Chapter II: Everyday Life of Akuma

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The faint sounds of knuckles tapping on wood reverberated around the dark, silent room. At the far corner was a single twin-sized bed on which lay a mass covered by a dark red woolen blanket.

Realizing that the room's occupant didn't reply, the person at the door knocked again but this time with a bit more force.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The mass on the bed shifted this time; a drawn out voice emerged from underneath the blanket.

"Whooooo iiiiiis iiiit?" the room's occupant asked, obviously still stuck in the gates of dreamland.

"It's I, Akuma-kun, I came to inform you that it is about time for school to start," the voice was feminine but sounded frail and weak, indicating that the speaker was of a venerated age. Yet, it still managed to cause Akuma, who was still in dream limbo, to fully wake up.

"Right....*Yawn*.... thank you for waking me up," Akuma, with his voice finally more coherent, thanked the old woman at the door.

"It's alright, dear," she replied with a weak chuckle that made her enter into a fit of harsh coughs.

"Are you alright?" the boy asked with a very concerned tone.

"It's nothing to worry about, my boy," she said weakly, "get ready quickly. I will be preparing the tea."

The sound of feet dragging on the floor resounded and got fainter until it was all quiet again.

In the dark room, a towering figure rose up from the bed and let out an exasperated sigh.

"How is anything about that cough alright?" he muttered under his breath as he made his way to a partially ajar door.

Pushing the door fully open, he was met with darkness. However, a flip of a switch fixed that issue. Once illuminated, the room revealed itself to be a simple bathroom with a shower, toilet, and a sink with a mirror-closet infront of it.

He entered the room by lowering his head a bit first to avoid slamming it against the upper border of the doorframe that already had several dents in it.

With a single motion, he removed the only article of clothing on himself - his underwear - and entered into the shower. A short ten minutes later, Akuma finished both his shower and his daily ritual on the porcelain throne. Now, he was bushing his teeth infront of the mirror with a toothbrush. While doing so, he had to bend down to gazed at the reflection in the mirror.

The first thing that he saw was the mass of damp crimson hair that covered the top of his head up to his back. Going lower, one would be greeted with two particularly angry looking eyes sporting irises with an eerie shade of yellow. Next, came the mouth that was filled with teeth that looked like they would be more at home on a shark rather than a human. Then, there was his skin that was of a cold pale color despite his best attempts at tanning it.

Akuma didn't particularly like his appearance since it brought a lot of unnecessary attention to him especially in a country like Japan and that as when not mentioning his towering height of 6'5 that made him too tall for most of the damned doors here.

He took another look at his reflection before spitting out the contents of his mouth and exiting the bathroom.

'I am over that shit anyways,' he told himself in an attempt to shake off those useless thoughts.

He went towards another light switch and flipped it on, illuminating his dark apartment. It wasn't anything fancy, just a single conjoined bedroom/kitchen with a small bathroom. Everything a teenage boy needed in life.

Moving towards his closet, he opened it and fished out his already ironed highschool uniform. It was your standard uniform fare: a white shirt, blue blazer and blue pants. Of course, he had to pay to get them custom made to his size.

Wearing his uniform didn't take much time. Next, he grabbed his school bag and exited his apartment. While doing so, he walked next to a bunch of weight-lifting equipment neatly stacked in one corner of the room - some of it appeared to be heavily modified in one way or another.

On the wall above the weight equipment was a small white board with several things written on it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Limits:

Bench press ---> 1745 KG

Dead Lifting ----> 3050 KG

Grip Strength ----> 1080 KG (Note: Buy new equipment)

.

.

.

etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akuma exited his room, which was located on the ground floor of the apartment complex he was staying at, and proceeded to walk towards the first room there.

He knocked and the elderly woman's voice from inside told him to enter. Upon opening the door, an intense wave of heat smacked his face immediately. Ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of sweltering heat on his skin, the red-haired teenager looked at the old woman who was sitting infront of a kotatsu as if the room didn't feel like the inside of a volcano.

'How does she manage to make a single room so damn hot,' he thought in a mixture of wonder and exasperation.

"Good morning."

"Good morning dearie," the she replied with a kind smile, "come, sit down. The tea is ready and I have prepared breakfast for the both of us."

The old woman appeared to be extremely fragile and frail, with gray hair and a good set of wrinkles that told of her vast wisdom in life. She was wearing thick clothes fit for winter even though it was near the end of summer. In addition, she had a gray shawl worn over her shoulder.

Akuma sat down at the table and was about to begin eating when-

SMACK!

"OW!" the young man yelled while clutching the top of his head where he was hit with a cane. Well, it didn't actually hurt but he was not going to risk getting hit again for not acting otherwise.

"Young man! Have you forgotten your manners?" she asked in an authoritative tone thatwould make most drill seargents blush in shame.

"....."

"....."

".....Thanks for the food, grandma," he conceded with a sigh.

