"Am I Dead or Just Stupid?"
Kaito Asuma died in front of a vending machine.
Not with honor. Not with drama. Just a stupid slip, a toppled machine, and a bottle of lemon soda as his last memory.
Now, he woke up face first in a pile of leaves, mud clinging to his cheeks and a dreadful headache that sounded like Windows XP crashing on repeat in his skull.
He turned, his back now laying on the dirt. The first thing he noticed was the sky.
Or maybe, that there were two of them. One above, filled with unfamiliar stars and One below. To be honest he wasn't sure about anything. His head was on fire.
He groaned.
> [SYSTEM ERROR]
Soul mismatch.
> ERROR 001: Welcome Protocol Failed.
ERROR 002: Class Not Found.
ERROR 404: Sense of Direction Not Found.
A glowing blue interface blinked above his vision. Then another. Then three more, overlapping like a panicked slideshow.
He waved at it but It stayed.
> "Congratulations, [NULL]. You have been selected for System Installation.
Would you like to install the NSFW Add-On? [Y/N]
Kaito blinked.
"Y," he muttered instinctively.
> NSFW Add-On installing... Warning: Add-On not compatible with base build. Expect glitches.
"Wait, what?"
> Would you like to disable genital physics? [Y] [N]
"What kind of game is this!?"
"Oh, great. Did I die and reincarnated into a bugged MMO."
Screaming echoed through the forest. A clash of steel. Growling. Footsteps fast and heavy. Something or someone was running toward him.
And then she came into his view.
A tall woman, armored in steel with silver hair floating behind her, slammed into the clearing. Her eyes were glowing red. Her sword trailed flame. She was glorious, yet terrifying.
Behind her, three lizard like creatures chased her down.
He froze.
She didn't see Kaito at first.
She leapt.
> [ALERT: Fragment Detected – COMBAT]
Compatibility 87%
Sync Initiated…
The moment her foot touched the ground near him, something invisible snapped into place.
Her red eyes widened.
The monsters launched. She hesitated.
Kaito didn't know what possessed him, but he threw himself forward and knocked her out of the way.
That was a bad idea.
SLASH.
The monster's claws ripped across his back.
Pain. Blood splattered.
The woman screamed, not rage, not fury, not even panic. She turned, her whole body trembling.
She butchered them.
There were no clean cuts. Just unrelenting carnage, each blow of her sword leaving a crater. She was crying by the time the last one fell.
She dropped to her knees beside Kaito.
"Idiot," she growled. "Why would you jump in? Why would you...?"
> [SYSTEM UPDATE: Emotional Sync Established]
Fragment Bonded: [Combat – 1/5 Synced]
New Skill Unlocked: Berserker's Bond Lv.1
Passive Buff: +50% Defense when protecting bound user
Side Effect: Bonded user's emotional state affects target system
"…What," Kaito groaned, blinking at the floating text. "What does that even mean?"
His head dropped with his eyes still open.
She dragged him to a ruined chapel in the woods just before he collapsed fully from blood loss.
When he woke, it was night. His wounds were bandaged and a fire was lit. The woman was sitting nearby, stripped of her armor, her body beautiful and scarred from years of war. A thick leather strap wrapped around her chest. Her sword leaned beside her. She wasn't crying anymore.
Just watching him.
That was weird.
"You're awake," she said.
Kaito blinked. "Yeah." And still very confused.
"What are you?"
"What?"
"Uh. Human? I think?"
"Who summoned you?"
"God? Glitch? A vending machine? I don't know the answers to this questions."
"You smell wrong," she hissed.
"Okay, that was rude, maybe true but still f**king rude." he murmured while smelling his hands.
Then they heard a noise. But it wasn't a monster, just a rabbit.
"You bonded with me. Accidentally."
"Well. I usually take a girl to dinner first."
She didn't laugh. But her lips twitched.
"…Lyria," she finally said. "Knight Captain of the Black Flame Legion. Or I was. Till they branded me a monster."
