This was just a story that was inspired by one of my older sister's ideas. Enjoy!
Shadow, a dark figure that follows you everywhere you go, whatever you do. That was the name the mysterious hero took. Some say Shadow is a boy, while others say a girl. But since no one has ever seen Shadow without the black hooded cloak that covered it completely, hiding its features, no one could confirm the beliefs. No one could even tell whether Shadow was a human. Those who were saved by it said that Shadow could kill three strong men at one shot with a knife that it threw. Shadow was silent and had unusual helpers. A wolf with fur the colour of midnight and orange eyes, a yellow shark with green eyes and a brown falcon with blue eyes. Only people who were saved by Shadow knew that these impossible facts were true. Police see it as an ally. Criminals see it as an enemy and strive to kill it. Shadow is well-respected. Shadow was a mystery.
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"And Shadow has struck once again! This time, it killed two of the most dangerous and cunning villains in Japan, known as Gin and Vodka when they were about to attack a girl! And as usual, it disappeared without a word! Let's see what the victim has to say!" the reporter handed the microphone to the victim, a young girl named Kimura Ran.
"It was horrible! Last night, I was on my way home when two guys stopped me in an empty alley. The guys tried to rape me! They were peeling off my clothes and once I was left clad in my undergarments, they took out a dagger and was about to use it to hurt me when a brown falcon with blue eyes suddenly swooped down from the sky and grabbed the dagger. It then flew up to the sky towards an empty building and dropped the dagger, which was caught by a black figure! I immediately had no doubt that it was it. That pure black hooded cloak, black gloves and hidden features were unmistakable! It was Shadow! It threw the dagger and it went through one guy's chest and into the other guy's throat." The reporter held the microphone in front of his mouth.
"Thank you. Now folks, what is Shadow's next move? We'll never know! But one thing for sure Shadow is a mystery! A black figure that remains in the dark! An invincible opp-"
"Hey!" Nao turned towards Mai, who had just switched off the television.
"What'd you do that for?"
"Eat your breakfast! We're going to be late!"
"That's right. Read it on the newspaper instead. It's the headlines. And it's everywhere. Shadow's case." Chie said, folding the newspaper she had just read.
"I don't like to read newspapers." Nao whined.
"Then don't." Natsuki said, munching her sandwich.
"But Shadow's cases are interesting. It's strange how she can fight so well without her hood coming off." Nao said.
"She?" Mai raised her eyebrow.
"I'm one of those believers who believe that Shadow is a girl."
"No way! Me too!" Chie exclaimed.
"Me three! What about you, Natsuki?" Mai shouted.
"Geez, do you have to shout, Mai? And I don't care whether Shadow is a girl or boy." Natsuki said, rubbing her ears.
"But don't you want to know?" Nao asked, surprised.
"Honestly, I don't care." Natsuki said, finishing her sandwich.
"Seriously?" Chie said. Natsuki nodded, grabbing her bag.
"Seriously. I'll go first. Meet you guys in class. Don't take too long though. Or Midori will kill you." Natsuki said, walking out and riding her Ducati to school.
"Off she goes. Well, we better hurry too. You know very well how Midori is like when she has to scold a student." Mai said. Chie and Nao nodded and soon all three of them reached school. They entered the classroom and took their seats beside a very bored Natsuki in one of the rows of four that the tables are arranged in. Natsuki turned to them.
"Thank goodness you guys are here. Everybody just talks about Shadow." Suddenly the bell rang and everyone quickly rushed to their seats. A few minutes later, Midori burst into the room and greeted them and the students greeted her back. After school was over, the four friends walked back to their dorms together.
"Hey, how was your result for the test last week that Midori handed back today?" Nao asked Chie, who sighed, looking a little depressed.
"Not good. I got 74/100. B."
"Same with me. I got a B too. 70/100. How about you, Mai?" Mai turned to them happily.
"I beat you two! I got 89/100! An A! Beat that!"
"Good for you." Nao and Chie said.
"How about you, Natsuki? Can you beat me?" Mai asked. Nao and Chie looked at Natsuki, wanting to hear her answer. Natsuki, who was looking out the window just handed her paper to her three eager friends silently without even looking at them. They took her paper and their eyes widened."
