Yo! How is it going guys? Me? Great, great. Lets do the review that strangely decided to pop up as I slept!

Raygha Raikouga - All hail to Loli lovers! You are right on that. Thank you! I will keep going! All the way to Loli Heaven...

Okay, now with that out of the way, I have an announcement!

I have decided to change the title of the story because of a dream! Yes, dreams can change a man. Probably.

So, from White Iaito, I will be changing it to Soul Drive: Book 1. Now, why is it labeled with Book 1? Caused Dream. Anyway, I have thought about it, and having Sol go to different Anime worlds sounded interesting to me. I could care less about others, I just really want to write this XD Except, of course, Raygha... Loli Lovers stick together, or something like that. I don't know.

Anyway, I won't spoil how or why this will be happening, or what world he will be sent to, but it will be in a kind of apocalyptic kind of world. With monsters. So that narrows it down quite a bit.

Sounds awesome, right?

Now, we now Sol is going to be going, but what about Luna? Will she be going with him? Maybe, maybe not. We'll find out when Book 1 ends. When will it end? I am not at liberty to say that.

In any case, there is a goal, that has already been decided upon, that will complete this "Drive" in this world. What that goal is, I won't spoil. But you'll find out when it happens... probably cause it will be the last chapter! Obviously.

Anyway, let us start now!


It was the next day.

When I had woken up, my sword was on the table in the living room. Blinking, I thought about how it could've gotten there... It was a little after 12 P.M. so the only explanation, was that either Luna opened the door for them, since she was already awake and in the bath, or they 'let themselves in'.

Either way, I now had my sword.

Smiling, I gripped the hilt and slid the sword from its pure white scabbard with a slight 'hissing' sound coming forth. When the blade was removed, I frowned. It had turned black as a result of the Varanium, however it was only the blade that was black. The rest of the sword, which was the guard and down to the pommel, were still white. Sighing, I sheathed the blade and placed it back down onto the table. Luna then left the bath, closing the door with a loud noise.

Looking up, I immediately looked away.

She was wearing only a towel.

"Luna, where are your clothes?" I asked the small girl.

"Drying." She said, pointing towards the balcony. When I glanced over to where she pointed, I saw her underwear hanging, and at their side, her shirt and skirt.

I looked away.

Then I sighed.

"We'll have to quickly make some money today so I can go and buy us some more clothes."

"Oh, okay." She responded, a smile on her face. "I left the bath water in for you!"

"Really? Thanks." That will save some money at least. Wait a moment... She was just taking a bath, and she said she left the bath water she bathed in... I could only blush at what that meant. But I had to... Couldn't waste the amount of money we had... or didn't have for that matter.

Having our own corporation left us with nothing, however, it meant that we would gain more money from our jobs. As in, we'll get it all, instead of dividing it amongst ourselves and our boss.

In any case, it was time to take a ba-

My cellphone started to ring. Looking at high speed, I grabbed the small phone from the table.

"Hello?" I said, right after accepting the call.

"U-uh, hi... I'd like to report a-a possible Gastrea over at... Can you p-please come and deal w-with it?" A nervous voice responded.

Basically, the caller found someone dead and the likely cause was a Gastrea, and I was to go over there to check it out and possibly deal with the Gastrea. Of course, an investigator was called, but since it may or may not, be a Gastrea, they couldn't go in.

Nodding even though he couldn't see it, I responded. "Of course. I'll be over there in a few minutes."

"T-thank you!"

I hung up.

"What was it?" Luna asked, titling her head in confusion.

"Luna..." I said, grinning. "We have our first job."

She was at first surprised, but she quickly got over it and smiled back at me. She quickly went out into the balcony and grabbed her still mostly drying clothes, and slipped them back on. Of course, I looked away when she did so. When she was finished, she joined me at my side.

"Let's go." I said, a small blush still on my face, and opened the door, letting Luna leave first. I left the room, and locked the door behind me. I followed the running Luna across the hall and down the stairs, and out of the apartment complex, while sending the landlord who was playing solitaire on his computer an apologetic smile for the noise we made. "We have a job." I called to him as I left the building. I saw him nod before I turned away.


It was seventeen minutes later that we arrived on the scene of the crime. Always wanted to say that.

Anyway, we just met up with the investigator called in, a man with a brown beard and no hair on his head. Of course, he had a gun hanging at his side. I let my left hand fall onto my sword, letting my thumb press down against its guard. I had to be on guard, after all. This will be the first time fighting a Gastrea - the first time using a Varanium blade, even though it feels slightly lighter than when I had a steel blade. Even the slimmest difference in weight can be fatal, after all.

