Chapter 4: Interactions before the Rise of a New Dawn [1]

It was still the time when almost every person in Tenguu City was asleep. To be precise, it was the time when it could still be considered early morning already.

To be exact, the date today is May 8th, and to add, it was Sunday.

The reason why it is just that 'almost' all the people in Tenguu City were asleep right now is because it is just right passed around 3 o'clock in the morning. Some people are probably awake at this time, and surely each and one of them had their reasons to do so.

Yes, just like a certain person who was currently walking down the streets as he was

The cold breeze brushed through the said person's skin. Maybe a few people would shiver due to the cold that it brought, but it didn't matter to the said person.

Although it seems that the lone youth was just randomly roaming through the desolate neighborhood due to the unusual paths that he took, the youth has a clear destination in mind.

Wearing just a simple black jacket on top of a white shirt paired with jeans from below, it could be said that this youth was going on a meetup or something. It was kind of suspicious from a normal person's perspective if they were to see the youth.

But alas, it wasn't really like that.

It was Rei to be exact who was currently roaming through the neighborhood on foot. He had this tranquil look on his face devoid of any drowsiness or even fatigue from waking up and performing this stroll this early.

Now some may ask why bother walking if you can just teleport yourself away using his 'gate' and easily teleport directly to his destination?

First of all, being very reliant on his abilities each time like even in the mundane matters of his daily life would more or less be detrimental for him in the long run.

There are many reasons as to why this is that and elaborating it further would just probably bore if somebody were reading this.

Nevertheless, one could imagine why is that, so if anybody was probably reading this right now, they can just formulate their conclusions in their minds.

Moving on, habits die hard as they say. Back in his previous life, Rei could proudly say that he had this habit of waking up 'very' early occasionally, which led him to do strolls around the neighborhood before the sun had even risen.

But for those who would want to know, Rei was currently having an influx of dreams ever since he arrived in this world, thus, leading him to wake up sooner than expected most of the time. So when the time comes when he occasionally wakes up this early, he would no doubt do something in order to make a change of pace.

Lastly, a dose of 'normal' exercise wouldn't kill him, so why not do it? Even if the place where he is heading to has a bit of distance, it's not like the stamina of his body can't bear it.

After all, he was a Spirit in the first place. It wasn't like it would harm him from doing a bit of exercise. Maintaining your body fit (even if you are a Spirit and not exactly a Human in the first place...) is the path for an individual to have a healthy and long life.

To remind once more, being over-reliant on one subject over and over again as if it was a common commodity would always wind up bringing a negative impact on you in the end. And Rei already had this in mind and that is why he is doing this stroll for a simple change of pace as stated earlier. After all, it's been a while since he had done this considering that the opportunity of waking up this early haven't shown up for a while this month.

Hearing only the rustling leaves due to the cold breeze brushing through them, Rei only let out a neutral look before letting out a small smile as he slowly recalled his observations from the recent happening of events that occurred these past few days.

It's been just less than a day since he settled down living with Tohka and Tenka.

The former was... acting quite different than usual. Sure, Rei could confidently tell that Tohka has a bubbly and outgoing personality...or so what he wants to say before confirming the fact that 'his' Tohka was quite secure and cold except for him.

That is why he felt it quite strange for Tohka to suddenly revert to her bubbly and outgoing personality all of sudden. It's not like Rei is complaining about it though, in fact, Rei found it quite refreshing for her to suddenly take a different shift when Tenka arrived.

'Well... That's just Tohka being Tohka I guess,' Rei thought silently as he let out a small chuckle.

On the other hand, Tenka was stern, aloof, and cold to almost anything. One could even describe her as an ice queen without any care in the world, except when it comes to Tohka's well-being, she becomes like a doting sister.

How amusingly adorable.

That's why Rei found it amusing each time when he tried to initiate a conversation with her alongside Tohka. It only took a while for him to be shot down by cold and harsh words, and when Tohka knew about it, she 'scolded' Tenka where Tohka even acted like she was extremely sad and disturbed by her behavior towards Rei.

It was up to the point that her cold exterior immediately melted away like ice exposed under the light of the sun in response to appease Tohka from the negative feelings that she was having. However, that didn't stop her from sending glares at Rei occasionally when Tohka.

It couldn't be helped, is what Rei thought at that time, and just let it slide.

That was how their interactions proceeded as of late ever since Tenka moved in with the two of them, and Rei guessed that it won't end anytime sooner.

