I do not own Kamen Rider Hibiki and Senran Kagura. I am doing this to have some fun. Enjoy.

Tune 1: Beat Of the Echo Demon

There is a lovely tune resonating throughout a certain part of the woods as if it were being invigorated. This sound gave comfort to all of the nearby animals as they felt at peace, huddling up in their nests, caves, dens, and even those who live underground. It was a sound wave overflowing with exhilaration.

A lone figure was playing what appears to be a floating holographic Taiko drum, which is the source of the exhilarating beat it emanated. In fact, it was actually producing sound waves as he continued to play the instrument with his drumsticks. He was playing in a fluid rhythm as he began to pick up the beat, going faster while keeping on point with his play. With one last hit of his drumstick, he finished the beat.

Soon the holographic Taiko vanished as he let out a breath. After releasing said breath, he heard something rustling within the trees and bushes. He instantly knew there were enemies nearby trying to be as stealthy as possible, however thanks to his sharp hearing and senses, they weren't going to catch him off guard that easily.

Getting into a stance with his drumsticks raised up, the mysterious foes emerged from their hiding positions knowing he heard them and was already aware of their presence. His foes, like him, were also obscured in shadows until the red crystals on his drumsticks shaped as demon heads began to ignite in flames, illuminating whatever darkness was around them.

The light of his flames revealed that his enemies were humanoid creatures wearing red and white fox-like masks, wielding double ended sickle weapons. And thanks to those said flames, it also showed the drummer's face which is actually a purple opaque visor with red markings, silver horns, and a golden ornament decoration of an Oni on his forehead.

"Why am I doing this again?" complained a teenage girl, walking through the woods during the night by herself.

She is a sixteen year old with dark brunette hair tied in a high ponytail held by a white ribbon and has hazel eyes. Her attire consisted of a white buttoned up shirt, blue tie, blue skirt, long black stockings, brown loafers, and sported a red bandana tied around her neck. This is Asuka.

Asuka is a girl who lives in the city of Asakusa, which is actually not too far from here, and secretly trains as a Shinobi. Yes, a Shinobi, as in mercenaries who secretly work for the government to do various missions such as espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and even assassination. However, she is only a Shinobi-in-training, and will not become a fully fledged ninja until she graduates from school.

For those who are born into Shinobi families, like her, are trained by their family members first before getting sent to a school that specializes in training young ninjas. And of course, the school is secretly hidden from the public eye, so there would be disturbances. In all, it's meant for her peers to train and find their Shinobi Path.

"Oh right, I remember…" she sighed, recalling her objective.

The reason why she was here during this time of night is because of the mission assigned to her by her teacher. When school had ended for the day, she was surprisingly the only one left inside the classroom while her friends had already gone back home. Taking notice of that was her teacher, who asked if she could do him a small favor. Seeing that she was the only one inside the room, she couldn't refuse and accepted the request.

Her mission is to collect a rare flower that glows somewhere around these woods. It was called a Kadupul Flower. Apparently, this particular kind of flower only blooms during the night and emanates a lovely fragrance, which is one of the reasons why it's so rare. Plus, it holds a spiritual significance to Buddhists. That's why she's collecting it.

The flower is actually for a Buddhist priest who contacted her teacher, to see if he can deliver it to him. However, he had some business to attend to, which is the reason why she's here instead of him. In short, this job is basically an errand if anyone hasn't noticed thus far…

"At least I'll get extra credit points for doing this…" she thought before spotting something up ahead. "What's that?"

With curiosity getting the better of her, she walked a little faster towards the location.

"So this is the flower…" she stared at the flower in awe.

This has to have been one of the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen in her life. Its white pedals were basking in the moonlight, and the aroma was just so sweet. Truly, this has to be the flower she was looking for…

Carefully observing the flower, she remembered another important fact that she learned about it. Even though it is beautifully rare, it's also really fragile meaning if someone picks it out of its place, a great deal of damage would be inflicted upon it instantly. Also, it mysteriously withers away after midnight, so she has to be very careful with it. Additionally, she has to be smart with her time considering it did take her a while to find this flower, after all.

