Long Forgotten

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- Found..." the one I least expected to see here said in a trembling voice.

My heart skipped a beat and I didn't notice when she squeezed me in a very strong hug.

- Yui...

- Ah...ke...mi," I said in shock.

- Alive... finally...

How... What is she doing here? How did she know I was me? All these questions were swept away by a growing joy bordering on madness. I clutched the girl in an answering embrace, pulling her tightly against me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the song on my phone ringing and its faint vibration, but I didn't pay proper attention.

Akemi... the one I had raised, and literally, one of those persons who had been almost to the very end dear to me in the Last Seraphim world. One of the few people I knew in that world who survived my 'death'. And now, she stands here...

The last time I saw her. After I left Akame's world and found myself in the inter-world... Then, I decided to stop by to see her, getting in just a few minutes after my other part, Issei, visited her. Then, I told her not to look for me... Huh, what a... brute I was at that moment. I'll be honest, I didn't feel anything from meeting her then. But now...

The girl pressed even harder against my chest, and I felt something touch my side. A light wave of electricity travelled through my body, and I suddenly found myself in the middle of a place unknown to me.

Here was a scarlet sky, with white clouds floating across it. The flat plane under my feet, was made of white slabs, which created a certain style to the place. Turning around, I saw a very familiar looking sword stuck into the ground. And right on its protruding hilt, squatting on the ground was another equally familiar figure.

- Ashuramaru..." I smiled slightly. - я...

However, I was interrupted by a powerful slap that sent me flying a good dozen metres away. Getting up on all fours, I grinned, setting my jaw back. A guy whose face showed feminine features. Long, purple hair and the semblance of a lilac dress with a long hem.

- You deserve it. - snorted the demon. - Dying hurts a lot, you know. Especially when you don't just die, but have your soul eaten away.

- Ha ha... and this is coming from a demon who has probably eaten a few souls before.....

- You're different. - Ashura answered me. - I used to feel a great magical power in you that was bent on destroying all things. Now it's even greater, but it's sealed. And your nature... Your body is not ordinary. The composition of the cells themselves is different.

- Yes, in case you haven't noticed, my appearance has changed too. - I added snidely.

- Pfft. I'm not interested in your looks. I like Akemi much better.

- I could eat you again... by the way, how did you survive?

- I don't know. - the demon shrugged his shoulders. - I woke up when I was picked up by one of the vampires digging through the rubble. As I found out later, that's where you were fighting with the main vampire.

- I see... the soul, not yet fully digested, has returned. Lucky you.

- You bet!

 I grinned, blocking a very quick kick with my foot that was aimed at my face. Ashuramaru smirked back, leaping forward and displaying a perfect stretch. Next, he tried to punch me in the stomach with his fist, but was thrown back.

- It was nice to see you again!

In the next second, I was back in the real world where I was still being squeezed by Akemi.

- One question. - With some effort to keep my voice calm, I said. - how?

***

Yuno was angry. Very angry. Minene, by the way, wasn't looking too kindly at the pretty girl squirming at me either. And to be honest, I was experiencing a very peculiar cocktail of feelings.

We were at home, sitting in the living room and supposedly were supposed to discuss our future, but... when I brought (rather dragged, she hung on me stupidly, wrapping her legs and arms around my torso) a girl they didn't know, very nice looking and showing very, VERY much impudence in relation to my personal space, the supposed topic of discussion quickly soured.

At the moment, I was sitting on the couch, and Akemi was sitting on my lap, still snuggled up against my neck. In fact, it was in the same position that we had travelled fifteen minutes in a taxi home. She hadn't broken physical contact with me since we'd met, as if she was afraid I'd disappear. Well, maybe I am.

But, there was another, extraordinary plus in her appearance, which also pleased me very much.

- Minene, can you tell me what you use to remove hair dye?

- ...

- ...

- ...

- ...

- You're an arsehole. This has nothing to do with that girl, does it?

- Bull's-eye. Now, go to your computer and order a home delivery, please. We're gonna have a long talk.

***

- Other worlds... other worlds..." muttered Minene shockedly, whose picture of the world had just collapsed. Yuno, on the other hand... Yuno didn't care, she continued to drill the gaze of the master assassin Akemi, who, though she pretended to be somewhere far away and hadn't even opened her eyes the whole time, was actually very sensitive to her surroundings. And yet, her breasts have definitely gotten bigger since the last time we met, I can feel it so to speak.

In general, I didn't see anything particularly wrong with revealing the peculiarities of the universe. Minene, if she becomes a god, will know about it anyway, and Yuno... Yuno again doesn't care. She's the one who knows about it from her own experience, heh.

