A/N: Welcome to chapter 2. I'm your author Sol, and drake202 is the person who came up with the idea and he has the knowledge. We own neither Dungeons and Dragons or the Senran Kagura franchise. Now to respond to reviews:
Drake202: dude, thanks. I hope this is as descriptive as you want it to be but no promises.
BatCornMan: well you won't have to, it's here!
So, here we go into Hibari's own situation, the perspective changes a bit, and more. I hope you enjoy this literature of questionable quality made by a writer and his friend(?) as they think on how to make the mc suffer. And boy do we have a few interesting things planned.
If anyone were to ask Hibari who she thought was the most incompetent shinobi in Hanzo she'd nominate herself before anyone else. It's obvious but no one will say it out of kindness but she's the least fit to be a shinobi out of all of her friends, something that was glaringly obvious after today.
It was after school as me, Yagyu, Ikaruga, and Katsuragi were in our shinobi classes far from the average populace where we were waiting for class to start.
I was eating some sweets while Yagyu had a squid in her mouth and we were waiting for Kiriya-sensei to start class.
"Katsuragi-san. I already told you how rude it is to talk about someone behind their back." Ikaruga scolds Katsuragi but to no avail.
"But c'mon~, you saw how buff he was under the baggy shirt and his looks aren't that bad." Katsuragi says with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
Ikaruga's brow twitches in frustration, "Honestly, learn some manners."
"Now, now~ I don't think he'd mind it. I think he'd be quite proud being talked about by cute girls," a perverted grin appears on the blonde's face as she appears behind the black-haired girl, "especially with boobs this big."
Katsuragi proceeds to grope Ikaruga's breast from behind as Ikaruga is left helpless and could only moan as she tried to struggle and Katsuragi giggled perversely.
"Ah~, Katsuragi! Stop it~!" Ikaruga struggled as Katsuragi kept giggling.
"Ohohoho~, what's this? Have they grown since-ah!" Katsuragi exclaims as the sheath of a katana hits her forehead and she falls to the floor, holding it as she grimaces in pain.
"That's enough! Honestly." Ikaruga exclaims as she crosses her arms and glares at Katsuragi.
We were seated a healthy distance away in case Katsuragi wanted to change targets, "They seem to be having fun."
"Keep your distance Hibari. I don't want anything bad to happen to you." Yagyu tells me as she got in between me and the other two.
"Oh~, are you giving yourself up as a sacrifice? Well, don't mind if I-Ah!" Katsuragi is interrupted by a large explosion of smoke that forces them all to cough.
In the Japanese room that was covered in smoke that was slowly being cleared up as all but one occupant was coughing from the smoke. This occupant, surprisingly, is male, he's tall and has grey hair with a gentlemanly feel to him as he wore black dress shoes, dress shirt, suit jacket, and slacks with the only break in that color being his hair and skin color.
"Kiriya-," Ikaruga tried to welcome him but she was interrupted by a coughing fit. Despite this being a common thing and the human body being very adaptive, something that the shinobi girls are, you can only get so much smoke out of your lungs when there's only more smoke coming in.
Soon, the smoke clears, the girls stop coughing and Kiriya calls out, "All right, it's time to start class."
"All right, Kiriya-sensei." They responded in unison.
"All of you get changed and head out to the gym. Hibari, stay here, I have something to tell you." The others were worried but only Yagyu spoke out her thoughts.
"Is Hibari in trouble?" Hibari's eyes widened as tears started forming.
"No. Nothing like that, it's just something that's more of a private and personal matter, she can share with you all afterwards." Kiriya assures them as they relax.
"Now, go ahead, Hibari will catch up." They nod as Hibari stays back.
"What is it Kiriya-sensei?" Hibari asks as she steps up.
"Here," he hands her a letter, "it's from your family." Hibari's eyes brighten as she grabs it and opens it.
She begins reading it to herself as she smiles, slowly the smile and her mood start to slowly descend until she gets to the end of the letter where she's frowning and Kiriya's worried.
"Hibari," his voice snaps her out of her trance, "is something wrong?"
"It's nothing Kiriya-sensei." Hibari says as she gives him a smile but he doesn't believe it.
"Hibari, what's wrong?" Kiriya asks again as Hibari tilts her head downwards, refusing to meet his eyes. For some time, silence reigns in the room until Kiriya releases a heavy sigh as he relents, "Alright, I won't delve deeper, but if you ever want to talk, I'm still a teacher, I'll listen and help you if I can. Or anyone else in the class, we're here for you." He reassures her as she nods.