Suddenly, his steps slowly ceased as he stared right up into the night sky.

It was black—no, gray to be exact. The night sky was devoid of anything but clouds, nevertheless, the ring of light forming above it was as illuminating conspicuously as ever in his eyes.

Rei honestly couldn't really understand several things that are happening here in this world as of late. No matter how much he sugar-coats it that he might know where some things how would end up to be, the existence of this band of light bothers him more than ever.

Before he could continue, however, he then arrived at the place where he had planned to go to. It was just a simple building located somewhere woods in the south-eastern parts of Tenguu City.

In short, Rei had walked by foot to reach this destination right nearly from the other side of the city which ranges up to more than several kilometers. But it was no big deal.

"Ah, right... I came here to relax and clear up my mind. Not to stress me any further..." Rei muttered as he heaved out a sigh.

Walking forward, he then reached in front of the door of the said building. This place lacks any living presence beside him. Even though several more buildings could be seen here nearby, it wasn't like anybody was living in them.

"Nyaaa~"

It was then, that Rei heard a pur which made his attention turn from where the sound came from.

And obviously, what he had just heard was no doubt a cat.

Looking on top of a nearby tree, Rei saw the feline jump down from it. The feline was black which more or less blended itself with the shadows making it almost indistinguishable in normal cases. However, its eyes had an unusual color of purple on the right and gold on the left that radiated in the dark.

These eyes would attract anyone's attention if they were to see which offsets the feline's unnoticeable presence right within the shadows.

"...Wait a second," Rei then paused as his eyes slowly widened in surprise. "I remember now, I already met you once before didn't I?"

And for some reason, Rei specifically remembered this cat. He stumbled upon this heterochromatic feline on his way to his first day of class in school, which for some reason made him end up arriving late at the time.

The heterochromatic feline then approached him as it slowly rubbed its head on his leg before looking up to him as it purred.

"Nyaa~"

"...."

Looking at the feline, he lifted it as they stared at each other.

"...Nya?"

"...Well, having some company inside wouldn't be bad, to be honest," Rei finally spoke before patting the head of the feline as he carried it in his arms. "...Also, some say that cats are good stress relievers if you pet them in the head...Hmm, not bad actually, I think it is true to some extent huh"

Therefore, he shelved any other stressful thoughts away that was bugging him a while ago as he proceeded and slowly opened the door.

——

[A few minutes ago]

"....mu?" Tohka slowly sprung up from her bed as she groggily rubbed her eyes. She noticed that the sun still wasn't up in the sky.

From what she could see, the sky was almost devoid of anything except the clouds spread all over it, or maybe it wasn't? She wasn't sure due to her not being sober enough to confirm it. However, it seemed that it would probably rain again later this day if she were correct.

She looked around the room and checked what woke her up.

Tohka wasn't the type of person that could be described as an early riser she would rather fall into the category of a late riser if you were to ask her.

After scanning the room, she slowly formed thoughts within her mind.

Right beside her was her new and beloved older sister, Tenka, who was sleeping soundly as she cutely hugged the pillows between her arms and legs.

She then noticed the person who should've been beside her was now gone and she couldn't detect his presence throughout the mansion as well.

"I see... So it's that kind of day again where Rei would leave at these kinds of hours..." Tohka concluded as she stared right back at the window.

This kind of thing didn't surprise her. Tohka already knew about the fact about Rei occasionally went out very early in the morning on some days. Moreover, Rei already explained her about this and she had no problems whatsoever.

It was then that Tohka began to reminisce several things in her mind... however, that was immediately interrupted as she next soon heard a voice beside her.

"Tohka...?" She then heard her sister groggily calling her name, Tenka was still in the state of being half-awake and was probably in no shape to be described as sobered up.

"...you should sleep more, Tenka," Tohka uttered as she stroked her older sister's head.

"....You...." As Tenka tried to say something, she was then interrupted by Tohka who gently put her finger on Tenka's lips.

"You should sleep more. I know you are...still tired so please do that for me"

"Tohka..."

"Please," Tohka then paused as she let out a pleading and gentle smile. "Tenka Onee-chan?"

"...."

Hearing those words, Tenka slowly relented as she surrendered her body to sleep once more. It was true that she was still tired, and hearing Tohka plead to her as she called her like strangely put her at ease and was soothing to her for her ears.

Slowly, the feeling of drowsiness took over her mind and body. The last thing Tenka saw was Tohka who was directing her with a gentle smile.