"Hm? Your the Promoter?" The man said to be, as he took out a cigarette from his mouth. I frowned at the smoke, but answered nevertheless.

"Yes. My name is Sol Laren, and this is my adopted little sister - Luna Laren." I said, patting Luna's head, in which she smiled to.

"Your just a kid." He said and held up his hand. "I.D. please. For proof you're with the Corporation."

I shrugged and handed him my card.

He read it. "Iaido Civil Security Corporation?" He said, glancing back at me. "Never heard of it." He gave me back the card, and I accepted it from him.

"Of course." I replied with a grin. "We're newly made."

"Hm. Then you better be good with that blade."

"Oh trust me. I am good."

"Hah! Cocky, huh? I like it." He smiled for the first time.

I grinned wider at the comment and then adopted a business face. "Where is the 'body'?" I said.

"Over this way." He said with a serious face. He then led me into the building and up a flight of stairs. He turned on the second floor and started walking towards a room that had three guards with guns out, pointing it at the door. "Right over there." He said.

I nodded. "Give me some room - I'm going in." I said, standing in front of the door. I let the guards take a step back, and then I kicked open the door. The door flew off its hinges, and I rushed in, both hands on my sword. Luna followed right behind me with a serious, yet carefree look on her face.

Inside, I found a giant spider taking the bite out of the corpse of a man, who had black blood all over him.

"Fuck." I said. As I saw it, it was a possible Original Gastrea, infecting a man, who was turning into a Gastrea of his own. I saw web all over the room.

Like a regular spider, its ability was to spin web, and with such quantity too...

Behind me, the investigator started to come in, to see what was happening, but-

"Stop!" I yelled behind me, slashing my sword faster than the eyes could see. All that was heard, was the hissing as I slid it out of its scabbard, and the 'kur-chank' of the blade being sheathed.

In front of me, some webs fell down to the ground, cut from the wall. They were restricting my path, so I had to cut it down.

The investigator stopped in his tracks, mostly from being amazed at the speed of my draw, but also because I had shouted at him to do so. After a second or two, he walked backwards, out of the room.

Looking back at the Gastrea spider, which has spotted me, I took a step forward. Sword a blur, I cut down some more web. That opened up the path to the Gastrea. However, the Gastrea turned towards the window and jumped out, shooting out web to stick to a building across the street, and retracted, pulling itself towards the building.

"Tch." I ran to the window, cutting down any web in the path, and stared after the spider. "Dammit." Looking back, I saw the infected man start to turn into a Gastrea. "Luna." I said to the girl, who joined my side. "Go after the fleeing Gastrea and try to take it down. I'll deal with this one right here." I shook my head towards the infected man. She nodded and jumped onto the balcony, her Gothic Lolita clothing fluttering lightly in the wind.

She then jumped off the window, and went high into the sky, and landed on the top of the building the Gastrea fled onto.

I then turned towards the Gastrea that was behind me. "Yo." I said cockily. A grin was on my face. With no escape, the Gastrea had to fight me in a relatively small room, though it was big enough for the Gastrea to fit in. My left thumb was on the guard of my sword, while my right hand gripped the sword's hilt. I was ready to draw at any given moment; my eyes watching the Gastrea for any sort of movement.

The Gastrea then roared, and lunged at me, trying to bite me. However, it was in my range and opened itself up to attack. Smiling, I drew my blade, and cleanly sliced through its fangs. The Gastrea roared and reared back.

I, however, was amazed. My attack was just a simple one; it was simply meant to knock back or stun the opponent. However, thanks to the Varanium, the Gastrea's fangs were easily cut in half. Even with a blunt-edge, that was still possible? I guess if it was a Gastrea, then it is. To a Human or Cursed Child, on the other hand, they'll just be injured slightly, maybe a bruise or a broken bone.

But not letting the Gastrea recover, I took a step forward.

"Iai Style: Triple Draw!"

In the next moment, the Gastrea was cut into three large pieces. It was killed due to my triple attack.

I drew the blade, and cut the Gastrea in three different areas, decapitating its head, and cutting through its body twice; and thus, leaving it in three pieces.

However, any observer would see this: I drew the blade, slashed three times, and sheathed it. While that is right, it has a small error to it.

I drew three times. The entire attack took a few milliseconds past a second, but I had drew my sword three times, and sheathed it three times, with a total of three attacks. Horizontal, vertical, and diagonal, were the three different cuts I made. Of course, depending on the situation, it would be different cuts. It might all be horizontal. Who was to say what I was going to do when I drew the blade, to the time I sheathed it?

The attack was simply too fast to see all three draws, unless you were trained to the point where you could see such speed. However, the attack left my right arm slightly throbbing from the excursion and the resistance of the Gastrea. But it wasn't a problem.

