Something didn't feel right. Daisuke wasn't sure what it was exactly, but something around him had made him uneasy. He stared out the window. Even as the gentle clouds gently sailed across the vast sea called the sky, something felt off. As if there was something in life that didn't belong.
Daisuke had looked at the plate that was on the table in front of him. He didn't feel hungry. He hadn't felt like much since the fight with Yuri. In fact, it seemed that everything was pointless without Yuri. Studying had become harder to concentrate on, eating cereal wasn't as great as it tasted before, and sleeping was almost impossible to get. It had been a week since their fight, and he started to feel the consequences.
Daisuke wondered if Yuri was feeling the same way. They had their awkward glares at one another in the classroom or when Daisuke was heading towards his room. He wanted to say something, anything, and it looked like she felt the same way. But for some odd reason, no words had come out, and she headed past him, leaving him to only stare as she walked away. He caught himself staring at her during class, thinking about her and their short, but loved time together. He had sharply turned his head when he caught himself staring too long.
A lot had happened since their fight. More relationships had been broken up due to the plague of rumors. Not only had Yuri and Daisuke been angry, the rest of the group found ways why the didn't want to hang out anymore. As Daisuke sat in the cafeteria, he saw everybody in the group sit in a loner style fashion, spread around the room, not looking up. Nobody else, Daisuke noticed, was eating either. They were simply poking their food with their forks, not paying attention to anything in particular. Daisuke had seen Deíji and thought about how long it had been since he had spoken to her. He picked up his food and walked to her table.
"Hey." He said as he sat down next to her.
"Oh… hi." She said, her voice hardly audible. She continued to poke her food around.
"You alright?" Daisuke asked.
"Not really." She said.
"Why not? What's wrong?"
"Well, as it turns out, Momo blabbed something private about me, because she thought I said something about her past, and she refuses to look at me. Raine thinks that…well, my secret is odd, and won't even look at me. Kori heard something from Yuki, and Yuri's just upset at everyone for no reason."
"I know the reason."
"So, are you guys broken up?"
"We were never going out."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You guys thought that we…?" he stopped there. He knew that she understood what he meant.
"Well, I heard stories about you two kissing, so everybody assumed that you guys were going out."
"Well, I guess you know. Nobody asked anybody out."
"That's good to hear." She said quietly, but Daisuke still heard her.
"What?"
"Nothing." She said quickly, and stood up, throwing her food away, and left eh cafeteria. Daisuke followed her. What was that suppose to mean? "That's good to hear?" Daisuke's heart was half way shattered and that's all she could say about the whole situation? She was hiding something, and he wanted to know what it was exactly.
When he had gotten close enough to stop her, they had been in the dorm hall, in front of Yuki's room, when he had heard crying. Yuki's door was fully opened, and Daisuke stopped in front of it, seeing Yuki on the floor, on her knees, weeping. It was an odd sight. Yuki hadn't cried at all in front of anybody, not that Daisuke could remember. He knocked on the door, and saw her mascara running down her face.
"What happened?" Daisuke asked, kneeling down to her. "What's wrong?"
"Daisuke?" she asked as she looked up at him. Her voice was shaky, and she hadn't been able to say much. She instead through her arms around him, leaning on him as she cried a little more. Daisuke had patted her back gently, waiting for her to calm down. When she did, she looked at him, wiping the remainder tears from her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Daisuke asked again.
"I can't take it anymore, Daisuke."
"Take what?" He asked, not knowing anything she was saying.
"My feelings."
"Your feelings?"
"My feeling for you. I could never express them to you before. I was too shy, and now we have al this demon hunting, and other bimbos all over you, and…"
"I'm free, Yuki. There's nothing wrong."
"What about Yuri? Don't you love her?"
"No. I've never loved Yuri. I just–"
No more words came out Daisuke mouth for the next couple of minutes. Yuki tenderly set her lips on Daisuke's. Daisuke didn't pull back, or hold back. He embraced the kiss, and held her tighter to him. Yuri embraced him more. The two had fallen to the floor, Yuki laying on top of Daisuke.
With the door still opened, Yuri had walked by, seeing the sight. Just as she held an apology note in her hand to give to Daisuke, she saw this horrid sight. With teats building up in her eyes again, she tore the note in half, and threw it on the floor as she ran down the hall.
