Rikuo was running past trees whose leaves blocked the moonlight and across wet ground caused by earlier rain. Where was he running to? He did not know, but he understood that if he stopped running even for a second, he would be dead.
He could feel the predatory gaze on his back, like hands reaching out to grab him, drag him down, and devour him.
But just as he could see the light of civilization, the wet ground caused him to slip and stumble.
Luck did not seem to be on his side, as the thing he was running from finally caught up: a grotesque creature with the face of a bull and the body of a spider hovered over him.
He could see the razor-sharp teeth in this creature's mouth as it opened and brought them down.
Rikuo's field of vision was simply filled with this creature's mouth as it sharply closed in an instant over his head.
CRUNCH
Ring Ring Ring Ring
Waking up, Rikuo was drenched in cold sweat caused by the nightmare he had. The sunlight shining through the window hit his face. Rikuo begrudgingly got out of bed, turned off his alarm, and went to the bathroom to wash his face.
"What a weird dream… it's been a while since I had a nightmare, but this one felt so real. I really feared for my life."
After finishing washing his face, he went back to his room and got ready to face the day.
"Nevertheless, I still have school to go to. I only have to do this for another six or seven years."
After changing into his school uniform and getting ready for the day, he left his room and headed toward the entrance.
Waiting near the door was Toma.
"Alright, Toma, I'm heading out. Look after the house while I am out."
"Meow."
Rikuo slipped on his shoes and stepped outside.
"Later."
The door slid shut behind him.
For a few moments, Toma continued staring at the closed entrance.
To ordinary eyes, there was nothing unusual. But to Toma, the boy who had just left was covered in a black miasma. Each step, or anything he touched, left a mark of miasma on it.
Thin wisps drifted from his clothes and shoulders before vanishing into the morning air.
The cat remained still for a few minutes before finally turning away.
Toma, now the only one in the house, walked away from the entrance and headed in the direction of Rikuo's room.
Reaching it, Toma saw the door was locked. But even so, a dark miasma, invisible to the normal eye, could be seen leaking from underneath the door.
Since the door was locked, Toma went around the house to Rikuo's window, yet still had the same issue of it being locked.
Now looking through the room, Toma could barely see anything, not because of the curtains, but because of the miasma that filled the room and the dark slime-like substance clinging to the walls and dripping down.
Toma hissed at the sight. Seeing as it could not enter, it decided to give up and went back to the living room.
"Kana, good morning."
Waiting outside the Ienaga residence, Rikuo greeted Kana as she stepped out through the front gate.
"Morning, Rikuo."
"You know, you can just wait for me inside. You don't have to always stand out here every morning."
"It's not much of a problem. Besides, I like waiting outside."
"Hm."
Shrugging, they began walking toward school together. The streets were already busy with students heading to school and adults commuting to work.
Passing a convenience store, Rikuo stopped.
"Give me a second."
Walking inside, he grabbed three sandwiches and an orange juice box for breakfast.
*******************************
A disheveled old man stepped out of an alleyway. He had messy green hair, brown eyes, and dark bags under them from a severe lack of sleep. He wore a long brown coat that hung loosely from his shoulders.
'The boss sent everyone to search for it. But if I can find it before the others and bring it back, I might finally enter his inner circle.'
The man ran a hand through his hair.
'But that's assuming I can find it. At this rate, I'll never—'
His thoughts stopped as something at the corner of his sight caught his attention.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
At the end of the street, two children were walking toward the school district. But only one caught his attention.
The boy who had just left the convenience store with three sandwiches was covered in black miasma.
The man's eyes widened.
"Lady Luck really smiled on me today."
Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Without taking his eyes off the brown-haired boy, he dialed a number.
The call connected.
"Lord Muchi, I think I found someone who might know where the scroll is."
************************
Feeling a chill crawl down his spine, Rikuo instinctively turned around, and what he saw made him break out in a cold sweat.
Standing farther down the street was a suspicious-looking man in a weird coat you would usually see a flasher wear. The man was staring directly at him and smiling.
A very wide smile.
Rikuo immediately felt alarm bells ringing inside his head. Even worse, the creep had his phone pointed in his direction.
'What the hell? Why is he looking at me like that? Wait… is he trying to take pictures of me?'
Rikuo's eyes widened.
'I knew Japan had a lot of weirdos, but who would've thought I'd run into a pervert this early in the morning… and a shotacon at that.'
Without hesitation, Rikuo shifted his school bag behind him to cover his backside and kept facing forward so his face wouldn't be seen.
"Are you really going to eat that this early in the morning?"
Kana's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah. I didn't make breakfast today, so this will have to do."
Still watching the suspicious man from the corner of his eye, Rikuo pulled out a sandwich and began eating.
