Chapter 13: Commander of the Ido Clan

                        A few days have passed since the fight with against the Kambios, it’s now Friday. On this bright morning a man around his mid-twenties with black spiky hair with a few dark purple highlights, he has a pair of glasses and has a nicely kept trimmed scruffy beard, carrying around what appears to be a spear with its tip covered in a shroud walks the streets of Lemuria. Abruptly this man stops in front of Nakahiro High and begins to feel a strange feeling of nostalgia, as he stands there he says to himself; “This place…have I been here before? Heh, probably an old girlfriend or something.”

                        The man heads inside the school, walking around, with almost all of the students noticing his covered up spear, he passes by the gym and stops to think. “Hm? What is this I’m feeling? It’s a few people with high Spirit Force, it’s coming from inside there.”

                        He enters the gym and finds Lloyd, Yumi, Kirisu and Kazumi, both Yumi and Kazumi are sitting on a bench, Yumi wearing a plaster on her left arm, Kazumi is holding up a mirror towards Yumi as she plucks her eyebrows with her good arm, Lloyd and Kirisu have bokkens in their hands.

            “Hey Kazumi, you want to go to a movie later?” Kirisu asks.

            “Sure, come pick me up after work.” Kazumi replies with a smile.

            “Sweet.” Kirisu says raising his right hand in excitement.

                        Lloyd and Kirisu begin sparing as Yumi and Kazumi cheers them on.

            “Don’t be such a loser Lloyd, beat his a*s!” Yumi shouts.

            “Don’t listen to her, Kirisu take him down!” Kazumi says laughing.

                        Kirisu and Lloyd continue their sparring until Lloyd for a moment glances at the entrance of the gym and sees the man with the spear standing there.

            “Yo man, you know you can’t bring real weapons to school grounds, right? And you’re not supposed to be here either.” Lloyd says.

            “Oh really? I wonder why I wasn’t stopped in the streets by the cops then. I suppose a janitor can stop me for coming in armed into a school.” The man says sarcastically widening his smile.

            “Who might you be?” Kazumi asks.

            “Me, the names Shou.”

            “What brings you here?” Kirisu asks warily.

            “My feet.” Shou replies with a smile.

            “Hahaha, good one.” Lloyd says laughing.

            “Seriously, I just felt drawn to this school when I passed by, I feel like I've been here before, not really sure though.”

            “Drawn? Weird.” Kirisu says.

            “It’s even weirder that you’re short, not that many dwarves when it’s not Christmas.” Shou says laughing.

            “I’ll show you who’s short!” Kirisu says angrily unzipping his pants.

            “A boner doesn't count as personal growth you know?” Shou asks smiling.

            “What's with the covered up lance?” Lloyd asks pointing at Shou’s spear.

            “It’s not a lance genius, it’s a spear, you two seem like agile fighters; you guys want to spar?” Shou asks still smiling.

            “Sure, who’ll go first?” Kirisu asks looking at Lloyd.

            “We’ll play rock, paper and scissors to decide.” Lloyd says raising his left hand.

            “Nah, why don’t both of you come at me at the same time, maybe I’ll break a sweat.” Shou says.

            “Alright.” Kirisu says shrugging his shoulders.

            “Have it your way.” Lloyd says walking towards Shou.

            “Don’t worry; I’ll go easy on you, since you got wooden swords.” Shou says.

                        The fight goes underway; Lloyd and Kirisu stand in fighting stance as Shou readies himself holding his spear with both hands pointing it at them.

            “Piece of cake.” Lloyd says with a smirk.

            “Do I look that delicious?” Shou asks sarcastically.

            “Haha, let’s start.” Lloyd replies.

                        Kirisu swings first, Shou easily blocks with the tip of his spear, Lloyd sees an opening and decides to take it, but Shou quickly blocks him with the bottom of the spear, Shou then hits them both at the same time with the center part of his spear therefore pushing them back. Kirisu then thinks to himself. “He’s kind of skilled, but he’s no Zero, we can definitely beat him.”

                        Shou starts to swing his spear around making many rotating moves showing off some of his skills, wielding his spear he’s able to hold off both of them easily, both Lloyd and Kirisu evades the tip the spear. Shou thrusts and swung his spear through every direction, Kirisu and Lloyd keeps blocking, their wooden swords bouncing off from the spear giving Shou more speed to hit repeatedly. Kirisu decides to take a risk, Shou thrusts forward, Kirisu dodges and jumps on the spears tip, running on it without losing balance until he kicks Shou right in his chest. Lloyd speedily takes the opportunity that Shou is still stunned to run and slide through the floor, sliding under him, kicking Shou upward sending him flying up and landing solid on the floor with his back. Lloyd holds his wooded sword close to Shou’s throat as he’s still on the floor. Shou smiles and stands up defeated; he dusts his left shoulder with his right hand and says. “Well… I underestimated you guys, me trying to be the nice guy and go easy on you.” He picks up his spear from the ground.

            “Cocky son of a b***h.” Kirisu says annoyed.

            “Haha, yeah right, anyways, you’re pretty good there old man.” Lloyd says smirking.

            “Hahaha, you kids aren’t too shabby yourselves.” Shou says covering his spear with the mantle.

            “Really?” Lloyd asks curiously.

            “It's so difficult when people take me seriously.” Shou says smiling.

            “Huh?” Kirisu makes a confused expression.

            “You guys suck!” Yumi shouts.

            “Where’d that come from?” Lloyd asks looking towards Yumi.

            “Only one guy and he gave you trouble.” Yumi says shaking her head.

            “Shut up!” Lloyd yells irritated.

            “It's nice to see you all getting along so well.” Shou says grinning.

                        Just then, Seshiro and Kyoshi come through the door of the gym.

            “Hey guys what�"” Seshiro cut himself off, noticing the man with the spear; he quickly recognizes him and says. “Commander Shiranui! What are you doing here!?”

            “Commander Shiranui?” Lloyd asks puzzled.

