Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Chapter 78: Getting This Over With
Hours later*
I let out a long sigh as I slipped on the black trench coat, the Fool's Uniqueness settling over my shoulders.
With that, I now possess 2 of the 3 Uniquenesses needed to ascend Above the Sequence and become the Lord of Mysteries. The only one I still lack is the Door's Uniqueness, and that is a serious problem. As things stand, I am slowly drifting toward the worst possible path to reach the Above the Sequence: Lord of Mysteries.
Ideally, I first need to reach Sequence 0 in at least one of the Pathways within the Lord of Mysteries group. Only then can I truly take control of Sefirah Castle and begin fusing with it properly before accommodating the other Uniquenesses. Otherwise, if I leave the fusion with Sefirah Castle for last, it would be the worst possible choice, or at least that is how the series seems to frame it.
"Why the sudden sigh? Also, nice trench coat." Momoyo said as she slipped on her skirt, finishing the last bits of getting dressed.
"I just need to gather a few materials later so I can perform the rituals needed to keep suppressing my curses." I said with a long, weary sigh. "By the way, what exactly did your grandfather ask us to help Xanxus with? And why did he look so pissed when we got back from dinner with the others?"
"Well, while you were dozing off, grandfather was furious when he found out where Xanxus had disappeared to for so long. And honestly, I'm still a little shocked you managed to find him, break him free, and get him out of there without anyone noticing until it was already too late." Momoyo stared at me for a moment, then a slow smirk spread across her face. "Actually, no, I'm not that shocked. That kind of absurd luck is exactly what let you find Xanxus in the first place. And with you being a Seer, I'm betting you already knew Xanxus is part of the Kawakami Family. That's probably why you went out of your way to bring him to me, so I could take him to grandfather myself."
"Xanxus is your cousin?" I asked, staring at Momoyo in clear disbelief.
Then, through the Recall ability of Sequence 8: Archaeologist, one of the results from my earlier Computational Divination about Xanxus briefly surfaced in my mind. I remembered that he had been honorably adopted into the Kawakami Family, intended to act as an older-brother figure for Momoyo and protect her until the day she found a suitable man to become her future husband.
"No. Back then, I was still young and had only just finished my basic training. Xanxus, on the other hand, was already 16 and a rising star in the Vongolo Family over in Italy. Grandfather saw a great deal of potential in him and wanted to groom him as my future husband. But I did not like him nearly that much, and at the time, I had no interest in romance at all. That led to a fierce argument between grandfather and me, until we finally settled on a compromise. Xanxus would serve as my protector, and in return, he would be secretly taught some of the Kawakami Family's advanced techniques under the guise of being my adopted older brother."
Momoyo paused for a moment before continuing, her expression growing more serious as the faint trace of amusement faded from her face.
"However, 8 years ago, the Vongolo Family announced that he had been cast out. The moment that happened, grandfather demanded to know exactly where Xanxus had gone. Things escalated so badly after that, it nearly sparked a war between the two families." Momoyo clicked her tongue at the end.
"Hmm. That would make Xanxus 24 years old now." I muttered, glancing up at the ceiling as I blinked a few times, quietly fitting the timeline together in my head.
"Yup. I was 10 at the time, and I only turned 18 about half a year ago. By the way, Chikao, how old are you, anyway?" Momoyo asked, looking at me with open curiosity as she tilted her head slightly, clearly waiting for a straightforward answer.
"20." I answered. "I'll be turning 21 in a few months."
At the same time, my thoughts drifted to Sakamoto, who was also twenty. If I had the timeline right, then the main story of Sakamoto Days would not begin for another seven years. That would place this around the year Sakamoto retired because of Aoi, and either the same year Hana was born or possibly the year after, at least going by how old everyone is when the story finally begins.
"Wow, so we're only about 2 or 3 years apart." Momoyo looked at me with wide eyes, clearly more surprised by that than she had expected to be. Then she narrowed her eyes and gave me a more careful look from head to toe. "Wait, then why do you look older than that?" A second later, she let out a loud gasp, as though a terrible possibility had suddenly hit her. "Don't tell me one of your curses made you age faster?!"
"Could be?" I replied with a half-hearted shrug. "At this point, I've already lost track of how many problems I'm dealing with."
Even as I said it, I tried not to let any of it show on my face. The situation was already bad enough, and up to this point, everything had only continued to get worse with each step forward.
"I swear, you really need to let other people help you. I know I could barely do much for you myself beyond throwing money at the problem so you could buy all those materials for your rituals." Momoyo walked over to me and wrapped herself around my left arm, staring deeply into my eyes with a mix of worry and frustration.
"I am, though, aren't I? After all, after those few days of being gone, I came back to you and the others." I leaned in and kissed Momoyo, making her close her eyes for a few quiet seconds before she slowly opened them again, looking a little dazed. "Anyway, back to the earlier topic. What exactly are we supposed to help Xanxus with?"