"If you keep eating like that, you'll never get enough nutrition to grow."
Kana smirked.
"And if you don't grow, I'll always be taller than you."
'I'll have you know this is the average breakfast of a college student.'
Taking another bite, Rikuo swallowed before washing it down with the orange juice he bought.
"Don't worry about my height. I'll be taller than you in a year or two."
"Oh?"
"It's just because girls develop earlier than boys."
With a smirk, Kana looked down at him.
"Okay, shorty."
"Yeah, daikon legs."
"What did you call me?"
"You heard me. Now let's hurry up and get to school before the bell rings."
'And also so I can get the hell away from that pervert.'
As the two continued teasing each other, they kept walking to school. By the time they arrived, the suspicious man could no longer be seen, and Rikuo was now safe. Reaching their lockers, they switched their outdoor shoes for indoor ones and parted ways to go to their own class.
Kana and Rikuo were in the same class, Class 1-A.
Even though he rarely studied, being a former college student gave him a massive advantage over his classmates. His grades consistently placed him at the top of Class 1-A and among the highest-ranked first-year students. As Kana's friend, Rikuo also helped her with her studies, allowing them to stay in the same class.
Sliding open the classroom door, Rikuo and Kana walked toward their seats as their classmates greeted them. Kana sat in the second-to-last row by the window, while Rikuo sat directly behind her.
The first period today was English. That meant he didn't need to pay much attention; as a former English speaker, he already understood everything being taught.
Dropping into his chair, his thoughts drifted back to what had happened earlier.
'What was with that pervert anyway?'
'I thought only cute VTuber fans were shotacons… not old, greasy-haired men. I need to be careful outside now—he might be a stalker too.'
A shiver ran down his spine at the thought. As he began planning precautions for such situations, the teacher, noticing Rikuo had been distracted for the past 30 minutes, called on him.
"Rikuo Nura, it seems you already know how to pronounce this sentence. Otherwise, you wouldn't be distracted. Why don't you read what's on the board?"
The teacher pointed at the board, where a single English sentence was written.
Unfazed, Rikuo turned his head, stood up, and read it out loud.
"Okay, sensei. She sells seashells by the seashore, selling shells to Shelly Sure."
Without stuttering, he spoke fluently, as if he were a native speaker—which he was. The teacher was left slightly stunned at his fluency. Even she struggled with that sentence.
Cough, cough.
"Very well spoken. But next time, please say it more slowly so the words can roll off the tongue. You may sit."
'I can't even say that without stumbling… no wonder he's top of the grade.'
Rikuo sat back down and returned to looking out the window.As time passed, English class ended, followed by history, then math. Finally, it was lunchtime.
Ding dong.
"Everyone stand"
"Bow"
After paying respect to the teeacher Rikuo and Kana left the class room and headed toward Class 1-B where the rest of their group where. When they opened the door, they saw Kiyotsugu, Jirō, and Saori gathered together. Natsumi however was still absent.
Entering, Rikuo sat next to Kiyotsugu while Kana sat in front of him beside Saori.
"Rikuo, you're finally here. Good, we can continue the investigation. Did you bring the scroll?"
"Yeah, it should still be in my bag."
Rikuo searched through his bag but couldn't find it. Thinking back to last night, when he threw his bag onto his chair, he remembered hearing something fall.
'It probably dropped out.'
"My bad, I left it at home. I'll bring it tomorrow, I promise."
"Oh, don't worry about it. I also found something more interesting—a rumor about the school mysteries. It's-"
'This kid never stays interested in one thing for long…'
Rikuo placed his bag on the back of his chair and casually grabbed some food from Kana's lunchbox using her chopsticks. For the past month, this had become their routine, going to Class 1-B, eating, and talking about whatever strange topic interested Kiyotsugu next while Rikuo stole their food to save up on a PC.
At first, when Rikuo woke up in this new world, he thought he had simply reincarnated into the late 1980s. The calendar said so, and the technology around him looked outdated.
But he was wrong.
Many things were different. Famous companies, franchises, even shows he remembered all had altered names.
Apple was now Pear. Microsoft was now Minismooth.
What truly convinced him, however, were the anime knockoffs. Dragon Ball had become Drag So-Ball, and Son Goku was now Gon Soku. At that point, Rikuo realized he was living in a strange knockoff world based on Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan.
Still, with his future knowledge, he decided something:
Even if this world had no supernatural elements, he could still live an adventurous life. And to do that, he needed money.
Even though Japan's economic bubble had already burst and the country was in the "Lost Decade," he knew a recovery would eventually come.
With prices at their lowest, this was the perfect time to buy, buy, buy and buy and to do so he needed a PC to track markets, invest early in soon to be famous companies, dust off his coding skills, and wait for the inevitable creation of the knockoff Bitcoin. After that, he would achieve his lifelong goal: financial freedom.
