Gaia guardians Christmas chapter (current published chapter)

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Gaia guardians

Rating: T (slight language, violence and slight innuendo in later chapters)
Genre: Action/Adventure, romance, drama (in later chapters)

Gaiden special chapter 0.1- When the snow fell on us...
/It was then/that our bonds/were tied between/[you] and [I]

In the small town of Hanamomi, 10 years ago

She watched from the large window panel of the cafe shop as the snow continued to fall down in small, miniscule clusters, one after the other. Smiling at the small, beautiful spectacle, the young woman smiled again and then returned her warm gaze on her equally warm mug of hot chocolate she held so tightly between her hands. Looking intently at her faint reflection in the dark brown pools, she took a nearby spoon and immediately started turning it, the ripples of her reflection soon dissipating and becoming blurry to her eyes. Narrowing her pine green eyes gleefully as she did this, the woman closed her eyes and then raising the hot liquid-filled mug to her lips, blew small puffs of air as she attempted to cool down the boiling drink. As she was going to take a trial sip though, the young woman gasped and hissed at the pain when she felt her burning tongue twitch; it seemed as if it wasn’t ready to be drunk yet. Sighing at her failed drinking attempt, she reluctantly set her hot mug down on the table, her hands however never leaving its surface. Shrugging at her momentary defeat, the braided female then took to looking outside again, to where a hustle and bustle of people had been long crowding the streets. Bright lights and decorations were also seen across different stores across from where the woman was sitting. It was a perfect time for festive cheer, and the retail stores and other consummations stores were probably going to have their most profitable time of the year. The hazel-haired woman smiled and giggled again at the thought of her neighbour, Ms. Hibiya, and her wild rants about how people were getting too perky or too greedy during this specific time of the year. “Heh Heh Heh,” the woman chuckled to herself gleefully as she recalled their last encounter. Then again, sometimes she would agree and sympathize with the older woman.

After all, it was the holidays. And as such, people often tend to get a bit worked up into what they’re going to buy for the loved ones; and for the young children, their poor parents were responsible for keeping up with the charade that there was indeed such a thing as Santa Claus, and had to feed their mouths with the thoughts that they had to sleep well tonight or else Santa would’ve come creeping into their chimney on Christmas Eve.

“Ohhh...t-there you are, Sakibara-Oujo-sama!” then said a voice from the outside, startling the hazel-haired woman out of her thoughts as her gaze turned upwards. She was then met with the panting figure of a young, short blue-haired man with slipping spectacles falling down his nose; which he quickly adjusted after taking notice of it. Judging by the looks of him, it had seemed like he had ran quite a long distance for him to reach her like this! Or then again was he simply in a hurry to arrive and the large strain and lack of free movement in the hustle and bustle of the crowds exhausted him? Either way, the man looked very tired, and the young woman decided to ease his pains by offering him a seat, to which the stuffy male gladly accepted, though in an abrupt manner. Apparently he was rushed by something as he was sitting halfway on his seat, one leg sticking out towards the floor outside their table. Noticing his error and wide lack of politeness, the young man gasped and quickly adjusted his mistake, settling both legs under their table.

“Please accept this one’s dearest apologies again, Sakibara Oujo-sama. Forgive this fool for his rudeness and his grave tardiness. The reports had came in late and I felt I couldn’t arrive here without you having this information, so-” The boy then stuttered all at once as he proceeded to rise from his seat and then give a quick bow to her once before slamming himself down on his seat once more. The stunned young woman, in response, smiled sheepishly and easily gave him the required apology through just a wave of her hand. “Oh hoh, Komagata-san!” she said back, smiling as if nothing was, “You mustn’t worry about your being late! I was watching the people go by while I waited for you; it was quite fun and very entertaining really. But...Thank you nonetheless for the kind apology!! Really!” Watching as she continued to laugh in such a carefree manner, the still-nervous boy in question swallowed again and nodded for the third time, while also taking that apology as a positive reply. Once again readjusting his glasses back onto his nose, the blue-haired youth then took to introducing himself as he took out an envelope from his large navy parka. Watching intently as she opened the thin packet and skimmed through the folders that were inside, the man swallowed nervously. Hesitantly raising a hand to loosen his tie, he swallowed again and cleared his throat to address the concentrated woman once more. “S-Sakibara Oujo-sama,” he started, unable to keep he lump in his throat, “I’m feeling a bit hot in here. Is it alright if I may take off my tie a little bit?” Chuckling again at the man’s flustered behaviour, the light blonde nodded and returned to examining her papers, leaving Komagata-san to loosen up his tie a little bit. A small, awaiting silence then settled between them as the boy attentively watched the woman in front of him, yet also taking the time to study her as well. He had wanted to see if the rumours were circulating about Oujo-sama were true; Because, unbeknownst to her, he had based her appearance solely on those rumours, and had been hopelessly infatuated with her ever since.

My goodness...It truly is as they had described her...Truly indeed! Beautiful, radiant locks of honeyed-coloured hair...they say it was always wrapped up in a braid on one side...it seems it is!! And her eyes...what deep shades of green! One who would feel as if they would be staring directly into the eyes of a luscious, endless forest of Pine trees...I would see why anyone could fall in love with her...such warmth, such depth...such simple radiance emanating from this woman...Ohhh...Sakibara Oujo-sama...If you could only be mine!!!

“...Komagata-san?” then came the light voice creeping into his ears again, “Komagata-san?” she repeated as the boy in question found himself staring face to face into familiar pair of deep green eyes. “GYAAAHHH!!” He yelled in surprise as he jolted wildly from his seat and was now up and atom on his seat, with hands in front of him. Blinking as she chose to ignore the boy’s odd bits of behaviour, Sakibara Oujo-sama smiled and waved hello. “Um, Komagata-san,” she then said calmly, ignoring the watching crowd around them,”...would you please take a deep breath and accompany me towards our designated ride? After all if we remember well, that is the only reason that you had come to meet me in the first place, yes?” the still flustered boy in question nodded and taking a deep breath as instructed, then slunk down in his seat. The two then rose up from their seats, and it was then that Komagata gasped and couldn’t help himself as he then pointed down at Sakibara Oujo-sama. She, still smiling as nothing was, nodded and then turned him around and walked him forward towards the entrance of the cafe, meanwhile still not taking notice of the gawking passerby of earlier.

After all, it wasn’t every day you would see such constant erratic behaviour in their town. And was the young boy pointing at exactly when he was looking at the other woman? They couldn’t see what he had seen either.

When the duo were finally outside, the woman in question then smiled broadly and raised her arms in the air, enjoying herself in the continuous sight of the snowflakes falling above her. “Ahhh...look at it, Komagata-san. Look at the small specks of the falling snowflakes. Is it not beautiful to marvel at? They look like little falling stars from our feeble point of view. You know, some countries don’t even have the luxury of celebrating winter with the snow like we can. But they still do take it in themselves to celebrate the coming holidays in their own special way...isn’t.” Looking at the still-gaping boy, Sakibara Oujo-sama still smiled and patted his shoulder lightly. Meanwhile, Komagata-san had still not taken the recent surprise he found himself staring at. Luckily, by the time the shocked boy was about to stutter anything else from his mouth, a car had come by and had stopped right in front of the awaiting passerby. Once again giving light pushes towards her attendant, Sakibara Oujo-sama stepped in slowly inside the vehicle, following her shocked younger friend. When they were finally in the vehicle, Komagata-san finally strode his eyes away from the hazel-eyed woman’s unusually large belly and finally stared at the face of the expectant in question.

Another soft chuckle passed through her lips as she had temporarily received the boy’s full attention. Then again she was getting used to the constant gawks and stares she was receiving every now and then. But she had to say that it was very funny when she saw the reaction on their faces; men were certainly more expressive then women when it came to this department. As for Komagata-san himself, he hadn’t gotten over the fact that he was staring at the face of his “beloved”. He couldn’t really get over the fact that her pregnancy had been so quickly, so fast...!! “S-S-S-Sakibara....Oujo...”the blue-haired boy again stuttered, readjusting his slipping glasses unto his face. He again swallowed the huge lump in his throat and took a huge huff of breath. “Aye, Aye...E-excuse me!” he managed again as he turned around to contemplate in his little corner, leaving the giggling Sakibara Oujo-sama to stare at his back. Taking another look at her future daughter, the woman patted her large belly and chuckled.

“...I know, I know. You must be thinking: “Sakibara Oujo-sama has been taken!” And the truth is, yes she has, Komagata-san...yes, she has. So my dearest apologies if you now find yourself heartbroken, like all the others. Sakibara Obaa-chan didn’t really didn’t want this to be known, only by a few private members of the council. Thus, to normal people, they wouldn’t my gradual change in appearance over the last nine months. But, of course, with those who are supernaturally inclined...they would’ve spotted the changes immediately; within even the first weeks for those who were very skilled in detecting such things.” Meanwhile, the youth in question, who was now fidgeting over what to do now, had finally come to a decision. Turning around to meet the still smiling face of his “formerly beloved”, Komagata-san sighed and took a deep breath. After all, it was only a fluttering crush he had, and with time, he would soon find another to call his “beloved”. After all, there could’ve been many reasons why it probably would’ve never worked between them; with one of the biggest reasons being that she was his superior and that despite her age, she was in her mid-twenties while he was still in his late teens.

It probably would’ve never really worked, anyway.

After all, the most important reason before all was that this would be the woman who would be giving birth to the world’s salvation, would she not? So of course all her attention, all her patience and virtue was needed to go through her future experiences with the coming child. He would probably only be in the way in the end game. “I...I...I understand, Sakibara Oujo-sama. I had just overreacted, and I thank you for seeing through this one’s faults.” He finally said, now returning to planting both feet on the ground of the vehicle. Clearing his throat to release any more of the tension he might’ve caused between them during their entire meeting from the cafe to the car, Komagata clasped his hands together and awaited an answer to his unasked question. Seeing his renewed serious expression, Sakibara Oujo-sama returned her own eyes towards the front and placed her own hands on her stomach as well.

“Well, your report was quite detailed, Komagata-san. Your sector has done tremendous work on finding out details about the work of this Arcadia Corporation. Sakibara Oujo-sama was very pleased. It helps us know exactly what are their motives for the future and what it might have to do with my...my...future...daughter...”Stopping in her speech to look down at the unborn child stirring inside her belly, Sakibara Oujo-sama frowned and narrowed her eyes. Komagata-san, in an act of worry and lingering hope, placed a comfortable arm on her shoulder. In her slight distraction, Sakibara Oujo-sama leaned in towards the nearby shoulder and closed her eyes, her face twisted in expressed anguish. She was trying to suppress the tears from streaming down her face. Taking the strong initiative, Komagata-san pulled the adult woman closer to him and held her at a considerable length from him. Enough to hunch close to her, but not too much that it would seem like he was trying to get perhaps too intimate with her. For him, having Oujo-sama this close to him would’ve been enough. He would time to get over her later; but right now, she needed comforting, and as a love struck man, that was what Komagata was of duty to give her that! “K-Komagata-kun...”she muttered under sniffles and sniffs as the hot tears streamed from her face. Gulping as he felt her relax under release herself under him, the shaking boy just swallowed and nodded, decided to keep his gaze to the window, watching as the limousine drove over the bridge that would cross towards the city of Tokyo, where Sakibara Obaa-chan and the council would be waiting.

***

Tsusushi temple, Tokyo

“Midori! Midori Sakibara!” The young man yelled towards the young girl perched up on the Sakura cherry blossom tree. The girl in question blinked and slightly took her eyes off the chicks on her fingers to look down at the angry priest who addressed her. The said man was actually her very irritated tutor. You see, Midori was supposed to be training for her future role as the heiress of the Sakibara family spiritual powers and thus gaining ascension to the protection of the shrine; but sometimes she had a habit of sneaking off when not needed. Most of the time, the poor teachers would mostly find her here, sitting in one of the high branches of the Sakura tree preceding the main houses themselves, and she was often playing with the birds who had nestled there. Other times, she would simply be not inside the perimeters of the shrine itself, but instead she would out into the big city of Tokyo itself, “to make up for lost time” she once claimed when she was asked why she would be often taking her little brother Shouta with her on her rare trips to the outside metropolis. It was indeed a hassle to try and discipline the young adoptee of Lady Kimiko Sakibara; but in the end, she did have at least one main quality; when push came to shove, she would do what was required of her.

However, that would take much more effort to get her to actually get to the “push and shove” part.

“HAHHH!!! You....You...youuuuu!!!” yelled the exasperated man once more as he pointed towards the gawking girl, blinking back at him as if nothing was. “Midori Sakibara-sama! Are you even listening to meee??? Get down here right this instant!” Returning her attention to the chirping yellow chicks hopping and resting on her fingers, Midori smiled and with her other hand, slowly stroked their gentle little foreheads.

