3.24. Deal With The Devil (Part 1)

Y/N didn't know what to do, after getting out of the taxi.

The driver had been unsure, confused about why Y/N had suddenly requested him to stop. He'd glanced at the map on his phone, before looking back at Y/N. "Are you sure this is where you want to get off?"

"Yes." Y/N had stepped out of the taxi, onto the small road they were using. His feet had met the edge, where plants grew through cracks in the concrete and struggled over the edge of the road. "Thank you." He'd paid much, much more than the fare - while it had been a long ride, Y/N had paid almost quadruple the amount courtesy of his parents.

The taxi driver had got the message. Take the money, and shut up. He nodded, counting the cash, and then the taxi had peeled away in a cloud of smoke and a sputtering noise.

Y/N stared around him.

Slap bang in the middle of Kochi Prefecture, far away from any major population centres, and surrounded by nothing but hills and forest for miles in each direction. The road Y/N stood on was small, overgrown with plants, nearly hidden behind greenery. No streetlights, no cars, no sign of humanity. The leaves above practically glowed, bright sunlight filtering through to tint the ground a light green.

It was a beautiful area. Trees surrounded the road on all sides, green hills barely visible through their foliage. A small dirt path led off the road, cutting a small line through the foliage.

Y/N followed it.

He barely had to go ten metres, trudging through dry soil and brushing away stray leaves, before he came to a clearing.

The forest gave way to grassland, a field of tall emerald strands going halfway up Y/N's thigh. He'd emerged into a sort of square area, with trees on the side he'd come from, and tall, steep hills forming three other walls. Two of them were cliffs of grey stone. The third was slightly different.

While the entire scene was beautiful, the building was anything but. Built into the hillside, it was unlike anything he'd seen. A block of solid concrete, no decorations except for a huge altar engraved into its side. And more strangely - only one window high up at the top, made from a darkened glass that Y/N couldn't see through.

This was Ascension.

As he approached, a door swung open in the side. Two men walked out, one in a lab coat, the other in a dark, almost military-like uniform. They waited patiently as Y/N approached.

And then Kuroi came from the door.

Y/N's eyes widened fractionally. He missed a step.

Kuroi smiled.

Just like before, it was a terrifying smile, all teeth, no humour. He stood there, an imposing figure compared to the two men either side of him. Black gelled hair, dark eyes, and a suit - he looked exactly like he did before. In the previous Ascension.

As Y/N walked closer, he realised something. Kuroi's nose... wasn't broken. It looked fully healed, not even crooked. Like Y/N's little rebellion, the ball he'd sent smashing into the man's nose, it did nothing. It was pointless.

Y/N walked right up to Kuroi, hiding the feeling of centipedes crawling around his stomach. He was scared, but at the same time... he was too desperate to acknowledge that. He didn't care about Kuroi. He didn't care what he'd done to him in the past - what he might do in the future. He just... he wanted Kuroi to train him. Staring up at the man, he cocked his head. "Hi."

"Hello."

The man's voice was smooth, with that signature soft, dangerous lilt. Kuroi smiled down at him, lips moving, teeth bared like some feral animal. "It's nice to see you again, little godling."

"Sure."

"Why are you here?" Kuroi already knew the answer. Y/N knew he did. But it was just like the man to ask, playing some stupid game Y/N never could understand.

Y/N didn't have a choice, though. He needed his help. He needed to win. He needed to feel free again.

"I... need your help."

"No."

The answer was immediate. Y/N froze. What? Kuroi stared down at him.

"W-what?" He hadn't expected the man to say that.

Folding both powerful arms across his chest, Kuroi's voice grew darker. His eyes never left Y/N's. "I said no."

Y/N's chest tightened painfully. I need him to train me... With a shaky voice, desperation rising, he managed to speak. "W-why...?"

"You betrayed me, godling." Kuroi flatly replied. "You pushed your dearest creator aside, to go off with Ego Jinpachi, of all people?"

"I..." His throat dried up. I know... I'm sorry. I just wanted... I wanted to feel free! Is that too much to ask?! I'm so, so, sorry... Y/N shook his head, forcing out breath after breath. Kuroi couldn't turn him down... he was his only chance. I need him to be happy. "P-please."

"What was that?" Kuroi leant closer to Y/N's mouth, beckoning with a hand. "Say that again."

"P-please, Kuroi." Y/N murmured. "Please... help me."

