Hello everyone, I am back at last! I have finally finished the second arc and this story will now continue for a few weeks (cause arc 2 is MK, so it's shorter compared to the season long arc 1).
First off, thanks to steph557 (True, which was part of why I wanted to write it, but there's a happy ending hiding!) for reviewing, all 19 followers, 15 favorites and 1,515 readers!
I don't have a lot to say now, but I CAN say that you should all pay attention to who exactly gets a POV in this story, cause it's an important hint for a plot in this arc ;) I really ended up loving this arc, so I hope you do too!
Anyways, enjoy!
It was a normal day for Scepter 4, just as it had been every day since the School Island Incident almost a year ago now. Himori hadn't seen his sister once in that whole time frame. He knew she was traveling with Kuroh Yatogami, but it didn't make him feel at ease. There was also the fact that he wasn't being informed of what was happening regarding anything with the Gold Clan or his uncle.
It all made him uneasy, but his work at Scepter 4 kept him busy enough that it wasn't constantly on his mind. Benzai was a big help as well, being in the exact same situation of course.
"Seems the request for approval wasn't submitted yet." Himori noted to Benzai that evening in headquarters.
"Blame Domyoji, I reminded him." Benzai sighed and Himori took a minute to look over his partner's shoulder…only to see Domyoji playing a video game. No wonder Fushimi ended up scolding him so much…
Just then, the alarm went off and Himori quickly turned to the rest of the Special Police Force.
"Let's go!" He said, leading the way out. "Looks like it's not a false alarm! It's at Mihashira Tower!"
As Himori reached the emergency vehicle he was supposed to go in, he couldn't help the anxiety pooling in his stomach. Whoever was attacking had to know Daikaku was out and had to be extremely strong. Why else would they have attacked so blatantly, even more so with the Usagi stationed there still?
"Sure is coming down hard." Himori commented in an attempt to distract himself.
"Yeah." Benzai agreed before he got straight to the point. "I can't believe someone is foolish enough to challenge His Excellency."
"I don't understand this. That place is Gold Clan territory." Himori sighed. He had known Benzai wouldn't have let him off that easily. He'd probably seen his anxiety as clear as Himori could see the strategy behind this attack with his own Sight. "Is it okay for us to get involved?"
Neither Himori himself nor Benzai had an answer to that. All the green haired Blue Clansman could do was cross his arms and cover his right wrist with his left hand, feeling the Mark of the Miracle pulsing beneath his fingerprints.
Nothing about this seemed right to him.
As soon as the Blue clan reached Mihashira Tower, Fushimi got to work, ordering the clansmen with ease so that when Munakata was ready, they would be as well.
He knew the whole time that there was something odd about this whole thing, after all, Mihashira Tower was the home of the strongest King of all the Kings and it could not so easily be breached. But the fact of the matter was that it was and they had to deal with it, had to assist the Usagi and whichever Marked were within the building.
Of course, Fushimi knew as a fact that not a single Marked was inside that building. They were too crafty for that, especially with Tsuki's ability to See future paths with her Sight. Besides, last Fushimi heard, Leoda and Kristopher had gone with the Black Dog and his Strain clansman, Carina had vanished, Kazuma and Daikaku had vanished, Rae and Shinji had moved to the School Island and Haru had continued traveling to all the different hospitals he worked at, never staying in one place for too long a time.
The only truly hidden ones, at the moment, were Tsuki and Hilda.
Of course, right after the Captain told them to standby, one of those two made herself known.
"Probably a good idea there, Fourth King Reisi Munakata."
Fushimi clicked his tongue as he turned, watching as Hilda approached.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice annoyed.
"What does it look like, Saruhiko?" Hilda rolled her eyes as she stopped beside them. With the rain falling as it was and Hilda having no umbrella, her pale blonde hair lost its curl and her gray eyes looked like stone. She looked…young, younger then 19, at least. "I'm here to observe my clan's territory as it's attacked."