“Right this minute, young lady! Tis not time to be fooling around!!!” Came the loud voice speaking to her ignorant hearing again.”Do you want me to attack those birds? That tree? You? Allrighty then...”he finally said snickering and slamming his fists together,” Let’s see what you’re really made of...”

As for Midori herself, she still seemed oblivious to what exactly was happening, instead turning all her attention on the chicks before her. What a bunch of cute little animals. Birds. Or should I say chicks. They hadn’t much to do for the moment. Unlike me, she grumbled though, as she was once more jolted out of her thoughts when she sensed the incoming force of an attack. Glancing below again, Midori quickly leaped away from the tree just as the sutra had struck the branch she was sitting on. Landing on her two feet, the braided brunette frowned and held onto the little birds nestled in her chest. “Oi, Sensei! How can you do that?” she exploded back, growling. She knew she was slacking off, but having the little ones involved in this too? Outrageous! Fine! The Honorary Priestess in-training concluded, flexing her free hand into a fist, which quickly crackled into a ball of energy, if it’s a fight he wants, than a fight he’ll get! Not losing any more time before her sensei could prepare for another attack. “Aha!” then came the triumphant reply, “You’ve finally decided to shape up, eh? Well, let us see if- GYAAHAHAH!!”By the time the sensei had gone even though mid-speech, Midori had long been prepared; her two forefingers in the air, she mutely chanted the required words and minutes later fired a bolt of lightning. Launching it towards her intended target, the long-range attack struck the stunned teacher straight to the chest, which then sent him flying all the way out towards the staircase where two visitors were currently climbing in order to reach the top.

“Oh No...” Komagata-kun muttered as he then looked to the puzzled Sakibara Oujo-sama who was looking back at him.”D-didn’t you hear that?”He asked nervously, chuckling as he looked up towards the last few stairs. “Hmmm? Yes, I heard a scream, but I had no idea that it was coming from-“ “Duck!” the blue-haired boy suddenly ordered as the two did so, avoiding the body of the yelling that flew above them, then tumbling and groaning to his doom. Wincing at what he had just witnessed, Komagata-kun sighed and shook his head. “Well, there she goes again. And with that, another teacher too.” The hazel-haired woman still lodged between his shoulder and arm looked over her shoulder and frowned. “Oh dear...Should we check on him? Is he going to be alright?” She asked, unaware of what exactly had happened to the man to have sent him flying like that. “Well...” was the clearly hesitant reply as Komagata-kun looked upwards in a thoughtful manner,” ...Let’s just say that Midori-sama is...very difficult to work with at times...actually, scratch that; many times, Oujo-sama.” He had paused for a great deal of minutes before having said the last two words. After all, he wasn’t exactly a good source of reconnaissance despite being on the team; he was just tasked with summarizing them into long essays and charts. Otherwise the poor boy fed himself on others’ rumours. “Oh really?” came the curious reply,” Is this Midori going to be the next in line for the succession of the family robes?” Komagata-kun nodded again reluctantly. That, he knew wasn’t just from rudimentary gossip; the facts were solely set on her. “...She seems...interesting! Like she could pull her own weight only she’s asked to...or to put it simply a really fun and interesting person!” Again bursting into a fit of giggles, Sakibara Oujo-sama smiled and went into thought, leaving poor Komagata-kun to wonder whom exactly he was crushing on. After all, Oujo-sama was much too sophisticated and much too dignified to want anything to do with the likes of that mean-spirited, haughty, and slacker of an Honorary Priestess! Frowning and twitching at the thought invaded him, Komagata-kun harrumphed and decided to trudge on forward while pulling Oujo-sama with him, swiftly bringing the woman out of her frivolous thoughts. Marching through the last bits of snow-covered steps, the duo (Komagata-kun in particular) groaned huge sighs of relief as they reached the summit. The said latter, by then, had fallen on his knees and was literally bowing up and down, giving countless kisses to the snow-filled ground and thanking the gods of the sky to have finished his misery. Judging by the way he was fervently praying, snivelling in tears and constantly bowing, it seemed like Komagata-kun would be absorbed in this little ritual for the next little while.

Meaning...I can go find Midori-sama!!! Ooohhh...what fun I expect in this little hunt!!! Taking this opportunity to try and find the probably “infamous” girl, Sakibara Oujo-sama clapped her hands excitedly and literally taking one leap at a time, hopped with one foot in front after the other; smiling and always looking behind her as she watched her tracks in the snow. She continued to act and walk in this manner until she ended up face to face with the Cherry blossom tree where Midori had been previously perched on. Now she found the girl in question sitting down right in front of her, at the base of said cherry blossom tree. Groaning a bit as she stabilized her aura inside her belly to equalize her child’s overbearing chi within her body, Sakibara Oujo-sama suddenly stumbled forward until she turned and with a flop of her butt, ended up sitting on the white and pink concrete next to the indifferent priestess.

“So...you must be... the renowned Midori-Ore-sama?” she asked, having added playful emphasis on the girl’s given title. Oujo-sama was still smiling nonchalantly as she looked at her. Midori looked up from the snuggling birds lodged up in her kimono hem towards a pair of warm green eyes. Minutes later, unable to bear the simple, deep stare Sakibara Oujo-sama was giving her, quickly scoffed and looked away. Softening her gaze even more, Sakibara Oujo-sama smiled even broader and then looked to the gray sky above them, heightened by the incoming snowflakes that had started falling once again. “You know...snowflakes are beautiful, aren’t they, Midori-Ore-sama? Each of them diminutive in size, but very large in beauty and grace. Can you see from here how each of them, even in their small stature, how each of them dances in the sky? How they brighten up the greyed skies we see before us? All the while approaching us for a perfectly white Christmas...won’t it be perfect for such an occasion?” She then asked, smiling as her gaze returned upwards towards the sky, leaving Midori to raise a brow at the other woman’s current line of thought. Then without notice, the woman’s gaze then caught Midori’s eyes again by surprise as the two then looked at each other; then, pointing a forefinger on the girl’s nose, Sakibara Oujo-sama then winked.”I’ve heard many things about you, you know”, she said, her voice still playful, “one of the many things I’ve heard was that you’re the next in line for the succession of the family robes of the Sakibara family; therefore you must be ready to lead the Shinto council of Priests and Priestesses in all of our little Nippon...can you do that?” At that peculiar question, Midori returned her gaze to the pregnant woman next to her. Narrowing her eyes, the braided brunette drew back from her touch and heatedly retorted, “Are you questioning my abilities, Sakibara Oujo-sama?” “Nani? Me? Why, no, Midori-Ore-sama! I am not in league to do such a thing! After all, you had been chosen by Kimiko-Obaa-chan and she must’ve been right in her decisions, hasn’t she?” At the tone of the other woman’s last statement, Midori decided to ignore her again and looked to the side. While it was true that the next in line was the assumed to be taking the position, Midori was filling the position well; to a tee even!

And yet, Sakibara Oujo-sama sounded like she knew more than she was letting on. Much more. But she didn’t have to listen to her! After all, Kimiko-Obaa-sama had chosen her and that was that! There was nothing else to be said; the facts were facts! Scoffing as she had almost been convinced to think otherwise, Midori scoffed at her wayward train of thought and defiantly returned her gaze towards the smiling woman who had been looking at her the entire time. Jumping slightly as she was reflected back into the static pine-coloured eyes, Midori smirked and thumped her chest lightly, having not forgotten about the little ones still nestling within her kimono top. “As of today...I promise you this, Sakibara Oujo-sama: not only will I lead the Nippon Shinto council, but I will also prepare myself for the coming of your daughter! After all, you are expecting a child, aren’t you? Let me take her under my wing someday; I will make you see that Obaa-sama hadn’t made a wrong decision...I will make you see that Midori Sakibara will see to that your daughter be a Priestess worthy of her family name! For even if she doesn’t have any sort of spiritual entity whatsoever, that doesn’t mean that she still won’t be able to brag that she had been trained by Midori Sakibara, Honorary High Priestess of the Nippon Shinto Council!!!” By the time she had finished her speech, the Honorary Priestess had been up on her feet, with finger strongly pointed down towards the woman who was now giggling as if she had seen something really funny. Had she taunted the girl just to earn such a reaction from her? Or was the mischievous Oujo-sama simply playing with our Priestess into making such a wager? Either way, the hazel-haired woman on the ground was now laughing heartedly and Midori was reddening and puffing as she would go through another onset of frustration. As her laughter soon grew down, Sakibara Oujo-sama gave one last chuckle before giving a huge take of breath and placing her two hands upon her belly, her right above her left one. Her eyes calmly closed as the faint silence resumed between the two women, Oujo-sama then dropped her head down to look at her protruded stomach, where within it was currently developing what would be her future child. Opening her eyes half-lidded yet this time not looking at Midori but at her belly, the hazel-haired woman smiled softly and started rubbing the belly slowly, moving one hand below, and with both hands, she was slowly circling the round stomach back and forth, left to right; then giggling softly as she enjoyed the unseen reactions that only a mother would know. Midori, meanwhile, scoffed once more and proceeded to try and awaken the little chicks which had yet to leave their human chest nest.

“..Would you like to feel her?” She then asked the surprised Midori, who, unexpectedly, ended up staring at her again. As their eyes had met in surprise for the second time that afternoon, the two women (Midori in particular) lit up in giggles and as Midori was climbing up to settle the little ones back in their real nests, the braided brunette looked over her shoulder and hopped back down, her feet crashing once again into the snow. Kneeling back down to sit on the ground, Midori then smiled and slowly raised a hand towards the belly. “Ahhh...Wait...”Sakibara Oujo-sama said, pausing as she then stopped in her caressing of both hands to leave one hand to place over Midori’s. “Ohhh...Thanks.” Guiding the other’s hand around the soft surface, Midori then gasped as they stilled their hands in place. That’s when they felt it.

Rather, that was when she felt it. The all-powerful “Baby bump”. That one little reaction from the child inside that would easily make tens of thousands of mothers and friends alike squeal in unison. After all, it’s not often you get to feel the kick, or the head even, if it’s a stubborn little male sleeping in there. And for normal mortals, that was pretty much great in itself; but for people like Midori, it was much more profound than that. Swallowing as she asked to travel furthermore around the stomach, the brunette swallowed the umpteenth lump in her mouth as her hand was glided down around towards the concealed navel of Oujo-sama’s stomach; that’s when she felt the other bump again. But even more, Midori had also felt the powerful stream of chi that had passed from the inner limb of muscle towards her hands, creating slight clash of auras. The result she encountered was stunning Midori; usually when even in the conception stage, babies were measured with normal, regulated chi levels; but then again was she dealing with an ordinary baby here?

Another chuckle was emitted from Sakibara Oujo-sama’s mouth as Midori then released her hand from the woman’s large abdomen. As she felt it, another light spark flew between her fingers and the stomach, making the girl widen her eyes. What incredible power was floating within this child? Midori, slightly overwhelmed by her discovery, slightly backed away and almost fell on the snow; if her hands hadn’t cushioned her fall, making her sit up instead. Once more returning her proper hands to caress her belly, Sakibara Oujo-sama then leaned back against the tree and returned her gaze towards the sky, now brightening up with the slight cameo of the sun behind a cloud. “Why Midori-Ore-sama seems surprised a bit, ne? That was more than just a mere “baby bump” wasn’t it?” She then said and winked at the flabbergasted woman next to her.

“W-what’s her name?”The girl reluctantly asked, now wishing she hadn’t had such a big mouth. She, training that powerhouse? Yeah, right. Now she wished she hadn’t gone off the wire like that. In return, Oujo-sama had decided to taunt the Priestess-in-training, blinking curiously and leaning a head over to the other girl; she claimed she hadn’t been listening earlier. “Hmmm? Midori-Ore-sama is asking what now? Sakibara Oujo-sama couldn’t really hear you. I was too busy watching the snow fall and listening to my little girl here.” Frowning again as she further played with, Midori rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, choosing to look nowhere but straight into the eyes of the older woman before her.

“What’s her name, Oujo-sama?” she repeated slowly, smirking as she did so. That oughta teach her. Giggling again at the younger girl’s frail attempt to get back at her, the expectant mother looked back at Midori and leaned to her ear.

“...Kikyo.”