                        Shou makes a shocked expression; he hastily runs towards Seshiro and grabs him by his shoulders and asking desperately. “You actually know who I am? Please tell me!”

            “Huh? He’s so different all of a sudden, unlike his sarcastic comments from a second ago.” Yumi says.

            “Huh? Are you okay commander?” Seshiro asks worried.

            “Please tell me! Four years ago I woke up and noticed I was suffering of memory loss, please; I want to know who I was, where I’m from, everything!” Shou says desperately.

            “Commander… I can’t believe it…  I’m sorry, but I’m not prepared to talk right now, it’s that it reminds me of something horrible that happened in my past… When I’m ready, I’ll tell you…” Seshiro frowns.

            “I guess I can wait a little longer…” Shou sighs.

            “Thanks for understanding.” Seshiro says.

                        The party splits up, hours pass by and school is finally over, Kazumi and Kirisu are at a shrine with an upward long stair case; there are a lot of cherry blossom trees, their bright pink petals in full bloom.

            “I've never had a student, so let me think what I should do now.” Kirisu says raising his head up and thinking.

            “Ok…?” Kazumi says confused.

            “Hm…” Kirisu keeps thinking.

            “Can we get started?” Kazumi asks.

            “Sure, today we’ll start simple, I’ll test your reflexes, strength, and speed, today will be more of an introduction really, so I’ll know where you need improvement.” Kirisu explains.

            “Alright.” Kazumi replies.

                        Kirisu reaches his pocket, taking out a baseball, he turns his back from Kazumi and starts walking away when all of a sudden he turns around and throws the ball at Kazumi. Kazumi startles, she reacts and dodges by docking.

            “Why did you do that?!” Kazumi asks angrily.

            “Your reflexes are good, but you’ll need a follow up move after you evade something.” Kirisu replies.

            “You could have at least let me know you were gonna do that.” Kazumi says still a little angry.

            “I’m sorry, well next we’ll do a running exercise.” Kirisu says.

                        They start running up the long stairs; Kazumi outruns Kirisu, he stares at her shocked. They run for an hour up and down the stairs, they stop for a break sitting on the stairs at the shrine, Kirisu hands her a bottle of water.

            “You did pretty well; you're a pretty fast runner.” Kirisu says amazed.

            “Thanks, I used to be in the track team; still you were pretty fast yourself.” Kazumi says giggling.

            “I used to walk a lot when I was younger.” Kirisu says looking down a bit sadden, Kazumi asks. “You mean……those six months when you were homeless?”

            “Huh? Oh no, after I met Sylvia, my adoptive mother, me and my new family had to walk a lot.” Kirisu explains.

            “You guys didn’t have a car?” Kazumi asks.

            “You could say that.” Kirisu replies.

                        Kirisu looks at her cat ears and points at them asking. “Umm… Kazumi, I always wanted to ask you, why do you wear those all the time? You like cosplaying or something? I never asked because I thought you would feel offended.”

            “Huh? Ohh, my cat ears, well… to tell you the truth…these are real.” Kazumi explains.

            “Ehhh? Hahaha, good joke, hahaha, yeah, I guess I can play along.” Kirisu says laughing.

            “Umm… Kirisu… when I mean they’re real…I really mean it.”

            “Oh… wait a minute… you mean to tell me that those are really real?” Kirisu asks pointing again her cat ears.

            “Yeah…” Kazumi says raising her hair from the sides, showing him she has no human ears, but hair growing there instead.

                        Kirisu stands up quickly very shocked widening his eyes.

            “But, but, how? It’s not possible! Is that some kind of birth defect? Or did your mom or dad do something weird with cat?” Kirisu asks still shocked.

            “No… both my biological parents had ears as well… but they always hit it with hats and other things… I never hit mine, so everyone thought they were fake…” Kazumi replies.

            “Stop me if I’m wrong, but are you telling me that a race of cat people exists?” Kirisu asks.

            “I’m not really sure… I think there has to be one, but besides my parents, I’ve never seen anyone else like me… I also have a tail, but I always hide it.” Kazumi says showing her orange colored tail.

            “Unbelievable…” Kirisu says staring at the tail.

            “I’m sorry I never told you… but if you don’t like it, maybe we should brea-” Kazumi is cut off, Kirisu placing his index finger on her lips.

            “Shh… Kazumi, never say that, I didn’t mean to freak out for a moment… your ears and tail are pretty, it doesn’t matter if we’re different, I still love you no matter what.” Kirisu kisses Kazumi, her tail wiggles slowly.

            “Kirisu, thank you, I love you too.” Kazumi says smiling.

                        Kirisu sits next to Kazumi, a few minutes pass, she then asks. “So what's the style you're gonna teach me?”

            “What do you mean?” Kirisu asks confused.

            “You know, what's the fighting style you're gonna teach me called?” Kazumi asks.

            “Oh, it’s called Kitsunebi Oni.” Kirisu replies.

            “Demon fire fox in Lemurian? Why do you use Lemurian language for your stuff?” Kazumi asks.

            “Haha, well, in the east, where I come from, Lemurian language is kind of the hit over there, with Lemurian samurai movies and anime among other things. They just love exotic things.” Kirisu explains.

            “Anywho, who taught it to you?” Kazumi asks.

            “I had three masters’ when I was growing up, the first being Sylvia, the second being my stepfather, Zin and the third was a man called J.S. he was previously the master of Sylvia’s father years before she was born, but anyways I guess I mixed a bit of everything I learned to make this style.” Kirisu says.

            “J.S.? Is he a man with long white hair with a pony tail?” Kazumi asks curiously.

            “Yeah, how’d you know?” Kirisu asks surprised.

            “I think my dad knows him, I saw a picture of him not too long ago.” Kazumi replies.

                        Kirisu and Kazumi stares at the cherry blossoms for a while, Kirisu stands up, then picking up two bokkens that are next to him, he gently grabs Kazumi’s hand, handing her the bokken.

            “Well, we’ll now test your strength.” Kirisu says.

