldn't mean. She opened her menu and looked at the stat screen. She didn't like what she saw there.

She had a LV of three and her total EXP were 69. Just one point away from four. What happened last night?

"NO! Don't scream! Listen, after the talk with Himiko some random guys approached me. Apparently, they were from a 'League of Villains' or so. Told me that I would be in danger if I continue with the stuff I did."

"League of Villains? There is something like that? Fair enough, I guess the outcasts would band together after society threw them out. And our work of weeding out pests was more than obvious and severe at this point. Care to tell more."

"Of course, I told them to piss off. Ain't stopping me from doing what I want! Well, they were more than expected. Don't misunderstand, I never underestimated them. It's just like being suddenly thrown into a difficult battle without understanding the pattern they move in. These guys had some combat training. They hit me hard and good, I am sure our body would have accumulated more damage if I didn't get serious. I gathered the EXP and killed them one of after another. Sorry, I couldn't really hold back in moments like this."

Akane sighed, they got in some major trouble and she hated it. This would have happened sooner or later anyways, can't blame something that was bound to happen.

"Well, let's just go to school. Ain't having a choice on the gained EXP."

"We have."

Huh?

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Akane was currently in her soul-scape. She could feel it. This wasn't 'her' soul-scape, isn't it? She left her soul already long ago to correct her EXP level. To correct that, you couldn't simply just work inside your own soul. You must leave it. Entering the realm were all souls reside.

There would be 'medicine' for her condition, but for that she must leave her soul. Fighting 'Her Battle'. Literally fighting. So, she punched into the empty void that was in front of her.

Doing '68 damage' to whatever she hit. The fight started.

She saw a kind of 'green pill with a plus symbol' in front of her, she could hear how the walls were closing in on her and additionally the spears that were aimed at her. Akane knew that she had to take that pill immediately.

So, she ran towards it. Taking it and swallowing it. She could feel how her LOVE immediately shot to four. Alongside the louder getting unnerving rustling in the background.

She thought about Charas words again before she entered.

"The place you are going to enter to lower your LOVE is a place outside of this realm. Completely outside, you know what this implies? No help from me, or the others. Only your mind and your soul are going to be there. Now listen to me. The place you are going to enter is beyond dangerous. You must pay attention and be aware at any times, else you can be swallowed up there, never to return. Remember, I can't replace you. I can give an excuse that I am your suppressed alternate personality. But that you can be counted as dead is a fact. Take care, partner. I hope you wanting to stay on one is worth it. You won't be able to leave once you're in. Either you get it, or you don't enter it, there is no other way to be here."

Akane felt a shiver down her spine. This was seriously dangerous.

She hit the void again. This time she did '165 damage' but the health-bar just seemed to be infinite. Not even a tiny sliver was decreased from the bar.

This time she was rooted to her place. Holding a spear in her hand. Akane couldn't move, suddenly green copies of her sprinted towards her. She pointed her spear at the thing, feeling intense pain. She also felt how her live slowly drained by itself out of her. For a fraction of a moment, Akane lost her cool, until she calmed down again.

A new green Akane ran towards her. This time she pointed the spear in another direction, letting the person hit her. She could feel how she recovered for a bit. She understood that she couldn't let the spear hit her copies, so she avoided facing them.

After a while this sadistic game finally ended. With another green pill in her hand. She took it. Her LOVE increased to five.

This process continued. She hit the empty void, gradually dealing more and more damage with each new hit. But before each hit, she had to play a minigame of some sorts, to get the green pills that increased her LOVE.

With each pill she could feel how she distanced herself from her soul. With each pill she could feel that she could hurt others more easily. With each pill she learned the thrill of a perfect hit on something, how it shook her soul, her feelings.

Each of the new minigames was more difficult than the last one. They got more difficult after each hit, almost even outright impossible. But Akane overcame each of them.

Hit, damage, next task, pill, increased LOVE.

Hit.

Damage.

Next Task.

Pill.

Increased LOVE.

All the way, until her LOVE finally reached 20.

As on repeat, she just hit the squirming red-black void once again. This time it shattered, revealing a new place.

As if everything what just happened was a lie, the former place disappeared, making place for something way more unsettling. The only way Akane could know that everything she just did was real was her LOVE stat. It was still on 20.

Akane was unnerved, every fiber of her being told her that this place wasn't what it seems. That she shouldn't be here. That it was above the soul realm her soul could handle. That it was an absolute danger for the repayment she would get out of this at the end.

"How interesting, this wasn't supposed to happen like this. But I guess I am lucky for such easy prey to appear here like this."

A white ball appeared in front of Akane. Akane stood there, her instincts full on shouting to her that she should run away, that she should get away from here as fast as possible if her life meant something to her.

"You managed to come here in a complete manner like this? Well good, that saves me the trouble from trying to deceive you and fight your other self that is supposed to be here. It's just you and me here."