Without another word, the mirthful Oujo-sama giggled once again and then with grace and slowness contradicting her current state as an expectant, the young woman stood up on her feet, wiping the traces of snow and petals from her jeans and coat then clapped her hands of the remains. Just as Oujo-sama was to address again the awaiting Midori, a yell for the said girl was coming their way from behind. Komagata-kun was running towards them, looking as desperate and exhausted as ever. Scoffing at his horrid running, Midori rolled her eyes and turned the other way, when she was abruptly pulled back by Oujo-sama and her ear was again brought to the older woman’s mouth.”...Midori-Ore-sama will be taking my daughter under her wing at Christmas time, yes?” Blinking at the odd request, Midori shrugged nonetheless and looking back at the smiling Oujo-sama, nodded. As she was left to go back off into the nearby temples, Komagata-kun was just on the verge of arriving behind Oujo-sama when the woman had turned around to meet him first. “Hello, Komagata-kun...your prayer for thanks went well, I presume?” The huffing boy straightened and bowing once in apology, nodded at her question.

“And you, Oujo-sama? Was conversing with Midori-miko-sama fruitful?” Again she nodded at the thought. “But! Let us not dwell on that; instead let us go inside to see Obaa-chan...She must’ve been awaiting us for the past last hour now!” Nodding at his earnest request, Sakibara Oujo-sama gracefully walked forward, with the bumbling Komagata-kun following behind. As they finally came inside, a team of shrine maidens quickly took over from Komagata-kun and were already surrounding the hazel-haired woman with salutations and hellos; and rushing Oujo-sama towards the dressing room where a formal kimono would be awaiting her for the meeting. Then while she was left to her own devices, it was then that Oujo-sama was then fraught with realization; how couldn’t she have noticed how cold it was outside? It had seemed rather nicely warm for a snow-filled day yet in the entirety of the time she had spent with Midori, she had never been attacked with sneezes or shivers...

Of course...it could also be...

She looked down and again caressed the bare belly of her child beneath her. Life was really incredible to her. ”...Galatea, is it? No...Key of Salvation you may be, but you are first and foremost, my little girl, my dear little Kikyo... After all, Galatea is but merely your former self, my child...But please, please answer me this; was it you who protected your mother from the dangers of the cold? I thank you for that, young one. I also thank you for protecting every one of us in the future...for I know, I know that whatever perils may come for you; you will address them; and whatever dangers may attack you; I know that you shall not be alone....you cannot be alone when you face them...!!”The last sentence had almost been in a whimpering cry.

“O-Oujo-sama?” One of the awaiting maidens had asked curiously, peeking in to see what was the matter. Gasping as she saw the slunken form of her mistress, the maiden quickly lost no time and yelled for others’ assistance; she then returned to her mistress and knelt to her side, placing her hands on her shoulders.” Is Oujo-sama alright?” she asked tentatively again as she watched the usually composed and calm face transformed into a bawling and pained face, with hands clutching protectively around her belly. Taking a look behind her and blinking as she saw no trace of water currently flowing, the maiden nonetheless stayed slightly concerned.

“Oujo-sama?” she asked again as she still received no response. Or at least not until she then watched as the crying woman rose back up to her knees and smiled at the maiden next to her. Her smile seeming familiar to her, the maidens (now having arrived in the room for the last five minutes) nonetheless circled themselves around Oujo-sama and one by one, tasked themselves on trying to make her beautiful. Once again lost in her thoughts as she was currently being prepared and pampered, Oujo-sama smiled and as she was closing her eyes, her last thoughts of the day circled within her head.

Midori-Ore-sama...I do thank you as well for that generous offer...I feel that you and my daughter will get along very well; I know it. After all, won’t you both be fun and interesting in the future? Christmas is indeed coming soon; and on the day the Lord’s son was born, on Christmas our own light of Salvation shall illuminate our own world from the clutches of darkness...and they’ll be presents galore!!!Unable to help herself again, Oujo-sama then lit up into another fit of happy and mirthful giggles. Why was this? To this day, only a selected number of people ever found out why exactly she was always in such a good mood.

Gaia guardians chapter 5

((Wanna read other chapters without getting lost? Go here))

Gaia guardians

Rating: T (mild violence, mild language and mild nudity in later chapters)

Genre: Action/adventure, drama, romance (later chapters)


Prologue Epsilon- Post super-shock aftermath
(Whatever had happened, something must’ve been...?)

One week and four days after the “invasion” attempt, in Hanamomi hospital

Eyes suddenly awoke in a sudden start as the young bedridden girl jerked her body upwards, blinking herself back to life. Glancing from side to side, Yuzumi Mimiya narrowed her eyes and looked around her new surroundings. Yes, the awfully stale smell, the many occupied beddings and the people in white frantically running around were all signs leading that she was in a hospital. And her own form of clothing had been the aqua-like colored shirt that all medical patients were required to wear...a small blush came over her cheeks as thoughts of her having been undressed while having been unconscious came to mind and the girl quickly huddled up and propped her hands over her chest defiantly as she again took curious glances around. The dark-skinned girl then prodded her covered forehead as she finally took notice of the large weight of bandages wrapped on her forehead. Rubbing her fingers back and forth, the still-distraught and nearsighted Yuzumi was still in her own thoughts until she was met with a prodding of a foreign finger and with another start, the vice-captain jumped and slightly drew herself back. Tsutsumi Hsieh snickered at her friend’s slow reflexes and then gave Yuzumi a full hand wave of a hello.

“Onna,” she said still with mischievous air, “feeling better now that you’ve had your long nap?” The kendo assistant-captain was replied with a brief nod from her startled friend before she had sighed and taking a nearby chair to turn it around to its back and sit upon it. Tsutsumi was a little covered in band-aids herself, though they had seemed of minor injuries compared to Yuzumi’s; after all, the latter was in the bed while the former was still alive with little scrapes.

Having regained composure (and dignity somewhat), Yuzumi sighed and rose her knees to her chest. “...Yes, I had a very nice nap, thanks for the warm and meaningful notice. How long was I out for anyway?” Tsutsumi then looked away from her to the ceiling, pretending to think, but Yuzumi didn’t buy the act. “Tsutsu-chan...I was only out for, what...a few hours, right?” The shorter girl again pretended ignorance as deadly silence resumed.

“How long was I out for already, dammit?” Came the frustrated yet worried reply as Yazumi suddenly clutched both hands at her friend’s collar and forcibly jerked her friend closer, shocked face inching upon angry yet anxious grimace. With a gulp, the bespectacled girl drew her friend’s fists away from her neck collar to hold them in her own hands. Brown black eyes widened as Yuzumi mentally prepared herself for the surprising news that she would hear. With a nervous gulp, Tsutsumi swallowed and finally managed to utter,

“...Well, you’ve been ‘out of commission’ for the since last week, at best.”

“...W-What?” came the naturally shocked reply. “I’ve been out for...A week and a half?” It was Tsutsumi’s turn to nod gravely and slowly, that nod however being far from reassuring to the now distressed Yuzumi. As the hands drew back into the bed, the confused female released a shaken breath and held her head in her hands. Tsutsumi sighed and frowned. “Yeah, you were out for a little while. This was of course after that incident at the Tajiri Shinkansen station...Can you at least remember that?”

Yuzumi blinked as she looked back to her friend with wide-eyes. Wait...was it the same incident that had involved the Priest and that monster thing and all that...? Again did the short-haired girl across from her nod. “If you’re thinking about that moment we’d experienced, you’re completely right. After the priest guy had appeared and made his entrance, telling us then to ‘run off to a safe place’ or something like that...” Then came a roll of eyes from the kendo captain, nodding again as she had remembered that moment; because their “safe place” so to say was actually far from the safe place that they should’ve gone to. Tsutsumi, eager and hardy to watch “that priest kicks some super kung-fu ass”, had suggested that they were to stay behind...or at least watch from a nearby shield of a broken wall that had somehow remained within the red field of space that had been surrounding them since the youma first appeared.

Yuzumi sighed and clasped her fingers together as Tsutsumi then took to explaining the rest of the story. “...Yeah, so after that happened, the fight ensued and the priest was totally kicking the monster’s ass but then again the youma was giving the guy hell too, so then...fight after fight, punch after punch, kick after kick and power blast after power blast...”

“...A flash of bright light suddenly appeared from above, piercing through the red barrier field, right?”Yuzumi then interrupted, watching at her friend’s surprised reaction again. “Pretty much...But then...to be honest, I don’t quite remember what went on while the light show happened. I do remember that I then suddenly woke up...and that you had been on top of me, again.” A light blush came on both girls’ cheeks as Tsutsumi rolled her eyes and coughed to dispel the awkward tension that had arisen. Yuzumi then blinked as she drew a hand behind her back and hissed as she felt a sharp pain even through the bandages that covered her back wounds. “...Looks like I covered your ass again, huh? At the cost of my own no less, so it’s ass for an ass.” Yuzumi then stuck her tongue out and snickered as she watched Tsutsumi as she tried to decipher the meaning of her odd and somewhat vulgar-toned joke.

“...So your memory isn’t failing you at all, but yeah. Again you had gone and done something stupid like that. Just because you’re my friend and all that...” Yuzumi then shrugged and smiled slightly before crossing her arms and returning back to topic. “Sooo...with that said, technically you’re as amnesiac and clueless about the whole incident as I am, eh?” Again did Tsutsumi nod as she reluctantly agreed. Leaning back in her bed and closed her eyes in thought, Yuzumi then looked to the ceiling and narrowed here eyes as if searching for answers.

Callisto...did the haunting voice suddenly come from one ear and out the other as a breeze flew in from the nearby window. Blinking, Yuzumi raised brows and looked around for signs of anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. T-there it was again! She thought glancing from one side to the other back and forth, T-that weird, freakin’ voice that had creeped me out for the last little while..!!! As she watched her confused friend peering around the room for something that she didn’t see, Tsutsumi decided to stay put in her seat instead of taking another opportunity to freak her older friend out of her wits. After all, now wasn’t a good time; the doctors had somewhat signalled that due to her concussion, the dark-skinned girl might experience a few strange likely after effects; this must’ve been one of them. Growling as she failed to find the owner of the strange voice, Yuzumi reluctantly gave up the visual search around the hospital room and resumed her conversation with the slightly-distracted Tsutsumi, who couldn’t hide her lack of understanding her friend’s current behaviour.

“Gomen ne, Tsutsu-chan,” the older girl said, scratching her head sheepishly,”I really don’t know what came over me back there. I thought I had heard something, that’s all.” The other girl shrugged and nodded, not wanting to drag on this conversation any longer but wanting to return to lighter-toned talking. This time it was Yuzumi’s turn to be the icebreaker. “Sooo,” she started, opening up the conversation, “...How was school without me there? Did anyone actually notice my leave of absence yet?” Tsutsumi blinked and then looked above as she once again tried to dig up memories of the past school week that had flown by in her head; tapping her chin, the kendo assistant-captain frowned then looked back at her friend with a satisfied face as she finally managed to remember something.
“Ah! We have a new student...though I really did get to catch his name; though I think it’s Higato Genzosuke...I think I saw him before though, can’t pinpoint where...”

“So sempai has a new victim, eh? Too bad for him. Moving onnn...and?”

“Well...here’s a real scoop that might get ya; neither Maori nor our brave captain leader have been seen since we had last seen them; approximately about two weeks back.”

“Ara? Neither of them? And the incident just happens to occur at the same time that we had..?” Yuzumi repeated, dumbfounded by the fact. Tsutsumi again nodded strongly as she tried to make herself look serious. The older girl next to her smirked at her sudden spring effort and shrugged, dismissing the playful urges that swarmed over her. It wasn’t really time to be doing things like trying and tease her kohai senseless right now; they had more important things to figure out, or rather Yuzumi herself had a few things that she had to unlock about her own self. Once more her thoughts revolved around the eerie yet familiar voice that had whispered some name in her ear. Who was she kidding, though? It wasn’t just some name and that hadn’t been the first time that that had happened either...

I’ve been having these weird things happen to me since I first came here to Japan 9 years ago...Or then again, I remember...something about when I was just a little baby...it’s vague, but I still remember it quite clearly, it’s strange...That field trip in Greece once, near some islands or something...

But then all thoughts and dilemmas were immediately thrown aside by the large rumbling of two rather disturbed stomachs, making the owner of those stomachs blush and jump at the sudden sound of their empty bellies. Nervous and embarrassed chuckles then exchanged between the two young women, Yuzumi again decided to take the lead as she tried to step off the bed and maybe lead them towards the kitchen, but then she suddenly stopped and hissed as the pain in her spine returned. Just as the dark-skinned girl was on the verge of collapsing on her back however, the quickfast Tsutsumi quickly caught onto her friend from behind; but due to sempai’s slightly larger weight and slightly taller height, both girls were sent plummeting towards the tiled floor with large “WHOOMPH!” sounds as they crashed downward and lost lots of breath in that single bound; it was also then known then that in future moments, it would officially established who would be one be on top and the other on be bottom.

