Kiri la Kill - Chapter 20

First week of my 3rd year of college… you can’t believe just how much they’ve messed with my lesson schedule. Nothing that’s going to be messing with how I write, but damn if it isn’t exhausting.

Current schedule for Kiri la Kill Updates will be Wednesday + the Weekends, give or take any stuff coming up that might disrupt this schedule. Thank you guys for your patience, and I hope you enjoy this little slice of life chapter!

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A crisis of identity.

To someone like Kiri, who’d worn his confidence like a second skin up until this point, it all felt rather absurd… Doubly so, considering his situation. Here he was, mired in situations that concerned the fate of the world, and he was thinking about what kind of person he was.

But of course, Satsuki herself had made it clear that this little crisis of identity directly correlated with his effectiveness in said saving of the world, and considering how she always seemed to know what she was talking about when it came to him… Kiri knew for a fact that this wasn’t something he could just ignore.

No matter how much he might want to.

That solving it was much easier said than done was another matter entirely! Considering that… whatever Kiri had been before all of this, it certainly wasn’t an accomplished therapist who knew the matters of the human heart!

As much as he hated to even consider it, he was going to do what he was best at, and just forge on regardless of how badly he might do. He would either discover what he was good at in the heat of battle, or… he would fall and prove himself to be nothing but talk.

Right now, he had himself a new home he needed to get himself settled in at.

The easiest place to start would be his new home.

A cozy suburban home fitted with all of the conveniences he could ask for. A well-stocked kitchen that provided him with a wonderful breakfast that he was able to cook with little effort, somehow managing to lift his mood despite the state Kiri was in.

A packed living room that provided all of the entertainment a normal teenager could have asked for. And while the point of that was lost on someone like Kiri, the fact that the garage of the house that he was in was filled to the brim with exercise equipment was definitely not!

And finally, a bedroom that provided Kiri with the most physically comfortable sleep he could remember having since all of this had started. Alongside a hot soak in a bath that was enough to make the boy forget all of the worries that had been haunting him since last night.

A rather decadent experience, undoubtedly.

Outside proved little different in terms of comfort, as he was only a ten minute walk away from a commercial district that was more than happy to accommodate him as well… groceries, snacks, entertainment, and more… right beneath his fingertips, with the card that had been given to him by that Inumuta making it so that he could enjoy whatever he wanted at Honnouji’s expense.

When he’d returned to the cul-de-sac that his new home was located in, he really was feeling somewhat better despite himself… even if it made him feel the encroaching thoughts about just what kind of person he was all the more dearly.

That was fine however, because he was just about to gain a new distraction.

“I see you’re an early riser.” A very familiar voice spoke, immediately making Kiri turn around to see none other than the same person responsible for making him realize his burgeoning identity crisis.

He certainly wasn’t expecting to run into Kiryuin Satsuki again, especially this early in the morning… and especially not in gym shorts and a tight fitting shirt that was so different than her usual uniform.

“What are you doing here?” He blurted out, somewhat rudely… though that could probably be excused given just how shocked he was.

Satsuki’s only ‘excusing’ was done by raising a finely shaped brow. “This is where I live.” She said, pointing at the house right next to Kiri’s. Said Hard Boy blinked, realizing in a whole different light, that the house she was pointing at looked no different than his. “But if you are being specific, I was going out for a jog.”

“Huh.” Kiri murmured, taking the news that she was out jogging in stride… it made sense for her to train her body after all, but. “I wasn’t expecting us to be neighbors, especially…”

“With such humble abodes?” She completed for him, letting out a ‘hmph’ when he nodded immediately. “These houses provide us with more than enough, as you probably saw yourself… to take more would only be wasteful.” She looked to the other houses beside yours. “My Elite Four happen to agree with me.”

“You put me in with your Elite Four?” Kiri asked, feeling some amusement over it, as he was finally given an idea about just what sort of neighbors he would be having in this place.

“In terms of the power hierarchy, it is what makes sense.” She nodded, as if it was completely normal to put a veritable unknown that she herself acknowledged as stronger than all of her people, with clear access to them. “And putting you in with the newly elevated riff-raff would only be an inconvenience, especially if you were recognized.”

“That does make sense.” Or at least, that last part did. “Anything else I should know about?”

“You will be required to attend classes.” She said immediately, making Kiri blink rapidly in shock. “Considering your age… I will not have you shirking your lessons, amnesiac or not.” For a moment, Kiri was speechless.

First he was required to defend the school, and now he was required to attend it?

“But… I don’t even know the curriculum.” Kiri pointed out, somewhat helplessly.

For the first time since they’d met, Satsuki gave Kiri a little smile… it was a small twitch that carried way too much smugness for how brief and miniscule it was, but Kiri knew by sheer instinct that it was there!

“Then you better put in some extra work.” She said, voice just dripping with arrogance! “I will not tolerate tardiness in your grades either way, just like I don’t expect it from my Elites.” She made her Elites go through lessons too?!

…

“Fine, I guess.” Kiri grumbled, at least it would give him something to do.

“Don’t be so downtrodden.” The girl ordered as she saw the state he was in, making Kiri . “I do not do this out of a desire to torture you. The highest scorers earn rewards proportional to their level of success.” A pause. “And considering that you will be dropped into this battlefield without much knowledge at all, the ones you earn will certainly dwarf all others.”

“Rewards?” Kiri asked, wondering just what she meant. “What kind?”

His only response was receiving another one of those small smiles, this time however… Kiri felt a certain kind of ominous tingle spread across his body.

“Earn them, and find out.” And with that, she began jogging away.

“And meet your neighbors!” She called without looking back. “I will not tolerate friction among my strongest!”

…Once more, Kiri wondered what kind of person he’d been.

To be manipulated so easily by strong willed women… this sensation felt all too familiar.