It all started eons ago when 26 human beings were born with a specific mutation which granted them powerful abilities. This mutation spread rapidly, and before long, the whole human race had these abilities. Years later, terms began to coin for these powers. The power itself being called Sen and the first 26 people born with it being called the Sen-blocks. These 26 people had greater powers and strength compared to the general population and had a much more tremendous amount of Sen.
After the death of the last Sen-block, their powers were passed down. A generation later, again, 26 people were born with the same strength. It wasn't long before the Sen-blocks would be named kings of their respective regions. Amongst them were cruel kings, who ruled their people unjustly, viewing them as inferior.
This continued for a long time until one day, a trusted general who belonged to one of the cruel kings discovered something. Something that would change their reality. He spent years researching the powers of the Sen-blocks to find out that their powers can be extracted, taken, stolen. That's when the general and his supporters planned a coup and overthrew the king, killing him and stealing his powers. The general who stole his powers became much stronger and became the new king.
The general sought for blood with his newfound powers growing more unstable day by day. He wasn't able to keep it under control, his bloodlust ever-increasing; ultimately, a decision was reached. To kill and steal the powers of the remaining Sen-blocks. Under the façade of revenge, he gathered people to fight. Within a short period of time, he had conquered half of the world, killing countless people under the mask of war. This was when the remaining Sen-blocks realized the threat and decided to join forces. With the combined power of all their nations, they were able to take down the rampaging general subduing the movement against the Sen-blocks.
After this incident, a unanimous decision was reached to keep the existence of Sen-blocks from the world as a secret. Since then, it has been 500 years. The world is mostly unaware of the existence of these special people, only a select few people close to the government knowing it. Or so it was planned until one-day when letters of warnings reached to each government letting them know that there are people out there who know about the existence of Sen-blocks and are not afraid to repeat the incident from 500 years ago.
It was a scorching hot summer day in the bustling city of Tokyo. Seiichi is on his way to his university, for the final day of the semester. Blinded by the heat of the day, he curses himself to have forgotten to bring an umbrella with him. That is when he stumbles across what seemed like an oasis in the desert, a vending machine. He hurries over to the machine and buys himself an iced soda. When his lips touched the cold lid of the can, he let out a brief sigh of relief as the icy cold liquid relieved himself from the heat momentarily. This gave him the energy he needed to continue his painstaking walk towards the university. The sun was his worst enemy at the time, and when he reached the university gate, he was completely drenched in sweat.
As he makes his way through the gate, he is greeted by many familiar faces. Faces that he sees daily, but it felt strange for some reason, maybe because it was the final day of the semester. Excited and saddened, he felt a mix of emotions as he walked through the halls. His daydreaming only interrupted by a stern shout from a distant voice. It was his teacher, with an exasperated look on his face.
"Late again Seiichi, that too on the final day of the semester. Hurry up and make your way to the class."
Unbeknownst of the time, Seiichi was late to the last day of the semester. Clearly frustrated at himself, he blames the weather as he makes his way into the class after a polite and silent apology to his teacher.
As usual, the class continued into the day. Wherever you set your sights, you would see what you'd expect to see in a regular classroom. Students jotting down notes as the teacher explains the topic. Except for one student who sits at the farthest seat near the window. He finds himself lost, daydreaming in the middle of the class, staring at the clouds as they pass by, with his chin resting at the palm of his hand. Thinking about the times which lie ahead of him. He was to meet two of his best friends after a long time, as their training resumed in the holidays.
Training? What training? The three of them receive special training from the best teachers because they are valuable resources for the government. This is to confirm their safety and the safety of everyone around them. Training doesn't come harsher under the much-acclaimed Toshihiro Satoru. A well-renowned elite who is often viewed as one of the strongest in the prefecture. Sato sensei as they call him has been in charge of Seiichi and his friend's training for 2 years.
