The sound of hooves slamming on the road was the first thing that Takenori Eimi heard when she woke up. As she looked outside the window of a cramped up carriage, fields of wheat and corn filled the barely lit landscape all the way to the horizon. Dawn was yet to pass. Everyone in the carriage was still sleeping in their own makeshift beds.
"Bakudou-kun, anything?..", whispered Eimi, as she opened her "console command" to talk to her teammate.
"First thing in the morning, and you're still saying that..", answered Bakudou Saiki from the other side of the line shortly after. "Keep at it, and we'll get discovered."
"We've been going back and forth Fujiishima for two days..", Eimi grunted while looking outside. "This is becoming troublesome."
"Troublesome? Try switching places with me pretending to be this stinking bird's driver..", sneered Saiki, as he held the reins of an Ostremu carriage in the front. "At least you get a comfortable bedding inside a horse carriage."
Eimi sighed, while she looked down in frustration. "I'm sorry, Bakudou-kun. It's just that I don't think I'll get one over my sister at this rate."
Saiki took a deep breath while adjusting the reins a little. "No worries, Eimi-chan. Just be patient. Ota-sensei will get us something soon."
The dawn signaled another day's arrival, as the citizens of Fujiishima restarted their usual goings on. Couriers were bringing forth packages and newspapers. While apothecary shops began displaying their newly mixed potions, some folk fell in line waiting for the opening. Arrivals from the first of the carriages were enthusiastically greeted by traders and relatives. But in a remote part near the city's south gate, the mood was still leaning towards the downside.
"Why does it always have to be early in the morning?..", grumbled Seijurou while seated and leaning towards a tree.
Satsuki smiled endearingly, as she turned her attention to Seijurou. "It's so we can accomplish more, Erida-kun."
"Oh yeah, tell me about it..", answered Seijurou sarcastically, while he turned his gaze towards Baba Himiko. "What about you, Ba.. Himiko? You don't seem like a morning person too."
"I don't sleep much..", responded Himiko monotonously without looking at Seijurou. She just carried on in cleaning her broomstick afterwards.
Seijurou frowned, as he got disappointed with his teammate's answer. "Fine, no use being friendly. Wake me up when the senpais arrive."
"Rise and shine, my adorable kouhai!..", greeted Kuronuma Haguro without even letting the "jumped out of his position in surprise", Seijurou, close his eyes.
"Kuronuma-senpai!..", yelled Satsuki in glee, as she approached her senior to embrace him. "It's so nice to see you again."
"No! It's great to see you again, Kin-chan..", Haguro said happily while returning the hug. "I've been out on 'side quests' a lot since our duel."
Laughing sheepishly as always, Satsuki shifted her attention towards her teammates. "Senpai, these are our new recruits for today.. Erida Seijurou and Baba Himiko."
Haguro gave Seijurou a somewhat satisfied smile while measuring him up. "Erida Seijurou-kun.. it's nice to see you all grown up. My master.. your mother was a great woman."
Seijurou smiled faintly, as he shook his senior's hand. "Thank you for your kind words, Kuronuma-senpai."
"And what have we got here?..", said Haguro joyously, as he shifted his gaze towards the blank faced Himiko. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ba-chan."
Suddenly, Himiko erupted from her plain expression to a flustered and furious one. "It's Himiko! Just because I'm a witch, you think I'm old already? Himiko!"
A little surprised, Haguro paused for a moment before laughing out loud. Then, he proceeded in patting Himiko's head. "Okay, okay! Clearly you're an adorable little youngster, Himi-chan."
"Kuronuma-senpai likes making shortcuts with names, so he can remember you easily..", said Satsuki to her teammates after the introductions. "By the way, senpai, where is Yanagi-kaichou?"
"Oh, you know Shin..", replied Haguro, yet, in a cheerful manner. "That's what his late sensei always lamented about him. They never got to fix his poor sense of time."
As Haguro kept laughing at some not so hilarious moments, Seijurou gave him a blank stare. While recalling his senpai's way of challenging Satsuki back in the first week of school, a droplet of sweat rolled down his head when he thought about it. "He's completely out of character.. or is he really like this?"
It took another half hour of random chit chat between Satsuki and Haguro when Seijurou suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of magical energy. And it actually seemed the same case with Himiko, as they both stood up straight wide eyed. As the strong presence approached, the two felt a strong shiver down their spines that made them want to drop on their knees.
Haguro glanced toward the direction of the seemingly invisible but powerful aura and smiled. "Oi, Shin! You're here already? It's still early."
