I woke up, feeling the weight of the world standing on my head. Based on my usual routine, it should be five in the morning but looking through the darkness via the window, I somehow doubted my judgment. It looked like it was still midnight. I could still clearly see the stars hanging on the skies.

I must have woken up at the wrong time. Since I had been waking up five in the morning ever since I became master Rico's student, I was certain that I was correct.

Oh well, I'm somehow awake and going back to sleep will be a nuisance.

"Mom…stop. Not there."

I sharply exhaled, watching big sister drooling on her sleep. She clung on her teddy bear and the pillow like she would never let it go. She slept soundly and somehow, it reminded me how hard it was for me to go sleep, seeing that she liked to move around.

I wrapped the blanket for my sister. We had been sleeping together for a very long time. You could say that it was a ritual for us siblings. We had rooms but we slept together. I never complained or whined about this matter, since I was fine with it. Big sister was thrilled about this and always expected some snuggle with me. There was a time when she kicked me out of the bed. As a result I always tried my best to sleep first before she did or else.

Sometimes, mom and dad would join us and theyy would tell stories. It was usually mom, who shared stories that I found it stupid to believe. Dad, on the other hand would tell us some interesting stories, such as legends, myths and conspiracies that he encountered when he was still a wandering alchemist. At least, dad's stories were something that I could vouch for rather than mom's stories, about Makai, the oni and the fact that she wasn't human.

Really, mom liked to tell us those stories if she had the chance. There was a story about a particular demon that she hated. It piqued my interest because of the plot and the way my mother described her. She called her Yumelie D. Esoterica, the witch of ten thousand circles and the one responsible for destroying Makai.

I couldn't recall the details of that story but mom said she forgave that witch, after a series of talks. She even shared a story about this land called Magokoro, where that witch lived together with the remaining demons.

Big sister would clap while dad just listened to the story. Even though I was a brat at that time, I never believed a single word about mom's stories.

But right now, I somehow believed that mom was right after all. My godmother was the empress of Shinan after all.

Dispelling the thought about mom, I got rid off my priest garb and wore my sweatshirt and loose pants. It felt nostalgic, seeing that the shirt was a parting gift from master Rico when I was promoted to become a priest. From my bag, I picked up some white bandages and carefully wrapped them on my fist. Master Rico said that this exercise helped battle priest to learn how to focus. Besides, it was vital to do this, as his master taught him.

After warming my body up with some stretches, I was hyped up to start my roadwork. Big sister whined something about cakes and chocolates but she quieted down. She rolled a few times to get the right spot before she settled in.

"Night big sis." I whispered and planted a kiss on her forehead.

I jogged down the hallway until I reached the lobby.

"Morning, Tomoe." I said and waved a hand at the receptionist.

Tomoe, a beautiful and elegant girl stared at me for a moment before she resumed reading her book. That girl. She could have at least smiled or said something rather than ignoring me.

I stopped. "What time is it?"

"Thirty minutes pass five." She said coldly, her eyes focused on the book.

I turned around. "Thanks."

I exited the hotel but stopped. It was still dark but Tomoe said it was 5:30 in the morning. Dang. It must the time line difference between in Payon and Prontera. At Prontera, at least I could see the sun ready to appear. On the hand, the sun hadn't even made its presence in Shinan. The large trees in the city must have played an important part on that matter.

I cocked my head back at the hotel. Tomoe was still busy with her book. I couldn't blame her though with her cold attitude. Godmother told us about that matter when big sister did some crazy antic at Tomoe.

Poor Tomoe. Her fiancée was assassinated and she was supposed to marry him.

"Rise and shine big sis!" I shouted and opened the curtains that blocked the large ball of fire hovering the skies.

Big sister meekly opened her eyes. When she saw me with a grin, she instantly rolled over and slapped the pillow on her head.

Oh god! One thing that my sister despised the most was waking up early. She was the same as mom, though mom was easy to wake up. Nevertheless, those two numbskulls hated the morning. Dad had to do some serious work just to wake up mom.

As the old saying goes, like mother, like daughter.

The sun proved its point to sleeping beauty. I chuckled as big sister admitted defeat, throwing a dinosaur-like cry before she got up, dragging her teddy bear.

"We got bacons, eggs, chili con carne and buttered toast for breakfast sis!" I shouted. She was inside the bathroom, probably taking a bath or facing her face.

I was lucky that I locked the door. If somebody sees my sister, walking in her birthday suit, I was going to have a hard time explaining it to them.

She plopped down on her sit, still wearing nothing but her underwear. I had gotten used to big sis eating breakfast like this. She was the same as mom. I pondered on the thought on how my father dealt with mom's weird behavior.

We finished breakfast in silence. Big sister wasn't in the mood for small talks every time the family had breakfast.

"Where to, big sister?" I inquired, drying the last plate.