XxXxXxX
"Quite frankly, Gi, I don't know what to do now." Daisuke said.
"Whatcha mean?"
"Yuri likes me a lot, Yuki is a past crush, and now I think that Deíji likes me. What am I suppose to do."
"The answer's simple: choose one."
"How am I going to do that without breaking a couple of hearts. I mean, all my life, I've played by the rule: do unto others and others do unto you. I can't do that. That's being a hypocrite. I wouldn't want to be rejected by somebody else. It's a win/lose situation."
"Sorry, I'm only a Demon Hunting machine. I can't help you with this problem."
The two had been in Daisuke's room after Pre-Cal. It was a little late, but Daisuke still couldn't even try to get to sleep. The kiss he shared with Yuki, the note he found that Yuri had torn on the floor, what Deíji said earlier… Nothing was making sense anymore.
"I can tell you one quote that I've heard from a very wise man."
"What's that?" Daisuke asked with hope.
"That's High school."
"Oh, really?" Daisuke asked, his hope shattered. "And who's the wise man behind these powerful words?"
"Screech from Saved By The Bell. It's an American show."
"You're hopeless, you know that, right?"
"Alright, alright, alright… I do know one serious quote that might help you a little. Not a lot, just a little. It goes a little something like this: Follow your heart."
"Where'd you hear that?"
"American Soap Operas."
"Do you know how jacked up society is in those shows?"
"But still, it's good advice, isn't it?"
"I suppose so." Daisuke said, thinking about it. He thought about his heart wanted to do. But, sadly, his heart was just as confused as his mind and soul were. He didn't know how to choose between the three They all were wonderful in their own way. There was absolutely no way he could simply choose one.
Daisuke sighed as he laid down on his bed, his thought swirling about in his head. He looked at Gi who had been eating some crackers.
"Answer me this: why do you eat so much? You eat almost as much as me."
"It's the amount ferrets likes to eat at, isn't it."
"For some reason, I don't think so."
Daisuke closed his eyes, relaxing for the first time that day. But his relaxation time had come to a sudden stop when he felt something. A sense of a person at the window. He looked outside at the calm darkness. But there, vaguely, he had seen Yuki in the trees. She had been standing there as if she had been waiting for him for a couple of minutes. He opened his balcony door and walked outside.
"Hey." He said. When she didn't reply, he frowned a little. "What's wrong."
"Nothing," she said, suddenly started to smile. "Come with me."
"Where?" he asked.
She didn't answer, but rather leaped out of the tree and landed on the ground, starting to head toward the forest. Daisuke quickly threw on his shoes and followed after her.
The moonlight was a good source of light for Daisuke. He seemed almost cat-like in his motions while trying to keep up with Yuki. He hadn't gotten too good of a grip on sensing her, but enough to find a stronger wave of her aura with every certain and strong turn. Daisuke ran for two minutes before finding Yuki standing in the moonlight, the same stump she always sat at when they used to fight. There, Yuki was simply staring at the stump, as if she expected something to be there.
"What is it?" Daisuke asked. She hadn't turned to him, but still replied.
"She's coming…"
"Who's coming?"
"My master. The one who will answer any questions you had when you found out I was a Demon Hunter."
"What? You mean that voice that told you 'go back to base'? What did that mean anyway?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
Daisuke sat there for a couple of seconds before rustling in the bushes had been made. Daisuke had looked back at the stump and felt something magical happen. He didn't know how it happened, but everything seemed to look like day. As if a light had appeared out of nowhere, and suddenly lit the sky. It seemed like early morning. The grass was wet with dew, the pine's scent was stronger than ever in the day, the birds chirped. Where the stump had usually stood, stood a large, vast tree. It's branches dancing in the wind, bearing fruit larger than watermelons, but looked like an apple.
"Where are we?" Daisuke asked.
"Welcome to the base that you were asking about earlier." A voice had said, and from behind the tree came a woman. She was in her early, maybe mid, thirties. Long black hair that had seemed to stay together, a black sweater that seemed knitted by an old professional knitter instead of a machine, and crisp, clean jeans. Her hair had reached her ears. Her eyes had been jade green, just like Yuki's.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Natashai Haraku; Yuki's sensei."
"Haraku, huh? Just tell: how do you get into this place?"
