I Hate Rich People Food (Mother's Cooking is the Best)

Feed me power stones, or the Mona Lisa will come back. (IDK)

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I walked through the halls of the uncontested most luxurious mansion and residence in the world. Lost artwork and mythical artifacts lined the walls. Beautiful red carpet and candles everywhere. It was beautiful. 

 I stepped to the side as a butler walked past me, bumping into me as he passed. I growled dangerously, contemplating firing him, which I normally would have done, but ultimately decided not to. My pain in waking this morning was less than what it normally was. So, I will show a tiny kindness to this world in return.

 To him, I was a Nobody. And he didn't have to apologize for bumping into a Nobody. It showed his true feelings to others, and how he saw himself as someone more important than a Nobody, who shouldn't have to apologize for bumping into somebody. 

 I knew it wasn't their fault. The various staff of this place were incapable of seeing me in any capacity other than a Nobody. Sure, I was the owner of this place, as well as their boss, but it didn't matter to them. I was still a Nobody, despite those things. I watched the nameless butler walk down the hall, before turning the corner. 

 The only reason I had butlers, maids, and other staff was for my mother, and no one else. I turned away and continued to walk down the hall. Two maids walked side by side, as I approached them. They ignored me, not looking at me, not even recognizing I was there. 

 As I was about to collide with them, they split up, walking on either side of me, and then quickly stood beside one another again. As if I were a nameless object to walk around and avoid, rather than a person. It made me sick. 

 I walked to the grand staircase leading to the ground floor and looked across the entrance hall. A grand staircase, beautiful artifacts, with red wallpaper encrusted with dozens of priceless arts, statues, and beautiful relics. It was a grand shrine to human selfishness, greed, and vanity. It burned my eyes. But I ignored it and walked down it, and to the dining room. 

 I passed my study, which was a perfect 1:1 recreation of the Library of Alexandria. Another was an entire game room with courts for every sport. An indoor water park. An entire gym in one room, with more equipment than a dozen public professional gyms. Each and every room was made with nothing but pride and vanity in mind. 

 I finally reached the last door, which was a simple wooden door. Nothing special about it at all. I opened it, the creakiness bringing a feeling of nostalgia. A memory of better times. Of times when I was happy, believing I could do anything. I walked into the room.

It was strangely normal. A small kitchen, and a small wooden table with two old wooden chairs on either side. It stood out against the entire mansion as being nothing special at all. No artifacts, no over-the-top decorations, no jewels or gold, nothing but a normal kitchen and table you would find in every apartment. 

 It was a recreation of the old apartment I used to live in with my mother. It was one of the few places that held good memories. The light flickered as if it was old and needed to be replaced. It made me smile slightly. It was spring outside, and the apartment was hot as if the family couldn't afford air conditioning, or it had poor insulation. Which I and my mother had both at the time. 

 Speaking of, my mother stood in the kitchen, humming a tune as she made something on the old, cheap gas stove. Compared to her, my presence was contrasting, with my inhuman appearance and formal attire of a higher class than those who would dwell in such a place. 

 She was beautiful, with an hourglass-like figure, a simple pink shirt and skirt, wearing an apron as she cooked something. She hummed happily, as smoke rose from whatever she was cooking. I walked down to the table and sat down in one of the old chairs. It creaked, dangerously close to breaking after years of use. 

 "Whatever you are cooking smells delicious, Mother." I complimented her, wishing I could actually smell. She turned to me and gave me a dazzling smile. My cold, dead heart beat faster after seeing it. Not in a strange way. 

 Now, this is where a protagonist reveals their feelings of lust for their own mother, but this was untrue for me. Because I knew that even if I did like her in that way if I treated her in that way, she wouldn't be able to reciprocate. She couldn't see me as a lover, or anything other than her son. 

 She was the one person in this world who saw me as somebody other than a Nobody. She loved me as her son, unconditionally. And she always would. If I murdered a thousand people, and became a monster to make serial killers look like friendly neighbors, she would always see me as her son. It was the one comfort I had in this world. To improve her life, to make her happy. To give her the world because I couldn't experience it myself. 

 Her straight, long brown hair and innocent brown eyes were a painful reminder. My mother's features, which once looked so boring and disappointing to my younger self who wanted a beautiful mother to love and lust after, who would give me beautiful features, an easy childhood, and whatever I wanted looked practically angelic in my later years. Even if I was only 18, I longed for those simple brown hair and eyes, soft features with slight imperfections here and there. 

 I never loved my mother in my younger years. In my first life, I was a self-made orphan who lived a boring life. In this life, despite wishing for a mother in my past life, I largely ignored her. She could teach me nothing I didn't already know, and I only looked down on her, knowing everything she did wrong, with how she tried to manage our money and invest. 