Her face brightened with a smile. It was the turning point. From lazy, grunting big sister to an energetic and evil big sister.

"We're going to fly!" Serene declared.

Oh boy, here we go again.

"You've been looking back and forth ever since we left the hotel!" Serene said while we were walking on the busy streets of Payon. "What's with you?"

"Nothing." I countered with a glare.

Suddenly, cold chills ran from my spine.

"Why so serious?" Serene was behind me, wearing that mocking face. "Are you hiding something from me?"

"I have nothing to hide, big sis. So buzz off!"

"Perhaps…" She slithered to my left side. "You're looking for a particular person—"

"I'm not looking for Akiho—"

I froze. Like a stiffened old man, I turned around. Big sister wore a smile of a thousand demons.

Crap! I fell for it!

She laughed. "My dear brother. You're growing up, aren't you?"

I grunted.

"I was wandering last night where you could have gone to." Serene took the lead, hands behind her back. "I was waiting for my dear brother to come back to me so that I could give him some love."

My insides felt like being kicked by Baphomet.

"What we did last night is not of your concerns." I marched past her. "And it also goes to my godmother, understood?"

"Why so serious?" Again with that counter. It was so annoying whenever she used that phrase at me, especially at a time like this. "Maybe I could guess."

I focused all my power to ignore her. Whatever she will say, it will go out on the other ear.

She whispered. "Maybe you went to dark place…and you," Big sister smiled mischievously. "You banged her like a poor defenseless bunny and…you enjoyed it."

My face blanched. That had got to be it! I had never, ever done such filthy and vile thing to a woman. Even if my master was a pervert and cuckoo head, I respected women.

I wouldn't dare do that to her!

"What!" I shouted and stomped my foot so loud that it attracted an audience. "I would never, ever do something like that!"

"Is that so? Serene leaned closer. "I thought you were comparing our chest sizes this morning."

A chorus of whispers erupted from the audience. No doubt they were referring to me and big sister's accusation.

To prove her point, Serene tapped her healthy, supple breasts.

"For your information," I furiously pointed a finger at her. "Akiho and I only ate at a ram—"

"Akiho?" Big sister said and turned to the audience. They responded again with a chorus of whispers and somehow, I was the talk again.

"What?" I demanded.

"Don't you know, dear brother? In Shinan, a man calling a girl's first name implies that they have a close relationship, like close friends or…that." Big sister said.

"Lies!" I immediately countered.

"But I have proof." She gestured at the audience, who were mostly Shinese.

One glance at them and I knew she wasn't lying. They had the eyes that I was guilty of whatever I did.

"Besides," Big sister folded her arms like a girl with an IQ of 200. "You kept calling her Miss Sumiregawa yesterday and after a few hours, you're calling her Akiho. Did some miracle happen during those hours?"

"But—"

"And here I thought, you hated me for dragging you here. You should be thanking me for this golden opportunity. Isn't that right, audience!"

As if on cue, the audience cheered.

I swallowed my pride and my dignity as a man of word and honor. I am now a wreckage of my former self, destroyed physically and mentally by my sister. The entire city was encouraging me at my demise.

The horror.

The horror!

"Master Dan!"

It was still inside my head. Big sister delivered a fatal blow to my dignity.

"Master Dan!"

To think that I fell on a simple trap like the ones used in fairy tales and comics. What do they call that again? Blurting confidential information when in pressure?

"Master Dan! Are you there!"

With a defeated look on my face, I lifted my eyes. A bald teenager was staring at me, like I was wearing the dunce hat in class. Besides baldy was a young female teenager about his age. She was wearing flashy clothing and walked without any shoes.

"Who the hell are you?" I spat.

Baldy seemed surprised. "Master! Don't you remember me?"

I lazily inspected baldy. Upon closer inspection, he wasn't bald. Rather, it looked like he shaved his hair with a razor or something. For someone who almost had no hair, he sure had thick eyebrows and spunky raven eyes. He had a sharp nose and wore an earring on his left ear.

Wait a minute! I'd seen that awful earring from some—

"Master!" Shave haired boy almost cried. "Can't you remember your student?"

I stared at him again.

"Who're you again?" I suddenly asked.

Baldy froze.

"It's me! Rodrigo Perez! I'm your student when I was still in Prontera!" Baldy said after a minute of silence.

I bolted upright. "Perez! Is that you!"

I just stared at Rodrigo. God almighty! What the hell did he do to himself? When he was still my student two years ago, he wasn't bald. In fact, he had dark blond hair that made the female acolytes jealous. I even heard from a colleague who was envious of Rodrigo's hair.

And standing in front of me is Rodrigo, the baldy.

"It was getting on my way in training, so I had to shave it." Rodrigo said, tapping his baldhead.