"Okay, let's see…" Taking a moment to think, she was trying to remember the instructions that were given to her. "What was I supposed to do again…? I know it was something involving my kekkai."

Asuka placed a hand underneath her chin as she continued to think. Then, with a snap of her fingers, she finally remembered what she is supposed to do.

"I got it!" she smiled, forming a small sphere in her hands. By using her kekkai, it would prevent the flower from withering away and protect it; since time and space are transcended meaning it'll stay intact due to existing outside of the dimensional plane. "Okay, here we go!"

As she was about to seal the flower inside her barrier, a rustling noise caught her attention. Now on the alert, knowing that an enemy was near, she summoned her weapons which are a pair of wakizashi swords known as Green Willow and Red Blossom.

"Alright, come out!" she demanded, preparing herself for a fight.

Soon the mysterious enemies came out of their hiding positions. From the sight of them alone due to their appearance, Asuka widened her eyes in shock.

The assailants were humanoid creatures with beige skin, red symbol-like tattoos on their stomachs, red sharp nails, and wielded double ended sick weapons. They wore black leather pants, brown boots, brown armguards that has silver studs and fur-like turfs at the ends, and most of them either wore red or white fox masks.

"What are these things? They look like ninja, but they're not…" she thought before a Benigitsune lunges at her. Using her swords to deflect its attack, she kicks it over to the other ones.

All of them charged at her once before trying to strike her down. Fortunately, Asuka was able to keep up with them as she managed to defend herself while attacking simultaneously. However, she knew it was only a matter of time before one of them lands a hit on her, or throws her off guard, which would be a problem if she wasn't protected by her transformation clothes.

"I have to hurry and get my scroll out!" Attempting to pull out her scroll, the girl widened her eyes then quickly reacted by spinning her body around, and used her swords to knock away the flying sickle weapons that were thrown at her. Landing on her feet, she immediately moved out of the way from the ones that were attempting to stab her.

Asuka lunges at them and slashes five of them across the chest. However, while her swords did do some damage to them, most of the creatures weren't affected by her attacks. Knowing she needs to take out her scroll and transform, she tried to put some distance between herself and the ninja-like monsters. Instincts took over as she turns around to defend herself from two Byakkos.

Their weapons collided as the two creatures were holding her off while the others were closing in on them. Seeing that she was stuck in a bind, the bandana wearing girl tried to find a way out of this situation. Then, fireballs shot out of nowhere and obliterated the two Byakkos.

"Huh?" she blinked. "What was that…?"

Soon a figure jumps over her and charges at the ninja-like creatures. Asuka, surprised by this turn of event, turns around to look at the figure easily destroying the creatures.

Even though it was dark, she could see the figure due to his unusual weapons that were lit in flames, which he used to destroy the group of fox masked creatures. He shot more fireballs again before hitting the ones nearby with his weapon, enveloped in flames, destroying them in the process. With each passing second the fox masked creatures' numbers were greatly reducing, until only a handful of them were left.

Knowing they needed to get away, the group of Benigitsune and Byakko attempted to escape, until they were suddenly slashed by the figure's flames that were constructed into blades. With that one foul swoop, they exploded on the spot.

Auska stared at the figure in awe. She was amazed that he destroyed those creatures within mere seconds, and that he did with hardly little effort.

Sensing that she was still there, the figure turns to face her as they stared at each other. The figure tilted his head to the side in a confusing manner, as if to question something about her that he found odd. Taking note of this, Asuka blinks at him weirdly before noticing a flower pedal floating between them.

"Oh crap! The flower…!" she immediately remembers her object. Turning around to look at the spot where the flower was, she saw it withered away. "Oh no…! It withered it away! That means I failed!"

A tiresome sigh escaped her lips as she turns to face the figure wanting to thank him, however, before she could say a word; a red mechanical bird flies around them making its noise. Blinking in confusion, Asuka looks at the figure only to see him slowly walking back into the shadows and vanished from sight.

