"Alright, I'll take the body to the house. You stay and move the debris into a pile until I get back with the wheel barrel, alright?" Shin said as he began to walk away, the giant wooden bird thrown over his shoulder.
Terumitsu sighed, looking at the now
destroyed building. "Yeah, I guess that's fair. Just hurry back, I'm not likin' all these stares." He glanced at the townsfolk who were beginning to fill the streets once more now that the fight was over. Some stared back in distain while others quickly looked away in fear.
"Just don't look at 'em and you won't
know they're staring." Shin said as he noticed their gazes as well, but he just ignored them, not necessarily bothered by it. "Later, Teru."
Terumitsu watched as Shindaku walked
away, inwardly praying he make a quick return. He diverted his attention to the
rubble and began picking up the larger pieces and moving them into a pile. As he was cleaning, he noticed some left-over purple smoke, miasma. Without thinking too much about it, he held his hand forward, and the miasma began moving in his direction. The purple gas began sinking into his palm before disappearing completely, meaning that Teru had successfully absorbed the miasma.
"See, I told you he was one of
those monsters." an older woman said to her friend as they walked by, her expression filled with disgust.
"Yeah, none of the corps members are
able to do that. It has to be because he was born that way." her friend responded, her expression mirroring the other's. "Hell, I don't doubt that his parents were monsters, too."
Terumitsu gritted his teeth, not out of
anger, but as a way to suppress his growing anxiety. He wasn't like Shin, who couldn't care less about others' opinions. Teru couldn't stop thinking about it, the thoughts ate at him daily.
"Y-you're wrong… I'm n-not a…" his
voice trembled, his nails digging into his palms from how tightly he squeezed his fists. He looked back at the two women, his anxiety sky rocketing. Teru's irises began shaking violently, his breath quivering.
From the townsfolk's point of view, it
looked as if though he was about to beat the shit out of them. Their eyes widened in fear, and they quickly ran away. One of the two older women tripped over her own feet. Stumbling to get up, she looked back at Teru, her whole body shaking in fear.
Watching her fall, Terumitsu's anxiety
subsided a bit, his hands no longer clenched. "A-are you okay?" He slowly approached her, planning on offering her his hand to help her up. "Do you n-need help get-"
"No!" she screamed at the top of her
lungs, cutting him off. "Get away from me, you monster!" Tears began to fall down her cheeks. It was clear that she was genuinely terrified out of her mind.
Teru backed away, not understanding how this situation got so out of hand. I didn't do anything… I didn't do anything… I didn't do anything… His mind was repeating this over and over, unable to form any other thoughts.
"Get away from her!" an old man shouted
as he ran at Teru, his fist cocked back. His fist connected, but it barely moved Teru's face at all, it was like punching a wall. The man gritted his teeth, realizing the immense difference in strength but not willing to back
down.
Terumitsu's mind was reeling so much
that he hadn't heard the man approaching, and he almost didn't notice he had been punched either. When he did notice, he slowly looked at the old man, sending shivers down his spine. "Why…?" Teru said softly, his voice still quivering. "Why did you hit me…?"
The man took a few steps back, fear in
his eyes as he watched as Teru's begun to spiral. He opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. He shielded the woman's body from him as he clenched his jaw shut.
"Teru!" a familiar voice shouted from a
short distance away. "What the hell is going on!?"
Carrying the wooden bird down the street, Shin had gotten numerous judgmental stares. The adults that hold prejudice against
the duo had taught their kids to fear them, convincing the younger generations that they were no different than the demons who plague this world. Whenever Shin and Teru would show their faces in public, the children would hide behind their parent's legs while the latter would scowl in distain. Such was the
burden the two had to bear for being born with the powers they have.
Noticing the glares he received from
the townsfolk, Shin really didn't think much of it at all. To him, they were no more than judgmental pricks who still came running to them for safety whenever there'd be a breach in the town barrier. To sum it up, he couldn't care less about their feelings, so the stares meant less than the dirt he was currently
walking on.
Nearing their home, Shin let out a
pretty disappointed sigh, noticing that Old Man Takahara had gotten a bit…
distracted. The old man was window shopping at a small bakers market while
casually talking to the owner. His shoulders tensed as he felt someone tap on
his back.
"What the hell are you doing, old man?"
Shin said, his voice eerily calm and welcoming despite the amiable irritation
in his softly glowing eyes. Takahara slightly tilted his head and let out a sheepish laugh.
"Oh, I was just… trying to figure out
what we should have for dinner." he said, scratching the back of his head. Takahara was known to be easily distracted when not in life threatening situations, so much so that Shin had expected something like this to happen.
"It's my turn to pick dinner tonight. You
just came here to sneak in a snack before Teru has the chance to stop you, huh?" the younger man said as he set the giant bird on the ground.
Takahara sighed, looking at the snacks
he had set his eyes on before Shin showed up. "Well… you know how he gets when
he cooks! He never lets us eat anything before dinner, no matter how small it
is."