A loud noise echoed through the classroom. A student had let out a huge sneeze which made the whole class come to a halt, grabbing everybody's attention. Including Sei who realized and started taking down notes.
The rest of the classes for the day being as ordinary and mundane as the first, it relieved Seiichi that it was finally time to go back home. Compared to the burning heat earlier today it was fairly cold as the setting sun painted a dark orange color onto the sky. Everything in his field of view seemed normal.
The same sound of cars and bikes honking, people on the sidewalks conversing, talent agencies scouting for gravure idols. It was an everyday routine in this not so normal world. Boring might be the better word to use, as for the past couple of months Seiichi has not met with an adrenaline-pumping, blood-rushing, testosterone-producing situation. Nonetheless, that was about to change soon.
An exhilarated Seiichi arrives home. While making his way upstairs, he catches the voice of his sister squealing with joy in her room. Dismissing it as something related to her boyfriend, he continues his climb up the stairs to his room. He opens the door and throws his bag on to the blue colored chair as he flattens himself on top of the bed. His brown eyes seemingly gazed through the ceiling, releasing a huge sigh, and despite his unimpressionable looks, he was pretty excited for tonight.
He slips his hand into his pocket taking out his high-end phone and checks Rine (a chat app) to see if he has any messages. Upon seeing an empty new messages list, he exits the app and opens up a game but was unable to play through it. So he opens up the social media site of Kaobooku to see the latest happenings, but that too he couldn't. His head was somewhere else.
Time was ticking, getting ever closer to the much-awaited resume of the training. Seiichi gets up from his bed and makes his way towards the kitchen. "You can't practice on an empty stomach," he hummed while finding something to eat. A big fan of eggs Sei couldn't have been happier to find some in the fridge. He quickly boiled them up, mashed them, put them in between bread together with some tuna and lettuce to make up a few egg sandwiches.
When he took a bite out of the sandwich, he realized that chewing was a chore, and the sandwich tasted flavorless. Due to the adrenaline rush, blood flow to the stomach was reduced, and he lost his appetite. After what was an incomplete dinner, Seiichi is preparing to go to the training grounds. On his way out, he informed his sister he was leaving.
8.06 pm on a reasonably cold windy night in Tokyo. Late yet again, Seiichi arrives at the training ground only to be greeted by a brow furrowed, sarcastic smile on Sensei's face.
"Seiichi-Kun aren't you quite late today being it the first day huh?"
"Ah Sensei, it is only 6 minutes, I just miscalculated the time it takes to walk here since it has been so long."
"Is that so, you always had the knack for being late to things. Well, I will let you off the hook this time since it is the first day."
He was a middle-aged man. 32 to be exact. He had straight brown hair which was combed back. Not too tall or short, and had a handsome appearance.
A faint sound of laughter was heard. Two figures stand near a pile of wood in the westernmost corner of the ground. They stand up and make their way towards Seiichi and are exposed by the bright light of the moon as it escapes the shadow of the clouds. The moonlight exposes two familiar faces, one with a wide grin on his face laughing and the other with an unimpressed look.
"Man, Seiichi you haven't changed one bit have you, always late."
The individual with bright orange hair, accompanied by yellow eyes who stood no taller than 170cm while having a fairly built body.
"Hide, I guess old habits die hard, isn't that right, Sei?"
Slightly shorter and frail-looking. He had silverish white hair with blue eyes.
It was two of Seiichi's closest friends, Fukuta Hidetoshi and Seita Nobuki.
"Hide, Nobu, It has been a while! Well, this time it was only 6 minutes so no biggie."
Hide moves in towards Sei and throws his hand over Sei's shoulders.
"Boy always making excuses. How have you been?"
"They aren't excuses, they are legit reasons! I have been fine, Nobu, what about you?"
Nobu extends his arms into the air.
"What does it look like? By the way Sei you need to get a new hairstyle, the current one sucks."
