Minna! :3 Yo!
As promised, here is the next chapter. ^3^
Check the end of the pages for language notes & character infos!
February 21st, 2014
Tokyo University for Languages
After long hours of writing essays, finally the bell rang, signaling the end of that year's exams.
Students of all ages stormed out of the building like a river set free. They were all chatting, exchanging opinions on their answers, or laughing in relief as that session for eventually over. Many students headed to the nearby train or bus stations; some to the bikes parking lot while other simply walked home.
Unlike the crowd, three people were taking a different route, entering a smaller and calmer street.
One of them, the tallest, had dark long hair that went past her waist, kept untied yet in order; the fact that there was no wind sure helped. A bang was cut in a perfect line just over her eyebrows.
Her equally dark eyes were full of light as she giggled for something the girl in the middle had said.
This one had short black hair, cut just at her shoulder. The ends were curved, a bit wavy, and she had a side bang that sometimes went to cover her left eyes; the right part was cut to leave just barely an inch of hair.
Unlike the other two, her eyes were a dark blue, very peculiar for a Japanese person. Yet just by watching her features one could understand that she was a half, not a pure Asian.
The one on the left, the only one with the usual sailor-like uniform, had shoulder long hair, whose colour was a very light brown. They were parted in the middle, and a pair of hair clips adorned each side.
"Ne, ne, ne. Hirari." The girl with long hair poked the one in the middle. "Will next year be really a lot tougher?"
Being Hirari one year older than them, she was in the second year. She took a very deep breath "Yes, Jei. You'll have so much to study that you won't be able to have proper rest." She answered. "The classes are terribly hard; you will have to do some super long presentations about three languages, describing in great details every minimal particular difference about syntax, grammar, culture, belief…"
The girl who posed the question gasped horrified. "How do you even survive with all that work!?"
Apparently she wasn't noticing the snicker that their friend was trying to hide, nor Hirari's amused eyes. "Don't you see? I'm dyiiiiing~!"
When she pretended to faint, the girl on the left couldn't contain her laughter anymore. Hirari chuckled too and flicked her friend's forehead. "Baaaka, am just kidding. Actually it's pretty doable; I'm getting even more free time that I thought."
The girl called Jei pouted. "You two little mean…" she grumbled.
"We're here!" the one on the left suddenly spoke up, interrupting the muttering.
Hirari smiled big. "Great, Ann-chan!" She clapped in her hands, excited.
They were in front of a sweets shop; its two big, brightly illuminated display windows were full of colourful cakes, pastries, smoothies and much more. Just by seeing them, all three girls felt their mouths starting to water instantly.
Since High School, Hirari and Ann had had that habit of going there whenever they needed to celebrate something, be it a birthday, a particular achievement or an anniversary of some sort.
When Ann had entered college, she had become friends with Jeizu, and the three of them often hang up together after school since then.
Before one of them could step inside, several big boxes came out. Well, so it could seem, yet at a second glance one could see a pair of legs under that entire huge packet and Hirari had quite a good idea on who it might have been. Indeed, as the person stepped aside to let them pass, a handful of red hair could be seen between the boxes.
"Yo, Marui-kun." Hirari called, amused.
"Ah, Hirari-chan!" A pop could be heard before the boy answered, and then sound of munching.
"Nani nani? Dare dare?" Jeizu asked at once, curious. Again, as she posed the question she poked Hirari's shoulder, a habit that was hard to control. A sly grin formed on her lips as she looked from her friend to the boy, and vice versa. Yet before she could say anything, Ann spoke up.
"No, Jeizu, he is not her boyfriend." She sighed, anticipating the brunette's question, which she posed every single time they met a guy they knew.
"Aww…" she pouted. Somehow she was always in for some gossip, but what was there if she couldn't even tease anymore?
"Oooh, Ann-chan too!" Marui said in delight. "I'd like to stay here and chat, but these little beauties," he motioned to the boxes full of, Hirari supposed, cakes and various sweets, "start to get heavy. And besides, my stomach claims its rights on them. So, see you later at practice!"
He excused himself and left.
"Practice?" Jeizu asked as they watched him leave, amused.
"Yeah, he goes with us at the dojo." Ann answered with a neutral smile.
"Oooh…"
Soon the three of them were sitting on the bench outside the shop, munching on their sweets happily.
