Chapter 4

The tournament

Maemi flew across the forest and hit the tree. The demon paid no attention to Keigo and the others coming after him. He ran as fast he could to crush Maemi.

Looking around frantically for something to give her idea, Maemi tried to stand up. A pain shot through her body.

An invisible force picked Maemi by the arms and lifted her into the air.

She screamed in pain as the force stretched her body slowly apart. With a devilish smile of victory the demon charged to kill her.

Keigo and the others ran as fast as they could to stop the demon. 'Shit!I'm not gonna make it!' Keigo thought while he added the last of his speed that he could gather. "Maemi!"

Maemi mumbled an incantation with her eyes closed. She tried to say it as fast as she could to make it in time. It seemed weird to her that the demon is going after her and her alone. Why did the demon want her dead so bad?

"Turn to oblivion!" she yelled as she opened her eyes and finished the last of her chant.

A loud bellowing howl escaped the demon as he vanished. Maemi was dropped to the ground unexpectedly when the force let her go. Just in time Keigo caught her in his arms.

"Thank god you're all right," he whispered as he embraced her. Maemi blushed. He pushed her back when the other caught up.

They all had the same confused look on their face. Why did the demon go after Maemi? Usually demons would go after the Guardian with stronger spiritual power, which in this case was captain Keigo.

"Maybe he was just retarded?" Makoto suggested also giving a teasing grin to Maemi

"It could be that his senses were messed up," Mamoru pointed out. "But I wouldn't see how…"

They couldn't come up with any logical answers and pretty soon they gave up. What ever it was, they didn't think it would happen again.

Maemi on the other hand thought differently. 'How can anything be able to miss up senses so bad that it can't tell the difference between me and captain Keigo?' with a confused look on her face, Maemi excused herself from the meeting room.

Maemi stared at the gold plate with the element symbol on it, which was the only clue she had that led to the murder of her family. She hid the plate in her desk drawer when she heard a light knock on the door.

Keigo entered the room with a warm smile. "You're not worried about what happened are you?" he asked

"I'm confused but I'm not worried too much. It was a piece of cake!" she answered with a bright smile

"That's good" he walked closer to her and kissed her.

Surprised, Maemi struggled by was overwhelmed by the impact of his lips on hers. She kissed him back as her mind went blank. Every time he kissed her the same thing would happen: her mind goes blank. Why was that? She didn't understand… but she didn't really care. She likes the feeling he made her feel but with every feeling of love she feels, greater the feeling of guilt would build inside her. It was always a 50-50 thing. She's half happy and half sad. She can never be fully happy with anything. The feeling of guilt gets stronger every minute that she spends laughing with her comrades and it killed her. Slowly… bit-by-bit it consumed her….

"All captains are to go to the masters office. I repeat all captains are to go to the masters office." A sudden announcement was made throughout Halicity.

"What would the master want?" Keigo growled as he pulled away from Maemi. He stomped out of Maemi's room and headed towards the master's place.

"What could the master want at this time?" Maemi wondered aloud. Either way she knew something had to be happening for the master to call all of the captains. The master rarely did that. "It couldn't be a war… right…?"

Although Maemi was concerned about Halicity, Keigo on the other hand was more pissed that his kiss was interrupted. He reached the masters office in 5 minutes with his fast speed. There were 14 other captains there all with the look of curiosity on their face. Finally a person all dressed in black came out and squatted down on his right knee.

"the master will now be announcing a new tournament in Halicity. Please listen carefully for the rules and recommend as many members from your quad as you want." He said then left the room with one quick flash just like a ninja.

No one knew what he was talking about. Then they all heard the master's voice in the room but they didn't know where it came from. It had to be magic. "we will be having a tournament to see which squad and team is the strongest. This'll be the fist annual Halicity Guardian tournament. Not everyone has to join. You captains can recommend which team to join and if that team accepts, they can join. Of course your team may enter as well. They tournament will start in 3 days so be prepared. Demons will come out so you will have to exterminate them as you compete. Don't think for a minute that you wont' be doing work. This is a test to see how strong Halicity really is. An all out battle between all the teams. Now go, I will see you in 3 days." And with that the voice trailed off.

Everyone was confused. This has never happened before. All of the captains left and did as they were told. This tournament though wasn't an ordinary tournament and all captains knew that for a fact.

The next morning in the squad 15's living room, there was an uproar. Everyone was talking about what captain Keigo had just announced. He was now going to announce the team numbers that he recommends. Most of the students were eager to be picked they wanted to participate.

"all right listen carefully. Team 1, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 20, 25, 28 and 30. I recommend you guys to participate. The others will carry on with their everyday schedule. Everyone is dismissed except for those of you I just called." Keigo announced in a stern voice.

Everyone cleared out of the room except for the 50 that was called.

"now if all your teammates agree then you may enter. Come and get a registration form when you decide."

The 10 teams discussed the situation with their teammates and team 1 did the same.

"I say we enter. I'll get to do a lot of ass kicking. I know it!" Makoto said excitedly as he cracked his knuckles.

"of course, ass kicking is what you're looking forward to" Maemi added.

"but it's unusual for the master to request something like this" Mamoru stated.

"I know… and that's why I think we should enter" Keigo said.

"to figure out what this whole thing is about?" Kiyoshi asked.

"yea… somethin just doesn't seem right to me…" Keigo answered.

" I agree. So we all agree to enter?" Mamoru asked.

"yea!" every one said in unison.

In total 8 teams decided to enter. They were all excited and didn't think much of the tournament. They all filled out the applications and excitedly went to gather some equipment and train. Team 1 was maybe thinking a little too much about the tournament or so they thought but they were right to think. This tournament is no ordinary competition. It's an all out battle for all squads. Nobody was ready for what was coming for them. Nobody was prepared to face all the hardships and obstacles that was heading their way of one simple battle.

"so it's in 2 days. I say we get some rest so we'll be well prepared." Mamoru suggested.

"no way! I say we get our asses out of here and train. Who knows what we're gonna be up against." Makoto argued.

"don't you confidence? Or do you really need the training?" Kiyoshi teased.

"do you really want some of this?" Makoto got into a fighting stance and Kiyoshi did the same.

"you guys!" Maemi shouted. "calm down. We need to think of a strategy. We could be getting ahead of our selves. Maybe this really is just a competition."

"maybe… but I doubt it" Keigo said.

"what ever it is… it sure is gonna get interesting." Makoto said with a smile and with that everyone smiled and looked up at the sky….