"Hey, I have one of Rei's sex videos. Want to see? Meet me on the roof. Bring Rei or I won't give it to you."
That was the message that Takashi and Hisashi both separately got. Rei vehemently denied the existence of any such video and Takashi couldn't care less now, the thought of Rei having sex with Hisashi was too big a blow for him.
They ended up going to the roof and searched around the roof for the signs of the person who asked them to come. Although, Hisashi had little patience of this person. He pulled Rei by her hand, ready to leave.
It was then their circumstances changed. The moment Hisashi opened the door, something bit down on his arm, scaring them. He managed to push it back, but when they finally got a good look at it, they couldn't believe that it was a zombie.
Takashi, who brought a baseball bat to beat this guy up swung it on the person, shoving it down the stairs before they closed the door again.
"Hisashi!" Rei lunged on Hisashi, checking his arm, full of worry, "What was that! What was that!!"
"Fuck. They bit me," Hisashi pulled his sleeve down, blood dripping down. Rei saw a mark on his arm, seeing teeth marks along with blood.
BANG
The three of them heard a loud ramming sound from the door and Takashi pulled them away, "Stay back."
He hid beside the door, raising his baseball bat, ready to slam it down on anyone that came through here. And then there was another bang, this time it broke open the door.
Takashi gripped the bat tighter, ready to swing it on whoever entered. He glimpsed someone and without mercy he swung the bat. He was only in the middle when he noticed a short girl with white hair. He pulled back to stop the bat when the girl raised her palm, effortlessly grabbing the bat.
Raising her head, she looked at the blonde, foreign-looking boy, who was about their height. "That one has already received a bite."
"Makes our job easier," Kiba looked towards Hisashi, "He's one of the candidates."
Koneko ran her eyes over Rei's body, "Let's bring the girl too."
"You! Who are you," Takashi tried to free the bat from her grip, angrily asking the two people who came out of nowhere, talking about taking his friends.
Koneko glanced towards him. In this world, she had lost all of her strength, but she still had twice or thrice the strength of normal people. Along with her honed skills, he didn't stand a chance.
He pulled him forward, forcing him to lose his balance before she kneed him in the stomach.
"Takashi!" "Takashi!"
Hisashi clenched his fist. He raised his arm, keeping Rei behind him, cautiously looking at the visitors, "Who are you?! What do you want?!"
"You'll know soon enough," Kiba walked towards him, planning to take them both when he noticed someone and took a step back.
"Oh, why are you here? Irina? Ravel?"
Irina stood in front of Hisashi and Rei, while Ravel pulled them away, "that guy always comes here to skip classes with her. We were supposed to keep them safe. We messed up."
"Then go and protect them now. You don't think you can fight both of us alone. Or you want to fail so soon," Koneko mocked Irina, crossing her arms.
Irina pulled out the wooden katana she always hanged by her waist. She pointed it towards Kiba, getting into her stance, "Kiba-chi, I have been dying to have a rematch with you."
Kiba drew his wooden katana, griping the hilt with one hand, pointing the tip at her, "Feelings mutual."
Ravel tugged on Rias and Hisashi, "Attack the little girl on my signal."
"What?"
"If you want to live, then attack her and make a run for it."
"But," Rias muttered, looking towards Hisashi, who nodded.
"Ok."
Despite the chaos of the zombie apocalypse, Kiba and Irina locked eyes. Takashi, Hisashi, and Rei stayed on guard, ready to fight if necessary. They stood in silence, waiting for a moment.
And then it happened.
Irina made the first move, leaping towards him. She shifted her katana slightly back, ready to swing it forward as Kiba responded in kind. He shifted the angle of his blade, their blades striking in between them. Irina tried to push against him, but without her magical energy. Clearly, he had more strength.
She pulled back, and he adjusting the position and angle of the sword, slicing it towards her neck, not giving her the chance to breathe. Irina leaned back, ducking under the blade, able to support her body on her feet despite her back being parallel to the ground.
The tip of her blade slid against the ground, rising, reaching for his waist. Kiba shifted his weight and moved back, avoiding the deadly blade by mere inches. Irina swung her body around. She used her hand and feet to balance herself and dash forward, hearing the sharp sound for his katana hitting the ground where she was moments ago.
She pivoted, grabbing the hilt, gasping, "That was close."
"You are at a disadvantage here," Kiba regained the stance, this time gripping the hilt with both hands.
Irina grinned, "So what?"
She launched a flurry of attacks, focusing on speed over power. She knew that she needed to close the distance and secure victory within that time frame. Kiba adeptly matched her strikes, demonstrating both speed and strength. She forced him to step sideways, towards his left.
