Five years later. Natsuka is fifteen, Nella is fourteen.


Business at the Kerning barbershop was good today. A small crowd of people hollered at the two barbers, who frantically walked back and forth between the stools. The owner, a dark-skinned man, wore a pair of gleaming silver sunglasses and sported a sunflower yellow afro. Like the owner, the skinny and pale assistant also advertised the barbershop's skills with his long tresses of wavy orange hair. Both men wore classy white suits with bright red ties, carefully kept clean as they went about their business.

Scissors snipped at hair and various potions and perfumes were squeezed out of several bottles. As usual, hair and shampoo made the checkerboard floor easy to slip on. Loud swearing could be heard as new customers tripped over the messy floor. The more experienced customers laughed at the falling newbies as they skirted the dangerous piles of oily hair.

Outside of the barbershop, the carefree banter of the satisfied customers mingled with the loud complaints of the unsatisfied ones. Thankfully, to the barbershop's workers' relief, the sound of the former overwhelmed the sound of the latter. The customers ranged from ordinary denizens of Kerning to foreigners from as far away as Orbis. The sight of some of the more famous patrons, such as the leaders of large guilds, also attracted the openmouthed stares of the younger generation in the city.

"Oy! Jobs for hire, good pay and training!" shouted a young girl's voice above the city din.

Her clear, amethyst eyes paid no heed to the shiny clothes of the rich and powerful walking out of the barbershop behind her. She dressed stylishly, in her denim jeans and white t-shirt, accented with a red bandana around her neck. On her belly button and her ears hung tiny silver rings that glittered in the light. The occasional passerby stopped by to talk to her, but she was largely ignored next to the large barbershop.

After a few hours had run by, the noisy crowd that had been hanging around the barbershop now began to disperse. The famous people had left already, presumably to find somewhere to party in one of Kerning's nightclubs. The sun now began to dip lower in the sky, looming over the western part of the city. The summer afternoon began to lose its stifling humidity as darkness crept at the horizon. Nella settled herself on the brick steps leading to the barbershop, looking up at the cloudy sky.

"Nella, so how did your job business go so far?" boomed Don's voice behind her, as he sidled next to her.

"Not so well..." sighed Nella, her eyes downcast. I still need to manage agreements between who wants jobs and who needs these jobs, you know? It's really a problem-"

"Where's your boyfriend tonight? Shall we invite him to dinner again?" questioned the smooth voice of Dr. Andre.

Nella paid no heed to the 'boyfriend' jibe. She ignored the sight of his sly eyes wandering over to her behind in her tight jeans and scrutinizing her good figure- that she had gotten used to a while ago. She looked him straight in the eyes and calmly replied "Yes, he's coming to dinner tonight."

Don raised a stern eyebrow at Andre, peering over his sunglasses. His violet eyes stared intensely into the other man's eyes, until Dr. Andre looked away in embarrassment. Satisfied that the skinny man was no longer ogling his daughter, he relaxed. The large man turned around, walking back into the house to make some dinner.

A tall, lanky figure swung down from the roof, landing in front of them with a thump. He nodded to Andre and Nella in greeting. A Dark Shadow outfit of sleeveless shirt and knee-length shorts hung loosely on his frame. Gray metal formed the shoulder, wrist, and knee guards, as well as the belt, and accented the black cloth the rest of the clothes were made out of. He donned a Black Pilfer on his head, a bandana with a menacing skull and crossbones pattern on it. Fingerless Gold Arbion gloves, made of interlocking steel and gold plates, sheathed his hands.

He smiled cheerfully at both of them. Andre seemed to be extremely surprised at his sudden arrival, while Nella nodded back and looked at him with traces of admiration in her eyes.

"So, what's for dinner?" Natsuka asked expectantly, as his empty stomach began to rumble.


In the makeshift dining table in the middle of the barbershop, four figures sat amongst piles of smelly newspapers and magazines. As Nella set the final dish of salad before Natsuka, the assassin boy immediately began dumping garlic and pepper dressings over the raw lettuce. His deep brown eyes shone brightly with anticipation, while Don and Andre leaned back in their seats and chatted to each other. Nella was about to settle down in her seat, next to Natsuka, when the doorbell buzzed above them.

