A lone hooded figure could be seen crouching down on a rooftop within the village of Tensen. The moon shines brightly overhead as the hooded man looks on.
"Heh…so it seems I've been hired to test the people eh? With that, I will deliver. But not before I get what I want first." The man says with a crazed smile.
With that, the man jumps down and lands on the ground. The village remains silent as the man roams the streets. As he walks he sees Bowa Boa's sushi shop. However, the shop seems to be closed.
"Bowa Boa's sushi shop eh? Oh how unfortunate it must be to not have the shop owner here right now. That would've been a real kicker…very well then." The man says with malicious intent.
Eventually, he would look on to see a clothing shop still open. He walks inside and is greeted by a middle aged man. The man looks tired and annoyed as he looks at the hooded figure.
"Hey…shops a minute away from being closed." The worker at the shop would say.
"My apologies sir. I'd like to know when this shop opens and closes." The hooded man responds
"We're active every day starting from 10AM to 10PM. Do you need anything or not?" The worker would ask, after giving the hooded man the answers to his shift.
"This store looks pretty enticing…" the hooded man would comment.
"If you need anything, you better run and get it." The worker at the shop would continue.
"No need. I'm not looking to buy anything from here at all." The hooded figure responds.
"Look, if you're going to waste my time here, you need to get lost. I don't have time to mess around with some weirdo like you!" The worker yells.
"Is that right?" The hooded man asks, in a slightly condescending manner.
Before the worker could respond, a splattering sound could be heard coming from his stomach. It's revealed to be the hooded figure, punching through the poor worker's stomach. The worker's clothes begin to soak in blood as his body begins to turn purple. The hooded man stares devilishly into the workers eyes as he watches the life fade from them.
"Y-You d-didn't…you…monster!" The worker remarks, barely being able to breathe or speak.
"It seems the poison is kicking in far quicker than anticipated…you really are weak. Not to mention the hole I just created. How will I be able to sow that one back together?" The hooded man says as the worker's body falls to the floor in a pool of blood and dies on the spot.
"I guess it's not my problem anymore." The hooded man would say as he began to crouch down with a smile still on his face and placing both hands onto the back of the worker.
The corpse begins to mold into the hooded man's body, until both people seem to have fused together. But now, the hooded figure's appearance looks exactly like the worker he had just killed.
"Seems like a perfect fit. Now…it's about time this shop closes for the night." The now morphed man says, chuckling as he does so.
He flips the open sign to "closed" before walking back into the night.
Later on, Jack would be seen turning the knob of his water off. Then walking out of his bathroom and out of his room.
"I'm up! It's time to meet my new guards!" Jack says as he walks to Kuros room before exiting the room with a sleeping Kuro in his arms.
Jack walks out of the house and is greeted by two tall spiky haired twins. Both of which would have lean vascular bodies. Their colors resonate with their energy and overall clothing. One having reddish orange hair and the other having whitish blue hair. They wear the same jacket that opens up showing both of their six packs. The jackets are of opposite color to one another, with katanas on their hips.
The twin with white hair would wave his hand and smile at the two kids.
"Hello! Ohaiyogozaimasu!" The blue haired twin would say, with a soft and gentle tone. His ice blue eyes staring down at him as he speaks.
The red-orange haired twin would just shrug with a look of reluctance and think to himself as he begins to rub a large X-shaped scar on his right cheek, with his thumb.
"To think that we would go from gladiators to babysitters…at least we're babysitting those that could possibly be worth our time." His voice would be deeper and sharper than his twin brothers.
"Hey! Are you the two guards that father gave to us?" Jack would question, still in awe over these guards' appearances.
"Hey, we're not handout guardsmen. We were assigned to protect you." The twin with red orange hair would say, still shrugging with his orange eyes looking back down at Jack.
"Calm down brother. They're just kids…" The blue haired twin would say as he kneels down to Jack's level.
"That's my younger twin brother, Yakuto Miyoto. Don't mind him, he can be a bit of a hot head. My name is Kisuka Miyoto. Good to be working with you two." Kisuka says with a smile.
