I was walking to school, taking another route that's unfortunately longer, but still effective. I'm not risking encountering that thing again but that sword, what is it? As the school entrance entered my view, I saw that same woman talking to the principal, he was nodding at something she said, before she began to approach me. "Kurose, you're excused from school for the day." She tells me, speaking fast and straight to such a point it took me a second to process what this woman even said to my face.
"Wh-what? But my-"
"Your studies and education can wait, this is dire." She cuts me off, gesturing her head back to tell me that I need to follow her. I grumbled, but I didn't protest as much as I wanted to. 'What the hell did I get myself into?' I thought.
We walk through a busy street, civilians walk by us, left and right. Street lights towering over us as advertisers and company names light up the area more. The woman was wearing a much more casual outfit, dressed in a pastel blue jacket with beige fur around the collar and edges, having an armband with X's covered on it and even across each other. She wore pretty bright sky blue jeans with a white belt strapped on. She then asked "How much have you recovered from the Kechī attack?"
"It's been nearly a week, I'm surprised my wounds got better." I looked at my wrist, the injury was practically nearly gone after six whole days. He looked back at the woman, starting to realize she didn't even look much older than I did. "How long are we going to walk?"
"We're almost at the location but I'm surprised you've recovered that fast, it's abnormal, really." She comments on my recovery. "What about your Hyōmei? The fact you could even summon one was odd." She added.
"Hm? Care to explain, ma'am?" I asked, trying to be polite but I was walking with a total stranger I hardly met a week ago, when I could be at school, studying and actively trying to get a career.
"No need for formal talk. We're about a year apart from age, I assume. My name's Hikaru, Hikaru Mabushī but people really normally call me by 'Karu'. To answer your question, a Hyōmei is a reflection of one's soul entirely constructed by Enogu, think of it as an extension of your inner being. It can produce unique and various powers once manifested but I didn't see yours do anything. How did you even manifest one? It takes a Practitioner months to even learn how to remotely conjure it." She asks.
"I don't know, it just— randomly happened. After that night I tossed it away, but it kept coming back no matter what I did." I respond, trying to see if she can possibly answer why it's reappearing whenever I toss it away if it were garbage.
"Hm, maybe your Hyōmei has a soul of its own, which isn't rare. Hyōmei can acquire souls of their own that are similar or opposite to the master." She replied before we approached an apartment building, walking up a flight of stairs before she knocked on a door. From that room alone, I can hear pretty loud rock music and the sounds of a video game, I sighed in my mind. Then, the door opens, having a subtle creak as me and Hikaru walk in, I close the door behind me as there's about nine other people in the room, having a banner in one corner that says "EXECUTIONER".
"Welcome, Shirō, we invite you to join our organization, The Executioners." She says, letting me explore the room as I get a good glance of the other 8 members. There's one girl wearing pretty overly pink and "cutesy" clothes and had pink-white hair, styled with hair pins. Another, a boy who looked younger than me, wearing tight and torn clothes, donning blonde hair, giving me only small bits of attention as he played a fighting game on the TV with another boy, probably two years older than him, had on a much more raggy clothes and a beanie, with a pretty rough face, the hair that was visible was put into a ponytail that ran down his back. In the other corner of the room there's the rest, a woman with red hair and ruby-like eyes, a calm expression etched across her face, dressed in a t-shirt with various chains wrapped around her neck, then a man, who had a pretty stern and straight expression on his face, wearing a custom suit it seems, with a belt wrapped around his waist and a buttoned coat up to where I could see the collar of his suit. In the back of the room, there's a table with two boys, one who had brown hair, a straight coat on and sweatpants, and the other who had a choker on, beige hair, and a pretty grunge outfit. The one who really gave me the glare was a black-haired boy, his hair was pointy and it flows down his back a bit, having a white shirt on, followed up with black jeans on, many belts strapped across his legs and a double grommet belt across the waist, his eyes had a blue glimmer to them.
"The one in the pink's Airashī, Airashī Hōshi." Hikaru began to tell me their names one by one. Airashī waved in an ecstatic manner, smiling wide with her big doe eyes. "The two boys on the couch are cousins, Ketsueki and Kaguro Karishima." The cousins didn't pay me much heed, focused on their game. Hikaru leads me to the others. "Over here, we have Shimi, Shimi Mangetsu however some of us call her Mimi." Hikaru continued. Shimi waved at me, her eyes were soft and so was the smile she put on. "Here's Hago, Hago Mushin. He's the second in command of The Executioners." Hago looked at me with that same expression, soon shooting a smile at me.
