"But... Shidō... are you sure you can deal with this?"
As Shidō finished stretching and began to walk towards the criminals, Taizen fidgeted.
"Tch, absolutely! I'm handsome, so if I wasn't at least useful too, I'd be a waste of good DNA."
Shidō's smirk didn't falter, it didn't seem possible for it to do so.
"Relax, Taizen! I'm the strongest in this city." Shidō stated with utmost confidence, his voice deeping as he declared his superiority.
"R-Really...?"
"Yup, so sit back, watch, then feel stupid for ever feeling afraid when I'm around."
Taizen stopped for a moment so he could think.
"Ok."
That's all he could say at that moment.
As Shidō walked towards the robbery, he whistled towards a young lass that was nearby.
"Yo! Hey, miss, can ya do me a favor? I'm going to need you to record me with your phone as I stop that robbery over there, alright?"
Her eyes widened as she slowly realized who just spoke to her.
"Oh my God! Are you... AYASE SHIDŌ?! O-Of course! I'll record it for you!"
She turned around and started fanning her face.
"Oh my God, he's so hot!" She said it quietly, then turned back around and started recording Shidō with her phone.
Taizen just stared at them, a bit confused, yet a little amused.
Shidō stared at the camera and smiled like he knew he would succeed. The lass could, of course, barely contain her happiness.
"What an… odd guy." Taizen reflected, with a small smile plastered on his face.
Taizen's smile lingered for a moment, it was the kind he wasn't used to making, so it felt… nice.
He tugged at the hem of his ragged shirt and was nervous, evidently, while Shidō was already inside the store.
There was a loud crash.
Something clanged, doesn't matter what it was.
Then…
"HEY! Put the weapon down! Before I make you eat my special weapon! Wait… scratch that… just… put the gun down."
Taizen flinched. That was Shidō's voice.
Luckily, Taizen didn't understand Shidō's accidental mishap.
He rushed a little closer to the window, peeking inside, because he couldn't help himself.
The lass with the phone gasped and zoomed in dramatically, focusing a bit too hard on Shidō.
Inside, Shidō had one hand behind his back, the other pointing at three masked men.
The robbers? They weren't even sure what to do with this sunglasses wearing idiot. He, Ayase Shidō, who walked in and behaved like he was the last cookie inside the package.
"Alright, fellas." Shidō cracked his knuckles with a grin, then removed his sunglasses. You know exactly who gasped once he did that.
"Let's make this quick. I'm starving and there's someone else out there who's also starving."
One robber lunged first, trying to slice Shidō, now without his sunglasses, which he put on just to look cool while he dodged the attack.
Shidō side-stepped, stylishly, and hit his neck with a chop that immediately knocked him out.
The lass recording squealed, "OH MY GOD! SHIDŌ IS SO STRONG! And hot!"
The other two robbers, who were surprised, attempted firing at Shidō with their guns.
"Weave. Weave." Shidō said as he effortlessly dodged the shots.
The other two robbers panicked and charged together, as if they could do anything to the monster wearing the visage of a cocky eighteen year old that was in front of them.
Shidō smirked. "Tch. Too easy."
He pivoted, his leg extending with flexibility out of this world, sweeping both men off their feet as they crashed onto something that was nearby, ouch.
The cashier blinked.
Taizen blinked.
Everyone you could think of blinked while Shidō dusted his hands like he just finished swatting two annoying flies.
"Now," he said, turning around. "Where's the udon aisle?"
One of the robbers, shivering, with a bleeding nose, trembling, raised his gun with both hands.
Taizen gasped.
Shidō didn't notice.
An instinct surged in Taizen's chest, he didn't understand it, but something in his bones, his soul, just triggered, because now he felt some mystical force just shoved the information about exactly how his [Inherited Soul Technique: Merciful] worked.
Shidō turned to Taizen, confused for an instant, but he clearly sensed something.
The robber fired.
But then…
A freezing aura surrounded the bullet mid air as Shidō pointed towards it, causing it to stop moving towards him and fall.
"Buddy…"
Shidō's body was then enveloped by a freezing aura.
"Let me show you how you shoot."
"Hyōkai."
With the tip of his finger, he created a pointy ice shard, then fired it at the robber's stomach.
Then…
Shidō got close to the robber's face.
"You're lucky there's a twelve year old watching and a fan of mine recording, otherwise, that shard would be melting inside your head." He said just loud enough for his voice to be crystal clear to the robber, but inaudible to Taizen or the lady.