A tall and slender but handsome silver haired boy with an awkward smile went to the newly formed team's location after a few moments. "Eh? I'm actually thirty minutes late. What would our young kouhai say about me? I'm so sorry!"
"It's super fine Yanagi-kaichou!..", said Satsuki , as she greeted with a bright smile FSG's number one student. "On the bright side, you're an hour and a half in advanced compared to your usual two hour delay."
A droplet of sweat rolled down on Yanagi Shinsuke's head while smiling awkwardly and scratching his head. "Loving the way you put some positivity on everything as always, Kinjou-kun. There was no old lady to help with groceries since it's still very early, I guess."
Seijurou stared at the "Round Table's Helm" in awe, while he barely kept himself standing up. "So, this is the power of the incumbent 'Battlemage'. He's not even trying to hide his magic power level."
After a moment's greeting of his acquaintances, Yanagi Shinsuke, the "Heir of the Battlemage", shifted his attention towards Seijurou and Himiko. He could not help but notice Himiko slowly dropping. As she was about to faint, Shinsuke somehow got to her in time to catch her.
"My apologies, Himiko-kun. I forgot to suppress my magic since I was in a hurry..", said Shinsuke apologetically, as he helped Himiko up, which made her blush madly. He smiled at her after. "And it's a pleasure to meet you."
Again, Seijurou gave off a blank stare, as he saw Himiko with a complete change of character. He even figured out that Shinsuke, although late, did his research on not calling Himiko by her family name.
"You must be magic sensitive too, Erida-kun. I'm used to being with Haguro and Kinjou-kun who don't have a passive skill to sense magic since they're warriors..", said Shinsuke while on the approach, which brought Seijurou back to his senses after. "Sorry about that. I must be setting a bad example to you, my kouhai. I'm Yanagi Shinsuke, by the way. You can call me any way you want, but please excuse me for being your captain for today's quest."
As Seijurou shook his captain's hand, a look of disbelief engulfed his face. Lost for words, he pondered on his thoughts for a second. "What the hell? Why is he so down to earth? I was expecting FSG's strongest to be someone like Jax to show up."
After a few moments of awkwardly shaking hands, Shinsuke laughed softly. "I guess you were expecting something else, huh? I get that a lot."
Satsuki and Haguro's resounding laughter in the background brought Seijurou, again, back to himself. He panicked after that and bowed to his senpai. "I beg your pardon, Yanagi-senpai. I'm Erida Seijurou. I'm at your disposal, senchou!"
"Oi, oi, oi! No need for formalities here. We're all students, after all..", replied Shinsuke while getting his hands up in surrender. Then, he turned his attention towards the still stunned and flushed Himiko, and the rest of the cheery group. "Now, it's time.. quest debriefing."
Haguro cheered upon hearing Shinsuke's signal. "Finally!"
Shinsuke took a deep breath before changing his expression into a more serious look. "Ohayou gozaimasu, mina-san."
"Ohayou gozaimasu, senchou!..", the four responded in unison like soldiers.
"As you can see, especially to the first years, we're about to go on something that's not a 'side quest', meaning quests that're regularly given in class where we know about their difficulty..", Shinsuke explained while shifting eye contact with each one in intervals. "This is a 'main quest'. We do not know how it will go. It may turn ugly in an instant, or if fortune favors, it may just be a simple patrol. But more importantly, it's a quest given by the 'Shogun' himself. It's importance is beyond our comprehension."
With everything that his senpai just said, cold sweat began to take shape on Seijurou's scalps. It was ironic since the heat of the summer sun was relentless. However, the way his captain phrased everything just made him nervous.
"But no pressure!..", Shinsuke continued while awkwardly waving his palms from side to side, which caused just a "not so cold" droplet of sweat to roll on Seijurou's head this time. "Moving forward, our task is to simply investigate the excavation site of the ruins of a town from the 'Edo Period' south of Fujiishima. Recently, it has caused a lot of noise since more and more people try to have their share of what they could dig up. So, the 'Shogun' thinks that there may be something illegal going on there."
After that short discussion, Seijurou raised his hand. "Yanagi-senpai, isn't the 'Edo Period' about a thousand years ago?"
"Yes, what about it, Erida-kun?"
Seijurou sighed for a moment. "All possible artifacts that were written in the history of that period have been taken into custody by the Jihonian government already. What could they possibly be looking for?"
