Back to the present timeline
Ryo walked down the street, stopping as some random guy stepped out of a portal and laughed maniacally.
The random man threw his arms up to the sky, and cackled. "I've done it! I've achieved dimensional travel! Now, all of you need to know that humanity is way above your primitive asses, and if you refuse to acknowledge that..." The random man looked at the closest person, who was Ryo, and rushed over to stab Ryo in the chest with his sword. "You'll turn out like him."
The sword disintergrated into mere atoms upon coming into contact with Ryo's skin, the man gaped. "B-But... That sword could destroy universes! How...?" The man's resolve came back. "Not to worry, I have another one!"
Ryo grabbed the man's sword before it was used to stab him, and snapped it in half.
I'm going to eat it. I want to see the reaction on his face.
Ryo started eating the sword, much to the man's horror. The man screamed. "HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT!? THAT SWORD COULD SURVIVE A UNIVERSE BEING DROPPED ON IT! STOP! THAT SWORD LITERALLY DESTROYS UNIVERSES! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY IT COST TO MAKE THAT!?"
Ryo stared at the man soullessly for a few seconds, before uttering the words, "Too bland. Could use some seasoning.", with an unimpressed expression.
The man staggered away. "How... That sword destroys everything it comes into contact with..."
Ryo said, sprinkling some chilli powder on the bits of the sword that he hadn't ate. "The only thing it destroyed was my appetite. I like spicy things, that sword was blander than the average Isekai MC."
The man whispered. "You're... You're not human..."
That's right, I'm a-
Then a builder, who was working on the town skyscraper, poured super-concrete on the man. "Another psychopath trying to colonize us? That's the 37th time this week!"
Another builder said with mild annoyance. "Why would you waste some perfectly good super-concrete over some lower-dimension-dwelling, colonization-fantasizing, too-much-sci-fi-watching, mad scientist wannabe who only figured out how to travel dimensions today? You could've just let the Isokofo manage it, Seiji!"
Seiji laughed. "Come on, man! We both know that stuff is easy to make! And if you want to shut someone up, why not trap them eternally in super strong concrete? Am I right or am I wrong, Tsukihiko?"
Tsukihiko winced. "The fact that you just said that so cheerfully... That's it.. You need professional help..."
Ryo looked up, seeing the title "Cheerful citizen" over Seiji's head and "Grumpy Citizen" over Tsukihiko's.
That's right, reader, in this universe, we're all given titles, denoting roles and tropes within a story. If you're wondering, mine's stoic side character, though I often fake emotions to avoid the consequences of being associated with that title. In this world, your title decides your social status. The main characters are at the top of the hierarchy, with the irrelevant and forgettable characters at the bottom, I'm at the middle of the social hierarchy.
People can change titles sometimes, but it is rare. If someone works hard enough, or changes a lot, the Supreme Goddess Satomi can change their title. These titles are assigned from birth, by the Supreme Goddess Satomi. The Gods, who give Kamikomatai, a blessing, or Kamikokatai, a curse, are all different incarnations of the Supreme Goddess Satomi.
Tsukihiko uses his Isorotomatai to vanish the villain.
His Isorotomatai is extremely useful, I'm going to copy it. Oh right, you don't know what an Isorotomatai is. Well, Isorotomatai, or Essence Gifts, are essentially how your Essence manifests after adapting to your soul. It gives you a power based on your personality, or anything notable about you. I literally know a person who has a fear of penguins, and their Isorotomatai is literally just demonic looking penguins with weapons, but most Isorotomatai aren't like that. Two people usually never have the same Isorotomatai, because that would having the same personality, worldview, aspirations and fears. Isorotomatai are the most efficient way to control your Essence, but through training, you can find other ways to use it to your benefit.
If you're wondering what my Isorotomatai is, I'm not telling you. Mainly because I'm too lazy, so figure it out yourself. It's definitely not copying Isorotomatai though, even though I can do that.
Suddenly, everything turned black.
Ryo was in space.
The planet had been destroyed.
Then he was suddenly teleported back into a replica of the world he lived in.
