The chaos of having my mom and dad meet my party members was short-lived ever since I mentioned that we were going to the famous Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, or just ANHS for short.
It was probably the shock of both me having friends (let alone female ones) and having to attend such a prestigous school that they had almost collapsed. I guess that was my fault.
In their half delirious state, I heard them muttering about 'our NEET son is going to a school like that?!' and 'will we actually get grandkids?'. I beg whoever is reading or watching this to ignore that last bit. Don't think I don't know that you're there!
Apparently the girls have already picked up their two school uniforms, the school issue phones and their student ID cards, together with their dorm number. They picked it up at the branch office of the school. It's also where the entrance exams are held and where the students get fitted for their uniform on the off chance that they pass.
The school had also prepared a service where in we can have some of our stuff delivered and set up in our dorm rooms. So of course, I took advantage of having other people do the work for me. Just because I'm back in Japan doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to start being an upstanding citizen. Hell no!
"Is this the last box Kazuma?" Darkness asked me as she put down the small box filled with the last of the magical items I brought with me.
We were currently preparing the items that we wanted to be transported to our dorm rooms.
This included the clothes that the girls brought with them and the ones they 'bought' here (stolen) and of course our adventuring gear.
We unanimously agreed to put the magical stuff in my room as in their words 'No one's going to visit Kazuma's room anyway.' Just because of that I'm going to have someone, preferrably a girl, visit my room just to spite you Aqua!
"Yep, I think that's the last one." I reply, looking up from the paper containing the list of most of our requested items of transport, minus the magic ones since I had them listed under both Special and Fragile, so hopefully the moving guys don't open them and also don't break them.
"Hah... Why do my strength and stamina stats have to be reset?! I'm actually a goddess in name again! Stupid heavenly council!" Aqua whined as she crashed down on the floor. I mean you still have the stamina as always Aqua, plus it's partially you're fault for running around all morning doing who knows what.
Aqua, who used to have the highest stats in the party, now has the lowest, even lower than mine.
With the only stat that she beats me at being magic. Everything else is mostly on par with mine sans luck and intelligence of course.
At least her magic stat wasn't reset or I would've forced her to teach me some of her healing and holy skills, even if they do take a lot of skill points.
"Well that's a sad sight isn't it Kazuma?" Megumin commented as she too put down the boxes filled with her items.
"Yeah. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost." That was true, having the lowest stats in the party for the longest time, I knew how Aqua felt and was compelled to sympathize for her.
Then I remembered all the trouble she caused, all the debt she piled up, all the stupid things she's done and with that all the sympathy vanished without a trace.
I send my mental prayers to whoever god was watching over us. I do hope it's Eris though even if she is busy with her own world.
"Still, I can't wait to see what the school we're going to is like. We have passed by a few schools early on, but we were always ushered out, with the guards giving us a weird look." Darkness, I think they sent you out because of the clothes you were wearing. Much more if the schools you visited were for elementary students.
"I guess that's weird..." I didn't know how to really react to that revelation.
"So, when are we going to this school again Kazuma?" Megumin asked me. She was petting Chomusuke while sitting on the floor. Wait when did she get here?! Did Megumin hide her somewhere in her luggage? I could've sworn Eris and I checked everyone's luggage the day before we all arrived on Earth...
That girl...!
I don't even know if pets are allowed at ANHS, let alone if there are any ways to BUY food for her while there. That was until remembered that Megumin's beloved pet could eat as much as her little sister can.
Speaking of pets...
"Oi Aqua! Did you leave that chicken of yours with Wiz?" I ask the now recovered goddess.
"His name is Emperor Zel and he's not a chicken! He's a dragon!" Does she really still believe that and not that she was just scammed?
"Yeah whatever just answer the question."
"Of course I didn't leave at the same place as that devil works at, even if Wiz is a nice girl. I left it with Iris-chan at the capital." What did she just say?
"Aqua. Did you just ask the princess of a country to look after you pet chicken?!" Darkness spoke right before I squeezed similar words out of my mouth.
"I keep telling you he's a dragon! Besides, that girl's going to be 14 soon and is Kazuma's fiance, so she has to know how to take care of a small animal if she wants to become a good wife in the future. Plus, she didn't have any problems with it. Though I can't say the same for Claire." I know that she's just trying to save her own skin, but Aqua has a point. I think?
"But still...!" Though Darkness was still unconvinced.
"Enough of that! Let's just continue doing what we came here to do, which is.... Um, Kazuma why are we here again?" Megumin put us back on track, even if she doesn't know what track we were part of.
"Something about stopping the imminent destruction of a couple of universes, and to do so we need to go to a special school and 'move the plot forward'." They became more confused after the explanation that I gave them.
"'Move the plot'? What in Eris' name does that mean?" Questioned our resident crusader.
"I don't know those were Chronos' words not mine. Let's just hope it's nothing too troublesome." I sighed.