            “Got it.” Kazumi says grabbing the bokken.

            “Kazumi, I have to warn you, everyday will be harder and much more difficult as you progress, you sure you want this?” Kirisu asks worried.

            “I’m sure, I already asked you for this, and so I’m not gonna stop.” Kazumi replies.

                        After a while training with wooden swords Kirisu stops and says. “Humph… I guess you’re not too good with your hands, but you might prove me wrong with your legs.”

            “My legs?” Kazumi asks with a surprised look.

            “Well, if you’re not good with your arms, I guess we can try your legs; maybe you’re more of a kicker than a puncher. Alright, I’ll show you some basic kicks, and then I want you to fight me using your legs.” Kirisu says.

                        Kirisu begins teaching her how to kick properly and even dodge using her legs, afterwards he begins the test. Kirisu throws a side kick, Kazumi blocks with a high kick. Kirisu is surprised, he then tries to throw a regular kick, but Kazumi stops him from kicking raising her foot a little thus stopping it. Kirisu makes a roundhouse kick which Kazumi ducks and kicks him in his stomach with a regular kick making him fall on the ground.

            “I’m sorry!” Kazumi says running towards him and bending down checking is he’s fine.

            “No, don’t apologize, that was perfect, I can’t believe that I only taught you the basics of kicking and you’re already this good. Alright, I’ll teach you all there is about kicking and dodging, hmm… what should we do about your hands, you need some type of hand offense, and you should be balanced.” Kirisu explains.

                        Kazumi then begins practicing her kicks, Kirisu sits down to think, and swiftly he comes up with an idea. “Right!”

            “Huh?” Kazumi stops practicing.

            “The best weapon for you is two guns.” Kirisu says.

            “Guns?” Kazumi says puzzled.

            “Yeah, I was picturing a weapon that would be great for a good kicker, if you learn to use guns then all you would have to do is pull the trigger, but if you have to fight at mid-range then you would still be able to use your guns at such a distance and use your legs primarily at that range.” Kirisu explains.

            “Sounds great.” Kazumi says.

            “We’ll keep training your kicks and dodges, but I’ll also teach you how to use a gun.” Kirisu says smiling.

            “Um… I also wanted to know umm… how to use powers like you guys do.” Kazumi says.

            “Powers? Well, for that you’ll have to learn to harness your Spirit Force…” Kirisu says.

            “Spirit Force?” Kazumi says tilting her head. 

            “Yeah, it’s using the power within you, learning how to manifest it is very important even if you don’t know how to control it at first, so we’ll start with that, then I’ll teach you how to control it… as for other powers, well, I’m sorry to say I don’t know about those.” Kirisu says.

            “It’s okay, I’m fine with Spirit Force.” Kazumi says smiling.

                        They keep on training, after finishing, they leave, a few hours pass, it’s now evening, Kirisu waits for Kazumi in the Aoi Kaze restaurant, she finishes her shift, without Kirisu knowing, one of the cloaked men is watching over him from the top of a building behind a giant sign.

            “Kirisu, I should take you down myself, but the higher ups would have my head if they knew…” The cloaked man says to himself gripping tightly the tube from the sign.

            “If they knew what?” A familiar voice says.

                        The cloaked man off guard, looks back quickly, he sees Zero sitting on the ledge of the building relaxing, stretching his arms and yawning, he then says. “Finally noticed me, so, you’re one of the cloaked guys that’s been spying on us, probably the same one that threw the dagger.”

            “Damn, Zero!” The cloaked man says angrily.

            “It also looks like you know my name; I think it should be fair that I know yours as well.” Zero says calmly.

                        The cloaked man takes off his black cloak completely to reveal himself; he has a wild hairdo, mostly spiky bangs all over his hair, he’s wearing a white shirt with a motif on his arm that looks like a strange cross, on his chest he has belt straps with two fancy daggers, he has long black pants and black military boots, but his most distinguishing feature is a tattoo that covers half of the right side of his face.

            “My name is Kuzan Fardeth.” Kuzan says staring at Zero.

            “Your scent… it can’t be, you’ve been with him!!! Where is he, tell me!” Zero demands extremely angry.

            “What kind of partner would I be if I snitched him out?” Kuzan asks standing still, not moving an inch.

            “A smart one, you would live another day if you cooperate.” Zero says standing up.

            “You talk as if you were stronger than me.” Kuzan says.

            “I know I’m stronger than you, you’re just a human. You together with him have unleashed all those demons up to now, you’re lucky I’m giving you an alternative.” Zero says walking towards Kuzan.

            “Not that you should really know, but the Kambios you fought were not summoned by us, even IF you did beat us there is still another person out there who knows how to summon demons.” Kuzan says.

            “What!?” Zero asks shocked.

                        Zero wastes no more time talking; he quickly grabs his sword. Kuzan readies himself and takes out only one of his daggers, Zero then thinks. “Only one dagger? This guy’s too confident; I’ll make him regret it.”

                        Zero slowly moves to the side keeping his eyes on him, Kuzan doesn’t move, keeping his eyes on Zero, Zero throws a powerful thunderbolt straight at him, Kuzan quickly hits Zero’s bolt of lightning with his dagger making the lightning blast burst and blurring Kuzan’s sight for a moment, when he looks up Zero comes with a downward slash, Kuzan barely blocks with his dagger. Kuzan kicks Zero’s leg making him steps back, Kuzan dashes towards Zero and begins to his assault; his fighting style looks like a beautiful dance, but deadly to the one blocking the hits. Back and forth, left to right, Kuzan seems to be fighting randomly, always aiming for a blind spot, Zero blocks every swing, but not countering back.

            “Damn, what’s this? Only with one dagger he’s giving me so much trouble, I better start getting serious! Not bad at all, it seems like I underestimated you, but not anymore!” Zero thinks.

            “You finally get the picture?” Kuzan asks seriously still attacking.

                        Zero slightly grins then gathers lightning through his whole body, then he says. “Raging Thunder!!!”

