Dealing with Devils Pt. 1

"Come on, hurry up, Aikami!" Lana shouted from up ahead.

"I'm going as fast as I can," I mumbled.

"Eh?! No, you're not! I can literally see you dragging your legs!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come along, Aikami," Alice chuckled as she passed me by. "Lana is quite impatient when it comes to these things. You wouldn't want to have your body parts snapped in half again, would you?"

Just the thought of it sent a shiver down my spine. "...Fine."

So I picked up the pace, albeit not by much. Didn't seem like Lana noticed it anyway since she was too distracted with the vibrant activities of the city.

Earlier today, I was approached by the girls right after our last class. It wasn't the most ideal scenario because so many students were still around. People who once ignored my presence suddenly became interested in me, wondering how a loner like me has such a close relationship with the newly-crowned queens among the first-year students. Something tells me this is gonna become a headache later on.

Now, here we are, walking through the streets of what is perhaps the most popular ward in the city. I don't remember how long it has been since the last time I've gone out. In fact, I don't think I've ever once gone out. I just did the bare minimum to live a quiet life.

Hm... Now I'm wondering, is this an effect of being fateless? No goals, no ambitions, no thoughts of tomorrow or what I'm gonna do when it comes—just moving forward aimlessly.

Hah. I'd imagine a ton of people my age are doing exactly what I'm doing. The only difference is that their thread of fate wills it, whereas I... I just exist.

Suddenly, I bumped into something hard.

"Ow..."

It felt like a streetlamp or something. Was I that distracted? However, when I looked up, I realized it wasn't a streetlamp.

There stood a tall man towering almost a whole feet above me. His skin was abnormally pale, and bags as dark as the night sky hovered below his cold eyes of red. He was slender yet bulky, wearing a hoodie and baggy pants. His long, black hair fell in front of her face, nearly covering up every facial feature. He's the most unkept person I've ever seen and for some reason... I felt intense fear just by looking at him.

I then heard a bark, followed by another, then another. It was only then that I realized he was holding onto a leash that split off into three. My head slowly tilted to see three huge black dogs growling at me.

Is it just me, or are their eyes also red...?

"Hey, kid..." the tall man muttered. "Watch where you're going next time."

Even his voice exuded an air of terror, making it hard to breathe. This guy... just who is he? And why do I get the feeling that he's not who he seems?

"I... apologize..." I said, struggling to say that one line.

"Hah. Yeah. I guess when someone makes a mistake due to their own negligence, an apology is due." He reached his hand out, casting a shadow over me. "However, given that I am in a poor mood, I find myself neither willing to entertain it nor accept it. For the error of staining my clothes with your unseemly odor, you shall now pay with your—"

"Quit it, Old Man Undies!"

He then staggered forward at the sound of a powerful smack. Before I could even register what had happened, Lana appeared and grabbed him by the collar. Just like that, the man's terrifying demeanor changed.

"The hell do you think you're doing, messing with Aikami?!" she shouted.

"Relax, Lachesis. I was—"

"What, huh?! What were you doing, hu~h?! What would've happened had that gone on for a second longer?!

"No, I just—"

"I swear, you big pile of bones, if I find a single scratch on Aikami, I'm gonna tell Alice to cut your thread!"

Even though he was being screamed at and getting his hair pulled by a girl much shorter than him, his fatigued eyes remained unchanged.

The next second, Chloe ran up to my side. "A-Aikami! Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I think so," I mumbled. "Anyway, what's... going on here?"

"Ah... He's..."

"Oh. I completely forgot to introduce myself."

The tall man easily broke free from Lana's grasp, standing perfectly upright with a massive bump on his head.

"It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. My name is Harry, though you may know me as Hades, the God of the Underworld," he said nonchalantly.

"W-wha... Ha... Hades...?"

"Ah~!"

I quickly turned around to see the three dogs huddling around the girls with their tails wagging, eagerly searching for head pats and scratches behind the ear.

Chloe knelt on the ground while one was licking her face. "Haha! Aw~ You're so cute!"

Lana was leaning forward, pinching the second one's face. "That's right. Who's a good puppy? Who's a good little puppy?"

Alice was standing with her arms crossed, but that didn't deter the third one from trying to earn her attention. "Sit."

"Then... these dogs are...?" I gulped.

"Oh. Yeah. That's Head One, Head Two, and Head Three. Normally, they would only have one body, but that wouldn't really fly in the mortal realm."

Hades... The God of the Underworld... What in the world? I already had a hard time rationalizing the Goddesses of Fate! Now this?! It's only day one of our contract! Just how many more am I gonna end up meeting?!

Alice approached from behind and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"...D-define 'okay,' because this seems like a bit too much for this noodle brain of mine to handle."

"Hm... No injuries?"

"In that case, none."

"Good. And as for you, Uncle Hades..."

She glanced over with a dangerous glare, one that surpassed even Hades by a mile.

"Yeah?" he answered, still cold.

"That was reckless of you," she growled. "What if Aikami had gotten a heart attack? How would you have taken responsibility for that?"

"Of course. If he had died, I could've just snagged him up from the underworld."

Clearly, that wasn't the answer Alice was looking for, because her scowl worsened. All the while, Hades's expression finally changed, as he was growing subtly nervous.

"Lana already warned you, but just in case it went over your head... If you touch a single hair on Aikami's head, the Underworld won't be the end for you. Understood?"

"...Yes..." he gulped.

What am I witnessing right now? This tall, scary man is being scolded by a girl who's just a bit shorter than me. Not only that, he's the freaking God of the Underworld!

"Then, carry on, Uncle Hades," Alice muttered as she took my hand. "Lana! Chloe! Let's go."

"Aw, can't we play with Cerby for a bit longer?" Lana whined.

"Weren't you the one who was nagging at Aikami to hurry up? Come on. We're wasting daylight here."

"Bye-bye, Cerberus," Chloe said. "You be a good boy now, okay?" The dogs barked in unison, causing Chloe to giggle and smile brightly. "And bye, Uncle Hades! We'll see you later!" 

"Yep," he replied.

After finishing up their farewells, we continued our walk.

"So... How was meeting the Lord of the Underworld himself, Aikami?" Lana smirked.

"Dude..." I sighed. "I don't know what I thought a god was, but it definitely wasn't that. I don't ever wanna experience anything like that again. Why is he even here?"

"What do you mean? Almost all of the gods are here."

"Huh?!"

"Yeah!" Chloe perked up with a smile. "Every three or so years, we cycle to a different country. It's part of our century-long vacation plan."

"...So you're telling me that it was just a very big coincidence we happened to meet. The fates and a so-called fateless."

"Yep!"

I can't believe that. I can't. I refuse to. The odds are just way too low for me to—

Then, my attention turned back to each of the three girls, who were gaging my condition after that less-than-stellar encounter. How could I forget? They're the Goddesses of Fate. For all I know, our meeting was predetermined. Is that what 'fate' is?

"Hah... God dammit..." I muttered.

"Hey, what did we do?!" Lana exclaimed.

I glanced over and stared blankly at her. Seriously...?