"There's no answer?"
"What do you mean there's no answer? There's got to be an answer. There's an answer to everything, isn't there?"
"Just because there's an answer doesn't mean we know it. As human nature develops, it also feels feebler. And what makes us question is known as evil or something that should be tabooed. And with people not knowing because of the taboo of generations, it becomes unanswered to all.
"Can demons really feel pain and love as we do? Do they know emotions such as friendship, romance, and all these above? Or are they simply mindless animals that try to kill? No one can understand what these answers are, because they are never given a chance to be explored." Haraku explained. "So how do we get here? I'm not sure. It's a sacred land to most, and you were able to come here. No, it's not a place for Demon Hunters, but special blooded people, such as everyone here, and a couple more."
"Special? What's so special about me?"
"There are plenty of things, but not all I can answer at the moment. Daisuke, you have a power unimaginable for even the president of DHA to grasp."
"Is that why you wanted me here? To take something to use against DHA."
"I'm not necessarily an enemy of DHA. I simply don't approve their methods."
"Their methods? Such as what?"
"They teach us to kill, and to never ask questions. Don't you think that it's kind of odd that they wouldn't want us to say anything that may be of use, just because it's a demon? If you ask me, it seems like they're hiding something. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I don't know. I haven't really gotten–"
"Gotten a chance to see for yourself? You never will. They won't let you. They don't want you to. Do you know why? Because they fear you, Daisuke. Not just you, all of us."
"Wait, hold on. Go back to the beginning. How am I special at all?"
"Are you able to meet with other Demon Hunters on the battlefield and not lose control? Especially DHA's battlefield?"
"That's true. Why?"
"Only a handful of people like us are left, Daisuke. You, Yuki, and I. I have one other person I know of, and I know there's at least one more, but I cannot say who either one is. One of them is because it may change my plans for you if you knew. The other, I simply do not know the person yet. But finding you, Daisuke, is a great opportunity, for both you and me."
"How so?"
"You have a chance to change the world, and I have a chance to finally meet the son of Taki."
"You know of my mom?"
"Who doesn't in the Demon Hunting World. She was the goddess of all Demon Hunters."
"That's what I've heard."
"You do have her personality, though."
"You knew my mom that well?"
"Maybe."
"What? You mean you knew enough to be a friend?"
"Never mind that–"
"What do you mean, 'never mind'! That's my mom you're talking about!"
"There's a reason I brought you here, and it's not about dwelling in the past. I have some news that's bound to get to you anyway, but I thought you should know right away."
"What is it?"
"Kagori's on the loose."
"The loose? What do you–"
"Daisuke, Kagori has double crossed DHA, and is hunting down any agent that's tied in with DHA."
"So, why did you want to talk to me?"
"Daisuke, are you really that mindless? Kagori swore that you two would fight again. You may be stronger than when you last saw him, but that was a while ago. Now he's not handicapped, and he's out for revenge. You should seriously watch your back while you can."
"Thanks for the warning, but can we please talk about my mom. I can handle myself, but this mystery is something that's been bothering–"
But before he could say anything else, the same blinding light shone brightly a split second, and the next thing he knew, he was back in his room, his shoes off, laying in his bed. It was as if the whole thing never existed. But he knew it had. The smell, the burning of his lungs when he was chasing Yuki, everything. It wasn't an illusion. He knew it. It couldn't be anything but real. It just wasn't logical. But lately, Logic hadn't been particularly with him. In fact, it was down right against him.
"Gi?" Daisuke asked. "What time is it?"
"9:13. Why?"
Time had somehow stopped as if he never moved. 9:13 was the time he had seen when he jumped on his bed.
"Hey, Daisuke!" Gi shouted. "I just got some horrible news! Kagori's–"
"On the loose, and I should probably watch my back because he has a dire need to kill me? Yeah, I already know."
All Gi could do was stare at the kid. How did he know? Gi didn't know anybody except Yuki who was a Demon Hunter in the area, and she couldn't possibly know. Sure, the DHA network usually took a couple of hours before Demon 411s could pick them up, but still, nothing should be known about that. How did, would he, know about his?
Back with Daisuke, something was wrong. He could feel it. And it was impossible to over come with sleep. As Daisuke laid in the dark of his room, all he could feel was the eyes of somebody watching over him, closer than he had appreciated. Little did he knew that outside his window, his feelings were proven positive.