Sei raises his hands to touch his blue hair, much to his surprise, his hair wasn't done. After moving around on the bed for so long, his hair had become undone, and due to the excitement of the night, he completely forgot about it.
"This isn't a hairstyle, I just forgot to do my hair."
Hide took his hand off Sei's shoulders and moved in such a way that it seems he is inspecting Sei.
"Sei and forget his hair? Unbelievable! Who are you?"
"Come on Hide, it happens."
"Now boys we don't have all night, come up here. I have an announcement to make."
Satoru calls out for the three of them with his hands extended towards them.
As the cold breeze swept the leaves through the air, Sato-sensei began explaining the current situation to the three boys.
"We have heard rumors that in Ukraine, one of the Sen-blocks has gone missing. I guess they are on the move, so we must proceed with the utmost care. Sei, you need to work on your Sword style. For that purpose, we have found a specialist, one of the most renowned sword style users in Japan who came all the way from Russia today to teach you."
As he said this, a lean girl of a tall stature walks in and greets everyone. It was love at first sight for Hide who found himself gazing towards her beauty. Pale skin with a touch of pink, silky straight light blonde hair reaching her shoulders length. Wide icy blue eyes that gazed gently accompanied by thick eyelashes. She was wearing western clothing; a white crop top with blue jeans, a ruby gemstone ring ornamented her left index finger, it was certain that she didn't live in Japan.
"Sei, this will be your new sensei who will teach you the way of the sword. She is fantastic at it, so I expect you to make good progress." Sato-sensei looks towards the girl and says, "Why don't you introduce yourself."
The girl initially looking at the ground, lifts her eyes up to make eye contact with Sei.
"Hi, I am Kohiruimaki Ellina, 22, Japanese living in Russia, nice to meet you."
The three of them reply by introducing themselves.
"Taniguchi Sei, 19, nice to meet you."
"Fukuta Hidetoshi, 19, nice to meet you."
"Seita Nobuki, 19, nice to meet you."
"Hide you will be on your way to Chubu and Nobu you will be on your way to Okinawa for your special training. You two will set out first thing in the morning tomorrow, and Sei, you also will start your training early tomorrow."
Both Nobu and Hide let out an "EH!" at the same time.
"Wait you mean both of us have to travel to different prefectures while Sei gets to stay here?"
"Well, of the three trainers only Eliina-san was willing to come to Tokyo, the other two you see, are quite stubborn. So you two will have to do the traveling. Besides, you get to experience new places, I would call that a plus in my book." Sato-sensei proclaimed with a smile on his face.
"Do I get a beautiful sensei too?" Hide questioned.
"Flirting already Hide? You never change." Sei, with his palm on his face, sighed.
"Well once you get there you will find out Hide, for now, let's start with our exercises. No actual training will take place today. Eliina-san you may leave now, tomorrow you and Sei will use this ground for training. So first let's start with the basics. The three of you will do endurance exercises for an hour as I touch upon a few things.
The three boys replied with a nod as Eli made her way out of the training ground.
"As you guys already know you three are the Sen blocks of Japan. This makes you all really valuable for the entire region, together with the other Sen block from Korea." He suggested the existence of one more Sen block in Korea as he observed them doing pushups.
"Now being Sen blocks puts you in a whole different league from the average human. At Least in terms of total Sen capacity. Our Sei here harbours a Sen reading of 42000, while I, clearly above the average human, can only reach the low limit of 18500. The average capacity sits at around 10000." His flexing was justified after all he is one of the strongest in the city. This made the boys chuckle as they saw their Sensei at his old antics. However, this is something he only does around them. Seeing his students laugh he also ended up cracking a smile.
"Ehm. This doesn't necessarily mean Sen blocks are stronger than the general population, because Sen has 3 factors which affect its usage. Who is gonna tell me what those 3 factors are?" He pointed towards Sei suggesting him to answer.
