May we meet again one day.

Prologue Part I.

The Leaf Knight and The Bullheaded Girl

It was a normal day for the small church on a rural town in Italy. Deep in the forest a child no older than 8 was seen swinging a sword with a determination rarely seen on kids of that age. This child was named Xenovia Quarta, adopted daughter of Griselda Quarta one of the top five exorcists at the Holy Church, she was practicing, because her mother just told her that she had been selected to be the next user of Durandal the legendary sword created by God and used by the King Charlemagne and his best Knight Roland of the Knights of Charlemagne. Xenovia was excited to be the next natural born wielder of a sword as great as Durandal but despise her excitement to be a natural Holy Sword user, she was scared and frightened, she fears that she has a lot of expectations on her shoulder, and she believes that she will fall short of those expectations, that she will fail those expectations. Hence why she is in the forest to try and calm her nerves and insecurities, ever since she was a child she would come to the forest to practice her swings and her technique, always alone, because outside her mother, she was really awkward with people she didn't have any friend within the small convent where she lived, and if she was honest she felt lonely. She prayed to God that she could have at least someone to talk. And as if he had heard her, she found one that day.

"You shouldn't move your arm so much is going to give you cramps on the future if you continue to swing like that."

Said a voice from behind Xenovia, and she immediately became alert from her surroundings, her training as a Church Exorcist demanded of her to always be aware of your terrain unless you wanted to be ambushed by the enemy, Xenovia was deep on her training and the things that had happened today were still a fresh memory on her head, she was so deep in concentration that she didn't heard the stranger that manage to snuck behind her. She needed to be ready to fight the stranger if it was a devil or another enemy of church.

"Identify yourself or I'll be forced to eliminate you from the Church territory"

Xenovia asked, more akin to demand from a law officer, but coming from the small eight year old didn't come as threatening as it should despite the cold tone in which was said.

"Relax I'm with "He who sits in the Throne in the Clouds", I was just escaping from the pain in the ass that I call my master"

Responded a male voice, however it sounded young, a little bit older than Xenovia by about two or three years, however Xenovia couldn't find the source of the sound, she looked to all directions until the voice spoke again.

"Hey, I'm up here dummy"

Xenovia twitched her brow and her cheeks flushed a faint red at the comment, she didn't like being called a dummy by a stranger that could be her enemy, besides she was about to check the top of the trees, so she finally looked and was a bit surprised by the appearance of the stranger.

It was a young man of around 11 years old, his face was starting to show signs of maturity and was beginning to show that he would develop to handsome man in the future with soft features and gentle eyes combined with greenish black hair, he definitely catches young Xenovia attention.

He was dressed in strange clothes by church standards, he wore a Japanese style clothes reminiscent to does use during edo period by the shinsengumi, however little Xenovia didn't know any of that and for her he looked really weird for someone that proclaimed to work for the Holy Church.

"You don't look like someone from the Church, how can I know that you are not a devil"

Xenovia still doubted of this stranger that just appeared out of nowhere, she would have to be careful if it really was an enemy in disguise she didn't want get caught off guard like when the stranger called out to her, however if the stranger was an enemy he was pretty dumb to have dropped the element of surprise just to tease an eight year old.

"You are right I'm not from the Church, but my teacher has close relationship with your people, hell she made me memorize the bible just so that I didn't disrespect any of you by accident"

Explained the young man after he had dropped from the tree and now was on ground level with Xenovia however he was a full head taller than her which infuriated her, but she just pouted.

"If you're not from the Church then what are you doing here"

Asked Xenovia as she observed the stranger grab a stick and began swinging it like it was a replacement for a sword.

"I don't know my teacher just told me that she received a request from the Church and thought that it would also be a great way for me to experience things from outside Japan"

He explained as he began to swing the stick with practiced precision and strength that Xenovia has never saw on someone so young, it looked like if the stick has merged with his body.

"Wait you are from Japan!?"

