You are the Guardian of Hope
Disclaimer: I only own Sapphire, Smoke, Yageo, Tama, Ishida, the names of Eiji's family, the Eiji devils, Eiji angels, the co-op attacks between the Guardians, Leo, Glacia, Nemi, Frank, Wei-Ko, Rotor (Aria), Hanako, Shugo, Miyabi, Akashi, and Death. I also own some of the plot of the story if you know what I mean. Anime, mangas, and games that are in this story that I do not own are Prince of Tennis, Yu Gi Oh GX, Chrono Crusade, Negima, Full Moon O Sagashite, Gravitation, Mermaid Melody, Marchen Awakens Romance (character mentioned at the beginning), Skip Beat, Ultra Maniac, Dark Stalkers, Sakura Wars and Super Smash Brothers Brawl.
Me: Now for the edited version of chapter 2. Enjoy, nya!
Chapter 2: You are the Guardian of Hope
Eiji's POV
Its so dark. I cant see anything. So cold...
Ji...Eiji!
Whose calling me?
Eiji-sempai!
Cant you tell that that those voices are your friends calling you?
They are?
Eiji Kikumaru, no the Guardian of Hope, open your eyes to the world that will be filled with darkness if you don't stop it!
What are you talking about?
EIJI-SEMPAI!
I opened my eyes. I was in a hospital bed. I glanced around to see a very worried O-chibi and Kaede Nagase, a girl who transferred to Seishun when I entered my junior year.
"Eiji, are you okay?" she asked calmly.
"Yeah, I think," I replied.
I tried to sit up, but my back was aching and I ended up falling backwards.
"You're still tired from the lake."
"How did you find me?" I I asked her.
"Uh..."
Normal POV FLASHBACK
"It feels great to be outside again!" Kaede cheered. She has cut class again.
She did this often. She never liked school since she would always get depressed whenever the teachers talked about careers for the future or blabbered on about respect. It would always bring up the memories of her teacher and friends that she was separated from. Going outside and training to become the best ninja that was better than the Village of the Leaves Ninjas gets those memories out of her mind. She would pay dearly for it later.
Kaede almost made her escape when she heard someone call out to her.
"Why are you skipping class again, Nagase-sempai?"
Kaede opened her eyes to see that the freshmen Ryoma Echizen was behind her. She frowned. So much for a clean getaway.
"Oh Ryoma-bozu, it's you," she said with a sigh.
"You don't seem happy to see me."
Kaede turned to the freshmen, "Of course not. A ninja is not suppose to be seen. If you were my enemy, I would have been killed instantly."
It was Ryoma's turn to frown, "You still believe in those ninja fantasies? For a junior you still are a kid."
Kaede shook her head, "It's not a fantasy Ryoma-bozu. Ninjas are real like magic and demons."
"Mada mada dane."
Kaede was about to say something when she felt a strange presence coming from the Drowning Lake. The second she felt it, the second she knew that someone was in danger. Thinking that it was the tensei Fuji Shusuke, Kaede took off in the direction completely unaware that Ryoma was behind her with such speed that no one couldn't of had matched.
Kaede finally made it to the Drowning Lake, but when she did, she noticed two things. One was that Ryoma was right behind her the whole time and the other was that it wasn't Fuji that she saw on the shore of the lake but Eiji.
"Eiji-sempai!" Ryoma called out as he ran over to his upperclassmen.
Kaede followed right behind Ryoma. She was the one who checked the red head's pulse.
"He's still breathing..." she mumbled.
"Nagase-sempai..."
"Go call for help!"
"Right!"
End of Flashback and back to Eiji's POV
"And that's why you're here," Kaede finished with her fox like grin.
I sighed. Taking me to the hospital was one of Kaede's biggest excuses of skipping school, and this time, she could get away with it. Did I ever mention that she has the lowest grade in the class that Fujiko and I are in. She doesn't bother to increase her grade and likes making it worse by cutting class. She says that she goes into the mountains to practice her ninja skills. At first I thought that she was crazy since I thought ninjas did not exist except in the Edo Period. Additionally the mountains were too far from school and it would take weeks to walk to the mountains She claims to have taken an hour to get to the mountains to train. She carries ninja tools such as kunai and shuriken, but they look fake if you ask me. Whatever training that she does though makes her one of the most athletic girls in gym class and during tennis practice. Even though she can't become one of the Regulars because she's a girl, she still proves to be an amazing tennis player. After what happened to me now, I don't know what to think of Kaede calling herself a ninja. Most of the guys in tennis practice (and any other sport that a guy participates in) wants her as their girlfriend. She was only interested in one guy and that was Fujiko who eventually warmed up to her. The smile he has around her is real unlike me and the other Regulars which is more of a sadistic smile. I thought he showed it around our captain Tezuka-buchou as well, but I guess it was only my imagination because he grins evilly at our captain.