Kiba realised mid-way what she was doing. She was trying to get near the two people they were after. He could go after her. He had the upper hand. But he also knew if he let up for a moment, then she would absolutely take his head. So, he continued to counter every strike, pushing her back, trying to adjust her guard.
She thought she had control when Kiba's attack got faster and faster. She started to back away with every crash until her back hit the fence link. He tapped the tip of his blade against the fence, near her neck, "Nice try. Only, I always focused on my agility."
Irina hit her head against the link, "You won the match this time. Did you know Kiba-chi, the first time we tried to monitor them."
"Hm?"
CRACK
"A warning shot," she gripped her katana and Kiba felt a jerk in his hand. He stepped backwards, seeing his wooden sword break into two, and a muffled sound come from his right. His heart nearly skipped a beat from the fear of death suddenly hitting him.
"Sorry, Kiba-chi!" Irina slammed the hilt of her sword against his stomach, making her escape towards the door. She looked towards Ravel, Hisashi and Takashi.
Takashi lunged towards Koneko, who tried to dodge him, when Ravel tried to hit her, which she dodged too. She looked towards Hisashi, ready to dodge him. But the boy managed to catch them all off guard. He hugged Koneko, jumping towards the ground, "GO!"
"No! Hisashi!"
"I SAID GOOO!!!!!!"
"Sorry!" Irina caught Rei, who tried to fight against her. She picked her up, running towards the stairs where Takashi was already smashing the zombies away.
"No! Stop! Hisashi!! Hisashii!!"
Rei struggled, trying to get free of the girl, who carried her down the stairs, accepting all her tantrum, "Hurry! They will catch up!!"
They went down a floor, and the next, when she noticed the boy with light spiky blonde hair, "Aurum!"
She put Rei down beside Takashi, seeing Aurum along with Saya and Hirano, "We need to leave! They are coming!"
"Came for Hisashi?"
"Huh...yeah?"
"He got bit?"
"Yeah?" Irina blinked.
"They wanted to take Rei?"
"Uh..."
"Eve fired a warning shot?"
"Stop, from where were you watching?"
"Let it be. Even if I explain my thought process, you wouldn't be able to follow," Aurum took her wooden katana. He leaned forward, whispering in her ear, looking towards the stairs they came down from.
"I am understanding your Master's thought process. All I need is one confirmation to know what power he has."
"W-What?"
Aurum breathed in, looking towards his left hands palm. Then back towards his leather jacket, and beige t-shirt he wore under it, "Oh, man. I like this one.
He hurriedly walked towards Hirano, "Hirano."
"What do you need, Boss!" Hirano eagerly looked at him. At first, he was a little upset when he saw the way Saya looked at Aurum, and then he got a gun from Aurum, so all his jealousy disappeared. Especially when he heard his friend had an arsenal.
Aurum pointed towards nail gun, bringing the muzzle to his palm, pressing it in a way that was sure to leave a scar across the palm, "Shoot."
"What?"
"It's urgent. Shoot. No wait," Aurum turned, forcing Hirano to turn, making sure muzzle pointed towards the wall, "if you want to live. Shoot."
"No! What are you thinking! Kohta! Fatty, don't shoot!"
"Hirano! More guns! SHOOT!"
"More?"
"AN AR-10T SEMI-AUTOMATIC SNIPER RIFLE! YOU WANT IT?!"
"YES! I WANT IT!"
"THEN SHOOT!"
"I AM SHOOTING!"
"FATTY!"
BANG
"FUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Aurum pulled his palm away, pressing it against his stomach. He could see the blood coming out and spread along the t-shirt.
"What are you doing!" Saya tried to pull his palm, pressing her hand against his chest when she froze. She met with his eyes.
"Saya, stay back," Aurum walked past her. She wasn't the only one thinking what was going on or about to stop him and ask what was going on. Though he didn't have time to baby them or answer all their questions. He fixed his eyes on the stairs, seeing the green-eyed boy walk calmly walk down the stairs. Holding the broken wooden katana.
He stopped in the middle of the stairs, looking at Aurum, who was sweating, bleeding, "You were bit?"
"So what?" Aurum raised the sword, pointing the tip at him.
"Words I heard before," Kiba started walking towards him. The moment he stepped off the stairs he pushed forward and Aurum lunged forward. Kiba dodged towards his left, ready to attack where he got bit to incapacitate him and take him a prisoner when his eyes widened.
He noticed something poking under the leather jacket, but it was too late. All he felt was a burning feeling across his cheek. He lost his balance, falling forward, hearing his shout, "FUCK! THAT HURTS!"
Aurum pulled out the pistol from inside, dropping the wooden katana before he threw the pistol to his right palm. He pointed towards Kiba's leg, shooting his calf and then arm, "Ughh..."