"Hey I'm just telling him to show some respect. I'd hate to babysit a brat for the coming years." Yakuto, the younger brother, would respond.
"For the record, you agreed to be here. If need be, you could leave at any moment without any repercussions. So do you have any problems with this?" Kisuka would ask.
"Not as of now" Yakuto responds.
"Okay then…so shut it." Kisuka says with a silly sly grin, knowing this would get under his skin.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! I'LL BREAK YOUR LEGS AND HAVE YOU WALK ON THEM FOR SAYING SUCH THINGS TO ME!" Yakuto would yell, in a comedic rage.
Kisuka chuckles with his hand covering his mouth. Jack begins to laugh with Kisuka.
"So…what will we be doing here, boss?" Kisuka asks.
As Jack figures this out, Leina could be seen within the yard of her house, training with Amushi.
"HAAAA! HAAAH! HAAAAH! HAAA!" Leina would yell out, dueling with her father.
"Show me more of your strength Leina. Why are you holding back?" Amushi questions, while keeping himself at the defensive
"Have you forgotten?" Amushi would ask, trying to get into Leina's head to drive her will to fight.
"I don't need to use my full strength to beat you!" Leina yells out.
"Then show me!" Amushi would say as he kicked Leina, sending her back. As she's sent back, she regains control of herself, flipping around and back onto her feet.
Leinas katana becomes coated in a light and bright brown, plasma-like energy
"Moon Style: Lunar Moon Claw" Leina calls out. Suddenly in what seems to be a single swing, four devastating purple burning projectiles could be seen hurdling towards Amushi, in the form of large slashes. These slashes could be seen cutting through the ground as they travel.
"Prized Globe Shield." Amushi would say stabbing his sword into the ground, forming a large white globe around him, made from his essence.
The projectiles would explode onto the shield and as debris piles up Leina would take the offensive and dash into the smoke.
"I'll show you." Leina says.
As this happens, clashing could be heard within the smoke. Amushi dashes back and out of the smoked out area. Leina follows suit and clashes with him once more. She would then land a small slice onto Amushi's arm, causing him to grunt before making him fight offensively, forcing Leina to switch her fighting technique.
"That's just a flesh wound." Amushi would say as he could be seen pushing her back with his continuous attacks.
Leina flips and performs flexible maneuvers to avoid Amushi's attacks, before parrying his sword and throwing a counter in the form of a roundhouse kick to his face. As this happens, Amushi reaches to grab her foot before it hits him, but Leina fades into dust as he begins to close his fist. Before he could even react, Leina lands a slash across her fathers body, sending blood splatter everywhere. Amushi is sent sliding back with his head ducked down.
Leina points her katana at Amushi
"Is that all?" She asks.
Amushi lifts his head with a smile, looking back at Leina.
"That will be all for now. If we continue, we could destroy this entire town. However, I can't say that you haven't improved. I've never seen you make use of your hidden techniques so elegantly. You've grown Leina." He says with a proud smile
Leina could be seen standing proud, her katana now sheathed, with hair blowing gracefully in the wind as the sun shines over.
"Thank you father." Leina responds calmly, almost at ease to hear these words.
"When you're done healing me, we should eat breakfast. After all, you do have to head to the academy soon." Amushi would say
"Alright." Leina responds.
Back inside the house, Leina would speak to her mother, Hima. Having a brief discussion about the validity of the higher ups of Tensen.
"Do you think they really care?"
Says Leina, being very worried about the upcoming future of her well being.
"One can only hope our livelihood is safe in their hands. Besides, they haven't even told the truth of how they feel about us anyways. So we have more to worry about."
Hima says, looking back at Leina with a look of uncertainty.
"When Jack gave me a look at Kuro for the first time, I met up with Bowa Boa, the cook. She told me that I could be a danger to the village. Jack also said that there could be assassins out to get me." Leina would disheartenedly say
"That's very odd. I can understand why you still choose to wear your mask, even now. Maybe they don't fully trust us in the slightest. But I guess it makes sense. Regardless, we need to see the bigger picture…we need to see if this is truly how they feel about us before we decide on what we should do." Hima says as she turns away from Leina.
