In the backyard of my home, away from prying eyes, Mei stood at the area where I normally trained as I stared at her with a raised eyebrow.
After the bombshell I had told her the day prior, somehow, she decided to immediately visit, having gotten my address from Kiana.
It turned out that Mei wanted to be able to access her powers as soon as possible, The reason she gave me was that she didn't want to accidentally hurt someone with it one day.
I accepted the reply but let's be honest here. Who is she kidding?
She was definitely going to do a "Rebirth of the Urban Immortal Cultivator" faceslapping session after returning to school.
I could already imagine it.
Rando: Haha, you're so bad!!!
Imaginary Mei: Hmph, courting death!! Kowtow and break your arms and your legs and I may leave you with a whole corpse!
Okay, maybe my imagination was running a little rampant here. Mei's a nice girl....
Right?
"Are you shore, Mei? Could be dangerous."
"Shore?"
"Sorry. I meant sure."
"I'm willing to try it, Gojo." Mei said with a determined expression. "I'm willing to take on the risks."
While experimenting with Mei on the Herscherr powers would honestly be very eye-opening and give me some vital information, I didn't feel very comfortable doing such a thing with a friend.
Even if she gave the ok, who knew what could happen to her during our tests?
"What if you transform into some sort of creepy tentacle monster though..."
"Wait... you didn't tell me that was a possibility?" Mei's face paled.
"I don't think there is? I dunno, Maybe the Herscherr could take over you and no one would even notice? That would be kinda problematic"
"Don't... don't you know what you're doing?"
"Nope. I'm making things up as I go."
Mei seemed to realise at this moment that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to experiment with me. "Emmm, maybe we should rethink this..."
"Really? I'm a bit curious about how you'd look with horns on your head though..."
"NO!!!"
"No into horns then. Understood."
Mei let out a sigh of disappointment. "Is there any other way we could maybe practice without having the chance of transforming me into some eldritch monstrosity?"
"Well, maybe you could try posing for an attack?" I said as I struck a kamehameha pose. "Who knows? It could work."
"You just want to see me squirm now, don't you Gojo?"
"No..." I trailed off as I looked away. "Why would you think that?"
Mei stared at me with a deadpan. However, it slowly morphed into uncertainty, then into exasperation, then finally into...
Determination?
She began to slowly, hesitantly lowered her stance, trembling as she did so.
When I saw this, I was shocked.
Was she... actually going to do this?
...
She was.
I have to catch this on camera. Kiana would love to see this.
I dug through my pockets to get my phone, as Mei was not looking, however I stopped when Mei's flustered and accusing words arrived in my ears. "You're not going to record me right?"
Silently, the phone returned to its original position.
As Mei did the Kamehameha pose however, I kept my expression sagely as I looked at her. "How is it? Do you feel anything?"
"What do you think?" Mei's trembling voice had a flat sting to it. "Does it look like I-"
At that moment, there was a sudden pulse of electricity, shocking both of us.
Get it? Shocking?
Sorry... I'll leave my bad puns for later.
Anyways, the sudden pulse of electricity began to flow from Mei's body, causing me to narrow my eyes.
I could feel a surge in Honkai energy.
Was the Herscherr awakening now?
But why?
"Gojo... this..."
"Are you okay, Mei?" I asked warily. I looked at her eyes at the same time as I kept a respectable distance away.
If the Herscherr took over, I didn't want to be shown the fastest way to my heart.
Considering Infinity had been breached before already, I needed to be a bit more careful. I don't know how much juice she has if she came out now.
"Yea..." Mei said as a look a joy began to appear. "I feel... amazing..."
"Would you say that you feel like you have... power? Unlimited power?"
"You do know that I know the reference right?" Mei sighed. She looked at the crackling thunder surrounding her as she said in excitement. "But you were right! Posing does help me get power!!"
Then Mei suddenly dropped into a whisper. "Why didn't it happen when I was younger though..."
The moment Mei said that however, the electricity surrounding her intensified multiple times. It became so great to the point that I was about to take action.
Instead of how it was just now, which was calm and refined, it seemed to be wilder now, like it was panicking after being caught.
Don't tell me... the Herscherr was responding to Mei's embarrassing behaviour?
There's no way it could be that. How could a world ending being be provoked out due to her host being embarrassed slightly?
Regardless, I needed to stop her now.
Mei seemed to want to say something, but before either of us could say anything, a huge pulse emerged from Mei's body.
Mei seemed to want to say something, but before either of us could react, a huge pulse burst from her body.
I wasn't hit, of course. Infinity automatically dispersed it, but the surroundings weren't so lucky.
Instantly, the world died around us.
The backyard lights flickered once, twice, then died.
The house security system beeped pitifully before going completely silent.
My poor, innocent 5090TI?
Stand proud. You were strong.
Sounds of my circuit box short-circuiting filled my ears as the smell of smoke drifted in through my nose.
"...Gojo?" Mei called out hesitantly, her stance still halfway in a Kamehameha pose, cheeks turning increasingly red.
"Yes, Mei?" I answered solemnly, as the sound of cars outside my mansion area having their alarm sounding before turning silent completely.
"...I think I broke something."
I patted her on the shoulder, ignoring the faint crackle of leftover static.
"Don't worry. You only broke everything."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Knock knock.
Kiana, whose hair was in a mess, opened the door to her apartment. Her eyes were barely open, like she just woke up from a nap.
"Who is it? What do you want?"
Her eyes went wide open however when she saw the person standing there.
It was me, carrying a bunch of bags.
"What the heck? You going to leave the country or something?" Kiana grabbed onto me with panic on her face. "You can't do this! Where am I going to get my snacks??!!"
"Kiana." I began as I ignored her words. "You have been staying at my place for quite a while right?"
"Y-yea? Are you going to give me your house when you leave?" Kiana put her hands on her cheeks. "Ahh... I'd love to use that jacuzzi that you never let me into..."
"No. That place was totaled."
"Huh?"
A question mark popped up behind Kiana as she tilted her head.
"The Queen of Thunder decided that she didn't like electronics-"
"What the heck are you saying? Who's that?"
"So I need a place to stay."
That made Kiana blink.
"And I have chosen your place Kiana. Be honoured by my presence."
"EHHH?????!!!!!"
(A/N: How is the chapter? Please give powerstones and comment!!
Just wanted to add that this isn't a translation if any of you are wondering. If you think that it is, you can try to find it. However, I'll probably do some references to the chinese version of Honkai since I honestly like that version.)