Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yoriichi Tsugikuni was floating in darkness. He couldn’t see, nor hear. This was not new to him. He had been in this place since he died.

I deserve this. It’s my fault that Kibutsuji lived another day.

Over and over, that’s what he told himself. He was alone with his thoughts, which were becoming increasingly negative.

Kokushibo was dying. Not out of unwantedness, mind you. He was a demon. He could regenerate any wound if he wanted to.

But he didn’t want to regenerate.

Kokushibo remembered his human life. He remembered his name.

The ugliness of having my head cut off, my body diced and crushed into pieces, and being unwilling to accept defeat. A disgrace to life. Have I lived hundreds of years for this? Was I so afraid of defeat that I became a monster? Did I want to be strong even if it meant eating people? Did I become this miserable creature because I didn't want to die? No. I... I just... Yoriichi. I just wanted to be like you.

I could never grab hold... of anything. Anything at all. I abandoned my home. I abandoned my wife and children. I abandoned my humanity. I cut down my descendants... and abandoned being a samurai. But even all that... wasn't enough? You said that those who master their paths all reach the same place. But I never did. I could not see the same world that you did. Why could I not leave anything behind? Why could I not become someone known? Why are we so different? Why in the world was I ever born? Tell me... Yoriichi.

My name is Michikatsu Tsugikuni. My brother was Yoriichi Tsugikuni. We were twins. I was the elder, but he was always better than me. I ruined everything with my ambition.

Everything is my fault.

Yoriichi had never been able to tell the time in the endless dark. He had no idea how long he’d even been in this place. So it was a surprise to him when he heard a familiar voice.

“Hello?”

“Michikatsu?”

“...Yoriichi? What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know. But, you finally kicked the bucket, huh? I’m sorry,”

“...It’s fine. I deserved it. Anyways, is this supposed to be a hellscape of some sort?”

“I don’t think so, there’s really nothing here,”

“I can’t see anything,”

Greetings.

“Ack! What was that?” Michikatsu subconsciously clung to his brother.

“Don’t know, it’s never happened since I was here,” Yoriichi noticed what his brother did, but decided not to comment on it.

Do not worry. I will not harm either of you. I merely am a messenger.

Michikatsu snarled. Apparently there was still some demon in him. “And we can trust you because…?”

“Brother, let’s at least hear them out,”

Thank you, Yoriichi. As for trust, you will trust me, because you have no choice. Now listen.  

You are both dead. You can never return to your world. Feel free to ask me a question about the future. You are only allowed a single question together.

Yoriichi immediately asked the one question that had been on his mind. “What happened to Muzan Kibutsuji?”

Michikatsu added, “I too, am curious about what happened to him,”

Very well. Muzan Kibutsuji is dead.

“What? How?”

I can’t tell you that. One question, remember?

Yoriichi sighed in relief. So Kibutsuji was dead. Even if he himself couldn’t beat Kibutsuji, others could. 

Michikatsu’s eyes widened. So even the king of demons couldn’t be everlasting. He thought of how foolish he was, that he ever thought he couldn’t die.

“Ha...ha...ha”

“Michikatsu?”

“So even the life of the king of demons comes to an end. How funny. I was foolish,”

“Oh, brother, you were misguided,”

“Misguided? Was I misguided when I chose to become a demon? Was I misguided every time I killed and ate someone? No, I was selfish,”  

“Brother-”

Michikatsu let go of his brother. “I’m not worthy to be your brother,”

“Brother, listen. What you did was wrong. But I will always consider you  my brother,”

“...Why?”

 “Because you are my brother, Michikatsu, and nothing can change that. Besides, you sound like you regret what you did, right?”

“Yes, I do regret what I did, but that will never fix the situation,”

Well, you can start now, in your new life.

Yoriichi paused. “New life? But we are dead and can never return to our world. How are we supposed to have a new life?”

By putting you in a different world.

“Different world? You must be pulling my leg,” Michikatsu was skeptical.

I am not. You will be brought into this world now.

“Wait, what?”

A brilliant burst of light shone through the darkness, and the brothers disappeared.

Yoriichi woke up in a strange place. It was a broken-down building unlike any he had seen before. It wasn’t familiar at all. It was too tall, too box-like. He looked beside him, and there was his sleeping brother. Though, he looked...smaller.

“Psst- Michikatsu, wake up!” He shook his twin lightly.

Michikatsu’s eyes shot open, and he slapped Yoriichi’s hand away.

“Ever heard of keeping your hands to yourself?”

“I was trying to wake you up, but if you don’t want to be touched that’s fine,”

“Just ask first, okay?”

Yoriichi smiled. “Okay!”

Michikatsu looked around. “So, this is a different world? Seems off somehow,”

“Well, we just woke up, so what are we going to do?”

“First we have to find water and food. We can worry about the rest later,”

While there were stores of food, the brothers couldn’t find water. But they figured they could just use the many buckets to collect rainwater.

