Originally this was already long but after a few tweeking it's gotten bigger X)
Thank you to those who have favourited and have begun followed the story. It truly means a lot
As soon as Sakura said her what she wanted to say to Hao. Hao meanwhile felt his mouth had almost parted in shock from hearing her words if he had not tried to mask his reaction, Sakura on the other hand looked at him to and sensed his feelings which left her confused, shouldn't he be happy about her now choosing to train?
Hao as he looked at her almost swallowed heavily, he knew should be happy and truthfully he did want to be. Yet without knowing how or why the shocked male could almost hear the sound of a large bell ring in such a low tone that it unsettled him followed by the sound of a metal door being closed and then slammed shut creating a loud unforgiving bang leaving him almost feeling goosebumps at hearing the noises. This in turn left him to feeling as if she had been shackled and had sealed her own fate to something bad which resulted in him being completely unsettled. Did this mean her now deciding to train mean something was going to happen? Again, Hao should have been happy and yet... he had a foreboding that something truly horrible was about to happen to her and he was left powerless to stop it. His mind soon went to him holding Yumi's lifeless bloody form in his arms which made him almost cry and run at how it almost destroyed him to the point death had been something he wanted, all to make the pain go away and to escape the hell that consumed him until Matamune had entered his life followed by Sakura. Hao now that he was in this position didn't want this, he didn't want her to suffer from what the others would say or do to her. He didn't want to lose her like he lost his wife and child, no all he wanted to do was say no and take her away with him. Somewhere far away from this place and to never return but he knew that was a false idea, after all he had the other Onmyōjis and students to care for. This was his household and they looked to him for guidance so what kind of teacher would he be if he ran because of fear? Why was this happening? It was tearing him to shreds and it had felt like he had opened a forbidden door that would never close no matter how hard he tried to push against it.
As he was left to endure these thoughts and feelings, his ears were unable to pick up the angry noises that sounded like many bug wings flapping rapidly to the point it would have been annoying but he paid no heed. Almost as if his spirit had left his body and yet had remained leaving him stuck in between. Hao did not move or speak, his eyes remained solely on Sakura while at the same time felt weightless until he saw Matamune escort Alia out the room. Seeing this left Hao feeling powerless to stop his friend from taking his only lifeline from him leaving him too scared to do anything to pacify everyone until one of the older men had stood up and ordered everyone to be silent causing everyone to stop altogether due to how sharp his tone was. No one argued or tried anything when it came to Li Ran. No he was in more ways than one the second head of the household who worked closely with Hao and it was thanks to his teachings that allowed Hao to be where he was now, he was a force to be reckoned with.
"Now that I have all your attention, can you explain to us what is going on?" Li Ran asked Hao who slowly regained the ability to move, sluggish movements stopped once he looked at his old mentor. Hao's eyes remained almost unfocused causing Li Ran to scoff and grab Hao by the upper arm and pulled him out the other side of the room despite being watched by everyone's confused looks, despite that no one dared to breathe a word in case Li Ran was listening.
Alia leered at the people through the door due to hearing what they were saying and thinking while Matamune stared at her with a sad expression, soon Alia bristled once she heard the booming voice followed by a loud slam that left her on edge before she regained her composure.
"Are you sure about this Alia? It will be tough" he said once they went further away towards the hallways that led to the bridge over the small lake. Alia turned her head slightly in order to look at him with a knowing expression.
"Don't earwig Matamune, but… I've never been more sure than I have in my life" Alia said with a determined looked before looking at the water with the same expression. "Just when things do hit the fan look after my family starting from Haola... we were more at risk of death then Haomi please" Alia asked softly before biting her lip as she remembered the scroll and what she peeked at, a faint smile almost came to her lips at the twins and their mischievous but genius tactics to throw others off. They were truly so identical that no one would know who was who, even she mistook the pair for being who she was a descendent from and knew that if anyone knew who she truly was related to it would completely blow their minds. Just knowing this made her mentally giggle but kept her composure. Matamune nodded as he heard her request knowing that there was more at stake then the pair would have liked. Alia grimaced as she felt bitter about the whole thing and her situation, she hated lying but she had no choice if she wanted to keep moving.
"My name isn't Alia either... it is an alias" Alia finally confessed but refused to look at him. Yes he was Hao's companion and partner but he did have a right to know given how this was close to Hao, however knowing that once she told she had to make sure he was sworn to secrecy- even from Hao which would be the test he would have to endure. Hearing this Matamune's eyes widened in shock but allowed her to speak while gripping his pipe tightly with one hand.
"When I time travelled forward I had left my adopted siblings who are in a place I call Tokyo behind" Alia replied feeling pig sick from memory that she was reliving, knowing her brother was completely against the idea. Matamune guided Alia out to the shrine knowing she wanted to speak to him privately left her feeling relieved, knowing that he was indeed trustworthy. They sat facing each other while the water moved slowly allowing them to relax, neither tried to speak as Alia tried to gather her thoughts.
"My name is Aline Ikahir, Rihaki is our surname spelt backwards... as you would of guessed" Alia said bluntly with a nonchalant shrug as she looked at the window with a vacant look feeling completely tired about everything, even at her age which was a miracle in itself. Matamune meanwhile was left at a loss for words at her sudden trust in telling him this, however he had kept a straight face despite the fact he felt joy in knowing that she was confiding in him like Hao would whenever something was up or not.
"My ancestor as you know is Yumi and her husband is your master... I only told half the truth to Xui La since it would have broken her heart at what I had to go through over the years..." he nodded as he tried to understand what she was saying, in a way it was wise given how stress and worry is no doubt bad for the babies and could severely hurt the woman to their dismay.
"Being either a shaman or spirit medium is tough enough as it is... being a hybrid makes it no better or easier... I… I want to show you what I've been through but at a price you must not tell anyone at all... not a soul and that includes Hao" Aline said in a stern tone as she stared at him. Matamune immediately froze from her words but quickly realised the urgency in her voice, knowing that she was desperate to tell him and no one else.
"I understand" Matamune said softly as she inched closer, Aline soon took out her left hand and showed him her palm.
"Touch my left hand and I will reveal all to you" Aline said looking anxious while looking down, allowing her long fringe to cover her face slightly. He nodded and touched her hand with his paw. Slowly Aline closed her hand and began to close her eyes. Matamune felt a whoosh of emotions and memories bombard him at once making him almost recoil but kept on looking at them with a steady and composed expression regardless of how shocking the future was for him. In the end the images vanished leaving him stunned from seeing her past. He looked up with tears in his eyes as he felt guilt and sadness as he then realised why she wanted him to look after Haola as well as Haomi.
"I'm sorry for not being there... I can't express-" his words vanished the moment Aline hugged him tightly.
"You did nothing wrong, you saved my life before I was sent here and for that I am grateful" she said with a weak smile. Matamune smirked at her.
"So it was you who summoned Yumi?" he asked with a sly smile. Aline immediately grinned.
"Only I can do it since there are no more female siblings left" Aline replied with a solemn tone.
"But they are in a better place" Matamune assured her as he touched the back of her hand.
"Lucky Zackary made my life hell and he goes to heaven the lucky git" Aline muttered bitterly making him laugh.
"Nice save on resisting the urge to swear" he commented with a teasing smirk.
"Would you believe me if I say I was seven?" Aline asked making Matamune's fur stand on it ends, his eyes went bug eyed causing her to almost laugh at how he looked.
"I would be hoping that you were joking when you said that" the shocked cat said sternly. To his dismay she shook her head.
"I was sent here for training so yeah... it's accustom that in my family that when you reach the age of seven you have to train in a different time period for a year" Aline explained with a weak look.
"But then that'll make you nine right given how long you've been here?" he asked. To his shock she shook her head.
"Time freezes my age and height so it won't affect me. After my training I have to see my aunt Laura... which will be the last time I get to stay with her" Aline said looking sombre and broken to his dismay. Matamune's eyes observed her carefully.
"You know what is to become of her don't you?" he asked feeling her sorrow.
"And of me... I was the only survivor of that incident and I have to let my visions come to life since it's her time" Aline replied looking glum.
"I see" he mumbled softly. "Also in regards to Purrlia... I don't think she's an oni" Aline's eyes blinked from the news.
"What do you mean?" Aline asked feeling cold and worried about her feline friend.
After talking about Aline's past they travelled back to her room. Aline soon looked at Purrlia in a new light before touching her heart which was beating in a normal rhythm. On cue Hao appeared flushed and worried as he looked for the missing girl. The moment he saw her he sighed heavily with relief.
"Sakura I've been looking all over for you, where were you?" he asked in a semi voice.
"We were at the Lotus Shrine Master Hao" Matamune replied making Hao take notice of him as he sat near them.
"I see. Well I managed to sway the others but you have to pull your weight and not upset them when they teach you" Hao said sternly as he tried to remember what they said, despite the uneasy feeling he pushed it to one side after expressing his concerns for Sakura to the elderly man as well as his fears about what this could mean or what could happen.
"No one can truly see into the future you silly boy, now stop stressing over it!" Li Ran had scolded Hao enough to snap the sheepish male out of his state so they could resume their talk. Despite putting a good word in for Sakura and her talents so far, Li Ran in a way was impressed but had told Hao that if she truly was special then the elderly man would have to see to teaching her first to see how she worked. To which Hao had no problem given how wise the man was, despite being a progeny as some would call Hao he knew that he still had a lot to learn which was what made Li Ran satisfied enough to teach him. Hao when he was young had been ambitious and keen to learn but was at one point arrogant until Yumi had shown up and in more ways than one 'smacked' it out of him causing Hao to be more humble and thankful to even get this far.
Now he had Sakura in his life he was determined to help her learn and if possible to have her by his side, it was strange but even now it was like she was the daughter he never had and it made him more close to her than he originally would have wanted to. After all his fear was that if he got too attached like he was to his mother and Yumi Sakura would somehow be taken from him, despite her tough resilience it did set him at ease in knowing she could hold her own somewhat. That and knowing she could block him from entering his mind had unconsciously leaned himself over towards her knowing she could in a way provide him with some ease, in a way it was stupid and childish, selfish even to rely and put so much on one girl but he didn't care. She was honest and open about things and in turn it encouraged him to do the same thing, maybe now he could help her to be a person that make a difference. After all women now a days would never be allowed to learn about what they knew so this in a way could be a step that could help both sides, maybe he was being overly ambitious but he cared not. All he wanted was Sakura and Matamune to be by his side for as long as they could, which he hoped was a long time.
"No problem, I won't disrespect my teachers that's the golden rule sir" Aline replied with a frown as she folded her arms. Hao sighed with relief before sitting down in front of her, his right hand held a white fan tightly while resting it on his lap.
"So who will be my main teacher?" Alia asked with a confused look.
"It would have been Li Ran, but because of your skills you are in the second year class-"
"I'll do class 1, I want to start from the basics" Aline replied in a neutral tone. Hao frowned at her choice given how there was a huge difference between both classes and given how advanced she was to be in class 1.
"I knew you would say that but Sakura... the second class has mature students there, the first years are in more ways immature and will cause trouble towards you" Hao said feeling worried about putting her in a room with them.
"They're threatened that I'm even a girl but I don't care. I've dealt with enough prejudice and other cruel behaviours to say I can handle it trust me" Aline said with a smile that was so similar to Yumi's smile that it made Hao feel as if he was seeing Yumi sitting before him. He sighed before nodding wearily as he tried to push Yumi out of his mind.
"She's not Yumi, I… I have to stop this but why does this keep happening?" He soon smiled weakly at her before ruffling her hair with an affectionate smile.
"Be safe and don't let them get to you. The teacher is strict" Hao said gently signalling she had his blessings, hearing this Aline grinned.
"I do love a good challenge" she said sealing the deal. Hao chuckled before handing her, her new robes. The first years had yellow while the second years had blue, the third had red and the ones who are apprentices wore white.
Aline quickly went behind the screen to change making Hao blink at how eager she was to change, instead of saying anything he just continued to sit and wait with a smile. By time she was done Alia walked away from behind the screen wearing yellow robes which were up to her knees. She was fussing over her robes which made him chuckle softly. She frowned as she looked at the mirror feeling a little self conscious about what she was wearing and wondered if it looked away and if she was wearing it correctly. Hao meanwhile was at a loss for words as he saw her.
"She looks just like Yumi... why can't I stop comparing them? They're not the same…are they? No they can't be, it'll be impossible" he berated himself while Aline tied her hair up in to a ponytail she was soon fussing with the continents of her box to find two yellow ribbons. She tied one around her waist and one around her hair band. Once she was done Alia quickly grabbed a pair of her maid trousers making him react.
"Oh Sakura no!" but she went behind the screen to put them on. Now satisfied Alia got out and smiled as she saw her appearance.
"Done now they can't stare rudely at me or look under my robes huh Matamune?" Aline asked with a cheerful smile. The cat chuckled while Purrlia giggled next to him at her friend's antics.
"I'm not going to say anything" Hao said with a weak smile knowing that it was useless to get her to change, Hao soon got up and took Aline by the hand and led her out the room, while walking towards her class made him both excited and anxious. What if things went wrong? He didn't want her to be upset and disappointed because the boys were being cruel towards her. As the four walked Alia eventually spotted Li Ran, he quickly took notice of them and turned looked at Hao with a confused look.
