Kitsune Boogaloo Re-Write: Chapter 4

So. I completed my level up. 

Not much has really changed. I got 'awakened heritage' which basically just gave my dexterity a plus two bonus... which is actually really impressive. Like a forty percent increase in overall speed. 

I also made a modification to my arm and... 

That's about it, really. 

I replaced a small feature that'd give me an extra feat in exchange for an arm modifying trait... 

No big deal, really. 

It's something that'll likely remain unused until I need to kill something. 

I tap my chin, a bored frown on my face as I gaze out the window. 

Should I go outside? 

I kind of want to go outside. 

I've never been in Japan before. It'd be interesting to sightsee... maybe try some new foods, that sort of thing. 

Then again. This body waaaas almost murdered by the principal clans. 

Fuck that. I'm staying inside. 

I scratch my chin as I turn away.  

I wonder what Serafall is doing right now? 

I rise from my bed, stretching my arms above my head. 

A yawn leaves my lips as I step out of the room. My tail swishes back and forth briefly, nearly touching the wood floor before I turn and begin to make my way in the vague direction of the kitchen. 

I did make one mild edit to myself during said level-up. 

Instead of upgrading my rank in intimidate again... I maaay have put a point into 'Profession Chef'. 

I figured 'hey, what better way to get into the hearts of girls than through their stomachs'.  

Girls love a guy who can cook or whatever. 

Even with a single point in the skill... let me just say wow... 

It has unlocked a near prodigious level of talent for cooking in me. 

I've not really been one for cooking in my past life to be completely honest. I always thought 'why spend all this effort in making something that'll taste worse than something you could buy for like five dollars max?' Soooo I kind of ate fast food a lot. 

But now? 

I can do that 'ratatatatata' knife thing on the cutting board with onions! 

Maybe some of that is thanks to the fact I don't have to worry about chopping off my metal fingers now... 

Oh. 

Another thing about my hand. 

I have no feeling in it. 

That's the one downside. 

I have to be really careful with it. 

Hold nothing glass in that hand. Ever. 

On the other hand, I could now theoretically crush red hot coals in it which is kind of badass. 

I enter the large and vibrant kitchen, a low hum leaving my lips as I look around the room. 

Empty. Ah well. 

Noooow. 

What do I want to eat- 

BOOM 

The cabinets rattle, the lights flickering before dying out, casting me into a near complete darkness. 

A quest has been received: 

Clan Combat: 
The Kushiashi clan have failed to take your life. Now, they try yet again, unleashing a powerful youkai with broken emotions to draw the attention of your devil guardians in an attempt to have the youkai factions blame them for your death. 

Objectives: 
Survive the strike force within the manor: [ ] 

'SHIT! Shit shit shit.' 

I rush forwards as the ground rumbles again, grabbing a large kitchen knife, I look around briefly before my eyes widen and I turn towards the large walk-in freezer. 

I turn it off before smashing the control panel, making sure if my gambit fails I won't freeze to death in the time It'll take for me to punch my way out, then I open it and step inside, closing it after me but leaving it cracked open. 

I slide several large boxes out into the middle of the room, leaving a space behind it that's large enough to hide behind. 

I make my purchase for the item I would have been gotten from that book quest. 

A singular gun magazine appears in my robotic hand. 

I sit the knife aside, trading the bullets to my other hand. My arm spits down the middle, showing numerous mechanical parts. 

I slide the magazine into a port, before sealing my arm back up. I've loaded a hidden gun similar to a P90. 

Twenty-five shots. 

One magical bullet made of adamantine. a Plus one Human-bane bullet. The last one in the clip. 

If they're going to use youkai killing weapons on me... I may as well use human killing ones. 

I hop upwards, grabbing onto the little metal lip just above the door. My body thankfully follows my commands even as I am forced to more or less balance on one hand, the tips of my toes pressing against a nearby shelf to keep me balanced... more or less hanging there in the open air above the doorway. 

My breath is slightly misty as my eyes narrow slightly. 

Then... 

I just wait, ears straining in the silence as I continue to glare downwards, keeping my knife in a non-threatening position. 

It doesn't take that long before I hear footsteps. Three sets. 

"Where is it? I heard a sound over here." 

My breathing slows. 

I can hear rustling, one of them is gesturing... 