Even so, Hilda was still dressed as she was on any mission Timeless Palace gave her: a dark yellow halter top under a black leather jacket, dark blue jeans, black heeled leather boots and a multitude of chains, around her neck, attached to her jeans and on her right wrist specifically.
Before the captain could question her, however, Fushimi posed one question to her.
"How bad is the next move gonna be?"
"That depends on if you mean the Usagi's or the enemy's." Hilda stated, but her eyes never left the tower, gold sheen in her eyes.
And Hilda was correct. Inside Mihashira Tower, it was utter chaos, all stemming from the attack of Green clansmen, led by three individuals (well, four really).
One was Douhan, a Green clansman that was dressed as a ninja and who was leading the technological assault.
One was Yukari Mishakuji, a flamboyant Green clansman that was at the back of the frontal charge, taking on any remaining Usagi that the lower level clansmen had not taken care of.
With him was Kotosaka, the kind of fourth individual, though he was a bird so she really didn't think he counted (no matter what Yukari and Nagare said).
And finally, there was her, Hikari Sora.
"Hikariiii~! You're taking an awfully long time up there!" Yukari called as he walked below where Hikari was currently fighting a member of the Usagi.
"Shut the hell up, Yukari!" Hikari snapped as she swung her naginata one last time, causing the Usagi to fall to the floor, and jumped over the edge, landing perfectly beside Yukari. "You have been no help whatsoever!"
"No help, no help!" Kotosaka repeated.
"Shut the hell up, bird brain, you haven't done a damned thing either!" Hikari snapped, glaring at said bird.
"My, my, you're feisty tonight." Yukari smirked down at the younger girl.
"Don't forget that's how I became a clansman before you, shitty old man!" Hikari smirked.
"Now, now, treat your elders with respect." Yukari sighed.
"And now you sound like Mr. Iwa, shitty narcissist." Hikari grinned triumphantly.
"Oh dear, now we can't have that." Yukari shook his head as he looked down at his younger companion.
Hikari was only 19 and yet was already a well accomplished Green clansman, quite a feat for how quickly she climbed the ranks. Her long, straight jet black hair was mostly up in a bun, though some of it had fallen out due to her fighting the Usagi (and making up the ground the dumbass lower level clansmen kept losing), and her electric green eyes tracked every movement their 'clansmen' and the Usagi made with ease.
Just like always, she wore a steel gray long sleeved shirt under a dark, emerald green, long sleeved hooded cloak whose tail fell down to her calves, black jeans, black combat boots, black with green lining gloves and a simple wire necklace with a green gemstone Yukari had bought for her a few years ago (she denied it, but he knew she never took it off).
Just then, the remaining Usagi jumped down in front of the two (okay, fine, three) Green clansmen.
The center one, obviously the one with the highest rank, flashed a series of symbols before he used his Gold aura to shoot a burst of wind at the group. Using her naginata, Hikari propelled herself to the side, avoiding the straight shot of the wind.
Yukari, however, let the wind carry him and made a show of being just fine.
"Damned showoff." Hikari spat as she spun her naginata.
"Quite impressive, as expected from the famous Usagi." Yukari smirked, ignoring his companion's words entirely.
The Usagi prepared to fight at those words, staffs in hand. However, before they could attack, Yukari unsheathed Ayamachi and attacked with the use of his Colorless Aura, striking the Usagi down in one blow.
"Oh sure, now you help. Asshole." Hikari rolled her eyes.
"Now, now, my dear, we can't all be go getters like you." Yukari winked as his PDA rang, cutting off the rant Hikari had prepared for him.
As the two continued on their way from there, neither was aware that they were being watched from within the tower.
Shinji Akiyama narrowed his eyes as he made mental notes of the status of both weapons wielded by the two fearsome Green clansmen. This could prove useful later, he could tell.
And once his notes were complete, he made his way out of the building, stealthier then any Green clansmen had been that whole day.