                        With a mighty upward swing he unleashes a devastating blow sending Kuzan flying, Kuzan lands on top of a thin metal bar coming out from the wall as he then jumps onto the very tip of the ledge of the building balancing with only one foot.

            “He could burst my lightning, he was able to survive my blast and he has an amazing balance, damn, this isn’t gonna be easy.” Zero thinks, quickly swinging his sword, none hit, but as he keeps swinging his sword, Kuzan runs towards him and with the tip of his dagger cuts the left side Zero’s ribs. Passed right by Zero’s left side cutting him Zero makes a one hundred eighty low kick making him trip while at the same time hitting Kuzan’s stomach with the sword’s handle. He lifts him upward and makes him let go of his dagger, when Kuzan lets go of his dagger Zero catches it in midair with his left hand still doing the one hundred eighty tunr and cuts Kuzan’s left ribs. With the force of Zero’s attack using the dagger Kuzan rotates and lands perfectly on the ground. With a big smirk on his face Zero keeps walking towards Kuzan, flipping Kuzan’s dagger up and down a few times and says. “Some people say an eye for an eye, but I prefer to say a rib for a rib.” Zero throws the dagger in front of Kuzan’s feet.

            “Damn you Zero!!” Kuzan shouts picking up the dagger from the ground. “You’ll regret this!”

                        Kuzan’s eyes fill with rage, he unsheathes his other dagger. Kuzan charges towards Zero furiously.

            “At last you’re making it worth my while.” Zero says.

            “Shut up!!!” Kuzan shouts angrily.

                        Kuzan begins to spin his daggers, his attacks are swift and Zero can’t keep up with him, Zero evades most them, but ends up getting hit in various places falling in one knee. As Kuzan is going to launch the final blow Zero quickly makes an upward slash, but Kuzan barely evades making a back flip.

            “Not so tough now Zero!” Kuzan says.

            “What, you mean this?” Zero says looking at his wounds in a funny sarcastic way. “All you did was ruin my favorite jacket. Now you’ll have to pay for it!”

            “Heh, it’s just as he said, you Kaizers are cocky as hell up until the end.” Kuzan says spinning his daggers.

            “That’s true, but you know what? The only one close to the end is you.” Zero says with a serious expression.

                        Zero and Kuzan charges towards each other blocking and evading hits, as they are fighting Kuzan keeps pushing Zero back with his attack until they are close to the edge of the building. Kuzan then makes a horizontal slash, Zero leans back evading the attack and falling off of the building while at the same time lifting him up with a kick taking Kuzan with him. As they are about fall Zero grabs the ledge of the building hanging with one hand while holding his sword with the other, Kuzan thrusts one of his daggers to the wall next to Zero, but one of his daggers slips from his hand. Zero takes the opportunity to strike once he sees the opening; Kuzan swiftly kicks up the dagger that slipped with the bottom of his foot and catches it just in time to block and counter the attack, scratching Zero’s face. Kuzan smiles and tries to give Zero yet another blow with his dagger, but Zero surprisingly blocks the attack by hitting Kuzan’s wrist with his knee; then giving Kuzan a solid kick in his left rib opening even more his wound. Zero jumps from the wall doing a front flip while sheathing his sword, still in midair halfway the front flip he extends his arms charging them with electricity and as he slams them together he shouts. “Lighting Flash!!!”

                        A huge beam packed with electricity comes out of Zero’s hands striking Kuzan and destroying part of the building. Zero smiles still in midair and says. “I told you that your end was coming.”

                        He looks at the building collapsing with a relieved look in his eyes, as the dust is about to completely disperse many small knives are thrown towards him at an amazing speed. Zero can’t evade still in midair and is struck with many direct hits sending him flying towards a wall and landing to what seems like a bridge. As Zero tries to stand while taking out the knives that are thrust in him Kuzan appears to be without a scratch says. “It’s ironic that this time you’re the one that ruined my clothes.”

            “What is this guy made of? I’ve hit him with all I have and he’s still standing!” Zero thinks to himself, he then says. “You should thank me; you looked like a fool with those clothes, I just did you a favor.”

                        Zero stands up supporting his body with his sword, a dark portal opens in the sky above Kuzan and the black cloaked man with wavy hair comes out of the portal.

            “What do you suppose you’re doing? Your orders were clear, were they not?” The cloaked man says with an irritated voice.

            “I’ll finish this guy first!” Kuzan says.

            “You were given another task.” The cloaked man says.

            “Mind you own business.” Kuzan says angrily.

            “That’s exactly what I’m doing, now let him be and continue with your mission.” The cloaked man orders.

                        Zero stares at the cloaked man with a shocked expression and shouts. “You! It is you! B*****d, I won’t forgive you; this time I’ll have my revenge!!”

                        Zero unsheathes his sword and begins to surround it with electricity, as he is about to unleash an attack the cloaked man says. “You Kaizers never know when to give up, don’t you see you already lost. Just go for a swim!”

                        The cloaked man throws a gigantic black blast of dark energy. Zero tries to block, but the black beam is too powerful hitting him with such a force that rips almost all of his clothes leaving him with only broken pants and destroying the bridge making him fall into the river. The current of the flowing river washes away the exhausted and injured Zero.

            “See, problem solved, now continue with your task.” The cloaked man commands.

            “Tsk, I could have done that myself! But you are aware that he’s still alive, right?” Kuzan asks annoyed.

            “I am aware, but I need him alive for my plans.” The cloaked man replies.

            “Hmm…” Kuzan stares angrily at the cloaked man.

                        Meanwhile, Shou, Seshiro and Kyoshi are walking together, trying to help Shou with his memories.

            “You don’t know anything at all, my family, friends, anything?” Shou asks.

            “Aside from Tesshu, I don’t know what happened to him after…” Seshiro replies.

            “After what?” Shou asks.

            “I’m sorry… I’m still not ready…” Seshiro says.