Asked Xenovia surprised from the information she just received from the stranger, what surprises her is not that stranger is from that Japan but that whoever his teacher was had a friendly relationship with the Church, this was rare because the Church didn't really had a lot of influence on Asia, much less on Japan where the Shinto Gods were still worshipped by a lot of people, the last time she heard from someone from the Church that came from Japan was a Touji Shidou and her daughter Irina Shidou but apparently they got reassigned to London.

"Yep."

The child responded nonchalantly to Xenovia questions, soon an awkward silence fell upon them with Xenovia being unable to start a conversation because her lack of experience with people and the stranger simply didn't felt like starting a conversation. This continued until Xenovia remembered there was a thing they both have in common and that was that they both trained with sword which gave her an idea.

"Hey, would you like to spar"

She asked the stranger trying but failing to hide her excitement to practice with someone her age.

"Pardon?"

The stranger asked and began looking at her like she had grown an extra pair of wings out of nowhere or something. At this Xenovia flinched, she tried to stop the excitement from escaping her word, trying to sound as professional as possible but coming from her someone that didn't have anyone to play with since she was a children, it sounded hopeful like a child asking her parents (more like demanding) to buy her a candy, after all from the small convent she was raised on all the children stayed away from her because her cold and sometimes distant look she always had on her, that's because ever since she was found and raised by Griselda she soon found out her holy element on her soul and her affinity for holy swords at that, so she has been training since young, told always to only talk when necessary and taught to always be pragmatic, she never knew social interaction outside her mother and instructors at the Church, so when this stranger appeared out of nowhere and began to talk to him, a feeling of warmth began to form on her chest, one that was different from the feeling she felt when she was with her mother on more private times, if Xenovia had to describe this feeling she would call it a longing, yes a longing for someone to talk about anything and share stories, a longing for friends. So she asked him again this time her cheeks reddening and sounding meeker than last time.

"I asked if you would like to cross blades with me"

Xenovia responded trying to put a cold and professional front, so that the stranger would not notice her excitement, yet a pang in her chest began forming thinking that the stranger would just reject her and leave her to train alone.

"I know what you asked me, but I'm just curious, why would you ask me a random nobody to spare with you when you have more suitable training partners on the Church, are you challenging me to test your abilities against mine or you don't have any friends on the Church to train with. Maybe that's why you are all alone here in deep parts of the forest"

Xenovia flinched at the stranger and began sputtering all kinds of excuses just to save face from the stranger teasing, it was a mess of words that she didn't know what she was saying, so she began to calm down and tried to think of a reasonable answer that would satisfy this annoying stranger. However, before she could say anything the boy answered her.

"Sure, why not"

Xenovia froze after she heard does three simple words, she felt as she just realized a breath she didn't know was holding, she felt relieved. She didn't notice but a small smile began to spread from her lips, but the strange boy did.

"You look happy about my answer"

The stranger responded with teasing tone and a mischievous grin, however Xenovia just brought her hands to her mouth and began coughing trying to hide the smile and her flushed cheeks, after a few seconds she composed herself yet a faint red was still around her cheeks.

"It appears your mistaken, I was not happy I was merely satisfied with your answer that's all"

She responded trying to sound as professional as possible, however the boy just laughed it off which only served to infuriate Xenovia and made her brow twitch.

"Yeah, yeah, sure whatever you say, so you wanna a fight her or you wanna go another place"

"Here is fine"

"Alright let's get in position"

The boy began to move closer to where Xenovia was until they were at least 15 meters between them. He then bowed his head in acknowledgement of Xenovia which caught her off guard however she quickly reciprocated the same action, thinking that it was a way to respect his opponent. After he bowed the boy face became calm and calculative, like if she was math problem and he was trying the best way to approach her, however he never draw the stick he used as sword, which irritated Xenovia thinking he was underestimating her, Xenovia already had her sword at the ready preparing to strike any opponent foolish enough to try and overpower, like bull waiting for an enemy to unleash his wrath upon him, but the boy never move an inch. Xenovia's temperament getting the better of her decided to be the one initialize the fight she jump straight at the opponent with great velocity, trying to catch his opponent off guard and ending this spar as quick as possible, thinking her opponent was belittling her, however shock began to form on her face quickly replaced by pain as if she has been hit with one of the rulers her mother used to reprimand her when she wasn't paying attention or misbehaving, she quickly stopped her attack rubbing on the part where the stranger hit her and changed her focus to the stranger that not only avoided her attack easily but also manage to inflict his own counter attack on her faster than she could react, sure she wasn't using her all in that attack but it was way faster than the average human could accomplish, it appeared it was her that underestimated her opponent, he wasn't moving because he underestimated her, no he knew of her strength and waited her to make her move to counter attack her, it was like a Spanish bull fighter against an enraged bull.

