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Shinri is being watched.
Granted, he’s always been watched ever since he joined the academy. After all, the admins had to keep an eye on the students to make sure everyone was following the rules. There were also recruiters mixed in the crowds to recommend students to different groups, be it the Medical Corps, the Archivists, or the front lines. After all, everyone needs to do their part to stop the Corruption from spreading.
He’s also familiar with being watched after after leaving…no, getting kicked out of the academy. After what had happened at the Dragon’s Gate, he was expelled from the academy and restricted to doing odd jobs hunting monsters. It doesn’t pay much, but he earns enough to get the occasional discounted bento. If he’s lucky, he’ll get the occasional onigiri from the market aunties. However, he always turns down their offers to give him room for a night. It doesn’t feel right to burden them with his presence, especially since his arm teds to gather a lot of negative attention.
Right, his arm… The reason why he was expelled in the first place.
He was sure that he would have had to suffer harsher punishment after being escorted back onto academy grounds. Expulsion seems to be a light punishment for being labeled as a traitor that sacrificed his team for his own life. However, the Dean and Councilman that had him sent back never returned. Neither did the 20-man squad that went with them to carry the dead back.
Not that there was much to bring back after…that.
That…thing. Creature? Being? He doesn’t know how to describe what he interacted with at the Dragon’s Gate, but he knows it’s sentient. After all, it didn’t seem to attack him outright. In fact, it seems to…house? Cover? Definitely avoided him when…when it attacked his team that charged into the cavern. He also can not deny that it spoke. It was responding to him, even though he had his bow up multiple times. Maybe it was because he approached slowly. Maybe it was because he allowed it to watch his moves. Maybe it sensed his confusion when he entered the cavern only to see the stone arch housing it.
He knows that he should not be feeling compassion for it. After all, it killed his team, his friends. This was a creature that he was tasked to take down for his final test. It was the reason why he is now a pariah in Xenokuni.
…He still can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to it, though.
…Just like how he can’t shake the feeling that he’s being watched by an unfamiliar presence.
The rustling of bushes had him grabbing his bow and nocking an arrow. His eyes search his surroundings, slowly moving away from his fire to prevent himself from being an easy target. Not that his large frame would allow him to hide very well, but he’ll take every advantage he can get. He briefly considers smothering the flames, but decides against it. He can’t be certain that he would be able to start another if he gets injured now.
The rustling grows louder. He draws back his bow.
A…meat skewer flies out of the bushes and lands close to the fire. Wait, what?
He lowers his bow to stare at the object now sitting close to the fire. Why did a meat skewer fly out of the bushes? Wait no, HOW did a meat skewer get out here? The nearest village is about a whole day’s journey out. He moves closer to inspect the meat skewer. He knows he shouldn’t since he’s opening himself up to surprise attacks, but he needs to inspect it.
Wait, he recognizes that meat skewer. That was from the stall that was in the marketplace of the last village he visited. He had been eyeing it, but he didn’t have the money to splurge while waiting for the 30% off sticker to be placed on the bento he needed before traveling on.
There’s mumbling and more rustling in the bushes. A white bag flies out of the bush next. That’s…the bag that the stall owner uses to pack multiple skewers. He grabs the bag and looks inside. There are 4 skewers in the bag with an assortment of sauce and seasonings. There seems to be evidence that there used to be five, which may explain the mumbling and the one lonesome skewer on the dirt next to the fire.
“...Shinri?”
He quickly places the bag down and renocks his arrow. He recognizes that voice. It’s clearer compared to when he first heard it, but he can never forget it.
How can he, when it was the reason his life changed forever?
He raises his bow to the bush where the food has been coming from. Before he can level a threat to…whatever it was, the bush rustles more and… a mass of koi fish rises up out of the bush.
…Excuse me?
‘It’s him!’ ‘Yay!’
…This night gets stranger and stranger by the minute.
The koi mass seems to be wiggling in excitement. He can’t quite hear what it seems to be saying, but the few voices (it has separate voices now, oh geez) he can pick up sounds happy enough. It doesn’t seem to want to hurt him.
…Wait. How is it so far out here? He is nowhere near the academy and last he remembers, it was a blue mass trapped in the Dragon’s Gate archway by about 30 different seals. It could barely move enough to extend 1 foot past the archway.
…Was this why the Dean and the councilman never returned?
Maybe the confusion is evident on his face. Maybe the lack of response is concerning the koi mass. But the next thing he knows, he’s being slowly guided back towards his campfire and being sat down. Some of the mass seems to have separated to push the bag of skewers into his hand, not moving away until he had a proper grip on it. In fact, the entire mass seems to be…staring at him. He’s unsure as to what it wants, until he looks at the bag in his hand.
Is…is it - no, they. Are they waiting for him…to eat?
