Chapter Text
The room was dark, but neither of them were bothered by it. After all, a dark and filthy teenager’s bedroom was the best place to watch anime without anyone judging.
Chieko and Santino were cousins, and despite their differences, they both enjoyed anime with a slightly unhealthy passion. They’d just finished watching the end of Fullmetal Alchemist (they both enjoyed the old version’s aesthetic) and were discussing what to watch next.
“Let’s watch Beastars. The opening was in the top ten of best anime openings, the year it came out!” Chieko said.
“Come on, God knows you of all people should watch Shokugeki no Soma. I mean, look at this place! You have to stop eating more instant ramen than Naruto on a daily basis, and learn to cook something healthy!” Santino answered.
And he was right. The room they were in right now was no other than Chieko’s bedroom, and the floor was practically covered in empty cups of instant ramen. Some of the cups even had mold coming out. Most of them were smelly, but Chieko’s sense of smell was so used to it she couldn’t notice, let alone be bothered.
“That’s none of your business, Santi! If I don’t wanna cook, then no one will make me do it.”
Santino sighed heavily. “Let’s just look up some recommendations online, shall we?” It seemed that he’d given in to his younger cousin’s stubbornness for the time being.
“You look for them, I’m going to buy dorayakis at the Japanese store,” Chieko retorted, rolling her eyes at her cousin. She hated when he tried to mother her. ”Do you want some?”
“You shouldn’t waste the allowance Auntie gives you when she travels, you know? You’ll end up in debt.”
“I always end up in debt. Luckily, I have a Patreon where I write commissions of fanfics and they pay me in American dollars.”
“Wow, that’s a thing? Isn’t that illegal?”
“It isn’t illegal, it’s freelancing! Anyway, I’m going to the store.” And with that, Chieko grabbed her money and got out of the house.
When she finally had her beloved dorayakis, she headed back. She was in the street humming Blue Bird when the sky began turning blood red. The color spread like it was a pigment diluting in water, small clouds of it becoming bigger and bigger until no blue remained. The sun turned black, covered by the red of this strange phenomenon. People were starting to get scared, Chieko could see them whispering nervously as they pointed at the sky. She understood why. The last time she saw something like this was watching “The prince of Egypt,” when Moses turned the Nile’s waters to blood. It was the beginning of the plagues. She didn’t want that for her country or her people.
It was then that she heard the voice.
"Fukushima Chieko…"
She instantly recognised it as an anime voice. No one on this side of the world used that way of referring to someone, and most people couldn't seem to pronounce her name right.
For a second, she didn’t know how she felt. It was like a pressure in the chest, keeping her wide-eyed and alert. It was a deep voice, like anime villains usually have. Realizing this, she felt the urge to curl into herself and cover her ears. She swallowed some saliva to fight the urge and stay standing on her feet.
She made sure nobody was looking at her before answering. “Who are you?”
"I am someone in dire need of your services. You wouldn’t turn down someone in need, now, would you?"
The voice was speaking in Japanese, a language that Chieko learned to speak but not read or write in. She was instantly doubtful about this voice… It sounded kind of condescending.
“I don’t think you want to ask for a commission, now, do you?” she asked dubiously. The fact that she might be going crazy crossed her mind for a second. After all, she could hear this voice, but only in her mind. No one here that she could see was talking in Japanese, and she could tell she wasn’t actually hearing it with her ears.
"I want you to be cared for, and in exchange for that, for you to come and stay with us willingly. I am in a war, and your presence can make the difference between life and death for my people."
“And what about me? I am good where I am, I don’t want to be a child soldier,” she lied. She had always wanted to prove her worth, especially since her mother always thought of her as nothing but a disgrace, a bug sickening her family tree.
"I can promise you won’t regret coming with me."
The voice sounded persuasive.
“I’ll think about it. How do I let you know if I’m ready to give you an answer?” Now she was trying to hide her eagerness under a coat of neutrality.
"I’ll know."
And holy fuck, if that wasn’t ominous…
Then, the sky went blue again, and the sun was bright once more. ‘Weird,’ she thought.
Right after that, she got back to her house where her cousin was waiting for her. She was going to tell him what happened, she knew he believed in chosen ones, crusades and the kind of things you would expect from fantasy books. He would know what to do.
“Hey, Chibi, I found out My Hero Academia has a very creative fandom. Would you like to get into that?”
“Sounds good,” Chieko replied. “But we’ve got to talk first. I dunno if you noticed, but something really weird happened just now while I was outside. But, like, really weird.”
“How weird are we talking?”
“I heard a weird anime voice calling me and telling me in Japanese that I was their people’s only hope in the war they’re fighting. They said they’d take good care of me. Also, the sky turned red during the conversation, but that’s a detail.”
Santino beamed at this. “Oh. My. Glob. Chibi, do you realize what this means? This is your calling. You are a Chosen.” Then, he held his hand together like he was making a prayer. “Did this voice tell you how it would take you with their people?”
“I asked how to tell them when I’m ready, they just said they’d know it.” Chieko shivered. “It was all very ominous.”
“Well,” Santino started searching for something on the computer. “Since you’re leaving to fight a war soon, let’s watch one last series together. As a final goodbye.”
*****
After four wonderful seasons of the best series ever, Chieko and Santino decided to pack the girl’s belongings into a backpack. They weren’t much, and she would probably need things like her phone and clothes while she was away.
They decided that, since she was kind of going to fight in a war, she wouldn’t need her merchandise there, so they made an agreement that the things she couldn’t take with her would be passed on to her dear cousin.
“I think this is your last shirt,” Santino stated. “If you don’t send me a message during the first three days away, I’ll think you don’t have a way to make your phone work and plan your funeral. What flowers would you like on your grave?”
“Tiger lilies.”
“I’ll see what I can do. I guess now we have to let that creepy voice know that you’re ready to go. But before you go, I gotta tell you something.” He then posed a hand on Chieko’s shoulder, the playful smile he was wearing turned to a neutral expression, showing he was getting serious. “Your father was Japanese, and disappeared under very shady circumstances. Maybe this calling of yours has something to do with his whereabouts. Keep that in mind.”
“How do you know that? You’re barely older than me, you couldn’t have met him for long.”
“Auntie told me some things last time she got drunk. Basically bits and pieces, nothing very useful though.” His voice cracked for a second when he talked next. “Now you’re going to war, saving people and proving to the world you’re worthy of everything… Know that no matter what you do, I’ll be proud. I’ll always be proud of you.”
Chieko was pretty bad with feelings, so when she saw the tears in her cousin’s eyes, she immediately cringed.
“Okay weird voice, I’m ready!” she screamed to the room, with the hope to get away from her crying almost-brother.
In that moment, a portal of black mist opened next to them. Chieko bid her cousin farewell and escaped from the awkward situation as fast as she could.