"Yeah, but…" he started, but then
looked back at the bird, and then to the old man again. "You know what? I'll keep quiet if you take care of this bird for me. We still need to finish cleaning up."
Sighing with great exaggeration,
Takahara looked at the snacks, looked at the bird, and then looked at the snacks again. "Ugh, fine, but you really better keep your mouth shut. I've already been nagged at twice this week."
"Glad to hear it." Shin said as he
turned to leave, planning on going back to Teru to help out. Before he left, he looked at the old man over his shoulder and said, "Oh, and you owe me one of those snacks, too."
The old man just nodded and turned back to the shopkeeper, awkwardly smiling as he pretends the encounter never happened. "Add another one of those, please."
Now on his way back, Shin began to
wonder what he should choose for dinner so Teru could prepare in advance. But
that was when he noticed a few people moving a bit faster than they usually
would. At closer inspection, they also had expression of worry and panic, which
was not a good sign. His first thought was that there could have been another
breach, but two in one day? The odds of that were low, the barrier was too strong to let just any miasma ridden creature through. They also weren't in a very dangerous environment, so it was hard to believe there was another one with such strength. Unless… the one who made the puppet from before was still nearby!
Having this thought worried Shin, so he
decided to figure out the real reason as soon as possible. He picked up the pace, sprinting as he moved through the fleeing crowd. As he came closer and closer to the commotion, he could hear an older man yelling in the distance.
"Get away from her!" the man yelled, his
voice commanding yet still had a hint of fear.
Shin couldn't see what was going on,
but he could hear it clearly, Terumitsu was being made out to be a monster. Pushing
past a few older passerby's, his eyes widen, glowing brightly as he felt his body heat rise in anger. The man had punched Teru, and even though it seemed to have done nothing, Shin was not going to let this slide.
"Teru!" he shouted, his voice laced
with malice. "What the hell is going on!?" He continued to approach the young man, the crowd moving out of his way, not wanting to get caught up in whatever was about to happen. Terumitsu looked over at him, his heartbeat slowing down as his mind began to calm down from Shin's presence.
"That monster was trying to-"
the old man shielding the woman started, but he stopped as he saw Shin glaring at him with those piercing, glowing eyes.
"I wasn't talking to you. Shut your
fuckin' mouth." He said, his words meant to be taken as an obvious threat. "I'll get to you later." Shin then turned toward Teru, softening his expression and voice as he gently placed his hand on the latter's shoulder. "What
happened?"
"I-I don't even know…" Teru began, his voice slightly shaky from the speed his words
were coming out. "I was just cleaning a-and that woman, she c-called me a monster. Sh-she started freaking out. I tried to calm her down b-but then she started crying a-and everyone started yelling and-"
"Alright, alright, calm down." Shin
said, cutting off his brother in a calming voice. "Are you sure you were just cleaning? You didn't do anything else?"
Teru paused for a moment, thinking back
to the start of this unwanted predicament he has gotten himself into. His eyes slightly widened as he realized that there was, in fact, something else he had done that probably would have caused the woman to freak out. He absorbed the lingering miasma without
thinking about it. He looked down nervously, his hand coming up to hook around
the back of his neck.
"I… I collected some miasma." He said
quietly, his eyes slowly meeting the other's.
Shin looked at him for a small moment
before sighing and letting go of his brother's shoulder. "Yeah, that'll scare someone. Only Sanoki are capable of that." He let put a small laugh, trying to lighten the mood before quickly adding, "Other than us, of course."
The reason the two were seen as the
same as the demons, Sanoki, was actually quite easy to understand. Miasma is a
purple, toxic gas that originated from overgrown plants, or at least that's
when it was first discovered. Carnivores had a random yet drastic increase in their successful hunts, causing herbivores to nearly go extinct. The less herbivores there are to eat plants, the more time plants had to grow.
About 50 years after the near
extinction of herbivores, humans began to become deathly ill rapidly. Town after town, city after city, they all began to crumble due to this illness. It was only after Shuu Tatsuya, a very well-known and successful scientist of his time, had started doing a deep dive into this matter that the reason had been
discovered. He requested to have a body of someone who died to the illness in order dissect and study the body. It was as he cut open the lungs that a purple, toxic gas started seeping out and quickly filled the room.
He quickly ran out, but it was already
too late. Weeks after studying the gas, he became bed-ridden, the illness taking its effect. Within those weeks, He found out that the miasma was untraceable unless it was in direct contact with oxygen. Meanwhile, one of his assistants had been reached out to by a hiker couple. They too were infected by the miasma, but they came to him with very valuable information. They reported a massive birch tree with roots so big that they basically devoured any plants within a 100-meter radius, but of course, that wasn't all. The bark of the tree looked to be split
all over, allowing a pungent, purple gas to seep out and dissipate into the
air.