"First point!"

The boy said after he had regained his original stance and began to analyze her again. Xenovia herself was perplexed at the action of his opponent, he didn't expect her to not only out speed her and outsmart her but retain such stoic face while doing so, it looked like he didn't felt anything from the exchange they just went through, just another battle to win. Xenovia will have a talk with the boy once this was over, but right now that had to wait, she had to figure out way to defeat her opponent first, she couldn´t charge blindly like she did first, no if she wanted to win she had to use something she never used in battle her mind, normally against most opponents at the church she could just overpower them with sheer strength and speed, however for a few opponents she had to limit her strength and speed in order to find an opening to deliver the final blow, it appear she had to be more cautious around her opponent than she thought she would, however before she could think of an strategy to defeat the boy in front of her she had to block a stick aimed at her left side, the boy began attacking her out of nowhere while she was thinking for an strategy to defeat him, he didn't leave any space between his attacks they were quick and efficient and they were leaving no room for a counter attack, he wanted to push her to the defensive until it breaks, too bad for him that her mother already did that whenever they trained together so she was accustomed to an onslaught of attacks that hit harder and were faster than his, and the boy seemed to take note of that so with swift jump he disengaged her and began to see if she had any opening in her guard, however that was a mistake from him he underestimated Xenovia reaction speed and awareness, so the moment he disengaged Xenovia had already crossed the distance between them and the boy was caught off guard so he didn't have time to try and parried her assault.

"First point"

Xenovia yelled the same thing the boy said after he had hit her on the shoulder however this time it was her that had landed the hit on her left side of his ribs, however she didn't control her strength so the boy was sent flying to her left like if he had been a ragdoll, so despise her initial smile for asserting a hit on her opponent it quickly vanished replaced by a shock and terrified expression, she looked where the boy had been sent flying and to her shock and relief the boy got back up looking no worse for wear, there was little dust on his clothes but look fine none the less.

"Damn I guess I deserved that from all the teasing" the stranger said calmly removing the dust from his clothes "but, DIDN'T YOUR PARENTS TOLD YOU ABOUT SELF CONTROL GIRL, HAD IT BEEN ANYONE ELSE YOU MIGHT HAVE BROKEN THEIR DAMN RIBS!?" the boy screamed at Xenovia for her lack of self-control, she for her part felt ashamed and her cheeks were coloring for being reprimanded like a child by a stranger no less "seriously what is the Church teaching you didn't the Lord said threat other how you would threat yourself, if this how you threat a stranger I don't want to know what you when you are alone; but that's beside the point" the boy let out a sigh after he had finished his ramble.

"Self-control aside, you really caught me off guard, it looks like you do have a brain after all" the boy told Xenovia to which she only growled at the words of the boy "tell me girl we never introduced ourselves did we" the stranger said to which Xenovia just gave him a shocked expression, it was true they both were so caught idle chatter and the spar that they didn't introduced themselves, Xenovia felt ashamed because part of the training her mother gave her was about proper manners for a lady, she personally taught that they were a waste of time but her mother told her that if she continued to think like she might never get married, Xenovia didn't care about marriage after all she was going to devote herself to the Church and an important part of a woman of the Church was chastity, besides she didn't have any interests in boys at the moment. "well let me introduce myself ahem" the child coughed on his fist for dramatic purpose "my name is Susumo Morigami I'm eleven years old and I'm living and training with my master, nice to meet you."

