Chapter 2

The Arrival

How could he had done such a thing, to his own granddaughter nonetheless. Before she was just a junior in high school but now she was a bride to be. Did he even care about how she felt? Of course not, and of course she didn't know the man she was getting engaged to. According to him the marriage was meant to draw in both families to strengthen each other, but to hell with that. How did he expect her to take care of not only herself but a family, she could barely handle her own damn little brother so how was she going to handle her own children? Even the thought that some of her friends were their to support her didn't even seem to cheer her up. Something was still missing though, something she could never let go of.

"Alright now everyone give me the biggest, brightest smile you can." said Oshira as he prepared his camera.

Of course being her friend he wanted her to have a few picture of them all so she wouldn't forget about them and their little adventures they all had together. Through thick and thin, no matter how annoyed they got with each other they stuck together side by side. As he lined up his few with Kurumu and the others though he noticed something was off.

"Yeah Diataro could you possibly smile? Just for a second?"

"Hey I didn't ask to be in this picture. Come get me when things start getting good." he replied as he began walking away.

"Oh so it's going to be that way Fluffy? Alright I'll bite."

And with a single thought the ground rose up in front of the werewolf before it gave him a good smack across the face so he fell back into the group. This were their last few days with her and he would be damned if he was going to let one of the main men walk out on a picture. He didn't care if he was a S class, he would kick his ass.

"Cheap shot. You sure you want to take this on?"

"Hey I faced a titan and I lived. I'm still alive and standing right here punk!"

"Alright both of you settle down. You don't want her to see you two fighting like this do you?"

Unfortunately they were both too far gone as their glares penetrated each others very soul. It had always been him versus but at that point he threw up his hands and said screw it as he drew his claws out.

"Ok..."

And with one pounce they were both sent to the ground as they punched and kicked each other. It was clear who had the upper hand in the fight but that wasn't what mattered to Kurumu and the others who just stood there, watching.

"Nice, that sure did the trick." said Mizore.

"Well I would like to see you do any better." she challenged.

Was that a challenge she heard? Well if she insisted so with her lollipop in one hand she took aim and with one shot froze the two feuding friends inside a nice, big block of ice. And with that the deed was done.

"There you go."

"You didn't have to go that far!" replied Kurumu as both Salena and Malon rushed over to help their friends out of their frozen prison.

Looking over at her though she could tell that poor little Minami was lost in her own thoughts. For the longest time she had watched over her, keeping her safe when her parents weren't around, and sometimes messing with her a bit, but to force a marriage on a girl who clearly wasn't ready for it? Yeah she couldn't agree with it.

"What's wrong?" asked Mizore.

"You don't see it? Just look at her, look at her face. Does it seem like she wants this?"

"Yeah but are you really prepared to go up again him? You wouldn't last two minutes against him, you barely lasted one against Moka, remember?"

"Yeah, but still. What about Keno? You know how he feels about her."

"It'll be tough but he'll find someone else?"

"Yeah and if he can't maybe I'll just have to solve that problem for him." she teased as she boasted her chest.

"Yeah you do that."

Meanwhile while the others were busy with their own business Tsukune and his family were all busy waiting for their last guest to arrive. It was still only but nine in the morning but he said he would be there right on time. As time passed though Minami began to worry that something might had happened. The directions she had given him to the home of her fiance, but was it just too far for him? No, she couldn't think like that. He would come right?

"Is something wrong? You've been a bit down since we've arrived." asked her father.

"Where is he?" he asked as her eyes continued to focus on the stone bridge in front of them.

"You don't need to worry about that, there's no way he's not coming." he replied to calm her down.

"And if he doesn't I'll go over there and drag him straight here." he mother pledged as they both placed a hand on her shoulders to reassure her.

And she meant it, if there was one thing she hated seeing it was her children being upset and if she had to drive to his house, knock him out and bring him there she would do it. In her mind though she just wanted to see him one last time before her life took off because once she she was married it would be quite some time before they would see each other again, especially when he was so determined to officially enter the E.D.F. With her mother, father, and brother there as well as her friends everything felt just a little bit better though, even if she hated the idea of a forced marriage.

"I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure he wouldn't miss it for the world." followed Malon.

And she was right, in mere seconds the sound of a motorcycle was heard approaching the bridge where they had entered. From the darkness of the first came their late friend dressed in a black shirt and jacket, blue jeans, and red/black shows as he sped on ahead on his trusty steed.

"See, what did I tell you? He wouldn't miss it for the world." he said as they watched him run down the bridge.

Though something wasn't right. Not long after he exited the lush forest three flying figures appeared from the trees as they tried to chase him down. What had he done wrong? He showed them his invitation at the opening gate before he drove into the forest, so what was their deal? Luckily though he had a few tricks up his sleeves to take care of them.

"Oh come on would you just leave me alone for one second?!"" he scowled as he pulled three small, blue orbs from his pocket.'