"He's gone." she uttered.

After a moment of silence, she decided to leave the woods knowing there was nothing left for her to do.

Unbeknownst to her, a pair of eyes watched her leave from behind the bushes.

Meanwhile, high on top of a nearby hill, two figures had observed the ordeal as they watched Asuka leave while keeping an eye on her savoir before slowly backing away knowing he'll sense their presence.

(The Next Day)

A beam of morning sunlight slips through the curtains as it hits the girl's face, making her groan before slowly lifting an arm to shield her ocular vision. Slowly opening her eyes, Asuka sat up from bed and yawned while stretching out her arms. Gently pulling the covers off, she gets up before feeling more awake and energized.

After opening the curtains to let the sunlight bask her room, she walks over to the school uniform that was hanging on the door cloth hanger before donning it on. Once she was dressed in her uniform and made sure she had everything in her bag, Asuka looks at the time to see that school was almost about to start! Frantically beginning to panic, she rushes out the door in a flash.

"Oh crap! I'm gonna be late!" she yelled before quickly looking around the dorm room to see that her friends were already gone. "They seriously left without me!?"

Disregarding that fact she continues to run.

The bandana wearing girl began to recall the events of last night. After leaving the woods, she retreated back into her room to get some sleep. Although she does feel awake and somewhat energized, a little more sleep would have been good. But regardless, she still has to go to school though.

And speaking of which, she was making her way to the campus right now. She stood before the high school called Hanzo National Academy, or Hanzo Academy for short. It is a prestigious prep school that was founded in the year 1919, and there are a thousand students who enroll here. However, although it may seem ordinary, this school is actually one of the Shinobi Schools that secretly trains young ninjas such as her. Another important fact about this place is that it was named after her grandfather, the Legendary Shinobi himself, Hanzo.

She may not seem like much at first glance, but her blood relation to the great ninja is genuine. In fact, the two swords that she wields were originally his before handing them down to her. Sure, even though it is a hand-me-down, these swords are very important to her. They're supposed to represent the "sword and shield", a very convoluted lesson that her grandfather had told her before going off to school to start her training.

Well anyway, Asuka was making her way over to the school gates while carefully observing her surroundings making sure that no one notices her. It is, after all, her duty as a Shinobi to make sure that no one catches wind that someone like her is amongst regular people and keep the location of their facility a secret.

Entering through a rotating tack wall, serving as one of the secret passage ways hidden within the restricted areas of the school, opening the shoji door in front of her; Asuka had arrived to the special classroom that only unique students are aware of…More particularly, shinobi students as they attended the real Hanzo Academy.

"Wonder if I made it on time?" she questioned to herself.

"Just barely." spoke a feminine voice, making her lightly jump in surprise.

Regaining her baring from that minor fright just now, Asuka turns around to face another girl with long blackish/blue hair and blue eyes. Obviously, she wore the same uniform as her, however the only key difference is the blue armband tied to her upper left arm with the academy's logo etched onto it. This is the class representative (because of the armband) and third year student, Ikaruga.

"Hey, Ikaruga…" the second year girl sheepishly smiled, scratching her cheek.

"Good morning." She cooly replied. "You're lucky Kiriya-sensei hasn't shown up yet, or else you would've had to hang upside down in the hallway carrying two buckets of water."

"Yeah, I know…" the brunette said with a sigh.

"Is something wrong?" Ikaruga asked.

"Huh?" she blinked.

"It's just that you were late getting back last night."

"Y-You were up…?"

"I was still asleep around the time you were gone. However, I had woken up to use the bathroom, and that was when I heard the door open and saw you walk back into your room. It was a little odd for you to be out at such a late time." the class representative explained. "Care to tell me what happened?"

"See, what happened was…" Before another word could be said, a pair of hands abruptly came from behind the bandana wearing girl as her...upper parts were fondled, much to her dismay. "Kyahh!"