She manages to give him a smile, "Thanks Kiriya-sensei, I'll keep that in mind."
As Hibari walks away Kiriya couldn't help but worry for her, in the end, he is a teacher and refuses to make another mistake that can cost him another student. He just hopes he can help her should she need it.
Hibari could only re-read the letter over and over until it was engraved into her memory. Pausing in her stride she leans on the wall and sighs, "Why me?"
She couldn't go any further as the familiar voice of her sister-figure pops out, "Hibari, how'd it go?"
There was a beat before Hibari's smile returned, "It was fine, just a letter from my family."
Yagyu's visible eye narrowed as Hibari just tilted her head in confusion, "Is something wrong?"
Hibari flinched and raised her arms, "No, nothing's wrong Yagyu-chan."
Yagyu didn't buy it, mostly due to Hibari's nonexistent poker face, "Hibari, don't lie to me. Or I'll take away your sweets."
"No~! Yagyu-chan, nothing's wrong," Hibari had to use all her brain to try and remember her lessons on misdirection, "it's just…," her eyes widened as she came up with a good excuse, "they're thinking of visiting."
Not a lie, but not the truth either, they want to visit but they're busy, "Oh? Is that all?"
Hibari nods quickly as Yagyu sighs, "You had me worried Hibari."
Hibari sulks as she mutters, "I'm sorry Yagyu-chan."
"It's fine, c'mon Hibari, you don't have much time left to get changed." Yagyu warns as Hibari straightens.
"You're right!" She quickly runs over to the changing room and enters it.
Hibari found it hard to keep her mood up. An uncommon event that usually coincides with whenever someone from her family sends a letter. She loves them dearly, but she still feels like she's not up to being a shinobi. She's not as strong as Katsuragi or as skilled as Ikaruga, as smart as Yagyu or even Asuka.
So why was she born with the Kagan? The one who's least fit to be a shinobi.
"Hibari!" She's startled from her stupor as Kiriya calls her.
"Yes?" Hibari was able to answer.
"It's your turn for hand-to-hand combat, you're going against Katsuragi." Kiriya repeats.
"Ah yes!" She says as she gets up and walks in front of Katsuragi as she grins.
"I'm not gonna go easy on ya Hibari, hope you're ready!" Katsuragi exclaims.
"A-alright, I'm ready!" Hibari gets into her own stance as Kiriya stands in between them.
"Ready?" A confident nod and a slower but stubborn nod, "Good. Begin!"
Hibari falls to her back as the outcome remains the same, "Katsuragi's win."
The fight was the same as always, far from even but far from hopeless either. Hibari was able to get a few good hits with her unpredictable style but she still lost.
She laid there as her thoughts returned to her inadequacy as a shinobi and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Before anyone could console her she was up and running away.
"Hibari!" Yagyu calls as she was going to give chase.
"Yagyu, wait!" Kiriya stops her as she turns.
"But Hibari-!"
"Is going to be fine," Kiriya interrupts, "just give her some time."
"But she needs me!" Yagyu pleads with worry in her lone visible eye.
"And what if you're separated on a mission? Or one of you is captured?" Kiriya says as he sighs.
"As shinobi, we stick to the shadows to complete our mission. When the shadows fail, we must step into the light and fight like warriors. And like any warrior, we must be aware of our weaknesses to improve on them. Hibari will be fine. Besides, anything that may sound like reassurance to you may only make it worse." Kiriya says as Yagyu bites her lips with a conflicted face.
"Yeah, Yagyu, she'll be fine," Katsuragu assures, "and if anything does happen she can protect herself."
"She may be clumsy but she is still a shinobi," Ikaruga jumps in, "if anything does happen that she can't handle herself she knows to call us."
Yagyu pauses before sighing, "Alright, I'll give her some space."
"That's all, you both need this. Afterwards you can talk about it." Kiriya nods as he resumes training while Yagyu sighs.
After a bit of running, Hibari found herself on a bench where a stranger offered her some food and then listened to her troubles and even offered to train her. Though, she's kind of regretting taking him up on his offer.
A loud slam was heard as Hibari groaned, "Owie~."
Her opponent on the other hand, "Hibari, I already told you, the Setting Sun style is about using your opponent's strength and speed against them. But that doesn't mean your opponent can't escape."
Currently, the roles are reversed with the shinobi being taught by the 'civilian', a statement she's currently questioning the validity of.