XxXxXxXxX
The rumor plague had continued, and whenever Daisuke had ran into Deíji, she just ran away. He didn't know what had happened since that time in the cafeteria, but she really didn't want to face him. Was it something he had done, or maybe it was disgrace. If it was disgrace, it couldn't be anything Daisuke would look down on her. Deíji was sensitive, and what she thought was a big deal, most people do almost everyday. This is stupid, Daisuke thought again. Why are having this stupid argument. And plus, Yuri's still mad at me. Maybe f I apologize, the group will get back together quicker.
As he ran up towards Yuri's room, Raine had pulled him aside and took him into her room.
"Is it true?" she demanded.
"Is what true?"
"Don't make me repeat it!" Raine yelled, blushing softly. "You know…" she turned around, giving Daisuke a small time to think.
"Are you talking about my ferret? Yeah it's true. I know it's not allowed in this apartments, but–"
"Not that!"
"Then, what?"
"Do I really have to remind you?"
"Remind me what?"
Raine's hands slid around his back, and she brought her face to his. While Raine sat there making out with Daisuke, there was a knock at the door. Usually, in the apartments, a knock doesn't mean "can-I-come-in?", it usually meant "I'm-coming-in-whether-you're-ready-or-not".
"Hey, Raine, I need to know if you have last nights notes from pre–"
And when the door opened, Yuri stood there, her face red at what she saw. Her fist became white knuckled.
"DENSUKE, YOU PLAYER!" she shouted, and she threw her Pre-Cal book towards his head, and ran out.
"Yuri?" Daisuke asked. He got up. "Aw, crap!"
"Daisuke, what about me?" Raine asked as she tugged on his arm, still on the ground.
"Sorry, Raine. I really have to talk to Yuri."
And Daisuke ran our the door. As Raine sat there, she sighed, and then smiled. She stood up and continued to stare at the door. "Well, it's finally nice that we know who he truly likes."
Daisuke ran down the hall, trying to keep up with Yuri as she slid past people in the crowd. Daisuke, excusing himself and pleading for forgiveness as he ran past people, he had began losing his momentum. But he had to get to Yuri, no matter what the cast was. He leaped into a tree, and got onto of the roof, running from roof to roof, until there were no buildings. He had leaped down, finally catching up to her. Daisuke caught up to her and grabbed her hand. The two stopped running, but it was far from over.
A punch had hit Daisuke's left cheek, causing his head to turn just a couple millimeters. His eyes never left the teary eyes of Yuri. Though there was a wince of pain in his eyes when he was hurt, they were still gentle and calm as he looked at her. She knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to win her over, use her feelings for him to his advantage.
"Let go of me!" she screamed as she threw another punch, this time at his right cheek. The same thing happened, making him bleed in the lip a little. But it didn't seem to matter to him. His eyes were s focused on Yuri's. With her anger feeling like it was failing and she was calming down, she rekindled the flame of hatred, and hit him again. Each time, she told him to let her go. More hits, more blood, and every cycle, the punch grew weaker. Until finally, Yuri gave up, and Daisuke's blood had formed together so much it spilled unto the ground.
"What do you want from me?" she cried as she finally broke down, and started balling. She feel to her knees, weeping, and Daisuke had wrapped his arms around her, enough for him to make her feel comfortable, but not enough to let them not see each other.
"For you to listen to me." He said softly. "I don't know what you think of me right now, and it's probably not good, but just hear me out, please."
She sat there, wiping the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief, and then wiped the blood from Daisuke's mouth and looked at him, knowing that she was giving him her attention.
"I know that you might think that I'm just trying you girls, but I'm not. Anything that you've seen lately, I hadn't expected and hadn't wanted to do. Yuri and Raine had both kissed me. I hadn't wanted to do that with either of them."
"Really?" she asked.
"Really, really."
"So, what do you want?"
"Well, one thing, I want to start over."
"Start over?"
"And not just with you, but with everybody. I want us to all be friends, and I want to start with a clean slate. That is, if you're willing to do so."
Yuri stood up, and guided Daisuke to his feet. She smiled as she thought about it for a split second, making a face that said she was pretending to think about the situation.
