With the beautiful rise of the sun, a figure stood on a tree branch, his hands in his pockets as he seemingly waited for something. This particular figure had peach-blonde hair, a sleeveless black shirt, and tight black pants. Better known as "Kono," he was one of the original members of Group Jinshu.
As of late, Kono has made a recent return to the current base of Shinkaku after meeting with Lord Phoenix. It was unnerving, to say the least. The man has, no pun intended, a certain aura surrounding him. It's almost as if his more serene attitude contradicts the power that the masked man obtains. It'd be better to play it safe than to do anything irrational. Besides, it appears that Kono will be making new friends.
"Hey, blondie!"
An unfamiliar voice suddenly shouted out to Kono, prompting the man with the fox-like aura print to take a quick intake of breath and spin around. As Kono spun, a grin found its way onto the peach-blonde-haired male's lips. "You talkin' to me?"
Standing on the ground at the base of the tree Kono stood on were three people, each wearing black shirts with black hakama pants. Two were male, while one of them happened to be female. That must be them, Kono thought.
"No, dumbass. We're all looking at the fairy right next to you." The female with short brown hair spoke indignantly, folding her arms.
"Fairy?" Kono questioned, turning to the side only to see nothing standing next to him. "Hey! There is no fairy!"
One of the guys with long, black spiky hair on the ground shook his head, putting a hand on his hip A visible scar could be seen from his right eyebrow to the top of his forehead
. "Is this seriously the guy Lord Phoenix partnered us up with?" The other two merely shrugged at the question.
"Hey, now! I'm not all that bad! I've got quite the victory count under my belt!" Kono boasted, jabbing his index finger at the three below him. They just met and they're already judging him!
"Whatever, fox," Huh, Lord Phoenix must've briefed them about Kono beforehand. "We've been assigned with traveling through the northwest and southwest regions of Adonai. For the three of us, we will now be a four-man cell. Consider us partners, for the time being, blondie." A male with long, dark hair spoke, his voice surprisingly not muffled due to the mouth veil that was concealing the bottom half of his face.
Kono then hopped from the tree branch, falling down toward the ground and landing in front of his three, recently declared, partners. Standing straight up, he held out a hand. "Nice to meet ya'!"
No one shook his hand.
"The most we'll ever be giving you is our names and assistance in our travels." The blonde female huffed, staring at Kono with annoyance. "I'll start us off: My name is Yui."
"Touma." The long, black spiky-haired man with the scar informed.
"Ren." Then went the man with the black mouth veil that concealed the bottom half of his face.
Kono smiled, then suddenly jolted. "Oh! We should create a team name! Like, like...Team Ganbaru! Hoping to do more than our very bests!" To the peach-blonde-haired male, it was pretty clever.
As if the three shared the same mind, they all replied in unison, "No."
Dejectedly, Kono hunched over. "...Okay, then. No names."
After a moment of silence, Ren perked up slightly, looking at Kono curiously. "Hey, fox. Your last group, what happened? Lord Phoenix told us about how you were dispatched from their bases in Shanti with a group of mid-to-high-class rogues."
Kono glanced over in Ren's direction, contemplating how to respond. It wasn't something difficult for Kono to talk about, and he never harbored any friendly or caring emotions towards his old group. But, it didn't make his name any better. Credibility is a powerful thing when it comes in handy. "We were looking for a dumb curse, the Kekkan no Sosei, and aimed to retrieve it and bring it back to Shinkaku. But as we were on our way, we ran into a group of traveling warriors. There, we had a mini fight that led to my teammates' deaths! Tragic, huh?"
"So how did you survive then? Did you run away?" Yui asked, a tone of disgust lacing every word.
Much to the three's annoyance, Kono took a dramatic intake of breath and said, "I would never run away from a fight! Unless I'm going to absolutely die—but that's different! I couldn't let down my group by dying along with them, so I fled! I will continue their legacy through our new group!" It was all a lie. Their legacy ended when they joined Shinkaku—much like Kono's.
"That's just fleeing with extra steps, moron." Touma stated, staring blankly at Kono.
"Do you plan on ditching us when you get the chance, fox? Foxes are well-known for being sly." Yui built off of Touma's statement, her eyes seemingly boring holes into Kono's skull. How intimidating.
A massive bead of sweat appeared on the surface of Kono's forehead, a nervous grin and chuckle were all Kono could conjure up. "I-I assure you that I won't be doing anything like that!"
They didn't seem convinced.
"Bah! Not like we have a choice to believe you or not anyways! Lord Phoenix himself addressed the mission to us personally. And he's a busy man, so declining his work would be foolish."
Kono's nervous grin disappeared. "...So, does that mean that you guys will trust me?"
Ren stepped forward, his lifeless eyes gazing at Kono. It's incredibly tough to decipher the three, Kono concluded.
"No, we aren't willing to trust you just yet, fox. However, we are willing to give you a chance. Don't ruin it." Ren then held out his right hand, awaiting Kono's response.
"Welcome to the group."
XXX
Isn't learning about new characters that'll end up leading into dramatic fights and experiences fun! The pace of the story may seem slow so far, but trust me, it will soon gain pace soon! I have planned out the entirety of Volume Three! Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_