[ Name ] and Takemichi didn't get along at all. He had acted completely differently compared to the past two days, and though he seemed like less of an ass, he was still complicating their whole situation. At first when [ Name ] had told him the whole story-- from living in Teyvat to coming to this world and being found by him, he was in complete disbelief and labeled her as delusional.
She was just making up fantasies for the hell of it, he concluded. He couldn't understand why she would lie about all of this and would say generally hurtful things to her— which wasn't too abnormal considering just how unbelievable [ Name ]'s situation was.
What Takemichi did understand was that she had nowhere else to go. Although he didn't technically consent to her living here, she was still granted permission by what she called his "other personality". Begrudgingly, he allowed her to stay, but with the rule that she wasn't allowed to snoop around in his room anymore.
The two had considerably cooled after a long time of arguing and having proper conversation, causing them to find that the assumptions the two jumped to about each other were misinformed. With his future self getting to know her better, he found she wasn't all as insufferable as he initially believed her to be-- and vice versa.
And so, with a kindling of appreciation and friendship towards Takemichi, when [ Name ] saw he returned yet another day littered with bruises, she blew a fuse. Takemichi had never evoked much emotion out of her but knowing another human could treat him like this had made her angered to a degree where he was even frightened at her wrath and half expected her to get violent.
[ Name ] was enraged and perhaps his assessment with her getting violent was true— though not towards him of course. The way the heels of her shoes loudly clicked against the pavement in rapid succession told all the emotion Takemichi needed to know. He was jogging just behind her, amazed at her stamina because the two had been walking around looking for a plate on a house with Kiyomasa's family name for quite a while now.
She knew that was just a nickname for the gangster and learned his full name is Masataka Kiyomizu because of Takemichi ranting about him to her earlier on in the day. If he knew her patience and collected calmness was false in order to gather information from him to seek Kiyomasa out herself, he wouldn't have said a word. Now it was his fault she would dive straight into trouble and get herself hurt.
"It's not beyond my morals to kill normal human scum that have intentions equivalent to a demon." She spat, glaring at a nameplate in her trajectory, but was quick to click her tongue against the roof of her mouth and snap her attention elsewhere upon recognizing it was not who she was looking for.
His hand lurched out and grabbed the flowing extension of her outfit, giving it a harsh pull to stop her and shake his head back and forth rapidly.
"No! [ Name ], It's okay, everything's settled!"
Her response was immediate, not even looking back as she tried to shove him off from her.
"I don't believe you."
'Why is she being so overprotective!' Takemichi thought as he felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face.
It was for varied reasons of course. She would react similarly for an innocent stranger if the occasion would ever arise; it was just in her contract to do so. She loathed how the strong prayed on the weak and she would carry those beliefs from Teyvat to this world, and although she hated taking away lives, she always did it when the outcome of it was beneficial in ensuring others safety.
"It's true! Listen, if you go it would be a waste of time since he's not holding the fighting rings anymore!" Takemichi reassured, hoping that would get her to realize that this was all unnecessary and she didn't have to put herself in danger on his behalf. Apparently this chuunibyou has much more courage than he thought.
She immediately stopped attempting to pry his fingers off from her outfit without him ripping it, looking at him with a deadpan expression as she straightened up and made no motion to continue stomping forward.
"So that's what it was? A fighting ring? You could have started with that; I didn't know you were into those kinds of things."
The crease in her eyebrow vanished as she stared at him, waiting for a response as she felt silly for overreacting over something Takemichi voluntarily joined. Maybe Kiyomasa wasn't that bad of a guy, and she misinterpreted the situation thinking it was for pure cruel entertainment instead of mutual fighting.
"It's not like I willingly joined..." He mumbled without thinking, recalling how Takuya was going to become a victim of the brutal beatdown and end up nearly dead if he didn't force himself to interfere.
She takes back what she thought.
"Got it, use your 'camera' to film the moment I crush his skull in." She said before turning around and nodding her head firmly.
Takemichi paled as his hands flew to each side of his head, hair gel peeling away and flakes sticking to his fingers as he frustratingly ruffled around his hair and ruined the gelled-up style that he made this morning.
"WHAT?! Are you serious about this? I'm telling you; it's settled!"
To his relief, [ Name ] didn't decide to immediately search for the assailant and instead listened to his words. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow in his direction before asking,
"So, you say everything was settled? How so?" She inquired, turning around to face the boy as she crossed her arms over her chest and impatiently tapped her foot while she awaited his answer like a mother scolding her child.
