Once his wrist was free, he quickly pulls his arm back, scowling a little in annoyance. What was the point of that anyway, holding him there while he tried to run from the light zombies? Though, considering that he was (mostly) powerless, perhaps sticking with Shintaro would be beneficial, for now.

“Thanks, then. Though next time, don’t grab my wrist like that. The last thing I want is to lose this,” Kyoya mutters. He lifts his arm up, pointing to the bracelet with his other hand. He sure as hell wasn’t going to mention it’s importance, however. As far as Kyoya was concerned, that little tidbit wasn’t necessary.

“In any case, lead the way.” Hiding the bracelet under the sleeve of his hoodie, he quickly checks behind him before walking towards the alleyway.

…I wish I could have fully kept my composure when Kyoya showed that bracelet to me. Sadly, I couldn’t avoid but to jerk at seeing it. Bracelet associates with command, which associates with poison, which associates with shortness of breath and and pain and death and-

“Shintaro. Calm down. That is not the same bracelet as the one you’d see in the Killing Game. You are not in that game, or in that world anymore, even.”

Yaki’s words felt like a bucket of cold water over my agitated self. Harsh, but I needed that. Like, I was fucking rubbing my right wrist like I was feeling some sort of phantom pain in it! Talk about confusing and embarrassing… Not to count that my eyes must likely be burning red right now. Hopefully my hoodie is hiding my face well enough.

Of course, if he had any need to nullify his abilities, or at least the ones he was aware of, then that would be perfect for an explanation. Maybe. Hopefully.

Well, this was certainly a good test of his patience, now wasn’t it? Though, it would seem it wouldn’t take very long for him to snap.

“Are you fucking insane–” He was just about to pull his arm out of the other’s grasp when he saw the electric sword drop down from the heavens, only for the sight to make him freeze in surprise. And to be honest, if the blade were blue instead, it’s likely he could have mistaken it for one of her abilities. The simularities between the two, however, were enough for Kyoya to jump to a few conclusions.

Once more, he tried to pull his arm away. Yet upon seeing which arm he had ahold of, he hesitates. Staring at the bracelet around his right arm for a moment, he clicks his tongue in annoyance. He didn’t want to risk damaging it– even if it was unlikely for it to easily break.

“…Are you done?” Despite his best efforts to hide it, there was a hint of agitation in his voice, or perhaps even anger. Part of his anger was because of envy, he didn’t particularly enjoy the fact that he had no way of defending himself against the light zombies. As for the other part, well… let’s call it distrust, shall we?

“Geez, you could maybe express a bit of gratitude over me saving our asses!”

Still, I get his point. I purposefully didn’t kill these poor people, so who knows how long they’ll stay down - or if anyone else will come. I let go of Kyoya’s wrist, before pointing at an alley.

“I’ve passed by here before. I know for sure there is a store we can take cover at there, so that is our best stop for now. From there, we can check the GPS for the best route back to our apartments. How about that?”

“Thanks, then. Though next time, don’t grab my wrist like that. The last thing I want is to lose this,” Kyoya mutters. He lifts his arm up, pointing to the bracelet with his other hand. He sure as hell wasn’t going to mention it’s importance, however. As far as Kyoya was concerned, that little tidbit wasn’t necessary.

He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of person would want to cause problems like this, yet now was hardly the time to think about it. Not when danger was heading their way.

Moving to face the zombie, he moves his left hand behind him, almost as if he were trying to summon a weapon– although that seemed to fail, with Kyoya forgetting that he only had one ability right now. Curiously, his eyes seemed to very briefly change to red, yet had since returned to normal by the time he turned to face his companion once more.

“You gotta be kidding– wait, what the actual– damn it, we don’t have time for this!” There were numerous different thoughts rushing through Kyoya’s mind, yet he had little choice but to deal with them one at a time. First things first, getting away from the approaching zombie. Then he could wonder what the hell was up with the snakes.

“C’mon, this way. I’d rather not stay out in the open for so long without somekind of plan of action.” Kyoya mutters. He starts stepping away from the zombie, looking around the area as he did so, looking for somekind of building to hide in for safety. After all, he felt like the one ability he had right now was useless in a situation like this.

