It's still a couple chapters away on here, but, I didn't think I'd be writing Enji vs Illya, Berserker, Gilgamesh and even Kirei.
-
I awoke with a start, in the middle of a roll. That wouldn't really be a problem, if I weren't sleeping on the couch. My nose hit the floor first, then the rest of my body followed suit. I immediately jerked and gripped my bruised nose with both hands, wincing and groaning at the same time from the unexpected pain.
That pain was gone right the next instant when a plain-faced Bazett wrapped only in a towel stepped out of the attached bathroom right across from the couch. She froze when she saw me. I did too.
She quickly slammed the door shut.
"Thank you, whichever god threw me off the bed." I nodded to myself as I sat up, rubbing my nose, "If I knew you, I'd make a donation in your name."
Contrary to the way things developed last night, nothing had really happened between us. I took the couch, not because I wasn't interested, I absolutely was, but because I didn't want to ruin whatever 'this' was becoming for a momentary lapse in judgment.
I didn't just want a quick good time with someone who stuck along after all the sappy shit I poured out the last night, someone who showed no expectation in return... God.
I shook my head, pushing away those thoughts.
"Perhaps she will think you find her inadequate."
No, Bazett wasn't the sort of person to think like that. She probably didn't even understand why she herself was sticking with me. I understood that now.
"Do you watch everything I do?" I looked up at Shuwen.
"Kakaka!" The old man chuckled loudly, offering me a hand, "That is what I promised you, yes. Do not worry. She may well be the most beautiful woman in the world and I would not even deign to look her way, for she is not my wife."
I lowered my head.
"I respect that."
More than I could put into words.
Shuwen smiled faintly, "I know."
The landline on the bedside table began to beep. I tilted my head, wondering who it could possibly be as I stepped over to receive the call. No one had my details, at least not that I knew of. I could, however, think up a few people that would be able to get their hands on them.
Chiefly, Kirei.
Licking my dry lips, I put the phone against my ear.
"Zen'in-san, are you awake at the moment?"
There was a woman on the other end, the receptionist if I guessed the voice right.
"I don't think I'd be taking a call if I wasn't." I held my nose, "No, sorry, I fell off the bed so my mood's a little sour."
She retained a respectful tone, "That's alright, Zen'in-san. I apologise for bothering you at such a time."
I hummed.
"There is someone asking after you-"
Kirei?
Despite the central heating, the room seemed to grow terribly cold as the next words came over the phone. A shiver ran down my spine.
"-He has the same last name as you, Zen'in-san. Otherwise, we wouldn't bother you. He claims it is a family emergency."
...
Zen'in.
How?
How had they found me?
I knew they were a big deal, and that their influence was vast just from how Rin had reacted to finding out my origins, but I'd clearly failed to understand the true depth of their reach in this country, or had someone betrayed me to them-
No.
I shook my head.
If they wanted to mess with me, I was going to wipe them out.
Beating a fist against my chest, I inhaled deeply.
"I'll be right down."
That was what a true sorcerer would do.
I put the phone down and stepped over to the bathroom, giving the door a knock.
"I heard." Bazett answered calmly, "I'll be down with you."
Shuwen had already fallen in behind him, and when I exited my room into the corridor, Cu Chulainn was already leaning against my door with his arms crossed and a grin on his face.
That was to say, I would jump whoever it was in true jujutsu fashion.
"Did ya do it?"
His words took a second to click.
"No."
He hung his head.
"Damn shame that. She was all but throwing herself at you. My master's a lonely one, see, and pretty innocent deep down. She summoned me cause she read my story once and felt bad for me." Then, he was flashing a grin at me and patting my shoulder, "You're a good lad."
-
I entered the reception with an open mind and only Bazett by my side, but the man I found waiting for me still managed to throw me off. He was not some kind of Naoya or Naobito or any of the other relatives I was expecting someone who looked like me to have, no, it was a bald middle-aged man with unremarkable features except for his thick brows.
