158: Inevitable

Chapter 158: Inevitable

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It took Neji a few minutes to reach Eusha city, the mansion where he 'disciplined' Toga.

The moment he dropped to the ground, Kimi also appeared beside him with Momo in her arms.

“Looks like we’re here.” Said Kimi, putting Momo down who fidgeted around, avoiding Neji’s gaze.

“There are no guards in front of the gate,” Kimi added, looking around. “I noticed some villains rampaging in the city while running, I guess the guards noticed that too and escaped for their lives.”

The entirety of Japan was under attack, Neji realised that while flying from Musatafu city to Eusha city.

“Let’s just head in.” He said, walking beside Nejire who was silent the whole time.

Neji had to send a spinning shockwave in the lock of the door to open it since he didn’t have the keys right now.

After they made their way inside, Kimi dropped to the couch in the living room, and Neji decided to cancel the Fusion.

Fusion has four forms, with this being the final and most perfect form (for a master and familiar) where the master is in control of the body, with the familiar simply inhabiting the back of the head. They could still talk to each other via telepathy though.

He brought a finger from each hand, touching their fingertips and chanted in his mind, “Fusion”, as soft blue and gold mama dust had burst out of his body. When the dust cleared, his cat ears and tail had already disappeared with Kurai having appeared above his shoulder.

Kurai’s golden eyes looked down upon Momo and Nejire, frowning quite deeply.

‘Kurai, I will handle this. Go to the second floor, our little sniper is tied there. Take care of her if she regains consciousness.’ said Neji telepathically in Kurai’s mind.

Hearing him, Kurai nodded, turning away from Momo and Nejire, humphing as she jumped down from his shoulders and hopped off the stairs, going to the upper floor.

As Neji watched her leave, he heard Kimi talk.

“...She looked mad at us,” Kimi said, a bitter smile on her face. “I guess she already knew of your plans huh.”

Just from her facial expression, Neji could tell that Kimi didn't know what to feel about this. Kurai was only 5, but at the same time, that little cat has seen more bloodshed than her, a former pro hero. She just hoped the little cat, who called her mommy, didn't have too twisted of a mind.

That's when Nejire walked up to Neji, standing in front of him, having to look up since she was a few inches shorter than him. Momo tried to stop her, but Kimi pulled her down on the couch, saying loud enough for Neji to hear, “Let her be. Not like your boyfriend can't handle her. I suppose he already has dozens of ‘excuses’ prepared, but even I hope to hear the truth.”

Neji looked at her, but she simply stared back, making him sigh.

“Ok, you can start with any question you like.” Neji said with a sigh.

“Then answer me, why?” Nejire asked, “Why do all this? I don't know how you got the power to steal quirks, and I am not interested in that either, just tell me why you stole Mirio’s quirk. Not only that, why did you try to kill him even after he surrendered? Why did you act so cowardly?!”

Neji stayed silent for a second before answering. 

“Even though you say you don't want to listen about my quirk stealing ability, let's start from there anyway.” he said, putting a hand inside his inventory and taking out Nine’s dead body, putting it on the floor as the girls watched with wide eyes. “This is a Villain named Nine, he had a quirk that can steal other quirks, named All for One. Yes, it's the same name that All Might yelled at me, mistaking me for a villain with the same name, All for One, who I assume gave the quirk the Nine, to begin with.”

Neji watches the girls' reaction, with Momo looking interested in the mystery, Kimi looking shocked at the confirmation of the Myth, the Legend, but Nejire looked nonchalant.

“I don't know how Nine obtained this quirk, but I knew he had this, so I forced him to transfer this quirk to me.” he looked at Kimi. “That's what I did in the white fortress. As for why I wanted this quirk, it's because I require power, and the ability to steal quirks is something that can fulfil that need of mine very greatly.”

“...But why?” Nejire looked at him with an angry frown. “You're strong already, Neji. Stronger than me, possibly stronger than that red dragon after you fuse with Kurai. Why do you need more power?”

“...Heh.” Neji covered his face with a hand, chuckling softly and shaking his head. He moved his hand away and then looked at Nejire again. “Nejire, you went inside the other dimension. Do you know how strong the strongest person is in that dimension?”

Nejire simply frowned harder.

“It's a person who can one-shot guys like the red dragon without any serious issue.” Neji lied through his teeth, as he himself didn't know much about the strongest character in the Tower dungeon.

But since the boss of Floor 10 is a “Divine Being”, according to the system, they are ought to be strong.