Hikaru then pointed at the table, and the boys over there immediately waved at me. "Those two are, Shoki and Ashikaze, they're pretty much brothers with how close they are." She turned to me, tilting her head to the left as she shrugs, continuing on. "The one in the very, very back is Kageki, Kageki Murōsawa." Kageki just remained silent, glaring at me before approaching Shoki and Ashikaze, dragging a chair to the table, sitting himself down. "Don't let his demeanor get to you, Shirō. He's like that with everyone who's new." She assures.
-" I was cut off as a man, tall and lanky, yet looked rough and slouchy as he walked out of a door.
"Hey! Lookie here, the wolf has come!" He approached me, arms out. He wore a bucket hat and had pretty dark brown hair, wearing a robe as his eyes looked heavy. Hikaru stares at the man, introducing me. "And that's Motatsū, Motatsū Hurokuzhi. He's our boss and awfully calm, he's extremely lenient on the 'rules' we have." She gestures with her hand, saying "rules" with heavy quotation marks.
"So, you're that kid who suddenly conjured a Hyōmei?" He asks.
"Uh–"
"Good, good! I trust Karu gave you a tour of our very spacious room, eh?" By spacious, I'm sure he meant cramped. The room is filled with all sorts of stuff. Food, junk, and more junk. Motatsū then went, "So, about our group. We specialize in the disposal of Kechī hunting down Humans, Anima, and Eclipsed that come by to try and feast on their Enogu, we're funded and paid by the government for our duties." He says, "We normally split the overall pay between all of us, considering we go on about our mission as a team, I rarely send off any Executioner solo." He gave me a thumbs up, "So, are you interested?"
"No." I tell him straight.
"I see, may I ask why?" He continues.
"This will get in the way of my education, the only Kechī I'm interested in disposing of is the one that killed my little brother, assuming this is a full-time job." I responded.
"Hm, fair— I didn't take you for one of those kids, but our duties aren't full-time, as a matter of fact, I don't force any of my members to go out killin' Kechī all week. " He assured me, his smile was brightening up the room. "Hikaru has told us about your Enogu, the fact it's white, it's like nothing we've ever witnessed before." He says.
"Listen, I'm trying to live a life devoid of magic, killing whatever the hell Kechī are, and having to work for some organization that won't get me anywhere in life!" I blurt out, I don't want a life like this, I can't have a life like this.
"Shirō, your gift may be the key to fully getting rid of all the Kechī that harm our world, our people. I'll give you a compromise," He clears his throat, laying down the option before me, taking a moment before continuing. "You only work for a few hours a week, after school is over- unless we need you and I'll give you extra money. If you are still with us after your school year ends which isn't that far away, we'll then call you in whenever. For this day alone, if that Kechī who has killed your brother emerges again, I will personally alert you of its area and send a fellow Executioner with you for protection, how's that sound?"
I stayed silent for a bit, do I want this? Do I want to get revenge for my Rui? I do, but- is risking my life out there worth it? Will I make a name for myself?
I soon, regretfully responded, "Fine, I'll take the deal." The words shot out of my mouth, I wish I could reel them back in. What was I doing? Devoting myself to this? "Now, can I have some actual info on what the Kechī and Hyōmei are?" I requested.
"Sure thing!" He responded, his smile turned into a wide grin. I can definitely see why these people may like Motatsū, he seems humble, overly kind, and very welcoming. "The Kechī are a pretty enigmatic species when it comes to where they originate from, all we know is that they form cracks in our world before tearing them open to fully enter in. They relentlessly hunt down people for their Enogu, when they're done feasting on them, they erase the remains of their victim." His demeanor shifted from pretty humble to a little serious. "Everyone on Terra is endangered merely by their existence. There does exist many variants I would fill you in on now but until you encounter another Kechī, I won't speak of it until then except for one, Colossuses, Kechī that have eaten up so much Enogu, their body has to evolve into a larger one to store all that magic. The smallest recorded Colossus according to the government was the size of a large mountain." The moment I heard that, my heart sank. Will I risk having to fight something like that?! Motatsū continued, "Thankfully, the occurrence of a Colossus emerging is extremely rare, I'd say you have a 1/5000 chance of actually meeting one. If you do, I will order all of you to fight it at once, but we will most likely have to retreat, they leave after a bit if they're not being aggravated." He assured me. "And about Hyōmei, they're the reflections of our souls and Enogu, given shape into a weapon, any weapon. They possess unique properties relating to our own natures, false or not. A Hyōmei typically- if the user's soul is dense with Enogu, will be given a soul itself which isn't a rare case. All of The Executioners here have one, but you don't know the name of your's, do you? He asked.