"Yes! Sen factor A. It dictates the amount of Sen used in a move. Having a positive factor A reduces the total Sen required to do a move while having a negative factor A increases the total Sen required to do a move.
"Correct! This means the Sen usage of a move is not the same for each person. Of course, you must take into account the person's affinity for said move which sets the base of the cost. Now Nobu factor B please."
"Sen factor B determines the efficiency in Sen usage. All moves take a certain Sen which is dictated by factor A. However, there will always be a greater Sen used than that set amount. This is because of the loss in Sen activation of the move. Much like how energy is lost to the environment while being converted from one form to the other."
"Great job Nobu, as expected from you! Hide continue with C."
"Max limit of Sen for a move?" Hide answered in an unsure manner.
"Of course." He laughed. "Shouldn't have expected book smart from you Hide."
"Come on Sensei, I don't really care about those things."
"Sure, but you are right about it. Factor C tells us the max Sen one of your moves can utilize. It is a limiter which doesn't allow you to do moves which cost more Sen than its set limit."
"See I got it right!" Hide proclaimed with excitement.
"Yeah but in a very vague manner. Anyways, these 3 factors occur really negatively in the 3 of you. A side effect of being Sen blocks they say, and that is what we have been trying to correct in the past training sessions. But from now on we will focus more on your specific abilities instead of general training. Therefore we have found reputable trainers who have similar abilities to train you. We are hoping for significant improvement during these training sessions as time is short with the first disappearance of a Sen-block."
After a successful training session, it was time to go home. Seiichi arrives home to find himself home alone with his sister yet again. Seiichi was overcome with curiosity by seeing her on the sofa upside-down lost on the phone. He asked her about the earlier squeal and if it was because of her boyfriend, which she denied by saying that she doesn't have a boyfriend, In a shock after hearing this, he urged that she was lying.
His sister Taniguchi Yumiko denied all accounts of ever having a boyfriend. Even now in a shock, Seiichi did not understand all the instances where he thought her behavior resulted from interactions with her boyfriend. Late-night phone calls, constantly lost on the phone, texting someone and the earlier squeal which she dismissed as an involuntary reaction to good news she heard. This convinced Seiichi that she was lying and left it at that and went.
The alarm goes off, a hand extends to turn it off shortly to be followed by the owner of it returning to sleep. After a tiring night, Seiichi was on his bed flattened, falling asleep as soon as he finished his shower and placed his head on the pillow. Ever since then, he has been asleep snoozing his alarms every time it goes off. This happens a few times, and he hears the faint sound of a serene voice calling him. Unaware, he continues his sleep until his nerves pick up the sensation of something cold and wet getting splashed onto his face. He opens his eyes to find his sister, lips narrowed with a glaring look on her eyes and in the possession of an empty glass.
"Sei-chan how many times has that alarm gone off now? Do you have somewhere to be?" Realizing what the time is, Seiichi hurries to the bathroom. Already 10 minutes late Seiichi had to rush through everything, even skipping his coffee, running on the road taking all the shortcuts he knows of. The roads empty, calm and peaceful. His arrival to the grounds was greeted by the visibly annoyed look of Eliina-sensei who was already present.
The dusk chorus was heard as the first light seeps through the clouds. The sound of wood hitting each other echoed through the training grounds, as the wooden swords of Eliina and Seiichi collide with each other in the midst of their training.
"Kohiruimaki-sensei, I am sorry again for arriving late. Last night's training really wore me down since it has been such a long time. I will see that it doesn't happen again."
"Ah well I can understand today, but yes, be sure to be on time from now on. By the way, I didn't catch your name."
"Oh, it is Taniguchi Seiichi."
"Taniguchi??" with a shocked expression on her face.
"Is something wrong"
"No, it isn't. It is just that I know of a person who has the same family name."
"Yes, Taniguchi can be a common family name here. It is alright you can call me by my first name."
"Well then, same here."
"Say, sensei you are Japanese right? Then why do you live in Russia?"
