Author's notes at the bottom. BUT, there's something I feel like I should bring up.

This story is going to use a bokken and a shinai. If you guys wanna know what it looks like, look it up, but a Bokken and Shinai are pretty much wooden swords.

Anyways, read on, and I have a request at the end...

"Well then," Izayoi said as he punched his hand. "Looks like it's finally my turn!"

He walked up to the middle of the stage with his hands in his pockets. The confidence he had was practically oozing out of his body as he stood tall and proud. "So who the hell's my opponent?"

As if on cue, the last [Fores Garo] representative had suddenly appeared on stage. The boy was about an inch taller than Izayoi, and was wearing a long black coat with rips and tears that seemed to give off a "Motorcycle gang" feel, and was large enough to cover the white t-shirt and most of the black pants he wore underneath. His hands were covered in bandages, but the wrappings seemed to extend past the end of his sleeves, hinting that he might have more covering his arms underneath. Pink streaks partially covered the left side of his black hair, and the handles of two wooden swords appeared to be sticking out the sides of his waist.

The boy didn't seem to have noticed anything around him at first, but as he got closer to the middle, his eyes suddenly widened as his face changed to resemble a young boy that found a new toy to play with.

"…heh….heh heh….heh heh heh heh heh…HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

His laughter roared throughout the area, making some of the members in the audience cover their ears to keep their hearing intact for later. Cecilia and Tsuki were among the many who did so, but Ryo and Otome simply listened without even twitching.

"Man," Ryo said as he twisted his finger in his ear after the noise died down. "Looks like we're just getting all the crazies today…"

"I guess so." Otome agreed while nodding her head. "But to be fair, this guy has always been like this while we've been traveling together."

Cecilia , who just removed her hands from her ears, interrupted the conversation. "You mean that you've been travelling with this weirdo before joining [Fores Garo]?"

"Yeah. Well, I say travelling, but we've only been together for like about 1 day now, so I don't really know all that much about him to be honest…"

"So…not really all that much…"

"I guess…"

"Well that's just completely unhelpful…"

They all turned to Izayoi, who started to make a malicious and dark smile as he stared at the loud fighter in front of him.

"So even you came here Aragaki? Well isn't this just great…" He positioned himself like a runner who was about to make a 100 yard dash. "But then again, this'll keep things interesting…"

The atmosphere suddenly turned heavier, causing a few people to struggle breathing.

Kurousagi, who was between the two, seemed to be having trouble moving normally as well. However, she managed to raise her arm into the air as she tried to yell out the announcement for the third round.

"N-Now then…"she yelled as loud as she could. "B-Begin…"

As soon as she brought her hand down, the two forces rushed simultaneously at each other at full force.

"IZAYOIIIIIIIII!"

"MUGEEEEEEEN!"

"Slay the demon!"

Hikari, Jin, and Lily were gathered together in the garden, sitting around a table that was set up a few minutes earlier, and watching as Kyle was being lightly attacked by a few of the children from the community.

"Get him! C'mon!"

"Let's go!"

Kyle sat cross-legged as a few kids gathered around, wielding sticks and hitting him lightly. He pretended to be bothered by their playful acts, but he didn't seem to be particularly annoyed in any way, based on the small grin on his face.

Kuroneko was nearby, also being tugged at and lightly pushed around by some of the children. However, since she had a tail and cat ears, she gave more "eek" and "stop that" reactions as everything (including her clothing) were being pulled.

"So Hikari," Jin began as he turned his head to the young blond-haired girl. "Do you mind telling us about Izayoi back in your world?"

Hikari turned to Jin with a strange look. "What's there to talk about?"

"What he was like was around other people, what kind of things did he do, anything would be helpful in understanding him a bit more…"

"Does that really matter?"

"No, but I thought it would've been nice to know a bit of something about everyone in the community, and he's the only one aside from the newcomers that we really have no idea about."

Hikari started to lean back with her arms behind her head, keeping her chair balanced by its back legs.

"I don't think nii-sama was really any different than what you've probably seen so far. He's been silent and really easygoing whenever he was bored, he's very observant in all kinds of things, and he's always crazy for a good battle. So as a result, he got into a lot of trouble every day." She sighed as her head dropped slightly. "Although, there's someone who was especially annoying back in our world. Someone who I HATE a lot…"

"Annoying?"

"Yeah, he'd challenge nii-san at least 3 times a week. The destruction that they'd cause was massive. Actually, they'd need to go to a wide open field and set boundaries, just so that they wouldn't have destroyed the city during each battle…"

"Eh?! Someone who could match Izayoi in terms of strength…someone like that actually exists?"

