A Murder Of Crows

An entire afternoon. An entire fucking afternoon. I've been following Saji and Raynare for an entire afternoon, that is. Honestly, after the first two hours, I started contemplating just letting Saji die and hoping that one of the Peerages came and helped him out.

I also genuinely considered going to the abandoned church that overlooks Kuoh Town and killing Raynare's subordinates/comrades before coming back to finish her off.

All so I could just not have to stand around and watch that fake fucking smile on Raynare's face. Have to see Saji act all flustered and embarrassed like some beta - I mean, I'm pretty sure he's 17. If you can't hold a conversation with a girl at the age of 17, you're a lost cause. Unless you have some genuine trauma there, or even a stammer/stutter. But as far as I'm aware, Saji has neither of these things.

He's just your average Japanese Protagonist-like character. Even if you gave him a harem he'd probably sit around twiddling his thumbs--Ahem. Okay, calm down Tatsumi. It's okay. They're entering the park now, you only have to wait a little longer.

So, I continued following the pair into the park, the sky darkening from an orange to a dark blue that was slowly getting darker.

The park, however, was well lit and I could easily see my target as she walked forward toward water fountain in the middle of the park. So, as I stuck near the trees in the shadows, I saw her speaking to Saji who had a blissful expression on his face...all the way up until Raynare said something to him. That wiped the smile off his face, his expression turning confused as he spoke something to her.

Ah, she'd asked him to die, right? He's confused, asking her to repeat what she just said. Yada yada yada and now she...yep, she's transforming.

In a rather Sailor Moon esque transformation, Raynare's schoolgirl outfit disappears and turns into a bundle of leather and straps, her more teenage body fully filling out and maturing. Which obviously made her bodacious assets push against the leather holding them.

If she wasn't a crazy bitch, I'd hit it. Sadly, she isn't the type to consensual have sex with a human and I ain't a rapist, so it won't be happening. Especially not with what I have planned.

One of her hands outstretches to the side, her actions continuing even as I had useless thoughts, and she summoned a spear of light which shone in a violet-pink light. With Zetsu active I could sense the energy in the thing and the corrupted Holy Energy in her and it was...disappointing. Despite the weapon looking fancy and positively glowing with energy, it was a truly pitiful amount of energy. And her internal energy amount? Barely enough for a dozen or so of these pitiful spears of hers.

No wonder she's the starter antagonist for the series. She's a proper weakling. I guess I always knew she would be but seeing is believing, you know? Now I know she's weak. And as she thrust forward toward Saji with one of those shitty spears? I pounced.

Without lifting Zetsu, I put my two months of training to work.

Hanma genes are good, but when boosted by something like Nen? When the rules of your reality are from a harem-battle-shounen type series? You can grow very quickly and do some pretty crazy shit.

In less than a second, I relax my leg muscle to the absolute limit before snapping them back in place and flexing them to their max. All while I pushed off the ground from a sprinter's pose. I practically split through the air like a goddamn bullet. I was on Raynare before she could even know what was coming her way and before she could even figure it out, my fist had rammed into her face creating a visible shockwave and an audible crack as her nose smashed inward and her head was rocketed backward faster than her body could follow. An extreme case of whiplash, even for a Fallen Angel.

What had I just done? Cockroach Dash, a technique from Baki. A technique that allows you to accelerate to your top speed in extraordinary swiftness. But I didn't wait for Raynare to recover from the hit, nor did I even let her hit the fountain behind her before I raced after her with another Cockroach Dash.

This time though, I let my Zetsu go and began ramping it up a little.

Raynare was weak. I was sure of that before and I was even more sure now that I'd punched her. She couldn't even react to me. But a supernatural creature is a supernatural creature. Her flesh was tough. The punch she just took and came out of with only a broken nose? It would've put a hole through a tree, easy.