Shinsuke nodded with a satisfied smile on his face, when he heard his kouhai's point. "You see, that is the kind of thinking we need in this kind of quest."
Satsuki flashed a bright smile at Seijurou while giving a thumbs up. The most powerful man in FSG's student body just acknowledged Seijurou. He then, responded with a faint grin at Satsuki.
"However, there could be other possibilities. It could be neglected gold, or other precious gems crafted from the past..", added Shinsuke, as he tapped Seijurou's shoulder. "Or an undisclosed and undiscovered powerful artifact. Who knows? That is why we were sent to investigate. Any more questions?"
Everyone shook there heads save for Himiko who just raised her hand. "Heir-senpai.. -sama, what individual tasks will you appoint us?"
"A rather interesting way of addressing me, Himiko-kun..", said Shinsuke, while he chuckled awkwardly. "I will give specific tasks once we get there and assess the situation."
A faint breeze went past the "five player character party", as they gave each other nods of approval. The smell of dried rice was on the air. And the sound of falling hooves resounded like drumbeats urging them to charge into battle.
"So, are we all ready to go?..", asked Shinsuke once more. "Let the quest commence."
Yanagi Shinsuke's unit was the last of the teams that had first years to proceed with a quest. Without knowing how long their respective tasks' duration would have taken, everyone in the class of year 2022, except for Kinjou Satsuki, was currently serving their first military duty. Whether it be direct confrontation or some covert expedition, everybody was at their best in trying to fulfill their specific objectives.
In an area near the plains located somewhere north west of Fujiishima, a group of armed outlaws were on the march to raid a town. It was the perfect place to make their approach since the bush in that place was taller than an ordinary man's height. They were also walking hidden just by the road for them not to get lost. However, little did they know that from a safe distance and hiding at the other side of the highway, Hanagawa Yuuji's unit was waiting for them in an ambush.
"Bandits confirmed in the southeast..", whispered Hanagawa to his freshmen subordinates while giving a hand signal. "Takenori, get ready."
"Hai, sensei!..", responded Takenori Shizune, as she began tying a sheet of paper with "Kanji" written on it on her kunai.
"A ward, huh?..", Morisaki Renji grunted, while he observed Shizune prepare her weapon. "You planning to do your sister's technique, Shizune-chan?"
Shizune smiled confidently, as she cocked back to throw her projectile. "Yes, but not quite, Renji-kun."
As the kunai launched into the air, Shizune did the "Download Hand Gesture". She waited until the trajectory arrived at its apex.
"Nice throw..", said Midorima Natsuko while watching the small weapon glide through the air.
"Thanks Natsuko-chan..", replied Shizune before taking a breath to recite the spell. "Download Gekitai Suru no Jumon (Ward Spell) seven.. Shoukan (Summon)."
About a dozen shuriken exploded out of the kunai as soon as Shizune finished the incantation. It caught everyone's attention, including the bandits, while the shower of blades shifted towards its downward movement.
"Whoa, just like Eimi-chan's!..", commented Renji, as the projectiles inched dangerously closer towards the targets.
Shizune snickered while making a two finger gesture with her hand this time. "Ninpo (Ninja Art).. Gen'ei no Gisei (Phantom Imitation)."
Suddenly, all the shuriken turned into copies of Shizune when they landed. The bandits stopped in their tracks, as quickly as they heard the sound of multiple feet touching the ground.
"Nice! It's just like that 'shadow clones' I've read in that popular manga..", said Renji, while he too, prepared for battle.
"That's a very advanced jutsu (Art) already..", replied Shizune, as she began to creep towards the group of outlaws. "But that'll do for now."
"It's no time for showing off some skills..", said Hanagawa while shifting his attention towards the young "Battlemage" build. "Midorima, now!"
Midorima Natsuko nodded, as she weaved the "download" sign. "Download Ho no Jumon (Fire Spell) thirty two.. Quickburn!"
There were no flames in Natsuko's spell. However, the moment she finished her incantation of the fire based magic attack, all the shrubbery around the bandits turned into burnt ash. With all of the vegetation around them gone, it revealed to them that they were surrounded by Shizune's "Kunoichi copies" all of a sudden.
"You're surrounded..", one Shizune imitation said, as one of the bandits drew his weapon.
"Put down your weapons..", another Shizune said, while another bandit drew his hand axe.
"Please surrender quietly to avoid meaningless confrontation..", a third Shizune spoke, as one of the bandits, probably an "Archer build", drew his bow with an arrow.