"Caleb-chan, can I ask you something?" Hibari asks as she straightens up.
"Go ahead." Caleb says as he brings out a journal and a pencil as he starts writing.
"Have you ever wondered why you got your… um what's the word?" Hibari asks herself as she holds a hand to her chin.
"Hand? Lot?" Caleb responds, knowing how she feels.
"Lot, that's right, why did you get your lot in life? But what does a hand have to do with this?" Asks Hibari.
"Well, a hand is a gambling term. It means what cards you have with you." Caleb explains as he looks at the pendant on him with resigned distaste before looking at the rings on each ring finger.
"Oh! Yeah, but have you?" Hibari asks, curious.
There was a pause as Caleb developed a yard-long stare at the rings on his ring fingers of both hands, "Yeah, I have."
Hibari then continues, "Then, what if you had a power you didn't even know how to control, much less use?"
"Figure it out." Caleb responds as his eyes refocus in a panic but he quickly relaxes.
"What if you can't?" She presses on.
"Then don't dwell on it and move on but never forget it. Focus on other things you can improve." Caleb says as Hibari seems to want to say something but Caleb interrupts, "Look, see this."
I showed her a mexican coin, ten pesos, "This is the first coin my mom gave me when we visited Mexico." Hibari nods but doesn't seem to understand as I flip it up and it falls on the floor, "I dropped it, now what do I do?"
"Umm, pick it up?" Hibari asks, still confused.
"Why should I?"
"Huh?"
"I asked, why should I pick up a coin that is worth around fifty cents in American?" Caleb says as Hibari looks so confused.
"Because it's the first one your mother gave you? And you may need it later?" Hibari responds.
"Alright," Caleb nods, "let's save it for when there may be an emergency. Come tomorrow I will make money working and the same thing the day after. Finally, I picked it up after a few months. Turns out, it was gold." I pick it up as Hibari's eyes shine, "It's not actually gold." Her expression falls as Caleb chuckles.
Hibari liked his laugh, it was calming, not too loud or quiet.
"In the end, what is the lesson?" Caleb asks as Hibari starts thinking.
Soon, steam seemed to come out of her head, and Caleb chuckled again, "Don't hurt yourself thinking about it."
Hibari pouted, "I don't know."
"The lesson is that knowing you have something to fall back on is good, but you should never rely on that alone when you can increase your wealth in other ways. Soon, you may need that so until then," Caleb walks up and crouches in front of Hibari, "become worthy of the power you've been given. Become stronger, faster, smarter."
A slight breeze messes with the long strand of silver hair as Hibari couldn't help but notice how handsome he was.
His words finally caught up to her mind as she blushed, "N-no, I don't have a-any secret power or anything!"
Caleb's smile became a teasing smirk, "I find that hard to believe, I mean your pupils are kind of rare. But they suit you."
Hibari pauses as embarrassment and fear at being found grips her being only for Caleb to say, "Gotcha."
Her eyes widened as she learnt he was joking only for her to pout and look away, "Meanie."
"Aw c'mon, it was just a joke," Caleb said as she tried to look her in the eyes only for her to turn the other way.
"Well if you're gonna be like that," he starts but never finishes as he grabs a pencil and his journal and points a thumbs up at Hibari as she refuses to look his way.
Soon, the familiar sound of scratching was heard and Caleb started sketching Hibari's pose.
The silence was comforting as Hibari couldn't help but be curious at what he was drawing yet her stubbornness was higher so she continued pouting away from him.
Finally, Hibari had enough as her curiosity got the better of her as she got up and walked behind the sketching Caleb as she noticed another thing.
Scars. He wore the summer button-up shirt with a black long sleeved shirt under it as a scar peeked under it but she couldn't get a closer look as Caleb noticed her, "And here I thought you were angry."
Hibari ignored the statement as she leaned in closer, "Whatcha drawing?"
He holds up a finger to his lips in a shushing motion, "That's a secret."
"C'mon~." Hibari pouted as Caleb only shook his head.
"Nope, wait, I'm nearly done anyway." Caleb says as she pouts again but sits down besides him.
Finally, he was done as he showed her, "What do you think?"
It was a sketch of a pouting Hibari with quite a bit of detail from the wrinkles in her clothing to the leaves in her hair. It was quite nice.
"Wow~." Her eyes glow in surprise, "I didn't know you can draw!"
Caleb shrugs, "I have to do something to keep my mind calm, so I occasionally draw places I've been in."
