X_
Kai
'I have created a monster,' I thought with glee as I watched Konan shadow fight.
Her form, posture, footwork, and body kept changing—disappearing from one place and appearing in another.
I felt dizzy after a while, as my eyes kept darting from one place to another. My neck was starting to hurt as well.
Still, it was a good thing I thought of telling her to do this. It would help keep her sharp and integrate her knowledge into muscle memory with enough practice.
I took another bite of my apple as I thought about what to do today.
I needed to start part two of my plan now if I wanted to make any progress this week.
"Konan," I called out, making her stop mid-roundabout kick and skid a little as she bled off the momentum.
"Yes?" She appeared in front of me like a phantom. Her eyes bright, smiling broadly.
I felt something fluffy settle in my chest as I saw how happy she was.
How healthy she actually looked. Her skin fair and rosy. The whites of her eyes clear. And she had some meat under her skin as opposed to yesterday.
"I need to try something to gain power, and I need your help with it. Would you please help me?" I asked, smiling softly as I saw her eyes brighten when I mentioned helping me.
"Yes!" she replied excitedly, before she schooled her expression and tried to be serious. "I mean… sure."
It was cute.
"Okay then." I nodded and summoned my case. "Choose one."
She immediately reached out for the next pill, and I noticed immediately that the case was missing one pill.
'Ah,' I felt like a light bulb lit in my brain as I understood that the limit was ten pills per person.
I immediately went and engineered the power I wanted her to have.
Pill effect: Temporarily grant the pill taker a genie-like ability to grant wishes, no matter how impossible said wish may be.
Limitations: Only three wishes may be granted.
Duration: Until the wishes are granted.
The world dissolved into its usual liveliness as soon as I set the power, the grey bleeding out as if it was a figment of my imagination.
The pill was purple this time too. So I deduced that the pills would always have the same color for every use. Well, that was my theory until proven wrong anyway.
Konan didn't even blink before she took the pill. She blinked once as she adjusted in my lap, then again as she looked up at me.
A shudder ran through her body, and I felt it too as she turned around to face me.
"What do you wish?" she asked, her voice emotionless.
I did not put any side effects or anything, but this might be something to do with the power itself.
'I wish for unlimited potential. Something like the power granted by the Essence of Blank. It gives the power to master skills and disciplines even if it's impossible to normally be able to do them, as well as stop me from forgetting what I learn. And the ability to evolve whatever power or ability I have, increasing its potential and allowing me to develop new applications beyond their original scope.'
Konan stared at me for a moment before she snapped her fingers and said, "Granted."
I felt like something inside of me snapped open. Like a lid I didn't know I had was lifted? I don't know how to describe the absolutely soul-deep relief I felt.
It was like I could now be whatever I wanted to be. Period.
I didn't get lost in those feelings, though. I had more things to wish for.
'I wish for an ability called the Devil's Deal: it makes me able to make deals, contracts, and trade anything in existence, while being able to enforce whatever clauses are agreed upon. Granted, giving me a small leeway to adjust the deals.'
"Granted."
And just as she said, I felt something slot into my very being. Like a puzzle piece that just found its place and slid right in.
The instincts and intuitive feeling that came with said wish being granted were best left to ponder over later.
'I wish for the ability to make private, adjustable portals to anywhere I want to go, even to different worlds. Make this power mine and mine alone, and only I can decide who goes through the portal and who can't. It can't be hijacked, traced, or copied.'
"Granted," Konan said, and then slumped into my chest.
I held her close as I felt my mind go blank.
I felt like space around me suddenly became a moldable thing, like clay. I could just think of where to go and it would happen.
I felt like I could adjust the portal I made to go anywhere and have whatever limitations and settings I wished for.
I could not describe the amount of relief I felt at the moment.
I finally felt like I had dodged the sword or the damocles that was hanging over my head.
I could now just go somewhere else. I could leave. Go back. Maybe even go to a different world to train, do my thing.
"Kai…" Konan called. Her voice barely above a whisper.
"Yes?" I looked down and saw her clutching my dirty, half-torn shirt tightly.
"Are you going to leave me now too?"
"Of course not," I replied instantly. "Where would I ever go without my bodyguard?" I joked, trying to get her mind off things.
She had been saying she would protect me all morning.
"Promise?"
"Promise!" I said. "You know what? Why don't we make this our first deal?" I continued, and she finally lifted her head to look at me.
Her eyes seemed to be a second away from shedding tears.
"Let's make this a deal. You are going to be my first companion and bodyguard forever—or until you yourself ask to leave my service. Do we have a deal?" I extended my right palm toward her, smiling wildly as I thought about using my power for the first time.
Her eyes lit up like Christmas lights. She instantly took my handshake and said, "Deal."
I patted her head as she suddenly lost all sadness and became happy again.
Kids really switch from one emotion to another like they're candy.
Still, I couldn't help but marvel at the new extra sense I now had. Like a metaphysical string tying me to Konan.
At least I now would know where she was no matter what.
I leaned back on the wall as I watched Konan spring up and start training again, muttering something about bodyguard duties and powerful kicks.
I felt calm. Happy for Konan, but also an almost serene calm.
I smiled. A relieved smile. A happy smile. A foolish smile.
Today could not have gotten any better.