He let out a sigh of relief before responding,
"Kiyomasa, the guy who was hosting the ring, was put in his place. He was a former Toman member, and the current leader beat him bloody and made him submit and close down the fighting ring for good."
The answer satisfied her enough.
She just regretted she couldn't be the one to put him in his place, and perhaps if she went the first time Takemichi returned all beaten and bruised she would have been able to do so.
"Oh. You could have started with that." [ Name ] sarcastically said, followed by a roll of her eyes making an irk mark appear on Takemichi's forehead.
"That's what I was trying to tell you!"
"So, you won't be getting injured anymore?" She questioned, just for reassurance because if anything she might have to just target this "Current leader of Toman" next if they tried to pull anything with Takemichi.
Takemichi, however, completely disregarded her words as he openly stared at something behind her-- squinting as he felt his adrenaline spike thinking someone was lurking this late at night. What he saw was two beaming red lights that blinked shut like headlights but were quick to reappear as a misty teal and black fog surrounded the object.
"Huh? What is that?"
Thinking she was being ignored on purpose, [ Name ] narrowed her eyes at him disapprovingly before turning to see what he was getting so distracted by.
The moment her eyes locked with the ones emerging behind the apartment complex, a pulse of negative karma racked her body in urgency. She disregarded the pain it brought her to instead scrutinize the manifested demon with a hatred she could only harbor to those creatures in particular.
"Why are one of these here?" She mumbled, Takemichi gasping as the appearance of the creature became alarmingly clearer.
Standing at nearly 7 feet, the creature had six limbs as two of them clutched onto the brick of the building, sharp claws impaling the stone and making it crumble under its grasp. Its hazy red eyes wavered as it stared directly at him and [ Name ] as if deciding them to be its prey, the dark body blending in with the night which was what made it so hard to see in the first place.
Instinctively, [ Name ]'s hand fell to her side as it unfurled from its position over her chest and gripped at her hip to unclip the item that would usually be there but was disappointed that her fingers didn't make contact with the sharp points or smooth exterior of her mask. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she stared at the approaching creature, never taking her eyes off it as a terrified Takemichi did the same.
"This isn't good. I don't have my vision or my mask."
Upon hearing her words, he snapped out of his stupor and looked over at her in alarm.
"H-hey [ Name ], now's not the time to act like that! It looks to be some rabid animal, we should leave!"
As he took a step forward noticing she wasn't budging, her hand shot to the side to stop him from walking any closer causing him to stumble back in alarm at the sudden action.
"Takemichi, just stand back," She ordered. Her voice was laced with complete seriousness, though she was serious most of the time, so Takemichi thought she was still playing some type of role that aligned with her fantasies. His head snapped in her direction as his eyes watered seconds after he felt his nose begin to sting. The creature made ungodly noises as it got closer and closer while [ Name ] was distracted with Takemichi preventing her from striking right away.
"What're you doing?! Stop playing around, this is serious! That thing could be dangerous!"
She shot an angry glare in his direction, the moment her head swiveled urging the demon to lurch at unprecedented speeds with a large gaping mouth wanting to be filled with their bodies. A line of saliva connected its top teeth with the bottom set, a deep growl ripping from the back of its throat as it hoped to paralyze the two with fear.
Takemichi's eyes widened as he gripped onto her sleeve and started walking forward while simultaneously tugging her behind him.
"[ N-Name ]! You've gotta run, I'll try and distract it!"
[ Name ] didn't waste any time as she kicked her foot off the ground and tackled Takemichi out of the way immediately after those words left his mouth, the boy squealing in horror as a large crash echoed throughout the neighborhood when the creature slammed into a bunch of trash bins.
For a few seconds as the two regained their focus, [ Name ] couldn't help but process what Takemichi said moments before the two dodged. He was so willing to sacrifice himself if it meant she would get to safety— that selflessness was admirable to her.
Standing up and ignoring the way Takemichi shook violently in fear as a line of snot fell from his nose, [ Name ] looked at the creature in irritation before responding to what he said earlier.
"I have no doubt it is dangerous as you said. So that's why..."
Her hand shot out to the side just as it did earlier when preventing Takemichi from taking any more steps forward, however the intent for it was for a different purpose.
Concentrating with gritted teeth, she willed as much energy in the space her palm faced, summoning her preferred weapon to her side. To her relief, it worked as she immediately grabbed the blunt part of her [ Preferred Weapon ].
The creature situated itself quickly as waste slipped off from its body while Takemichi could only stare in disbelief as a weapon seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and into [ Name ]'s grasp.
