“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
“Okay, now what is going on?” Daichi said to Zoa, his head swirling in the riddle Tanya and Zoa presented him.“What do you mean?” “Tanya told me about one of her friends being in a situation where he is not in the best of states but for some reason, the reason is enough reason for him to die if anyone else knew.”“What?” Zoa’s face twitched. “I know!” Daichi added. “And here you are talking about Kakashi reducing this place to dust. Phew… I don’t know what is going on with both of you.”“When did she tell you this?” Daichi shot her a glance, a tint of amazement settled in his eyes. “Why? Does it have anything to do with Kakashi?” “What? No,” Zoa sighed. Her response was unconvincing, she tucked her hair behind her ears.Daichi peered at her, flipping through her face like pages hiding the map to a wanted treasure. “What?” Zoa probed. “What are you hiding?” “What do you mean? I am not hiding anything.” “You are hiding something.” Daichi’s gaze read through her. “No.” Zoa wrig
“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
Jiro dashed through the Arena, leaving an array of tables on their faces. Vases crashed in his wake. Petals vomited their seeds, and blood of different colors painted the ground. “Wait! Hold up!” Kakashi trailed far behind. Something must be wrong. He kept running even though he had no understanding of why. He can’t be this anxious if there wasn’t a problem. Jiro swung the doors open, leaving the walls with angry marks. “There is a problem!” His voice screamed above his breath. Kakashi’s feet screeched, fighting the ground to halt at great speed. Master Yonda stretched his neck out to see who arrived. “Uh, I’m with him.” Kakashi said, his voice a blend of nervousness and struggle to control. Jiro nodded in affirmation. Master Yonda drew back to face Jiro. “This better be worth my time.” His words were stifled under his clenched teeth. “Horses approach. A great army is on its way here. We need to act fast.” Jiro uttered.What? That was a summary of what was happening!“You don’t
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
His feet fled on the ground, manoeuvring its soles to avoid the bodies lifeless and pouring out blood. “They are too much. I don’t think we will be able to take them all out!” He was still a few metres away from Master Yonda. “What?” Master Yonda squinted his eyes. Kokohashi jumped to shield the master from the charging soldier. “What is the problem?” His sword overlooked his head. “They—Master,” the soldier bowed. “They are far too many. We have no chance against them.” His breath rose and fell persistently, his chest displaying the motion. Master Yonda’s eyes passed his glance away from the reporting soldier to look wide into the crowded area. Are they that plenty? “Master? Master!” Master Yonda was brought back from his reverie. He blinked twice, recovering his reality. “We can take them on.”“But, sir—master, they are still trooping in. For every fallen soldier, there are two coming in through the gate. This is going to be impossible to overcome. They have taken the whole sch
The emperor twitched his nose. There was a lot more to lose than gain. Trust? No. Choice? A heavy sigh escaped the lips of the emperor. “Can’t you help me get out of here? I mean, if you can do it for yourself, you can do it for me.” Honda’s eyes darted around. “The governor is still here.” He closed in on the emperor. “You told me taking revenge for your family is the way to show the people of Yahuza how much you can fight for them. I still see him here, I know you are not a coward. You are a man of your word. This is the best time to take him out.” He took a step back. “But if you do not mean the words that come out of your mouth, then we can find you a way out.” A slight smile played on his lips. The emperor’s gaze fell. His head dropped. Choice? No.“Fine. Tell my daughter I love her.”“And your wife?” The emperor clenched his jaws. “Tell her… tell her I will die for her.” His eyes twinkled with a tear. Honda nodded.Honda dashed through the echoing sounds of steel clashing a
The scent in the air was a mixture of metallic blood and potions hanging heavy. Blood trails followed their sources being dragged away from the Annual Globe ground. Carriers paraded the ground with weapons picked up to be refined in the armory. “What happened?” Kokohashi rushed in. “Where have you been?” The emperor asked with a stern face matching the tone of his voice. “I… I was…”“He was with me. We had a few things to do.” Oz strolled in. “We may be victorious but much more work must be done. We have to follow the prophecy.”Master Yonda’s fist banged the table. Every eye turned in his direction. Silence reigned. His fist loosened. “They were never going to let us go scot-free. You were there.” Master Yonda shot at Oz. “You know them better than anyone. They were always going to come after us. Why did they choose now?” He peered at space, surveying the darkness that lurked in a corner for answers. “This is not about what just happened, master. This is about what is to happen.