The approaching zombie? Make that three, or more! Seriously, you’d think that the princess’ words would have made everyone run back to their houses, not stay out and expose themselves long enough to lose their sanity!

I looked at Kyoya frantically wanting to run away, but I held him by the wrist. Despite the situation quickly looking more and more grim, I was not that scared. For you see… I had a card up my sleeve.

“Not to worry. I do have a plan of action.”

I lift a finger to the sky, and from it several snakes shoot up towards the clouds, as they turn into red lightning. My hoodie should be hiding the shifts in my face that using magic causes in me, so hopefully Kyoya won’t be too frightened.

“Thunder Blade.”

With my command, a sword made of red electricity falls from the sky, and when it hits the floor, a literal shock wave is sent towards the zombies, electrocuting all of them all once. Thankfully, the spells the Sages grant are of easy enough control that I can make sure the discharge is not of a fatal voltage to them. They are still residents of this country, after all.

“Are you fucking insane–” He was just about to pull his arm out of the other’s grasp when he saw the electric sword drop down from the heavens, only for the sight to make him freeze in surprise. And to be honest, if the blade were blue instead, it’s likely he could have mistaken it for one of her abilities. The simularities between the two, however, were enough for Kyoya to jump to a few conclusions.

Once more, he tried to pull his arm away. Yet upon seeing which arm he had ahold of, he hesitates. Staring at the bracelet around his right arm for a moment, he clicks his tongue in annoyance. He didn’t want to risk damaging it– even if it ws unlikely for it to easily break.

“Fair point. That sounds like hell, I gotta admit,” The fact that he was wearing a black hoodie certainly didn’t help either– though if it were in the middle of summer that this bullshit was happening, it’s likely he would have stayed inside.

“That aside, the fact that this has happened twice now makes me wonder if there’s someone out there doing all this on purpose.” Now isn’t this interesting? Usually, Kyoya and his friends are the ones causing problems on purpose back home– though he doesn’t consider it as such. Oh how the tables have turned…

“Sounds like that’s the case.” I nod. “I mean, I wasn’t around for the first time, but I’ve read the news reports about the event. A sage turned into stone, their power stone stolen, world goes into disarray because of that, people have to collect items to reverse the issue, there is a threat on the way…”

Looks like the narrative parallels between darkness and light keeps going on. And meanwhile, we foreigners are the sitting ducks in the middle of the crossing fire. How wonderful-

Moving to face the zombie, he moves his left hand behind him, almost as if he were trying to summon a weapon– although that seemed to fail, with Kyoya forgetting that he only had one ability right now. Curiously, his eyes seemed to very briefly change to red, yet had since returned to normal by the time he turned to face his companion once more.

“You gotta be kidding– wait, what the actual– damn it, we don’t have time for this!” There were numerous different thoughts rushing through Kyoya’s mind, yet he had little choice but to deal with them one at a time. First things first, getting away from the approaching zombie. Then he could wonder what the hell was up with the snakes.

“Honestly, I think I’d prefer eternal night time over… whatever the hell this is.” Surprisingly, he doesn’t sound too fazed by this. Though, there was something about the ‘light zombies’ that concerned him, so he was going to stay out of the light for now.

“Big mood there.”

I reply to Kyoya, whom I spot while on my way to the castle to deliver some coins I collected. I’m, of course, wearing a hoodie to cover my head.

“Fair point. That sounds like hell, I gotta admit,” The fact that he was wearing a black hoodie certainly didn’t help either– though if it were in the middle of summer that this bullshit was happening, it’s likely he would have stayed inside.

Annoyance was quick to turn to bewilderment, then concern. Was… he okay? Perhaps he shouldn’t have called him out all of a sudden like that. Come to think of it, this did somewhat remind him of whenever Ari was asked to perform at a concert– sure, he did once, even if Kyoya could barely remember it for some reason.

But putting that aside for now…

“Um… I’m not really mad or anything, just… I don’t get why you’re staring so much. As far as I know, I don’t think I’ve actually done anything to deserve that.” Sure, he was a little annoyed, but that was beside the point. Now, he was a little worried about the person in front of him and the panic he may have accidentally caused. Unsure of what else to do, he decides it might be best to try to change the subject.

