“I knew it…GENZO!!!”
Kira’s eyes filled with confusion, her skin turned pale, the look of terror paints her face. Taller than Kira, Black fox-like tail with red tip, sleeveless suit with armor plates installed, his arms looks like a chiseled stone that shows his intense dedication in training, claws throbbing from each of his fingertips.
“Look at you…eight more left huh. It suits you don’t worry”
He said his first words to Kira, uncontrolled crimson bolts crackling around his legs and palms, his eyes filled with compressed anger. The way he interacts with her, the way Kira looks at him, seems like they go way back then we thought; The noise-heavy venue fell silent in a second.
She drops her mic and walks towards him.
“It’s been so long! I'm glad you-”
His thick combat boots thrust straight in her gut, Kira goes flying; breaking the backstage and the shrine 200 meters away from us.
“KIRA!!”
We screamed at her flying body, Rei-sensei immediately drew her sword, “tch” he clucked his tongue. His gaze irritated over us already saying out loud “don’t interfere you lowly insects”. She swung her sword aimed directly at Genzo’s neck.
lightning crackles around his hands as he clutches his wrists, he thrusts his fist forward; he is confident a single punch will shatter her sword into dust.
The crowd keeps cheering below, thinking it's some kind of performance made by us. His fist was inches away from Rei-sensei, a single fast movement in the crowd, surfing through the heavy audience. Another sword out of nowhere charged at full speed directly to his fists. Genzo opens his fist slightly to grab the incoming blade, the little bell with a lotus crest under the handle jingles.
Rei-sensei’s eyes spread wide, Ryuusuke grabs the sword’s handle and twists his body mid-air, landing a lethal knee strike to Genzo’s face. The beast remains unfazed
“What are you doing here!”
Rei-sensei surprised by her father’s presence.
“Losing your sword means losing your life!”
Despite the situation, Ryuusuke remains a teacher and a father to her. I need to be something of a help than a dead weight till Kira shows up.
“Run! Akane-san! Harumi!”
Two of them ran away to the direction where Kira went. Genzo grabbed Ryuusuke’s collar and lifted him easily, Rei-sensei lunged to thrust her sword to his abdomen, he grabbed Rei-sensei by her arm and swung both of them to the side.
“Stop annoying me like a mosquito and stay away!”
He shouts at us, this herculean strength of his is similar to the way Kira lifts me up from the couch.
“You worms are not even worthy of using my prowess”
He’s seriously not batting any eye on us, and what’s with him comparing us to insects!
Ryuusuke flicks his finger pointing at his men and me. One of them threw their sword at me; and all of his men climbed on to the stage, overwhelming Genzo with numbers. Genzo spreads his legs, his claws popping up further from his fingers. He was not feeling overwhelmed, but toying with us.
All of us pounced on Genzo mindlessly, he did not dodge the weapons but break them in contact. One by one, thrown away from the stage. Ryuusuke, Rei-sensei and I kept leaping at him. He grins and tucks one of his arms behind him, Rei-sensei and Ryuusuke grits their teeth, annoyance and rage fills their faces. Even I can tell they feel dishonour to their way of fighting.
Ryuusuke’s eyes went narrow, he lunged at Genzo, swinging in every place possible. Crimson lightning surrounds his arm, moving at incredible speed, blocking every strike of Ryuusuke’s sword. Me and Rei-sensei trying to catch him off guard, seeking for a slight opening possible. At this point, I knew trying to slice our way out was impossible.
“I have lived with Kira for many months now, if my guess was correct..”
I stepped on Genzo’s fluffy tail as hard as possible, he screamed out in pain. Finally, an opening, Ryuusuke plunges the sword into his palm and twisted it, the pain was added to him. Genzo became mad, Crimson lightning surrounds him ragingly as the bolts travel beneath, destroying the stage.
BOOM at the distance, a massive explosion. A big white arrow zaps between us, taking him with it. At last! It was Kira! She grips his throat, breaking through the Thousand Torii Gates.
The gates crumbles one after another
“WHY ARE YOU HERE!”
Kira continuously punches him on the face, Genzo flips her over to take the upper hand
“The question is, why are YOU here”
Electrified fist lands on Kira, he grabs her leg and starts to smash her left and right like a wet cloth. She shakes him off to create distance, Genzo jumps on the top of a gate. Kira covers her hands with her silver metal as a guard, her white flame burns greater around her and so does Genzo’s lightning. Things now aren’t something the human mind could comprehend anymore.
Kira transforms her limbs to paws, her molten silver metal covers the hind legs and hands, razor sharp claws squelching out from the tips of her finger.
“It’s been a while indeed!”
Genzo’s crimson lightning burns everything around him, tearing up the ground , his limbs becomes paws as well, his combat suit becomes tighter with his increase in strength. The more he changes, the more starts to look like a fox.