After that, they found weird clothes that were nothing like the clothes they had on. They tried on a few, but they laughed at how odd they looked.

Speaking of themselves, Yoriichi had been right about Michikatsu looking smaller. They appeared to have shrunk back into their approximately 17-year-old bodies.

Now with their necessities in place, they could do other things, such as explore their abilities.

Yoriichi discovered that while they looked about 17, they had incredibly strong muscles, akin to the muscles later in their 20’s. He and his brother were able to lift many of the heavy things around the building. Sure, it wasn’t a demon’s strength, but it was above the average human.

Then the rat came. It wasn’t a big rat, but it was really noisy, so they had to get rid of it.

Yoriichi was overcome with a weird instinct, and he pointed his finger at the rat.

To his surprise, a jet of white-hot flame came out and struck the rat’s tail.

Michikatsu was jealous. He tried to point his finger at the rat, and out came something else. Little yellow and blue crescents came out of his finger and completely missed the rat.

“It’s okay, brother! You can’t always get it the first time! In fact, that’s very rare!”

But YOU got it the first time. Michikatsu thought.

Nevertheless, the brothers worked on their powers. All in all, they were okay. This new world was no work at all to them. Yeah, there were no futons, no protection from the rain, but that was fine!

But the world was not content letting these teens get peace.

Chapter Text

Seraphina stood over a downed Hower, the student Hower had bullied close behind Sera. Hower looked angry.

Sera turned to the poor student and asked “Hey, you okay?”

“Uh...Yeah, I think so- Watch out!”

Sera’s head whipped around to face Hower again. Hower grabbed Sera’s arm, hands burning her wrist.

“Who said it was over?” Hower lunged at Sera, his other hand reaching to burn her face.

Sera sweated as his hand came closer to her, but suddenly grasped Hower’s shoulder with one hand and knocked away the hand that was coming towards her face with the other.

Hower’s eyes were glowing as a result of him using his power, and Sera’s weren’t because she had no power. Sera kneed Hower in the stomach, making him respond with a satisfying “oof”.

“Ugh! What the hell?” Hower looked at Sera in rage. “B****! Is that all you've got?”

Sera smacked him, still with a cool expression on her face. “Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough?”

The student who was bullied by Hower stared at Seraphina in awe.

“Just you wait, Seraphina! I’ll make you pay for this!” Hower ran off.

“Psh...Is this how they all act?”

“Uhh…Hello,”

Sera turned to the student behind her.

“Is your arm okay?”

“Oh this? It’s nothing. I’ve had way worse,” Sera’s sleeve was charred.

“Right! Of course! Uh. Well, thank you for saving me again!” The student bowed.

“Hm? Have we met before?” Sera murmured to herself. Raising her voice, she said, “It’s fine. No need to act so formal. We’re the same now,”

The student looked at her quizzically.

“Anyway, I still have things to do. Maybe I’ll see you around,” Sera waved goodbye.

“Okay!” The starstruck student stared at a retreating Sera.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallways. The footsteps belonged to Remi, Queen of the school, who was holding her right arm and in deep thought.

“Long time no talk,” said a voice behind her. Remi was startled.

She turned around. “What?”

There, with his arms crossed, stood the King of the school, Arlo.

“Arlo? What are you doing here?” I took a different path just to avoid him!

“You! Come with me!” Arlo grabbed Remi’s left arm and walked away.

“Hey, wait! I have class!”

Inside an empty classroom, Arlo and Remi were staring at each other. Remi couldn’t meet Arlo’s eyes. When she tried to make eye contact, his glare was frightening.

“I kinda have somewhere to be. So if you don’t have anything to say, I’ll be going-”

Arlo slammed his hand next to her head. "X-Rei. Sound familiar to you?”

“What the- No! Never heard of it!”

Arlo’s gaze traveled to Remi’s right arm. “Let me see your arm,”

“Here,” Remi waved her left arm.

“The other one!”

“What? Ew, no! Stop being so weird!” Remi clutched her arm.

Arlo noticed Remi’s burnt wrist. It was horribly discolored. Arlo grit his teeth.

“How could you be so stupid?” he shouted. “What the hell made you think that going after EMBER was a good idea? Look at what they’ve done to you!”

Remi looked down. “Things weren’t supposed to turn out the way they did. I only wanted to-”

“What were you expecting to happen? After you find EMBER, everything just miraculously works out? They give you all their secrets and you take them down with your two sidekicks?”

Remi paused. “We weren’t prepared,”

“Even the three of you combined couldn’t take down a single person from EMBER. It’s not that you weren’t ready, you were completely outclassed! What could you have possibly done against her?”

Remi didn’t have anything to say. Arlo continued with his tirade.

“You will stop your foolish meddling and report everything to the authorities! Do I make myself clear?”

Remi’s eyes welled with tears. “No. Screw the authorities!”

