Running up to the boy, Anastasia caught her breath, he was quick, too quick. but now looking at him as he lay on the ground, face down, only his head slightly up as he looked toward the stone flooring Infront of him.
"Don't ya run off on me like that ya idiot!" The merchant walked up to the boy, observing his newly earned scratches
"Ana Tannnnn" The raven boy cried out, "I can't feel my leggggggs"
Anastasia grew a concerned look, moving to crouch beside the self-proclaimed hero, "Honestly… Just what in the world goes through yer head?" Reaching into her pocked, the girl who wore a hunter's pride grabbed onto a small nut-looking fruit, pulling it out to reveal it to the boy.
Subaru gazed at the fruit longingly, "What's that?"
"It's a bokko fruit, eat it, it'll make ya feel better" The fox-merchant noted bringing it too the boy's mouth
Now closing his eyes and opening his mouth wide, similar to that of a child, Subaru began to speak, "Iffff it's from Ana-Tan then howww could I refuseee"
The green-eyed merchant rolled her eyes and went to place the fruit into the boys mouth sighing, "Yer really somethin' arlight"
The nasty-eyed boy began to chew on the fruit, moving his eyes left to look at the girl Infront of him, "It's a bit spicy, and the texture is weird but- HOLY CRAP!" The raven-haired boy instantly sprung up
The merchant backed a bit, surprised by the boy's sudden outburst
"I feel like a new man!" Subaru stated bringing his arms up, "What was that?!" He now starred at Anastasia
The girl gave an awkward smile, raising her hands slightly as she spoke, "It just a bokko fruit, no need to get all riled up"
He smiled eagerly, "So what exactly did it do?"
"It gave ya a small amount of mana that's all, enough ta at least getcha movin again" The violet haired girl explained looking to the boy a bit curious for his lack of knowledge on the most basic of fruits
"Really, so if I like, eat a hundred I'll be super strong and fit?!" The brown-eyed boy asked with the curiosity of a child
"Well ya'd probably die of a heart attack a minute later, but that's basically it" The green-eyed CEO explained with an awkward tone
"That's amazing Ana-Tan!" Subaru replied in awe
"What dyin' of a heart attack?" Anastasia tilted her head at the boy's enthusiasm
"No no no, well maybe, but not really, I'm just really siked about learning about this stuff" Subaru added in with a matter-of-fact tone, raising his left pointer-finger to chest level
"Is that so?" Hoshin kept her head tilted
"Yep!" The raven-haired youth nodded his head
"Say Subaru…" The amethyst merchant paused for a second, "Just where were ya from exactly?"
The boy opened his eyes wide before growing a large smile, "Welllll, it's quite the unbelievable story, but ya see, I'm not actually of this w-" But the slayer of Sloth was cut right off by the loud pitched voice of a squeaky man
"Natsukkkkki-Kun! You idiot!" Slap, Square in the face, Subaru fell onto the ground, landing on his back legs. Standing above the suddenly attacked boy, a man-boy? Teenager? Young Adult? Didn't matter, stood there, cladded in green robes and a green hat, fair pale skin, and silver eyes too match his silver hair, he had an expression mixed with relief and frustration.
"Otto!" Subaru blurted out
"Don't Otto me Natsuki-Kun! We're have you been?! I've been looking all over for you!" The silver man, Otto, shouted in frustration
The midnight boy only grew a smile as he looked back from the ground, "aweeee, you were worried about me?"
"Worried?!" Otto seemed infuriated, "I wasn't worried, I was sick, do you know how much shit I've been through, oh and to think I came to this city in hopes of easy prophet! You know just how much jail time I've had? I'm a borderline criminal because of you!"
"Criminal? Jail-time? WAIT OTTO WHAT DID YOU DO!" The raven boy called out in concern
"WHAT DID I DO, NO" The green themed man paused to take a breath, "JUST WHAT DID YOU DO?"
Subaru snickered for a second, "Otto come on, I know it must have been tough to keep my identity a secret but-" Otto about to hit Subaru for a second time was interrupted, not by Subaru, and certainly not by Anastasia, but by a… Shadow?
Rising from the shadow, a wolfman cladded in black and grey fur, accompanied by a dark themed kimono caught Otto's fist
"While Otto-San, I'm sure you're just excited to see our Natsuki-Kun as I am, I'm not sure getting physical with him would be a good idea?" The beast man noted, now towering over the boy
"ah- Halibel-Senpai, I was wondering when you might show up" Otto spoke sheepishly and retorted his fist, now putting his front fingers together he looked to the side
"You tell him Halibel-" But as Subaru attempted to finish his sentence he was quickly dismissed by the wolfman's killing gaze
"Su-san, I suggest you keep your tongue shut, yer not exactly in the clear either?"
"eep!" Subaru backed away as he got to his feet, slightly moving towards Anastasia, who stood by idly, attempting to peace together what had just happened
(So, a boy, powerful enough to kill an archbishop of the witch's cult was punched by a guy, maybe as generic as they can get, who was then stopped by a wolfman nearly double his size-)
"What in Hoshin's good name?!" Now grabbing the attention of the wolfman, he moved over to look at the young CEO, the beast man's dark grey fur blowing along the wind.