- Please tell me this is a joke...

- No, it's not a joke. She, like me, is not of this world. Me, because Deus needed a challenger for Thirteen, and she just followed me.

- So... why is she so attracted to you? - I noticed the slight change in tone in Minene's voice.

- Those are... rather complicated reasons, I suppose. Akemi, why don't you let go of me?

- I won't. - the same scene came to mind...

***

- Go away. You will speak to the Queen about your behaviour. - I said coldly.

The vampire bowed quickly, and with a wave of his hand to his subordinates, he instantly left, leaving me alone with the humans.

I looked at the girl, who was shaking with fear, and, smiling, sat down on my knee. She had bright green eyes and long black hair. However, she was dressed in dirty, tattered clothes.

- Don't be afraid of me. What's your name? - Trying to speak as softly as possible, I asked.

- A-Akemi, sir..." the girl mumbled.

- Calm down, I do not wish you harm. And if we meet again, don't call me lord, okay?

The girl calmed down a little and nodded.

- That's fine. Run back to your people. - I let go of Akemi's hand.

***

At the time, I thought it was strange to treat a girl I didn't know that way, though... In a way, she reminded me of Wendy. Maybe in my first life, I had a younger sister or daughter too? Such a thing would explain my desire to have a little girl in my family, but I am not allowed to know that, alas.

- Okay... Minene, Yuno, I'd like to speak to her alone, would you excuse us?

- Pfft. - Uryu moved to the first floor. After a couple of seconds, Yuno also flinched, and headed following.

As soon as I heard the click of the locks on both girls' room doors, as well as their footsteps inside, Akemi pulled away slightly and looked me straight in the eyes.

- Why?

- М?

- Why did you leave me? Back then, that night when you came to tell me about the futility of trying to find Yui. That was you.

- Yes. But I'm not Yui. He and I are two almost identical souls that merged and--

- You're lying! - Akemi's expression turned pitiful and something glittered in the corner of her eyes. - I made a deal with god. He told me about you. You are the Yui who disappeared from my life.

- A deal with HIM? - I frowned. - A black-haired god? And what were the terms?

- I had to visit three different worlds, for unknown reasons. I did that while I was looking for you. - Akemi rested her forehead against my chin. - So many times, I thought about what our life would have been like if you had come back after that fight... I thought about how stupid I was and how many things I didn't say... but then, I started thinking about what our meeting with you would be like. How I'd act and what I'd say. I thought about what you would say and made whole speeches to answer you... But... when I saw you on that beach, which I came to by chance, looking for that street... everything went in the basket. I... I... - Akemi raised her head, stopping it in front of mine, literally a few centimetres away. The guess of what the girl was about to do imprinted in my head like crazy, but... - I love you.

Her lips covered mine while I was in another state of shock. I thought I was complaining about boredom the other day?

***

I... to be honest, I didn't really realise when it all happened. When exactly she plopped me down on the couch, when exactly I took off her shirt and she pulled off my t-shirt. A very long "pause" in my intimate affairs was taking its toll. It wasn't that, I couldn't seduce Minene, rather I refused to go that route, because of the interest with which I watched her feelings change.

However, I did manage to come to my senses. The moment her hands touched my shorts, my mind suddenly activated. Abruptly grabbing the girl's wrists, I jerked away, switching places with her.

Hovering over the vampiress, I involuntarily thought that it would be quite uncomfortable if either of my housemates came down now.

- Akemi..." I almost growled. - what are you doing? What's with the 'I love you'? I mean, we're...

"Idiot," I froze, not recognising Ashuramaru's voice in my head for a moment. But he's lying on the floor near the couch right now, isn't he?

The vampiress rose abruptly, pressing her torso close to me.

- I didn't tell you then. - she whispered. - I fought the urge to tell you on that roof when you were leaving to fight the First Progenitor. But I decided to tell you after you came back... I thought thinking about it would keep you from fighting.....

- I see. I got up, and I moved away from the couch a little bit. - You picked a... very bad time. And... I hate to say this, but I already have two lovers I live with.

Akemi's gaze darted to the stairs, then filled with an emotion I didn't understand.

- No, it's not them. - I smiled slightly. - I came to this world at the behest of the very one you made a contract with. He promised that when certain events here were resolved, he would return me to the world where I chose to stay.

- I am... ready. - Akemi answered me quietly. - There's no way I'm letting you go again, and I'm ready to meet them.

I wrinkled my nose slightly. Yes, I have a beautiful girl in front of me that I love, but is this the love she expects? Yeah, I feel like I'm caught in a romantic drama.

- Okay. (chuckles) In that case, we'll decide that when we get back to my world. - I nodded with a sigh.

