CHAPTER 1: PROLOGUE
Yumizuki High School—Tokyo, 2011.
The classroom filled with student chattering, sometimes laughing or whispering. With a loud voice, they used most of their time gossiping about the rumors going on around the school recently. The boy who sat on the desk started mass-discussing about the rumors when his mouth spouted some of them. At first, they only stared at him, talking to his own companion. But slowly, the rest of the class drew closer to his desk curiously. They circled around the boy who started yapping.
"So," he clears his throat. "do you guys know about the big cherry blossom tree on the school ground? The one with the shide on it? They say if you come to the school at 2 o'clock in the morning and stand below the tree, your wish will come true especially if it is related to love!"
"But there's no way you can get in to the school ground, they locked the gate." A female student asked him. Her tone somehow mixed with enthusiastic and hesitation. The boy turned his eyes at her and smirked, moving his index finger as if telling her something like you-don't-know-something-so-basic.
"You just have to climb the gate and jump." He smirked wider—and more devilish. "You don't even understand something like that? Don't you know the term no pain no gain? Take and give? You gotta sacrifice something to gain another!"
"C-climb?" Another girl with two-braided hair seems startled. "I-is that the only way to get access to the tree?"
"What, class-rep, you actually interested in these kind of things? Well, let me guess. Are you perhaps," the boy paused, placed his thumb and index finger below his chin with the look of an observing detective. "in love? That class-rep? There's no way, right?"
He burst out laughing, followed with others. The class-rep blushed. "A-anyway," she said, trying to make the mob stop their burst of laughing. "the bell is about to start. I do not think that this is the right time or place to discuss such nonsense."
The class muttered something to each other before going back to their seat. The door slides open when a middle-aged man walked in. He placed one of his hands on the desk while his other hand opened a slim book and started calling the student's name for attendance.
"Konno."
"Here."
"Koizumi."
"Here."
"Kurogane."
There is silence for a moment. He looked up, looking at the empty back seat near the window. "Kurogane, he is not here?" he wrote something on the book. "That brat, how dare he skipped school for three days in a row? I called his home and his father answered, saying that he caught a cold. Nonsense! A dumb will never catch a cold! Who will believe such things? I thought about going to his house but his house is just so damn big—I bet the rumors that going on about their family is a yakuza is actually true—"
"We are not yakuzas."
"Hah, who will believe that—WAH! K-K-Kurogane! Since when you were here?" The teacher gasped, felt like he almost had a heart attack when a tall boy with a black military cap covered his head stood besides him without he realizing it.
"Just a while ago." He said. "Were you calling my name? That means I'm safe, right?"
"What safe! You brat!" The teacher yelled and pointed his finger at him. "Where were you these past days? I want an explanation!"
"I was sick." He answered calmly.
"Like I'd believe that crap!" The teacher hissed. "Go to your seat! Geez, kids these days…"
Nozomu Kurogane walked to his seat, placed himself on his chair, ignoring the others' glance. Oh well, he is used to it anyway. People would look at him as if he is some kind of rare animal with that so-called stranger look.
Like he'd care.
"So you make it on time this time?"
Nozomu shifted his stare to a red, short-haired girl who sits beside him. She's holding a book in front of her face so the teacher wouldn't notice that she's actually talking to him. She had two hair pins on her left side hair and a sheepish smile on her face. "Were you really sick, though?"
He showed her a faint smile on his face. "Kind of."
"What is the meaning of kind of in this case? Were you sick or not?" She demanded an absolute answer from him.
"Shut up, Tsucchi."
"How many times should I tell you not to call me Tsucchi?" She unconsciously sits up and slammed her desk. The whole class turned their eyes at her, pierced her with a curious look in their eyes. She looked down and her cheek became flustered when she apologized. She sat back down to her seat quietly but she didn't forget to throw Nozomu a killer glare before she turned her face away from him.
"Hey, Tsucchi." She didn't budge when Nozomu tried to call her. He placed his palm under his chin, yawned and slowly closed his eyes. "Hey, Tsucchi. I'm calling you—fuah." He repeated, still trying to make her turn his way.
No good, he thought. Maybe she's angry for real this time.
"Hey, Tsubasa."
Finally, the girl called Tsubasa shifted her eyes to him. "What do you want?"
"Geez, you don't have to act so cold." Nozomu yawned. "Lend me your notebook."
