(3rd POV)
"And let's…have each other's backs."
Reze was momentarily lost for words. Their exchange had made her think negatively of Aleks at first. But now? His actions were contradicting her assumptions.
He had healed her, and he promised to fix her house—but she wasn't willing to forgive him that easily.
If they were going to be partners, they would have to get comfortable in each other's company.
Plus, they were going to share the same bed…
And his gentle touch had made her feel butterflies in her stomach.
Reze sighed. She was still going to keep her guard up.
"Tomorrow, after our mission ends, you better treat me to an Omakase sushi restaurant."
"Omakase sushi it is, then. You have great taste, Reze. It's a date." Aleks finished with a grin on his face.
Reze blinked, her face flushing red. She didn't say much, clearly knowing he was only joking around.
"Oh—uh…and wear this. Your clothes are…torn." Aleks gestured at her.
Reze looked down at herself, then blushed heavily in shame. She was semi-naked. Her earlier transformation had ripped her uniform apart.
Why does this happen to me all the time? Reze groaned internally.
She took Aleks's shirt to cover herself.
"…Thanks, I guess." She said in a low voice, but it was enough for Aleks to hear.
"Alright then. As promised, I'll fix this up." Aleks said while glancing around at the damage their fight had caused.
(1st POV)
I looked around the house. It was pretty fucked up. Reze's explosion had done more damage than my cleaves, though I'd only used it once.
This was going to be a pain to explain later.
Then I recalled a particular Stand from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure—Crazy Diamond.
It could restore anything it punched back to a perfect state.
Perfect.
I didn't waste time. I immediately assumed Josuke's template.
A humanoid figure with a tall, powerful build materialized beside me, armored plates covering its body, with a headgear as part of its mask.
Reze just stood there, staring at me, clearly confused about what the hell I was doing.
I ignored her for now.
I walked straight to the most damaged part of the room.
"Dora! Dora! Dora!"
My Stand's fists flew, slamming into the broken walls. Every punch undid the destruction, the cracks disappeared like they'd never there before.
Broken furniture also snapped back into place.
After about a minute, everything was patched up as if nothing had happened at all.
"Was that Time Magic?" Reze asked as she walked up to me, her steps light but her eyes locked on the repaired walls. She looked genuinely intrigued by how I'd fixed everything.
"Nope. But similar principle. It's hard to explain," I answered, not exactly eager to tell her that a literal humanoid Hulk was standing behind her. Not like she'd believe me anyway.
I glanced over at the Stand, and it stared right back at me.
I'd always thought it would be amazing if you could actually talk to your Stand back when I watched JoJo. But in reality, it wasn't possible—they were just extensions of yourself. Although there were exceptions where a stand had their own consciousness, this one did not.
I deactivated Josuke templated and the stand disappeared.
I shook my head, brushing off those pointless thoughts.
"Anyway… shall we head to bed?" I offered her my hand with a calm smile.
I swear I had no ulterior motives. Not tonight, at least.
Her eyes flicked down to my hand. For a second, she just stared, her expression unreadable.
"Y-yeah… let's go to bed," she finally said, her voice a little too quiet. Then she caught herself and straightened up, her face turning serious. "But I'm warning you—if you try anything funny…I'll kill you."
I couldn't help it. My smile widened a little.
"I'm a gentleman. I wouldn't dare do such a thing," I said, my tone calm.
And I meant it.
…Although Makima was definitely an exception.
***
Reze and I walked to the bed and lay down next to each other. It was a king-sized bed, so there was enough space for both of us. That didn't make things any less awkward.
"Tell me about yourself, Reze. How did you end up under Makima?" I asked, hoping to ease some of the tension between us.
She glanced at me, clearly unsure.
"As if I'd tell anything to her dog," she muttered.
So she really thinks I'm just Makima's pet. That makes sense. It looks that way from her side; she doesn't know the full story.
Am I ready to trust her? No. But I can share things that won't matter if she tells.
"I'm not her dog," I said, resting my hands behind my head as I got comfortable on the bed. "She finds me…interesting. I still don't know what she wants from me."
Reze looked at me from the corner of her eye.
"Well, seeing how she was showering you with affection, that says otherwise. I've never seen her act like that with anyone. Not once."
She tried to sound indifferent, but the crack in her voice revealed something—maybe confusion, maybe annoyance.
She isn't ready to open up. She doesn't trust me yet. I get it. To her, I'm just some guy thrown into her life.
"At least tell me what you know about Makima," I said, letting my tone become a bit more serious. That was the real reason I started this conversation.
I needed information on Makima.
Reze exhaled slowly.
"She's a high-ranking officer in the Supernatural Public Safety Bureau. From what I've seen, she basically is the organization. Everything goes through her. She has a lot of power over Japan's supernatural world. Everyone bows to her except the Shinto Pantheon."
Then she turned toward me, her voice low and deliberate.
"Aleks, as your partner, I'm warning you—keep your guard up. She's dangerous."
"Thanks for trusting me with that information. I'll keep it in mind," I said, my tone genuine. She wouldn't say something like that if she were truly Makima's pet.