“Anyway, you got a name or something?” 

Not mad or anything… G-Good, that’s good, I think. But how am I supposed to explain why exactly I was staring this hard at him? ‘Oh, my bad, I confused you with your self from another dimension who studied with me at high school and was fucking killed during a killing game!’ Who the hell would believe that under normal circumstances? I know that I wouldn’t before awakening as a temporal anomaly myself!

Gaaaah, this won’t do! If things stay on this direction, I’ll just keep burying my dignity deeper and deeper into the ground-

“S-SHINTARO!!”

Ah, perfect! A life saving hook! Not the best execution, admitedly, but hey. Anything that will allow me to express any form of coherent thought whatsover while my mind is panicking at 100 km/h is deeply appreciated right now!!

“E-Er, I mean…” I clear my throat. “M-My… name is Shintaro Kisaragi. That’s my name, Ky-uh… Your name! How about yours?”

Yet before the mug could reach his lips, something he says makes him pause. Glaring at him for a brief moment, Kyoya puts the coffee mug back down, folding his arms over his chest. Unless he somehow mishead, did he almost say his name? As far as he was aware, Kyoya didn’t know anyone called Shintaro Kisaragi. Hell, he didn’t know anyone with that first or last name. So then, how did he know him?

“It’s Kyoya. Kyoya Saikai, though...” A pause. He was a little hesitant to ask his next question, in part due to his concern about mishearing him. Regardless, this wasn’t something he could ignore, it was going to bother him if he didn’t say something.

@sodasexual

While Kyoya had planned on enjoying his coffee in peace, he had a feeling that just wasn’t going to happen today. In the corner of his eye, he spotted someone outside the cafe looking right at him. Which was rather odd, he thought.

Well, whatever. For all he knew, they were probably looking at someone behind him. So with that thought in mind, he takes a sip of coffee, trying not to worry about the stranger. Of course, that doesn’t seem to work, so he sets the cup back down on the table, looking up only for his gaze to meet the stranger’s once more. Great.

“Can I help you with something?” He eventually speaks up. While Kyoya tried to stay somewhat calm, there was a hint of agitation in his voice. To be honest, he wasn’t particularly a fan of being stared at.

Now, usually, I wouldn’t even consider going to a cafe by myself. Not only are they usually full of people ready to stare at me and judge me as a creature not belonging to functional society, but there is right now the aggravating factor of my need to save for fundamental needs, such as a computer with internet.

I honestly considered the possibility of just spending all of my monthly stipend at once and enduring the hunger over lack of funds to buy food for a while, but my inner Ene memory berated me for too long over that, which I’m pretty sure was a direct action by Yaki. It was too vivid a memory to simply be my overreacting mind.

But I digress. Point is, I wouldn’t give a care about the cafe in front of me right now… were it not for a very particular person enjoying themselves there.

Kyoya Saikai. Former Ultimate Musician of Class 67. A classmate of mine back in Hope’s Peak Academy, and even my roommate at that. We were not exactly best friends, but I’d like to think that I was at least a bit closer to him than the acquaintance level.

I certainly remember him. The question is… does he remember me?

“Uh! E-Er…” Fuck. I didn’t plan what to say!! Although… considering that his first reaction wasn’t calling me by my name, I’d guess that, unlike Ahn-senpai, he likely doesn’t remember me.

Which means, I’m a total stranger to him. A total stranger who probably stared at him like one of those serial killers from TV shows, and now he must think I’m a dangerous, creepy guy just like one of those!! Aaaaaaah, this suuuuucks!! How did I already manage to blow up my chance of a normal conversation this badly?!

But putting that aside for now...

“Um... I’m not really mad or anything, just... I don’t get why you’re staring so much. As far as I know, I don’t think I’ve actually done anything to deserve that,” Sure, he was a little annoyed, but that was beside the point. Now, he was a little worried about the person in front of him and the panic he may have accidentally caused. Unsure of what else to do, he decides it might be best to try to change the subject.

Ideally, I have things to work on for his canon, which I should be doing right now. Alas, I don’t particularly feel like it, so how ‘bout another starter call?