I quickly left the room.

"How did it go?" The investigator asked me. I took a glance at him before walking away.

"My partner is taking care of the other Gastrea as we speak. I killed the one infected. Oh, before I go..." I said, turning back to him, surprising him. "I'd like my money now."

"A-ah, right..." He said, nervously. "Then, let's talk money..."

I smiled. "We shall."


I followed after the Gastrea with all my speed, and I was gaining.

Sol told me to go after it, and I will. He told me to take it down, and take it down I will. I will not disappoint him.

Though I probably missed one of his sword techniques in the process, there will be plenty of time to see them later. It's not like he's leaving any time soon, right?

Anyway, I had caught up to the Gastrea.

Thanks to the Gastrea Virus in the Cursed Children, we were much stronger than regular humans, so catching up to the Gastrea was only normal for someone like me.

However, there was something else.

I wasn't exactly trained to fight, like the other Cursed Children employed under the IISO...

Yes, I was strong. I could probably punch through a wall easily. But I didn't know how to fight. So the only thing I could do, was to get up close and personal and strike it until it dies.

That was my plan, at least. It's not like I could do much else, was there?

When I caught up to the Gastrea spider, I grabbed one of its thin legs, and pulled it back, causing it to trip. It fell to the ground of the roof we stood on, but it quickly picked itself back up. But by the time it did so, I had jumped up close to its face with my fist pulled back.

However, sensing an attack, I stopped mine and dropped down to the ground. As I did so, the fangs of the Gastrea passed by overhead.

Blinking in surprise, I let my instincts take over, and I kicked up above, stretching my leg straight upwards. At a perfect right angle, my foot came into contact with the underbelly of the Gastrea, and in a show of strength, the Gastrea was tossed up into the air from the force of a kick, with a small hole in its body and blue blood raining down on me.

I was surprised. This was my first fight, and it was against a Gastrea! And yet I easily took it out... Was I gifted in close combat? Or just really strong?

Either way, I was happy that I won. The Gastrea fell back down and landed on the roof. It was dead, the blue blood spread out from its corpse, making a large puddle. It wasn't moving and its multiple eyes were blank; lifeless.

I then spun around and started to skip back to where Sol was. Wait until he hears about this! I wonder what words of compliments he'll say when I tell him I took out the Gastrea in what kick? He'll be so happy~!

With a blush on my face, I continued on towards my only savior, the only person who ever accepted me for who I was, minus, of course, other Cursed Children I met.


When Luna made her way back to me, and told me she took out the Gastrea, I patted her head and told her she did a good job. She giggled at that. I then turned towards the investigator and held my hand up.

He sighed. "Fine, fine. Five thousand yen for each of the two Gastrea..." He gave me the money. "I have no idea how you talked me into paying that much, but as long as there are no more casualties, then I guess it's okay..." he grumbled, scratching the side of his head.

I smiled. A total of ten thousand yen. I can buy an acceptable amount of clothes with this and a futon! The rest can be saved, with a small amount going towards the fast food that we will be eating to celebrate our first successful job.

"Wow, really?" Luna said, excited. "Ten thousand yen!?"

"Yup." I said, showing her the money. "What do you think?"

"It's wonderful~! I hope another job comes soon!"

I laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Okay, let's go buy us some clothes and another futon-"

"No!" She quickly said.

"Huh?"

"We... we don't need another futon!" She said.

I was speechless.

What could I say to that pouting face, that looked at me with slightly teary dog eyes?

I sighed in acceptance and took her hand. "Let's go..." I mumbled and led her away.

"Yay!" She yelled, throwing up her left hand in victory.

After that, we bought some clothes. More Gothic Lolita styled clothes for Luna, and some regular clothes plus a suit and tie for me.

{Later}

It has been a total of one month since I've been here. Each job we've been given, we accomplished quickly. With each victory stacked up, we slowly went up the ranks.

We started at the low, low rank of 135,000, but after a month, we were sitting at 103,500.

Our IP Ranking was getting higher and higher, and eventually, we will be number one. Of course, that was a long way away...

I also found out that Luna was gifted in close combat. This came from her Model; which was Mantis. So she excels in close combat.

However, to give her more of an edge, though it will be blunt in actuality, I ordered her an Iaito sword and gave it to her to celebrate an entire month of starting our corporation. It costed thirty thousand yen, don't know why, but it was made of Varanium...

Either way, it was just like my own sword, except with a few differences.