"Hello Li Ran-sama. I am extremely grateful that you agreed to teach me. I promise to train very hard" Aline said with a low bow and had her hands pressed together. The students looked at her with shock, anger and jealousy from how polite she was being towards their teacher. Sadly Hao couldn't hear them so she knew that she was on her own with this group. Li Ran however was a loss for words at the sudden politeness coming from Aline. Her bow and manners reminded him of someone who was at his level as well as a certain female who he had took in once he had found out she was an orphan due to a demoness who had been sealed away by the one person she had tried to kill. He chuckled softly at her humble behaviour.
"Well hello there little Sakura. I've heard of a lot of things about you and yet I can see most are all wrong. Tell me have you been trained under a martial artist at one point?" Li- Ran asked with a curious look as he looked at her eyes. They sparkled for a bit before dulling slightly, Hao as he heard the question was left shocked from the question.
"You have good eyes Li Ran-sama" Aline said in a polite tone before standing up properly.
"Tell me who was your master? He's raised a good student" Li Ran asked while smiling but Aline however did not which left him baffled.
"My master died of grief after a fellow student had been murdered. I never talked about him to my other fellow classmate" Aline replied solemnly. Hao felt sad and shocked at the news. Li Ran nodded with sympathetic eyes.
"So it is true... this will be a fun experience" Li Ran thought with a chuckle at how this could ruffle up the boys.
"Well students as you can see we have a new student. Make her feel welcome and don't do anything that will make me punish you. No judging your fellow pupils or there'll be hell to pay" Li Ran said coldly after slapping his fan's ends on the table causing some to tense up in fear. Aline mentally smirked at him then nodded. The students mumbled 'yes sensei' earning them a satisfied nod from the elderly man.
"She'll be in good hands Hao-sama I assure you, so you had better get going you have a class to teach soon" Li Ran said sternly.
"I will, take care Sakura" Hao said politely before leaving, as he left the more he walked away from the room the more his legs started to feel like led to his dismay. He trusted her, he knew she was safe with Li Ran and yet he couldn't shake of the feeling something was going to happen. Was he having a foreboding or was this because of the bond that was growing between them? After he left she heard a bombardment of thoughts that had malice in them.
"What's so great about her?" thought one darkly.
"She's a shrimp! Why is she even here?" thought another bitterly.
"She's a maid and yet she dares come here" a third thought in a cold tone. Aline frowned which Li Ran took note of.
"So Sakura what were you taught in the Shaolin Monastery in a neighbouring area?" Li Ran asked as he sensed her unease from the negative vibes. She looked at him slowly not knowing what to make of this.
"So wait they let girls enter and study in a place for men?!" one exclaimed in shock.
"Great… now they're just letting girls join in everything, next thing I know they overthrow us for being too weak" muttered a second grudgingly.
"Girls don't even have any business coming here or anywhere like that place, what are they even doing allowing girls entering holy places?" one barked feeling furious about how this was allowed.
"Probably has no talent" said another with a frown.
"I was taught to master the water element, it was a bit hard since I was the only female there but I worked hard to gain a title" Aline replied getting cold feet while looking at Purrlia. He nodded in approval.
"What was your highest rank position in your training?" he asked as he smiled warmly at her however she was still nervous.
"Master rank" Aline replied now starting to smirk as the boys' jaws dropped as she folded her arms feeling pride as she remembered bossing her friends about, despite one who went she had two friends who were like brothers who she could smack into line if they tried anything. Sadly for her one who she was close to before he was killed really did put her in her paces but they worked well regardless.
"Holy-! She's a master! How old is she?!" thought the one that mocked her about being talentless.
"Well that's the highest honour, I'm very impressed. Do you wear the master's talisman?" Li Ran asked. Aline nodded as she placed her hand to her chest.
"Sure do Li Ran-sama. It's got something very important to me that I will never want to part from" she said with a small smile as she remembered her time training with her friends.
"What master do you know then?" asked a mousy boy with brown hair and blue eyes.
"Ever heard of Master Monk Li?" Alia asked with a curious look. The boys' stared at her as if they were unworthy to be with her given how old the man was and also how strong he is.
"If you're so good at being a master then what are you doing here?" asked a black haired boy with brown eyes who glared at her.
"Master Hao saw my talent and wanted me to learn. Why should training just involve boys? Girls are equally strong. Without women men can't survive" Aline said in a tone that made it sound like she was teaching them instead.
"That is very true Sakura; looks like you know the lesson of Ying-Yang then?" Li Ran asked.
"Yup, my uncle and aunt taught it to me when I was four. She saw it was time to teach me about what she does" Aline replied politely.
"Was she a shaman?" asked the mousy boy.
"She was a spirit medium with Shaman blood like me. But according to auntie I am more stronger than her" Aline said as she sat down near the window.
"Really what could you do?" sneered the rude boy. Aline raised a brow.
"When I was one I could summon twenty Shikigamis out of petals, leaves and twigs that blew in from my room" Aline replied as if it was no big deal but the boys however stared at her as if she wasn't normal.
"And you're in this class?!" asked a boy feeling overwhelmed.
"I wanted to start from the basics is that a problem?" Aline asked. She spotted Matamune near the window who nodded at her. She winked at him without anyone noticing it.
"And that is fine. Students don't think that just because a person can do things like that. It doesn't mean they have full control and that's one of things I teach in this class. So let's get started" Li Ran said. The class minus Sakura shuffled.
"Sakura we do meditation so get into position please" Li Ran instructed. Aline nodded before going in to a lotus position. She took a deep breath before relaxing. She began to close her eyes. However to her annoyance she heard the students' thoughts again.
"Okay! Can the boys keep their negative minds silent I can hear you from here!" Aline snapped while having her eyes closed. Li Ran frowned at the boys as they looked at her with horror.
"Boys I expect better from you. Set a good example please or else" Li Ran said sternly. To her relief their thoughts were muted allowing her to relax in to a state of euphoria. She slowly began to feel at ease as she blocked all thoughts and sound using a transparent shield. Li Ran meanwhile as he monitored everyone soon felt a strange aura emanating from Aline and to his relief he saw a blue translucent shield signalling she was blocking everything out.
He saw a few boys not paying attention and took out his cane. Immediately he slapped their hands making them yelp in pain.
"Now boys please pay attention and meditate or else I'll have you holding the maid's bucket for the rest of the lesson is that clear?" Li Ran asked sternly.
"H-Hai sensei" said the boys now feeling embarrassed.
By the time class ended Aline was still in a meditative state making Li Ran chuckle at how oblivious she was towards the time or noticing that everyone had left. On cue a young black haired man wearing white robes came storming in with a cross look.
"Where is this Sakura that Hao's so fond of? She's late Li Ran-sama!" he snapped. Li Ran placed his hand up as if signalling him to stop talking.
"Sakura's still meditating so I've been thinking of ways to wake her up since she's blocked everything out" Li Ran said with a chuckle. The man stared at him oddly before looking at Aline, the man soon looked at Li Ran as if he himself had gone crazy.
"And it's taken you half an hour to wake her up?" the man asked looking at them with a bewildered expression.
"Well this is new for me. I've never woken a student from a predicament like this, in a way it's almost as if her spirit's not in her body at the moment Takeshi" Li Ran replied with a sheepish grin that made Takashi twitch angrily.
"Allow me" said Matamune as he entered the room. The men jumped from hearing the cat.
"Oh good timing" Takeshi muttered darkly from feeling annoyed that he had to stop teaching his class for one child. Matamune and Li Ran sighed at his impatient behaviour.
"This shield is a soundproof shield so I think this will work" Matamune said as he inspected the shield. Matamune shook Aline's hand slightly making her shift. To their surprise Aline opened her eyes after stretching and yawning.
"Class over?" Aline asked as she rubbed her eyes weakly.
"You've been asleep?!" Takeshi roared with anger. Aline leered at him slightly.
"No I was in a meditative state so I was out of my body" Aline replied feeling tired and grumpy from being snapped at.
"That's very good but don't leave the room okay?" asked Li Ran with a soft chuckle. She nodded.
"What time is it?" Aline asked as she looked at them.
"You've missed half of your second lesson" Matamune replied with a smirk. Aline jumped up in shock not believing her ears.
"WHHHHAAAAT?! AND NO ONE WOKE ME!" Aline cried before rushing out the classroom leaving them stunned. Aline quickly rushed back and bowed at Li Ran while standing at the door.
"Thank you for the lesson sensei" Aline said before rushing out. Li Ran laughed at Takeshi's stunned expression the moment he noticed the male's reaction.
"Talk about very committed" Li Ran said with a smile.
"Yeah..." Takeshi squeaked.
"Takeshi you better go before she gets lost" Li Ran said making Takeshi curse and began running after Aline.
"Language Takeshi!" Li Ran hollered.
"This will be an interesting year don't you think Li Ran?" Matamune asked as he observed Aline and Takeshi.
"A very interesting year after all, it's not every day we teach a master who specialises with water right?" Li Ran asked with a grandfather like smile.
"Right" Matamune said as he nodded in reply.
After getting scolded by Takeshi class had then finished making him angry for the loss of time. So as punishment she had to read a book about the history of Onmyōjis which she took without any complaints making him more angry at her. It was lunch time which meant the students went into the lunch room. Aline felt uncomfortable as she sat in the room as everyone except Hao and Li Ran were being negative. So instead of sticking around she had snuck out of the room without anyone noticing. She soon walked towards the maid's chambers and saw a new maid who noticed Aline. She waved enthusiastically at Aline.
"My name is Amaya I'm new but I am honoured to finally meet you Miss Sakura!" Amaya said with an enthusiastic smile.
"It is an honour to meet you Miss Amaya" Aline said with a bow.
"Oh just Amaya Miss Sakura, Azami! She's here come quick!" Amaya cried with glee. Azami rushed in and smiled.
"Your back! So what are you doing here?" Azami asked looking confused but was happy to see Aline.
"It's a negative hotspot in there so I'm sitting out" Aline replied feeling warmer from the auras in the room.
"Jeez those boys are so immature" muttered a maid with black hair that was in a braid, she had ocean blue eyes that sparkled.
"Chizu!" whined Amaya as she passed some sushi to Aline who took it with a grateful expression.
"What are you doing out here?" Matamune asked as he entered the room, behind him was Hao who looked worried given that Aline had left the room.
"It was too negative in there so I left" Aline replied. Hao chuckled at her reply given how he understood what she meant.
"I can tell after all the moment you left I was bombarded with their thoughts. I've spoken to them and hopefully they'll stop for now" Hao said as he sat down next to Aline. Both maids squealed making Hao chuckle weakly due to how they reacted.
"Now Amaya and Azami calm down, I'm not going to bite and hello to you to Chizu how do you like your new position?" he asked with a calm smile. Chizu chuckled haughtily.
"It's not bad" she said as if was nothing but they all knew she loved her new position of power.
"Really?" Aline joked making them laugh.
"Master Hao are you staying here until lunchtime?" asked Chizu giving a warm sisterly smile which got him smiling as well.
"It'll give my mind a rest. It looks like Matamune's idea worked. I feel at ease already" Hao said as he sighed with relief.
"Miss my barrier huh?" Aline teased as she passed him a salmon roll.
"I never knew you could do that, so how do you do it?" he asked before eating.
"It's second nature besides I've noticed you never block anyone out" Aline commented.
"I never knew how to" he said feeling embarrassed.
"I'm no expert either. Once I know how to I promise to teach you okay?" she asked with a smile.
"Deal" Hao replied before biting into his lunch.
"So what am I doing next?" Aline asked.
"Shaman training with me since Akio won't take you since you are advanced"
"Let me guess he's being sore about the fact that my teachers praise me and still thinks of me a delinquent am I right?" Aline asked. Both Hao and Matamune stared at her signalling she hit the nail on the head.
"Jeez that old man I'm sorry but he needs to stop being stiff and embrace new blood" Aline said angrily.
"That what I've been saying! He has no respect for us maids either because we're girls" Chizu snapped as she joined their debate.
"Is he that bad?" Hao asked as he observed them.
"He slapped me just for getting tripped up by Aoi. Dai made it worse by laughing so Master Akio dragged me outside and slapped my hands with his cane" Azami whimpered as she hid her scars with her sleeves.
"And that git started to mock the soup I made. No one complained since we were scarce of food last week and then spilt the soup on top of my head then insulted my family!" Amaya snapped feeling raw anger.
"Is it me or Akio got anger management issues?" Aline asked as she observed their memories.
"(Maybe it's a student that's driving him angry?)" Purrlia asked as she entered the room looking unhappy. Hao and the maids jumped at the sight of Purrlia talking.
"A talking cat?!" Amaya yelped but was ignored as Azami knew what Purrlia was talking about.
"It's probably Goro he's been causing problems and the fact that Sakura's asked to train must of added more stress" Azami suggested with a heavy sigh while placing a hand to her face.
"Yeah I never liked Goro he always tried to steal stuff but always got caught thanks to Sakura" said Chizu who was looking smug but felt angry from the ordeal. Hao frowned at the information.
"That isn't good at all. I was sure that this was resolved. By the way what are you?" Hao asked as he observed Purrlia who looked at him from the corner of her eye. She smirked at him while swishing her tail.
"(My name is Purrlia and I am an Oni)" she replied making the maids scream in fright at the fact an Oni was in their room. Aline coughed loudly catching their attention.
"Actually Purrlia I needed to talk to you about that" Aline said with a sheepish grin.
"(What about?)" Purrlia asked looking baffled.
"I had a chat with someone and they've discovered that you are not an oni" Aline said. Purrlia looked at her oddly not knowing what to say to that.
"(What does that mean?)" She asked sharply. Aline smiled causing Purrlia to blink while Matamune smiled softly.