"Mmm… I guess I can try and trust you a little better. But I swear, if I find you with another girl–"
"It's not going to happen." Daisuke promised, raising his right hand like a boy scout.
As Yuri looked at him, she smiled and giggled a little.
"What so funny?" Daisuke asked.
"To think, this whole argument had started off with a silly rumor."
"Yeah." Daisuke said, wondering about that. "I wonder where the rumors had all started."
"Well, it started about a week an a half ago." Yuri said thinking about it. And like the two had the same mind, they said the same thing in unison: "Around the time Yuki came!"
"Do you mean she might have been the one responsible for this?" Yuri asked.
"I don't know. It's possible, and probably very likely."
"Why's that?"
"We've had a history going on back in the day."
"History?"
"Uh… nothing." Daisuke said, deciding it was best that he saved that story for another, not-so-recovering, moment between the two.
"What do you mean history? You're hiding something!" she exclaimed.
Daisuke started to run in a teasing manner, showing that he wasn't going to tell her that moment, but perhaps soon. Yuri chased after him, smiling as she chased him, think about how great it was to finally be with him again.
XxXxXxXxX
The laughter of young men on the school grounds were heard all around Haku's All Boy Private School, the one school that had danced with the girls of Sakura's. As lunch was beginning, a large group of boys followed one boy. The boy that Daisuke had punched out at the dance for being verbally abusive to Yuri.
"I still can't believe you got punched out by a gay guy." One of his friends said with a smirk on their faces.
"Shut up. There's something different about that kid." The boy said.
"C'mon, Migoru, there's nothing to be ashamed of. He caught you off by surprise."
"I know." The boy, Migoru had said "But still, nobody punches me out and lives to tell about it."
Besides, Migoru thought. No normal human could have knocked me off my feet that far. And I think I may have seen that Daisuke kid somewhere. I also think I heard his name somewhere a couple of times as well.
After lunch, Migoru had headed up to his room, and locked the door behind him. He looked at the cage next to his bed, where a snake had laid.
"Hey, Ji, can you tell me anything about that Daisuke kid?" Migoru had asked the snake.
"Strength: 335 Spirituality: 478 Specialty: Close up combat."
"Thanks."
I thought so. Migoru thought. He's a Demon Hunter, too. I'm pretty sure he knows about DHA. But I don't think I saw him at the meeting… unless… maybe he was the kid who had Kyutaka. Yeah… he looked just like the kid who punched me out.
"Ji, can you give me a background check on Daisuke?"
"His mother was killed by an unknown accident in between Tokyo and Osaka. He's been determined to find out who the killer is for the last five years, and grows rapidly in his strength. He currently goes to Sakura's for unknown reasons…"
"Is he gay?"
"Half of the articles in the DHA files say yes, and the others say no."
"Which do you think are right?"
"Perhaps the ones that say that he's not. The way that Daisuke had thrown his fist, that was no ordinary way, but it had no feminine throws in it."
"Feminine throws? Are you saying there's a gay punch?"
"Well, I don't like putting labels on people or things, but I suppose you're right."
"Huh." Migoru said, thinking about the little fact of the day.
"Is that all DHA can pick up on Daisuke?" a voice asked behind Migoru. Migoru turned around and saw a older boy by two years, long dark hair, dressed in solely black, his eyes dark sitting on the edge of his window.
"Who are you?" Migoru asked defensively.
"An ally, if you're smart. But if you mess up, a quick enemy. I could very well end your life now if I desired."
"Than why don't you?" Migoru questioned.
"You're a little too cocky, and I hope your skills are better than your attitude." Kagori said, stepping into the room.
"Okay, so why are you here?" Migoru asked.
"I'm looking for recruits."
"Against whom?"
"DHA is a small enemy on my list?"
"DHA? Small? What are you crazy? Who's bigger than DHA?"
"It may seem silly at the moment, but Daisuke is a far bigger threat then DHA ever will be."
"Daisuke? Sure he's strong, but he can't be that strong. You know, I'm starting to doubt you and your 'macho', 'tough guy' tone. I think your just a load of bull."
"Um… Migoru?" Ji asked, his voice shaky.
"What is it?"
"Demon Hunter Kagori ha killed two executive presidents and half of the warriors that were stationed at the DHA head quarters. He's now looking for members to group with him and to fight along side with him. If you see him, contact immediately."
