Chapter 4: First Steps: Minor Enhancements, Minor Conflict

*Knock!* x2 

"Takashi? Are you awake?"

*Knock!* x2

"Wake up already. Don't you have a test today?" 

Each bang on the door felt obnoxiously loud. Loud, as if someone had slugged his head with a shotgun at point-blank range. It was loud and painful.

Raya's usually muffled soft voice from the other side of the door felt like a buzzing chainsaw revving into his eardrum. It was loud and annoying.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Takashi felt light-headed. His eyes fluttered open, flinching as the cool sunlight peeking from the curtains felt blinding. Takashi tumbled out of the bed as he grabbed the alarm clock. "What time is it? It's still 6 am!"

"What?! Are you on drugs?! It's 7:30!" 

"Oh, right. I broke this because it was annoying." Takashi mumbled as he threw the alarm on the bed. Takashi felt like he had overdosed again, the same feeling of discombobulation except there was no lingering taste of death on his tongue but just hazing confusion from experiencing sensory overload. "Drugs? Yeah, drugs right."

Takashi did go through treatment after all.

(A/N: I don't do drugs so I have no idea how and what an overdose feels like. What I have written is based on my research i.e. Reddit and medical websites. Also, don't do drugs.) 

Blinking a few times and adjusting to the light, his eyes landed on two injectors. One full, one empty. 

[Refined Melange Stim D1 (Empty) x 1

Refined Melange Stim D2 (Full) x 1] 

"Takashi?... Are you okay?" Raya's voice was finally bearable as Takashi shook his head. Grabbing the two injectors, he quickly stuffed them into his inventory as he heard the door open. "I'm entering."

"Hey! Don't just enter my room like that!" Takashi scolded turning towards the door, but Raya was already inside. "I'm not wearing a shirt!"

"Well, it's not like there is much to look at-" Raya's teasing smile froze as her eyes landed on her son's form. "T-Takashi?"

"What?" Takashi asked with an annoyed look. 

"You... You look healthy." Raya blinked owlishly as Takashi rolled his eyes. Raya could swear that Takashi looked visibly different than yesterday. Not only did he look different but even the aura around him had changed. 

"Geez, thanks, mom." Takashi turned replying sarcastically. Opening his cupboard and pulling a black tee over his head, he observed his abdomen and realised why his mom would be stumped. 

Gone were the black and blue bruises that marred his pale skin. He wasn't skinny anymore. Gone were his visible ribcages as his body exhibited a healthy amount of fat and muscle one can expect on the body of a person who does some light exercise. His skin was healthy without any scars with the only exception being a slight cut on his cheekbone from last night. 

An exception Raya was quick to notice. 

"What... What happened to your face?! When-" Takashi was pleased to see that Raya was visibly worried about him and was finally out of her rutt. He only wished this overnight change in pace would have been gradual since her motherly affection and worry were a lot for him to swallow at the moment. 

"Calm down, mom." Takashi said putting his hands on Raya's shoulders. Although skinny, Takashi was above average in terms of height for kids his age as he was only an inch or two shorter than Raya. Takashi flashed a small, disarming smile as he patted her shoulders assuringly. "It's nothing mom. I just hit the corner of my bed. I was coming back from the bathroom and I was sleepy, I didn't see the carpet in the dark and just sort of tripped over it."

"You... You were lucky it was just your cheek and not your eye." Raya said with a worried look on her face while Takashi just smiled. She grabbed his cheek and pulled him in for a closer look. Takashi grimaced but didn't say anything, letting her calm her worries down. "This cut looks shallow. Did you apply anything? Why didn't you call me?"

"Antiseptic and bandage. The bandage kind of fell off in my sleep." Takashi replied. "It will heal before you know it."

The wound Takashi had on his cheek last night wasn't a shallow cut by any means. The attack had left a three-inch long cut and the area around the cut had turned black from the blunt trauma. It wasn't something that would heal overnight. Takashi was planning to fake a fall off the stairs but then had the idea to just make use of the MP he had amassed that night. 

Takashi scrolled through the endless list of crafting recipes for an hour straight, plummeting himself into a spiral of depression as he glossed over miracle drugs and technology he knew he wasn't in any position to afford at the moment before he finally made a decision.

[ Refined Melange Stims : 

The revolutionary scientist Dr Frank Herbert created 'Silver Spice' a.k.a Refined Melange Stim which would inevitably become the reason for his world's demise. The refined Spice-charged Bio-Chemical, when injected into the bloodstream of a human, stimulates every human cell in a palpitating manner forcing them to break down and regenerate, again and again, the drug paves the path to cellular evolution. After the initial effects have halted the stimulant will cure the body of any underlying disease and even help it regenerate at a steady rate to its peak. With the stimulant present in every cell as long as the body is stimulated over and over again it would keep improving. Other effects may include regeneration, immunity to diseases, heightened senses, heightened physical and motor functions and even slow ageing. Additional or side effects besides death from overdose remain to be seen

Note: Dose 1 will stimulate and heal the body to its peak condition overnight preparing it for Dose 2. Dose 2 will add additional nutrients and supplementary drugs for the continuous production of drug within the body. 

Warning: Overdosing on the drug would lead to a horrific death.]

Takashi chose to spend 15k MP over spending 10-12k MP on instant regeneration pills each. Even though the healing rate was a bit slow for his comfort, he was confident it would be a huge investment over time. 

After his body reaches its peak condition and he receives his second dose, he could train his body past its limits. Additional to that, he would have immunity to viruses and much more. Takashi believed it was worth the potential risks.

(A/N: It's inspired by Spice from Dune. Don't think too much about the science, this is half sorcery anyway.)