"Ne ne, can I come watch your practice today?" she asked out o the blue.
The other two girls exchanged a rapid glance, before lightly shaking their heads in unison.
"Gomen, but our sensei is very strict and allows only people that train at the dojo to actually be there. No outsiders allowed. "Hirari quickly said, causing her friend to pout once more.
"Meh. Fine." She muttered then, giving up eventually. The other two mentally sighed relieved.
There was some silence as they munched on their snacks, each lost in their thoughts.
Then suddenly a phone rang.
Jeizu blinked. "Ah, gomen." She answered it and frowned lightly. "Eh? Nande? But I'm with friends now! Oi, Yuushi!" She groaned as she listened to the other party. "Wakatta, wakatta. Am coming."
She huffed and hang up, placing the phone back in her bag. "Sorry girls, gotta go home."
"Don't worry." Hirari smiled gently. "It's time for us to get our train too anyway."
The dojo she and her friend went to was relatively far, almost an hour by train; unlike their college, which was in Tokyo, the dojo was in Yokohama.
"Alright, let us go then." Ann said, and they all stood up. Jeizu hugged them both before leaving in a hurry.
The other two watched her run off.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she followed us." Ann muttered.
Hirari chuckled. "She won't. And even if, they won't let her get anywhere near the place.
The two friends headed to the Shinjuku train station then, and after about 50 minutes were walking towards the dojo.
They stopped in front of a traditional gate with a sign written in shoudo, which read 'Sanada Dojo'.
They entered and walked through the garden, passing on a bridge that hovered over the koi, a small pond with carps. Eventually they arrived at the main structure.
The two girls took off their shoes and placed them beside a few other pairs before stepping inside, their socks making no sound on the wooden floor. The hall was still empty but they knew it would be soon filled with pupils.
Together they went to the girls' changing room.
"Let us do our best today too, ne." Hirari said as she took off her school uniform. She folded it neatly and placed it in the locker from which she had previously taken her training suit, red with black borders.
"Un!" Ann smiled widely, changing quickly as well. "Let's make them proud."
Soon they went back to the main hall to start their training together with the others.
They weren't many, actually the trainees from the Rikkai clan were just four and Ann was the only one from Fudoumine.
Since their alliance less than a year ago, the two clans had agreed for their members to train together, especially their young ones.
"Yo, girls!" Marui greeted them before popping his gum.
"Did you already eat all those stuff you bought before, Marui-kun?" Hirari asked with a chuckle.
"Yes I have!" he answered with sparkling eyes, only to receive a light stare from a dark skinned boy beside him.
"Actually, he was supposed only to get some for my parents' restaurant." he said. "But Bunta bought too much, and so…"
"Well I was hungry." The redhead defended himself, causing the other to sigh.
"Don't worry Jackal, we all know how he is." Ann tried to comfort him.
Jackal Kuwahara was a half Brazilian fellow pupil as he was in the Rikkai clan as well. He was best friends with Marui even though his patience (and wallet) often suffered from this.
"Kikuta-senpai!" the fifth pupil spoke up. Hirari looked at him, wondering for the nth time how it was possible how this boy's hair could be so curled up. No wonder a certain someone had nicknamed him 'Seaweed'.
"Senpai, did you beat the boss of that game I lent you?" he asked with a wide grin.
Hirari shook her head. "Not yet, he's a tough one. But I will soon, don't worry."
Akaya was about to reply, no doubt with something cheeky, when their sensei entered.
They all fell silent immediately and lined up, watching him as he neared them.
"Konnichiwa." He said, lightly adjusting his black cap.
"Konnichiwa, Sanada-sensei!" they answered.
"Rei!" yelled Marui, and they bowed together.
"Start with laps. 30 around the dojo, outside." He ordered in his deep voice.
The five quickly headed to the entrance where they had left their shoes and wore them at record time. Then started to run.
At times, Marui would reach out and grab some sweet that he had previously hidden.
In fact, the whole dojo area was full of well hidden secret places in which he had put them. The previous year they had tried to do the egg hunt at Easter. Their leader had gracefully accepted to hide the chocolate eggs that they had bought, a mere dozen in total. They had then started to search thorough, and at times there had been surprised exclamations when they'd find other stuff, sweet stuff.
Marui had been found as the culprit and Sanada had made him run a lot of laps, yelling at him how rude and irresponsible he had been.
