"So, do you have any plans now? I doubt you would have asked me to come here if you were still on lockdown."

She paused for a moment and her mouth formed a straight line. When she spoke up, there was a certain sadness behind it. "I heard you were gonna start training with Sarutomi."

He tilted his head. "Yes. Does it have to do with that?"

She nodded. "That means you're gonna be busy, I wanted to talk more with you before you were." She looked towards the ground when she said that.

"Hm. How considerate of you." Yuto nodded in some understanding. He was like this whenever his father was home, always wanting to sneak in as much time as possible.

Being on the other end, he could understand why his father hesitated answering so often. It was so damn hard thinking of what to say!

…It just clicked what he said. He looked back to Kunou who was still looking at the ground. Thinking quickly, he spoke up again.

"Well, that doesn't mean we won't be able to hang out. Maybe once a week, at the most." She shot up with a glint in her eye.

Looks like I was able to say the right thing after all. Go me!

He cleared his throat. "So do you have any other plans for today? Perhaps a destination in mind?"

A hum and a nod in response. "Mother and I compromised. If I passed all my tests with flying colors, then I would be allowed a day to go outside." She held up some of her test papers, all of which had 100's written on the top of the paper.

"As for a destination, nothing at the moment. Though getting to walk around does sound nice. I was starting to bore from being cooped up in the castle for this long."

I hummed. "Well, this is your reward, so I'll let you decide where we go."

There was a sly smile on her face. She patted her pockets and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't get my allowance until the end of the month."

"You'll pay, right?" In his lack of response, she released her greatest weapon. The puppy dog eyes.

He should have known that this was going to be a long morning. But that wasn't necessarily bad.

0-0-0-0-0

Their walk had mostly gone nicely, and Yuto's wallet was untouched. That is, until they came across a candy shop. Then she indulged herself as much as she wanted before he dragged her away.

He made sure to pay for the things she wanted anyway. Well, as long as it wasn't too expensive.

It was really quiet as they walked together. Neither of them really made an effort to talk yet. Though that is because one was trying to think of what to say while the other was content with the quiet.

When she finally found her words, the princess spoke up. "Thinking about it, you don't really talk much about yourself. Or even your family."

"You never asked." He countered.

"Fine then, why don't you talk about your family?"

Yuto paused for a moment to think about what to say.

"Well, my dad traveled a lot for personal reasons. He made time when he could though, so I can't complain." The little goodies he brought back with him were always nice, but not necessarily what I wanted. It would have been better if he told me what he was after.

Kunou's eyes narrowed. "Sounds like an awful parent."

"It was just how he was. He did the best he could when he was home. Wanted to at least make sure I wouldn't be like him."

"Where is he now?"

"He died a couple years ago while he was away. The cause was unknown." It was his funeral where Aunt Sakura actually cried for the first time.

The blonde shook his head. "What about your dad?"

"Passed away not long after I was born. I wasn't even a year old."

"My mom passed away when I was born." She looked at me expectantly. "I guess that's something we have in common."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I'm not too beat about it. All I have are some pictures and stories I was told about her." He pointed to his green eye. "Most of my features come from her, actually." He would have been the spitting image of her if both his eyes were green, that's what Aunt Rin said when she talked about her. Though his personality was much more open, according to her. In his opinion, he really wasn't.

"Though I would say I had a mother figure in my life. One of my Aunts, she pretty much took the role onto herself with Father away most of the time. I would say she did really well."

Aunt Sakura really did a lot for me, huh?

If his father or Rin had raised him more, he wouldn't be who he is today. Not to say they would do a bad job, just that Sakura was the most suited.

He smiled as he remembered some of their trips. The water park was his personal favorite.

Kunou smiled at him. "I would say so as well."

Yuto smiled back. Though his expression turned slightly solemn as he looked away.

Looking back, I never did get to say thank you, did I?

