Chapter 1
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GUNDAM
CHAPTER ONE
"THE BEGINNING OF CHANGE!"
"Kiyoshi, wake up!" a voice called, but it seemed distant. As I spun around, I was met with nothing but darkness surrounding me on all sides. I squinted my eyes so hard that I thought they were basically shut. Still I saw nothing, despite this I still heard the voice calling out ot me.
"Where am I?" I asked the darkness all around me. The darkness didn't respond, much to my dismay. Once again I asked the endless void where I was. Once again there was no response Then I heard the same voice from before calling me, though this time it seemed closer and... angrier.
"KIYOSHI!" Oh no. I know that voice! I need to move, NOW! I frantically looked all around for the source, but just like the two times previously I was met with nothing but darkness. Knowing what was coming and knowing that I wasn't going to be able to get out of the way in time I just hung my head and resigned myself to the horrible fate that would soon befall me. "RED-COMET-WAKE-UP-KIYOSHI-KIIIIIICK!"
With that I was sent tumbling off of my bed and onto the floor until the wall stopped me. Me and the floor had already had many similar meetings and were basically best friends. Sadly though I was afraid the floor and I were going to have to stop meeting like this, but before I could break the tragic news to my special friend I was quickly lifted off of the ground and enveloped in a bone-crushing-bear-hug-of-death by my attacker.
"Kiyoshi are you okay?" the person asked, their voice dripping with sarcasm.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!" I screamed as I attempted to release myself from the hug. "If you hug any tighter you'll snap my spine in half!"
After hearing me say that the person that was attacking me released me and I feel flat on my back, once again having an unwanted moment with the floor. I'm sorry floor it's not you, it's me. But anyhoo, after dropping me on my backside the person who had chosen to ruin my sleep crouched down in front of me.
"Kiyoshi, school starts tomorrow and I highly doubt that you are prepared," she said as she pinched my cheek like I was some sort of child.
I slapped her hand away, which only seemed to amuse her, and stood up. "Nee-san if you keep doing this to wake me up then I'm going to end up in a hospital before school starts. I mean seriously, I could feel my bones slowly breaking during that hug! And I am ready for school tomorrow!"
"I don't think you are yet."
"Since when have I cared about what you think?" I deadpanned.
"Such attitude," she gasped as she held her hand over her chest and feigned injury. "I thought kaa-san raised you better than that."
"With the things we live with daily, I think a slight attitude is the least of our worries," I shook my head.
"Oh, please."
"HELP!" I yelled, and not a second later three men with black suits and sunglasses busted through my door. Each of them had a handgun drawn and were quickly searching the room for any threats. Behind them another man stood. He looked like he was around seventeen years old with onyx hair, thin, black rimless glasses, and cold, calculating grey eyes. He was wearing the same black suit as the other three, but unlike them he was carrying a Barrett 50 kal. sniper rifle. Before I could even see him move he was standing behind me. "Is everything all right, Young Master?" he asked in his usual semi-monotone voice. His name was Kuromaru Ryuushi the super butler, and my best friend.
"No, just making a point." I deadpanned as I turned to my sister and smirked. She responded my flicking me in the forehead, turning and crossing her arms over her chest. "Ow!"
"Very well. Men, resume your daily duties."
"Hai!" they all responded in unison before exiting the room to resume whatever activity they had been doing prior to this little event. As they exited the room Kuromaru stayed behind.
"Young Master I-"
"Hey, what did I tell you about that?" I sighed. "Call me Kiyoshi."
"Kiyoshi," he said slowly, as if he was testing it. "Kiyoshi, Master Megumi wishes to see you."
"Tell her I'm coming."
"Will do, Kiyoshi." And with that he was gone.
After navigating the large hallways and corridors that were so common in my house for a while, I eventually made it to my destination. The room stood out more than most of the others due to its large floor that was completely bare except for the large mat that lined it. In the back of the room sat a beautiful woman in a white yukata with pink rose designs running along the soft fabric. She had calm facial features, long black hair that fell to the middle of her back, and thought they were closed I knew her piercing red eyes well. They were the one feature we shared. She was currently sitting down, legs crossed, in the middle of the floor. Next to her stood Kuromaru, though this time his omnipresent sniper rifle was not with him.