Kira’s amber eyes turned red, she lunges at Genzo with the compressed heat in her fists, every landed hit sounds like an earthquake. Genzo zips through her with lightning speed landing punches powered by millions of generators.
Their speed is increasing, almost impossible to see, these continuous bright strobing lights blinding me. Kira picks up a Torii gate and swings toward him. Without touching it, his lightning breaks the gate into scattering pebbles.
Using the distraction, her claws pierce through his padded suit, it melts as she rips them off. Genzo kicks her back, he gets on all four. his movements become tricky, filled with feints; his steps becomes silent. He blends around the flora and night.
“ ”
His voice spreads around Kira, she looks around with a prepared attack
“
“Show yourself!”
Kira grits her teeth, her eyes felt heavy with guilt,
“
His voice pierces Kira’s ear like a spear
“
Genzo shoots his lightning at Kira, her body gets intensely electrocuted by his high voltage attack. Her lips part slightly for a sigh, She condenses her fire on the tip of her finger, it shrinks to the size of a pea. WHIRR a white beam shoots as she rotates her wrist, disintegrating everything around her, Genzo gets exposed from his position. She kneels down while charging every flame of hers to feet, metal flowing to her sole and fingers, covering layer by layer, they turn bright white as she keeps focusing her flame.
Genzo uses his lightning speed to get closer to her. In the mid air, she gets behind him as if she warped through space, his torn suit burns out, his fur smokes away. Kira grabbed his nape, her eyes went narrow, almost lifeless; her voice went down.
“So it’s revenge, Gen?”
He felt the sudden shift on Kira, he could not touch her with bare hands
“An order, from the king…to bring you back”
“was it that idiot deer?”
Genzo’s breath becomes heavy, sweat rolls down his neck
“no, it’s the goat”
“Goat? Whatever, im not returning to that messed up place again”
“ The Sacred Land is not like it was before!- ”
We reached the burning emptied ground with only two of them.
“KIRAA!”
We called out to her. Looking at Kira, she’s on top of Genzo, pulling his ears from behind. His eyes frowned after our eyes met “you!” he shouts muffled. I thought he was the final boss after standing tall and unmoved, even by Ryuusuke! What is this picture I am seeing now?
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“This bastard! He stepped on my tail! That long haired guy made a hole in my palm!”
“What? hahaha, that’s a good one Toshi!”
Ryuusuke stood immobilised, surprised by such an indomitable figure now getting toyed by Kira.
“Why are you carrying Harumi-chan and Akane on your back?”
“Unlike you, they can’t run 200m straights”
Another Kyoto’s main attraction is destroyed, the police helicopters are on their way again, I could hear the sirens below. I’m going nowhere anymore! I’m going back to my nest!
***
Ahhh, finally! Home sweet home. It was sweet indeed when Rei-sensei made Ryuusuke pay for our return trip. Isn’t it good to have a wealthy old man with you. The nasty stink of tuna, shedded fur sticking on my feet; it’s home alright. But I'm sitting on the floor in my own house, because two more intruders tagged along and conquered the sofa!
“K-Kira-chan…why is he with us again?”
Akane-san’s voice was shaky while pointing Genzo bending the sofa with his weight
“H-He almost sliced my head open…”
Harumi points at Ryuusuke, leg on his other, sword on his shoulder sitting beside Genzo. Rei-sensei glared at her father
“Apologise! Now!”
“I kneel to no one-”
“HUH?”
“I’m sorry for trying to kill you…”
The shifts in the power dynamics, these women I’m with, easily controlling the walking threats. Genzo groans and gets prickly
“What is this cramped hut, I could barely breathe in here”
Akane-san grabs Kira’s shirt and starts to shake her
“Don’t ignore my question! Why is he here!”
Kira puts her hands together.
“Ah, yes. This is Genzo Kurohane, my childhood friend. His mission is to kidnap me, but sadly failed”
Great. someone who wants to kill his childhood friend. How can she be cool about this?
“Where do you intend to bring her?”
I asked Genzo. Deep down, I was confused and a little scared of hearing people targeting Kira. It seems she has more layers to her undiscovered i-it’s not like i’m attached to her or anything, hmph!
“Where? to the place she belongs!”
Kira pats his back while laughing
“I’ll see you try big boy”
Everyone was confused except me and Rei-sensei. It is understandable since they do not know the existence of The Sacred Land, even though I only know the name.
“What is that place”
Harumi asked.
“Why do I need to tell a mere human like y-”
Before Genzo could finish his mocking, Kira interrupts
“The Sacred Land is where we were born, a land filled with lush greenery that stretches out till the horizon, tall mountains that reach the sky, Water that flows like crystal. Incredible beasts that walk with elegance, and dangerous ones that hunt without hesitation. A land where strength is everything”
Genzo exhales knowing what is the point of being secretive after they knew everything about their kind. He cuts through Kira’s explanation
“You forgot the worst part. As she said, strength is everything. One who is weak will be treated worse than an insect. This nasty rule came on the existence of the royalty, they govern the whole land”
“Yeah…that..”