0-0-0-0-0

It was early in the morning, with the sun having not been out long. The days of others were just getting started as well as Yuto's.

Standing in front of him were the doors of the dojo. Today was the day he was to start his training with Sarutomi. The faint sound of training could be heard on the other side of the doors.

…I have been standing here too long. He thought, and with a deep breath, he pushed the doors open. Immediately, he had to duck down to avoid the staff which now flew over his head and impaled itself on the wall.

He stared shocked at the culprit with a shocked frown.

"Good job dodging that, fresh meat. I was wondering when you were gonna open the door." She smiled as though she didn't just try to kill him.

"Okay…why?"

"Why not?" She shrugged and clapped her hands loudly.

The people present stopped in their training and stared curiously at the blonde. He fidgeted in place slightly once he felt their eyes on him.

"I'll get out of your way now, Tadeo." The Inugami rolled his eyes and waved her off. His students took the sign and went back to their previous training.

Was she showing off to the other teacher? Yuto thought as Saru stuck her tongue out at him.

She patted his shoulder and led him out of the building. "You can ignore them. I teach my group away from his as one of my students tends to be more…volatile. I don't pitch in unless Tadeo asks."

"These are yours by the way," She pulled out two gray orbs from her pocket, "Give me your wrists."

The balls warped and changed into two gray bracelets. She slapped them on his wrists and they locked themselves in place with a faint glow coming from the red orb in the center.

"Boop." With a touch, the ruby orb lit up, and small engravings made themselves known with a red light.

Immediately, an oppressive force fell upon him. The sudden surprise was enough to bring him to his knees. Taking a moment to adjust, he stood up with a grunt. It felt like there were weights all over his body.

It was…an interesting feeling.

"I'll skip the magic mambo jumbo. They basically increase gravity for the wearer only, so it shouldn't affect others around you. If you get used to the current level, then I'll just increase it."

"Okay." It was the sudden pressure which caught him off guard, it was easy enough to stand. Walking around and training however… that would be a problem. He had faith in his endurance, but this would exhaust far more quicker than the normal.

"That was easy, the others complained when I had them use these." She shrugged, accepting his compliance, and started walking off. Yuto followed after, taking note of the extra baggage it felt like he was carrying.

After a few minutes of content silence, the blonde decided to speak up. "Is there usually that little people present?" There couldn't have been more than four dozen people present. Even knowing it was a time of peace, it was bafflingly small. It was more comparable to a small militia.

"We aren't the only teachers in this faction, there are plenty of others who can do the job. Besides, most of his class usually get their own missions." That thought didn't cross his mind. He had only known Saru-sensei as the teacher.

"Besides, there really isn't a need for a full military, not since the great war anyway."

"Great war?" He tilted his head in curiosity. Great war… It was a new term which sounded incredibly important.

"A massive war that occured between the three Abrahamic Factions a long time ago. It got so massive that they dragged other factions and pantheons into it. The youkai sided with the devils since we had similar weaknesses. Though some factions were so powerful that they were left alone." She explained casually.

A war so massive it involved other factions? The three Abrahamic factions? She also mentioned devils. Does she mean the christain faith?

"Devils? Do you mean the red horned creatures with pitchforks?"

"You're thinking of their ancestors. The devils of today have adapted to current times, though their government is still as bad as it was in the past in my opinion."

There were other factions besides the yokai, without any way to confirm it, it passed through his head as nothing more than an idle thought. It didn't mean anything right now, but the information was enough to spark his curiosity.

It was something he could look into later. Maybe I could ask Yasaka about it? No, I don't want to bother her. I can just visit the library when I get the chance.

They continued to walk until they arrived at a more natural path that outskirts the city. The trees weren't so big that it obscured the city, and they added a nice atmosphere of privacy from this angle.

"Are your other students so dangerous that you need a completely different area?" It was a nice view, at the very least. Perhaps being out here helped calm them down?

