The once vibrant and energetic Arena was now occupied with some scattered students who hung back after the desolation of the Annual Globe. The silence over the school was shielded only by the students who murmured about what had happened. Just hours before, the crowd had been alive with laughter and cheers, the smell of sweet flowers and savoury delights had filled the air. Master Yonda paced around in panic, his eyes stared intensely through the windows that sandwiched the curtains. He walked away from his chair, leaving the argument to his guests. He wanted the Annual Globe, but he wanted the life of his daughter more.“We have to call it quits! We cannot go ahead with this, we have no idea what we are dealing with or how to identify it. How do we stop what we don’t know?” Doctor Haishi continued.“It matters very little now. I do not see a reason why we should continue this when we can go back to the normal date for the Annual Globe. It is fine if we agree to have been in haste fo

“There are too many coincidences. Too many strangers. And, I can feel it. There is someone here who is carrying something evil.” Jiro looked away. “Why are you here? I cannot convince him.” “You can try,” Oz closed in on Jiro. “You have to try.” “If he doesn’t listen to you, he can’t listen to me. There is nothing I can do.”“He let you leave prison. You are still here. There is a reason I’m sure. No one lets a murderer of their man live.”Jiro’s eyes darkened. “I didn’t kill anyone!” “Then why did he leave you to live?” Oz stared into his eyes. Jiro’s lashes flapped, holding back the revelation hanging loosely in his eyes. “You are his son, aren’t you?” “No!” Jiro snapped. A smile played on Oz’s lips. “You know.” Oz scoffed. “You have always known. So why are you hiding it?” ***“What was that noise?” Daichi turned to face Tanya. “Did you hear that?” Tanya shook her head. “No, not really.” Her nonchalance got under Daichi’s skin. “What exactly is wrong with you?” Daichi voi

“Uh, come on we have to go now.” Jiro paused behind him. Kakashi kept his eyes on Zoa, mute. “Come on, we have work to do.”“You have work to do,” Kakashi replied in a calm, low tone. His feet remained planted on the spot. What could have made her talk like that? Was she the one who told someone about the demon? “Stop this, let us go.” Jiro’s breath brushed the nape of Kakashi’s neck. A quick turn around left Kakashi’s eyes holding Jiro’s gaze. “You have to get them out for the preparation, not me.” Kakashi stomped out, leaving Jiro stranded.The hallways and the footpath through the Arena were scarce with scattered people hanging out. “Oh,” one of the students yelled out.“Are you okay?” Kakashi closed his eyes, clenching his fists. He didn’t see the table in his path. He got to his feet, picking up the fallen table and placing it in its position. Without acknowledging any of them, he fled. ***“Where is Kakashi?” “Why are you asking me that?” “Because you both are supposed to

“You told me of your battle with Shinjuya. They are very powerful. I know because my brother and I grew up there. We… our parents were killed because they found a potato in our house. We were spared but made to work all day. We would get fed a potato each for our troubles for the day. There was one time my hand got sliced by a machine. When the master saw it, he beat me more. He said I damaged his machine. We endured this for years. We couldn’t live like that, not like that. The first opportunity we had to leave, we took it. We were caught on our way out, rats feasted on us that night. We were stripped of our clothes and left in the cold with rats. They did that to us, we were children. The next time we had an opportunity to leave, we couldn’t. We didn’t know who to trust or what to do. A raider came bearing gifts once, and he was asked to take anything he wanted, anything. We weren’t allowed to go easily, but he was hell-bent we were all he wanted. He took us to his home and groomed

The words spread across the room faster than Kakashi and Jiro could deliver the instructions from door to door. “We can easily avoid all of this if only you just let everyone know about you.”“Know what, Zoa? What are you talking about?” “You know exactly what I am talking about, Kakashi. I can’t lose my only remaining family… for you. If you do not talk now, I will.”“Talk about what?” Kakashi’s face dropped. “Talk about what, Zoa? Tell me what you want.” Kakashi rushed after her. He pulled her by the elbow, halting her brisk walk away from him.“Yourself! The truth about yourself! You are a demo…” his palm tightened over her face, numbing her words. She mumbled into his palm, but the words clogged in her mouth, stopping at the palm of his hand. “Let me go. Stop!” She hummed. Kakashi glanced over his shoulders as he dragged her away to a corner. He surveyed the surroundings before dropping his hand. “What did you just do?” She extended her hand, and black chaos energy shot out, se