"Like I'd let you borrow it."
"Is that how you treat your childhood friend?"
"Don't be such a hyperbolic. We knew each other when we were 5th grader."
"How many years have passed since that time?" Nozomu raised his index finger and pointed it in the middle of his forehead. "Isn't it something like five, six years ago? Wow, we've known each other for quite a long time."
Tsubasa sighed and twirled the pencil on her fingers. Her red hair moves a little bit when she tilted her head. "Well," she sighed again. "You claimed that we are childhood friend but you said that you didn't even realize that we've befriended each other for six years long? But anyway, I'm amazed you still keep that old-fashioned cap of yours. Didn't you tell me it was something your great-grandfather gave you?"
"Ah, this." Nozomu lowered the black cap that covered his ruffled, brown hair. "This is my great-grandfather, my grandpa, and my treasure. Of course I still keep it."
"Heeh, your great-grandfather, your grandfather and yours—wait, did you forget to include your dad?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't 'what are you talking about' me. Father is the one after grandfather! I'm not that idiot! Well, that's true I failed almost all of my exams but I did pass one, or two. The truth is it's two!"
"Well, this is not a treasure… for my old man." Nozomu lifted the cap a little bit with his thumb. He gazed off the distance without really having anything to look at. "That's why I didn't include his position, it's because he has nothing to do with this."
"… How?"
Nozomu smirked when Tsubasa asked that simple, yet to the point—how.
"It is because…"
It is because you don't know a thing.
"Yeah?" Tsubasa stared at Nozomu, filled with curiosity in her eyes.
It is because you don't know about me, or about what I'm doing up until now.
"Because I said so."
The truth is, you don't even know what I am.
She looked at Nozomu with an unpredictable look. She clenched her teeth and palm together at the same time, ready to deliver a blow right on Nozomu's—well, some kind of handsome face. But she didn't move from her desk, maybe she's thinking about saving it for later.
"You don't look like you were sick at all." She said finally after calmed down a little bit, leaned her back on her chair. "Were you really sick these past few days?"
"Didn't you ask me the same question just a while ago?"
"You don't have to tell me if you really don't want to." Tsubasa shrugged and turned away.
Nozomu smirked, and then lowered his cap to hide his eyes. He closed them and concentrating his aura, letting the brim of his cap covered him so that no one realized of what he's doing. He opened his eyes a little and he could see a lime colored aura made an impact to the ground behind him when he whispered something—no one even realized anything when the ground shake a little bit because of the impact.
"We meet again, master."
A sweet, mature woman voice echoed. Nozomu glanced behind his shoulder but he didn't say anything. Even with just a faint smirk, the silver-haired woman nods and disappeared from his view. He turned his gaze outside the window. To be exact, to something that caught his attention.
A cherry tree.
The bell rang shortly after that. Tsubasa got up from her chair and walked towards Nozomu. That 17-years old boy still didn't turn his gaze away from the window. She tilted her head to see what he's actually looking at and spotted the cherry tree.
"Were you looking at the tree?"
"Yeah…"
"Why?" She asked. "Do you have someone you like?"
Nozomu raised an eyebrow when she asked. How is that even related to each other? Some girl's only myth—pah. Tsubasa furrowed, looking at him with the same weird face as he shows her. "You don't know about the legend?"
So it is a legend.
"No," he answered. "What kind of legend?"
"I don't really know." She shrugged, placed her hands on her hips. "Probably a school legend, everyone's talking about it now. It's like, some kind of hot issue right now."
"Heeh," Nozomu frowned. "People these days still believe in that kind of thing?"
"They do." Tsubasa showed him a really wide grin. "That tree is suspicious. It even has a shide on it, then that means the tree is somehow sacred, right? People won't just put a shide on it without any reason. Now I'm excited!"
"What the?" Nozomu laughed. He grabbed his backpack and zipped his black jacket. He walks towards the door, slide the door open and someone bumped at him. He lowered his head and saw the class representative, rubbing her forehead. "I'm sorry." He apologized quickly but when he extended his hand to make sure that she's okay, she quickly backs down and slapped his hand.
"O-oh, I'm sorry. Th-that's reflex—I didn't mean to…" She gasped, couldn't find her own pace to talk normally.
