The night in Tokyo could barely be described as night anymore, not since old man Edison created the light bulb.
It was late, yet people still crowded the plaza, talking and hanging out when they should have been sleeping. Billboards over twenty meters tall flashed images and videos of idols, anime, and games, all plastered across tall buildings. The relentless advertisement made the already stuffy place feel even more crowded.
Even in the dead of night, Tokyo still felt alive.
However, not every corner of the city was like the bustling plaza.
In a secluded, abandoned warehouse, a purple haired teenager clad in a black turtleneck and a dark purple coat stood calmly, staring at the creature before him with his mismatched eyes(one blue, one red.)
The thing looked as if it had stepped straight out of a nightmare. It was a seven-foot-tall, hairless, and skinless ape with the face of a woman, its elongated tongue dragging across the damp concrete floor.
The teen squinted his mismatched blue and red eyes, assessing the monster and the danger it posed.
"So, a B-rank, huh?" he said, his voice distorted by the cyber-style respirator on his face.
He couldn't help but sigh. Finally, after an entire week of non-stop missions assignments he could finally rest.
As one of Japan four Special Grade Sorcerer, he was required to complete 10 high ranked missions every month, and him being someone who want to enjoy life, complete the missions quota in a week. Just so that he could slack off for the rest of the month.
"Truly, you are a genius Vermilion Hoshino~" Vermy praised himself while he shook his head, not caring a slightest bit about the cursed spirit infront of him.
Now, him praising himself wasn't just because he completed those high ranked missions, it was also for his decision of choosing a high school so far from home and moving to his own place.
Back when he still live with his family, he would have a very hard time sneaking off to complete his missions.
Him being born as a triplets mean that his siblings somehow always know when he was lying through their Triplet Psychics connection. His mother on the other hand have an uncanny ability to detect whenever he was lying.
So sneaking out to complete the quota for the month become the hardest part of the missions it self. Sometime he didn't even get to fulfilled his quota making the higher ups deduct his pay!
"I swear to god if not for the fact that I love my family I would've gone rouge a long time ago," Vermy grumbled, advancing slowly toward the creature.
The monster shrank back, a tremor running through its form as if terrified of the teen approaching it.
The teen seeing this let out an amused chuckle. No matter how many times he saw it, the sight of a barely-sentient curse spirit feeling fear would always crack him up.
"Don't worry," he purred, his voice full of mockery. "I'll make this quick~"
As if it understood Vermy's attempt at a rage bait, the curse spirit surged forward in a blind rage, its tongue lashing out like a whip.
In that instant, Vermy closed his eyes.
When they snapped open again, his pupils had shifted into sharp, six-pointed stars. A flash of blinding light erupted from his eyes, instantly illuminating the warehouse in a brilliant flash of light.
As the light started to dwindle, the cursed spirit who was about to attack Vermy was seen lying on the floor with multiple stab wound all over its body.
The body starts to disintegrate, turning into a black dust while Vermy on the other hand appears on the other side of the warehouse holding a mechanical looking purple spear in his hand pointing forward.
The spear have a telescoping black shaft, usually hidden within the compact frame, is locked firmly at maximum reach;it looks deceptively slender, yet Vermy held the heavy mechanical head steady with zero flex during the brief conflict.
The massive purple casing at the top is still radiating a faint, dry heat, the internal servos humming quietly as they spin down into standby. The broad silver blade emerging from the center is terrifyingly clean, marred only by a single, thin streak of fluid sliding sluggishly down the center ridge.
Below the blade, the black, hook-like claws of the crossguard are pristine, proof that Vermy had just finished sending it to the blacksmith for maintenance.
[Polaris Garden]
(Pic)
His muscle tense but his face showed a carefree appearance with his mouth showing a smug grin underneath his respirator.
Spinning his body playfully to face the curse spirit, Vermy spin the spear in his hand and tap the bottom of the spear at the concrete floor, making it dissapear in a burst of starry glitters.
"Mission accomplished~" Vermy announced. The smug look he have couldn't be masked by the respirator on his face.
He points a finger gun at the dissolving corpse and winking at it, showing only his blue eye which still has the six pointed star as its pupil.
"Now then, time to clock out!" Vermy said enthusiastically as he exit the warehouse.
☆☆☆
Outside, he saw a middle aged man leaning against a black Toyota Corolla. The man's appearance is a picture perfect description of a corporate slave. With an impeccable black suit and red tie, the man gave off an aura of an experienced senior at work.