"Purrlia... you're a spirit cat- a Goryoushin. In a ways part of you was never an Oni" Aline replied, this shocked Hao and the maids as they looked at Purrlia and Aline.
"(But how can that be? Only Onmyōjis can summon them, can't they?)" Matamune soon stood up and approached the shocked Purrlia who stared at him with mixed emotions.
"You are similar to a Nekomata but you've ascended to being a guardian spirit a Goryoushin" Matamune replied.
"You've been solid thanks to me Purrlia because I've been using a medium without knowing it" Aline said with a smile. Purrlia smiled before touching Aline's heart leaving Hao baffled on why Purrlia was doing that.
"(You're heart is warm just like when you brought me back... I should of known I was a Goryoushin, only you Sakura, only you)" Purrlia said softly as she gave Aline a hug.
"Sakura's abilities when she brought you back were undeveloped so you're not able to use your full potential" Matamune explained while placing the pipe on his lap.
"So that's why I felt mixed signals coming from your cat" Hao smiled as he looked at Aline with pride.
"I think I'm going to need more practice" Aline sighed looking at her cat meekly.
"(I'm just glad I have just one tail!)" Purrlia cried as she looked at her tail. Hao and Matamune chuckled at her remark.
"So what was your medium?" Amaya asked looking interested. Aline smirked while Hao observed her.
"Me no telling!" Aline winked as she tutted with a grin, at the same time Purrlia smirked while swishing her tail. Hao observed her for a bit then remembered what Purrlia had said. He looked at Matamune who nodded.
"Do you think about changing mediums?" Hao asked as he began to worry given how this could damage the girl if anything happened.
"Nah! Besides it's in a place where I will always treasure her" Aline replied with a wide smile
"Just be careful Sakura" Hao said. She nodded as she knew that he had an idea where her medium was.
As the weeks went by Aline was gaining a lot of knowledge which would allow her to progress further through the class much to some of the student's annoyance. As expected there were some jealous students who wanted to sabotage her so she would fail without the teachers knowing what they were doing. There was one time when she was carrying Li Ran's cane for him and was sent forwards almost landing on top of Akio who roared at her landing on him and injuring the angry male with the cane to the point that she was petrified by the severe scolding, hearing about the scolding shocked Hao enough to confront Akio for being so harsh on her given that it was an accident. Sadly Akio had turned his nose and huffed in anger much to Hao's fury but kept it quiet. Instead the unhappy male left more work and teaching for Akio to tend to as a way of punishing the older male, feeling insulted and angry he glared occasionally at Aline who in turn had almost flunked her lesson with Li Ran who in turn noted that she was seriously shaken up from what happened. As a result Li Ran and hold Akio off and warned him about bullying students including the new ones much to the male's displeasure, but had done what was ordered to Hao's chagrin. The second incident that took place was when Li Ran asked her to pass him some tea. After she poured tea he began to feel strange and within minutes had started to throw up. Aline now suspicious of the cup picked it up and smelt it, immediately she almost threw up from the smell when she smelt the half drunk tea.
The tea had been in fact four days old and had a hint of a herb which makes people sick once consumed. Instinctively she reached for her pouch and Purrlia rushed in with some medicine in a cup. She took out two leaves that would help and crushed them on the table. Seeing this Li Ran looked at her with mixed emotions while class was on hold as she continued to work on the medicine while ignoring everyone both vocally and mentally. She then sprinkled the crushed leaves into the tea and passed it to him after spitting into it making everyone gasp in horror at her action. She looked sick from the taste of the old tea which Li Ran had also took note of.
"Li Ran-sama this will make you better trust me, someone deliberately switched your tea with a four day old tea and added a herb which makes you sick. I have no doubt it's affects have given you an upset stomach" Aline said as she wiped her mouth with her clean sleeve. Li Ran stared at her before he took the cup gingerly, looking at the colour he immediately noticed that it had changed from green to blue much to his surprise.
"Sensei don't take that it could be poisonous!" yelled Aoi looking unsettled. Li Ran glared at him for assuming that she would do such a thing given what how she showed nothing but kindness compared to the other students who just watched… even if the spitting into his drink was a bit much. Slowly he lifted the cup and began drinking it with shaky hands, seeing him struggle Aline helped him by lifting the cup closer despite feeling sick. To his shock the tea tasted sweet and he immediately felt the nausea leave him as if exhaling bad air. He soon looked at Aline who looked sick leaving him concerned about her welfare.
"Have the rest I know you had a sip of the spiked tea" he said as he handed her the half of what's left of the tea which contained the medicine. She nodded with a shaky smile as she knew he trusted her. She took a shaky sip only to almost choke from gulping a lot at once. After sipping it she began to cough.
"(Sakura you shouldn't of sipped the old tea you know that your body doesn't react well with those herbs)" Purrlia scolded as she rubbed Aline's back with her paw while her eyes showed concern for her friend. Li Ran's eyes immediately widened in horror from seeing blood leave Alia's lips after coughing again, discretely she wiped the blood with her sleeve ignoring how it stained.
"Whoever did this is going to regret this, now who did spiked the tea?" Li Ran asked with a thunderous tone scaring everyone in the room as they saw how furious the man was given how bad the situation had escalated. Li Ran's mind also went to Hao and how badly he could take this, the last thing he wanted was for Hao to lose his mind over her being ill.
"(It was Keiji and Aoi)" Purrlia replied coldly hearing this made both Aoi and Keiji yell in shock at how they had been caught out. Li Ran quickly turned to look at them with a murderous expression. As punishment they had to scrub the temple floors until there was no dirt left to be seen, seeing them at it made some of the maids giggle at how fitting the punishment was. A few actually made their suffering get worse as they dropped stains and food onto the floors as a way of getting back at them for what they did, that and considering how they treated the maids with such disrespect it was fitting to give them a taste of their own medicine.
The third incident that happened just days after the previous one involved Hao who they saw looked sick and tired to Aline's dismay. Not wasting time Aline rushed out to get something for him to eat and drink due to the fact that he had a sleepless night, which in turn had been caused by an unwanted nightmare involving his mother. As soon as she rushed back in Aoi and Dai had discretely tripped her up making the continents of the tray fall on to a shocked Hao. Some students sniggered at the scene while Aline had a cut on her elbow from the sharp wood after landing on the floor, within seconds she had skidded from the fall due to the slippery surface that had been created by the mess. Gritting her slightly chattering teeth Aline fought the urge to cry over the pain that had been coming from the fall, she was not going to whimper or give the others the satisfaction in knowing that this was bothering her. Hao seeing that no one was going to help her sighed heavily due to being tired and stood up without a fuss, silently Hao helped her up knowing she was not expecting the event at all and looked at him with guilty eyes that tore at Hao's heart given that she had no reason to be feeling this way. Hao quickly turned sharply to look at Aoi and Dai with pure anger which had made them cringe from being caught out.
"Sorry Ha-Hao-sama" Aline said meekly as she bowed while he held her up by the uninjured arm. He stared at her with a sad expression knowing that she had only tried to help and only ended up being caught in an unwanted incident. Even as Hao looked at her he knew that she was resisting the urge to cry from her sore month, chin and arm. Akio soon came in looking shocked the moment he saw Hao being covered in food and tea stains. He observed the room silently before noticing Aoi and Dai looking petrified while Aline looked miserable, his eyes went to her injured arm which had a medium sized splinter in it before looking at Hao with guarded eyes. Even this was taking things too far regardless of how he felt about the girl.
"Hiroki take her to the medical room and get a maid here to clean up this mess. Hao I'll take over the class and as for you two!" Both boys tensed up after almost jumping from the sharp tone. "Rumour has it you've been causing a stir in this household and so you'll be cleaning the floors again. At the same time clean up your acts or else we'll send you out of this place for good understand!" Akio warned venomously while the boys went pale from the fact that they could get expelled.
"It was my fault for not looking so don't blame them" Aline said weakly detaching herself from Hao so she could go to the medical room alone much to Hao's dismay, regardless of what she wanted Akio and Hao were not going to let it slide after all the events that took place. This was the third time something had happened and she had been the victim of their bullying, Akio as he thought back remembered Yumi's treatment and scowled mentally. There was no way that this was going to continue any longer, this was a place of learning and care. To help those who wanted to deal with their ordeals and to use their skills to help, yes they served the emperor but the people came first-no brotherhood came equally first. No one was left behind regardless of what others thought. They had in a way lost a sister, a valuable person due to their carelessness and ignorance. Yes the role of women was to stay home and nurture children, but when one has the potential to do great things like how Yumi had used her talents to heal some of those even when they were close to death. Yes he knew it that the chances of her being successful when someone was in that state was split, she too grieved for those who suffered and those who she had lost. She bled just like them, she broke bread with them and in more ways than one they had spat at her kindness as their way of repaying. Now as he thought back to Sakura guilt welled up for how quick he was to judging someone so young after all, even he had been young at one point so why despite the fact she was a girl did he end up being so heartless?
Looking at Hao Akio felt more uneasy for how he was treating someone who no doubt was close to the once grieving male, it was no secret between the teachers that Hao's emotions had become so bad that he had seeked death. Knowing that he could have done something however made Akio feel more guilty and stupid for trying to put on a front, he hadn't lived Hao's life. He didn't lose a wife and child that day- Hao did and he should have done something to help. Sensing Akio's guilt Hao felt sadness but calm from knowing that this was in a way a wake up call for the somewhat 'grouchy' male.
"Hiroki get the maid please, in the meantime I'll check Sakura… Akio please?" Hao asked weakly, Akio looking at Hao nodded faintly while Hiroki rushed to get a maid.
"I've time" Akio shrugged making Hao smile faintly at how Akio was willing to help. "She's a good kid, don't think I haven't seen that side of her" Akio chuckled finally smiling after almost a whole year. Hao seeing this smiled more before rushing after Aline.
Aline cradled her arm tightly while Hoshimi a fair skinned black haired girl with green eyes helped her remove the splinter before disinfecting it with herbs. She then slowly helped Aline bandage her arm while making sure not to agitate the arm even more. Luckily the splinter wasn't in too deep or it would of hit something vital. No sooner after the arm was bandaged Hao entered the room to see that her upper and near her lower arm were bandaged securely while a sling was put in place to stop the bandages from moving.
"Sorry Hao... I messed up" Aline said feeling rotten about causing him so much trouble given that he had asked her not to, just knowing that this could happen again and because of her made tears form in Aline's eyes. Seeing this Hao swallowed thickly and knelt down once he approached her, taking her uninjured hand he moved some hair from her face. Seeing the distressed girl tense up from the touch left Hao more upset and angry over what was happening.
"It wasn't your fault Sakura, Purrlia and Matamune can prove it" Hao countered with a firm look while she looked down and refused to look at his face, part of him wanted to get back to where the boys were and severely punish them for deeply hurting her just because of who she was.
"Yeah but I'm a threat to them, I'm doing so well then most of the students in the class and yet I've made no friends for so many reasons... I hate being alone" Aline muttered weakly at the feeling of helplessness. Hao sighed and squeezed her hand gently.
"Listen Sakura it's okay, just take your time. Remember even if I'm not available Matamune is all ears and will not leave you alright?" Hao said in such a gently voice that it startled the maid who was sitting right next to Sakura. Sakura hearing this nodded mutely as she felt her confidence shaken to the point she would rather be in her room then back where THEY were.
"Oi midget! Let's talk!" Aoi snapped as he cornered her a month later much to her dismay.
"What do you want? I'm already resting my arm what else do you want to hurt you jealous fool!" Aline snapped now feeling her temper flaring up due to how annoyed she was with him.
"Let's have a wager" her eyes narrowed "there's a crystal diamond stone over at the mountains of Hiolon. If you can give it to me then I'll stop bothering you, call it an initiation challenge" Aoi said with a cocky grin knowing that there was no way she could do it.
"What about my studies? Sabotaging my learning is just bad and you will get into trouble" Aline snapped with cold eyes, not that he cared.
"Well if you want your book back then you'll do it!" Aoi said with a sly smirk. Aline sighed knowing she could get it back but it would mean causing trouble since no one knew about her hidden abilities.
"Fine I'll take your stupid challenge but you better give the teachers a good excuse or else it'll be your head" Aline said sharply. Aoi glared but said nothing since she had a point.
"Fine get going now" he snapped before leaving the room.
"Purrlia cover me for my lessons please" Aline said before going towards her room.
"(Be careful)" she heard Purrlia as she went.
Alia after some time had managed to sneak out of the household and hide in a carriage before jumping off once she was close to one of the exits of the village. Now running out the village without being seen while wearing only her yellow robes and her sandals, her sandals as she ran made loud click clacking noises but cared not since she was on a tight time frame given that the longer she was away meant more problems. Some people the further she was from the village spotted and stared at her sudden behaviour before going back to their lives since it was not any of their business. By the time it was afternoon she was at the bottom of the mountain while under the shade of trees, Aline soon panted heavily but rested against the base. It was then as she sat down that she realised she had forgotten to pack a bottle of water and mentally berated herself for the slip up. However regardless of the setback tried to keep calm despite the mishap since she had a large climb ahead of her to her dismay.