"Something like that," She sighed, "One of them makes the others uncomfortable, and he prefers being alone too. So it works out." She stopped at an offshoot path and pushed aside some branches and motioned for him to enter.

Following her invitation, he found himself at the opening of a massive clearing. With a pond off to the side, filled with fish, and coupled with a small dock. If he were to turn he would see that the trees by the entrance were carved out and turned into makeshift lockers.

"Whoa." Only a single word could escape him from his astonishment. It was a simple area, but sometimes even the most simple things could be the most amazing.

"Is all of this natural?" There wasn't a sense of this world's magic around. Even the bramble covering the entrance felt natural.

The monkey yokai took a deep breath as she entered, stretching her arms and shoulders as she walked in. "Yup. This used to be my old personal training ground when the dojo was closed. I prefered the outdoors, so I eventually started training here over the dojo. The look on my master's face was priceless." She laughed lightly before opening one of the tree lockers, pulling out a bukuro and tossed it to Yuto.

"This is for me?" Inside was a standard katana with a black circle guard and handle. It was around the same weight as a standard katana. He could vaguely make out Ippo's signature on the sheath.

"This is yours since you don't want to use your magic…magecraft, whatever. Until you can perform it safely, you will be relying on this. Since you work with Ippo, you will be responsible for replacing it if it breaks." He nodded in agreement to her last statement. Ippo hadn't said anything about using the forge to him yet, but he was patient. He could wait.

"One more thing. Do you plan on relying on your magic mumbo jumbo to fight, or do you have in mind what you want to do?" She asked, pausing Yuto's thoughts. She was a teacher, it was her job to tweak things to suit her students' needs.

"..." Yuto had to pause to think of a proper response, "I would prefer to take a more natural route. I would use my magecraft as a means, but not make it a part of how I fight." It felt like it did back then, the whiplash he gets from using his circuits in this world, that left a bad taste in his mouth.

For the first time in a while, Sarutomi smiled surprised. "Really now? Haven't had a swordsman like that for a while. This should be interesting." It's been about a century since she had a student like that. To be honest, she was actually a little excited.

Martial arts aren't as widespread as they used to be. Sarutomi was someone who took martial arts to the extreme, it always got her blood pumping when she met someone who wanted to take it up. No special powers or tricks, just raw technique.

"You use a sword, a katana, if our spar from the other day told me anything. Should be easy enough." She brought a hand to her chin in thought. How long has it been since there was a pure swordsman in her ranks?

"I should have an idea about how to deal with you by tomorrow. Today, I want you to get to know the others."

"The others? Oh, you mean your other students." Yuto walked past her and took in the scent of the area. It had a nice calming aroma to it.

"So how many other students do you have anyway?"

"Counting you, I have 4 students. One of them is out at the moment, so you won't get to meet her for a while." Out of her current roster, the redhead was the one who showed the most potential.

Only four? Well, it was a peaceful time. There wouldn't be a need for a full military, as shown by the class taught by the Inugami. Even still, for there to be only three other students.

Yuto's hairs stood on end. There was a gust of wind from his side. He spun on his heels and dove to the side, avoiding the invisible force that shot past him.

He looked to the culprit, finding a human wearing a white kimono with red highlights wielding a spear with a green blade.

A smile formed on his face when he realized Yuto was unscathed. "Not bad. I guess Saru-sensei picked you for a reason," He walked up and offered his hand, "Sorry about that. I figured I would leave a unique first impression. I'm Adachi."

"Emiya Yuto." He took his hand and he helped him up.

Yuto took notice when he grasped his hand, it was incredibly caulosed.

"Adachi, is Shuta here?"

"Oh, just brooding in the corner, the usual." He waved it off like it was a daily occurrence.

The monkey let out a sigh as she sensed the headache she was about to endure. She left saying "one moment" and disappeared behind some trees. Meanwhile Adachi smiled casually and waved off Yuto's concern.

