Okutama was part of Tokyo but not what anyone would imagine when they thought of Tokyo. People usually thought of a big city with Tokyo Tower, Skytree, the Diet building, Tokyo Station, or even the maids that roam around Akihabara. No one would ever think of mountainous forests as part of Tokyo. This area was wedged between Saitama and Yamanashi prefectures.

Tanazawa was an area of Okutama that people traveled through to enjoy the beauty of Japan's nature. Aside from the small community near Hatonosu Station on the southern end of the area, it was uninhabited.

A shrine hid among the trees at the top of a hill. The only way anyone found it was due to the steep stairs and the torii gate that guarded it. It wasn't as big or glamorous as some of the well-known shrines but it was just as important, if not more.

The monk who tended the shrine cleaned around outside next to the water basin where guests purified their hands. The monk preferred using the wooden ladle as opposed to the modern trend of just having water running from a facet. There was a waterfall nearby that he often sat under to meditate. He had used it for his own purifying rituals for certain people but for most who visited, using the ladle was sufficient.

Suddenly, he felt a freezing ominous chill run through him. Holding the broom as a defensive weapon, his attention shot in all directions looking for the source. The special furin wind chimes he set up were rattling around despite no wind.

"Chirin, chirin" was the only sound of the silent surroundings. The monk did a series of hand movements which made the seals at the torii gates surrounding the shrine glow. Despite how small the shrine was, a lot of territory belonged to it. The torii gates were positioned along the perimeter of the grounds. With the exception of the one at the front of the stairs, none of them were visible from the shrine.

The monk looked around again and appeared satisfied that he was not in any immediate danger. The wind chime still making its blissful warning worried him. He dropped his broom and ran to the nearby waterfall.

The waterfall was only about half a kilometer away from the shrine. The monk arrived at the water's edge and took off his clothes. He entered the water and climbed onto the rock that was directly under the falling water. Having done this for so long, the ice-cold water didn't faze him. He crossed his legs, rested his hands on his knees and closed his eyes.

Images of a purple and red swirling mist surrounding a black Sakura tree flashed through his mind. Emerging from the purple and red mist were ghostly humanoid figures. Their walk was a combination of walking and floating. They were mostly transparent but their clothes were easily identifiable. They were imperial uniforms of the war. These weren't just ghosts of dead soldiers. These were the ghosts of evil soldiers with mutant souls. They were the Teikurosuna, the Imperial Black Sand.

The monk's eyes shot open despite the water running down his face. He leaped from the rock to the water's edge. He sprinted back to the shrine. He walked inside and in a dark corner was an old wooden box. Despite the years of monster and alien attacks, the monk knew only now was the time to use them. He pulled out five pouches and put them into his bag.

"Where is that bastard?" a student with a baseball bat asked as he threw open the door to class 3-A. The sudden slamming of the door startled the students inside. The student with the bat glared around the room waiting for an answer.

"Who are you talking about?"

"That bastard Taiga Sekizawa," he said.

The students all pointed to the desk in the corner of the room next to the window. Taiga rested his head on his arm facing the wall as he slept. The student sitting in front of him lightly tapped him.

"Taiga, someone is looking for you."

Taiga let out a huff. "If it's not an insanely hot girl, I'm killing you." He raised his head to see a group of guys standing at the door, several with bats.

"I hear you've been messing around with my girl."

"Who's your girl?"

"Shiori."

"Shiori? Shiori who? Shiori Kurosawa? Shiori Miyazaki? Shiori Murakami?"

"Shiori Kokichi, you bastard."

"You mean the one that sits here?" he asked pointing to the desk next to him.

"Yeah."

"When was I messing around with her?"

"You were walking to school together."

Taiga rolled his eyes. "She's been my best friend since elementary school and we live next to each other so it makes sense we walk to school together."

"You're best friends with a girl?" the guy asked.

"Yeah, so? You're the retard who is so insecure that he doesn't like that Shiori has a guy friend. It's also funny that you come here when she's not here to start something with me. Maybe you know she wouldn't like it. Now, go away." He shooed him away with his hand as he turned to his friend in front of him. "I'll kill you later because you woke me and it wasn't because of a hot girl."

"Sorry."

"Anyway, what's for lunch?"

"Gyutan."

"Gyutan? Really? That's great. I love gyutan."

"Yeah, me too."

The guy with the bat couldn't believe this guy was ignoring him. With a flick of his wrist, the group of guys charged at Taiga.

"Oh, you guys have gone and done it now," Taiga said getting to his feet to dodge the first attack.

At first, he was just dodging their swings, knowing they were not trained in any type of fighting. He told them to stop several times but they persisted. A smile appeared on his face and he grabbed a bat in mid-swing. Now he went on the offensive by throwing punches and kicks, taking them down. He didn't plan on using the bat aside from just threatening to use it and block any other attacks. Once all of the attackers were on the ground or slumped over desks, he tossed the bat to the floor. The leader who had accused him at the start ran at him with his own bat. Taiga let out a laugh before dodging the swing and shoving a knee into the man's stomach. He then punched the guy in the face before pushing him to the floor.