Looking back, I wished that I could punch my past self in the face for raising such an obvious flag. But I knew deep down that wouldn't really change anything.
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Finally, it was April 1, the day of the entramce ceremony. I was standing in a bus stop, well, waiting for the bus.
I was alone since Aqua wanted to experience walking to school in the morning. That would've been a problem if they stayed at my family home but fortunately, with what little money they had, they rented an inn I guess.
It was too small to be a hotel and I'm pretty sure it wasn't an apartment complex so I'm calling it an inn. The 'inn' wasn't too far from the island which held the school since it surpisingly had a seaside view. Now I'm sure that the inside was as crappy as the stables when Aqua and I first started out.
Once I tried to leave for school, my parents bade me farewell with tears in their eyes saying how proud of me they were. It made me a bit happy hearing that from them so I gave them a hug before I left.
While I was standing here, I had the sudden urge to talk about equality or something, but ignored it since I felt that someone else was doing the same.
So I just grabbed my phone (which has already 'fused' with all the devices Eris and Chronos gave me) and started watching an 'anime'.
Said anime was actually an alternate timeline that I was viewing in the form of an anime.
The main difference between this timeline and mine was that Aqua wasn't brought down with me, neither did I get a divine gift. From there things just escalated, I still met and formed a party with Darkness and Megumin together with Chris and Yunyun and another girl named Cielo. The kingdom was more corrupt since apparently Iris died when she was young and this more or less was the reason why I went through a lot of trouble, and I mean a loooot.
We still beat the generals, we still got the mansion and I still almost die a lot, but I had a sort of harem there which I congratulate alternate me for. There's also this weird thing that kept trying to take my soul, a group of people who I swear are familiar helping me and my party and Aqua getting sent down anyway as a punishment together with someone else I didn't know. I also wielded a LIGHTSABER god's sake. Overall it was pretty interesting to see the adventures of another me and how they suffer.
(A. N. If any of you want to know the fanfic that I referenced there, the title is Bless this World with a Stranger by RhineWrites on Fanfiction.net. It updates weekly and is really good so you should check it out!)
My musing was cut short by the arrival of the bus. Because of me being distracted I was the last one to board the bus. I thought that there weren't any other empty seats, but I found that there was one next to a brown haired boy with amber colored eyses wearing the same school uniform that I was.
"Um, is this seat taken?" I ask the browm haired boy. He turned to me, his head turned towards me, all the while an apathetic expression was on his face.
"Hmm? Ah, no isn't. You can sit there if you want." He replied. His voice, like his face showing no hint of emotion.
Well, he seems to be a nice guy. Might as well strike a conversation with him. Maybe he'll be my first friend in this new school.
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Unbeknownst to them, this very action would open a path that has only appeared once before. A path that was never supposed to exist.
These two boys having similarly suffered through what they may describe as hell, may be the key to stopping all the insanities that is to come.
But as of this moment, they were just two boys, trying to talk and become friends, right before an infamous commotion rocked the bus that they were travelling on.
.
.
.
.
.
Elsewhere, in another world, a sinister being, someone who Kazuma should have defeated before going to Japan, is unfolding a plan to recover power and once again take over the world that she was born in. She couldn't do it alone, so something took pity on her and gave her some of the necessary components to make her plan come to fruition.
In the same world, albeit in the royal palace of Belzerg, Iris was sitting on the throne where her ancestors had once sat, waiting for a report from one of her subordinates.
"Has there been any clues to her whereabouts Claire?" Iris asked once she heard the sounds of footsteps approaching and subseqeuntly stopping.
"Not yet Your Majesty. We have no trace of her location, no clues whatsoever. It's almost as if she disappeared all together." The woman known as Claire answered. She was once Iris' bodyguard and had sworn absolute loyalty to her, even if said loyalty can be a bit too much for Iris.
"Well we know that can't be true. The Hero's party had a run in with her a few days before their departure." At the mention of the Hero, Claire stiffened.
"Ah... Yes... Hero. Say do you think he's forgiven me and the royal guard yet Iris-sama?" Claire asked, obviously nervous at the Hero's name.
"No I don't think so. Onii-sama said that if you want his forgiveness, then you have to capture her and make sure she doesn't escape." Claire immediately followed, too afraid of the Hero's ire to disobey.
This was how Iris got the palace's support on making her queen. Satou Kazuma has made a name as someone who should not be messed with, especially after defeating the Demon King. His name spread throughout the land, stories and rumors about his adventures escalated to the point where he is both a true hero and an absolute scum.
Chuckling lightly at how her Onii-sama's advice had worked, Iris looked at the ring on her finger once Claire had left the room and smiled contentedly.
In a space between worlds, a figure stood out grinning witb absolute happiness at how this may work.
"All the preparations are complete. Now, what will you do now Satou Kazuma and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, will all this suffering finally be worth it?" The figure declared, tears almost thrreatening to come out.
To those informed enough, the figure, no, woman may be familiar, but right now, right here, no one knows what her true identity may be.