Alright, so I know how long it's been since that prologue has been posted, but I figure this way, it'll be like a fresh start for the story. Anyway, this is where the story officially begins.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This flight is sooo boring. Of all things to do right before they send me away, my parents take me on vacation? I mean the trip form Izumo to Funbari isn't very long. But flying in from Canada? That's a little long if you ask me.
Anyway, I need to prepare myself. Once we land, I'm going to have to see my cousin for the first time in years. Not that I mind, he's not all that bad… I think. Last I heard he was living with that girlfriend of his. She's one I'm not looking forward to seeing. I remember the incident when we were kids, in which she had us running laps around the trees.
Oh, the plane just dropped. We must be landing soon. I'll just wrap it up here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sencerity closed her diary with a sigh. At that moment a voice came over the intercom announcing that they would be landing shortly. She shoved her diary back into her bag, and reached for her gum. She was not in the mood for her ears to hurt.
Sencerity closed her eyes and tried to think. It really was odd, her situation. She had gotten fed up with life in Izumo, and wanted out. Instead of opting for a boarding school, her parents decided to send her to Funbari, to live with her cousin.
Of course being the weird people they were, her parents decided it would be fun to go on a little family vacation before she left. For whatever odd reason, they chose a nice little city in Canada. She wasn't quite sure why…
The sudden thud made her jump. She opened her eyes and realized the plane had touched down. She had dozed off while she was thinking. Well that was just great.
Sighing, she reached under the seat for her bag, and stood up.
It wasn't a long walk off the plane and across the terminal. She quickly grabbed her luggage, and headed off to be picked up. She looked left and right, until the crowd thinned somewhat and she saw him. Her cousin. Yoh Asakura.
He had his usual grin on his face. Of course, his usual outfit, jeans and an open shirt. Standing beside him was Anna. She had her eyes closed and her arms folded.
"Sencerity!" said Yoh, waving.
Sencerity couldn't help but smile. She walked toward him, dragging her luggage after her. As soon as she in range, Yoh pulled her in for a hug.
Surprised, she stood still until Yoh let go of her. When he pulled away, She looked at him, confused.
"Happy to see me?" she asked.
"You have no idea," said Yoh, his expression changed to one of relief.
At this point Anna opened her eyes. Her eyes scanned Sencerity for a minute, leaving her feeling uncomfortable. Sencerity had a vague suspicion why, but she had no inclination to voice it aloud.
"Sencerity," said Anna, walking forward, and putting a hand on Sencerity's shoulder.
"It's been a while."
"Yeah," replied Sencerity.
"Shako is still with you?"
"Yeah," answered Sencerity, thinking of her guardian spirit.
"Not a lot of fights I guess," stated Yoh.
Sencerity rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright knock it off you two, I am still alive, and in one piece. Stop looking for injuries."
"Sorry, it's a habit," said Yoh, "I see you got a new scarf."
Sencerity's hand rose to the black scarf around her neck. "My old one was a little torn…" she murmured, "Anyway," she said in a louder voice, shaking her head, and reaching back for her luggage "Are we just gonna keep standing here, or are we going back to your place?"
Yoh coughed. "Alright, let's get going." He grabbed for Sencerity's suitcase.
"I can pull it myself," said Sencerity.
Yoh yanked on the handle. "Too bad."
Sencerity was about to say something when Anna pulled on her arm. "Let's go."
Sencerity sighed, and let Anna pull her out of the airport. "I can walk, you know."
Anna said nothing as they walked to the doors. Sencerity could hear Yoh behind, pulling her luggage along. She thought she heard him mutter something about "girl's always pack so much."
"Stop complaining," said Anna, pushing open one of the doors, "I doubt that's all of it. Right Sencerity?"
Sencerity turned slightly and gave Yoh and apologetic look. "Mom and Dad are sending more of my stuff up," she said.
"More stuff," muttered Yoh, "how long are you planning to stay up here again?"
