Hitokage went to the school for training, but recently, he was upgraded to a more advanced, private training from the youngest master at the school. Tatsumaki was thirty, and was highly respected for his age and well-being, and Hitokage was honored as his private student.

His skills were rapidly increasing because he was 16. Two years ago, he was a naughty trainee; all that he wanted to do in such an age as fourteen was prank, and that's all he did well. But recent changes in his age and maturity had a large impact on his ability.

The feast was great, and the halls were decked with flowers of all sorts. The different groups of classes, such as Kyudo (Equivalent to Archers;), Samurai, Ninja, and the more allusive and non-social skill group, Mages, were bunched in cliques and clusters.

Hitokage went straight to the left-most table, where his best friends, Kasai and Akuma sat. Kasai was a smart, quick, and kind Kyudo; while Akuma was a Mage and Ninja.

"Hullo," Akuma muttered when Hitokage sat down.

"She's mad at someone," Kasai whispered to HItokage, "Shazai almost hit her with some nunchucks."

"Who's Shazai?" Hitokage asked.

"A Ninja who's in the same training team as Akuma."

"Ah," He directed his attention to Akuma, "So- how's being a Mage going?"

"Good, I guess? Why do you care-" She stared furiously at Hitokage then directly to a guilty Kasai, "Kasai, what all did you say?"

"Well, I wanted to warn him about Shazai's 'incident', so you didn't- um-" He stopped.

"Hurt him? I would never hurt a friend like Hitokage. But you have exceptions. She stood up and used her telekinesis to dump her dumplings on him. He was soaked in a soggy grease and ducked for cover behind a box so he didn't get impaled by an incoming fork.

Next, he dashed to the bathroom to wash off.

It wasn't previously mentioned she had a temper, was it?

That night, Hitokage and Kasai sat in their dormitory, talking silently under the faint glow of a candle.

"Kasai, what'd Akuma mean by 'did you tell him all?'?"

"Er-" Kasai paused, "She got really embarrassed because she heard her-" he paused and leaned up close, like a haunting Akuma was waiting to suck him into a void; "She's an orphan now. Her father and brother were killed today in the war. She thought I told you (well, I am now,) she cried in the girl's bathroom all day until the feast."

"Who told her?"

"Koritsu."

"Well; I'll apologize tomorrow. I don't want her to be miserable." Hitokage concluded.

"Right; see you in the morning."

"Yes, good night."

"'Night."

Kasai blew out the candle, thinking about his torture tomorrow when she hears what he did.

I shouldn't live I fear, he thought, or tomorrow will be worse.

So he and HItokage fell asleep, while Akuma stayed up, preparing her things for her journey tomorrow.