It wasn't long after the explosion went off that Hilda fell quiet as she stared up at the tower.
"They've taken complete control of Mihashira Tower. The Slate is theirs." She stated aloud. She could actually feel the shock rolling off several of the Blue clansmen surrounding her.
"Oh? And what makes you say that?" Munakata questioned her, his eyebrow peaked delicately, as if it were an innocent question.
Hilda, however, knew better then anyone that this was not an innocent question. The unique Sight given to every one of the Marked was valuable information. Hilda knew for a fact that not even Shinji, Himori or Benzai had revealed what their exact Sight was to Munakata, so there was no way she was gonna let him use her Sight as freely as he wished.
"Don't expect any answers from me. Only family has the right to know what Sight each member has." She scoffed. She knew, after all, that not even Fushimi had sold her out, despite his claims that they were no longer family.
Bonds like those weren't broken that easily, after all.
It had been almost one year since the School Island Incident. One year since the attack on Tatara Totsuka, which separated his soul from his body. One year since the death of Third King Mikoto Suoh. One year since the disappearance of First King Adolf K. Weissman, also known as Yashiro Isana. One year since everything changed for many people.
And Leoda knew Kuroh was losing hope. She had been by his side since the two of them, Neko and Kristopher had left to search for Adolf. She had been the one to teach him about the Mark, about his Sight (she was not surprised to discover he could See the status of any enemy he fights, really) and about the connection he now had with Adolf.
For a time, the coldness of his left arm had given Kuroh hope that his King, his Marked, was still out there, somewhere. But when that coldness had faded away, Leoda could see his hopes going with it.
After all, even if his arm hadn't gone numb, what did that mean when he still couldn't find Adolf, even with this apparently fated and unbreakable connection.
Leoda didn't blame him, she never did.
But at the same time, she was grateful that Kuroh was by her side this whole last year. After all, only fourth months ago, she had given birth to her daughter.
Kuroh had held her hand the whole time while Neko had watched over Kristopher. Of course, Leoda knew Tatara had been there as well, but that didn't change how grateful she was that Kuroh had agreed to stay.
Her daughter had been born with help from Haru, happy and healthy. Leoda had never been so happy, considering all the chaos that had occurred during this pregnancy, chaos that Kristopher's had avoided.
The girl had been named Ame, a name Tatara had mentioned liking before everything happened. Leoda was pretty sure because it sounded like a nickname for Amaterasu and her husband would choose a name that referenced the sun, considering both her clan being gold and their clan having fire as their power.
But, nevertheless, Ame was growing quickly and happily in her four short months of life and Leoda knew she already loved her Big Brother Kris, Uncle Kuroh and Big Sister Neko (titles all agreed upon by Kristopher and Neko themselves. Kuroh had simply given up on arguing).
And now, they were heading back to Ashinaka once again, to regroup before they headed out once more.
"Stop making that face, Kuroh." Leoda scolded as they walked to the meeting place the group had agreed on with Kukuri. "You don't want to make Kukuri worried."
"What face?" Kuroh asked, confused.
"That one. The 'I don't think we'll find him' face." Leoda pointed out bluntly. "Uncle Adi's out there, don't give up yet."
"Right…" Kuroh smiled at her in thanks and she could really see he was trying, so she let him off the hook for now.
A lot had changed in a year, Leoda could admit that. Her dark green with silver highlighted hair was now mostly down with a waterfall braid held together by a white lily and she wore a pale red sweater with a gold infinity scarf around her neck, blue jeans and brown boots. As always, around her right wrist was her leather bracelet, covering the parts of her Mark that her sweater didn't, and around her neck was her angel wing feather necklace. And, of course, her wedding band never left her left ring finger.
"Uncle Kuroh should be happy! We're home!" Kristopher said as he jumped in front of his said uncle. Leoda still remembered the day he picked up the habit, citing the fact that he was 'Uncle Adi's Marked' made Kuroh 'Uncle Kuroh' by default. It was kinda adorable.