I wish I had Senjutsu right now... then I may have been able to see through this damned wall. 

The footsteps rush forwards. 

CLANG 

The door is kicked open as I flinch back slightly. 

I watch as a single slip of paper rushes past me, strikes the far wall and detonates. 

I swing down as I begin to lose my grip, knife lashing out. 

"WH-" the closest man under me shouts as my knife rips into him, physically lifting him from the ground with my upwards swing, a swipe of wind carving deep into his chest as blood sputters past his lips. 

DISMAL. 

A deep voice echoes out around us as the blue suit the man wears is slightly tinted purple as he is knocked back into his first ally. The wound I inflicted on him is absolutely grievous, starting from the center of his chest up towards his neck, splattering blood all over the person he was thrown into. 

My knife slips from my fingertips as it shoots off with a small twirl, flying through the air more like an arrow than a thrown knife as it goes for the third. 

He has a katana in his hands, one which he barely manages to raise up and deflect my hurled kitchen knife with the side, a cascade of sparks spraying out as the knife is deflected up past his head, ruffling his hair and sinking into the wall behind him. 

CRRK-FFFFT 

He looks genuinely shocked as he staggers backwards, a hole punched in his throat, my prosthetic's hand had split just enough to allow a bullet to fire from the hidden gun within. 

The gun is suppressed, firing subsonic rounds, the only noise that echoes out from within the limb is a large mechanical crunch and hiss as a single bullet casing is ejected from the side. 

Acting on sheer instinct I continue forwards, towards the man I had shot as he begins to fall backwards. 

His weapon is snagged from the air with my prosthetic hand- I punch him in the chest as I slightly over-extend causing him to fly back as if he were kicked by a horse as I turn, glaring at the last man currently within the room. 

CRAZY. 

I feel... stronger...  

Moving with grace I didn't know I had as the clansman shrugs off his wounded- possibly dead- companion to the side I lunge forwards, blade arcing out in a large swipe that is caught with his own sword. 

He staggers backwards from the force of my blow, causing me to smirk viciously. 

The kitchen knife rack is struck by my tail, dragging it towards the edge of the counter as it falls. 

My hand lashes out, snagging one of the blades as they begin to fall to the floor and slash it upwards. 

CLANG 

CLANG-PING 

He narrowly manages to block the knife and my next swing with the sword but every blow I hit him with sends him reeling for a moment. 

My ear swivels as I let go of the sword, it turns in the air slightly as the wrist of my prosthetic twists unnaturally, catching the blade in a reverse grip. 

I spin once, blade lashing out,  slashing against the stomach of the man I was fighting and cutting the throat of the first wounded exorcist as he crawled and struggled to try and stab me in the back. 

BADASS. 

A strange form of energy fills my body as my eyes widen, a deep and primal instinct within myself seems to have seen something within my turn. 

I duck to the side abruptly. 

SHH-THUNK 

An arrow crashes through a nearby window, thudding into the wall behind me, passing through where my head was mere seconds ago. 

It sinks into the wood, seemingly going a few inches before stopping. 

'shit.' 

I dart backwards as the man I had been fighting tries to cut me with his sword, hurling the kitchen knife forwards. My earlier attack- it didn't kill him. 

Hell, not by a long shot. Their suits... they seem to be quite durable. 

He is bleeding profusely, a large gash in his stomach, but that attack should have honestly cut half-way through him. 

Thankfully, my knife sinks into his chest, causing him to flop backwards with a gurgle. 

I turn, no time to really pay attention to the man and rush for a nearby exit. 

An arrow smashes into the door in front of me with such force that it is flung open, crashing into the woman stood on the other side that staggers back with a cry of pain. 

With a swing of my stolen weapon I cut through her and into the man standing just behind her, learning from my mistakes my blade arcs through her neck, the man behind her just barely managing to raise his blade to block. 

"NO!" 

I abruptly flip forwards, my foe's eyes widening slightly as I gracefully fly up and over him just as an arrow flies through where I was and thuds into the man's chest, almost passing completely through him as he gurgles. 

I land with a roll, eyes narrowing as I flip back to my feet. 

Understanding begins to fill my body. 

I rise to my full height, looking at end of the hallway revealing three more exorcists of the five principal clans. 