"Kaede-sempai, I don't think he's listening," O-chibi whispered to Kaede.
"I guess your right de gozaru."
I was silent as O-chibi walked out of the room. Kaede decided to follow him, but not before telling me, "Don't strain yourself anymore. If you do then a certain vice captain might-" She stopped in mid-sentence when she turned her head slightly to look at me with an intimidating glare.
"Eiji, get down!"
I didn't know what she was talking about, but I got down as she threw a kunai where my head use to be. It hit the wall. I was shocked when I heard a girl scream.
"What was that?" I asked Kaede in a shaky voice.
"A ghost. Come on out you ghost!"
When the ninja said that a ghost made herself visible. She had long white hair, and wore a combination of pink and white. She also had a pink hat. What was most intriguing was that she had crimson eyes. She would had been an adorable little girl if she wasn't floating off of the ground.
"What do you want ghost?" Kaede asked in a serious yet threatening tone. Kaede never used this tone to anyone unless it was very serious.
The ghost didn't say anything as she just looked at the floor.
"Answer my question."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." the ghost was quiet as Kaede got out another kunai ready to throw it at the ghost if she wasn't going to respond to her question. I didn't want to get involved with Kaede when she was serious, but I thought that it was wrong for her to attack the ghost especially if she hadn't done anything.
"Kaede stop!" I used the remaining strength I had to shield the ghost from Kaede. The spirit was shocked that I was defending her. Kaede was emotionless, but put her kunai back into her pocket.
"Eiji, what am I going to do with you?"
I ignored her question as I spun over to the spirit and asked, "What'd your name little girl?"
The girl perked up and spoke, "My name is Azmaria Hendric I was born in Fatima Portugal on March 12, 1912..."
"THEN YOUR OVER 80 YEARS OLD?!"
"Yeah..."
"What is your purpose?" Kaede asked again.
Azmaria didn't even hesitate telling us about her goal, "My purpose is to find the last Guardian that would appear in this world. I did not know who he was and what he would look like, but that doesn't matter anymore since I found him!"
"And who would that be?" I asked innocently.
Azmaria smiled as she pointed at me, "You."
There was a long pause from her answer.
"WHAT?!" I finally shouted.
"I'll say it again. It's you."
"Why me?"
"Because," she began, "When that demon tried to absorb you, or rather your powers, something triggered within you that destroyed the demon and led me straight to the final Guardian. I am the Guardian's guardian after all."
I didn't know how to react. Kaede did though, "What is his power?"
"Hope," she said simply, "He will always bring hope to others no matter what the situation. True hope. My powers are charity and hope and charity go together to form the final Guardian."
Kaede wasn't taken back, but then realized something, "Does that mean that there are demons raiding Tokyo now?î
"Yes, and they will invade this world to try and take your powers," Azmaria said quickly, "And not just demons. Humans with tainted hearts will be after you too."
"Are my powers that powerful?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, your powers can grant immortality."
"REALLY?"
"Yes, which is the reason why-"
She was cut off as there was a huge earthquake. I hid under the covers of the blanket as Kaede tried to remain standing. Azmaria wasn't affected by the earthquake, but was worried.
"What's going on?!î I asked the spirit wondering if she could hear me over the quake.
"A DEMON! ITíS NEARBY! EVERYONE IN THE HOSPITAL IS IN DANGER!"
It finally hit Kaede and me.
"RYOMA-BOZU!"
"O-CHIBI!"
Kaede glanced at me and told me firmly, "Stay here Eiji de gozaru. It's too dangerous. I'll handle the demon on my own!"
With that Kaede disappeared in a thick of smoke. The earthquake still continue as Azmaria tried to pull me out of the covers. "Come on Eiji! We have to go help her!"
"But she said that she would be fine!"
"She will, but that other kid won't. I know she won't make it on time!"
I panicked when she said that, "What am I suppose to do?"
"Take this pendant."
Azmaria got a pendant from her pocket and threw it at me which I caught. The pendant was yellow with a ruby jewel inside of it.
"If you want to save your friends, you must first activate your first form of your Guardian powers, the Sukka form. Just hold it up in the air and shout, 'Guardian Position, Hope!'"
"Okay...Guardian Position Hope!"
Me: Chapter 2 done with 2192 words.
Yohko: A really big change.
Me: Yes. Here are the changes in this chapter.
1. Instead of Kaede just explaining what happened, there was a flashback instead that brings more mystery around Ryoma.
2. Eiji's opinion of Kaede is different. In the old story, he instantly believed that Kaede was a ninja when he told her, but in this story, he as his doubts. His opinion changes in this and the next chapter though.
That's all I changed in this chapter.
Yohko: Please review. Did you like the changes?