It was around 28 inches in length, with the blade being about 26 of that. It had a small guard, though while mine was white, this one was black, that had small white diamonds going up and down the hilt. The pommel was, of course, flat, just like mine, and the blade was pure black, thanks to the Varanium, but while mine had a gray rippling at the blunt-edge, which still kept its color, though becoming a little darker, this one had a dark white rippling next to the blunt-edge. The blade slightly curved backwards, like mine, and it had the kanji for Makaze, Evil Wind, on the blade in the same dark white as the rippling, right above the blade. The scabbard, just like the sword, was pure black, in complete opposite to mine, which was pure white.

Our two swords, Amagumo, Rain Cloud, and Makaze, Evil Wind. Both swords proved to be powerful as it easily cut down the weak Stage I Gastrea we fought.

I also started to teach Luna the Iaido style, but she quickly ate it up, learning everything much faster than me, who was deemed a prodigy in the style thanks to me hard work.

After one instruction, she learned how to hold a sword, though she held it differently than me.

Whereas I had a thumb pressed down on the guard, with my other hand holding the grip, she just had her thumb pressed down on the guard, with her other hand at her side, except for when she prepared to draw her blade.

She did this so she could freely punch if she has to. She also uses kicks to fight as well.

I did teach her the little unarmed combat that I knew, so she incorporated it into her fighting style.

She was much stronger than I was, a true prodigy in the sword.

So when I taught her the four basic techniques I knew, I had her upgrade them. I won't spoil about the changes, but they were more advanced than mine.

As for the Secret technique... I merely let her create her own.

I didn't know what it was, so I was eagerly waiting for the day or night she reveals it.

She has only killed three Gastrea with her new blade, but she easily took them down regardless.

Thanks to the Gastrea Virus, making her Mantis Model, which excelled at close combat, she truly became a prodigy fighting with a sword, or without one. However, I noticed that she was better with a sword, than with her bare fists.

I didn't know, however, that that was only the case because she wanted to be as good as I was with a sword. Plus she had a not-so-secret crush on me.

I could tell she had some kind of feelings, possibly resulting from when I saved her and showed her kindness, where others showed her pain and hatred. It was a cruel kind of love, where she would basically love anyone who had saved her. Though I felt like there was more to it than meets the eye.

Either way, we were currently relaxing in the main room, watching T.V. on our new, bigger T.V. Though it wasn't a plasma screen T.V., it was still pretty good. Some clothes were drying outside on the balcony, so were just really minding our time until we either had to bring the clothes back in, or we were given a job.

Yawning, I watched the screen as a yellow square sponge made some kind of joke to a pink star, which made Luna laugh. The show was funny, but I wasn't someone for comedies. I liked action more.

In any case, it was then that we received a call. Grabbing my cell phone, I answered as I lowered the volume on the T.V. with the remote, shushing Luna at the same time. She closed her mouth and covered it with her hands, but she still giggled as she watched the cartoon.

"Yes, Sol speaking." I answered with bored eyes. I listened to the other voice on the line. "Huh? What do you-" I stopped. "Okay then. We'll be there then." I hung up and placed the phone on the table.

"What is it? A job?" The Gothic Lolita girl asked, eyes raring to go.

"Ah... not exactly, though it's still a job, I guess."

{Later}

"Where are we going?" Luna asked sweetly as she held my right hand.

"Ministry of Defense." I told her paying the hand-holding no amount of attention. Was it embarrassing? A little bit. Was it necessary? Probably not. Did it make her look cute? Yes.

"Ohh. Why?" She asked me with a smile on her face.

"No idea. They didn't give me a reason other than saying to and I quote, 'Report to the Ministry of Defense or face the consequences.'"

"Oh. So they threatened you?"

"It was more like my Boss was calling me in about something. Perhaps something major is happening?" I shrugged my shoulders. It didn't perturb me in any way, but it was always best to report in when asked to. I wouldn't want to get fired. This was technically my first job, and like all first jobs, you want to do a good job.

A few minutes later, and we were being led through the Ministry of Defense to a specific room.

Luna told me about her favorite cartoon to watch, and I pretended to listen, nodding every now and then and agreeing with what she said. When our guide stopped in front of a large wooden door, she looked pretty happy and content.

"Right this way, Iaido Civil Security Agency." The man said, showing the door. After he said that, he walked away. Looking at Luna, I took a step forward and opened the door.

Inside the room, were tons of people - in the chairs, sat men wearing suits. Lined up against the walls and next to the windows, were Promoters and Initiators.

There was one spot open on the table, however, I read the name tag from a distance. The spot belonged to a 'Tendou Civil Security Corporation.'

I scanned the wall, and saw a place at the front of the room that was empty enough to stand at. Since no one was standing in the back of the room, I figured you weren't supposed to stand there. So, with Luna right at my side, I walked down the room.