The next thing the both of them heard was a shout and the sound of a small struggle. Sarutomi started walking back, dragging in tow a boy around Yuto's age with dark purple hair and small horns popping out from his bangs. The boy was an oni, from his appearance.

"I was meditating! The hell is wrong with you?!" He growled at her before he looked towards Yuto and Adachi, who waved at him sarcastically.

"I told you to wait with Adachi until I arrived."

"Well you took too long." He looked over at the blonde and his eyes narrowed. "This supposed to be the new guy?" There was a tone of disapproval in his voice, one that made Yuto's expression fall flat.

"He is Emiya Yuto, he is a special case who won't be in my care as much as the rest of you. Treat him well all the same, and try not to kill him." She looked explicitly at the oni, who only rolled his eyes before forcing himself from her grip.

"Ignore him. He's always been a drama queen." Adachi whispered, casually teasing the oni as he walked away. Without even missing a beat, Shuta flipped him the bird and kept walking.

Sarutomi sighed. "Adachi, you tell him the ropes. I need to talk to Shuta for a bit." She walked off with an annoyed look in her eyes. For Shuta to throw a tantrum right now…

Once their teacher had walked out of sight, Adachi sighed and started to guide Yuto along.

"So, Saru-sensei told me about what you're capable of. You can make swords, right? Is that your sacred gear?" He asked the new guy.

"Sacred…Gear? Sorry, I don't really know what that is." It was mentioned before. Was it something unique to this world?

"You don't know?" When Yuto shook his head, Adachi explained. "Well, they are gifts, of sorts. People are given them at birth and tend to awaken them later in life through training, or traumatic experience," He said that last bit with an empty smile, "It is because of the christian God that they exist. There are common and uncommon sacred gears, and then there are the Longinus. Mine is more uncommon."

"Anyway, are you sure you don't have one? I could have sworn the ability to make swords was one I have heard of." Maybe it was his cousin who had told him. He could do something similar.

"My father had a similar ability. Though the procedure to make them differs." His magecraft relied on his own understanding of the smithing process, which was executed from thought, and brought up from his reality marble.

"Sounds useful."

"There are limits. Part of the reason I am here half the time is because Sensei wants me to expand my possibilities." He was meant to start using the forge soon. To him, it would be nice to have a hammer in his hands again.

Yuto looked at the spear Adachi was holding. Now that he was closer, he could feel that something was off about it.

"So is that spear a sacred gear?" There were intricate markings lining along the golden pommel which was connected to a green spearhead.

"Yup. I can manipulate the wind with this. Though it has its limits." He smiled confidently as the wind picked up around his hands.

"Can you beat Sensei with that?"

He let out a laugh. "Yeah right. Even if I use my balance breaker, I would still have a hard time landing a hit on her. She's way too good."

He put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a sober expression. "And you, my friend, get to be personally trained by her. Lucky you."

Ignoring the sarcasm, Yuto questioned. "Don't you train with her?"

"Every now and then. But I spar with Shuta most of the time, Sensei doesn't pitch in unless we get stuck in our training."

Yuto paused in thought. So Saru-sensei wanted her students to figure things out on their own. It lined up with Yuto's preferences. He preferred to figure things out on his own, he found it more cathartic that way. Not that he wouldn't ask for help.

"It's to be expected," Adachi continued, "Next to Yasaka, she is most likely the strongest yokai here, that and her experience from all her fights. Me and Shuta stand in middle-class according to Sensei, and that's only really because of our lack of combat experience."

"Middle-class? Is that from a ranking system?"

"It is a ranking system that was based on the ones the devils use. It goes Low-class, Middle-class, High-class, then Ultimate-class. Though there are a few more above that, they mostly apply to special cases."

"If you have a good understanding of your abilities, then you would probably be around middle-class. I'm not taking into account whatever experience you might have."

Yuto pointed at Shuta, who was promptly ignoring the two. "What about him?"