Looking up from his dripping salad in surprise, Natsuka watched Nella intently as she hurried over to the door. Evidently, she was also surprised; her eyes had widened at the sound, and she hesitated before standing up to get the door. A teenager about a few years older than Natsuka walked in with a jaunty stride. He donned a Gold Dragon robe, a sleeveless, oriental-style top of black and golden cloth. Swirling dragon designs of gold thread snaked across the cloth, bound by a blue sash at the waist. His arrogant, pale green eyes swept across the room but slowed to a halt on Nella. Locks of dirty blonde hair were swept to the sides of his face, with the rest of it tied in a ponytail.

"Oh, welcome, Gil, so nice to see you back here again," greeted Don Giovanni. He beamed proudly, and Natsuka realized that this boy was probably one of his clients. He was possibly a rich one at that- his haircut had the cool, rebellious look that Natsuka had seen many young teenagers ask for.

"And it's good to see you again, Mr. Giovanni," responded Gil, bowing respectfully.

Nella's shoulders relaxed as the warrior took his eyes off her. Natsuka, no longer interested in the conversation, began to shovel his spicy salad into his mouth. Gil raised an eyebrow, looking critically at the young assassin, but he did not say a word. With long strides, he walked over to the table confidently. He pulled over another stool and sat himself down next to Natsuka, on the assassin's right. Nella nervously took a seat at Gil's other side.

"So, who exactly are you?" asked Gil, looking at Natsuka suspiciously.

Natsuka felt distinctly uncomfortable at the appearance of the stranger between him and Nella. Looking up from his food, he gulped down the mush in his mouth. "My name's Nat- nice to meet you," he said to him. Their eyes met briefly, and then the assassin turned back to his food and resumed eating. Looking unsure of what to do, Gil began to converse freely with Don Giovanni. Andre and Nella made small talk amongst themselves, but Natsuka noticed that they kept glancing nervously at the barbershop owner and the warrior, as if they were afraid of them.

"How has business been going recently?"

"Oh, very well in fact- polite boy you are," responded Don confidently. He snuck a disapproving glance at Natsuka, who was now reaching across the table for the Fried Chicken. Natsuka shrugged the gesture off- Don had always considered him a bad influence on his daughter, and that would probably never change. He brought his prize to his mouth, smelling the appetizing aroma. He began eating the meat off the wing, and then he proceeded to chew into the soft marrow of the bones. Natsuka knew that this "street boy" habit of eating the bones would undoubtedly win Don's disapproval again, but he did not really care.

"How has Nella been doing?" inquired Gil, sneaking a glance at the girl. Nella appeared totally absorbed in her conversation with Andre about the weather, but Natsuka knew better, with all the tension in the air around her. He could picture her wringing her hands anxiously beneath the table.

"She's been very well, very well," said Don distractedly. He looked up at the fluorescent lighting above.

Natsuka grew tense, preparing himself in case an awkward statement came up. The conversation seemed to be heading in a bad direction. No one in the house or even in the nearby neighborhood mentioned the death of Nella's mom. Although the circumstances could probably have been expected, because of the racist groups continually rampaging through Kerning, it was a shock to all of them. The effect was harshest on Nella. Natsuka soon realized that her attempts to start a job recruiting business sprouted from her determination to work and help provide for herself. Although he had his share of making fun of Nella, he would never dare to insult or persuade her out of her newly formed business venture.

"Oh, I almost forgot my manners!" declared Don suddenly. "Gil, would you like to stay here from the night? You can have the back room there," he offered, steering the conversation into safer waters. He gestured to the room in the back of the barbershop, next to the storage closet. "It's not much, but you can stay here if you don't want to get mobbed at some sleazy hotel out there," he laughed.

Gil paused momentarily. "Alright, I'll stay here," he finally replied. Natsuka could not stand the smug grin on his face, as if he were better than these people with his shiny new clothing. He also felt that Don was doing him a great injustice by carelessly giving away Natsuka's room to this total stranger.

"Thank you for the meal, I best be going now," he thanked Don curtly. Splinters of hard bone were all that was left on his dinner plate. The bottom of the stool scratched across the linoleum floor as he stepped away and walked out of the barbershop.


"Natsuka? Natsuka, where'd you go now?" called Nella worriedly. The sky was completely dark now, and the dim streetlights lit the streets around them. A thin sliver of crescent moon glowed brightly above the city. She looked upwards at the telephone pole. To her relief, a familiar dark figure was perched at the top, staring up at the moon floating in the sky. He was playing with something in his hands, the limp item flopping back and forth between his fingers.

"Look here... I need to talk to you," said Nella in total seriousness. "That guy, Gil... Daddy- I mean Dad- likes him a lot, since he's rich and polite and everything. I'm pretty sure he wants... to marry me," confessed Nella, looking at the ground.