"Lookie, lookie what I got~!" cheered a blonde haired girl, grinning from ear to ear as she continued to harass the poor girl. "Oh, I've missed these things last night! I bet they were lonely without my glorious hands to appreciate their own glory themselves…! Nice firm, nice shape, nice bounciness…!"

The girl fondling her is another seventeen year old with long blonde hair, green eyes, and wore a blue hair band with two matching colored ribbons tied on each side. This is the other third year student, and unbearable pervert, Katsuragi.

"Let go of me, Katsu-nee!" Asuke cried, feeling extremely uncomfortable while trying to escape the older girl's grasp.

Standing across from them were two other girls. But unlike Ikaruga, Katsuragi, and Asuka both of them were younger than them as they were first year students and fifteen year olds.

One of them has long white hair tied in pigtails held by black shuriken-like bows, her right was covered by a brown colored eye patch with a small black bow over it; while her left eye-openly exposed-is red. Similar to Ikaruga, in a way, she wore a cool, stoic-like expression. This is Yagyuu.

The other first year girl has pink hair with three black ribbons adorning it, while two were tied up into short pigtails as the other is just above her head. While she does look normal, and dare say overall cute or adorable, her eyes were the most distinguishing feature about her as they were light blue with pink cross-shaped pupils. This is Hibari.

"Should we do something to help, Yagyuu-chan?" asked Hibari, watching their friend trying to escape Katsuragi's antics.

"Don't bother. This is just another morning as usual." Yagyuu replied.

Having enough of this, Ikaruga bobbed her friend upside the head with the hilt of her nodachi which is an heirloom passed down to her from her family known as Hien. "Cut it out already, Katsuragi! You're disturbing Asuka's story!"

"Huh?" the blonde blinked in confusion, releasing the younger girl from her grip. Immediately, Asuka took several steps back away from her friend not wanting to be caught again. "Story? What were you two talking about…?"

"You were probably talking about why Asuka was late for curfew, aren't you?" said Yagyuu, knowing that must've been the case.

Ikaruga nodded.

"Umm…" Hibari placed a finger on her forehead. "…wasn't it because Asuka-chan was doing something for Kiriya-sensei?"

"Yeah, I remember. Didn't you send us all a message saying that you might come back home a little late because Kiriya-sensei asked you to do something for him…?" said Katsuragi, remembering that their Class Rep had told them something like that.

At this, Ikaruga mentally slapped her own forehead for forgetting that vital piece of information herself and not realizing. Now that it's brought up, she remembers it now. But for the sake of not letting her friends find out and to maintain appearance as their reliable class rep, she just went along with it.

"And I believe it was something about a plant…?" questioned Ikaruga, trying to remember what Asuka had told her.

"Yeah…" the bandana wearing girl slumped. "See, what happened was…"

Unfortunately, before Asuka could tell them anything about her odd encounter, a billow of smoke had appeared from out of nowhere and interrupted her yet again. As the girls coughed, a figure from behind the smoke made his appearance after it was finally cleared.

"Good morning, ladies. Hope you all slept well last night and ate a proper breakfast." said a masculine voice as the girls looked at him.

He is an older man around his forties with grayish/white, wavy hair and brown eyes wearing a black suit. This is Kiriya, their teacher.

The girls politely bowed to their teacher.

"Yes, we did. Thank you for asking." Ikaruga said.

"Ah yes, Asuka." he started, looking at the girl. "Did you bring the Kadupul Flower with you by any chance?"

"Sorry, Kiriya-sensei." she bowed. "I wasn't able to take or seal the flower in my barrier."

"Oh, I see…" the man said. "Well, that's alright. The monks that contacted me didn't have much high hopes knowing that it's nearly impossible to contain the flower and safely deliver it."

"I was about to explain what happened to the others before you showed up." Asuka informed.

"What happened…?" repeated the man, blinking. "Are you saying that something happened out there in the woods last night?"