"No way!" Mai screamed.
"How the heck did you get an A?!" Nao exclaimed.
"And on top of that full marks again!" Chie shouted.
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" They exclaimed in unison. Natsuki rubbed her ears.
"I'm surprised I don't get deaf." She mumbled.
"Natsuki, tell us your secret." Mai demanded.
"Yeah, I want to know too." Nao said.
"You, like, always get full marks. As in, ALWAYS." Chie said.
"My parents. My dad was a part time lawyer in the day and a part time cram school teacher in the night. My mom was a doctor in the day and a scientist in the night. Didn't I tell you before?"
"You never mention that before!" the three exclaimed. Natsuki cocked her head to one side.
"I didn't?" The three shook their head. It was a good five seconds later before Natsuki dropped her right fist onto her left palm.
"I see. I didn't tell you." They sweat-dropped.
"I forgot." Natsuki gave a goofy smile while the other three face-palmed.
"Sorry." Natsuki rubbed the back of her head while the other three dropped to the ground. Suddenly, a scream sounded. Natsuki immediately took off towards that direction, inside a nearby forest with Nao, Mai and Chie following close behind. A group of men that looked like gangsters had cornered a girl and four of them were holding her hands and legs. Another man was unbuttoning her blouse. Unfortunately, the girl noticed them.
"Help me!" she screamed, tears flowing from her eyes. The men noticed the four and evil smirks appeared on their faces. Save the five men who just continued their fun with the girl, the men advanced towards the three terrified girls and one girl who stood in front of them, obviously wanting to protect them. Her glare that clearly said stay-away-from-my-friends sent a little chills up the men's spines. However, they just shook the fear away.
"What luck. More girls. Say, why don't you guys join us for some fun?" they advanced towards the four girls. I can't let them know. But the girl and my friends are in trouble. There's no way I can be on time if I go now. Natsuki thought and looked at the three frightened girls behind her. I have to protect them! She looked at the men and sighed. I suppose I have no other choice. She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.
"Duran!" she yelled.
"Natsuki, what are you-" Mai was cut off when ice came shooting out of the ground and covered Natsuki.
"Natsuki!" Nao exclaimed, causing the girl to look over at the three girls.
"Natsuki! Are you ok?" Chie shouted.
"What the-" the men said while the girl just looked in shock. Suddenly, the ice shattered and a black figure stood in Natsuki's place.
"Shadow…" the girl murmured.
"What is this?" Nao mumbled. Shadow walked towards the men slowly.
"Natsuki! What's the meaning of this?" Mai asked.
"Yeah, tell us." Chie added.
"I'll explain, I promise." Natsuki, or Shadow, said, stopping a few steps in front of the men. Then, she made a loud whistle. A few seconds later, a wolf emerged from the shadows of the forest and a falcon landed on Shadow's shoulder. A shark appeared in the nearby pond.
"Let's go, Arika (the falcon), Nina (the wolf), Erstin (the shark)." The wolf howled, the falcon flew up into the sky and the shark began splashing in the water at the command. Soon, all the man were dead. (Obviously, three deadly animals and one invincible enemy, what'd you expect?) Natsuki, returned to her original form and explained everything to her bewildered friends.
"So that' why you're never interested in anything about Shadow." Nao said.
"Because you yourself is Shadow." Chie added.
"So you knew everything." Mai finished.
"Yeah. Any more questions?"
"Nope, though I'm wondering, why didn't you tell us?" Mai said.
"You could have told it to us." Chie said.
"Yeah, aren't we your friends?" Nao said.
"Sorry, I had considered that before, but seeing you guys so happy, I was afraid that this would change if I told you."
"This is an exception." Nao said.
"We'll forgive you this time." Chie said.
"But make sure you tell us next time, okay?" Mai said.
"We'll always be friends, no matter what happens." They said in unison. Natsuki nodded and they returned back to their dorm. Of course, Shadow's newest case was shown the next day.
This is just a story to keep my mind off certain stressful things. So I'm sorry if this seems a bit rushed.