Chapter 2: A Fated Encounter

My first day, huh…
I wonder who I’ll meet.

I’ve heard there’s a group of six individuals—
Powerful… beyond compare.

A slight mutter to no one in particular.

“I wonder if they hear that voice too?”

Creak.
He opened the door that led to the outside.
Sunlight came crashing through like a divine slap to the face.

“Holy—! Goddamn nature’s flashbang! Why do I keep doing that!?”

Pause.
(Yes, they do hear the voice.)

“What? Can’t a disembodied voice mess with people?”
Trying real hard to sound reasonable here.

Unpause.

“See ya later, Granny Chiro and Shinra.”

He stepped out, finally heading off.

“Hold your horses, boy.”

“You still have one thing that needs to be done.”

Bonk.
It hit him — the tradition.
The thing that has to be done on your first day.

“Right… almost forgot.”

He moved his hands into a certain motion.
An archer would recognize it from a mile away — ironic.

It was the graceful, focused movement of drawing a bow before firing.

Soon, a bright shining light appeared around him, slowly forming into the shape of a bow in his hand.

This phenomenon?
It’s what people in this world call a ‘Fate.’

He was one of the few to receive such power.

Was it his fate?
Well… we’ll see as the story goes on.

He aimed toward the sky.
And just before releasing, he muttered—

“Light…
It will always guide you to the right path.”

A streak of light shot up into the air.

Bang.

It exploded — a signal of a new beginning.

“Damn, for someone who complains about bright lights a lot,”
the disembodied voice commented from somewhere off-screen, wearing sunglasses.
How is he wearing them without a body?
Don’t ask. Just accept it.

“He sure has a flashy and bright power.”
“Ironic.”

(He made him like this, by the way.)

Somewhere far off in the distance—

“So he’s heading out, huh…”

A figure stood at their front door, staring at the light in the sky.

“I should probably go soon. Don’t wanna be late.”
A male voice said to himself.

“…Probably gonna be late anyway.”

Pause.
“Somehow…”

Back to Shiro.

As he made his way to the academy, more students came into view.
Lively atmosphere. Classic first-day vibes.

Some were chatting away.
Others were showing off their Karo.

A few stood out—
The ones with Fates.

He walked with his hands in his pockets, taking it all in.

(He also should have been paying attention to where he was going.)

WHAM.

Something — or someone — crashed into him.
He was sent flying slightly.

He managed to avoid real injury by regulating his Karo energy, but—

Owwwww.
That’s gonna be a sore back for a while.

Not much can be done about that, though.

He turned around, a little annoyed, ready to chew out whatever just body-checked him.

“Are you blind!? Where the hell do you think—”

His brain shut down.
Hard.

All he saw was a raven-haired girl with reddish highlights.

He didn’t know if it was the filter he had on or what.

But the girl seems extraordinarily cute.

And then she spoke—
And Shiro’s teenage boy brain simply blue-screened.

She sat on the ground, having fallen from the crash.

“I’m really sorry.”
“It was accidental. I’m a bit clumsy—please forgive me.”

She said it in a tone so soft, so sincerely adorable, it should’ve been illegal.

Shiro just stood there, mouth gaping, soul buffering.

…I must look weird as hell right now.

“Classic…”
“Girl runs into boy. Boy brain short-circuits because the girl is cute.”
“Teenagers, am I right?”

(It was the one who wrote it, by the way.)

“It’s fine,” he said, voice way calmer than the pain in his spine.

“Are you alright though? You seem to have fallen.”

He reached out his hand like some kind of knight in shining armor.
Totally just helping. No ulterior motive. Nope. None.

“Sure…”
The disembodied voice judges.
“That’s what they all say.”

(Still the one who wrote it.)

She reached out and took his hand.
He pulled her up gently.

Thud.

She stumbled into his chest.

“I’m sorry!”
She pulled away, cheeks slightly red, bowing profusely.

Wow.
I think I just saw the light.
It shined brighter than my arrows.

“No worries. It’s just a little accident.”
He said slightly red in the face, too.

“What’s your name?”

It sounded casual, but there was definitely a little motive behind it.

“First-year, Shindo Izarashi. Nice to meet you. What’s yours?”

“First-year, Shiro Yasaki. Hope we can get along.”

She stared at him for a second, like she was analyzing him.

“You have very pretty eyes.”
“Your pupils are shaped like little stars.”

She said it without realizing what she’d just done to the poor guy’s soul.

Did… did she just compliment my eyes!?

Danger. Danger. Brain overload.
CODE RED. I REPEAT: CODE RED.

“Red like the girl’s highlights, you mean.”

The disembodied voice teased.

“Screw off, you crazy weird voice.”

Disembodied voice walks away. Feelings slightly hurt.

“Haha, is that so? I get that a lot.”
“It appeared soon after I got my Fate.”

“You have a Fate?”

“Yeah. It’s… quite a bright one.”

“How about you? Do you have one?”

“Sorry, I was asked not to reveal it yet.
But I can say I do have one. What it does is a secret, though.”