"Well the closest one so far, at the very least. If I had to say, then he might be the only one who could have beaten nii-sama at all."

"Seriously?!"

Jin's reaction wasn't surprising, considering that Izayoi was able to outwit and overpower a [Demon Lord], a powerful figure who's mental and/or physical abilities can be considered a "final boss" level, not just once or twice, but several times. For any figure to be able to rival someone like that in anyway, they'd have to be some kind of monster or high god…

"Well it's not that nii-sama would lose so easily. Actually, I'm sure that he can win if it was a normal fight…"

"A…normal fight?"

"Yup. To tell you the truth, this guy might beat nii-sama because of certain…circumstances…"

"Huh?"

Jin and Lily cocked their head to the side as Hikari started to make a grim face.

"It's because…"

A large pressuring force suddenly exploded from the area where the two fighters had clashed. Everyone felt the air breeze through them as smoke quickly followed. Everyone watching had covered their eyes to prevent the dust from getting in, some bringing up their hands to make things easier.

When the air finally cleared up, two figures were pushing against each other while smiling. The blond-haired figure was pushing against his opponent using his bare hands, while the black-haired figure with pink streaks was doing the same, but with a bokken instead. Neither of them had shown even the slightest intention of letting up, but neither of them seemed to be overpowering the other.

Izayoi suddenly made a swift sweep across the floor with his own legs, aiming at his opponent's. But his opponent quickly pushed him back before jumping back about a foot away. He then swung the sword diagonally towards Izayoi's hip, but the blond-haired youth spun around, narrowly avoiding the attack and getting back up on his feet before launching a flurry of punches.

The black-haired punk held up a defensive stance, blocking and/or weakening most of the blond's punches, while keeping his eyes open just enough to see Izayoi attack him. However, he wasn't just letting himself get pummeled. No, he was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

That moment actually appeared when Izayoi momentarily stopped his attack for a roundhouse kick. That single moment of freedom was enough for the black-haired boy to swing his sword faster than last time, enough to just hit Izayoi lightly on the side. The blond-haired boy was knocked a short distance away, before getting back on his feet and launching a punch that was blocked by the bokken. The resulting force exploded almost instantly, releasing another powerful, but more contained, burst of pressure that breezed through the arena itself.

Both fighters didn't show any signs of exhaustion and were smiling even wider than before. There was some red on Izayoi's fists, and there a few scratches on the wooden sword, but neither of them seemed to care about this. The only thing that had their attention was the fighter in front of them, the feeling of power that seemed to exhume from their presence, and the anticipation of seeing the other fall to the ground.

"Mugen Aragaki" Tsuki said with an exasperated tone. "Of all the battle-crazed freaks I've met, he just might be the worst…"

Ryo had a hand on his chin while watching the battle intently. "Seems like the two of them have some kind of history together."

"I thought so too. He seemed WAY too excited to see your friend there."

"You knew about this?"

"If I did, I wouldn't have sent him out against Izayoi in the first place."

Ryo turned to Tsuki. "Why not?"

"The idiot was talking about finding someone to settle some kind of score with. I thought he might have been talking about someone from his world, and I thought that there was no way he'd find someone like that in [Little Garden], so I told him that he'd probably find that 'someone' if he helped us out." She heavily sighed. "I guess that really backfired on me…"

"No…really?"

"Shut up…"

"Still, that Aragaki person seems pretty impressive," Cecilia stated. "Someone who can hold their own against our own power-hungry idiot isn't someone we can just ignore."

"I know, right? Aragaki is more or less the strongest weapon we have."

"How strong?"

"Well as a (*cough*) test, we told him to take down as many members of our community as he could on his own."

"And…how many did he take down?"

"Well…" Tsuki closed her eyes before opening them back up with a smile on her face. "All of them…at once."

"What?"

"He told us that it would've been boring if we went one by one, so he insisted on having everyone fight at once. As a result, we all ended up on the ground for about an hour or so…"

"Hmmm…sounds scary…"

"Actually it was really quick." Tsuki started scratching her head with an embarrassed look. "Took only a few minutes to finish, so it was actually a bit pathetic…"

Ryo and Cecilia glanced at the crowd. There were at least a hundred members in the stands, and this Aragaki person was able to defeat them all in just a few minutes. For an idiot who seemed to love battling, it was quite a feat.

"So…what was his [Gift] then?"

The werewolf laughed.