As I stepped forward a voice sounded.
"TEST TIME!"
Before I had the time to process what this meant, three men wearing black gi uniforms appeared and surrounded me. I saw the woman open her eyes and smile. The man on my left swung with his left hand in an attempt to punch me in the face. I quickly turned, bent my arm at a sixty degree angle, swung my bent arm towards my chest as I sidestepped, grabbed hold of his forearm and upper arm, and twisted his arm backwards while making sure it remained straight, causing the man to bend over. Before he had time to make another attack I raised my right leg and struck him in the stomach with the top of my foot. While he was disoriented by the blow I struck the back of his right knee with my still raised right foot and threw him to the ground.
The man in front of my grabbed my shirt by the collar with both hands.
Big mistake.
I swung my arms, one in an arcing motion overhead, and one swung under. My hands connected in the middle of the gap between the man's arms as I stepped back with my right leg. I then stepped back with my left leg and wrenched my arms to the side with my hands still connected, and, as I predicted, this made the man stumble towards me.
The other man, sadly, wasn't dumb enough to let me finish off his buddy while he stood there and watched, and he too tried to attack me. His attack of choice was a roundhouse kick aimed at my solarplexes. I easily spun myself around, lowered myself onto my right knee, and ducked, causing the stumbling man to receive the kick rather than me. I still wasn't done though, and I quickly swung my arms in an arcing motion, effectively sending my second attacker tumbling across the mat.
The third man tried another roundhouse kick, which I easily blocked with a quick lift of my left forearm. After the second failed kick the man got aggravated and charged at me. He threw a hamaker with his right hand and a sloppy front kick with his left leg, both of which I easily dodged. While the man's attacks would have been devastating if they had hit their target, he sadly did not and the momentum caused him to momentarily trip over himself. I took advantage of his momentary lapse of balance and quickly delivered three consecutive punches to his rib-cage. As his breath left him I roundhouse kicked him in the side of his head, causing his eyes to roll back in his head as he crumbled to the ground.
My first attacker attempted to get up, but before he could I swung around and struck him in the forehead with the palm of my left hand. Just like my previous attacker he slumped to the ground.
That was when two bulky arms reached around me from behind and put me in a headlock. After a second of confusion I ducked out of my new attacker's grip and got into a fighting stance. The man was muscular with dark, flat-top hair that pointed forwards and dark brown eyes. He had a large scar that ran in a diagonal line from the center of his forehead to his left cheek. The man threw a straight punch with his right hand, and I threw my left forearm out to block the punch. The impact hurt, but it wasn't anything major. As quickly as I could I reached my left arm over his shoulder and threw my right arm under his shoulder. When my hands connected I twisted and threw my arms forward, causing the man to sprawl out on the mat.
I panted with exhaustion, but before I could celebrate my hard fought victory the man got to his feet again. He wasn't going down without a fight. He too was panting, and I could tell he was just as exhausted as I was. He made a haphazard grab at my arm, which missed, that was soon followed my a flurry of punches. The only punch that wasn't dodged or blocked was the final punch. It hit me hard in the chest, causing my to slide across the floor on my back. I placed my hands on either side of my head with my elbows bent, bent my back so that my knees were in front of my face, and quickly arched my back and pushed off of the ground. I landed on my feet without much effort.
I ran forward and threw a roundhouse with my right leg that missed, intentionally, but before he could react I looked over my shoulder, raised my left knee, and jumped, throwing a second roundhouse kick. This kick was higher and had more force behind it, and when it connected with the bigger man's jaw his body went slack and he fell to the ground defeated.
As I continued towards the still sitting woman she stood and clapped her hands. "Nice fight, Kiyoshi. Excellent form."
Kuromaru nodded along with her, "Indeed Kiyoshi, you are showing natural prowess at martial arts. Now to more concerning matters." He and my the yukata-clad woman nodded knowingly to each other. Apparently that was some sort of signal because soon after Kuromaru produced two model kits from his suit's pockets.