He picked up the bat and pointed at the others. "Get him out of here." He tossed the bat down as the gang grabbed their leader and pulled him out of the classroom. Everyone moved out of the way of the group and then watched Taiga as he made his way back to his desk.

Taiga sat back down in his chair. "Well, I guess I'm awake now."

Renka Akita was one floor down reading when she heard the commotion from Taiga's fight above her. She wasn't sure what was going on exactly as she heard the sounds of desks being violently moved and metal things falling on the floor. Some of her classmates speculated a fight was going on. They gossiped about how many people were involved. Judging by the sounds, it sounded like many people.

"What is that on your bag?" someone asked. Renka looked up to see a group of students surrounding another student.

"Why do you have a sentai charm on your bag?"

"Do you like those murderers?" another asked. "How can you like murderers?"

The student didn't respond. He just clutched his bag as he wanted to get to his seat.

The teacher walked into the room and the group dissolved. The student felt relieved and took his seat. Renka watched the terrified student in his seat. He was still shaking from fear. Renka felt bad for him but she believed she didn't have the courage nor skill to step in and fight them off.

It was now time for social studies. Renka wasn't a giant fan of the subject. She was okay but only with basic information. She knew the leader of the Satsuma Rebellion was Saigo Takamori but she couldn't remember why it happened. A lot of it was boring for her but she wondered if it was just her teachers. Since the start of the school year, she did find herself able to remember more and be engaged in class with this new teacher. The teacher last year was boring and always droned on about Momotaro. She had trouble staying awake last year. This year was a different story.

Terakada-sensei was the social studies teacher for the second-year students. It wasn't his first year teaching but it was his first year at this school. Renka thought his name sounded cool. He was also handsome which caused a lot of the girls to focus more in class. Perhaps, that was why she started doing better.

Tenzo Terakada knew something was going on when he walked in the door and a group of students suddenly dispersed and retreated to their seats. They had been around another student who wasn't part of their group. It wasn't until he saw the sentai charm on the student's bag that he realized what was going on. While he knew that group was causing trouble, he had no proof they were actually doing anything to the student.

"Okay," Terakada said once the class did their beginning-of-class ritual. "Last time we talked about family history, specifically family trees. Most people do easy ones that go back a few generations. You all could do one right now and you all could go back to your grandparents or maybe your great-grandparents. But that's just by memory. If you had the tools to research your families, you could go back a lot farther than you thought possible. Who knows, maybe you're a descendant of some great samurai."

There was some chatter that circulated through the classroom and even a little bit of laughter.

"You never know," Terakada said. "Nishida Toshiyuki, you know, the actor, his family can be connected back to the Satsuma clan. And I'm a descendant of Date Masamune."

The talking stopped and all eyes were on Terakada.

"Really?" one student asked.

"Yeah. I have the paperwork to prove it. But that is one of the beauties of Japan being mostly Japanese. Everyone in this room is one hundred percent Japanese so it's easy to trace back your family line. In countries like America, they're from all over the world so it's much harder. I have friends who have traced their family lines and some have been able to go all the way back to Genghis Khan."

"So, you're saying it's possible I could be a princess of some powerful daimyo?" one girl asked.

Terakada shrugged. "It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities. Daimyos often had several women at their disposal and it is possible there were some illegitimate children born. This country has had a volatile history and with records being destroyed or lost, it is possible that you could come from some powerful daimyo and there wouldn't be a way to prove otherwise."

"You're not gonna make us do some long family tree assignment are you?" one boy asked.

"Yes and no," Terakada said.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, it means that you'll be doing the research that you'd do for a family tree but you'll focus on one person. I want you to do a report that is due at the end of the year in March, about a family member you find interesting."

"Like a super badass samurai?" another boy asked.

"Perhaps, but interesting isn't objective. What I think is interesting may not be interesting to you. One of you may have a super badass samurai ancestry that you write about and one of you may have an ancestor who built his or her own company. It really depends on what you think is interesting."

Renka started to think about her family history. She didn't know much about it. She only knew her great-grandfather was a soldier and died in the war. She played with the idea of using him for her report as it would be easy. She could even talk to her grandmother to see if she had any memories of her father.

When the school day ended, all of the students went off in various directions. Some stayed for their club activities while others went home. Renka was one of the students who didn't bother with a club. There wasn't any particular reason, she just didn't have any inclination to join one. As she walked through the entrance to the school, she noticed a man in monk robes standing across the street watching the entrance. He stood there unwavering as if he was frozen. She was certain he was staring right at her.