"You don't know? Aragaki is already using it!"

The two of them looked back towards the battle between Aragaki and Izayoi, studying their movements for a while.

"So…what is it?" they asked simultaneously.

There was a momentary silence.

"You mean…you can't tell?"

"Nope…"

"Don't you understand common sense?"

"Common sense is practically pointless in this world."

"I'm not familiar to that term with the way I've been treated in my world."

"I…I see…" Tsuki cleared her throat before starting her explanation. "Well, I guess I need to explain it to you. His [Gift] is called…"

"[Wielder of Arms]. That's the name of his [Gift]"

Hikari was giving a serious look on her face as Jin and Lily listened intently (Kyle and Kuroneko were still being "attacked" by the kids).

"This lets him use anything that counts as a 'weapon' to its fullest potential. Guns, clubs, fencing swords, even a wooden bat. If you can use it as a weapon, then he can use it even better than most experts."

"R-Really?" Jin was starting to shrink in his seat.

"Yes. And it doesn't stop at handling them. That idiot can even unlock the 'hidden potential' that every weapon has."

"Hidden…Potential?"

"You know how some weapons can be used for special techniques, like cutting water in half, or creating shockwaves with your fist? That's what's considered a weapon's 'Hidden Potential', and Aragaki can use that power easily, like it was common sense."

"Then against him…Izayoi would…"

Izayoi kept his guard up as Aragaki began to swing his weapon at high-speed. To nearly everyone in the audience, the attack was like a giant blur. But to the select few that could tell, each hit was a wild blow to the hand, arm, and/or shoulder. The sleeves on Izayoi's arms were starting to tear slightly, but there didn't seem to be any chance of a counterattack being available anytime soon.

However, Izayoi had suddenly spread his arms, knocking Aragaki back a couple feet.

"Looks like you got a little stronger Aragaki…"

"Yeah? Well I'm not done yet…this isn't even half of what I can do!"

Aragaki swiped the air with his weapon, keeping it parallel to his shoulder, as it began to give off a faint dark blue-colored glow. Using only one hand to hold the blade, he rushed back towards Izayoi while bringing the blade up for a downward slice. Izayoi braced himself, preparing himself for the blunt strike. But moments before the attack began, his eye twitched before suddenly sidestepping away.

At the moment of impact, smoke appeared right where Aragaki's weapon had hit the ground. Izayoi, outside of the smoke, gave a slightly nervous grin, as he waited for his opponent to appear.

Then, as if on cue, Aragaki flew towards Izayoi, moving at a speed that seemed to blow the smoke around him away. Using only one hand, he started make a horizontal slash at the blond-haired punk, who countered with a heavy punch. There was a loud *CRACK* as the fist and blunt-edged weapon collided. After both fighters jumped back, the audience could see that Izayoi's hand had a few scratches around it, while Aragaki's wooden sword had nicks and cracks along the edge.

"Looks like it won't be long now…" Cecilia said softly. Her arms were crossed as she scoffed at the sight in front of her. "With a broken weapon, Aragaki seems to have already lost."

Otome laughed. "You must be blind you bitch! Can't you see that Aragaki has another weapon?"

As she pointed it out, Aragaki wrapped his hand around the handle of his other weapon (A Shinai) while running towards Izayoi.

"You're the one who's blind…"

Izayoi smiled as he kicked away Aragaki's weapon from his hands, and kicked Aragaki himself on the stomach, knocking him high into the air as he started to gasp.

"A weapons master needs time to prepare a weapon. Our fighter already has his arms and legs prepared. Who do you think can strike first?"

The blond-haired boy leapt into the air, reaching Aragaki's height, before forming a fist with his other hand, and punching Aragaki's stomach hard. The body reacted by soaring down back into the arena, at a speed that resembled a falling star.

"Now, I think we should brace ourselves…"

The ground rumbled as the boy with pink streaks slammed hard back into the arena, making the entire place crumble as a large crack appeared in the earth. Most of the audience members ran away screaming, while everyone else managed to stay calm long enough to easily escape. After the rumbling and movement stopped, Izayoi was seen standing on top of Aragaki's unconscious body while holding his bad arm with his good one.

"Sorry Aragaki, looks like I won this round too…"

"Sorry about that, looks like I broke a few things here and there!"

Izayoi stood while scratching his head like a child who made an accident and was trying to laugh things off.

Nobody was laughing at this, aside from Tsuki, who just giggled.