“Onna...?” The assistant-captain asked the muffled question coming from below as the dizzy Yuzumi glanced down at her trampled friend as she sat on her stomach. “Hmm?” Yuzumi replied back, unable to help herself to a playful smirk as she looked down the aggravated Tsutsumi. The shorter girl, noticing the wide grin on her sempai, decided to turn the teasing around back to her favour. Raising a forefinger to poke and prod at a nearing concealed butt cheek, Tsutsumi raised brows in a sly, mischievous air. Meanwhile, Yuzumi now having looked away from her scheming friend, felt herself giggle as she felt her ass being poked and groped endlessly.

“Onna...” Tsutsumi then started again, looking back at the target, “When did you gain weight? You certainly couldn’t have eaten while you were comatose, were you?” Then a pretended gasp escaped the emotionally-stricken woman as Yuzumi abruptly rose back up and ignoring the popping sounds from her aching back, marched away from her now guilty friend, who had now reconsidered having said that and jumped back onto her feet as well, yelling for her sempai to wait and catch up with her. Luckily the situation had arisen when Yuzumi, now hissing and grimacing in the hallways of the crowded hospital, was again about to collapse; but again did Tsutsumi came to the rescue but this time aiding her from the side as Yuzumi used the wall to stabilize herself.

“...Okay, Okay!!” came the panted and tired reply,” Are we even now? An eye for an eye? An ass for an ass? Whatever?”

“Yeah, yeah,” came the equally groggy and faint reply as Yuzumi gripped her friend’s shoulder closer for a half-sided hug and grinned,” Whatever. You’ve got my ass and I’ve got yours. Now let’s go eat; I think they’re serving waffles anyway.” And with that, she then took advantage of her Tsutsu-chan’s proximity and attempted to get a kiss on the girl’s ear; I said attempted because the said girl had ducked away from the incoming lips, making Yuzumi kiss the surface of the air instead of warm flesh and skin.

“Aw, ikezu Tsutsu-chan!! Refusing my thank you kiss?” Yazumi said in a playful whine as the girls laughed and continued onward towards the kitchen.

Chapter 5- Flashbax, spinbacks, twirly-wirly and a bruisin’ beatin’
(a.k.a. Rise, Reflections and Revelations of the Key’s Catalyst premiero nivel: The reluctant protector to be)

Meanwhile, in Hanamomi, one week before the prologue

Fangs crunched into shadowed flesh and minutes later, the figure was suddenly blasted out of the hallway and was crushed into the debris nearby, painfully screeching as the following Inugami fired another blast from its mouth and rendered the yoma to cinders and pieces. Now panting slightly from many of his comeback battles, Tsume took a deep breath and returned into position as he raised his head to search again for any more potential enemies. From the way he looked now, one who lived around here and by chance (or not), had known or seen Tsume at least once certainly couldn’t have ever known that this was the exact same mutt that slumbered on the doorstep for half the day before moving on back inside. Sure it blatantly looked like Tsume didn’t resemble anything like he had before; no, rather, you certainly couldn’t have ever known that the lazy, greedy and gluttonous German shepherd known as Tsume of the Sakibara family could’ve ever turned out like this. One could’ve never guessed that this same dog, who stood proudly on all his strong, muscular legs with head held high and face on alert, was also known as the same Tsume that just happened to be the messenger to send your neighbour’s house pet into oblivion. No one could’ve ever guessed that this same canine, with height doubled in size, (making it almost reach the skies like a giant) had also stood on all fours...when nature or meat called him. No one could’ve guessed that with those proud, green observant eyes, which scanned all sides for incoming danger, could’ve also belonged to the same useless dog that seemed to have great lack of sight due to the mess of hair covering his face. And no one, no one, no one could’ve EVER figured that the dark, small, perfect and able snout could’ve ever belonged to the carnivorous mass of fur and fat that was Tsume.

But believe it or not, the truth was the truth, and despite appearances, the dog (more like wolf though) that was standing guard in what was the destroyed hallway of the Sakibara household, had also once been the poor, selfish yet clueless and semi-productive animal known as Tsume. But why use such a short of cover, you wonder? That is something that cannot be said yet. Looking more like a giant wolf than the much smaller German shepherd it once was, this new Tsume now wore a perfectly-fitting red collar that was strapped around his neck, the highlight of this accessory being the large, shiny bell that hung down from the red color; inked with the kanji characters for “inu” (dog) and “iru” (fire), they truly represented the facets that gave this Inugami its proper purpose. Growling as he sensed more intruders coming his way, the four-legged guardian glared upwards and breathing in a strong intake of air, released the puff of breath in a flare of fire, spreading the blazes in the air as he incinerated any incoming enemies that would’ve been coming their way.

Talk about a real burning sky.

“Whoo! Nice one Tsume!” the giant wolf had then heard as he turned his head to the side to see the waving figure of his master Shouta as the dog then returned upstairs to meet with the smaller boy. Still unused to their larger height difference (Tsume was reaching the sky while Shouta was barely up to his leg.), Shouta was still proud of the fact that this was once the same dog than he had trained with once. Though he was being stubborn about the whole thing, he didn’t seem to care that Tsume was actually doing all this to protect Kikyo, and not him. Of course, Shouta had been long aware of the dog’s genuine form; in fact, everyone was in the know about this but Kikyo. Why was this, he hadn’t a clue, but he was proud to have at least one thing that the blue-haired girl hadn’t for once. She held everything, including his sister, so for once, Shouta was glad of the tables turning for this one, small thing. But even then, as he was often reminded against his will, Kikyo was the biggest subject of Midori’s talks when the two siblings were often alone together. Since having taken care of the girl since a young age, Midori had been charged with watching over her in all aspects and for reasons unknown, her spiritual training and with time, Midori became the famed “esteemed assistant” that she had been known for along with “High Priestess” Kikyo Sakibara. Shouta, on the other hand, had gotten his sister’s attention whenever he could. It wasn’t that she wasn’t paying attention to him, no; it wasn’t anything of the sort.

After all, Midori was only doing what had been ordered of her by the elders, and Shouta had to respect their decision. Ever since that day, he had to watch as his sister’s priorities gradually altered, and with time, his own had shifted as well. Even though he was inwardly reluctant about protecting Kikyo, he had figured that having taken on this job of protecting her while nee-chan was away was something that would make her happy.

However, if he had the choice, he would’ve never taken on this job in the first place...

With a startle, Shouta looked behind him as he looked at the closed doors where his cousin was lying. There was that strange flicker of energy, rising and descending like a wave. Was something so strong really emanating from the blue-haired baka? As much as he was witnessing this before his own eyes, there was still some sceptic part of him that just couldn’t believe that this raw, powerful, unmanaged energy was all belonging to his own “cousin”...? Despite all of what he was sensing, Shouta was still refusing to believe that Kikyo could wield this kind of power. He wasn’t even sure if the power was rightfully hers...she may have been “The Honorary Priestess” maybe, but that was just a title, right? Even though, 10 years back, Midori had once held the same title...until they had been conferred to care for the said girl Shouta was now assigned to protect.

At least Tsume had been there through it all with him, somewhat. While the dog was attacking the incoming swarm of yoma and defending the boy’s own hide, Shouta was finally putting all his earlier practices into work as he had placed on a barrier, or kekkai, to surround the perimeters where Kikyo was; basically the large square that was her room and the adjoining bathroom. While she was blocked from the outside world, at the same time however, she was shielded from attempts at enemy attacks. Yet all the while her unmistakable aura was flickering constantly and was even threatening to break and colliding with Shouta’s own aura.

I mean, it’s crazy, he thought, swallowing as he then closed his eyes, at the rate this is going, whatever’s happening, the baka’s aura seems to be cracking through the first layers...!! Growling at his distractions, Shouta closed his eyes and attempted to win and focus back into concentration. Try to clear your mind of all inhibitions, all obstacles and all earthly obstructions...

His outline now brimming with chi around his hunched body, Shouta was gradually opening all the doors to his inner energy systems through deep breaths and mute chants. The boy then finally opened his eyes, and they held a light blue tint to them. While this may have made Shouta blind to the unused human eye, one who would’ve been a practioner of the Shinto arts wouldn’t be fooled and instead would’ve praised him for the prodigious feat. While there wasn’t an audience to give Shouta congratulations at what he had just did, Tsume would’ve done so if not for the incoming swarm of yoma that were suddenly drawing in for an attack again. And there the mutt went again, leaping towards the sky to wretch, tear and burn away at his enemies, leaving the young master behind to literally keep up the fort once more.

Even though he looked concentrated, Shouta was actually still slightly nervous on the inside. After all, as much as the astral sight was awesome to use, it was still very disorienting on his person. Mostly because Shouta had been lucky enough to have caught a glimpse of the attack having been done before and he had caught up on it on that one time Midori had used it; but since his training had revolved around the creation, maintenance and strengthening of the kekkai and none of it had taught anything on the usage of the astral sight, it had just been his very good case of beginner’s luck that the brown-haired boy had managed to keep up his guard like this, especially when the keeping of the barrier and the usage of the astral sight to foresee all incoming auras was putting on a large strain of his energy already, with the addition of Kikyo’s aura waves bouncing up and down and putting more stress on him.

But...this is the mission that Midori-nee-chan had assigned me; she entrusted me to protect the baka spazzing out her astral aura behind me. It’s a mission that I’m not very fond of maybe, but I have to remember that I’m not doing it for her sake, but for nee-chan’s...not the baka’s, but Midori-nee-chan’s sake, Shouta. I mean, since 10 years ago, she’s been so focused on her, and more than the elders could ever think now...If Tsume’s up there though, fighting limb by limb for her sake, I suppose there’s gotta be a reason...If the elders had assigned nee-chan when no one else suited their tastes...I know there’s a reason...

But I know that the real question that’s taunted me in the back of my head so much; why, why, why she had given her so much attention over me... why had they all given her such attentions and such praise over nee-chan...

Just how special is that blue-haired baka is to you, nee-chan, so much that you might’ve even ...love her?

***

(Flashback)

Tsusushi temple, 10 years ago

“Midori-nee-chaaan!!!” the big-toothed toddler boy called while trying to walk in his new zori sandal shoes. Today was the day that his Midori-nee-chan was supposed to meet him to go to the prayer altar with him today...it was the day when his wish was supposed to come true.”Midori-nee-chan’s gonna play with me today, I just know it!” he thought, smiling as he resumed his yelling. Looking at his wooden shoes once more before taking one step at a time, a 4-year old Shouta Sakibara again yelled “Miiiidoriii-neee-chaaannn!!” with widened mouth, almost yelling it at the top of his lungs, but then suddenly gasping as he then found himself coughing once, then again. Suddenly a young woman draped in a white kimono came running from behind the kneeling boy and quickly kneeled down also and patted the little boy’s back softly. Rising him to his feet as he intended to crawl, the young woman then turned the hiccupping Shouta to face her.

“Shouta-dono! You mustn’t yell so loud; people are studying nearby!” she addressed, the fluster and worry displayed strongly on her features. The clueless boy titled his head to the side as the maid looked at him seriously. “H-huh? “came the reply of confusion,”Gomen ne, Ayaka-chan, but do you know where nee-chan is? I think today might be the day I finally get to play with her!” He replied before coughing again. His caretaker sighed and shook her head. Wherever did he get these ideas of his? “Shouta-dono!” she returned, pressing the current matter at hand,” You shouldn’t have escaped from my sight! You almost would’ve made us late for the daily prayer recital this morning...again!” The braided woman sighed and shook her head as she took out a sheet of Kleenex and wiped off the drool seeping out of the boy’s mouth. After hearing him cough a little more, Ayaka sighed and ruffling his hair methodically, she had managed to clean up and place the boy’s hair into proper place. Still confused about his lack of seeing Midori there, the boy still hadn’t grasped the fact that his sister wouldn’t be coming.

“I-Isn’t nee-chan coming?” He asked tentatively as he was dragged by the flustering Ayaka. Sighing again as she listened to his question, the young woman rolled her eyes and glanced at him.

“No,” then came the sharp and quick answer, “She said she couldn’t be available today. The elders are piling Honda-dono with new scrolls and new practices for the coming of Hikari no Hime sama...So I am with you once again, Shouta-dono, for your day. Shall we enjoy ourselves today?”

As Shouta was slightly shaken by the answer, his face had by then soured into a grimace. Ayaka, noticing his slight change in behaviour, decided to ignore the little boy’s mood swing and keep her “happy” face; though, as she knew what was coming and this time, she had come prepared with the necessary ammunition in case the boy would then choose to “explode” on her. Sniffing, the young boy then followed his maid as they quickened their pace towards a closed temple, their wooden and straw steps clacking loudly, Ayaka’s more than Shouta’s.