"I'll have to climb without these shoes" Aline muttered as she slipped off of them and rested them near her. Rolling up her sleeves Aline then began her climb ignoring the sharp stones cutting her hands and feet as she went up. Eventually she slipped on a rock piece and sliced the side of her leg making her flinch due to how painful it was, Instead of crying Aline ignored the pain and continued to climb despite almost limping. On route the injured girl spotted an oni but ignored it making it look at her with bewildered eyes before it's eyes darkened and turned feral the moment it smelt blood. Suddenly the oni released an ear splitting shriek as it rushed to attacked making Aline cry out in shock in fear. However before it could attack her, Aline's left hand began to glow which then started to cover the whole of her body in a bright light. The now getting caught in the light Oni cried out in pain as it was erased from existence. Startled Aline opened her eyes to see it was gone before looking at her right hand to see a mark glowing softly, instead of being scared she felt warm and safe. Almost as if she was being hugged by someone, at that moment she imagined her elder sister's hugging which made a few tears run down her face. Wiping her face she shook away the sadness knowing that deep down she was not alone, even though her sister had died her cat- her friend still remained for Aline to keep safe. Whether this was because of Aline or her sister it gave Aline hope to continue her trek.
"Sis... thanks" Aline smiled feeling her sister's love emanate from the strange mark which was unrecognisable due to the glow which faded leaving no evidence that it even existed. She continued her climb despite her clothes being torn from the climb and the sudden slip ups the girl endured during her journey, continuing through the night and to her relief she was half way up the mountain after being attacked by the Onis who were then erased from the mark that appeared the moment they attacked.
Aline soon spotted and went into a small cave to see it was stable, tired she moved away from the entrance allowing her to be hidden by shadows and went to sleep knowing she was safe for now. After waking up it was midday meaning that it was time to climb. Aline resumed her climb while bits of her robe were tied to her hands due to the cuts that were no inflicted by the jagged rocks and thanks to the fact she had nothing to clean them with. By the time she made it to the top was on the third day much to her dismay. Aline panted heavily from exhaustion but carried on moving into the entrance to the cave. She soon felt dizzy and faint from not only the infections but from being malnourished, regardless of being thirsty and hungry she had carried on moving. Aline as she walked were started to become shaky and swayed slightly even though she wanted nothing more than to sleep but fought against it.
"I am not pathetic... I'm not weak Yoh, I am nothing like you" Aline said darkly while feeling the bitter memory of betrayal enter her eyes even though she had tried to push the images away only to fail to the upset girl's dismay, however that changed once she started to assess the area despite it being nearly pitch black. Aline soon noticed that there were different vibes that could change someone's emotions. She smiled as realisation entered her.
"One way of protecting the jewel" Aline croaked before moving ahead while leaning on some of the wall to keep her steady. On route she spotted a light blue glow coming from the end of the tunnel which encouraged her to follow it. To her surprise the glow led her to a spiky field of crystals. The crystals themselves looked a bit like like stalagmites as light from the moon shined on to them which reflected their blue glow bathing her and the room due to the moon's beam. Aline as she admired the place began to feel at ease as her strength slowly began to return to her much to the girl's surprise. She soon noticed then that there was another presence and almost tensed up. The moment she looked up Aline's eyes widened at the site of a sky blue scaled creature who was walking on top of a cluster of crystal rocks that were below the blue stoned stalagmites. The creature had eyes that were as dark as night and talons that pierced into the rock leaving a brisk clacking noise as its talons also raked the rock. Its tail swished slowly as it walked up to the top of the rock which was located in the center of the room. The creature observed her reaction and chuckled softly.
"(My… I must say I never expected to meet another one of my kind, child of Sapphia)" said the creature while it spoke in a warm tone startling Aline.
"You know of me miss-" Aline paused and hesitated due to not knowing it's-her name.
"(I am Chiyo, I guard this mountain from Oni and the impure. Coming here must mean you were sent here but by who may I ask?)" Chiyo asked with an amused smile as she tilted her head but kept her eyes solely on the girl before her. Aline hearing this felt annoyed from remembering who made her climb up the mountain catching the dragon's attention.
"I was forced to come here by a foolish boy instead of fighting back. He wanted a crystal diamond stone but as if I would give him something like that now. I would never steal from a dragon especially" Aline said with a stern look making Chiyo giggle softly and shake her head causing her sky blue main to move slightly.
"(I know and that's why I will entrust you with my treasure... take care of it)" Chiyo said as she allowed Aline to come closer. Aline startled but curious approached her slowly, she quickly let out a gasp as she realised what Aoi wanted- A dragon's egg. The egg itself was looked like a medium sized oval diamond which no doubt would cause unwanted people to sell it for high prices, just seeing this left Aline more uncomfortable for wanting to take the egg away from it's mother.
"I-I can't this is your child!" Aline cried now feeling more guilty for even being up here to begin with, why hadn't she gone and spoke to Hao or Matamune for that matter? Why had she not done anything to stop this? It wasn't fair on either the mother or child. Seeing this reaction Chiyo smiled weakly as she moved closer.
"(My time is at its end Aline... Snow Dragons do not last long and my time is almost over... take care of my daughter)" Chiyo said in a motherly tone while her eyes showed warmth despite being sad about having to part from her daughter, this way her daughter would not be alone anymore after her death. Alia nodded feeling tears in her eyes from knowing how this was hurting the mother and watched Chiyo nuzzle the egg softly. "(Be strong darling, I'll give you your love to your ancestor)" Chiyo said as Aline picked up the egg gingerly so she wouldn't break it. The egg felt light as a feather to her surprise.
"One question how do I get down from here while holding this?" Aline asked as she eyed the egg wearily. Chiyo chuckled.
"(I'll fly you down and use your pouch to hide the egg)" Chiyo said before unfolding her bat like wings that had hid behind her back. Aline now hid the egg in the pouch which she had placed under her robes. Once Aline had gotten on to Chiyo she could hold on while making sure she was secure to prevent her and the egg from being hurt, soon Chiyo flew her down to the entrance of the town without losing too much time.
"Thanks Chiyo I owe you" Aline said with a smile before placing her hand on Chiyo's muzzle.
"(It was my pleasure darling. Please protect my daughter at all costs)" Chiyo said softly before flying back to her home.
Aline after seeing the dragon leave rushed back only to realise she had no sandals on making her yelp from realising.
"Oh man!" she yelped before whining weakly. Aline looked down again only to see her sandals. Then Kailen's shoes which made her sigh heavily from knowing her friends had her back on this.
"Thanks Kailen" Aline said as she slipped them on.
"Purrlia was worried about you and Hao was just about to send out a search party if it wasn't for the friend of ours that I had forced to disguise itself as you" Kailen muttered bluntly while folding his arms.
"Sorry I was made to get something but Aoi's not getting it" Aline said with a wide grin. Kailen sighed before leading her to her room to prevent anyone from causing a stir. Once inside Aline had placed her shoes near the paper doors. Without resting she started to rush towards her classroom, now determined to really set things straight, not hesitating Aline slammed the door open without knocking which made everyone who was inside jump in fright.
"Sorry!" she called making everyone in the class stop working in order to look at her and her appearance. Hao not missing a beat dropped his book from the shock as he took note in her appearance as well, disbelief and shock filled his expression but Aline was too tired to care since the only thing she wanted was sleep and to have what was left of her injuries checked out.
"Sakura what on earth happened to you?!" Hao asked angrily now standing up. Aline ignored him and glared at Aoi with more intensity that it made him jump. At that moment Aoi felt as if his life was flashing in front of his eyes from her glare.
"Oi hasbin! A word NOW!" Aline snapped sharply as she approached him while stomping slightly, mentally wincing from the pain in her feet. The room immediately became deathly silent as they all stared at Aoi and Aline with confused looks.
"What do you want?" Aoi asked rudely as he glared at her.
"Give me my book now you thief! And let me tell you something just because you're the self proclaimed ringleader of the first years doesn't mean you can tell me what to do! Another thing, sending newbies up and into the mountain of Hiolon is one of the dumbest thing EVER to do since you can't be bothered to up there by yourself. You should know that impure people and demons can not enter it, so you send people up there knowing they'll end up dead!" Aline snapped feeling fury leave her body in waves from how stupid the boy was for pulling such stunts. Hao's face as he listened turned white from anger as he listened to her words. "Now give me my book or else I'll do what I should of done to you before I left" Aline snapped more now moving closer and slammed the table causing some to jump from how loud the noise was.
"And what's that cry?" asked Dai as he mocked her from where he sat. Aline hearing this scoffed and sneered at them before smirking widely which took the pair by surprise.
"No I'll smash both your heads against the walls so then I can use your blood to paint the rest of the walls, after that I will then feed your remains to my dog AND let me tell you. She's on a VERY special diet! If you ever bully or pull a stunt like that to anyone again I'll make you regret that you even messed with me" Aline said with a sickly sweet smile. As she spoke Aline quickly felt the students fear of her but she ignored it. "Oh and by the way I don't play nice when someone pranks me so Dai if you try to nab my book and give it to Aoi again don't expect Purrlia to go easy on you after all her aim is getting… better" she hissed coldly making them shiver in fear at how serious she looked. Aline once she saw that the message had gotten into their heads looked at Hao, gave a small bow and left. On cue she was spotted by Akio who yelped at her appearance while Li Ran was pale from what she did in class given that he could hear her voice and the slam of the table, which in turn prompted him to rush over to Hao's classroom.
"What an earth is going on around here?!" Akio yelled now getting really frustrated and angry compared to before.
Aline once entered her room started to pack her stuff up knowing that she had gone and done it this time, she soon got up once she was sorted and started to adjust her bag.
"Looks like I'm out" Aline said feeling pig sick from lashing out at the bullies and in front of Hao no less.
"(Don't be like that! You have a right to be angry, I'm sure he'll understand)" Purrlia said with a smirk as she walked closer to Aline and held her hand with her paw.
"Nah the other teachers won't accept it. It's probably best to hide out in the shrine for now" Aline said before picking up her bag. She soon paused to hear footfalls rushing towards her door taking her by surprise. Suddenly the door slammed opened revealing an exhausted Hao, Li Ran, Takeshi and Akio. Aline's eyes widened in shock at what she was seeing.
"Wha-?"
"And just where do you think you're going?" Takeshi snapped beating Akio to it, the male scowled at Takashi for interrupting who in turn paid no heed.
"I caused a bad scene so I know I'm not welcome here, plus the bullying isn't going to stop so why bother being here?" Aline explained looking numb and felt more upset about the situation.
"Screw that! What were you thinking going up Hiolon Mountain that's suicide!" Akio yelled angrily at how reckless she was for pulling that stunt.
"I wanted to know why Aoi wanted this crystal" Aline replied while gripping her bag.
"And did you get it?" Li Ran asked eagerly not believing that she had gone up there and made it back in one piece, despite the rumors he had been rather sceptical about the mountain.
"Not telling even if I did see anything, besides whatever I saw or gained I am not handing it to anyone" Aline replied stiffly. Hao then took the opportunity to squeeze through the others who grumbled from being interupted.
"Sakura that was dangerous, never do that again without letting us know okay? And no, you are not getting thrown out but we have a favour to ask of you" Hao asked as he led a now stunned Aline out the room while the others followed behind. Aline let out a gasp as she saw Aoi, Dai and Keiji on the floor. They had suffered cane marks from the punishments they received, despite the pain they felt angry and miserable about what happened to them.
"Are you happy Sakura?" Keiji asked angrily before she slapped him.
"Who would want this you buffoon? I never wanted you to do this! Tou brought this upon yourselves. Now look at yourselves, is this what you want your parents to see you being reduced to? You're older than me and instead of setting an example you've been nothing but horrid to those wanting to learn, so you reap what you sow!" Aline snapped crossly. Dai looked down in shame as he felt guilt for how he acted.
"...I'm sorry" Dai said shocking the boys and their teacher. Aline smiled before nodding.
"I know but stop siding with the wrong crowd. Learn from this. I know you are so much stronger than you let on that's why the teachers are making me decide your fate... now this is your last chance after all you almost had me get killed by a bunch of Onis and that mountain was not easy to climb. Do you want to redeem yourselves?" Alia asked in a mature tone that took some by surprise. Dai nodded.
"Of course" Keiji said out of the blue shocking Aoi and Dai.
"What?!" Aoi asked angrily at how easy Keiji was changing his mind.
"Aoi enough! She's right... my parents died to keep me safe, the least I can do is honour their memory by turning over a new leaf. Sakura, Senseis Hao, Akio, Li Ran and Takeshi I'm truly sorry for what I have done" Keiji said with a bow despite feeling pain in his hands. Aline smiled at both boys with pride.
"I'm proud of you already my son" said a motherly voice. They gasped as they saw a woman in Aline's place. She had blue eyes, black hair that went up to her lower back and wore a pink kimono with crane birds on the sides of the kimono. Keiji's eyes began to tear up as he saw her motherly smile.
"Mother... but-" she placed her hand to his lips to silence him.
"Your father and I are proud of you... don't lose yourself and be the best you can be. We'll see you again" she said before she vanished leaving Aline breathless as she went forward but stopped half way. After a few seconds Aline opened her eyes feeling slightly drained from what she had done.
"I don't believe it! You're a spirit medium?!" Takeshi bellowed feeling mixed emotions about what he witnessed, hearing his loud voice making Aline wince from the noise.
"Sensei I just had a spirit in my body please be gentle for a few minutes" Aline said weakly, she soon staggered as she tried to get up on both her shaky legs only to smile faintly at Matamune who helped her up.
"Child have you done this before?" Li Ran asked with a guarded look as he observed the dark circles appearing under her eyes.
"Family blood, our family mixed with a shaman once so now that's part of my family bloodline" Aline replied feeling tired.
"Does it hurt?" Li Ran asked looking worried while Hao was left stunned about what he witnessed.
"It's taxing since I'm young but my aunt says I can handle it from the training I had with her" Aline replied she took out an Salmon roll which was covered in a blanket out of her pocket and started to snack on it. "That's better" Aline said feeling some energy come back but not enough to keep her awake for long.