As this goes on, Amushi enters the conversation, standing next to a couch right behind Hima.
"Hey, what's the discussion? Is something happening that I don't know about?" Amushi would ask with a smile.
This question would only fall on deaf ears as Leina and Hima would say nothing in response. Hima would soon turn to look at Amushi with a saddened expression. Her innocent brown eyes being drawn to Amushi's, she would nod her head.
"What's wrong?" Amushi would ask in a soft tone.
"Leina…she's not trusted. She met Bowa Boa yesterday. She was told that she and her clan are a danger to the village. Jack even mentioned that there could be assassins after us right now. I've already thought about this many times…but to hear it from someone else…it really makes you wonder." Hima responds.
"Ohh come on! We can't just go off of what they're saying just like that. Yeah, we may have to build trust with everyone and find out their true feelings. But are you forgetting that Konori, the ruler of this village and nation, entrusted us out of all people, to spend time with him and Kuro?" Amushi asks before continuing…
"It's not like they're going to do anything to us, if we have that level of trust. All we have to do now is maintain it. Don't get close with anyone that isn't your own blood. We can't afford to make bonds with those that don't trust us. That includes your friend, Jack."
"But Jack does trust me! He said he would always be there, even if the Hansura came after us. He promised." Leina would interject, not wanting to drop her trust for Jack in the slightest.
This makes Hima place her fingers onto her chin before responding…
"In that case, there's the possibility that Jack defies all odds and turns this entire village against the Hansura. If not, things will only get worse."
"This is all bad no matter what." Leina says to herself.
"I'm leaving." Leina says, turning her back away from her parents.
"What? You haven't even eaten anything yet." Amushi would say in response.
"I've already eaten…besides, I have to get to school now." Leina would say with reluctance.
"Fine by me. Go ahead Leina…I'll see you when you get back." Hima replies.
"Senra! Hurry up!" Leina yells, waiting for her sister to come and walk to the academy with her.
"Hold on, I'm finishing my breakfast!" Senra responds with her mouth full of eggs and dumplings.
Meanwhile, Kisuka and Yakuto could be seen waving off to Jaku as he could be seen walking to the Academy.
"Kisuka, how long do you plan on babysitting these kids? Until they grow up?" Yakuto would question his older brother.
"Ohhh what does it matter Yakuto? It's our job now. Besides, they aren't so bad. Sure, Jack questions many things, but that's because he's passionate. He wants to be like his father. And I admire that." Kisuka responds.
"I'd be lying if I said otherwise" Yakuto would say, showing genuine interest in Jack's capabilities.
"Even the mighty Yakuto can't help but rejoice at the greatness of the Sawlendore family." Bowa Boa can be heard saying from behind Kisuka.
Kisuka turns around and sees Bowa Boa standing there with a smile on her face. She's seen to be wearing the same purple Haori with that same young and beautiful form she displayed to Ren, the day before.
"Ohh! Akita!" Kisuka would say in awe.
Bowa can be seen being physically agitated hearing this come from Kisuka. She continues to smile but a vein could be seen pulsing in her head.
"I highly suggest you not call me that again…if you want to keep all of your limbs intact of course"
This catches Kisuka offguard, making him scratch his head as he chuckles to himself
"My mistake." He says
"I go by Bowa Boa now, Kisuka. I expect you to call me that, and only that from now on. Got it?" Bowa asks, still having an agitated smile on her face.
"Acknowledged!" Kisuka says, cheesing at Bowa Boa and giving her a thumbs up.
Meanwhile, Yakuto only shrugs and before wording his curiosity behind the sudden change in Bowa Boa's identity.
"Hmf, what gives? I don't think it makes a difference in the grand scheme of things." Yakuto would carelessly ask.
"Well Yakuto, if you've been a slave for half your life, wouldn't you like to be called something other than your former slave name for a change?" Bowa asks with a stoic look.
"Fair enough. My apologies." Yakuto responds, staring back at Bowa.