Kaito sat up, wincing. "I'm Kaito, i think."
When he lay back, the interface projected her battle profile—including, awkwardly, a slowly-rotating silhouette.
"Why is it showing me your armor stats and bust size?"
"Because you installed the NSFW patch, idiot."
He turned bright red.
"I didn't know that."
He did.
Later, after eating a burnt rabbit, silence stretched between them. Lyria paced. Her shoulders were tense. She wouldn't look him in the eye.
"Thanks for food," he offered.
"You saw it," she said suddenly. "What I become when I fight."
Omg. It was happening, it was like those trauma moments in movies. He was a movie guy, he was ready for this.
He nodded.
"I lost control. Again. I always do. That's why they locked me away. My bloodline—berserker rage. If I bond with someone… I might kill them. I nearly killed you."
"Well, thanks for not killing me" He said In an effort to break the tension.
She didn't smile.
Kaito stood upright facing towards her. "And you didn't."
She finally met his gaze. Her red eyes softened.
"You're not afraid?"
He smiled. "You're hot, terrifying and might explode again. Honestly, I think I've had worse dates."
That definitely was a lie. He had never been on a date.
Her hand clenched at her side. Her breath hitched.
> [ALERT: Emotional Spike Detected]
Fragment Sync Level 2 Achieved
Skill Upgrade: Berserker's Bond Lv.2
New Skill: Flame Pulse (Trigger: Skin Contact)
A low pulse ran through him as the interface flashed.
"You probably should stop thinking about me naked?"
"What...? No, am not." He looked away
"When you are bonded the system echoes your thoughts." she lied
He buried his face in his hands.
She moved closer slowly. Her voice was low. "But we if keep bonding… the system will grow stronger."
Is she flirting? He didn't really know, a girl had never flirted with him.
"What is going here, miss lyria.? He was trying to flirt back. It was bad
"I… I don't know how far it will go."
Kaito didn't know what to say, so he did the next best thing. He Froze.
"I will try something?" (Probably his thoughts)
Kaito reached up, brushed a lock of silver hair behind her ear. "Then let's find out."
He saw that in a movie once.
Lyria leaned forward. She reached for him slowly, like a wild animal testing if he was real. Her hand rested on his chest opposite the scar from earlier.
She kissed him.
It worked?
It wasn't gentle. It was desperate, hungry. Like a woman who have been starving for control, for intimacy she didn't think she deserved. Her body pressed against his.
Well I guess it worked.
He kissed her back, gasping as her fingers gripped his hair.
Her lips traced down his jaw. "Still not afraid?" she whispered.
"Very. But also very turned on."
He was.
She growled and then shoved him back onto the bed.
It hurt but he wasn't gonna ruin the best moment of his life.
Lyria straddled him, eyes glowing red, the firelight dancing over her curves. She pulled the leather strap from her chest, even with scars, she was breathtaking.
Kaito's hands found her waist. She trembled but didn't stop him.
"Touch me," she whispered. "While I still feel sane."
He did.
She could go crazy at this point he wouldn't mind.
Their rhythm was awkward at first, two strangers bound by accident, trying to find balance between lust and trust. But when Lyria gasped, when she cried out, it wasn't rage that lit her eyes it was relief. Her control didn't slip. It controlled*
Each touch, each kiss, each breath drew the bond tighter.
> [FRAGMENT SYNC LEVEL 3 REACHED]
Passive Effect Unlocked: Flame Immunity (Shared)
Active Skill: Rage Channel Lv.1
The interface blinked but he didn't care.
They came undone together in a slow hot puff, burning and breathless.
Lyria lay curled against his side now, her voice quieter than the wind.
"I guess I didn't lose myself."
"Or you found yourself," Kaito whispered. "With me."
He saw that in a movie too.
Her fingers intertwined with his.
The fire made sounds. The System glitched.
And in the dark, something old stirred.