Beginnings and Ends (3)

Kodak looks around himself, A village is burning and the people are being slaughtered like lambs. A single man then appears, His face housing a brutal scar across his eye and down to his jaw. He wielded a sword sheathed to his side, He drew the blade. It had a deep dark shade of purple. Its design was the shade of purple being swallowed by black flames. A voice then yells out.

"HEY DESTRUCTIVE RULER!"

Kodak and the man turned around simultaneously, He saw a group of 5 people. Their faces were blurry; the group consisted of 3 men & 3 women. The men wore interesting clothing. A boy was wearing a dark yellow yukata with faded lighting accents, a humanoid dragon was wearing very barbaric armor, And finally, the old man was wearing sophisticated clothing. In comparison, the women were wearing drastically different clothing. One was wearing what seemed to be a dark grey assassin outfit, While the others were wearing different colored dresses. A dark green poison-like color and a snow blue-like colored dress. It seemed as though they were targeting the scar-faced man behind Kodak.

Kodak sees the man swiftly dash at the group, blade in hand. The dark energy swarms his body. It is an even deeper shade of purple than the man's sword, and the energy is powerful and destructive. Most importantly, it slaughters the group in front of the man.

Kodak sees the man turn toward him. The man walks up to Kodak and puts his hands on his shoulders.

"YOU HAVE TO STOP HIM FROM AWAKENING, STOP THE REVENANT KILLERS FROM FORMING!" 

His voice spoke to him, it was a deep tone and had such clarity and authority over his words that even the slightest worse felt powerful and eluded long and serious intent to achieve whatever he talked about.

Kodak then suddenly opens his eyes. He was in his room, he looked around and saw his medals and trophies from winning in tournaments. He still saw his personal computer on which he played video games occasionally.

But he looked below the covers of his bed, Something was under it.

Kodak then gets off the bed and lifts the sheets, It was a girl. The same girl with Fumiko, her hair was a beautiful silky blonde color. Her face was gorgeous and she wore nothing but what seemed to be a nightgown and a blindfold for sleeping.

Kodak wonders how this random girl got into his room. Then, he feels the sun hit the room. The scent of freshly cut grass freshens the room from the vanilla-scented candle smell it normally has.

The girl starts to wake up and begins stretching her arms very high up, almost showing the cleavage of her bra.

Kodak looks over almost getting a glimpse but ignores it, looking in the other direction to avoid the awkward situation.

The girl then gets up tugging at Kodak's white T-shirt.

"(Huh?)"

The girl then starts getting in Kodak's face. This girl begins getting closer and closer, almost touching her nose against his.

"You're not flustered by this whatsoever?"

The girl says vaguely. 

Kodak then looks at her annoyed. 

"The hell are you talking about?"

He says with a slightly ticked-off tone. He grabs his school uniform and enters his bathroom.

As he showers, he wonders about his dream and why this random girl was found in his room.

"(That man seemed powerful and deadly. But what's even more interesting is that blade he wields. It's a shade of purple as dark as the night but at the same time visible enough to be purple. But what does he mean by Revenant killers? Honestly, I've had the strangest dreams in this town)."

Kodak exits the show and continues his morning routine, including skincare and basic bodyweight workouts. He walks back upstairs and sees the blonde-haired girl in the same school uniform as Kodak.

"Oh, you go to Tōzai Gakuen as well? By the way, since I forgot to ask. What's your name and why are you in my room?"

Kodak asks the girl curiously.

The girl smirks to herself.

"My name is Akari Yuka, and I am the best of friends with Fumiko Haruka. I'm here because I wondered why Fumiko is so interested in a guy like you. You are decent-looking and quite muscular just from looking at you, but what do you bring to the table when forming a meaningful connection with Fumiko-San?"

Kodak thinks for a moment and deeply thinks about what Fumiko was to him.

"Hmm, I think the reason for that connection I have with her stems from our families being huge martial artists and the fact that I saved her. Not to mention standing up for her plenty of times in Seoul."

Akari listens deeply to Kodak's explanation of Fumiko, touched by his words. She then lightly nudges him on the shoulder.

"So, you like her Kodak-san."

Akari smugly asks Kodak with a shit-eating grin plastered all over her face.

Kodak then smirks a little bit.

"Anyways, we should start heading to school. It's 6:30 Am. And I don't wanna be late like yesterday."

Akari looked at her phone. The time was 6:30, just like Kodak said. She quickly realized she would be in trouble if she were late.

"Come on Kodak we gotta go!"

She says energetically as she drags him out of the bedroom, Surprising his parents.

Dal-Hee looked at Kodak, shocked, but told them to have a good day. Shiro then pulls Kodak in for a bear-crushing hug.

"THAT'S MY SON!"

He yells while Kodak mutters to let him go while slightly embarrassed.