So, to make sure her supernatural flesh couldn't pull through for her again, I flared my aura with Ren before quickly controlling and shaping it with Ten. Once I'd done this, I focused every bit of my Nen on my right fist, which I was already rearing back as I shot toward Raynare, with Ko.

My aura, tinged red like it had been in the forest, looked like a bloody flame around my fist.

And Raynare, seeming to have caught up with what was happening, was looking at my fist with a fear like it'd been put there by God.

...Yeah, I think I like that look.

But I didn't stop there. No. Instead, I took the mass of red aura around my fist and used my Nen Ability on my fist also. What happened to my fist? It's density increased until it was denser than metal. It's weight increasing until it easily weighed a few tonnes. And all that, with a Nen covering and being powered by my superhuman muscles?

It got messy.

Raynare's already squashed face was made even worse by the punch, her skull fully cracking and her flesh being rendered apart by the force exerted on it. My fist didn't stop there, however, and just carried on through her face and skull - all until I'd put my fist all the way through her head.

My momentum carried us and my fist hit the fountain behind her, cracking and crumbling the stone that it was made of. Water spewed up and out in an uncontrolled manner, spraying up and then dropping all around me.

I activated Zetsu to it's maximum again, pulling my fist free from the mangled head of Raynare before disappearing from Saji's sight.

I'd been moving at speeds too quick for him to see or react to, so he basically blinked his eye and now Raynare's dead and mangled beyond belief. If it weren't for the black crow wings and the odd costume, you wouldn't even be able to tell it was Raynare anymore. Not with how he face was practically now a gaping hole of gore.

Before Saji could begin to panic, I gave him something to keep him quiet.

I grabbed his neck from behind and enhanced certain features of my voice to mask it - I wasn't all for being lowkey like some Xianxia protagonist but I don't need Saji coming after me thinking I'm some sort of crazed serial killer with the cops. First, I need to point him in Sona's direction. Then I can reveal my identity when I please and he'll probably even be thankful for saving him.

"Shut up," I interjected before he could freak out and his jaw tenses, keeping his mouth closed even despite the fact he probably wanted to scream out loud, "Listen to what I'm about to say, Genshirou Saji. That was a Fallen Angel. You need to tell the Student Council President what happened here - a Fallen Angel came here and tried to kill you. Do you understand?" I asked and he gave a robotic nod which was all my grip allowed him to do.

I nodded and let my body's aura loose - not Nen but my Hanma one. He'd be cowed into following what I just said by his own instincts. The very thought of going against what I said making him want to piss himself in fear.

"I'll let you go now. If you don't go to the Student Council President...I'll know. Now go," I say, letting go of his neck and leaving quicker than he can turn around.

Why bother sending him to Sona? So she owes me. That does make me think, however, why did she not save Saji herself--Ah, that's why. She did send someone. I was just too focused on Raynare. A stupid mistake.

I sensed someone trying to follow after me and I hid in the shadows and waited for them, only to see the Vice-President of Kuoh Academy. Tsubaki Shinra. A beauty with long straight black hair and serious-looking glasses that match the severe expression on her face - giving her an overall no-nonsense sort of look. Though that didn't mean she wasn't pretty, and from the way her body looked even under the Kuoh Academy uniform she was wearing, she was just as obscenely curvy and perky as most of the women in this reality.

Not to mention the most unique aspect of her appearance which was her heterochromic eyes. Her left eye was a beautiful violet and her right eye was a soft and warm brown.

Smiling to myself, I released a little of my Nen and she locked onto it with surprising speed. Turning, I dashed off using a prolonged Cockroach Dash. It consumed a hell of a lot of stamina and would've crippled my muscles and bones if I were an ordinary person. But I'm far from ordinary in this body. Both my muscle and bone quality are superior to just about any human you can find.

Give me more time to train and explore this quality and I'll no doubt become the physically strongest thing to exist. I can just feel it.