The boy, now named Susumo introduced himself offering Xenovia a gentle smile, she just acknowledges it with a small nod of her head.

"Very well I guess it's only proper that I introduce myself" Xenovia told Susumo "I am Xenovia Quarta, daughter of Griselda Quarta, I'm training to become an exorcist like my mother before me and I'm eight years old"

Susumo only nodded his head on acknowledgement and began observing her until he relaxed.

"Normally when I train with my teacher, we win when we have two victories over the adversary, so right now we are even" Susumo began explaining as he began to spin the stick on his hands "So the next one to hit the other first wins the match" he finally declared "Let's finish this"

With his piece said Susumo began to get in position, at the same time Xenovia began to brace her practice sword in anticipation, she felt excited about facing an opponent as skillful as him, however, she would not let the boy win, she had pride on her skills she learned at the Church and she has faith that those same skills will not fail her.

So they charged ready to defeat their foe, however Susumo stopped mid charge and Xenovia was so lost on trying to archive victory that she didn't noticed the small light bullet that was shot between her and her opponent until it grazed her hair, the moment she felt the projectile almost touch her hair she stopped her charge and began looking at her surroundings and she saw made her jaw drop. A whole exorcist squadron was surrounding her and the boy however their focus wasn't on her, no, all the exorcist had either their weapons aimed at the boy or were on the holster ready to draw it if the situation demand it. She was about to ask why they were drawing their weapons at Susumo when a man dressed in priest attire appeared in front of her followed by a boy with long grey hair that covered his right eye and a long greyish black scarf that covered his mouth, he wore similar clothe to the priest, except his had slight golden and yellow line coming from his arms and connecting to a golden cross on the back of the tunic, but that wasn't what caught Xenovia attention but his deep red eyes that seemed ready to unleash violence on anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path. It deeply scared Xenovia, because they weren't the eyes that should belong to anyone normal much less this child that didn't appear to be older than 13.

"In the name of the Holy Church you are under arrest for infiltrating holy land, if you give yourself without resistance your punishment will lessen, however should you be foolish enough to try to escape you will be dealt with adequately" said the man in in front of her and as if to proving his threat all the exorcist had they're weapons drawn, everyone except the strange red eyed kid who didn't even move his hand form behind his back, however he began to give Susumo an intense glare, as if he was looking down on him like someone would look to trash.

"I am not invading your holy ground, I'm here with my master on official Church business" Susumo calmly explained however Xenovia note that he let go of the stick he was using as a sword, but his hands looked like if they were ready to draw an invisible sword on his hands, he looked ready to retaliate if someone was going to attack him.

"As if I were foolish enough to believe you, if you and your master had a business with Church officials I would have been informed about it" the head priest dismissed his explanation as if they were the ramblings of a drunken fool "and even if that were the case you don't smell completely human so why should I have mercy on you when your deceiving the young Holy Sword user here, how can I know you were not a Devil trying to convert her on a piece of your precious peerage"

The last part was said with disgust on the man voice, but Xenovia's eyes widened at what he said about Susumo not being completely human, she looked at the priest then at Susumo with a shocked expression, she stared at Susumo with a expression that wanted him to explain himself, to dismiss the accusations as false, she was looking for a shocked expression, maybe he didn't know about his heritage and the priest had just told him something he didn't know, for anything on his face that showed confusion. However, his face was stoic, it didn't show any emotion just cold determination to escape the unfortunate situation he was in.

"You are right I am not 100% human; however, I am not a Devil in disguise that you accuse me of being" the boy answered his accuser loud and a clear, it wasn't intimidating but demanded respect and acknowledgment.

"Even if you are not a Devil you are still the spawn of a heretic, tell me was it the bastard of a father that gave his sperm to a random bitch and you were born from that, or was it a whore of a mother that a seduced a man to sleep with her to give birth to you" the priest began to insult the boy birth, he didn't reacted to aggressive however when he called his mother a whore Xenovia was sure she saw the silhouette of a katana began to form on his hand, however it was so faint that neither the priest or the exorcist took notice of it, except the mysterious red eyed boy whose hand twitch a little an as if by reaction she saw the shadows of the trees to move slightly.