One of the outlaws, who looked like their leader, laughed deviously while drawing his iron mace. "You think we'll be stopped by a group of wannabe ninjas, little missy? I dare you to try."
"That would be ill advised..", said Renji out of nowhere. He then, proceeded to raise his shield and sword after wearing his steel plated helm. "Because I'm that little missy's backup."
"Tsk. That baka revealed himself too early..", whispered Shizune in disappointment, as she kept herself hidden beside Hanagawa.
The bandit group slowly dispersed, as they slowly approached each of Shizune's copies. At the same time, all of the clones prepared for combat. Shortly after, Renji went into the circle, as well, to protect one of the imitations.
While still quietly hidden, Hanagawa loaded his buccaneer pistols with ammo. "Don't worry, Takenori. Everything's still according to plan."
Later that afternoon, outside the excavation site of the ruins of a buried town, "player characters" from different regions gathered to either trade or simply do some sight seeing. The massive ruin was once a flourishing city that had many riches in the past. It was common knowledge that excavators would tend to dig up semi valuable goods until the present date. However, the place was more of just a tourist spot currently since all known valuable artifacts had been dug up already.
"Seems like it's just another walk in the park, Shin..", said Haguro before laughing at Shinsuke for causing so much worry towards the first years. "I mean literally. There's a lot of tourists here."
"You're probably right. There seems to be no suspicious activity and we've done the interrogations to the dot..", Shinsuke replied while looking after his freshmen subordinates. "But that Erida-kun seems to be enjoying himself, right, Himiko-kun?"
Himiko looked at her senior and struggled to keep a serious face while blushing. "Hai, senpai.. -sama."
Shinsuke smiled at his junior endearingly causing her to flush even more. After that, he put his attention back to Seijurou again, who seemed to have continuously observed the ruins more. It was as if he was having trouble differentiating if his kouhai was patrolling or being a tourist.
Satsuki could not help but notice Seijurou's deep interest in the tourist spot, as well. So, she decided to approach him afterwards. "What'cha doing, Erida-kun?"
"Nothing. I'm just reading this text..", replied Seijurou while reading something on a stone slab in front of a dilapidated building.
Curious, Satsuki looked at the text, as well, but gave up immediately on reading it since it was too long for her attention span. "What does it say?"
"This used to be a bustling city nestled at the foot of a volcano..", answered Seijurou, as he glanced at Satsuki's childishly curious face. "It was called Minami. A massive eruption buried the entire city in ash instantaneously."
With what Seijurou just said, Satsuki looked around as if searching for something missing. "I don't see any volcanoes or mountains around, Erida-kun."
"We live on that volcano now, Kinjou..", Seijurou said blankly, which caused Satsuki to have a frightful expression on her face after. "But it's extinct already, no need to evacuate any time soon."
"You make it sound like it's going to happen again..", Satsuki replied, as she frowned.
Seijurou gave Satsuki a faint smile while quickly glancing at her. "We don't know what the future holds, Kinjou. Let's just live accordingly."
"That is correct..", Shinsuke interrupted suddenly. "Living accordingly as of now means we prepare for possible outcomes by camping out somewhere safe and near this location."
"Eh? Do we really have to, Shin?..", asked Haguro, as his look turned into a reluctant one.
"We haven't found anything suspicious now..", replied Shinsuke while getting everyone's attention. "But there's a reason Shogun Kaishin approved of this quest. I think Minami will bare its fangs under the cover of night."
Just simply waiting for the evening in the middle of a quest was not one of the things the first years anticipated. Since most were given intermediate to expert level quests, it was reasonable to expect something dangerous enough to threaten their lives. Even if death was the last thing on their minds, they would still most likely think that action in the field provided valuable experience. But if waiting games also supplemented precious exposure, Ota Shizuka's unit had plenty already.
"For some reason, driver shuffling ended up getting all three of us, alone, in this carriage..", Terumi Shoutou said, while the horse carriage they were in pressed north. "Is this a sign that nothing's going to happen anymore?"
"I doubt that..", said Eimi with a tired voice while laying down. "It's probably Ota-sensei's doing to give us rest from driving."
"What do you mean 'driving'? All you did was stay in this carriage, Eimi-chan..", teased Saiki, which caused Eimi to pop a vein immediately. He just simply laughed after Eimi's furious reaction.
Suddenly, all the "console commands" of the three rang at the same time. It was Ota-sensei. "Everyone, we found the perpetrators. Time to disembark."