Actually... they're all more or less wearing blue. 

Could they all be from the same clan? 

An unwilling smirk forms on my lips as I raise my offhand and curl my finger. "Come on. You've got more than this, right?" 

Apocalyptic! 

More energy feels my body. 

In fact... I feel even faster... and is that... music? What? 

I abruptly jerk to the side, narrowly avoiding an arrow as one of the people in front of me bring their arms back like they're about to throw something. 

The katana I stole flips through the air as my hand opens. 

CRRK-FFFFT-CRRK 

A burst of bullets shoot out, the men on the sides darting in opposite directions to avoid the spray of bullets, that pepper the woman between them. 

She is thrown back against the door, her eyes hazy. 

BOOM 

The glowing piece of paper in her hands detonate as the men rush forwards managing to just stay ahead of the wave of roaring flames. 

I catch the katana as the first man reaches me. 

SAVAGE!  

I easily duck his slash, my blade arcing out at him and cutting a deep gash in the side of his stomach. 

I grit my teeth, just barely deflecting the slash of the second man's straight blade with the forearm of my prosthetic. Luckily it skips off the durable magical metal, the only apparent damage being that the paint was scratched. 

I twist, stabbing him through the chest, slipping in between two of his ribs and piercing his lung. 

Blood bubbles from his lips as my blade exits his back and pins him to the wall. 

I reach down and grab the sheath to his weapon, taking it in one hand as I catch the blade falling from his fingertips and sheath it. 

The end of the hallway is currently on fire. So. There's really only one way left to go I suppose. 

[Split] 

Pov: elsewhere  

"Do you smell that, dear Aika?" A girl with shoulder length brown hair smiles brightly, she wears the Kuoh academy student uniform and red glasses, around her shoulders is a cape with a raised collar, the outside a deep black color while the inside is a brilliant red with numerous light red symbols on it. 

A second glasses wearing girl with brown hair lets out a quiet sigh as she sits on the edge of the building. Her brown hair is tied into two braids that go down each side of her head to about her shoulders. "Smell what? Fire? Brimstone? Magic so utterly powerful that we could be erased with a stray attack?" 

"No!" The first girl exclaims with a grin. "Profit!" 

"…" 

"All of those buildings destroyed in battle! An empty city! The devils teleported every mundane human someplace safe! They'll surely be reading the minds of the people who lived in the destroyed sections and proceed to recreate absolutely everything they ever owned in accordance with their memories! Just think! All that free stuff just sitting there! Prime for the taking! The devils will be replacing it anyways! Why shouldn't we take some stuff and get a little pocket cash?" 

"You want to go out in that?" The second girl questions as she points forwards. A sudden glacier sprouts up in the center of the city and shatters into large hunks of ice that fall beyond the two girls' line of sight. 

"Hn. That's a fair point, yet counter argument. The fight is moving oh sister of mine... or we could just simply get pretty close and-" 

A beam shoots out and smashes into a building in the distance. 

"oooor we could go there!" The girl hums. 

Aika lets out a long annoyed sigh. "Whatever Sumireko." 

[Split] 

Oh? What's this? 

A blonde woman cocks her head to the side as she gazes through numerous small rifts in reality. 

"This is quite the mess." 

Her eyes narrow slightly as she quickly peers through the halls of the large manor on the hill. 

Good. 

She isn't late. 

The person she was looking for abruptly crashes through a broken window, arms crossed over his chest as he briefly rolls through the grass before snapping one of his arms up, a blue and black metallic sheen covering the limb. 

The spectator's eyes widen fractionally as she sees numerous bullets cross the field, the youkai has surprisingly good accuracy. 

Of the five men out in the garden of the manor, one is struck in the eye, he is dead before he can even flop back into the hedge behind him and the second hits another man in the forehead. 

The kitsune blurs forwards at speeds that a typical youkai of his strength should have never been able to reach. 

He's nearing medium class... yet he should have at the very least had a second tail if that were the case. Perhaps even three. 

The Jian in his offhand explodes from the sheath. A loud 'clang' echoing out as an arrow is cleaved in half. 

Sick Skills!! 

Pardon? 

Is that music? 

With even greater speed he ducks to the side, slashing at one of the three remaining men. 