 The emotional connection never existed, as she couldn't raise me, because I already had the mind of someone much older than how I looked. Still, she tried. She worked several jobs and tried to do different things to make me happy and make a better life for me, even if she had to leave at times. It was only disappointing to my younger self. 

 I made fun of her in my head, and her failure in trying to advance her career at work, be a single mom, and plan for herself and my own future, my education and life. I thought I would give her money and would leave the house, become the hero, and live the life I wanted. Free of anyone, where I could do anything I wanted. 

 But when I journeyed out into the world, visiting countries and famous people, it rejected me. I came crawling back a failure, a monster of science, and mutations, a walking corpse years past its expiration date. Despite leaving nothing but a note and a thousand dollars, and not contacting her for 5 long years, she accepted me with tears in her eyes and nothing but joy and happiness. 

 It was gut-wrenching to me even today. Despite abandoning her, like my fucking mistake for existence father, she accepted me back. And I could only break down in her arms crying, for days on end. 

 Honestly, I wasn't planning on staying. In fact, I was in such a low place, after learning of my now unaging, pitiful existence cursed to wander as a Nobody forever, I was planning to kill myself. To end the pain. But, I decided to visit the one person who had ever shown me any sort of compassion or care first, my mother. 

 I was a freak of nature, and I knew for a fact she wouldn't be able to recognize me. Plastic surgery, years apart, and becoming a vampiric monster were the main causes. I thought I would be nothing but a stranger to her. 

 But as I opened the door, preparing to thank her and wish her well, and leave her my fortune, she hugged me as soon as she saw me. I was stunned, unable to understand after being treated as a Nobody for 5 long years out in the world. I didn't even see myself as her son anymore. 

 Her acceptance of me was the single reason I still live today, despite the world kicking me in the balls every second of my pitiful existence. I felt so bad, so awful at abandoning her, I swore one thing. One thing only, my singular goal in life and in my continued existence. 

 I would make sure my mother lived the fucking happiest life of anyone in the Goddamned world. 

 But it was hard. She wasn't like anyone else. She didn't really need money, only ever wanting money to help my future, my education, and my life. She didn't really want much, besides a family. That was why my father left her, because she didn't have the ambition for a life of luxury, and was content where she was, unlike my father who wanted to make it big-time. 

 She wished for nothing, but the happiness of others around her. She was the single person I deemed worthy of all happiness in this world. I only lived because my existence as her son made her happy. Despite me forsaking everything that made her my mother. I had not a single unmutated chromosome from her womb in my body left. No one in the world could scientifically connect my DNA or family tree to her, my body was so mutated and changed. 

 She turned to me and spoke kindly. "Son! Why don't you sit down, I will have breakfast ready soon." She assured me. 

 My mother turned away from me, back to whatever she was cooking. She then looked at the only other person in the room, standing a bit away from her, beside the door. She was pressed against the wall, hands behind her back in the stance of someone surveying the room. 

 "Amy, why don't you sit down, I could make you some breakfast as well, you know." She tried to persuade the woman. The other lady looked to my mother, with no change in expression. 

 "That would be unprofessional, Ms. Segovax." She stated calmly as if she experienced this every morning. "And I doubt Mr. Segovax would approve." She stated with slight apprehension. 

 I snorted from where I was sitting at the table. 'Mr. Segovax' was nothing but a facade. A fictional character I created from the spot left by my father to buy this home, and hire personnel. A mask used to circumvent the age restrictions most official purchases and legal acts require. 

Amy was a person I met many years ago in my youth. It hurt me slightly to see her ignore me, despite me knowing her better than she probably does. I recruited her, thinking she would be a good addition to my 'party' at the time when I was venturing around the world. 

 She was a bastard from a member of the Imperial Family of Japan, which were said to be descendants of the Shinto Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu. Apparently, a young princess had the hots for a Yakuza boss, who then took her in after she was abandoned by the Royal Family. 

 She was then captured by a rival Yakuza boss and was then going to be forced to marry his son. She then escaped, having lost her memory and not remembering who her father was, and joined an organization of Ninjas/Shinobi that served the Royal Family. After being trained and turned into a Shinobi, once they found out her heritage, she was then thrown out again. 

 And while this story was silly, stereotypical, and sounded like the plot of a bad girl-boss romcom of some kind, it was true. When I said this world was fictional and ran on different laws than the real world, I meant it. And while such a story was amazing and still miraculous in this world, it wasn't considered cheesy, silly, or stupid sounding, but something that might actually happen. 

 This was where I found her, at a bar I was drowning my sorrows after my normal day of being a Nobody. At the age of 13, by the way. She considered me some nobody to gain some money to buy sake off, so she told me her story so I would pity her and buy her a few drinks at the bar. She didn't care about my age, given she was the exact same age at the time. 