"And yet you want to train with us?" Akio asked now feeling intrigued and yet guilty for how they all treated her.
"Of course I like to learn new things that's not a problem right?" Aline asked feeling that they would say yes and yet there was a chance they would say no.
"Of course not it's just we've never had this before right Akio? Sorry about before we had problems with Aoi since his family's death almost a year ago" Takeshi explained feeling sheepish and guilty for how he acted.
"I know it was an oni attack" Aline replied smoothly making them stare at her with shock. "Your mind is too loud" she muttered making Dai and Keiji laugh at both Takeshi and Akio's faces who had turned red from embarrassment.
"O-Okay let's get this sorted out, Aoi are you going stop now?" Takeshi asked sternly.
"Whatever" Aoi huffed as he looked away. Aline smirked knowing that he was going to stop for sure.
"I've an idea on what punishment would benefit him" Aline said with a grin while the teachers were left baffled by what she could want to do.
"I am no servant! Carry your own books!" Aoi ranted as he was forced to follow Aline to class with her books while she walks without anything to hold on to since her hands were on the mend.
"Well it's that or you're out take your pick!" Aline grinned as he had no comeback.
"Fine whatever!" he snapped coldly. Aline soon stopped in front of the door so he could open it. Aoi who had almost growled but refrained from doing so opened the doors while grumbling to himself.
"Get use to it! I had to do your room" Aline grinned as she entered the room after thanking him.
"That explains why it stank" he muttered darkly.
"No that was Xui La she was asked to put your mother's perfume on the pillow" Aline said in a cocky tone making him frown. "We do so much for you and ask for nothing in return. Yet you treat us like slaves, now I have to ask was it worth it?" Aline asked before she sat down. Aoi stared at her before looking at the door that was at the back of the room which the teachers would enter from. On cue Hao came in looking tired and flustered.
"Bad night again" Aline muttered making Aoi look at her oddly at how she was being too familiar with their teacher.
"Tell that to the person who keeps walking in the middle of the night" Aoi muttered to himself. She eyed him carefully and then Hao before paying attention to the lesson. Aoi saw a note in front of him and looked at the message discreetly.
"Wanna look for the source of the noise tonight?" it said, knowing who it's from he looked at Aline then wrote yes. She grinned slightly before looking at Hao.
The classes were slow but thanks to Aline, Aoi had started to pay more attention, which in turn shocked the teachers given how he hardly showed signs of caring let alone taking it seriously.
When it was night time Aline soon met with Aoi by the small lake in the main part of the garden. They soon began to walk around the temple hallways while making sure to not be discovered by any one. By then Aline fished out a Sakura petal from her pocket and it started to levitate slowly. A blue aura erupted around it allowing it to take shape of a translucent bird which was the size of a hand, seeing this Aoi yelped before covering his mouth quickly while Aline scowled at the now embarrassed boy.
"Can you search round for anyone who is walking around the place?" they heard an eerie tweet signalling a yes before it flew away from the pair.
"Was that a Shikigami?" Aoi asked with awe now recovering from the shock as Aline placed a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Yup they can take many shapes and forms. I chose a dove" Aline replied before whistling loudly.
"SQUEAA!" came a feminine cry. Aoi yelped one more as he saw a flying squirrel coming towards them. Aline covered his mouth so he didn't wake anyone up as his voice had gone louder from being startled.
"Noisy much?" Aline hissed as she looked at her friend The squirrel had black eyes, a tiny nose. Its ears were positioned at the top of her head which had brown inside the ears, they ears were rounded in shape and black on the outside, she possessed black wings that were attached from her arms to her lower body, on the inside brown was inside the furry part of the wings. Like her hands her feet had three toes, the colour on her face, arms and legs were also brown reminding Aline of earth while her tail was curly at the end which bunched up and moved in a cute manner.
"What the hell is that thing?!" he asked as he looked at the squirrel coo as she stood on Aline's arm and rubbed her cheek on Aline's face with a giggle.
"(I missed you! I wanna to play! I wanna play!)" The squirrel cried with glee as she tried to hug Aline who grinned at her enthusiastic behaviour.
"Sorry Emolla, but I have a request which will earn you rice balls" Aline said. Emolla cooed with delight at the sound of food while her tail flicked and moved cutely while tilting her head slightly.
"(Food! Food! Okay dokie!)" Emolla cheered with glee as she started to fly around Aline while Aoi was still stunned about what he was witnessing.
"Emolla! Pay attention please!" Aline said sternly despite smiling.
"(Sorry! Emolla be good Emolla promises!)" She said with glee.
"How are you doing that?" Aoi asked in a bewildered voice not believing that she was actually taming this weird animal, how did she come across such a thing?!
"I'm using telepathy which allows us to hear her, now Emolla there's a person at this time walking around in the temple can you help us track them?" Aline asked.
"(Sure sure! I will I'll be right back~!)" Emolla sang as she glided into the hallway leaving Aline and Aoi.
"So... care to explain?" Aoi asked as he looked at Aline smiling at Emolla's retreating form. She took notice of him causing her smile to go which made him also frown given that she stopped smiling at him.
"Let's start walking over there. Since the dove has gone left and Emolla's gone right" Aline said.
"Don't change the subject! What was that?" Aoi cried. Aline stared at him as if he was dumb.
"Her name is Emolla, she's a flying squirrel and she can bite. Now let's get going already or we'll be spotted by the watchers" Aline said as she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him with her, surprising him on how strong she was.
"Hey! Don't do that!" he yelped at her ability to drag him so effortlessly.
"Stop yelling" she hissed. Suddenly she started to stagger making him hold her close instinctively without meaning to, instead of pushing her away he noticed a slight look in her eyes.
"You okay?" he asked as she held her head from the sudden wooziness.
"Yeah... I thought that I saw something..." her eyes widened from the shock. "OVER THERE!" Aline yelled as she got out of his grip and ran to the left.
"Sakura wait what's going on?!" Aoi asked as he chased after her. She stopped suddenly making him crash into her, to his shock he bounced off of her making him fall to the floor instead of landing on her. She glared at him as if saying "really?!" making him chuckle nervously at the situation.
"Sorry but why did you stop?" he whispered as she placed a finger to her lips and eyed the corner.
"Stay here" she said softly before going round the corner. Aoi stopped and peered round the corner to see where she was going, to his horror he saw Hao not taking any noticing Aline as she went towards him.
"Hao let's get you back to bed now, okay?" Aline said in a soft tone as she tried not to snap him out of his sleepwalking mode knowing it would hurt him if he suddenly woke up instead of waking up naturally. Hao not reacting allowed her to move him, during this he didn't complain or fight her as she led him to his room slowly but in a calm manner. Inside Aline was horrified and worried that this was happening, something must have happened to make him do this, how long had he been sleepwalking? How had no one seen him like this? Knowing that no one had said nor did anything relieved her deeply since the last thing he would want no doubt was being judged. She soon took notice of Matamune once she was inside, he looked at her with a grave look knowing that she now knew.
"How long has this been happening?" she asked softly as she helped him sit on his futon and took his cap off, after that Aline then slowly coaxed him to lay in his bed and closed his eyelids before holding his hand to comfort the sleeping male.
"When Yumi died Hao felt as if he lost a part of himself and ever since he's been wondering around looking for her, he… he had hurt himself a lot and almost died at one point because of losing too much blood but he was saved in the end. He doesn't know that this is happening, all he does is walk in his sleep and cry, not knowing that anyone is in the area or not. I had tried to stop him but at times I am powerless to prevent him from leaving. There are rare time he sleeps the full night but ends up having nightmares as a result" Matamune replied feeling helpless about the whole situation. Aline looked at him feeling guilty and sad that both Hao and Matamune had to go through this, what was worse was that she had no idea of how badly the situation was damaging the still grieving until now. No doubt seeing her reminded him of Yumi which even as he tried to push it away continued to get worse, how long could this go on before someone got hurt? The though chilled Aline to the bone.
"He just wants to be whole again but knows that it will never happen again until he dies" Aline said feeling bitter at how sick this was, was his soul calling to her? If so why act like Yumi was still around? Even she knew that Yumi was gone since she had channelled her soul.
"Maybe you can help him with his loss" Matamune asked feeling hope as Aline smiled wearily.
"I can only try" Aline said meekly before looking at Hao with sad eyes. Aline continued to make sure Hao was still asleep in his futon, just watching him left her feeling more powerless than she would ever have liked to be. Was there no way to help him?
Aline gasped in shock before she felt a sharp pain shocking Matamune as he saw something come from her back. She soon turned to look to her right side to see a white wing which has a black lace like string move round each feather to their surprise. Biting her lip Aline took out a feather from her wing and tired it with string knowing why they appeared, next she placed the newly made necklace around Hao's neck. Within minutes Hao breathed softly while looking completely at ease the moment it touched his skin.
"A Una wing" Aline explained as Sapphia's words entered her mind "It can bless people by banishing bad dreams and protecting them from danger" Aline added still surprised that they appeared before watching them retract back into her, cringing from the feeling sliding of muscles she bit her lip to stop herself from crying out in pain.
"I see so?" Matamune said before holding her hand, eyes shone with worry as he observed her while she tried to recompose herself.
"Sapphia's blood is connected to someone who most likely has ties to this type of thing, don't know who but a brief memory Sapphia has is seeing someone ease the passing of someone" Aline replied while Matamune pondered on her words,
"I'll keep this a secret, after all no one wants anyone to know that there is something wrong with them" Aline said before hugging her feline friend, hearing him purr she smiled. Soon it was time for her to leave so she closed the door silently behind her so Hao wouldn't wake up and went to her room.
She spotted Aoi near the hallway that leads to the main hallway.
"So is he okay?" Aoi asked looking worried about seeing Hao like this, Aline sighed heavily while looking away slightly confirming that something was wrong.
"Yeah just a problem which I might have to go and check again tomorrow night" Aline replied as they walked over the mini bridge.
"Listen, I may not be the nicest person ever but I know when I've gone too far" Aline stopped to look at him, her eyes were slightly wide due to feeling bewildered by his sudden confession.
"What I'm trying to say is that I'm really sorry for hurting you" Aoi said. To his surprise Aline smiled at him which made his cheeks go red from seeing her finally smiling at him.
"I forgive you" Aline said warmly which in a way made him blush.
"So what happened to him?" Aoi asked looking back at Hao's room with worry.
"Sleepwalking" Aline replied as if she was talking about the weather. Aoi however looked at her with alarm.
"How long has it been going for?" he asked. Aline frowned.
"Since the dreadful day" Aline hinted. Aoi then thought back to when Hao and his wife were attacked. Only Hao survived but Yumi had died to protect him. The news reached the whole of the Asakura province shocking everyone to their core that their Lotus shrine maiden had killed in such a manner. Aoi then felt bitter from remembering but kept it silent.
"So what will you do tomorrow?" he asked. Aline took note but kept silent.
"Well if he does it again I'll have to skip class" Aline said shocking Aoi.
"What why?!" he asked in panic.
"I'll be making bells that will wake him up" Aline giggled at his concern for her not turning up.
"But won't you get told off?" he asked looking worried.
"Yeah but knowing it was a good cause will be worth it" she grinned.
Aoi was in the classroom waiting for Hao to show up. He had been sweating up a storm from her talk with him about what she was planning to do. By the time Hao entered the class Aoi jumped slightly. He took note of Hao's appearance which appeared to show less fatigue but still showed exhaustion to the boy's worry.
"Looks like he had another rough night... when is she going to turn up? I don't want Hao to kill me" Aoi thought which caught Hao's attention. As expected Hao's eyes wondered to Aline's spot which lead Hao to look at him with a frown.
"Sakura's sick so she can't come" Aoi said a little too quickly for Hao's liking. Aoi spotted Matamune's amused expression which made him squirm in his seat.
"Help me Matamune or Master Hao will kill me for even allowing this!" Aoi cried mentally hoping the cat could help unfortunately for him Hao heard what he said, Hao's eyebrows narrowed as he stared at the boy.
"Aoi see me after class please" Hao said making Aoi cry out in frustration. Dai and Keiji laughed at his reaction causing him to leer at them, he was in no mood for this.
After class Aoi started to fidget as if he had ants in his clothes. Hao meanwhile was staring at him with an odd look not knowing what to make of his behaviour.
"So, any reason why Sakura's not in cla-?"
"I KNOW ABOUT THE SLEEPWALKING!" Aoi yelled in fright as he looked as if he was a deer in headlights. Hao blinked in shock as he tried to process what Aoi had said. He then turned to Matamune who face palmed himself to his surprise.
"Is this true?" Hao asked shocking Aoi.
"Wait Sensei you didn't know?" Aoi asked feeling scared about being told off.
"No he didn't know until now" Matamune said in a grudgingly shocking Hao. "It was suppose to be kept quiet for a reason"
"So why is Sakura not in class?" Hao asked looking baffled.
"She said about making bells" Aoi said feeling silly that he dropped not only himself in it but Aline as well. Both Hao and Matamune slowly looked at one another then at him.
"Bells?" Hao asked looking confused.
"Yeah they're suppose to be blessed at midnight by the waters of the shrine they're suppose to lull a person out of sleepwalking" Aoi replied not truly believing this but against his better judgement, he trusted Aline.