The white ball suddenly gained a horrifying star shaped mouth, that rather looked like sewn up mouth than anything.

The weird being gave a creepy smile to Akane, before saying something in a voice that seemed to contain multiple voices. Akane regretted being here. Why would she go so far just to lower her LOVE?

"You are in for an eternity of suffering."

The ball seemed to disappear, just to appear as the black void again she was in. Akane tried attacking it, just to find out that she is hitting nothing.

Akane didn't know what to do.

She couldn't hit that being, she couldn't talk in this space, she really couldn't do anything. She could only try to dodge this beings' attacks. But why? Why would it try to raise her LOVE, what was the point in that?

All this beings' attacks reminded Akane of something, but she couldn't really put her mind on WHAT she was reminded of. Akane tried to think of ways to defeat the being.

But nothing worked.

This wasn't her soul. This wasn't her world. So, she wouldn't be able to manipulate it in that way in any way. She couldn't attack that being in any physical manner and she didn't have any abilities that would be able to count as other.

She was helpless, she couldn't do anything, but...

You called for help.

...but nobody came.

"Oh, crying for help? How cute, but let me tell you, outside here, nobody is going to help you! So just give up and become my vessel!"

This was the end. Akane could feel it. There was nothing that she could do, but stare helplessly how she is getting controlled like a puppet.

Akane felt despair. Why? Why is this happening? No flag was risen, no point made it clear that it could come to this, it just happened suddenly without warning. Just like that, outside every variable and calculations.

"So, this is how I die? Just like that without any reason?"

Akane smiled.

"What a load bullsh*t."

She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable end. (Lol, this reminds me of some other story. You know an Undertale AU Fanfic ~Author-san)

But nothing happened. She opened her eyes again, just to see a handsome man in his middle ages.

His skin was porcelain white, he had short, wavy, white hair, a sharp chin and he seemed to have eyes that reflect the cosmos.

His clothes just seemed to be the same as his eyes. It just seemed like they would reflect the entirety of the universe and held an infinite amount of knowledge.

The person looked back at Akane.

"Little Akane, it's still too soon for you to leave the BNHA universe. It's in general too soon for you to enter the 'Sealing Designation Space', so you should leave again here as soon as possible."

Akane had a feeling of nostalgia, a feeling as if this person was something very important to their past.

"Well, you came her for a specific thing, didn't you? You don't have to worry though, when you wake up you will already find them in your menu. Don't worry and just wake up. Just remember."

Akane already felt like her consciousness was fading away from here. As if nothing that happened just now was real.

"Gaster. Allowed. (Error). Confirm Divine Layer. Confirmed."

"Gaster. Gate open."

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On her way to school:

"How curious. You know, partner. I was worried for a second about your increasing LOVE, but right before you woke up it returned to one again. Care to tell me what happened in your stay there?"

Akane shook her head. Chara looked worried. Something severe happened.

"You know, partner. You can trust me when things weigh on your heart. I will always be there for you after all. You know?

Akane opened her eyes wide open. She didn't want to imply that she didn't trust Chara to that degree yet!

"NO! Look, I really can't tell you what happened. It's as if my memories from that incident were wiped clean. I couldn't really tell you, even if I wanted too!"

"Oh."

Chara was surprised. Guess she really threw Akane in a dangerous place if memory loss came with a successful clear. She didn't want to imagine what would have happened if Akane failed.

"I am sorry."

"You don't have to be. After all, it was my fault for senselessly jumping in like that. Chara, I thought about something."

Akane breathed in before formulating her response.

"Inflicting pain to someone, hurting others, killing. It isn't necessarily something evil. But LOVE, or Level of Violence is. It measures the willingness for violence on another person. How less you would hesitate before hurting someone or even killing them without any regrets or respect to the person you killed. And as that LOVE is something absolute. Just because you are ready to hurt someone doesn't make you bad person."

"Huh, you found out the truth about LOVE, huh? Just because you are willing to kill someone doesn't necessarily make you a bad person, but the sacrifices following it does that. Just as most of humanity would admit that they felt like vomiting after their very first kill, but the second is easier, is simply because they got over the feeling of 'taking someone's life away'. As long as you stay as self-respecting person that honors the death of someone, that remembers the face of their victims they killed, as long as you stay 'human' your LOVE will never reach 20 or higher."

"Yes, Chara, but..."

"But what?"

"What are these pills then? One container is filled with pills that raises my LOVE by one regardless of anything and the other degreases them by one. What the hell are these?"

Chara was silent. Yes, these pills were a bit suspect.

"Geez, you are thinking too much. Think about where you potentially were to get these things. These pills are 'things outside of the domain', thinking about stuff like that is pointless. It's as if you tried to think about these eldritch elder gods, you won't be able to comprehend anything, simply because they have a completely different set of rules to follow. Now calm down and run. You are late for school. Arata."

Akane smiled, she was happy knowing that Chara tried cheering her up. But now she must hurry. She really was late for school!