Kira hesitantly agrees with him. She pushes him to the door
“You guys have fun, i got some catching up to do”
***
Kira shuts the door behind her, she takes a torn piece of Genzo’s combat suit, a collar strap of five gold stars etched to it.
“What is this Gen?”
“Special force..”
“What are you talking about, there are no Special Forces “
“There is now! I'm the Commander of them! The land is not the same as you think Kira! He changed everything!”
“Who is he?”
“Hyoten Shu”
A walking cane landed between them like a spear, standing perfectly still. The landlord, she jumps from the second floor choking Kira’s neck with her bony legs
“THE RENT!! You have two months of due!”
The landlord grabs the walking cane and swings on Kira, she breaks the door on impact and rolls on the living room. “Run..” a fading word from her before she collapses to the ground.
“Where is that squirmy roommate, I know that sword maniac is in there too”
I could think of nothing but carry on Kira’s last message, I turned around and ran heading to the window back in the kitchen. Rei-sensei grabbed my hand and pulled me with her to the window. The cane flew once again, BONK it knocked her out in an instant. Of course, we did not do our jobs for two months, and no pay. We had to face the consequences.
Ryuusuke, shot up from the sofa
“You dare hurt my daughter!”
“Your daughter is living on the streets then!
The landlord cornered The Mighty Ryuusuke. Hearing the word, he reached out his wallet, handing her a book of money
“This should cover her rent for three years”
Rei-sensei wakes up dizzy
“No! I will pay it myself”
“Then use it for us…please..”
Kira reaches out her hand like a soldier took a bullet. Don’t tell me she’s down because of a cane!
Luckily the money was used for our rent, talk about streak of luck. Genzo tries walking out of the absurdity without getting noticed. Kira’s ears twitched, her head perked up
“Oi, where are you going”
Genzo turned around,
“Have your fun for now, I won’t go back till I complete my mission”
Kira walked towards him before he jumps off into the darkness
“Where are you going to spend your time plotting strategies? Let me guess, the woods? Above a building? You can’t keep an eye on me that way”
Kira grabbed Rei-sensei
“Stay with this one”
“HUH!”
“Cmon, think about it. If you had a roommate, you can split the rent 50-50, that means less spend and more save”
Kira slithers onto Rei-sensei’s neck like a snake, manipulating her with sweet words.
“I can’t let this guy stay with my daughter!”
Ryuusuke protests with the sudden suggestions. I agree with him on this, we can’t let a thunder fox live next door!
Rei-sensei pinches her chin and thought about it for a long time
“What are you doing! Don’t make decisions without asking me!”
Genzo exclaims behind the scene, Kira slithers back to his neck
“Imagine. The fluffy bed, warm blanket covers your fur, three meals a day” Rei has all the props for working out”
I’m actually impressed she’s using her rusted brain once in a while. She chose their main problem and desire to use it against them! I can see that Kira wants to be close again with her long lost friend. But be strong sensei! Don’t fall for her trickery!
“I accept… but I don't want you to slack around, fox ! you’re joining the bar with me ”
Rei-sensei’s evil intentions are written all over her face.
“Are you sure about this Kira..”
I stood beside her as I whispered.
“Yes , I’m hundred percent sure”
“What if he runs amok again?”
“He goes toe to toe with me when he’s serious”
“We’re all going to die!”
With an arrogant smirk on the edge of her lips
“I’m stronger”
The landlady seems cool about it. Genzo hesitantly opens Rei-sensei’s door, looking at the environment inside, he nods in agreement. He walks toward her bed to claim his place with his own hands, SNIP little strands of his front hair fall as sensei unseathed her sword.
“No one. Uses . My bed”
Their argument gets distant as Kira closes the door on them.
“Aren’t they close already~”
Ryuusuke stood tall in front of Kira, his eyes filled with disagreement and bloodlust. With a low grunting voice
“Anything happens, I will kill…every…single…one...of you”
“Your daughter is scarier than you think”
He walked away with his sword on his shoulder after hearing my words.
***
Finally I can return to my slightly normal routine again, cool wind, the scent of morning, birds chirping and SINGLE ARM HANDSTAND PUSH UPS! Sensei and Genzo doing it side by side! I'm glad they made up, I guess? Anyways, I'm joining them! I may not be on the level of single arm variation, but I can still do the normal one.
“Haha, Only weaklings does it with two hands”
Genzo mocked me while doing his 546th rep
“Im going to reach it sooner than you think Genzo!”
“That’s the mindset Toshi!”
The three of us pumped the ground like pistons in the engine.