"Same as me." Adachi said easily. Before adding, "Oh, but you can ignore him. He doesn't compare to me."

"I heard that!"

"I know!"

He shrugged before he looked around, and his eyes widened. "Shit. Where's Sensei?" He started to look around frantically.

Yuto looked at him weirdly before it clicked in. He started to look around as well, not finding a single trace of the monkey.

He needed to keep his guard-

"Surprise attack!" Yuto was swept clean off his feet. Once he landed on his back, he felt the pressure of a staff being dressed into his chest.

Saru-sensei smiled viciously. "You weren't ready."

…I'm gonna die here.

0-0-0-0-0

A sigh escaped Yuto as he walked through the castle. He was exhausted from all the running Saru-sensei made him do. The opening where they were trained was right along a natural path into the mountain, so he, along with Adachi and Shuta, ran along it. He fell behind due to his weights, and finished an hour later than they did.

After that, Ippo had him use the hammer to test his technique. According to him, it was effective but unpolished, and left a strange pattern on the metal. If his products were mass produced they would last about half as long as a standard product.

They yokai only needed to see how he held the hammer to tell me where he needed to improve, he seemed satisfied and went to do his own thing. Yuto didn't make his own weapon, only kept reusing the same clump of hot metal.

Hah~. I can't feel my arms.

He stretched his arms, feeling satisfying pops coming from them. This was going to be how he spent his days for the foreseeable future. He doesn't regret it, but at the same time he can't say he enjoys it.

His steps stopped once he reached his room. Satisfied, he opened the door, ready to relax for the rest of his day.

Only to find Yasaka sitting at his counter drinking tea. She looked over at him, slightly surprised, before composing herself.

"Oh, Yuto, you got off earlier than expected." She smiled and poured him a cup of tea.

"Ippo seemed satisfied with what I did today and had me leave a bit early." He sat across from her.

Yasaka smiled and slid the cup over to him. "Don't take it too personally. His kind tend to be more skittish around others, humans more so. Give him time."

"I could tell." Yuto took a sip of his tea and let out a sigh of relief. "Is there anything you needed from me, Yasaka-sama?"

"Nothing in particular. I just wanted to ask how it was watching my daughter? She seemed quite happy when she returned from her walk. Could have gone without all the candy, though." The last thing she expected was to see her daughter walking inside with a bag the size of her head.

"Most of it was mine. She took it without my notice."

She laughed. "She sure has regained her spirit fast. I'm glad, really. It lightens my own worries. She must really like you."

"I know, and it is something I am worried about admittedly. I don't think I am the best role model for her." Kunou was smart for her age. But what could she see in him that made her trust him? He could not answer.

Yasaka Hummed. "I see. Thank you for being honest. But I don't think I have to worry, you wouldn't do anything to harm her." Her faith in him made Yuto uncomfortable.

"You are putting a lot of faith in your judgment of me."

"I have to have good judgment as the ruler of this faction. There are plenty of people who try to trick me, and I can see right through them. When I look at you, I can't see anything. But I can sense the honesty in your words." She looked at him again. He was hopelessly honest, but it was as if there was something missing. When he smiled, it felt empty. Like he was putting up a front.

It fit with his actions. He puts others before himself, so he puts on a mask so that others don't worry.

Has he always been simply altruistic or is there an ulterior motive? Did he simply want to help others or did he want to gain something? Or was there something she was missing?

Yasaka had been asking herself these questions when she tried to figure out the blank slate that he is. Perhaps it has something to do with what happened to him and Tamamo before they found them.

The only other one who would know would be Tamamo, but she doesn't seem to have any intention to talk about it.

It would be much less of a hassle if Yasaka had anything to go off besides guesses and theories. At least he hasn't done anything too suspicious.

"Not that it is a bad thing. Sometimes blunt honesty is prefered over circling the truth. Which is why I have decided to give this to you." She pulled from her pocket a ruby necklace with a silver chain, along with a small emerald gem next to the ruby. Tied around the ruby was a pinkish-red ribbon.