Hibari's eyes were flashed by light as she yelped and fell back as Caleb chuckled since his right ring reflected the light right into her eyes.
Hibari could only pout as she saw how late it was, "Ah, they're probably worried."
"Your friends?" She nods as I shrug, "Go ahead, why don't you give me your number so I'll tell you when I'm busy or not."
After exchanging contact info, Hibari left as Caleb watched her leave and his smile slowly left his face. He stared at his sketch of Hibari as he sighed, "Why?"
Sitting down as the sun sets with a fishing rod in my right hand, I throw the bait into the water as I wait for it to attract fishes.
"You have to be patient, they can tell if you're tense. So relax, enjoy it."
"But dad, it's so boring~. Can't we do something else?"
"Trust me Caleb, when you're older, you'll understand."
"Guess you're right dad, I do understand," the sadness causes tears to fall as I grit my teeth, "I just wish you could be here to enjoy it with me."
Unable to stop the sobs, I lean my forehead against the fishing rod as I try to contain it but only succeed after some time. When I opened my eyes I noticed something, the fish were already here.
Taking a deep breath, I rear my arm back and throw it forward as the hook sails in the air and it plops in the water as I relax and look at the sky. Playing with the long section of silver hair I couldn't help but curse the man that was my ancestor.
Checking my phone I checked the time and sighed since I still have some time before it starts getting late.
Not like the dark will affect my vision, a little skill I developed after a few months in the streets of Nepal, stressing over whether he sent people to follow me or not.
Staring at the journal of my descendant that still has empty pages despite the amount of pages written is the number of individual papers that can be seen. Maybe magic, who knows.
Opening to the page after the sketch of Hibari, I start writing about my time in Asakusa. From my arrival, to school, to the cute girl that I drew.
I continued writing, only stopping when the line was bitten as I reeled in fishes and released them back.
Finally, I finished writing as I closed the journal and sighed. Packing up, I returned to my home as I felt something I haven't in a while, excitement.
Waking up always sucked, at least I had headphones that I bought yesterday to weather the suffering with. So, I listened to music as I moved around the kitchen while biting into an apple.
After finishing my breakfast and throwing it away, I put on my shoes as I was already changed and locked the door as I glared at the sun, again.
Sighing, I continued walking as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I turned it on and noticed it was a message from Hibari. It was a simple message as it said 'good morning'.
I replied with the same thing along with the question of whether she's going to be training with me to which she agreed.
Now, I had something to look forward to.
Hibari hummed joyously as she put her phone away as she walked with her friends. Yesterday, she came back to her friends being worried but after a bit of talking and hiding the existence of Caleb they were able to relax. Though, she did tell them why she left and apologized to Kiriya.
Though it's behind them now and now they were heading back to school and she couldn't wait to go see Caleb again.
"Why is she so hard to hate?" I ask myself as I stare at the Umbral Awn, at the black blade with a red handle seeming like a simple dagger. My goal. Though, now I'm curious as to what the warriors here think about the blade itself.
Shrugging, I read over the plaque with the information about the blade.
My mind blanked as I read it over and couldn't help but chuckle at how wrong it was. A cursed blade. What a joke.
Such a wonderful blade being used as nothing but decoration. Too bad it won't be like that for long, just gotta bide my time.
I decided to cancel today's training in a decision to do my own training and try out my own sword and other techniques.
Though, I couldn't help but ponder the past two weeks since I started training Hibari.
She's improved that's for sure, she doesn't trip up as much, she can surprise me and I think I'm rubbing off on her.
Which is already a bad situation in and of itself but that's another situation. I don't know why, but every time we finish training and we have some spare time, she always manages to convince me to go around town or somewhere with her. Sometimes she convinces me to buy her sweets or take her out on walks.
Though, the reason why became apparent one training session.
I raised a leg as Hibari's low roundhouse hit the side of my shin as I jab but feel my eyes widen as my view of the world shifts as I'm thrown and sigh internally at Hibari's mistake.
Though the wind was knocked out of me quickly as my back hit a tree trunk as I fell to my knees and cough before grabbing Hibari's leg and getting up as I performed a Mighty Throw and sent her sprawling ten feet away.
I regained my air as I raised my hand, "That's good enough, I need a minute."
"Caleb-chan, are you okay?" She asks in worry as I chuckle.
Being a Silverbrow does have its uses, especially with my increased stats. The only reason the wind left my lungs was out of surprise, though the pride afterwards was a nice touch.
"Yeah," I groan as I straighten up, "Seems like you took my advice." I notice as I pay attention to where I was.