I knew these kits well. They were the same model kits that my mother had been trying to get me interested in since I can remember. What were they called again, Gunpla? Eh, I couldn't remember, I was never really one to like mecha related anime. I mean, sure it's always fun to watch two giant robots tear eachother to shreds with various types of weaponry, but I was more interested in magic related manga. I personally liked Bloody Cross and UQ Holder. UQ Holder especially, the main reason being that I bore a surprising resemblance to the main character Tota Konoe with the exception of my alabaster hair, and piercing red eyes. One of the factors of Kuromaru's coolness was his name, well that and the fact that he's a ninja butler.
I liked Tota also because of his positive attitude and the fact that he never gives up, he's inspiring really. Though I did have the same positive attitude most of the time, there was one thing that separated me from Tota all together. Something that I could never hope to control, something that I prayed wouldn't get any worse than it had already gotten over the years. At one point it was something that nearly took complete control of me.
But back to the subject of the model kits, the one Kuromaru was holding had a grey visor and some weird plate above the visor that had a vertical grey line in the middle. The body of the kit was composed of semi-bulky pieces of armor that were painted in a black and white color scheme. On the model's back was a sniper rifle, how fitting, and on its thighs were two holsters of sorts. I'm guessing the holsters housed some kind of firearm.
The one my mother was holding was red and black with a single horn sprouting from the center of its forehead and a single, red eye in the middle of its face. On the sides of its waist were two swords that were grey from the bottom of the hilt ot the tip of the blade. The model's armor seemed to be quite thin with spiked shoulders and triangular armor segments sticking out of the side of its legs, and in its hands the robot thing held two shotguns. The last weapon that I could identify was a large katana that was attached to the kit's back.
"How exactly is this a more concerning matter than me taking down four men in hand-to-hand combat?" I questioned sarcastically.
"Kiyoshi, do you know what it is we are holding?" Kuromaru questioned.
"Ummm..." I paused, "Gunpla?" I said carefully just as Kuromaru had with my name.
He nodded in response, "Correct. Do you know why these are so important?"
"No."
"Well then, let me explain it to you Kiyohsi," my mother began. "Gunpla is one of the many joys of life. It's not just an international sport with enormous tournaments, it's also a great way to express one's self. You see, Kiyoshi, Gunpla is freedom that allows you to find new ways to express yourself and your inner feelings. Gunpla is more than just a series of model kits. Once a Build Fighter creates a Gunpla it bonds with them. In short Kiyoshi, Gunpla is the embodiment of happiness."
"Oh, it is is it, then I doubt Kio would have anything to do with it."
Just hearing that name made my mother's expression turn sour for a moment before it softened again. "You shouldn't worry about him Kiyoshi, he hasn't shown up for months. Maybe you should give Gunpla a try, even Aimi-chan Gunpla Battles. So do the heirs to the Masachika and Byakuya groups." she smiled.
I contemplated it for a second before I answered, "I might, but I don't want to take any chances with Kio. You know he'll find his way back eventually."
My mother nodded, "That's a good enough answer, remember you don't have to give us an absolute answer right away."
"Oh Young- I mean Kiyoshi, I went and picked up another one of those manga you like so much. The one with the character who's name is similar to mine and has a friend that looks like you," Kuromaru announced as he held out the book.
The tension in the air quickly disappeared when I saw the book, "Thank you so much Kuromaru!" I exclaimed before he handed me the book.
"It was nothing Kiyoshi," he said with a smile.
"Kaa-san, I'll be heading out for a bit if that's okay with you."
"I don't see why not, but be safe."
I looked over my shoulder at the four men that were just now regaining consciousness, "I think I'll be fine," I chuckled.
As I approached the manga cafe with my newly acquired book under my arm I heard a loud crashing sound. I instantly stopped and quickly ran over to investigate the cause of the crash. When I reached the alleyway I leaned to the right and looked down the dark alley and saw nothing. Once my sight adjusted I saw a three delinquent-looking teenagers standing in front of a damaged wall. The one on the left was wearing a bandanna, and the one on the right was holding... a metal rectangle, most likely a blade of some sort. Not good. The one in the middle seemed to be holding something, and, upon closer examination, I could see he was holding a girls wrist.
The girl seemed to be around my age maybe fifteen or sixteen, and she looked to be struggling against the boy holding her wrist. After a few tugs she managed to escape the boy's grip, but she was still cornered due to his two friends or colleagues or whatever they were. Henchmen maybe? What am I thinking, this isn't UQ Holder or any other manga for that matter. I silently stepped closer until I was only about a yard and a half from where they were standing.