"You can insult me as much as you want, but if you insult my parents again, I will cut the only thing keeping your head from the floor" Susumo growled at the priest killing intent dripping from every word that he said, even the Exorcists flinched at such intense aura, however the head priest either didn't acknowledge it or just outright ignore it.

"Hit a sore spot didn't I," the priest continued not even meeting the glare the boy was giving him as he continued to talk "so was it a cowardly father or a whorish mot…"

The priest didn't got to finish his insult when the boy moved faster than even Xenovia when she was using all her strength, the only reason she could track his movements was because she is used to moving at such high velocity, however she knew what would happened the moment Susumo cut the priest head, the Exorcists were going to shoot to kill him even the red eyed boy appeared ready to attack Susumo the moment he got close, she was preparing to block the attack, but a sound echoed through out the forest that made her and everyone stop whatever they were going to do, it was the sound of steel clashing with steel, after she heard the sound of clashing steel, she stopped her movement and took a look were the priest was, instead of his headless corpse falling to the floor was a pink haired woman with a katana on her back while another on her hand blocking Susumo who had katana on his hand struggling trying to overpower the woman in front of her, however while the boy clearly using his all it appeared as if the woman wasn't even trying no even giving him an in inch she looked more annoyed than actually treating it like an actual struggle of force.

"I got distracted for 5 minutes and when I wasn't looking you just disappear, and as to make it worse you are rising you sword against a member of the Church" the woman said to the kid with an annoyed and irritated tone "What do you have to say to yourself young man, you better have a good excuse for yourself or your punishment will be so severe that even the devils will feel sympathy from you"

"Well if a certain someone hadn't been distracted by a pair of breast and had kept a better watch on her disciple who is also her warden, maybe we weren't on the situation we are currently in" the boy said with an exasperated and equally annoyed tone "besides if I had cut this asshole of a priest head I would have actually made the world a better place"

"I was just catching up with a friend who happened to sport a good rack, can't a woman enjoy sight of another woman's body, and what did this priest did to deserve to getting beheaded by your so called blade of 'justice'." The woman responded to the young man while continuing her grip on her blade.

"He insulted my parents!" the boy screamed at the woman continuing they're fight for supremacy, it looked as if they were even on strength, but on closer inspection the boy was sweating furiously and his feet were borrowing deep on the dirt for all the effort the boy was using just to bypass the woman.

"Seriously?" the woman questioned the boy with a raised eyebrow "You seriously considered the murdering of a clergy man just because he insulted you"

"He didn't just insult me! He insulted my parents calling my mother a whore and my father a coward he doesn't deserve to live!" the boy continued to growl to the woman however he was beginning to show signs of fatigue, his breathing no longer calm and collected were replaced by a frantic breathing, his arms were struggling to keep form and his leg were wobbling. However, the woman was fine there wasn't a sign of fatigue on her as if this was just another annoying task to take care off. She took a look behind her to the priest and she just received an annoyed and exasperated expression from him, her gained and an angry expression however she didn't show it to the priest instead she continued to talk to the boy.

"Aren't you overreacting, I'm not saying to forgive him but cutting his head is just excessive you know."

"It's easy for you to say, he wasn't insulting your family." The boy just continued to try and move this woman out of the way to deliver justice, but the woman never gave in. Finally annoyed with the boy she raised her arm and quickly delivered a hit the boy's head; he was so exhausted that he didn't noticed it until he felt the soaring pain on his head.

"If he had insult my family, I would have felt angry but I would not have tried to take the man's life, I would just have ignore it, if I had gave in to his insults he would have won, by reacting to his word you are giving him the satisfaction he so desperately wants," she said as she drew her blade back to her handle, while the boy was on the floor rubbing the spot where she hit her, she finally gave the boy her hand to help him get up. "besides it isn't as if he didn't insult my family, I promised your father to look after you as if you were my little brother and you are my stupid, annoying, knuckle headed little brother, so you are my family albeit not blood related, but I am not taking his head for it."

