(Alistair Academy)
Little Akuchi is sitting calmly in the classroom. His face is cold, his eyes dead, and his ear was turned to what their teacher was saying.
On his right, Little Arai sits with his head down, peacefully sleeping.
A lot of noise in the room, because today was the day when their teacher assigned a teammate for mission purposes.
The only ones remaining were two: Oganai Akuchi and Shigure Arai.
Arai wakes up and yawns. His classmate approaches him and says:
"Hey! I think you both are next."
Arai mumbles:
"B-Both?"
Their teacher says:
"Silence, everybody! It's about time for me to reveal 'Team 1' of our classroom..."
Everyone listens to her. She continues:
"Oganai Akuchi and Shigure Arai, from today, you will both be teammates. Make sure you get along."
The students look at both whispering:
"W-Wait, really?"
"Did they ever talk to each other?"
"I wanted Akuchi-kun to be in my team!"
The teacher smiles, speaking to herself:
"Arai-kun is from an ordinary clan but he has the potential to level up and stand beside Akuchi-kun. Anyway, I shouldn't overthink about it... They'll just be fine."
The bell rings and she says:
"Alright! The class is dismissed."
The next day, Arai is near the tap drinking some water. Akuchi walks into the training ground and grabs everyone's attention.
The sky is blue, the clouds are moving, and the wind is blowing softly. After the day ends, they walk out of their academy.
Arai lifts his hand, Akuchi nods, and they both start walking on two different paths.
During the night, Arai is lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling of his room:
"I am his... teammate. But, we don't need to speak with each other at all. He understands my gestures and so do I... I think I'll keep going with the flow then."
While thinking about this, Arai falls asleep. Akuchi, on the other side, is staring at the ceiling of his room:
"..."
He isn't thinking about anything. Arai's voice echoes, as he says:
"We remained as teammates for years... yet we never spoke to each other. At first, I couldn't understand how I became his subordinate. But the time passed... And we started understanding each other with gestures only...
... There was a time when I heard him say my name and that was the first and last time I ever heard his voice. Because after that... I was... Trapped."
After a certain period of time, in a jungle at night, a group of masked men stands with katanas in their hands.
Akuchi lands on the branch of one tree; he jumps down and slashes one man, he dodges the attack of the other, and kicks the other.
In one single blow, Akuchi takes down three of them. Others attack him and that's when Arai jumps in. While in the air, he kicks one down and cuts the other one down.
They both stand in the centre, surrounded by many. Without any fear, they jump and cut everyone down.
They both look at each other having smiles on their faces. Suddenly, Arai's eyes were wide open, as he saw more people coming towards them.
He pushes Akuchi aside and steps on a small stick in his way. The Gates of Tusatra open on his left and pull him in. The sheer amount of energy from the Gates of Tusatra burns everything.
The group of attackers falls down, and Arai's hand comes out of the Gates. Akuchi says it out loud:
"ARAI...!"
He extends his hand to grab his hand but fails. As Arai gets pulled, the Gates close.
Akuchi's eyes are wide open in shock and disbelief. His body starts trembling, because he looked into the Gates of Tusatra.
Too many seals—red, white, black. So many energies were flowing in there, and there was nothing else besides darkness. Only the energies clashing against each other caused some light.
Akuchi gulps, as his mind is frozen, and the katana falls from his hand. A loud siren—that only he hears—starts.
A light shines upon him alongside the unkindness of ravens turning his armour into a cloak.
He gets a new weapon—something shining—and his eyes burn with trauma, disbelief, and grief.
The ground starts breaking apart, rain starts falling, and his body starts emitting otherworldly pressure.
He stands up with the weapon in his hand. His eyes are dead when he moves and cuts every attacker present there.
His face was full of blood, his hands were covered in it, and he still couldn't believe what he saw.
Someone from somewhere speaks to him:
"WELCOME, OGANAI AKUCHI!"
Arai's voice echoes again:
"Unlike Marshal, the Gates of Tusatra weren't the same for me. I remained trapped for months and that's when I learned that becoming a supreme entity of everything is something else...
... I was unconscious almost all the time but there was a voice in my head, an urge to leave quickly and tell him everything. It's as simple as that I failed and when I came out... Everything was changed."
Arai is sitting on top of a building in Yokohama, where he lives. He sighs and looks at the blue sky:
"Guess there's no way I can meet him anymore."
Arai's voice says:
"At this time, Akuchi was carried by an otherworldly supreme. The supreme ordered, and Akuchi did what was told to protect Earth from danger. What's even more astonishing is that he had already massacred the Unegai, Oganai, and Nagai clans...
... Marshal's family survived because they were abroad, Ishi's family survived because they were in the timeline 'Millennia', and Akuchi spared some of his own clan members."
Days before Arai came out, Akuchi was standing and hearing someone; who said:
"I have transplanted the celestial eyes into you. The overflow of energy in your body will allow you to cut through anyone. Make sure you do everything correctly as it's for your own planet that you wanted to save."
Akuchi takes over these clans in some hours, but after the work is done and the flow of energy stabilises, he falls down on the ground, his mouth and eyes are full of blood, and he loses consciousness.
The only words Akuchi mumbles:
"Where are you, Arai-san?"
The voice of an unknown supreme entity echoes:
"You have done well, rest now, Akuchi!"
(Years Later)
Arai comes out of a shop with an ice cream in his hand. Two guys are standing in a corner, and they see him.
One of them says:
"Well, well... It's none other than the ordinary kid... Shigure Arai!"
Arai looks at the guy, who says:
"How are you doing, buddy?"
Arai mumbles:
"Dumb stack?"
The guy sighs and says:
"You still haven't forgotten my nickname, haven't you?"
Arai chuckles and replies:
"Hehe, I think you have forgotten that I was the one who used to call you with this nickname."
The guy sighs again. The other one asks:
"Anyway, where is Akuchi-kun? It's been a while since we saw him."
Arai looks away in hesitation and replies:
"He is... with his clan now."
The guy says:
"Haa? Weren't you two supposed to be together because of the Organization he took you in?"
Arai replies:
"Well, he did take me after getting an invitation, but he had to go for some important reasons."
The guy says:
"I see! So when will he come back?"
Arai starts walking and replies:
"I don't know."
Both of the guys look at him as he walks away, and one of them says:
"What's with him?"
The other one replies:
"He... seems a bit off."
Arai throws the ice cream he bought while speaking to himself:
"Circumstances tore us apart. There is no way back to what happened back then. I plan to protect the innocent now... and maybe teach someone."
He fades away imagining a picture of him sitting with Akuchi down a tree. For the last time, his voice echoes:
"After that day, I began to accept everything and started moving away. That's when I met Marshal and started training him early.
... So, he can be prepared for the Gates of Tusatra. I never told him. But, I could see it even before it happened and I didn't want him to be trapped just like me."
(To Be Continued)