“I still don’t understand,” Nejire crossed her arms. “They are strong people in the other dimension, yes, but how does it matter? Don’t you only go to those places for magical items? Just stop going there if you’re scared of a monstrously strong guy, why would you hurt innocent civilians, steal quirks from future heroes, just to get your hands on magical items?! That’s idiotic and bullshit!”

Nejire looked angry now, looking at Neji with a glare. “Is this what I taught you as your older sis?! Is that it?!”

Neji simply sighed. “I have a motive for why I run after power. The only purpose I told you about the strongest guy in the other dimension is because, a group of people, stronger than even that person, is after me, after my life.” Nejire’s eyes widened, “Also, by ‘group’ I mean thousands and possibly millions of them. They call themselves Gods, and they’re actually right to do so, as they are real Gods.”

“…” Nejire narrowed her eyes at that, the same went for Momo and Kimi. “That’s… you want me to believe that?”

“Your reaction is understandable. You want proof?”

"Neji-"

Nejire was interrupted as Neji put Nine back into his inventory and instead took out an orb.

"This is a [Memory Orb]. Where the user can put a portion of their memory, for others to see and experience." Neji said, reaching his hand out. "If you touch this, you'd realise… what I am talking about. Though I do warn, this will be painful, since the memory I put inside is… pretty gruesome."

He put his memory from before his reincarnation, in the Neutral Zone, right after he rolled the Gamer System in the Wheel of Fortune. Neji tweaked the memory slightly, to change the conversations that talked about the Gamer System, since he didn't want his girls to know about it, and instead replaced the words with "dangerous power". At the same time, he also edited his voice a bit, since he wanted to sound young, like a 7-year-old, as he didn't want to reveal his reincarnation either. He had a different excuse ready for that.

"So, wanna try?"

Nejire was frowning. "How can I trust you after all you did? Who can say this isn't fake, who can say this isn't just another magic trick of yours?"

"..." Neji was silent for a second before he chuckled bitterly. "You'll realise if this is a trick or not once you see it yourself." He said. "So, wanna try?"

Nejire didn't answer this time, she simply snatched the orb from his hand… and immediately collapsed to the floor afterwards, without any prior notice, as her eyes rolled back and a huge cry left her lips.

Neji didn't remove the part where he felt pain upon each attack from the gods, though he did tone it down a lot since nobody without Invincibility would be able to withstand that pain, even if it's just a memory.

Momo and Kimi jumped up from their seats, their eyes wide as they tried to run to help Nejire get up, but Neji simply raised a hand to stop them in their tracks.

"Stay out of this. That pain is momentary, it won't last after she stops touching the orb."

The girls stopped, looking at Nejire with concerned eyes as she kept yelling for a long minute before it stopped, the orb rolling out of her hand as she looked down on the ground with wide, shaky eyes, her mouth dry as she looked up at Neji and jumped up to hug him before anyone could say anything.

"How… old were you back then?" Her hug tightened as she asked. "Seven?"

Neji felt slightly touched seeing she could guess his exact age from the voice he used.

He replied, "Eight, actually. Remember that day when I disappeared from the park when I was 8-years-old? This happened back then, when I entered my first other-dimension, I came across these gods. Gods, for some reason, said my powers are dangerous, so dangerous that the proclaimed Primordial God sent out a spell, sacrificing his soul, to make me unable to use magic and stuff along the lines."

Nejire's hug didn't quiver. "Why…didn't you tell me before? I suppose Kimi already knew?"

She sounded a bit sharp on the last line since Kimi always seemed to know what he was up to, even though Nejire herself could barely guess most of the time.

"No. Nobody knew, you're the first." He said, hugging her back. "Sadly, you must think this is a forged memory. Unfortunately, I am out of cards. If only my older sister had a bit more trust in me-"

"Stop… being so sarcastic." Nejire's shaky voice interrupted, sounding as if she was at the breaking point. She raised her head to look at him, her eyes flowing with tears. "I-I didn't know, Neji… I am such a useless older sister, aren't I? Such a bitch, questioning your actions every time you do something relatively wrong… even though you just want to live, live with me- no, us."

She glanced at the two other girls behind her, looking at their confused but utterly shocked faces, causing her expression to break as she started to cry loudly.

"You couldn't even share it with any of us!!" She cried out loud. "J-just because we wouldn't trust you! Y-yet…"

Neji wiped her tears with his hands, smiling and shaking his head.

"It's fine, calm down. You're worrying too much over this. Did I ever blame you for anything?"