Now barefoot in socks, the duo tip-toed inside the crowded temple grounds, thus joining the many other future holy figures in-training who were also praying for their various Oriental deities in the room. As they took their turns, Ayaka and Shouta then kneeled and bowed down towards the large statue of their choice that stood before them. While Ayaka had recited aloud the daily prayers for world peace, love and serenity in their own lives, Shouta was once again, making his prayers for his Midori-nee-chan. Of course, he didn’t want to upset anybody about his “selfish”, earthly prayers, so he mostly kept to himself and simply mouthed his request to the golden Buddha above him. He may have been 4 years old in human years, but unfortunately Shouta had already learned to look at others and know when to open your mouth and when to close it. As for why he was centering his prayers on his beloved older sister, you ask? Well, having been the original daughter of the main family in power, the Sakibara family, the girl had to quickly hone up to her responsibilities; and as such, Shouta had often found himself alone when wanting to play, or even converse with someone. After all, there wasn’t anyone the boy could really connect with; nor were there any sort of boys who were even close or a bit far away from his age range. And to make things worse, she was always working or shutting herself up in her room, swarming herself with piles of books and scrolls, seeming to be endlessly studying and training away; when Shouta came here to the altar temple, he always prayed that one day Midori would just bide all of her time and use at least 5 or 10 minutes of that crowded, busy time she held in her hands to at least take a glance and smile at him. And maybe...try to play with him? Whether it was a quick game of Ro-Sham-Bo or the ABC game, whichever would be able to bring them together for at least a good amount of time, Shouta was always constantly hoping for the day when that wish would finally be granted. He didn’t want to repeat the small tragedy of today. “All I wanted to do was to play with her...” he thought, clutching his hands tighter together, “...Just like we used to when we were kids back in R-Rukongai...” But now that she had been lowered from her position as the heiress to the main family robes to having been chosen to serve as the “Catalyst to Hikari no Hime”, Shouta knew that Midori would have even more work to do, more spells to practice and much, much and much less time for him. Even though Ayaka-chan was their assigned caretaker, Shouta knew that sometimes she just could be so fed up with the boy’s antics...

Pouting at his train of thought, the young 4-year old Shouta frowned and was unconsciously slumping downwards. He was however, unaware that his body was slowly lulling into a sleeping fetal position. And while he didn’t exactly know what exactly the elders were telling his Midori-nee-chan what to do, he knew that they were trying to separate his favourite older sister for the sake of her giving her attention to protecting someone else. They were trying to get Midori to protect someone else other than Shouta. And in the end, that wasn’t a very good thing. Not a very good thing at all.

“...dono!” The voice then called, making the sleeping Shouta open his eyes, “Shouta-dono!” at the second sound of his name with honorific attached ringing in his ears, Shouta’s eyes opened and he titled his head to look up towards the worried face of his caretaker once again. Sighing, the drooling little boy yawned and then rubbed his half-lidded eyes of sleep. Groaning slightly as he was still half-awake, Shouta sat up and looked around with slight confusion, but decided to leave the topic of questions for later. Hearing the distant, irritant sigh of his grumbling caretaker as she took his hand and lead him forward towards the gates of the prayer temple, Shouta yawned again and scratched his waist.

Of course when the boy had scratched his waist like that, it only meant one thing; that they both knew that the young boy was to do his little “potty-totty time” very soon, and poor Ayaka-chan would be stuck witnessing his every move to see if he would get his potty training right, like she was forced to do every time while Midori was in training.

Ayaka shivered at the thought and glanced at the boy. Their story was rather tragic from the way she had heard it, even if they were various rumours and gossip just collected into one big phony story. It was even sadder on her part that she might’ve believed the said rumours about them. Noticing eyes on him, the awakened Shouta looked up to meet his caretaker’s eyes, which then quickly wondered away from his big wide eyes towards the blue sky. Outwardly shrugging the thought off, inwardly Shouta was irked at the woman’s sudden attempt at averting his gaze. He knew the story; after all, he and his sister were at the core of it, were they not? So what if they had once been orphans in Rukongai, the spirit district that constituted of the spirit realm of the human Shinigami in the Tenkai region? It wasn’t of their business that they were actually spirits wanting to get second shots at life! It wasn’t any of their business at all!

The more the boy thought about those facts, the more he started to get the feeling that he just wanted to cry. His eyes shut closed as Shouta tried to fight the tears that threatened to spill out from his inner thoughts, each of them piling up in his small conscience. The more he thought upon them, the more they weighed on him, tipping back and forth in order to drive him over the edge. Within minutes of trying to fight these attacking thoughts however, Shouta then felt powerless as in a tidal wave of emotion, drops of water swirled down the boy’s face, more of the salty tears falling down and trickling from his closed eyelids by the second. “Mi...”He started, now going to crying completely, “MIDORI-NEE-CHAAN...!” he yelled and sniffed as he then started to cry, giving out to his willpower.

As she was suddenly thrown aback by her master’s sudden weeping attack, Ayaka quickly pulled out her noted arsenal of candy, all prepared and wrapped in one big bag. Just in case he would be ready to pull out another grand showstopper like this one to get her fired, this time she was up and ready.

“Shouta-dono, please don’t cry,” she said soothingly, her voice hiding every hint of resentment she currently felt for the boy right now. This was after, a public display; and the last thing that the woman wanted to get stapled on her back was the reputation of a bad caretaker.... “Stupid little...crybaby...” she muttered under her breath. As she watched the sullen boy continue to cry though, Ayaka soon got to realize that she hadn’t exactly been the source of the boy’s crying; or at least, if she had been, it wasn’t for the reasons initially suspected of her. But nonetheless that shouldn’t stop her from trying and getting the boy to shut his big pie hole was it? Because whether he had managed to plan out this latest scheme of his or not, Ayaka was certainly not planning to get herself thrown into another “Assessment review plan” seating with the dreaded Lady Kimiko Sakibara...because the last time she had been in the senior woman’s room, she could’ve just felt the ominous, powerful aura that had been radiating menacingly around her person the entire time while she was there. However, she had been spared a dreaded lecture and been given another chance at babysitting her young grandson. As lucky as she may have been though, the cautious Ayaka had a feeling that the next time she would’ve been sent in there for whatever misdemeanour Shouta might’ve reported on her behalf, she most likely wasn’t going to return. Or rather, if she was, that she wasn’t going to return without at least having been scared for her life.

And she wasn’t going to let some little snot-nosed reincarnated brat get in her way of keeping this job.

As she watched Shouta wailing his feelings out of his inflicted system, the braided brunette smirked and then produced a small lollipop wrapper from the plastic bag she had opened, showing the concealed candy to his bawling face. This always grabbed the little ones’ attentions, and if she remembered right, most likely Shouta shouldn’t been of the rare exception.

“...Onegai, Shouta-dono,” she cleared her throat and tried out, her voice feigning the expression of warmth and sincerity, “would you please give me the honour of unwrapping and eating this delicious lollipop piece? I had brought some leftovers in case Shouta-dono was hungry...or perhaps this was wanted he had wanted all day?”
Or perhaps, on days when boys and girls would suddenly just “explode” at you without giving any hinting of why, today might’ve not been a good day to lure out their silence with candy.

As Shouta shook his head and refused to take the bait offered to him, Ayaka growled and swayed the candy in front of him again but felt herself lose a nerve when she saw that he still wasn’t responding to her as he was now so in tuned with his sorrow. “Why in tarnation are you crying so much, Sakibara-dono? Does your lack of seeing Honda-sempai hurt you so much that you would suddenly cry about it?” She yelled, losing her patience with him. She had every reason to, though. To that question, the broken Shouta couldn’t help himself but nod weakly as he hiccupped. Yes, even the mere thought of it was able to bring him to even more tears. But it wasn’t his fault that he was crying. And it wasn’t Ayaka’s fault either, for once. Even though it seemed like he was weak now, in truth inside, Shouta was hurt, and was angry. He was angry at Sakibara Obaa-chan and the elders for having taken his Midori-nee-chan away from him and placing all her attention on another little one...

“W-w-why..??” then came the question, making the already confused Ayaka blink as she again tried her best to understand why exactly Shouta had broken down on her without warning her. By the looks of it, it didn’t seem like he was faking it this time either.

In curious response, Ayaka answered back to the rhetorical question, thinking that she wouldn’t get an answer. “W-why what, Shouta-dono?”

“...Was this “Hikari no Hime sama” so worthy of their time that she had to get the desired attention of nee-chan? Why were they to choose MY own beloved older Sister? I mean, t-they probably could’ve chosen someone else but instead they had chosen her to take responsibility; and then she just...left...and I was forced to tread alone...all alone...!!!” was all the boy muttered selfishly while raising his hands to wipe off his tears. Sniffing the trail of mucus and tears that dribbled down his runny rose and face, Shouta, in his saddened stupor, was then surprised as he witnessed in what would’ve probably been her one and only public display of true altruism; Ayaka wrapping her arms around the smaller boy, letting his water fall on her white robes and seemingly not caring for the dampening sensation that would come over them soon. Sighing rather deeply, the hugging female pressed herself tighter against the quivering Shouta, whom by feeling of another giving him such strong actions, was again moved to weeping and clutching on her shoulders.

“W-why are you hugging me like that, Ayaka-chan?” he asked, quivering and trying to calm himself down. “Why?” she asked back, even managing an encouraging pat on the back. “...Because you’re crying. When kids cry, hugs are usually the only way to calm them down, Shouta-dono. That and candy. Or so I thought.” Listening to her words, Shouta was again brought to her rare attempts at mutual affection. Ayaka-chan, despite her outward exterior, had probably always held some sort of antagonistic jealousy over the siblings’ situation. Unbeknownst to Shouta, he was somewhat acting in the same manner when it involved the placing of his sister’s priorities over him and the famed “Hikari no Hime sama”.

Sighing again, Ayaka-chan drew herself away from her master and then smiled at him. This time, the small gesture again might’ve been the real thing. “Shouta-dono,” she then started as she then gave him a kiss on the forehead,”...you must support Honda-dono in all of her work, despite if it requires your lack of seeing one another. I’m guessing that she misses you too, but her priorities hold an ulterior motive that, sooner or later, will benefit both you and me, and the entire world; so I’m afraid your envious jealousy must be acknowledged and stopped at once.”
Letting out a sniff again, Shouta blinked at the new choice of words he heard. When did Ayaka-chan actually act nice of her own accord? He was really too confused and still too worn out by the crying to try and figure out the woman’s sudden genuine and niceness act. He was just going to be an avid listener.

“...What is Ayaka-chan talking about? How will Hikari no Hime sama give us...be-be..” the boy tried to spell out the word ‘benefit’ but for the moment couldn’t find the right tone to properly spell it out. Again did Ayaka-chan shake her head and decided to test out her patience. After all, he was experiencing his first pangs of jealousy and he hadn’t any idea of his doing so. Taking a deep breath, Ayaka then lead the small boy to nearby steps when she motioned him to sit down. I suppose it’s time to give him a break. He’s just a kid in the end, right? She thought reluctantly.

“...Well Shouta-dono, what Honda-dono will do to help our chosen ‘Hikari no Hime Sama’ will bring much more benefits to this world than you and I could ever pray for. Do you know why that is?” Again did the boy shake his head at the question.
“Because Hikari no Hime sama will one day save this world from utmost danger. And Midori, as her assigned “Catalyst” will be the one charged to trigger Hikari-sama’s hidden power when the time comes. For that, the elders are preparing her for it. When the world is in great danger, Hikari no Hime and her six stars will appear...”

“And then what will happen?” he asked next, making Ayaka giggle slightly. Now he was being quiet but like everyone else, she was sworn to secrecy. She couldn’t tell him anything else right now, but she figured that Shouta would figure things out for himself...

“Well, for that, I’m afraid I can’t tell you; but one day you will find out; Honda-sempai will see you and tell you eventually..” came the mysterious reply as Ayaka-chan then noticed that Shouta had finally stopped crying over his Midori-nee-chan. “Well,” she finally said, taking out the earlier piece of candy she had wanted to shut the boy with,” How about that candy now, Shouta-dono.”

(End flashback)

***

As he opened his eyes, Shouta felt like grinning. He hadn’t a clue why but after having just experienced that moment of projection streaming through his mind. Ayaka-chan had certainly helped him that day. Whether she had wanted it or not, she had aggravated the situation. But nonetheless despite the envy that festered in his loins, the boy still felt a twinge of pride. After all, it wasn’t everyday that your own sister had told you to protect Hikari no hime sama with your life like this. And if he was to protect her until Midori came back, then protect Kikyo he would then. He really didn’t why he was feeling this feeling that he would have to place all his hopes, all his dreams, on this last shot. He wanted to place his trust in Kikyo; because his nee-chan was placing her trust in her.

And as Midori’s younger brother, he hadn’t a choice but to respect his sister’s decision as well.