Shiro then puts Kodak down and before he can take a chance to breathe, His sister Akuma starts teasing him about Akari.

"Damn bro, didn't know you got around like that."

She said while grinning like a kid.

Kodak then grabs Akari's hand, immediately causing her to blush and he rushes out the door.

"Sorry about that, My family is a trainwreck in the morning."

Kodak sheepishly apologizes while hiding his embarrassed face by turning away and walking down the sidewalk to Tōzai Gakuen.

Akari looks at Kodak hiding his face and starts laughing.

"Hey! What's so funny?"

Kodak says, questioning the laughing Akari.

"S-sorry, I can't get over the fact you're one of the strongest martial artists, and yet you're scared of talking with women."

Akari teased while wiping away some tears caused by her laughter.

Kodak ignores her, telling Akari to shut up, and continues walking down the sidewalk to Tōzai Gakuen.

Akari then runs up to Kodak, catching up to him.

The two of them then arrive at Tōzai Gakuen and Fumiko looks at Kodak and Akari talking while laughing.

Fumiko, jealous walks up to Kodak and locks her arm into his own.

Kodak then looks to his right, immediately taken aback by Fumiko's bold move on him.

"F-Fumiko!?"

Kodak stutters, embarrassed by the circumstance that just occurred.

Fumiko then glares at Akari, signaling her to back off. Akari giggles and backs off, running off into the school building.

Akari enters the building and sees some familiar faces.

"Oh, hey everyone."

Akari greets the group of people in front of her. 

3 girls were acting familiar with Akari, One with amber-colored hair named Kohaku Sato was greeting Akari with a bright cheerful smile while struggling with a bunch of various for different subjects. A ginger-haired girl named Himari Suzuki tries to help Kohaku carry her books. 

"Geez, you guys are clumsy as ever."

A girl calls out to them, Her hair is a shade of crimson red, and she seems very built-in muscle density.

"Oh hey, Kyoka. How are you?"

Akari calls out to her, showing how easy-going she is regarding her friends.

The others quickly ask Akari where Fumiko was, Akari then sees Kodak walk into the school while Fumiko is still holding his hand and what seems to be her blushing profusely.

Akari and the other girls gasped overdramatically at what had happened. They immediately rushed towards Kodak and bombarded him with questions.

Kyoka was the first to ask Kodak 2 questions in rapid-fire fashion.

"Why is Fumiko holding your arm and didn't she hate you presumably? Also, are y'all dating?!"

Kodak answers her first question quickly and efficiently.

"She's been like this since the morning and for the second ques-!"

Kodak's then cut off by the other girls with even more questions.

Fumiko then tightens her hold on Kodak's arm.

He then looks at Fumiko and wonders why she's truly doing this.

"Is she trying to express something to me? Wait does she like me!?"

Kodak then pulls Fumiko away with him and away from the others. 

Akari then giggles and gives out high-fives to her friends.

"Looks like he finally got the hints about her feelings."

Akari says gleaming with joy.

Kodak then stops pulling Fumiko.

"What the hell are you-"

Fumiko is then interrupted & by Kodak hugging her very tightly.

"I'm sorry for what happened between us. I'm sorry that I didn't know that fat bastard was controlling you and I'm sorry for avoiding my problems. I shouldn't run from my fears. Just the thought of losing your friendship and losing my strong connection to you just cause I made the stupid decision of breaking your cousin's arm and crippling him. So for the first time, I'm sorry Fumiko-Chan."

Fumiko for the first time in years hears the old nickname that Kodak used during their childhood and that love she felt for him was rekindled once more.

She looked into his eyes, which revealed a deep sorrow accompanied by emotional pain. His brown eyes began tearing It was like watching a stone wall crack open, revealing its true self through the beautiful stream of a vast ocean.

Kodak starts to turn away but Fumiko turns his face back to her with her hands.

He felt the callus from her palm to the end of her fingertips, yet they were gentle and warm. It was like a rough stone smoothing its edges to show love and affection for the first time.

Fumiko then looked at Kodak's face, his eyes slowly streaming with tears. She uses her left hand to wipe them with her uniform sleeve. She then moves her right hand behind Kodak's head and comforts him. How long has it been since he felt this affection from her? Months, maybe even years.

Kodak then sits down and Fumiko comforts him, messing with his long hair and even rubbing his hand with hers.

"Calm down Kodak-Kun."

Fumiko says in a soft tone, Calming him down almost immediately.

"Okay if you need me to be. Then I will Fumiko-Chan."

Kodak then smiles, Catching Fumiko off guard with his soft-spoken nature.

"Y-you idiot."

She says while lightly blushing, Fumiko then buries her face in his chest.

Kodak then smiles and embraces her.

"Thank you Fumiko-Chan."