On my way back home during this pleasant weekend, I passed by my neighbor's kid right in front of his house.
The 8-year-old child called out, "Hello, big bro Satou!"
I looked at him and his cheeky outstretched hand and dug through my pockets while I said, "Heya, little Timmy. How are you?"
I fished out a small candy and handed it to him as he replied, "You confused my name again, big bro! My name is Hiro, not little Timmy!"
He then looked at the candy I gave him and pocketed it as he said, "You always have the strangest candy on you."
"Hey, it's not my candy that is strange; it is everyone else who has a bland taste. Guava-flavored candy tastes great. Be grateful that I am imparting my knowledge and experience to you as a snack connoisseur."
"Whatever, free candy is free candy." He said as he went back inside.
'One day, he will learn the value of being cultured in the art of snacks by someone with tastes as vast and curated as mine.' I thought as I entered my home, had lunch, and made my way up to my room to read some manga while waiting for the timer to go down.
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[New Template Loading in 0 seconds...]
[New Template Rize Kamishiro Loaded Successfully!]
[Current Template: Rize Kamishiro]
[Template Progress: 1%]
As soon as the template loaded, I felt a strange energy in my blood that increased with every heartbeat. The sensation was similar to when I used my Twice Critical, and it gradually spread from my blood to the rest of my body and organs.
My eyes and nose also felt slightly itchy, and my hearing and smell got sharper. I could feel a strange buildup around the back of my waist.
As my attention was inevitably drawn to that sensation and I focused on it, I felt a purple-red scaled tentacle burst out from there, ripping through my clothes and hitting the wardrobe.
'A kagune.' I thought as I looked at it and realized that the name of the character whose template I got was a ghoul from Tokyo Ghoul. I hadn't watched the anime or read the manga, but it had gotten so popular online it was almost impossible not to know about it. Though, I had no idea what a kagune was. 'Does a template also allow the transfer of knowledge the character possessed?'
Putting aside the exploration of my new superpowers for now, I sat down on my bed, pulled out the flier with blue decorations, and closed my eyes while repeatedly thinking, 'I wish for knowledge.'
The flier began to glow and disappear into particles as a brilliant blue summoning magic circle appeared in front of me. From that magic circle appeared a familiar face in a flash of light.
'Tomoe Meguri, I should've known.'
The light subsided, and the maroon-haired girl, her clothes rustling in the non-existent wind and her eyes closed, appeared with a dramatic and energetic spin. She opened her eyes, and her expression turned into shock when she spotted the kagune coming from my back.
"EHHH?! You have a Sacred Gear?!" She asked in astonishment.
"Sacred Gear, hn," I repeated with a blank expression since I was not supposed to know what it was.
She blinked as her brain reset and then lightly coughed into her hand. "Ok, let's start from the beginning. I am Tomoe Meguri; I was summoned by your desire and the use of that summoning flier. As stated, I will fulfill your wish as long as I receive proper compensation based on the wish and customer satisfaction."
"Ok, I am Haruto Satou, a normal human with superpowers." I replied plainly.
"That is a contradiction! Also, when did you awaken your gear? How did you awaken your gear?!" She said in a burst of speech while grabbing and shaking my shoulders.
"Just now. And I don't know. That's why I used the flier."
She just sighed in response and said, "I wasn't prepared for something like this. Wait just a minute, I need to consult with the prez about this."
Turning around, she pulled out a smartphone with a case that had little devil wings on it. She called Sonia and explained the situation to her. After a bit of a pause, she cut the call and turned back to me, finally saying, "Come to the student council room after school on Monday. Be careful when you go out. In fact, don't go out. I'll put a simple barrier around your house to hide your presence."
I simply nodded, walked to my wardrobe, and took out my snack stash again. I grabbed one of the big bags of spicy guava candy and handed it to her.
"Umm?" She looked at me, confused.
"Compensation. For the wish."
Her brow twitched at that, and she responded, "No need; the wish hasn't been completed yet."
Yet, I insisted and continued to push the spicy guava candy into her hands because 1) Spicy Guava candy supremacy must be spread, and 2) I didn't want to owe a devil anything. She is still creating a barrier around my house, and even though she may not have technically fulfilled my wish for 'knowledge,' I must compensate her.
——
Once that was done and she was off working on the barrier, I realized that I still wasn't able to put the kagune away, and so I took out the second summoning flier, the one brought by the bright yellow bird and simply thought of my wish strongly.
Another flash of light later, and Kiba was standing in my room.
He was similarly surprised at seeing my Kagune but was much more composed than Meguri.
"So, what is your wish, my summoner?" He said with his signature close-eyed smile that suddenly reminded me of a particular salesperson.
"I wanna put my sacred gear away; it is getting annoying." While the kagune is a lot more biological than a sacred gear, I assume they are similar enough with how my senses extend to my twice critical that the guidance of an experienced user may still be useful.
"You know what a sacred gear is?" He asked in slight surprise.
I simply pointed to Meguri, who could be seen through the window working on making the barrier around my house. "She told me its called a sacred gear."
"I see…" Kiba responded as he nodded and simply moved on.
He cleared his throat and said, "I need you to listen very carefully to me. It is very important that you get this right. Sacred gears respond to the wielder's will; therefore, salmon bonito flakes. Fishcake."
'Hmm, salmon bonito flakes. Fishcake.'
My mind started reeling at the wise words, trying to comprehend the profound meaning hidden in them. Perhaps my cultivation was lacking, or my dao heart was unstable because, after a solid 30 seconds of trying, I gave up.
"I have no idea what that means."
Kiba smiled in response and replied, "That's fine. It's not meant to mean anything. Since sacred gears work based on will, your subconscious focus on it is what kept it manifested. The will to hide it was already there; all I needed was to shift your focus somewhere else so that your instincts could take care of the job for you."
That was when I realized that the kagune was gone. It was now my turn to be shocked. 'Such wisdom! Such quick and effective service! Such adaptability in the face of an unusual circumstance! This is a true pro! Meguri doesn't even compare! The excellent customer service and the understandable explanations!'
'My review of Meguri's service must be taken down to a 3/10.'
'Kiba, on the other hand, has provided a 10/10 service! And I must pay him accordingly.'
I moved back to my wardrobe and opened a locked drawer, my Vault of Snacks (trademark pending), and gave him one of my most exclusive snacks, hidden for special occasions: soup-flavored chips.
Hmm, judging by the odd look he is giving me, it seems like I need to go for one of the milder flavours. Cheese and tomato soup chips it is then!
Kiba looked at the large party-size bag and my proud smile and simply nodded with another close-eyed smile as he said, "If you ever need any other help, don't hesitate to approach me or anyone else in the Occult Research Club." And then dissapeared after another magic circle (a red one instead of the blue one Meguri used) with a professional nod at me.
'Such excellent service!'
——