We just got Essence-bombed. Essence is a really powerful thing. The weakest baby recorded had destructive Essence which could destroy a whole universe. Average people have much more powerful Essence. To keep people from blowing up the universe, the earth was rebuilt with super-concrete (concrete infused with Essence) to be Essence-resistant. Everyone has passive Essence shields, so they don't get blown up by some random guy who wants to take everyone out with them. And if the suicidal person's Essence was strong enough to blow up the universe, many universes have been made, where everyone is teleported to, except the suicidal person, so they carry on as usual.
Ryo arrives at his school, finally. It was a modern building with 10 floors, painted black since Ikamatei was a cold and snowy place. The roof was still burdened with the snow from the snowstorm yesterday. Ryo walked inside, and went to class, fully knowing what was about to come.
The teacher, Kai Miyazaki, looks around, his "Kind teacher" title hovering above his head and takes attendance, no one was absent, everyone knew how important today was.
He speaks. "Good morning, everyone! Nice to see you all, I'm going to get straight to the point, because we all know what you are here for! Anyway, as you all know, This is your second year at the Isokofo Academy, so you're officially mature enough to go in squads and complete missions for money! Of course, you'll still have to complete your 4 years here but after school, you can take up some missions with your squad. Most of you already know what ranks missions can be, and what they mean, but I'll spell it out for the people who sleep in class. Meitori rank is for low level missions, like imprisoning someone trying to invade us from a different dimension, God, there's been too much of that these days... Rytori rank is for the medium level missions, like restraining or killing a rampaging villain in the middle of a city. Temtori rank is for high level missions, like gaining intel from a crime syndicate. Isotori rank is for the most difficult missions, but you still have a chance at doing them, like preventing a war. Kamikotori rank is just suicide missions, like stopping a God from wreaking havoc, at that point, there's truly nothing you can do. Just pray to the Supreme Goddess Satomi and hope that she'll stop her incarnation. But all of you are just beginner Isokofo so just worry about the Meitori missions and getting a squad, okay? Of course, you can go solo but it's generally easier to go in a squad. Choose wisely who you want in your squad. You're gonna have to act professionally with them, and have good team synergy, and you're going to have to do teamwork! Put your selfishness aside, because as an Isokofo, the squad comes first! Anyway, class dismissed! Go group up with the people you want to be in a squad with!"
All of the people rush out of the classroom, leaving behind Ryo, who was packing his things up. While he was doing so, he glanced at the teacher and noticed something.
Ryo says, in a thoughtful voice. "Miyazaki-sensei... You have a lock of purple hair which doesn't look dyed, and a mitorix ring..."
Miyazaki smiled at Ryo. "I do. My fiancee convinced me to do a ritual that her family does, whenever there's someone marrying into them. And Mitorix? What's that? I thought this was just amethyst?"
Ryo simply hummed in response, his fake smile dissolving into his usual contemplative expression whenever he was alone.
Miyazaki tilted his head. "Sato-kun? Is something wrong?"
Ryo asks monotonously, like he knew but still chose to ask anyway. "Does she have purple hair and purple eyes like me?"
Miyazaki said, confused. "What? Why would that matter?"
Ryo says, getting annoyed and a little bit more forceful. "Answer the question."
Miyazaki says, slightly shaken. "Yeah... She does. What's that got to do with anything? You're scaring me, Sato-kun."
Ryo laughs hysterically, then tries to compose himself. "I see. So she hasn't told you yet. Interesting."
Miyazaki says, now both angry and confused. "What do you mean by that? What does my fiancee have to do with this!?"
Ryo says, now getting serious. "You got catfished. She isn't who you think she is. Neither am I."
Miyazaki says in a dangerously calm voice, his eyebrows narrowing. "Explain."
Ryo says, relishing the look on Miyazaki 's face. "Your fiancee and I are family. We're both Kamito, my real name is Ryo Kamito and not Ryo Sato and I have an Isorotomatai, I'm just faking having the other one, and her real last name is Kamito instead of whatever fake name she may be using."
Miyazaki says, clearly shook. "And how... How would you know all this about Mikoto?"
Mikoto? Shit, that's the cousin I robbed!
Ryo says, smiling like an idiot. "The purple hair and purple eyes are a dead giveaway. If you ever encounter those traits in a person, they're definitely a Kamito or have Kamito ancestry.
