It was just any other day in the village when Hakushika and Callisto finally went to sleep.
"Finally, they're asleep," Ai said, getting into bed.
"Fuck… 13 hours of their crying… I can still hear it at the far end of my mind." Said Cirrus.
"I never knew being a parent was so tough… My breasts are so sore, they really latch on." Said Artemis.
Parenting has been harder than Ai or even what Cirrus expected. Artemis had some experience with some villages raising babies, but even she was not ready for the full brunt of a child.
"Thank you for the Sound Eaters, Cirrus. We can finally get some sleep." Ai said as she got under his arm and placed her head on his chest.
"Yeah, I can sleep for a week," Artemis said as she did the same.
"I want to go on vacation to the beach like in Yamato. That was fun," Cirrus said, hugging him firmly.
"Yeah… that sounds really nice," Ai said as she closed her eyes. "The warm sand, the nice sun overhead, and the cool sea breeze... hmm."
Ai slowly drifted off to sleep in her husband’s warm embrace. She felt peace and relaxed slowly going to sleep.
Squawk!
Squawk!
Squawk!
"!!"
She open my eyes to a beach. Seagulls were squeaking and picking at my body.
"Go away! Go!!" She waved the seagulls away.
Squawk!
Squawk!
Squawk!
The seagulls fly away.
"This is a pretty weird dream—!!" She turns to a city filled with light that could match the stars.
The sight of buildings matching Babel and her own home of Fuyukusa. It is a sight to see, but they lacked the beauty of said buildings, looking rather simple and boring with some interesting designs here and there.
"… Hmm…" She scanned the beach to find no one there. She then checked herself to find herself in her gear, even her sword. "Interesting…" She draws her blade and cuts the tip of her index finger. "Pain... it’s far too vivid, even the feeling of the sea breeze and the lingering heat of the sand... It’s all too real. Better to be safe than sorry." She sheathes her blade and quickly jumps onto the building with ease.
‘I still have my status? Good to know!’
While jumping from rooftop to rooftop, she stops and listens to the people talking below. The sight of technology she had never witnessed before.
‘The tongue spoken is the same, but the writing... It’s all in a language that Lord Susanoo and other gods of Yamato know of. All of this is very interesting. If only I had my damn notebook! Especially those metal carriages! They're so damn cool!!!’
She continued to wander and explore the new place she found herself in until someone caught her eye.
"Who is this tall, buff guy?"
She looked down to see a man with a scarred face and glasses in a white suit. His neck and chest were thick, and his hands were big enough to cover anyone’s head, not to mention the layers and layers of scars on them.
‘He has been in a lot of fights… Yet he reminds me of Cirrus a bit with the scars.’ She looked at the opposite end to see a tall, tan-skinned man.
Ai’s first impressions of him were that he was like Bete, but actually genuinely disgustingly violent. He had sunglasses to hide his eyes, and he had veiny arms that looked ready to burst at the seams. He weighed far more than he looked, yet he looked as agile as a cat with a stride that oozed confidence.
What truly intrigued Ai was his aura or the fact that he had one that seemed to warp the surrounding air.
‘Such fighting spirit… Does he just put that out while walking?’
As the two large men met, the space seemed to warp a bit, followed by a scream.
"Kyaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!" a woman screamed.
The man in white speaks first.
"I went through some trouble to meet you, but not like this... You will have to excuse me for this." The man in white gently bowed his head.
The man in black with tanned skin seemed to have gotten angry. His hair rose, and veins began to appear on his forehead.
Not too far from them was an elderly man watching in camouflage attire.
"I am truly grateful that you came to answer my call." said the man in white.
"When a man like Hanayama Kaoru calls for you, it’s only natural that you become curious." Said the tanned man in black.
"You will have to excuse me," he said with a bit of disappointment in his voice.
It surprised the crowd at how polite this brutish man was.
"Fufu… This place just kind of pisses you off, doesn’t it?" The tanned man said this, looking around at the lowly ants around him.
"Leave it to me," said Hanayama.
The tanned man smiled with an evil grin.
"Shall we go for a walk?"
Ai followed along from the rooftops. She could hear what they were saying, but the tanned man was about to look up. Ai could see the slight movements he was making. She avoided his line of sight.
She went and jumped down to street level, took out her invisibility cloak she had for emergencies, and blended into the crowd of humans. The only distinguishing features she had were her eyes and hair, the cloak hid her sword and tail. When she did this, the tanned man crushed his sunglasses.
"Well then, Hanayama... What can this Hanma Yujiro do for you??" He said with an expression that Ai could understand:
‘Uwah that’s a real disgusting smile.’
"I see…" Hanayama removes his glasses. "It seems I was truly disrespectful in my approach. But you are right. You and me... We didn’t meet up to have something as trivial as a chat."
"Fufu… well I am a bit of a hothead… and to start it suddenly would seem wrong… but to keep walking… it’s not something I would want to say I did…"
A young boy appeared holding a piece of paper and what seemed to be a large pen.
‘Oh? Who is this?’
"Euhm… m-m-Mr. Ogre, sir, um… c-c-could you sign, please???"
Yujiro glared at him, and it was enough to make the young boy sweat bullets and piss his pants. Yujiro, in a quick instant, poked his finger through the paper.
"H-hiiiii!"
"Can’t you understand by looking…" He then flicked his finger up and down, cutting the paper into four. "I’m busy right now. Go away."
The kid shivering bowed 180 degrees.
"Thank you!! Thank you!!" he said with full sincerity and joy.
Ai could see this was something very special, given this man’s attitude, getting that much recognition from him made everyone smile. Even Hanayama was smiling after what he did.
But the fun and games were quickly cut short as Hanayama cracked his knuckles and Yujiro’s hair began to rise.
Hanayama then got into an odd position that told Ai and everyone around him that he was putting his whole weight behind this punch.
Once he wound it up, he took a step forward and unleashed his fist on Yujiro’s face, striking him in the dead center.
The sound of impact was enough that they would knock a level 2 or 3 out, but Yujiro, he took it as if it were a gentle poke that didn’t even move his body.
" Impressive," Ai spoke in awe of these humans' raw strength.
Hanayama continued to attack with heavy hits, but Yujiro instantly took his hands out of his pockets and slammed his left hand into Hanayama’s moving body, striking him with his own weight and launching him through a building.
Crash!!
Crash!!
Crash!! Clatter!!
‘Hanma Yujiro… He truly is worthy of such confidence, but I wonder... how would he react to my killing intent?’
Ai moved towards an alley and did just that.
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Yujiro quickly turned his head towards the killing intent. It was of such intensity that it sent goosebumps through his whole body, and for the first time, sweat actually formed on his forehead.
‘Who is that!!!’ His anger and joy filled his massive body.
He ran towards where he felt the intent—an alleyway. He could see someone in a cloak climbing up the buildings with ease.
"You're NOT GETTING AWAY YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!!!!!" he quickly chased after Ai.
‘Heh~, such bloodlust! It’s similar to a bloodthirsty animal! Let’s see how fast and strong he is!!’