                        As they walk, in some river bank Zero’s sword is carried by the waves of the water in the shores of the city, a hand grabs the sword and it is none other than Zero.  He is covered with wounds all over his body, he begins walking walks, then he coughs water, he stops and after cleaning his mouth he says. “Now I’m one hundred percent sure that you’re here, your scent… I finally have a lock on it after all these years…now is when the hunt really begins!”

                        Zero keeps on walking; Kirisu and Kazumi are already on their date in front of a theater full with people, he and Kazumi are making the line to buy the tickets. Kirisu is amazed at how beautiful Kazumi looks, she is wearing a dark gray dress with her skirt just above her knees, her hair is tied up with a pin, he keeps glancing at her smiling and says. “Kazumi, I’m sorry about this morning.”

            “What do you mean?” Kazumi asks.

            “After I promised I’d be your instructor, I’m sorry that this morning I was being so hard on you.” Kirisu says lowering his head.

            “You weren’t, don’t worry.” Kazumi says smiling.

                        Kirisu holds Kazumi’s hand, back with the rest of the party, Kyoshi, Seshiro and Shou arrives at Lloyd’s apartment. Seshiro knocks the door, but no one answers.

            “They must not be here.” Seshiro says.

                        Kyoshi spins the doorknob and the door opens.

            “What the? The door is open?” Kyoshi says surprised.

            “Again, Lloyd left the door open; he normally does leaving the apartment in a rush.” Seshiro explains. “Let’s just go in and wait for him.”

                        They walk inside, the apartment is empty.

            “Hello, nobody home?” Kyoshi asks loudly.

            “Kyo, I’m pretty sure no one’s here.” Seshiro says.

            “I wonder where Ze-” Kyoshi is cut off, he leans back noticing Zero’s sword comes flying from the window, thrusting a picture of Lloyd along with the wall right next to where Kyoshi is standing. “What the…?”

                        Zero appears out of nowhere and leans on the window still injured, he falls hard on the floor, Shou widens his eyes looking at Zero.

            “Zero! Where were you, you’re all wet and injured? What happened?” Seshiro asks lifting Zero up and sitting him on a chair.

            “Let’s just say I went for a swim.” Zero replies.

            “You almost hit me!” Kyoshi shouts.

            “Heh, it looks like you swam with the sharks.” Shou says smiling.

            “You can say that again, huh, that voice!” Zero looks up to see Shou.

                        Zero widens his eyes, he stands up and runs towards Shou with a flying side kick, Shou blocks with his hand as Zero bounces back grabbing his sword in midair from the wall scratching it even more doing a three sixty horizontal slash, Shou quickly removes the mantle from his spear and blocks the attack. Unexpectedly dark flames start to come out from the spear and burn the picture that was thrust by Zero’s sword earlier.

            “!!! That spear…it’s…!!” Kyoshi says widening his eyes observing the spear.

            “You!” Zero says angrily.

            “Zero!!” Shou says smiling.

                        Zero collapses, kneeling down with some blood coming out of his mouth. Seshiro and Kyoshi looks at Shou implying it’s his fault.

            “What? I didn’t do that, I am not that fast!” Shou says panicking.

            “Tch, you were lucky again!” Zero says, standing up from the floor and walking over to a chair to lie down. “So, what do you all want? What is HE doing here?”

            “You seem to know Shou, he lost his memories four years ago. How do you know him?” Seshiro asks.

            “Really now? I’ve only met him once.” Zero replies.

            “What happened?” Kyoshi asks.

            “Three years ago I took on a job in Hydomin, an island far south east under this continent, the job was to take out a five Dantalian demons, they also hired Shou and I was told by the villagers that the hunter that hunts them down first get’s the prize. I went to kill off the first three demons; the last two were headed into the village. Shou ended up killing the last two in front of the villager’s and because of that, everyone believed that he had killed all five of them.” Zero explains.

            “……I saw a few demons at the time, especially in war zones involving Gen-Exis Corporation.” Shou stares at Zero.

            “Did you know Gen-Exis used demons in that war?” Zero asks.

            “That is only a rumor known by a few survivors, I was in the latest Asraelian war and I didn’t see a demon once, besides the whole existence of demons has become public recently, but as rumors and it’s is still not believed by the people.” Seshiro says with a serious expression.

            “That’s right, only recently has it become public, but demons have existed since before ancient times.” Zero says.

            “But that must mean if they have been around without people knowing then they used to be around in smaller numbers, right?” Kyoshi asks sitting down on a chair.

            “Jackpot, but not only that, for centuries they have passed unnoticed by using human form.” Zero replies.

            “So why do you have those wounds anyways?” Shou asks.

            “I fought one of those cloaked men a few hours ago; he was clearly from Gen-Exis.” Zero answers.

            “What?!” Seshiro widens his eyes.

                        Zero stands up and walks to the bathroom, taking some bandages from the shelf, as he walks he begins applying some bandages to seal his wounds, he sits again on the chair and begins explaining. “He was from Gen-Exis, he had a shirt with the insignia, and he also seems to be interested in Kirisu for some reason, I could tell he was human, but he was pretty strong for a human. He also said his name is Kuzan Fardeth.”

                        Seshiro widens his eyes in surprise and asks. “It can’t be! Does he have a tattoo across the side of his face?”

             “Yeah! How did you know?” Zero asks suspiciously.

            “… I guess I’ll have to reveal my past… Since this also concerns about Shou’s past and how I know Kuzan then… I'll start from the beginning.” Seshiro replies, he then begins reciting his past. “Before the Asrael war began, I was ten years old and living with my master, Satoshi Yamazaki, the fiercest and strongest hero in the country, I wasn’t his only apprentice, there was also Keiruso Yamazaki, which he as well was adopted and he was my rival in every way possible.

                        In between of the woods there was a house, it was rather big because of the big training platform on the side. The front part of it was well maintained, with not even a small patch of grass, there was only a roadway that leaded to the woods. A small Seshiro was standing beside another boy around the same age with black long hair slightly spiky, Satoshi was sitting on the ledge of the platform reading a book, the cover reads Ancelian Dynasty.