This was the information Shuu needed in
order to progress in his search for a cure, but he also needed to study the source of the miasma as well. His colleagues wouldn't allow it since he was already so close to death, and they didn't want to lose his brilliant mind any sooner than they had to. His son, Shigeo Tatsuya, picked up where he left off and began studying the tree. After years of research, all they managed to develop
were useless concoctions that did nothing to help with the spread of miasma. It
wasn't till a few generations later that Bri Tatsuya created a medicine that
slowed down the effects of the miasma.
Over the years before Bri Tatsuya's
findings, the miasma began effecting animals as well, making them mindless beings with the urge to inflict pain on whatever or whoever they came across. But as this happened, a strange phenomenon regarding humans began to occur as well. Some people began developing a natural resistance to the miasma, which has been unexplainable to this day. Although it was extremely rare, it was something that was considered to be a blessing of the Gods. Those with
resistance would gain the properties or capabilities of the animal or plant
that infected them with miasma, making them practically become super humans.
Some years after this discovery, those
with resistance started using it to their advantage. They began going on
expeditions to cut down anything that had been infected. With time, they became
known as the Retaliation Corp. The group became popular, and people treated
them like saviors. After several years of the Retaliation Corp's activity, they
stumbled upon another insanely massive tree, a cherry blossom tree.
This tree was nearly twice the birch
tree's, making it look small in comparison. The smell it was emitting was so foul that the group decided to fall back until they returned with gas masks. Before they could come back to the cherry blossom tree, an unknown figure had already made their way to it. The figure looked to be a man with long black
hair, with a very frail looking body. He was wearing nothing but shredded pants
that looked identical to the Retaliation Corp's uniforms.
He began climbing the tree at a very
impressive pace, his body strong and agile, in contrast to their weak-looking
body.
"Hey, get down from there! It's not
safe!" a man from the Retaliation Corp shouted as his group had finally made
their return. He was this squad's expedition leader, which was symbolized by a
dark red cloth tied around his large bicep.
The frail man ignored his words until
he had reached the center of the goliath tree. He pulled his arm back, his hand
making a fist as he slammed it into the bark. Miasma began rapidly oozing out,
creating a purple gas cloud that shielded him from the squad's vision.
"What does that idiot think he's doing!?
He's going to get himself killed!" the leader said as he ran forward, his mind set on trying to save the man.
"Hikigaya, sir, look out!" one of his
squad members yelled as they pointed up at the tree, where the frail man could be seen falling with a woman in his arms.
Hikigaya moved out of the way
reflexively, bringing his arms up to his face to protect it as debris shout out from the two figures landing. Rocks embedded themselves into his forearms, stomach and legs. He fell to his knees in pain, growing lightheaded from the amount of blood loss.
"Sir!" the squad shouted as they
quickly ran to his side to make sure he was okay, fortunate enough to have been
at a distance the flying debris couldn't reach. They looked up, their eyes widening as they saw the frail man and woman lying on the ground, their bodies mangled.
"D-don't… worry about me." Hikigaya
said in between pained breaths. "I'll be f-fine, go ch-check on those two."
A few of them stayed by his side, while
others hesitantly left him to check on the two frail figures. As they approached them, one of the men leaned down to check their pulses.
"They're… dead." he said softly, having
expected this outcome.
No one could survive such a fall, no
matter how strong they were. It was illogical to think otherwise, so he wasn't the only one who expected them to be dead. He leaned down to pick up the man, another picking up the woman. Just before they turned to bring the bodies with them, the frail man began to move again. His eyes shot open, his arm reaching up to the sky, or so it seemed at first glance. Once his arm had fully stretched out, he opened his hand wide.
Shocked by the sudden and very
unexpected movement, the man carrying the supposed to be dead one had almost
dropped him before regaining his composure.
"Holy shit… you're alive! But how..?" he
said, his voice slightly wavering. Looking down at the frail man's face, he began to speak again. "Don't worry, we'll do what we can to make sure it stays… that… way…" Those last few words came out slowly as his eyes widened in shock yet again, unable to believe what he was seeing.
The large miasma cloud that came out of
the tree began to descend, swirling into a tornado. The end of it became thin
as it landed on the frail man's palm and seemingly entered his body. His mangled
limbs and broken bones were reforming, completely healing themselves as new
muscle started to build up. The man was frail no more; his body covered in muscles
that looked like they belonged to a bodybuilder.
The man pushed away the one who was
carrying him and approached the supposedly dead woman. He took the leftover
miasma and placed it on her stomach, her limbs reforming as she was brought
back to life. The changes to her body weren't as drastic since she was given as much miasma as the man, but it was enough to make her look perfectly healthy. He took her into his arms, knocking back the squad member who had been carrying
her.
The squad was too sunned to reacted as
they watched the unbelievable sight before them. They practically watched two
dead people bring themselves back to life, stronger than before. By the time they were able to regain even an ounce of their composure, their heads fell to the ground, cleanly separated from their bodies. This was the birth of the very first Sanoki.