1st Pov Xicor Samiel:
The moment my voice rang through the room, the woman slumped on the desk, whom I recalled as Homare Azuma, shot upright, her chair scraping across the polished wooden floor.
Her stance was guarded, highly experienced in hand-to-hand combat, though one of her hands hovered at her skirt, probably concealing one of those daggers she uses in that battle royal.
I leaned back against the window frame, lazily swinging one of my legs off the inside with my arms crossed.
I was wearing my armour, just in case this doesn't work out and I need to keep my identity a secret from her.
Can't help it when I'm pretty much a wanted criminal, though only in the demon defence forces' eyes, since I found no other information of my, or the gods', existence.
Not in the news.
Not in the newspapers.
Nor from Retsu or the hag.
This leads me to believe they are keeping my presence, and the gods', a secret. This probably minimises panic spreading across humanity.
Not that I blame them, if a man had abilities in a world full of abilities only wielded by women, then the women would question whether the roles would change and men would revolt against them.
Politicians' greatest fear is losing their power to control the people.
They need the people to keep them in that office. That's my view, I was never a politician in my previous life so I wouldn't know the full extent of those people, the most common thing I learned was that they are all greedy for power and money.
I shook my head as I was getting off topic and stared down at Homare who shifted uncomfortably in place.
"You are not weak, Homare Azuma" I said, pushing myself off the window and walking casually to her bookshelf, noting the numerous romance and action books, with several books about martial arts.
"But you are not strong either, it's pretty much like seeing someone who doesn't understand the depth of their own strength" I said turning to face her.
Her stance faltered for the briefest moment. Her eyes narrowed. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're not weak because you train and struggle through each obstacle, you keep getting back up even though your injuries would hinder you"
I paused, letting my words settle within her, "But refusing to be weak isn't the same as being strong"
Her expression immediately tightened, "You have the strength to defeat most of those opponents in that battle royal, you've had countless opportunities to end that fight with the dog but kept playing around like a child with their toy"
"You allowed them to gain the upper hand and lost, from my point of view, you put your own amusement above victory"
"And what does that have to do with you" She questioned, her feet shifting away but her head leaned closer, almost curious about my answer but still wary of my intentions.
I smiled behind my mask as I extended a hand to her with cursed energy flickering in my hand, "I can train you to become stronger, understand how to gain more power that is beyond your imagination, with my help you can become the head of the family if you wish"
Her eyes widened slightly before they narrowed into suspicion, "And why should I believe you? For all I know, you could be using me to control the Azuma family's actions from the shadows"
I tilted my head in amusement, "Because I don't need the help of this stupid family for my own goals, this is just something you want and I could help you gain it, no?"
She looks down at my hand for a minute, quietly contemplating the ups and downs of this arrangement.
"I don't want to be head of the family" she said, making me raise a brow.
Strange, I was under the impression she wanted to become the head of the family to show her superiority to them.
"I want to be free from this family's influence, if I won then I probably would have left after a day of experiencing what it's like to become the head of the family, but after thinking it over, I don't like it here"
"I don't want to be in a family that treats it like some military camp, I want to be free to do what I want to do, choose how I live and choose who I love"
"Is that something you can grant me?" she asked, her shoulders slumped, her posture weak and her lips trembling, all signs of vulnerability.
I kept my hand stretched, "That is for you to decide as I am not you, the only thing holding you back is the possible consequences that may never happen"
"I train you, until you've decided what you want to live for as without it, you'll be human with no purpose" I said before passing her a small piece of paper.
"This is my phone number, contact me when you have your answer, until then cya" I said as my form sank into the well of shadows.
For a brief moment, I could've seen Homare reaching her hand out before quickly retracting it.
My body emerged into my room with Kuusetsu lazily sleeping on her bed as one of her eyes opened slightly to see me.
Almost immediately a sleepy smile dawned on her lips as she watched me place my armour on a table. Underneath the armour, I wore casual clothes that Kuusetsu gave me, which were simply a black shirt and blue jeans.
"Hey Xicor, what took you so long?~" she said lazily, slowly getting out of bed as her half-naked form moved towards me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
She rested her head on my back with a contented sigh as I stroked her arms with my thumb, "Sorry, I was just dealing with another potential recruit"
"Another recruit... and did you forget about our date?" she asked.
"Of course not, I was simply waiting for the right moment, which is now" I said with a cheeky grin.
Her sleepy attitude disappeared as a bright smile crawled up her face, "Really!! We're going now!?" she asked excitedly.
"Yes, though you should probably get dressed, can't have you wandering around half naked" I said, reminding her of her current outfit.
"Ah! You're right, I have to get dressed and have you gasp in shock at my beauty" She said, running towards the door to our room, "I have to get Retsu's and Shion's opinion!"