---
Konan
She hummed a tune as she walked beside Kai, holding his hand as they trudged through the muddy street.
They were going to buy clothes.
Kai said she was too beautiful to be wearing rags.
She was happy.
She didn't feel the usual fear she used to feel whenever she went out to get food now. She could just tell she could beat anyone who threatened her or Kai.
That was nice.
"Come on, Kai. We're almost there," she said as she tugged his hand and guided him toward the shop.
She still remembered her mom taking her there, so she knew the place.
Kai didn't. He was a dummy like that. But that's okay. His hands were warm, and he was a lot happier than before, so it was okay if he was a dummy sometimes.
---
Kai
I sighed softly as I let myself get dragged into the clothing shop Konan said she knew.
It was a nice shop. The location was good too—in the middle of the busy marketplace, with a big open door and a nice glass display on the left.
Sure, it was between a bakery and a butcher shop, but that was just efficiency. One destination, and you could buy all you wanted.
There were even food stands and shops right across from it.
We entered the shop. A soft tingle of a bell sounded as we pushed open the door.
"Welcome to Sakura's Clothing Shop," a soft female voice greeted us as soon as we entered. "What can we help you with today?"
I looked toward the source and found a middle-aged woman sitting behind a counter, reorganizing fabric rolls into the shelves.
"Good day, miss," I greeted. "We would like some fine clothes for me and my sister…"
She turned around and stopped dead in her tracks, eyeing us suspiciously, but nodded all the same.
"And you are sure you have enough money to buy clothes here?" she asked, her tone kind but chastising at the same time. "I can give you directions to another shop with much cheaper clothes if you don't."
"Don't worry, miss. We can," I answered confidently. Of course we could. I had about one million ryō. Five hundred thousand for each pill I gave Konan.
"Okay," she nodded all the same. "A little warning, though. We have a standing contract with the genin corps of Amegakure, so our shop is protected by ninjas."
I nodded and filed that little tidbit for later.
She then went ahead and showed us a few outfits, from the cheapest to some mildly expensive ones. When she saw me not even bat an eye at the price, she relaxed a little and started to take our measurements.
She didn't allow us to try them on because we were filthy, but she was being incredibly courteous and professional so far, so I didn't say anything.
We chose one outfit each.
A normal everyday soft cotton nagagi kimono for me and Konan. Mine was black with a grey obi, while Konan's was a soft lavender fading to white, with dotted and embroidered rosebuds in dark purple.
She seemed to like it if the way her eyes latched onto the outfit was any indication.
We also bought a wagasa—an umbrella made of bamboo and washi paper, apparently.
The woman looked at me funny when I asked about it, but then ignored me until I paid for everything.
It was expensive. Let's leave it at that.
We asked about the whereabouts of the bathhouse, and she recommended one. She said it was much more expensive than the others, but the service was great apparently, and it had private baths too.
It took us five minutes to arrive at the bathhouse, with us receiving weird looks from almost everyone who saw us.
I was pretty sure the gang would be waiting for us when we left, but…
I smiled conspiratorially as we entered the bathhouse.
The scent of lavender and roses hit me like I had offended the place somehow.
"Welcome…" another female voice said before she stopped abruptly, making me turn my head to see a woman with a hand on her hip.
"It's ten thousand ryō per hour," she said plainly. "You pay before you enter."
I was not as offended as I imagined I would have been, even knowing she was outright robbing me, but that might have to do with the gutter-rat-like life I had been living for the past two weeks.
"Here," I simply said as I took a stack of ryō and put it on the desk. "One big private bath, please."
The woman stared at the money, then at my appearance for a few seconds, before blinking and smiling warmly.
"Welcome, dearest customers," she greeted. "This way, please."
She led us in, Konan trudging by my side, eyes wide as she looked around the place.
…
I am not proud to say that it took us fifty minutes of repeated scrubbing, soaking, and other services that took two women working in shifts to make us look human again. But we did it.
I paid for another half hour just to soak in warm water more and enjoy our time.
…
After the bath, we went into the dressing room, where we donned our new clothes, styled our hair, and sat down to have some tea and snacks.
The great thing about this was that it was private. That meant we had some semblance of privacy here.
I opened my arms, and Konan jumped into my lap again.
"Hey, Konan," I whispered. "Do you think you can imbue some of your papers with privacy seals that make people ignore and be unable to hear or think about getting inside?"
She looked up at me with furrowed eyebrows before she closed her eyes shut and made a face of pure concentration.
The scrunched face looked cute as hell.
I decided to help, so I added, "Just imagine us in a bubble that makes people ignore and not listen to us."
That seemed to help a lot, as not five seconds later, papers started to slide off her arms and surround us in a circle.
She opened her eyes and gave me a big smile and a thumbs up.
"Kay. It's working," she said.
"That's good," I sighed in relief.
"Now, how would you like to go on an adventure to another world?"
Her eyes sparkled like stars as she excitedly nodded.
"Where are we going?"
"That's a surprise," I smiled mysteriously. "We are going to a place where we can have a minute to breathe and train our powers."
"Will there be rain there?"
"No," I shook my head. "I have had more than enough rain for a few months, so we will go to a warm place with a sun for a change."
"Okay," she said and hopped on her feet. "Let's go."
"Hahaha. Okay," I chuckled. "Let's go."
X_
A/N: power stones