"Um… Neji?" It was Momo who spoke after a long time. "Is that orb thing still usable?"

"Why?" Neji asked, patting Nejire's back and pushing her head against his chest. "You wanna give it a go? Even after witnessing Nejire's painful cries."

Momo nodded slowly, looking at Kimi. "I am sure Kimi would like to, too. I am curious… what exactly is in that thing."

"Are you sure?" Neji asked again, a bitter smile on his face. "Maybe, it's just a brainwashing spell, you know. Maybe Nejire is brainwashed, and all this is a trap set by me to make you guys loyal to me, right?"

It actually was, for the most part, that's why he was acting 'hurt' and 'offended', too.

Momo thinned her lips, opening her mouth to say something before she closed it and sighed. Then she followed Kimi as they both walked to touch the orb and… enter another state of frenzy.

Kimi simply went silent, her eyes losing light, while Momo's body started to shake, with she starting to whimper, but no yell came .

Nejire glanced at them too, her eyes red and wet, as she was huffing. Seconds passed and soon a minute hit the clock as the girls returned to their senses, with Kimi falling on her butt and looking at Neji with an agape face while Momo looked around horrifyingly, scared that what she had just seen was actually real, and this peacefulness was a dream.

"Young master… you really should have told me at least. You know I would have trusted you regardless of whatever you said." Kimi said, her throat dry as she gulped to make it wet.

"That's exactly why I didn't feel the need to tell you. Because you would do what I say regardless. I didn't want you to worry about this before it's actually the time." He said, hearing Kimi simply sigh with a nod of her head.

"But… but-" Momo started, her mind racing. "Is there really time? They're supposed to come in around 20 years right? You were seven back then, so we assume they will come when you become around 27, right? I-is there really time for us to even sit here when such dangerous beings are after us?"

'Us', she said. Neji found that cute.

He tweaked the memory slightly to add that information too, without revealing anything about the letter from UnknownGamer69. 

"True, but that's where my grind comes into play. You see, 'Luck' is an actual thing in this universe, and I can increase my luck using different magical artefacts from the other dimensions. By increasing my luck, I can make their search for me a bit slower, which should buy me a decade or two, if I am very very lucky." Neji said. "Anyway, to add further on why I stole Mirio's quirk, and even tried to kill him-"

"It's fine." Nejire's soft voice interrupted. "We… understand already. Neji, don't worry, I am with you… even though I don't particularly like the idea of you killing my friend… I won't stop you, that much I can guarantee."

Neji chuckled at that, softly ruffling her hair.

"That's sweet. But I do want to elaborate on my point. Mirio has a quirk that belonged to All Might." He said, but the girls didn't sound surprised. They were too shocked a minute ago to be surprised by such trivial news. 

"One for All, a quirk that's been passed down from generation to generation. It's a super-strong quirk, with the ability to boost one's strength and also their other quirks by a large margin. I needed that quirk because… well, you saw it already."

The girls sighed.

"Secondly, as for why I tried to kill Mirio… This might sound unbelievable, but things such as [Main Characters] exist in this world. Mirio Togata is the main character of this world, and as you know, it doesn't end well when the main characters lose their power, because they always return stronger, you see. 

That's why… I wanted to eliminate him right then so that he wouldn't pose a greater threat the next time we meet. As you saw, people are already mistaking me for the villain, All for One, so he won't go easy on me."

Nejire raised her head to look at his eyes. "I see… Then go. You go and kill him. I-i… won't be able to help, I am sorry. But I will support you in any other way I can."

Neji ruffled her hair again,as if she was the younger sibling here. "That's not a problem. He's a powerless man right now. I let him live, I won't break that gesture. Though… if he comes after me again, I will kill him."

Nejire stared at him for a short moment before nodding. "That's okay. I am sorry Neji."

"Stop apologising. And you two, please get up. I don't like you on the floor unless we're doing special stuff, you know." He said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, as the girls laughed softly too.

Momo and Kimi got up and hugged him.

"Neji, you said this life is precious to you and you don't want to die." It was Momo who said that. "That's the same for me. I don't want to die either, so please, don't… hold back for us. Do what you must."

Kimi simply hugged him tightly, softly whispering a sorry, before going silent.

Although that was true, Neji didn't like this, hearing them apologise so much, but if he wanted them on his side, with their goodie-two-shoes personalities, slight manipulation was… 

Inevitable.

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Author’s Note: Neji being a liar douche again ???????? Except for he's not.

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