A concentration of light then surged on Shouta’s hands as he watched the next onslaught of yoma swarm through the sky and all heading towards his vicinity; we,, this time he was dead-on ready. With his thumbs and forefingers pressed together, Shouta then chanted mute words and minutes later, the swarm of monsters were all suddenly obliterated within contact of the growing shield of light. Smiling to himself as he watched the enemy struggle to get through his effective “reject and release” defence attack, Shouta smirked and panted. As he was still using the astral sight, this was still very much straining his system. But he was determined to keep this barrier up for as long as it would take and he couldn’t be in position to care about his health right now because he knew that that wasn’t priority. His sister had drilled him to take Kikyo’s life over his own any day. Because she would’ve given her own for her, then Shouta had no choice but to follow suit. Grunting under his breath as he felt the clashing powers of Kikyo’s aura clawing through his fields, Shouta winced and tightened his forefingers and thumbs, trying to stabilizing the growing opposing energy that was inside his field.

If nee-chan loves you so much that she’s willing to stake her life for you then, Kikyo...

I’m in no choice but to stake my own life for you too...!!!

Gaia guardians chapter 4

((For the rest of the Chapters and more,here))
Gaia guardians

Rating: T

Genre: Action/Adventure, romance, drama (later chapters)

Prologue delta- Rize of the Kontrolled
(Supa dupa Battel: Vengeful greedy psychopomp vs. mystery killah man version)

Two weeks and three nights ago, preceding Kikyo’s sudden “coma” attack, in Hanamomi-cho

The small speck grew closer in his sight of vision as the bird neared closer to its target; the outstretched arm of the perched man on the high roof of the skyscraper. The crow sped down with a swoop and clawed itself down on the faded bandaged wrist before it, digging its claws inside the hidden mass of flesh. As a small breeze passed by, the sandy cloak of the figure swayed slightly in the wind, brushing along wine red strands of hair across dark brown skin and piercing crimson eyes. The crow and its companion locked eyes for a few minutes, though as one would not alter their view from the other it would seem like they would be staring forever at one another. In truth, they were using no verbal words of communication but rather exchanging visions through thoughts. The crow, which had scouted the town a few minutes prior, was now recollecting what it had seen on its road and transferring its data it to the figure before him.

Well, as you can see, Negimatsu has already taken hostage that young maiden we’ve been watching about for some time now…it wouldn’t be appropriate to target her for the moment. However, since he has released his seeds and is looking for potential candidates, it should be better if they’re gotten rid of first; after all they are of a potential danger. Might never know. Once they’re targeted and transformed, they can be no turning them back to their human selves. The more better for your task, anyway. You just have to kill them once and that’s it. No second thoughts or such useless things like that, right?

The figure nodded attentively, not looking elsewhere but the crow before him. He closed his eyes before reopening them once again and finally giving his reply after minutes of silence. “…Though this won’t be as easy as you think. This isn’t just one target like I’m usually doing; it’s an outbreak of targets. They might not be so easy to handle all at once, even if I use my powers in this town. Damage will already be done, and well, we can’t really rely on Hikari no Hime-sama right now; as you know her situation. She might be awakening soon, but until then her “family” powers as regarded as useless to my cause.”

The crow nodded again and deciding to find itself a better place to perch itself upon, moved away from the man’s outstretched wrist and perched itself on the handlebar in front of it. Suddenly the crow glowed and changing shape, the light soon grew wider in lower legs, longer in arms and altered in face shape. When the transformation completed, two arms and ten slender and trimmed fingers were now holding onto the metal bar. In front of the stranger, a chin was arched upward as the figure looked up to the night sky. Below the waist of the female’s kimono, a large black hakama skirt was hiding the figure’s crossed legs. As another breeze passed, Asuka Shiratori arched her upper body downward while her fingers still held tightly onto the handlebar. She posed like that for minutes until arching back in place to meet the cloaked man before her, a welcoming and mischievous smile on her face. Not blinking in surprise, the man looked at the maiden with indifference, seeming unchanged at her appearance.

She sighed and ran a hand through her dark long locks of hair. “…Long time no see, stranger.” She mused playfully before running a hand through her hair. “Am I that obvious to pinpoint? Does your Asuka still be caught even in a crow’s form?” The cloaked man shrugged and closed his eyes.“Yeah, you were pretty obvious. Your true power level was radiating out like a beacon really. Speaking of beacons,” He opened his eyes as he paused in his sentence. Others who were in the same state of dress as Asuka were now surrounding the cloaked man, with their swords and other weapons drawn and aiming for him. With his blank, indifferent frown on his face, the dark-skinned man eyed his new adversaries. Feeling his hands trapped behind his back, his expression shifted in slight surprise. He had to admit he had gotten caught after all. So even they can use kidoh, the shadow arts. Not bad for low-seated officers. Smirking smugly, the man then turned his red eyes upward at the so-called beacon in front of him, the still-smirking Asuka who was now standing on her feet and crossed her arms.

To think that one of my one-night stands would go out on me like this… the bound man thought randomly, still seeming unchanged by his latest predicament. Nothing else could seem to surprise him now.

“…It seems my notable and powerful reputation precedes me. Even low-seated Shinigami squads have heard about me… not bad, I’ll give you that. Spreading out your chi on purpose, then these guys would track down your energy and instantly find me with you. Hmph. Your squad of amateurs is even capable of tying me down with kidoh jutsu and using my radiating chi against me to do so. Not bad at all, Shiratori. Trying to get that pretty high price on my head…you couldn’t be any greedier than a petty yoma. You still mad that I left ya so quickly?”Asuka rolled her eyes. She wasn’t fooled by his taunts this time. Bending downward to inch up as they reached face to face, she smugly chuckled. “You know that you’ll be handed over to the “proper authorities” soon. So have ya got any last words this time around?”

A moment of silence before a faint jeer and finally a reply from the prisoner. “Hmm…I now regret sleeping with a psychopomp? I can get out of this by the way. Just watch. I can do this even with my hands behind my back as I am right now. Infact, I’ll free my hands just for you. You, Shiratori, you’ll be my last of the night…again.”

As he said the last words, his fists suddenly crackled with pulsing dark red energy as he slowly rose to his feet. The man closed his eyes and instantly the attackers were suddenly repelled away from him and were flung away into the air. In that same instant, their innards were suddenly ripped out from their bodies, as if the air itself was cutting through them. As the cloaked man then started to mouth words to what seemed to be a silent chant, the air-bound Shinigami started to glow and then were burned from sight, their bodies disappearing in the blaze and leaving only burnt crisps of shredded and fading paper. As the gory aftermath fell in a rain of charred flesh and flying remains, a panicking Asuka quickly leapt away from the scene and fled off.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!! I had no idea he was that strong!!! His reputation precedes him indeed; along with his battle skill. I mean…he didn’t even flinch or blink an eye while he killed those guys!!! What kind of monster is he??? Maybe I underestimated-

Gack!!!

The female Shinigami had no time to finish her next thought sentence; now flinching and blinking incessantly, she choked and spattered blood into his face, gripping onto his wrist as the cloaked man had plunged his palm through Asuka’s chest. As the man wretched his hand from her body, he took one last look at her pleading, lifeless face, then threw away Asuka’s body as it spiraled downwards into the abyss of the night. Cracking his bloody fingers, the man scoffed. “I told you that you’d be the last one of the night, Shiratori. But you went through all that trouble for nothing.” He then clenched his fist and prepared to leave the scene when…

Ping!!!

Suddenly the man’s concentration broke as crimson eyes quickly shifted downward as he saw the flash. Failing to escape from harm’s way, he was scorched by the incoming blast. A loud shriek came from below as Asuka returned in her larger crow form, soaring towards the night sky as she prepared to launch another attack. Her bleeding center was now pierced with the large hole that had been left by the man in her human form. Reopening her mouth to release another power flash, the powerful vibrations resonated and instead of hitting the cloaked man, they destroyed the surrounding buildings below them. Grunting, the wounded man quickly jolted away from the incoming creature as she raised her mouth and preparing to strike him again.

As the chase dragged on, neither side was truly getting advantage on one another. Asuka wasn’t any close to hitting her target, resorting to blasting blindly and carelessly in nearby places. The cloaked man wasn’t getting any father away from the yoma as she released her attack and blasted surrounding buildings, limiting his choice of hiding places. As another blast prepared to surge from Asuka’s mouth, the cloaked man quickly dived away again and then abruptly landed behind the recesses of a building rooftop, skidding himself to a stop whilst in the incoming bright light. Now watching the large crow creature searching for his whereabouts again, the man took this opportunity to try at dissolving his own chi and further dimming her chances of finding him. He raised his bloody hand away from his chest and looked at the damage done that Asuka had left through him.

Looks like Shiratori’s after my a** now too…though It’s more probable that he probably must’ve baited and killed the woman and her squad sometime ago, and using his yoma, brainwashed her to work for him, further breeding and adding more to a little more of your “fateful” minions again, right…Negimatsu? You better get ready to bleed then. Since this will just be one more candidate that “defected”. After all Shiratori, you can’t return to normal anymore, as we all know; I’m in no choice but to kill you. Just like the others. He narrowed his eyes at the large creature hovering above him, however not actually directing his attention to the giant crow but to the being residing inside it. From the crow’s forehead then bulged a third red eye. The large red eye came to life as the eyeball sprung forth from its eyelid and slithered upward into the night sky. Then hands, arms, a face and finally a full-breasted chest and torso emerged from the large eyeball’s center cornea. The now slumping, pale-skinned Asuka opened her red eyes, which were blank and glowing. Just like the creature she was merged with, her forehead also contained a third red eye (see chapter 3). As her third eye opened, Negimatsu, now the one secretly in full control of the yoma, smiled in greeting.

“Come out, come out wherever you are…I still haven’t killed you yet!!!” She taunted with her eerie voice, sounding as if two people were indeed talking in the same body. Scanning at the remaining buildings below, searching for traces of the man’s wayward energy, she then smiled as he felt the faint glow of his chi in the nearby distance and ordered her bird half below to attack. The crow obeyed its orders and raising its beak towards the desired building again, it fired. Now taking action, the cloaked man leapt out from behind his hiding place and raised his sword’s hilt as the blast came flying towards him. As the area was incinerated in the blast, Asuka smirked and cackling in triumphant glee, she squirmed and twisted her body back and forth as she laughed, thinking that he had perished within the sheer power of her flames.

Yes!!! Perfect! He is extinguished…he has finally been destroyed!!

Her eyes widened however at the incoming sight of the katana blade plunging through her central eye and slicing through her body as Asuka’s face twisted into a shocked grimace. A bright light then surged from her empty center; meaning she was to automatically self-destruct. It seemed like in the end despite all her attacks, despite having been supplied of her powers from Negimatsu, she still wasn’t able to do it. She still was unable to defeat this monster. Or whatever he claimed himself to be.

Either way, she couldn’t bring him down.

Her lower half screeching painfully as she was slowly being destroyed into specks of nothingness, Asuka’s mouth violently regurgitated the small dark crystal from her body. The cloaked man quickly leapt down towards it and landed near a lower building as he caught the crystal and fled off into the night.

As her eyes slightly regained life in her last brief moments, she took one last look at the leaving figure, his large sandy cloak blocking her last view of him. Tentatively raising a remaining hand towards him, Asuka’s fingers soon disintegrated as well and her tearful eyes widening once again, her whole body soon followed suit as the blast engulfed her hybrid being as she exploded.

O…O-Onizuma…I’m…

The faint echoed whisper of his former lover’s voice having reached the fleeing man’s ears, he kept no attention to it, having no urge to look over his shoulder for the mere sound of his name.

Chapter 4- Rize of the Kontrolled
(Supa dupa Invasione Imminente, united division diversion and arrival of tha' mister Priester man..."save the day an' bless us!" version)

Two hours following Kikyo’s “coma” attack, in Tsusushi temple, Tokyo

The white ball of fluff leaped down from the open window and slowly crept towards the large chair that was blocking its path from reaching its objective. Meowing slightly to attain attention from the other occupant of the room, its sunny yellow eyes searched the premises of his headquarters. And it seemed that the feline’s mistress, whose back was turned to the unknown extra presence in the room, was quite intently engrossed in a conversation and thus was too busy trying to get the cat’s noted attention. So instead, the four-legged feline opted for a better destination as it then jumped up towards the adjoining table in front of the chair, which was facing sideways of its line of vision. Across from the table and the white cat, Lady Kimiko Sakibara was holding the phone receiver with her frail yet strong hands. Fluffy pink ears perked back and forth as the small cat then curled out on the wooden table, trying to hone in on what exactly had been keeping its mistress so intent on a mere phone conversation instead of having time to play with it after a year-long absence from the mortal plane.

“…Well, Obaa-sama, it seems that the process has finally begun…because she is now fully unconscious to the naked eye,” said the person on the other end of the line. Judging by the huffs heard in the female’s voice, it looked like she was rather being hurried. A slight pause before the elderly woman finally gave the reply,

“…Is that so, Midori? Did her aura decreased to but a speck of life? Or is she still breathing? How long had the process started already?” The cat’s eyes then darted close again it then listened to the young Midori girl’s hurried reply once again.

