Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Chapter 76: Happy To Angry
The next day*
It's the afternoon, and Momoyo is practically trying to kill me by attempting to snap my neck while I give her a piggyback ride. She isn't truly putting her full strength into it, though; it's more her way of showing just how frustrated she is with me. Walking nearby are Alucard, Sakamoto, and Rion, keeping pace with us as we head away from the school. With classes over for the day, all of us have already left the school grounds and are making our way back together.
"You're damn lucky we covered your ass. Otherwise, a whole lot of people would've been coming after you for disappearing again." Rion scowled at me and jabbed a finger against my forehead. "And not just that, little heiress here nearly went running off to hunt you down herself if gendershifter over here hadn't stepped in and kept her from leaving."
Alucard merely flipped Rion off without even sparing her a glance, her eyes fixed on the distance with a look of pure boredom, as if this entire exchange was already beneath her interest.
"By the way, what made you leave everyone so suddenly?" Momoyo asked, her voice losing some of its earlier teasing edge. "Was it because of your family?" That single question was enough to make the others quiet down.
"That's only half the reason." I said, as if it were nothing unusual at all. "The other half is that my curses were acting up. So I left for a couple of days to suppress them long enough to get them back under control before I came back."
"CURSES?!" Momoyo shouted in horror, her voice rising so sharply that everyone around us could hear the disbelief in it. In her shock, she accidentally put more force into her playful chokehold—more than enough to snap an ordinary person's neck without much effort. Luckily for me, I wasn't exactly an ordinary person, so while it was definitely uncomfortable, it still wasn't enough to do any real damage.
"Yeah, why else do you think I keep ending up in one insane situation after another?" I said with a grin, looking at Momoyo and the others. "And how else do you think I ended up with these supernatural abilities? Powers like this don't exactly come without a price, you know. But don't worry—I've got a couple of ways to handle those costs, at least well enough for now."
"Wait… does that mean that by staying around you more often, we're going to run into all kinds of things people normally should never see in their entire lives?" Rion stared at me in shock, her eyes widening as the thought fully sank in. Then her expression shifted as something clicked in her head. "Hold on—that actually explains way too much about what happened back then. Wait, is that how you became a Seer?!" She looked even more bothered now, like the realization was driving her insane. "That's been bugging the hell out of me ever since you told me you were a Seer!"
"You're a Seer?" Sakamoto stared at me like he was seeing me for the first time, his entire expression shifting into stunned disbelief. Then, almost immediately, that shock turned into intense seriousness. "Can you tell me whether things will work out with my future romance?" He looked so deadly earnest that it seemed like he was fully prepared to put his life on the line just to hear the answer.
"You'll live a happy, peaceful life with your future wife." I replied, already knowing how Sakamoto's original future would turn out. "The two of you will even have a cute little daughter, one you'll love with all your heart. You'll also end up running a two-story convenience store together. The first floor will be the shop itself, while the second floor will be your family's living space."
Sakamoto immediately drifted off into his own little daydream, and a wide, dreamy smile slowly spread across his face. It was the kind of soft, blissful grin that made it obvious he was already imagining that future for himself in perfect detail.
"Are you messing with us?!" Rion looked like she was only a second away from bursting into laughter as she threw an arm around Sakamoto's neck and pointed straight at him. "Are you seriously not lying? This guy? The one we've known for years? Owning a two-story convenience store?" She was clearly having trouble picturing it. "Are you sure it's not supposed to be some kind of firearm store or something that helps him carry out his future jobs instead?"
Sakamoto's dreamy smile slowly faded away, and he turned to stare at me in silence. He did not say a single word, but the look on his face made it painfully obvious that he was quietly agreeing with Rion and now seriously doubting that future I had just described.
"Well, that's Sakamoto in the future." I said, giving a small shrug. "The one standing here with us now hasn't even reached the point where his love interest has fully accepted him as her future husband yet."
I shot Sakamoto a brief sidelong glance, and he immediately froze, horror flashing across his face at how casually I said it.
"If anything, he's the one who'll have to change himself if he really wants to be with the woman he's chasing—the one who'll become the love of his life. After all, she isn't part of our kind of world at all. She's just a normal, ordinary girl trying to live her life." I paused for a moment before adding. "The only truly unusual part is that she somehow managed to catch this guy's attention so completely that she became the reason he abandoned his life as an assassin."
