My Nihilism Got Me Laid?!

Lying on my back, I scroll on my phone. I can't help but chuckle as a video of a cat being silly plays.

"Oh, fuck, GRAVES!!"

Giving a half assed effort, I lightly slap Noctiva's ass. "Hmm, that feels really good, Noctiva." I say, distracted.

She grabs my phone, "You screenager! You're having sex with the closest thing to a goddess and you're on your phone! Praise me!"

With a sigh, I turn off my phone and toss it aside. "I'm sorry, your majesty." if you get paid minimum wage, it only makes sense to give minimum effort. Im getting paid nothing, thus, I give nothing. "That ass is to die for."

She crosses her arms. "You simpleton! That's to- too barbaRiiCC! OOoh."

I was going to head to bed early, then Noctiva lunged at the opportunity and my crotch.

Mercury appears in our room like a phantom. "Ms. Novak, the Shogu-" He looks up to see our... party? "You foreigners just do it anywhere, don't you?"

Despite having an unexpected visitor, Noctiva continues bouncing up and down. "Ye- yea, Gravy, keEP- It in YouR PANTSS! Oh- FuccCCkkKKK YEsSS!" She arches her back as she lets out a cry of ecstasy.

Dissiri Yanks up her leggings as she shakily aims her pistol at Mercury. "The fuck do you want?"

He snickers before bowing. "Phalenx Shogun wishes to speak to you."

Noctiva is still bouncing up and down as she whimpers. "O- okay, give us, 5 mi- 10 minutes."

*****

Having cleaned ourselves up, we head over.

Despite being raised in the suburbs, it's never been my thing. But, there has always been one advantage, when you get away from the city, you get to see the stars. Without the pollution that fuels our existence, the stars can breathe; creating one of nature's most beautiful pictures.

"Disappointing, that's the only word that could possibly describe you."

"Father, please! Just tell me!"

"Why would I waste my time helping you?"

The three of us stand on the side of the room, before us is the Skeletal Shogun, and... Riven.

So, she's the daughter of that reaper; can't say I'm surprised, they both had the same last name, Phalenx.

"You take your mother's life and you still end up at the bottom. Ungrateful! Thoughtless! Useless!" His words reverberate off the walls like a war drum.

Noctiva watches with concern, yet likely realizes intervention will only worsen things. Meanwhile Dissiri only cares for her Noctiva's safety, which left...

only me...

Fortunatly Mercury emphasizes his cough to reaffirm our presence.

The shogun slowly tilts his head back, his eyes are dead, like the fog in a graveyard. His glance causes the three of us to flinch, lurching back I struggle to breathe.

His expression eases as he releases his grip from Riven's collar, dropping her to the ground.

She lies there, with tears on her ground and a bruise on her cheek; once her gaze lands on me, her eyes widen with an indescribable expression, a storm of suppressed feelings.

"Thank you for coming; I was told that Mercury interrupted your private time and for that, I apologise."

Riven picks herself up; holding her cheek, she quickly walks past us as tears stream down her face.

I want to say something, to do something... But I don't.

"The reason I called you here today was to invite you to our annual event."

"Yay! An event! Like the chunin exams!"

"Yes, that is exactly what it is."

"Wait... really!?"

"I must warn you..." His eyes narrow, his deadly glare suffocates any possible hope. "This is no movie, no special effects. What you will see will be nothing but the truth. In that, I must ask if you fear the truth?"

"No way! I'm so ready! I love the truth." Even Noctiva is acting strange, she's overcompensating for her energetic personality, her words sound panicked.

I don't think Noctiva actually knows what he means by that, but it doesn't matter, she's not taking part in the test, so there's no risk for her. Even so, it seems Dissiri got the message loud and clear as she has yet to take her hand off the pistol holster.

"Well, if that's all, then we should probably head back, my henchman is a bit of a bed bug, so he needs his beauty sleep."

"Nonsense, please, enjoy dinner with me."