"And this is the guy?" Migoru asked with his jaw slightly dropped. Kagori grinned.
"Now that you understand my power, perhaps you'll take me a little more serious, huh? Now, Daisuke doesn't seem to be a threat at the moment, but if we let him grow, he'll be stronger than any of us ever wish to be. So, we must destroy him now."
"What did you have in mind?" Migoru asked.
"Migoru! We're suppose to contact DHA immediately! You can't side with him! He's evil!"
"Well, first," Kagori said, and shot a fireball at Ji, destroying the pest that drove Kagori mad. "I suggest that we find more who are like us."
"Like us?"
"Yes. Strong, proud, and on the verge of world domination. It's been years since Demon Hunters have been known to the public. I think it's time we ignite that tradition again. Only this time, it's a whole new ball game.
Daisuke couldn't believe what he saw on the news at all. He sat there in awe, the whole English study group watching the TV that had sat in front of there table. They were having a small meeting for the quiz the next day, but something flashed on the news, and Daisuke couldn't believe anything he heard or the photos he saw on the screen.
XxXxXxXxX
"…Almost a hundred bodies found dead with the same unknown reason as other cases all over the world. Police say that the people may have been attacked, for horror was said to be written on their when the corpse were found. Police still are searching for something that all victims have in common, and even the US government has been involved with the search. No further news seems to be here, but we'll be keeping headlines on channel 64…"
"Daisuke?" Momo asked. "You alright? You look like you've seen you dad or something."
"Almost a hundred…?" he said softly to himself.
"C'mon, Baka," Raine said, "We need to finish studying. We can't bomb this test like we almost did the other day. Plus we have finals in two weeks."
Daisuke thought for a bit. The others started to talk about how they couldn't believe that the school year was almost over. Daisuke couldn't believe it either. A lot had happened since his arrival before spring break. But with what the news said, he didn't feel like reflecting on past fun. He wanted to find out something that he had questioned as he watched the news.
"I don't feel like studying right now." Daisuke said suddenly, as he started to pick his things up. The girls looked at each other, not saying anything, but all wondering what was wrong with Daisuke. "Don't worry," he assured. "I just feel a little sick. I just want to rest so I don't get worse."
"Well, G'night." Kori said.
"Night." He said as he closed the door. The floor panels creaked as he walked upstairs to his room, and the girls could hear it from their room. As soon as they heard Daisuke's door closed, they all looked at Yuri.
"What?" she protested.
"What did you do now?" Kori demanded.
"I didn't do anything!"
"I think she might be right." Deíji said. "Daisuke seemed down as he watched the news."
"About the whole hundred deaths thing? Why would he worry about that?" Momo asked.
"Maybe somebody he knew died in the pictures they showed." Raine suggested.
"Either way, I'm going to talk to him." Yuri said, getting up and putting a sweatshirt on. She headed upstairs and knocked on his door. When he didn't say anything, she still walked in. She looked around the room, not seeing him at all. When she noticed the window was open, she walked over and poked her head out the window and found him laying on the slanted roof, gazing upon the stars of the warm spring night.
"Whatcha up to?" she asked with a smile, going through the window, and sitting next to him.
"You saw the report, right?" he asked seriously.
"Yeah. What about them?"
"I think those might be victims to Kagori and his reign for power."
"What makes you think that?"
"Well, if you think about it, normal people can't see Demon Hunter's weapons, so why would they be able to see slashes from something they can't see?"
"I suppose… but what makes you think it's Kagori."
"A hundred deaths reported in the last three days… Who else could it be? I bet if we took a look at the names of the murdered and the files of people from DHA, it would match up perfectly."
"You're not a half bad thinker, Daisuke." A voice called out from the window. The two turned around to see Yuki sitting on the windowsill. "I just got in from the boss that Kagori made his fifth hundred kill a couple minutes ago. Leaders from DHA can't stop him at all. There's too many of his minions around him as well, and he's lost half of the people he's collected."
"Boss?" Yuri asked. "What is she–"
"So, what do you think we should do?" Daisuke asked, talking to Yuki.
"That's why the boss wants to talk to you."
"When? Now?"
"Daisuke? Who's this boss person? I thought Yuki was against DHA."