I would know better. I was always good at reading people. That's the whole reason I picked Psychology as my major in my previous life.
Unbeknownst to us, Reze's pet hamster had been silently listening to our entire conversation, twitching its little nose.
***
The morning sun rays pured in through the window, stretching across the room. I slowly opened my eyes — 6:50 a.m., confirmed by the digital clock glowing faintly on the wall.
I felt…heavy. Like something — no, someone — was pressing against me. I felt arms wrapped loosely around my neck, and soft breath on my collarbone.
I tilted my head slightly to confirm.
Reze.
She was cuddling me in her sleep. And worse? I was cuddling her back.
Our legs were slightly tangled with mine, and her forehead rested against my neck as if it belonged there.
God… she looked so peaceful. So beautiful in her sleep. The way her hair fell slightly over her face… and that damn choker just made it worse for me.
In this moment, she looked… gentle.
And now I was frozen — not because I was scared, but because I had no idea what the hell I was supposed to do.
Wake her up?
Pretend as if nothing happened and stay asleep?
…Maybe just five more minutes?
I sighed and carefully lifted her arms off me, then got up from the bed.
"Nghmm…" Reze mumbled in her sleep.
I looked at her one more time. She was cunning. Dangerous. And yet…beautiful. She was exactly my type.
Do I like her? I…did not know.
Why am I lying to myself? I do..like her.
But I had to focus on earning her trust first.
A partnership without trust meant nothing. Still, if she felt safe enough to cuddle me unconsciously…then maybe she did trust me. At least a little.
I didn't overthink it. I'd let time work its magic on us.
And this time, I promised myself—no matter what it took, I would never let Makima control her life again.
I would never let her ruin you, Reze.
***
I went toward the bathroom and got ready in my Public Safety uniform.
Now it was time to make preparations for my first mission.
What am I talking about? Well, I was thinking of assimilating traits from characters that would benefit me right now.
I was careless enough not to do it yesterday when I had the chance—not like it would have changed anything, since Makima is clearly way stronger than me…at least for now.
I had two aspects to focus on to make my base stronger:
Talent, and Physical Traits.
I did not focus on other aspects because these two were more important to me right now.
Both are self-explanatory. Initially, I did think about assimilating the intelligence of characters like Light Yagami or Batman.
But…I chose not to. Even with the benefits it would bring me, I risk losing my identity over time, and even the blessing wouldn't prevent that—because I would be willingly choosing to assimilate that trait.
When inheriting an intelligence trait—let's say from Light Yagami—I wouldn't just gain his way of thinking and processing information, but also his instincts and biases. Over time, it could influence my personality.
The best workaround was to focus on gaining mental talents instead. They had no such side effects.
But talent was talent in the end. It wouldn't make me some super genius or anything—but it was still better than nothing.
Not that I'm saying I'm dumb or anything. On the contrary—if that IQ test I took was actually professional and nearly 100% accurate, then I had an estimated IQ of 145.
I used to think I'd probably end up at MIT or something…but I never really tried that hard in academics. My goal was just to live a peaceful life. Pursuing Psychology was more of a hobby for me, not something I ever planned to turn into a career.
Over the next fifteen minutes, I brainstormed and weighed every option carefully. Each trait mattered—there was no second chance once I committed.
In the end, I made my choice.
For talents, I picked Johan Liebert's manipulation, L's lie detection instincts, Loid Forger's eidetic memory, and Bang's martial arts.
For physical traits, I chose Gojo's Six Eyes and Toji Fushiguro's superhuman physique.
Johan Liebert was the titular Monster of the anime and manga of the same name. It could be said he was the most manipulative character in all of anime.
His most insane feat was making the children and staff of Kinderheim orphanage turn against each other, resulting in a horrific massacre—while he simply watched it all.
This talent was necessary if I was going to get close to beings who embodied concepts themselves…like Makima.
Every other talent was self-explanatory. Bang's talent didn't just give me some shallow skill—it granted me his absurd martial arts genius, his instincts, and his muscle memory. Of course, it didn't mean I'd inherited all his knowledge. That part would be up to me. I would have to learn and perfect it myself.
The physical traits were game-changers. Toji's body was superhumanly gifted by birth, a result of his Heavenly Restriction. Now, I was no longer a baseline human. Just knowing that made me feel better.
Six Eyes was another story altogether. I didn't just gain its extrasensory perception. I gained the potential to control supernatural energies with ultra-precise mastery, not just limited to cursed energy of course.
It also granted me unprecedented situational awareness. That alone was enough to tip up the scales.
I was infinitely closer to perfection, and these were only my first steps.
I looked up instinctively.
"I'm not sure if you will return or not," I murmured, my voice low.
"But if you do…I will make you mine, goddess."
A faint smile pulled at my lips.
"After all…"
I felt my heart beat slow.
"How could I ever forget the one who made me like this?"
My benefector.
My beginning.
My 'lover'.
…and the last thing I will ever…
Conquer.
***
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Author's Note:
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