He looked towards Kiba, who gripped his wooden sword, struggling to move, panting, "Hah! Agh! hah!!"
He felt Aurum's foot on his waist, who pushed and turned him over. He stared at him, "Twice..."
"Yeah, you fell for the same trick twice. Pretty stupid. Also tells me you never had a fear of guns. And you guys like to use sword? Where are you from?" Aurum crouched beside him, "Medieval times? Future where there are no guns? Parallel world shit? Not that I care."
He pointed the pistol on Kiba's forehead, "Now, either your Boss can take over people's body. Like I think he can. Or you are dead. I'll give you till three."
Kiba closed his eyes, breathing heavily, "Sorry Master..."
Aurum pulled pistol back, curiously looking at him when Kiba opened his eyes. From green, they visibly turned hazel, "You sure got Kiba good."
"You really can take over people's bodies," Aurum muttered, "I suspected it...but it was...oh if Apocalypse can happen then so can it. Not oh, apocalypse happened, then that has to too."
Aransae chuckled. He sat up, "You managed to best Kiba faster than I thought. I'll answer a few of your questions. Something you want to know?"
Aurum sat down, crossing his legs. He took out a paper from his jacket's pocking, showing it to Aransae, who read the words written on it.
"You managed to outwit .... How about I tell you more about myself to make you fear me more?"
Aurum crushed the paper, "That's what I wrote last night."
He dropped the paper in between them, staring at it, "Did anyone ever tell you that your thought process is very childish? I did this better when I was seven or eight."
"Good thing is. The moment you appeared, and you had no idea what I said to Irina. I know that you can watch us from everyone under your control all the time. But now I know you can only do that to men."
He chuckled, "Reasoning behind which is also very petty. Though understandable. But petty in the big scheme of things. Good to know."
Aurum put the silencer under his chin, raising his face. He narrowed his eyes, "I like the face you are making right now. Now that grin is no longer on your face."
Aransae blankly watched him. As he climbed on his feet, "I know the zombies you are controlling right now. They must be watching Eve. That's the only reason I am leaving this guy alive."
He breathed out, "For whatever reason. You brought hell to this world."
Aransae looked at his friend's back, watching him walk away, his hand bleeding, hearing him say, "next time we meet. I'll bring hell to you."
He softly chuckled, closing his eyes, healing Kiba's wounds before he left Kiba's body.
He opened his eyes in the hotel, "Hah...that was so cool. I want to be like that."
"Master, you are plenty cool too," Akeno stroked his head, feeling his breath hitting her stomach.
Rias dried her wet crimson hair. She watched her Master rest his face in Akeno's bare stomach, "Yes, Master...you have two beautiful girls in their lingerie walking around your hotel room. Men don't get cooler."
Aransae puffed his cheeks, "No, he's right. My strategies were bit newbie like. Maybe even obvious."
"No, Master, they were rather good for first timers," Rias sat down on the edge of the bed, cupping his cheek, "I never would have thought how you used Kyoko. That was very villainous."
"That was. Wasn't it?" Aransae muttered. He felt slightly happy, then his happiness took a dive, "I don't like it."
"I am going to keep losing like this. Worse...I am worried if I wasn't watching Eve to keep her safe, then he would have killed Kiba for sure."
"Master..."
"I never saw myself as a villain. Being a villain feels wrong. I decided to care for people...to be more human."
"Then you don't have to, Master," Akeno hugged his head, curling up in front of him.
Aransae raised his head from all that soft flesh, trying to suffocate him. He sat up, his silky hair sliding forward, brushing against Akeno's stomach, "But...is Aurum the only scary guy we are going to come across?"
Akeno sat up to look at his face. She looked towards Rias, who lowered her eyes, letting out a sigh, "Maybe not. Especially when Master plans to absorb the world. We might come across someone like him in every world. Exceptional in every meaning of the word."
"I know," Aransae looked up at them, "and that scares me...in these worlds, we have to partially follow the rules. At times, my wit might be the only thing available to me. I want to rely on you Rias...but I don't want to be a burden. That is why. I am going to see this through."
He raised his head, his eyes looking at the Fujimi Highschool from above, "Till now. I haven't been able to decide this villain thing. I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. I know most of you wouldn't feel good about it. That's why, from now on. I'll handle the dirty work."
'Since I can remember. I have felt my life to be chaos...a storm of thoughts and desire. One wave after the other.'
He took another breath, "No. I should have been handling the dirty work. That is why I am your Master."
"Hm... no. That is what I want to be for you."
'And now...finally...I feel like I have found an island to stop between the ocean of storm.'