"Yeah, now." Yuri continued to talk to Daisuke. "She said to meet at the spot we met at the last time we were together."
"She? Your boss is a girl? And you were with alone with her!"
"I wasn't alone!" Daisuke said, giving Yuri his attention now. "I was with Yuki."
"Oh, yeah. Like that's suppose to make me feel better."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Yuki asked. "Are you afraid of a little competition?"
"Competition? What's she talking about, Yuri."
"Nothing!" Yuri shouted, blushing a tad bit. "Just go to that place with this one chick. And make it fast."
"You're not coming?"
"Well," Yuri said, glaring at Yuk, but still talking to Daisuke. "I'm clearly not invited."
"I couldn't have said it better myself." Yuki snapped back. "Now c'mon. Hakura is waiting for us."
"Hakura?" Yuri asked, as the two left. She thought a little bit and said to herself. "Why does that sound so familiar?"
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Where's the president?" Kagori asked a badly wounded soldier. Kagori held the collar of the man's shirt and held his face up close to Kagori's. The man's eye was shut do to abuse in that area, and a small stream of blood oozed from the side of his head.
"Why should I tell you, traitor?"
"The sooner I find the president, the sooner the bloodshed ends; don't you agree. Now if you procrastinate, your simply ending more lives."
"Nobody deserves to live more than the president?"
"Are you saying life has no equal value when it comes to status? We don't live in the time of knights. But if you desire to die, I can make that arranged."
"Kagori…" a voice said behind him. Kagori dropped the man and turned around to see a fourteen year old boy. Moku, if Kagori could remember correctly. He had been in the third to join after Migoru.
"What is it?" Kagori asked.
"We've got news that the president is hiding out in America."
"America? He traveled there? But why?"
"Diplomatic immunity, I think. He's safe with the government from any other country or person in the world. Even the president of the US knows that he's a wanted man from many 'people'."
"Good work. I suppose we'll give America a little visit of its own."
"Shall I tell the men to move out?"
"No. We'll wait a couple of months. Give the people and the president a small sense of security before we go in."
"So what should I tell the others?"
"Tell them to have a nice break for a while. We meet in the ruins of the DHA building in four months."
"Four months? What are you going to be doing during that time?"
"Analyzing."
"Analyzing? What?"
"Not 'what'. Who."
"You're going back after Hiromushu?"
Kagori didn't answer. He didn't need to. Moku knew too well that every passing day, Kagori had plotted some way to kill of Daisuke, the most painful and slowest way yet. But his plans were over dominated by other plans, or some of them had lacked creativity.
"Moku." Kagori said quietly, and it wasn't like Kagori to say anything quietly. He usually had a firm tone of voice, but now it seemed… almost gentle.
"Yes?" Moku asked.
"I want you to gather these ten people." Kagori said turning around and handing him a piece of paper. Moku had looked at the paper. Wolf, Fox, Snake, Hawk, Butterfly, Raven, Monkey, Tiger, Leopard, Shark, Spider. Those were the names off of the list.
"But they're just a bunch of animal names. Plus, there's eleven, not ten."
"They're code names. And besides, you're one of the eleven."
"I am?"
"Of course, Tiger."
"Me? A Tiger?"
"Of course. A strong animal, graceful, and in confidence of itself. The one cat animal that can do something the others can't. I think that fits you very well. Don't you think?"
Moku understood what was going on now. The names were to be matched up with the people who had fit the description of the animal. It wasn't going to be too hard at all, but Moku wondered why Kagori just didn't give Moku a list of the real names of the people. Or maybe this was a test to see if Moku could find people who were right for this group. Either way, Moku couldn't let Kagori down.
XxXxXxXxX
"AUGH!" Daisuke yelled as he looked under his bed. As soon as he found it empty, he through the covers back down and headed back to his closet. "Where is it?"
"What are you looking for?" Gi asked.
"My Pre Cal book. I'm taking my finals today and I can't find my Pre-Cal book."
"Why do you need it? It's a test isn't it?"
"I need some last minute review."
"I told you to study last night, but did you listen to me? No! You just sat there, training away."
"If you want to help, you can start by looking around the room with me."
"Nah, I'm good. It's a treat to see you panic. You hardly ever do it."