"Krissy's right, Kuroh! We're gonna get to see Kukuri! And our home!" Neko added happily, swinging Kristopher's hand in her own. The two had become the best of friends over the last year, never far from each other's side anymore.
Kristopher himself had taken to wearing a red plaid shirt over a white undershirt, jeans and red tennis shoes, along with his earring and a yellow wristband to hide his own Mark. Leoda had cited Chitose as an influence, even if it has been a year since they'd seen the flirty Red clansman. It was still his fault that her son was dressing like him…or she could blame the combination of Tatara and Neko, but she'd rather blame Chitose.
"Of course I'm happy. I promise." Kuroh smiled as he bounced Ame in his arms, having offered to take the baby for a section of the trip. After all, it was a bit of a hassle to drag around a carrier or a stroller when they had four people that could take turns holding the squirmy baby and they rested often enough that Leoda wasn't concerned in the slightest.
Ame had taken after her mother in terms of hair color, the lightest green fuzz on top of her head, while her eyes were all her father, sparkling in their light brown warmth. For now, she was dressed in a warm white sweater with matching pink pants and shoes that Neko had bought for her. She looked adorable.
"Oh! There's Kukuri! Kukuri!" Neko cried as she ran to meet the high school girl, dragging Kristopher with her.
With a smile, Leoda took Ame so she and Kuroh could easily control the two youngest members in their group (not counting Ame) as they followed Kukuri to a café.
"Why didn't you guys let me know sooner that you're both back in town?" Kukuri asked as Neko and Kristopher, once again, excitedly ran forward and claimed a table, yelling 'this way' the whole time.
"Sorry, meeting up with Neko and Kristopher took more time then I thought it would." Kuroh apologized.
Of course, that was just a cover story they had to stick to. In actuality, the four (plus the unseen Tatara and too young Ame) had gone to meet Haru at the hospital so Leoda and Ame could both get a brief checkup and any necessary vaccines (which Ame took like a champ, in Tatara's own words). Considering all Marked were currently under strict orders to lay low and not let their locations be obviously noticed, they had kept Haru's location quiet as promised.
"Kukuri! Long time no see!" Neko grinned, holding her hand out for a high five.
"Long time no see to you too!" Kukuri grinned as she high fived the younger girl. "And aren't little Kristopher and little Ame getting so big?"
"My third birthday's coming up soon!" Kristopher grinned. "I'm gonna be really big soon, like Daddy and Uncle Kuroh!"
"Oh, I know you will, sweetie." Kukuri smiled sweetly. She had taken to the children easily, especially once she learned they were her current school chairman's grandchildren (Rae was the only one with a consistent known location, simply because Carina had refused to leave her students in the hands of anyone else and Shinji was always close by to protect her if she missed something).
"So, is the reconstruction of your high school's island going well?" Kuroh asked curiously as he sipped his tea.
"What has it been now? About a month since you guys last visited the island?" Kukuri asked after she nodded in confirmation. "Well, we've made a whole lot of progress since then. It's just about back to normal now! Although, to tell you the truth, the clock tower and that huge crater haven't been touched at all."
"Yeah, Mom mentioned that to me. Said she wasn't sure how Grandmother wanted those handled." Leoda commented as she bounced Ame on her lap. It wasn't time to feed her yet, so this would do for now.
Kukuri nodded in agreement before turning towards Kuroh more.
"But anyway, how's it going with you guys?" She asked. "I mean, weren't you looking for someone? Let's see…what was his name again? Shiro! …wasn't it?"
"We looked everywhere, but he's nowhere to be found!" Neko said. "I mean, seriously, just how far did he get blown away to?"
As Kukuri, admittedly a normal reaction, freaked out over Neko's choice of words, which Kristopher wasn't helping by bouncing on Neko's lap and talking about how his great-great uncle was a great flier 'so there's no need to worry!', Leoda's eyes slid over to Kuroh, catching the melancholy look on his face as his right hand rested on his left wrist.