"So, what are you two doing? And why are you walking around with Kuro? I normally take care of him when Jack isn't around. What's going on?" Bowa asks with full concern, as she's never been notified of any sudden change regarding the two children.
"Ah…you see, Jack and Kuro are now under our protection. Word from Konori…he thought of this plan for us to step in after Ren fed him the idea of providing him further protection under our wing and not yours. So you can rest assured. This is our job now, not yours." Yakuto responds.
"Is that so?" Bowa replies with a look more serious and baffled.
"Damn that Ren! Who the hell does she think she is? Does she not think I'm capable of protecting them?!" Bowa would say in her head as she processes these words from Yakuto
"Fine but you better bring them here if they want food. If you don't want to be charged for it, of course." Bowa responds, looking forward in Yakuto's direction.
"Fine by me." Yakuto would mutter under his breath, turning away from Bowa entirely with Kuro still in his arms.
"So what brings you here?" Kisuka would question.
"I haven't heard from Jack or Kuro today. That's when I saw the two of you, and wondered if you've seen them or not. But from the looks of it, I have no reason to have any of those concerns anymore." Bowa responds.
"I see…well, would you like to join us on our walk? It's always good to take your mind off of things." Kisuka would insist.
"Maybe another day. My shop is still open and running for the whole day…I should get back to it." Bowa says with a look of disappointment.
"Alright well, if you need anything, you know what to do." Kisuka responds with no further explanation.
Bowa turns to look at Yakuto before walking over and tapping him on the shoulder, making him turn back around to see Bowa smiling back at him with a fresh cake pop in her hand, gesturing to him to take it.
"Here, I made this five minutes ago. I don't usually make these, so I hope you like it." Bowa says with a smile.
Yakuto awkwardly hesitates for a bit before accepting the kind gesture.
"Alright alright. I'll take it." Yakuto says.
"Heheh, good. And eat it slowly please." Bowa respond
"I will…we'd better get going now. It's been good catching up with you, Bowa." Yakuto would say as he turned towards Kisuka, attempting to walk away.
As Yakuto begins to walk away, Bowa would then place her hand on his shoulder once again.
"Hey…" Bowa says.
"Huh?" Yakuto responds, instinctively, turning his head to look back at Bowa.
"Cheer up…put a smile on your face. The day is calm and I hope my cake pop makes your day a bit better. Even if it's just a little." Bowa would sincerely say.
"You haven't changed since the last time we've spoken…thank you very much dear Bowa." Yakuto replies, before Bowa takes her hand off of his shoulder, letting him walk away.
Bowa would watch them walk away, smiling as she did so, delighted to see Yakuto soften up a bit.
Meanwhile within Tensen Academy, Leina would walk alone in a hallway.
"I want to find this Kyuya person Jack spoke of. Maybe he knows something that we don't…" Leina thinks to herself, before hearing Jack yelling down the hallway, towards her.
"Hey! Leina!" Jack says with a big smile, as he waves at her. Leina runs over and meets up with Jack with a surprised look in her eyes.
"Wow you showed up very early!" Do you always show up like this?" Leina would ask.
"Not often, but I guess today was just an early day for me." Jack answers simply.
"Right…do you know where this Kyuya guy is? Or does he only show up in class?" Leina asks with a more serious approach.
"I don't know. He just started class yesterday." Jack responds.
"Jeez, okay then." Leina says, still thinking about Kyuya's whereabouts.
"Oh! I have good news!" Jack says with an excited raised voice.
"Huh? What is it?" Leina asks.
"My father said that it's okay if I stay with you at your house, after school. He said I can go there as many times as I'd like!" Jack confirms.
"That's amazing!" Leina says with sudden happiness in her tone.
Jack nods before telling her the rest.
"Yeah! But that's not all! He gave me two of his strongest soldiers to watch over me and Kuro at all times!" He says.
"What are their names?" Leina asks curiously.
"Kisuka and Yakuto!" Jack would confirm.
"Hmm…" Leina would think to herself.
Some time would pass and the day would come to an end at Tensen Academy. Leina could be seen standing next to Jack, conversing with him.
