Chapter 1 | Kuro Akira
"Someone collapsed!"
Kuro Akira didn't so much blink when her dark eyes landed on a mop of pink hair. Instead, she let her eyes wander towards where the crowd gathered around a passed out student.
Or rather, a student faking his sickness. Akira thought knowingly before cringing when one rather large student with a blonde mohawk — Nendou Riki, her mind easily supplied — started punching the "unconscious" teen excessively, which he followed with an incorrect procedure of CPR, resulting in him kissing the boy instead of giving him artificial breath.
It was then then a teacher finally stepped up, "What're you doing, Nendou?! Hurry up and take him to the nurse's office!"
His attention caught elsewhere, Nendou broke the kiss, "Ah, that's right. I should bring him to the nurse's office!" The teen said, realizing his mistake.
"Ah, please go with them, Saiki-kun. I'm not sure if Nendou-kun can take care of him alone."
And with that, the assembly continued from where it was left off. The principal didn't seem to be affected by one of his students collapsing during his speech.
It was another twenty minutes before the students were finally sent to their respective classrooms to get acquainted with their classmates.
⊂(･◡･⊂ )∘˚˳°
"My name is Kuro Akira and I like reading books. Please take care of me."
Introductions were of a small matter before class officially started.
"Oh, I see a new face around here." A teacher commented, almost repeating the same routine as the previous teachers before him, "Could you please introduce yourself to me?"
Obeying easily, Akira nodded and stood up from her seat. She then gave the man a polite bow, "My name is Kuro Akira and I like reading books. Please take care of me." She recited her words for the third time that day.
The teacher seemed unsatisfied with her introduction. "Is there nothing else? Do you have any interesting facts to tell, Kuro-kun?"
Other than reincarnating into your world which is an anime from where I came from, I'd say I'm as normal as they can be. Though of course, she couldn't say that. So instead, Akira gave him a bland reply, "Nothing, sir."
The morning classes quickly passed and the short fifteen-minute break came.
As most of the students had been acquainted with each other since the prior grade so they weren't all that interested in making friends with the new kid — especially if they seemed to be a boring goody-two-shoes. Though, that sentence would only be applicable to those who do have friends to spend time with, which lead her to this.
Akira watched passively as a boy with light blue hair and red bandages wrapped around his arm sauntered over her desk. "G–G–" The boy seemed to stumble over his words at her stare, but quickly recovered by clearing his throat, "Good morning, Kuro-san." He greeted with an obviously deepened voice.
Akira's eyebrows lifted slightly at the boy. "Good morning...?" She let her sentence trail, the end lilting up in a silent question.
"Jet-Black Wings, at your service." The student offered her his hand, to which she politely took. His expression seemed to brighten at the fact that she didn't react negatively to his introduction — Though, she didn't particularly react positively either, "But you may call me by my alias, Kaidou Shun."
Before he could continue, Kaidou got distracted by somebody in the class exclaiming about a venomous snake gone loose. The boy stepped closer towards them. "Are you sure it escaped? That's just the sort of ploy that they would come up with." He said ominously, catching the attentions of his classmates, "But I, The Jet-Black Wings, shall not be fooled by their devious deceptions! Someone set that snake free!!"
At his declaration, an unnamed student stood up in alarm, "What are you saying, Kaidou?! Do you know something?"
"You mean some guy named The Jet-Black Wings did this?!" Another exclaimed.
"I'm The Jet-Black Wings!" Kaidou scoffed, "I speak of an evil society named Dark Reunion! They have finally set their Mankind Sorting Plan into motion!"
There was a second where the class looked shocked at the revelations before they realized what he had said and gave a disappointed sigh, leaving Kaidou alone.
Akira merely shook her head at him, the corner of her lips twitching upwards in amusement.
It wasn't even five minutes after the news when a boy slid the door open and stated "Good news! They caught the snake!" Some of the students walked over with relieved smiles. "That's great news! Where did they find it?" A girl asked.
"Right next to the school gate. I heard that it was half-dead when they found it." He answered before going on to explain that some neighbourhood elementary school kids were tormenting the poor reptile.
With their worries alleviated, the students began to make fun of Kaidou, which made Akira scowl when she saw said boy walk out of the classroom tearily, followed by another — to the bathroom, if she remembered correctly.
"Stop laughing."
"Huh?" Someone from the crowd said, catching her friends attentions. They turned towards Akira and it seemed as though their laughters were caught in their throats.
After a few moments, one brave boy — foolish, more like — decided to break the tension. "Wh–Why are you staring at us?" He stuttered, before shrinking into himself when she focused on him, her displeasure prominent on her face.
Akira merely cocked an eyebrow in response, making them feel like they were but a child in front of an adult who's telling them that they should know what they did wrong.