Yet that hadn't stopped him from doing so again.
Time flew as they did their usual schedule.
First was an hour of kendo training with Sanada, then another one of Magic with one of Rikkai's strongest Magicians, Yagyuu Hiroshi.
It was needless to say that once the two hours were gone they collapsed to the ground, panting heavily and drenched in sweat.
Training was always merciless, but they all knew that it was necessary, now more than ever.
Rumors said that a war between their alliance and Rikkai's enemy, Hyoutei, would break out soon. Not only the hours spent in the dojo were becoming tougher and tougher, but they all spent most of their free time reading strategy manuals, analyzing past battles and memorizing every minimal detail about their enemies.
"I'm beat…" Marui gasped out at the end of that day's session.
"You're not the only one." Akaya grumbled, examining his arms to check how many blue spots he had received that time.
Hirari didn't say anything, too busy drinking quickly from her water bottle, while Ann and Jackal laid simply there, trying to take in as much air as they could.
As they were like that, a man with short black hair and his eyes semi closed neared them. He was Yanagi Renji, the strategist and one of the Big Three of the Rikkai clan. Incredibly skilled Magician, Yanagi specialized in barriers and counter-spells, and his mind-reading abilities enabled him to gather accurate data on anyone he met.
They all looked at him, listening to what he had to say.
"Jackal and Ann, your form is good, for now focus on getting more flexibility in your movements with a sword." He started. The two nodded.
"Marui, you need to work on your stamina, and possibly without increasing the amount of sugar intake." The redhead pouted lightly at the last part of the sentence.
"Akaya, you need to keep your temper more in check, you don't want to risk and lose it when you're outside, right?" Akaya just grumbled lightly in response.
His case was probably the most difficult. He was the only Demon in Rikkai, which was not a surprise as their race was rare; but he was young and too emotional, often losing his cool for minimal thing. His powers were great too, but again, he always had problems in controlling them. In fact, he would have probably destroyed the dojo a couple of times already of there hadn't been the right people to prevent him to.
"Hirari, you are good too, Yagyuu said you should be able to start using joint Elements soon." He concluded.
Hirari's eyes widened in surprise and a wide grin spread on her face. She had spent the past three years training and mastering each of the nine Elemental Stones, and finally she could try and mix them! She felt excited at the prospect of trying lots and lots of combinations.
Just wait that Mura hears this!, she thought.
She could barely contain herself as they changed back into their normal clothes after taking a hot shower, and was the first one to leave the dojo as soon as she had done so. She almost ran home, proud of herself and her progresses. Seems like that evening's little party with Yukimura would be even greater than usual.
Language notes
-chan: suffix for females, used with children or close friends
-kun: suffix for males, used with friends or subordinates (in this case can be applied to females too
nani: what
dare: who
dojo: training place
gomen: sorry
sensei: teacher
nande: why
wakatta: got it/understood
shoudo: Japanese calligraphy
un: yes
senpai: senior
konnichiwa: formal way of saying 'hello'
rei: bow (as in bowing person)
imouto: younger sister
Character infos
Rikkai
Kikuta Hirari: young human girl of the clan that likes Elemental Magic; half Russian, half Japanese; has a power of her own, the Scan which is not something she can train with as it is neither an aggressive nor a defensive ability; schoolmate of Fudoumine's Tachibana Ann and Jeizu
Marui Bunta: young man of the clan that is in love with sweets, specializes in Healing Magic; best friend of Jackal
Jackal Kuwahara: Shapeshifter; half Brazilian, half Japanese; best friend of Marui
Kirihara Akaya: Demon; youngest member of the clan; his current goal is to become strong enough in order to defeat the Troika, yet has a lot of troubles in controlling his temper
Sanada Genichirou: human Warrior; one of the clan's Big Three; head of the army; vice leader; is the teacher of sword fighting for the young members
Yanagi Renji: human Magician, specializes in mind-reading and barriers; strategist and one of the Big Three of the Clan
Fudoumine
Tachibana Ann: human Magician; schoolmate of Rikkai's Hirari and classmate of Jeizu; imouto of Fudoumine's leader Kippei
Others
Katou Jeizu: schoolmate of Rikkai's Hirari, classmate of Fudoumine's Ann; doesn't know about them being Magicians nor about the clans