"I'm moving in remember Yoh?" asked Sencerity, stopping when Anna did.
"Yes, that's right," answered Yoh, "I didn't really believe it when I got that call from your mom. They're actually letting you leave Izumo?"
"I know," said Sencerity, "It took me a few days for it to fully get through my head, that my parents were actually letting go of their leash they have on me."
"It's a miracle," said Yoh, as Anna hailed a cab.
"More like your mom is finally realizing that you're a teenager, and if she doesn't let you go, you'll still find your own way out," said Anna, "And they'd both rather have you staying with family so they can check on you and make sure you're not doing anything stupid."
Sencerity was spared answering this by the arrival of a cab. Yoh threw her suitcase into the trunk, while her and Anna got into the back. Yoh shoved himself into the back, as Anna leaned forward to give the taxi driver their address.
Sencerity leaned her head back on the seat. Part of her felt very happy about the fact that she was here. She was out, she was away from her over- bearing parents. But part of her couldn't help feel a little guilty…
"Hey Sencerity, you still speak German?"
Sencerity's eyes snapped open. She hadn't realized she had closed them. She looked across at Yoh, who was staring at her.
"Of course I do," said Sencerity, "that was one thing my dad never wanted me to forget. He said that it was important that I needed to know. Why?"
"We have a new… friend," said Anna, closing her eyes, "he's from Germany."
"Really?"
"Yeah," said Yoh, "Faust."
Sencerity froze at that. That was a name she had heard of.
"F- Faust?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Yoh, "Is there something wrong?"
"Only the fact that his name was in a childhood story that shook me to my very core," muttered Sencerity, thinking of the story of Dr. Faust.
Yoh frowned. "Oh, that. Don't worry, Faust is nothing like his ancestor… anymore."
Sencerity quickly sat forward. "Anymore?" she hissed.
"He's changed since meeting us," said Yoh, "Wow Sencerity, what a reaction. You haven't even met the guy yet. There's nothing to worry about." Yoh paused for a minute. "Look you'll meet him tonight. Can you try not to judge him, based on what his ancestor did?"
Sencerity's eye twitched slightly. "I'll… try," she said. It took her mind a minute to process what he had just said. "What do you mean I'll meet him tonight?"
"Yoh invited all his idiot friends," answered Anna, "And the honest truth is, you're going to be seeing a lot of them so… be nice."
Yoh coughed. Sencerity could understand why. Anna was telling her to be nice?
At that moment the cab came to a stop. Sencerity looked outside the window. In all honesty it really didn't look like residential house. She took in the size of it, and wondered how Yoh and Anna were able to afford such a place.
"Sencerity, are you coming?"
Sencerity shifted her attention to the side. Both Yoh and Anna had already gotten out of the car. She quickly followed them, as Yoh went to the back to get her suitcase.
Anna paid the cab driver, then turned to walk toward the house. Sencerity followed her, as she made the walk to the door. Upon arrival, Anna unlocked the door and pushed it open.
It wasn't at all what she expected. In face it was… well different.
"Anna just how were you guys able to afford this place?" asked Sencerity.
"How do you think?" asked Anna, "this place is haunted. Of course we got it for cheap."
"I see," muttered Sencerity, just as Yoh came into the door with her suitcase.
"Master Yoh," said a voice from the corner.
Sencerity immediately looked to the source of the voice. It was samurai ghost. Interesting. She looked back at Yoh, then realized that this must be his guardian spirit.
"Yeah hey Amidamaru," said Yoh, setting Sencerity's suitcase down, "We're back."
"I see that," said Amidamaru, his eyes sweeping over Sencerity.
Yoh followed his gaze. Before Sencerity could say anything, Yoh put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "Amidamaru, this is Sencerity. Sencerity, this is Amidamaru. He's kinda my guardian ghost."
"I figured as much," said Sencerity.
Amidamaru seemed to be looking more closely at her. His one eye was narrowed slightly.
"Yes, you are definitely one of Master Yoh's family," he stated, "The resemblance is there."