- What exactly do we need to do to get back? - A bright smile appeared on Akemi's face, which I couldn't help but smile at.

***

- I see you've adapted quite quickly. - I said thoughtfully as I watched Akemi get into the driver's seat and start the car.

- In our Japan we had transport, in case you haven't forgotten. - Sang cheerfully to the eerily happy vampire. Even she said that white hair colour suits me better, though in her emotional state, she shouldn't care about that. And yes, my hair was now back to the colour familiar to my surroundings.

Minene and Yuno were seated in the back. And while the former occasionally inserted a comment, the latter... oh how I don't like the look in her eyes.

It's morning, by the way. Yesterday, the rest of the day, we spent in my room, discussing the upcoming and explaining to the new member of the squad tasks, goals and the meaning of the "game of survival". But at night... at night I only slept for a minute. All because of Yuno's constant walking in the corridor. I fully expected her to try and eliminate Akemi as a "rival", especially after I told her to lie down at Minene's place and put Akemi next to me where Yuno herself had been lying on the futon earlier. She ended up walking around the corridor half the night, clearly hesitant to go in, for which I was immensely grateful. Because if she had, I would have killed her. Or waited for Akemi to kill her. A vampire of her level can't be killed by simply slitting a throat, much less breaking a neck. The wounds will heal in seconds and then the attacker will die.

So what I'm saying is... oh yes, a plan of action. Today we're going to go to the Tenth. As it turns out, Eleventh has personally allocated funds for Eighth's funeral, which will take place the day after tomorrow. The reason didn't seem very clear to me, except that they were acquaintances. If I remembered correctly, they ended up getting married, maybe because of the relationship they already had now? However... it's not that important.

- What's the plan? - Minene asked, pulling the bolt of the Scorpion.

- We drive up, wearing masks, and walk towards the mansion. Most likely, on the way we'll come across dogs that we need to kill. As far as I know, Tenth's ability is to control his dogs.

- Pfft. That's a weird ability. Why didn't you mention this before?

- I didn't have a reason to.

- What about her? - Minene glared at Akemi. - Does she have a mask?

- Heh... I'll lend her mine. - I grinned. - I have my own... natural mask....

***

Tenth frowned at the group of girls walking by, each wearing a mask. The cameras allowed the man to see almost any corner of his land, and coupled with the dogs, there was simply no place that Karyudo Tsukishima couldn't see.

The man was no fool and realised perfectly well that the diary users had come to him. His hunch was confirmed when the whole trio reached for their phones and one of them pointed in the direction where the nearest group of dogs was now.

The three diary users pleased him. As many as three opponents in this game gathered in one place and so nonchalantly went on the attack. Without hesitation, Tsukishima gave the order for three groups of dogs to surround his visitors at once. But...

Suddenly, there was a short beeping sound, and the man looked worriedly at a separate display that had a map on top and a spread of green dots on it, which were the dogs' collars. Tsukishima was quite fond of his pets and each collar was equipped with a pulse sensor, so he always knew what condition each dog was in. Right now, the group of green dots on the completely different side of his estate was turning red rather quickly, indicating that the dogs were dying.

Tsukishima looked in horror at the screen where those girls were... and they were still standing there. Realising that they weren't the only attackers, the man quickly brought up the camera image of one of the surviving dogs from that group... and what he saw made horror creep into his very soul.

An incomprehensible, slightly hunched creature, about one hundred and eighty centimetres tall. His entire body, except for the edge of his neck, was covered in black armour, more like chitin. On its face, however, was a long black mask, facing downwards. It was a plate with round slits for eyes. Its lower end was sharp, resembling in its shape the flattened beak of a raven. But the white hair was not covered by anything.

Also, its right hand was unusual, and three-fingered, much larger than a human's. But far more horrifying was what came out of his loincloth. Scarlet tentacles, eight in number. It was these that pierced the dog, through whose camera Tenth was now looking.

Terrified, he ran out of his observation room, running towards the back exit.

"RUN!!!", "RUN!!!" - Tsukishima thought frantically.

Somewhere in the distance, from the direction where those girls were, numerous howls were heard and Tsukishima thought happily that they had all run into that monster. Right as he ran down the corridor looking into his diary, he inhaled convulsively, immediately running even faster.

"09:17. Home court. #34. Dead."

"09:17. Courtyard. #35. Dead."

"09:17. "Courtyard. No. 36. Dead."

"09:17. "Courtyard. No. 37. Dead."

"09:17. "Courtyard. No. 38. Dead."

"09:18. "Courtyard. No. 39. Dead."

"09:18. "Courtyard. No. 40. Dead."