“ Last I had seen of her she was still breathing, yes…but for now I ask of you, what do you advise me to do? Has my duty been fulfilled already? Because…in my opinion, even if she is the vessel of “the key”, the one who is to purge our world, she still has much to learn if she is accomplish anything of worthwhile. I still fear the awakening might not be easy for her to handle. I mean, the trials that she will be put through, the things that she will see...she isn't ready to face all of that, much less try to awaken to her true self, Obaa-sama!” The girl had said (rather yelled) the last lines with a touch of anxiety, exasperation and slight hesitation. After all, she had been assigned with watching over the young girl, so she had seen her skills develop from her earliest stages.

She still thought that Kikyo wasn't ready for whatever was to come. If she could've reversed the process however, she would've done so without a second thought.

“…I see what you are saying, Midori." came the calm answer from Lady Kimiko, "But now is not the time to worry. It is now up to her to survive the trials that will be coming to her in the process of awakening. But in the end, your faith and mine should get her through to prevail. And of course, one of her first protectors, the Shinsui priest from the mountain will soon arrive here as well…”As the cat silently eavesdropped on the ensuing dialogue between Midori and Lady Sakibara, its memories drifted back to the days when it had remembered often seeing the brown-haired girl in these parts.

Hmm…wasn’t she the original heir to the Spiritual robes and powers of the Sakibara family? Yes, that was her…Midori…her name was originally Sakibara. However when that Kikyo girl was born, she had been suddenly transferred into the Honda branch. But how has her role been reduced to being a mere guardian for this "Kikyo" girl? Or perhaps she houses more power then I suspect...

The cat narrowed yellow eyes questioningly then suddenly shrugged the subject off and waved a lazy paw in the air. These sorts of things that were from beyond its lines of comprehension were probably not something that should be of a concern for it, so whom was it to involve himself in such matters? Long ago, it had done his required business as a Shikigami; only that and thoughts of when the next meal should be from were in its mind right now. Shikigami (unlike Shinigami, who were spiritual guides and protectors of konpaku, or souls) were spiritual familiars that were mostly used when humans couldn’t interfere in missions that were deemed too risky for this world or the next. Of their many given abilities, Shikigami were mostly employed when they could take on various life forms and on occasion, weapons as well. The most common uses for them were as human doppelgangers (infiltration and reconnaissance), domestic pets (for fun and occasional company), or in retrieving missions.

“…Alright, Midori. Thank you very much for informing me.” Came the reply before Lady Sakibara released a deep breath and replaced the receiver back in place. Poor girl. Her feelings for Kikyo are getting in the way of her protecting the young key of Salvation. Though I shouldn't think of it that way; no, rather I should address the matter in a positive issue. After all, shouldn't that same love fuel Midori to better her "cousin" as she would face these incoming trials of the gods? She frowned and shook her head before finally taking notice of the other occupant in the room. As the cat once again meowed its hello, the elderly woman smiled and rose from her throne chair. The cat purred its happiness as it was picked and then caressed by its soft, milky white ears. ”Ah …Jiro. Have you been eavesdropping on me again? I could feel your aura nearby as we had conversed. You know it isn’t polite for a cat, living or not, to do so. Then again, I do believe that no one should ever interrupt one's train of thoughts while on important things.” The white cat meowed again and then curled in the old woman’s embrace.

“Well, can you blame me?" it finally said, frowning with another soft meow, " I felt neglected. I needed to know why “Lady Kimiko Sakibara” as you are addressed to in this plane, was not paying attention to one of her most trusted Shikigami familiars, in fact her favorite at that! The situation was seeming so serious that you held me no greeting as I entered, paying only attention to that love-struck Sakibara girl’s attendant on the phone!” The old lady nodded her head and chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose I did ignore you there for a little bit back there, didn't I? I do apologize then, Jiro. Very deeply. It wasn't my intention to do so." The female senior then quickly clasped her walking cane as the white cat was released from her embrace and then walked away, heading towards the large golden doors of the room. Lady Kimiko, with her snail's pace, followed the spirit feline as best as she could.

As they walked across the outer hallways of the shrine, they came to a pair of black metal doors inscribed with golden kanji, or one of many Japanese characters. After pressing a few buttons on the wall, the large doors opened and a flock of steps suddenly appeared beneath them as the ground slowly shook to widen the incoming space. As a small beacon of light shone beneath them, Lady Sakibara watched the cat from behind as Jiro strolled down towards the staircase. After few minutes of looking over her shoulder however, the elderly lady was snapped out of her thoughts by the voice of her companion ringing in her ears.

“Well, "Lady Sakibara"? Are you coming or not? I do believe that the Shinto gods are not to be waited upon for their leader to make her reappearance in Tenkai after her long absence in that wrinkled and sluggish avatar of yours. After all, this has become a case of most emergence, hasn’t it?”

“Hmm? Yes, yes it has indeed…”

As the large black doors silently closed behind them, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the two were actually making their descent into the staircase that would lead them back into the gates of Heaven.

***

Meanwhile, in Mizunami shrine, Seiryuu sector of Tokyo

The boy’s eyes widened as he saw the flickering red dots on the monitor screen below him. Swallowing the lump in his throat, new beads of sweat poured down from his forehead and slippery hands stretched on all sides of his control keyboard, the blonde inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to calm his nerves down. …Think and take a good look at what exactly is happening. After all, if nothing had been reported as of yet or if the alarm doesn’t sound then this is not of a large problem, is it not? The red dots were only meaning that yoma, malicious sprites from the other world, had appeared on this surface of the mortal plane. And the dots are constantly flickering on and off, meaning that our agents are on the scene, keeping the situation under control…Not to mention, this seems to be all centered in one particular region, so this makes the situation much easier too... As the young boy came upon this logical conclusion, he smiled weakly and finally released all his pent-up frustrations with a large exhale. Sighing, he wiped a sweaty forehead with the back of his hand and plopped back on his seat. Yeah, nothing to worry about, he thought, It’s not as if there’s going to be-

His calm train of thoughts then came crashing to a halt as the man saw the growing flicker of red dots suddenly reappearing on his screen. His eyes widened considerably again as it dawned on him that his fears were far from over. Once more swallowing the lump in his throat, his eyes bulged as his earphones resonated with the sound of a constant “Beep!” “Beep!” signaling the worst of cases. Now eyeing each region on the map screen, the man punched his fingers on the controls frantically as he then tried to calculate which way the invasion would be heading to next. Suddenly, the man’s figure vibrated a little and his eyes widened. Soon, a little quake started as large, booming footsteps were coming from the hallway, followed by the faint soft click of another pair behind. Hushed murmurs of “Oh no! He’s coming!”, “Great, we’re probably in for something really bad now,” or even “…I hope I’m not the one who’s going to get thrown to the wall today…” started floating around the computer room.

When the small quake stopped, the whole room was immersed in deadly silence as the attendants in the room all looked at the new arrival. The majority who weren’t hiding away under their chairs or desks anyway. All of the brave eyes were glued on the hulky, giant of a man who had just entered, with his much nicer-looking, much human-sized female assistant standing next to him. His boar-like face, accentuated by his snout nose and puffed cheeks, only helped to further place the surveillance crew under even more fear. His equally thick black, W-shaped moustache was proudly protruding on both ends of his cheeks, followed by the short line of goat tee hair traveling down his chin. As the giant looked over his fearful crew of underlings, he frowned even more, even going as far and twitching a chubby lower lip and throbbing a vein through his fist, showing the veins clearly. This tall, powerful, chubby and intimidating man, who did not seem to be very happy at all, was known as Ichimara Genmaeda Sakureichi Kakenenemaru. Well, he was known as such to close friends and family who had the courage to ask him if they would ignore his size and constant scowl. He was replacing the current head of the technical surveillance division who had suddenly decided to "go on vacation" and leave him in charge. Despite his rather very long name, the surrogate superior had convinced his attendants to call him Ichimara-sama.

"...OIIII, MAGGOTS!!!" Ichimara then howled like always, making the room shake even under the mere vocals of his voice. Suddenly the earthquake started again as he then walked forward again, the vibrations that he caused getting bigger as he approached one particular person, one quivering young man hunched over his controls.

"... YAMADAAA!!!" he yelled to the boy, crashing his large hand on the boy's shoulder. Bending slightly to look at the screen below him, Ichimara pressed his puffier cheek against Yamada's, nearly crushing him. "What’s the situation?" Yamada winced as his shoulder was given more pressure by the intruding hand. Any more pressure and he would explode. Or more preferably die on the spot.

“…W-well, I-Ichimara-sama, sir,” the boy started, swallowing as he looked back at his screen. He typed a few digits on his keyboard and the screen was zoomed in on of one the main red dots and their coordinates. “S-sector Alpha-83, Nichima Prefecture, has just been targeted, along with,” he then typed again on the controls and the screen then zoomed in towards another region with a red dot, “...Not too long ago, Alpha-85, in the Arisawa prefecture had also been hit by the sudden yoma swarm, Ichimara-sama, sir. Troops in the nearby sectors have been alerted and are already heading there to try and keep the target cities intact and install more kekkai between the city borders for the armies to avoid joining one another.” His shoulder being squeezed painfully once again by his tall and bulky superior standing behind him, Yamada winced and whimpered.

“What else can you report, maggot?” came the rough voice again as the surveillance attendant was being addressed. “S-sir?” Yamada gulped, hesitantly raising a muted earphone. He had heard his question but had been pretending to avoid it because he hadn’t finished his report on all targeted sections when Ichimara had interrupted.

“Tell me what else you can report, Dammit!” the man, now visibly irritated, repeated and slapped the attendant upside the head before finally releasing his death grip on Yamada’s shoulder and taking his leave of the room, his much shorter and human-sized secretary following on the giant’s heels. As he was leaving the premises, Ichimara stopped in his rumbling tracks and turned around to face his group of young technicians and lookouts. He then opened his wide mouth and started to speak, his mere breath resonating enough for the entire world to hear him.

“...Alright, listen up you goddamned, sniveling, little piss-pants an’ crybaby maggots! I want a full-detailed report on all the areas in the remaining sectors that haven’t been covered as of yet by twelve hundred hours sharp! No exceptions or tardy slips or else you get the death penalty, no charge! And by Death penalty I mean I get to do it!!!" Gasps and gulps went around as Ichimara continued, his tone growing in pitch, " 'Cause it looks like that little b*****d Negimatsu’s planning a full-on invasion of all four corners, and he's probably aiming for surrounding Tokyo for the big finish. What that really means is you've gotta get up of your lazy asses and start to work REAL hard 'cause playtime's over! The world's gonna through hell for the next little while and we're ALL being dragged for the ride!”

And with that followed the routine quaking of the metal ground as Ichimara-sama made his leave known as the giant’s steps, even at the end of the hallway, made its small impact as the ground shook back in the main surveillance room. Following Ichimara of course, were the small clicking sounds of his secretary’s footsteps being faintly heard behind afterwards.

As the small quake finally came to a halt and their superior had officially left, Yamada groaned and slammed his head on the computer screen, his heart rate long having sped through the roof. It was a god-given miracle he had even managed to speak while having been at the hands of Ichimara-sama, let along breathe under the giant’s hand crushing his shoulder! A nearby attendant next to the dead boy shook his shoulder to rouse him. “Yamada-kun?” came the quirky, nasal voice. “Yamada-kun?” he shook the boy again.

“Uh oh,” the other attendant said before snorting and looking towards his teammates,” I think he needs to go to the recovery ward again, guys. He’s gagging from the mouth."

***

Meanwhile, in the late afternoon, following Kikyo's "coma"

The younger of the two girls watched with eyes wide behind trim square glasses as her friend gobbled part of her quarter-pounder hamburger into her mouth. Blinking as in she’d been out of a trance, she finally swallowed before shrugging and sipping a drink of her medium coke in her right hand. As her taller friend on the other side heartily consumed her lunch, Tsutsumi Hsieh attempted to raise a hand towards her friend’s tray to capture a packet of ketchup, and was surprised when a dark-skinned hand hadn’t crept up on her and slapped her stiff. Then again, she never did eat ketchup again after that incident...or cheetos for that matter. Slowly drawing the condiment away, the bespectacled girl then slowly ripped the packet apart, grinning as the red tomato substance was splattered all over her group of awaiting fries. As the two friends proceeded to eat their respectable foods, an obvious but comfortable silence was shared between the two; after all, as much as they wanted to blabber about anything and anyone right now, it was still deemed impolite (and incomprehensible even to the most experienced of "food-talkers") to talk with your mouth full.