With those thoughts, Tenka once again fell asleep.

"Muuuu....." Tohka mumbled as she slowly stretched her arms upward.

Due to that small conversation with Tenka who was finally asleep once again, Tohka had finally sobered up as she somehow felt that she was in a good mood as she continued thinking about those ideas that oddly began to slowly form in her mind.

Tohka was not really a smart girl, but she wasn't completely stupid either. And even with her limited intelligence, she was still able to formulate several hard thoughts in his mind.

She was thrown into a world where she could be killed anytime as its inhabitants posed her as a 'threat'. She didn't understand this back then but during her life with Rei, she completely understood that her existence does bring harm to them by causing utter and unintended destruction.

That's why can't fully hate those humans because they are just trying their best to live and protect their lives. As Rei said, humans often fear the unknown, but that doesn't excuse Tohka to defend herself as well.

That's just how the world works. It was utterly complicated and unfair.

It was a world where one needed to get used to little by little, but she was thrown there suddenly without any preparation. Yes, without even knowing anything, there were already people coming after her life even though she didn't understand anything that she did wrong to them. It was a world that was way too harsh for her.

The endless days of being overly cautious, terror, and the pressure that came from such a world were very emotionally taxing on her. Her heart was somehow able to hold on, but it left her heart with countless cracks. Then finally, the last push crushed her heart into small bits.

As her heart was ground to dust and scattered into the wind, she was looking for a place lean on. Then she found a place to cling and it became the new foundation that supported her as she gathered her crushed heart piece by piece into a new shape.

The cracks between the pieces that she gathered were filled with something that was flowing out from that new foundation. A safe haven, sense of relief, trust, and reliance glued the pieces together and even transformed the pieces.

Tohka's psyche was rebuilt from scratch when she met Rei. It was rebuilt again and again without changing its name or identity. The Tohka up until now was noticeably not able to give her best in everything she does due to her fear of losing Rei. That's why she was afraid that Rei was talking and conversing with other people—or to be more specific, women that she didn't know of behind her back no matter how reasonable or unreasonable it is.

Tohka was just that insecure. Losing her place to lean on, the person who she undoubtedly 'loves' is something akin to a death sentence for her. So having Rei only have his eyes set on her was her very priority back then, but that was just a naive idea now that she realizes how flawed that idea is.

No matter what she does, it would be inevitable to stop Rei from meeting other people—or women to be specific. Especially now that Tenka, her 'older sister' started to live with them as well. After all, there is no way she could control how Rei lives the way however she wants.

That's why she thought to herself that rather than stopping Rei from doing the inevitable, which is like interacting with other people and giving attention to them, especially girls other than herself, she would just solidify her position as his 'first' and 'most important one' among them.

It was a very twisted idea that even Tohka didn't realize herself for now, and even if she does, she doesn't see any problems with it.

As long as Rei keeps her to be his 'first' in almost everything, then she doesn't mind sharing him others then...no matter how reluctant she would feel in the end.

But now that she had perceived a sense of safety and regained her confidence and sense of freedom after talking and understanding more of her beloved even if it is just a short period time, all of a sudden the idle gears inside her fit perfectly into the bigger picture.

Tohka then looked back to her old self where she was careless and full of flaws. There were a lot of points that needed improvement. She reflected back as she decided to do better in the future. She had so many things that she wanted to try inside her head. She was reassessing, reevaluating, and improving all of those ideas that she had.

As she was thinking about the future. She knew that her 'position' needs to grow bigger and firmer in order to do better both for her own sake and for Rei's, Tenka's...and probably for the other people that would probably join them later as well. It had become something very important to her to make a world where she and Rei and everyone that would be important to her in the future could live happily.

Her drowsiness vanished in an instant. She doesn't really feel needed to sleep right after this even if it is still too early in the morning. She would just wait for Rei to come back and check up on her older sister sleeping beside her.

As Tohka slowly imagined the future that she wished for, she let out a captivating smile.

——

The place where Rei entered was none other than a small church. Well, to be more specific, it was an abandoned church.

Abandoned churches have some notable reputations around the world. Be it good or bad, those combined make the prospect of abandoned churches be well known throughout the world.

It was eerily quiet and only his foot echoed as he took each and single step on its old cracked porcelain floor.