"Yes!" Asuka yelled, frustrated that by all the delays. Realizing what she had done, she clapped her hands together. "S-Sorry about that you guys."

"No it's okay." said Ikaruga. "We've been delaying your story. So we should be the ones apologizing, right?" Looking at her teammates, they nodded in agreement.

"The same goes for me. If you may, please tell us what you encountered last night." said Kiriya.

After explaining the events of what happened to her the previous night before, the girl's friends and her teacher were in thought trying to make sense what Asuka had told her. Obviously, with how much detail she put into her story, she must've had quite the experience with these ninja-like creatures and this mysterious figure that had supposedly saved her. To Kiriya, he was confused as the rest of his students since this information is entirely new to him just as much as it is to them. And he doubts that Asuka would make up a story like this, since the girl would hardly do anything of the sort, especially with how well trained he is to spot these sort of things.

"I must say, that's quite the experience…" spoke Kiriya. "Also, I must apologize for sending you to do a task that I was originally supposed to do myself. And for not checking if the area was safe or not…"

"No, no, it's alright. Besides, you always tell us to expect the unexpected and to prepare for anything. Guess I wasn't following that advice to heart." Asuka sheepishly laughed, rubbing the back of her head.

"Still, you were lucky that this person came to save you. Who knows what would've happened if they didn't." Katsuragi said.

"Speaking of which, were you able to get a good look at this person?" asked Ikaruga.

"I couldn't. It was too dark for me to see anything, even though he used some kind of weapon to manipulate fire. Moreover, he was just too fast for me to get a good look at him while he was fighting those creatures and even afterwards it was still too dark." Asuka told her.

"I see."

"Well, in any case, we should just be glad that Asuka-chan is safe." Hibari smiled.

"Can't argue with that." stated Yagyuu. "Although I do have to ask: Did this person say anything to you?"

"Not at all." the bandana wearing girl shook her head. "All that we did was just look at each other. But oddly enough, though, he titled his head when he looked at him. And for some reason, I got the feeling he was questioning something about me."

"Well…that isn't weird." Katsuagi sarcastically said, raising a brow.

Kiriya cleared his throat. "I think all of us can establish that something is amiss here, especially with those creatures and this mysterious person that saved Asuka. However, we shouldn't waste any more time talking about something we don't have knowledge or concrete evidence to. So for now, I purpose that we put this aside and focus on today's training schedule."

"Yes, Kiriya-sensei." they replied.

"Right, so get in your seats and we'll begin today's lesson." he instructed.

(Woods)

Two silhouettes walk through a thick fog before coming to a stop. One of them lifts their hand into the air, snapped their fingers, and humanoid-like monsters appear out of nowhere as they growled.

"That little event was certainly unexpected." spoke a feminine voice, referring to last night.

"Indeed." agreed a masculine voice. "How long has it been since we have seen a Shinobi? A century, two centuries perhaps…?"

"That sounds about right. But seeing that Shinobi together with our most hated enemy hasn't happened within that time span as well." said the female voice.

"Well, in any case, we should eliminate them before they become a problem. So let's send some of the children after them."

"Yes. Perhaps we should send them after the little girl."

"Indeed. That was my intention after all. Even though she is a Shinobi, her skill presents no threat."

"Then it is up to you children; go forth and find that Shinobi. Eliminate her to your heart's content." commanded the female voice, as the creatures roared before vanishing in a burst of speed.

As if by their will, the fog had suddenly cleared up. By then, they were all gone.

The girls had gotten out of class after their final training session had ended for the day. Now they were just on their marry way back home, while discussing what they were going to have for dinner.

"Say, how about we just eat some instant ramen and call that our dinner?" suggested Katsuragi, both hands behind her head.

"No way." protested Ikaruga. "I will not allow us to eat something unhealthy as that."

"Aw, come on…It'll just be for tonight." the blonde said, trying to convince her friend.

"No, Katsuragi. Instant ramen has too much sodium in it and it'll mess with our physical and mental performances. So let's think of something else." Ikaruga stated, trying to think of what they could have.