Unlike her teammates who seemed to have a look of reluctance, Eimi's excitement was obvious with her drawing her kunai and jumping off the carriage first. There was a big smile on her face, since she finally was going to get a taste of action. The eagerness to beat her twin sister welled in her, only to be quashed by seeing her sibling standing beside a bonfire and a dozen tied up criminals.
Eimi slowed down, as a look of shock engulfed her face. "Onee-chan, what is the meaning of this?"
It was as if Shizune looked at a mirror since they both had the same look on their faces. "Shouldn't I be asking that question, Eimi?"
"Looks like the highway robbers that we're after are of the same group of bandits that kept raiding Nerima..", Ota cut in, as soon as she arrived at the scene with her other two first years. "Looks like Hanagawa's unit got them first."
Eimi sneered upon learning that her sister got one up on her. "Tsk. You got lucky this time, onee-chan."
"It's not like that, Eimi. I have good teammates..", said Shizune while approaching her twin.
"Shut up! Don't talk to me! It doesn't change anything..", Eimi exclaimed, as she walked back to the carriage.
Shizune tried to follow, but she hesitated and stopped in the end. "Eimi.."
"Okay, aside from unanticipated family bonding here, we have found some valuable information about these bandits..", said Hanagawa jokingly while suddenly appearing from the dark of the night. His joke was not meant for laughter, since it was in bad taste to say something like that as evident with nobody laughing. However, it did get everyone's attention, which was the joke's true purpose. "Until recently, bandits were just opportunistic outlaws that raided unsuspecting victims. But this one is organized. They were mobilized for a higher purpose. This is the Yakuza's doing."
In completing two quests with one course of action, it was like hitting two birds with one stone for Hanagawa and Ota's units. However easy it was though, having to know the Yakuza's involvement meant bad news for everyone. It was the one underground group the government did not want to mess with since its reach was far and unknown. In the mean time, Hanagawa and Ota waited for the higher ups to decide the fates of the captured criminals. But it was not as easy as Yanagi's unit.
Under the cover of darkness, Shinsuke casted an illusion spell that hid his group even if they were already in a safe distance from the Minami excavation site. From their current point of view, there were a number of armed men gathered around a single kneeling individual. It was as if the poor fellow was being punished for something he just did.
"Your intuition is spot on again, Shin..", said Haguro while keenly observing the activities of the small militant group. "There's definitely something fishy about this. Should we go for it?"
"Not yet. Let's wait for Himiko-kun's report..", Shinsuke replied, as he glanced towards the sky where Himiko was. "Himiko-kun, can you hear what's going on from above?"
While riding her broomstick, Himiko hovered silently above the suspects to eavesdrop on them. "I can hear them loud and clear, senpai.. -sama. But they seem to be speaking in a different language.. some Oriental dialect, I think."
Shinsuke sighed deeply in disappointment upon hearing the news. "This is worse than I thought."
"What are Orientals doing here, Yanagi-senpai?..", asked Seijurou calmly, while he prepared to adjust his modified "Orcish" armguards.
"They're a common nuisance in our country..", replied Shinsuke, as he too, prepared himself for a confrontation. "These Oriental smugglers usually pose as fishermen or privateers that aggressively cross our sea borders often. It's easy to reprimand and take them to custody, but it could be such a pain dealing territorial disputes with our 'superpower' neighbor."
Satsuki nodded in response to Shinsuke. "I'll call for backup, Kaichou."
As soon as Satsuki opened her "console command", a tall blonde man in a suit came out of the excavation site. After that, he slowly approached the kneeling man while talking in "Oriental".
Shinsuke's eyes went wide the moment he recognized the man. "Himiko-kun! Do you copy? Retreat, now!"
"Shin, what's up? Why're you suddenly jumpy?..", asked Haguro, as he worried for his friend.
"That man.. is wanted all over the world.. dubbed as Jihon's underground 'Shogun'.. Dai-taichou of the Yakuza, Shirogane Hayai."
Meanwhile, in the plains located at the northwestern border of Fujiishima, Hanagawa and Ota's units waited patiently for the squadron commander's response. The campfire crackled, as the first years sat around it to warm themselves. Staying quiet and reserving energy, they all anticipated for a possible long night ahead.
But Natsuko could not stand the silence any longer and broke it. "Hanagawa-sensei, what will the 'Shogunate' do to the prisoners?"
"They will either be taken to prison or executed depending on their criminal records..", answered Hanagawa while reloading his pistol with ammunition. "Are you uneasy about it, Midorima-ojou-san?"