It seems so, but to test it, he moved his hand towards the bag. The mass as one seems to tilt upward. He moved his hand away. The mass tilts down. He’d venture to say that they also…look…sad? He moved his hand back towards the bag. It tilts up again.
If it weren’t for his slight suspicion, he would say that it’s cute how responsive they are.
Deciding that he doesn’t have much to lose, he pulls out a skewer to take a bite. He had been wanting to take a bite out of the roasted meat, and if it was the last bite he ever takes, he’ll die happy.
The bite he takes might be the most euphoric one he has taken in a long time.
He has no idea how long it has been since the koi mass had gotten the skewers, let alone how long it has been since he was able to indulge in some good meat skewers. The meat is juicy, but not too fatty. There is a little sweetness on the skin, but it’s balanced by the salt of the seasoning rub. He doesn’t need the additional sauces that the mass had provided. As he chews, the taste spreads over his tongue with a little tang at the tip. Had they gotten the ones with a little bit of spice on it? That was a luxury he hasn’t indulged in for a while. Before he knew it, he finished off the first skewer and was moving on to the next.
Shinri realizes that he may be enjoying the skewers a little too loudly. But when he looked up to apologize to the mass before him, it looks…content? Some parts of the mass seem to have fallen off onto the ground. Choosing this time to take a closer look at the mass of koi, he realizes that each koi seems to have a little bubble of water surrounding them. That may explain the slight blue glow that persists around them, even though they seem to have taken on a more corporeal form. As he continues to observe each koi, he thinks he recognizes some of them. He swears that he has seen some of these kois in the rivers he treks by. For others, he feels that their pigmentation looks familiar, but he chalks that up to koi designs looking similar when used on various yukatas and kimonos.
Have they been following him? And this encounter was how they confirm that they were following the right person?
How did they know his name?
As he finishes off the last skewer, some of the mass - no, it would be better to describe it as 3 kois - take the bag away from him. Possibly to throw it away later, but he doesn’t want to think about HOW they will do it. Meanwhile, 4 other kois seem to have found his bedding and are enlisting others to help them make it.
Whatever this mass of kois are, they don’t seem to mean him harm. In fact, they seem to be…keeping an eye on him, for lack of a better phrase. And if they were looking for him before, they probably won’t leave him anytime soon.
“Well…” All falls quiet around the campsite. It’s a little eerie. He hadn’t realized that there was so much movement going on while he was lost in thought. Every koi seems to have stopped whatever they were doing to give him their utmost attention. Even the kois holding the blanket seem to be floating in place (though humorously, they look like they are struggling under the weight of it).
“Something tells me that you…all… will probably continue to follow me.” A sound of what sounds like agreement flows through the camp. “So as new companions, I should probably have something to call you guys. I mean, you already know who I am. I feel that it’s only fair that I can refer to you guys by a name as well.”
A more quiet murmuring filled the camp. A few kois started tugging on his gloves while others push on his back, probably wanting him to stand up. He does so, though he lightly swats away some adventurous kois that were trying to sneak under his jacket.
“Come on now. You’re not supposed to be there,” he teased. Those kois quickly float away, though he swears that he sees a blush on some of them.
As he slips into the newly made bed with kois trying to tuck him in, the murmuring consolidates into one sentence: “We…are…a Koillective…”
Koillective…like Collective, but with kois? The realization makes him laugh a little. “Okay guys, that’s really cute! I like it a lot!”
‘And you can refer to one of us as a Koipanion!’ This singular voice cause the Koillective to shake violently, as if it’s laughing. They all seem in agreement with this idea, but are laughing from the sheer genius of the idea.
To be fair, he’s laughing as well. “Oh my god. That’s actually really good! I’ll keep that in mind!”
As he settles down for the night, the Koillective start to disappear back into the bushes. Before they do, Shinri decides to give them a pun of his own; “Koi~yasumi~”
There’s a dramatic rustling of the bushes as though a bunch of fish just fell out of the sky, some kois fall out of the bush, followed by a chorus of “Koi~yasumi Shinri~” as the other koipanions drag their fallen brethren into the bushes.
There’s no way he can hold it in anymore. He starts wheezing uncontrollably as he realizes that he may have incapacitated a lot of Koipanions through his voice alone. He just mentally replays the flopping of the Koipanions as they fell down as well as the seeming outrage of the Koipanions dragging them back in. He’s never seen an angry koi before, but he’s sure that he’s seen like 20 now. As he’s trying to compose himself, he swears he hears a faint “Taskeru”, but he decides that it was a figment of his imagination as he struggles to catch his breath.
After recomposing himself, he settles once more to fall asleep. He thinks he feels a weight on his head, but it’s not heavy and seems to fill the air with a soft lullaby. As he drifts off, he reminisces on the night’s events.
Yes, the Koillective is the reason why his life changed forever. However, that may not be a bad thing in the long run.