"Why don't we just order in?" asked Yagyuu.

"I suppose that could work."

"Question is: What can we decide on?" Asuka pondered.

"But shouldn't we check to see if we have any money to pay for what we're going to order?" Hibari asked.

"Our balance should be good, right? We've been very careful about buying certain stuff." Katsuragi said.

"Hmm…" Ikaruga placed a hand underneath her chin. "Alright, I'll check when we get back. If our budget is good, then we'll get something. If not we'll have to think of something else."

They continued to talk amongst each other, while Asuka, however, was thinking about her encounter with those creatures and that person who saved her last night. Even though she told her friends and teacher about it, even discussed it, she couldn't help but feel that this isn't going to just simply be forgotten over time or brushed to the side. For some reason, she feels that there's more to this.

Multiple screams had broken her out of thought. She and her friends were startled by the sudden screaming. They could see people running away as some ran past them or in the opposite direction not caring where they ended up. It didn't go unnoticed that some of the people had red stains on them, which most likely had to be blood.

Trading glances the group silently nodded as they immediately ran to where the commotion is at.

When they arrived to see what the commotion was, they gasped at the sight of humanoid cat-like monsters attacking innocent civilians. Each of them had knocked out several people who will need to get to a hospital as soon as possible. Most of them were beaten up real badly and had possibly lost a lot of blood due to gash marks, as the substance itself had painted the streets and even some cars.

Knowing the civilians would be more or less okay, the girls focused on the culprits at hand. The humanoid cats have beige colored skin and brown fur. Each one had snarled as they growled at them.

"H-How horrible!" uttered Hibari, covering her mouth.

"What the heck are these things…?" Kasturagi questions, a bead of sweat dripping from her cheek.

Asuka gulped also feeling a little agitated.

Ikaruga and Yagyuu, being the most reserved among their group, had remembered their composure as they carefully look around to see if anybody was still around. And much to their relief (some of it at least), the two safely concluded that no one is around.

"Everyone!" the class representative spoke, never taking her eyes off the creatures. "Let's pull ourselves together, and defeat these beasts!"

"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Katsuragi replied, cracking her knuckles.

"B-But…we haven't had enough t-training to fight these m-monsters!" Hibari stated, worried for all of their safety. Plus, to top it all off, she isn't as physically strong as her friends so she can't help much.

"It'll be alright, Hibari. I'm right here to protect you." Yagyuu assured, readying herself for a fight.

"Why…do I have bad feeling about this?" Asuka momentarily pondered before shaking her head, knowing it was best not to let unnecessary thoughts distract her.

The creatures instantly took notice of them as they growled before charging at them full speed. Their impressive speed surprised the girls, not giving them enough time to get out their scrolls to transform, as they each went on the defense. One had lunged out a punch towards Katsuragi, who barely avoided it before sending a roundhouse kick to its gut and pushed it back.

The other three had gone after Asuka, Ikaruga, Yagyuu and Hibari as the first three managed to block their attack and pushed them back as well. Thankfully, there were only four of them and not more. If there had been one or two more, then Hibari would be left to fend for herself and they feared the worst since their pink haired friend isn't as strong as them.

Yagyuu extended her arm out and summoned a red oil-paper umbrella. Once her weapon materialized, she sent a powerful thrust towards the cat-like creature; only for it to dodge her attack with little to no effort. Widening her visible eye in surprise, she halts her momentum knowing if she gets too close it'll defiantly hit her before she knew it given the reaction speed.

The cat monster growled at her before lashing its claws out, trying to land a hit as she quickly used her umbrella to repel the attacks somewhat. But regardless, despite her best efforts to keep her footing, she was being considerably pushed back due to its strength. Luckily, her umbrella wasn't an ordinary one as it concealed many bladed weapons that she can shoot from a distance or fight up close, not to mention a hidden blade within the hilt. And in this situation, it was perfect for defense.

But how long will it last?

