Chapter 5.4: Reborn

As Akuma was deflecting the suspicions of his father, Tenshi was also fighting his own battle.

[Back at the hideout]

The landscape was completely covered by a thick blanket of white powder and surrounded by freezing waters. And throughout this massive land of ice and snow, there existed absolutely no refuge to speak of. None but one that is.

Located in the middle of this large land of frost, resided one small hideout. And leaving said hideout with high speeds, where the only two inhabitants on the entire continent.

They were traveling on snow bikes to a destination unknown to Tenshi.

“Hey, where the hell are you taking me?”, I asked.

“..I’m taking you to a location where you can train the proper way.”

“Proper way? Were we not supposed to meditate?”

“Meditation is used to improve your control of Hoshi, by strengthening your mental state. You don’t meditate to learn the damn thing. I’m honestly surprised Akuma managed to learn it that way.”

“Does that make him some prodigy, born every million years or something?”

“Of course not. It just means that his hoshi was unsealed more cleanly and purely. I’m not too sure how though.

And grandpa didn’t really have much time to unlock yours cleanly, so we're headed to finish the process.”

“Ahh. Then I wasn’t bad at it, the pope just did a shitty job?”

“No you're definitely awful. I admit you shouldn’t be able to raise your body temperature in your state, but you should at least be able to stop it from decreasing. Like really, I came out there to see a block of ice. If it wasn’t for my healing ability you would be dead”

“It’s not my fault you're a shitty instructor. You didn’t even tell us what the proper way was. And aren't you the reason we almost died.

“I’M A WONDERFUL INSTRUCTOR!!! Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Akuma do it after his first time?”

“You just said-”

“SHUT IT!”

I sighed at her child-like behavior.

“..Y’know one of these days someones really gonna hurt you.”

“Ohh, whatever…”

She cleared her throat and continued with her ramble.

“As I was saying. I told you earlier that the soul constantly produces energy called starlites, but there are only two ways for someone to use those starlites. The first is by sudden stimulation. When someone feels an intense level of excitement or terror, the body is able to squeeze out drops of starlites from the seals and use them to strengthen the body and heighten the mind.

The world today calls this phenomenon an adrenaline rush. The second way is of course just breaking the seals. By exposing them to extreme amounts of starlites, you overcharge them which break them apart.

“Quite the talker aren't you?.. When you say overcharge them, it sounds like they aren't holding them, but absorbing them. ”

“Quite the asker aren’t you?.. And that's because they are absorbing. For some reason, somewhere in history everyone’s starlites started draining itself, as if it was being supplied to some machine.”

I paused for a moment, to absorb what she just said. I wasn’t all that big on engineering, but if what she just said was true, humanity was truly fucked… Oh well.

“So basically, Akuma got all his seals removed by someone or something, while I still have a few? And you're driving us somewhere to remove them?

“Yes, precisely. I'm actually surprised you can comprehend all I said”, she remarked.

I was tempted to comment on what just left her mouth, but I didn’t have the energy to argue with this manbaby.

“So, if my situation was so dire, how did I fight that monster and how was I healing? Then again, I guess you wouldn’t know since you only showed up at the end, huh?”

I didn’t actually care how I did any of those things, I just wanted to bring up how her useless ass showed up at the end of the fight. And whether I cared or not, this manbaby was more than eager to explain.

“Actually I saw the whole thing.”

“..Huh?”

“Yeah, I didn’t tell you? I was watching the whole time. I even recorded it.”

She snickered as she said that last part.

“Then why the hell didn’t you help us?”

“Well you guys, we're doing great. Fiend or not, you boys sure handled him quite well. Especially you. Even now I’m kinda confused on exactly what you are.”

“Whatchu mean?”

“...You not only have attributes from demons, but also vampires and werewolves…”

“..Are you gonna tell me what those are, or…”

“Since you're such an idiot, I guess I will.”

She cleared her throat and briefly explained what she meant.

“To put it in simple terms, you get stronger the more starlites you digest. That's an ability unique to demons. That's not all however. You also seem to gain partial immortality after ingesting starlites, a trait shared only amongst vampires. And to make it even more confusing, you also seem to gain some abilities and attributes of whoever’s starlites you consume. That is characteristic unique to werewolves.

(Why are they all about eating?)

“...You're actually a nerd huh?”

“YOUR THE ONE WHO ASKED!”

“Anyways, I don’t remember eating any starlites though?”

“...After the soul produces the starlites, they travel around inside the blood. You do remember drinking his blood, don't you?”

“Unfortunately, I do.”

“Well for now, my theory is that people down your bloodline bred with these creatures, sharing their genes with their descendants.”

“Then does that mean Akuma’s also in my situation?”

“I highly doubt it. It's pretty rare for inhuman genes to show themselves and even more so for three to show up… Oh, we're here.”

As she said those words, the bike we rode slowly came to a full stop.

I looked ahead to see if I could spot our destination, but what I saw was beyond shocking.

Not only was it general knowledge, but throughout the entire time I spent here, the snow was a pure white color. Of course this was completely normal to me. The land ahead however, was completely covered by scarlet snow.

Though I was completely shook by the abnormal sight, Rin looked as if this was just her average Sunday.

“Now, get off”, Rin issued as we came to a complete stop.

“Whatever you say, sir.”

The scarlet snow didn’t seem to feel any different on my feet texture wise, but strangely it did feel a bit hot to the touch.

It's important to add that the location was littered with large, clear and red crystals.

This might be something that scientists haven’t even discovered yet.

I didn’t really feel like asking her about it, so instead I asked her a more important question.

“I forgot to ask earlier, but how exactly are you gonna expose my chains to large amounts of starlites?”

“...Isn’t it obvious?”, she asked as she approached me slowly.

She crept towards me, dragging the snow underneath with each step. Reaching me, she rested her right palm on my chest and gazed deeply into my eyes.

I thought she was attempting to make up for her rude attitude with a kiss. It might’ve actually worked to be honest.

I wholeheartedly thought she brought me to this warm snow for a sweet embrace, until suddenly, her palm started to glow with bright stars.

“Through combat”, she said with a large bright smile.

(Huh?)

Before I knew it, she released a large white blast and launched me towards one of the nearby crystals.

The crystal was durable enough to crash my landing, so I slipped down it and flopped onto the scarlet snow.

“One of these days… I’m gonna be the one to hurt you”, I muttered to myself as I rose up from the snow.

I didn’t have much time to spare however, because she immediately followed up with an “axe kick” from the skies.

I barely managed to block her attack in time. The pressure from her leg above, felt like it would crush my arms and split my head after.

I’m definitely gonna kill this girl someday.