"I don't think I will." Kuroi spoke quietly. Y/N's eyes widened with terror. He shook his head faster, clasping hands together as he stood at the mercy of his old creator. The other two men watched silently, one of them with mild interest, the other one with curiosity.

"Please... I'll do anything..." Y/N stammered. "Please, I'll- I'll play for you. I'll obey you. I'll let you do whatever you want to me, just p-please help me... help me get stronger..."

"Anything." Kuroi raised a hand, grasping Y/N's chin. One thumb stroked just below the boy's bottom lip. He tugged Y/N close to him, hot breath on his trembling lips. His voice was quieter. "Where was this... obedience during the U-20 game? When it actually mattered?"

Y/N's voice grew panicked, frantic. "I'm sorry...! I just- I don't know, I'm sorry, I just want to be h-happy... Please, help me. Train me." Kuroi didn't immediately reply, fueling his desperation. "Please. Save me. I don't care how you do it, just help me."

Kuroi let that hang in the air. Y/N only grew more desperate.

"Fine." He replied. Y/N's spirits raised with hope. "How about this. I train you. You play for me, follow me. And, in two weeks, just before the NEL restarts, you make a choice."

"C-choice...?"

"I will give you two options, Y/N. And you will choose one of them." Kuroi dropped Y/N's chin, and held out a large hand. Some kind of twisted satisfaction glinted in his eyes. "Do we have a deal?"

Y/N snatched hold of Kuroi's hand like it was a lifeline. He nodded, leaning forward so that his forehead rested against Kuroi's sleeve. And when he spoke, it was scratchy with gratefulness. "Y-yes... thank you."

"Thank me with your loyalty." Kuroi muttered. He turned, Y/N clinging to his sleeve like a small child, and disappeared into the facility. The two men waited outside for a second longer, before they too went inside and the door slammed shut behind them.

🥕🥕🥕

This was a mistake.

Y/N bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, tasting metal.

Walking through Ascension was a literal nightmare. Small, cramped concrete corridors... one way glass everywhere, and sunken eyes in the faces of every person they passed. Nobody approached Kuroi, staff and people alike shrinking away from him, casting nervous looks at Y/N.

It was a version of hell. As soon as they'd walked through the door, that's what it felt like. A hell of claustrophobic, cramped tunnels and rooms, watched over by demons dressed in medical uniforms and guard outfits. Some of them held medical equipment. The larger majority had weapons, ready to use against terrified sinners.

Already, Y/N was regretting his choice. Why had he chosen to come here? Why had he begged to be let in?

Had six years of the outside world made him forget how bad this place was? That had to be the case. Right? Why... why did he come here?

Every corridor, every room he passed, that feeling grew. Why did I come here...? Am I really so desperate...? I didn't think straight, fuck... this place is what made me like this in the first place! Y/N's hands trembled at his sides.

The subjects weren't kids, like before. Weren't all kids. Instead, Y/N saw older people, hunched and grey-haired. He saw adults, faces drawn and serious. And he saw teenagers like him, the majority of them casting suspicious, harsh looks at him. Some of them looked fully human. Others...

It was clear whatever Kuroi was doing here, it wasn't kind to the body.

Y/N's eyes flickered quickly from person to person, trying to not see any details as he walked past. If he did, he wasn't sure if he could stop himself from being sick right there and then. Yet, he still caught glimpses, tiny flashes of suffering under bright white light. Popped veins. Inhuman growths. Loose, hanging skin. Eyes running with blood.

Kuroi must've seen him looking. He laughed quietly under his breath, making everyone around him immediately seize up with terror. Y/N, despite his previous bravado, gulped as the man spoke.

"Trying new drugs always has an effect on the body. Last time, we exercised a... bit more caution. But now...?" Kuroi's sneer was white in the dim lighting. "Well, progress requires sacrifice. And faster progress requires more sacrifice."

Y/N's throat clammed up. He couldn't do anything but follow, follow this devil through his very own personal hellscape.

And eventually, they reached a free room. Y/N stopped in the doorway, as Kuroi walked into it.

Y/N stared.

It was a cold, open concrete room.

One of the first ones he'd ever been in. Everything was cruelly, purposefully laid out exactly how Y/N had remembered it last - laid out exactly the same as the nightmare he'd had before the game against the World Five.