I then paid attention to some of the whispers I was hearing.

"Look. It's the rookie who made it big in a month."

"You mean the guy who is almost below the 100,00 in ranks? Who got there in only a month?"

"Yeah. Some pairs take little more than a year to get where he is now - and yet he made it there in twelve times the speed of them!"

"A real monster there."

"Monster of Iaido is what he is."

"The Knight."

Smiling, I walked down the room at a nice gait. Seems as if there were some really good rumors about me.

"However..."

"Yeah, it's probably all just his Initiator, right?"

"Probably. I mean, I hear that she is a Model Mantis. So fighting Gastrea up close should be a breeze."

"I'd like to see what he'd do in a long range fight."

"Ha, he'd probably lose."

Okay, the last part pissed me off. Apparently there was some good and some bad rumors about me. Well, whatever. I can handle it. Its not like I handled being called a monster for years now. I rolled my eyes.

Luna suddenly grabbed my left hand. Looking down at her face, I could tell she was mad, but she didn't say anything. If she did, we might get in trouble. Against all of these skilled Initiators and Promoters around me, I didn't think I could win, and she could tell too. Never fight a large group of enemy that you didn't know the strength of. A basic rule of fighting.

You could be stronger than them, but if there are too many, you'll simply get overwhelmed.

Arriving at the end of the room, I leaned against the wall, with Luna leaning against my legs for reasons unknown to me.

A few minutes later, a new pair arrived in the room.

A girl and a guy. I didn't see an Initiator...

As the walked down the room, the girl walking towards the last chair available - I quickly figured out that they were the Tendou Civil Security Corporation because of that - a man with blonde hair, large muscles, and wearing a black scarf over his mouth, walked out in front of them. He carried a rather large sword strapped to his back.

"Oi, oi. What's this?" He said. "Are kids pretendin' to be Civil Officers nowadays? With that last group that arrived, I'm starting to have bad feelings about where this Agency is going. What with letting kids join." I was slightly ticked off at being called a kid, but I ignored it. I kept one eye on what was happening, however.

"If you're going to talk big, at least say your name first." The boy stepped in, trying to sound threatening.

"Huh?" The large man then pulled back his head, and headbutted the boy, knocking him back a few feet, his feet sliding against the ground. He stopped, crouched down on the ground, but otherwise without injury.

"Satomi-kun!" The girl called out, turning to see if he was okay. The now named Satomi placed a hand behind his back, and I could vaguely hear the sound of him gripping a gun.

"Hey, brat. If you're a Promoter, then where's your tool?" The man said, grabbing the hilt of his sword.

"My tool?" Satomi repeated, not understanding.

"Your Initiator." The man clarified. Satomi now understood what he meant. And he was not happy.

"Are you calling Enju a tool?!" I put two-to-two together, and arrived at the conclusion that Enju was his Initiator. Judging by his anger and what he said, he clearly saw this 'Enju' as more than just a tool. He probably shared a similar, if not greater, relationship with his Initiator than with me and Luna.

The man then started to draw his sword in retaliation to what Satomi said, but-

"Stop it, Shougen!" A man in a suit said, without looking at him. The man, Shougen, stopped, surprised.

"Mr. Mikajima!" He said with surprise.

"If you're not going to listen to me, then leave." After a few moments, Shougen dropped his sword and returned back to where he stood before.

"Whatever." He had said in response under his breath, but still loud enough to be heard.

Satomi watched him go back to his spot, before he stood up. The girl nodded at Mikajima, and he returned the nod.

The girl then went to her seat and sat down, with Satomi standing behind her to the left at attention. She then started to whisper something to him, but I couldn't hear from where I stood.

I, however, looked down at Luna. She was... sleeping. Against my legs... How was that even possible!?

A few moments later, and a man walked into the room. He looked across the room, and his gaze stopped at an empty seat I didn't notice. Oose Future Corporation seemed to be the only group absent.

Wait a minute... they didn't prepare a seat for me? That's messed up. Beyond cruel. I had only just noticed it... Well, whatever. We were new, and the table was full anyway.

"We're missing someone." He said. He then sighed. "If anyone wishes to turn down this job, then it'd be better for you to leave now. You cannot turn it down once you've been briefed." He then let a few moments pass, and looked around the room once more. Nodding in satisfaction, he turned around, and stared at the massive monitor behind him. At the same time, I nudged Luna to wake up.

"Wha-?" She sleepily said, opening her eyes. I motioned for her to stay awake, and she did so with all her might.

"Let the briefing begin." He said and bowed towards the monitor.

When the monitor turned on, it revealed a woman and an old guy.