Aline finished the fourth bell and waited by the shrine. By the time it was midnight she placed them on top of a lotus leaf and the lotus soon started to sink slightly making the bells fill with water before the lotus went back up as if nothing happened. After the third time she picked them up to observe them. The bells had an oval like structure as if they were petal like. They all had markings around the bells. One of the markings had a sun on one side while the moon was on the other side on each bell, the rest of the markings were writing from an unknown language. She tied each one to a single string and sighed with content as she finished them before looking up at the full moon.
"HA! Take that aunt I can so make these in my sleep!" Aline gloated as she placed them inside a wooden box and closed it with a satisfied grin.
"Is that so?" asked a voice making her turn and smile in surprise.
"Hao! What are you doing out? It's bed time" Aline asked with a grin not caring that she had been caught. Hao frowned at her before smiling due to her infectious smile.
"Aoi told me you were making bells" he replied. She nodded before giggling with a wide grin. She then opened the box to show him the bells.
"These are for you when you sleep so you'll wake up when you start to sleep walk" Aline replied as he examined one of the bells.
"These are beautiful but what is this writing? I can't understand it" Hao asked while tracing the writing with his finger.
"It's ancient tongue, my mother language" Aline replied with pride. Hao looked at her with curious eyes.
"What is that?" he asked as he looked at the bells again.
"It's a language passed down by my family blood line. It's a language long forgotten by everyone else" she replied before observing the moon and stars.
"Put these on when you go to bed and get some rest sir" Aline bowed before leaving. Hao seeing her just leave like that was left stunned at what she did for him, he also felt touched by gifts. Soon he placed one on his wrist before going to his room to sleep.
Aline woke only to feel tired and sore. However thanks to the medicine Purrlia gave her she was able to get up.
She went to her class after she placed the yellow robe and her shorts on. By the time she arrived no one was there making her frown.
"Where is everyone?" Aline asked feeling confused by the lack of people.
"If you were in yesterday Aline then you would of known that there's a meeting in the main hall" Matamune said with a smile as he stood behind her.
"Did the bells work?" Aline asked eagerly. Matamune nodded with relief in his eyes causing her to sigh.
"The moment the bells chimed he woke up before even leaving his room so he went back to sleep, he's also wondering about the mysterious feather that was tucked inside his robes but I said nothing" Matamune said as he took Aline to the main hall.
"Thanks I think I should make a dream catcher next but I'll need help with that" Aline replied.
"I think Li Ran told me that Yumi heard about them being made in a place called Patch Village" Matamune suggested. Aline nodded with a grateful smile.
"Thanks Matamune wish me luck" Aline said as she entered the room. Matamune grinned at her naivety.
"-and the last one going into year two will be Sakura Sen" Hao concluded as if he knew Aline would enter at the exact moment he called her name last. Aline froze as all eyes turned to her. The teachers smiled at her reaction.
"Hao-sama… is this a joke?" Aline asked looking at him with confusion as she tilted her head to the side. Takeshi sniggered at Hao stunned expression before the male leered at Takashi slightly from the corner of his eye.
"Of course not! Sakura today was the day when some students move up a year or down a year to study more" Hao explained, he looked at her with amusement in his eyes knowing that she had not expected this.
"Yeah but she didn't show up yesterday so she had no idea" Akio said sternly.
"It was for a good cause" Aline said with a shrug making Takeshi and Li Ran laugh.
"Though I have to admit the bells do look feminine" Takeshi sniggered making Hao stare at him in shock and anger.
"You went through my stuff?!" Hao asked looking angry and embarrassed.
"Hey you left the box out so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about" Takeshi grinned as he fished out one of the bells. Hao's eyes went as wide as saucers as he saw the bell while the students minus Aline started to laugh at their teachers.
"Give the bell back Takeshi" Hao asked in a warning tone.
"Make me- hey where did it go?" Takashi exclaimed as the bell disappeared from his hand, once again the students laughed except Aline joined in. Hao looked at Aline who winked at him as she moved her sleeve slightly. He moved his left arm discretely to his right wrist to feel the bell resting against his skin. He smiled mentally at her stunt. After the teachers got into a brawl about the vanishing bell while the students were dismissed but still remained to watch the scene unfold. Aline then rushed to her room with the blue robes in her hands. Purrlia looked up and grinned.
"(I knew you would be graduating from that class within six months)" Purrlia said as she got up.
Aline quickly took off her robe revealing her black vest and shorts.
"Yeah but the teachers started to play fight after Takeshi took Hao's bell" Purrlia cackled in delight at the imagery.
"(Wished I could have seen that! But alas I love my sleep)" Purrlia said with a grin. On cue Emolla cooed at Aline.
"(Congrats Aline I am so happy for you!)" Emolla cheered while giving her a victory sign.
"Thank you, I'm just equally shocked" Aline said as she finished putting on the blue sash for her new blue robes. She then placed a blue ribbon on the back of her neck then tying it into a bow. Once that was done Aline tied her hair into a messy bun to keep her hair from messing with the bow, now satisfied with her appearance she observed the mirror to see if anything was out of place.
"Thanks Purrlia and Emolla, I've to go to class now bye~!" Aline said in a sing song voice before running out.
"(So grown up Emolla misses her child care free smile)" Emolla said with a sad smile.
"(Worry not it's still there)" Purrlia said as she patted Emolla's back softly making Emolla squeal with glee.
"(Play with me Purrlia! Play! Play! Plaaay!)" Purrlia sighed before showing a glint in her eyes.
"(Better start running rodent)" Purrlia said in a teasing voice which made Emolla squeal with glee again as she started to fly out the room and into the garden with Purrlia chasing after her.
Aline rushed to class hoping she wouldn't be late, to her shock Hao was her teacher so when she entered the room, she walked in quietly as to not attract attention.
"Nice of you to join us Sakura, now class we'll start with summoning Shikigamis. Does anyone know what they are?" Hao asked. Aline placed her hand up making Hao look at her with curious eyes.
"Yes Sakura?" he asked.
"Shikigami are spirits that are born from Shikigami eggs or from dead objects like leaves. Or in some cases they are created by stones, twigs and petals. It is said that in order to start spirit control summoning the spirits of dead leaves should be practiced by beginners" Aline replied. The students stared at her with shock at how much knowledge she knew about them.
"How on earth did she know that?!" thought a few students.
"Well done Sakura that is really impressive for a new student" Hao praised with a smile while remembering her time when she served the food with the Shikigamis.
"Well since we're on the subject. For this lesson I want two students summoning Shikigamis and use them to overpower the other. The aim of this exercise will be to get rid of the others Shikigami but I want no one hurt just focus on using spirit control" Hao warned as he eyed a student who shrank in his seat.
"Hitoshi that means you!" Hao warned sternly.
"Master it was an accident!" whined the student.
After a few students sparred Hao then selected Aline to stand in the middle of the room.
"Now Aline who would you want to spar with?" Hao asked. Aline thought for a moment as she looked round to see what the people were like.
"Most of them are no match for me and I may put them in the medical bed or worse, so I best play it safe" she thought as she continued to ponder for a bit.
"I choose Master Hao" Aline said with confidence in her tone while folding her arms. She felt everyone look at her with disbelief. Even Hao was at a loss for words at how she chose him to spar against.
"Sakura I'm not sure-"
"If I spar with anyone else here I'll probably put them into a coma. Would you want that?" Aline challenged him with her stare. Seeing that she refused to budge he stood up and went to the opposite of her.
"I hope you know what you're doing" Hao said quietly as they stared to summon Shikigamis. Hao summoned five while to the students shock, the wind blew in some petals and started to take the form of spirits making a total of fifteen spirits as five paper spirits took shape beside Aline. Hao stared in amazement at her control over so many Shikigamis.
"Have you been practicing?" Hao asked with a curious look.
"I could do this since I was one" Aline replied plainly surprising Hao, meanwhile she mentally frowned as she felt envious stares boring into her but pushed them away.
"I'm impressed but you'll have to beat my Shikigamis can you do that?" he asked with a curious look. To his shock a petal spirit changed to a dove and landed on her out stretched hand, a small glint appeared in her eye catching his attention.
"I hope so" Aline replied calmly, the bird looked at him briefly with before charging at one of his Shikigamis. Two of his charged at the dove but were destroyed the moment it sliced through them with it's outspread wings. It flew into an arc before flying in front of Aline. It let out a shrill cry which made her Shikigamis charge at the dove to become a bit bigger. Her form went to the side of Aline's head while staring at him with eerie eyes. Hao observed the dove spirit with pensive eyes while everyone else was left shocked by seeing two of their master's Shikigamis get destroyed by one of hers without getting injured.
"It's gotten a lot stronger, do you think you can handle it?" Hao asked feeling tired from the sudden loss of energy, however two of his attacked the dove. To everyone's shock the dove batted them away just by beating its wings sharply. Hao felt the recoil of the Shikigamis being destroyed as it hit the wall and the medium that kept it in one piece broke causing his control to slip.
"Alia can do anything when she puts her mind to it, all I have to do is call her" Aline said with a warm smile. Alia hearing this let out a shrill cry as she charged at the last remaining Shikigami. Hao's Shikigami reacted without him meaning to and was reduced to dust the moment Alia started to glow. She did an arc again and looked at Aline. Aline smiled smiled before allowing Alia to flying onto her out stretched hand. Alia's body started to vanish the moment she landed on Aline's hand. Suddenly she heard a loud applause by a few people making her blink in shock as she realised what had happened.
"That was cool Sakura!" Dai cheered with joy while Aoi smirked at her blushing from being the center of attention. Hao got up after recovering from their spar and smiled at how Aline held her own against him.
"She maybe more powerful than I am if she continues to trains harder, hmm… I wonder" he thought as a thought came to him.
"Master Hao are you okay?" asked Hitoshi as he leered at Aline with malice for hurting their teacher.
"Just winded but overall that was very good Sakura, well done I'm very proud of you high level of spirit control. Keep up the good work, class dismissed" Hao said as he left the room to rest from taking a beating from Aline's power.
Aline meanwhile was left stunned that she could even beat Hao, how was this possible? Surely he should be more stronger than her so was he holding back?
"How did you do it really?" Keiji asked eagerly as they walked thought the hallway. To Aline's shock Aoi didn't complain about carrying her books or his this time around.
"Practice, I was in a nunnery which specialised in spirit medium training. I got bored so I would just make them out of twigs and let them fly" Aline replied as she bit into an apple Aoi had given her as they walked.
"Those people sound like they are really advanced!" Keiji said with awe. Aline smiled.
"I heard a Grandmaster trained there five hundred years ago after an incident brought them there to train" Dai said as they walked towards the garden. They soon heard a cat screeching followed by squeaky laughter making the group look to see Purrlia chasing Emolla with a glint in Purrlia's eye.
"Hey it's your squirrel, will it be okay?" Aoi asked pointing to Emolla who continued to fly with a grin. Aline sniggered at the scene playing out before her.
"The girls are playing chase the rodent and Emolla just happened to be the target. Steady Emolla! Don't shock anyone or you'll be in trouble!" Aline warned.
"(I won't! Emolla's having so much fun! Fun! Fun!)" Emolla cheered with joy as she dodged Purrlia's claws again.
"Wow those two are really at it" Keiji said as he watched them go at it with startled eyes.
"What are they?" asked Dai looking baffled.
"The purple cat is Goryoushin" Aline explained with a shrug.
"Hey! Don't Onmyōji have the ability to summon them only?" Keiji asked looking confused.
"Let's just say the person was in a dark time in their life and Purrlia just happened to be the result since the person's thoughts that were only half way" Aline said.
"Wait so will she steal from us?" Dai asked.
"You'll never retaliate since her face will charm you. Unfortunately for her I'm immune" Aline chuckled as Purrlia leered at her for a split second as she chased Emolla.
"Looks like I hit a nerve by that comment" Aline giggled causing the boys to laugh after noticing the leer.
"Man she looks mad!" Aoi sniggered making Aline smile as she began to feel more welcome within the group compared to when she first started.
"E-Excuse me can I join in?" asked a boy who mousy black hair and shy blue eyes.
"You're Raiju right? You just joined our class last week right?" Aline asked with a smile. Raiju's eyes lit up with joy as he nodded.
"Yes I've been meaning to say hello but I keep losing my nerve after all hearing your reputation, it's kind of nerve wrecking to have someone like you here" he said with a blush as he fumbled with his books. All three boys stared at him oddly while Aline could sense his worry.
"RAIJU!" he jumped suddenly from her yelling while the others yelped in surprise.
"Y-Y-Yes S-Sakura-chan?" he stuttered feeling scared from the tone of her voice.
"First off take a deep breath and relax, second I may have a reputation but ignoring that. I'm just an ordinary Onmyōji in training" Aline said in an authoritative tone despite smiling at him. Raiju nodded with a smile now feeling more relaxed with the group.
"And lastly just sit here before Dai starts rooting into my bag and nick my food like Purrlia does" Aline said making Aoi and Keiji howl with laughter as Dai's face turned red from embarrassment of being caught out.
"H-Hey!" Dai cried. Raiju chuckled lightly due to being shy.
"Don't worry we're all shy in the beginning, that's good showing it from time to time since it shows you're not afraid of hiding what you feel" Aline said as she took her bag making Dai moan loudly.
"Class is in five minutes, did you know that Master Hao and the red robed students are going to the festival in five days?" Raiju asked with curious eyes.
"Meh! Me not interested when it comes to parties so I tend to shy away" Aline said as she waved it off.
"Good since there are only six red robes going" Aoi said coldly from the fact he couldn't go.
"Why aren't there many red robes? It's been bothering me for a while now" Aline asked now looking at him.
"That's because the tests are super hard to pass. You see when we are given the chance to have three tests they must be completed. One is an oral-"
"I stink at orals so I'll flunk for sure" Aline said casually.