In our spars I tend to be the aggressive one but sometimes I'll wait back to see what Hibari would do, multiple times I've baited her near the edge of the clearing only to throw her into a tree.
The throws that make up most of the Setting Sun moves tend to leave a big gap in between both fighters, giving the opponent of the user the opportunity to catch his breath. To make up for that, I've devised a strategy that is composed of throwing them into the nearest wall and/or object.
It's more effective when they're being thrown into narrow objects including, but not limited to, fire hydrants, street lamps, etc.
Regardless, I could feel a small smile appear on my lips but why? Shouldn't I feel frustrated? Annoyed?
Hell, this is my first time teaching anyone anything, much less something as important as the Setting Sun discipline. And it's not like I'm going to teach her more than the Mighty Throw.
"Caleb-chan?" Hibari's worried voice knocks me out of my stupor.
"I'm fine Hibari," I pat her head as her eyes widen in shock but she doesn't flinch back, "Good work there."
Her eyes sparkle as she nuzzles into my hand as I quirk a brow. Shrugging and electing to ignore it, I continue my actions before stopping as she pouts to my confusion.
"What?" I asked as she turned away and pouted.
"Nothing." She said to my utter confusion as I sighed.
"So, you don't want the reward I thought of giving you?" I asked with a smirk as her eyes opened in alarm.
"W-wait, reward?" She asks as I nod.
"Yeah, a reward." I repeat as I show her the strawberry cake I had bought and raised it as she tried to grab it, "But it seems like you don't want it."
"No~. I do!" She starts jumping up and down as she tries to grab the cake I brought.
Chuckling, I was going to give it to her but my eyes were attracted to her breasts that bounced with her. As a person that only recently gained an identity, I've been on the other side of the law multiple times, making friends with people with less than acceptable morals, or people of like mind, and as someone whose been around multiple women of ill repute, those are some of the biggest I've ever seen. I didn't even know they could be that big.
"Caleb-chan?" Her voice shook me out of my stupor as I noticed she was pushing herself against me and I could feel how soft she was especially her breast.
Stepping back and catching her before she could fall since she was leaning on me, I looked away as I gave her the cake, "Here."
She was confused since I wasn't looking her in the face but was happy since I gave her the cake anyways.
While she was eating the cake I proceeded to calm down as I sat down on the floor.
Finally, I decided to stare at the sky while Hibari continued eating.
A comfortable silence overtook the clearing as I found myself relaxing and before I knew it, I was asleep.
Though the sleep wasn't the best, a constant reminder of my time as a captive.
I don't know how long I was asleep but with my usual habit of getting varying levels of sleep I know that it wasn't enough.
In my sleep, I felt something was reaching its hand out at me. With my nightmares rarely being calm, everything went into overdrive as I woke up with little awareness of my situation as I grabbed the wrist and swept my victim off their feet as I grabbed their chest, "Ah~."
My victim moaned femininely as I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and had to take a moment to try and regain my awareness but after I squeezed the soft orb my left hand was grabbing and another moan rang out.
When my eyes clear up, Hibari is under me as I have her right breast in my left hand.
"S-sorry Hibari, are you okay?" I ask in worry as I get up.
Her eyes were wide as she covered herself and stuttered, "I-i'm okay. What about you?"
I tilted my head in confusion as Hibari took a second to compose herself and explained, "You were struggling, like you were having a nightmare."
Pausing at that I sigh, "It's nothing, just a nightmare. I'm fine."
Hibari fidgeted a bit as I didn't notice how my voice deepened as I said that with a glare.
"A-are you sure?" She asked as I gripped my hands into a fist.
I had half a mind to tell her to mind her own business but didn't as that would be both hypocritical and cruel to someone who's just worried.
"Yeah. Anyway did you need something?" I asked.
"No, I was just worried." She admitted as she cleaned the dust off of her.
There was a silence after that as I stared at the sky, "Hey Hibari, have you ever wanted another chance at life?"
She froze as she stared at me.
Finally, she said, "Yes. But I'm fine where I am right now."
"Even if the other life could be better than this one?" I asked already knowing her answer.
"Yup." She confirmed simply as I sighed.
I hate this, I hate it that it was me that it happened to. But, I can't do anything about it.
The only thing I can do is roll with the punches and hit back when I can.
Once I'm there I look into the Bag of Holding and decide to bring out Supernatural Clarity, the blade of the Diamond Mind style. A rapier with a blue hilt and a golden guard, well-balanced as time slowed for a second when I brought it out, a usual occurrence that I'm used to.