Dashing away and toward the church, I easily outpaced Tsubaki behind me as I broke the sound barrier. Despite her having the Queen piece enhancing her strength and speed, she just wasn't a match for my physical strength used in conjecture with the Cockroach Dash technique. It allowed me to reach my maximum speed and keep myself there without much trouble - something most people would find hard to do. Even someone with a Queen Evil Piece.

The church wasn't too far and with me keeping ahead of Tsubaki and even gaining a little more of a lead, I soon reached it. I smashed through the window, dropping my Zetsu and flaring my aura with Ren. My eyes latched onto my first target.

It was a short and blonde fallen angel. Mittelt, I think her name was. It didn't really matter.

She had quick reflexes though, and summoned a pink light spear before spinning to meet me. It was too late. I'd broken her neck before she could even react.

How was I so okay with killing? I don't know. I didn't like it, I know that. It was just...easy, I guess. Felt like a natural part of life. I didn't feel the need to kill but if I had to, I would. And against these Fallen Angels? I needed to, it was as simple as that.

There were a bunch of no-named weakling Exorcists who rushed out and tried to kill me but they were even easier to kill than Raynare and Mittelt. I just used my hands like knives and cut through them, rending them apart like butter. I found myself growing bored with the slaughter, however, and I was glad when a blue blur raced toward me from the corner of my vision.

Dohnaseek. I smiled and dodged the thrust from his light spear, picking up a nearby Exorcist and throwing her toward the newly arrived Fallen.

To his credit, he didn't care about the Exorcist and just cut through her before thrusting his blue spear at me once again. I slapped it to the side with an aura coated hand, it's density increased to match the steel-like texture of the light spear and counter with my other fist in what can be described as a flicker jab - an extraordinarily fast jab.

The hit slammed into Dohnaseek's face knocking his head back and dazing him for but a second before he began to recover. But a second was all I needed as I spun on my leading right foot and brought my left leg up and slammed my heel into the side of his head.

I'd enhanced the weight of the kick with my Nen Ability alongside the density and the kick basically cut through him like he wasn't even there in the first place.

Looking to the entrance of the church, I saw the door slam open and revealing the last Fallen.

Kalawarna. The blue-haired Fallen Angel was holding a golden light spear and looking very valiantly toward me with a fierce expression and a glare to match it - that was until she saw Dohnaseek's body dropping lifelessly to the floor, missing the top half off his head which was little more than a gory pile of tissue I'd sprayed across the pews surrounding us. Until she saw Mittelt's head twisted a total 180 with a surprised expression on her corpse's face. Until she saw the mutilated Exorcists.

She turned and tried to run. And yet she was too slow, even as she flapped her wings for extra speed, I caught up to her in no time and grabbed both the wings with my hands before slamming my foot into her back and pulling at the same time.

Her wings came free from her back alongside a river of blood bursting out of the two grievous wounds there. Kalawarna dropped to the ground, screaming, looking toward me with fear in her eyes.

I gave her a savage grin and finished her off with a curb stomp that splattered her head all across the floor. I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd got them all - even that psycho Freed.

He was quick but fragile and a counter he wasn't expecting had killed him easily enough.

Tsubaki made her appearance just after this, jumping through the same window I'd smashed through. I smiled and gave her a half-assed bow, "You're welcome. I solved your crow problem," I joked. She wasn't laughing. Too bad, I guess.

. . .

POV Change - Tsubaki Shinra

Tsubaki wasn't sure what to think of the person in front of her. For one, despite looking Japanese, he was far from the average Japanese teenager and despite being around her age he was incredibly well muscled.

He seemed to be around 6'4" and definitely north of 250lbs, his imposing physique practically screaming strength. He had black hair kept short with some messy bangs covering most of his forehead and his dark grey eyes gave off a boundless confidence. But now wasn't the time to be admiring his features - when faced with a man who can smile and joke around after slaughtering other people, you can't judge a book by it's cover.