"That's too bad, looks like I'll beat you to it" Aoi said in a cocky grin.
"Not really since I predict it'll take you four to six years depending on your short intention spam" Aline said making Aoi growl at her.
"Why you-!"
"Anyways what's the second Raiju?" Aline asked ignoring Aoi.
"Don't ignore me!" Aoi yelled.
"The second is you'll have to face Master Hao-"
"Done that" Aline said with a grin.
"I know and I think that was amazing how you defeated him, lastly is like the white robe exam you'll have to impress the teachers" Raiju finished shyly.
"Yikes not my cup of tea but hey ho it'll be okay" Aline grinned.
"Yeah and you'll flunk! Did you know if you get one part of the exam wrong you'll not progress" Aoi said with a smirk.
"Oh yeah" Aline asked with a grin as she rolled her sleeves up.
"Yeah and I bet you have no upper body-WAAAH! GET OFF!" Aoi screamed as Aline pounced on him. She started to punch him playfully before tickling him.
"NO NO NO! NOT THERE! OH COME ON YOU KNOW GRASS STAINS ARE HARD TO GET OFF!" Aoi cried as he was trying not to laugh but was failing miserably.
"Hmmm, make me!" Aline howled with laughter as she started to tickle him more. Meanwhile Dai and Keiji were hooting and howling with glee while chanting 'fight' repeatedly. Raiju was left speechless at the scene before him. Unfortunately Hao was walking towards them but wasn't able to see Aline and Aoi.
"Seems like you three are having fun, can I ask have you seen Sakura?" Hao asked as he approached them, Dai and Keiji froze as their bodies were blocking the fighting duo to their relief.
"GET OFF!" Aoi screamed as he started to laugh again as she tickled him from under his arms.
"Take it back then" Aline cooed as she continued to laugh at him. Hao's eyes widened as he moved Dai and Keiji out the way to see Aline and Aoi in a scuffle.
"F-Fine you do have upper body strength and I'll do your homework for a year just get off of me!" Aoi cried while laughing.
"What an earth is going on around here?!" Hao yelled in shock as he saw their clothes covered in grass stains, there was no way that was going to come off completely due to how dark the stains were. Aline eventually got off of a now relieved Aoi while laughing.
"Mr Aoi here said I had no upper body strength and I slaughtered him~!" Aline sang while Aoi groaned as he leered at her weakly for humiliating him in front of their teacher.
"Son of a-"
"AOI!" Hao snapped as he looked at him with alarm while Aline roared at him with laughter.
"Oh you potty mouth!" Aline sniggered as she hit the ground making Aoi's face turn red.
"G-Get the hell out of my head!" Aoi screamed in alarm causing her to laugh harder.
"(Jeez you idiot! I can't believe you even thought that! Honestly if Hao heard that then he'd of skinned you so badly that burning you won't even look attractive!)" Aline laughed harder as she forced her words out. The males looked at her with confusion.
"Erm Sakura what did you just say?" Keiji asked as he eyed the girl. She waved it off for a bit.
"(Let me get my bearings please)" Aline asked as she sighed deeply before sitting up. "Sorry Aoi's mind is so rude so it made me laugh, good thing Hao can't read it when I'm in the room" Aline sniggered at Hao who leered at a shaken Aoi who had turned white due to feeling fearful of their teacher, it didn't take a genius to know what Hao was thinking as he leered at Aoi.
"Aoi see me after the festival please anyways... Aline please stop fighting as I was about to ask you something" Hao said as he folded his arms and looked at her as if he was a father scolding her with his eyes which made her smile sheepishly.
"What's up bucko?" Aline asked before the boys started to laugh startling Hao who raised a brow.
"Sakura!" Hao said sternly.
"What I was raised by men what do you expect?" Aline asked with a smirk making him sigh again.
"Sakura please it's about the festival, I was going to ask if you could come as a representative of your year group" Hao explained as he grimaced at her stained clothes.
"Ask Aoi he's been determined to show me up" Aline grinned at Aoi who leered at her for being rude.
"Yeah but he's asking you dummy" Aoi hissed coldly.
"Oh? I'm a dummy dip stick?" Aline snapped back as she rose to his challenge as she eyed him with a stern look. Hao and the other boys stared at their tennis match as they used their words as the ball.
"Take that back tiny!" Aoi leered at Aline.
"It's better to be tiny then a giant who breaks things huh? Don't want to scare the children huh?" Aline grinned. Aoi's eyes flared up. So far it was Aoi two Aline four.
"Children" Hao said.
"We are children stupid!" Aoi snapped not realising that he had just snapped at Hao who almost blanched at him in shock.
"Actually I'm younger than you so thanks for the compliment ego boy" Aline said as she leered at him in the eyes. She heard Aoi's heart start to race as he looked at her eyes.
"W-Well your- oh forget it!" Aoi huffed as he looked away like an angry child making Aline, Dai and Keiji laugh.
"Did you just run out of words? Aoi this is a side I've never seen before" Keiji mocked as he laughed at Aoi's face. Hao just stared at them mutely.
"Children please refrain from saying bad words" Hao warned sternly.
"Yes Master" they all said making him eye them.
"Anyways Sakura please attend the festival" Aline's eyes turned violet for a moment making them stare at her.
"Fine I'm needed anyways" Aline muttered bluntly.
"Excellent now go the Chiyo so she can have your dress fitted" Hao said.
"Already had a dress done" Aline said with a grin making their jaws drop in shock.
"Why do you have a dress?" Dai asked looking at her with suspicion.
"It was from my dead mum and aunt idiot" Aline leered making him shiver for getting her annoyed.
"Sorry my bad" Dai said feeling sweat run down his back.
The night of the festival had come which meant Aline had to dress up. She wore a plain sky blue dress which was backless at the back, wrapped around her waist was a violet obi. Aline had then tied a violet ribbon tied onto her hair band which had her hair in a bun thanks to Purrlia and had a violet jacket on which went up to her knees making it look like a kimono, lastly she wore a pair of low heeled sandals. Turning to Purrlia Alia smiled before giving her friend a hug.
"(Stay safe darling)" Purrlia said with a grin.
"You to my devious cat" Aline grinned as well before leaving her room. When she entered the main room everyone had stopped to look at her child like appearance. Aoi was caught staring which lead to Dai hitting him so he could snap out of it. Aline seeing this fidgeted before looking for the red clothed group and Hao who were staring at her which led her to tucking her fringe behind her ear.
"Well that's everyone let's go" Hao said as he got the group together so they could go. Aline followed behind making Matamune and Hao stare at her.
"You look beautiful" Matamune said as he took Aline by the hand. Aline smiled at his compliment despite feeling shy.
"I'm only average Matamune but thank you for the compliment" Aline said as they continued to walk.
"Nonsense if I didn't know any better I'd say you look like Yumi-" Hao and Aline's blood ran cold at one of the red robed student's comment. She turned to look at the student with anger making him recoil.
"I am nothing liked her so stop comparing me to someone who has died and show respect you idiot!" Aline snapped angrily knowing that this was hurting Hao a lot.
"Easy children remember this is a festival today" Matamune said in a calm voice. Aline looked at Matamune weakly before glaring at the student who glared back at her for being touchy.
"Watch what you say or you'll be in trouble" she said before letting out a humph and turned her head away from the student.
"I was only being nice since you remind me of the shrine maiden when she smiled. Her smile was almost as if it was the sun itself and she was soothing all the ill people's pain" he retaliated bluntly.
"Yeah well I don't like being compared to people so leave me alone Akira!" Aline snapped before blanking him. Aline looked at Hao knowing that mentioning Yumi was killing him on the inside so she let go of Matamune who watched her go to Hao.
"She's at ease so worry not okay? Knowing that she's smiling down at the good you've done and that she's in here should count right?" Aline asked as she pointed to his heart. Hao looked at her with a shocked expression. "I lost my family when I was very young, I was constantly being forced to move from place to place which lasted for less than a year... my last adopted family was killed by a group called the X-laws who call them righteous but to me it's all a bunch of lies if you ask me, given that they killed my adoptive family even though we knew nothing of what they were talking about, Although… I have a feeling that they didn't want any witnesses to their crime. That or they thought that we were lying for whatever reason" Aline explained with a sad sigh. Matamune's eyes widened at her revealing a piece of the future but quickly regained his composure and looked at Hao, who as he looked at the male noticed he looked angry and upset about her story.
"I'm sorry for your loss" Hao said solemnly while she squeezed his hand softly.
"My birth sister didn't want me to hate those who could see spirits or those who could not see for what had happened, she wanted me to help and be friends with them regardless... if you ask me Shamans, Spirit mediums, Mikos and Onmyōjis are humans but are blessed with gifts which are often used and abused for the wrong reasons" Aline muttered softly, Hao as he listened stared at her as he mulled over her theory.
"That's true but all the more reason to learn and help people" Hao said with a smile. He ruffled her hair making her yelp causing him to chuckle softly. "Your sister will be proud that you've lived up to her promise and so am I" he said in a father like tone, she grinned widely at him before hugging the startled male who was left winded for a bit, he looked at her with proud happy eyes. Wrapping his arms round her Hao smiled at how she was opening herself up to him compared to when she first met him.
"Thank you Hao, you're a nice- no you're a great person just don't lose sight on what's important and I'll do the same also, got it?" Aline asked with a wide smile.
"Deal" Hao said without missing a beat as he beamed at her. Matamune smiled at the bond that was getting stronger than before to the point the pair acted like a true family- a father and daughter. The red robed students eyed her with distain but she stuck her ringed finger at them without Hao noticing it. The students and Matamune gawked at her quietly while shock but said nothing given that they were confused as to why she did this.
"What does that mean?" Matamune thought.
"It means up yours! Matamune" Aline replied telepathically while she smiled at him. Matamune caught the meaning of her words and smirked mentally as he looked at the confused students.
Hao led them to a part of the city that had decorations, there stood the mayor in an expensive Yukata which attracted attention compared to the other expensive kimonos people wore. Aline felt as if she stuck out like a sore thumb which made her squirm a bit to the point she tugged at her sleeve, Hao having a sixth sense that she felt uneasy held her hand, which in turn kept her close so they didn't get separated. She squeezed his hand in reply.
"Ah Master Hao nice to see you and you have brought a lovely gem. Did you adopt her?" asked the mayor while his wife stood next to him wearing a floral patterned kimono. Sakura looked up at Hao as he flinched, tilting her head she noticed his cheeks looked a little pink but said nothing causing her to raise a brow.
"What's his problem? Why doesn't he tell them the truth?" she pondered as she tugged at his white sleeve, almost jolting as he realised she was beside him he looked at her with guarded eyes. He was left baffled on what to say given that he had lost his own before it was even born and yet now this young child had entered his life leaving him to think on whether he was being given another chance. If so he was scared deep down, he didn't want to lose her so part of him wanted her at arms length while another part of him wanted her close to keep her safe. He wanted to support her but worried about the consequences, even when she told him that she wanted to train. It still left him uneasy.
"She looks adorable-" without missing a beat Aline released her hold over his sleeve rushed forward, she then pushed the woman out the way shocking them by what she had done as she moved a few more steps towards the woman.
"MOVE!" she yelled making Hao and the mayor go back just in time to dodge a stray fire cracker that had hit the ground exactly where the woman had once stood. They quickly sighed in relief as soon as it stopped flaring up and became still. The wife slowly turned to look at Aline with surprise etched on her face at how the young child was quick to save her and what also shocked her was how she knew that was going to happen, given that she didn't see the stray cracker.
"You saved me young lady, tell me what is your name?" the wife said in a warm tone as she smiled warmly as she knelt down so she was almost at Aline's level, blinking Aline tugged at her sleeve slightly due to being nervous before looking at the woman from the corner of her eye.
"Sakura Miss" Aline replied in a shy tone wanting to leave due to the unwanted attention.
"And she's humble to Hao. Where did you find such a doll?" the wife asked as she petted Aline's head. Aline just stared at her then at the mayor with curious eyes.
"He's unfaithful" Aline said telepathically to Hao who stared at her with shock, that and hearing her speak to him mentally left him unsettled while keeping his emotions in check so they didn't suspect anything. He then answering the woman after giving her his full attention.
"W-Well Mei-san I found her in the woods near the shrine, she had been attacked due to a misunderstanding" Hao explained as he looked the Mayor with calm eyes. Aline placed her left hand onto Mei's cheek causing Mei to blank out and saw a piece of the Mayor's memories, she showed soon how unfaithful he was to his wife. Mei quickly stared at Aline in shock but took note of Aline placing her finger to her lips signalling her not to say a word. Mei nodded silently but petted Aline's head softly as a sign of thanking her.
"Well Darling I'm glad you are safe and that Hao is taking care of you" Mei said with a kind smile.
"I'm training as well" Aline said shocking the couple as they looked at her with eyes of disbelief. Hao just sighed as he smiled at how open she was to Mei compared to others, then again it could be because they both were females he was unsure.
"Master Hao tell me she's not serious" the Mayor asked looking at him with a wordless expression.
"She's already been promoted to blue and I know she'll go to red soon" Hao replied with some pride in his voice but kept himself from smiling as he kept his composure.
"That's very good but don't push her too far" Mei said sternly while holding Aline's hand.
"Congrats with your daughter and son Miss Mei" Aline said with a grin making Mei giggle at the comment while the mayor looked away slightly.
"She's some fortune teller did she learn that from you?" Mei asked looking at them with a curious smile.