The woman was Seitenshi, but I didn't know who the geezer was. Everyone who was sitting, stood up as fast as they could.

"Greetings, everyone. There are two missions." Seitenshi said. "Your primary mission is to exterminate the Gastrea that infected the Tokyo Area civilian yesterday. Secondly, I want you to return the case inside the Gastrea unharmed. That is all."

A picture of a white case in the shape of a box appeared on the screen, as well as Reward.

Underneath that, was a lot of zeros. One billion yen. My eyes nearly turned into yen signs. Luna fully woke up from seeing the large sum. She then started to tug on my pants, getting my attention.

"Lets get the case first!" She whispered not-so-quietly to me. I smiled down at her and patted her head.

"I'll try my best." I told her. She giggled in response and we went back to paying attention to what was happening.

"May I ask what's inside the case?" The girl from before asked, raising her hand.

"Who are you?" Was the response.

"I'm Tendou Kisara of the Tendou Civil Security Agency." She replied.

Seitenshi gasped lightly in surprise, and with her eyes, she looked at the man next to her, even as she started to reply back to Kisara.

"I've heard about you, President Tendou." She then looked back at her. "However, due to the confidentiality of its contents, I cannot disclose that to you."

"The source of infection was just a Model Spider." She said quickly. "If that's all we're up against, then any Promoter could take it down themselves. So why are you asking for the help of these top class Civil Officers? Are its contents so dangerous that it warrants such as extraordinary reward?" She waited for Seitenshi's response to that. Seitenshi responded with her eyes closed.

"That's something you don't need to know." Was her response.

Then, right after those words, a voice started to laugh.

I looked around the room at first, however, from a tug on my pants from Luna, she pointed towards a man wearing a mask that was not there before.

"Who's there?" Seitenshi asked, not knowing where the voice had come from.

"Me." The man said, and my suspicions were confirmed; he was the laughing voice that came out of nowhere. How did he get in here? I was fully on guard.

The two men next to him moved away in surprise, nearly falling down in the process.

The masked man had his legs on the table. Seriously, how did no one notice him? How did I not notice him?

"You're..." Satomi said, surprised. It seems that he knows the guy from somewhere.

The man lightly chuckled and changed the positions of his legs, from being on top of his each, to spread apart. He then stood up like that. It was actually pretty cool...

He took off his hat, and introduced himself to Seitenshi. "I'm Hiruko. Hiruko Kagetane." He then bowed. "I believe this is the first time we've met, my lady, the incompetent head of state." He finished, looking up at her while he was bowing.

Satomi pulled out his gun and pointed it at him, though he didn't fire. Like him, I had a hand on my sword, my thumb pressed against the guard tightly. Luna was the same with her own sword.

"How have you been, Satomi?" Hiruko greeted the boy who was aiming a gun at his face lightly.

"How the Hell did you get in here?!" he yelled.

"Through the front door, of course." he replied. "Though I did have to kill a few pesky flies that were in my way."

I narrowed my eyes at him. I nudged Luna lightly and she took a step to my right, so at any given moment, the two of us could charge in. Luna had a scowl on her face. She didn't like murderers; especially those that wore masks that had a creepy smile painted on them, and yellow eyes that could be seen from the eye holes, which were in the shape of eyebrows.

The mask was creepy. That was all.

"Allow me to introduce you." He then said suddenly, switching the subject. He looked over to his right. "Come, Kohina."

"Yes, Papa." A feminine voice appeared from behind Satomi. A girl with two swords on her back, wearing a short blue dress, that looked a lot like Luna's, ran forward, from Satomi's left. Her arms were outstretched to the side, and she had a carefree smile on her face and red eyes. She hopped up on the long table the masked man stood on, using her arms and giving a cute grunting sound as she climbed on top of the table, instead of jumping onto it.

She sent a curtsy towards Seitenshi. "I'm Hiruko Kohina, ten years old." She greeted. I then noticed that the swords on her back, had blood on them.

"She is my Initiator, and my daughter." Hiruko said.

"Papa, that guy's pointing a gun at us." Kohina said, but before her 'Papa' could say anything, she looked over at us, and my eyes widened. The amount of power she had... "And those two are looking ready to draw their swords..." She trailed off, eyes staring right into mine, and then Luna's. I could feel Luna tense her muscles. Then- "Can I slice them up?" She said, looking from Satomi, to me, to Luna.

"No, no." Hiruko said, looking from Satomi, to me. "Not yet, dear. Be patient."

She then pouted cutely, ruining the blood thirst I was feeling. "Boo. C'mon, Papa..."

"What the Hell do you want?" Satomi growled at the masked man.