            “The one born of Ancelia, bearing the cold winter, shall rise from the dead. He shall pursue the planet, sacrificing the chosen, unleashing Ancelot's strength and govern over the land. He shall be eternal, bringing promise to Terra with power and grace.” Satoshi reads from the book.

            “You always read the same part master, why?” Keisuro asked.

            “Haha, you see, it is my favorite legend, Lemuria has many legends, but none like this one for it has many truths behind it.” Satoshi replied.

            “I never understood what Ancelia and Ancelot are.” Seshiro said wondering.

            “My young apprentice, you have much to learn, Ancelia is the old name for Lemuria, Ancelians being Lemurians nowadays, Ancelot is the accumulated mass of pure energy born from certain things, amongst them the planet and people. It is said to be so powerful, one would become eternal and rule the world.” Satoshi explained.

            “Would it end the war?” Seshiro asked curiously.

            “Of course.” Satoshi answered.

            “Will it happen one day?” Keisuro asked lying against the wall of the house.

            “Yes, once the chosen one appears.” Satoshi said.

            “What do you mean by chosen?” Seshiro asked.

            “Don’t worry about that, it’s just a legend.” Satoshi said as he smiled at the boys. “For now, just keep on training.”

                        Seshiro and Keisuro nodded at each other climbing on the platform readying themselves, they trained day after day, hours passed by, Seshiro was in his room looking out the window, Satoshi and Keisuro entered.

            “Seshiro, I will be going to the city for supplies as always, I’ll take Keisuro with me, you wanna go?” Satoshi asked.

            “Nah, I’ll stay.” Seshiro replied.

            “Alright, take care of the house while I’m gone, I’ll be here later, bye for now.” Satoshi said as he waved his hand slightly and left with Keisuro.

                        After a while, Seshiro headed outside and begins training on the platform, he trained for a few minutes, he then noticed someone coming from the woods.

            “Huh? Could it be master came back early?” Seshiro thought.

                        He then saw clearly that was not his master, but a hurt girl dressed as a ninja, Seshiro dropped his sword and quickly ran to her aid, she looked at Seshiro and fell unconscious on the ground, Seshiro swiftly took her to his room and tended her wounds, a while passed and she woke up, she seemed desperate to leave and got on her guard.

            “Calm down, you're safe here.” Seshiro said.

            “Who are you? Why did you save me?” The girl asked nervously still on her guard.

            “Well, my name is Seshiro Yamazaki and you fell unconscious in front of this house, and your name is?” Seshiro asked.

            “… Hitomi Kunihiro…” Hitomi replied.

            “What a beautiful name and may I ask what happened to you? Why are you hurt so badly?” Seshiro asked.

            “I was fleeing from some Gen-Exis soldiers that attacked me; I was able to get away...” Hitomi answered as she lowered her guard.

            “But why are they following you?” Seshiro asks.

            “Because Gen-Exis found out that the Ido clan was aiding the Finurian army for fifty pounds of gold, Gen-Exis tried to triple the amount, but we have a code that we honor our first contract. They discovered the location of the hidden ninja village in the south of this continent, a group of ninjas and I was able to escape and we're trying to recover our village.” Hitomi explained.

            “No wonder you're dressed as a ninja.” Seshiro said as he observed her.

            “Yes, and pretty soon this place will be in war because Gen-Exis is planning to over take it too; I heard it from some soldiers at one of the camps next to the base.” Hitomi said.

            “What? Really!?” Seshiro asked shocked.

            “Yeah, we gotta get out of here!” Hitomi said desperately.

            “Wait! I have to tell my master!” Seshiro said frantically.

            “Tell me what?” Satoshi said as he walked into Seshiro’s room.

            “Huh? Master Satoshi? You're here so early?” Seshiro asked.

            “Seshiro, who is this gi-” Satoshi cut himself off as he looked at her clothes. “Huh? A female ninja? You can't be here, get out before we get in trouble!”

            “But master, she told me a war is going to start here in Asrael!” Seshiro said anxiously.

            “I was already aware of that Seshiro, the Asrael army is getting ready for a counter strike and, Lemuria’s army is secretly helping out because they don’t want Gen-Exis Corporation to take control, that’s why they sent me, I will be in the front lines, the war will start approximately in two years.” Satoshi explained.

            “But master!” Seshiro said.

            “But nothing, get her out of here Seshiro, if they discover that we are hiding a ninja they will take it as treason and will have our heads thus cutting ties with Lemuria and breaking out even more chaos, your impertinence is going to get us in trouble Seshiro.” Satoshi said seriously.

            “Don't worry about me Seshiro; I'll leave right away sir.” Hitomi says walking out the door.

            “Then I'm going with her!” Seshiro said as he stopped Hitomi holding her hand.

            “You can't Seshiro, I won't allow it! You know the consequences for leaving don’t you?” Satoshi asked shouting.

            “Yes master… I really look up to you, you're a hero to all of us, but I can't just stay with my arms crossed! A hero isn’t supposed to act like this!” Seshiro said in a loud voice.

            “There's a big difference between someone heroic and someone naïve.” Satoshi said.

            “I'll be leaving with her, I can't just leave her on her own in this condition, please master, let me go, I promise I'll train hard and meet you two years from now and prove how much stronger I got!” Seshiro insisted.

            “Humph… the consequence for leaving your training with me right now is that I wouldn’t allow you to come back under my roof, do you understand that?” Satoshi asked with a serious expression.

            “Yes master, but still, I… I have to go, my heart tells me so.” Seshiro said as he placed his right hand on his chest.

            “…do as you please… but be careful.” Satoshi said as he placed his hand on Seshiro’s shoulder.

            “Alright.” Seshiro said, he left alongside Hitomi.

                        They made their way to the ninja’s hideout, on their way they started talking.

            “You didn't have to escort me…” Hitomi said.

            “I can't just leave you alone and hurt.” Seshiro said as he smiled.