The boy looked at her hand and then to the woman, she still had an angry look on her but also showed understanding she also had a small smile on her lips, the boy let out an annoyed sigh and finally took the offered hand. "Fine you win."

"Always do" the woman said triumphantly however the moment was short lived when the Exorcist had all their weapons in hand ready to unleash it on them.

"If the family drama is over can you explain who you are and why you are here or you want to tell us on the dungeon when you are arrested" the head again opened his mouth this time it sounded more annoyed at the new developments than anything at looked as if he wanted to throw them to the dungeon regardless of the answer they gave him. The woman finally turned around to explain to the priest and Xenovia finally got a look of the mysterious woman.

She had beautiful face with pale white skin, but she didn't looked sick, her eyes had a red sunglasses on them which make her difficult know it's real color, she wore a pink kimono but the sleeves on her arms were larger than normal given her the appearance of a praying mantis sickles, she wore pink pants with green lines and a pink skirt with white accents and some really weird sandals. In Xenovia's opinion she was eye catching and beautiful, if it weren't for the swords on her back, she would think of her to be a model or actress.

"My name is Sakura Hachisasare, I'm here visiting an Old friend from the Church and I was talking business with her until a few moments ago, I am not your enemy and you don't want me to be one" Sakura explained to the priest but the man merely scoffed at her words.

"I was not told of any official business with an outsider, so you are either lying or your just making time for your friends to come and rescue you and that child" the man simply dismissed her explanation.

"I'm not and besides my friend is really famous in the Church you might have heard of her a time or two" Sakura continued to explain however the man just let out a dry laugh

"Oh really and who is this famous friend you claim to know" the man asked sarcastically, but just as Sakura was about to answer another voiced answer, a voice that made all the exorcist and the priest to jump in surprise, and to young Xenovia to cower in fear, after all it was the demon in the form of a woman she calls a mother.

"That would be me, Father Ivan" said a voice from behind the exorcist a voice that incited fear and reverence on everyone present except from Sakura and young Susumo

"Mother Quarta, what a surprise" the priest said with genuine shock and surprise from her sudden appearance "why is the reason of your arrival?"

"It is as this woman claims, she and I are old acquaintance's, she came here under my request after I asked the higher ups at the Church for another teacher for my daughter training, after being evaluated I sent her a letter asking her if she could come here to teach Xenovia her skills and we were discussing the terms and conditions when she began running to this place saying that his boy was in danger, I followed her thinking an enemy infiltrated on Holy Ground, but it seems I was the slower of the two" Griselda finally explained her side of the story, the priest relaxed a little yet there was still a frown on his face.

"Even if that is the truth why was I not informed of this reunion you had with this outsider" the priest accused Griselda yet before she could answer Sakura spoke first.

"Maybe you are just so worthless that the higher ups thought that you weren't important enough to know" she said with condescending tone to the priest he just growled

"Why you- "

"Enough you two!" Griselda shouted and immediately the priest stood in position, but Sakura just roused an eyebrow on her direction "I didn't told you Father Ivan because, I know how are your views on those outside of the Church and I requested to Pope to not tell anyone within the Church except those of extreme confidence unless we wanted to information to spread to the other factions" she said to the priest to which he only clenched his fist in frustration "and you…" she said while pointing at Sakura which she only pointed her finger to her acting innocent "you really need to shut your mouth if you are not going to say anything important or productive." She exclaimed almost exasperated; Sakura only pouted in disappointment.

"Now everyone get back to the Church, there is still work to do" Griselda exclaimed in a tone that left no room for argument to which everyone complied even Father Ivan but he let out an annoyed scoff and turned to the red eyed child.

"Let's go Azrael, we must continue with your training" the priest called out to the boy to which he reacted almost immediately moving to the side of the priest.

"Yes Father." The boy simply replied.

Everyone began to leave the forest until only four people remained, Griselda and Xenovia and Sakura and Susumo, Griselda let out a tired sigh and began to glare at Xenovia, which in returned flinched at her enraged mother gaze, Xenovia tried to escape but her mother caught her by the shoulder and began to pinch her cheeks.