"I wanted to announce that I'm entering the race as well. And that we'll be taking the Inheritance of the Seven Stars." He said, looking at the screen. Seitenshi was clearly irritated by him for saying that.

"The Inheritance of the Seven Stars?" Satomi echoed.

"Yes. That's what's inside the case you're looking for. How about we go over the rules?" He said, looking around the room. "Let's see if you lot can claim the Inheritance of the Seven Stars before me. How about we wager your lives?"

After he said that, a sword was stabbed into the ground. The culprit, was Shougen. "Shut the Hell up already!" He yelled. He then pulled back his sword and leaped forward. "I'll cut you in half!" He said, and slashed Hiruko!

However, the sword bounced cleanly off an invisible force field of some kind, and sailed through the air. The sword was easily caught at the hilt by the man's Initiator with one arm. I whistled at the display.

It's not everyday that you can see a little girl catch a giant sword with one hand, after all.

"What the-" Shougen gasped with surprise.

"Isn't that a shame?" Hiruko said, staring right at Shougen.

"Fall back, Shougen!" Mikajima said, pointing a gun at Hiruko.

Then, at the same time, everyone holding a gun, even Satomi, fired their bullets at Hiruko, however, like the giant sword, the bullets hit something before hitting him. By the time they stopped shooting, all the bullets that was fired at him, were levitating in the air.

"A barrier?" I said in surprise, my eyes narrowed. Sensing something bad, I gripped my sword with my right hand, ready to draw. Luna noticed this, and did the same.

"It's a repulsion shield." he explained. "I call it the 'Imaginary Gimmick'."

At the same time, Kohina was poking one of the bullets floating in the air.

"Are you even human?" Satomi said to him.

"Of course I am. However, in order to generate this, I had to replace most of my internal organs with Varanium instruments. Let me introduce myself properly, Satomi." He stood up straight and introduced himself once more.

"I'm formerly of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Eastern Force, 787th Mechanization Special Unit. I'm Hiruko Kagetane of the New Humanity Creation Plan." He finished with sinister yellow eyes peering out of his mask. A shiver traveled down my spine.

"787th of the Anti-Gastrea Special Unit?" Mikajima said, taking a step back. "There's no way that's real..."

"You're free to decide whether or not to believe me." He then laughed evilly.

Satomi recognized what was about to happen, at the same time I did. Satomi, in contrast to me, however, yelled to get down and pushed Kisara down to the ground, with him on top of her.

The bullets that were fired at Hiruko, then shot back at us!

As for the bullets that strayed too close to us, we easily cut them down. We drew once, and then let the blade sing as it danced all around us, never getting in the way of the other, even with the close distance we shared between each other.

Most of the other people in the room, however, was not so lucky. They were shot down, either dead, or injured.

Hiruko laughed again. "Satomi." He said, holding up a box that wasn't there before. "I brought you a present." He then placed the white box with blue spots down onto the table. "Let's go, Kohina." He said to his daughter.

"Right, Papa." She replied.

"Despair, the lot of you. The day of extinction is nigh." The two then tried to jump out of the window, which shattered when the bullets slammed into it, however-

"Not so fast!" I said, and appeared in front of the two. I drew horizontally, and forced them to take a step back. "After what just happened, I'm afraid I cannot allow you to just leave empty handed. I need to return the favor, after all."

The two of them were strong. Even with Luna at my side, they might be a little too much for us to take.

"Hm? Aren't you the one who was..." He said, thinking back onto when he introduced his daughter and she had pointed us out to him. His eyes narrowed. "Hm. Cut him, Kohina."

"Yes, Papa! " She said, a grin appearing on her face as she drew her two blood-stained swords. She leaped at me, but before she could reach, Luna drew.

Her sword sliced through the air faster than mine, however, Kohina easily blocked it, and swatted the sword back. Luna, with her inexperience, nearly let the sword go from her hand.

Kohina laughed, and slashed her other sword at Luna, but Luna deflected the slash with a downward strike. She then sheathed her sword, and slashed vertically. Kohina guarded against the blow, and the two entered a deadlock. Sparks flew from their swords as they were pressed against each other - Kohina's two against Luna's one.

"Why won't you get cut!?" Kohina said, irritated at being unable to cut her down. I turned and faced Hiruko.

With his barrier, I couldn't make a bad move. So, I should just go from my strongest, and see how it goes!

"Secret Iai Style: Scarlet Rain!" I yelled. Luna gasped in surprised, and eagerly watched me as I drew my blade at Hiruko.

Hiruko, on the other hand, didn't do anything to deter me from drawing.

I then rushed forward, faster than most eyes could see. I drew my sword, and slashed.