"It wasn't so hard, was it?" she quickly turned back to her sweet, old woman persona. "Now, eat up before you get late to school."

Shortly after, an extra large bowl of steamed rice, misco soup, boiled vegetables, and a few grilled fish were placed before him - the most traditional Japanese breakfast.

It didn't take long for Akuma to scarf down the food and proceed on his way to school with his backpack slung on his robust shoulders.

On his way, many passersby stopped and gawked at the strange looking youth. Yet, it seemed that he didn't notice those piercing gazes as he was already too lost in his own thoughts to care.

'I have two cleaning appointments after school, one at 5 P.M. and another at 6 P.M. If I do them fast enough then I would have enough time for a third job before going back home.'

An unbidden smile appeared on his face that seemed to send a shiver down the spine of those that were looking at him, causing them to quickly avert their gazes in fright.

'Heh, who would've thought that cleaning the houses of the rich and affluent paid so lucratively?'

After some time, he had arrived at the commute train station and waited while skimming through the latest news. A headline caught his attention: [Another Mato Disaster Occured in Shibuya. Four people went missing.]

'These Mato Disasters sure are dangerous. Before, at most, it would happen once a year. Yet, this was the third one this month.'

The youth sent a prayer to the missing people and pocketed his phone. Just in time for the commute train to arrive.

Its doors opened and the waiting crowd immediately surged forward. If one looked at the whole process from an outside perspective, then one would notice a very glaring discrepancy: the train carts seemed to be segregated by gender. In addition, the male cart seemed to be much smaller and less comfortable than the female cart.

Thus, the men were forced to pack themselves together like sardines in a cart that smelled like a jock's unwashed underwear while the women sat comfortably in a cart that smelled like jasmine and roses. Such blatant favoritism would normally incur a very fierce opposition.

Unfortunately, this is the nature of the current day and age. The balance between men and women thoroughly crumbled like a sandcastle hit by a wave after the discoverey of the Mato dimension which in turn lead to the discovery of the Peach.

The Peach was a Mato-specific fruit that gave those who ate it marvelous abiliies based on their personalities and emotions. As a result, even if two people ate from the same fruit, their manifested powers would vary greatly. Unfortunately, the Peach appeared to only give benefits to the females while doing nothing for the males.

Thus, after several decades, the balance of power in Japan shifted so much that the male population lost their positions of power in favor of females who were boosted thanks to eating the Mato Peach.

'At least, that is what they were taught in history class,' thought Akuma while trying to cram his way into the overfilled cart.

If he were being honest, Akuma didn't mind much of the changes since those same females had to risk their lives fighting off the Shuuki that managed to come into our dimension from the Mato. Or maybe it was because he had not experienced what many of the men referred to as the 'Golden Age'.

For him, it was enough as long as he had a place to stay and something to eat, he was a happy man.

Thankfully, the transit to Kaminoge Public High School was only a ten minute fare so he didn't have to suffer the irate gazes of the other men in the train cart more than he needed to. It wasn't his fault that he took twice the space as any of them due to his size.

Soon enough, the crimson haired teenager reached his destination. Standing before the gate of his school, Akuma checked the time on his phone which read 6:45 A.M.

An uninitiated person would question why would he come to school at such an early hour?

Well, the answer to that was fairly simple. It included one of the responsibilities given to the students of Kaminoge High. The high school divided the students into groups who would come early to the school based on a set schedule to clean it before the other students arrived. However, only male students were included in this - or rather were forced into it.

Suddenly, he heard a smack ring out from behind him. Turning around, he saw a teenage boy with short black hair and dark brown eyes who seemed to be in pain as he was shaking his reddish hands. He recognized him, he was a fellow classmate of his and one of his few friends, Yuuki Wakura.

(Image)

"Damn Akuma," he complained with tears in his eyes from the pain in his hand, "what is your body made of? Boulders?"

"I should be the one complaining here, you know? Smacking people's backs is not a way of greeting."

"C'mon man, its just a bit of fun between bros," he replied with a weak smile.

"How would you feel if I greeted you like this tomorrow?" the red-headed behemoth asked with a raised eyebrow.

Yuuki's face paled as he imagined being smacked on his back by his boulder of a friend. It was suffice to say that he didn't like the idea of his organs being sprayed onto the street.

"A-Akuma, buddy, pal, broski, it was just a bit of childish fun," he said with a shaken voice, "no need for you to lower yourself to my level, right?"

THe two boys maintained eye contact for a few moments before the larger one rolled his eyes, "Fine, come on, it is our turn with the cleaning assignment."

Yuuki let out a relieved sigh before following his yellow-eyed friend into the school.

An hour later,

Akuma, Yuuki, and a couple of other boys in their assigned cleaning group were busy cleaning; rather, Akuma and Yuuki were busy cleaning while the other boys were goofing around with the cleaning mops and towels.

The door of the classroom opened and a male teacher entered, he ignored the other boys who were goofing off and focused on the cleaning duo, "Make sure to finish before the bell rings." After saying his piece, he left the room.