She put a finger to her lips.
Like she was telling him to keep it confidential.

“Did you see the bright explosion earlier?”

She asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Oh… that?
Y’know, just my Fate doing a little tradition thing. No biggie.”

Definitely not trying to impress her or anything.

“Cool.”

Her eyes lit up — like actual stars in the night sky.

“Does it have a name?”

“Huh?”

“Your Fate. Does it have a name?”

“They say every Fate has one.”

Hmmm…
Never really thought about that.

What would I name it?

Disembodied voice echoes from the void.

“It’s called ‘Piercing Starlight’. Thank me later.”

You know what?
Not bad.
hanks, you crazy weird voice from wherever.

“My Fate is called Piercing Starlight.”

“Pretty creative, right? Came up with it myself.”

“Wow…”
“Sounds beautiful. I wish I could’ve seen it firsthand.”

“You must’ve looked so cool.”

She paused. Realized what she just said.
Turned a bit pink.

“I—I mean, you would have looked cool.
Wait. I mean—just forget about it.”

He stared blankly, brain still processing the cuteness overload.

“Yeah… sure. I could show you next time.”
“Or something…”

“Sure. That would be nice.”

“So… wanna head to the academy together—?”

FWOOM.

He was sent flying. Again.
This time with ten times the force.

No amount of Karo control could’ve saved him from that.

What the hell was that!?
That felt like a whole gust of wind with bad intentions!

“Are you hitting on her!?”

A loud, annoyed female voice tore through the area.
It could shatter eardrums. Probably kill plants.

Thank the omnipotent voice that humans in this world are built different.

The sheer annoyance in her voice could make a bear apologize.

“Sachi!”

“That wasn’t very nice.”

Shindo scolded the girl like a parent catching their kid mid-chaos.

“But that starry-eyed weirdo was totally hitting on you.”

“He wasn’t.
He helped me after a little accident.”

“Oh…”
“…Might’ve over-escalated. Poor sense of judgment.”

Oopsies.
Jumped the gun a bit.

Well, he could have been hitting on her.

“There may have been a hint of it, I won’t lie.”
The voice casually admits.
(It was. It definitely was.)

“Hey, sorry about that.”
“Might’ve been a little overprotective of my friend.”

The girl apologized —
Sort of. More like a casual comment.

“It’s fine…”

I swear, why do I keep running into weird people?

Okay, Shindo is kinda adorable.

But this girl? Pure chaos.

“My bad, seriously. Anyway — what’s your name?”

“I’m Sachi Hikozashi, by the way. First-year.”

Oh great. Of course she’s a first-year.
I might not make it through the year.

(Don’t worry. He will.)

“Yeah…
Hi. Shiro Yasaki. Also a first-year.”

He replied, reluctantly.
If it weren’t for the whole “being a gentleman” thing, he might’ve considered using his Fate.

But still.
You don’t hurt girls.
Even if one of them might secretly be a walking natural disaster.

“Was that your power?”

“Maybe…”

“I just wanted to test out my Fate, y’know. Like everyone else.”

Okay, a slight lie.
Didn’t want any weirdos near Shindo.
But this one seems… tolerable. For now.

“You have a Fate too?”

“Yep. Quite a forceful one, if I do say so myself.
But I won’t tell you what it does.”

“Not until I fully trust you, at least.”

The nerve of this girl to talk about trust.
I should be the one questioning her, not the other way around.

“Don’t worry, she can be trusted.”
“I would know.”

“Why should I trust you, whatever you are?”

“Because I’m the voice.”
“And if you don’t, I can make things a lot worse.”

“…You know what? I’ll take your word for it.”

Crazy omnipotent voice.
If that’s what god is, then I’m a non-believer.

“I can read your thoughts, y’know.”

How about you go read a guide on how not to be a sass queen.

Crazy omnipotent voice…

“Maybe I will.”

“You better watch how you speak to me though…”

The voice faded back to wherever it came from.

“Well, as I was saying…”
“Shindo…”
“If you’d like, we can head to the Academy together?”

He scratched the back of his head.
Classic teenage guy move. The awkward ask.

“Sure.”

“We should all go together.”

“Of course. As you wish, Shindo.”
Sachi said it like she was pledging loyalty.

“Yeah…”
“Let’s go together…”

God. Why.
Come on, give me a break.
I know it wasn’t a date, but still — gimme a chance!

“You deserved it.”

The disembodied voice said smugly.
How is it smirking? No idea.
But it’s definitely smirking.

They walked together toward the academy gates.
Begrudgingly, for one of them.

Pause.

“Well, that’s the end of that scene.”

“Was there a continuation?”

“Yes. They talked a bit. Shiro suffered. Deserved it.”

“Am I gonna tell you what was said?”

“No. Because it’s awkward teenager talk and I might cringe.”

(It was the one who made it. If that hasn’t been obvious.)

“Hey! What the hell? Why does the narrator have a narrator?”

(Mind your own damn business.)

“Whatever…”

Anyway, they’re headed to school.
What happens next?

Let’s just say…
it’s gonna be rather interesting.

Unpause.