The lead teen stepped forwards and said huskily to the girl, "Come on we just want to have some fun."
The girl, strangely enough, started jumping around with her knees slightly bent and her elbows bent.
"What the?" the boy asked before the girl's left fist connected with his cheek, making him lose balance and fall backwards.
His friends snickered before they saw the murderous glare their friend was giving them.
"Restrain her!" he yelled furiously.
Before the girl could attack the other two pinned her wrists to the wall, and though she struggled with all her might she couldn't escape them. The leader got up and I noticed a cut and a bruise starting to form on his left cheek. He looked angry.
"Bitch!" he spat, "Someone needs to teach you some manners!" he growled as he swung his fist at her face.
There was a large clapping sound as the delinquent's fist connected with the palm of my hand.
"My, my, what is this, three against one. That hardly seems fair," I said calmly as I shoved back the injured teen with my book held grasped tightly in my left hand.
He and his lackeys were taken by surprise at first, but once they got over their shock they charged at me from behind. Bandanna swung his fist at my face because I don't know, maybe when someone stops a group of hostile teens from doing shady things to a girl they want to hit things in the face. His technique was so sloppy it was basically non-existent. I grabbed his wrist and flipped him over my shoulder and slammed my wrist into his solar plexus for good measure.
He didn't get up.
My assumptions were proven when the second teen's metal piece produced a blade that was about five inches and swung at me. I wasn't fast enough to block the blade. Luckily for me Kuromaru was.
Out of nowhere my friend appeared with two karambit knives, both had blades that were about four inches. He easily parried the amateur's attack with one knife and turned to me with a concerned look.
"Young Master, are you ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine," I responded before I punched the leader in the stomach, causing him to bend over in pain.
"If I may, why are you in such a place fighting with this... filth?" he asked disgustedly as he flipped the knife out of the delinquent's hand and slammed the butt of his own knife into the teen's shoulder. The boy screamed in pain and gripped his shoulder. Without missing a beat Kuromaru spun around and kicked the teen in the chest, sending his limp body flying into the wall opposite of where the girl was sitting. When Kuromaru turned and saw the girl he must have understood because he just turned to me and nodded. "Quite nobel sir." Then his expression changed. "This could be the beginning of something Master." he smirked.
"What do you mean?" I asked, temporarily taking my eyes off of the teen.
Taking the opportunity the boy jumped at me, but before he could lay a hand on me Kuromaru quickly pocketed one of his knives, pulled a silenced pistol from somewhere, pressed the knife's blade to the boy's throat and the barrel of the silenced firearm to his head.
"Why, the beginning of change of course!" he said happily before his expression turned cold once more as he turned back to the immobile delinquent. "As for you, next time you attack my master I will personally end your pathetic life." He slammed the butt of the gun into the teen's back. The boy's body crumbled to the ground like a very broken cookie.
I turned to the girl and knelt down next to her. She looked scared, honestly I couldn't blame her. It's probably not everyday that she nearly gets violated by delinquents and gets saved by a boy and his overprotective ninja butler. I looked at her and for the first time I truly got good look at her. She had beautiful amethyst eyes that seemed to give off a bluish glow, long violet hair that hung down to her waist with a few strands that dangled in front of her left eye. She wore a school uniform of sorts that seemed vaguely familiar. After about a minute I realized I was staring and quickly averted my gaze and stood up, offering my hand to the girl.
"Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine," she managed to say.
"Do you have any idea why those guys were after you?"
"No, I have no idea."
"I could kill them if it would please you Young Master," Kuromaru said as he gestured towards the downed delinquents with his gun.
"No, that wouldn't do us any good, just hand them over to the police."
"As you command, Young Master." With that he slung all of the boys over his shoulder and disappeared.
I realized his mistake too late. "IT'S KIYOSHI!" I yelled.
"Kiyoshi?" the girl asked, though she didn't seem to be talking to me.
Suddenly I got a shooting pain in my head as a picture of a girl with short hair and no face appeared in my head. She was chasing a someone around her age with disheveled hair who also had no face. The pain left as soon as it had come and so did the picture. I remember that, that was when Aimi-chan and I were children. That was odd, why an old memory of me and Aimi would suddenly surface is beyond me.
