The dark green Yoma howled as it spat towards the red haired girl, green slime flying and striking the tree with a splat.

Ayano turned, cringing as the wood eroded from the corrosive spit, trying to not imagine what would have happened if that had actually even touched her. Holding Enraiha defensively towards the beast, she shouted to her left, frustrated eyes trained on the lounging brunette sitting calmly on the park bench. "Kazuma! Aren't you even going to help me here?!"

The man looked up from speaking with the wind spirits, his orange-brown eyes hooded out of boredom. The man shrugged, "Why, you having a problem there, princess?"

The girl yelped as slime nearly struck her foot and growled at his answer. "No, but a little help would be nice you know!"

Kazuma sighed at the girl's dependence on him, but refused to move. Not even a second after thinking that, he felt an element user – no, two element users enter the perimeter and smirked. Looks like he doesn't have to jump in either way.

Ayano jumped and spun in the air, avoiding the volley of acid slime and growled when she gathered her footing. "That's it!" She charged at the thing with a battle cry, jumping in the air directly in front of the beast. "You're mine!"

The girls amber eyes widened in fright when the beast spat at her. She clearly didn't think ahead on this one. The red haired girl yelped, closing her eyes, waiting for the burn of slime to strike but it never came. The only thing that did come was her butt hitting gracelessly on the ground and the Yoma cry in pain before disappearing.

Opening her eyes, she expected to find Kazuma save her, only to find two strange girls standing before her. One was staring straight ahead where the slimy green Yoma was not even a second ago, while the other was kneeling before Ayano like a mother. "Um, excuse me but, are you alright miss?"

Ayano stood up, Enraiha disappearing in flames as she concentrated on the two before her. Both had pitch black hair and seemed around her age, maybe older, but whereas the one who spoke had blue eyes and a pixie cut with neat bangs swept to the right touching her brow, the silent girl glared in the distance with cyan eyes as cold as ice wearing a pixie cut with chopped layers and dyed blue.

Realizing that she still said nothing, the future head spoke, nodding. "Um, yeah I am, thank you. My name's Ayano Kannagi, thank you for saving me."

The kind girl that spoke smiled, but before she could speak, the cyan eyed girl scoffed, turning her glare toward Ayano. "We wouldn't have to, had you not been so reckless." Ayano was stunned at the harsh tone and her anger grew as the girl continued to speak. "I knew fire users were careless, but you just take the cake for being downright dumb. You knew that thing spat acid, yet you still came at it from the front."

"Kasumi…" The blue eyed girl chided sternly in her soft voice, earning a puff of air from her cyan eyed sister.

Meanwhile Ayano seethed until her anger boiled over and she pointed an accusing finger at the now bored cyan eyed girl. "No one asked you to but in, I had it under control!"

The girl known as Kasumi gave a condescending smirk, her tone thick in sarcasm, "Oh, I had no idea that closing your eyes with projectiles flying at you was a battle strategy. I'll keep that in mind next time, oh future leader of the fire clan."

"Why you…" Fiery amber blazed as the red haired female clapped her hands. "Enraiha, come forth!" The wind blew suddenly and Kazuma stood between her and the two girls. Sword still in hand, Ayano looked up in shock. "Kazuma…"

Kasumi smirked at the sight of the marveled fire sword. "Hmph, drawing your weapon because you were wrong, I say that reflects badly on your family."

Ayano growled, readying to lunge, only for Kazuma to halt her advances. Glaring up, she barked, "Get out of my way Kazuma, this is between me and her!"

The brown haired man sighed. "Think carefully about this, as the future head of the Kannagi, are you really going to use Enraiha anytime someone pisses you off."

Ayano pouted, slowly lowering her sword until laughter brought her back. Looking up, she glared when she saw it come from the cyan eyed female, her blue eyed sister trying to silence her. "Her? Future head of the Kannagi clan?" She went into a full blown laughing fit. "She can't even fight a Yoma as weak as that without her precious fire sword? Yet she's going to be a leader?!"

Ayano growled, pushing past the wind user and running full sprint at the grinning black haired girl with distaste. "Take this!" Swinging Enraiha, flames blazing with all her anger, she aimed for the girls face, coming into contact with an ice barrier. Only a strand of Kasumi's short black hair slid in front of her face from the cool breeze. Icy mist covered the ground around the girl and barrier, a tang of crispy air lifting creating a steamy effect from Enraiha.

Amber eyes widened at the sight as she heard a scoff from the other side. "Che, Your anger is so strong, but your flames are weak. They can't even melt my ice." Ayano jumped back, ice shattering as the girl stared forward with cold confidence. "Yet you still want to fight?"

Ayano smirked, "Only if you think you can win."

Kasumi sighed, stuffing her hands in her dark blue hoodie pocket, "and that's a problem." She looked up with cyan eyes. "I know I can win."

Kazuma walked over to the blue eyed twin and simply stood there, enjoying the show. "So I didn't get your names."

The timid girl jumped before realizing that he meant no harm and smiled. "Ah, right. My names Izumi and that's my sister, Kasumi. We're from the Mizushima clan."

Now that name rang a few bells. The amber eyed man looked over. The girl was slightly taller than Ayano, but still shorter than him. "Mizushima clan? The water users? So are you…?"

Ayano glared at Kasumi, blazing amber clashing with indifferent ice. "What makes you think you can beat me?"

"I already stopped your pathetic swords flames didn't I? That weapon is only as strong as the one holding it, and as long as the one holding it is you, I have nothing to fear." The girl shot back in confidence while Ayano grimaced in frustration.

