Aiji's POV
I was sprawled out on the couch with my PS5
controller in hand, running through Final Fantasy VII
Rebirth. Honestly, the system was nice, but the game?
Beautiful. I kept thinking, yeah, this one better win
Game of the Year.
But even as I played, my mind wandered. I missed my
girlfriend. The soft way she touched me, her playful grin, the freckles only I
seemed to notice—like hidden constellations. The smoothest hair, the kind of
lips you can't forget. She was too perfect. It hurt to be away from her.
I grabbed my phone, her contact glowing on the
screen as Wonderful Girlfriend. My
thumb hovered for a second. Calling might bother her, so… text.
Me: "Hey baby, what's sup?"
She read it fast. My heart skipped.
Her: "Just trying to save
Memphis lol. I ran into Diligence earlier."
My stomach dropped. Diligence? She just… typed
that so casually? That guy was insane—way out of our league.
Me: "Oh are you ok??"
Her: "Yeah of course. I'm at
this base with some people called the Counter Strikers. A big dude walked in,
scary at first, but he's chill."
I finally breathed again. No ICU visits, thank god.
Me: "How are the people over
there?"
Her: "Kinda odd. I saw someone
strip 4 tires off a car in like 4 minutes. Craziest thing I've ever seen—right
before I ran into Diligence."
Four minutes?? For a whole car?? Whoever that was
might be worse than Diligence.
Me: "Well that's the real villain we need to stop."
Her: "Lol."
Her reply came quick. Then—
Her: "I gotta go, we have a
lot to discuss. Talk later, I love you. Bye."
Me: "Love you too baby."
She hearted it right away.
I stretched, finally setting my controller down. Rikuya should be here soon.
And right on cue, shadows began to pool at my door.
The air thickened as dark tendrils leaked through the frame, and out stepped
Rikuya, dripping with black like something straight out of Bendy and the Ink Machine.
He grinned like an idiot. "Aiji, look—I can
transport long distances now."
I slow-clapped. "Congrats, you're about as strong as
Tanjiro from Demon Slayer."
His face twisted in horror. "Hey, what the hell?! At
least give me Deku. Tanjiro??"
"Fine. Aizawa."
He clutched his chest dramatically and dropped to
his knees. "That ends friendships…"
I burst out laughing. "Alright, alright, I'm done.
So—where we headed?"
"Let's go to a bamboo grove clearing
and fight," Rikuya says, his grin sharp.
I pause. Heh. I know I called the
guy weak earlier, but he's gotten a lot stronger. Luckily, Daikenji's been
training me, says I'm only weaker than Mamoriko these days. But Rikuya? Give
him another week and he might even surpass her. The dude's got scary potential.
"Alright then. Let's go."
A shadow swallows us whole, and when I
open my eyes, we're standing in a wide clearing surrounded by towering bamboo.
Only us. Perfect.
"Are you ready for combat?" Rikuya
smirks.
"Gonna slime you out," I shoot back.
"Yeah? I'll swiss cheese you."
He points, and a barrage of shadows
fire from his fingertips. Shit! I weave and dodge, every bullet slamming with
the kind of force that could punch holes in the sky. Weird comparison, yeah,
but that's exactly how it feels.
"You've gotten strong," I admit
reluctantly.
I dip into his thoughts. Damn,
Aiji's so cool. If only I could get stronger like him. He dodges my bullets
like nothing. If I can hit him once, this fight's over—but can I even land a
hit?
Oh. He's admiring me? That fills me
with… determination. Yes, that was an Undertale reference. Great game, true
pacifist route forever. But he's right. If even one of his attacks hits, I'm
toast.
Then—he summons a wave of water made
entirely of shadows.
"Take this! Sea of Shadows!"
I leap over the crashing darkness and
snap my whip at him, but he hijacks its shadows and turns it against me. Ah,
what the fuck—makes sense, but still.
He charges, trying to tag me. He's
slower—I've learned to spread energy through my body better than he has. Lucy's still ahead of both of us, though.
"Shit, I'm too slow… I have a
solution!"
The shadows swell around him, forming
a hulking suit of armor nearly three meters tall. Ohhh, well damn. I'm
fucked.
He raises his arm and unleashes a
storm of shadow-bullets. I lash out with my whip, deflecting what I can, but he
seizes it midair and twists the shadows to make it strike me instead.
Ah, shit—wait a second.
"Tell me… why aren't you controlling
my shadows?"
"I'm not strong enough to control
people blessed by the lake yet," he admits. "They've got natural resistance.
You're basically immune."
He says this while swinging a
fifty-foot katana made of shadows at me. Goddammit, man!!
I throw my hands up. "Alright, bro,
you win. All your attacks would one-shot me anyway. You'll definitely be a
top-tier Striker once you hit my age."
His shadow suit collapses, dissolving
back into mist. He strolls over, fist raised. We bump.
"GG," he grins.
"GG," I answer.
"Wanna get ice cream?" he asks.
"Yeah, of course. By the way—I heard
all that glaze you were spouting in your head earlier."
He freezes, blushing. "Uhh…"
Before I can tease him further, he
pulls us both into a shadow and we reappear instantly at our destination. I
catch his thoughts slipping through again—You're my best friend, man.
I smile and push the thought back to
him. You're my best friend too.