Fortunately for Akira's faith in humanity, they eventually did.
"I–I guess we were a bit too far, guys." The girl, who first heard Akira, admitted awkwardly. She shuffled slightly with a blush tinting her cheeks. "Maybe, we should apologize to him."
"Um, yeah. You're right, Mi-chan." One hesitantly agreed as the others rushed to follow suit.
Moments after, like karma would have it, a snake fell out of one of the boys' gakuran uniform and chaos ensued. Everybody was screaming, some running around while others climbed onto their desks. One student even fainted standing up when the snake bit his balls — more accurately, the crotch part of his pants.
And when Kaidou, the soft-hearted boy that he was, jumped in to protect someone from the snake, Akira stepped in.
As much as I'd like them to marvel at your thunder prowess, it'd only worsen that syndrome of yours, Jet-Black Wings-san.
Sliding a nearby chair into it, the snake crashed against wood instead. Akira took no time in subduing the animal, expertly holding it by its head and body so it couldn't open its mouth nor wrap around her arms. "Someone tell a teacher to call the animal-control." Akira said to the dumbfounded class.
When no one moved, Akira clicked her tongue. "Preferably, now." She snapped.
That certainly got a few students running. She could only hope that they're running to the teachers' lounge as she ordered.
"And Kaidou." Said boy jumped in his place at the utterance of his name, a flush creeping up his neck as he braced himself for what she had to say. "Jet-Black Wings or not, what you did was dangerous and reckless. What do you think your loved ones would say if they heard that you faced the snake head on?"
Akari let it sink in for a moment as the boy started to wilt.
"However," She continued, "I do admire your courage. Not everyone would prioritize others before them. And I'm sure they are really grateful to you." Akari looked pointedly at the teenagers behind him, which coincidentally are the same one who had ridiculed him a few minutes prior. "Right?"
The girl Kaidou tried to shield was the first to speak up. "U–Um, Kaido-kun." She hastily dropped into a bow and shouted, "I'm very sorry for laughing at you!" And without missing a beat, her group of friends bowed along with her, "Sorry for laughing at you, Kaidou!" They apologized loudly, flustering the boy.
With splotches of red spread across his face, Kaidou waved his hands frantically at them, "N–No, no, it's fine! I–It's fine, really!!"
Suddenly, a masculine voice boomed into Class 2–∭, pulling everyone's attentions towards the door. There was a tanned male standing in the doorway, his red jersey indicating his profession as a physical education teacher.
"Hey, why was Nomiya shouting for animal-control—" The man stopped in his tracks as he quickly found the cause of his student's panic.
His gaze switched from the snake to an unfamiliar girl holding it in place, "Ah, you're the new student, aren't you?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sensei. My name is Kuro Akira." Akira bowed politely to the gym teacher.
It was at that moment when the snake started to wiggle harder in her grip, having been incessant in its attempts to escape since she caught it in the first place. Akira tightened her hold on it, careful as to not hurt the animal. "Have the workers arrive?" She grunted.
"Ah, yes, a student is leading them here. Um," The man seemed concerned at the sudden movement. "Should... I take it from you?" He offered, albeit hesitantly.
Akira smiled at his worry, but shook her head. "Thank you, sensei. But I don't think it's a good idea." She said. "If we do, there's a chance that it'd slip out of our grip."
As though on cue, the class took a step back from her, eyeing the snake in fear.
Nothing significant happened after that.
The animal-control worker arrived after a few minutes. The woman both praised and chastised her for holding onto the snake instead of leaving it alone — which was quite similar to what she did to Kaidou if she thought about it.
And the morning class proceeded as normal.
⊂(･◡･⊂ )∘˚˳°
"Let me re-introduce myself. I am Jet-Black Wings, however due to some unforeseen circumstances, I am officially Kaidou Shun."
It was lunch time, and Akari somehow found herself sitting at a table with Kaidou Shun, Saiki Kusuo, and Nendou Riki.
So much for avoiding them. The girl grouched, kicking herself for not being able to refuse Kaidou's starry-eyed invitation.
So here she was, pondering what she's going to cook for dinner as Kaidou went on a small tangent about his 'real identity' Jet-Black Wings and an evil organization called Dark Reunion. She zoned back just in time to hear him say, "—You're not from this world, are you, Kuro-san?"
Akira barely had the time to blink nor answer when Kaidou spoke again, "I mean, it's so obvious! You were able to handle Murder-Dragoram-Snake so easily, and Kuro Akira means brightness in the dark!!" His rising tone betrayed how excited the boy was with his 'finding', "The Phantoms must have sent you to help us with the Dark Reunion!"