Going to the church was one of Rei's rare hobbies in his past life. It was rare, and nonetheless outright strange considering who he was in his past. Being inside one usually makes him relax and calm down his mind to temporarily forget his worries and such.

Thus, leading him to occasionally wake up early and visit this abandoned church whom Rei knew about around the first week of his stay in this world.

Rei then snapped his fingers as candles slowly slowly began to appear and placed themselves in the candle racks, torch holders and other more places.

Rei then flowingly moved his hand, and soon the entire church was illuminated in light. Purple light to be exact. It was then, each candle had blazed up in the first second as they were lit up with Rei's purple flames.

"It looks totally eery...." Rei uttered before swallowing the next words in his mind.

'Purple flames on candles? I'm kinda like doing some kind of heretic ritual here and making this abandoned church look even creepier, didn't I?' Rei jested in his mind.

"Nya...?"

The feline on his arms then purred as it once again gave a good stare at him before trying to make itself comfortable just like adjusting in a bed in order to sleep. Rei just ignored it and minded his own business as well.

Rei then took a seat as he slowly closed his eyes. He stayed in that position for a lengthy 30 minutes with the feline sleeping on his lap.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and let out a sigh. To be honest, his objective of taking this chance to relax wasn't exactly achieved during his stay.

Even though he said that he wanted to relax here for a while, he couldn't set his mind and body to even do that.

Why?

It was still because of that band of light floating up in the sky once more. And eventually, only selected people were only able to see it based on the information he had gathered.

To recall, the band of light—which Gudako and Mashu had informed him was a 'Noble Phantasm', and after explaining what a Noble Phantasm is, she then described that this band of light was capable of wiping out every living being at its wake, which he already knows in the first place but still proceeded on listening to her out of respect. As they delved further into this topic, Gudako informed him that the individual who possesses this Noble Phantasm was someone that already ceased to exist.

Knowing that much, Rei confirmed to himself once more that this 'Gudako' that was transported or rayshifted here in this world had already triumphed against Goetia and was currently handling either the Remnants or the Lostbelts already.

That's why Rei was having quite a hard time comprehending some things.

Is there someone capable of doing the same Noble Phantasm as Goetia? Probably, but Noble Phantasm is unique for each individual to possess unless there are also 'unique circumstances' involved in it, both would have the same Noble Phantasm.

However, that band of light, Ars Almadel Salomonis, was not like that. This leaves Rei with a blank page once more.

Is there some connection between him being here in this world and that band of light? Most likely not, he already confirmed that Gudako's existence here was enough to prove that it was most likely connected to her.

No matter how much Rei wanted to ponder about it. He feels that there is something that just doesn't fit right with the current information that he currently had in hand. It felt like he was missing something important.

Is there perhaps a Demon Pillar who could 'make' a degraded version of Ars Almadel Salomonis? Or rather than a Demon Pillar, is 'something' capable of copying or mimicking that specific band of light...

"Copy or Mi..mic...? Huh?"

Letting out those words, Rei felt something that connects something like that in the situation. However, he has no sufficient evidence to prove that claim to be true.

Even so, the words 'copy' and 'mimic' left a deep impression in his mind for some reason. Rei honestly found this quite interesting and worrying at the same time.

Those words weirdly resonated inside him, but he deliberately chose to ignore it since even before Rei could even ponder more about the matter...

"Nya?"

The feline who was currently sleeping on his lap suddenly moved and rolled right and left before pausing as it slept once more on his lap.

"Though it is very hypocritical for me to say this," Rei slightly turned his head to the side as he landed his gaze on the 'newcomer' in the abandoned church. "I wonder what a young lady like would do in arriving at this unusual place at this unusual time of the day"

The newcomer just let out a faint smile at Rei as he said those words.

"Right? Kurumi-san?"

"Ara ara? Am I uninvited to be here perhaps, Rei-san?" Kurumi's amused response was the reply he got as she let out a small chuckle.

——

.

.

.

.

.

——

[A/N: Yay, cliffhanger-kun strikes again—cough. Don't hurt me...okay right guys?

Anyways, I'll keep this short. I'm kinda sorry if ya guys won't have an immediate update next week after this chapter.

I'm still kinda having this fever by the time I started working on this chap which is yesterday and I am still not feeling well from it.

You might probably see several errors and typos in this chapter, hope ya guys understand and give me some slack and kindly point it out then.

Also, if you are wondering why Kurumi made her appearance in this chapter....well, just wait for the next chap haha.

With that said guys, ciao~]