When enough food had been digested into their stomachs to consider themselves full (for the moment), in-between the fries and drinks did the two females finally decide to engage in friendly conversation. Swallowing a lump, molten, salty French fry, Yuzumi cleared her throat and then looked at Tsutsumi, who still had her large share of fries and ketchup stuffed in her mouth. Pushing up her own glasses back up her nose, the dark-skinned girl grimaced as the other girl watched her back with surprise.

"Hmphf!" the other girl had managed to mutter with a half-full mouth, "Whmat's mwrong? Ishth jthere smomething on myeth moutheth?" Yuzumi shook her head then raised a napkin to her friend's cheek to wipe off the smudge of ketchup dripping downward.

"That answer your question?"

Another silence as she swallowed before she closed her eyes." Thanks for the small and loving gesture, Onna." Tsutsumi added coyly, rolling her eyes and nodding afterwards. "No problem, Tsutsu-chan, no problem." The dark-skinned girl said neutrally, her facial expression however revealing mischief in the act. She actually would've wanted to place her tongue instead of the napkin but then she knew that it would irk her friend to the point of Yuzumi receiving the silent treatment. So, she took the simple way instead. Tsutsumi drew away at the girl's stare and rolled her eyes.

As the afternoon rolled on, their dialogue increased in various subjects, along with their choice of beverages and snacking appetizers. As they were leaving the burger premises and were passing under the televisions above the front doors, Yuzumi suddenly raised a hand and tugged on her friend's coat as Tsutsumi was suddenly whirled back to the taller girl's side with a bump.

"...I-it happened again." Yazumi said first, her dark eyes under glass glued on the screens above her as she watched the news article that was unfolding. "Huh? What are you talking about, Onna? You mean another of those 'monster attacks' that keep occurring every out of the blue lately in random prefectures?" The taller girl nodded and swallowed. The shorter of the two sighed and shook her head before returning the favor and successfully pulling her friend out of the Japanese Macdonald's with an equally powerful drag out of the restaurant.

***

"Hm..."Tsutsumi hummed loudly as they walked near the shinkansen train station, she leading in the front while the still-distraught Yuzumi was walking behind, however not losing sight of her friend in the crowds. Taking another glance at her distraught friend, Tsutsumi then sighed. Yazumi still seemed to have been lost in her own world following what she had seen on TV, so her friend had been polite and hadn't wanted to break her out of her thoughts with pointless conversation. That having been said, it had been more than 30 minutes ago since the latter had ended their last conversation and Tsutsumi felt like she had to try and break the tension-filled silence with something...So after another five minutes of silence on her part, the kendo assistant-captain finally tried to resume their earlier conversation with,"...you know, the news had also said that trains are still functioning though. Besides, there's nothing to worry about! After all, we're heading for Yuzukarin station. The news were being reported at the Hinamori station site, five stations away after our destination; that said destination being in the Arisawa prefecture. It's not too much of a problem, since we'd still be in Hanamomi. Besides, what chance that the attacks, being random, are gonna happen around here?" The girl then said matter-of-factly as she turned over her shoulder to look at her friend to see her reaction. Yuzumi, still in her thoughts but consciously aware, narrowed her eyes at her friend's opinion and shrugged. She still looked troubled however, and Tsutsumi could still see that. But just as she was about to talk again however, without warning...

“Huh?” voices soon started,

“Do you see that? In the sky!! I-It seems to be a comet!” murmured more as people soon grew worried.

“I-it seems to be coming straight for us!” the growing mass soon figured, fear washing over them.

Gasps and screams suddenly erupted from behind as the crowds suddenly started to rush and run forward, frantic yelling and chaos gradually running amuck as the two girls were suddenly caught in the wild hustle and bustle of the frenetic passersby around them.

"H-huh? Hey! Watch it!" Tsutsumi blinked and yelled, grimacing as she had tried to move in the sudden crossfire and at the same time, try to locate her friend who was nowhere to be found. And her short stature wasn't exactly helping matters either. “Onna!” she yelled, confused. “Y-Yuzumi? Hey, where are y-“ Just as quickly as she had talked, an unseen Yuzumi had flung herself against the shorter girl and they both flew across the pavement as a large crash was suddenly heard from where Tsutsumi had formerly been.

"Mitaiiii! Onnaaaa, why'd you freakin' do that, dammit? Scare me up and lose you, why don't cha?" came the loud and hurting whine, " My back freakin' hurts now..."Tsutsumi added as she winced. The panting Yuzumi on top of her grunted before hauling herself up to her knees. Noticing their rather awkward position, Tsutsumi quickly disposed of the situation and pushed her friend off of her and the taller girl flew to the side following an "Oof!" and a thud. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, a lone figure had long emerged from the crater it had erected, and was now rising to its feet. Crackling its slender, sharp claws, it hissed and opened its crimson-colored eyes.

"...Kami-sama, look at the size of that crater!" Tsutsumi exclaimed, flabbergasted as the two girls (and a growing crowd) were now examining what had just crashed in front of them and had nearly destroyed a road. "Ara, ara...d'you see something down there or is that just me?" Yuzumi asked next, having bent over to try and look into the depths of the large dust, wind and earth that were blocking her view. Having the sudden urge to have a laugh at the temptation to push her friend over the crater, Tsutsumi's eyes suddenly widened as without much warning but possibly a "Hold on, we need to get outta here!" and with the usual, scared screams growing around her as everybody tried to escape, Yuzumi once again had held the shocked girl against her and feeling a sudden strength in her legs, jumped away from the crater again as something rose from the depths of the ever fracturing Earth.

And then suddenly came a bright flash of red that came with whatever had formed the crater and then, everything that had came in contact with the light had disappeared from view within the blink of an eye. In the midst of the engulfing light however, the screaming pair of Yuzumi and Tsutsumi (rather the latter being carried by the former) were still trying to run away from the quake and the surrounding tremors.

“Aw, come onnn, Onna!” Berated Tsutsumi, despite her being the one of burden on her friend’s shoulders, “ Hurry up! Let’s move it!!”

Unfortunately, even Yuzumi's super speed (which cannot be explained at the moment due to author's suspense) couldn't be quick enough for within a split instant of their attempted escape, it suddenly landed before the terrified duo. Both girls, no longer at a considerable distance away from the shadowed creature like before, looked in fear yet wonder at the new arrival before them, clawed hands stretched menacingly above them."...Onna?" first asked Tsutsumi, "T-tell me they're shooting a really good action movie nearby...'Cause that thing in front of us kinda looks pretty real to me. And why's everything so red all of a sudden? And why are we the only ones here?" The nervous girl rambled, noting that they were indeed the only human beings left in this plane. As for the creature's horrid appearance, it was as if the shadows themselves were forming this creature's body. Human-shaped hues of darkness that only highlighted its red eyes and ivory fanged grin while being encased in golden and red armor around the chest plate, wrists and legs.

Yuzumi, quite scared and fearing herself, could only gulp and try to reply as smugly as she could. So, in the midst of it, she had managed to stifle a wry smile and had just found a suitable reply to Tsutsumi's light-hearted bit of sarcasm. "...Aye. I could tell you that, but then I wouldn't gone to all the trouble of getting us away from the thing, huh?" Another strained laugh was heard as Tsutsumi vaguely retorted back, "Right...you had tried to get us away from the said thing. Which is now standing right above us and looks ready to utterly slice and decapitate us."

"Heh heh heh. Yep, got me again, girl. Got me again." Came the equally dry reply. Just as the creature was about to attack the two shivering girls below however...

“W-what the heck?” stammered the shaken pair of girls on the ground as they opened their eyes and were welcomed with the sight of a stranger lodged in-between them and the creature, a barrier separating the two of them and ultimately saving them from oblivion.

The creature raised hairless brows as it suddenly found itself having been blocked by an unseen force. The panting youth looked back at the still-shocked pair behind him, annoyance and confusion evident in his features. “ What are you two still doing here?” he scolded. “Shouldn’t you be taking cover far away from here by now?” Taking that as their cue, the two confused girls winced and nodded at the order and lost no time taking their escape from the dark monster, leaving it to confront whoever had repelled it. It still seemed unaware of the person that had blocked its attack as the irritated daemon hissed and again rose out its hand to hack at the invisible wall but this time was met with the retaliation of a golden staff blocking its claws. Sparks slightly dancing between them, the yoma hissed and then jumped away as the sparks dissipated and minutes later, the glowing figure of a holy robed youth (see chapter 2 prologue) fully materialized into view, his shakujo staff lodged in his hands in defense. It had also been used as a barrier countering the yoma's aura and had it clash with his own. The conflicting energies had nulled out and the negative energy had been repelled, thus resulting in the sparks.

As for the young priest, though his robes were slightly torn and tattered and his face looked even worse for wear, with fresh scars and faded bandages, hadn't seem to notice his tired state and nonetheless held himself on his feet. At the sight of the Priest, the yoma smirked and grew back his sword-like claws into the open as he returned to a fighting stance.

"The so-called “holy star of the gods” finally makes his return and catches up with me." It simply said, then bursting into a cackling fit. "It seemed that you still harbor wounds from our last encounter and some new ones as well. I’m guessing that you had encountered some of my fellow yoma while coming here? That defense attack back there however was but a minor setback. However those two had managed to survive through my extermination blast is none of my knowledge but your life however, is quickly coming to an end, boy.” The confident yoma had spewed the last lines with obvious sarcasm.

To that, the holy youth just swallowed and placed himself into a fighting stance at well. “I do believe that I was unprepared last time, yoma of the darkness. This time however, I shall stop you. As always, I shall stake my life on it to better protect this Earth from your clutches.”

However, unbeknownst to you yoma…the priest thought, confidence secretly brimming in his eyes, your attempted attack shall end here for as we speak, the Key of Salvation shall reveal herself… and only then will Light shall triumph over the incoming darkness…

***

“Heh heh heh. Destroy, demolish, kill them all, my little warriors. Kill all those amusing humans. Slay all those so-called “priests” so use their papers and their sutras. Slaughter those innocent Inugami and those Nekomata. Yes. Yes. Kill. Them. All…!!!” came the mischievous sing-song voice followed by a ‘pop!’ sound as he retracted the chocolate sucker from his mouth. “ As for you,” he said, not looking away from the screen as he noticed the hypnotized nurse next to him, “You’re…what do you humans say again…? When you’re no longer useful on the job?” he then paused and replaced the sucker into his mouth. Jabbing two forefingers to her forehead, he sent a wild wave of shock through her body before the nurse suddenly started to scream in pain. She started to bulge and throb violently, her body shape suddenly expanding in obese, exaggerated mass. Bursting blood from her mouth as the large blob-like form started to choke, the boy then looked to the ceiling and raised brows as he then found the answer to his earlier sentence. Chuckling to himself as he then looked at the large, overweight thing, he grinned and pressed his two fingers deeper into her forehead. “Okay, okay, I got it, I got it!” he proclaimed, feigning to notice the former nurse’s lack of breathing and imminent implosion, “ You…are…”

“You’re…fired.”

“…Nnn...grp!!” Came the muffled scream as the woman then exploded into a blast of blood and guts, her molten bits of flesh and whatever remains was left of her splattering throughout the room. Smirking as his latest grand kill, Negimatsu again retreated the sucker from his mouth and licked his lips.

A deviant, almost devilish smile then crept upon his face as a pair of three red eyes peered down at the screen before him, watching as the incoming armies were making their descent from the higher plane downward towards Earth. Of course there had been precautions that had thought to be taken against such happenings but so far, they seemed to have been for naught. Jerking his head back as he watched the spectacle, Negimatsu (still under the guise of Maori Kusunagi’s body) cackled again as he watched the screen alter from one scene to another as the factions from the local temples and shrines were resorting to trying to divide the yoma and dwindle their numbers. Though of course, that was actually impossible as they won’t be stop their little invasion for a long while. The boy snickered as he watched with enthusiastic glee, the one bulging eye on his vessel’s forehead pulsating as crimson orbs widened and Negimatsu gasped as the screen sudden shifted to one particular scene of interest.

“Hmm?” The pale boy purred, chuckling once again. “ Well, while it seems that Areolas has finally broken through the kekkai for the Hanamomi district, what’s more extravagant is that the ‘esteemed child’ has finally made his appearance…”He chuckled as he then slipped the sucker into his open mouth again,

“Yes…The Key of Salvation, Galatea. One who was prophesized to prevail against our master Kronos. Her six protectors, descended from the greatest deities of Gaea itself. They were all reborn in mortal form to protect the Key when she would confront her father. And at last, we finally meet one of them, one of the legendary “Gaia guardians”…A young priest named Genzo Higato he may be on the outside, but inside lies one of the six holy stars of the gods himself, Prometheus himself…”

“Let the battle of Earth’s Salvation begin.”