"A few things? Try the whole stage you idiot!" Cecilia was visibly angry at Izayoi as her arms were still crossed and her fingers tapped in place. "Thanks to you, we're going to lose a lot of money to pay for these reparations…"

"Actually, we asked [Thousand Eyes] to help set up this event." Tsuki explained. "That's actually why we could even offer the supplies, coupons, and mystery gift in the first place. So nobody's really paying for anything at all."

"Then…why is Kurousagi like that?"

Cecila pointed to Kurousagi, who was sitting with her legs up to her chest while drawing in the dirt with her finger. She was mumbling to herself in a voice to small to here, but she seemed to be in a lower mood than usual.

Near the beginning of the round…

"N-Now then…"she yelled as loud as she could. "B-Begin…"

As soon as she brought her hand down, the two forces rushed simultaneously at each other at full force.

Kurousagi was still in the air as the two forces collided, and she ended up flying quite a distance away from the area.

When she woke up, she was lying on the ground, somewhere in the forest. She went back to the area to check up on the battle, but the fight was already over by then. It was then she realized,

Nobody came to search for her.

"You think maybe we should say something?"

"Nah, she'll be alright after we start leaving. Let's just go get our prizes…"

The [No Names] (excluding Kurousagi) gathered in front of Tsuki, who smiled as she snapped her fingers. A bag, stuffed with what were apparently weapons, had suddenly appeared and landed on the ground in front of them. The werewolf then handed over an envelope that held several tickets for either a hot springs trip, or a beach-like area.

"The supplies will be sent via [Thousand Eyes] delivery. Also, make sure you take these two with you."

Aragaki and Otome were standing nearby, both more relaxed and faces that shown just shown indifference.

"Wait…you mean that…"

"Yup. The '*Mystery*' prize is actually these two!"

Each of the problem children reacted differently to this bit of news.

Ryo face palmed himself in frustration.

Cecilia shook her head with disappointment.

Izayoi grinned with amusement.

"Actually, the whole purpose of this [Gift Game] was to actually find you guys and sent them over to you. It was Shiroyasha's idea to do this, along with the other prizes; we just decided to go along with it."

Izayoi glanced at the prizes and chuckled. "I'm guessing that there's something more to this than a simple 'good-will gesture'…"

"So that's why we've got a couple more hands on board…"

All the problem children were in the meeting room, along with Jin, Kurousagi, Lily, and Kuroneko. Once again, each of the children had a different reaction to this bit of news.

Asuka seemed to be suspicious of the two as she studied them carefully.

Yo didn't seem to care either way, playing with Calico cat and apparently ignoring the tension in the room.

Kyle didn't seem to care either, but he was listening carefully regardless.

Hikari was clearly pissed off at the sight of Aragaki, but she managed to keep herself from making an outburst as she kept her eyes closed while folding her arms.

Ryo and Cecilia were already more used to the idea, so the two of them were taking notes and drinking tea respectively, without any intention of refusing anymore.

Izayoi had his arms behind his head and leaning back on his chair while watching the two standing with bored looks on their faces.

"So…everyone please try to get along then…"

Jin tried to smile as he declared their goal. However, all the children, including the two newest members, all simply answered in a clearly half-assed way. Kurousagi groaned as she tried to keep a smile on her face.

"Ahhh…looks like our problems just got worse. The problem children and our troubles have just grown, haven't they?"

So, that's the end of the "revived [Fores Garo] bit. I thought about trying to extend this a bit, but with Izayoi being his badass self, I think a slightly shortened fight was the best way to go.

Now, my next request. To all the readers here who's followed me so far, thank you for sticking around, and I would like to ask you guys to give me two things if you feel like it.

1. Pairings. With Valentine's day coming up, I feel the urge to suddenly involve the idea of "Valentine's day" into the story. Soooo... I'd like you guys to let me know if there's any particular pairings that you'd like to see. I can't guarantee that every pairing will be used, but I'll try to see what I can do.

2. Ideas. So I'd like to take a break from writing a "Main Story" story, and would like to go back to writing "Side Stories" because it's more interesting, and I want to work on another fanfic that I've been putting off too long. So...If you want to see some event, like a beach party, hot springs, haunted house, birthday, etc., let me know, and I'll consider it for the next few chapters. (Don't bother adding Valentine's Day, that's what I KNOW I'm doing)

Now, a few games are coming up that I'm really anxious to play, but I promise that I will make sure to try and continue to post as much as I can on this fanfic, even after the days come. Once again, thanks for staying be me in this story, and always feel free to tell me what I should do to improve things.