            “Why did you decide to stay with me in the hideout? And for two long years? That doesn't make any sense…” Hitomi said, she then pondered.

            “It's just that I want to become just like my master, a hero, and I was wondering if I would get trained by your friends, I want to know more about battles and prove my master two years from now that I have become just like him. I want to develop my own strength, not just depend on him my whole life.” Seshiro explained.

            “… They won’t allow you in the Ido clan.” Hitomi remarked.

            “I’ll try anyways.” Seshiro said.

                        They arrived at the ninja’s hideout which was surrounded by many trees deep in the woods, as soon as they got in they were stopped by a ninja with black hair about eight years older than Hitomi, he asked her. “Who is this boy? Why did you bring him to our hideout Hitomi? He could be a spy! You know you can’t bring anyone here!”

            “He saved my life, I was about to die and he treated my wounds, he's trustworthy commander Shiranui.” Hitomi said in Seshiro’s defense.

            “We'll see about that.” Shou said.

                        Shou let them in, but keeping an eye on Seshiro from behind. After a while a ninja with his face covered appeared and said to Shou. “Commander Shiranui, the leader wants to see Hitomi and the guest.”

            “Right, thank you, you heard him Hitomi, time to meet the big guns.” Shou said.

                        Shou escorted them to a tent which was surrounded by many ninjas, Hitomi and Seshiro entered behind Shou, there were even more ninjas inside, all dressed in black clothing, sitting on a chair in front of a table was a ninja also dressed in black clothing, he had a scar on his right eye, this man was none other than the leader, he asked. “Who is this boy commander Shiranui?”

            “This is Seshiro; he saved Hitomi when she was fatally injured by some Gen-Exis soldiers.” Shou explained.

            “Humph… we are going to keep an eye on you Seshiro, so you'll have to prove to us you're trustworthy even if you are just a child, we can never be too cautious.” The leader said.

            “I will, but I want to be trained because a war is going to start in this country and I want to help, and if a war starts your hideout with the last surviving ninjas will surely also be attacked.” Seshiro said.

            “Is this true?” The leader widened his eyes as he asked.

            “Yes, I heard some soldiers saying that in one of the camps near their base.” Hitomi replied.

            “Humph… I guess training you a bit won’t hurt, Hitomi, after you get well I want you to train this boy.” The leader commands, he then says. “You're all dismissed.”

                        A week passed by, Hitomi’s wounds seemed to be almost completely healed; she begun training Seshiro many things about fighting and techniques as well as strategies in battle. Two years passed, Hitomi was now about fourteen years old while Seshiro had almost twelve, both of them were dressed as ninjas training in the woods alongside a female ninja around their age, Seshiro, Hitomi and the female ninja were hiding behind a tree.

            “Where are they?” Hitomi asked whispering.

            “I don’t know… sis” Seshiro said as he peeked a little by the side of the tree.

            “I think they’re nearby…” The female ninja said.

            “Sophia must be right, she has great tracking skills.” Hitomi commented.

                        A kunai hit the tree, Hitomi, Sophia and Seshiro jumped out and ran swiftly, a net suddenly rose up on all four sides, surrounding them.

            “Heh, not bad, not bad at all, y’all got even better, I even needed help from Ushima to catch you kids.” A voice said.

                        A ninja dressed in black clothing appeared from behind the net, this ninja had dark skin.

            “Looks like the black wolf caught us again.” Seshiro said.

            “Yeah…” Hitomi sat down on the ground.

            “You called me the black wolf again? I’m telling ya, that’s a nickname enemies should call me.” The dark skinned ninja said.

            “Sorry Tesshu.” Seshiro said taking off the piece of cloth that covered his mouth.

            “That’s brotha Tesshu Sento to ya, haha, just kidding, just kidding.” Tesshu jested.

                        A female ninja appeared next to Tesshu, she was also dressed in black, she had black hair tied in a ponytail.

            “Ushima, your traps are as perfect as always.” Tesshu said.

            “Yeah, but they were still tricky to catch.” Ushima remarked.

                        Shou jumped in between all of them, he appeared out of the blue.

            “Shinka.” Shou said.

            “What happened?” Ushima asked.

            “We have to go back to the hideout; the leader is calling for us and everyone.” Shou answered.

                        They all headed quickly to the hideout, once there they entered the tent, the leader said. “You’re the first to arrive, well, Tesshu, Shou, I want you along with some other squads to go to the Asrael war, Finurey has paid us to assist the Asraelian army, and I have faith on both of you and your team, especially Tesshu who is the late ninja emperor’s son. Shou, I know you and Ushima are going to get married soon, but I need you to do this before any of your plans.”

            “A’ight leader, we’ll head there as soon as possible.” Tesshu said.

            “Now go quickly, we have no time to lose, once the rest of the squads arrive I will inform them as well and send them behind you, you are dismissed.” The leader said.

                        The party headed to the Asrael desert, where the Asraelian army was fighting against Gen-Exis, after a few days they arrived near the coast, many rebel soldiers of Asrael were stationed there, including young boys around the ages of seven and higher. Shou as well as his squad were shocked to see this scenario, once they passed by the soldiers they entered the warzone, the party dressed in the same attire with a different color to camouflage with the desert. They stopped advancing noticing an officer of the Gen-Exis military was standing behind the frontlines.

            “Look, if I’m not mistaken, that’s Kuzan Fardeth, the commanding officer of the Gen-Exis military branch, looks like he’s going all out in this war.” Tesshu said in a low voice. “Time to take them out.”

                        The Gen-Exis soldiers were guarding what seemed like a fortress, the soldiers heard some noise around the area where they were patrolling, when unexpectedly a shadow appeared chopping off their arms and decapitating them. Shinka appeared between with her sword unsheathed. A soldier surprised her from behind, but a shuriken was thrown by Shou, it pierced the soldiers head, the party proceeded infiltrating the fortress, around six soldiers were patrolling the area as well, as they walked their legs were chopped off, then their chest was thrust with a sword by each of the party members. They noticed more sentries throughout the fortress, Seshiro and the squad begun to fight and separated in groups, Shou separated from the party, Hitomi and Seshiro got out outside the fortress to make sure no backup made their way in. Hitomi also separated from Seshiro in the same way as Shou, something that naturally happened in war.