Shiori Kokichi walked with her boyfriend after school. Taiga was several meters behind them. He was far enough away to give Shiori the space she wanted but close enough to annoy the hell out of the guy. Any time the guy looked back, Taiga gave him a grin. One time Taiga even showed him his middle finger. He knew the guy wanted to come back and beat him down, well try to anyway.

"Don't you dare pull another stunt like you did today," Shiori said. "You're not a fighter and Taiga will mop the floor with you."

"I just don't like seeing him with you."

"Don't worry about it. He and I have been friends for a long time. You'll have to accept that."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Shiori's boyfriend kissed her cheek and then guided her down a nearby alleyway. He gave a quick glance and smile to Taiga just before they disappeared around the corner.

Taiga stopped in his tracks and let out a huff. Should he wait or just keep walking? Now he had a real urge to beat that guy down.

"Damn it, stop!"

That was Shiori's voice. Taiga dashed around the corner to see Shiori's boyfriend with his hand on her chest while holding the side of his face with the other. Taiga didn't bother stopping to ask questions. His fist was already cocked and ready.

Shiori acted faster. She kicked her boyfriend in the groin and slammed her knee into his face. Taiga had to readjust himself to adapt to something he should've known would happen. He just stopped and looked down at the guy.

"You bastard," Shiori said. "What part of 'no' do you not understand?" She kicked the guy before storming off.

Taiga was about to taunt the guy but Shiori pulled him away by the arm. She interlocked her arm with his as they headed home. Even though they were best friends, all of Taiga's insides were on fire and moving at the speed of light at the mere touch of Shiori. With her holding his arm, his heart was well past safety limits.

"How long was that one? A day?"

"Less than that," Shiori said staring at the ground. "Thanks for having my back."

"I'll always have your back," Taiga said pulling his arm from hers and putting it around her shoulder. She rested her head against his body as they walked and Taiga did everything he could to maintain his composure.

"You're a good guy," she said. "Hopefully a girl will see that in you."

Why not you? Taiga thought to himself.

Haruka Kazari stared at her hands as she left the restaurant. She so desperately wanted to hold her boyfriend's hands but during their very short-lived relationship, he only held them twice. After he found out she was a funeral director he became less intimate and distant. The words he had just said to her floated around in her mind. He couldn't hold the hands of someone whose hands were dirty from touching dead bodies.

That pissed her off that she damn near put his head through the table. He wasn't the only one with such opinions. She couldn't understand how someone who takes care of deceased loved ones and performs one of the more sacred rituals in Japan, was considered dirty. If most guys thought that way then how was she to start a family?

She had one of the few jobs that weren't so demanding that she couldn't have a family. Most jobs in Japan required employees to do extra meaningless work that resulted in employees arriving home late every day. She only worked extra if it was necessary.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. She found herself in front of her favorite izakaya. She didn't plan to come here. It was as though her feet were on autopilot. Now that she was here, she wasn't going to protest it.

She walked in and was immediately greeted by the old man who ran the place. He was well past the retirement age but he loved serving people and wanted to stay busy after his wife passed. That was when Haruka met him for the first time. She prepared the body for the ceremony before cremation. He was so happy with how Haruka made his wife look.

"Haru-chan," he said. "Just getting off work?"

Haruka shook her head. "No, I'm off today."

"Ah, you look a little distressed so I wondered if you had a rough day at work."

Haruka was certain she was hiding her emotions well but like always, this old man saw right through the facade.

"It wasn't exactly a good day," she said. "Boyfriend dumped me."

"He's a bastard anyway."

Haruka almost laughed. "You've never met him."

"I know. But anyone who dumps a smart and beautiful woman like you is clearly a bastard."

Haruka took off her shoes and sat down at one of the tables in the tatami section. The old man came over and set a beer in front of her.

"Thanks," she said before she started downing it.

"I know breakups are terrible but the pain will pass. Like I said before, you're smart, beautiful, employed–"

"That was the reason he dumped me."

"What? That you're employed?"

"Because of what I do. He said I'm dirty."

"Now I have more words than just bastard to describe him."

"What if every guy thinks that about me once they find out what I do?"

"Not every guy will," he said. "I don't. If I was young again, I'd definitely go after you. You have a very cute face and well, your body...I'm jealous of the younger generation." Haruka laughed which in turn made the old man smile. "That's what I was wanting to see."

"What? My body?"

Now the old man laughed. "I meant your smile. But if you're offering..."

Haruka shook her head. "Nope, sorry. You gotta have the boyfriend card first."

The old man snapped his fingers. "Damn." He noticed that despite Haruka's smile and jokes, the pain was still present on her face. "What you do is important. It's an important job for any society. The people who say you're dirty are just thoughtless. If they think you're dirty for touching the dead then that means they think their loved ones are dirty. That means they haven't thought through everything. They're idiots. A real man will love you no matter what you do for a living."

Haruka finished her beer without saying a word.

"I'll get you another."