"Well... Alright." Raya didn't look convinced but nodded nonetheless. "Freshen up and come downstairs, I've made breakfast."

"Wow. What a surprise." Takashi replied with a teasing smirk as Raya pinched his arm with an annoyed yet embarrassed look on her face. 

"Stop teasing your mother and just come downstairs." Raya replied with a small pout before storming downstairs as Takashi laughed. 

Walking into the bathroom, Takashi looked at his reflection with a smirk. 

"Ain't that something, Komuro?"

------

Headphones on, Takashi paid no mind to the looks he was getting. Passing looks of curiosity and surprise-filled his line of vision as he entered his classroom. Looking at his watch he noticed he was a few minutes early and nodded to himself. Scanning across the classroom Takashi promptly ignored Rei and Hisashi as he walked past them and settled himself in the back corner. 

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As soon as he settled down he heard a pair of footsteps approaching him and he sighed to himself.

"Hey, Toudo! Look who decided to show up." A generic-looking delinquent with dyed blonde hair and black earrings walked up to him with a wide grin on his face. Accompanying him was the tallest kid in the class and another generic-looking henchman. "Hey, wimp. Did you bring what I asked you-"

"How cliche." Takashi replied cutting him off as he looked at the blonde hair delinquent with a disappointed look. "I mean I should have expected it since it was HOTD but still dude, can't blame a boy for being hopeful."

"What are you on you bastard? Did you finally go mad?" The delinquent whose name was Kazu asked as Takashi just sighed. The delinquent extended his hand with a stupid smirk on his face. "Now, give me your money-"

"No." Takashi replied with a blank look. Takashi had expected something original since the Viv, had informed him that this world was going to be a mix of the various zombie-infested property so Takashi had his hopes high in all aspects but he should have known that the Zombies and the waifus were the highlights and the rest of it was just. "Trash."

"What the fuck did you-"

"I said no, trash." Takashi replied with the same blank look. Kazu gritted his teeth as he heard laughs and giggles around him. It was humiliating for him and to top it off, the blank look on Takashi, his favourite chew toy was pissing him off even more. 

"Did you forget just how I fucked you up?!" Kazu's short fuse blew up as he grabbed Takashi by his collar and pulled him up. "Give me your fucking money or beat the shut out of you again!"

Takashi just looked at him with a blank look before smiling at him. 

"What the fuck is so funny-"

"Goodmorning, teacher." Takashi said politely looking past him as Kazu's eyes widened in horror. "Well, as you can see Kazu is bullying me-"

"No! No! This isn't what it looks like... Teacher?" Kazu hastily let go of Takashi's collar as he turned around to defend himself only to come face to face with no one. "What-ack!"

"What a retard." Takashi scoffed as he grabbed by the hair and banged his face onto his desk. The whole classroom was almost petrified with shock as Takashi instead of letting go of Kazu, raised his head and slammed it onto his desk, again and again. "Pain isn't pleasant is it?"

By the time Takashi was done, Kazu had already passed out from a viciously broken nose and possibly a cracked skull. Letting go of Kazu, the unconscious delinquent fell onto the floor as Takashi took out his handkerchief and wiped the blood off his desk before walking toward Todou and grabbing his balls and squeezing them painfully.

"Ahhh-ack! W-What are you doing?!" Todou managed to squeeze out as Takashi just smirked to himself. 

"I just wanna pop." Takashi said as Todou's complexion turned pale and almost every other male covered their legs instinctively. "Do you want yours to pop?"

"N-no! No! P-Please, God no! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! We just wanted the money!"

"Haven't I given you enough? Should I break every bone in your body for each yen I gave you? Aren't you gangsters? Don't you like to act all hunky and shit? Well, come on then." Takashi encouraged as Todou shook his head frantically. 

"W-We won't! I won't ask for money again! I swear to God! I swear-ack!" Todou almost passed out from the pain as Takashi almost popped his balls. He sighed in relief as Takashi let go of them, but the relief was short-lived as he felt a sharp jab hit him right in the face. "Ugk!"

Todou fell on his butt, gripping his mouth as he felt blood on his tongue.

"Kids should act like kids don't you agree? You stop acting like gangsters and I'll stop with my hands. Fair?" Takashi proposed as Toudo nodded frantically. "Good. Now, drink some water and sit down while I dispose of the body-Oh! I mean help my classmate get to the infirmary."

Takashi grabbed the passed-out Kazu and carried him on his back. He walked across the silent classroom without a care towards the door. 

"Goodmorning, children-Oh my God! Takashi what happened?!"

"Goodmorning teacher. This? Well, Todou and Kazu were playing and Kazu tripped over the chair and broke his face I think. I was talking him to the nurse since everyone else is just petrified seeing so much blood."

"Todou! How many times have I told you-ugh! You wait here! Takashi let me help you carry Kazu!"

"Thank you, teacher." Takashi smiled but not before glaring at the class. 

They gulped as they knew what it meant. It was simple.

Keep your fucking mouth shut and sewed if you don't want it to break.

The class full of petrified students were finally relieved of their spell as Takashi left along with the Teacher. 

"Just what the fuck happened?!"

"Did he finally go mad?! I think he just broke!"

"Of course he did! Anyone would go crazy from the shit they did to him!"

"B-But still! He doesn't seem like Takashi at all! I don't know about you guys but I'm staying the fuck away from him! Your double dog dares can go fuck themselves!"

"Me neither!"

"I'm staying out of trouble man!"

Everyone in their classes had their opinion, they were just guessing since no one knew Takashi except for three people. One was absent while the two were confused and scared. 

"H-Hisashi... Just what happened?"

"I... I don't know. But it feels like he had changed. A lot." 

"What do you mean? He was normal two days ago.

"Something must have happened because... he isn't the Takashi we know."

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