Even though his grandfather wasn't short on money—having sold his assets before the crash thanks to his connections, Rikuo didn't want to rely on him. What if the recession dragged on for longer than expected? What if Japan never recovered?
He couldn't risk it.
So his plan remained simple: invest early, buy low, sell high, and secure independence. So when the conversation shifted from rumors to dream jobs, Kana asked him his goal.
'Who even has a dream job? Who dreams of work? All I want to do is surf the waves of Hawaii, drink margaritas, and relax on a yacht with maids waiting on my beck and call. I can't have confirmed mistresses or a wife though i know damn well they are gonna try take half my money.'
'Have a kid with me then get divorced just to take half of my HARD EARNED money that i had work for through blood, sweat and tears to get. That why if my plans work out and I ever decided to get married am getting a prenup'
Coming out of his thought he answered Kana's question
"Hmm… my dream job? A software engineer. I already like computers, and I'm planning to build my own PC, so it suits me. What about you?"
"I haven't decided yet, but I want to be just like my mom."
"You've got a long way to go, then."
Kana pouted and slapped away the chopsticks Rikuo was using to steal a sausage from her lunch. She then ate it herself.
"What does that mean?"
Chuckling, Rikuo quickly used his chopsticks to steal the last sausage from Kiyotsugu's bento.
"HEY!"
"Looks like lunchtime is almost over. I'm heading back to class."
He grabbed his bag and ran out, escaping Kiyotsugu's anger. At the door, he stopped and turned back.
"Oh right, Kana, I'm going to the hospital again today, so I won't be able to walk home with you."
"That's okay. Saori and I were planning to go to a café anyway."
Nodding, Rikuo left and returned to his classroom.
'Even though am an adult… I still like messing with those kids.'
***********************
Time kept on marching by and the final bell rang, signaling the end of school.
Waving goodbye, Rikuo separated from the others and headed to the hospital, unaware that someone was watching him from the roof of a distant building.
Entering the hospital he wrote his name on the register and headed towards his gramps room
Just as he approached, he heard voices from inside.
"Mr. Nura, what if someone finds out?"
"Don't worry. It'll be our little secret. Now, show me that smile again while you—"
Hearing the whispering, Rikuo felt a wave of irritation. Not because his grandfather was flirting with the nurse—but because he wasn't the one doing it.
'Why does my shotacon appearance only work on weird old men while you get to have all the fun with the older ladies'
Irritated Rikuo knocked on the door loudly and waited a minute before going in
'Since am not getting any action we should both stay celibacy'
Inside the room was his gramps still laying on the bed and the same nurse from yesterday who ran out blushing, but this time her uniform was a bit more a disheveled and she still had a pink tint on her cheeks
"Well then, Mr. Nura, everything seems to have healed well. Your condition is good. I'll be taking my leave. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day."
Just like the day before, the nurse hurried past Rikuo, still flustered.
"Heh… you too, Nurse Joy."
Waving at her while the nurse left gramps gaze landed on Rikuo who was still at the door with a grimace on his face
"Brat! why of all times did you have to come now?"
"Don't you think it's a bit shameful, making advances on women younger than you while still wearing your wedding ring?"
*Tch.*
"I'm an honest man. Why would I hide the fact that I was married? Besides, they still flirt with me."
'I hope Grandma beats your ass when she sees you in the afterlife.'
*Sigh.*
"Let's just go home. It's getting dark, and I've got homework to do."
"Alright, alright. Let me change out of these hospital clothes."
Walking back out of the room Rikuo stayed next to the door watching the staff go by while gramps changed his clothes. It did not take long until gramps stepped out with a black Hawaii pineapple shirt with cargo shorts
"Ready"
They signed out and left the hospital, walking home under a sky painted yellow by the setting sun.
"So, did you get the nurse's number?"
ah .......... no lets turn back"
"No, no—you missed your chance this is just fate at work. Lets keep walking."
*Sigh.*
The two walked into their community passing neighbors who greeted them and stop to talk to a few while unaware of a man lurking in the shadow behind them with his eye's focused on Rikuo who still had the miasma over him.
[A/N: if you guys see any error please tell me so i can fix it
So yeah am trying to build up on the mc personality and one trait of his is a money grubber and someone who thinks if i am gonna jump of a bridge you will too but at the same time still logical in his action. In most ff where the mc transmigrate or reincarnated they don't act their age or show no sign of emotional development they seem to be stuck at the age they had before their transmigration as such i want to change that with my mc he will be burdern with the responsibility of an adult as he should since he is one. So he has to act both his age one of a 12-13 year old and the other of a 32-33 year old
Anyway see ya]
Home (reach home and go inside not knowing someone is at the gate)