The work at the cafe went smoothly after a good pump. The staffs were astonished by my transformation, since my arms look more shredded thanks to sensei’s training.
Kira walks back to the cafe with an army of stray cats. Remember when she made a bunch of cats gather around on my first encounter? That’s why we won’t let her throw out the trash in the back alley, but she did it anyway.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know! they follow me like im their leader or something”
She picks up a white cat and rubs her cheek with it’s fluffy and soft fur
“Look! Don't we look alike?”
“No, this cat looks way cuter. Wait, can you talk to cats?”
“What do you think I am, some kind of being straight out of fantasy?”
“Right, just a normal person who can destroy a country in a minute”
It was suspiciously a normal day like any other day, no interruption, no life threatened. Maybe I got so accustomed to the chaos that I forgot the normalcy of life. The chairs were placed on the table, shutters were closed. Kira suggested she wanted to go to the Enzo Bar to check on Genzo. A sudden thought struck to my mind
“When you think about it, the bar’s name is Genzo’s name, but without the G”
She leaned down, placed both her hands on my shoulders heavily
“That’s…Hahaha! Talk about coincidence~”
***
Neon lights outside the bar buzzed, the tables were filled with sketchy men with suits as usual, slow shamisen playing on the speakers. Rei-sensei pours wine on the counter with a perfect line and lights them up. She slides each glass with a dead stop and lights a citrus peel over the finished drink.
Genzo on the other hand, his side of the counter is filled with mature women gazing at his tight shirt. He juggles four sealed cocktails, he pours each drink on the coupe glass.
“Now see the magic~”
He gently held the woman’s hand in front of him, he transferred a small current to her glass, it made the drink crackle small lightning in it “ooh it tingles in my throat” they savoured the drink.
“Give me the best drink you can offer hotshot”
Half sat on the seat, Kira smacks the counter.
“Well if you ask-”
Mid sentence, Genzo splashes the drink on her face knowing it’s Kira
“Scraps are thrown after the bar closes”
The drink evaporates away from her skin without needing to wipe it dry. I leaned closer to Rei-sensei.
“How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Tame him”
“Oh I didn't tame him, he was too interested in humanly activities and wanted to know more about it”
“That’s so cheap to be the only reason”
“I said if you did anything to me, there will be three extreme consequences”
THE CONSEQUENCES:
- REI KNOWS HOW HE MOVES
- RYUUSUKE’S WRATH
- KIRA
- RYUUSUKE’S WRATH
This containment system sounds inescapable, even I kinda feel bad for him now.
“Besides, I feel satisfied, seeing him do chores after he dishonored my sword style at the stage”
She puts on a smug smile. As expected Sensei! All I could do was bow down and admire the radiance of my master! Rei-sensei slid a glass of lemonade, knowing well I can't handle alcohol.
“How’s the human world, Gen?”
Kira kept smacking his shoulder without consent
“I’ve been roaming around looking for you, and stumbled upon a food these people call ‘The Hamburger’
“ohoho! Truly a valid choice Gen, we are the people of meat”
I don’t quite remember when Kira ate other kinds of meat, my whole place reeks of fish! I even have to spray half a can of perfume to remove it from my clothes! Rei-sensei lifted an eyebrow.
“So you all only eat meat in the sacred land?”
“Every beast has a hard skin and thick juicy meat inside. We must hunt them by ourselves to put food on the table. It strengthens us and provides us with nutrients. Basically, two Zelfyr with one stone”
“That explains their towering traits, wait- Zelfyr?”
This name sounds straight out of an RPG video game.
“It’s a huge bird which slices the wind with flight, claws that tears you easily like paper”
If a mere bird sounds like that, I wonder what kind of other monsters are there. Genzo reaches his back pocket.
“The other thing from this human-world that piques my curiosity is..”
He places a Semi-automatic revolver ‘Minebea P9’ on the counter. Chairs dragging in unison, all the customers stood immediately. Their hands hovering to their sides. I turned to Rei-sensei, a few strands of her hair stood up one by one, so did mine and Kira. I could feel the air stinging my skin. “ I knew you looked up to no good!” one of the men in black suit took out his gun, pointed at Genzo.
“You’re picking on me? you vermin”
His teeth gritted, Genzo’s lightning slowly began to leak around him. Rei-sensei stabbed her ice carving knife on the wooden counter.
“Hey! Stop it! No violence inside the bar! Put your weapons down!”
The staggered people sat down with uncertainty written all over their faces.
“Where did you get it, Gen?”
Kira took the gun and started to inspect it, sniffing the muzzle.
“Someone called ‘Police’ pointed that thing at me before. A small metal came flying from that hole. It was easy to catch it though. But still, it’s fascinating”
Why does everyone from Sacred Land do nothing but crimes! Criminals! I'm surrounded by criminals!
Genzo took the revolver from Kira’s hands “I’m keeping this”.