Without another word, Leoda reached out her right hand and covered Kuroh's wrist, squeezing it. They were, after all, in such similar situations that they had bonded over it. Outside of Neko and Leoda, there was nobody Kuroh trusted his back to more (excluding Adolf of course).
Suddenly, Neko and Kristopher startled, the boy shooting to his feet as the girl pounced on her seat.
"Neko? Kristopher?" Kuroh questioned.
"What's going on?" Leoda asked, concerned.
"It's the girl from the Reds!" Neko pointed out, and the group followed her gaze. Sure enough, Leoda could see Rikio leading Anna down the street.
"Anna looks scared. We need to help her, Mommy!" Kristopher insisted.
"You're right, let's go!" Leoda nodded in agreement as she pushed herself to her feet, making sure Neko (the least likely to be involved in a fight and honestly the one she trusted more to run and carry her baby, no offense to Kristopher of course) had Ame, and then grabbing Kristopher's hand and chasing after Anna and Rikio.
She knew Kuroh and Neko wouldn't be too far behind, after all.
When Leoda reached the street Rikio and Anna had been cornered on, she released her son's hand and used all of her aura, gold and red, to practically fly forward, allowing a single sunflower dagger to manifest in her hand and collide with the blade the attacker held, pushing them back just far enough to give Kuroh enough time to get in between Leoda, Rikio and Anna and the attacker, his Silver aura preventing his hand from being seriously cut as he gripped the blade.
The attacker stared at Kuroh and Leoda, having not expected the two and seeing the no doubt identical glares they bore, before they jumped back, out of their attack range.
"You're with JUNGLE, the Green Clan, I gather." Kuroh stated. "Well, that girl is someone I know."
"What do you want with my daughter?!" Leoda snapped as Kuroh told Rikio and Anna to escape, her grip on her single dagger tight. The green aura she saw on this person was…strange. Weaker then a clansman's aura should be, if she had to put it into words.
However, the attacker instead sheathed their blade and reached a hand out to the building beside them. Their hand glowed green and they entered the wall with no difficulty.
"My business here doesn't involve having to fight you two." They stated as they vanished.
They stood in silence in the wake of the attacker's fleeing before Kristopher spoke up.
"What was that!?" He cried as he ran forward and latched onto Anna, as if his life depended on it.
"I can only assume that was…the rumored manipulation ability of the Green clan." Kuroh answered, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"I can confirm they had a Green aura, but it was…different. I can't explain it." Leoda added, furrowing her own brow as she thought.
"Long time no see, Leo, Black Dog. I guess I owe you one now." Rikio smiled, drawing their attention.
Instantly, Leoda ran forward and began to check Anna over as Kuroh, predictably, failed to recognize Rikio.
"You okay, sweetie?" She asked softly as Rikio began to explain how he hadn't felt like eating much lately, which explained why he was so thin even though it was the middle of autumn.
"I'm fine. It's nice to see you again, Leoda." Anna smiled sadly.
"Oh, sweetie…I'm sorry we couldn't stay with you, I really am." Leoda sighed as she ran a hand through Anna's hair.
"But we're here now and we're gonna keep you safe!" Kristopher vowed.
"Me too. I may be thin now, but I still pack lots of power!" Rikio added, reaching down to ruffle Kristopher's hair.
"So why is the Green clan…trying to come after you anyway?" Kuroh asked.
"Who knows? We're completely clueless about what's going on." Rikio shook his head.
Leoda, however, turned to look Anna in the eyes…and she knew what was going on.
"Oh Anna…" Leoda whispered, kissing the top of her forehead.
"But that Green ninja guy showed up at my place one day, saying that he had a request to ask of Anna." Rikio explained as Neko popped over Kuroh's shoulders and waved at Anna before helping Ame wave at her older sister too.
"Request?" Kuroh repeated.