"We're going to Namimori, where Xanxus and his little group will be fighting for ownership of the Vongola Rings." Momoyo answered. "By the way, Xanxus said he'll owe you a favor if you represent him in one of the fights."
"Doesn't he already owe me a favor for breaking him free and then bringing him to you?" I asked as I used my free hand to ease her arms from around mine, only to twirl her around a moment later and wrap my arms around her from behind, drawing her back against me as a smile spread across her face.
"He does, and he's willing to owe you another. Don't worry, I'll make sure he pays both of them back eventually, whether he likes it or not." Momoyo grinned at me, confidence and mischief flashing in her eyes. "So, are you ready to leave?"
"Yeah, to Namimori Middle School, correct?" I pause for a second. "Why a middle school, of all places?"
"No idea, but grandfather has already decided Xanxus is going to get all the help he can while he deals with the Vongolo Family himself. Also, it's Namimori High School, not the middle school one." Momoyo said with a shrug. "So, are you planning to take me to Namimori High School yourself, or are we taking the car? Just so you know, it'll probably be a few hours of driving, so it'll most likely be past midnight by the time we get there."
I thought it over for a few seconds, then used Traveler's Door to teleport us straight to the rooftop of Namimori High School, bypassing the long drive entirely.
"Well, that answers that question." Momoyo rolled her eyes at me before glancing around the rooftop, quickly noticing the group of people staring at us in open surprise. "Oh, looks like we made it just in time. Nice to see you, Xanxus." She gave a small wave with her right hand beneath my arms while I was still holding her from behind.
I briefly glanced up at the night sky to trigger Astrological Divination. Once I got what I needed, the Fool's Uniqueness amplified it, making any Divination I performed far more powerful, even outside Sefirah Castle. Because of that, I knew exactly what I had to do. I released Momoyo, then used Theft on Xanxus to snatch the possibility of becoming his future Cloud Guardian for myself once again. Right after that, I used Traveler's Door to vanish and reappear somewhere else within the school grounds, leaving Momoyo behind to explain things to Xanxus and the rest of his group.
I let out a long, heavy sigh and cracked my neck before using Traveler's Door to reappear beside Momoyo. As soon as I arrived, I pulled out a revolver loaded with Demon Hunting Bullets and pressed the barrel against the back of the head of a tall, broad man with spiky black hair and lightning-shaped sideburns.
"Don't even think about it." I said to Levi A Than, better known as Levi, the assassin serving under the Varia and Xanxus's Lightning Guardian.
"Told you my boyfriend would show up the moment you tried anything against me." Momoyo said proudly, making several people around us look at me with open dread. "Though, to be fair, I can deal with you myself instead of making Chikao fight for me." She drove her right fist into her left palm and grinned at Levi, looking more than ready to back those words up.
"Enough." Xanxus scowled, looking ready to shoot someone at any second with the two handguns already in his hands. "Momoyo said you agreed, correct?" He fixed me with a hard stare, then tossed something my way the moment he saw me nod.
Catching it with my free hand, I still didn't lower my revolver as I glanced down to check what it was. It was half of the Vongola Ring of Cloud. The moment I recognized it, I had to suppress the urge to throw it away. My Spirituality was already warning me that the instant I put that half-ring on my finger, something would go terribly wrong.
So, I simply pocketed the ring and finally moved the revolver away from Levi's head. The moment I did, the guy let out a quiet sigh of relief and covered his mouth with both hands, clearly not wanting to say anything reckless after seeing the look in my eyes and realizing just how close I had been to shooting him dead.
"Is this a fight to the death, or does it end once one side has taken enough damage to surrender?" I asked, looking over at the two tanned women with long pink-lavender hair and domino masks covering their eyes, both of whom could easily be mistaken for twins.
"Greetings, Seer-sama. We are the Cervello organization, and we serve directly under the Ninth Vongola Boss, Timoteo." One of them said first, the woman in the black jacket layered over her dress, stepping forward as she spoke. "There are 5 rules. First, outside interference during a battle is forbidden. Second, both fighters must possess their authentic Half Vongola Rings during the battle. Third, if one fighter arrives late, the other is granted an automatic victory. Fourth, if the Sky Vongola Ring rejects a candidate for the position of Vongola Boss, that person's candidacy is immediately revoked. Fifth, the battle does not end until one fighter claims the other's Half Vongola Ring."
"You could've just told me the fifth rule. There was no need to explain the rest yet, when not everyone is even here." I said flatly, ignoring the quiet conversations breaking out around me now that everyone had realized I was no longer about to blow someone's head off. "So, when are we starting?" I asked, turning my gaze toward Xanxus.
"Right about now, Chikao." Momoyo pointed over the edge of the rooftop before Xanxus could even get a word out.