"No I'm afraid not" Hao said with a sheepish grin since he would not know where to start with that ability given that he didn't have it. Aline pointed to the guy looking worried near the stall.
"That guy's going to bump into a man holding boxes and is going to set the stall on fire" Aline said bluntly causing the mayor run after the man to stop it from happening. "And also predicting is part of my family heritage" Aline said in a sweet voice as she grinned at them.
"Thank you for telling me young one, Hao you have a promising student here" Mei said with a weak smile as she now looked tired and sad.
"She told you didn't she?" Hao guessed looking sour.
"I'm afraid so but I'm thankful because I wanted to leave him for sometime" Aline frowned from the predicament the woman was in.
"Do you want me to make him to disappear to another country?" Aline asked making them laugh.
"No darling but I think if you can help me… can you-?" Aline grinned at her startling them.
"Already on it" Aline took out a pewter bird from inside her pocket. "I knew I needed to give this to you just place it under his pillow and he's bound to clean up his act" Mei stared with joy at how he was finally going to change for the better, knowing that there was some hope filled the woman with ease.
"Sakura that's messing with business-" Hao almost stuttered not believing what he was seeing.
"Hao he needs to learn that he can't get away with being unfaithful. Besides it only gives him nightmares" Aline explained with a shrug.
"Thank you Sakura. Best wishes with your training- is that a master's talisman?!" Mei asked as she eyed a rectangle locket like necklace that was the size of Hao's hand with a stunned expression, seeing this Aline smiled softly.
"Yup it's for a Shaolin Master that has passed the final level of training" Aline replied with a nod.
"That's amazing, I'm actually seeing a Shaolin warrior up close, it's kind of scary knowing that someone could go through that kind of training and accomplish a lot" Mei said with a smile. "Especially given how young you are"
"I'm careful so I won't bite unless you give me reason to" Aline winked making Mei giggle at the jest. Hao sighed at her keeping that from him but knew that he never asked so he didn't complain, but that didn't mean he wouldn't enquire about it later on.
"Oh you, take care you two and see you at the gathering just watch out for nobleman Kenta he's been acting strange" Mei said with a baffled look.
"His wife is pregnant so he's at a loss on what to do and say" Aline replied in a heartbeat, they looked at her then frowned for different reasons.
"I hope it gets sorted, maybe I should see him" Mei commented softly to herself as she placed a sleeve covered hand to her lips.
"I think it's best not to read people's minds" Hao said sternly.
"He's screaming it out so I can't help it Hao-sama! Besides I'm going to talk to him" Aline said before rushing off before they could say anything, Hao seeing this almost groaned but was powerless to stop her knowing that once she had an idea she would see it to the end.
"She's quite energetic for someone who's an orphan" Mei said catching his attention, despite looking guarded his eyes showed he was startled by her words.
"Remember I'm an orphan also Master Hao, besides those clowns over there keep slating Onis so you might want to keep her away from them" Hao grinned before bowing politely signalling farewell.
"It was nice talking to you Lady Mei" Hao said before going.
"Don't hurt her now. She trusts you to the point that one small thing could break her trust completely" Mei said before going.
Hao spotted Aline talking to a now happy Kenta who was chatting to her now looking more animated than before.
"-And she started to look at me as if she was going to kill me" Kenta said looking scared while shivering slightly due to fear, seeing this she giggled.
"Kenta it's hormones I know it's scary since this is your first child but trust me I've seen it happen a lot to say she's going through the motions. Just let her rest and give her something nice once in a while and when she whines about being fat. Say that she's not fat it's just the baby growing" Aline explained causally shocking Kenta a lot.
"Thank you so much for this, I'm actually happy that someone understands what I'm going through" Kenta said with relief, he then spotted Hao coming towards them and stood up to bow politely to Hao.
"Ah Hao-sama how are you?" Kenta asked with a grin that took Hao by surprise.
"I'm fine thank you Kenta how is your wife?" Hao asked looking curious before looking briefly at Sakura who smiled.
"She's pregnant and is still very ill. Thankfully this little lady told me how to deal with it so I'm planning to talk to Shinji about joining his group for father-child time" Kenta replied with a heavy sigh of relief while scratching the back of his head. Hao quickly stared at Aline with amaze filled eyes, at the same time he felt sad about not having Yumi or his child in his life which made Aline sad as well given his bad luck.
"So are you nervous?" Hao asked sounding genuinely curious.
"Absolutely! But I've just got to support Hana the best I can after all it's going to get complicated from here on in. Hana's going to be mad that there's no glow but I'm thinking of giving her a Koi since she loves them swimming in the ponds" Kenta said with a grin.
"Get her the jade beads and wrap them in silk so when it's her birthday she'll be happy but hide them under the floorboards and seal it or she'll go after you" Aline commented.
"Oh I will believe me young lady thank you so much. You've made my day Sakura-chan! Good bye now" Kenta said before running off. Aline grinned as she looked at him with pride.
"He's going to have a happy life" Aline said with a grin before standing beside Hao who looked at her from the corner of his eye.
"Don't overdo it though" Hao said calmly as he took Aline by the hand so they didn't get lost.
"Don't worry I know when to say and not to say because of their vibes" Aline said with a smile that made him smile back.
"Do you want a Koi?" Hao asked with a smile.
"Nah let it be for now besides we have to go to the main area right?" Aline asked with a cute look that left him chuckling softly.
"Right" Hao said as he led her to the mayor's house.
"Big but not impressive" Aline said making him chuckle.
"Easy now let's just have some fun, but when I mean fun I mean let's behave" Hao said with a sly smile that had her eyeing him with a smirk.
"By the way those people insulting the Onis had a taste of their own medicine thanks to Purrlia" Aline said as she pointed to a smirking Purrlia and a bunch of petrified people who were eyeing her in fear.
"How can they see her?" Hao asked with a startled look not knowing what to make of that situation.
"Purrlia's made herself visible by nicking my voodoo doll" Aline said with a raised brow.
"Voodoo doll?" Hao asked not knowing what that was.
"It's from another country called African, the item can be used to hurt or make people do stuff. Hardly any people can do that anymore thankfully" Aline said with a relieved smile.
"That's good but isn't it dangerous-?" he points to Purrlia.
"Nah it's a plain Voodoo doll so she's fine" Aline replied as they went in. She then whistled loudly signalling Purrlia over who winked at the scared nobleman before rushing over.
"Purrlia what did I say about scaring people?" Aline asked sternly.
"(They were being rude about things they didn't understand. Thankfully my lecture sorted them out!)" She said with pride as she walked beside Aline.
"So why were they scared?" Hao asked with a raised brow.
"(Talking cats scare anyone)" Purrlia smirked as she walked on her hind legs and her tail swished side to side. Matamune watched Purrlia for a bit while trying to locate the students.
"True" Hao said before they saw the students mingling with the nobleman.
Everyone sat down as they waited to be served food. Aline, Hao and their cats stayed close while the students joined them. They eyed Purrlia but said nothing due to the glint in her eyes.
"So what happens now?" Aline asked as she looked round.
"There is suppose to be entertainment" Hao replied as he stared to explain what was to be expected.
Aline's eyes became as wide as frying pans as she eyed the scene before her. One minute they were all chatting and now everyone was fighting while the women were reduced to staring in shock. Purrlia stared at Aline who stared back not knowing what to say to this.
"Some entertainment" Aline muttered darkly before getting up and walking into the heart of the fighting where Hao, the mayor and a few noblemen were fighting. Amazingly she was unharmed as people near her stopped fighting and stared at her now stern yet scary expression. She eyed Hao, the mayor and the noblemen fighting.
"Yeah well you're going down!" Hao yelled as he punched the mayor who growled from the move and bit Hao's finger, Hao's cap meanwhile had fallen off during the fight without him realising it. Normally Aline would of found this amusing but since this was destroying the spirit of the festival and was upsetting the spirits- she was not happy.
Seconds later
"Oow! Owowowowowowoowowowow! OOOW!" Hao, the mayor and the two nobleman were crying out in pain as their ears were being pulled as they were forced to follow Aline. She soon released them using her psychic powers and got up to the top of the low stairs and clapped her hand before folding her arms which in turn made her look like a puffed up cat who was angry, she turned round and stared at them with blank anger while the males were left unsettled.
"Sakura I'm really sorry" Hao said now looking guilty not knowing why he had done that.
"Yes I'm sorry I don't know what came over me" the mayor said while the other two nobleman mumbled their apologies.
"Sakura please forgive me" Hao said as he stood next to her but she turned her head to the side while anger was still visible on her face.
"Yes Sakura" Hao sighed as he looked down in shame shocking everyone who wasn't involved in the brawl. Aline then cleared her throat stopping everyone from making any movement or sound.
"This is a festival and yet you're fighting! What is wrong with all of you tonight? Have any of you got any shame?!" Aline asked in a stern tone while she had her hands pressed together while elbows were by her waist.
She felt everyone's emotions which revealed shamed and guilt.
"Now everyone's sorted out, I'm out of here!" Aline said sternly before going down the stairs. People not wasting time had moved away from her as they eyed her in fear due to how strict she was with the four brawlers, there was no way that they wanted to endure that. After she had left the people released the air that they were holding and sighed with relief as soon as the sounds of her shoes clacking disappeared.
"I can't believe that just happened, getting told of by a child like that" said a nobleman as he chatted to his companion while scratching the side of his chin, at the same time the companion looked sheepish due to how he acted.
"How embarrassing" said another nobleman. Hao hearing this snapped out of his daze and went off after her without running due to the fact he had to still maintain his reputation to his dismay.
Hao looked round to see a bridge over a pond which was located in the middle of the garden. He then noticed that Aline was standing on the bridge talking to Matamune and Purrlia who were looked annoyed.
"So did you sort it out?" Aline asked with a worried look.
"(Jeez that Oni was rude! Talk about no manners!)" Purrlia spat angrily while her tail swished from side to side.
"Thankfully we got it the moment you stopped the fight, it was left vulnerable to the point that it lost all its power since it couldn't absorb and negative emotions" Matamune explained as he looked at the koi with pensive eyes, that was close even for them.
"Looking at koi's making you hungry huh?" Aline asked. "I'm hungry too" she said as she rubbed her growling stomach slightly.
"(So what now?)" Purrlia asked with a curious look.
"I'm going home!" Aline muttered darkly wanting to forget this happened.
"Well you better wait for the rest of the group or you'll be in trouble" Hao said as he stood next to her. She leered at him making him flinch given how he acted.
"Onis crashed the festival" Aline said making him stare in shock.
"That explains the odd vibes but it doesn't explain-"
"The mayor was angry at his wife for telling him off. Explains why he's so scared of her" Aline said before laughing. Hao chuckled at the imagery before looking at the scene before him.
"It's beautiful here" Hao said as he inhaled the clean air.
"I know that's why I picked here. I was observing my surroundings before I talked to Kenta" Aline said as she looked at the fire flies. Suddenly the sound of a flute could be heard making her turn to see Hao playing on a wooden flute. She started to smile at the soft sound which floated in the air and left her feeling relaxed. She started to sway slightly as she allowed herself be swayed by the music.
"As the winds blow gently through the never ending sky!
We all set sail!
In a course of many paths, many branches through the unknown!
May our paths be blessed with joy and fortune!
As we sail through a never ending branch of life!
As I see and hear, what I know and I then feel the life of others but I never want much!
As it will not be right to ask so much!
For what do we all know what we want!
For as soon as we get it
We are often not satisfied with what we have!
Why ask for more when we should be happy with what we have?
As Onis fly through the emotions from our hearts.
Why should we judge them for our sins as we are just to blame as them?!
For we are just the same as them despite being solid or transparent!
But I have to ask myself who is more transparent and cruel for what I have seen sets the question to a balancing scale!
Why oh why should I judge others based on what they've done?
When I could have already done the acts or would be doing them?
It is barbaric and sad!
And I pity those who think that they're righteous when they are the same and cold!
Demons!
Shamans!
Ordinary people!
Spirits of the dead!
What's the difference between us besides our shape, our looks and our lives?
What will become of us! We will never know!" Aline sang while dancing. Her melody was sweet but cold and unforgiving as she sang in haunting tone. Despite letting out a haunting melody it was captivating to those who hear its foreboding words.
Matamune and Purrlia smiled as fire flies were moving to the song, some flew round Aline making her glow slightly which was captivating to look at. They then noticed they were being watched by the people from the house and near the other houses causing Aline to stop singing and look round feeling embarrassed that she was being watched by a large audience.
"Erm…. Hao-sama, did you know we have an audience?" Aline asked making Hao stop playing right away. He looked round now noticing the people and cleared his throat as he tried to hide his embarrassment by coughing into his left sleeve.
"Well Sakura it's getting late, now that the students have gathered we will go" Hao said as the red robes students approached him with an odd look. Aline went ahead with Matamune and Purrlia who were chatting calmly to the other.
By the time they arrived back in the Asakura house, Aline went in to her room without a word. By the time she was changed she went to sleep. Meanwhile Hao sat in his room with Matamune thinking about what happened.
"I think we should give her the test tomorrow" Hao said shocking Matamune.
"Are you sure she's ready?" Matamune asked him. Hao nodded with a smile while placing the bells on him.
"Master Hao place one on each wrist and ankle" Matamune said with a humorous smile as he helped Hao get the bells on properly.
"That explains the other two" Hao sighed as he allowed Matamune to help.
"Sakura report to the main chambers to see the teachers please" said Takeshi, his face showed nothing but had a stern look on his face making Aline worry.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked as she followed him but he said nothing nor did he look at her.
She's in trouble...