He wore a white gi-like shirt tucked into loose black trousers, tied at the waist with a cloth. The tight undershirt clung to his chiseled chest, and was pulled over his mouth and nose to hide his face like some kind of ninja scarf. There was a black binder tucked under his arm.
I couldn't help but feel that his appearance was extremely familiar.
When his eyes met mine, he let out a relieved sigh, hand over his chest, and a sort of warmth overtook his features.
He hurried over.
I prepared myself to channel one of my Shikigami if the need arose.
"I'm glad I found you before the others." He said not unkindly. His arms rose, like he wanted to hug me, but he lowered them, seemingly deciding against such intimacy, "I tried to find you as soon as your sister contacted me."
...
"The clan head grew suspicious when the police contacted us." He continued, not even giving me the time to understand what he was saying, "They brushed him off, but someone took a deeper look into the police records. The family is looking for you."
I furrowed my brows, "My sister?"
Bazett stayed silent, but tugged at my sleeve to assure me she was there.
"Safe. I can only thank that the idiot ran to me instead of someone else. Your father was only my cousin, but I can't be as cold to family as everyone else is."
Try as I did, I could not take his words at face value. I did not trust him at all. Instead, I found myself wondering where the others were hiding. If what the clan had decided for Megumi was anything to go by, someone definitely wanted me gone.
I did not know the Zen'in.
I knew for a certainty that as magi, they would be far worse than the sorcerers.
He seemed to notice my suspicion. He clenched his fist, and I readied myself for an attack. It never came. He merely held out the binder he'd been holding. I looked at the thick black clump of files, then back up at him.
"What is this?"
"I don't have the permission to approach the Founder's manuscripts, but I was able to copy the writings of one of the ancestors from the Heian Era." His grip on the documents tightened, "Except for the Divine General, he had an uncontested grasp on all nine Shikigami, and his research went down to their origins."
...That could be helpful.
"If you truly have awakened our Crown Jewel, then that is your right to be the head. Maybe, you who haven't been tainted by the poison of our elders will be able to steer us towards a better path."
I raised a brow, "And what do you get from this?"
For a good few moments, he simply didn't answer. But, the smile that came after, could be seen even through the cloth covering his face.
"Enji-kun, I just got tired of hating myself for abandoning family."
That...
"Aren't you a magus?"
He shook his head, "Not all of us inherit the new crests."
A lot of questions rushed into my head then, over all of this. I never got to voice them. Suddenly, the air grew choked. A strange breeze passed over the main lobby of the hotel. When it passed, the world felt... wrong.
"Bounded Field." The Enforcer beside me pulled on her gloves.
All around us, the other guests seemed to lose their concentration. Some lied down on the floor outright, other more resistant ones shuffled around aimlessly, like they'd grown drunk on the air. In front of me, the strange Zen'in reached for his back and pulled out a long blade.
"They followed me. Of course, they did. I'm sorry about this."
"There he is! And you, traitor!"
The glass doors slid aside, and half a dozen tall men in the same outfit as him ran in, brandishing axes and swords and chained sickles that oozed a strange kind of mystery. Only after seeing them did it finally click.
Kukuru Unit.
The squad consisted of Zen'in men who did not possess a cursed technique.
But... that made a lot less sense here. Ah… unless they had substituted the Cursed Techniques with Magic Crests that had similar magecraft in them, the same as the first Zen'in had done.
Then...
"Uncle... John?"
The bald man stared at me confusedly. I rubbed the black mark on my chin, forcing a slight grin.
If they wanted to come at me... that was ideal.
My teeth sharpened.
My nails became claws.
My shadows began twisting and turning.
"I've been wanting to see how these fare against non-heroic spirits."
-
Hope you enjoyed.
Plz, comment.
You can find 6 chonky chaps ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap.
REally should've been more, but I was unexpectedly busy these weekends. I'm free to write the rest of the month tho, so expect many updates.