Natsuko just nodded, while one of the prisoners started to break. It slowly startled everyone else, as she and her teacher continued to converse.
"That's the valor of being a soldier.. to be able to face your fear of death and being ready to die defending your motherland.. and likewise, being able to inflict it without hesitation..", Hanagawa did not even wait to finish his sentence when he shot the escaped criminal on the head with his weapon. The bandit's corpse immediately disintegrated right before it landed on the ground.
A grimacing kind of shock took over Natsuko's expression while witnessing what just happened. "He.. he's dead.."
And just about the same time far into the south, Shirogane lopped off the head of the kneeling man by unsheathing his katana with blinding speed. The decapitated head rolled on the ground while slowly disintegrating along with the rest of the body.
"Dust? He just turned to dust!..", a stunned Seijurou muttered, as he desperately tried to exclaim. Just like Natsuko from the north west, it was the first time he saw someone dying. "He killed him!"
As he gave everybody in his team a short glance each, Shinsuke signaled their next course of action. "First years, get a hold of yourselves. Remember when I said things could go ugly? This is it. We've got a big fish this time."
Translation Notes:
Kouhai – a junior in an organization like a school or office.
Edo Period – there is a parallelism in this story's world's Edo period and real world Japan when it comes to it being a previous regime. However, in this story, this was already about a thousand years previously.
Shadow Clones – a nod to Kishimoto's classic's "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu". I would've wanted to reuse this, but the story might suffer from copyright issues. Mentioning it with due respect is enough since Takenori Shizune herself said that it was already a high level ninjutsu.
Shogunate – a type of government administration ruled by a Shogun.
Honorifics Guide:
Kaichou – used to address a president or head of a non militant organization like a student body or a corporation. In this chapter, Yanagi Shinsuke, being the Helm of the Round Table of FSG, is addressed like this by Satsuki as the head of the student body.
Senchou – used to address a captain of a group like a ship crew, a sports team, or a small military unit.
Mina-san – a way to address everyone by a speaker.
Dai-Taichou – a way to address a great leader of any organization.
Ojou-san – simply to address a young lady.
Monogatari Concepts:
The Birth of Fujiishima – it is believed that this city was once the mighty forge of Ryuujin. Just a mere shadow of its majestic self, only a small island was left when the fires were put out by the dragon god, as he ended forging the world. At present, a man made land bridge connects the island that holds the nation's capital to the mainland of Jihon.
This Monogatari subtly tells of a once majestic volcano that erupted massively resulting in reducing itself to a mere island. The Edo period city of Minami is enough evidence that it was buried in volcanic ash and rock. With this information, whether it be a folk tale or a scientific reality, it heavily implies that mortals are at the mercy of nature or god himself, and that nothing is permanent.
Character Description:
Kinjou Satsuki – arguably my favorite character of the story so far, and the heroine to Seijurou's protagonist. She is a prodigy in any way when it comes to the art of the sword. Even at just fifteen years of age, she is considered to be the next best swordfighter in the world, thus the title, "Heiress of the Swordmaiden".
Satsuki is generally cheerful all the time, but she does have those incredibly rare moments when her mood leans toward the down side. Childlike and playful are the more lingering adjectives you think of when you meet her, rather than childish. Her overwhelming positivity can sometimes blanket her persuasiveness that you don't know you were already being played around her finger to begin with, as evident with Seijurou always being swayed. Basically her role as the story's heroine is her having the greatest influence on the protagonist, which is only next to Seijurou's deceased mother. It is with great emphasis to say that if Seijurou backs away with his shield, she becomes the sword that moves him forward.
Her mannerisms are close to that of a child, but her actual thinking can be surprisingly mature at times. She may rub off some "dumb blonde" moments, however, she's actually very smart that she maintains her status as the top student of the class. And the only time she really gets serious is when she trains or fights.
Lastly, Satsuki has a big appetite for her size that she usually consumes meals enough for two grown men. Standing at 153cm and just weighing at 42kg (I hope she doesn't get upset with me disclosing this information), she is a small girl, though almost perfectly proportional due to her athletic build. She has chest length auburn hair, which she ties to a high pony tail during quests, duels, and training leaving only a set of chin length bangs on each side of her small face. She has a round set of eyes with grayish blue irises over an ivory white skin that turns reddish almost as quick as the temperature changes. Even at a young age, Jax and many of the male students of FSG (Seijurou included when he thought of it in one of the previous chapters), consider her already as one of the most beautiful women in Fujiishima.