 And so, I made her join my party by promising to pay her if she followed her around and did what I wanted. And she did for many years until I came back. Now she serves as my Mother's Bodyguard. 

 I used to employ many bodyguards, hundreds in fact. Like some cheesy villain, dozens of trained ex-military guards with rifles and all that would stand around the house and look intimidating. Back then I still thought I was worth something. 

 But now I only have a few. After all, who would rob, threaten, or kill a Nobody? I also used to carry around dozens of James Bond-like gadgets, but I really don't anymore. I never got a chance to use them, and carrying them around for so many years with so little use made them lose most of their charm. Now, I just have a dozen very well-trained assassins/bodyguards to carry out the duties of the once many more that stood around here. 

 Amy was a tall, dark-skinned figure, being easily 6"2, taller than myself at 6". She was a tomboy, wearing a clean and sharp black suit similar to mine. She had long black hair pulled into a ponytail, with sharp black eyes. Her eyes surveyed the room, meeting mine, before dismissing me. 

 Perhaps that was why I liked her. She considered everyone to be a potential threat or a useful ally, and thus treated me as such, even if she never fully trusted me or remembered me beyond a potential way to gain power. 

 I snorted slightly, as my mother turned to me. "What about you? Did you join a club or something? My friend was telling me about an Occult Research Club at the school, and you really like all the occult stuff." My mother spoke excitedly. Ah. Yes. The ORC.

I snorted again. "I have looked into it, but I am still deciding." I spoke neutrally. 

 Of course, I knew that they was something suspicious. Each and every person in that club was someone I designated a "Plot Relevant Character." Their hair colors, personality, mysteriousness, and general air of exclusivity and isolation showed they were involved in something the rest of the populace wasn't. Their over-exaggerated personality and mysterious aura set them apart from all the other nameless characters in this world. 

 I considered the implications of this information. They were important to the Plot, for one reason or another. I wouldn't interfere, not yet anyway. But I would keep an eye on her and the Club anyway. 

 I then pushed away these thoughts, my mood was good, and I didn't want to ruin it by thinking about other things right now. Was this selfish and stupid? Yes. Next question. 

 My mother then spoke again, to me. "You are looking quite happy this morning! That's quite a lot better than your usual gloomy expression." She commented. 

 I smiled grimly, before answering. Her ignorance would always be one of her most defining features. "I had a good dream this morning," I stated simply. I hummed a tune, considering how much to reveal or what to say. She likely wouldn't care either way, no matter what I said. I would always be her son, no matter what.

 "That's good, you always seem so depressed in the morning. Waking up on the right side of the bed would do you some good, and likely fix those circles that are always under your eyes." She commented on my always-tired look.

 I frowned slightly, about to snark back, before she spoke again, lighting up as if she remembered something. "By the way, I have some news about your sister." She spoke excitedly, her happiness causing both me and Amy to wince. 

 My sister was not someone I was excited about meeting again. It had been some time since I had last seen her, a decade in fact. She was about 2 years older than me but had left my mother many years ago after dropping out of school. 

 She was someone who was always on the wrong side of the river, getting involved with the Yukuza, criminal underworld, and drugs. She was a druggie who left our mother after stealing a few hundred bucks, only to show up every once and awhile to ask for money. 

 My mother, like the Saint she was, always obliged and gave her what she wanted, before she fucked off again to buy more drugs. I disliked her, even though she was the one who helped my mother every once and a while after I left. 

 "Did she finally eat the barrel of a gun and pull the trigger?" I angrily and sarcastically remarked. I knew she would never do something like that, but I hated how my mother supported her anyway. 

 "Don't say things like that! You know how hard she tries, and she does love you, even if she doesn't show it." She tried to argue. I sighed. I knew she tried to see the best in people, but her positivity and optimism sometimes made me depressed thinking how cruel the world is. 

 Was this me projecting my own self-hatred because my own mother accepted me back, and I couldn't find a way to repay her that satisfied me? Yes. I would never find a way to repay her for accepting me, so the fact that she was accepting someone else as well was me projecting my situation onto her. I wanted her to not accept my sister, because I think she shouldn't have accepted me when I left her. Petty? Yes. 

 I sighed, preparing myself for the inevitable disappointment and anger that having my sister around would cause. She cared little for anything, only her own gain and having fun. She couldn't hold a job to save her life and thus turned to 'other' ways to make money. 

 Thus, I wanted nothing to do with her or have her anywhere near my mother. As I was mentally preparing myself for the pain to come, my Mother sat a plate of food in front of me. It looked fine, my mother having cooked for our family for over 2 decades. 

 It brought back fond memories, of a time when nothing really mattered, and the whole world was my oyster, my whole life still ahead of me. I shoveled it in, unable to taste anything. My taste buds have long since been destroyed, leaving me unable to taste much of anything. 