“What did you say?”

“They’re just a bunch of power-hungry phonies! They couldn’t care less about what happens to us!” Remi yelled. She was angry.

Arlo was confused. Why was Remi acting like this?

“If you want me to stop pursuing EMBER, fine. But I’m not giving anything up to the authorities!” Remi pushed open the classroom door, slamming it shut behind her.

Arlo was alone.

What’s wrong with all of you?

He remembered Rei’s dead body, charred and cut up. Arlo remembered John, ready for vengeance after Arlo had ambushed him. He remembered Seraphina, lying on the floor after another student pushed her down the stairs. Arlo remembered Cecile, bloody and bowing to him. And he remembered Remi, how her face was filled with rage.

You’re high-tiers, aren’t you? So why can’t you just act like it?

Arlo sighed.

Everything is falling apart.

Sera stood outside of the school building, waiting for John. She was texting on her phone when Hower suddenly came up to her. He was with a bunch of other students. Sera noticed them.

“You again?”

Michikatsu sneezed. He was cleaning the dusty building with his brother. He still replayed the moment when Yoriichi hit the rat and Michikatsu didn’t.

Why am I even thinking about that? I’ve gotten better, so there’s no need to be upset!

However, the harder he tried to banish the memory, the harder it stayed in his mind.

He tried to distract himself by cleaning the windows when he saw a peculiar sight. Some teenagers were carrying another teen into the building where Michikatsu and his brother lived.

“Yoriichi! Some people are coming to the house!”

“What did you say?”

Michikatsu ran towards his brother. “I said that some people are coming towards the house!”

“Wait, why?” Yoriichi looked out the window. “Who are they carrying? Also, why do they have similar outfits?”

Michikatsu shrugged.

“Brother! We have to help the one being carried!”

“It’s none of our business, we shouldn’t get involved,”

“But what if that person is in trouble?” Yoriichi pleaded with his brother. Eventually, Michikatsu agreed to help.

Sera didn’t know where she was headed. All she knew was that these students did not mean well.

So imagine her surprise when they got into the abandoned building and two people were there.

They looked almost identical, so Sera knew they were twins. Both were in a fighting stance, so Sera did the logical thing and called for help.

“Hey, you two! I’m being held against my will! Help-”

One girl who was holding Sera bashed Sera’s head on the ground. “Shut up!”

The twins looked at each other in confusion.

Sera tried again. “Hey, I need help over here!”

Luckily, the two seemed to get the hint.

Yoriichi couldn’t understand a word of what was said to them. But after seeing the pink-haired girl get struck, he assumed that the girl was in trouble.

“Michikatsu! I’m counting on you!”

“Huh? Me? What about your firepower?”

“I still can’t control the amount of heat, brother. That would be fine if we were dealing with demons, but I don’t want to kill a fellow human. I need your powers to deal with these people quickly. I’ll try and back you up without my powers,”

“Got it,”

The brothers sprang into action. Michikatsu pointed his finger at the nearest person. Blue and yellow crescents came out, striking them. He continued to do this, knocking out the majority of the people in the process.

Yoriichi vaulted over Michikatsu’s crescents and ran at the pink-haired girl. A blue-eyed girl with maroon-ish hair blocked his path. He dodged a punch from the new girl, before throwing one of his own. Intended to push her far and knock her out, the punch only knocked her back a few feet or so. She smiled and charged at him.

Yoriichi gulped.

Michikatsu was having problems of his own. One girl, with blonde hair and golden eyes, was dodging his crescents with ease. She was a blur, even for him, with his higher-than-average eyesight.

A boy, with purple hair and green eyes, was also giving Michikatsu trouble. He had regenerative abilities just like a demon, however, he smelled human. Do all people here have powers like a demon? He was interrupted by the boy throwing a punch. Michikatsu pointed his finger at the boy, only to have the boy get up after the stream of crescents ended. This was going to be a long fight.

Yoriichi was fighting the girl, as well as a newcomer. The newcomer had green hair and brown-red eyes. She was skilled in repelling Yoriichi’s attacks using her power. Combined with the other girl’s strength, it was a hard fight for Yoriichi. At least he was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, otherwise, he would be screwed.

The green-haired girl suddenly tried to punch Yoriichi, who dodged and weaved under her. Now he was behind both girls, and he made a run for the pink-haired girl. Helping her off the ground, Yoriichi called to his brother.

“Michikatsu! I have her! Let’s go!”

One of Michikatsu’s opponents, the girl, rammed into Michikatsu. He punched her, and she was knocked unconscious.

She let her guard down. I guess she didn’t expect me to be standing.

The boy didn’t notice his downed ally as he ran towards Michikatsu. Michikatsu didn’t even try to fight back, instead opting to run with Yoriichi and the pink-haired girl.

Once they were far away from the people and the building, they rested.

“So,” Yoriichi asked the pink-haired girl, “Who are you?”