"I'm a little hurt from yesterday but I still want to get stronger. So I guess I'll be training with you later on." Jack says.
"Good! I really wonder what you can do against me sometimes." Leina would say under her breath.
"Is that a challenge?" Jack questions with a peak in interest.
"I don't know…maybe if you train more, I'll think about it." Leina responds.
"I won't be going easy on you when that happens." Jack would say, in competitive fashion.
"We'll see." Leina would simply respond.
"I'll see you later then! I have to meet up with Kisuka and Yakuto! I'll be at the house later." Jack would say, smiling, waving and walking away from Leina in the opposite direction.
Leina waves back before turning back around and walking out of the Academy. As she continued outside of the academy, a young boy's voice would grab her attention, stopping her in her tracks.
"Hey…" he says.
As Leina turns, she's greeted by the sight of Kyuya staring back at her, with his hands in his pockets.
"We should really talk…" Kyuya would insist right off the bat.
"Who are you?" Leina would ask with her guard up.
"I'm the one who is warning you of your future. You're Leina. You come from the Tensura clan, right?" Kyuya would share his knowledge, followed by a question of his own.
"Yes I am. How do you know that? Are you who I think you are?" Leina questions.
"I'm not here to attack you. I just want to tell you that there's people that are here, and they want to kill you." Kyuya says calmly.
"What?" Leina says, confused as to even where or how he's got this information.
"I'm not supposed to be telling you this. But because I'm not a part of any group or clan that opposes yours, my life isn't at risk if I give up this information." Kyuya would say, rubbing the back of his neck while doing so.
"Why do you care telling me? And who is this person?" Leina asks, still as confused as ever as well as being on alert for her well being.
"I'm a part of a group that takes part in sacrifices and rituals to increase our knowledge and strength on a spiritual level. The clan I'm allied with is a clan that desires death for you and your family. I tell you this not because I care for your safety, but because the village would be unsafe if chaos went rampant." Kyuya would reveal.
"How sick of you. You sacrifice the living for your sick rituals and you ally yourself with those that desire the death of my family. Why the hell would the village matter to you if it's me that they want?" Leina responds.
"You're a citizen of Tensen aren't you? If so, you will be treated as such. That means, if they decide to go after you right now, chaos would run rampant within the village. They don't accept outsiders causing trouble in the village. They will simply deport you. In turn, that would make it much harder for us to complete our mission. That's the main reason I haven't already killed you. But then again, that's not my job." Kyuya says, revealing the idea of this scheme.
"Kill me? You couldn't do that even if you tried. And regarding these assassins you're allied with, you gave up their idea in hopes that I stay away from them? To protect the village?" Leina would ask, starting to understand the gravity of this revelation.
"Exactly, but don't get it twisted. I never liked you. People like you disgust me, but it's Konori's will as to why you aren't dead at our feet right now." Kyuya says with a serious look.
"Threaten me again and the next thing that will be coming from your mouth is your organs, Kyuya." Leina says, staring angrily at Kyuya
Kyuya chuckles before he makes his responds
"Don't get it misconstrued. I'm not your enemy…for now…" Kyuya says.
"Hmm?" Leina says to herself.
"Your main focus should be these assassins. And yes, they are in the village with us. Speaking of which, one of them has been watching you this whole time in the academy." Kyuya shares.
"What?! Who?! What the hell is going on Kyuya?!" Leina asks with a new found anger worry.
"I can't reveal any of that information to you. That's as far as I'll go…the rest is up to you. But remember what you are in this village. You are but a dog in the domain of a man of value." Kyuya coldly responds back to Leina.
"What did you just call me?" Leina asks with a hidden rage.
"I said what I said, demon. I told you everything you should know. So now it's up to you to keep the village from erupting into chaos. So stay vigilant…Leina Tensura." Kyuya says with a smug grin as he turns back around and walks away from Leina.
"Once I find out who these people are, I'll break all of their bones, one after the other…and if Kyuya is so willing to give up this information to me, what does he even have in plan? What the hell even are you…Kyuya?" Leina thinks to herself as she watches him leave.