Ryo holds up his Mitorix ring as an example, which was in the shape of a star. "The ring is also a dead giveaway. Mitorix is a purple Containment Metal, Kamito infuse the Mitorix with a little bit of their Essence and soul, and give it to the people they love. This ring, if sensing any danger to their significant other, will draw upon the Essence stored in it to shield their lover, if the Essence in the ring runs out, the ring still has their soul and can contact them and continue drawing upon their Essence through the soul link. Everyone in the Kamito family has a Mitorix ring, just like me and your fiancee."
Miyazaki blinks. "Why... Why are you telling me this...?"
Ryo says, shrugging. "Just thought I would, we are family now, after all. Unless you want to leave Mikoto-san."
Miyazaki says, infuriated. "Yeah, I will leave her. I can't believe she hid such an important part of her identity from me!"
Ryo says, looking disappointed. "We all have our reasons for the things we do, but I can't blame you for wanting to leave her. It's easy to fall out of love after-"
Miyazaki interrupts, calming down. "No... It's not like that. I still love her. But you got to understand, Sato-kun, and you will, when you're older."
You idiot, I've lived many lifetimes, and I've had many relationships, I know more than you do.
"A healthy relationship is built on mutual trust. And what Mikoto did... was a major breach of trust. I still do love her despite what she did, but if I continue this relationship with her, it'll be full of doubts. How can I trust her with the big things, when she couldn't even be truthful about such a simple thing like her identity...? How do I know I won't get fooled again? I don't want a relationship where lying's normalized. If I were to continue our relationship, there'd always be some kind of doubt and paranoia, which would hurt both of us. But like you said, we all have reasons for the things we do, and I'm still willing to hear hers out. But it better be a damn good reason, or I'm leaving."
Holy shit, this man really likes talking. Same.
Miyazaki walks over to Ryo and ruffles his hair. "But if I don't leave her, it'd be cool to have you as a little cousin in law, or however you're related to Mikoto."
Ryo says quietly. "We're 4th cousins."
Miyazaki says, not hearing Ryo. "Huh?"
Ryo repeats louder. "Me and Mikoto-san are 4th cousins. I'd be your third cousin in law, if you two got married."
Miyazaki says, smiling a little. "If Mikoto and I did get married, I think I'd ignore the specifics and just say you were my little cousin in law."
Just that moment, Miyazaki gets a phone call. He sees that it's from Mikoto and accepts it.
Miyazaki says into the phone. "Hello?"
Mikoto speaks from the other end of the line. "Kai, we need to talk. Dinner at our usual place at 10PM. I have something to tell you."
Miyazaki says again. "Sure Mikoto. I'll be there."
Mikoto, again, speaks from the other end. "Great, love you!"
Miyazaki says with a soft smile. "Love you too..."
You say you're going to leave her, yet you look like that while you're talking to her. It's all just empty threats, isn't it? You simp.
Miyazaki hung up the phone.
He looked at Ryo. "Sato-kun, can I ask you a favor?"
Ryo says, curious. "Sure."
Miyazaki says with a serious expression. "Can you come with me to the dinner to make sure Mikoto doesn't lie to me? I'm not sure I can trust her anymore."
Ryo says, sweating nervously. "Sure. Can I ask you a favor, sensei?"
Miyazaki nods with a smile. "Of course, Sato-kun!"
Ryo says, becoming a little more calm. "Keep my secret. Everyone in this school doesn't know who I really am. I'm keeping a low profile so can you keep my secret for privacy reasons?"
Miyazaki smiled. "Of course! I'd keep your secret even without that knowledge because it should be your job to disclose any secrets about yourself to people important to you, not mine! That's what builds trust. So don't worry, Sato-kun, your secret is safe with me."
Miyazaki's eyes widen and he facepalms. "Oh my Satomi! I've wasted your time for too long! You're supposed to be finding people to group up with!"
Ryo says, chuckling. "Oh trust me, it's not a problem-"
Miyazaki interrupts. "No! No! No! You must go now! You need to find a squad, and a good one, someone as talented as you, who's at the top of my class, needs the best squad members!" He gently pushes Ryo out of the classroom. "Don't forget, Dinner at 10!"
Ryo never got to tell Miyazaki that he had stopped time.
Ryo unfreezes time, and starts walking to where he knew Hitomi Suzuki would be. A genuine smile on his face as he thinks about Miyazaki.
Whenever I'm around him, it's like I have dad back...