She stared at the item in her hand, disgust etching her features on having to rely on a cruel tool, but she knew it was to protect Takemichi and slay a being that had intentions to harm or kill others— which by default meant it had to be put down. It was a surprise to her at first that the demon manifestation took this specific form, as it was similar to the ones that spawned when they first emerged in Teyvat. Nowadays if you were to find any in Teyvat, they possessed a corpse or were much weaker and smaller in size.
She took a deep intake of air as she suppressed the negative Karma swirling within her without the help of her mask, the substance boiling her blood and making her skin hot to the touch as she became overwhelmed with guilt momentarily. Shaking those thoughts away, she immediately utilized her weapon in the way she knew best, but without elemental guidance assisting her since she didn't have her vision.
The battle was soon to come to its conclusion, and to Takemichi's disbelief, [ Name ] wasn't delusional at all and was the one left standing. She really was some strong individual from another world who found herself trapped here. He always doubted his rational side that suggested it may be true because they seemed totally healed from that bullet wound in a matter of days; and this only fully smothered any doubt.
Tuning out the agonizing scream that came from the creature's mouth, he didn't dare pry his eyes away from the girl he couldn't help but be in awe at. Perhaps his previous assessment on her was correct, her appearance was of something historically elegant. It was as if she were a heroine dragged out of a renaissance painting.
The admiration he felt towards her was far more immense now compared to when she proclaimed she would kill Kiyomasa without hesitation. Now looking back on her words, perhaps she was serious about going through with that, which made him swallow down a nervous lump in his throat.
"Wait..."
He hadn't realized his jaw was hanging open and his eyes were so wide it looked comically fake, the disturbed look [ Name ] was sending to him going unregistered.
"SO YOU WEREN'T LYING?!" He exclaimed as he pointed an accusatory finger in her direction.
She only let out an exasperated sigh as her weapon dissipated with a shiny reflection, moving towards the boy and crouching in front of him cautiously. She looked him over for any injuries, and when seeing him completely unscathed safe for a bruise or two from her tackling him, she let out a breath of relief.
"I have only been honest with you since I've arrived." She answered, putting pressure in her legs to stand up but stumbling as she felt a sudden dizziness overcome her.
"Ah-- are you okay?" Takemichi worriedly asked as he leaned forward and grabbed her shoulder to prevent her from losing her balance and falling over.
The brief fuzzy vision and the ringing in her ears went away as she calmed herself down, a result of her not using her mask and letting the negative Karma flow freely through her without being expelled for personal use.
She nodded her head in thanks before glancing at Takemichi's snot and tear-stained face, biting back a smile as she answered with an explanation she had come up with.
"I find it hard to replenish my energy in this world, let alone maintain any. It seems this world rejects me as a whole yet has brought me here against my will." She responded, and Takemichi having heard countless times about Teyvat from the past few days he's spent with her, he was surprised to say he understood.
"Perhaps my purpose here is to rid these abnormalities."
The two would then return home, Takemichi having a massive newfound respect for [ Name ] while [ Name ] found a purpose for her being here. She wasn't exactly sure but perhaps her purpose here was to exterminate the demons that have infiltrated, and if she completed this goal, she would be allowed to go home.
The two arrived back to Takemichi's house, the mess of a living room they left behind in the same state as it was before. Picking up the scattered papers that was Takemichi's homework, [ Name ] neatly stacked them in a pile as Takemichi sat dazed on the couch as he recounted everything that happened today.
She sighed before placing the papers on the coffee table and looking over at the boy that seemed to be distressed-- whether that be over his own wellbeing or the fact she had been truthful about her circumstances this whole time.
"Hey Takemichi, listen to me." She demanded, causing the boy to jump at the harsh tone and look at her with caution.
Thinking she was going to swear him to secrecy or threaten his life or something like that, he stiffly and anxiously watched as she eyed him down in complete seriousness.
"Whenever you find yourself in danger... call out my name, and I'll be there. Adeptus [ Name ]." Obligated to introduce herself in a more friendly manner, she let her lips quirk up into a genuine smile. She presented herself with her title with a sense of pride and bestowed him with an honor that meant she would be at his side whenever he was in danger and needed her help.
Takemichi, realizing he completely misinterpreted her intentions, sputtered as he realized the weight of her words and what it means when she said if he were to "find himself in danger". (If those demons were to ever appear again, he assumed. He really wasn't looking forward to that.)
"What?! Be real, can you really just appear if I call your name?" He asked, skeptical about if something like that was truly possible. Little did he know how easy it truly was for a Yaksha since he already fulfilled the most basic requirement.
"Of course, we're friends, aren't we?"