"Yeah. He wanted Anna to use her sensory powers for him." Rikio nodded, looking down at Anna as Leoda pushed herself to her feet and Kristopher took Anna's hand in his own.
"Yes, he wanted me to help him find the Silver King." Anna confirmed.
"What? Hold on, you can actually do that?!" Kuroh asked, shock and possible hope in his voice.
"Wait, does that mean you can find Shiro?!" Neko added, her own hope flowing freely through her words.
But Anna shook her head.
"I can't, not right now." She apologized, her eyes so, so sad. Leoda wanted nothing more than to hold her and make all the pain go away, make her destiny go away.
"Is that so?" Kuroh asked as both his and Neko's faces fell.
"Yeah, I'm afraid that Anna's powers have been unstable for a long time now, so she's not able to use them to locate anyone." Rikio confirmed.
"But you were asked to find him…so does that mean that he's alive?" Kuroh asked.
"I don't know." Anna sadly shook her head.
"Hey, stop thinking that way." Leoda said as she glared at both Anna and Kuroh. "Anna, don't blame yourself, you can't help what's going on. And Kuroh, it will be okay, I know Uncle Adi's out there, so just trust in him."
"Daddy says he and Miko agree with Mommy!" Kristopher piped up. "No blaming Anna and no giving up!"
"That's right!" Neko grinned as she bounced forward. "Hey, Anna, wanna meet your baby sister?"
Grasping Leoda and Kristopher's hands, Anna went forward and smiled down at Ame as the baby rested in Neko's arms.
"She's beautiful." Anna smiled.
"Just like her two big sisters." Leoda smiled.
"So what do we do now?" Rikio thought aloud, cutting through the slightly happier conversation.
"Can't you join up with the rest of your clan, Rikio?" Kuroh suggested, confused.
"I wish that I could, but HOMRA's as good as disbanded right now." Rikio explained as Anna and Leoda's faces fell.
"What?! Why?!" Kristopher, too young to understand, cried.
"Mr. Mikoto, Mr. Totsuka and even Mr. Kusanagi and Leo are gone. So there's no one to take charge." Rikio elaborated.
"I'm sorry, I had to leave, I would've stayed otherwise, I-" Leoda began to ramble. She had been happy to go with Kuroh and Neko to find Adolf, of course she did. But that didn't make the wound on her heart, the one she knew formed when she had decided to let HOMRA run its course without her, hurt any less.
"Hey, don't worry about it, we figured you had some important business to do." Rikio shook his head.
"Yes, we didn't blame you, Leoda." Anna added, squeezing her adopted mother's hand as well.
"HOMRA's strategist too?" Kuroh prompted, redirecting the conversation.
"I can't share the details, but Mr. Kusanagi told me to guard Anna." Rikio explained.
"What about that hotheaded clansman of yours? The one who was always ready for action?" Kuroh questioned.
"Well, Yata is…" Rikio sighed.
"You don't need to explain." Leoda shook her head. "Yata is probably a wreck right now and when he's a wreck, he's not motivated to do anything. But we need to keep Anna safe and if the Green clan is coming after her while also looking for Uncle Adi, it's in our best interest to work together. Let us help you, okay, Rikio?"
"Leo…" Rikio whispered, surprised.
"Just because I haven't been around doesn't mean I won't step up when my family needs me." Leoda placed her hands on her hips.
"Leoda's right. Come on, we'll help you." Kuroh smiled as he gestured for the two Red clansmen to follow him.
"We'll keep you safe, Anna, you'll see!" Kristopher grinned brightly, which Anna shyly returned.
And just like that, the story continued to be spun. And I can honestly say that I never saw what was coming next at all, not even after the craziness that my life had become after the incident a year prior. After all, you never these kinds of things coming, not even with the Sight gifted to the Marked, until it's already upon you.
And there we are! I hope you guys are ready! I don't know when I'll update again, but it will be sometime next week, since I literally finished the final chapter tonight, heh. Anyways, leave a review to let me know what you think and I'll see you later!