Daisuke searched his entire room, but still couldn't find it. As he continued to look again, there was a shadow he noticed. As he turned around to see who it was, the voice asked: "Looking for this?"
Before he even saw the face, he caught his Pre-Cal book. As he looked inside, he saw his name.
"Where was it?" he asked as he looked up to find Hakura. Surprised, he gasped to who it was.
"What? Am I that horrible looking?"
"No, it's just…"
"Wasn't expecting it to be me?" she offered.
"Exactly. What are you doing here?"
"Got some more news."
"Where do you go to get all this information?"
"I'm there. I don't need grapevines or news. I just end up in the right place at the right time."
"So, what do you have in store for me now?"
"Kagori's retreating his attack right now. It seems he's taking time off to find ways to kill you."
"So, you came here with only bad news."
"No. This is part of the good news. Since he's taking time off, that gives you time to prepare."
"Prepare? For what?"
"The battle against Kagori. How do you expect to become even a challenge to him if you sit on your butt all day and do absolutely nothing."
"You starting to sound like my mom." He said with a smile.
Hakura frowned, and then turned around, back to the window. But she only stood there. She never left. A minute passed before she said anything. With a deep sigh, she turned back to him.
"I want to train you."
"Train me? How?"
"There are some things that are forbidden in the Demon Hunting World. It takes a large amount of your Spiritual energy, but it usually drives the people who can't control their urges to kill into an even deeper killing spree."
"But since I can actually control myself, you think I might have a chance?"
"I don't have to inform you too much, so it seems."
"Alright, when do we start?"
"Before you even start training with me, you'll need to learn the basics."
"Basics? I can already draw a sword, I can use plants to my advantage… what else is there to actually learn?"
"Far much more. And You can only get that training from one person."
"Who's that?"
"Perhaps you've heard of him." Hakura said with a grin plastered on her face. "Kyutaka?"
"Yeah. He was my trainer before the battle of DHA."
"I thought you would know him?" Hakura said, taking out another cigarette. "You'll need a couple of months to train with him."
"And when you mean a couple…"
"I mean four."
"Four months? That's my entire summer vacation!"
"Yes, I know."
"You're making me work during summer vacation?"
"Daisuke, if you don't work, this may be your last summer vacation."
"Fine, fine. But when do I leave?"
"After finals."
"But I need to know how I did on my Middle School Exit Exams, and I need to know which High School I'm getting into!"
(In Japan, other countries, and some parts of the US, High School doesn't start until 10th grade.)
"Don't worry. Any information that you get from school, whether it be more homework, newsletters, or anything of the sort, I will personally hand them to you."
Daisuke sat on his bed for a while, and looked at Hakura, who took a drag as far out the window as she could.
"How did you know that I hated the smell of smoke?"
"How am I suppose to teach you important things if I hardly even know my pupils?"
Daisuke smiled. In some ways, Hakura had reminded him of his mother. But other, such as her smoking habit, was nothing like his mom. Speaking of his mother…
"How did you know my mom?"
"Didn't I already tell you that we were partners?"
"If so, you weren't very descriptive. How long, how well did you guys get along, all that stuff."
"I'll tell you a couple of things. The other stuff will unravel themselves sometime in the future. Well, me and your mom had been partners ever since I had started to train with Kyutaka."
"Wait. I thought my mom was the only one to pass the test to enter."
"She was. I was moved down from a highly advanced class, because, just like DHA, I disapproved of there methods. Your mom could have been in an even higher class, but she wanted to remain with Kyutaka."
"Why?"
"The old man hasn't told you yet?"
"Told me what?"
"Perhaps I should be going. It seems my tongue is losing its balance and control."
"Wait–"
But she was already gone. Daisuke thought about when he had to leave. The end of finals. Tomorrow. He couldn't believe that he would be leaving his friends for four months. He thought he would be able to hang out all summer with them. The school gave students and parents (more to the parent side) whether the child would stay at the school during summer or come home. Everyone agreed that they would stay at the school. But now that he was leaving for the summer…
Now that he thought about, the school had only given students up to Middle School a chance to be in. High Schoolers had gone off and went to whatever school they were assigned. Now that he was leaving before any information was given out about his friends going to which school, he wouldn't even get to say good-bye. He never even thought about this before. He had until tomorrow before he would possibly never see his friends again.