Five rows of ten plastic chairs. A fake, slouched dummy sat in each of them. Y/N's eyes widened with horror. The dummies were made to look like children, like the same children that had sat in the room with him so long ago. The same children that had been with him in the previous Ascension.

Only there were differences. Ripped out eyeballs leaking white stuffing. Holes in stomachs, printed guts visible through torn clothing. Broken limbs, bones jutting through skin as arms and legs rested in inhuman positions. Wide, open mouths, frozen in silent screams-

Y/N blinked furiously, trying to unsee the image. There was one empty plastic chair, at the front row, maybe the third or fourth chair along. Y/N's head spun with nausea. That was my chair. I sat there.

In front of that chair, was a medical bed. A single doctor stood next to it, blue and white scrubs covering his entire body head to toe. With a face mask, and goggles, and a hair cap, he didn't look human. He looked like a monster. And, the same as it was six years ago, a rack of needles was positioned next to the bed.

Y/N fought to maintain his composure, not daring to look at Kuroi. "W-why...?"

The man's laugh echoed from the walls. "You think you've changed, don't you? All high and mighty. I just wanted to remind you where you come from, little godling."

"I-I didn't need this. This... sick film set." Y/N spat.

"Take a seat." Kuroi ignored what he'd said. "You know where."

Y/N did know where. He'd sat there, child's fingers gripping the bottom of the chair just before a needle was stuck in his neck. The shaking in his hands grew. He stayed in the doorway.

"Take a seat." Kuroi repeated.

Y/N didn't move. His eyes fixed on the doctor, the needle, the hellish scene that had been dreadfully recreated in front of him. Kuroi sighed.

"Y/N." His words compelled Y/N forwards, forcing him towards the chair. Y/N took a few steps, then stopped.

"Take."

Y/N's hands shook.

"A."

He squeezed his eyes shut as tight as possible. Blood droplets danced across the inside of his vision.

"Seat."

And Y/N sat in the chair. Right between the caricature of a young boy, an open wound in his chest showing bloodied ribs, and a young girl, a gash running across her face from above one eye, to her chin. He steeled himself. They're just dummies.

Kuroi nodded, pleased. Y/N wanted to be anywhere but there. The plastic was hard, and uncomfortable. Like he had done years ago, his fingers gripped the bottom of the chair so hard they turned white.

"Now. Get up, and lie on the table."

Y/N's eyes drifted to the table. A sheet of white paper, spotted with red. White-painted metal rails. A thin blue mattress. And lying on that mattress, was a body. The boy's eyes went wide with shock, and sudden fear.

It wasn't a dummy.

Thankfully, Y/N didn't have a good angle to see it. But he could make out the panicked, terrified expression frozen on the dead man's face, the pale colour of his skin, and the thin line drawn in crimson across his neck. A curtain of red stemmed from that line, dried streams covering the corpse's body.

Sweat broke out across Y/N's skin. He forced himself not to look.

"Asai." Kuroi hummed. "A former colleague of mine. Decided to show me up in front of clients, the fool."

Y/N's head swam. Blood built up in his brain, pulsed through his skull. It took some time for him to work up enough nerve to talk. "The table's occupied." His voice came out quiet, more like a whisper.

"Then move the body." Kuroi's voice grew harsher. Y/N flinched. He tried not to look at the corpse, at the blank eyes and slit throat and-

Y/N gasped for air, pounding at his chest. Kuroi shook his head, disappointed. "Move the body, Y/N."

"H-he's dead." Y/N choked.

"I know. That's why you have to move him." Kuroi replied. "Now, do it."

Y/N staggered to his feet. Staring at the ground, not daring to look up at the dead body on the table, Y/N inched closer to the table. The doctor moved aside, not saying a word.

He placed his hands on the body. Fought the nausea rising in him. Felt the shirt fabric under his palms. And he shoved.

"Good boy."

The corpse rolled off the table easily enough. Y/N didn't look. He just heard it hit the ground. And then he climbed onto the table himself in the place of the dead man. His hands couldn't support him, the shaking spreading up his arms.

The doctor was moving instantly. He worked fast, winding plastic strips over Y/N's wrists and ankles, securing his hips with a metal rod, and binding his shoulders to the table. Above, an even brighter light blinked on.

Y/N's breaths came hard and fast. He squeezed his eyes shut, his vision glowing with red.

This was a mistake.

Y/N barely had time to think that, before the doctor was pressing a needle into his skin.