"You must be Anastasia Hoshin?" The wolfman cladded in black asked with a sincere tone
Anastasia blinked twice "That's right- but who in the sage's name are ya?"
"My name.." The beastmen laughed for a second, "Not often am I looked at and not recognized in this country, it's Halibel, and Su-san here is…" Halibel looked back to Subaru to pause for a second, "One of my student's, he's foreign you, see?"
Blinking twice once again, the green-eyed merchant looked back to Halibel with a slight smiled, "I see, I guessed that. Well if that's the case, I can't really intervene, can I?"
Halibel smiled, "Something like that, but if I may ask, just what are the events that occurred to you meeting my esteemed student?"
Anastasia now had a warm smile as she began to recall her first meeting Subaru, "Its quite the story actually" looking to the side she winked at Subaru for a second, Subaru gave a slight blush in return. "Just let me tell ya, I ended up havin' to take care of the guy"
Halibel moved his right hand to stroke his beard smiling slightly, "I see, well, the nights young, I suppose the two of you could tell me over a drink?" Halibel looked back to Subaru, who was nervously hiding on the side nodded.
The fox-merchant, keeping her poker face nodded as well, "I'm sure that could be arranged, but on my terms if that's alright?"
Halibel looking satisfied, clasped his hands together, "That is acceptable"
"Then shall we go? the hotel I reside in has a great sake!" The amethyst girl noted in a cheerful tone
AN: Sake is a type of Japanese rice wine; thought'd be interesting to include
"pssst"
Subaru looked to Otto, the two were trailing behind Halibel and Anastasia, not daring to interrupt their conversation, the two boys would fear for there life if they made Halibel anymore angry.
In a hushed tone, "What's up Otto?"
"How?" Equally as quite Otto looked to the raven-haired boy blankly
"How what?" Subaru continued in his small tone, confused by Otto's broad question
Otto paused for a second, slowly being left behind before quickening his pace, "How'd cha do it?"
Another broad question? Subaru shook his head, "Be more specific?"
"ah- Well… I'm pretty much talking about everything" Otto kept the charade
"everything?" Subaru extended the wording just slightly
"Yeah everything" Otto paused once more before continuing, "Just how did you not only get the sword? but then we heard you defeated an Archbishop of the freekin witch's cult!? And now, looking at it, you even managed to woo they Anastasia Hoshin HERSELF, I mean frick it, Natsuki-Kun I've never met someone as lucky as you!"
Subaru grew a pridefully large smile, "Well I told ya I was going to change the world"
"did you now?" Otto looked confused, not remembering that aspect of their conversation
"Wait," Subaru paused for a second, "I said a lot of things to a lot of people, maybe that was too a different person?"
The green merchant sighed, "You sure are quite the figure Natsuki-San-"
"Here it is!" The two's conversation ending were quickly brought to the attention of Anastasia Hoshin, pointing to a white building with glass doors, laced in quartz, it looked out of place for the city it resided in.
Subaru looked to the side before looking behind him, "wait… Did Ana-Tan really run all that way to keep up with me?"
"She did what?" Otto interrupted the nasty-eyed boy's self-question
"Never mind" Subaru shook his hands
The silver eyed merchant just starred at Subaru distantly
"and if I may introduce ya too-" Running past the girl who wore a hunter's pride was a small figure, no taller then 4'11', orange hair, with cat ears, and enveloped in white, Subaru was tackled from the bottom, falling to the ground
"This time, Mimi swears she won't let you get away!" The cat girl announced determined as she buried her face into the raven-haired boy's leg
"Natsuki-kun?!" otto shouted out, a tad bit concerned for his previously lost acquaintance, but to his surprise Subaru seemed totally fine
"Ah such a determined will, it's a shame such diligence will go to waste" Subaru announced, playing his role
Mimi gazed up from the sword bearer's leg, eyes full of awe, "Huh! Mimi won't let you get away; she made a promise. A promise Mimi is very determined to keep!"
"A promise, such a foolish act!" The midnight themed boy announced, still on the ground he shook he legs
"Such strength! Mimi is not sure if she'll be able to make it out of this one! But Mimi has too! For Tivey, for Hatero, for Papa, and for Mama!" The young demi-human announced pridefully as she clung on for dear life
"A respectable but foolish act!" Subaru playfully teased
Watching the scene unfold, the reactions were priceless, Anastasia smiled, looking to the banter she giggled at a few parts, Otto had an utter look of confusion and Halibel stood silently sporting a warm gaze
"Mimi! Don't run off like that again!" Calling out a second demi-human, same in height, color scheme, and genetics, Tivey completely ignored the group and ran to his sister's side.