Within moments, she was gone from the room with no trace other than the tousled sheets of our bed and her pleasant fragrance that lingered in my nose.
I shook my head with a soft smile at her contagious enthusiasm. I looked down at my current attire and contemplated whether to change into something with more style, like a tuxedo.
She probably wouldn't care since she's not used to human culture, then again she has that womanly style to her, which she probably got from the ones she absorbed.
The personalities of the people are there and have given her unique tastes that are different to the other gods of thunder. It seems that she passively copies a piece of each person's personality inside her.
So it's not as much about absorbing the ability the person had, but about building and combining different traits into one being.
If it were all about personalities then she would have a love-hate relationship with things a person loved doing.
With that in mind, I walked over to a nearby closet that contained various suits for me to wear, provided by my new maid.
My finger glided over the soft fabric as I pulled out a classic black and white tuxedo. I smiled widely, already imagining the poses I would be in.
Honestly, with my new looks I could've scored a lot of girls if I were heavily seeking women, which I am passively doing.
Shaking my head, I organised my armour, if I were to put this armour in my shadow then it would undoubtedly hinder me slightly.
Even with the stacks of templates I received, it was still a heavy set of armour, which was designed to tank heavy hits.
It's still a prototype so it's not exactly perfect, just something I wanted to test in the field and see what I could improve on it.
With each template reaching 100%, I could feel my physical body, and something deep within me, which I guess is my soul, strengthen.
With Choso's template, it seems I became a half-human, half-cursed spirit, which is probably the reason I could use blood manipulation without blood loss.
With the other templates that involve the human side of their biology, I could feel my body grow stronger.
Like without using cursed energy, I was strong enough to take on a small army of Shuuki, though I have yet to test it.
Though with Sukuna's template, I could only feel a change not only in my physical body and soul, but also something that was only given to me in a single image in my mind of a tall humanoid with four arms and four crimson eyes and long hair.
This is a clear sign that I could very well have Sukuna's true form though in my own state since that image didn't have pink hair that is akin to Sukuna's usual true state.
My only guess is that this could be my own true state that came with this new body of mine.
If it's anything like Sukuna's then it will be a permanent change, that's if I don't have a way to reshape myself back with Idle Transfiguration.
I rolled my shoulders to get rid of the stiffness that built up, I should probably ask Retsu or Shion for a back massage.
I strode to the balcony in my new attire, fixing my collar slightly as the cold winds brushed against my skin as I stared up at the full moon blossoming in the night sky.
Just witnessing such depth of beauty makes me truly think of what I could become, since I'm not fully human, even before entering the black pool.
Change is always a fearful thing as it's something out of our control and we're forced to face it. I crossed my arms as I rolled my neck, with people like Kuusetsu and the others supporting me, I have nothing to fear.
Suddenly, the soft clicking of heels caught my attention as I turned to face a beautiful goddess who, once again, took my breath away.
Kuusetsu walked out onto the balcony in an elegant icy-blue fantasy evening gown that hugged her figure through the chest and waist, the gown gleamed softly in the moonlight's glow with every movement.
Sheer sleeves covered her arms. A blue-silver flower adorned her waist, from which flowed a long, translucent skirt with sharp, ice-like edges and a high slit, revealing her snow-skinned thigh.
Her entire dress gave her the appearance of the true definition of a god of beauty rather than a god of thunder.
She gave me a big grin, "I can see you're enchanted by my beauty"
I coughed lightly but still found my eyes trailing her figure. She seemed to know where my gaze was as she leaned out to give me a better view with a soft chuckle.
"You look amazing" I said, though it was anything but amazing and that was the best I could say.
"Hehe, thank you" She said as she walked gracefully to me and embraced my side, burying her head in my shoulder.
The night winds blew against us as they drifted her gown through it, though she paid it no mind and settled in the warmth of my body.
I wrapped an arm around her as we levitated off the ground and rose until the ground was nothing more than fireflies.
Instead of flying through the sky like we usually do, I made the sky a platform as we walked on air with her arms around my arm, pressing her chest into me and resting her head on my shoulder.
"This is a new experience for me" She murmured, her eyes open slightly and glancing down at the city below.
"Walking on air or looking down at city lights from above?" I asked.
She closed her eyes and settled in the moment, "Both really, I never really took the time to appreciate the hidden beauty in things"
She shifted her head to look up at me with a soft and sweet smile, "Especially when I'm experiencing this with you, it's a feeling that makes my body all fuzzy and nice"
I felt my heart skip a beat at her words as I brought my free hand to cup her cheek and bring her lips into mine, she pressed herself into more as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
This was only the beginning of this date.