The One

They say ‘a wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to,’ and Neo, if nothing else, sure was a prime candidate to one day become a wizard himself.

His destination: The local highschool.

Being late meant trouble with the faculty staff.
Being early was just an invitation for the delinquents to try their luck with him.

No. He would be right on time. At least right after he met with Junpei Kurokawa.

As for Junpei, he would be hard to miss. Standing right at the school gate, surrounded by his goons, chasing skirts and collecting protection money from the less fortunate. He was the son of Goro Kurokawa, holder of one of the most prestigious governmental positions in the prefecture.

As such, Junpei was off limits to both teachers and staff.

Neo had almost reached the gate, when Junpei noticed him, which wasn't too impressive. Junpei was at least a head higher than most of the other students, including Neo. Both of them stood out because of their blonde hair, but only Neo's was natural.

“Tomasu Andeson! Just the manlet I’ve been waiting for!” Junpei exclaimed.

“Good morning to you too, Kurokawa-san.” said Neo in a subservient tone. He reached into his bag and handed a digital storage device to Junpei. “Studio 731 Industries’ new release, and the other stuff you asked for last week.”

Junpei smiled, took the device, and turned to his latest mugging victims. “See? this halve-breed gets it! You should all take a page out of his book.”

Junpei clapped Neo’s back with force. “That’s what I like about you, Neo! You are not like those other useless idiots. You…” he paused and gestured with his fingers in the air, then continued saying, ”you are a useful idiot! Keep up the good work and we’ll throw you some scraps once my brother and I succeed our father.”

Neo forced a smile. “Yeah. yeah. Let me know if there is anything else you might need.”

Neo was about to leave as Junpei went after him and tipped his left shoulder. Neo stopped.

Junpei leaned towards him and said in a lowered voice, “oh, one more thing. My father has seen our yearbook. I mean, suffice to say his good taste runs in the family. He has shown quite some interest in Hana. I know you’ve been eyeing her for quite a while now. No way she’d put up with a freak like you of course, but you know what? After big brother Daiki is done with her training and my father gets bored, we might just let her make her AV debut. I could put in a good word for you. Can’t have enough bees for a good pollination, and you might even get a chance to plow her field yourself, if you’re really lucky.”

Neo froze for a split second, then forced another smile. “Thank you. I’ll surely remember that. Now, if you would excuse me, I don’t want to be late to class.”

“Hehe, always the stuck up dork ain’t ya? Don’t worry, you’ll get your time with Hana. As long as you continue to be useful, that is.”

Neo continued the day in daze. Classes went by in the blink of an eye. When the time came to return home, he departed from his usual route. He went to a convenience store staffed by one of his other frequent customers. He would usually provide data for snacks or money. This time was different. Neo was not of legal drinking age, but that was a minor misdemeanor compared to what Junpei had in store for Hana. Yet Neo was useless. Helpless. He just wanted to forget.

He did just that after reaching his small apartment.

At least that was the plan.

For some goddamn reason, he seemed to be able to hold his liquor. Maybe because of the foreign genes from his father's side. Or maybe because his mother's family used to be in the sake business and had built up a resistance over the generations. Or perhaps both.

Either way, he was drunk. Not drunk enough to forget or pass out, yet too drunk and incapacitated to distract himself with videogames.

He could watch a movie… but his current focus and attention span didn’t seem all that great. He finally decided to check out some short videos on the web. Time slipped by as three minute video after five minute video went by on autoplay.

Then it happened.

The almighty algorithm had decided to direct Neo’s attention to a viral video on black magic.

Summoning to be precise.

Selling his soul to a demon might not be the worst thing to happen, given the rest of the day. At least that way he could stop the Kurokawas. Not like anyone else would step up to it. Worst case, he’d just end up summoning firefighters instead of demons, if the candles used for the summoning burned down the neighborhood.

He followed the instructions as best as he could, given his inebriated state.

The Circle ended up more of a ovaloid mess, and the pentagram turned into a half pentagon. At least the candles were burning. Overall still impressive, given the amount of alcohol in his blood… or rather blood in his alcohol?

Wait… blood?

Why was there blood?

Neo followed the red stream back to its origin.

He must have cut his arm somewhere during the preparation for the ritual.

Luckily the cut wasn’t down the road, just across the street. Still, some curse words interrupted the otherwise flawless summoning. Or at least they could have. Black magic and curses seem to go hand in hand… at least that's what Neo thought of before the blood loss and alcohol levels finally got him to collapse on the floor.