"How many times have I told you to always be in company of clergy men or at least tell someone were you are going to be!?" Griselda yelled at her daughter while she tried to ask for forgiveness, but her cries were met by deaf ears by the demon of a woman in front of her. They completely ignored the other duo until they heard snickering behind them and saw Sakura laughing at her expense while Susumo had grin to ear to ear on him, soon after Griselda took notice of the laughing she stopped and brought her hands to her mouth to cover her reddening cheeks, Xenovia was the same except hers was because how much her cheeks were stirred because of her mother, after 2 minutes Griselda brought the attention to herself by coughing as loud as she could and the snickering stopped.

"We never ended our terms for our contract, did we?"

"No, we didn't" Sakura replied "but it is getting so how about we discuss it another time on another place that is not Church territory"

Griselda nodded her head in understatement

"I know of a coffee shop on nearby town outside of the Church territory, it's a small town so they would not take notice of us unless they were following us, I'll give you the location, time and place tonight"

"Then it's a date then!" Sakura said with a beaming smile, but Griselda had an unamused look no her.

"It is not, it's a business meeting, and you better be there at the appointed time" Griselda replied with scowl on her face, but Sakura just pouted.

"Fine, but that's the reason you are still a virgin after almost 28 years" she just told with a teasing tone, Griselda face burned red at the comment and a vein was about to pop on her head.

"Let's go Xenovia we still have tasks to complete, we must no waste anymore unnecessary time" Griselda ordered Xenovia, trying to forget the blow to her pride as woman.

"Yes, Mother!" Xenovia simply replied, wishing to not make her Mother angrier, she was almost out of the forest when she heard a voice call out behind her.

"Hey, Bull Girl we should spar again in the future" the boy simply told Xenovia from the forest waving his hand trying to catch the girl attention "Also you really have a beautiful smile, you should try to show it more" the boy finally added.

Xenovia stared at him for a moment, she could hear the beating of her heart and her cheeks began to get red tinges, but she ignore it and instead focused on the feeling she was feeling, it was acknowledgment not in the form of respect but in the form of wanting to spend more time with someone to try and know each other better, 'This is how it feels to have a friend', she questioned but it didn't mattered to her she knew that the boy she just spared with just wanted to try and reach her, and she will not let that opportunity slip from her.

"Yes gladly" she answered beaming a beautiful smile on her face, and she continued to follow her Mother not seeing the reaction the boy had from her smile.

Susumo just stood there frozen in place like a rock, he didn't expect such reaction from her it was just a pure and innocent smile, but coming from the stoic girl was like a shooting star on starry sky, a surprise to be sure but a welcomed one.

"Ah young love, such a pure feeling, I am kind of jealous for you to find a girlfriend at such a young age" but just as suddenly as he appreciated what just had transpired, this annoying woman he called a master had to ruin it.

"She is not my girlfriend, she is just a friend that happens to be a girl" Susumo replied to the woman he had lived with for almost all his life trying to put an end to her teasing however she just continued to smile at his expense.

"That's a girlfriend, idiot"

"It's not" he continued to deny this annoying woman trying to put an end to the conversation, Sakura just let out a tired sigh knowing she would not convince the boy of his true feelings. Besides it was getting late and she had a date to attend tomorrow so she better be ready.

"Fine, you win whatever we should get back to our inn it's getting late" she finally and Susumo followed her, happy that she has stopped her teasing however he had a foreboding feeling on his head, and finally his suspicion were unfortunate true "this doesn't mean I had forgotten about your punishment you are going to wish to be in hell after I had finished with you"

Susumo began to sweat coldly at the mention of the punishment his master would give him, for the first time in the day he was truly afraid, however he was also happy that he had found a friend this expedition his master took him to, no matter what her punishment might be he would gladly receive it if it allowed him to meet with the strange girl he met today. It was the beginning of a great friendship and a meeting that would change the fate the world as a whole, after all is not all days were a God gives you an opportunity to see the morning Sun again.