"You idiot," I heard a sinister laugh echo through my head.
Oh no. No, no, no!
I gripped my head as pain shot through my entire body. I let out a gasp as the air in my lungs suddenly chose to leave me. I then fell to my knees and everything went black.
I woke up in the center of the room where I had fought the four men as a "test of skill" earlier in the day. How I got there was unknown. As I opened my eyes I saw Kuromaru kneeled over me along with kaa-san, the girl from earlier, the big man I fought earlier also known as Hachiro, and some girl I've never seen before. She had light blonde hair and eyes that matched the other girl's. Maybe they were sisters.
I tried to sit up on my elbows but soon regretted that decision when pain once again surged through me.
I tried to muffle my scream, but it didn't do much.
"Is he gonna be alright?" the violet-haired girl asked. Her voice was quiet, and she sounded a bit shy or maybe even nervous.
"He'll be fine. This happens from time to time, though it's never been this bad before," kaa-san told her.
"More importantly-" her sister looked around the room, "who are you people, and what have you done to my sister?" She looked enraged as if she was looking for someone to hit.
"I would appreciate if you would have a little respect for us in our own home. Without these two-" she gestured to me and Kuromaru, "horrible things could have happened to your sister."
The girl balled her hands into fists. She definitely was looking for someone to hit.
Then she turned to me.
"What exactly happened?" she glared down at me. "Tell me the full truth. Start to finish."
That's exactly what I did. I told her exactly what happened in the alleyway, even the part about Kuromaru helping out. After hearing the story she looked a bit less angry.
"I'm sorry," she muttered.
"See, we're not the bad guys," I laughed before the shooting pain returned. After that black spots appeared in my vision every time I blinked. After a while the pain started to lessen and lessen. Eventually I got the strength to get up. After I took a wobbly step and fell to my knees I stopped trying to move and just chose to stay there.
"Idiot, you aren't strong enough to control this," a voice sounded in my head.
"No, no, NO!" I screamed as I gripped the sides of my head. My hands were shaking and I was breaking into sweats.
"What's going on?" the older of the two girls asked.
"Nothing, but you may want to step back," kaa-san warned.
After another minute of the pain shooting through my body I started to feel numb. The girl with violet hair approached me and put her hand on my shoulder.
"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
Then I blacked out.
Just like earlier I saw nothing but darkness, but this time it wasn't any darkness I wanted to be in. And I wasn't alone.
"Been a while hasn't it, Kiyoshi?" the person asked. He was an exact copy of me in both look and voice, the only differences were that his eyes carried a sort of sinister light to them, his sarcasm and deceit dripped from every word that left his mouth and if it wasn't that it was pure cruelty and spite, and his body language was also different, he carried himself with more confidence and he constantly seemed to be ready to snap into a defensive stance.
"Kio," I growled. "I thought you were gone."
"Oh, I missed you too."
"What do you want?"
"What do you think?"
"No, you can't remember what happened last time?!"
"C'mon we both know that that was hilarious."
"You put several people in the hospital."
"Oh, they lived, what a shame," he laughed.
"You're a monster."
"Correction-" he approached me and and smirked, "we're a monster."
Then I woke up, though this time my eyes had a more sinister gleam.
"Kio," both kaa-san and Kuromaru gasped.
"Yup-" I responded with a smirk, "I'm back."
Author's notes: Yes, I am alive and well. There have been many distractions that have kept me from writing this chapter, things like Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series, playing Destiny, and on top of it all school. For those who care, I will continue Red-Eyed Renegade and Eclipse, but I just couldn't wait to make this story. Another reason it took so long to get this first chapter out was because after I typed it and read it over I felt like it needed more, much more. So I restarted the entire thing from scratch, and honestly I am quite proud with the way this chapter came out. Like I said, I will continue Eclipse and Red-Eyed Renegade, but the order in which the stories are updated probably isn't going to be in order like Admiral Muffin's stories are because, frankly, I'm not that organized. I'm just going to type what comes to me. Please rate and review, and until next time continue loving Gundam. Kiyoshi, Launching!