I was awakened by the gentle rays of the sun. It was nine o'clock in the morning when I looked at my watch. I listened to the sounds of the house. All was quiet. So I woke up first and closed my eyes for a moment with relief. Cautiously and with difficulty I open my eyes and begin to look around. The wounds are heavy, I tell myself. I climbed out of bed and climbed straight into the shower. I took a nice long hot shower. I got out of that bathroom I had converted into a sauna and got dressed. I went downstairs to make breakfast when someone knocked.

  "I'm coming." I nodded.

  I open the door and there stands my friend, Shika. Her brothers let her stay in the guest room because she hadn't secured accommodation.

  "Good morning!" She greeted and smiled warmly.

  "Morning. What do you need?"

  I was a little out of it from her visit.

  " What an ugly welcome." Her face contorted into a hurt expression.

  " Can I come in? I don't want to talk about it here."

  "Yeah right. Sorry, I just got up and wanted to go make breakfast." I said and went inside.

  "Cool. Let me help you." He says cheerfully turning one hundred and eighty degrees and heading towards the kitchen.

  "So what do you want help with?"

  "You can chop the vegetables while I fry the fish."

  Shika lunged for the vegetables and a knife and began cutting the vegetables.

  "So are you going to tell me now?" I asked after a long delay.

  Shika put down the knife and looked at me.

  "I want to be with you! All through the ceremony, I've been thinking about how it's going to be now. If you'll forget me or how. And as we stood there on the stage, I realized I don't want to forget you. I still want to be a team. You're the only friends I have right now. I've only known you for a short time, but you've grown on me. And I want to become as strong as you and Kenji. That's why I want to ask the Naruno brothers to teach me what you can do." She spat out one sentence after another.

  I froze all over. I had completely forgotten that we wouldn't see each other again after the ceremony. How could I not have thought of that?

  "I love you, too, and I want you to be with us. Besides the boys, you're my only friend. And don't worry, they'll take you." I winked at her.

  Shika beamed and jumped on my waist. I'm glad she put the knife down earlier because I was really scared of her.

  ?????????????????

  They've all come for breakfast. She took the miso soup I made with local ingredients from the market and spilled it on them all. Then we put the bowl of rice and vegetables on the table together and got the fish already on the plate. We wished each other a good taste and set to it.

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  "I..." Shika said softly.

  We all turned our gaze towards her. Shika was nervous that she was unable to eat almost anything.

  "I would like to be your apprentice! I know you already have two, but Kenji and Iruka are my friends. I don't want to leave them even though I don't know them that well yet. I want to be as good as they are! I don't have a master and I'd like to have... Please accept me!" She blurted out with the same fervor she had when she announced the news to me.

  Her look was very confident. Her words were very sincere. Her eyes were sparkling. I was amazed by her courage. I smiled inwardly and then like the others present, looked at Fuya. After all, he is the eldest of them and has the final say. Fuyu enjoyed his mouthful with his eyes closed. Everyone was nervous. I could feel the tension. I wished he'd say yes myself. He has to say it. He opened his azure blue eyes and pinned Shika with them. I gasped a little. I felt sorry for her that she had to endure his gaze. I looked at her and she... She was looking as murderous as he was! Jesus, what are you doing?! Don't do that, he'll kill you!!

  "All right." He said after an eternity of silence.

  "But you'll have a harder time because we're busy now, so you'll have to learn the tribute mostly as you go. We don't have time for this.."

  "Fine on the fly! I can do it!" She snapped at him.

  Fuyu just grinned smugly.

  "Whatever. Haru will be in charge of you first. You're an elf so you shouldn't have a problem with Haru. But put it off for today. After we have breakfast, we have to go to the castle. Like I said, we have work to do. All of us."

  To the castle? As in to see the king? Is it about what Takashiko was talking about yesterday and with the other guy being the king in charge?

  ???????????????

  As Fuyu said, so it happened. We all went to the castle. The castle was in the middle of the city. It was like the exact castle I drew when I was little. The walls, the tall stone towers, the beautiful garden behind the palace. Flags flying high and guards watching every inch.

  "Where are you going?" One of the guards guarding the main entrance to the palace asked.

  "We have an audience with the king. We are the Naruno brothers." Fuyu answered him.

  "Ah. I apologize to you." And he and his colleague put the spear away.

  We passed quietly. We walked down one hell of a long corridor. There were giant glass windows and stone columns. The ceiling was sky-high. I couldn't really see the end. In contrast, the floor was so shiny every inch of it that I could see my reflection in it. They clean with toothpaste, don't they? I chuckled inwardly at my biting remark. The castle must look tidy. After all, this city here is like the center of all dimensions from what I understand.

  We entered the throne room. In the middle of the room, where there was almost nothing, was a huge throne on which sat a noble king. His hair was already quite grey and his face was full of wrinkles and scars from the war, but his expression was warm and kind. He did not seem evil. But authority oozed from him as it should from any ruler. We stood before the throne and all bowed respectfully.

  "Welcome! It's been a long time since I've seen you." Said the king joyfully, rising from his throne.

  He walked over to the brothers and hugged them all. They put on a beaming face. Even Fuyu was smiling. Strange... Very strange...Then he looked at the three of us. We were standing behind them. We crouched down a bit as his eyes surveyed us.

  "So that's you. The new apprentices. Iruka Huro, Kenji Samaro. The boys told me about you. I mean, I only knew about those two. Who is this lady?"

  "I am Shika Yui, Your Majesty. Their new apprentice. I was with their apprentices in a group rehearsal to find out who they were apprenticed to. I begged the Naruno brothers to start teaching me as well." Shika replied and bowed.

  After her words, he finally smiled. A stone fell from my heart.

  "Enough chatter then." He put his aloof king mask back on.

  "I have a task for you. The other Minotaurs have returned. Again with magical powers. Your task will be to find the source of it. This is getting serious. More and more of them. They've ravaged an entire village in the north. And we're not the only ones. Today, other worlds have confirmed a magical Minotaur attack. They're powered by a strange dark power. I fear that evil is awakening again. We must suppress it. People call me an old fool, but you can never be too careful. Where else would they get such power? Especially the Minotaurs. Someone has to be behind this, and certainly not someone with good intentions. You know what to do. I'm counting on you."

  "Don't worry, King. He won't let you down." Fuyu replied firmly.