I remembered the time when I trained him in the art of fist. Master Rico told me that he wasn't suited in boxing, primarily because of his lineage. At first I didn't get it but seeing that he moved to Shinan after I gave him my recommendation, he was right after all.

"Oh," He tugged the girl besides me. "This is my cousin, Anise Chang."

"Ni hao ma!" The girl said and smiled.

I tilted my head.

"It's greetings in Shinese, master." Rodrigo said.

"Okay." I muttered and lazily leaned against the tree.

"What brings you here—"

I interrupted Rodrigo and pointed at the girl who was waving her hands at the shrine priestess.

"Isn't that your sister, master?"

I nodded. Since Rodrigo had shared my misfortunes concerning big sister, Rodrigo should be able to do the math.

"I see." He cast a worried look at her cousin.

I let out a big fat yawn before I decided to leave the place.

"Follow me." I said, walking past them.

"Where're we going master?"

"Anywhere but here." I said and cast a glare at big sister.

I sat on my heels, resting my body. In front of me was Rodrigo, sitting on the ground. It had been two years since he moved to Shinan. I was worried that he forgot his daily routine but he proved me wrong. He still had the strength of a bull when I sparred with him.

"You've improved, especially your legwork." I said.

"Thanks for the praise master." He looked at his cousin, who was busy playing with the butterflies. "Ever since I moved here, I've been working to improve my lower body strength."

"Anise." I called. The girl spun and faced me.

"Are you a star gladiator, by any chance?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Master, she's a star gladiator but in Shinan, they're called celestial knights." Perez whispered.

I just nodded.

So," I exhaled. "You know your kicks?"

"Yeah," Rodrigo said and to prove it, he showed me straight kick. "I can do a lot more if I put my mind into it."

So, master was right after all. Perez wasn't suited to boxing but rather a combination of fist and kicks. He told me that Rodrigo had Shinese blood through her mother's side of the family.

He must be referring to the celestial knights.

"I need to ask you something you two." I called.

The two were all ears.

"Do you know someone by the name of Akiho Sumiregawa?" I asked, hoping that they knew her.

They paused and looked at each other. They seemed to talk like those people with mind control capabilities in comics.

"Black kimono, long hair and carries an ehru?" Anise asked me.

So, that weird guitar is an ehru?

I nodded.

"Aha," Rodrigo blurted. "That ehru player. Yeah, we know her. She plays the best songs in Payon. Though she's hard to catch."

"What do you mean by that?

It was Anise who answered my inquiry. "She plays the ehru everywhere at a random place."

"She's unpredictable?"

They nodded.

Why did I ask that?

"Master, why are you looking for her anyway?" Rodrigo asked.

I gulped. I didn't mean to ask that question. It just came out of me while we were sparring.

"Well," My eyeballs moved up. "She dropped something and I had to return it."

"Okay." They both said and started to do some kick training exercise.

I cast an agile up spell and dashed towards the city. I didn't want another inquisition from baldy and his cousin.

I managed to get home early, though entering the room revealed that my sister wasn't inside. She was probably at the shrine area, annoying the shrine priestess and maidens with her crazy antics and request.

I threw the groceries on the table and I sat on the rocking chair. It provided a calm feeling in my head, rocking back and forth. I already felt like an old-timer in my nineties.

I spent the entire afternoon walking on the busy streets of Payon. It wasn't hard to run if you're body is in shape. The last time I did that, I had my sister on my head, which added stress.

I searched the entire city, hoping to find Akiho in Payon. I already asked people around the area but unfortunately they hadn't seen her. Even so, I tried my best to find her, hoping to see her even if it was just a minute or so.

Admitting defeat, I retreated home, carrying groceries for dinner. It was Friday and I knew that big sister would expect BBQ chicken with chili and soy sauce. I bolted up from my seat, donned an apron and started to cook dinner.

"Dan! Where're you!" A voice shouted from the living room.

"Get the table ready, sis." I shouted.

That was odd. I could hear the plates, forks and spoons being prepared on the table. It was crystal clear but I couldn't hear big sister's footsteps. I had known her for a lifetime and she couldn't tell the difference between tiptoeing and jogging.

The BBQ chicken smelled so good. I had to thank my cleric spells for this dinner.

"Dinner is…serve?" I said, staring at my sister who was flying in circles.

"Guess what Dan." Serene made a somersault in mid-air. "I can fly."

So, she could fly. I wondered what would happen next.

I dispelled the thought. Big sister was wearing something that told me she indeed did something stupid at the shrine. She was wearing oriental clothings, composed of a white kimono and a long, and pleaded red skirt. She also wore detached sleeves, which accentuate her figure.

Serene held something near of a rod but it had papers attached to it. It must be a Shinese weapon or something.

We ate dinner, though big sister ate hers on mid-air.

"Let's go Dan!" She said and left her plate on the table.

"Where to?" I grunted.

She beamed. "It's a secret."