"But why? Can't Tivey see Mimi is engaged in a fearless battle?" Mimi replied scornfully
"Fearless battle, looks more like a half-hearted attempt at a bear hug, and who are you fighting he's twice your size-" The small demi-human boy paused for a second before he recognized the man Infront of him
"Oh hey-" Subaru's greeting was interrupted
"YOU!" Now preparing to attack Tivey was about to muster all his strength, only too be brought back to reality by a slight tap to his shoulders.
Now grabbing onto Tivey's shoulders, and leaning to the side of his head Anastasia made quick talk "While I admire ya for tryin' to protect yer sister Tivey, I don't recommend it"
"Huh" Tivey looked to his mother in confusion
"ya see" Anastasia paused for a second to look at the midnight boy's face, "Subaru-Kun over there is really powerful, he's in league with Ricardo ya know?"
"Wait are you serious?!" The orange themed boy's eyes grew wide
"that's right" His Mother causally smiled
"I, just wanted too-" The boy was interrupted by his mothers supporting hand
As she patted his back she spoke in a soft tone, "I know yer just worried, and I admire ya for that, it's a good thing, but Subaru ain't a bad guy, trust yer mom at that"
"R-right" Tivey sighed in defeat as he looked back to his siter, who was now attempting to reach for Subaru, who towered over her when he stood
"Come onnnnn" That demi-girl cried, "That's not faiiiir, you have the height advantage, get on the ground so Mimi can properly fight you!" Now demanding the girl looked up at the nasty-eyed boy
"but not using my advantages would be pretty wastefully ya know?" the boy noted as he cheerful spoke to the young girl
"ahhhh, you're soooo mean to Mimi!" Mimi had a frustrated expression on her face
Subaru smiled, "How about this then, me and Mimi can make a deal?" Subaru slightly bended down, placing his hands on his knees to meet the small girl's face
"A deal, what kind of deal?" The orange themed girl asked, titling her head
"The kind where Mimi gets to beat me up later?" Subaru about to continue was swiftly interrupted
"It's a deal then, Mimi agrees!" The cat-girl put out her hand
"Wait seriously, you didn't even hear the second part…" Subaru paused as he looked to the girl's brash-full attitude
"As long as Mimi gets to beat you up, Mimi doesn't really care!" The girl folded her arms together and scrunched her face
"You should really be more considerate to these type of things" Subaru stated awkwardly as he reached his right hand to rub the back of his head
"So we have a deal then?" Mimi pushed out her hand to shake with Subaru's. Subaru smiled and the two shook.
Mimi now smiling looked back to Subaru before stating, "You better watch out hero! Mimi doesn't know when, or how, but Mimi's going to getchu!" Now rushing off Mimi starred at her adopted mother and Tivey for a second before quickly running past them
"Wait- hey! Mimi!" Now trailing after her, Tivey left without a word to his mother or anyone else.
Anastasia sighed now looking back to Subaru, "Yer quite good when it comes to dealing with kid's Subaru?"
Subaru smiled awkwardly once more and put his hands to the back of his head, "Well if Ana-Tan thinks so then it must be true"
The fox merchant smiled, but then proceeded to look at the group as a whole, "The three of ya are such an intrestin' bunch shall we get to talklin?"
"Do you think he would betray us?" Lucius asked his assistant as he twirled his blonde beard looking out from the high walls of the academy
"It's definitely a possibility sir" Tara nodded his arms behind his back
"The great Halibel, the shinobi who risked his life to save this country, he would betray it?" The duke stared distantly to the setting sun, the autumn breeze moving his hair
"Perhaps he doesn't intend on betraying Kagragi, but rather…" The red-themed assistant paused for a second, "… You sir?"
"Me?" Lucius, being the self-conscious, prideful hypocrite, quickly moved to defend himself, "Who would dare betray me alone?! Am I not a good person?"
"You are sir" Tara replied confidently, "But perhaps it is because Halibel-Sama isn't a very good person that he must be willing to betray you?"
"That must be it then Tara. It is because there are those with wills of evil, or a will to correct themselves that they end up taking others down with them, or specifically target a certain individual" The duke smiled falsely confirming his ideology to himself, "But do not fear Tara, for the evil will be punished, good can only win right? As it was for the witch, or those damned beasts that use to roam this territory, those on the side of justice always win!" The Duke coughed after his statement but smiled, he was correct Afterall
Tara nodded in reply, "As it should happen to you Sir" The red-themed boy began to back away before the duke looked to him one last time,
"And Tara, what of Sloth? Had he been killed?" The Duke asked curiously over the recent 'attacks' of Sloth
Tara paused before continuing, "While it can't be confirmed, it is highly likely the bastard boy was able to defeat the archbishop"
Lucius Cornmen sighed, shaking his head, "I knew that bumbling idiot couldn't do it, sometimes" The duke paused for a second, "Sometimes in life Tara" The duke starred directly at his assistant "You need to do things yourself"
Author's Note:
New title for the story, more simple and attractive I figured
New Coverage image, gotta love messin around with photoshop
One of my favorite chapters so far, hope you enjoyed