With a snap of his finger, an array of dishes are brought out, tables set out by various gray suited ninjas.

Kneeling down at the low table, trays of sushi are presented before us. Meanwhile, the shogun sits at the head of the U shaped table setup.

My fucking knees are killing me! How do people sit like this?!

The room is silent, filled only by the sound of us eating, the chewing of the fish, and the uneasiness of previous events.

Noctiva decides to finally break the silence. "I dont know if it's offensive to ask, you know now a days with politics and all that; but how did this village come to be?"

"Theres no offense at all; in fact, I am quite proud of our resilient history. We cropped out this part of land in the mountains during WW2. When the government had turned their back on their own people, it became a safe heaven for the Japanese people who wished to escape the internment camps."

"While our techniques are more historical, we knew we couldn't match the military power of an entire country, yet we didn't plan on leaving our people in the hands of corrupt military officials. So, we trained ourselves to soften our steps. we became invisible."

"Wow! So you guys broke your friends out of the camps all sneaky like!"

"I've never heard the term sneaky like, but that's certainly one way to describe it. Unfortunately, the government eventually discovered this hide away; sending troops, our simple techniques were no match for firing squads. We were pushed to only a handful of people, as the government made the final push to stomp out the embers of rebellion, the war ended. Thus, the camps were taken down and our people were free. As reparations for their actions, your government bestowed this land upon us, allowing us to become a sovereign state."

"So this is like a mini Japan!"

The skeletal man lifts a finger. "But..."

"But?"

"The war let us see something. It changed something. We learned that we are only human, no matter what, a bullet will kill us, an unmanned drone could bomb us. So...

We became truly invisible."

Noctiva seems to have completely forgotten his abusive actions from earlier as she practically beams at him. "Super ninjas!"

"We call ourselves Polaris we are a gr-"

"And what of those who can't remain invisible?" I interrupt.

With wide eyes I cover my mouth. Why did I speak?!

Like a creaking machine, he slowly turns his death glare at me. "Those who can't remain invisible? I see, like a lightening bug... Well, that's simple; they are not one of us, they are our enemy."

It seems I've committed to dying tonight, as I continue talking. "Is it so wrong to be seen?"

He doesn't respond momentarily. "Do you know of the Acanthaspis petax?"

"...no?" Is that like a pokemon?

"It is a type of venomous bug. But they are just that, a bug, small and weak. So in order to survive, they must Camoflauge themselves. They don't do this by matching their environment or having a flashy appearance; their tactic is quite simple: they Camoflauge themselves as a graveyard, covering their body in the corpses of their past meals. That is how they survive. That is how we survive."

...

We are so dead.

****

We had finished dinner and returned to the room.

I know I should sleep, as tomorrow is the day that Riven is supposed to die, so I need to be fully alert, but, for some reason, I can't...

Its more like, theres something thats calling my attention.

Walking over to the other room, Riven is sitting on the patio in her usual spot.

I attempt to sneak over-

"I'm awake this time." She states dismissively.

"Oh..."

Sitting down beside her on the wooden patio, our legs swing out.

Attempting to make small talk, I awkwardly chuckle. "They have you doing guard duty a night before the test, brutal."

"It's not too bad, it lets me... make a plan for tomorrow." She still doesn't look at me, instead looking down at the ground. Her cheek is still bruised as her words are a mumble.

"I'm sorry; I should have done something."

She scoffs. "There's nothing you could have, or should have done. If anything, I was lucky to catch my father in a good mood."

"That was a good mood?"

...

...

She's no longer that carefree and cheerful woman from yesterday, her words sound realist, her expression a blank stare. "You can just say it. I know you're curious how I killed my mother."

"Well... I wasn't going to say anything, but it does seem a little... uncharacteristic of you."

"It's not as dramatic as it sounds, during my birth, my mother contracted a disease. The exhaustion of having a child prevented her from being able to fight of the disease. That's why, a mistake was born at the cost of an angel."

...