I reappeared on the other side of Hiruko, and slowly, sheathed my sword as it 'hissed'.

However, when it made a 'kur-chunk', Hiruko wasn't injured. In fact, my right arm was bleeding from the shoulder. I had slammed the blunted sword into the force field created by Hiruko. The blade nearly penetrated, but then my muscles gave out against the pressure, and my skin tore from the shoulder, down to my elbow in a strange cracking pattern. It looked like what would happen if you were to hit a window - the cracks that formed. That was my right arm. Thin cracks marked the skin, and blood poured from it. Any more force, and I might've either broken my arm, or tore it off.

"Urgh..." I said, falling to a knee. I had made a single horizontal cut, while sounding basic, it was anything but. It was delivered with nearly all of my strength, so much, in fact, that if it hit an ordinary person, it would cut them in half, causing blood to shoot up into the air into a scarlet rain of blood.

However, the rain of blood that fell, came from me, in this case.

From behind me, I heard Luna shout my name.

"Sol!" She then forced Kohina away but sheathing her sword, letting Kohina fall forward from losing her balance from when their swords touched - the weight that supported her in the front, which was Luna and her sword, Makaze, disappearing suddenly, and so, causing her to stumble forward.

However, Luna didn't capitalize on that, and rushed forward, towards me. Hiruko let her pass him, and she stopped at my side, getting down and holding my arm.

"Are you okay?" She cried out in panic.

"Yeah, I'm f-fine." I said with gritted teeth. I then turned my head to look behind me. I stared at Hiruko. That shield was so much stronger than I thought... Most people would be downed in a single strike from that attack - even Luna. Though I would never use it against her.

Kohina 'tch'd' and turned to face us, but Hiruko stopped her.

"Stop. We must now leave." He said to her. Kohina stopped her advance, and put away her swords. As Hiruko jumped out of the building, Kohina stared back at Luna and me for few more seconds.

"What is your name?" She said, addressing Luna.

Luna looked at her. "Luna." She replied.

Kohina hummed. "Kohina." She said, stating her name. She then turned around and jumped out of the window, following after Hiruko.

After a few after that, Satomi and Kisara stood up.

"Satomi-kun, where did you meet him?" She said with distaste.

"Well..." He started, but the door suddenly opened. A man ran in, panicked about something.

"H-help! The... The President's..."

"Huh?" Kisara muttered. "That's the President of Oose Corporation's Secretary. The one who was absent.

"Th-the President was killed in his house!" He continued yelling, spittle flying from his mouth. "A-and his h-head is missing!"

I realized it right after Satomi. The present Hiruko gave him... it was still sitting on the table. Turning my eyes to look at it, I saw Satomi approach it.

At the bottom of the box, blood seeped out.

Then-

"I'm adding another requirement for this mission. Recover the case before that man." Seitenshi said, angered, though it barely showed in her voice, and not in her face. "If in the wrong hands, its contents could destroy the Monolith barrier, and terminate the entire population of those in the Tokyo Area. The contents are meant to be sealed away." She finished.

After that, the screen went black.

It was a few seconds later, that Luna helped me to stand up.

I was then approached by Satomi, while Kisara hung back, watching us.

"Is your arm okay?" he asked, staring at my right arm. I grabbed it with my left.

"It'll be better. It's not too heavily injured. Just some scratches. A lot of them too..." I winced slightly, and Luna hung onto my legs harder.

Satomi nodded. "I'm Satomi Rentaro." He said, offering his left hand. I let go of my right arm, and accepted with my left hand.

"I'm Sol Laren. This is my adopted little sister, my Initiator, Luna Laren." I said, gesturing towards the small girl that was holding onto my legs.

"I see." Satomi replied. "Behind me is Tendou Kisara. My Initiator, though she isn't here, is Enju Aihara."

I nodded.

"Maybe you would like to meet her another time? I think young Luna could be friends with her."

"Yeah, that would be nice. But for now..." I looked at Luna. She let go of my legs. "I'm going to go over to the hospital and get this patched up. He nodded in understanding.

"Then, see you another time." After that, he walked past me, followed by Kisara, who nodded at me. I returned the nod and watched the two leave.

After that, I let Luna take my right hand. "Come on. We should go too."

"R-right." She said, worry evident in her tone, even as her eyebrows were pulled upward with worry. Then, the two of us made our way to the hospital.


There we go! Now, this chapter was shorter than the last, however, a lot of stuff happened!

What will happen next? Well, if you've seen the Anime or read the light novel or manga, then you might just know!

If you don't know, then just wait patiently until the next chapter comes out!

Anyway, please follow and or favorite if you enjoyed, and leave a review! I really appreciate it! Thanks for reading!

Bye!