"Fast!" was the thought occurring in Ikaruga's mind, managing to avoid getting hit by one of the cat creatures. A moment after they had spread out to take of each creature, she had already summoned her own weapon. In her hand is a nodachi called Hien, a family heirloom she received from her father.

Using the sword, she manages to parry the oncoming claw strikes aiming at her. With her skills as a swordswoman, she was confident enough that she could block most of their attacks. However their speed and strength is making it difficult to be on the defense for long. So she'll have to go on the offense while moving around.

The cat monster bellowed while getting on all fours. It soon started to move faster and swifter than before, causing the class representative to gape. Its speed had increased to where she was hardly able to see it clearly.

Trying to follow its movement, Ikaruga ended up turning around based on pure instinct alone as she defensively positions Hien to block a downward claw strike.

"This is bad…" she tightened her grip on the hilt.

Katsuragi, like Ikaruga, had also summoned her own weapon by the time she kicked the creature that came at her. But unlike Ikaruga, Asuka, and Yagyuu she didn't actually wield any kind of weapon that could hold with her hands. Rather, she donned a pair of black and gold boots with blue ribbons decorated on them. She likes to call them Dragon Rebellion.

Although only a pair of grieves, they grant her enhanced kicking power that could be deadly to a normal person. But now that she actually has a monstrous target to truly test her power, she couldn't miss this opportunity as she lashes out a furry set of kicks.

Unfortunately, these creatures were proving to be really tough as the one she's facing is avoiding her attacks easily. Then it grabs one of her legs and slams her on the ground. Groaning in pain, the blonde quickly focuses her Ki onto her foot, releasing a force of energy that thankfully hit the creature's face making it release her.

Asuka wasn't faring much either, as she raised her arms to defend herself against an oncoming strike that sent her skidding to a nearby car. The other cat monster that she was dealing with jumped onto that car attempting to sink its teeth onto her head. But the bandana wearing girl raised both Green Willow and Red Blossom to stop it. Although it would be a perfect chance to use both her swords like a pair of scissors and cuts its head, the creature immediately sensed the danger as it grabbed her arms.

Hibari stood on the sidelines hopelessly watching her friends defend themselves against the cat-like creatures. And seeing as how they were barely able to defend themselves, or keep up, she was wondering what she could do! She couldn't call for help due to attracting the general public. And if she calls their teacher, it might be too late by the time he gets here to help them.

So there was only one option…

Digging into her clothes, she pulls out a bunch of shuriken before throwing them at each individual creature her friends were dealing with.

Asuka, Yagyuu, Ikaruga, and Katsuragi each noticed the shurikens being thrown at their respective opponents before using that opportunity to quickly regroup.

"Man, these things are tough." Katsuragi said, wiping a bit of sweat off her forehead.

"Yeah." nodded Yagyuu. "I say we hit them with our best attack and end this right now."

"But will that be enough…?" wondered Asuka, doubting their respective attack won't have any effect on them. They've proven to be very strong. It's actually a miracle each of them are still alive, given they haven't used their scrolls.

"Still, we have to try! So let's hurry up and take out our scrolls…!" Ikaruga commanded.

But before they could anything, a barrage of fireballs came out of nowhere hitting the creatures. Each cried in pain as they managed to brush off the attack before looking up. Confused by this, the girls follow suit by looking at the same direction their enemies were.

They could see a figure standing on the nearby rooftop looking down at them. Soon he jumps down landing in between the girls and creatures.

He appears to be donned in a purple bodysuit which seems to act as second skin, wore red gauntlets with silver straps on his chest, wrists, and ankles. Around his waist is a brown leather belt with a buckle that has the Taiko symbol, along with three disks on the left hip and tuning fork on the right. He wore a purple helmet with an opaque visor that has red markings, silver horns, and golden ornament decoration of an Oni's face on his forehead. This is the Echo Demon, Hibiki.

(響鬼)

"Oni…!" the creatures growled.

"Oni?" blinked Asuka, looking at Hibiki.