"That's-" He was speechless. Wasn't it destroyed? How was it here?

"Sorry for not returning it sooner, there was a dangerous amount of energy stored within it. Since I had no indication of its purpose, I had some of my people study it. Turns out it is just a battery." She placed the gem necklace in between them. It was still in pristine condition.

Yuto picked it up gingerly, like it was on the verge of shattering. Something Yasaka took notice of.

"Is it important to you?"

He nodded slowly. "It was a gift from one of my aunts. It was a family heirloom of hers, but she gave it to me." He traced a finger along the emerald gem and it glowed in response.

Normally, Yasaka would have jumped over the counter and stopped him. But he looked so at peace as the gem glowed, she decided against it. This was the first time she had seen an actual reaction from him, she wanted to see how this played out.

The emerald glowed softly in response to his touch. Yuto gripped the light and thought of something he had stored away in the past. The first thing that came to mind was his father's cloak.

He lifted his hand and the light formed a solid shape. When it disappeared, what was in his hands was a white cloak that was torn by the ends.

"So the ruby is a battery and the emerald-"

"Is a portable storage gem." He finished her sentence. "Since I wasn't able to perform magecraft, I used it to keep weapons near me, just in case." He folded the cloak and put it down on the counter, "It can't store more than 23 kilograms. If it was the same size as the ruby it could store 46 kilogram."

"Why, pray tell, would your Aunt leave weapons with you? I assume you were young when she did?"

"She, my other Aunt, and my Father had enemies. Influential ones at that. They set up precautions in case I would need them."

"Are you perhaps a noble of some kind?"

"Not in the slightest. It's just that they were in an environment that happened to have a lot of powerful people. Ones that don't take very kindly to foreigners."

Yasaka sighed. She has seen on numerous occasions the pride of those in power, the devils were the most notable case of this. She could understand the reasoning behind giving him weapons, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Yuto continued. "There were people that would have loved me dead just to get to my dad. I had precautions in case, but the threat was still there."

"What exactly did your father do to have so many enemies?"

"He didn't have many. But there were influential families who were affected by my Grandfather, they held a grudge as you would imagine."

"Surely they couldn't have been that petty."

"They were petty enough to send an assassin at my dad. I got caught in the crossfire, I was ten at the time."

Is that why he was so reserved at times? He had to cope with his surroundings. Before she could even voice her next question, Yuto spoke up again.

"And it's also the first time I ever killed someone."

"...Do you want to talk about it?"

"He was gonna use me as a hostage. When he got close," He made a slicing motion over his neck, "before I could even register what was happening, my hand moved on its own." It was also the first time he had ever used his magecraft, and what jump started his deterioration.

"I'm sorry." She lowered her head. For a child to be caught up in such an act.

"Don't be. It was a long time ago, but I can't deny that it left its mark." He said easily.

After that, Yasaka decided it would be best to try to keep the mood up. Mainly talking about hobbies or dreams. Yuto didn't answer many of them, he seemed really adamant about wanting to travel. Whatever the reason was, she was pleased with seeing him so excited for a change.

If only a little, She thinks she understood him a bit more.

I LIVE!

Sorry for the incredibly late upload. This chapter proved to be more difficult than I imagined. Mainly with how many OC's I introduced. It doesn't help that I ended up getting addicted to Elden Ring, Ranni for life.

It was originally gonna be 5 more OC's, I trimmed it down to 2, with a 3rd being hinted. Possibly more later on. Then I changed the whole chapter to 3rd person, which was another hassle. By the time I got to the end, Me and my editor felt that it was good enough. So I feel as the end of the chapter is a little rushed.

There's also the fact I am trying to get a good Idea on my own OC's, especially Yuto. I have more of an idea than I did in chapter 1, so if there are inconstancies, I apologize. However, even saying that, I still have a lot I need to work out.