"09:18. "Courtyard. No. 41. Dead."

"09:18. "Courtyard. No. 42. Dead."

"09:18. "Courtyard. No. 43. Dead."

"09:18. "Courtyard. No. 44. Dead."

"09:19. Courtyard. No. 45. Dead."

"My doggies... they're all dead!!! But that's okay...I'll run away and they'll come back to me. Doggies can always be brought back, there are always lots of poor little ones at the bird market!"

Meanwhile, there were five dogs lined up beside the fleeing owner, ready to defend their master in case of danger. They were among the last animals still alive.

And so, Tsukishima had already rounded the right corner, pressed the switch hidden under the light fixture, and descended into the underground tunnel that led outside his estate, immediately exiting to the road and office buildings where he would definitely not be able to be reached. It was perfectly straight, so you could see the entire passage from start to finish.

"I'm saved! Saved!!! Yay!!!"

Suddenly, the light bulbs on the low ceiling that were measured along the tunnel went out all at once. Tsukishima stopped, staring in horror at the darkness ahead. The dogs behind him growled, circling around their master and standing in front of him.

Suddenly, the light bulbs suddenly lit up. And then Tsukishima shook with terror. Up ahead, about twenty metres away from him, stood that very same monster. How it was here, the man had no idea, because ahead of the exit is still about two hundred metres, which to run in a dozen seconds of darkness is simply impossible for any man. And then he realised. For a man, no. But for this monster...

The creature twitched, making a sound like laughter. The mask became as if liquid, leaking into the armour at the back of the neck armour, revealing the face.

Tsukishima flinched. He remembered that face. Once, when he had picked up his daughter from school, he had seen this guy next to Hinata's classmate as she sat in the car, pointing at each of them and saying who he thought of. Back then, Tsukishima remembered this guy well. The way he looked at him... with mockery and coldness, as if he already knew that it would end up like this, in this tunnel.

- Tenth..." he said, smiling slightly. - I have to admit, you really have dogs... - at that moment, the last living animals rushed at the enemy, but were immediately killed by those tentacles from his back. - a lot.

- Wh-who are you?! - Tsukishima exclaimed in horror, recoiling backwards, while looking for one of the two switches that would lightly blow up the tunnel, blocking a certain point of it. His grandfather was the paranoid type, and made sure to make it possible to escape even with a chase after him.

- Kaneki Ken. - The boy bowed slightly. - Though you rather know me as Thirteen. And it's time for you to...

At that moment, Tsukishima pressed a button on the top of the wall, immediately tearing back down the corridor. And three seconds later...

"BOO-UM!!!"

The man fell to the ground due to the vibration, but calmed down slightly as he looked around. There was a rubble pile. Running back, he quickly arrived at a flat slab, which he pushed down hard and lifted slightly. Next, a mechanism worked, and the hidden door itself lifted up... revealing Tsukishima to the gazes of those three girls.

- Wow, I didn't realise there were those with magic here. - The black-haired girl, who wore a black mask covering one eye with an image of a mouth without lips, with an open lightning bolt between her teeth, was surprised. - but what kind of spell is that, "sim-sim open"? Yes and I didn't notice any fluctuations in the background... Miss Minene, will you teach me?

Tsukishima never learnt what happened next. For the bullet fired from the silenced pistol instantly plunged his consciousness into eternal darkness.

***

As Tenth collapsed to the floor, Minene hummed as she approached his corpse. In his hand, he held his future diary, which immediately began to spark and crack. A couple of seconds, and it disappeared. The man's body, on the other hand, remained here.

- Strange... - the girls heard the voice of a guy they knew coming from the corridor. - In the case of my brother, the diary didn't disappear for some reason....

- Brother? - Akemi asked in surprise.

- Not a sibling. He's supposedly my brother from this world, though that's fundamentally not true. When I killed him, the diary didn't disappear, but continued to work properly.

- Hmm... maybe it broke when the Tenth fell? - Minene made an unsure guess.

- Hmm... I don't know....

***

- Hmm... I don't know..." I said thoughtfully.

"Hey, Deus! I need to talk!"

At that very moment, I found myself in the very room where we first met. The giant was still towering in the centre of the room, but there was no god in sight....

- Where...

- Oh, don't ask. - Deus grinned. - He is now closely watching his new project, which came out of the previous one.

- Yeah? But...

Suddenly, out of a small pop in space, the very person we were talking about appeared. His eerily satisfied face made me a little dumbfounded. I've never seen him like that before...

- You arsehole! - he said, pointing a finger in my direction. - I was in Akame's world and I didn't do anything!

- W-what?

- I'm following my new favourite right now, and he's in the aforementioned world. И...

- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you mean? - I asked in a daze. - I mean...

- Yes, yes, I already know what you're going to say. - God interrupted me. - The story is completed by you, etc., etc. Deus, will you give me a lecture?

- Worlds are far more complex than you realise, young Ghoul. - the giant obeyed with a smirk. - They have many others within them, almost identical, but different in some ways. Each world holds octillion, if not nonelions of variations. Although, there may be infinity of them, never thought about it.....

(octillion - 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000)

(nonelion - 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000)

- Basically, most variations are no different from each other. It's like... like a lot of white sheets, each with one less atom than the other. But, this was the result of one black-haired creep's experiment. - Deus pointed his finger at God, who looked away. - Someone had gone overboard with the control-weh, creating a vast expanse of entertainment for themselves. Basically, the worlds are the same for everyone, but travellers between worlds often end up on a particular 'copy' that is assigned to them. So you can travel between worlds without falling into different copies, but each time you get to the right one.

- That's how..." I nodded slowly, trying to digest what I had just said. - So this favourite of yours started the same way I did in Akame's world?

- No." the god shook his head. - You're two different projects that only connect at one specific point. You're a hitman, he was born there, but the very fact of birth was designed by me. Although, hehe, specifically him, that's a bit of a misnomer. Being a shard of a soul you know, he became the next generation of projects I planned.

- I don't fucking get it," I sighed.

- It's okay, you'll understand soon enough. - Deus grinned. That's a strange phrase.

- Okay... I'll go. - I nodded, returning to reality, forgetting all about why I'd come there in the first place. There was too much information coming into my brain....

***

- That was close. - Deus said slowly. - You're lucky.

- Hey, why is it just me?

- Well, you'll be the one to see his dazed face, not me. - Deus shrugged his huge shoulders. - I'll be dead by then.

- Um... well... Still, next time he decides to ask about the disappearance of all the journals except his after the owners are dead, I'll have to think of a way to get out of it.

- Hmm... well, how's your test subject? His name is... Minato Arisato, right?

- Yes. The black-haired man smiled. - He's actually only one of the three main characters in this project, but he's the one I like the most.

- Sometimes I wish I could walk from my own world," Deus sighed.

- You chose that path yourself. - shrugged. - You wanted the world for yourself. You took it all.

- Yeah... And that girl, Akemi, she's the one....

- She's the one I told about people like you. - the brunet chuckled. - One of my projects who managed to survive.

- It's not nice to hear that kind of stuff about yourself, you know....

- I hate to see promising people wasting their potential and not developing. This is the main factor in the failure of my chosen ones. Many give up, not wanting more. They crave the ordinary life, pushing away the magic given to them, the history... frozen in place, they are unwilling to learn anything, while dreaming of the handsome heroine of their worlds. It's... unpleasant.

- I suppose it is. - Deus agreed. - So what do we tell the young Ghoul next time he asks about his diary?

- The end is near. He may never get a chance to ask again.

- Hmm... you know, that sounded pretty grim.

- Yeah? Well, okay. I'm off to keep an eye on my favourite, call me if anything interesting starts happening.

- Okay, okay, okay.

The brunet disappeared in another flash. This was the moment Muru-Muru chose to return to the room, something she hadn't done in a year and a half. For the constant presence of that crazy god made her not even go near the observation room.

- Hello, Deus. - she said cautiously.

The god looked at his handmaiden, grinning.

- Who do I see? Have you decided to get out?

- You know, I don't want a repeat of that joke from that lunatic!

- Well, well, well, you shouldn't talk about my friend like that... he might be eavesdropping, after all.

Muru-Muru glanced at the spot where she could feel the last remaining emanations of the presence of her worst nightmare, which had once sent her into the service of a white-haired, deaf-fucking kitsune yaoi girl. And if Muru-Muru herself had nothing against same-sex male relations, but the "lady" herself was so disgusting to her, both figuratively and literally, that she vowed not to be in the same room with this brunet.

And then, the petite goddess' gaze fell on the main screen, which showed a white-haired guy talking to three girls, one of whom was an old acquaintance of Muru-Muru's.

- Um... where's Yukiteru? And who's that white-haired guy? Aru Akise looked different.

- He was killed by Thirteen. - Deus grinned. - You've been in your corner the whole game, haven't you?

- Wh-wh-who the hell is Thirteen?!

- One of my friend's men. A hiker. He sort of got his body in a manga called "Tokyo Ghoul", if you've ever read it....

- А?! - Muru-Muru quacked in shock. At that moment, she realised that Yuno Gasai definitely needed her help. For her friend, who had come with her from another world, did not even realise that her plan was in dire danger.