She cheered so loudly, Taizen thought her screech might make the windows break.
Minutes later, Shidō stepped out of the store with two steaming udon bowls.
"Sorry for the wait! I had to give the cute camera lady a little pose." He flipped his hair dramatically.
"Guess what, Taizen?"
"What?"
"She cried."
"Oh…"
Taizen stared. "…Why?"
"Because I'm handsome."
Taizen couldn't help it, he giggled quietly. The sound of his own laughter actually surprised him.
Shidō blinked, then grinned. "There it is. You looked too serious before, kid."
"It's okaaay! I'm here. I'm Ayase Shidō. You're safe."
And then, later, they sat by a bench outside.
Taizen tasted the udon.
Warm, soft and not grabbed from a trash can.
He paused, actually stopping to enjoy something this simple for a moment, his small eyes widening as the noodle's flavor spread over his tongue.
Yes, it was simple, but after twelve gruelling years of rations and cold cells…
"…It's good," he whispered.
Shidō nudged him.
"Told ya. That place has the best noodles."
For the first time in his life, Taizen felt something like… peace? Belonging? A fragile moment? Maybe.
But these things rarely last.
"Say, kid, do you know what you just did earlier?" Shidō met Taizen's gaze, more serious than he normally was.
"What? I… do you mean…"
"I sensed something that could, and actually most likely is, one of your Ikonjutsus."
The word appeared to spark a memory within Taizen's mind and he looked at Shidō.
"I've… heard people say this word sometimes… never knew what it meant." Taizen broke eye contact.
"'Ikonjutsu', 'Inherited Soul Techniques', they're one and the same, we use these terms interchangeably. You probably never had to use it in a truly dangerous situation before, so one of them, most likely, is what I sensed."
Taizen was astonished. He was closely listening to every word Shidō spoke.
"Every person, with very few exceptions, have two Inherited Soul Techniques, or Ikonjutsu, one from each parent.
"One of mine, is called 'Hyōkai', it allows me to create and manipulate ice. The other one… is a surprise for you later."
Taizen was, of course, intrigued by this. What could Shidō be hiding?
"Oh… I see."
"As for my powers… I have the word 'Merciful' in my head each time I feel this specific Ikonjutsu inside. It's… strange… I think that must mean that's the name of the technique, right?"
"Ding ding ding! Correct! You're right!" Shidō started clapping his hands gently.
Taizen simply smiled, somewhat awkwardly, but clearly amused.
Meanwhile… far from the city…
Deep beneath an abandoned shrine, a seal older than civilization trembled.
A crack snaked across its dusty, odd looking surface.
A foolish treasure hunter, sweaty, trembling, desperate, chanted excitedly as he pried the ancient container with a crowbar.
"Come on… come on… there's gotta be treasure in this-"
The seal shattered.
A wave of dark orange energy exploded outward.
The man fell back, screaming like the idiot he was, as smoke poured from the relic.
A tall silhouette stepped out.
Bare-chested.
Short orange hair.
Eyes glowing with dark orange pupils and crimson "cuts" around them.
And a grin that matched a god.
Or a demon.
Whichever you prefer.
Lord Kabocha.
Awakened after two thousand years.
He inhaled deeply.
"…This era's air… smells…"
He seemed unamused.
"...like weakness…"
"I can probably beat my old two million body count in this era."
The treasure hunter stuttered, "A-are you… some kind of… god?!"
Kabocha smiled kindly.
"Well. You freed me. As a reward…"
The man's eyes lit up.
"…I will grant you any wish you desire."
"R-really?! Anything?!"
Kabocha's smile widened, still seemingly warm.
"No."
The man didn't even have time to scream.
Silence followed.
"Think of an insect who awakened a devil and lived… lived on as a memory."
"Think of a bug who was pretty smart… if his intention was to die."
"Think of a maggot who immediately bowed to Lord Kabocha and survived… it was not that guy."
Kabocha grinned with his eyes half-closed, then cracked his neck, looking around lazily.
"Where is the strongest Kontōka of this era? I want to see if I'm still the strongest."
He smirked.
"Let's see what this era has to offer."
Far away, Usagi, who had the body of a woman in her early thirties, paused while tending her garden.
Her hand trembled.
"A disturbance… I sense what I haven't sensed in over two millennia."
There was a pause.
"I knew someone, intelligent or foolish, would find a way to bring you back."
She stood up, petals falling from her hair.
"…Welcome back, my Lord."