Drawing her sword back to fire a fireball, a hand gripped her arm. "Ayano stop this. Now." Kazuma demanding in a deep voice he only used when he was deadly serious.

But this did nothing to halt the girl from her anger. Instead, she turned towards him with that rage. "And who told you to tell me what to do?"

Unaffected by her stubborn drive, he spoke in that same serious tone. "Your father, when he hired me to protect you."

Ayano pointed her sword in Kasumi's direction. "Why? Are you saying she's actually strong enough to –"

"She's part of the Mizushima clan, the most powerful water users in the Eastern Hemisphere. You simply pulling out Enraiha around her is enough for a war to break out between them and the Kannagi's!"

The red haired girl was shocked. How was she supposed to know that this girl was part of a clan so well-known? Glancing over, Ayano saw the pixie haired girl stare at her blue eyed twin with annoyance before nodding with a sigh, both coming towards them. Izumi was the first to speak. "I'm sorry about my sister's rudeness before, please accept my most humblest of apologies."

Ayano crossed her arms, glaring at Kasumi. "Why can't she apologize for herself?"

Izumi laughed nervously before Kasumi spoke, arms crossed and glaring ahead as well. "I don't see why I have to apologize to a woman I saved, only to have that very woman try and kill me; if anything, I'm the one you need to apologize to."

Amber eyes widened in disbelief. "What?! You were the one who insulted me first!"

"I didn't insult you, I merely stated a fact and you over reacted."

Ayano seethed before suddenly grinning and pointing her nose proudly in the air. "For you to so arrogantly speak to the future head like this, shows how disrespectful the Mizushima really is."

"Don't even play that card," Kasumi warned. "You say you are the future head of the Kannagi, which entitles you to represent the Kannagi as a whole; your actions reflect on the actions of your people. Yet you wield your weapon towards an unknown simply because 'you feelings were hurt'." The girl glared harshly at Ayano, "If that is how you plan to rule, then I pray for your clan's future."

Ayano seethed, her body emitting her fiery aura, even when Izumi tried to speak. "Let's all calm down alright, why don't we-"

Ayano barked at Izumi, mistaking her for Kasumi for a second in her blind, fit filled rage. "No! You know what fine! If you wanna start something with the Kannagi's, you got it!" Lifting her hand, a blazing orange fire ball raced towards Izumi and before the red haired girl even realized her mistake, a powerful wind blew the flame away from its intended target and into a tree no more than three meters away.

Not even a second later, a second wind came as Kazuma stepped from the right of Ayano, who was taken aback from her earlier actions and barely registered the cold cyan eyes glaring down at her, Kazuma's winds keeping the water user at bay. "You bitch! How dare you attack my sister like that!?" Ice gathered round her clench fists. "You're gonna pay!"

"Kasumi stop!" that soft yet stern voice brought the usually calm and cocky girl back to her senses, the iced evaporating away and the wind barrier slowly disappearing once Kazuma realized it was safe now. Looking over, all saw the blue eyed pixie haired girl nod her head. "We've over stayed our welcome, let's go home."

Kasumi glared past Kazuma and right at Ayano who stared forward in confusion. "Don't think this incident will go unpunished, damn hot head." She muttered the last part, turning around and walking after her sister.

On her way home, she was surprised when a servant came and told her how her father wanted to see her immediately.

With Kazuma in tow, Ayano opened the door, seeing her father sitting on the tama mats with his back straight and looked up at Ayano with disappointment. "Ayano, I heard that you encountered two members of the Mizushima clan and attacked them. Is this true?"

Ayano sighed, preparing for a lecture, but remained standing. "Yes father."

Uncharacteristically the man glared at his daughter. "You knew this, yet persisted!"

Slightly taken aback, the red haired girl couldn't help but defend herself. "But father, they provoked me!"

"Did they use their water magic on you?"

"Well, no—"

"Did they threaten you?"

"No, bu-"

"But what!?"

"She called me weak! I had to defend my honor!"

"And that gave you a right to use Enraiha? Because she verbally insulted you?"

Ayano frowned, "she insulted everyone in the Kannagi; she called fire users careless and me weak! I'm the future head of the Kannagi-"

"Which makes this incident all the more shameful!" Ayano gasped, while even Kazuma stared up with wide eyes; Jugo has never spoken so harshly to his daughter, not once. The green eyed man sighed. "By raising Enraiha to members of the water clan, you have voiced that the Kannagi's wish to go to war with the Mizushima's."

"What?! I never intended to do that!" Ayano screeched, her father raising a hand.

"I know that, but that does not mean your actions can go without repercussions." Staring forward with unreadable eyes, Jugo spoke. "To clarify this matter, the head of the Mizushima along with their own future head, have declared an audience, to speak with us on this matter on a more personal level of understanding."

"Why with the future head as well?" Ayano couldn't help but ask.

Jugo sighed. "Since the matter was done by you, a future head, he thought it best to have one future head speak with another."

Kazuma felt a familiar shift in the winds and smirked, knowing what was to come as he leaned against the wall, feeling the presence come closer and closer.

"I see," Ayano spoke, now knelling before her father respectively. "And when will we have the audience."

"Well, they should be here any minute now." Jugo answered just when the sliding door opened revealing two familiar faces and a third older one. The older one was a tall tanned man with black hair greying at the temples and coal black eyes. Ayano stared ahead, her mouth gapping like a fish as her father spoke. "Ah, Ayano, this is Takumi Mizushima, the current head of the Mizushima's and his daughters, Izumi Mizushima and Kasumi Mizushima. They are the next heads of the Mizushima clan."

Izumi bowed when she was introduced, while Kasumi simply stared down at the shell-shocked Ayano impassively. "We met."