He will find some issue with that, as the woman notes that these three aren't the chaff that he dealt with earlier. Each of them go far beyond human limits, not merely toeing the line like the others were, relying more on their weapons to exorcise evil spirits and youkai. 

His attack is deflected by the bo-staff wielding man with some difficulty. 

said bo-saff wielder lets out a shrill scream of pain as the fox... promptly kicks him in between the legs. 

The hand wielding the sheath smacks into his jaw with a bone-rattling crunch. 

He is forced to abruptly jump, abandoning what would likely have been a killing blow and leaping off the chest of the clansman, flipping over the swipe of the second, dual punching daggers in his hands. 

The fox lands with a crouch just behind the man, blade re-sheathed. 

Oh? this is bad... she might have to step in. 

The fox’s eyes suddenly widen as he abruptly raises his prosthetic hand. 

THUNK 

An arrow slams into his arm, sparks flying from the appendage as the kitsune grits his teeth, wincing as he braces the arm against the arrow. 

Never mind. 

It has sunk almost completely through the metal. 

"You bitch!" The youkai snaps as the appendage spasms briefly, it seems to lowly hiss. "Do you have any idea how long it'll take to fix that?!" 

His eyes narrow as he uses his arm, arrow still puncturing it, to unsheathe the blade. 

The person in front of him had turned around and had tried to punch him. 

The exorcist's arm is severed at the elbow. "Longer than your life expectancy." 

"AAAAAGHHHHH!" The man screams falling to a knee, clutching the limb as it spurts blood. 

"Sucks... doesn't it?" The youkai grins. "And to think, you animals did the exact same thing to a boy who hasn't even graduated high school yet." 

He steps forwards, eye never leaving the archer. 

"YOU FILTHY MONSTER! DIE!" The staff wielder snarls. 

"Oh? A monster?" The air seems to shift, a vile smirk forming on the youkai's lips. "You want a monster?" 

"Trigger." He whispers as the archer lets loose another arrow. 

SMOKIN' SEXY STYLE!! 

The blonde woman begins to raise a hand to create a gap only to pause. 

Creeeeak 

He caught the arrow with his prosthetic hand, the sword that was previously in it now tossed aside, towards the staff wielder, forcing him to abandon his attack. 

A cloak of energy seems to surround the boy, his eye a blood red, sclera and all, his teeth are sharpened into points, similar to a shark. 

The most eye-catching thing would be the fox-headed spectral creature looming just behind him, nine tails wildly lash behind it. 

It reaches down to the man who is cradling his bleeding arm, grabs him by the head and throws him at the archer. 

The archer darts to the side, avoiding the rag dolled man. 

With a sudden burst of speed the kitsune lunges forwards. 

The spectral cloak swipes a clawed hand out as the exorcist tries to nock another arrow, the attack doesn't reach the clansman but it does snap his bow like a twig. 

Nagure slips into his personal space. "You lost this." 

And... stabs the arrow into the man's eye. 

As he falls back, screaming and clutching at his face, the ominous spectre fades. 

The prosthetic twitches again, gears whirring and clunking as they seemingly fail to gain purchase. 

"Why did you make me do this?!" The kitsune snarls, kicking the archer over as he punches the side of his metal arm, causing the metal creak and for it to finally slide open. 

He swings his arm back. 

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG 

Whatever quietened the gun within the arm seems to have been broken by the arrow. 

The bo-staff wielder is riddled with bullets; his enchanted clothing stops the vast majority of the attack, but it's as if he was wearing a bulletproof vest. The body underneath still took quite a lot of damage. That's not to mention that some of his body was unguarded. 

He falls to his knees, ofuda in his hands beginning to glow dimly. He had been planning one final suicide attack. 

BOOM 

The kitsune's clothes, hair, ears, and tail are ruffled briefly by the shockwave as he sweeps his gaze across the surroundings. 

"I just wanted to be left alone! I don't- I don't want to deal with people! I just wanted to read! I just wanted to watch Tv! I want nothing to do with ANY of you! What did I ever do to you?!" 

The other group which had been waiting at the front door finally come around the side. 

With well placed shots, two each, he slays each of them. 

The fox's breath hitches slightly, his gaze hardening. 

"Twenty four..." He whispers. 

His gaze eventually strays back to the man who had begun to crawl backwards, ears swiveling. 