Clearing my mind, I get into the stance that's needed as I take a deep breath.
Thrusting the rapier forward I hear the air move as I thrust thrice in quick succession before stepping back and using the guard of the rapier to parry an attack and retaliate with the hilt as I spin and dig the point into the back of my opponent's knee. Not an orthodox attack used for this style but in my years of traveling there have been times where I've had to get creative.
Spinning around and stepping back as that imaginary opponent is rid of, two more appear, both heavily armored and wielding longswords. One steps forward as I step into a side kick into the pommel of the blade as it halts his attack as I spot an opening and stab into a gap in his neck as he disappears.
Spinning back, I parry another attack from an axe as I duck an attack and stab into the side of his knee and spin as I rip it out before thrusting it into the back of his neck.
I turned as the images of three more people appeared, they wore light armor and had knives.
Ducking under one, I stabbed into their armpit as they flinched before turning into a side kick as another tried to double team me. Stepping back, I parry the third's knife, leaving me an opening to thrust at their heart as the image falls.
The second image comes up above me as I spin and parry it as I throw a shop to the side of its neck with my left hand as it falls to the ground and disappears.
Stepping forward and turning as the final image dashed and I rolled back as I saw an opening and thrusted forward as it went through their neck and it fell.
Staying in that form I sigh as I miss the feel of actually hitting something. Well, it's not like I can't.
I was back in my knight persona as I stepped on the side of the knee of a thug and jumped into a spinning hook kick to the back of their head.
Wielding a short pipe, I duck under the knife as I spot an opening as I jab the short pipe into the punk's jaw as they sway and fall.
A gunshot rings near me as I turn to a punk with a gun as I raise my arm and the bullets ping off the Bracers of Quick Strike, the steel barely scratching the mithril. Stray bullets hit the Millenium Chainmail and Phoenix Helm as a group of thugs tried to circle me but I was ahead of them.
Activating the bracers, I feel my arms lighten up as I parry an attack and retaliate at a faster speed than they could react to as they started dropping like flies as each hit landed in openings that would be fatal but I know how to hold back enough so they're still alive. Only unconscious.
I turned to the punk with the gun as I used the Bolt Shirt's special ability and in an instant I'm in front of him with harmless trail of crackling sparks following my wake in front of a surprised puk as he started sputtering as I rested a finger on his lips, "Repeat after me, 'I don't remember anything'."
"W-what?" He sputtered as fear was obvious as I sighed.
"Honestly," I mutter as I grab the collar of his shirt, "and here I thought it was going to be easy."
Rearing my head back, I rammed my head into his as he slumps unconscious and I let him fall.
Dropping the pipe I used as a rapier, I clap my gloved hands together as I survey the damage I've caused to the hidden basement being used as a drug lab.
Taking some time, I start looti-. I mean repossessing their funds and valuables for a better cause.
That better cause being sweets for Hibari after our training sessions, my own hobbies, and other things, like food.
Definitely not instruments like guitars or flutes, no. That's irresponsible spending.
…
Well, pawn shops do have some pretty interesting trinkets on occasion.
Sighing, I noticed the ringing of a phone on the punk I was pick pocketing. Grabbing his phone, which was locked with a fingerprint, something I unlocked after getting it right the first time, turns out they were going around mugging random people and now I have the locations of their next meet-up.
Grinning, I relax my wrist. The Shadow Hand disciple is called that for a reason.
I felt the familiar feeling of a cloud of shadow energy enveloping me as I activated Shadow Jaunt where the shadow energy spun into a tiny mote before it disappears as I felt weightless before I felt gravity do its thing as I fell onto the roof of a small building as I activate the belt hanging loosely off my left side where it holds my ancestor's Bag of Holding while it was braided with the colors black, green and gold, the Belt of Ultimate Athleticism and I dash forward at a steady pace as I cross the gap between streets with ease as I jumped and I couldn't help but smile at how freeing it felt.
I remembered believing the Earth was flat, which is kinda reasonable since I never finished my formal education and rarely talked with people until someone told me otherwise and found out I was wrong. I remembered believing that if I continued running away I'd get away from him but it never happened.
Subconsciously, I placed too much strength into my jump as my paranoia acted up and could only curse internally as I jumped into a wall as I placed both feet and a hand on the wall as I used the Dance of the Spider stance to remain on the wall as I noticed some more of the punks in the area where they were meeting look around startled.