It didn't take much to charge up his own little trickster weapons and once the blue bar around the center of the small spheres lit up it was time to get rid of them, or at least stun them. With one hand in the handle of his motorbike and one holding his secret weapons he chucked them as hard as he could. While he didn't like using his father's inventions to hurt the innocent they were just getting too annoying, plus the expression on their faces was just priceless as the three orbs spin together a electrical net that caught them. Like butterflies in a net they down and out.

"Hmph we'll that will slow them down for a bit and I'm only five minutes late."

But the fight wasn't over yet as the bridge beneath his bike began to tremble. At first it confused him, was it an earthquake? No, it was one of the flying gremlins that were still on his tail. What had he done so wrong to deserve such treatment?

"Alright fine, let's see how much you like my spark blaster." he said to himself as he charged up for the final strike.

But as his eyes returned to the front he saw that he was headed straight towards his friends and at the speed he was going he couldn't slow down. Quickly he tried to lower his speed when something snagged his wheel and sent him flying right off his bike and into his best friend.

"Dark, kind of soft. Oh no."

If he was where he thought he was then that meant she was right there with her.

"Um Ryo?"

"I know..." he groaned.

It hadn't been the first time he had accidentally touched her chest and yet he still got heat for it even when it was on an accident and just as before her grip hadn't weakened at all as her mother grabbed him by the top of his head and pulled him straight up so he was face to face with her. Yep, the monstrous energy was still there and so was her ability to completely pierce his soul with those red eyes of her. Of course he did just grope her daughter but it was still just an accident.

"Hi..." was all that came out.

"Alright now gentle, we don't want to kill him. It was all an accident right?" asked her husband.

At that point he couldn't even respond so to solve the problem he reached over and gently forced his head to move up and down. While she would have liked to had pummeled him just as she had done while they were training she didn't want to see her little girl get upset at her so instead of crushing his skull she dropped him straight to the ground.

"Alright Ok, thanks for that welcome Mrs. Aono."

Oh but it wasn't over yet, his little flying friend still had a bone to pick with him as she flew right into him. As they rolled across the ground though he pushed her off with his feet, sending her right into his frozen friends who were then set free.

"Damn it girl what is your problem?" he asked as he became more frustrated.

"You are intruding on private ground here. You must leave." she said as she tried to grab his arms only to have her flung off.

"Alright here I'll show you. Look here, this is an invitation to my friends wedding. I showed it to you on my way in."

"You were speeding by on a motorbike, flashing it won't do you much good if we can't see it!"

Well he couldn't argue with her there, he had been in such a hurry that he put the metal to the metal in order to try and arrive on time, but even so his attempt failed. As he stood back up though he was almost tackled back to the ground by his lovely vampire friend, but of course she didn't want a hug.

"Oh, things never change a guess." he muttered as he let her drink up, it had been a month or so since they had last seen each other.

How she had missed not only his blood but him as well. Compared to being alone with her family he brought a much more uplifting feeling with him even when he seemed a bit down he always had that smile. Then she remembered that after a few days she wouldn't see him again for who knew how long.

"Alright that's enough. You can't drain it all unless you want him to die." her mother said as she gently pulled her back.

"Ah geez, my neck please." he groaned as her fangs were forced from the small puncture wounds.

Yeah tear the flesh off around his neck why didn't she? It wasn't like he needed it. Oh well pain was pain but surrounding them sure was a sight. The forest was just the entrance but surrounding the grounds was a single waterfall that ran completely around the property and vanished behind the trees beyond while hovering platforms floated above the dark abyss below. Even though he was still down about the whole marriage thing the place itself felt so peaceful that he could almost just fall back and take a nap in the grass.

"Pretty nice but isn't the waterfall a bit...dangerous?"

It almost made him jump though when he got a response from a voice that didn't recognize.

"It's a beauty isn't it? A fine work of art put together by my family over the many generations. What was once out old castle became ruins and what remains floats above the never ending abyss below."

Yeah that wasn't creepy at all. Standing behind him was a man about the same height as Minami's grandfather but instead of neatly groomed hair his was simply slicked back as a dark blue jacket rested around his upper torso, his black pants ran down to his ankle, his blue shoes shined in the sunlight and to finish it all off was a pocket watch that was kept snug in his jacket pocket for safe keeping.

"Yeah, better than the old mans castle that's for sure. Much more vibrant and peaceful and I'm not constantly getting my butt kicked."

Then came the overwhelming energy that far surpassed her mothers. He had to learn to keep his big mouth shut.

"You were saying Keno?" he heard her grandfather ask as he kept his head forward.

"Nothing, nothing at all sir. Just talking to..."

"Kanji Sazuhara, sorry that I didn't introduce myself before but since we're all here now perhaps we should all proceed inside."

He had no objections to that as rushed to his friends side so ensure his safety. Before they could follow though both Moka and Tsukune stopped as they noticed someone was missing.

"Um father, where's Shaun?" she asked.

"Huh? He was following us through the castle."

"Check again." replied Tsukune.

After a quick headcount it turned out that he was missing.

"Grandfather, how could you lose my little brother when he was right beside you?" asked Minami.

"Relax, I'll go and look for him. The rest of you head inside."

That was just the start though.

"Sorry to add to this list, but Ryo seems had vanished as well." said Salena.