            “Hitomi must’ve seen something, master and Keisuro must be around, I can feel Keisuro’s Spirit Force.”

                        Seshiro quickly looked for his master and Keisuro outside, after a while searching, unexpectedly, a powerful slash landed on Seshiro, Seshiro blocked with his sword, Seshiro is shocked to notice it was Keisuro, Keirsuo said. “Heh, it's been long Seshiro…”

            “Why did you attack me? What's wrong with you?” Seshiro asked.

            “Isn’t it obvious? I'm on the winning side of the team, survival of the fittest you might say.” Keisuro replied with a cold expression on his face.

            “I always knew you were kind of a bad guy even though we were rivals, but I never thought you would be a traitor, you betrayed me, master and most importantly, your country!” Seshiro said angrily.

            “Hahaha, you have no clue of anything whatsoever, just as naïve as always, for your information I don't care about this country or Lemuria, I only care about myself, not even master.” Keisuro said as he pressed down his blade against Seshiro. “How about I finish you right here and now with the rest of your ninja comrades? That'll certainly be much fun!”

                        Seshiro and Keisuro begun fighting, both exchanged blows, evading and blocking each other as they countered, but after a while of fighting Seshiro overpowered Keisuro.

            “I can't believe you've become this strong, huh, my radio?” Keisuro said as he reached for his radio.

            “Keisuro, report to the base immediately.” A voice said.

            “Snap, I guess I'll be seeing you around, you were pretty lucky.” Keisuro said as he sheathed his sword and ran away.

                        Seshiro ran after Keisuro, but he suddenly heard Hitomi yell in agony.

            “Sis!” Seshiro yelled rushing towards the area where her screams were heard, and then he stumbled with a body on the ground. He looked only at the feet, he slowly looked at the rest; his eyes widened in shock unable to believe what he saw seeing. Seshiro let out a horrifying howl of despair completely torn apart with her death. Seshiro’s tears begun to flow; he stayed still for a moment, mentally paralyzed. He couldn’t do anything except look up noticing a figure that was standing in front of him staring at Seshiro, he noticed it was none other than Kuzan Fardeth, abruptly, Sophia appeared rushing to Seshiro's aid as fast as she could.

            “… Are you oka- Huh? …” Sophia asked, she noticed Seshiro’s eyes were paralyzed, in a terrible state of fright.

            “Oh no, if he’s not treated on time he can stay like this forever…” Sophia thought.

                        Seshiro’s eyes looked empty, his expression in a state of alarm, Sophia slapped his face, but to no avail. Unable to focus, he as well as Sophia was at the mercy of Kuzan, Sophia grabbed Seshiro and ran away as quickly as possible, Kuzan smirked and didn't move a muscle. Sophia kept running as far as she could, luckily the area they were in was the coast, she saw that a ship along with many others was about to set sail. Sophia quickly boarded Seshiro on it and left to fight alongside the others. Seshiro was still shaken as he lied against a crate, after many hours Seshiro snapped out of it.

            “Huh? Where am I? Where is everyone?” Seshiro asked looking around him; the ship made a loud noise. “This ship is about to dock…”

                        Seshiro walked outside, he noticed an enormous city like he’s never seen before.

            “What is this place?” Seshiro asked himself.

            “This is Xordania boy.” A man said.

            “Huh? What?” Seshiro asked.

            “Don’t worry; I’m not of the crew, just another stowaway like you.” The man said.

                        The ship docked in Xordania, Seshiro got off, as he walked through the city he saw many people walking around, he got lost in the crowd. Back to the present.

            “I traveled around that continent for two years and ended up in Lemuria, instead of going back to that pointless war I preferred to start a new life, trying to forget everything… so I entered school and met Lloyd and the rest up until now.” Seshiro says lowering his head.

            “What a story, I didn't know such things had happened in my past, I should check out the ruins of the ninja village to see if I remember something, but I don't know it's exact location, so I'll have to research for a while before doing that.” Shou says.

            “Humph.” Zero observes Seshiro and Shou.

                        Lloyd and Yumi arrive at the apartment.

            “I wonder if mom’s home.” Lloyd says walking up the stairs.

            “I didn’t see her car anywhere.” Yumi says.

                        Lloyd opens the door to find his friends in his house.

            “Lloyd!!” Kyoshi says with an alarmed expression.

            “Lloyd, Yumi, have a seat we were just talking about you.” Seshiro says.

            “……” Zero lies back on the chair.

            “Sup?” Shou says.

            “What are you guys doing in my apartment? Huh?” Lloyd asks annoyed, then noticing the cracked up wall and his broken burned picture on the floor. “What the hell did you do to my apartment? And why the crap is Zero half naked and injured?

            “He looks like one of those guys in a girl’s bachelor party!” Yumi says staring at Zero’s abs.

            “I hope you weren’t doing anything gay in my sacred house!” Lloyd shouts angrily.

            “It’s not what it looks like!” Kyoshi says.

            “Dude, don’t get any funny ideas, we can explain everything.” Seshiro says sighing.

            “Hell I don’t wanna know!” Lloyd says irritated.

                        Zero stands up from his chair and grabs his sword, then walks towards the door and says. “When you’re finished chit chatting and get serious about this then call me.”

            “Hey, it’s pretty late at night.” Kyoshi says to Zero.

            “Just get the hell out of my apartment!!” Lloyd yells.

                        Everyone leaves quickly.

Reviews

[Felipe]

lmao again lloyd strikes again with his comments lol i bet he is jealous of yumi seeing zero's abs haha he wants her to look at him xd poor seshi, he has a hard past, i hope shou recovers his memory and i wonder what happened to teshou,awesome chapter, keep it up man!