"…Bakeneko." he identified the creatures. He slowly walks towards them as they hiss and growl at him before immediately lunging at him.

Hibiki dodges their attacks with relative ease before landing a few strikes on them. The Bakenekos were pushed back one by one until the purple Oni took a deep breath, "Kitōjutsu: Onizume!"

The tips of his fingers had become claws as he rushed towards the nearest Bakeneko, and slashed it across the chest. Afterwards it exploded, but that still only left three more as they could only hiss before Hibiki decided to use another finishing move.

Reaching for the back of his belt, he pulled out his drumsticks as the red crystals became engulfed in flames, "Kibōjutsu: Rekkdan!"

He shoots fireballs from out of the drumsticks' tips but this time more power was implied, completely eradicating the other two Bakenekos as each bellowed in agony until they exploded on the spot.

Hibiki looks at the last Bakeneko as he rushes towards it, pulling out the buckle from his belt, and attaches it onto its chest as it suddenly grew larger. Soon he uses his drumsticks to hit the large drum causing purple ripples to emerge.

"Ongeki Da: Kaen Renda no Kata!"

As he picks up the beat, the ripples became more rapid as the last Bakeno explodes.

The girls watched in awe as this guy was able to take out those Bakeneko creatures like they were nothing. And what's more, those phrases that he used…were very similar to how a Shinobi would call out their own attacks.

"That's him…" Asuka uttered, causing her friends to momentarily look at her. "…yeah, I recognize those moves. He's the one who rescued me."

"So that's the guy." spoke Yagyuu, looking at the Oni.

Hibiki felt a pair of eyes on him as he turns to look at them. Mainly, his focus was on Asuka while he tilted his head.

But before anyone could say anything, the cry of a red mechanical bid caught their attention as they look up at it circling above them.

The girls immediately remembered the person before them only to see what he was gone.

(Woods)

Hibiki walks through the bushes as he makes his way to a camp site. The fire wood had been set up already so he simply pointed his drumstick at it before lighting it up.

He then jumps onto a large rock near his camp before sitting on it. With both legs crossed together he stretched his arms out as a light enveloped his body. The suit he wore had completely vanished being replaced by a young looking boy around the age of sixteen.

He has black spiky hair, reddish brown eyes, and has a light tan complexion. His attire consisted of a purple kimono with red accents, red obi sash, and purple hakama pants. The leather belt around his waist was gone but still kept the disk and tuning fork, along with drum sticks on a holster. On his feet are red tabi boots. This is Hotaka.

The boy's reddish brown eyes brightly lit up when he stared at the city lights of Asakusa, with an equally matching bright smile.

"That was fun!" he laughed.

Note: Okay, I have a few quick announcements to make. But before I get to what I want to say, I just want to say thanks for reading this and really hoped you guys enjoyed it. Hoped it turned out a lot better than the atrocity I wrote. Seriously, really hated how that other first chapter came out.

Anyway, with that out of the way, I just want to say and confirm to all of you that this is NOT a reboot. I repeat: not a reboot. And the reason why is because this is actually the original/real first chapter that I had written a long time ago when I first posted this story up. I know you may not believe it, since it was ages ago and that most of you have forgotten about it. But rest assured this is the real first chapter of my story. To be honest, I was actually surprised that I managed to remember this original chapter as it was accidentally deleted from my files.

So this is my real vision for the beginning of this story, which I am glad I got back.

And before anyone asks or says anything this is not a harem thing. I repeat: This is not a harem pairing type of story. I've seen my fair share of Senran Kagura fics do that sort of thing and it's getting really old and, dare I say, a little boring really. However that doesn't mean those stories aren't good, cuz I have read them and like them a lot. Hell, I'll even name the best one of them all which is hands down VirusChris' Senran Kagura: Kage Hansei no Corona.

To clarify there will be multiple pairings. But any of that isn't going to happen for quite a while as it will be a ways off.

With that said, I'm out of here. Later.