"Damn, all they do is boss us around day it and day out!" complained Yuuki as he through the cleaning rag he was using into a bucket of once-clean-water-turned-to-muck.

"It's no use complaining dude, that's just the way it is," muttered Akuma while cleaning the classroom windows.

"Hey," one of their group buddies, a teenage boy with already receding hairline and thick lips called, "look at the bright side. Thanks to you two we can take it easy!"

The fact that he was playing baseball with another guy who was using a mop as an impromptu bat was a clear indication that he was taking it super easy.

Yuuki let out a cold sweat at the murderous look Akuma was giving the two slackers unbeknownst to them.

Suddenly, a clamor coming from outside attracted their attention. Slacker #2, a young man with bleached hair, took a look out of the window while holding his mop-bat over his shoulder, "And here are the arriving tardy ladies."

The four boys watched as their female colleagues began coming entering through the highschool gates. Some of them were floating in the air, while others were using their powers to carry their bags and other paraphernalia. It was a scene more suitable for a super-hero manga than real life.

"It would've been cool if men could receive power from the Mato Peaches," lamented Slacker #1.

"Stop day dreaming and get back to work," said Akuma with a huff, "Men can't receive blessings from Peaches, so put your foolish ambitions to rest."

The hard-toned statement brought the room's mood down a few degrees.

"I guess our lives are hard from the get go, aren't they?" mumbled Yuuki while staring out of the window. Suddenly, shock marred his features, "What the!? When did those two get together?"

The young man was pointing at a couple who had entered from the gate hand in hand.

Slacker #2 took a dramatic kneeling pose, "Well, apparently, he asked for the courtesy of dating her after saying that it was thanks to her that he won the competition."

"So athletic people are popular," Yuuki said as if he came to a realization, "Must be good..."

"Stupid idiot," Akuma sighed under his breath, it was one thing to want to date a girl but to lower yourself to this level is just shameful.

Slacker #1 brought Yuuki into a bro hug, "Don't worry man, I hear your incredible cleaning skills will be in high deman some years from now."

Yuuki stared at him as his eye twitched in frustration, "Except I want to be popular now!"

'It's going to be a long day,' thought Akuma while obsessively trying to remove the persistent stain mark on the window.

Time Skip...

Time: 6:30 P.M.

Akuma, Yuuki, and Slacker #1 could be seen walking down a semi-busy street back to their homes.

Akuma was busy looking at his phone with an unintentional menacing frown on his face.

The other two boys felt apprehension at what could make that giant of a man make that impression.

As someone who could be considered his closest friend, the black haired boy decided to bite the bullet, "Everything alright Akuma?"

"Hmm?" as if only just realizing the other two were there, the red-haired teenager let out a surprised sound as the frown vanished from his face before being replaced by a look of annoyance. "It's nothing, I just had both of my cleaning appointments canceled by my clients due to 'unexpected circumstances'."

"You're still doing that cleaning gig?" asked Slacker #1 in surprise.

The 6'5 youth shrugged, "Gotta get the dough one way or another, my grandma isn't exactly rich and her medication is quite pricey."

"Working for your grandma's medicine eh? Gotta respect that," said Slacker #1 with a smile.

"It's no wonder you are coming back with us this time," added Yuuki.

Then, he heard a loud sigh coming from his side, both youths turned to see Slacker #1 looking at the dark night sky despondently.

"I feel down knowing I'll be a working adult soon," he muttered before sighing again in frustration, "the commute train seriously sucks ass man..."

Both Akuma and Yuuki could somehow relate to him, all of them were 18 years old and it was their final year in highschool. They would soon have to decide what to do with their lives.

It's funny how easy it is to say that you're going to be an astronaut, doctor, or teacher when you're a kid but as you grow up, reality soon sets its poisonous fangs into your soul. Dreams require both passion and ability to achieve them. One is useless without the other.

"Suck it up, buttercup," said Akuma as he stared at the various salarymen in suits walking in groups into various bars, restaurants, and ramen stands, "you're neither the first nor the last person to feel like this. It too shall pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but it willl still pass."

Slacker #1 looked at Akuma for a few moments before letting out a chuckle, "You have a strange way of cheering people up Akuma."

"I need to remember that last line for future use," snickered Yuuki in turn.

After a few minutes, Akuma and Yuuki separated from Slacker #1 as he went to his home.

Akuma was walking while lost in thought while Yuuki was checking the news app on his phone. His focus was entirely stolen by an article about the recent increase in Mato Disasters.

'Sister...' he thought back to when he received the news that his sister had been invoived in a Mato Disaster and had never been found.

Suddenly, he felt something push him from the side with enough force to throw him away several meters.

"What the!" the last thing he saw his friends outstretched arm that had pushed him away before he got engulfed by a blinding white mist.

"Akuma!" he cried out to his friend. Alas, as the mist dissipated, nothing was left where once the red headed teenager stood.