"That, it's because my family lives there, you see I am quarter Russian. But I decided to move back here."
"Move back here? Why do you want to move away from your family?"
"Well not really, I always liked Japan and the most important person to me lives here so I don't want to keep it long-distance anymore." Her red-colored lips releasing a slight sigh.
"In a relationship eh Sensei, is that why you came here this time too?"
"Relationship? No, not yet. I came here to take the job as I was personally requested by the Regional Leader, which means I finally get an excuse to move here at least until our training is over." A slight giggle let out of her mouth.
"If so, I hope this training lasts a long time. I get to learn new techniques while getting stronger and you get to spend time with that special person."
"That is considerate of you Seiichi-Kun, thank you." A radiant smile gleamed over her bright face.
"You are welcome." Both of them exchanged their Rine details.
Clouds filled up the sky, both of them leave for their homes before it rains. Once home, Seiichi got freshened up, and at the breakfast table, he expressed his gratitude towards his sister for waking him up. The sight of his sister sitting alone at the dining table isn't new for Seiichi. Since both of their parents are busy, it is rare that the family had any meals together ever since his childhood, it has just been him and his sister. Because of this, both of them have a close bond and share almost everything with each other.
This was the reason Seiichi was in disbelief as his sister told him about not having a boyfriend. As Seiichi talked about his training sessions with his sister, he realized something. "She might not have a boyfriend, but she might have a crush." Letting his curiosity get the best of him he brought up the topic again.
"Yumi-neechan about last night, you sure you don't have a boyfriend?"
"Again? Sei-chan? Yes, I do not." Exasperated.
"Ah well, then how about a crush? I have seen behavior from you which suggest that." His brow rose with a meager smile on his face.
"Crush?? I guess you can say that." A red tint appeared on her white face as her cocoa-brown eyes downcast.
"I knew it! So who is this lucky person for whom your heart has fallen."
"You won't know them, they are not from around here."
"Come on. They must be a very cute person to capture my beautiful sister's heart like that." With a mischievous look on his face.
"Cute? Not only cute but smart and cool too. But they only seem cool from the outside, actually, they are a huge dork." As her face relaxed, her feelings etched on her face.
The siblings' conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was their mom, hands filled with bags full of groceries. Her excitement was visible on her face as her husband would return home from a business trip later that day. She set the bags on top of the dark brown table which covered most of the dining room as she sat on the beige-colored chair.
"Sei-Kun, how was training last night?"
"Oh, mom it was fun! Been a while since I met the bunch. They assigned a new sensei for each of us"
"New Sensei?"
"Yes, mine is foreign. We had training this morning, and she seems like a really nice person."
"Is that so? Well since the whole family will be here tonight for dinner, why don't you invite her as well? It would be a nice opportunity to get to know each other more."
"Alright mom, I will pass the invitation."
Almost immediately, Seiichi took his phone and texted Eli about the dinner on Rine.
Loud roars rumbled through the mountainous land of Nagoya. Cold and wet, a half-naked Hidetoshi is busy with his physical training. Admiring the beautiful scenery of the place was not enough to cheer him up, as he had a doleful expression on his face. "Sei gets to train under a hot sensei and all I get is a brute guy. I can't wait to get this over with and return home." His roars getting louder with each passing moment as he tries to fight his thoughts.
On the other hand, in the distant island prefecture of Okinawa, Nobuki was having a much relaxed time with his training. Bathing himself in the sizzling waters of the hot springs, completely laid back, he was truly having the time of his life. "A relaxed state of mind is required for a rewarding training session."
At twilight, graceful sounds of humming chanted through the house while Seiichi's mom was cooking dinner. Yumiko's nostrils were engulfed in the delicious smelling food once she entered the kitchen to help her mom. Seiichi who was watching TV felt a vibration on his thigh. It was his phone vibrating from a notification from Rine. He picks the phone to see that Eli had replied.