How did you jump from that to me coming from another world? Akira wanted to ask but opted not to, feeling that she should just skip that topic altogether. So in effort to move the topic along, Akira asked, "'Us'?"
Kaidou nodded excitedly. "Yes, us!" He exclaimed, gesturing towards himself and another boy, who's sitting across from her. Akira reluctantly glanced at him, her eyes unconsciously focused on a pair of antennas sitting atop of a mop of pink hair.
It was Saiki Kusuo, the protagonist of this world's anime series.
Dear God, I couldn't even make a day in without contact. Akira internally sighed as her initial plan of not interacting with the canon characters for as long as possible crashed and burned in the timespan of a couple hours. Coincidentally, his seat was right in front of hers, which made it even harder for Akira to not look at him.
"That is Saiki Kusuo, my partner in crime." Kaidou introduced, oblivious to her inner turmoil, "And that gorilla is Nendou Riki."
At the sound of his name, Saiki begrudgingly looked up from his food and, out of courtsy, he nodded his head in greeting before going back to his meal. While on the other hand, Nendou grinned from his seat, next to Saiki, and gave her a thumbs up.
"Yah, Nee-chan. That was some moves right there, ya know! You were like– Swoosh! and I was like– Woahhh." Nendou mimed the whole thing in the span seconds, "Oh, I know! You should totally come eat ramen with us after school!"
Akira blinked at the sudden request, "Ah, I don't—"
"We don't mind at all! Ain't that right, Pal?" The jock added as he slapped the pinkette's back rather harshly.
"Stop that." She heard Saiki snap. And woah. Wasn't that just trippy? Hearing his voice despite the fact that she clearly saw that his mouth didn't move an inch was slightly messing with her perception.
Unbothered by the psychic's outburst, Nendou beamed and turned his focus back on Akari, "See? We don't mind!"
"And I also need to fill you in about the Dark Reunion and your original past." Kaidou chimed in from her left.
Akari felt her head tilt at his words, "My... original past?"
Kaidou nodded and leaned onto the table, there was a somewhat solemn yet determined air around him — she didn't know that people could feel like that.
"We have found another member to help fight against the Dark Reunion." Kaidou monologued dramatically, gesturing towards a dumbfounded Akari, "And I, the Jet-Black Wings, despite her current appearance or her lost of memories, could recognize her soul from anywhere. For she is my sworn-sister who came from another mother, Midnight Light!"
Akira felt her brow twitched at the assigned name — a small part of her silently marvelled at how Saiki's blank expression never shift throughout his speech.
Now don't get her wrong, she adored Kaidou Shun's character in the anime — he's so adorable and annoying that he reminds her of her little brother — and she understood where the name came from; Kuro means Black and Akari means Light. Simple, really.
However...
Midnight Light sounds like those nightlights children usually use to sleep.. And honestly, what kind of villain is going to cower against somebody called the Midnight Light?
"Ha? What're ya talking about, Runt?" Nendou asked, confused, "She's ain't your sister." He then stated, which prompted an argument between him and Kaidou.
"I said from another mother, you idiot!"
"Well, if your mom ain't her mom, then why the hell are ya saying she's your sister then?!"
⊂(･◡･⊂ )∘˚˳°
"I appreciate the invitation, but I'm afraid that I'm a bit busy today." Akira thanked a random student before continuing her way to the gates.
It was the fifth time now that a classmate invited her to hang out, though she wasn't surprised. They were probably still thinking about the snake incident that morning which lead to them inviting her on an impulse. The high would dissipate in a few days.
On another note, refusing Nendou's invite to eat ramen hadn't been as difficult as Akari thought. From what she could recall, she remembered the main protagonist griping about his inability to fight against Nendou's insistant request. Akari briefly wondered if he just didn't want to admit that he actually enjoyed their presence.
Reaching her apartment, Akari knocked on the door, alternating between her knuckles and palm.
Knock-Bang-Bang-Knock
There was a small pause before another series of knocking patterns came from the otherside of the door.
Bang-Knock-Bang
Akira wasted no time replying.
Bang-Knock-Bang-Bang — Knock — Knock-Knock-Knock
Finally, the door opened, revealing a beaming seven-year-old girl.
Without a warning, the girl jumped onto Akira, knocking the air out of her as the teen was forced to support her weight, lest they'd both fall.
"Kira, Kira, Akira!!" The little girl cheered, making Akira grin and cheer back, "Ai, Ai, Aoi!!"
Aoi giggled gleefully at her big sister's enthusiastic response, "So, how was school? Did you make lots of friends? Were they mean to you? Ooh, what about the cherry blossom tree? There's a cherry blossom tree, right? There's always a cherry blossom tree in your mangas! Are they as pretty as you draw it? Are they pink?"