Thankfully, I was in the shadow of the building as I activated the Cloak of Deception and the punks that looked up didn't notice a thing. Sighing in relief I scuttled down the wall as I jumped onto an air conditioning unit as I crouched down and stayed hidden as they started talking.
Closing my eyes, I listen in as I start painting a mental picture from what I saw and am hearing, it seems like they're bringing a cut of all their money together for a reason I'm not too keen on hearing. All I heard was a number above a million yen and I was sold.
Now, how can I go about this. Hmmm.
I scour the area as certain details come to mind. The alley is fairly dark, both due to how late it is and the fact that the buildings cover what little light there is, there're cars near the entrances with windows open, and enough cover with the punk's weapons being bats, knives, and the occasional odd and end.
Right, I think I can do this. Using my enhanced physical abilities, I jump off the walls to get to a car as I enter with little fanfare except for two punks noticing. Both windows were open as they closed in and extended both of their hands. They couldn't see anything thanks to my reapplication of Cloak of Deception. Once their hands were close enough, I grabbed them both to their surprise and pulled them in as their forehead hit the top of the window of the doors as I pulled them in as I placed them both in chokeholds as they struggled but my natural strength knocked them out as I released them.
Getting out of the car, I pause as I find all of them aiming weapons at me as I stand there, "Um, nice weather?"
Wrong answer it seems, though it'd be weirder if it was the right one, since they all came at me.
Ducking under a knife, I aim an uppercut at his exposed arm as the punk exclaims in pain and falls to the ground as I finish with a stomp before leaning back and into a spinning hook kick to another's jaw.
Another came with a katana as I let it hit and cheap steel broke against mithril as he stumbled in confusion and I grabbed the back of his collar and threw him to a wall and stomped on his face as he fell unconscious.
Stepping back into a front kick as it sends them to their back as I roll my shoulders to loosen them as I sigh. This is going to take a while.
As I clap my hands to rid them of the dust and look at the cash I hauled in today in my house, I try and think of something to buy. Though nothing comes to mind.
Maybe I can buy a place to train in or something. Or is this too little?
Deciding to leave the process of counting the money for another time, for now, I got up and left the studio and locked it as it was fairly late but the lack of light didn't really bother me. Regardless, I walked in the night as a pawn shop caught my interest.
Specifically, a camera. As the employee welcomed me as I entered it, I walked to the camera that was calling to me. It was an old camera, yet it wasn't too big. Seems like it was a film type of camera, the type I needed. The film was pretty big so I could see more.
And the price wasn't too bad, sometimes I'll see things I won't be able to draw in time so this is useful.
After buying the camera and enough film to last a while I headed back home as I fiddled with it.
Not digital, compact, and large enough film. Nodding at the purchase, I pause in front of the studio I'm staying in.
Well, why not.
I set the timer for the camera as I set it a way away as I lean next to he door and wait for the flash.
Once it did I waited for the film to develop as I shook it for a bit.
Once it did, it showed a picture of me and a door, I still had bags under my eyes and the silver bang framing the right side of my face.
For the beginning. It's not much but it's mine. Glaring at the sky, I sighed before entering the studio and freshening up and lay in bed.
As usual, sleep took a while to catch me.
It's been nearly a month since Hibari and Caleb met and began training together. Caleb has begun to fit in with his classmates somewhat and Hibari hasn't told anyone about Caleb. She has also been blowing off hanging out with the other girls to go train with him, sometimes even skipping ninja training to do it by coming up with excuses.
Now, the Setting Sun discipline is about reading your opponents so at the beginning Hibari's excuses were simple like 'helping out family' or similar things but soon they started to get suspicious and she began reading them. Not completely but she had no trouble being able to tell what they're going to do from their movement to their questions. Though not with pinpoint accuracy mind you.
This obviously got the other girls suspicious so they decided to confront her about it unsuccessfully.
"Hibari…" Yagyu called as she saw Hibari's back leaving.
"I don't get it," Ikaruga said as she sat down with Yagyu and Katsuragi, "She's very diligent even if she is kind of clumsy. So what could be forcing her to skip class?"
There was silence as they thought about it and Katsuragi giggled as the other two turned to her, "Is something wrong Katsuragi-san?"
"Nothing, it's just so obvious I can't believe you two couldn't see it." Katsuragi smirked.
"Well?" Yagyu asked as Katsuragi chuckled.
"Maybe Hibari got a boyfriend~." She finished in a sing-song voice.