"Um… good to her it," said Sencerity, "And since we're introducing guardian spirits… Shako?" she called in a louder voice.
At that moment, a cat appeared beside her. It was slightly bigger than an average cat. Sencerity wasn't sure exactly why. All she knew was that it had something to do with her upbringing. There were black markings around the cat's eyes, and the rest of the fur was gray, striped with black.
"Shako," said Anna. Sencerity jumped slightly at the sound of her voice. She had been so quiet. Anna's eyes were on Shako.
Sencerity looked back to Yoh, who was looking at Anna with a frown on his face. Anna's eyes narrowed for a split second. Sencerity resisted the urge to roll hers. They didn't have to say anything for her to understand what was going through their minds.
"Hey Yoh, was there any particular room you had in mind for me to stay in, or is it the couch for me?"
Yoh's head snapped to look at her.
"You're staying in one of the guest rooms," said Anna, "It's upstairs. We put you in the way back because well… we know you. Or at least what you were like years ago."
Sencerity nodded. Yoh grabbed hold of her suitcase again. "Come on, I'll show you."
The house was bigger than she had thought it was. Her eyes scanned the halls as she followed Yoh. They stopped at the end of one of the hallways, and Yoh pushed open the door.
It wasn't a big room. The bed sat in the center, with a night table beside it. There was a dresser in the other corner, beside a closet.
A rather large window took up much of the back wall. Just off to the side was a desk with a chair. Sencerity took everything in, while Yoh put her suitcase on the bed.
"So, the washroom is down the hall. Be careful at night, it gets kinda dark. We don't need you tripping on anything," Yoh was saying.
"Hey Yoh," murmured Sencerity.
Yoh broke off mid- sentence. "Yeah?"
"I know you and Anna don't think a cat spirit is all that good as a guardian, but it works for me, and you know what, I'm still alive, which obviously means she is good in a fight."
Yoh let out a small smile. "Yeah, I know. I have no problem with Shako, Sencerity, honest. I'm more worried about what Anna can do to her. I know Anna can quite literally tie down Amidamaru. Imagine what she can do to Shako."
"Oh," said Sencerity, slightly surprised. Her thoughts trailed off to the fact that she had just left Shako downstairs with Anna.
"Anyway," said Yoh, "I'll go and let you settle in. I need to go get food ready…"
He was out the door before Sencerity could say anything. Sencerity stood where she was for a moment, before she walked over to the bed, and opened her suitcase. She had stuffed it with as many clothes she could fit. She began to pull out her clothing, bringing them over to the dresser. In less than five minutes all that was left in her bag was a slim metal box. She smiled, and pulled it open to reveal her crossbow. It was a small stroke of luck that had enabled her to bring this with her. That luck being her mom agreeing that she needed her weapon with her, and her dad knowing ways of concealing it.
She spent the next half hour arranging her things around the room, before she was satisfied with the way things were. When she finished, she took one good look around the room. It wasn't perfect, but she didn't care. The only thing that really mattered at this point was that she was here.
Sencerity crossed the room to the mirror that was in the corner. She took a good look at herself. She stared for a minute as if to verify that she was actually here. Her long, black hair, fell straight past her shoulders as usual. This, with her slightly tanned skin, and her somewhat short height she had gotten from her mother. Her blue eyes, however, came from her father. That and…
Sencerity's hands went to the scarf around her neck. She pulled it off, and dropped it to her feet. There it was. Her mark. It was a simple thing, a flower sharing a point with an asterisk. The dark lines that made it up, covered most of the left side of her neck, and one point extended to her face. That was nothing though. That was covered easily by an easy adjustment of her scarf. It could've been worse…
At this moment, she heard the door downstairs slam shut. A very loud laugh sounded from downstairs, followed by a girl's voice complaining about something.
Sencerity sighed. 'Here we go,' she thought. She knew this meant one thing. Yoh's friends were here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Ch. 1 ^_^