Akira smiled at the chattering girl as she lead them into the comforts of their home, patiently answering her questions one by one
"School went well. I think I made some friends and no, no one was mean to me, so you don't have worry about kicking their butts, Ai." Akira teased, tapping the girl's nose, which scrunched upon contact. "But sadly, I didn't see any cherry blossom trees around my building."
"That's okay, Kira-nee." Aoi patted Akira's head comfortingly, "Maybe you just go to the wrong school."
Akira chuckled at the girls antics and put her down onto the sofa.
"Enough about me, where are Asuka and Akito?" The teen asked, looking around the flat as though they'd pop their heads up in any second.
"Oh, they're sleeping right now! Kito-nii said that the soccer club tired him out and Hitomi-obaa told us that Suka played a lot today."
Akira hummed and nodded. "And how was school today? Were you nice to Furuya-sensei in class?" She asked, heading to the kitchen and tying an apron around herself. She proceeded to cook a simple chicken dish for dinner while listening to Aoi talking about her day.
Once everything were cooked and plated, Akira cut through her rambles, "Aoi, help me call your brother and sister, okay? It's time for dinner."
"Okay." Aoi nodded, trotting off towards the bedroom.
Not long after, Aoi came back out with an older boy, who seemed to be in middle school, and a toddler in his arms.
"Oh, welcome back, nee-chan." The boy, Akito, said once he saw her, while the toddler, Asuka, seemed to have rid her drowsiness in record speed and was now shouting, "Nee-chan, nee-chan!"
Akira grinned and took Asuka from Akito's hold, but not before ruffling the boy's hair.
"Alright, don't leave any leftovers, alright?" She glanced at the clock on the wall, "I have about half an hour left before my part-time job. so I'll just eat on the way."
"Aw, you're not eating with us?" Aoi pouted.
"Again?" Akito added drily, "You know that you don't need to work so much if you just used Aku-jiji's credit card like he told you to." He pointed out.
"Yes, you've told me this numerous times now." Akira sent him a tired look, "But like I always told you—"
"You don't trust him." Akito sighed, as though he'd gone through this conversation too many time.
"Exactly." Akira pointed a finger at the boy, "Did you forget what mom said? She told us to trust nobody from the family but ourselves. We are on our own now, Akito, never forget that."
Akira ruffled each of their heads before walking out the door and heading off into the direction of the cafe she's part-timing at.
⊂(･◡･⊂ )∘˚˳°
Coming back from work at nearly half-past eleven in the evening, Akira quickly went through her night routine.
She checked up on her siblings in both of their rooms — Akito had his own room, while Aoi and Asuka wanted to share another — to see if they were still awake. She'd tuck them in, if the quilt managed to get kicked off.
Then she showered, did some of the homework, before finally, climbing into her own bed.
Normally, Akira would've fallen asleep right then and there due to exhaustion. But today, she kept staring at the clock by her bedside.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
It was only when the short arm of the clock went past twelve did the slightest bit of tenseness left in Akira's back relax. She did a full 360° around her room and still... No pink-haired psychics in sight.
Relieved, Akira let out a breath and relaxed fully into the bed.
It is either he couldn't read my mind — for reasons I chalk up to being and abnormally in this world, or he knows that I wouldn't jeopardize his identity and just didn't want to bother anymore.
Snorting lightly at her thoughts, Akira finally felt herself falling into slumber.
⊂(･◡･⊂ )∘˚˳°
Aoi: "So, what kind of friends did you make, nee-chan?"
Akira: "Well, they're really... interesting to say the least."
Aoi: "Ooh! Really? What are they like?"
Akira: *Laughing nervously* 'I don't suppose they'd mind, would they?'
Akira: "There's a guy with blond mohawk, a scar over his left eye, and an awesome butt chin."
Aoi: *Uneasy* "He sounds a bit scary."
Akira: "It's fine, Ai-chan. I promise you that he's a big softie inside. He even asked me if I wanted to come eat ramen with him and his friends after school."
Aoi: "What about your other friends?"
Akira: "Ah, there's another boy who's... a great story teller."
Aoi: "Stories?! Do you think you can tell me some of his stories?"
Akira: "Um, maybe not right now. Cause, you know, it's his story and I don't want to share it without his permission."
Aoi: *Nodding understandingly* "Ah, okay."
Akira: "Then the last one is... a guy with pink hair."
Aoi: "..."
Akira: "..."
Aoi: *Blinking in confusion* "Just that?"
Akira: *Shrugging* "Yeah, well. He's the silent one in his group. So his friends are usually the ones to talk about... things."
Aoi: "He sounds so boring."
Saiki Kusuo: S01 E01
J Out!