The man's eyes are drooped and vacant giving an illusion of a veteran who had seen some shit. His cheek is a little bit sunken and there are heavy eyebags underneath his eyes. His hair is a mix of black and gray resembling salt and pepper.
All of this makes the man look far older than he actually is.
"Yo Satsuki-san, the mission is done!" Vermy called out to the man, waving as he said so.
Hearing his name being called, life instantly reappeared in Satsuki Nagaru's eyes as he saw Vermy walking toward him with his usual carefree gait. His previous frown was replaced with a smile. He waved back to Vermy and opened up the door to the backseat of the car for him.
"Welcome back Hoshino-dono and congratulations on completing your tenth mission this week" He congratulates Vermy, proud of his achievements.
As Vermy's designated assistant, Satsuki had accompanied Vermy throughout all of his missions so he naturally knew how hard Vermy has been working these past few days.
"Thanks, the mission was a breeze~★" Vermy bragged casually, flicking his hair and sliding into the backseat with familiarity.
Satsuki let out a soft chuckle as he closed the door. "Of course sir." He played along, already used to Vermy narcissistic behavior before taking his place at the driver's seat.
"Well then sir, do you have anywhere else you want to go to or are you done for the day?" Satsuki turned his head to face Vermy.
"Nope, just take me back to my place.
I'm spent" Vermy slumped on the seat, the sheer laziness in his voice even make Satsuki feel like yawning.
"As you wish sir" After saying that, Satsuki starts the car and begins driving toward Vermy's personal apartment.
During the ride, Vermy and Satsuki talked about various miscellaneous topics, making the atmosphere in the car rather lively even with only two people present.
It didn't take a long time for them to reach Vermy's apartment. As the car stopped, Vermy exited the vehicle and bid his farewell toward his assistance.
He stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the building that was now, for better or worse, home. It wasn't anything fancy, but it had a certain charm to it. The building was painted a warm, chocolate brown, the kind of sensible Earth tone chosen by a homeowners' association to ensure the property looked clean year-round. Against the white trim of the window frames, the color actually looked quite sharp.
The architecture was straightforward and suburban. He noticed that the paint was fresh, lacking the chips or water stains of the older rentals nearby. It was the kind of building that would allow Vermy to live a quiet and comfortable life.
As he walked toward the front entrance, he noted the lack of cursed spirits roaming the place. Vermy smile, it seems that the charm he's putting all around the neighborhood is working as expected.
Now, the only 'undead' that is roaming the area is the 'earthbound' and the 'guardian' spirits. There was no smell of decay here, just the faint, clean scent of mulch from the flower beds and the distant hum of a central air conditioning unit working exactly as it should.
Although no one is watching, Vermy decided to 'perform' a simple magic trick by magically pulling out his keys from out of nowhere in the middle of the air.
It's been half a year since he moved in so he had become acquainted with some of his neighbors.
He pushed open the heavy oak-veneered door and turn on the light switch, revealing the interior design of the apartment. The place is a simple 3LDK¹ apartment with a built-in soundproof wall, perfect for Vermy who'd occasionally karaoke alone.
He close the door and lock it.
"I'm home!" Vermy announced even though logically, nobody would reply. After all he lived alone now.
However, contrary to the expectation. Something did reply;
"ꅐꏂ꒒ꉔꄲꂵꏂ ꃳꋬꉔꀘ" a soft, wispy and quiet voice called out timidly from behind the couch in the living room..
Vermy pretends not to see the scary woman peeking from the couch.
The woman resembles a high schooler with super long black hair, super pale skin and translucent legs. She wore a bright blue oversized plain kimono and her eyes are darker shades of red than Vermy's own eye.
Zashiki-Warashi², that is the name of her species. She is a yokai that appears a week after Vermy had settled into this apartment.
At first Vermy thought of driving it away from his place but he unexpectedly grew fond of the Yokai.
She, unlike other supernatural creatures that Vermy regularly interacts with, is someone/something who never once botters him. She even likes to help around the house when she thinks that Vermy wasn't looking.
For example, she once help wash the dirty dishes while Vermy was asleep.
She is unusually timid for a Yokai and Vermy feared that if she know that he could see her it might drove her away so Vermy kept the fact that he could see her a secret.