"Ah, uhm." Nozomu bowed his head a little and went out the room. "I'm sorry." He scratched his head when he and Tsubasa already stood in front of their shoe locker. "Maybe she hates me."
"Yeah?" Tsubasa closed her locker and starts to put her shoes on. "Why do you think that way?"
Nozomu shrugged. "I don't know." He answered. "It's just the feeling I get."
They walked side by side out of the building, chatting about the same topic Nozomu just started and it's because somehow Tsubasa still wouldn't give up about that.
"Do you like her? Tell me Nozomu!" Tsubasa asked, half-laughing.
"I didn't say that." Nozomu raised his eyebrow. "I'm just wondering why she acted that way. I mean, if I did something I shouldn't—well, I do that kinda thing quite often but she should've just tell me straight to my face—"
Suddenly when a petal of cherry blossom brushed against his cheek, Nozomu stopped. A blitz of eerie aura caught him off guard. He looked at the falling petals and lifted up his head fast. It was the cherry tree with shide on it. Nozomu narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't see anything out of ordinary.
"What is it, Nozomu?"
Tsubasa's voice dissolved him from what he's thinking. He stared at Tsubasa and smiled. "Oh, sorry." He said. "What was it?"
"Geez, you weren't listening to me at all, were you?" Tsubasa sighed. "What are you looking at? You look kind of creepy."
"Creepy? How?"
"I don't know, it's just because you were looking at the cherry tree as if you're looking at something that shouldn't be there." She clears her throat. "You understand what I mean, right?" She grinned.
"No, I don't." Nozomu furrowed. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh, just nevermind. Are you going to Narumi-san's place?"
Nozomu nodded shortly. They started to walk back home and they turned left at the first intercepts. Nozomu tucked his hands inside his jacket's pocket when a cold breeze blows while Tsubasa tightened her red muffler around her neck.
"You know," Tsubasa started after a little while of silence. "you should go home sometimes. I didn't say it has to be every week or month or anything, it's just—you should go back home every now and then…"
"Why do you have to worry about that kind of thing?"
"I'm not worried at all." A white skim went out of Tsubasa's mouth when she denied it. "Well, but maybe your dad is…"
"Why are you bringing up my dad here?"
"You know what," she sighed. "just forget about it."
No one said anything after that. They just walked in silence, passes the big billboard and a few blocks of residence. Their feet stopped in front of a tall, some kind of western-style old building in the middle of the town, surrounded by new buildings.
The building has a small sign, Narumi Detective Agency. Nozomu pushed the door and behind the desk filled with high-piling paper and binders, a woman around 20-year old sat there with a cigarette between her lips and newspaper on her hand. When she spotted Narumi and Tsubasa she unfolded her newspaper and grinned. "Well, who do we have here? Tsubasa-chan!"
Tsubasa smiled politely at her and bowed her head a little. "Good afternoon, Narumi-san."
"It is so good to have you here. I'm getting sick looking at Nozomu everyday."
"Oi, oi." Nozomu interrupted, but Narumi just smirked at him. Narumi glanced at the other side of the room when a black cat with green eyes walked down the stairs. The cat stared at him while Nozomu just stared back at it blankly.
The black cat sighed. "Did you come to school today?"
"I did." Nozomu rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Did you have a good afternoon sleep, Gou-jiisan?"
Gouji narrowed its green eyes. "Kind of. What about you? You weren't asleep for nearly three days."
"Oh, yeah." Nozomu covered his eyes with his arm and lay down on the couch. "Anything new from the Yatagarasu?"
"…Nothing much." Gouji moved closer to Nozomu. "We've completed the task successfully without any flaw. The Yatagarasu will handle the rest. How are you feeling, Raidou Kuzunoha XVI?"
"Awesome." Nozomu rolled his body. "Good night."
Gouji sighed. That kid didn't get any sleep for three days long and he still come to school. I'm kind of impressed. "Won't you come to your house to inform your grandfather about the success of your first mission as a Raidou?"
"Nah… I'll do that later. And I get the feeling that the Herald of Yatagarasu told him already." He turned to Gouji. "He is Raidou Kuzunoha XV, remember? The son of the great Raidou Kuzunoha XIV."
"That makes you," Gouji smiled before continued. "The great Raidou Kuzunoha XIV's great-grandson."
Note: This is just the prologue, but I'd love to have a review or two. Enjoy!