"I would love to come but Idk how to get there??"
"I can come to get you if you are okay with it."
"Sure, meet me near XXX."
Thus, he set out on his way to fetch Eli. Much to his mother's annoyance, he forgot to turn off the TV. Sei and Eli met where they were supposed to meet and set on their way to Sei's home. On the way, Eliina stated how nervous she becomes around new people while Sei consoled her.
"But you seemed okay around me this morning?"
"Yeah, I am not sure why. There is this unusual sense of comfort with you." She smiled at him again which duly made Sei's heart race.
Soon enough, they were within viewable distance of the grand house. The sight of which made Eli even more nervous.
They opened the giant steel gates and walked inside after a "tadaima" (I am home) by Seiichi closely followed by an "ojamashimasu" (Excuse me) by Eliina and an "okaeri" (Welcome back) by Yumiko who was there to receive them. Her eyes widened, pupils dilated, and lips tensed up when she saw the sight of the blonde girl staring at her in shock. Before she could react, the blonde uttered in a soft voice "Umi-chan" to which she replied "Ericchi" with an elegant smile on her face. Amid this, Sei was first lost, how come they know each other? That's when it all clicked for him. Everything suddenly made sense. This, put a smug look on his face while the two girls continued to smile at each other. Suddenly a high pitched voice called out from the dining room.
"Yumi-chan are they here? Bring them in."
"Yes mom, coming."
The three of them walked into the dining room. Eli's eyes wandered, observing the grand house. The huge chandelier attached to the ceiling, the dining room and kitchen separated by a blue-colored wall with a giant hole cut at the center, the beautifully designed ceramic tiles which lay on the ground, the huge white corridor, expensive paintings and works of art on walls and shelves, she was completely blown away by the beauty of the house.
Seiichi's mom, serving up the last of the dishes introduces herself.
"Hello, you must be Sei's new sensei. I am Seiichi's mom, Taniguchi Harue, nice to meet you."
"Uh um yes hi, Kohiruimaki Eliina, nice to meet you too.", Elina replied while fiddling with her thumbs.
Next, Seiichi's dad who was already seated introduced himself.
"Hi, I am Seiichi's dad, Taniguchi Eisen, nice to meet you. Please take a seat."
Eli bows and takes a seat while the other three also make their way to the chairs.
"Yumi-chan come on introduce yourself to the sensei."
"Yes, mom. Hi, I am Taniguchi Yumiko, Sei-kun's elder sister, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too Seiichi's elder sister."
A strange aura of calmness loomed around her as both her and Yumi got seats next to each other.
"So Eliina-san, has my kid been good so far?" Harue questioned as she served food to Eli.
"Yes Mrs.Taniguchi, he came on time today."
This statement made both Yumi and Sei look at Eli' face in a shock as she smiled at Seiichi.
"Oh, he actually was on time. Good for you Seiichi."
Seiichi looked towards his mom and nodded.
"Eliina-san, you have similar abilities to Sei-kun right."
"Yes."
"If that is so you can teach this girl a thing or two. Swords and Bows go well together."
"It would be my pleasure Mrs.Taniguchi."
Eli rotated her head towards Yumi winking at her as she made this statement. This made Yumi blush and cough, almost choking on the food. She reached for the water to subside the coughing
"Yumiko are you alright?"
"It is nothing dad, I was chewing too fast."
Their conversation continued through dinner. Eli thanked the family for having her and walked past through the decorated dining-room door into the long white corridor. She was accompanied by Sei who walked her to the gate. Meanwhile, Yumiko was stuck helping her mom clean up. After cleaning up, Yumiko made her way to her room climbing the marble-tiled staircase with alternating black and white colors. She opened the black door to her room stepping into a navy blue themed room. She placed herself gently on the queen-sized bed before screaming into the pillow. She stood up hugging the pillow while laughing. What came over her? In order to learn that we must go back 1 year to the past.