'I'm home' Vermy silently greet Ms. Zashiki-Warashi in his heart.
He takes off his Respirator and put it on the counter and when straight to the bathroom.
While bathing, he realize that he forgot to prepare a new set of clothes for him to wear. But, after he step out for the bathroom, he saw a fresh set of pajamas put in a basket infront of the door.
'Ms. Zashiki... Can I marry you? ' He's not even joking.
☆☆☆
[The Next Day]
Shukaoka High. This school used to be two different school (Shuka High school and Haneoka all-girl High school) but for some reason they merged two years ago.
Shukaoka have one of the most active club activity in Japan, whether in sport or musical, their name consistently appear in most competition.
And Vermy, who loves anything involving music chooses this school.
(Class 1-A)
This is Vermy's class and the man himself is sitting at his desk that is currently being crowded by several of his classmates.
Now, with Vermy's appearance it wouldn't be surprising for him to be constantly crowded by others.
A mullet + wolf cut hairstyle is a lethal combo and a face structure that make him appear very androgynous, Vermy is constantly pulling admirers from both genders. His rare heterochromic mutation certainly make his appearance go up by several points. But, the reason why people are crowding his place has nothing to do with his appearance.
(Pic)
"come on Hoshino, please divine the outcome for my confession later!" A male classmate begged, putting his hands together above his head.
"NO! Divine my gacha pulls first!" Another classmate with glasses begged, slamming his palms on Vermy's desk.
Not only those two, there are several other classmates that are lingering on Vermy's desk, asking him to divinate their fortune.
With a calm smile, Vermy takes out a deck of Tarot Cards and puts it on his desk "Alright" He points toward the classmate that is going to confess "You know the deal. Draw"
Hearing this, the black haired classmate excitedly handed over 500 yen coins to Vermy and drew three cards from the top of the deck.
With a nervous gulp, the black haired dude flips the three tarot cards revealing [THE WORLD], [HANGED MAN] and [STRENGTH] cards
Nodding at the cards, Vermy looked at the dude infront of him.
Unseen to everyone, his pupils had changed into a sharp six-pointed stars the moment the classmate draw the first card.
"The outcome of your confession will bring a great shift to your relationship. On one hand, your confession may result in a sense of relief and liberation, but on the other, the girl you are confessing to will carry a heavy sense of burden in her heart. She may take a while to consider and in the end, the outcome won't be what you desire." Vermy delivers the verdict.
"so she will reject me huh..." the boy looked dejected and others tried to comfort him.
"Yes. but that is if you were to confess now."
"wait" the boy lifted his head "you mean-!"
"if you just wait for... a week at least, then there will be a chance that she will reciprocate your feelings" Hearing this the dude raised his hands and celebrated loudly.
Just as others were about to ask Vermy to do them next, the bell rang. So with a dejected face all of them returned to their seats.
A teacher enters the class and begins the first lecture of the day.
While pretending to listen, Vermy secretly begins counting his earnings from the divination side gigs he did.
You see, out of sheer boredom, Vermy started a side gig where he would do a divination for a measly 500 yen.
At first no one took him seriously but they would still come to him for a divination, after all his payment is even cheaper than lunch sold at the cafeteria.
However, as time went on people started to notice that his divinations is surprisingly accurate.
Because of that, people start coming over to Vermy in order to receive his divination service.
This combined with his appearance and unique name make Vermilion Hoshino become the school undisputed No.1 popular dude (or as a certain Pink tsuchinoko would say, The God of Normies)
While the teacher is teaching, Vermy secretly stole a glance at his desk neighbour, a cute girl by the name of Tomori Takamatsu. To others, she looks like she seems to be diligently taking notes but to Vermy who is near her saw what she is actually doing, and that is rearranging and polishing stones... And bugs!?
The heck? Seriously???
Wasn't girls supposed to be disgusted with these things? sure Vermy himself wasn't scared of bugs (he fought creatures far more disgusting after all) but he wouldn't go as far to collect them.
He wouldn't judge her tho. After all, people are allowed to have hobbies.
His were making money.
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(A/N: well here is the first chapter. This is my first fic. How is it? Tell me if there is anything I need to improve on.)
¹ 3LDK: A common Japanese apartment layout — two bedrooms, a living room, dining area, and kitchen.
² Zashiki-Warashi: A household spirit from Japanese folklore said to bring good fortune to those it favors