He seems to be searching for any more principal clan members... but he won't find any. 

He points down towards the leader of this little killing group. 

"And twenty five is special... Just. For. You." 

BANG 

Sparks spray out of the hole around the arrow as his prosthetic jerks back, a metal plate on the forearm pops off and clatters to the ground. 

A bullet streaks through the air at much higher speed than any of his other bullets. 

It strikes the man in the chest, he jerks slightly his enchanted clothing nor the metal plates underneath offer any form of protection from that bullet. It just cuts through. 

He lets out a gurgle, clutching at his chest as he writhes. 

'Hold on...' The woman blinks.  'Was that-' 

It looked an awful lot like a... human slaying bullet. 

Ironic. 

The fox boy breathes heavily, clothes covered in splatters of blood, arm fizzing with every small jostle and movement of the fingers.  

The music cuts out abruptly, that strange energy around the youkai quickly fading. The boy returning to being about as strong as she would expect from someone as inexperienced as him. 

So... 

It was some sort of ability... 

That... is a bit strange. 

But in this world, sometimes people gain unusual abilities. 

The spectator continues to quietly muse as the fox drops to his hands and knees and proceeds to throw up into the grass. 

This one seems to be some sort of adrenaline boost that pushed him far beyond what he would ordinarily be capable of. 

Why it plays music? She is unsure. 

But there's clearly levels to it. 

He grew stronger over time. 

But that power he showed at the end there... 

That was... familiar... 

She just can't put her finger on it. 

She watches the youkai who has caused quite the buzz within three of the factions of youkai stagger to his feet, he gazes over the garden, a haunted look on his face. 

He pauses, eyes snapping over to the prone archer. 

He carefully walks over and reaches out, briefly hesitating before grabbing the sack hanging off the man's hip. 

Within it is a mask of some sort. 

A Menreiki's mask? 

Well. 

That explains the fight happening on the other side of town. 

The principal clan seem to have captured this youkai in the past and sealed it... they then brought it into the middle of Kuoh town and released it as a distraction. 

How irritatingly bold of them. Weaponizing arguably the strongest Menreiki to date. 

This is just another thing Okina is going to love raking these imbeciles over the coals for. 

She looks down at the kitsune, he looks between the fight in the distance, then to the mask, then back to the fight. 

'oh? Did he figure it out? Yasaka did mention that he was quite the smart cookie, building that arm of his all by himself. 

He reaches up to touch the large paper seal on the front of the mask. 

A bad idea. A youkai touching that is no doubt to be extremely painful... 

... 

The seal is peeled off without so much as a yipe as... technically speaking... the boy's prosthetic isn't a youkai... 

Huh... 

That's why he was able to wield the exorcists' weapons against them. 

The mask seems to shudder then abruptly fly from the fox's hand. 

With a pulse of magic a girl is formed. 

She has long pink hair and her face is completely flat and emotionless, the mask that was unsealed rests just in front of her head. she wears a blue plaid shirt and a large hoop skirt that looks like a pumpkin,with slits carved in it to look like faces. 

It must be considerably powerful to form such a complex body with just a singular mask. That makes sense considering the magic the devil overseer of this town is throwing around to combat it. But realistically it should be nothing more than an emotional miasma right now. 

It tilts its head which is... strange... 

"Did you... release me?" 

It can SPEAK?! 

That- 

That changes a lot. 

Menreiki are known to be unintelligent youkai. 

Sure they are quite good at faking it... when they have all their masks... but by nature menreiki are more or less an emotional hivemind. Each mask holds a specific emotion. Anger. Sadness. Happiness. Envy.  

It shouldn't be able to speak with just one mask. it should merely be able to project emotion. speaking, even extremely basic words, isn't something it should be able to do without at least a few dozen masks 

If this Menreiki can speak... 

That means... 

The Principal clans have had a hand in crippling a second youkai with incredible potential. As most of this girl's power is likely gone now that her other masks have begun getting destroyed by that devil. 

In fact, the battle is almost over. 

"I did..." The kitsune confirms the pink-haired girl's earlier question, his eyes dart briefly. "Since I freed you from your prison... become my minion!" 

He points to the girl, prosthetic sparking slightly. 

"Okay." The pink haired girl replies in an even deadpan tone.