…
There was silence as Yagyu's lone visible eye blanched and she paled before muttering out, "Hibari… boyfriend…"
"Hah?" Ikaruga exclaimed next.
"I mean think about it, she always blushes when we ask her about it." Katsuragi grins perversely.
"B-but," Ikaruga stuttered with a flushed face as Katsuragi laughed.
Something hits the table as Yagyu's eye flashes red, "Let's follow Hibari."
Both upperclassmen pause at that as Yagyu gets up and starts walking, "Wait Yagyu/-san!" They call out in unison as they chase after her.
"Don't stop me!" She growled as Ikaruga grabbed her leg and Katsuragi her shoulders.
"Yagyu-san be rational!" Ikaruga exclaims as she tries to stop her white-haired underclassman.
"I am, I'm going to see who is Hibari's boyfriend then I'm going to beat him to a pulp!" Her voice became dangerously distorted at the end.
"Not like that!" Katsuragi exclaimed.
"Yagyu-san! Stop this, Hibari can take care of herself!" Ikaruga manages to say as Yagyu pauses. "Besides, it's Hibari's life, we have no right to pry into her private life."
Finally Yagyu stopped as her bangs covered her eyes, "Alright."
The other two let her go as Yagyu's bangs continued to shadow her eyes, "Do you think that's true?" Yagyu asks.
"Well, it was a joke but maybe. Who knows. Kiriya-sensei did tell us to expect the unexpected." Katsuragi said.
Yagyu took a deep breath and released it, "True."
She walked back to the Shinobi Room as the other two followed, worried.
Hibari threw her hip into Caleb's as he stumbled from the surprising force behind it as he quickly found his balance.
Currently, they were doing a no holds barred sparring session, well, I have to hold back. Or else I may hurt her badly.
Wait, why do I ca-?!
My internal musings were interrupted by a spinning kick to my jaw as I stumbled and Hibari's eyes showed worry as my brow twitched.
Stepping into a hook, Hibari spun so she was going to elbow my back but I stepped forward as it missed and I hooked my arm around hers and grabbed her wrist as I pulled and swept my foot out as it trips her and pull her and plant a foot into her side as I jump and plant the other in her stomach and fall and roll as she lands on her back as I get up and straddle her as I raise a fist, "I win."
She groaned as she breathed heavily, we've been sparring for a while and since I have monstrous stamina, I'm not that tired.
"Ah, I lost." She pouted as I got off her.
"Nah, you're doing fine." I assure her as I sit down on the floor next to her.
We sit in silence as Hibari catches her breath, "Caleb-chan."
I hum in curiosity, "Yeah?"
"Thank you for helping me, I hope you can continue training me." Hibari says as I nod.
"Sure, I wouldn't mind." I respond.
I could see the smile on her face. Seems like it was infectious since I was smiling as well.
A/N: Thank you for reading. I really hope you enjoyed chapter two. I'm kinda iffy on the quality but I hope the characters were somewhat accurate and that I'm showing Caleb as the way I want him to be shown.
Well here's a little extra where we go a little deeper into Caleb:
Bounty Subject: Caleb Aridam(?)
Age: 17
Height: 5'10
Weight: 190 lbs
Species: Silverbrow
Hobbies: Sketching, story-telling, singing, listening to music, photography, dancing, fishing
Likes: Music, sour/spicy sweets, martial arts, cultural study
Dislikes: showing his scars, whatever the heck attacked him a few times, sweet sweets(Anything with a lot of sugar)
Background: Caleb Aridam is the name that the target has taken up in his stay at Asakusa. He has a section of hair that's silver that he keeps tied to the right side of his face in the form of a long bang. Despite his fairly humorous attitude, he has quite a bit of baggage. At a young age he was kidnapped and lied to about his parents where he was trained to the degree of nearly being torture. When he first escaped he was vindictive and tended to lash out easily. Though as time passed with the help of similar people, Reshar's journal, and other people, he mellowed out, so instead of being sad and looking it, he decided to deal with it. It's not like he can't do anything about it.
Skills: Dancing, sketching, photography, singing, story-telling, instrument playing, martial arts, sword fighting, and minor magic skills.
Extra: -Caleb has this weird ability where he can cook simple things easily but for anything complicated he has to hunt it or else it'll come out horrible. Baking is an absolute no-go.
- Caleb has this weird sense of morality. Influenced heavily by the company he kept when he explored.
- Caleb's fighting style is unpredictable and dirty but he can right honorably should he want to.