Then I looked at the others before they could interrupt. "And before any of you ask, yes—she knows exactly what Sakamoto is. She knows he's an assassin, and not just any assassin, but a terrifyingly capable one at that."
"I'm starting to get really curious about who this girl is. Care to introduce her to us?" Rion asked with a grin, turning toward Sakamoto. The moment she said that, Sakamoto went visibly pale and immediately shook his head. "Aw, come on, Sakamoto! You know us well enough by now to know we wouldn't do anything to her!" But that only made him shake his head even faster, as if he trusted the danger less in her intentions and more in what would happen the moment the two actually met.
"Hey, Master, there's a bunch of people blocking our way." Alucard suddenly spoke up, her voice cutting straight through the back-and-forth between Rion and Sakamoto. That was enough to make everyone immediately drop the conversation; everyone's attention shifted away from the teasing as everyone looked up ahead toward the group standing in our path.
One of the six stepped forward—an older, middle-aged man who bore an unsettling resemblance to me, but much older and sharper. He was dressed neatly in a brown business suit, giving him the appearance of an ordinary professional at first glance, but that only made the resemblance stand out even more.
"Nephew, it's time for you to come back with us. The family head wants to see you." The middle-aged man said in a tone that made it clear he had no intention of accepting refusal. "As your uncle, I think it's about time I stopped letting you waste your life out here."
Then his gaze shifted to Momoyo on my back, and the greed and lust in his eyes were so obvious that there was no mistaking them. Everyone on my side noticed it immediately, and the mood around us turned cold in an instant.
"Isn't this the guy you complained about before—the one who's absurdly arrogant because of his high success rate as a spy?" Rion whispers to me, keeping her eyes fixed on my uncle and the others the entire time. Then her gaze flicked across the rest of the group. "And if I'm seeing this right, those are your cousins too, aren't they? The ones who always follow your uncle's lead?"
"Yup." I replied, narrowing my eyes at my so-called uncle, Ryuji, as old memories of him resurfaced in my mind. "Get yourselves ready, just in case this turns into a fight."
"Come now, nephew, there's no need to make this any harder on yourself." Ryuji said with a smooth smile as he took another step forward, my cousins moving behind him in quiet formation and following his lead without hesitation. His eyes flicked toward Momoyo, still on my back, and his smile sharpened slightly. "And it's hardly gentlemanly to carry Miss Momoyo around like that." He stopped just enough to let the words hang in the air before speaking again in the same calm, commanding tone. "Be a good boy and come with me."
"That's Lady Kawakami to you." Momoyo said, giving Ryuji a look full of open disgust. "And Chikao isn't going anywhere with you." She leaned forward on my back, pressing her cheek lightly against mine while never once taking her eyes off him. The gesture should have looked affectionate, but with the way she was staring at Ryuji, it felt more like a challenge thrown directly in his face. "If you want a fight, then just say it. None of us here is afraid of you or your little group."
Rion slipped her arm from around Sakamoto's neck and stepped forward without the slightest bit of hesitation. In one smooth motion, she drew a handgun and leveled it straight at Ryuji. The air seemed to tighten around that single act, but Ryuji showed no sign of fear at all. If anything, the sight of the gun only seemed to amuse him more, the smile on his face widening as though he found the threat entertaining rather than intimidating.
Sakamoto narrowed his eyes and lifted his chin slightly, his gaze locked on Ryuji with quiet intensity. At the same time, he reached up and adjusted his tie with calm, intentional movements, the kind that made it clear he was already preparing himself for whatever came next.
Alucard let out a low, sadistic giggle as she stared at Ryuji, her eyes filled with clear hostility and the kind of dangerous intent that made it obvious she would enjoy whatever happened next.
Ryuji let out a long, dramatic sigh and slowly shook his head, looking at us with an expression full of false pity. "Honestly, nephew, you really shouldn't drag other people into your problems. It won't reflect well on you once I report to the family head that you refused to follow a direct order."
"You can shove that nonsense straight up your ass! How about we put a few holes in you so it finally gets through that Chikao isn't going anywhere with you?" Rion snapped, glaring at Ryuji with open fury. Her grip on the handgun stayed steady as her expression twisted into something far more dangerous. "Keep pissing me off, and I can already picture you flat on the ground, bleeding from a dozen holes!"
"Seriously, nephew? These are the kinds of people you choose to surround yourself with?" Ryuji said, looking at me with open disappointment, as if he had any right to judge the company I kept. He gave a small shake of his head before adding. "Honestly, you could do far better than this."