No, when Tsubaki looked passed his appearance, she could see the energy pouring off of him in droves. The red-tinged energy flooded around him like a flame and reminded her a little of Senjutsu. Except this didn't feel exactly like Senjutsu.

She figured that was his life-force but she also figured that something about it was different to how Senjutsu practitioners control their own life-force. It felt more...offensive-based.

(*A/n - Nen and Senjutsu are very similar but I want to get it across that they're still two different things. Nen, in my opinion, is superior because it gives the user many, many more options on how to increase their strength. Senjutsu is basically just absorbing stuff from the environment while Nen is perfecting what's already there which keeps Nen purer and more potent than Senjutsu. Of course, however, this is just my own headcanon but because this is my fic that's how it's gonna be.)

Swinging her naginata around and putting it in a defensive position, Tsubaki shot a serious look and frown over at the mystery man in front of her, "Who are you?"

The question hung in the air for a few seconds before the man chuckled.

"Really? Not even a thank you?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow at Tsubaki. After a few more seconds of silence, he shrugged and let out a sigh, "You can call me Tatsumi Kobayashi. I'm a third-year at Kuoh Academy and I'm a friendly to both the Gremory and Sitri Peerages. Call this," he gestured to the corpses scattered around the abandoned church, "Me extending an olive branch."

"Why?" was all Tsubaki asked.

Of course she and her King had known about the Fallen's plan to kill Genshirou Saji, that was why she was heading to the park tonight. To either stop it or save Saji if he perished. But what she couldn't understand is why this person would try and make contact with either of the Peerages in Kuoh Town. And why do it this way?

This man - Tatsumi - didn't seem like the type who was desperate for allies. He didn't seem like the type to need protection either. Not after his showcase of strength in taking out these Fallen Angels.

Tsubaki knew she could do the same but it didn't take away from Tatsumi's achievement of doing it.

Hearing the question, Tatsumi gave a sincere smile and just shrugged.

"Does there need to be a reason?" he asked aloud before continuing without giving Tsubaki a chance to respond, "I did it because I wanted to. That's reason enough for me. If I wanna do something, I do it. Simple, no?" he asked, his tone tinged with humour and his smile still ever-present.

Tsubaki was stumped by this admission. Mainly because she could tell he was being sincerely truthful. He was doing this because he wanted to.

Tatsumi Kobayashi - Tsubaki could finally remember it. He was indeed a third-year at Kuoh Academy, one of the few recent male transfers. Situated in class 3-C. Yet had he shown any indication of knowing about the supernatural? Tsubaki drew a blank at that.

But deep down, she knew that neither her, nor her King, nor the Gremory Princess had suspected a thing about anyone among the third-years.

To hide for so long...Tsubaki shuddered at the thought of such prowess in staying hidden. The chill crawling up her spine only got worse when she realized he'd allowed her to sense him. Allowed her to follow him by leaving a trail of his aura for her.

Before she could say anything, though, Tatsumi spoke up before her.

"How about we simplify this - I hear the cogs in your head turning on end from over here," he joked before bringing both his fists up and settling into a classic kickboxing stance, his smile taking on a more animalistic look as it showed his particularly sharp canine teeth, "We have a fight. I'll show you I don't mean any harm because if I did, you'd already have been taken down. Okay?"

Tsubaki's nostrils flare at the insinuation that she'd be taken out so easily, her competitive spirit being poked and forced to waken up. But then she remembered the stealth Tatsumi had shown and realized his claims held truth to them.

But she pushed those thoughts out of her head and gripped her naginata even tighter.

"Fine," Tsubaki said, nodding, before giving a more sharp-eyed look to Tatsumi, "But if you try anything, the Sitri Peerage--" she was cut off by Tatsumi waving his hand dismissively at him.

"Yeah, yeah, revenge and all that jazz," he disrespectfully answered her before smirking, "Now that the boring stuff is outta the way, let's have a good fight, yeah?"

And then, it began.