"No, I remember saying that my blade will be a canvas for those to paint their pain and sorrow across. All of their hopes and dreams, and sins of the Kechī-" "Then your Hyōmei will be known as The Canvas. However, its true name is unknown, it is your task to find out the name of it." Motatsū abruptly cuts me off.
I reach my hand out as from sparks of white Enogu, fwoosh! The Canvas appeared in my hand, revealing itself for The Executioners. Motatsū commented "Your's is a longsword, it seems. Well then, say-" He looks over to one of The Executioners, picking Hikaru, "Hikaru, mind teaching him how to utilize his Hyōmei?"
"Sure, Motatsū." She agreed. Hikaru and I walk towards the front door, walking down the steps. I looked around the area, it seemed normal, looked like a common apartment block.
"So, how is Motatsū? As a boss?" I ask, the words were bullets, shooting out fast.
"He's like a father, really. He cares for us, some of The Executioners are parentless so he takes care of them personally instead of them ending up in a foster home. We all look up to Motatsū, he does everything he can to ensure we're safe despite what our main objective is." She says. "He's extroverted, very open to caring for others, he looks like some slouchy old man in his mid 40s but I guess you don't judge a book by its cover-" She cuts herself off, turning to me. "Apologies for going on about Motatsū, it's hard not to."
"It's fine, I get it. You and the others have spent so much time with him, he's engraved himself into your lives, filling them up with his demeanor, huh?"
"Pfft, yeah. Say, Shirō, why did you initially decline his offer to join us?" She asks, we're walking behind the apartment the Executioners resided in, towards the area she's taking me to.
"I- I don't want a life like this, Hikaru. I can't have a life with magic, that alone is why my brother was killed." I responded, I spoke faster than usual, I didn't want to even think about Rui's death.
"I'm sure I told you, six days ago after you got attacked. I understand how you feel. What happened was my family was killed by a Kechī when I was 15, leaving me and my brother alone, before we were sent to a foster home and got separated, I don't even know if he's alive. About two years later, I met Motatsū who took me into his care right after he founded the Executioners, and taught me everything I needed to know on how to fight against Kechī and other Practitioners." She says, we are similar, I guess. She could be a friend but- I never bothered with friends, I was always a loner, especially after Akarui died.
Hikaru stopped walking, I followed suit. She continues on. "I initially joined The Executioners to get revenge on Mom and Dad, but later on I planned to leave, only to realize I'd be abandoning Motatsū, Airashī, and the rest. They're like a family to me, not to mention I have nowhere to go anymore." She admits, turning to me. "I at least want to be a teacher to someone new, the teacher that Motatsū was to me." She smiles. She held her hand out to her side, conjuring a large, multi-bladed scythe, about five blades going from smallest at the bottom to largest at the top.
"Is that a Hyōmei?" I asked. I was amazed by the sheer size it had, intimidating really.
"Yes, It's name is Kyūshūsuru, and it has the ability to take all the Enogu in the environment and condense it around its blades. If I'm in areas where Enogu isn't within the area, I can sacrifice some of my own instead." She stated, spinning the scythe around her body as her right hand grabbed the handle, pointing it at me.
"I'll teach you how to properly use yours, how to utilize Enogu, and how to wield a sword in general."
"Fine." I summon The Canvas in my hand, lowering the blade to my waist. Immediately Hikaru lunged forward, thrusting the top end of the scythe at me. I lift up my sword, just narrowly blocking and avoiding it as I swerve back, dashing forward as I swung my sword, watching Hikaru easily parry it.
"You need to swing with a straight posture, Shirō. Focus on yourself rather than me, but don't take your eyes away from your opponent. Ever." She says, swinging her scythe at me from a far range only for me to greet it with another guard, metal scratched against each other as we swiftly stepped back.
I hear above a window opening, panning my head up to see Motatsū, hatless and fully dressed to be hollar at us.
"Alright kids, play date's gonna have to end— We have a Kechī to hunt and kill!" He said with an odd amount of enthusiasm. Hikaru and I desummon our Hyōmei and walk back up to the room. What am I really getting myself into?
Is any of this really worth it?