 It tasted like cold ash, a strange sensation with some feeling of temperature, but no feeling or real taste. It was disgusting. It was almost enough to make me throw up, but I kept a straight face while eating. Food was something I once enjoyed, eating the richest cuisine anytime I wanted with my infinite wealth, but those days have long since passed. 

 I shoveled it down, finishing, while my mother cleaned the kitchen and Amy watched over her. Seeing Amy awkwardly refuse to eat as my mother offered once again was rather amusing. 

 I sighed, savoring the moment. "You have to go pick your sister up from her boyfriend's house after school today, don't forget!" She then turned to me and informed me. I groaned in my mind. 

 "Which boyfriend?" I sarcastically remarked. 

 "Sajito! You remember him right?" She asked expectingley. 

 I closed and rubbed my eyes, genuinely saddened by my mother's expectations. "No, I really don't. She seduces and sleeps in a different guy's bed every week. How the hell am I supposed to remember them?" I angrily remarked. I genuinely didn't remember a single person she had brought home. 

 "He's the Mangaka with the blue hair!" She spoke in an annoyed tone. 

 I tried to recall the memory, blinking. "I think I would remember her dating a Mangaka." I stated with a confused tone. That seems like something I would remember, if not for the comical nature of her dating someone like that. 

 "He was here yesterday evening! You met him and everything!" She angrily spoke. 

 I blinked. I didn't remember much yesterday, besides a meeting with the Dying Issei Hyoudou and my strange dream last night. I must have been exceptionally tired, to have not remembered such a meeting. 

 "He was visiting us because he wanted my approval before dating Kaede." She stated slightly smugly. I blinked. Was he insane? Actually, he was a Mangaka, that was a given. Was he just into crazy chicks? Or 'I can fix her' relationships? 

 Either way, I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose before coinciding. "Yes, yes. I will pick her up after school." I agreed. My mood was already ruined now, so I supposed I might as well leave now before my Mother's personality began to rub on me too much. 

 "And be careful, people have been disappearing lately, and there are rumors of The Smiling Man being back." She called out a little desperately 

 I snorted. "That's just a rumor your book club likes to spread and gossip about every time someone goes missing." I stated simply. I should know. I knew the Smiling Man well. Another persona, just like "Mr. Segovax", who employed the staff at the mansion and owned the property in my place. 

 "Please! I don't want to lose you like Max." She stated somewhat desperately at my dismissal. I frowned slightly. That deadbeat man of my father didn't deserve my Mother's sympathy. "Tell him, Amy." She then pleaded to the woman. Amy sighed, before answering. 

 "I highly doubt he would start killing people randomly. He killed a Yakuza Boss and a member of the Royal family, but they speculate that was due to some jealousy that boiled over due to a love triangle. And your ex-husband and the previous mayor of the town Cleria were stated to have been killed out of jealousy as well. Why would he start going after random people?" She tiredly explained. 

 He was well known in the town for being some sort of serial killer who went after people in secret relationships. Just like that Yukuza Boss and Imperial Princess, and my deadbeat father who was in a relationship with the previous mayor of the town, while he was still married to my mother. Known for a painted smile on his face, and a slow, methodical whistle as he hunts his victims. 

 I snorted again. Amy was rather ignorant, not knowing who her parents were. And that scandal between Mr. Segovax and Cleria, the previous mayor of the town….

 When people don't realize I am a nobody, it is really interesting what a fake persona can accomplish? Still, the fact that rumors were about his return meant that somebody was propagating them. Because, I knew that the Smiling Man was not back. Was someone else spreading rumors as a diversion perhaps, or to cover something else up? Was something happening beneath the noses of everyone in the town? Why else would rumors be spreading, unless something was actually happening?

 "Still, please don't stay out late." She pleaded, and I sighed. 

 She was far too happy and optimistic for this world. I grimaced darkly, pulling on my suit, before I headed out the door. The sun was shining brightly, far too brightly for a shut-in like me. I sighed and looked at the shining sun before I began to walk down the path to the main streets of Kuoh from the mansion entrance blocked by an Iron Gate and two guards stationed on either side. 

As I walked, my mind wandered to yesterday, wondering what happened to Issei. What world was he now in? Was it a happy world, or a sad one? I shrugged to myself, dismissing the thought. I would likely never know. 

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Something, Something Love your Mothers.

This next chapter will pick up the story quite a bit, and we will see his power used once again. I don't have much to say, beyond the foreshadowing of his various identities he used.

Do you think it was too dark or grim? I love to read your comments! Or just yelling at me to work faster. Also, please leave a review if you feel like it!

Feed me power stones, they do help a lot. Or don't, I guess. But know, I will be sad for about 2 minutes.