With reluctance, Natsuka leapt to the roof, then descended to the ground beside Nella. Nella could now see that he had a claw in his hands, one of worn, black leather and dull, burnt orange metal. Natsuka looked embarrassed, but he slipped the claw over his arm and flexed the fingers experimentally. The faint moonlight glinted off the rooftops above them, in the darkness of nighttime. Although the light from the streetlights did not illuminate the area very well, Natsuka could still see the hopeless expression on Nella's face.

"Nella... I don't know what to say," said Natsuka. He looked mildly distracted, staring emptily at the assassin's weapon between his hands. "I don't know if you like him or not, but, whatever happens, I think you should do just what you want. Fight for it, whatever it is... But you should also listen to your dad's judgment sometimes."

"Whose judgment do you listen to, Natsuka?" demanded Nella. Her eyes shone in the lamplight. "I know you've never needed to listen to anyone in your life, you're always arrogant but cool, you always seem to think you know what you're doing, but how do you know what you should be doing? You're the justice assassin, the superhero guy who jumps around the roofs and does the whole 'noble thief' act of defeating the gangs and eating Ligators for lunch. Why can't I find or follow my own dreams?"

Natsuka paused. "You're wrong, Nella," he said quietly. "Sometimes I feel really angry when people are unfair to each other- everything was unfair to me as a kid, so I wanted to change it. But, I didn't do it alone- Kelfazin told me what to do a lot. He said a lot of things to me, some of which I didn't understand at the time. He talked about almost everything. Just before throwing his Steelies, he talked about how he wondered what the monsters think about this. Just before punishing a criminal, he would talk about mercy and justice and then pretend that it was nothing, laughing it off like it was a joke to him. I think he was lying then- I think he really believed in those things. But no matter what he said... I always tried to follow his judgment- I mean, I still do so now, except... it's so hard now that he's gone."

"That sounds like... mom..." said Nella in a quiet voice, her eyes averted. Natsuka decided to keep talking- he remembered how Kelfazin kept talking to him about nothing in particular when he was crying as a small child. It had comforted him, making his pains seem distant while his thoughts strayed to whatever topic the older assassin had decided to talk about.

"He always told me to do his best. I don't know why, but he called himself a lousy assassin that would never amount to anything. He always said that about himself, and he seemed sad about it too. But I think he said it so much that it was now an inside joke to him- and maybe me, although I never found it very funny. I always thought that if I were him, I would say that I was the most awesome assassin on the streets besides the Dark Lord- but, now... I've learned that there are a lot of people in the world," he said, looking up at the starless sky. "I really want to. You're going to think me an idiot for this, but- I really want to find out where he went. I'm very sure he went to Ossyria, there was a boarding schedule near his pillow the day he disappeared, and-" he broke off, noting that Nella had shifted visibly.

"You should go," said Nella with deliberation. Unless he was mistaken, her eyes seemed reddish in the lamplight, as if she had been crying. He gave her a strange look.

"I have a good idea now- you should go to Orbis, and take that Gil guy with you. Tell him that you're going to do some deliveries for some people- I'm sure you'll find some people who have relatives or something like that Ossyria. Just sneak away from him as you're traveling, ask around for people who want to send messages or something," said Nella quickly. "And then," she continued, a smirk on her face. "Ditch him! Leave him flailing around in... El Nath or something, he can have fun there without me."

Natsuka laughed at the idea. He knew himself too well- he was sorely tempted to leave the pampered aristocrat of a warrior in the freezing pine forests of El Nath. But, he also knew, his conscience would probably direct him in another direction once he actually reached Orbis. Either way... it would be tricky to find people who wanted to send things to the other continent. He would probably manage somehow, he reassured himself. He looked at Nella worriedly. Although the streets were safer now than they were five years ago, he still was concerned over her well-being. Too many people would not hesitate to commit crimes of violence against her and her family.

As if reading her mind, Nella forced out a laugh. "Don't worry, I'll be fine- as long as our family has the barbershop, we'll all be fine on our own," she said cheerfully, with a confidence she did not truly feel. She could hear the happy sounds of Gil and her father talking together, and she felt another pang of guilt and anger that her father had handed Natsuka's room over to Gil.

Natsuka nodded at her. "See you tomorrow, Nella," he called, as he broke into a run. His shadowy figure disappeared into the dark alleyways, leaving her completely alone where she stood. Struggling to hold back tears, Nella walked back into the barbershop to go to sleep.